Dual System: Ascension of A Nameless Nobody - Chapter 87

“Maverick King…?” He repeated the name the System showed him.

It seemed the tall, foreign man got their names as well, putting his hand to his chin, “…Jeong-Hui, Sol, and Yeong-Un? If I’m not mistaken, and apologies if I am, those are Korean names, right?”

“That’s right,” he nodded, “Wait, are you not from Korea? But…this dungeon is–”

By now, the tension had settled from the natural charisma and warm aura the mysterious man produced–there was no hostility exuding from him.

“Wait, you don’t know about the Sky Dungeons?” Maverick asked in surprise, a bit wide-eyed.

“Huh? What do ya’ mean?” Yeong-Un asked, folding his arms across his chest–still obviously somewhat sore from having his enemy stolen.

Maverick placed his gauntlet-clad hands at his sides, “The Sky Dungeons are interconnected across the whole world! I came in from one in the U.S. of A! Ha-ha! You don’t know about that?”

“…No clue,” he shook his head in shock, still trying to understand.

Sol had his hand to his chin, “Wait, you mean people from across the world are in this same dungeon? How big is this place?!”

“Ha-ha! It’s practically endless!” Maverick laughed, “If you’re looking for an exit, well, they’re scattered around! They’re routed to take you out exactly the same way you came back in, so don’t worry!”

“…Have you met others from around the world?” He asked.

“Yeah! I was about to ask that, too!” Yeong-Un added.

Maverick smiled bright–it was clear by his natural energy and his smooth, handsome expression that he was still in his prime youth, “You bet! I’ve met some from Japan, Russia, and even somebody from Antartica! Ha-ha! Some of them were pretty special–! Watch out for bad seeds though, you hear?”

The three nodded, naturally inclined to listen to the older player who boasted a natural experience to himself.

The foreign man smiled bright, giving them a thumbs-up as he began to walk away, “Well, be seeing you around! I’d like to talk some more, but I’ve got a group of my own to babysit! Ha-ha!”

“Yeah, err…cya,” he waved quietly, still perplexed by this development.

The three simply stood there for a few minutes, processing the encounter they just had, though Yeong-Un was the first one to break the silence.

“Damn, he really stole my kill…”

“You’re still sore about that?” He smiled wryly.

“I had that ape! I would’ve turned him to mincemeat, too!” Yeong-Un retorted.

“Yeah, yeah…Let’s move on–looks like this is going to be a longer expedition than planned,” he smiled, looking back at them as he led them forward, “…I’d like to get home A.S.A.P and whip us up a nice dinner.”

“Oh, hell yeah!” Yeong-Un jumped up in excitement.

“That sounds nice…I could go for some grub right about now,” Sol rubbed his stomach as it growled.

With this new information bestowed onto them, the three headed deeper into the heavenly forest, unknowing of the trials ahead.

While they ventured through the domain of iridescent trees, he opened up his skill tree, using his newly acquired points to funnel into his assassin-class abilities.

I’ve learned that there really isn’t much of a point in putting a lot of points into my martial arts subclass. It’s proficiency scaling is way more beneficial than my assassin proficiency. The martial arts skills just evolve on their own with that. I’ll grab this new one…hmm…”Hades’ Touch”, sounds cool, he thought.

“Whacha doing?” Sol asked.

He just finished placing his points into the new skill, swiping the personal prompt away before replying, “I had some skill points from the level-up. What about you both? Have you used your new points yet?”

Yeong-Un looked back with a smirk, “Yeah! I got a badass new skill! I’m roarin’ to try it out!”

It was the most “Yeong-Un” response he could have possibly expected, laughing a bit before turning to Sol.

“What about you?” He asked.

Sol held his silver spear, staring at it with a small smile before nodding, “I picked a little something up. It should come in handy.”

“That’s good,” he smiled.

Eventually, they found themselves climbing an incline, trudging up the hill of ivory grass as the golden leaves up above sparkles with loose particles.

“…Are we sure we’re heading the right way?” Sol asked, having to use all fours to climb up the hill, as well as use his spear like a pickaxe.

“Did ya’ see a trail or anythin’! There is no “right way” here!” Yeong-Un replied.

On the other hand, Yeong-Un was even less elegant in his climb, using his hands to dig into the soil as he rapidly crawled up with a boisterous laugh.

Everything feels like a competition with him…He thought with a wry chuckle.

Once they reached the top, with him helping Sol up with a helping hand, they were met with a wide, abnormal clearing.

“Whazzat…?” Yeong-Un asked.

There was a single tree that inhabited the center of the clearing, but it dwarfed all the others by a large margin. It stretched up past any ceiling they could see, and possessed a width that surpassed any skyscraper he’d seen.

Stretching out above them, the limbs of the great, elder tree held sparkling, seraphic leaves that glittered down on the clearing, leaving a fantastical scenery.

They were all awe-struck for a good moment, simply taking in the sight before continuing.

“A really big tree?” He replied.

“Hold on…look! It’s got a door, or something–do you see that?” Sol pointed out.

“I see it…Is this the next area, or something?” He asked.

“Ya’ think the big guy went in there?” Yeong-Un added.

“Only one way to find out, right?” He said, looking between his two companions.

They fell silent for a moment, looking on at the colossal tree as it seemed both daunting and welcoming with its beautiful, yet imposing nature.

“Aww, damn…yer’ right,” Yeong-Un ruffled his own, wild, blue locks with a chuckle.

All that was left was confirmation from Sol as he looked back at the hazel-haired member of their trio.

“Sol?”

“…Do I have a choice?” Sol sighed out.

“Not really,” he smirked.

“Knew it…” Sol breathed quietly.

Heading towards the gargantuan, intertwined tree of luscious, platinum bark and heavenly leaves, they entered the peculiar doorway that waited at its base.

Much to his surprise, the interior of the tree wasn’t very “tree-y”, but rather a refined structure of furnished wood and masterful architecture.

“Woah, this place is actually nice,” Yeong-Un commented, looking straight up.

“Right? It’s kind of throwing me off,” he replied.

Before they could further sink into the nice, exuberant interior of the grand tree, their conversation was stifled by a sudden, inexplicable “BOOM” that resounded throughout the cedar–shaking it violently as if an earthquake had just taken hold of the land mass.

“What the…?!” He called out in surprise, balancing himself.

“An explosion?!” Yeong-Un barked.

Sol had already dug his spear into a crevice between two shelves for balance, holding on tightly as the shaking finally settled.

“Wait a minute…ya’ hear that?” Yeong-Un asked quietly.

“Hear what?” Sol asked, catching his breath.

After they all fell silent, they listened–cling, clang. Cling, clang. It repeated; the sounds of steel being used for violent means.

It came from the floor directly above, which could be reached from the nature-decorated steps that were neighbored by luscious flowers.

“Is somebody fighting?” He mumbled, listening in.

“I dunno, but it sure sounds like it,” Yeong-Un replied.

The noises of steel clashing continued before another “BOOM” resounded, abrasively pressing against his ears before they were left ringing for a good minute. It shook the foundation of the colossal tree again.

“Alright, we’re checkin’ this out!” Yeong-Un said both out of annoyance and sheer curiosity.

“We are?!” Sol yelled out.

He pushed Sol forward with a gentle push to his back, “Come on, you know it’s useless to try and argue once Yeong-Un gets moving.”

Sol resigned to his fate, following along with a sigh, “Yeah, yeah, you’re right…”

Up the flower-decorated stairs they ascended carefully, listening to the constant echoes of battle that persisted on the floor above.

The moment the three reached the next floor, they all immediately had to duck as a wave of sparks flew out in every direction, snapping by their skin with a scorching heat.

“Yowch! What the heck is that?!” Sol let out, rubbing his cheek that had been singed slightly.

Rather than paying attention to Sol, his eyes were on the person fighting alone against the odd creatures present on the next floor.

It was a vast, mainly empty space, save for large bookshelves made of intertwined branches, but it was occupied by living, humanoid trees of platinum bark.

[Enemy Identified: “Silver Ent” | Level 25]

These sentinels of nature stomped about, fighting against a single person–though even in their large size and group that outnumbered the one man–they were being eviscerated.

Who…is that? He thought.

It was different than anything he had seen in this apocalyptic world of magic and divinity; the man fought the four-meter tall goliaths of nature with a suit of cybernetic armor that clung to his body like a sleek suit.

The all-black, metallic armor was thin and compact enough to almost seem like another layer of skin for the gray-haired man, who looked to be about in his mid-twenties by the sparse looks at his uncovered face.

“Is that guy usin’…techno-shit?” Yeong-Un asked, clearly confused.

To combat the Silver Ents, the cybernetic suit-wearing man wielded a glowing katana, which hummed as it possessed an electrical charge that released a massive slash each time he swung it.

BOOM.

The swing of his sleek, electrical katana unleashed an explosion that ignited with the Silver Ent after having already slashed the goliath.

“…Looks like it! Holy crap…that’s awesome!” Sol’s fear immediately left as he smiled like a giddy schoolboy at the sight.

After swift movements and slashes that were hardly traceable, the cybernetically-enhanced man finished off all of the Silver Ents, slowly sheathing his katana into the robotic sheath that clicked having the blade was secured in its hold.

[Player Recognized…]

[Yakeru | Level: 27 | Class: Luminate Swordsman]

It was a slightly confusing bit of information to receive, considering he’s seen swordsman classes before, yet none resembled the man at all.

The man dressed in a full-set of cybernetic, sleek, all-black armor turned to them, looking directly at them with his light-blue eyes that seemed augmented by tech as well.

“…I’ll ask you one question.”

A smooth, deep voice left from the lips of the mysterious man as his gray locks were brushed in a passing breeze.

“Are you enemies of mine?” The man asked, looking directly at the three.