Martial Destiny

When Julius' vision returned to normal, a series of screens appeared before him once again.

This time, the screens had a blue tint.

[You have received a Physique: Tyrant Divine Physique]

[ Name: Tyrant Divine Physique

Type: Physique

Grade: Firmament

Description: A physique of absolute grade with the ability to elevate the bearer to the peak of the cosmos through a dominant and overwhelming force.

Mortal Meridian:

Doubles the points gained from each consumed Fate Core. Doubles the total capacity of points at each level. Improves all primary stats by 1 point. Improves all secondary stats by 0.5 points. Improves all tertiary stats by 0.2 points for each defeated opponent.

Evolved Meridian: ???

Enhanced Meridian: ???

Perfect Meridian: ???

Transcendent Meridian: ???

Absolute Meridian: ???

]

"With this, my work with you is concluded." The monk raised his hand, and an invisible force made the coin that appeared in Julius' hand when he acquired a mana body fly toward DAO. "I will keep this as payment. Should you lose this avatar, you will need another of these coins to return to the reincarnation cycle with your memories and a part of your Karma intact. Of course, whether you choose to reincarnate or not will be up to you."

'Hm?' Julius was confused but tried to piece together the information the monk had just given him. 'So, I need another coin like this to come back to the game if I lose my character!?'

That was the first theory that came to Julius' mind, though perhaps not having this coin would just result in a debuff when the player respawned after death.

'Damn mercenary company!' Regardless, these two theories made Julius curse the company.

Depending on the game's difficulty level...

The company would rake in a fortune. Of course, if the game delivered everything it promised, it would be nearly impossible to stop playing once experienced.

Just the technology that allowed the game to run on a 1:3 real-world time ratio was enough to ensure that a large portion of the population would immerse themselves in the game. Some companies had even stated they would try to move some of their operations to the game.

"Good luck on your adventure, young cultivator." DAO waved his hand, and without any visual effect, he and the temple vanished in a single second.

Afterward, the world around Julius began to spin with him at the center, making him feel a strange sensation.

Before he could process what was happening, he felt something pulling him down.

Abruptly, without time for him to do anything, Julius felt himself falling at a vertiginous speed.

He looked down, but the only thing he could see was a dark point growing larger.

In the next second, Julius had entered a sort of black hole. For a moment, his vision turned completely dark, but then the light returned to him.

The world changed again, and this time it seemed he was in a large tent. Various benches were scattered on the dirt floor.

In the center, a canvas served as a seat for an old man, who ate from a bowl of soup while watching Julius.

Even though Julius had appeared there out of nowhere, the old man didn't seem surprised.

"Another one, huh?... Seems like the heavens are really having fun with the foreigners today… Well… I won't complain… since you'll help us fight the demons." The old man spoke each part of the sentence while eating, taking long pauses between each phrase.

Julius tried to wait patiently, but it seemed the old man was deliberately taking his time with every spoonful!

"The soup is really delicious." Some veins appeared on Julius' forehead. For some reason, he felt like he was becoming even more annoyed with the old man.

"My name is Zwuris, I am the elder and chief of this tribe. I am responsible for welcoming you to this world…" He looked at Julius as if expecting something.

'Does he want to know my username?' Julius thought this might be the moment he registered his character's name.

Not knowing what name to choose, he decided to follow the name of his physique.

"Tyrant"

'That's a pretty cool name, thinking about it, it carries some respect.' Julius thought, puffing out his chest with pride. For some reason, he felt destined for great things in that moment…

And seeing the old man's shocked face, Julius felt a surprising sense of satisfaction. 'Exactly, you old geezer, even an NPC is surprised by my name!'

"What kind of parents did you have!? What kind of idiot names their own child Tyrant!? HAHAHAHA, what a ridiculous name!" The old man laughed hysterically while jotting something down on a scroll. "Ahhh, I don't know where you all came from, but every foreigner has such strange names!"

'This bastard…' Julius almost lost his patience with the old man, but immediately calmed down. 'It's just a damn NPC, I should save my kind words for the developers…'

"Well, I've recorded your name. I'll send it to the royal court later. Just go hunt some wolves and rabbits, strengthen your fate, and head toward the capital. There, you will become a brave hero… I forgot the rest of what the royal messenger said, but just feel motivated to waste your life for the good of the kingdom. Oh, and don't forget to be inside the walls by nightfall." The old man waved his hand, signaling for Julius to leave, causing him to almost lose his patience and attack the old man, but he simply walked out of the tent, his forehead veins visibly popping.

When he exited the tent, Julius saw several people around different tents scattered inside a wooden wall. It was easy to tell the difference between players and NPCs.

Players wore completely different clothes than the villagers. Players were dressed in some form of armor, with various weapons at their sides, while NPCs wore leather clothing that seemed made from leftover wolf pelts. Additionally, above each player's head was their username and level, while NPCs had nothing.

But what made Julius quickly distinguish players was their spoken words.

All the players, without exception, seemed annoyed with the old man from the tent.

"Damn old man, how dare he mock my username!" [Truth][Level:Mortal]

"His name and his family's name are strange!" [Saboth][Level:Mortal]

Many other complaints could be heard around the crowd. It was worth mentioning that the village was packed at that moment; it was hard to take a single step without bumping into someone.

'I feel like I'm going to suffocate if I stay here much longer.' Julius started moving toward the wooden gate of the village so he could leave the more crowded area, which was a sort of tent right in front of the chief's tent, and go hunt some creatures.

According to the old man, wolves and rabbits were nearby.

'I'll start with the rabbits; they must be the easiest creatures to deal with.'

It had been several years since Julius had played any VR games, so he needed some time to warm up. Because of that, he preferred to hunt the simpler prey.

'Finally, some fresh air!' He relished the fresh air. 'Some people in that crowd smelled really bad!'

Julius also took a moment to observe the world around him. At the moment, the only thing he could see was a grass plain with a forest to the north.

Even the plain was crowded, as most players seemed to have the same idea as Julius.

Still, the place was so vast that the entire crowd could fit in with ease.

'Time to hunt!' He smiled as he drew his sword and began searching for his first victims.

The grass reached almost up to Julius' knees, and considering his height of 1.85 meters, it was fair to say the grass was quite tall.

He covered a considerable distance, moving as far as possible from the other players, but he still couldn't find any rabbits.

'Did all the rabbits get hunted already!?'

Julius preferred to believe that the developers had placed a reasonable number of rabbits for the amount of players, but it seemed like they were messing with him again.

'Damn them!'

"CHI…CHI" It was at that moment that Julius heard something from a patch of grass near him. He noticed that part of the grass was different, the blades were spaced farther apart, as if something was there.

'FINALLY!' Not wanting to miss the opportunity, Julius cautiously approached the open patch of grass.

Looking directly at the hole the creature was making, Julius understood why it was so hard to find the rabbits.

'They have the exact same green fur as the grass!' Because of this, the rabbits were perfectly camouflaged in the tall grass.

Without hesitation, Julius raised his sword and impaled the rabbit, killing it instantly.

[You gained 1 point in all primary attributes.]

[You gained 0.5 points in all secondary attributes.]

[You gained 0.2 points in all tertiary attributes.]

Despite the incredibly realistic experience, Julius still didn't feel anything for killing the poor rabbit, as they were just pixels.

'Next.'

After a few hours and now knowing how to find the rabbits, Julius had hunted 15 of the creatures in total.

And he could already feel a significant improvement in his strength, even though he had only gained 15 points.

'Thinking about it, I still haven't checked my stats. I don't even know what these primary, secondary, and tertiary attributes mean.'

"Status"

[

Player: Tyrant

Level: Mortal

Path: Swordsman (Common)

Physique: Tyrant Divine Physique (Firmament)

Artifact: None

Equipment: Sword (Common), Light Leather Chestpiece (Common), Light Leather Anklet (Common), Light Leather Bracelets (Common).

Skills: Charge, Reinforced Body, Energy Slash

Primary Attributes:

STR: 10 (+15)

AGI: 7 (+15)

STA: 11 (+15)

Secondary Attributes:

END: 6 (+7.5)

SPD: 6 (+7.5)

Tertiary Attributes:

WIS: 4 (+3)

VIS: 3 (+3)

MANA: 4 (+3)

Health: 150 (END * 10)

Mana: 78 (MANA * 10)

]