The fight between Evan and Berthold’s group didn’t last long. He made sure of that, especially with the salamander still alive nearby.
Shadow’s summons pinned the Early-Stage E-Rank almost imdiately, wounding him severely within seconds. Shadow itself overwheld the Advanced-Stage E-Rank before the man had ti to process what was happening.
Evan handled Berthold just as quickly, and so, in a matter of minutes, the execution ant for Evan beca their own.
[Ding! You have killed an E-Rank (Advanced-Stage) Awakened!]
[You have gained 700 ESS]
[Ding! Your clone has killed an E-Rank (Advanced-Stage) Awakened!]
[You have gained 210 ESS]
[Ding! Your clone’s summons have killed an E-Rank (Early-Stage) Awakened!]
[You have gained 50 ESS]
That was the string of notifications that joined the ones from the first two kills.
Another followed shortly after, the one he had actually co here for.
The salamander, having recovered just enough to move, tried to flee. Evan didn’t let it. A single clean strike to the head, and it was over.
[Ding! You have killed a D-Rank (Early-Stage) Blazing Salamander!]
[You have gained 1,000 ESS]
[Ding! Advancent Mission complete!]
[Your clone has t all requirents to rank up!]
He looked at the notification for a mont.
Then he looked at the surrounding devastation, the scorched clearing, the cooling edges of the magma lake beginning to crust over without its host, the sections of forest that were no longer quite vertical, all of it now framing the new addition of bodies left behind by him, his clone, and his summons.
’Not bad,’ he thought. ’Difficult, but not bad.’
He stored the salamander’s body and turned back toward the city, leaving Berthold’s crew where they had fallen. The forest would take care of them soon enough.
Despite having fought several D-Rank beasts before, this one had been the most satisfying by far. Whether it was because he had co out of it without too much damage, or because he had finally completed the advancent mission, he couldn’t say. It didn’t matter much either way.
His clone, just as the last ti, withdrew, retreating into its own shadow, while deep within the Soul Space, the advancent process began.
Evan left it to evolve and made his way back to the city, then to the Association building, and eventually back to the sa receptionist from that morning, who, having ford a lasting impression of Evan earlier, recognized him imdiately and was already preparing to ask if he needed anything, not for a single mont thinking he might be here to turn in that mission.
She knew how difficult it was. Especially for soone at Evan’s rank. Several adventurers had recently attempted it without success.
Then he placed the mana core on the counter.
The receptionist stared at it.
She could tell it was a Blazing Salamander core. And she could tell it was D-Rank Early-Stage, the sa rank as the salamander from the mission. Which would an he had actually completed it.
But how was that possible?
"I’m sorry if this sounds forward," she said carefully, "but did you perhaps go with a group? If so, I’d need their confirmation for procedural reasons."
A party of the E-ranks might have had a chance, but alone? She didn’t think it was possible.
And if it had been a group, the Association required confirmation from all mbers before crediting any one person with the completion. It was a precaution they had adopted after too many cases of adventurers exploiting a party’s effort only to claim the reward entirely for themselves.
The other party shook his head.
"No, it was just . the salamander was weakened. It had probably just finished fighting before I got there. I just took the opportunity to finish it off while it was still down," he said, keeping the explanation simple.
Better that way.
The last thing he needed was to get drawn into a lengthy verification process. This wasn’t the Lirath branch, it was BranLeaf, capital of an entire duchy. They were thorough about these things. A plausible explanation and a clean result was worth more than the truth in a situation like this.
Not that he particularly cared either way. His objective had been t. The rest was noise.
The receptionist, still not entirely convinced but unable to find grounds to refuse, processed the mission and marked it as complete, handing him 1 platinum as the reward.
She then asked whether he wanted to sell the corpse, in good condition, it could fetch at least another platinum, possibly more. He agreed, walking away with 2 platinum and 500 gold in total.
Not bad for a single day’s work. But that was just the appetizer. The real reward, his rank advancent, was still coming, and that was what he actually cared about. He wasted no ti finding an inn and renting a simple room.
The mont he was inside, he closed his eyes and subrged himself in his Soul Space, materializing there just as he had the last ti.
The place looked exactly the sa as before, and just like the previous ti, his clone was imrsed in a kind of cocoon, pulsing violet-black light that expanded and contracted rhythmically while the completion percentage of the evolution process hovered in front of it, blinking slowly.
[Evolution in progress...]
[69%] [75%] [96%]
...
[99%]
The cocoon began to tremble. Cracks spread across its surface, and from them shafts of light began to leak outward, as if the energy contained within could no longer be held back. The more the fractures spread, the brighter it beca, until it reached a point of no return and burst, releasing a wave of violet-black energy that, just like the last ti, imdiately began to pull back inward and take form.
First the limbs. Then the head. And finally, the face, taking shape feature by feature.
Evan noticed imdiately that the clone’s fra had grown again, already past two ters, broader across the shoulders. And then the features finished forming, and what appeared was sothing that genuinely surprised him.
[Congratulations! Your clone has successfully evolved.]
---
[Na: Shadow]
[Rank: E -> D]
[ESS: 2.5%]
[Title: Grave Warrior]
[Bloodline: God of Death]
[Synchronization: 23%]
[Skills]: 5
[Description]: Once a Grave Binder, now a Grave Warrior. No longer one who rely wielded death, but one forged within it, no longer marked by a handful of kills, but by battlefields drowned in blood, where death beca both its strength and its allies.
---
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