CHAPTER 11

The promotion for warrior classes was different from that of mages.

They too needed to increase the number of nodes in their bodies, but the main focus was to strengthen their bodies with mana.

As a warrior trying to promote to tier 2, you would need to gather mana as well. You would then utilise the mana to ‘temper’ your body as it rapidly and repeatedly tears and restores your muscles.

This process would be transforming your entire body and it would increase in intensity every time you promoted to a higher tier.

Before forging a blade, a blacksmith would repeatedly beat the metal with his hammer.

The process would expel the impurities in the metal, after which the metal becomes stronger than before, and the same concept applied in their case right now.

Mages too would go through this process of tempering the body but it would happen passively and in much less intensity as they would focus more on strengthening their magic power.

Time passed by as it got hotter and hotter inside their bodies from the energy being produced in there.

The two subconsciously grit their teeth from enduring the pain from their bodies being torn apart.

The time taken by the two was roughly the same as the mages.

A while longer into the tempering process their bodies started to turn reddish as steam started rising from their bodies.

Around the end, their bodies suddenly started emitting a bright light.

It was not very bright at the start but the light suddenly grew in intensity and became so strong that the mages couldn’t keep their eyes open any longer as they shielded them with their hands.

The two mages were caught off guard as this phenomenon had not occurred when they were promoting and everything knew about the tier promotion ceremonies was all second hand information they obtained from the people back in Yellowwood town.

It was only around a dozen seconds later that they were able to open their eyes again and they immediately turned to look at the two but were stunned by what they saw.

“Mhhh…”

After completing their promotion ceremony, Yimso and Puvi got up and groaned as they felt the residual soreness from the process.

The bones in their bodies made cracking sounds as the stretched themselves. The two of them felt as if they had just gone through electric torture.

They may have some soreness in certain areas, but they also felt that they were much stronger than before.

“Status” They voiced out as one.

They failed to register the astonished gazes on the mages’ faces as they decided to immediately check their status first.

They too had experienced a big boost in their stats.

NAME: PUVI

LEVEL: 10(TIER-2)

HP: 1000/1000

MP: 1400/1400

RACE: HUMAN

BLOODLINE: NONE

CLASS: MAGIC SWORDSMAN

SUB-CLASS: NONE

TITLE:

[TIER-2 SWORDSMAN]

EFFECTS:

HP= (V)*100

MP= (M)*100

[STATS]

STRENGTH: 14

AGILITY: 14

DEXTERITY: 9

VITALITY: 10

MAGIC: 14

[TRAITS]

-1. [OTHERWORLDER]: ???

[TALENTS]

-2. [EXQUISITE SENSES]:

-REACTION SPEED INCREASES DURING TIMES OF CRISIS

[SKILLS]

-1. [VITAL STRIKE]:

-MANA COST: 50

-2. [MANA BLADE] > [FLAME SWORD] (NEW):

-CLOAKS YOUR SWORD WITH FIRE

MP COST: 100

-3. [FLAME SLASH] (NEW):

-SEND OUT A FLAMING BLADE WAVE BY SLASHING YOUR SWORD

-KNOCKBACK EFFECT

MP COST: 200

-4. [DASH] (NEW):

-DASH FORWARD WITH ALMOST INSTANTANEOUS MOVEMENTS.

MP COST: 100

*****

NAME: YIMSO

HP: 1750/1750

MP: 900/900

RACE: HUMAN

BLOODLINES: NONE

CLASS: MAGIC KNIGHT

SUB-CLASS: COOK

TITLES:

[BEGINNER TANK]

Effects:

HP= (V)*125

MP= (I)*75

[STATS]

STRENGHT: 16

AGILITY: 11

DEXTERITY: 9

VITALITY: 14

MAGIC: 12

[TRAITS]:

OTHERWORLDER: ???

[TALENTS]

-1. [TOUGH SKIN] (NEW):

-INCREASES PHYSICAL AND MAGIC DEFENSE

[SKILLS]

PASSIVE: NONE

ACTIVE:

-1. [BATTLE CRY]:

+30% STRENGTH

+20% AGILITY

+20% DAMAGE REDUCTION

DURATION: 2 MINUTES

MP COST: 200

-2. [TAUNT]:

-RECEIVE AGGRO FROM ALL NEARBY MONSTERS

+50% DAMAGE REDUCTION FOR 1 MINUTE

MP COST: 100

-3. [LEAP] (NEW):

-LEAP INTO THE AIR TO GO IN AND OUT OF BATTLE.

-PRODUCES SLIGHT SHOCKWAVES UPON LANDING

-LIGHT KNOCKBACK EFFECTS

MP COST: 50

-4. [STOMP]:

-STOMP DOWN HEAVILY ON THE GROUND AND CREATE A SHOCKWAVE UPON IMPACT

-KNOCKBACK EFFECT

MP COST: 50

-5. [STONE ARMOUR]:

-COVERS YOUR BODY WITH A LAYER OF ROCKS THAT ACT AS ARMOUR

DURATION: UNTIL SKILL IS DEACTIVATED OR BROKEN

MP COST: 300

*****

During the promotion, Puvi had changed class from ‘swordsman’ to ‘magic swordsman; a rare class that branches from the basic ‘swordsman’ class and requires the swordsman to have an affinity with magic as well.

The swordsman class and its higher tiers almost always go for a balanced stat distribution plan with several crowd control skills and skills that have a knockback effect.

They mainly gave importance to the strength and agility stats and they liked come fast and strong at their opponents with highly efficient chain attacks.

The magic swordsman class in particular had several skills that would be perfect for powerful chain attacks.

Yimso’s class on the other hand had changed from warrior to ‘magic knight’; progressing further towards being a tank.

This class was quite similar to the magic swordsman class.

They were both considered ‘very rare’ warrior classes, but one focused on being swift and fierce while the other bent towards being powerful and steady.

Puvi had gained two new magic attack skills as well as a movement skill and had a previous skill upgraded whereas Yimso had his previous skills improved while gaining a cc skill, an escape skill and an earth element defence skill.

*****

“It looks like we all got a lot of new skills huh? Looks like we…” Puvi had just started talking after going through his status and closing it when he saw Yimso standing a couple of meters away from him and suddenly froze mid sentence.

“Yeah I too got a lot of new ski…” Yimso too closed his status and froze mid sentence as he too turned towards the spot where Puvi sat during the promotion.

“…AH! …the fuck are you!”

“…AH! …the fuck are you!” They both pointed at each other and exclaimed at the same time.

They had no idea what had happened to them externally during the process of promoting and it was only now that they had gotten a look at each other’s appearances.

Hikivi: “…”

Titus: “…”

It was right then that Hikivi and Tito walked up to them and brought a mirror each to their face so that they can show them how they currently looked.

Yimso: “…the fuck is he! …Ah! Is that me?”

Puvi: “…the fuck is he! …Ah! Is that me?”

Hikivi and Titus: “…”

The two of them exclaimed again as they momentarily failed to recognise the person in the mirror. When they did realise that it was themselves they were looking at, they too were surprised.

Their appearance had gone through a few small but extremely noticeable changes; Puvi, who previously had long black hair and black eyes now had several long streaks of fiery red running along his hair on one side and also the lines in the gaps between his muscles became slightly more detailed.

Yimso who had medium length, jet black hair had and eyes now however had streaks of golden yellow among the jet black hair on one side, making a stark contrast with it while a golden yellow ring appeared in his pupils.

The muscles in his body too, which were previously filled powerful and bulky looking muscles now looked as if they had been slightly chiselled on, looking more detailed and his skin had turned a shade darker as well for some reason.

After all these changes though, their original body and facial structure had not been changed. If you knew what they looked like before the change, then you could tell they were the same person after a short observation but not immediately.

“By the way, where did you two take out those mirrors from?” Yimso asked doubtfully as he looked at the mirror.

“Uh…” Hikivi seemed like he was about to reply but didn’t get a chance.

*Ding*

[Congratulations on fulfilling the conditions to unlock the real system. New functions have been unlocked, yaay!]

The two of them wanted to inspect the changes in their own bodies but were interrupted by a system announcement.

There was something different about the system announcement this time. They could tell that even before getting to the content of the announcement as it sounded a little different from the usual.

It began with its usual cold and mechanical voice but suddenly changed towards the end.

It sounded rather lively and cheerful this time. And it also felt as if several different voices were speaking at once.

“What are the functions we have unlocked?” They were all momentarily stunned by the change. Hikivi was the first to react and suddenly asked a question.

[The inventory space, system points and the system shop have just now been unlocked. Would you like to know more about them?]

“…yes please.” Hikivi continued as the others too curiously waited for the system to speak once more.

[You should know what an inventory space is so I won’t talk about it. As for the system points, you will be awarded with system points for each monster or opponent you kill, completing tasks and recycling items with the system. You can then go to the system store to buy items with these system points.]

*****

“So, we all successfully promoted to tier 2, were rewarded for it and… and some of us even had a makeover today so, cheers to that!” During night time, Hikivi held a stick with meat skewered on it and raised it in the air.

“Cheers!” The others too lifted their sticks high and cheered.

Since they had all completed their tier promotions and they also thought that they had hunted enough monsters, they decided that they should return to Yellowwood town tomorrow and that this would be their last night in the woods. For now.

*****

After having had dinner, they talked about random things and the topic of their discussion suddenly shifted to their life on earth at one point, filling them with nostalgia.

“Sigh, I wonder what it has been like, back on earth.” Yimso sighed as he muttered this out, smiling bitterly as the nostalgia hit him.

No one responded to the question. They all smiled bitterly as they thought back to all they had left behind, back on earth.

They didn’t have a real choice though, as they had been sucked into the crack in space and sent to this place.

It was a wonder actually, it was a real wonder according to what they heard about space magic how their bodies weren’t torn apart in the process of coming here instead.

After sitting around the fire for a little longer, they reasoned that they should go to rest as they had to move out early in the morning the next day and they all made their way towards the tent.

‘Someday… One day for sure… we will find it. A way back home.’ Somehow they all had the exact same thought in mind as they went to sleep that night.

*****

END OF CHAPTER 11: NEW SYSTEM FUNCTIONS, AND MISSING HOME