Training

Brennus sat on the bed and let out a deep sigh. He firsthand witnessed the powers of a mutant.

"So are you."

"Heh. Fire the description of new skills."

"Aye."

[Sword Mastery Lvl. 1 (Passive): Deals 10% more damage with swords and gives a passive correction to your sword techniques.]

"Sword techniques? Like that one killer move?"

"Yes."

[Levitation Lvl. 1 (Active): As long as your wings are active, you can remain afloat forever.]

"Cool stuff."

[Create Dungeon Lvl. 1 (Active): Creates a pocket dimension from presets. This skill has a cooldown of 24 hours.]

"Just the thing I needed to gain strength… how does it work though? I mean creating a pocket dimension is high-level stuff."

"Don't underestimate a Cosmic Entity capable of killing anyone!"

"Cosmic Entity, huh…" Brennus muttered and looked at the last skill.

[Poker Face Lvl. 1 (Passive): Hides your surprise when you need it.]

"Will be useful for negotiations… Yeah, I also gained a title if I remember."

[Limb Butcher: A title granted for chopping limbs of a boss-class foe.]

[Slashes on limbs deal 5% more damage.]

'I'm officially a butcher now.'

He shook off the sarcasm and withdrew the XP Potions from his Mystic Dimension. His level rose thrice in a row with the bar sitting at 50%. He tried his luck with the Mystery Box.

[1 X Reaper's Shroud, 1 X Ring of Trickster added to the Mystic Dimension.]

Brennus took out the first item. A dark-gray windbreaker floated before him with 'Reaper' written on its chest. It looked pretty normal considering it was named after the messengers of death.

[Reaper's Shroud]

[Item Rank: D]

[An enchanted piece of cloth that thins your presence.]

[When equipped: Wisdom +5, Dexterity +10]

"This is good shit."

He put it on and withdrew the last item. A silver ring floated before him, with a jade joker head protruding from its front.

[Ring of Trickster]

[Item Rank: B]

[Never reveal your hand before anyone.]

[When equipped: Immunity to mind control skills from anyone under level 200.]

He would be flying over the moon if he got another B-Rank item.

'I already have Death's Blessing.'

"Shall I take it back, so you can be happy right now?"

'No!'

He slipped the ring on his finger and mulled over the remaining stat points. He surprisingly didn't run out of SP during his fight, indicating his SP was enough for now.

'Does Vitality include my stamina?'

"Yes," Lady Death answered.

He dumped five in Vitality, five in Strength, and five in Dexterity. He could run like a bitch if some super strong boss appeared.

"Create Dungeon," he whispered and tons of options appeared before him.

[Barbaric Age]

The rest options were grayed out.

"How long will it take to clear the Barbaric one?"

"Click on it and find it yourself."

Brennus did just that.

[Barbaric Age: Long before civilization rose, there used to be barbarians and mighty beasts inhabiting the land.]

[Available dungeons]

Barbarian Arena

The Wilderness

"The first is a battle to the death while the second is a forest of dangerous beasts," Lady Death said.

He checked the clock. "Six. I have two hours before the party."

"Are you sure of her as an ally?"

"I don't know honestly," he replied, recalling her concerned voice over the phone. "She's kinda soft, not a good choice to help me in destroying Hydra. I'll see it if she's worth investing my time."

Since he had two hours, he decided to train his skills starting with Sword Mastery. A few mercenaries he met loved to brag about their Dao on swords. Every one of them had common advice for rookies.

"Swing it until it carves itself into your muscle memory."

He swung the swords in a loose stance. In his time as an assassin, he mainly used guns and kept a tactical knife for emergencies. He was just a self-trained brat with a knife, contrary to his first-class aim. Well, the mutant repelled superhuman blasts with invisible shields. The regular bullets won't even graze him.

['Sword Mastery' skill leveled up. Swords now deal 12.5% more damage.]

['Divine Essence Manipulation' skill leveled up. The control radius is now 2m and the overall usage of the Divine Essence is reduced by 4%.]

He felt the sword becoming more familiar in his hands. Training with his handcrafted sword turned out to be a better decision. Seeing the effects, he trained for another hour.

['Sword Mastery' skill leveled up. Swords now deal 15% more damage.]

"Isn't it too easy?"

"Hmm… The Barbarian trait is also boosting the skill proficiency with the Master Swordsman trait. Sword Mastery is counted as a physical skill."

The way she muttered her words, it seemed like she didn't see it coming. With twenty minutes left, Brennus spent ten minutes in the shower, and the rest lounging around.

"I'll check the dungeon after the party."

He arrived outside the girl's dorm. Emma waved her pink wallet at him. Her violet jacket over a pink top and simple jeans turned her into quite the belle. Emma also spotted Brennus and squinted with a grin. "Look at you. Who knew you could dress up nicely."

Brennus looked at his clothes. Other than his new windbreaker, his jeans definitely looked cheap. Her definition of 'nicely' was skewered.

"Sure, you look good too."

['Emma Frost' is attempting to read your thoughts.]

[Allow/Deny]

Emma dodged Brennus's inquisitive gaze. "The party is held at the third block campus apartments."

'We'll see how long she can keep this up.'

Brennus's lips twisted in a grin. "Alrighty."

As they walked, Emma attempted to read Brennus's mind after every question as if it was a subconscious habit.

"Did you hear about the robbery in New Salem? Police found our Vice Chancellor's car there, totally wrecked," Emma asked, sneaking a glance at Brennus's expression. "And X-Men almost killed that evil mutant dude."

Brennus chuckled at her 'cute' attempts to probe information from him. "I didn't. My orphanage doesn't have a television."

"What happened in the afternoon then…? You scared me, honestly."

Brennus scrutinized her expression of clear relief. Only after one odd meeting, she cared this much for him. Aphrodite's Child trait might be useful in building an organization full of superpowered servants.

"Emma!" Kai approached from behind.

Emma grimaced, just for a moment. Brennus didn't miss the hint of disgust in her eyes.

"You're late."

Kai gave an apologetic smile. "Something came up."

***

Soon, they arrived at the party. A student opened the door. Seeing Emma, his eyes brightened, and a silly smile appeared on his good-looking face.

"Emma—" his eyes froze on Brennus, shocked to find Brennus escorting Emma.

"Max." Emma nudged Brennus and smiled. "He's my new friend, Brennus."

"That's real… great."

Brennus walked past him and poured wine for himself. The roaring music reminded him of his hatred for the noise. He got to a corner and sipped on the bitter beer while ramping his ignore skill to the max.

['Ignore' skill leveled up. The effect of the skill increases.]

Emma joined him with a glass of her own. "Not gonna dance?"

"Go ahead. I'll just watch."

"Come on loosen up a bit," she took his hand and tried to drag him.

Brennus pulled her back and frowned. Numerous footsteps echoed outside this place as if someone held a parade.

'Trouble.'

Thwack!

The door was flung open.

Emma gasped at the sight of students storming into the party. "They are basketball players from the school that lost last week," she said and clenched her jaw. "I shouldn't have brought you here."

'Teenage drama.'

Moving out of this university was better. He will do it soon.

The 'party poopers' threw accusations at the guy named Max for being a mutant, that he cheated to win the tournament. Brennus shook his head and tapped Emma's shoulder. "You can stop them."

Emma's eyes widened for a second before she promptly shook her head. "How?"

She could brainwash everyone here, Brennus thought, looking at the men throwing punches around. He had no reason to move and stop them. He wanted no part of this shitshow.

"Call the cops, maybe."

"I-I forget to bring my phone."

Emma's answer left him speechless.

"We can wait then," he said with a shrug.

***

Name: Brennus

Level: 5 (50.00% to next level)

HP: 350/350

SP: 370/370

Current Race: Newborn Angel

Class: None

Title: Limb Butcher

Traits: Barbarian, Scholar, Cosmic Dweller, Aphrodite's Child, Super Sense, Master Swordsman, Master Smith.

Strength: 35 (+5 From Unholy Vengeance)

Vitality: 35

Dexterity: 40 (+10 From Reaper's Shroud)

Intelligence: 37 (+10 From Unholy Vengeance)

Wisdom: 37 (+5 From Reaper's Shroud)

Luck: 25

Stat Points: 0

Skills:

[Death's Blessing Lvl. Max (Passive)]

[Beyond Death Lvl. Max (Passive)]

[Mystic Wings (Active) Lvl. 1]

[Divine Essence Manipulation Lvl. 2 (Active)]

[Ignore Lvl. 2 (Passive)]

[Telepathy Lvl. 1 (Active)]

[Sword Mastery Lvl. 3 (Passive)]

[Levitation Lvl. 1 (Active)]

[Create Dungeon Lvl. 1 (Active)]

[Poker Face Lvl. 1 (Passive)]

Current Quests:

[An Eye for an Eye, a Soul for a Soul]

[The Real Angel of Death]

[The Forgotten Past]

[Escort]

Current Equipment:

[Unholy Vengeance (E)]

[Reaper's Shroud (D)]