Twelve Years in the Dunes(3)

The Great Filter, Robin Hanson. 1996.

"...the easier it was for life to evolve to our stage, the bleaker our future chances probably are."

It was the closest we've come to realizing the truth of our reality. But just like characters in a story, we could never hope to truly comprehend the existence of a dimension much higher than that of ours.

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At stage 14, I finally broke into the hundreds in my strength, stamina, and talent stat. Of which, another system mechanic was revealed.

[Investing Units into the Strength Stat will now cost twice as much!]

[Investing Units into the Stamina Stat will now cost twice as much!]

[Investing Units into the Talent Stat will now cost twice as much!]

Soon after, my Intelligence and Spirit stats followed suit and also broke into the hundreds.

[Unit Investment into stats will increase by 1 each time the stat value reaches a hundredfold.]

Stage 35. I narrowly won, as I usually do, against Regalia the Lich and received my very first 'Item Reward'.

'Magusbane'. The SS-Grade Longsword. It possessed a skill that was sure to piss off some magic-users in the future.

Azubasara, or 'Zuba' for short, taught me some of the special system mechanics that was probably supposed to have been discussed by the Omen assigned to us. One of the most convenient was the Dimensional Storage.

'System Display.' I commanded, followed by the immediate chime as three black panels were neatly shown. The middle showed my stats, units, etc. The left panel displaying all of my Powers and Personal Attributes with great detail. And the right one was a wide space of grids with only 'Storage: 1/100' written on the upper left corner.

The Medallion of Azubasara occupied the first space. Despite being inside the storage, there wasn't any problem with our mental communication.

'Store this.'

The Magusbane was sucked directly into the panel and vanished.

After clearing Stage 43, I did something uncalled for. I had received yet another Item Reward but it wasn't as intriguing as the first two.

'The Ring of Ulrik'. An A-Grade Ring with the power to boost one's regenerative capabilities.

"Even if you don't find it useful, just keep it with you. Items like these could, later on, be sold for quite the amount. Or even better, you could use it in barter!" said Zuba, chattering on about how back in his prime he'd contracted with a lot of merchants and yadayadayada.

Whilst the Djinn kept on talking, I had a thought. A thought on which I immediately acted upon without much consideration. I suppose I'm getting a bit too confident with this absurd body of mine.

Anyways, I ate it. The ring.

"...AAAAAHH!!! MY GOLD COINS!!!" The old man wailed. So that was what he was after, greedy little djinn.

The reasoning behind my actions?

My stomach is a bottomless pit. No matter how much I eat, whether it be meat, bone, claw, feathers, or scales, there wasn't a limit.

In a sense, it's similar to the Dimensional Storage. I must've eaten tons by now and I didn't even have any form of excretion. My body had noticeably gotten wider as my muscles and form got thicker and stronger as well.

My guess is that it's all being stored as a form of energy supply directly connected to my stamina; recalling the strange times that it would increase while I was consuming my prey.

[You have successfully digested an Item!]

[Skill recovery rate: 99.9%]

[You have acquired the Personal Attribute 'Heightened Cellular Regeneration'(A-Grade)!]

'...it actually worked?' my eyes widened at the unexpected result.

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[Time remaining: 91, 203 hrs]

11 months passed by in the blink of an eye. As I progressed, the stages became more and more unreasonably difficult. Battle after battle, I became stronger in parallel to survive and continue on while also learning as much as I could from every experience.

This helped me become more in sync with my body and avoid going berserk—which would surely be the death of me in this situation if I didn't stay vigilant—while greatly distracting my mind from wandering into loneliness.

[You have acquired the Personal Attribute 'Crystallization'(S-Grade)!]

An attribute inherited from consuming the Crystal Dragon 'Glaviour'.

[You have acquired the Personal Attribute 'Dead Retribution'(B-Grade)!]

From an item, I acquired after exterminating an Imp Nest.

[You have acquired the Personal Attribute 'Siphoning Touch'(A-Grade)!]

Inherited from Kaliquim, the Spindling Succubus. It was fortunate that her hypnotic mist didn't work on me, otherwise, not even my bones would've remained.

[You have acquired the Personal Attribute 'Gigantify'(S-Grade)!]

[You have acquired the Personal Attribute 'Liars go to Hell'(A-Grade)!]

[You have acquired the Personal Attribute 'Universal Translation'(A-Grade)!]

Items acquired after ripping apart the Lich, Dinidus.

I ate every Item with valuable abilities worth coveting and left those that were otherwise more useful to me whole, amounting to a total of 5 objects.

'Magusbane', as was previously mentioned.

'Arken Shield'. A shield that customizes its strength and function depending on the wielder's Stamina.

'Grendel's Cloak', A-Grade. A large robe that completely erases the wearer's presence.

'Crown of Prosperity', S-Grade. A useful Item that consumed Units in exchange for keeping the wearer in perfect health and state.

'Tears of the Kelpie', S-Grade, Consumable. Permanently grants the user the Personal Attribute: Water Sprite, S-Grade, and the ability to breathe underwater.

Everything, other than Magusbane, were Items that I reserved for Alva, along with half of the all Units I've saved. I would surely collect more Items later on so the equipment wouldn't be much of a problem when I return.

...or so I thought.

At stage 100, I've found a match for my current strength.

Quetzalcoatl, Transcendent Challenger.

"Keuk!" I was in tatters.

There was a gaping hole in my stomach while my left shoulder was torn off and made my arms dangle lifelessly. Nonetheless, I healed those wounds in an instant along with the countless gashes

I was battling against another challenger. My feathery foe's hand sizzled as my blood melted and burnt its flesh.

"$@#—rare to meet a fellow warrior in this wasteland." the birdman spoke, looking at its cooked right hand.

[Personal Attribute: 'Universal Translation' is in effect!]

The humanoid was a humongous harpy that stood at three and a half meters, about as tall as I am. It had human arms that each ended in claws and was covered in slick, red feathers like the rest of its body, with 6 glorious wings that allowed it to stay suspended in the air. The head was reminiscent of a bald eagle adorned with long golden brows and another set of piercing eyes, staring at me with contempt.

"Don't call me that..."

I spoke in the Common Tongue, a language that Azubasara taught me. According to him, this body wasn't designed to speak human but rather in monster 'language'. And sure enough, I was able to say my insults.

"...I'm not a chicken."

The Quetzalcoatl narrowed its eyes.

"A hatchling would dare...!" its voice thundered, the wind responding to its violent will.

"You shall know your place, human."

With those words, a swirling gust of wind pummeled me into the ground. I couldn't believe that something as light as the air could actually cause such heavy damage. It was like being bombarded by a barrage of cannonballs at point-blank range, but that was it.

The bird's eyes widened as he was overshadowed by something from above, carrying a bloodlust so thick that it gave him the urge to puke.

"Down you go!"

With full strength, my body arched gruesomely and powered the swing of my punch.

*WHACK!*

I felt my wrist snap and my shoulder dislocate. In exchange, the Quetzalcoatl was slammed on the ground. Unfortunately, it had protected its head narrowly before the moment of impact; a large, bloody bruise on its left arm.

Yet before I could even land, the bird caught me in midair with a spell that had the wind binding my limbs.

'Shit!' I struggled to break free from the reigns of air but a split-second later, I was eye to eye with the fowl. The following moments happened so quickly that I couldn't make out what had transpired, then my vision darkened.

Quetzalcoatl sighed. The body of his foe dropped lifelessly behind him with a loud thud, yet another unfortunate soul. He lifted the decapitated head and looked at it, wondering how the human had become such a monster.

He recalled the short moment where he flinched at the prickling aura that this man emitted, feeling the dull pain of his broken left arm and fractured ribs.

And then he noticed something. The head he was holding was still alive and was cackling weakly, a sinister smile creeping up its face.

"BOO!"

[Personal Attribute: 'Dead Retribution' is activated!]

*KABOOM!*

The head exploded.

"AARGH!" The bird was covered in acidic blood, its beautiful feathers ruined. He shrieked as the acid slowly dissolved the feathers and got to his skin, filling the air with the aroma of rot.

Dead Redemption was an ability that allowed me to detonate any part of my body, including the head if it is considered 'Dead', while the largest piece of my body rapidly regenerates. The intensity of the explosion being linked directly to my stats.

"Activate Shedding!" it commanded, all six wings enveloping him like a cocoon. The wings shivered slightly as its feathers fell off and new ones sprouted out, bursting open to reveal a fully healed Quetzalcoatl.

"You coward! Have you no honor—!!!"

*PSHOOK!*

An arm covered in glass-like, obscure scales went through the fowl's chest; raising him overhead. Quetzalcoatl screamed in pain and coughed up blood, confused as to where his assailant emerged. He looked behind him to see and the devil looked back. The terror he felt muted the rest of the world around and made the arrogant being cry in utter fear.

Everything up to my mouth had been healed while my eyes and bloody skull were still exposed. I lost my sense of self in that moment, drowning in the ecstasy of murdering my foe and the unexplainable joy that welled up within me as I saw the fear in his eyes.

"Tassstttyyy~!"

I couldn't help but smile.

[Personal Attribute: 'Gigantify' is activated!]

Instinctively, I slowed the attribute's expansion ability on my right arm. I wanted to watch it struggle some more. The poor little bird screamed and struggled as I relished in the overflowing fear he felt in the face of inescapable death.

"Ack...P-Please! Mercy—Cough! Cough!"

*WHOOM!*

The remains were scattered all over the place as I released my control and Gigantify activated in full.

[You have slain 'Quetzalcoatl', a Transcendent Challenger!]

[You have killed a Challenger from a different race! Bonus Units have been rewarded!]

[Units Acquired: 10,600 (+2,500)]

[The stage will be renewed in: 11:59:58s]

[Stage difficulty will be increased!]

The messages flooded in as I stared at my bloodstained hands. I trembled while reminiscing the fight, dumbfounded at my own cruelty.

'...what was that?'

¤

[The Labyrinth has recognized your achievements!]

.

[You are free to select a new Power!]

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1. [Wandering Overlord: Human Variant]

- Personal Attribute(s):

• Demonic Reincarnation (S-Grade)

> Race Alter Sequence

• Light of the Morningstar (S-Grade)

> Aura-type Skill

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2. [Champion of Heaven]

- Personal Attribute(s):

• Divine Enlightenment (S-Grade)

> High Intelligence Boost

• Equilibrium (S-Grade)

> All stats are Equalized to the highest value.

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3. [The Ifrit's Jealousy]

- Transcendent Affinity to Fire Magic

- Greater Immunity to Extremely High Temperatures

- Personal Attribute(s):

• Through the Fire and The Flames (S-Grade)

> Elemental Clone Creation Skill

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4. [Stigma of Jörmungandr]

- The Sap of Yggdrasil (SSS-Grade) (Consumable)

> +1000%, All stats

- Personal Attribute(s):

• God-Slayer (SSS-Grade)

> Buff-type Skill

.

5. [The Watcher's Regards]

- Basic Affinity to Gravity Magic

- Personal Attribute:

• Profiteering (S-Grade)

> 0.001% chance to exponentially raise rewards by 2.

.

¤

"I have a bit of an idea about what happened back there, Boss." Zuba said to me. "But I suggest you focus on which power you choose for now. You've caught the eyes of a few troublesome figures."

Indeed. I didn't have any complaints about the madness that overcame me the moment my head was removed; only slight concern about how this might cause an issue with my daughter's moral development if she ever witnessed such a thing.

I sighed. Zuba had warned me about the 2nd power selection beforehand, informing me about the presence of various celestial existences.

And sure enough, the ones well-known had presented themselves with outrageous offers.

The Heavenly Faction.

The Dark Lord's Faction.

The Ethereal Majesty's Faction.

The Ouroboros Faction.

And one more being of which neither I nor Azubasara had any idea about; a mystery contender who calls himself 'Watcher'.

Every choice presented in the list made generous offers that would surely bolster my capabilities as a challenger regardless of which one I picked.

However, after meticulous and repeated consideration, I made my choice.

.