The First Circle of Hell (II)

Chapter 2: The First Circle of Hell (II)

[Update!

Skills

Martial Arts (Level 3 → 22 | Styleless)]

Izuku smiled sadly as he slowly calmed his panting breaths from the fight he had just ended. A month had passed since he first left the Sanctuary Safe House and he had gotten used to fighting demons on a daily basis. Unsurprisingly, the constant action did wonders for his Martial Arts Ability, especially as he started encountering and killing stronger and stronger demons.

His humble beginnings started off with the "simple task" of completely clearing out the entirety of the military base of all the demons; most of which were Possessed entities. As it turned out, the most common demon he found were called The Unwilling and along with Possessed Scientists and Possessed Workers, they were the weakest of the demons he faced.

The zombified forces made up Hell's grunt forces and could be promptly executed by the dozens with just a partial Draconification of one of Izuku's limbs as they were much too slow and stupid to hit Izuku even if he didn't have the benefits of his Cognizant Perk. Aside from them, the only other demons Izuku found before he finished clearing out the entirety of the military base were Imps and some of the Possessed Security and Soldier forces.

His first run-in with an Imp left him with a nasty cut along his left forearm as he hadn't been expecting it to be as fast as it turned out to be. The gremlin-like demons were the weakest that Hell birthed naturally. 'And isn't that just the weirdest oxymoron?' Izuku snickered as he reminisced.

Imps were even more fragile than the weakest of the Possessed-type demons, so it instantly died to his retaliatory attack back then. It was the first of the many injuries Izuku went on to sustain in his fight to retake the military base.

Fortunately, the Sanctuary Safe House had a few fully stocked Medkits and even more Stimpacks that helped galvanize the natural healing process. Better yet, as he continued to clear out the demons from the military base, any supplies he found, he brought back to the Safe House. By now, he had probably stocked enough supplies to last him well until he finished his Quest-given mission.

Regarding the Possessed Soldiers and Possessed Security demons he encountered… Izuku found them insufferable, especially if he was misfortunate enough to find groups that stuck together; an unfortunately common occurrence, given their marginally retained intelligence.

Possessed Soldiers almost always used the human weapons that had been brought by the research group from an organization called the UAC; even when they didn't, they were actually strong and smart enough to put up a decent hand-to-hand fight. Along with Possessed Security, they were "made" from something of a conglomerate of militia groups that had been hired by the UAC to oversee their security while studying Argent Energy and Hell itself.

Or… that was initially their plan before the phenomenon of Possession and the native demons of hell destroyed them before they could put up a fight.

Izuku had met his first Possessed Soldier less than a week prior as he was clearing out the very last of the demons inside of the military base — now known to him to be a research facility for the UAC — and since then, he had been shot no less than several dozen times; he almost died the first time, he had been caught unprepared and took a bullet to his non-Draconified chest. Ever since then, he always fully transformed when he so much as though he might face a Possessed Soldier.

Fortunately, the medkits and stimpacks he ended up nearly collapsing on when he returned to the Safe House proved potent enough to almost immediately replenished his lost blood and kick start his natural healing rate to the point where his bullet wound scarred over in a matter of minutes. Every time he recalled the memory of seeing his Health Stat rapidly drop below the negative eighties, he shuddered upon knowing exactly how close to death he had come.

Now, though, he had started going beyond the ruins of the UAC's former research facility. He knew almost immediately after he touched the desert soil on the First Circle of Hell where he needed to go next. After all, if anything was likely capable of crossing dimensions from Hell to this "Doom World's" version of the Solar System, it was probably the thing beaming up at the sky with seemingly no end in sight.

Unfortunately, there was no telling how far away the beacon of light was from Izuku's Safe House within the research facility. Ever since he finished clearing out the demons, he'd been fighting through more demons to make his way closer and closer toward the direction of the beacon. But, no matter how far from the research facility he got, the source of the beaming light never seemed to get closer, and at the end of every day, he had to go back to the research facility as he knew he would only be safe sleeping within the Safe House.

He was left in a conundrum until a seemingly inane idea provided a way forward.

[Observed Status

Name: Warding Runes (Cast Ability)

Durability: 100/100

Description: Once cast by the Argent Energy of The Praetor and maintained by the ambient Argent Energy that permeates all of Hell, the text inscribed along the edges of the room will forever ward off all demons from so much as noticing the existence of this space.]

"Cast and maintained with Argent Energy, huh…" Izuku mumbled to himself. "I should be able to do that, right?" He asked no one in particular, not expecting an answer regardless.

After over half a year of living in Hell, constantly absorbing Argent Energy by way of his Draconification, Izuku had just a few weeks prior gained the three abilities that allowed him to conceive of his ridiculous idea.

[New Abilities!

Argent Energy Core (Level 2): Months of constant exposure and absorption of Argent Energy has fundamentally forced your body to accommodate a personal, permanent, self-replenishing amount of Argent Energy. This Ability Grants you access to a new Energy System, Argent Energy, +1 Intelligence and Charisma every Level, +2 Wisdom and Will every 3 Levels

Argent Energy Manipulation (Level 4): Demarks your proficiency as it relates to the absolute control of internal Argent Energy and the relative control of external Argent Energy. This Ability Grants you +1 Wisdom every Level, +1 Intelligence every 3 Levels, and +1 Charisma every 5 Levels

Argent Energy Resistance (Level 12): The Argent Energy you absorb influences you both physically and mentally. Physically, your body is tempered to form the supernaturally dense muscles and even tougher bones of demonic entities. Mentally, your sanity is corroded over time. Fight this corrosion until you gain immunity or die trying, those are the only two outcomes.

Modifiers

(Level 10) Least Immunity: You have grown resistant enough to gain absolute immunity to the ambient energies of Hell in the First Circle of Hell, so long as you are within a Warding Rune's area of effect.]

'I wish I could say that I didn't think I've been losing my mind up since even before I got the modifier for my Argent Energy Resistance Ability, but… That would be a lie. I've definitely changed… Just a month ago, I killed for the first time and it barely even effected me. A month later and I don't even blink at the sight of the chaos caused by my fights.'

'Mutilated bodies and severed limbs of the demons I've killed, gruesome bodily injuries to myself… Even almost dying… Before I came to this place, I don't think I would have been able to last as long as I have or even keep my current sanity if it hadn't warped to whatever it is now,' Izuku sighed before he decided to return back to the Safe House.

When he reached his destination, he checked on the progress of his latest endeavor before returning to the grind.

[New Abilities!

Rune Smithing (Level 3): A measure of your proficiency in casting runes with Argent Energy. This Ability Grants you access to Rune Casting Abilities, +10 Intelligence and Wisdom every 10 Levels, and +1 Will and Charisma every 5 Levels

Recorded Rune Casting Abilities

(Requires Rune Smithing Level 5) Rune Casting (Reinforce)

(Requires Rune Smithing Level 7) Rune Casting (Empower)

(Requires Rune Smithing Level 10) Rune Casting (Ward)

(Requires Rune Smithing Level 15) Rune Casting (Drain)

(Requires Rune Smithing Level 25) Rune Casting (Seal)

(Requires Rune Smithing Level 33) Rune Casting (Berserk)

(Requires Rune Smithing Level 50) Rune Casting (Cleanse)]

'Am I petty for being frustrated? It's great that I found so many castable Runes between sifting through the ruins of the research facility and using Observe to the best of my ability. But, to have some much power so close yet out of reach… I hope I'm really not becoming a power-hungry maniac,' Izuku thought before he shook his head and sat down to practice manipulating his supply of Argent Energy in taking the forms of the runes he had drawn on a piece of paper as a reference.

Even after nearly a week of practice, he could barely make out the rough shape of the simplest Reinforcement Rune. Worse, was the fact that it nearly took out the entirety of his pitiful reserves with every attempt. His only saving grace was the fact that the constant depletion-refilling cycle of this kind of training served to increase all his Argent Energy related Abilities at the same time.

Alas, it was likely that he would be taking months to get good enough at Rune Smithing to cast the Warding Runes he desired to survive sleeping outside the Safe House.

"Oh well," Izuku sighed as another failed attempt at creating a Reinforcement Rune resulted in almost all his Argent Energy being spent. "It'll just be a few more months at worst. It's nothing I haven't already done…" He muttered, seemingly unaware of how absurd the statement would come across had any other human been around to hear him.

In more ways than one, he'd crossed the bounds between sane and insane.

…

Time passed as methodically as it had for as long as Izuku had been in Hell, when the incident happened before could tell he had been ambushed.

Vvvvshzoom!

He barely even had enough time to fully Draconify to the full extent of his Modifiable limits and focus all his efforts on blocking the energy beams that had been volleyed in his general direction. When the dust settled, however…

Izuku found himself kneeling and in shock before the group of ten, fifteen, twenty… twenty-three demons finished crossing into the effective domain of his Cognizant Perk.

He checked the most relevant aspects of his Status given the situation.

[Status

Title: The Gamer

Level: 42

Name: Izuku Midoriya

Stats

Health: -15% (Bleeding Out -1% per minute, Crippling Injury (Missing Left Arm Below The Elbow) -3% per minute)

Stamina: 73% (Bleeding Out -5% per minute)]

'Is this it?' Izuku thought as he autonomously dove to the right, out of the way of the next volley of energy beams. He was distraught and in despair, but the months of fighting in Hell left his body fully capable of reacting instinctively.

[Observed Status

Level: 45

Name: Hell Razer

Stats

Health: 100%

Stamina: 100%

Argent Energy: ~98%

Strength: ~50

Constitution: ~60

Dexterity: ~40

Agility: ~55

Intelligence: ~75

Wisdom: ~25

Will: ~30

Charisma: ~40]

There were twenty-three of them. Twenty-three Elite-Class Demons that strategically fought by sniping their prey from a distance. Twenty-three of them against Izuku, who was dying, crippled, quickly exhausting himself due to his injuries, and entirely lacking in long-range combat options…

Upon dashing towards the group of Hell Razers, they split off and began to cover for each other as they sought to surround Izuku. Attacking one meant allowing the others to move one step close to holding an unbeatable position and fleeing was out of the question this far out from the Safe House, even if he wasn't under the threat of being shot down the moment he turned his back to them.

'What can I even do in this situation?' Izuku's despair deepened.

His body chose to die fighting. He gave up on the idea of blocking and dodging as he applied Empower and Hastening Runes on his body.

His movement speed nearly doubling, he was within striking distance of two of the Hell Razers in the blink of an eye. "Die!" He punched them both and they exploded into a shower of blood and gore.

Thunk! Th-Thunk!

Izuku hissed in pain as he felt three lances of energy impact his torso; two landed on his chest, while the third impaled his waist. Ignoring the pain, he checked the damage on his Status and ignored the potential quickening of his own death as he continued his onslaught.

"If I'm going to die anyways," He grunted through the feeling of his shoulder being nearly sliced off, another three Hell Razers dying in turn, and the achilles tendon on his right leg being severed, with another four dead demons at his feet.

"I might as well go out with a bang," madness danced within the pupils of his eyes as he lost his reason to the feelings of frustration, hate, and misery coming forth from his impending doom.

By the time his Health reached negative eighty-five, he completely lost his mind and managed to kill off half the Hell Razers. After another ten seconds, half the remaining Hell Razers perished and left Izuku just two percentage points away from true death, when in his mindless rampage Izuku felt the effects of his runes expire.

With logic and his intelligence no longer at play, Izuku exhausted his Core of Argent Energy as he spammed Empower and Hastening Runes despite the fact that they did not stack. Through his progression with Argent Energy Manipulation and Draconification, he had long since reached the point where he could actively draw in ambient Argent Energy to restore his reserves and in his mindless stupor, he did so without purpose.

With just seconds left before he succumbed to his injuries or fainted to exhaustion — either could happen seconds before the other — Izuku killed off what remained of the Hell Razers as he continued to empty the reserves of Argent Energy that he was purposely casting into useless runes, when miraculously…

[Update!

Skills

Draconification (Level 20 → 50 → MAX | EVOLUTION THRESHOLD CROSSED): Activates an energy source — Quirk Factor works best — to transform the body. A True Dragon's domain of power expands with conquest. Sufficient enough proficiency in the manipulation of an Energy System can now be galvanized with this Special Ability to create additional derivative copies of this Ability.

Effective Cost 1: Marginal Stamina consumed daily to transform 50% of one's flesh into dragon skin.

Effective Cost 2: 1% Stamina per hour to transform 50% of one's flesh into dragon skin.

Effective Cost 3: 5% Stamina per half-hour to fully transform one's flesh into dragon skin.

Modifiers

(World Effect) Demonic Influence → Demonic Authority: The ambient Argent Energy of Hell reduces the Stamina Cost of this Ability by a factor of 5.

(Level 10) Deeper Than Skin: For 10% of the Effective Cost, Draconification affects Skin and Muscles.

(Level 25) Half A True Dragon: For 50% of the Effective Cost, Draconification affects Skin, Muscles, and Bones.

(Level 50) Legendary, Mythical: For 250% of the Effective Cost, Draconification affects Skin, Muscles, Bones, and Organs.

New Special Ability!

Demon Dragon Transformation (Level 1 | This Skill can not regress further and be lost): Activates an energy source — Argent Energy works best — to transform the body into that of a Demonic Dragon.

Cost: 80% of total Argent Energy per minute to sustain this transformation.

Modifiers

(World Effect) At Home: Ambient Argent of Hell more than fuels this transformation. There is no Cost to using this Ability within the "Doom World." Argent Energy, Health, and Stamina passively restore themselves exponentially the lower down the Circles of Hell you go, but you are just as likely to be influenced by the mind-breaking effects of using Argent Energy.]

Teetering on the border of life and death, Izuku was saved as his Status began recovering. He was also damned as his already broken mind continued to decay to his wrath and he roared until his voice grew hoarse.

The fight was over… But at the same time, it was not. In fact, for Izuku, who had transformed into a Demonic Dragon and continued to spam his Runic enchantments, his bloodthirst was only rising.

It wasn't long before he lost his sense of time as battle after battle continued to be fought. An endless war between him and the denizens of Hell.

Days passed but his mind had been lost before his personal war had begun. Weeks did little to calm his rage. But after months of endlessly killing, after months without sleep or rest… Eventually, Izuku found himself lacking any demons to kill for just long enough that the killing machine of a body he had been animating through sheer hate and the ambient Argent Energies of Hell collapsed.

…

When he came back to his sense, Izuku was simply confused. He found himself in the middle of the desert with not even a calm wind to provide the slightest whisper of sound. Then, the memories of the ambush hit and he grew shocked. Having lost his mind well before he finished off the Hell Razers that had come a hair's-thickness short of killing him, he had no idea how he was still alive.

Then he checked his Status and paled as he could almost reconstruct the story based on the updates to his Stats and Abilities.

[Status

Title: The Gamer

Level: 79

Name: Izuku Midoriya

Stats

Health: 100%

Stamina: 100%

Argent Energy: 100%

Strength: 57

Constitution: 64

Dexterity: 66

Agility: 109

Intelligence: 70

Wisdom: 79

Will: 47

Charisma: 50]

[Abilities

Primary School Academics (Level 95 → 72)

High School Academics (Level 36 → 13)

Analysis (Level 51 → 17)

Walking (Level 49 → 100 → MAX)

Running (Level 33 → 90)

Writing (Level 41 → 10)

Drawing (Level 60 → 21)

Cooking (Level 12 → 2)

Calisthenics (Level 22 → 37)

Weight Lifting (Level 11 → 20)

Resolution (Level MAX | MAX Level Skills can never regress)

Observe (Level 12 → 15)

Sprinting (Level 17 → 77)

Martial Arts (Level 22 → 61 | Styleless)

Argent Energy Core (Level 2 → 29)

Argent Energy Manipulation (Level 4 → 37)

Milestones

(Level 10) Homeostasis: Argent Energy sourced from your own personal reserves no longer possesses any harmful influences to you.

(Level 15) Attractant: You can now command all forms of Argent Energy to be drawn to you. Works best on ambient Argent Energy within the range of In Tune.

(Level 25) Materialization: Your control of Argent Energy has reached the point where it is possible to manifest and sustain basic constructs.

(Level 33) In Tune: For every Level this Ability is in excess of this Milestone, you can expand your senses and connect with the Ambient Argent Energy within Hell by 5 meters. This effect is augmented by the effects of your Cognizant Perk.

Argent Energy Resistance (Level 12 → 53)

Milestones

(Level 25) Lesser Immunity: You have gained independent immunity to the ambient energies of Hell. You now slowly recover your sanity over time, though the rate at which this happens depends on how high this Ability is in excess of this milestone.

(Level 50) Partial Negation: Argent Energy that empowers an Attack is negated in direct proportion to this Level's Skill.

Rune Smithing (Level 3 → 21)

Castable Runes

Rune Casting (Reinforce): 5% Total Argent Energy Reserves is sacrificed to Triple your Constitution and Double your Agility for one minute.

Rune Casting (Empower): 10% Total Argent Energy Reserves is sacrificed to Triple your Strength, Double your Dexterity, and increase your Agility by 50% for one minute. Agility Buff Stacks with Empower.

Rune Casting (Ward): 25% Total Argent Energy Reserves is sacrificed to apply Warding Runes that repel demons in an area of 10 square meters.

Rune Casting (Drain): 50% Total Argent Energy Reserves is sacrificed to apply Draining Runes on up to two targets. Draining Runes, once applied, will siphon off Argent Energy at a rate proportional to this Ability's Level for five minutes. The effects of applying multiple Draining Runes on a single target Stack, but the effect provides diminishing returns, compounding half the effects for each additional Rune applied to the same target.

Recorded Rune Casting Abilities

(Requires Rune Smithing Level 25) Rune Casting (Seal)

(Requires Rune Smithing Level 33) Rune Casting (Berserk)

(Requires Rune Smithing Level 50) Rune Casting (Cleanse)

Draconification (Level MAX)

Demon Dragon Transformation (Level 1 → 22): Activates an energy source — Argent Energy works best — to transform the body into that of a Demonic Dragon.

Cost: 33% of total Argent Energy per ten minutes to sustain this transformation.

Modifiers

(Level 10) Internal Conversion: Argent Energy can near-instantly be converted to Health or Stamina with a Conversion Rate of 1%:2% and 1%:5% respectively.

New Abilities!

Demon Blood (Level 15): This Ability allows you to refine the naturally gaseous state of Argent Energy into that of a viscous and increasingly dark blood-like substance that augments one's body. Prolonged exposure to condensed liquid Argent Energy, penetrated deeper into your cells to grant you +2 Strength per every 3 Levels, +1 Agility every 4 Levels, and +1 Consitution every 5 Levels.]

"H—" Izuku hitched with a shuddering breath, "How long… For my Status and Abilities to have changed so drastically… For some of my most basic Abilities to have regressed so much… I… Have I been fighting unconsciously for months? Years? Even longer?"

He stayed seated where he had woken up as he reconstructed the story of what must have taken place while he had lost it.

From his understanding of the phenomenon of regression, the higher the Level of any one of his given Abilities, the harder it was for that Ability to regress. Moreover, for as long as he'd been in Hell prior to losing his mind, he had never seen any regression to either of his Academic Abilities.

His ongoing theory on the matter was that the constant reading he did while improving his Observe Ability along with the plans he made and revised day in and day out worked to prevent any regression at all. Seeing as his Academic Skills seemed to encompass his knowledge on the study of pretty much all topics comprehensible to primary and high school students, it made sense that thinking of anything at all that facilitated the use of the knowledge that would keep his Abilities where they'd been all along.

If that were the case, then… How long would he have had to been essentially brain-dead, to have been thoughtlessly rampaging through the desert hellscape, for a Level 90+ Ability to have atrophied down to the lower 70s?

"Wait," Izuku paused as beads of cold sweat started pouring down the side of his face. "H-How long h-has it been s-since I last ate or drank anything? D-Did I… Did I eat or drink anything at any point after my mind snapped?"

The only thing he could have eaten or drank outside of the Safe House were the corpses of the demons he killed and the blood that they carried respectively. Worse yet, Izuku knew the vast majority of demons he came across were part of the Possessed. So… If he did eat or drink at any point—

'It didn't happen,' He decided, believed, and locked away the possibility of even entertaining the thought any longer.

His mind, now restored, was forever warped from what it had once been before he entered Hell. With his Will Stat and Maxed Resolution Ability, he just learned how well it could compartmentalize and manage any conflicting ideas.

Izuku had more important things to worry about, anyways. After all, even if he could preserve his sanity by locking away the thoughts that he might have potentially cannibalized the bodies of the Possessed, which he definitely didn't… He really might have to resort to that if he didn't want to die before his body gave out once again.

He stood up, look around, and sure enough… He had absolutely no idea where he was. The UAC research facility with the Safe House he knew about could be literally anywhere as all there was for his eye to see was endless flat desert terrain in all directions.

Most of the land was arid, some of it sandy, and there were desert "Hell" cactuses and bushes spread out in clusters for as far as the eye could see. It looked exactly as it always had when Izuku ventured out to fight demons, only without even a speck of the dull-grey and black outline of the UAC research facility's exterior anywhere in sight.

"Oh?" Izuku's eyes widened as he turned to check his flank.

Apparently, his original observation was slightly off, for much closer than he'd ever been to it, he could see that the source of the sky-splitting beacon of beaming light was close enough for him to approximate a proper distance.

Stretching in place for a couple seconds to ensure his joints and muscles were ready for the hours-long trek he would likely be making, Izuku then stopped when he was properly warmed up. Before he left, however, he raised his left hand towards the ground and tested casting the Warding Runes he had previously been too inept to perform.

"What the— Oh. Oh," Izuku grimaced as he remembered.

The Hell Razers' ambush left him with a charred stump of a left arm. It had been blown off just before the elbow, but now… It was somehow back and… Different.

There was nothing about it mentioned on his Status nor Abilities, so maybe, 'Perks?' He thought on a whim.

[Perks

Regalvanized

Intent (Determination)

Cognizant

New Perks!

Brazo Del Diablo: Your left arm was once severed, but in a bout of madness you forcefully devoured the Argent Energy of tens of thousands of demons to sustain your wrath. All the excess Argent Energy that didn't keep you animated and perpetually combat-ready coalesced and recrystallized into the left arm you have now. All Abilities that can be cast or channeled through just your left arm permanently require only half their Effective Costs.

Sonic Acceleration: For surpassing 100 Agility, you have gained the Unique Ability to withstand acceleration forces capping out at Mach 1 per second squared. The rate at which your body accelerates is permanently increased by 25%]

"Oh, thank god for Argent Energy," Izuku sincerely muttered as the mystery he had locked himself from further contemplating was solved by the Gamer System in the least traumatizing way possible.

'The new arm is great too, but… It's rather unsightly, how artificial it looks compared to the rest of my body,' Izuku thought. His new left forearm and hand were unnaturally pale compared to the rest of his skin tone, but more importantly, they took on what Izuku could only describe as "predatory" characteristics; namely, the extremely dense musculature, the passive Argent Energy he had to actively manipulate to not be leak off as an aura, and long, sharp, sharp nails.

He resolved to find some way to cover it up for when he returned to his world. But that was a matter for when he completed his mission and left the First Circle of Hell. For now, Izuku took off towards the beacon of light.