When I confirmed that my Stat cap would continue to increase after reaching the level cap in every Rank moving forward, I felt full of renewed vigor.
"Well, I guess I won’t be heading back to Earth right now, nor can I simply Rank Up; it would be a total waste to do so. With my racial trait giving me a 25% increase upon ranking up, it would be stupid not to milk out a few extra points."
"I mean, that’s 3.75 free points in all my stats if I reach 15 in everything, so essentially, an extra 1.25. Meanwhile, I will be starting at Alpha-Rank with 25 PC; that’s insane." Clamoring back to my feet and dusting myself off, I continued thinking aloud.
"I’ll need nine days to reach the new cap on my physical stats by way of my Circulation skill; that’s setting aside grinding for XP to get those extra five stat points, so at the end of the day, the best I will be able to do is max out 3 of the four stats." Crossing my arms, I began walking toward the area previously guarded by the Wyrm, which was comprised of three small tunnels that led deeper into the caverns.
"That, and I still haven’t redeemed my quest rewards, but that can wait for now, as I want to claim the two subquests, reaching the peak of No-Rank and Reaching Alpha-Rank at the same time." Without breaking my stride, I instinctively chose the left most tunnel and continued walking.
This chapt𝓮r is updat𝒆d by ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom.
"Let’s see, I have a week left until the end of the year and then two weeks until my birthday, so long as I can make it back by January 13th, I should be in the clear. Sure, I’ll miss Christmas, but with the planted thoughts in my family’s heads, I should be fine skipping out on that holiday." Imagining the grueling last three I had been subjected to, I felt a faint shiver run its course through my body at the thought of Family Christmas.
It was already annoying enough being fussed over by Amanda. Still, she seemed to take things to a whole new level come Christmas time, as Brenden and I would be paraded around like show ponies, wearing matching holiday outfits and even posing for professional photoshoots.
That alone was MORE than enough reason for me to avoid it. While it would be strange, seeing as I’d be missing from this year’s Christmas portrait, I didn’t really give a shit.
"Alright, so 20 days, that’s how much time I have to play with; once I reach Alpha-Tier, depending on how much further I delve into the Instance, I should still only need around 3-4 days to make it back to the Bronze Gate to exit back to Earth, leaving me with let’s just call it 16 days, of which eight must be solely devoted to my Circulation Skill with part of the ninth being free time."
"It will take me between 10 to 12 hours to complete my Rankup, which means I have all of a single week to power Grind for XP." Tilting my head to the right, I released a loud pop and rolled out my shoulders.
"Hmm, annoyingly dark in here, but what do I expect? It’s not like that group of losers made it this deep into the instance; oh well, my perception is more than enough to sprint without hitting the walls. OOSS, let’s go on another killing spree!" Hyping myself up, I drew my dagger from the hip sheath I had been wearing and rushed forward at my natural speed without the aid of my Augmentation.
The point of doing so was to work on training my legs so they could handle my full strength, a task that was turning out to be more detrimental than I originally thought it would be.
Even after some time, I still wasn’t able to fully wield my body’s maximum strength without injuring myself thanks to my immature physique, but that didn’t matter to me; instead, I was still trying to find what my absolute limitation was before I could no longer move.
With a numerical value of 10 points, My physical stats were that of an Alpha-Ranker, something that technically shouldn’t be possible. If I were of a lower Racial Classification, my muscles would basically explode with any effort, so the fact that I could continuously abuse my body in such a way was a testament to how overpowered a 6C was when compared to, say, a Basic Human.
Without slowing down, I found myself racing through the never-ending pitch-black tunnel; minutes turned to hours, then days as I hacked and slashed my way through anything to so much as farted in my direction.
Lizards, Snakes, Goblins, you name it, and my blade hacked through its throat or was stabbed into other fleshy bits; I was practically a killing machine, and with the particle concentration increasing, the deeper into the Caverns I went, I saw a massive spike in my XP Gain.
Not only that but my available funds and resources shot through the roof as my Inventory threatened to spill over from being overfilled. Well…not literally, as any time I filled up all the slots in the grid-like Inventory Display, I would unhesitantly burn some of the coins I looted to unlock more pages, thus allowing for more LOOT!
Around the third day of this, my brain clicked off, allowing my body to enter the autopilot state I had during the later half of the Wyrm Fight, and I was practically coasting on the XP train.
That isn’t to say I was slacking in the least; no, if anything, my attacks and control over my Talent were sharpening with each passing attack, and it didn’t take long for me to push my Augmentation to the limits of No-Rank.
When that occurred, I knew the only way to raise its Attainment was to rank up, but since I had yet to complete my self-imposed goal, I pushed on, two days, three days, a week…8 days…I had already passed my original deadline, but being on autopilot, I was moving solely on instinct: run, kill, loot, run, kill, loot, run. I didn’t even stop to eat or go to the bathroom; hell, even sleeping was tossed out the window as I abused several potions until, finally, I could tell I wouldn’t be earning anything by killing any longer.