-Vol 5: A New Life-

-In the Black Void again-

“Back here again, huh!” Kenshin murmured as he took on the surrounding he was standing on. The same black void, and the same island in front of him where plants died and returned again and again. He first appeared here when he obtained the [Opposites] skill, that time, he didn’t understand the implication and the hidden meaning behind this island.

He again appeared here when his conscious was taken over by that ‘???’, that time he comprehended the meaning behind and successfully understood the principle behind the [Opposites] skill. This would be his third time appearing here.

‘I wonder what would I get this time?’ Kenshin started to look around in wonder. Like every time, he could only watch the island from far, not able to go closer. Right now, he was struck in the void of his consciousness, with only the island as his companion. Not finding any change, Kenshin just stayed put.

‘I wonder what was that loud boom every time I move…and then I suddenly got injured out of nowhere! By now I already understood that my wounds are the result of that booming sound, but what is that sound?’ with nothing better to do, Kenshin just thought about everything that happened in that five seconds before he lost his consciousness. The fact that he wasn’t in that black limbo meat that he didn’t die and was still alive. That was a good thing.

Kenshin tried to think hard, but without any lead, he just throwing stones in the dark. Unable to come up with anything valid, he stopped thinking about it altogether. On the contrary, his thoughts ran wild as he remembered about something else.

With just a thought, his system screen appeared. There were a few notifications piled up, so he excitedly he read them.

[You have killed Level 146 Dilong and gained 9M EXP]

[You have killed a monster more than 50 levels higher than you. +50% EXP]

[You have killed a monster above level 100, while still under level 100. X2 EXP]

[Your level has raisen]

[Your level has raisen]

[You have gained 16 AP and 8 SP]

[You have killed a monster under the effect of Replication. You can replicate any one of the skills below.]

Storm Advent Dragon Sense Holy Protection of Sea Dragon King Thunder Pillar Descent Water Javelin

*Due to the remaining abilities are racial skills, you cannot copy them.

[You have killed a Dragon species for the first time in your life. You have gained a title.]

[Title acquired ‘Dragon Hunter’]

Dragon Hunter +50% more EXP while killing a dragon, snake, or lizard species. +50% more damage when attacking the above species monster. +50% more DEF when facing the above monsters. 10% more chance to score a critical hit 2% chance of getting a ranked item drop after killing the above species monsters.

[you have obtained 10k gold coins]

There was an old saying, after a great disaster, a great reward would follow. After surviving his encounter with the deadly dragon, Kenshin finally able to reap some benefits. The best thing that happened was getting 10K gold coins obviously. Though he thought it was too little considering how much pain in the ass it was to kill the monster, he didn’t let it show on his face. It's at least better than not getting any.

“Shit! This bastard really hasn’t undergone its second awakening. That old lady was right after all. It's already this strong, I wonder how strong it would have been if it was a 150+ monster. Maybe, killing us all in a flash wasn’t an exaggeration by her after all!” after the excitement of gold coins wore off, Kenshin noticed the level of the dragon. While it made him happy that he was able to kill a monster with this much high level, it still gave him a sense of dread. The strength of this dragon was frightening. Without his various skills and protective measures, and finally, without the old lady’s help, he wouldn’t have been able to kill it.

“I level upped twice too! Nice. A title bonus! Now that’s good. What else, hmmm…some huge numbered EXP! That’s good too.” After sorting through everything, he finally came to the skills available for him to copy. He didn’t give the title too much thought, although it looked nice and powerful, the chance of him facing another such enemy wasn’t high either, so for now, it's useless for him. Like how ‘Bane of Specters’ was useless to him right now, despite being a powerful game-changing title.

“Which one should I choose? All of them look powerful and useful!” Kenshin wondered as he schemed through the description of the skills. The first skill listed, [Storm Advent] it was pretty self-explanatory, and he had already seen it in action.

As for others, their explanation was something like this:

Dragon Sense:- Able to perceive all types of danger approaching the user a few seconds before it happened(Passive) Holy Protection of Sea Dragon King:- create a thin film of light that could block 50% of all types of attack. Use: 20MP/Sec 5MP/Sec when connected to a water body. Thunder Pillar Descent Generate a pillar of pure natural electricity that could cause varying damage between 500 to 1000. Cost: 40MP/Use AoE Skill Water Javelin Create and shape a javelin of pure water, causing 100 damage to a target. 5MP/use Single target Skill

After a thorough reading of skill definition, Kenshin crossed out the last skill. He didn’t need a single target skill, for now, he already had a few for it. The defensive skill was also not needed, he can buy armors to compensate for it, besides his own DEF had increased ridiculously to the point that he wouldn't be harmed unless he faces a monster of the same level as this dragon.

The competition was between Thunder Pillar Descent and Dragon Sense. On the one hand, he needed an AoE skill of thunder nature, as it was the most damaging element around. On the other hand, a skill that could warn him about every danger before it even happens was too alluring to pass up.

“Sigh! Dragon Sense it is then! This would be a pretty useful tool for me to avoid sneak attacks in the future.” Finally, after much deliberation, Kenshin managed to choose his sauce. The notion of staying alive won out against the attraction of causing widescale damage to the enemies. Its also a passive skill, which means it would always remain active without charging him any magic. Moreover, he had already seen the dragon avoiding three attacks at the same time…although it was hit ultimately.

[Ding* you have successfully replicated skill ‘Dragon Sense’]

[Dragon sense Lv 1][1200 EXP to next level]

Able to perceive all types of danger approaching the user a few seconds before it happened Passive/Always active

Kenshin didn't use his AP or SP, he had saved them until he really needs them. Aside from replication, Kenshin had a few skills that he needs these SP to level up really quick. One of them being the Force Disruption skill he copied from that strange turtle monster.

Suddenly, Kenshin felt a pulling force coming from his back. The force was so powerful that he wasn’t even able to utter a sound before being pulled away by it. As he was being pulled, he saw the black void he was in started to crumble like a castle of glass being hit by a large rock. The small glass-like shards fell down as a ray of light permeated through them. Before long the beam of light intensified, forcing Kenshin to close his eyes in fear of hurting them.

The next moment he opened them, he found himself staring at the face of a red-eyed Yuki, who seemed to have been crying not long ago.

“W-hat! What happened?” his voice sounded hoarse as if he hadn't used them for a few years.