Chapter 13: Nine Levels in Five Seconds

"RIFT STEPS!"

Mana rushed through his leg. The ground disappeared beneath him.

He reached the little boy just before the claws did, caught the boy around the waist, and activated Rift Steps again without even giving his body time to complain about the first use.

The Magic Beast struck empty ground behind them.

Zishan reappeared beside an overturned wagon and nearly fell over from the sudden weight of carrying another person through Rift Steps. He managed to steady himself before both of them ended up face-first in the mud, then quickly lowered the boy onto the ground.

He grabbed the boy’s shoulders and looked him over.

"You’re not bleeding, right? Nothing broken? Still have all your important parts?"

The boy stared at him with wide eyes before slowly shaking his head. "I-I think so."

"Good." Zishan pointed behind the overturned wagon. "Stay there and don’t move. Seriously, though! Don’t act brave and run outside all of a sudden because that’s exactly how people become dead."

The boy nodded quickly.

Zishan turned around and was about to leave when he felt someone grab the bottom of his shirt.

He looked back.

The boy was still holding onto him. "Are you going back?"

Zishan looked toward the medical station.

Maela’s barrier cracked again.

Another smaller beast was already circling toward the wounded. The soldiers who remained were completely occupied. Nobody stronger was coming.

Commander Holtz was somewhere on the eastern front, fighting the actual enemies of the Kingdom while Zishan dealt with a completely unrelated Griffin problem, or perhaps not entirely unrelated at all!

Zishan looked down at the little boy. "Of course, I’ll go back! I still want to live, and I want you to live as well! So, stay right there!"

’It’s unfortunate that I need to play hero in front of a kid. What can I do? Otherwise, that kid will cry, and it’ll just attract more monsters!’

Then, as if the System had simply been waiting for him to accept how unfortunate his life had become—

[DING!]

Zishan closed his eyes. "Finally!!!"

[EMERGENCY QUEST]

[Defend the Medical Station!]

[Primary Objective: Repel the Highland Griffin.]

[Secondary Objective: Protect the wounded and medical personnel.]

[Optional Objective: Resolve the cause of the Griffin’s aggression.]

[Target Level: 50]

[Host Level: 1]

[Completion Possibility: 2.71%]

Zishan stared at the percentage. "Two point seven one?!"

His previous battlefield Quest had been terrible enough. Apparently, the System had decided that giving him a slightly better chance of dying was generous.

Then, finally, the moment he had been waiting for arrived. Zishan rubbed his palms together in excitement as the rewards appeared.

[Quest Rewards]

[EXP: 4,500]

[+20 STR]

[+10 AGI]

[Wind Mana Affinity Acquired]

[Skill Acquired: Stormwing Rend]

[Tier: Form]

[Perfected Glimpse Applicable]

Zishan stopped complaining.

He read everything once. Then, his mouth slowly opened in shock. "4,500 EXP?!"

He looked at the Griffin. Then, back at the System panel.

"+20 Strength, +10 Agility, an Affinity, and a Form-Tier Skill?"

[Correct.]

"What the fuck did that bird do to you?"

The System did not bother explaining itself.

Instead, another familiar notification appeared.

[PRECEDENCE AVAILABLE]

[Claim Rewards Before Completion?]

[YES / NO]

"YES! OBVIOUSLY YES! WHY DO YOU EVEN KEEP ASKING ME?!"

[ADVANCE CLAIM CONFIRMED]

[Processing Quest Rewards...]

"PROCESS FASTER! THERE’S A GIANT FUCKING BIRD DESTROYING THE MEDICAL STATION!"

[EXP Acquired: 4,500.]

[LEVEL UP!]

[Level 1 → Level 2]

Zishan felt something change inside him. Before he could understand what it was, another notification appeared.

[LEVEL UP!]

[Level 2 → Level 3]

Then, another.

[Level 3 → Level 4]

"Wait..."

[Level 4 → Level 5]

"WAIT!"

[Level 5 → Level 6]

[Level 6 → Level 7]

[Level 7 → Level 8]

[Level 8 → Level 9]

[Level 9 → Level 10]

Zishan stood there with his mouth open.

The changes came too quickly for him to understand each one separately. Something inside him shifted with every Level, and even the Mana moving through him felt more responsive than it had several seconds earlier.

[27 Distributable Stat Points acquired.]

"Twenty-seven?!"

[The Dumb Host gained nine Levels.]

[For every Level gained, the Dumb Host receives +3 Distributable Stat Points.]

"What the hell... I leveled up so fast... am I participating in a game, or am I the creator of the game?! Damn! This is too OP!"

[It applies to everyone, Dumb Host.]

"So, others also receive these stat points every time they level up?"

[Yes. It is not overpowered. It is the standard. The Dumb Host simply does not know because he sucked at games even in his previous world.]

"Do you really need to mock me right now?!" Zishan complained as he looked at the System panel in front of him. "Damn!"

He was still staring at the twenty-seven Distributable Stat Points when he stepped toward the edge of Maela’s barrier.

"Kid! Where the hell are you going?!" Maela shouted from behind him.

He glanced back at her while continuing to walk, pointing at the Griffin who kept on attacking the barrier. "Outside?"

"I KNOW THAT! Get back here, kid! That’s a Level 50 Griffin!"

"Yeah, I know." Zishan pointed at the creature. "That’s why I’m going out. I’m a Level 10 now!"

"What the hell? When did you become Level 10, kid?!" Maela’s mouth parted slightly as she stared at him. Then, she remembered that it was not the time to be shocked. "Did leveling up somehow damage your brain? You’re freaking Level 10 and that’s a Level 50 Griffin!"

"I know that too!"

"Then why are you walking toward it?! Are you courting death?!"

Zishan looked at the new Skill sitting on his System panel before turning back toward the Griffin. He did not bother answering the old woman. He just continued walking outside.

[+20 STR]

[+10 AGI]

[Wind Mana Affinity Acquired.]

[Stormwing Rend Skill Acquired.]

[Perfected Glimpse synchronized with Stormwing Rend.]

The moment the last notification appeared, information flooded into his head. Zishan had never seriously thought about wind before.

It was just some type of invisible entity of some sort that could move. That was the extent of his knowledge. Well, watching the Avatar Movie in his past life could probably help him.

Regardless, because of Perfected Glimpse, he suddenly understood how the Griffin gathered Wind Mana along the entire length of her wings, compressed it through the motion of her feathers, and released it at the exact point where speed, angle, Mana density, and movement produced the strongest cutting force.

He also understood how badly his own body was suited to copying something made for a creature with two enormous wings.

"But it wouldn’t hurt to try—" Then, he remembered what happened to him when he first used Rift Steps. "Well, it would hurt, but I must still try it!"

The Griffin spread her wings again. Wind Mana gathered around them. Appraisal reacted automatically.

[Stormwing Rend.]

Zishan looked at the notification. Then, at his own newly acquired Skill. His face slowly brightened as he looked at the Griffin again. "That is the Skill! She’s using it!"

Then, the Griffin released the attack.

A large crescent of compressed wind tore through the ground toward him.

Zishan activated Rift Steps and disappeared from its path. The attack destroyed two wooden barricades behind him, but he barely noticed because his second surprise came the moment he reappeared several meters away.

He did not fall or stumble. His feet had actually landed where he wanted them to.

"HAHAHAHA! Did leveling up help me improve my control or did I just improve?!"

[Rift Steps Mastery has advanced from Beginner to Proficient. Congratulations on advancing, Dumb Host—]

"I know! I know! You’re just going to insult me again!" Zishan completely ignored the System as he focused on the Griffin. It turned its attention toward him.

Zishan raised one hand as a greenish Wind Mana gathered around his arm. The Perfected Glimpse immediately corrected his posture, the amount of Mana he was trying to use, and even the angle of his shoulder.

"Hey! Big bird with no genitals!"

Screech!

Zishan grinned and screamed back, "LOOK! I STOLE YOUR FUCKING SKILL!"

Then, he swung his arm.

"STORMWING REND!"

A blade of wind tore across the space between them and struck the Griffin’s raised wing. The impact forced her several steps backward through the mud.

Everyone nearby stopped long enough to look at him.

Zishan also stopped.

He stared at his hand. "...Holy shit. Am I actually this powerful?"

The Griffin stared at him.

For several seconds, she did not attack.

She seemed to be looking at the lingering Wind Mana around his arm, then at him, then back at the Wind Mana as if she could not quite understand why the strange human she had never seen before had suddenly used one of her own Skills.

Zishan pointed at her with one hand while proudly placing his other fist on his waist. "Yeah! That’s your Skill! I stole it! WAHAHA!"

The Griffin screamed.

Screech!

"Oh, you’re mad..."

Then, she suddenly charged.

Zishan didn’t know where he got the confidence to mock a Level 50 Griffin while he was still a Level 10, but he did not let anything come his way! He had to continue! Otherwise, all of them would die!

He immediately activated Rift Steps again as one enormous claw struck the ground where he had been standing. He reappeared near her flank and tried Stormwing Rend a second time, only to discover that knowing the Skill perfectly did not mean his body had suddenly become a Level 50 Griffin.

The second wind blade was much smaller.

It still struck the Griffin, but instead of throwing her backward, it mostly cut several feathers and made her even angrier.

Zishan looked at the result. "What the hell? Why was that one weaker?!"

[The Dumb Host’s first use of Stormwing Rend consumed an excessive amount of Mana.]

Zishan paused. "Huh?"

[Perfected understanding does not provide the Dumb Host with the target’s Mana reserves, Level, physical structure, or Stats.]

He looked at his hand before understanding what had happened. "So I accidentally dumped way too much Mana into the first one?"

[Correct.]

"..."

The Griffin spun.

Zishan ducked beneath one of her rear legs and stumbled directly behind her. He found himself staring at the lion half of the Griffin.

More specifically, at the rear half of the lion half.

Zishan’s eyes slowly moved toward a broken section of timber lying beside him. The System apparently understood what he was considering before he even reached for it.

[The System recommends against unnecessary provocation.]

"She’s already trying to kill me. How much worse can it get?" He grabbed the piece of wood, which felt very light in his hands.

When the Griffin began turning, Zishan rushed forward and rammed the blunt end of the broken timber straight beneath her tail.

THUNK!

The sound was surprisingly loud.

The Griffin froze. Zishan froze with her.

Even Maela stopped what she was doing for a second. Meanwhile, the female Griffin slowly turned her head until one golden eye settled directly on Zishan.

He was still holding the piece of wood. "...That was tactical."