Ronan had taken the juggernaut class a second time. He'd told himself that it would only be for one iteration, in order to earn the merit for evolving to an epic class, but that hadn't worked out.

To him, it seemed a fair compromise to at least keep the class until he could accomplish said achievement and pocket the chronos merit it would grant him. Then, and only then, would he devote all of his time and focus towards mastering system-less magic.

Gurz'krax the elite goblin warrior blinked, and Ronan crossed the distance of ten paces by the time it opened its eyes. The elite warrior raised its greatsword a single millimetre before it was decapitated.

Sacrificial strike had dealt a wounding blow to the elite warrior, and from then on it had been a losing battle for the tenacious goblin. In the end, it was only a lv.20 goblin. Ronan had faced far worse and lived—or, well, died—to tell the tale.

Transference of momentum was a universally devastating force, no matter the weapon used to direct it into his target. Ronan stood still, offering the chivalrous goblin warrior a moment of silence out of respect for how it carried itself in their tense duel.

You have killed [Elite Goblin Warrior Lv.20]!

+169 Copper Credits

+11 [Sword I] Mastery

+5 [Stamina II] Mastery

+1 [Perception] Mastery

+3 [Pain I] Mastery

+6 [Health] Mastery

+13 [Momentum] Mastery

+Goblin Toes (Common)

+Elite Shard Lv.20 (Body)

You have leveled up to Lv.20!

You have leveled up to Lv.21!

You have been restored!

+2 Vitality

+10 Endurance

+4 Resistance

+8 Strength

+8 Tenacity

+4 Free Stat Points

You have reached the mastery cap for [Sword]!

Sword I has evolved to Sword II!

Weight and balance penalties for all swords are reduced minutely. When inflicting [Bleeding] with swords, gain a 3% chance to inflict a second instance of [Bleeding] for 50% of the damage as the first.

Congratulations, you have cleared Stage 3 of the tutorial!

+1 Bronze Credit

+627 Copper Credits

You will be awarded your personal trait based on all your accomplished merit thus far!

ERROR! Personal trait analysis interrupted, person—!$#?^£

Chronological divergence in personal trait detected!

Excess trait manifestation energy has been consumed!

Would you like to make an offering to the Temporal Obelisk?

Yes, my megalithic overlord, I would. Take this energy, and give me more powah!! Ronan began cackling like a cliche villain, but a few seconds later burst into laughter as his poor acting got the better of him.

Madness was found in solitude. At least that was what many of Earth's famous psychologists believed, and Ronan had been alone for quite some time now. Of course, he'd been with Keith, and the others, but there was a growing sense of isolation in his soul.

Those around him died, over and over again, while he continued to live. Only he bore the knowledge of what was to come. Growing numb to it was a foregone conclusion, but that didn't make it easier to handle.

Well, I'm enjoying myself. And, me getting this strong has to be good for humanity, right? Every cloud has a silver lining…

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

The Temporal Obelisk is grateful for your offering!

The Temporal Obelisk is gathering energy, continue to make offerings, and it may bestow a boon upon you!

Stage 4 will begin in 2 minutes!

1:59…

His newly tiered-up sword mastery meant he would be even deadlier in a war of attrition. Plus, from the moment he reached tier II, the sword had settled into his grip with a little more ease.

Before, it had felt like a tool he used regularly, and was comfortable wielding. Now, it was as though he'd been training for half a decade and the sword was beginning to become a part of his natural movements.

Against the assassination attempt of the goblin rogue, Ronan wondered if a sword gave him an increased chance of survival compared to a club. He would soon find out.

As it turns out, a sword isn't much more of a deterrent to a determined assassin than a flaming club. Although, Ronan was sure his blind counter-attack was far more lethal this time.

Partly because the sharp edge of a sword was a more precise instrument for applying pain than a club, but mostly because he hadn't waited for the goblin rogue to strike first. The moment he'd taken the same number of steps into the darkness as he remembered taking in the last iteration, he preemptively swung his sword, and felt it biting into flesh.

Unfortunately, he'd still been assassinated. Whether that was because he and the goblin rogue had struck simultaneously, or because there was more than one goblin rogue hiding in the shadows was a mystery that remained unsolved.

Unprecedented modifications detected…

Analysing…

Unable to determine harm-benefit of modifications. Deferring to inheritor

Body has mutated, resulting in the following:

Physical damage resistance +13%

Toxicant resistance +14%

Exsanguination resistance +2%

Keep mutations?

He wasn't sure why the slight difference in mutation percentages. Perhaps this time he'd resisted the bite of the blade better, and thus the poison had more time to act. It didn't really matter. All gains in these three resistances would give Ronan more time to fight back in the next iteration.

From his iteration analysis, there was only one relevant change. It was the incremental boost to his numerical experience multiplier.

Experience gain multiplier has increased from 8.410 to 8.638

[Myriad Skills Tome (Uncommon)] has been consumed!

You have received the skill [Mighty Strength (Uncommon)]!

Subsidiary skill detected!

Mighty Strength [Common] has been consumed!

Mighty Strength [Uncommon] has been empowered!

Mighty Strength (Uncommon): Gain +1 to strength for every 10 (-1) points of strength you possess. Does not include stat bonuses.

Ronan observed the messages as they appeared, his face a mix of confusion, curiosity, and appreciation. Frankly he'd half-expected the system to simply remove the lesser rarity skill without giving him anything in return. Stinginess was its calling card.

Gaining an extra point of strength for every nine points he had instead of ten was fantastic. That was a free strength point for every ninety points he gained. Although it would be a few iterations until he could consistently hit those values…

For the first time ever, Ronan had been using a club as his weapon. It was the only one that the goblins had dropped, aside from two bows. He sucked at archery, and ranged combat was not suited to his current fighting style or class whatsoever. Hence, the club.

As he charged through the cloud of red mist that was formerly Gurz'krax the elite goblin warrior, Ronan realised that blunt force weapons were even more effective at delivering the damage from charge of the juggernaut than bladed weapons, and even the staff.

You have killed [Elite Goblin Warrior Lv.20]!

+168 Copper Credits

+18 [Club] Mastery

+8 [Stamina II] Mastery

+2 [Perception] Mastery

+8 [Pain I] Mastery

+19 [Health] Mastery

+11 [Momentum] Mastery

+Goblin Toes (Common)

+Elite Shard Lv.20 (Body)

You have leveled up to Lv.20!

You have leveled up to Lv.21!

You have been restored!

+2 Vitality

+10 Endurance

+4 Resistance

+8 Strength

+8 Tenacity

+4 Free Stat Points

You have reached the mastery cap for [Club]!

Club has evolved to Club I!

Deal infinitesimally more damage when striking with a club. Gain mastery over clubs infinitesimally faster. Clubs are infinitesimally more durable when you wield them.

You have reached the mastery cap for [Momentum]!

Momentum has evolved to Momentum I!

Acceleration is infinitesimally increased. Impact damage is infinitesimally decreased.

Momentum definition is now:

Gain a new resource, momentum, which can only ever be an integer from 0 to 100. Deal more, and take less, physical damage the greater your momentum. If your momentum remains at 0 for more than 12 seconds during combat, the effect is reversed, increasing exponentially every 6 seconds.

Congratulations, you have cleared Stage 3 of the tutorial!

+1 Bronze Credit

+627 Copper Credits

You will be awarded your personal trait based on all your accomplished merit thus far!

ERROR! Personal trait analysis interrupted, person—!$#?^£

Chronological divergence in personal trait detected!

Excess trait manifestation energy has been consumed!

Would you like to make an offering to the Temporal Obelisk?

Information overloaded Ronan's eyes and brain. Forced to take a step back, he digested the messages one at a time.

First tier masteries in club and momentum were much welcome. Using a club was something Ronan could see himself doing more often—especially while he had the juggernaut class.

As for momentum, it was a resource he could currently only access through the juggernaut class, but the mastery did give him some minor buffs that weren't exclusive to the resource of the same name.

Once he'd understood what he'd earned this time around, and given the deceased Gurz'krax a brief moment of respectful silence, Ronan allowed the temporal obelisk to take its due. He was expecting radio silence, but instead, his faith was finally rewarded.

Your personal trait [Inevitable (Epic)] is evolving…

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