Although he'd had numerous opportunities to tap into all the attributes of his body before, this was the first time he had pushed them to their absolute limits. And he was certain of it—this was the peak of his potential.
Technically, he shouldn't even fall under the Magical System set up by the Global Awakening System.
Because the Magical System has established rules. But he… he didn't seem to follow any of them.
The realization brought him a strange mixture of elation and unease. It was almost too good to be true.
Still, he had to believe it.
Perhaps the consequences of obtaining such power wouldn't come right away. Maybe the price will reveal itself in the future.
He shook his head, trying to clear his mind of all these strange thoughts and turned his attention back to the system's notifications.
"Six stat points at once?"
Surprised, he immediately pulled up the status window. The 6 points were neatly allocated—two each to Strength, Agility, and Sense. Taking into account that he hadn't assigned the remaining point in Strength before, he now had 3 points in Strength.
Although the increase in points was significant, the perfect distribution prevented him from being able to increase his Resistance or Agility enough to reach the 20-point threshold yet. And that limited his options.
As he examined his statistics and considered whether to raise them all at once, something unexpected happened—a strange thread of spiritual energy appeared before him.
He glanced at the mirror in his hand.
'Does it connect?'
Following the thread's trail instinctively, he noticed that this strange thread was linked to the corpse of his former boss, which he had stored in his inventory, so he took it out to verify it.
Bodies kept in the inventory remained perfectly preserved even after death, so the body looked just as it had the last time he saw it. Even so, there was something peculiar about it: that strange thread of energy that seemed to swirl above the body.
In addition, the thread didn't just stop there—it seemed to extend beyond, shifting between dimensions quickly and showing him an image of Loen City, specifically John Clark's body and his current location.
This same thread of energy that connected the corpse in front of him also connected John Clark.
The thread pulsed, extending between the Clark House and several locations across the city, linking to multiple individuals.
Although Elliot didn't understand how a seemingly broken item like this mirror could show him so many things, one thing was certain: he recognized the people it was pointing to.
"John Clark. Alexander Clark—the current leader of the Clarks… even that little squad leader who was a good friend of my father. What's going on?"
Although the thread seemed to stretch farther, its reach faded with distance, making it harder to see. The mystery brought him back to his senses and made him wonder what was going on.
And as if to answer his question, a new message appeared before his eyes—words that did not belong to the system.
[Those who have your blood on their hands have been marked. The thread that binds you to them is the Thread of Vengeance. It awaits your arrival.]
'Thread of Vengeance?' Elliot repeated, looking back at the mirror. He noticed that he had a shallow cut on his hand. It wasn't too deep, and he had probably gotten it when he was hitting the dungeon boss, but it was enough to drip onto the mirror and activate it.
It made sense.
He immediately realized that this was why the item had been activated; it wasn't unusual. There are items that are only activated by blood.
But the words it had said…
'They have my blood on their hands…' At first, he didn't understand. Then the truth struck him like a bolt of lightning.
'They are the bastards who killed my mother and my sister.'
The anger inside him roared, and the waves of rage in his heart rocked like an angry tsunami. Although he had long suspected who the murderers of his family were, now he had seen faces that he hadn't expected. Even the squad leader, who had once been his father's friend.
That's why he was so angry, almost on the verge of losing his mind. He clenched his fists, barely resisting the urge to scream, but this time, he held back. He focused on his breathing, forcing his anger to settle.
Despite the fact that his jaws were clenched so tightly that they threatened to grind his teeth, he managed to open his mouth and reassure himself with a whisper:
"The pain will only be momentary… Stay calm and be patient. You've endured it for several years. You can hold on a little longer… a few more months, maybe a year."
Despite his words, he had to close his eyes, unable to bear looking at the words in front of him any longer. He felt that if he stared at it too long, he would lose control—and he wasn't prepared to face those people.
Not yet.
He wasn't strong enough.
He couldn't even confront the squad leader, let alone John Clark, who was way stronger than him at the moment.
Not to mention Alexander Clark.
How could he beat a guy who was the leader of one of the leading families in Loen City?
He needed to calm himself down so as not to do something senseless.
As he calmed himself in the darkness behind his closed eyes, another thought crept into his mind, unsettling and sudden:
'My father's disappearance… could it have something to do with that guy?'
It made sense.
'Although my father was far more powerful than anyone in this city…' he thought.
During his father's time, Loen City was anything but weak, and that was all thanks to him. Back then, it was one of the most powerful cities in the kingdom, and that was entirely due to his presence.
That was why it was difficult for Elliot to associate the citizens' current frailty with his father's disappearance. Still, if he thought about it carefully… it might make sense.
His father was a man who had always been kind to everyone—a full-blown hero. He taught Elliot to look at the world through the same heroic lens. But that kindness of his came with a fatal flaw—his weakness—he never distrusted those who approached him.
'Maybe he was betrayed… maybe even sold out…'
When Elliot opened his eyes again, only the system window greeted him, its interface flickering softly.
He looked at it, flickering, but not moving quickly, still thinking about his father.
"Maybe that bastard knows what happened to my father…"
A surge of urgency gripped his heart. He wanted to confront the man immediately and talk to him, but he steadied himself, taking deep breaths until the impulse passed.
Soon it would be time.
Turning back to the System, he did not hesitate to raise his stats: Strength to 23, Agility to 17, and Sense to 9.
"I'm almost in the Awakened Rank," he muttered. "Soon, I'll be able to find out what happened back then."
He sighed.
"Alright. Let's go to the Rat Zone and hunt down as many as we can. Anyway, I can't enter the same dungeon twice in quick succession."
Having made up his mind, Elliot scanned the rocky chamber once more. He stored away the dungeon boss's corpse, then picked up the only item it had left behind other than the mirror.
"The book of spells he used…"
His eyes lit up with joy.
"It's for casting fireballs. Just as expected… Should I sell it? Magic items are incredibly valuable—even the low-rank ones."
[ Unnamed Magic Book of Rank E]
| A spellbook used by the Goblin Inventor's Boss to cast fire magic. It is imbued with Fireball Magic and holds a high offensive potential.
| After killing an unknown Young Master, the Chimera obtained it two months ago. The book has appeared in it randomly ever since.
| It improves the strength of Fireballs by 5% if its bearer is a Fire Mage of any Variation. If a Soul Mage carries it, it improves the power of their Fireballs by 8%.
| It can be traded.
In this world, only Soul Mages could typically cast spells from a distance. However, there was an exception: using items that a Soul Mage or an Illusionist has enchanted— (Illusionist is the second type of Imaginer that exists, the sixth mage type).
Thanks to such items, even the Physical, Resistance, or Agility Mages could have certain advantages while using these enchanted objects. Not only were they able to attack from a distance, but they could also do so in close combat, just like the Chimera had.
Only certain types of Awakened could wield this type of spellbook.
But there was one major exception: the Magic Swordsmen.
Elliot wasn't ignorant of these awakened ones. In this era, they were incredibly famous, almost legendary.
The Kingdom of Arce had one of its own sitting at the top of its power pyramid—a Saint. His strength was incredible, and he had been revered as the most powerful man in the Kingdom for many years.
Beyond the borders of the Arce Kingdom, the Sun Kingdom had an immensely powerful Magic Swordsmen, whom they called: The Southern Sun. He was so powerful that even the Saints of Arce held him in high regard.
And then there were places like the Dragon Kingdom or the world-renowned Lux Kingdom—each of these countries was a home to Magic Swordsmen who inspired admiration and envy worldwide.
Even without going too far, here in his own city, one such figure stood at his doorstep.
Tyler Clark.
Respected throughout the Kingdom for being a rather skilled Magic Swordsman, he was a guild favourite since he was a Magic Swordsman with an affinity for fire. His fire-based skills made him one of the most sought-after figures in the kingdom.
And such warriors, too, could use the power of these items, making them even more powerful—and making the item incredibly valuable.
"Selling it would be a good idea," Elliot thought. "But… what if one day I can create a summon capable of casting fire magic?"
"So far, the system hasn't told me anything about me not being able to create mages. Maybe by adding many points in Sense, I can create one."
Weighing the pros and cons of selling or retaining the item was a bit tedious for him. It felt like he was looking too far into the future. Was it convenient for him or not?
Although the temptation was massive—selling this item could bring him hundreds of millions—he ended up sighing.
'I won't sell it. Not until I can confirm that I can't create a fire mage.'
He made up his mind.
He realized that he had to put his own personal growth above money.
As he prepared to leave, Elliot suddenly stopped, remembering the body of his former boss.
'The dungeon eliminates everything within it when it resets. If those guys have a way of tracking the bodies, like with that mirror—then it would be risky to keep the corpse with me,' he thought.
If he had an item capable of doing that, who was to say his enemies would not have one, too?
For that reason, he left the corpse in the middle of the room, ensuring that the dungeon would swallow it up when it began its reset process.
With that handled, he turned and exited through the portal at the far end of the room.