Leveling Up by Executing Monsters

Chapter 126: Chapter 126: Here It Comes

[Ding! [Transcendence] complete. Twisted System level has increased, LV2 → LV3. All Attributes +10.]

[Current [Transcendence] count for this system: 3]

[Delve deeper into the system to perform more [Transcendence].]

[Ding! [Transcendence] complete. Veto System level has increased, LV1 → LV2. All Attributes +5.]

[Current [Transcendence] count for this system: 2]

[Delve deeper into the system to perform more [Transcendence].]

[Ding! Skill level increased...]

[Ding! Skill level increased...]

[Ding! Reading progress increased...]

A flood of notifications suddenly poured into Lloyd’s ears, so loud they made his eyes ache.

Although he seemed to have grown much stronger in an instant, he felt no great joy—only a profound sense of melancholy and sorrow.

Yet he couldn’t say what he was melancholic about, or for whom he grieved...

"So sleepy... I need to sleep..."

Lloyd murmured softly. Without even drinking the bottle of ’Madness-Inducing Fine Wine,’ he leaned against the edge of the sofa and drifted into a groggy sleep.

He didn’t know how long had passed before he slowly awoke.

He had expected to have some strange dreams, but there was nothing. He had simply slept soundly and deeply.

Lloyd stretched with all his might, instantly feeling refreshed and invigorated from head to toe.

"Amazing!!!"

He could feel his Spiritual Power boiling, his inspiration soaring, his muscles buzzing with excitement, and a strange desire overflowing from within...

He looked at the antique-style kettle next to him, picked it up, and gave it a hard twist.

The sturdily made kettle was instantly wrung into a pretzel by his bare hands.

And that was without using any Extraordinary Power, relying solely on brute strength.

’It seems not only have my Extraordinary Attributes gotten stronger, but my physical fitness has improved as well?’

Lloyd clenched his fists tightly, tried to flex his biceps, and gave them a pat.

Then he drew the Short Sword he always carried and performed a few fancy flourishes.

He felt like his current physical condition was now on par with a top-tier athlete.

The kind of athlete who could slide-tackle a tiger, run a few dozen kilometers, and then get into a brawl with several hundred people.

He could now smoothly execute some Swordsmanship moves that were previously impossible or that he couldn’t perform correctly.

This was enough to prove that his [Transcendence] this time had been very effective.

Moreover, he had managed to "get double the XP from one book," as both of his systems had successfully leveled up, and he hadn’t even drunk that strange ’fine wine’.

Lloyd’s mood instantly brightened, the inexplicable melancholy and sorrow from before swept away. He quickly sat down on the sofa, called up his status panel, and examined the changes.

[User: Lloyd]

[Status: Normal]

[Madness Value: 0/5000, Max: 12500]

[Rationality: 125]

[Spiritual Power: 120]

[inspiration: 75]

[Cognition: 120]

[Systems: Twist LV3, Veto LV2]

[Mastered Skills: Focused Learning; Probe; Divination LV4; Dizziness Resistance LV5; Extraordinary Swordsmanship LV2; Twisted Realm LV5; Aggressive Speech LV3; Blessing Distortion LV3; Orbital Control (Twist) LV2]

[Unparsed Fragment: Unknown Fragment of indeterminable composition*1, current parsing progress 10.5%]

[Unread Books: >, current reading progress 15%]

The changes were significant, to say the least!

First, All Attributes had broken the 120-point mark. His "bucket" had gotten both wider and deeper.

The main thing was that several skills had leveled up.

[High-Efficient Learning], which had seemed unchangeable for ages and had no apparent upgrade path, had become [Focused Learning].

Even [Dizziness Resistance], which hadn’t changed in a long time, had leveled up.

Lloyd had really grown to like this skill, and he was especially happy to see it level up.

However, the upgrades to these two skills didn’t add any new functions; they merely enhanced the previous effects.

Additionally, the two Fusion Skills, [Extraordinary Swordsmanship] and [Blessing Distortion], had also leveled up, with [Blessing Distortion] even jumping two levels at once.

The skill description for the upgraded [Extraordinary Swordsmanship] was unchanged, and his mind and hands hadn’t learned anything new. Lloyd would probably have to experience the specific changes for himself.

The changes to [Blessing Distortion] were more obvious. It could now establish a secret connection with a target implanted with a [consciousness seed], one that would be difficult to detect through normal means.

With this connection, Lloyd could control the progress and direction of the [Seed of Distortion] at any time.

Simply put, it enhanced the previously cumbersome [Seed of Distortion], adding a degree of controllability.

But as for its actual practical use, he would have to experience it for himself.

But among all these upgrades, the one that surprised Lloyd the most was the reading progress of the >.

’But I didn’t do anything!’

’And my [Cognition] is only 120, so why did the reading progress shoot up to 15%?’

’Also, this increase in reading progress doesn’t seem to have brought about any obvious changes?’

The panel only showed the change in the progress value. His Madness Value hadn’t increased, and nothing new had appeared in his mind.

Lloyd truly couldn’t figure out this miraculous Ancient Book...

Feeling a bit unwilling to let it go, he just ’looked’ at the Ancient Book, now slowly spinning again in the depths of his memory, and tried to turn a page.

In the past, doing this had been meaningless; he couldn’t touch the book at all.

But this time, it actually worked? The Ancient Book slowly opened to a page, revealing a simple stick-figure drawing.

It was that towering stick-figure man, the one that reached from the heavens to the earth!

Lloyd quickly ’flipped’ through a few more pages and discovered that the ’murals’ he had just seen were all imprinted in the >.

After a few pages, the image stopped on the last scene he had witnessed: the Giant Matchstick Man standing dumbly in the sea, its lower body entangled in a mess of chaotic lines representing tentacles.

And then he could ’flip’ no further. The > slowly closed, once again becoming untouchable.

’Why were the scenes I saw during the Transcendence ritual recorded in the >?’

’Is this the original content of the >? Or is it something the book recorded?’

’And what exactly do these ’murals’ mean?’

’Also, what was the meaning of the [Veto] system’s second Transcendence ritual?’

Lloyd felt a flood of questions welling up in his mind, and with them, the melancholy and sorrow began to return.

But it was still so inexplicable. He still couldn’t say what he was melancholic about, or for whom he grieved.

’Forget it... Don’t overthink it. Don’t Ask Too Much...’

It’s not like he knew what to think or what to ask anyway...

Lloyd shook his head forcefully, casting the questions to the back of his mind.

Then, he whispered softly,

"Here it comes..."

and returned to his [Thought Realm].

The moment his feet touched the lush green grass, he felt a gaze pierce through the thick gray fog of the sky and land upon him.

It was as gentle and calm as ever, without a trace of hostility.

It was only because it couldn’t find Lloyd’s figure earlier that it had revealed a hint of anxiety and worry. This slight anomaly was what Lloyd had sensed, prompting him to return to the [Thought Realm].

"It’s alright. I’m fine. Thank you for your concern."

Lloyd met the gaze calmly and added in a low voice.

He didn’t know if the other party could hear him, but the gaze quickly withdrew.

Then, Lloyd felt the patch of grass beneath his feet begin to spread, growing a size larger than before. More blue wildflowers bloomed upon it, and more coral-like decorations sprouted.

Although it was still just a tiny speck of green compared to this endless, dead world, it nonetheless gave Lloyd a little more peace of mind.

Without this patch of green, this place would always be a post-apocalyptic scene, desolate and strange, and he probably wouldn’t be very willing to enter.

Lloyd looked up at the nearest double-helix tower and noticed some changes there as well.

They had originally been motionless, just normal structures.

Now, the deathly gray and pure white that formed the double helix were slowly rotating, continuing to intertwine as if spiraling upward.

Lloyd first stared at the streak of deathly gray and immediately felt dizzy, as if someone were twisting his brain.

He quickly shifted his focus to the pure white next to it and instantly felt better. Knowledge began to flood into his mind, and whispers filled his ears, just like when he was having an [Audience with the Saint] and learning her knowledge.

But Lloyd clearly hadn’t performed the relevant audience ritual, nor was this a suitable time for learning.

The main issue was inefficiency. The knowledge flooding his mind and the whispers in his ears were like a slow internet connection, constantly stuttering and repeating. It created a unique comedic effect, like watching one of those chaotic, edited "ghost videos" from Earth.

And this was with his high [Cognition] and the boost from [Focused Learning].

It seemed an [Audience with the Saint] still required a specific, dedicated process; the sense of ritual couldn’t be skipped.

Finally, Lloyd glanced down at the Tentacle Grass.

The little guy had actually grown taller and fatter, almost pushing off the glass cover.

It was also slowly wriggling, as if dancing gracefully. Did it seem to be in a good mood?

Although Lloyd had no idea why it was so inexplicably happy, he still ’conjured’ a larger glass cover out of thin air and placed it over the plant.

As soon as the Tentacle Grass saw him approach, it began to wriggle even more happily and joyfully before prostrating itself at his feet as if in worship.

For some reason, Lloyd was reminded of those ’murals’.

At the same time, his feelings became somewhat complicated.

He didn’t want to get rid of this strange grass. On the contrary, he was more interested in seeing what it would grow into.

The strange intuition in his mind agreed with his judgment, telling him this was the right thing to do.

"Let’s leave it at that, then."

Lloyd murmured, leaving the [Thought Realm] and returning to reality.

He then took out a normal pocket watch and glanced at the time.

It was almost six in the evening...

Compared to the rapid [Enlightenment] the first time, this second [Transcendence] process had been rather slow.

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