“You mother**er…” I heard a voice ring through my head, and all of a sudden, my sense of touch disappeared, leaving me in a senseless black void.

A dim darkness ate away at the center of my sanity as I helplessly floated in this abyss-like state, wondering where I even was.

It was a bit scary being left alone with nothing but your own thoughts… but I’ve experienced something like this before.

Sure I still had some of my senses, and yes, I was aware of where I was, but at that time, I was a pussy and had been freshly drafted into the army.

I internally sighed at the thoughts of my dark past, and as I didn’t want them to resurface any farther, I shifted the subject in my head.

Where… am I? Is this the work of that deep voice I previously heard? It must be, right?

Hundreds of questions floated through my mind, but the last thing I experienced was the fear of the unknown.

Diving into the unknown, whether it was my choice or not, occurred tons of times, so I’d say I was a bit experienced.

VWOOM

All of a sudden, I hit a hard surface, and all five of my senses came rushing back like a wave of salty water tossing you under it.

The wave beat me up until it finally washed over me, leaving me to finally tell where I was… kinda.

“The… void?”

It looked similar to the place I had been when I had just died before reincarnating into this current life.

Everything was dark, including the smell, taste, touch, and sound.

It was a strange feeling, lying on a surface of darkness, but before I could think any deeper, a large eye appeared in front of me.

The eye pumped with red juices, creating a bloodshot image that almost seemed to hold me in place with intimidation.

It was something straight out of a horror story and something even I wouldn’t have thought of as a monster… but was this really a monster?

“What the hell are you?” I asked as it didn’t give off the same intimidating feel as a monster that is infused with large doses of bloodlust.

The bloodlust would eat away at your mental fortitude, eventually leaving you helpless to its sharp claws, teeth, or potent poison.

But… this thing didn’t have that bloodlust, and instead, it felt more… sharp? It felt like I was in the presence of a godly blade.

“Wait… Don’t tell me you’re the-“

“That’s right. You tried to pick me, didn’t you? A lowly human trying to wield me… me?!” The eye crowed out, its feint veins now popping out with an excruciating amount of pressure.

,m It wasn’t like bloodlust, but instead, it felt like a thousand knives were digging into my skin, scraping the bones inside my body.

“Urk… Why can’t I use my status?” I muttered while desperately trying to activate a skill.

“The person who wields me shouldn’t rely on such a puny thing like the system. Skills? Stats? Those things mean nothing before the best of the best with a single weapon. They can take on armies with a single point of strength. They can take on entire kingdoms with an average amount of magic, speed, and defense,”

As the eye began to rant, I felt something appear in my right hand.

When I looked towards my hand, I noticed an average metal spear had appeared, making me a bit confused as to what I was supposed to do with it… until I felt a wave of bloodlust.

I snapped my head right back towards the large eye, and I soaked in the information like a dry sponge.

“Overcome it. Now that you’ve improved with the spear, this challenge should mean nothing to you, right?” The eye asked while bones began to form straight from the void.

Tendons held the bones together, and cartilage helped support them. The muscles then helped create the actual body, and rising metal formed an almost nonexistent suit of armor on the warriors before me.

They only had a shiny bronze helmet, with their muscles being the actual armor for their body.

“You bastard… Tch…”

“What? Scared? Are you scared? You should’ve improved your skills since your past life, right? Or what? Did you forget that actual skill was the basis of real power?”

The eye taunted me as five spartan soldiers charged towards me, their swords high in the air, ready to slice me open.

Okay… if the system is gone, that means my strength and speed boost are gone… meaning this truly is a test of skill.

Ting

I deflected the first sword with ease, but I knew that was just a setup for the others to stab me from every direction.

After ducking down and dodging all of the other four swords, I tried to sweep their ankles… but they didn’t move, causing me to get slashed in the back twice.

The others I just managed to block with the handle of my spear, but the attacks were so powerful that I could hear the handle already beginning to crack.

Plus, the toll on my shoulders with that single block hurt like hell, and my joints were now throbbing in pain.

“HUFF… HUFF… HUFF… HUFF…”

“Why the ** are you running away!? WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU RUNNING AWAY?! ARE YOU TELLING ME YOU CAN’T EVEN BEAT FIVE OF THESE MOTHERFUCKERS!” The eye’s form strained with even more intensity, causing it to drip blood from its dark red pupil.

“HUFF… HUFF… HUFF… HUFF… Just shut… Huff… the hell up and watch,” I muttered, and upon hearing a single spartan soldier catch up to me, I jumped up and took a closer grip toward the blade of my spear.

FWOOSH… Ksh

As I twirled in the air, I built up enough momentum to make a dent in the bronze helmet… causing the spartan soldier to fall unconscious.

“So that’s why they wear helmets….”