"How do you feel in this new body ?" asked Mars.
Maalick looked around, but he didn't see his Entity. Then he felt something small flick his black and yellow skin.
Maalick looked over his shoulder and saw the God of War floating above. Except he wasn't in his normal state.
The son of Hera and Zeus looked like a small green plastic toy, representing a soldier from World War II.
The situation would have been funny, if he wasn't in the Hole.
Maalick asked him in exasperation "Can you tell me why you are a toy ?"
Slightly embarrassed he replied "Gods can't show themselves in their true form. Our divine side could kill you just by looking at us. The Designer, wanted us to be able to assist you in your "adventures". So he decided to create this reduced of ourselves"
"So what I saw when we were at your house, it wasn't really you ?"
The Olympian scratched the back of his neck "It's a little more complicated than that. What you saw in the training room was me. In fact, that form you see doesn't just allow us to accompany you. It also limits our power, because our presence in this world could cause great cataclysm"
"The price you pay for being here is that all your powers are sealed. Is that right ?"
"Yes Indeed"
"Then why did I not die when I saw you, if your not supposed to show your divine side ? It doesn't make any sense"
"That's because of the System. It allows you to see our true selves"
Maalick scratched his chin "It's a little hard to understand all this fantasy stuff"
Mars sat on his left shoulder "Don't worry, it's normal. You come from a time when the concept of magic doesn't exist. With some time, you'll get used to it"
Maalick's eyes darkened as he thought of Maria and Arthur using their atypical magic "I'm not sure I want to get used to it"
Mars tried to take his mind off of it "How about you look at your Status. You can save these people better, if you understand who you are.
"Status"
[ Race: Lizardian (Half-Blood) ]
[ Number 274 ]
[ Level 0 : 90/100 XP ]
[ HP ] : 15/15 [ MP ] : 0/0
[ Strength ] : 15
[ Resistance ] : 15
[ Dexterity ] : 15
[ Speed ] : 15
[ Stamina ] : 15
[ Perception ] : 11
[ Willpower ] : 10
[ Intelligence ] : 10
Maalick was shocked by his new numbers "I don't believe it... All my physical stats have practically doubled !"
"And your mental stats have gone up quite a bit too, when you consider that it's pretty hard to create an Armada Quest. Ultimate Soldier is really an amazing skill" Mars added.
Maalick tapped the Armada tab to see his new skill.
[ Armada: Blessed by War ]
[ Skills ] :
- [ Ultimate Soldier ] - [ Rank : Transcendent ] - [ Evolving ] - [ Mastery : 0% ] : Your body will grow perfectly with the increase of your physical and mental stats, as well as when you evolve.
This ability also allows you to exceed your limits.
- [ ?????????? ]
- [ ?????????? ]
- [ ?????????? ]
- [ ?????????? ]
- [ ?????????? ]
- [ ?????????? ]
- [ ?????????? ]
The last part of the description intrigued Maalick "Exceeded my limits, does that mean...?" he asked his Entity.
Mars looked at the inert bodies of the ghouls "If all your physical stats reach the maximum, which is 20 points. I will tell you"
"Why so much mystery seriously ? Can't you just tell me ?"
"It's better if you learn for yourself. I'm not going to hand you everything on a silver platter"
[ Daily Quest : Get Fit ]
[ After signing your contract, a daily quest was generated ]
[ You must follow this training program every day : ]
- 100 push-ups
- 100 sit-ups
- 100 squats
- 100 punches
- 100 kicks
[ Warning ! If you don't finish your workout in the next 24 hours, you will be given a penalty ]
[ Reward : 5XP ]
[ Failure : 1 point subtracted in a randomly chosen category for one day ]
Maalick reread the notification several times "We agree, this training is completely stupid ? It mixes cardio and power"
"We agree. But that's not the point. The most important thing is if you do it now or you lose a point in the next 24 hours" the God proposed.
"I don't have time for that. I have to find a way to get out of here"
Mars closed his plastic arms "Finish what you started first"
Maalick clicked on Racial Skills.
[ Racial Skills ] :
- [ Regenerating Plate ] - [ Rank : Inferior ] - [ Evolving ] - [ Mastery : 0% ] : These are internal plates that allow the external elements of your body to regenerate automatically, in addition to controlling your regeneration more easily.
If your HP reaches a critical threshold, an automatic regeneration will begin.
- [ Dracmiros Claws ] - [ Rank : Low ] - [ Evolving ] - [ Mastery : 0% ] : A legacy from your origins, your claws are as strong as steel and allow you to slice more easily.
They have other hidden properties.
- [ Paralyzing Secretion ] - [ Rank : Low ] - [ Evolving ] - [ Mastery : 0% ] : A legacy from your origins, you have a new organ that can release a liquid that paralyzes your enemies on various parts of your body, such as your claws, bone spurs and scales.
"A non-lethal ability, an offensive one and the last is an improvement of my basic regeneration" determined Maalick.
"With these new skills, you should be able to get a little closer to your goal"
[ Error ]
[ Reaction with the Dracmiros Arena ]
An earthquake occurred in the Hole, which reverberated through the various levels to the surface of Camp Rosibbo.
The prisoners were panicked. In the tower for two days, Raz held Charlotte in his arms fearing that the place would collapse.
"M-Mister I-I'm afraid !!!"
"Don't worry Charlotte it's gonna be fine !"
***
Bassandia, Maria and Arthur came out of their barracks.
"Bring in the earth magic soldiers right away ! Tell them to find a solution to this issue !" shouted the Captain.
"What's going on ?! Why is there an earthquake?!" asked Bassandia.
"You think this might be a dungeon, team leader ?!" asked a girl next to Arthur, wearing the same badge as him.
Arthur spoke in a calm voice "Impossible. The magical defenses that the empire has installed prevent the formation of dungeons on the camp territory"
***
Back in the Hole. The earthquake ended with a square trap door opening in the ground.
Maalick regained his balance 'I caused this. Knowing that I'm a Half-Blood, the Dracmiros must be one of my origins if I believe the description of the claws and the notification'
Then he heard many monsters running towards him 'Shit. All that noise must have attracted the ghouls and algouls from the Hole'
"No choice, you'll have to jump" said Mars.
The candidate hesitated "I'm not going to jump into something I don't know ! What if this place was even worse than here ?"
"It's either that or the monsters. Choose"
Maalick watched as the monsters began to circle the arena.
His new bifurcated tongue flicked out of his jaw like an uncontrollable twitch. His tongue analyzed the smells around him. All were pestilential except for one.
'The smell of... rain ? Underground? Are we near an underground river ?'
The monsters descended in haste as they saw the feast that was Maalick.
'Bloody hell' he said as he jumped into the Hole.
Surprisingly, he only jumped about ten meters. His new legs had withstood the blow.
When he raised his head, torches had lit up a bright black light when he arrived. He saw a long corridor lit by this special light.
Maalick ran towards the smell, as the monsters entered the corridor in mass. Except that their overwhelming numbers had activated a stone slab, triggering...
"Traps ?!"
A rain of arrows from the walls rained down on them, turning the ghouls at the entrance, into dismembered corpses.
Maalick continued to run, still being chased by the shrinking pack of ghouls 'Great, traps must guard this place. Now, in addition to avoid being eaten, I have to be careful with the structure of the building'
More torches lit up. Thanks to them, Maalick saw the next trap.
Thousands of metal cables stretched in all directions blocked the path, like an amusement park obstacle course.
"I'll have to go through"
Maalick tried to get through the trap without getting tangled up in the cables. However, with his imposing body, it was complicated.
The ghouls came dangerously close to him. Just as his body was out, he felt his tail get caught. He turned around to see that it was in a pile of wire.
"Fuck no. Not now !"
The Half-Blood activated his black claws and began to slice them. Unfortunately he couldn't do it, the threads were too hard and there were too many of them.
A large number of ghouls were entangled at the entrance of the trap. They were struggling like wild animals to get out. Some alghouls were even beginning to devour their soldiers to free the passage.
Maalick hastened to untangle each of the threads to get his tail out. One by one, he tried to remove them from his bone spines, but there too there was nothing he could do. The cables clung to him with great force.
The candidate remembered the description of his Regenerating Plates "This should work"
He cut each of his spines to free himself from the capture trap. After removing them, he ran to his next challenge.
On this death row, as his bones regenerated, he thought to himself "It's a good thing my external elements are less resistant than my body. Otherwise I would have been dead"
The hallway led to a room where a colossal door closed the next challenge of his race.
With his momentum, Maalick sent a devastating blow into the door.
His punch had damaged it, but not enough for it to fall. But Maalick didn't give up. He kept hitting it until it fell.
'I don't have time to make a plan with the monsters chasing me. So I'll have to hit the door until it falls, and when I get hurt I'll use my Regenerating Plates to heal them'
His fists were deteriorating rapidly with the sheer power of his blows. He activated his Regenerating Plates to direct the healing to his hands.
[ Regeneration Plates activated ]
More and more ghouls were pouring into the wire trap, bringing it a little closer to its fateful hour.
Under his relentless pounding, the door was about to give way.
"Come on fall !!!"
But one ghoul managed to slip through the cracks. She charged towards Maalick, her mouth covered in blood. It leapt at him.
Maalick grabbed it and smashed its head against the door "You piss me off by always trying to kill me"
[ You have killed a Ghoul ]
[ You have gained 5 XP ]
Then he tossed his corpse into the wires they caught him in. This action bought him some time, because now the survivors of this trap were devouring their fellow creatures with a carnivorous appetite.
Maalick stepped back and used his leg to deliver as powerful as his physical statistics would allow a front kick.
The door fell open as if he were walking into a western.
"Finally"
Maalick ran down this hallway 'The traps are totally different from each other. I don't know what to expect in the other room'
Then he found himself in the edge of another room in which, there was a giant stone Lizardian with a club guarding the next corridor.
He was sitting casually, but he gave off a deadly aura.
As his foot came out of the hallway, he moved. Maalick put his foot back where it was and the giant got back into the same position.
"It looks like you can only move when something enters the room"
Maalick spotted a bellowing ghoul at the end of the infinity hallway. It ran towards him and leapt on its prey.
The candidate dodged it, which sent it into the room.
'This is my chance'
Maalick ran across the room thinking he had won. But the guardian of this place moved his club so quickly that Maalick barely had time to dodge his attack.
"A little sooner and I would have ended up like him" he said, looking at the ghoul smashed against the floor.
The giant swung his club at him. Maalick jumped on it and leapt from his enemy's weapon to the edge of the next hallway.
He was only a few centimeters away from his goal. He crawled along the floor to get closer 'Just a few inches..."
The giant picked up his club as Maalick pulled his body up the hallway, tired from all his efforts.
The guard was about to swing his club again. But it was at that very moment that all the ghouls fell into the trap.
The guardian, seeing the number of life forms streaming into his room, decided to crush the ghouls entering his domain.
Maalick got up and ran down the last corridor, out of breath from all the traps "Why does this kind of shit have to happen to me?" he complained.
Suddenly, a door emerged from the ground and closed behind him the access to the giant's room.
He hit the door, but his strength did not solve the problem "I guess you can't solve everything with violence"
The Lizardian's tongue came out again, as if it wanted to help him. He sensed that the smell of rain was even closer and that she would show him the way.
Maalick went down the steps of a long staircase, with the same torches, to find himself in front of a black marble temple in a huge cave.
On the wall of the temple were phrases written in a foreign language, like some kind of prophecy.
But the Lizardian in him read it with his new eyes, as if it were his native language.
"Chained to the past,
Live in the present,
You will become what they need in the future.
If the Polymorphic Chain recognizes this in you, you will become the Asath of the Dracmiros"