"I know you're an awakened." The principal said to me
OK, this is not the first time I heard this. I am too tired to lie through this. Perhaps he heard from Anya or someone else.
"I am an awakened myself too, a natural born one. And I had even developed many abilities in my prime." he explained
I tried to analyze his stats.
[Michael Ryder
HP: 300/350
MP: 300/300
ATK: 20-30 (+120)
Debuff: [Amputation (INDEFINITE)]
Skills:
> Cloak and Dagger
> Blink
> Camouflage
*Cough. I was taken in by surprise. I had never seen an awakened with these stats or this many abilities. How did he get that much HP anyway? Also, what are those debuffs?
"Yesterday, I saw a video of you showcasing your ability. It was magnificent. And I also know you earned $23750 yesterday, " he said.
OK, that's too much. How does he know all this? Stalker? Let's see, from his attire, the shorts, and shoes.
Looking at them closely now, the skin color on his right leg seems to be slightly lighter than the rest. Are those prosthetics? He is well-groomed, clean, and married, judging by the clean ring on his hand.
There is, however, a trace of the cat's hair on his suit. There is no cat here, but perhaps there is one in his home or at his workplace.
Traveling from the awakened headquarters to the school by car would require at least 40 minutes considering the traffic in the morning and 1 hour by walking.
There is a trace of toothpaste on his face, and it hasn't dried off yet.
To conclude, he seems to come to school by car first thing in the morning, has a family he loves, and a yellow cat.
That analysis wasn't beneficial. While I was thinking, the principal continued,
"Look, I know what it is like to become an awakened. We farm the dungeons every day and earn thousands of dollars. It is a risky job, however. " He then told me to come closer. He showed me his leg and popped it off, indicating that it was a prosthetic.
"I lost my leg a couple of months ago. When trying to clear The Temple of Destruction, all of my team were wiped out by lasers except for me, thanks to my abilities. Since then, I have retired from farming dungeons. I apologize for the late introduction, but my full name is Michael Ryder."
Temple of Destruction? Do you mean that crazy dungeon with 100,000 hp boss health? You're lucky to have come out alive, I thought. And by the way, I know the name, so it doesn't sound cool anymore.
"So, what I'm trying to say, is, you don't have to rush yourself doing this dangerous job. I know you've been soloing the dungeons, so be careful. "
I'll keep that in mind. Thank you for the warning. I, of course, would not try to enter the [Temple of Destruction] with my low stats. That's just simply suicide.
Now that I think about it didn't [Healing Salve] heal my leg before? Let's give it a try. Although it is quite some gold (110 gold), I know how it feels not to move a leg.
"I think I have a way to cure your leg," I said
"You do? Well, could you teach me how? But honestly, I don't think it's possible. I tried asking for help from others awakened with healing abilities, but growing back a lost limb is just too much. " He asked me, still slightly surprised at my words.
I proceeded to buy [Healing Salve] from the [Shop].
[Gold: 3400] <-110>
I put the [Healing Salve] on my hand, and the principal was surprised by the appearance of a bright green liquid inside a small round jar. I gave him the salve and told him to drink it. As soon as he drank it, I could see his legs growing.
It was, without doubt, a gore scene. I could see his bones forming out of nothing, and slowly, flesh began to cover the bones, slowly until an entire perfect leg was formed. When I saw his status, I was pretty surprised myself:
[Michael Ryder
HP: 350/350
Debuff: None]
The debuff disappeared, and the principal was crying tears like rivers. I understand your feelings. He moved his newly formed leg up and down, stood up, and walked to the door.
"Th.. th.. thank you..." he said while sobbing.
After crying for a little while, I tried to leave him alone with his thoughts. Right before I touched the doorknob, he said:
"I'm sorry for showing you an embarrassing side of mine. But once again, I am truly grateful for what you have given me. I promise one day that I will try to pay this favor back."
I left the school and went home, feeling good about myself.
-----------------------------------------
I'm thinking of my current goals. With my new abilities, I'm thinking of the best thing I should do right now.
Currently, I'm thinking of doing at least two endless a day and finishing as many dungeons as I can, selling the cores, and buying a new house for my mother.
Well, also let's not forget about my studies. After purchasing a new home, I'll try to make a company selling healing salves. Oops, I'll better focus on getting money for the current goal.
Let's get rich.
First, let us finish stage 5 and stage 6 endless.
[Endless: Stage 5]
[Would you like to enter? YES/NO]
[YES]
As I entered the Endless Place, I could see the seas kilometers ahead. No, I'm standing on top of a boat.
[Stage 5: Starting in 15 seconds]
There's no one in this boat. I don't even know where this boat is going.
[Stage 5: Starting in 0 seconds]
As the timer ended, five skeletons with pirate hats and cutlasses appeared from the empty deck.
[Skeleton Pirate:
HP: 500/500
MP: 150/150
Skill:
> Reincarnation (150 MP, 180 seconds cooldown)
Oh boy, this is tough.
Unlike the previous monsters, the skeleton pirates seem to be reasonably intelligent. They were following me differently, so it wasn't easy to run away. Lucky me, as soon as I climbed on top of the sail, they couldn't climb up as I kept on shooting them as soon as they climbed up. One down, two down, and the rest went down.
Or so it seems. After dying, they respawn. I guess this is the [Reincarnation] skill. But it makes no difference, as they die after respawning.
More skeleton pirates spawned, and they died like the previous waves.
After killing three waves of them, the endless continued.
[EXP: 210/890] <+400>
[LVL 7 -> LVL 8]
[Gold: 3800] <+400]
Still energetic, I went into the next endless stage.
[Endless: Stage 6]
{Would you like to enter YES/NO]
[YES]
I was summoned into a colosseum arena.
[Stage 6: Starting in 15 seconds]
What is that boss tag? Does that mean I'm fighting the bigwigs now?
[Stage 6: Starting in 0 seconds]
As soon as the timer ended, a gate opened, and cheers from the inexistent crowd filled the air.
2 Omniknight's brothers, giant-looking knights with gladiator armor and a giant hammer, arrived.
[Omniknight's Brothers:
HP: 3000/3000
DEF: 50% (Physical Resistance)
MP: 600/600
Skill:
> Purify (300 MP, 20-second cooldown. It splashes a 500 HP instant-heal effect on a 2M area]
That's terrifying. I don't even think that fighting the Stone Stroll is even remotely as frightening as this one. As soon as they arrived, I shot them and reshot them. But they are, as expected, solid. 2 shots, and all It did was decrease their health to
Omniknight's Brother (1)
[HP: 2910/3000]
Omniknight's Brother (2)
[HP: 2910/3000]
This sudden increase in difficulty is too steep. After shooting one of them, a [Reaper Scythe] was triggered by luck, damaging their health to
[HP: 2750/3000]
[HP: 2880/3000]
Alright, this is doable. I'll wait until [Reaper Scythe] gets triggered by [Magus] until they die.
Things were doing well. I managed to decrease their health with [Reaper Scythe] until they reached around a third of their HP, although this is incredibly tiring. I have been running at full speed and shooting simultaneously for 2 minutes now, non-stop.
[HP: 2230/3000]
[HP: 2750/3000]
Things were going well until they used the [Purify] skill on themselves after getting close to one another.
[HP: 3000/3000] <+1000>
[MP: 300/600]
[HP: 3000/3000] <+1000>
[MP: 300/600]
You're kidding me. I was already exhausted. I repeated the same strategy, finally reaching the 2100 point.
[HP: 2120/3000]
[HP: 2720/3000]
Not giving one of them the chance to heal, I manually activated [Reaper Scythe] on the low health monster, leaving him with
[HP: 1240/3000]
[HP: 2720/3000]
I had expected them to heal at this point, so I could kill one quickly when they recovered for the last time.
[HP : 2240/3000] <+1000>
[MP: 0/600]
[HP: 3000/3000] <+1000]
[MP: 0/600]
Alright, let's kill the one with the low health first. Luckily, on my first shot, a [Reaper Scythe] was activated.
[HP: 1280/3000]
[HP: 2970/3000]
I kept shooting the first one until it died with the [Reaper Scythe]. However, the aftereffects of doing this continuously have taken a toll on my body.
[Dendi:
Debuff:
> Exhaustion (60% movement slow for 20 minutes)]
As the second Omniknight was getting closer, I kept shooting him. He launched his giant hammer down at me, I tried to dodge it, but *bam*, it hit my left leg.
[Dendi:
HP: 760/960 <-200>
MP: 440/590]
The pain was so excruciatingly unbearable, and I couldn't help but scream and keep shooting him.
[HP: 2430/3000]
I was terrified of death. Just shoot, fast, die, was all I could think of. His second swing was coming, and it hit my whole body.
[HP: 560/960]<-200>
The only thing I could do at that time was scream and shout in pain like a gorilla. I then remembered my [Borrowed Time] ability.
Just as he hit his 3rd swing, I activated [Borrowed Time
[HP: 760/960] <+200>
That hit felt like a massage, so comfortable. I shot him, he hit me, I healed, and his health is going closer to an end.
[Dendi:
HP: 960/960] <+200>
[Omniknight's Brothers (2):
HP: 1190/3000]
[HP: 0/3000] <-2810>
As soon as [Reaper Scythe] was triggered, he died, and it ended.
That was a greatly traumatic fight. I am still exhausted, and I want to take a nap.
[EXP: 320/930] <+1000>
[LVL 8 -> LVL 9]
[Gold: 4800] <+1000]
[Choose your ability:
> Markmanship
> Necromastery
> Teleport