[Class Leveled Up: Watchful Slaughterer (Level 101) -> (Level 134)]

  [Total Stats Gained: +32 Physical, +17 Mental, +17 Spiritual, +17 Magical]

  [Skill Leveled Up: Good Samaritan (113) -> (138)]

  [Skill Leveled Up: Meaningful (59) -> (70)]

  [Skill Leveled Up: Growing Rage (231) -> (235)]

  [Skill Leveled Up: Solidity (124) -> (133)]

  [Skill Leveled Up: Fortress of Denial (61) -> (65)]

  [Skill Leveled Up: Homeostasis (160) -> (182)]

  [Skill Leveled Up: Meditation (167) -> (173)]

  [Skill Leveled Up: Identify of the Stout Protector (100) -> (114)]

  [Skill Leveled Up: Fine-Tooth Comb (61) -> (64)]

  [Skill Leveled Up: In Tune (36) -> (62)]

  Dei sat upon a small pile of bodies. It was the only stable ground around, the only place he could stop with his mini-hops to prevent himself from falling down into the water.

  [Since the Fall: 1/29/810 - 16:44:21]

  Three days had passed and he was most of the way through the fourth. His enemy could show up at any moment, so for now, Dei simply rested. Most of his minds took naps, but at this point he was close to fully rested. He’d been sitting around for about twenty hours by this point, after all.

  He’d collected all the bodies he created in a large clearing, sitting on them. This dissuaded any larger predator to challenge him because it was a rather threatening sight, and Fendrascora cleared out any of the bugs that got too close.

  In the time that he was here, he expected the Spirit Frog or whatever it was to attack him. He was, after all, releasing copious amounts of incredibly dense soul mana when he was cut, but it was completely silent. Fendrascora tended to pull the mana from the air, delivering it right back to him.

  Perumah was silent through most of it, either nervous or apathetic about their current situation, and Clever continued to practice reading timelines during combat. He was getting good at it too, and good at warning Dei.

  Clever hadn’t pulled out any of the stronger spells he’d supposedly been working on but Dei was fine with that. He should save his strength anyway.

  Clever was getting a bit large too, finally the full length of Dei’s arm. Now that he thought about it, Dei was also getting large. He had to be close to his full height by this point, as he was around seven feet tall now. His body had gone through one more growth spurt, maybe in preparation for the fight.

  He wasn’t really sure how aware his Skills were, or if they were sometimes controlled or directed by him subconsciously. His [Growing Pains] Skill, when he had it, hadn’t begun to artificially make him age until after he was abandoned and needed to do so or die. Did it make him bigger now because he was going into a fight? To give him more muscles? Was it just maturing him to make those muscles denser? He didn’t know.

  He sat completely still. Waiting, listening for anything. It was an oft-neglected part of raising his Physical stat. His muscles weren’t the only thing to increase, his hearing did too. All his senses did. It just so happened that he usually had better ways of detecting things than hearing them, and the first thing most monsters took care of when sneaking around were more mundane tells.

  He continued to bide his time by removing the marks on his soul. Why not? If he couldn’t win here, he’d have to run. Maybe get away.

  Again, for the hundredth time in the last day, he checked his Interface. The final version he would have until after the fight.

  [Name: Dei Grrata

  Race: Union (Gem Dweller Variant)

  Class: Watchful Slaughterer (Level 134)

  Profession: Pondering Sage (Level 17)

  Achievements: Void Walker, Soulspeak, Beyond Understanding, No Rulers Above All, Bearing the Burden, Slayer of Giants IV, Cruelty of the Slaughter (II), Dammit, Slaughterer, Untethered, Risky Business, Golden Voice and Silver Tongue

  Contracts: Soul of the (IIIIIIII), Deal of the Almost-Dunce

  Soul Strength: 387/387

  HP: 387/387

  MP: 129/129

  SP: 258/258

  Stats:

  Physical: 129

  Mental: 78

  Spiritual: 116

  Magical: 79

  Affinities:

  Kindness: High-Rare: 99%

  Wrath: Low-Rare: 99%

  Soul: Mid-Uncommon: 20%

  Fortitude: Low-Rare: 54%

  Void: Mid-Common: 72%

  Inner Skills:

  Kindness: Pandora’s Box (Sealed) (300) (11547/12000), Call for Help (71), Good Samaritan (138), Meaningful (70)

  Wrath: Growing Rage (235)

  Soul: Empower Self (27), Connection (10)

  Fortitude: Solidity (133), Fortress of Denial (65)

  Business: Value Sense

  Health: Homeostasis (182)

  Mana: Meditation (173)

  Stamina: Disconnect (59)

  Confluence: Identify of the Stout Protector (114), Pandora’s Box (Unleashed) (2)

  Outer Skills:

  How About a Demonstration?, Fine-Tooth Comb (64), Vigilance (100), In Tune (62), Commune with the Universe (2), High Mind (100)]

  [Pandora’s Box:

  9079/12000 Wrath

  28/12000 Kindness

  63/12000 Soul

  948/12000 Fortitude

  1150/12000 [NULL] ]

  199/12000 Void

  80/12000 Tracking]

  The full thing was a lot, but he thought that was good. More versatility and power were always welcome.

  Resisting the urge to fidget, he was about to go back to removing his tracking marks when he felt it.

  A rumble.

  He was afraid to release a full [Soul Echo] pulse right before the fight simply because he didn’t want to attract other monsters' attention, but he didn’t need to. Looking up, he could hear tunnels collapsing, and the shaking intensified.

  His hunters were not following the maze of tunnels. They were taking a straight line, smashing through everything.

  The entire bog slowly quieted down as the shaking intensified, animal calls going quiet and the sloshing of movement through the water being put to pause.

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  Another crash, the violent shaking of an earthquake, and Dei tensed.

  He stared at the ceiling and the rumbles stopped for only a moment, before a thunderous crack rang out. Up above, he could see the exact point they would enter through as the stone began to give way. Another impact, and the hard stone finally fell through. A torrent of dust, stone, and dirt obscured whatever caused the collapse, but he didn’t need to see his enemy when he could feel them.

  When Dei had [Tremor Sense], he was perpetually receiving passive feedback of all the vibrations around him. With [Soul Echo], that passive information had gone away. He’d assumed it was something unique to him, a signal only he could see or hear.

  How wrong he’d been.

  While none of the monsters in the area could detect it, to him a second explosion went off as the sheer presence of his enemy hit his detection Skill.

  It screamed not with its mouth, but with its very soul. It roared in fury and pain, in torment and agony. It’d come to collect a debt and the only payment it knew was in blood, death, and hate.

  He felt something attempt to suppress him but fail, encountering his own sturdiness and, oddly, his blessing. The blessing of Wrath, [No Rulers Above All]

  It let others know you had been recognized by Wrath, and made Wrath users feel inferior. What hit him now was that same recognition, from another angle.

  His enemy, too, had been recognized by Wrath, and in the eyes of their affinity, they stood equal.

  Of course, neither even considered that as a possibility. One stood above the other, it was only a matter of course to find which it was.

  Dei had hoped to at least try and solve this diplomatically, but he realized now there was nothing to say. His enemy wanted him dead as much as he wanted to live. He didn’t even think Fendrascora was relevant to the equation anymore within the storm of pain that was this creature's soul.

  The rubble fell halfway to the ground when he saw the figure within launch itself off one of the larger pieces, directly at him.

  At last, he could see his enemy. The one who now hunted him, and it was only one. There were no others. It would be Dei versus this enemy, and he only felt cold recognition when he saw the face.

  He was correct. All those months ago when he first dug through Fendrascora’s memory, he’d seen a man driven to insanity after losing it all in the destruction of his village. When it came to guessing who would be hunting him, this man was at the top of his list of candidates.

  He was almost unchanged. The clean shaven face twisted in rage, the bloodshot eyes, even the polished grey armor and sword, it was like he’d been transported back into that one moment. Dei was physically larger than him and with thicker muscles, but he wouldn’t assume he was stronger.

  The force of the man's soul continued to strengthen into an overbearing tide as he got closer and closer, Dei crouched low, taking a wide stance as he readied himself for the clash.

  They’d discussed for a while what, exactly, they would do in the case of different enemies. If it was a singular powerful enemy, they had agreed on a singular powerful opening attack. Perumah in his left hand, Dei bunched his right into a fist.

  He’d charged convection mana as far as his body would take it, and his blood would have begun to boil had Fendrascora not calmed it to keep him alive. The Snap mana sat right in his knuckles. He wouldn’t need to physically Snap, a powerful punch would not only suffice, it would increase the force of the final explosion.

  Clever charged his beam. His full beam. He usually tried to hold back some to retain a small amount of heat, for safety's sake, but he said he was more confident in quickly reversing time before the effects hit him. Not only that, but the internal fire within him continued to build for however long he hadn’t used it. He said that he couldn’t release it all in one burst any longer, but could instead maintain the beam for a time.

  Fendrascora’s job was simple: Keep Dei Alive. She had enough rations to last years and would monitor his nutrients, water, and calorie levels. She would stitch him back together to let his healing Skills repair him when he broke apart. She would try and absorb some of the force from his muscles, the force that caused him to rip himself to pieces when going all out. He would be going all out this time, no longer conserving his power, and he trusted Fendrascora to make sure he didn’t shatter his bones and kill himself.

  Perumah’s effects would be more internal, releasing a shredding Heart-based soul attack that would cause their enemies' emotions to rip itself to pieces, taking the soul down with it.

  The plan flashed through his head one more time as the man fell towards him. The man didn’t even bother to pull his sword out, a tool most likely forgotten in his blind rage. Instead, he reached out, open palmed, in an attempt to strangle Dei.

  The exact moment the man was within seven feet of Dei, having still not touched the ground, Dei cast Identify.

  The needle touched upon his enemies soul for only a moment, and Dei gleaned two pieces of information as he brought his fist forward, dodging under the mans wild grasp to instead punch him in the chest.

  [LEVEL - 142

  EDWARD OF RAGE]

  His eye twitched as the needle collapsed moments after entering the man's soul, sending a violent backlash as a wall of Rage mana attacked him but was quickly suppressed. Dei saw from the level this wasn’t some incredible, overpowered, over leveled man. It was… a random person. Potentially a civilian, coming to seek retribution for the loved ones lost.

  ‘I am sorry. I see within you… there is no other way.’

  He did not pull his punch, nor did he stop the explosion that emanated from his fist as the heat violently exited his body. His blood went from boiling to nearly ice cold, as a crack ruptured his eardrums and shattered his arm.

  Fendrascora prevented the pieces from flying off, quickly pulling them back into place, as the man was sent rocketing backwards- now with a hole in his chest where the heart should be.

  Perumah did not care, releasing her attack anyway. He felt the mans presence flare and sputter as he was dealt lethal soul damage, his Rage killing him. Finally, Dei was blinded as the world turned red. Clevers beam was almost perfectly efficient, with little to no leakage. Despite that, the blisters on Dei’s skin showed just how much heat was packed within the blast. Dei shielded Perumah with his body as Fendrascora covered her, all according to plan.

  The beam lasted for six full seconds before it disappeared, and Clever instantly flickered, returning to his full heat.

  The Korgonda’s head drooped on his shoulder, but Dei resisted the urge to pet him, instead looking for any sign of the man, Edward.

  There was none.

  He wished he could say that he was surprised, but he wasn’t. He had two level three hundred monsters- if you included Fendrascora at her full strength- on his side, a Korgonda that could fire plasma, and a powerfully curse-infused body on his side. Against a single man? One not even past two hundred? It was no contest.

  And yet… as he stood there, no notification was forthcoming. Did he perhaps not kill him, but Clever incinerating the man did? Were Dei’s contributions too minor?

  Then he felt it- the silent roar of infinity. The unending, undying flame.

  Edward of Rage.

  Before his very eyes, Dei saw a flickering figure return. Floating in the air, right where his body once was, Dei saw flesh force itself into existence.

  Nerves, bones, muscles. The lungs formed before the rib cage was fully enclosed, before the heart was even born once more. Before the brain even came into existence, Edward forced his voice to exist for he only had one purpose.

  To rage

  From his position within the air, Edward let out a scream of pure hatred as he twisted his still-forming skull to face Dei.

  Dei saw eyes born into existence, connected to nothing as the brain had still yet to heal; they contained an unending sea of pure scorn.

  Edward rebuilt his body from scratch, and Dei could see the soul rapidly regenerating. After four seconds hovering in the air, he fell down to the cold bog below. His muscles weren’t fully formed, much less his skin, before he was plunged fully into the muck.

  Dei and his companions should have capitalized on his weakness, but they were simply stunned into silence. None of them knew that such a thing was possible. Dei had spent the last four days massacring monsters over level one hundred and seventy, even a few level two hundreds…

  But he knew that levels did not tell the full story. He, too, was an example of such a case. He simply hadn’t run into anyone else that could match his power per level, pound for pound. That would change today.

  He emerged from below in a spray of water, whole once more. Not only in flesh and blood, but even his armor was back. Every detail, down to the shine, was perfectly recreated as any mud sticking to him singed black before falling apart, scattering to the wind.

  Another gurgling scream cleared the water in Edwards throat as he threw himself at Dei once more. It was only now that a new thought occurred to Dei, one of his opponents variant.

  He was clearly a surface human, a Prime human to be specific. Humans known for their unending endurance.

  Dei assumed they would simply be able to run further or last longer in confrontations, same as the humans of his previous world. When magic came into play though, that tool became something else entirely.

  Prime humans endured. When they evolved into existence in his previous world, they succeeded by outlasting how far their prey could run.

  With magic this became more than simple efficiency. It became more than sweat glands, more than constant walking or for days and nights. More than chasing down a mammoth until it collapsed.

  In this world, to endure… it took on new meaning as he saw Edward charge in for round two.