Equalizer

Len's consciousness faded and the gleam in his eyes dissipated for a split second. He can feel the blood going up his throat, a metallic taste spread around his tongue.

"Gah…"

"Len!"

Octo swung his giant sword and the blonde-haired man jumped away, leaving his greatsword remained stuck in Len's stomach.

"P-pops! We need to take the sword out! He's losing so much blood!"

Red sticky liquid flooded the floor and the smell permeated throughout the room. His hearing deafen and vision blurred, Len touched the great sword that pierced his stomach.

"Hmm…? An apostle? So weak, how did you ended up here before me?"

The man chuckled to himself. He grinned widely, his eyes moved to a shining object on the floor.

"Oh? That thing on the ground… that's the Arcane gem, isn't it?"

Whosh!

The blonde man suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind Octo. Before anyone could react, he crouched and grabbed the arcane gem that fell from Octo's pocket.

"No!!"

Octo made a spinning motion and swung his giant sword only to miss him again. Tapping his feet on the floor, he jumped to the wall while laughing.

With a flick of his hand, a new greatsword appeared.

"Too bad old man, it's mine now."

He made a small cut on his finger and dropped the blood on the gem.

"Hahaha! With this, the Arcane Legacy is mine!"

"Nooo!!"

Octo reached his hand as despair fallen over him.

"Pops! We need to escape! Right now!"

"I-it's all over…"

"Can you guys… shut up for a second?"

Len grunted with a hint of annoyance. Gritting his teeth, he focused on the blue panels that popped out rapidly in front of him.

[You have made contact with the Arcane Gem!]

[The Arcane Gem reacted to you!]

[You have learned a small part of Arcane knowledge!]

Len felt a splitting headache and his vision faded a bit. Just as he was about to fall unconscious, the blue panels rang and jolted him awake.

[You have successfully absorbed the Arcane knowledge! A long lost legacy left behind by the unknown has fallen on your hand!]

[Ether Point (EP) bar has been created!]

[Vitality (VIT) Stats has been unlocked!]

[Resistance (RES) Stats has been unlocked!]

[Insight (INS) Stats has been unlocked!]

[Eye of Insight (Passive) has been learned!]

[Magia Etherea has been learned!]

[Converge has been learned!]

[Diffusal has been learned!]

[Ether Point (EP)]

Unlike MP, EP can only be exclusively used for Arcane magic.

[Vitality (VIT)]

Increases HP capacity, HP regeneration and STAMINA regeneration.

[Resistance (RES)]

Increases resistance to all kind of negative status.

[Insight (INS)]

Increases the ability to appraise more accurately.

[Eye of Insight] (Passive) MAX

After learning a piece of Arcane knowledge, level restriction no longer limits your views of the world.

[Magia Etherea] MAX

Manipulate Ether to your will and use it for your advantage.

*Consumes 25 EP/s

Cooldown: N/A

[Converge] Level 1

Manipulate Ether to reform your body. Absorbs 10% maximum of all stats and allocate them in one stats for 5 minutes

*Requires [Magia Etherea]

*Consumes 200 EP

Cooldown: 6 minutes

[Diffusal] Level 1

Gathers Ethereal essence to your will and use it to disintegrate your enemies into dust.

*Requires [Magia Etherea]

*Consumes 220 EP

Cooldown: 25 seconds

'What's all this…? There's so many, but so short…'

Len was overwhelmed by the ceaseless notifications.

'How did I get these skills…'

While the other was panicking and fighting, Len was immersed in the changes that happened to him. For a second, he didn't feel any pain.

Until the blond-haired man took the Arcane Gem did Len snapped to reality.

"Pops! We need to escape! Right now!"

"I-it's all over…"

"Can you guys… shut up for a second?"

The skills he received was like a blessing from a god. But Len knew there was no god. Something must have led him to acquire these skills and knowledge. But he didn't have the luxury of time at the moment.

'How to get out of this shitty situation?'.

And the answer Len ended up with was-

"[Magia Etherea]."

Whoosh!!

Millions of pale blue particles appeared from Len's body and spiralled around him as if it were dancing.

"W-what the-!?"

"L-Len...?"

Octo and Novy stared at Len who was surrounded by millions of brilliant light.

'Is that… mana? No, it's different…'

Novy could tell with a glance. Those particles were small like a firefly and numbered in millions, also the color was slightly different from mana, dark blue and more of an orb.

'This one seems… 'purer' than mana…'

Novy was intoxicated by the lights while Len Gritted his teeth. He moved his tongue drowned in blood and said.

"[Diffusal]."

The millions of particle gathered in his right hand and shone in pale blue light.

Len grabbed the blade on his stomach and clenched it as hard as he could.

"Hnggh!!"

"What are you…?"

"Are you trying to destroy it with bare hands!? That sword is made from a [Balrog Tortoise]! It could even hold off an elephant! Are you stu- ahh??"

The blonde-haired man suddenly stuttered when he heard a loud 'crack!' echoed. It was a clear and crisp sound for everyone to hear. His laughing face stiffened and the corner of his mouth twitched.

"YOUU!! LET GO OF THAT SWORD!!"

In his frenzied state, he rushed towards Len in a blink of an eye. However, Octo predicted his movement and struck his chest with a wide swing.

"AGHH!!"

Despite being a direct hit, the blonde-haired man only coughed blood and suffered minor injury. He crashed into a wall and charged at Octo while yelling incomprehensible things.

Fortunately, Octo was a veteran fighter and able to take a few blows. But Len knew he couldn't fend off that blonde man forever. Opening his status window, he allocated 80 of his unallocated stat points to STR and the rest to DEX.

A notification rang every second passed.

[Durability of (Balrog Greatsword +6) decreased by 70!]

[Durability of (Balrog Greatsword +6) decreased by 83!]

[Durability of (Balrog Greatsword +6) decreased by 96!]

Len yelled to the top of his lung and gripped the blade even harder.

"OOOHHH!!"

[Durability of (Balrog Greatsword +6) decreased by 199!]

CRACKK!!

The crisp sound reverberated even harder. Grains of dusts flew off the blade and with a final push, it crumbled into dusts and pieces of metal.

'I did it!! I-'

Before even Len could smile, a subtle pain spread around his right hand.

"Ah."

The blue light dissipated and revealed his cracked hand which transformed into lumps of dirt. Lifting it to his face, it fell off and broke into tiny grains of dust.

"AHH!!"

A sharp pain stung as his wrist spurted out blood.

Staring at his status window, he could see his HP decreased rapidly.

The sharp pain fused together with the hole in his stomach and it grew and grew stronger. It was so painful, not even [Pain Resistance] could help him.

'Is this it…? I'm… going to fail the quest…? Who… was… that blond man…?'

Just as he was about to fell unconscious, Novy grabbed his cheeks. Her blue eyes filled with tears and despair, she screamed.

"No! You can't die now!"

Len couldn't answer her.

'Sorry, it seems this is where it ends.'

As his blood poured out from his body, Len was having anemia and could no longer think straight.

Seeing that Len stopped responding, Novy took out her green salve and rubbed it on his bloody wrist and stomach. She did it on impulse not knowing what else to do.

But it was useless, Len lost too much blood. Even with the wound patched up, it would be impossible to create blood out of thin air.

"Pops! We need to get out of here! Now!"

Novy frantically tried to drag Len's body outside, but she slipped and fell down.

"Huh… wait a second… why is it not activating?"

The blonde-haired man realized mid-fighting that the Arcane Gem did not respond to him.

"H-huh?"

Even Octo also got surprised.

Seeing the Arcane Gem on that man's hand, Octo realized that it no longer glows like it used to.

"Ah!"

Staring at Len that barely breathes on the ground, perhaps…

"Wait what? No, it can't be, right? He… He did not just-"

"[Heavy Thrust]!!"

Octo thrusted his giant sword towards the blonde man.

He got caught off guard and reacted too late, the thrust chopped his left hand!

"GYAAH!!"

With that attack, traces of humanity on his face disappeared. He howled like a mad dog.

"H-HOW DID YOU HURT ME!!?!?! YOUR LEVEL ARE FAR BELOW ME OLD FUUU-!!!"

"[Heavy Thrust]!!"

While the chaos ensues, Novy was caught in a dilemma.

She could escape right now while carrying Len. But that would mean leaving her father to die.

"What… do I do?"

The blonde-haired man took out a vial out of thin air and poured it on his wound. Within seconds, his bones, muscle, veins, and skins grew back. His left hand came back perfectly without any wound left.

"...!"

"You are out of luck old man!"

"No!"

A swift thrust stabbed Octo's left chest and his blood sprayed onto Novy's face.

"Father!!"

"No! G-get back!! Escape I say! ESCAPE!"

Octo's muscle bulged and hugged the blonde man, locking his movement.

"But father!!"

"Please Novy! Run!"

"No! I will not leave you here alone! I will not let you die alone!"

"I don't care! I'm ordering you to run! Right! Now!"

"You guys really quite the family, eh!?"

Unable to move, he opened his mouth as wide as possible and bit down Octo's neck.

"GRHH!!"

"STOP!!"

Novy grabbed a piece of the broken greatsword and swung it on his head from the back.

But-

Smack!!

The blade simply inflicted a small graze.

"That hurt!"

The blonde-haired man struggled even harder, and Octo could not hold him off any longer.

'What… why?'

The difference between levels. When the gap is too wide, depending on whether one's level is high or low, one might not inflict any damage at all. It's like a level 1 player fighting level a 100 player. Even if the level 1 player is using a legendary weapon, level 1 is still level 1 and the damages they inflict is of level 1.

This is the world where they who has the highest levels and stat points always win.

With this system, anyone can literally be invincible to swords and magics as long as their attacker has lower levels and stats.

'No… this is the end…'

Falling on her knees, Novy despaired. There's no hope.

And then she heard a voice beside her.

"That... is unfair."

"Len…? You… are alive?"

"Don't kill me off just... yet."

Len cannot stand up, but he can move his mouth albeit very slowly.

'She struck his head with a fucking sword. How come he didn't die? What bullshit system is this?'

Lifting his right hand that turned into a stump, Len said softly to Novy.

"Carry me to that blonde asshole."

"Eh…?"

"No… time… hurry."

"O-okay!"

Trapped in despair, Novy was about to resign her life to fate when she saw Len's face.

'He has not given up.'

His eyes were gleaming with resolve even though his life hangs on a thread. What was it that pushed him so hard to do this? How can a man like him who was stabbed twice in the chest and stomach, losing an arm and blood could still have the determination to fight?

She carried Len on her back and carefully trod towards Octo who struggled to keep him pinned down.

'I never thought something like this would happen.'

Ever since his arrival to this world, not a single thing has happened the way he expected it to be.

Deaths and despair, he experienced it over and over again. This was not the event that supposed to happen. His arrival should be welcomed by a pretty and kind hearted woman, who will give him shelter and food. Perhaps even going on an adventure together, saving villagers from bandits, fighting dragons, meeting new people.

Maybe having a harem.

But not a single of them ever happened to him.

He persisted.

It was because of the RPG-like system.

It gave him an otherworld-ish kind of feeling. It gave him excitement even just for a little bit.

But after witnessing how Novy struck that blonde-haired man's head with a sharp blade… he realized its flaw.

The most crucial flaw.

He was simply grazed. His head didn't split into two.

[Novy Willocton] Level 56

Race : Human

Class : Keeper of Nature

Title : [Ally of Nature]

Equipment : G. Plain Clothes Set, Lovely Ribbon, ...

HP: 12,400/12,400

MP: 24,500/24,500

STAMINA: 7,232/9,000

STR: 68

DEX: 104 (+10)

WIS: 164 (+25)

Charm: 24 (+5)

There's no more level restriction on appraising people thanks to [Eye of Insight]. He could see her levels and stat points distribution. Moving on, he appraised the blond man.

[Rollo Folltor] Level 181

Race : Human

Class : Savage Warrior

Title : [Ravager]

Equipment : Brown Winged Snake Set +6, Balrog Tortoise Greatsword + 4, ...

HP: 49,298/65,200

MP: 22,933/30,100

STAMINA: 35,241/41,650

STR: 404 (+67)

DEX: 239 (+32)

WIS: 120 (+10)

VIT : 222 (+10)

RAGE : 99 (+10)

Charm: 50 (-5)

The difference was like the heaven and earth. Totally different dimension from each other. Len was on level 39, still below than Novy.

The growth was simply abnormal. A single level 181 is pretty much a human tank in his world. What about level 200? 300? 500? Won't they become a weapon of mass destruction then?

Furthermore, unlike the people of the land, apostles cannot die. At least permanently. They would just respawn over and over again after they died. The worst case scenario is them losing an item and EXP.

What about the others then? They die and it's all over. There's no second chance like him.

This clearly divides who are in power and who are not.

Apostles will triumph no matter what. They lose today, tomorrow they will come back again stronger than before.

The people of the land will be oppressed until the day they die.

That was the moment Len realized.

'RPG system in real life might be not the best idea after all.'

People might be happy that they can level up. They will be drowned in ecstasy and joy, unbeknownst that peril is coming towards them.

There are people who is full of passion and ambition, that they will level up non-stop and become one of the strongest in the world. When they do, Len predicted several things would happen, and one of them is…

'Domination… through brute strength...'

And this man, Rollo Folltor, fell on that category.

Len knew that he himself is not a saint nor the 'good' guy. He's one of those criminals that were drowned in sins as well. Any person who possess absolute strength can practically do whatever they want. They could pillage a village and nobody could anything. Rape women, men, or even children and they could still live their daily life like always.

And Len could very well do the same as well.

Which comes the next question.

'We are the same, yet why are we so different?'

When Len came to this world, he was alone and died multiple times. His hatred and stress of this world should have pushed him into the abyss even further.

So why didn't he succumb to his desires?

Anyone who came to such world would at least thought of how to 'enjoy' oneself. This realization struck fear in him. This Rollo could be just the future him, where he levelled up into a mighty figure and possess the capacity to do whatever he wants to do.

'Is that it? Is that the point of levelling up? To become strong enough to trample others below me? To enslave people? To raid villages with my fellow apostles?'

For a second, the world turned blurry for him.

'No it is not.'

Len gritted his teeth.

He was given a ridiculous quest of entering Derdun even though he clearly had a hostile relationship with them.

Craft a [Rare] item despite being a total beginner in blacksmithing within 3 weeks. It would be already amazing if he could make [Common] item within 3 weeks.

Then come the next quest that was even more ridiculous. To save someone that is ten times stronger than him.

How come the weak supposed to save the strong?

Finally, he received this Arcane power out of nowhere.

Imagine how ridiculous the system is. Favouring the strong while abandoning the weak, the balance of the world is non-existent. Those who possess power will keep continue doing what they do, and they who do not will keep running and cowering in fear.

The equilibrium will never be achieved as long as the system exist.

"The world... is unfair."

Len mumbled quietly.

"But then again, has the world ever been a fair place?"

Novy trod closer and closer. After they were just a foot away, Len jumped and hugged him with his legs while his remaining hand choked his throat.

"W-WHY… Y-YOU…"

"Quite shameful for a level 181… pillaging some random villager's workshop… don't you think?"

In that instance, Rollo froze and lost his momentum. Octo seized his chance and locked him up even tighter.

"You... got any… ideas?"

"[Magia Etherea]."

Millions particle of light appeared and spiralled around them

Len moved his lips closer to his ear and whispered.

"Goodbye, Rollo Folltor The Ravager."

Tensing his left arm around Rollo's neck, Len muttered.

"[Converge], Strength."

Converge the ability to absorb up to 10% max stat points of all stats to a single stats. Len absorbed 10% of DEX, WIS, VIT, RES, INS, and Charm into STR. The particles of light gathered in his body and Len felt a subtle sensation of warmth.

'This… my body wouldn't turn into dust, would it?'

10% was low. Even combined stats it still is impossible to choke him to death.

But Len still has more to come.

"[Diffusal]."

The rest of the particles gathered on his whole left arm and shone brightly, blinding Rollo's eyes.

His instinct screamed at him to not touch his hand. He could feel his throat losing the sense of touch bit by bit and breathing slowly became more difficult.

In his frenzied state, Rollo was terrified so much all he saw was red. He came so far only to fail again. First was the black-haired woman, now this small fry.

He cannot accept this outcome.

'[RAVAGER'S RAGEEE]!!!"

Suddenly, his body bursted out with blazing flames. Octo reflexively released his grip and Rollo was set free.

"LET GOO!!!"

Rollo shook his body to the left and right while swinging his arms trying to threw Len away, but his attempt failed. Octo dropped his giant sword and punched him non-stop.

Smack Smack!!

Rollo can only try to defend himself as he fell into panic.

Len was in deep pain and wanted to let go, but he knew it would be truly over.

Unlike people of the land, Len was not afraid of death. He can revive over and over again while Novy and Octo cannot.

In his blurry vision, he saw his HP decreased and almost reached zero. He does not have enough EXP card to level up, thus he had no way to save himself this time.

Then Octo and Novy came into his vision.

Len couldn't see their faces clearly. Everything was blurry for him. He was curious on what kind of expression they were making right now.

'Are they worried about me….?'

Choking Rollo even harder, Len said.

"[Berserk]."

[All stats increased by 215% for the next 5 minutes!]

[You receive 85% more damage for the next 5 minutes!]

With this, Len's HP will reach zero in two seconds.

But before that happen, Len used his last bit of strength to stare at his eyes.

"This is the end."

[Rollo Folltor has been successfully intimidated!!! All stats decreased by 13% for the next 8 minutes!!!]

[Rollo Folltor is more inclined to yield to you!!!]

[Congratulation! [Intimidation] has reached level 9!]

[Congratulation! [Intimidation] has reached max level!]

[Intimidation has evolved into Aura Pressure!!]

[Aura Pressure] Level 1

Simply your presence could instill fear and intimidate your enemies into submission. Decrease the target/s all stats by 10% for 10 minutes.

*Has low probability to intimidates enemy 10 levels higher

*Has decent probability to intimidates enemy 1 ~ 9 levels higher

*Has high probability to intimidates enemy 1 ~ 19 levels lower

*Has very high probability to intimidates enemy 20 levels lower

*Cannot be activated on command

*Will activate on its own when specific condition(s) are fulfilled.

"Ahk…"

Rollo exhaled his last breath.

"HAAAH!!"

Len exerted all his strength. Accompanied with a sound of broken bone, Len's arm and Rollo's throat turned into dusts.

[You have dealt 36,372 critical damage!]

And so the workshop was flooded with dense foul odor. Rollo cannot breathe and his neck broke, yet he still alive and struggled to open his inventory.

He moved his fingers rummaging his items searching for something.

Len had 3 HP left and slowly ticking down.

3…

2…

1…

Through his last moment of pain, Len thought.

'I won't be like him… for sure…'

0.

Starting from his legs, he dissipated into dust and drowned in pool of blood.