Chapter 45: Elara Becomes 1st Echelon Rank
"Thanks. I’ll do it that way, then."
Jack looked at the mission one more time before closing the panel.
"I’m not so in a hurry to advance that I’d risk my life unnecessarily just to enter the World Ranking anyway."
Ron had been listening while fighting another zombie.
His expression became irritated as he complained, "How did this bastard reach Level 25 before me?"
Jack turned toward the corpses around him.
"That’s natural since I killed more."
"That’s bullshit."
"What part is bullshit? You spend half the fight complaining instead of doing things properly"
Ron’s face darkened.
Before Ron could respond, Nathan released another arrow between them.
It passed several meters away from them before piercing through a zombie’s knee.
"Stop arguing," Nathan said. "Do it after we finish here."
Ron looked toward the crippled zombie.
"Don’t kill it!"
"I didn’t."
"I know! I was talking to Jack!"
Ron rushed forward.
The fallen zombie tried to push itself upward, but his spear struck first. The metal point entered through the side of its skull.
Ron pulled the weapon free and immediately moved toward another enemy.
A Level 22 zombie rushed from between two abandoned cars.
Ron accelerated his speed.
The infected person reached forward, but its hands closed around empty air as Ron had already moved past its left side.
He stopped behind it, reversed his grip, and thrust the spear through the back of its head.
The zombie dropped dead.
Ron turned when he sensed another one was approaching.
He rushed directly toward it.
The zombie swung.
Ron lowered his body and slipped beneath the arm, then stabbed the spear upward through its mouth.
The zombie stopped moving instantly.
Then a familiar wave of energy entered his body together with a notification appeared before his eyes.
[Ding! You have leveled up to Level 25.]
Ron immediately grinned.
"Finally."
[You have reached the maximum Level of the Unranked stage.]
[Further Levels cannot be obtained until you complete your First-Echelon Advancement Mission.]
Ron quickly focused on the next notification, but his smile gradually disappeared when he read the description.
[1st Echelon Advancement Mission]
[Kill 25 Unranked beings at Level 20 or higher without assistance.]
[After completing the required kills, become the target of a 1st Echelon being.]
[Successfully escape the 1st Echelon being’s pursuit without receiving assistance.]
[Kill Progress: 0/25]
"What the fuck?" Ron frowned.
"What did you get?" Cain chuckled.
Ron walked closer and showed him the mission.
Cain read through it, his smile grew wider.
"It suits you perfectly."
"How does being chased by a First-Echelon monster suit me perfectly?"
"You’re a runner."
"I’m a sprinter!"
"Same thing."
"It is absolutely not the same thing!"
Cain pointed toward the second requirement.
"You only need to escape. Why are you acting like the System told you to kill it?"
Ron looked offended.
"Because I have to make a 1st Echelon creature chase me first!"
"So?"
"So that thing might actually catch my ass!"
Nathan walked past them.
"Well, considering how fast you are, you should be able to do it."
Ron immediately turned toward him.
"You too?"
Nathan shrugged.
"Easy for you to say when your mission is already completed." Ron clicked his tongue.
Cain stopped paying attention to him as he noticed that Elara had almost finished with her mission.
Her section of the battlefield had become much quieter.
Frozen patches covered different parts of the pavement. Several headless zombies lay across them.
[Advancement Mission Progress: 23/25]
Elara stepped around the corpse in front of her.
Two qualifying zombies remained.
The first charged almost immediately.
She moved forward in response and as usual, there was no complicated exchange as her sword swept across its neck, instantly killing the zombie.
[Advancement Mission Progress: 24/25]
The final zombie stood less than fifteen meters away.
It had already reached Level 25.
Its body was larger than the others, though not enough to be considered a mutated zombie.
Elara tightened her grip, Cold Mana flowed through her arm and gathered along the blade.
The zombie rushed toward her.
Its speed was faster than the enemies she had just killed.
However, Elara stayed calm.
A thin layer of ice formed beneath the zombie’s next step.
Its foot landed awkwardly.
The zombie slipped just enough for its body to lean toward one side.
Elara immediately took the opportunity by stepping forward and swinging her sword once.
Shhk!
The Ice-covered blade passed through its neck and the head fell onto the road.
The body followed a moment later as it fell onto the road with a thud.
[Advancement Mission Progress: 25/25]
[First-Echelon Advancement Mission completed.]
Elara slowly lowered her sword.
However, before she could celebrate, another notification appeared.
[All advancement requirements have been fulfilled.]
[Beginning advancement to the First Echelon.]
[Beginning Mana Core condensation.]
Elara’s expression changed as the Mana inside her body suddenly moved without her control.
Cold energy rushed through every Mana channel at once.
The Ice covering her sword vanished as all of it was pulled back into her body.
Elara inhaled sharply.
Her legs weakened.
Cain had already started moving.
He appeared beside her and caught her arm before she fell.
"My Mana..."
"I know."
Cain helped her sit beside the wall of one of the shops.
"Don’t resist it."
Nathan approached as well.
His Wind Mana Core allowed him to sense the changes more clearly than the others.
"It’s starting."
Elara closed her eyes.
All the Ice Mana scattered throughout her body began gathering toward one location.
At first, the process was chaotic as Mana rushed through her channels in powerful currents, leaving her fingers trembling from the pressure.
Cold air spread around her.
A layer of frost appeared beneath her legs.
Elara focused inward.
Mana continued gathering inside her body.
The energy that once circulated freely through her limbs was being drawn toward a single location, compressed little by little as more joined it.
Cain watched her for several seconds.
Then he remembered the purified Cores.
He opened his Inventory and took out three of them.
Elara’s eyes opened when she sensed the dense energy contained within the spheres.
She looked at Cain in surprise.
"You’re giving them to me?"