章 10: System Upgrade & Intense Training

Apollo, surrounded by two girls, stood before the stele's protruding orb.

All three of them gulped while glancing at each other. Their mouths were silent, but their eyes spoke, and they asked who would go first.

Eventually, the short, brown-haired girl, Xineen, stepped forth and placed her hand on the orb.

The usual burst of white light appeared, quickly changing colors until it stopped at a light green shade. Xineen possessed General-grade Essence Talent, earning another round of loud applause.

Next, Grand Elder Kayn directed his attention to Lily. "You'll make your late father proud, won't you?"

'Late father?' Apollo's ears perked up when he heard Lily's situation somewhat resembled his. As if noticing Apollo's sidelong glance, Lily briefly shifted her gaze in his direction before returning her attention to Grand Elder Kayn.

"I will." Although Lily was small and her voice sounded like the chirp of a small bird, her words were clear.

A pale blue light billowed from the stele's orb when she placed her hand upon it. A second later, it turned a color matching Aaron's. However, her results presented a higher volume of deep-colored speckles.

"Hahaha!" Grand Elder Kayn laughed uproariously and chanted to the sky. "My Kaiser Family hasn't been forsaken! We've come across a generation littered with talents!"

However, it never dawned upon Grand Elder Kayn that talents only rose in times of great calamity. The fate of this small world was unknown, but perhaps it wouldn't remain that way in the future.

Lily retracted her hand from the orb and stepped back beside Xineen. The only one remaining was Apollo.

[Go ahead, boy. No matter the result, hold your head high and stride with pride.]

Apollo exhaled deeply and stepped forward, noticing an unmistakable change in Grand Elder Kayn's eyes.

'The child of our fallen hope… How unfortunate your circumstances are,' Grand Elder Kayn thought. Although he felt pity for Apollo, those emotions quickly vanished.

Apollo placed his hand on the stele, and the temple became pin-drop silent. A feeble white light gradually grew brighter until it filled the area. But that wasn't the only thing that happened.

A searing pain appeared on Apollo's hand.

〈System: A source of usable energy has been detected. Do you want to initiate Absorption?〉

"Absorption?" Apollo's eyebrows jumped in surprise while reading the notification before him.

[This Absorption isn't what you think. You won't receive Experience toward your level. However, you will receive a great surprise.]

'Continue,' Apollo decisively answered. The repercussion of his actions didn't worry Apollo. His desire for strength was much greater than the fear of possibly breaking an extremely useful tool.

〈System: The system has discovered enough energy to reward 50 Demonic Points.〉

Ding!

〈System: Demon Monarch System has reached Lv.2〉

'I guess I don't need to ask the purpose of Demonic Points. It seems they're used to level up the system,' Apollo remarked mentally.

[Correct. However, I wouldn't advise trying to absorb any more of this energy. It will only yield diminishing returns since Lv.2 is designed for another purpose.]

'Another purpose?'

[Indeed. Acquiring Demonic Points after Lv.1 requires your action.]

Meanwhile, as Apollo conversed with Azridan, the white light turned pale red and stopped there. The silence continued once this outcome was revealed.

'Pale red? Shouldn't it be colorless? I thought Apollo was destined to remain a mortal. Now, it seems there is a chance he could be an Aura Warrior?!' Grand Elder Kayn was astonished by the change of fate.

Still, an Aura Warrior wasn't worth mentioning as they could only become guards in noble cities, and this was considering they were diligent in training.

Even in their Verdacre City, an Aura Warrior only amounted to security for small-scale businesses.

"Uh—" Grand Elder Kayn struggled to find what to say but ultimately sighed and revealed the meaning of this pale red light. "There is a slim chance that you'll become an Aura Warrior in the future. However, I wouldn't get your hopes up because the Aura you create may be incomplete."

One would expect this news to devastate Apollo, but instead, he seemed excited. But not for the reason Grand Elder Kayn assumed.

"This is the power of the Demon Monarch System? My curse of powerlessness has truly been broken?!" Apollo could sense an ember of a strange energy in his body now that the system had reached the second level.

[I told you. This is your path to greatness. You are destined to become a lion. And lions don't lose sleep over the opinion of sheep—they either disregard or slaughter them. Or maybe that is a wolf. Perhaps I get them confused.]

Apollo chuckled, which Grand Elder Kayn mistook as misplaced hope.

'Damn it, did I get this boy's hopes up? His fate isn't like the rest.'

"You're kind of funny, Azridan."

[Funny?! Shut your mouth, you belligerent fool. I am mighty, not funny!]

"No, you are nowhere," Apollo corrected.

[Ah… yes. That is true.]

Apollo's correction seemed to have touched upon a sore subject, so he quickly apologized.

[No apology is required. After all, I'm the one who distributes your quests.]

"Crap…" Apollo called out in his mind. He made a serious blunder. Angering the one who handled your quest was a considerable mistake.

"Our assessment has concluded. I received quite the marvel today, but we will now move on to distributing items that will be helpful in your training."

Grand Elder Kayn pointed everyone toward the tables filled with special training equipment and small flasks.

"Training is your main focus. The family will provide you with everything required, including recovery enhancement potions, enchanted equipment, and Aura Techniques."

Just as the kids were about to rush up to the tables, Grand Elder Kayn added another piece of information to his words.

"The elders will reward the items based on your results. The distribution will begin with the greatest talents first."

Many children groaned after hearing this order. The talents were given the first choice, meaning those who followed would be given their scraps and so on.

On the other hand, Apollo grimaced while returning next to Aaron. He would be the last one to choose based on this system.

"Don't worry. I'll share what I can with you," Aaron whispered.

The equipment was quickly handed out, and Apollo received the remaining scraps as expected.

The leftovers consisted only of 7 recovery enhancement elixirs. Since the elders decided Apollo was unfit to spar with anyone, they didn't give him any enchanted equipment.

[It'd be better to return to training than stick around.]

Ding!

〈System: You have received a Training Quest.〉

「Quest Name: Arduous Training (Basic)

Quest Type: Training Quest

Objectives:

- Intense Strength Training. 0/1

- Intense Stamina Training. 0/1

- Arduous Weapon Training. 0/1

Rewards:

- Level +2

- +10 Strength, +10 Stamina

- Versatile Weapon Mastery (Starter) [Upgradeable]」

"Weapon training?" Apollo muttered. "Any specific type?"

[Nope, anything should do. A master of combat should be skilled in all weapon types. They should also possess a clear understanding of each weapon to decrease the likelihood of any surprises.]

After receiving his rewards, Apollo returned to the main training area alone and took his top robe off, revealing his frail body. However, Apollo examined his body and noticed some apparent differences.

'The effects of increased Strength are appearing so fast!'

[Well, your starting point is essentially zero. Of course, you'd witness rapid results! Then again, you need to close the gap between you and your peers quickly.]

Apollo started with fist strikes in this training session. Unlike before, his hand didn't ache until after the 100th punch. By the 500th punch, his knuckles began bleeding. At the 1000th punch, his hands grew numb.

The final punch numbered 2000. Apollo couldn't bare the sensation coming from his hand any longer.

Peng! Peng! Peng!

However, he quickly switched to landing rapid kicks after his last punch. Aches rose in his shins quickly, but Apollo ignored the pain. The wrongs he suffered and the tangible results he obtained drove Apollo to endure this unforgiving torture.

After finishing his leg kicks, Apollo picked up and squatted with a 50 kg stone until he was utterly exhausted. Although he brought himself to exhaustion, the first objective wasn't clear.

"Huh?" Apollo let out an exasperated noise.

[You're far from done.]

"What do you mean?"

[I mean, drink that elixir in your possession and go again.]

"Again?! But that'll just destroy my body!"

[Creation is preceded by destruction. We can't build you perfectly until you destroy yourself. Drink the elixir and continue.]

Apollo groaned and reluctantly listened to Azridan's order.

He consumed the recovery enhancement potion, which possessed an unusually sweet taste. His body gradually filled with energy, leading Apollo to repeat his actions.

Only after doing it three times was the objective marked as complete.

Although he huffed, his lungs burning and screaming in protest, Apollo was surprised by how quickly the pain was dissipating from his knuckles.

Sadly, the same couldn't be said about his legs, which continuously threatened to buckle under his pipsqueak weight.

Despite the protests of his body, however, Apollo understood this torturous and barbaric type of training was inescapable.

On the verge of vomiting and fainting, Apollo dry heaved and dragged his rugged body to complete as many laps as possible with the greatest speed he could muster.

[Keep going. We are here to shatter limits.]

Apollo dragged his body along until he vomited a few times and finally fell to the ground.

[Excellent. It feels fantastic, yes?]

"Torture…" Apollo wheezed and groaned with his face planted in the ground. He rested there for 30 minutes until a semblance of his stamina returned.

[Good. You deserve it.]

He walked over to the weapon rack filled with several weapons and chose three weapons—a sword, two daggers, and a bo staff. He trained with each weapon, practicing his form.

Apollo practiced until sunset. By then, his stomach growled so loud he thought others could hear it. However, he couldn't decide between going home with Aaron or visiting the Dining Hall.

Eventually, he decided against visiting the Dining Hall. It was most likely filled with children that gloated about their Essence Talents.