Disgusting tubes entered my mouth before biting them off with qi enhanced teeth. The creature squealed and wrapped its circulatory system around my neck and constricted. Hundreds of vampire hearts crawled towards me from the smell of blood. I slashed down with my training sword killing three in a single swipe before angling Nirvana at the heart, constricting me. More of the hearts wrapped their tentacles around my arm and pulled it away from the invasive heart.

Green aura erupted around me as I struggled against the hearts. I couldn’t even scream for help, or the heart would get in. More of my aura erupted as I increased my strength. Even as I pushed more aura out, I tried to change it into the form of a makeshift hand to grab the heart.

When the qi hand touched the heart, the hand I made fell apart into my aura. It was like molding water and expecting it to keep its shape. This was the skill level I expected to learn in the sect, not here in a dungeon.

More of the hearts gathered around me as the sun fully set. They were pulling me even as I fought them. My lungs screamed for air, but the heart only squeezed my throat tighter.

I realized that I was going to die as everything started going dark.

My eyes widened at the realization, and I pulled at my qi like never before. The emerald energy before had been a trickle compared to the explosion that erupted out of me.

HP20%

HP19%

+10 INT

INT 90(121.5)

+10WIS

WIS 40(212)

Qi Enhancement lvl7

Qi Manifestation lvl5

Pulling so much power was killing me as surely as the wound to my shoulder. Dozens of foreign arteries siphoned the blood pouring out of my shoulder.

I finally lifted my gun to the heart wrapped around my neck, pulled the trigger, and didn’t bother to anchor myself. The blow threw me backward, ripping the circulatory systems out of two dozen hearts.

My stats had increased, and that changed everything. I smirked at that as the bleeding finally stopped. My will traveled faster through my aura than ever before, and even the range of my aura had increased. It wasn’t enough to clear the horizon like Samson, but it was far more than it was. This was exactly what I needed to improve myself.

With the qi manifestation level increased, my aura grew much thicker, almost protecting me by itself. This was what I needed. One of the mist-covered vampire hearts descended, pushing its misty aura against my own. I tightened my own aura around my skin even as I stumbled. I realized too late that it wasn’t just red aura, but the vampire heart manipulated thousands of droplets of blood. The physical presence of its enforced blood pushed against my own weightless aura.

I shrank my aura, concentrating it as I struck out with my training sword. My aura shot through the weapon until it glowed brighter than a hundred campfires. The vampire’s aura condensed, forming a red shell before my blow struck.

A crack ran down the blade of my practice weapon, and I raised Nirvana. Before, I had been far away, and my qi had been weaker. Again, I pushed all my remaining power into the handgun. This time I pulled the trigger until I heard the gun click empty. Cracks appeared around the shell protecting the heart, and I struck with my cracked blade.

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The barrier crumbled as my wooden blade shattered. A green explosion shot through the heart, eviscerating it. The remains of the barrier fell apart in a rain of blood as the corpse fell. The drops appeared with it, including a box of 45 CAL bullets.

I tucked my broken training sword under my arm, ejected my magazine before retrieving a full one from my bag, and put a round in the chamber. Then I aimed and fired, killing one crawling heart after another as hundreds of them crawled towards the fresh blood on the ground.

I moved, keeping my sword sheathed, collecting drops, and aiming carefully.

I saw something in the distance a large wolf-shaped shadow. The creature stomped through the hearts killing dozens of them with every step. Even the floating mist vampires fled as it approached. I blinked before concluding that this figure could only be the boss. There were legends that vampires could change into the forms of wolves and bats.

Even if winning this battle was impossible, I knew I would have all the fun I could handle. My qi was only a spark before a campfire compared to this creature.

My hand raised, and only then did I notice that my whole body was shaking. I could barely hold the gun in my hand.

“Are you done playing?” The wolf said as it edged closer. Its swirling blue aura towered over me like the gaze of a giant.

“Yea, all I have to do is take you down, and the others won’t mess with me anymore.”

“Aren’t you getting a little too big for your britches to try that now? Besides, the others still mess with me, so beating me won’t stop them from messing with you.”

I took a step forward and tripped on a skill book. A massive paw caught me before I fell; it didn’t gut me, which was a plus.

That’s when it clicked.

“Samson,” I said.

“Yeah, buddy, you did well. We’ve been watching you struggle this whole time. You didn’t ask for help once; even Obelisk was impressed. Majorian is harder to read. But I think he was impressed with you too. Swarm was ready to step in, especially when that crawler was choking you.”

“That’s good. I don’t know if I made it to 100, I haven’t checked yet, and Majorian said we only had a day here.”

Samson dragged me back to camp, and I collapsed when I passed the wards. My Radiant Persephone Training Sword disintegrated the second I fell down. Only ashes remained of the weapon. My HP fell to a third of what it was.

Red lvl100

Nirvana lvl5

+70 VIT

VIT 450

+10 STR

STR 900

+35

DEX 570

+15 INT

INT 105(173.5)

+15 WIS

WIS 55(308)

Perk Gained:

Vampire Killer: +20% DMG vs. creatures with vampire in their name, job, or skills.

Skill Training lvl13

Aura Manipulation lvl15

Qi Enhancement lvl10

Qi Manifestation lvl10

Makeshift Swordsmanship lvl5

Nirvana Gunmanship lvl3

Job Selection

MR

Monk Of Destruction 0/50 – A being of holy insight in using divine weaponry to destroy enemies from mid and long ranges. All fear the mad path of ascension. Bonus Scaling to divine weaponry, Insight stat, and the unique skill tree Ascension.

UR

Vampire Destroyer 0/25 – The Anathema of all vampires and slayer of undead kings. Millennium Kings tremble from the path that ends dynasties. Bonus Scaling to anti-vampire skills, perks, and weapons, Exclusive skills trees, and anti-vampire perks.

SSR

Vampire Slayer 0/10 – The enemy of vampires and rival to undead kings. Even Millennium Kings are wary of the slayers. Bonus scaling to anti-vampire weapons, exclusive skill trees, and more exp against vampires.

Sniper Assassin 0/10 – This powerful long-range killer can deal incredible damage and vanish unseen. Bonus scaling to long-range weapons, exclusive skill trees, and exponentially higher exp from long-range kills.

SR

Aura Warrior 0/5 – A warrior who unleashes powerful aura attacks on their enemies. Bonus scaling to INT and WIS increasing armor and weapons, an exclusive skill tree, and more exp from aura-based kills.

There was no need to think about it. While most of the jobs looked cool. Monk of Destruction gave me a new stat and scaled the only weapon I had on me. Not to mention it gave me a unique skill tree. Ascension sounded beyond cool, so why would I hesitate.

I chose Monk of Destruction for my job. Then I froze as the stat dump hit me like a plant mob fed charger.

+50 DEX

+50 INT

+50 WIS

+50 CHA

+50 LUK

+50 INS

DEX 585

INT 155(255.75)

WIS 105(588)

CHA 59

LUK 80

INS 50

My aura slowly erupted even as I tried to hold it back. My wounds started healing even faster than before. My stomach growled, and my body shook as it felt like I was being eaten alive. Green light flashed around me as my aura came to life, bathing the camp in emerald light.

Swarm stuffed a large hunk of pork in my mouth. I chewed quickly and swallowed it.

“The first job is always hard on the body. Items make ranking up look easy, but it’s different for us. We aren’t always as hardy as items. Sometimes we don’t survive the process and become something other than human.” Swarm said with a kind smile.

“Thank you,” I said as she stuffed another hunk of meat in my mouth.

“Your training is over for today; eat, drink, and rest. Tomorrow we will go deeper into the dungeon. You’ll need to keep up. We won’t be able to look after you once we go deeper. If you want to leave, then in the morning will be your best chance. Majorian won’t hold it against you, and neither will I. You aren’t ready for what’s down there, even with a job. You may be level 100, but you don’t have the stats or the experience of someone with that level.”

I closed my eyes and shook my head. “I want to go all the way.”

She nodded slowly. “Then you will need a familiar. When we reach a deeper level, I’ll teach you how to contract one.