Bronze Grade

PCHUU!

Another swing of Damian's blade fell yet another Null. By now, excluding the first two he had executed, 20 Nulls had fallen under his knife. Damian only had his Ability to thank.

Abilities came in two Castes: Active and Passive. While Active Abilities needed to be activated to come into life, Passive Abilities, however, didn't need such a thing. They were more lay back, needing not any activation to be manifested.

Damian deduced, though, that his Innate Adaptability Ability fell under the latter Caste. It wasn't flashy like those beneath the Active umbrella, however, the function of his Ability placed it in the ranks of the most powerful Active Abilities in existence.

It allowed him to adapt to any kind of situation, both dangerous and safe. An especially interesting thought couldn't help but cross Damian's mind. If he were to finally do the deed, would he be able to invoke the most pleasure from his partner even if he was inexperienced, just by virtue of the fact that he actually adapted? Damian felt it was possible.

As for the Nulls, he had adapted to their unique dimensions to the extent that, he began to behead two with one stroke. Normally, unless one was absolutely talented, or was born with a Physiology that was of astounding quality, it was impossible to fight over 20 Stratum 2 and Stratum 3 Nulls while being only at Stratum 2.

However, Damian's Ability obsoleted that impossibility.

He breathed heavily as he stood upright. He had come to realize the Nulls offered his stats no improvement anymore. All he harvested from them were Edict Essences that only increased the experiences needed to evolve to the next Stratum, but did nothing to raise his stats points.

However, this was to be expected. He had been aware from the beginning that those the Spheric Embodiment considered beneath him would offer him no growth whatsoever.

This, in other words meant, he had become so strong they weren't worthy of increasing his overall strength anymore. If he ever wanted to raise his stats, he would need to target stronger types.

Damian began to move once again. Every Null he came across only needed a swing from him to fall into eternal darkness.

He descended the floors, clearing out the Nulls that littered it, before finally landing on the ground floor. What he beheld made him frown.

On this floor, not a single soul was alive. Well, at least, not a single soul except the Null that currently mauled the corpse of a student. The growl that came from it was particularly glaring and from it, Damian knew this new opponent wasn't to be taken lightly.

The Null suddenly stood up, its black, lifeless eyeballs shifting towards the other lifeform on the floor, which was none other than Damian. Contrary to what one might expect of a Null, when it began moving, it moved with slow but less staggering steps. And this, made it two to three notches faster than its kind.

Of course, to someone like Damian, this was still far from fast, however, he was still taken off guard by such speed.

He suddenly shifted sideways, barely dodging a punch that would have definitely carved a hole in his gut. Without hesitation, he launched a counterattack on its chest, but who would have expect that let alone killing the Null, the knife didn't even go any deeper than few centimeters into its red skin.

Damian's eyes flew wide before he exerted his 24 Agility points, tilting his head backwards just moments from becoming headless from the punch of the Null. Almost immediately, he struck the previous spot again, this time, the knife went a little deeper.

He retreated once again, and then attacked that same spot. Damian retained this tactic, retreating, then attacking again before repeating it again. However, just as it appeared that the knife was inches away from reaching its heart, its body suddenly erupted in flames.

A rotten expression instantly framed Damian's face. The Null was a variant already? Seeing this, he didn't hesitate any longer. He brought out the handgun, bombarding it with all his 180 Edict points. Without taking a moment to think, he pulled the trigger.

BANG!

The result was immediate. A hole carved into the chest of the Null. Its flames vanished as though doused by water, before it fell… completely dead!

[ You have acquired the Edict Essence of First Sphere, Stratum 7 Variant Base Null ]

[ Strength +8, Vitality +9, Agility +4 ]

[ You have broken through to First Sphere, Stratum 3 ]

[ You have broken through to First Sphere, Stratum 4 ]

[ You have broken through to First Sphere, Stratum 5 ]

Damian almost purred as he felt his strength increase by leaps and bounds. His muscles became denser and firmer, and he had no doubt that were he to face the Variant Null again, it was only a matter of seconds before he killed it.

Any fatigue he had accumulated from fighting non-stop from the sixth floor to first floor, to directly using all his 180 Edict points to activate the handgun once again, were washed off completely under the bath of his advancement.

And then he took a moment to examine the Null.

'I should have known… from its more inhuman red skin, this Null had already began treading a unique evolution path. Or more appropriately, the Spheric Embodiment had chosen its evolution path for it…"

Damian thought, but then, he chuckled. From the moment their bodies were unable to withstand their awakenings, Nulls already lost all traces of their previous humanity. Hence, calling something clearly not human inhuman was no different from complaining why lions behaved like wild animals.

However, considering they still retained their Human appearances upon their transformations, it was safe to say this particular one he had just killed was a little more inhuman.

Damian took to his heels once again. He had no time to rest. He had little doubt that his little clash with the Variant Null would have attracted the attention of several others.

By now, Damian's knife had begun chipping at the edges, and soon, it would become useless. After all, there was no way normal weapons would fare against lifeforms constantly transcending their mortal past.

He needed a weapon, and not just any, but an Artifact. But to get that, he needed to get to the Tower. However, the Tower was still several hundreds meters away from his current position. What's more, he would have to kill his way to get to it.

But with a normal weapon, how could he possibly succeed?

It was then Damian remembered the uniqueness of Nulls. Without hesitation, he stormed back to the corpse of the Null he had recently killed, and lo and behold, a crystalline bronze colored orb rested beside it.

A sigh immediately escaped his lips. In his agitation, he had forgotten such a crucial matter. And this forgetfulness, could have gotten him killed.

He moved towards the orb and picked it. Almost instantly, an information appeared before him.

[ Bronze Grade Storage Orb: Within it lies a Bronze Grade Artifact ]

A smile immediately played his lips.