Investing in My Harem in the Apocalypse Makes Me Stronger
Chapter 31: The Heavenly Dragon and Emerald Gale

Chapter 31: The Heavenly Dragon and Emerald Gale

An enormous amount of energy entered Cain’s body.

His torn muscles began recovering as his physique increased repeatedly.

The strain around his shoulder weakened.

His trembling arms gradually stabilized.

Cain straightened his body and pulled the sword from the concrete.

He looked at the headless First-Echelon corpse with satisfaction.

"That was much easier once I went all out."

Subsequently, he moved to the best part, which was checking the notifications from the system.

Cain’s eyes lit up when he saw the numbers of stats he obtained after killing the 1st Echelon Zombie.

A whole 60 stats in total.

On top of that, he had leveled up 10 fucking times.

No wonder he felt such an enormous amount of energy poured into his body that he wondered what just happened.

[Free Stat Points: 30]

[Stats]: Strength: 96 (+5) / Agility: 94 (+25) / Physique: 73 (+8) / Sense: 55 (+5) / Mana: 202 / Magic: 102

Looking at that many free stat points, he immediately put them into strength and agility stats equally.

[Stats]: Strength: 111 (+5) / Agility: 109 (+25) / Physique: 73 (+8) / Sense: 55 (+5) / Mana: 202 / Magic: 102

Cain was overjoyed when he had just become stronger again.

With his new strength, he believed that he wouldn’t need to struggle in killing the Ironhide Tyrant Zombie if he were to face it again.

At the same moment, Nathan also heard the notification.

[First-Echelon Advancement Mission completed.]

[You participated in the battle that resulted in the death of a First-Echelon being.]

[Beginning First-Echelon advancement.]

[Beginning Mana Core formation.]

Nathan immediately moved away from the remaining zombies as a massive surge of energy entered his body without warning.

His expression changed.

Unlike the energy he received whenever he gained a Level, this power did not spread evenly through his muscles and bones.

The Mana inside him began moving on its own.

Every trace of wind energy within his body was pulled toward one place.

Nathan gritted his teeth.

The Mana rushed through his channels with increasing speed, gathering deeper within his body instead of dispersing into his limbs.

Green currents erupted around him.

Dust and broken pieces of concrete were blown away.

His clothes fluttered violently beneath the pressure.

Ron noticed the sudden change.

"What’s happening to him?"

"He’s advancing," Elara replied.

Nathan could no longer hear them clearly as his attention had been drawn entirely inward.

The Wind Mana gathering inside him continued compressing.

At first, it resembled an unstable mass of energy.

The Mana repeatedly expanded, only to be forced inward again by the power of the advancement.

Each compression made it denser.

The process placed enormous pressure on Nathan’s body.

His breathing became strained as the veins along his neck and arms rose beneath his skin, while a sharp pain spread through the center of his Mana circulation.

Nathan clenched his bow tightly.

He felt as if the energy inside him might tear apart his body if he ever lost control for even a moment.

The surrounding wind responded to his condition, green currents spiraled around him faster.

Loose arrows trembled inside his quiver.

Nathan instinctively guided the gathering Mana.

His talent made the wind energy feel familiar, as if it were another part of his body.

The chaotic mass gradually stabilized as it continued shrinking.

The energy became brighter and increasingly condensed until it finally reached its limit.

Then, something formed.

A small core appeared deep within Nathan’s body.

It was composed entirely of compressed Mana.

Green light surrounded its surface, and faint currents rotated around it without dispersing.

The moment the Mana Core became complete, the pressure inside Nathan vanished.

Boom!

A powerful wave of Wind energy erupted from him.

The nearby zombies staggered.

Ron planted the bottom of his spear against the ground to stop himself from being pushed backward.

Elara raised one arm in front of her face.

Nathan remained at the center of the disturbance.

The newly formed Mana Core began drawing in the remaining energy from his advancement.

Mana entered the core before flowing back through his body.

Its quality had completely changed as he could feel that the energy was denser than before.

It moved more smoothly through his channels, and every circulation strengthened his connection with the Wind element.

Nathan’s senses expanded.

He could feel the movement of air throughout the parking area.

Every zombie disturbed the surrounding currents when it moved.

Even without turning his head, Nathan could determine their rough positions through the changes in the Wind.

His physical body was also being transformed.

The Mana Core supplied energy to his muscles, bones, and internal organs.

His agility increased sharply, his eyesight became clearer, and the bow in his hand felt lighter than it had only moments earlier.

Nathan slowly opened his eyes.

A faint green light remained inside his pupils.

The violent currents surrounding him settled into a gentle breeze.

He looked inward once again.

The compact Mana Core remained inside him, steadily rotating and drawing Mana from his body’s circulation.

This was the true difference between an Unranked Awakener and someone who had entered the First Echelon.

An Unranked Awakener possessed Mana, but a 1st Echelon Awakener possessed a Mana Core capable of storing, refining, and circulating that energy far more efficiently.

[Congratulations.]

[You have successfully formed a Mana Core.]

[You have advanced to the First Echelon.]

[Please select the name that will represent you in the World Ranking.]

Nathan looked at the green Wind energy gathering naturally around his fingers.

A satisfied smile appeared on his face.

"Emerald Gale."

The System accepted his answer as a golden screen appeared before every Awakener in the world.

[World Announcement]

[The second player to have successfully advanced to the First Echelon.]

[The name "Emerald Gale" shall be recorded in the history of this world.]

[Emerald Gale has received a Cyan Scroll.]

Inside the university auditorium, everyone stared at the announcement.

The members of the Archery Club immediately recognized the name.

"It’s Nathan!"

"He became the second 1st Echelon Awakener!"

"They actually succeeded!"

Professor Holt released a quiet breath.

Before the excitement settled, another World Announcement appeared as Cain finally answered the system.

Cain saw a question appear before him.

[Please select the name that will represent you in the World Ranking.]

Cain thought about the Primordial Chaos Dragon sealed inside the Black Menagerie.

"Heavenly Dragon."

The System accepted his choice.

[World Announcement]

[The second player to kill a First-Echelon being while remaining an Unranked Awakener has appeared.]

[The name "Heavenly Dragon" shall be recorded in the history of this world.]

[Heavenly Dragon has received a Yellow Scroll.]

The auditorium erupted again.

"It’s definitely Cain!"

"He killed the First-Echelon zombie!"

"They both entered the World Ranking!"

Evelyne stared at the golden announcement.

Her eyes brightened before she quickly hid her expression.

Back at the parking area, Ron stabbed the Blackridge Spear through another zombie’s neck.

He noticed Cain staring happily at the World Announcement.

"Cain, you plagiarist!"

Cain looked toward him.

"What?"

"Couldn’t you come up with your own name instead of copying Heavenly Demon?"

"How did I copy him?"

Ron pulled the spear free.

"You replaced the Demon with Dragon!"

"They’re different names."

"It has the same Heavenly part!"

Cain shrugged nonchalantly. "His name has nothing to do with mine."

Nathan remained surrounded by faint Wind energy, examining the changes inside his body.

Ron’s expression became furious.

"You too, Nathan!"

Nathan looked at him.

"There are still zombies here!" Ron shouted, "But both of you are standing around smiling while we’re doing all the work!"