Author Romeru
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Chapter 76: A Frustrating and Unreasonable Situation
🕑 Added 2024-12-11 11:01:38 +0000 UTC“Why the fuck are you so fast!?”
Booms and cracks erupted repeatedly, the sound snapping sharply through the air as shockwaves from Vijya’s fists pummeled the ground. The earth quaked violently, splitting apart under the relentless assault, but for all the destruction he caused, none of his strikes even grazed Julian.
For a brief moment, Julian wasn’t sure what was louder—the thunderous quakes Vijya was causing or the man’s ceaseless shouting.
Julian effortlessly evaded him, leaping back or darting to the side, always just out of reach. But it wasn’t because Julian himself was particularly fast—in truth, Vijya was only slightly slower than him. They might have even been evenly matched in terms of raw speed.
The difference was Julian’s senses. Vijya may as well be telling him was he was going to do next with how predictable he was.
Amidst the predictable chaos, MEGAN, who had been radio silent in her paranoia over being watched by Humanity Engineering, finally broke her silence through the Chat.
<SexyOneeChan: Vijya Thacker. Class: Stone Vanguard [Unique]. Extremely High Durability. AoE Skills. Slow. Last known level: 33>
Julian’s focus wavered briefly as he tried to read the information. Avoiding Vijya’s relentless attacks already made it hard to read, and his limited literacy skills didn’t help. But still, he managed to pick out the important details.
Level 33.
That was more than double his own level of 15, meaning Vijya was, on paper, at least twice as strong as him. One hit, Julian realized grimly, would likely end the fight instantly.
Another term from MEGAN’s message caught his attention: AoE—Area of Effect. From what MEGAN had taught him in their lessons, AoE skills could damage or affect a wide area.
But he was sure that Vijya hadn’t used a single skill yet… but each of his normal punches seemed to already have an AoE effect, sending shockwaves that cracked the ground and flung debris in every direction, like miniature earthquakes.
And as Julian was busy making sure he was enough distance away from the rampaging Vijya, another message popped up at his peripheral.
<SexyOneeChan: Be wary of Seismic Charge skill. Fast.>
“Thank you, MEGAN,” Julian whispered, leaping back to avoid another ground-shaking punch. The impact sent cracks spidering out beneath him. “But weren’t you called PrettyOneeChan before?”
<SexyOneeChan: FOCUS!>
As if on cue, Vijya’s roar tore through the air like thunder: “Seismic Charge!”
Vijya’s sluggishness just suddenly evaporated. And in an instant, he surged forward like a juggernaut.
“Die!” he roared again, his crazed grin widening as he saw Julian freeze in place.
Or so he thought.
Without warning, Julian disappeared.
“Huh!?” Vijya’s furious charge came to an abrupt halt, his feet sliding on the ground.
“Where the fuck are you!?” And he roared again, but this time in the empty air. Well, perhaps not exactly empty.
Julian actually stood just a meter away from him, motionless, his presence completely erased. If Vijya had just chosen to take a few more steps, he might have barreled into Julian, breaking and shattering his bones.
One of Julian’s new passive abilities have been triggered—[Null Presence].
As long as Julian remained perfectly still, he was completely invisible to anyone with a lower Perception stat. And even if he moved, his presence would remain muted, difficult to detect.
The skill was incredibly effective, but it demanded immense concentration. Yet, this ability felt like it had been designed for him. While he, admittedly to himself, might lack in the thinking department, he had an almost superhuman ability to focus and concentrate.
Still, it wasn’t without its limits. Holding his breath, he stayed rooted in place as Vijya prowled nearby like a predator searching for prey.
“Show yourself, coward!” Vijya roared again, the sound echoing off the chamber’s walls. He slammed his massive fists together, the force of the impact shaking the ground.
Julian was actually quite perplexed right now.
A coward? Why would he even attempt to fight someone who was obviously stronger than him?
Other than footwork, the one thing that Julian’s martial arts instructor drilled into his mind was knowing when to run—and this was definitely one of those times. He wanted to shut Vijya up since he was starting to mention Ellie again, but this wasn’t the right time and place to do it.
Still, it was a shame. Julian had detected something peculiar earlier, buried beneath the rubble. It gave off a strange resonance—perhaps some sort of metal or it might not even be nothing at all. Whatever it was, it felt… odd.
He had hoped to see what it was, but survival was the priority now.
And soon, as Vijya’s frustrations grew and he started rampaging and just randomly punching the air and destroying the ground around him, Julian decided to move.
His movements were minute, silent, and extremely careful. As long as he could reach the teleportation circle, then he would be able to escape.
But it didn’t go as Julian planned at all. Before he could take 3 steps, Vijya roared. “Earth Pulse!” Vijya slammed his fists together, causing a strong shockwave that threw Julian in the air even though he was far from Vijya. “Found you!” And as his silhouette once again appeared, Vijya did not waste time at all as he rushed to him, “Seismic Charge!” he once again roared. Since Julian was in the air, he could not dodge at all. Or could he?
“Die!” Vijya repeated, but then, he watched… as Julian seemingly jumped in the air. “You can fly!?”
No, not exactly. Julian had seen the previous shadow blacksmith, Erin, use this before—turning shadows into solid and letting them stay where it were. He…
…jumped on the little shadow beneath the soles of his feet.
Ridiculous.
Julian activated [Shadow Sculpt], a risky decision considering his limited mastery of the skill. But he remembered when Erin tripped him in their fight. The shadow which she manipulated from the flower beneath his feet hovered inches above the ground… away from its actual source.
That meant that not only could he sculpt the shadows, but he could also leave them in the air… and let them stay there. Literally untethered from logic.
He was going to use [Shadow Festival], but that was best saved for emergencies. And while this moment might qualify as an emergency, there was always the chance Vijya could pursue him outside the dungeon. It would be fine if Ben and Natasha were there, but what if they weren’t?
And so, Julian just went with a gamble—he manipulated his own shadows to create a path in the air. It was clumsy and awkward, but it worked—at least for now.
Meanwhile, Vijya stood rooted to the ground, utterly bewildered as Julian moved like a…
“Are you a monkey!? You unevolved ape!”
But of course, like most things, Julian’s skill had limits—and one of those limits was presenting itself to him right now—since he was using his own shadows to create footholds, they were bound to run out soon.
“Oh…” And true enough, he was now completely devoid of any shadow in his body to the point that he almost did not look real at all from Vijya’s perspective, almost like he was a hologram drawn there.
And soon, Vijya watched Julian plummet toward the ground.
Luckily for Julian, he was already near the teleportation circle—close enough that he could reach it with a short sprint. And sprint he did.
“Pussy!” Vijya’s voice bellowed behind him, “You think this would be over if you run!? I really am going to fucking fuck your girlfriend!”
And of course, those words stopped Julian.
“Hm…” Julian muttered, exhaling sharply as he turned around to face Vijya. “We are being watched right now. Humanity Engineering will not like this.”
Vijya erupted into laughter, loud and derisive. “You think they care about you!?” His fists clashed together, echoing like distant thunder.
“Why do you think they haven’t forcefully pulled me out yet? It’s because pulling me out would put me in danger—and they would never risk that. Do you know who I am? Who my family is!?”
<SexyOneeChan: Oh god… he’s straight out of a novel, it’s so cringe. This is so frustrating to watch. Just leave, Julian!!!! Don’t get provoked!>
Julian didn’t even bother reading MEGAN’s frantic typing. He already knew what she was saying.
And he had planned to run—he really did.
But now… he wasn’t feeling it anymore.
Julian straightened his posture, as he looked Vijya in the eyes—something he usually doesn’t do to people.
Vijya’s lips twisted into a taunting smirk as he saw this. “There he is… the Sword Junkie finally shows himself,” he muttered.
But Vijya had it wrong. The Sword Junkie would be armed, and he would have a smile on his face… and Julian was carrying neither.
Instead, he raised his hands into a stance that was ancient, yet simple—boxing.
And of course, the sight of Julian preparing to fight him with nothing but bare fists made Vijya’s veins bulge in anger.
“You’re seriously going to fight me with that?” His lips twitched. “Now I know why you were born… you were born to fucking piss me off! [Seismic Charge]!”
Vijya’s roar of fury shook the chamber as he charged at Julian like an enraged bull. His stone-encrusted fists promised devastation with every step forward.
Despite this, Julian remained rooted.
The air thickened as Vijya’s crazed laughter exploded through the chamber. His raw strength was intimidating, but Julian’s focus did not waver. He knew one solid hit from Vijya would utterly destroy his fragile clone—but even then, he stood firm.
And when Vijya was only meters away from hitting him, Julian whispered under his breath,
“[Shadow Festival].”
In an instant, the atmosphere around them distorted. The floor rippled and twisted unnaturally, as if reality itself had gone mad. Vijya stumbled slightly, his footing unsure as his vision blurred and his sense faltered.
But then he grinned, an unsettling expression stretched across his face.
“Hah! You think I haven’t figured this out already?” Vijya roared. “When you used this against those shmucks, I’ve already learned how to counter it!”
And with those words, he shut his eyes tightly.
“You’re nothing compared to me! I beat you, I’m better than you, I’m the superior human!”
With that, he charged forward blindly, confident that he would find Julian and crush him with a single strike.
Seconds passed.
His laughter faded as confusion replaced his confidence. He was running, yet he hadn’t felt the impact of a wall—or Julian.
Vijya’s eyelids snapped open, only to see open fields stretching before him and the city of Ethaca on the horizon.
He was… outside.
“What the…” Unknowingly, he had stepped onto the teleportation circle that was actually behind Julian.
“You…” Vijya growled as his stone fists slowly shifted to normal, “Motherf—”
And all of a sudden, Vijya’s words were cut short.
His throat locked, and the color of his eyes disappeared.
And then… without rhyme, warning, or any reason, he just collapsed to the ground—like a lifeless doll with no one to catch him.
Back in the secret dungeon, Julian was already casually rummaging through the rubble he had rummaged through before, almost as if his altercation with Vijya did not happen at all.
Meanwhile, MEGAN bombarded his chat with messages.
<SexyOneeChan: BWAHAHAHAHAHA! I never thought we would meet someone more stupid than us, Julian. But that guy is just… wow. Good work, good work!>
“Thank you,” Julian hummed, brushing aside more debris as he tilted his head, listening intently to the vibrations beneath the rubble. His senses were locked onto a distinct hum, a sound that resonated stronger and stronger the closer he got.
Finally, after several moments of digging like a mole, Julian’s hands brushed against something warm and rough, almost powdery. He pulled it free from the debris, revealing a black, unassuming rock.
“This is…” Julian muttered, holding it up to the faint light of the flowers. The moment it left the rubble, the humming that had been so overwhelming vanished completely—as if the rock had never been special to begin with.
Julian frowned, perplexed. It had been so loud earlier, almost deafening in its intensity, as if it were calling out to him. But now, in his grasp, it was utterly silent.
He stared at the black rock for a few seconds before deciding he needed help.
“[Guidance],” he whispered.
Almost immediately, the [Guidance of Artemis] answered him, filling his eyes with the item’s details:
[Dodona Coal: A coal native to Dodona. It’s coal.]
“...Huh?”
[LAST CHAPTER] <-----> [NEXT CHAPTER]
AUTHOR NOTES
Well... what do you think happened to Vijya? lol. Perhaps... not as important as he thought he was?
Also... a Coal!? All that for a coal!? Or... is it?
Do holler up if you notice any mistakes! I am starting to feel better, slightly.
Comments
Manpapper
Thanks for the chapter
Rommel Sabido
I shall thank you. Been missing a lot of these lately lol
teehee15
"One of Julian’s new passive abilities have been triggered—[Null Presence]." Should be "... abilities (had) triggered..." or just remove had altogether as triggered is past tense as is. "He wanted to shut Vijya since he was starting to mention Ellie again, but this wasn’t the right time and place to do it." Uh, you're missing a word before/after Vija, whether that word is "up" "down" or something else, I don't think Julian wants to shut Vija. "Beat 4: But it didn’t go as Julian planned at all. Before he could take 3 steps, Vijya roared. “Earth Pulse!” Vijya slammed his fists together, causing a strong shockwave that threw Julian in the air even though he was far from Vijya. “Found you!” And as his silhouette once again appeared, Vijya did not waste time at all as he rushed to him, “Seismic Charge!” he once again roared. Since Julian is in the air, he could not dodge at all. Or could he?" I don't understand what the "Beat4:" is supposed to do. At, "Since Julian is in..." is should be "was". "Julian had seen the previous shadow blacksmith, Erin, used this before" Should be "Erin, use this before" "turning shadows into solid and letting them stay where it was." Need to remove "into" and change "where it was." to "where they were." "since he was using his own shadows to create footholds, they were bound to run out any time soon." Any time soon implies a time limit, when you were saying that it's a resource limit, maybe change it to "any second now" or just remove any time and have it read as "...run out soon." "“You think this would be over if you ran!?..." Should be "You think this will be over if you run!?" I know, it's in present tense! That's because someone is actively saying it. "But then he grinned, an unsettling expression that stretched across his face." Remove "that" "“When you used this against those shmucks, I’ve already learned how to counter it!”" Change "I've" to "I" "It’s a coal.]" Should be "It's a piece of coal.]" or "It's coal.]"
