Michael felt a familiar surge of power coursing through his body as he leveled up. Yet, his focus wasn’t on that sensation.
“It finally arrived.”
There was a true sense of balance in everything.
An Advancement Quest.
The equivalent of a breakthrough obstacle for cultivators, but tailored for Awakeners.
At the maximum level of every rank, one could not progress further without completing an Advancement Quest.
The difficulty varied wildly, depending on one’s class and luck.
However, completing the quest granted immense power, pushing one closer to becoming a higher being.
Fortunately for Michael, he had been hit with an easy Rank Advancement Quest.
A task that might seem daunting to others but was manageable for him.
[Advancement Quest: Have 10 Rank 1 Undead – Progress: 2/10]
“This is great,” Michael muttered. “I was hoping I wouldn’t get something that’d slow my leveling down for weeks—or worse, months. Thankfully, it’s not that bad.”
The thought of being stuck at the same level for too long was frustrating for any Awakener.
Michael had read in forums that any experience points gained while at the max level of a rank were completely wasted. They wouldn’t even accumulate.
Right now, even if he wiped out every Black Ape in this crack, the effort would amount to nothing since the experience couldn’t be used to level up.
‘I already have two Rank 1 undead thanks to my evolution points. It only takes six points per rank 1 undead, so at most, I’ll be done with this in another two days.’
For any other Necromancer Apprentice, this quest would have been extremely challenging. They’d have to make ten of their undead reach Rank 1.
With each undead requiring an average of 2,000 experience points to level up, completing this task would demand significant effort and time.
Still, it wasn’t the worst kind of Advancement Quest he could have gotten.
Something like “Learn 10 Necromancy Spells” would have been much worse.
Without a strong foundation in necromancy—largely due to the short time he had spent as an Awakener—Michael knew he’d have no hope of completing such a task.
If that had been the case, entering an Awakener academy would be nothing more than a distant dream.
“It’s also said that starting from the first Advancement Quest, subsequent ones might be follow-ups based on the description,” Michael thought.
Either way, this quest was perfect for him—it was like killing two birds with one stone, making it the best outcome he could have hoped for.
For classes like Necromancer or Beast Tamer, it was commonly known that their minions shouldn’t be more than two ranks above them.
If they were, there was a significant risk of the creatures breaking free from their control, and in most cases, turning against their master.
Even if Michael were to accumulate 125 evolution points—which he suspected was enough to evolve Lucky into an extraordinary-rank undead—there was a high chance it might break through to Rank 2 instead of stopping at peak of Rank 1. That would be a problem.
Michael didn’t want to face a situation where the undead he had heavily invested in turned against him, nor did he want to risk going head-to-head with an extraordinary-rank creature.
Thanks to his Advancement Quest, though, he now had even more reason to focus on his other undead.
There was something fascinating about Advancement Quests. They didn’t just signify progress; they also presented opportunities.
In a sense, an Advancement Quest was like laying a solid foundation.
Every rank advancement boosted all stats by at least 29%, with the most important stats increasing by as much as 50%.
The stronger your stats were before advancing, the more powerful you became afterward.
Michael figured this was one of the reasons Awakeners were encouraged to cultivate. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the luxury of time.
Still, there were ways to make a Rank Advancement more rewarding than usual.
One direct method was to surpass the quest requirements, increasing its difficulty.
Just because the reward for completing an Advancement Quest was rank advancement didn’t mean there wasn’t more to gain.
Michael theorized that hidden and unique classes were likely so strong because their Advancement Quests—and the rewards from them—were on a completely different level.
This also showed another reason why strength depended on the Awakeners themselves. No one knew who was who.
“Anyway,” Michael muttered, “I’m still far from reaching 10 Rank 1 undead.”
It was said that if someone exceeded the quest requirements without advancing, the quest description would change, turning into a limited-time challenge with higher rewards.
Rank Advancement not only brought an increase in power but also made the Awakener gain new skills. So higher rewards than this had to be very good.
Michael decided it was better to accumulate enough evolution points to complete his last 10 undead in one go after reaching the basic requirement.
There were still many things to consider about his Rank Advancement, but for now, he had other priorities.
“You leveled up?”
Michael heard a voice beside him and turned to see Mira addressing him.
“Yes. I’m already at max level.”
“S-so amazing,” Lilian stammered shyly, awe evident in her tone.
Does she always have to stammer?
Michael wondered, briefly speculating whether Lilian was just chronically shy.
“Can you store the body now?” he asked, directing the question to Lilian.
“Y-yes,” she replied immediately.
Since there was someone else to handle the task, Michael didn’t see a reason to make things harder for himself.
Lilian quickly stored the gigantic body of the black ape.
Michael spoke again, his tone taking on a commanding edge.
Subconsciously, due to his strength, the team leader role had subtly shifted to him.
“We only have a day here, so let’s try and make the most of it,” he said with a serious expression. Internally, though, he added, And by making the most of it, I mean clearing out everything that lives in this crack.
The two girls had no objections to Michael’s words and followed him as they resumed their exploration.
With his scouting undead leading the way, Michael quickly located the crack monsters.
However, since he was already at max level and killing them would waste experience points, he stuck to his earlier plan.
He let Mira and Lilian handle the kills, ensuring the two divided the experience between themselves.
Before long, after eliminating several more monsters, both girls reached max level as well.
This was hardly surprising.
The monsters in this crack were far stronger than those in the goblin world, which was overrun with weak goblins.
For Awakeners, experience points multiplied based on how much stronger the defeated monsters were compared to the Awakener.
The crack was teeming with Rank 1 monsters, which were at least five levels higher than even Lilian, the strongest of the two girls, who had entered the crack at Level 5.
Each kill practically guaranteed an instant level-up. Naturally, the two reached max level in no time.!
Compared to Michael’s calm demeanor, Mira and Lilian were overwhelmed by the rapid pace of their growth.
They hadn’t done much—barely anything, really—and yet, they’d grown significantly stronger.
The feeling was dangerously addictive.
If they weren’t careful, they might find themselves unable to resist the urge to always invite Michael to be their “teammate” whenever they planned to enter a crack.
If Michael knew their thoughts, he’d be thrilled.
Why wouldn’t he?
More invitations meant more crack entries, and more entries meant more money to buy evolution points.
He might even suggest they disband the team entirely and individually apply for crack entries, offering to lend them his undead for assistance.
The Association wouldn’t stop them, either.
It felt like exploiting a loophole, but only Awakeners could take advantage of such opportunities. Ordinary cultivators wouldn’t even consider soloing a crack.
There was also no rule stopping him from being a teammate to multiple teams.
While Mira and Lilian wrestled with their conflicting feelings, Michael was fully satisfied with the speed of their advancement.
Though he was somewhat curious about how other Awakeners fought and their methods, he wasn’t particularly interested in watching them. His focus was firmly on the countless monsters he could kill in the next 24 hours.
Spending his time searching for more monsters in the crack felt far more rewarding than observing others’ performances.
As for what Rank Advancement Quests Mira and Lilian received? Michael couldn’t care less.
With Michael leading the way and his undead scouting ahead, the group spent the next few hours efficiently hunting down dozens more black apes.
******
[Name: Michael Norman]
[Class: Necromancer Apprentice[MAX]]
[Level: 10[MAX]]
[EXP: 2000/2000[MAX]]
[Strength: 7.6]
[Agility: 13.6]
[Constitution: 9.2]
[Intelligence: 46.3]
[Attribute Points: 19]
[Skills: Undead Summoning, Undead Revival, Detect, Basic Shot, Share Senses, Spearmanship]
[Talent: Infinite Evolution]
[Class Skill: Contract Slot{18/20}]
[Gift: Mark Of Origin]
*****
[Advancement Quest: Have 10 Rank 1 Undead – Progress: 2/10]
*****
Necromancer Class Advancement Route
Unranked: Necromancer Apprentice (Level 1 – 10)
Rank 1: Adept Necromancer (Level 11 – 25)
Rank 2: ???
Rank 3: ???
??
??