บท 23: Physical Enhancement

"Just a boost to spirit level…" Damon mused as he examined the description of the Mark of Fenrir, which had just been upgraded to spirit level.

In this world, the soul seed, Stardust magic tool, and many other items are divided into four grades: common, spirit grade, soul grade, and heaven grade. These are the standard rankings for almost everything in the magical hierarchy. Although many fanfics that Damon read mentioned the existence of grades beyond these, his Map confirmed that heaven grade is the highest in this world.

"10 spirit essences just for ranking up to spirit grade?" Damon questioned himself as he studied the tattoo before shaking his head.

Before Yun Che had provided Damon with spirit essences, he had tried to rank up his mark to spirit grade by using a purchased spirit essence. But after absorbing it, the mark showed no change.

Because of this, Damon had previously instructed Yun Che to arrange for some spirit essences. Today, after using nine of them, he was finally able to upgrade his mark to spirit grade.

'If I'm not wrong, Little Loach was upgraded with just one spirit essence, wasn't it?' Damon pondered. In Versatile Mage, Mo Fan upgraded Little Loach to spirit grade using a single spirit essence he obtained after defeating a one-eyed wolf. Yet Damon had to use ten times that amount to upgrade his mark to spirit grade?

'Well, I can't complain about this, can I? Having a growth-type equipment, especially one at the level of the Mark of Fenrir, is already a lot.' Although the consumption of spirit essence was higher than Little Loach's, it was still affordable given Damon's financial condition and the mark's additional effects.

"There's still one left," Damon thought as he held the final jar containing an additional spirit essence. Yun Che had originally brought him 10 spirit essences, nine of which were devoured by his tattoo, leaving him with only one.

"What should I do with this…" Spirit essences are costly, and no sane person would dare waste any, but Damon was curious about what he could do with it.

"Strengthen a star? Nah, it would only strengthen one star and have no overall effect on the spell."

"Hmm, should I try body strengthening?" One of the Mark of Fenrir's abilities that Damon had yet to test. It involved using the souls of the dead, both remnants and essences, to nourish and strengthen the body or assist in healing.

This was an original ability of the Mark of Fenrir that Damon had designed for his character after being inspired by body cultivation from other novels. Spirit essences could be used for a variety of purposes, so why not use one to enhance his body and address the fatal weakness humans face when fighting demons?

In the world of Versatile Mage, it's purely a magical cultivation world, not one with immortal cultivation or body-strengthening arts. While humans see significant increases in physical stats with higher cultivation, their bodies still don't compare to magical beasts of the same or even lower levels.

Because society is solely focused on magic, few care about their physiques, let alone building muscle. Only a handful of mages who actively participate in dangerous adventures may have a somewhat muscular physique, but they still fall short compared to models or gym-goers.

In the entire world, Damon might be the only one who cares about staying in shape and maintaining muscles, even for appearance's sake. After all, in this world of magic, who cares if you have a strong or fit physique? Even the world's fattest man would still be respected more if he could cast a basic spell.

That's why humans have abandoned the pursuit of physical strength in this world. But with the emergence of Mo Fan and his demon element, which significantly boosts his physical stats to compete with emperors in terms of strength, the world's perception might change.

Since receiving the Mark of Fenrir, Damon had wanted to try body strengthening, but wasting a spirit essence on it seemed too costly when he didn't have the money he has now. But with a spirit essence in front of him, why not experiment?

Having made up his mind, Damon opened the final jar and let the spirit essence be absorbed by the Mark of Fenrir, while he entered the world of the mark with his intent.

In the empty void, with no light at all, Damon emerged into the world of the tattoo. He observed the lone spirit essence that the mark had just absorbed, floating silently in the void.

Slowly, the orb of light began to disperse its radiance at a gradual pace. Tiny droplets of light started emerging from the orb, slowly making their way to Damon.

Like raindrops, they fell on Damon's body, leaving behind a residual glow that gradually dimmed on its own.

As Damon observed the process, he frowned, feeling no visible changes or any kind of comfort or discomfort as he had imagined.

Exiting the tattoo's space, he returned to his own body, still feeling no change as he had expected.

"Is it because the process is ongoing?" Damon hypothesized, frowning. He decided to leave it to the mark to show the results after the process was completed. He then entered his room and began cultivating on his own while waiting for any changes.

"I should start with the space element today…" were the final words Damon spoke before taking out one of the Will of Stones, placing it near him to begin his journey as a space elementalist.

***

Sorry for late chapter. Sigh I got the screen of my phone broken which is messing now with my typing so sorry for today. Hope you enjoy this chapter! And thank you for reading and your support! Seriously it's barely been 9 days and we have crossed 150k views and 800 collections! I would surely write more the next time and would try my best to provide you all with quality chapters as I aimed.