"God of the Light: Aveiro Lighthouse."
A totem was born. Red and white, over 60 meters high and made of concrete, it stood vertically and slender, with small windows and a balcony at the top. At the top, a man stood, unafraid of heights.
From that same summit, a powerful, one-cutting light was emitted. It powerfully ripped off one of the Black Dragon's scales, causing the boss to groan in pain.
But then immediately, several beams of it followed, being fired from the central tower and cutting the dragon into tiny pieces.
The Dragon was huge, terrifying, monstrous. Black and red scales, over 30 meters long. A flying serpent, wings harder than stone.
But in that situation, the only thing it could do was scream in pain, knowing that its life was about to end.
Jonas Solberg took a look to the top of the Lighthouse; the man up there seemed always invisible, just like the blue box, but it said: HP: 393/620, LVL: 10.
Jonas was astonished. A level 10 didn't seem so far from where he was, but the HP was more than triple his. And also, that already non-full number indicated that the man had been there for quite some time.
But he won.
With a last hit piercing its head, its desperate cries were immediately cut off, and the animal fell stiffly to the ground. His body slowly began to turn to dust, starting from his feet down to the last bit of flesh on his face.
Meanwhile, the Lighthouse stood still for a brief second until it finally began to fade away in a similar way to the Dragon, just a bit quicker.
In the end, only a sweaty, black-haired man remained. He wiped his face with his own. "Jesus, this was pretty hard... !!"
His internal sensors activated when he almost jumped to look to his left. "T-There is someone here?! Augh, I should have upgraded my Perception a little more..."
And there was Jonas Solberg. Barely standing, his mouth agape in pure admiration.
"You actually defeated a boss all by yourself?" he asked. "That is amazing..."
"What are you doing here?" The man asked, purely cold. "This is a one-man dungeon. How are you here?"
"Well, I was defeating a mini-boss up there and... Wait, how are YOU here?!"
After a brief moment of awkward silence, they both said "INVENTORY" in sync and went to the lists of Valid Dungeons, only to find a tremendous surprise in front of them:
Sé do Porto: Dungeon Difficulty: E. Recommended Level: 10
Max. Players 2/2.
Somehow, they both managed the feat of clicking on a Duo Dungeon and thinking it was a solo one.
That certainly hurt the Exterminators' pride.
"Oh... This is odd," the man said. "I'm sorry, I thought I selected a solo one."
"Yeah, me too... But I wonder, you arrived earlier than me, right? Then why did you ignore the mini-boss up there?"
"Mini-boss? I saw none." With those words, Jonas remembered that Goblinstein only became a mini-boss after the smaller monsters merged.
"And anyway, to finish the Dungeon we need to defeat the boss, so I usually just ignore mini-bosses and those types of things."
UPDATE! DUNGEON CLEARED!
A blue screen flashed in both of their visions, a pop-up.
THE REWARDS WERE GIVEN ACCORDING TO YOUR PARTICIPATION.
Jonas's eyes grew empty as he stared at his monotonous rewards:
45 Points.
He was silent for a short moment and then quietly asked, "Hm, could you tell me what you won?"
"Potions, money, weapons, points, armor, cosmetics, and more. I can give you some if you need."
"No... I don't want it."
Jonas realized the truth: He had only defeated a mini-boss and had already received his rewards for that. This individual, who had now defeated the main boss, received most of the rewards for accomplishing such a feat alone.
"OPEN STATUS."
Jonas said, and the blue screen opened in front of him.
Only one attribute caught his attention:
Points Remaining: 45
That was the total points he received for killing Goblinstein. Only God knows if he would have defeated the main dragon.
Jonas thought for a moment before distributing his points. What build would he go for? Continue focusing on everything? Focus on strength? Agility? Just one or two attributes?
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
After much deliberation, Jonas remembered every step he had taken in his previous battle, and then finally assigned the points.
"Alright, done."
"I did it as well. May I see your build? You know, I'm a top-tier player."
"You are only level 11."
"Compared to you."
"...Fine."
Jonas clicked on the letter-shaped symbol in the upper right corner, the notifications section. There, it also had a system for sending messages, sort of like an email.
"It needs a name. What is yours?"
"You can call me Theo."
Theo, now that's a different name, definitely not very Portuguese. But Theo sounded more like a nickname for something, or a code name created to receive messages. Because just by writing "Theo" in the recipient field, the same man already appeared in front of him.
"Wow, Technology is really advanced... Or are you somehow a special Theo?"
"The system detects by proximity. It's that simple."
"...So I guess the first option."
Jonas attached his status and clicked send.
In less than a second, Theo received the notification and opened it:
Name: Jonas Solberg
HP: 30/360
Stamina: 2/108
Mana: 0/160
Level: 7
Overall: 103
Points remaining: 0
Rank: F
Class: DPS
Strength: 18
Agility: 19
Vitality: 18
Perception: 16
Wisdom: 32
"Wow." Theo analyzed each stat. "There's a clear discrepancy here; you've visibly focused on Mana, and for a lot. Why?"
"Have you heard about Mana Explosion?"
"Yeah, I guess."
"Since I don't have a God, I decided to purely focus on that. It is the only Mana Technique I know so far, so I will main it!"
God. The power that compelled you to live the life of an Exterminator.
From time to time, some seemingly random people were born with a God, a rare, innate, and unique supernatural power tied to a specific individual.
The power itself could be literally anything, from the most versatile and powerful power to the most useless one. A power that coexisted with the mana of the world. The name came from the popular belief that people with such powers were chosen by God itself, but that was nothing more than a popular myth.
Nobody really knew how it came about, why it came about, or what it really was. But for now, it was just a monster-killing machine.
Jonas had always dreamed of having one, exploring the endless possibilities of what his could be, until the day he finally realized he didn't have one, so he decided to take action on his own.
Theo's eyes were cold and calm, conveying a clear tranquility. "But Mana Explosion? If I'm not mistaken, it's a very old technique, with a rather high degree of learning."
Jonas quickly understood the meaning of "old," perhaps 300 million years ago? Who knew.
"But more importantly, if I am not wrong, it scales with Strength."
Jonas almost fell to his knees on the floor. "A-Are you kidding me?"
"Don't worry, it is like 70% Mana, 30% Strength or something. Anyway, we better head out. The Dungeon is almost closing. Do you have a teleportation potion?"
"Yes... I sure do—"
Jonas's pain and injuries hit him hard, as if they had simply disappeared before. His only option was to lie down on the ground.
With 2 Stamina and 30 Life, he had just fallen down some giant stairs; total weakness was expected.
"Are you... ok?"
"N-Not really... damn it, I forgot I can barely move with this low Stamina... If I had one potion—"
Splash
Something was splashed at Jonas. A liquid splashed all over his body, glass shattering on top of him.
"W-What?"
He stood up. His face and cheeks were still completely scratched and dirty, but he could already walk. "What happened? It looks like I drank 300 coffees! OPEN STATUS."
One single attribute caught his attention:
Stamina: 108/108
"IT'S FULL!? HOW!?"
"I healed you," Theo spoke. "I threw a Stamina potion at you. No need to thank me."
"T-Throw? What do you need? I didn't drink anything."
"Potions don't need to be drunk. Contact with the skin is sufficient."
All of Jonas's memories and dreams were shattered. The stark truth hurt more than any battle he had ever fought in. "Y-You can only be joking with me..."
And for the third time, his body fell to the ground. But this time not from exhaustion.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
Both Jonas and Theo were teleported to the entrance of the Sé do Porto after ingesting teleportation potions.
Looking back shortly, they both realized that the portal was gone, only people passing through the church.
"Ahhhhhh..." Jonas sighed. "It was a lot of work. But it was really cool. My first victory."
Theo did not say a word.
"A-Ah, well thank you very much! Are you sure you don't needed that potion?"
"Don't worry, I have plenty of them."
Jonas took a deep breath. He had completed his first dungeon and defeated his first boss, even if he wasn't alone, and it wasn't the main one, but it still counted.
The first big step towards becoming a great Exterminator.
"Well, I'm going. Thank you—"
"Hey, do you think it's free?"
Jonas froze, while Theo said "INVENTORY" and clicked on one thing.
A huge piece of paper appeared in his hands, and he made sure Jonas could see it completely.
"You're gonna help with this, buddy."
Jonas only read the headline:
The great Exterminators Battle Royale has reopened in Portugal! Registrations are now open!
"EH?!"
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※
"Waiter, I'd like a coffee without milk, please."
"Very well. And for your friend?"
"The same will do."
And so the waiter left, leaving the two boys sitting on the terrace of the café where he worked.
It was a simple place, a small round table that, if you're lucky, seats four people, but because it's a town with a population of over 200,000, any table was never empty.
The waiter's accent must have been funny to a visitor from the south. Pronouncing the 'V' as a 'B', or saying Puêrto instead of Porto, but it was nothing out of the ordinary for both boys.
"You know, this place is really good," Theo spoke with a calm smile. "The prices here are the best in the whole city. And believe me, I looked."
"Does it really make a difference to pay 5 cents less?"
"That's why you don't have 39 cars parked outside your house."
"You have it?!"
"No."
"Tsk..." The only thing Jonas could do was grit his teeth after that... unusual conversation.
"Anyway, here it is."
Theo placed the paper on the table, perfectly in Jonas's line of sight. Looking more closely, Jonas noticed that it was actually just another pamphlet, or a newspaper clipping. Theo had probably received a notification in the system and stored it in his inventory.
"Battle Royale?" Jonas spelled.
"Don't you know? It's basically an all-against-all where only one team survives in the end."
"Hm, I see... So uh, it's gonna happen one of those among Exterminators right in Portugal?"
"Yup, and look here." Theo pointed to a very specific set of words in the text. "It is 2vs2. So it's teams of 2. I didn't have a partner, so thank God I found you."
"What were you doing down there, then? You're not gonna find anyone there."
"I was farming of course. Training for the great day of course. And I don't know, I'd probably just ask random people until someone said yes, but I already found you."
Jonas read some specific segments:
A total of 100 players divided into 50 teams of 2 will be left alone on a wild island in the Azores. Everything depends on them to survive.
The winner will receive the most luxurious rewards.
The only entry requirement is to be a verified Exterminator (possess the E.C.).
For a player to be eliminated, their HP needs to reach 0.
There are no other major restrictions.
Jonas almost jumped out of his chair. "I READ THIS RIGHT!?"
He had to wait a moment to avoid choking on his coffee. "D-Do we have to KILL each other? Live in the middle of an uninhabited island? What the hell is this!?"
"0 Hp doesn't necessarily mean kill. It just means they are unconscious, not able to fight. And yeah, no rules. Ain't that cool?"
"That's extremely weird! Like, isn’t that a crime!? I doubt the world association would simply accept it."
"Battle Royale tournaments are something that dates back more than 100,000 years. Over time they were forgotten due to ethical issues, but never banned, kind of like bullfighting. Nowadays it's become more of a legend, and no country wants to do it because of ethical issues and because it's stupid to kill their own Exterminators... But we have a very different president, and the world association doesn't ban it because it's 'culture'."
"Ah, I got it."
Images of an imagined future flashed through Jonas's mind:
Traveling by plane (something he never did) to the Azores.
Fighting eternally against other Exterminators.
Winning.
"Well, we're at a very weak level, but it's too late now. Do you want to go? I shouldn't be pressuring you, I'm putting your life at risk... But—"
"Are you crazy?" Jonas had such a wide grin it almost resembled a demon. "I've waited my whole life for this!!!"
Extra:
Theo's attributes:
Name: Teodósio Filipe
HP: 393/620
Stamina: 157/186
Mana: 30/165
Level: 10
Overall: 145
Points remaining: 0
Rank: E
Class: DPS
Strength: 33
Agility: 28
Vitality: 31
Perception: 20
Wisdom: 33
