Classless Ascension

━━━━━━ POV ━━━━━━━

Near Metropolis-W, what was once a beautiful and peaceful beach had suddenly turned into a nightmarish scene, the sand red from the blood, entrails everywhere. 

The roar of a behemoth resounded amidst the cries of terror. 

— GAAAOOO! — 

— Slam! Slam! Slam! —

A tail as large as a ship kept slamming into the sand, crushing plenty of unlucky Climbers. The quaking sand made getting one's footing way too hard! 

"Kill this monstrosity! Protect the Metropolis!" 

The behemoth they were facing was an incredibly huge mutated whale that made Moby Dick look like a small fish! 

Its entire body was covered with sharp pricks that threatened to impale anyone trying to come anywhere near, and its attack power was over the chart. 

The logical thing would have been to run inland, right? They all wanted to leave the creature to rampage in the water, but there were two issues. 

1) This thing could use water magic to attack from a distance, capable of targeting the Metropolis from the sea. 

2) This whale was able to survive while on land. It was powerful enough to swim in soil, destroying everything on its way. 

"Make it understand that it will suffer if it keeps fighting us! This thing isn't too smart. As long as you can wound it, It'll leave by itself." Their leader shouted to reassure his men. 

How many would die today? A while back, everything was still fine. The whales rarely ever came near humanity, but they had recently grown bolder. 

As more and more whales were ejected from the Underwater Tower nicknamed Atlantis, the entire nearby sea region had become unnavigable. This had already crippled so much trade! 

If only the whales would only eat plankton like regular ones. Nope, far from it! Just recently, monsters had attacked a cargo of mayonnaise, filling the sea a cloudy white for an instant.

— GAAAOOO! — 

"Bring the siege weapons!" The leader screamed. 

At first, they had tried installing energy turrets, but they had been destroyed. Now they'd move their artillery after every fight for it to avoid a surprise whale snipe. 

The first part of the fight was always the hardest. As soon as the canons were powered on and aimed at their target, the Climbers sighed in relief. 

"Blast that fucker!!!" 

— Bam! Bam! Bam! — 

The gigantic creature was hit straight on, shrieking in pain. That's when it raised its tail, using it as a shield. From that point onward, the operators would take care of it! 

— Bam! Bam! Bam! — 

An incredible barrage of projectiles flew toward the enemy. Just as they were about to collide with the mastodon, a water shield appeared around its body. 

From now on, it would be a battle of attrition until the monster eventually gave up, running away. But suddenly, there was a commotion. 

<br/>"Oh god! We're screwed!" A Newbie shouted, pointing toward the horizon where a new Mutated Whale had just appeared. 

Many got ready to fight, their faces grimacing from dread. They barely had enough canons to pin down one creature. "C-chief, what now?!" One asked nervously. 

Many veterans erupted in genuine laughter, seeing the worried expressions. They had been in their place not long ago. 

"Hehe, no need to worry! Those whales are solitary creatures, and they'll never come near one another, at least not on land." One of them revealed. 

"R-really?! Thank god!" Exclamations of relief echoed across the battlefield. Many regretted pissing themselves in fear a few seconds ago. 

Everything was going so well…..but then it happened. 

"Oy, leader. There's something wrong!!" A Climber suddenly shouted. 

That's when they finally realized the issue. The laughing veterans suddenly choked, their eyes bulging. Why the hell was the new whale becoming bigger and bigger?! 

It was coming over! Had they freaking jinxed themselves?! 

"D-don't tell me we have a variant on our hands?! Mages get ready to send barrages of spells, and scouts prepare to draw this thing away. We'll have to separate them!" 

Fighting 2 whales at once —> Suicide 

Fighting a single variant —> Possibly Suicide Too 

What did variant even mean? Nothing and everything at once. It referred to any Magical Creature that didn't behave as it should. 

A variant could be as weak as strong, but there was always the factor of unpredictability. Underestimating them would always end badly. 

Many understood that this would perhaps be their last battle. Their heart was heavy as they sent texts to their loved ones before tightening their grasp on their weapons. 

"It's here." They shivered. 

— GAAAOOO! — 

The gigantic creature bellowed as I crashed on the beach, appearing incredibly domineering. And yet there was a tiny shout mixed with the powerful roar. 

"Motherfucking land! Finally! We did it, Whally! You're the freaking best!!!"

— GAAAOOO! — 

Just as they were frozen, a scaly humanoid was catapulted on land, embracing the bloody sand with both arms. 

"?!?" 

A curious youngster was carefully etching closer when the commander warned him. "Stay back!" The once steady man's voice was now shaking. 

A creature able to order whales around?! He was already subtly sending emergency messages via his UW. 

— Urgent! A calamitous level sentient humanoid beast has appeared! Metropolis-W is facing potential extinction! This is not a drill. Send help ASAP! — 

The leader had trouble breathing, fearing for the future of the human race. A commander could turn any OP magical beast into an even more OP variant! 

They heard the giant creature bellow once more in the tense atmosphere, seemingly conversing with the humanoid monster. 

— GAAAOOO! — 

Were they about to attack? 

Were negotiations even possible? 

The behemoth suddenly retreated, disappearing underwater, leaving the scaly humanoid alone. 

Many sighed in relief, but the more discerning ones realized the implications. He had the confidence to face them all alone?!!! 

Without minding their presence one bit, he started assembling what seemed to be human bones in a pentagram shape.

"L-leader, I think he's drawing a magic circle…S-should we attack?!" 

"A magic circle?! What kind?!"

"That….I have no clue. I have no memories of it. But why else would he be arranging bones out of nowhere?" 

"We keep watching for now…." He exuded so much confidence. The way he didn't seem to mind their presence at all was hinting at his power. 

That's when the scaly creature raised its head, pointing at a nearby Climber to come over. The youngster glanced at his captain before nervously advancing. 

A second later, he was coming back toward the leader, his face twitching weirdly. 

"What did he say?" 

"H-he says we should be helping if we're just gonna stand around and stare."

"Helping?!"

The humanoid was already pointing at the idle Climbers and the bones. His meaning was clear: "Be helpful, will you!" 

They reluctantly and very slowly approached, trying to determine the creature's actual power. Yet every time they tried, it gave them an obviously fake result. 

Was this guy really weaker than them? No freaking way! They weren't that gullible! 

Part of them dreaded what he was doing, but they found solace in the fact that he not only spoke their language but hadn't shown any aggressivity either. 

Perhaps they would survive this day? 

Just as they were thinking that. 

— ZOOM! — 

Five Large Flying Battleships came out of Metropolis-W, all heading their way. They were the last line of defense of the City and were barely ever used for that very reason. 

Metropolis-W —> Trading and fishing hub, not so much a warring state. 

In seconds, they flew above the beach, sealing the area thoroughly. They were ready to blast everything to smithereens, even their men if necessary. 

The scaly humanoid glanced at the machines of destruction seemingly with appreciation before…waving at them as one would a taxi?! Was he for real?! 

A government member came down, ready to hear the creature's demands before initiating an all-out war. He looked at them weirdly. 

"Demands? How about a warm shower and a lift to Metropolis-D? But before that, there's something I have to do." He turned toward the sea cryptically.

"W-what would that be?" The diplomat gulped. 

Suddenly the whale came back, so close to the humans that they thought they were goners. It opened its ginormous maw, and out of it fell countless sea creatures. 

"Oh, it's simple: barbecue. I promised this big guy to cook a mouthful of prey in exchange for bringing me here. I had to cross the ocean somehow." He shrugged. 

The mutated whale helping him? —> It simply desired food

The weird bone pentagrams? —> Primitive barbecue stands 

The monstrous appearance —> It was just a full-body armor

A dirty yet clearly human young man hid underneath the scales.

How could they have even misunderstood him? His aura, perhaps? Maybe his attitude? One asked why he hadn't said anything with canons aimed at him. 

"Why? I didn't feel any killing intent whatsoever." He even shrugged as if it were obvious. They could only accept this odd explanation. 

"S-so you're a Climber. What guild are you in?" One asked, perplexed. 

"Oh, you guys probably don't know it, but it's called Dimensional Legion." He offhandedly replied as he busied himself with cooking. 

"D.L.?! No wonder" Many exclaimed in shock. They had never seen one of their members themselves, but they had heard of their reputation as complete lunatics! 

Just like that, a tense situation quickly resolved itself over warm bonfires, tasty food, and campfire stories (His). 

As for how to tame a whale? —> Be genuine and spend lots of effort! 

He wasn't even a tamer, and he had succeeded. Was the trick to treat them as equals? Before long, he boarded one of the ships, leaving behind a legend, and renewed hopes. 

Perhaps they'd be able to tame whales, too, and even reopen the docks! 

As they flew toward Metropolis-D, Josh couldn't wait to meet the ones he had left behind. Were they worried? Then again, the Orc King had probably sensed his return already…