After getting more confident and increasing his level, he started hunting packs of wolves instead of isolated ones.
This was the largest pack he dared fight today. He already killed more than 10 wolves from this pack alone. Theirs corpses are strewn over the surrounding floor.
He was heavily wounded. Two wolves managed to dig their claws into his back, one bit him in the left calf and another one he had to fend off using his left arm.
He is circulating mana to close wounds and stop bleeding as good as he can.
Just this morning, he fought the two orc-boars. He still feels his ribs hurting, but he knows he has to persevere.
Exhaustion from a whole day of fighting is settling in. The thought of resting is already settling itself in his mind, despite the remaining enemy in front of him.
He really wishes, right now, he would have rested before seeking another fight. Everything went well so far, if you exclude the first perilous fight against the two boars this morning.
He got too confident. He thought he had assessed the situation correctly, but the pack this time didn't only consist of 5 wolves, like the one he fought before.
There were a lot more just around a corner, he didn't check.
The wolf he is currently facing in also hurt already. Civitas managed to slice across its left eye in a fluke while trying to hit another wolf earlier.
The wolf is tilting its head, turning its remaining good eye towards Civitas. It is growling at him.
They are already standing the for a while; at least a minute.
Suddenly, Civitas clenches his teeth and pushes himself forwards using his right foot.
The wolf was already anticipating this and tries to dodge around and circle Civitas, but due to his increased physical abilities, Civitas manages to plant his remaining good foot solidly into the ground. He turns his body along with the wolf.
With just one strike, he swings at the wolf and splits its head. The sword which accompanied him for only two days, but many fights breaks and half of it remains stuck in the wolves head.
Civitas collapses onto the floor from exhaustion.
He is barely able to follow what the new Windows are telling him.
Apparently, he has 30 minutes left before something happens to him.
But he can't move right now. He is already circulating mana as fast as he can to get back up, but it's just too much right now.
He knows he needs to get away from there. Not only because something will happen to him soon, but also because all this blood will soon attract other monsters.
{Let me assist you with controlling your mana. I will circulate your mana to make you feel better, and you have to leave here right now.}
Even her voice sounds somehow distant to him. But the moment, she takes control of the mana the effects he feels are on a whole other level. Although the amount of mana didn't change, the process is so much more efficient, Civitas instantly feels a tiny bit rejuvenated.
He gets up while staggering. He grabs the broken sword since it's still better than nothing and slowly, while leaning against the wall of the cave, he makes his way back towards his home room.
Luckily, he encounters no monsters on his way back.
He squeezes himself through the crack into the room and instantly collapses once again.
He is tired. So incredibly tired. He lays there on the cold stone floor looking at the dimly lit ceiling.
He tries to open the Window with a thought, but the only thing that comes up is the timer.
He barely made it back.
“Do you know what will happen now?”
[I'm just as clueless]
{Sorry dear.}
Sometimes they are really damn useless.
With a slight smirk on his face while thinking this, Civitas waits for something to happen.
He really should have learned some mana recovery from Dorminil first.
Those are the last thoughts, before another Window pops up and Civitas loses consciousness.
Civitas feels nothing. Like, he is deprived of all sensation, but he is aware of himself.
He tries to move a muscle, but nothing happens.
Slowly, he starts to hear some very quiet mumbling.
The mumbling grows louder, but he still can't make out anything.
He keeps trying to listen, but he only manages to pick up two words.
(Experiment… failure.)
Suddenly Civitas is standing in a white open space.
His clothes are gone, and he quickly covers himself using his hands.
Then he notices three Orbs floating in front of him.
He quickly realizes what they symbolize.
One is Dark, one is Bright, and the other one is a deep red.
He looks around in an attempt to find the fourth thing he felt in his chest, but there is nothing else.
He remembers hearing something as he fell unconscious. Is he supposed to choose one of those?
If so, this choice seems difficult to Civitas.
Zabula seems to be the most cooperative, so enhancing her help would be a massive gain.
But he is currently fighting using a sword, which is Gabriel's strength.
And then there is Dorminil.
He doesn't sound like he wants to help him most of the time, but the bit of dragon language he learned was already a big help to him.
Furthermore, he said something about dragons having the most mana before.
He can't tell, what exactly picking one of these will do to him, but right now, the strong body and the large mana capabilities of dragons seems like the most solid foundation to select.
So he walks towards the deep red orb and touches it.
Immediately, Civitas feels a warm current flow through his arm. It feels similar to when he touched the giant mana crystal before, but much more pleasant.
As the power keeps flowing into Civitas, he faints again.
He opens his eyes slowly and gets scared suddenly.
Why is everything in here so bright?
Is there a fire?
What are these colors?
He hears Dorminil talking calmly and Zabula hasn't warned him about anything yet, so he tries to calm down.
“What happened while I was gone, what is all this. Why is it so bright in here?”
“Wait dragon eyes?”
Civitas looks around.
“Then what are these colors?”
Civitas calmed down by now. He looks around a bit more, and the world seems to be painted in every kind of color.
It is very beautiful.
He opens up his Window to the world to check for changes, but does not expect too much, the eyes are already a giant gain. But after seeing it, he gets confused and the metaphorical jaws of his three companions drop through the floor.
[This can't be, you just ascended your species tier. You definitely are not human anymore. And you also multiply your ability values, just like if you were always a low tier species. This is ridiculous.]
{Your growth, dear… could be scarily exponential.}
“Is it this unusual for a species tier to increase?”
{No, but for a human, it is. The way of tier increases is determined the moment a being is born. The only previous case of a being exceeding their limit known to me is… myself.
I was born as a normal demon queen of the highest species tier, but through the sacrifice of thousands of other demon queens and billions of demons, we managed to elevate me to the supreme level in a ritual.}
[Angels have a set number of Supreme arch angels. Whenever one dies, a ceremony can be held to promote an angel commander to the level of an arch angel. There can never be more than nine arch angels.]
This makes Civitas not feel too special. If they all can increase their tier, why not him?
{But there are two more things. First, a being, who ascends usually does not upgrade their existing abilities, only their future gain will be enhanced. And second, you acquired enough energy to ascend tiers, just by killing a few wolves and boars. You could ascend your species scarily fast. Furthermore, you received five times more points, than a normal being of the same tier usually needs to level up, so your abilities are more than one tier ahead of your actual tier..}
Oh, so that's the issue. Suddenly, Civitas feels like a monster to himself.