Chapter 120: The Pugilist Awakens

The system interface snapped open, filling Luke’s vision with a glowing notification.

[Princess Charlie has acquired a Second Class: Pugilist]

For a moment, his brain couldn’t even process it. The words registered — but meaning didn’t follow. His body was collapsing, every limb heavy, drowning in exhaustion. Stamina — zero. One eye blind, the other barely holding open, flickering against his will.

And then — darkness swallowed everything.

But not for long.

A shadow loomed over him. Charlie.

Without effort, she dragged Morvat’s corpse over and dropped it next to him like it weighed nothing. Then, without hesitation, she scooped Luke into her arms — princess carry style.

“Pretty sure… in the movies… it’s the guy who carries the girl… not the other way around,” he muttered, voice thin, ragged.

She glanced down, confused.

“Never mind… You’ve never seen a movie,” he sighed, letting his head fall back.

Charlie carried him toward the orc village. Her steps were steady. Fluid. She set him down gently against the trunk of a tree.

A few minutes later, something heavy landed at his feet with a wet, hollow thud — a half-dead orc, dumped like garbage. Charlie stomped on the creature’s chest, pinning it in place. She crouched, grabbed one of his kukris, and pressed it into Luke’s hand.

No words. None were needed.

He understood.

His fingers trembled as he gripped the handle. His arm felt like lead. But with what little strength he had left, he drove the blade into the orc’s chest. Then, slowly — deliberately — he activated Basic Blood Regeneration.

Vitality drained. He felt it flood into him in sluggish waves. Wounds pulled closed — not cleanly, but enough. Bone fractures throbbed but held. His blind eye stayed ruined. The shattered ribs didn’t knit. But the pain dulled, and the thin thread of HP began crawling back upward, tick by tick. His mana emptied.

The orc spasmed once. Twice. Then went limp — life snuffed out as the last sliver of its existence was siphoned away.

Luke slumped back, breathing hard. The pain still clawed at him — his insides felt like sacks of broken glass shifting with every breath — but he was no longer balancing on the edge of death.

“We did it,” he muttered, half in disbelief. “We can finally go back… to the Safe Zone.”

But the system wasn’t finished. A soft glow flickered to life.

The mission orb.

The one he’d nearly forgotten about.

*Contract of Assassination (Exclusive)*
Objective: Kill the Orc Lord.

The Orc Lord hides deep within the forest, near the mountains, in the final orc village nestled at the base of the cliffs. He spends his days enthroned, basking in the brutal grandeur of his position, orchestrating constant raids against tutorial participants.

Since the death of an Orc Captain, you’ve been marked as a real threat to his rule.

Requirements:
– Approach the target alone.
– Bringing any companion will cause the Orc Lord to relocate.

Reward: (???)

(NOTICE: The Orc Lord’s main forces have been eliminated. The path will be easier.)

Luke closed the interface, staring at it with a bitter expression.

“The path will be easier, huh?” A dry laugh slipped out, hollow. “Yeah… right. I’ve had enough of cheating death for one day.”

With Charlie’s help, he forced himself to his feet. His body protested with every motion. Muscles throbbed. Bones shifted wrong beneath the skin. Some fingers wouldn’t even respond — jammed, broken, like they were stuffed with sand and splinters of glass.

Together, step by dragging step, they made their way to the Mantis Tunnel. At the edge of the hole, Luke shifted into mist, slipping through the narrow passage. On the other side, he reformed midair, activating his cloak to slow the fall. Charlie emerged from his soul moments later, landing beside him.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

His hand brushed over his forearm. The bones… they moved. Not the way bones should move. Loose. Misaligned. Dancing under the skin like shards of a broken puzzle barely held together.

But he was still standing. And for now… that was enough.

He could’ve activated Meditation. Let the mana and stamina refill, let the system do its work — efficient, clean, mechanical. But not now. Not this time.

Right now… all he wanted was something simpler. Something primal. Sleep. Real, honest, biological sleep. After everything, he’d earned it.

Right before surrendering to unconsciousness, Luke opened Charlie’s interface. A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth, despite the fatigue anchoring every muscle.

“Alright… so you became a Pugilist.”

She nodded. Calm. Unbothered. Like she was confirming something as obvious as the sky being blue.

Charlie had awakened a Second Class.

And even buried beneath exhaustion, pain, and the dull haze of a body barely functioning, Luke couldn’t help it — a spark of something flickered inside. Excitement.

[Second Class]: A Second Class emerges when an innate talent awakens within you. This power, long dormant, reveals itself in a crucial moment, granting access to new skills and unlocking new evolutionary paths. A Second Class isn’t something you choose or learn—it’s a natural manifestation of a talent that’s always been there, opening a new road for development.