World's Last Hope

Despite being drenched in blood, Eric approached the girls with a smile.

"So, what do you think?"

Aria raised an eyebrow.

"Eric my eyes are up here you know?"

Upon realizing his mistake, he quickly dissolved the sword, and his mind instantly cleared, blushing slightly he scratched the back of his head as he responded.

"Um… sorry about that."

Olivia suppressed a laugh, though not very successfully.

"Well, as a warm-up, it wasn't bad," Aria said indifferently.

"Warm-up?" Eric asked, raising an eyebrow.

Without replying, Aria pointed ahead. As Eric followed her gesture, his face turned pale. A pack of giants was approaching.

"These are weaker monsters, so they travel in groups. You killed their scout—the real fight is just starting," Aria said, locking eyes with him.

"You didn't think one battle was enough, did you? To liberate the cathedral, you'll need to handle at least this much."

Eric frowned. "But an entire pack? Isn't that too much?"

"Figure it out. If you can manipulate grandmasters and a saint, this should be child's play," Aria replied coldly.

With a sigh, Eric turned and walked toward the giants.

"Isn't that a bit harsh?" Olivia asked Aria, once Eric was out of earshot.

"Maybe, but the cathedral is guarded by Grade-5 monster, and the area around it is surrounded by Grade-4s. We can't protect him there. Either he gets stronger now, or we turn back."

Olivia nodded, and the two watched the battle from a safe distance.

*****

'One, three, five… even if I'm optimistic, I don't see a way to win. That leaves only one option: ask the system.'

"How can I win the incoming fight?"

Even if he wanted to preserve his essence, he also needed to grow stronger; the goal was to maintain a delicate balance.

[Given your current abilities, victory should be achievable.]

[Recommendation: Check status]

Following the advice, Eric opened his status screen.

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[Status]

Race: Human

Name: Eric

Traits: Blinding Star, The Last One, The Cursed One, Punching up, Charmed

Soul: Faint

Miracles: The Cursed Set

Reminisces: EMPTY

-----

 Seeing two traits that he didn't recognize was something unexpected, not wasting time he cheked them both.

-----

[Punching up]

Description: the worse the odds the better

Positive:

When facing stronger enemies, your abilities increase proportionally to their power

Negative:

Can create false confidence, leading to overestimation and failure

-----

"So as long as I think clearly the negative would not be a problem, this is a great trait!"

His happiness was short-lived, however, when he remembered the negative effect of his sword.

"On second thought this could be very dangerous…"

-----

[Charmed]

Description: Ah… to be young again

Positive:

You strongly care for an individual/individuals, when you are near them your abilities are enhanced

Negative:

When you are near said individual/individuals your thoughts become slower and less synchronized

-----

"Cherished individuals? Who could that be?" Eric muttered.

"How do I know if these traits are active?" he asked the system.

[If they are names are glowing it means they are currently active]

Eric glanced at the system screen and saw both traits were active.

"Punching Up makes sense, but Charmed? Who could that be?"

He scanned the area and saw only Aria and Olivia nearby. Both could easily pass for supermodels, and with his sword in hand, looking at them made him feel a bit warmer.

Quickly turning away, he gritted his teeth.

"Now way. No fucking way I fall for someone that quickly! It must be the fault of this dammed sword and its negative ability!"

Felling frustrated with himself he decided to let out some steam by butchering some giants.

*****

"That's a bit strange, right?" Olivia observed, watching the fight.

"How did he become so fast and strong? Just a moment ago, he nearly lost to one giant, but now he's holding his own against five?"

"Yes, it weird." Aria had to agree. "Before he fought like a person that had barely awakened, but now it almost like he has evolved into a master, without a help of a cathedral."

"Maybe he suddenly unlocked a trait or two?" Olivia suggested.

"It must be a powerful trait indeed… It looks like he is done lest go see him."

*****

Eric was out of breath and his entire body hurt.

'I didn't know I was able to move so fast.'

Now that he had managed to defeat the giants he glanced at his system and saw that the Punching up trait wasn't glowing anymore, while the Charmed trait was glowing more intensely.

"Not bad." Someone called behind him.

Turning back, he saw Olivia staring at him with a smile, while Aria was looking at his body, most likely examining his armor.

"Did you unlock a trait or two?" Olivia asked.

He mentioned that he got the Punching Up trait but didn't disclose that he also had the Charmed trait.

"Oh, that one," Olivia said. "We have it too, but it's not very useful anymore since we're so strong."

Aria raised an eyebrow. "So, you only got one trait? Are you sure?"

"Yes i-

"My eyes are up here," Aria interrupted, noticing where Eric's gaze had drifted.

He quickly dissolved his sword, which he had forgotten to do, and muttered an apology before continuing.

"Yes, after I killed that scout, I received only one trait."

He wasn't exactly lying as he didn't know when he had acquired [Charmed]

"Hmm, I see…" Aria wasn't convinced but decided to leave it for later.

"Okay, now that you have some combat experience, we can move on."

*****

A few hours later, night had fallen. Thankfully, they reached a forest where they could rest for the night.

"Wow I thought the death zone was only flat land."

Olivia raised her eyebrow little, "Oh I guess you wouldn't know the reason the ground was so flat was because we made it that way."

"A few kilometers away from the city we flatten the land and got rid of any obstacles this way we would be able to see if something dangerous was going to attack from kilometers away, we have just exited that area now."

"So, from now on it would be different?" Eric asked.

Olivia smiled slightly. "It will be unpredictable. The terrain can change, the monsters could be different, and even mountains can shift locations."

"In short, nothing follows the same rules anymore," Aria interjected.

"Then can the location of a cathedral change too?"

"No," Aria replied firmly. "Cathedrals are creations of the gods. Even if they're corrupted, they can't move unless they were created with that ability."

"Alright, let's continue the lessons later," Olivia said, her attention turning to the cooked monster meat. "Now, let's eat!"

It was staggering to see how much food Olivia managed to devour in a few minutes.

"Ah that hit the spot!" She said satisfied as she leaned backwards and stretched her hands behind her back.

The movement caused the thin fabric to tighten, accentuating her breasts.

Eric tried to command his eyes to look in some other direction, but they didn't listen to him.

"You can't blame this on your sword this time, can you?" Olivia sensing his gaze spoke sharply.

'Damn Charmed trait! I'd rather die than admit I've fallen for someone!'

Smiling as he met her terrifying gaze he replied,

"Well if you didn't want me to look, you wouldn't be doing this in front of me, would you?"

With a scoff she broke his gaze, "Whatever I don't have energy to argue, lets just go to sleep."

Surprised, he got off so easily he opened his map.

'We have crossed 5 kilolumens in the first day… we need to move faster.'

"So, how does this work? We take turns sleeping and watch for enemies?" Eric asked.

"Maybe some people do, but it's not necessary," Olivia said, making a gesture with her hand.

A small, ugly creature suddenly materialized. It had numerous eyes and a mouth at the top of its head.

"What is this?" Eric asked.

"One of my Reminisces. It's ugly, but nothing gets past it, so we can sleep undisturbed."

As she said that Olivia and Aria dismissed their armor.

Surprisingly, the clothes they wore underneath were quite revealing.

Trying to keep his composure Eric asked,

"Isn't it dangerous to sleep without your armor?"

"Do you have any idea how uncomfortable it is to sleep in metal armor?" Olivia responded.

"Well, I have no choice." Eric muttered.

"Hm? Is it too painful to remove it?" Olivia asked.

"No... it's just that I'm naked under the armor."

"S- Sorry about that it didn't came to mind that you would need clothes when we are in the death zone…" Aria said embarrassed that she had made such a simple mistake.

"Don't worry about it," Eric reassured her.

As the girls peacefully slept in their revealing clothes, Eric realized why sleeping in armor was so uncomfortable. Armor was meant to withstand blows, not for sleeping.

'This is going to be a hard night,' he thought as he glanced at the two beauties sleeping peacefully near him.