While waiting for Alice's return from her advancement task, Alex relaxed in the Fox Tribe Village, content to let his perks recharge.
Both [Skill Evolution] and [Item Potential Extraction] would be available soon, so all he had to do was wait.
The fox girls welcomed him warmly, offering various delicacies made from ingredients sourced in the nearby [Mystical Forest].
Their dishes were delicious, and Alex found himself thoroughly enjoying the unique flavors.
Not long after, Alera joined him, her cheeks flushed as she recalled their previous encounter.
But she maintained her usual cool demeanor, embodying the [Ice Fox Queen] she was known to be.
Beside her, Lilith smiled warmly. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you like, savior!" she said with enthusiasm.
"Thanks," Alex replied with a grin, feeling at ease.
Several hours passed before a message came from Alice.
[StarPillow: I finished... it was tougher than I thought, so I think I'll just rest up in our villa.]
[FateBreaker: I can prepare something for you if you want. I'm still here in the Fox Tribe Village.]
[StarPillow: It's fine, just do your thing, you need to save them from the attack after all, right?]
Alex couldn't help but smile at her message, and so he just ended the conversation with an [I will.]
Soon after, the notifications he'd been waiting for appeared.
[Skill Evolution is available.]
[Item Potential Extraction is available.]
"Finally..." he murmured, reaching into his [Superior Python Backpack] to pull out the [S-Level Magic Crystal (Mythical)].
Ding!
The crystal, just like the first time he had done it when he hatched Alphox, was surrounded by energy and began to transform, its power and shape changing.
[You have enhanced "S-Level Magic Crystal (Mythical)"]
[New Artifact Item: "Max Out Magic Crystal"]
He didn't have a moment to appreciate the transformation before Alphox appeared beside him, eyes gleaming with anticipation.
"Yeah, yeah," Alex sighed, tossing the crystal into the air.
Alphox snapped it up and devoured it in one quick motion.
"This is much appreciated, human!" Alphox growled, his voice carrying a deep resonance.
[Your favorability with "Alphox" has increased!]
Suddenly, a dark aura enveloped the primordial dragon, his body glowing as he transformed.
His scales grew sharper, darker, and emitted a faint shadowy mist, adding an even more menacing edge to his appearance.
His eyes gleamed with fierce intelligence that felt otherworldly.
Ding!
[Alphox has reached level 400, becoming a Tier 6 pet!]
[He gained two new skills:]
[Eclipsing Roar: Alphox lets out a terrifying, dragon-class roar, instilling fear in enemies within a large radius. Enemies affected by Eclipsing Roar are temporarily stunned for 3 seconds and lower their attack and defense by 20%]
[Umbral Shield: Creates a protective shield of shadows around the user or an ally, absorbing all damage for three seconds and returning 25% of it back to the attacker.]
...
Alex gave an approving nod, pleased with the powerful new abilities Alphox had gained.
He also checked his status window just to make sure everything was alright.
[Name: Alphox]
[Type: Primordial Shadow Dragon]
Basically, Alice didn't mind it at all, and frankly, it actually excited her just a little bit.
...
During this downtime, Alex also managed to evolve another skill using [Skill Evolution] each time it became available.
[Do you want to upgrade "Rending Slash" (Advanced) to "Severing Gale" (High-Tier)?]
"Yeah."
[Do you want to upgrade "Severing Gale" (High-Tier) to "Oblivion Strike" (Max-Tier)?]
Ding!
[You have evolved your skill to "Oblivion Strike" (Max-Tier)]
[Oblivion Strike; A powerful dagger strike that deals 100,000 damage to target + 100% of strength to target; no cooldown.]
"DAMN!" Alex was flabbergasted.
This was actually getting out of hand!
After trying it a few times though, he got used to this damage, feeling satisfied with his progress.
During the week he stayed in the village, he obviously made sure to fight as it would be stupid not to try to get the most amount of stats and levels possible.
[Extraction Talent Activated: +746 Strength, +693 Spirit, +561 Vitality, +589 Agility.]
[Next Upgrade: 3471/10000 Extraction Points.]
He made sure to only take attribute points.
And so he managed to go from level 95 to level 100.
Ding!
[You have reached level 100, thus becoming a tier 4 player!]
[Your level will be locked until you complete your advancement task.]
His classes displayed proudly:
[Class: Unparalleled Mage; Assassin of Wrath]
It was already time to upgrade his rank again.
After the tier 3 task he had gone through, which wasn't that difficult, he could now try to get better items on his tier 4 task.
But, what Alex didn't expect, was the task that he would receive.
[Incoming massive event detected.]
[You will receive the most difficult tier 4 advancement task for a player of your caliber.]
Ding!
[Tier 4 Advancement Task: Defeat the "Demon Army" that will attack the Fox Tribe Village.]
Alex's eyes widened as he processed the mission details, "Huh?"
[Your rating will completely depend on your victory or defeat in this battle.]
[Failure will result in an F-Rating, while victory will result in an SSS-Rating.] Stay updated through m-v l|-novelhall.net
[Good luck!]
"What the...?" Alex was stunned.
The sheer scale of the task took him by surprise.
He took a deep breath, focusing his mind on the monumental task ahead.
He'd spent days preparing and upgrading his skills, building trust with the fox tribe, and empowering Alphox.
All that work was leading up to this moment. Now, he had to put everything he'd gained to the test.
"Well," he murmured with a smirk, "I planned to save them anyway, this is just a bonus."