Inheritor of Armageddon
-Outskirts of Cape Immergroen, Paragon Online-
An extensive plain occupied the stretch of land between the sea and the highlands of the Republic of Savoy.
The land was mostly used for agriculture, and growing gorgeous flowers.
However, in the center of it, a place that no roads reached, a solitary hut stood, and a makeshift courtyard surrounded the small structure.
"Phew...." A tall man was stretching his body, and his muscles produced satisfying clanking sounds.
A layer of sweat made his naked and tan torso glisten like a wax sculpture that threatened to melt.
The man's features were different from those of the local inhabitants, as they were more eastern, while his sunkissed skin was dissimilar to the predominantly white-skinned individuals of the Republic of Savoy.
Besides him, however, a blond man was also performing difficult stretches.
He had striking green eyes and sharp eyebrows that radiated unbound confidence.
His face held a comforting smile as he looked at the eastern man.
The other reciprocated the smile, and exclaimed, "Have you made any progress on the Air Oscillations Technique?"
The blond man confidently nodded and held out his arm.
Suddenly, loud shockwaves rippled through the air and caused repercussions akin to an earthquake, albeit in a small perimeter around them.
The eastern man placed his hand on a polearm and smiled in satisfaction.
Strong vibrations could be felt through the wooden hilt of the polearm, and this was a sign of the mastery of this martial technique.
"You are my first, and best disciple."
"I've never heard of someone mastering the technique in only 2 days..." The eastern man had a look of admiration on his face.
The other man humbly smiled in response.
Suddenly, a tinge of intense emotion appeared on the eastern man's face.
"I've always thought of myself as a talentless martial artist, and left my homeland in order to get stronger and prove them wrong."
"For all these years, it has been an immense failure, and other than this heirloom technique, I had no achievement to my name."
"Somehow, seeing you master it so quickly made my ambitions come back to me...."
Tears gathered up at the man's eyes, but he swiftly wiped them and stood up.
He entered the hut, and when he came back out, he unexpectedly, had a heavy-looking bag on his back.
"I'm going back to Stanguo, and I will speak of you to the Shahanshah...I promise your talents will not go unrecognized in my homeland..."
The eastern man took his polearm, and bid his goodbyes to the blond man with a bow.
The blond man looked at the other's departing figure, and suddenly, he licked his tongue.
"Say, is there a technique you haven't taught me?"
The other man turned around, stunned by this question, and replied, "I've taught you all a Rookie Martial Artist can learn, disciple."
As soon as he said that, he felt a terrifying sense of alarm.
"D-disciple, you seem pretty differe-
Suddenly, vibrations spread through his polearm.
Unlike the vibrations from earlier, these ones did not ripple everywhere, instead only vibrating through the polearm with greater intensity.
'Localized Air Oscillations?! How did he learn that?' The eastern man's breathing turned irregular.
"You can learn a lot through observing people when they think they're not being observed...master Arzu."
In a split second, Arzu also noticed something different about his weapon.
The polearm felt less steady in his hands, and somehow, more brittle.
This sensation became clearer, and then...
*Clank*
The polearm fell apart into thousands of fragments that fell onto the soil.
"Disciple, how did you do that? Air Oscillations can't break weapo-
"AAAGH!" Arzu fell onto the ground, as he groaned in pain.
The sharp remnants of the weapon also pierced through his skin, hurting him even further.
He gripped onto his wrist in despair.
He felt his insides throbbing violently.
This was also a result of Localized Air Oscillations, but originally, when used on living beings, the technique was only meant to disrupt blood flow and weaken the opponent.
However, Arzu felt his body being ripped apart from the insides.
Soon, red patches appeared on his skin, and the perfectly healthy skin peeled off and broke apart.
Arzu was witnessing his own body breaking apart, yet the pain was so intense, that he couldn't even think properly.
Meanwhile, the man responsible for this suffering only kept the same humble smile he wore earlier.
Arzu felt his life flash before his eyes at one moment.
He had ambitions, a family, friends he left behind, flaws and qualities, strengths and weaknesses, yet, at that moment, neither of those things mattered in the eyes of the blond man.
And just like that, the man let out his final breath of struggle, and his lifeless body fell to the ground.
Even in death, his torn-up body wouldn't be able to find peace.
"They were right, humans really do give EXP with this Class...."
At that moment, he went from Level 16 to Level 22, a staggering 6 Levels.
The blond man looked at a specific line from his interface.
(Rookie: Inheritor of Armageddon.)
He had a rare class, and while its powers were vague, it was extremely powerful.
-Imbues your attacks and mana with the Special Stat: Destruction.
The requirements to attain the class were also rather strange.
-Unleash a (Chieftan) Monster to the world through granting them your mana.
-Gain the approval of a Rookie: Martial Artist.
The blond man's green eyes turned to Arzu's corpse, and a thought came to him.
He opened up the messaging feature of the game and sent out a voice message to one of his (Friends).
"Albert, don't you like...corpses..or something? You should come here."
He gave the receiver of the message a general approximation of his location and waited.
That day, loud gunshots rang out in the area, but the empty plain muffled out the noise, and no one would hear of it...