With a shock, Leon pulled himself out of the pool of white water. He felt amazing! His bones felt stronger than ever, and he felt so full of energy that he thought he might burst!
“Gah!” He could not help but let out a yell to expel all of the excess excitement within him.
“Leon, are you okay?!” Nedra rushed forward to check on Leon, but had to stop when Leon raised a hand to stop her from coming forward.
Boom!
An invisible wave of unholy energy erupted from Leon, sending a powerful wave of suppression that forced all of his subordinates down, including Nedra, who was his Spirit Companion.
Leon felt his core tremble, and an invisible thread reach out from within it, to somewhere else that he did not know. He had no idea why that had occurred, but something told him that it was for the best.
After a few minutes had passed, Leon finally regained his wits. The wave of energy had only lasted a few seconds, but his body and mind had still been undergoing sensitive and tiny changes that would affect his strength.
“Finally…” He muttered as he rose to his feet. He clenched his fist and looked at his armored hand, surprised. He had put away his Abyss Set, had he not?
“Wait…” He suddenly realized that he was actually not wearing the Abyss Set, but instead, another completely different set of armor! “Did my Race Advancement give me new armor for free?!” He was shocked, but before he could dwell on it, Nedra approached him.
“Leon… Are you alright?” Nedra hesitantly asked, extending a front leg to prod him gently.
“I’m great! Better than ever, in fact!” Leon replied, and was about to elaborate when Abyssus suddenly cut him off.
“I apologize for the distraction, but we have intruders in the dungeon.” He said, drawing Leon away from his line of thought.
“Oh? Intruders, eh?” Leon grinned, remembering his new duty as the overlord of this dungeon. If there were people in the boss room, then that meant they were quite strong. A sudden thought struck him. Were they strong enough to add to his army?
“Open a portal to the boss room, let us deal with them. Oh, wait! Let the rest of those I brought here go through their Race Advancement first.” He stopped Abyssus, and turned to the white pool of special water. It reminded him of the Obsidian Pool back in that ruined town where he had first awoken.
“Nedra, Kaladin, Nero, Grokus, you guys go first,” Leon instructed. The pool was quite large, but not large enough for so many large bodies to fit inside comfortably.
The mentioned people all stepped into the pool and began their Race Advancements. A couple of minutes passed before the first one to finish emerged from the pool.
Nero walked out of the pool with a confident gait. Red light glowed from his eyes like the fire of his will. Chest wide and chin up straight, he looked like a dark warrior from a storybook, mythical and powerful. His armor was covered in streaks of red and glowed with mana.
“Nero.” Leon nodded at his silent summon.
“My lord.” Nero went down on one knee, as he always did, and bowed his head in reverence.
The water rippled, and Kaladin walked out next, the mana around him sparking and writhing as it bent to his will. His eyes glowed with white-blue lightning, and his robes looked even more luxurious as he moved, covered in depictions of blue lightning bolts.
A few more minutes passed before the water moved again and Grokus stepped out. The three meter tall Orc was all bulk and muscle as he strode out of the pool in his full glory. The tattoos all over his body glowed mightily and brightly, signifying the leap in strength he had undergone after his Race Advancement.
Last was Nedra. She took the most time amongst all of them, spending almost ten minutes all together before she emerged from the pool. Overall, she did not look too different, aside from a few more purple markings on her white carapace. She walked to his side before stopping and changing her body size so that she could hang around his neck like a necklace.
‘How do you feel?’ He asked her mentally, as it seemed she preferred to keep quiet for now.
‘I feel much stronger than before. I think I might have become B rank.’ She replied happily in his mind, and his chuckled mentally.
‘I know. All of us are now B rank.’ He said, turning to look at the remaining millipedes that were waiting for their turns.
“Alright, the rest of you can go now.” He finally gave the remaining millipedes the order, and the rushed into the white pool, eager to complete their Race Advancement.
Several minutes later, when all of the millipedes had emerged from the pool, Leon examined them with satisfaction. They were much stronger than before. And there were even a few that had reached the peak of C rank amongst them! He guessed that it would take another Race Advancement for them to cross that line. But that was not all…
Leon turned to the size to look at five millipedes that had previously been at the peak of C rank. Their larger frames, and more vicious looks made them stand out. These millipedes had stepped into the realm of B rank beings!
“Wonderful! We are now a force to be reckoned with for real this time!” He laughed and clenched his armored fist, his eyes blazing with purple fire. This was how it was supposed to be. Him and his companions climbing and fighting their way to the top. His road to power was even clearer this time, but he could see the the hurdles ahead. It would not be easy for him to climb up to the top of A rank, and then fumbled about for the path to Godhood.
For only in the Realm of Gods did his true goal lay.