Chapter 153 - 150 : A Meeting With The Demon Lord (2/2)
While pointing at Taliya, Arthur gazed at Mikayla and casually said
”I want her.”
A moment of silence passed quickly as Arthur corrected his sentence.
”Don't get me wrong, I want her to be my follower not as a toy or whatever you thought. I already asked her but she won't reply, so I'm asking the master instead.”
The smile on the middle-aged man's stiffened, he tried to keep it but he couldn't as he was dumbstruck by what he just heard. As for Mikayla, she was as unfazed as ever, it's either she was expecting that or it just wasn't that surprising to hear that from Arthur.
”Taliya is not an object to be given to anyone, she's a loyal servant for our household.... she is also my sister.”
'Is that so.'
Arthur didn't expect this but his intentions still didn't change, if she is willing to accompany him then it'll lift some burden off him. He just needs someone from the time being, and it's for the better if it's a strong person and someone you can trust.
He didn't trust Taliya but judging from her behavior, she isn't a bad person, after some time, maybe he'll learn to trust her a bit. The people he really has confidence in and fully trusts can be counted on one hand.
Arthur was prepared to talk again when the surroundings suddenly blurred and his vision darkened. Nothing besides that occurred yet it was enough for him to know that it's happening again and he'll have to endure for another 7 years.
...
Unlike what he thought, Arthur found himself in a white space with nothing but him around. He looked around and tried walking in all directions but it leads to nowhere.
Seconds... minutes and even hours passed yet nothing happened. It was just Arthur roaming the endless white space. At some point, he even thought he might have died but the probability of that being true is extremely meager.
”Hello there, Arthur.”
Another figure, exactly similar to Arthur suddenly appeared in front of him. It had the same facial features, same hair, eyes, and nose. Even calling him his doppelganger would be an understatement, the figure in front of him is his literal copy.
Arthur had one guess in mind, it's that person who possessed him when he was unconscious after fighting the Gods in the Underworld.
”Who are you?”
It was a bad idea to follow this person's advice and Arthur was truly angry at him but he still maintained a calm attitude and politely asked. For a person to cut him off reality, invade his mind and even possess his body, it's better to be not aggressive against him for the time being, at least until he found a way or a solution to get rid of this invader.
”I'm Arthur.”
”With my appearance and my name? Who are you?”
Arthur's eyes narrowed as he stared at his smiling copy, he couldn't even use any magic or create any weapon or he would have beheaded this smiling bastard although it looks exactly like him, it is not him.
”Who am I? I told you I'm Arthur hahaha”
While barely holding the urge to punch himself, Arthur coldly glared at his copy and said
”Why am I here? What are you doing here?”
The Arthur copy put his hand on his chin and closed his eyes as if he was pondering about something. After maintaining that pose for a couple of seconds, he laughed again and replied
”Hahaha, did you really think I'm here? This is just a message I left but I could guess what you're going to ask so I gave you early answers hahahaha.... now onto the serious stuff.”
'There is no way this is me. He's so lame....'
”You see how wide this white space is? I created it. It's literally endless so that you can fight at your heart's will.”
”Fight?”
Confused by what he heard, Arthur sensed a foreboding danger but he couldn't fathom from where. There were only him and the douchebag in front of him.
”Now before you complain, listen to what I have to say. Did you ever wonder what's that ARK thingy in your status window? No? Well if you did, then you're going to have your answer, and if you never wondered... well it's a shame but you'll also be forced to learn to the truth whether you like or not.”
The Arthur copy raised his hand as if he was holding something in it then he resumed talking
”The ARK is something I created to help you specifically. It does not any kind of Energy, neither does it rely on Magic and keep in mind I'm talking about real Magic. It is purely scientific and its only goal is to help you.”
A cubic object appeared above his hand, it floated in the air and had countless small lines engraved on it. The lines would turn from blue to red every now and then but aside from that, its appearance was quite normal.
It was a bit bigger than a fist and was white in color with countless lines on it. Arthur couldn't fathom what's so special about it.
”I know it looks ordinary but the appearance doesn't matter. One of its many functions is to train you, and that is why I'm here today. This message is scheduled to set off when your body has met the minimum requirements to support the weight of the ARK.
Since all of this is new to you, we'll start off easy and just to let you know, your Energy, Health and Stamina Recoveries are increased to 100%. All your stats are lowered to 100 for the sake of the training and your weight is increased by 15 times. All the skills are disabled except the basic ones such as weapons masteries. There is no time limit and no matter how much you're here, not even a second will pass in reality.
Oh and don't die, alright? Having a 100% Health Recovery doesn't help if you're insta-killed, right? hahaha”
Arthur could not even process the first part before his copy suddenly disappeared, leaving the cubic object rotating slowly.
*Countdown beginning: 10..9..8..7*
”Countdown for what?”
Arthur trying shouting for the robotic voice to explain what's going to happen but there was no response. The countdown reached 0 at last and what's about to happen finally happened.
TITLE: MEAT GRINDER / SEEKER OF KNOWLEDGE / ONE WITH THE SWORD / ARK HOLDER
Level ????
Class: Dark ARK Parasite
Realm: Immortal 5th Grade-
Strength:100
Intelligence:100
Agility:100
Wisdom:100
Vitality:100
Dexterity:100
Health:100 / / Health Regen:100%
Nether Energy:100 / / Nether Energy Regen:100%
Mana:100 / / Mana Regen:100%
Stamina:100 / / Stamina Regen:100%
Creation : 0
Attack:100
Defense:100
Magic defense : 100
Enigma abilities : Telekinesis / Ancient Threads / Sixth sense / ARK(ACTIVATED)
Mental Power : 100
Elemental Resistances:
Fire: 0%
Water:0%
Wind:0%
Earth:0%
Light/holy:0%
Shadow0%
Lightning0%
Ice0%
'It really changed!'
Even his infinite Stamina was turned back to 100. He trying clenching his fists but the godly physical power he previously had disappeared. Since he entered this space, he could still feel his power but he couldn't use it but now, it literally all went away in just a split second.
From the clean white ground, a big silhouette popped up. It was a three meter tall white humanoid creature. From head to toe, it was all white with no facial features or clothes, it didn't even have a gender.
*Please pick you weapon.*
*List:
One-handed Axe: 10 attacks.
Two-handed Axe: 25 attacks.
Small Shield: 5% block, 5 defense.
Large Shield: 15% block, 25 defense.
....
A long list of weapons was displayed in front of him, the list was so long that he had to scroll down for a couple of minutes. There were all kinds of weapons but their disparity in attack and defense was not that large.
Arthur just chose a katana that looked similar to Makaze and closed the transparent window. He can wield other weapons but he was more comfortable with swords.
*Are you ready?*
'No.'
Arthur clicked no and spent some time getting used to the katana. He still had his sword mastery but the peak mastery is lost which is a shame or else he wouldn't have to worry even with such low stats. What's more is that his Stamina will run out so quickly so he can't drag out the fight for very long.
'Alright, I'm ready.'
*User approval obtained. Countdown beginning: 10..9..8..7..6...*
Arthur tightly held the katana and faced the weird white thing humanoid creature in front of him. It didn't wield any weapons but it still had a tall height and a big size which was worrying a bit, especially since Arthur had a very low Agility and Dexterity.
*Battle: Start!*
At the robotic voice's sign, the white creature charged at Arthur and stomped its feet at him. It's been forever for Arthur since he fought this slowly and struggled against such a weak enemy. He may have lost his skills and stats but at least he still had the experience he gained from all the countless battles he had to go through, whether it's in reality or in those 14 years.
Arthur side-stepped away from the incoming foot and slashed his katana horizontally at the white foot. He was expecting to deal some damage but the Katana easily cut through the foot as if it was tofu. It was met with absolutely no resistance and the foot was cut off instantly.
Losing its balance, the white creature fell on the ground but albeit being unable to stand up, it still did a grabbing motion, trying to crush Arthur into minced meat.
Arthur didn't miss this opportunity, he avoided the hands by rolling in between and then did a vertical swing with his katana, cutting off the neck of this weird creature.
*Congratulations! You passed the first phase.*
Arthur was going to breathe a sigh of relief when the other copy of him suddenly appeared.
”Hi, there! If you're seeing this then it means you successfully passed the first phase. It was pretty easy, right? Hahaha, I knew you could manage it. Well, there are two other phases left to finish the beginner phase but it'll come with benefits, trust me. For the second phase, your stats are increased by 10 times but the enemy's strength is multiplied by 50. You can also use the physical skills but only the basic ones, you can check them before fighting. Oh and here's a precious advice; Don't die! Hahahahaha”
'Lame fucker...'
Arthur cursed his copy repeatedly as he wiped the sweat off his forehead and sat down to rest. For some reason, his Stamina decreased by more than half just by doing three moves which are not a normal thing. He had infinite Stamina since the moment he possessed Zodaik so he never felt tired no matter how much he fights.
The only thing remotely similar to fatigue he experienced is whilst activating all those passives and having to bear with the endless pressure pressing on his mind and causing him mental pain.
...
Another creature appeared, this time had a normal humanoid height but it was still strangely white. It took a stance similar to the karate from Earth, either way, it resembled a martial art stance.
*Please pick your weapon.*
*List:
One-handed Axe: 100 damage.
....*
Arthur picked up his Katana and the second he touched it, the robotic voice rang in his ears again.
*Available skills for swords: Cross Slash Lv1/ Hole in One Lv1/ Dance Harmony Lv1/ Enforcement Lv1...*
A list longer than the weapons appeared in front of Arthur. He didn't even bother reading all of the skills, he picked a few that seemed useful in critical moments and ignored the rest. To read all of those skills, even a day wouldn't be enough as the list kept refreshing and increasing every second.
*Are you ready?*
'... Ready..'
Honestly, he didn't even know why he had to do this but for now, he had to take his copy's word and hope these phases would give him decent rewards when he's out of this space and his stats better come back to normal or else he's screwed.
”Come at me, whitey”
Since they are all white, Arthur decided to call it 'whitey', it suits them and he isn't going to waste time to pick a name for each one of them if there's going to be multiple phases then more of these weird creatures will pop up.
A burst of wind was heard as whitey charged at Arthur with incredible speed. Seeing the opponent coming, Arthur didn't just stay idle, he raised his katana and used [Singular Point].
It's a sword skill that allows the user to see what's the weakness of the opponent at the cost of 150 Stamina. As Arthur expected, it was not just one red point, the whole white figure was in red so it appears that wherever he strikes, it'll deal lots of damage.
[Cross Slash] was executed and two sword arcs made from sheer sword energy were thrown at the incoming whitey, which marvelously evaded the arcs and appeared on the left side of Arthur.
Having no time to dodge, Arthur swung his katana at whitey, performing a backward slash which failed due to it only hitting the air. Whitey crouched down to avoid the slash and did a fast roundhouse kick that sent Arthur flying 5 meters in the air.
Whitey didn't even wait for Arthur to fall on the ground, it dashed at where he's going to fall and kicked his exposed back, sending him stumbling on the ground which was dyed by the blood coming out of his mouth.
Fortunately, Arthur was able to stabilize himself and quickly got up. What's more, his Health was instantly recovered but the pain was still agonizing him. His broken bones were repaired in just a second but the pain was way slower and it took more than a second for it to disappear.
...
*Congratulations! You passed the second phase.*
”Hi again! It seems you're owning this beginner phase! I like that! To motivate you more, the stats will be raised ten times but the next enemy will be 25 times stronger. All your attributes will be unlocked but you won't be able to abuse the strong skills, only basic ones will be available. oh and by the way, after you defeat the next enemy, you won't hear another message from me, you'll just earn you rewards.
You can leave if you want after that but you can also train in this space, it cost a bit but you'll find it worth it I think... anywayyyyyy I got distracted for a second. I'm going to give you three warnings. One, don't mess with the System or provoke them or even fight against one of them, the fact that you're doing the beginner phase shows how weak you are currently.
Two, it is really unlikely but if you ever meet someone named 'The Joker' then don't mess with him, don't even talk to him, he's one of the only remaining Magic users and you'll just die by his hands, just pray you don't meet him.
Three, Don't mess with the Dragon Race, don't anger them or steal anything from them. That is all I can say, good luck and don't die!”
Arthur was sitting and panting heavily as he barely managed to beat whitey. The martial arts it used was pretty basic but it hits pretty hard and he was sent flying in the air for more times than he could count. Now came the warnings of his copy which left him startled and confused.
He never intended to mess with the Joker after witnessing him fight, neither did he plan on angering the dragons. He fought one in the past but apparently, that was not a real dragon. As for the System, Arthur was skeptical about it, it helped him in many ways but he still found it a strange existence, it even had a universe of its own. Thinking back to Astria, it's probably in the System's universe since all people on it have access to the System and are able to use it.
It was previously said that this beginner phase has only three phases, he just finished two so there was only one remaining. Thinking back to the previous enemy he just faced, Arthur decided to rest a bit and get used to his stats a bit more.
With the attributes added, Arthur can now fight more efficiently. Once he checked the attributes he could use, he was delighted to find out that the fire attribute is switched to the ancient fire attribute but there was no Dark Magic, no scrolled down but there was no sign of the Dark Magic.
Cursing the smug face and lame attitude of his copy, Arthur closed the window and picked a weapon and started preparing for the last fight.
'This better be worth it or I'll swear I'll beat the living hell out of him if he shows up in front of me again.'