Ronan turned to face Howard, Jenna, and Alyssa. He was glad he'd arrived in time. Barely.

He'd jumped into the pitfall trap and seen Tharaxes about to fry Howard. Not wanting the poor fellow to suffer the same unfortunate fate as the previous iteration, he'd sacrificed all of his momentum to use charge of the juggernaut and place himself in the path of the spell.

In the end, it paid off. Dispel had proven its utility a dozen times over. Ronan was sure that his familiarity with Tharaxes' spells, and his decently sized mana pool had played a large part in his success, but nonetheless, the mini-boss lay dead at his feet.

Raising his sword in a victory salute, he smiled at his three former allies. "That was close. Are you all alright?" he asked.

Howard looked terrified for some reason, and began to nod. The furious, repetitive action made him look like a bobblehead that people stuck to their dashboards.

Jenna was staring at Ronan. Her gaze followed him as he took a step forward, returning the silent slicer to his inventory. It was a little unnerving, but she'd been like that in the previous iteration. "More than fine. That was awesome. Can you teach me how to do that thing? With the magic. You just pointed your finger and poof! Gone. Dumb skeleton was so shocked."

He held up a hand to end her rambling before she lost the plot. "Unfortunately I can't teach you. It's a skill." The reply deflated her, but then she shook her head and returned to her usual, unbothered attitude. Following that, she walked over to the pile of bones that had been the mini-boss to inspect them.

Alyssa simply nodded. "Thank you. What's your name, by the way? We should know what to call the man who got us out of that mess."

"Ronan, Ronan Steele. What about you lot?" He knew their names, but it would be exceptionally weird if they became aware of that. Howard might have a seizure, judging from the fearful glances he kept throwing at Ronan.

Maybe the whole dramatic entrance was too much? I did save his arse, though. Some people are never happy. He nodded as Howard and Alyssa told him their names, with Jenna shouting hers over her shoulder while prodding a particularly intact rib.

"I don't know about you, but I want to check the loot I got for killing that fucker. Why don't we take a breather and then check out what's up the stairs?" Ronan's suggestion was met with agreement all round, and they all took a seat around the pond to do exactly that.

You have killed [Tharaxes - MINI BOSS][Hobgoblin Lich Lv.35]!

+5 Bronze Credits

+207 Copper Credits

+9 [Sword II] Mastery

+6 [Stamina III] Mastery

+3 [Momentum II] Mastery

+19 [Anti-Magic] Mastery

+16 [Health I] Mastery

+28 [Mana II] Mastery

+7 [Critical] Mastery

+Tharaxes' Thunderrib Lv.35 (Rare)

+Lesser Spark of the Undead (Rare)

+Mini-Boss Shard Lv.35 (Soul)

+Mini-Boss Shard Lv.35 (Energy)

You have leveled up to Lv.36!

…

You have leveled up to Lv.43!

You have been restored x4!

+8 Vitality

+40 Endurance

+16 Wisdom

+16 Resistance

+32 Strength

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

+16 Intelligence

+24 Acuity

+32 Tenacity

+24 Free Stat Points

You have reached the mastery cap for [Health]!

Health I has evolved to Health II!

All health costs are reduced minutely. Vitality efficacy is increased by 10%.

You have reached the mastery cap for [Mana]!

Mana II has evolved to Mana III!

Mana costs for skills are reduced. Activation and channeling times for skills which cost mana are reduced. Wisdom potency +7%. Wisdom efficacy +10%.

Ronan had quickly realised upon beginning this iteration how damn overpowered his new chronos enhancements were. From the very first level he'd gained, sorcerer provided him with its stats.

It meant he'd been able to freely practice dispel, alongside his mana cycling and construction practice throughout the tutorial. Frankly, it made him somewhat regret not putting unrelenting juggernaut as the sub-class, but it wasn't the end of the world. He could evolve sorcerer into a better class eventually, and he could always take a class purely for stats when he got the second tier of a class of one's own.

In any case, the extra stats he had now would already start increasing his experience multiplier much quicker, and it was giving him more staying power in fights. Dispel had proved itself to be expensive, and showing off like he had against the mini-boss drained almost a third of his total mana pool.

Once he'd assigned his free stat points, evenly split among agility, dexterity, and wisdom, Ronan called over the other three and made them the same offer he had in his previous iteration—give him time to cultivate in exchange for the secrets of cultivation.

They readily agreed, having seen the power of the mini-boss, and wanting any edge to overcome stage 4. Ronan settled down to begin. He felt he had enough soul-aspected shards to push for the fourth realm, though he wasn't sure if it would take too long. He just hoped all his cultivation talent multipliers would speed up the process.

Congratulations! Your hard work and effort have allowed you to reach the fourth realm of Prismatic Soul Cultivation!

Prismatic Soul Cultivation has advanced from [Red ★★★] to [Red ★★★★]!

Soul weight is increased by 4.6%

Cultivation talent is increased by 26%

Efficacy of intelligence, tenacity, and luck +20%

In the end, it hadn't taken Ronan as long as he expected to reach the fourth realm of soul cultivation. The benefits continued to stack.

Looking around, he saw that the others were still messing around with one another, sparring and showing off their loot. He still had the energy-aspected mini-boss shard, and the soul-aspected one had some juice. With the stacking cultivation multipliers, he wondered if he could pull off another boost.

Thirty minutes later, Ronan was shocked to receive a notification from the system before he'd even drained the energy-aspected shard. Yeah, my heritage is overpowered as hell. This is crazy.

Congratulations! Your hard work and effort have allowed you to reach the third realm of Mystic Energy Cultivation!

Mystic Energy Cultivation has advanced from [Sparkling ★★] to [Sparkling ★★★]!

All forms of energy regenerate 30% faster

Energy costs are reduced by 9%

Efficacy of endurance and regeneration +15%

Satisfied with his gains, and not wanting to keep the others waiting any longer, Ronan stretched and stood up. "You all ready? Let's show these skeletons who's boss."

Besides, he didn't want to keep Tharaxes waiting. He had a phylactery to destroy.

Ronan didn't even wait for Tharaxes to speak before rushing up to the first giant skeleton soldier and carving it into six pieces. The boss smashed its staff against the ground, summoning a stream of fire that rushed down the throne room towards him.

With a wave of his hand, Ronan dispelled the flamethrower while slaughtering the next giant in line. "Keep the skeletons distracted, I'll go for the big guy," he shouted to his allies.

While his aim had been to rush straight for the lich-lord and its phylactery, the giant skeleton soldiers were not simply there for decoration. They stepped into his path, raising their weapons in unison.

Ronan had rushed past the first few, but a sea of undead stood between him and Tharaxes. Unfortunately for the brittle monsters, he wasn't here to play.

There was something Ronan had been wanting to do for a long time. This was a great opportunity—no, it was perfect. Raising his sword, he began to slash down as he activated unstoppable charge of the juggernaut.

Embodying a bowling ball of razor-sharp judgment, he barrelled through the legions of giant skeletons, sending them flying as he slashed them all in half with a single wave of his blade. He came to a stop at the base of the stone dais, a trail of shattered bones in his wake.

Lifting his head, he met Tharaxes' eyes. The lich-lord's face was lifeless, but Ronan could see the shock written in its hollow skull. Raising his head a little more, his gaze came to rest on the magnificent fresco that decorated the ceiling of the throne room.

Tharaxes, as a lich, and presumably as the hobgoblin warlord, was depicted in various scenes of conquest and accomplishment. Ronan wondered once more if the tutorials were generated by the system, or if they were copies of things that had really happened.

Whatever the case, he was about to turn the lich-lord into history.

Tharaxes finally seemed to gather its wits, smashing its staff against the ground. It crackled with mana as the boss prepared a thunderstrike. Behind Ronan, he heard the clattering of those skeletons he hadn't killed standing back up to attack.

There was one other thing Ronan had never tested during a single one of his iterations. With his absurd physical stats, all of his movements had gone beyond human limitations, into the truly superhuman realm. What was that one movie? White men can't jump? Laughing inwardly at his own joke, Ronan crouched down, gripped his sword in two hands, and under the confused gaze of the lich-lord, leapt into the air.

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