Cacophony

'Just stay calm.'

Rob thought to himself, paying extra care to keep a slow but steady breathing pattern. 

The sight of the monsters rushing his way certainly didn't make staying calm easy. But still, that was Rob's best bet in the current, extremely weird situation. 

'I really hope putting the class pick for later won't bite me in the ass,' he thought, lowering himself on his knees as he prepared to sink the impact of the charge. 

The crude swords in his hands felt light, far lighter than he imagined the weight of a full-fledged weapon like this. Still, it wasn't the two jagged blades that he held that were Rob's greatest weapon. 

[Name: Robert Pesterny]

[Level: 3]

[Rank: Above average]

[Race: Human]

[Special Traits: ——]

[Strength: 4]

[Agility: 5]

[Vitality: 2]

[Wisdom: 2]

[Mana: 1]

[Potential: 1.2]

[Class: Undecided]

[Trial Ability Slots: 3/3]

This alien circuit somehow not only quantified all of his strength but also gave him access to parts of his strength he was never aware of before. 

For what else would this point in mana be, if a power Rob never learned to use before?

Now, though, he could see a whole bunch of notification windows floating all over the perimeter of his vision, each and every one of them detailing a kind of ability. A benefit he gained when he discarded the option to pick the class right away. 

Out of the swarm of all kinds of abilities, Rob carefully selected the three that most suited both his inner feelings and the quantification of his powers by this alien circuit. 

[Warrior's Cry]

[Rank: Basic]

[Type: Active Buff]

[Mana usage: Low]

[Lore: "And then, the warrior cried out, for there were so many enemies yet he had only two hands to cut them all down"]

[Upon use, you gain a flat +1 to your Strength, Agility, and Vitality]

[Double Cut]

[Rank: Basic]

[Type: Active Attack]

[Mana usage: Average]

[Lore: "With his arms crossed and a blade point up out of each of his hands, the warrior struck out, cutting a bloody crescent ahead"]

[Slashes out with both swords, away from the center of your body. Stuns and kicks back lesser and average enemies in front of you.]

[Damage: Average]

[Riposte!]

[Rank: Average]

[Type: Active Defense]

[Mana usage: Low]

[Lore: "He was known as the greatest, for his weapon only served to redirect his enemies' attacks back towards themselves."]

[Allows to parry and riposte any attack up to Average rank]

[Damage: Bounce + basic bonus]

A general buff to bring his statistics up a notch. 

'In most of the games I used to play, that kind of buff wasn't even preferred but a damn must,' Rob thought as he took one last look through his abilities, trying to memorize them as best as possible so that he could incorporate them into his fighting sense in the battle ahead. 

An attack focused more on crowd control than actual damage so that he could make himself some room if the fight grew to be too much. And lastly, a riposte, a versatile way of defending himself… The only option between all the choices system swarmed his mind with that allowed the young man to defend against average-ranked attacks. 

'Still, with how we get our stats, it's kind of a pity we don't get health or mana bars.'

What was the meaning of 'mana usage' being low? Did it drain one point of mana? Was one point of mana all Rob had?

There were so many unknowns that it would take a clinically insane person not to worry about the future when a whole horde of hundreds upon hundreds of disgusting and bloodthirsty fiends were now only a few steps away… 

And yet, right before the clash, Rob looked toward the burning-out field of massacred corpses oozing whatever green blood that had yet to coagulate or dry out in the heat. 

Strangely enough, this disgusting sight actually allowed Rob to calm down a little. Not because of any rational reason, there were none for that matter. It was because this sight somehow made him believe that whatever would happen… 

His older brother would take care of it. 

Wasn't he the one who casually burned down two waves of attacks in the few moments it took Rob to follow his brother into the portal?

"Fireball!" Vinnie screamed out only when the monsters reached as close as fifty meters away from them. 

"Wind cutter!" Millie quickly followed suit, clumsily raising her hands and pointing them toward the horde while lowering her eyes and squinting her fearful eyes with all her might. 

"Warrior's cry," Rob whispered, willing to risk the skill not activating if it allowed him to avoid the embarrassment of shouting the skill's name out loud. 

Thankfully, a strange sense of newfound power filled his muscles while the main window of his status reflected the influence of his ability. 

[Strength: 4(+1)]

[Agility: 5(+1)]

[Vitality: 2(+1)]

[Wisdom: 2]

[Mana: 1]

[Potential: 1.2]

"Rallying field!" Millie screamed out again, somehow missing out on how Rob managed to activate his skill and burning her cheek as a consequence of her lack of situational awareness. 

Once again, Rob's body felt a little lighter than before as a slight, blueish hue suddenly flowered in a huge circle around the girl, reaching far beyond the limits of their haphazard formation. 

Obviously, the system reflected this influence too. 

[Strength: 4(+2)]

[Agility: 5(+2)]

[Vitality: 2(+2)]

[Wisdom: 2(+1)]

[Mana: 1(+1)]

[Potential: 1.2]

'What about big bro…' Rob thought, turning a sneaky glance over to where Leo stood with his arms crossed over his chest while casually smirking. 

Yet, contrary to Rob, Millie… or literally everyone else who either prepared some buff or activated an attack spell… Leo stood in place and did absolutely nothing beyond watching how things moved along. 

BOOM!

Vinnie's fireball finally reached the ranks of the charging monsters, or fiends as this alien circuit called them, exploding in their midst and slowing down their advance. 

Still, Vinnie's fireball took a bit over a second to reach its target, a second the charging monsters used to get as close as they possibly could. 

'Now, let's see what those abilities are good for,' Rob gritted his teeth and took a deep breath, bouncing up and down at his knees to get himself into the rapid rhythm of the footwork he learned in the underground self-defense course he attended. 

Then, the monsters reached the edge of Millie's support field, only to slow down a tiny little bit. 

Just like this blueish hue reinforced Rob's flesh, it bound the fiends down. And when forced to abruptly slow down, quite a lot of the fiends at the front of the horde slipped. 

'Go.'

Something deep within the young man woke up. A sense, an instinct he developed during countless hours he spent in a club's abandoned basement. 

The muffled yet still extremely loud music of the dance floor above, the hard-hitting bass making the air of the basement shake with every deeper tone… The cacophony that dulled Rob's thoughts and in combination with the utmost effort he put into his training allowed the young man to forget about his endless guilt… 

It conditioned him to get into his focused state of extreme exercise when faced with overwhelming noise. 

The thuds of the orcs and trolls rushing into the fight while stomping on the ground below their feet, the clanging of all sorts of swords, shields, and daggers, the cries of a hundred different species of fiends… 

All of those noises mixed into the familiar hum that hypnotized the young man and put his instincts over his conscious thought. And in this state, the moment Rob saw the monsters stumble… 

He thoughtlessly charged forth, refusing to let go of such a golden opportunity.