Wave five of the dungeon was when things started to change. Brett breezed through the first four. Even though he hadn't gotten a sword that he liked the length of yet, he still had two longer daggers that worked well enough. Truthfully, they weren't necessary. The kobolds were small enough and frail enough that just his fists and boots were more than sufficient to get the job done. 

On the fifth wave, a lizardman led the small pack of monsters. It only wielded a thin club, but it was nearly as tall as Brett was, if not nearly as heavy. Brett had only fought one thing around his size with blades before, and that was his training session with Bernard. As the small group charged him, Brett tried to decide how to react. Should he try and remove the small kobolds from the equation first to let him have a one-on-one with the only real threat?

He didn't decide in time, and his instincts took over. With only a few strides, he met the lizardman's charge with one of his own. Despite getting up to an impressive speed, he didn't have the space to match his opponent in pure velocity. With his larger weight he did match it in momentum. In a bone-rattling clash, Brett's blades crossed overhead to catch the falling club right before he slammed into his foe.

The lizardman was forced to take a step back. But before Brett could press his advantage, he had to disengage one of his blades to deal with one of the small kobolds coming at his side. Brett's conscious decision-making slipped to the background as he danced among the slashing claws and swoosh of the club. Nothing came close to hitting him, but neither did he have much of a chance to counterattack. Until an opening presented itself.

A clever bit of footwork he wasn't sure if he had done intentionally or not put a small kobold between him and the real threat. With a front kick, he sent it stumbling backward into the larger opponent. Turning with a flurry of blades, Brett laid waste to the remaining three kobolds before his opponents could recover.

Standing back up, the lizardman threw the kobold that had knocked him over to the side. With half of its ribs cracked, it wasn't much of a factor anymore. Brett stepped forward. His first swing was blocked by the club, but that was expected. His other blade was already arcing in a downward slash. 

A spray of blood splattered across the reptilian face as it caught the blade in its hand, losing a few talons but keeping its head in one piece. It hissed in Brett's face, but it was too late. A few more savage blows, and Brett was pulling one of the scavenged daggers from its chest.

Even as the lizardman died, the next wave didn't start right away. He was granted a small bit of respite like with others. But after a moment of looking around, Brett realized the kobold with cracked ribs was still breathing shallowly. Brett blinked before starting to walk over, but the blink sent stabs of light into his eyes. I lost myself so much that I missed a notification. When did I even get this?

Would you like to be an Unhinged Ripper?

That sounds….dangerous. But is it the kind of danger that I want? Brett rejected the class before it could tempt him too much. While it sounded like he would be good at killing, it also seemed like he might go a bit insane. He needed to have control over his violence. It was for a purpose, after all. Besides, he didn't get the same feeling from it as he had from Juggernaut. Maybe it was a result of the daggers versus the shortswords. He didn't love the weapons, even if he had gotten somewhat more comfortable with them through the battles.

Walking over, he planted one in the last enemy's head, ending the wave.

***

The rest of the waves weren't much different. Mindful of the class he had just been offered, Brett tried to come back to himself in between the slaughters. He wasn't always successful, but he didn't feel unhinged anymore.

As he fought, the nebulous void of the exit portal had stood behind him the whole time, ignored by the monsters. Brett didn't feel any pull or need to use it, though. The tenth wave was five lizardmen with shields and clubs. They put up a bit of a fight, but ultimately were driven into the ground by his relentless onslaught and constant movement. Some of the moves Bernard had shown him worked their way into the combat. He started integrating foot movements that went beyond just not getting his feet crossed up and rather let him keep his position. Things like that kept them from surrounding him and striking from angles that he didn't think were possible before.

One of the downsides to the daggers was that they didn't have a reverse edge. It wasn't something that he had ever used before, but it was something that Bernard had shown him. But as he fought, he started to see where it would have been nice. Especially when disengaging from a bind, being able to attack from the other side with the back of the blade would be incredibly useful, even if the blow contained only half power.

When the tenth wave was completed, the next wave didn't start right away. This time, it wasn't because of any stragglers though.

Alright, so now what? Brett thought, looking around, waiting for something to happen. Brett glowed with a notification.

Your deed registry has been accessed.

What the fuck does that mean? Brett hadn't heard anything about a deed registry. Is that like my resume, parking violations, or what…? Before he got to think much more, a second notification popped up. He almost dismissed it before reading the full thing.

Would you like to be the Juggernaut of Abdiel?