Awakening: Reincarnating With the SSS-Level Extraction Talent

Now with that [Vial of Undead Blood] in his inventory, safely out of the [Hatred Sect]'s grasp, Alex felt more at ease.

Sure, they had seen his face, but who even cares? Now he had the advantage of not allowing them to summon the Hatred Demon.

Oh, and he could always teleport to the [Mage Tower], if they tried to break through Arceus would absolutely annihilate them before they even had the time to realize it.

Everyone knows you shouldn't mess around with a Grand Mage.

But now that he had nothing to do, all Alex needed to do was to upgrade [Volcanic Lance] to it's max-tier to surprise Arceus.

Ding!

[SSS-Level Grand Mage Student Quest #2 has been triggered, "Show me your Worth, Student"!]

[Objective: Cast the max-tier evolution of "Volcanic Lance" in front of Arceus.]

[Reward: ???]

[Time limit: none.]

To do that quickly, Alex spent a few [Skill Points] to evolve it twice.

He used 20 skill points to upgrade it to its intermediate rank, which was [Magma Spear], then another 70 to evolve it to [Hellfire Spear], which was the advanced tier.

[Hellfire Spear Level 1: Summons a massive, molten spear of fire and lava, hurling it at the target. Upon impact, the lance explodes in a 100-meter radius, dealing 1,500,000 base damage and an additional 500% Spirit as damage to all enemies caught in the blast. Enemies hit are inflicted with "Burn". Consumes 300,000 mana. Cooldown: 1-minute.]

Okay, maybe it cost twice as much mana as his most expensive skill, but at least it was powerful, wasn't it?

Higher-ranked skills also meant more expensive costs and higher cooldowns.

After all, in a battle, one minute was massive, as most of them could end in less than 5 minutes, giving the user the chance to use 5 [Hellfire Spears] at most.

Though thankfully, Alex's reduced cooldowns with [Demonized Staff of the Silver Mage] allowed him to use it more.

"Upgrading it any more than that, and I won't be able to use it," he mumbled to himself, eyeing the mana cost.

With his [Unparalleled Mage]'s mana reduction, the skill would cost him 150,000 mana, just enough to use it.

And though his mana regenerated extremely fast, he couldn't go past his limit even if he wanted.

Basically, Alex would need to find a way to increase his mana reserves, or in this case, his spirit attribute.

"I can't just rely on one or two shots in a fight," Alex muttered. "If I want to dominate, I need to push past my limits."

He opened his status screen, staring at the Spirit attribute. It was high, but not high enough.

"Maybe I have an idea," Alphox spoke for the first time in a week, appearing beside Alex, his obsidian scales and form looking more majestic than ever.

"Wow."

"The process of breaking through takes time for a dragon, and that small rest after that... attack from the hydra allowed me to grow."

"..."

Alphox snorted, his glowing eyes narrowing as he perched on a nearby boulder. "The [Elven Spring] could solve your issue instantly. One sip, and you'd gain 50,000 Spirit permanently. But..."

"But?" Alex raised an eyebrow, knowing that Alphox never offered solutions without complications.

"The elves guard it with their lives. Not just any elves, mind you—the [Sylvan Council]. They're ancient, powerful, and not inclined to let outsiders near their sacred sites.

If you step into their territory uninvited, you'll find yourself against warriors who can manipulate the very essence of nature."

Alex grimaced, "Yeah, no, thanks. Besides, the elves are neutral. They won't join the [Gods' Army] or the forces of [Evil]. Attacking them would be... tactically stupid."

"What?" Alphox tilted his head, confused as to what Alex was talking about.

"Nothing, just go back to your space," Alex snapped his fingers, and Alphox seeped back into his shadow pet space.

Alex closed his status screen, his fingers drumming on the hilt of his staff.

"If I can't rely on shortcuts, I'll have to extract Spirit myself. There's no other way."

Based on the current evolution of the [Hellfire Spear] skill, the final tier would possibly require 500,000 mana, which was insane to any mage, even some of the higher-ranked one.

Basically, he needed to reach 25,000 spirit by the next two weeks as he wanted to complete that task given by Arceus.

And also before the entrance examination happened, as well as the true opening of [Universal Descent] to the world.

In less than 2 weeks, the [Beta Tester] title would be fully removed, allowing everybody that wanted to enter the game.

But of course, Alex was fine for now, as no one was strong enough to beat level 500 monsters like he did.

In fact, Alex already had the perfect location to complete his tasks: the [Cave of Oblivion].

The [Shadow Dire Wolves], the most common monster there, had [Attributes Points Packs] (Divine) that increased each of his attributes by 20 permanently.

Basically, it wasn't the best place to level up since the wolves were level 400, but at least he could get spirit and some [Shadow Dire Wolf Meat] to try and cook for Arceus later.

Maybe he would even give him a new skill book if he enjoyed the food?!

The [Shadow Dire Wolves] were considered boss monsters, and so they had a 100% chance to activate his talent.

[Spirit: 17,434]

He needed 25,000 spirit minimum, meaning that he would need to kill 379 or more [Shadow Dire Wolves].

This was not a lot, the only problem being the fact that he would need to wait for them to respawn once killing them all.

Ding!

[Do you want to teleport to "Cave of Oblivion"?]

"Yes," Alex nodded, teleporting out of the [Fox Tribe Village], now that he knew more orcs were showing up, he needed to be careful.

...

Alex appeared inside of the [Cave of Oblivion], but not at the start as he decided to instead directly teleport to the [Heart of Calamity Chamber].

It was where he met the [Three-Headed Hydra], which was currently stored inside of the [Heart of Calamity], which in return seeped into his own body.

It was weird when you think about it, but maybe it would reveal an incredible power later on, who knows.

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