Trapped as an NPC in a Dating Sim

Chapter 108: Evolving to S-rank Class!

Level 65 draconic monsters were really something else.

All this time, Soren didn’t really face them head-on; he wasn’t much affected by their sole aura, unlike Elise.

But the moment one monster locked onto him, Soren lost his trump card instantly. It was so fast that he was really caught off guard.

Even his passive, King’s Grace, was a bit late to react, causing him to freeze momentarily.

To be honest, Soren admitted that he got a bit carried away by greed, trying to get as many cores as possible before the monsters arrived.

Fortunately, although injured slightly, he did manage to gather 8 monster cores, all above level 60.

’System, use the GAP stat and increase the rank of my class.’

Now that he had suddenly lost his trump card, Soren felt far more insecure.

So, the moment he gathered himself, he immediately distanced himself and flew above the sky, before landing right on top of a huge tree.

*Roar!*

Then he immediately released his skill, Spirit of Zephyr, all the while ignoring the roaring monsters below, and gave the next order to his system.

He hoped that the monster core he just absorbed using his Unique Skill: Core Infusion was enough to sustain his next evolution, because he clearly got only 2 seconds of time when he tentatively checked before.

Of course, he didn’t really evolve his class since he was always wary of doing so under the academy’s influence.

While he could make them believe that he somehow increased his class ranking from B to A-rank archer, he definitely couldn’t show them he was already an S-rank archer, however brief and temporary it might be.

But with his situation now, he had no choice.

He was just fortunate that this Thornscale Drake didn’t give him a stat reduction debuff, and only pressured him with Draconic aura.

Now, with no choice left, Soren hoped that his next evolution would help him in this predicament.

To be honest, considering his previous experience, Soren was a bit confident, foolishly so.

—

Ding!

[You have chosen to apply your new stat: GAP to your A-rank Class: Tempest Strider.]

[You have 1 GAP point.]

[Congratulations! Your class, Archer (A-rank), has evolved to Artemis’s Radiance (S-rank)!]

[Warning: Your mana core is too weak. You can maintain this state for only 2 seconds.]

[Multiple mana cores have been detected. You can use them to extend your current state by 5 minutes.]

[Using an affinity-attributed attack may reduce the remaining time limit.]

—

And Soren was damn right.

The moment the system gave its prompt, he felt his muscles tightening and refining once more, his body becoming lean and precise, just like that of an archer, exactly as he had experienced before.

Only this time, the change wasn’t limited to his body.

Sure, he felt his strength visibly increasing, and his eyes sharpening more than anything he had ever felt before.

Hell, Soren even felt his reflexes surge countless times over.

But none of that grabbed his attention as much as the golden halo that slowly began emanating from his entire body.

“W-what is this?”

In fact, the halo was so pronounced that, for a moment, it almost overshadowed the one emanating from the World Tree in front of him.

Fortunately, it dimmed quickly, letting Soren breathe a sigh of relief.

Still, he noticed that the light was strangely familiar, almost like the one he saw when using the skill, Artemis Grace.

’Come to think of it, even the class name is Artemis’s Radiance. Maybe it is connected somehow?’

*Roar!*

Soren didn’t have much time to think, though, as after seeing his transformation, Thornscale Drake got visibly irritated and once again shot another metallic spike right at him with extreme speed.

Once again, Soren felt the presence of the Razor-Sharp Shard right in front of his face, aiming to directly pierce through his head.

*Swoosh!*

But this time, Soren wasn’t as helpless as before.

Every time he increased his class rank using the GAP stat, his state was in the highest tier in that ranking.

Though he would be heavily nerfed due to his low mana and base physique and level, he would still be countless times stronger than his usual state.

That’s why, although his A-rank class was named Tempest Strider, it didn’t have the same effect as when he became that class from B-rank Archer using GAP before.

*Spirit of Zephyr!*

Once again, Soren used his movement-type passive skill, only to suddenly warp himself and Elise in a thin veil of wind, before disappearing from his position instantly.

*Boom!*

He was so fast that it almost looked as if he had teleported, appearing at a distance, watching the metallic spike directly pierce the tree he had been in, reducing it violently into tiny fragments.

If Soren were even a second late, no doubt this would be his state right now.

And yet, despite such heavy danger surrounding them, ending in a life-and-death situation, Elise didn’t show even a bit of fear.

Rather, she was still hugging Soren’s neck, her breathing growing heavier and heavier all of a sudden. It was as if she had been affected by something after Soren increased his class to S-rank.

Unfortunately, Soren didn’t have time to pay attention to her at all.

After all, the monster in front of him was level 65, almost double his level.

And it seemed his continuous dodging had irked its nerves, as its eyes were practically glued to him, its thick, murderous, vertical eyes growing more and more bloodthirsty.

A mere level 36 weakling, and that too a lower race, dared to save himself from two of its fatal attacks continuously.

How could it not be enraged?

However faint it may be, it definitely had a trace of Dragon Bloodline in its body.

And with that came the pride that nobody should ever dare to trample on.

*Swoosh!*

In an instant, Soren felt something in the surroundings change as countless spikes around the body of the Thornscale Drake began to hum in extreme resonance.

Simultaneously, a strange invisible field suddenly sprang from the body of the huge Drake, instantly engulfing the entire area, including the sky Soren was floating in, swallowing them both.

—

[Thornscale Drake has used its domain: Gravity Well!]

[You have been affected by the domain effect ’Crushing Gravity’. Your movement speed and agility have been reduced by 50% due to your low level.]

[All flying-type artifacts below C-rank have been forcibly suppressed.]

[You cannot fly using a normal attributed skill or artifact anymore.]

[Please note that you are now in a combat state and cannot leave the dungeon unless you leave its domain.]

—

Soren didn’t need the ’Voice of the World’ to tell him its effect, as the moment the field surrounded him, he felt his body getting countless times heavier than ever before.

Not to mention the artifact, the Crimson Wyvern Sigil directly stopped working.

Just as Soren felt a bit of dread due to the stat reduction, he suddenly felt his body glowing softly, slipping through the field lightly.

Simultaneously, he felt the cloud of heaviness dissipating, getting lighter all of a sudden.

“Hmm?”

For a moment, Soren was a bit shocked to find that he actually got out of the domain instantly.

’What happened?’

Soren was a bit confused when, once again, he heard the prompt from the ’Voice of the World’,

—

[Your SS-rank passive, King’s Will, has nullified the domain: Gravity Well!]

[All stats have been completely restored. You are no longer affected by the domain’s effects.]

—

“Ah…”

Soren finally realized what had happened.

With his class ascension, all his skills also ascended by one rank, including his S-rank passive, King’s Grace.

Although Soren wanted to look at this new skill’s effect, he didn’t have time for it after all.

*Roar!*

Not when he was still inside the domain.

Although Soren quickly adjusted himself in the sky with the help of his passive skill, it took him a moment to stabilize his body, losing his balance and falling slightly.

Unfortunately, the Drake seemed to be waiting for him to lose his cool.

The moment he fell even slightly, it roared menacingly, displacing the air around it, and suddenly ran from its position, heading straight for Soren.

The most incredible part was that it was actually running in the sky, using its metallic spikes as steps, rising higher and higher.

Clearly, the Drake was not incapable of fighting in the sky at all. It just didn’t care to do so before.

*Boom!*

For such a large body, it showed incredible agility.

The ground it left directly caved in from the strong pressure, while Soren saw a literal huge boulder flying right in front, as if fired from a trebuchet.