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"Nnngggyaaaah…!" ​​

The woman in black cried as she was shrouded in attacks from all sides, she tried to use magic to free herself but felt as if it was being slowly drained, quickly realizing that something within Frank was slowly drawing all of her Mana away, however, as she was so immersed on killing him, she did not realize in time.

Falling into the ground, she was showered in fire and slicing attacks, as Ruby and Zhulong joined into the ruthless attack, with fire and thunder falling over her!

However, Frank quickly realized that she had stacked several shadow cloaks while taking Gwendolyn's and Nezhit attacks, and had somehow managed to offset some damage by breaking a potion she held and showering herself on its liquid.

The woman gnashed her teeth, glancing at Frank with an intense bloodlust!

"At least…! I have to kill you!!!" she roared, using her teleportation Spell, disappearing into a small explosion of shadows, and then appearing right behind Frank into another explosion of shadows.

"Brat! She teleported again!" cried Hades, alerting Frank of the woman emerging from the explosion of shadows!

Frank who was still healing himself with Gift of Death glanced at her with his augmented senses and mental skills, shifting his body to intercept her slashing magic spells.

"Die!" she roared, as enormous blades of shadows showered Frank, as he used his claws covered in purple and blue flames to intercept the attacks she threw at him while beginning to conjure a new Spell!

"Nether Ice!" Frank said, as from his body shrouded in enormous and ugly wounds where most of the bones could be seen, a wave of purple ice emerged, catching the woman in place, and freezing her completely, as Frank poured more and more mana into her so she could stay still!

"Nnngggaaaaahhh…!" she cried until she suddenly fell silent.

"Brat, let me heal you!" said Hades, concerned about Frank.

Frank fell to the ground, gasping for air as his lungs were completely broken apart, Hades quickly helped him conjure Gift of Death, regenerating his lungs and then closing the rest of the wounds around his body.

"Frank!" cried Gwendolyn, rushing towards the boy as she saw him barely grasping life… or death.

"My lord, are you okay?!" asked Nezhit.

"Hahh… Is it… over?" wondered Frank, glancing at the woman in black as she was completely frozen in the purple ice… he inspected her and found out that her soul was struggling to get out of the body… it meant that she was close to death, her body would sooner or later die off hypothermia or lack of oxygen.

"It seems that she is dying…" said Gwendolyn.

"She's still barely hanging at life, her soul is still struggling to get off her body," said Nezhit.

"Haahh, don't worry, she is not going anywhere… Even after death," said Frank his eyes gleaming with a scarlet light, as he stood up and bared the claws of his left hand.

The emerald eyes of the woman could clearly see him still, paralyzed within the purple ice, she seemed to feel… fear.

Frank glanced at her not smiling but with a dead-serious expression.

"Your Mana Cores are mine," said Frank, as his senses as an Undead grew more, making him voracious for the delicious Mana Cores within the woman in black.

Clash!

Seeping his claws into the purple ice, Frank swiftly seeped them right into the woman's chest, breaking apart the ribcage and crabbing something hard inside, pulling it out as an enormous black jewel was revealed, bathed in blood…

The woman's eyes seemed shocked, as the pain around her body was mostly dulled due to the freezing, however, her life was already escaping off her eyes…

However, Frank did this two more times, breaking apart her torso and taking two more Mana Cores, the ones she used as implants…

Frank glanced at her with voracity, as he moved the crystals to his mouth.

"F-Frank…?" asked Gwendolyn, a bit frightened about what he had just done.

"I am… rather hungry…" said Frank, as he began to munch into the Mana Cores, eating them like a snack, feeling a new surge of power through his body.

"E-Eeeh?" asked Gwendolyn in surprise, as she simply let the boy do as he pleased.

Ding!

[You gained +1238 World's Source Energy (Terra)]

[World's Source Energy (Terra): 1240/800]

[Congratulations, you have broken through Rank 1 Peak Stage, ascending into Rank 2 Initial Stage!]

[All of your stats have increased]

[Skill Proficiency Bonus Earned]

[Experience Points Bonus Earned]

[Several Skills have leveled up!]

[Required World's Source Energy to break through Mana Core Cultivation of Rank 2 Initial Stage: 440/1600]

Flash!

The moment Frank digested the Mana Cores, his Mana Core underwent an evolution!

Gwendolyn, Nezhit, Ruby, and Zhulong glanced at Frank as his chest started to gather more mana from the environment, as his Mana Core grew in size and power!

Frank felt as if not only his Mana Core, but his entire body was receiving similar treatment, he felt like his entire self was undergoing a great change.

However, as it quickly came, it quickly came to an end.

Frank felt as if his muscles, bones, skin, and even his senses were enhanced.

Although Frank had explained that anyone with the System was able to improve their Mana Core Cultivation through absorbing Mana Cores, Gwendolyn was left still baffled when she saw him raise to Rank 2 right in front of her eyes!

It was so impressive, because to become Rank 2, Gwendolyn had to cultivate for years while gathering resources and more, while Frank did all of this in just… a bit over a week!

"Frank… you're Rank 2 now?! Boy, you're already reaching my height…" said Gwendolyn while sighing.

Frank felt finally at ease, as the hunger he seemed to develop had finally ceased.

"Sigh… Sorry for acting so edgy, being an Undead has a few drawbacks, such as this hunger that comes after my own body suffers too much damage or I exert too much effort…" said Frank.

"No problem, now that you're fine, what are you going to do about her corpse? Will you save it in your Inventory?" wondered Gwendolyn.

"I was planning in turning her into an Undead, as she had just died," said Frank, as he noticed the System notifications alerting him of his level up.

Ding!

[Your level has increased to level 15!]

[Your level has increased to level 16!]

[Your level has increased to level 17!]

[Your level has increased to level 18!]

[All of your stats have increased]

[You acquired the [Magic Hoard: Level 1] Skill!]

[Magic Hoard: Level 1/10]

The ability to hoard magic mass within your Mana Core, gathering and saving mana for later usage and also increasing the power of your spells the more mana you hoard, its maximum quantity is limited to the Skill level and the Mana Core Rank.

"Four levels… Really, killing someone as strong as Rank 2 really did gave a lot of Experience Points… I completely broke through that progression wall… And this one Skill must be related to my Job… If I recall correctly, I read something about getting a Skill every five levels per Job," thought Frank.

Alongside Frank's leveling up, Gwendolyn reached Level 10 immediately based on the EXP gained and was able to change Jobs and get a few new Skills, alongside this, Nezhit, Zhulong, and Ginseng all hit max level and were waiting for Frank to let them evolve.

Having assessed things out, Frank glanced at the frozen corpse and the soul wavering around him… this was the woman he had just killed.

"What… I… I have really died… I have failed my mission… I couldn't fulfill my mission!" cried the woman's soul.

"You're still obsessed with the mission of killing me even after death…? Why was it so important for you? Who sent you here?" asked Frank.

"The one above all sent me here… the one that controls everything within the shadows… the ruler of the underworld of this nation… I was… his slave… I was experimented with and then after being one of the few that survived his experiments, I was given the job of becoming a personal assassin for him…" said the woman, spitting everything as she could not hold back even if she wanted due to Frank's authority over the dead, forcing her to speak the truth.

"Experimented with? So such things are going on… But even then, were you so fervently serviceable with him?" wondered Frank.

"No… I do all of this to protect them… my siblings… the other failed experiments that survived were sent into an orphanage… I was… there protecting them… using the money I earned to… feed them and give them clothes and a place to live… now… I cannot… I can't help them anymore…" she cried.

Frank heard her words, which were the truth, it seemed that this woman was not a simple run of the mill villain that came here to kill him and that did not have any backstory, in this world, everyone has a story, something they do, and a reason why they do it.

Frank considered her backstory and such people, innocent people that did not have anything to do with this, yet was connected through this woman that had come to kill him.

Although he could not feel guilt anymore, he felt that he might be able to help them if he wanted.

However, he decided not to, as it was not his problem, nor he wanted to have more people to protect if he was not strong enough to fulfill such promises.

"Well, now, you shall serve me from the shadows as well…" said Frank.

Frank smiled calmly as he destroyed the purple ice and moved the woman's soul back to her body, raising her as an Undead!

Flash!

"OoOOooOOOoooOOooHHhhHHhhh…!" cried the woman's corpse, reanimated through necromancy, and brought back as an Undead!

"You don't need to be so dramatic you know?" asked Gwendolyn.

"Yeah…" said Frank.

"My bad… I apologize, my lord," apologized the woman.

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