Chapter 43 | Grinding Evolution Points, Second Task Completed
Over the course of the next four weeks, Alicar did mostly nothing but wake up, head into the Initial Stage, hunt monsters relentlessly, and come back as night appeared on the horizon.
He didn’t know why he was even trying to go this fast, pushing himself to his limits every single day, but somehow, he felt like he shouldn’t delay his ascension to the First Layer any longer than necessary.
Perhaps he didn’t want to make Iris wait too long since she needed him to complete his Advancement Task to progress, or perhaps he wanted to see how much stronger he could grow with each passing day.
Either way, after the four weeks of constant grinding and absorbing cores, he had amassed a massive amount of Evolution Points that made his efforts worthwhile.
[Evolution Points: 454]
With an average of 14 Evolution Points per day from consuming cores, plus 2 per day due to the daily refresh, Alicar had almost reached the threshold to where he could evolve his skill to its maximum level.
He hadn’t met Iris and Leon during that time, their paths not crossing in the vast expanse of the Initial Stage, but perhaps due to his class, he felt like they were doing fine, as he could sense the faint trace of their souls somewhere out there.
He even tried to return to Human Base #3 at some point by traversing the dangerous forest, but upon arriving there, he was met with several guards blocking his path.
"Hold on, kid, this area is restricted for now," one of the guards groaned, his expression stern and unwelcoming. "Something terrible happened here recently."
"...What happened?" Alicar asked, his heart rate increasing slightly.
"This base’s commander was killed, I have no idea how, but if someone strong enough to kill a commander is in the Initial Stage, we need to take care of them before they cause more damage."
"Huh, okay," a bead of sweat appeared on Alicar’s forehead, his mind racing with the implications. "Well, I guess I’ll leave you to it..."
Alicar turned around and vowed to never come back here if he didn’t need to, there are many more bases scattered across the Initial Stage after all.
As he continued killing more monsters and absorbing their essences, he eventually reached the spot where the Sun Temple was once more, the place where everything had changed.
It was now completely destroyed, only the debris of what it once was remained in the clearing, scattered across the scorched earth like forgotten memories.
’Good riddance!’ he thought, a sense of satisfaction washing over him.
He remembered the message from the Tier-4 awakener in the association’s forum, the one who had silenced all discussion about the temple, but no matter what any of this meant, it was behind Alicar already, a Chapter of his life that had closed.
He continued like this for three more days, his routine unchanging, until eventually, as he consumed another core...
Nom!
[+1 Evolution Point.]
"That should be enough," he grinned, a wide smile spreading across his face.
[Evolution Points: 496]
He had exactly the amount he needed, and though it took a month to do it, a month of constant fighting and grinding, Alicar was happy that he had accomplished his goal.
Most awakeners of his batch must already be in the First Layer by now, including Leon, their advancement tasks likely completed, but it didn’t matter to him, he was on his own path.
’So close,’ he thought, his heart pounding with anticipation.
He opened his Elemental Attack’s skill panel and quickly clicked on the "+", his finger hovering over the option.
[Evolve for 16 Evolution Points?]
"Yes!"
Ding!
[Level 5 → 6]
But he didn’t stop there at all, as he immediately continued, the power surging through him.
[Evolve for 32 Evolution Points?]
"Yes!"
Ding!
[Level 6 → 7]
Alicar repeated the process two more times, each evolution making him feel more powerful than the last, and eventually, he faced the last prompt.
[Evolve for 256 Evolution Points?]
"Let’s get this advancement task over with," he nodded, his voice filled with determination.
Ding!
[Level 9 → 10]
And right afterward, it felt as though Alicar’s entire being was fueled with power, energy coursing through every fiber of his body, as several panels appeared before him.
[Your Elemental Attack skill has reached Level 10 and has evolved to Epic-rank as a result.]
"Damn," Alicar mumbled, his eyes widening with surprise.
[Skill: Elemental Attack]
[Rank: Epic (Max)]
[Description: Make use of the power of your affinities to conjure different attacks. Your proficiency with this skill will determine your attacks’ power. +200% Damage.]
"Incredible," Alicar whispered, his voice filled with awe at the sheer power of his evolved skill.
The [Level] line was completely gone, and beside his skill’s now evolved rank was "max" meaning that he couldn’t evolve it any longer for now, at least not through normal means.
Was there a way to push it past its current limits in the future? Perhaps with some rare item or special condition, but Alicar really doubted it would be easy.
Either way, the +200% Damage bonus was already enough to make this one of the strongest skills any Tier-0 awakener had ever gotten their hands on, a feat that would make others jealous.
Alicar even wondered what Iris was thinking at that moment seeing her skill level up so much for no apparent reason, the sudden surge of power catching her off guard.
[Evolve one of your Skills to Max Level: 1/1]
But with that done, he had completed his second advancement task, leaving him with only one more to evolve to Tier-1.
[Have 3 Vessels: 2/3]
"Need to find one more person to recruit, that’s it," Alicar mused, his mind already planning. "I guess I don’t really need to return to the Initial Stage anymore."
Alicar prepared to return to a Human Base and leave the Initial Stage for good, his journey in this realm finally coming to an end.
But before then, he returned to the clearing with the Sun Temple as it was nearby.
He summoned a massive fireball in his hand, which grew larger and larger, the heat radiating from it intense, then he launched it at the crumbling structure.
BOOM!
The explosion that erupted was deafening, shaking the ground beneath his feet, and the Sun Temple’s structure was now even more broken and scorched than before, reduced to rubble.
’That felt good,’ Alicar thought as he turned around with a smile on his face, a sense of closure washing over him.
The only problem with that final advancement task was simple though: across the month Alicar spent grinding for Evolution Points, he had used his class to peer into the souls of almost everybody he came across.
And yet not a single one of them had been a Supreme talent, meaning that finding another on the level of Iris and Leon would be far more complicated than he had expected.
He also managed to understand the potential hierarchy thanks to that: Bad, Meh, Decent, Good, Excellent, Supreme, Divine.
Perhaps there was something between Supreme and Divine, or even after it, but for now he hadn’t seen anything that suggested otherwise.
Just like that, Alicar returned to the nearest Human Base and passed through the portal, emerging from the gate back into the real world.
He immediately headed to the Awakener Association afterward to look for another potential vessel to recruit again, his eyes scanning the crowd.
But right as he was about to enter the building, he suddenly heard familiar voices behind him, voices hadn’t heard in a month.
"Holy shit, its Alicar!"
"What?"
"Damn, you’re right!"
Alicar turned around, his brow furrowed with confusion.
And there before him stood his three ex-friends, Levi, Daan and Alex, all of them wearing powerful-looking equipment that gleamed with magical energy.