“Do you need me to recover? Your cube is a complete mess…” When I wake up a few hours later, Glia is the only one in the room. Because of our connection, she can easily tell whether I’m still asleep or not.
“You already saw it? Well… yeah, but I feel bad making you lose so many weeks of training.” I didn’t ask her—Glia offered the moment I woke up.
“Don’t worry.” I hear a small giggle through our mental connection. “Grandma Rita gave me a ridiculous amount of grade-3 cores and a lot of grade-4 ones. The best place where I can absorb them is inside your cube. It’s the only place where I’m completely safe and can assimilate all the energy inside the cores. At the same time, I practice my mana manipulation, and you restore that disaster you call a cube.” Her last words carry clear annoyance.
“Everyone wins.” We’re killing many birds with one stone. Glia will come out much stronger—monsters take a very long time to evolve because they lack opportunities to assimilate energy from other monsters’ cores. Almost none of them can absorb all that energy without fear of being attacked or killed.
Glia will become far stronger after absorbing so many cores, especially the grade-4 ones. I can’t imagine how strengthened she’ll be when she’s done—her body and cube will undergo a major transformation. If she’s lucky and absorbs every last drop without wasting anything, she’ll be close to the next grade.
“Yes.” Her eyes, full of life, are serious. “Stop hurting yourself like this. It hurts me to see you injured. I understand your reasons—I really do understand why you do it—but… it still hurts to see you come back wounded every time. I’m the only one who can truly tell how badly hurt you are, and the only one who knows how close you were to dying. Please take better care of yourself.” Her words are sad; her eyes are begging me.
A knot forms in my throat. She’s right. Because of our connection, she felt how close I was to the end when my body was split in two, and with her I can’t downplay how damaged my cube truly is.
I gently stroke her fur. “I can’t promise I won’t get hurt again, but I can promise I’ll be more careful in the future. I’ll become incredibly strong—strong enough that you won’t have to worry anymore.” I give her the best smile I can manage, and she answers with one of her own.
“That’s enough for now.” She returns to my cube to start healing me while strengthening herself. “Don’t do anything stupid while I’m half asleep.” Her last words are very soft. Glia immediately falls into hibernation; she won’t wake unless I call her directly or she senses something is going very wrong.
The healing effect ramps up immediately. I roughly calculate the estimated time—experience and improved control over life mana are enough to give me a near-accurate answer. “About six weeks…” Looks like I won’t be able to give it my all for a while.
I open the notifications in my mind; the omnipresent voice has informed me of several level increases.
Maki: 12 years old – Intermediate Sapphire.
SKILLS:
? Death’s Edge (IV) – level 14 → level 15
? Martial Architecture (IV) – level 9 → level 11
? Mortal Arcane Construction (IV) – level 8 → level 9
? Personal World (IV) – level 8
? Thundersnow (IV) – level 7 → level 9
? Dimensional Step (IV) – level 4 → level 5
? Advanced Vital Synthesis (IV) – level 3 → level 6
? Crushing Zone (III) – level 14 → level 17
? Electrifying Fierce River (III) – level 12 → level 15
? Gravity Surge (III) – level 14 → level 16
“Damn, this time I really hit the jackpot.” I’ve never seen anything like this since my skills reached rank IV.
The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
Seventeen levels in total. The biggest gains went to my rank-III skills, which makes perfect sense after fighting that kind of natural abomination. I pushed my body to the absolute limit—actually, a bit beyond what should’ve been allowed.
I had to break myself hundreds of times and nearly die dozens of times to gain that many levels. When I fought hundreds of grade-4 monsters, I earned fewer levels; the difference is obvious. There’s a reason they call monsters like that anomalies.
My healing skill gained three levels as well—fair, after being battered by every hit and tearing every vein, muscle, and bone in my body to pull off a win. It’s a shame I won’t find another anomaly anytime soon. There’s no faster way to gain levels.
Laws and Pseudo-Laws:
? Yin-Yang Law: Life and Death
? Celestial Dominion Law: Space
? Dragon Law: Gravity
? Absolute Frost Law: Ice
? Eternal Edge Law: Sharpness
? Electrical Pseudo-Law
It’s a shame I can’t add a new pseudo-law right now. My cube wouldn’t withstand the stress; the cracks would spread everywhere. It’s even riskier to try evolving my Electrical Pseudo-Law—I have to wait until I fully recover, or I’ll shatter myself into pieces.
“I could spend this time reading about pseudo-laws…” A good way to kill time. I could devote my days to searching for a pseudo-law that truly suits me—I don’t want something that’s only useful for a short while. I need something strong and lasting.
I still need to find the other herb to complete the healing potion left by the first Marquis Timal. I only have a few books left to read; I’ve got a hunch I’ll find the last ingredient soon. Too bad it’ll have to wait until I’m back at school.
After about fifteen minutes of daydreaming about the final ingredient and my potential future pseudo-law, it’s time for what really matters.
The last notification is something I’ve been waiting for a long time. I finally took the final step in my last fight. My Banner is fully charged and ready to evolve—killing the anomaly gave it the final push I needed.
I should thank that gorilla; it gave me many levels and a great deal of satisfaction.
“Banner ready to evolve to Rank 2! Do you wish to evolve it?”
The notification almost makes me jump with joy. I accept without hesitation—my intuition tells me it’s the right call.
The moment I accept, I feel nothing—then, one second later, the problem hits. The Banner begins to transform, altering every part of my body, especially my cube.
Agonizing pain strikes my cube directly. Is this what a heart attack feels like? I’ve seen images of people clutching their chest when their heart stops—I’m doing something similar, except I’m clutching the right side where my cube is.
For a moment, I’m afraid. Did my intuition fail me? It never does. Why now? I focus entirely on checking whether my cube is taking further damage or if the cracks are spreading. I let out a breath of relief when I see everything remains the same—the transformation isn’t directly affecting the damaged areas.
The pain isn’t limited to my chest; it’s everywhere. I try to focus on other parts of my body to stop obsessing over my cube. It feels like thousands of tiny needles stabbing every centimeter of me—organs and cube included.
The pain and itching stay intense for nearly ten minutes, then slowly fade. Fifteen more minutes pass at a lower intensity, and finally the ordeal ends. My body is now fully synchronized with my new Banner.
“Congratulations, your Banner has advanced to Rank 2!”
A stupid grin spreads across my face. I’m drenched in sweat, and the exhaustion hits even harder.
Draconic Banner (Special) – Rank 2
That’s its new name. A dragon symbol now adorns every wall of my cube. It’s not just my cube that’s been boosted—my body has changed too. I feel different… stronger. I’ll have to test just how different later.
My cube hasn’t taken further damage; the cracks haven’t grown or widened—no, they’re healing faster now. My Banner is pumping more life mana into every fissure. The mana itself feels different—lighter, easier to manipulate. I don’t quite have the words for it.
My recovery speed has increased; it might only take a month to return to peak condition. At first, I thought this was a mistake—it turned out to be the exact opposite. Nothing but benefits. I don’t know why I doubted my intuition. Maybe I should ask my grandmother next time… just to be sure.
Fatigue overtakes me. Even with the improvement, the cost was real—every bit of my energy has been drained. My eyelids slowly close. It’s time for another long nap; I’ll test my new body once my eyes stop feeling so heavy.
I’m sure I’ll fall asleep with the smile of a child.
