Chapter 8
Elsword woke up three days later with a serial killer on the loose and many people quite aware of it. From the normal populace to the king himself, and it was his duty to take care of it.
He was weak… so he needed to become stronger.
Thus he requested Burkhart to travel to a particularly dangerous area — one of the three undiscovered regions of the world. It had by far the weakest monsters of the three but the monsters in general could obliterate Level 3 and 4 Blessed on average.
He was fine with that. He had to overcome the power-gap by simply exceeding his limits and with the power of Willpower he will do that. Every day he wastes, another dozen die.
It was his duty; he refused to let such behaviour and needless slaughter to continue.
"You sure kid?" Burkhart asked as he was genuinely unsure if he should be doing this. Little brother to the Red Knight Queen and prodigy he may be, Level 1 he still was. "Why not wait for the stronger members to arrive from their expedition?"
Elsword glanced at his surroundings.
He was in a grass-land area lush with life however in front of him was a supernatural divide between the said lively plains and a blackened grass-land with little to no life filled with shattered skeletons irradiating an aura of despair. It was a godless land; the bright sunny sky and golden orb literally halved into a blood-moon and abyssal skies from here.
Burkhart sighed. "The moment you step in there, even I'll have trouble helping you from here." Burkhart was a mage at his core hence he was quite squishy, but he could still assist from afar. Hell, even Elesis wouldn't go in without a party and she's someone who can strike 2 Levels higher than her Level.
"Yeah, I'm sure." Elsword was ready. Hell, he finally understood what Burkhart meant when he was teaching runes. "Plus, there's no guarantee when they'll return."
Being a user of both the Willpower skill and Kinesis magic should've been a blatant answer.
All he had to do was will his runes to exist; Pyrokinesis was total manipulation of fire, meaning he could alter it too. A fire that was turned into a drawing utensil so that he could inscribe fire with effects on the body was quite the simple thing, almost laughably. Under his clothes were red sigils that constantly roasted and healed his body, but he was able to preserve through it as it also granted a minor boost to his stats. Any advantage is an advantage.
Too bad his older sister would probably disagree with his use of runes, possibly banning him — but she didn't need to know.
With this new-found faucet of versatility from his Pyrokinesis Magic, he was ready.
If he wasn't? Then it was simple, he'd die — so all he had to do was not die. No need to overcomplicate things.
He stepped forward and all hell broke loose.
Grotesque giant centipedes and ants swarmed him. They had thousands and thousands of sharp teeth.
He dodged whilst cleaving his odd rectangular sword into the skin of the centipede, only to lightly nick it. He evaded its fast pace tackle. Surprisingly, they weren't as intelligent as other high-levelled monsters.
They were easy to dodge but hard to damage, they also constantly swarmed in growing numbers — there was already around 50 around him.
Oh well, looks like he'll have to do it one at a time.
He heard roses and growls blast past his ears. Adrenalin, desperation and willpower drove him further to deal stronger attacks with stronger flames in a stronger pace.
All might. All power. All speed.
Unbound himself from his mortal limits and go even further beyond. It didn't matter how many times his own attacks tore his own muscles to deliver stronger attacks, it would heal anyway. It didn't matter if agonizing pain flooded his senses from the runes, it was something to overcome. It didn't matter if his entire body burnt from the inside out, it would be something to use.
So what if limits are called "limits" for a reason? If he believed he could surpass it enough then he would win.
He avoided the other insectoid-monsters and focused on a single enemy.
If his toughest attack can draw blood, then that means a thousand stronger attacks would do — even if it ripped him from the inside and out.
He delivered scratch after scratch, he avoided monster after monster, he became stronger and stronger.
All for a single bug.
A bug.
That thought annoyed more than he thought. He willed his fire into having disintegrating properties, it only lightly burnt it. He willed his fire into having corrosive properties, it only induced slightly more pain to it. He willed his fire to have life-absorption properties, it only stole a tiny amount. He was fine with that.
The longer he endured, the more he endeavoured, the stronger his Tenacity was — the better he came.
After an entire day, he finally killed his first centipede. He roared in success before jumping back to the safe-zone which Burkhart was sternly looking at him in astonishment.
Elsword nodded at him whilst Burkhart stared at him with wide dazed eyes as the magician handed him a Status Magician that allowed him to update his own status.
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Ares Familia
Name: Elsword Sieghart (Burning Fighting Fighter)
Level: 1
STR: XX 1330 (+50 = XX 1380)
VIT: X 1209 (+50 = X 1259)
DEX: XXX 1440 (+50 = XXX 1490)
AGL: XX 1330 (+50 = XX 1380)
MAG: XXX 1499 (+50 = Y 1549)
Tenacity: E
<Skills>
•Willpower
▪Substitute their reality with your very own. Mind over matter. Power attacks that need mind with your will or strengthen mind attacks with will. Can even influence falna through will. DA "Tenacity E" is granted.
<Developmental Skills>
•None
<Magic>
•Pyrokinesis
Total Falna: 6,808 (+ 250 = 7,058)
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…He was eligible to level up. He was honestly tempted, but his sister told him the strongest of bases would be the most useful.
In other words, he'll be selfish and spend another two days for power — even at the cost of lives due to his inaction.
All might. All power. All speed. He needed all of it.
†
Elesis was not having a great time.
She was returning to Rakia after the alliance was made between the two progressive nations. However, during her journey back she was attacked by brigands, knights, assassins and… amazons.
Seems like Kali — the Goddess and dictator of the Peninsula Of Telskyura — has decided to align herself with The Empire. She was probably offered strong males to be used as breeding-machines or slaves, which also probably included captured members of Rakia — in other words, her little brother.
…Elesis was going to kill all those perverted rags for daring to even think about harming what is hers.
Orario was a neutral country which many have turned to for refuge whilst many other countries that were proficient in craftsmanship decided to supply both factions or simply not get involved.
Currently, Elesis was too weak to make a difference against the top-tier Amazons like Kalima who was a Level 6 who had consistently high status. The Level 6 of Altena was absent due to an excursion in The Land Of The Red Moon which The Empire took full advantage of and so it is easy to imagine the sheer power a Level 6 holds if they were willing to wait for a moment such as this. In other words, if the former King Of Knights desires to make a difference and protect her allies then she'll need to take risks.
Hence, she actively drew in all nearby associates affiliated with the enemy so she could slaughter them all. It might not be honourable to strike the weak, but reducing the strength of an opposing hostile country with clear intentions to slaughter the innocent is a duty of a Knight. The fact that many of them were at least Level 3 made this duty even greater as this meant she was reducing the enemy's power by quite the amount as Level 3s are rare in general.
She checked her own status with one of Status Magicians.
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Ares Familia
Name: Elesis Sieghart (Crimson Knight Queen)
Level: 1
STR: YY 1669 -> YYY 1776
VIT: YYY 1780 -> Z 1810
DEX: YY 1660 -> YYY 1770
AGL: YY 1664 -> YYY 1768
MAG: Y 1556 -> YYY 1701
Instinct: E
<Skills>
•Dragon Soul
▪Grants magic resistance, intense fire magic affinity, intense mind and "Instinct E" developmental ability already granted.
•Chivalry (Knight)
▪When upholding one's morals, drastically increase all parameters.
▪When defending another, drastically increase Vitality and Stamina.
▪Drain damage obtained to anyone recognised as an "ally".
<Developmental Skills>
•None
<Magic>
•Pyrokinesis
•Aerokinesis
•Mana Burst
Total Falna: 8,329 -> 8,825
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She could become much more stronger, she knew that. Luckily, there were a lot of high-levelled enemies thrown her way so at least they can nourish her with their lives so she can protect those dear to her.