Archon Vyrra and Korvek, who had been watching intently from high up in the sky, finally departed now that the dramatic breakthrough was complete.

WHOOSH! DEPART!

They had only remained here initially because of the massive commotion and spiritual pressure, waiting throughout the tribulation to provide emergency assistance if Leon had needed it.

But he managed it entirely on his own. Impressive.

Now that the crisis had passed successfully, they were gone.

Archon Vyrra appeared genuinely elated by what she'd witnessed, her expression bright with satisfaction.

A new Archon in our realm. And such a powerful one at that.

Even Korvek seemed visibly impressed despite his earlier reservations, nodding with grudging respect as they flew back toward the city.

The outsider has proven himself beyond question.

Leon remained lying there completely naked on the rocky ground for an extended while, his body still recovering from the ordeal despite being fully healed.

Just... need a moment. That was intense.

At the same time, he was eagerly examining his dramatically transformed status information:

[Character Information]

[Name: Prim Leo'el Divaneth]

[Level: 36]

[Class: Elemental Paragon (SSS)]

[Age: 18 (Soul Age: 34)]

[Race: Divinordial]

[Title: Hope Breaker (Common), Anomaly (Divine), Myth Breaker (Mythical)]

[Cultivation: Ascendant Rank]

[Affinity: All (Rank 7)]

[Strength: ★☆]

[Agility: ★☆]

[Stamina: ★☆]

[Mana: 7220]

[Intelligence: 1915]

Leon's eyes carefully scanned through each statistic, analyzing the changes.

Strength, Agility, Stamina, Mana, and Intelligence—all of them experienced massive jumps.

He could distinctly feel the vastness of power coursing through his body right now. However, he wasn't entirely certain exactly how strong he'd become in practical terms.

But one thing is absolutely clear—I'm many, many times stronger than before the advancement.

His base statistics— and even Mana and Intelligence—had experienced well over a one hundred percent increase. Possibly even more substantial.

Need proper testing to confirm, but probably two hundred or even three hundred percent improvement. Maybe higher.

Even without activating his Holy energy transformation, he was now a genuine force to be reckoned with.

My base form alone is formidable now.

Leon also discovered significant physical changes to his actual body structure during his examination.

His physique had become noticeably more refined—chiseled and compressed yet still distinctly muscular, with enhanced definition.

Leaner but stronger. More efficient.

And his height had increased from his previous nearly six feet four inches to now standing at six feet six inches tall.

Two inches taller. The tribulation literally made me grow.

His manhood had also received a respectful, decent enhancement in size and proportion.

Well. That's... certainly a bonus I wasn't expecting.

Testing his newfound control, Leon casually created a thin mirror surface using his Ice affinity.

SHIMMER! FORM! REFLECT!

The elemental energy responded far more smoothly and naturally than ever before—everything felt effortless and intuitive.

My control has improved dramatically. This is what Ascendant rank feels like.

Leon still possessed hundreds of unused monster cores remaining in his inventory from the day's harvesting.

He experimentally withdrew just ten cores of various levels to test something specific.

MATERIALIZE! GLOW!

He absorbed them rapidly in minimal time—his enhanced control made the process smooth and efficient.

However, no level-up notifications appeared. He felt only slight, marginal improvements to his statistics.

Diminishing returns now that I'm an Ascendant rank. I'd need to continue absorbing maybe hundreds more cores just to gain a couple of additional levels.

He consciously chose to save the remaining cores for later strategic use.

Better to distribute them or use them when I actually need the boost.

Now it was time for the skill stones—the real treasure.

Leon had collected approximately thirty to forty skill stones total during the massive battle. However, frustratingly, he'd only obtained three actual technique stones among them.

The drop rate is absurdly low. It should have been significantly higher given the quantity of monsters killed.

Even the powerful hydra boss had only dropped a skill stone rather than a technique.

But what I did get is exceptional quality.

Leon started with the skill he was most genuinely excited about—the Legendary-ranked ability he'd obtained from the hydra itself.

The skill's name was [Hydra's Division], a legendary skill with a cloning ability that allowed him to create a duplicate of himself possessing exactly ten percent of his actual total Strength.

Ten percent doesn't sound like much, but given my current power level, that's still formidable.

Leon crushed the glowing skill stone between his fingers, and brilliant light immediately flowed from it directly into his temple.

CRUSH! FLOW! ABSORB!

Surprisingly, it didn't feel even the slightest bit overwhelming or disorienting—his enhanced Intelligence stat made integration effortless.

Slight internal changes occurred throughout his body and mana pathways, accompanied by comprehensive information flooding his consciousness about the skill's mechanics and limitations.

Interesting. Very interesting.

The ability had a restriction—he could create only one clone initially at Level 1 mastery, having just learned it.

Don't know yet if higher mastery levels will allow multiple simultaneous clones. Need to test and develop it.

But one critical advantage he immediately appreciated: the skill had absolutely no cooldown period whatsoever.

I can dismiss and recreate it instantly if needed. That's incredibly valuable tactically.

There was an explicit warning embedded in the skill knowledge: [Do not attempt creation without sufficient Intelligence stat—mental fracture may result.]

Good thing my Intelligence is nearly two thousand now. It should be more than adequate.

The clone would persist until either deliberately dismissed or physically destroyed through combat.

Permanent duration. Excellent for reconnaissance and multi-tasking.

Leon was extremely content with this acquisition.

Ten percent of my Strength isn't negligible from others' perspective. And I know exactly how tactically useful this capability will be.

He decided to test the skill immediately, confident in his substantial Intelligence statistic.

Leon activated [Hydra's Division].

ACTIVATE! DRAIN! FLOW!

Two thousand mana points were swiftly consumed from his total reserves—a noticeable but manageable expenditure.

Then something profoundly strange began happening to his physical body.

His form appeared to literally be splitting into two separate entities—not dividing like a cell, but growing and being separated simultaneously.

SPLIT! GROW! SEPARATE!

It was genuinely not a pleasant sight to witness or experience. The process was moderately painful, though his exceptional pain tolerance allowed him to endure it by simply gritting his teeth.

GRIT! ENDURE!

The entire duplication process was completed within several seconds.

The visual result wasn't particularly aesthetically pleasing—though notably, no actual blood was spilled during the separation.

Clean division. Good.

Standing before Leon's original body was another perfect version of himself—identical in every physical detail. Its eyes slowly opened, looking directly at him.

OPEN! GAZE! CONNECT!

No—he was looking at himself. The mental sensation was profoundly strange and disorienting.

This is... bizarre.

The clone felt simultaneously like it was him, but he was also distinctly still himself in his original body.

Their minds were technically two separate consciousnesses, yet functionally operated as one unified intelligence.

Two bodies, one mind. Or one mind experiencing two bodies simultaneously.

Leon could observe through the clone's perspective, but the clone could also look back at his original form—and both experiences felt like they were being conducted by a single unified person.

I can use this for surveillance and reconnaissance perfectly. See through its eyes while maintaining my own perspective.

However, the sensation was genuinely weird and took mental adjustment.

It didn't feel like controlling a separate clone entity that might develop its own distinct personality.

We're both versions of myself—a singular consciousness experiencing two simultaneous physical forms. Not different individuals, but two bodies with one unified mind.

Leon appreciated this design tremendously.

Much better than risking a clone developing an independent personality or potentially o betraying me.

He wasn't worried, though, as he felt like he could dissolve it any second.

They both felt like they were one and the same entity existing in parallel.

However, Leon could still distinctly identify which body was his "original" self.

The mana core. That's the key identifier.

He realized the fundamental difference: the original mana core in his primary body was distinct from the one present in the duplicate.

The clone possesses ten percent of my physical capabilities, but...

Leon focused his senses carefully.

It doesn't have access to the same mana heart structure. I feel absolutely no trace of Holy energy whatsoever in this second version of myself.

That was a critical limitation to understand.

So the clone can't access my divine power. Only my standard elemental abilities are at reduced capacity.

This skill would require extensive testing and experimentation to fully understand its tactical applications and limitations.

Leon stood there examining the naked duplicate version of himself through both sets of eyes simultaneously—his original perspective looking at the clone, while the clone's viewpoint looked back at his primary form.

This is going to take some getting used to. But the potential is incredible.

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