Traversing the Forest I

It had been half an hour since Raizel began traversing the forest for any sign of sentient life or a good location for a base of operations. While walking, he was deep in thought.

"The skills and the spells are functional. Based on my earlier tests, it's evident that my raw physical prowess surpasses that of an average human. However, I would like to know just how powerful I am compared to a normal human?"

Raizel came to a halt, directing his gaze toward a robust tree. Closing the distance, he keenly observed the sturdy trunk.

"This should prove a valuable test dummy," he muttered, stepping back slightly and assuming an attacking stance. With {Billion Blades} poised for action, he prepared to unleash a strike upon the unyielding tree.

"First, I should assess my raw physical strength," he deliberated. Gathering every ounce of power within him, Raizel launched an attack on the tree, executing a forceful horizontal slash with {Billion Blades}.

The sword effortlessly cleaved through the sturdy trunk, causing the tree to topple to the side. The impact sent minor tremors through the land, accompanied by a small cloud of dust kicked up by the fallen tree.

"Nice, I didn't even need to activate any skill." He had a joyous expression on his face.

"Killing powerful enemies in the game was one thing, but that couldn't compare to the feeling of cutting through a tree with a single sword slash."

He then deactivated his Soul Weapon skill, and the {Billion Blades} vanished. Seeking to further gauge his strength without the aid of any weapon, he proceeded to another tree.

Adopting a punching stance, he attacked the trunk of his new target. A resounding boom echoed in the surroundings as the tree quivered violently, the impact of Raizel's powerful punch making its presence felt in the immediate area.

While his punch wasn't able to penetrate the trunk, it left a profound impact, creating a deep crater.

'My hand doesn't hurt.'

Because he wasn't aware of the dangers of the punch, he was ready to cast some healing spells if things went south. He brought his hand closer to his head, inspecting it with a careful gaze.

His face had a shocked expression while he inspected his hand.

'Hmm, no bruises,' He contemplated as he shifted his focus toward the crater on the trunk.

Observing the aftermath of the impact and the resonance it produced, Raizel contemplated, 'It appears my hands are akin to steel, judging by the sound and the condition of the trunk.'

With this experiment, his confidence grew, and he continued his experiments to ascertain his physical strength.

~Scene Change~

Under the moonlit canopy, Raizel moved with deliberate steps through the dense expanse of the nocturnal forest. The silver glow of the moon accentuated the crispness of his attire as he navigated through the shadowed woodland.

On closer inspection, he had a black sword adorned with intricate red runes along its length, firmly gripped in his right hand. Additionally, hanging from a silver chain on his left ear, he sported a silver cross featuring a crimson centre.

It had been a few hours since Raizel started his search for a base of operations, but until now, he had found nothing. The Gazerwings he had summoned reported no sentient life as of yet.

'One thing baffles me: I have been walking for a few hours, yet I don't feel tired. On the contrary, I feel refreshed.'

He stopped walking, looked above towards the moon and took a long breath. He then exhaled after a few seconds.

'This world is truly beautiful. I'd like to travel it and explore all sorts of things. While I'm uncertain whether other Players have been teleported here, if I find myself alone in this world, perhaps I'll embark on a journey to explore it.'

He then eyed a branch of a tall tree.

"Even though I'm not tired, I'd like to take a rest and revel in the enchanting spectacle of moonlight cascading through the forest."

Approaching a sturdy branch, Raizel leapt onto it with a graceful landing. Seating himself at the far end of the branch, he utilized the trunk as a supportive backrest, laying his head against it in a moment of repose.

'While I am resting, I might as well check the remaining features of the console. After teleporting to the new world, there have been some changes to it.'

He opened his console, and a translucent screen materialized before him, showing his status.

He contemplated while scrutinizing his various stats. In his recent experiments, he focused on augmenting his Phy. Atk. stat to explore potential differences, and the outcomes were staggering.

The increase in any stat wasn't additive but exponential. His initial punch was only able to leave a deep crater on the tree trunk, and that was when his Phy. Atk. stat was;

...

[Phy. Atk: 70]

...

After that, he used an Aura Manipulation Technique to enhance this, and the new value was;

...

[Phy. Atk: 80 (70)]

...

The value within the parentheses denoted the original stat, while the other represented the augmented one. It became evident that his rings, wristbands, and armour significantly enhanced his stats, as confirmed by the status displayed on the console.

When he delivered a punch to another trunk with the enhanced stat, his fist effortlessly pierced through the thicker trunk.

"From the experiments, I now know that stats play a more important role in this new world than they did back in Yggdrasil."

In Yggdrasil, stats were important but not as important as passive and active skills. Players depending on their high stats, were considered noobs and inept at combat.

Numerous instances illustrated that a player with a lower level than their opponent could emerge victorious by leveraging superior skills. 

For instance, Touch-Me was considered a first-rate warrior and was one of the top Players on the server. However, he didn't have overall high stats. His maximum stat was his HP, which exceeded the limit of 100, and after buffing himself up, its value rose to 125.

Other than that, all his other stats were lower than 100, some even lower than 70. But, what made him formidable in battle was his skills, namely one of his skills allowed him to completely counter the attack of his enemy. He also had the World Break skill from the World Champion job class. 

So, because of his skills, he had defeated Raizel on multiple occasions, even though Raizel had an edge over him in terms of stats. 

Raizel had high stats but not a lot of powerful skills. He only had a few physically-oriented skills, and the majority of his skills revolved around magic. 

A notable example was his preferred skill, Blood Field, a magic-oriented technique designed to eliminate targets by accumulating negative status effects upon them. Because of these reasons, he wasn't considered a min-maxed Player like Ulbert and Touch-Me.

However, because of his spells, high stats and a few powerful magic-oriented skills, he was able to hold his own in an altercation with another Player. He was unquestionably strong, as evidenced by his numerous victories over Touch Me and his success in defeating Rubedo on two separate occasions.

"Which means I should keep some potions that enhance my stats on me at all times."

He then began inspecting his armour. The white suit and the white pants were a set of armour he was awarded after he won the World Championship Tournament of Jotunheim.

It was named the {Noblesse's Robe} and only had a single ability. It wasn't a passive ability, and Raizel had to activate it manually.

The ability negated the effects and damage of any attack imbued with Holy/Light Magic. Raizel could use this ability as many times as he wanted after the cooldown had passed, which was 1 hour. Other than that, the armour also provided him with high defensive stats. 

Raizel further used one of the wishes from the {Ring of the Shooting Star} to further decrease the cooldown to 30 minutes. 

While World Champion Class armour was typically exclusive to players with the World Champion job class, Raizel's possession of the World's End job class mitigated this restriction, allowing him to don and benefit from the armour.

"If my enemy isn't a Holy magic caster, I might need to switch my armour with something that would protect me from other elements than just the Holy element."

After some deliberation, he activated his Item Box and took out some wooden sticks. These sticks were Cash Shop items called {Quick Switcher}. In Yggdrasil, a Player could swap their armour through a console, but during battles, there wasn't enough time for that.

That was where this item came into play. It enabled players to register a specific set of armour, and when it was broken, that preregistered armour would automatically be equipped by the Player.

"Let's get started," Raizel muttered and began registering different sets of armours to different sticks. After an armour was registered, its name was etched onto the wooden stick.

After half an hour, Raizel heaved a relieved sigh and began storing the sticks in his pant's pockets.

"I hope they don't break due to an attack."

He took a wooden stick and began inspecting it.

"They don't look particularly strong. Let's test this," He then looked toward his right and said.

"Undo your invisibility." The Arcane Star Elemental undid its invisibility, and the surroundings were illuminated because of its bright white fire.

Raizel gave it one of the sticks and ordered it to try breaking it. The Elemental took the stick and began applying force to it. Yet, no matter how much force it used, the stick didn't break.

'Guess my worries were unfounded.' He contemplated as he observed the Elemental trying its hardest to try and break the stick.

"UGH!" The Elemental grunted while using all its strength.

"~Sigh~ Give it back and go invisible again," Raizel ordered the Elemental. The Elemental complied and turned invisible after giving Raizel the stick.

"Let's try this," He applied a little force, and the stick broke, and Raizel's armour transformed into a black cloak.

"Good, they are working."

After he reverted back to his armour, he kept going through different tabs of the console. The first thing he checked was the party tab.

'Interesting, so the summoned monsters are shown here. It also shows their stats as well as the remaining time till their disappearance.'

He then moved to the map tab, but nothing; it showed an error. Same was the case with the Cash Shop and trading tabs. But the Guild tab had some interesting information.

...

[Create Guild]

[The Player would need a {Guild Creation Scroll}]

[The location is not suitable for a guild.]

...

'Does that mean I can create a guild if I have a {Guild Creation Scroll}. But more importantly, why doesn't it show information about my own guild or Nazarick.'

Raizel wasn't able to reach any conclusion based on the information he had. He kept going through different tabs of the console but found nothing of use there.

"I should also organize my Item Boxm; it's a mess in here." He muttered while observing the tab which showed him the contents of his Item Box.

To be continued...