The Rise Of A Porter

Watching Arnold snap the tree in half sent ripples of panic and laughter throughout the gods. No one had ever been able to destroy the tree during any of the competitions before. It was a difficult task for even the lesser gods had a hard time accomplishing alone and yet Arnold not only managed to do it on his own but also made it seem too easy. None of the gods could have thought Arnold would one-shot the tree.

The gods knew none of the worlds would be able to get rid of their world trees. In fact, they were about to move in and get rid of the trees themselves after the timer ran out, but Arnold surprised them all and took care of the mess on his own, surprising everyone.

Even Shiva was no exception to this. He knew Arnold was strong but never in a million years had he thought Arnold would be able to get rid of the world tree by himself. This act only made his belief stronger. Arnold was, indeed, getting closer to becoming just like the Prime Creator than Shiva ever was, and for that reason, he had a wide smile on his face.

Shiva, however, wasn't the only god that was happy. Countless gods who had been looking for some sort of entertainment could not be more impressed. And as a result, Arnold was showered with points on top of the ten thousand points he had received for destroying the tree. There was no doubt in anyone's mind about who had won this round.

[The One who rules the skies is impressed with your feat. Quest points +200.]

[The One with Luscious lips wants to know your 'size'. Quest points +500]

[The One Ruling the Sun thanks you for the entertainment you provided him. Quest points +1000]

There were hundreds of such notifications in front of Arnold. While he was happy he had was earning points, he was more relieved to know that the tree was gone forever. Still, he couldn't help but feel a bit conflicted because of all the people who were consumed by the tree as nutrients.

'I did what I could... that's all that matters.' Arnold thought as Scylla landed on the ground creating a minor wind storm knocking his summons away.

In the world tree's absence, the dark sky also started clearing up showing the vibrant sun above. However, as the world tree died, it left the world a gift... all the messes humanity had caused to the planet over the years were removed. The air was cleaner than before, the global warming, the sea waste... everything that the humans had done wrong to the planet were absorbed by the remnants of the world tree as it faded out of existence. It was as if the world tree wanted to give them a second chance to make a better world and Arnold appreciated it.

Even many gods had forgotten about this aftereffect of destroying the world tree. That was how long it had been since the world tree was destroyed the last time. But it was indeed a sight to behold. Due to his affinity with Nature, Arnold was the first one to notice the changes around him and as he did, he couldn't help but let out a smile.

"Judging by your smile, it looks like you got a sh.it ton of points." Nicole said while hugging her brother, "Thank you. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if it wasn't for you."

"Well, you can help me out taking care of the kids some time if you wanna thank me." Arnold joked as his Talos and his summons arrived at the spot.

However, their reunion was interrupted by another announcement. But to their surprise, this time they heard a voice and not the usual notification.

"Once again, congratulations to all of you on clearing this round with no penalties. Except for that one fool who thought it was a great idea to break the rules I set... He's burning in hell right now if you are wondering about him." A divine voice echoed inside their heads, "Either way, it will take some time to calculate the points from other participating worlds, so in the meantime, I will be declaring your person results and rewards associated with your ranks."

Arnold had been waiting for this moment ever since he brought the tree down. He couldn't wait to see what kind of reward he would get.

"And here is the ranked list."

[First place: Arnold Ling  ---> 15643 points]

[Second place: Nicole Ling ---> 843 points]

[Third place: Sonya Bancroft ---> 799 points]

[Fourth place: Johnny Black ---> 793 points]

"The rest of the participants will not be ranked due to the minimal effort on their part." The voice repeated, "But don't be sad, all of you will receive toke of participation regardless."

Everyone on shocked to see the gap between the first place and the second place. It was astronomical! Although Arnold knew he was going to be ranked in the first place, he had not expected the others to earn so few points.  Even if he hadn't taken the tree down, he would have still won first place. But before anyone could comment about that, the list of their prizes was shown to them as well.

"The rewards have been customised according to the winner's classes and affinities. We hope it will be up to your liking."

[First Place:  10x Quest Shop Token, 3x Saplings of Life, 3x Affinity Booster (Nature), 2x Large material boxes, 1x Token of Gratitude, 1x Random Wish, 1x Unique title.]

[Second Place:  5x Quest Shop Token, 2x Affinity Booster (Shadow), 2x Scroll of Shadow, 1x Token of Gratitude, 1x Random Wish, 1x Unique title]

[Third Place:  3x Quest Shop Token, 1x Affinity Booster (Ice), 1x Scroll of Ice, 1x Token of Gratitude, 1x Unique title]

[Fourth Place:  2x Quest Shop Token, 2x Scroll of Fist, 1x Token of Gratitude, 1x Unique title]

[Consolation Prize:  1x Quest Shop Token, 1x Scroll of their inherent talent, 1x Token of Gratitude]

"That is all for now. You will receive world rank rewards after other participating worlds are done handling their own tasks. Till then, rest up. You all deserve it."

The next moment the voice disappeared and they all received their rewards in their inventories. However, it looked like the Paladins were not pleased with their rewards. Their eyes were leaking with greed and now that the task was finally over, they could kill the vassals and avenge their fallen comrade and take their rewards for themselves.

"At least try to conceal your greedy eyes for once." Arnold shook his head, "One of you tried to kill me, so don't even think about running away without providing me proper compensation for that."

But before they could make any moves, they felt a gust of wind from behind. They turned around and saw Arnold's entire recently resurrected army standing right behind them, ready to reduce them to dust any moment.

"So? What will it be?" Arnold smirked.