To make sure that the Monster Gate wouldn’t stabilize, Xavier decided to return to the main street at a later time to hunt. But before that would happen he had to do a few things.

Xavier got a chance to take advantage of the Privilege he obtained temporarily by accepting the Hidden Mission. The Privilege, Goblin Hunter, meant that he obtained 1 Soul Essence from every Goblin he killed. At the same time, the drop-rate for Common Card Shards increased a little as well. That was also how Xavier accumulated enough Shards to create Power Shot, the Common Card he gave Leyla.

Hunting Goblins with the special Privilege would swiftly increase the number of Common Cards linked to his deck. His strength would increase, and so would the number of Soul Essences in his possession. It would only be a matter of time and effort before Xavier became strong enough to handle the Goblin Community. But that also meant he had to hurry up and get moving.

Stored Soul Essences: 11

My Dexterity is still a little bit low, but I need more Energy and Stamina as well. Without enough of either I won’t be able to use my Cards freely in battle.

Xavier was having a hard time figuring out what to do with the 11 Soul Essences in his possession. However, before he foolishly invested his Soul Essences, Xavier decided to test the qualitative difference of upgrading one of his Foundation Star’s ranks.

Integrate one Soul Essence into the Star of Vitality. Y/N?

By accepting the integration of one more Soul Essence into the Star of Vitality, Xavier increased the Foundation Star’s progress from 9/10 to 10/10. His body was filled with warmth and two messages popped up in his sight soon enough.

Requirements to upgrade the Star of Vitality have been met. Please seek a safe place before the upgrade will commence.

Star of Vitaliy [Inferior] has advanced to the [Novice] rank. Congratulations.

The last thing Xavier saw before a gust of searing hot air flooded him was the information sheet of the Star of Vitality changing from ‘Inferior 10/10’ to ‘Novice 10/100’. Unfortunately, Xavier didn’t have much time to rush to a safe place. He barely stepped into his grandmother’s bedroom where he was alone – fortunately.

And the moment he closed the door behind him, he felt as if he had been thrown into a blast furnace. A heatwave surged through his body, ripping his muscles and bones. It felt as if a dam filled with molten lava had suddenly been unleashed within Xavier. And he felt trapped inside his own body. His legs trembled and standing on his feet seemed like a monumental effort. Soon, he doubled up and clutched his stomach in a futile attempt to fight the sensation. The molten lava coursed through his body, slowly reaching every single cell and nerve endings, the pain unbearable.

As Xavier struggled in vain, the molten lava seemed to burn down everything within him as if his bones and flesh were melting. Xavier’s skin turned red and the temperature inside the room increased. His eyes grew bloodshot, and his fingernails dug deep into the soft flesh of his palms. He didn’t even notice the warm blood trickling down his fingers. All Xavier felt was that his skin might suddenly erupt into an inferno of blazing flames as every pore seemed to open up. He was sweating profusely but even the beads of sweat would evaporate into a puff of cloud-like water droplets on a hot pan.

And his lungs were crying for relief as he suddenly felt claustrophobic in the small space. Following the dam of molten lava, the heatwave felt more like a fresh gust of air. It was far more acceptable and comfortable than the unbearable pain caused by the molten lava.

Xavier was not sure how much time passed while he was writhing and twitching in pain. His throat was parched and his blood seemed to be boiling. Just when he thought he would pass out and probably die, the molten lava within him slowly disappeared. With his back plastered to the wall, he took lungfuls of air, gasping loudly. After a few seconds, his hazy vision cleared and he noticed at some point that he shed his skin like a snake. Bits of it were still clinging to his body and if that was not enough to feel that something was off and confusing, Xavier realized quickly that his old skin didn’t look normal. The shed skin was sprinkled with black dots all over it.

The black dots originated from a viscous substance that had oozed out of Xavier’s body. It had a pungent odor that made him wrinkle his nose in disgust. Pinching his nose, he pushed himself away from the shed skin, wondering how something as disgusting as the reeking viscous substance could exist inside his body.

The molten lava that had coursed through his cells seemed to have loosened the black viscous substance embedded deep within his cells, and the heatwave must have flushed it out, expelling the loosened viscous substance from his body at last.

Are those the impurities my body accumulated over the years? Xavier wondered as he recalled something similar to this black viscous substance from novels and manhuas. The body’s impurities were removed as the protagonists refined their bodies to grow stronger.

Xavier read one or two manhuas in the past, but he didn’t recall them right now. It had been a few years. All he knew was a few points felt uncannily similar to the current situation. The purified body would grow stronger alongside the increase of their lifeforce and body’s continued purification, or something along those lines.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Taking a few deep breaths, Xavier fell back on the floor. He stared at the ceiling, trying to ignore the disgusting stench that filled his grandmother’s bedroom.

I am so dead. Grandma will kill me, for sure… Well, whatever…

Since Xavier considered himself as good as dead for filling his grandmother’s room with badly reeking impurities, he thought that he might as well continue upgrading his Foundation Stars. But before that, Xavier got up from the floor and unsheathed one of the emerald daggers.

He pricked his finger to test out how much strength he had to use to cut into his hand. Unfortunately, he momentarily forgot how sharp the emerald daggers were. They were just as sharp as the ruby katana – which meant that they didn’t need much force to cut into Xavier’s finger. Cursing himself for his stupidity, Xavier rushed out of the bedroom. He headed straight to the kitchen, looked through the drawers for a kitchen knife and gently nicked the tip of his thumb.

Silvia and a small group of women, who had been preparing some dishes for lunch, stared at Xavier with wide-open eyes. At first, they were surprised about Xavier’s appearance. His skin looked more pinkish than before and it shimmered. But the bad smell wafted towards them the moment he stepped closer, making them instantly place their hands on their faces. Two women retched and were on the verge of vomiting shortly after Xavier arrived in the kitchen.

However, Xavier ignored that. He stabbed his hand and noticed quickly that the dull kitchen knives weren’t even sharp enough to pierce through his skin. He took one of the steak knives and tried the same. He used a great deal of force to cut himself, which made it work at last.

Xavier cut himself.

Staring at the cut, Xavier didn’t even notice that his mother had rushed next to him. She was shocked by the stench her son gave off, but it was even more terrifying to see him cutting himself and staring at the wound acutely.

“Xavier, what the hell are you doing? You are blee–...you are not bleeding anymore?! What happened?” Silvia was stupefied.

Xavier just cut himself, yet the bleeding had already stopped? How was that possible?

“I upgraded my Vitality. It’s at the Novice rank now,” Xavier answered, his eyes glimmering brightly.

Silvia was about to say something in response, but Xavier looked at her, his eyes shining like the stars in the cloudless sky, “I will upgrade some more Foundation Stars now. See you later.”

Xavier turned around and left without waiting for his mother’s response. He rushed back to the bedroom where he sat down on the ground to upgrade the Foundation Stars of Strength, Agility, and Perception one by one.

Each of the Foundation Stars required only one more Soul Essence to be upgraded to the next rank. Yet, that one little Soul Essence was enough to make a significant qualitative difference.

Upgrading three more Foundation Stars right after the Star of Vitality had been upgraded wasn’t easy. But since he knew what awaited him, Xavier wasn’t scared anymore. He was not a fan of pain. In fact, he hated pain more than anything. However, if enduring pain meant that he could grow stronger – potentially strong enough to deal with the incoming dangers of the Monster Gate, Xavier would gladly embrace the pain.

After all, pain indicated that he was still alive and that he had the means to protect those he loved dearly.

And now that he saw the results for himself, he felt that the pain had been worthwhile. He had been a chubby kid in the past so the changes in his physique gave him a boost of confidence. His muscles looked leaner and there was a definite bulge to them though he had not become overly bulky. He also felt the strength course through his veins when he moved. His steps were lighter and faster as well, allowing him to zoom into the kitchen and leave it within a few seconds.

Once Xavier completed upgrading the 4th Foundation Star to ‘Novice 10/100’ Xavier had still seven Soul Essences left. He could invest all of them into the Star of Dexterity to upgrade it to the Novice rank as well. However, the Star of Energy was more important.

Xavier integrated four Soul Essences into the Star of Energy to upgrade it to Novice 10/100 as well.

The moment he did that, a freezing chill swept over him, making him give an involuntary shudder. It was different and polar opposite to the molten lava coursing through his veins earlier. He felt his insides would turn into a huge block of ice but no such thing happened. When the freezing chill subsided, he noticed it pooling near the base of his stomach, just below the navel. Not even a second later, he felt that his body was brimming with stamina and energy, almost like a livewire.

As the upgrade ended, Xavier considered using the last three Soul Essences to upgrade his Dexterity at last. But feeling the surge of Energy deep within him, Xavier used the Soul Essences to upgrade the Star of Energy even further.

A gust of chilly air seemed to invigorate his senses as the Soul Essences integrated into the Star of Energy. It was chilly and felt far more uncomfortable than the heatwaves that had been surging through his body before. The energy coursed through his veins until it found a path to his abdomen.

At first, Xavier felt uncomfortable. His enhanced perception didn’t help him feel less pain. On the contrary, his upgraded senses intensified the sensation even further. He felt every little trace of cold, ambient energy surging through him. Luckily, it wasn’t painful…just plainly uncomfortable.

To get rid of the discomfort, Xavier tried to do something he had wanted to do since he learned that his body could contain energy. He tried to find out where the energy came from, and how to actively replenish his energy when his energy was drained once again.

He closed his eyes and tried to feel the energy within him. It had to come from somewhere, but the real question was; Where did this mysterious energy originate from?

Was there energy in the surroundings? If so, why couldn’t he feel the ambient energy? What if he learned how to sense it? Could he absorb it to replenish his energy faster?

****

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