Deadmeat Saga

While somewhat bothered, Gerhart let Stella mutate freely.

"It is already under my control, so nothing should go wrong." Gerhart thought.

With that thought, Gerhart selectively ignored this change and brought Stella to the bathroom before heading downstairs with the others. It just so happened that Hope, Calvin, and the others returned at this time, bringing items inside. It also included furniture, utensils, books, and supplies.

"Gerhart! We bought many necessities for the manor." Hope smiled.

"Master, I arranged for the manor and the surrounding houses to be cleaned and repaired," Bertrand courteously said.

"My lord, Ray and I conquered the 20th floor and are now D-rank adventurers," Calvin reported.

"Nyahaha! It was so easy~!" To-Meri grinned.

"Good work." Gerhart approvingly nodded. "Anything else to report?"

"Yes! A few people were stalking us." Hope said.

"Us, too." Ray warily said. "It was uncomfortable to be looked at by several people."

"Just ignore them for now. They will continue for several days before they lose their patience and approach us. For now, pretend they don't exist. Of course, if they attack you, don't hesitate to retaliate." Gerhart sternly said.

At his words, the others nodded and dropped the subject.

"Gerhart, I see you brought a new talent." Hope suddenly smiled as she looked at Ariyana.

"Yes. We somehow ran into Ariyana in the dungeon, and she is now part of us." Gerhart also smiled, looking at Ariyana.

"Hm?" Ariyana tilted her head with a puzzled look.

"The Multilinguism spell ended," Havre said and cast her spell on Ariyana again, "Multiliguism."

"Ah... Master, what did you say just now?" Ariyana asked, the spell taking effect.

"We said we are happy you are with us." Gerhart gently said. "Now, let's eat dinner."

"Yes!" Ariyana happily said.

.

.

.

Three days later-

Bam* Thud* BOOM* Crunch*

A rampaging human was demolishing groups of Black Skeletons barehanded. Each swing of his steel-like arms crushed bones. His fingers were like iron pincers that dug into the skulls before crushing them. Every kick sent groups of skeletons flying. Any hit with Aura-Coated swords would get shrugged, and every small wound would visibly heal.

"Hahahaha! It is so fun!" Gerhart laughed as he grabbed two skeletons by their skulls before smashing them against each other.

Crunch* Crunch*

Munch*

"Hm?" Gerhart raised an eyebrow as he looked at the Black Skeleton Canine that bit his arm but couldn't pierce his skin.

"Heh, I can also bite." Gerhart grinned, revealing his pearly teeth before biting the dog's skull.

Crunch*

The skull that was harder than steel was bit through like a cracker. The soul fire in the canine's eyes revealed a hint of horror as they extinguished.

Ptui* Crack*

Gerhart spat the bone in his mouth at an approaching Black Skeleton, shooting like a pellet thrown by a slingshot, accurately hitting it in the forehead. The bone half-pierced into the skull, fine cracks around it but not enough to kill it.

"GRA!" The skeleton yelled, disoriented.

Gerhart casually discarded the skeleton canine just as a dark-cloaked assassin dived from above, aiming his dagger at Gerhart's eye. Gerhart didn't try defending himself, only closing his eyelid.

Dang* Crackle*

As if meeting an impenetrable wall, the dagger couldn't pierce Gerhart's eyelid, creating sparks and a white scar. Just as Gerhart was about to kill it with a punch, he suddenly changed it to a grab, throwing the assassin like a ragdoll in a direction.

Whoosh* Woosh* Woosh* Thud* Thud* Thud*

Several Aura-Clad arrows pierced the body as it continued crashing into two Skeleton Archers, crashing together into a pile of bones.

"Bone Lance Volley!" A skeleton mage suddenly chanted, sending bone lances at Gerhart.

Gerhart avoided one, kicked another, and grabbed a third before throwing it back at the skeleton.

Bam* Crunch*

The Skeleton Mage's skull shattered, its undeath ceasing on the spot.

Gerhart then proceeded to clean the battlefield of all remaining skeletons. Only when the fighting subsided did two female figures approach.

"Well done, my lord!" Havre said, looking at the vast spoils of war on the floor, mostly Magic Stones but also monster materials and items.

"As expected of the master," Qold said, somewhat awed by the sheer display of raw power despite seeing it several times.

"Hm. Gather the stones and bring them to me. I need to absorb them." Gerhart said, sitting in a corner.

Havre and Qold didn't object or delay, quickly gathering Magic Stones and delivering them to Gerhart to absorb. Hundreds of Magic Stones piled near Gerhart as he absorbed them all, feeling no pain.

Yesterday, Gerhart reached level 50 after absorbing several thousand Magic Stones. These Black Skeletons no longer posed a threat, instead being a convenient energy source. To kill hundreds of Black Skeletons took him minutes and carried no risk, but Havre and Qold couldn't join since they didn't have a body as formidable as his.

The only thing limiting him was the speed of absorbing Magic Stones and finding Attraction Circles.

An hour later, Gerhart stood up while dusting himself, examining the energy he gathered after ten waves.

 

Energy: 1,614,124

 

Yes, that was the ridiculous amount of energy Gerhart gathered. In one day, he gathered several times more energy than he had since he got the relic. Gerhart couldn't help but feel surreal about it. Also, when he reached the 1,000,000-point mark, he received a message from the relic.

 

You have reached the 1,000,000 Energy Points Milestone. Unlocked Stage 2 Ascension.

Stage 2 Ascension Requirements: 1,000,000 Energy Points, All Basic Stats B or above, Level 50 or above, First Evolution Completed, 300 Thralls, and 3 Envoys.

Conditions Not Met. Please Evolve first.

 

The price increased a hundredfold, the grade jumped to B, and the level rose from 30 to 50. It even required 300 Thralls and three Envoys. However, Gerhart already met all of these conditions. However, Gerhart had to evolve first.

Gerhart checked his status.

 

Race: Human/Human(Tyrant Tribe) (Evolvable)

 

After reaching level 50, with all of his stats at S-grade, he was overqualified to evolve. However, when he checked the requirements, his face twitched. It made him feel poor again.

 

Detected multiple Racial Evolution Options. Please select one:

Option 1: Noble Human(Requirements: All Stats C-grade and above, three A-grade stats(Any), level 50, 10,000 points.)

Option 2: Elite Noble Human(Requirements: All Stats B-grade and above, three A-grade stats(Any), three tier-5 talents(Any), level 50, 100,000 points.)

Option 3: Superior Noble Human(Requirements: All Stats A-grade and above, three S-grade stat(Any), one tier-6 talent(Any), level 50, 1,000,000 points.)

Option 4: Perfect Noble Human(Requirements: All Stats S-grade and above, three tier-6 talent(Any), level 50, 10,000,000 points.)

Option 5: Golden Noble Human(Requirements: All Stats S-grade and above, three SS-grade stats(Any), one tier-7 talent(Any), 100% Golden Marrow, level 50, 100,000,000 points.)

Option 6: Minor-Blood Tyrant Noble Human(Requirements: All Stats C-grade and above, three A-grade stats(Strength, Vitality, Endurance), level 50, at least 10% Tyrant Bloodline concentration, 10,000 points.)

Option 7: Lesser-Blood Tyrant Noble Human(Requirements: --- at least 25% Tyrant Bloodline Concentration, 100,000 points.)

Option 8: Half-Blood Tyrant Noble Human(Requirements: --- at least 50% Tyrant Bloodline Concentration, 1,000,000 points.)

Option 9: Pure-Blood Tyrant Noble Human(Requirements: All Stats Grade S and above, Three 6th-tier talents(Physique Related), 100% Tyrant Bloodline Concentration, level 50, 10,000,000 points.)

Option 10: Golden Tyrant Noble Human(Requirements: All Stats Grade S and above, Three SS-grade stats(Strength, Vitality, Endurance), One tier-7 talent(Physique Related), 100% Tyrant Bloodline Concentration, 100% Golden Marrow, level 50, 100,000,000 points.)

Warning: Level shall regress to 1 upon completion. Evolving will lock future evolutionary paths.
Note: Generally, the more strict the requirements, the stronger the evolution, and the bigger the gains.

 

It was apparent that Humans and Tyrant Humans had similar evolutionary patterns. However, Tyrant Humans had stricter requirements. Regular Humans could evolve using anything, but Tyrant Humans required specific talents and stats. The pricing and requirements were otherwise unchanged, meaning that even without the Tyrant Bloodline, a Human could still achieve greatness. However, when faced with a similarly-ranked Tyrant Human, the Tyrant Human would more likely win.

As for Talent Tiers, Gerhart figured that an Initial Talent was a tier-1 Talent and a tier-5 was Perfect. Tier 6 was likely on par with Initial Sword Saint, Giant's Might, or Wolf Emperor. As for Tier 7 talents, it was probably on par with Max's Great Undead Knight or Beginner Sword Saint.

Either way, Gerhart decided to take the Golden Tyrant Noble Human since it was the best option of the bunch. Of course, the requirements gave him a headache.

"Forget about the ridiculous amount of energy. The stat and talent requirements are horrible!" Gerhart complained. "How is someone who hasn't evolved supposed to reach those requirements?! And what the fuck is this Golden Marrow thing? It sounds ridiculous."

Of course, he couldn't do anything about it for now, so he decided to put it aside.

"Hah..." Gerhart sighed and shook his head.

"My lord? Are you dissatisfied?" Havre asked.

"It is nothing. Let's go home." Gerhart said.

Qold and Havre nodded and took out teleportation stones. Ten seconds later, the trio left. Walking to the clerk, they gave him 300 Magic Stones and some items.

"Hm... That's 11,790 Silver Coins." The clerk said after calculating and adding the money to their cards.

Although he was somewhat amazed, this amount was not too impressive. However, if he knew that Gerhart absorbed more than 95% of the stones, he would be completely shocked!

"Thank you. Can you elevate us to A-rank while we are at it?" Gerhart requested.

"Certainly, you already met the requirements. From B-rank to A-rank for three, that would be 4,800 Silver Coins." The clerk gave a bright business smile.

"Many thanks," Gerhart said.

"No problem! But as an A-rank, you must have a Title. Have you thought it over? It could be related to your abilities, your family, an event, a memorable place, a piece of equipment, or anything." The clerk said.

"I want to be called Sword Champion," Havre said with a light smile.

"And I want to be called Dreamy Temptress," Qold seductively smiled.

"Gulp* Good names!" The clerk gulped, snapping out of it moments later, and gave a flattering smile before turning to Gerhart, "And what about you, Sir?"

"Hm..." Gerhart couldn't help but rub his chin in thought.

"Yes... What should be my title?" Gerhart thought to himself.

His journey didn't start as Gerhart but as Deadmeat. Without Deadmeat, he wouldn't be where he is today. Although he was no longer Deadmeat, he couldn't deny his role in getting the relic.

"Wait... That could work." A twinkle flashed in Gerhart's eye.

Smiling, Gerhart spoke, "My title should be Deadmeat."

"... I beg your pardon? I think I misheard. Can you repeat that, please?" The clerk blinked in disbelief.

"I said, I want my title to be Deadmeat. Would you like me to spell it out?" Gerhart asked.

"N-No... I heard you. But isn't that a slave name in Youvamorian? A very demeaning one, at that?" The clerk weirdly asked.

"It is, but I think it is suitable for me. I always get into trouble, and I am a heavy warrior focused on defense, so it is a play of words." Gerhart grinned.

"I see... But are you sure? Once chosen, you can't remove it casually." The clerk confirmed.

"I am sure." Gerhart said.

"Okay. It is your choice." The clerk said and issued the new cards.

Several minutes later, the trio left the guild and returned under the darkening sky to their manor.

At the same time, several spies returned to their respective employers to report their findings.