The arm guard looked as if it was made with very dark-colored steel. It had a small clip so that Kyros could lock it. The arm guard had a small blade protruding on the forearm side. Kyros wore it and smiled.

[Bestow name to the crafted item?]

“Set name to Dark Arm Guards. Let’s keep it simple for now and reserve the more powerful names for later.” Kyros laughed as he looked at his dark creation.

“Display item stats!”

—

Dark Arm Guards (Element Crafted Weapon)

Attack: 14

Durability: 10

Dark Resistance: (+5)

Absorbs 3% dark element per second of contact.

—

“Wow. Just wow. The attack is weak. Normal mortal swords have attacks of at least 20. But still… This is quite amazing for a first Element Crafted Weapon!”

“I guess I have to code my soul to think of a way to refine this method…” Kyros sighed.

“I guess I’ll just code it in my dreams. For now… I have to fight. Show Temple Info!”

—

Shade Level: 1 (01:12:51:03 remaining to Level 2)

Temple Level: 3 (648/1000 points to Level 4)

—

“Two hours, huh? But it makes my soul feel heavy if I keep Pronto up. Deactivate Pronto.” Kyros ordered and allowed Pronto to lose effect.

“Now it’s time to train! My dexterity is high enough to fight these monsters. And with this guard, I can give those creatures a better fight. The last trick I pulled ought to make those Shadow Ghouls think twice before charging off like the last time.” Kyros smiled and moved towards the exit of the temple.

“If you plan to do that, then I suggest aiming for that strange area in the middle.”

“What’s over there?”

“There’s a red light hidden in the darkness. I think it’s the one thing that is creating these monsters. If you get there and destroy that object, it should stop creating more of these Shadow Ghouls. Maybe it will allow you to receive a huge amount of points!”

Kyros looked at the direction where Calaminus was pointing and nodded.

“Alright. Let’s see what’s out there!” Kyros immediately moved out.

The temple detected the arm guard that Kyros crafted, and the moment Kyros moved out, the barrier opened a small port.

“Oh? It was this smart?”

“I knew it. I thought it would have this ability. This is my training ground, after all. Now, let’s start raising those stats of mine!”

Kyros had a body that was similar to humans. And Mortals can increase their stats through handwork and training. Although there was a limit to how strong one can train in, Kyros was able to raise his stats to phenomenal levels. And right now, he was training to increase his stats forcibly.

The Shadow Ghouls had retreated a bit further from the temple entrance. They were afraid that the same strange event would happen that pulled many Shadow Ghouls inside the temple. So it kept its distance and didn’t attack even when Kyros had moved a few steps away from the barrier.

“My my… how smart of them.” Kyros laughed.

“Just because these creatures have ghouls in their name doesn’t mean they are dumb creatures. I’ve only given you the basic explanations of what they are. But as I said, we as gods take no interest in the lives of mortal life-forms. You probably know better than me.”

“So these Shadow creatures are among the mortal creatures that are worthy of becoming known to gods?”

“Yes. Some of the Fallen were once shadows. Some began as Shadow Ghouls!”

“Interesting. It’s such a pity for me to kill them. If I can tame one, I’d have a strong helper.”

“I think that’s the intention. This is a Nephilim Sealing and Training Temple. Whoever built it wanted to seal you in and train you until you’d be ready for the real world.”

“Oh? Maybe I can make one of these Shadow Creatures become my actual Shadow! I guess I should start looking for that red light you saw.” Kyros searched for the red light.

The temple had been releasing a bright-yellowish light. Yet because of the Shadow Ghouls, the light could only penetrate so far. So it took a few minutes until Kyros saw a flashing red light. It was gone so fast, and Kyros concluded that that the Shadow Ghouls was blocking the view to see it clearly.

Kyros immediately rushed towards where the red light was.

The Shadow Ghouls leaped at Kyros when he had reached a certain distance.

But instead of evading and moving faster, Kyros fought at regular speed and used his arm guards to block the claw attack.

Kyros kept on making some wild swings and used the small blade to slash through the heads when he got the chance. His feet kept on moving as the numerous claws and bites of the Shadow Ghouls kept reaching for it.

The fight was growing intense as Kyros would face at least ten Shadow Ghouls at a time. Some Shadow Ghouls were jumping over the other Shadow Ghouls to attack Kyros from above. Yet despite this, Kyros managed to hold his position, evading and blocking the attacks. He would, at times, take a step back but rush back forward for a bite or a slash.

This battle went on and on for nearly ten minutes, and exhaustion could be seen on Kyros’s face.

All of a sudden, more of the Shadow Ghouls began to attack and encircle Kyros.

Kyros would retreat and move closer to the Barriers. The Shadow Ghouls would then retreat and regroup at the first distance they were at.

Kyros was gasping for breath. He had several wounds and cuts from the attacks, and he retreated back inside the temple and sat down to rest.

“Set alarm to twenty minutes,” Kyros ordered his soul and immediately fell asleep.

Calaminus watched in shock.

“Wow. That’s so efficient.”

The temple began to heal Kyros of his wounds and was restoring his stamina. His soul was also recovering from overexerting itself.

Kyros awoke after exactly twenty minutes. His body jolted awake.

“Woah. That’s the worst alarm clock ever! But I have to fight. That one-hour nap was great!” Kyros smiled.

“… You sped up time and made it feel like you slept like an hour?”

“Yeah. I mean, my physical body is resting here, but the mental strain of what I did needed deep sleep.” Kyros sprung up.

“Display Character Profile.”

[Displaying Character Profile.] Arnold alerted as Kyros’s stats are displayed.

“You’re really going to set that voice prompt? I mean, the other notifications for level-ups and stuff need those alerts. But you better stop that for this one!”

“Why?”

“It’s too much work for the author! Do you expect him to type ‘Arnold notified Kyros’ over and over again every time you say it?”

“Can’t the readers assume that in the future? I mean, the author can just display the profile and leave it to the readers to imagine Arnold saying ‘Displacing Character Profile.’. Wait a minute, what am I saying? Ugh. This cursed 4th Wall Breacher is making me say weird things.” Kyros shook his head and observed his stats.

—

Strength- 55 (Sealed/Cursed)

Magic- 3 (Sealed/Cursed)

Dexterity- 255 (Sealed/Cursed)

Vitality- 55 (Sealed/Cursed)

Intelligence- Bruh… ( Sealed)

Soul Force- 2 (Sealed)

Ancient Source- 103 (Greatly Sealed)

Fallen Source- 108 ( Greatly Sealed)

—

“As expected… My dexterity increased by two points by fighting those things! My current body is catching up to the battle experience and fighting styles I gained in my past life. I am slowly adjusting to this current body. Too bad these creatures have such weak defenses. My strength won’t increase like this. And here I thought Vitality would increase after receiving those wounds. I guess that’s Enfeeble curse for you…”

“What’s amazing is that Soul Force increased!”

“What would that small amount do?”

“You don’t understand! Remember your initial stats! If normal mortals were to look at your stats, they would assume that you have Second Source! Your soul was so strong that it actually increased all your basic stats. Your Ancient and Fallen Source acted together and sort of made a Second Source! But now, your actual soul is appearing! This isn’t going to be a Second Source, but a Third Source!”

“And that’s useful because…?”

“There are no available means of detecting the Third Source! This could surprise your enemies! The stronger and more advanced, and powerful enemies in this world may be able to detect your Ancient and Fallen Source and assume its Second Source! It can be a means to make it look like you are weaker than them!”

“I guess that’s nice. If that’s the case, I can technically deplete all my Ancient and Fallen Source and still be alive right?”

“That’s another benefit! Of course, it will still weaken you to a great extent. But if you manage to get that higher, at least fifty points, then you can deplete the energy in your Ancient and Fallen Source and still live!” Calaminus explained.

“Then I guess it’s important I head back to training!”

Kyros rushed again and attacked the enemies.

This time, Kyros made a reckless charge and dove towards the ranks of the Shadow Ghouls. Kyros ran so fast that he was able to make a cutting slash using his arm guards.

The heads of two Shadow Ghouls flew, and Kyros caught one and bit on it.

The Shadow Ghouls began to attack again. But this time, they immediately encircled Kyros and gave no place for Kyros to flee.

Kyros kept fighting with the enemies in front and right as he was surrounded with his back full of enemies, Kyros activated it.

“Just as planned!”

[Pronto activated.]

Kyros dove back and rammed the many Shadow Ghouls sending some flying back into the barrier.

All of a sudden, Kyros was moving nearly twice as fast as before.