Evolving Infinitely: SSS-Ranked Talent Awakening

Chapter 3

Reaching level 2 felt like a small drop of water in an ocean of endless struggles, the system's values as regards to my stats didn’t have a specific threshold so I drew the conclusion that I could grow infinitely without any ceiling as my limit.

But to be able to attain such feat, there was work to be done. I needed to hone my intellectual talent and use it to the very best to get what I want— To get stronger.

So I can be able to protect Percy and Jackson, they meant everything to me. But fighting on my own wouldn’t be enough, I needed to get experience and fast.

On my way returning home from the borders of the town the previous day, I overhead a group men chitchatting outside a pub. They said something that piqued my interest, so I hid close by to get the full gist.

They were talking about a Border Cleanup Group, a small patrol team of adventurers and low-level Reapers to eliminate the Shadow creatures that roamed the outskirts of the town before they became a danger to civilians who were bound to travel or even return from travel.

It was a perfect opportunity for me to gain some experience and guidance from people that have actually been in the game.

It was simple, under the watchful eye and guidance of high ranking and strong Reapers, newcomers that recently awakened could learn to survive and thrive the turmoil that gates spewed into the world.

And even though, I never officially did an Awakening ceremony I still wanted to join. I swallowed air in my lungs to boast up my courage and walked up to the man that looked very much like the group’s leader.

He was as tall as man of his work needed to be with and intimidating presence, broad shouldes, an axe strapped to his back and scars that inidicated his experience of countless battles.

His name was Dasheen, his sharp gaze fell on me sizing me up with a single glance.

“You?” Dasheen said with a deep, booming voice as he crossed his meaty, muscular arms. “You want to join the Border Cleanup Group?” his gaze was almost peircing, sweeping over me, lingering on my scrawny arms, my pale face, my trembling hands.

I could almost hear his thoughts, “This kid won't last half hour with that weak body…”

I swallowed dry saliva as my throat dried up pretty quickly, nerves prickling like static lightning under my skin.

“Yes…” I finally said, forcing my voice to hold steady to seem as confident as possible. “I need to get stronger.” I looked at him, still in fear but I did it anyway.

Dasheen let out a low, rumbling chuckle, shaking his head like a grease monkey with laughter. “You don’t look like you could lift a dagger little one, let alone fight a Shadow creature. The borders aren't a playground, little man. You sure you're ready? You seem brave, are some kind of spellcasting Arcane sorcerer or something like that?” his tone was insulting, full of doubt, but the glint in his eyes I could read it as one who was testing me.

“I’m not strong,” I admitted with a short nod, my jaw tight. “But I’m smart. I’ll figure it out,” my words were bold, straight forward and unwavering, they were reckless to a fault but I had no choice, I meant every word.

I’d spent my entire life being underestimated by the town, by my peers, by my own body. I wasn’t about to let that stop me now— not while I have a chance to evolve.

Dasheen’s mouth twiched with a small smirk that softened his facial expression, somehow making those scars look less scary. He leaned forward staring straight into my eyes as if it was the first time seeing me.

“Alright kid,” he said with a gruff bug tinged voice, something that sounded like respect. “You're in. But if you get yourself killed, don’t haunt me.” he gave me a final nod of encouragement, turned away already barking orders to his team and leaving me to grapple with a mix of relief and dread gathering at the base of my gut.

»»»«««

The next day, I found myself marching with the Border Cleanup Group towards the outskirts of the town. The squad was small with four experienced fighters and two other recruits.

The size of the squad was optimal to be kept low so as we could share the profits of the raid evenly without any squabbles.

The gem stone gotten after killing a Shadow Creature—Anti-Arcane stone holds some value to them, the more powerful a beast is, the more valuable the gem stone would be. And these resources can be sold to adventurers, Reapers to absorb and their bodies convert it to Arcane energy they could use to sustain their abilities.

The other two recruits were far more capable and able bodied than I ever dreamt to be, their muscular builds and confident stride made me look like an ant amongst giants.

As we all ventured deeper into the forest, I could feel the weight of doubt slowly creeping in behind my neck with every harmless step. Almost as if I could sense that something dreadfull was about to happen real soon, maybe it was my supreme intellect granting me that unmatched intuition but I could feel it, from all angles and it was becoming increasingly present to ignore.

I was there for one thing and one thing only, and that was to get stronger, no matter the cost. So, chickening out wouldn’t do me any good.

Before long, we encountered our first set of Shadow creatures. By their appearance, they were Goblin-type Shadow creatures, they were small about the size of two toddlers stacked atop each other.

They darted through the underbushes with quick pace, drawing their weapons with erratic and unpredictable movements. The seasoned fighters moved like a well oiled machine with their blades flashing as they cut down the beasts with brutal efficiency.

The other two recruits joined in the fight, their attacks were a bit clumsy than the veterans but they were nonetheless effective against the low grade Shadow creatures.

Then there was me, I stood frozen, my heart pounding so loud I thought it might burst, my mind raced as I watched the battle rage on.

Unlike my body, my mind went into overtime, my pupils moving to and fro relentlessly as I calculated the Shadow creatures movements, doing my best to analyze their attack patterns. They were erratic, these goblin-type creatures, one would say they had no pattern of attack. But, in a world with infinite possibilities and an intellect like mine to pick it out, everything had a pattern no matter how random one would think it is.

It took them about ten minutes to dispatch off of the goblin-type Shadow creatures, the fighters stood around with their breathing heaving as shadowy smoke rose into the air and the creatures evaporated leaving behind the Anti-Arcane stone.

Dasheen shot me a look of disapproval immediately he dismembered the neck of the last creature, “You didn’t fight little man!!”

He grunted as he squezzed his blade tighter in his knuckles. “You ain't gonna get a share of the Anti-arcane stones if you can't kill anything!”

That’s when it hit me, most people just resell the Anti-arcane stones they get from expeditions like this. But, for someone like me I could very much gain a lot of points for absorbing a lot of stones even though they are from lower grade Shadow creatures.

“I’m trying,” I stammered, staggering back out of fear Dasheen would be angry enough to attack me. “I was trying to study their patterns first… they had a pattern and they were waiting for something…”

Dasheen swung his sword at a boulder, slicing it clean in half and darted his gaze back at me with an unimpressed exppression. “What pattern!? They are goblin-types they have no pattern they just want to cancel out the Arcane energy within us! How do you not know that!?”

“I do…”

“You do?! look this expedition is already dangerous as it is, I don’t have to look over shoulder to protect weak people like you!”

Weak people like me...

I squeezed my fist beside me, I knew Dasheen was right, but it wasn’t that simple for me. I cannot lift a sword to save my life much more swinging it to cut the neck of a Shadow creature.

My mind was my wapon, not swords, not my body, not any skill, ability or technique gifted by the use of Arcane energy. This world only respected brute and distructive strength. Still, I refuse to let that stop me.

As we ventured deeper into the forest, walking down a travel path, we encountered out next challenge of Shadow creatures.

Snatchclaws. They were cat-like and size but they possessed horns and dark, shadowy fur. Their claws were the epicenter of their strength, as they were extremely sharp and could tear through the stongest of materials.

They weren't much stronger than the goblin-type creatures, but they moved unpredictably as well, darting between trees and rocks in confusing patterns.

Dasheen was the first to react to their movements, as he quickly moved to the front of the line and spiked his Arcane energy output and further embedding it into his sword.

It seemed as though the other recruits knew what he was about to do as they ducked below his waist level to avoid being caught by his technique. I followed suit, watching carefully as the cat-like Shadow creatures darted towards every corner that the sunlight didn’t touch.

Dasheen channeled his Arcane energy to his sword and that's when I knew that his Awakened ability was tied to that sword.

Then—

“Buthcher’s field…” Dasheen said with a deep tone and just like that a wide scale blast of Arcane energy erupted from the blade and sliced everything and anything within a circumference of thirty meters.

Trees, shrubs and more importantly, the heard of Shadow creatures surrounding them. It was truly magnificent, seeing Dasheen use his Arcane technique like that— putting it to good use. Although he was D-Rank not as strong as other high ranking awakened, his technique proved to be useful at that moment.

But just like an old habit, a new herd of SnatchClaw Shadow creature burst from within the forest towards us.

“Use Butcher’s field again Dasheen,” one of the recruits yelled in desperation…

But I already knew Dasheen would not be able to accomplish that, not anytime soon at least.

I noticed that he used a massive amount of Arcane energy from his reserves to pull that off, so to do something of that destructive scale again, he would have to find a way to replenish his Arcane energy reserves.

The other recruits rushed in without hesitation, quickly dispatching the creatures with their superior speed and strength.

I on the other hand, not even considered as someone who’s awakened let alone E-Rank was still searching for my opening, trying to analyze the creatures movements and also thinking of a way to give Dasheen an Arcane energy boost to activate his technique again.

I noticed that a great number of Anti-arcane stone had fallen to the floor due to Dasheen’s first assault, I began picking them up so as I could present it to him to absorb and regain his reserve.

Suddenly, one of the Snatchclaw Shadow creatures turned on me, its beady eyes locking onto mine as it prepared to charge.

My breath hooked at the center of my throat, as I dropped the Anti-arcane stone in my palm. My mind raced, calculating the angle of its attack and the different possible scenerios this encounter would end up in.