This fight had been absolutely worth it.
A satisfied smile spread across his face. He stood up, feeling reborn, and turned to gloat at the little thief. But the creature was no longer putting on a pitiful act. It was happily munching on something else.
Levi's eyes widened in horror.
The little bastard had given up on the crystal and moved on to the next treasure in the cave: the Moonlit Jade Orchid.
It had already chewed through half of the delicate, glowing petals.
"What the hell?! Get away from that, you thief!" Levi roared, his good mood evaporating instantly.
He lunged forward, but the creature, with a final, defiant chirp, swallowed the last of the petals and scurried to a safe distance, looking at him with an infuriatingly innocent expression.
Levi stared at the bare, severed stem of the priceless herb, a vein throbbing in his temple. He was too late.
Grumbling under his breath about the insatiable greed of dimensional hamsters, he knelt and salvaged what was left—the glowing stem and the root system. He didn't know if they held any value, but he wasn't about to let the thief have them.
Annoyed, and not wanting to be outdone, he decided to just eat the stem himself. It had a strange, cool taste, like mint and moonlight, and dissolved into a refreshing stream of energy in his stomach.
Almost immediately, the system chimed again.
[Moonlit Jade Orchid (Stem) consumed. Potency is 30% of the full herb.]
[Strength +2]
[Speed +2]
Levi blinked. His strength and speed had each increased by two points. He snorted, glancing over at the little creature, who was now patting its full belly contentedly.
Even the leftovers of the herb had given him a significant boost. The treasures in this cave were truly extraordinary.
With the beast dead and the treasures claimed, Levi's mind turned to the next order of business.
He had a new combat technique to learn, and there was no better time than now, in the relative safety of the cave.
He took out the leather-bound book he had taken from Jacob: `Mortal Rank Combat Technique: Inferno Slash.`
He sat down and began to study it. The technique was surprisingly complex, detailing a unique way to channel one's energy to create a burst of flame and heat, focusing it into a single, devastating attack.
After an hour of careful study and memorization, he felt he had a basic grasp of the theory.
He stood up, his cleaver in hand. He took a deep breath, trying to emulate the energy circulation path described in the manual. A faint warmth gathered in his palm, but it was weak and unstable.
He swung his cleaver, and the warmth dissipated with a pathetic fizzle.
[Practice of 'Inferno Slash' detected.]
[Random multiplier activated: 5x!]
['Inferno Slash' proficiency has reached Initial Stage <1.20%>]
It was a start. He tried again, and again. For hours, he practiced in the dim light of the cave.
The multipliers were consistently low, mostly single digits, with the occasional 20x or 30x boost. He was slowly but surely building his proficiency, but the process was arduous.
Just as he was starting to feel the drain of constant practice, his arms aching and his energy reserves dwindling, he put his focus into one final, desperate swing.
[Ding! Random multiplier activated: 7,000x!]
It was like a key turning in a lock that he didn't even know existed.
A torrent of profound, fiery insight flooded his mind. It was the complete, unabridged understanding of the Inferno Slash, from its most basic principles to its most advanced applications.
His proficiency bar skyrocketed.
['Inferno Slash' has reached the Mid Stage!]
[Mid stage <5.00%>]
[Mid stage <10.00%>]
[Mid stage <50.00%>]…
['Inferno Slash' has reached the Advanced Stage! <00.00%>]
[Advanced stage <10.00%>]
[Advanced stage <30.00%>]
[Advanced stage <85.00%>]
He was just a single step away from the Mastery Realm.
Levi's eyes snapped open, a fierce, orange light glowing within them. He lifted his cleaver, and this time, the result was completely different.
"FWOOSH!"
The wide, silver blade of his cleaver was instantly engulfed in a sheath of brilliant, roaring orange flames. An intense, scorching heat emanated from the weapon, raising the temperature of the entire cave.
He could feel the power thrumming through the blade, a wild, destructive energy that was eager to be unleashed.
At the Advanced Stage, the technique didn't just heighten his reaction speed and reflexes; it amplified his attack power by a terrifying degree.
Any strike made with this flaming cleaver would be at least three times more powerful than his normal attacks.
With this he felt more confident.
The roaring orange flames enveloping his cleaver receded, the last embers dying out with a soft hiss, leaving behind only the shimmering heat in the air. Levi let out a long, slow breath, his arms trembling slightly from the exertion of channeling so much power.
The Advanced Stage of the `Inferno Slash` was incredibly potent, but it also placed a significant strain on his body and his energy reserves.
Looking around the relative safety of the cave, he knew this was the perfect opportunity. There was no time to waste, no better moment to act. He had to strike while the iron was hot.
Levi proceeded to sit cross-legged on the cold stone floor, the faint, three-mooned light filtering down from the ceiling creating an ethereal atmosphere around him.
He took in a deep, centering breath, clearing his mind of the recent battle and the thrill of his new technique. He then began to circulate the `Astra Breath Absorption Technique`.
Almost immediately, the super-concentrated void energy of the dimensional zone responded. It was a tangible presence, a thick, invisible mist that eagerly gathered around him, seeping through his pores and into his expanded meridians.
He could feel the familiar, gentle warmth of cultivation spreading through his body. He trained for nearly an hour, his focus absolute, pushing himself to absorb as much of the rich energy as he could before his body reached its natural saturation point.
Finally, he stopped. A dense, potent pool of void energy had gathered within him, and it was just about to fully ingrain into his cells when he heard it, the glorious, chime of the system.
[Ding!]
[Cultivation of 'Astra Breath Absorption Technique' detected.]
[Random multiplier activated: 9,999x!]