Chris worked with fervor as he cleaned and rearranged a few of the pillars, stones, and metal pikes. It had to be kept perfect at all times as the materials absorbed the necessary energy from the celestial objects above through the ritual.
The entire area was walled off and sealed away behind several one-way barriers to keep everyone out but still allow energy in. This entire project was a fickle one that required a lot of precision, and Chris had needed help from several talented builders, including Hank, to assist him.
Even Neil had come by to help calibrate and make sure everything with the magic circle seemed correct and helped Chris finish some parts he did not have the expertise to do himself. Not that Chris really had any idea what the fuck he was actually doing; he was just following directions and doing what he was told. All in the name of the Malefic One.
After he had received the blessing from the Malefic Viper and learned of Lord Thayne’s identity, his life had entirely changed. Before, he never really had any direction but was just another faceless survivor in his own mind. It was hard to establish yourself as “someone” in the new world, especially as every person of note was just so different from him.
Abby and Donald had both been utter shitbags, but they had also been powerful and rather talented in their demented ways. Miranda was extremely good at her job; Lillian was this weird, overly neutral person who never really displayed any emotions but just performed her tasks flawlessly. Honestly, she was the only other woman in Abby and Donald’s gang who was not elderly who had managed to avoid his attention, probably because of that personality and the face she herself had chosen to scar and never heal. Even now, she chose to keep it scarred for some reason.
Lord Thayne was not even worth mentioning when it came to outstanding individuals; he was the Chosen of a Primordial, after all. Neil and his party had once been enemies Chris had chased together with Abby and were individuals who had stood up to her. Neil had even beaten her in sheer talent with space magic to get the legendary item they had been fighting over.
Hank was a good builder… but out of everyone in Haven, there was one individual that stood out in his mind more than anyone – besides Lord Thayne, of course.
That was Arnold. Chris did not get the guy, but he was a savant who continuously created new things without any pause. Having helped build parts of his workshop, Chris had seen some of the things he had been up to, and it was just ridiculous.
He had launched a fucking satellite or something a little while ago, for fuck’s sake. Chris had no idea how the hell he had managed that with how their new planet worked and especially what was in the sky. Chris knew the sky was another world in its own right, with monsters up there none could beat. The atmosphere should also be able to destroy most things that tried to pass through it, yet the guy had seemed to get through and launch something into space.
Chris was thrown out of his train of thought as he got a response from one of his skills, making him aware one of the stones was fully charged and had to be moved. He did so, and while Chris had no idea how the monument or ritual circle or whatever he was making did what it did, he knew what it was meant for.It was a gate. A way to establish a connection between another universe and their own, or in simpler terms, it was a way for the Chosen to leave Earth and go to the Order of the Malefic Order, and only to the Order. Well, he could go where he wanted from there, but this monument would only connect to a corresponding ritual circle or something on the other side. This was not a teleportation circle per se but was more like an odd kind of ritual only created for the Chosen, making use of his connection to the Malefic One as a Chosen. This had lowered the requirements significantly, apparently. Lord Thayne would be able to function as a beacon and allow the circle to activate to teleport anyone within. Chris had tried to understand it at first but had given up long ago.
Many people would probably be a bit miffed at getting forced into creating something so tedious as this monument, but Chris was happy just to get the opportunity. It made him someone… it made him feel useful. Also, while it was a bit selfish and had nothing to do with his task, it allowed him to get closer to his crush, Louise. No one had told him who he could ask for help, right? And he sucked at drawing, so he needed someone to draw the plans anyway.
It is a great excu- eh, reason, the young builder affirmed to himself.
He had no regrets as it had landed him a date with her later that day so they both could take a break. Chris had always been a bit scared of her father, Hank, but that fear had disappeared the day after he had gained his blessing. Okay, he was still a bit afraid, but for different reasons than the man’s power.
The day after he had been blessed, the Malefic One had spoken to him directly. Chris could barely remember the words as he still recalled the mind-shattering pain he felt at the connection that was made between them. The command had still been received, but for a moment, Chris had felt the true aura of the Malefic Viper, and it was something he was in two minds about.
On the one hand, he had never felt something so awe-inspiring. He did not know if it was because it was his first time feeling a god or if it was due to the blessing. Chris wanted to experience that feeling again from the bottom of his heart. However, at the same time, the lingering fear that came afterward and the feeling of being so insignificant couldn’t leave him, like he had been a moth before the sun itself. It was an insurmountable difference Chris had no hope to ever overcome.
But… now that sun had given him a purpose; one he would strive his fullest to make a reality. To pay back Lord Thayne, Haven, and the Malefic One.
Once more, he was thrown out of his thoughts as his skill responded again, making him do the final rearrangement of the day. He smiled as he placed a hand on a large pillar and felt the response.
Soon it will be ready, he grinned as he prepared to head off for his evening date with Louise. He looked down at his clothes and saw them stained and dirty from not having left this monument site for the last three days.
But first, a shower and some new clothes… I should also get her something…
Jake sat in meditation as his body recovered, the hole to the small tunnel he had carved himself sealed off with the corpses of termites. Another two days had passed since his first encounter with an Isoptera Queen, meaning yes, there were multiple.
So far, Jake had killed three of them and a few thousand weak D-grade termites too. By now, Jake was beginning to realize truly a “feature” of the system, if you could call it that. It was something he had believed was there but had never really confirmed: diminishing returns.
Clearing the first biodome had earned him a level by killing the Queen and the three Guards there, but since then he had only gained two more levels even if he had killed two more Queens, ten Guards, and thousands of the weaker variants of termites, about a hundred and twenty of them having given experience as they were above his own level.
*’DING!’ Class: [Avaricious Arcane Hunter] has reached level 150 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*
*’DING!’ Race: [Human (D)] has reached level 149 - Stat points allocated, +15 Free Points*
*’DING!’ Class: [Avaricious Arcane Hunter] has reached level 151 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*
*’DING!’ Class: [Avaricious Arcane Hunter] has reached level 152 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*
*’DING!’ Race: [Human (D)] has reached level 150 - Stat points allocated, +15 Free Points*
Jake felt uncertain if this lack of experience gained was solely because he kept killing the same type of enemy or because the fights got progressively easier as he now knew how they acted and took advantage of that.
The first Queen had been the “hardest,” if one could even call it hard at all. This was also considering the two next ones had all five Guards in their chambers. Yes, Jake had confirmed that each Queen had five Guards each, and he had a feeling they were spawns or summons of the Queen herself. Ectognamorphs, as these termites were classified as, were a race with many unique properties, and their natural build-in social structure was one of them, giving them some special abilities.
As he meditated, he focused on pure regeneration as he went over his status and placed his Free Points, now having decided to go back to investing in Perception again. As he looked over his status page – something he rarely did - a single skill entered his eyes.
[Basic One-Handed Weapons (Inferior)]
Why hasn’t it been upgraded yet? Jake wondered as he stared at it. Was it perhaps to do with his other melee skill?
[Basic Twin-Fang Style (Uncommon)]
He had both of them, but did they even interfere with each other? Jake wasn’t sure; he just knew it was weird to still have an inferior rarity skill. It was his only inferior rarity skill, and with how well he managed to do in melee combat, it really shouldn’t exist from his point of view.
Considering he was still just meditating, he entered his Soulspace. He felt his presence shift, and his senses disappeared as he opened his eyes within it. After giving a wave to the sleeping cocoon of arcane strings containing the Chimera, he summoned a blade of pure arcane energy.
Jake stood with it in his hand and swung it a few times, but it just felt off. He then switched it up and summoned two arcane daggers. With those, he had some idea how to move, a few easy combos and feints, and he knew some generally good ways to stab people. All that knowledge was no doubt from Twin-Fang Style.
Back with a sword again, it still didn’t feel right. Jake kept swinging it and making some moves, but he felt stiff. He knew he was just swinging the sword, and his combos were more based on movie choreography than any real fighting technique.
He imitated the methods of Twin-Fang Style with two swords next, but that also felt a bit off. Wondering what was wrong, he suddenly got an idea.
With a mental command, he unwound the string of mana binding the Chimera of pure curse energy. It was still just sleeping when he did so, so Jake was forced to poke it. He made the ground around it move as he created an encapsulated arena with him and the creature within.
Finally waking up, it quickly identified him as it disappeared. The massive form appeared right in front of Jake, and finally, he reacted. He dodged as he swept his blade up and cut the Chimera. It didn’t really do anything besides making Jake frown.
It kept trying to eat him as Jake dodged and attacked again and again, purposefully not actually doing anything harmful to the Chimera as his weapons just phased through. This kept going as his frown deepened more and more until finally, he got it.
“Thanks, mate,” Jake said as he waved his hand and trapped the Chimera again. Dispelling the arena he had created, Jake went back to standing with the blade himself.
He had recalled something the best melee combatant he had ever met said to him. During the first phase of the duel with the Sword Saint, the old man had said something that only really clicked now. He had commented on how it was evident Jake had no experience with cold weapons, which was true, but he had also added:
“I must admit… seeing you fight and facing you is very different. It is like being hounded by a beast that turns into a specter just when you think it has overextended.”
Put together, the intent was clear: “You do not know how to fight, but you fight well regardless.”
The problem was that Jake was not fighting with skill. He was fighting with instinct. He knew where to hit when an enemy attacked him. Not because he was a skilled fighter but because he sensed the weakness in his enemy. He knew when to dodge because he felt killing intent and saw the attack with his sphere, not because he had studied footwork or read and analyzed his opponent’s style.
There was no knowledge involved. No skill, hence no skill rarity. It suddenly made a lot of sense that Jake genuinely felt awkward just standing there with a sword. Deep in his mind, it was because it felt off. It was like shooting his bow into thin air without a target or a goal - like manipulating mana without intent… like beast swingings its claws into empty air.
Beasts did not need to learn how to fight by practicing their weapons. They knew how to fight by default, and they improved by fighting. Jake was the same. He had gotten better at fighting, but that was his decision-making and control skills, not his instincts, and him just adding more fighting methods. It was related to the final part of what the Sword Saint said had said: “-hounded by a beast that turns into a specter just when you think it has overextended.”
This was because while he fought like a beast, he still had the mind of a human, able to know if he was baited or feinted – at least most of the time. Even if he didn’t catch the feint, one also had to remember that there perhaps was no beast out there matching Jake’s bestial instincts.
Jake also remembered something that made him feel dumb for not thinking about it earlier. He recalled his D-grade class evolution and one of the options there. Bestial Alpha Hunter. He searched his memory as he remembered the description of it.
Bestial Alpha Hunter – You stand before the beasts like their kin and show yourself the alpha. You do not need the finesse and techniques developed by the enlightened ones but are more than happy to rely on your instincts. A class focused primarily on melee combat, you prefer to use basic weaponry, if any at all, relying on your high perception and reaction times to dominate the battle.
The system had directly told Jake that he was not using techniques or finesse. Told him he had disregarded the very basis of human fighting techniques.
This also made him reflect on Villy’s words when Jake had asked about melee combat after his fight with the Sword Saint. Villy had recommended Jake to switch to shorter weapons, making them closer to his body… probably to make them closer to natural weapons over external ones.
Jake also began to understand why he couldn’t “feel” the weapons at all. His recognition of what was his body was simply too intimate for him. Perhaps Jake would do well as someone like Carmen, who used her fists. But that would only work if he didn’t also use poisons, which made stabbing and cutting attacks borderline mandatory parts of his arsenal.
But… even if he understood why the Viper had said what he had said and even saw the logic in his words, Jake liked the shape of the Nanoblade. It just fit in his hand, and even in moments of being heavily influenced by Eternal Hunger, that is the shape he had defaulted to. A long, almost overly-thin single-ended blade without any real noticeable handle just appealed to him.
He kept experimenting a bit more within his Soulspace but found no real progress. However, at least he had a path now and a direction to explore. It probably wasn’t something he was going to “fix” in a day, but the realization was not any less critical nonetheless.
Jake exited meditation as he stood up within his makeshift hiding place, his resources fully replenished after meditating for a few hours. With a blast of arcane mana, he blew away all of the dead termites blocking the entrance to hide him as he headed onwards.
The reason he had been adamant about being in top form before the next area was because of the aura he felt from it. It was the same intense mana density as other biodomes but at a higher level, making him certain it was a breeding chamber.
But more importantly, he felt the aura of a C-grade.
Jake went forward as he prepared himself for his first real fight with a real C-grade, barely able to contain his excitement at the prospect.