Rain readied himself as the arena began to shift. The stony surface quickly turned to soft soil, and trees began sprouting around him. A subtle smile crossed his face; this was his element. Suddenly, he felt a rumble under the ground, and a giant worm shot up from the earth.
Rain jumped back, avoiding the rubble from the worm's emergence, and readied his weapon. Water surged around his staff as he prepared for battle.
The worm had black, scaly, almost rock-like skin and four large fangs protruding from its head. Rain was in his element, but this still wouldn't be easy. The creature was ten times his size and had a powerful exoskeleton.
Rain jumped into action, quickly striking the creature's body. The monster recoiled from the blow but showed no sign of pain. Rain launched another attack, and a crack formed in the worm's exoskeleton. The giant worm swung its tail at Rain, forcing him to dodge as it burrowed under the ground.
Rain rolled across the ground and quickly got back into a stance. Focusing on the tremors in the ground, he waited until the shaking became extremely violent underneath him. He jumped harshly to the side as the worm shot up from the ground. Rain attacked it before it fully emerged, leaving another crack in its exoskeleton.
The worm roared in annoyance, and pillars of earth shot up from the ground. Rain was taken off guard and struck by one of the pillars, which knocked him high into the air, well above the trees. He was falling fast, and the worm was quickly approaching. Desperately searching for a solution, Rain remembered his new skill.
A small round plate of water appeared beneath Rain, and he landed on it. The shield of water was extremely solid, almost like room-temperature ice. Rain jumped from the shield, avoiding the maw of the worm. He created more shields as footholds and made his way to the ground. Irritation showed on his face; he had almost been taken out by an overgrown tapeworm. Rain caught the change in his attitude—he hadn't had thoughts like that before.
Ignoring the small change in his personality, Rain sprinted toward the worm, charging energy into his staff. As he approached, he began forming a vortex strike, finding it much easier than before. The vortex reached a climax, transforming his staff into a spear. He drove the spear into the worm, shattering its exoskeleton and boring a hole clean through it. The worm fell to the ground and ceased moving, dead.
Rain turned away from the worm, waiting for the notifications, but they never came. He turned back toward the worm and was immediately struck by a blinding red light. The worm had become considerably smaller, with rings of fire surrounding its body. It rose into the air, swirling menacingly. Sparks rolled off its form as it rushed at Rain.
Rain narrowly avoided the rush and quickly countered. His staff bounced off the worm, forcing him backward. He could feel his stamina running low. The heat from the worm was making it hard to breathe, and his skin was starting to dry out. He needed to win fast. Summoning a ball of water, he let it drop on his head, reinvigorating him. Rain rushed toward the worm again. It spat a burst of fire from its mouth, and Rain summoned a shield to extinguish the flames. He jumped into a tree, leaping between the tops to confuse the worm.
Rain jumped from a tree, appearing behind the worm completely silent. He coated his weapon in water and thrust his staff forward, knocking the worm to the ground. Quickly following up with a downward strike, he dragged his staff along the ground, knocking the worm upward. Before it had a chance to recover, Rain formed a blade of water around his hand and stabbed the monster.
The worm writhed in pain, releasing a tail whip and knocking Rain backward. He felt the impact in his chest but managed to stay on his feet. Ignoring the pain, Rain rushed back in. Another vicious tail whip swung toward him, but he flipped over the tail, feeling the heat singe his face. Quickly shifting his stance, he launched another attack at the worm's head. The worm released a wave of fire from its entire body, giving Rain no time to defend itself. He took the full burst of fire, burning him across the chest.
Searing pain shot through Rain's body, but he pushed through it, delivering another blow to the worm's body. It was knocked back, and Rain swiftly followed up, knocking it to the ground. Water surged around his staff as he formed another vortex strike, bringing it down on the worm's stab wound, cleaving it in two.
Rain released a shout of victory as notifications filled his vision. Grabbing his chest, he felt the burn ache. He activated enhanced healing and began looking at his notifications.
"Dragon Wyrm slain, Greater rune of strength awarded. Greater rune of dexterity awarded."
Rain looked up into the stands, not expecting much from the god servants this time.
"Battle concluded, god servants awarding stat points."
Lights flowed toward Rain, and another message appeared.
"Fifteen stat points awarded. Congratulations."
Rain's eyes widened in shock. That was enough for another level-up already. He only needed to reach level four before he could leave this place.
Rain allocated five points to constitution, agility, and willpower, bringing his stats to 36.
"Stat limit reached. Congratulations on reaching level three. Please select three skills."
Aqua Blade: form a sharp blade of water around weapon or hand, enhancing his melee attacks with cutting power.
Effect: Adds water damage and increases attack speed for a short duration.Requirements: Dexterity 20, Strength 15
Torrent Dash: dash forward with incredible speed, leaving a trail of water behind him.
Effect: Greatly increases movement speed for a short burst and allows for quick repositioning or dodging.Requirements: Agility 25, Willpower 15
Fluid Reflexes: boosts agility and dexterity allowing the user to react with lightning speed, increasing his chances of evading attacks.
Effect: Temporarily boosts evasion rate.Requirements: Agility 20, Dexterity 20
Hydrokinetic Spear: form a long spear of water, allowing the user to attack from a distance with powerful thrusts.
Effect: Creates a spear of water that extends attack range and deals piercing damage.Requirements: Strength 15, Intelligence 15
Tidal Wave: summon a powerful wave of water to sweep across the battlefield, knocking back enemies and dealing damage.
Effect: Creates a wave of water that knocks back and damages enemies in its path.Requirements: Strength 20, Willpower 18
Water Clone: create a clone made of water that mimics movements and attacks.
Effect: Summons a water clone that fights alongside Rain for a short duration.Requirements: Intelligence 20, Willpower 15
Aqua Vortex: create a vortex of water around the user, pulling enemies in and dealing continuous damage.
Effect: Generates a vortex that damages and pulls in enemies.Requirements: Dexterity 20, Willpower 18
Aquatic Resilience: The user's body becomes more resilient to physical damage, and he can absorb a portion of water-based attacks to heal himself.
Effect: Reduces physical damage taken and converts a percentage of water-based damage into health.Requirements: Constitution 15, Willpower 15
Surging Strength: temporarily enhances physical strength by channeling water energy into muscles.
Effect: Temporarily increases strength significantly for a short period.Requirements: Strength 18, Intelligence 15
Water Sphere: create a protective sphere of water around the user, shielding them from attacks and healing him over time.
Effect: Forms a water sphere that provides damage resistance and gradual healing.Requirements: Constitution 14, Willpower 20
Rain stared at the skill selection screen, stunned by the array of options before him. Aqua Blade seemed redundant given his current abilities, though it could potentially enhance his attacks. He had already decided on Torrent Dash; the speed advantage it offered was invaluable in combat. Fluid Reflexes appeared promising, enhancing his evasion capabilities, but he felt drawn to the other skills.
Hydrokinetic Spear didn't fit his close-quarters fighting style, so he dismissed it. Tidal Wave intrigued him, but it didn't quite align with his preferred tactics. Ultimately, Water Clones stood out as a versatile and strategic choice that he couldn't overlook.
The last skill was tricky; all of them were extremely good. But with his constitution bolstered, he decided that he would focus on increasing his attacking capabilities as his lack of options was beginning to become a problem. So, he chose Aqua Vortex to add some wide-range attacks into his arsenal.
Rain summoned his stats
Name: Rain Forrest
Race: Anurasapien
Current level: 3
Current stat limit: 1/45
Strength: 19
Agility: 30
Dexterity: 26
Constitution: 14
Intelligence: 15
Willpower: 19
Charisma: 2
Skills: Enhanced Healing, Adaptive Defense, Hydrokinetic shield, Torrent Dash, Water Clone, Aqua Vortex
Talents: Sewing 4, Cleaning 5, Cooking 4, Tenacity 9, Pain Tolerance 8, Blunt weapon proficiency 4, hydrokinesis 2, acrobatics 4, stealth 4, anurasapien pride 3
Blessing: Intermediate Blessing of Kyma
Rain looked at his stat spread, taking note of the new additions to his talent list. The most interesting was Anurasapien Pride; maybe this was responsible for the slight changes in his personality.
Rain closed his stats and prepared for his next trial.