ALTER REALITY: Online

Chapter 10: Bond & Pursuit



╭── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮

  ﴾ STATUS ﴿

Name: Noel Veloce | Age: 42

Race: Lesser Human ⧼Male⧽

Level: 1 | Tier: 1 ⧼Low-Phase⧽

Life Energy: 250/300

Strength: 10 | Agility: 13

Vitality: 10 | Endurance: 12

Spirit: 10 | Luck: 16

Health: 56/100

Stamina: 33/60

Spirit Energy: 50/50

Undistributed Stats: 0

INNATE TALENT:║LIABILITY║⧼ Grade-5 ⧽

INNATE EXCLUSIVE SKILLS: Yet to unlock

 ﴾ SPIRIT ITEMS ﴿

⧼ Common Grade ⧽

Chain Reavers ⧼ Yet to bond ⧽

 ﴾ WEAPON MASTERY ﴿

STAGE 1 ⧼Lv.1 - Lv.10⧽

Lv.1║Chain Reavers Mastery║

 Lv.1║Chain Reavers Aura║⧼Locked⧽

╰── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╯

Now that he had reached Level 1, his Tier had also changed to 1. But what caught his eye was the Low-Phase written beside it. Even his race had changed to Lesser Human.

'Although this sounds better than Inferior Human, why does it feel like I'm being insulted?' Noel muttered to himself, staring at it.

Pushing that aside, he focused on the Tier. As he concentrated, a description appeared, giving him the details he needed to understand what it meant.

╭── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮

A set of Levels make up a Tier. To advance to a higher Tier, one must reach a certain level and fulfill two additional Evolution requirements. Doing so allows one to ascend, upgrade their race, and continue progressing.

Starting from Tier-2, every Tier gives a major boost in power and growth.

Tier Structure:

Tier-1 → Levels 1 to 10

• Low-Phase: 1–3

• Mid-Phase: 4–6

• High-Phase: 7–10

Tier-2 → Levels 11 to 25

• Low-Phase: 11–15

• Mid-Phase: 16–20

• High-Phase: 21–25

Tier-3 → Levels 26 to 50

• Low-Phase: 26–33

• Mid-Phase: 34–41

• High-Phase: 42–50

Tier-4 → Levels 51 to 100

• Low-Phase: 51–66

• Mid-Phase: 67–83

• High-Phase: 84–100

╰── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╯

'So basically, each Tier is divided into three phases. I'll be considered to have entered Tier-1 Mid-Phase upon reaching Level 4, and Tier-1 High-Phase at Level 7.'

Then something clicked in his mind.

'Didn't my son say he reached Tier-3? That means he must've been Level 26 or higher. I didn't understand the significance back then but now… just how much had he gone through to reach that point? I've only been here for about half an hour, and I'm already feeling the toll from facing life-and-death situations.'

Having experienced it firsthand, Noel started seeing his son in a new light. Leon had never once mentioned the struggle or the pain involved in playing the game.

If Noel hadn't entered the game himself, he wouldn't have believed that his soft-spoken, introverted son had been enduring something so brutal.

Once he logged out, Noel knew he had to talk to Leon properly. He wanted to make sure the game hadn't left behind some hidden trauma.

Shaking off the thought, he turned his attention back to the status screen, focusing on the Spirit Items section. That's where the weapon he'd received was listed. A tag beside it read 'Yet to Bond', hinting that there was something more to the weapon.

Curious, Noel opened the weapon's description to find out what that was.

╭── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮

║Chain Reavers║

⧼ Common Grade ⧽

A pair of lightweight, wrist-bound chains ending in serrated blades. Offers high mobility and mid-range slashing power for a Common Grade weapon, but demands precise control to use effectively.

Effect: Agility+3 ✦ | Spirit+2 ✦

Requirements: 12 Agility, 10 Spirit

Durability: 89/100

Inherent Skills: None

 ﴾ Do you wish to form a bond with Chain Reavers? ﴿

╰── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╯

Only after going through the details did Noel learn that to properly wield the weapon, he had to bond with it. Doing so would grant him bonus stats.

Fortunately, the Agility points he had distributed earlier had already met the requirement for bonding. Without wasting any time, he decided to go through with it.

But before that, he adjusted his position, planting himself more firmly between the crevice walls to keep his balance. He braced himself for the pain he had experienced during stat allocation.

Taking a deep breath, he muttered, "Yes."

╭── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮

 ﴾ Agility: 13 ➟ 16 ⧼13 + 3 ✦⧽ ﴿

 ﴾ Spirit: 10 ➟ 12 ⧼10 + 2 ✦⧽ ﴿

 ﴾ Spirit Energy: 50/50 ➟ 60/60 ﴿

╰── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╯ 

Pain surged through his nerves once again, making him grit his teeth. But this time, it was easier to endure. It didn't last as long either.

Aside from that, a sharp ache spiked in his head, like something was trying to break out from within. It was intense but still manageable and faded soon after.

Then came the changes.

The first thing he noticed was his sharpened senses. Everything around him felt clearer, more vivid. Even the colors appeared brighter.

His thoughts began to process faster. It was clear enough for him to feel the difference, like a fog had been lifted from his mind. There was a strange clarity he hadn't experienced before.

Time perception, on the other hand, didn't seem to change much. At least not in a way he could clearly feel.

He let that pass and turned his attention to the effects of increased Agility.

Even in his current position, wedged between the crevice walls, his movements felt smooth and natural, almost as easy as walking on flat ground.

Noel began to move through the crevice, and even he was surprised by how smooth and quick his movements had become. The more he moved, the more he grew used to this new control over his body.

His fingers gripped the rocky patches with ease. Every movement felt sharp and precise, almost like second nature. He moved with the speed and lightness of a monkey.

Gaining confidence, Noel released some of the pressure from his back and shifted fully onto the wall. With a firm grip, he began climbing upward almost like a seasoned mountaineer.

At first, he started slow, testing his grip and footing. But as he moved, his speed picked up naturally, and before he knew it, he had already reached the top of the crevice.

Noel's heart pounded from the thrill of what he had just done. Even at his peak, he had never moved with such control over his body.

'No wonder this game is so popular worldwide. Who wouldn't want to experience something like this?' he thought as the thrill began to hook him to the game.

The fact that he could feel his legs again made the game worth it already. And now that he could pull off feats he'd never managed in real life, it was the cherry on top.

While he let his thoughts drift, he suddenly picked up a noise in the distance.

He looked over and spotted dust rising in the air about half a kilometer (500 meters) away. Squinting, he could just make out three figures running at full speed, being chased by more than twenty Sand Stalkers.

They were headed straight toward his location.

Panic settled in. If they kept running this way, he'd be caught up in it for sure.

There was no use trying to run. Judging by the speed of both the runners and the monsters behind them, he'd be surrounded before he even got far.

Just facing three monsters had pushed him to the edge. Being caught in the middle of a swarm would mean certain death.

He dropped low, peeking over the edge of the rocks to keep track of their movements, hoping they'd run past him without stopping.

But his hopes were quickly crushed.

He heard one of them shout, "Zach, Aiko! Climb to the top of that rock formation and assist me from there. I'll slow them down and set a perimeter."

Noel frowned and muttered under his breath, "Damn it, they're heading here."

Seconds later, he heard the thud of footsteps scrambling up the other side of the rocks.

Noel took a moment to weigh his options before making a decision. He climbed up to the top of the crevice, and the moment he did, he came into view of the two who had just made it there.

≿━━━━━━༺❀༻━━━━━━≾

Author Note: 

ALTER REALITY: Online is the 1st Side Story of EARTH's ALPHA PRIME, a LitRPG System Survival novel that has completed 3 volumes so far. 

The revamped version of EAP Volume 1, 2 & 3 are now live on Kindle. You can find them on Amazon by simply searching the book title or go through the link provided here.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DR53YMV2

≿━━━━━━༺❀༻━━━━━━≾

Exclusive artwork for every free chapter is now available on my PATRE0N page! You can find the link in my Discord server.

 ╭── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╮

Discord Link for 'Earth's Alpha Prime' :

https://discord.gg/P6cWGg2G

 ╰── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──╯

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters.