“What… is this?” Blaze tried to touch the screen, but it just flickered. Then, another screen appeared.
[Time will return to normal in: 6 seconds]
That startled Blaze awake. There was an axe in front of his chest. Blaze scrambled away, noticing that he felt better.
[Blood has been restored.]
[Flesh has been restored.]
Blaze stared at his left arm, which had been ripped to shreds just seconds ago. It was like new. Then, time returned, just as the system had declared. The axe crashed right behind him. Blaze yelped and looked around, feeling numb. Sure, he had recovered, but how was he supposed to kill this beast now? Blaze spotted the rapier of the woman mage that had died.
“Why does a mage have a sword?” Blaze asked himself but didn’t truly mind. He hurled himself to the blade and grabbed the blade.
[Steel Rapier(Level 15)]
[+15 Attack, +10 Attack Speed]
“Attack, Attack Speed? What are those?” Those aren't cultivation aspects. There were 7 attributes in the cultivation core: Strength, Dexterity, Agility, Endurance, Vitality, Mana and Luck. You couldn’t actually spend any essence in luck, it just showed how lucky you were.
Blaze also spotted a gem shaped like a shard. It was blue and emitted mana. Blaze snatched it up.
[Skill: Mana Strike]
A skill shard. Blaze crushed the shard in his hand and felt mana enter his body. He sighed, then jumped as an axe barely missed him.
“Damn it!” Blaze scolded himself. How did he forget the giant orc behind him? Blaze felt a rune appear right on his soul and knew he had learned the skill. Blaze charged mana into the skill and the blade of the rapier started glowing with a faint blue light.
Blaze looked up at the orc, assessed its strength, then finally stole his resolve. He knew how to kill it. Blaze waited until the axe came down again. Then, when the axe crashed beside him, Blaze jumped on the axe and started running up the shaft. The orc had a dumbfounded expression as it watched Blaze running up his axe. Then, it shook its head and tried to grab Blaze. The hand shot towards him so fast it felt like a torpedo. Blaze ducked, then kept running.
Finally he reached the neck of the beast. Blaze grabbed the neck and swung himself to the back of the beast. Then, using the sword as a saw, he started to cut the orc’s neck. The skin was as hard as steel because of the endurance stat but steadily Blaze started to make progress. The orc wasn’t just going to sit still, however. The orc roared in outrage and tried to grab Blaze.
Blaze, however, didn’t let that happen. He kept cutting and cutting. The orc finally let himself fall, planning to crush Blaze. Good. Blaze climbed on the head of the orc and stabbed its eye. The orc roared in pain and rage. Blaze, in return, stabbed its other eye. The orc, now blind, started flailing, trying to hit Blaze.
“How am I doing this?” Blaze asked himself. He couldn’t handle two level 1 wolves before but now he was beating a level 50 orc. Blaze kept sawing until he finally reached the neck bone, then charged the blade with mana. And with one clean swing, he decapitated the orc.
Torrential amounts of essence flooded Blaze and he started coughing.
[Quest: “Risk and Reward” has been completed]
[A companion has been assigned to you!]
[A familiar has been assigned to you!]
[The system greets you!]
[You have leveled up! Level 2]
[You have leveled up! Level 3]
…
[You have leveled up! Level 13]
Blaze panted heavily as he stared at the storm of messages. Then, he felt a sharp pain in his mind. Screaming, he fell to his knees.
[Kid, if you keep screaming in my head, I’m going to blow your head up.] A voice rang in his mind.
“W-what?” Blaze asked.
[To think I, Igram, the Harbinger of Chaos, would be assigned to a twirp.] The voice sighed. The absolute insanity of the situation snapped Blaze out of his daze.
“You’re a voice in my head, you can’t even sigh.” Blaze told it.
[Don’t play smart with me.] Igram scolded.
Blaze snorted in incredulity, then decided he didn’t want to stay in this dungeon. He ran through the forest, ran through the gate and jogged to the Delver reception building.
“Who are you, anyway?” Blaze thought. Since the voice was in his head, it might be able to hear his thoughts.
[I am Igram, trialuscus of planet Etraim, and was once also blessed by the system. I have reached unimaginable power now and decided to help the system by assisting its chosen.]
That… was insane. An entirely different planet?
[Of course another planet. Where do you think the dungeons lead to? They bring you to other worlds, of course.]
As Blaze reached the Delver reception building, thoughts churned in his mind. Entirely different worlds?
“... 64% cultivation.” A woman was just saying. Blaze watched James slumping on the desk and muttering: “Damn it.”
“Calm down, I’m fine.” Blaze said. James whirled around and stared at Blaze as if he was a ghost.
“Blaze! You’re alive. Why… you leveled up.” James stared at Blaze dumbfounded.
“I need some rest. Is there any place I could do that?” Blaze asked. That snapped James back to the real world.
“O-of course, my house is down the street.” James let Blaze lean on him and carried him out of the building.
[Who is this, your father?] Igram asked. Blaze stiffened.
“My family is dead.” Blaze thought coldly. For once, the voice didn’t respond.
****
James laid Blaze on the couch and moved to the kitchen.
“Wait.” Blaze called. “About your party…” James waved his hand dismissively.
“No connections. We just grouped up for the dungeon.”
“Oh, does that mean I can keep this blade?” Blaze asked and lifted the rapier. James snorted a laugh, then went into the kitchen.
“I’ll make us some tea.” Blaze nodded, then stared up. So, he couldn’t see the system screens.
Name: Blaze Harrow
Level: 13
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Class: -
HP: 220/220
MP: 124/140 (4/min MP)
Strength: 4
Agility: 5
Dexterity: 4
Endurance: 3
Vitality: 6
Mana: 2
Luck: 1000 (Max)
Free points: 42
Skills: Mana Strike (Lv.1), Karmic Sense (Lv. Max)
Blaze stared at the status screen in wonder. It was like a video game. He had never played one but he knew how they should look.
“Free points?” Blaze asked Igram.
[Ah, yes. Do you know what cultivation percentages are?] Blaze nodded.
[Well, the system gives you a 100% cultivation.] Blaze blanked out. 100% was insane. That was the level of legends.
[Your expression is priceless, kid.]
“Shut up.” Blaze thought, then noticed something else.
“Why do I have so much luck? I’m pretty sure I am the unluckiest here.” Blaze thought.
[You got the system interface, don’t you? And luck comes in many ways. My luck comes in challenging enemies always attacking me. Another might always stumble on treasure. Everyone’s luck is different.]
Blaze was silent for a minute, then started allocating his free points.
Strength: 11
Agility: 13
Dexterity: 10
Endurance: 10
Vitality: 10
Mana: 12
Luck: 1000 (Max)
Blaze felt a wave of power. It was addicting. Then, he checked the [Karmic Sense].
[Karmic Sense (Lv. Max)]
[Sense the intentions and emotions of others]
[This skill doesn’t use mana]
This was insane. He had been a level 1 weakling just moments before. Blaze felt alive.
James walked in at that moment and sat down next to him on a chair with two mugs of tea. Blaze thanked the man and sipped at the tea. It tasted oddly like vinegar.
“Vinegar?” Blaze asked.
“Vinegar is used with many potions. It oddly amplifies mind magic. This brew is made to calm nerves. Just in case.” That was nice of James and Blaze sipped at the tea again gratefully.
“So, can you tell me what happened in the dungeon?” James asked. “It looks like you killed it, seeing as you’re already level 13.”
So Blaze retold the story from as soon as James had left. He left out the part with the system however, saying that he had never been hit. When Blaze concluded his story, James patted Blaze on his back.
“You, my friend, are truly amazing.” Then, he got up and went over to a desk, sighing as he sat down.
“I got to make a full report of what happened in the dungeon, is it fine if I also put your story in?” Blaze just nodded, then finished his tea. It was clearly working, as Blaze felt calm even though he had just barely avoided death.
Then, he stood up and stretched.
“Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. Porter. I will leave now.” But just before Blaze opened the door, James called out: “Blaze!”
Blaze turned and looked at James: “Yes?”
“I’m sorry, for leaving you behind.” Blaze just smiled.
“Nothing to apologize about, sir. Any life is worth as much as the other.”
****
Blaze sighed as he reached his home, a treehouse. Blaze had made this as a little boy with his father, when he was still alive. Now, this place became a reminder of what would happen if another dungeon broke loose. Blaze sighed and jumped to grab hold of the ladder… only to fly all the way up to the treehouse. This startled Blaze and we lost his balance, falling back down. Only it didn’t hurt. It seemed that his stats were already in effect.
Blaze couldn’t believe that he had the power of a level 19 warrior even at level 13 since of his 100% cultivation. Blaze jumped back up to the treehouse, a faint smile on his lips. He had already moved on from his parent’s death but he still mourned them.
Blaze stepped into the small space and sat down on his bed, sighing. Then, he opened his inventory. This was another feature of the system. It let him store an indefinite amount of items in an extra dimensional space.
[Inventory]:
- 1x Dragon Egg
- 1x Steel Rapier (Level 15)
- 5,156 Dollars
James had paid Blaze even though the dungeon hadn’t been cleared. He probably felt guilty and since Blaze didn’t want to make it hard for him, he had accepted the money.Blaze pulled out the dragon egg. The system had said it would give him a familiar. Blaze hadn’t expected a dragon, though. It was black with white specks and emitted a dense aura. Blaze laid it on the bed and wrapped it with blankets, trying to keep it warm.
When that was done, Blaze opened his quest screen next.
[Quests]:
- Risk and Reward (Unique) [Completed] (Rewards pending)
- Monster Slayer (Daily)
Blaze looked at the Monster Slayer quest.
[Quest: Monster Slayer]
[If they want to invade your world, they have to get past you first]
[Quest: Slay 0/100 Beasts of your level or higher]
[Reward: +1 Free point]
Interesting but since Blaze wasn’t in the mood of risking his life again, he turned to the first quest.
[Rewards from Quest: “Risk and Reward” are pending. Do you wish to claim rewards?]
[Yes/No]
“Yes.” Blaze said and the screen disappeared. In his hand, a skill shard formed. Blaze grinned and tried to analyze it.
[Skill: Mana Manipulation]
Mana Manipulation. It was an extremely popular skill since it allowed the user to make anything out of mana. Blaze grinned and crushed the crystal. He felt another rune appear on his soul and asked himself if there was a limit of how many skills he could possess. But that was a problem for another day. Since it was still morning, Blaze decided to take on a dungeon after all. Who knew, he might actually get good at this.
****
Blaze dodged the rushing figure of a bear with ease. Blaze had never felt more alive and stabbed the bear’s right lung with his new rapier. It went through the level 13 skin with ease.
[You have slain Angry Bear(Level 13/Normal)]
Blaze grinned and stored the dead bear in his inventory, then moved on. Blaze had entered a level 13 dungeon after reevaluating his level at the delver’s association. Blaze now moved with far more confidence, which proved to be the main factor of why he had lacked combat skills before. He had never trusted in his ability to fight. Now that he did, he was like the grim reaper, slaying beasts quickly. Blaze checked his daily quest progress.
[Quest: Slay 78/100 beasts of your level or higher]
Blaze grinned and continued to stalk through the forest. Now that Blaze had actually gone through many dungeons, he started to find it funny that every single dungeon he had ever delved was actually a forest type dungeon. Blaze chuckled to himself, comparing himself with the meek and scared figure he had been just this morning. How do people change so much because of one thing? How did I adapt so quickly?
Igram had told him to only call him if necessary, so the voice was dormant for now. He wondered how the trialuscus, a race of humanoids with three eyes, with the third eye being able to read minds, had reacted when the system had revealed itself in front of him.
Blaze also wondered if he would ever meet a trialuscus in a dungeon, though Blaze thought of that as unlikely. Even if he did, in respect of his companion, Blaze wouldn’t attack them. Unless he absolutely had to, of course. The world wasn’t kind nor forgiving.
After a while, Blaze finished the quest and allocated his free point into Dexterity.
Dexterity: 11
And finally, Blaze reached the boss room. It was a cave with a massive bear sitting inside it, sleeping.
[Berserker Bear (Level 13/Boss)]
Bosses had a 75% cultivation from what Blaze had heard. Luckily for him, Blaze had a 100% cultivation. How handy. Blaze gripped his blade hard, then dashed toward the beast. It woke up as soon Blaze stepped into the cave and roared. But Blaze was already upon the beast and started to ferociously stab it. The beast roared and threw Blaze off, trying to bite his head off. But Blaze was too fast and dodged the attack, slicing a deep gash on the side of the bear.
The bear roared again, then started to glow red. This was bad and Blaze had to take care of it quickly. So, Blaze acted on instinct and used [Mana Manipulation]. A blade of mana extended from his already long blade and chopped down at the bear’s neck. But it dodged the attack and completed its berserker state. Then, throwing all tactics out of the window, it barreled towards Blaze. Yelping, Blaze dodged to the side. In the berserker state, the beast would get a 50% stat boost, setting it higher than Blaze’s. Blaze wasn’t worried though. He jumped. He reached the top of the cave and grabbed onto a stalactite. Then, when the bear was just under him, he let himself drop. Falling on the bear, he stabbed the saber straight through the bear’s brain. It died fairly quickly.
[You have defeated Berserker Bear(Level 13/Boss)]
[Mana Manipulation has leveled up! Level 2]
[You have leveled up! Level 14]
Leveled up already? Nice. Blaze allocated the free points to Endurance. He liked rounded out stats. So, after storing the body of the beast, he harvested every mineral that could be found in the dungeon. Blaze liked that he didn’t need a carrier to carry everything for him. It let him move faster.
Blaze was starting to love the system. Blaze had a big grin as he left the dungeon, the gate crumbling to dust behind him. His smile disappeared when he saw the official looking people standing in front of him.
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