Chương 116

The cave went totally quiet. The invisible magic chains snapped. Mumud collapsed onto the stone floor, his glowing orb rolling away into the dust. Rudra lowered his staff. He let out a long breath and looked down at his pet. Kratos sat on the floor, licking his chops. The cub blinked. He tilted his head, smacking his jaws like he was tasting the ghost's leftovers.

"A bit chewy," Kratos said. Rudra froze. Kratos froze. The cub slowly raised a black paw to his mouth. His golden eyes went wide. He looked at Rudra, then at his paw, then back to Rudra.

"I talked!" Kratos yelled. His voice sounded like an excited little kid. He immediately started bouncing around the ruined vault on his hind legs.

"Rudra! Rudra! I'm talking! I can use human words! Can we get meat now? I want the spicy boar stew! The big one!" Rudra couldn't help it. A real smile broke across his face.

"Yeah, buddy. We can definitely get meat." Before Kratos could celebrate, a bright light burst from the cub's body. Half of his fur radiated pure, bright gold. The other half leaked pitch-black darkness. The two colors swirled around him in a tight circle. [Your pet 'Kratos' has consumed the soul fragment of a Legend!] [Kratos has reached Level 213!] [Kratos has evolved!] [The vocal cords of your pet 'Kratos' have fully developed.] When the glowing faded, Kratos hadn't turned into a giant monster.

He was still small. But his fur was much sleeker, and his golden stripes pulsed with real magic.

"I feel tingly," Kratos announced, shaking out his fur. Rudra opened his pet window to see what eating a Great Magician had actually done. [Name]: Kratos [Species]: Imperial Lion (Mutant) [Level]: 213 [Status]: Happy [Health]: 350, 000 [Mana]: 60, 000 [Strength]: 1, 500 [Stamina]: 2, 000 [Agility]: 2, 100 [Intelligence]: 1, 600 [Affinity]: 100 / 100 [Attribute]: Light / Dark If you come across this story on Amazon, it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. [Skills]: [Eclipse Strike (Lv. 5)]: [Fires a concentrated beam of combined light and dark energy from the mouth or paws. - Deals massive physical and magical damage. - Enemies hit have a high chance of getting a 2-second [Blind] or [Disorient] effect. Resource Consumption: 500 Mana. Cooldown: 1 Minute.] [Shadow Step (Lv. 3)]: [Instantly teleport between any cast shadows within 30 meters. Cannot be used in total darkness or total light. Resource Consumption: 100 Stamina. Cooldown: None.] [Mana Devourer (Lv. 4)]: [A unique mutation caused by the corrupted essence of Yatan injected into his mother while he was in the womb. The beast can unhinge its jaws to eat raw mana, active spells, or weakened souls, turning them into Health and Stamina. - Special Effect: Kratos now has a 5% chance to permanently learn any magic spell he eats.] [Legendary Magician's Wisdom (Lv. 1)]: [A passive trait from eating Braham's soul fragment. - Magic Attack Power +30%. - Mana Regeneration +50%. - Grants 'Mana Sight': Kratos can easily see hidden magic traps and weak points in spells.]"You ate a ghost and learned how to read magic," Rudra muttered.

"Good boy."

"Does this mean I get double portions?" Kratos asked. Before Rudra could answer, a flood of system alerts completely took over his vision. [You have defeated the soul fragment of a Legend!] [Experience has been acquired.] [You have reached Level 300!] Rudra let out a sigh of relief. He finally hit his goal. But the messages kept rolling. [Phase 5 of the 'Staff Saint Candidate' class quest has been cleared.] [You are no longer a candidate.] [A new Legend is born.] Suddenly, the sky outside the dungeon—and all across the entire game—turned bright gold. Every single player online saw the same server-wide message flash in big, bold text. [A legendary Staff Saint has been born!] Back in the vault, Rudra felt a strange, weightless feeling wash over him. It didn't hurt. It just felt like his ears popped on an airplane. [The class transition is beginning.] [You have lost the title 'Staff Saint Candidate'.] [You have lost the title 'Great Staffsman'.] [All basic and intermediate class skills are being wiped to make room for your legendary foundation.] [Skill 'Crushing Strike' has been deleted.] [Skill 'Iron Guard' has been deleted.] [Skill 'Blunt Force' has been deleted.] [Skill 'Sweeping Gale' has been deleted.] Rudra blinked. He gripped his staff. He didn't forget how to fight. His arms still remembered exactly how to swing and block. His muscle memory was totally fine. But the system's automatic pull was gone.

He didn't have the game's targeting assist anymore. He had to do it all himself now. Then came the big hit. [Resetting Level...] [Your level has dropped from 300 to Level 1.] [All stat points gained from leveling up and your previous class base have been removed.] Rudra slumped a little. His shoulders felt suddenly heavy. The Staff of the Fire Lord dragged down in his hands. He was definitely weaker. A huge chunk of his raw power was just gone. But he didn't feel weak like a normal Level 1 newbie.

Not even close. Thanks to all the dishes, titles, and his insane cooking backlog, his baseline stats were still completely ridiculous. The system took away his level stats, but it didn't touch his food stats. Kratos walked up and sniffed his boots.

"You smell weird," the cub said.

"Like a totally new person."

"I am," Rudra said. He stood up straight, testing the new weight of his body. He spun the staff once. It was slower, but it felt solid. Real.

"Status Window," Rudra said.