Chapter 84: Rank Up

Lucian ignored Akasha for the moment, shifting his attention and staring at the dead canine properly.

It was twice the size of an average dog, with almost no fur on its body, leaving its bare skin clearly visible to the eye. Its skin was slightly red, stretching tightly over bulging muscles, while its milky eyes appeared completely lifeless and hollow.

Lucian took the knife, tightening his grip over it… and stabbed it into the creature’s chest, a sickening, wet sound echoing the moment the blade pierced through flesh.

Then—

Without flinching, without pausing, Lucian placed the knife aside before shoving his black-gloved left hand into the gap of its wound.

‘Ugh…’

His face twisted slightly in discomfort—feeling the unnatural texture of its muscles and tissues—as he searched for the core inside its body.

After a few seconds, he pulled his hand out, as a dark, small, rough-textured, marble-like shard resting on his palm.

He flicked his hand sharply, splattering the blood from his hand… along with the core.

He bent slightly, twisting his arm, and placing the core in his backpack.

Lucian took a deep breath… before slowly placing his slightly bloodied hand on the creature once again.

Slowly, black, liquid-like tendrils began spreading out from his palm, gradually covering the creature entirely as they fully wrapped around its body.

The sight would’ve looked eerie and deeply unsettling if there had been anyone there to witness it.𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

But there were none.

No human… or monster nearby.

After a few seconds, the black energy slowly retracted back into his palm, along with the creature that had completely vanished, likely absorbed by the black energy.

[You have devoured a Mutated Canine.]

[You have obtained 1 Attribute Point.]

Lucian looked at the message panel before him.

He stared at it for a moment before letting out a long sigh.

“Maybe I was expecting too much from this dog,” he muttered, his voice low and laced with disappointment.

He had hoped to get a new skill from the dog, but again… nothing.

But at least he hadn’t gotten a memory from it.

Lucian was about to stand up, but just then, he remembered something else.

“Show me my status,” he muttered in a low voice as he slowly stood up, before beginning to walk along the road, each step calm and deliberate.

It was almost as if he were on a quiet walk, as he strolled across the road, his steps almost carefree, if not for the corpses that lay scattered across the road at every distance.

But Lucian’s eyes weren’t on that.

He kept his gaze fixed on the screen while continuing to walk toward the sound he had heard earlier.

[STATUS]

Name – Lucian Foster

Race – Human

Rank – F

Titles – Loved by ######

Bloodline – Dervourer’s Bloodline

Affinity – None

Talent – B

[Attributes]

Strength – 30

Agility – 30

Constitution – 20

Intelligence – 20

Will – 48

Perception – 21

Charm – 20

Stamina – 28

Mana – 19

Attribute Points (AP) – 1

— — —

Lucian looked at his status screen once again, carefully reading through each section to check if anything had changed during this time.

None had.

All of his stats were at 20 or above that… aside from only one.

Mana.

Lucian stared at the screen for a second longer before muttering softly,

“Increase mana by one.”

The stats changed instantly.

And along with the stats, his body changed as well.

[Ding!~]

A chime echoed in his head.

[Congratulations!]

[Your rank has been increased from F rank to E rank!]

Lucian suddenly paused in his steps.

His body tensed slightly as he felt his muscles tighten, his bones producing faint creaking sounds that echoed uncomfortably inside his head.

Lucian’s breathing grew slightly uneven as the mana within his body began to swell and expand, before… it lowered.

No, it didn’t lower exactly.

It condensed.

Lucian instantly sensed the subtle yet distinct change.

The mana inside his body was noticeably denser now; his body felt slightly lighter, along with his mind and senses becoming clearer and sharper.

He slowly looked at his status window again.

[STATUS]

Name – Lucian Foster

Race – Human

Rank – E

Titles – Loved by ######

Bloodline – Dervourer’s Bloodline

Affinity – None

Talent – B

[Attributes]

Strength – 30

Agility – 30

Constitution – 20

Intelligence – 20

Will – 48

Perception – 21

Charm – 20

Stamina – 28

Mana – 20

Attribute Points (AP) – 0

— — —

“That’s it…?” Lucian muttered, confused as his eyes furrowed slightly at the panel before him.

His eyes narrowed sharply, a faint hint of dissatisfaction surfacing.

Aside from the rank, which had changed from F to E, nothing else had noticeably changed at all.

He had hoped for many things—something more.

At least a boost in his stats… or perhaps something else entirely.

First of all, he didn’t have any affinity, which already made him weaker than he would’ve been otherwise, even if he had possessed an affinity as useless as it could be.

But then—

As if someone had heard his disappointment, another chime rang in his head.

[Ding!~]

The screen before him flickered, then changed suddenly.

[Your skill Basic Analysis has evolved to Advanced Analysis.]

[Advanced Analysis]

– Reveals the complete status window of the target.

– Displays attributes, skills, affinities, titles, and overall rank.

– Information clarity increases depending on the user’s intelligence and will.

[Note: Higher-level entities may resist or partially conceal their information.]

Lucian raised a brow slightly as he saw his skill, which he had gotten from Akasha, evolve.

He hadn’t expected that.

Not now.

He hadn’t thought this would happen—that the skill would evolve alongside his rank increase.

He read through the description slowly, before a small smile tilted his lips, carrying a hint of genuine happiness.

The skill was almost the same, just that he could now read their complete status window in full.

He wondered if it would evolve even further, and if it did, then what more would he gain from it?

But he didn’t linger on that thought for long.

Then, as if that wasn’t enough, another panel suddenly appeared before him the moment he finished reading through the skill description.

[You have obtained the Unique skill Inventory.]

Lucian froze.

‘Oh…oh…!’

His mouth parted slightly in shock.

Inventory.

He knew exactly what that meant.

This was the skill he had seen in multiple games during his childhood.

In games where you could store multiple items in a personal space, something that no one else could access.

And if that wasn’t all, this wasn’t just a normal skill either.

It was a unique skill…!

Without any hesitation, he instantly looked at its description, summoning it with a single thought.

[Inventory]

– A personal dimensional storage bound to the user, capable of holding non-living objects.

– Storage capacity expands according to the user’s rank, mana, and overall power.

– Time inside the inventory remains completely frozen, preserving items exactly as they were stored.

– Items can be stored or retrieved instantly through the user’s will.

[Note: Living entities cannot be stored.]

For a moment, Lucian didn’t move, frozen in his spot as he carefully read through its description.

‘This is the same skill as those games,’ he thought, a faint trace of childlike excitement surfacing within him.

Who wouldn’t want something they had seen in their games to come into reality?

Lucian surely did.

Finally, after a few seconds of standing still, he exhaled slowly before reading the description once again, this time more carefully, not wanting to miss even the smallest detail.

[Happy?] Akasha’s voice echoed in his mind as she noticed him closing the screen.

Lucian paused for a brief moment, before—

“Thank you,” he said sincerely, a soft, genuine smile forming on his lips.

“If not for you, I don’t know what would’ve happened to me.” His voice turned slightly gloomy as memories of his previous life slowly surfaced in his mind.

Towards everything he had lost in that life.

He was happy about these skills.

He truly was.

The freedom from his paralysis.

The skills, the points he could use to steadily grow stronger…

But aside from all of that, what made him the happiest was the fact that he could see Lia again.

After that day—after seeing his little sister die right before him—he had believed he would never be able to see her again.

But Akasha—his system—had made it possible.

She had given him another chance.

And that alone was more than enough for him.

Even though he argued with her sometimes… bickered with her over things when she deliberately hid certain facts, he was still deeply thankful to her.

If it wasn’t for her—

He wouldn’t have seen his mother either, wouldn’t have even known about her until, perhaps, it would’ve already been too late.

He didn’t know what had happened to her in his previous life, nor did he truly want to find out.

[Tha… Welcome.] she said finally in a soft tone, before her tone grew more condescending.

[Now you know who the greatest is, right?]

Lucian chuckled softly under his breath, but he didn’t say anything in response.

He didn’t answer her arrogant words, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with them.

He simply continued walking forward in silence.

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