On the other… he’d just received a level-up notification.
But how? He’d had around 3,000 experience left to go, he couldn’t have gained that from level 3 mobs, right?
With a thought, he pulled up his notifications. There were 50 or so combat notifications. Each bat had been worth some 15 experience each. As he suspected, not enough for a level.
Then he found it.
<<<<>>>>
Congratulations! You have survived Wave 1.
That’s a lot of bats! And you participated in slicing and dicing them into oblivion.
Prepare for wave 2 in: 5:54:27
Reward:
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10,000XP
-
3 Sovereigns
-
200 Chips
<<<<>>>>
Wait what? Wave 1? Then Darren remembered the notification he’d heard arrive right before the combat started. He went flicking back through them and found it.
<<<<>>>>
Defend Rumrunners’ Island. Survive Monster Waves
The god Cronus has taken umbrage with you destroying one of his islands to make your floating monstrosity.
Survive escalating waves of enemies by killing them all.
Reward per wave:
-
10,000XP
-
3 Sovereigns
-
200 Chips
<<<<>>>>
Darren groaned. Of course it was a wave-based scenario. He loathed those. It would make an already impossible task even harder. Now he had to juggle defence and all-consuming construction.
Though… he breezed over the quest again—also noting that it didn’t give him the choice to accept or refuse. 10,000 experience per wave survived. If the six hours between waves stayed true, they’d face around a dozen waves by the time they finished here. That was 120,000 experience.
Insanity. It wouldn’t be enough to tick him over to level 7, but once he got his class, he’d level 23.
Add to which, he now had an incredibly powerful tool to motivate the crew. He just needed to talk to Captain Montague. If he added the entire ship’s crew to his party—being careful not to include them on his initial quest, which revealed a smidge too much about who he was and what he was doing—he’d be handing out some 60,000 experience to those who survived the entire ordeal.
That’d be more experience than the average Local would see in years, effectively power levelling an entire ship worth of people. That would go a long way to securing their loyalty.
While it was going to be tough, the rewards were commensurate.
Despite the pressure of the situation, the gamer inside was doing backflips. He nearly rubbed his hands in glee, but restrained himself out of respect for the dead. He couldn’t, however, resist a quick peek at his character sheet.
<<<<>>>>
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Basic Info:
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Name: Darien Cortez
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HP: 30/84 (base 60 + 24 from CON)
-
Level: 6
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XP: 312,156/474,000
Current skills:
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Shipwright lvl 1 (13% Proficiency)
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Twist of Fate lvl 1 (28% Proficiency)
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Summoned Swivel Gun lvl 1 (10% Proficiency)
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Supercharged Shot lvl 5 (100% Proficiency)
Unallocated skill points: 3
Current stats:
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Constitution: 12 (base 11 + 1 from trousers)
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Strength: 13
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Dexterity: 12 (base 10 + 2 from footwear)
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Intelligence: 17
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Wisdom: 10
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Luck: 14
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Endure Elements: +1
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Armour: +18 (9% reduction to physical damage)
Unallocated stat points: 1
Unallocated stat point per level bonus: 1
<<<<>>>>
His total health had jumped by another 12 points, though he wasn’t surprised to see his current was only 30. Not regaining all your health on level up sucked. He had one regular stat point to spend.
Once he got his class, his stats would take a massive leap upwards as they all included selected stats per level. Right now being Classless, he just received the flat base one per level, and two every fourth level.
He also noted the increases in Proficiency on Twist of Fate and Summoned Swivel Gun. He’d dig into what boosts those gave another time.
Darren closed his sheet down. There’d be time later (maybe) to allocate his points. For now, he needed to pull his weight and help with cleanup then go talk to Montague. It was going to take longer to clean the mess up than the fight itself was…
Pain surged through Darren and he shuddered. He glanced at his health, down to 24 alongside a notification of another 6 points of necrosis damage.
A surge of panic shot through him. Oh yeah. Gotta clear that off. He had four minutes to live at this rate.
He waded through bat bodies to Eric, who looked barely touched after the combat, aside from his fiery red hair being mussed. He stopped issuing orders as Darren approached. “Do you need cleansing?” He asked, looking very much like he’d prefer Darren just went and died quietly rather than bothering him.
Darren nodded. “I’ve got about four minutes left to live.”
Eric sighed. “The marine over by the boat has a cleanse skill.” He pointed to the longboat the marine reinforcements had arrived in. A group of sailors and marines stood in a line, waiting to be treated by a marine with a white patch on his shoulder.
“Thank you so much,” Darren said and headed to the back of the line. By the time he reached it, there were still seven people to go. It would take a few minutes judging by the pause between cleansing—cooldown seemed to be about 20 seconds. It’d cut it fine, but he’d be okay.
Darren nudged the sailor in front of him. “Hey, I’m going to start clearing some of these bat corpses, holler at me when it’s your turn so I can jump back in line?”
“Yessir,” the sailor said, with a nod.
Darren walked over to the nearest pile of bat corpses and with a groan, crouched, touching one. He selected yes to the loot request and received some bat meat and necrotic venom. Lovely.
Another wave of pain wracked his body and his health dipped to 18. You’ll be fine, just keep it together…
He continued looting, glancing at the line every now and then. A few more people had joined the line, but the sailor he’d spoken to caught his eye at one point and mouthed, “Don’t worry, sir.”
Darren carried on, looting another twenty corpses before his health took another hit. 12 left. While he had another minute or so left, the proximity to death left his stomach in knots.
It was then that he remembered he’d picked up a health potion a few days ago. He sighed and retrieved it from his inventory. He’d need the heals anyway, he was only going in for a cleanse from the marine. So he popped the cork and knocked the red liquid back.
It was sweet, reminding him of children’s panadol. Quite tasty, all things considered.
His body tingled, like after having pre-workout formula back on his world.
Cuts closed, and bruises faded as his health ticked back up to full. He could still feel the necrosis on his back and arms where the bats had bitten him, the skin burned as his clothes rubbed against it.
“Oi, sir!”
Darren turned, the sailor from the line had reached the marine and waved to Darren, who jogged up and slipped back into his spot in line.
Pain flared through his body as necrosis took another hit. Then it was his turn to be cleansed.
A warm flood washed through him, and the constant ache and burn of the necrotic spots faded to nothing. His health was still down 6 points at 78, but plenty for now. He gave a nod of thanks to the marine and braced himself. Time to go try to wrestle the state of things out of Eric. He trudged up to the marine.
By this point, Eric had organised the sailors into groups, some going back to collecting resources, others looting bats, still others loading the dead onto a longboat.
“What’s our status?” Darren asked as he stopped by his side.
“Seven dead,” Eric said, focused on a sheet of paper in his hand. “One died to necrosis before we could cleanse her. I understand we’re limited on time, so I have as many as possible returning to duty.”
Darren nodded. “Bangin’. What about the marine reinforcement? They all survive?”
“With barely a scratch.”
“Good. Because we have a little under six hours before the next wave hits.”
“What? More?” Eric asked, his head snapping up as he spun to face him, his gaze daggers.
? Ceaseless Horizons [A LitRPG Progression Fantasy] ?
by DivineRei
Bleeding to death was unexpected, but waking up in a magical world sure as hell beat that. It seemed like a miraculous second chance until Lev realized just what kind of a world he was in, one his adult mind understood far too well.
Monsters thrived on Monarch, the planet riddled with endless hordes. Hunters and Adventurers didn't chase glory, they ensured that humanity continued to persist. Those in charge tried their best to suppress how dire their situation was but, deep down, everyone knew the truth.
The future looked bleak and Lev wasn't willing to accept it lying down, not when he had yet to truly live even once.
Armed with two titles of unfathomable power, apprenticed under an obscenely strong mage, and accompanied by a precious found family, Lev was going to do his utmost to not just survive, but to thrive on the harrowing planet. He finally had the power to make a difference, and he wasn't afraid to embrace it.
No number of monsters would stand in his way to forge a worthwhile future.
What To Expect:
- Numbers go up.
- Low stakes and struggles at first. Problems will become massive quickly.
- Long story.
- Maybe Romance
- No Harem.
Read 40 advanced chapters on .