Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System

There were dozens of them at least, crawling out from their subterranean slumber as they stomped towards the unwelcome guests.

"What the hell?! We're surrounded!" Finn called out as he brought his daggers into his hands.

Seung laughed, smashing his gauntlets together as sparks fluttered, "That's the point! Let's get to leveling!"

While the brawler launched himself right towards the rudely awoken horde of titans, Finn steered on the path of caution, letting the first of the giants approach him. He flipped back as one of the towering figures slammed its fist down towards him.

As he landed on his feet, there was a small crater left in the spot he stood a moment prior, watching the titan lift its boulder of a hand from the ground.

'This guy is nuts–! He couldn't think to warn me about his methods before just diving right into it?!' He questioned.

While the titan over twice his height was fast for its size, nimble like an olympic runner, he still found himself with the advantage in speed as he moved before it could lift its limb again–

["Blink Slash"] [2:59]

He dashed by, dragging his dagger along its neck, only for his blade to be rejected entirely. It simply bounced right off of the stone skin, bringing him to roll over to catch himself, turning around as the titan faced him, unfazed by his failed strike.

Finn wasn't deterred as he stayed light on his feet, thinking to himself, 'I thought as much. I'll have to aim between the cracks in its shell–the problem is, there's no vitals exposed.'

While he was focused on facing one, the sound of laughter mixed with what sounded like rocks being blasted by a hammer turned his attention for a moment. A pair of the titans had already been turned to pebbles by the gauntlets of the crusher, who seemed to be enjoying it all a bit too much.

Finn found his focus turned back as a shadow cast itself over him–THWOOM. He flipped back onto his hands just as the trunk of a foot from the titan stomped down mere inches from crushing him flat.

The giant threw its fist towards him, bringing him to duck right under it as he looked up as the exposed flesh at its elbow joint:

["Tendon Slice"] [1:59]

He dragged both daggers against the small bit of vulnerability on display, severing the ability for it to move its rocky limb. Even still, the grumbling creature of stone didn't seem moved by the pain, continuing to stomp towards him.

'Alright, it's not stopping there–I'll try it his way,' he planned.

["Orcish Boost"] [4:59]

With a flash of barbaric strength, he leapt up as its other fist crashed down, countering with a sharp kick right at its head. As his boot struck the side of its head, it felt as though he merely smashed his toes against the side of a brick wall.

"Urgh–"

He landed with a wince, only accomplishing to hurt himself as the titan remained unfazed by the blow. It felt like a creature tailor-made to counter his abilities as an assassin; the single, lethal strikes he went for had no place on the sturdy being.

'I'm definitely not capable of outputting the same power as him…Well, I knew that, but damn that stung,' he thought, breathing sharply through his lips.

All the while he struggled to find a way to put down the shelled giant, he was subject to listening to Seung turn more and more of them into rocks to blend into the quarry. It was a feeling he didn't like; it annoyed him, feeling that sense of weakness swell up again.

There was one option that weighed fresh on his mind, bringing him to hinge on that possibility as he moved forward again. The titan crashed its one functioning arm down, sweeping it upon him as he slipped right through its attack.

As he brought himself within reach, he pressed his palm right against its abdominal region, invoking the ability he was unfamiliar with:

["Touch of Rot"]

The essence of Fafnir brought the glove around his hand to melt away from the front, leaving his palm exposed as a sizzling met his ears; an acidic hiss that brought a haze of steam at his hand. A groan like stones rubbing together emitted from the titan, prompting Finn to keep his hand pressed against it before cracks formed along its torso.

'It's…melting?' He realized.

He could feel the now desperate titan opting to thrash its limbs as he pulled his hand away, sliding back before he could be crushed. At the abdomen of the giant, the stone shell that protected its stomach had dissolved, leaving only liquidized stone to drip down as its bright-pink flesh was exposed beneath.

'--It worked. I can use that opening,' he recognized.

The efficiency of the dragon's ability that was assimilated surprised him, seeing as it was without a cooldown nor mana restriction. He sprinted right towards the titan with bursting confidence, easily slipping past its lumbering swings.

Getting into reach this time, a thrust of his dagger brought it to sink right into its vulnerable belly. It was incredibly hot; he felt that much just from the handle before dragging the blade up in a violent motion.

Steaming blood gushed out from the opened stomach, leaving its innards to spill before the titanous creature collapsed.

Finn stood in front of it, exhaling as he witnessed the triumph born of his ingenuity. That sense of weakness was washed away, at least for the moment–he felt elated.

["Mineral Titan defeated."] ["Anarch Coin x2000 obtained."]

[Experience Points: +5000] [21010/60000]

[Assimilated ability from [Mineral Titan]: "Stone Digging" 1 / 5]

Vanquishing just one felt like a monumental feat in the moment, though bringing his gaze up suffocated that triumph as he found the crusher turning a half dozen into powder already. None of the experience was shared to him, though he was well aware of the reason.

'It's only a theory, but it feels like kills are only shared when two parties recognize each other as working together. Even if this guy dragged me out here to "help", he's still fighting selfishly–he's having fun out there, not caring about much else,' Finn theorized.

Seung crashed down a few meters in front of him with a devastating impact, having landed while driving one of the titans straight into the ground. The force was enough to completely blow the giant away, leaving the excitable crusher hopping to his feet with a laugh as he looked over at the assassin.

"What're you standing around for? There's walking piles of EXP all around you! Get 'em before they turn cold!" Seung shouted as though speaking of hot-and-ready food.

Before he could even get a word out, the crusher passed by as a blur of gold, crashing right into another of the natural inhabitants of the quarry.

It was becoming clear what stirred the fire of the brawler's immutable mindset that had allowed him to climb to such strength; Finn saw it as clear as day as the man laughed while crashing into the titans.

'He really does see this all as some sort of game. Sure, parts of it are "game-like", but it's life or death–this is reality. Still, it's like somehow he really has no fear, as though if he died, it would only take hitting the "Restart" prompt to come back,' Finn acknowledged.

That type of thinking went against every bit of the cautious nature he sought to inhabit, though he couldn't deny it himself. Seeing Seung blitz through the creatures, crossing the stretch of flat stone with a lack of worry–it was refreshing.

It brought him back to his days of grinding out in MMORPGs, getting excited at the sight of new monsters, elated when on the brink of a new level, wondering what skills he might obtain.

Even if it went against his survival instincts, he decided to follow the crusher's path, if only just this once. He stood there, finding multiple of the lumbering giants of rocky exteriors approaching him.

'--They're just lumps of EXP. Don't fear dying–no, don't even consider that being a possibility. Right now, I'm just leveling up,' he convinced himself, flipping his daggers in his hands as he readied himself.

The flat geography of the stone quarry without trees nor slopes made it a completely open place to fight in, leaving no places for cover to protect or hide oneself. The heat of what felt like a day in the peak of summer already made him break a sweat, feeling the heated stone beneath his feet as the group of titans approached.

He waited until one of them was just a step behind the other of its kin before swiftly moving his arm, tossing his dagger right by its head–

["Blade Warp"] [Mana: -100] [2650/2750]

At its shoulder, he arrived, twisting himself around as he didn't strike with his dagger, but instead pushed his bare palm against the side of the unknowing giant's head before it could react.

["Touch of Rot"]

He felt the sturdy stone melt away before his fingers made contact with the flesh beneath, pulling away before stabbing his dagger right into the exposed part of its head–SQUELCH.

["Mineral Titan defeated."] ["Anarch Coin x2000 obtained."]

[Experience Points: +5000] [26010/60000]

[Assimilated ability from [Mineral Titan]: "Reinforce: Stone" 2 / 5]