The next leaf came, and it was a complete sweep. Having thoroughly rectified her previous mistakes, Reina approached the confrontation with a cold, calculated seriousness. Most of her encounter with the first Commander-rank grasshopper mirrored the rhythm of the previous fight, but this time, she had her physical arm intact and fully functional.
Ketovan lent a hand, bolstering her defenses with a subtle but potent armor buff. When the massive insect charged, Reina deftly manifested a dense, shimmering wall of ice directly in its path, cutting off its momentum. The beast tore through the obstruction with its corroding claws, but the moment its head breached the crumbling wall, it was met with the barrel of a heavy tactical shotgun. Reina pulled the trigger, unleashing a massive, condensed ball of ice at point-blank range. The blast was deafening; the Commander-rank's head was cleanly obliterated before its regeneration could even spark.
However, the second Commander-rank beast proved far more cunning. Sensing its kin's sudden demise, it slipped through the shadows of the horde, launching a vicious ambush from Reina's blind spot.
Alex, who had just finished clearing out his sector of Soldier and Normal-rank beasts, caught the motion. Lunging forward in a clutch defensive maneuver, he intercepted the strike, driving the flat of Emperor's Will against the descending claw.
The conceptual blade didn't take a scratch, but the raw kinetic force of a Commander-rank impact shattered the bones in Alex's arm like glass. The beast's toxic green necrotic mana aggressively seeped into his fingers, eating at the flesh. Yet, that vital window of a few seconds was all Reina needed. Turning on her heel, she returned the favor, driving her combat dagger deep into the beast's cranium and cleanly slicing its head off.
With the battlefield cleared, the group harvested 215 Normal cores, 7 Soldier cores, and 2 Commander cores, along with the Core of the Leaf. Their running total now sat at an impressive 783 Normal cores, 19 Soldier cores, 3 Commander cores, and 4 Cores of the Leaf.
As they trekked forward, the sheer scale of the vegetation continued to grow, and Alex began to recognize the structural pattern of the warped space. The first, outermost leaf had hosted roughly 140 Normal grasshoppers and 2 Soldiers. The second leaf stepped up the pressure with 3 Soldiers and 200 Normals. The third had boasted 4 Soldiers, 260 Normals, and a Commander. This fourth leaf had repeated the baseline of Normal ranks but heavily amplified the presence of elite tiers.
"The next leaf has five Commander-rank beasts," Ketovan announced.
"Five…" Reina muttered, her confidence wavering slightly. "I'm not entirely sure I can handle that many on my own."
Alex stood nearby, letting his body heal. The combination of his anomalous physiology, Reina's soothing frost mana, and the steady pulse of Ketovan's Healing Domain worked wonders, knitting his shattered arm back together and purging the necrotic rot. The moment his combat skills fully deactivated, his vision was flooded by a massive cascade of status screens:
[Level Up! Normal Rank 9 – Normal Rank 10]
[Level Up! Normal Rank 10 – Normal Rank 11]
[Skill Acquired!]
[Skill: Command – Bones]
[Skill: Command – Blood]
[Skill: Command – Armament Mana]
[Skill: Command – Aura]
[Skill: Command – Necrotic Mana]
[Skill: Command – Skin]
[Skill: Command – Ice]
[Skill: Command – Healing Mana]
Alex stared at the notifications in sheer shock. The core had granted him Command – Aura and Command – Ice—two elements he hadn't actively struggled against during the fight. Was his conceptual core intentionally filling its empty slots by adapting to his environment?
Before he could voice his questions, he was snapped out of his thoughts by an excited squeal. Reina threw her arms around him in a sudden hug.
"You got Ice! Ice!" she beamed, a radiant smile lighting up her face. "Finally, I can exchange thoughts and mana concepts with someone else in this meathead group!"
Hakon peered over at the floating text, strokeing his chin thoughtfully. "Look closely. You're unlocking specific mana variants rather than basic raw mana. The world is too clever to be deceived; it's giving you the exact tools you've witnessed."
Franklin leaned in, studying the list. "So, take Command – Bones, for example. If his rank gets high enough, could he theoretically control the skeletal structures of his enemies?"
"Yes," Ketovan answered firmly. "In fact, with his current stats, he could likely test it on lower-tier Soldier-rank beasts right now and force a reaction. The same rules apply to Command – Skin and the sensory skills he unlocked last time. The Authority of Hegemony allows him to exert dominance over those concepts, even at lower levels."
Alex's eyebrows shot up. "So I could literally just command someone's eyes to go blind?"
"Practically, yes," Ketovan replied. "Though against strong opponents, the effect won't be permanent until you ascend to the higher ranks."
"Damn…" Hakon muttered, a look of profound respect crossing his weathered face. "This is exactly why Royal Rankers and Divine Rankers warn everyone to be absolutely terrified of relic cores. The utility is sickening."
Alex looked up from his screen. "You all keep glazing these conceptual beings. Just how many relevant ones are actually out there?"
"Relevant? Hundreds," Franklin answered, glad to share the lore. "Truly important? A solid two dozen or so. Every conceptual being operates under the shadow of a grander, superior Concept. Take the Sanguine entity, for example. It is a deeply worshiped god—one of the first conceptual beings to ever receive mortal prayers—but it still sits within a pantheon subordinate to the ultimate concept of Rebirth."
"Enough of this academic nonsense," Reina interrupted, silencing the men with a sharp wave of her hand. "The only thing that matters right now is that he has a skill related to ice."
Ketovan gripped his weapon, looking toward the horizon. "Shall we hop to the next leaf?"
"There are about ten or fifteen Soldier Ranks guarding the perimeter too," Alex added.
His All-Seeing Eye had become incredibly sharp, allowing him to perceive a faint, visual map of the mana signatures ahead regardless of physical obstacles. The Normal Ranks possessed small, dim cores that showed up as faint golden sparks. The Soldier Ranks burned with the intensity of a fist-sized flame. The five Commander Ranks, however, shone like blinding, head-sized beacons of pure power at the rear of the platform.
"shall i kill off two or three soldier ranks and two commander ranks?" Ketovan asked Hakon.
"No, we aren't clearing it for them this time," Hakon interjected, checking the group's progression. "They need to level up under true pressure. If possible, I want Alexander to face one of the Commander-rank beasts. Not completely solo, but he needs to anchor the vanguard."
"What?" Reina gasped, turning on Hakon with genuine concern. "He'll be beaten to a pulp! Or worse, he'll die!"
"Ketovan can teleport him out the microsecond things turn fatal," Hakon reasoned smoothly.
"Or the Emperor within his soul will simply hijack his body again to prevent destruction," Ketovan added nonchalantly.
"The point is, he won't die." Hakon concluded, giving Alex a firm nod.
The Normal-ranker and the Soldier-ranker stepped toward the edge of the platform. Ahead of them lay a massive leaf teeming with roughly four hundred Normal ranking beasts and a dozen circling Soldier ranks. The five towering Commander ranks stood like statues at the far end, waiting.
"Want me to snipe a few of the Soldiers from afar to clear your path?" Reina offered softly, her hand hovering over her firearms.
"No," Alex said, his voice tightening as he summoned his power. "Let's see what I'm truly capable of."
He unleashed his skills in rapid succession. The air grew heavy as his commands took form. Wind roared around his fists, but this time, tiny, razor-sharp crystalline shards of ice nucleated across the tempestuous gloves, laced with a faint, dark shroud of Command – Necrotic Mana.
Alex cracked his knuckles, a cold, dangerous smile touching his lips as he and Reina leaped onto the shifting terrain. "I think it's time I give these bugs a taste of their own medicine."
***