Sidestory: Der Schnitter

    2052, Earth, Akashik Academy Auditorium

    It had been a long time. A very long time. Decades had passed since he’d entered this room, decades spent in silence as he and those around him stared at the far wall, not speaking, barely blinking, and if they’d had the required self control, they likely wouldn’t even have moved ...

    Yeah, okay, it hadn’t even been five minutes, Leon could admit that. But his stomach was twisting into knots, and judging by the fact that no one else was talking, the same went for every other person in this hall.

    Just a bare handful of minutes before, outside, the crowd had been abuzz with nervousness and uncertainty, the chatter from a hundred teenagers and young adults building upon itself to reach an almost deafening volume even though no single person was being particularly loud ... but the instant they’d entered the hall, they’d shut up. And the speech hadn’t even started.

    It was that important for them all to make a good impression. And they were all ridiculously nervous to boot.

    Leon did his best to untangle that twisted knot of anxiety and nerves that had seemingly replaced his very heart, only for something to finally change.

    A portal flashed open behind the lectern on the podium, and a man strode out. Pale white skin, like someone who’d never seen the sun, hair so black it seemed to swallow the light, green eyes that gleamed like emeralds. He was clad in sturdy grey cloth pants and a black polo shirt, with a heavily enchanted bracer clasping his left wrist while a jagged inverted teardrop of bone, fang, and blue scales dangled from a leather cord around his neck, letting anyone who saw it know just what its wearer had accomplished.

    There was only one person that could be.

    Dr. Isaac Thoma. The Sage.

    And possibly, hopefully, Leon’s teacher. That was what they were all here for, after all. A chance to take part in one of Dr. Thoma’s “let’s see what kind of [Class] you get if you do this specific crazy thing” experiments. The second one ever, with the first one having taken place decades ago and produced an S-Ranker, Cameron Smith the [Chimera], though more often referred to by his nickname, “Cameron the Calamity.”

    If there was any chance of getting that kind of power, he at least had to try that.

    “You’re all here because you want to get a powerful [Class].”

    That wasn’t a question, just a simple statement. Thoma stood at the lectern, gaze raking across the crowd.

    “This is going to be the hardest thing you’ve ever done, and once you start this training, you’re going to be locked into a combat path. You’ll have [Classes] for specialized combat, and you’re going to wind up with even more combat [Classes] if you manage to succeed at what I intend to train you to do.

    “So, who doesn’t want to actually be here, and grow as a warrior, specifically?”

    No one dared respond. Not by raising their hand, not by saying something, not by doing literally anything else. They just stared silently at the man on the podium, as though he’d committed some act of irredeemable sacrilege.

    “And who doesn’t care what I teach you, as long as I’m the one teaching you?”

    That got a bigger response, feet shuffling and people glancing guiltily towards the stage before returning their gazes to the ground.

    No one actually “fessed up,” as it were, but Leon could feel the energy in the crowd shifting. Not everyone actually wanted to fight for their power, let alone carry out whatever crazy ideas the S-Ranker had had. But there were those, like Leon, who continued to stare straight ahead, confident, ready for whatever was coming next.

    Thoma let the general murmuring and discussion continue for almost a minute before speaking for a third time.

    “You’re all here because you’re driven, but that doesn’t mean combat is where you will, or even want to, excel. If you leave through the door you entered through, you’ll find a very different room than the one you left. I’ve arranged for world-class teachers in smithing, general crafting, alchemy, engineering and magic to post out there, ready to accept trainees or find you a subject of study that fits you like a glove.

    “So even if you don’t wind up working with me, you’ll still gain a lot from having come here today.”

    The first few people started to file out of the room at that, clearly having chosen to seek their fortune elsewhere. And others were clearly starting to waver too.

    But Leon knew where he wanted to go, which path he wanted to walk, and where he wanted to wind up when he finally hit the Level cap. If he lost this chance ... he’d go at it on his own and likely get himself killed.

    Thoma’s gaze once again swept across the much-diminished crowd while his [Aura] faded into the visible spectrum, a grey and rust-red field of energy that looked like it could turn them all into meat paste if its wielder wished them ill.

    But he didn’t.

    Instead, it gently reached out and touched half a dozen people in the crowd, tapping them on the shoulder as Thoma made what seemed like his final announcement.

    “Follow me, please. Everyone else, thank you for coming. You’re all invited to tomorrow’s [Skill] teaching session if you have a [Class]. If you don’t, you’re welcome to join any future sessions once you do, but please do give some advanced warning so I can make sure I have enough uses of teaching [Skill] left.”

    And with that, Thoma swept out of the room through a newly opened portal.

    Silence reigned for a few seconds before the first of the “chosen” stepped forward and marched through the portal. Then the second followed, the third, until finally, Leon stood there, staring at the portal, the place the [Aura] had touched him feeling icy cold yet burning hot at the same time.

    It was likely just a couple of seconds, but it felt like he’d wasted yet another eternity simply staring, not even truly seeing, just ... looking into the distance as he tried to grasp the enormity of his dreams starting to come true.

    Then, he took a deep breath, shook off the nerves, and started to march forward, straight through the portal and into an entirely different world.

    ***

    The corridors of Akashik Academy were, as far as Leon had seen, always fully decorated with appropriate display cases, artworks, and trophies. Monster parts and weapons near the training rooms, bits of gear in the crafting area, alchemical ingredients in countless small glass cubes formed the window outside the alchemy wing of the main building, and so on.

    Wherever they were now, they were in some part of the academy not visible to the public, or somewhere else entirely. Everything was of a starkly utilitarian design, smooth concrete wherever you looked, and judging by the utter lack of windows, they were also underground.

    “Wellcome to Olympus Mons,” Dr. Thoma announced as he turned around, arms spread wide. “We are currently half a kilometer underground, in a bunker rated for Tier 8 Raid Bosses. That’s Level 120, for those of you who haven’t memorized the Tiers. I have a special dispensation from both the United Nations and Mars Settlement Authority that says that I’m enough of a safeguard when summoning anything this place can withstand. We won’t be going that high, though.”

    Dr. Thoma waved his hand to his right and vast hologram appeared, showing an abandoned-looking city with a vast trail of destruction burned through it.

    “This is a small city just north of Seoul, back when North Korea still existed. Some of you might remember it as having been the site of the World’s first [Raid Boss].”

    Leon glanced over at the others who’d been accepted as the excited whispering began. Though he stayed silent and fixed his eyes back on the hologram, which then changed to show three beings.

    A massive, flame-wreathed demon, then that same demon in a truly pitiful state, its eyes gouged out and entire body utterly covered in wounds and finally, a human so badly burned that it took Leon a couple of seconds to recognize that it was the same man as the person generating the holograms.

    “The only demon I’d fought up until that point was a Tier 1, Level 1 Imp that had been summoned as a prank in the first week of the System’s existence. See, the cops didn’t really know how to handle it, I offered to help with stuff like that, so I got to drive all the way across town for two seconds of work at three in the bloody morning,” Thoma said with nostalgic grin on his face.

    “But I was offered an epic [Class] after doing, well, that to a single demon lord. I didn’t even kill the damn thing, it kicked my ass. So, that brings me to the question I’d like you to answer: what happens if you kill a [Raid Boss] before you ever reach the third Evolution? And in general, what are the rewards for killing something like that with a near-parity in Levels?”

    Again, Thoma paused to allow for the inevitable muttering and a couple of gasps. But Leon could feel his heart beat faster and a rictus grin work its way onto his face. Obviously, there’d be some kind of safety net, most likely in the form of Dr. Thoma himself, ergo, he’d be able to cut loose with whatever [Skills] he wound up getting.

    “I’m going to be training you using all [Skills] at my disposal, providing level-appropriate gear, and making sure you’re as safe as you can be when you fight monsters to level up.”

    “What about Aspects?” someone asked. Leon only realized it had been him who’d spoken when everyone turned to look at him.

    “I’ll be helping you to earn your own,” Thoma said. “Giving you Aspects you couldn’t earn yourself, including [Raid Boss] items would probably put you out of the running for the [Class] I’m convinced you can earn, and me giving you something that you could earn yourself would just be taking an opportunity for training away from you.”

    The corners of Thoma’s lips quirked up in a slight smile. “Anything you want to fight, I’ll let you fight. Even if it’s something you can’t possibly beat, I’ll let you try in as safe a way as possible.”

    Thoma then gave them a small tour. The elevator to the surface, where their rooms were located, overlooking a lake in the center of the Olympus Mons crater. The training rooms. The armory, the alchemy lab, the potions storage, the actual summoning rooms, and finally, the library.

    “I know the books don’t seem all that impressive compared to everything else, but I’d like to remind you that many of the most feared S-Rankers are academics. Using knowledge as a weapon doesn’t refer to bashing someone’s skull in with an encyclopedia.”

    Leon sniggered. Thoma hadn’t said “why I am the most feared S-Ranker,” but it was clear that was what he’d meant. No one really ranked S-Rankers by power in an official capacity, no publication really felt it was worth potentially attracting the wrath of one even though most of them weren’t that petty or cruel.

    So they’d turned to another form of ranking. Whom people would like to fight the least. Dr. Isaac Thoma topped those charts, alternating between first and second place for as long as Leon could remember, the enigmatic Sage with the unknowable [Classes] who’d pulled the power to beat on a [World Boss] like a rented mule for several minutes out of nowhere in the battle against the Leviathan. No one knew how to fight him, yet everyone of worth knew that he either had a countermeasure prepared specifically for them, or could whip up in a matter of seconds.

    And the person he was eternally changing position with was the Ghost, an unknown and unknowable actor on the global stage with a seemingly limitless well of information.

    Amelia Shaw and Patrick Lerch were usually also up there, immensely powerful, intelligent, and adaptable mages who’d, in fact, come up with Thoma.

    “Jokes aside, all the information is on the internet too, but if you want a physical book to read, you know where to look.”

    And that basically concluded the tour.

    “Now, everyone, good night, sleep tight, and if you find any bedbugs, I’ll lend you a flamethrower,” Thoma waved them off before launching himself skywards, heading off somewhere. Leon was sorely tempted to gawk, but he knew he had to try and get some sleep before tomorrow.

    ***

    The next day

    ... yeah, the whole “sleep” thing didn’t really work out. But Thoma had promised them that they could pick out their weapons in the morning, and excitement had kept Leon up for a frustratingly long amount of time.

    Still, coffee was a thing and he’d have some Levels under his belt before chronic caffeine consumption would cause actual damage.

    So he got up, downed one of the energy drinks he’d brought in his bag, got dressed in a sleek gambeson, the best light and flexible armor his family had been able to afford, and left his room.

    The lodgings Thoma had provided had clearly been designed as shared living space, with six identical rooms upstairs and a large living room-slash-kitchen downstairs, and a large deck stretching into the lake that lay behind it. There was also a front door that led out onto a single road that led off into the distance, likely towards the spaceport.

    But that wasn’t where he was headed. Instead, he hopped onto the elevator right next to said door and felt it rumble to life. It seemed to be moving quite slowly from his perspective, but knew that was only due to the dampening enchantment, as it reaching the bunker, five hundred meters below, in under a second should have reduced a normal person to strawberry jam.

    Kinda worrying if you really thought about it, right?

    But honestly, Leon could have been told the sun would explode tomorrow and it would have only had a minimal impact on his mood. And after a short walk, he was outside the armory, almost half an hour early.

    “Mr. Schmidt?” Thoma’s voice rang out from behind him.

    Leon nodded.

    “Would you like me to stick to a formal address, or should I call you something else?”

    “Call me Leon, please,” Leon said. He might have been eighteen, but he’d it was still weird to be called “Mr. Anything,” let alone from someone like, well, The Sage. In German school, you had the option of asking the teacher to be referred to by one’s family name from the 11th grade onward, but no one had wanted that, teacher or student.

    Well ... there’d been that one teacher. She’d tried to “prepare them for the real world” but then decided to cut it out after two lessons after her dozenth slip-up with several expletives.

    “Alright, Leon,” Thoma nodded. “You can call me whatever you want, Isaac, Dr. Thoma, whatever feels right as long as it isn’t an insult.”

    “Thank you, Dr. Thoma,” Leon replied. Adressing a teacher any other way felt deeply wrong.

    “So, you’re the first one here, would you like to get started, then?” Thoma asked, and Leon nodded so vigorously he was half afraid his head would fly off.

    Thoma just grinned and threw open the door before him with a sweeping gesture.

    “These are all weapons that you could realistically have at the start of your journey. No magical artifacts that instantly let you beat a regular Tier 5 monster, no masterworks that’ll sink into the ground up to the hilt if you drop them, but you’ll get something like that if you manage to kill the Demon Lord,” Thoma offered. “But for now, just pick a weapon. Or a couple. And a backup too, if you want.”

    Leon went straight for the rack of daggers and, after briefly reaching for a stilleto, grasped a Ka-bar. Thick, sharp, solid. A dependable combat weapon that could also be used as a tool in a pinch, and an overall great choice. Even Thoma still had one.

    Then, he needed to pick the weapon he’d actually be using. Leon had a lot of thoughts about that, actually, he found everything about them fascinating. And there were a lot of weapons here, every single one he knew and many he didn’t.

    An urumi, a whip sword from southern India, a pata, a gauntlet sword that was likewise from India, every variety of halbeard, countless sword ranging from “short” to “taller than he was,” regular katanas and the straight katanas wielded by Japanese policemen, then there were the many, many, spears, long ones, short ones, javelins, boar spears with wide and durable crossguards, he even had the goedendag, a Dutch spear club.

    Near as Leon could tell, there wasn’t even so much as a single weapon he knew that wasn’t also present.

    Had he been born twenty or so years earlier, he’d likely have wound up as a historian, HEMA instructor, or similar profession that dealt with ancient weapons.

    Though eventually, he’d come to the conclusion that he was partial to polearms.

    His “favorite” in many ways was the Bec de Corbin, or Crow’s Beak, a long-handled warhammer with a long slim blade akin to a typical spearhead attached above the hammerhead, and opposite the head was a stout spike that the wielder could use like a pickaxe and go through plate armor as though it were mere cardboard.

    But it wasn’t a good weapon against monsters, it simply couldn’t dig deep enough. The spearpoint would only go in until the hammer and spike hit the monster’s exterior, acting like an impromptu crossguard, and the same went for the spike, once it was deep enough, the spike and pole of the Bec de Corbin would hit the hide and stop dead.

    A fifteen-centimeter spike punching into a human’s chest would have gone through all sorts of vital organs. A fifteen-centimeter-deep wound on a large monster wouldn’t necessarily even have gone through the skin.

    But Leon had a different weapon in mind now. A “cousin” of sorts to the Bec de Corbin, the billhook. A polearm with a spearhead at the top, and a blade protruding slightly below that while the eponymous hook stuck out on the other side. It was meant to unseat cavalrymen as they rode past, but it could also be used to pull on opponents in general, while the blade could obviously cut, and both the blade and hook were small enough that the weapon could be used as a proper spear against a large enemy with more space between its ribs.

    Sure, he’d have the devil’s time getting it back out, but he could work on that until he found himself face-to-face with a [Raid Boss]. Or he could have the hook removed for that. Either way, that was the weapon for him.

    So he picked it up and put on the harness needed to carry it around. Leon was about to leave, but then thought back on what could happen with the weapon getting stuck, so he turned back and grabbed a short sword as well. With that done, he finally returned to the door.

    “Good choice,” Thoma told him. “Wanna try ‘em out before the others show up?”

    Leon nodded vigorously.

    “Let’s go.”

    ***

    He hadn’t even picked a [Class] yet, but here he was, already squaring off against a monster. Leon grinned, then did his best to wipe the smirk off his face as he drew the billhook, gaze fixed on the summoning circle.

    “Ready?” Thoma called out.

    “Ready,” Leon called back, and the magic circle blazed to life, spitting out an imp.

    It was only the size of your average monkey, gangly-limbed, red-skinned, and not particularly horrifying compared to anyone who’d seen more than a couple of horror movies.

    Yet it was dangerous, Leon had known that even before it summoned a fireball into each hand, though that drove the point home rather brutally.

    Uh-oh.

    He flung himself to the side to avoid the first ball, but was barely able to bring the billhook up in time to block the second, almost leaping out of his hands from the impact. Shit, that thing hit hard!

    But Leon got to his feet and charged, hoping to preempt the next ranged attack. And he managed it, barely, the edge of the billhook’s blade cracking into the imp’s skull, but ... bone was tough. The imp went careening away, landing in a tangle of limbs with blood gushing across its face, but it was already getting back onto its feet, with a fireball forming in its hand.

    Leon took one look at it and just chucked the billhook at the monster. It wasn’t a particularly good throw or solid hit, but it’s point did add another wound to it, disrupted the cast of the spell and bought him enough time to cross the intervening space and drive his sword clean through its gut.

    The entirety of the fight had barely taken ten seconds, but Leon found himself already sweaty and breathing heavily.

    “Not bad,” Thoma commented. “There are a lot of things you can improve, but you killed the monster, don’t even have a scratch on it and didn’t freeze up at any point. If you’d gone for the throat instead, I’d have given you full marks.”

    “We’re being graded?”

    Thoma laughed.

    “Marks in the metaphorical sense.”

    Then, he sat down on the floor, crosslegged, and leaned against the wall, all the while fixing Leon with a piercing stare.

    “Do you know why I walked into the auditorium and gave a speech to select my candidates?” he asked.

    “You wanted to give everyone an alternative?” Leon suggested. “You could have used your [Potential Sight] on us at any point.”

    “So, that’s what they think I use, ha,” Thoma let out a bark of laughter. “I mean, you’re right about why I gave a speech but no, I don’t see talent. Or someone’s future. Or their potential in general. But I can see who has the spirit to do something like kill a Demon Lord at Level parity. You can reach that point, I know that. But you also have to work hard at it.”

    “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard,” Leon quoted.

    Thoma grinned. “Exactly. So, the others are still getting up, wanna go again?”

    Leon just grinned.

    ***

    1 week later

    Greetings, Leon Schmidt. Welcome to the System. Would you like to select [Elite Squire] as your class?

    Oh, hell yes. Sure, he could have accepted the first [Class] he was offered, but he’d wanted to get something better, which would be easy enough to reach under Dr. Thoma’s tutelage.

    In his time on Olympus Mons, he hadn’t really interacted with the others, he’d dedicated all his time to training and now, he was getting a rare starter [Class].

    Elite Squire

    Skills

    Weapons Expertise

    Armor Expertise

    Powerful Blow

    Armorbreaker

    Pierce

    Dash

    All-terrain Walk

    Situational Awareness

    Adjust Weapon

    Summon Weapon

    Extend Blade

    Combat Flow

    A whole bunch of useful [Skills], though several of them, he’d be taught by the Doctor the moment Leon told him about getting his [Class]. And then, on to fighting a ton more demons, gain XP, level, and then, finally, get a high rarity anti-demon [Class].

    ***

    1 month later

    Congratulations! You’ve managed to reach the first Evolution Threshold.

    Based on your current achievements, Skill Levels and Aspects, you have unlocked several new Classes. If these options do not satisfy you, you may choose to leave this screen and continue to rack up more prerequisites, but you cannot increase your Level beyond 10 until you evolve your Class.

    Here are your possible Class Evolutions:

    Resourceful Militiaman (rare)

    The Resourceful Militiaman is, at his core, a man who sees war merely as a cruel necessity, not as his goal. A man who wields the implements of labor as terrifying weapons of war.

    This is a Class focused on turning anything into a weapon, armor, or tool, granting its user unparalleled flexibility and resourcefulness.

    Demonbane Skirmisher (epic)

    An army of demons, slaughtered in the blink of an eye, washed away in a halo of light and run through with a holy lance. This is the signature combat style of the Demonbane Skirmisher, using speed and a polearm to rip their enemies apart.

    This Class offers speed, weapons Skills specialized to the user’s favorite armament and a massive boost to combat against demons, both in the form of specialized anti-demon Skills and regular Skills altered to contain energy with a highly deleterious effect on demonic beings.

    Juvenile Speed Demon (epic)

    All speed, all the time, never stopping, not even when the enemy is already dead, for the Speed Demon will already be dashing off elsewhere.

    This is a Class based around moving fast, controlling oneself while moving fast, and finally, hitting hard.

    ...

    It was a simple choice, really.

    [Resourceful Militaman] was of a lower rarity and not what he wanted to do, [Juvenile Speed Demon] was epic and fit the speed-focussed fighting style Leon had started to develop but it lacked an anti-demon focus, and [Demonbane Skirmisher] offered not only the speed he wanted, but also the anti-demon power he needed.

    So, he picked it.

    Demonbane Skirmisher

    Anathema (epic, Level XX)

    ...

    All flame attacks can be converted into holy fire.

    After countless fights where the user has obliterated demons as is their duty, this Skill has evolved cause lingering damage in all foes it injures, damage scales with severity of target’s demonic nature.

    So yeah, that had been terrifying and all, but he’d lived, he’d grown, and was more than willing to keep going.

    ***

    Blood spattered as the Demon Lord’s chopped-off hand hit the ground but Leon could feel what seemed like every bone in his body break as its foot struck him.

    ***

    A curtain of hellfire was pulled away from his face, but by that time, his eyes had already been burned out of his skull.

    ***

    Leon lay on his stomach, trying to hold in his intestines as he saw the Demon Lord die with his own eyes for the first time as Dr. Thoma’s glowing blade was hurled clean through its chest with raw strength alone.

    ***

    Anathema (epic, Level max)

    ...

    And now, it has reached the pinnacle of its power, granting a regenerating magic shield against demonic attacks powered by ambient mana.

    Holy Lancer (epic, Level max)

    ...

    Your Skill will now give you an 85% (previously 70%) boost to Agility in Strength, further increased to 95% when facing demons.

    After countless times when the user has stood their ground against demons vastly more powerful than they are, this Skill has evolved automatically launch small flechettes of holy light at all nearby demonic entities.

    And now, it has reached the pinnacle of its power, granting the user a set of holy armor specially forged for their fighting style, including wings for limited gliding ability.

    Bullet Time (epic, Level max)

    ...

    Bullet Time will now boost mental celerity for ten seconds of subjective time (previously five)

    After countless times when the user has activated this Skill to dodge a lethal attack, it has evolved to increase the user’s Agility by 50% when Bullet Time is activated while avoiding something that would kill them, should it strike

    And now, it has reached the pinnacle of its power, gaining an additonal ten charges, for a total of twenty.

    Hellfire Flash (epic, Level max)

    ...

    You may also unleash Hellfire Flash as a deadly lance of compressed flame, capable of staying intact across a distance of up to 100 meters.

    After countless times when the user has used this Skill to cripple Raid Bosses, it has evolved to partially ignore armor, even incinerating the user’s foes on the inside.

    And now, it has reached the pinnacle of its strength, becoming able to be chaneled through weapons to gain new forms and abilities based on the weapon used.

    It had been incredibly painful to get here, but looking at what he had gained, Leon decided it had been worth it. Yet he doubted even that would be enough to let him finish this anytime soon.

    ***

    1 year later

    Try one-hundred-and- ... eight, he believed. No, nine. Either way, he’d been at this for a long time. And yet, Leon did not hesitate for even a single second before stepping out onto the field of battle.

    He was the last one to keep attempting this, to keep going everyone else had given up. But he would continue, keep going until either the Demon killed him, or old age did.

    Dr. Thoma had continued to be careful about how much gear he handed Leon, but even so, the monsters he’d killed had been given to some excellent craftsmen and he was now clad an elegant suit of dark red leather, wielding a gorgeous billbook make from white bone and black steel gained from a Hunting Ground (though Leon had only retrieved the ore, Thoma had been the one to actualy beat the summoned area).

    The summoning circle blazed on the floor and activated at Leon’s shouted “ready,” and the 109th Demon Lord manifested in the concrete box with the two humans.

    Leon launched himself forward, dodged the first attack, a kick this time, and went at the leg still planted on the floor, carving through it with a vicious [Sanctifying Sweep], the blade cleaving through the Achilles tendon while shining with holy light, parting the flesh with barely any resistance while sinking energy that annihilated the flesh of demons into the leg, and that was before [Anathema] scoured the beast’s body.

    The monster started teetering while both hands took on a dark glow as it prepared itself to unleash a hellish blaze. Which it promptly did even as it fell, but Leon was already running away as quickly as his legs would carry him, which was significant.

    Yet it still felt like he was coming in slightly too fast, he’d get scorched. He’d made the mistake of believing he’d get away a few too many times to repeat it now, so he burned the first charge of [Hellfire Flash] in this battle, carrying him out of the zone of danger.

    Then, when he’d reached what he knew to be a safe distance, he wheeled around and ran straight back the instant the flames started to dissapate.

    A [Meteor Throw] burried his golden-glowing billhook in the already damaged leg’s knee, interrupting the demon’s attempt to rise and [Summon Weapon] would have it back in his hands by the time he was close enough to use it.

    A good start.

    Simple, clean, effective.

    Now he just had to keep that up for half an hour or so.

    He almost failed when an unexpected blast of hellfire was flung at his face the second he grabbed his weapon, but thankfully, he’d prepared for that.

    [Prepare Response] let him “programm” three responses for how he’d react to specific stimuli, and the [Skill] functioned at far greater speeds than even his [Instant Reaction].

    [Bullet Time] triggered before he could manually activate it and after a couple of seconds of thinking, he triggered [Holy Lancer]. He’d found that he shouldn’t save it until the very end, it worked better if he used it to get out of a jam and then got the most out of its duration, so he used it here, then hurled himself skywards using [Angelic Launch] while letting the projected armor’s wings carry him onto the monster’s face.

    Small, finger-length needles of holy energy began to manifest above his skin and hurl themselves at the enemy without requiring any input on his part, while he readied his next move.

    A [Hellfire Flash] boosted him forward, past grasping arms and right at the demon’s face and then, Leon triggered [Bullet Time], feeling the familiar sensation of the world slowing to a crawl while his limbs seemed to be trying to move through sirup. Incredible, yet also surprisingly frustrating.

    Another [Meteor Throw] flung his billhook at the boss’ other knee before a holy lance manifested in each hand. Trying to use two weapons simultaneously, let alone trying to drive them both home into separate targets was far from easy, but with his mind running at hypersonic speeds, he could easily line up each spear separately.

    Sure, [Bullet Time] ran out halfway through, but he managed to trigger it a second time before regular temporal progression continued, leaving Leon to belly-flop against the monster’s nose, then dangle from a pair of lances, one stuck in each eye.

    Then, two [Hellfire Flashes] slammed the head back, lances still planted in empty eye sockets, while Leon went flying the other way ... but not past the monster’s attack.

    A giant palm clipped him and sent him into a tailspin, until he went sprawling across the floor with an aching side and a leg that seemed determined to sear itself into his memory as a prime example as to why landing properly was important. Nothing broken, at least nothing in his limbs, near as he could tell, but he was far from whole and the demon had already gotten back onto its feet and was radiating hellfire.

    Leon groaned, pushed himself to his feet and began to hobble away while his regeneration kicked in, sucking away even more of his already dwindling mana while the world exploded in black flame.

    And then, he waited, patiently searching for an opening with yet another pair of conjured lances, only the glare of the weapons planted in the demon’s eye sockets visible.

    The very instant the fire faded, Leon launched himself forward once more, the first lance leaving his hand in the very same second, then he grabbed the second one and threw it after the first, both slamming home into the demon’s chest, above the heart, [Meteor Throw] driving them so deep they’d have been invisible without the light streaming off them.

    And he followed right behind then, of course, ramming the final holy lance into the more intact knee while retrieving his billhook, then spent the remaining duration of [Holy Lancer] tearing into his foe with reckless abandon while they burned teh monster from where they were planted.

    Yet the power went away as his time ran out, and it was right that second when the monster managed to backhand him into the far wall. And the only reason he was able to continue the fight after that was that the demon’s blindness meant that Thoma did not intervene.

    Leon lay there, feeling the bones in his legs knit together as he glared at the towering demon in the distance.

    Initially, it had looked like something straight out of DOOM, a powerful musclebound brute, but the more damage he inflicted, the more it began to resemble some kind of body horror thing, a being that inflicted discomfort onto anyone who laid eyes on it as it as they imagined what it would be like to live life while that mutilated.

    Yet even as his mana dropped past the ten percent mark, his legs finished regenerating and he went straight back to attacking, a constant back and forth, though really, it was much more of a backbackback-and-FOURTH, since Leon landed a lot more hits that were infinitely weaker than what his foe could dish out, while his foe was like a drunken octagenarian trying to swat a fly. The demon usually missed, but not always.

    Yet eventually, the demon collapsed onto both knees and stayed there. Punches and fire continued to fly, but its mobility was already screwed to hell by that point.

    So Leon kept attacking, kept hacking and slashing and tearing until an arm fell off.

    Then he burrowed through its chest and carved apart its heart, his right arm being reduced by a glancing strike from a pillar of fire in the process.

    A [Meteor Throw] sent the billhook in one ear and saw it come out the other, trailing gore.

    And then, after several more minutes of concerted effort, the Demon’s other arm went slack.

    Yet the damn thing still. Wasn’t. Dead.

    Even as his lungs began to burn, his arms and legs feel like he’d bathed them in the demon’s flame from exertion alone, he continued to fight, to work his way towards victory, one cut at a time as the world around him began to turn black at the edges ...

    Without the kill notification, Leon was sure he’d have kept slashing away at the monster until he dropped dead from exhaustion.

    Least Demon Lord (Lv. 45 Raid Boss) has been slain. 50,000 XP gained

    Legendary Achievement has been noted and will increase future Class quality

    As it were, he still keeled over, unconcious.

    ***

    Congratulations! You’ve managed to reach the third Evolution Threshold.

    Based on your current achievements, Skill Levels and Aspects, you have unlocked several new Classes. If these options do not satisfy you, you may choose to leave this screen and continue to rack up more prerequisites, but you cannot increase your Level beyond 50 until you evolve your Class.

    Here are your possible Class Evolutions:

    Reaper (legendary)

    The Reaper represents the pinnacle of death-dealing potential, a Class only given to those who have brought down the greatest of foes, beings that would normally require dozens, if not hundreds of people to bring down.

    And these are the very same attributes this Class will strengthen, massively enhancing your ability to take down enemies by targeting their weaknesses with clinical precision while also gaining a potentially massive boost in strength, should the foes you’re facing be sufficiently more powerful than yourself.

    This Class exists in every Evolutionary Rank from the 3rd onwards, but must be earned separately for each one by slaying a Raid Boss that cannot be more than 20 Levels below you. Each new Reaper Class builds upon the previous, creating a lethal warrior practically defined by their ability to well punch above their weight class, earning rewards in the process that make them powerhouses even to those not subject to the Reaper’s various anti-boss Skills.

    As you have unlocked this Class by specializing against a specific type of Raid Boss (demonic) and subsequently killing it, further iterations must be unlocked either against Raid Bosses of different type, or against demonic Raid Bosses that either match or exceed your Level.

    (Unlocks High Human racial option)

    Hell’s End (legendary)

    You have walked through hell, be it metaphorical or literal, and the only demons left in your wake have been corpses.

    You did not have to do this, you chose to.

    You made the choice to drag the monsters of hell from their home and grow strong beyond measure with the power harvested from their deaths.

    And you have no intention of ever stopping.

    You are. Hell’s. End.

    “End” type Classes are highly unusual and exceedingly rare Evolutions of bane-types, doubling the XP limit for the relevant monsters (demons), halving the cost of slotting their Aspects or buying Aspect slots as long as you simultaneously slot a relevant Aspect, slotting a relevant Aspect when you are already in possession of all its Skills, you will gain 30 points in the Stat the Aspect naturally enhances and finally, none of your natural advantages against your chosen target will count against your Skill growth.

    Of course, they also make you very, very good at killing your chosen targets.

    This Class represents the absolute pinnacle of what your previous Class path can achieve and as such, choosing Hell’s End will reset your achievements while permanently locking out anti-demon options. Whatever your fourth Evolution choice may be, you will forge it purely from your actions and choices from here on out.

    (Unlocks High Human racial option)

    Now, only two choices. But who cared? Leon certainly didn’t, since one of them was the one he’d been working towards for so long.

    Though the other ... [Hell’s End] certainly counted as a cheat-rank [Class]. A ridiculous potential for wringing Stat points out of Aspects, immense [Skill] growth from slaughtering demons like chickens while the [System] ignored the fact that he was ludicrously overpowered against them and generally, just reading the description made him fell like at absolute badass.

    Even so, Leon had made a promise to explore the [Class] gained by soloing a [Raid Boss], which was clearly the other one. Not to mention that, while [Reaper’s] description might not have listed too many concrete benefits, he had a feeling that it was immensely strong in general and devastatingly powerful against anyone and anything that surpassed him in strength. So he made his decision.

    Reaper

    Central Skills

    Disciple of David

    Limit Breaker

    Skills

    Repear’s Cloak

    Sense Life Force

    Psychopomp’s Steed

    Lingering Cut

    Otherworld Pocket

    Journey Beyond

    Well, now he just had to earn enough Levels to buy everything, didn’t he?

    Though he did notice that the way the [Class] was set up, he’d be able to buy every single [Skill] offered by the time he hit Level 100, but not have a single point left over when he did so. Weird. But also interesting.

    ***

    Limit Breaker (legendary)

    The human body is a miraculous biological machine, yet it has limits.

    The System upgrades the human body, but even at the maximum Level, there continue to be limits.

    There are certain foes that cannot be overcome even by the strongest of humans, yet you have slain just such a foe.

    That is why you have been awarded the Reaper Class and the ability to break said Limits.

    Anytime you face a superior enemy, or a group of enemies that collectively represent a significant threat, your stats will be increased. Depending on the degree of the power disparity, this boost can be anything from .001 percent to 50 percent.

    In addition, Limit Breaker uplifts the user’s hyperspecific Privacy Skill, turning it into a generic, legendary-rarity version that grows slightly stronger against higher Level individuals.

    Ergo, his next fight against a [Raid Boss] would be a hell of a lot closer, and he’d be harder to scan to boot. He hadn’t even known it was possible to upgrade [Privacy] like that. Very nice, though.

    Disciple of David (legendary)

    The bigger they are, the harder they fall ... but you actually have to kill them to make that happen.

    That’s something this Skill makes infinitely easier.

    As the Disciple of David, you can recognize all weak points at a glance, determine the result of striking said weak points and the best way to go about targetting them, both in terms of weapons and Skills but also in timing.

    In addition, you gain an innate understanding of your opponents’ elemental and magical weaknesses, including knowledge as to how to easily obtain a way of exploiting these weaknesses.

    In addition, Disciple of David uplifts the user’s hyperspecific Inspect Skill, turning it into a generic, legendary-rarity version with an improved effect against higher Level targets.

    Oh, this would make future fights so much easier. And the upgrade to his [Inspect] was more than welcome.

    As for the other [Skills], [Reaper’s Cloak] was a great stealth ability, [Sense Life Force] let him identify an enemy’s regenerative potential, [Psychopomp’s Steed] was for traveling and flight, [Lingering Cut] made his wounds hard to heal, [Otherworld Pocket] was for storing stuff, and [Journey Beyond] was a damn long range teleportation ability.

    He might not have had any options as for what he picked, but what he did have available covered basically everything.

    Leon was still reading and marveling at his [Skills] when Dr. Thoma returned. He hadn’t even noticed he’d been gone at first, but now that he was suddenly standing there with a long, cloth-wrapped, bundle.

    “So, now that you beat the record, I think I can start helping more without messing up your advancement,” Thoma said as he held it for Leon to take. “I think you’ll like it.”

    “Thanks,” Leon nodded and picked it up, carefully working one hand under the cloth so that he could pull off said cloth with the other. When he whipped it off, however, his jaw hit the floor.

    What had been revealed wasn’t just a new weapon, a masterwork polearm, but it was the polearm, a dark billhook made from indescribeable materials likely work as much as a small town purely based on what it was made from, let alone all the work that had gone into making it.

    And in its core, in the head of the weapon, sat a dark gemstone that seemed to pulse with power.

    Star’s Demise (soulbound modified billhook)

    Stars. The biggest objects in the heavens, mighty furnaces of nuclear fury as they transform the primordial elements left behind by the Big Bang into ever more complex forms while illuminating the universe.

    Yet out there in the black, there exists something that eats stars. The black hole.

    And this weapon wields the aspects of such a phenomenon. A lethal edge, point and hook, surrounding a core of pure gravity magic, capable of reshaping local gravimetric conditions as well as scaling the weapon’s mass up or down as its wielder desires.

    In addition, Star’s Demise is soulbound, can be summoned into its wielder’s hands every five seconds and be reshaped as they desire, growing certain parts of the weapon or shrinking others, becoming things such as an axe, a Bec de Corbin with an oversized spike or a standard spear as needed.

    “It’s perfect ...” Leon breathed out as his hands trailed across it, marvelling at the dark metal, jet-black wood, and even darker gemstone that seemed like a hole in reality itself.

    Oh, he’d have a lot of fun with this.

    ***

    2100

    Leon sat down in his new office chair with a happy sigh. As a Level 200 quadruple legendary [Class] holder, every Evolution from the second onwards, he’d easily slid into the venerable role of S-Ranker. But unlike what most people expected a person in his position to do, he’d become an administrator.

    Of course, he’d lacked all the relevant [Skills] for something like that, but some could be taught, and for the others, he could lean on assistants and secretaries. And now, he was in a perfect position to do for others what Isaac had done for him.

    A voice broke his daydreaming.

    “Dean Schmidt, you’re expected in the Audimax in five minutes.”

    Yep, shouldn’t have sceduled this for an hour after he started moving his crap into his new office. Past Leon had clearly been a dunce, but present Leon wouldn’t let that turn him into a cruel tease. Because he’d made some promises to a bunch of young people that would change their lives.

    He walked through the corridors of the Akashik Academy, which looked almost exactly like they had fifty years ago, the only change being the new moto. After all, the academy hadn’t had one before, and there was only a single phrase he deemed suitable. A quote, from the founder of lauded institution.

    “‘Knowledge is a weapon’ doesn’t refer to bashing someone’s skull in with an encyclopedia.”

    Soon, he reached the main auditorium and stepped up to the lectern.

    “Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. One of Akashik Academy’s foundational goals is the exploration of exotic and hard to get paths of growth. And you’re all here because you want to walk those paths. So, who’s up for setting some new world records?”