Purple fire flickered across the cathedral floor as another skeleton soldier collapsed.
James crushed its exposed mana core with surgical precision.
The purple energy didn't disperse.
It condensed.
Stored.
His system pulsed as the battlefield quieted briefly around his position.
SYSTEM TALLY. Revenant Constructs Eliminated
Current Confirmed Core Count:
Skeleton Soldiers Defeated: 47
Bone Golems Destroyed: 6
Total Mana Cores Collected: 53
Each core classified as:
Revenant-Class Mana Core (High Density)
Core Conversion Analysis (Updated)
Due to James' advanced mana control and Stage Two awakening:
Each Revenant-Class Mana Core will grant:
+500 Stat Points (Unallocated Pool)
Instead of immediate forced absorption, the system now allows:
Storage
Delayed allocation
Bulk optimization
53 Cores × 500 Stat Points
= 26,500 Stat Points Stored
James' eyes flickered.
That number was absurd.
Even a Level 20 awakened might accumulate 1,000–2,000 total lifetime stat points through leveling.
He was sitting on enough power to redefine himself entirely.
But not yet.
Not in the middle of a warzone.
Allocation during active combat could destabilize his mana flow.
He would wait.
Invest wisely.
Across the nave
Drelhuth tore a bone golem in half, irritation etched deeply across his pale features. The swarm was thinning but still persistent.
The skeleton constructs did not retreat.
They simply adjusted formation.
And more were emerging from deeper corridors.
The cathedral was not a room.
It was a structure layered with sub-chambers.
Crypt halls.
Side sanctums.
Bone-lined corridors stretching further inward.
James glanced toward the altar.
The skeletal throne glowed brighter.
The Revenant King was still forming.
Which meant one thing.
There was time.
And time meant farming.
James activated Rift Blink and vanished down a side corridor.
More skeleton soldiers emerged from alcoves as he advanced.
Perfect.
He didn't charge recklessly.
He pulled them in clusters of five to ten.
Used Rift Field to slow them.
Crushed cores directly.
Stored.
Moved again.
Efficient.
Controlled.
Resource extraction.
Behind him
The sounds of Drelhuth battling continued.
The vampire king was now partially pinned by the remaining bone golems, forced to expend energy.
James smirked faintly.
"Keep him busy."
He blinked again, deeper into the cathedral's interior.
The architecture shifted as he progressed
Walls thicker.
Mana density heavier.
The purple glow more concentrated.
New skeletal variants began emerging
Broader shoulders.
Heavier armor plating fused from bone.
Stronger mana signatures.
James rolled his neck slowly.
"Good."
He wanted quantity.
The more cores he secured before the Revenant King fully awakened
The more overwhelming his next evolution could be.
SYSTEM STATUS
Stored Stat Points: 26,500
Active Level: 27
Combat Efficiency: Stable
Mana Capacity: 78%
The cathedral groaned as something massive shifted beneath the altar chamber.
Time was limited.
But for now
James wasn't running.
He was harvesting.
Bone fragments littered the cathedral corridors.
Purple fire dimmed one skull at a time.
James moved like a phantom through the side crypt halls.. Rift Blink, core crush, reposition, repeat.
The system, which had been quietly tallying in the background, suddenly surged with cascading notifications.
COMBAT SUMMARY... Church of Bones
Enemies Eliminated Since Entry:
Skeleton Soldiers: 89
Bone Golems: 11
Total High-Density Revenant Kills: 100
Average Enemy Level: 30
XP Multiplier: High (Realm Dominance Zone)
EXPERIENCE CALCULATION
Level 27 → 28
Level 28 → 29
Level 29 → 30
Level 30 → 31
Level 31 → 32
Level 32 → 33
LEVEL UP ×6
James staggered slightly as six consecutive surges of energy pulsed through his body.
Muscle density increased.
Mana circuits thickened.
Neural processing sharpened.
His bones felt heavier.
Stronger.
More reinforced by passive mana flow.
He exhaled slowly as the final surge settled.
CURRENT STATUS
Name: James
Level: 33
(Stored stat pool untouched: 26,500)
Base Stats (Auto-Increased via Level Ups Only)
Each level after 27 granted structured system growth scaling with awakened evolution.
Core Attributes
Strength: 610
Agility: 475
Endurance: 420
Intellect: 480
Perception: 360
Mana Capacity: 11,500+
Mana Control: Advanced Master Tier
Unallocated Stored Stats: 26,500
Power Comparison Shift
At Level 33:
Strength now approximates 120–140× baseline human output.
Mana reinforcement density increased by ~35% since Level 27.
Passive Rift Sovereign aura slightly distorts nearby mana flow at all times.
James flexed his fingers.
The air around them warped subtly.
A skeleton soldier lunged
He didn't blink.
He backhanded it.
The construct exploded into fragments from raw physical force alone.
He paused.
"…That felt easier."
Across the cathedral
Drelhuth tore free from the remaining swarm, visibly irritated.
He could feel it now.
James' aura had thickened.
Grown heavier.
The power gap was narrowing.
But
At the altar
The skeletal throne split completely apart.
A towering shape began forming from compressed bone and ancient blue flame.
The Revenant King's awakening had accelerated drastically due to battlefield mana saturation.
The ground trembled.
The remaining skeleton soldiers stopped marching.
They knelt.
All at once.
James slowly turned toward the altar chamber.
Level 33.
26,500 stored stat points untouched.
Revenant King emerging.
Vampire King still present.
The battlefield was about to escalate beyond swarm tactics.
And this time
James would not be the weakest entity in the room.
Meanwhile..
The kneeling skeleton army froze.
Blue flame gathered at the altar.
But before the Revenant King could fully rise
A crimson blur shot across the nave.
Drelhuth landed between James and the throne.
One arm still missing.
Shoulder blackened where Rift energy had severed it.
His red eyes burned brighter than before.. not Blood Rage.
Pure hatred.
"You grow stronger," the vampire king said softly.
James stepped forward, purple mana cores crunching under his boots.
"So do you bleed."
For a moment
Silence.
Then both vanished.
They collided midair.
Shockwave.
The cathedral walls cracked outward in spiderweb fractures.
James drove a mana-compressed punch into Drelhuth's ribs.
This time
It dented.
The king retaliated with a knee that caved the stone floor beneath them.
They blurred through the nave.
Bone pillars shattered like dry twigs as their bodies smashed through them.
A bone golem attempted to intervene
Drelhuth ripped its head off and hurled it at James.
James sliced it apart mid-flight with Rift Rend.
The spatial tear carved through three skeleton soldiers behind it, scattering their mana cores like gemstones across the ground.
The battlefield dissolved into pure destruction.
Every missed strike obliterated constructs.
Every impact sent bone fragments raining from the vaulted ceiling.
Power Shift
James activated Rift Field (Overdrive).
Spatial drag intensified.
Drelhuth slowed slightly
Enough.
James blinked behind him and drove both fists into the king's spine with Rift Compression fully charged.
The crack echoed like a gunshot.
Drelhuth snarled and spun, claws tearing across James' chest.. deep, vicious wounds.
James staggered
But didn't retreat.
He grabbed Drelhuth's remaining arm and hurled him through the altar steps.
Blue flame scattered.
The skeletal throne shattered completely.
The kneeling army lost formation.
Golems rose in confusion
And were immediately crushed under the crossfire of two apex beings fighting without restraint.
Desperation flashed in the king's eyes.
He bit into his own wrist.
Drank.
Crimson aura reignited violently.
Not full Blood Rage
But enough.
His stats spiked temporarily.
He lunged, moving faster than before.
James barely blocked as a flurry of strikes drove him backward through three walls in succession.
The cathedral began collapsing inward.
The ocean outside roared louder.
James wiped blood from his mouth.
He stopped holding back.
He funneled 5,000 stored stat points instantly:
+2,500 Strength
+2,500 Endurance
The surge nearly buckled his knees.
His muscles thickened.
Mana density multiplied violently.
The floor beneath him cratered from sheer pressure.
Drelhuth sensed it
And for the first time
Fear returned.
"What have you done?!!! ... "
James vanished.
Reappeared point-blank.
Grabbed Drelhuth by the throat.
The vampire king clawed at his grip
But the strength gap had flipped.
Completely.
James lifted him overhead and slammed him through the remaining altar foundation.
The impact obliterated the last standing bone golem in a chain reaction of shattered constructs.
Purple mana cores scattered across the cathedral floor in every direction.
The skeleton army was gone.
Reduced to fragments.
Now only two remained standing.
Drelhuth tried to regenerate.
Tried to phase.
Tried to counter.
James didn't allow it.
He activated Rift Pull... Core Extraction.
Directly into the king's chest.
Spatial distortion twisted violently.
Drelhuth screamed
A true, primal sound.
James tightened his grip.
"You should've stayed on the shore."
With one brutal wrench
He ripped the Vampire King's glowing crimson core free from his chest.
Drelhuth's body froze mid-struggle.
Cracks spread across his pale skin.
Crimson light flickered.
"…impossible…"
His body disintegrated into ash that scattered across shattered bone and broken stone.
Silence followed.
The storm outside faded.
The cathedral stood half-collapsed.
Mana cores.. purple and crimson.. littered the ground like treasure spilled from a dragon's hoard.
James stood alone in the ruin.
Breathing hard.
Holding in his hand
The Vampire King's Potent Mana Core.
Far larger than the others.
Denser.
More violent.
The System pulsed.
SYSTEM ALERT
HIGH-TIER ENTITY ELIMINATED :
Vampire King... Drelhuth Thaedracul Van Grekelstesht Glage
Massive EXP Reward
Unique Trait Absorbed
Sovereign-Class Core Acquired
And beneath the broken altar
Blue flame intensified.
The Revenant King was no longer dormant.
The true ruler of this floor had fully awakened.
And James had just cleared the board of every other major piece.