Chapter 8: Chapter 8 - Breakthrough
I don’t know how long I contemplated my purpose, but eventually, my thoughts were interrupted by Freya, who I hadn’t noticed was standing right in front of me, "Axel, Here."
She shoved out her hand, a single shard atop her palm.
"As promised, your spoils."
I took it in my hand. The glow pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat. "...Thank You."
Freya smirked, "You sure learn quick, eh? Just a few hours ago you’d have been staring at me like an idiot, heh."
I smiled back at her, then brought my attention back to the core, remembering the conversation I’d overheard during that time.
Disaster Class...
"What about a Disaster-Class Beast?"
The question slipped out before I could stop myself.
Gerard barked a laugh. "Hah! Knew it. You overheard us back when you were half-dead on that stretcher, didn’t you?"
"Disaster-Class beasts," Arthur said, cutting in before Gerard could pry further, "can flatten cities, given enough time. I’ve seen entire Mithril-Ranked Guilds wiped out by a single one. That said, the abomination was on the precipice of an evolution, so it was comparatively much stronger than the average Disaster-Class."
Freya took a seat right beside me, "Point is, Axel, Beasts grow much stronger than humans in the same stage, and at the highest stages, that gap only widens. Humanity’s only survived thus far because of the Adamantium Concord. An alliance, consisting of every Adamantium ranked Hunter on Taleria. If a beast at the Apocalypse Class or higher appears anywhere in the world, you can be sure the Concord is taking care of it."
Taleria...this must be the name of this world. It is a nice name.
My thoughts wandered to another question, something I’d seen with my own eyes.
I looked to Arthur again, and he smiled helplessly, "More questions, I bet. Go ahead. Ask away."
"Earlier... when you held up your hand. That light. And later, your eyes. What was it?"
"Skills. The hand was a basic appraisal — Bronze rank. The eyes... a Silver Ranked one. Stronger, broader, but it drains me near to nothing if I use it for long. Lets me see through any and all obstacles, up to a distance of 300 meters."
"Skills have ranks too," Freya added. "Same system. Bronze through Adamantium. You can only advance as high as your best skill. If your strongest is Silver, then Silver’s your ceiling. Doesn’t matter how much mana you feed yourself."
Arthur’s lips tightened. "That’s why skills matter more than cores. Without access to higher ranked skills, you’ll hit a wall."
I listened, letting the words settle. Their strength wasn’t only from years or numbers. It was shaped, defined, capped.
"Gerard and I are Silver Ranked Hunters," Arthur said finally. He jerked his chin toward Freya. "She’s Gold Rank."
I looked at her. She didn’t deny it.
"I’ve been trying to push one of my skills to Platinum for years," she said calmly. "But evolution takes time. You can’t force it. When a skill surpasses its peak, Level 10, the words call it, it changes. Becomes something new. Until then, you wait. Train. Endure."
My eyes drifted to the fire, and to the beast core in my hands. All the Resistance skills I had...they were all bronze ranked. I could awaken right here. Right now.
But should I? Should I reveal that here? Would it be strange?
I looked back to Freya to find her staring right back, her eyes pinning me in place as her brows widened slightly in realization, "You’ve already got Bronze-Ranked skills don’t you?"
I froze.
She didn’t wait for me to answer.
"Do it." she said, "Absorb the damn thing, Axel."
Gerard added, "Better you keep up than drag behind, lad. We’ll keep watch. Well, Arthur will..."
He looked towards Arthur with a silly look, prompting the man to shake his head and agree anyway. "Fine."
My grip tightened around the core. "How do I absorb it?"
Gerard voice boomed over the fire as he stood up, Axe in hand, ready to patrol, "How you absorb anything else! Ya pop it in ya mouth and swallow hard is all, hahaha!"
I gulped as I looked at the pulsing crystal. I didn’t hesitate a moment longer. My mouth opened wide, and down it went.
Heat flared, flooding through me like fire in my veins. My breath caught, my muscles seized, and new System Prompts materialized in the air before me.
[You have consumed a Tremor-Class Beast Core]
[Absorption has begun...]
[EXP: 10/100]
[EXP: 20/100]
[EXP: 30/100]
[EXP: 40/100]
...
EXP? It must be an indicator of my progress... and it’s increasing rapidly!
Before I could even blink, the gauge was already full.
[EXP: 100/100]
[Level Up! 0 --> 1]
[Initiating Breakthrough...]
And then I felt something in my abdomen. It was as clear as watching someone draw a line. Strings of Mana, stretching out, through every limb, and then back, coalescing right in the center of my torso, below my heart, but above by abdomen. The Mana continued to gather, and then it condensed, pressing inward and forming into a clear-cut sphere only about the size of a raisin, but I could see it---feel it---better than I could see or feel anything else.
I knew immediately what it was.
Mana Core.
[Breakthrough Successful!]
[Host has successfully ascended to the Bronze Rank!]
[You have gained 10 Attribute Points.]
The ground seemed to shift beneath me. Every sense sharpened, skin tingling, lungs pulling deeper. The world felt different, like the fire’s light burned brighter, more vibrant. And I felt a sense of untapped strength in my body. Like latent fuel just itching to be guided to the right places.
This must be the Attribute Points...
I felt it instinctively, I could use this fuel to enhance any of my physical aspects, however I pleased.
But it appeared the System still wasn’t done with me.
[EXP: 50/200]
[EXP: 100/200]
[EXP: 150/200]
[EXP: 200/200]
[Level Up! 1 --> 2]
[You have gained 3 Attribute Points.]
I levelled up again? But there’s no breakthrough this time, and I got only 3 Attribute Points...
[EXP: 50/500]
[EXP: 100/500]
[EXP: 150/500]
...
It’s still going?!