Defiance of the Fall

If this was true then getting the titles gave an even greater advantage than he thought , as they improved an attribute that should be static . He still didn’t understand how the Luck stat worked , but it might help him win a battle against someone equally strong but less lucky .

He suddenly wished that Charisma existed as an attribute as well , as getting that stat to over 60 points might have turned him into a handsome hero instead of his current look of a bald creeper .

With a sigh he allocated the last free point into Vitality , hoping it would speed up his recovery a bit . There was one last thing left that he needed to check out . He brought up his skill window to take a look .

Normal Skills

Eye of Discernment - Proficiency : - . A glimpse into the unknown . Upgradeable

Class Skill

Axe Mastery - Proficiency : Early . The seed of Dao is planted . Upgradeable

Chop - Proficiency : Middle . There is greatness in simplicity .

Chop] had improved as he suspected . In his fight with the Herald , he’d actually shot out the edge like a projectile , something he hadn’t been able to do before . The desperation in the fight helped him breakthrough from Early to Middle stage of the skill .

He truly hoped he didn’t need to be on the verge of death to improve his skills in the future , but it seemed that pushing oneself to the limits was effective in improving not only levels and titles , but even skills as well .

As he was done with everything he could do for now , he closed his windows and helplessly closed his eyes .

It took a whole day before he could move about again , and another until he felt strong enough that he dared resume exploring .

He set course for the area where he had heard sounds of mining a few days earlier . As he approached he heard some shuffling ahead . He hid in an unlit side-tunnel , getting ready for a battle in case the imps discovered him .

To his surprise , the two imps weren’t alone but accompanied by three demons . They did not seem like miners , as they all were holding weapons and carefully looked around . They all seemed to be warrior classes as none of them held staffs or tomes or the like , and Zac’s eyes lit up when he saw one of the demons actually held an axe of exactly the same make as his own .

He originally planned on avoiding the fight as he didn’t want to rack up a body count , but now he charged at them as soon as they were within a few meters . With a Chop] two of the demons instantly died , not even having a chance to react . Zac grabbed the remaining one with his free hand and threw the terrified demon down on the ground . With a mighty swing , he ended him as well , leaving only the imps standing . The imps barely managed to start summoning their fireballs before one was decapitated and the other was kicked into the wall , the force breaking most of its bones and killing it .

Zac looted the corpses then threw them into his pouch . He didn’t love the idea of carrying around a bunch of corpses , but he also didn’t want to just leave them lying there to be discovered . As if answering his prayer a salamander lumbered into view a few minutes later , and Zac tried throwing one of the demons at it .

It quickly snapped up the body and with a few disgusting chews had eaten him whole , the saliva creating a sickening sizzling sound as it acidic nature quickly melted parts of the body before even swallowing it .

Zac continued to throw bodies at it , and it actually managed to eat the whole party except one of the demons . But it grabbed him with its mouth , and after a glance at Zac turned around and returned to wherever it came from . It looked like the salamanders truly weren’t a part of the demon’s forces .

Zac continued forward , now holding an axe in each hand . He was delighted to see that the Axe Mastery] skill still worked while dual-wielding the axes . But after trying it out for a bit he felt it was very hard and unwieldy to use . He preferred using only one axe , and having a free hand seemed more convenient for him . Even using a dagger in his off-hand felt more natural .

He reluctantly put back his second axe in his pouch and continued on . He might just be lacking experience , and he would have a lot of time to train his axe-work if he couldn't level up for a while . As he walked through the shimmering tunnels he finally started hearing the droning sounds of tools hitting the hard walls .

Zac knew by now the effort it took to mine the Nexus Crystals . It had taken him quite some effort to dig out only one crystal from a wall , and that was with maxed out Strength . It seemed as though the dense cosmic energy empowered the rock that encased the crystals , making it far harder than it normally was . It was no wonder that new demons kept streaming down into the tunnels from the demon town .

Chapter 55 - Hey There Buddy