The newly merged strength was devoured by every fiber of his being.
His base-level strength increased tremendously.
The whole process took only two minutes.
[You have gained +1.5 Strength]
[You have gained +1.5 Agility]
[You have gained +3.0 Spirit]
[You have gained +2.0 Constitution]
[It was detected that you have enough Life Essence to level up the active skill [Beast Transformation (Moonborn Silver Wolf)]! Would you like to proceed with leveling up using 2,000 Life Essence? Yes/No]
"…!"
Despite knowing that upgrading a skill would grant more status boosts than simply leveling up, Eren was still shocked to see that all his base stats had nearly doubled.
But it was completely normal.
In this world, skills were considered a part of oneself and leveling up skills were far more harder.
Leveling up a skill meant awakening the next stage of its power.
To support that power, an increase in base stats was an obvious side effect.
Even knowing this, Eren still felt it was unreal.
"It… actually worked!…"
Looking at his status, he noticed another line had been added at the bottom of his attributes:
[Life Essence: 76,607]
He gulped hard before once again saying,
"Level up Beast Transformation…"
His whole body trembled in excitement as another massive amount of energy surged into him.
"BA-THUMP… BA-THUMP…"
His heartbeat pounded loudly.
Once again, the limits of his body shattered into pieces and were reconstructed anew.
[You have leveled up your active skill [Beast Transformation]!...]
[You have gained +1.5 Strength]
[You have gained +1.5 Agility]
[You have gained +3.0 Spirit]
[You have gained +2.0 Constitution]
[It was detected that you have enough Life Essence to level up the active skill [Beast Transformation (Moonborn Silver Wolf)]! Would you like to proceed with leveling up using 3,000 Life Essence? Yes/No]
"Yes,"
Eren said without pausing for even a moment.
Another wave of transformation took place.
[You have leveled up your active skill [Beast Transformation]!...]
[You have gained +1.5 Strength]
[You have gained +1.5 Agility]
[You have gained +3.0 Spirit]
[You have gained +2.0 Constitution]
[It was detected that you have enough Life Essence to level up the active skill [Beast Transformation (Moonborn Silver Wolf)]! Would you like to proceed with leveling up using 4,000 Life Essence? Yes/No]
"Yes."
Another skill level-up followed, but this time the attributes he gained increased twofold.
[You have leveled up your active skill [Beast Transformation]!...]
[You have gained +3.0 Strength]
[You have gained +3.0 Agility]
[You have gained +6.0 Spirit]
[You have gained +4.0 Constitution]
[It was detected that you have enough Life Essence to level up the active skill [Beast Transformation (Moonborn Silver Wolf)]! Would you like to proceed with leveling up using 5,000 Life Essence? Yes/No]
"Yes."
Once again, his stats increased at the same rate as last.
When Eren chose to level up the active skill from Level 7 to Level 8, at the cost of 7,000 Life Essence, another massive attribute bonus appeared.
The upgrades continued until the tenth level.
[You have leveled up your active skill [Beast Transformation]!...]
[You have gained +6.0 Strength]
[You have gained +6.0 Agility]
[You have gained +12.0 Spirit]
[You have gained +8.0 Constitution]
[Active skill [Beast Transformation (Moonborn Silver Wolf)] has reached the maximum level... Cannot be upgraded further... Need to complete Transformation Quest for further leveling of this skill...]
His skill had been leveled up nine times just after entering the dungeon.
Usually, it took an entire day to gather 100 Life Essence, even after hunting nonstop.
Reaching Level 2 on the first day was already considered impressive speed.
Leveling up a skill on the first day of a Beginner Dungeon was completely unheard of.
If Eren told others about his progress, no one would believe him.
"Status."
Eren summoned his status window to check his growth.
[Name: Eren Morrow
Job: Shapeshifter
Tier: I
Level: 1 (0.00%)
Type: Combat Profession
Strength: 33.0
Agility: 33.0
Spirit: 76.0
Constitution: 44.0
Skills: Beast Transformation (Moonborn Silver Wolf) (Active Skill Lv.10
[Divine Beast Transformation (Moonborn Silver Wolf): Allows the user to fully transform into a Low-Level Divine Blood — Moonborn Silver Wolf 'Alpha' Form. Upon full transformation, all attributes are increased by two times except Spirit. The transformation continuously consumes 0.5 Spirit per minute and will automatically end if Spirit is depleted. The user may also revert at will. Partial transformation is possible, consuming less Spirit depending on the extent of change, with proportionally reduced attribute enhancement.]
Within a short span of time, his status changed dramatically.
Strength and Agility, which were previously 1.5 points each, had now become 33.0 points.
Spirit increased to 76, while Constitution rose to 44.
That was an exact twentyfold increase in every attribute.
If Eren wanted to obtain this much improvement solely through leveling up instead of skill upgrades, he would need to reach at least Level 20 to see such growth.
This was why leveling up a skill was far more important than simply leveling up the body.
However, the Life Essence cost was the key issue.
Leveling up the body required far less.
It would only cost Eren 2,700 Life Essence to max out his level to 10.
Each level-up granted 1 additional point to all attributes.
On the other hand, leveling up his skill just for the first two times had already cost him 3,000 Life Essence.
The bonus he received from those two levels was only 3 additional points in both Strength and Agility, 6 in Spirit, and 8 in Constitution.
Obviously, the benefits of skill leveling could not be measured purely by attribute increases, but rather by the massive boost in battle power.
As Eren looked at the skill details, he raised his brow in surprise.
Not only had his active skill maxed out at Level 10, but additional information was also displayed.
He could now transform into the Moonborn Silver Wolf 'Alpha' Form, not the puppy form he had previously used.
And the Spirit cost had only increased by 0.2 per minute, which was practically nothing compared to the total Spirit he possessed now.
Another piece of information greatly surprised him, the notification stating that he needed to undertake a Rank-Up Quest for further leveling of skill.
"I need to take a rank-up quest for my skill as well?!"
A Rank-Up Quest was normally the process of breaking through from one tier to the next.
Usually, when job holders reached Level 10, they would visit the Awakener Association to receive their rank-up quest and the material list required for advancement.
But Eren was surprised to find that his Beast Transformation skill also required a rank-up.
It was not unheard of.
According to the information provided at his school, there were indeed records of shapeshifters who could continuously rank up their transformations.
However, it always required a massive amount of Life Essence.
Not only did they have to level up their own character level, but they also had to level up their transformation skills.
What's more, once they ranked up, they would unlock a new beast transformation that was already stronger than the previous one.
As a result, many ended up neglecting their beginner transformation skill.
"But this may be perfect for me!"
Eren clenched his fists in excitement.
"I can level up my skill endlessly without anyone knowing. I can easily hide my real strength. I can just raise my actual level to 8 and pretend to fail the entrance exam at the academy without my father suspecting anything."
This was what made Eren happiest in his current situation.
He did not want to attend an academy again in this life.
In his past life, he had already been traumatized more than enough.
What's worse, he already knew how messed up this world truly was.
He had read countless novels similar to this one.
Just like those stories, this world also had a human cult group that betrayed humanity and specifically targeted human geniuses.
Many talented individuals had already fallen victim to them.
And with his current talent, he did not need any academy at all.
He simply wanted to roam freely and enjoy his life.
He didn't want to live like he was on a mission, doing things that anyone could do, being replaceable, just like in his previous life.
He wanted to live solely for himself.
He didn't care about fighting for the Empire or humanity on the frontlines.
But if he ever said that to his father, he would definitely be beaten.
So he had already planned to fail the entrance exam and live by traveling across the world, doing things that genuinely made him happy.
He didn't want to live like a typical protagonist, constantly fighting, endlessly growing stronger, making countless enemies, and living a life full of stress.
Taking a deep breath, Eren immediately entered full transformation mode to observe the changes.
Silver light spread across his body as cracking sounds echoed from within him.
When the light faded, a massive silver wolf stood where he had been.
It was nearly one and a half meters tall.
Unlike the puppy form he had previously taken, this form exuded a natural aura of dominance.
Its claws were razor-sharp, capable of cutting through almost anything.
Eren felt a terrifying strength in this new form.
Huge fangs were hidden within his mouth.
'Status.'
[Name: Eren Morrow (Beast Transformation (Moonborn Silver Wolf Alpha Form)]
Job: Shapeshifter
Tier: I
Level: 1 (0.00%)
Type: Combat Profession
Strength: 66.0
Agility: 66.0
Spirit: 76.0
Constitution: 88.00
Beast Skills: Protection of the Moon Goddess (Passive Lv.10), Presence Sense (Passive Lv.10), Moonrend Claw (Active Lv.10), Minor Lunar Benediction (Active Lv.10)
[Protection of the Moon Goddess: A divine blessing that grants high resistance against all forms of soul-based attacks and curses. At night, especially under a full moon, this protection becomes even stronger.]
[Presence Sense: As a Divine Blood beast, the Moonborn Silver Wolf possesses heightened senses. Within a one-kilometer radius, no living being of the same tier can escape its perception unless their stealth skill far exceeds the level of Presence Sense.]
[Moonrend Claw: By consuming 0.3 Spirit, the claws are coated in lunar energy to deliver a powerful strike. This attack ignores all forms of defense and directly damages the target's soul, increasing damage by 30%. Damage against Abyssal Creatures and Dark-attribute beings is doubled.]
[Minor Lunar Benediction: By consuming 1 Spirit, this skill heals 30% of the target's total health and purifies all forms of negative effects.]
New information appeared.
All of his Beast Skills had reached Level 10, corresponding to his active skill.
There were also dramatic improvements in the skills themselves.
[Protection of the Moon Goddess] did not change at all.
However, the other skills showed significant growth.
First, his Presence Sense had reached an entirely new level.
In this beast form, he could now sense the presence of all living beings within a one-kilometer radius around him.
On the other hand, [Moonrend Claw] now dealt an additional 30% damage upon landing on an enemy, with only a 0.1 increase in Spirit cost.
If he used [Moonrend Claw] against Abyssal or Dark-faction beings, the attack would deal double damage.
Finally, the cost of [Minor Lunar Benediction] had increased by 0.5 Spirit, but the healing effect had also increased by 10%.
That was another huge improvement for him.
Consumed by the intoxicating feeling of power, Eren spread his senses and pinpointed all the Shadow Mites around him.
'Time to test my current strength.'