Chapter 10 – Breaking Through
Seth reached for a core, ready to begin, but his stomach rumbled again before his fingers touched it.
He froze, blinking down at himself, then sighed.
"…Right. Food first."
Reluctantly, he pulled his hand back and waited for the meat roasting over the fire. The smell had grown richer with each passing moment, smoky and heavy with the scent of blood. A few more minutes passed before it was finally done.
He tore off a piece, chewing slowly in silence. It wasn't bad—surprisingly good for a slab of monster meat without seasoning. If not for the burnt edges, it might have been excellent. Still, for his first attempt at roasting, it was edible.
When he finished, his throat begged for water. It had been dry since the morning. Yesterday, the berries kept it bearable, but now he had nothing. His tongue felt heavy. For now, all he could do was ignore it and hope to find a clean source tomorrow.
He turned to the cores,
By then, the pile of beast cores beside him had grown. From the eleven earlier, it had swelled to fifteen after several more monsters wandered close, drawn by the smell of cooking. Not that Seth complained. More beasts meant more cores, and more cores meant strength. Strength he desperately needed.
He picked up a level three core. All the level twos had already been consumed to bring him to ninety-three percent saturation. This should be enough to push him over.
The moment he absorbed it, his saturation hit one hundred percent. Instantly, a strange sensation welled up inside him—like a wall standing in the way of his growth. He didn't need anyone to explain it. He just knew. That wall was the barrier to his next level.
Closing his eyes, Seth slipped into the strange visualization state that had first appeared when he absorbed the striped ape's core.
Inside himself, he saw it clearly: energy boiling, surging against the boundaries of his core, which pulsed like a glowing sphere beneath his navel. Each impact was wild and random, achieving nothing.
He clenched his will, gathering that raging tide. Slowly, it obeyed, swirling together as he forced it to unify into a single stream. Then, with a silent command, he drove it forward.
The energy struck the wall of his core—hard.
Crack!
Agony ripped through him. It was as if the crack had split not just his core, but his very body and soul. He doubled over, teeth clenched to stifle a scream.
But relief followed swiftly. A portion of the energy poured into the wound, mending it, reinforcing it. Coolness spread through his body, sharp and refreshing, like plunging into a river on a summer day.
He barely had a moment to savor it before the cycle had to begin again.
Crack. Pain. Repair. Relief.
Each wave built on the last, shattering the fragile walls of his core, only for them to rebuild stronger. Again and again the cycle repeated, until every drop of energy was spent.
And then—
Liberation.
It washed over him, strange and fleeting, as though he were cradled in warmth before being thrust out into the cold once more. It was comfort beyond words, yet gone before he could grasp it. Seth scowled.
"…Tch. Figures."
The sensation slipped away no matter how hard he tried to hold onto it.
He stood slowly, stretching. His joints cracked and popped with each movement, a satisfying chorus to accompany the new strength flowing through him. The difference was obvious. His stats had risen, yes—but leveling up felt like more than just numbers. His body felt different. sharper, faster, and even some of his shallower wounds had healed. The deeper ones were still there, but they too were already fading.
"A few more levels, and I'll be good as new…" he muttered in awe.
He turned back to the pile. After all, there was no such thing as too much strength. Not with what lurked outside. And most likely in that forest.
The nine level-three cores were absorbed first, pushing his saturation to forty-seven percent. Then came the three level-fours, which carried him to seventy-five percent. Finally, the level-five core topped him off at a perfect hundred once again.
Another breakthrough awaited.
Not immediately, though. He remembered the pain well enough to know he needed a breath before diving in again. So he stretched out on the dusty floor, ragged clothes clinging to his bloodstained body, and let his thoughts wander.
What about his family? Were they alive? Was the rest of the world as ruined as this small town?
He shuddered at the thought, forcing it away. If everywhere had ended up like this… he didn't want to imagine it.
With a grunt, he sat up again. No point wasting time.
He closed his eyes and once more gathered the energy inside his core. The process repeated—the shattering, the mending, the endless cycle of pain and relief—until at last another invisible wall fell away.
His eyes opened. He had reached the third level.
Seth smiled faintly. The difference was real, not just another stat point. His body felt alive, renewed. If only he had more SP, he thought bitterly, he could push it even further.
There was still one core left—the level eight cat's core. It radiated faintly beside him, pulsing like a heartbeat. But he was drained, body and mind. He couldn't risk it now.
"Tomorrow…" he murmured, lying back on the floor.
The fire had burned low, his sword rested within reach as a tattoo, and exhaustion finally claimed him.
He drifted off into a dreamless sleep, the last thought on his mind being strength. Strength enough to survive. Strength enough to uncover the truth.