A humongous crater formed between Kieran and the Modified Homunculus after Crimson Ashrune crashed into the ground with immense momentum.
If not for the dungeon structure being reinforced by the effects of Hell Mode, Kieran's attack would have undoubtedly threatened to collapse this room.
While still in midair, Kieran pulled on the blood ribbon attached to Crimson Ashrune. However, rather than recall the weapon to his grasp, Kieran used the pull to rein himself in and unleash a string of attacks in unison.
"Wrath Eruption!"
"Crimson Barrage!"
With that, Kieran's leg lashed out violently, striking at the blood ribbon. This, in turn, made Crimson Ashrune slash through the air in an erratic manner. The result of that was numerous crimson scars littering the sky, restricting the Modified Homunculus' movement.
After he landed, Kieran dashed forward, shattering the ground further with an explosive sprint.
At that moment, one of the Modified Homunculus caught up to his movements and smashed its fist down. Rather than dodge the blow, Kieran lifted his right arm and bent it above his head, resisting the downward smash.
BOOM!
Deep cracks spread out in a weblike pattern as Kieran lost a minimal amount of Health. However, once that happened, Kieran's gaze flashed with a gruesome light.
Peng! Peng!
The Modified Homunculus was forced back after two gashes appeared on its torso. A second later, Crimson Ashrune returned to Kieran's grasp, but the blood ribbon didn't dissipate.
On the contrary, the ribbon wrapped around Kieran's arm, enveloping it all the way up to his shoulder. This provided a sense of security that, while not required, was enjoyed immensely.
In the meantime, Kieran regained his lost Health from the vitality that leaked through the two gashes on the homunculus's body.
Due to his Phys. Atk having surpassed 7,000, it quickly ballooned to a frightening height with Blood Mania and Tormented Beliefs active, especially after Kieran learned of Blood Mania's current parameters, which leveled up during his battle against Bracca.
At that time, the system revealed that Blood Mania reaching Lv.5, while also being judged as a SS Rank Skill, was one of its true turning points.
Then again, Kieran was unsure as to how accurate this information was since he still required a Class Advancement.
Nevertheless, he couldn't overlook the fact that his current situation was quite unusual. Even without a Class Advancement, Kieran reaped immense benefits from the synergy of his soul and Source interacting with his class abilities.
Most people wouldn't be this lucky, but Kieran was fortunate enough to successfully chase after something that seemed to tempt him since the first time he laid eyes upon its abilities.
「 Blood Mania (Lv.5)
Skill Rank: SS
Skill Type: Hybrid
Mastery (07.77%)
«Vampiric Blood Encrustation»...
«Blood Strengthening»...
«Vim Restoration»...
«Fervor Augmentation»…
*New… «Tensile Blood Swath»: By consuming a certain amount of vitality, the user may summon a sturdy blood ribbon to increase the distance of the user's destructiveness. (The tensile strength of the ribbon relies upon Blood Mania's level and the impact of weapon attacks is unaffected by the swath.)
*New… «Manic Integration»: A special ability that requires special prerequisites to activate. The effects of this ability are permanent and may only be activated when the preconditions are met.
Prerequisites: True Berserker 」
Though the first part of Blood Mania didn't experience much of a change, the introduction of Tensile Blood Swath had already significantly altered Kieran's fighting style because it allowed variety in the way he attacked.
Despite having the ability to attack at range by launching his weapon, Kieran wasn't satisfied with the long-range abilities of his class. Before the appearance of this ability, Kieran had to account for the what-if of launching his weapon too far.
Pondering over it, he concluded that his mental prowess wasn't strong enough to recall the weapon from extreme distances.
Since his duration of him being subjected to the Archaic Verity Compendium's mental refining was lacking, Kieran couldn't boast that the True Relic had completely altered his mind.
Instead, he required an ample amount of time for that to be the case. Besides, his mind hadn't reached full maturation yet. With that, the more Kieran considered his situation, the more he realized that most of his abilities were superficial.
'I only understand the tip of the iceberg for all of my skills. This new Manic Integration… I'm truly curious as to what the preconditions of its activation are. Furthermore, what will the effects of this ability be? Permanent… irreversible actions usually come with unfathomable stipulations.'
Once Kieran stumbled upon this realization, his desire to dissect each of his skills deepened.
Of course, this feeling was mostly regarding Blood Mania, Dread Culling, Deranged Spirit, and his Mystic Runemaster abilities.
The other skills in his possession were pretty straightforward. The only thing he could develop regarding those skills was his utilization of them or the creation of unique release mechanisms.
'When it comes to manipulation-type classes, the mind is the limit. As long as one can imagine themselves succeeding in whatever they're attempting to do, it should be achievable in the future,' Kieran thought to himself.
All of a sudden, he leaned back and kicked forward. Soon, a large arm twice the size of his body passed over him as he unleashed a thunderous stomp capable of almost rupturing eardrums.
"Grand Stomp!"
Bang! BOOM!
To no surprise, the victim of his Grand Stomp was forced into the wall as Kieran glanced over his shoulder to monitor everyone else's progress. Since Sora took the lead and called out what she saw, the damage they suffered was minimal.
Furthermore, thanks to Bastion's remarkable tanking abilities, the Modified Homunculus failed to break past the line of defense that he set.
'The only thing holding him back is his confidence. Now that he understands the immense worth of his class, Bastion will undoubtedly begin to soar. As I've said before, his potential is only inferior to Altair's in the group. Outstanding…'
Boom!
As Kieran glanced at the battle behind him, a large fist bombarded his face out of nowhere.
Contrary to the expectations of the Modified Homunculus, which had a somewhat dumbfounded expression thanks to the unexpected outcome, Kieran wasn't sent flying nor did his body move at all.
Instead, all he did was glance at the Modified Homunculus with a frigid gaze, a gaze capable of freezing over hell itself. This mindless brute had dared interrupt his thought process!
"How rude of you," Kieran uttered coldly, rapidly moving his open palm to the Modified Homunculus' torso. Then, a single phrase escaped from his throat the very next moment.
"Wrath… Eruption!"
BOOOM!
Unlike before, Kieran doubled down on the strengthening of Wrath Eruption, supplying it with both a stupendous amount of Blood Strengthening, as well as the remnants of fury that surfaced within his mind.
As a result, this Wrath Eruption, which was condensed to resemble a small blood cannon rather than an immense geyser of sanguine energy, blew a hole through the homunculus' stomach.
However, its Health clung on by a thread, so Kieran ended its pitiful existence with a strike that implicated several others.
"Wild Crash!"
In response, a large fissure opened in the ground after Kieran dropped his blade toward the earth. The marking was rigid, matching the wild energy embedded within the attack. However, Kieran wasn't worried about something as trivial as elegance.
His main priority was completing this dungeon as quickly as possible. Though he somewhat exaggerated his inability to accommodate Khaos's request, he wasn't incorrect about needing to leave after this run was over.
There were truly too many things on his plate.
If he wanted to squeeze them in before the Trial of Inheritors, he had to consider what would take the least amount of time, what could be simultaneously accomplished, and what could possibly await the trial's completion if he failed to complete it all.
Out of everything on his agenda, two things couldn't happen after the trial: Isadora's Request and the Immemorial Gladiator Trial.
Though it wasn't confirmed, Kieran suspected the Trial of Inheritors had something to do with the Class Advancement of the Mythical Heroes.
Otherwise, Scar wouldn't have stressed the need for him to reach a certain level. When it came to an individual having to reach a "certain level", only a few matters could be related to this requirement. That was promotions, trials, and secret realms.
〈System: You have gained 299,400 EXP.〉
'My EXP requirement continues to steepen, so the Momentous Pioneer title is a valuable tool for me. Forcing me to enter the hardest difficulty means that I can reduce the amount of time required to level up.'
By entering Hell Mode, Kieran's current EXP acquisition rate was on par with or greater than many players of similar skill. Though their attributes weren't his match, Kieran couldn't ignore the fact that the higher echelons of the Titled Rankers and Luminaries would soon be attracted to him.
Against players like that, Khaos and Ezra simply weren't worth mentioning.
Why?
That was because as Ezra claimed in the past, there truly was an inhuman realm beyond what humans currently could exhibit. While Ezra teetered on the edge of that precipice, the aforementioned individuals genuinely stepped within the realm.
Although Kieran was unsure of the term meant to identify this realm, he was positive that he'd learn more if he could enter the circle of the true elites. 'It would seem a lot of information was withheld, but I'll get to the bottom of it regardless.'
A few moments later, Kieran received another EXP notification, but it came from the Modified Homunculus behind him.
The others had finished off their enemies and so, Kieran allowed a weakened Homunculus to break past his defenses.
"Another one coming! At your six," Kieran called out, alerting the party of his actions.
A second later, he returned his attention to eliminating all of the Modified Homunculus before. Thanks to Tensile Blood Swath, it wasn't the most difficult of situations, but it was somewhat time-consuming since Kieran reserved Dread Culling for a stronger opponent.
Ten minutes later, another golden flash encapsulated Kieran's body.
〈System: Congratulations, you have leveled up! [Lv.47→Lv.48〉
〈System: You have received 20 Unassigned Attribute Points and 12 Skill Points.〉
