NOVEL NEXT Chapter 40: Arkanis
Swoosh!
The shaman whirled with its staff raised, but Zach moved like lightning, his Level 3 core form amplified in this form, doubling his stats twice its previous amount. Dashing forward, Zach threw a punch towards the shaman. He knew it was the one controlling the other goblins and giving orders, so according to logic, ending the leader would wreck the rest.
Bam!
Right before Zach's fist slammed into its chest, he witnessed something unbelievable. The shaman, who a moment ago was before him, seemed to vanish, and in its place stood a confused goblin who didn't even know when a punch obliterated its chest.
"Interesting," Zach muttered with a glimmer of surprise in his eyes. He knew the shaman must have used the goblin as a substitute to save its life by swapping positions, but that wouldn't save it.
He didn't continue chasing the shaman. Instead, he turned towards the other goblins and started throwing punches at them, each fist pulverizing the weaker ones and two or more punches ending the stronger ones. Amy staggered up, watching in awe as Zach dismantled the horde. One elite lunged, and as if he saw the attack, he ducked, dodging the attack, before throwing four consecutive punches, crushing its skull with a backhand. EXP notifications flooded his vision, but he barely registered them.
[Multiple kills: +450 EXP total]
[EXP: 135/500 → 585/500]
<Ding! Level Up!>
<Level 4>
The remaining goblins fled into the woods, but Zach pursued. Who were they kidding? Seeing how easily he had leveled up after killing just a few, why would he let the others escape? Definitely not his style. Even with his supercomputer-like brain and fewer emotions, it didn't mean his greedy character didn't exist anymore. What he wanted was what he got.
From the corner of his eye, he spotted the shaman seemingly looking for ways to escape and scoffed inwardly. The biggest EXP wanted to escape? Not under his watch.
Grabbing one of the goblins who was lighter, Zach hurled him with all his strength towards the shaman, who was already running, and before it could register where the whistling sound was coming from, the goblin slammed right into its hunched back, sending it crashing into the floor with a sickening crunch. The concussion was so strong it felt like it was seeing stars, and before it could recover its vision, a fist covered its vision, and that was the last thing it saw before its head exploded with the powerful punch. As a shaman, it was understandable that its body was weak, as its power lay in its abundance of mana instead.
[Goblin Shaman <Lv. 7> killed! +500 EXP]
[EXP: 85/956 → 585/956]
With the shaman's death, the golem crumbled to dust, since the one powering it and keeping it materialized within this plane had been killed. Looking at the surroundings, Zach checked his timer and saw about 5 minutes left before he turned into his cubic form and immediately started running back towards the dungeon. He preferred leaving the few minutes unused in case of emergency issues in the future.
The moment he stepped into the dungeon, his humanoid form shimmered as his horns retracted while his body dissolved into motes of mana that morphed and turned back into his cubic form with tentacles.
"It's done. Loot what you can—we're pulling back," Zach immediately ordered Amy through her mind.
Amy nodded, slumping against a tree. As she looked at the surroundings littered with dead bodies and sighed, remembering how Zach easily dismantled them, she couldn't help but wonder how a young dungeon like him could grow this strong within a short time and even know how to communicate early on, something only B+, A, S, and so on ranked dungeons could. Dungeons like Zach's thrived on conflict; it was the world's design. The more greedy people stepped into them and fought and died, the stronger they got.
She gathered iron swords and herbs for poultices. The gnomes, only one survivor left, dragged corpses for the dungeon's larder. Meat for rations, hides for crafting. Zach would analyze it all, optimizing for the next push if possible, or else he would just turn them into biomass.
As they retreated, Amy pondered what Zach's dungeon might evolve into, consuming EXP to grow stronger, birthing stronger monsters to be guardians, making treasures to lure others in.
At such a moment she wonder, how strong will he be in the future?
What sort of ruckus will he cause to the surrounding kingdoms in the future?
Unknown to her, his coming wouldn't affect kingdoms alone but whole planet.
---
Meanwhile on Earth...
America was increasingly becoming more aware of themselves as the news was filled with debates and rallies on gender awareness, systemic racism and oppression of minorities.
Arkanis didn't really get all this. Whilst his school was multicultural, including quite a few African-Americans, Asians, and a sparse collection of Indians and several other minor ethnicities, it was predominantly white.
Despite this, there was no judging others, and any conflicts that occurred never had anything to do with race. Although racist comments had been thrown in the heat of the conflict, this wasn't due to some inherent racist trait of any individual, just people who couldn't think of any better insults.
There was one freshman who simply didn't fit in with others, and was generally unpleasant to be around. Despite that, Arkanis admired his ability to still be outspoken and try to engage with others.
All the political and social justice movements seemed to have no relation with his life, almost as if it was happening in a different country. He didn't agree with most of them, but there were still plenty of people, even at his school, who jumped on the bandwagon of social justice. He was afraid to speak out in school for fear of being judged by his opinions because of this.
While he was quiet and avoided others at school, he was very active on the internet at home. He enjoyed reading manga, even the terrible ones, web serials, and also played World of Warcraft despite how old the game was.
He was the guild leader of a guild which was just average in the game, but full of friends who challenged bosses, raids and events all the time. It was the highlight of his life.
The classroom buzzed with the usual noise—people catching up, athletes joking around, music enthusiasts trading songs, and the teacher's voice occasionally cutting in to bring order. Arkanis, however, had long tuned out. He lay slouched over his desk with his face buried in his arms, half-asleep and pretending not to exist.
The teacher for Honors English, Ms. Greenwood, entered the class and placed her books on the desk at the front.
"Okay, students, you all know the routine, it's time to check attendance."
She smacked the folder with the register on the desk, preparing to raise her voice again. But before she could, the classroom shifted in Arkanis vision.
At first Arkanis thought he was dreaming. The voices around him vanished, and when he lifted his head, his classmates were moving their mouths but not a sound came out. His chair and desk suddenly lurched away, dissolving into the infinite distance as the floor beneath him glowed with sharp blue lines, forming a massive intricate circle.
"What the..."
His panic barely registered before the entire room fractured and was swallowed in a flood of light. He felt weightless, frozen in place while the walls, ceiling, and his classmates scattered into nothingness. It was like falling without moving.
Then, the sight of a stone chamber slammed into his vision—hooded figures, armored knights, and a magic circle burning on the floor. Arkanis was thrown from nowhere into the center of it, landing face first on cold stone. His arms trembled as he pushed himself up, heart racing so fast he thought it would tear from his chest.
The same glowing circle beneath him pulsed with fading light, dusted in a luminescent powder that looked impossibly expensive. Around him, knights in crimson and gold armor stood with swords planted against the ground, silent and watchful.
Through their ranks, a tall, silver-haired woman stepped forward, her golden eyes sharp and commanding. Robed spellcasters retreated from the edges of the room as she waved them off.
"Welcome, hero. I am Princess Zoerina. I understand you must be frightened and confused," she said with a temperate smile.
Arkanis froze, mouth dry. His brain was still trying to process that he was no longer in a classroom, no longer anywhere familiar. His legs felt like water.
He barely managed to mumble, "Wh-what… what is this…? And... What the fuck?!"
The guards shifted slightly at his broken words, but the princess raised her hand, keeping them in check.
"I understand your confusion, young hero. You have been summoned to our world 'again' to save us from a perilous future."
Her voice was soft, but it carried with a weight that seemed to press down on him. Arkanis's breath caught up in confusion. He wanted to laugh, scream, or simply wake up. But none of those happened. And what does she mean by again? When had he ever been summoned to this world?
"Please," Princess Zoerina continued, gesturing toward a massive doorway at the end of the chamber. "Follow me to the throne room. The king and high ministers are waiting to explain everything."
Arkanis remained on the floor for a moment longer, his body trembling, before forcing himself unsteadily to his feet. He didn't know where he was, why this was happening, or how he'd been chosen of all people. But there was no denying it. He was alone here.