After Eren stripped Gilhause of all he had, he reached the solid stage of the Adept rank.
Eren claimed the Expert summoner's spells, experiences, weapon comprehension, and elemental attainments for himself. He also processed some of Gilhause's key memories. Gilhause's storage was also claimed by the butcher.
The Expert-ranked entity's life essence along with his diversified experiences was enough for Eren to progress further in his ranking journey. He stopped progressing when he was only a step away from breaking into the C-Rank himself.
The butcher smiled and opened his eyes when he was done reading through Gilhause's experiences. He raised his hand and summoned a golem for himself, trying out one of Gilhause's go-to spells– Goliath.
"I was always lacking in earth-element attainments. I'm glad that this guy took care of the issue for you. He was a worthy supplement."
As Eren reflected on his progress, he felt joyous. There was a stark difference between what he was in his last timeline and what he was at the time as an Adept ranker.
"Hehe. Having Goro and Gilhause back-to-back must have hit the spot. I wonder what kind of summoner House Remus will send next."
Alephee said to Eren while looking at the surroundings in front of her. The battle between two summoners had changed the entire landscape of the battlefield. Gilhause's tank summoning Behemoth was the main reason behind such a drastic change.
"Hehe. No need to wonder anymore. I know who it is, thanks to the memories I have obtained from Goro, Gilhause, and Rey. His name is Birmond Remus.
The guy's a B-rank. But he has an injury from practicing his ranking technique. It would be a while before he came out of seclusion. I wouldn't hold my breath for his appearance."
Eren licked his lips and narrowed his eyes before speaking further.
"But make me wait long enough and I'll visit him instead."
Eren chuckled before letting his demon beast come out of his beast space. As Argo spread his wings, he approached the dead bodies of the guards Gilhause had appointed to protect him from harm. Alephee had taken care of them as well and they needed to be disposed of. A job Argo was willing to take. The demon beast, however, like its master, had an ever-increasing appetite.
"Yo… boss man. Argo wants Expert-ranked meat as well. Argo demands equal pay."
Eren had dark lines on his forehead when he listened to Argo's demands. The beast knew his master had just digested Gilhause whole. And he wanted to do the same. Since Eren had been able to attain the solid stage of the Adept rank, Argo would be getting close to breaking into C-Rank because of the synchronous reaction of the master and the beast. He just needed the right nutrients to do so.
Eren pressed his temples and looked at Argo with a grim face. He pointed at the dead bodies of the Adept ranked rankers before commenting.
"Look… these are what we have right now. You can get more when we have more. Besides…"
Eren was about to continue speaking to Argo when he noticed a new presence approaching. The expert-ranking Edinburgh army officer who accompanied Gilhause had followed in his footsteps. He had come alone, telling everyone else at the cultist base to stay put.
"He must have felt the C-Rank spells setting off. So he decided to support Gilhause in case he needed any help in dealing with the cultists."
Alephee commented looking in a particular direction the Expert-ranked army officer was coming from. Eren nodded at her assumption before adding up.
"That's good as well. I had to tie loose ends one way or the other. I guess the fat bird will have the food he wants after all."
Argo drooled when he heard that Eren was about to offer him an Expert-ranked soldier. He flapped his wings and let out an eagle cry to express his joy.
Eren didn't bother taking care of the guy personally. He had Meera Madinah intercept him. Argo fought with the Expert-ranked entity as well, earning his ration. He was very particular about hunting for himself from the moment he was born.
The demon beast was injured and bloodied in the process. With Meera protecting him and his aerial skills on point, no attack turned fatal for him.
Eren looked at his status window while Argo was busy devouring the Expert ranker whole.
***
Name- Eren Elijah Idril (Verified)
Organizations- Edinburgh Army (Nightshade duchy, Applying for Exit Mission), Lionhearts Adventurers' Academy
Academic Status - Graduation On Hold
Ranking Technique - Rootless (Custom Name)
Base Stats:
HP- 42 / 42
MP- 42 / 42
STR- 44
AGI- 42
INT- 42
BTP~ 212
BTP Visibility - Private
Ranking Status: D-Rank (Solid Core State)
Abilities (custom): Sin of Wrath (Domain of Wrath), Sin of Lust (Mist of Lust), Sedating Gaze, Expedited Regeneration (Bloodline), Devour (Bloodline), Shapeshift (Bloodline)
Self-created spells: Wind-Fire Shards
Lightning-element spells: Blitz Steps, Blitz Heal, Blitz Storm, Blitz Shield, Blitz Bolt, Solid Spark, Lightning Seed, Lightning Tree
Fire-element spells: Fireball, Firebreath, Hatching of the Flame (variations), Fire Wings, Rain of Fire, Crimson Storm, Igni Chains, Igni Steps
Time-element spells: Sedated Perception, Stunning Speed, Total Control, Age Expedite, Age Reverse, Motion Manipulation
Space-element spells: Blink, Dynamic Distance, Perfect Projection
Wind-element spells: Wind Wings, Wind-blade Tornado, Wind Steps, Wind Wall, Wind Shards
Water-element spells: Aqua Hammer, Aqua Heal, Aqua Blades, Aqua Wall, Aqua Steps, Aqua Storm, Aqua Whips
Wood-element spells: Green Prison, Vicious Vines, Healing Vines, Wood Life Control
Earth-element spells: Earth Wall, Earth Steps, Earth Manipulation, Earth Spikes
Death-element spells: Death Wave, Death Rot, Shadow of Death
Miscellaneous spells: Beast Contract Spell, Demon Beast Transformation Spell, Wind-fire Wings, Wind-Fire Shards
Summoning Spells: Fire snakes (variations), Purple Lightning Snakes, Red Lightning Bull (Contract beast Summoning), Griffin, Woodland Summon, Woodland Wonderland, Army of the Dead, Contract Undead, Living Undead, Goliath, Earth Arachnids, Behemoth (calibrating new entries)
***
One had to say that Eren had the most comprehensive set of spells and Abilities in his arsenal at this point. It was more than anyone in his rank in the land of Anfang. This kind of variation alone was a testament to how difficult it was for him to progress further in his rank. And yet, he still managed to keep his ranking progress at a relatively rapid pace.