After finishing his potion work, Kael wiped the sweat from his brow.
"Alright... time for the fun part," he grinned.
He stepped into his subspace.
Instantly, the scent of fresh tomatoes hit him every single container was overflowing.
"Already full again? Man, this farm's a goldmine," he chuckled.
He restocked.
Subspace Updated:
+320,000 Cherry Tomatoes
+5 Elite Skill Stones
+1 Rare Skill Stone
Kael's eyes sparkled as he stared at the glowing stones in his hand.
"Let's crack one open."
He crushed the first elite stone. It shattered in his palm, sending a warm pulse up his arm.
You have learned [Fireball – F Rank]
Cost: 50 Mana
Cooldown: 10 sec
Effect: Shoots a strong fireball up to 50 meters.
"A fireball!" he exclaimed. "I can finally shoot something! Haha this is huge! Even if it's just F rank, it's a real attack spell! A proper mage spell!"
His hands trembled slightly from excitement. He quickly grabbed the next one a brighter, burning red.
He crushed it.
You have learned [Firefist – E Rank]
Cost: 100 Mana
Cooldown: 15 sec
Effect: Coats your fist in flame. Adds 10% of Attack stat as bonus fire damage.
"Ohoho! This one's badass!" he laughed. "A flaming punch? That's like something straight out of a martial arts anime! Now we're cooking."
He grinned, practically exhalirated now.
"Alright, three more... let's see what you've got."
He grabbed a bluish stone and crushed it without hesitation.
You have learned [Accelerate – F Rank]
Cost: 50 Mana per second
Effect: Boosts Agility by 10% of your current stat. Increases speed and reflexes.
"Oh damn speed boost?! That's gonna be perfect for dodging attacks... or running away when I screw up!"
He laughed to himself. "Wait, no. I mean… with me having mana comparable to S class means I can use this for atleast 30 minutes, it will be a life saver"
Then came the pink-green one.
You have learned [Physical Boost – E Rank]
Effect: Increases Strength by 10% of current Strength stat.
"YES!" Kael pumped his fist. "Now I'm not just fast—I'm strong too! That's gonna hit hard, especially with the fire fist combo!"
"It's totally perfect I just need to grind more, making mana potions and improve my mana quantity"
One last elite remained. This one glowed a soft white.
He crushed it gently.
You have learned [Regeneration – Passive]
Effect: Significantly increases your natural recovery rate from injuries.
"…Whoa," he blinked. "A passive? And it's regeneration?"
He paused, stunned.
"I don't even have to activate it? It's just… always on?"
He let out a whistle.
"That's crazy. I could survive longer in fights heal without potions. Damn. That's big. That's really big."
Kael clutched the final stone in his hand. The rare one.
"Now for the main event…"
His heartbeat slowed. His fingers closed tightly around the stone.
Ba-dump. Ba-dump. Ba-dump.
He crushed it.
Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his skull.
"Ghhh arghh! Damn it!"
He gritted his teeth, nearly collapsing as he clutched his head.
One minute of pure agony.
Then
Congratulations! You have learned a new skill.
[Hand-to-Hand Combat – Passive]
Effect: Fighting barehanded boosts all physical stats by 50%.
Kael slumped to his knees, breathing hard.
"…Another passive?" he mumbled.
He checked the skill description again.
"No weapon… just fists."
He frowned. "Why can't I learn swordsmanship? I want to use swords and Magic. Something cool."
But slowly, a grin returned to his face.
"…But hey. A 50% stat boost is no joke. Bare fists or not… this is strong. Way stronger than I expected."
He stood up, cracking his knuckles.
"Looks like the universe wants me to be a brawler."
He looked down at his fists.
"Fine. Let's go with it. Swords or not I'm gonna punch my way to the top,kael rowel just wait. "
He smiled and look at his status.
He went back to his room,he catch a glimpse of his reflection from the mirror, he look at his body in the mirror , he did not look at himself thoroughly for the past year and a half.
He saw his reflection. He almost doesn't recognize himself now.
Hmm… I'm too fat right now. But I'm a bit taller, I think?
I was 64 kg and 182 cm back then. How tall I am now?
He go to the wall and measure his height.
Wow, in just a year and half I've grow 4 cm.
I'm 186 right now.
But the problem here is I'm 114 kg right now.
I don't even have muscles.
Ok, I got it. I should train hard and get back my old physique… no be better.
As a hunter, ordinary plates wouldn't work. I should train hard at the hunter gym.
After all of the contemplation, he purchased online.
A set of gym clothes for the entire week.
And also buy protein and creatine supplements.
He sleep right after a long day.
After waking up fully refreshed, Kael didn't waste a single second.
He rushed back to the Black Fang Guild headquarters with one thing in mind money.
He was Fantasizing spending money!
(Kael totally addicted to money)
The vice guild master waited for the mysterious guy who sold him those potions, he had taken.
He wasn't able to sleep,he was exited for the new batch of potion.
Kael was been escorted by the attendant back to the VIP room.
The vice guild master Simeon rush to the VIP room, strutted into the lobby, waving at the receptionist and Karl with a grin on his face. "Yahhh, Potion Boy! You here?! Let's go, I need to tell you something let's go to VIP room!"
Dragging him by the arm like an old friend.
Inside the luxurious VIP room lined with black leather couches and mana-reinforced walls Simeon flopped down on the couch, beaming.
"You see!! I took all the potions yesterday!"
He leaned forward, practically vibrating with excitement.
"And guess what? I got a total of 25,500 mana added! Just like that! That's… insane!"
Kael scratched the back of his head, a little awkward. "Hahaha… that's a lot. But hey, you paid handsomely for it. It's fair."
"No, no, no," Simeon shook his head, dead serious for once. "To be honest with you… I can't thank you enough. This is the kind of opportunity you don't get twice."
Kael just chuckled. "Don't about it too much. It's just business."
Simeon stood up, grinning again. "Alright, where's the new batch? Give it to me."
"Sure," Kael nodded and pulled up his interface. "Let me transfer it to your subspace."
Both of them opened their system panels. Kael dragged the potion icon over to Simeon's storage tab.
[Ding!]
Successfully received.
Item: x1000 Mana Enhancement Potion [E]
Permanently increases mana capacity by 100
Improves skin quality
Boosts mana regeneration
"WHAAAT?!!"
Simeon jumped like he'd been electrocuted.
"What is this?! A hundred per potion?! That's not normal! This is absurd! It's broken!"
Kael scratched his head again, a little embarrassed. "Oh… yeah. The potion maker said it got improved earlier or something. Didn't really ask too much."
"You didn't ask?!" Simeon barked a laugh, pacing. "This is ridiculous! I can't pay you 20 million anymore for this."
Kael blinked. "Huh?"
"I'll surely buy all of it don't worry but the price, hmmmm?!," Simeon declared, eyes glowing with excitement. "No, wait. I'll buy it for thirty no, fifty thousand dollars each, what do you think at that price.
"Is that okay?"
Kael's eyes widened. "Fifty… thousand?"
Simeon laughed. "Is that a yes?"
Kael broke into a grin. "Oh! Great! That sounds cool to me. You've got a deal."
"Alright, hang on sending the funds now."
[Ding!]
Payment Received: +$50,000,000
Kael's mouth opened slightly. He wasn't even sure how to react anymore.
"Sweet," he muttered. "I'll send the next batch in two weeks. Gonna be busy until then."
"Two weeks?" Simeon nodded. "That's fine. Honestly, this batch alone is more than enough to make me twice stronger than I am now."
This batch is more than enough for me as of the moment.
Kael quickly returned to the car dealership.
Meanwhile
On the 18th floor of the Black Fang Guild, the Vice Guild Master was drinking the potions.
He was a tall, muscular man around 6'3", his body covered in scars ,deep black hair and eyes.
As he drank, the room filled with dense mana.
His skin began to change. The scars he'd carried for years slowly faded. After finishing all Thousand Poison potions, his appearance drastically improved.
He looked 10 years younger.
The 33-year-old man now seemed like he was in his early twenties.
Even the deep scar on his forehead had vanished.
He clenched his fists, flexing his hardened muscles.
"Ohh... this is the best feeling."
"The power... it's overflowing."
He opened his status window.
Simeon
Level: 140
Titles: The Reaper, Vampire Hunter
Profession: Assassin ★★★ (3-Star)
Mana Rank: F (137,500 / 237,500)
Attribute Points: 0
Strength: 150
Endurance: 180
Agility: 250
Defense: 120
*Passive Skills:
Subspace Storage
Bleed
Tracking
Active Skills:
Quick Slash [A]
Stealth [S]
Stab [B]
+14 more
"Hahaha! Isn't this great?! Aren't my stats comparable now to a level 150 S-rank?"
"And now... I can finally use my skills freely. I've got more than double the mana I had before."
That month, the vice guild master made headlines again.
Not just because of the drastic change in his appearance leaner, sharper, more intense. His skin full of scars was gone as well, his hair is healthier and darker, falling across those cold, obsidian eyes.
But because of one thing:
He soloed an S-Rank Boss.
The footage spread like wildfire across hunter forums and news outlets. A raid in City 13's newly-spawned S-Class dungeon. S rank dungeon is notoriously dangerous dungeon where even seasoned A-Ranks were trembling when they need to clear one.
And this time is much unique the boss is a Goblin General this monster was known for being absurdly strong and smart.
Clad in jagged bone armor, wielding a greatsword dripping with dark energy was known to require one full-fledged S-Rank or at least ten A-Ranks to bring down.
And yet…
In the final chamber, as the Black Fang Guild formed up and braced for the fight, their Guild Master merely gestured calmly.
"Stand down," he said.
"Let Reaper handle it,he personally requested to fight the boss by himself let's look and see"
The camera footage was grainy at first likely due to the static aura radiating off the Goblin General but once the visual cleared, it was chaos captured in high definition.
The Reaper moved like smoke.
One second he was standing still back straight, blades sheathed. The next, he vanished. The ground cracked where he had stood, and a shockwave kicked dust into the air.
[Shadow Blink]
A flash of black.
And the Goblin General shrieked, its massive blade slicing air, missing the mark. Blood splattered across the floor the first hit was already made.
Simeon emerged behind the monster, a curved obsidian dagger in one hand, a reverse-grip stiletto in the other. His stance was relaxed, almost casual, but those who watched the footage saw the truth:
Precision. Efficiency. Death incarnate.
He dashed again—[Phantom Stride], followed by [Silent blade Barrage]—a flurry of slashes, each too fast to track. Sparks flew as the Goblin General blocked, parried, roared.
But Simeon was faster.
He danced in the dark.
The monster's giant blade came down in an overhead smash. Simeon didn't dblad he vanished mid-swing.
[Shadow Veil].
A second later, he exploded from the creature's blind spot, blade coated in venom, and plunged it into the Goblin's throat. The General reeled, its howl shaking the walls, but Simeon was already above it using the creature's own head as a launchpad.
Then came the skill that made the headlines.
[Reaper's Descent] 24 hours cool down Mana 25.000
The screen darkened.
All light in the footage dimmed for one heartbeat.
Then came a vertical black arc, like the world itself had been cleaved.
Blood sprayed into the air like mist.
The Goblin's head hit the ground.
Silence followed.
The video ended with Simeon landing on one knee, blades dripping, face unreadable.
The whole country watching the video clip made different impressions out of it.
"Isn't the vice guilaster of black fang is just A rank, how did he manage to do that?"
"He fights like an S-Rank…"
"No he fights better than some S ranks."
" The amount of skills he used is absurd as well, regular a ranks will run out of Mana using those high ranking skills consecutively." Said by an former expert hunter giving his reaction on the TV about the video clip.
The name Reaper was been known to the whole world, he became global sensation as A rank who's on par with S ranks.
And that nickname stuck.
Because what everyone saw wasn't just an assassin it was a predator. A killing machine in a human form.
Simeon making headlines after. Headlines in just a month.
While kael was busy training, building his physique, and fixing his bad habbits.
After a month.
Kael look at the mirror he saw a handsome man in the mirror.