Ascending Endlessly: I Copy Skills

I took deep breaths as I tried to gather myself. As I adjusted once more to the sudden shift in my surroundings, I noticed something strange. A cool feeling in the back of my skull, one that was quickly fading. It was then that I realized that it had been there for some time now- since the activation of my skill. Is that what it felt like? To have a skill work?

I was unsure. It could have been unrelated. Even so, I felt exhaustion immediately plague my whole body. I'd been extremely edge that entire time, and had mana circulating through my body the whole time without even realizing it. 

Fuck… Fuck… Fuck. What the fuck. I didn't even know what to think- I was in total mental disarray. What was that place? Who was the old man? He gave me a job? What the fuck? Why did I so easily accept all of that shit?

Now that I was somewhere familiar, I felt the mental stress of the whole situation taking its toll on me at once. It seems that due to the massive rush of adrenaline, I hadn't properly processed my sudden teleportation and the following events and had just gone with it. Now that I had the chance to think, it all seemed so crazy. However.

I looked at the deck of cards on the floor beside me. 

"If this is real…"

A way to use powerful skills without expending much mana. This was an unimaginably great weapon if what the old man said about it was true. At the same time, I fiddled with the grooved stone in my pocket. 

"A job…"

He said if I collected all the beacons or whatever, I would get some kind of reward. Considering [Raleigh's Spectral Jokers], I imagined the reward would be quite fruitful for me. Another weapon like this could make me unimaginably powerful.

And isn't that what I'd asked for when I used my skill?

I opened my skill card.

[Communion- F: 'Pray! Pray as hard as you can! Maybe someone will hear you…' Allows the caster to call out to other planes of existence. However, the caster's voice will likely be drowned out by those of many others. Originally a discarded skill, the Human God decided to toss it to a random kid who he forgot to give a skill to.]

For the first time, I smiled fondly at my one skill. It had given me an incredible opportunity. 

"Human God, I'm sorry for all of my slanderous words…"

Damn, I'd really layed into him for years now. I clasped my hands together in prayer.

"My bad! Forgive me!"

And then I sat down on the couch and promptly passed out, clutching the card carrier tightly.

The next day started with a migraine. With how the adrenaline had sobered me up, I forgot how entirely wasted I'd gotten the night before.

"Dammit,"

I clutched my temples.

"It wasn't a dream."

Seeing the card case still in my hand, I could confirm that last night's events had really transpired. A grin crossed my face as I shot up from the couch, my anticipation driving me to immediately forget about the pain in my skull. 

"Shins, thighs, chest…"

I quickly gathered and put on my armor. It wasn't anything special- mostly leather guards, with an additional steel plate on my chest for added protection. It was lightweight and cheap, and certainly better than nothing.

"Dagger…"

Yep, all good. Finally,

"And now this… how do I do this?"

It took me a few minutes, since I wasn't really the crafty type, but I eventually managed to firmly secure the leather card case to my belt.

It was time. I hadn't felt this excited to hunt in a very, very long time. What had long since become a deadly routine was now becoming an opportunity. Checking for a final time that all my gear was properly in place, I headed out to the dungeons.

Arriving at the edge of the sanctuary, a couple of armed guards were waiting, checking identification and allowing passage through to the awakened. I approached the exit door and started to walk through when I was stopped by one of the guards.

"Um, yes?"

I knew these two. In fact, I knew almost every guard that would be stationed at this post.

"Sorry, Mr. Ford. restrictions are tightening up. I know it's redundant, but we need to check your ID."

I sighed. This happened every once in a while, when the mayor decided the people were getting too unruly. I imagined for the next week or so there would be soldiers marching through the streets.

I summoned my status card and presented it to them. That wouldn't be enough.

"Sorry, Mr. Ford, but we need your pass, too."

The guard looked really apologetic, but I didn't really mind. I produced a black card from my wallet and showed it to the guard.

He gulped.

"I've seen it before, but I'm always…"

"Yeah, yeah. Am I good?"

He returned the card to me nervously.

"Of course. Have a safe trip."

I took the card back and returned it to my wallet. This card was probably the most important object I owned, so I always protected it well. I waved my hand loosely as I walked past the guards and through the exit. The entire city was surrounded by a patchwork metal wall, and this was one of the only ways out. Past the door was a train car, which I promptly entered, and took a seat, waiting for the rest of the passengers to board. Finally, I could head to the dungeon and test my new weapon. After about thirty minutes, the back door closed and the train whirred into motion.

Getting to our destination itself was dangerous, let alone exploring the dungeon. Of course, it had become a lot safer since the early days when we'd drive armored trucks out from the Sanctuaries and pray for safety. Now, we had rail systems with rotating mercenaries and engineers ensuring everything ran smoothly. Unfortunately, it still wasn't entirely safe, but it was much more secure than back then. Back then… things had really changed.

Seven years ago, I was only sixteen. I'd awakened at the same time as everyone else- four days after the catastrophic arrival of The Gloam. Of course, we didn't know what it was called at the time. Most people thought it was either an alien invasion or a divine apocalypse. I was the former. It arrived suddenly, a moon-sized ball of black sludge that split and covered our planet, seeping into the dirt before re-emerging in a new form- that of the monsters.

We didn't know how to fight it. Shooting it with guns only caused it to lose its form temporarily. Bombs were the same. Even nuclear bombs weren't effective. When we dropped the first nukes, The Gloam, as always, simply re-emerged, now with a targeted attack against our nuclear equities, ravaging silos and consuming most of the bombs that we had. The war against The Gloam, after only a few days, had caused the death of roughly 70% of all life on earth. All of my family and friends had died, of course. I managed to escape to a military safe zone alone. Of course, it wasn't really "safe"- danger still lurked at all times. And then, just as everything seemed hopeless, the Human God intervened. 

It's now called the Day of Awakening. Across the earth, in the places where the most people were gathered, Sanctuaries opened. Spherical barriers that The Gloam couldn't enter, and which made the land and air habitable. Within these Sanctuaries, our cities would be built. Of course, that wasn't the only action taken by the Human God. 

There were two other services he provided. The second was the dungeons. Similar to the Sanctuaries, the dungeons were created by the Human God to contain The Gloam. While they weren't perfect, and even allowed The Gloam to escape at times, the battlefield they provided was certainly preferable to allowing The Gloam to grow outside as a collective. Now, at least, it was split off into smaller parts, unable to reach its core, and isolated to areas where it could be held at bay.

Finally, the Human God awakened humans. A small subset of the remaining population gained the power to completely eradicate The Gloam- mana. While our guns and bombs couldn't truly destroy it, mana attacks were more than effective in purifying it completely. When monsters were slayed using mana, they would just remain as blood and flesh rather than returning to sludge. On top of this, we were provided with 'skills' to make use of that mana.

This was what allowed humans to discover Polarium. A material so versatile that it had become the entire basis for society as it is today. When the monsters were killed, remaining within them would be a shard of The Gloam. When purified with mana, the remaining substance becomes Polarium.I looked down at my knife. This damn thing was so expensive, and it only contained traces of the stuff. I sighed as the train came to a stop.

We'd arrived at the dungeon. The walls of the train slid open, revealing large exits for all of the hunters on board to leave from. Naturally, almost everyone here was D-Rank. F-Rank hunters who would actually go into dungeons were few and far between. Since I could utilize mana, I was the exception that proved the rule. 

Even so, despite my ability to manipulate the little mana I had access to, I was only about as strong as the weaker D-Rankers. However, that was enough. Even if I only had a tiny taste of mana, as long as I had any at all, I could take down a monster. That was the mindset that I'd developed.

I stepped out of the train with the rest of the D-Rank hunters. There weren't very many of us- frankly, almost a third of the awakened worldwide were already dead, so this number wouldn't be growing any time soon. 

As I set foot on the barren plains of our scorched earth, what stood before me was a very familiar sight- a one-story-tall stone structure the size of a city block. Archways left entrances every thirty feet along every wall. 

Other hunters and mercenaries quickly gathered and started to enter the dungeon. There wasn't really any kind of formal organization here- the teams would just make their way inside the dungeon's walls haphazardly, entering from whichever archway they pleased.

I, however, was alone. Walking loosely alongside various groups, all chatting and discussing their strategies, I became a little nervous in anticipation. Of course, everyone feared the monsters inside the dungeon, but at this point, most of these hunters had become accustomed to the danger, like soldiers, able to stay calm and make jokes even on the battlefield.

I, however, was always in much more danger than anyone else. As such, even now, whenever I entered the dungeon, I felt my fear and let it wash over me. This was my reminder that I was weak. 

I clutched the hilt of my dagger tightly and walked along the dungeon's wall. I wanted to enter through the back, so I could keep some distance from other people. If I wanted to test out my weapon, it would be disadvantageous to have others watching. What if they grew envious?

Anything could happen inside the dungeon, and murder over valuables wasn't out of the question whatsoever. As such, I kept walking about ten minutes more than everyone else and found my own entryway.

Stepping inside the dungeon, my nose was immediately stung with the stale, dank air that lingered within. It was the sign that I had crossed the barrier. Before me was a stairway heading down, the same as within each archway. 

While this dungeon had been thoroughly mapped out by now, I didn't require some kind of guide to make it through. Having spent several years hunting here every day, I knew the layout of the first and second floors like the back of my hand.

This dungeon took the form of a 'Labyrinth'.

Regardless of which way you entered, you'd be thrust into a maze of stone and brick, with beasts roaming throughout. This in and of itself wasn't too challenging- almost everyone knew that mazes could be cleared simply by walking against a single wall until the exit was reached. However, the deeper in you went, the harder it would be to find your way back out.

Especially if you wanted to go down to the second floor.

Ah, it looks like it's time to fight. I dexterously drew my blade, entering a stance with my legs widened slightly and my dagger in a backwards grip.

In front of me was a humanoid creature, standing at around five feet tall, with warts and green skin as though it were diseased.

In its hand was a crude blade made of scrap metal.

It was a very familiar foe. It was time to hunt goblins.