Classless Ascension

They came out of nowhere, erupting out of underground tunnels!

Red eyes, fur of varying colors, sharp claws that belonged to a beast, and red eyes filled with rage…or was it greed?! No matter what it was they were heading straight for Josh!

The latter was still sitting cross-legged, an odd yellow duck quacking as it circled him relentlessly. The D.L. members instantly reacted, moving toward the enemy.

"It's those mutant bastards again!"

"Shave them, stick them on stakes! Death to gene Corps!"

The feud between the two groups wasn't anything new. It wasn't the first attack that the annoying organization launched upon them. Still, weren't they a little too quick?!

Ferocious-looking Climbers eagerly moved to intercept the dark creatures. But the idols and few visitors showed none of that cool-headedness. They were already yelping out of fright.

"Kyaaaa!" They couldn't believe their eyes.

They evacuated the stage, going toward the back as quickly as their slender legs could carry them. But then they couldn't help but be taken aback. What was SHE doing?!

Josh was still cross-legged on the stage, but so was the summoner idol by his side. She was still coaching him, whispering tips in his ear. Had she suddenly turned blind?! Couldn't she see the monsters?!

No, she could clearly see them. Hell, she could even smell them from afar. Damn, those mutants smelled so bad that they had positively hid in sewers at some point!

Her slender frame trembled non-stop, and yet she didn't leave. She recognized the state of deep meditation he was currently in, a trance even: enlightenment.

- A rich golden halo enveloped him

- The previous mana phenomena had been crazy

- This process was vital to him for whatever reason

- Would his soul even survive the backlash of a forceful awakening?!

He was far gone from the realm of the living, his body nothing but an empty husk. This combination of opportunity and danger made her stay by his side, helping him.

She was just about to shit herself, and yet she kept doing everything she could to protect him. After all, he was the only one that could truly see her, and not as a monster!

But then one of the mutants made it to the stage.

"J-Joshhhh! Perishhhh!" It hissed.

"I won't let you!" She cried out from her heart as she sent a wave of summoned flying jellyfish at the humanoid. In a matter of seconds, the creature was covered from head to toe.

Then she waved her hand, sending the kill order. She was weak because her summons were easy to kill and slow, but this guy was disregarding her way too much, wasn't he?!

— BZTTT! —

A flash came from the jellyfish, a godly electrical current!

"Tch— Serves you right, you scary, smelly, dastardly, r— what?! How?" She couldn't help but scream in shock. The creature was still perfectly intact!

After a swipe of its claw, tons of jellyfishes fell apart, their corpses disappearing as if ectoplasm. T-that easily?!

The thing gave a derisive snort as it rushed forward. It was already too late. She'd die here; no time to wake him up anymore. At least she'd die with someone she—

"What are you daydreaming for, young lady? Keep teaching. This lowly monk shall take care of this." A reassuring voice cut through her despair.

An older gentleman suddenly crashed against the creature, sending it flying. He was wielding…golden flying scriptures?! He was literally fighting with magical floating glyphs!

She couldn't help but gasp, her vision switching to the sea of Climbers before the stage. They were all fighting orderly, with no confusion to be seen.

No, it wasn't just that. There was something that was hella weird about their behavior. They oozed…excitement?!

"Hehe, today I'm finally getting on the mutant-slaying lead3erboard!"

"Bitch please, you've yet to kill a single one!"

"So?! It's the same for most peeps anyway!"

Frank thanked the gods once again for whoever had suggested the establishment of a mutant-killing leaderboard…with rewards!

Ever since its establishment, the students had strangely lost all fear. Every time they saw the near-invincible motherfuckers, all they saw was glory!

"Bonus points to whoever brings me their head!" He shouted to keep the morale up.

The bystander sneered: as if something like that would work? But a second later they had to eat their words….it really was working! Leaderboard addicts had been born!

But so what if they were crazy motivated? It wasn't like it would be enough for a miracle. It quickly became evident that there was something strange with those things.

"I broke my prized sword on its damn eyeball!"

"My magma death punch didn't even bruise them?!"

"I rained an arrow blizzard on their ass, and they didn't even react?!"

Those mutants were even tankier than the usual ones. The students felt like they were trying to move a train by gently blowing at it. No matter how much mana they used, the best they could do was push the creatures away.

"I know, restrain them, that's it!"

A young lady cried out in realization, summoning stone gnomes to restrain the opponents. Another guy joined in, using a mud spell to engulf them into a smelly bog.

The two initially radiated pride but couldn't help but draw a cold breath as the mutants easily destroyed the restraints, swimming their way out of the traps.

What kind of resilience was this?! There was something wrong here!

"They're far stronger than usual: those are elites!"

"Elites?! By the old Gene corps standards, they'd be generals!"

What kind of crazy concept was this? The generals were those that could only be dealt with S-Rankers. It usually didn't matter, one could always overwhelm an enemy with numbers.

But this time, their trusty human-wave tactic pathetically failed them.

"Gasp! They're just like the sloths….except not lazy!"

"God, I just hope they can't yawn!"

Worried gazes could be seen all around. If they had managed to replicate such ability, they'd be utterly screwed. It would only take one of them yawning to send them all to hell.

At this rate, they'd quickly get overwhelmed! Should they forcefully wake Josh up and flee? Seeing the easygoing monk's solemn expression, it had to be a last resort.

"It's fine. Ready the cannons!" One powerfully called out.

They moved aside, waiting for their defense system to take over. Then came the energy blasts. — ZAP! ZAP! — The creatures remained unscarred even now.

"No way! That's crazy!"

"Wait for me. I'll be right back!"

A daredevil quickly left and came back, almost giving them a heart attack. He had brought a sloth! The creature lazily followed him after he had baited it with food.

How long had it taken him to "tame" such a creature? A few instants later, he dropped the sloth right in the path of a mutant. They expected the latter to avoid it, but he didn't!

They cheered when they saw the sloth's jaw clench on the mutant…only to gasp in shock. Clang! What the heck?! Even the sloth's teeth couldn't pierce the mutant's skin?!

"T-this… How's this even possible?! Aren't the mutants sloth-based?!"

What kind of bullshit defense power was this?!

Infinite defense meant that just the counterforce of their own attacks could hurt the attackers if they weren't careful. They could barely slow the things down, but they'd run out of mana!

The mutants kept progressing, their deadly claws grabbing plenty of students and eviscerating them in passing. Whoever stood in their way was at risk of a violent death!

"We have to evacuate!"

"Leave right the fuck now till—"

Just as everyone was freaking out, they saw something out of the corner of their eye. It was a flying vessel, one that was a luxurious yet lightning-quick model.

But what mattered wasn't the ship. No, it was the girl that freefell from it. She simply jumped out, not caring about a parachute or anything.

— Woosh! —

The landing impact never came. All they saw was a flash of green as a goddess invaded the battlefield. Her presence changed everything!

— Woosh! Slash! Woosh! —

They weren't even sure what they were seeing, but at the end of the flashes, a goddess with a toned body appeared before them, holding the severed head of a mutant.

"Tch— What's up with those guys?! Aren't their necks a little too sturdy?" Kasha grumbled.

Too sturdy?! It was already a miracle that she could kill one in the first place! But even as she spoke, her eyes didn't leave Josh on stage, frowning at the idol summoner next to him.

Who the heck was this girl? Sigh, all that could wait. She had acted casually, but they had one huge issue. Her previous attack had been an ultimate one, even using a few jade clones.

She had planned to clean the entire battlefield with that one attack, yet all she had managed to do was eradicate one pitiful foot soldier. Only a few hundred to go, only…

"Kasha's here! We're saved!"

"Hahaha! Villains, retribution is coming!"

The foolish students happily rejoiced, most not realizing the actual situation, that they would undoubtedly lose D-23 at this rate.

She shared a look with the monk, understanding the situation. Hopefully, Josh would soon be done with whatever he was doing, right?

A duck was prancing around him, a lifeless rat standing by his side. Then there was his nightmare that seemed about to materialize. Was he summoning a menagerie?!

Ah, whatever….

"Bring it on, you mutant bastards!"

She dashed into the melee, single-handedly pushing back most of the enemies. Stalling was so irksome, but that was all she could do. Just as she felt about to reach her limit, another commotion happened.

— Zoom! —

Another ship appeared, one so large it covered the sky, one entirely pink. The occupant was obviously that one annoying pink-haired girl. Tch…

"Starting the New Gen U-Bot test! Stay clear of the area!" An automated message came from the speakers. A second later, metal killing machines dropped from the sky.

They seemed so bloody powerful, a few crushing a few dumb Climbers on landing. U-bots?! Those were to U-bots what tanks were to bicycles! What the hell?!

Then began a machine rampage!

.

.

.

A few minutes was all it took for them to turn to scrap.

A livid Pink-Haired executive couldn't believe her eyes. This was unscientific, so damn unscientific! She was already crying about her robots getting trashed.

They threw everything at the enemies without success: Technology, magic, sweat, blood, and sloths. They all stared at the mutants in disbelief and despair.

"We're fucked!"

Obviously, the true powerhouses were still calm….or not?! All of that had been enough to make them frown but not enough to induce genuine anguish.

But then they saw something by Josh's side, a fallen ally.

There laid a rat corpse, and next to it….

"WTF?!!"