The moment the ceiling cracked, the music abruptly rose in volume. Whether that was an announcement of its purpose or a response to the overwhelming cacophany as many tons of stone broke apart all at once and came crashing down, well... Draga didn't know. He did know a few things, however.

Number 1- standing there would just get him killed, so he took a few steps back into the hole he'd made earlier to watch events unfold from.

Number 2- Xander was screwed. While he had reacted, he was still airborne, and he'd been struck repeatedly with falling pieces of the ceiling- including a rather large chunk to his head.

And third... He really did not want to piss off the thing responsible.

Through special action, the skill [Sense Danger] has been unlocked!

Through special action, the skill [Sense Bloodlust] has been unlocked!

Even without looking at the roaring mass of anger and hatred that had broken through, he could feel the pressure of its emotions. They weren't aimed at him specifically, either, which only made the fact that they physically weighed down on him all the more ridiculous.

Gamer's Mind helped with that, allowing him to bypass the natural instinct to run and instead watch- from relative safety, of course- what followed.

[LVL?]
Thrak, The Breaker

It wasn't that large, all things considered- a piddling eight feet in height, and while it was bulkier than most people, it couldn't have topped six hundred pounds. Having no reference for its species, he couldn't give any specifics, but it's strength seemed impossible for its size.

Punching through stone? Childs play, but he didn't just do that. He broke a cavern inward, which takes a bit more force than that.

As he fell, his eyes quickly surveyed the room, and he reached out almost instantly for the nearest thing- Xander. The unfortunate Gamer was grabbed by his ankle and hurled downward into the head of the Colossus.

Draga hid his wince as the suited man was thrown through it and out of his sight, but that was hardly the end. Thrak fell after him, landing atop the Colossus' head and blasting it outwards.

From atop the giant creature, it was hard to see- especially with the debris from the broken ceiling obscuring things. His Lightning and Fire affinities- and the senses that came with them- were about useless here, but he could feel motions in the air above. Not specifics, given how low level it was and especially from this range, but he was clearly thrashing about still. Hell, that was a reasonable guess even without that.

What he could see was more debris being added to the fall, with bits of Colossus blasting in all manner of directions. Strangely- though it was probably just a power he hadn't known about- He Who Watches was never so much as touched, with any stone in his direction mysteriously falling short.

Seconds passed, though it felt like a lot longer than that, before he got any indication on how the battle was going.

Your level has increased by one!
Your level has increased by one!
Your level has increased by one!
Your level has increased by one!

He just kind of stared at that for a second. The music had ended, which all but confirmed the fight being over despite Thrak clearly still being around from the sound he made as he continued to bash Xander's corpse into the equally dead mass of the Colossus.

Speaking of, when did he even damage the Colossus? The destruction attack wasn't large enough to even touch him, so it had to be something around the lighning one well before. Had some shrapnel from the turtle's skull shot out and hit it, perhaps?

Four levels was a lot, but he also couldn't even see the Colossus' level, so that was actually a meager portion at best.

That still felt a ridiculous outcome, though. Not impossible, just improbable- like Tet was screwing with things. So long as the preposterousness was positive, he could leave it alone, but it was something to look out for in the future at the very least.

The noise born from the falling stone had thankfully passed- along with the actual danger it posed- and he was able to shift some of it aside to make his way out. Revealing himself to Thrak might not be the best decision, but neither was staying where he would be left with no escape method. At least out here he could try and use the original tunnel and lose him in the forest.

As he scanned the rubble coating the floor, he noted that He Who Watches was still completely fine. If anything, he just seemed more intimidating with rocks shattered all around him but his sword and body in exactly the same position and not a spec of dust on him.

Unsurprisingly, the original tunnel was buried, and unfortunately too far for him to actually get into. Right... That left the other exit- the one behind one of two remaining things in the room.

Considering the fact that- even with all his new levels- he still couldn't see He Who Watches' level, trying to break past him sounded like a terrible idea.

Draga sighed, looking up towards the orcish creature. Thrak was still up there, and Xander was still in hand too. Dead, obviously, from the sounds he made as Thrak used his body as a club to break apart the no longer living body of the Colossus.

Yeah... Approaching that seemed like a terrible idea too...

Where was Caelem when you needed him? For a Death God, he really dropped the ball here.

Well, he wasn't completely boned. Sure, in a physical fight Thrak would probably obliterate him faster than Kirase could ever dream of, but that wouldn't stop him from cheating horribly.

He'd gained a number of levels here- eight- which was exactly 56 points. Physical stats were out for obvious reasons, as was Luk for similar ones. The question was, how could he actually win?

Thrak had already shown to break through anything he could throw in the way, so he needed something else. Wisdom could give him elemental abilities, but that would mostly involve throwing things up as road blocks given how absurdly strong he was.

Given no other real choice, he dumped another 50 in Intelligence.

The rush of power was instant. Mana flushed through him- not topping him off, but actually surpassing his previous limits entirely and visibly coating his skin without so much as a thought towards bringing it out. It settled rather quickly, sinking back in, but it gave him hope. The four skills did a lot more than that.

Magic Mastery (Passive) LVLMAX Stack:3 MP:0

Expected, useful, pretty unimportant overall. Compared with everything else, it went ignored.

Acceleration (Active) LVL1 EXP: 0.00% MP:1000, 1000 per second
Like all fundamental parts of reality, time is a consequence of the nature of the material plain. You know what they say, though, right? Mind over matter.
MP regen speed is not affected by Acceleration.
Can be stacked.

Holy... That was insane. It might not be enough to deal with Thrak on its own, since he didn't have nearly enough durability for his limbs to survive hitting him, but it would almost definitely let him run away.

Even beyond that, it was absurdly useful in general, and he activated it right away to 'shorten' how long it took him to read through the remaining two. A good idea since, from the roar of anger he heard, as distorted as it was through Acceleration, he'd been spotted from above.

Mana Burn (Active) LVL1 EXP: 0.00% MP:Variable
While not inherently corossive, raw magic is still an unstable force. If guided properly, one need not shape it to deal damage, but can instead strike with it directly.
Deals damage on touch based on mana expended.
Current ratio: 1%.

Well. Combined with Acceleration letting him run away and regen mana, that would actually be able to do something. It would be an endurance battle, for sure, but the nature of video games should let him get away with that.

The last one wasn't nearly as straight forward, but potentially far more useful in the long run.

Markings of Kreasi (Passive) LVL1 EXP: 0.00% MP:0
Enchantments are one of the oldest magics, both in fiction writing and most realities, and are born from the simple application of a blessing or curse upon an object. Kreasi was one such enchanter- a demigod born weak, but who used blessed tattoos to become a fearsome fighter.
Allows for the creation of enchanted markings.

The skill didn't grant him any, and though he knew how to create them it didn't come with any designs, but it was something he could experiment with. If he could mark clothings or other people... It could be incredibly powerful in time.

It wouldn't help him right now, though, which was a problem. He wouldn't have the time to regenerate much of his mana with Thrak after him, since he'd need to use Acceleration to keep ahead, so he wouldn't be able to rely on Destruction or Lightning to win. Given an unstoppable force, he really needed an immovable objects.

Actually-

He didn't get to finish the thought, his instincts crying out in alarm as he dove forward. Even reacting as quickly as he did, the impact from Thrak's landing sent Draga flipping through the air until his back met the uneven ground a few extra meters away.

Draga didn't let himself roll to a stop. Even if he hadn't seen Thrak bash his way through a gigantic stone golem, his strength was apparent, and so was the sheer anger coming off of him. Sense Danger and Sense Bloodlust were leveling up fast, and that only reinforced the instinctual drive to move.

Fortunately, growing up with Kirase came with a number of advantages, and his parkour skills were just one of them. Throwing out an arm, he used it as a lever to both lift him to his feet and duck to the side of Thrak who charged right on by.

Even with his time doubled, the Orc moved fast, but he didn't seem particularly agile. Good. Draga waited in an unnatural calm for Thrak to turn around. He'd discarded Xander up above, leaving him without his 'weapon', and a quick scan of his armored kilt revealed nothing large. He might have a knife or something in there, but nothing obvious.

Another good thing, though it likely wouldn't matter too much with how impossibly large his muscles were. If the tusks hadn't already given away his inhumanity, the green skin that struggled to hold his own strength inside definitely would have.

Okay... Just dance around him, save up as much energy as possible, and use Mana Burn. You can do this.

He'd practiced a lot with Kirase, who was about as strong as Thrak looked to be. He didn't that strength most of the time, but the point of the exercise was to avoid such things anyway. At least Thrak didn't look like he could shapeshift.

"The runner takes his mark, the starting gun is fired, and it's off to the races, folks!"

Draga looked up the moment the strange voice cut in- a mistake, and one he really should have learned from by now. Thrak caught his neck in the crook of his arm and didn't even slow down as he hauled him forward and flexxed once to send him flying.

I get thrown around a lot... Fortunately, Gamer's Body was able to remove the effets of whiplash. The pain of skidding across sharp and broken stones... Well, that took a second to be removed, but he gritted through it as he rose back to his feet.

Thrak was still coming, but he'd actually created a bit of distance for him which Draga took full advantage of to conserve a little energy. Four seconds really wasn't a lot of time, but his power was bullshit. With the latest increase to his total MP- and the added regen from Magic Mastery- it game him something to work with.

5347 MP, specifically.

A white sheen coated his skin as his Awaken's Soul came alive. That was fairly cheap, though, and rest was dedicated to Acceleration. It stacked, multiplying his speed and perceptions by six for a real world second.

Judging the distance in his head, Draga actually waited for two sixths of his time to let Thrak continue his approach. The instant he was close enough, and wouldn't be able to react because of it, Draga ducked to the side- resting his weight one both arms and his left leg- as he used the remaining limb to kick out Thrak's ankle.

The manuever went unchallenged, which was great. Less great was the sharp spike of pain that erupted as almost all the bones in his calf and foot shattered on impact.

Thankfully, Gamer's Body was a thing, and the structural never really got to exist. It hurt- a lot, actually- but he could deal with pain. One didn't survive through Hell- or Kirase, when he got dumped by Laoii- without getting used to a little agony.

The results wouldn't last long, but he could work with that. Any addition to the time he had to work with was fantastic, which is why he didn't stay anywhere remotely near there.

No burn in his lungs accompanied the rapid sprint- which was nice- as he tore across the battlefield. The uneven and littered terrain posed a problem for his balance, but that was thankfully compensated for by his enhanced reflexes and perception.

In the remaining 'three seconds' that remained in his accelerated state, he'd traveled quite the distance- managing to get behind one leg of the still upright Colossus.

The stone hardly functioned as quality cover, but he didn't need it to. Just a few seconds, and...

Name: Draga Konungur
Class: None
Title: The Fifth
HP: 878
MP: 87750
Str: 8 (15.6)
Dex: 18 (35.1)
Vit: 9 (17.55)
Int: 150 (438.75)
Wis: 50 (146.25)
Luk: 10 (15)
Points: 0
Status Effects

The numerical change might not have been obvious, since he'd only had six points leftover anyway, but the physical change was obvious. There was no shift in bones or muscles- or, at least, not one he could feel- but rather a clarity born from raising his Dexterity. Not the mental clarity Intelligence gave, but a sharpness of perception, as if the whole of the world moved slower.

Technically, he should have noticed when he'd landed here with Tet's Blessing, or at least from the Awakened Soul, but he hadn't been looking for the change and clearly had other things on his mind.

Draga let out a quick sigh, bracing himself against the back of the Colossus' foot as he waited.

He wasn't left waiting long, and Thrak plowed through the stone above his head as easily as paper to send it raining down around them.

Well... It's been a long time since I've had to cheese a boss. It was about time he did just that.