Unaware of what had happened, Arthur moved far away from the Horpheus’s location.

  When the sun rose and he found a quiet place, he sat down on the ground and took out the Primal Cores he had obtained.

  He took a deep breath and steadied his mental state, then focused all his attention on his Primal Core, observing it carefully. After that, he tossed one of the cores into his mouth and swallowed it.

  [ +4 XP ]

  Just like last time, his core began to show strange activity. Its temperature rose, and he felt that something was happening, but before he could get a clear sense of what it was, it returned to its dormant state.

  'Tsk, this isn’t enough. Its activity lasted for a shorter time this round. Maybe I should hunt stronger D-Rank monsters.'

  In truth, even though the Rank classification system was clear and built on solid foundations, it wasn’t necessarily very precise. Not all monsters within the same Rank were equal in strength.

  For example, a monster that had just reached D-Rank couldn’t be compared to a veteran that had spent a long time at D-Rank, and that veteran, in turn, was still not on the same level as a monster on the verge of reaching C-Rank.

  And that wasn’t all. There were several other factors that created noticeable differences in strength levels, such as evolution paths, Skills, bloodline purity, intelligence, and even willpower.

  Since the "Evaluation" skill only showed him a monster’s Rank, Arthur relied on his instincts to determine which monsters were within his reach and easy to deal with, and which were stronger and would pose a real danger if he tried to hunt them.

  Of course, his instincts weren’t always accurate. Many times, he ended up facing monsters far stronger than expected or led himself into dangers more obscure than he had anticipated.

  What happened earlier with the Horpheus monsters was a perfect example of that.

  Even so, these differences in strength were not extreme enough to justify creating sub-ranks within the Ranks themselves, and Arthur could be considered proof of that.

  He had always hunted monsters stronger than himself, more numerous than himself, and even ones with more diverse Skills than his own, relying solely on his intelligence and Iron Will.

  Overall, all the monsters he had hunted tonight were considered slightly weak, so their Primal Cores were not of particularly high quality, unlike what he had hoped for.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "I guess focusing on quantity over quality wasn’t a good idea. Fine then… if one core isn’t enough, what about two? Or even three?"

  He picked up two cores and swallowed them at the same time. This time, his Primal Core reacted more strongly than before, and its activity lasted longer.

  Not wasting the opportunity, he observed it carefully while also sensing his physical condition. Still, once again, he noticed no changes.

  He frowned in irritation, the trace of hesitation vanishing from his eyes, and swallowed the remaining four cores in one go.

  The moment they reached his stomach, his core pulsed violently, its temperature rising at a rapid pace. Even his pathways showed clear activity this time, and his pores opened, absorbing a small amount of mana from his surroundings.

  "This is unbelievable!"

  This state continued for about five minutes. When everything finally settled down and he at last understood what had happened, he muttered in astonishment,

  "My Primal Core grew a little… and even the mana inside me increased."

  The increase in size he was referring to was minimal and barely noticeable, so he wasn’t completely certain. He quickly summoned his Status.

  [— Status —]

  Name: Arthur Grafton

  Race: Zombie Wolf

  Rank: D

  XP: 757 / 4000

  HP: 900 / 950

  Mana: 120 / 120

  Evolution Points: 30

  [— Basic Status —]

  Strength: 67

  Endurance: 69

  Speed: 44

  Agility: 32

  Vitality: 95

  Perception: 31

  Mana Control: 17

  [— Skills —]

  Primal Predator (SSS)

  The Last One Standing (S)

  King’s Bloodline (A)

  Immortal Body (A)

  Dimensional Storage (B)

  Evaluation (B)

  Enhanced Senses (D)

  Unbreakable will (B)

  Regeneration (D)

  Poison Immunity (D)

  — — —

  Upon seeing the change in his mana bar, all his doubts vanished. A surge of joy washed over him, and he found himself wishing he had even more cores.

  Naturally, the excitement was so overwhelming that he could no longer stay still.

  He rose to his feet, his body taut and radiating a powerful aura, and considered immediately going out to hunt every D-Rank beast he could find.

  However, just before moving, he remembered that he still had another Primal Core.

  'Wait… could the damaged core I obtained earlier also be of use if I eat it? I don’t know, but there’s no harm in trying. It won’t hurt me anyway.'

  Arthur was confident in the strength of his stomach, capable of dissolving rock and bone alike, so there was no need for hesitation or fear.

  He took out the large, dark-colored core, placed it into his massive mouth, and bit down hard. It shattered into several fragments that emitted a faint glow for a brief moment, after which he swallowed them all at once.

  However, unlike before, his Primal Core showed no reaction at all. Even after three minutes had passed, nothing happened.

  'Tsk, it was useless, just as I expected. Still… this is truly disappointing.'

  He let out a short sigh and, without paying the matter any further attention, decided to search for real, useful cores. Yet the moment he took a step forward, he froze in place.

  His stomach churned violently, and before he could understand what was happening, he felt a sharp, stabbing pain pierce through his chest.

  His core erupted like an angry volcano, its heat rising with unimaginable speed to the point where he felt it would melt through his flesh.

  That wasn't all; every one of his pathways began to shake and pulse with violent force.

  All his pores opened wide, greedily absorbing Mana from his surroundings as if he were an insatiable abyss.

  'No, my body?... What is happening to me?'

  Although Arthur possessed great pain resistance, he felt an unbearable agony. His body was burning and throbbing as if it were on the verge of exploding, which terrified him deeply; even his thoughts became completely chaotic.

  [ +2 XP ]

  [ +2 XP ]

  [...]

  Dozens of XP screens flashed before his eyes before a massive red screen appeared.

  [ Danger ]

  [ Overload ]

  Crack!

  Suddenly, a small crack appeared in his core, and some of his pathways tore apart. His eyes widened, and a terrifying thought crossed his mind: he was literally about to explode.

  "No, no... I won't allow this!"

  He gritted his teeth and quickly activated the "Regeneration" skill at its maximum, then the "Immortal Body" skill.

  He began to run forward like a madman, crashing into anything in his path in an attempt to consume even a small portion of the Mana inside him.