Zach fought through the night. He had returned back to the fort, and aided his allies, culling a group of tusk-ant. His kills lessened the pressure to the entrances of the fort, and Zach, who wore the self dubbed Loki’s Helm, fought like a demon under the moon. Those on the battlement, Mathias and Teena was at awe by the splendor of Zach’s fight. They even questioned a bit in the depth of their heart whether they could be the same as him.
“He really do loves killing, doesn’t he?” Mathias said.
In one motion, Teena grabbed another arrow from her quiver, and shot a pouncing ant towards Zach. It was unwarranted aid, but she felt like she needed to do something.
“He only does it to protect,” Teena replied. She was in deep thought as she gazed her eyes at the man that kept on giving to her.
But unlike what others thought of him, Zach was multi-tasking, a favorite of his while residing here. His eyes glanced at the timer that kept dwindling down as he had figured out how it work. The only way to get rid of the penalty was to constantly use the Mana Sword in battle. Thankfully, the numbers were in second, and not the larger unit of time.
At the same time, a new cantrip murmured through his lips. Deep inside him, mana flowed from his heart and up towards his neck, reaching for the two eyes that had targeted another foe to kill. For the last hour, Zach had been attempting to earn another skill, and this time, there was no pain. It was a cantrip made for the skill, and in such, it was similar to when he practice the arcane cooking.
But it happened again. His eyes turned red, and the itchiness was a sign of another failure. He had the strong urge to scratch his eyes, but he abstained himself, distracting his thought with the act of murdering these persistent bastards around him. One by one fell by his blade, passing the time as his eyes recovered.
Yet another failure ensued. It annoyed him of how ridiculous the penalty when the attempt did not succeed. But he could not give up. The skill he was trying to learn was the most important in his eyes. It was the Identify skill. A common skill in any games, books, and anime, and whatnot. It was a skill that would make life a bit easier for the likes Zach.
By the time light breached through the sky, another night had ended. The many tusk-ants returned to where they come from as those who fought their hardest watched with tired eyes. Despite winning the battle, they knew another night awaited for them. Some cheered though. They were those who were too ignorant to realize where they were, and why they were here. One such character was Duran, the first guy who wanted to lob off Zach’s head. He was riling up the like-minded crowd, boasting their tales of killing monster ants with the strength of their bulky arms, and the sharpness of their knight’s blade.
But as Zach was passing through the hole where these bunches were, Duran could not help but glared. Despite the difference in strength, the rogue man wanted nothing more but to stamp Zach’s head under the sole of his boot. But now wasn’t the time. He was ignorant, but not a fool. Duran believed there would one day be a chance where he would triumph over these people, and that chance laid upon the status window before him. He had gained a new level, and those three points he earned was immediately dumped right into strength as he had done it from the beginning. Without himself knowing, Duran was on the path of min-maxing his stats.
Zach noticed the obvious glare, but ignored it. He was more frustrated in himself as he kept failing in learning the Identify skill. It took him half a night and he still failed. Perhaps multi-tasking wasn’t one of his great trait. Not to mention his penalty timer was still far off from reaching zero. Frowning, Zach returned to the battlement. Throwing off his sword, helm, and gauntlet on the floor before standing at the edge, staring at the sight of his bloody night. Dead tusk-ants scattered on the forest floor, a testament of his strength. Yet he knew he was far from it.
A small little bird with a bee’s wing buzzed around Zach. “I’ve told you it would be hard,” Astabuen said. “Why don’t you just accept the Seven Star, and everything will be smooth sailing.”
“Tell me exactly. Why are you so persistent in me taking the Seven Star?” Zach asked. “Why not just choose one of them downstairs? If you want a candidate, my brother would be good. Or that always grumbling Lord Orland if you favor the talented.”
“I’m afraid that is not possible,” Astabuen said. “The Seven Star is only for you and you only. I’ve waited this moment from the day I slumbered at the depth of this realm, and I will not fail.” Astabuen sounded resolute.
Zach lay on the floor and rested on the palms of his hands. The bird-bee hovered close to where Zach was as if it would not leave not until he get what he wanted.
“Speaking of the Seven Star, what else you can tell me about it without alerting whatever that might dispose of your existence,” Zach said.
The bird landed right beside Zach’s head with its bee-like wings folded behind its feathery back. If Zach could see the statue right now, he would have seen Astabuen smiling like an idiot, thinking that he got Zach hook, line, and sinker.
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“There was a time when I’m alive, thriving in a new world where the impossible is possible. I put in the effort every day and night, building myself to—”
“Wait, wait, wait,” Zach cut Astabuen off. “Why are you telling a story about yourself? Can’t you just jump to the part where it’s about the Seven Star?”
“…” Astabuen felt a bit down. He had been waiting to tell his story, hoping to inspire the next generation of the Seven Star. But alas, the new successor did not seem to be the most patient type.
“I was in the war. Fighting alongside my King against the cowardly effort of four other kingdoms. They allied themselves and pushed my sworn kingdom to the brink of extinction. By luck or perhaps misfortune in some sense, my King saved me from instant death, but not without sacrificing his own…” Astabuen suddenly sounded solemn. At first Zach wanted to cut him off again, but after listening the part where his King died, he let him be.
“I was carried by the rivers with dead corpses swept away,” Astabuen said. “I felt like dying at that point as if everything was meaningless including my effort, and my skills that I had honed. Yet the star shone the brightest in the darkness. When all hope had left me, a whirlpool formed under the Sunyane Falls. Sucking me inside as I thought I would drowned. But fortunately I lived. Unlike what I thought, the whirl did not lead me to the underworld as it brought me to a dungeon where the Seven Star resides…”
Astabuen further narrated of how he went through the dungeon facing life and death situations, one after another. He fought gruesome beast. He solved the trickiest puzzles, and in the end, he won against his nightmare. At the end of it all, the dungeon rewarded him, the greatest gift in his eyes. A unique class unknown by others, and only the lucky classless would stumble upon such miracle. He accepted it with ease, knowing that the class itself to some extent followed his philosophy, and he would not reject it, not when a chance of revenge laid upon his eyes.
The main merit of the Seven Star was that seven chosen skills would be enhanced as well as having a rapid growth rate. It was a boon for Astabuen, achieving the impossible as his seven skills which he dubbed as Seven Star proved to be a menace against those kingdoms that brought his late-King to his death.
“Not gonna lie, but that is impressive,” Zach said. Deep down, his heart told him to grab the chance, but his mind held him back. “But what’s the drawback? For something that powerful, I doubt it wouldn’t have any restriction.”
“…” the bird did not speak.
“So are you going to keep your silence, or are you going to at least persuade me,” Zach said.
“Do you remember the first time when you learn a skill?”
“Why? You mean the penalty?” Zach asked.
“Yes. For classless, the penalty impose on us for being able to learn everything under the sun is a slower rate growth. But the Seven Star, it’s much heavier,” Astabuen said. “Besides the seven skills that had been chosen as the seven stars, all other skills under your belt will have ten times the decrease in growth rate.”
“Ten times?” Zach could not hide his surprise. “That’s like minus a thousand percent. I doubt anyone has the lifespan to master any of the penalized skills.”
“It’s the law of cause and effect. You gain something, and you lose something,” Astabuen said.
“You said you slumber. So did you wake up because of me?” Zach asked.
“Indeed. Through an unspeakable method, the moment someone who is classless received his or her seventh skill, then I will awaken,” Astabuen said.
“But I have a question though, you said to know the reason behind this war is to become the sole ruler. So I’m assuming you failed, and dead. But how come you’re here, in the prelude realm. Does everyone else can return back and forth between this training ground to the real battlefield?” Zach said.
“Unfortunately no. My circumstances for being able to reside here as a soul is related with something that I could not speak at the moment,” Astabuen said.
“You’re relentless, I can tell you that,” Zach said. Despite still having a grudge over the abadoned incident, he still admired the Astabuen’s tenacity.
While he gazed at the cloudy blue sky as it would be a perfect time to doze for a nap. His mind busied with new questions as Astabuen provided him with much needed clarity.
“Thank you,” Astabuen said. Receiving the relentless comment as a compliment.
“But why the hassle though? Why torture yourself to sleep for who knows how many years or perhaps centuries just to deliver a gift to a person that may not be grateful or perhaps ignorant to the power behind such strength,” Zach said.
“I can assure you my successor. From the ongoing conversation we have, you are not the ungrateful type, and you’re surely not the ignorant,” Astabuen said. Sprinkling some sweet compliment to snag the bag.
“Pipe down the sweet words, I’m still thinking about it,” Zach said. Reminding Astabuen that he wasn’t on board yet with this Seven Star’s pitch. “But what I meant is what if it’s not me. What if it’s someone else?”
“No matter who it is, the succession must continue,” Astabuen said.
Zach picked up something in Astabuen’s tone of voice despite speaking through his mind. “My gut is telling me there’s something else about all of this. So what is it, Astabuen? What really drives you to make this succession a success?”
The silence was long between them both. Zach did not pester for Astabuen to answer as he took his time just lounging at the battlement, relaxing his body and mind. At the moment he did not care about the problems that plagued this wandering soul. For him he had no reason to meddle with Astabuen’s matters even at the cost of power.
Then Astabuen broke the silence.
“A condition will be applied to the new Seven Star. Unless he or she had the long term goal of enacting revenge on our behalf, then their skills would decline until the skills cease to exist, with no hope of gaining them back,” Astabuen said. Dropping a bomb by revealing something that should not be revealed. It was fool’s move if one could comment.
“I don’t know why you’re being truthful, but I appreciate it. Not like I don’t expect it to begin with,” Zach said.
“Thank you,” Astabuen said. His voice was a bit gloomier than before. “Successor, I’m afraid the mental connection needs to be severe for now. I need to recuperate, and slumber once more. And if you desire to come back, please come after a day or two.”
“Go on then,” Zach said. Waving his hand off at the bird-bee.
The subtle purplish glow on the bird-bee faded, and immediately the creature turned fierce as if meeting a predator. Its stinger went right for Zach’s face, but right before Zach could cut it down, an arrow pierced right through its torso, pinning it to the parapet. Seconds later, the bird-bee was dead.
Zach glanced and saw who it was.