"Ah... at least that's something encouraging..." Ethan muttered as his gaze fell on the cultivation improvement tab.
As someone who had lived most of his life as a cripple, Ethan had never had any real interaction with cultivation, except for the rare moments when he had watched his father cultivate when he was still a child.
Even so, he knew the basics needed to advance to the next stage: accumulating enough mana in his mana heart and developing control over this energy, enough to manipulate it and force it to break through the limits of the mana heart, expanding its reserves.
Of course, this was only the method for advancing through the awakening stage.
There were three main stages, each with three levels representing the initial, intermediate and peak state.
In addition to the awakening stage, where one worked on the mana heart and its capabilities, there was the foundation stage, focused on the meridians responsible for distributing mana throughout the body.
Lastly, there was the refinement stage, where one improved not only the meridians and the mana heart, but also the physical body itself.
Ethan had read about lands beyond the Sea of Eternal Storm, where beings transcended far beyond these three stages, and refinement was but the first step on a practically limitless journey of cultivation.
But that was just legend, no one really believed it and if it hadn't been for his meeting with Seraphar, he wouldn't have believed it either.
"Right..." Ethan made a decision. "I'd like to upgrade to the intermediate level of the awakening stage."
On hearing his request, the system automatically subtracted 150 corruption store points before sending an alert.
[System: I must warn you that making several advances in a row without first adapting to your new stage is unwise.
An advance without full control over your powers can be unnecessarily painful or even fatal.
Your chances of surviving this advance are: 65%.]
[System: Advancement starting at 3... 2... 1...]
"No, wait!!!" Ethan shouted with regret in his voice, but it was too late.
The moment the countdown ended, he felt his insides squirm and his mana heart expand almost to the point of collapse, like a water balloon being inflated beyond its limits.
"Argh! Shit!" Ethan gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, struggling to keep his composure.
The pain was terrible, but he had endured worse suffering during his father's countless experiments.
He took a deep breath, filling his lungs with air before exhaling slowly; he might not be a great cultivator, but he knew well that keeping mind, heart and body in harmony was essential.
Calming his thoughts, he manipulated the mana that was flowing violently through his meridians, slowing it down into a pulsating flow that accompanied his breathing and gradually guiding it to his mana heart.
The pain ceased, and Ethan's long black hair fluttered as a powerful pulse of mana spread through the room, raising dust and causing the already fragile structure of the hut to shake.
[System: Breakthrough successfully completed, put your new power to good use.
Ethan's eyes snapped open, and the world around him finally calmed down.
His new power pulsed steadily through his veins, while his already considerable mana reserves had more than doubled.
"How powerful is my current bloodline?" he asked, still intoxicated by the power flowing through his hands.
[Lineage: Blood of the Black Dragon (lvl 1)
Description: A lineage belonging to a being whose power transcends the limits of reality itself. Even at its embryonic level, it carries considerable power.
Rank:???
{Body of the Black Dragon (Humanoid)
Description: This body carries not only the power, but also the libido of the black dragon, and can be weakened or strengthened by it.
Current arousal: 5% (A high libido will cause debuffs or buffs, depending on the situation.)
Physical strength: +50%
Mana reserves: +50%
Passive regeneration: +100%
arousal: +150%
Fertility: -99.9999999%
Mana quality: +100%
Life expectancy: +1500 years}
{Black Dragon Eyes (inactive)
???}]
Ethan analyzed those status screens carefully, but the more he looked at that cluster of words and numbers, the more confused he became.
He understood that his strength was 50% higher, but 50% higher based on what?
As if it heard his thoughts, the system replied:
[System: The numbers are based on the average of a superior human]
"What is a superior human? How strong are they?"
[System: access denied]
"Ah... shit." Ethan sighed in disappointment before walking towards the table where Valeria had left some clothes for him.
Without haste, he put on the simple clothes, common among commoners: brown leather pants, a thin, comfortable gray shirt and a black cloak, apparently made of some tough, malleable animal skin.
Ethan then went to the kitchen cupboard and opened it, revealing a bowl full of fresh fruit such as apples, strawberries and grapes, as well as a few strips of dried meat.
Sitting down at the table, he began to eat while examining the map left by Valeria.
It was a detailed map showing the entire territory of the Eternal Isles kingdom, with markings of all the territories and an indication of what he believed to be their current location.
He looked at the document for a few moments, and his vision floated to the far north of the kingdom, where his family's territory lay.
The slight smile on his face faded, and his heart shuddered with anger.
"It won't be today or tomorrow," he muttered as he got up from the table. "But one day I'll get back what's mine."
Before leaving the hut, Ethan took one last look at the cultivation improvement tab, letting a stifled sigh escape his lips as he realized that the cost of advancing to the next stage had increased to 500 points.
In the end, he couldn't expect things to be so easy either.
Many people would take years to reach the peak of the awakening stage, and the mere fact of being able to do it so easily was absurd.
"System, I need a sword, can you recommend something?"
[{Simple black iron sword
A generic long sword without many special attributes, it cuts well and is able to withstand a relatively high amount of mana stress.
Grade: F
Price: 80 corruption store points}]
Ethan bought the sword and fastened it around his waist before finally leaving the hut and following the map towards the town of Stormerga, located to the north of his position.