Chapter 65: promotion rewards (II)
Malrik sat on the edge of the bed, his gaze fixed on the flickering flames dancing within the hearth.
Silence filled the room.
Only now, after everything that had happened, did he finally have a moment to think.
The temple, The promotion, Archbishop Matthias.
One unbelievable event after another, yet none of it occupied his thoughts for long.
The system had said every reward had already been deposited into his Inventory.
A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
Time to check my promotion rewards.
He closed his eyes and focused. The familiar interface materialized before him—translucent blue text glowing faintly against the darkness.
[ Promotion Rewards Detected. ]
[ Performance Bonus Confirmed. ]
[ Intelligence +200 ]
[ Strength +50 ]
[ Agility +50 ]
[ Constitution +50 ]
[ Free Attribute Points +100 ]
[ The user’s soul has been strengthened. ]
[ Soul Contract Capacity Increased. ]
[ Soul Contracts: 50 → 250 ]
[ All Soul Binder Class Skills have been enhanced. ]
[ Class-Exclusive Skill Book Acquired. ]
[ Epic Skill Book ★ ]
[ Class-Exclusive Skill Book Acquired. ]
[ Epic Skill Book ★★★ ]
[ Obtained: Rare Weapon ★★★★★ ]
Malrik read through the list once. Then again. Then a third time, letting each line sink in.
Two hundred Intelligence.
He let out a slow breath.
His mana reserves had always been larger than most—one of the few advantages this body had been born with. Even before the advancement, he’d been operating at a level that made other Awakened look underdeveloped. But this was different. This pushed his reserves far beyond what they’d been.
He could feel it now, the new mana flowing through him like a river that had suddenly doubled in size. It was smoother. More responsive. Easier to shape and command.
This is why everyone stared at the temple, he realized. This is why the priests looked at me like I was a freak.
A normal person advancing to Awakened generated a certain amount of ambient mana. A talented one generated more. But this—this was enough to shake the foundations of a temple. Enough to make a Saint-ranked priest forget his composure.
He thought about the reasons.
His Class. Soul Binder was a mage-type class by nature. It relied heavily on mana reserves for every function—every resurrection, every contract, every skill drew from his pool. The system likely accounted for that when distributing rewards.
Then there was Lokris. The Hybrid’s evolution had triggered the Abnormal Completion Record. The system had recalculated his rewards because he’d exceeded the requirements. That explained a significant portion of the bonus.
And finally, Hard difficulty. Not many Awakened would have attempted it. Fewer still would have succeeded. The system had to reward that kind of risk.
Three factors, he thought. Class requirements. Bonus from Lokris. Difficulty scaling. Together, they produced this.
The number still felt excessive. But it wasn’t impossible. It wasn’t unearned.
He moved on.
Strength, agility, and constitution—each increased by fifty points. Fifty points represented roughly fifty levels’ worth of natural growth, compressed into a single moment. His body felt different now. Lighter. Faster. Stronger. The kind of change that would have taken months of intense training, delivered in seconds.
Unfair, he thought. But I’m not going to complain.
Then the free attribute points. One hundred. A reserve he could tap into whenever a specific need arose.
I’ll hold onto them.
When I need to compensate for a weakness, I’ll have the means.
He moved his gaze lower.
[ The user’s soul has been strengthened. ]
[ Soul Contract Capacity Increased. ]
[ Soul Contracts: 50 → 250 ]
Malrik stared at the number.
Two hundred and fifty.
He’d gone from fifty to two hundred and fifty in a single advancement.
His soul felt different now—heavier, more substantial, like a weight that had always been there but had suddenly become denser. And with that density came awareness. He could feel his contracts more clearly than ever before. The threads connecting him to each bound soul—Fenrir, the wolves, the Spider Queen, Lilith, Lokris—they all hummed with greater intensity.
He could sense them now, even without summoning them. Distant presences waiting in the void of his Soul Space. Patient. Watchful. Ready.
Fifty souls was already a small army. Two hundred and fifty is something else entirely.
He stared at the number in silence.
An entire army...And this was only the Awakened Rank.
What would happen once I reached the Supreme Rank?
Just how many Soul Contracts would I be able to command by then?
The thought alone was enough to make his heart race.
He slowly shook his head.
"One step at a time."
"First... I need to survive the Banner Bearer Trial."
He scrolled further.
[ All Soul Binder Class Skills have been enhanced. ]
His eyes narrowed.
Enhanced?
So my existing skills had grown stronger without changing fundamentally. But how much stronger? And in what way?
He pulled up the first skill—one he rarely used, because his enemies were usually too strong for it to matter.
[ Death Bullet ] [LV 2]
Condense death mana into a bullet and launch it toward your target.
The bullet ignores 30% of the target’s physical defense and explodes into death mana upon impact.
Malrik studied the description.
On the surface, it seemed unchanged. A bullet of condensed death mana. Basic. The kind of skill any Necromancer or Death Mage would have.
But the numbers told a different story.
Thirty percent defense penetration wasn’t insignificant. Against heavily armored enemies, his attacks would find gaps that didn’t exist. And the explosion—the death mana detonation upon impact—meant that even a glancing blow could turn into a fatal wound.
At Level 1, it was barely useful. At Level 2, it’s already a threat.
He smiled faintly.
Skills don’t stay static. They grow with me.
He turned to the second skill.
[ Soul Resurrection ] [LV 2]
Resurrect a deceased soul as a Soul Contracted.
The resurrected soul manifests a physical body using the user’s mana while retaining its original memories, instincts, and abilities.
The user may resurrect and command souls up to one rank above their current rank.
Malrik frowned.
The description was exactly the same, There wasn’t a single visible change.
He stared at the screen for a moment before slowly shaking his head.
"Perhaps the mana cost has been reduced... or maybe the resurrection process has become easier and more stable."
His thoughts drifted to Lokris.
Resurrecting it had been exhausting.
Its resistance had been overwhelming, and by the time the resurrection was complete, nearly every drop of mana he possessed had been drained away.
"If that’s no longer the case..."
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"I’ll find out the next time I use it."
Then the third skill.
[ Soul Storage ] [LV 2]
Store contracted souls within your Soul Space.
They can be summoned or dismissed instantly at the user’s will.
Souls resting within the Soul Space recover mana and spiritual vitality at a slightly accelerated rate.
Slightly accelerated recovery.
Not dramatic. But useful. Every bit of recovery speed meant his souls could fight longer, die less, return to battle faster.
Then the final skill.
[ Soul Calling ] [LV 2]
Grants the authority to summon random wandering souls from the Realm of Souls and establish eternal Soul Contracts.
Warning:
If the summoned soul exceeds the Soul Binder’s rank by more than one tier, its power will be forcibly suppressed to one rank above the master’s current level. Attempting to command a soul beyond the user’s contract threshold significantly increases the risk of backlash and loss of control.
Cooldown:
Two Soul Contracts every 3 months.
Bound souls manifest as physical entities capable of independent combat.
Malrik paused.
Two Soul Contracts...
A faint smile appeared on his face.
"So the cooldown was reduced."
Before, he could only establish a single Soul Contract every three months.
Now, he could form two.
A simple change.
Yet one that would make all the difference.
Four skills. Four enhancements. All of them better than before.
He was about to close the interface when his eyes fell on the last three notifications.
[ Class-Exclusive Skill Book Acquired. ]
[ Epic Skill Book ★ ]
[ Class-Exclusive Skill Book Acquired. ]
[ Epic Skill Book ★★★ ]
[ Obtained: Rare Weapon ★★★★★ ]
Malrik’s eyes widened.
Epic Class Skill Books?
He had expected rewards.
He hadn’t expected this.
From the moment an Awakener obtained a Class, they would naturally receive a handful of foundational skills. Those abilities formed the very core of the Class itself, and while there were slight differences from person to person, those who shared the same Class usually possessed nearly identical foundational skills.
Class Skills were different.
They weren’t granted upon awakening.
Instead, they were earned through special circumstances—most commonly during Rank Advancements, though certain extraordinary trials, life-and-death experiences, or unique opportunities could also grant them.
The rarity of those skills wasn’t fixed.
It depended entirely on the circumstances, the choices a person made, and the hardships they overcame.
Even two Awakeners with the exact same Class could awaken completely different Class Skills after advancing.
As for Epic-ranked Class Skill Books...
They were unimaginably rare.
If some fool ever decided to sell one, every noble house in the Empire would descend upon the auction without hesitation.
And I just received two...
His eyes remained fixed on the two books.
...So this was because of Lokris?
Contracting that damned hybrid really was the best thing that’s happened to me in a long time.
...Even if the bastard forced me to remember memories I’d rather have left buried forever.
He focused on his system inventory.
The system’s inventory was modest.
Most Awakened possessed only limited storage space, and Malrik rarely used it anymore.
The storage ring gifted by one of his brothers offered far greater capacity.
Even so, the system continued to deposit all of its rewards into its own separate inventory.
At the moment, only three items rested inside.
He reached out mentally and extracted them.
The first two items were skill books.
They were bound in jet-black covers trimmed with silver edges, each bearing a single ancient rune engraved across the front. The symbols radiated a faint aura, neither oppressive nor violent, but carrying an undeniable sense of authority.
They looked deceptively ordinary.
Yet the moment Malrik held one in his hand, he could feel the dense concentration of mana sealed within its pages.
This wasn’t a book meant to be read.
It was knowledge waiting to be inherited.
The third item was a scythe.
A jet-black blade curved into a perfect crescent, its edge so thin it seemed capable of cutting through anything.
The weapon bore no engravings or ornaments.
It didn’t need them.
Malrik set all three on the floor before him.
He sat cross-legged on the bed, staring at them.
Two books. One weapon.
He reached for the first book, his fingers brushing against the dark leather.
Let’s see what I’ve earned.