Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System

["Solitude of The Martyr"]

Across the entirety of the man's body, the endless cuts swept past his skin, past flesh, through bone.

"A Monk…Isaak is a monk, isn't he?" Finn asked.

"Yeah…" Magnus confirmed, a few meters to his right.

Finn realized what he was witnessing, watching as the man alone was subject to the lethal torrent, "He's redirecting it…All of the damage–he's redirecting everything to himself."

"What?!" Magnus responded in shock.

"He's doing that?--" Charlotte realized in tandem.

The act of selflessness left those that would've faced certain death at a loss for words. Even as his body was cut down, brought down to his knees amidst the all-cutting disaster, the man of faith did not let go of his necklace.

It only lasted a few moments once filling the entirety of the arena before the scarlet storm faded away.

"--"

There was a silence as the sight of the one who endured death for all the others was seen; the man was unrecognizable, left drenched in blood with his life snuffed out.

"He's…" Charlotte said.

"Yeah," Finn confirmed.

The first to move with a sudden burst forward was the crusher, whose intensity shook away the silence all at once, "C'mon! Don't waste this damn opportunity!" Seung shouted.

Sure enough, the beast was left barely hanging on itself, stumbling over from what was likely an exhausting technique.

It lunged towards them, nearly falling over in the process as the black blade was swung. Finn began to move to evade, though found no need to.

CLANG

Jasper stepped in front, slamming his foot down as his shield stopped the sword dead in its tracks, "Go!—"

All at once, Finn leapt up with his dagger reared back, knowing the spellblade and crusher were right there with him. The beast, layered in such wounds of its own, breathed hard with little strength left itself.

A fist to its chest; flaming slashes to its legs; the beast was bombarded by their unified assault, bringing Finn to land atop its head.

There was nothing left to do but plunge his dagger down as if staking a flag into unmarked territory, bringing it down with a vapor of death:

["The Art of Dying"] [59:59]

Into the weakened beast's skull, the blade planted itself, imbuing into it the aspect of lifelessness. He placed his entire weight behind the blow, practically throwing his whole body down onto the top of its head as he made sure there was no effort spared in claiming its left.

"....Ruuuuu…" The beastman let out a whimper as it fell to its knees.

["Forgotten Beast defeated."] ["Anarch Coin x10,000 obtained."]

[Experience Points: +100,000]

[Level thirty reached!] [10000/55000]

[Assimilated ability from [Forgotten Beast]: "Blood Blade"]

[New Skill(s) Obtained: "Death Flurry"]

As he sat there for a moment with his knees pressed atop its skull, watching as the blackened blood oozed from where his dagger was stuck into its head, he breathed out. There was a sense of palpable relief from them all as he hopped down, looking over at the others who were just as wide-eyed and out of breath as he was.

"Is it dead? Like, actually dead?" The nervous question came from Ember, who didn't dare approach even the carcass of the beast.

The maestro stepped closer, tapping his hammer against the unmoving head of the black-furred creature, "Yup. Seems pretty dead to me."

Finn stood there, looking at the slain beast before finding his own companions regrouping with him, as Charlotte sheathed her sword and Jasper let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm not sure how I'm still in one piece, mate," the knight remarked, patting down his own hoodie to confirm that he wasn't mistaken.

"I'd say it was entirely our effort to be thankful for that, but…" Magnus said, looking back at the price that was paid for their victory.

The bloodied, knelt corpse of the monk remained on the sand; a sight that invoked a sense of gratitude, yet guilt at the same time.

"If he didn't step up there, none of us would be alive," Finn said.

Only one person showed any resistance to that notion, incurring a scoff from Seung, who kicked the beast's limp body, "I didn't need anybody to save my ass. I would've been just fine."

"Seriously? You know if it wasn't for Finn earlier as well, you would've been toast," Charlotte spoke up, raising an eyebrow at the crusher.

"I'll admit that you helped out with that–I let my guard down there," Seung said, admitting some fault as he looked at the assassin. "But, I would've endured that last attack. Something like that wouldn't have brought me down."

"Well, it would've taken me out. So, I'm thankful for what he did," Finn responded.

[Convergence Call completed.]

[Proceed through the gateway to return to your original Tower.]

The monotone, feminine voice played through his head, though from the looks on the others' faces, they seemed to hear it as well. Sure enough, where the entrance of the colosseum was, the doorway of mercury material appeared.

"I guess that's our ticket back," Ramon remarked, resting his hammer on his shoulder as he approached the gateway.

"Yeah…I don't want to stay in this place any longer," Ember meekly shuffled towards it.

Around the mercury portal, they stood in a bittersweet victory. It was hard to digest such a close win over death, though it was easy to be thankful for still breathing.

"This is it then," Finn said. "You guys are across the world, I imagine."

The presumption was pointed at those who weren't in his party, looking at the maestro and mage specifically.

Ramon nodded his head, tapping his hammer against his shoulder, "Separate ways and all that. I'm sure we'll bump into each other again, if there's another Convergence Call."

"I don't know if I'm going to be answering that call again, mate. One might be enough for a lifetime," Jasper remarked.

The knight's duress at the idea of another brought a laugh from the maestro, who spoke with a slick, hispanic accent, "I can't blame you for that."

"I feel the same…That was enough," Ember breathed out.

Magnus added in, looking at the meek mage, "You did well nonetheless. Without each of our complete efforts, none of us would've made it."

The compliments shared among the friendly aftermath seemed to sour the mood of the crusher, who scoffed as he pushed past the group.

"I can't listen to this bullshit anymore. See ya," Seung waved off, stepping through the gateway without a further word.

The abrasiveness of the golden-haired man was a work of art in a way, something managing to completely squelch the conversation even in his now absence.

"...On that note, I guess we should get going," Finn said.

"That's probably for the best," Charlotte agreed.

Before setting forth through the spatial doorway, a firm handshake and fistbump was shared with Ember and Ramon respectively, unknowing if they would ever see one another again.

As he stepped through the gateway right behind Jasper, the brief sense of weightlessness passed before he found himself right back in the marble interior.

"Phew," Finn breathed out.

Jasper came through right behind him, letting out a sigh as well, "And we're back. I sort of missed this place, actually. That's bad, isn't it?"

"We weren't exactly in paradise prior," Magnus responded.

It still took a moment for Finn to adjust to being in the Bazaar, not yet shaking the adrenaline from fighting for his life mere minutes prior.

"I see you all made it back safely, adventurers. I am glad to see so," the complimentary greeting came from the silver-furred, boar-headed shopkeeper, who waited by his wares.

While the others took a seat for a moment to regain their bearings, Finn took another look at what the shopkeeper sold. A black, diamond-shaped crystal sat on display of two halves connected by a core that shined with a platinum complexion.

"That's a Convergence Call, sir. It's used to–" The shopkeeper explained.

Finn interrupted him, lifting the valuable item, "I know what it is, I'll buy it."

"Great to hear!" The inhuman shopkeeper said.

[Convergence Call: -10000] [12500]

He stuffed the emergency item into his back pocket, knowing just how valuable it might be. As he gazed at the other items on display, there was something that caught his eye; an object that wasn't there before–a porcelain key.

"What's that?" Finn asked.

The tusked, occupant of the Tower answered, "A key. It costs ten thousand anarch."

"I can see that. Tell me about it," Finn pressed, suspicious of the uninformative answer from the shopkeeper who usually overspoke to peddle his wares.

"It is a key that can only be sold to those that have conquered the tenth floor," the Bazaar keeper vaguely explained, lifting the white-and-blue object up before pointing to the left.

Looking towards where the shopkeeper was guiding his attention, Finn saw a door he hadn't noticed before: a tall, white door of quartz with the presence of lions and dragons carved in its frame.

'That wasn't there before, was it?' He questioned.

Charlotte stepped beside him, looking where he looked, "What's up with that door?"

"Dunno…Where does it lead?" Finn asked, looking back at the shopkeeper.

"I cannot divulge that information," the boar-headed man said with a gruff. "All I can tell you is that this key opens it."

Overhearing the conversation, the swede was not buying it in the slightest as he interjected his opinion, "This is a complete scam. Who is going to buy a key that expensive without knowing where it leads? It's a rugpull." Magnus waved off.

"I don't know, mate. It could lead anywhere," Jasper added in, leaning against the shop counter. "A hot spring? Maybe a Macca's? Infinite possibilities and all that, mate."

"I don't know about that," Charlotte responded.

While looking at the mysterious key, Finn considered both sides of his companions' arguments, rationally seeing that it was a risk, but also unable to shake the feeling of curiosity. What brought itself to his mind was imagining what decision his lost friend would make.

He imagined the sort of dumb, but convincing argument that Damian would make, who would likely purchase it without hesitation.

"I'll buy it," Finn declared.

"What?!" Charlotte reacted.

"I'm sorry, was a single word of what I said not heard? Did it go in one ear and out the other?" Magnus asked.

Jasper shrugged with a bit of support, "Not a bad choice, mate. I would've done it, too–but, I like my coins a bit too much."

The shopkeeper was more than elated to sell the item, handing it over as his snout twitched with glee, "Here you go, great patron!"

[Anarch Coin: -10000] [2500]

Finn held the key in his hand, looking at it closely before throwing it up and catching it as he turned towards the mysterious door.