Strongest Among the Heavens

[ Receive:

1x Wootz Steel Khanda ]

"Open inventory."

A wide screen encompassing his vision was summoned. Tiny boxes were tethered all over. Sixty-four slots with a slider on the right side. Azrael claimed the inventory was endless and elaborated that it was another personal spatial dimension granted to every player.

To the side was the silhouette of a male body and a single box corresponding to the head, the chest, the hands, the waist, and the feet. For the hands, there was a box on the left and right side. His pants, shirt, and shoes were listed as Gifts of Death.

Kazi was ambidextrous so he didn't think twice about dragging the new blade into his left hand inventory slot.

Pop!

The khanda emerged in his left hand. A straight, double-edged blade that broadened near the tip, resembling a leaf shape.

"Wooah. Check it, this is cool."

He wished he could spin the blades but alas he didn't have the skill for it. The khanda also had a hooked finger guard, a contrast from the basic t-shape of the longsword.

He quickly checked his status and saw his attack went from 21 to 33. The khanda added twelve additional attack points.

The attack stat was a base damage a player could output. Through the weaponry, Passive Skills, and Class Skills, the attack stat spat out a number. Strangely enough, though the stat was math heavy, it didn't include decimals. The Basic Sword Proficiency should have elevated Kazi's attack into the decimals. Adding 1% to 33 was 33.33. An insignificant number for all intents and purposes. Either the Class Skill didn't apply or the Game System rounded the attack down to a lower number. When he questioned Azrael, she did not give an answer.

He'd crunch the numbers later. Right now, he had to test this new combination out.

"Dual wielding." Kazi smiled brightly. "I bet I'll get a new class from this."

Off he went.

Ten minutes later, he encountered a normal slime and mini slime.

Kazi licked his lips. Another large opening, another battle. It felt like Pokemon.

Gripping his twin swords, he launched into the fray. The longsword cleaved through the normal slime, its edge stabbing right through it. 'Spark Strike!'

At the same time, while the long sword became wrapped in yellow electricity, the khanda arced gracefully and dealt a decisive blow to the mini slime that darted in. It fell back but was still alive, bouncing from the ground and towards him once more.

'Spark Strike!'

This time, his khanda lit up and its curved front burnt the mini slime from its touch.

As for the normal slime, it attempted to swallow him whole. Kazi twisted his blade and slashed it from the left out. There was a huge wound and green splattered on his arm. For the third, he activated Spark Strike and returned to deliver a satisfying blow, using the momentum to propel the arc's speed.

It happened in seven seconds. A slime and a mini slime, dead at the hands of a single player.

Kazi felt good. Really, really good. In spite of having a single offensive skill, he managed to kill two monsters.

[ Congratulations on your first kill with two swords! Receive the 'Amateur Sword Dual Wielder' class! ]

Kazi tapped the tip of his longsword to the ground, scratching the dirt. "Hm. I'll check the Class Skills for it later. For now, I'm gonna farm."

***

His legs were losing their speed as were his arms, yet he persisted. Slash-slash-slash! Death.

[ Level up! ]

"Phew!" Kazi rubbed a hand on his forehead and watched the slime melt into the ground. Admittedly, it wasn't easy using two blades. There was an exceptional need for balance, grip strength, and precision. He nearly lost control of his sword twice in the middle of battle.

"No wonder people go for one sword. It's so much easier."

He sat his butt on the ground and slowed his laboured breathing. In life, he had worked three jobs and was experienced in gruelling work. He knew when to take breaks and how to precisely balance his adrenaline. Constantly relying on bursts of strength was stupid. Pace yourself properly and a person, regardless of height, weight or strength, could accomplish truly incredible feats.

After five minutes, he dusted himself off and got up. His legs weren't aching but his arms were. Swinging two metal swords wasn't easy.

"Hm?" The sound of dirt crunching came into earshot. Rapid footsteps that seemed panicked.

Out of the bushes came a young blond boy, his cheeks red and his bottom lip dripping with blood. He saw Kazi and yelled, "Run! Run, run, ruuuun!"

The blond blitzed past him before Kazi could blink. He was fast and his back was strapped with an axe. Kazi chased after him.

The blond's speed was astonishing. No doubt his agility was higher than his own. Kazi struggled to keep up and barely managed to stay three stays behind him.

"Hey!" Kazi yelled. The boy ahead was visibly out of breath, eyes flickering and head occasionally darting back frantically. But he wasn't looking at Kazi, he was checking for something far behind him. Whatever it was though, it wasn't in Kazi's immediate vicinity. "What's following us!?"

"A big, big slime! The size of a bear!" The blond looked back one last time and his expression contorted to pure terror. "It's right there! Oh god! Ruuuun!"

Kazi looked back and—

"Astaghfirullah…!"

Nope, nope, nope. Kazi focused all his attention on running, just like the blond kid. A bear was an apt description. The slime was massive, it was wide, it bounced and moved like a tiger, and its eyes were beaming red. Kazi wasn't even sure where to start with a monster of that scale. How could he possibly land an attack without getting swallowed?

So he ran. He ran until his legs carried him to an opening with a river. The blond—whose name tag he read as William—jumped into the river. He kept moving despite the water reaching waist-level.

Kazi stopped at the edge of the river. If he jumped in with him, he would lose speed. In that instant, he made a decision. He turned and faced the monstrous slime.

[ Name: Slime Jack

Level: 10

Class: Slime Family ]

There was a moment to say, "Hell no!" before the Slime Jack jumped high in the air. Its shadow engulfed a chunk of his surroundings and Kazi sprinted and rolled away.

Boing!

The Slime Jack was in the air again, its shadow growing smaller as it fell down to him. Running and rolling in succession with two swords was impossible. Kazi was forced to stay there and think on his feet.

In this case, as time slowed and the Slime Jack loomed closer, there was only one course of action. Fight back.

"Double Spark Strike!"

His two blades raised, he charged them with electricity. The Slime Jack fell right into the electrified blades and got shocked. The slime's round bottom stood on the tips of the swords, its green flesh fighting against the metal, and bounced off.

[ New skill learned : Double Spark Strike ]

Kazi waved the screen off. The Slime Jack was calm, staying on the ground rather than bouncing at him. As for William, Kazi saw that he had made it to the other side. It would have been better if he had another player to aid him. Oh well.

"Phoo…" Kazi took a breath. He couldn't let himself get too tense.

'Keep calm and think. It's the size of the bear, it can jump up high, and it can't break or swallow my swords if I use Spark Strike. No, wait, maybe only if I use Double Spark Strike.' He checked his peripheral, the blue bar signifying his MP. There were no numbers, only a visual representation. By simple logic, however, he assumed Double Spark Strike used up six MP.

'I have twenty-nine mana remaining. I'm level 6. On top of that…' Kazi glanced at his longsword. Its edges were cracked. 'One of my weapons is about to break. This sucks.'

His heart was pounding but his feet were steady. That was good. His body hadn't given into despair yet. While his mind was always calm and rational, sometimes the body wasn't. He could count on one hand the number of times his body refused to listen to him.

Kazi licked his lips.

To the right of his perception, in the forest, a light ignited. Furious and red, it grew closer and larger and then—

With a burst of radiant flames, a sword of pure fire descended upon the slime, striking it fiercely from its right flank. A devastating blow that pushed the Slime Jack into the river.

Kazi didn't waste the opportunity and activated his strongest attack. "Double Spark Strike!" Like poking at it with jumper cables, Kazi shocked the Slime Jack till it went further into the river. Though the current wasn't strong enough to carry it away, it did bother it. Its red eyes glowed powerfully and it leaped into the air.

Kazi had no trouble avoiding its weight, and neither did the new player. It was a woman, tall and short-haired, and East Asian from the looks of it. On instinct, when rolling, Kazi followed her.

"Hey," Kazi greeted. "Thanks for the assist."

He received a curt nod from the young woman. "Yoon Sun-young."

"Nice to meet you." Kazi noticed her sword was still aflame. "Woah! That's badass! Ah, whoops, my bad for swearing! Say, we should team up. I've got an attack that can distract him for a bit."

"I noticed," Sun-young replied. "Let's do it."

"Yeah!"

Without further ado, Kazi charged at the Slime Jack and tased it again with his Double Spark Strike. The slime went redder only to be met with a flaming hot sword. Kazi backed away and allowed Sun-young to land two of her strikes.

Kazi noticed the slime was shifting. It was going for its swallowing attack.

"Switch!"

Sun-young listened and immediately backed away. Its green flesh was an inch away from the black-robed woman and would have gotten her if not for the two blades enveloped in lightning. The tips of his blade fought against its green matter, clashing—

Snap!

The tip of the longsword broke. Kazi tossed it aside without a second thought and swung his remaining hand onto his single blade.

[ Warning! Mana in critical zone! ]

[ Warning! Mana in critical zone! ]

He grit his teeth and focused on the stream of mana flowing through him and into the khanda. From his heart to his arm to the sword and its curved edge. He focused on strengthening it. He focused on winning the clash. He focused on winning.

Electricity crackled between them, trickling behind him. A zipline of energy that felt like it could burn his flesh away.

There was a scream. A cry of a desperate warrior and the swing of a weapon. The Slime Jack jolted forward and the electrified khanda pierced his flesh and went inside.

One last time, Kazi uttered in his head, 'Spark Strike!'

Zzzzzzt!

The Slime Jack froze and shifted from yellow and blue. Sizzle! Pop! Its surface flickered and rippled as if caught in a dance of electrified chaos.

Bubbles of its flesh exploded from several places. An illuminating fiery sword joined Kazi by his side and struck it one last time.

The Slime Jack dissipated into nothing.

[ Receive:

109 XP ]

[ Level up! ]

[ New skill learned : Super Spark Strike ]

[ New skill learned : Flow of Mana Lv. 1 ]

[ Congratulations on using Super Spark Strike without the Game System! Receive the 'Intermediate Swordsman' class! ]

[ Congratulations on understanding the essence of magic without the Game System! Receive the 'Mage' class! ]