16 (XVI) Loved ones and cursed ones, struggle, another s rank!
(slight filler)
in this world, there are two kinds of people to watch out for those that are loved by gods and those cursed by gods.
depending on the god that favors someone or loathes them, it can hinder the holder or strengthen them.
The common targets of gods are those that have either pure souls or low in numbers of their specific race.
the actions of one's ancestor can also affect those of their bloodline making whether if it was a being loved or cursed it would follow along until the last of the line draws their last breath.
those that are loved, don't necessarily mean that their life will be easier as there is a price to pay for the title to take effect, from wealth to self-control one must give something to receive their promised ability.
Remishia's ancestor held the same wish as her in desperation to survive to go as far as using monsters to strengthen themselves for a certain task given to them by the pantheon that 'loved' them, as for who that person was and what became of them will be mentioned later even if the said person is still alive living their life as a ruler.
Mark's current body is of the bone fiend's lineage, however, his rank is lower than the said monster by more than 8 times, the price he was forced to pay thanks to his ancestor was a lack of self-control he becomes easier to anger as the human mind that keeps it rational is slowly losing its grip on the beast hidden within.
the 'gift' that he received in exchange for the curse was... increased 'adaptability' growth for related skills of its race and the ability to control the time when it 'levels up', however, this also had a price to pay as it is something that is gravely essential for monsters as when they rank up there will be a time that they'll be rendered immobile, the higher the rank the longer it will be.
As for the price for the second effect that is something that will be mentioned later but for now, that will be enough of the slight filler, time to go back to the scenario~
Mark who was knocked down to the ground attempted to get up as the sound of the protective layer of his natural armor was cracking!
he looked towards the source of the scream as his heart sank, the cloaked man that stood near Remishia blocked his view, but he feared for the worst as blood sprayed out!
Grrrrrrr....!
Mark activated his increased strength then kept it active.
His frame bulged somewhat as he increased in size pushing up against the hammer that was holding him down then slammed his hands into the ground disrupting the stance of the berserker and the hammer user!
It was then he delivered a quick uppercut to the surprised Gustaf sending him flying into the air, while the hammer user tried whacking Mark with the hammer failed to notice the spike-covered tail that soon tore into his back, the sharp pain stunned him as it was 'attached' to the spikes.
Mark flicked his tail to get the injured man off of his tail as he was hoping to rush to Remishia's side, only to receive a fireball spell slam into his unprepared self!
It enveloped his body slowly burning him before an archer fired a few boosted shots that knocked him back to the ground as a certain berserker landed too.
Gustaf was laughing like an excited boy with a new toy as he smiled widely like a child before bellowing out!
"KAKAKA! I was wrong about you being weak! you ARE strong! And I love a CHALLENGE!"
Gustaf was a slow starter so while he may seem weak at first his other skills will keep him alive, then when his main skill reaches a certain point it would quickly snowball out of control to overpower any enemy he faces.
The bleeding berserker was faster than before brandishing his battle-ax cleaving at Mark hitting his armored arm, as he blocked while sparks began flying about, as it scraped the surface of his natural armor taking a small piece off the sound akin to metal scratching against metal resounded within the area!
the force behind the air also put out the flames that covered him, which also exposed his true faceless looks, but they also didn't know of a certain effect of the curse that he had as the said adaptability was kicking in!
His senses heightened as it allowed him to handle the situation slightly better... for now.
As all of his skills were growing making him even more formidable, and even worse for the adventurers they were helping him gain two more skills that were meant when he was higher ranked which were.
increased stamina!
Magic resistance!
Should they be activated right now even the magic attacks would gradually become useless and he'd beat all of the adventurers in endurance!
Sadly, however, as he was slowly being blinded by the instinct of protecting his precious mate Mark didn't notice that he the new additions including the new levels on his current skills.
Gustaf made another attack with a front kick to Mark's chest sending him farther away from Remishia while struggling to stay on his feet two more spells from the mages slammed into him, Making Mark howl out loud in pain!
His regeneration was working harder to keep up with his actions and injuries, But mark was too focused on the woman that was bleeding on the ground as the assassin was ruthlessly stabbing into her since her regeneration was hindering the attacker's job in finishing her off.
A skin-crawling voice muttered for the adventurers to hear.
M̸̡̫͓̮̤͓̐̎̈̈́̂ǒ̶̧͈̰̞̗͔͙͙̼̈́ȓ̶̜̘͇̹̀̊̊̍͝͝e̸̢̹̻̲͓̼̤̝̿͛͆͜͝.
They all looked to the source before all of the people there had a terrible premonition about this before the same cold voice added!
Ï̵̋̆͝ͅ ̸̺̝̏͗́̽̿̂̅̓ń̴̩̝̖̲͗̄͂͂́̚ͅě̷̼̯̅͊̓̔̒̃ḛ̷̗͖̬̘̬̼͑̊͆͐͌̈́̒͋͗̒d̷̳̰̭͇̟͐͋̑̋̅̀̀̚͝͝ͅ ̷̳̔́̈́̓͌̂̚͠͠t̷̛̟̮̠͇͍̲̀́̇̕͘͜ǫ̷̻̣̭͋̍̌̓̏ ̴̬͋̑̎b̴̡̡͓̻͉̦̹͑͋̍͗̉͜͜e̴̝̔̾͊͒̒̔̍͗̚̚ ̵͓͇̬̃̔̅͂̀̈́͝m̶̹̥̤͍̳͓̍͜ó̶̹̰̫̝̌̇̃̏̚r̴̖̦̳̜̼̬̠̙̼̫̅͌͐̏͋̿e̸̛̦̐́͑̇̆̉̃ ̶̟̾̾̃̊̇͝s̸͍͊ẗ̷̳́̑̕r̵̫͙̙͉̞̰̖͍̣̍̑̄̓̅͘o̵̡͈̐́͒̓͗͋͘͜ň̸̡̛̞͔͉̜͙͎͎͉̐̅́̋̔̕̚g̵͕͍̠̱̀͐̀̀͛̊̽͝e̷̢̦̝͍̹̥̝̜͚͆̄͂͗̀̊ṟ̷̫̃̂͌̿͑̆̾̾.̴̧̣̪̯̯̀̄̋́͊͊̐͜͝.̶͔͓͓̪̒̀̔.̴̖͒̍!̶̥̜̩̆̽
His instincts were kicking in again as it both hindered him and helped him more people that gained the courage to attack joined in as ten more people joined in to kill him.
Seeing this made more people gain enough courage to join in until finally everyone there joined in surrounding him from all sides.
As slashes of swords hit his standing figure as he clawed at them, stabs of spears and other pointed weapons struck at him as his tail deflected the majority of it, clubs, maces, and other bludgeon weapons gradually broke his armor as he tried blocking.
These adventurers, obviously, weren't holding back as more spells hit him but he wouldn't fall thanks to the regeneration skill that was showing what it can make the skill holder handle.
Their chances of winning would've continued if only one certain club user didn't smack him on the head, awakening the rational side yet again!
As his mind cleared, Mark felt the pain the wrecked havoc within his body before giving his skills a quick scan hoping to make use of it as he wasn't hindered by focusing on Remishia so much at this moment, only focusing on how to survive this but lady luck was smiling upon his as the new skills caught his attention and he 'upgraded' all of his skills at the same time.
The effects were obvious as his body grew in size yet again by another increment making all of his attackers know that he was back stronger than ever as his claws looked even more sinister.
He clawed at the nearest adventurers delivering even greater wounds than before as those that were hit went flying as well thanks to the additional level in 'increased strength' as some of the unlucky ones were used as 'projectiles' to hit the mages and archers.
The only messed-up thing though was the fact that Mark didn't get many chances to properly recover his stamina properly as the adventurers were relentless making him think back on an old online game he played.
"So this is what it feels like to be a raid monster."
His natural armor was repaired upon leveling it however it was back to its crumbling mess within minutes thanks to the number of attacks it was forced to endure, even if the magic resistance was working as well the biggest trouble was the Berserker that struck his shoulder forcing him to kneel!
Mark grabbed the ax by the handle with his left hand before pulling Gustaf into the cluster fuck of adventurers that were attacking Mark then gave him a headbutt that was met with one of Gustaf's in retaliation but Mark's natural armor and increased strength helped him win the exchange making the large man grunt.
As he, while staggering, got to his feet, moved closer to Gustaf then hit him on the side of his face with his right elbow with an audible crack, before returning a kick to the gut like the one the berserker gave him earlier it was just that this one, on the other hand, was powered up by his skill making his body bend in a < as Gustaf slammed into a nearby house.
His frame crashed through the wall of the house making it collapse on him, then with the new axe he was holding, Mark cleaved at the surrounding adventurers reaping a good number of lives clearing the way before he threw it with all of his might towards a certain adventurer that was still trying to kill Remishia, no, correction he was torturing her!
The axe bore into the assassin's body by the time the attacker noticed it coming, the new 'sheath' of the axe fell to the ground dead as Mark who was no longer distracted by anyone attacking Remishia as his actions caught everyone's attention, he let out a low growl before attacking them even more wildly than before!
But things were getting even worse as the town guards have arrived with another powerful adventurer who was of the same rank as Gustaf...
An S rank!
Meaning that his boost in power may or may not help him for very long!
