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The Apocalypse Grinder - Chapter 188
🕑 Added 2025-08-25 23:54:23 +0000 UTC<< Chapter 187 | Index | Chapter 189 >>
As he found himself at the beginning of the integration for the fiftieth time, Ronan realised he hadn’t even considered which difficulty of the tutorial he wanted to attempt this time around. The choice wasn’t so clear-cut.
Actually, it’s quite simple. The only reason I dropped back down from the harder difficulty tutorial was because I didn’t have the strength or skills to defeat the goblin village, he realised. As I am now, that won’t be a struggle anymore.
Your difficulty has been set to [Normal]! If you believe this is an unsuitable assessment, you are free to voice your complaints. Stage 1 will begin in 5…
Ronan thought of his complaint the moment the notification appeared. He wanted to be put into the harder difficulty, but he tried to obfuscate that intention, not wanting the same heat from the assistant that he’d received the last time. Less attention from the authorities was always a good thing.
Your complaint has been received!
Please hold while it is being reviewed…
The delay was very brief, something Ronan appreciated. Bureaucracy wasn’t usually this smooth.
Administrative Assistant Shneevol has reviewed your complaint!
Your tutorial difficulty has been adjusted from [Normal] to [Harder]!
The lack of a note told Ronan he’d been successful in slipping under the radar, so to speak. He was glad for it.
With that annoyance out of the way, it was time to head into the goblin forest for the second time. This would hopefully be the last time, at least until he wanted to obtain more rare skills. His next goal after this was whatever difficulty lay beyond harder. Perhaps nightmare, at long last? ///////
Your difficulty has been set to [Harder]! Stage 1 will begin in 5…
The countdown and ensuing transport weren’t that disorientating. Ronan was well used to them by now.
The moment he arrived in the forest he conjured a dagger and began moving in the direction he’d found the goblins last time he tried the harder difficulty tutorial. About four minutes later he heard the first sounds of them treading through the underbrush.
One snapped branch later, he was plastered against the trunk of a nearby tree, dagger clutched tightly in hand. His mana was cycling and he was already forming a mana bolt in his left hand.
The moment the first goblin rounded the tree, Ronan let the spell fly. He’d used sneak tactics last time, but this time he had no qualms about going in guns blazing.
His mana bolt screeched through the air, exploding in the face of the leftmost goblin. Before the other one even had time to react to his ambush, he was on the green bastard, stabbing it in the throat and heart in quick succession. Its body slumped to the ground as he released his grip on its throat.
The goblin didn’t get back up, and the successive chimes that rang in his ears told him he’d successfully passed the first stage. There were no breaks in this difficulty, but he was fine with that. He had no need for rest this time around.
You have killed [Goblin Rogue Lv.6] and [Goblin Warrior Lv.6]!
+173 Copper Credits
+3 [Dagger I] Mastery
+2 [Stamina IV] Mastery
+3 [Stealth] Mastery
+2 [Mana IV] Mastery
+Goblin Toes (Common) x2
+Chipped Knife Lv.6 (Common)
You have leveled up to Lv.1!
You have leveled up to Lv.2!
You have leveled up to Lv.3!
You have leveled up to Lv.4!
You have leveled up to Lv.5!
You have leveled up to Lv.6!
You have leveled up to Lv.7!
You have leveled up to Lv.8!
You have leveled up to Lv.9!
You have leveled up to Lv.10!
You have leveled up to Lv.11!
You have leveled up to Lv.12!
You have been restored x4!
+60 Vitality
+60 Endurance
+24 Wisdom
+24 Intelligence
+36 Acuity
+67 Free Stat Points
Congratulations for reaching Lv. 10!
You have unlocked Class Selection!
You have unlocked 36 special classes due to your achievements
You have not unlocked any special classes due to your heritage
You have unlocked 7 special classes due to your race
You have unlocked 7 special classes due to alternative methods
Please select a class from the following:
Fighter (Common)
Mage (Common)
Rogue (Common)
Healer (Common)
Tinkerer (Common)
Ranger (Common)
Defender (Common)
Knight (Uncommon)
Martial Artist (Uncommon)
…
Juggernaut (Rare)
Weapons Master (Rare)
…
Lord of War (Rare)
Wizard (Rare)
Perfectionist (Rare)
Magician (Rare)
…
Advanced Fighter (Rare)
Advanced Mage (Rare)
Advanced Rogue (Rare)
Advanced Healer (Rare)
Advanced Tinkerer (Rare)
Advanced Ranger (Rare)
Advanced Defender (Rare)
…
Energy Manipulator (Epic)
Seer (Epic)
Tool Maestro (Epic)
Dao Child (Legendary)
Congratulations, you have cleared Stage 1 of the tutorial!
[Inventory] access has been granted at minimum functionality. Improve inventory metrics by spending system credits or through other approved means. Open inventory through mental, verbal, or spiritual command.
+643 Copper Credits
+Myriad Skills Tome (Rare)
Stage 2 begins now!
The sheer quantity of classes Ronan had to choose from was mind-boggling. The last time he’d reached level 10 he’d had a myriad list, but that had expanded by almost double.
Dao Child was still the highest rarity class he had access to, and even breaking past the first threshold in all four paths of cultivation hadn’t been enough to unlock something greater. Perhaps he needed to go beyond the second threshold or even the third to get a mythical class from the get-go.
Or achieve something else equally absurd in the eyes of the system. Cultivating before level 10 was clearly unusual—even more so on a newly integrated planet. The more Ronan experienced of the system the more he understood how much it was geared in favour of those who were born in places that had been long-since integrated in the system. Growing up with it, having parents who had lived with it, and simply having the knowledge of what it offered; all these things would stack up to provide an overwhelming advantage to any with that privilege.
Ronan had a worse starting position than those sorts of people, but his own advantages were far more powerful. He would continually amass knowledge and power until he was an unstoppable force. One day he hoped to be on par with his ancestor, Azathere the Timeless, or perhaps even stronger.
As his goal was to defeat the goblin village, he needed as much power as he could acquire in this iteration. For that reason he chose dao child as his class once more. There was a time for experimenting with new classes and a time for taking the greatest advantage available to him. Now was the latter.
He would even receive two full levels’ worth of dao child’s stats from the moment the inufusion finished, given that he had reached level 12 after defeating those two goblins in stage 1. The goblins in stage 2 wouldn’t stand a chance.
You have selected [Dao Child (Legendary)] as your class!
Initiating class infusion…
The pain was utterly overwhelming. Having experienced it once before he’d believed he would be able to handle it better, but that proved to be his hubris speaking.
Class infusion complete! You have become a [Dao Child (Legendary)]!
You have received the class skill [Reality Defying Cultivation (Legendary)]!
Reality Defying Cultivation (Legendary): The power of the Dao Child is that they are not confined by the limits of the world around them. For ordinary cultivators, they must hunt down the correctly aspected shards in order to progress on their chosen path. The Dao Child can use any shard to cultivate any path they wish to, albeit at a 50% efficiency rate. (Stacks cumulatively with similar effects)
You have received the class skill [Three Thousand Dao, One Destiny (Legendary)]!
Three Thousand Dao, One Destiny (Legendary): There are many paths to power in this cosmos. Cultivators of old believed that resonating with aspects of the world around them, embodying them in their entirety, was one such path. As the ancient scriptures say, there are three thousand dao, but all are the Dao. This skill unlocks the ability for the user to resonate with concepts of the cosmos, or dao, following a path towards divinity. Depending on the dao they make their destiny, the benefits or drawbacks will differ.
Bonus stats for class have been retroactively applied
He clenched and unclenched his fist. He hadn’t immediately grown stronger, but something within him shifted each time he went through this particular infusion. He guessed it was to do with the second class skill that enabled him to comprehend daos.
He was about to get much stronger, though, given that he had just gained an extra 160 free stat points to spend. He considered his distribution, but felt that his previous strategy would work out just as well if he used it again.
That meant most of his points went into strenght, agility, and dexterity, with the rest being spread among all of his other stats. They all benefited him in more ways than one, be they invisible buffs or obvious increases to his resources.
Once he was done he pulled up his status to have a look. Comparing this status to the one he’d had the first time he reached level 12 was hilarious. He’d felt strong, back then—and he had been in comparison to the Ronan who was first integrated into the system—but the him at that moment could kill the original level 12 Ronan with a single slap.
Name: Ronan Steele
Race: Human (F)
Heritage: Reverberating Chronosphere (Current Iteration: 50) +
Level: 12
Class: Dao Child (Legendary)
Sub-Class 1: Sorcerer (Uncommon)
Fortune: 816 Copper Credits
[Stats] +
Health: 1745/1745
Stamina: 1918/1918
Mana: 961/961
Vitality: 79
Endurance: 84.88 (+4)
Wisdom: 39.54 (+3)
Regeneration: 14.14
Resistance: 20.89
Strength: 56.66 (+8)
Agility: 46.44 (+4)
Intelligence: 42 (+4)
Dexterity: 46.81
Acuity: 53 (+3)
Tenacity: 35.52
Luck: 19 (+1)
Charisma: 13.64 (+1)
Available Points: 0
[Traits]
[Legendary]
Fate Alignment (Personal)
[Rare]
Mineral Skeleton (Mutative), Berserk Cultivation Body (Mutative), Animal Prescience (Evolutionary), Manasynthetic (Evolutionary)
[Skills]
[Universal]
Unified Language Adaptation
[Legendary]
Reality Defying Cultivation (Class), Three Thousand Dao, One Destiny (Class)
[Epic]
Reverberating Path (Blessing), Surging Strikes, Ethereal Slash
[Rare]
Learn Through Suffering (Cla5?), Light Manipulation, Arcane Piercing Strike, Cure Affliction, Mighty Strength
[Uncommon]
Critical Tempo, Potent Wisdom, Dust Bomb, Treasure Hunter, Relentless Training, Weapons Expert - Melee, Gust, Counter-Parry, Suture Wound, Stone, Grip, Flash Fear, Calculation, Quintessential Charisma, Repair, Critical Experience, Conversion Cultivation, Dispel, Exceptional Palate, Magic Strike, Lightning Strike, Conjure Weapon, Accumulating Agility, Rampant Resistance, Fertility Sight, Summon Insect, Blueprint Manual, Intuitive Intelligence
[Common]
Vital Surge, Magic Money, Excessive Endurance, Eagle Eye, Quick Forage, Negotiation, Enhanced Acuity, Freeloader, Limitless Luck, Fast Grow, Creative Connection, Idle Cultivation (NEW)
[Mastery]
Pugilist II 4/100, Mana IV 3/100, Sword III 2/100, Shield I 1/100, Staff II 2/100, Spear III 5/100, Stamina IV 11/100, Pain III 3/100, Anti-Magic 4/100, Perception II 1/100, Leadership 1/100, Stealth 1/100, Grappling 3/100, Club I 3/100, Critical I 2/100, Momentum II 1/100, Health III 5/100, Breath 1/100, Meditation 1/100, Mace III 5/100, Crafting 1/100, Dagger I 2/100, Throwing Knife 1/100, Sickle 3/100, Knuckleduster 5/100, Pan 1/100, Hammer I 3/100
[Cultivation]
Mind: Agate ★ (0.2%)
Body: Copper ★ (0.1%) [Diamondback Gorilla (Rare), 23.6%]
Energy: Pulsing ★ (0%) [Nine Mouths Delta (Uncommon), 93.2%]
Soul: Orange ★ (2.7%)
[Blessings]
Blessing of Chronos (Boundless), Minor Blessing of the Temporal Obelisk (Unique), Tellen Mark of the Guardian Initiate (Epic), Minor Blessing of the Chronos Forge (Unique)
[Mutations]
+129% Mental resistance, +49% Magical damage resistance, +268% Physical damage resistance, +157% Toxicant resistance, +41% Exsanguination resistance, +69.57% Energy absorption efficiency, 217.49% All-Damage resistance, Soul damage resistance 1.2%
He almost felt like whistling a joyous tune as he began to walk in the direction he found the stage 2 goblins the previous time he’d been through the harder difficulty tutorial. However, he knew that would only alert the little green bastards to his presence and restrained himself.
It didn’t take long for him to find the camp where the six goblins were resting. As before, there were only five in view. It was clearly a feature of the tutorial that the sixth would ambush once its comrades were defeated or fighting the challenger. With his foreknowledge, however, Ronan would be ready for that occurrence. It was time to kill some goblins.
<< Chapter 187 | Index | Chapter 189 >>
Comments
IdolTrust
Didn’t the masteries all got reduced by 10% to level up. So would all of them have level up threshold to 90.
Ariana Q
Damn u right, will fix when I get up in the morning
No1special
He should have recieved the mythical version of dao child, since its requirements were only to have all 4 categories having passed the first bottleneck.
