Chapter 26 - Hell's Training
A loud roar followed by a soul-piercing screech vibrated the dense forest shrubbery, while in the distant horizon, a row of 10-metre tall trees simultaneously crashed to the ground, uprooted by the claws of a giant olive-green scaled reptilistic beast. Its head loomed over the forest canopy, its face bearing a deep red scratch.
Letting out another heart-wrenching roar, it dived its head back below the leaves, launching another ground-shaking brawl to quake the land.
Marcus crouched still behind a giant stone boulder, quietly observing this new land he was brought to. The darkness of the sky with not a single star nor moon in sight created a daunting near-impossible challenge of navigating through the thicket of the forest and simultaneously avoiding any creatures.
So with no other choice but to stay hidden behind a boulder and wait for the sun to rise, Marcus took a glance at his status to plan for his next moves.
Status:-
Name: Marcus Elori
Age: 25
Sex: Male
Occupation: None
Title: The Gatekeeper (Unranked)
Class: Interchangeable
Level: 2
HP: 700/700
MP: 3550/3550
STR: 63
INT: 96
VIT: 60
AGI: 62
STA: 60
RES: 69
LUK: 51
Skills:-
Status Check:
Cost: 0 MP
Close Gate:
Cost: 1 MP
Morph: (Lvl 1)
Cost: Varies
Open Gate: (Lvl 1)
Cost: Varies
Sacrifice:
Cost: Varies
Call of the King:
MP Cost: Varies
His eyebrows rose as he saw the stats displayed on the screen. It was extremely different from the last time he had checked it, almost 6 times the previous amount. With no idea what caused the change, but knowing how this difference would increase his chance of survival by a large margin, Marcus left the questions to the back of his mind and analyzed his skills.
Status Check:
Cost: 0 MP
Description: Check other's statuses
This one was self-explanatory. A skill to pry into the strength and statuses of creatures. It could easily be used to avoid the fearsome monsters while targeting the weaker ones.
Close Gate:
Cost: 1 MP
Description: Forcefully close any gate portals within your vicinity.
With no gates spawning within Hell's Training, this skill was basically deemed useless to him. Without a second thought, he pushed this skill to the back of his mind, instantly closing the pop-up and continuing down to the next one on his list.
Morph: (Lvl 1)
Cost:
Options (Mob Class):
F - 5 MP/Min
E - 10 MP/Min
D - 35 MP/Min
C - 50 MP/Min
B - 70 MP/Min
A - 100 MP/Min
S - 260 MP/Min
SS - 430 MP/Min
King's Gate - 500 MP/Min
Description: Shapeshift into any monsters you witness being slain.
This skill caught his attention as this entire world was filled to the brim with unparalleled monsters. If he could get his hands on the strength of those monsters, his survival success rate would increase rapidly.
Open Gate: (Lvl 1)
Cost:
Options:
F - 20 MP
E - 45 MP
D - 70 MP
C - 100 MP
B - 140 MP
A - 280 MP
S - 520 MP
SS - 860 MP
King's Gate - 1000 MP
Description: Forcefully open a gate portal outside and within a gate
Similar to the 'Close Gate' skill, this one was deemed useless as opening a gate within Hell's Training was impossible. Having tried it the moment he entered the gate, Marcus knew he was truly trapped within this world until he manages to clear the extremely vague mission given to him.
Sacrifice:
Cost: Varies
Description: Sacrifice personal in exchange for stats
A frown appeared upon Marcus' face as he read the description. The 'exchange of stats' instantly triggering him to think of his random increase of stats. If a sacrifice was taken in order for him to gain that sudden increase of stats, what exactly was taken from him. He flexed his hand, attempting to think back to any blanks in his memory or oddity he had felt recently, but to no avail.
Call of the King:
MP Cost:
Options:
F - 100 MP
E - 225 MP
D - 350 MP
C - 500 MP
B - 700 MP
A - 1400 MP
S - 2600 MP
SS - 4300 MP
King's Gate - 5000 MP
Description: When in the outer world, forcefully summon 5 gates in your vicinity. Each filled with monsters that are capable of leaving the gate.
With another useless skill in his arsenal. Marcus let out a small sigh as he glanced at the only 2 actually useful skills. Morph and Sacrifice. One required the borrowing of anothers strength, while the other involves the removal of his own self.
None of this provided him with much hope as he rubbed his head in frustration. With no armor, no weapon, no survival or first aid kit, he was basically a rabbit in a den of mutant metaphorical lions.
*GRRR*
While thinking of wolves, a deep fearsome growl suddenly shook the ground behind him as a drip of saliva fell a few inches away from Marcus' back, causing him to instinctively flinch and spin around.
There a few inches away from his face lied the face of a giant wolf. Its glowing yellow-slit eyes peering into Marcus' own eyes, while the saliva which made contact with the stone ground instant melt the surface, creating a puddle of small liquified stone a few inches away from his foot.
'Status Check' He frantically thought, slowly backing off.
Status:-
Species: Giant Ancient Acidic Wolf (Rank: SS)
Age: 926
Level: 112
HP: 14,244/300,000
MP: 1,000/ 10,000
STR: 4,449
INT: 1,000
VIT: 3,000
AGI: 200
RES: 100
LUK: 40
Condition: Cautious, Injured, Weakened
Skills:-
Bite: (Lvl Max)
MP Cost: 1 MP
Acid Breath: (Lvl 78)
MP Cost: 10 MP
Roar: (Lvl 55)
MP Cost: 30 MP
With the wolf almost touching nose to nose with him, Marcus took a step back. He looked around for any method out, but the darkness which surrounded them left his vision only able to see objects within a 5-meter radius.
Seeing nothing but a few sharp-edged pebbles on the ground beside him, Marcus carefully bent down and gripped one in his hand.
*GRAA!!*
The moment the wolf detected movement from its prey, it let out a fearsome roar and pouncing itself upon its victim, expecting itself to instantly break the limbs of the feeble creature which dared stare into its eyes.
However, unlike its expectations, the creature had somehow managed to slip through its paws and had dug a pebble straight into its legs. The leg he had injured previously.
*GRAAAA!* It howled, attempting to stabilize itself and it looked around for its prey who had run straight into its blind spot.
Marcus let out a long puff of breath as he looked down on the jagged rock he had managed to grab and pierce into the wolf's leg. The blood slowly created a path down his arm and dripped down onto the ground.
Status:-
Species: Giant Ancient Acidic Wolf (Rank: SS)
Age: 926
Level: 112
HP: 14,234/300,000
MP: 1,000/ 10,000
STR: 4,449
INT: 1,000
VIT: 3,000
AGI: 200
RES: 100
LUK: 40
Condition: Angry, Injured, Weakened
Skills:-
Bite: (Lvl Max)
MP Cost: 1 MP
Acid Breath: (Lvl 78)
MP Cost: 10 MP
Roar: (Lvl 55)
MP Cost: 30 MP
With his previous attack only causing 10HP damage, barely even a dent in its health, Marcus' gritted his teeth and clenched his weapon tightly in his hand. It was going to be a long fight. A long, tedious, and most likely fatal fight.