[ Your pet has slain x5 demonic rats using skill: (Fire) ]

[ Power has experienced a slight increase: Current: E-rank (100%) ]

[ Your pet has evolved to D-rank, potency with available skills has been increased ]

Marlon received these notifications while he was still toying with a few groups of smaller monsters, as he and the Vereenas had already finished taking care of the bigger threats earlier.

Marlon was excited about his pet’s rapid growth. He felt incredibly proud of Obsidian at this moment, and he knew that even without his supervision in the future, his pet would not only be able to survive alone but would also continue to evolve and grow stronger on its own.

Speaking about evolving.

Marlon was also on the verge of evolving as well.

His current level was 300, and he was only a few hundred thousand experience points away from reaching level 301 and thus evolving to S-rank.

Around him, both the Vereenas and Norian Sterling were slaying the monsters with ease.

There were currently only monsters below B-rank present in the area, and these monsters posed no threat whatsoever to any of them.

Even by simply observing the scene, he could tell that his comrades were not putting in any real effort into their fights and were casually deflecting attacks while lashing out counterattacks without any difficulty.

The only one who seemed to be putting serious effort into the battle was Solan. But well, that was totally expected considering his personality and his usual seriousness during combat.

Also, the morning sun had begun to slowly take its place in the sky, and as a solar Pathos, he was naturally stronger and more energetic in the presence of it.

While Marlon was casually floating in the sky and observing the scene around him.

From the top of a faraway mountain, an Index-2 Aurax could be seen staring down at him with intense hatred burning within its eyes.

Nonetheless, this Aurax was currently using an invisibility skill that made it impossible for others to see it or even perceive its presence in the slightest.

Clenching its fist tightly with rage, it suddenly took off and, like a rocket, launched itself directly toward Marlon, ready to kill him while he wasn’t watching.

’He can’t see me, let me see how the originless one fights what he can’t see,’ it thought to itself as it gradually closed the distance between them.

Once it had finally closed that distance.

It launched a punch laced with toxic energy that could easily corrode the human body and even damage the mind.

"You think you’re sleek?"

Nonetheless, before its attack could connect with its intended target, it heard a cold voice very close to its ear.

The voice sent shivers down its spine as it instantly lost composure of its attack.

Nonetheless, before it could even turn its head to see the owner of the voice, a strong pressure suddenly fell upon it, making its entire body tense with fear.

Just as that terrifying pressure appeared, its body was struck with intense pain.

And that pain became the last thing it felt and knew before the coldness of death slowly consumed its being.

Its corpse fell down into the chaos beneath.

Floating on the exact same spot was Marlon.

But this time he was holding a true core in his hands.

Yet he wasn’t paying attention to the core at all, but instead to the information that was being displayed clearly in front of him.

[ Level up ]

[ Level 300 - Level 301 ]

[ You’ve broken through to S-rank ]

[ You’ve broken a record none has ever dreamed of achieving, reaching the apex rank of guardian in less than half a year. ]

[ Due to your extraordinary achievement, you’ve received a special feature upgrade ]

[ Unlimited Storage: You can store everything and anything within your inventory without fear of it getting filled up. In short form, you’ve received unlimited slots. ]

’Unlimited inventory slots, not bad.’ Marlon thought to himself.

Now he could store everything, whether needed or unneeded, and he had no reason to be afraid of running out of slots to store more items.

Nonetheless, Marlon had expected a much better reward, but still, the unlimited storage was not a bad one at all.

[ Your character status is ready. Do you want to check it out now? ]

A new notification popped up and without wasting a single second, he accepted it, as it had been a long time since he last saw his character panel.

╔════════════════════╗

Name: Marlon Ashleigh

Title: Prince Of Death

Power Level: 301

Power Rank: S-rank

Primordial Ranking: Bronze

Talents:

• Absolute Attack (EX)

• Venom Vanguard (B)

• Bloodborne Monarch (A)

• Absolute Beast Taming (EX)

• Absolute Water Manipulation (EX)

Health: 1,000,000 / 10,000,000

Health Regen: 20,000 / minute

Aether Points: 5,000,000 / 25,000,000

Aether Regen: 20,000 / minute

[ STATS ]

Strength: S-rank (67%)

Agility: S-rank (21%)

Vitality: S-rank (10%)

Intelligence: S-rank (20%)

[ SKILLS ⚔️ ] [ INVENTORY 🎒 ]

[ BLESSINGS ✨ ]

[ BEAST DOMAIN 🐾 ]

╚════════════════════╝

’It is much neater now.’ Marlon commented to himself.

There were no more numbers in terms of stats, which had always been absolutely hard to track, and now each skill had gotten its own special tab. There was also Beast Domain, which he guessed contained information about his pets and any future tamed beasts.

Nonetheless, there was one detail that intrigued him.

He opened it.

[ Primordial ranking: the primordials are beings that do not fit under the same categorisation as mortals. They are the bridge between mortals and the divines.

There are three ranks amongst the primordials, Bronze, Silver and Gold. With bronze rank being the weakest.

Above gold lays the ???? ]

’More question marks. Seems the system can’t reveal it yet.’

He thought to himself.

He knew there was more to the primordial ranking than what the system had revealed.

He wondered if the primordials were somehow related to the Originless one. After all, in a literal sense, they almost meant the same thing.

He decided to inquire from the system about the Originless one title but as usual there were no responses, which instantly confirmed a little bit of his suspicions and also revealed to him that the system still did not consider him strong enough, despite literally being the strongest young adult in Arden.

And in a sense, he was much stronger than 98% of adult hunters.

Right now, he could take on veteran guardians like Norian Sterling and Dougles, and there was a 50% chance that he would emerge victorious.

And yet, the system still did not consider him strong.

’Just how strong do I have to be before they reveal that to me?’ he wondered.

Marlon was so engulfed in interacting with his system that he forgot to pay attention to the others who had already completed getting rid of the monsters and were all currently staring at him.

Even those from the spaceship were now observing him with surprised expressions etched clearly across their faces.

Selena, Drever, Max and even Draven were all staring at him as though he was a being from another world entirely.

Naturally when the battle first began, they had all observed from above, curious to see just how strong Marlon had actually gotten.

Seeing how easily he pulverised gigantic monsters, how he was able to slay the unseen Aurax.

Even his pet was another show stealer on its own.

And while they were still observing him, they witnessed the energy around his body undergo a change that could only be explained as a breakthrough.

But that on its own was a mystery.

Everyone in Arden, even the strongest hunter, Axel Storm, had to undergo a breakthrough trial before they could reach the next rank.

Yet right before their eyes, without attempting any trial whatsoever, Marlon had ascended to another rank.

Norian Sterling had witnessed the immense strength of Axel Storm but he too could not begin to imagine just what kind of threat Marlon would be in a few months time.

Better still, how strong would he be after completing the exploration mission?

According to Axel Storm, the exploration mission was nothing but a mission to train the Originless one, their only hope against the planet eater in the unavoidable battle.

Now looking at Marlon, who casually interacted with his system while ignoring his surroundings, Norian finally understood everything he had learnt from Axel Storm.

At that moment, also, the memories he got from Sylon reappeared in his mind, containing the prophesy of the Originless one.

[ A/N: Sylon is the lunaris that gave Norian and Crimson the awakening crystal in Chapter 42 ]