Gabriel locked eyes with the chimera as he summoned his Voidsting blade, and using [Vicious Pounce], his body shot forward, his blade flashing through the air.
FWISH! Thud!
The monster was cut in half. Both parts of its body hit the ground with a heavy thud, blood pooling beneath the twitching remains.
After that one was dealt with, two more appeared from similar gates. These two were noticeably larger and radiated a savage aura.
[Chimera – Lv 30]
[Chimera – Lv 30]
'The only way to get a decent class is for me to kill them as fast and swift as I can... that's all that matters,' he inwardly thought, his electric blue eyes flashing.
At the same time, the two chimeras charged forward, the ground around them exploding as their claws flashed through the air—aimed at his chest, neck, and stomach.
Swish! Swing!
The Voidsting blade effortlessly parried the claw attacks. He followed with a sharp thrust, which the chimera narrowly dodged by diving to the side.
However, before it could regain its footing, Gabriel descended upon it with a series of savage cuts that tore through its skin. After killing that one, he flashed toward the remaining chimera and ended it with a couple of brutal slashes.
More and more monsters poured out from the gates, but Gabriel was relentless. His blade-wielding arm shook as he struck down everything in his path.
Left and right, the chimeras fell, forming small mountains at his sides amid growing pools of blood.
His breath remained steady as he advanced forward, not a single ounce of fatigue on his face.
Blood sprayed, dyeing the ground red. Voidsting dripped with blood as it claimed more lives like a hungry beast.
He didn't dodge much or retreat. There wasn't too much flair in his fighting style—brutal and violent, relying mostly on sheer strength and agility.
After about three minutes of fighting, he successfully killed all the chimeras at his side, and a screen flashed in front of him.
[Ding! You have successfully completed the first round]
[Total Amount of Kills: 25]
[Second Trial: Defeat the Silver Gorilla as fast as you can]
As the first trial came to an end, the gate opened once more. This time, silver-furred gorillas over two meters tall appeared, wielding clubs.
There were about ten in total, and each was at least level 20.
"Dark Flame Orb!" Gabriel activated the skill, and burning through his mana reserves, pointed his arm out like a gun.
On the tip of his finger, a dark orb slowly condensed, but he didn't release it just yet. Instead, he channeled more mana into the orb, making it pulse violently as if it wanted to explode.
This was another way to enhance skills in Realm of Ascendency—by charging the attack with more mana, it became significantly more destructive.
BOOM!
A thunderous blast, similar to a cannon shot, echoed across the trial ground as the dark orb shot forward with precision and struck the first silver gorilla.
BOOM!
A dark flashbang the size of a miniature star exploded, obliterating the silver gorilla instantly.
Because Dark Flame Orb didn't require a cooldown and only consumed 20 MP per activation, Gabriel proceeded to spam the attack.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
In just about one minute, he successfully defeated all the enemies—without even needing to engage in melee combat.
[Ding! You have successfully completed the second round]
[Time Elapsed: 57 seconds]
After the last trial, he stared at his sword. Sure enough, the blade was now dented, and its durability had decreased tremendously.
[Name: Voidsting Sword (Bronze)]
[Durability: 40/100]
[Description: A weapon reforged from the essence of Voidsting Bees. Each strike applies venom buildup. At 3 stacks, it triggers poison damage over time for 5 seconds.]
These trials are random for each person, he thought inwardly, realizing that even his future knowledge was useless here. The only thing he knew was that his class would be determined based on his in-game and trial fighting style.
In Realm of Ascendency, there were three main types of classes:
Common, Special, and Unique.
In his past life, Gabriel had selected Warrior, a common class job. Although it was much easier to level up with this class, it had severely stunted his growth since the foundation was simply too shallow.
Even the boon it offered during the first class advancement was easily found elsewhere.
This time, he wouldn't make that mistake again.
His target was either a Special class—with a more powerful evolution path and greater rewards—or the rare Unique job class, which could only belong to a single existence. There couldn't be a second one as long as the first existed.
Even the advancement path of these classes was unknown. However, one thing he was certain of was that it was much more formidable and unpredictable compared to the other two.
[Ding! The final trial: Duel will begin in 10 seconds]
To increase his performance, Gabriel hastily distributed 10 SP each to Strength and Agility, which were previously 47 and 45.
[Strength: +10 → 57]
[Agility: +10 → 55]
Now his stats looked like this:
---
Name: Gabriel Reyes / Broken Heaven
Level: 20
Class: Classless
Title: None
HP: 70/100
MP: 140/270
BM: 100%
Talent: God-Tier Extraction!
EP (Extraction Points): 48
[STATS]
Strength: 57 (+10): 67
Agility: 55
Perception: 24
Intelligence: 27
Available SP: 20
[SKILLS] Vicious Pounce (Lv.1), Burrow Shift (Lv.1), Dark Flame Orb (Lv.1), Undying Will (Passive, Lv.1)
---
Gabriel decided to save the remaining 20 points—just in case.
[Ding! The final trial has begun!]
He narrowed his eyes.
This one was different.
A lone figure emerged from the void gate ahead. It wasn't a monster—it was a person.
The figure slowly stepped out, his armor glowing faintly with a silver-blue radiance. A massive cleaver-like sword rested on his shoulder. He was taller, bulkier—and his level...
[??? – Lv. 50]
A warning flashed across Gabriel's retina.
[System Notice: You are about to face a Mirror Duelist. This opponent will reflect your fighting style, but possess enhanced strength and speed.]
"So… it's me but stronger?" Gabriel muttered, his voice calm as he placed the Voidsting blade on his shoulder. He was already quite domineering on the battlefield.
The Mirror Duelist raised his blade as well, mirroring the gesture.
It was Voidsting.
His exact weapon.
"Let's see how well you fight yourself," the Mirror said in a distorted version of his voice—and then suddenly vanished from its spot.