"Another test?" Rael mumbled, his exhaustion showing. "What do I have to do now? Climb into an active volcano?"
"On the contrary, you’ve already done that," Roger replied with a chuckle, gesturing around. "This is a world that is composed entirely of a single volcano. And yes, it is currently active, or rather, it’s in the process of being activated."
"Ah..." Rael’s eyes widened. "No wonder it was starting to get warmer. This is a pretty cool planet, so what’s the next test?"
Roger smiled. "I noticed something interesting when I broke your neck earlier. You heal very fast, but there’s a bit of a lag. It’s a second or so, and more importantly, whenever you heal, you heal all at once."
His smile widened. "If you’re out of commission for a single second on the battlefield, you’re as good as dead. For starters, I want you to learn how to concentrate your regeneration into a specific spot on your body."
The moment he finished his words, a shiver ran down Rael’s spine.
"So... correct me if I’m wrong, but you didn’t just bring me to this volcano world to throw me into molten lava, did you?" Rael asked.
And almost like he had this kind of shit coming, Roger gave him a thumbs-up.
"In approximately 30 seconds, this volcano will erupt. The moment it does, the world itself will cease to exist. So my test for you is to survive the destruction of this world," Roger explained, making Rael stare at him speechlessly.
"Hey... I don’t mean to sound uncooperative... but world destruction? I believe there are more creative ways to kill me," Rael said.
Sure, he was resilient. And sure, he understood where Roger was coming from.
But regeneration wasn’t something he even knew how to begin to control. It just happened on its own whenever he was hurt.
While in combat, his HP regenerated +40,000% faster than normal, and while he was out of combat, that number jumped up all the way to +400,000%.
Because of that, he could easily regenerate limbs within seconds, or maybe even faster.
He’s saying I need to learn to control my regeneration... and instead of letting it heal my body all at once, I only heal that particular area, Rael thought. I guess the effects would be stronger, but—
"5 seconds," Roger announced.
"Come on, are you serious?" Rael grumbled. "Give me a hand grenade instead. I swear it’ll be just as effective."
"It would not," Roger said sternly. "You have the capabilities to do a great many things, but you squander that by doing the bare minimum."
He narrowed his eyes. "I am not a fool, Aster. I have taken into account the speed of your regeneration and the scale of the world explosion. You will survive if you do not panic. Take this as an opportunity to grow stronger, much stronger."
With those words, Roger waved at Rael, and in the next instant, a giant geyser of lava shot out from the volcano, traveling high into the sky, then dropping down.
And once the lava droplets fell back into the volcano, a chain reaction began.
The entire surface of the lava shook, followed by a giant lava tsunami coming in from the distance. At the same time, a geyser opened up right under Rael, covering him in molten lava that was much hotter than what he had experienced earlier.
[HP -1%! Vitality: Tier 6 [99% / 100% HP]
Rael held back a scream and watched as his clothes disintegrated. He stepped out of the geyser and looked for Roger, but as lady luck would have it, he was no longer anywhere in sight.
And that was around the time Rael realized he was a bit fucked.
[HP -4%! Vitality: Tier 6 [95% / 100% HP]
The molten lava kept scorching his skin, revealing bone, then quickly stitching itself back together. This was probably one of those scenarios where he wished a Sleeping Potion would do the job, but sadly, passing out here was just as bad as falling asleep in a cheap brothel.
And since Rael wasn’t that suicidal, he decided to run in the air, trying to escape the planet.
Yet that was when a barely noticeable pulse reached him, making him fall. He tried to use his wings to catch himself, but even they were destroyed to bits within a second.
Roger... you fucking bastard!
Rael fell back down into the lava, and once he submerged himself, the excruciating process began.
[HP -6%! Vitality: Tier 6 [89% / 100% HP]
[HP +5%! Vitality: Tier 6 [94% / 100% HP]
[HP -2%! Vitality: Tier 6 [92% / 100% HP]
[HP +4%! Vitality: Tier 6 [96% / 100% HP]
His body was being destroyed, then rapidly regenerated. It was literally an endless cycle, or so he thought.
Burger... on a scale of 1 to 10, how—
[Ten. See you in the afterlife,] Burger said with a hum. [It was good while it lasted. I tasted delicious sweets, but alas... all good things must come to an end.]
It sounds like you’ll miss my Premium Shop more than me, Rael pointed out.
No response came, which meant that he was spot on.
The lava was getting hotter, and he still had no idea how to control his regeneration. Frankly, he was considering buying a ticket out of this place through his Premium Shop.
But for the sake of future growth, Rael decided to at least give this world destruction gig a shot.
What’s the worst that can happen?
He was expecting a few more pop-ups, but what he got instead was a strong gravitational pull dragging him further down into the lava. Yet the deeper he went, the more pain he began to feel.
And eventually, the entire world shook, followed by the gravity reversing, pushing him back once again.
But it seemed like all the lava that had been surrounding him evaporated, and what replaced it was a pitch-white void that Rael floated through.
Yet when he glanced at his hands, he realized they were slowly disintegrating too.
[HP -11%! Vitality: Tier 6 [81% / 100% HP]
[HP +6%! Vitality: Tier 6 [87% / 100% HP]
[HP -20%! Vitality: Tier 6 [61% / 100% HP]
[HP +8%! Vitality: Tier 6 [69% / 100% HP]
Rael’s eyes widened as his brows rapidly twitched.
What the fuck do you mean concentrate the regeneration in one spot!? My entire body is being disintegrated!