Reborn as a God-tier player

The Bet.

Eagan's voice echoed in the silence of his home gym. "Ninety-one, ninety-two, ninety-three." He gritted his teeth as he counted down to the completion of his morning routine. 

Sweat dripped from his brow as he sprang to his feet, his muscles burning from the intense workout. The Divine Mystic Breathing Technique unlocked new potential within him, one that allows him to grow at a faster rate than he did in his past life. 

Glancing at the floating screen, Eagan reviewed his updated stats:

[[Name: Eagan Hawthorne

Class: None

Title: Bearer of Earth's Will

Level: Three

Stats:

Strength: Nineteen 

Agility: Nineteenth 

Intelligence: Twenty

Endurance: Nineteen

Mana: Thirty

Skills: divine mystic breathing technique.

Equipment: None

Attributes: Unknown affinity.

[[Unassigned stats points: Ten]]

The system's notifications caught his attention:

[Ongoing task: Enter a Rank E dungeon and kill ten monsters.]

Eagan's eyes narrowed as he read the task again. A Rank E dungeon? That was a serious challenge for his current stage.

Not because of the monsters, but because there was no way they would allow a high school student to enter a dungeon. 

Until he gets a hunter identification card, there is no way he will be able to complete that task. 

He picked up a wooden sword from the rack and began to practice the sword techniques he learnt from his past life. 

Now that he was slowly getting used to his body, killing low-level monsters in the E-rank dungeon will be easy. But getting into the dungeon is the main problem. 

He followed a practised motion of swinging and stabbing the sword in the air, his movements getting faster and more balanced with each slash and stab he made. 

As his sword sliced through the air, his mind went over every possible way he could exploit to get into a dungeon, but no matter how much he racked his brain, the problem always came back to him acquiring Hunter's identification card.

Due to the nature of the dungeons, the hunter association and guilds have strict requirements for entry, and one of them was the card and then the rank of the awakened hunter. 

As Eagan's sword sliced through the air, the clapping of hands broke his concentration. He turned to see his older brother, Alastair, walking into the gym with a smile on his face.

"Woah! You're working hard," Alastair noted as he noticed Eagan's sweat-covered, toned body. "You've changed compared to the last time I was home." 

Eagan's face lit up with a warm smile as he lowered his sword. "What are you doing here?"

"Is that even a question?" Alastair chuckled; his eyes sparkled with amusement. "I see you're taking your training seriously. What's driven this sudden dedication?"

Eagan hesitated, unsure how much to reveal. "Just trying to stay active, I guess."

Alastair's gaze lingered on Eagan's sword. "You're using the Silverleaf style. Who taught you?"

Eagan's eyes widened, impressed. "You recognise it?" After blurting out the question, Eagan almost facepalmed at the ridiculousness of it.

'Of course, he would recognise it. It thought it to me in my past life!' he mused.

Alastair raised a brow in amusement. "You are asking me if I recognised the sword technique I used previously? Shouldn't that question be directed at you?" 

Eagan's face flushed, realising his mistake. "Ah, yeah... I guess I did learn it from you, indirectly."

Alan's eyes sparkled with curiosity. "Indirectly? What do you mean?"

Eagan hesitated. "Never mind, it's nothing." She waved him off. "But what are you doing at home? I heard the Blue Wolf guild is going to raid the A-rank dungeon that appeared in Zone C." 

Alastair's expression turned serious, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "Yes, we are preparing for the raid, but I took a temporary leave to check on you."

"It's a kingdom-type dungeon, and we don't know how long it will take us to clear the whole place," he explained. "So before leaving, I came to see how you were doing." 

Eagan rolled his eyes and sat with crossed legs on the floor. "You didn't have to do that. I'm fine."

Alastair chuckled. "I know you're fine, but I wanted to see you for myself. If I hadn't come, I wouldn't have seen my usually lazy brother working so hard." 

"Mind if I test your skills?" Alastair asked as he picked another wooden sword on the rack. 

Eagan's eyes lit up with excitement. Knowing how rare it is to receive guidance from a scavenger, he quickly jumped to his feet. "Not at all! I'd love to spar with you."

Alan grinned, his eyes sparkling with amusement. "Good. Let's see how much you've improved while I was gone. Come at me!"

As they faced off against each other, an idea about how to clear the task popped up in Eagan's minutes, and he paused. "Let's have a bet," he declared with a mischievous grin.

Startled, Alastair raised a brow, urging forward. "A bet? Okay, let's hear it." 

"If I can hold out against you for five minutes, you will grant me anything I ask," Eagan proposed.

Alastair hesitated, feeling suspicious of his younger brother's attitude. Noting his hesitation, Evan pressed further, not willing to let go of his only chance to complete his task earlier than usual. 

"Come on, are you scared? It's only one request!" 

Alan's eyes narrowed. "And what makes you think you can hold out against me for five minutes?"

Eagan's grin widened. "Let's just say I've made some progress since you last saw me."

"Can I hear the request beforehand? My instincts are telling me it's not something I would like," Alastair sighed, making Eagan's grin widen. 

"Don't worry, it's something you can do. How about it?"

Alastair chuckled. "Alright, I'll take that bet. But if you lose, you have to tell me what's driving this sudden dedication to training."

"Deal!" Eagan replied, making Alastair feel even more suspicious of the whole situation. 

Of course, the main reason why he came home was because of the report he received from Miss Chloe about Eagan not attending school after his mana affinity test.

Knowing how fragile his younger brother was to those kinds of things, he was scared. He had locked himself up, scared to face the outside world due to his failure to awaken as a hunter. 

To his surprise, he met the latter fully healthy, even healthier than he remembered him to be.

Alastair's eyes gleamed with anticipation as he charged forward, his wooden sword flashing in the light. Eagan met Alastair's attack, their swords clashing.

"The power in your attack reduced. Are you looking down on me?" Eagan asked with a frown as he parried the attack without moving an inch.

"I was afraid I would injure my little brother, so I held back. But since you asked for it, I will increase my attack power."

Alistair went in for another attack; this time he made a feign attack at Eagan's leg while actually aiming for a stomach. 

Having gotten used to his brother's simple attack pattern during their training in his previous life, Eagan blocked off the attack; however, just barely has his reaction speed been too slow. 

'Not yet there,' he noted to himself.

Surprised that Eagan was able to read his movement, Alistair decided to get serious, but without using his full S rank strength. 

'He's got natural instincts as a hunter,' Alastair thinks to himself. While sending continuous attacks towards Eagan. 

Subconsciously, his attacks grew from simple sword plays of stabs and slashes to a more complicated sword technique at a beginner level. 

His plan was obvious; he was trying to test his younger brother's instincts and limits. Eagan, on the other hand, gritted his teeth as he parried and deflected the attacks barely enough as most of the attacks reached him. Sending waves of pain through his body. 

As they both got engaged in their little world command, they soon lost track of time, and the spar slated for five minutes ended around ten minutes later when Eagan could no longer lift his hand. 

"That was intense," Eagan huffed and crumbled against the wall.

"It was," Alastair agreed. I wasn't expecting you to last that long against me."

Eagan grinned with tired eyes as he struggled to catch his breath. "Then I have earned by request, right?"

"Yeah! Yeah, you've earned it. Now let's hear it, what do you want?"

"Take me to a dungeon raid with you," Eagan demanded. 

Alastair's face turned stern. "Absolutely not, Eagan. You're not ready for a dungeon raid."

"I'm not asking you to take me to a high-grade dungeon; a low-grade dungeon will do. Please, I just want to test my skills." Eagan pleads.

"Besides, you'll be there; what could possibly happen?" 

Alastair sighed in frustration, "Fine. I'll take you to a Blue Wolf Guild-owned dungeon, but you must follow my orders without question."

"Even if it's a training dungeon, it's still dangerous." 

Eagan's face lit up. "Thank you, Alastair!"

Alastair's serious tone returned. "Don't thank me yet. I'm not even sure you will be allowed in."