When Suho was an adorable baby of one, he took his first steps. Like all parents, they were surprised, albeit in a slightly different way compared to others.
"Dear, dear! Suho is...! Our Suho...!"
"What about Suho?"
"He's flying right now!" Suho's mother exclaimed as if she couldn't believe it.
"What?"
"Our boy is flying around inside the house right now!"
Suho's first steps were in the air instead of the ground. It was one of the special abilities he inherited from his father known as Ruler's Authority.
"I miss those days," Beru sighed before he began to explain the story behind Suho's powers.
At the age of one, Suho had already learned to fly before he could even walk. The sight had seemed like a legendary tale of an extraordinary hero's birth. At that time, Earth was in perfect harmony. But the power he had inherited was created to destroy, which was utterly useless in a peaceful world. Not only was it useless, but it also had the potential to make normal life impossible. To solve the issue, Jinwoo decided to seal Suho's power until he could control it.
"Now, as the followers of the Outer Gods are invading Earth! It is the time for the sealed power of the Young Monarch to be unleashed!" Beru shouted.
[Skill: Ruler's Authority - Level 1
Active Skill.
No mana required.
Physical influence on objects can be exerted without direct contact.]
Ignoring Beru, Suho used his unseen hand to send the arrow he had grabbed flying back in the opposite direction. "I'll return the favor."
[Goblin Archer has been defeated.]
The goblin archer choked on its own arrow as it struck its throat. Startled upon, the other goblin turned and began to flee as it cried out in shock.
Do you think I'll let you run away? In a flash, he easily outpaced the fleeing goblin with a single leap and cornered it. The horror in the beast's eyes satisfied the ant king.
"Excellent! With the increase in strength stats, your jumping ability has naturally improved! You'll get used to it quickly!"
For some reason, Beru's voice sounded irritating, as he chuckled from above and explained things with a smile. Suho immediately struck the goblin's forehead with his ax.
[Goblin Scout has been defeated.]
He had hunted down two goblins in quick succession. He wiped the goblin's blood from his face with the back of his hand and looked around with a haughty expression. Amid the spontaneous battle, he had no time to study his surroundings but now realized that this monochrome world was far from welcoming. Malevolent gazes permeated from various points in the ruined city. He could sense their life force all around him.
"There are many of them."
"Of course, there are. This is the land of death. A world long abandoned without an owner. During this time, magic beasts have made nests in this land." Beru's smile, while explaining with a mischievous chuckle, was truly wicked. If he wasn't so adorably small, Suho would have believed that Beru was the true owner of this world.
The ant beast spread his short arms wide and solemnly declared, "At last, the true owner of this land has returned! May you conquer it! Reclaim the land stolen by those foolish intruders with your power!"
Ding!
At that moment, a new quest window popped up before Suho.
[Quest: Survival]
The residents of the Shadow Dungeon will never acknowledge you as the true owner of this land, weakened as you are.
Survive for the required time to prove your worth.
Required Time: 4 Hours
Remaining Time: 4 Hours, 0 Minutes, 0 Seconds
Survival? Suho's eyebrows twitched as he read the quest. He was pondering the meaning of the message until he was interrupted by the sound of a booming horn.
[Goblin Captain uses Item: "Horn of Calling" to summon subordinates.]
[Goblin Chief uses Item: "Horn of Calling" to summon subordinates.]
There was a rush of movement. Amid the loudness of wild screams, goblins hidden throughout the city began to reveal themselves one by one. Seeing the green swarm of goblins forming, Suho sunk into despair.
"You're kidding me, right? I have to endure this for four hours?"
"Of course, there's no need to kill them all. Right now, Your Highness is only at level 3. For now, try to survive in any way you can. If you work hard and persevere, you'll naturally level up and become stronger."
Beru winked at him and gave a thumbs-up. His smile looked like that of a proud father looking at his grown-up son.
Why is his expression annoying me? But he had more urgent matters at hand, his enemies were swarming toward him. Suho quickly grabbed the weapon from the goblin he had just killed.
[Item: Goblin's Stone Ax
Grade: E
Type: Ax
Attack Power +5
A hand ax used by a goblin.]
Item information appeared above the weapon. From now on, one in each hand. His eyes gleamed as he grabbed a stone ax in each hand. However, this alone was not enough. The goblins advanced menacingly holding the same weapon. Suho quickly opened the status window and invested all five remaining stat points into strength.
[Strength: 15 → 20]
Suho's hands, each gripping an ax, felt a surge of strength. The strength stat increased both power and speed. Considering the stat had been 10 at level 1, it had now doubled. If this is the level of strength... I can go even faster now!
Using his newfound powers, Suho abruptly turned and began searching for advantageous terrain to battle multiple foes.
"Excellent! Indeed, the weak must find their own way of fighting! It's like watching a baby ant successfully take its first steps!"
Can he be more annoying? Any sense of nostalgia Suho had for Beru disappeared as he ran to find a better position. He also resolved to leave behind his past life as an ant enthusiast. When I get back, I'm going to burn all my ant artwork. Suho firmly decided to start drawing anteaters from now on.
***
Suho really felt the effects of his strength stat. With dual axes in hand, he leaped and moved in all directions.
Swing! He used his right ax to strike down the goblin's. Slice! He struck its neck with his left ax. He swiftly chopped at the goblin's ankle as it attempted to strike his back, then he cut the goblin's throat.
[Goblin Assault Trooper has been defeated.]
[Goblin Spearman has been defeated.]
He had killed two at once, but the price was gruesome. Axes and spears flew at Suho from all directions. He managed to dodge half but was hit by the other half.
[HP: 160/190]
The pain was real. As his health decreased, the number of wounds on his body increased. However, he gritted his teeth and charged at the goblins once more. He struck down three of them but had to endure four attacks in the process.
[HP: 118/190]
Splat! Another goblin's throat was cut. This time, Suho suffered three attacks.
[HP: 84/190]
Before he knew it, his health had been reduced by half. His body had also become covered in blood as a result.
Ding!
[Skill: 'Endurance Level 1' has been acquired.]
I learned a new skill?! Suho's eyes widened. Hunters typically lived their entire lives with the skills granted to them upon awakening. Additionally, obtaining new skills required expensive "rune stones," which were rare. Having received a precious skill for free during battle, he couldn't believe his luck.
[Skill: Pain Tolerance - Level 1
Passive Skill.
No mana required.
You've acquired an unyielding tolerance to pain.
Physical defense has increased by 20%.]
He could experience the effect firsthand even before checking the skill description. The pain from the wounds on his body had been alleviated.
Just as the goblins realized that Suho was not to be underestimated, they screamed and scattered in all directions. At the same time, the horn that summoned them called for more comrades, echoing from all directions. As more gathered, Suho hid behind a pillar to catch his breath. "Wow, this hurts."
Upon hearing those words, Beru flew over with a whoosh and stomped his foot. "Woo! Is the Young Monarch in a lot of pain? Nevertheless, no pain, no gain. You'll be stronger for it. Obtaining the Pain Tolerance skill by enduring so vigorously is a truly impressive feat!"
Suho, holding his hand to his bleeding wound, glared at Beru. That ant, who was the size of a fist, laughed heartily, oblivious to how he felt.
"Instead of just watching, can't you help a bit too?"
The formidable magic beast had torn apart the giant wolf with his strength alone. Suho felt like he had gained a reliable ally, but ever since he had become smaller, Beru was less willing to help. Though, he had his reasons.
"Of course, I naturally want to assist you but I must conserve my strength so that I may return to outer space where my master awaits."
Beru had been slowly replenishing his depleted strength for the journey back home. Sung Jinwoo, who could recharge mana, was too far away to heal his shadow ant.
"Also, if I participated in the battle, the experience points that would go to the Young Monarch would decrease significantly. Your goal is to level up, so wouldn't it be better to focus on killing more enemies?"
Everything Beru said was right. Suho's problem was that he was being too bratty. The ant had been yammering non-stop above his head, much to his annoyance. However, it didn't seem like Beru was intentionally provoking him either. One might say that he was simply a being of pure evil that was devoid of humanity, which made sense since he wasn't human.
"Woo! Young Monarch! They're coming again! Get up and fight! You're so close to leveling up!"
Suho clenched his teeth and reached out his hand. Ruler's Authority. An invisible hand flew forward and grabbed a stone ax from a goblin's corpse.
During the battle, Suho realized that the weight he could lift with Ruler's Authority was approximately ten kilograms. It was enough strength to lift up a baby that had just learned to walk. It was also strong enough to lift a stone ax as well. He deduced that the skill had enabled him to fly when he was a baby. He cast the floating weapon to spin around him in the air as a form of defense against the goblins.
The ingenuity made Beru's eyes twinkle. "Woah! What a way to use Ruler's Authority! That's definitely thinking outside the box!"
That ant jerk is definitely the devil.
***
[The level has increased!]
[The level has increased!]
Time dragged on. After toiling away while being covered in blood, Suho's level had gradually risen. Whenever he leveled up, the bloody wounds that were caused by the goblins' axes miraculously healed. His stamina, which would be on the brink of collapse, would also instantly surge to full strength as well. Most important of all, as his level increased, Suho grew progressively stronger. As he prepared himself for another assault…
[Remaining Time: 0 Hours, 0 Minutes, 0 Seconds]
[The quest has been completed.]
[The level has increased!]
[Level: 7]
Once the timer expired, the persistent goblins who had been ruthlessly pursuing Suho suddenly scattered and disappeared into the darkness.
"Is it over?" Suho asked. He didn't let down his guard and instead examined his surroundings. He was surrounded by goblin corpses. The heavy silence that had descended upon this place was as intense as when he had first arrived.
"Wow! You did well! I'm so proud of you!" Beru gleefully broke the silence with his enthusiastic clapping. "Finally, those wicked beings have acknowledged our Young Monarch! Although you may look like an easy target, deep down in their bones, those goblins know not to mess with you anymore!"
"What do you mean I look like an easy target?"
"You still feel like an ant larva that could die with a single flick! After all, you've only just reached level 7!"
"You and that ant larva..." I'm still like an ant larva? I shouldn't have asked.
A loud chime rang out.
[The quest completion reward has arrived.]
[Would you like to confirm the reward?] (Y/N)
"Confirm…" The message unfolded ominously even before Suho finished his response.
[The following rewards will be given.]
Reward: "Rune Stone: Shadow Extraction"