The ride out of town was quiet.

Ragachi and I were saddled onto Percy’s back, while Bea rode on Pan, the little pegasus.

We had left just before midday, taking with us only what we needed. I wore my haversack which held my food for the next few days. I had stored my valuables - the upgrade stones, egg, acid, queen legs, whip, knuckle dusters, werewolf’s heart, bone pearl and health potions inside my skill ‘Hold’, which was bursting full. Surprisingly, the skill didn’t count items that were the same as ‘different’, instead having just a counter beside the item icon.

Hold

Bag of coins (4560) Minor Health Potion x2 Armour Upgrade Stone Frayed Whip Weapon Upgrade Stone x2 Knuckle Dusters Giant Devil Ant Egg Werewolf's Heart Vial of Giant Devil Ant Queens Acid Bone Pearl

My blow pipe strapped across my back and my sword in its makeshift sheath were the only weapons I had on me.

Percy, unlike Pan, could not fly, so Ragachi and I just sat there, bouncing on his back, ignoring each other.

Trying to find something to do, I remembered the notification I had gotten during my fight against Bea. I mentally asked Kimi - yes I could do that, because she was a part of my mind - what would happen now that I had reached 100% mastery for a skill. Instead of replying, a menu screen was brought up in front of me.

Skill Upgrade Paths

Path 1 Path 2 Path 3 Double Light Ray Light Beam Light Web Power Level - 5 Power Level - 7 Power Level - 3 30 seconds (10 stamina cost per 3 seconds used) 30 seconds (10 stamina cost per 3 seconds used) 30 seconds (10 stamina cost per 3 seconds used) A skill that, when used, shoots a small beam of light from both palms of the user into a target. As mastery increases, the beams may grow larger, thicker and more powerful A skill that, when used, shoots a large beam of light from the palm of the user into a target. As mastery increases, the beam may grow larger, thicker and more powerful. A skill that, when used, shoots a small beam of light from the tip of every finger of one hand. As mastery increases, the beam may grow larger, thicker and more powerful. - Choose One Path -

“You can pick one of these skills, which will take over your current skill - Light Ray. Once you reach 100% mastery for a skill, it will become one of these tier 2 skills, which is better than tier 1, the one you have mastered. From there, the tier 2 skill will have 0% mastery. Please note that tier 2 skills take close to three times as long to increase mastery than tier 1 skills. Additional skills may be added”

Awesome.

An upgrade to an already amazing skill? That was so cool! Looking over my choices, it became clear to me that Light Beam was the one I should pick, as it had the highest power level. But then again, the power level probably couldn’t tell me accurately which one was better… It was simply a scale of how ‘strong’ a skill was, but if there were dozens of weaker attacks, it would overcome a strong attack, right? But then that didn’t explain Bea’s dissection perk… maybe perks worked differently?

Regardless, I already knew I wasn’t going to choose Light Web. Having first hand experience with how powerful those beams of light were, what if I accidentally turned a finger the wrong way… I shuddered at the thought. Dying to one’s own skill sounded stupider than my previous death.

Light Beam seemed to just be a stronger version of my Light Ray, but if the beam’s power would improve with my mastery anyways, Double Light Ray seemed to have more benefits.

Thus, I settled on Double Light Ray.

“I’ll choose Double Light Ray.”

Ragachi, thinking he had been called, attempted to turn around.

“What you want, Trash?”

Ugh, Trash. I hated that stupid nickname in the army, and still do now. Damn, Ragachi. Why were you still alive?

“I want you to shut the hell up.”

With that, I ended the conversation and returned back to my own business.

* * *

Before long, we had reached deep into the forest and were back at the clearing where I had encountered the Pegasus.

“Alright guys! Break time!”

Bea had reached the clearing a few minutes before us, thanks to Pan’s fast flight. Talking about Pan, I hadn’t actually examined his profile yet.

Animal Profile

Name Pan Level 4 Species Pegasus Rarity Legendary HP 40/40 Gender Female Skills Circulate, Infuse Partner Bea Haka

Pan was female? I actually had no idea, even when I was the one who had helped to birth him. Sorry, her.

Pushing the thought away, I took a seat on a patch of grass next to Bea, taking out a cute little loaf of bread from my bag. I had no idea where this came from, as (in my area) the ground wasn’t fertile enough to plant wheat seeds.

*Nom*

As I took a bite out of it, it was surprisingly mushy and squishy, like some sort of jelly. The heck?

Chewing slowly, a slightly salty flavour began spreading across my mouth.

This wasn’t bread.

“Hey! Ikite? What’re you doing?”

Bea, a worried look on her face, had turned her full attention onto me and my little piece of not-bread. I couldn’t reply, due to my mouth being full and a numbing sensation turning my face slack.

“Spit it out! Spit it out!”

With what little control over my face I had left, I opened my mouth and allowed the piece of not-bread to slowly dribble out of my mouth. I felt and probably looked like a baby.

A couple of seconds later, the numb feeling had left and I was back to normal.

“The hell was that?”

Bea shook her head, obviously disappointed in me.

“Are you dumb? How have you never eaten breon before?”

“I think I just did.”

She looked like she was about to facepalm herself.

“Obviously, that’s not how I was supposed to eat it.”

“Damn right, you’re supposed to squeeze it out before you eat it. Seriously, what’ve you been eating all your life? Buffalo meat or something?”

“That’s… right.”

This time, she really did facepalm.

“Whatever dude, you’re so weird. Here. I’ll show you how it’s done.”

She grabbed what was left of the breon and squeezed it in her hands. It was like squeezing a sponge, and I watched as a little cloud of purple dust came out.

“Woah, that’s cool.”

“Yes, it is. Now for the interesting part. Breons are actually mushrooms, so they have this essence inside of them that’s used for paralysis and numbing. Next time, squeeze them before you eat them if not your face will… drop off.”

“Drop off?! For real?”

“Guess you’ll just have to find out.”

Ugh, Bea could be such a pain sometimes.

“So anyways, where do you come from? I don’t know many people - other than nobles, who haven’t eaten breon before.”

“I was a peasant, before I had to fill in for my father as a soldier. What about you?”

“Oh,” she flicked her hair carelessly. “Just a little bit to the east from here. We’re pretty far out west from the core, you know?”

It was clear that she was trying to hide her origins, being the courteous gentleman I was, I didn't pry.

“Cool, have you ever been to the core before? I’ve heard about it and all, but it’s kinda like a myth around my area.”

“Nah, the core’s a fantasy place for commoners like me too, I’ve never been there before, nor even seen it. It’s supposed to be some giant white tower or something I think.”

“A giant white tower… Hang on, let me ask Kimi for some information about the floors of the core.”

“Kimi? Who or what is that?”

Ah, right. I hadn’t told her that I was an experiment yet.

“Kimi’s kind of like a console I guess.”

“Console? Dude you’re so strange. Did you get… ‘Kimi’ merged with you?”

“Hmm? Yeah, I did. It’s really handy and I owe Mei a lot for that one.”

“Owe her? Did you not pay? It normally costs up to 10,000 coins for such a process. She was pretty cheap and only charged me a thousand.”

Ten thousand? So she was generous after all. Smiling to myself, I silently thanked her in my head.

“So what did Kimi say about the floors of the core?”

Oh, right. Back to the present.

“There are nine floors between each layer of the Afterlife. These floors can appear to be monster dungeons, tests, treasure hunts or other varying puzzles. Each floor is a test for a certain aspect that you need to have to meet God. All of the floors consist of powerful monsters and those from Hell to Nexus have a minimum level requirement.”

Core Floor Requirements (Hell)

Floor 1 50 Floor 2 60 Floor 3 70 Floor 4 85 Floor 5 100 Floor 6 120 Floor 7 140 Floor 8 155 Floor 9 180

Level… ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHTY? Was she serious? Even the so-called strongest person in Hell, Orai, had just passed 150. What was with these level requirements?

Shakily, I relayed the information to Bea, who appeared as shocked as I was.

“If these are just the first nine stages, how are we supposed to be able to carry Pan all the way to Heaven? We’d have another nine to go, and these are just the minimum level requirements. Seriously, how difficult is it to go up the core?”

Unfortunately, before I could even attempt to answer her question, a high pitched scream emerged from the forest.

Four, part human, part bird like creatures flew up out of the forest and into the sky. They had large feathered wings and talons, yet a human body connecting these together. However, instead of a human mouths, they had curved beaks.

They didn’t look friendly.

Animal Profile

Species Harpy Rarity Uncommon HP 280/280

Level 33 Gender Male Skills Featherstorm, ??? Information

Harpies are one of the most savage creatures that live in Nexus. Part vulture, part human, their sharp claws and beaks are enough to tear the skin straight off your bones. Apart from that, their skill Featherstorm allows them to rain down hell onto unsuspecting victims. Used by the Nexus army as scouts.

Reeeeee!

They all simultaneously screeched, drew back their wings and… fired? As their wings came forward, a flurry of deadly looking feathers shot out from them, coming straight for us.

“Get to cover!”

Bea and I jumped up and dashed towards the trees, into the forest. Turning around a few moments later, I gave a sigh of relief as I saw Percy, Ragachi and Pan safe in the cover of the forest.

“Bea! These are harpies! You know? From Nexus?”

She appeared as shocked as I was.

“The army from Nexus? The hell are they doing here? Weren’t they supposed to be at least five or so more kilometers away?”

“Bea, I think they’re scouts for the army. They’re also level 33.”

“Level… 33 scouts?”

If she could look anymore shocked than she already was, she did.

“But… aren’t scouts supposed to be the weakest and most disposable?”

Reeeee!

The harpies weren’t done with us just yet. Two of them flew down into the other side of the forest, most likely looking for Percy and Ragachi. The other two, we had to deal with.

Reeeee!

The creatures, just under double our height, dropped down from the sky and breathed on us.

Hot, stinky breath that made me gag in disgust.

I didn’t know whether or not they were intelligent, but by the way they attacked us without warning, I suspected not. At a closer look, you could tell that these animals had been starved, their stomach so thin, it wrapped around its bones like a carcass. Their feathers were a sickly green colour that looked oily and poisonous.

Unfortunately, my scrutinization time was cut short by the one closest to me darting, beak first, at my head.

Just managing to duck in time, I screamed in pain as some of the green liquid from its wings dripped down onto my neck.

F***k!

At this point, I was so done with acid.

Growling in both pain and annoyance, I rolled out from underneath the harpy and activated hold, grabbing out my vial of acid.

“Have some of your own medicine!”

I hurled the acid at the - surprisingly slow- creature and watched as it broke on impact. Since it had hit the face and body area, the only part without feathers, the acid burned through the skin and it screeched in pain.

Harpy

240/280 HP

Oops, I had barely done any damage and it looked even more annoyed than before. Bea was busy with her own harpy, so I couldn’t count on her to bail me out.

It was just me and the harpy.

One on one.

I couldn’t lose.

Or could I? The harpy screeched once more, before using Featherstorm yet again. This time, I had nowhere to run.

“Lightning Zap!”

I cried out desperately, covering my face in a pathetic attempt to defend myself from the oncoming attack.

The bolt of electricity struck the harpy, head first and a burning smell began to fill the air. My arms protecting my face, I couldn’t tell whether it was dead or not.

Notifications

You have stunned Harpy

I had stunned it, which means it was still alive. Peeking out from over my arms, I watched as the HP of the harpy dropped to zero.

Was it over?

Then, magically, the HP bar filled back again up to 100 and the harpy had returned, even more ferocious than before.

Notifications

Harpy has used the skill Life After Death.

Damn, monsters had skills too? At least I could see what they were. It seemed like the skill Life after Death enabled it to gain HP even after it had reached the bottom.

Now alive once more, it prepared to use Featherstorm again.

This time, I had no way to defend myself.

“Shi-”

I expect this feeling could be compared to being shot point blank, because the impact hit me so hard, I went flying for several metres. Not just sharpened, poisoned feathers, but a powerful gust of rotten smelling wind blew me away like a ragdoll. Barely managing to stay conscious, I noticed two things.

The first was the pain. It hurt. A lot. Possibly the same amount when Bea had impaled that black dagger into me.

The second was a few new notifications.

Notifications

Warning: Your health has dropped below 50% Warning: Your health has dropped below 25% Skill: Overcome Hardships has been activated.

Time slowed as I read through the notifications. When did I activate Aligned Perception?

All of a sudden, the world returned to normal speed and I felt my head crack against a low-lying tree branch before falling to the floor.

Reeeee!

The harpy’s voice sounded distant, like I was in some sort of dream. The world was spinning and blurred in, out, in and out.

A red alarm flashed into my vision, breaking me out of my trance.

Notifications

Warning: Critical Health

Oh god, I was going to black out again, wasn’t I?

With every bit of energy I had left, I activated Hold and dipped my hand in, searching for the health potions.

“Just. Stay. Awake.” I mumbled to myself, a last ditch attempt at keeping myself conscious. Finally, my hand clasped the familiar glass vial and I heaved a smile of relief.

“Hurry. Hurry.”

Kimi’s voice echoed loosely through my head, urging me to regain my health before that harpy found me.

Fumbling with the cap, I unscrewed it and poured the entire contents into my mouth.

Glowing for a second, energy rushed through my body and once again, I felt alive.

Phew, that had been a close call. Now this stupid harpy was going to get it from me.

Scanning the dark forest, I quickly found it by its glowing wings. Heh, maybe they weren’t so bad after all.

Time for me to test out my new skill.

“Double Light Ray.”

Muttering the incantation, my hands began to glow and I aimed them at the harpy.

Voom!

A low, humming noise could be heard from the brilliantly white beams that shot out of my hand, straight into that damned creature’s chest.

Notifications

You have killed Harpy (lvl 33). You have leveled up to level 17!

Nothing.

I didn’t feel anything by killing it.

Why?

Had I grown so accustomed to killing things that it was natural for me and I didn’t get the accomplished feeling afterword?

Pushing the thought out of my head, I trudged toward the body of the fallen harpy, deciding whether or not I should collect its loot. It’s body was burnt everywhere, with several holes from my multiple light rays.

Deciding against it because of the very increased experience I would get from it, I used extract on what was left of it.

Notifications

You have leveled up to level 18! You have leveled up to level 19! You have leveled up to level 20! Reached level 20: Safety mode disengaged

Safe mode? What was that?

It wasn’t important right now, that's what it was. What was important was to see whether my companions were still alive.

Wait.

A daunting realisation that I was the weakest one out of this group - apart from Pan, left me feeling slightly dejected.

If I had survived, of course the rest of them had.

My theory was proved correct as they came into view, a little worse for the wear but with no major injuries.

“Ikite! You’re alright! Thank goodness!”

Bea gave me a big hug as soon as she saw me, Percy gave me a nod and a “Good job.”, while Ragachi gave me a death stare.

After filling them in on what happened to my side of the story, they told me theirs. Each of them had managed to swiftly eliminate their harpies, to my relief.

Percy, however, had kept his harpy barely alive, which he currently had one foot - or leg - on top of.

“Speak.”

“What do you want to know anyways?”

The creature was intelligent, though it’s voice sounded raspy and high pitched.

“Where is your platoon going? What is its purpose down in Hell?”

“We are sent down here to cause havoc. To burn down the villages in our way, destroy everything that’s here and claim it as Nexus’.”

“Where are you stationed?”

“We are about to launch our next attack on an unsuspecting little farmers village. Don't bother, you can't stop us!"

With that, the thing gave a wracking cough and it's aura left it.

"Ikite... you know what this means."

It took a few more moments for the meaning of the harpy's words to fully settle in my mind.

"A farmers village nearby... But there are no other villages nearby except Nunyek-"

Percy nodded before I had even finished, and the cold hand of despair clutched my heart.