⟐
Early Morning.
The empty rooftop of a building was quiet except for the heavy huffing of a heavily injured woman. The early sun shone as the cold wind blew past, causing her hair to flutter. Mana permeated the air, swirling around the woman as her figure slowly healed.
"Healing Hands." The woman chanted.
"Those stupid monkeys. Either they've turned crazy or this guy is more valuable than I thought." Torres, the white foreigner, said while gulping down a bottle of wine. The death battle at the hotel caught her off guard since it was in a public place.
Most levelers have subscribed to the unspoken agreement not to go overboard in public places. If there were one thing that most levelers hate, that would be the whole world's eyes on them.
"Four versus one, fucking unfair."
"Those two fucking third rates are useless as shit too." The woman was cursing at the unfair matchup and her two unreliable enforcers.
"Oh well, it was only a matter of time." Torres said while grinning widely, glancing at the roof ventilation fan that had a lifeless body resting atop it.
(I still have my prize.) Torres approached, throwing away the wine bottle, then breathing down on the neck of the lifeless body with excited hitching.
"Incompatible vessel, huh? I have the time to make you compatible." Torres said, pushing aside her doubts, especially the warning she'd read earlier.
'This vessel isn't yours to conquer'
The ominous warning lingered in her thoughts, but she ignored it, confident in her abilities as a second-rate leveler. For her, it was another hurdle to leap past.
"Eternal Pilfer: Soul Glutton."
Torres chanted, deeply focusing on the lifeless body. This time, she was supplementing the spell with several buffs.
(Magic Boost, Arcane Certainty, Mana Transference, and All Might Boost.)
These buffs should do the trick, and if not, there are other ways.
*Boom!* A loud mana explosion rang, breaking the spell and recoiling Torres. The consequence for failing the Eternal Pilfer: Soul Glutton spell was a temporary magical restriction debuff.
[System]
The target is alive.
The consequence for casting the spell on a live person was a massive temporary level debuff. Torres screamed in agony as she felt her body spasm and lose some strength.
"Fuck! What the fuck!? Alive!? He's dead!?" Torres screamed, glaring at the body that was now twitching.
⟐
Frizz opened his eyes, seeing the early morning sky, but it was full of dark clouds; it was going to rain soon. He first felt the pain in his chest, then his whole body, while staring at a woman in the distance, screeching from agony.
He tries to stand up but fails, tripping on the ground.
[System]
« Hidden contract clause activated. »
New Name: Revived.
«Autonomous Soul Progression:34% »
"What the hell happened to me?" Frizz muttered while his vision blurred and limbs wobbled, as if his motor skills had degraded but were slowly coming back.
[System]
New Name is now level 36. (Perk selection gained at level 32, 35.)
Select a perk: [First Blood II], [Flashback], [Working Alcoholic], [Morale Ground], [Hound's Nose].
Select a perk:[Telekinetic Bulwark III], [Crossed], [Desperate], [Efficient Organs], [Clear-sight].
"Blood and bulwark." Frizz hazily glared at the selections, choosing the path of least resistance.
New name received: [Telekinetic Bulwark III].
Displaying descriptions: The perk-user can create a significantly stronger telekinetic force field around their body, capable of repelling incoming damage up to a much higher threshold. While the shield is active, the user can repel or attract objects weighing up to 59 kg within a 49-foot radius.
(This perk scales with the user's level. Displayed values are merely the base.)
Telekinetically thrown objects are imbued with substantial additional kinetic energy, greatly increasing their speed and impact.
The greater the telekinetic prowess, the more precise and devastating the force applied to the object.
Once the shield breaks, the shattered energy releases a powerful telekinetic wave, pushing back all entities and objects within a 24-foot radius.
The force field takes 30 minutes to regenerate.
New Name received: [First Blood II].
Displaying descriptions: The perk user gains significantly more experience upon killing (+40%), whereas knocking out will now yield less experience (-40%). Additionally, the first lethal strike in combat deals increased damage.
Frizz, despite his sluggish thoughts, sensed a massive information dump since he leveled up multiple times in a single setting.
"No! Stop! Summarize each newly acquired perk and skill in a few words." He says, coughing.
[System]
[Request acknowledged.]
Fighter perk acquired: <✬ Determined ✬> = Stronger when injured.
Fighter perk upgraded: <✬ Rallying Attacks II ✬> = Lower enemy confidence.
Fighter skill acquired:
Fighter skill upgraded:
Fighter skill acquired:
Fighter skill upgraded:
Fighter skill acquired:
Name: New Name.
Level: 36
Experience: 211/11000
Health: 60/120 (+23) [SL+4] [IF+9] [HM✬+12] [RF+2]
Mana: 40/117 (+2) [SL+4]
Fatigue: 60/100 (exhausted)
Class: [Fighter]
Subclass: [White Knight]*
⬬ [Prowess Minimized] … >>
⬬ [Perks Minimized] … >>
⬬ [Talents Minimized] … >>
The woman in the distance who was screeching has calmed down, adapting to the restrictions. Frizz glared at her, confused. He has no idea who she was or what he was doing here.
However, he could sense the killing intent from her. All of his instincts were screaming, signaling to escape, and with one powerful leap, he tried to fly away.
*Whack!* The impact was hard and cold; an ice block hit him from behind. "AAAHHH!"
"Is this one of your talents? To revive? That's quite handy. The woman said with morbid glee, approaching and sitting on Frizz, who was lying on his stomach.
"Get off me!" Frizz shouted, trying to get her off, but to no avail. The woman was putting a lot of weight on her bottom, trying to crush him with sheer force.
"You're prey, and I'm hungry. I won't let an enigmatic prize like you escape. My name is Annie May Torres, by the way. Nice meeting you."
The woman, Annie May Torres, introduced herself with mocking politeness, her eyes betraying a predatory hunger.
"Flower Burst!" Frizz shouted, producing a harmless explosion of pretty flowers and petals. They glittered as they burst forward, distracting Torres.
"W-woah..." Torres said, hypnotized by the colorful flowers.
Sensing the pressure shift, Frizz then managed to twist himself and pull out a shotgun from his system inventory, unloading a single powerful shot on Torres' face.
Frizz sensed the pressure shift, he twisted, and pulled a shotgun from his inventory, firing a single powerful shot at Torres' face.