Vile Evil Hides Under The Veil

"You sure are full of surprises, Eren Idril."

Eren got up from his seat and looked in the direction of that voice. Layla had appeared near him out of the blue.

He had easily cleared the wraith horde last night and was waiting for the last battle with the Draconic Lizards to start.

"It's about time, right? I'm ready for those Little Lizzies."

Eren got up and flashed a casual smile at the young-looking girl. The latter puffed her cheeks and replied in an irritated manner:

"You! Stop calling them Little Lizzies. They were supposed to give you trouble. Not make you stronger.

You already broke through into E-Rank because of them. I can't afford to let you use them as your ranking resource. It's not easy raising them in captivity, you know."

Eren raised his eyebrows and asked to confirm:

"You mean…"

Layla begrudgingly nodded her head before finishing Eren's sentence.

"That's right. You don't need to fight the DRACONIC LIZARDS - that is their name by the way– to clear the first floor. We consider that you have already done that.

You are the first half-blood in a long time to have cleared the first floor. Um… congratulations or whatever. It's time for your main reward for clearing this test. Hehe! Are you ready?"

*************

Layla asked Eren while flashing a cheering smile that looked ominous. It told him that either the girl was up to something or that the reward this time was going to contain something suspicious.

But then he was reminded of the progress he had made after entering Purgatory. He recalled his status window to self-assured himself before answering the caretaker's dubious question:

*******

Name- Eren Elijah Idril (Verified)

Organization- Lionhearts Adventurers' Academy

Academic Status- Class 1/C

Ranked Status:

Intra-class individual- 16th Place Holder

Intra-class team-based- 5th Place Holder

Inter-class individual- 26th Place Holder

Inter-class team-based- 14th Place Holder

Inter-year individual- 29th Place Holder

Inter-year team-based- 39th Place Holder

Merit Points- 139,107

Base Stats: Affected by External Interference. Stats Are Significantly Lower Than Their Shown Values.

HP- 11.6 / 11.6

MP- 9.2 / 9.2

STR- 7.6

AGI- 10.4

INT- 7.8

BTP~ 46.6

BTP Visibility- Private

******

Ranking Technique- Five-star, lightning element, Indra's Levin (Not usable anymore)

E-Rank Spells:

Lightning Element, Four-star (?), movement type: Blitz Steps

Lightning Element, Four-star (?), defence type: Blitz Shield

Lightning Element, Four-star (?), attack type: Blitz Bolt

Lightning Element, Four-star (?), Area of Effect: Blitz Storm

Lightning Element, Four-star (?), healing type: Blitz Heal

Lightning Element, Four-star (?), attack-type: Solid Spark

Time Element, Four-star (?)(?), miscellaneous: Sedated Perception

Time Element, Four-star, miscellaneous: Ingredient Age Expedite

Time Element, Four-star, miscellaneous: Ingredient Age Reverse

Time Element, Four-star, movement type: Stunning Speed

Fire Element, Four-star (?), attack type: Fire Snake

Fire Element, Four-star (?), attack type: Fireball

Fire Element, Four-star (?), attack type: Firebreath

Fire Element, Four-star (?), attack type: Hatchlings of the Flame 01

Fire Element, Four-star (?), attack type: Hatchlings of the Flame 02

Transcendent Spells:

Non-elemental, miscellaneous: Beast Contract Spell (?)

Non-elemental, miscellaneous: ??? (?)

Non-elemental, miscellaneous: ??? (?)

Apprenticeship: Verified

Daily Training Regime: Incomplete (Tracking Paused Upon Request: No Penalty)

Run: 0 / 5KM

Pullup: 0/500

Situp: 0/500

Pushups: 0/500

Planks: 0/ 30 minutes

Stretching Position 1: 0 / 5 minutes

Stretching Position 2: 0 / 5 minutes

Stretching Position 3: 5 0/ 5 minutes

******

Eren had easily broken into the E-Rank two days earlier after his newfound spell and constant supply of Draconic Lizard provided him with a shortcut. He had battled last night's wraiths effortlessly due to his increased battle potential. It was just that his stats were restricted by the tower– making him fight as an F-Rank.

Layla had told him that the towers inadvertently provide somewhat of a cheat for those who break through into their ranks while inside them. They will not be sent to the tower that corresponds to their rank. As long as the test was in progress, only the rank at the time of entrance would be considered.

Instead, the tower would restrict the stats of the ranker and increase the number of monsters the ranker has to fight each day. This would keep things as challenging as they were supposed to be.

And yet, breaking through into rank while being in the tower was beneficial because the type of challenge didn't change for the rankers according to their newly obtained rank-up. So even with reduced stats, the rankers would have a relatively easier time than before, thanks to their enhanced perception and senses that couldn't be restricted much.

But events like this were rare. There was only one other person besides Eren who had broken through the next rank while battling inside the tower. That person had survived their ordeal and gained the right to visit the inner sanctum of Purgatory. Or so they were led to believe.

Last night's wraith horde clean up was a safe testing environment for Eren because of that. And he had made full use of it.

Eren looked at the BPT value shown in the spectral window and couldn't cease to be amazed by it. He had not only broken into the E-Rank but also progressed much further than he had hoped for.

This was due to the supplement of life essence and filtered mana intake provided by his Life Drain spell. Part of the credit would also be due to all the insights he had gotten after the consumption of the Potion of Serenity. This is in addition to his progress in understanding the elements. As a result of the constant battling environment in the past few days, he immediately progressed further in the E-Rank after his initial breakthrough.

Eren also observed that there was now a new entry in the Transcendent Spell category. He guessed that the ID stone was referring to the Life Drain.

Eren's two spells that he had obtained through the use of the potions were also listed now. Plus, he had successfully upgraded all his time, lightning, and fire element spells into E-Rank after getting them from Purgatory as rewards.

The lightning and fire element spells previously had four-star ratings. But since Eren gained insight into the nature of the elements, he would tweak their execution as per his knowledge and requirement. Therefore, those spells had crossed the boundaries of being four-star spells.

Eren sent his mana sense inside his body and observed his E-Rank core spinning inside the deepest parts of his mana circuits slowly. It now had strange runes inscribed over it. Plus, the mana core gave off a peculiar feeling to Eren which wasn't present before.

Eren's F-Rank ranking technique had become useless after his breakthrough. In the E-Rank, he lacked the required ranking technique. But he would look for it once he left Purgatory. He also needed to translate the ranking technique he had received from the underground dungeon as a reward and see if it was useful.

****************

"You dare to ignore me, Eren Idril. You… you are doing it on purpose. I've understood your nature now…."

It seemed that Layla had kept talking to Eren while he was busy taking joy in his stellar progress. He was brought back to reality when the former started complaining in an annoyingly louder voice:

"Whaaa… what! I was just checking my stats, Layla. Before I answer your question, please clear a doubt I have first. How many people cleared the first floor before me? And how many left the place alive?"