Insane Increase in Power
After calming his nerves down, Alex took one mid stage rank 1 monster core and decided to absorb it. He selected warrior cultivation and soon, the core turned into smoke and seeped into his body. After that was done, he took another one and absorbed it and then another till he had absorbed four mid stage rank 1 monster cores.
[You have reached the cap of initial stage rank 1 warrior power level....To breakthrough to the next stage, you need to absorb external qi....]
This was the message that Alex got the moment he tried to absorb a fifth core. He had already absorbed one core before and now five cores. When each of the core gave him twenty percent progress in cultivation, then that meant that he had reached a hundred percent which was the cap for that level.
It seemed that things weren't that easy as even though he could absorb the cores, he could not breakthrough unless he cultivated. Putting the core that he was holding in his hand away, Alex sat in a lotus position before he activated the cultivation technique, golden pillar body cultivation technique.
Although slowly, he could feel the qi that was outside his body. He could feel the connection between the qi in his body and the qi that was outside his body. As he felt the qi, he used the technique and tried to absorb the qi outside into his body. Controlling the qi outside was difficult compared to controlling the one that he owned. So, Alex was forced to move only miniscule amounts of qi before absorbing it.
Although slowly, he could feel that his proficiency in controlling the qi was improving and so was the amount of qi that his body was absorbing. Just like that, two hours passed even before Alex noticed as he was deeply immersed in cultivation. The amount of qi that he had absorbed had greatly increased as time went on.
Like a wall made of glass, Alex felt the obstruction to the next stage shatter into million pieces as he felt a heatwave wash through his body. He could feel the size of his muscles increase by a certain degree. The bones also hardened and so did the skin. In general, he could feel the increase in strength as he broke through to mid stages of rank 1.
[You have broken through to rank 1 mid stage in warrior path....Congratulations master....]
Alex let out a sigh of relief as he had truly broke through. Seeing that it was already night time and he hadn't eaten for the whole day, Alex asked for food and he ate it before he went to sleep. Cultivation really drained his mental strength. Now Alex understood why people didn't just cultivate for years without taking a break.
The next morning, Alex woke up while feeling refreshed. He really felt that he had just had a good rest which he indeed had as he slept quite early. After doing a couple of stretches, Alex went into the bathroom to freshen up before he continued analysing his condition.
After a sumptuous breakfast, Alex once again sat on his bed in a lotus position before taking out a monster core. He had absorbed a total of eight monster cores. Two initial and six in the mid stages. One initial and one mid stage core for fifteen coins, one initial for the mage path and five mid stage for warrior path. Now, he had twenty three more cores.
He had just come to a decision to upgrade his mage path using the remaining cores. Since the guild card didn't show his mage rank but warrior rank, he decided to go with it. After all, it had just been a day since he showed the guard at the tower his guild card and it showed that he was in his initial stages of rank 1. What would happen if the guard saw that he had just jumped to the late stages within a day? He didn't want to think about it.
As for why the card didn't show his mage rank, it was simply because it was meant for warriors and the test that he took was for the warrior path. Taking a deep breath, Alex chose to absorb the core. Like usual, the smoke seeped into his body. He absorbed three more cores before stopping. He only needed ten percent yet the cores in his possession only gave him twenty percent. That meant that if he absorbed it, the extra ten percent would be wasted, and he didn't want to waste any energy.
Sighing, Alex returned the remaining nineteen cores in the inventory before he decided to try and cultivate the conventional way. He activated the golden magic cultivation technique and he began feeling the mana in air. He began moving it just like he did with the qi and he began absorbing it. Like qi, it was difficult to control but since he had already done the same thing with qi, it was quite easy for mana as he had some experience in absorption.
In his status, he could see that the percentage was moving by a decimal point as time kept moving. This progress speed was too slow for Alex who had already gotten used to fast progress. He finally decided to stop cultivating and visit the dungeon to test his strength and new weapons.
He greeted Jane downstairs before walking towards the dungeon. The dungeon was busy as usual and Alex received several glances from the hunters that were present in the dungeon. As he headed to the teleportation stone, Alex was stopped by a young man who seemed to be in his late twenties.
"Hey kid, what do you think about joining my party? We are the best party in this dungeon and we just lost one member recently so we are less one man and I can see that you are alone," stayed the young man as he walked towards Alex with a smile. He was wearing a full set of leather armor on his bulky body build and he had a mace on his shoulder. In terms of appearance, he could be considered as handsome with his short blonde hair and green eyes.
Alex smiled back before giving his reply, "Sorry but I am okay alone."
The smile on the young man stiffened as he looked back at Alex. It seemed that he wasn't used to being told no and he didn't quite like the response that Alex was giving him. After all, he had just praised his party in front of many people and tried inviting Alex to join them but Alex refused thus making him loose face.
"Oh, you are okay alone? Do you mean that you are okay with this small coins that you are going to get in the first rooms in the first floor? My party is of rank twos and we are heading to the second floor. You know the price for rank 2 monster cores right?" said the young man in an aggressive voice.
"I know, but I am not interested in coins, I want to practice and the first floor is where I can do that," stated Alex as a matter of fact. He wondered to himself that of what use would a rank 1 be in the second floor other than being cannon fodder when things go south for the party.
"Okay, do whatever you want but when you're in trouble don't come to me crying asking for help." With those words, the young man left and joined his team of three. Alex knew that if the adventurer's guild didn't set the rules that no guild member should attack another, then from the mood of the young man before he left, he would have tried using force to force Alex into submission.
Alex knew that the story won't end there so, he had to be ready for the troubles that were bound to come in the near future. He took a deep breath before continuing on his way to the teleportation stone. Some of the hunters looked at Alex with pity as they knew that he had just made an enemy of one of the best parties in this level one dungeon.
Some even wondered if Alex had a death wish as he had no weapon or armor on him yet he was going to fight against monsters. Alex didn't care about what they were thinking and placed his hand on the stone as soon as it was his turn. Several seconds later, he found himself in the safe area of the dungeon.
Since he had already been to all rooms in the floor apart from the final room that had the boss of the floor, an initial stage rank 1 martial monster. Alex didn't know if he had what it takes to face off against a rank 2 monster. He only knew that even a peak stage monster couldn't do much harm to him.
The difference in power between a rank 1 and a rank 2 monster was huge. A rank 2 initial stage martial monster could kill upto fifty peak stage rank 1 martial monster in a group battle. That was the difference. Not knowing where his power was, Alex checked his status first.
[Name; Alex Faxel
Age; 15
Job; Adventurer
HP; 150
Power level; Warrior Rank 1 (mid stage)
Mage Rank 1 (initial stage)
Next level; Warrior; 0/100%
Mage; 90.2/100%
Affinity; Lightning
Strength;15
Stamina;15
Agility; 15
Vitality;30
Mental strength;20
Mana; 200/200
Coins;15
Ability points;10
Skills; Light steps rank 0 (initial grade)
Swirling winds rank 0 (mid grade)
This was a great boost in his strength. He was at least fifty percent stronger than before. This implied that he could handle the peak stage rank 1 martial monster with ease. He was pretty sure that he could handle even five at the same time. Thus also implied that he was not yet at the level of handling a rank 2 martial monster and thus he made a mental note to avoid the boss room at all costs.
His mental strength and mana remained the same as before because it depended on his mage path. This meant that he needed to breakthrough to the next stage in the mage path for him to increase his mana capacity and mental strength. Now that things were the way they were, he was going to make sure that he would grind the dungeon as much as possible so that when he gets out of this place, he would have enough coins to use in the tower for a few days in the least.
Author's Note :
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