hhnovel Book 4: Chapter 51
Book 4: Chapter 51
With the titan shattered into pieces, Aaron didn’t particularly want to sit around and wait. He wanted to keep going and complete as many objectives as quickly as possible until they had finished the floor. He was in a race, and every minute counted.
But with the barrier still up, he had time to go over his Skill choices carefully. And pick up the rubble remains of Rockus the Stone titan. He might have only been a false god cheating the System. But he had divine blood, and Aaron could sense it in the stones he left behind. And maybe, he might just be able to make use of them.
“Oi, you lot. Give me a hand with this. Consider it payback for saving your lives.”
Aaron snapped his fingers, and the little people obeyed. Some of them looked beyond annoyed, having to pick up little stones for him. But they complied. After all, they were stuck in the barrier with him, and he had just blown the titan apart.
“Cheers mate,” he smiled as he collected the stones in his storage and sat down to pick a Skill.
Goal from Midfield [ Elite ] Range is of little concern when you can kick with your power. When activated, Goal From Midfield greatly increases the power of your kicks, and when that power is used to kick an object at a target, that power boost is further multiplied.
Warp Speed [ Epic ] Move faster than you can imagine. When activated, Warp Speed propels the user at unrivaled speed, but in doing so, deactivates all other Skills. WARNING! Use the incredible speed of this Skill with caution.
Endless Momentum [ Legendary ] When you start going, you don’t stop. When activated, Endless Momentum gradually increases the user's speed the longer it is activated. The greater Endless Momentum increases one’s speed, the higher its Stamina cost is.
Skill Upgrade [ Turbocharged Haymaker ] = Unbound Cataclysmic Haymaker [ Mythical ] Pour your bubbling, uncontained power into a strike worthy of ending civilizations. When activated, the user can pour their mana, stamina, and aether into Unbound Cataclysmic Haymaker. Each energy type used when creating the attack further multiplies its power, creating a strike of unrivaled destruction.
Atomic Boxing [ Mythical ] Hit anything, no matter the size. Passively, Atomic Boxing allows the user to strike at the foundations of everything, attacking their very atoms. Don’t just break things apart; break them down, thus avoiding pesky defenses and attacking one’s target at an atomic level.
“I really need to jump around more or something, don’t I? Like I did back on the trash level,” Aaron mused as he read over his options. “It’s getting annoying not being able to fly.”
Scratching his chin for a moment, he had an idea. What if he tried using mana to fly? Like a rocket? Surely the System would have to take notice of that, and reward him appropriately. Assuming it worked.
He shook his head. Help might be on its way, and once it arrived and lowered the barrier, he was charging straight toward his next objective, and hardly had time to sit around and lament.
Okay, let’s get this done.
First, he checked out the travel Skill option he had been rewarded. Warp Speed was no doubt useful, going by the description. Speed was good. No way around that. But he really wanted to fly again. Even if the Skill could be used for some kind of ad hoc flying by dialing up speed to maximum, it wasn’t ideal.
The multiverse was vast, and who knew what biomes he might find himself thrown into. The reality was, he needed a proper flight Skill, and glancing at the downsides of Warp Speed made him fairly certain it wasn’t the Skill for him. Not when he had limited slots to choose from.
He quickly scrolled past Goal from Midfield. The Skill did earn a macabre chuckle, as he remembered why he had been given the option. But it wasn’t a Skill he considered seriously.
Next up was Endless Momentum, which genuinely sounded like a very good Skill. But there was a major flaw with it that concerned him. Exponential momentum growth was an incredible boon, but if that momentum came with exponential mana cost, then that was not great.
Even for somebody like Aaron with a lot of energy and supreme regeneration, he still had limits. If the cost just continued to balloon further and further out of control, he could see how such a Skill might be more trouble than it was worth.
“Hmm, tempting, but too risky.”
He scrolled down to Atomic Boxing and had a similar feeling. It sounded powerful. Very powerful. But how exactly would he use it? Perhaps it would pair well with his [ Pinpoint Accuracy ], but the concept of the Skill still kind of confused him.
He must have gained the option because of his fight with the titan. He had felt the cells within the god imposter vibrate against his attacks. But to attack something on an atomic level sounded like science fiction he didn’t quite understand. And wasn’t sure if he’d even be able to use the Skill. Or how it would work if he could.
“Too many variables. What if it’s useless without secondary Skills?”
This had turned out to be one of the stranger Skill selections. But there was one perfectly safe option.
Unbound Cataclysmic Haymaker was a little on the boring side. But it was safe. He knew exactly what it would do. It would make his haymaker more powerful, and he didn’t need to use another Skill slot.
It was an easy choice, and being able to add aether to his haymaker’s power and for that aether to further multiply its attack power sounded quite brilliant.
“You can’t complain with more power,” Aaron muttered to himself as he confirmed his selection, upgrading his haymaker.
He then placed all of his free points into Intelligence. Intelligence wasn’t the stat he wanted to keep pushing for too long, but while he was still struggling to upgrade his energy organs, he figured that it might just give him the boost he needed to reach his insights faster.
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“I hope this works.”
And with his selections completed, Aaron decided to take a look at his status page and take a look for himself.
[ Name: Aaron Dober ]
[ Age: 23 ]
[ Race: Human [ Shinigami ] ]
[ Grade: D ]
[ HP: 211000 ]
[ MP: 121200 ]
[ SP: 372500 ]
[ AP: 18923 ]
[ Class: Precise Bombardier Pugilist, lvl 123 ]
[ Profession: Ogre Gastronomist, lvl 94 ]
[ Stats ]
[ Strength: 2801 (+1556) ]
[ Vitality: 2110 (+1308) ]
[ Fortitude: 3725 (+2277) ]
[ Dexterity: 2366 (+1270) ]
[ Agility: 1978 (+1081) ]
[ Intelligence: 2027 (+1089) ]
[ Willpower: 1212 (+769) ]
[ Charisma: 1033 (+629) ]
[ Perception: 1684 (+920) ]
[ Titles: Shadow Trials Trailblazer, Stamina Control Prodigy, Mana Control Prodigy, Vitality Control Prodigy, Holder of a True Blessing, In the Eyes of the Gods, Aether Wielder, World Overlord, Endurer, Dominator, Challenger, Shadow Trials Hall of Famer, Leviathan Slayer, Pack Leader, Core Prodigy ]
[ Traits: Fate Weaver (Alpha), Major Blessing of Oozagh the Rotund, True Blessing of Yendal the Empty-Handed, Herald of a God, Death Cheat, Pack Alpha ]
[ Racial Skills: Inspect, Lingua Multiversa, World Map. Reap ]
[ Profession Passive Skills (3/3): Mass Produced Cooking!, Conductive Gut, Adipose Fusion ]
[ Profession Passive Skills (3/3): Mass Produced Cooking!, Conductive Gut, Condensed Adipose Fusion ]
[ Profession Active Skills (6/6): Spirit Toes, Oozagh’s Breath, Foul Ichor, Unsightly Degustation, Spirit Tongue, Spirit Hands ]
[ Class Passive Skills (4/4): Soul, Body, and Mind, Equal and Opposite, Girth by Length, Power by Volume, Pinpoint Accuracy ]
[ Class Active Skills (7/8): Soul Shattering Strike, Spectral Projection, Gorgon’s Soul Vortex, Unbound Cataclysmic Haymaker, Wraith Phase, Spectral Bullet Punch, Bombardier Fist ]
“Over two thousand intelligence, huh? Okay, I’m a pretty sharp cookie, aren’t I?” Aaron grinned at his own stats. It was always nice to see them bigger and better than before.
And most stats were pretty damn high now. He couldn’t see others’ status screens, but he figured that he was no doubt on par with creatures and people of much higher level than himself. Sure, would have their own myriad of powerful titles to empower themselves beyond their base. But those were the elites. Amongst more common denizens of the multiverse, he was far above what he should be. Which was no doubt the reason that low-level D-grades were now canon fodder for his fists.
“I’m one hardy bastard, aren’t I?”
Vitality was over two thousand, but it was Fortitude in particular that caught his eye. It had grown beyond his imagination to close to four thousand. It was of little surprise that he essentially didn’t tire anymore, and his Stamina could go on and on.
As he nodded in a moment of self-congratulation, he felt energy signals and auras in the distance.
Someone is coming.
He turned his head and noticed figures beyond the barrier only moments later, and moved to get a better look. They were some way away, well beyond the barrier. But his Perception was powerful, allowing him to see extraordinarily far, and he spotted Ikran and Erdek leading several others from the camp.
When the little people had sensed them, they had done what they always did. Scurried away into hiding.
“Get out of your hiding spots!” Aaron commanded, and after a short, hesitating moment, the little people scuttled out. “I know you’re scared, but if they think you’re trying to ambush them, they’re likely to attack you. And whatever happens after that will be your own fault.”
The little people bowed their heads like scolded dogs and looked up at Aaron with their big eyes as they fiddled with their hands.
“Don’t give me that look. You know what you did.”
The others beyond the barrier had gotten into place, and seconds later, the barrier came down.
“Okay, just follow me and let me do the talking. I’ll make sure nothing happens to you. Got it?”
“Yes, oh tallest one! We will follow your lead!”
The little people did not inspire too much confidence in Aaron. But he didn’t want to waste any more time.
He quickly led them out of the resource, meeting his fellow compatriots from his local cluster just outside of the barrier. Erdek was at their lead, and there were others from other worlds he didn’t recognize.
“What are these things?” Erdek asked, pointing a crooked finger at the little people. Although her gaze quickly shifted to the goblins among the little people as if they belonged to her.
“They’re friends of mine,” Aaron said. “We defeated the quest objective together. I don’t want any harm coming to them.”
Aaron hoped the little people appreciated that he was putting his neck out for them. They had tried to kill him multiple times, after all.
“Why are you helping other clusters?” Ikran said pointedly as he glared down at the little people.
“I’m not. They helped us. We have the objective. They don’t. And we’re the ones closer to clearing this floor. Not them.”
Erdek huffed as if she wasn’t impressed with the answer, but didn’t say anything.
“Are you sure this is wise?” Ikran asked. "They are still our competition. Why don’t we just kill them now?”
“Look, I’m not too worried about them. I can beat the lot of them by myself. Besides, they have already decided that they are not strong enough for the next floor. They’re going to take the next exit when they can. The truth is, they’re hardly our rivals.”
Ikran nodded cautiously. “If you say so. But if they give me any reason to doubt this, I will not hesitate to strike them down.”
“Yeah, me too!” Erdek bounced up and down.
“Okay, okay,” Aaron said. “Hear that, everyone? Do anything stupid, and they’ll come for you. And I won’t be able to save you.”
“Yes, oh tallest one! Thank you for sparing us! Everyone, get down and bow!” The gnome roared, and the little people followed his command.
There had been dissidents amongst the little people, but none showed any interest in refusing the orders now. It wasn’t just Aaron now. There were a bunch of dangerous-looking big people with powerful auras.
“So, that means you actually did it?” Asked the elven warrior from their camp, who was standing beside the others. “The impossible objective is already completed…. Amazing. That should make reaching the next floor easy. We should also be hearing reports from the other squads soon, too. We might actually not be far away from completing this floo–”
“Eldoran!” Screamed an elven ranger as she sped toward them, skating on air. “Our people need help! Two squads have been completely surrounded! They won’t be able to hold out much longer! It seems not everyone in this dungeon wants our cluster reaching the next floor!”
Aaron looked at the others and cracked his knuckles. “Looks like we got more work to do.”
“Dammit!” The elven warrior hissed. “We don’t have more reinforcements. We have to head back and keep our tower safe. If our squads are under attack, the chances are somebody could strike us there.”
“Don’t worry, we got this,” Aaron said, glancing over at his squad.
“Yes, of course,” Ikran nodded,
“We’s gonna boil their bones!” Erdek grinned wickedly.
“You can do that. I think I’ll stick to punching.”