SSS Awakening: I Can Class Change at will - Chapter 384 Growing in power.

Chapter 384  Growing in power.

Moon continued to practice, inscribing enhancement rune after enhancement rune on spare materials. Some failed whilst some worked. Each one taught him something new about the energy distribution and bonding points that made the difference between a successful inscription and a wasted material.

By the time his proficiency hit 43%, he felt Frey stir in his slumber.

Moon’s eyes snapped to the sudden change in breathing, and minuscule twitch of the shoulders.

‘He’s awake!’ Moon stopped inscribing immediately. He placed everything in his storage ring in a single motion, leaving no trace of what he had been doing. Just like Moon had expected, Frey acted as if he was unconscious still, his body returning back to its usual rhythm, so did his breathing.

Moon was sitting against the wall with his arms crossed, watching him calmly.

“You finally woke up? Stop pretending to be asleep.” Moon looked at his back, his tone flat.

Frey’s eyes opened slowly. ‘He caught me…!’ He thought, but still acted as if he had just woken up.

His eyes blinked against the dim light inside the crevice. His expression settled into something wistful. The look of a man who had woken up hoping it was all a bad dream and found out it wasn’t.

Frey blinked several times, his hand reaching for the back of his skull where a throbbing lump had formed. He winced.

“Huh? What happened… I remember laying down the inscription and then… everything went black.”

“Yeah, you suddenly fell unconscious. Not sure why.” Moon responded calmly. “Maybe you were tired.”

“…”

Both of them stared at each other in silence. Several long seconds passed as the wind whistled outside softly.

Moon knew that Frey knew that he was lying to his face.

The small lump on the back of Frey’s head wasn’t exactly subtle. People didn’t grow goose eggs from falling asleep.

But, neither of them acknowledged any of it. “Must have been the exhaustion…or the wind.” Frey said finally, rubbing the back of his head with a pained smile.

“Must have been.” Moon agreed without blinking.

Frey opened his mouth, closed it, and decided that arguing with the man who had explosive runes strapped to his chest was perhaps not the wisest use of his remaining lives. “Since you’ve rested long enough, it’s time for our second hunt. We have a lot of work to do, so freshen up with some water and get ready to lead me to the next hunting spot.” Moon stood up from his seat.

Sunlight was already streaming through the thick canopy outside, thin beams entering through the gaps, creating ideal hunting conditions.

Moon couldn’t afford to waste time. While Frey had been unconscious, the communication device in Moon’s storage ring had buzzed twice. Both times, the same cold feminine voice attempting to reach Frey.

Both times, no answer. Since then, the woman no longer tried to contact Frey. Whether it was out of arrogance, or she had already noticed Frey might have been compromised, Moon wasn’t sure, but knowing the little he did about her, it was likely the latter.

‘She’s tried to contact him twice already. She will likely start acting soon…if she didn’t already do so that is.’

Moon had initially assumed that only a small group within the base worked under the woman. Joseph, Frey, and perhaps a handful of others. But after listening to Frey’s answers, the picture was far worse than he had expected. Almost everyone in the hideout answered to her. The hunters, craftsmen like Frey…all of them were either willing servants chasing their next pill, or broken husks kept alive as disposable bait to keep the spirits away.

Only a handful of people in the base operated independently. Isabelle was one of them. Whether there were others, Moon didn’t know yet.

‘It doesn’t matter. I’ll solve that issue soon enough.’

Moon watched Frey splash water across his face with trembling hands. The man was trying to compose himself, but his movements were stiff. The confidence of the veteran Runesmith who had offered free inscriptions and friendly conversation was long gone.

“Ready?” Moon asked.

Frey wiped his face and nodded without meeting Moon’s eyes.

“Good. Lead the way.”

Hours of hunting passed. Frey remained obedient throughout, not attempting anything. Not that Moon had given him the opportunity. Whenever they passed beasts that were strong enough to demand Moon’s full attention, he didn’t engage. Keeping an eye on Frey was the priority. Losing him for the sake of a few extra lives or some experience wasn’t a trade Moon was willing to make…currently.

With Frey guiding him to hunting spots he would have never found on his own—unless some considerable investigation and time was spent on the floating island—Moon’s progress was noticeably faster than his first day on the island. The Runesmith knew the terrain intimately. Which paths the beasts traveled, where they nested, which times of day they were most active. Information that would have taken Moon days to gather on his own was handed to him in real time.

His strength continued to climb at a rate that satisfied him.

During the hunt, Moon confirmed what he had suspected about his completed foundation for his first acupoint. On average, his elemental firepower had increased by close to ten percent across the board. His overall combat power had risen by a little more than half a star. And with every kill that provided spiritual energy, the acupoint continued to fill, and that increase grew more pronounced.

The spiritual energy inside the acupoint was no longer a faint wisp of blue smoke. It had thickened into a visible cloud, swirling around the layered foundation he had built. Each layer drew from it, converting raw spiritual energy into usable power that blended with his elements gracefully.

Moon did the math in his head.

‘Once this acupoint is completely filled, the power boost will be close to two acupoints worth. From a single acupoint!’

His foundation was that much stronger than average. Where a normal Evolver filled an acupoint with a fragmented skill and received a standard return, Moon had placed a whole Epic-Rank skill.

The result was an acupoint that punched well above its weight.