The T.V was relaxing on the couch as Katsuya stared at it, watching shows as always. At the party yesterday, Nari had given her phone number to Katsuya. If he was being honest, he wasn't really that happy, for the most part, he was just weirded out by her. Nari was definitely not the type of girl that he was interested in. She was good-looking but was just too scary.
Buzz. Buzz.
He quivered at the sound of hearing his phone vibrate.
"Oh, no. Please don't tell me that's her."
He looked at his phone screen that lit up. Fortunately for him, it was not Nari he had received a message from, it was from the Guild.
{1 New Message from: Beast Slayer Guild}
There is almost no reason for the guild to text him. As far as he remembered, there wasn't anything significant he had done. Sure, he had helped fight the killer but, it couldn't really be called helping. He was basically just a punching bag. He proceeded to open the 'Messaging' app and read what was sent.
{Beast Slayer Guild: We have received word of your participation with taking down a killer. From what we heard you along with an agent from the government were injured pretty badly. Luckly, a Legendary-rank adventurer showed up. The situation was said to be a Platinum-rank difficulty. That fact that you were able to survive taking damage from the killer who was said to 'Platinum-rank' is just another amazing feat from you. Also, the guild master has found your feats to be interesting. You will be contacted by him anywhere from 1 to 2 month from now. Best of luck.}
When a guild master even thought about contacting an adventurer, that usually meant that contacted adventurer would receive a raise in rank and pay.
"Well, that's good news."
['Sora' has added new quests]
It has been some time since Sora had given KAtsuya any quests to complete.
[Quest list:
1. Clear a floor in a progressive dungeon | Prize: Prize List
2. Defeat a boss | Prize: Increase 1 of your stats by 20%
3. Clear two floors in the progressive dungeon. 0/2 cleared | Prize: Skill List
4. Clear all floors in the progressive dungeon | Prize: ??? ]
"Why did you choose to give me a quest all of a sudden?" Katsuya asked.
A pair of footsteps came walking out from the kitchen. He turned, only to see Sora holding a steamy cup of tea.
"I don't know. Honestly, I just felt like you needed an opportunity to get stronger." She replied, making her way over to the couch then sitting down.
"What made you feel like I should get stronger?" Katsuya asked.
Sora's eyes looked at the T.V as she would take a sip of her tea.
Sip. Sip. Sip. Sip.
"This tea is really good. And to answer your question, I don't really know. Us A.I's kinda have a sixth sense, being able to feel if something is going to happen. So, I felt as if something in the near future may go wrong."
After listening to her answer, he asked another question.
"Go wrong? Like What?"
"I'm not too sure. The more time that passes by the more I'll be able to make an accurate guess but, I can't predict the actual future. I just get a feeling that something big will happen."
Everything that Sora was saying had left multiple questions inside Katsuya's head. The main thing he wondered was what A.I's actually were. What was their origin?
Again, Sora looked back at the T.V taking sips out of her tea cup.
Sip. Sip. Sip. Sip.
She kept on sipping and dipping as Katsuya brought his question to the light of the conversation.
"Sora, I've been wondering, how do you work? Like, what exactly are you? A robot? A hologram? Or something entirely different."
She took one last sip and swallowed it before looking at him then answering.
"To put it simply, I'm human but at the same time, I'm not."
The feeling of complete confusion was Katsuya's reaction. To him, that statement she made had no sense to it. How could something be human but at the same time not human? Sora already knew what he was thinking just by seeing his reaction.
"Just as I thought. Going by your reaction, I see that you're already lost. But, what I am is technically a soul. When people die, most of them just go to the afterlife, heaven or hell. The ones with regrets end up reincarnated. Then there's the ones like me, souls that are trapped. We take many forms like ghost and what not. And some of us are able to latch ourselves onto a person, becoming A.I's. After doing so, we are able to take on a human form. We are able to breathe, eat, feel emotion and do anything else a normal human can do. But just like every other living thing, our existence is temporary. When our holder dies, we disappear and are finally able to reincarnate."
Even with the explanation, Katsuya still didn't fully understand. But what he did understand was that she was kind of like a ghost that can take a physical form.
"If you used to be human then don't you have any memories of your life?"
"Nothing comes to mind when I think about it but, I do get flashbacks from time to time. When that happens, I usually remember seeing explosions and soldiers shooting. Other than that,I really don't know much about my life."
After Sora finished her sentence, she put her hand over her mouth. She let out a great yawn and her eyes watered up. Just like humans, even she would get tired. Katsuya watched as she put her empty cup of tea on the coffee table.
"I'm going back to your mind now, I need some sleep. Also, remember to complete those quests if you can, see ya." said Sora.
She slowly disappeared, followed by glowing blue pixels.
Just by thinking about an A.I, Katsuya would've never thought it was something on a spiritual level. So technically, it wasn't artificial intelligence.
He put on his coat and grabbed his backpack, placing lots of granola bars and other snacks. His plan was to stay inside the dungeon until he cleared it. It didn't make sense that Sora gave him a quest to clear the progressive dungeon because of the fact that it only got harder the more you went down. Meaning that eventually the monster would be Legendary-rank.
But, he knew that she wouldn't have given him the quotes if it wasn't possible for him to complete them. Katsuya did believe that he had to get stronger, even if he didn't completely understand why Sora felt like something big would happen in the near future, he still trusted her reasoning so he decided that he would go.
Carrying his backpack, he walked out of his house.
"Even if it takes me months, I will eventually clear it."
Though, if it did take that long, he would at least need to leave the dungeon once every month to gather food and pay the medical bills. Other than that, he had no reason to leave until he cleared it.
Katsuya had made it back to the progressive dungeon in less than a minute because of his unrealistic speed but it took him a couple hours to find his way through the dungeon because of how many different paths there were to take. Finally he had made it one floor below where he had left off.
"I finally found it."
(Progressive dungeon, Floor #88, Difficulty: Gold-rank)
And right away, he noticed a group of monsters called 'Slimes'
They were creatures made out of goo, sometimes different colors. These ones were colored blue. Even though Katsuya, himself was rank 'Gold' this wouldn't be an easy task as slimes usually absorb 75% of damage they take. The only weakness they have was either attacks that penetrate, fire, poison or acid. Katsuya had none of the above.
"I guess I'll have to use these." He pulled out a pair of black gloves and put them on. He quickly counted that there were 18 slimes in total.
In an instant, he sprung forward and let off many strikes in a singles second, utterly demolishing one of the slimes.
What he had just done was a move he had learned from watching the vampire fight, 10 hits in a single second. But with Katsuya's current speed, he was capable of doing 74 in a single second.
After noticing him, the slimes started bouncing their way over to him.
['Double Speed' has been activated]
With this, he was capable of 149 strikes in a single second.
It was like a storm when he swung his fists, hitting many of the slimes.
Just like that, 14 of the slimes were destroyed. His lack combat gloves ripped apart. He watched as the fabric that they were made of fell to the ground.
"They're durability ran out already? Damn, that was quick."
His guard was let down and he felt three strong striked hit his chest, pushing him across the floor.
(Hp: 229,746/349,746)
"I definitely felt that. Without my speed, I'd be nothing."
Boing.
A slime jumped into the air then crashed onto Katsuya's chest. It was unexpected so it caused him to nearly choke on his spit. He pushed the slime off then jumped to his feet.
"You damn slimes got lucky. Time to rip you apart."
By the time he finished talking, a deadly blast of water shot out of each of the slimes mouths.
"I let my guard down again, damn!"
Katsuya covered his head as the blast of water hit him. He felt this body crush under the pressure as he banged against a wall.
(Hp: 74,746/349,746)
"Agh…"
He fell to the floor, in pain.
"Damn monsters."
Katsuya slammed both of his fists against the floor, cracking it as he stood back up. A grin was worn on his face as he pointed at the slimes.
"You guys got lucky twice in a row. Now, let's see you deal with this."
Dashing forward with great speed, hit the monster with a storm of punches, tearing them apart. The creatures slimy goo splattered against the wall and into the air, falling back down onto Katsuya. He had killed the last three but, he still stood in a fighting stance as if there was another monster still there.
[New skill learned: Sixth Sense]
"Stop hiding, come face me, you damn monster."
With caution, a tall creature with red-colored hard skin came walking out of the shadows. It's eyes were glowing white and it had horns striking out of its head. It was monster called a 'demon'
Unlike "rampaging demons" these ones were intelligent.
It spoke "Human...you made a mistake coming down here. For trespassing, You will be eliminated."
" You must have lots of confidence if you think you'll kill me by yourself." Katsuya replied.
"Oh, but I'm not alone." The demon replied.
At that moment, four other demons walked out of the shadows.
"Well, maybe you have a just a little chance at beating me. But trust me, that won't happen Katsuya replied.
It was a lie, deep down, he knew if he was up against a team of intelligent monsters, it would just be a matter of time until he was defeated. If anything, Katsuya was the one with a small chance of success.
{Katsuya:
Hp: 74,746/349,746
Mp: 171,060
Endurance: 2,892/3,852}
"Well, I could use speed boost or double Speed again to make the odds even." Katsuya thought to himself.
One of the demons snapped their fingers as it spoke.
"And don't even think about siding any skills. From this point on, neither you nor us could use them. I used my skill to put up a barrier that stops all magic, and other skills from being activated. This will be a battle of pure combat skill. You stand no chance."
Katsuya rudely replied by laughing.
"Ha! Ahaaaa! You're pretty funny but, I guess that's fair. Just one more thing, your skill doesn't work on canceling skills that are already activated, does it?"
When Katsuya fought the slimes, he had used [Time Limit Expansion] To increase the amount of time [Double Speed] would be activated.
['Double Speed' will deactivate in 10 seconds]
"That's just enough time." Katsuya thought to himself.
In an instant, All four of the demons were struck in the chest. Each of them fell to the floor then laid there, motionless.
"Looks like beating you guys was easier than I thought." Said Katsuya.
Unexpectedly, one of the demons stood back up, replying.
"Maybe, they were easy to beat but I'm a different story. I was only knocked down because your speed caught me off guard. That was 'Double Speed' wasn't it? I bet it's time limit ran out already."
['Double Speed' has deactivated]
The demon was right, the skill's time limit had run out, maining it has deactivated.
Telepathically, Katsuya woke Sora up, speaking to her "Sora, analyze the demon's stats and show them to me."
"I'm on it." She replied.
{Opponent:
Hp: 771,987/951,047
Intelligence: 144
Mp: 487,900
Atk: 112,700
Speed: 379
Endurance: 2,420/2,429}
This demons 'Hp' was higher than all tb either Gold-rank monsters he had come across, meaning that this one was a mid level boss.
It's speed was lower than Katsuya's so keeping up wouldn't be a problem. And if Katsuya got hit, it would be okay since his Hp had fully recovered.
"Let's get started." said the demon.
Claws grew out from its fingertips.
No less than a second later, Katsuya's eyes widened as the demon's hand was seconds away from his face.
"Damn!" was the rushed thought that Katsuya had as he quickly moved to the side. He managed to barely evade it but his cheek got sliced in the process. Stepping backwards and putting distance between them, Katsuya spoke.
"How did you get faster all of a sudden? I thought you said skills couldn't be activated?"
"Well, yes, I did say that. But, I don't activate a skill. It's an ability. One that allows me to match my opponents speed"
Now, Katsuya knew that neither of them had the upper hand, it was a 50/50 battle. Even though he picked up on the ancient shadow's fighting style that he went against on the 80th floor, it didn't make much of a difference. He could use the martial arts to enhance his Atk and gain damage resistance but, it still wouldn't make much of a difference. It would only add 5% to his chance of winning.
"Okay, then, show me what you got." said Katsuya.
The demon smiled right before sprinting forward, slashing his claws through the air.
Left then right, the attacks kept coming while Katsuya kept evading them. Each attack came closer and closer to hitting until one slashed his arms.
"Damn!"
Katsuya took a great leap backwards, getting away from the demon. It would be hard to keep up with the rapid attacks up close, so he decided to fight while running around though, he ran the risk of draining his own endurance quickly. He started running around as the demon swung its claws, missing each hit.
Katsuya then thought to himself.
"I need to wait for an opening, big enough for me to land multiple hits." While Keeping his distance, he made eyes contact with the demon the spoke out loud.
"Your aim sucks! Try to actually land a hit!"
"You'll regret motivating me!!" the demon shouted as if sprung forward with a sudden movement. Katsuya focused hard and time seemed to slow down but not much, his opponent looks like a wild animal, a hungry one that is starving to kill. With a burst of speed, the demon slashed its claws towards his face. Closer and closer it came as Katsuya watched it until the claws were directly in front of his eyes.
"There!"
That was when he quickly ducked, dodging the attack. Now,it was Katsuya's turn. All in an instant, Katsuya rapidly kicked and slammed his fist into the demon's body. It was 79 different strikes in a single second.
From the intensity of the attacks, smoke flowed off of the creatures skin as it stood there, unharmed.
"What?! How did you-" but before Katsuya could finish, he felt a blow to his face, pushing back quite a distance. He quickly shook it off and the demon began speaking.
"Surley, if your little combo attack had landed, I would be no more. I deactivated my barrier skill so that I could absorb your attacks at the last seconds.
Remembering from an article he read, Katsuya knew what skill the demon had used. It was called 'Absorb' and it allowed you to take no damage for the next 5 seconds. The cooldown of the skill had cooldown of 10 seconds.
This put Katsuya at a major disadvantage. If he couldn't do damage then there was no way to win.
Thinking stressfully, Katsuya started forming a quickly made plan.
"If I activate all of my speed boosting skills then I could probably hit him faster than he could react. Alright, here goes nothing."
['Speed Boost' has been activated]
['Double Speed' has been activated]
A storm of attack hit each and every inch of the demon's body. It was 224 hit in a single second, the highest amount of strike Katsuya could achieve.
He stood while breathing heavily; dust and smoke filled the entirety of the area. When it all started clearing, Katsuya was in the most shock. The demon was unharmed as it stood there.
(Endurance: 2,564/3,852)
While forming his plan, Katsuya had left out a major detail. Sure, if he hit the opponent faster than it could activate its 'Absorb' skill, in theory Katsuya should've won ; But, he had forgotten all about his enemies ability to match his speed.
[Warning: Enemy has activated 'Attack Amp x10']
[New skill: Rage]
['Rage' has evolved into 'Rage 2']
Boom!
A powerful fist hit Katsuya's chest, making him feel like each bone in his body was crushed. His body launched against a wall, then he fell on his knees.
['Rage 2' has activated]
(Hp: 67,996/249,746)
Katsuya stood back up and his skin completely darkened as if he was a shadow and his eyes started glowing red. He looked at his now dark-colored arms in excitement.
"Aha, ha ha...ah. My body feels great! I'm just overflowing with energy, I could feel it. I can fulfill my desire to….slaughter monsters! Here I come, bastard."
He dashed forward and swung his fist, hitting the demon many times.
Again, again and again then he stopped. Smoke flowed off of the enemy body as it still stood there, unharmed.
"I can just absorb it all." said the demon.
Swiftly, Katsuya grabbed a hold of the opponents face then smashed it into the ground.
"But what if I keep attacking with no stop. If I do that then, I'll eventually land one." Katsuya replied.
Again, he kicked,punched, palm strike, all rapidly. It almost looked like a literal storm that didn't stop even as the seconds passed.
3 seconds, still no stop.
4 seconds, still no stop.
5 second passed and still no stop.
The 6th second came and right away, the demon was met with utter destruction, a storm of attacks. It's body entire body ripped apart and it's black-colored blood splatter in every direction. Katsuya stood, still in a fighting stance and he breathed heavily as seconds of silence passed.
Huff...Huff….Huff...Huff…
His eyes shined red one last time then they went back to normal. His skin was no longer a shadow, his natural color had returned.
"I would say that I should keep going but my endurance is low."
{Endurance: 616/3,852}
So, he decided to sit against a wall and rest his body for at least an hour or two to recover his endurance. If he came across another opponent that strong while being this low, he wouldn't survive.