After meeting with Adele, they agreed to all meet at the Lionmen Abode Catacomb tomorrow. Astartes did not go home, but returned to the Rankers Association building where he informed Blaze Beam of his intention of ascending to the E-Rank. Blaze Beam immediately cooperated and provided him with a luxurious cultivation room that was very secure and private, something which immediately suited his needs.
Astartes wasted no time and began absorbing the attribute cores one by one. At the same time he kept his [Icicle Blast] and [Darkness Hand] skill active simultaneously, engaging a light practice session.
Ascending to E-Rank required one's attributes to all exceed 60 points. After clearing the [Lionmen Abode] catacomb by himself, he had enough attribute cores to use on his own.
The entire process took 7 hours, and it was only around 4 am that Astartes managed to finally cross the threshold from F-Rank to E-Rank!
"Status" Astartes commanded.
NAME: ASTARTES (HUMAN)
OCCUPATION: RANKER (CLASS E)
STRENGTH: 60
AGILITY: 60
VITALITY: 60
SPIRIT: 60
SKILLS: Icicle Blast (F)(71), Darkness Hand (F)(40)
INHERENT SKILL: INFINITE CASTER (Two Slots Available)
Infinite Cast Slot 1: Icicle Blast *(0/1)
Infinite Cast Slot 2: Darkness Hand *(0/1)
Infinite Cast Slot 3: None
Infinite Cast Slot 4: None
*Occupied slots have a single replacement chance."
Having reached the E-Rank, Astartes felt extremely different. He felt less tired and he could feel his muscles pulse with great power. His vision improved greatly and his body felt very light. He could immediately tell that his physical attributes was over six times stronger than an ordinary person.
Apart from that, his continuous use of his skills also allowed his proficiency with it to rise quickly. Compared to other rankers that depleted their Spirit attribute after using their skills for a few times, Astartes did not suffer from that limitation with his Infinite Caster Inherent Skill. This meant that his proficiency with his skills were rapidly improving by the minute!
But despite the joy he felt after ascension, even after his delight with seeing his skills improve so quickly, Astartes stared at a certain section of his status panel and remained very speechless for a very long time. He only muttered faintly, "Wow..."
He obtained two more Infinite Cast slots! He was extremely pleased by this development. With two more chances to use a third and fourth Infinite Cast skill, he was going to be more powerful in battle. Moreover, he had a single chance to replace the [Icicle Blast] and the [Darkness Hand] skills if needed!
He was really excited to improve his powers now, just to see what surprises lay ahead of him.
He got himself a few hours of rest and emerged from the cultivation room in the morning. He was surprised to see Blaze Beam not far room the cultivation room, seated and waiting for him.
"You were here all this while, Branch Chief?" Astartes walked towards him.
"Not quite. I only arrived an hour ago. Figured you should have completed your seclusion by this time. By the looks of things, you have succeeded," Blaze Beam stood up and observed him.
Astartes nodded.
Although most rank ascensions progressed smoothly, there were still some advancements that went awry. Serious internal injuries, near death states, severe harm to one's spirit and other conditions could delay or even cause one's ascension to completely fail.
"You should be heading to the Lionmen Abode Catacomb, right?" Blaze Beam asked.
Astartes nodded. "Then the Snakemen Habitat Catacomb, the Troll Cave Catacomb and the Stone Golem Abode Catacomb."
Blaze Beam was a little surprised by Astartes' decision to raid every single F-Rank Catacomb in half the time that they he had set for him. However, he was pleased by Astartes' commitment and work ethic and did not oppose it.
"You should get some better equipment suitable to your rank though. Let's go to the armory. I will handle this for you at least, don't worry," Blaze beam patted Astartes' back and led him to the armory hall of the association that was fitted with several equipment, ranging from F-Rank to the D-Rank.
After scrutinizing the various equipment on hand and finding the ones most suitable to his needs, Blaze Beam used his high level clearance to procure all the items that Astartes chose immediately had him fitted from head to toe in a complete set of E-Rank equipment. Staring at his flowing, white cape and white tight fitting light armor, even Astartes started admiring himself in the mirror for a while.
Magic Cloak (E) - grants 20 points each spirit and agility, with a light floating effect.
Magic Boots (E) - grants 20 points in agility.
Magic Light Armor (E)- grants 30 points each in vitality and strength.
With this boost from his newly adorned equipment, his confidence in completing his targets soared. After thanking Blaze Beam profusely, he made his way to the skills exchange center where he searched for two new skills.
Having reached the E-Rank, he decided to get two E-Rank Skills. As for his two F-Rank Skills, [Icicle Blast] and [Darkness Hand], Astartes did not plan to replace them yet and rather aimed to elevate the skills to 100% proficiency. He had confidence that their power would be no inferior to actual E-Rank skills when they reached the maximum level of efficiency.
Firebolt (E)
Magic Shield (E)
Rage Boost (E)
Greater Healing (E)
Wind Boost (E)
Poisonous Strike (E)
Conceal (E)
Hardened Skin (E)
Water Arrow (E)
Astartes had a multitude of E-Rank skills before his eyes. Compared to F-Rank skills, he had a lot of options to choose from. But he already had a clear idea of the skills he wanted and made his choices without hesitation.
He chose [Magic Shield] and [Greater Healing].
[Magic Shield] allowed the user to erect a mana barrier that allowed the user to block projectiles and magic attacks. [Greater Healing] allowed the user to heal injuries faster and more thorough than the E-Rank skill Lesser Heal.
With [Icicle Blast] and [Darkness Hand] serving as two versatile offensive skills, he did not need another offensive skill for now. [Magic Shield] would cover for his defense while [Greater Healing] would serve as a great support spell not only for himself, but his comrades should they sustain unfortunate injuries during battle.
After completing his several side tasks, he left the Ranker Association building and headed straight for the [Lionmen Abode] Catacomb. Instead of boarding a commercial flying car, he was transported there by a sleek, dark Lamborghini transport car of the Rankers Association.
After reaching the [Lionmen Abode] Catacomb, he quickly located Adele and the other members of the party that were already waiting for him. His dark sleek hair and handsome face gave him a dashing appearance and made him a captivating sight for all rankers present, whether male or female. Even Autumn Leaf and Willow Steps had a slight blush on their face when Astartes stood nearer to them.
He did not bother with them and only focused on Adele, who did not seem too overawed by his appearance. Adele had already informed them about Astartes' feat of clearing the Lionmen Abode Catacomb by himself and his image among Bear Paw and Oaken Shield, as well as the girls reach an insurmountable height.
Having also become an E-Rank, they were more confident in his bold plan of clearing all E-Rank Catacombs today. Despite his reluctance, Adele insisted on him leading the party. The others unanimously agreed as well. Astartes felt helpless at this, but he took the leadership seriously.
Having dealt with the necessary matters, Astartes led everyone into the catacomb. Just like previous raid, the journey through the first floor was smooth. This time it was too smooth even!
Astartes was absolutely dominant against the Lionmen! Although he could slaughter these monsters by himself, he decided to play a team role instead, reducing the obstacles that prevented the attackers of his team such as Bear Paw, Oaken Shield and Willow Steps from gaining a lot of kills.
With his rapid casting of his [Icicle Blast] skill, weakening the Lionmen and leaving their heads on a clean platter for the team to kill very easily, or his use of [Darkness Hand] which constricted the Lionmen that sought to sneak attack the team and injure them, the team turned into a super lubricated killing machine, slaughtering the Lionmen all the way to the second floor.
Autumn Leaf, the healer of the team, was unable to lift a single hand to cast her healing skill since they entered the catacomb. She only used her [Great Vitality] skill which helped the team to feel less fatigue and more energetic to continue fighting the battle.
She now became the collector of loot in the team, leading to her being teased by the others.
Even the second floor that proved to be a difficult hurdle for the party only two days ago, was turned into a bloodbath today. The Lionmen Rangers whose long ranged use of rock spears were annihilated by Astartes' [Icicle Blast] while the Lionmen Warriors were paralyzed and killed by his [Darkness Hand]. Adele, now having the freedom of attacking her enemies with her fullest power without having to worry about her teammates' safety, became a slaughter demon, and her sword reaped the lives of the Lionmen one after the other.
Since they entered the [Lionmen Abode] Catacomb they had cleared two floors within thirty minutes!
It was a generational speedrun!
Reaching the third and final floor where they clashed with the Lionman General, the battle was uneventful. The Lionman General was like a cornered animal facing a group of well disciplined hunters. Despite its threat, it could not ultimate outmaneuver the patient hunters.
This was the fate of the poor Lionman General!
Its attacks were interrupted by the paralysis effect of the [Darkness Hand] and was met by the vicious attack of Adele's [Reaper Death Strike]. In an attempt to activate its [Great Vitality] skill, it got blinded by Astartes' [Icicle Blast] skill, and was finally felled by two more [Reaper Death Strike] attacks by Adele, ultimately decapitating the Lionman General.
The whole battle took five minutes!
A definite generational speedrun!