The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary - Chapter 65: Meeting Again After Running

Welcome to the world that has shed its old skin.

It's an age of avant-garde technologies that break common sense. Science that transcends fantasy. And yet, it has lost its charm in the face of something even more fantastical.

The presence of mana is for those who are blessed by their origins. The Rankers are the true elites of their circles.

A long lifespan is possible. Gaining superhuman powers is feasible. But what use is personal power when the entire existence of your species is on the line?

Things on Earth are much more serious than the general populace is aware of. A threat of the unknown looms over the existence of everything living and otherwise.

Humanity may soon need to leave the only place it calls home. And seek shelter somewhere else in the infinite universe.

Who would find the Oasis for humans who have never been so powerful or as helpless as they are now? Will it be the hero they asked for? Or will it be the not-a-hero they need?

What happens when that not-a-hero gains one of the most broken powers?

===

I am lost and found

In the world of dreams

My serenity awaits

Amid the banshee screams!

Within mayhem, I'll find my reason

Within sorrows, my bliss

In the darkness, I'll see my light

In the desert, my oasis!

- Grayback

When people awaken, their class gets ranked.F means nothing.SS means everything.Nobody talks about SSS ranks, because they aren’t real. Well, they weren’t real until he became one.Lucen Ivara was fine with staying average. Keep his head down, take low-tier jobs, eat something hot once in a while. That was the plan.Then his system came online.It didn’t follow the rules.There were no guides. It seemed limitless. There weren’t any safety rails he could cling into.Just a blank interface and a quiet message floating in front of him.[You are the first.]Now Lucen is crafting spells no one’s seen before, hiding a class that could get him killed, and trying to scrape by in a city where dungeon breaks, guild politics, and hidden power plays are part of daily life.He’s not looking to be a hero.But with power like this, staying invisible might be the hardest thing to do..

Orin Stonewood rises from a prestigious smithing family in the Astral Kingdom. Wealth, recognition, excellence, and charisma - he had it all. But life from twenty-five ended on such terms for him. He falls victim to a dark ritual. The fate after this mystery was to rise and fall in every life he reincarnates in. The ninth reincarnation made him Zmey Ashbane. Into a world of terrifying, exciting tales. It seemed as if every encounter in this world wanted to tie him down for some reason. But he knew his goal. To break free from the ritual and rise as a master of fate, not its pawn.(Update rate: 28 new chapters a week)(The book has a slow progression. If, after reading up to chapter 100, nothing in this story interests you, that means it isn’t for you.)Due to the progression, I will lock the novel at chapter 60.