NOVEL NEXT Chapter 131: Final Upgrades Before The Barrier Comes Down
The process of rapidly strengthening his stats was somewhat grueling but also extremely time-consuming; with only a couple of days remaining, Aoni found himself hoping that all of the preparations he had made in the days following his Multi-Summon were going to be enough to survive what came next.
When Aoni finished upgrading his Attack stat and bathed, he noticed that it was around mid-day, giving him plenty of time to move on to the next few sessions, which revolved around his Speed Stat. Much like how the pain was manageable with his Attack Stat, Speed wasn't much different.
Sure, it was agonizing to an extent. Still, the worst part about it was how itchy Aoni felt during the process, as not only were the parts of his brain that controlled fast actions, as well as reflexes, zapped by some type of electricity, but his joints and ligaments were strained beyond belief, twisting and snapping like he was made of elastic.
Then there were his lungs, heart, and other vital organs within his circulatory system, everything that revolved around stamina and endurance.
Overall, that process, like his attack stat, lasted around nine and a half to 10 hours.
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Collapsed on the floor, facing the starry sky and suffering occasional spasms, Aoni only had a single eye open and focused on his Traveler's Display.
Traveler's Display
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Aoni Thurston
Age: 16
Potential: Three Star/E+ Rank
Rank: E-
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Attribute Grade: ★✬
Attribute: Progression
Progress Points: 72.9
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Statistics:
Attack: E- (►)
Defense: E- (►)
Speed: E- (►)
Energia: D-
Elementalized Energia: 10 % Ice
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Passives:
Cold Resistance: F+ (►)
Pain Resistance: E+
Swordsmanship: G+ (►)
Dual Swordsmanship: G- (►)
Ice Manipulation: G
Energia Manipulation: F (►)
Pocket Dimension (Inventory): G-
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All three of his Basic Stats had broken through to the E-Rank, and as the Lad's eyes roamed around the floating ethereal pannel, he couldn't stop his pupil from constricting upon seeing how few points he had remaining.
From almost 1500 points down to a poor man's 72, it was a radical drop off, and to be honest, Aoni felt like crying.
'All that work, all that effort, and I have barely anything to show for it,' covering his face with a sweaty arm crusted with blood and other dried fluids, he tried not to let his disappointment show in front of the two sitting not far away.
From start to finish, Nyria and Glacia had been by his side, being the perfect cross between attendants and medics as they applied herbs and fruit juice and force-fed him, so the last thing he wanted to do was make them believe they weren't good enough.
After all, the problem was his broken-ass Attribute, not his adorable floof and birb.
To make matters worse, the fact that his stupid Progression Attribute had yet to reach the Outer-Fill Step was a problem as well.
'The quest must have changed; after boosting my stats and those of my Summons, along with all the crafting I'd done, I thought for sure I could have gotten to the point where I earned my Third Star…but no. I couldn't even hit OF step.'
Dropping his arm off his face and slowly sitting up, Aoni noticed that apart from the crackling fire in the pit and the stars above, it was pitch black out, meaning well past midnight, since the NightCelest (Moon) was nowhere to be seen.
**Authors Note: I haven't mentioned this before, but the Sun, of which there are more than one, is named DayCelest, and the Moon is the NightCelest. They have individual names and colors, but that will be explained in future chapters**
"Let's get me cleaned up and then head to bed, guys; that's everything for my Add Points session. I need one more cold bath…"
"OOoooOO GAOOO~" Before Aoni could finish his last statement, Glacia reacted like a cat whose tail was smashed by a book and, with fur sticking up, entered furry missile mode, disappearing from the camp and into the safety of her bed, leaving Aoni pinching the brim of his nose and Nyria sighing.
"Whatever, I'm too tired to fight her this time," Aoni said with an exhausted expression.
Earlier in the day, after his last Attack Upgrade, he and Nyria had tried corralling Glacia and forcing her to take a bath, but all that did was rile the floof up, as she immediately thought it to be a game.
After all, the Lad hadn't explicitly said the B-word this time, so she had no clue at that moment what his plan was.
To her, it was playtime after a hard day's work, and as it's well known by now, Glacia LOVVVESSS playtime.
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Running around the camp for over an hour, the pair of Lord and Birb finally cornered the floof and dragged her dumb self outside the Rampart before burying the dork in snow and scrubbing all the grime and leftover fruit juice off her fur.
Needless to say, it didn't go over well, and now, after every upgrade was complete, Glacia would become extremely skittish, as if sensing she was about to be dragged off for another bath.
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Twenty minutes later, a tired Nyria and Aoni closed the cave door, locked up, added more wood to the fireplace, and collapsed into their respective Bed/Nests.
It had been a long couple of days, and they were far more exhausted than a certain floof who refused to skip nap time ever.
"Goodnight, Glacia, and Nyria. Sleep well, you two," Aoni said with a big yawn as he pulled his hide skin blanket up to his chin and closed his eyes.
"gaooooo,"
"chhhheee, click,"
'Goodnight, brother, rest well.'
The two summons wishing him goodnight in their unique ways brought a smile to Aoni's lips as he tried his best not to think about the coming chaos.
With only two more days remaining, his final upgrades are complete. All that is left is to gather enough food to last them some time, set some traps up around the base of the platform, and go through his final checklist.
While it may seem simple, there was far too much for Aoni to remember everything, and as such, he'd made a full two-page checklist of what remained.