Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1047: The Upgrade! (1)



Yuyui had never stopped thinking about Ferex. She blamed herself. She thought that if she were a more competent fighter, she might have been able to prevent Ferex from succumbing to his Flaw. They had both been weak back then, and Yuyui felt that only Ferex paid for it, and now Stylla.

Identity crisis had been Yuyui's greatest enemy since she was freed from the Temple of Unlusted Tears. She had struggled with getting to appreciate the norms of society, balancing her tremendous appetite, and of course, understanding what her moral compass was supposed to be.

After the incident at the temple in Genhuis, where she killed a Grand Priest, her mind had been clogged, only to get clogged further when she lost Ferex...or rather, when she ran away.

This was what had kept her from growing.

The thought of that...thing, which she had fled after seeing what it could do from being here, of it being her opponent, was immensely harrowing.

Well, it would have been, if the green-haired girl did not see the look Replicus gave her with is flames.

Aside from Pherdanta, Yuyui was the best at deciphering how Replicus felt through his face. She felt his confidence and the whole-hearted assurance in his voice.

And because of it...

"Yeah. We will save them!" Yuyui said with a confident, stern visage. She didn't know if she wanted to learn more details about how Stylla was mixed into all this, but it didn't matter. She didn't know Stylla very well, so she didn't think about it that much. Neither did the rest aboard the floating silk. They were more surprised rather than curious.

Replicus would have smiled if he could.

'I guess this means she's not going anywhere. I thought living on a farm would do her well. Preferably one with many animals. Many, many animals.'

Seeing the girl like this truly warmed his heart.

Yagrina nudged Bassbion who didn't quite have anything salty to say when she saw the nature of the relationship between her new master and her master. It didn't appear to be something she could criticise. Replicus hadn't even responded to what she said before. This was unexpected.

The set of bones in question looked at his free palm.

'That thing's range is greater than I thought,' he thought.

What he was referring to, was the Jerthrax's anti-skill range. He had tried to activate a simple skill, but nothing happened.

Everything came under the oppressive behemoth's pressure once the environment changed. Things were even starting to tilt in Replicus' view.

"Yuyui," he said. "Can you neutralise the effect of the dragon's powers? We can't cast our skills freely when it's close."

Yuyui beamed. Every request she got from the Penetrator ignited her esteem.

"I'm on it!" she said before extending her hand outward.

On her palm lay the eye with dark sclera and an icy blue iris. The Eye of Dispersal. The squinting Yuyui did with her eyes signalled the effect the eye exerted on the surroundings.

The world seemed to shift back into the place. The clouds returned to normal and the sea no longer continued to heat up.

'Limits. Your powers aren't really limited Yuyui,' Replicus thought.

He had always known.

The Eye of Dispersal was able to disperse any supernatural effect.

The Penetrator had first experienced this when his [High Cosmetic Body], a Supreme skill the highest calibre of skill there was - got disrupted before its timer was up. Normally, Supreme skills could only be casted with gold quality mana, but [High Cosmetic Body] had been in Replicus' arsenal ever since he came to Aigas, curiously. A benefit of the package he was given, supposedly.

Even a special case like this, however, was not tolerated by the eye.

With the Eye of Moving, Yuyui could now move the eye to any part of her body, giving her more options to use it than before, when it had been stuck to her forehead. This made her even harder to beat.

Perhaps the only limiting factor to her Eye of Dispersal really, was herself, as she had said. Yuyui hadn't been able to ward the dragon's breath entirely and for long, after all.

'Funny. The power she has is similar to what I'm trying to acquire...' Replicus thought with a chuckle.

Funny. Funny indeed.

"Hold on for a bit. I'll be quick," he said to Yuyui and focused on the Harmonic Ember.

It was finally time.

'First to upgrade it.'

The Penetrator immediately used [Unbound].

[What would you like to upgrade with 'Unbound'?]

"Harmonic Ember," Replicus answered the prompt.

[50,000 Null Life Essence points expended...]

At once, the black and white gem shone with a beautiful light!

It was changing.

As Replicus evolved to Tier 3, his Null Life Essence reserved evolved in capacity, allowing him

to carry 24,000 Null Life Essence points, from 12,000. This allowed him to access further

options for [Unbound].

[1-99] Null Life Essence Points -

Gives the option for basic upgrades to stats, weapons and skills from the vast connection to Serenity.

[100] - Null Life Essence Points -

Gives the option [Random Upgrade] to stats, weapons and skills from the vast connection to Serenity. Increments below 1000 NLE increase the chances of drawing higher level upgrades.

[1000] - Null Life Essence Points -

Gives the option [Permanent Random Upgrade] to stats, weapons and skills from the vast connection to Serenity. Increments below 10,000 NLE increase the chances of drawing higher

level upgrades.

[10,000] Null Life Essence Points -

Gives the option [Special Bonus Random Upgrade] to stats, weapons and skills from the vast connection to Serenity. Increments below 20,000 NLE increase the chances of drawing higher

level upgrades.

[20,000] - Null Life Essence Points -

Gives the option [Double Bonus Random Upgrade] to stats, weapons and skills from the vast connection to Serenity. Increments below 50,000 NLE increase the chances of drawing higher

level upgrades.

[50,000] - Null Life Essence Points -

Gives the option [Temporary Max Evolution] to stats, weapons and skills from the vast connection to Serenity. Increments below 100,000 NLE increase the chances of drawing higher

level upgrades.

[Locked]

Before this, Replicus had had access to the Double Bonus Random Upgrade because he could afford it, but when his reserves of Null Life Essence were forcefully boosted because of Araeyn's [Grandiose Manifestation] bringing them to a region in the Null Verse, he had unlocked Temporary Max Evolution.

Strange as it was, Replicus retained the immense reserves of Null Life Essence even after Araeyn's skills were disabled, which was a great surprise because he had been hoping to upgrade the Harmonic Ember while he was still in the Boring Mine Nova Star Course. What he thought was likely happening, was that his capacity was going to go back to the normal 24,000, but the reserves he earned (that he didn't use up) would remain until he used them. After that, there wouldn't be any more boost beyond what he could carry; an effect of

not having a core for Null Life Essence.

The guidance field depicted it perfectly:

[Null Life Essence: 52,000/24,000]

Once he noticed this unexpected boon, Replicus made sure he retained at least 50,000 Null Life Essence no matter what, which was why he ensured it all returned to him after protecting

his allies.

'Temporary... I dread how long the Ember will last in its upgraded state. That must mean it's going to be a crazy upgrade. I bet the 100,000 NLE mark is where you get a Permanent Max Evolution. Heh. Stingy,' the Penetrator thought.

A moment later, more prompts showed up in his vision.

[Temporary Max Evolution has been determined]

[Evolution complete]

The Harmonic Ember's shape changed, twisting and whirling into something different while

bathed in the light of Null Life Essence.

...!!!

The Penetrator's sockets flared.

Indeed, this wasn't a mere upgrade. It truly was, an evolution...