Chapter 23 - The Battle's Only Beginning

Currently Inside of Puck's Mindscape~

"Just when I thought I escaped one hell.... I end up falling into another...."

That was the only think Puck could think of in his current predicament.

He was chained to a cross in a endless void of his memories.

A red timer ran constantly above.

3ms : 30ds : 19hs : 23ms :29ss and counting.

⚠️ WARNING! You have bound by the "Chains of Insanity"! Your sanity can not exceed a set amount! All actions have been restrained! All stats are locked until the status effect of "Coma" wears off! WARNING! ⚠️

Puck had already stopped trying to resist.

He knew it was pointless.

All he could do was watch and reminisce the terrible life he had lived.

He was forced to live on his own at the tender age of 14 after his parents had deemed him a lost cause and chose to sit on his older brother and sister instead.

But it was probably for the better anyway....

His siblings were dicks.

He thought he could handle not having a family as long as he had good friends....

But as soon as he turned 15, they left as well.

Then a year later his mother died of mana poisoning.

A disease that only occurs when a normal human is exposed to an over abundance of mana.

At first, Puck was overjoyed that the old witch was dead.

That he had finally got some sort of revenge for being ignored and abused.

But then his father got sick as well....

And he died not too soon after....

He wasn't even invited to their funerals.

Hell....

He had only caught wind of it after the fact.

Both his siblings didn't get in contact with him afterwards either.

It's like they had forgotten that he even existed.

So he thought to return the favor....

That only made things worse.

Puck had an inferiority complex, he'd admit that without batting an eye.

But how could he help it when all that he knew as a child was that he was worthless?

That he'd only be able to hang off his siblings coattails as they rose to stardom as awakeners....

All he wanted was a little attention.

Not from strangers, he didn't want to become an awakener to attain fame or fortune.

All he ever wanted was his family to look at him a little differently....

And after he found out that his brother and sister died in a C Ranked Dungeon....

He realized too late that it would never happen.

And, of course, in normal cliche fashion....

Not too long after, he awakened.

Just when he started to lose hope.

Just when the last threads of his sanity started to unravel....

Fate decided to throw him a bone.

A high ranking Gacha class to satisfy his already crippling addiction.

It was like a kick while he was down.

Of course it was his dream....

But what's the point of a dream when those you want to share with it are already dead?

He had no real motivation anymore.

He had nothing to prove to anyone.

No drive to tell him to keep moving forward.

To prove that everything everyone ever said or thought about him was wrong.

There was no point.

That's what he first thought anyway.

Until the day that dungeon broke, he was honestly contemplating suicide.

That was the main reason he wanted to fight.

His last ditch effort at striking back and showing everyone that even a ant can fight back if pushed hard enough.

That even on his last two legs, he'd bite and crawl and not just roll over and die....

Who would've thought that he'd actually win?

That's when he finally realized....

Who cares what happened to his family?

Sure it was tragic, but with a family like that....who needed enemies?

He finally found his motivation for becoming an awakener!

Why not show the one person who mattered that all his waiting....all his effort, wasn't for nothing?

That this ant still had some fight in him!

Every dog has their day!

And got damnit! THIS DOG'S FUCKING HAD ENOUGH!

So he had to prove it!

He had to prove it to....

Himself.

_________________________

Back Outside~

Explosions rocked the earth.

Craters the size of entire cities littered what was a large forest, now reduced to a baren wasteland due to the clash between two monsters in human skin.

And the longer the fight grew....

The more Gascoigne realize just what kind of a monster he created.

~Status~

Name: Ray Wolfblade (Puck Gier)

Age: 18

Lvl: 85 (+???)

Race: Human (?)

Job: Unstable Hero (Rank: ???)

Status: Awakened, Unstable, Comatose, Possessed, Regenerating

Class Type: Warrior

Rank: SSS

Str: 210,250 (+200,000)

Int: 210,250 (+75,000)

Dex: 210,250 (+140,000)

All Stats Increased by an additional: +250,000

Armor/Defense: 50,000 (+195,000)

Fire Res: 1000 (+700)

Ice Res: 1000 (+700)

Poison Res: 1000 (+700)

Other Res: 1000 (+700)

HP: 520,000/850,000 (+150,000)

Mana: 350,000/850,000 (+250,000)

Exp: N/A/21,000,000,000

Current Titles: Hero of Legends, Otherworlder, Blessed by the God of Insanity and Absurdity, Hero or Villain

Sills: Berserker's Rage (Active), Immortal (Hidden) (Active), Super Regeneration (Hidden) (Active), Monstrous Trance, Sanity's End (Active), Black Energy (Active), One Man Army (Active), Wrath of a Titan, Whale stomach, Meat Head, Insanity's Blessing (Active), Inspection, Hero's Heavenly Body (Active), Conviction (Active), Ungodly Adaptation (Active), Martial Prowess, Martial Prowess: Adaptive Martial Arts, Hide Status

(Author's Note: Btw, these are the base stats + the stats added by the armor. His statuses are probably higher due to skills.)

~Status~

Just comparing their base strength alone would be like comparing that of a grizzly bear to a polar bear.

They were close, but the gap only increased as time went on and the difference of skills was shown.

Sure, Gascoigne's stats were close to par, but that damned accursed armor that he thought was useless, was actually working to deflect most of his attacks!

Not to mention that weird black energy Puck was using to help guard his openings....

It was like he was doing it on purpose just to bring him in to striking range!

Gascoigne was starting to get a little more than a bit frustrated.

"Stop being a coward and fight me like a man! I don't remember teaching you to be so passive!" He exclaimed, wiping a bit of blood from the side of his mouth.

They stood a few feet apart, Puck looked none the worse for wear, while Gascoigne was kneeling on the ground, bracing himself against his sword as he tried to catch his breath.

Puck's grin simply widened at what was supposed to be a provocation.

He titled his head questioningly, the wide sadistic grin never leaving his face as the blood red slits floating in his eye sockets bore holes into the old King's form.

"Huh? But I thought we were just having some fun! And here I thought that a spar between master and disciple was supposed to be a wholesome moment!" Puck exclaimed in response.

Gascoigne couldn't help but wince at the sound of Puck's voice.

It wasn't only just imbued with mana, but it also weighed on his mind hearing such a twisted voice.

He was already being pushed to the brink of insanity by just being near this unhinged hero.

"This has gone on long enough...." Gascoigne said, finally catching his breath as he got to his feet. His fierce yellow eyes bore holes into Puck's own. "I could've looked passed the fact that you killed a few measly adventurers, but to actually bare your fangs at your owner.... I guess I didn't train my dog well enough. It's up to me, as your owner, to make sure that you know your place!" He suddenly exclaimed as the ground began to shake once more.

Puck let out a small impressed whistle as he watched the old king go through his transformation.

Gascoigne suddenly picked up his sword and stabbed it through his abdomen.

He watched as Gascoigne's blood freely flowed from, what was supposed to be, a fatal wound.

Only for his body to begin to lurch uncontrollably.

The sound of bones breaking and realigning themselves reached Puck's ears, causing him to grin in delight.

The air and dust began to pick up and swirl around Gascoigne's form for a moment before a thunderous roar suddenly blew it all away revealing the old king's new form.

Puck's eyes widened as he looked at what could only be described as a grey and white haired werewolf wearing armor.

~System Notification~

~Skill: Beast Transformation~

~Level: Max~

~Rank: S~

~Description: By using the user's own life force as tribute, they are allowed to summon forth an immense power from the depths of their soul. The appearance and power gained from said sacrifice changes depending on the user's innate spirit animal~

~All stats increased by x5.5~

~Movement speed increased by 150%~

~Defense and Elemental resistances increased by 200%~

~Health will constantly be drained by 2% until a total of 10% is remaining, in which the user will enter a berserker state until death~

~Defense plus an additional 250% in berserk state~

~Attk dmg plus an additional 300% in berserk state~

~Movement speed increased by an additional 200% in berserk state~

~You will be slave to your emotions and instincts until further notice~

~The Skill "Hemorrhage" will be learned~

~Description: The opponent will bleed uncontrollably whenever they receive damage draining .5% health per second~

~System Notification~

Puck's group eyes starred blankly at the notification before him.

Even in his insane state he knew better than to take this beast lightly.

"Heh, I guess I was right when I called you an old wolf, huh? And damn! Look at these stats! You really do deserve to be king! Well it's too bad.... That my transformation's better~~" Puck coo eerily, the crazed look in his eyes only getting worse as time went on.

But before Puck could even elaborate on what he just said, he had to lean back at an impossible angle to a avoid a ungodly fast claw swipe from Gascoigne.

The force from the swipe alone was so powerful and sharp, that it carved five huge chunks out of a mountain a few hundred miles away.

Using the moment from his dodge, Puck sent a foot up to meet Gascoigne's chin.

The force of which sent a shockwave out that pierced and dispersed the clouds above....

But Gascoigne didn't even flinch.

He simply glared down at Puck's smaller form and let out a low threatening growl.

Puck let out a small nervous chuckle in response.

"Now I know what this may look li-!" Puck was cut off mid sentence as Gascoigne promptly grabbed his leg, turned, and threw him with enough force to tear apart the ground as Puck flew.

To be continued~

_______________________________________________

End Chapter 23~

Next Chapter we'll either see the fall of a country....

Or the rise of a new hero.