Reaping Rewards

Ackster fainted while standing, and even when he eventually woke up again, he was still in the same position since his muscles were so stiff. His body ached all over. Even his eyes and head throbbed in pain. He almost considered going back to sleep and wait until he recovered enough to move without his body creaking and letting out crackling noises like a chain of fireworks.

But he wasn't in a safe place.

'It worked?'

After finishing six of the seven remaining goblins, Ackster realized that he wouldn't be able to move much further. He had already reached and broken through his limits several times by then, and no matter how much he tried to move his body, it was futile. He was going to faint before he could kill the remaining goblin.

So, in desperation, he tried to scare it away.

Usually, goblins were mindlessly bloodthirsty and didn't feel fear unless they were standing face to face with a foe strong enough to overpower the goblins' instinct to kill. Ackster clearly wasn't strong enough to subdue even weak monsters such as goblins with his gaze alone.

But he had just torn apart the rest of the group in a murderous frenzy while taking almost no hits. His last dash through the group of seven had been especially ferocious. Combined with the goblin gore caking his body, Ackster hoped the last goblin would feel threatened enough to reconsider attacking.

And since he was alive and the last goblin was nowhere to be seen, Ackster's desperate attempt had worked.

Yet, he wasn't happy.

He had been forced to scare away a foe because he was too weak to kill them. It was a decent outcome since he had survived, and he could feel that he had grown tremendously, even if he would need to recover to find out just how much.

But it wasn't perfect.

He wouldn't be able to scare The Hero into not destroying the world. And while intimidation tactics could be useful, and he would most likely employ them in the future as well, letting an enemy run away like that was suicidal.

Thankfully, it was just an ordinary goblin this time, even if it was smart enough to feel fear. But if it had been a human, Ackster could have eventually ended up in trouble, depending on the circumstances.

Even now, he wasn't completely safe since the goblin could be coming back after gathering its courage or other comrades.

So, as soon as he could move, despite his body's protests, he started munching away on the goblins he had killed.

Since his body had been so stiff, he thought he had been out for a while, but the blood leaking into the ground had yet to dry, so the corpses were still pretty fresh. The fact that muscle stiffness and ache were already setting in meant that his body was already well on the way to recovering.

While he ate, Ackster managed to slip a hand into his clothes and retrieve his Nomi. Although he could feel how much he had grown, nothing was as good at telling him how much as the Nomi. He read his status with bated breath.

[Name: –]

[Profession: (Adventurer)]

[Stats:

[Strength: C]

[Agility: D]

[Fortitude: C]

[Mana: –]

[Spirit: D]

[Stamina: D]

[Skills:

[Strong Body]

[Pain Tolerance: C]

[Poison Resistance: E]

[Keen Senses: C]

[Iron Stomach: D]

[Sprint: E]

[Strike: C]

[Soft Footsteps: E]

[Leather Skin: D]

[Survivalist: F]

[Stone Fists: E]

[Iron Will: D]

[Clear Mind: F]

[Battlesight: F]

[Limit Breaker: G]

[Resilience: F]

[Monster Muncher: G]

"Holy…."

Ackster's stats and skills hadn't leveled up that much. But, considering he was reaching ranks that people took weeks, months, or even years to surpass, it would have been weirder if he ranked up more. However, he couldn't be any further from dissatisfied with what he saw.

He had unlocked the Stamina stat, which would let him expedite its growth with the Nominus Card's power. But that wasn't what made him ecstatic. Stamina was one of the hidden stats that were the easiest to grow, even without the Nomi. Just training regularly and strenuously would eventually rank it up, even if he couldn't see it. It would just be faster now.

What made Ackster really satisfied with his efforts, what gave him the feeling that all his near-deaths, all the pain, and everything he had endured so far wasn't for nothing, were the skills he had acquired.

Resilience wasn't super easy to acquire, but it was mostly a passive body-strengthening boost that basically increased the effects of Fortitude.

But the other three were treasure troves, especially Limit Breaker and Monster Muncher, at least if Monster Muncher was the skill Ackster thought it was.

Battlesight is a lesser version of Foresight that only activates in the middle of a heated battle, hence the name. It isn't as reliable as Foresight or other skills that can peer through time and space and look into the future since it's based on the user and their capabilities. It can also be difficult to use and get used to. Without enough skill, Battlesight can end up being more of a hindrance than an aid since the user will focus on what will happen instead of what is happening.

But, based on how well it had gone for him, Ackster didn't worry. If he could learn and get used to activating it on his own, it would be an incredibly useful skill, regardless of the situation, as long as he was in battle. If he got good enough at it, he might even be able to evolve it into a better skill, hopefully, something that could compete with The Hero's Sage Eyes.

However, compared to the other two, Battlesight was just decent. It would be useful, but it still depended on Ackster's own capabilities and if he could react to what he saw. Although he had activated it when he fought against the seven remaining goblins, possibly a little before that as well, he had been unable to make full use of the sight he had seen since he had been too weak, tired, and burdened.

Limit Breaker, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. But, just like Battlesight, its name was self-explanatory. It broke and helped Ackster break through his limits. It wasn't without a cost. But all double-edged blades were sharp. And, to Ackster, the cost was more than worth it since he had Strong Body and was beginning to build up a repertoire of reinforcement skills.

The more skills he had, the stronger his body got, and the more powerful he became, the tougher it would be to break through his limits. It would also incur a greater cost, proportional to the effect of the skill.

However, with Strong Body, and any other regenerative skill he could get his hands on, Ackster would quickly recover from the damage Limit Breaker caused. And, best of all, as he recovered, his body would grow stronger.

That was most likely part of the reason why his body was aching like he had been stung by a hundred bees. He had acquired and activated Limit Breaker during the fight with the goblins. And now, he was suffering the consequences.

Since he had broken through his limits by forcing his body to move, even when it was already on the verge of breaking down, his body was the one to take the brunt of the cost. Limit Breaker probably hadn't had time to do that much, which was why he could still move. That, and Pain Resistance.

However, when The Hero and other characters in the original story who had the skill, used it, really used it, and let it show its worth, they would often end up bedridden for at least a day, even with expensive potions and healing magic. Even the Saintess could only do so much against the aftereffects of Limit Breaker. It was mostly up to the user to recover on their own.

It was perfect for Ackster, whose greatest strength so far was his ability to endure and recover.