Demigod Class Ascension Chapter 2: Surviving

Author's Note: So I managed to squeeze some time to write chapter 2! I hope that those that liked chapter 1 can read this one as well and tell me what you think. We're about to see more of who Will is, and what he will become in the future.

Listen While Reading: Qintessential
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“We are almost there, Vivian, just a bit more…”

Ralph and his sister walked through the back alleys, making sure to avoid being stopped by any creature in the vicinity as much as they could. They had little time to kill a monster, fearing it would attract more.

Goblins might seem weak, but they were awfully agile and dexterous, and above all, they always hunted in big packs. Killing one also seemed to always draw the attention of more, just as they had witnessed earlier when someone hunted one and then got swarmed by a group of nearly a dozen, agonizingly torn to shreds.

“V-Vivian?”

Ralph noticed his sister wasn’t moving as they hid behind a large trash can. Vivian couldn’t help but glance back at the highway, where that tall, muscular man had saved their lives.

“You think he’s fine, Ralph?”

“What are you talking about?”

“The guy… we didn’t even ask his name, and he saved my life…”

“I-It doesn’t matter now, Vivian, hurry! The mall is just around the corner!”

“Ah, okay…”

As Vivian looked behind her one last time, she hurriedly followed her brother. Moving without arms was surprisingly annoying, even though her legs were fine; it seemed that missing her arms made her body much lighter, making it harder to keep her balance while walking.

“And it’s not like he’ll need our help anyway… Didn’t you see what he was capable of? That guy… was he even human?”

As Vivian heard her brother’s words, the two entered the mall.

.

.

.
Will glanced at the giant hobgoblin munching on the corpse of an unfortunate victim, blood and innards splattering onto the floor beneath him as he used his giant fingers to tear apart the limbs and munch on the tender meat. The remains of several other people lay behind him; the giant monster had been having quite a feast.

“Hey! Haven’t you had enough?!”

“Master! Don’t be so reckless! At least sneak behind it without alerting that thing!”

Cube’s eye widened as he saw Will losing his patience, stepping forward without any preparation or strategy. However, his new master stood tall, glaring at the giant, green-skinned monstrosity. The hobgoblin didn’t look at him at first, focused on eating, completely absentminded.

It was so powerful that it perceived Will as nothing but a barking dog, posing no immediate threat. It enjoyed its meal and simply let the smaller goblins do the job for him, often picking up the corpses they left behind.

“H-He’s not even looking at Master?!”

As Cube panicked, Will gritted his teeth. He was trying his best to remain calm facing such a giant but being ignored like this annoyed him a lot. And today, well, he was running low on patience.

“…”

He looked around his surroundings as water emerged from his hands and rapidly moved toward the nearby goblin corpses, carrying them to him. He quickly froze the corpses and launched them at the hobgoblin’s head after spinning them in midair for a few seconds.

CRASH!

The corpses hit the hobgoblin, exploding into pieces of frozen flesh and bone, leaving a bleeding scratch on the creature, who groaned in pain.

The hobgoblin noticed something immediately after—the corpses of the goblins. His red eyes widened, realizing they had been slaughtered and even used as projectiles to gain his attention.

The ground trembled as the giant stood up, glaring at Will while furrowing his brows, his face furious, showing his sharp fangs while drooling frantically.

“GRRRAAAAHHH!”

With a furious roar, the hobgoblin unleashed a loud tremor; his roar released a powerful shockwave that made the surroundings tremble. Two cars were sent flying, yet Will stood tall, unmoved.

“Good, I finally have your attention.”

Will cracked his knuckles as he rapidly manifested a Pseudo Divine Weapon on both hands—small tridents made of ethereal golden and azure light, overflowing with divine power.

“…?”

The hobgoblin glanced at the weapons, confused. He had never faced such power before. He desired that power. He wanted to see what that shiny thing was to begin with. Stepping forward, the hobgoblin swung his massive hand down, aiming to crush Will like a bug.

Yet Will rapidly evaded, moving to the left by pure reflex, before piercing the hobgoblin’s hand with one of the mini tridents, making the beast scream in horror.

Boom.

Will’s eyes shone bright blue; the trident glowed brightly, exploding and blowing half of the hobgoblin’s arm apart in a second, spreading frost through it and into the beast’s chest.

“GRYYAAAERGH?!”

The hobgoblin screamed loudly, glancing at his arm in utter disbelief and agony. His eyes turned even redder as his entire body released a red aura. The monster took a step forward, shaking the ground and spreading cracks across the highway, then kicked Will at a speed much faster than Will had imagined a thing of this size could move.

“Ugh?!”

Will was kicked away, crashing into a nearby car and crushing it flat with his body size and weight. His back was bleeding, staining the blue Toyota red. He quickly felt a warm sensation envelop him—Sacred Healing coming in clutch.

“GRUUAAAAH!”

The berserk hobgoblin ran toward him, jumping over him with his entire body, aiming to crush him with his full weight.

“Master!”

Cube panicked, but as an administrator, he could do nothing but watch Will. Yet he didn’t need help—Will was a demigod, after all.

“HAAAAH!”

With an angered roar, Will’s divine aura erupted from his body. The trident he held in his other hand suddenly grew ten times larger, piercing the hobgoblin’s chest and emerging from his back as he fell, using the hobgoblin’s own weight to kill him.

The hobgoblin vomited blood as Will barely managed to move away before he was crushed by several tons of weight, flattening the car completely and causing its engine to explode.

“Shit…!”

BOOOM!

The explosion burned his back as Will rapidly crawled away, healing his burns while feeling sickly and exhausted… He felt something within him nearly empty completely.

“Must be my Mana… It lasted longer than I thought.”

It seemed the skills that drained his Mana the most weren’t Aqua Hand, as he’d imagined before, but Pseudo Divine Weapon. This skill was a complete Mana sink—the more he shaped the weapon’s form, the more Mana it consumed. Sacred Healing came second; the harsher the wounds, the more Mana they needed to heal. He figured the reason he couldn’t heal limbs was because he didn’t have enough Mana reserves yet.

“Y-You did it…! Master, you’re incredible! Indeed! That is the strength of a demigod right there!”

Cube was amazed at Will, who finished healing himself with the last of his Mana, feeling exhausted but walking toward the burning hobgoblin’s body. While doing so, he reached into his pants pocket, grabbing one of the city goblin cores he’d harvested earlier and putting it in his mouth without hesitation.

Crunch.

The only way Will could describe this core was “crunchy.” It had no flavor aside from the blood coating it, which tasted quite bitter compared to human blood.

“Master, you ate it raw?! But it would’ve been better if you processed it into a Mana Potion—”

“I have no time for that.”

In that moment, Will noticed blue energy flowing through his body. He felt revitalized, but not completely—just barely enough. He calculated he’d regained at least five percent of his Mana.

[You have slain [Highway Hobgoblin (Tier 3): Lv 5]. You have earned Bonus Experience for slaying a Lifeform above your Tier and Level. You earned 300 Tutorial Points.]

[Level Up!]

[Level Up!]

[Special Class: {Demigod} has reached Level 8. Stat Points have been allocated; you gained 2 Free Stat Points.]

“Two levels… It was definitely a strong opponent. If I want to level up quickly, I need to hunt these big ones whenever I can…”

As Will walked toward the hobgoblin’s burning corpse, he gathered Mana into his hands, almost as if he’d always known how to use this element, then condensed water into it.

“If I can create ice, then… how about this?”

He closed his eyes, concentrating as his imagination shaped the water—condensing it, freezing it, and releasing it from his hands as a cloud of small ice particles, which quickly extinguished the flames with minimal Mana spent.

“Ah, it worked.”

“Amazing! You’re really great at manipulating Mana, Master! Not many can do it on their first try!”

“Hm, let’s buy that bag of whatever you said I could get. How do I do this?”

“Ah, yes, immediately!”

Cube handled it for Will as a new holographic window appeared in front of him, rapidly displaying a list of items and his current Tutorial Points.

“Thank you.”

Will rubbed his chin as he browsed through the list, surprised by what he could obtain… This felt more and more like a video game.

<Tutorial Shop: Rank 1>

{Tutorial Points: 560}

[Minor Healing Potion (F Grade)] [5/5] [Price: 70 TP]

[Minor Mana Potion (F Grade)] [5/5] [Price: 150 TP]

[Minor Antidote (F Grade)] [5/5] [Price: 100 TP]

[Small Bag of Holding (D Grade)] [1/1] [Price: 500 TP]

[+1 Weapon Enhancement Stone (D Grade)] [3/3] [Price: 400 TP]

[+1 Armor Enhancement Stone (D Grade)] [3/3] [Price: 400 TP]

[Rusty Alchemy Cauldron (D Grade)] [1/1] [Price: 800 TP]

[Rusty Portable Forge (D Grade)] [1/1] [Price: 1000 TP]

“So there are healing potions and the like… There’s the bag of holding; I guess I can finally purchase that,” Will said. “And… Alchemy Cauldron? Portable Forge? Are they what I think they are?”

“Yes, they’re special magical devices that’ll allow you to perform either Alchemy or Forging, Master,” Cube nodded. “I’d recommend buying them whenever you have the Tutorial Points! Also, remember that once the Tutorial is over, you won’t be able to purchase more items from the shop or gain more Tutorial Points.”

“Understood… Then let’s get the bag,” Will said, touching the icon.

[You have exchanged 500 TP to purchase the [Small Bag of Holding (D Grade)]!]

[You can carry up to fifty items inside the Small Bag of Holding.]

[The items cannot be larger or heavier than the user.]

“So that’s the limit—can’t be larger or heavier than me?”

“Indeed… The higher the grade of the bags, the more you can carry, though, and this limitation disappears at C Grade!”

“Hm, alright.”

The bag appeared in Will’s hands, resembling a simple purple leather bag embedded with tiny red and blue jewels. Once he opened it by pulling the golden rope, he looked inside, greeted by a pitch-black interior.

“It’s weird.”

“Yeah, every Bag of Holding possesses a pocket dimension where you can store objects! Living beings cannot be stored, however.”

“Guessed as much…”

Will quickly carved open the hobgoblin’s chest with a bone knife, tearing the core from the fleshy tendrils inside. It was the size of a watermelon this time, covered in blood and fleshy, bloody veins.

“A Tier 3 Magic Core! This is an amazing Alchemy or Forging Material, Master. Even more, I believe you could use it to upgrade one of your Skills once the Skill reaches the right level.”

“Alright, I’ll store it for now… And the little goblin cores too.”

Will quickly stored everything inside the bag; the blackness inside simply siphoned anything non-living. He even tried something risky by putting his hand inside, suddenly receiving a mental list of all items stored.

“Huh?”

It was strange, but it seemed the Bag of Holding wasn’t designed to harm the user at all, allowing him to easily browse through everything in this “mental list.” Whatever he wished to retrieve appeared in his hand.

“This is really amazing…”

“That’s right! Bags of Holding are a staple throughout the Great Beyond—everyone and their mother has one, even their dogs!”

“Hmm, and this big guy. Surely his body is valuable in some way, right?”

“Hobgoblins are tough! Their bones, leather, fangs, and claws can definitely be used to craft armor and clothes, and their innards are good potion materials. But it’s too big. I’d recommend chopping it into pieces, though each piece might take another slot in the bag.”

“Alright…”

Will had worked in a butchery a few years ago, so he was accustomed to butchering and cutting animal meat. Now he wished he could go back to the Steel Bovine and harvest some of its metal, but it was far away, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to risk the trip with his current Mana reserves.

“Done. I managed to cut it into three parts… Weirdly enough, I was never attacked.”

“Of course you wouldn’t be! You defeated the strongest monster in this area already! The weaklings are shivering in horror at you now!”

“Huh, well, that’s a relief.”

Will rested behind a car, sighing as he started munching on the hobgoblin’s meat after smelling it and shrugging. Cube stared in disbelief as his master nonchalantly began eating monster meat.

“Master, are you okay with that? The mana density inside monster meat could kill you if you—”

“It tastes awful, but I was starving… I needed to eat something now.”

“…”

Cube felt flabbergasted; his master was far more accustomed to surviving a harsh life than he’d imagined.

“I’m definitely robbing a mini market or something next… Phew.”

Will sighed in relief after eating his fill. His mouth tasted awful, and he really wanted something cold and sweet to drink, but he had no choice. Thankfully, as Cube had stated earlier, his demigod status gave him immunity to things like Mana Intoxication, allowing him to eat raw monster materials without repercussions.

And what’s more…

“Hm, much better.”

He felt his Mana overflowing! He’d restored at least 50% of it by eating all that meat. As he’d thought, the meat of such a strong monster had plenty of mana his body could digest naturally.

“Alright, it’s getting late already. I need to find some shelter for the night. I suppose I should be on my way to that mall you talked about.”

As he stood up and prepared to depart, Will glanced at his Status, which Cube had prompted him to check to always know his own capabilities. 

{Will}

[Class]: [Demigod (Tier 1) (Special-Grade)]

[Level]: [Level 8/20]

[Parameters]:

[Strength]: [59]

[Vitality]: [59]

[Magic Power]: [54]

[Magic Defense]: [54]

[Dexterity]: [54]

[Agility]: [59]

[Senses]: [54]

[Free Points]: [8]

[Skills]:

[Pseudo Divine Weapon (Tier 1: 5%)]: [Manipulate your own Mana and Divine Power and materialize it into a Pseudo Divine Weapon that embodies your true self. If imbued into a physical weapon, the vessel can evolve and gain more power.]

[Sacred Healing (Tier 1: 8%)]: [Manipulate Lifeforce and Mana and channel your inner Divine Power to heal larger wounds and to recover from poisonous toxins and curses more easily.]

[Pseudo Divine Blessing (Tier 1: 0%)]: [Use your Divine Power to bless a target, allowing them to awaken to new power. As this Blessing grows within them, a part of their Power and Earned EXP is shared with you, and their loyalty may increase. Limit: 0/3]

[Aqua Hand (Tier 1: 13%)]: [Manipulate Mana and Divine Power to conjure Water Attribute Spells at will, without requiring the manipulation of Runes or Chanting. The intensity and strength of this Magic increases based on your own proficiency and the Spells you develop.] 

“So those are my stats… Hey Cube, what are stats exactly? And how does EXP even work? Surely it’s not just nonsense, right? There must be a logic behind this…”

As Will asked that question, Cube scanned their surroundings, looking for any potential danger.

“Yes, the System extracts Energy from a foe you slay and transforms it into EXP. This energy isn’t just one type, but all energies within the body—Mana, Lifeforce, and even Soul Essence. Hence, the stronger a foe, the more EXP they give based on this extraction process.”

“So my body is constantly absorbing the energy of other living beings…?”

“Affirmative. In the past, those around the cosmos figured out a way to do this without the System’s assistance, but the System helps all those mortals incapable of doing it themselves advance further.”

“And parameters?”

“Calculated parameters that showcase your body’s capabilities in fine detail. Using a free point distributes this extracted energy into the desired area of your body, increasing its value. The higher the number, the stronger you are.”

“My level has a limit of twenty; what happens after that?”

“Once you reach the Level Cap, you can increase your current Tier, tied to your Class. The stronger your class, the more EXP you require and the higher your level cap becomes, but you also get greater bonuses upon ranking up and stronger skills.”

“Ranking up isn’t easy, right?”

“Indeed, it often requires materials, and the stronger you grow, the more conditions you’ll face… As a demigod, I can’t fathom what those conditions might be.”

“Hm, alright.”

Will got the gist of most of it, deciding to make his way to the mall. Despite his strength, he still had a sense of danger and chose to sneak through the alleyways, avoiding open areas if possible.

However, on his way there, the screams of people alerted him again.

“Aaaaaahhh! Help!”

“Nooo!”

Will didn’t rush to help them but decided to see what was happening first. Hiding behind a large truck that had crashed into a building, he saw a family struggling to survive.

It was a father, a mother, and two children. The mother carried a baby in her arms; the baby was crying while a goblin tried to take it away from her.

The family was surrounded by about a eight goblins and what seemed to be an “in-between”—a goblin taller than a man, with lanky arms and legs and a long, beak-like nose, not quite a hobgoblin.

“Gryehehe!”

The creature laughed while ordering the goblins to take the child. The father and the older children used tableware to defend themselves, but the goblins had already stabbed their arms and legs repeatedly; they were bleeding and crying, struggling.

Meanwhile, the strange goblin, wearing black robes and carrying a staff with a skull attached, began a bizarre incantation as black runes floated around it.

“Oh, this is bad—that’s a Goblin Warlock! So there’s indeed a nest nearby! They must be preparing sacrifices for some kind of ritual! Master, run! The mall is close! I don’t know if you can handle fighting a magician of that caliber—”

Will, however, didn’t listen to Cube, stepping forward and rushing to the family’s aid.

If he had the strength to crush goblin skulls with a single punch, why wouldn’t he help them?

And well, this was also a perfect opportunity to rack up more Tutorial Points and EXP, as the small monsters usually fled from him upon seeing him.

“Gryakasha! Guhakuar—”

BAAAM!

Before the Goblin Warlock could finish his incantation, a huge fist punched his ugly face, flattening it and breaking his pointy nose, sending the monster flying.

“Geeh?!”

The other goblins quickly noticed Will’s arrival, staring at the bloody fist he’d used to kill their master with a single punch… Indeed, Will knew he was dead.

[You have slain [Goblin Warlock (Tier 2): Lv 2]. You have earned Bonus Experience for slaying a Lifeform above your Tier and Level. You earned 120 Tutorial Points.]

He didn’t level up, unfortunately, but the Tutorial Points were generous.

“W-Who…?!”

The father of the family stared at Will, his eyes widening in disbelief at the monster of a man who had stepped into the battle… Most would’ve thought he was a monster too, given how huge and strong he was.

“What’s wrong? I killed your master, and you’re just going to stare at me?!”

Will roared, his divine power erupting from his body, making the goblins scream in horror. Cornered, they desperately attacked him, aiming to stab his body with their knives. Will rapidly intercepted them—crushing one with a powerful stomp, grabbing two more by their necks and crushing them, kicking a fourth goblin in the head, then stepping back to stomp the fifth. The sixth and seventh goblins managed to scurry away, carrying the baby.

“No! My child!”

The mother cried in despair as Will stepped forward, moving as quickly as he could. He manifested water in his hands, shaping it into a spiderweb-like form, and threw it at them.

SPLASH!

“Graaagh?!”

The goblins screamed as the water wrapped around their bodies as if alive, while the child cried, completely wet. Will walked toward them, stomping the goblins like bugs and gently grabbing the child.

“You’re safe now…”

He walked toward the family, his healing magic working wonders; their poisoned wounds healed instantly as they stared at Will in disbelief.

Amidst this horrendous apocalypse… there was someone strong enough to just stomp everything and kind enough to help others.

Even though he didn’t want to admit he did it out of kindness.

“There’s a mall nearby; it’s a safe zone. Go there.”

“W-What…? Ah…!”

“T-Thank you…!”

The family was so paralyzed by fear and shock they could barely speak. The mother was the only one who regained enough composure to grab her child and thank him before running away with her family.

“Master… why did you do this? You know it’s a waste of resources to just help people, right? Are you going to keep doing this? The more you help, the more they’ll grow dependent on you!” Cube protested.

“Nonsense. I was hunting those goblins. Helping those people was just an afterthought, a result of me wanting to hunt the goblins. End of the conversation.”

“…”

[You have slain [City Goblin (Tier 1): Lv 10] x7. You earned EXP. You earned 70 Tutorial Points.]

[Level Up!]

[Special Class: {Demigod} has reached Level 9. Stat Points have been allocated; you gained 1 Free Stat Point.]

“I even gained a level, see? It wasn’t a waste of time… Hm? Those goblins were level 10? They were stronger than I thought. Well, they died easily either way.”

“Looks like we’re close to their nest. The closer we get, the higher their levels are… I don’t know what they’re planning exactly, but having a Warlock and a Hobgoblin outside meant they weren’t just claiming territory but looking for sacrifices.”

“For what?”

“I don’t really know… but definitely not something good.”

“Hm…”

After Will stored the corpses in his Bag of Holding, he hurried to the mall, entering it to find complete chaos inside. People were fighting one another for food, children were crying, and some lay unconscious on the floor.

It was a total mess.

[You have entered the {Safe Zone: Elderbridge Street Mall}!]

[Monsters will be unable to enter the Safe Zone while its {Ward of Protection} is active.]

[Protection Duration: 6 Days 14 Hours.]

[You can increase the {Ward of Protection} active duration by 1 day by exchanging 1000 Tutorial Points.]

[As you use Tutorial Points, the {Ward of Protection} within the Safe Zone will evolve and gain more bonuses.]

“Hm? This is…”

“You can invest Tutorial Points into making the place more comfortable, but… Ah, I guess that won’t be so easy with this mess. Humans, huh?”

Cube sighed as Will started walking forward into the middle of the chaos, where people were constantly trying to take each other’s food, which they’d scavenged from the mini markets inside the mall.

“This is mine! I grabbed it first! Let me go!”

“Just give it to me already, bitch! You want me to kick your ugly ass face?!”

“No! We’ll starve if we don’t share!”

“Shut the fuck up!”

A thug-looking man with blonde hair kicked the face of a black-haired woman, making her cry in agony as her nose broke. The man desperately took the bag of rice from her and was about to kick her again after spitting on her.

“Who the fuck do you think you are, you fucking bitch?! Want me to teach you the new rules of this world now?! I’ll—”

“That’s enough.”

A huge hand suddenly grabbed the man’s head, lifting him up.

“E-Eh?”

The thug glared into Will’s blue eyes, his face quickly turning red as he began sweating profusely.

“W-Wha…?! And who the fuck are you?! Let me go! Hey! You fucking giant! Where did you even come from?!”

Will took the bag of rice from the man, healed the woman’s nose, and handed the bag back to her. She stared at the scene in disbelief the entire time.

“She’s not wrong—we won’t survive if we don’t share. Next time I catch you hitting someone defenseless, I’m crushing your skull. Understood?”

“What?! You think I’m afraid of—”

Will tightened his grip, making the man feel like his skull might crack, screaming in agony.

“Uuaaaggghh!”

“I said, understood?”

“W-Whatever you say man!”

Will dropped the man on the floor, and the thug ran off like a rat, cursing at him like a coward as he fled.

“Hmph… Hey, where did you find that bag of rice?”

Will glared at the woman, who was still staring at him in disbelief.

Since Will had stepped into the middle of the chaos, the entire mall had become eerily silent.

His presence alone made people fall quiet…

“A-At the second floor… Um, but… the mini market should be empty by now… Sorry… E-Everyone got so desperate; this bag was all I could bring with me.”

“Would you share some with me?”

“Yeah, sure, of course… You saved my life.”

“Thank you.”

With the sole presence of this “gentle” giant, the Elderbridge Mall Refuge finally knew peace, even if just for a single night.

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Image references:

This is how I imagine Will looking like, a mix of all of this. He'll probably get the long hair later on, I love big muscular men with long hair.