Chapter 106: {[Soul Rupture (S-Rank/Low Ruby Rank)]} - [Proficiency: 0.01%]
SHING!
Cassius sheathed Lilith back into her sheath. Then, with his back turned, he briefly glanced at the explosion of blood that occurred when time finally rewound.
Of course, time hadn't actually stopped or resumed; it was just that he had been moving at such an insanely fast speed that the Lord Demon couldn't keep up. It hadn't mained the Agility stat to begin with, so there really was no way it stood a chance against the incarnation of speed.
As a ridiculous amount of blood and guts rained down from the rustic skies, it froze mid-air before changing direction and flowing toward the one who owned the skill. While this was happening, a few system notifications rang out as well.
*Ding~!*
[You have slain an A-Rank Lord Demon!]
[Your Experience Bar has moderately moved!]
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[You have completed the Side Quest 'Slay a Lord-ranked Demon from the Gate Trials of HELL']
[Acquired 5 Medium-sized Heaps of EXP!]
[Acquired 300 AP!]
[Acquired 150 Stat Points in all of your Main Attributes!]
[Acquired 1 Ruby-Ranked Skill Box!]
"Oh?"
Cassius's brows raised in interest. He hadn't expected to finally receive a Ruby-Ranked Skill Box, as even the Level-up Skill Boxes were still lingering around the Late-Gold and Early Sapphire stages. However, now that he had received one, he wondered just what lay inside it.
His first natural assumption was that there would be an S-Rank Skill stored within the Ruby-Ranked Skill Box, but it was hard to say if that was actually the case without opening it. And just like with the Schrödinger's Cat Theory, he decided to see for himself what the truth of the matter was.
BLING!
A brilliant eruption of golden light emanated from the cracks of the Ruby-Ranked Skill Box, and did so without Cassius even completely opening it. It was almost as if the very Skill to be unveiled felt the need to announce its presence beforehand.
"An S-Rank Skill; it has to be."
And just as expected, a ruby-plated card with the bold italic letter 'S' at its center flew out of the reddish-white Skill Box and revealed its name and description.
{[Soul Rupture (S-Rank/Low Ruby Rank)]} - [Proficiency: 0.01%]
—[Unleashes a massive, wide-distance energy attack that targets the Soul. If proficiency is raised to certain milestones, the user could even begin to mold and form the Soul Rupture attack into whatever the user wants, allowing for increased versatility, power, and effectiveness.]
—[1000% Increased Soul Damage]
—[1000% Increased Soul-type Attack Range]
—[750% Increased Affinity with the 'Soul']
—[100% Increased EXP Acquisition]
"It even comes with an EXP boost?" Cassius asked with a confused frown.
*Ding~!*
[Be happier, you ungrateful heathen! As Experience points are sorta kinda related to the Soul, you have received a boost to EXP Acquisition!]
[Rejoice! ^~^]
"Ahh…"
That was all Cassius had to say before he moved on with his life and watched his Demon King Bloodline transformation rate go up quite a lot.
The System grumbled in the background, but he did not care.
[Demon King Bloodline: 1.7%]
"Already at 1.7%... I do wonder how much longer it'll be before I achieve 100%," Cassius muttered while feeling something strange course through every fiber of his being.
Along with this unusual feeling came what felt like changes to his psyche and mind. Although he couldn't prove it for certain, it almost felt like his personality was becoming more and more mellowed out. Furthermore, he grew less angry and less emotional over things.
If it kept on like this, Cassius had no clue just how much he would change…
"However, even knowing that, I must keep on progressing," he declared with a resolute gleam in his eyes. "No matter what I lose, I have to take every ounce of power I can get. There is no longer any other path left for me; I refuse to stagnate."
In the beginning, Cassius only did what he did because of the System's sadistic encouragement. Yet it was different now. He wished to become stronger not for the sake of the System but because he himself wanted to become stronger.
He began to yearn for whatever peak he could grasp at. And even if that peak was far beyond his reach, he would still do his utmost to step up and grab hold of whatever lay beyond.
This was his resolve.
This journey through the Trial Gate area of the 1st Floor of HELL turned out to mean many things for Cassius. From obtaining greater power to realizing his own want for that power, and even these subtle changes happening to the core of what made him him.
He still had no idea what he would become if he kept absorbing the Essence of the Demons, but he was smart enough to know that there was no turning back. Yet, even if there was a way to reverse the irreversible, he wouldn't take it.
The euphoria that came from gaining more power—it was incredible. None other than him in this world would be able to experience it at the same level as he did, and he pitied them for that.
"Missing out on something like this… Life must've been extremely depressing before I acquired the Idle Evolution System," Cassius mused as he sliced through countless more Demons. "How was I living a few weeks ago? I don't even remember now…"
*Ding!*
[Yes, yes, praise me more, lowly human! You have finally realized the greatness that is me! And for that, I shall give you a gift… Or, rather, I shall inform you of something!]
"Inform me of something…? Wait…"
[Ding! Ding! Ding! You guessed correctly!]
[You're about to get your ass whooped, bad. ^_^]
"...You surely jest—"
Before those words could even leave Cassius's mouth, dozens of auras on the same level as the Lord Demon emerged from several different directions. Moreover, there were three presences that dwarfed the power of the Lord Demons a hundred to one. Their power exploded outward in such grandiose fashion that the ground cracked in layers for dozens of miles.