Chapter Sixteen

The darkness cleared and Jason found himself standing in an open field. As he looked around, he saw nothing but open space. When he looked up, he saw the same blank white sky that he saw at his new home. "Here, boss." He said almost under his breath as he started walking from the portal. After a few steps, he began to see a looming shadow getting bigger on the ground. He looked up just in time to see a large club swinging down towards him.

Jason had less than five seconds to react. He activated his temporal shift, disappearing and reappearing ten meters away just as the massive brutish figure slammed into the earth. He felt the force of the impact shake the ground below. "Shit." He cursed as he activated his mana saber. A greenish glow appeared in his hand as he brought the ethereal blade to a ready position.

The figure was at least seven feet tall and a boulder of a man. His arms were as thick as a tree trunk from East Grand. In his hand was a club which could have actually been a tree trunk, yet Jason didn't know of a tree that could make the kind of crater this one made just by one hit.

"I can't take a hit from that thing, or I'm dead." Jason shook himself off mentally and ran forward. Before the beast of a man could react, Jason landed a blow to his abdomen, but the blade didn't bite into the flesh, he didn't see anything which would have shown proof that he had landed the blow after he pulled away.

Jason took a step back just in time to avoid a wild swing from the man's club. The wind that trailed the attack was enough to throw him back and knock him off balance. He got back to his feet and activated arcane thrust, the blade took on a purplish glow as he launched himself forward, under the outstretched arm of the brute.

With his ability activated, he was able to make a shallow cut on the man, yet just as soon as it appeared, it disappeared. "You've gotta be shitting me." Jason muttered under his breath as he prepared himself for another strike. He launched himself forward yet again, using both hands on his saber, yet once again only landing a grazing strike which quickly healed.

He continued the assault while effortlessly dodging the club at first, but after only a few attacks, his opponent began to gradually pick up speed. Jason went from being able to land at least three attacks per the large man's one, to two attacks per one. Though he had less time to react, he was starting to pick up on the man's attack pattern, which made it easier for him to predict where the man was going to swing next.

Fighting against those swordsmen from before helped after all. He thought as he continued to dodge the blows. As he landed a few more arcane thrusts, his phone repeatedly buzzed in his pocket.

Using up his last bit of mana, Jason went on the defensive, only dodging the club instead of looking for an opening. His mana saber had already depleted by the time his reserves had drained. Taking out his new copper sword which he had been rewarded with when he leveled up, he blocked one of the blows instead of dodging it.

Jason's muscles strained under the weight of the club. His legs threatened to buckle. "Damn you!" he bellowed as he poured every ounce of his strength into throwing aside the attack.

As soon as he cleared the attack he jumped back, gasping for air. "You are one heavy bastard." He heaved. He could tell by the slightly throbbing headache, he was still low on mana. "Shit!" He jumped back again just in time to avoid a club to the face. He jumped again, narrowly missing another to his stomach.

It was impossible. The large ogre of a man was hefting the club as if it were just a sword. Jason was able to dodge, but only just. As soon as his foot touched the ground, he had to once again jump aside unless he wanted to be crushed into paste by the brute.

Sweat poured from his body as he avoided attack after attack, yet when he looked at the brute, the man looked fine. He was frustrated to say the least, as if he were a man just trying to swat an annoying fly. But he had not a single bead of sweat on his forehead.

Jason felt the headache subside slightly, which he identified as having at least half of his mana back. Instead of resummoning his mana saber, he stopped his retreat and met the club head on. The large chunk of wood slammed into his midsection. Jason spat out a mouthful of blood as a result. He winced as he released a breath of air. Instead of complaining, he activated flash heal, sending the healing light to his collapsed lung and repaired his broken rib. "Ow." He spat blood from his mouth and once again began to dodge the man's attacks. After one swing, he would use flash heal once again. After two more swings, he was once again at full health, yet out of mana.

The battle of attrition was never ending as the large man continued to swing his club, and Jason dodged. After a while, he found a pattern to the madness. Instead of summoning his mana saber, or attacking in general, he allowed his mana to replenish completely and then took a hit from the monster just to heal himself. After a few hours of doing this, he began to feel a difference in the strength of the attacks. At first it was so slight a difference, he thought we was just beginning to get numb to the feel of his bones breaking under the pressure, but after it let up a little more, his mood improved.

A few hours later, Jason was able to parry three blows without his arm breaking. The man's attacks seemed to slow slightly overtime, allowing Jason to find an equilibrium in his defense. When he felt that the difference in power was a little less one sided, he activated his mana saber and attacked a few times within their dance. He noticed that the cuts were just as shallow, but he didn't despair, instead he kept hacking at the brute until the cuts became deeper.

Blood spurted from wounds from both men as their dance continued. One from saber slashes, and the other from gashes left by a club. As the distance finally closed in power, Jason used his temporal shift to teleport himself close enough. "This ends it!" He roared as he spun his saber in a small arc and left a deep cut across the man's throat.

Warm crimson flew from the man's neck in a small waterfall, covering Jason in the liquid. Jason gasped for air as the brute fell to the ground. "Finally." He heaved as he fell onto his back. He looked up to the gray mist sky above as he fought to control his breathing.

Sitting up into the lotus position, Jason started processing the raw experience into his own. The hours long battle flew through his mind. He grimaced when he saw some of the obvious mistakes he had made in the beginning of the fight. He cringed every time he felt the club fall on a limb, crushing bone. It felt as if he were going through the fight all over again.

After an hour, he felt a 'buzz' in his pocket.

'Congratulations! You have defeated Dungeon Levels {1-5}

Reward $3,000

EXP 3300

'Current Level: 5

EXP: 3500/5,500

HP: 80

MP: 130

STM: 80

Armor Rating: 20

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:17

VIT:11

AGI:17

WIS:16

DEF:15

'You currently have 5 attribute points to distribute.'

Balance: $13,259'

"Three thousand dollars to complete a dungeon?" If he did this dungeon ten times, he would have more money than he did before he bought his house. He whistled at the thought. "With the time compression, I could do ten dungeons within a few days, even if it took me a week in here." With that thought, he decided he'd do the same dungeon once per day.

Before leaving the dungeon, he looked over at the brute. The large man's club was outstretched on the ground. The thing looked like a tree more than a club. "Even if I could take it, I wouldn't want to." He was about to leave when he saw something that glimmered a light red on the man's outstretched hand. He went closer and noticed it was a ring.

Jason pried the ring off the brute and examined it. His phone buzzed once again.

'Ring of the Brute

Stats:

+2 STR

+2 AGI'

"That's more like it!" He put the ring on his finger and felt his stats go up. He didn't even need to check his phone to know that the ring worked. "If I get a goodie like this every time I do a dungeon, I won't be staying in that house for long." He formed his hand to a fist. "Time to get to work"