Epoch of Twilight

Chapter 412: Upgrade

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Luo Yuan took off into the sky at maximum speed as soon as left Hope City. When he knew that he was safely out of range from the Reconstruction Area, he activated his space-time bubble flight mode. Luo Yuan momentarily lost his sense of gravity and hovered in the air when the bubble formed. He began to pick up speed as the seconds went by and after 10 minutes, he traveled across the sky like a stream of light and disappeared into oblivion.

His understanding of space and time became better from his multiple attempts at using this power. Despite the four-dimensional space and its mystique, the basic mechanics of fluid dynamics still applied. Thus, his scientific knowledge was enough to help him keep on improving this magical way to fly. Every time he flew, he discovered several different unique skills and improvements. The most obvious improvement was that the time he required to kick start his flight mode had been significantly reduced. He used to take about 30 seconds when he had first started to learn how to use it but now it only took him about seven or eight seconds to form the space-time bubble. However, he still had a long way to go before he reached a state where he would be able to instantly do so. He was certain that he would be able to continue reducing the startup time up to a record time of 2 seconds when his Will had grown stronger. When the day came, he would be fearless of any situation.

This is because the space-time bubble was not only useful for pushing an object at a fast speed. During times of crisis, it was also the perfect defense. It was basically a separate dimension from the three-dimensional world so if Luo Yuan was not attacked by extreme power like a high-density energy wave that would interfere with the fourth-dimensional space, he would be able to escape. Of course, the only issue with this is that Luo Yuan also could not attack when he enters the fourth dimension.

...

Luo Yuan had gotten up early that particular morning. His clock showed that it was 3.00am when he left the house. When Luo Yuan arrived at the jungle (which was at about 3.30am), the sky was still dark and the jungle looked eerie with occasional roars coming from what seemed to be hungry predators living in the forest. It was during this time that most of the mutated beasts were active and would come out to hunt their preys.

This scenario did not seem to scare Luo Yuan at all as he was an evolved human who was more powerful than any mutated beast he had ever encountered. He swiftly made his way through the jungle in search of level seven mutated beasts to be slain. Occasionally, he was forced to draw his blade to kill some of the lower level beasts that stood in his path.

Luo Yuan searched high and low and soon encountered the target he had been searching for. It was a monstrous, giant mutated snake that was covered in gold and silver shiny scales that glittered in the dark. Its body was three meters long and it curled itself into what looked like a big mountain. Its mouth was huge and looked scarier than an ordinary snake’s. The snake rested its head lazily on top of its body. From closer observations, Luo Yuan could see that the snake had a pair of golden eyes which shined in the dark. He could also see that the snake just had a feast judging from the bulge in its belly.

He also deduced that the snake was poisonous judging from the drops of saliva that were dripping from its mouth. He could see that the areas that the dripping saliva touched were corroded; leaving behind a trail of pus and smoke. Despite this, Luo Yuan was not too worried about the toxic venom that was in the snake’s saliva as he only had to make sure that he did not touch it. Based on his Physique, he was sure that it would have been an easy feat. He was also certain that the air surrounding the snake was not poisonous as there were many pests flying around.

What made him hesitant to attack the snake was that this type of mutated beast usually had a strong vitality. Luo Yuan knew that the snake’s weakness would have to either be its head or its heart, however, it was also difficult to pinpoint the fatal point of the snake as it had a long body; which meant his Earth Stomp ability would not be as effective. If the mutated snake became enraged, things could get nasty for Luo Yuan.

The head was an easy target but as it was currently located high above the snake’s body, it was out of the striking range of Luo Yuan’s Earth Stomp ability. Even if he did manage to land an attack, the attack would not have done a significant amount of damage. On the other hand, the heart would have been easily in Luo Yuan’s striking range if not for the fact that it was extremely hard for him to pinpoint its exact position due to the snake’s long body. The reason why he could easily deal with most level seven mutated beasts was mainly because of his Foresight ability as well as his remote Earth Stomp attack. Despite possessing two powerful abilities, he would still have a tough fight against such a powerful giant mutated beast, however, Luo Yuan was not keen on losing his target as it was hard to come across a level seven mutated beast. He finally decided that he would risk it since he had his Foresight ability. He should be safe if he was careful.

He is generally not a decisive person but once Luo Yuan had made up his mind on accomplishing something, nothing could stop him from moving towards his goal. He took one step at a time, closing the gap between him and the snake. He steadied his pulse rate with the earth so as not to alert the snake of his presence. One thing good about hunting in the jungle was that it was located far away from the Reconstruction Area and therefore most of the mutated beasts living there were not aware of the risk imposed on them by evolved humans. They perceived humans as low-level mutated beasts that were not able to fill their tummies.

He slowly approached the mutated snake and used his Foresight to see the future. He watched the scene and his facial expression slightly changed. He then retreated hundreds of meters back. This beast was stronger than he expected as it was at the borderline of hitting level eight. In the scene he predicted, once its power came into action it would have a destructive force field around it and he could not even go close.

Luo Yuan looked around and saw a huge tree nearby. He suddenly had an idea and quickly hid behind the tree. The diameter of the tree was about 10 meters and it was so huge that it stood out in the open. The bark was covered mostly with moss and vines as well as some shrubs. Smaller trees had also grown around it. It had formed almost a separate ecosystem and was at least level six or above. Luo Yuan looked into the future again and suddenly calmed down. The snake’s scales started falling off due to the high-frequency shock that it received and its blood splattered profusely out of its body onto the ground.

"Rawrrwrrrr!" the mutated snake roared and screamed as pain circulated its body from an invisible force. Even the trees which were located next to the mutated snake came crashing down and the rocks in the vicinity shattered into dust.

The snake’s eyes turned amber red as it was enraged and it started darting left and right but could not escape or identify the culprit. Luo Yuan had strategically distanced himself about 400 meters away from the snake to ensure that he would not be affected by the devastating force field. He also had the benefit of size which gave him a tremendous advantage over the snake. He would not have been able to avoid detection by the snake had he been bigger! He then directed another Earth Stomp attack at the snake.

The intense pain inflicted by the Earth Stomp sent the snake into a fit of frenzy. It rolled around furiously; twisting and tossing its body in every direction, leaving behind a path of destruction in its place. The snake was successful in breaking free from the Earth Stomp a couple of times as it gained considerable ground between itself and Luo Yuan while it struggled but the pain was so intense that the snake had lost its mind. It was not even aware of Luo Yuan and just kept struggling and colliding with anything that was in its path.

The mutated snake grew weaker every time Luo Yuan successfully landed an attack on it until it finally stopped struggling completely and its head finally hit the ground. It only took a minute for Luo Yuan to determine that the snake had finally died. Luo Yuan decided to land one final Earth Stomp to the snake’s head just to be sure. Despite being dead, its body still produced a spastic reaction to the attack. Luo Yuan then exited the earth state and flew forward quickly to chop its head off. The surrounding air was instantly filled with a sweet aroma. However, due to Luo Yuan’s strong Physique, the aroma did not have an impact on him. He gave the bloodied snake head one last look before kicking it away into a nearby shrub. Luo Yuan then dissected its body and removed its heart.

The snake’s heart had been completely dissected into very fine pieces. Luo Yuan found an energy crystal the size of a thumb buried within the pile of dead meat. Fortunately, it was not broken. It was transparent and larger than usual as it had come from a mutated beast which was close to level eight. He could imagine how powerful the snake must have been in its prime. It is such a shame that it was not given the opportunity to reach its true potential before meeting its death.

He admired the energy crystal for a while before he decided to pop it into his mouth. For a split moment, his body grew warm as the energy crystal was being absorbed. He discovered that the level eight energy crystal in his heart had now grown significantly bigger. If compared to the energy crystal that he just ate, the one in his heart was about two times bigger. He hoped that it would continue to grow bigger and bigger. At this point, a system notification distracted his attention.

"Level D Task: Kill the Devil Python - Task has been completed."

"Completion time: Five minutes"

"Mission evaluation: Perfect!"

"Basic experience reward: 392!"

"Good evaluation. Experience: 392!"

"You have upgraded. Reward: attribute point(s): one, skill attribute points: five. You have now been upgraded to level 12."

"Your energy and injuries will be fully recovered!"

Luo Yuan was happy that he had finally reached a new level and immediately opened the properties panel.

"Name: Luo Yuan"

"Occupation: Hunter"

"Rating: 12"

"Experience: 47120/614400"

"Attributes"

"Strength: 17 (10)"

"Agility: 6 (10)"

"Physique: 17+7 (10)"

"Intelligence: 15 (10)"

"Sense: 16+1 (10)"

"Will: 17+1 (10)"

"Skills: Science 20, Mathematics 19, Chinese 19, English 16, Finance 17, Computer 15, Dance 1, Painting 3, Games 6, Negotiation 9, Communication 7, Cooking 3, Driving 1, Free combat specialist 1, Broadsword Expert 7, Gun 6, Throwing 15"

"Special skills: Identification, Synthesis, Detection"

"Innate ability: Earth Stomp (level 7); Four-Dimensional Vision (5%) Four-Dimensional Brain (2%)"

"Battle Beast: Giant lizard (level 3) Mountain moving ape (2)"

"Unassigned attribute point(s): 1"

"Unallocated skill points: 5"

...

He glanced at the extra attribute points that he recently obtained and pondered for a while before deciding to add them to his Will. His mind suddenly became blank as if he had just been struck by lightning! He immediately felt a huge difference in his state of mind which happened to have been very confused and disoriented moments ago. Everything became very clear and calm. He could feel a huge surge of energy coursing through his body and Luo Yuan was very clear that this was the power of his Will.

He shifted his view towards the tree that was nearby and waved his hands at it. A huge flash of lightning crashed down onto the tree! The mutated beasts that rested on the tree could not avoid the lightning and were immediately killed by it. Luo Yuan could see many dead carcasses raining down from the burnt tree. Some were even on fire. After this, he looked at the carcass of the mutated snake. This time, he did not produce any actions with his hands. With some focus, the ground had a thin flame above it and the surrounding hundred-meter radius was burnt including one-third of the carcass.

The flame appeared to be white in color and the temperature was at least a thousand degrees Celsius. Even though he stood five to six meters away, he could feel the heat sensation from the fire. The carcass that was originally burnt turned into white frost. Luo Yuan walked closer to touch it and realized that it was extremely sticky. In just half a minute, it was firmly stuck to his skin. Fortunately, he had relatively rough and sturdy skin; if it was an ordinary human, a layer of skin would have been torn off by the time he removed his hand. He realized that he could easily break the corpse into two just by stepping on it because it was frozen and most of the energy of the snake had now dissipated; causing its defensive power to have tremendously weakened.

He clearly felt stronger now that there were 19 attribute points allocated to his Will. He could easily kill tons of low-level mutated beasts just by using a fraction of the power he possessed. With his current capabilities, especially after he turned on his four-dimensional vision, he knew that a stronger Will was very important and would gradually override all other attributes.

Furthermore, his space-time bubble flight ability was also closely related to his Will. Since the fate of humanity was now at stake due to the invasion of the extraterrestrial civilizations, this was the priority. In outer space, the first cosmic speed was not enough. He must be faster to fly into space and find the ship before his body is exhausted. He also figured out that most of his other attributes had a certain connection to his Will and that by allocating more points to his Will, he would generally be able to enhance his physical attributes at a faster rate.

...

Shortly afterward, Luo Yuan continued his search to find more level seven mutated beasts in hopes that it would trigger another task for him to complete. Unfortunately, his luck had run out as he realized that even though he had killed several level seven mutated beasts, no task completion notification had been triggered by his system which meant he had not been gaining experience points from them.

He finally concluded that unless he started searching for some level eight mutated beast to fight, the system would no longer provide him with any experience points. This piece of news struck Luo Yuan hard and the joy and power he had felt from being able to upgrade to the next level seemed to be drained from him. He knew that with his current Physique, taking on a level eight mutated beast was a dangerous idea. His thoughts went back to the time when he met the Demonic Horseman. The gap in power between him and the creature had been so wide that even after he had improved several times over, he would have thought twice before facing another creature as powerful as it again.