Soul of Blades - Chapter 20: A Newer World (Patreon)

In the midst of swirling mana, Alex rematerialized on solid ground. The transition palpable as reality seemed to stretch and warp around him. It wasn't an abrupt apparition; rather, his form coalesced, piece by piece, like an image coming into focus. His feet made contact with the ground, a sensation both solid and fluid. The texture beneath him varied—a patch of cool grass, a scattering of pebbles, a soft bed of fallen leaves.

A rush of fresh, rich, mana-filled air entered his lungs, filling him with renewed energy. It was a jarring contrast, a striking shift from the dungeon he'd just escaped. The air felt vibrant and energising, each deep breath he took filled his lungs with a warmth that spread through his whole body. He paused, shaking off the disorientation, and took in his surroundings. For the first time, Alex laid eyes on the world of Pyra outside the confines of the dungeon. An astonishingly new landscape unfurled before him - vast, radiant, and filled with a vibrant life force that was almost overwhelming. Dense forests of towering trees swayed in the breeze, their leaves so distant it seemed the sky was covered in a green curtain. Beyond the forest he now found himself in, he saw glimpses of a snow-capped mountain range that ran along the horizon, standing endlessly still in the vibrant world.

Well, at least it's not another jungle. He sighed in relief as the cool mana-rich air swept past his skin. It tingled. He had been getting sick of the jungles humidity. Although he enjoyed the sun, probably more than most, the jungle had no warm rays to offer. Only heat and damp air. To Alex, it had felt like he'd just escaped a week in a sauna the size of Manhattan.

Stuck in a giant sauna, fighting monsters that made bears look like chihuahuas. Hiding and building traps against monsters and beasts that could've killed him more times he cared to remember.

Alex spun towards where he imagined the portal to the dungeon would be and raised a middle finger pointedly. He stared at the point where he imagined the dungeons portal to be in rage. He would've stabbed the thing if he could, but whatever force had brought him here and left him for dead without any aid was out of his reach- for now. His finger shook with pent up stress and aggression as he muttered the words “Fuck you.”

That ordeal was apparently one of many, inflicted upon worlds at the whims of the powerful. He should be grateful to be alive but instead he felt sick. How many would die on earth, if they had to go through that? Hell, how many would die on Pyra? He imagined his family, or his friends going through something like that and shuddered. The encounter with the Warbane had shifted his perspective. He had thought of this as a second chance, an opportunity to gain strength, and magic and to evolve. But the system had placed him into a dungeon of 8 levels, each presumed to be stronger than the last, each intended to be conquered by a team of people. If he had consistently chosen the easy quests and bided his time, he would've surely died. And all that was made to happen just so they could ‘serve’ some Imperial ‘masters’. It seemed wrong, somehow. Especially how the system had implanted and altered his thoughts whenever he gained a new skill, and limited his attempts at altering his skills or controlling his mana. When he used his skills, it was as if he there was another entity guiding and limiting him, and he had to wrestle back control from the system itself any time he wanted to use his skills as he wished. He had initially thought of the glitch and his new class as a mistake or misfortune, but his skill, ‘duel of corruption’ had taught him otherwise. It could be a boon.

The skill had removed the influence of the system for a short duration, about 5 seconds, Altering the stats of both him and his target. It barred access to skills and feats and reduced either his, or his opponents stats to match each others. It forced them to fight as equals, without the systems interference.

The skill wasn't perfect.

He instinctively felt that it wouldn't work on Someone with more than 50 levels on him. If he used it on someone closer to his level or lower, it would lower his stats to match theirs, and strip him of his buffs and skills. Sure he’d still have his sword and martial arts, but he’d loose a huge bulk of his advantages. And what if I’m surrounded? He thought, realising another weakness, the skill only targets one person, I’d be toast. Against a lone higher levelled opponent was where the skill truly shined. Against a higher levelled opponent with greater stats, the skill was a game changer and could secure his victory- if timed correctly to strip them of all of thier systems enhanced boons.

“Status,” he murmured.

[Name: Alex Ironwood

Level: 27

Race: Human - Rank F

Primary Class: ̷̷͎̠̠̖̳̮̿́̏̄͝͠Sys̵̞̈́͆̓̓te̸̪̟͇͕͂mic SwO̷̟̮̙͚̔rd So̶̼̲͋͐͋͂ͅve̶̷̵̴̲̳̱reign

Sub-class: Locked

Strength: 141 (97)

Dexterity: 204 (127)

Endurance: 61 (42)

Intelligence: 211 (146)

Wisdom: 43 (28)

Feats: First Encounter, Pioneer, Pinnacle IV, Survivor, Warrior, Champion

Active skills: Phoenix Leap, Mana Blade, Boundless Dodge, Duȅ̷̳̮̄͝͠l of C̷͎̠̠̖̿́orruption,

Passive skills: Inner Focus, Outer Focus, A̷̶̵̴̲̳̱l̸̢͉̗̣̑͐͛à̸̶̵̴̶̷̶̺̥̮̯͇̲̳̱̼̲͒̈́̈͛͋͐͋͂ͅͅ ̷̷̶̴̵̶̷̸̴̶̷̵̢̳̮̲̳̱͉̗̣̲̳̱̏̄̑͐͛͝͠Ω̴̵̶̷̲̳̱ ̶̶̯͇̼̲̈́̈͛͋͐͋͂ͅ ̷̷̶̴̵̶̷̴̶̷̵̳̮̲̳̱̲̳̱̏̄͝͠g̵̶̷̴̲̳̱e̸̪̟͇͕͂e̶̷̵̴̲̳̱E̵̴̶̷̶̵̴̶̷̷̸̸̢̲̳̱̼̲̲̳̱̟̮̙͚͉̗̣̺̥̮͋͐͋͂̔̑͐͛̀͒ͅͅ ̶̷̶̴̵̶̷̯͇̲̳̱̈́̈͛ ̷̸̴̶̷̵̳̮̪̟͇͕̲̳̱̏̄͂͝͠M̷̶̵̴̲̳̱m̸̵̴̶̷̸̷̸̴̶̷̵̢͉̗̣̲̳̱̪̟͇͕̟̮̙͚̺̥̮̲̳̱̑͐͛͂̔̀͒ͅ ̶̯͇̈́̈͛ ̷̸̶̢̳̮͉̗̣̼̲̏̄̑͐͛͋͐͋͂͝͠ͅO̷̟̮̙͚̔o̶̼̲͋͐͋͂ͅᾯ̴̵̶̷̵̴̶̷̷̸̸̸̢̲̳̱̲̳̱̟̮̙͚̪̟͇͕͉̗̣̺̥̮̑͐͛̀͒ ̶̯͇̈́̈͛ ̷̶͎̠̠̖̼̲̿́͋͐͋͂ͅ ̷̳̮̏̄͝͠ ̷̶̴̵̶̷̵̴̶̷̴̶̷̵̲̳̱̲̳̱̲̳̱ , Inventory,

Dao: True Immortality - 0.03% Progress

Unassigned stat points: 20]

He dumped all twenty free stat points into endurance- it was lagging far behind his other physical stats. He had been injured in almost every battle, sometimes gravely, with the only exceptions being when he used ambushes and traps. He was still healing from the numerous slashes, cuts, and stab from the battle with commander wolfbane. With only one healing potion left, and no idea how to get more, he needed that stat more than ever.

His updated stat sheet read as:

[Strength: 141 (97)

Dexterity: 204 (127)

Intelligence: 211 (146)

Endurance: 90 (62)

Wisdom: 43 (28)

Unassigned stat points: 0]

He sighed with concern as he assessed his stat growth. His wisdom stat was the lowest, and although it hadn’t caused any problems just yet, he still felt he needed to do something about it. He didn’t want to unknowingly limit himself by refusing to invest in the stat. But he just had no idea what it did, besides being ‘probably‘ related to magic. Better ask one of the locals what ‘Wisdom’s’ good for the first chance I get. He thought, eyeing the settlement in the distance.

Satisfied with his growth, Alex sat down on the forest floor, wincing as he aggravated the stab wound in his stomach, and reviewed the notifications he’d been forced to ignore during the dungeons final battle.

[Quest ‘Inducted Insurgent’ Completed]

[Rewards: Granted.]

[Skill: E rank skill ‘Outer Focus’ gained!]

[Skill: E rank skill ‘Inventory’ gained!]

[Gained Feat: "Dungeon Insurgent" 2% conditional increase to Endurance stat - Increased regeneration & resilience only when invading planes or facing invaders to planet designation ‘Pyra’]

An inventory… finally. He thought as he immediately attempted to tap into the skill. He didn't need to imagine what the skill did- he'd seen enough TV to know it was some kind of personal storage space. He willed the skill to activate and was met with a worrying notification.

[2 hour mana cooldown in effect. Skill unavailable]

Damn, Alex huffed in mild irritation. Forgot about that. Mana Burn’s cool-down. Last time I used the Mana Burn skill there wasn’t a cool-down problem though… That Dao vision must’ve lasted longer than it felt. If the experience had lasted for over a hour, meant while he experienced the vision he’d been in even more danger than he’d imagined, Unless the system had protected him somehow as it granted the reward.

And an ‘Outer Focus’ skill, huh? Sounds too much like ‘Inner Focus’. They're both passives, which means they’re working all of the time… and Focus implies concentration, but I don’t feel any different, any sharper or smarter. I wonder what they do? He supposed he would have to wait until the cool-down was over. Somehow, he could instinctively sense that he had just over 1 hour and 42 minutes left before he regained full access to his skills. That was a new sensation, he’d never been able to sense his inner workings like that before. There was a faint haze to the immediate world around him, spanning about 20 feet. It was as if everything within that range was more vibrant. Within a wide sphere around him, everything seemed slightly brighter than the rest of the world, slightly more colourful than it was supposed to be. Except for him, apparently. He looked at his arms, chest, and body with his new senses; he appeared and felt bare, empty, as if whatever vibrancy filled the immediate world around him did not exist inside of him. He felt monochrome, with the vibrancy clearly nowhere to be seen even on, or inside him. Is it because of the cool-down? He wondered, before coming to a sudden realisation.

It was Mana, he realised. He could see and feel mana, a little. Within a small sphere around him, he could faintly see and feel the fluctuations and flows of mana, and it was everywhere. It drifting in the air, pushing against his senses, flowing and seeping into the trees.

Weird, he thought, it’s like someone stuck a new pair of eyes in my head, with antennas. Alex looked around in amazement, and with new appreciation for a world he’d never truly seen before.

Everything just looked… better.

The towering trees, like distant cousins of redwoods seemed to hum with life to his new senses, and as he looked around with new eyes, far ahead, nestled in a distant valley, he spotted what looked like a collection of structures. A settlement of some sort, though it seemed far away.

The sight gave him a sliver of hope; he was not alone in this world. Maybe he could find some people- Human people, to talk to.

And maybe this time, they wouldn't try to kill him.

Determined, Alex began his journey towards the distant settlement, traversing through the lush forest.

Back to civilization.