"You good?" Nian said, her face drawn to a grimace as she stared at Mat on the floor.

Mat was on all fours, taking deep bated breaths once before twice, using all the time he needed to get the lingering pain out of his system. On the floor beneath him was a black pool of nasty liquid, reeking out rancid smells like rotten eggs and all things unpleasant.

After a few seconds, he regained his bearings before staring daggers to Nian. "What the hell was that?"

"Don't be such a gloom, it worked perfectly." She gave him an innocent smile.

"You could have told me beforehand."

"I like surprises." Nian then threw him his clothes. "Anyways, get out of that shit pool already and put some clothes on- and check your status."

Mat grabbed his clothes and slid them on, one arm after another. It may have only been a passing feeling, but his shirt seemed to feel smaller and tighter- almost as if his body grew after the rank-up ritual. His gaze then landed back on the black rancid liquid pooling on the floor.

"What the hell is this?" Mat pinched his nose.

"That's the impurities of the body. The higher your rank, the more impurities are washed away from you."

"Seems fair." Mat nodded, taking many paces back away from the impurities before calling for his sprite.

"Status."

[Character Sheet]

Information

Name: Mateo Arsenio

Class: Soulmancer

Mana: Eclipse

Race: Human

Rank: Iron

Stats

Strength: F+

Endurance: F

Agility: E-

Sense: F+

Spirit: E-

Magic

Materialize I, Absorb II

Mat stared at the floating text in front of him with his eyes unusually affixed to a certain part. He then turned back to his sprite.

"Can I check my absorption skill?"

Absorb II [Magic]

Tier I

Can consume a soul to strengthen the body. The absorbed soul only retains 33% of its original strength.

Tier II

Consumed souls have a passive heal over time effect on the body. Has a stacking regenerative effect with other consumed souls.

Mat went wide-eyed as he read through the floating text. If it said what he thought it said, it would mean his body would regenerate wounds at a faster rate than normal. It could even mean he'd be able to regenerate limbs, though that was just a far-fetched guess.

"How many souls have I absorbed?"

[Guide]

Absorbed souls: 126

Mat doubled back again. "Current regeneration?"

[Guide]

Regeneration due to absorbed souls: +34%

Mat shrugged, feeling the excitement leave him. He was slightly disappointed given the low percentage increase of his body regeneration, but he took what he could get. A powerup is a powerup. As long as he fought more and more monsters and grew stronger, his regeneration would naturally increase- or so that would have been the case, but it wasn't.

The reason was that it had a catch. Sure Mat could kill more and more monsters to increase his regeneration, but he knew there was a hard limit to his regeneration. That was the catch; his spirit stat would limit the maximum regeneration he can reach along with his other abilities to a certain extent. Like how his current minion count was limited to only three, his regeneration would also reach a cap depending on his current spirit stat.

"So, what do you think?" Nian waved a hand over his face, dragging him out of his thoughts.

"I feel good." Mat brushed all over himself with his hands. "Not big of a difference, but I feel kind of… new."

"Wait until you look in a mirror-"

"Get down!" Youmu shouted from the distance. It was loud- a tone commanding attention.

In a blur of movement, Mat found himself in Nian's embrace, her hands clutching him tightly as if protecting him from something- something out there that caused Youmu to raise such a ruckus.

Mat took a small peek behind Nian, but he soon wished he hadn't. His eyes widened. There was fire. A giant wave of hellfire surged forth from the dungeon boss' corpse, shaking the core of the earth below as the blue flames swept over the area like a tidal wave, scorching everything in sight.

Mat's three familiars formed a barricade in front, attempting to wall against the oncoming wave that sought to burn every corner of the giant room.

Flames engulfed them, the burns feeling like they were bathing in hell itself. Mat could feel his skin seared and frostbitten, fiery and chill all stirred to a grating feeling as his clothes burnt against the flames. His lungs stung and sizzled, forcing him to hold in his air. He could see nothing but only Nian in front, her hair burning against the flames to black as she clutched at Mat as tightly as he did to her. Her hands shivered in the cold, and her skin peeled from the heat.

It was hell.

Mat didn't know how long it would last. Each second, each tick, and each moment of time- he was aching in pain. Every second passing felt like an eternity, and with every tick of the clock he'd lose a fingers' sense of touch. One after another, his fingers were robbed of their senses until everything from his hand up was left dull and unfeeling.

Finally, everything settled. Mat opened his burnt eyelids, a passing pain shirking him. He could feel Nian let go, but once she did, she collapsed over herself, dropping to the ground with a hard thud.

Her body was seared from the flames. Her clothes were scorched away, leaving only her bare skin turned black, cracked and crumbled. She wasn't moving. Amigo, Wingman, and Juggernaut were burnt to only fragments of green specks floating endlessly in front.

Mat's eyes were in a deadlock. They'd protected him, shielded him from the fire. His burnt hands were only second to what Nian and his familiars endured. His vision blurred as he felt a cold tingle run down his cheeks, his emotions a second away from bursting.

"Move." Youmu pushed him away, her silver armor gleaming with the health potion she held. The color of the potion caught Mat's eyes.

This potion was different, with a gleam of gold aside from the usual red.

Youmu then poured all the potion into Nian's lips. After a moment of stillness- with all of Mat's unfounded hope amounting to- her skin started to turn back to its usual color, and with the rising and falling of her chest, Mat let out relief like never before.

"Oh fuck." Mat dropped to himself, his chest tightened as tears then flowed from his face. "I thought she was going to die."

"Catch." Youmu threw him a potion. It was a normal one. "Your hands are looking like they need attention. We don't got another A-class potion, so you'll have to make do with that one."

"Thanks." Of course, it was already a miracle in and of itself that Nian recovered. Mat couldn't dare ask for anything more. He downed the potion, feeling his entire body lighten with relief as a breeze swirled inside him. His hands turned back to their usual color, light brown as they should be with the pain from his burns and charred skin fading. He felt like he was showering in holy water. He then clenched his hands- at least, he tried to, but there was a slight problem.

He couldn't move one hand.