20demayo Chapter 252: Promoting to Rank-3
Chapter 252: Promoting to Rank-3
Elsa gazed into Pandora’s eyes. A soft smile lingered in her gaze, but her expression was earnest and absolute. As if she were stating the most natural truth in the world.
Pandora blinked, nodding a bit dumbly. Then it clicked. Elsa and Aurora were... fundamentally different.
Put Aurora in the same scenario, and even if she kept her mouth shut, a flicker of disappointment would show in her eyes. Aurora would want to know what happened, to be a part of her past.
But Elsa... she didn’t seem to need that.
No. Couldn’t say she wouldn’t. Maybe she did feel it. But Elsa would never let it show in front of her. Elsa lived for every single second she spent by her side. Even if she felt a twinge of sadness that “My Lady didn’t take me along for the past year,” she would never let that emotion hijack what was actually important—the present.
Understanding that, Pandora suddenly felt a weight lift off her shoulders. The lingering awkwardness didn’t exactly vanish, but it stopped mattering. A relaxed smile tugged at the corner of her mouth.
“Alright.” She nodded. “When we have the time, I’ll tell you about everything I’ve been through over the past year.”
Just as expected, when Pandora mentioned that over a year had passed, Elsa didn’t betray any out-of-the-ordinary emotions. Her expression remained placid, her gaze tender. She merely looked forward to the moment Pandora would eventually share those stories. Then, as Pandora shifted the topic to the immediate business at hand, Elsa naturally pivoted her attention to the most pressing matter.
“Right now, let’s handle the most important thing first—” “Your Reshaping.”
Elsa’s gaze sharpened with focus. Through the blood-drinking just now, she already knew. My Lady was currently... Rank-3. And it definitely wasn’t just her Witch bloodline hitting Rank-3, either. There was a massive probability that her Wizard path had also breached Rank-3. Regardless, this meant her own ceiling had just been raised. Now was the time to use another 【Reshaping】 to elevate her fundamental essence.
Powering up was always a cause for celebration. The sensation of one’s life essence leaping forward was one of the rarest, purest joys in existence. A glimmer of anticipation flickered across Elsa’s face.
“My Lady, Elsa is ready to begin at any time.”
Pandora nodded. “Alright, let’s do it now.”
Zero hesitation. Pandora issued the command to the system.
【Host has initiated Myriad Alchemy Construct Reshaping Request... Confirming Request...】
【Please confirm: Reshape Myriad Alchemy Construct “Elsa”?】
“Confirmed.”
【Please confirm the quantity of Alchemical Elements to invest.】
“Use Flexible Resource Investment Mode.”
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【WARNING.】
The system prompt seemed to tick up a notch in severity.
【Flexible Resource Investment Mode grants the target temporary clearance to draw freely from the Alchemical Resource Pool. This clearance is irreversible. During the clearance period, the target may independently decide resource types, investment ratios, and reshaping trajectories. Host, please provide final confirmation: Grant temporary clearance to Myriad Alchemy Construct “Elsa”?】
“Confirmed.”
After bouncing back and forth with the system a few more times and setting a sufficiently generous—yet manageable—upper limit on the Alchemical Resource draw, the Reshaping officially kicked off.
The moment it began, Elsa closed her eyes. Her entire body was slowly lifted by an invisible, mystical force, suspending her mid-air. Her deep crimson maid outfit began to emit a faint glow. Within the hazy luminescence, Elsa’s silhouette started to “melt.” Her outlines blurred, as if the physical form of her matter was reverting to a more foundational state.
At the same time. Countless tiny, multi-colored motes of light materialized from the void, drawn toward the hazy glow like iron filings to a magnet. These motes represented various alchemical resources—
Crimson as blood, representing “Flesh.”
Dark gold and dense, representing “Salt-Gold.”
Black-grey and flickering, representing “Ether.”
Flowing silver-white, representing “Soul.”
Verdant and vibrant, representing “Flora.”
There were exactly five, and five alone. They fused into the glowing mass in some arcane, esoteric ratio.
Pandora watched the process, giving a silent nod. But she didn’t wait around. Reshaping didn’t take long; three minutes could even be considered extremely short for this process. But she needed to test something. She needed to gauge her own raw power right now, without leaning on Elsa. Once she confirmed the Reshaping process was stable, Pandora didn’t hesitate. She turned and headed for the side door at the far end of the room...
..............
Center of the training ground.
The simulated natural lighting from the overhead fixtures cast hard, crisp shadows across the floor. Pandora stood on one side of the room. In her hands, she gripped a standard-issue greatsword. The blade was forged entirely from a greyish-white alloy; it was heavy in the hand, sharp, and glinted with a cold, hard edge.
As the most basic weapon the training facility had on offer, it lacked that intuitive, blood-connected responsiveness she was used to. But it was cold, unyielding, and more than adequate as a tool.
Opposite her. A Rank-3 golem dubbed the “Raider” stood silently.
It was about two meters tall, its build far from bloated; instead, it sported a sleek, aerodynamic aesthetic. Its deep purple skin gave off an eerie sheen under the training ground’s lights. It lacked distinct facial features. The lower half of its face only had a slit-like mouth lined with jagged, saw-toothed edges. Across its chest and abdomen, faintly visible bright yellow lines lurked deep beneath the surface—traces of high-concentration energy fluid pumping through it.
The most eye-catching feature was the massive, crescent-shaped, translucent blade extending from its left shoulder. The blade was a part of its body; the material was neither metal nor stone, and its edge was lined with microscopic serrations. Right now, the blade was vibrating in the air at an amplitude almost invisible to the naked eye. Emitting a faint, wasp-like buzzing sound.
Unlike the Live Iron Golems, which were defined by their precision engineering, this “Raider” was clearly biased toward pure offense and slaughter. The flesh-based biological modification tech it used was also entirely proprietary to The Corpse Hall. As a result, its price tag wasn’t nearly as eye-watering as a Live Iron Golem of the same rank. Given Pandora’s current bankroll, she wouldn’t lose much sleep even if she completely trashed it in a fight.
Which meant...
A tiny smirk tugged at the corner of Pandora’s mouth. She didn’t bother taking a fancy stance; she just lowered her center of gravity slightly and gripped the sword hilt with both hands. She was just about to initiate the attack when her gaze suddenly narrowed!
The Raider moved.
Its speed was absurd. Almost the exact millisecond the thought “it moved” crossed Pandora’s mind, that deep purple silhouette had already closed a distance of over ten meters. The massive crescent blade sliced through the air, letting out a sharply piercing screech, aiming straight for Pandora’s neck.