[ Level Up ]
[ Level Up ]
[ Level Up ]
Level 1 → Level 3
The notifications floated in Dorian's vision, superimposed over the chaos of the battlefield as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Blue. Bright. Satisfying.
"I leveled up three times," Dorian said, more to himself than to anyone.
"It was 100 EXP to complete a level," he murmured, processing the numbers while his body moved on autopilot, dodging, cutting, killing. "That means Omega gave me 20 EXP for each of the thirty monsters I killed."
Not bad for a start. Fifteen blade gorillas in under a minute. An acceptable pace.
"Sir," Omega's voice resonated in his mind, bringing him back from the mental calculation.
"Huh?" Dorian blinked, becoming aware that he had gotten lost in thought. "Go ahead, Omega."
"Based on the video game systems I have analyzed," Omega began, its tone meticulous as always, "I believe I should increase the amount of EXP required to level up. And also the reward per enemy."
Dorian frowned as his sword cut through the arm of a beast getting too close.
"Really?"
"In a video game, those initial monsters would be considered low-rank," Omega explained. "But these blade gorillas are significantly more powerful. If we apply game logic, stronger enemies should give more experience."
Dorian processed the information while his body kept moving. A thrust here, a cut there. Black blood splattering the ground.
"I think you're right," he admitted.
"Because in a video game," Omega continued, unstoppable, "those monsters would be high-level and, therefore, the EXP they give would be very high compared to basic enemies."
"Anyway, I already told you..." Dorian didn't finish the sentence.
He jumped.
He flipped in the air, his body spinning with a grace that only years of training could grant. The trench coat spread behind him like black wings.
"...to handle it..." he continued, as if nothing had happened, while falling.
His feet touched the ground. He immediately twisted his torso, dodging a green blade strike by millimeters.
"...all according to..." he swung one of the short swords in a perfect arc.
"...your standards," he finally said.
The sword found its target.
The beast's arm flew through the air, separated from the body in a clean cut. Black blood sprayed, a dark jet staining the air.
"I almost got dirty with blood," Dorian murmured, and before the beast could even roar, his other sword was already in motion.
From the side.
To the neck.
The creature's head hit the ground with a dull thud.
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION: 100 EXP → 10,000 EXP
Dorian raised an eyebrow as he watched the numbers float in his vision. Omega's adjustment was drastic. From one hundred to ten thousand experience needed to level up.
"Well, I like that," he said, and a small smile appeared on his lips. "But... how much EXP will I get for defeating one of those blade gorillas?"
As if answering his question, a beast charged at him from his left. Bigger than the previous ones. Faster. More furious.
Dorian didn't move.
He waited.
The green blade approached his neck.
At the last instant, his body turned. The right sword cut upward, finding the beast's wrist. The left sword cut downward, finding its ankle.
The creature fell, dismembered, without understanding what had happened.
[ You have defeated a blade gorilla ]
[ You gained 250 EXP ]
250 / 10,000 EXP
Dorian observed the numbers for a moment.
"That means," he murmured, processing, "to reach level four, I have to kill forty gorillas."
Forty beasts. Under normal circumstances, a feasible but tedious task.
But then...
SYSTEM NOTIFICATION:
EMERGENCY TIME-LIMITED MISSION: Reach level four in sixty seconds.
REWARD: You will reach level four.
PENALTY: You will not reach level four.
COUNTDOWN BEGINS: Fifty-nine, fifty-eight...
"Seriously, Omega, I was expecting a divine skill or something..." Dorian said.
"But seriously, is that the reward?" Dorian murmured.
"Sir," Omega replied.
"Stop making these kinds of jokes, I don't have those abilities," Dorian said.
"What a rip-off," Dorian said finally.
And then Dorian sighed.
It wasn't a sigh of worry. It wasn't a sigh of stress.
It was the sigh of someone who had just received exactly what they wanted.
"It's not like this affects me at all," he said, as his body was already beginning to move. "But I asked Omega to create this system, so..."
Pause.
Fifty-one. Fifty. Forty-nine. Forty-eight...
"...I must comply. The rules of games must be followed."
Forty-five. Forty-four.
"Omega," he said, and his voice sounded almost tender. "You're the best."
Forty. Thirty-nine...
---
The Other Side of the Battle
The battlefield was a hellscape.
Black blood covered the ground. Beast carcasses lay in piles, some still trembling with post-mortem spasms. The air smelled of death and something metallic, something alien that none of them could identify.
But Kael was smiling.
"How many have you killed?" he asked, turning towards Hugo with that expression of his that was half-mockery, half-admiration. "No, better said, how many have you pulverized?"
Hugo didn't respond immediately. He was busy.
His right fist impacted against a beast's chest. The creature exploded. His left fist impacted against another's skull. The head disappeared. And then, the echo of his strikes resonated in the air, a shockwave that reached three more beasts coming from behind, knocking them down like bowling pins.
"About..." Hugo paused, mentally counting while another punch destroyed another creature. "fif..."
Boom.
The strike resonated. Another beast fell.
"...I think with those... about fifty," he finally replied, shrugging. "I think."
Kael looked at him.
"..."
"I understand," Kael said.
And he threw his spear.
The weapon whistled through the air, straight as an arrow, and pierced the skull of a beast sneaking up behind Hugo. The creature fell without a sound.
"That one was mine," Hugo said, turning halfway.
"We're even now," Kael replied, retrieving his spear with a mental tug.
And without waiting for a response, he left the spot.
He bent his legs. His muscles tensed like springs. And he jumped.
The air roared around him as he ascended. He spun the spear in the air, feeling its weight, its balance, the way the metal responded to his will. He traced a perfect arc as he began to descend, his body aligned like an arrow.
And then he fell.
The impact was brutal.
The spear found its target: a particularly large beast, a pack leader by its size. The blade split it in two with surgical precision that no knife could match. But it wasn't just that.
The place where he struck, the ground beneath his feet, the earth itself, responded.
The crack expanded in the shape of an inverted triangle, a perfect geometric pattern that spread for tens of meters in all directions. The beasts that were in that area — dozens of them — were swallowed by the fissure, their bodies shattered by the force of the impact.
A cloud of dust rose into Veridia's sky, darkening the alien sun.
"Ugh..." Kael exhaled, observing his work. "I think with this I caught up to that idiot Hugo."
But he wasn't finished.
He swung his spear in a horizontal arc. The movement was simple, almost elegant. But when the weapon completed its trajectory, something else happened.
An expansive blast shot out from the spear.
It was like a blade of wind, invisible but lethal, that cut through dozens of monsters in its path. Behind them, the terrain that had survived the first impact was also destroyed, shattered into pieces by the force of the second strike.
Kael observed his work for a moment.
Then he traced another arc with the spear. He grabbed it as if to throw it, but no. That wasn't what he was thinking.
He started running.
His feet barely touched the ground, claws of speed propelling him forward. He bent his legs again, feeling the energy accumulate in his muscles.
And he jumped.
When his feet left the ground, the earth beneath them responded. A footprint was left marked in the terrain, deep, perfect. Like a seal on a document. As if the planet wanted to remember that a god had visited it.
And if the planet had actually thought that, perhaps it wouldn't have been entirely wrong.
Because for these monsters, Kael was more than a god.
"Ahhhh!"
He shouted before landing. Not from fear. Not from pain. From pure pleasure. From the thrill of the fall. From the anticipation of the impact.
"Twang!"
The sound of his spear cutting through the air was interrupted by something else.
"Groarrrr!"
Multiple screeches and roars from the beasts responded. Pain. Fear. Confusion. The creatures that had never known fear were beginning to feel it.
"How about we switch weapons," Hugo's voice sounded like a whisper in Kael's ear.
Kael turned, looking for his friend. He didn't see him. But his voice continued.
"Stop destroying everything. Leave this to me."
Kael frowned.
"Is your Helion red too? Because it's not. That's my style, you hear?" Pause. "That's my style, you hear?!"
And the connection cut.
Kael stood still for a moment, processing.
"This idiot," he murmured.
But there was no annoyance in his voice. Only affection. Only recognition.
He looked around. The battlefield was still full of beasts. Hundreds of them. Perhaps thousands.
"Let's see..." he said, adjusting his grip on the spear. "Let's keep hunting then."
And he threw himself back into hell.