Reaching the Peak

Prince panicked. Was this the third boss? He wasn't strong enough to fight in this state-

No, it isn't. 

It didn't emit the same aura. It was strong, but not as strong as the colossal aura that ruled this place. Prince turned around, finally catching sight of his attacker.

Lesser Squid - Level 42

Lesser Squids are some of the most dangerous animals an F-Grade can encounter under the see. They possess precise control over water and have high strength and dexterity. 

This... Low-level mob is stronger than a boss?

As Prince was pulled in by a tentacle, he realized that he had probably enetered a deeper area, where the monsters were stronger.

In the state he was in, though, this would be a difficult fight.

He had to disengage, recover, power-level to the peak of F-Grade, then come back and slaughter everything in his quest to reach the final boss.

Prince sent a burst of Water Essence around his arm, temporarily pushing the tentacle off him in all directions.

Prince activated his speed boost and kicked away with Water Essence, shooting off into the distance and leaving the startled squid in his wake.

After thirty seconds, Prince slowed and entered a building through the window, in which he quickly popped a pill and caught his breath.

He was back in the starter area. It was time to mow down all of the fishes and then hunt down the final boss.

Once he reached the peak, Prince had no idea how to break into the next grade. Thankfully, Tah'Mahkul had information packages for that.

Prince caught his breath, occasionally peeking around to see if the Lesser Squid had caught up. After a while, he stood, feeling strong again. Just then, Warrior's Will ran out, leaving him weakened for a period of time.

So he rested even more. Then, when finally ready, he stood.

Prince leaped out of the building, speeding away.

He could swim as fast as he ran now.

Prince caught two goldfish fighting again. The carcass of some other fish Prince couldn't identify was nearby.

Goldfish - Level 28

Goldfish - Level 32

Prince jumped from the top of the building he stood on, forcibly making himself drop faster by pushing the Water Essence around him.

Two fists descended on both heads of the goldfish, killing one and caving the other.

Another punch finished it off quickly.

Prince yawned, realizing the energy he gained from that only boosted him up a quarter.

This'll take a while.

Before anything, Prince opened his status screen to allocate points.

Attribute Screen - Prince Collins

Species: Human

Faction: Towering Peak (F)

Class: Martial Warrior 

Subclass: Champion of Victorious Fighting

Titles: Planetary Frontrunner (1000), Planetary Dao Prodigy (100), Solo Leveler

Grade: F

Dao: Node of Martial Arts

Level: 39

Strength: 84

Endurance: 84

Dexterity: 84

Vitality: 75

Mental: 45

Wisdom: 43

Free Points: 20

Prince yawned, bringing Vitality up to 84.

With 11 point left, he poured 5 into mental and 6 into wisdom.

Prince looked at his status screen in satisfaction. His stats were well rounded. He wondered what would happen once they reached 100. How strong would he be then?

Prince flexed his hand, deep in thought. 

An aura- no, a multitude of auras surrounded him at that moment.

"Oh?" Prince raised an eyebrow. Were the fish ganging up on him?

From the shadows a bunch of goldfish, pufferfish, and an assortment of other fish Prince couldn't identify stalked toward him.

Water Essence surrounded Prince. He was sharp again.

He walked, calmly, right up to a pufferfish. He stared it dead in its eyes, his aura warring with a multitude of others.

Prince cut at the fish, turning it into sliced kebab. Just like that, he had cut through the steel-like skin of the pufferfish. Parts of it dropped to the ground, dead.

The other fish lunged.

Prince's body was a machine, mowing through fish with a graceful yet, deadly sort of ease.

There were... A lot of them. It seemed as if they had sensed commotion and decided to attack him due to his monstrous aura.

Level-up! You are now level 40.

Prince spun around, cutting, slicing, smashing. He threw a fish into a wall. It splattered apart.

Some wave of Water Essence threw him into a building, so the fight was taken there. He threw a random punch, exploding some poor fish.

Level-up! You are now level 41.

Prince shot out a Thunderous Palm, destroying all of the fish in front of him and sending the other scattering to either side of him. 

Level-up! You are now level 42.

He had temporarily created a path, even creating a new opening through the building. Prince shot through the opening, making some space for himself.

The fish followed like idiots.

Prince grinned.

Pow, pow, crunch, pow.

Level-up! You are now level 42.

Pow, spin, smack, crunch, rip, slam, twist, slice, rupture.

Prince was surrounded in a cloud of blood. His cape fluttered in the water, numerous fish parts and chunks floating about around him.

Level-up! You are now level 43.

"This was nice. But I'm done playing." Prince smirked. He threw a fish off of him, swimming above them so he could see the rest still remaining.

He shot out a full-power Thunderous Palm.

All the remaining fish were crushed.

...

Level-up! You are now level 49.

You have reached the peak of F-Grade.

Prince sat on a mountain of fish corpses, looking at the new notification in interest. 

His power, while titanic now, was still smaller compared to the Great Squid, which still lurked.

Prince quickly opened his status screen. He had 50 points to allocate. He gave 10 to all his first four stats, then 5 each to Mental and Wisdom.

By now, his boost was back. Prince brushed off a fish tail from his cape. He had a feeling he would need it for this boss, which would likely be E-Grade.

"Alright." Prince stretched. "It's time."

With a grin, Prince shot away. 

Toward his grave or toward his conquest, one could not say.