Chapter 455: 455 Rank Advancement [3]

Chapter 455: Chapter 455 Rank Advancement [3]

The taste was bitter.

Michael barely paused before grabbing the second vial.

Then the third.

He stared at the next vial in his hand, then exhaled with a half-laugh.

“…Aunt Mia would probably cry if she saw me now,” he muttered.

He raised the vial in a half-toast to the empty air.

“Sorry, Aunt. Your nephew with a bright future is now a potion-chugging addict. But if I want to keep putting food on the table, I gotta keep chugging.”

And with that, he downed the next one.

One after another, he drank.

Ten.

Fifteen.

Michael cracked his neck and kept going.

Thirty.

Thirty-five.

Forty.

He chuckled again, this time breathlessly.

“Gods, this stuff’s strong…”

He paused.

Then grinned.

“…But not as strong as I’ll be.”

Michael lifted another vial.

Forty-one.

Forty-two.

He was careful not to rush—each potion needed a moment to settle.

By the time he reached fifty, he finally stopped for a while.

Not because he was done.

His panel flickered at the edge of his vision, the evolution point total updating in real-time as a small, satisfying ding echoed in his mind.

[Evolution Points: 6,932]

Michael’s grin widened.

“Now… that’s more like it.”

He took a slow, deep breath and rested for a while.

Fifty in a row was indeed a lot.

When Michael felt he was ready again, he continued.

Fifty-one.

Fifty-two.

The next few went down slower.

By the time he reached seventy, Michael could no longer feel his taste buds.

Eighty.

Nighty.

Hundred.

[Evolution Points: 8,261]

Michael stared at the number, a quiet storm in his eyes.

This was enough.

With this many points, Michael could raise the number of extraordinary-rank undead under his control by over fifty.

He called out his panel, eyes narrowing as he checked his current advancement quest.

[Advancement Quest]

{Have 10 Rank 2 Undead: 2/10}

It would remain like this until he evolved another undead to Rank 2. Then, if the system followed the same pattern as last time, something special would happen—a time-limited, one-time quest.

That was where the real reward lay.

Depending on how quickly he completed it and the quality of the undead he had, the system would assign a rating.

Michael had only ever heard of four.

From lowest to highest: Average, Excellent, Exceptional, and Perfect.

That rating decided everything.

With a special quest, even the lowest rating granted at least one bonus level. But when Michael earned a Perfect rating during his first advancement, the rewards had been far greater—five free levels and multiple new skills.

And from what he’d seen so far, the higher the rank, the greater everything.

It was no wonder he was pushing so hard.

He wanted more.

Michael slipped through the manor quietly without announcing his departure.

Just the bare crunch of his boots against the cold earth as he moved past the side gate, down the slope, and into the woods behind Thornvale. A narrow path curved through the thick brush, winding toward the forest’s edge.

Moonlight filtered between the twisted limbs above, glinting faintly off the black clasp of his cloak. He didn’t carry a lantern. He didn’t need one.

The woods here were old—quiet and untamed. Even before he left the Thornvale perimeter, the air had already changed.

The backwoods sloped down into a shallow valley, and from there, the towering wall of trees known as the Everlong Forest loomed ahead like a sleeping beast.

Michael exhaled once.

This place… it stretched for miles—untouched, uncharted. Somewhere within those endless trees was the exact spot where he had first arrived in the Land of Origin.

He didn’t know where, exactly.

But that wasn’t important right now.

Whether he found that place again or not, it didn’t change the fact that Everlong was why he had chosen Thornvale in the first place.

Not because it was a wealthy territory.

But because it was remote.

Because it gave him space.

Space to grow.

Michael’s footsteps slowed as he reached the treeline. He turned once, glancing back at the dark silhouette of Thornvale Manor behind him against the starlit sky.

He didn’t linger.

Michael’s body blurred, disappearing into the woods like a phantom bolt of shadow.

He weaved through trees and brush at an inhuman pace, his cloak fluttering behind him like a black ribbon tied to the wind.

Finally, after several minutes of rapid movement, Michael came to a sudden stop. His boots pressed into a moss-laced stone, another only clearing in a stretch of thick woodland.

He closed his eyes.

The world around him seemed to expand as he stretched his awareness outward.

One hundred meters.

Two hundred.

Five hundred…

His senses flared.

A thousand meters.

Then farther still.

Two thousand meters.

Michael opened his eyes.

The scan was complete.

Nothing.

It was safe.

Michael exhaled, the breath steady.

This would do.

The first thing Michael did was release his core undead—aside from prince, gale, and lucky.

With a flex of will and a huge amount of consumed mana, the space around him shimmered faintly.

In the next moment, a series of silhouettes materialized in a slow, ethereal wave.

Lily and beginning, the mutated goliaths.

Fade—the assassin-like undead.

Ghost—a uniquely strong ant.

Then Blue and Purple—monsters of illusion .

Then came the rest—one star rare-rank undead undead.

Each one bowed as they arrived, their hollow eyes glowing faintly with subservience and recognition.

Michael looked over them all.

Michael raised a hand, and with a flick of his fingers, a ripple passed through the air.

A beat later, crates and chests floated out one by one from his storage space. When they landed, the ground quivered softly under their weight.

Michael crouched beside the first crate and opened it with a pulse of will.

Inside lay the dusky shimmer of Shadowweave Fungus, nestled in protective silk.

Next came Ghostroot Resin—four tiny vials in a foam-lined case.

He shifted to the side and opened a flat container holding strands of Dusksilk Thread. Even in the moonlight, they seemed to fade in and out of sight.

Hollowcore Shells sat in another chest, dull and grey to the eye.

He moved to the next crate. Here, Mirror Lotus Petals, each delicate and transparent, layered neatly in a cushioned box.

Alongside them were several Glimmer Quartz crystals.

Mindveil Sap came next

Then, Michael turned to the bulkier crates.

This was for Lily and Beginning.

Dozens of slabs of Ironleaf Bark, rough and dark green, stacked together like scaled plates. Each one as strong as tempered steel. They would become armor.

Beside it, sealed in a metallic cask, Stoneheart Resin

Abyss Amber, glowed in a velvet pouch.

And finally, Vital Moss, soft and pulsing with gentle green light, was laid in a damp box.

Michael stood over the full collection, a satisfied breath leaving his lungs.

*****

A/N: I wanted to release more chapters but the next chapters are proving to be more difficult to write than I initially thought. To avoid some certain things, I’m revisiting the plot. When I’m done I’ll do a mass release to avoid readers frustration haha.