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Chapter 142: Level Up!
Chapter 142: Level Up!
The clearing trembled as the beasts charged. Kyle activated the outermost traps, unleashing a series of explosions that slowed their advance. He darted into the fray, his movements a blur as he struck with surgical precision.
Without Void's assistance, Kyle relied heavily on the traps, luring the beasts into rune-laden zones and striking when they were vulnerable. His infinite mana reserves allowed him to spam [Lightning Bolts], overwhelming the beasts with sheer firepower.
One by one, the beasts fell, their attacks unable to keep up with Kyle's speed and adaptability. By the time the last one collapsed, Kyle stood alone amidst the carnage, his katana dripping with frost and blood.
[Congratulations! You have slain Tier-2 mana beast: Ice Boar!]
[You have obtained 1* Tier-2 mana core!]
[Vanquished Foes: 512/1000]
Void stretched his wings and looked at Kyle with his golden eyes gleaming with amusement. "I'll admit, you handled yourself well. I'm impressed."
Kyle smirked and ran a hand through his face to take of his mask before sheathing the [Frozen Claw]. "Pretty cool, right?"
Void narrowed his eyes, debating whether to deflate Kyle's ego or let him have his moment. After a pause, he snorted. "I don't have words to spare on you. We've got some cores to devour."
Kyle chuckled and nodded. "Ah, yes. The cores. Can't forget about those." He summoned his stockpile from his inventory, the collection of over a hundred Tier-2 mana cores gleaming faintly in the dim forest light.
Void mirrored the action, summoning his own pile. Both stared at their respective treasures for a moment, appreciating the fruits of their labor.
Void glanced at Kyle with a challenging gleam in his eyes. "Shall we race? First to finish their pile wins."
Kyle froze, memories of the last eating race thar had happened some hours ago flooded his mind. He waved his hands in mock horror. "No! Absolutely not. Never again."
Void simply hissed with amusement. "Coward."
"Call me what you want," Kyle said with a grin. "I'm eating at my own pace."
Void shook his head and, without another word, dug into his pile of cores, devouring them like they were the most delicious thing he'd ever tasted. Kyle, meanwhile, picked up his first core, inspecting its crystalline structure.
It shimmered with energy, and Kyle felt a thrill of anticipation.
'First time eating Tier-2 cores,' he thought, placing it in his mouth. As he bit down, the core dissolved into pure energy, flooding his body with warmth and vitality.
[EXP +40]
Kyle smiled as the notification popped up. "So, Tier-2 cores give double the EXP of Tier-1 cores. Not bad at all."
He glanced at Void, who was tearing through his cores with unabashed enthusiasm. Kyle sighed. "Of course, you're gaining 200 per core with that skill of yours."
Void paused just long enough to smirk, bits of mana core dust clinging to his snout. "Perks of being superior."
Kyle rolled his eyes, though he couldn't help but feel grateful. He might not gain as much as Void, but the fact he could cultivate by consuming cores at all was a gift. "Can't be greedy," he muttered to himself, grabbing his second core.
With that, he began to handle the cores. Gobbling them one after the other in rapid succession.
[EXP +40]
[EXP +40]
[EXP +40]
...
Kyle settled into a rhythm, savoring the energy coursing through him with each core. The taste was odd but addictive, a mix of sweetness and metallic tang that left a faint crackle of mana in the air around him.
Void, meanwhile, was nearing the bottom of his pile. He glanced at Kyle and snorted. "I'm trying to be slow but you're still slower, how's that possible."
"I'm savoring it," Kyle shot back without looking up. "Not all of us have dragon stomachs."
Void huffed but didn't argue, returning to his meal.
Kyle also returned to his meal, and eventually he hit the long soughted notification and a familiar surge of power coursed through him.
"Finally," he said with a smile as he glanced at the notification that glowed in his status screen.
[EXP: 12000/12000]
[Congratulations! You have Leveled Up!]
[Beginner Mage: Lv 6 >> Lv 7]
[All stats: +10]
He controlled himself from checking his status and decided to finish off the remaining cores first.
It didn't take long for Kyle to finish his pile. As he swallowed the last core, he opened his mouth to say the magic word:
"Status!"
———————
Beginner Mage: Lv 7
EXP: 1131/18000*
HP: 180*
Energy: 216*
MP: -*
Agility: 101*
Strength: 105*
Vitality: 90*
Stamina: 108*
Intelligence: 91*
SP: 0
[Elements]
[Skills]
[Lightning Bolt(Lv 3)]
[Lightning Dash(Lv 3)]
[Inspect(Lv 2)]
[Gobbler(Lv 2)]
[Undying]
——————
Kyle's body hummed with power. He flexed his fingers, feeling the increased strength in his movements. "Not bad at all," he said, standing up and stretching.
"Except for Vitality and Intelligence, all my stats are of 3 digits already," Kyle couldn't help but feel a sense of achievement as he drew from the system.
He felt a great deal of pride from his level up. In just two days, he had managed to level up twice. That was impressive!
'I can't wait to see everyone's reactions when I return to the academy.' Kyle's mind couldn't help but wonder to the academy. Was he missing it? No. Did he want to go back? Yes. But not now though. He was having a good time outside and although he kinda missed his friends back there, that didn't mean he was in a hurry to return.
'I'll make sure to return with a banger.' Kyle resolved himself, ending his monologue session and glancing at the dragon who lazily stared at him.
"Feeling stronger, human?" Void asked the moment he Kyle's gaze fell on him, knowing fully well he had leveled up.
"Absolutely," Kyle said with a grin. "And you?"
"Check for yourself," Void said with a cheeky grin that displayed his sharp teeth. "You ain't bridging that gap anytime soon."
"Pet status!" Kyle called out, fully expecting Void to have leveled up.
'Pet Status!'
| Void |
| Race: Omni Drakkon |
| Level: 8 |*
| EXP: 7300/64000 |*
| HP: 340 |*
| Energy: 640 |*
| MP: 560 |*
| Agility: 98 |*
| Strength: 97 |*
| Vitality: 170 |*
| Stamina: 320 |*
| Intelligence: 560 |*
[Skills: Lightning Breath (Lv 3), Lightning Dash (Lv 3), Invisible (Lv 4), Phase (Lv 3)]
Kyle smiled when he saw that Void has leveled up too. It was better for them to get as strong as possible before tackling their next challenge.
"Nice, Void," Kyle said remarked with a genuine smile.
"Yeah, very nice. Level 10 doesn't feel so far off anymore," Void added with a smirk. "Hope you've got me 1000 mana cores ready."
Kyle's eyes widened the moment he remembered their agreement. They were leveling up too fast and he didn't even have any credits. How was he going to provide such amount of cores?
"Ehm... Void, what happened to you breaking through in over 200 days," Kyle asked with a nervous chuckle.
"Well, Kyle, it's always smart to consider the unexpected," Void replied with a snarky grin that made Kyle wail.
He didn't dwell on it that much, he knew that once he returned, he'll easily fetch that amount of money through the arena.
'I doubt anyone will be able to defeat me now, especially when I get the skill points and learn the technique,' Kyle thought.
He turned to Void to discuss the plan forward before remembering something that he hadn't checked in a while and must have improved all this while.
[Sword Intent Mastery: 61.69%]
"Yess!" Kyle screamed with a smile. "I'm almost there."
"You're almost where?" Void asked Kyle who had screamed out loud by mistake with a raised eyebrow.
Kyle quickly got himself together and rubbed the back of his neck. "Welp, I'm about to finally unlock sword intent. You know that white line attack I told you about—"
"I don't remember and I don't care," Void rudely cut him off before he could explain further, making Kyle smile in embarrassment. "I'd rather prefer we discuss our next plan... That's something worth talking about."
They both instinctively glanced forward to see the large imposing black wolf that eerily still stood before the pool.
Even as they had called the rest of the beasts through the whistle and killer them all, the beast remained unmoving, quietly staring at the glowing mana origin source as if it was entranced by it.
"How'd we handle that?"