[*Crying tears of joy*]


    Cassius''s brows twitched. "I''ll make you cry tears of pain if you keep persisting in being persistently annoying."


    [:< Seems like you need more Character Development]


    "Roooarrrghh!!!"


    The savage beast suddenly charged at Cassius, forcing him to dash out of the way. Luckily, he did so, because in the spot he had just upied, there was no longer a spot to speak of. Therge boulder had been utterly obliterated, with chunks and pieces flying in all directions.


    Cassius felt like the system was controlling things somehow, but he instinctively knew it possessed no such ability. It simply had a keener and more fleshed-out intuition of events, allowing it to almost seem like it could see into the future. He was tempted to ask the system to use this unstated feature to his advantage, but he knew the only thing the system cared about was Character Development—which exclusively involved him getting abused in every way possible.


    As the one experiencing this artificial Character Development, it was tough to tell if it was actually working. From a strictly power-driven standpoint, it had undeniably helped him evolve from the weak-willed person he once was. Yet, in moments like these—when his life hung by a thread—Cassius wondered if he had truly chosen the correct path in life.


    "Well," said Cassius, his breathing more evenly, "in this life, there is no room for regret. And if I want to keep pushing forward, I will need to suffer more."


    [You have learned well, my padawan ^_^ Go get your ass handed to you! It is good for Character Development! And it may or may not lead you to the true features of the Idle Evolution System.]


    "You really are a professional troll," Cassiusmented as he picked up the upper part of the snapped-in-half Deadly Spear. Using only half of it reduced the Attack Stat, but that was secondary to what he had in mind.


    With the grim presence of the terrifying monster reminding him not to hold back, Cassius clicked the up arrow next to a particr stat until he had no AP points left. All 24 of his AP—gone just like that.


    Cassius''s piercing blue eyes shed with a sharp electrical current as he stared at the enraged [Savage Fur Devil (E+)] charging him like a bull. Yet, for some reason, the monster''s movements appeared so slow—or, rather, Cassius was simply moving too fast.


    It felt as though he had be one with the speed force as he slowly walked toward the raging monster, which still seemed sluggish inparison. He sped up and leapt off to the side of its hideous face. As its eyes traced his afterimages, Cassius''s brows knitted together like sharpened swords, his actions emting his steely expression.


    BZZZzzzzttt!!!


    SHING! SHING! SHING!


    In an instant, Cassius unleashed dozens of strikes with his broken Deadly Spear. Not all of them hit their mark, but through sheer quantity alone, every single one of the Fur Devil''s eyes was stabbed at least once. Normally, this wouldn''t be nearly enough to kill a hearty monster like a Savage Fur Devil, but this was no normal situation…


    SPURT!


    The blood effect was applied dozens of times in a matter of seconds. When time resumed, Cassius reappeared a few feet behind the Savage Fur Devil. Rxing his posture, he flicked the blood off his broken spear and watched as nearly a hundred shes registered against the behemoth.


    It copsed to the ground, dead.


    "Speed really is the only way to go," Cassius remarked with a razor-sharp gleam in his gaze. He watched as system notifications bombarded his vision.


    Ding!


    [You leveled up!]


    [You obtained 1 Stat Point in all of your Main Attributes!]


    [You received 2 AP!]


    [You cleared the E+ Rank Boss Dungeon Lair, Savage Fur Devil''s Den, subsequently clearing the E+ Rank Sudden Gate ''Savage Jungle.'' Kill all escaped monsters in thest three waves to obtain extra rewards.]


    [You leveled up!]n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om


    [You leveled up!]


    [You…]


    Combining the experience from killing the Gate Boss and clearing the Gate itself, Cassius leveled up several times and obtained arge number of Stat Points. Additionally, more system notifications revealed unexpected gains.


    *Ding!*


    [Acquired E+ Rank Item ''Fur Devil Tail Spike'']


    [Acquired E Rank Item ''Fur Devil Galldder'']


    [Acquired E+ Rank Item ''Ominous Eye'']


    "These are some unusual items, but I figure smashing them together will give me something massively more useful than my Deadly Spear." Cassius raised a brow before deciding to proceed.


    BANG! BAM!


    After smashing together a weird squishy organ, a creepy slitted eyeball, and arge jagged tail spike, a bright light shed. All items were quickly melted and assimted, forming something vastly superior to their individual parts. Looking at the system tag, Cassius saw:


    [Serrated Devil de (Melee/Extend)] - [D- Rank]


    |—[Attack: ~27]—|


    {[Effect 1: ''Bleed'' - (Depletes 1% Health every second for up to ten seconds. Can be stacked.)]}


    {[Effect 2: ''Serrate'' - (Partially negates the defenses of stronger opponents. Up to 30% Enemy Defense reduction.)]}


    "Ho?" Cassius mused, a contented gleam in his gaze. "It seems like this will indeed be on an entirely different level than the Deadly Spear."


    He examined the one-and-a-half-meter jagged, jigsaw-like de nted firmly in his right hand. It stood imposingly, as if ready to seek out the blood of any who opposed its master. Moreover, there seemed to be a hidden effect rted to the ''Extend'' token.


    Wishing to test it, Cassius called, "Extend." He watched in awe as the de broke into pieces, seemingly connected by a mystical maic force. They dangled and swayed in systematic motion, perfectly synchronized.