Rank-Up again
"No, there's no need. Just keep moving forward. EXP isn't a problem anymore, after all."
And so, after wandering a bit longer in search of a suitable area...
Rank-Up Quest: Kill at least 1x Class C Beast (Middle Potential) - DONE
Obtain 1x Rank C Core (High Potential) - DONE
---
Do you want to Rank-Up?
[Yes] [No]
---
"Yes," Jeremy said aloud.
This time, everything went smoothly. The moment he spoke, a beam of light descended from the sky, enveloping his entire body.
No suspense.
No pain.
Nothing at all.
It was strangely… effortless.
Then—
A dark light burst out from within him.
The pain hit. His body cracked. His mind went black.
His last thought?
"I knew it wouldn't be that easy."
Meanwhile, surrounding his convulsing body was a protective formation of skeletons:
Leo'sol to his left, Drae'mon to his right, two skeletal Flamehoofs behind him, and two skeletal Ailurus standing guard in front.
They would protect Jeremy throughout the entirety of his Rank-Up.
But once again, it didn't take long.
After just a few minutes, Jeremy opened his eyes.
A sinister aura filled the area.
Power—something unworldly—erupted from his body.
Even his skeletons were now cloaked in a dark energy that empowered them far beyond before.
Then—
It all stopped.
A pulse of raw power exploded from within him, shaking the surrounding zone.
Jeremy felt strange. He stared at his hands, then glanced around.
He had grown stronger—not just in Rank, but in every sense. He had become something… beyond.
A swarm of thoughts rushed into his mind.
At the center of them were his best friends, Ivan and Nathan. And Jennie.
He couldn't wait to see them again. He wanted revenge against the noble.
At least… that's what the old Jeremy wanted.
Now? Nothing.
No anger. No longing.
He still wanted to see them, but that was it.
There was no emotion behind the thought.
He looked to his skeletons—stronger than ever—and then back to himself, his body overflowing with boundless power.
And just like that… he let it all go.
Emotions? They no longer belonged to him.
All he wanted now was power—for himself and for his loyal undead companions.
As he stared at them, a twisted smile curled across his face.
"We've grown stronger again, haven't we?" he muttered, opening his status panel.
---
Name: Jeremy
Class: Bone Alchemist: Necromancer of the Aberrations
Potential: BEYOND
Race: High Human
Rank D Lv28/30
Exp: 440,000 / 1,300,000
HP: 10,800
MP: 46,800
Physical: 30 (+10)
Agility: 120 (+10)
Intelligence: 210 (+10)
Endurance: 60 (+10)
Skills: Creator of the Aberrations, Death Aura, Amalgamation of Aberrations, Storage, Aberration Skills, Absolute Perception, Bone Chain, Bone Regeneration
---
Bone Chain
Creates bone chains that bind and paralyze the target.
---
Bone Regeneration
Regenerate your entire body from a single bone.
---
Just as he expected from the changes in his body, his Potential had risen.
Now he belonged to the BEYOND, beings he had never even heard of—but judging by their power, they were far beyond human comprehension.
And his new skills? He had only gained two—but they were on another level entirely.
Simple, yes—but not weak.
The first was self-explanatory.
The second could only mean one thing.
"Immortality," Jeremy whispered, in disbelief.
"No—pseudo-immortality. I mustn't get arrogant."
"I can now summon three Aberrations and twenty Undead. This time, I'll summon them right away. I'm not going to wait and risk it like before."
Then, looking at his skeletons—particularly the Aberration—he felt something shocking.
A potential even greater than his own.
While Drae'mon, the black skeleton, had matched his BEYOND status…
Leo'sol—his Aberration—surpassed even that.
---
Name: Drae'mon
Potential: BEYOND
Lv: 28
HP: 82,800
MP: 10,800
Physical: 200 (x2)
Agility: 200 (x2)
Intelligence: 20 (x2)
Endurance: Infinite
Skills: Blessing of ??, Ferocious Bite, Poisonous Claw, Dash, Airshoot, Air Bubble, Storm, Flame Dash, Flame Blast, Fire Immolation, Death Explosion, Flame Wall
---
The black skeleton was, in simple terms, absurdly powerful.
The Blessing worked too well.
Jeremy had tried copying it with his own skill—but failed.
Drae'mon had absorbed the Cores of the Putorius and Flamehoof beasts, inheriting their skills—which were far stronger than their originals.
Then came Leo'sol.
Jeremy was curious.
What comes after BEYOND?
---
Name: Leo'sol
Race: Aberration
Potential: EXALTED
Lv: 28
HP: 68,800
MP: 8,800
Strength: 330
Agility: 200
Intelligence: 30
Endurance: Infinite
Skills: Chomp of the Aberration, One-Shot of the Aberration, Stomp of the Aberration, Windshoot of the Aberration, Core of the Aberration, Enemy of the Living
---
EXALTED Potential.
Power that transcended the BEYOND.
Each level gave a whopping twenty stat points.
It was ridiculous.
The average human had six. The strongest maybe eight.
But twenty? At every level?
Even so, Leo'sol still couldn't match the black skeleton—only because of that mysterious Blessing of ??
The skills were unchanged. That was the limit of the monsters used in his creation.
Speaking of creation—Jeremy was ready to make a new Aberration.
But—
With his enhanced perception, he could monitor a wide area.
Most of the forest was under his radar.
He sensed other humans hunting beasts… others dying.
But none of that interested him anymore.
He had become something else.
What did catch his eye, though—
Was a beast, crackling with lightning, flying through the sky.
---
ThunderBird
Rank C Lv50
---
He didn't care to learn more.
It was weak.
He had killed similar creatures before ranking up.
Now that he was this much stronger—
There was no need to say anything.
Jeremy simply set off, slaughtering everything in his path.
Everything except humans.
He didn't care about them—but that didn't mean he wanted to kill them.
Not yet, at least.
Once he approached the beast, it reacted… strangely.
The moment it saw Jeremy and his undead army, it froze in fear—
Then immediately turned and fled.
"??" Jeremy blinked. He hadn't expected that.
Actually, something similar had happened before—
But none of the others were fast enough to escape.
He looked at his squad.
He wasn't the real monster here.
They were.
His two generals. That's what he had started calling them.
He had stored the other Flamehoof skeletons and such. They would only slow him down.
He kept just one—to ride.
"You won't escape me," Jeremy whispered with a smile.
And then—
A bone chain, white as jade, shot up and snatched the poor beast from the sky, slamming it down before the monstrous trio.
The ThunderBird trembled in terror.
One moment it was flying peacefully—
The next, it was bound in chains, staring at nightmare incarnate.
It had no time to think.
In the very next instant—
Drae'mon bit into its throat and shoved claws into its left eye.
Leo'sol clawed the right.
"-9000*
"-8000*
"-14,500*
A wave of critical hits tore it apart.
All that remained was a shredded carcass.
"Sorry for killing you," Jeremy muttered with a grin.
"I only needed your wings."
He scratched his chin.
"Now I'm curious. Should I use this to craft the Aberration, or get the strong arms of the Giant Apes instead?"
"Alright," he finally said. "This should do. Any more, and I might break the balance."
And so—his slaughter began.
Or rather, his creation of the Aberration.
He sliced off the ThunderBird's wings and discarded the rest.
Maybe he could sell the corpse later.
Then, he retrieved the corpses of two twin beasts—one of flame, the other of ice.
His plan was simple.
A two-headed wolf.
So, he cut off both their heads—
Then sliced their bodies in half—
And stacked them.
One red half. One blue.
"Hm," Jeremy mused. "Something's missing…"He glanced around and immediately realized what it was."The claws."
Without hesitation, he grabbed the talons of the ThunderBird. They looked sharp enough and perfectly suited to grasp—just like a true airborne predator should.Once detached, he replaced the wolf paws with the avian claws.
"There we go," he said, giving a high five to his skeletons. "A true masterpiece."
"Creation."
The same scene as before unfolded.A burst of flesh and blood—And from it, the birth of an abomination.No…An Aberration.
Name: /
Race: Aberration
Potential: EXALTED
Level: 28
HP: 8,800
MP: 68,800
Physical: 30
Agility: 200
Intelligence: 330
Endurance: Infinite
Skills:Son of the Aberration GlacialFlame,GlacialFlame Blast of the Aberration,GlacialFlame Dash of the Aberration,GlacialFlame Immolation of the Aberration,Explosion of the Aberration,GlacialFlame Wall of the Aberration,GlacialFlame Domain of the Aberration,Thunder Strike of the Aberration,Thunder Speed of the Aberration.
---
"So many skills?"That was Jeremy's first thought.He had expected something powerful… but seeing it with his own eyes was a different story.Each ability was enhanced, stronger than their natural counterparts—amplified through the Aberration's twisted core.
He had created another powerful ally—one blessed with devastating magic, immune to both fire and frost, boasting absurd speed and the ability to launch dual attacks thanks to its two heads.
"Let's test you out," Jeremy said, climbing onto its back. "Take me to the skies."
And then—At the speed of light, Jeremy was suddenly soaring high above the clouds. Its speed was—
"SLOW DOWN!" Jeremy shouted, panic in his voice.And so, they began gliding through the air, scanning the world below for anything that might be... interesting.