Hello there.
Reviews:
Guest: [I wonder if this fic will make it past freeing Yue from her prison and meeting Shea I don't think there's an Arifureta Fanfiction that ever got to the Shea Arc]
Well, the plan is to at the very least cover the main story and after that who knows? Maybe a crossover(Arifureta is a great Tutorial world for those).
And as far as I know there is at least one Fic that got past Shea's Arc and into Vol 3 (Arifureta: Light in the Darkness by ArifuretaForever) and there used to be one which got to Shea's Arc before author decided to re-write the story and deleted that chapter (Arifureta: From Wimpy Brat To God-Level Threat by zhoujianto12)
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"Talking." - Talking.
'Thinking.' - Thinking when ended with a (. ! ? etc.).
'Emphasizing' - Emphasizing when ended without a (. ! ? etc.).
"*Cough*" - Sounds (Coughs etc.)
[Skills] - Skills etc.
Chapter 3: Rules of Nature.
I slowly regained my consciousness and opened my eyes and what greeted me was a very familiar closed-off cave.
I rubbed my eyes and got up.
'Well, I don't look forward to falling unconscious again, so I guess I won't be using [Wait] anytime soon.' I thought this as I started doing some stretching because my back and neck were incredibly stiff(largely due to the fact that I 'slept' on rocks).
'How is my MP?' I decided to check if 3 hours was enough for it to regenerate.
Name: Hajime Nagumo
Level: 11 (3,33%)
Title: [None]
HP: 100%
MP: 100%
I smiled in satisfaction.
Thankfully it was enough, which meant that I could get out of this cave soon, but first I decided to do some more stretching because my back felt like it aged a few decades.
After about 10 minutes of stretching my body still remained a little stiff, but I figured it would pass with time, and I was getting sick of seeing nothing but this cave for 24 hours a day, so I decided to double-check my progress before finally getting out of here.
I focused on making each part of my UI appear one by one.
Name: Hajime Nagumo/? Male
Title: [None]
Age: 17
Level: 11
Job: The Gamer
Strength: 150
Vitality: 350
Defense: 145
Agility: 235
Magic: 350
Magic Defense: 350
Skills: Gamer's Spirit - Gamer's Body - Game UI - The Game - Class - Inventory - Level Up(Uncapped) - Party - Music Player - Perception[Rank:E] - Language Comprehension
'Hmm, not too bad. I guess that whenever I'll Level Up I'll get a boost to all of my Stats, because I see no way I'd be able to increase my Stats so much with just training.' I think, noticing my increase in Stats.
Also for some reason most Skills of The Gamer Job don't have a rank, I can see why something like [Music Player] wouldn't have one as I don't see what would a higher rank do, but others are a little more of a mystery to me.
Attributes:
Strength - C
Defense - C
Dexterity - D
Intelligence - B
Willpower - C
Luck - A
'No progress here huh?' I think, a little disappointed that none of my [Attributes] had gone up a rank, but then a thought occurred.
'Wait a minute. If I can see my Stat numbers using UI, then why do I even have [Attributes]?'
I think you can guess what happens now...
[Help]
The [Attributes] represent the relative strength of your bo—
My guide seemed to interpret my question as me wanting to know what [Attributes] does.
It wasn't what I wanted.
'I know this. What I meant was: What's the point of having them both?' I got a little annoyed at The Guide, but what I saw next rendered me speechless for a few seconds.
[Help]
The [Attributes] also serve as a multiplier for your Stats.
I blinked in confusion.
'Come again?'
[Help]
The [Attributes] also serve as a multiplier for your Stats.
Now that I had a solid proof I wasn't just seeing things...
'Why didn't you tell me this earlier?' I asked in silent anger at The Guide.
You never asked.
'That's... a fair point actually.' despite being angry I couldn't help but admit that this time it was The Guide that was right... so all of the anger I felt at The Guide was instantly redirected at myself for not asking about it earlier.
'Then can you tell me the multipliers?' I decided to occupy my mind with something else in hopes of calming myself.
[Help]
E - 1.0
D - 1.25
C - 1.5
B - 1.75
A - 2.0
EX - 2.5
'Ok, I'm going to assume that the [Attributes] will multiply their corresponding Stat, like Strength for Vitality and Strength, correct?' I asked, this time choosing to get a confirmation of my words.
Yes.
'Then where does Luck fit in the Stats?'
It doesn't.
I narrowed my eyes in confusion.
'Explain.'
Luck works as an external factor, for example: Someone with high Stats but low Luck fights someone with low Stats but with high Luck.
Who would win?
I pondered the question for a moment before answering.
'I'm not sure.'
Exactly, no one can be sure about anything especially considering Luck as a factor, but people by nature don't like being out of control, so many would quickly dismiss random factors like Luck as "Not worth considering." and would say that the person with high Stats but low Luck would win, but what they fail to realize is that: What if a thunderbolt strikes the one with high Stats but low Luck during the fight knocking him out? Or what if the earth splits under his feet swallowing him? Then the other would win by default while doing absolutely nothing, no matter how unlikely that would be it's still a possible scenario.
'Hmm, I don't like leaving anything to chance, but I can see how that would work.' I wanted to move on to the rest of my UI before I'd get shocked by something again, but then another thought occurred to me.
'You're surprisingly talkative today.' I couldn't help but point this out.
I was always like this, it's simply that you never asked a question that required much elaboration.
I had a blank look on my face.
'...Moving on.' I decided to move on to the rest of my UI.
Class(Spare levels: 6):
-Synergist(Common) Lvl 5
Skills: Transmute[Rank:D]
-Berserker(Rare) Lvl 2
Skills: Mad Enhancement[Rank:C] - Battle Continuation[Rank:E]
-Monster Hybrid(Unnatural) Lvl 6
Skills: Mana Manipulation[Rank:E] - Iron Stomach[Rank:E] - Lightning Field[Rank:E] - Intimidation[Rank:E]
I nodded in satisfaction at my Classes.
'Next.'
The Game:
-Devil May Cry Series [Devil Arms] [Style(Swordmaster, Trickster, Gunslinger, Royal Guard, Dark Slayer)] [Combos] [Colored Orbs] [Power Up Shop] [Devil Trigger]
-Skyrim [Skill Trees] [Crafting Skills(Smithing, Enchanting, Alchemy)] [Waiting] [{Locked}Shouts] [{Locked}Standing Stones]
-Minecraft [Crafting] [Alchemy] [Enchanting(Experience)] [Drops] [Mining] [Building] [{Off}Survival]
-Superhot [Reactive Timing] [{Off}Glass Cannon]
-The Witcher 3 [Combat] [Alchemy(Toxicity)] [Witcher Senses] [{Off}Gwent]
-Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice [Second Chance]
-God of War(2018) [Weapons] [Runic Attacks] [Enchantments] [Drops]
-Doom Eternal [Guns] [Glory Kills] [No Reloading]
'Now, show me [Skill Trees].'
[Skill Trees]
Magic:
Alteration - 23
Conjuration - 15
Destruction - 15
Enchanting - 15
Illusion - 15
Restoration - 15
Stealth:
Alchemy - 15
Light Armor - 15
Lockpicking - 15
Pickpocket - 15
Sneak - 15
Speechcraft - 15
Combat:
Block - 15
Heavy Armor - 15
Marksman - 15
One-handed - 15
Smithing - 34
Two-handed - 15
I noticed a few changes to the [Skill Trees] such as Archery being labeled as Marksman, but other than those few changes everything else seemed to be the same as in the game.
Truthfully speaking there was one more thing I wanted to check out and it was Perks of [Skill Trees] but I decided to leave it be for now because I wanted to see which fighting style would suit my tastes the most before I'd accidentally choose Perks which would be of little to no benefit to the fighting style I choose.
Then again going with the knowledge I gained by playing Skyrim: "When in doubt, go for the Stealth Archer."
'Alright, the time has come and so have I.' I think, while making my way to some random wall, so that I could mine out an exit.
You might be thinking 'Wouldn't it be safer to just sit in that cave and grind until you get more levels?' and... you'd be correct, but as someone who always delayed studying for the exams until the last day I can say with confidence that "Everybody knows that the best way to learn is under intense life-threatening situations." so I decided to take my chances.
"[Transmute]."...Yes, I said the skills name out loud despite no longer requiring [Magic Assist] I did it because I still don't have a perfect handle on Magic and saying names out loud makes it easier to use it, I don't know how it works, but it just does, it's probably something about making it easier to create an image or something, I don't really know, and I doubt anyone could explain Magic to someone who only heard about it in fantasy stories and make it easy to understand, so all in all I think I'm doing fairly well with it.
After I was done making an exit I switched into [Style:Trickster] so that I'd have an easier time escaping should the need arise and I also equipped Ebony and Ivory to take down enemies from a distance.
I went out to explore this floor, which visually speaking wasn't too different from the closed-off cave I was in it was just much bigger and more spacious, I spent about half an hour sneaking around this place(and getting my Sneak up to 23) before finally finding something...
It was a white rabbit(if it could even be called one), it had thick hind legs, which if I had to compare to something then they'd look like someone was messing around with body-sliders while creating a game character, on top of those unnaturally buff legs it had pulsing red veins.
The Rabbit was drinking water from a small river.
'Perfect target.' I hid myself behind some rocks, switched into [Style:Gunslinger] and got ready to shoot, but before that I decided to check something...
'[Perception].'
Name: Kickmaster Rabbit
Level: 13
Job: Monster
Skills: Air Dance(Aerodynamics, Supersonic Step) - Mana Manipulation - Iron Stomach
Reputation: The Kickmaster Rabbit is hostile towards you.
'This is... curious.' I got distracted for a moment that I could see someone else's Status(minus the Stats) as well as my reputation with them by using [Perception].
I took aim at The Rabbit's head with Ebony and began using [Lightning Field] to accelerate the bullet.
I'm something of a pacifist myself, but I don't really have any problem with violence... I know it kinda contradicts itself, so the simplest way to explain it would be "If I can avoid it I will, but if I'm attacked I will fight back." but even so I thought I'd feel anxious about killing another living being, but instead I felt...
...Nothing.
I felt absolutely nothing, as if it was absolutely normal thing to do.
I pulled the trigger on the Ebony and it released the accelerated bullet at a velocity which even something specialized in Speed and Agility would have a hard time dodging, and I also had the advantage of a surprise attack, so there was no way The Rabbit would get out of this alive.
The Rabbit's head exploded from the force behind the bullet spraying blood everywhere, speaking of which Monster blood is a vibrant crimson red color(unlike what Anime would make you believe).
Gained 135 Exp
I finally felt something, but it was neither regret nor sadistic joy, it was...
...Disappointment.
I was disappointed that all it took was one shot.
'Now that's just boring.' I think in disappointment, while making a mental note to never focus my fighting style solely on guns.
Don't get me wrong I'm not a sadist... or at least I hope I'm not, but when you gain some superpowers you expect to have some fun with them, and using only guns is clearly not a very fun thing to do.
'How much more Exp until next level?' I looked in the corner of my vision to see my progress.
Name: Hajime Nagumo
Level: 11 (18,63%)
Title: [None]
HP: 100%
MP: 99%
'It's more than I expected.'
Once I was done with everything else I went to pick up the Rabbit, but when I got closer to it's corpse several Red Orbs shot out of it and immediately disappeared when I walked close to them.
The count for Red Orbs was in the corner of my vision, just below my MP and it read...
Red Orbs: 56
I spent a few seconds just looking at it before picking up The Rabbit(I felt a little dizzy from seeing the blood) and tracing my way back to the Cave I resided in(as much as I didn't want to see it again it was the safest place I knew of).
I had to avoid a few Twin-Tail Wolves alonge the way, but other than that I managed to get there without much issues, and once I was there I used [Transmute] and closed off the exit.
'The LN made it clear that Monster meat has a disgusting taste and I don't look forward to this, but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.' I then Transmuted some stone into a small hammer, a smooth table and a knife.
I didn't know much about preparing Rabbit's meat, so there's no doubt that I may have messed up somewhere, but that wasn't important, what was important was that I was about to prepare the worst meal I ever had in my life.
I crudely skinned The Rabbit(I later stored it's hide and bones in my [Inventory]) and cut off the meat from the legs and started beating it with the hammer, once I thought it was enough I used [Lightning Field] to cook it...
...It was a mistake.
The smell from the burned Monster meat was so disgusting that I almost threw up 3 times, and if that's how it smells can you imagine how it tastes?
"*Cough* Fuck *Cough*" I was still holding back vomit, but I picked the meat and took a small bite out of it...
...It was an even worse mistake than cooking it.
I almost threw up 3 times when I smelled it, but after taking a bite I immediately spit it out and almost threw up... 19 TIMES!
'In all of my years I never ate something so revolting.'
It took a couple(dozens) of minutes and even more attempts, but finally the deed was done.
[Attention!]
[Air Dance] and it's sub-skills [Supersonic Step] and [Aerodynamics] have been acquired.
'At least it was worth it.' I managed a weak smile, even though I was still feeling unwell due to the smell of the meat and it's surprisingly bitter taste.
'I think I'll check the Skills later, this meal was surprisingly taxing on my mind, so I'll take a break early.' I lied down on the floor and began taking deep breaths.
'Man, no human should have to go through this and I didn't even get the worst of it.' I thought about how I managed to avoid getting all of the pain from the first time Hajime ate Monster meat and I couldn't help but shudder from the thought of experiencing pain on top of that disgusting taste.
Then something unexpected happened.
[Attention!]
New [Title] has been acquired.
[Subhuman] - eating Monster meat has caused changes to your body, you can no longer call yourself fully human now.
Active Effect(Apex Predator) - grants additional effects to [Monster Hybrid] Class Skills.
Passive Effect(Monster) - grants small boost to all Skills of the [Monster Hybrid] Class.
'...Well, technically speaking my predecessor already stooped so low, but who am I to argue?' I think as I immediately equipped the Title.
Before I started resting for good I got a flash of inspiration and started working on something using [Transmute].
What I build was a pretty sizeable pot, above it was a hollow circle with a slightly smaller diameter than a basketball which was held up by a three-legged stand.
In that circle was a glowing basketball-sized rock... that's right, The Divinity Stone.
'I didn't want to do it so early, but [Wait].'
Would you like to [Wait]?
'*Sigh* Yes.'
How long would you like to [Wait]?
'An hour.'
Proceeding to [Wait] (1 hour)
Surprisingly it was less unpleasant than the first time I used it, but still not something I'd repeat if I had a choice.
An hour later.
I woke up to see the pot be slightly filled with some liquid.
'I'm a genius.' I think as I use [Perception] to see if the liquid was what I thought it was.
[Perception]
Ambrosia - liquefied Mana which holds healing properties and greatly restores Mana.
'Jackpot.' I smiled, but then a depressing thought occurred to me.
'In hindsight I probably should have done it before starting my physical exercises a few days ago.' the bitter thought lasted for only a second as there was no point wondering about what-ifs.
I started using [Transmute] to make small vials for Ambrosia just like Hajime did in the Novel.
When I was done I had around 10 vials filled with Ambrosia, I then stored all of them in my [Inventory] alongside The Divinity Stone.
I then started practicing with [Air Dance] and it's sub-skills.
It was in many ways similar to practicing with [Style:Trickster] and speaking of it [Air Dance] and it's sub-skills had great synergy with [Style:Trickster] it was almost like they were made for each other, and since I already had some experience with enhanced mobility I got used to [Air Dance] in no time at all.
What interested me was the additional effects granted by the Title [Subhuman] and speaking of it, it only granted additional effect to a Skill and not sub-skills.
Those effects were:
Lightning Field - allows me to eject the lightning outside of the body(like a Twin-tailed wolf).
Air Dance - shows me the range of how far I can travel by using it.
Mana Manipulation - increases my control over Mana.
Iron Stomach - let's me obtain more Skills by eating.
Now that I was done getting acquainted with my new Skill, and all of the additional effects, I once again went to transmute myself an exit.
I spent a little while longer than the last time searching for something to fight and this time I found two wolves with two tails and pulsing red veins.
I didn't bother hiding like the last time, because I wanted to see how good is my mostly self-taught swordsmanship.
I also checked their Status with [Perception] and there was virtually no difference between them.
Name: Twin-tailed Wolf
Level: 8
Job: Monster
Skills: Lightning Field - Mana Manipulation - Iron Stomach
Reputation: The Twin-tailed Wolf is hostile towards you.
I then compared it to my own Status.
Name: Hajime Nagumo/? Male
Title: [Subhuman]
Age: 17
Level: 15
Job: The Gamer
Strength: 250
Vitality: 350
Defense: 245
Agility: 425
Magic: 400
Magic Defense: 400
Skills: Gamer's Spirit - Gamer's Body - Game UI - The Game - Class - Inventory - Level Up(Uncapped) - Party - Music Player - Perception[Rank:E] - Language Comprehension
I was surprised for a moment at my sudden increase in level, but then I remembered that in the Novel Hajime increased his level by eating Monster meat, so everything was fine.
'I can win this.' I had a confident smile on my face.
I thought I'd feel nervous, but then again I have [Gamer's Spirit] so there was almost no way I could get nervous.
"Hey there little puppies." I said to the pair of wolves gaining their attention.
"Grrr!" they responded with growling.
"What's wrong? Oh, you're bored? Then come on! I'll play with ya!"
You might be thinking 'Hey didn't this guy said that he'd rather spend extra 5 minutes thinking about if he should even open his mouth?' and yes, yes I did, but what I'm doing now is checking if I can increase my Speechcraft [Skill Tree] by Taunting my enemies, and since I could increase Smithing and Alteration using only [Transmute] it already proved that I have more freedom in ways I could increase my [Skill Trees].
I don't know how well it went with increasing said [Skill Tree] but I know for a fact that something else happened...
Dismal!
The Style announcer from Devil May Cry happened...
I had no words to describe what I felt in that moment, and the only thing that broke me out of my stupor was the fact that one of the wolves lunged at me.
"Trick!" I switched into [Style:Trickster] and dodged by jumping onto the wolf using [Air Dance] and I used it as a foothold and jumped in the direction of the second wolf.
I pulled Rebellion out of my [Inventory] and activated [Reactive Timing] to think about my next move.
I quickly came up with some plan of action and deactivated [Reactive Timing].
"Sword!" I switched into [Style:Swordmaster] and lunged at The Wolf.
When I got within the range I swung The Rebellion upwards launching The Wolf into the air and I instantly followed by jumping upwards(what was surprising was the height at which I could jump, but I didn't let that distract me) and I swung Rebellion again, this time downwards accelerating our descent.
Crazy!
I couldn't help but smirk and risk a quick glance towards The Wolf which confirmed that it layed there unmoving, so I waited for a notification about how much Exp I gained, and it proved to be a mistake as I practically forgot about the second Wolf.
The second Wolf attacked me by shooting [Lightning Field] at my back, which knocked me down, and made me grunt in pain.
Meanwhile my assailant lunged once again at me and this time succeeded in biting me... and the little fucker bit me in the throat.
Yeah, it wasn't a very pleasant experience.
I tried to shake him off, but he wouldn't budge, so I did what I deemed to be the best course of action.
...I activated [Devil Trigger].
The activation released a shockwave of Mana which was enough to send the little bugger flying into a wall, momentarily shocking him.
I immediately followed up with a lunging thrust at The Wolf, and after that I continued to repeatedly thrust Rebellion into The Wolf in quick succession in a splitting image of Million Stab Combo from the game.
When I was done and The Wolf was well and truly dead I deactivated [Devil Trigger].
Gained 300 Exp
I raised an eyebrow in confusion.
'I killed 2 Monsters so 300 divided by 2 is 150... which is still higher than the Exp I got from The Rabbit who had a higher level than those Wolves.' I thought for a moment about it and arrived at a conclusion that...
'Yeah this doesn't make any sense, why did I get more Exp from low level Wolves than from The Rabbit with a higher level?' I asked My Guide about it and...
It didn't answer.
This was the first time My Guide didn't answer me.
"*Sigh* 'Figure it out yourself' is that it?" I couldn't help but say this out loud.
Yes.
I smiled wryly at this and asked:
'And I don't suppose you'd tell me if I'm right?'
Correct.
"Hehe... Haha... *Sigh*" I decided to give it some thought myself, because unlike trying to find a logic behind the Skills of my Job which was mere curiosity, if I could figure out the reason for higher Exp yield I may be able to exploit it and grow more powerful as a result.
'Alright what's the difference between the two fights?'
This is what I could think of:
-Rabbit(One opponent, Over in one hit, No Damage taken, No Style announced, Ranged Weapon used.)
-Wolves(Two opponents, A bit of resistance from their part/The fight took a little under a minute, Some Damage taken, Style announced, Melee Weapon used.)
Those were the only differences I could think of and I immediately set out to fight more Monsters and find out what affects the Exp yield(I also got a couple levels as a result).
This what I managed to confirm:
-Number of opponents has no effect on the Exp yield.
-The length of the fight and the resistance of the enemy has some effect on Exp yield(Longer and Harder = More Exp).
-Damage taken doesn't affect the Exp yield at all.
-Style announced does affect the Exp yield(More Stylish = More Exp), even more than the length of a fight and resistance of the enemy.
-Weapon type used doesn't affect the Exp yield at all.
I spent quite a bit of time farming Exp on low level Monsters I could find and these were the results:
Name: Hajime Nagumo
Level: 21 (1,63%)
Title: [Subhuman]
HP: 100%
MP: 100%
Red Orbs: 1243
I started seeking out The Claw Bear because I wanted to move on to the next floor soon and more Skills means more variety which also means more fun, but before I could find that hulking mass of fur I found something interesting.
When I was strolling through the Cave I took one step, which seemed to activate some Red Magic Circle, so I prepared for trouble and made it double, but it never came, what instead happened was...
[Secret Mission]
"To The Beginning"
Main Objective: [Unknown]
Side Objective: [Unknown]
Rewards: [Unknown]
Requirements: [None]
Do you accept?
Yes/No
'...Explanation please.' I asked My Guide, completely unfazed by the notification.
[Help]
[Secret Missions] take place in a (Secret Dungeon) and generally speaking yield in greater rewards, but are in turn usually harder than normal [Missions](some exceptions may apply).
Some [Secret Missions] may also have a requirement to accept them.
The (Objective), (Rewards) and (Side Objectives) of a [Secret Mission] will become known after accepting it.
I smirked.
'Well then, let's find out.' I of course accepted it.
Once I accepted the [Secret Mission] the circle began shining in a bright crimson light which eventually started to shine so brightly that I had to shield my eyes from it.
The next thing I knew was that I found myself in modern looking... City? Town? I wasn't sure, but what I knew was that the [Secret Mission] has begun.
End Chapter
Hey there.
So... Arifureta is finally getting Season 2, are you excited? I'm somewhat happy, but then I remember what happened with Season 1 and my expectations drop significantly, even then I'm looking forward to it.
You know? I'm a very curious person, so I'll ask: What is your favorite Music Genre? Mine is mostly Rock, Metal and whatever the hell is the soundtrack of Metal Gear Rising Revengeance(That shit slaps!).
Don't feel pressured to answer though.