Spearbound

Kade narrowly dodged the swipe of the troll’s hand and jumped on its finger. He had a crazy idea, and since he chose to fight this monster, he might as well lean into the crazy.

He rammed his [Soulrend] into its wrist to stabilize himself—ignoring the hideously smelling roar—before swiftly running up the arm toward its head.

The troll was quick for its size, but it was nothing to write home about compared to Kade’s quickness. However, what it lacked in quick reactions, it more than made up in strength.

He was certain that even a glancing blow from the troll would put him in a critical state. The plan was so straightforward that even a child could understand it.

He just won’t let that happen.

Kade was able to ignore the fire that was covering the troll’s body. He wasn’t sure if it was because of the fire originating from his [Soulrend]’s ability, but he wouldn’t question it.

He swiftly leaped into the air. Just in time.

The troll’s other hand slammed into its arm where he had been. The shockwave of the impact nearly caused him to lose control in the middle of his jump.

Kade gritted his teeth and thrust his [Soulrend] down blindly, sinking its blade deep into the skin of its forearm. He regained control over his body from the new tether.

He held onto his [Soulrend] tightly when the troll tried to shake him off with a roar of frustration.

There was little to no chance that his [Soulrend] caused enough harm to overpower the pain the flames were giving the troll. That became obvious when it tightened the muscles in its forearm to lock the [Soulrend] where it was.

Kade cursed as he tried to yank his [Soulrend] out of its new fleshy prison with all his strength. He didn’t think that the troll would do something so audacious. It had just experienced his [Soulrend] release flames that still burned its body, and it was willing to do this even after that.

He wished he could use [Inferno Burst] again. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be able to for another thirty minutes when his [MP] would recover.

Kade had been watching for the troll to try to smack him away with his other hand, so when the miasma emitted from its blackened skin erupted in a fury, he was completely unprepared.

Warning: Your health has fallen below 50%!

He yelled in shock as the force launched him off the troll’s body, causing him to break straight through the first tree he hit before toppling another. He could feel the blinding pain trying to take over his senses, but he somehow willed himself to ignore it.

Kade groaned as he forced himself to stand on the downed tree. His [Soulrend] was still stuck in the troll’s forearm. It didn’t look like it would let go anytime soon.

He watched the troll warily, wanting to see its next move. He never thought it was possible to lose control of his [Soulrend]. Now, he found himself almost lost on what to do.

The troll let out a roar before bringing down both fists on him.

Kade quickly jumped to the right to avoid the close-fisted slam. The tree that he toppled splintered into thousands of little pieces from the strike. He sucked in a deep breath before dodging a sudden swipe.

He had to get his [Soulrend] away from the troll. Somehow.

There was no chance he would risk using his fist on the troll’s blackened skin. He couldn’t afford to take more damage from the miasma that lay within.

He had already tried to summon the [Soulrend] back to him, but the troll was smart enough to never loosen the muscles in its forearm. He embraced the art of waiting.

Kade wanted to make the troll think he had given up on the [Soulrend], so he focused on simply dodging its attacks—a straightforward task.

The troll’s feeble attempts to land a hit on him were laughable as long as he maintained his distance. The troll only succeeded in damaging him by using its abundant miasma when Kade was close, so that wasn’t currently a concern.

The troll snarled when he easily avoided all its attempts.

Kade saw it glance between him and the fallen trees. It was like a light bulb slowly emitting a dim light in its mind, but he was ready.

With both hands, the troll picked up a fallen tree before trying to pancake him under it with a furious smash. The only issue was that it was even slower than when it used its fists.

He looked unimpressed as he avoided the obliterated tree after it impacted the ground. The troll’s fury rose to another level.

Kade’s intention had been to infuriate it into making poor choices, and it looked like he had succeeded. Instead of fighting him directly with its fists—where it was quickest—it dug its hand into the soil and threaten him with clumps of dirt.

He raised an eyebrow, still looking unimpressed, but put a greater distance between them.

The troll growled before hurling a compacted ball of dirt with its right hand. It ripped through the trunks of the trees in front of Kade as it rocketed towards him. He didn’t take any risks.

He shifted well over forty feet to the side to avoid damage from splinters or debris. The thrown dirt ball did nothing to him.

The troll thought that something would happen on its second try. It threw the dirt ball that was in its left hand.

Kade shifted to the side again as he realized he had no answer to his helplessness. The troll couldn’t harm him, nor could he do anything to it without his [Soulrend].

I might need to just wait for this Rift Zone to be destroyed.

He hadn’t been paying much attention to the second dirt ball thrown. Not after he thought he was out of its area of damage.

That was a mistake.

Kade didn’t even have the chance to react. His body violently collided with a tree, causing it and two more to shatter before his momentum came to a sudden halt by the fourth tree. He felt himself losing consciousness.

He saw with blurry eyes a hint of dark miasma where the second dirt ball had landed. He realized the troll had somehow turned that dirt ball into a bomb.

Warning: Your health has fallen below 5%!

Warning: You are experiencing severe bleeding!

Kade sucked in a shuddering breath. It hurt to breathe. Everything hurt. He was close to death unless he could get away from the forest.

He saw the troll was about to gather more dirt. It was going to make another bomb to finish him.

Kade stumbled out of the tree’s trunk and fell to his knees. It felt like every bone in his body was broken, but pure willpower kept him moving.

He knew he should get his ass out of here. It was just common sense. But leaving meant giving in. It meant losing.

He hadn’t lost since he entered this Rift Zone. He had already become addicted to being on top.

Kade glared at his [Soulrend], still stuck in the troll’s forearm, before his eyes widened. He had an idea.

MP: 1/10 | MP Recovery: 2.8% per minute

This might work.

Free Points: 4.5—>0

Wisdom: 5—>9.5

MP: 1/10—>10/19

MP Recovery: 2.8% per minute—>4.6% per minute

He sold out and dumped his [Free Points] into an attribute that wasn’t ideal for [Warrior]. As long as he won, there would be no regrets. If he didn’t, well, he would probably die anyway.

Kade stumbled towards the troll as it lifted its arm with the [Soulrend] stuck in it to throw a dirt ball. He waited for his [Soulrend] to be level with its head.

Kade forced himself to run towards the troll as he activated [Inferno Burst]. The arm blew off and cauterized at the location where [Soulrend] had been stuck. The flames from within the arm spread quickly to the troll’s head.

It roared in pain and stumbled to its knees. That was enough for Kade.

He gritted his teeth and jumped high to catch the freed [Soulrend] before landing on its shoulder. He used all his strength to thrust his [Soulrend] into the troll’s ear.

Kade quickly withdrew it before jumping onto his head. He gritted his teeth and plunged the [Soulrend] through the top of its skull.

The troll suddenly stopped making noise and slowly started falling on its front. He jumped off and put some distance between him and its body before leaning on an undamaged tree for support.

He was about to finish it off when he saw its lone hand still twitching, but less than a second later, it became still.

You have destroyed a Corrupted Lesser Troll (Arcana Level 20)!

A Corrupted Lifeform is the second stage of a lifeform that desires to accelerate the decay of the universe. While they are known to be stronger than Monsters of a similar species, they are severely reduced in intelligence by the rot. We recommend immediate destruction of any that comes to your attention.

Footwork (Level 5)—>(Level 6)

Spear Thrust (Level 4)—>(Level 5)

Spear Impale (Level 1)—>(Level 2)

Title Gained!

Indomitable Will - The bearer of this title has significant resistance to anything that detracts from their focus. Nothing can stop them from trying to reach their goal as long as the will exists.

Kill 1 Corrupted Lifeform (0/1)—>(1/1)

All objectives are complete!

Level-up! (x3)

Arcana Level 16—>Arcana Level 19

MP Recovery: 4.6% per minute—>5.5% per minute

Free Points: 0—>3

Constitution: 18—>21

Endurance: 10—>11.5

Strength: 17—>20

Kade slowly lowered himself to sit on the ground. He might have gained [Indomitable Will], but that didn’t stop all the pain from hitting him at once since the fight was over.

He closed his eyes when he felt the burning sensation of his body healing from absorbing the energy of the lesser troll. He could feel his bones repairing themselves. His body finally felt like it wasn’t a wrong move away from death.

Kade allowed himself to think about what would happen after he left this Rift Zone. He wasn’t sure what he would be returning to.

It wouldn’t be the same Earth, but it had only been a day at most in the Rift Zone. Earth couldn’t have changed too much.

Kade frowned when he heard a soft rumble and looked up. Cracks filled the sky, resembling broken glass. It was spreading rapidly and splintering off to reveal a void behind it.

“What’s happening?” Kade didn’t feel fear. He guessed it was because he could do nothing to keep the sky intact.

The Rift Zone has accelerated its destruction after you killed the protector.

He smiled with accomplishment. However, that brought up a question in his mind. “You said the max Arcana Level was usually fifteen in Class F Rift Zones. How many of the others that you picked went to Rift Zones with protectors that were higher leveled like mine?”

You are the only one.

Kade’s smile grew wider. Unless something unusual happened with others, he should be the human with the highest [Arcana Level]. He decided not to ask the system to keep it a surprise… and to avoid bombarding it with nonessential questions.

The rumbling grew louder before everything in the Rift Zone flashed a bright white. Unlike when the system first appeared on Earth, Kade didn’t lose consciousness. He saw the good news on the interface.

You are exiting the Class F Rift Zone #8,274,177.