As he scanned the floating screen, John noticed an interesting aspect. One he did not expect nor fully understand. “Unique skill? The hell is that?”

John extended his hand, clicking on the status screen in hopes of getting an explanation, only for a truly useless message to appear before him.

“Damn it, why does everything in this world have to be cryptic.” John spoke, his voice carrying the full weight of his frustration.

The chamber was eerily silent and the light sphere illuminating its outline was steadily growing dim, It was in that silence and encroaching darkness that John felt something strange, a feeling of dread and paranoia he thought himself immune to, as the addiction did not allow for such weakness within its host.

He looked behind him and scanned the chamber as well as the dark halls leading into it, not once, not twice, and not even thrice, yet his heart was disturbed still.

“Goddam it, I just can’t shake this feeling…Did something happen to me when I picked a class? The old man didn’t mention anything about it.” Desperate to free himself from the chains binding his heart and mind, he tried to shift his focus to more important things. “I need to use these levels…”

He thought back to what he’d seen after his arrival to this world, namely the visions he received upon touching the effigy of the goddess. He couldn’t make sense of it all, but he understood that the figures he saw were none other than his predecessors, the heroes of the gauntlet, their tales long ended yet still live on within the goddess’s light.

“Is it even possible for me to get to that level without a blessing? Well, I won’t know unless I try, but first things first. I have to understand everything about this system.”

John spent the next dozen minutes exploring the status screen, making sure to click everything he could and read all explanations provided carefully.

After exhausting all the information the system had to offer, John took a deep breath and entered a deep state of contemplation, finally able to fully put the unexplainable paranoia plaguing him behind a wall of static.

“This is so…simple-” John gazed deeply at the open status screen before him, his words more those of surprise than confusion. “-Too simple, actually. An exponential leveling system where the difference between one and two levels is massive, and a mana system that uses small units rather than big points, it so…efficient.”

John thought back to his conversation with the stranger, recalling his words clearly. “So this is what he meant when he said the goddess treated heroes as nothing but soldiers. Heh, I guess she didn’t want to make a gun too complicated for them to shoot.”

After taking a deep breath and considering all possible avenues, John was finally ready to make his investment. Clicking the screen and using all 5 precious levels he was gifted by the stranger.

“3 in agility, one in strength and dexterity each…that’s the way to go from here.”

Agility held the most importance to John, for it decided his speed, reaction time, as well how sharp his senses were. Investing the most points into it led to him hearing and seeing things he was all but blind to mere seconds earlier.

Strength governed his raw power and physical resistance, and once he increased it, he could feel his muscles tense up as a wave of newfound power washed over them.

And dexterity, which granted him control over his strength and speed and better accuracy with his attacks, was last to be leveled but unlike the others, he could feel nary a thing after investing his precious level into it.

“done. I doubt I can fight the accursed as I am now but with that physical boost skill I should be able to at least make some distance…now, where is the old man? He’s lat—what was that?” John jumped as a mysterious sound entered his ear.

It was the sound of footsteps so faint and distant that he knew instantly that they were not for him to hear. The feeling of paranoia and dread he only just managed to rid himself of reared their ugly head once again, gnawing on his psyche as if they were a pack of ravenous rats, and John knew that without the level-up addiction keeping his fears and uncertainty at bay, he would have gone mad already.

Many theories ran through his mind, fueled by a mixture of anxiety and excitement forced upon him by the addiction. “The old man? No, too slow. Another skeleton? It couldn’t be, the steps are moving closer in a straight line, not randomly…an accursed?”

His logic was deeply flawed, based on nothing but conjecture derived from the use of powers he only just obtained, and John himself was not ignorant of that fact, but he could no longer keep his strange paranoia in check long enough to think about it that deeply.

“The old man will just have to find me….”

To his surprise, he could see fairly well even after leaving the light sphere's range. His gaze pierced through the darkness of the halls, the horrors they held no longer shrouded by the veil of shadows.

He passed by more petrified skeletons, some of man, others of beings that feast on man, but he did not wish to stop to inspect the dead when he could hear the voice of a beast that would make him join them in the distance still; however, he could not help himself upon seeing his weapon of choice placed in the grasp of one who no longer needed, nor could make use of it.

The pair of gauntlets still attached to their previous owner were in near-perfect condition, only dented and scratched slightly; nearly frozen in time as a relic of the past. A quick use of [Analysis] revealed that they were not fit to deal damage as much as protect from it, but it was still better than naught.

With tempered steel covering the entire length from his fingers to his elbow, John marched on, choosing his path based on nothing but instinct and a keen sense of hearing until he reached a broken wall, the moonlight seeping through a massive crack running down it.

John looked out, only to be met with a grim scene. He was undoubtedly inside what was a capital city at some point, for the countless destroyed structures, reduced to naught but piles of ruble were a testament to such a fact; however, the remains of the once great metropolis were, much like the ruins of the palace, truly void of any and all life as far as he could see.

“Is this all there is to this world? Death and monsters? But if so, why did the old man even bother with me? I should ask him later.”

John had the particular question on his mind since meeting the old man, but he did not want to risk evoking his ire by suggesting he had an ulterior motive behind his façade of philanthropy. But as much as he wanted the reassurance of a solid answer, there was none to be found standing in place.

So John put his foot forward, ready to take his first step into the outside world, lost as to his purpose, but strong in his resolve; however, before he could even touch the ground beyond the confines of the ruins, he was pulled back into the shadows with a forceful tug.

Fearing the worst, John tried to strike blindly on his assailant but was stopped before his fist could make it to its intended target.

“be very quiet or you’ll get us both killed brat.” The voice of his assailant was far too faint for him to hear without the recent boost to his senses, but it was easy for John to figure out who it was.

“where the hell were you? I heard something and—” John tried to voice his discontent with a whisper, but the stranger’s hand quickly moved to silence him.

Only after surrendering his struggle did he realize that something was now standing just beyond the destroyed wall that he was about to use as an exit seconds ago.

He couldn’t hear a thing, not even the slightest movement or sound coming from whatever was out there, only keeping up with its movement by watching how the intensity of the stranger’s expression shifted and changed.

John couldn’t tell if a single minute or a hundred had passed before he was released, but he was sure of one thing, he would be a dead man if the stranger didn’t show up when he did.

“I thought you’d be dead.” The stranger spoke, his voice dyed in surprise. “good thing you left when you did, one of the accursed was headed right for you.”

“what’s the situation like out there? Can we leave for somewhere safe now?” John asked his question only for it to be instantly answered by the stranger’s expression alone.

“I’m afraid the situation is worse than I thought. I do have a plan, but…” the stranger paused for a second before completing his sentence. “there is a good chance you won’t make it out alive.”