Chapter 10

I was just surprised as the minotaur that I managed to parry the brunt attack from his big axe, but I was sure it was possible. 

I have no present explanation as to why that is the case but its good, nevertheless. 

"It seems like the tables have turned, " I said grinning at the monster as a red glint appeared from behind my mask.

The minotaur looked visibly confused but wasted no time, furiously attacking with his big axe. 

Each axe swing was met with the small knife, sparks flying after every attack, illuminating the forest that was previously too dark to see. 

If I were to describe how I was able to actually parry attacks and keep up with the onslaught, then I would say that it is like I am in my body but at the same time, externally controlling it. My reaction time has never disappeared from playing video games back in the day but the actions I was doing was merely mimicking all of the movements I have seen in all kinds of games and shows. Sure, I was moving my hand, but I was moving it as if my mouse controlled my hand and my hand was the mouse. It was definitely something that needed to be explored but it is nothing to complain about since it's not like I've had much battle experience. If anything, it was helpful. 

The minotaur realized that continuing the onslaught was futile and proceeded to stomp on the ground, causing debris to launch up in the air. I was no exception to this case and my body was slightly launched upwards.

The minotaur took the opportunity to imbue his axe with red aura and launched the debris towards my body, hoping for a quick end. 

Floating up in the air, I used a card to create a very small shield, attempting to change the previous iteration of my shield I used when fighting the commanders.

The moment the debris hit my shield, I was launched far back onto another wall, another crater appearing as a result of the collision.

Not letting up, the minotaur threw his axe towards the direction I was launched at, only further embedding me to the wall.

All of a sudden, in my vision, I saw transparent danger symbols appear, noticing that the silhouette showed a glowing back with a red mark on it. 

"Crap. I don't know how much longer I can last. It's still weird how I cannot feel anything but at the very least I have something telling me what's wrong with me. " I sighed as I pulled myself out of the wall. 

The minotaur was positive that the amount of damage he did was astronomical as he destroyed a vast amount of the forest in the process.

However, as if betraying his expectation, the entity came out of the wall as if nothing happened to him.

The minotaur hoped to investigate the weird feeling caused by a disturbance in the forest only to find an entity that weirded him out. Killing it should have been a breeze, but it seemed he was sorely mistaken. The more time passed, the more he felt he needed to kill it.

The minotaur decided to continue his attack by launching himself towards the crater to deliver a powerful blow.

The minotaur decimated the small canyon as his fist collided with it. Only, it hit nothing. 

Instinctively, I teleported out. 

Honestly, I shouldn't have this much trouble with a minotaur after decimating a whole army of higher beings, but I was more curious about my power than killing the minotaur outright. 

'What is my damage threshold? What can I push myself to do? What's my damage output? Are my skills obsolete? Can I increase my power? How can I efficiently use my powers? What else can I do? So many questions indeed.

There were lots of questions that needed to be answered. There is a need to have an opponent to test it out on and therefore, I decided that the minotaur was a good option. A strong and resilient creature. At least enough to be classified as a boss monster. I was rushed when fighting with the commanders but this time, it's a calmer environment.

"This is going to be a most educational time, ha-ha." I said as the eerie smile on the mask continued to mock the minotaur.

A shiver ran down the minotaur's back. He didn't know why, but at that moment, he felt that the battle he was going to end in mere seconds was about to last for a while.

***

I don't know how much time passed by but one thing I was sure of is that it must have been quite a while. My body was in a "buggy" state.

My sword pierced through the minotaur's body as if it was butter. I flicked my sword, spraying his blood across the now barren forest. In fact, multiple boss creatures were strewn across the now wasteland. Only the sound of the wind could be heard.

I learned a lot during my fight with the creatures. For one, is that the abilities I have manifest themselves if I plan on making situations interesting. It's kind of vague but it's the best conclusion I can come up with based on what I've been doing so far. That is not to say I can't use my powers without that specific situation but that is how I get a significant boost in power. 

Secondly, I also realized that my power lies in a concept that I will now refer to as "Scalability." The principle behind it is that I can change situations based on what I perceive to be unbalanced. To explain is simply, it's like how a character in every individual story can be considered overpowered as long as it is made that way. Such as a "punch that can destroy space" or a "space that can never be destroyed." To opposing situations but ultimately, one must prevail to proceed. Essentially, anything can be OP as long as it is made that way.

My body embodies this principle by scaling itself based on the situation I am in. That is not to say that I am immortal, but it adds balance to an unfavorable situation and not the other way around. However, if the situation is favorable towards me, then it is not interesting since it leads to easy situations which you could see what I am getting at. 

The principle doesn't only apply towards me either however, I can apply it to other beings and objects. I can decide to buff or debuff and can lead to some interesting interactions. Such as, at one point, I was fighting the minotaur head-to-head in a fist fight where no weapons or magic were allowed. I only tried to test it and almost died. A learning experience indeed. 

The power can also be used, interestingly enough, to make a game. This is a little more advanced but it's basically like changing the fundamental situation to one that suits the scenario. Like making an army be in a real-life chess game with some minor tweaks to the original game. Creation of my domain so to speak. Complicated, I know, but something to explore later. I can also use game interfaces whenever I want so that's cool.

Finally, an issue is that I am, to some extent, a glitch in this world. What does this mean? Well it seems that I can't cause too much an uproar or else I will be attempted to be forcefully removed by something. This happened twice (or three times if you count this one), when I killed armies of all races and as I decimated the forest. My body starts becoming glitchy and I need to disappear, or I will get "erased." I think. Not to mention that it alerts the angels and demons. This is fixable as long as I scale the situation down where not much "damage" is done. 

Still don't fully understand what "doesn't abide by the rules" is but from what I can see, it has a lot to do with my scalability principle. 

 That being said, I was quite happy when I saw all of these boss monsters because they were my creations. Their attempts to kill me only further helped me to understand my powers. 

"I thank you all, I bowed my head to all of them." I placed my non-existent hat on the ground.

"Farewell, my brothers" as I waved to nothing.

"It's time for me to continue my journey. HAHAHAHAHAHA." 

As I stepped out of the forest, I finally saw a different scene, one without fighting. The vast green plains. 

"Deactivate {Joker's playground} " I mumbled as I left the area, my "buggy" appearance disappearing. 

I didn't have to say something to use a skill, nor did it have a name, but I decided to label it as "Joker's playground". I still cringed every time I said it out loud but it must be done. 

***

Back in the forest, as if nothing happened, the lush green forest reappeared with all of the monsters.

The minotaur opened his eyes as if waking up from a bad dream. He was sweating profusely but he couldn't figure out why. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary.

Yet there he was, sleeping on the ground which was familiar yet unfamiliar to him.

Picking up his large body with the axe, he stood up as he slowly disappeared into the forest where his home resided.

There was no reason to ponder that which he does not know.

**

"It's finally time to explore the world I have created," I exclaimed as I started walking down the dirt road.

"Maybe someone will come pick me up. Who knows?" I giggled.

Hours into walking, I was surprised I didn't see any civilization for a while. Mind you, I was running for a bit and walking sometimes but I would say I traveled for a while. Not to mention I haven't found a single person.

"Whatever, I'll get there when I get there I guess."

At that moment, off into the distance, I saw lavish carriages getting surrounded by multiple assassins or bandits covered in black clothing. Don't really know which it is but the insignia? It belonged to the Lightstuar family. A famous knight family known to show no mercy to evildoers and renowned for their swordsmanship. I knew them quite and although I was curious about why they were in some random location (Not that I knew where I was), I was more enthralled about what was happening in front of me. 

"My first event it seems, a bit cliché for sure, but I welcome it." I giggled as I strolled towards the scenario with hands in my pockets and hoodie up, relaxed as can be. 

While I was in the forest and started first fighting the minotaur, although I didn't necessarily want to fight at first, I came to realize that if this is truly the novel world, the insignia only further solidifying that fact. 

"I wonder what will happen?" my smile growing bigger as I thought of my adventure ahead.