Undying Warlord

Dilan was deep in thought as he spent more than an hour on top of the skyscraper's roof.

It was freezing cold but that was not something Dilan took notice of.

Ever since he had advanced to Tier-1, his physique improved a lot, including an increase in his natural resistance to the surrounding temperature.

This would be quite helpful for the future when he would enter Gates that brought him to places where the temperature was either extremely hot or ice-cold.

But for now he was glad that he had not turned into an ice statue while he was standing around absentmindedly.

Only after he regained his senses was Dilan able to return to the ground.

'Old Jeff's [Materials appraisal] should be more than enough to appraise the blazing marble…maybe we can make use of this treasure to increase our strength…'

Because he had slept for quite a while before, Dilan had no intentions to return to the cafeteria and rest. Instead, he was ready to return to hunting monsters.

He might be in a weakened state but that didn't mean he would turn into easy prey for the monsters.

To make a quick assessment of his strength, he lightly jumped up and down before moving in specific ways to roughly determine how much his strength had decreased.

"Halved…urgh"

Dilan knew that his strength had decreased by a lot, but after testing a few movements the final result was that he could exhibit only 50% of his strength.

In fact, Dilan was never able to exhibit 100% of his strength simply because the human body was not able to do so in normal circumstances.

His combat talent might have been high but only after he received the passive ability [True Weapon Specialist] did Dilan learn that his little talent had been wasted entirely.

It was only fortunate for Dilan to possess the passive ability [Warrior's Unparalleled Physique]. Initially, he had been annoyed at this ability because it provided him with mere 0.5 status points in exchange for half the Essence he absorbed.

This was akin to daylight robbery, and far from a fair trade.

But Dilan could understand more about this passive ability after he leveled up twice.

The 0.5 status points he received were just a bonus he received in addition to the main advantage of the ability which remodeled his body.

Before the Primordial Ascension, his physique could be said to have been above average.

Because he had been outside the house to do highly straining activities, his body was great, to put it simply.

However, only now could Dilan understand that his physique which he had carefully built was trash.

This was a harsh statement but Dilan had to acknowledge that his 'great' physique was simply trash in comparison to what his newly procured ability [Warrior's Unparalleled Physique] was capable of.

The ability fixed the flaws in his physique that Dilan had created by making trivial mistakes while working out.

But fixing his flawed physique was not everything. Instead one could say that it was just the beginning because Dilan could clearly feel how his physique was being remodeled and strengthened.

This was a process that would, most likely, never end as he was bound to keep progressing. However, this was something Dilan was perfectly fine with as long as his body's hidden potential could be unveiled.

In the end, after absorbing only a few hundred Tier-1 Essence crystals, Dilan was already able to sense that his physique underwent many changes, including his increased adaptability to mana.

It was much easier for him to sense and replenish mana. This made many things easier such as the instantaneous usage of abilities, shortening the period it took him to replenish mana and perceive the surroundings.

That was also why he was not exactly scared about facing the monsters on his way back to the hospital.

In fact, Dilan was not even tired as he had slept more than enough. Rather than wasting his time resting, he was inclined to search for more Survivors instead.

The news about the temple's emergence and the freezing temperature was worrisome enough to fear that all Survivors might die soon.

This was not even without including the dangers of monsters, and vile humans, which were similarly bothersome.

'If I help Williams, Kathrine and Old Jeff to become Tier-1 Ascenders, it should be possible to forge powerful equipment."

In the end, Dilan's mind came up with a rather simple solution to face the current situation.

Old Jeff's occupation will probably provide him with the necessary proficiency to regain his old glory, while William will be able to protect Old Jeff and everyone else when the goods will be transported from the hospital to the workshop, or the other way around.

Meanwhile, Kathrine would certainly attain more than enough power to lead a small group of Ascenders inside the Krendel's Underground Valley.

Even if it would be quite dangerous to enter the deepest parts of the mine, Dilan was confident that Kathrine was strong enough to procure enough Jadetite and Silver Iron ore!

Dilan, on the other hand, thought about averting his focus on eliminating the most powerful monsters prowling on Rian's outskirts while simultaneously searching for Survivors.

'It has only been 14 days since the Primordial Ascension… at least 1% of Rian's population will still be alive, right?!'

1% of Rian's population would only be 5000 Survivors. If that was the number of human Survivors in the city, there were still more than 4000 Survivors left behind. They could be alive either because they had learned to survive in the brutal place that the city had turned into, or they were helplessly cowering in the corner of some room without a way out!

Thus, the mission he gave himself was to find everyone who needed help and to accept them in his group as long as they wanted to.

That train of thought was something that would have never occurred to Dilan before the Primordial Ascension.

He didn't really care about other people's safety, let alone if they could survive.

After all, Dilan hadn't even valued his own life at some point in the past.

The change of his behavior confused Dilan the most. There was literally no reason for him to endanger his life for other people.

But that was what he had been doing since the beginning of the Primordial Ascension again and again. Not only was he actively helping other people but also risking his life every single time he fought humans and beasts alike.

He saved them from vile people, kept protecting them and even nurtured them.

Earlier, Dilan would have said that his actions were solely to fulfill his own selfish motives.

In order to become stronger, he needed people to do certain tasks for him.

For example, Bianne cooked, Sarah began to concoct potions, while Old Jeff would start forging quite soon.

With many powerful Ascenders by his side, it would also be possible to survive the onslaught of an army of mighty monsters.

As such, nurturing other Ascenders was not only logical but also beneficial. The exact same could be said about taking in more Survivors. Each of them would definitely procure one ability by killing their first monster.

It was still unknown how one was supposed to procure additional abilities.

So far, only once a monster had dropped an ability and that was the time Dilan got his hand on [Thunder Step].

Other than that, nobody was able to procure an additional ability yet.

That meant it was only logical to take in more Survivors to collect more abilities.

However, Dilan could tell that all of this was just a farce. Every single reason he told himself before felt like a lie.

It was not as if the reasons were truly a lie but it was more as if the reasons to help others and to protect them were an excuse he gave himself.

This was important to make himself believe that every single action of his was reasonable and not influenced by his emotions.

But was that truly the case? Dilan was not sure about that anymore.

'Bastard, you should have never been born!'

'Are you really my son, or did this bitch have an affair with another man?!'

'After throwing me aside, she abandoned you as well because you are just a piece of trash!!!'

'Do you think your father ever loved you? Are you really that naive?! He just left you to rot at my feet!

'Brother…leave…only that way you can survive. You've suffered enough, now please let us protect you…'

'Yes Sister is right, you should leave…we will take care of everything. Flee as far as possible, and…n-ne-...never call us again…'

Even if Dilan didn't want to recall memories of his past, they simply resurfaced without any rhyme or reason.

Numerous memories flashed through his mind, entire sentences that had been long forgotten echoed through his mind, and pictures of his family…if he could even call it that, manifested in his mind.

The most apparent memories were about the last day he stayed in the place that had been his so-called home.

Dilan never felt comfortable being surrounded by those walls but he had stayed there because of his two sisters.

They had been older than him by one and three years respectively but that didn't mean they had been able to protect themselves.

His father, Arnes Cier, was already in his 3rd marriage. Dilan was born in his second marriage, while his sisters were born to Arnes' first wife.

One day Arnes' first wife was found dead in the bathtub, her wrists slit open.

Everyone believed that Arnes' first wife had been lonely and depressed because Arnes had been working hard but that was far from the truth…

The truth was only something Arnes knew about…and Dilan.

And this truth, which Dilan got to know at the tender age of 7 while he had been beaten up just like any other day, was the reason for him to stay in the Cier mansion, the place everyone wanted to stay in, except the people that lived inside.

They…just wanted to escape that hellhole, together, as fast as possible…and alive.