Before being skewered, I did a quick inspection and then dodged out of the way. Getting better at commando rolls, I was totally going to train in parkour later. Assuming I can find someone to teach me.

  Narrowly dodging the gargoyle's strike, I quickly checked the results of the Inspect skill.

  [Name: Tenebre. Race: Gargoyle. Level 10. Class: Earthen Knight. Level 12.]

  The information was pretty good, didn't give me a full list of his character sheet, but then again that is a large expenditure of energy. Don't want Jenny to use too many of her resources.

  "Tenebre was it? Does your name mean anything?" I asked, trying to start up some witty banter.

  The gargoyle, now named and known, turned to me with his sword, ready to go. "It means your death, peasant!"

  "That's what your name means — death to peasants?" I asked more than a joke, but also genuinely curious if that was the case.

  The question stopped him in his tracks, and looked back at me, dumbfounded. He stood there, gawking at me like I had just said the dumbest thing in the world.

  "No, you ignorant peasant, that was just a turn of phrase. My noble name means stalwart defender." He corrected me.

  "Sorry, dude, it was just a little confusing. Also, you seem to be pretty kill-happy for a supposed defender."

  "One should take pride in their work." He added, looking a little offended and a lot more murdery.

  "My apologies, dear chap." I replied in a faux-English accent, dodging another strike.

  "Are you mocking me?!"

  I was indeed mocking him, but he just sounded so British I couldn't help myself. In reply, I gave him a wink and a little tap from old machete. The bastard parried the strike and with a quick series of moves, sent my weapon flying out of my hand.

  "Crap." That was all I could say as I found myself weaponless and in front of a skilled gargoyle swordsman.

  "Now die, cretin!" He screamed as his sword raised to the heavens, ready to dispatch me to the hereafter.

  Before he could slice and dice, I double-tapped him with Max Decibel and Phantom Prompt. The two skills completely screwed his attack as a song asking why we should turn down the music had its way with the creatures' eardrums. His vision didn't fare any better as a barrage of flashing lights inundated it, produced by a consecutive shift of the background color.

  Dodging the clumsy sword strike, I quickly reclaimed my weapon and readied to slice his head off. Right at the last moment, his body turned to stone right as the blade impacted his neck.

  My attack failed spectacularly, skittering off pure stone. I looked at the blade and then back to my stoned enemy. It was clear who would win in a test of blows. My final skill using my force attribute was not enough to break such a stalwart defence.

  But time was of the essence; he wouldn't stay stunned forever, and his buddies were rising to aid their brethren.

  "What can I do?" I muttered as I desperately grasped a solution.

  Then it hit me — the image of a drill breaking hard surfaces from incredible concentrated force. But I didn't have a drill or any equipment to use. Time was of the essence, and all I had was a machete and a free hand.

  A free hand with several available fingers. Fingers that could easily convey my force attribute at full power. The solution was obvious and yet so simple.

  "I hope this works." I prayed to someone.

  Summoning up all the power of my force attribute and concentrating all of it upon the tip of my index finger. I literally poked him to death. Okay, I'm exaggerating. More like I drove my finger backed up with a crapton of kinetic power into the Gargoyle's neck and smashed right through the stone.

  Sparing no time, I slashed the exposed crack with my machete, hacking half of his neck off. The damage clearly disrupted his stone form as he gasped a breath and promptly screamed his half-torn head off.

  The prompt of experience gain declared him deceased as he fell to the floor, his head barely attached to his neck. Silver blood oozed out of the opening, and it was disgusting. Thank you to all the horror movies that didn't make me hurl.

  Jeremy hissed to my right. How did he get there? I followed his glare and found it locked on two very pissed off gargoyles. The one known as Gravok was flying towards me, spear in hand and ready to put it through my face.

  Ready for combat, I raised my weapon and found my machete blunted and broken. Probably because I hacked a half-petrified gargoyle's head off with a damn machete.

  "I guess it's not machete time." I said, forgetting that I had a bunch in my bag.

  Instinct took over as I leapt to the side and picked up the gargoyle's discarded sword. Giving it a quick inspection before booking it in the opposite direction.

  [Stoneveil Edge. Description: A heavy stone short sword that boosts defence and prevents disarming. Requirements: 10 Strength. Buffs: +3 Constitution. Enchantment: Stonegrip. When active, the blade cannot leave the wielder's hand for 30 seconds]

  I didn't have time to read over the description as a spear came flying across the room. Ducking within a second of getting impaled, I hid behind the couch as the weapon flew by and embedded into the wall behind me.

  Hopefully, the time he takes to retrieve his weapon will provide some breathing room? Not wanting to waste this opportunity, I leapt over the couch and prepared to rush the unarmed opponent.

  The whistling wind preceded an object whizzing past my head to take its place gracefully in Gravok's grip. The bloody spear just flew back into his hand? Magic, bloody magic. I cursed the creator of such an irritating force. Yes, I'm looking at you, Andrea, Goddess of annoying spellcraft!

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  The company policy deeply frowned upon blaspheming one of the founding members of the Gaming Gods. But so was pretty much everything I am doing now. So, heretic for the win!

  "Have you ever been stuck like a squealing pig?" Gravok questioned as he slowly approached like a confident hunter.

  "Nope, people usually save that stuff for the second date."

  "Your jokes won't save you, human." He retorted.

  "Not human, but I get why you would mix us up." I corrected and immediately realised I would probably have to either accept humanity or correct people a lot.

  That stopped him in his tracks, but only for a moment. Alas, it was enough to get some distance. Gravok was still approaching, except now he seemed more cautious.

  "Torvan, use the demon eye." He commanded his last remaining companion.

  I had completely forgotten about that guy. I figured he was still chilling on his perch. Nope, he was down here and was totally brandishing a staff. Was he a mage?

  "Right away." He complied just as he rifled through a satchel.

  Producing something small and spherical, clasped between two claws. He raised the article above him, giving me a significant look at the human eyeball clutched in this monster's grasp.

  "Is that an eyeball?" I questioned mildly disgusted.

  They didn't reply; instead, Gravok kept approaching slowly, spear firmly pressed in attack mode. Torvan or whatever his name was, started chanting and waving the eyeball around. Definitely a wizard or some ritualist-based class.

  The system on Grimgard varied extremely and provided lots of classes and skills. This guy, however, was clearly casting a spell as the eyeball vanished from his grasp, turning into motes of light.

  The chant had ended, and the eyeball quickly transferred to a giant slitted pupil hanging above his head. An eyeball that locked onto me with a discerning gaze. Kind of creepy if you asked me.

  [External Scan Detected!]

  Eyes widened the moment that message crossed my mind. The bastard was using an inspection spell to check my stats. Pausing in thought, I carefully wondered what that would even do. How does magic-based character sheet inspection even work?

  I didn't get enough time to ponder the idea as Torvan frowned, looking to me and back to Gravok in confusion.

  "He must have some obscuring magic; his attributes aren't visible. And his class is unfamiliar. But he is telling the truth. He is not human, but I do not know what a Clerk is. Of course, I wouldn’t fully trust this information." The wizard explained, yelling across the room as the eye vanished.

  So that explained that. He can't see nonexistent attributes, but he can detect my class and race. Probably because they match whatever detection spell is supposed to get back from the scan.

  I suggested to Jenny via a telepathic conversation to hide my details for now. Best to have such spells return nothing then explain my weird system. Also, what if they can track me through someone's detection spells?

  The lull in the fight ended, and the wizard shifted tactics, withdrawing an obsidian pebble that promptly vanished after his muttering. Another spell I suspected and verified as a magic barrier manifested in front of him.

  Not wasting time, I blinded both of them with two phantom prompts. Nothing special, just the text "get good scrubs" in giant letters. With the advantage in my favour, I sprinted forward, weapon ready.

  I tried to activate the enchantment, and that my grip turned to stone surprised me. I figured it would require magic to use it. But it seems the enchantments here were pretty independent.

  Gravok sent a wild thrust, the spear shining as a shockwave blasted over my hand. The wind shear alone told the tale of another me. You know, in another timeline where I didn't duck and he ended up a red mist on the opposite wall.

  Blinded, the crazy Gargoyle must have brought out his wide-ranged spear attack. Understandable if you think about it. Best to blast everything if you can't see.

  Bringing my new sword to bear, I struck his torso. The weapon bounced off the petrified stone skin. The speed of his petrifying was way faster than the other guy's.

  In that moment, I glanced back at the wizard and noticed another spell component vanishing. What replaced it was an ethereal arrow that set its magical sight on me.

  "Bloody homing magic!" I cursed.

  The mage bolt — because that's what leapt from its creator — headed straight for me. I barely dodged the impact as it struck my arm. Slicing through with a sudden gush of blood before embedding in the wall behind me.

  Switching my attention to the annoying one. I delivered a kinetic strike to Gravok's knee before it went to stone, causing the spearman to buckle in pain.

  I then turned to the wizard and sprinted full speed just as my blinding skill ended and the scared shitless gargoyle hid behind his shield. Not stopping, I lunged and delivered a kinetic strike, bashing the barrier before plunging my sword through the magical shield and down into the wizard's skull through the eye socket.

  Adrenaline kept me going as I pulled the blade from the lifeless corpse, ignoring the death as I swung back to face a very pissed off spearman. Another life taken, and in the heat of battle, nothing mattered more than the next fight.

  [SYSTEM AI: JENNY]

  [SYSTEM LINK ESTABLISHED: EARTH]

  Testing experimental system features through this “Royal Road” construct. Volunteers requested.

  [Random Skill/Stat Generation...]

  Generated Prototype:

  Type: Skill

  Name: Loading Bar Hints

  Effect: Provide cryptic hints in between combat and during long travel times.

  Rank: Basic

  Estimated Glitches: 50% chance of inaccurate or out-of-date information.

  Jenny requests human input: Would this be useful in combat/utility or everyday system life?

  -----------

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