CH 6 THE CHALLENGE

CH 6 THE CHALLENGE

Under the starry night, Jason is looking at the screen floating in front of him with curiosity.

[COMMAND TO SHOW HOST'S STATS]

'Show stats' ordered Jason according to the instruction written on the screen.

[NAME- Jason white

RANK- E

AGE- - -

ABILITY- Equivalent Exchange, --

EXP- 300/5000

Skills-

ASTRA BREATH (LEVEL 4)

STATS

STRENGTH- 78

AGILITY- 90

STAMINA- 89

HP- 100/100

MANA- 400/400

EON CHARGE- 20%

COMPATIBILITY- 2%

SYSTEM- HOST is very weak,

pending reward -

stats point - 5*

]

'My stat points have increased that's why my body is feeling strange, system sama I already know I am a weakling'

Jason added 2 points in strength and 2 in stamina and kept 1 for the future.

[ QUESTS ISSUED: FIND A WAY OUT OF VOID ]

[TRIAL 'THE DOMAIN' STARTED]

[SIDEQUEST BECOMING STRONG STARTED]

'Already another quest, but first I will find something to Drink' said Jason while looking towards a puddle. He is naked on top, with only a small ripped pair of pants covering his lower body. when he tried to walk he slipped like a newborn learning how to walk.

'how much time has passed? maybe 1-2 weeks' ha said while walking with the help of a fallen branch. when he saw himself in a puddle of water his mouth dropped. his overall appearance is changed before he had black hair, brownish eyes, and a common face but now his hair has some shades of blue and his leftover eye is blue colored.

now standing under starry sky he can see his body better, he some scars like a scar on his left eye, a clean-cut on his stomach, and an arm still missing. but his skin color changed he is now snow white

'Is this also an effect of Ascension?' he murmured.

As he took 1st sip of liquid present in the puddle he felt a burning sensation on his tongue. puddle may not have water this thought never crossed.

[HOST EXPOSED TO POISONOUS SUBSTANCE

NEUTRALISING

IMMUNITY 1+]

This sensation faded with the notification.

Jason opened the system screen to know more about his quest but only minimal information is provided regarding the quest and a hint.

REACH TEMPLE OF 2ND PILLAR

REWARD:?

"so that castle is TEMPLE of 2ND PILLAR, what a strange name," he thought.

The mountain on top of which the Castle stood is so big that Jason can still see the blue flame of the temple from the middle of this large forest. his destination is at the forest's shore so he grabbed a stick and started walking in the same direction. Jason had seen this forest from the sky so he has a rough IDEA of how long he had to walk.

as he is going to enter the forest his senses warned him but the desire for a new life is bigger than fear so he didn't stop and entered unknown territory.

To divert his mind from this scary lifeless forest, he starts to think about what to do after he leaves, but at last, he wondered where is this located system sama mentioned this is void, and looking at the environment and sky he is sure that this is not earth so that means he is in a gate.

He never entered any gate so he doesn't know how the gate looks like from inside just thinking that he is in one sent a chill down his spine.

The environment is rich in Astral energy, so the possibility of being in a Gate is higher.

"exactly where am I?"

the system replied " you are in a void"

'yeah, you said that but what is this void thing?' asked Jason.

"Void is the area between dimensions" the system replied.

these replies only waked the curiosity in Jason so he starting asking more n more questions.

'Then who are you? who's your creator?' asked Jason.

Jason waited for a reply but

" INFORMATION LOCKED, ACCESS DENIED HOST'S LEVEL TOO LOW".

'oh, my Level is the problem' Jason sighs.

Jason is walking for almost half a day and still, the mountain seems too far. but in this half-day, Jason concluded that the sun never rises here and this Place is not lifeless which he assumed before. The part of the forest through which he is passing is filled with pieces of evidence of life.

Jason is sitting with his back resting on a tree huffing and panting, trembling from fear of monsters residing in this forest then he started hearing footsteps, roars filled the surrounding area, whatever it is, it's now approaching Jason. his body started shivering with fear Jason stretched his hand to the Grab branch he is using to walk. A notification popup

[EMMERGENCY QUEST: DEFEAT ALL ORCS]

ORCS DEFEATED: 00/05

REWARD: STATS 5+

if failed DEATH

seeing this Jason stood and start running away from sound looking here and there to find a hiding place but orcs are way faster than him. from the bushes a large creature appeared having a rabbit-like creature in his hands seeing that Jason's survival instincts engulfed him and he ran in the opposite direction of the Orc while screaming madly. he saw a cave but,

If something like that rabbit couldn't escape then it did not look good for him. The wind howl and from his left he felt pain explode in his body as he was flung against the rock.

"Gah!"

The blow had knocked all the air out of his lungs. He trailed down the wall as he collapsed into a fit of coughs. Jason is swaying from the impact but he kept his eyes on the orcs. Then he noticed he is surrounded by the orcs. One orc extended its forelimbs toward Jason. It looked like it was going to eat Hajime alive.

'A, A, AST, "ASTRA BREATH"!"

While tears and mucus flowed, drool escaped from his mouth, It was an unconscious action. The only power that was available to Jason had such low specs but he Increased the output by exchanging energy with a rock present behind him.

boom...

(Explosion...)

Still, the damage was insufficient to kill an Orc but it gave time to Jason run towards the cave he rolled into the hole and narrowly escaped his death.

'gurruaa!'

the orc was overwhelmed with anger from losing prey.

The ORCS cast their Special attacks while they roared. It aimed its attack towards the cave. Terrible destruction followed as the Caves entrance exploded.

"Ahhhh–! "Astra breath! "Astra breath"! "breath"!"

His awareness was already gone from the excessive bleeding. Still, his body pushed forward.

"ASTRA BREATH"… "ASTRA BREATH"… "ASTRA BREATH"… "ASTRA BREATH"…"

No matter how many times he chanted, the skill didn't work. His maniac ran out before his body gave out. Exhausted, his hand fell from the cave's entrance. He fell on his back and his last strand of consciousness was going out. He just aimlessly started to the heavens, but all he saw was darkness.

'open stat's screen' said Jason to look for any skill he can use to generate light. his HP is depleted to half and Mana '0'.

He found nothing so he asked directly to the system for help.

[system:

you can use Lantern skill,

skill- lantern

cost-free]

'command to unlock'

' lantern activates' ordered Jason and a revolving ball of energy appeared in front of him brightening the cave.

(…I'm alive?… I'm saved?…)

He noticed that he returned from the brink of death. Jason who was leaning on the wall sagged down Bring up both knees, he placed his head between them while shivering from his close brush with death. He had no energy to even try to escape, he didn't even know when he fainted.

Jason Attempting to get up, he was stopped when his forehead hit the low ceiling of the Cave. before he didn't get a chance but now he noticed that this cave is a small tunnel. he summoned 4 more lanterns for more clarity, then he noticed skeletons which he has seen before these skeletons belong to one of the strongest foreign races "MUGEI".

So MUGEI know about this void.

Jason mustered up the courage and started finding anything he can use in mugei's skeleton, he saw their cores still glowing like a sun when he stretched his hand to grab them.

[EONIC ENERGY DETECTED, ABSORBING TO RECHARGE]

and glow of core faded with this his mind calmed. when all cores lost their glow.

Till now Jason is thinking about why everything happened to him but His heart was now free of hatred and anger. The outrageous God, back-stabbing friends, hostile demons, the smiling person desiring to protect him, all of them mattered nothing. To live, to earn the privilege to survive, everything else was trivialities. Jason had arrived at an answer to his question.

That is…

( KILL )...

he touched MUGEI'S skull and issued the command

'ASTRAL BURST'

This is the skill he created on his own.

on his command whole cave trembled and exploded when the dust settled down. Jason was still standing at the place where the cave once was coughing and dusting off his hair.

Orcs were still outside for their prey but sensing a deadly aura from Jason

scared them.

Not for malice, animosity, or hate. To live, he will kill with pure intent.

All those who threaten his survival are enemies and to my enemies…

(KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, KILL, kill )

To escape this feeling of starvation,

" Kill and Devour! "

At this moment, the mild and gentle, apologizing with a bitter smile at any sign of conflict, whose smile can solve any problem, the Jason that everyone loved and respected, utterly fell from grace.

A new Jason White is born. A Jason who will never hesitate, A Jason who will ruthlessly kill anybody that will stand in his way His broken heart broke again.

with each word, he muttered an orc exploded. Certainly, his expression had a sudden change just like his thoughts

Jason stared at one of the last 2 alive orcs with eyes that of a predator and he muttered again…

"KILL"

[ASTRAL BREATH LEVELED UP]

level 3

new notifications popped up

[EMERGENCY QUEST CLEARED! REWARD: INSTANT LEVEL UP]

[SIDEQUEST: BECOMING STRONG

REWARD STATS 5+]

[HOST KILLED FIRST FOREIGN RACE 1000EXP]

[HOST KILLED FIRST ORC 1000EXP]

[KILLS 13- 400*13=5200EXP

[HOST CREATED NEW SKILL- 1800EXP

[HOST RANK : D]

Jason lifted the body of the lifeless orc and squeezed his head till it burst.

a core fell on the ground looking at which Jason muttered

'That's my prize'

turning his face toward the injured orc.

"I wonder if I should suffocate them…but I can't wait for that."

his eyes started to grin as they gained a predatorial glint. he picked the core and he transfigured it while he concentrated on an image. When it was done the stone turned into a thin spiral spear.

"my theory was correct, haha"

he slowly walked towards the crawling orc with a smile then this smile faded, he saw his resemblance in this orc but that only frustrated him.

Thus, Jason started to rotate the spear. The spear spiraled to match JASON's actions. He was using this spear as a drill to pierce through the

orc.

Applying his weight to turn it, and eventually, it started to slowly dig into the beast's skin.

"Guru-aa!!"

The ORC screamed.

'Does it hurt? I won't apologize. I'm doing this to live. the world work this way, We both feel the same."

The ORC struggled but it was impossible to do anything and in last. A death cry escaped from its mouth. It screamed for a bit but soon it twitched for a bit and finally stopped moving.

Laughing maniacally he digs his hand in Orc's head by coating the tip of his nails in the energy having the shape of the beast nail.

'let's have a feast'

'haha ha'...

After butchering 2 Orcs and collecting cores of all orcs he disappeared into the forest to face the available challenges

****

TOTAL EXP

8000/20000