ALL NOVEL Chapter 39: G to G+
For several tense minutes, Aoni stood motionless, eyes trained on his Traveler's Display and lost in thought. With each passing second, his mind stayed active as his brain digested the information he had received by upgrading his Swordsmanship Passive.
By the time he finally finished the metaphorical meal, the lad understood that what he had learned was approximately six months of consecutive training.
'Moving up from G- to G is the equivalent of half a year's worth of advancement in the art of swordsmanship; by that measurement, if I push further into the G+ territory, would that mean I was gaining a year's worth of experience?'
Having gone through everything he'd just learned, Aoni knew that while he had gained theoretical along with practical experience, that by no means meant he had obtained any combat experience.
After all, there is a fine difference between training and being in a real life-or-death fight. Still, given what he now knew, along with the muscle memory of a full six months of tutelage, the lad believed he could hold his own with most of the novice students that had previously obliterated him in training back at the Academy.
With that thought, his eyes refocused on the arrow beside his Swordsmanship Passive, and with a heavy heart, he went ahead and uttered the mental command to upgrade it to his TD.
'Increase the Rank of my Swordsmanship Passive,'
| Increasing Passive 'Swordsmanship' from G to G+ |
| Progress Points have been Deducted |
| 10 PP earned |
Unfortunately, contrary to what he had been subjected to the first time, with this newest upgrade, Aoni witnessed his vision tunnel out, and soon, with a soft thud, he collapsed onto the ground.
The sound was loud enough to draw Glacia's attention, and when the small fluff ball looked over at her Lord, her emerald eyes widened in fright.
The muscles on Aoni's arms, legs, abdomen, and back were rapidly twitching in such a manner that they appeared to blur and leave after images; in fact, it wasn't just his appendages and core; soon enough, the lad's entire body began vibrating, as if he had been placed atop a dryer or washing machine.
Following the vibrations in Aoni's body, he soon began radiating heat as he burned through a massive amount of calories, along with a faint gaseous steam rising off his entire being.
The sight was both shocking and amazing to witness at the same time because, for an instant, it almost appeared that the lad was going to phase through the ground and vanish.
However, after 10 minutes, the vibrations slowed, and soon enough, a panting and exhausted Aoni opened his eyes and gasped for air.
"Argh… damn it, what the hell just happened," feeling extremely weak, Aoni attempted to sit up but soon realized he was completely wasted of stamina, and even so much as wiggling a finger was difficult.
Then there was the MASSIVE headache he was subjected to; in all, the lad felt like he had been kicked off a mountain and left for dead, and to some extent, he wasn't entirely wrong.
The longer Aoni lay on the ground digesting the changes, the more in-depth he realized the extent of what had transpired.
Unlike the jump from G- to G, which was roughly six months' worth of training condensed into a minute or two, the Upgrade from G to G+ encompassed a year and a half worth of extensive training and technique.
Feeling extremely dizzy and like he would pass out at any moment, Aoni convinced Glacia to bring him one of the two water bottles because his thirst was immense, a side effect of his body dehydrating itself thanks to intense heat and sweat.
Finishing the full bottle in no time flat brought some relief to the lad; however, with his thirst quenched, he was then hit by a pang of hunger the likes he had never felt before.
So, although it was early, the lad smashed his way through an MRE, but when that proved not to be enough, he moved onto a second, then eventually a third before finally feeling full.
However, eating alone proved to be quite the issue with a certain ball of fluff, and with a loud belch, the lad leaned back on his hands before noticing the startled expression in his Summon's eyes.
"Uh…it's not what it looks like…"
"Gao…" Glacia leaned forward and chomped on her stick for a moment while staring deeply into her Lord's eyes, and Aoni could swear she cocked an eyebrow up in judgment at him.
"No, seriously…"
"Oo."
"Look, I was famished, and…"
"Gaoo." Nodding her head in seemingly understanding of his plight, Glacia stared at her Lord for several silent seconds until she finally won the mock staring contest.
'Why the hell do I feel so ashamed…' breaking eye contact with his clearly judgemental summon, Aoni was feeling quite embarrassed at having destroyed a full day's worth of rations in one sitting.
"Huff," with a chuff, Glacia went back to playing with her stick again, ignoring Aoni.
'Note to self, the next time I upgrade like that again, make sure Glacia is either not around or sleeping…' shivering slightly, not because of the cold, but because of how human-like his summon acted just now, Aoni stood up and rolled out his shoulders.
'Two years…the first upgrade gave me half a year's worth, but now, it was a year and a half, equaling two, and not only that, my movements feel smoother too…' Quickly checking his stats, the lad noticed there were no changes in their ranks, which confused him slightly, but he couldn't figure out what was different.
It wasn't that he was stronger; if anything, due to the excessive amount of energy he had burned, Aoni could have very well lost some stats, yet he felt at least two to three times stronger than before.
Whether or not that was in his head, only time will tell, but for now, the lad decided to push all thoughts aside and figure out how many points it had cost him to upgrade his Swordsmanship, and after realizing it was 20 points, but he had gained 10 in return, Aoni's sighed.