I was finally back in my room.
It had taken a while to shake off the crowd. Everyone from my unit had questions, too many questions. They wanted to know everything. How it felt to fight soone like June. What happened at the Holt compound. Whether the rumors were true.
And then there were all the side questions about the rankings, the current competition between units, and what it ant for us moving forward.
I had a few questions of my own too. Like how the rankings were even calculated, or why the internal military competition had suddenly kicked into overdrive. But most of that could wait. For now, it was just fun being surrounded by familiar faces, talking, arguing, laughing.
Eventually, they all left, and silence took over the room.
I dropped onto the couch with a sigh and let my body sink into the cushions. The TV was still on, so news channel playing highlights from various battlefields and military showcases.
It didn’t take long before I saw myself on screen.
Clips of brutal combat flashed by—flas, steel, bodies flying. And then there it was: my fight against the Grandmaster. The cara had caught everything. standing firm. Him falling. The crowd erupting.
I stared at the screen, but my mind was sowhere else entirely.
The images blurred as I leaned forward and rubbed my face with both hands. My thoughts had shifted to sothing deeper, sothing that had been eating at all day.
Grandmaster rank.
I wasn’t far now. The quest still hung in front of like a wall I needed to climb. I knew what completing it ant. I knew what I needed to do. But that next step... it felt so close.
I stood up and began pacing across the room. Each step felt heavier than the last, like the pressure I kept inside was trying to leak out.
I needed to move forward. I couldn’t stop here.
Almost out of instinct, I pulled up my status screen.
I didn’t even bother reading all of it, my eyes locked onto one word.
Strength.
It was higher than before.
I felt my heart thud once, hard.
"I’m close," I muttered under my breath.
Without hesitation, I focused. I reached inside, grabbed hold of my Essence, and funneled it all into one place.
Strength.
A pulse ran through my body. My limbs tightened. My bones humd. The flow of power shifted.
The mont the Essence surged into my Strength stat and passed the 2000 mark, my body reacted instantly.
I froze, every muscle locking in place. Then ca the pulse. It started in my spine, one sharp jolt that shot up to the base of my skull and down through my tailbone. A cracking sound echoed from inside . My vertebrae compressed and expanded, strengthening with each second, becoming denser, more aligned.
Then it spread to my ribs. Each one stretched slightly, reforming to better protect the organs beneath. I could feel my sternum shift, harden, like tempered alloy. The hum in my bones was no longer subtle, it was a storm.
My heart thudded once. Then again, louder. Faster. It adjusted its rhythm automatically, vessels thickening to handle the raw force now flowing through them. My lungs expanded, their capacity growing as the ribs adjusted around them.
My joints popped next, shoulders, knees, wrists, unlocking smoother movent, even with the increased mass.
The process lasted a full five minutes before everything finally settled.
[Strength: Alpha (2020)]
Just as I caught my breath, another soft chi echoed in my mind. A fresh notification appeared.
[Runic Ascent – Level 2 → Level 3]
[Node 1 Activation]
All stats increased by 4%.
Activation cost: negligible Essence drain and physical strain.
[Node 2 Activation]
All stats increased by 8%.
Activation cost: moderate Essence consumption and mild muscle strain.
Can be sustained for several minutes before strain accumulates.
[Node 3 Activation]
All stats increased by 16%.
Activation cost: extre Essence consumption and severe physical strain.
Activation ti limited to minutes before risking injury and Essence backlash.
I instantly ran the numbers in my head, Node 3 would give a 16% boost to my current Strength stat. That was a massive jump, especially after just crossing 2000 points. A chuckle slipped out before I could stop it.
"Damn, that’s just too good."
I rolled my shoulders slowly, letting my body adjust to the changes. Everything felt tighter, more efficient. The way my bones shifted and the way my muscles moved, it was like they were all working together better than ever before.
I clenched my fist, watching the way my forearm flexed. The muscles compressed and tightened like coiled steel. There was no wasted movent, no strain. Just clean, raw power.
I felt good.
The room was quiet, the glow from the screen flickering faintly in the background. I’d already surpassed 2000 in Strength, and the aftereffects still pulsed through my body.
I glanced at my status again.
[Constitution: Alpha (1640)]
[Dexterity: Alpha (1342)]
Both still short of the 2000 mark and I couldn’t stop now.
It wasn’t just about numbers. Every ti I passed that threshold, sothing in my body transford. Permanently. Tangibly.
But it wouldn’t be easy. The conversion rate was brutal. Only 50% of all Essence I transferred actually stuck.
Still, there was nothing else to do tonight.
I sat down on the floor, focused my breath, and activated the channels. Essence surged to life inside , flowing like liquid heat. I guided the flow toward my Constitution first.
Essence funneled in and I watched the number tick up slowly.
Half of 235. I’d need more full bursts to even get close.
Ti passed in steady rhythm. Absorb. Transfer. Wait. Repeat.
By the third transfer, I pushed Constitution past 1900. By the sixth, it ticked to 2004.
The mont it did, a ripple passed through . My organs clenched, hardened, and then released with a new kind of resilience. My skin grew subtly tougher. My bones humd with density.
I smiled faintly.
Then turned my focus to Dexterity.
It was even further behind, and I had less Essence to work with now. But I didn’t rush. Each cycle brought subtle changes, my reaction speed sharpening, coordination refining, muscle feedback smoothing out.
It took nine transfers.
When Dexterity finally hit 2001, I opened and closed my hands slowly, marveling at the effortless fluidity. Every movent was cleaner. Snappier.
Outside, the sky was just starting to brighten.
I stood up again, quietly stretching my limbs.
All three stats, Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, had crossed the 2000 mark.
And another notification rang in my head.
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