Even though it was empty, it still seed to retain its rank.
Evan figured it had sothing to do with the structural integrity of the core itself. Setting aside mana purity and concentration, the rigidity of a core was what determined how much mana it could hold in the first place.
A weak core couldn’t hope to contain high-density mana, the internal pressure would simply be too great, enough to detonate the beast from the inside.
[You have been constantly channeling life energy during combat, and as a side effect, this causes you to absorb the life energy of your opponents. In other words, you are consuming your enemies from within.]
[You may have noticed that you no longer tire as easily during battles. That is precisely because of this, the mana extracted from your opponent’s body is being directly converted into ESS for you as well.]
Bruce didn’t take long to respond, giving a blunt answer.
Hearing it, Evan wasn’t entirely sure how to feel.
The logic made sense, he understood the chanics behind it, but mana cores weren’t just a source of wealth. They were also a resource for upgrading his skills. Burning through them without being able to collect them ant his skill progression would slow down considerably, and that wasn’t sothing he could afford to ignore.
’But then again, getting stronger will make hunting beasts of the sa rank faster and easier,’ he thought, taking a mont to weigh his options.
Was he short on money? Absolutely not.
He had well over ten platinum coins, and with that alone he could comfortably consider himself set for life. Even if he decided to live extravagantly, spending that amount quickly would be a challenge in itself.
Did he urgently need to upgrade his skills right now? Not exactly.
While improving them would make his hunts easier, at their current level they were already more than sufficient, strong enough to let him kill beasts above his rank with relative ease.
In the end, after turning it over for a while, he concluded that at his current stage it was more beneficial to focus on getting stronger first and worry about his skills afterward.
With that settled, he decided to continue as he had been. Not only would it accelerate his already rapid growth even further, but it would also help him better understand how his new bloodline actually worked.
The initial benefits were obvious, but the hidden ones, like this mana-draining side effect, were new territory, and depending on the situation, they could prove useful in ways he hadn’t anticipated yet.
’I wonder how it differs from Shadow’s Life Drain,’ he thought, noting the similarities between the two abilities.
Evan spent the next few days hunting as he continued his journey toward the capital.
[Ding! You have killed a C-Rank (Early-Stage) Ironfang Stag!]
[You have gained 10,000 ESS.]
[Ding! You have killed a C-Rank (Mid-Stage) Bloodfang Lynx!]
[You have gained 20,000 ESS.]
[Ding! You have killed a C-Rank (Early-Stage) Ashscale Viper!]
[You have gained 10,000 ESS.]
He kept at it for a good while, and once he entered the range of mid-stage beasts he finally began coordinating with his clones.
So mid-stages he handled personally, but others required the full group, because even within the sa stage, the gap between a beast that had just broken through and one sitting at its peak was anything but negligible.
That distinction taught him sothing useful: a clearer picture of his current limits, which in turn gave him a better foundation for thinking through how to approach future situations.
In the end, during one of their uninterrupted hunting sessions, they finally brought down an Advanced-Stage C-rank beast, a new record for their little group.
[Ding! You have killed a C-Rank (Advanced-Stage) Ironroot Ravager!]
[You have gained 28,000 ESS.]
Seeing that number, he couldn’t help but smile.
The total across the session ca to roughly 40,000 ESS, of which he got 70%, leaving the remaining 30% split evenly between his two clones, around 6,000 each. About what an Early-Stage C-rank would yield on its own, without the doubling effect from the life energy.
---
[Na: Evan]
[Age: 15]
[Rank: D]
[ESS: 15% → 21%]
[Bloodline: God of Life (5%)]
[Divine Clone]
> [God Of Death]: 26%
> [God Of War]: 19%
[Skills]: 4
[Storage]
---
Looking at his current numbers, he felt genuinely satisfied.
He had made a rough estimate of the ESS he had accumulated and couldn’t help but notice that in just two days he had gained a little more than he had in the previous five days.
He had more than doubled his growth rate.
Still, after enjoying a bit of chaos in the deeper parts of the forest, it was finally ti to leave.
Because he had arrived at the royal capital.
Stepping out of the outer forest zone, he could make out in the distance a long, towering wall stretching across several hundred ters. It was the outer wall of the Royal Capital, massive and solid, built to withstand even the assault of Elite level beasts.
Even from this distance he could already see that it was heavily guarded at every angle, both visible and concealed, and he could sense that the walls themselves were anything but ordinary. For a city of this level, security was clearly not sothing anyone took lightly.
But those who knew the capital well understood that the walls, magnificent as they were, weren’t its true protection. The real strength lay within them, because the royal capital was also the headquarters of so of the most powerful and influential organizations in the kingdom.
Their leaders were all high-ranking, with the lowest among them sitting at B-rank, and several reaching all the way to S-rank, with so of them stationed near the wall.
Needless to say, bringing a place like this down would take a catastrophe on the scale of what had struck Branleaf. At minimum.
"Well then, let’s see what this place has to offer."
User Comments
0 comments from readers