Reaper's Resurgence: A System Reset

Alexia Knight

After making it back to the piranha river, I summon my glaive before kneeling down a few feet from the water.

Okay, so how should I go about this? I don't really need the bait anymore now that I can sense their locations from their magical energy, but at the same time that would require me getting closer to the water…

Then again, I don't think they'd be able to drag me in anymore. Not considering our level difference, their size, and my quantum body skill. Kind of like those spiderlings from the hidden area, but quite a bit stronger.

I frown at the mental image of a piranha jumping by and taking a chunk out of me before ending up back in the water as it eats it.

Not a pleasant image.

I won't get anywhere just sitting here though, so I stand up before grabbing my glaive with both hands and taking a step closer to the river. Then I focus on the dozens of magical energy sources swimming by for a few seconds, trying to make note of any patterns in their movements. And once I feel ready, I shoot forward, swinging my glaive straight through one of the piranhas with the blade lighting up with quantum energy.

Just as quickly as I moved forward, I jump back, just barely dodging three piranhas who try to jump at me for sticking my arms out over the water.

[Level 10 Lesser Venomous Piranha Defeated – User's earned EXP has been increased a small amount due to killing a being whose level is higher than their own.]

[Three points have been earned for killing a creature two levels above you.]

The venomous part of their name – something I had inconveniently forgotten about – has me stiffening up slightly, but it doesn't stop me from rushing out to kill another. And then another. And one more before I jump far back from the river, just barely making it off of the shore without ending up falling in due to the piranhas charging the shore and collapsing a few feet around it.

I frown as I look up at the river, finding it to be a few dozen feet in width.

Just how high a level do I have to be to jump across? And if I tried jumping, would I even be able to make it without being caught by a piranha jumping out of the water?

The larger piranhas don't seem to want to leave the center of the river for some reason. Almost as if they're guarding something.

Eggs maybe? There certainly are a heck of a lot of piranhas here. And the larger ones are the only ones that actually stay here instead of moving on. Or some of them stay. A lot are also moving on themselves.

This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Makes me wonder where this river is even leading anyways.

I frown before flipping my glaive and getting back into a ready position somewhere else on the shore, hoping that I'll at least reach level ten before the entirety of the shore falls apart from their attacks.

Because I could really use another active skill right about now.

Somewhere in Tutorial Block #1

Lucas Nightshade, one of the most powerful ascendants in the known universe and Hound of the Apocalypse, scowls at the goblin in front of him as he pulls his sword out of its gut and swipes the blade across its throat.

[Level 6 Goblin Defeated – User's earned EXP has been decreased a slight amount due to killing a being whose level is lower than their own.]

Back to killing goblins just like when the System first initialized…

The man has short black hair and blue eyes, and despite his Legendary Feat naming him the Hound of the Apocalypse, he's only about five foot six inches tall, something the other Ascendants all joke about behind his back. But never in front of him.

Lucas lets out a sigh as he looks through the jungle trees at the relatively large goblin village in the distance, marking an important area in the start of the Jungle of the Lost Dungeon he found himself arriving in the new dimension at.

Guess there really were consequences to that old bastard's death. I still can't figure out why the League of Ascendants would let him kill himself somehow after three centuries of forgetting he even existed…

Then again, Lucas never really understood the League despite having to work with it a few times for his own goals. The group, in his eyes, is completely insane, doing whatever they deem liable to grant them more power.

And the quantum element is the most powerful element. Certainly something that would grant that power.

If they had actually even had the slightest bit of success, which Lucas knows they didn't.

Lucas shakes his head, deciding not to think about their stupidity and the consequences it's brought upon him as well. But right when he begins to step towards the goblin village, a System Message appears in his vision.

[The leaderboards have been updated. You are now #2 on the leaderboards.]

Oh? That girl is back on the move, then?

The girl currently fighting with him over the top spot on the leaderboards is a complete mystery to Lucas.

When the System Reset was announced, he was certain it would just end up with maybe a few new ascendants with the rest not really changing. Simply because of the benefits even a single Legendary Feat can give. Especially to one's starting class options.

Unless some of the pre-reset ascendants go around hunting the other pre-reset ascendants, which he can absolutely see happening.

But then this girl comes, repeatedly taking the top spot away from him. A girl he has never so much as heard of, much less seen a Legendary Feat announcement for.

And then there's her name…

Almost as if her name was directly targeting him, it is made up of the first name that she had talked about wanting to use if they ever had children, and her last name is that of his old friend.

Lucas can't help but grit his teeth a little every time he sees her name on top of the leaderboards. But he also knows not to take his past sorrows out on others by now.

It's what led to them leaving him behind in a lowly backwater kingdom without a word of farewell in the first place.

He lets out a sigh before looking up at the village again.

I wonder how those two are doing anyways? Are they still alive? I can't imagine this System Reset killing either of them. They were both Ascendants as well after all.

A few seconds pass as sounds of the jungle fill his ears. Eventually he begins walking towards the village again.

Either way, I won't let whoever this new girl is take my number one spot on the leaderboards. We'll see who comes out on top in this reset.