Ren rested in the dark corner of the cave. His four summons stood beside him, watching the area like silent statues.
He looked at his blood-stained palm. He thought about the past few days. Why don't I have a massive army yet? he asked himself.
The answer was simple. Mana and mental strain.
It was true he had three summon attempts every day. But controlling active monsters all at once drained his energy like a black hole. Right now, his hard limit was four active summons. Any more, and his mind would snap under the pressure.
He closed his eyes. Elena's face flashed in his mind. Her smile was the only warm thing in his brutal life. But reality was harsh. She was a millionaire's daughter. He was just a slum porter trying to feed his family and pay for his sick grandfather's meds.
"Power is the only way out," Ren whispered. "I'll find you, Elena. No matter how high that class wall is."
He sighed heavily. He still had a long way to go to reach wealth, glory, and true power.
"System. Status Window."
Ding! A blue screen popped up instantly.
[Name: Ren]
[Class: Summoner (Rank F)]
[Level: 12 (Exp: 1200/3000)]
[Strength: 20 | Speed: 16 | Endurance: 20 | Mana: 10]
[Extracted Skills: Shadow Step, Crushing Grip, Partial Pain Immunity, Poison Bite]
[Trait: Cosmic Furnace]
[Active Summons: 4/4]
[Summon Attempts: 3/3 | Fusion Attempts: 3/3]
"What should I upgrade first? Looks like I'll push my level. System, consume 5 E-Rank cores to break the level cap."
Ding!
[5 E-Rank cores consumed successfully.]
[Congratulations! You leveled up!]
[Current Level: 13]
[Exp: 1200/3800]
Ding!
[The requirement to auto-upgrade to Level 14 is 10 E-Rank cores.] The calm female voice echoed in his head again.
"Yeah, consume them."
Ding!
[10 E-Rank cores deducted.]
[Congratulations, you leveled up to Level 14.]
[Exp: 1200/4900]
Ding!
[You cannot level up further at this time. You must face the Promotion Battle to reach Level 15 and Rank E.]
Ren felt a massive wave of energy tear through his tissues and rebuild them. He grew slightly taller. His muscles bulged, packing dense and terrifying power.
"Wait, what? I can upgrade my actual rank?" Ren was shocked by the last notification. He completely forgot the rush of his new power.
Ding! The female voice chimed in.
[Affirmative. The Player's rank can be upgraded to higher tiers, such as SSS-Rank...]
"What? SSS-Rank exists?" Ren's eyes widened. He always thought the "Protector Rank"—just above S-Rank—was the absolute ceiling, according to the old myths and rumors. He never thought the Cosmic Furnace's power literally defied the heavens.
"Let's save the promotion test for later. Right now, I need to gather resources to sell to that old man Murphy so I can get the custom gear I ordered."
"System, max out the rest of my stats for this level."
[Processing... 140 F-Rank cores consumed.]
[Stats Updated:]
[Strength: 30 | Speed: 25 | Endurance: 30 | Mana: 18]
Ren looked at what he had left in his pockets. 200 F-Rank cores and 4 E-Rank cores.
"System, drop 100 F-Rank cores to upgrade Number 2 (White Goblin) and Number 3 (Stone Ape). Feed the 4 E-Rank cores to upgrade Number 4 (Bone Knight)."
Minutes later, the glowing light faded. His army looked like a nightmare. Number 1 (Armored) was Level 9, and the rest hit Levels 7 and 8 at E-Rank.
Ren stood up and dusted off his clothes. He gripped the handle of his metal pickaxe tightly.
"Enough resting."
Ren walked out of the cave. The sun was setting. The trench-filled plains were buzzing with the sound of spiders again.
"Number 1, Number 3, take the front. Number 2, scout the flanks. Number 4, watch my back."
The squad of five shot into the depths of Zone Z35 at lightning speed. The next fight wasn't just for cores. It was a live training session before the promotion dungeon opened up a whole new world for Ren.