Reaper's Resurgence: A System Reset

Alexia Knight

I smile at the System Message that I let play after killing the forty-third scythid and dumping their body with the others.

[Level 27 Lesser Scythid Defeated. User's earned EXP has been increased due to killing a being whose level is five or more higher than their own.]

[Six points have been earned for killing a creature five levels above you.]

{Congratulations! You have leveled up to level 23! Your Species has awarded you +2 VIT, +2 DEX, +2 STR, +2 MAG, and +2 MEN. Your Class has awarded you +1 VIT, +1 DEX, +1 STR, +2 MAG, and +2 MEN.}

Nice!

The chittering freezes for a moment from all around the forest before a wave of chittering echoes out and then everything returns to normal. Which I've learned by now marks their leader – who is a scythid spanning two meters in height with much sharper blades living in the main tree – giving out orders to their subordinates. Something that quickly made me realize that the leader was a Class D species. Since that's the bare minimum for actual intelligence in a creature.

The first Class D species I've seen in the dungeon.

I climb up the cliff before kneeling down at the edge even though I don't need to and looking down to watch the shift in the scythid's patrols. Something that's happened a few times before.

Every time I clear out too many of the bugs, making their leader aware that something is wrong.

Good thing the leader isn't smart enough to actually leave their tree and hunt me themselves. Because that could be a problem, what with it being level thirty-one and all. And a Class D species instead of E, making my advantage in species a little weaker than against the Es.

Sooner or later though I'll finish off all of the scythids on the ground and have to move on to the ones in the trees and on the leaves themselves. Which will likely be a lot more dangerous.

I look around the forest, checking out the numbers of scythids left and finding there to still be around a hundred or so. Although there are probably another fifty ish left inside of the trees from what I've seen the few times I passed by an opening to one.

And only around one or two dozen of the things are on the ground, the rest being on the large leaves making up little platforms high up on the trees.

Looks like my hunt will only stay on the ground for another hour or so.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

I sigh at that thought, feeling more than a little frustrated at having been in here for what must be up to half a day already. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the third day of the Reset has already started.

Then again, these things are making for good EXP and points.

Especially points, considering how much I've shot up the rankings by now.

I watch as the patrols shift around until they're set in place again. Then I study the patrols and the new jobs assigned to each scythid, making sure to also watch out for any of them that may be leaving the forest to my location, which actually doesn't happen often, before eventually jumping down to the hiding spot again.

Time to go back to hunting.

Somewhere in Tutorial Block #2

[#1 Alexia Knight – 543 points]

[#2 Lucas Nightshade – 467 points]

[#3 Leif Eriksson – 425 points]

[#4 Aurora Frost – 421 points]

[#5 Leonidas Silver – 397 points]

[#6 Isabella d'Aragon – 385 points]

[#7 Alexander Frost – 374 points]

[#8 Noah Kowalski – 373 points]

[#9 Nathan Briar – 369 points]

[#10 Damien Black – 365 points]

Aurora grits her teeth as she looks at the leaderboards, finding her position to have dropped since the last time she checked. And to make matters worse, the man responsible for it is the damned former king of Arcadia.

I hope that bastard drowns in a river in whatever dungeon he's in. It's just too bad we were all spawned in different dungeons, assuming the memory was speaking the truth.

The woman sighs after a few seconds before glancing at the top two positions and feeling just as much confusion as she suspects every other former Ascendant is feeling.

Just who is this girl? Some sort of former Ascendant who never managed to get a single legendary feat?

The Hound she understands being at the top of the rankings. After all, he's the Hound. But a random no-name girl without any Legendary Feats to her name?

That she can't understand. Especially since she's ranking even higher than the Hound is.

Maybe she has some sort of special elemental affinity that she wasn't ever able to use until now? I know just from my new class alone that there are new classes introduced to this Reset, so it's possible someone of incredible potential but no actual ability to reach it got a chance from this Reset and is shooting to achieve the same strength as the Hound…

Even if the very thought of that terrifies the former Empress of Niflheim.

She shakes her head again and closes out of the leaderboard, focusing her attention once more on the stone bridge hanging between her and the other side of the lava-filled ravine. And more importantly, at the kobolds standing on the other side and all around the bridge itself. The lizard people simply patrolling it without doing much else thanks to the lack of anything attacking them at the moment.

Aurora kneels down while drawing an arrow from her quiver and nocking it onto her bow, her cloak billowing thanks to the heat wafting off of the lava down below. Then she draws it while aiming at the highest level kobold on the bridge.

Well, considering the danger of this Reset, it's entirely possible that this new girl could be killed by other people who are just jealous of her ranking.

And with that thought, she lets loose the arrow, sending it flying straight into the skull of the kobold before the thing's entire head explodes into fragments of ice that bombard the other kobolds around it.