The New Journey
Page 25
Chapter 44
Another King?
John left in the carriage headed for Tech Town that night. Two months later, he arrived on-schedule. During the travel he encountered several S Rank monsters, racking up his earnings in the Time Pool. He managed to complete the Maximum Idlers skill after a few days into the trip, so he now had 100 Idlers.
He focused on levelling his Maximum Workers skill, which allowed him to add more Idlers into each skill at a time. Once this had been accomplished, he turned Continue on and put all of his Idlers into Flesh Strength. During the two months’ travel, John managed to get Flesh Strength to Level 81.
However, John was now faced with a new problem. He had turned 18.
There were less than three years left, now.
Welcome to the Idle System 1.9
Name: John
Age: 18
Idlers: 0/100
Time Pool: 0
Skill Points: 0
HP: 371
Attack: SS (5,500 Points)
Defence: S (3,000 points)
Stamina: SS (2 Hours)
Defence List:
Flesh Strength - Idlers 100/100, Regeneration - 81/100, Time - 14d 5h 24m 54s
Misc List:
Maximum Idlers - Idlers 0/100, +1 Max Idlers - 99/2159
Maximum Workers - Idlers 0/100, +1 Idler Workers - 1/2061
John’s new plan was to first get Flesh Strength to Level 100, and then to get every Defence skill to level 50, which would almost double the points he had now. Then he could finally reach Rank SS! He also needed to find an SSS Rank human or monster to see the difference between the final rank of the system and the world. When his defence got above a certain point, he wouldn't need to fear anything in the mortal world ever again.
He went to the Guild Hall when the carriage stopped inside the town. Once inside, he went to the counter and asked to see the guild master. After some time, he was guided to the office on the second floor.
Are all Guild Halls built by the same person? It's all the same layout. I suppose, ‘If it works, don't fix it.’
John told him about the scientific quest that Mr. White had offered him, and soon enough the guild master had the recommendation letter in his hands. He checked John's ID card and then, when everything seemed to check out, he gave John the quest details.
He was going to have to meet everyone at Area 141, 36 days from now. Currently, the scientists were still tweaking the settings and modifications of the machine, and everyone else who was going to be on guard-duty was either in the inn resting or still travelling to town. The Guild Master would be the one to bring the machine to the area, and he was the one to be in charge of the project. There were to be twenty-five people in total, including John.
John nodded and headed back downstairs, pledging his understanding to the Guild Master.
For now, he looked at S Rank quests that had SS Ranked monsters or beasts. He had just over a month to raise his defence to Rank SS.
To get rank SS, he needed to kill at Least five SS Rank monsters and show proof.
To get rank SSS, he needs to kill at least one SSS monster and show proof.
John couldn't decide on a good quest. He needed more information. He went to the quest counter and asked for a hunt that he could accept as Rank S. One with rank SS monsters, he added. He wanted as many as he could fight in as small of space possible.
This request stunned the man behind the counter. Typically, people asked for the least amount of monsters in the broadest area as possible. Was this man looking to challenge himself, or to die in the field? Not voicing his concerns, he told John of the most dangerous quest in the area. John needed to get permission from the guild master, however, because his rank was still too low.
Quest: Kill the Ant Queen
Rank: SS (Possible SSS)
Monsters: SS Rank Ant Queen, SS Rank Ant Soldiers, SS Rank Flying Ants and S Ranked Ant Worker.
Reward: £100 Million.
Area: 89
John took the flyer and went back to the guild master, who was stunned for a good while when John showed him the quest. Oddly enough, the man behind the counter sighed in relief when John took the quest flyer upstairs.
"You do realise this could be Rank SSS if the Ant Queen has given birth to a King Ant, right? In fact, this is possibly the hardest quest in these parts. Any more difficult would be through the Capital towards the immortal area."
"Yes, I understand. If there is a King Ant, then I have confidence in getting away.”
"This quest is in Area 89, which is two days’ travel from here. You've only got 30 days to spare if you take out the travelling time and time for preparations. As long as you remember that this test is THE most important thing to happen in the last 50 years, and that you can NOT be late, regardless of the cost, then you have my permission."
John smiled and nodded. "No matter the cost."
"Very well, good luck." With that, he wrote a short letter saying he'd given the go-ahead and signed it, giving it to John. Without another word, the master carried on working.
John walked downstairs then went to the same counter, handed over the letter, the quest slip, and finally his ID card. The man looked impressed.
"Guild master agreed, he must think you're strong."
John shook his head. "No, he doesn't know how strong I am, but he knows that they won't be able to catch me if I flee." Even though he lied about having confidence in getting away, he was able to tell how dangerous it would be without fighting, and make a quick escape.
A couple of words exchanged and soon enough John walked outside of the Guild Hall, and headed outside the town. He had two days of travel ahead of him.
Two days passed.
Scanning Complete:
Ant Queen: 1.
Ant Soldier: 14,294
Ant Flying: 98,853
Ant Worker: 395,502
Neutral Targets: 0
Buried Treasure: 0
Life Stones: 8
Looks like the Ant King hasn't been born yet, is the Ant Queen expecting, or is it too soon? And how am I going to kill the flying ants if they're airborne?
He walked to the nearest target and used analyser eye.
Ant Soldier A
Attack: 2,500
Defence: 3,500
The ant was a giant version of the black ants he knew from Earth. They are about seven feet long and three feet high. John remembered that ants could carry a lot more than their whole weight.
The Soldiers are the strongest besides the Queen, and the Queen for all I know could be giving birth to the King as I speak. If I remember right, ants are hive-minded, so if I rush to the Queen and she signals for help, I might have to fight the entire ant colony at once.
With that thought in mind, John checked the map. He turned off all icons beside the Ant Queen. His target was underground. He had to run there as soon as possible.
John stood up and looked around, found an entrance to the ant colony and ran inside. As soon as he did, the Soldiers, Workers and the Flying ants spotted him and started signalling the other ants that an enemy was present. John ignored them all and kept going further in.
He found the Queen Ant in Life vision, confirming that he needed to find a way even deeper down into the colony. He decided it was time to stop running around, and started punching the floor directly above where the Queen Ant's icon was. The stone began to part and soon enough, John had an opening.
He finally dropped down near the Ant Queen, immediately checking her stats.
Queen Ant
Attack: 3,750
Defence: 4,500
The Queen Ant was roughly 30 feet tall. John couldn't see how long she was. She was still sleeping. John didn't waste any time and charged at her.
BOOM!
It hit, and the Queen's body jolted across the room and into the wall. She instantly died, and John received a Time Pool increase of twelve hours. John stood there, confused.
This was too easy.
That's when John noticed the large larvae behind where the queen was. It was fifteen feet tall and at least forty feet long. Compared to the other larvae, it was a hundred times more substantial.
The King has already been born. It's just not awake yet.
Chapter 45
*Spoiler*
???
Attack: ???
Defence: ???
John used Analyser eye on the larvae while he rushed towards it.
BOOM!
His punch went straight through the shell of the larvae, which started disintegrating. The inside was mostly hollow with a bit of liquid. It ultimately fell apart after a few seconds.
I came at the perfect time. The Queen had just given birth to the larvae of the king. It sapped her energy. She was recuperating when I killed her. As a plus, I destroyed the larvae before the king could develop inside.
The other ants were still on their way here, which meant he had time to kill. John started destroying the rest of the larvae that the queen had produced. By the time the first Soldier Ant appeared, John managed to destroy them all. The ant charged at him, followed by another, and another.
He was killing them all with one punch each. Because of the height of the room, the flying ants couldn't go too high, and John was able to jump and punch or kick them down.
As the battle went on, John eventually found himself was at zero stamina again. He was forced to stand there and let the ants bite him, but he felt no pain this time because of Senses 10th skill.
Kill for two hours, rest for an hour. Kill, rest, rinse, repeat. This was the pattern that lasted for ten gruelling days. When it was all over, John collapsed and fell asleep among the dead bodies.
John wasn’t sure how long he’d slept. When he woke up, he checked the system's time. From walking here, killing, and his nap, seventeen days had passed. That meant, he had thirteen days before he needed to get back. As it turned out, he had slept for five days straight! Looking through the system options, he turned the Taste skill off and started eating ant legs. He didn’t want to starve.
While he was eating, he checked the Time Pool. 75c 6y 11mo 12h
"HOLY SHIT!" John sputtered, sending chunks of ant everywhere. "C… What the hell does the C stand for?! I've got 75 C... Centuries? I have over 7,500 years!?"
Complete shock. It took a few minutes to come out of it, and when he did, he burst into a fit of laughter. What a great reward! Hopefully the lure-machine works, so he could do this over and over again! If it didn’t, this quest might be the only thing for a long time that could get him so much time.
John had to alter his plans a bit.
He finished eating and turned Taste back on.
He first finished off Flesh Strength. It turned to C, and the whole skill disappeared. When that happened, John could feel his skin tightening. He looked at his arms; the muscle underneath was getting more visible and more well-defined.
When it finished, his body looked like that of a bodybuilder; he lifted his shirt up and could see the six-pack and the V-shaped muscles. Quite pleased, he checked the Stamina stat to see that it had gone up to two and a half hours.
He put all 100 Idlers into Bone Density's Toughness skill and used the Time Pool to get that to Level 100, too. All bones throughout his body shook as the changed settled in. When it calmed back down, he checked the Attack stat.
Attack: SSS (10,000 Points)
John smiled. From now on he didn’t have to worry about foes until he started facing immortals. He turned Continue off and proceeded. He raised each of the Defence skills to level 50, and he checked the Defence stat.
Defence: SS (6,500 points)
He decided to get Mind Strength to Level 50 to unlock the last skill.
Dynamic Vision - Idlers 0/100, Normal - 0/1, Any - 0/1
Dynamic Vision:
Normal: See all details in Normal Vision, up to 100 times the speed of User.
Any: See the finest details in Any Vision, (Night, Life or anything else) up to 100 times the speed of User.
Bonus for maxing all skill levels: When using Any Vision, the brain will automatically separate clusters no matter what the user is seeing.
Does that mean, with this skill maxed, if I went back to the prison and used Life Vision, I could see everything? I would be able to separate each person from one another? That’s worth having, if that's the case.
He put all 100 Idlers in there and used Time Pool to complete all three skills. There were no targets in this area anymore, so he couldn't test it.
He completed Bone Density's Marrow skill, which disappeared from the list. Then, he raised everything he could besides Maximum Workers to at least Level 50.
When he got the Attack List's Speed to level 50, he started punching out, and he could tell the difference! Even though it only shaved off roughly half a second, it was definitely something!
He got to Level 100 in Organ Strength's Regeneration and Lung Capacity followed, completing the skills. When this skill was complete, his felt his lungs, heart, kidneys and any other organs throughout his body heating up. It started becoming painful, and he couldn't help but cry out in pain.
The Organ's outer wall was being replaced with a much harder, metal-like substance. In doing that, it had to remove the softest tissues all around. Twenty minutes of curling into a ball and grinding his teeth, John finally threw himself back and laid down to rest. He was breathing heavy. He would have been sweating, too, if it was still possible.
While lying down, he completed Mind Strength's Thinking Speed. When that finished, his mind cleared up. It was like a thin curtain had lifted. John could see better and think of more than one thing at the same time. The maxed bonus removed the need for sleep, and took over anything the body needed that required it.
He had used most of the Time Pool by this point. Just enough was left to complete one more skill to Level 100 and a few more levels somewhere else. He decided to finish the Muscle Elasticity's Cardiac skill. The remaining time went into Shoulder Joints' Toughness, bringing it up to Level 79. Finally, done with the alterations, he left all 100 Idlers in the skill.
Welcome to the Idle System 1.9
Name: John
Age: 18
Idlers: 0/100
Time Pool: 0
Skill Points: 0
HP: 739
Attack: SSS (10,000 Points)
Defence: SS (7,250 points)
Stamina: SSS (3 Hours)
Attack List:
Palm Toughness - Idlers 0/100, Speed - 50/100, Ignore Defence - 50/100
Knuckle Damage - Idlers 0/100, Speed - 50/100, Ignore Defence - 50/100
Elbow Damage - Idlers 0/100, Speed - 50/100, Ignore Defence - 50/100
Knee Damage - Idlers 0/100, Speed - 50/100, Ignore Defence - 50/100
Feet Damage - Idlers 0/100, Speed - 50/100, Ignore Defence - 50/100
Defence List:
Muscle Elasticity - Idlers 0/100, Skeletal - 50/100, Smooth - 50/100
Elbow Joints - Idlers 0/100, Friction - 50/100, Toughness - 50/100
Knee Joints - Idlers 0/100, Friction - 50/100, Toughness - 50/100
Shoulder Joints - Idlers 100/100, Friction - 50/100, Toughness - 79/100, Time - 2mo 15d 22h 34m 16s
Ankle Joints - Idlers 0/100, Friction - 50/100, Toughness - 50/100
Misc List:
Maximum Idlers - Idlers 0/100, +1 Max Idlers - 99/2159
Maximum Workers - Idlers 0/100, +1 Idler Workers - 1/2061
Completed List:
Flesh Strength - Regeneration, Immunity and Placement.
Organ Strength - Regeneration, Lung Capacity and Stomach Acid.
Blood Capacity - Cell Speed, Transportation and White Cells.
Bone Density - Toughness, Marrow and Cell Production.
Muscle Elasticity - Cardiac.
Mind's Strength - Thinking Speed, Memory and Senses.
Dynamic Vision - Normal and Any.
John noticed the ‘SSS (3 Hours)’ in stamina. Th
at surprised him. Attack and Stamina had both reached their level cap; he had only defence points to raise, now.
John stood up and stretched, then walked towards the Ant Queen’s body. He needed something for proof of mission completion, but didn't know what. There was no mention of it in the quest, and the ants were beasts so there was no chance of one forming a monster core, either.
He decided to take the whole carcass. He stretched the opening of the bag over the ant’s enormous head, and soon the entire body disappeared. They can't deny the quest's completion with this.
He was soon outside again, the bright light made him squint. He put his hand up to cover the sunlight. Once his eyes finished adjusting, he went off to collect the eight Life Stones in this area. After a few hours, he took his compass out and headed to the specified location of the scientific quest.
After this significant boost in strength, he finally had some breathing room.
Title - Centuries Of Time
Chapter 46
Setting up
John took his time walking to Area 141, killing whatever was near. A little over two weeks later, he arrived at the meeting point. Still quite early, he climbed a tree to take a nap. Even though he didn't need to sleep any more, it was still the best option to kill some time.
A few hours later, someone else arrived. John checked him out with Analyser eye.
???
Attack: 4,900
Defence: 5,700
Oh, an SS Rank Defence. This guy must be one of the guards, maybe even a leader of the guards.
John jumped down the tree, startling the man into a fighting pose.
"Hi, you here for the field run?" John smiled and waved.
"Who're you?" The man was still in a fighting position.
"I could ask the same thing. You're either part of the guards assigned here, or you're here to sabotage the test. Let's wait here for someone from the staff members to confirm both of our identities. Any sudden movements and I'll put you down."
"Haha, you put me down? I'll like to see you try!"
BANG!
The man was now face-down into the ground. John had only lightly tapped him. He wasn’t used to his new strength, yet. John was now standing in front of the man's head.