Power surged through Horace's body as he selected the class of Arcane Swordsman.
[Horace Smith, Level 10, Arcane Swordsman]
Experience: 91,700 / 102,400
Mana: 300/300
Strength: 18 → 20
Agility: 18 → 20
Endurance: 18
Intelligence: 28 → 30
Perception: 13
Unallocated Points Remaining: 8
Unique Skill: Time Dragon's Blessing
Upon death, regress to the earliest possible time in the realm the blessed one occupied at the moment of death, retaining 50% of stats and non-unique skills while keeping other benefits such as proficiencies.
Proficiencies
Bastard Sword [Minor]
Mana Manipulation [Minor]
Skills
Arcane Attunement [Passive] — User can refine Elemental Mana into Arcane Mana and store double the amount within their body.
Arcane Enchantment [Passive] — Any sword wielded by the user becomes automatically enchanted with Arcane Mana, leaving traces of it on enemies struck. Consumes Mana based on the amount of traces left behind.
Arcane Explosion [Active] — Detonates Arcane Mana outside the user's body.
Arcane Strike [Active] — Consumes 30 Mana. For the next minute, the Arcane Mana on the enchanted sword takes on an elemental quality.
He wanted to laugh from pure joy. Not only had he gotten an even split of Passive and Active abilities, but his Chromatic Strike had effectively been upgraded.
"So that's how it works." He grinned, giving his sword a small swing and noticing the faint shimmer along its edge. He focused on the mana flowing through his body — on refining it and channelling it into the blade. He wanted to retain all his skills through regression if possible, so he tried to observe how the System was doing it automatically. It was like breathing — you knew it was happening, and you could take over if you wanted, but once you did, it required conscious attention. He had to get used to it.
Seconds passed and soon he had the feel of it. He even sensed he could push the enchantment stronger if he wanted. He didn't risk it though — too much force and the sword would break.
He stood, rolled his shoulder, and headed to meet the spiders with a plan.
As he landed on the fourth floor he took a breath and stepped out of the circle, swinging his sword and focusing on Arcane Strike as he did.
He saw it — a shimmering, glass-like arc that separated from the blade's edge and flew toward the cluster of spiders. When it was centimetres away he triggered Arcane Explosion.
The boom shook the entire floor. He ignored the cascade of notifications and focused — two spiders in the back had survived. Horace grinned and charged, reaching out to grab the closer one by its mandibles, coating his hand in Arcane Mana the way he'd once used Elemental Mana. He turned the spider against the web-shot from the other, then drove his blade through it, activating Arcane Strike again to send a focused piercing burst straight through — and into the last spider behind it.
All eight dissolved, and Horace stood there grinning. "Ha. That felt fucking great." The feeling of vindication filled him alongside a level-up notification.
[Horace Smith, Level 11, Arcane Swordsman]
Experience: 6,900 / 204,800
Mana: 300/300
Strength: 20 → 22
Agility: 20 → 22
Endurance: 18
Intelligence: 30 → 32
Perception: 13
Unallocated Points Remaining: 11
Unique Skill: Time Dragon's Blessing
Upon death, regress to the earliest possible time in the realm the blessed one occupied at the moment of death, retaining 50% of stats and non-unique skills while keeping other benefits such as proficiencies.
Proficiencies
Bastard Sword [Minor]
Mana Manipulation [Minor]
Skills
Arcane Attunement [Passive] — User can refine Elemental Mana into Arcane Mana and store double the amount within their body.
Arcane Enchantment [Passive] — Any sword wielded by the user becomes automatically enchanted with Arcane Mana, leaving traces of it on enemies struck. Consumes Mana based on the amount of traces left behind.
Arcane Explosion [Active] — Detonates Arcane Mana outside the user's body.
Arcane Strike [Active] — Consumes 30 Mana. For the next minute, the Arcane Mana on the enchanted sword takes on an elemental quality.
Horace savoured watching the numbers climb — there was something about a stat going up that scratched a deep itch in his mind. Or maybe it was just the euphoria of being stronger.
"I wonder how far Terence levelled." He grinned, knowing that a Medium difficulty Tower of Testing normally allowed one to reach around level 5 by completion. He didn't know about Hard, but he guessed it brought people to around level 10. So maybe — just maybe — he could hit level 15 before he left the tower. "Okay. Enough daydreaming. Time to see what's next." He breathed in, breathed out, and distributed his stats.
Strength: 22 → 24
Agility: 22 → 24
Endurance: 18 → 20
Intelligence: 32 → 34
Perception: 13 → 16
He looked it over, grinning even wider. Even if he died now he'd carry forward a healthy average of 11 across his stats. That was remarkable — especially when you considered that the average person who had trained their whole life, or who was simply a natural genius, tended to land somewhere around 2 or 3.
"I became a genius in a few minutes." Horace said to himself, still grinning, as he stepped into the portal — and found himself baffled once again.
The fifth floor was a Boss floor. Standing before him was a hulking mass, and above its head hung a sign that already promised him suffering.
[Abyssal Ogre (BOSS) — Level 40]
"Fuck me sideways and call me a good boy..." He muttered, then steadied himself and looked it over. It was tall — slightly shorter than the Ent but far thicker, like an overfed child scaled up to monstrous proportions. Everything about it was wrong: arms too long, legs too short, chest too wide, head too large. It looked as if someone had designed an ogre while extremely drunk.
The protection circle vanished and he charged. His sword swung for its leg, but instead of cleaving into it the blade bounced off — the same sensation as hitting the Ent, except this time Horace didn't even leave a scratch.
Then it moved — far too fast — and he had no time to react. Its fist connected with his chest and he flew backwards, slamming hard into the wall. He felt bones break, but the worst part was that he didn't die.
"F...fuck..." He managed, as the ogre lumbered over, picked him up, and Horace had to endure the beast's terrible breath as it brought him closer to its mouth.
And ate him.