Defiance of the Fall

Zac was starting to worry for real that he might explode like the demons any time now . But soon the intense pressure abated , and the scorching heat in his belly turned into comforting rays of warmth that spread all through his body .

Zac felt his cosmic energy reserves rapidly filling up , but his wounds were barely reacting to the water . He thought he might be seeing some improvement but couldn’t be sure . It rather felt like he had taken a dozen shots of adrenaline and simply couldn’t feel the pain any longer .

It was better than nothing Zac thought as he continued onward at a brisker pace . As he walked he dumped everything from the lady foreman’s pouch onto the ground , leaving only the Nexus Crystals . He still didn’t feel secure though and started to meticulously scan through the bag containing most of the crystals .

He went through them one by one to see if anything was amiss , trying to find out how the demons were able to track him . Perhaps there were bugs planted in one of the sacks he had stolen from the lady foreman , as that was when the trouble started . Soon his scanning stopped at an inconspicuous rock that was placed in one of the sacks . Most of the sacks had some rock chippings mixed in with the crystals , but this was the first time he saw a rock of that size . He brought out the sack and groped around inside until he found the stone .

As he glanced at it did not seem overly suspicious , but he could see some slightly odd veins on the stone . He brought out his flashlight for the first time and shone it on the rock . In brighter lighting he could see that the veins actually were fractals . Zac grimly stared at it for a second , before he crushed it under his foot .

He immediately backtracked a bit and changed direction . As he walked he kept checking each and every bag , and eventually found two more similar stones . Finally sure that was the last of them he sped off , ignoring any wounds protesting .

As he walked he multitasked by checking his status page . The fight with the demons pushed him over the limit and gotten him to level 35 . He had already been somewhat close to leveling again after killing the Herald , and the melee was all that was needed .

His fears were unfortunately realized and he saw his Strength still was stuck at 175 instead of increasing from the class bonus . It looked like he really had to try and evolve somehow . He helplessly allocated his 3 free points into Vitality , as he didn’t dare put any more in Endurance for now either .

Hoping for a class advancement quest activating from reaching a - big - level , Zac opened up his quest window next . Things weren’t that convenient , as no advancement quests popped up .

He did , however , receive a new class quest .

Loamwalker (Class) : Walk a thousand kilometers touching the earth . Reward : Loamwalker Skill (0/1000)

He suddenly was pretty happy that he didn’t spend a few days to grind in order to buy Steps of Gaia] from the shop . He only lacked 5000 coins for the skill by now , and could now use them to improve other things instead . Loamwalker] was clearly some type of movement skill , just like Steps of Gaia] .

Honestly , his class skill sounded quite a bit blander compared to the one in the shop , but he had learned not to underestimate the dull-sounding skills he received from his class . It was also very convenient to complete , as he only needed to walk around .

A slight scuffling interrupted his thoughts , and he could only bring out his axe again with a grimace . He placed himself at a corner in wait , and soon a demon came into view . This one was highly alert , and immediately noticed Zac’s presence .

But Zac was ready and the axe was falling down on the demons head as just as he appeared , instantly killing him . He immediately entered the tunnel and unleashed a maximized Chop] edge that flew outward before he could even register what was in the tunnel .

A few screams and groans were heard , and the demons were almost all dead before they knew what hit them . There were two that were badly hurt but alive , but Zac made short work out of them as well .

There was one final demon who for some reason had been doubled over when the edge passed through the party and was completely unharmed . Horrified he started running but Zac wouldn’t let yet another straggler escape . With a grunt , he threw his axe at the demon and then started his pursuit .

Luckily this time he hit , and the party was no more . He stopped by the fallen body and ripped out the embedded axe while glancing at the bloodied tunnel . He didn’t know who made the sound while walking , but that mistake cost the whole group their lives .