Chapter 56 | Gaining Evolution Points in the First Layer
Alicar quickly set to work after killing the monsters, using the newly acquired Stalker’s Knife to harvest the cores from the fallen creatures.
The blade cut through their hides with surprising ease, making the process much faster than even in the Initial Stage.
He obtained three E-Rank cores and one D-Rank core from this.
He held them in his palm, feeling the familiar energy radiating from them. Then, without hesitation, he consumed them all.
The energy coursed through his body, warm and invigorating, and after a few seconds, a notification appeared.
Ding!
[+1 Evolution Point.]
’It takes five E-Rank cores to gain one Evolution Point and three D-Rank cores for the same amount,’ Alicar thought, his brow furrowing. ’But perhaps because I combined them... it worked out? I’ll have to check the combinations if possible.’
Either way, Alicar now had 4 Evolution Points. And that meant he could level up another one of his skills.
He opened his skill panel, his eyes scanning the options.
[Skills: Six-Elements Affinity (+), Elemental Attack (Max), Demonic Arts (+), Platinum Body (+)]
’Hmm,’ he pondered, his finger hovering over the choices. ’Which one should I evolve next?’
Demonic Arts and Platinum Body were both Legendary-rank skills, meaning that even getting them to level 2 would cost 4 Evolution Points each, a significant investment.
As for Six-Elements Affinity, it was currently at level 2 already, meaning that it would also cost 4 EP to get to level 3, the same as the Legendary skills.
So at that moment, Alicar had to choose between increasing his elemental attack strength, his physical attack and defense with Demonic Arts, or massively enhance his defense with Platinum Body.
The choice was difficult, though it didn’t mean Alicar didn’t already have a rough idea of what he wanted to do, his mind set on a specific path.
And so he opened up the panel of the skill he wanted to evolve, his finger hovering over the option.
[Skill: Demonic Arts]
[Rank: Legendary]
[Level: 1 (+)]
[Evolve for 4 Evolution Points?]
"Evolve," Alicar simply nodded with a faint smile on his face, confirming his choice.
[Level 1 → 2]
Just like that, his skill became much stronger, the power of Vorgath surging through his veins, though Alicar’s EP dropped to zero once again, which would force him to grind for monster cores or wait until they replenished naturally.
Either way, he checked if the description had changed to reflect his new power.
---
[Skill: Demonic Arts]
[Rank: Legendary]
[Level: 2 (+)]
[Description: Forbidden techniques passed down from the demon general Vorgath the Unbroken. Demon Fist and Demon Guard. You may be able to learn more techniques as time passes. +20% Physical Damage. -10% Stamina Drain.]
[Insufficient Evolution Points. Cost: 8]
---
Beside the damage percentage increase and decrease in stamina usage, nothing else had changed, but that didn’t bother Alicar, as it still made him much stronger than before.
Demonic Fist might have been able to hurt a Goblin Warrior previously, but with the damage increase, it could even one-shot it now, a significant leap in power.
Alicar continued his journey through the forest, his senses on high alert as he searched for more monsters to kill and cores to consume.
After about an hour of walking and fighting, he had managed to kill several more Shadow Prowlers and other creatures, accumulating enough cores to reach 2 Evolution Points once more.
As always, common-rank monsters who only dropped F-Rank corpses didn’t grant him any EP, so he simply stored them.
But then, he encountered something much more dangerous.
[Obsidian Beetle Lv.17]
[Rank: Rare]
The creature was enormous, its black carapace gleaming like polished stone, its mandibles clicking together with deadly intent.
Alicar took a deep breath, his grip tightening on his Cinderwood Staff.
The Obsidian Beetle charged, its massive legs carrying it forward with surprising speed.
Alicar dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding its crushing mandibles, and swung his staff in a wide arc to release a fireball.
The impact barely scratched its shell.
’Right, rare-rank,’ Alicar thought, his mind racing. ’I need something stronger.’
He dropped his staff, channeling his mana into his fist instead, and activated Demon Fist.
The crimson aura roared to life around his arm, Vorgath’s image appearing behind him in its full glory.
With a powerful roar, Alicar swung his fist directly at the beetle’s head.
BOOM!
The impact was devastating, cracking the beetle’s obsidian shell and sending it stumbling backward.
The creature let out a pained screech, its legs flailing as it tried to recover.
Alicar didn’t give it the chance.
He followed up with another Demon Fist, then another, each strike more powerful than the last, until the beetle finally collapsed to the ground, defeated.
Ding!
[You have killed Lv.17 Obsidian Beetle.]
[You have levelled up to Level 13!]
[You have gained one point in every attribute, and two free attribute points.]
Alicar stood over the fallen monster, a wide smile on his face, though he was slightly exhausted.
His new Demonic Fist was truly devastating, capable of taking down even rare-rank monsters with enough strikes.
He quickly harvested the creature’s core, a D-Rank core that hummed with energy, and consumed it immediately.
[+1 Evolution Point.]
’Three Evolution Points now,’ he thought, a sense of satisfaction washing over him. ’I’m making good progress.’
But as he was about to move on, he suddenly felt something, a faint pull in the air that made him stop dead in his tracks.
Something was nearby. Something big.
Alicar moved carefully through the trees, his footsteps silent as he followed the feeling.
He ducked behind a thick cluster of bushes and peered through the leaves, and what he saw made his blood run cold.
In a small clearing ahead, there were hundreds of goblins, their green forms packed together like a small army.
And in the center of them all stood the Goblin Commander he had seen before, its arm missing, replaced by a crude bandage, and beside it was a massive goblin draped in dark robes.
[Goblin Shaman Lv.22]
[Rank: Epic]
The Goblin Shaman was channeling dark energy into the Commander’s wounded arm, the flesh slowly regenerating before Alicar’s eyes.