Seth woke up in his normal gear standing in the forest clearing again and saw a new message appear.
Congratulations player! As a reward for reaching your current threshold of strength, you can now pick a new function to change your growth path going forward! Please pick one new challenge and one reward for successfully returning to the dream realm!
1. Difficulty setting
2. Real monsters in the real world
3. Other players emerging in the real world
1. Upgrade armor
2. Upgrade weapon
3. Upgrade random skill
Seth was in awe and also scared of the implications of the first three rewards. The first one was a no brainier, but to think this dream realm had to ability to affect real life in such a world altering way.
He knew he was choosing the first reward which the system accepted and he chose to upgrade a skill this time. He was not touching the other world changing rewards until he was sure he could help protect the world from threats like dragons in the future.
He felt a pulse of energy hit him as a skill upgraded.
Regeneration II: lvl max
Recover faster from wounds that require medical care. Also boost resistance to diseases and recovery rate from sickness. Can also instantly recover from small-medium wounds and lost hands instantly using a burst ofmana
Seth whistled as that would definitely help him going forward. He was going to choose armor upgrade next time to help him in his growth going forward.
Soon he saw the message for the monster has changed as it shows three different ones to choose.
Please pick degree of difficulty!
Easy: High orc Stat average 50-70
Intermediate: Boss Ogre Stat average 65-85
Advanced: Minotaur warrior Stat Average 80-100
Seth grins as he goes with the best growth option to help him advance his abilities, "Summon Advanced: Minotaur Warrior!"
He draws his sword and gets into position as the minotaur appears. He then goes a bit pale as he sees the 12 ft tall minotaur. His thick hooves for feet, his burly legs and body, his muscles seemed to have muscles on top of the first layer. His hands gripped a large battle axe with a wicked bright red color to the metal. And his armor had a deadly glint to it as it had a deeper sheen of metallic luster to it. Showing that it was at minimum a steel alloy of some sort. Its chest plate was thick, its battle skirt looked dangerous with little metal spikes all over, and its shoulder guards were dotted with spikes for charges. It also had a helmet that allowed its head to be well covered and protected while also allowing its horns to be out and about. The bull man also had forearm guards that were perfectly covering his entire arm and the back of his hands, while also sporting shin guards with armored bindings helping guard its tendons in the back of its legs.
Compared to his basic iron reinforced leather armor... Seth felt a bit limited in how many hits he could tank from that axe and the Minotaurs armor. He shrugs helplessly and says, "Is it too late to form that party?"
The system had only one retort, "Yes"
Seth, "Well shit."
The minotaur swung its axe in a blindingly fast arc right at his head, "Well, SHIT!"
Seth barely leaned to the side to dodge the axe swing and brought his sword up to try and slice the Minoaturs arm as it passed, but two things happened he didn't expect. First his sword hit the forearm protector instead of the elbow joint. The minotaur had stopped its swing in time to use its armor to catch and take care of the strike. The second was that its hoof was suddenly embedded in his chest and crushing his iron chest plate like tin foil.
Seth coughs out a mouthful of blood and goes flying back from the thrust kick. He skids along the ground and hits a tree hard enough to go through it. The tree falls to the ground as Seth barely picks himself up and tears off his now useless chest plate. He activates his regeneration and heals up his now very cracked ribs. He breathes easier as he has to pump in another use, but he manages to get back to full working order.
He activates a mana reinforcement and aura blade at the same time as he stands back up and readies himself to fight the minotaur again.
Only to gasp as it is gone from the clearing. he hears a loud whoosh and looks up. Yelping out loud as the Minotaur has leaped up over the trees and has its axe drawn back as it approaches him with blood lust in its gaze. Seth barely dashes in time to the side. But only barely.
He manages to dodge the axe that was going to cleave through his body, but now he has a huge, agonizing pain in his right shoulder. Or rather... right stump. He yells out, "AAAAUGHGHHRGH!!!!!!!"
He reaches up and notices his arm is down around the minotaurs legs with his katana still clutched in his severed arms hand. Seth goes to activates regeneration when a burning sensation hits him, he sees flames are licking at his wounds as he sees the edge of the bright red axe have flames dancing along its metal surface.
Seth curses and readies himself to fight as long as he can when suddenly he has the Minotaur charging him so fast he is a blur. The last coherent thoughts going through his mind were, "I done goofed." Right before a large horn shattered his skull and a spiked shoulder guard spears him through the lungs and shatters his ribs and spine.
...Player death confirmed... Activating penalty. Giving out compensation rewards.
Seth blinks and finds himself in his armor and with his katana in his sheathe again. He pats himself all over and is glad to find both his arms still attached and his body not having been blasted into gruesome crimson paste.
He sighs as he goes, "I lost... I definitely died... but what happened to the challenge? Shouldn't I be dead dead? And not..." He looks around at the beginning dream world, "In limbo?"
He sees the message appear as he gets to his feet and sighs out at the message explaining what happened.
Player has lost the dream challenge and as a result shall be inflicted with a permanent loss of stats as penalty. Each penalty will take away more stats with every loss, if player hits 0 in all stats... player remains dead with no hope of revival. Please keep this in mind as you challenge the dream world training dimension and good luck in your future fights. As you have lost, please accept two of the following loss survival rewards.
1. Upgrade weapon
2. Upgrade armor
3. Upgrade random skill
4. Gain new skill
5. Unlock next time dilation level for training room
Seth looks closely and realizes that he would need something different than his usual strategy. he would need a new way to train. He grabbed the new skill and the next time dilation level and unlocks 10:1 ratio for training. He would be abusing that hard to make up for his loss today.
He checks his stats and his new skill. He is saddened by the loss of so many hard won stats, but grins at the new skill he gained that would be a boon in the upcoming battles.
Seth Silverfang
STR: 72.88 -> 62.88
REF: 66.51-> 56.51
STA: 66.40 -> 56.40
END: 72.85 -> 62.85
MANA: 17.61 ->12.61
SKILLS:
Combat:
Katana Mastery: lvl 75 Beginner exp: 5%
gain +75% to damage done with katanas
Mana Reinforcement I: lvl 11 exp: 80%
Double the strength of targets granted the mana of user, gives enchantment of magic alignment to target. Lasts 40 seconds per use.
Aura blade Rank I: Mastery 4%
A magic coat over the blade made specifically to help the user enhance the blades abilities and allow them to use the aura as a means of artificial magic attack. forming various pseudo skills. Ex: Six fold slash of light
Armor Rend: lvl 1 exp: 0%
Lower the durability of enemy armor by 1% per hit, please note, each hit must be a successful full hit, not a glancing blow or tap.
Support:
Stat growth booster Rank 2: lvl Max
Triple stat growth rate from training
Mid Tiered Recovery: lvl Max
6 times recovery rate from injuries and exhaustion
Predation of monsters lvl 11:
Gain 11% of enemy stats to your own every successful kill of them
Regeneration II: lvl max
Recover faster from wounds that require medical care. Also boost resistance to diseases and recovery rate from sickness. Can also instantly recover from small-medium wounds and lost hands instantly using a burst ofmana
Having a goal in mind to recover those lost stats and make sure to push himself in the training room, Seth planned to do what he could to fight that Minotaur again, but this time? He planned to win.