New Skills

"Status Window!"

[Name: Blake Allsworth]

[Race: Human]

[Ability: Degeneration]

[Class: N/A]

[Rank: Mortal]

[Level: 3]

[Mana: 30]

[Battle Power: 17]

[Intelligence: 10]

[SKILLS]

--> Damage Augmentation, Damage Empowerment.

---> Damage Augmentation: Increases the damage dealt to a target by physical contact.

---> Damage Empowerment: The user becomes more powerful after being damaged by his opponents. The boost the user gets depends on the damage received. [Automatically activates]

Maximum boost: +40% boost to all stats when heavily damaged.

"I see. That was the reason for the sudden boost," Blake thought, thinking back to the battle with the three rat beasts. "So, the more damage I get, the stronger I become."

[You have two unused rare-grade skill scrolls and a rare-grade healing potion]

[You've used the skill scrolls]

--> Blade Art lvl 1: Allows the user to adapt and learn various bladed weapons quickly.

--> Resilient Body lvl 1: Increases stamina and endurance, allowing for more damage.

"The blade art skill. Hmm, this makes things easier for me. Resilient Body, my path is further heading into one of pain," he thought, scratching the back of his head. "I better hold on to the rare-grade healing potion for now."

Foolishly revealing such things could instantly lead to his death given the current situation they were in.

"Those idiots!"

"We're getting attacked from the back! We need reinforcement over here!"

"Attack! From the back?" Breaking out from his thoughts, he turned around and saw a sight which shook him to his core. It seemed the rest had gone over seeing him still checking out his skill.

Beasts and humans alike fighting each other. Those from the other side scrambled madly and even fought against their fellow humans just to pass through.

Things were getting chaotic behind with the beasts making use of the situation. "Going over there is quite the stupid thing to do, but remaining here won't increase my level."

"I need to grow stronger to ensure my survival!" Clenching his dagger, he dashed towards the chaos, his eyes fixed on his target. "Back then, it wasn't included, but it seems that guy's guess was correct."

"I need to get in physical contact with my opponent for my ability to work!" Leaping off the ground, he lurched onto one of the rat beasts, his dagger finding its mark on its neck.

Sliding down, he was onto the next, slashing through its underbelly. Running over the area, he reeled backwards, evading the bloody hands trying to hold onto him.

"Save me!" The guy screamed with blood dripping from its mouth.

SPLATT!

The guy's head fell with blood splashing over the area. The beast eating through the bits of flesh finally raised its head. A dagger pierced through the middle of its eyes, causing it to drop down.

"That's three down," he thought, breathing slowly. The yellow orbs from the other two had long entered him along with the new kill, reinvigorating him.

"It's different! My fighting style right now has gone through a great change from before.... is it because of the Blade Art skill?"

The battle continued with the chaos spreading wide. Humans battled for their survival, yet the rate at which lives were lost kept increasing. The tides of beast had long outnumbered the humans, leading to quite the struggle.

Blake was finding it difficult with his stamina dropping down. His body was already riddled with cuts, and he was currently in battle with a group of five beasts.

"Ughh," he groaned, feeling the claws of one of the beasts tearing through his back. Gritting his teeth, he swung down, claiming the life of the beast. From his sides, a new one had joined the group leaping right at Blake.

The rest charged forward, their claws finding their mark. The one which had jumped bit down, tearing through his sides.

"Shit! My ribs!" He groaned, feeling blood flooding from the wound. The feeling of strength accompanied by the searing pain was a bittersweet sensation he struggled to contain. "I would have stayed behind," he thought, feeling his dagger getting heavy.

...

"Don't worry, I'll be back and make sure I bring a lot of money this time around."

....

Blinking his eyes, he realised he had black out for a second. "I'm coming home, Lucian!" Gripping harder, he stabbed down on the beast, still clinging on his sides.

"Arghhh!" Yelling loudly, he swung upwards, slashing the throat of the other beast. He was getting overwhelmed, and he realised that the skill had a certain limit. Being heavily damaged, more than his body could take, would basically make the skill useless.

Yet, with the swirling feeling of darkness, he kept on swinging his dagger. "Survive! Survive!" Even when the dagger fell from his hands, the strong sense of survival still boiled within.

"Is this the end?" He thought as his eyes slowly closed in.

DRINNNG!

[The countdown is over! The test will finally come to an end]

[Number of Humans Alive : 5000]

[Reward: Healing has commenced on the injured humans]

Ba-Dump! Badump!

"I'm still... alive." Raising his hands, he felt his injuries slowly healing. "How I'm I still alive?" Moving his head to the side, he felt the ground littered with the remains of humans, which were slowly dissipating into particles.

Finally, unable to hold it in, he emptied his stomach, clenching down tightly. "Ughhh. What have I signed in?" He thought tears slowly dripping down his eyes. They had been healed physically, but the same couldn't be said about their mental health.

"Will I be able to get back home! Mum, I can't leave you guys... I can't!"

"It's alright, Blake."

He felt a hand gently rubbing his back. "We're gonna make it out alive!" Miriam, squatting down, pulled him up while wiping his tears. "Remember what I said? We're going through this together."

[Phase two of the trial is commencing]

"Huh? What's happening?" A large number of people felt themselves turning into particles of light.

"M-miriam... you're lighting up!" Blake exclaimed, his hands trembling.

"You'll be fine. Don't worry about me. Let's meet outside the tower." She said before finally disappearing.

[The remaining survivors have been successfully shared into five groups]

[Total number present: 1000]

[Preparing test for number present]

[Due to the high number of survivors, a special test has been granted]

[A total of 500 survivors is needed for the next test...]

[Test: Only the strongest will ascend! Eliminate the target assigned to you to advance into the next round]

"Hey, what's this!" The room turned into a grave of silence as they heard the announcement. Several pings began to occur, and those who checked discovered their targets had been assigned.

[Bob's Target: Blake Allsworth]