Zyrus thought that he’d face powerful wind when climbing up to the sky, but it was quite the opposite. The higher he climbed the calmer the stairs became.
Even the force of gravity seemed to vanish. As a dimensional mage, he realized that this was the phenomenon of overlapping space.
Gates or dimensional portals were created to connect any point A and B across vast distances. They were similar to wormholes in scientific terms. It was a very efficient process, but the disadvantage was that it destabilized the space in that region.
Such a thing was unacceptable on the battlefield. It was akin to showing the enemy your weakness. Thus, in severe situations where not even a tiny margin of error was allowed, the method of overlapping space was used.
It was similar to placing layers and layers of paper sheets between A and B. Those sheets were then warped one by one in a subtle manner to decrease the distance.
This way, the original passageway remained intact while the new one was divided into countless segments. It was an extremely difficult task that required a ton of materials and powerful mages.
‘And this is also a trap,’
Zyrus praised the wits of the one who devised such a plan. Pretty much every step was connected to random coordinates. Once the passageway was breached, all you had to do was activate the secondary coordinates and sever the passageway.
He climbed and analyzed the distorted spacetime on the archway. It was a pity that the region around the passage was shrouded with fog.
‘I wonder if this is the highest place in the sanctuary…’
[Caution! You are leaving the range of the Sanctuary]
[The System will soon cease to function]
[All system-based authorities will be disabled]
[Inventory will be disabled]
[Please manage your status before proceeding further]
‘Hmm…I’d better equip myself and use all the saved SP,’
Status:
[Name: Zyrus Wymar]
[Race: Sylvarix]
[Class: Balaur Summoner]
Onyx Crown, Blank Flag(In progress)
[Title: The last Apostle (Temporary)(Locked), Plague Bearer]
[Achievement: Call of the kin (A), Slayer of Camazotz (C+), Pioneer (B), Brave Sailor (E-), Helm of the cyclone (A+), Deep Sea explorers (E-)]
[Talent: Blood fusion (S rank), Devour (A rank)]
[Trait: Earth Movement, Underwater Breathing, Nastronder Dragon]
[Level: 40]
Exp: 12,580 /1.66 M
[Strength: 77 (+10)]
[Agility: 73 (+5)]
[Vitality (Celestial): 80]
[Intelligence: 46]
[Mana: 71 (+2)]
[SP: 26]
HP: 5000
Combat stats:
MP: 649
Recovery Rate: 50% (+20%) (Per hour)
Stamina: 829
Recovery Rate: 30% (Per hour)
Crit rate: 15%
Crit damage: 120%
Penetration Bonus: 10%
Final damage Bonus: 20%
Health Regeneration: 10% (+30%) (Per hour), +20 HP/sec in Boss fights
Resistances: Void (?), Abyss (?), Earth (50%), Blood (35%), Penetration (30%), Slash (30%), Blunt (30%), Critical (10%), Water (5%)
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Elemental Affinity: Void (?), Abyss (SS), Earth (C), Blood (F)
[Eye of Annihilation], [Arcane Lance], [Master of Sojutsu], [Spear aura], [Xisheng Arts], [Avatar], [Vortex Manipulation], [Fear]
[Twilight Crusher (Epic)]
[Zubry Solleret (Rare)]
[Bone necklace Totem (Common)]
[Ymir’s broken Gauntlets (Unique)]
Currency: -
Items:
[Lorica Squamata (Partially Broken)]
There were huge changes in his status. Most noticeable among them was his empty inventory. Before he went into training, he had given his money and ring of command to Ria.
From then on, he didn’t plan to engage in player activity unless it was a field boss level fight or some special scenario. This would result in him getting less achievement than other leaders.
Nonetheless, quality was better than quantity. He was sure that the sanctuary would acknowledge his efforts even if no one else did.
Apart from that, he had gained another title, talent, and two traits in the short span of a few months. It was enough to make even the strongest players green with envy.
‘The biggest change is on my stats,’
Fights were inevitable to prove his theories. This led to his crazy leveling speed even when the next levels required 1.5 times the exp. Reaching lv 40 within a year placed him at the top of the level leaderboards.
Level-ups meant more stats. Up until lv 37, the level-up bonus was 2 Strength, 1 Agility, and 1 mana. This happened because of his race change into the Sylvarix.
Humans acquired 5 points which were equally distributed. But since they didn’t unlock mana since lv 1, their mana was always lacking unless they used SP or item buffs.
The stat bonus determined one’s future journey in the sanctuary. Their bloodline, traits, talents, and even high-ranked skills were taken into consideration when deciding on the level up stats.
At first, Zyrus obtained 4 stats since his vitality scaled differently due to him being a Sylvarix. After completing the cube’s mission his vitality had transcended and gained a Celestial property.
Fusing Nidhogg king and Jormungandr’s bloodlines also changed his racial characteristics. Thus, his level-up bonus after lv 37 was 1 Strength, 1 Agility, 1 Intelligence, and 2 Mana.
‘I have to fix this mess…’
Zyrus rubbed his brows as he made calculations. He no longer had a method to raise his HP or Vitality by using the system. He’d be screwed over if he didn’t figure out what a transcendent stat was and how it was raised.
But that was a problem for the future him. 80 vitality and 5000 Hp was enough to last all the way to the fourth ring.
The current issue was the severe imbalance in his stats. His intelligence was almost 30 points behind every other stat. Zyrus wanted to raise it before but he waited till the final moment. Now that the system was about to become unusable, there was no need to save his SP.
‘26 points at once huh, that’s a first even for me,’
*BOOOOM*
An intense explosion went off in his head. His senses, range of perception, and even his thought process was expanding at a rapid pace.
But it was nothing to Zyrus. He was confident in dealing with any amount of mana and intelligence as a former dimensional mage. Afterall, both stats were his bread and butter. Getting used to them was easier and less painful compared to physical stats.
‘Huu…it feels great,’
Zyrus stretched his limbs and looked at his stats for the last time. He knew for a fact that they’d be restricted by the time he came back.
[Strength: 77 (+10)]
[Agility: 73 (+5)]
[Vitality (Celestial): 80]
[Intelligence: 72]
[Mana: 71 (+2)]
All of them were above 70. He was almost at the middle stage of the third ring based on stats alone. Naturally, getting more of them would be just as difficult. Just leveling up once needed a whooping 1.66 million experience.
‘All right, ready to go now,’
[You have reached the end of the Jeohang Archway]
[Identifying the Path strider…]
[Identification Complete– You have been granted access to “Streit Bastion”]
[Pass through the “Gate of Revelation” to exit the Sanctuary]
[May you be ever victorious]
[Farewell…]
The system went off almost on cue. Zyrus stared at the golden doors without pausing his steps.
The runic engravings on them were at a level that made him dizzy just by looking at it. They were big enough to make the giants seem like little kids, but what shocked him the most was what lay beyond those doors.
A golden white skyscraper. Even from afar he could tell that it was an ingenious creation.
‘A blend of futuristic and ancient technologies…’
Zyrus halted his steps at the end of the stairs. In front of him was the Gate of Revelation which was almost 100 meters tall, and after that, was nothing.
No road or stairs led to the Streit Bastion. He realized upon a closer look that both the gate and the skyscraper were on different dimensions. And yet, when you looked from afar, they appeared to be on the same plane.
‘A marvelous sight indeed,’ Zyrus praised the designer of this place one more as he stepped beyond the door.
[Ding! A new recruit has arrived]
A mechanical voice spoke at the entrance of the skyscraper. The passerby players looked in his direction for a moment before going on their way.
‘Hmm… as I thought, that was a leap of faith,’
Though he felt like the standards were too high. How many would willingly jump off the edge when there was nothing but an endless space beneath them?
‘That aside, where do I go now?’
He was like a hired mercenary who was teleported into the middle of the city. He didn’t have a clue about against whom, where, and how he would be fighting. Just like a mercenary would feel awkward before barging into the royal palace for a simple mission, he too felt stifled as he looked at the enormous skyscraper.
Of course, the main reason for this was his lacking strength. Every random passerby was dozens of times stronger than him. Orcs, elves, goblins, vampires, and pretty much every race were present except for humans.
It was fortunate that he didn’t stand out like a sore thumb at the entrance.
‘Whatever, there should be a reception area or something…’
Just as he made up his mind to head inside the building, he heard a feeble voice call out to him.
“Hufff…Huff… wait, wait a minute. You don’t have the access to go there yet,”
“…?”
“Haa…fuck..it’s exhausting to walk this far. Damn the security guards! Who in their right mind would prohibit levitation spells? It’s racial discrimination!”
Zyus observed the yellow slime which was rolling in his way. Indeed, it was unfair for the little guy. Who knew how long it took for him to roll over here. Everyone here was strong, but so were the laws that governed this place.
It was the same principle as the City of Ruin. Players below lv 200 can forget about damaging even a blade of grass on the sidewalk.
“Whew…thanks for waiting. Under Lord Matope’s orders, I’ll guide you to your um..accommodations?”
Zyrus felt like this unreliable-looking slime was hired with connections, but he refrained from pointing it out. The duo chatted as they walked towards the side of the skyscraper. He naturally carried the slime on the way. Otherwise, it’d take a week to just reach their destination.
“Are you listening?”
“Yeah…”
“Good. Now sign the confidentiality agreement, life insurance, and…”
Basically, Zyrus couldn’t tell anyone about this place, he had to pay for any damage he caused, and a dozen more clauses that were annoying to read. The terms for joining a rewardless war were vicious to say the least.
Finally, after half a day of walking the two reached the side entrance. What awaited Zyrus were five tunnels buzzing with chaotic energy.
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