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Sometime earlier, during the encounter with the first village of Corrupted Dark Elves.

Golem Hold[B+].

\'I can\'t die here... I can\'t...\'

Driven beyond his limits, Mark had decided to hide.

From the enemies. From the pain.

\'I can\'t die here. I\'m supposed to...\'

Quiet desperation.

Clank-

With each sound of a Dagger or arrow knocking, Mark\'s body trembled.

Clank-

Five Daggers hit the protective barricade at once, which amplified the noise resonating inside that barricade.

Mark responded in kind to the increase in sound with growls of his own.

\'I\'M SUPPOSED TO...\'

Clank-

\'BECOME KING, RIGHT?\'

Mark asked.

But no one answered.

\'THEN...!\'

CLANK-

His body shuddered.

And his mind went blank.

\'What the hell... Am I supposed to do... Trapped... AGAIN!\'

Mark clenched his fists until his palms bled.

\'How the hell... Am I supposed to get out of here...\'

He gritted his teeth until they hurt.

\'This is all supposed to be... A stepping stone... Right? RIGHT? THEN...\'

Mark grabbed his head as if he was trying the crush his own skull.

\'Then... This is all... A test... Right?\'

Clank-

Mark\'s eyes followed where the sound came from.

Clank-

His gaze followed.

Clank-

\'Ha... Hahaha... They...\'

Hope.

\'They can\'t break it...\'

Clank-

Monstrous chuckles echoed.

Almost delirious, Mark laughed and laughed.

\'Tests... Are meant to be passed... So... Once again...\'

He stared at the rocks that encircled him.

That hid him.

That protected him.

\'There\'s a way... For me to do this...\'

Mark\'s thoughts started racing.

\'They can\'t break it. Rocks. Blunt. Blades. Daggers. Arrows... What I need is...\'

He extended a hand forward, and lay his palm against the rocks.

\'Fire Control. Or Fire Manipulation. I need... Something like that...\'

Mark pushed slightly against the cold rocks.

\'If I can freely control these rocks... Or the ground... Earth Magic? Yeah. Something like that. Earth Manipulation...\'

The sounds of daggers bouncing back echoed, but Mark\'s mind barely registered them anymore.

\'But how do I acquire that? Tsk. That should\'ve been the reward for devouring the 4th Floor\'s Guardian, not some...\'

Mark took a deep breath to keep himself from getting sidetracked.

\'Magic... Magic... Manipulation...\'

He brushed the smooth rocky surface with his hand.

\'Let my Mana... Flow out... Into the rocks... And then... As if they were flames...\'

Nothing happened.

Mark tried twice more.

Nothing.

\'Tsk. Get them out.\'

Two Elite Lower Demon Warriors were turned into spheres of energy.

[Your Title "Devourer" is looking at you.]

\'Make sure it replenishes my Mana. Mana. You hear? Not anything else.\'

[Your Title "Devourer" is looking at you.]

[Your Title "Devourer" nods.]

\'Good.\'

Swallow-

Mark immediately felt his Mana Points increase.

\'Now that I have more Mana, let\'s try it again...\'

Nothing.

\'Fuck... FUCK! I don\'t get it. My Mana enters the rocks just fine but... It\'s too different. The feeling I get when controlling flames and-\'

The answer had been staring at him for a while.

\'Ha... Haha. It\'s nothing like Fire Control. No. Why would it be? If anything, the feeling of controlling earth would be closer to...\'

Small spikes appeared on the smooth surface at Mark\'s whim.

\'Bone Manipulation.\'

A large smile appeared on his face.

\'Controlling flames and controlling a solid... Object? Would be completely different.\'

His heart beat faster.

Mark moved his hands, and the spikes broke into pieces.

\'That\'s the difference. Fire... Flames... Are one continuous... While bones and earth are...\'

Clank-

\'What to do now... If I want to develop Earth Manipulation, should I keep repeating this? It might work. I\'ve obtained some Skills obtained that way. Though it hasn\'t happened in a while...\'

Mark stared at his palm. And the broken spikes levitated to cover that palm.

\'Golem Armor... I need something like that, but on a smaller scale so that I can keep my mobility. Earth Manipulation... Let\'s try to...\'

By this point, Mark was close.

Very close, to developing "Earth Manipulation".

The only thing he lacked was...

Developing that Magic Skill would have been a massive win.

After all, Mark hadn\'t acquired any Magic Skills using this method. A method other than devouring a Monster that possessed those Magic Skills.

Or at least, not yet anyway.

A hole in the Golem Hold was made by the Corrupted Dark Elves three minutes later.

...

Mark lay his hand against the bricks that made up the tower.

"Should I climb and enter, my Lord?" Levi suggested.

\'Mm. No... No. We\'re going through here.\'

Mark pulled his arm back.

He clenched his fist, and red Aura covered that arm.

BAM-

\'Huh. Barely made a dent...\'

"They don\'t seem like any regular bricks. They are probably imbued with Mana of some kind." Levi noted as he took a closer look.

\'Probably.\'

Mark walked away.

He positioned himself so as to have a clear view of the singular window.

With a touch of his hand, a wall of rocks, about three meters tall, was formed.

Mark turned towards his Underlings.

\'Keep an eye on that window. Make sure whatever is inside doesn\'t leave. If attacked from afar, hide behind the wall. Should be thick enough to handle most attacks. If not, quickly circle around the tower and wait.\'

The Underlings nodded and positioned themselves by the wall\'s sides, their eyes glued to the window.

\'Good. This\'ll allow me to test it.\' Mark thought as he walked up to the tower once more.

Levi stepped back.

\'Berserker, Berserker... Tough to use when I focus on every single action. Tough to use when I\'m not focused. Tough to use... For extended periods of time.\'

Mark pulled his arm back.

\'And that\'s why...\'

Purple Aura started oozing out of Mark\'s body.

[The Skill "Berserker[SSS] activates!]

[Your Endurance Stat temporarily increases by 60%.]

[Your Agility Stat temporarily increases by 30%]

[Your Strength Stat temporarily increases by 20%.]

[Additional Effect:

Your Strength and Agility Stats will further increase proportionally to the amount of Damage Incurred.]

Mark clenched his fist, and the Aura around it ballooned up.

BAM-

\'It might be better to use it in short bursts.\'

A wall on which he could barely make a dent earlier was practically brought down.

[Your Skill "Berserker[SSS]" is deactivating.]

\'Not bad... Enough space for us to get it. But still...\' Mark stepped back for a second. \'It\'s pretty large.\'

"Should I enter to scout the-"

\'It\'s fine, Levi. There\'s nothing inside.\' Mark answered as he peeked. \'Not here anyways.\'

The Guard stared for a bit.

\'We\'ll have to go up the staircase for that. Tsk. Another staircase...\'

Mark stepped inside the tower, and Levi followed.

\'I can\'t sense anything inside. Empty apart from the top of it? Or are they that stealthy...?\'

Levi stayed silent.

The two quietly walked up the stairs.

Before long, they could see the top of the staircase.

Mark walked up, until his line of vision was barely above the last step.

He peeked, and his "Superior Kinetic Vision" Passive Skill activated.

What was on the other side of the staircase was...

Mark\'s eyes widened.

His left hand twitched.