CH15: Rank Up Skills

“What are those?” Jason asked.

There was no time to explain as raging monsters of all shapes and glorious sizes rushed them. All of them were far past fuck it. Blood dried up Zack’s arms to his shoulders, wetted by new coats of crimson paint with every blow. His knuckles broke, and Jason healed him as they trudged through an open valley to the other side. It was all because they had no time to find another way.

Jason decided that when there was a lull just enough for Zack to collect one of the monsters, he admired it was right to question his abilities.

“It's rude to ask about the specifics of another’s skills,” Zack said as a four-eyed equine beast with tentacles instead of hair flew through his portal.

Two portals were his limits with his current mana, but they were helpful in noping out situations and adding to his collection. Zack mainly collected horses with different manes and added them to the southern corpse-blossom biome he was building. Zack continued punching through enemies and simply stealing others. Every few pulverized monsters dropped an old rusty dagger, a spear, or maybe some metal armor.

Zack battered his enemies aside into portals if he didn’t crush them with his fists or slice them into pieces. Levels were ticking up one after the other as he tore through a crowd of fighting monsters. A battle royal had started, but they weren’t invited. So he acted as a spearhead, and Thistle was the shaft pushing him forward while Milly rained fire support.

Explosions and blasts of heat surrounded them as Milly disrupted groups of monsters, and Zack finished off the stragglers that stumbled in their path. A zebra with gorilla arms, yes, a giraffe with nine tongues that dripped black fluids to the Agios orchards. Portals changed locations on the fly as they cut a line of death through the masses.

Do you want to learn the skill Death March?

y/n

While tempting, it wasn’t in the books they were provided, and Zack needed a passive healing skill. That would free up Jason so he could worry about the others more. He could hear the crackle of fire from Milly’s heavy breathing.

Jason placed a hand on Zack’s back, restoring his stamina and healing his knuckles. Blood and guts covered the ground, so no plants were really identifiable. Trees roamed the battlefield, with people hanging from ropes on their branches. Noose trees were a thing, and they were killers.

Zack saw a noose lasso near his neck and severed it as a spray of acidic sap splashed on his chest. It was hurting less with every wound he took. Maybe it was Zack’s consistency with his buffs, keeping food in his stomach, mainly focusing on fish that maintained, buffed, and enhanced his endurance and life. Jason handled the rest.

More lassoes launched from the trees before a fireball appeared in their midst and blew them apart. A 6-foot-tall rabbit with black fur and adorable long ears shot at his leg up to kick in his chest, and it vanished in a portal near a wolf den.

Packs of ostriches with gold instead of white feathers shot across the field and kicked in the chests of other monsters who tried to defend a single black egg. More beasts took their place. He used butchering to tear through joints, maxing out the skill and bringing it to F rank, where a pending pop appeared.

Plow continued to be useful as he ripped through enemies with abandon, only unleashing his fists in a fast-paced, furious charge that never lost momentum. They were plowing through the enemies in a neat line, cutting those in their path or leaving them into other fights.

Zack passed by the egg and opened a portal under it. He didn’t know why he did it, but if push came to shove, he would do it all over again. The lizards stared back in shock as hyenas struck, tearing into them. The chaos of the first floor continued as they cut their way through for a solid hour.

Fireballs continued to rain as they left the valley for the dark forest ahead. Once some trees overtook them, they came upon a small walled town with adventurers manning the gates. Archers dotted the ramparts, lowering their bows as they approached.

“Everyone, when we get inside, check your pop-ups and compare the offered skills to any in the book. We need to see which ones will be best for you.”

The guard was a big man in the F class with a big smile. “We were taking bets on whether you guys would make it. Fighting through a monster surge, you guys are some Bael-blessed or Lucifer-cursed guys. So I’m guessing you didn’t get any drops.”

“Buck you, we’re on a rescue mission. There is no time for drops. Our friend, an elf with green hair, was kidnapped by a boss on the second floor. We need the fastest way there.”

“Erie, yeah, we know her. She's a nice girl, great with a long sword and binding enemies with roots. She did great when the goblins came from the second floor. It's a shame she was captured; she could have made a great adventurer. You guys should go to the captain for a post and bunker up the rest of the surge.”

“You like her, so why won’t you help us?” Thistle said.

Jason sighed. “He is helping us. Dungeons surges aren’t normal. Monsters from higher floors could show up anywhere, including dungeon bosses. That egg could have been from something on the 9th floor or even deeper; the surveyors haven’t yet found the bottom of this menagerie.”

He clenched his fist. If he had a passive healing skill among his pop-ups, that could change things. Zack would have to ask Jason about death march. Maybe he knew about it.

…

The captain gave them some space behind the walls to go through their pop-ups and find a passive healing skill. A guy from the survey core was with them to see if they had any unique skills; this was normal.

Zack stared at the pop-up for a while before going for it. “I have this skill called Death March, which isn’t in any of the books.

The man pushed his glasses up and took out a personal notebook. “I think someone on an upper floor had something similar.

“Doom March is a skill that heals the user by absorbing the mana of the death and turning it into life. This skill was Frank, and I’m certain yours is G rank. You are lucky skills fueled by outside sources, and more importantly, source conversion into usable energy is rare. If it is a skill like Doom March, I would say Death March would make a fantastic passive healing skill.”

Zack yes.

Death March: The death of those around you is converted into life, giving the energy to flow through and healing the body for a small price of pain.

1/99

Rank: G

He checked his status.

Zack Sin

Rank: G

Attributes: 9

Life G

Regeneration G

50/150

Endurance G

100/150

Body G

 80/150

Strength G

115/150

Reflex G

50/150

Perception G

45/150

Mana G

100/150

Resistance G

20/150

 Skills: 1/10 F rank and above

Demeter’s Blessing: Grow plants faster, take traits from monsters, and breed them into plants.

Level: 150/999

Rank: E

Primordial World (Seed): An inner world with a single meter of land bursting with potential and hunger for mana. The user can open and close portals to their land out of combat. The world is an extension of the user’s soul, giving the user complete autonomy over the world beyond even the gods and their domains. The size of the portal is dependent on the user manual. G x 1 meter. 

Level:300/99999

Rank: G

Range: 5.6 Cubic Kilometers

Plow: Breakthrough barriers, cultivate the ground for planting, and give a hard dicking.

Level: 90/99

Rank: G

Strong Fist: The bedrock of all greater fist skills makes your fist more than it is.

Level: 98/99

Rank: G

Monster Husbandry: The care, cultivation, and breeding of monster flora and fauna.

Level: 15/99

Rank: G

Monster Tamer: Through carnal acts and steady training, the monster tamer can earn the loyalty of non-humans in various ways. In this case, users can adjust their bodies to understand monsters better.

Level: 20/99

Rank: G

Grilling: Bring out the best in your ingredients with primitive cooking.

Level: 9/9

Rank: G+

Skinning: Remove the pelt, scales, and feathers of monsters and animals

Level: 9/9

Rank: G+

Butchering: Break down the meat of animals and monsters into separate parts.

Level: 9/9

Rank: G+

Death March: The death of those around you is converted into life, giving the energy to flow through and healing the body for a small price of pain. Converted energy is stored as charges, and charges can be used to heal the body. While the body is fully healed, excess energy over the stored amount increases attribute potential by 0.1%

1/99

Rank: G

Charges: 1/1

It was his first time seeing a skill like that. He wasn’t going to love the pain, but it couldn’t be any worse than breaking his hands on the bones of his enemies. It also guaranteed he would get stronger.

Was it a free license to go wild?

Zack hadn’t thought he would enjoy the slaughter, but after catching and killing his food for weeks and then slaughtering his way through an army of monsters, he was starting to find it all fun. Was he allowed to think like that?

“Do you have any other skills?” The surveyer asked.

“Only heat resistance. The rest were mostly in the book.”

“I don’t recommend you learn heat resistance. Heat resistance is useless Unless you want to journey into an active volcano dungeon or visit any of the hell layers.” Zack looked at Milly and Thistle, who were talking with their helpers from the adventurers guild.”

“I see the hellhound. Well, they are beautiful. At least level your Death March skill and have full charges before you train your other skill. If you’re already doing that, you might as well ignore me and collect all the other resistance skills. You never know who you might want to sleep with.” The man’s face had turned red at his last words.

“Sorry, maybe I’m being short-sighted,” Zack said.

“Thinking with your dick never works out, trust me. I have an underwater breathing skill because I wanted to date a siren.”

“What happened?” Zack asked.

“She fell out of love when she learned our romance was no longer doomed.” Zack opened his mouth to say something and closed it. “So I took up a job as a surveyor because it takes me to new and strange places. It was a coin flip with all the underground rivers and springs around here if the dungeon would have breathable air or be fully submerged. Every 5th floor seems to be a swamp filled with poison.” The surveyor said.

Zack looked at the man’s nametag. It read Tom Laser.

“Thank you for the advice, Tom, but our relationship is different. Milly doesn’t like me for the doomed nature of our romance. She likes me because I can grill the hell out of some bear meat and fish.” Zack said.

“Oh, then if it's completely transactional and based on a skill anyone can learn and master, maybe I have  a shot with her.”

“I will beat your ass, Tom.”

“I’m only joking. I’m actually with a cute Scylla girl with orange tentacles.”

 He fished out a picture Zack didn’t think existed in this world with how wonky technology seemed to be. She was a cute girl with orange hair who looked deceptively uniform and had no strands. Her baggy dress entirely hid her lower body except for her massive breasts.

“You are one lucky man, Tom,” Zack said.

He selected heat resistance and felt the skill wash over him.

Heat Resistance: Temper the body with heat to gain resistance to it.

1/99

Rank: G

“Oh, before you go, how do I rank up skills,” Zack asked.

“Focus on them and think they rank up; they normally have two or three avenues of advancement. I have time. I’ll help you through it so you don’t get something that walls you off due to your area or finances.” Tom said.

Zack gave a thumbs up and hit Butcher first.

Exotic Butcher: The user has grown from merely butchering cows to branching out into monsters of every shape and size, picking out the choicest of meats.

Butcher II: Cuts are cleaner and of higher quality. With enough care and preparation, even the worst carcasses can be cut into something fit to cook.

Battle Butcher: Living subjects make the best meat. Battle against powerful monsters and disassemble them for the best result. Leave the beating heart for last for the freshest results.  

Zack showed his results, and Tom raised an eyebrow.

“I’ve never seen Battle Butcher, and I don’t recommend it. The only way to gain experience for that skill will be to carve up living, breathing monsters. They won’t stand still for you to do that to them. Butcher II is the natural next rank, and Exotic Butcher is best for adventurers. Picking it up isn't a bad decision if you plan to continue going on dungeon dives. If you don’t, well, the next rank might have its next form available if you carve up enough monsters.” Tom said.

Zack chose Battle Butcher because it was more fun.

Battle Butcher: Living subjects make the best meat. Battle against powerful monsters and disassemble them for the best result. Leave the beating heart for last for the freshest results.  

1/99

Rank: F

Zack felt like cheering. It wasn’t much, but he had his first F-rank skill. The reason he chose Battle Butcher was simple: he was about to face lots of regenerators. He could see the writing on the wall. So why not turn them into infinite meat hacks?