Investing in My Harem in the Apocalypse Makes Me Stronger

Pressure continued building around Elara’s Perfected Ice Mana Core as the System forced it beyond the limit of the 1st Echelon.

The pale-blue Core compressed further with every rotation, causing the Mana packed inside it to become increasingly dense.

A sharp discomfort spread through Elara’s chest as the structure that had remained perfectly stable ever since reaching the Perfected Stage began changing under the enormous pressure.

Her Core had already been refined as far as the 1st Echelon allowed.

Advancing meant breaking past that boundary.

A thin crack appeared across its surface.

Elara’s fingers tightened around the handle of her sword when another fracture followed soon afterward. Despite the damage spreading across the Core, not even the smallest amount of Ice Mana escaped into her body.

An invisible force surrounded the entire structure, keeping every fragment and strand of energy contained within the same area.

Elara gradually understood what was happening.

The System was not simply destroying the Core she had spent so much effort refining.

Everything she had accumulated until now was being preserved and used as the foundation for something that belonged to a higher Echelon.

The fractures continued spreading until the Perfected Ice Mana Core finally reached its limit.

Then it collapsed.

A tremendous amount of pale-blue Mana erupted from the broken structure, but instead of rushing uncontrollably through her body, all of it remained suspended around the empty space left behind.

The pressure immediately intensified.

Every strand of Ice Mana was compressed again.

Elara could feel the difference even before the transformation finished.

The energy had not changed into another Element, yet the density was completely different from before. The same amount of Mana now carried considerably greater power.

Her Glacial Sword Body reacted naturally to the transformation.

Cold Mana flowed throughout her channels as her body began adjusting to the higher quality of energy.

The discomfort that had remained concentrated around her chest gradually spread outward, followed by a powerful reinforcement that reached every part of her body.

Elara’s muscles tightened beneath her clothes.

Her bones and internal organs were strengthened by the advancement as the System applied the physical reinforcement determined by the Perfected Stage foundation she had locked in when accepting the mission.

Several meters away, Cain watched quietly.

Frost had already begun spreading across the ground beneath Elara.

The temperature around her continued dropping as pale-blue Mana leaked from her body, causing her silver hair to sway despite the absence of any wind.

Cain’s golden eyes remained focused on her condition.

He had known that reaching the next Echelon would create a much greater transformation than ordinary Level increases, but seeing the difference firsthand made the importance of Core progression even clearer.

This was why he had repeatedly warned everyone not to rush their Advancement Missions.

If Elara had accepted hers while possessing a weaker Mana Core, the physical reinforcement occurring right now would have been permanently inferior.

Inside her body, the suspended Ice Mana finally began moving again.

A small point of pale-blue light appeared where the previous Core had existed.

The surrounding energy immediately gathered toward it.

Ice Mana condensed around the new center as the System gradually reconstructed a completely different Core using the remains of the old one.

The process bore little resemblance to Elara’s original Mana Core formation.

Back then, the Mana scattered throughout her body had simply been gathered into one stable structure.

This time, the energy had already undergone repeated refinement until reaching the Perfected Stage.

Rather than beginning from nothing, the System was rebuilding that perfected foundation into something capable of containing the power of the 2nd Echelon.

The pale-blue Core slowly took shape.

Its size was actually smaller than the one Elara had possessed before, yet the pressure emanating from it was far greater.

As the newly formed structure rotated, refined Ice Mana flowed outward and entered her body.

Elara’s eyelids trembled.

The first circulation felt noticeably heavier than anything her previous Core had produced.

Cold energy passed through her Mana pathways and spread into her body, continuing the physical reinforcement brought by the advancement.

The aura surrounding her strengthened.

Cain narrowed his eyes slightly when another wave of Ice Mana escaped from Elara.

The surrounding frost expanded across the dark ground, covering nearby fragments of broken armor in a thin layer of ice.

Her Glacial Sword Body continued accepting the increasingly dense energy without resistance, allowing the transformation to proceed smoothly.

After several more rotations, the structure of the new Mana Core finally stabilized.

A powerful pulse spread outward from Elara’s body.

Cracks appeared beneath her feet as the frozen ground gave way under the sudden release of energy. Frost immediately filled those fractures before the overflowing Ice Mana gradually subsided.

The surroundings became quiet again.

Inside Elara’s chest, the newly reconstructed Core continued rotating steadily.

However, the moment she sensed its condition, she noticed something unexpected.

It was no longer at the Perfected Stage.

The Core felt entirely new.

Its power was incomparable to what she had possessed before advancing, yet its structure clearly had room for further refinement.

A System panel appeared before her.

[Core Metamorphosis completed.]

[Ice Mana Core has advanced to the 2nd Echelon.]

[Core Stage: Newly Formed.]

[Physical reinforcement completed according to the Perfected Stage foundation recorded upon mission acceptance.]

[You have successfully advanced to the 2nd Echelon.]

Elara slowly opened her eyes.

A pale-blue light briefly flashed within her pupils before fading.

She immediately sensed the difference.

Although her Mana Core had returned to the Newly Formed Stage, there was no feeling of losing progress.

The Core inside her now belonged to the 2nd Echelon.

Even at its lowest stage, the quality of the Mana it produced already surpassed what her Perfected 1st Echelon Core had been capable of.

The progression had simply begun again from a much higher starting point.

Elara raised one hand, Ice Mana gathered above her palm with barely any effort.

The energy responded much faster than before, and the cold contained within it felt noticeably more concentrated.

She dispersed it before allowing the temperature around them to fall any further.

Cain looked toward her.

”How does it feel?”

Elara lowered her hand.

”Definitely much stronger.”

Before either of them could say anything else, golden light appeared across everyone’s vision.

[World Announcement.]

[The second player to successfully advance to the 2nd Echelon has appeared.]

[The name ”Glacial Sword Maiden” shall be recorded in the history of this World.]

[Glacial Sword Maiden has received a Cyan Scroll.]

Elara stared at the announcement.

A faint smile appeared on her face when she saw the ” Second in the world” words.

Only Heavenly Demon had reached the 2nd Echelon before her.

Cain was about to speak when a tremendous crack of thunder erupted from another section of the battlefield.

His attention immediately shifted as Ron’s fight was still going.

Unlike Elara, who had Cain helping her satisfy the mission requirement as quickly as possible, Ron had to defeat his opponent completely on his own.

And although his Mana Core had already reached the Perfected Stage, he was still fighting a genuine 2nd Echelon enemy while remaining at the 1st Echelon.

The difference in raw power was impossible to ignore.

Bluish-white Lightning covered the battlefield around Ron.