Chapter 8: Advancement

Chapter 8: Advancement

After quite some time, Elias pushed his body upwards, panting heavily in the process.

"Ninety-nine... one hundred..."

After the hundredth count, his body fell onto the surface while beads of sweat drenched his body. His prison uniform was nowhere to be seen, revealing his thin and toned body.

"Huuu..."

Elias panted as he stood up and walked to a nearby bench. It had already been two hours since he started working out.

Thinking of that, Elias murmured "system" quietly.

[Name: Elias Vito Castellano (Elias Roan)

Race: Human

Talent: Indomitable Spirit

Rank: E+

Level: 17

Unused status points: 0

STR: E+ (79/100)

AGI: E+ (72/100)

STA: E+ (72/100)

CONST: E+ (72/100)

INT: E (51/100)

MAGI: E- (43/100)

GROWTH: D+ (0/200)

SKILLS: [Way of Castellano], [Ferocious Underdog], [Gaze of Intimidation]...]

As soon as he whispered the word, a blue, static screen displayed itself in front of his eyes.

Before he started working out, he allocated his unused status points to his growth so he could improve much faster.

'The gains are not that bad...' Elias nodded but felt a little disappointed. He had been working tirelessly out for two hours straight, and thus he expected to at least to have a level up

The condition for advancing a level was having four attributes increase in experience, while the condition for advancing a rank was having four attributes have a grade above your rank.

Unfortunately, his attributes did not meet the requirements and thus it was still at level 17.

He was worried about this happening, that's why prior to working out he already allotted his status to his growth.

'But in the end...' Elias suddenly shook his head. No, in the first place, it was wrong to be dissatisfied with such speed and gains.

When one became a Ranker, improving oneself through simple workout and exercise was nearly impractical.

And the higher one's rank, the more useless such simple exercise and work out become.

However, that did not mean it was useless. It could help with discipline and facilitate the fitness and strength of the body.

For instances of low rankers, working out was beneficial and had some benefits, no matter how little.

Depending on one's growth potential, the improvement that could be gained through working out could range from low to extremely good.

In his case, his speed of improvement could be considered between good or extremely good.

Elias had a D+ growth rate efficiency, while he was still E Rank. That means his improvement speed was double the efficiency.

However, D+ growth rate would obviously matter little once he reached D Rank.

It was already not bad, he was just being impatient. There was no such thing as immediate results.

Calmness. Elias took a deep breath. If I keep this progress up, it would only take me a few more sets before advancing another rank.

But his goal was at minimum Rank D, as that was the required rank for enrolling at Arcane Academy. He didn't know if it was possible, but he would try his best.

He wasn't an avid gym person. In his past life, Elias never even gone to gym and just worked out in his house for daily exercise.

"There's nothing productive to do but to work out anyway."

After resting for some time, Elias stood up once again and began another set of workouts.

***

On the corner, the five subordinates watched quietly, as though acting as guards.

Watching Elias work had, Galilei praised.

"The young master has changed. He's working hard. I wonder what sparked the change in him? Young master never worked this hard before..." n0velusb.c0m

"Well, he has the genes of the Godfather after all. I told you it would only be a matter of time before he changes."

Alexus nodded with a smile of his own.

However, as soon as he said that, the others turned silent and turned tense, as though the air around them froze.

Alexus was about to ask why before realizing it himself, his eyes similarly turning distant.

The mere mention of the Godfather made them remember of the tragedy that occured.

On a night of a full moon, tinted red blood rained and covered the underworld of tragedy as a great war took place.

No one could've expected it. At that time, they were away from the Godfather and we're attending the young master.

Suddenly, a blood covered member of their familia, bursted into the young master's home and informed them of what happened.

They were about to join in the war, however what the member said at last stopped them...

The Godfather issued a request to the five of them, 'I trust you five to protect my son. No matter what. Don't go here. In my order.'

That stopped them, in spite of their desire to join.

Collectively, all five of them felt sorrow and anger in recalling the past.

The Godfather was a person that inspired extreme admiration, he was the one there for everyone, no matter what. It wasn't an exaggeration to say they would've preferred to die by his side than to be imprisoned.

Taurus, the mean eyed subordinate among them, clenched his first and spoke.

"...We should've returned at that time."

Junior, the stoic one, sighed and retorted calmly.

"And what? Die alongside the Godfather? I would've preferred that but... we have to follow his orders and protect the young master."

That made Taurus turn silent.

"But.. we failed him in the end, didn't we?"

Suddenly, Alexus asked in a whisper while looking at his surroundings vacantly.

Although it was a whisper, the four of them heard it clearly. To that, they couldn't help but to turn silent as well.

That was right.

They were assigned to protect the young master, but in the end...

They failed as they were captured and thrown into prison, slowly rotting in silence.

"The Godfather wouldn't appreciate us wallowing like garbage. He would scold us for sure."

Galilei cleared his throat before breaking the silence.

Andolinio Castellano was the type of man to toughen everything up. He was a man of action. The thought of wallowing in grief wouldn't cross him at all.

To his words, Donato nodded before saying.

"...Right. There's nothing we can do but protect the young master. Even if we escape this place, the young master would be in danger."

Junior eyes turned cold as he replied.

"That's right. Instead, let's bid for time. When we finally escape... we can achieve our revenge."

To that, all of them agreed to his words. No matter how long, they swear they would avenge the Godfather and their fallen family.

No matter what.

***

After a while, Elias finished his sets and was fully drenched in sweat as he panted heavily on the bench.

His whole body was sore while all of his muscles ached from pain from the intense session.

However, despite that, his lips were curled into a smile.

"Finally, It seems intense effort and work out is a good way to advance."

Looking at the system interface in front of him, Elias couldn't help but widen his smile.

[[Name: Elias Vito Castellano (Elias Roan)

[Race: Human]

[Talent: Indomitable Spirit (Not In Effect)]

[Rank: D- (E+)]

[Level: 22]

[Unused status points: 500]

[STR: D- (21/200) (E+)]

[AGI: D- (18/200) (E+)]

[STA: D- (25/200) (E+)]

[CONST: D- (26/200) (E+)]

[INT: E (70/100)]

[MAG: E- (43/100)]

[GROWTH: D+ (0/200)]

[SKILLS: [Way of Castellano (Technique)], [Ferocious Underdog(Passive)], [Gaze of Intimidation (Passive)]...]

After tirelessly working himself out for three more hours, his attributes finally broke through the bottleneck.

Such a speed could be considered fast and not bad.

However, it wasn't truly unexpected to Elias. As he had said, his predecessor had some talent and resources, he just didn't work hard enough.

It would only be a matter of time before his predecessor advanced, and sure enough, some work out managed to do that.

It also helped that his growth improved to an extent and he was still Rank E, thus having faster speed and lower requirements.

'So a rank breakthrough to D is 500 status points.'

Elias felt refresh as he advanced a rank.

It was as though his body was reforged into a higher level. He was sure that his mana changed as well, but he couldn't sense it unfortunately.

"Young master, the Courtyard is already closing."

Looking up, Elias saw Galilei and the rest. Only then did he realise that it was already 12:00 PM.

He remembered that he forgot to do the act of theft.

Nevermind... There's still time. Elias shook his head before nodding to his subordinates.

"Let's go. I want to take a bath before having lunch."