BXBX NOVEL Chapter 150: Advancement
[Requirements]
: Current power level must be at Tier 3 Lv.9 (Clear!)
: At least Five Skills (Active or Passive) must reach Lv.8 (Clear!)
: Minimum of 5 Hell Dive clear streak. (Clear!)
: Fee of 100,000 T3 Demon Souls or 50,000 Tier 3 Purified Demon Souls. (Clear!)
: Pass the Advancement Quest. (Pending)
**
Within the Advancement Quest space, Cedric could be seen slashing away at his foes.
Every swing of his blade was accompanied by a golden wave of flames with scalding heat. Some of his enemies evaporated even before getting hit by his slashes so others scrambled to flee from it.
If there's a great distance between him and his target, he would either close the gap by using Lightspeed or imbue his sword - the Solaris Edge, with the Sage Art: Luminous Arsenal, which extends the reach of his sword.
Speaking of Sage Arts, there were at least 7 golden orbs of pure sunfire acting as a stationary turret shooting at his foes. He leaves a burning trail of golden flames everywhere he passes, said flames reach extremely high temperatures, making it deadly for those who dare to cross them.
In this Advancement Quest, Cedric was waging war against an army of phantoms. These phantoms are from Acala's memory. They're people who are hailed as geniuses of their own who met a terrible fate by dying early. Acala remembers each and every single one of them and, in a sense, immortalizes them by having these memories fight against the modern-day Superhumans.
What makes this quest difficult is that, unlike the Undeads he's used to fighting in Purgatory, these folks know teamwork. They support and defend each other to maximize their results. Sure, Acala's certainly behind this since this was supposed to be a test for him, but that doesn't make it any less annoying.
Cedric disappeared from his spot once more, appearing in front of a White Mage...at least he thinks it's a White Mage, before proceeding to stab it to nihility and moving on to his next target.
The tanks were the least of his priorities, they were too slow to catch up to him anyway. He rushes through the backlines to cripple their formation and make this quest a little less annoying for him.
Surely, only someone like him would find this quest annoying. Others would probably feel despair or just straight out give up if they were to experience this kind of difficulty.
Fortunately, Cedric isn't like most people. His monthly Hell Dives conditioned and trained him to deal with armies and hordes all on his own. It's practically ingrained in his entire being at this point. In fact, he could even say that he'd perform better if he were to face hordes of enemies on his own since he has never experienced fighting with a team.
Still, despite being annoyed, Cedric progressed steadily through the quest. This was a smelting trial in a sense, Acala was testing if he was still sharp and he was. His edge never faltered even when faced with a seemingly impossible task.
Actually, this was much easier compared to his Hell Dives. Sure, their teamwork was annoying but Cedric could use that to his advantage as much as it was an advantage for them. Their teamwork makes them predictable. Troublesome still, but predictable.
Since he's used to fighting armies all on his own, Cedric no longer counts the amount of enemies he has killed so far. If it's breathing or still moving, then it's not dead. It should be dead. That's the logic that he follows whenever he does his Hell Dive and it's applicable here as well.
Eventually, Cedric found himself standing alone in the middle of a destroyed field. All of his enemies evaporated to nothingness already. As he waited there, expecting more to come, he was surprised to hear the announcement of the end of his Advancement Quest.
"Oh!? Is it over already?" Cedric blinked as he looked around.
Since the phantoms didn't leave bodies behind, it felt weird to him. And to his astonishment, he discovered that he didn't even sweat from this. He also didn't spend as much energy as he thought he would. There's plenty more in his tank that could allow him to do another round of this. But that's unnecessary.
[Congratulations, User Cedric. You have cleared your Tier 4 Advancement Quest with flying colors.]
[Please prepare for your evolution.]
The system's flat and emotionless voice echoed in his ears. Cedric returned Solaris Edge from where it was stored and sat down to wait for the start of his evolution.
It didn't take long before energy started accumulating above him. Cedric took a deep breath and focused. That's when the energy descended to him and his body immediately began devouring it.
Bump! Bump!
His heartbeat turned thunderous over the sheer density of this energy. His blood furiously rushed to every corner of his body and ignited the accumulated potential he had gathered so far to start his evolution.
A bright golden light erupted from the depths of his body. The sigil which represented the Aspect of the Sun, roused from its slumber and served as a guide for Cedric's evolution.
Meanwhile, the White Lotus Core in his heart started revolving like crazy. It spun too fast that it caused a cyclone which drew the energy towards itself.
Just as Cedric expected, he's going to have a double breakthrough this time. One was his evolution to Tier 4 and the other was his White Lotus core going from the Solid Core stage to the Glazed Core stage.
Cedric could literally feel his strength rising. His Body was bursting with raw power, his Mind was buzzing with activity, and his Spirit was pulsing with life. All aspects of his being were being elevated to a whole new level with this evolution.
As this process continued, Cedric suddenly found himself arriving at an empty space.
He didn't know how he got here or where this was. In fact, his mind was hazy at this point due to the evolution process so it's his subconscious who arrived here.
Cedric began hearing sounds but he couldn't make out what it said. He could feel strange sensations but they're foreign to him. He could see something happening in front of him but he couldn't see it properly. Even with the strength of his senses, he couldn't decipher anything that was happening around him.
His subconscious thoughts became chaotic. He felt as if he understood something yet nothing at the same time. It was truly bizarre.
This phenomenon continued for a while before his consciousness suddenly jerked away and he was brought back to reality.
As he adjusted to his present state, he nearly suffered from Sensory Overload. Everything became too much for him for a brief moment before his entire being started adjusting to it.
Once he felt comfortable, he opened his eyes and released a long sigh...which caused a trail of smoke that slithered like a snake as it left his mouth before dissipating to nothingness.
If the first 3 Tier Advancements brought a qualitative change in someone's strength, then the Tier Advancement beyond that improves a person's overall quality as a human being.
This evolution goes beyond just increasing someone's explosive strength or speed, Cedric would have those still but that's not the important part. It raises them to something more than a mortal.
At this stage, it's no mortal illness or disease can have an effect on him. It's already like that when his physique evolved so the evolution this time just increased his immunity to debilitating ailments even further.
It also brought a whopping 200 years of increased longevity to him. Meaning that even if he becomes stuck in this stage, then he could live for more than 300 years still searching for a way to break through.
That time was long enough for kingdoms to change.
There's that and also the advancement of his White Lotus Core Technique, which now reached the Glazed Core realm.
The Glazed Core was at the size of a pearl. Previously, it was the size of a baseball after Cedric's constant accumulation but it shrunk now he made a breakthrough.
Don't be mistaken, this core didn't get weaker. It's the opposite actually, it became much stronger since it was compressed. Compared to the Solid Core, the Glazed Core looks crystallized and is capable of revolving by itself.
This breakthrough massive increased the amount of Ki Cedrid could store and use. In turn, he could supercharge his skills if he wanted to do more damage.
Overall, there was no accident here. Cedric evolved and broke some of his mortal shackles. Not all but some. And that's more than enough to bring a qualitative change to his entire existence.
Clenching his hands and feeling the raw power coursing through his veins, Cedric smiled widely. Truly, the sensation of becoming stronger was addicting.
"With this breakthrough, I am more confident in going for that patrol mission."
Ending his celebration here, Cedric decided to consolidate the changes that happened to him before he was kicked out of this place to return to reality.