Cedric certainly felt the consequences of taxing his body.
He woke up with his entire body sore. He was even tempted to ask somebody if they saw the truck that hit him. Despite feeling sufficiently energized, his body was complaining to him. None of his limbs wanted to move. In the end, he had to force his body to get up from his bed.
His body screamed at him when he decided to do some stretches. The soreness he felt intensified as he practically forced himself to do yoga but he persisted through it.
After 15 minutes, however, the pain subsided altogether. Cedric could feel a deep-seated warmth coursing through his body, he was even sweating a bit but he obviously did not mind.
This is when he realizes that he is still wearing the same clothes he had during his Hell Dive. He winced at the foul stench he emitted. Cedric then stood up and saw his bedsheets that also got dirtied in the process.
He grabbed the sheets and tossed them into the laundry. After doing that, he ran to the comfort room to have a hot bath.
When his body dipped into the hot bath, Cedric wasn't able to stop the pleasured groan from escaping his lips. He didn't think of anything else and decided to just enjoy this for now.
Once he's completely relaxed, he allows his thoughts to race. The memories of his tough fight replayed in his mind. Things surely got hectic, especially on the 3rd BOSS fight. It came way too close for comfort.
Now that he thought of it, was it really necessary for him to kill the final boss? The stipulation of his Mandatory Task says that he only needed to survive for three hours under the siege of the Endless Undead Horde. It didn't say anything about killing the final boss.
Oh well, it's just a thought. He went ahead and did it anyway so there's no use pondering over it.
Now that he had caught up with everything, it was time to face the music.
"System, show me all the alerts that I missed."
[Displaying...]
[Congratulations, User Cedric! You have completed your Monthly Mandatory Service.]
[Your current streak is 0.]
[Task Failure Counter dropped to 0]
[As a reward for clearing your Mandatory Service. You will receive 100% of the Demon Souls you gained during your time in Purgatory.]
[Ordinary Zombie killed: 19,500. Killing an Ordinary Zombie grants you 10 Demon Souls. Amount gained: 195,000 Demon Souls.]
[Mutated Zombie killed: 320. Killing a Mutated Zombie awards you with 100 Demon Souls. Amount gained: 320,000 Demon Souls.]
[You have killed the 1st BOSS. 10,000 Demon Souls awarded.]
[You have killed the 2nd BOSS. 50,000 Demon Souls awarded.]
[You have killed the Final BOSS. 100,000 Demon Souls Awarded.]
[Notice! The Final Boss reached Tier 2 in strength. Additional Award: One (1) Tier 2 Demon Soul.]
[Total Amount: 675,000 Demon Souls and 1 Tier 2 Demon Soul.]
[For completing a task that is way above your level. The Acala System decided to round up your final earnings to 700,000 Demon Souls and 10 Tier 2 Demon Souls.]
[Performance Rating: S+]
[Congratulations! You received a phenomenal grade for your performance! Reward: Rainbow-colored Treasure Box (T1).]
"Aha..."
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Cedric laughed uproariously as he read the messages just now. He felt as if all of his efforts, pain, and suffering were worth it thanks to these rewards.
Just as they say; the greater the risks, the greater the rewards. Clearing this almost impossible challenge netted him riches that he could only dream of before.
'Acala sure is generous!' He exclaimed.
On the corners of his mind, he couldn't help but think that he should get more than that since even the Ordinary Demons reached Lv.9 when he's only Lv.2, he thought that Lv.9 Zombies shouldn't amount to just 10 Demon Souls per kill. But this was just his greed talking.
He's already more than happy to receive 500,000 Demon Souls and 10 Tier 2 Demon Souls. Acala was already nice enough to increase his rewards so you won't hear him complaining.
There's also that Rainbow-colored Treasure Box. Although it's only T1, Cedric still placed great importance on it since something like that wasn't all that common. In fact, he'd even dare to say that only a handful of people receive this kind of reward at a given time.
The reason why the Rainbow-colored Treasure Box's value was so great was because of the items that came from it. Although it's limited to a T1 item, this box will always provide the most essential tool for its owner. That's what makes it special.
Right now, the box was on his Inventory and he wasn't in any hurry to open it. After all, he still has a lot of System Alerts to go through...
[You have pushed yourself past your limits during your Hell Dive. As a result, several Skills of yours experienced massive growth.]
*
[Profile]
Name: Cedric Stormrider
Age: 21
Race: Human
Class: Tier 1 - Swordsman
Level: 2
Titles: Jr.Undead Slayer, Scholar, Sword Child
Aptitude:
Body: A
Energy: A
Spirit: (S) - Locked. Tier 2 req.
Final rating: A
Skills:
Actives: Sword Breath Lv.1 (NEW!), Kickboxing Lv.8
Passives: Vision (M), Learning (M), Internal Breath Mastery Lv.1 (NEW!), Smell (M), Multitasking Lv.9, Taste Lv.9, Touch (M), Listening (M), Intuition Lv.3 (NEW!), Footwork (M), Recovery (M), Tolerance Lv.4 (NEW!), Tactics Lv.3 (NEW!)
Mandatory Task:
Hell Dive: Survive the Endless Undead Horde for 3 Hours.
Rewards: 100% Demon Soul gain.
Failure: +1 Strike. Current Strike Counter: 0/3
*
Cedric's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets as he looked at his updated Profile.
He didn't just level up a few of his skills, he even evolved some of them and learned new ones!
The 『Internal Breath Mastery』 was the evolved version of the 『Breathing』 skill. With it, his breaths now carried sufficient vitality and penetrated deep into every cell of his body. His breaths have now turned into a source of energy which not only strengthened him but also pushed his entire being to evolve even further.
Its effect was obvious through the changes in his Aptitude Rating. Now, he's an A-Rank Superhuman. Of course, his other skills also helped with this.
『Sword Breath』 should be the evolution of his 『Fencing』 skill. According to its description, it should be the method of incorporating his Inner Breath into his sword strikes, increasing their speed and lethality. Increasing its level further maximizes the quality and quantity of the Sword Breath he can release. With this, his skills as a Swordsman entered another realm of greatness.
Out of his basic senses, only the 『Taste』 wasn't mastered. He even learned the fabled Sixth Sense or 『Intuition』 as the System defines it. This pushes the might of his senses to a truly absurd degree.
『Tolerance』 should be the lesser form of 『Resistance』, at least based on Cedric's prediction for the skill growth. It increases his body's adjustment towards foreign or harmful elements which will obviously help him a lot in the long run, especially if his prediction is proven to the correct.
『Tactics』 was a passive skill that improved his mental capabilities. It helps him discover the most effective way to deal with enemies. Maximizing the damage he could deal with minimal effort.
[For killing hordes of Undead at once, you have been bestowed with the title of "Jr. Undead Slayer"!]
[For reaching a high mastery over your Skills despite being low-leveled, you have been granted the title of "Scholar"!]
[For reaching an unbelievable level of sword finesse despite being low-leveled, you were granted the title of "Sword Child"!]
And things just keep going with these notifications. Cedric truly couldn't believe his eyes. Titles! He really received Titles!
Titles are a unique monicker that the System provides based on achievement. To his knowledge, only a handful of people receive Titles nowadays. Back in the beginning of this Era, they said it was frequent but it's way different now.
The fact that he received, not just one but three titles all at once, was mind-boggling for him.
He initially thought that this might've been a mistake, but recalling how he survived a nigh-impossible challenge, he changed his mind and took it in stride.
Since it was given to him, then he would use it. After all, his Mandatory Service would only become harder as time goes on so he might as well take everything that he could use for his survival.
"Jr.Undead Slayer" - Undeads could sense the foul stench of their kind's blood on your body, making them more aggressive towards you. At the same time, they also fear you since you could slaughter them easily. Your mere presence intimidates them, lowering their combat prowess by 20%.
"Scholar" - Your thirst for Learning is insatiable. You also desire to see the utmost limits for all the abilities you have. Effect: Skill Growth +50%.
"Sword Child" - You were born to handle the Sword. You love the Sword and the Sword loves you. Effect: Sword Skill Growth +50%
"Such powerful Titles!" Cedric exclaimed to himself.
It's still unbelievable that he got all of this after a single battle. You won't hear him complaining though. After all, he'd be a dumb idiot to refuse such riches like this.
He's still uncertain if truly deserved all of this, but nobody said that he couldn't work hard to be deserving of it, right? So that's exactly what he planned to do.