*Crash!* Frizz landed roughly at a small clearing in the middle of a forest, dropping Yani as they tumbled along the ground, mud dirtying them all over.
"Yani! No time to talk. We have to run away fast!" Frizz stood up and checked for any injuries.
Yani huffed, fear apparent in her eyes. "Who was that man!? He was so big!" She said, standing up and looking around. "Where are we?"
"Somewhere east of our town, I think," Frizz replied, unsure.
"The rain will cover our tracks. Thank god for this rain. We have to go!" He exclaimed, dreading the hulking giant.
"Wait, no. We have to make a stand. He's a leveler. He's bound to track us, and I have a feeling he won't stop," Yani countered, steeling herself.
Frizz stared in disbelief, jaw almost dropping. "The fuck is wrong with you, brat!? My level is nineteen. You're what? Eight?" he replied, wiping away the dirt on his face.
"Nine now, actually. I got a perk that will be useful," Yani assured. "I can go invisible."
"So can I!"
Yani's expression dropped, slightly glooming upon hearing that her perk wasn't unique.
*Boom!* A loud explosion roared in the distance as the duo felt the vibration and the menacing presence. The duo instantly ducked, hugging the muddy ground with fear in their eyes.
The hulking giant appeared. "I love putting in the effort. Make this harder! Come on!" He taunted, scanning for the two.
"Slowly back away and crawl backwards now, try to breathe slowly," Frizz whispered.
Yani clutched her chest, feeling her rapidly beating heart. "Y-y-yes."
The two slowly crept backwards, eyes focused on the hulking giant in the distance. The giant man grabbed a small tree and effortlessly uprooted it, surprising the two.
"Still think we stand a chance?"
"What's the plan? We can't get away without making a lot of noise."
Frizz glanced upward, looking for the surveillance eyeball. "There are some people that can help. They're usually monitoring me. Usually. Hopefully they've seen our predicament."
"Well, I have certainly seen your predicament."
A sudden voice behind them growled, words laced with mocking glee. The hulking giant found them, appearing behind.
"Crackle!" "Kick!" The duo sharply counterattacked in unison. As the smoke cleared, the two spotted the soured expression of the hulking giant figure.
"That hurts." Using the small tree, the hulking figure bashed Frizz with it, burying him to the ground and knocking his wind out while a telekinetic shattering explosion boomed.
"Ah, fuck. My eyes."
Yani was caught in the telekinetic shattering as well, sending her back and slamming her back against a tree. "Ack!"
"That's a neat perk or talent effect that you have. Lights out now." The hulking giant complimented before sending a final executing bash.
"Guar-" *Thack!*
The bash caused the ground to lightly shake. "N-n-no..." Yani whimpered as she saw her bloodied and broken coworker. Frizz's arms were crossed, a desperate attempt to block the attack.
"Well, look at that. I made a grave and a corpse in one go. It even has those crossed arms."
The hulking giant added, staring at the drenched and shivering Yani, leering at the contours of her undergarments. An eerie smile formed on his face as he gargled the rainwater and chewed a gum from his pockets.
The hulking giant straightened his posture, wiped away the mud on his clothes, fixed his hair, and lastly approached the scared Yani. "I am, by all means, a gentleman, a hopeless romantic," he said, confusing and terrifying Yani as he threw away the small uprooted tree.
"My name is Cheng Gou, and I have a proposition for you." The hulking giant, Cheng, greatly towered over Yani, noticing the hissing of steam escaping from his body.
"You see, second-rate levelers like you two are rare, and it would be a shame to kill another second-rate leveler. Instead, you will join me and become part of my harem," Cheng offered, pausing for emphasis.
"Or you can die here and join your date," he suggested while sadistically grinning.
The small hope of being let go finally extinguished inside Yani. No matter how she mulled the situation, there was no chance of making it. The expression on her face darkened, glancing at the muddy ground.
"I'd rather die, you ugly piece of shit!" Yani cursed, flinging mud at Cheng's eyes and blinding him.
"AH! You bitch!"
Yani then sped away with teary eyes while apologizing to Frizz.
*Whack!* Yani was struck from behind, causing her to fall and almost lose consciousness.
"You damned bitch. I tried to be merciful, but nooo. It had to be the hard way," Cheng yelled as the steam escaping from his body intensified. "Now, you die!"
"Hey, asshole," Frizz taunted.
Cheng stopped, turning back. "Well, what about that? You're ali- "
"Surge and Dash!"
*Wsshk!* Two pipe wrench handles were instantly embedded in both Cheng's eyes, causing an intense amount of pain. "AAAAAAAAAHHHH!"
"Piece of shit!" Cheng cursed as he felt a blunt strike in the back of his head. He counterattacked with a swift backhanded swing but struck nothing. *Wsshk!*
*Whomp!* Another hard impact, this time it was Cheng's mouth. Frizz had struck the mouth with a huge piece of wood, breaking upon impact and shattering the frontal teeth.
"Enrage!" Cheng mustered, shouting through a bloodied mouth. His already gigantic figure swelled in size while glowing in a mix of red and orange hues.
(Rage increases my physical prowess, resistance, and senses. When I catch that piece of shit, I will fucking turn him into paste.)
"Crackle!"
(There!) Cheng instantly reacted, kicking up the ground, sending mud and rocks in the direction with great speed, blasting through several trees.
(Shit! I can't cast spells because of the effects of my talent!) Frizz cursed, dashing away.
"A miss?" Cheng thought as another impact struck his already injured face, further lodging the embedded pipe wrench handles. "AH, FUCK! YOU FUCKING FUCKING FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT. I WILL FUCKING TEAR YOU."
*Crack!*(Behind!) However, Cheng was too late. He was struck in the back of the head, but he managed to whack away Frizz, sending him backwards.
"Oompf!" Frizz grunted, slamming his back against a tree.
"Got you, you piece of shit." Cheng's figure swelled as the steam intensified, a big, bloody, glaring smile plastered on his face. He then slowly removed the lodged pipe wrenches, sending a gush of blood forward.
Within moments, his eyes slowly formed, but there were still damages.
"You're second-rate. I should've never lowered my guard. Thanks for the hard lesson, but I got you now," Cheng said, a small sliver of respect escaping his words.
Frizz smiled, laughing. "No, I got you."
"What?" Then suddenly, a whirring sound intensified behind Cheng.
In the distance, the small tree that the hulking figure, Cheng, uprooted earlier was spinning for some time. It had already accumulated a lethal amount of force.
"Forward," Frizz said, gesturing for the small spinning tree to shoot forward, blasting a hole through the hulking giant, Cheng's, torso.
"No fucking way, a level nineteen?" As Cheng was about to fall, he mustered enough force to forcefully stand and then charge forward with a desperate vigor. Eager to kill Frizz.
"Shit!" Frizz bellowed, desperately trying to stand up despite his heavily injured state. (Fucking stand!)
"Throw!" Yani, from behind, hurled a huge branch toward Cheng's legs, causing him to tumble, falling over as the blood mixed with the mud.
The two exhaled heavily, eyes glued to the fallen giant figure. No longer breathing or moving. Cheng had died. Yani and Frizz had managed to do the impossible: win.
"W-w-we did it. He's dead," Yani muttered, stepping back. "I c-c-can't believe it. We should've been dead. We should've been dead."
"But we're not, we're not," Frizz weakly said, placing his hand on his chest and activating a healing skill.
But nothing happened. (Right. I can't cast spells yet. That borrowed time talent.)
"We won because he let his guard down. He thought I died." Frizz reasoned.
Yani furrowed her brows. "I thought you died too."
"I have a talent that fully heals me when I am in low health."
"You're bleeding all over." Yani said, approaching Frizz.
"Even with the pain suppression, this still hurts."
[System]
Massive experience accumulation and excessive information manifest detected.
« Level 20 reached: Withholding further experiences until contract resolution. »
Materializing a contract...
Displaying terms and conditions:
⟐⟐⟐
« The user can only pick a perk every three levels, however the power of the perks are substantially increased. Providing quality instead of quantity. »
« In exchange. »
« The subclass system is entirely removed and the user can only select another class upon reaching level fifty.»
« Independent soul manifestation is accelerated. The timeline for this manifestation is within 8 years, following the finalization of this contract. »
Do you agree to the terms and conditions?
[YES] or [NO]
This contract will expire within one hour...
⟐⟐⟐
Upon reading the contract displayed, Frizz could only grin. Obtaining a perk every three levels posed a significant inconvenience; however, the boosted perk options compensated for this drawback.
(Subclasses are not that important anyways.)
Seeing only a single yet satisfying choice, he accepted. "Yes."
"I accept the contract..." Frizz managed to mutter after falling unconscious.