Veloxis somehow managed to writhe and struggle its way off his blade, even after being stabbed through the throat seven times in a row. The boss' tenacity impressed Ronan, and despite the fact they were currently mortal enemies, a warrior's respect for the monster grew within him.

Despite its tenacity, the fox painted a sorry sight. Stumbling over blood-stained paws, rivers of its vital essence flowing out of the dozen wounds it had suffered at his hand, the boss tried to retreat.

The mental strikes had ceased. Clearly it had lost the energy to keep them up. Ronan had won the vicious battle of attrition. He advanced towards his weakened foe, summoning a fresh blade to deal the final blow.

It was the least he could do.

Closing the gap between himself and Veloxis wasn't difficult. The fox was doing its utmost to escape, but it looked pitiful, stumbling over every step as it flailed.

Standing over the battered fox, Ronan sighed as he realised how unfortunate most creatures in this new world were. He possessed an irrefutable advantage, one that gave him a unique perspective. On the other hand, these monsters were limited to a particular skillset and starting point.

Veloxis had obliterated him the first few times he'd encountered the Dreamweaver, but now the tables had turned. Raising the shortsword above his head in two hands, he pressed one foot against the fox's chest, pinning it in place. With a grunt, he thrust the tip of the sword down. This time, when the fox was pierced, it died.

After a single twitch, Veloxis stopped moving. A chime rang in his head, and a flood of power rushed into Ronan.

Stepping back from the boss' corpse, Ronan allowed the shortsword to dissipate and staggered a little. The sensation of his hearing returning was odd. Worse, when his eardrums were healed, he actually fell over.

Having got used to the lack of them, adjusting his balance so that he could remain standing during the fight, regaining it threw him off. Sitting on the ground, he wiped the blood from his eyes and exhaled, before falling onto his back. It was time to see his loot.

You have killed [Veloxis the Dreamweaver - BOSS][Nine-Tailed Fox Lv.95]!

+86 Bronze Credits

+674 Copper Credits

+7 [Dagger I] Mastery

+16 [Sword II] Mastery

+19 [Stamina III] Mastery

+18 [Mana III] Mastery

+14 [Perception] Mastery

+4 [Meditation] Mastery

+11 [Anti-Magic] Mastery

+7 [Health II] Mastery

+1 [Throwing Knife] Mastery

+6 [Critical] Mastery

+Dreamweaver's Claw Lv.95 (Epic)

+Supreme Illusory Fox Pelt Lv.95 (Epic)

+Boss Shard Lv.95 (Mind)

+Boss Shard Lv.95 (Energy)

You have leveled up to Lv.89!

You have leveled up to Lv.90!

You have leveled up to Lv.91!

You have leveled up to Lv.92!

You have leveled up to Lv.93!

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You have leveled up to Lv.94!

You have leveled up to Lv.95!

You have leveled up to Lv.96!

You have been restored x8!

+8 Vitality

+8 Endurance

+16 Wisdom

+16 Intelligence

+24 Acuity

+776 Free Stat Points

As far as his gains went, they were a little disappointing. This was the highest level he had ever reached, which would go a long way in improving his multipliers for the future, but he'd expected something… more.

Then again, he hadn't completed the first phase yet. All he had done was defeat a boss monster. There was still the sector pillar to claim.

Ronan left his free stat points uninvested for now, as he wanted to know what was coming next before he decided how to spend them. The item drops would give him a lot of inventory value at the end of this iteration, while the two boss shards would allow him to push his cultivation even further. Perhaps breaking the first threshold in mind cultivation, too.

Shaking his head to clear the last of the fatigue, not that it really helped, Ronan hauled himself to his feet. The battle had taken a lot out of him, but not so much that he wouldn't be able to do what came next.

In the centre of the room, where Veloxis had always rested when he first entered the hundredth floor of the boss tower, lay the magnificent tree that Ronan suspected was the pillar of his sector. There was no real reason why he believed that, but it made the most sense.

If it wasn't he would simply have to scour every inch of the sector until he found it, but he doubted that would be the case. And the tree radiated a serene sense of… profundity. It seemed to resonate with the world around it in a way that the skyscraper, Veloxis, and the other vegetation simply didn't.

The tree wasn't large—compared to other trees, at least. That wasn't what made it majestic. For all intents and purposes, the tree was completely ordinary. Which in itself was weird.

Roots that were evenly spaced, spreading across the tiled floor and into the small patch of grassy earth that it grew from. The trunk seemed to be a uniform cylinder, only minor whorls and bumps marring the surface of its bark. The trunk split into five equally sized branches, themselves spaced almost perfectly even and stretching upwards, holding up the vibrant green canopy.

The canopy was a perfect hemisphere, leaves the exact same size and spread across the branches so that not a single centimetre was left uncovered. The more Ronan watched the tree, the more the uncanny valley feeling grew in his mind.

Shivering, he resolved himself to approach the odd tree. Despite his mind's protests, the tree did not attack him. He was able to walk all the way up to its trunk without resistance. The grassy dirt was soft under his feet, exactly as he'd expected from its appearance.

Reaching out a hand, he placed it against the bark of the tree, unsure what to expect. He wasn't surprised when a system window appeared between him and the tree, but he slowed down to read it, not wanting to miss a single detail.

You have discovered a Pillar!

This pillar is assigned to [Sector 46592] and is currently unclaimed, would you like to claim it?

WARNING: Even once claimed, pillars can still be stolen from your grasp if another being is able to maintain control of the pillar zone for a sufficient amount of time. Once all pillars on this planet have been claimed, the borders between sectors will fall.

There wasn't much information that Ronan hadn't already possessed, but he still felt it was worth ensuring that was the case. Whether Veloxis had laid claim to the pillar before and its death had released that claim was also uncertain. In any case, it was too late to find out. All Ronan could do was exactly what he'd come to do.

Mentally assenting to the question, he felt a faint connection form between himself and the tree. The canopy shook gently, as though accepting his desire to claim it.

This pillar is currently 37.6% claimed by another challenger, you will need to purge this claim before you can stake your own!

Estimated time until claim is purged: 1 Hour, 22 Minutes, 14 Seconds

Estimated time until claim is purged and pillar is claimed: 2 Hours, 7 Minutes, 46 Seconds

WARNING: If you leave the pillar zone, your attempt to claim the pillar will freeze. Please remain inside the pillar zone until you have claimed it!

He hadn't been expecting to have to wait, but it made sense. He had also learned that Veloxis had been in the process of claiming the pillar, but not made it all the way. That was presumably why he always found the boss resting at the base of the tree.

If it couldn't leave the pillar zone while attempting to claim it, then what better place to stay than sleeping right beside it? Ronan felt like doing exactly the same. The fight had taken a lot out of him and despite his body being completely healed, the mental fatigue was still present.

What stopped him from immediately going to sleep was the worry that with the boss defeated, all of the foxes left in the sector might go wild. Without the Dreamweaver directing their actions he had no idea how the formerly wild scavengers would act. They might become less aggressive, but there was every chance that they would become even more territorial.

Then again, it wasn't necessarily his problem right now. At the top of the tower, he doubted any of the foxes from the ground would make it all the way up here. As for the foxes inside the tower, he had slaughtered them all on his way up. At any rate, he doubted there was a single fox in the entire sector that posed a threat to him. Satisfied, he lay down at the base of the pillar's trunk and closed his eyes.

Hopefully he would wake up to a claimed pillar and the rewards for completing the first phase of the integration.

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