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His antennae twitched in confusion. He glanced down at his inventory. Inside the soul-bound storage cube sat four two-star beast cores, obtained from the previous battles. Three from earlier, and one freshly harvested from the Boulder Hide Tusk Beast.
He clenched his mandibles. "Only four cores…"
His voice came out dry, frustrated. "System, is there any other way?"
The system responded promptly.
[Alternative Detected: Higher-Rank Core Substitution Possible. Host can use the two three star rank beast cores.]
Kai's heart thudded. That meant…
"I have two of them," he muttered, recalling the glittering core stones he had looted from the corpses of the Ravager and the Lurker. Both three-star monsters.
[Ding! Would you like to initiate Rank-Up Evolution now? This process is irreversible and requires several uninterrupted hours.]
Kai stared at the forest around him. Danger lurked in every shadow. But he didn't hesitate.
"Do it. I am ready for the next stage."
