CHAPTER 30: FOURTH RANK

Fourth Rank!

It was a rank that truly defined his strength in the middle section of the hunters.

Just this rank alone determined his influence, strength, and wealth in many countries and even the Association of Hunters.

But he wasn’t concerned about them. He was more concerned about his strength, his changes.

At this moment, he clenched his fist and felt something more than just strength.

He felt control.

He wrapped his fist with Aura, and a new thought emerged in his mind. Following this thought, he punched the ground.

Thud!

The ground didn’t even split.

It didn’t even make a crack. There was some dust that rose, but nothing major happened.

It was baffling to Tyler.

He was just using the new mechanism that appeared in his mind to control his Aura.

He had just given it a thought, ’Weakest strength’.

But he was still expecting the ground to crack open. He was still expecting the tent to fly away.

But none of that happened.

That strange confidence in his heart was telling him the truth.

He now had near-perfect control over his strength.

’No, not just strength!’

He quickly jumped to his feet and ran out of the tent. Although he was covered in bandages, it didn’t hinder his speed.

"Huh? Did Lord just leave?" Martin asked. He, Jacob, John, and Rose were the only ones awake.

Jacob had already reached Second Rank while Liam had only started today.

He was still sleeping yesterday due to his injuries, but thanks to Rose’s Blood Healing, he recovered quickly.

"He must have gone out for a reason." John replied.

"What could it be? Wait, could it be that he improved and now he wants to test his strength?" Jacob asked with some excitement in his tone.

If Tyler did improve, he wouldn’t mind risking his life to get stronger a few more times.

Although there was a huge gap between Second Rank and First Rank, Liam showed them something incredible.

To fight someone one rank above them, with nothing but one ability.

It wasn’t impossible, but extremely difficult.

Of course, Liam didn’t kill the monster, but he did manage to stall for quite some time, and even tried using new things he learned.

It was so incredible that both Martin and Jacob couldn’t wait to try something similar.

"But...I didn’t sense any change in his Aura or his body." John murmured.

"We will know when he returns."

...

On the other hand, Tyler had come at least several kilometers away from them.

He could feel the changes in his body. Previously, it was just an instruction, but now, he could feel more changes happening in his body.

’Why is Natural Energy pouring on every part of my body? Shouldn’t it go straight to the Ability Crystal Space?’

He was a bit confused, but exerting his mental energy on his body, he started scanning every part.

He saw a large part of Natural Energy converging at his forehead. Although this was less than one-third of what his Ability Crystal was absorbing.

’This is....amazing. My soul is absorbing Natural Energy like spirits.’

’Wait a moment, if I improve my body continuously, can my body absorb Natural Energy as well?’

He opened his eyes and stared at his fingers. He clenched his fist and could feel a different kind of power flowing through it.

It was weird but not unfamiliar.

Before he reached Fourth Rank, every time his rank upgraded, his ability crystal would release a purified version of Natural Energy into his body.

This would improve his physical and mental capacity.

So, even those who couldn’t find monsters to eat or didn’t have enough experience could awaken Aura upon reaching the Second Rank.

But this purified energy was so small that he couldn’t even control it with his mental energy.

’So, that’s how it is. Reaching Fourth Rank has given me near-perfect control of Aura in my body.’

’I still can’t do anything about this energy.’

He looked disappointed as he couldn’t draw out that energy.

It did make sense. Humans couldn’t draw out their stamina. They could use it to do certain tasks, but they could also extract it like some kind of energy.

That’s why Skills were necessary.

Abilities were powers that required some kind of energy to activate. But humans couldn’t control any kind of energy.

So, they resorted to utilizing skills.

Skills allowed humans to utilize their abilities in a certain way. This was an effective way for humans to use their ability, without being able to extract stamina.

So, even though skills cost stamina, humans couldn’t control it.

That’s why when he used Fire Dragon Roar, he could only control the flames partially, like turning it into a dragon head or a cylinder.

’But now!’

As he thought about it, he opened his fist and activated his Totem Creation, accessing it with his Aura and borrowing the power from his Dragon directly.

But at this moment, he started feeling dizzy.

He shook his head and cut off that connection directly. Instead, he used his Aura and activated his skill.

This time, his Ability Crystal directly released his Aura and converted it into flames as it left his palm.

Yes, his palm!

A beautiful orange flame burst out of his palm.

’So, if I use my Aura to activate the skill, I can not only control the shape but also the temperature of the flames.’

’If I can do it with this, I should also be able to do something similar with my shadow.’

’Previously, I tried using my Aura to activate my ability to create flame directly, but it didn’t work.’

’And, it’s obvious that Fang didn’t reject me. So, the reason I failed is probably due to my lack of control over my ability.’

At this moment, Tyler felt that he had a lot to learn.

’If I can control my skill so easily with my Aura, I could try producing more totems to gain different abilities.’

’Of course, for now, lightning and fire are two elements that have quite a destructive capability. So, I will do my best to keep them.’

’Regeneration is something interesting. I can feel my natural regeneration improving, but it’s always good to have an extra.’

’Only strength is a bit problematic. I don’t have a problem with enhancing my strength, but I need to know what I can do before I decide whether I need to change it or not.’

Suddenly, he smirked.

He looked at the gigantic forest in front of him and thought.

’What better way than to test it while gathering more Natural Fruits?’

He thought to himself and activated the skill.

[Second Skill- Enhanced Strength]

Because he activated with his Aura, Tyler could feel something strange in his skill.

Not just his strength or his defenses, even his speed could be changed.

He tapped the ground, not with force but speed. In the blink of an eye, he had tapped almost a dozen times.

Suddenly, his body glided forward.

At first, he felt it harder to control. He almost created a crater while landing.

But after a few more tries, Tyler got pretty good control over it.

’So, that’s it? Enhanced Strength isn’t about improving just attack power, but overall physical capabilities of my body.’

When he thought about it, he paused.

’This can fundamentally change my fighting style. With Lightning Cloak and this, I can become a hand-to-hand combatant.’

’Of course, I also have regeneration. But I need a weapon. I can’t just go around throwing punches while I have to kill these monsters and spirits.’

’No wait, lightning in itself has the properties of penetration and paralysis. If I am able to apply those properties to my attacks, I won’t need a weapon.’

’Of course, having a weapon will always be better than not having one. So, I need to choose carefully.’

Just when he thought about it, he suddenly stopped.

Although he was moving fast, he had only used ten percent of his strength. If he had used more, his speed would have increased even further.

But he needed to find Natural fruits, and going too fast could miss a few.

’And, here it is. Thankfully, I kept moving at this speed.’

He looked at a fruit hidden underneath the leaves. Using his move, he instantly appeared in front of the tree and picked up the fruit.

Then, he thought about his move.

’I seriously need to name this move. Using my feet to tap the ground several times seems quite common, but there is a principle behind it.’

’Each tap generates a huge force beneath the feet. And after a dozen taps, the force is enough to launch me forward at an extraordinary speed.’

’So, I shall name this ’Explosive Steps’.’

He thought to himself as he felt great for naming his new move. But his senses gave him an instant warning.

Without much hesitation, he used Explosive Steps to travel a hundred meters away as a massive cobra came down from the tree, trying to bite him with its fangs.

Hiss!