MTLNOVEL Chapter 100: Lunatic
Had I really grown taller?
The view certainly felt different.
I lowered my gaze, scanning my own body, and the changes were undeniable. My frame had filled out, muscle mass pressing more firmly against my skin. My fingers, once short and stubby, now looked longer and leaner, almost human in proportion. Even the rough tunic I wore clung tighter across my chest and shoulders, seams straining against the sudden growth.
I had indeed grown taller.
And not just taller—stronger.
It made sense, when I thought about it. With the Ember Fox Matriarch forcefully reforging me earlier, stacking a flat boost across all my stats, and now with my evolution into Dimensional Sovereign, physical changes were bound to follow. Power like that didn't settle quietly into the body—it reshaped it.
Still, the realization left me stunned, a strange mix of pride and unease curling in my chest.
I drew in a steadying breath and, with a thought, summoned my status screen.
[Status Window]
Name: Eli Cross
Race: Goblin
Title: Drugar's Chosen
Class: Dimensional Sovereign
Level: 29
HP: 1349/1349
MP: 651/651
Kill Count: 3
[Stats]
Strength: 64+10
Stamina: 76+10
Agility: 57+10
Intelligence: 49+10
Perception: 44+10
(Available Points: 0)
[Skills]
Innate Skill: [Phase Walker (SSS)] [Finder (N)]
Class Skills: [Rift Annihilation (Active) – SSS] [Event Collapse (Active) – SSS] [Fractured Existence (Passive) – SSS] [Paradox Step (Passive) – SSS] [Sovereign's Domain (Active) – SSS] [Dimensional Gate (Active) – SSS] [Essence Reforging (Passive)]
Passive Skills: [Analyze (N)] [Iron Fist (E)] [Roar of Intimidation (C)] [Iron Persistence (C)] [Illusion Resistance (C)]
Active Skills: [Stealth (C)] [Mana Shield (B)] [Flame Orb (C)] [Warcry (C)] [Inferno Lance (C)]
Skill Advancement Point: 300
Damn… the difference between my stats now and the last time I'd checked them was almost laughable.
First off, my new class skills were now front and center in my window, and just looking at them made me feel like I'd stepped straight into the role of some overpowered protagonist in a webnovel.
When the system had upgraded me, it had informed me of the bonus stats I'd been granted—+10 points across all attributes. On top of that, both my HP and MP had spiked upward, leaving me bulkier, faster, sharper than I'd ever been.
And then there were the skills.
Oh, my skills.
I stared at them, eyes flicking between my old abilities and the monstrous arsenal that came with Dimensional Sovereign. The gap was ridiculous. On one side, I still had scraps like [Iron Fist] sitting in E-rank, a reminder of where I started. On the other, every class skill glowed in gold lettering, marked SSS, like the system had decided to crown me king of overpowered nonsense.
I shook my head, still grinning like an idiot. I'd just been thinking how unfair it was that my weaker skills couldn't keep up with the monsters in my class list—and the system had answered me with something new.
Skill Advancement Point.
I squinted at the words, tilting my head. "What the hell is that?"
Then it clicked. The notification I'd half-dismissed earlier when I chose my new class. It had mentioned rewards. This had to be one of them.
I focused my gaze on the glowing text, and more details unfolded.
[Skill Advancement Point: This point is used to raise the class of your skills and can be earned by hunting down monsters, leveling up, or fulfilling quests.]
The number of points required to raise each class is as follows...
Rank E to D = 100 points
Rank D to C = 200 points
Rank C to B = 500 points
Rank B to A = 1000 points
Rank A to S = 5000points
Rank S to SSS = 50000points
Okay… things just kept getting better and better.
I'd been worried that the rest of my skills would remain stagnant forever, stuck at the same ranks while I soared ahead with my new class. That worry had teeth, too—because the only skills I could actually share with my clan were the normal ones.
I couldn't pass on my innate skills. I couldn't pass on my class skills either.
Those were mine alone.
But the basics? The ones they relied on me to share? Those I could finally strengthen.
And that thought made me feel almost giddy.
I glanced down at the points glowing faintly at the bottom of the panel. 300.
Enough to start. Barely.
From the looks of it, the only skill I could upgrade right now was [Iron Fist]—still sitting at E-rank, the very first skill I'd ever earned.
I snorted quietly. That one had come from my fight with Narg.
Hard to believe. To think there had been a time when fighting Narg felt like a life-or-death struggle. That duel seemed like years ago now. In reality, it had only been… what? Two days?
Two days, and I was already standing here with an arsenal of SSS-class powers under my belt.
Still, [Iron Fist] was the only one within reach. The rest of my skills sat at C-rank, and I'd need 500 points each just to push them to B. That meant grinding, hunting, quests—whatever it took to accumulate more advancement points.
That thought was still lingering in my mind when I noticed Ariel.
In fact, I'd noticed her for a while now.
The little ember fox hadn't taken her eyes off me since the moment my evolution finished. Her tails flicked idly, but her molten gaze was sharp, unblinking, tracking every twitch of my expression.
Obviously, she had sensed the change.
Finally, she spoke, her voice brushing through my mind like a knife sliding between ribs.
"Why do you keep staring at the air and muttering to yourself?"
I froze, every muscle in my body stiffening.
And then it hit me.
Of course. I might be the only one with a system.
Why had I assumed otherwise?
Which meant that every time I interacted with it—reading panels, muttering lines under my breath, reacting to notifications—what the outside world saw was me staring at nothing, grinning at walls, or whispering to thin air.
To Ariel, to my clan, to anyone watching, I probably looked like a complete lunatic.
What this meant was simple: every time I...