Tom watched as people fought the Lesser Hydras. The Major appeared to be trying to kill a hydra without just running away and fireballing the monster. It was a good idea, but he wasn't very good at it. He also seemed to be using a time skill. He hadn't expected the Major to be able to pick up those tricky skills. But he knew next to nothing about the [Rescue Ranger] class as it was one of the new classes that had popped up since the system apocalypse.
Unfortunately, the Major was actually above average when dealing with the hydras. The monster's high regeneration and toxic blood allowed them to slaughter most of their opponents, with the exception of the [Fire Mages], who were actually effective against the beasts.
The only two people Tom had found really impressive were Gareth and Sam. Sam had kited the Hydra around the arena, peppering it with arrows. She'd still lost as the hydra was healing faster than she was injuring it. But it was a good strategy. On the other hand, Gareth had apparently already learned the lesson Tom was trying to teach everyone. Trying to outlast a creature with the ability to regenerate was stupid. Instead, Gareth just kept hacking away at the Hydra with zero fucks for his own defence until the beast was dead. Gareth would have died shortly after due to the poison, but Damm, was Tom impressed with his ability to give zero fucks in a fight. More importantly, while that strategy was a terrible idea against a hydra, it would work just fine against the trolls.
After Gareth's display, people started to get the hang of the Hydras, or at the very least, they learned to be less afraid of damage. Some of the newbies were even laughing and joking as one of their buddies was eaten.
People started to come to him in droves. Everyone seemed to want advice on how to improve or wanted him to use [Soul Forge] on them in order to upgrade their skills.
Unfortunately, most people didn't have the … he wasn't sure what the word was. Wiggle room? For an upgrade. It was almost like each skill had a negative space, a part of the soul they took up but didn't occupy. As Tom upgraded their skills, they grew into this negative. This negative space seemed to slowly, ever so painfully slowly, grow over time naturally, though combat, skill growth, and levels also seemed to grow this negative space. It was a lot more random, but the growth was more efficient.
Tom guessed that this was the underlying process of how Xp and status upgrades worked, though he wasn't sure. Unfortunately, most people didn't have enough negative space to upgrade their skills except for one skill that was painfully easy to upgrade. Every single person had enough negative space for [Pursuite Hunter] to upgrade. Tom was able to upgrade that skill up to [Endless Brawler]. Speaking of skill upgrades.
<[Quest Giver] has Reached Level 12>
<[Quest Giver] has Reached Level 13>
<...>
<[Quest Giver] has Reached Level 19>
Tom took that moment to take a break from using [Soul Forge] and watch people battle against the lesser Hydras. Right now, only five battles could occur simultaneously, but that still allowed up to twenty-five people to train against the monsters. The first responders were doing poorly. They relied too much on guns, which were just lousy weapon choices against the lesser Hydras or Trolls, for that matter.
Tom's attention was drawn to one of the people who was facing off against the lesser hydra solo. It was Gareth again. Apparently, meeking out a victory wasn't good enough, and now the [Viking] was trying to optimize his takedown of the lesser hydra. He fought with two wicked-looking axes, and he was hacking off the hydra heads as fast as they could grow. The hydra was bleeding all over the place, and its regeneration was trying to recover from the massive blood loss and lost biomass. Gareth was still dying from poison. But he was actually doing well enough that he wouldn't die after the battle was over.
"How are you doing," Tom called out to Gareth as he approached the guy.
While he still had mixed feelings about Luke. Gareth had never bullied him. They were acquaintances at best.
"Pretty good. But I have room for improvement. Any suggestions?" Gareth asked.
DING!!!
Name: Gareth Brown
Titles: Awoken Myths, Rambo
Level: 18
Classes: Viking 18
HP: 1440
Stamina: 2295
MP: 360
Str: 99 / AGIL 54 / DEX 72 / CON 108 / END 72 / PER 72
INT 18 / WILL 18 / SPIRIT 72 / EGO 36 / CHA 19 / LCK 18
Personal skills: Storyteller, Pursuit Hunter, Meditation, Storage
Viking Skills: Nordic Arms, Battle Fury, Weather the Elements, Eternal Vigil, Aura of Slaughter, Legendary Strength, Charge, Charged Attack (Physical), Traveler of the North Sea, Compound Impacts
"Honestly, you're doing pretty good," Tom pointed out, a bit surprised. "You just need to get higher skill levels for [Battle Fury], [Aura of Slaughter] and [Compound Impacts]. It will help you in more drawn-out fights."
"Hmm, so I just need to grind out more skill levels." Gareth pointed out.
"Pretty much," Tom admitted.
"Would this young master care to face me in the arena of the ancients?" Gareth asked, his smile wide
Tom felt his eyebrows rise into his hairline.
"Did you just ---"
"What I read books," Gareth said with mock hurt.
"Cultivation books," Tom points out, rolling his eyes.
"What's the matter, McFly chicken," Gareth asked.
"Now we're doing Back to the Future, really?" Tom chuckled at the reference.
Apart of Tom wanted to tell this Gareth to fuck off. He didn't have time for this. Hell, he wasn't a fighter anymore. He was a supporting character. But another part of him. The part that had spent hours playing the legend of Noralon as a spellsword. That part of him wanted to fight, to prove to himself he still could fight and that he wasn't some squishy support character.
Tom gave his own toothy grin as he drew the iron sword he had been using in the tutorial.
"Alright, young master Biff. It's time to put your money where your mouth is," Tom said, offering Gareth to step into a recently vacated slot in the arena.
Gareth leapt into the circle like a kid on Christmas, and Tom followed at a more relaxed pace. His paper armour assembled itself around his body, and layers and layers of protective paper surrounded it as the people around them turned to watch.
"First blood or death?" Tom asked as he set up the duel with the arena interphase.
"Death," Gareth said as he switched out his axe for a spear. "I'll go easy on you. I wanted to train with a spear for a bit."
"Alright then, but I'll give you a handicap. No glyphs, no scrolls from me." Tom said he entered the Arena, picking up a moonstone sword someone had left on the ground.
DING!!!
Duel Initiated
Awoken Myths Guild Leader Thomas Bruner vs Awoken Myths Member Gareth Brown
Victory Conditions: To the Death
Additional Conditions: Thomas Bruner will not use Glyph magic or scrolls.
Wadger: None
Accept y/n
"Am I about to get my ass kicked? Are you trying to trick me?" Gareth asked.
"Both," Tom admitted as he buffed himself. "Bull Strength, Feline Grace, Indomitability, Sensor Boost, Draconic Power, Magic Ward: Physical, Perfect Warrior: Swordmaster, Haste, " Tom chanted.
Gareth accepted immediately before he shot forward. Tom was already sidestepping as Gareth shot past him. His sword raised, and his left hand cast a spell of pain nullification on himself. Tom's sword scored a hit on Gareth as he sped past him, leaving a shallow cut across his arm.
"Using [Charge] is all well and good, but you need to be able to deactivate it. If you can't stop on a dime, it's worthless," Tom said as he moved after Gareth, his sword crashing against the man himself as he recovered.
"Da Fuck?!" Gareth swore as he stepped backwards, his spear scouring a hit on Tom's armour but not penetrating. "I thought you were a mage? How are you this strong?"
"Capstones," Tom said as Gareth spearshot towards him. Instantly, Tom was put on the defensive as Gareth expertly forced him on the back footing. The guy must have a much higher spear mastery than his sword mastery.
"At level 10, you get +1 for all attributes per level retroactively. At 20, that increases to +2, and at 30, it increases to +3. That's why it's so hard to jump ranks. I haven't put a single point into my physical stats, but they're all sitting around 50, which is about half of what you have." Tom grunted out an explanation as he was forced to parry, block and dodge Gareth's spear.
Then Gareth's spear finally managed to get past Tom's defences with a jab burying itself in his gut.
"Got yo--" Gareth was cut off as Tom pushed himself forwards onto the spear. Thanks to his early spell, he didn't feel what he expected would be the excruciating pain he should be feeling. Instead, he lunged forwards with the tip of his sword, ready to plunge into Gareth's now excited face.
Then Gareth yanked on the spear as he leaned out of the way. Tom's balance was thrown off, and his sword stabbed into Gareth's right shoulder instead of his neck like he intended.
"Shit," Tom swore as his spell started to fade and the pain in his abdomen made itself known.
"[Charge]," Gareth shouted.
Suddenly, all of the air in Tom's lungs was forced out as Gareth's shoulder slammed into him as the guy charged into at full tilt from less than a meter away. Tom was sent flying off of the tip of the spear, rolling across the floor of the arena until he came to a stop. Struggling, Tom pushed himself back to his feet. The front of his paper armour was now stained red with his own blood.
"Damm, dude, you are nuts," Gareth cheered as Tom staggered back to his feet. He seemed perfectly ok to let him get back to his feet as he nursed his bleeding shoulder.
"Did you let me stab you? Because if you did, you are fucking mental," Gareth asked.
"Am I?" Tom asked as he cast lesser mend, lesser heal, and lesser restoration in short succession. Restoring his body back to fighting form.
Gareth's jubilation cut out like a light.
"Oh, you fat cheater," Gareth shouted as he readied his spear. The weapon was drooping now with his injured shoulder.
"Come now. I'm a healer. Did you really expect me to fight you like a warrior?" Tom asked coyly.
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"In my defence, you literally came in here and started fighting like a warrior," Gareth gripped.
"Misdirection is a bitch. But don't worry. Instead, let me show you something cool," Tom said as he held up his iron sword.
Immediately, a blue glow surrounded the weapon as Tom started to pour his mana into the blade.
DING!!!
You have Acquired the Skill: [Mana Infuse Weapon] - Epic
[Mana Infuse Weapon]: You imbue your weapon with mana, allowing your physical attacks to deal with magical damage. All mana infused into your weapon will be lost after striking your opponent. Current damage is equal to mana input +0.1% per skill level.
DING!!!
You have Acquired the Skill: [Basic Swords] - Lesser
[Basic Swords]: You have a basic understanding of swords, gaining 1% Sword Mastery per skill level.
Tom ignored the notification as he held up his weapon to his opponent.
"This is the called [Infuse Mana Weapon] skill," Tom said as he swung his sword back and forth before assuming a combat stance. "This adds some magic damage to your attack, and it won't be blocked by [Weather the Elements]."
Gareth grimaced as he raised his shield and [charged] forwards with another stab. Tom wasn't sure if Gareth knew what he was doing would eventually result in a skill upgrade or if he was just lucky.
Tom leapt to the side as Gareth shot past him. Gareth stopped only a few feet away from him before turning around and shooting back towards him faster than before, blurring the onlookers' eyes.
But Tom's high perception let him keep up. Just as Gareth was about to strike, a dozen light magic shields appeared in his path. Gareth slammed into them, losing the speed buff of [Charge] as he crashed into the wall of light shields.
Tom didn't miss his opportunity as his hasted form shot forwards his sword, aiming for his neck. Gareth stumbled backwards, but his shield shot up as Tom swung for his neck. The unenchanted wooden buckler nearly split in two from the impact as Tom dumped over six hundred mana into his blade.
"Shit," Gareth swore as the shield fell off his arm.
Tom cast a half a dozen mend spells on himself before he started channelling one of the strongest nature magic spells he knew of as he attacked.
Gareth Swung his spear around to block another one of Tom's attacks.
"Ninety seconds," Tom muttered as the Melee began.
Tom never gave Gareth a chance to put any distance between them; instead, he stayed practically on top of him. His hands were going numb from the repeated impacts between their weapons, his muscles were already aching from the competition, and if he were being honest, he would already be dead if he had not cast all those mend spells before he entered melee.
The simple fact was that Gareth's weapon mastery was a good deal higher than his. On top of that, his physical stats were far better than his. Worse, Tom wasn't using his mana blade anymore; he was channelling everything towards his spell, so he was only doing paltry damage against the [Viking].
Despite that, Tom surprised everyone with his ability to keep up with the back and forth.
"I take back every mean thing I ever said about you." Gareth huffed.
"When did you say anything mean about me?" Tom asked
"Well, honestly, I was expecting you to be shit at this. How many healers do you know that fight like this? You a [Paladin] or something?" Gareth asked as he tried to stab Tom in the leg
"[Augur]," Tom muttered as he deflected the blade. "I played as [wizard] at first, then as a [spellsword] for a long time. I figured this was a good way to earn some skill levels for my weapon skills. Seems I picked up a few things from in-game."
'Ten seconds'
Gareth tried to stab him in the head, forcing Tom to parry the attack and redirect the spear into the ground.
'Five seconds'
"Seriously? That's kind of mental," Gareth gasped as Tom scoured a hit on his leg.
'Three seconds'
"What about you? When did you get so good at fighting," Tom grunted as Gareth smacked him with the butt of his weapon.
'Two seconds'
"Just something I enjoyed," Gareth grunted. "Don't feel too bad about losing."
'One second'
"Don't worry, I won't," Tom said.
'Zero'
Tom lept backward, dropping his sword mid-movement as he held up both hands. Gareth stumbled mid-attack, looking confused and growing consternated, as Tom's hands lit up.
Faster than Tom thought, Gareth was capable of his spear shot towards his head. But it was still too late.
"Solarbeam," Tom said.
The blast of light magic from his hands enveloped Gareth's body. The spell blew apart Gareth's body, sending him flying backwards in pieces as he scoured a massive smouldering dive into the ground behind him. Gareth's scorched remains were splattered against the arena floor. The only reason the spell hadn't exited the arena and killed the onlookers was nothing happening inside was real.
DING!!!
Duel Completed
Awoken Myths Guild Leader Thomas Bruner has defeated Awoken Myths Member Gareth Brown.
The [Arena of the Ancients] faded away, revealing Tom and Gareth standing in the middle of the Arena without a scratch on either of them.
"Did you … did I die to a ?" Gareth almost seemed afraid to ask his question.
"You just died to a Pokemon move!!" someone shouted out.
"Yeah, pretty much," Tom admitted as he stashed away his sword and checked his notification.
<[Basic Swords] has Reached Level 2>
<[Basic Swords] has Reached Level 3>
<...>
<[Basic Swords] has Reached Level 14>
<[Mana Infused Weapon] has Reached Level 2>
<[Mana Infused Weapon] has Reached Level 3>
<...>
<[Mana Infused Weapon] has Reached Level 6>
<[Bright Arts] has Reached Level 29>
<[Bright Arts] has Reached Level 30>
<...>
<[Bright Arts] has Reached Level 32>
<[Art of Life] has Reached Level 26>
<[Teacher] has Reached Level 10>
<[Teacher] has Reached Level 11>
<...>
<[Teacher] has Reached Level 15>
"So you could have just beaten me at any time?" Gareth asked.
"Not with that spell. Solarbeam takes ninety seconds to cast, and I couldn't cast anything else during that time."
Gareth's eyes grew wide. "Your sword stopped glowing. You mother fucker, you played me!! twice!!!"
"A few times, actually. The time you impaled me, and I stabbed you back, the time I healed myself, the time you ran into a dozen light shields, the time I forced you into melee while I charged up Solobeam. Basically, you kept forgetting I had magic," Tom pointed out.
"Okay, in my defence, magic has been a thing for about a week. You've got to teach me some of that stuff," Gareth said. "I mean, how did you know what I would do?"
Tom shrugged. "This wasn't my first PVP match. I knew everything you could do, and you knew next to nothing I could do. I knew roughly how you could react to anything I did, and the difference in level helped a lot, too."
"What about that mana blade thing? Was that a skill or …"
"It's a skill. You can unlock it if you have 100 points in the Will stat. If you aren't already putting points into Will, don't worry; you'll unlock it at level 34."
Gareth looked puzzled for a moment.
"Should I?" Gareth began.
"No," Tom cut in. "Your stat setup is fine. Putting points into WILL to unlock one skill is just stupid. If you really want the skill, just focus on power levelling. It's better in the long run. Now, then, why don't we go over it here, and I can upgrade [Pursuite Hunter] to something more useful? You're going to need it for the raid."
Gareth followed after the two of them, almost oblivious to the crowd of onlookers watching them as they passed. Then, it all went wrong when he walked right up to Alex.
"I turn my back for two seconds. Two seconds and you bugger off and start duelling people?!" she asked.
"Now I had a good reason," Tom protested.
"You blew out a chunk of your soul. You better have a good reason for picking fights before I lightning-bolt your balls!" Alex said.
"Oh, come on, Alex," Tom said, rolling his eyes. "We both know soul damage only cripples my system skills. I can still fight. Hell, most of the goblin horde has soul damage, and they're not slowing down and …. And I'm just digging myself into a deeper hole, aren't I?" Tom asked.
Alex gave him a Cheshire smile.
"I'm so happy you can recognize that. Can you guess what happens next?"
Tom prayed for something, anything, to happen at that moment. Maybe someone would have explosive diarrhea at that moment, a bunch of dead people for him to resurrect could show up, or maybe the wyvern could swing by and kill them all. Anything would be better than having Alex blast him with lighting until she felt better.
Fortunately, Tom's prayers were answered when Hanze came running out of the school.
"TOM!! TOM!! We have an emergency!" he called out.
"Yes!? What is it?" Tom asked, desperate for anything.
You may skip to the next chapter.
Name: Tom Bruner
Race: Half-Elf ()
Type: Humanoid
LVL: 20
SubRace: High Elf / Caucasian
Age 18
Health: 1000
Stamina: 1400
Mana: 4000
Health Regen: 14.0 per hour
Stamina Regen: 18.0 per min
Mana Regen: 24.0 per min
Titles: Beta-Tester, First, Awoken Myths, Guild Master
Immune
None
Resistances
Mental 67% Soul 43%
Weakness
None
Bane
Manslayer
Classes: Augur 10, Tactiction 3, Exorcist 7
Total
STR: 40
AGIL: 40
DEX: 40
CON: 80
END: 40
PER: 220
INT: 200
WILL: 180
SPIRIT: 60
EGO: 40
CHA: 140
LCK: 40
Base
STR: 40
AGIL: 40
DEX: 40
CON: 80
END: 40
PER: 220
INT: 200
WILL: 180
SPIRIT: 60
EGO: 40
CHA: 140
LCK: 40
Personal: +4 PER +4 WILL +3 INT +3 CHA
Racial: +3 WILL +2 CON +2 CHA +1 SPIRIT
Bloodline: +5 PER +5 INT
Level Bonus: +2 to all Stats
Bloodline:
[Bloodline of the Keeper of Akashic Records]—Forgotten: Through your vein runs the blood of the forgotten Keepers of the Akashic Records. These monks, scribes, and scholars helped create the system, and within their blood are the keys to its secrets.
* [The Pen is Mightier than the Sword] - Level 32
* [Words Will Always Retain their Power] - Level 26
* [Library of Akashic Records] - Level 21
* [Universal] - Level 20
* [Wordsmith] - Level 27
* [My Mind is My Temple, My Soul the Altar] - Level 43
* [Thirst for Knowledge] - Level 17 >> Level 18
* [Visions of Akashic Records] - Level 11
* [Soul Forge] - Level 30
* +5 PER per level
* +5 INT per level
Skill Slots: 25/60: Skill Points: 1
Personal Skills
* [Analyze Person] - Level 25
* [Best of Both Worlds] - Level 13
* [Art of Water] - Level 15
* [Art of Earth] - Level 15
* [Teacher] - Level 9 >> Level 15
* [Misalliance Crafting] - Level 3
* [Mana-Infused Weapon] - Level 1 >> Level 6
* [Basic Swords] - Level 1 >> Level 14
Augur 07/16
* [Augurs Eye] - Level 7
* [Bright Arts] - Level 28 >> Level 32
* [Art of Life] - Level 25 >> Level 26
* [Prophetic Meditation] - Level 44
* [Far Seeing] - Level 17
* Capstone: [Hand of Mercy] - Level 48
* [Quest Giver] - Level 12
Tactician 05/6
* [Nascent Guild Leader] - Level 22
* [Leadership Ⅱ] - Level 24
* [Raider Ⅰ] - Level 20
* [Coordinate Ⅱ] - Level 21
* [Logistics Ⅲ] - Level 19
Exorcist 05/11
* [Spell Trap] - Level 4
* [Karmic Contract] - Level 4
* [Shape Paper] - Level 10
* [Paper Armour] - Level 1
* [Paper Wings] - Level 1