READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Mortal Rank
...
[Ding! You have slain a Level 17 beast, Dire Fanged Wolf!]
[Ding! You have leveled up!]
[Ding! You have leveled up!]
[Ding! You have leveled up!]
The familiar set of notifications rang in my head as I continued to savagely stab the brains out of the dead beast. But one notification made me halt.
[Requirements have been met. You are Ranking Up]
Eh?
As the system notification hovered before me, the rest of the world seemed to cease.
"H-hey, Meta, what is this? You're not kidding, right? This message is real?"
Or maybe I'm crazier than I thought from all the blood loss?
[Negative. Your body has reached the threshold for a breakthrough. You have amassed the necessary amount of energy, and your body needs to be restructured to contain it.]
"Restructure?"
Somehow... that sounded painful.
[It is,] the voice in my head mercilessly responded.
"Eh?? W-wait... I-I don't think I'm emotionally ready to rank up! No! Seriously, wait!"
[Beginning 'Evolution' sequence; Rank Beta >> Rank Mortal]
Uncaring of my pleas, Meta's cold voice echoed deeply.
-THUMP!
Before I could cry out once more, I felt my heart thump painfully.
"Gueckk!"
A jolt of pain shot through my left chest, akin to having my heart twisted and gripped by an invisible hand. The agony was so intense that I couldn't help but cry out, my voice echoing through the dense forest around me.
The ranking-up process was far more excruciating than anything I had ever imagined. Nothing in my past could have prepared me for this level of torment.
As Meta had warned, my body felt as though it were collapsing in on itself. Every bone in my body shattered with a sickening crunch, and I could feel my blood vessels exploding one by one. My joints popped and snapped mercilessly, each movement sending fresh waves of pain through my broken form. An indescribable heat erupted from my heart, consuming my insides like a ravenous beast.
I cried, I rolled, and I groveled in the sullied white snow, its coldness a stark contrast to the fire burning within me. The pain was relentless, forcing me to black out multiple times, only to awaken each time to the same unbearable torture.
My skin bulged grotesquely as throbbing black veins snaked up my limbs, over my torso, and onto my face. It felt like tiny creatures were crawling under my skin, piercing into my eye sockets with unrelenting agony. My head felt as though it would explode from the pressure.
Thick puddles of blackish-red blood spewed from my mouth and other orifices like macabre fountains. The substance was foul, a mixture of blood and some other dark liquid that I could barely recognize.
The pores of my skin expanded, secreting an equally repulsive black liquid that seemed to melt away the very surface of my flesh.
And finally, after what seemed like centuries, all of the torturous pain appeared to begin to recede slowly.
The sounds of my shattering bones and popping joints ceased, the bulging veins slithering under my skin settled, and the hateful heat that burned up my inside became a settling warmth that slowly filled my limbs with power.
My nostrils were clogged with whatever that red-blackish liquid was, but as soon I breathed in the cold winter air, somewhere inside me, I instinctively knew.
It was complete.
...
[Ding! 'Breakthrough' sequence complete; Rank Beta>>> Rank Mortal]
[Congratulations! You have Ranked Up]
...
I was a Mortal now.
Feeling the energy drain from my body, I fell back against the ground and remained still. Meta's synthetic voice still an echoe in the depths of my mind.
The winter forest looked still and was quiet. I watched in a silent daze, white flakes of snow rain down from the cloudy white sky. The cold was chilling, but I was too listless to care.
The torturous pain had receded and ended, leaving behind only soreness that seized my body. I couldn't lift a finger, and was covered from head to toe and a dark smelly liquid that made me feel icky.
I'm Mortal Rank now, but I thought I'd be excited...i thought with minimum to no enthusiasm.
I think I might have been scarred by the experience. How was someone supposed to look forward to the next Rank up, if they were all going to be like this?!
... Maybe I'll just stay Mortal?
Staring listlessly at the cloudy sky, my thoughtss were vain, until i said inwardly.
'Hey, Meta... '
Meta's usual voice promptly responded.
[Yes?]
'Fuck you. '
I would have flicked the finger, but I'm so exhausted i can barely mutter any strength.
[How rude. It was only thanks to me the Rank up process was successful.] All of a sudden, Meta said.
I frowned...I tried to frown, but my facial muscles were numb.
'What's that supposed to mean?'
[You were careless and reckless. You amassed far too much energy at once, hastening your breakthrough, and once it was time to refine all the energy, you lacked the necessary energy to do so. You were out of aura and your body was in terrible shape, sacrifices had to be made.]
I winced...I tried to but everything was hurt.
'Sacrifice... somehow, I don't like how that sounds. ' i would smile now if I could.
[There is no problem. I only converted some of your life force and substituted it for the required energy needed to breakthrough. This was why the process was much longer and more painful than it should have been.] Meta explained.
'... I don't really get it, but your saying the next time I rank up shouldn't be as painful as long as I'm in good shape? '
[Each rank up requires a higher level of energy for each breakthrough, and as a result, each turn presents it's own fair share of pain that intensifies with each advancement.]
'... '
[In other words, your next breakthrough to Eta Rank will be just as painful if not two times more.]
'Oh, that's too bad. Sigh, and I was hoping to rank up as much as I can, I guess that's impossible now. It's regrettable but I'll just have to remain at Mortal Rank, sighh. '
[Cut the bull crap, you have at least three years until your next rank up, get stronger.]
'Eh? No way, I'm not going through that bastard pain again, no! I refuse! '
Imagining my self sniffing, I summoned my status screen.
...
[Name: Victor Bright
Level: 12
Race: Human
Rank: Mortal
Hp: ???
________
________
Strength:- ???
Speed:- ???
Agility:- ???
Constitution:- ???
Luck:- ???
Aura:- 2/20
Charm:- ???
______
______
{Inspect}
Level 3(max)
Rank-: Rare
...
{???}
Level???
Rank-:???
...
____
____
Too little information is known
____
___]
...
Needless to say, the difference was outstanding. There were even a few new additions.
Ohh, I'm suddenly Level 12. I see, the level 17 wolf alone was worth that many points, that's what pushed my breakthrough.
Suddenly, all of the pain and trauma done to my body felt somehow worth it.
Geh, I still can't see my stats.
'There's suddenly a part displaying my race? '
[Affirmative.] Meta curtly said.
'... elaborate? '
[That is self explanatory on it's own. You are human, aren't you?]
What the hell was up with this system these days? Hasn't Meta become more aggressive and upfront about her merciless remarks?
Heaving a mental sigh, I didn't linger much in the topic and dismissed the screen.
Mortal Rank, huh. Certainly, I do feel different.
Aside from the soreness and listlessness, I could instinctively feel some changes in my body that I couldn't quite explain or pinpoint in my current condition.
Even my wounds healed.
The large hole in my abdomen and other minor scratches and bruises had somehow healed and closed off during all of my earlier screaming.
Meta said my body needed to be restructured, so it was broken down and built up again. It kind of explains how my wounds have been closed up, I guess.
Then, what are all these black substance secreting out of my whole body.
[Those are the impurities banished from your body during the rank up.] Meta said.
Oh, impurities...
I managed to muster some strength and sat up straight against the snow before taking a whiff at the 'impurities' I was bathed in.
'It stinks like shit! '
I quickly jerked my head back and pinched my nose. The red-ish black blood was disgusting.
'You said that was in me?! '
[I know, stinks right?]
My lips parted to retort, yet I couldn't think of a comeback and shamefully took the blow.
'Nice one. '
Ugh, but on a more separate note, I need a bath! How am I supposed to return home like this?
My wounds may have been healed, but I smelled and looked like shit covered in this blood.
"I think there was a lake nearby?"
But then what? Take off my clothes and bathe in a winter lake?
'... I'll just have to sneak back home then. ' I sighed tiredly.
Meta snorted.
[Good luck with that, smellos.]
'What did you just call me?!'
***
A/N: i mixed up Victor's age in Chapter 14. He is 11, not 13, when he started hunting. But I've revised that, I'm only saying this here to avoid misunderstanding later. Sorry for the trouble.