Julius looked down. He was still in his body from Earth. Around him stood grass and a seemingly healthy village.
There were only 7 people in sight and it seemed like they were all wearing Earth clothes.
It seemed that they had been lucky enough to spawn in an uncorrupted area.
One of the 7, a charming boy around 16-19 with long stylish rose hair called out to the other 7 that included Julius. He had deep gold eyes even deeper than the other Julius' and he looked like he had a strong and dedicated build.
"Over here, we should all gather and plan."
The others came over reluctantly.
The boy gave out his own self-introduction and some insight he had gained.
"I'm Lucius, my goal has been to make the best of this chance from the start. I think we ought to probably do some scouting and if you don't mind I don't think it would hurt to share our Talents."
A few nods emerged from the group of 8.
Julius almost coughed out loud.
Lucius had most likely gotten an -S- Rank Talent if he had somehow scavenged an A+ from the God who seemed to have a tiny grudge against him.
Julius scanned the group.
There were 5 males and 2 females.
3 Males introduced themselves first.
"I'm Grit."
A man of few words. Big threatening muscles, a tank top soaked in fresh blood, and spiky grey hair. His face was incredibly solemn and unperturbed by his current situation.
"My name is Alexander."
A boy clearly no older than 14. He had a short stature, fluffy blonde hair, and blue eyes. He sounded nervous from the get-go.
"I'm Dian."
A Mexican boy with a furry mustache. He had a bit of muscle going on and he was wearing the attire of a motor cycle-fanatic.
Then the females introduced themselves at the same time.
"We're both called Ail."
They both had candy-pink hair tied into pigtails. Julius found their behavior more outlandish than cute but he merely shrugged it off.
"Twins."
The other twin exclaimed. Her face was a rose tinge.
Heads turned to Julius.
Julius kept a calm front.
"I'm Julius."
Lucius' face twisted momentarily.
"Have we met?"
Julius shrugged.
"I wouldn't know. I think I might've hit my head on the way out. The memories hazy."
Julius didn't want to be a catalyst for envy and jealousy. Once Lucius revealed he got an -S- Rank Talent then he might get attacked for it.
Julius didn't have an -S- rank talent but he still considered himself a target for envy.
Lucius smiled brightly.
"Well. I'll go first. My talent is-."
"No."
Lucius looked to his right in perplexion.
There stood Dian with bags under his eyes and a displeasing look on his face. His curly black hair looked like it was weeping.
"Don't reveal your Talent. You can't trust a single person here."
Dian's eyes squinted.
"Especially not the so seemingly happy ones."
His eyes darted to and fro the twins.
Dian, Grit, and Alexander then left in protest almost. Julius just imagined that they were avoiding embarrassment.
The twins left, in some candy land of their own.
And now, it was just Lucius and Julius standing.
Lucius chuckled sadly.
"I guess it's just us now..."
Julius nodded hesitantly.
Lucius looked around in curiosity.
"You wanna scout with me?"
Julius let out a short breath.
"Sure. I guess that doesn't sound too bad."
The two wandered around the village but as they got to the edges, they noticed something off.
"Hey..."
Julius called out to Lucius who was behind him.
"Look over there. It doesn't look normal."
Lucius slowly walked over before concentrating his vision.
"You're right rather it looks..."
The two turned heads steadily.
"Corrupted."
The entire land beyond them was a murky black. There were strands and ravines of some ancient purple glow littered around.
Lucius breathed out heavily.
"We'll report this if the others return to the center of the village. At this rate, we might not be in such a pleasant place after all."
Julius nodded.
The two left back into the village and explored a few houses. Everything looked like it had been abandoned or knocked over in some rush to escape.
As Julius opened the door to the fourth house, he found a door leading to a basement.
"Down here."
Julius swung it open, entering it calmly. There hadn't been any signs of life other than the other 7 entrees.
As he entered the poorly lit basement he saw two shiny metal objects.
A spearhead and a sword's steel blade to be exact.
Lucius came down, surprised to see two treasures just waiting to be taken.
"1 each? I won't mind either."
Julius nodded stoically.
"I'll take the spear."
Julius preferred to have some distance between himself and his enemies. His only issue now was that he had no fighting experience.
Lucius smiled graciously.
"Then I'll take the sword."
As the two took the weapons, strange foreign blue screens arose before them. The same kind that had revealed to them their talents.
Julius looked down at his own.
{Spear of the 4th in Line.}
{Properties: Weakened, Semi-Indestructible, Feather-weight enchantment.}
{Owner: Julius Ferd.}
Julius stuttered.
"Did you... get something good too?"
Lucius nodded his head happily.
"Yup. Sword of the Hero."
Julius felt that he had gotten the worse of two greats but shook it off.
Julius looked out a gap in the basement.
"It's already dark, we should head back to the center."
The two were still quite distanced.
Lucius nodded.
"I just hope that the others have returned."
When the two reached the last meeting place, the twins were sitting on some sort of rock playing with their hands.
'Pretty weird.'
Julius looked forwards.
There was the group of 3.
All young, idiotic, and drunk. Julius noticed the red tinges on their faces and their swaying attitudes. Dian slipped a whine bottle behind his back.
Lucius grimaced at their behavior.
Nevertheless, he tried to lead the group once more. Julius merely admired his leadership from behind. His spear by his side.
"Alright, are we all... ready to report our findings?"
The twins merely giggled whilst Grit the stoic muscly grey-haired man stumbled over to Lucius with an arrogant look on his burly face.
"You should be ready to shut the fuck up."
Grit spat on the ground.
Alexander, the small blonde boy cackled with laughter.
Grit smirked in his pride.
"What's wrong? Lost your pretty-boy act? Y-you my."
"You my bitch now."
Grit attempted to put an arm around Lucius' shoulder. His actions were slow and sweaty due to his drunken state. Julius raised two eyebrows at this hidden side of Grit.
Lucius sighed.
"Go to sleep."
Bang.
Julius had to blink twice to assure himself of what had just happened.
In the sounding of that one bang, Grit was dead on the floor, unconscious.
The twins stopped giggling. Alexander stopped cackling.
Dian's slightly drunk face twisted.
Lucius gave out a loose smile.
"So."
"Are we ready to report our findings now?"
Julius cursed in his mind.
'How the hell did he even do that? Some forbidden martial art? Or did he unlock his talent early?'
The twins giggled stuffily again.
"We found some insects but they were all dead."
Lucius nodded.
"That's fine. Anything is a find."
Lucius then turned to Alexander and Dian.
Dian spoke up for the now trembling Alexander.
"We found food storages and wine. But that's as much information as you'll get out of us."
Lucius tilted his head.
"I see. Drunk on wine."
"Well, we found out that there is a revenant corruption case on the east of the village."
"Or in other words. We're isolated within the constraints of this place."
Lucius began explaining his and Julius' findings confidently.
Julius remained silent, keeping a wary eye on Grit.
Fortunately, his clothes seemed to have dried off.
Nevertheless, it was unfortunate that the entire group had just split up so swiftly.
As Lucius was around halfway through his analysis, a blue screen formed before everyone.
Eyes widened in curiosity.
Julius looked at his screen in excitement.
'It's about time I get to use this talent for something.'
{Name: Julius Ferd}
{Strength} : {F}
{Agility} : {E-}
{Wisdom} : {F-}
{Durability} : {F}
{Stamina} : {F}
{Mana} : {F-}
Overall: {F}
Talent {Hyperstat Rebellion A+}
Flaw {???}
Stat Points {10} With Hyperstat Rebellion {250}
Next Player Skill {Lvl 2}
Next Level Stat Points {3}
Mana {0/0}
Julius eyes's widened along with the others at this development.
Julius felt visions in his head.
A wizard.
A dragon slayer.
A warrior.
No effort, he could become any of them now. He just had to assort his 250 stat points correctly.
Julius put a hand on his chin.
' I can't be a warrior. I won't have the vital experience. I can't be anything that takes skill like an archer so the only option is...'
'A mage.'
As Julius decided his choices a warning came from his system. The screen turned a concerning red.
{Player has entered the first flaw of Hyperstat Rebellion. Player has 10 seconds to spend his stat points.}
Julius breathed out heavily.
"Mana."
"Put every point in mana."
He would be a wizard. It was so simple. He could just blast his enemies from miles away.
The screen turned green.
{250 Points put into Mana.}
Player's Old Mana {0/0}
Player's New Mana {0/500}
{Mana} : {A-}
Julius breathed out in relief.
'That was close-.'
A grey notification emerged on his screen slyly.
{Second flaw of Hyperstat Rebellion has appeared.}
{Player may no longer level up. All exp will be locked.}
{The second stage of Hyperstat Rebellion has appeared. Player is applicable for any free magic skill in accordance with his spendings.}
Julius found his saving grace.
From a list, he began rapidly tapping away.
He hit the first option. World Breaker.
{That option requires 2500 Wisdom.}
Next, he selected, Call of Sanoth.
{That option requires 1000 Wisdom.}
Then Massacre of Three.
{That option requires 100 Wisdom.}
Fire Beam.
{That option requires 25 Wisdom.}
Water Ball.
{That option requires 10 Wisdom.}
Earth Mound.
{That option requires 1 Wisdom.}
Unappreciated wind.
{That option requires Wisdom.}
Julius' lip quivered.
"Well shit."