Godfather's System

I was tempted to level up I dashed in the opposite direction of the beast horde, only to take a sharp turn at the first opportunity, circling as much as the complicated corridors had allowed.

Corridors that I could remember more sharply than I expected, considering most of my attention was focused on trying to track the smell of the stables and the location of the other servants rather than just the layout.

Memory stat was proving its worth.

I moved as fast as I could when I listened to the sounds of combat, which was showing signs of spreading, more and more servants letting out crazed cries, begging for various aspects of destruction for power and blood.

It didn't make me feel any better about the sole skill in my possession. That destruction title was clearly not good news.

I only spent a second feeling bad about it. Ultimately, I needed to get away safely from whatever was going on, which was a challenge enough.

Unfortunately, there was only one potential exit, and that path was blocked by a battle between beasts …

And crazy people, I completed as I saw a movement at the other end of a corridor. A servant, with a blade in his hand, swinging desperately, his expression reflecting a rage and ecstatic ones, one that would have been enough to unsettle me even without the disgusting crimson glow in his eyes, making him look more like a monster than a man.

Yet, that madness was not without its benefits, every swing of his leaving a lingering glow of similar nature on the beasts he was attacking. Something dangerous, considering that it took only a few wounds to take down the beasts that were making me struggle.

That wasn't the only change. He was also considerably faster than the other servant, and if the ease he managed to shake off the beasts that managed to take a bite was any indicator, stronger as well. Either the servant I had fought against was a weakling.

Or the crimson transformation they were going through granted them those improvements … at a great cost.

Interestingly, despite all the improvements, his fighting style was oddly similar to the previous servant. The swing itself was different, but the movement pattern was the same. Complete the attack fully, pull back to the exact starting position, and deliver another full-powered, oddly perfect strike.

Weird, but it gave me hope to pass him without leveling up.

That was not to say leveling up again was not tempting. Tripling my Strength to deliver deadlier hits was tempting, and so was increasing my Agility to boost my reflexes. But neither temptation was enough to rival the fear of triggering Toross' attention.

I rushed forward, joining the beasts to attack the servant. The servant didn't react to my presence, not even registering me as a threat, while the beasts didn't try to attack me. I wasn't an expert on the spear, but after using it to murder hundreds of beasts, I managed to develop a basic competency.

I waited a few seconds, waiting for an opportunity, which came in the form of one of the larger beasts, slamming against him just as he was starting to swing. I pushed the spear forward, pushing as hard as I could manage in his weapon-wielding arm until the spear pushed through it and sank against the carcass of a beast behind him.

Pinning him.

And, I charged forward, leaving him to fight the rest of the beasts.

I didn't try to kill him, because even against an ordinary servant, it took dozens of hits before I could take him down. I had no idea what was the limit of his new Health, but with the ease, with which heshrugged off beasts' attacks, it couldn't be too shabby.

I didn't have the time to deal with them. Instead, bet on his crazed nature and ignored him, hoping that he would focus on the beasts, ignoring me. Though I didn't expect him to just pull his arm until he broke the spear, attacking the beasts once more.

I rushed forward, ignoring the battle that was going on, staying away from the edge of the battle.

And, somehow, managed to reach the stairs without coming across another group. I climbed the stairs desperately, once again pulling the sigil from my pocket, ready to unlock the door immediately, and considering whether it was worth the risk of trying to close it behind me if the door was already open.

Especially if I heard anyone other than Toross following me.

"Luckily, no one did," I muttered as I paused at the top of the stairs, looking at the next floor. I didn't have the luxury of stopping, but sometimes, things were shocking enough to force bad decisions. The current state of the huge, magical, and previously imposing gate was one of those moments.

Formerly imposing… One of the wings had been ripped of the hinges and thrown against the floor, almost fifty feet away from the initial position. Either someone was putting on a show… Or it was effortless for them.

The other wing was still in place, but with a large cave-in in the center, bending the metal, leaving behind the sparks of crimson that were still dancing, corroding the silver.

And, at the center of that dent, looked four indentations suspiciously looked like a punch…

Not trying to face Toross was the correct decision.

I rushed forward, ignoring the existential threat that came from yet another close call with death — a feeling that I had felt far too many times to be entirely healthy. However, whenever I saw an open bedroom door, I pushed in.

The wardrobes were unfortunately locked, but I didn't let it bother me. I just grabbed all the blankets I could find, preparing for my next desperate trick. After making sure the bundle was sufficiently large, I continued running.

However, a shiver hit me as I continued, as I realized that the corridor started to change. First, I noticed a red spot on the wall, one that I would have written off as an illusion if I hadn't seen something similar on the surface of the broken door.

A flickering red spark.

I hoped it was just another remainder of Toross' reckless charge, a hope that died quickly as I moved, the number of red sparks only increasing. When I arrived at the stairs, half of the marble had already corroded into black stone with a rough surface, the red glow that surrounded not helping the impression any.

"What a shitty new world," I muttered as I started climbing, doing my best to avoid touching the red spots, hoping that my jumps would be enough for that. However, as more and more stairs turned completely untouchable, I faced a new problem.

I would go down and search for shoes — a great oversight not to combine it with my search for blankets, but I didn't expect to climb demonic stairs — or risk myself touching that red energy.

Or, I would cheat.

[-3600 Experience]

[Level up!]

[Stat Points +10]

[-10 Stat Points]

[+10 Strength]

Was assigning all points to strength wasteful, certainly? But I didn't have time to waste experimenting one by one — especially since, for some reason, the stat empowered my legs less than my arms.

Instead, I jumped vertically, taking note of the improvement — as it would have been ironic to fail due to my haste and touch the red energy.

As I jumped, a cry exploded from downstairs. At this point, deafening mad cries coming from downstairs were not rare, but the accompanying pressure, one that was even thicker and stronger than Toross' initial rage was certainly exceptional.

A kind way to tell me to move. Yet, just as I jumped up, I found myself reaching the next stage, I triggered the leveling process once again, the glow surrounding me intensifying by a great margin.

[-4500 Experience]

[Level up!]

[Stat Points +10]

[-5400 Experience]

[Level up!]

[Stat Points +10]

[-6500 Experience]

[Level up!]

[Stat Points +10]

I didn't have the time or intention to repeat the process, as I was aware I had only a couple thousand experience points remaining, but during the last level-up, the sensation was different.

Like the path forward was blocked.

Even as I jumped again, trying to understand the reason.

It didn't take long.

[Level: 10

Experience (— /— )]

With no indicator for current and future experience, it was clear that the system had reached its limit. Whether temporarily or permanently, I had no idea, nor did I want to actually test it. Instead, I continued jumping through the stairs, hoping that the corrosion that was going on would damage the invisible barrier that was keeping the balcony inaccessible as well.

When I climbed up, I came across several body parts, ripped violently, likely signs of the battle I managed to trigger — but ended much differently than I expected.

"Hopefully the balcony would work," I found myself muttering as I finally reached the next floor, the corridor that was connected both to my room and the room that I had been summoned.

That red energy was coming from the courtyard, and it covered the next set of stairs completely, with no angle to be leveraged to climb further even if I put all the points I had just received into Strength.

The sound of the commotion was overwhelming as well, monster cries that put the little stampede I had created into shame, occasionally cutting short with huge thuds, hardly something that made me enthusiastic about testing it in the first place.

I dashed, hoping that I wasn't about to lock myself into a dead end.