Omni-Mastery

[ You have absorbed the blood essence of a 'Whack Mole', purification in progress… ]

[ You have obtained 98,899 EP! ]

[ You have leveled up! ]

[ You have reached level 121! ]

'Is this supposed to be a coincidence…?'

Just as I jumped into the 37th mini-gate and killed the first mole inside, the notification that I had been waiting for suddenly sounded out in my mind.

Although I was both elated by the level increase and terrified of the ever-increasing amount of EP needed per level, I still noticed the strange coincidence of having leveled up just at the start of the fifth cycle of nines.

Moreover, that wasn't the only thing that made the coincidence seem ridiculous to me. Other than the level up the mole presented me with, he also died with almost no excessive force at all!

Although it wasn't perfect yet, I was at least sure that I would be able to reach the optimal amount of strength and speed by the end of this mini-gate!

Nonetheless, with how ridiculous things had been as of late, I didn't want to consume my brain cells thinking about it, especially when thinking about such things yielded nothing just like a dog chasing its own tail.

Having disregarded the distracting thoughts, I was able to pour my whole focus into 'control' again.. Allowing my sense of accomplishment to heighten! 

"This is it!"

I could feel it, while my speed still needed some work, each pierce of my spear had just enough force to kill a 'Whack Mole', nothing more or less!

Although barely eight hours had passed, the progress that I went through was phenomenal, even my muscles were visibly strained due to my forceful restraining. At the time of a normal weight lifter's training session, I felt the effects of a month of training at the very least.

The adaptation of the human body was scary in a sense. Just like I squeezed a few months of training into the window of 8 hours, I could already feel the flexibility of my control increasing. It was as if my nerve cells were evolving!

Of course, such progress was only possible as my human body had long surpassed the limits of humans. Otherwise, I would have already collapsed in the first 10 minutes…

'Not yet…'

However, to me, this was nothing but just the beginning. Only the first segment of my training plan was done, my use of this peculiar gate was far from over.

[ You have absorbed… ]

"Well, let's rest first though…"

Even to me, this much training was quite a 'stretch'...

`~~`~~`~~`

Sizzle…

Small sparks of fire rose as I used some Fire elements to light some dry wood for the 'just cause' of having a barbecue.

Although there was more than enough food already stored in my blackhole-like 'Dragon Stomach', I didn't want to deny myself the bliss of food after all the hard training that I did. 

Moreover, while it was true that I had more than a few dozen ready-to-eat meals stashed in my ring, I was already starting to get sick of eating the 'tasty' noodles after they acted as my staple food for the period I spent in the Corruption Space. In contrast, the chicken barbecue which I ate every once in a while was quite tempting.

Still, one of the main reasons I decided on BBQ was…

"Meow!"

Having smelled the burning wood that symbolized his favorite chicken barbecue, Light cried out as he jumped out of the bag in excitement.

"There you are!"

Naturally, my reason was none other than Light. Despite being dragged along on my arduous tasks, and hiding in his bag whenever I did something like the training earlier, Light rarely complained about anything. He simply shared my feelings of being happy with him by my side.

Since there was a proper occasion to have some good food, I particularly didn't waste it for the sake of Light more than anything.

Sizzle!

"Are you ready?"

After I put the marinated chicken on the grill, I started playing with Light in excitement as we exchanged thoughts. While I didn't involve Light in my 'gate exploration' so far, Light had an important role to play in my plan for this gate from the very beginning!

"Meow! Meoww!"

Expressing his excitement, Light's eyes sizzled just like the fire, almost melting my heart away…

I quickly flipped the chicken as I barely held on, anticipating what's to come even more than the food!

`~~`~~`~~`

"I have really come a long way…"

Having had two hours of rest, I directly jumped into a random 'Mole Hole', ignoring the now 'large sized' central one as a wave of nostalgia suddenly hit me…

Despite having barely spent 10 hours in this Demon Base Corruption Gate, I already managed to clear a third of the mini-gates even when it wasn't my main focus.

On the other hand, the old me had to spend no less than two weeks just to clear 100 mini-gates that had fewer enemies in comparison to the current gate. Although I only had double the stats I had had back then, my clearing efficiency increased by at least 5 times!

Obviously, the current gate's enemies did have certain patterns that made them much easier to wipe out, but I still felt the degree of my growth to a certain extent.

"I still have a long way to go."

Nonetheless, that only made me realize how much it lacked in contrast. Since my goal was quite the grand one, I couldn't simply be satisfied by my current strength!

Clearing my mind, I stood before my first prey in this mini-gate as I pierced with my spear.

Unlike the moles in the earlier mini-gate which suited my suppressed strength, this mole had a slightly higher level. As such, I had to now increase my force instead of suppressing it further!

'It's definitely smoother…'

I could already see the results of my earlier training, but I was less focused on training this time as something else was going on in my mind…

"Light! Are you ready for the bus?"

"Meow!"