Seven months had passed since Eric, Lyria, and Livy arrived at the Heart-Shaped Island.
On this day, Eric finally reached '50' on his 'new' Intelligence stat bracket. After hearing the requirement, he was left dazed.
He immediately paid a visit to his psychiatrist.
"Riya, what's with this requirement? What if I fail?" Eric asked with bewilderment while staring at the 2D screen in front of him.
Intelligence - 30 (100) (50) Requirement to Breakthrough: Do something or digest something that would have immediately resulted in 10 permanent Intelligence within the next 12 hours.
It "would have"—in other words, he didn't necessarily need to increase his Intelligence stat further to pass the trial, as he was already at the max stats possible.
Riya, who was clad in a doctor's white coat, shrugged. "What else? The requirement will only change to something more difficult."
Eric gave Riya a strange look. "Did you expect this kind of trial to appear?"
He was extremely glad that Riya was no longer harassing an underage boy while wearing a near-transparent men's inner vest.
"Yes and no." Riya giggled. "Though the chances were there, as there can always be trials that demand an immediate boost through treasures or resources. I just expected it to appear on the first breakthrough, but it didn't happen."
She could even guess that both Lyria and Livy probably had the same Intelligence trial, as they had reached 49 points of it. She could roughly estimate the requirement when Training Stats reached that high. Yet it still wasn't a 100% certainty until they truly reached 50, so she didn't mention it.
Eric sighed internally. It was strangely an easy trial. Recalling how difficult the last one was, he wanted to cry.
"It isn't easy." Riya shook her head. "If you weren't at the peak of your early-stage of Rank 1—in other words, if you still needed at least a day to reach the peak—you would have failed this trial."
"This kind of trial can normally only be succeeded through luck, such as breaking through at the right time, or by some rare opportunity like eating unique fruits, an elixir, or something similar."
Eric agreed.
If he missed this opportunity, the next trial would probably require obtaining 15 or 20 permanent stats. Even though that would still be possible, why take the chance? The next trial wouldn't necessarily be the same.
"Should I boost all other stats first, then breakthrough?" Eric decided to ask the expert.
Riya thought for a moment and agreed. It was better to check and not take chances, in case two or more stats' requirements turned out to be similar.
Following that, after a few hours, Eric was back inside his Mind Space.
Looking at the new requirements, he massaged his temples. It somehow sounded awfully familiar.
Constitution - 30 (100) (50) Requirement to Breakthrough: Dive down 5000 meters below sea level; breathing artifacts can be used. Stay for 10 minutes or more. No other foreign items that alleviate pressure are allowed.
The same applied to the Strength and Agility stat trials as well.
Eric sighed and stared at Riya with hollowed eyes.
This requirement could be considered easier compared to past ones, but was instead deadly. This time, it wasn't about prolonged torture—but one direct shot to the afterlife.
Riya laughed awkwardly. "I'm not at fault! I also now understand what training you guys need to reduce the difficulty further."
Eric's eyes lit up slightly. He really didn't want to go through that many hurdles if it could be avoided. The only good thing about the current trial was that Riya had once again gathered all three physical stats' trials into one single requirement.
Riya let out a breath and shared her findings. "I think you guys are eating the 'same food' almost every single day, so your 'training' at some point stops counting. What you guys need is to face various situations—hard or easy, doesn't matter—but you can't sit still and keep doing the same thing every single day on these isolated islands."
Eric's eyebrows rose in realization.
Indeed, what they had been doing was just 'eating' the same thing every single day. Eventually, their tongues' souls got bored. It wanted something else—anything but the same taste constantly.
The more direct meaning was: face troubles from everywhere and everything.
Eric wiped his sweat-covered face.
This went against his policy as a villain!
Aren't evil guys always provided with everything easily? Just like Lysandra had provided him with everything necessary to become an early-stage Elite Boss. Only heroes, good protagonists, and virtuous guys face troubles everywhere.
Riya coughed. "I don't think it means you need to jump into a boiling pot all the time. As long as you subscribe to some troubles or any sort of adventure, these requirements and difficulty should decrease significantly."
"For example, even if you just observe other people's suffering occasionally and feed your masochistic and sadistic souls with necessary nutrients, the difficulty should still decrease."
Eric's eyes immediately lit up. He stroked his chin in deep thought.
It wasn't really bad if the initiative was in his hands.
He loved seeking troubles, but he didn't want to be forced into them—those were for heroes, to be helpless. As an evil person, he should have the freedom of choice!
Riya nodded like an obedient servant. "That's right, milord! You are the greatest; every path should open up for you. Freedom should only belong to you. Only those pathetic holy protagonists should be forced into difficult situations!"
Eric laughed loudly, satisfied with Riya's thoughts.
"That's right, little girl. With this way of thinking, you'll go far in life. Tell me if you want something—I may be able to give it to you." Eric nodded like a happy old sage.
Riya fidgeted slightly. "In that case..." She bashfully started removing her doctor's coat.
Puff!
Eric disappeared before Riya could even remove half of it.
"Alright then, let's see if my breakthrough will double my Intelligence." Eric muttered with excitement.
The more intelligence he had, the more capable he would grow as a mastermind Evil Boss!
Eric sat cross-legged within his room.
After closing his eyes, he started kidnapping Mana from the atmosphere and shoveling it into his Mana Veins against their will.
After an hour, his Mana Veins—which had been bulging for the last half a year—finally found their release and started expanding like a balloon. They grew slightly in size and then stopped, as if hitting a natural barrier or limit.
During the process, many changes occurred throughout Eric's body. It made him feel slightly uncomfortable, but after it stopped, it was like he had found a new, profound... tiny strength.
Compared to his 180 total stats, it only grew by another 30—an almost negligible percentage.
He noticed that this natural stat increase through Rank breakthrough was much easier to digest. In other words, if his stats increased massively after a future Rank breakthrough, he might not need time to adjust to the sudden increase.
The moment the breakthrough ended and Eric relaxed, he suddenly felt his thoughts 'blow away,' and his third eye location on his forehead seemed to glow internally before dimming soon after.
It wasn't a physical glow—it possibly happened inside his Mana or Soul Body—but it was a vivid experience for him.
Eric was completely lost for a brief moment, unsure of what was happening, but soon regained his senses.
He opened his eyes, blinked in confusion, then frowned.
He didn't feel like his Intelligence stat had improved much—unlike his previous Training breakthrough—but...
"What is it?" Riya quickly inquired. "Your Intelligence stat didn't double like last time. How are you feeling?"
She was totally bewildered; she had expected some great power-up. Hell, she had even expected Eric's Intelligence stat to triple!
After a while, Eric replied with a strange tone. "...I suddenly feel like I have a new 'arm.'"
"Arm?" Riya was taken aback by such a strange answer and was speechless.
She swiftly checked Eric's entire body and found no new 'arm' anywhere.
"What are you talking about? Did you become dumb instead?"
Eric was truly feeling strange. He felt like he could do something—almost like he had a new limb to use now.
He subconsciously glanced around his room and decided it was better to sit on a chair and drink some fruit juice to clear his mind and think deeply.
Just as he was about to stand up, he 'magically' disappeared from his seated position on the floor and appeared on the chair—exactly as he had planned.
Eric was startled. Riya, watching through his eyes, was equally flabbergasted.
"What the—" Eric stood up in shock, pushing the chair backward. "Did I just... teleport?"
Riya was equally bewildered. "When did you learn the Teleportation spell?"
She had been working on that spell occasionally, but whatever she created always ended up being too high-level—requiring too much Intelligence and Mana to draw the Mana diagram. It was essentially a wasted, faulty spell, so she never passed it to Eric.
'How did he learn? No—did he even open any Mana Circle or Diagram?'
Eric stood dumbfounded for a while.
He carefully recalled how he had felt a moment ago.
It had felt 'natural'—like moving his limbs in any direction. In fact, he hadn't even used his Mana.
He tried to repeat the feeling.
He glanced toward his bed and thought about lying down—and just as he was about to 'go' there, he similarly disappeared and reappeared over his bed. He appeared in the same position he wanted to. He also imagined that he would be covered with blanket—though that didn't happen.
Eric's eyes widened in understanding and shock.
This time, he clearly felt it. It wasn't magic. To him, it was as simple and logical as walking using his legs. It didn't take any effort, nor did he have to activate anything in particular. It felt just like he was born with this ability—not something newly obtained.
The most astonishing fact was that he hadn't even used Mana. It was just normal Stamina—just like moving around required Stamina, this teleportation used only that.
Eric had always wanted to use his Space Element to 'Teleport,' but he had never succeeded—as that would require the creative use of Mana, in other words, a Spell.
Perhaps if his elemental control over his space element grew, he might be able to manipulate "distance" between himself and other objects—that would require experimentation. But "teleportation" definitely required a spell and required mana.
Yet his current action had none of that creativity—it was plain, barbaric action.
"What the hell is going on? Why don't I see how you did that?" Riya spoke in a daze.
She had no idea what had just happened or how it had happened. Maybe she needed a more thorough check—for now, she was completely baffled.
Eric ignored Riya and laughed like a madman.
He had unexpectedly achieved his dream. What was truly amazing wasn't the ability itself—but what it took for him to do it: almost nothing, and without much difficulty.
This breakthrough didn't provide extra bonus stats—it was far more amazing. It had awakened an inborn talent—if he wasn't guessing wrong.
The second breakthrough was truly far more amazing than the first!
As both Lyria and Livy were 'far' away due to the effects of Arrays within the cave, neither rushed to see if their 'Brother Eric' had finally lost his mind—as he rarely laughed like that.
Eric was ecstatic. In a sense, this was his first time doing something beyond what a normal human could do. He had never cast a spell before—though he wasn't excited for that reason. He was excited because of how badass he had become.
He had finally taken a step forward toward becoming a true Final Boss!
Stats were good—but they were just the basics. No matter how strong a foundation was, it was still just a foundation. What truly mattered was how the structure built upon it stood out.
Riya also calmed down and smiled. She had checked thoroughly and sensed changes in Eric's Mana Space—though she couldn't pinpoint exactly what or where. So she left it be.