With this, Relictus felt as if he could conquer the world. As he thanked M’arrzath, he was left with a simple key. No idea what its function was, it was just a black key. M’arrzath called it a doot doot Skeleton Key, but it wasn’t made to open any door.

Relictus shrugged at the mystery. For now, it had nothing to do with him, and if it was the future or the past, Relictus didn’t care. He lived in the now. (In the was, in this case, because this is written in third person past tense. I’ll shut up now and let you read.)

He again walked up the steps, and swore he could feel the smug emotion that M’arrzath was giving off. What did he do? Anyway, he climbed the stairs, having completely memorized the way through the labyrinth of tunnels, stairs, and traps. He got himself to the top, and bolted off at top speed. Wind blew in his face, a few bugs got caught in his teeth, he stopped a few times to cough up said bugs. Eventually, however, he reached his destination.

The mountains had been a pristine, blue addition to the atmosphere from afar, a great part of the scenery. Up close, they were stormy, jagged rocks climbing into the sky in dangerous slopes, loose snow, and jagged rocks. At the top of the mountain, a figure was barely visible. Its silhouette was a deep gray, hardly contrasting against the stormy, electrified clouds above. However, it was still imposing, like a lion. Relictus had a notion to back away, even though he was already more than ten thousand feet away. He still continued, however, and reached for the first rock.

Sweat permeated his light clothing, exhaustion pressuring his joints, making him sore and tired. He looked down, and could hardly see the ground. A tempest assaulted him, the powerful winds nearly knocking away his handholds. His arms screamed for a break, but he had to hold on.

What came next shocked and horrified even him. Right next to him, flying just meters from the cliff face, a flying creature hovered. It had a fierce, muscular body separated from his head by a powerful, deep gray mane. Its teeth were like spikes, sharpened to the point that it could even break bones, extending at least 10 centimeters. Those teeth brought on the thought of but one word – death. If those teeth sank into his flesh, they would rip into his sinew and crush his bones. Relictus wanted nothing to do with that.

Mountain KingLevel 235

Trusting his entire weight in just one arm, Relictus used his right hand to draw his weapon, finally getting a chance to test it. However, this was no time for fun. He activated Emperor of Fury, just to feel how it worked.

Instantly, he regretted his decision. His ATK went up from 340 all the way to 47600, equaled only by his defense. Out of his own control, he jumped from the cliff at the beast, swinging the sword downward, lodging it in the Mountain King’s head. He was the backseat audience in his own body as it was overtaken by an overwhelming fury that built up and concentrated, and built up once more. His sword flashed across the King, slashing open the flesh in dozens of places. Within moments, his enemy was down to just 41% HP. He used his sword to cut into the flesh, slicing apart muscles and skin to keep himself up, away from the fall. He slashed and slashed again, ripping more of its body bare.

As he lost himself, he didn’t notice the timer under his HP bar. That is, until it reached 00:00. An intense exhaustion overcame him, as if he had just pulled 4 allnighters in a row. He had never done this, of course – sleeping was one of his few escapes. He did his best to keep his sore limbs swinging, but they weren’t at half of the blinding zeal that they had swung with before. Then, before the monster was ever able to strike back, he had finally run his Stamina dry. He cursed in his mind – his Stamina always failed him in the end. His hand had cramped up from the lactic acid in it, and he could no longer hold onto the sword. It fell from his hand, and he fell from the cliff.

It was a long way down. As he fell, he accelerated towards imminent death. The wall was too far away, and the King simply watched, condescending. He was numb as he accepted his death. He closed his eyes, spread his limbs, and simply fell, wind flying past as he fell downward. The message he all but expected followed suit, the pain of smashing every limb in his body 2.7 meters into the ground was instantaneous, and lasted not a single second before the message:

YOU ARE DEAD

~–•–~

The boy lay once again on not the cold, hard ground he fell into, but the stiff cotton bed he so much hated. He sighed, stretching his arms back, and sat up. He decided to look some things up – that was what he always did when he had nothing better to do, and also why he had a library of expansive knowledge completely memorized, with absolutely nothing to do with it.

He clicked through page after page, taking only minutes to read each forum post and announcement. He even managed to find his way to a PK hit-list site.

Top Hit50,000 PWhite DemonDescription:Moderately tall, uses starter armor. Do NOT underestimate his ability. Can take out a moderate sized top level party alone. TAKE EXTREME CAUTION. Mark has white hair, and an intimidating look. You’ll know when you see him. Last seen in Genaron region.

He broke out into intense laughter, surprising the doctors. Nix was dropping 50m gold just to have a lesson taught to Relictus? To the boy, it was the pinnacle of stupidity. No player could beat him in a fight anyway.

He yawned, and stretched his arms, before sleeping for the rest of his cooldown time.

~–•–~

He expected to spawn back in M’arrzath’s chamber, but he never thought that he’d be in the same city that he started in. There were far more people in the streets, running about and speaking hurriedly with each other. However, as people noticed him, time bean to stop. He garnered hostile, hateful glares, some grinned and walked towards him, thinking someone like him might be easy prey, and that the hit was wrong.

“Hey, kid. You lost?” One said, addressing Relictus. Relictus stared daggers at him, but didn’t respond.

“You hear me, brat?” The guy’s provocation got worse and worse, yet Relictus kept silent.

“Listen when you’re addressed, you piece of-” The man tried to use his stature and musculature to his advantage and swung his fist as his frustration rose, but nobody expected the next moment.

The fist was blocked by just one of Relictus’s fingers. His left index finger was enough to catch the punch. “Lukewarm, at best.” Relictus muttered, as he grabbed the arm with his other hand, and, as if the man’s weight was nothing, he threw the man down the street. He bounced, skidded, and flipped several times before his face ground to a halt in the dirt.

“Who’s next? I’m sure someone here has seen that hit on… pfft… ‘White Demon,’” Relictus spat at the wide-eyed audience he had, unable to keep a straight face as he mentioned that absolutely awful chuunibyou nickname he had gotten. It somehow ticked him off, thinking about his own body in real life, how that manifested in his nickname. The ghosts that followed him through his life would never disappear.

Several people started whispering at the mention of White Demon. As he wondered what they were on about, he noticed that in the top left, under his HP bar, there was a bull’s eye icon. He focused on that, and it came up with a notification.

Player KillerYou are Marked.While Marked, you cannot trade with NPCs, and Players know what you have done.Duration remaining: 3hr36m

He sighed as he read. This was going to be troublesome.

Author’s Note

Spoiler : Going on a trip. May not release for some time, maybe even a week! D: I’ll be back, though, don’t worry. Not dead. Yet. Hopefully. As always, tell me if I made any mistakes or you want to see something else in the story. Bye!