Amber didn’t know how long had passed, but when she awoke her entire body was sore. It felt as if she had fallen down a rocky cliff — if that was even an apt descriptor — everything hurt. She couldn’t even remember what she had been doing to end up in such a state.
“Where am I…?” she groaned looking at dried blood all around her.
And then paused seeing the broken Stone Guardians, the memories of her previous battle came back to her. For a moment she thought she was insane for doing all that, but when she remembered how she had felt during the fight, the thought instantly vanished. It was a bit hard to admit, but this temple — this tower fulfilled her. It made her feel truly alive. It wasn’t in bursts like with running, it was all the time.
Amber closed her eyes for a moment, relishing in her feelings before finally remembering what happened when the battle ended.
She was going to die…
But then she accepted her class, and now she was alive even if extremely sore. Finally, after a couple of breaths she decided to look at her notifications. The first one was from accepting the class itself.
[ You have gained the class: Cursed Berserker
Vitality +15
Strength +10
Dexterity +10
Endurance +10
Intelligence +5
Wisdom +5
Natural recovery has increased by 40%.
Body enhancements are 100% more effective.
Wounds heal three times faster out of battle. ]
“Woah,” she couldn’t help but gasp. “That is quite… insane. Though… what is a body enhancement?”
Amber wondered for a second, the name was kind of self explanatory but at the same time she didn’t really have a skill that did any of that. Finally, after a moment of thinking she decided to look at the rest of the notifications.
[Fast Recovery has leveled up from level 4 to 7.]
[Fast Recovery — level 7, becomes Quick Recovery — level 7]
[New General Skill! You have learned Quick Recovery — level 7
You’ve barely survived a group of statues. This is an upgraded version of Fast Recovery helping you heal from your wounds and injuries slightly faster.]
That was nice, though aside from probably needing like four hours of sleep at this point, she didn’t really know how to quantify it. After a moment, she continued through her notifications.
[General Weapon Mastery has leveled up from level 1 to 5.]
[Keen Senses has leveled up from level 4 to 6.]
[Body Bash has leveled up from level 5 to 6.]
[New General Skill! You have learned Supernatural Nullification.
As a Cursed Berserker you’re immune to the Supernatural, you are the Supernatural.]
[Core Skill was delayed due to pending Class.]
[New Core Skill! For reaching level 20 as a Cursed Berserker you have learned Cursed Momentum — level 1.
You’ve fought with momentum, not daring to stop. The longer you fight on the stronger and more durable you become. If you are affected by a curse you will apply it to your target. This skill reaches its peak at fifteen minutes in battle, increasing your stats by 100% (50% before class bonus).]
Once more, she couldn’t help but pause. Not only was the Core Skill being part of her new class by sheer luck, it also seemed strong. She just needed to determine what counted as ‘in battle’ to see if she could abuse it. Not only that but she had Supernatural Nullification— she didn’t understand what it was but she had a slight idea.
Her breathing quickened, the soreness in her body was now but a distant thought— even the fact that she was in a room surrounded by dead stone monsters wasn’t in her mind. All she cared about was looking at her status.
[Name: Amber | Level: 20
Class: Cursed Berserker | Unspent Stat Points: 0
Stats:
Vitality: 65
Strength: 55
Dexterity: 45
Endurance: 36
Intelligence: 20
Wisdom: 20
Free Core Skill Slots: 6 | Core Skills:
[Heavy Swing - Lvl. 8], [Body Bash - Lvl. 6], [General Weapon Mastery - Lvl. 5], [Cursed Momentum - Lvl. 1]
General Skills:
[Supernatural Nullification], [Identify - Lvl. 1], [Toxin Resistance - Lvl. 2], [Keen Senses - Lvl. 6], [Quick Recovery - Lvl. 7].]
It’s so much better.
She wasn’t quite sure about having more Strength than Dexterity, but in the end she had ended up placing two whole level ups during her fight towards that. The stone statues had been hard. But she was happy. She was incredibly happy.
Amber smiled and tried to stand up only to wince in pain, she was still injured unfortunately. But after a minute, she was finally on two legs, even if wobbling. Her clothes were— incredibly torn at this point, she had been wearing running shoes, pants and a plain white shirt which was now stained with dirt and blood.
She thought about washing them but quickly shook her head— she’d think about that later. Right now, there was only one thing in her mind, and that was the vague idea of what Supernatural Nullification and what it did. She turned and found the long sword she had been using to kill the golems, it was still wreathed in a magical cursed aura.
Amber limped towards it and stared at the sword. Then, taking a deep breath she slowly leaned forward and touched it with her finger— nothing happened. A smile spread across her face as she held onto its grip without problem. The joy she felt at that moment was comparable to receiving a surprise birthday present.
She found that she was able to lift it without problems, and so she examined it. it was long enough to reach her shoulders which she found slightly ridiculous. She ran her hand across the entirety of the blade. Even though it was slightly ridiculous, she kind of liked its size. No— she loved its size.
With a smile, Amber limped to her hideout deciding to recover from her injuries before doing anything stupid.
* * *
And eight hours later, she was surprisingly back to normal. That said, she didn’t know how long she was passed out before that, but it didn’t really matter to her. There was actually only a single thing that mattered to her, and that was testing her skills.
With a smile, she went to the floor above the Stone Guardians in hopes of finding something of similar strength. And to her surprise she found just what she was looking for— no, exactly what she was looking for.
The floor she was in had salmon colored floors and walls, and plenty of light just like the floor of rocky-friends, it was also spacious perfect for her battling needs. But what was most important were the monsters it held. Amber deeply smiled seeing seven statues in the large hall before her, they seemed like decorations but Identify told her otherwise.
[Stone Guardian. Lvl. 16]
[Stone Guardian. Lvl. 17]
[Stone Guardian. Lvl. 16]
…
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
They were the exact same thing. They were the perfect target for her to test her skills. But just when she was about to take a step forward she paused.
“Does self-inflicted damage count as ‘in battle’?” She paused and decided to run her fingers on the edge of her sword.
After a couple of moments of doing the same thing and spreading blood all across her blade — wincing numerous times in the process — she realized that it in-fact did not count as “in battle” which was a sad realization. Taking a breath and wiping her hand and sword with the cloth she had, she turned to the golems inside the wide room.
“Well, at least I have you all.” She grinned and readied her sword, this time not using it by the blade. And then, she stepped forward.
All at once, the seven statues triggered and turned towards her, but she was faster than them. In a single second she reached the first one, already swinging her sword down upon it with the use of Heavy Swing. If the statue had a face, it would’ve been one of horror— the sword hit and cleaved through its head before bringing it down with a booming sound.
The Stone Guardian died just like that.
[You have defeated a [Stone Guardian. Lvl. 16].]
Amber blinked and a moment later she felt a small surge of strength course through her body. She was now considered “in battle”. Immediately she turned towards the next rushing guardian and swung her sword towards its side with all her strength, using Heavy Swing.
The monster blocked and the arm of the monster was almost severed— the cut going about two-thirds into its appendage.
Just like the Imperial Stone Guardian.
Amber narrowed her eyes and stepped back, her strength was the same as the Imperial Stone Guardian now, but… that was without Cursed Momentum. A smile festered on her face as she decided she wanted to see what happened when the fifteen minutes passed. And so, she engaged in a leisurely battle against the Stone Guardians. The ruckus seemingly bringing over an Imperial Stone Guardian.
* * *
Amber quickly took down the last Stone Guardian with a kick that shattered its leg and then a series of quick stomps to destroy its head. She had killed all seven of the guardians and made sure to take her sweet-ass time while doing so, because—
She deflected a sword swing from the Imperial Stone Guardian that was in front of her. She waiting for the skill to build up— and she could just tell that in a few seconds, it would reach its peak.
[Imperial Stone Guardian. Lvl. 21]
It’s even stronger than the one I fought, too.
Amber smiled and ducked below a swing from the Imperial Stone Guardian, and her skill reached its crescendo. She had her sword pulled back ready to strike, and for a second, she took in the moment. Her muscles were flowing with strength, her body felt hot, and even though she wasn’t pushing her limits, the payoff from doing so last time filled her with joy.
And she slashed—
Heavy Swing.
Instantly, the sword broke through the monster, almost through brute force as its upper half was thrown away into a wall, its legs skidding across the ground. Bits of rock flew in the air as Amber’s eyes grew wide, the sword that the Imperial Stone Guardian held clashed against the wall with a dull ringing sound.
Amber blinked and a notification came, and she saw all of them.
[You have defeated a [Stone Guardian. Lvl. 18].]
[You have defeated a [Stone Guardian. Lvl. 19].]
…
[You have defeated a [Imperial Stone Guardian. Lvl. 21].]
[You have reached level 21. 5 stat points awarded.]
[You have reached level 22. 5 stat points awarded.]
She had leveled already. Without hesitation she placed seven attribute points into Strength and and then, the other three in Vitality and for a moment she couldn’t help but smile. She was strong, much stronger than she had ever imagined. She felt a bit like a super-human. Not only that, but she would continue to grow stronger. Heavy Swing and General Weapon Mastery had gained a level from the fights as well.
Amber looked at the fallen stone corpses of her enemies and smiled.
She didn’t know what awaited her in her mission of getting out of the tower, but she was ready for it. That said:
“I really need to take a bath,” she sighed looking down at herself.
* * *
She had decided to take a bath in the frog level — at this point the frogs were absolutely terrified of her and fled upon seeing her. So it was actually quite peaceful. She made sure to wash her clothes and the rag she had found, and now she was washing her body. She had hardly changed since coming to this world, except for some scars on her hands and forearms— her back probably had scars too but she couldn’t see them.
Amber looked at her reflection, she was smiling. She had brown hair and amber eyes, it was relatively average, though in this world— whatever it was called— she didn’t really care about her appearance.
Still… She frowned. I have to return, don’t I…?
When she first came here, she truly wanted to return but right now it was more like a duty in her mind. Her peers would probably be worried but she was sure she’d fade into a distant memory with time. And her mother had kicked her out two years ago and hadn’t spoken with her since then. However, even then she felt some sort of weird sense of duty? It was strange.
Maybe it had to do with her not-so-close friends or missing work-shifts at her weekend grocery store job, she didn’t really know.
She laid back on the water. “I’ll think about it later…”
* * *
Amber took a deep breath staring down a series of steps, part of a wall lay at the end, rubble all around. She was ready, as ready as she could be. She made sure to grab different weapons from all the statues she could find, and slung them in random pieces of cloth she scavenged all around the tower, making a makeshift sling of weapons.Now she was armed. She had the sword with a double-guard, a normal sword, two daggers and a mace. She would’ve loved to carry more, but she was concerned about mobility.
She was much stronger now.
She had considered finding a frog and forcing it to attack her to abuse Cursed Momentum but she decided against it. She didn’t want a cheap victory, not against this thing. After a second of hesitation, she went down the steps. Her footsteps were as light as she could make them.
Amber stared at the destruction surrounding the floor. It had rooms and hallways however there were punctured holes all over the entire level, as if a train had rammed through them. She held onto her main and favorite sword. Then, finally gathering her courage she hit the sword against the ground, a loud clang resounding across the room.
Then, the floor began to shake as she raised her sword. She had more than a chance against this thing now, in fact she was confident she could kill it with the help of her class— a wall before her exploded. Amber smiled, seeing her adversary finally revealing itself.
[Lesser Horned Juggernaut. Lvl. 27]
The rhinoceros-like monster immediately locked eyes with her and a moment later it charged. Amber waited a moment, and Body Bashed out of the way with a lunge— the monster hit the wall next to her and tried to turn but she already had her main-sword raised—
Heavy Swing!
She slashed down with all her strength and tore a gash into the monster. The Lesser Horned Juggernaut let out a screech as Amber backed off. The counter on Cursed Momentum had just started, but she planned to end the fight before the fifteen minute mark hit. The monster turned to her with hatred and charged, she dodged out of the way.
It was fast but it took time to build its speed, something that Amber exploited with a wide smile, cutting into the monster and punishing it for its mistakes. She noticed that sometimes, some of her slashes would create other cuts. At first she was confused, but a moment later she realized Cursed Momentum was applying the weapon’s curse to her attacks, something that made her even happier.
After repeating the process a dozen times, Amber thought that maybe she wouldn’t even need to use her other weapons. However, that feeling didn’t last long as the monster unleashed an angry shriek as it stopped charging at her.
Instead, it was just looking. Its blood was dripping on the ground from the shallow cuts on its body, and it was the only indicator to Amber that time was still flowing. She frowned, the effects of Cursed Momentum would disappear after about a minute of not fighting — based on her interaction with the skill earlier. So she couldn’t actually afford to wait the monster out, not when she had about half of the skill’s bonus already anyway.
There was a second of staredown before Amber made a decision — she had thought about killing the monster in such a way earlier, but it was too dangerous. Now though, she had no choice.
She threw her sword to the ground and grabbed both daggers from the makeshift sling, before tossing the rest of her weapons to the ground. Then, after a moment to gather herself, she rushed towards the monster.
The Lesser Horned Juggernaut waited a second, but it rushed at her. Amber smiled and stopped in her tracks, and then— jumped. She twisted in the air and landed on the monster’s back immediately stabbing the daggers. She stabbed both of them at once using Heavy Swing, the skill affecting both as they dug deep into the monster’s flesh.
The Lesser Horned Juggernaut roared in anger as it hit the wall, sending a reverberating shock throughout her body. Amber felt her entire spine and neck ache from the shock, but she still held her daggers in and a moment later— the flesh of the monster began to be cut by the curse of the weapons. Not only that but she also stabbed it every chance she got with one of the daggers.
Amber clung tight onto the monster’s back as it immediately began to go on a rampage, breaking through walls and other parts of the floor. Debris constantly pelted at her, causing her to grit her teeth, but with each passing minute her grip grew stronger. The monster rammed against the walls and even tried to jump to hit Amber against the ceiling but it couldn’t.
She kept on stabbing and letting the monster suffer from the curse until it entered a panic and toppled onto the ground. Amber winced from pain feeling her leg be crushed but she still kept stabbing the thing, and rending the dagger across its flesh. Until finally, the thing perished from the myriad of stab wounds lining its back.
[You have defeated a [Lesser Horned Juggernaut. Lvl. 27].]
[General Weapon Mastery has leveled up from level 6 to 7.]
[Heavy Swing has leveled up from level 9 to 10.]
[Cursed Momentum has leveled up from level 1 to 2.]
[You have reached level 23. 5 stat points awarded.]
…
[You have reached level 25. 5 stat points awarded.]
[New Core Skill! For reaching level 25 as a Cursed Berserker you have learned Passive: Berserker’s Body — level 1.
You’ve embodied what it means to be a Berserker and now you can physically be one too. You feel half of the pain you’re supposed to feel and your body is 30% stronger. (15% before class bonus).]
The skill immediately took effect as Amber felt a surge of strength across all her body, but that wasn’t all, she instinctively knew the Core Skill affected her Vitality, Endurance and Dexterity too.
With a smile Amber distributed her attribute points, this time not putting it all in Strength but choosing to spread it across her relevant stats. Then she moved onto getting her leg out from beneath the hulking slab of meat that was the Lesser Horned Juggernaut. Managing to do so in under a minute. Amber smiled, standing on the middle of the broken tower floor.
She had triumphed, and even though she had bruises all over from the monster’s relentless charge, she had won against the thing that had terrified her for multiple days.
It was just great. No— it was amazing.
With a grin she continued onto her pursuit of leaving the tower.
* * *
She rested after killing the juggernaut, and the next day she descended the floors, killing anything she could kill and running from the things she couldn’t kill, leveling up three more times in the process. Then finally, she reached the last floor she was planning to explore for today.
It was dark, almost too dark. There were vines and water dripping from the ceiling, it almost seemed devoid of rooms as well. It was… odd. She stepped onto the darkness and a few steps in she shivered as she saw a pair of slitted golden eyes looking at her from within the darkness.
Identify didn’t show any result, but a moment later a blue light behind her appeared — as if someone turned a flashlight — Amber’s danger senses blared and she tried to back off only to hit something. She turned and saw the non-descript form of a man surrounded by light. It was the blob-ghost-looking thing from the murals and—
[???. Lvl. ???]
She couldn’t see its level nor what it was.
“Greetings,” it said. “ Now tell me: what are you doing in my tower?”