Chapter 310: Options [GOLDEN TICKET BONUS]

Alex smiled with satisfaction, feeling considerably more refreshed than he had the previous night. His healing ability had become more effective, and his Soul Recovery Spell had finally advanced after remaining at Level 1 for quite some time.

The Star Plum Arasia fruit still hadn’t appeared, but Alex wasn’t particularly worried. The Rune Compendium had stated that the fruit would appear under the conditions present on this mountain, so he expected it to emerge tonight or tomorrow night.

There was also the possibility that its appearance would attract powerful monsters, which Alex actually considered beneficial. As long as he recovered properly, fighting additional monsters would provide excellent opportunities to improve his spells before entering the Kraken Dungeon.

Alex stretched his body and decided to examine Mana Shuriken’s evolution options before heading down for breakfast. He had avoided doing so the previous night because healing his brain required his complete concentration, and splitting his attention during such a delicate process could have been extremely dangerous.

Now that he had recovered, however, there was no reason to postpone the decision any longer. He focused on the notification he had previously dismissed, causing a new window to appear before his eyes.

[Mana Shuriken Spell can now be evolved. Choose an evolution: Advanced Mana Shuriken Spell. Mana Saw Spell, Levitation Mana Shuriken Spell, Mana Drill Spell, Spinning Mana Bullet Spell]

Alex examined the five options. Advanced Mana Shuriken appeared to be the straightforward improvement of his existing spell, probably providing better control, stability, and destructive power without fundamentally changing how it worked.

Mana Saw seemed to operate on a similar principle, using rotational force to create a cutting weapon. However, Alex believed he could develop something like that himself by modifying Mana Shuriken’s structure, so he didn’t consider it particularly valuable.

Levitation Mana Shuriken was somewhat more interesting because he had already used Mana Shuriken to fly. Choosing that evolution would probably give him a better understanding of levitation and allow him to perform the technique more efficiently.

Unfortunately, Alex had already discovered a better method of flight using Kinetic Mana, which meant that the evolution wouldn’t provide much that he couldn’t accomplish himself.

Mana Drill and Spinning Mana Bullet were also applications of Mana Shuriken that he had experimented with last night. Both were useful, with Mana Drill being suitable for close combat, while Spinning Mana Bullet would improve his attacks at longer distances.

Although Alex could already make his mana bullets spin, his control over their rotation was far from perfect. Choosing Spinning Mana Bullet would probably give him the knowledge required to perform the technique properly without spending additional time developing it himself.

After considering all five options, Alex confirmed that none of them offered anything he couldn’t eventually learn through practice. They were all useful evolutions, but their greatest advantage was the time they would save him.

Moreover, Alex was planning to fuse Mana Shuriken with Disruption Mana Blade to create a stronger spell while freeing up one of his spell slots. Since Disruption Mana Blade had already reached Level 8, he believed it wouldn’t take much longer before he could evolve it as well.

With that in mind, Alex decided to postpone his decision and headed down the mountain to join the others for breakfast.

The group was eating the meat of the High Rank Species monsters they had previously killed, and Alex had become increasingly convinced of its nutritional value. Considering how much physical energy he had consumed while training yesterday, he should have exhausted himself several times over, even with Advanced Blood Vitalization helping him recover.

However, the energy provided by the meat had allowed him to continue training without experiencing the exhaustion he would normally have expected. It was another reason he wanted to enter the Kraken Dungeon as soon as possible, since obtaining more High Rank Species meat would benefit everyone.

While eating, Alex noticed that quite a few people were missing from the gathering. Most of them were currently undergoing species evolution, having finally accumulated enough Gene Potential to advance into Mid Rank Species.

Sarah had already obtained enough Gene Potential after clearing the Badger Dungeon, while several others had reached the requirement during yesterday’s journey through the forest. Alex was pleased by their progress, since increasing everyone’s species rank would significantly improve their chances against the kraken dungeon.

"I’ll be returning to Earth for a while. I want to look for the Beast I mentioned yesterday and see whether it’s willing to cooperate with us," Alex said after finishing his breakfast.

Matthew nodded before replying, "All right, but be careful when approaching it. We’ll continue preparing for the Kraken Dungeon while you’re gone."

Alex acknowledged his words and activated his Return Skill, allowing his consciousness to sink into darkness. When he regained consciousness, however, he didn’t feel the familiar softness of the mattress beneath him.

Instead, the first things he heard were screams, hurried footsteps, and people shouting for help. Alex immediately activated Advanced Battle Instincts at full power and sat upright, examining his surroundings.

He was lying inside a large tent alongside dozens of sleeping people, whom he assumed were other Pioneers who were in the Land of Origin. The situation was strange enough that everyone had been moved outside, but what concerned Alex even more was the complete absence of guards.

He also noticed that the concentration of Origin Energy in the surroundings was considerably higher than before. Something had clearly happened during his absence, so he quickly stood up and rushed outside.

However, the moment he stepped out of the tent, Alex froze. The high school where he had previously stayed was mostly destroyed, with many sections of the buildings reduced to rubble.

Injured people were being carried in different directions, while others desperately searched through the debris for anyone who might still be trapped underneath. Alex looked around in disbelief, struggling to understand how the situation could have deteriorated so badly in such a short time.

There were injured people everywhere, and although several individuals appeared to be helping them, the number of available healers was clearly insufficient.

’What happened here?’ Alex wondered, glancing toward the portal.

..

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