Sam slammed his hammer up against the fangs, contesting the brute strength of the monster with his own. He was pressed down into the ground, but he constructed pillars of Dao energy beneath his feet, holding himself steady against the onslaught. With a roar, he sent a payload of Dao energy into his hammer, sending it out the other side and into the herpetopede’s mouth.
The monster was blasted off its feet, reeling from the strike, and Sam closed the gap, his hammer impacting its underbelly dozens of times in the span of a second. Its body broke beneath the barrage, and Sam finished it off with a thunderous upwards swing of Terra’s Will into its jaw. He packed it as full of power as he could, weaving together a truncated version of his Primal Skill into it.
A beam of light tore through the beast’s head, erasing it from existence. It sped up into the heavens, leaving the planet’s atmosphere a few seconds later. It quickly vanished from view, leaving the arena silent.
“There’s no need to weaken your champions on my account, your Majesty,” Sam called out. “I am eager for a challenge.”
“There shall be one,” King Granthar spat, clenching his fists with enough force to fuse the air within them to a solid form. “There shall be one.”
Sam merely smiled, and exited the arena, teleporting to the exit in the blink of an eye. Once there, he left, speeding through the tunnels. This time, nobody was waiting for him there.
As he entered the city, he kept an eye out for any signs that things weren’t entirely right. He still had no idea how to accomplish the task that he had been given, to weave the defeat of the king into his floor quest. It seemed outlandish that he should be expected to kill a D Ranker, but then again, he wouldn’t have to do it on his own.
As he walked through an alleyway, deep in thought, he decided to pull up his stats, wanting to see what his latest level had brought.
Sam Atlas
Human: E Rank
Enlightened Tier
E Rank
Class: Lesser Dao Paragon
Level 159
(371 stat points unspent)
- Health 60855/60855
- Mana 62933/62933
- Stamina 70313/70313
- Karma: 59
- Road to Zenith
Stage 2
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- Dao
Dao Echo of Inspiration
Dao Seed of the Avenger(Second Step)
Dao Mote of the Conduit
Dao Mote of Prescience
- Skills
1x Rare, 3x Epic, 5x Legendary, 6x Mythical, 2x Ancient, 1x Primal, 1x Unique
- Titles
1x Legendary, 3x Mythical, 2x Ancient, 1x Primal, 1x Transcendent
- Temporary Titles
1x Epic, 1x Legendary, 1x Mythical
- Dao Heritage
Dao Incarnation of Existence(Second Step)
- Party
None
- Skill Branches
- Lightning Neurons (Level 2)
Iron Body(Level 2)
Iron Bones (Level 2)
Muscle Density Enhancement(Level 1)
Basic Weapon Knowledge: Blunt(Level 1)
Dao Resonance(Level 1)
Karmic Cycle(Level 1)
Lucky(Level 1)
Increased Blood Flow (Level 1)
- Weapon Style
Flowing Water Style
- Weapon Mastery: Brotherhood Stage 6
- Elemental Affinities
Earth: 15% Mastery
- Elemental Boons
Elemental Infusion: Stoneskin
- Quests
The Sacred Bond: Impossible
Engines of the End Times: S
- Professions
Smith: Apprentice Stage 9
Dao Smith: Apprentice Stage 9
Sam let his hammer bounce against his leg as he walked, unconcerned with Granthar’s threats. Despite this, he remained on guard. He was expecting at least one assassination attempt before this was all over. All things considered, he eclipsed, or at least matched the power of most of Granthar’s servants, as the D Ranker likely had prevented them from growing to a level that they could threaten him. While powerful, the king was but an average D Ranker, and a low leveled one at that.
Sam passed through a dozen alleyways without trouble, but eventually, he was cajoled from his introspection by what sounded like a baby’s wail.
“Hello?” He called out, before realizing that his perception was likely far higher than whoever had produced the noise. There was a good chance that the source was hundreds of feet away.
The noise sounded again, and he froze, wondering if this was a trap. Most likely, it was. Perhaps he had been seen helping the encampment of soldiers the other day, beleaguered by the wounds of their long campaigns. Granthar likely knew that he was inclined towards helping those in need, and was using it as a trap.
Despite this, and the increasing surety that Sam found filling him as he heard the noise once more, repeated with the exact same intonation, he realized that it was probably best to head off the threat now. Pretending that he was merely curious, he headed towards the noise, still holding his hammer loosely in his hand.
He exited the alleyway, crossing a deserted street. A few paupers lay against the sides of buildings, most either in the process of drowning their sorrows with drink, or having already done so. A few snores drifted up from their replete forms, but Sam ignored them. He knew the noise he was looking for.
It sounded out again, from behind the Praxian analogue of a dumpster. Far larger than any trash receptacle on Earth, the dumpster was twenty feet in height, and overflowing with waste. Next to it was a small, swaddled figure, wiggling around on the ground. Sam approached, summoning his Dao energy to his hands, while hiding that from the world.
He bent down, reaching out with his left hand to pick up the baby. Before he could do so, there was a flash of light, and the figure disappeared, replaced with a large ball of roiling flame. Expecting this, Sam teleported, just before the fire detonated, sending a wave of searing heat through where he had stood. It represented the entirety of an E Rank attack, condensed down into a single pillar. While little damage had been done to the city, there was a hole in the ground seemingly without a bottom.
Sam snapped his hammer out, and coated it in the flames of his Dao.
“Good reflexes,” a voice said from next to the dumpster. The air shimmered, revealing a woman standing there, holding a small wand made of obsidian. She snapped her wrist, and a tiny spear of fire shot out, igniting the air around it.
Sam could feel concentrated danger gathered around the bolt of fire, and he teleported again. To his surprise, the firebolt teleported after him, heading ever closer.
“Who are you? Who sent you?” He asked, swinging his hammer towards the incoming attack.
“I’m not going to answer that. I’m sure you can guess, though,” the woman said playfully, twirling her wand across her fingers.
Sam shook his head, watching as his hammer blasted the spear of fire into the atmosphere, flying across the sky like a tiny meteor. He was sure that Granthar could see this, or at least some of his enforcers, but it was being studiously ignored.