Chapter 4

After Michael left the association building he immediately made his way to the place the Gate would be and found it on the rooftop of a building. The owner of the building was quite happy that a Player had come to take care of it, more-so because he is a Silver Player.

The Gates can be categorised by the stars on the Gates. There are currently 1*, 2*, 3*, 4* and 5* Gates. When the Gates first appeared only 1* Gates appeared before slowly the other higher star Gates also started appearing until now where there are 5* Gates.

Michael looked at the Gate which has 1* (1 Star) on it and at the countdown. Then he looked straight into the sky, where a timer like the ones in the Gates can be seen. It has been named as the Doomsday Clock or the World Clock by the populace since a theory is that once it hits zero then the monsters in the underworld, as the monsters homeworld is called due to their appearance and actions, would be able to come into the world all at once.

These clocks are visible high in the sky so a lot of people can see it all at once without much of a problem. Michael sighed to himself before he looked at the Gate seriously. He then opened it and entered it and found himself in a mountain terrain. The place is smooth and he could see around him.

He then turned to the Gate and turned the lock. Said lock is like a circle with two small round beams on either side. He grabbed the beams and turned it counterclockwise thereby locking the door.

'By doing this I have locked the door and started the challenge. The monsters should appear now and the only way I can exit this place is by completing this Gate.' Michael thought to himself as he made his Rings appear on his forearms.

Then monsters started to appear a few metres away from him. He recognised the monsters as skeletons and goblins. There were a total of 50 in total. 35 goblins and 15 skeletons. The goblins are level 4 and the skeletons are level 3. The enemies charged at him when they saw him as he got ready.

Then he reeled his fist back before throwing a punch forward, the next second the five rings on his forearm shot from there wreathed in its golden energy and hit the goblins at the front sending them flying back from the force of the attack. But to his surprise the goblins which he had sent flying back disappeared showing that he had defeated them which were 8 in number.

[You have leveled up!]

Michael's eyes widened when he saw the notification as the Rings returned to his forearm. He looked at his MP and saw that only one point had been used since he only used the ability of one ring.

'Okay, so using just one ring's ability to double my strength stat was enough to take these guys out huh. That's great.' Michael thought to himself as he smiled.

He then dashed towards the enemies as they also ran towards him. He then jumped and dropkicks the goblin in the front sending it flying back as he jumped back before the Rings on his two forearms came out of them. He grabbed onto the last Rings from each pair and extended the energy in the form of a whip two times longer than his arms as the other four rings of each arm became like a core.

He then swung the two whips of energy using his normal strength as he rained destruction on the goblins and few skeletons who were in range of his attack as the Rings were helpful in him being able to defeat them. The ground gained some cracks but they weren't much since he was only using his own strength without any stat multiplying using the rings.

He was able to decrease the number of enemies from 50 to 30 as he is happy at the development. He then equipped the rings on his forearms as the rest of the enemies charged at him as he got ready. He then used the ability of the rings to multiply his stat on all five rings, multiplying his strength stat by 5.

Then he sent a punch which when it hit the skeleton which destroyed it's skull entirely and then the shockwave from the attack sent the rest flying back as dust is kicked up due to it. The rest of the 30 enemies had been completely destroyed as he watched with wide eyes.

"Wow." Michael simply said with wide eyes at the destruction he just brought in one single punch.

He then looked at the Rings on his hands before he smiled.

"As long as I have enough MP I can multiply my stats as much as I want. Though if I don't have any MP then I will lose it as well, and that's not counting the fact that the rings need to be on my arms before I can use its ability. I guess this is why it's a Silver Rank skill. Even if it does multiply my stats, it requires for the Rings to be on my person, which means I can't use the ability when I shoot the Rings." Michael said to himself as he looked at the Rings.

[You have leveled up]

Michael's eyes widened when he saw the notification before he pulled up his menu as he looked at it.

[Player: Michael Wilson]

[Lvl: 5]

[HP: 150/150]

[MP: 110/110]

[STR: 43]

[DEF: 34]

[AGI: 39]

[Skill: Ten Rings of Shen (lvl 2)]

"Yes!" Michael shouted happily when he saw his stats as a new notification appeared.

But then the ground shook a bit causing him to come out of his celebration as he looked towards where the sound of large footsteps could be heard by him. He looked at the direction and saw a massive goblin standing there with a large wooden club in its hand. The goblin itself is 3 times as large as him.

The notification [Great Hobgoblin (lvl 8)] appeared over its head showing its name to him.

"This must be the boss of this Gate." Michael said to himself as he got ready.

The Hobgoblin roared at him before he raised his club and brought it down on him. Michael immediately jumped back and crouched on the ground before he jumped onto its club and ran towards it. The Hobgoblin at seeing it raised its club into the air immediately sent Michael into the air as well as he was surprised.

Then Hobgoblin then roared again before swinging it's club at him. Michael at seeing it got ready with the five rings on his right arm glowing as he activated the ability of each ring as they each doubled his strength stat causing his strength to be multiplied five times in one go. Causing his strength to currently be at a whooping 215!

Then he punched the club and easily destroyed it as he went through it and hit the Hobgoblin straight on its face. But to his shock and disgust he actually went through its head and brain matter as he split its body in half from the strength of his attack before the boss disappeared. Thankfully due to the amount of strength he used, wind was also generated from his fist and the energy from the Rings on his right arm managed to protect his body from the blood and other parts.

[You have leveled up]

Michael smiled when he saw the notification as he was able to level up so much and due to defeating a boss who is of a higher level than him gave him much more experience points as he managed to reach level 8. Though he knew that as he keeps on leveling up, he will also need more exp to level up more.

"Well, I at least managed to complete my first Gate so it's all good. Now I just need to get the star back to the association." Michael said to himself as he walked to the Gate which had opened.

He reached the Gate and promptly got out of it as he smiled at his success in clearing the Gate. He looked at the Gate as the timer on it disappeared before he looked at the clock in the sky which now has the same amount of time added to it.

The people realised that the faster that a Gate has been cleared, the rest of the time that is left on it will be added to the clock. This is another reason why it was imperative that Players completed the Gates as soon as possible.

He the looked at the Gate as it disappeared before dropping a star on the ground. He picked it up and looked at it with a smile before he walked inside the building as he got ready to tell the good news to the owner before he would be able to go back to the association.

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