Defiance of the Fall

Chapter 64: Taking Stock

With a scream Zac woke up from his head hitting a sharp rock formation. Groggily he tried to orient himself and found that he was bobbing about in the azure water in a cave. Afraid that the burning pain would start again, he quickly scrambled up on a piece of dry land.

His body felt surprisingly good after all it had gone through. The mental scar from remembering the excruciating pain was far worse compared to anything his body was actually experiencing right now. Just thinking about it caused his hands to shake and almost made him cry. That had been too harrowing, far worse than risking his life in any of the fights or the pain from getting wounded.

It took some time for him to regather his wits before he finally looked at his surroundings. He was currently in a decently large cave that was 10 by 20 meters. Almost half of it was submerged in the azure water, and the other half was crammed full of subterranean plants. It made sense, as Zac had never encountered any tunnel or cave with a density of cosmic energy that could compare to where he was.

It was as though the boost from the crystal mines below had fused with the boost of the lake and created something even more intense in the enclosed space of the cavern. Zac was unsure of how he had gotten here. After snatching the fruits he had fled the purple cloud of death and jumped into the mysterious pond. After that everything had turned fuzzy, apart from the very real memory of the pain.

He could only guess that some stream brought him down into the depths of the mountain while the Fruit of Ascension kept him alive. Even though he felt generally restored, he wasn’t ready to set out, as there were many things he needed to check out after the cataclysmic final battle.

Name

Zachary Atwood

Level

36

Class

Hatchetman (F)

Race

Human (E)

Alignment

Human (Earth)

Titles

Born for Carnage, Ultimate Reaper, Luck of the Draw, Giantsbane, Disciple of David, Overpowered, Slayer of Leviathans, Adventurer, Demon Slayer I, Full of Class, Rarified Being, Trailblazer, Child of Dao, The Big 500, Planetary Aegis, One Against Many

Dao

Seed of Heaviness - Early

Strength

189

Dexterity

69

Endurance

130

Vitality

84

Intelligence

57

Wisdom

57

Luck

77

Free Points

3

Nexus Coins

746317

The first thing he noticed was that his strength now was at a full 189 points, having increased by 14 points since he last checked. He had actually broken past his limit of 175 points, and could only attribute it to the fact that he luckily evolved to an E-ranked Human according to his status page, whatever that meant. He did a quick check all over his body and was relieved to find there were no wings or other new appendages that suddenly grew on him. He even checked between his legs and was half disappointed and half relieved that no evolutions had taken place there as well.

He didn’t really feel any different, but he guessed that he would find out sooner or later what it meant to get a higher race class. He at least knew it helped him increase the limit of his attributes, which was one of his most important goals.

He had also gained two new titles, and he brought up the title menu to check it out.

[One Against Many: Fight against 500 warriors of the same tier and survive. Endurance +10]

[Planetary Aegis: First to stop an incursion in world. All stats +5, All stats +5%]

The first one was not bad, a nifty reward for staying alive through those odds. He guessed that there were tiers to that title, and he’d have gotten a better one if he actually defeated them rather than fleeing after throwing out a bunch of poison.

The second was even better, and the fifth one he possessed that gave a percent boost to all stats. The title didn’t mention anything about solo kill like some of his other titles and he wondered if it was because he actually wasn’t the one who killed the general.

He couldn’t be bothered about that mysterious demon right now, even if he could speak human language and seemingly had helped him. Zac was sure the demon survived from how he had acted before disappearing. Since there only were so many places to go on the island Zac figured he’d find him sooner or later and get his answers then.

After having checked the title he closed the panel and did some mental calculations. He realized that he actually had missed out on another 3 points of Strength when he turned level 36. He still received the stats from the new title though, which confused him a bit, as he should have received the title before he evolved and broke his attribute cap.

He was also a bit surprised with the amount of Nexus Coins he amassed from the battle. He had gained roughly 150 000 from his whole day on the battlefield. While it was not a small amount by any means, it still didn’t feel like it added up. That poison cloud should have killed hundreds, if not thousands, in the valley. Only the strongest combatants had been right by the tree, while the rest were spread out through the valley. Perhaps a few of the speedier ones had managed to escape, there couldn’t be too many survivors with how rapidly the purple cloud had expanded.

Zac shuddered at the thought of having poisoned hundreds of beings to death but forcibly threw the thought into the back of his mind. Either all those kills didn’t actually improve his level or give him coins, or they all were still alive.

Zac was convinced that they died from the poison. Just one breath of the poison cloud made him who had over a hundred endurance keel over, and he couldn’t imagine normal demons or monkeys survive that. Furthermore, he had seen the horrified looks on their faces when they saw the billowing purple clouds.

Zac briefly considered trying to swim through the pond to get back into the valley, but soon perished the thought. Even if he managed to actually swim through the water now, the poison might still be up there.

Suddenly a thought popped up into his mind, and he opened the quest screen.

Active Quests

Dynamic Quests

Off With Their Heads (Unique): Kill the four heralds and the general of an incursion within 3 months. Reward: 10 E-Grade Nexus Crystals, E-Grade equipment, unique building depending on performance. (5/5) [COMPLETE]

Incursion Master (Unique): Close or conquer incursion and protect outpost from denizens of other alignments for 3 months. Reward: 5 E-Grade Nexus Crystals, outpost upgraded to town, status upgraded to Lord. (0/3) [43:12:32:11]

Class Quests

Foresterʼs Constitution (Class): Fight in the forests, be one with nature. Reward: Foresterʼs Constitution Skill. (8/30)

Loamwalker (Class): Walk a thousand kilometers touching the earth. Reward: Loamwalker Skill. (0/1000)

Zac sighed in relief, as the first incursion quest finally could be confirmed as complete. This had been his goal since Abby’s warning,and it was thankfully done with after almost two horrible months. He already had been pretty sure he completed it the moment the general got impaled, but it was nice to finally see it set in stone.

He was also relieved to see that the quest said [COMPLETE] instead of just disappearing, as that meant the system hadn’t spit out the reward somewhere while he was unconscious. As one of the rewards was related to his outpost he assumed he would have to get back to his camp to collect them.

The next quest had gotten a timer just like the limited quest. If he read it correctly he either had to finish it within 43 days or something would happen in 43 days.

Finally, he was surprised to see that the Loamwalker hadn’t progressed at all since he got it. He wasn’t exactly sure how far he ran yesterday, but he had been pushing it pretty hard with his inhuman stats for a few hours, so he felt that he should at least have ran a marathon on the mountain slopes. And walking on a mountain should constitute touching earth in any sense of the word.

After a brief hesitation he took off his shoes and threw them into his bag. He was reminded of the man in the vision, and could only try copying him. Perhaps his soles had to actually physically touch the earth for it to count, and if true he wondered what that meant when using the skill in the future. Would he become a barefoot warrior in the future just like the axe-man? At least his endurance was high enough that his soles wouldn’t get cut or damaged even if walking around on glass shards.

Satisfied that he had gone through everything for now he brought out some food and water. He was generally happy with the progression, but also a bit pissed off that that harrowing experience in the water hadn’t done anything except boost his Race a level.

From how precious the Fruit of Ascension appeared he thought that the fruit alone would be enough to ascend a stage, but with the harrowing molding his body had gone through he figured he should at least have been awarded some bonus attributes or a title. He wondered if the System had a complaint department he could contact, as its rewards weren’t balanced.

Internally grumbling he tore into a piece of dried meat and he was surprised to see that his appetite was simply monstrous, and he ate a couple of kilos of meat before he felt satiated. Looking at his slightly protruding belly he wondered if evolving your race meant that you got a separate dimension tucked into your stomach.

Finally all set he stood up and ventured out. He had after some deliberation chosen to head into the tunnels instead, as he simply refused to enter that water again. He refilled his canteen though, just for emergencies.

The cave he was in was connected to the larger tunnel system he found out after some traveling. Only a small hole was open though, and Zac was forced to cut his way out with a sword. As he worked the sword he felt that his body was more coordinated than ever, as every muscle was working in perfect harmony. He wasn’t really stronger or more agile, but rather had greater control of his body. Normally he would think that it was due to increased Dexterity, but the change was too large that just a few extra points from his new title couldn’t cover it. He guessed instead that it was another advantage of being an evolved human.

After some hesitation he carved out a couple of boulders from a nearby wall and covered up the path again. That secret cave would be an excellent cultivation cave in the future, and he didn’t want a salamander or wandering demon to ruin it.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be useful for himself, but maybe for his sister or Hannah if he managed to bring them back to the island. Now that the demon threat was taken care of he needed to actually start preparing for the future.

At least he hoped that the demon threat was over, but he couldn’t be sure. He never got any indication of what would happen when he finally killed the Heralds and the general. There still should be quite a few demons still around even after the huge battle. There had been at least a thousand demons in the mountains, but even if all of them died, there should be hundreds in the tunnels. Add to that the demon town and the roving parties and most demons should still be around.

Putting the matter aside, Zac pushed forward in the tunnels. Soon he found a familiar cave, whose tunnels led to the demon mining operation. After a brief hesitation he headed over there to check things out. As he walked he heard absolutely no sound of activity, which could only be considered a good sign.

The mining tunnels were completely deserted as he hoped, with not a single demon in sight. As he continued on he soon exited the cave entrance he had seen the demons use daily. Still, he didn’t see a single demon anywhere. A few sacks and tools were thrown here and there, hinting at a hasty escape.

More importantly, for the first time since he woke up on this hellish island there was no huge red glaring pillar shooting into the sky. The incursion was simply gone.

But that didnʼt mean his work was over.