The next instance of Dan opening his eyes, he saw the familiar grayscale sky. He was still on the ground but struggled to get up. The afflictions from jabbing himself with one half of that artefact still lingered. His HUD was still glitching out and spamming his peripheral vision with error codes and messages. He lifted his head and looked around, seeing the familiar desolate realm that Overlord had always pulled him into.
Dan’s HUD completely shut off then his body was hit with a surge of energy. He let out a shocked gasp as he felt something similar to the first time he actived his berserk mode. But this was notably different. While the berserk put enormous strain on his body and made him bleed from his nose and eyes, this surge of energy wasn’t as radical and unpredictable. Instead of the electrifying red arcs and static that roiled along his limbs and blasted from his body, dark violet whisps of energy swirled around him while also radiating from his armor.
You feel it, do you not? Overlord’s voice cut into his mind. That is raw corrosia mingling with flesh. You finally have a taste of it. A full proper introduction to the gifts you have at your fingertips.
“I hate to admit it, but you’re right,” Dan said. He no longe felt any pain or disorientation from stabbing himslef with the artefact and quickly got on his feet. Looking down, he saw the familiar black void that made up the ground in this strange realm.
Dan curled his fist and felt the raw corrosia dancing along his forearm and some of it settling along his fingers and knuckles. “Fuck. This feels… different.”
You have given yourself a boost to your corrosia reserves and have increased your supernatural rank. I will help you demonstrate the full extend of your ascended strength, Overlord said.
His HUD rebooted itself and returned back online. He watched the spinning icon that floating in front of his vision before it expanded into a message.
Warp Dancer.
A ridiculous speed increase that also corrupts the perception of those in the vicinity. A user will appear as if they're leaving after-images of themselves. In addition to a massive speed increase, an enemy's senses and perception of time will be too distorted and manipulated to mount an effective counterattack.
Activating these powers was as simple as willing it in his mind. For abilities like the glare, he would need to conjure up some anger and hate for the attack to properly execute. A series of waypoints popped up in front of him. Each of them was gradually further apart from each other. Dan immediately saw that there was at least over a hundred meters of space for him to navigate.
Use you warp dancer to reach each waypoint.
Dan simply just willed the use of the warp dancer in his mind.
Warp Dancer activated.
Dan blitzed into motion, running faster than he ever had in his entire life. He reached and blazed past the first waypoint and onto the next. The waypoint ahead was twenty meters away and yet he reached that one in what felt like an instant. He continued tearing up the dark ground beneath him as he crossed the space between the waypoints and reached each of them. Dan finally stopped on the last waypoint. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw the trailing multi-colored afterimages of himself as well as a waypoint that represented his original starting point. A message popped up in his HUD.
Congratulations! You have traversed 127 meters in 4 seconds using the warp dancer.
“Wow,” Dan said. Nothing else came to mind as he stared at the message telling him his newfound speed.
That is only the beginning, Overlord said. You will practice this ability on my designated targets.
In front of him, three clouds of white mist formed and roiled and swirled before they shaped themselves into three roughly humanoid shapes. The white mist formed into three life-sized models resembling Kodak agents.
Overlord chimed in. Each of these simulated Kodak agents are tier two in rank of varying levels. You will fight off all three of them at once.
“Wait, what?” Dan shouted out loud.
Do not be afraid. Allow me to grant you a weapon. Now, show me your power!
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
A basic Kodak katana materialized in the sky above him then dropped down. The blade descended down fast so Dan activated his warp dancer. The rapid fall of the blade slowed significantly and he jumped and snatched the katana out of the air.
By the time his feet made contact with the completely black ground, the three white apparitions of Kodak agents had turned in his direction while pointing nailguns at him. As Dan spun around, he watched the immensely slow movements of the agents.
Dan dashed toward the nearest apparition and stood in front of him. He spotted the finger on the nailgun’s trigger slowly pulling and sidestepped as the projectile launched in slow motion out of the barrel. He raised his katana and plunged the tip into the apparition’s throat. He dragged the blade to the side and shredded apart the apparition’s neck.
He sprinted towards the next apparition and ran beside the paths of projectiles that traveled so slowly through the air they might as well be hanging decorations. Dan held the katana with both hands and swung, decapitating the head of the second apparition.
Only one apparition remained and Dan wasted no time rushing across the thirty meter distance of empty space. He reached the apparition and kicked the nailgun out of his hands. He finished off his final simulated opponent by stabbing the Kodak agent through the heart, fully sinking the blade into his chest up to the hilt.
Dan tore the blade through the apparition’s chest and ripped it out from the side of his abdomen. If this were a real Kodak agent, it would have been a gruesome and bloody kill that would have Dan’s armor stained in red.
He looked back at the three apparitions he just wasted and all three fizzled and disappeared into glittering white dust. Dan allowed himself to grin widely beneath his mask. If what Overlord said was truthful about all three apparitions being equal to tier two Kodak agents, then he just got the power boost he was promised. Even if it was from his enemies.
His mind briefly flashed back to the hotel heist where he needed his berserk mode to take on the tier two Kodak agents he encountered throughout the mission. Even then, his berserk and his glare took too much out of him and he was only going toe to toe with the likes of Kate without ever gaining the advantage.
In this brief simulation, he crushed these three apparitions without much effort.
An idea crept into his mind. He had used the glare ability before while activating his berserk simultaneously. He wondered if it would be useful to chain together both his berserk and newly learned warp dancer to make himself even more dangerous in combat.
Excellent, excellent, Overlord said. Your progression is coming along nicely.
Dan’s legs began sinking into the dark void beneath him. His head sunk through then abruptly transitioned to him lying on the floor of the room where he jabbed himself with the artefact, or half of it. His eyes were wide open as he jerked his head around, checking his surrooudings. The other half of the artefact that he hadn’t stabbed himself with was still in his left hand.
As he slowly got back to his feet, his HUD also came back online and notified him of an urgent new message.
Congratulations!
You are now Tier 2 | Level 30.
You have earned 30 stat points! You have 40 unused stat points.
“Holy fuck,” Dan said, not bothing to hide the excitement in his voice. “Now we’re cooking with gas.”
He looked down and the wound in his abdomen from stabbing himself had been fully healed. The armored plating of his stealth suit had also slowly began self-sealing, closing up the hole.
Dan almost couldn’t believe it. He had just experience a six-level jump in an instant. And he had more stat points than he knew what to spend on. He pulled up all of his relevant stats and began weighing his options.
Strength: 33
Agility: 35
Endurance: 21
Intelligence: 28
He had a few level ups during this hunt for the cult master, but hadn’t sat down to allocate any of them. Now, he had a total of forty stat points.
Strength: 33 (+10)
Agility: 35 (+20)
Intelligence: 28 (+10)
Dan decided to neglect his endurance stat. With his healing factor and him simply being more effect in the other stat categories, it didn’t seem like a priority to put points into. Plus, with increased intelligence, he could have a better time coming up with more applications for his powers, especially the warp dancer.
Congratulations. Your updated stats are now:
Strength: 43
Agility: 55
Intelligence: 38
You have spent all of your stat points.
Dan grinned happily under his mask. He curled his fingers into a fist, feeling his newfound strength. The other half of the artefact was still in his other hand. He wondered if he should jab it into his abdomen and get another boost. But he held back on that. His only true ally in this mess needed this more than him.
He carefully placed the artefact into his inner coat, placing it low and making sure the crystalline shards pointed upwards. When he was satisfied that the crystals wouldn’t accidentally poke him in the chin if he looked down, he pulled up his stat menu one more time.
Agent: Dan “Arctic” Orion
Age: 18 M
Shard: Alpha Corporation
Rank: Tier 2 | Level 30
Strength: 43
Agility: 55
Endurance: 21
Intelligence: 38
Supernatural: Practitioner
Healing Factor: Moderate
Reflex: Superior ++
Not only did Dan see his newly updated stat categories, but his supernatural stat had ranked up from acolyte to practitioner and he got a minor bonus to his reflex stat.
His smile was still plastered on his face even as radioactive rods penetrated the wall beside him.
Sign up for the ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) team to follow regular updates on the official Amazon launch in 2025.
