Chapter Fourteen

Jason used temporal shift to materialize behind yet another wolf. Without hesitation, he cleaved the beast in two using his mana saber. The pink glow of arcane thrust lingered on its split body still as he cleaved yet another one's head off.

He noticed after he entered the dungeon again, he was no longer receiving any benefits from prolonged fights, so he decided to massacre his way through to the end of the dungeon.

The rabbits in the beginning were just normal rabbits to him now, so they would die with a tap of his saber. The wolves took a little more effort. He made his way through the forest of wolves with little trouble.

When finally he reached the next area, his sense of accomplishment faltered slightly. Through the forest was what seemed to be an old style village full of swordsmen and other various martial artists. He felt as though he had just entered into a pocket in time. When he glanced at one of the men walking the dirt road, he paled. [Human Level 5] He looked at the red lettering above the man's head. He knew this was a dungeon, yet he didn't know if he could bring himself to kill another man.

He hid behind a tree until he could get his thoughts straight. He knew from the many times he had gone through this dungeon, these were not real people. "I'm playing a game right now. A very realistic game." He thought back to the people who might still be at his Grandfather's house. They didn't seem to be playing a game. Coming to his senses, he activated [mana saber] and walked out from the trees. The man walking the path stopped the moment Jason's foot hit the grass.

The man's sword came to his hand as he rushed Jason. He slashed in a downward arch, attempting to cut Jason in half.

Jason raised his sword just in time to block the attack, but his knees almost buckled at the effort it took to stop the man. Though it felt like a minute passed since the man's sword came down, the pressure disappeared quickly as he brought the sword back to slash at Jason's abdomen. The man was much faster than the wolves had been. It was like his entire body was the weapon, not just the sword.

Jason back stepped to avoid the slash. He smiled. "This isn't as hard as I thought it would be." He raised his saber and intended to rush the man, yet his legs wouldn't move. "What the hell?" He looked down at his leather armor, noticing a dark red stain growing darker every second. He activated flash heal a few times, bringing his health back to a hundred percent, while losing twenty percent mana.

Jason activated his arcane thrust, turning his green mana saber pink as it tore through the air to his opponent. The man caught the blade with his own, yet he was pushed back a few feet. Jason kept the ability activated as he sent blow after blow to the man, all the while he felt his phone buzzing from time to time in his pocket.

The two men danced the dance of swords. Jason continued his assault until he no longer had mana, then took damage while dodging the man's thrusts. During the time he waited for his mana to replenish, he used the dull sword from his inventory to parry, each time earning a new chip on the blade. Yet he allowed it to do its job. When he was at a hundred percent mana, he put the blade away and activated his mana saber again. He silently thanked himself for adding the three extra attribute points into wisdom as he noticed his mana going up faster.

When he was at peak performance again, he locked blades with the man. It seemed the man had a perfect defense within this dance. After he brought a downward thrust to the man's head, it was caught by the blade, Jason brought the sword back and used the momentum to bring a slash to the man's throat, yet again it was caught by the blade. They danced back and forth, neither one gaining ground, which to Jason's surprise, meant that he was now on equal footing with the man.

The dust rose from the ground as their feet moved. Jason used his agility and strength to fight the man. He knew by now that if he wanted to end the fight, he knew how. But he couldn't help but feel that he was gaining a lot of knowledge from this man. His strikes became swifter, yet they seemed more fluid as well. He found that the man's stance seemed comfortable for him to use as well.

Hours of fighting commenced while Jason memorized the man's moves with the sword, until in the end, he was too fast for the man to keep up with and he ended the match. Jason watched the man's head roll from his shoulders. "This is the first kill." He said simply as he bowed to the man who was slowly fading. In the body's place, he saw a few bills.

"Two hundred dollars." He whistled as he saw another man walking towards him. Jason smiled as he resumed his battle stance. "Maybe it won't be so hard gaining my money back after all!"

He threw himself against the next fight, and then the next. Each battle ended more quickly, yet he still gained a slight increase as he allowed the fights to drag on until the vibrating stopped in his pocket. This continued until the village seemed devoid of all life.

Before he continued, he sat in the lotus position to settle all of the wild experience he had received from the dungeon. As he felt the energy calming within him, he got out his phone to check his stats.

'You have leveled up!

Current Level: 5

EXP: 200/5,500

HP: 80

MP: 130

STM: 75

Armor Rating: 15

Current Skills:

English Scribe: Intermediate

Cooking: Beginner

Cardio: Apprentice

Hunter: Beginner

Hand to Hand Combat: Beginner

Sword Skill: Apprentice

Spellbook:

Novice Fire: level 0.0

Novice Water: level 0.0

Novice Wind: level 0.0

Novice Earth: level 0.0

Novice Light: level 2.3

Novice Dark: level 1.2

Novice Time: level 1.5

EXP Bonus: 20%

EXP to next Level: 3,000

Spells Unlocked:

Temporal Shift: Mastery: 100%

Arcane Thrust: Mastery: 1.96%

Mana Saber: 2.04%

Hurricane Kick: Mastery: 0.80%

Flash Heal: Mastery: 2.50%

Revive: Mastery: 0.00%

Sneak: Mastery: 1.30%

Other spells may be unlocked upon experimentation and advancement in rank.

INT:13

STR:15

VIT:11

AGI:16

WIS:16

DEF:13

'You currently have 5 attribute points to distribute.'

Balance: $10,259'

"I wasn't expecting such high gains from just grinding this village." Jason admired his phone. "I've even become an apprentice in swords and cardio." He gave a bland smile at the cardio. He had thought the system was just playing a joke on him when he first saw the title.

He put his phone away and walked through the now desolate village until he came to a large iron door which seemed to be hanging from the air. On the door, there was a large 5 raised in the center. "I guess it's time to see the boss."