The System Awakens: Rise of the Champion

The domain fell silent, its once furious movement stilled.

No sound or sign of life could be seen inside the vine-covered domain.

Damian had vanished entirely, swallowed by the Forest Heart Creeper.

[Conditions Met]

[You have awakened the inherited ability, [Warrior's Will]]

[Your understanding of swordsmanship has increased]

[Your Swordsmanship (Intermediate) has leveled up to Swordsmanship (High)]

[You have broken through your physical limits]

[Your Strength increased: +2]

[Your Stamina increased: +2]

[Your Agility increased: +2]

Out of nowhere, the dozens of vines encapsulating Damian began to vibrate violently.

Suddenly, the vines burst apart like an overfilled balloon, shattering into hundreds of pieces.

A dark sword pierced through the vines and slashed them apart like a whirlwind, sending the fragments flying in all directions.

From within the mass of broken vines, a figure shot out and gracefully landed on the ground, a sword gleaming in his hand.

"Time to cut through," Damian muttered sharply.

Gripping the sword tightly with both hands, he twisted his body at full speed and launched himself toward the source core ahead of him.

The Forest Heart Creeper wasn't done yet.

Hundreds of vines shot toward Damian, moving like serpents attempting to ensnare their prey and stop him in his tracks.

But Damian no longer cared.

With his stats increased and his swordsmanship leveled up, his battle power had risen significantly.

He slashed his sword relentlessly, cutting through dozens, no, hundreds of vines as they surged toward him.

Finally, he arrived in front of the source core.

Without wasting a single moment, Damian pointed his palm at the core and activated his unique ability.

[Extraction: Unique Ability Activated]

A colorless, almost gray aura emerged from Damian's hand before condensing into a vortex that unleashed an intense suction force.

The suction didn't affect anything else in the vicinity but instead pulled vast amounts of energy directly from the Forest Heart Creeper's source core.

A blue energy began streaming out of the source core, getting extracted with a speed akin to smoke being sucked out by an exhaust fan, only far faster.

[Your Mana increased: +1]

[Your Mana increased: +1]

[Your Mana increased: +1]

[Your Mana increased: +1]

...

..

.

[Your proficiency in your unique ability, [Extraction], increased.]

[Your Mana increased: +4]

[Your Mana increased: +4]

[Your Mana increased: +4]

...

..

.

[Your proficiency in your unique ability, [Extraction], increased.]

[Your Mana increased: +8]

[Your Mana increased: +8]

[Your Mana increased: +8]

...

..

.

Damian felt waves of mana surging into his active mana core, rapidly filling it.

It felt as though a floodgate had been opened after relentless rainfall, releasing torrents of water that crashed through everything in their path, pulled downward by the unstoppable force of gravity.

Damian's unique ability, [Extraction], sucked every ounce of mana from the source core like a tornado consuming everything in its vicinity.

Inside Damian's inner world, his mana core spun furiously, absorbing the waves of mana rushing into it like a ravenous beast that had finally found its prey.

Damian could feel his unique ability growing stronger as it extracted all the energy from the source core.

As the proficiency of his unique ability increased, the amount of energy it could extract also grew rapidly.

In just a few minutes, almost all the mana from the source core had been extracted and absorbed into Damian's mana pool.

Meanwhile, as soon as Damian began extracting energy from the Forest Heart Creeper's source core, the monster noticeably started to grow weaker.

Its attacks slowed considerably, its regeneration gradually declined, and after a few minutes, its ability to regenerate completely stopped.

Damian's extraction ability drained the monster's stored mana far faster than it could recover.

Within a few minutes, all the mana in the monster's source core had been completely extracted and used to enhance Damian's mana core.

Soon, the entire source core was emptied.

The once-radiant source core lost its vitality, crumbled to the ground, and shattered into hundreds of pieces.

[Experience limit reached]

[You have reached level 19]

[You have reached level 20]

[You have reached level 21]

[You have reached level 22]

[You have reached level 23]

[You have cleared the 'Forest Creeper' Dungeon]

[Reward: +10 Free Stat Points]

[It has been detected that you are the first person on Earth to clear a second Dungeon solo, without the use of any power, ability, or the assistance of another Awakener.]

[You have gained an additional reward]

[Reward: +10 Free Stat Points]

[You have absorbed an enormous amount of mana in a short amount of time.]

As soon as the series of notifications finished, Damian felt a slight throb in his heart.

The throbbing quickly spread throughout his entire body, first to his bones, then to his internal organs, muscles, brain, and finally, his eyes.

At the same time, he could feel his blood heating up.

It was as if something ignited out of nowhere, causing his blood circulation to accelerate at an unnatural speed.

"Ugh..." Damian clutched his chest as an unbearable pain surged through his heart, as though his blood was boiling.

The intense agony made it nearly impossible for him to breathe.

The heart-wrenching pain soon spread to every part of his body.

Every organ, bone, muscle, and even his skin and eyes burned with an unquenchable agony.

"Aaahhhhhhhh..." Damian held his head and fell to his knees, unable to withstand the overwhelming pain.

It was as though his body had been thrown into molten lava, and all his bones were being shattered simultaneously.

"Hhhaaaaa..."

The pain wasn't the only sensation he felt.

A strange feeling of stretching, tightening, arching, and tensing swept across his entire body, forcing him to twist and contort uncontrollably in response to the changes.

After what felt like an eternity, the pain suddenly disappeared, and everything returned to normal.

It had lasted only a few seconds, but to Damian, it felt like years.

"Shit... just what the fuck... fuck..." Damian panted heavily, his chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath.

His head still throbbed, and a ringing noise echoed in his ears.

[The excessive mana that could not be absorbed by your mana core has been used to improve your constitution.]

[As a side effect, your physical body has been significantly cleansed, reconstructed, and modified.]

[Your Vitality increased: +15]

[Your Stamina increased: +5]

[Your Strength increased: +5]

[Your Agility increased: +5]

[Your Perception increased: +10]

[Your body has reached the peak of the Body Refinement realm of martial cultivation.]

[Your body has reached the most optimum condition to draw in Qi.]

[You have met all the conditions to practice magic.]

"Bloody fuck..." Damian muttered, glancing at the notifications.

Despite the lingering ache in his body, a grin crept onto his pale face.

After a few minutes of panting and letting the pain subside, Damian stood up.

"This is…" Damian murmured, standing still as he spread his arms, observing the changes in his body.

He could feel an overwhelming difference in strength as he closed his eyes and basked in the sensation.

A faint, light aura seeped out of him, making his presence appear more imposing than ever.

...

[A/N: Come on, everyone! You've made it this far, so why not add my novel to your favorites? And if it's not too much trouble, please leave a review or drop some POWER STONES!]