Nexus Awakened (An Isekai LitRPG Gender Bender Story)

16. A New Milestone Reached!

21 days, 20 hours.

Nearly half a month had already passed. She still wasn’t used to the 10-day a week cycle, let alone the 50-day month calendar. As a result, she often found herself mistakenly using Earth’s calendar.

It was strange that she remembered certain things about Earth, like its day cycles, the year, the countries that existed, and so on. But she could not recall her own name, her place of birth or even the city she was raised in.

Frost barely even remembered the last time she cried. Funnily enough, most fictional works were source of most of her tears, but very rarely did tears fall for personal matters. When they did fall, they were often shed for others, especially for those she helped in her line of medical work.

It was ironic that at the current moment Frost was feasting on yet another Accuser. Her contrasting nature to heal and nature to ravenously consume should not have been compatible at all. Yet it was what allowed her to thrive as the lowest levelled being in the Black Forest.

The Accusers which once overpowered her in every regard were no more than walking slabs of meat waiting to be consumed. In these following days Frost, Jury and the System strode through the Black Forest like a pack of wolves.

It had been a few days since she developed her absurd combat style. Over time the rough edges were smoothened out as she engaged in combat wherever possible.

Thanks to her increased AGI stat she could move twice as fast now. While not quite on the level of Jury’s, it was faster than any normal human on Earth could feasibly move on their own feet.

Additionally, her ATT stat surpassed that of Jury’s. Her punches shredded the armored bark from the trees and caused a feathery explosion to occur whenever she eviscerated a Witness. Their feathers, the resin and the single stake were stored in the Dimensional Storage for safe keeping and to occasionally replenish any lost ‘armor’.

Since she didn’t have a skill or profession with weapons, it was wiser to focus on her fists and further level up her Brawler profession. In the meantime, she also concentrated on levelling Greater Healing by one more level.

She allowed herself to take multiple hits from a small pack of Accusers. Their wings could not feasibly penetrate her flesh any longer, dealing the minimum damage of 1 every time. It boggled her mind that such a large, heavy attack barely even moved a hair on her body.

It was another display of physics being brutally violated by whatever laws held this world together. But she digressed.

So, why did she want another level in Greater Healing?

It was simple.

< Greater Healing III has gained a level >

< Greater Healer profession has reached its third milestone >

< Bonuses to HP and MP regeneration have been granted >

< Additional Active and Passive Skills have been granted >

< Efficacy and efficiency of Skills derived from Greater Healer profession have increased >

< What a terrible mouthful. Shall I condense it next time? >

“No need to System. This is satisfying in its own way. When you play an RPG game the best part is always checking out the new stuff you unlock when you hit your milestones.” Frost assured as she answered back at the Accusers with her fists, instantly knocking them off their feet.

One was even thrown back a few meters into a tree where it was impaled by a jutting branch. Environmental factors also greatly contributed to a fight if they were managed correctly. That alone had caused it to take upwards of 500 damage due to it being a critical strike.

She never forgot about the levelling system tutorial the Moon triplets gave her. Every 25 levels in a given profession was a milestone. Reaching a milestone granted one with various bonuses and brand-new skills for said profession.

Her Greater Healer profession was now currently at level 75. She had to wonder if it was normal to level up skills this fast. But then again, her specific circumstances allowed her to continually cast healing skills with no end. She didn’t know if mana potions or mana-replenishing skills existed either.

Unfortunately, her world was limited to the Black Forest for the time being.

* * *

Jury remained plastered by Frost’s side as they ventured deeper into the Black Forest.

It didn’t matter which direction they took. In the end they were somehow always headed towards the shimmering light of the One Thousand Eyed Bird, guiding them like an everlasting flame. The appearance of Witnesses and Accusers steadily declined over time; leaving them to wander in silence. This gave her time to assess her stats.

The first major change she noticed was that her MP was raised again. There were two reasons for this. The first was a flat bonus given by the milestone. The second and more interesting one was the transformation of one of her Passive Skills.

< Mana Upscale has evolved to Mana Profusion >

< Gain 50% additional base MP >

Her base MP was 550 without the 50 bonus that was granted by Mana Upscale. But with this, her MP skyrocketed straight to 825 MP. This made it even easier to maintain her HP at healthy levels contrary to the state of her body.

That being said, this wasn’t the only Passive Skill that evolved.

< Saturated Blood has evolved to Hyper Saturated Blood >

< Gain 50% additional base HP >

HP : 1,620 | 1,620 | ^5 HP/Min

MP : 825 | 825 | ^5 MP/Min

Her basic health stat was more than 10 times than when she first started out. It put her mind to ease knowing that she had a considerable cushion of health to rely on now. But it still messed with her mind when she tried to compare it to the villagers of Virt. She was essentially a superhuman in that regard.

And this was only the start of her changes.

Coincidentally, the landscape of the Black Forest began to shift. The long, flat plane now moved at a slight decline as if they were moving down the side of a shallow but massive mountain of an unprecedented scale.

The trees became scarce until there was nothing but the wavering, tumbleweed-like silhouettes of their newest foe.

A small band of black, sea urchin-like creatures the size of giant tires shivered when its black, central eye spotted them in the distance. They jumped into the air one by one, alerting each other of their presence before they began rolling straight for them like oversized bowling balls.

This forest was the fever dream that kept on giving.

Frost instantly recognized that she would have trouble fighting them with her bare fists given the immense number of spikes that made up their shells. Plus, the 200 MAG ATT kept her suspicious of its strength.

So instead, she drew the pale stake from her dimensional storage and ran straight towards them with zero hesitation.

There were around seven of them. A black cloud of dust kicked from behind the small swarm as Frost abruptly stood her ground and thrust the spear into one of them. A sharp snap and a soundless scream emitted from the creature as she leapt backwards and used it to knock the other Accused away with immense strength.

At the same time Frost managed to very tightly weave through their stampede using her foresight ability. However, it was not perfect. Their protruding spines managed to slash her along the way. The wound was surprisingly little, but the damage it dealt was substantial.

“Frost. You just took a stacks of darkness!” The System vocally reported to her surprise.

Doesn’t the System report it automatically?

“No, I’m afraid. It’s like being constantly told that you have dirt on you until you become overtly filthy.”

So how is someone supposed to tell when they get a stack of a negative effect or something then? That makes no sense!

“Believe me, stacks are common sense under a different alias. Like a small ember eventually becoming a flame. It can be sensed or observed.”

The Darkness stack that she was inflicted with instantly darkened her vision, making it incredibly difficult to see anything at all. As the System said, she realized she was inflicted with something before it even said a word.

But this did not cause her to despair, worry or show any signs of struggle. Rather, the situation pleased her. Because this was where one of her new Skills came into play.

“[Cleanse]!”