It was almost completely dark, but for his HUD and the notifications in front of him. While most of his body was buried in rubble, the screens illuminated the small pocket his head was in with blue.
Congratulations!
You have slain
[Marauding Cyclopes]
Calculating rewards…
Arthur felt sick, vomiting more blood mixed with bile that resulted in a coppery sludge that leaked out of his helm.
Congratulations!
You and your party are the 8th group to slay a [Raid Commander]
Rewards will be adjusted according to your accomplishment
Adjusting rewards…
Rewards successfully acclimatized!
Arthur attempted to shift his body, attempting to gauge how much rubble he’d been buried in. It was a mistake. His legs were broken, though he didn’t know how badly. In his spike of pain, he accidentally shifted his upper body. The rebar ripped at him even further, adding to the existing glut of agony. He screamed.
Level Up x2
You’ve reached level [34]
Your stats will be allocated appropriately for your class
You have [6] levels until you are allowed to allocate your free points
You have [0] free points
New Skill!
[Steel Soul]: Passive - Enhances the effects of all armor worn by you. Enhances the effects of [Champion’s Plate]. Enhances the effects of defensive skills and abilities.
Title
[Heart of Devotion]
Deactivated
Arthur’s breathing was ragged. Though he had leveled up, it hadn’t restored his health; there would be no such easy way out. Attempting to regain a semblance of control of his situation, he forced his arm to move. The rubble shifted, his arm rising slowly. It didn’t seem to be damaged, but it was difficult to move without pain nonetheless.
Though he was in a lot of pain, it didn’t compromise his reasoning, though it did make it slower. He understood that since he was still in a party with his friends, they’d know that he survived.
[Viridian]
HP: 15,253 / 85,500
MP: 7,500 / 7,500
SP: 28,416 / 59,850
He was in too much pain to comprehend how low his health had gotten. The only time it’d gotten this low was during his fight against the Shartopus, but he’d been much weaker then. Proportionally compared to his peers, his health pool was massive, and he had no doubt that if any of the others in his party had done what he did, they would be dead.
He decided the best thing he could do for now was wait. His True Heart of Devotion had an effect that granted passive health regeneration as long as he stayed in a party. If he stayed still and didn’t make his wounds worse, his health would refill. Even if they weren’t looking for him, he would eventually gain the strength to break himself out, as painful as that would be. The rebar loomed above him, promising a gruesome fate.
Time passed. He wasn’t sure how long it was, but it was long enough that he couldn’t tell if the drops falling onto his helm were rainwater or still his own blood. Enough time had passed that his passive regeneration had refilled a good chunk of his health, working in overtime.
HP: 27,853 / 85,500
As he didn’t know how long it’d been, he resolved to at least try to free himself. He braced himself and moved his arm. The tiny pocket his head was in wasn’t large enough to fit his arm in, so fought for it to gain leverage somewhere above him. Rubble shift about, eventually giving him a precarious grip. Grabbing onto it tightly, he prepared himself for even more pain. He yanked himself forward.
Something Arthur failed to consider is that this wasn’t the old world. He had superhuman strength, and while the combination of gravity and the Obelisk’s true nature as a supernatural object was enough to pierce him, it was not enough for it to withstand his might. Especially now that the object lost its magic after being destroyed. The handhold crumbled under his grip, sending his escape from the rebar impaling him astray. It jostled around in him as he fell back onto it, soliciting more groans of pain that quickly turned into growls. Using the pain he was in as fuel, he moved his right arm as well this time.
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The pain was so great it impaired his very sight, but he fought on to climb his way through the rubble. With a great heave, he pulled himself up, and was finally free of the rebar. His eyes were blurry, hands shaking as he continued to dig. Water continued to leak everywhere, making things slippery and harder to grab. More than once he lost progress, a shift of the rubble beneath him causing him to fall. Since one of his legs was broken, he often couldn’t catch himself. Each time would result in searing agony, and a loss in HP.
After what felt like an eternity of fighting, he broke the surface of the rubble. After dragging himself for a bit, he lied down with his face toward the sky, heaving stinging breaths. Without a doubt, that had been the most pain he’d ever been in his life. He couldn’t even bring himself to look at the undoubtedly gaping wound in his side, as its angry pulsing and stabs constantly reminded him of its existence.
For a long time, he just lied there, listening to the rain fall against his armor. The sky was still overcast, though it was showing signs of letting up. Realizing how tired he was after everything, he closed his eyes. Sheer exhaustion overcame the buzzing pain as sleep took him, unaware of the voices nearby.
Arthur woke up lying on a bed. His armor had been unsummoned, and his sword was leaning against the wall of the room he was in. It was dilapidated as anywhere else had been, a huge mess made by the tremors and parts of the walls and roof missing.
“H-Hey, I’m surprised you woke up so fast!”
Arthur nearly jumped until he recognized the voice. “Dennis?”
Dennis was one of the survivors who most often played the role of night watcher. He had skills that granted shields and enhanced perception, making him almost perfect for the job.
“Here, let me get the others. Relax; from what I’ve heard, you earned it.” He left the room, leaving Arthur alone. He lifted his shirt, to find his wound had been completely healed. Feeling around himself, he couldn’t find any remaining wounds from when he’d been half dead; Ema’s intervention, no doubt. He smiled to himself, thinking of where he’d be without his new friends.
Now that Arthur had a moment to himself, he considered the effect that had kept him alive during his ordeal.
Neither you nor your [True Heart of Devotion] will falter when between an enemy and an ally. +40% natural HP regeneration when in a party. +45% natural HP regeneration to allies within your party. Enhanced damage reduction when in a party.
Ema had said that passive regeneration was impossible. The only way to get healing was through active skills; a sentiment Arthur experienced firsthand when his multiple level ups did nothing to heal him. Healing skills were the only things that were supposed to heal, yet his True Heart of Devotion scoffed at the notion, granting not only himself passive healing, but also his party members.
Another mystery was the percentages. It said +40% regeneration, but 40% of what? It couldn’t be his maximum health bar, as if that was the case, he would have been healed much faster. It felt more like it was based on a stat, but while it was most likely vitality, he was unsure which. As usual, he simply didn’t know. So, as usual, he ignored it until he could learn. Luckily, the ability would still function regardless of his understanding.
“Hey!”
He was pulled from his introspection by Ema’s shrill voice. Turning to face the door, he saw the entire party, plus Dennis, enter the room. Pulled being the operative word, as Ema gripped his shirt and yanked him about.
“What the heck did you do that for?! Trying to be some hero, dying for the cause! That was stupid!” She pulled him into a fierce hug that belied her small frame. “But I’m glad you’re okay, Tin Man. Don’t you dare do something like that again.”
Arthur chuckled, patting her back. “I don’t think you’re much of one to talk. That was such a bold move you made that I couldn’t help but follow your example!”
“You know, people with high dexterity stats do a lot of damage with knives.”
“Okay, okay,” Arthur laughed. “I’m sorry.” She gave him one last squeeze before letting go.
“Well, well, well, Mr. Hero is awake.” Aurora’s tone was as placid as ever, hands in her pockets and walking languidly. Her face showed a genuine yet slight smile. “Martyrs aren’t supposed to survive the sacrifice, you know. You did it all wrong.” Ema smacked her friend on the arm, making her slight smile transform into a full one.
“It really is a miracle you made it through that.” Gideon added. “Next time though, maybe we should… discuss it first?”
“Hm, I’ll think about it.”
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were trying to find ways to die.”
The group ambled into their normal chatter, the stress of the day prior free from their shoulders. The atmosphere was lighter than ever, especially after the party’s recounting of how the monsters had become completely inert after Arthur’s “sacrifice”. Soon, it morphed into blessedly mundane topics, like simple friends unburdened by the state of the world.
“Yeah uh… we’ve been dating for like 2 and a half years.” Dennis said. “Thankfully, she and I were together when everything went to shit.” His eyes became mischievous. “What about you guys?”
“Huh?” Arthur said, tilting his head.
“Do you have someone you have a crush on??” Dennis asserted. It had quickly become clear that he was quite the gossip.
“N-No!!” Ema practically shrieked, earning a skeptical look from Gideon and a head tilt from Arthur.
Aurora’s face was unreadable. “Nnnnnnope.”
“What about you, Arthur?” Gideon asked. Everyone in the room waited for his answer, interested in what his love life might’ve been before the System. He didn’t notice their pointed interest as he tapped his lips in thought.
“Well… when I was growing up,” He began. “There was this… library. We used to go there every week with our teacher.” He smiled, remembering simpler times. “I was in the dinosaur section. Yeah… when I was a kid, I loved dinosaurs. I always went to the dinosaur section. One day, though, a girl came up to me and asked what I was reading.” He sighed. “We were just kids, so our interaction was rather straightforward. I told her I was reading about dinosaurs, and she just said… ‘cool’. Then she just… sat next to me. She smelled like cinnamon and apples.”
The others in the group stayed quiet as he talked. “I don’t know how long it was before she leaned her head on my shoulder.” He said. “But we sat that way for… at least an hour. I think she fell asleep.” He smiled fondly. “After that… no one could really… compete, you know?”
The silence was broken by Ema. “Did you guys end up together?”
Arthur looked down, smiling again. “Heh, no. We grew up around each other, but I never had the courage to do more than give her a passing compliment or two. She became a beautiful woman who travels the world, and I became… a loser.”
“You’re not a loser!” Ema said, patting him on the head.
“Actually, I think we’re all losers.” Gideon interjected. “It’s why we get along so well.” Ema smacked him on the head.
“You have an interesting definition of ‘getting along.’” Aurora replied, failing to cover up her chuckle. “But wait, Arthur… doesn’t that mean that you’re… a virgin?”
Time went on with the group talking, no one noticing or noting that Gideon failed to answer Dennis’ question. Morning turned to midday when the group began to get ready to leave.
“Well, I suppose we should begin gathering everyone.” Gideon said, getting up and stretching. “Now that there isn’t anything in our way, we should be able to get to-”
It was too fast.
A huge, hairy figure landed amongst them, crashing down through the roof. It had hooves and what looked like a bull’s head on a huge, muscular body covered in dark brown fur.
Arthur was still on the bed, too shocked to react to what happened next. The bull-man’s arm began to shimmer.
[Crushing Slam]: Unarmed attacks deal greater damage for 1 attack. Multiplies force application by 1.5 for the duration of the skill. Deals greater damage commensurate to current [Wrath]. Cooldown and amount of attacks allowed is commensurate to current [Wrath].
The back of its fist slammed against Arthur. In all the time he’d been a part of the System, in all the fights he’d been in with monsters and boss monsters both… he’d never been hit harder.