King meets King

*Ding*

"Life force(50/50)

Congratulations!

'User' has acquired the required amount to level up!

Level 0-> Level 1

Congratulations on creating your first link with the system!

User has unlocked new features!

Feature: 'Attribute points', has been added!

You have been awarded 5 Attribute points for levelling up!

You have opened the skill tree!

Feature: 'Skill Points', has been added!

Skill: 'Sacrifice', has been acquired!

The requirements to unlock the '(Locked)' skills and titles now exist as rewards in the system!

30 life force required for Level 2."

The sweet voice resounded in Iono's mind, informing him of his growth. Iono said,

"Status, Goreva". A blue screen appeared in front of him.

Name: {Iono(Yotum)}/{Kote(Goreva)}

Race: {Human/Goblin Lord}

Job: (None), (Locked)

Titles: "Prince of the Eastern Kingdom"

"He who holds Prana"

"Ophiucus successor"

"Bearer of Chaos"

(Locked)

(Locked)

(Locked)

"The one unravelling secrets"

Core Stage: Foundation/Cell Reverberation

Body Stage: Mortal/ tier {1}

Level: {1} (70/100 life force)

Vitality: {1038}(356+682) (+)

Strength: {876}(243+633) (+)

Agility: {854}(231+623) (+)

Dexterity: {798}(204+594) (+)

Stamina: {208} (+)

Intelligence: {ⴼ२ⵇ५ⵣ ැ/ම ᱦयᱳ-ⴽ} (+)

Mana: {87} [(-1) every second of refinement] (+)

Aura: {245} [(-1) every second of refinement] (+)

Ether: {10,000} (-)

Prana: {542} [(+1) every second of refinement] (+)

ᱪै०ᱤᱴट: (Locked) (+)

Attribute Points: {5}

Skill points: {0}

Skills: (Locked), (Locked), (Locked), (Locked), (Locked), "True Serpentine Body" (Passive) (Level 1), "Mana Manipulation" (Level 53), "Aura Manipulation" (Level 51), "Prana Manipulation" (Level 10), "Quantum Eyes" (Passive) (Level 2), "Energy Absorption" (Level 3), (Locked), (Locked), "Soul Projection" (Passive) (Level ५ᱬ), "Life-force absorption" (Level 0), 'Sacrifice' (Level 0)

Iono was staring at the system in front of him with many questions in his mind. First of all, he noticed with his Quantum eyes that one of the black chains that connected his body to the system had turned blue. He guessed this was what the system meant by "creating your first link". He rubbed his chin in frustration because he had no idea what was happening to him, only to feel the fangs that were protruding out of his lips.

"What the!?"

He pulled out some water sacks from the Pouch of Avarice and spilt them on the floor. He bend down to look at his face and what he saw startled him.

Because of the bloodlust he used, oh, so often, his eyes had turned deep red, his fangs had grown to the point of coming out of his lips, and his ears had become long and pointy. It seems his bestial nature as a Goblin Lord had taken over him because of the amount of bloodlust he emitted. His human nature couldn't handle it.

"God damn it, I overdid it. I want to calm down and go back to normal, but I am gonna search for the boss now. He is 3rd tier Energy Gathering, I can't win without my bloodlust...

*Sigh*...

Anyway, I'm more intrigued by what I'm seeing in front of me. With the skill tree, I can start learning skills again, and this time there won't be a racial restriction. But I need life force again, I got the 'Sacrifice' skill, so I can start gathering skill points... But it's going to be expensive. Let's just use the Attribute points for now."

He placed his finger on the (+) on his screen and added 5 points to his stamina.

"Everything else is so high, I am at a disadvantage in drawn-out battles.", he thought.

He used his Inheritance to look at the system and saw the blue chain pulling the strings of life force out of his core.

Suddenly 50 strings of life force emerged from his core in their gaseous form and went straight to his lungs and heart. After that, they spread out all over his body, in his every muscle. A refreshing feeling took over him as he felt he could breathe a bit easier.

Stamina had to do with the amount of oxygen in the blood. The easier it is for oxygen to circulate in your blood, and in your brain, the more stamina you have. Stamina was very hard to enhance, especially as you get older, but Iono had the unfortunate experience with Ballu which pushed his body's endurance to its absolute limits, making his threshold for tiredness much further than it is supposed to be. Of course, this came with the risk of death, but, oh well.

*Phew*

"That felt great!", Iono exclaimed.

But before he could enjoy that refreshing feeling...

Suddenly he felt a fierce pressure pushing him down to kneel. Almost as if something really heavy was weighing on his shoulders. His eyes widened, his scalp tinkled and his pupils dilated. He abruptly turned around to see a ferocious gigantic beast, towering over him.

It resembled a wolf, but it was about 4 meters tall. Its fur was very thick, and it was the colour of the coast, a deep cyan, extending all the way to his furry tail. Its mouth was full of teeth, sharp enough to tear through steel with ease, and its paws were armed with claws, strong enough to decimate boulders. Its eyes were the colour of the sunset and not much different than that of a wolf's.

Its white fangs were protruding out of its mouth, complimenting the disgruntled face it had, which made it obvious he was pissed. His throat vibrated, as small growls left his mouth making him look like a beast ready to pounce.

The gigantic wolf looked down on Iono, establishing himself as a predator. His eyes had a weird glint, which indicated that he was circulating energy all over his body. His fur waved to the rythm of the energy that he was emitting.

He had the presence of a King.

The Boss of the Dungeon had arrived!

As its fur danced to the frequency of the aura and mana circulating in his body, he turned his head to look around, only to see a mountain, made out of the corpses of it's family. It opened its growling mouth to speak.

"Gartude Goblin ortan Green Wolf?", the beast uttered with a menacing tone. Its voice was deep but clear.

Iono was still flustered because he didn't sense its presence till the very last moment, making the beast's arrival quite the surprise.

The King's presence was overbearing and weighed on his shoulders as if demanding him to kneel. He was familiar with the feeling as he felt the same thing from Ballu.

Thinking of Ballu made Iono smile, since Ballu was stronger than the beast in front of him, but he called the Black Panther of Nundram, a housecat.

Iono turned towards the Boss and stood right in front of it. His core started intensely rotating once more, as he puffed out his chest and lifted his head to look at the Boss which was in turn looking down at him. Right now, with his Goblin nature released, his protruding fangs, long ears, and scarlet eyes, made Iono appear rather ferocious.

A staredown took place.

On one side, a 4 meter tall giant, releasing his energy and predatorial bloodlust, while also unconsciously releasing the Will of Kings, something obtained only by overcoming numerous battles and tragedies to eventually reach a position of high power. His cyan mana and green aura heavily clashed with each other, making small sparks of energy fly around him.

On the other side, a short, green humanoid, a goblin. Not just any goblin though. This goblin had an invisible energy core which rotated at high speeds. The three energies of the world constantly merged inside it, creating an invisible force with a black hue. His deep red eyes emitted bloodlust so thick, it made every hair on his opponent's body tingle. His presence, after letting his energy run loose, changed to that of a thousand-battle warlock, as he also unconsciously released the Will of Kings, only a Will, much stronger than the one the wolf was releasing.

No matter the pressure either side was releasing, neither backed down.

They glared at each other with hate and respect.

A King among wolves was meeting a King among goblins.

The power of Will was a rather mystical concept, something that people in this world knew nothing about. It was something that people unconsciously released. They simply called it "presence". But noone, not even Iono knew that they possessed it, much less, what kind of power it was, or how it was acquired. But more on that later on...

"Not bad for a mere goblin, but don't expect me to be scared. I can tell your body is weak from just a glance. The only reason you can stand against me is that weird energy I have never seen before, and that thick bloodlust that makes me sick to my bones.", the Boss spoke.

Prana was something the world hadn't seen in centuries, a beast that grew up in the forest wouldn't know something only transcribed in the books of man.

"It seems you know the Common tongue... That's fortunate. It would be inconvenient if I couldn't tell you how am I gonna kick your ass, before I actually do...", Iono responded, sarcastically.