Legendary Traveler: By Earning Progress Points I will Become Supreme!

Crawling forward on all fours, and with tears streaming down his face, Aoni hurled in ropes as if a firehose had been shoved up his ass while trying his best to get as close to the edge of the platform as possible.

Amazingly, even in his present state, the Lad's willpower was strong enough to keep moving forward. As such, with an unfathomable amount of vomit launching out every 30 seconds, inch by painful inch, he eventually succeeded in reaching his goal and blew chunks down the mountainside.

'This…is worse than my stats,' collapsing onto his belly and furiously rubbing the tears off his cheeks with his sleeve, Aoni felt the upgrade finish and wanted nothing more than to curl up in his bed and sleep it off…unfortunately, that wasn't a possibility.

If he stopped now, all that would do is cause an inherent aversion to upgrading his Manipulation passive, exactly like what had happened with his stats. It had been nearly two weeks since the last time, and the Lad was still terrified of doing it again.

Bearing that thought in mind and not wanting to give up since he was already two upgrades deep, he may as well continue so…

| Increasing Passive 'Energia Manipulation' from G+ to F- |

| Progress Points have been Deducted |

| 35 PP earned |

Unlike with the previous upgrades, something was different this time around; if before, the counterforce effect generated by rapid use of Energia was invisible to the naked eye, this time, a faint heat haze covered Aoni as his Aura began taking shape, creating a micro-millimeter thin layer across the surface of his skin.

Yet the worst part about this was the heat his body had been expelling, which was now trapped the instant it leaked out of his pores, had nowhere to go, thanks to the presence of his impenetrable Aura.

Eh, calling it impenetrable wasn't exactly correct; anyone stronger than the Lad could easily break through it, like sticking a needle into a balloon, but in his current situation, the heat being generated wasn't able to do so.

In response to this reaction, his skin went from its pale alabaster to pink, then straight onward to Sunburn Red.

Between being cooked alive, the splitting headache, and feeling like his chest was about to explode, Aoni was in hell.

His only saving grace was that this would only last a couple of minutes at most, meaning so long as he could endure, he'd probably come out in one piece…probably.

"Fu…huff, ck…" struggling back to his hands and knees, after three excruciating and frightening minutes in hell, Aoni finally felt the effects of his upgrade completing and was SERIOUSLY concerned about what would happen if he kept pushing.

In all honesty, the only reason he had gone from G- to F- in the first place was that his defense and speed had already reached that point; thus, he was around 75% sure he wouldn't die. Ok, maybe 70; yeah, 70 sounds reasonable.

Even so, now that he HAD achieved F-, the question was, does he roll the dice and push to his Potential Limit of F+, bypassing the two stats which, for the most part, assured his survival, or should he chill out for a bit?

The answer…was a resounding ADD POINTS! Without even bothering to check if he was burning too many, the Lad pushed onward!

| Increasing Passive 'Energia Manipulation' from F- to F |

| Progress Points have been Deducted |

| 50 PP earned |

"A…A…AH!!!!!!!!!" Unable to control himself as he had the previous three times, Aoni let out a blood-curdling scream as he felt like his body was ripping to shreds.

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Everything he believed to be theoretical was instantly proven true, as his stats could no longer keep up with the changes happening within. His skin cracked and bled, fluid leaked from his ears, eyes, and nose, and then he began vomiting whatever was left in his stomach.

Worse yet, that was JUST his body, lest his Brain and Energia Cell were thrown into the mix.

And what was it all for? Expanding his Aura from a micro-millimeter to one millimeter. Well, that was true on a surface level, but internally, everything was changing.

The way his body carried and used Energia, the pathways it traveled, the manner in which it fused with his blood, and the way his EC cycled, generated, and purified Energia were all changing, transforming into the basis of what was necessary to break through into the E-Rank.

That was where the first qualitative change in Energia occurred. Going from G to F was stock standard and the lowest purity possible; think of it as extremely muddy, borderline TOXIC sludge.

Sure, the EC would purify it and add a specific signature unique to Aoni; however, at the end of the day, it still resembled something better suited for a septic tank. A turd is still a turd, no matter how shiny it is.@@novelbin@@

Then again, even going a tier-up wasn't great; instead of sludge, it was more like Toxic Water at that point. Never forget that at the end of the day, Energia is still a form of Radiation, and although his body can handle it and adapt to utilizing the resource, it was still just as harmful to Aoni as it was helpful.

In comparison, Energia stored within the body of, let's say…A-Rank would have NICE, clean, and clear Spring Water for Energia, and it was this absolute purity that brought a strength unlike anything Aoni could fathom.

Meanwhile, the output between Low-Level Noobie Traveler Aoni, and a High-Class Powerhouse, was like throwing a handful of sand at someone shooting a high-powered positron Laser.

The winner of said outcome would be obvious.

Aoni was in so much pain and going through what he was because his body simply wasn't built to handle the higher form of Energia. As such, when the changes began, and the foundation was forcefully laid to do so, his essence revolted against the changes, like all the peasants in a kingdom who were starving thanks to the King increasing Taxes too high.