Vicky Thorne remained hidden in the broken utility tunnel for two full hours. He didn't sleep. He entered a state of vampiric meditation, a conscious shutdown of his body. His enhanced metabolism, fueled by his Endurance (19), was in overdrive. The deep gash in his thigh, the bruises from the Rift-Leech, and the dozens of minor cuts from the Wanderers all knitted themselves back together. His energy reserves, both physical and vampiric, slowly refilled.
He was not resting. He was re-calibrating.
He had survived twelve hours. He was now Level 14. His stats were STR 20, SPD 19, END 19. The Level 15 Fragment Wanderers were no longer a threat. The Level 18 Rift-Leech was a problem, but a solvable one.
This place was not a prison. It was a farm.
The System wanted him to survive for 72 hours. But Vicky's goals had changed. He wasn't here to survive. He was here to evolve. He was here to feast. The System had locked him in a box full of XP, and he would not stop until he had eaten every last drop.
He checked his timer: 60:00:00 remaining.
He slid out of the tunnel, his movements silent and fluid. The eerie purple light of the plane cast strange, long shadows. He stood tall, his body a perfect weapon. He took a deep breath of the cold, metallic air.
"Time to go to work," he whispered.
He activated Blood Sense. His perception of the world exploded. He could see the faint, nervous, purple-white auras of the Wanderers moving in packs through the broken, floating ruins around him. He could feel the 'hot' green-black smear of another Rift-Leech moving in the distance.
He had a plan. First, he would clear the pests. He needed to reach Level 15.
He looked at his XP: 3,400 / 11,200 (To Lvl 15). He needed 7,800 XP.
At 600 XP per Wanderer, he needed to kill 13 of them.
He smiled, a cold, sharp, and utterly inhuman smile. "Only 13."
He set off at a run, his Speed (19) making him a black blur that was nearly invisible in the dim light. He found his first targets: a pack of three Wanderers, gliding aimlessly around a shattered fountain.
In his first fight, he had been defensive. He had used Blood Shield and fought for his life.
Now, he was the monster.
He didn't wait. He didn't plan. He simply attacked.
He burst from the shadows, his body low to the ground. Titan's Strength (Lvl 2) flared to life. He didn't just activate his Blood Claws; he infused them with his Chi (20), making them glow with a white-hot, burning energy.
The first Wanderer (Lvl 15) turned, its faceless head sensing him. It was too late.
Vicky didn't slash. He punched. He drove his Chi-infused fist straight through the creature's chest.
SHATTER!
His Strength (20), combined with his new, refined energy, didn't just kill the creature. It disintegrated it. The Wanderer's obsidian body exploded into a cloud of purple dust from the sheer kinetic force.
SYSTEM :
Fragment Wanderer (Lvl 15) defeated.
XP Acquired: +600 XP.
XP Total: 4,000 / 11,200 (To Lvl 14).
The other two attacked, swiping at him from both sides. Vicky was faster. He ducked under their claws, his movements fluid. He was in the "zone," a state of perfect combat focus. He could see their attacks before they even started.
He grabbed one creature's arm, spun, and used its own body as a shield against the other. The third Wanderer slashed, but only cut deep into its partner's back.
Vicky, holding the first creature, used his Blood Arrow (Lvl 2) skill at point-blank range, not as a projectile, but as a shotgun.
BOOM!
A massive blast of crimson energy vaporized the creature's head. He threw the body at the last one, staggering it, and then finished it with a single, clean claw-strike to the chest.
The entire fight took less than five seconds.
SYSTEM :
Fragment Wanderer (Lvl 15) defeated. (+600 XP)
Fragment Wanderer (Lvl 15) defeated. (+600 XP)
XP Total: 5,200 / 11,200 (To Lvl 14).
"Ten more," he said, shaking the purple dust from his hands.
The next few hours became a blur of brutal, efficient slaughter. Vicky was a reaper in a field of wheat. He hunted down pack after pack. He didn't hide. He didn't use stealth. He was a whirlwind of Chi-infused claws and crimson energy.
He used his Blood-Chi Fusion to create new attacks on the fly. He infused his Blood Shield with Chi, and when he activated it, it didn't just block—it exploded outwards, sending Wanderers flying. He used his Chi-claws to tear through their armor like it was paper.
He was a Level 14 creature, with Level 2 skills and Level 20 stats, fighting Level 15 enemies. It was a massacre.
Finally, after his tenth kill in a row, the System flashed.
SYSTEM : Fragment Wanderer (Lvl 15) defeated.
XP Acquired: +600 XP.
XP Total: 11,200 / 11,200.
A wave of glorious, healing, and powerful energy washed through his body, ten times stronger than his last level-up. Every cell in his body sang. His power, which he thought was at its peak, suddenly felt like a fraction of his new potential.
SYSTEM: LEVEL UP!
Level 15 achieved.
Stat Points Available: +3.
XP: 0 / 12,800 (To Lvl 16).
All attributes strengthened.
New Skill Unlocked: Blood Sense (Lvl 2) (Passive)
Vicky roared, the sound echoing in the dead, empty world. He felt incredible. His new passive skill, Blood Sense (Lvl 2), let him see twice as far, and he could now feel the intent of his enemies, not just their location.
He didn't waste a second. "System, allocate all points. One to Strength, one to Speed, one to Endurance."
VICKY THORNE: STATUS
Level: 15
Stat Points Available: 0
STR: 21
SPD: 20
END: 20
Chi: 20 / 20
He was now Level 15. The Wanderers, who were his equals just hours ago, were now officially grayed-out, low-level trash mobs.
And right on cue, the plane responded.
As if sensing he had become too powerful for the current "stage," the purple light in the sky dimmed, and a new, chilling sound filled the air: the sound of static, like a broken radio.
Blood Sense (Lvl 2) screamed at him. Danger!
He looked to his left. Nothing. He looked to his right. Nothing.
The static grew louder.
Above!
He looked up. A creature was phasing into existence on the side of a floating skyscraper. It was thin, insect-like, and made of what looked like shimmering, broken glass. It had long, sickle-like claws and a single, pulsing red eye.
PHASE STALKER
Level: 17
Tier: 2 (Dimension Hostile)
HP: 700
Special: Phasing, Teleportation, Armor-Piercing Claws.
The Stalker locked its red eye on him, and then vanished in a burst of static.
Blood Sense told him it was... behind him!
Vicky spun, his Speed (20) just fast enough. He threw up a Blood Shield.
SCHREEE!
The Stalker's claws hit his shield. But they didn't clang. They phased partially through the energy, cutting into his shoulder. It wasn't a deep cut, but it was a hit. This thing's attacks could partially ignore his defenses.
Vicky roared, not in pain, but in anger. He dropped the shield and grabbed the creature's arm.
The Stalker's body dissolved into static, its arm slipping through his fingers. It "blinked" 30 feet away, its red eye judging him.
This was a new kind of fight. He couldn't tank. He couldn't just use brute force.
"You want to play, you glass-limbed freak?" Vicky growled. "Let's play."
The Stalker blinked again. Vicky, using his new Blood Sense, didn't look where it was. He looked where its intent told him it was going to be.
He turned to an empty spot on his right and fired a Chi-infused Blood Arrow.
The Stalker materialized directly into the path of the arrow.
BOOM!
The crimson, burning bolt hit it dead-center, shattering its glass-like torso. It screeched, shocked that he had predicted its move. It was wounded, but it wasn't dead.
It blinked again, and this time, three more Phase Stalkers blinked in around it. A pack of four.
"Good," Vicky said, his fangs bared. "This will be a real fight."
This was a battle of speed and prediction. Vicky's Speed (20) was high, but their teleportation was instant. He was weaving, dodging, and striking, his Blood Claws clashing against their phase-claws.
It was a dance of death.
Blink. Slash. Dodge. Counter.
He took a hit to the back, the claws tearing his suit. He spun, his elbow, enhanced with Titan's Strength, shattering the Stalker's head.
SYSTEM : Phase Stalker (Lvl 17) defeated.
XP Acquired: +1,000 XP.
XP Total: 1,000 / 12,800 (To Lvl 16).
He was bleeding from three different places, but his Endurance (20) was pumping, healing him as he fought. The other three Stalkers, seeing him wounded, all blinked in for a simultaneous kill-strike.
Blood Sense saw all three attacks coming.
He didn't dodge. He stood still.
"My turn. Blood Shield... Level 2!"
He didn't just cast the shield. He detonated it. He poured all his power into a single, outward blast of crimson, Chi-infused energy.
VWOOM!
A massive, 360-degree shockwave of pure force exploded from his body. The three Stalkers, caught mid-teleport, were blasted backward, their glass-like bodies cracking.
They were all stunned.
Vicky moved.
One. Two. Three.
Three precise, brutal strikes. Three dead Stalkers.
SYSTEM : Phase Stalker (Lvl 17) defeated.
(+1,000 XP)
Phase Stalker (Lvl 17) defeated.
(+1,000 XP)
Phase Stalker (Lvl 17) defeated.
(+1,000 XP)
XP Total: 4,000 / 12,800 (To Lvl 16).
He stood alone, breathing hard, his wounds already closing. The Stalkers were worth more. They were harder, but the reward was better.
He was about to hunt more, when Blood Sense picked up something big.
The wet, slurping sound.
He looked down from the floating building he was on. A Rift-Leech (Lvl 18) was dragging itself across the ground below.
When he was Level 14, this thing was a boss.
Now, he was Level 15. His stats were STR 21, SPD 20, END 20.
"You," Vicky snarled.
He didn't wait. He didn't plan. He jumped.
He fell 300 feet, a crimson meteor aimed right at the Leech.
The Leech sensed him, its massive, tooth-filled mouth opening to screech and spit acid.
Vicky, in mid-air, fired a Blood Arrow into its open mouth.
The bolt shot down its throat, exploding inside its acid-sac.
The creature convulsed, green acid spraying harmlessly as its own insides melted.
Vicky landed on its back with the force of a bomb. He didn't bother with the pustules. He raised both hands, his Blood Claws extended and burning with white-hot Chi.
"Die!" he roared.
He plunged his claws deep into the creature's back and tore, using his Strength (21) to rip the 20-foot monster in half.
It was brutal. It was overkill. It was dominant.
SYSTEM : Rift-Leech (Lvl 18) defeated.
XP Acquired: +3,000 XP.
XP Total: 7,000 / 12,800 (To Lvl 16).
He was a god of war. He spent the next few hours in a red haze of combat. He hunted Stalkers. He butchered Wanderers. He found one more Leech and killed it just as easily.
His XP bar filled rapidly.
...8,000... 9,000... 10,000... 11,000...
He hunted down one final pack of Phase Stalkers, his movements so fast and precise they couldn't even touch him.
SYSTEM : Phase Stalker (Lvl 17) defeated.
(+1,000 XP)
Phase Stalker (Lvl 17) defeated. (+1,000 XP)
XP Total: 13,000 / 12,800.
A second wave of power, even greater than the first, washed over him. He had done it. He had gained two levels in less than twelve hours.
SYSTEM: LEVEL UP!
Level 16 achieved.
Stat Points Available: +3.
XP: 200 / 14,500 (To Lvl 17).
All attributes strengthened.
"Allocate," he commanded, his voice raw. "One to Strength, one to Speed, one to Endurance."
VICKY THORNE: STATUS
Level: 16
Stat Points Available: 0
STR: 22
SPD: 21
END: 21Chi: 20 / 20
He was now Level 16. The Lvl 17 Stalkers were now his equals. He was the apex predator of this plane.
He checked his timer.
48:00:00 remaining.
He had survived 24 hours. He had 48 left.
But as he looked up, the plane shook. The ground trembled, and in the far distance, a massive, floating island, dark and menacing, began to glow with a deep, red light. Blood Sense screamed, not with a warning, but with a feeling of pure, primal dread.
The Level 20 Boss of this fragmented world had just woken up.
STATUS UPDATE
VICKY THORNE: STATUSLevel: 16
XP: 200 / 14,500 (To Lvl 17)
Stat Points Available: 0
STR: 22
SPD: 21
END: 21
Chi: 20 / 20