Chapter 2: Power

'Probably can't just train to advance quickly.'Aldric realized this without needing to be told because standing still will not make one improve.

He stood up. When he withdrew his strength, his veins became normal again. The stars above his head also disappeared.

'It should be necessary to go on adventures and fight against monsters. However, I don't know anything about this world, I need to go to the city first to find information,' he thought.

He took a step towards the city at the back of the forest.

The gates were full of people, there were queues to enter and exit.

This wasn't because there was an inspection, but purely because of the sheer number of people.

He queued for about ten minutes before finally being able to enter.

"Sir, sir, you are so handsome and dashing, but your clothes are so ordinary, how about you buy these clothes!"

While walking on the city's cobblestone streets, Aldric was immediately stopped by a girl who offered him a coat-like garment.

His clothes were indeed very ordinary, just something similar to a t-shirt and trousers made of cloth.

Although he tended not to care about the clothes he wore, this was still too below his standards.

Only, he wasn't sure how to buy those clothes since he didn't have any money yet.

As far as he could see, everyone was transacting using white coins with sword symbols.

"Miss, I don't have any coins!" Aldric could only be honest, perhaps the girl would tell him how to get money.

However, without him expecting it, the girl's expression immediately became ugly.

"Hmph, it turns out to be a poor man who doesn't have any coins, you better sell that face of yours," she said in a sarcastic tone before leaving.

Aldric's expression froze instantly, confused as to how a girl could be so rude because she met someone who had no money.

"Bro, looks like you just played this game. Hahaha, this world seems very real. The NPCs sometimes have bad personalities, but more are good."

Suddenly, another person approached Aldric.

This time it was a man around the same age as him.

He was rather thin but carried a large sword on his back that was even longer than his body.

It was surprising that he could carry such a sword.

"I'm Eliot, what's your name, bro? It looks like you're confused, didn't you read the game guide on the site?" The man extended his hand to shake hands with him.

He accepted a handshake from him while mentioning his nickname, not revealing his name.

"Yeah, I'm just playing because my friend asked me to. I don't even have virtual equipment, it was just lent to me by my friend," he said. Sёarch* The Novёlƒire.n(e)t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Ohh..." The man by the name of Eliot showed a strange look at his explanation.

"If it's like that, does that mean you're only practicing to reach Stage 1? Gosh, how long did it take you, an hour or two?"

"An hour or two?" Aldric was somewhat surprised to hear the man talk about one or two hours since he had only played a few minutes and practiced one minute.

"There is actually a faster way to train, which is to eat the Monster Core. The Monster Core contains a large amount of spiritual energy that can be absorbed by the body in a short period of time. Depending on your body's ability and Incantra Spells, your ability to absorb the spiritual energy in the monsters will be greater.

"If it's just to reach Stage 1, a Level 0 Monster Core is enough. You can get it by asking a random NPC. As long as they don't have bad personalities, they will give it to you. Of course, you need to search for it yourself or buy for Level 1 Monster Cores and above, or accept missions to get Monster Core rewards.

"Selling them is also possible. You can even sell them to other players and they will give you real money. Currently, the price of Monster Cores is still very high because many rich players are too lazy to search for Monster Cores themselves, especially older players."

"Old players, do old people also play this game?"

Aldric was quite surprised by the last information. How could old people play games. Didn't they tend to be conservative, thinking of games as a waste of time.

"Hahaha, everyone plays it, probably for a reason." Eliot laughed and smiled mysteriously.

"By the way, here's a map of the Eldorn Region and here's the Magician Online guidebook, you should read it!"

Suddenly the man took out a folded paper and a book.

Both appeared from the air mysteriously.

He gave them to Aldric.

"Where did you hide them?" asked Aldric when he received them.

"A Storage Artifact, you have to buy it, the more expensive, the more items you can store. Unfortunately, we don't have an inventory." The man replied while showing the ring on his hand.

"It seems like I have a lot of things to do," Aldric said, wanting to sigh but holding back.

Maybe for others this was not something complicated, but he found it complicated because he preferred easier ways.

***

Aldric didn't expect to meet a kind man like Eliot who explained things to him just because he looked confused.

However, he had to log out of the game because he needed to do something, so he couldn't continue helping him.

They had already friended each other, so they could meet again later, just need to tell the location via chat.

Aldric, realizing that he couldn't do anything in town since he didn't even have any coins, headed out of town again.

With the map in his hand, he could go monster hunting, kill them and use their cores to train.

He went to the northern area of the city. There were no forests there, only big stone hills.

Since there were no trees, it was very hot.

While walking, he became alert because the map said that this was an area with many monsters.

Shua! Shua!

Not a minute before he arrived, he saw an attack from the right.

It was two red-colored crystals, triangular in shape with sharp top edges.

Aldric quickly jumped to the side to avoid them.

Staring in the direction from which the two crystals came, he found a dwarf-like figure but fatter and with a body made of stone with red crystals embedded in its back.

DING!

(Shardling Level 2!)

If it was at level 2, then it was basically equivalent to a 2nd Stage Junior Magician.

Aldric wondered if he could kill it since it was one level above him.

Shua! Shua!

He just observed it and it shot crystal after crystal at him.

They were faster this time.

With no experience, Aldric reacted a little late.

One crystal slammed into his shoulder.

At the same time, the veins in his body emitted white light again.

Clang!

The crystal seemed to hit a steel wall, bouncing off his body while he did not move an inch.

"What?" Aldric himself was dumbfounded by what he saw.

His physique was actually so strong. Such a sharp crystal failed to even scratch his skin.

"It's my turn!" He lunged at the monster without hesitation.

As he moved, gusts of wind that looked like waves were created around him because he was too fast and his weight seemed to have become very heavy.

In an instant, he arrived in front of the monster with the stone body.

'I guess it's fine to punch it directly,' he thought.

As a player, he wouldn't feel much pain. Even if his hand got hurt, it didn't matter. The important thing was thatshe punched the monster.

BANG.

His fist struck the monster right in the head.

The monster was not thrown away, as if there was no pushing force from his fist.

It wasn't that there was no pushing force, but the monster's head suddenly exploded, shattering into small pieces.

From its body, then came out a red crystal the size of a grape, floating in the air.

If observed, it turned out to have two lines, which was a sign that it was a Level 2 Core.

Aldric already knew that because he had read some parts of the guidebook.

He didn't pick up the Core right away, his eyes staring at the monster's now headless corpse.

"I think I'm too strong," he said.

At this point, he began to realize that he was more unique than other players.

The Body and Wheel of Life he had resurrected seemed to be something quite extraordinary.

He even managed to advance to Stage 1 in just one minute, unlike Eliot who thought it would take him an hour or two.

Of course, since he played this game without any seriousness or passion, he didn't consider this to be anything impressive. He thought this was probably just his luck because the guidebook said that the talent of the players would depend on themselves.

After that, he finally picked up the Monster Core.

"So this is what I need to eat," he said.

To his surprise, it wasn't hard, it was soft like fruit giving the impression that it was easy to swallow.

Although it came out of the monster's body, Aldric didn't think before throwing it into his mouth, swallowing it instantly.

DING!

(You swallowed a Level 2 Monster Core containing 2000 Spiritual Energy!)

(Your Ancient Sky body successfully withstands 100% Spiritual Energy of the Core!)

(With Swallowed Sky, you can absorb all the Spiritual Energy in this Monster Core in 2 minutes!)

Notice after notice appeared.

When absorbing the spiritual energy already within his body, Aldric did not need to sit down. He could do it while standing and even move without reducing his speed.

However, he chose not to move first, waiting while standing for up to 2 minutes.

In 1 minute, he could apparently absorb 1000 spiritual energies, unlike if he only absorbed spiritual energy from nature where he could only absorb 10 spiritual energies in 1 minute.

According to his guess, other people cannot have results like this. It was even possible that they could only hold 10 or 20 percent of the spiritual energy from the Monster Core that they swallowed.

DING!

(You have successfully absorbed 2000 Spiritual Energy!)

[Spiritual Energy: 2000/1000]

DING!

(Your spiritual energy has reached 2000 Points. 1000 Points are required to advance to Junior Magician Stage 2, would you like to advance?)

Yes/No!

Yes, of course.

DING!

(You choose Yes, you advance to Junior Magician Stage 2!)

DING!

(Your status has been updated!)

[Nickname: Dark Crow]

[Magic: 2nd Stage Junior Magician]

[Spiritual Energy: 1000/4000]

[Power: 110!]

[Body: Ancient Sky Body <SSS Class]

[Wheel of Life: Nine Stars <SSS Class]

[Incantra Spell:

- Swallowed Sky <SSS Class]

[Explo Spell:

- Swallowed Sky <SSS Class

- Star Formation <SSS Class]

"Excellent!"

Aldric couldn't help but praise when the process was over.

This was because the power he felt in his body only became more and more ferocious.

Although his body size was still the same, he felt like he had become many times bigger.

This incredible feeling, he wanted to feel it again.