CHAPTER 86: PROMOTION

"Ah."

Arthur groaned faintly and very slowly opened his eyes, but he couldn’t see clearly due to the fogginess of his mind and senses.

"What happened? Did I lose consciousness?" he muttered softly, then sighed heavily. "All I remember is collapsing from the hellish pain I felt."

Without panicking or feeling irritated, he slowly waited for clarity to return, and after a few minutes, his vision regained its sharpness. That’s when he saw the familiar ceiling of his room and stared at it for a moment.

But then he suddenly frowned and muttered, "Wait, this corner is above my bed. I don’t remember moving from my spot... Could someone have carried me?"

As soon as he thought that, he turned his head with difficulty and looked around, and that’s when he saw his loyal maid, Octavia, asleep on a chair beside his bed.

Seeing her gentle face, with slightly swollen eyes, gave him a strange feeling, but he didn’t focus on it. He examined his surroundings carefully and found that the place looked a bit different most of his alchemical tools had been gathered in one area.

"What happened while I was unconscious?" He wanted to ask Octavia but decided not to wake her.

With great slowness, he moved, feeling a faint pain in his abdomen, but he didn’t care. He sat up and asked the system, ’How did the mana core transplant go?’

He waited a moment but received no response, and the familiar screen did not appear.

"Wait, what’s going on?" he felt some anxiety and asked again, "System, show status window."

Naturally, he could summon his personal status window just by thinking, but voice commands were often more effective.

Again, no response. His concern grew as he looked around strangely, searching for anything wrong. "Am I dreaming?" He couldn’t help but wonder.

Slap!

He raised his hand and slapped his face hard, but nothing changed only his cheek turned red. "I’m not dreaming, then what’s going on? Could it be that I lost the system?"

He felt a deep emptiness at the thought, but quickly calmed himself. "It’s okay, maybe there’s just a bug. Even if I lost it, that doesn’t mean I lost my skills."

Without hesitation, he began recalling his life’s details, and as he expected, he still had the Photographic Memory skill.

He moved his hand, and several roots emerged from nearby. He sighed. "Everything remains the same, I’m still a Boundless at Rank E, and my skills are still intact. It’s fine even if I lost the system it doesn’t mean I’ve become useless."

Although he tried to reassure himself, his morale remained low. The system wasn’t a trivial thing—it had features that greatly simplified his life and allowed him to see the world from a different perspective.

In truth, it was like a friend or intelligent assistant he could turn to when he had no one to talk to.

[System Calibration Complete]

Suddenly, the familiar blue screen appeared before him. His eyes widened, and he grinned broadly, filled with overwhelming joy. He said with excitement, "You’re still here!"

But the system didn’t respond in the usual way. Instead, strange writings appeared.

[System Upgrade in Progress]

"What’s happening here?" Arthur was surprised but didn’t interrupt the system. He waited silently, a vague idea making him excited.

[1%... 3%..... 99%... 100%]**

[Congratulations]

[Your Rank Has Increased]

[Changing Settings]

[Congratulations]

[Your Capabilities Have Been Upgraded]

[Congratulations]

[You Have Acquired the Advanced Skill: Magic Core Awakening]

"WTF!" Arthur watched the system notifications with his mouth agape, unable to keep up with what was happening.

He had thought his skills would get a slight boost, but the result was hundreds of times better than he had imagined.

And it didn’t stop there the system kept sending notifications, making his jaw drop further.

His heart fluttered with mad happiness, unable to suppress his joy.

[Dimensional Storage Skill Upgraded]

[Acquired Advanced Skill: Commander Aura]

[Acquired High-Level Tool: Mental Map]

[Alchemy Skill Upgraded to Magical Alchemy]

[Due to Skill Diversity, Class Changed to: Arcane]

With great excitement, Arthur summoned his personal status and reviewed his stats.

[Name: Arthur Lucian Vesper]

[Race: Human]

[Age: 21 years]

[Class: Arcane]

[Rank: D]

[Abilities: Swordsmanship (D), Solid Body (D), Horsemanship (D), Commander’s Aura (D), Wood Control (E), Root Shield (E), Thorn Bullet (E), Magical Alchemy (D), Photographic Memory (M.L), Logical Analysis (D), Dimensional Storage (B), Plot Savant (M.L), Magic Core Awakening (M.L) ]

(M.L = Max Level)

[Carried Items: Thorns Castle Bracelet (A) – Damaged, Mental Map (B), Storage Ring (B), Storage Ring (C)]

"Where did all this come from? When did I become able to use magic? And what are these new skills I received? And how did my rank increase this fast?"

No matter how much he thought about it, Arthur found it hard to accept, and after a brief moment of reflection, he asked:

"Why did my rank increase so suddenly? What happened?"

[Your rank increased this quickly because the mana core transplant was successful, and since the core was Grade C, your body absorbed a large amount of mana during your slumber, causing it to evolve despite you exerting no effort.]

"I see." Arthur nodded in understanding, but then furrowed his brows. "Slumber? What do you mean? How long was I unconscious?"

[8 days, 17 hours, and 34 minutes]

Seeing the system’s reply, Arthur froze. His mouth opened, and he stared at the screen blankly.

He knew the mana core transplant was risky and full of unforeseen complications. But in the novel, the person who transplanted the mana heart didn’t face major problems, so Arthur thought it wouldn’t be too complex.

But everything that had happened changed his thinking. After several minutes of statue-like stillness, he shook his head and regained composure. He looked at his body and noticed that despite not eating or drinking for days, his condition wasn’t bad.

’Looks like the mana core fed my body, but still, this is unreasonable.’

[That’s correct] the system replied tersely.

He sighed deeply and got out of bed but stumbled and found it hard to stand due to being immobile for days. After a few seconds, he regained balance.

"I don’t know what happened during my absence, but I hope things didn’t descend into total chaos."

Quietly, he walked toward Octavia, looked at her beautiful face for a moment, and felt a bit guilty for worrying her. It was clear from the puffiness of her eyes from staying up and crying.

Gently, he shook her to wake her up.

With scattered and foggy awareness, she opened her eyes and said:

"Selene, let me stay a little longer... I want to stay by the master’s side..."

Softly, Arthur whispered by her ear:

"But the master wishes to talk to you now."

Octavia’s eyes snapped open, and she jumped from her chair. She stared at Arthur in shock, unable to believe what she was seeing. Without hesitation, she threw herself at him and hugged him:

"My Lord! You’re okay!"

She couldn’t contain her excitement and happiness, and her eyes teared up. Although Arthur was a bit annoyed by the gesture, he didn’t push her away and remained in her embrace. He too needed a hug like that.

His body trembled, and he felt immense relief, momentarily forgetting his troubles.

He extended his hand and wanted to hug Octavia back, but changed his mind at the last moment. Instead, he touched her gently and said:

"Alright, that’s enough hugging."

Upon hearing his usual voice, Octavia realized she had seriously overstepped and quickly pulled back with a deeply flushed, embarrassed face. She bowed and apologized:

"Forgive me, my lord... I lost myself."

Yet she kept stealing glances at him, smiling joyfully. Her head was full of questions, but seeing him healthy made her forget everything.

But Arthur wasn’t as relaxed as she was. He regained his stern look, stood firmly, and then asked:

"How long have I been unconscious?"

Octavia quickly replied:

"Nine days, my lord."

Saying that made her chest tighten, and she gave him a worried glance.

Arthur noticed, and since he didn’t want to make the moment more emotional than it already was, he nodded understandingly, sat on his bed, and motioned for her to sit in the chair in front of him.

"What happened during this time? Don’t tell me my absence made the barony residents slack off in their duties."

Octavia hesitated a moment, thinking in her mind, ’Now’s not the time to worry about the barony... your health comes first, my lord.’

But she refrained from saying that and only answered:

"No, my lord, there is some stability. Though the command structure became chaotic due to your absence, and there’s a general atmosphere of worry in the barony because of what happened to you. Everyone fears something bad might befall you."

"I see... Go gather all the key individuals. They must report what happened during my absence."

"Yes, my lord." Octavia rose from her seat, took a step toward the door, then paused hesitantly, reluctant to leave him for fear something bad might happen again. But she couldn’t disobey his command, so she forced herself to walk away. Just as she reached the door, Arthur asked:

"By the way, how did you know I was unconscious?"

She turned and gave him a strange look:

"My lord, your scream... it reached the outskirts of the barony. Everyone knew you were experiencing something serious."

"Alright, you may go." Arthur shook his head in defeat.

"I thought I was screaming quietly... how embarrassing." He laughed a little at himself, then left his room.

As soon as he opened the door, he saw many guards in the corridors. He was stunned by the unusual sight. The guards, in turn, were equally shocked when they saw their lord and greeted him enthusiastically:

"My lord! You’re alright!"