Chapter 151: Payoff
It took Novus some couple of minutes to calm himself down as the sees the increase of the D Tier Evolution Crystals as well as the other consumables and materials that came from his hunt.
Coupled with the resources that was already there before, the storage space already started looking like it is getting filled with more and more good stuff as time goes by.
[Storage Space]
[E Tier Evolution Crystal (76)]
[D Tier Evolution Crystal (1,938)]
[Slime Substrate (Amber Slime) (5,517)]
[Slime Substrate (Shadow Slime) (3,649)]
[Slime Substrate (Toxic Slime) (479)]
[Slime Substrate (Golden Slime) (618)]
[Wolf Fang (1,097)]
[Goblin's Eye (660)]
[Malleable Amber (891)]
[Liquid Shadow (631)]
[Safe Poison (52)]
[Slimy Gold Dust (169)]
[Dark Claw (336)]
[Goblin's Heart (191)]
'Right, there's still these things…' other than the resources harvested from his previous hunt, Novus couldn't help but pay some attention to the materials dropped by the slimes he hunted before, the substrates, being good catalyst for potions, piquing his attention the most.
'I can't just start picking up alchemy now but maybe she knows someone who can use these…'
It doesn't even take him long to eventually arrive at a decision as a familiar lady's face appears in his mind, opting to trust her to search for other students who are capable of processing these catalysts into something that they can either use or profit from.
'Perhaps she also has some ways to find poisons I can improve Poison-Devouring Blood with…' he then added, making sure to take a note of it once he met the lady he is thinking of, the Sword Princess, intending to make a fair trade with her to acquire what he wants.
As it is still way too dark, sometime past midnight, right now, he pushes them to the back of his mind as he paid attention to other things right now, intending to use the remaining time before sunrise arrive to push his strength to further heights.
He took out a D Tier Evolution Crystal from the Storage Space, scrutinizing it for a while as he observes the difference between this crystal to its weaker counterparts.
It doesn't appear to be all too different compared to the E Tier crystals whether it is in term of size, shape or mass, however, just holding it, he can instinctively feel the greater amount of Evolution Energy coursing through the vein-like structure wrapping around it.
And this speculation of his is immediately proven to be right as he entered meditation, the mana supposedly being pulled into his being now replaced with the Evolution Energy oozing from the D Tier Evolution Crystal.
That familiar warmth circulates all across his body, again, and along with it, notification of his strength growing in such faster manner compared to when he was still using E Tier crystal pops up in his mind.
[You absorbed Evolution Energy. Refinement of the body will continue until the source of the energy runs out.]
[Your talent: True Immortal Blood is being refined. +0.003% progress, +3 maximum Immortal Energy.]
[Your physique has grown. +3 strength, +3 agility, +3 vitality.]
[You sense all sort of energy clearer than before. +3 arcane.]
[Your body and soul seem to grow closer. +3 harmony.]
Several minutes had passed before he had finally absorbed the entirety of the D Tier Evolution Crystal's content, however, instead of being disappointed with the rate of refinement being even slower than absorbing E Tier crystals, he was elated instead.
After all, using the same amount of time, he raised his stats, Immortal Energy and talent progression six times faster than he would've when using E Tier Evolution Crystal, meaning that the speed of his growth becomes even faster than before.
Of course, there is also the fact that the limit of a D Tier's prowess scales way greater than the scale of E Tier mages, meaning that for him to promote to the next level, it would take him way longer than the time it takes for him to reach his current level from the start of E Tier.
This concern however, doesn't stop the young man from feeling a bit celebratory to his heightened progression, that mysterious entity that he faced during this most recent entry to the Evolution Domain forcing an urge in him to strengthen himself even more.
Hence why he carried on, opting to absorb Evolution Energy in meditation, such manner of improving himself also turning to his own rest, his body brimming with energy all the more showing how much better it is for him to continue with refining himself rather than going to normal sleep.
As the depth of the night arrives, the entirety of the academy fell into a peaceful lull of silence, within the few beings who are still capable of keeping themselves up without sleep, a solitary figure stands out among the rest.
It is not because said figure is the most powerful, nor the most influential among all the transcendent beings who are capable of going on their lives without normal sleep, but rather because of the complete opposite.
His strength pales extremely in comparison to the other beings, but the act of going sleepless appears to be the least burdensome to him among all else.
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'Even without the effects of Slimy Golden Dust, not bad…' as he stares at the status screen showing his progress throughout the night, Novus smiles in satisfaction, never expecting his prowess to grow as much as it did in the span of a few hours.
[Novus Helion van Argenta]
[Combat Rating: D Tier Mage (Assessment Ongoing)]
[Talent: True Immortal Blood (EX-Rank Growth-type Innate Talent)]
[Current Evolution Domain Location: Verdant Expanse: Verdant Forest (1.5-star danger level)]
[Immortal Energy: 7,575/7,575]
[Strength: 6,075]
[Agility: 6,075]
[Vitality: 6,075]
[Arcane: 6,075]
[Harmony: 6,075]
[True Immortal Blood (EX-Rank Growth-type Innate Talent)]
[Growth Progress: 5.075% (94.925% before Talent Rank Up)]
[Mastery: Intermediate level (8.27%)]
[Elemental Affinity]
[Fire: Novice (79.25%)]
[Shadow: Novice (58.21%)]
No matter how small the improvement is compared to his current strength, Novus still appreciated the progress, causing him to keep his smile as he stood up, his skin feeling quite the waking warmth as the sun's morning rays peeks through the curtains on his window.
His steps are light as he moves towards it, sliding the curtain along with the window as he was met with the pleasant sensation of morning wind caressing his skin.
There is a faint chill in the air as it is still fairly early in the morning, causing his nose to tingle a bit, all while he appreciates the calming scent of grass and trees.
Letting the window open, he then took his time to clean himself up, wearing a casual white shirt paired with running pants suited for his goal waking up this early in the morning.
During this time in the morning, there is barely any person roaming around, as rather than improving their own body, most, if not all mages other than some unique few, would rather spend their early morning studying more about magic and meditating to feel more intimate with mana.
And being an outlier along with him, Novus smiles as he watches the Sword Princess trying her best to keep up with his physical speed, her pride not allowing her to utilize mana at all so long as the young man she is running with doesn't use mana as well.