Chapter 109. Experience
[System Notification: You have slain many Greater Wyverns–]
[System Notification: You have slain an Elder Wyvern–]
[System Notification: You have slain Mythmaker Edmund Hawkes–]
[System Notification: You have slain all members of the Last Order–]
A tsunami of semi-transparent blue screens rushed into existence around Levi’s prone body, appearing so fast that he barely had any time to read what was written on them before they were flooded out and replaced. Each was accompanied by a ‘ding’ sound, and the sheer rapid rate caused the sound to blur into one continuous high-pitched whine. And the messages didn’t stop; they kept on coming one after another until Levi was fully surrounded by a veritable dome of screens, all reminders of what’d happened in the past two months.
It appeared that the System was retroactively calculating all of the feats he’d performed since arriving in this new world. In just a few seconds, it finished.
[System Notification: All feats processed]
[Calculating experience…]
[System Notification: You have leveled up! You are now level 15!]
[System Notification: You have leveled up! You are now level 16!]
…
[System Notification: You have leveled up! You are now level 478!]
Not bad. Levi had expected more, but he supposed that ultimately, going from level 14 to 478 in one go was pretty good for two months of work, especially since the XP had been shared for most of his kills. Level 478… That was solidly in the Adamantine realm, perhaps even low Mythmaker–
[CRITICAL ALERT: SOUL SIGNATURE MISMATCH DETECTED]
[SWITCHING TO MANUAL OVERRIDE…]
[SOUL SIGNATURE MERGED]
[PROCESSING PRIOR FEATS…]
[PROCESSING COMPLETE]
[PROCEEDING TO STATUS UPDATE…]
…
[System Notification: You have slain a black market child slaver–]
Levi blinked in incomprehension. When did he do that–?
Oh.
Right.
An old memory from long ago surfaced. Of running through a dark and freezing alleyway, a man chasing after him to butcher and sell him for parts. Of his magic awakening for the first time and saving his life – while in the same stroke, giving him his first kill.
But that had been in his original life. So if the System was referring to that, then this was…
[System Notification: You have slain Slatheryn the Great–]
[System Notification: You have slain the Dream Serpent–]
[System Notification: You have slain Grandmaster Kenmachi–]
[System Notification: You have slain Malazar the Maleficent–]
[System Notification: You have slain the Fallen God–]
Levi watched with wide eyes as his entire past life was laid bare in full detail. Every enemy he faced, every threat Death sent him to hunt down, every last person, monster, and beast who’d attempted to violate the sanctity of death and life … They were all there. The System listed them all out in chronological order, not missing a single one.
Which meant…
As the screens continued flashing by in a perfect record of his life, Levi felt a lump form in his throat. His unbeating heart grew heavier with anticipation, and it felt as though an invisible weight was pressing down on him.
Then, the final System message appeared before him.
[System Notification: You have slain–]
[System Error: Overflow – Too many names to list]
[Condensing feat…]
[…]
[…]
[System Notification: You have slain 938,246 assorted lives]
The System message stared at him, almost accusing in its pale blue light. It lingered for several seconds longer than all the other screens, as though the System itself couldn’t believe what it had just written and was double-checking to make sure the figure was correct.
But of course it was. Levi let out a long, shuddering breath. For his final task as Death’s servant, he’d destroyed nearly a million souls with soul magick of the most forbidden in one single strike. It had been his greatest, most terrible act… and it was being labeled as a ‘feat’ by the System.
Levi wasn’t sure if he should laugh or cry.
Finally, the next message flickered into existence.
[System Notification: All feats processed]
[Calculating experience…]
[System Notification: You have leveled up! You are now level 479!]
[System Notification: You have leveled up! You are now level 480!]
And now, those lives were being reduced to mere experience points, used to help him level up. How painfully ironic.
[System Notification: You have leveled up! You are now level 783!]
Under different circumstances, Levi would’ve refused to accept any of it. Would’ve even severed his connection to the System again, just to ensure that he wouldn’t gain even a single drop of XP from all the souls he’d murdered.
This book was originally published on NovelPhoenix. Check it out there for the real experience.
[System Notification: You have leveled up! You are now level 932!]
But right now, he didn’t have the luxury for that. Half his organs were missing, his heart wasn’t beating, his body was wracked with magical overburn — only sheer stubborn resolve kept him conscious. It was a wonder he was even still alive.
[System Notification: You have leveled up! You are now level 1120!]
So if he had to accept all those kills to gain the necessary strength…
Then so be it.
For the sake of defeating the Devourer and the Chorus, he’d gladly bear this sin.
It was just one more mark on the already-blackened record of his soul.
[System Notification: You have leveled up! You are now level 1378!]
At long last, the screens came to a stop. Levi stared at the final number for a few seconds.
1378…
Hah. What a ridiculous number.
So that was what all those lives amounted to?
Don’t make him laugh.
It was far too fucking low.
But…
It’d have to do.
[System Notification: You have 3024 unallocated stat points to spend. How would you like to allocate them?]
Without hesitation, Levi took half of them and poured them all into Constitution.
[System Notification: Are you certain you wish to put 1512 points into CON? Y/N]
Yes.
Perhaps it was a hasty choice. But Levi had no real need for stats, since he already had his magic. His only real bottleneck was his body, and upgrading his Constitution would ensure he got rid of that weakness.
Besides, truth be told, Levi was fucking sick and tired of magical overburn.
He never wanted to experience it ever again.
[CON: 14 > 1526]
Instantly, the magical overburn disappeared. The relief was indescribable, like taking the first breath of fresh air after staying underwater for an hour. Levi’s magic kicked in a millisecond later, multicolored sparks crackling to life without even a conscious thought, forming a chaotic storm around him.
[System Notification: Proceeding to Class and Skill calculations…]
[System Notification: Buffering due to sudden level differential…]
“WHAT IS THIS?” the Chorus shouted.
This entire time, the Devourer and the Chorus had been staring at Levi with something that vaguely resembled curiosity. Levi was very lucky that personal System screens were only visible to the original user; events might have turned out very differently if the two had seen him actively leveling up. As it was, they’d only seen him lying on the ground staring off into empty space, seemingly accepting his impending death. Assured of their victory, they’d been content to observe.
Foolish. Levi had already accepted death long ago. It came with the job.
And now, with his magic returning with full force, they reacted. Tendrils shot forth from the Chorus’s outstretched palms and dark miasma blasted from the Devourer’s maw. Levi’s magic responded on his behalf, automatically forming multiple barriers both physical and magical around him.
Simultaneously, his magic began healing his body. The healing arts back in his old world had been incredibly dangerous and difficult to learn. Other than a few minor spells, Levi had never actually delved too deeply into the field. He didn’t have to. After suffering one too many near-death experiences, his magic had instinctively learned how to heal and repair his body. To this day, Levi wasn’t certain how it really worked; he assumed it was the same principle that allowed his magic to subconsciously learn how to defend against the corrosive nonbeing effects of the void between worlds.
Whatever the case, his magic flitted from injury to injury as though it had a mind of its own. His organs healed, his bones mended, his flesh stitched back together, his heart resumed beating with a shudder, his eyesight cleared up–
Levi Ironwood stood up.
“Ah,” he said. “Much better.” He paused. “I feel like I’m forgetting something…”
Oh, right. He raised his hand and summoned his spleen back to him. It was deformed and unshapely from its collision with the bookshelf. With a wince, Levi shoved it back into his body, where his body immediately began repairing it. For some reason, complete regeneration tended to be beyond healing magic’s capabilities – it was one of those inherent magical limitations for which nobody really knew the reason why.
“HOW?!” the Chorus demanded. “HOW IS YOUR MAGIC BACK? WAIT, NO – HOW DID YOU NOT DIE EARLIER? YOUR BONES WERE BROKEN, YOUR INNARDS WERE SCRAMBLED, YOUR HEART FUCKING STOPPED! HOW DID YOU CLING TO LIFE FOR SO LONG?”
How indeed. Levi had initially attributed it to pure willpower, but on second thought…
“Who knows,” Levi said. A small, curious smile graced his lips. “Perhaps, just perhaps, it’s because a certain someone decided to take the long way round.”
“WHO?!”
“Don’t worry. You’ll meet him soon enough. In the meantime…” Levi raised his hand. “Time for round two.”
Dark emerald green flames burst from his hand in a flower blossom, so magically dense that it warped the very space around it. This was one of the most powerful spells Levi knew, one he’d reverse-engineered from Slatheryn the Great. The only issue was that it required a lot of magic – so much so that he hadn’t been able to truly cast it in his previous state.
Levi had genuinely forgotten what it felt like to not have his magic so constrained. For the past two months, it’d felt like he was blind and deaf, his kneecaps were shattered, his hands were tied behind his back, and he had heavy lead weights strapped to his back.
But now with his body finally able to handle his magic’s output…
It would’ve felt incredible, were it not for the fact that he was only able to reach this point due to all the lives he’d taken in the past. As such, it was a bittersweet satisfaction.
The flower of flames blasted forward so fast it left burning afterimages in the air. The Devourer managed to leap out of the way, but the Chorus was a fraction of a second too slow and its right arm got caught by the flower.
The arm vaporized. One second it was there, the next second there was only empty space. It didn’t even catch on fire. It was destroyed so quickly that a vacuum formed where it had previously been, pulling the Chorus off balance.
The Chorus stared down at it blankly. “WHAT? I HAVE {FLAME RESISTANCE}... NO MATTER.” The Chorus turned back to Levi. “JUST A FLESH WOUND, IT’LL HEAL EASILY ENOUGH–” It paused. It looked down at its wound. “WHY… WHY ISN’T IT HEALING?”
“Don’t you realize?” Levi said. “Those flames don’t operate on the physical level. Rather, they attack the metaphysical concept itself; right now, it’s burning away the concept of your ‘right hand.’”
“WHAT?! BUT THAT’S–”
“Please don’t say ‘that’s impossible,’” Levi interrupted. “You should know that magic is all about accomplishing exactly that. And trust me, there’s plenty more where that came from–”
Magic coursed through his brain and accelerated his thoughts, plunging the world around him into slow motion. That was the only reason why he had enough time to dodge the terrible bolt of miasma that speared through the air. Even then, he barely managed to avoid it; it was mere millimeters away from hitting him.
From a distance, the Devourer tilted its head, as though surprised that Levi had reacted in time.
Levi narrowed his eyes. That bolt… It had been too fast. Time dilation? Its local time had been sped up so that it shot through objective time faster than was physically possible.
Then, the Devourer opened its maw and spat forth another spear of miasma.
It disappeared three seconds into the past, striking Levi right at the spot where he’d evaded the first bolt of miasma.
The attack was impossible to avoid, for it was perfectly timed to reach Levi’s exact coordinates from three seconds ago.
Yet, Levi avoided it anyway.
“Ah, yes,” he said mildly from where he suddenly stood on the opposite side of the room. The Devourer whirled around in shock, all three of its heads jerking forward. “The causality detection technique. I haven’t had to use this since I faced the Starving Oracle.”
With his True Sight, Levi was able to detect the minute fluctuations in spacetime that signified an attack from either the past or future. He’d trained himself extensively to immediately teleport away the moment he sensed such a ripple, such that it had become an automatic reflex by this point.
The Devourer’s attack had disappeared three seconds into the past, and the Levi three seconds ago had instantly teleported away just as the attack ‘hit’. And since teleportation was instant, the whole causality chain was disrupted, thus allowing Levi to avoid being unwritten from existence.
Then, another ding! sounded.
[System Notification: By reaching level 25, you have unlocked Class Selection!]
[System Notification: By reaching level 100, you have unlocked Class Evolution!]
[System Notification: By reaching level 1000, you have unlocked Class Transcendence!]
[System Notification: What would you like to choose?]
And before him, a large screen appeared.