In a place like this—a death arena where waves of monsters kept pouring in without end—how could anyone possibly survive for ten whole minutes?
Lucas stood in the center of the blood-stained arena, quietly analyzing the situation. He deliberately set aside his overwhelming strength for a moment and tried to think as an ordinary job-changer would. If someone with average talent and gear had to survive this dungeon, how would they do it?
The rules were cruel. Every wave of monsters spawned with no pause, forcing the challenger to endure relentless pursuit. To clear such a dungeon, the key lay in using an assassin's greatest advantage—displacement skills.
"Backstab," Lucas thought to himself. That was the answer.
If an assassin was being hunted by swarms of melee monsters, they could use backstab to instantly teleport behind a ranged magic user. In that instant, they'd escape encirclement and assassinate a key target before the mob collapsed around them again.
But it wasn't enough just to have the skill. The cooldown of backstab was everything. The player would need to use it wisely, balancing every movement as if walking on a tightrope. One wrong step and they'd be crushed beneath the endless tide.
For an ordinary player, the only path forward was caution. Extreme caution. They would need to seize every fleeting opportunity, move with the utmost precision, and gamble their life on perfect execution.
Lucas smiled faintly. "For them, yes. But for me?"
The reality for him was completely different.
His damage was so outrageous, so monstrous, that the dungeon's difficulty could never rise. Ten monsters appeared? He killed them in less than a minute. There was no chance for the monsters to accumulate. The arena that should have been suffocating never held more than a handful of corpses at a time.
So instead of being overwhelmed by the mounting challenge, Lucas faced the dungeon at its easiest state—wave after wave of monsters throwing themselves into death.
It was almost pitiful.
By the sixth wave, he couldn't help but sigh. "Hey, this is too simple. Easier than a normal dungeon run." With one lazy slash, he cut down the last enemy, the sound echoing in the vast arena. Then, as if mocking the system itself, he added in a tone dripping with false misery, "We've beaten the last wave, and now we just… wait. Counting down the seconds is more painful than fighting."
For another adventurer, surviving even two minutes would have been a frantic scramble. For Lucas, the only "hardship" was boredom.
The final seconds ticked away.
'0:02… 0:01… 0:00.'
The announcement resounded through the dungeon:
'Congratulations, you have completed the job transfer challenge task.'
A bright light engulfed him as the system's countdown began. "Ten, nine, eight… three, two, one."
In an instant, Lucas was back in the Temple of the Job-Changer, standing once more in Room 414.
"Done already," he muttered, shaking his head. "That was child's play."
But before he could take another step, a new string of prompts flashed across his career panel.
'Congratulations, you have completed your second turn!'
'You have awakened the S-Rank Talent Skill: Dark Energy Explosion…'
'Your next awakening will unlock at Level 60.'
Lucas blinked in surprise. He had been eager to inspect the details, but then another voice rang directly in his mind—the system's cold, mechanical tone, twisted with something strange and unfamiliar.
'Affected by a mysterious power, your awakened skill has been altered. S-Rank Dark Energy Explosion has been replaced by SSS-Rank Talent: Shura's Blood Rage.'
Lucas's heart skipped.
He quickly opened the description:
Dark Energy Explosion (original skill): Activates the shadows within your body, entering a burst state for 30 seconds. Deducts 3% of maximum health per second. Increases damage dealt to enemies by 300%. Automatically clears all control effects when triggered. During the duration, resistance to crowd-control increases by 30% and control duration is reduced by 50%. Cannot be dispelled.
But the new description was even more terrifying:
Shura's Blood Rage (new skill): Burns the blood in your veins, transforming you into a bloodthirsty Shura. Duration: 90 seconds. Deducts 1% of maximum health per second. Increases damage dealt to enemies by 1000%. Automatically clears all negative statuses when activated. Complete immunity to all control effects during the skill duration. Cannot be dispelled. Health deduction will not result in death.
Lucas froze. Then his lips curled into an expression somewhere between awe and madness.
"One thousand percent…?"
Not only had the damage multiplier increased to insane levels, but the ability also erased every weakness he'd ever worried about. Negative statuses? Gone. Crowd control? Worthless. Immobility? Impossible.
His eyes widened as the realization struck. "This is broken. Beyond broken!"
With his three awakened talents combined, his potential output now reached over 3000% damage. And that wasn't even counting his critical strikes. The numbers spun in his head like a fever dream.
If he unleashed this skill in a real fight, who could possibly stop him?
The health drain? Laughable. One percent per second was nothing compared to the absurd lifesteal he already wielded. In fact, it would hardly make a dent before he healed it back with a single strike.
And the best part—the skill explicitly said the health drain could never kill him. Even at one hit point, he'd stand unbroken.
Lucas's laughter echoed through the temple chamber. He didn't even bother checking the "mysterious reward" the system promised. All he could think about was this overwhelming power. He reread the skill description again and again, committing every word to memory.
"This was it," he whispered. "The one flaw in my strength was control. If too many enemies pinned me down, I was vulnerable. But now? For ninety whole seconds, I am untouchable."
His mind began to spin with possibilities.
In the Secret Realm battles, he had often held back. Even with his devastating output, he'd avoided fights against large groups, wary of being pinned or locked down. Now he could walk into a crowd without fear.
He imagined it—charging into enemy lines, blades flashing, cutting seven in and seven out like a living tempest. Who would dare to oppose him? Even if a hundred players focused all their attacks, they would fall one by one, shredded by a storm of crimson steel.
"Ninety seconds of invincibility. Ninety seconds where I am death itself."
The thought intoxicated him.
His lips twisted into a grin that belonged to neither hero nor villain but something more terrifying. "Heh… heh heh… this is Shura's Blood Rage. I love it!"
For a moment, he simply basked in the euphoria, picturing himself slaughtering armies. The pride, the dominance, the unstoppable momentum—it all surged through him like fire.
Then he remembered. "Oh right. The reward."
Forcing himself to calm down, Lucas opened his space backpack. Nestled inside was a sleek black gift box, identical to the one he had received after his first awakening.
"What's inside this time?" His hands trembled slightly as he reached for it. The last gift had changed everything. What about now?
He rubbed the surface of the box, anticipation burning in his chest, then snapped it open.
Inside gleamed—
(To be continued…)
-------------------
Visit our Patreon for more:
Get membership in patreon to read more chapters
Extra chapters available in patreon
patreon.com/Dragonscribe31
----------------------------------------------------- .