Chapter 130: [Advancement Mission] (Rank: C)
He had already obtained an affinity with Void Energy some time ago.
The same was true for Poison, thanks to the resistance his body had developed after surviving that poison.
Or rather...
That one particular poison.
’What was it called again? Ah. Death’s Embrace.’
"So instead of creating a separate category for that specific poison, the System gave me a general Poison Affinity..." Evan thought.
’and the percentage isn’t small either. Could that one poison really have been potent enough to push my resistance this high?’ It was the only explanation he could think of. He might have known more if Bruce were around, but his buddy was still nowhere to be found.
For now, all he could do was set the matter aside.
His attention shifted to his Law of Space affinity, and he was pleasantly surprised to see it sitting at 3%.
’Not bad. I only started recently and I already reached 3%? At this rate I should be able to build enough affinity to get us out of this place pretty soon,’ he thought.
He was glad about that discovery, and why wouldn’t he be, given that it was the only thing that was going to get him out of this godforsaken place.
He was about to stop examining the Law of Space entry when he noticed something else, a secondary line sitting just below it.
’Wait, this is...’
’The Law of Time. But how?
He was certain he had only been exposed to the Law of Space. So how had he ended up with even a trace of affinity with Time?
’0.01%? What exactly is that supposed to mean?’ He tried to perceive something, anything that might correspond to that law, and came up completely empty. He wondered if that was simply because the affinity was too low to feel.
He eventually stopped overthinking it.
He had no idea how he had obtained it.
The only thing that came to mind were the Forsaken, maybe after killing so many of them, he had come into contact with some minor phenomenon related to that law, and his body had quietly absorbed it.
Maybe. He didn’t know, and he wasn’t going to get answers anytime soon.
’Alright then. Let’s see what I need to do to advance this time.’
Previously, Evan had needed to level his clones to a certain rank before he could move up, but this time, a proper advancement mission had appeared before any of that, which told him something had changed. He just wasn’t sure what yet.
---
[Advancement Mission]
Rank: C
Description: You have reached the peak of your current rank. It is time to take the next step.
Due to your particular circumstances, the advancement criteria have been modified accordingly.
Bring your clones to the peak of their current rank, and kill a fixed number of Forsaken across multiple ranks.
Mission Status:
1. Advance your clones to D-rank peak: 0/2
2. [Kill]:
> B-Rank (Early-Stage): 0/5
> B-Rank (Mid-Stage): 0/3
> B-Rank (Advanced-Stage): 0/1
---
Evan wondered what the System was trying to accomplish by assigning him an Advancement Mission under his current circumstances.
Never in his wildest dreams had he expected not only the requirements to change...
But for them to become even harsher.
’What the hell? It went easier on the clone requirements, but decided to throw in killing B-rank Forsaken? Is it trying to help me advance or get me killed?’
If Bruce had been there, Evan would have spent an entire day and night cursing him out for this. Fortunately for Bruce, and unfortunately for Evan, he wasn’t around to hear it.
He really wanted to vent his frustration somewhere, but eventually forced himself to calm down.
It was true the requirements were harsher than he’d anticipated. But then again, he had already killed more than one B-rank Forsaken in the last day. One had been caught in the spatial distortion caused by the Ember Seed explosion, and another had been on the receiving end of his Void Energy without much ceremony.
He thought it through. Early-stage B-rank he had a real shot at. Mid-stage, maybe, if things went well. But advanced-stage?
He had no idea how that was going to go. He knew from experience, from what he had witnessed firsthand at Branleaf, just how terrifying creatures at that level could be.
But the Forsaken...
They were on an entirely different level.
He couldn’t help but wonder whether facing one would prove even more difficult.
The frustration he had tried to push away came creeping back, and right on cue, a nearby Forsaken that had apparently retreated earlier seemed to be working up its nerve to return. Maybe it had sensed Evan was exposed. Maybe without the Void Energy in the air it had found its courage again. Either way, Evan didn’t particularly care about the reason.
All he knew was that he needed something to vent his frustration on.
"Perfect... just what I needed."
Seraphine had been watching the shift in Evan throughout all of this, and she had already noticed what was happening to him, his strength was growing. Rapidly. Far more than it had any right to in what amounted to little more than an hour.
It was something new even for her.
After all, even shem one of the highest-tier talents humanity had ever produced, couldn’t have made this kind of progress in such a short span of time.
She had always known Evan was special, for various reasons. But watching this, she realized she perhaps hadn’t fully understood how special.
"Come on..." she murmured to herself, eyes fixed on him as he summoned both clones and the three of them began beating the newly appeared Forsaken into the ground together. "Show me what else you have in store."
"Hm?" Evan glanced at Seraphine.
"Did you say something?"
He could have sworn he had heard her muttering to herself.
Especially with the deep, thoughtful look she had been giving him.
"Hm? Oh, nothing," Seraphine replied innocently before a mischievous smile slowly spread across her lips.
"I was just saying how manly you look ganging up on one poor little creature."
Evan silently raised his middle finger at her.
Then he turned around and continued beating the Forsaken without another word.
While Evan hunted down the Forsaken, killing it far faster than any of the previous ones and earning another solid chunk of ESS along with more Law of Space affinity, far to the north, something stirred.
The massive dark sphere, bound by those strange chains, flickered with a faint light.
A subtle vibration emanated from it, lasting only an instant, but more than enough.
The effect was immediate.
Cracks split the ground in every direction. Entire chunks of earth vanished and reappeared elsewhere. A cascade of strange phenomena erupted across the surrounding area in rapid succession, unfolding at a speed that defied comprehension, before stopping just as abruptly as it had begun.
In a single instant, the entire area had been turned upside down.
All from one quiet tremor from that sphere.