Unknown to James, every shattered skeleton, every fallen golem, every dissolved wraith on the Second Floor had not simply died…
They had fed something.
Deep beneath the cathedral, black veins of mana pulsed like arteries. Each death flowed downward, seeping into a sealed sarcophagus carved from obsidian bone.
After the Fall of Drelhuth
James stood in the ruins of the courtyard.
The crimson aura of Drelhuth flickered once… then collapsed inward as the vampire king disintegrated into ash.
A heavy, pulsing core dropped into James' palm.
[Obtained: Potent Mana Core – Vampire King Grade]
+500 Stat Points (Stored)
Around him, the battlefield glittered.
Bone soldiers lay shattered. Golems cracked in half. Mana cores.. small, medium, and rare variants were scattered across the fractured marble.
James moved quickly.
He ran through the debris field, sweeping everything into his storage.
Mana Core Collection Summary
Minor Mana Cores × 46
Greater Mana Cores × 18
Elite Mana Cores × 7
Potent Mana Core (Drelhuth) × 1
Total Mana Cores Collected: 72
Total Stored Stat Points Gained:
72 × 500 = 36,000 Stat Points (Unallocated)
The system screen flared again.
XP Gained From Drelhuth (Boss Kill)
+18,500 XP
+2 Bonus Levels (Boss Reward)
James' level climbed.
CURRENT STATUS (Before stat Allocation)
Name: James
Level: 35
Title: Riftborn
Stored Stat Points: 36,000
Unallocated
Auto-Increased Stats (Level Scaling Only)
Stat Value
Strength 1,540
Agility 1,498
Endurance 1,522
Intelligence 1,305
Mana 1,880
Perception 1,210
James exhaled slowly.
His stats were strong…
But uneven.
He opened the allocation panel.
Stat Allocation Decision
James selected Equal Distribution.
36,000 ÷ 6 = 6,000 points per stat
The numbers surged.
NEW STATS (After stat Allocation)
Stat
Before And After
Strength: 1,540 to 7,540
Agility: 1,498 to 7,498
Endurance: 1,522 to 7,522
Intelligence: 1,305 to 7,305
Mana: 1,880 to 7,880
Perception: 1,210 to 7,210
The air around him distorted.
Stone cracked under his feet without him moving.
Mana density in the cathedral began warping violently.
System Notification
[Notice]
Your stat growth exceeds standard awakened thresholds.
Reason Identified:
Riftborn Awakening
• Stat Efficiency Multiplier: 1.8×
• Core Absorption Efficiency: 200%
• Mana Density Adaptation: Active
You are not bound by standard human caps.
Continue growth.
James' eyes narrowed.
"…So that's why."
Then
The cathedral trembled.
Violently.
Deep Below
Cracks split the marble floor.
Black veins of mana erupted upward.
The sarcophagus beneath the cathedral shattered from within.
A skeletal hand, wrapped in ancient black flame, rose first.
Then another.
A towering figure of armored bone and voidfire pulled itself free.
Eyes burning like twin eclipses.
The mana in the entire floor shifted direction toward him.
System Alert
[Floor Boss Awakening Detected]
Name: Revenant King
Level: 55
Classification: Catastrophic Tier
Special Condition:
Every death on Floor 2 has empowered this entity.
James' pupils shrank.
Level 55.
The ground exploded outward as a wave of necrotic mana burst from the cathedral.
Across the entire Second Floor…
Every undead creature below Level 50 froze.
Then simultaneously turned.
Thousands.
Crawlers. Wraiths. Bone Knights. Ghouls.
All sprinting toward the cathedral.
Their king had risen.
Inside the cathedral chamber, the Revenant King stood fully formed.
His voice was not sound.
It was pressure.
"Riftborn…"
The walls began to crack.
James rolled his shoulders.
Mana surged around him in a controlled spiral.
7,000+ in every stat.
Level 35.
Against Level 55.
And an army.
He grinned slightly.
"Guess this is the real boss."
Outside, Drelhuth's ashes scattered into nothing.
The Second Floor descended into total chaos.
And the war for the cathedral truly began.
The cathedral air bent around James.
With every stat now above 7,000, the system began projecting comparative models.
What 7,000+ Stats Actually Mean
(Baseline: Average Modern Human = 10 in each stat)
James isn't "strong."
He isn't "fast."
He is operating on an entirely different biological scale.
STRENGTH – 7,540
Baseline Human (10 STR):
Punch force: ~300–500 lbs force
Deadlift: ~100 kg
Can dent thin metal with tools
James (7,540 STR): Multiplier: 754× average human
Projected outputs:
Casual punch force: equivalent to a speeding truck impact
Full-force strike: can crater reinforced concrete
Grip strength: crushes steel firearms like aluminum cans
Jump force: clears 10–15 story buildings vertically
Structural damage threshold: can tear apart armored vehicles
Compared to Modern Military Hardware:
9mm pistol? Negligible with Endurance scaling.
Assault rifle (5.56 NATO)? Skin penetration possible but muscle density resists organ damage.
.50 BMG? Would hurt. Not instantly fatal.
Armored vehicle plating? Can breach with repeated strikes.
Tank armor? Requires sustained impact but possible.
AGILITY – 7,498
Baseline Sprint Speed: ~10 m/s
James multiplier: ~750×
Projected combat movement speed:
Reactionary dash bursts: Mach 1+ (supersonic bursts)
Sustained combat speed: Hypersonic micro-movements
Combat reposition time: Near invisible to cameras under 240fps
To a normal human:
James appears to teleport.
To high-speed military cameras:
He's a blur frame-skipping between positions.
PERCEPTION – 7,210
This is where things get terrifying.
Perception affects:
Reaction speed
Sensory processing
Mana awareness
Predictive combat modeling
At 7,000+:
Can perceive bullet trajectory after firing
Can track multiple supersonic objects simultaneously
Can detect mana fluctuations through walls
Micro-expression reading enhanced
Combat prediction window: 0.5–1.5 seconds ahead
Snipers would fail unless firing from beyond sensory range.
Drones? Tracked instantly.
Stealth tech? Meaningless in mana-rich zones.
INTELLIGENCE – 7,305
This is not IQ scaling.
It is processing power + mana logic integration.
Effects:
Battlefield simulation in real-time
Spell structure deconstruction
Rapid adaptation to enemy patterns
Memory indexing perfect recall
Mana efficiency optimized automatically
Compared to modern tech:
Outperforms battlefield AI in prediction speed
Can analyze structural weak points in buildings instantly
Learns combat techniques after observing once
He is effectively a mobile supercomputer fused with combat instinct.
ENDURANCE – 7,522
Durability multiplier: 752×
Effects:
Bones denser than titanium alloys
Muscle fibers layered like ballistic mesh
Organ redundancy from mana reinforcement
Regeneration boosted by mana pool
Modern weapons comparison:
WEAPON EFFECT ON JAMES
Handgun =Superficial wound
Assault rifle= Moderate tissue damage
Shotgun (close) = Painful but survivable
Sniper RIFLE = Serious injury
Anti-material RIFLE = Critical but survivable with mana
Tank SHELL = Severe damage
Cruise missile Potential lethal zone if direct hit
Nuclear blast
He survives outer radius.
Ground zero? Uncertain.
MANA – 7,880
This is why he's dangerous.
Mana scales:
Regeneration
Skill amplification
Defensive reinforcement
AOE capability
At this level:
Can sustain battlefield-scale combat
Can output city-block destructive spells
Can reinforce body beyond physical limits
Meanwhile… Beneath the Cathedral
The Revenant King rises fully.
A second status window appears.
REVENANT KING – FLOOR 2 BOSS
Level: 55
Title: Monarch of the Bone Dominion
Classification: Catastrophic Tier
Stats
Stat
Strength: 9,800
Agility: 6,900
Endurance :10,500
Intelligence :5,600
Mana :12,300
Perception = 7,400
Comparison:
Physically stronger than James.
Far higher endurance.
Vastly larger mana pool.
Slightly lower agility.
Slightly lower intelligence.
But he has something else.
Passive Ability: Sovereign of the Dead
Every undead within the floor is linked.
Damage dealt to him can be redistributed.
Each undead death restores his mana.
Can command all undead simultaneously.
The cathedral doors explode outward.
A tidal wave of undead floods the courtyard.
Thousands.
Literally thousands.
Bone knights in rusted armor.
Crawling abominations.
Wraiths shrieking in distorted harmony.
The Revenant King does not move.
He raises one skeletal hand.
The horde halts.
Then
They part.
Leaving a clear corridor.
His hollow gaze fixes on James.
And the pressure intensifies.
"Riftborn…"
"Prove your worth."
Chains of necrotic mana lash outward.
They don't attack James.
They slam into the ground around him.
A barrier forms.
Sealing him in the courtyard.
The undead turn toward him.
All of them.
The Revenant King folds his arms behind his back.
He will not fight.
Not yet.
He will watch.
The ground trembles as thousands charge simultaneously.
James exhales slowly.
Perception expands.
Time feels slower.
He calculates trajectories.
Entry vectors.
Kill efficiency patterns.
Mana conservation ratios.
7,000+ stats.
Level 35.
Against an army feeding a Level 55 monarch.
He smiles faintly.
Then the first wave hits.