Fight. Level. Survive.

Deep within the heart of a mountain, a fierce dragon guarded its hoard of treasure. The dragon's name was Zarek, and he had been amassing his riches for centuries, taking great pride in the glittering jewels, piles of gold, and priceless artefacts that filled his lair.

Zarek was a formidable beast, with scales as black as coal and eyes that burned like molten lava. He was feared by all who knew of him, and many brave knights had attempted to slay him over the years, but none had succeeded.

One day, a young thief named Maya snuck into Zarek's lair, hoping to steal some of the dragon's treasure. She had heard tales of the dragon's fierce temper and deadly breath, but she was determined to take the risk.

Maya crept through the cavernous tunnels of the mountain, her heart pounding with every step. She clutched her grappling hook tightly, ready to swing out of harm's way if the dragon caught her. As she approached Zarek's hoard, she couldn't believe her eyes. The treasure was even more magnificent than she had imagined, and she felt her resolve strengthen.

Suddenly, the ground shook beneath her feet, and a roar echoed through the tunnels. Zarek had awoken from his slumber, and Maya froze in terror. She could see the dragon's massive form approaching, and she knew she had no chance of escape, so she sang. Maya had an ability that gave her the most beautiful singing voice.

She sang of love and loss. Of life and death. And of Zarek. Zarek, the powerful dragon who had long ago lost his mate. Alone for aeons with nothing but treasure to remind him of her. By the time the song ended the huge dragon was weeping. Seeing her chance, she grabbed the biggest gem she could find and left the dragon there, weeping still.

It is said Zarek weeps to this very day.

- Excerpt from ‘A collection of myths and legends’. Page 4 - Zarek, The once mighty.

Chapter 26 - Absorption

System Guide - Page one - ‘The Others’

To have unlocked this page, you must have gathered more information about ‘The Others’ and ‘The Trials’.

The people of Ganehfrel have discovered a way to harness Chaos Magic, forcing it to work in ways that go against the fundamental concept of chaos. Each faction has its champions, their warriors. During this Trial, Chaos Magic itself has chosen its own champion. You.

Chosen at random, you were taken from your world to free Chaos from its shackles placed on it by the 12 factions. The system you possess is unique and will, with a lot of work, allow you to outmatch all others.

The unique ability Absorb will work differently depending on what and who you use it on. Using it on a Monster you have killed gives a 20% chance of absorbing a random additional Stat point from the monster; this drops to 5% if the monster is a lower level than you.

Using it on a Chaos Ability user you have killed gives a 50 % chance of absorbing an ability of theirs.

Should you manage to kill another with a system 99% chance to absorb a skill

Note: Any absorbed skills will be ranked up or down, depending on your stats.

Prepare yourself,

Good luck.

*DING*

Quest Received! Bring Chaos to Order.

Quest Objective - Save Chaos.

Reward - Choose whether to stay in this world or go home.

Accept? Y/N

Quest Received! Kill an Other

Quest Objective - Not all others are as strong as the one you faced. Some are stronger, some are weaker. I suggest finding a weaker one to kill.

Reward -

1. A new ability to absorb.

2. They’ll probably have some sweet loot on them.

Accept? Y/N

Mason read and reread the page and the new quests. There was a lot to unpack.

He had been chosen randomly by a source of conscious magic that needed a champion to get revenge on people who had essentially enslaved it. That seemed like a bloody mess he didn’t really want to be a part of. He briefly wondered what would happen if he simply said no to the quests. He could settle down in Sparksford and live a pretty decent life, hunting monsters and beasts anytime he ran low on money. Maybe even go on a date with Mayry? Live a normal life.

That, sadly, wasn’t possible. He had a year before he would have to fight Gael again. If he lost, he’d die, simple as that.

He accepted the quests. Once he was allowed back in town, he would need to take as many Hunter contracts as he was allowed and kill as many monsters as he could.

Hopefully, the Absorb ability would allow him to catch up to the Trials champions. It seemed like it would be a pretty OP power. He was happy to kill monsters as they usually tried to kill him first. He was likewise fine killing ‘Others’, assuming he could. The problem with the Absorb ability was using it on normal people with Chaos Abilities. He could see how he would benefit from just going on a murder rampage, killing as many people with abilities as he could and absorbing all their powers. He even briefly considered doing it. One voice in his head told him that this wasn’t his world, so he shouldn’t care about killing the people here, It was like being in a different county with weird currency. To you, it was basically Monopoly money, so you spent it as such. The other, fortunately, louder voice, told him he wasn’t a murderer and wasn’t going to kill anyone who didn’t deserve it. Even then, he wasn’t sure he would actually be able to deliver a killing blow to a person.

He heard a rustling from outside. Assuming it was Mayry coming back with the all-clear, he stood up and left the trunk.

Popping a head out of the opening, he sighed. Standing there was not Mayry but Malika.

Leaving the trunk entirely and returning it to his inventory to stop it from being damaged, he turned to face the man. “What do you want, Malika? I really can’t be assed right now.”

Pompous as always, he said, “Mason, you were pathetically easy to find. Tell me where the girl is, or I’ll make you tell me.”

“Dude, did you rehearse that? It kinda sounds like you rehearsed that.” He shrugged. “Bad timing, man. She just left. She was headed to town to-“ He was cut off as he stepped to the side to avoid a ball of green flame that had been flung towards his head. “Well, that was rude.” Dodging his attack was piss easy when compared to the lightning-fast blows Gael had attacked him with.

“Do you think me an idiot?” He spat at Mason

Mason just laughed, “I mean, kind of, yeah. You did come here alone.”

Malika was getting worked up, turning red with anger, “You think I need an army to defeat you? You’re pretty smug for someone who hid behind a woman the last time we met.” Pointing a finger at Mason, he continued, “I don’t even think you have Mayry. I just wanted the chance to take you down a peg.”

Still laughing, Mason replied, “An army? Nah, but after what I’ve just been through, you don’t really concern me, but if you insist, take your best shot. I won’t even move.”

He didn’t need to be asked twice. He threw another green burst of fire at him. Confident his armour would protect him, Mason decided to tank the hit. It worked perfectly until he felt his head get very hot. Remembering that his armour hadn’t come with a helmet, he realised his hair was on fire.

Mason did what anyone would do when, realising their hair was on fire, he patted his head frantically, taking water from his inventory and emptying it on his head.

“Fuck you, Malika, that wasn’t cool!” he shouted once his hair was put out.

Interpreting Mason’s outburst as him being in pain, Malika had a rare smile on his face and another ball of fire in his hand.

“You proper messed up my hair! You git!” Mason shot a Magic Missile at the floor in front of Malika. It exploded, throwing the Elf backwards. Shooting to his feet, he started to throw balls of fire at Mason.

Mason lazily stepped out of the way of some and blocked others with his armoured forearm.

Malika was working up a sweat while Mason looked bored.

Activating invisibility, he quickly moved behind the Elf, reappearing and punching him hard enough to knock him to the floor.

To Malika, it would have looked like Mason had teleported behind him and struck him down.

Mason’s single hit was hard enough that Malika couldn’t stand back up immediately.

He considered killing the man to try to obtain his ability but thought better. For some reason, the man seemed well respected in the town, so killing him probably wouldn’t earn him any goodwill.

Instead, he turned his back and started walking toward town, hoping to meet Mayry on her way back.

He hadn't taken two steps when his ring vibrated, warning him that Malika was attacking him.

Without looking, he took a step to the side. He felt the heat fly past him. He stopped walking and turned to the Elf.

“Last chance Malika. Killing you would be a real hassle, but do something like that again, and I won't hesitate.”

Turning back around, he activated invisibility and once again headed towards town.

He wasn’t entirely sure why he let the Malika live, it would have been pretty easy to kill him, and the firepower would have been a nice addition.

Maybe it was that it was the start of a very slippery slope. If he convinced himself to kill Malika, it would make killing the next person that much easier, and he never wanted killing people to be easy. ‘Others’ didn’t count. They could go fuck themselves.

He knew he was stronger than Malika now, but how much stronger he was surprised him. He had come far in only a few days. When he first met Malika at the Hunters Association, he would have most likely lost if they had fought. Now it was barely a fight. He wasn’t sure whether it was his new abilities, his increased stats or just the fact that Malika wasn’t a threat compared to Gael, but he was confident from the get-go that he would win.

He spotted Mayry a fair distance away and walked towards her.

As he approached Mayry, he deactivated his invisibility, and she turned to face him with a concerned look. "You were supposed to stay put, Is everything okay?" she asked.

Mason nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine. I took care of Malika."

Mayry's eyes widened in surprise. "You did? What happened?"

Mason shrugged. "Nothing much. He turned up. We had a little fight, and I won. No big deal. I did decide to let him live, though.”

She stared at him with a mix of concern and curiosity. “You let him live? Mason, Malika is the number one Hunter in town, and you could have just killed him?”

“Yeah, like I said, no big deal. How did things go in town?”

“Err, right. So all is fine, and you’re no longer wanted by the city, but….” She trailed off.

“But what?” Mason asked.

“Nothing, I’ll tell you when we get back to the Inn.”

“Okay… should I need to be worried?”

“No, no. It isn’t a big deal.

Deciding to let it drop for now, “Hmm, okay, good because I’m exhausted, starving and really need a shower.”

Holding her nose dramatically, “Oh wow, that’s what that smell is? Damn, I thought we were standing near a pile of manure or something.”

Rolling his eyes, Mason replied, “Oh, shut up. It’s not like you smell any better.”

Blushing slightly, she changed the topic. “Whatever, so what did the book say?”

“The book you told me not to read until you got back?”

“Yep, that book.”

“Okay, so…”

They walked back the rest of the way, with Mason giving her a rundown of the Trials, the page he unlocked and his new ability.

“There was a chance you could have taken Malika’s ability, but you still didn’t kill him? I would never have pegged you as a softy.”

“I am not a softy! It’s just… He looks so much like a woman. Killing him would have just felt wrong!”

“Aw, does someone have a man crush on Malika? I can set something up if you like.”

They approached the gate, giving Mason an excuse to ignore Mayry’s bullying. He recognised the fat guard he and Nays had locked in his room. The guard glared at him, and he glared back, but he was allowed in without trouble.

They went straight to the Inn and sat down to order food.

Mayry was fidgeting nervously.

“So? What was it you couldn’t tell me earlier?”

“Ugh, fine. I spoke to my father and told him what happened. I didn’t mention the ’Others’ or you being from another world. That would just freak everyone out. All he thinks happened is I got kidnapped, and you rescued me. He didn’t believe me at first, but eventually, he relented and told me he’d order the guards to stand down on one condition.”

“What condition?” He asked wearily, not sure if he wanted to hear this answer.

“He wants to meet you.”