Endless Leveling Done Right!

Chapter 571: Start Of The Etherion Challenge

(Disclaimer: I’m terribly sorry. I was so sleepy that I posted the message that was meant for the author’s note in the Chapter. I cannot delete it even if I wanted to because the word count surpassed the limit.)

The day of the Etherion Challenge finally arrived.

Alex carefully put on the battle gear that he had prepared for this occasion. It was an armor set that he had bought from the Arcana Shop for two thousand Arcana Points.

He then opened his status page to look at his stats and smiled faintly. He had come a long way from being a helpless and weak human that had to "fight" goblins by running away.

Now, he could easily dispose of them.

———

Alex Stratos

Age: 17

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Mana: 727/727

Job Class: Oathkeeper

Subclass: Demon Slayer

Strength - 126 [+6]

Intelligence - 35 [+3]

Dexterity - 20 [+3]

Agility - 110 [+3]

Constitution - 197 [+4]

Stamina - 197[+4]

Magic - 724 [+3]

Luck - 34 [+3]

AP: 4,740

Divine Skills: Voice of the End, Ten Thousand Heroes [EX]

Unique Skill: Power of the Verdant Throne, Gravitas Dominion [EX], Growth [EX]

Active Skills: Oathkeeper’s Duty, Shield [EX], Shield Bash, Unyielding Pact, Echo of the Sworn, Balance Breaker, Shield Charge, Rear-Ender Thrust, Enchant Fire, Enchant Holy, Culling Blade, Grand Cross, Light, Mirror Shield [EX], Spike Shield [EX], Shield Chaser [EX]

Passive Skills: Improved Stone Throw, Head Shot, Rebuke of Steel, Shield of Thorns, Multi-task, Mana Heart Oath [EX],

———

Alex was quite happy with his growth before his gaze landed on his age, which would soon change.

Yes. A month from now, he would turn eighteen.

Suddenly, he heard a knock on his door, prompting him to close his status page for the time being.

"Come in."

The door opened, and Lavinia entered the room. Despite her curiosity, she made sure to lock the door behind her.

The young lady then walked towards Alex and gave him a tight hug before kissing his lips.

"You look really cool right now," Lavinia said, smiling. "This is the first time I’m seeing this style of armor."

"It’s an Assassin Cre*d Exclusive. It’s made for Aura farming," Alex replied. "Pretty expensive too."

"Assassin Cre*d Exclusive?" Lavinia blinked. "Aura farming? What’s that?"

"Simply put, it is worn to make me look suave." Alex cupped the young lady’s face and pecked her lips three times.

Lavinia giggled because Alex was being playful right now. But she didn’t mind it. In fact, she would rather he be playful than injured in today’s challenge.

"I’m really worried," Lavinia admitted, while trying to hide the anxiety in her voice. "This challenge is very brutal. I won’t be able to forgive myself if you get crippled because of me."

"That’s not going to happen," Alex assured her. "Please trust me. I won’t carelessly throw my life away."

After a few more kisses, Lavinia finally calmed down.

The two were starting to get in the mood when someone else knocked at the door to remind Alex that the challenge was about to begin.

"Alex, are you ready to go?" Roselia asked from the other side of the door. "Everyone is waiting for you at the plaza."

"Understood, Roselia," Alex replied. "Just give me a minute. I’m trying to raise my Good Luck Charm."

"You have two minutes." Roselia stated before finally moving away from the door.

She had seen Lavinia enter the young man’s room and kept the other servants from disturbing them. But it was almost time for the challenge, so she decided to remind Alex and Lavinia about it in case they had lost track of time.

Using the last two minutes that was allotted to them, Alex assured the anxious young lady that he already had a plan in mind.

The two then shared one last passionate kiss before Alex pulled the hood over his head. Since he wanted to make an impression, he had to dress up for the occasion.

And, just like he expected, Roselia arched an eyebrow after seeing his get-up.

With a faint smile on his face, the young man walked past Lavinia’s personal maid.

He then headed towards the plaza like a warrior that was about to fight a war.

Everguard was strapped to his left arm. This shield was the symbol of the first Oathkeeper, whose legacy he now carried.

As he passed by the villagers, all of them couldn’t help but look at him with respect.

Since he was wearing a hood, it was hard for the others to see his eyes. The shadows over his face gave him a mysterious persona.

This was what Alex had aimed for when he bought this Assassin Set.

While many would think that he couldn’t see properly with the hood covering his face, he could in fact, see everything as if the fabric were transparent.

Roselia guided Alex to the small stage that had been set up in the plaza so that everyone could see him.

Ramza, Vega, and Elena were already there waiting for him.

And just like everyone else, they were impressed by the young man’s choice of lightweight armor.

"Today, I have come to take the Etherion Challenge," Alex declared. "Not as an Oathkeeper, but as a man who wishes to gain the approval of the Hartwell Family. I plan to make Lavinia—and a few ladies as well—my wife."

Hearing the words "a few ladies as well" made the warriors glare at the young man as if he had betrayed their brotherhood.

Diona glanced at the young man with a sneer plastered on her face. She was wearing a mask so that Alex wouldn’t recognize her later when she joined the other warriors in pursuing him.

She had also noticed the surveillance of the Ninjas. This made her realize that going to the forest before they took notice of her was the right move.

The Beast Conqueror had already relayed her orders. Later, all she needed to do was give the monsters a signal and they would make their move.

There was only one result that Diona wished to see.

Alex’s lifeless body drenched in his own blood.

"I don’t know how many of you will be joining the challenge today," Alex stated. "But there will only be one result. My victory... So, go all out and try to catch me... That is if you can even catch up."

He tilted his chin provocatively, fueling the fighting spirit of everyone in the plaza.

Ramza and Vega had to calm themselves down because they almost felt like joining the challenge in order to personally kick the young man’s butt as punishment for him being cocky.

"Well then, our Oathkeeper has spoken," Ramza said with a politician’s smile. "I hold in my hand an hour glass. The moment all of the sands are gone, the hunt will begin. This challenge will last until sunset. Warriors of the Clawford Tribe! Do not bring shame to our name!

"Don’t treat this young man before you as the Oathkeeper but as a challenger who is throwing down the gauntlet to all of us right now. Do you want to lose to scum—errr to him?!"

"""Nooooooooo!"""

"Do you want him to mock you for life?!"

"""Noooooooooooooo!"""

"Then you know what to do! Beat the crap out of him until he pukes blood!"

"""Yeah!"""

The corner of Alex’s lips twitched because he felt that his future grandfather-in-law might be taking things a little too personally.

However, he thought that this was only Ramza’s way of firing everyone up, so he decided to go with the flow for now.

"Are you ready, Alex?" Ramza asked.

"Yes" Alex replied.

"Then let the Etherion Challenge begin!" Ramza declared before turning the hourglass upside down.

With that signal, Alex summoned a magical shield and jumped on top of it, fully intending to use it as a skateboard.

"Shield Chaser!" Alex shouted.

A moment later, the shield shot towards the forest, leaving a cloud of dust in its wake.

He had originally planned to just run towards the forest before summoning his shield to head deeper inside.

However, when he had opened the map, a familiar name had greeted him and made him realize he had no choice but to go all out from the start.

Diona’s name was highlighted in red, which meant that she was here to target Alex personally.

He already had an idea on what the Beast Conqueror had prepared for him, but he would not allow her to get what she wanted.

In the map, he could see hundreds of red blinking dots inside the forest. These were the monsters that Diona had prepared in advance.

If Alex hadn’t had the map, he might have been put at a great disadvantage. But since he could now see the position of his enemies, he chose the location where the monster encirclement was thinnest.

He would break through it with brute force.

—------

A/N: Please read the Author’s Note.

Good day everyone, I am posting this notice before this month ends to inform you about the Chapter updates for the month of February. After careful consideration, I have lowered the prices of the privilege Chapters to compensate you guys for the month of January.

I will resume my two Chapter updates for System’s POV this February. However, I deeply regret to inform everyone that ELDR will continue to have one Chapter updates next month. After careful consideration, I decided to not push myself too hard at the moment.

System’s POV is expected to end in March, or in the first weeks of April. Endless Leveling Chapters will return to the two Chapter update in March as well.

I would like to thank everyone for their continuous support, which allowed me to rest for a month. I am feeling better now, and I will continue to do my best in order to live a "healthier" lifestyle this year.

Now I believe the saying "A healthy man has a thousand wishes, a sick man has only one." I got a very close call last December, and I thought that I wouldn’t be able to celebrate the New Year with my family.

Fortunately, it is not Ely’s time to Isekai (At least not yet!). I wish to write more stories for everyone, so look forward to the new novel that I will publish this March, which is called "God’s Chatgroup".

A new story has been written, a new Chapter has been told. Rest assured, there are lots left untold. I will tell you to be patient, for I will tell you with patience, the tale on which I only know.