Ding!
[Do you want to upgrade “Spear of Hell” (High-Tier) to “Demonic Spear” (Max-Tier)?]
“Yeah,” Alex confirmed with confidence, his finger tapping the confirmation prompt.
Ding!
[It has been upgraded.]
[Demonic Spear: Summons a massive, molten demonic spear fused with the power of hell, hurling it at the target. Upon impact, the lance explodes in a 500-meter radius, dealing 15,000,000 base damage and an additional 1000% Spirit as damage to all enemies caught in the blast. Enemies hit are inflicted with “Burn”. Consumes 500,000 mana. Cooldown: 2-minutes.]
The mana cost was insane.
To put that into perspective, even Alex with all of his extracted attribute points was only able to use it thanks to the [Mana Reduction] of his [Unparalleled Mage] title.
And let’s not talk about the damage, it was absolutely massive.
This quickly became his strongest skill, and he hadn’t even tested it out yet!
[FateBreaker: Did you finish your task yet?]
[StarPillow: No, I took a small break from it, it’s starting to annoy me…]
For her task as a level 250 player, Alice had been asked to retrieve an item from the [Mystical Forest], but she had no idea where to find it, and the constant attacks from monsters, though she handled them fairly easily, were annoying.
He obviously couldn’t help, since everyone could only complete their tasks alone, but it was still taking a while for her.
Her [Blood Arrows] should be powerful enough to two-shots these level 250 monsters, so it was mainly the item that posed problem.
[StarPillow: You already know that I received an SS-Rank task this time instead of S-Rank because of my high ratings previously…]
As said before, your task level adjusted based on your powers and previous ratings, and Alice’s repeated successes had allowed her to advance to more difficult tasks.
Alex on the other hand still had to complete SSS-tasks, sometimes the game making them on the spot because of how powerful he had become.
Like for example with the [Demon Attack] task or the [Kill an Angel] one.
But in the end it didn’t matter much.
And so Alex simply returned to the Grand Mage’s tower using his [World Map].
He teleported inside of [Arceus’ Chamber], finding the mage doing his random experiments again.
“You’re back,” Arceus remarked dryly, his tone a mix of curiosity and exasperation. “Didn’t I tell you to only come back once mastering the skill I gave you to the max?”
“Oh, but I did,” Alex replied, his smirk widening. “Thought you’d want to see.”
“…?” Arceus raised his eyebrows, confused what this human was saying.
“I mean, I maxed out the skill you gave me, why the surprised look?”
“That shouldn’t be possible, no one can master such a skill in such a short amount of times.”
“Try me,” Alex laughed, “If I’m wrong you can kick me out forever, and I’ll never come back!”
For a moment, Arceus simply stared at him, then sighed, the faintest trace of amusement curling his lips.
“Fine. If nothing else, this should be entertaining.”
With a wave of his hand, Arceus conjured a swirling portal.
“Let’s take this somewhere more appropriate. Follow me.”
The portal led to the middle floor of the [Mage Tower].
Alex glanced around, immediately recognizing the location.
It was the same place where Alphox had fought the [Guardian of the Tower], an enormous, once-hostile beast that now watched them curiously from a distance.
To Alex’s surprise, the guardian showed no signs of aggression, its towering form radiating calm as it observed Arceus.
“Wechidna,” Arceus genuinely smiled in front of Alex for the first time, and the beast approached, pressing its giant head against the mage, “Calm down, I’m just here for a bit.”
The mage turned to Alex, his piercing eyes gleaming. “Show me.”
Alex raised an eyebrow. “You’re just gonna stand there and watch?”
Arceus groaned. “Do you ever stop talking? Here.”
“Training dummy,” Arceus muttered, flicking his wrist.
A humanoid figure composed entirely of glowing mana appeared in the center of the floor, its form shimmering faintly.
“So you’re telling me,” Alex said, raising an eyebrow, “you have a skill like that but never had a student to use it on?”
“Shut up,” Arceus groaned, already regretting his decision. “Now show me what you’ve managed to do in only six days.”
“Alright,” Alex took a deep breath.
He had never tried to use it before, but he felt like doing it right as he showed it to Arceus was appropriate.
Alex stepped forward, and his staff glowed with a fiery red light as his mana surged.
“Demonic Spear,” he murmured, activating the skill.
A tremor shook the ground as a massive, molten spear materialized above him.
The weapon was enormous, pulsating with a sinister energy that filled the air with palpable heat.
Dark tendrils of demonic aura coiled around its surface, and the faint, tormented faces of souls appeared and vanished within the flames.
The sheer weight of the weapon’s presence made the Guardian of the Tower stir, its eyes narrowing as it observed the display with a mixture of awe and unease.
“Impressive…” Arceus murmured under his breath.
Then with a swift motion, he hurled the spear at the dummy. The weapon tore through the air, leaving a trail of demonic flames in its wake.
When the spear made contact, the resulting explosion was cataclysmic.
A fiery shockwave expanded outward, obliterating everything within a 500-meter radius.
The air rippled with heat as the flames consumed the dummy entirely, leaving behind nothing but charred dust.
Arceus remained silent, his expression unreadable as he stared at the aftermath.
Even the Guardian of the Tower seemed impressed, letting out a low rumble of approval.
Ding!
[You have completed the SSS-Level Grand Mage Student Quest: “Show me your Worth, Student”!]
[Your reputation with Arceus had increased by 5!]
Alex turned to the mage, looking smug. “So? What do you think?”
Arceus didn’t respond immediately. He seemed lost in thought, his gaze lingering on the scorched ground.
‘How did this kid manage to do that in six days…?’ he wondered, his lips pressing into a thin line.
Finally, he sighed, rubbing his temples. “It’s… the real deal,” he admitted begrudgingly. “I hate to say it, but you’ve actually managed to impress me.”
Alex grinned, crossing his arms. “I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Don’t let it go to your head,” Arceus grumbled. After a moment, he straightened, his expression turning serious. “Very well. You’ve earned another reward.”
Alex’s eyes widened with excitement, practically glowing at the prospect. “Really?!”
Arceus waved a hand dismissively. “Yes, yes. Don’t make me regret it.”
He made another portal appear, and after patting Wechidna again, they both traversed it, reaching the top of the tower, where Arceus’ chamber was.
“As I said before, I only had 5 of those skill books, and now that I gave you one, only 4 remain,” Arceus looked through his stuff for a few seconds before grinning, “Oh, these could be useful too.”
Seems like the Grand Mage had another idea on his mind.
“I have three items I don’t use, but they could be very useful for someone who goes outside, I guess I’ll include them in the reward list.”
Alex was excited nonetheless, even items from a Grand Mage were the real deal too, he couldn’t afford to refuse.