Chapter 528: S-Grade (1/2)
“He did it!” Kenzie smiled, her clenched fists finally relaxing in her lap.
”It's amazing,” Lyla said from the side. ”It's finally over. Maybe we can finally start living our lives again.”
”There are still some things that needs to be done though,” Kenzie smiled, though the smile felt a bit strained.
”Like what?” Lyla asked with confusion.
Lyla had stayed with Kenzie in her courtyard to help take her mind off the fact that Zac was risking his life against the cultists. She had instead asked far and wide about the various arrays and contraptions. It was a welcome distraction, and Kenzie had freely told her about the various arrays she was working on.
But all things must come to an end sooner or later. Her hesitation had already cost too much.
”Dealing with the traitors and the spies on the island, for example,” she said with a steady voice, her eyes boring into Lyla's.
Kenzie had known for a while. She had known that Lyla was the one feeding intelligence back to the mainland through an ingenious array that was no doubt provided by the cultist infiltrators of the New World Government. It was because of her that so many had died, and she was the reason the cultists had learned of the entrance to the Mystic Realm.
Zac had saved her life, but she had returned the favor with malice, increasing the risk to him and everyone else in Port Atwood. Lyla had almost cut off their access to something their mother had left behind as well, which was unforgivable by itself.
Lyla only looked at her with incomprehension for a second until her form fell apart, her body replaced by a clay dummy. However, how could Kenzie not be prepared for something like this? She had seen Lyla use this very skill to survive multiple times during the Tutorial and their expeditions in the Dead Zone.
Her garden was like a fortress with layers and layers of arrays. They were originally meant to keep the area safe in case of a mishap with her experiments, but they worked just as well for trapping a level 36 cultivator. Not even her brother would be able to sense the slightest fluctuation even if he passed by right outside.
Lyla had learned to almost perfectly blend with the earth, but Kenzie had already managed to push her Seed of Loam to Peak Mastery. Together with Jeeves, it was effortless to pinpoint her location. Kenzie slightly circulated her Cosmic Energy, and an earth pillar rose from the ground, unearthing a horrified Lyla.
”Wait, they have my parents! I had no choice-” Lyla cried, but it was too late.
A Dao-empowered flame swallowed her whole, and no substitution or movement skill would save her from the Seed of Tinder. A shrill scream emerged from her throat, but it was almost instantly cut short by a wind-blade that decapitated her. The headless corpse was turned into ashes in less than a minute, and a wave of Kenzie's hand spread the ashes in the garden.
Lyla had almost been as powerful as herself back during the Tutorial, but hose days were long gone. She had stopped pushing herself since arriving at Port Atwood, spending most days not even cultivating at all. Killing her was completely effortless for Kenzie.
Some confusion and guilt appeared in Kenzie's auburn eyes, but a red flash appeared in their depths and she gradually regained her composure.
”You're right, I need to harden myself,” Kenzie sighed before she looked down at the scorched spot on the grass. ”I'm sorry. But those who move against the family will have to pay the price.”
--------------
Zac’s eyes lit up upon seeing the prompts. It looked very similar to when he had completed the Incursion Master quest, where he had gained the Dao Repository. He obviously wasn’t surprised at being placed first in the contribution tally, but the grade was something new.
He had only heard of A-Grade before, and this was something even above that. Did that mean there were S-Grade cultivators as well? Zac had asked around about what the limit of cultivation was, but he had never got a real answer. The people of the Zecia sector didn’t even know what the B-Grade entailed, let alone anything above that.
The next moment an even better prompt appeared.
[Distributing Rewards]
[Additional Reward: Limited Title Slots +1. Frontrunner Title Permanence.]
Zac whistled in surprise seeing the reward, or rather tried to whistle with his badly burnt lips. This was pretty huge. He had essentially received not one, but two additional Limited Title slots in one go. This was just what he needed to maintain his attribute lead against the elite cultivators of the sector.
He might not get double the attributes per level any longer, but having five Limited Title slots should allow him to stay ahead of even the greatest elites of the sector. Of course, that still required him to actually find some opportunities that provided a title.
The title permanence was a welcome surprise as well, but it made him think of something. Zac quickly tried to open the Ladder screen, only to find that nothing happened. Zac grimaced in annoyance when he realized the System had finished its Ladder experiment.
This could both be seen as good news and bad news. It was good news in the sense that no one beneath D-Rank would be able to find out his level any longer thanks to his bracer. Every single step he had taken until now had been monitored by millions of people, but now he was suddenly free. However, the change came with detriments as well.
He could no longer find any information about the Dominators either, though he didn’t expect them to gain a bunch of levels out of nowhere. But more importantly, he wouldn’t be able to keep tabs on his force and make sure everything was alright. Just opening the screen and looking at the familiar names during his tower climb had been a huge source of comfort, but he wouldn’t be able to do so any longer while traveling the Zecia sector in the future.
There were life-monitoring treasures to buy that would provide a similar function, and Zac added it to the ever-growing list of things that Calrin needed to get him. But he also realized that the odds actually getting something useful from the Sky Gnome might have increased now that the incursions were gone and some restrictions were removed.
It was also somewhat of a relief that the title rewards didn’t provide immediate attributes as he still wasn’t sure how much his home-made Draugr Baths had increased his attribute cap. Zac quickly opened his title screen to be sure nothing had changed though.
Name
Zachary Atwood
Level
81
Class
[E-Epic] Fetters of Desolation
Race
[E] Draugr
Alignment
[Earth] Port Atwood - Lord
Titles
Born for Carnage, Ultimate Reaper, Luck of the Draw, Giantsbane, Disciple of David, Overpowered, Slayer of Leviathans, Adventurer, Demon Slayer I, Full of Class, Rarified Being, Trailblazer, Child of Dao, The Big 500, Planetary Aegis, One Against Many, Butcher, Progenitor Noblesse, Duplicity Core, Apex Hunter, Heaven's Chosen, Scion of Dao, Omnidextrous, Eastern Trigram Hunt - 1st, Tyrannic Force, Achievement Hunter, The First Step, Promising Specialist, Tower of Eternity - 8th Floor, Heaven's Triumvirate, Fated, Peak Power, Monarch-Select, Frontrunner, Apex Progenitor
Limited Titles
Tower of Eternity Sector All-Star - 14th