Endless Extraction in a Game-Like World-Chapter 36: Stripped of Mana! The Anomaly That Breaks the Origin Ascension Domain

Chapter 36: Stripped of Mana! The Anomaly That Breaks the Origin Ascension Domain

What exactly was a Class?

It was a profound status that a player could awaken either early or late in the Domain, depending entirely on their luck and methods.

Some found it by raiding extremely hidden dungeons, some received it from legendary or mythical treasure chest rewards, and some unlocked it by completing obscure hidden quests. Then, there were the absolute anomalies who obtained a class directly through their own high-ranking S-Rank Talents or higher.

But the one absolute thing all classes shared in common was the massive Combat Score multiplier they provided upon leveling up each time.

For example, every single player possessed four hidden foundational stats: Strength, Agility, Defense, and Mentality.

If someone successfully awakened a Common Vanguard Class, then without a doubt, they would gain a permanent Combat Score multiplier specifically tailored to their Defense stat. Instead of the standard base increment, they would receive a massive, compounding boost because their Defense stat would be exponentially enhanced with every single level up.

Aside from the raw Combat Score multipliers, there were also exclusive Class Skills.

They existed as powerful skills, passive or active that acted as a direct amplifier for a player’s already existing abilities.

That was precisely why there were dedicated healers, massive damage dealers, and unbreakable shielders. It was simply because their designated class increased their specific skill power and buffs exponentially.

Caelus’s lips twitched violently as he read his own class’s passive details.

Coincidentally, he had four of them!

[Ender’s Passive 1: You can no longer use Mana. You are now an anomaly. Standard appraisal skills can no longer observe your true stats and you can freely break the rules of the Origin Ascension Domain.]

[Ender’s Passive 2: You can now actively convert physical stamina into raw power to utilize skills.]

[Ender’s Passive 3: All four of your foundational dimensional stats are given an additional increment when advancing levels.]

[Ender’s Passive 4: Skills utilized by a power source other than Mana will naturally hit for 1.0+ Combat Score higher.]

Seeing these jarring notifications, Caelus had a bleak look on his face.

No use of mana anymore?

HE COULD NOT USE MANA ANYMORE!

"Fuck, take this class away from me instantly!" Caelus did not know whether to laugh or cry.

The fact that he gained four useless passive skills aside.

Mana was the one, universal foundation of energy available to all players in the Domain. How the hell was he going to constantly convert his physical stamina into raw power to activate his skills? He practically ran out of breath just sprinting a few meters back on Domain! Wouldn’t he drop dead from sheer exhaustion after casting a single skill?

But Caelus did not lose hope completely. Right now, his attention was drawn elsewhere. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

He stood directly before an ancient stone altar, and hovering above that altar was a gigantic, terrifying beast claw. The very space around it constantly glitched and distorted, acting as if it was a literal system error embedded into reality.

Caelus had noticed it the moment he arrived in this dark void, but the jarring class notifications that had quite literally threatened to end his entire career as a Player had temporarily shifted his focus.

You could honestly say the ’Ender’ title really did end him...

Coughing awkwardly at his own cringe humor, Caelus fully observed the severed claw.

It was mysterious and ancient. It had intricate, glowing patterns carved deeply across its scaly surface, and the space around it glitched continuously like a jagged tear in a static television screen.

This was absolutely not normal. But then again, Caelus himself was not normal either.

He had literally crossed over to this world from another dimension.

There was a lingering suspicion he had kept buried deep in his mind until now, but seeing this specific claw forcefully dragged it back to the surface.

"Have I not always dreamt of this exact scene?" Caelus muttered, his expression becoming incredibly strange.

Amidst the chaos of the transmigration, he had almost forgotten about it entirely.

He used to see this exact same glitching claw in his dreams back in his previous life, almost every single week. At some point, he had just gotten used to it and simply forgot about it after waking up, treating it like any other bizarre nightmare. But seeing the claw here in the flesh, a completely bizarre occurrence, he was vividly reminded of it.

His transmigration into this body was absolutely no coincidence.

He was not just some incredibly lucky traveler who won the cosmic lottery to enter a magical world where killing monsters gave you superpowers.

No, there were deep, terrifying connections at play here.

The digital book he had just read in the void was certainly not normal. Why was it here, and who exactly put it there? It looked as if it had forcefully made its way into this isolated reality through the Origin Network itself.

Unexpectedly, while he was deeply lost in his own musings, his feet had moved entirely on their own. He was already standing directly in front of the massive claw at the very top of the altar steps.

Just then, a highly familiar notification violently flickered in his vision.

[System: Would you like to Extract?]

Caelus’s eyes widened seeing this, then a small smile formed on his face.

"Yes. Extract," he slowly said as he firmly placed his bare hand directly against the glitching scales of the claw.

Unlike any of his previous extractions, a terrifying phenomenon occurred.

Caelus’s mind, soul, and physical body stirred violently as a miniature, swirling black hole literally formed from the palm of his hand.

Boom!

The very air was directly split apart as the entire hidden chamber began to violently shake.

Then, a string of blinding golden notifications formed in his retinas as Caelus was abruptly engulfed in a towering pillar of chaotic golden-black light.

[System: Extraction Successful...]

[System: You have successfully extracted the SS-Rank Race: Chaos Perception Dragon.]

[Race: Human -> Chaos Perception Dragon (Locked)]

Boom!

A beam of golden-black light immediately erupted from Caelus’s body..

His entire body throbbed like a massive, beating heart.

His muscles began to violently swell and tear apart.

Ba-dump! Ba-dump! Ba-dump!

With every single heavy beat of his heart, his fundamental biological structure was rapidly changing.

Mysterious, ancient light emerged from the glitching tears in space and slowly infused itself directly into his marrow.

It started at the genetic level. His very DNA was undergoing massive, terrifying structural changes as a brand new, highly oppressive power began to rapidly flow through his veins. His cells were violently destroyed and forged anew. His short black hair began to rapidly grow, smoothly shifting color until it swept down his neck in a pure, striking white.

His eyes slowly underwent a mythical transformation. The whites of his eyes turned a brilliant, glowing golden color with intricate, ancient patterns etched across the sclera. His pupils violently contracted, turning into sharp, reptilian slits. Finally, a special, glowing clock-like design formed perfectly around his red iris, ticking with the conceptual weight of chaos.

Boom!

The instant those eyes were formed, several notifications appeared.

[System: You have successfully become a Chaos Perception Dragon]

[Combat Score: 24.15 -> 38.15]

[System: You have obtained a new type of energy: Chaos Axiom Energy]

[Note: Skills used by this energy have more chances of critting. Whenever Chaos Axiom Energy is used, the skill that was deployed by the user will have the effect of annihilation, causing Chaos Erosion, if the skill is offensive.]

[Chaos Erosion: A damage-over-time status effect that erodes the target’s HP, MP, and stamina over time while shredding away their magical defenses and buffs.]

[You have awakened the first aspect of a Chaos Perception Dragon.]

[Chaos Perception Eyes (Mythical, 1-Star): The eyes of Chaos. Using this can stun an enemy for two seconds, and your perception will be increased 2x times. When observing an enemy, you can see their weak point and also their hidden status window. Landing a hit at the weak point of an enemy observed by the Chaos Perception Eyes will guarantee a critical hit with a scaler of 2.]

[Will improve with rank.]

[Each Use costs 5 mana]

Bzzt!

Golden chaotic power with black outlines erupted from where Caelus stood.

The power swiftly diminished as Caelus felt the entire space shake.

"It’s going to collapse," Caelus, who now looked like a slightly better version of his previous self, mumbled.

Just as he spoke those words, a massive spatial fissure forcefully tore open directly in front of him.

Seeing this emergency exit, he did not hesitate for a single second. He directly jumped right in.

A huge amount of questions still remained completely unanswered. Who exactly put all this here? Where did this supreme dragon’s remains actually come from? And most importantly, what was its true relation to the forbidden existence known as an Ender?

But those questions, he will think about after escaping safely.