Chapter 11

Euphoria (IV)

The shrine was surrounded by a forested area on all sides but one where a tall cliff loomed over it. While Rick and Emma were tinkering at the center, deliberating whether they’d become ‘Paladins’, Cain was standing around the edges, his eyes darting around. There was something unsettling about the place, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on what. All the same, however, he unequivocally trusted that feeling -- anyone who wanted to survive in the Towers needed to learn to trust their first instinct, after all.

Human minds are amazing, Cain had come to learn. They pick up on the smallest of things, the details that appear so minute and insignificant, and process it all into a subconscious compilation that acts almost like an alarm system. And Cain was very familiar with this type of a feeling -- it indicated that there was something nearby that shouldn’t be there.

He lowered his eyes and looked around the dirt 'path' around the shrine where he spotted it, twenty feet or so away from him. Right at that moment, he heard a low growl, one that most people would miss or even dismiss as the sound of the wind... but one that Cain was very familiar with, as a great number of beasts shared it.

"GET DOWN!!" he screamed out toward Rick and Emma. It must have been the alarm and panic in his voice that were obvious because both of them immediately dropped down onto the stone ground without hesitation. A mere breath later, a shadow-spun figure flew over them, stirring a cold wind, landing on the other side of the shrine.

Cain’s eyes immediately locked on the six feet long and three feet tall wolf of sorts, its maws unhinged, blood-red eyes staring viciously at the two bodies lying on the shrine. Cain instinctively pulled up the status screen of the monster, though he already knew what it was.

//Berserk Direwolf Race: Beast

Level: 16

Traits: Cunning(B-), Agile(B), Stealthy(C+), Aggressive(A-)

Skills: Level not high enough to discern //

What’s it doing here? Cain frowned as he made a beeline toward Rick and Emma who were just beginning to come to themselves, standing up. Isn’t it supposed to stay in its den? Did some idiot already anger it out?! Fuck, this is bad!

“... what was that?” Rick mumbled, his eyes quickly finding the enormous creature, causing him to freeze almost completely.

“Did either of you pick a class?” Cain shouted at the two as he approached.

“I-I did...” Emma replied feebly, similarly aghast at the creature.

“Take Rick and hide in the forest,” Cain practically ordered as he stopped in front of the two momentarily. “Em’, now!”

“Y-yes! Wait, what about you?!” she asked just as she was about to dash off.

“I’ll be fine,” Cain replied. “Hide with Rick and wait for me, okay?”

“... fine. Stay safe.”

“I will.” he nodded, smiling at her.

His eyes never left the wolf, however, and the moment he noticed the minute moves of its paws, signaling that he was about to take flight once again, he Blinked, appearing right in front of the beast, his fist already charged with Fire. He slammed it right against the beasts head, causing it to howl out in pain, a conically-shaped fire blasting out and tossing the creature back good twenty feet.

Knowing fully that it was far, far from enough, Cain immediately charged Earth into both of his feet and slammed them into the ground, causing rumbling to shake the nearby cliff as the fence-like wall of earth heaved up in front of him. Right after, he cast Elemental Shield on himself and ran parallel with the fence while the wolf jumped over, crashing through it as though it was made out of paper. I need to hit his bone-breaker, Cain’s mind spun quickly as he calculated the best way to fight the best.

'Berserk Direwolf' was known as the initial cataclysm of the first floor. Around two weeks in, someone had stirred him and led him out of the den, causing the wolf to roam freely over the next few days during which he racked up a kill count of over a thousand. It was eventually felled by a combined effort of nearly a hundred Conquerors, but it certainly left a pretty large mark as it made people far, far more paranoid over walking into caves and such as though they owned them.

Naturally, Cain never got to hunt the wolf himself, and he hadn’t even watched the video as people wouldn’t figure out how to record anything from here for nearly a year. All he had to go off of were the accounts of the Conquerors and those who witnessed the battle firsthand.

That didn’t mean he was helpless, though, as there were plenty other beasts on higher floors that were quite similar to the direwolf -- and those he did fight.

Usually, when it came to agile felines, the key was to break their balance, and they tended to have the so-called bone-breakers, specific points in-between their joints that sent a shockwave to their nerve systems when hit that paralyzes them temporarily, allowing people to go in for a kill.

Left hind leg, just above the paw, Cain continued to think hard, but his memory for that far off was too blurry. The wolf had already caught up and was leaping up toward him, causing him to use Blink again and appear behind it. He'd charged his right hand with Water already and lassoed out skillfully an array of water around the wolf's left hind leg, yanking at the point above his paw, but that only made the beast stumble momentarily. No, he clicked his tongue, charging his legs with Wind and blasting himself back. The back end of the spine, grunting, he spun around while still in flight, charging one of his hands with Water once again and the other with Frost. Doubling down, he smacked them together and spun a midair whirlpool that spat out dozens of bolts of ice at the creature, slowing it down slightly.

The bolts, however, were not strong enough to pierce the creature’s thick fur, but that wasn’t what Cain was after; right as the creature came to its absolute slowest speed, Cain used Blink once again and appeared on top of the wolf’s back, Fire and Arcane already charged within his hands. He slammed down with all his might, and the howl of anguish blew out of the wolf’s maw, nearly deafening him.

The back of the creature split open, its wounds rapidly cauterizing, but it was for naught as the charred back also signaled the broken spine beneath. The creature fell flat, on its last breath, struggling for a little while longer, yelping and crying, before finally succumbing to the injuries.

On its back, Cain was panting heavily, noticing that he only had 40 Mana left and that he truly was playing with fire. God, that guess was so lucky, if the wolf’s bone-breaking wasn’t the back end of its spine... Cain would have had to flee, and it wasn’t a guarantee that he would get away from the wolf. Just then, a set of notifications spammed him once again.

//You have leveled up...

You have leveled up...

You have leveled up...

Unlocked a Title: Direwolf Slayer (extra damage to all Beasts)

Your Intelligence has reached 40 -- you have unlocked a new Skill, Mana Burning (double the Mana consumption for three times the damage for 10 seconds; Skill improves with rank)

Skimming over his status windows really quickly, he noted the changes, causing him to sigh. He really was improving remarkably quickly, but he was also cheating, so it was quite difficult to undergo the mental gymnastics necessary for him to be overly proud of it all.

///Name: Cain Gregory Age: 32 Race: Human

Class: Elementalist Level: 14

Strength: 8 Vitality: 15 Agility: 10 Stamina: 11

Intelligence: 41 Wisdom: 35 Health: 150 Mana: 410

Traits: Labourer(C-), Quick-witted(B+), Tenacious(C-), Leadership(C-)

Skills: Fire(C+), Frost(C-), Arcane (C), Earth (C), Wind (C-, Blink(C+), Elemental Shield(C-), Water(D), Blood(E+), Mana Burning (E)

Items: Ember's Quartz(B-)

Titles: The First Elementalist, Bandit Slayer, Direwolf Slayer (extra damage to all Beasts)

Achievements: 3 (+1 to Main Stats for each achievement)///

Save for Blood and Water that he acquired after the first fight, all his other Skills were at least within the 'C' range, but it was expected due to how he utilized them. If he didn't have twenty years of memories and experience, and just spammed them willy-nilly, they would have never grown this quickly. But because he utilized them properly and with direct intent, the rate at which they grew was exponential. They’ll still slow down once they start getting into the B range, he sighed inwardly, finally recovering normal breathing. But it still feels good...

He soon heard a pair of footsteps approaching him and looked up, noticing Emma and Rick staring at him with gaping eyes and mouths. Their gazes exchanged between him and the wolf he was still sitting on, seemingly incapable of processing how could have a person killed something so monstrous.

“... pretty cool, huh?” Cain spurred the conversation with a grin, hopping off of the corpse and looking around at the dozen or so ruined trees that their fight caused.

“... that was... sweet Jesus...” Rick sucked in a cold breath and shook his head. “Alright, I need to get a Class as well. Wait for a second.”

“Wait!” Cain stopped him, thinking of a non-suspicious way for Rick not to become a Paladin, and instead something else. “If both Em’ and I got different Classes, then it must mean there are others someplace around here as well, no?”

"... yes." Rick nodded. "Oh, you are thinking of a complimentary party?"

“Well, yes,” Cain nodded. “I may have killed this thing myself, but, if I’m being honest, I’d rather never take that gamble again. Safety in numbers and all that.”

“... hmm,” Rick mumbled, stroking his chin. “Yes, from what Em’ told me... I’d really like to avoid playing a Paladin... it’s basically just a sandbag...”

“Hey!” Emma exclaimed angrily. “What do you mean a sandbag?! It’s a holy protector!”

“Call it all the lame names you want,” Rick scoffed at her. “Your job is still to sit at the front and take a beating.”

“...”

“... uh,” sensing the heated atmosphere, Cain wondered how he could relay the info about the Class Awakenings without relaying it. “H-hey, you know, there’s a chance Classes might have, like, next forms or something? Like sub-classes? Or something like that?”

“Yes!” Emma exclaimed, latching onto the straw. “That’s definitely it! Just wait, you old bastard. You’ll regret not choosing my Class.”

“...” It’s not ‘yours’, Em’... "Alright, alright, stop fighting. We should probably skedaddle before any more of these things start showing up."

“Alright,” Rick and Emma nodded. “Where should we go?”

“... uh... let’s... just go there.” Cain pretended to pick a random direction and pointed toward the top of the cliff. However, around eight miles that way... there was a shrine for the Bulwark Class. “Show me your status screen, Em’.” he walked up to her as the trio made their way around the cliff to see where they could climb it.

“How?” Emma asked since she already had her screen out.

“Uh, try random commands,” Cain said. “One kid I met here before managed to do it by saying ‘Share’.”

“Share.” Emma mumbled and her screen blared out into existence for both Rick and Cain to see.

///Name: Emma Mathews Age: 31 Race: Human

Class: Paladin Level: 1

Strength: 24 Vitality: 22 Agility: 21 Stamina: 22

Intelligence: 32 Wisdom: 16 Health: 220 Mana: 310

Traits: Protective(A+), Tenacious(A), Outspoken(B-), Indomitable(B+)

Skills: Holy Shield(D+), Divine Reckoning(E), Rain of Light(C)

Items: N/A

Titles: The First Paladin

Achievements: 1 (+1 to Main Stats for each achievement)///

WHAT IN GOD’S NAME ARE THOSE STARTING STATS?!! Cain wept inwardly over the sheer injustice of it all. All of her stats except Wisdom started in at least twenties, while Cain’s best was at 9! Fucking 9!! No wonder there were superstars last time around that seem unapproachable... I can’t match her stats even while being fifteen levels ahead of her... and those traits... aah, sweet God, I don’t think I’ve ever felt this wronged before in my life...

Cain also realized that just relying on levels wasn't exactly a notable way to discern someone's strength; stats, essentially, were only as valuable as a person's ability to utilize their skills and equipment. That only meant, however, that the truly talented one got not just a wind, but a whole tsunami in their back to push them forward.

"... what's wrong?" noting his wretched expression, Emma asked in panic as she thought there was something wrong with her.

“... nothing,” Cain sighed, shaking his head. “You... just... you are just amazing, is all.”

“... well, duh,” she scoffed at him. “Was that ever in question?”

“Perhaps on the day you said ‘yes’ to my proposal?” Cain fired a shot that hurt him perhaps even more than her.

"... no," she shook her head, smiling at him faintly. "I still stand by that. When I chose you, you weren't a helpless drunkard without any self-worth, but a charming, funny, and clever man. I am not clairvoyant..."

“... oh, that’s true,” Cain nodded. “I only started drinking once Lana was born...”

“Yeah, I don’t think that does any favors to your character...”

“... it was overwhelming,” Cain said, sighing. “All of it. And my dumb ass chose the worst way to cope with it...”

“Ah, here’s the ramp for the cliff,” Rick exclaimed, drawing the two’s attention away from each other. “We need to hurry. All this talk about incompetence is hitting too close to home right now, guys...”

“...” looking at his pitiful appearance, Cain barely held back a chuckle. He really was like a little kid on the cups of a Christmas, waiting to unpack the presents. “Alright, alright, let’s hurry...”

As the trio fell into silence, Cain opened another train of thought -- as he was already forming a proper party, just the three of them weren’t nearly enough. I could go to those superstar-level talents... if I could remember any of their fucking names...

Sighing, he realized that he really didn’t know any names -- eventually, everyone would come to be known by their nicknames -- ‘Boltgod’, ‘Unstoppable Force’, ‘Divine Knight’... in a few years, people would wholly embrace this nonsense, and real names would essentially fade out. Of the few that he did remember, most actually weren’t from U.S.

Diya, for instance, one of the superstar-level support Conquerors, was from India. Furthermore, he only knew her first name and didn't even know what she looked like.

I guess I can go look for Edward Tanner... right? That was his name? He may have become a serial killer eventually, but let's just hope it was the result of psychological trauma from some events in the Tower and not a lifelong fantasy he finally got to live out...