Chapter 268: Level 3, Attribute, Embers of the Fire

Chapter 268: Chapter 268: Level 3, Attribute, Embers of the Fire

Seeing Julius’s utterly horrified expression, Nieve’s heart sank, and she grew a little nervous.

’Is it because Julius doesn’t want me to give the Stamina Potion to Lance?’

She subconsciously wanted to put in a good word for Lance.

"Lance actually gives Nieve lots of things, too."

Hearing this, Julius’s Adam’s apple bobbed with a difficult swallow.

"He... what did he give you?"

Nieve said hurriedly.

"Lance lets Nieve gnaw on him."

"Lance is sweet and really yummy."

Because Lance never agreed to let her suck on his cheek, Nieve thought she just had to trick Julius.

If she made Julius think Lance was very generous, maybe he would calm down.

But those words fell on Julius’s ears like a thunderclap on a clear day.

’It’s over.’

’It’s completely over.’

As her guardian, he had no idea how he’d managed to let such a sweet, innocent girl go so astray.

He was now certain.

During her time in the Underground City, Nieve must have awakened some kind of perverted attribute and was using Stamina Potions to repeatedly drain that man day after day.

"Um... Nieve."

Julius swallowed dryly, his throat feeling a bit tight.

"Mr. Lance has helped our Guild, after all. If possible..."

Then he thought about how the source of this whole tragedy might be his own decision back then, which had put too much pressure on Nieve and caused this distortion in her personality.

So, in the end, Julius couldn’t bring himself to say the harsh words of discouragement he’d intended.

A thousand words were on the tip of his tongue, but in the end, he only managed to squeeze out one sentence.

"Don’t just give him Stamina Potions. Replenishing only his stamina isn’t enough... He needs to replenish other nutrients, too."

After saying this, he gave an awkward, sheepish laugh.

Julius had originally wanted to ask her about her specific ranking on the leaderboard and offer a few words of comfort.

After all, Nieve’s Professional role was a Mage Tank, focusing on defense and control.

This type of Profession inherently lacked strong damage output and finishing capabilities, putting her at a great disadvantage in solo combat.

Therefore, Julius never had high expectations for Nieve winning the Summer Crown title. He only hoped she could get through this period safely.

But now, this explosive news had completely shattered his worldview, leaving him rambling incoherently.

In the end, the Knight Captain could only stammer out an excuse about having urgent Guild business to attend to before hastily leaving the corridor as if fleeing for his life.

’Julius is acting weird today...’

Nieve watched his retreating figure as he fled in disarray, closing her door with a look of utter confusion.

...

Meanwhile, Lance, staying in his room at the Veterans’ Guild inn, had no idea that a few careless words from Nieve had already caused such a hilarious and absurd misunderstanding.

Tonight was a crucial moment for him.

The Underground City was going to announce new rules tonight to make the Summer Crown even more intense.

So, before that happened, he had to seize the time to update his level panel and Professional Specialties, converting all his recent accumulation into tangible combat power.

After a full week of relentless effort, he had not only maxed out his experience, but had also hunted a large number of Elite Monsters in the past few days, accumulating a total of 50 Satori Essence.

However, this would be his final haul from the First Area.

If he wanted to farm a large amount of Essence again, he would have to venture into the Second Area.

This was because Elite Demons were judged as being one level higher than their base level. If he successfully reached Level 3 today, then these Level 1 Elite Monsters would become ordinary low-level monsters in his eyes.

Under the Underground City’s suppression mechanism, they would no longer drop any high-value loot.

This was also the Underground City’s filtering mechanism. It required you to constantly challenge opponents matching your strength, preventing you from staying in the beginner area to endlessly slaughter weaker foes.

The Underground City was never stingy with its rewards, but the prerequisite was that you had to risk your life to earn its favor.

Lance glanced up at the wall clock.

In a Phase Space like the Underground City, the passage of day and night was almost imperceptible.

With glowing minerals perpetually overhead instead of a sun or moon, one could only judge the time of day by a clock.

The hour hand was currently pointing to eleven-thirty.

In about half an hour, at the stroke of midnight, the leaderboards would be officially revealed.

He had arranged with Nieve to meet her at the plaza a little beforehand.

Lance reined in his thoughts and sat on the edge of his bed.

First, he opened his system panel with his Telekinesis.

[Main Profession: Pale Guard Level 2 (10000 / 10000)]

[Status: Ready to Advance]

Once a Professional filled their experience bar for their current level, they could no longer gain any more experience.

Moreover, Lance could feel it.

Reaching Level 3 was the first small watershed in a Professional’s career.

Once he crossed it, his body would definitely undergo some kind of qualitative change.

Especially his Source Melting Furnace.

For some time now, he had been wrestling with a question he couldn’t figure out.

It was about the Ether Energy he was currently using.

It had always been centered around the [Crimson Dragon] Source Material, manifesting as the [Ash Dragon Breath] with its high temperature and Armor Piercing attributes.

However, the Traits of his Main Profession, [Pale Guard], which should have been part of his Energy’s composition, showed no outward manifestation at all.

This was highly illogical.

Not until he had advanced to Level 2 had he suddenly felt a slight change in the boiling Ether Energy within his Melting Furnace.

Only then did he belatedly realize what was happening.

It wasn’t that the Professional Traits of the Pale Guard hadn’t merged with his Ether Energy.

Simply manifesting the Energy Traits from the [Crimson Dragon] was already a huge strain.

Let alone stacking the Traits from a Heroic Profession on top of that; such overwhelmingly powerful Ether Energy would have instantly destroyed his fragile Melting Furnace.

But as long as he successfully advanced to Level 3 tonight, the Energy Traits of the Pale Guard might immediately begin to manifest.

’Time to level up.’

Without any hesitation, Lance selected the option to raise his Level on the panel.

As his Attribute Values increased, he felt an Energy as if it were burning within his body.

The sensation was somewhat similar to when he acquired a Demon Talent, but it was smoother, and it came and went quickly.

Lance summoned the panel again and looked at the data.

[Pale Guard Level 3]

[Power: 37.05 (12.5 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 90%)]

[Agility: 27 (10+ 1 + 4 + 80%)]

[Constitution: 29 (17 + 8 + 1 + 2 + 1)]

[Spirit: 16 (12 + 4)]

[Perception: 31.45 (13.5 + 3 + 2 + 70%)]

(Numbers in parentheses represent Attributes gained from leveling up, allocation of free attribute points, and new Demon Talent bonuses.)

When allocating his free attribute points, Lance gave it careful thought.

Following his established strategy, he allocated 4 points to agility to compensate for his shortcomings in movement speed.

He put the remaining 2 points into Power, continuing to enhance his extreme destructive force.

This method of allocation, combined with the Demon Talent bonuses he gained from frantically filling out the Illustrated Guide, had directly resulted in his current, terrifyingly well-rounded attribute panel, which had no obvious weaknesses.

The Lance of today was far stronger than the person he had been when he first stepped into the Underground City.

One could even say he had undergone a qualitative transformation.

If that man Grom were to appear before him now and dare to engage in close combat, Lance was absolutely confident.

Without needing to fight for his life, he could use his sheer panel superiority to rip all four of his opponent’s armored limbs off in an extremely short amount of time!

After reviewing his own magnificent attribute panel, Lance closed the interface with satisfaction.

Then, he opened his Specialty tree and, without hesitation, spent the 1 specialty point he had just gained from leveling up on the core Professional Talent he had been eyeing.

[Specialty: Embers of the Fire]

[Effect: All Life Value you lose in combat will be converted into special "Pale Embers" at a fixed rate of 10% and automatically stored in your Source Melting Furnace.]

[The storage limit for these embers is 100% of your total Life Value.]

[Active Trigger: You can choose to actively ignite the Pale Embers in your Melting Furnace at any time. Upon ignition, you will instantly recover Life Value equal to the amount of embers stored.]

[Additionally, for the duration of the ember’s burn, you will receive a massive temporary bonus to agility and attack speed.]

[Note: Embers can be accumulated over the long term. Detonating a full store of embers in a desperate situation is equivalent to having an extra life-saving ace up your sleeve to turn the tables.]