SSS Awakening: All My Clones Have Divine Bloodlines!-Chapter 50: Grave Warrior

The fight between Evan and Berthold’s group didn’t last long. He made sure of that, especially with the salamander still alive nearby.

Shadow’s summons pinned the Early-Stage E-Rank almost immediately, wounding him severely within seconds. Shadow itself overwhelmed the Advanced-Stage E-Rank before the man had time to process what was happening.

Evan handled Berthold just as quickly, and so, in a matter of minutes, the execution meant for Evan became their own.

[Ding! You have killed an E-Rank (Advanced-Stage) Awakened!]

[You have gained +700 ESS]

[Ding! Your clone has killed an E-Rank (Advanced-Stage) Awakened!]

[You have gained +210 ESS]

[Ding! Your clone’s summons have killed an E-Rank (Early-Stage) Awakened!]

[You have gained +50 ESS]

That was the string of notifications that joined the ones from the first two kills.

Another followed shortly after, the one he had actually come here for.

The salamander, having recovered just enough to move, tried to flee. Evan didn’t let it. A single clean strike to the head, and it was over.

[Ding! You have killed a D-Rank (Early-Stage) Blazing Salamander!]

[You have gained +1,000 ESS]

[Ding! Advancement Mission complete!]

[Your clone has met all requirements to rank up!]

He looked at the notification for a moment.

Then he looked at the surrounding devastation, the scorched clearing, the cooling edges of the magma lake beginning to crust over without its host, the sections of forest that were no longer quite vertical, all of it now framing the new addition of bodies left behind by him, his clone, and his summons.

’Not bad,’ he thought. ’Difficult, but not bad.’

He stored the salamander’s body and turned back toward the city, leaving Berthold’s crew where they had fallen. The forest would take care of them soon enough.

Despite having fought several D-Rank beasts before, this one had been the most satisfying by far. Whether it was because he had come out of it without too much damage, or because he had finally completed the advancement mission, he couldn’t say. It didn’t matter much either way.

His clone, just as the last time, withdrew, retreating into its own shadow, while deep within the Soul Space, the advancement process began.

Evan left it to evolve and made his way back to the city, then to the Association building, and eventually back to the same receptionist from that morning, who, having formed a lasting impression of Evan earlier, recognized him immediately and was already preparing to ask if he needed anything, not for a single moment thinking he might be here to turn in that mission.

She knew how difficult it was. Especially for someone at Evan’s rank. Several adventurers had recently attempted it without success.

Then he placed the mana core on the counter.

The receptionist stared at it.

She could tell it was a Blazing Salamander core. And she could tell it was D-Rank Early-Stage, the same rank as the salamander from the mission. Which would mean he had actually completed it.

But how was that possible?

"I’m sorry if this sounds forward," she said carefully, "but did you perhaps go with a group? If so, I’d need their confirmation for procedural reasons."

A party of the E-ranks might have had a chance, but alone? She didn’t think it was possible.

And if it had been a group, the Association required confirmation from all members before crediting any one person with the completion. It was a precaution they had adopted after too many cases of adventurers exploiting a party’s effort only to claim the reward entirely for themselves.

The other party shook his head.

"No, it was just me. the salamander was weakened. It had probably just finished fighting before I got there. I just took the opportunity to finish it off while it was still down," he said, keeping the explanation simple.

Better that way.

The last thing he needed was to get drawn into a lengthy verification process. This wasn’t the Lirath branch, it was BranLeaf, capital of an entire duchy. They were thorough about these things. A plausible explanation and a clean result was worth more than the truth in a situation like this.

Not that he particularly cared either way. His objective had been met. The rest was noise.

The receptionist, still not entirely convinced but unable to find grounds to refuse, processed the mission and marked it as complete, handing him 1 platinum as the reward.

She then asked whether he wanted to sell the corpse, in good condition, it could fetch at least another platinum, possibly more. He agreed, walking away with 2 platinum and 500 gold in total.

Not bad for a single day’s work. But that was just the appetizer. The real reward, his rank advancement, was still coming, and that was what he actually cared about. He wasted no time finding an inn and renting a simple room.

The moment he was inside, he closed his eyes and submerged himself in his Soul Space, materializing there just as he had the last time.

The place looked exactly the same as before, and just like the previous time, his clone was immersed in a kind of cocoon, pulsing violet-black light that expanded and contracted rhythmically while the completion percentage of the evolution process hovered in front of it, blinking slowly.

[Evolution in progress...]

[69%] [75%] [96%]

...

[99%]

The cocoon began to tremble. Cracks spread across its surface, and from them shafts of light began to leak outward, as if the energy contained within could no longer be held back. The more the fractures spread, the brighter it became, until it reached a point of no return and burst, releasing a wave of violet-black energy that, just like the last time, immediately began to pull back inward and take form.

First the limbs. Then the head. And finally, the face, taking shape feature by feature.

Evan noticed immediately that the clone’s frame had grown again, already past two meters, broader across the shoulders. And then the features finished forming, and what appeared was something that genuinely surprised him.

[Congratulations! Your clone has successfully evolved.]

---

[Name: Shadow]

[Rank: E -> D]

[ESS: 2.5%]

[Title: Grave Warrior]

[Bloodline: God of Death]

[Synchronization: 23%] 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

[Skills]: 5

[Description]: Once a Grave Binder, now a Grave Warrior. No longer one who merely wielded death, but one forged within it, no longer marked by a handful of kills, but by battlefields drowned in blood, where death became both its strength and its allies.

---