Chapter 41 | Another Evolution Points Source [1]
Alicar appeared inside of another base linked to the gate he had taken, more precisely, Human Base #13, its familiar walls and structures greeting him once more.
Of course, it looked extremely similar to the one he had come from, identical in layout and design, except for the fact there were different awakeners milling about, and another commander overseeing operations.
’I wonder what they’ll do with Rick’s corpse,’ Alicar thought faintly, his mind drifting to the events of the previous day. ’I mean, I left him for dead there, so I hope it doesn’t cause any issues for me.’
Deaths within the Eternal Realm were so common that the Awakener Association didn’t even bother looking too deep into them, dismissing most as casualties of the dangerous world.
But for someone like Rick, one of the strongest in the Initial Stage, it would indeed arise several questions that would need answering:
Who could defeat him? Why? How did a commander of his caliber fall to someone so seemingly insignificant?
All of these questions, Alicar didn’t want to answer them, and being teleported to another human base was advantageous, as it would create distance between him and the investigation.
Either way, carrying the Cutting Knife in his hand, he walked outside of the human base into the familiar dark forest, its trees looming overhead like silent watchers.
Alicar’s abilities were far too strong at this point for the lower-level monsters, so even a small fireball was enough to kill anything that got too close without much effort.
The low-level monsters didn’t interest him though, so he left them behind, their corpses not worth the time to harvest.
Instead, he waited until he arrived at the high-level monster area of the forest, where the real threats lurked.
And indeed, soon enough, he encountered a pack of level 10 threats, exactly five of them, their forms emerging from the underbrush with predatory intent.
[Earth Fox Lv.10]
[Rank: Uncommon]
Alicar’s expression didn’t budge as he faced the monsters, his confidence unshaken by their numbers.
They could indeed kill him if he wasn’t careful, their claws and teeth capable of tearing through flesh, but still, he simply channeled his power around his palm and launched a fireball with casual ease.
Boom!
The explosion instantly killed three of the earth foxes, their bodies collapsing to the ground in a heap, making the other two panic as they rushed toward the human with desperate fury.
Alicar simply used Demon Guard to deflect the attacks though, the foxes unable to push through his powerful guard no matter how hard they tried.
It took the strength of a legendary-rank monster to injure him through Demon Guard, meaning that any monster of lower rank wouldn’t be able to do anything to him at all!
Alicar also noticed that he wasn’t as tired as before, perhaps because the foxes’ attacks weren’t as strong as the Sun Beast’s devastating blows.
Either way, he launched two more fireballs with practiced precision, killing them all for good, their bodies falling silent.
Of course, since he was already level 10, he didn’t receive any notification of experience gain, his progress frozen until he completed his advancement task.
But the corpses were still there for him to take, their remains valuable in their own way.
’Corpses are useless, they won’t even sell for much at the Trading Centre since necromancers don’t even bother using them, might as well just take the cores and leave the rest,’ he thought, weighing his options.
That is why Alicar brought the Cutting Knife, and he immediately summoned it from his storage ring into his hand, the blade gleaming in the dim light.
Just like that, he began cutting the Earth Foxes’ scorched corpses, pulling the E-Rank cores from their remains with careful precision.
These things would only sell for around $250 each at best, but at least that was a good start, a small return on his efforts.
Still though, as Alicar grabbed the first core into his hand, he suddenly felt something strange, a faint sensation that made him pause.
He dropped the core into the ground as he felt a trace of aura surround his hand, it was like a spark of electricity that danced across his skin, unfamiliar and intriguing.
’What the hell was that?’ Alicar wondered, his brow furrowing with confusion. ’I didn’t even feel that when I grabbed the Sun Beast’s core, which was infinitely more powerful.’
He grabbed the earth fox’s core once more, and though it was more bearable this time, he could still feel the faint aura on his hand, pulsing with energy.
And for some strange reason, as if he knew exactly what he was doing, Alicar consumed the core into his body, an instinct driving him forward.
It turned into particles that rushed inside of him, fueling his very being with a warmth that spread through his chest.
The core disappeared from his hand as he consumed it, its energy absorbed, but still, Alicar felt nothing different about him at that moment, no immediate change.
"Did that do nothing?" he wondered, his voice carrying a hint of disappointment. "I swear it... hm."
Alicar decided to do the same thing again with the second earth fox corpse, grabbing its core and consuming it, only for nothing to happen again, the same lack of result.
He did it two more times, wanting to make sure that the feeling he had was right, and Alicar stared at the last E-Rank core with growing anticipation.
Then, he consumed it, the final core dissolving into particles that rushed into his body.
And at that moment, it felt as though his entire body was being filled with power, a surge of energy that made his muscles tense and his mind sharpen.
One second passed, then three, then five, and finally, a notification appeared, its letters glowing with welcome light.
[+1 Evolution Point.]
"Hah... I found it," Alicar grinned, a wide smile spreading across his face. "The other way to earn Evolution Points."
Many said that the cores of monsters could enhance the very essence of one’s being, though it was very dangerous to do so and could have unpredictable effects.
But it seemed like Alicar was able to actually consume these very cores to increase his Evolution Points, a discovery that changed everything.
’Well, I got two questions,’ he thought, his mind already analyzing. ’First of all, why did it only work after consuming 5 of them? And finally, why didn’t I feel this with the Sun Beast’s core?’
Alicar had to assume an S-Rank core from such a monster would fetch him a lot of EP, perhaps even a hundred points from a single consumption.
Of course though, even if he had known that, he would have probably still sold it after hearing the price, as the money was too valuable to pass up, but it was interesting to consider.
Now that he knew that, the advancement task didn’t seem that difficult, just a matter of time and effort.
It would take a while, of course, and constant grinding on his part, but Alicar now knew that it was possible to accelerate his growth significantly.
And that also meant that in the future, he’d be able to keep gaining more Evolution Points, even in the First Layer and beyond, as long as he kept hunting and consuming cores.