ă€ŠCeaseless Horizons [A LitRPG Progression Fantasy]ă€‹


 Prologue

    Deep in dangerous and savage regions of the cosmos, a large ship of metal and mana traversed the treacherous endlessness. Powered by mana and intent, it attracted monsters and abominations from afar, hellbent on destroying any semblance of life.

    The hordes upon hordes of monsters never faltered, producing an endless cycle of defense and respite. Yet the downtime never lasted more than a week, barely giving the bone-tired humans a chance to recover.

    Unbeknown to both the humans and monsters, an incomprehensibly vast and profound gaze observed them from Monarch. The planet''s name was coined by humans when their drone scouts spectacularly failed to measure even a fraction of the planet''s size. Considered a miracle given form, Monarch was also the ultimate destination of this ship filled with volunteers.

    Kassavin had been observing the little humans ever since their little scouts, drones as they were called, garnered his attention. The bipedal creatures had no idea that the drones had been teleported to Monarch on a whim and that the distance they needed to travel was far greater than they could ever afford to.

    Yet the more Kassavin observed these delicate lifeforms, the more he liked them. Deep in space as they were, they were becoming increasingly aware of the fact that their chances of survival were slim. If they were so pressed for manpower already, things would undoubtedly be much worse at their destination. Yet they pursued the goal with unwavering determination, their course never faltering.

    So many emotions packed in their little bodies, Kassavin observed before he decided to give them a helping hand.

    With a thought, the humans were isolated from their surroundings. Panic reigned in the ship as the humans suddenly found themselves in impenetrable darkness. For several minutes they tensely waited for any danger but there was none.

    The next few hours passed in uncomfortable silence. Tense as they were, the defenders didn''t waste the chance to catch their breath and recover, prepared to face any trouble head-on.

    Yet the darkness remained tranquil. No monsters attacked the ship and neither were there any inexplicable events. The humans, contrary to Kassavin''s expectations, found themselves increasingly tense and fidgety in the never-ending darkness. The passage of days did nothing to soothe their nerves in such an inexplicable situation.

    Deciding that any more downtime would be more harmful than helpful to the humans, he teleported them inside Monarch''s atmosphere, above the only suitable destination.

    Kassavin''s actions were nothing short of a miracle to humans, yet they went entirely unnoticed by all but a select few. He had just teleported nearly a hundred thousand humans and their ship across a large swath of the universe which required an inconceivable amount of mana and effort.

    He had casually done that with a thought.

    Naturally, a few great beings could easily observe his efforts. One such Divinity requested to form a telepathic connection with Kassavin. He thought about it for a moment before getting ready to talk to a Godling who just refused to relax around him.

    "Are you awake, Old One?" a soft, subservient thought reached his mind.

    "I always am, Keeper of Souls," Kassavin replied. "You need not to hesitate when contacting me."

    "I wouldn''t dare disrupt your rest, my lord," Came the reply. Kassavin decided to ignore how stiff the Soul Shepherd was after that answer, just like he always did.

    If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    Even if he had never demanded respect, Kassavin understood why other Divinities acted so timidly around him. Creatures below the fourth threshold would struggle to survive in his aura while only those near or above the fifth threshold could withstand it.

    His passive aura, that is. Just the weight of his existence given form.

    If he ever consciously released his aura, even Divine beings would find it supremely difficult to flee, let alone resist it. These Godlings were, after all, mere infants compared to him.

    "Speak your mind."

    "By your will. A soul has escaped," The Shepherd''s excited answer reached him. No soul had escaped the fold in a long, long time.

    Kassavin focused his perception downward into the domain of the Shepherd, which he usually refrained from. It was rude to pry into someone else''s domain.

    A human soul? That is unexpected.

    Following that, he gazed upon a tiny blob of white light, gradually making its way to the surface. Attracted by the sudden arrival of the humans, the soul had forced its way through the fold and accomplished what had been deemed no longer possible for eons.

    Unfortunately for the soul, its speed left a lot to be desired. The legendary Underworld was situated thousands of kilometers below the surface, with only its entrances present anywhere near the grounds where humans would land. It would take centuries for the soul to reach the humans. For Kassavin however, that period was negligible.

    "The current warden is severely displeased." The Shepherd voiced his concerns. "He has always been too proud for his own good."

    Kassavin shifted his focus to the huge ethereal boat sailing the river of reincarnation, specifically the Warden sitting on his usual throne. The look only lasted an instant yet the Warden was already convulsing on the ground, bleeding from all his orifices.

    "No one will break the sacred rites. Make sure of that."

    "Naturally, Old One. While I doubt the Soul Warden would dare go against the tradition, this will make sure he doesn''t try any underhanded tactics. The rest depends on the fleeting soul when it inevitably returns."

    The Underworld existed to protect the natural order of the world. Powerful souls often tried their hand at cheating death, yet they all failed to be acknowledged by the world. The first step to do so was to escape the fold by pure willpower, which everyone deemed the hardest part.

    Normally, that would be true.

    Unfortunately for the human soul, the second and final step required the escaped soul to prove themselves worthy of another chance. The moment any soul escaped the fold, a seed would be planted in it, urging them to return and demonstrate their worthiness. The Soul Warden would choose a champion for the soul to face, which would determine their fate. The only outcomes were victory or death, no in-between.

    Kassavin and the Soul Shepherd pondered the case in front of them, and how there was only one outcome for the unlucky human. The current Soul Warden had an ego as big as he was strong, meaning he would take the soul''s escape as a personal affront. There would be no champions for the human to fight, only the Soul Warden himself.

    Kassavin turned his gaze to the small soul, so small and fickle in front of the titans witnessing its ascent. Only beings above the fifth threshold were allowed to sail the river of reincarnation, both to prevent their souls from dissolution and to possess the capability to fight the inconceivable horrors found in the depths.

    Compared to them, the human soul looked like a harmless firefly amidst natural calamities. Yet it continued on, unwavering in its resolve to live on its own terms.

    I bid you luck, little one. May your encounters be fruitful, and your preparations, sufficient.

    ****

    The humans in the atmosphere prepared for their descent in the next few days. The destination was none other than the continent Kassavin had allowed the drones to scan. Not only was it one of the safest places on Monarch for the humans to challenge and thrive in, but it was also isolated from the rest of the planet.

    The humans didn''t possess the tools to even look at the other continents. At most, they would see a vast continent below them from the ship, surrounded by endless waters. Not because they actually lacked the tools, but because the distance between the continent below them and any other landmass was just too big for the tools to perceive.

    Which was perhaps for the best, as a single glimpse of the creatures inhabiting the depths or the high peaks would utterly crush their spirits and resolve.

    Just to improve their chances, Kassavin did them one last favor by mentally nudging a majestic dragon meditating on one of the peaks near him.

    He looked on with pride as titanic wings spread unfurled to reveal the prone form of Granath, the fiercest adult of Kassavin''s kind. Shimmering bright green scales covered his sinuous limbs, giving him a sleek and intimidating appearance.

    A pulse of mana spread out from his soul, laying claim to the surrounding mana. The dragon''s domain continued spreading out, covering dozens of kilometers around him before it finally stabilized. Long periods of compressed-domain meditation only affirmed to make it cover a larger area after every session. Granath didn''t have to wait long before the Patriarch''s orders reached him.

    "Prevent any fourth threshold or higher beings from attacking the descending awakened."

 Chapter 1

    Lev slowed his pace, his indecision warring with him. Each step felt heavy, yet he continued to walk without pause.

    It''s okay. I am only going to be asking for an apprenticeship. He consoled himself as the populated area was left behind, now only seeing a gray stone road and grassland in front of him. Two suns were showing themselves on the horizon, dawn having arrived an hour ago.

    Far in the distance were the walls of WhiteFall''s third outpost, Lev''s current home city. Though calling it a city was perhaps a stretch with the current population of twenty thousand.

    If he doesn''t want to see me, then I''ll just turn back. Perhaps he will get a little angry and I will get a little beating, unlikely as it is.

    The person Lev wanted to see was someone renowned throughout the plains. The man was, according to the rumors, an extremely talented crafter and also a strong hunter. Someone who never backed down in the face of monsters and continued to forge excellent equipment for humanity.

    The same rumors also painted him in a positive- nay, saintly light. Alec Zar, the once in a millennia talent, often gave away free equipment, trinkets, and storage rings. The last were obscenely expensive to someone like Lev, which made him wonder if the crafter was completely sane in the head.

    I sure hope not, Lev sighed in his head. Kindness is what I need from him to be accepted. If insanity is what it takes for him to be kind, then I''m fine with it.

    As it was, Lev was far from the picture of a bright future. He was almost seven years old, and his body stature matched that. With bright blue eyes and black hair, Lev could be considered somewhat tall for his age, which was a good sign for his growth.

    But none of that helped in how strong he would become in the future. That would only depend on his own efforts. The System would make sure of that.

    Lev was only following through with his idea because he had two things nobody else did.

    The memories of a past life and access to The System six years before he should have gotten it.

    His past life on Earth came to an abrupt end, the cause remaining a mystery. What he did know however, was that he had a chance to redo it all again. In this fantastical world, everyone was empowered by The System, and no one had even the faintest clue about its limit.

    It made his excitement surge. There was so much to see in this apocalyptic world and beyond, and the tool to accomplish that was in his grasp.

    He just had to deal with the endless hordes of monsters and other mind-bending dangers to even survive.

    To that end, he was risking the knowledge of his past to try and win over the enigmatic crafter and earn himself an apprenticeship.

    No two ways about it, Lev concluded with a deep breath and picked up his pace again.

    His walk continued uninterrupted for several minutes while his mind wandered. Lev''s gaze kept returning to the walls of his outpost, the huge obstacles keeping the endless hordes of monsters at bay.

    How long till they were breached again?

    Despite being a kid living in an orphanage, Lev still knew that those towering walls had fallen more than once. The same walls that seemed so indestructible from up close to him, had come tumbling down against harrowing abominations.

    It was one of the main reasons he was risking something like this. He didn''t want to be powerless in the case of another breach, and acquiring a class would be the first step in solving that.

    He absolutely loathed the thought of staying weak when he could save lives around him as well, which pushed him over the edge to risk it. Getting a class would still take more than a year though, but that was fine. He just needed to get started as soon as he could.

    Even if the knowledge of my reincarnation is leaked, what''s the worst that can happen?

    ˇ­

    Way to go, me.

    The death flag was definitely reassuring. Having set up a reason to blame everything on in case things went wrong, Lev finally saw the crafter''s residence in the distance. He had expected to see a giant laboratory, or perhaps a heavily fortified bunker.

    He was not prepared for a cottage that looked downright homely.

    The cozy space was both a good sign and a bad sign. Good because someone who wanted such a residence was unlikely to be evil. Surely. Bad because he had no idea what to expect anymore. It was hard to predict a Master who would prefer such a modest living space.

    With slow, hesitant steps, Lev approached the cottage. The crafter was currently inside, he could feel it in his bones, and Lev had been noticed too.

    Humans could feel the strength of other humans and monsters through something called ''auras''. There were no concrete explanations about what they were, only that they could be felt rather accurately unless cloaked or hidden.

    The aura Lev could perceive inside was only half-cloaked. There was no impression of the crafter''s capabilities, only the general strength. And boy, was he strong.

    Lev had seen a few Masters pass through the outpost before. They couldn''t hold a candle to the Master crafter inside despite being combatants themselves.

    Stolen novel; please report.

    When he was about to knock on the door, it opened. Lev beheld a man who looked to be in his late twenties gazing at him with equal parts curiosity and amusement. Alec Zar was a dashing young-looking man with hair so dark blue they almost looked black. His casual blue shirt and black pants didn''t match his status but they were befitting a person living in the cottage.

    The man waved Lev inside before he could open his mouth. Lev obliged, not daring to earn the crafter''s ire. Already, he was regretting coming here, for the man was far stronger than Lev''s estimates.

    The interior of the cottage was just as snug as the exterior. To Lev''s left was a large bed and wardrobe, and to his right was a white table and chairs. They stood out against the brown wood used everywhere, and Lev could tell they were special just by being in their vicinity.

    "Take a seat," a voice behind him called out. Lev belatedly realized he was staring at everything like a clueless tourist, so he quickly looked to where the crafter was pointing.

    Lev blinked. There was a high-quality sofa behind him. He could''ve sworn there was nothing there before.

    Must''ve been brought out of a storage item, observed a distant part of his mind. Most of it was currently coming up with plans to best proceed with the upcoming conversation.

    Lev''s heartbeat gradually quickened as the silence dragged on. The crafter didn''t seem to mind his presence. On the contrary, he seemed to be enjoying Lev''s discomfort.

    "Normally, even Masters rarely visit me. Why then, was a kid wobbling to my humble abode with such determination?"

    Lev swallowed. "I wanted to request an apprenticeship."

    "Apprenticeship, huh," Alec mused. "How old are you?"

    "Six."

    "At what age does The System unlock?"

    "Twelve, normally."

    The crafter nodded. "Twelve to fourteen. If you can''t even use The System before that, what would the point of the apprenticeship be?"

    ˇ­ Here it comes.

    "Iˇ­ My System access was unlocked a few months ago,"

    The crafter stared at him, the smile on his face frozen. Lev wondered if he should start running when the aura around him turned from neutral to oppressive, rooting him in place.

    "I will need you to answer some questions, and boy, don''t you dare think of lying."

    The aura loosened its hold on Lev, who nodded rapidly. Beads of sweat flew around from the motion, each holding enough terror to keep a whole country in check.

    "Why did it unlock?"

    "I don''t know. I just woke up and my status was suddenly available."

    "Why did you check the status after waking up?"

    "It was a habit. I swear I simply checked it daily to see if something changed."

    "Why? Even kids get bored of things after doing them for a few weeks or months."

    Lev contemplated what to say. Lying was not an option, the Master Crafter''s Perception was more than enough to read the signs from his body language. Not that Lev could control his body to any decent extent, to begin with.

    "Don''t lie," came the warning, again.

    "Iˇ­ don''t have any proof for this. It might sound crazy, but I remember living another life."

    "It does sound crazy," Alec agreed, skeptical. "Let''s start with the name of this theoretical world."

    "Earth," Lev replied hesitantly. Some of his fear and apprehension turned into surprise when the crafter paused, calming down significantly.

    "How did you end up on Monarch?"

    "I don''t know. I just went to sleep after aˇ­ not a good day, and then I woke up in an orphanage."

    The crafter did not ask any questions after that, which Lev took as a good sign. But he was far too curious to let the silence linger.

    "ˇ­ Do you believe me?"

    "I believe in the possibility being real," The crafter replied curtly. "You will need to answer a lot of questions to really prove yourself."

    Lev nodded in assent, happy to just be alive.

    ****

    "No mana or monsters?" Alec questioned again.

    "Not to my knowledge. Information was censored frequently on the internet so I can''t be completely certain," Lev voiced, now much more assured of his chances.

    Chances to live, that is. The crafter had gradually eased too, believing Lev to not be ˇ­ whatever he was expecting. He would remember to ask one day if he ever got the apprenticeship.

    "Intriguing but not impossible," Alec remarked, "but enough of that. What is your name?"

    Lev blinked stupidly. They had been talking for an hour now without even an introduction. "Lev."

    "Well met, Lev. It may sound cheap but I apologize for my earlier behavior," he held up a hand to forestall his question. "I cannot answer any questions related to it, either. Suffice to say, there are some things that can never be allowed inside the walls."

    "ˇ­ Shapeshifters?"

    The crafter sighed in exasperation. "Fiction?"

    "Yeah," Lev answered, daring to smile a little.

    "It''s scary how much of that overlaps with our reality," Alec thought out loud. "I will not confirm or deny anything. Let''s return to your first request. Why did you want to start an apprenticeship so early?"

    Lev gave him a flat stare. "We just talked about that for so long?"

    "I know that, but why do you want to start so early? Surely you know about the attribute training."

    "Is that even an issue? I don''t see why it would be harmful if I eat proper food and avoid any taxing exercises or weightlifting."

    "You''re missing the point. Why not wait till you grow up more?"

    Lev considered his answer in silence, trying to find the correct words. The crafter didn''t push him either.

    "Iˇ­ I can''t sit still. Having lived nineteen years as an orphan before, it is impossible to do nothing when I could be working towards a better future."

    "To what end?" Alec challenged.

    "The kids in the orphanage all dream of becoming famous hunters," Lev began with conviction, the previous apprehension and fear slowly evaporating. "To go fight monsters, just like their parents once did. Just like their grandparents once did. Just like their predecessors once did."

    He took a deep breath. "I hate it there. I hate seeing little kids dream of marching to their deaths, hoping to bring about a brighter future when even the Exalted don''t dare promise a better future."

    Steeling his already cemented resolve even further, Lev stared directly into the eyes of the crafter. "I want to change that, no matter what it takes."

    "Foolishness," Alec remarked with a scoff.

    "Maybe," Lev snapped back, "but if I don''t try, how will I ever know if it could come true?"

    "And what makes you think you can do better than the rest of us?"

    "Why can''t I?" Lev challenged.

    The implications in his words were not lost on the crafter. Lev had blatantly questioned Alec''s resolve and, more importantly, his ability to teach Lev enough to set him up for such success.

    "Even if it costs you your life? For a negligible chance to truly make a difference?"

    "Yes," Lev replied without missing a beat, holding the man''s stare. "It will be a worthy end. Far better than my first."

    The staring contest lasted for several seconds, neither refusing to back down. In the end, Alec looked away first.

    "You have to be either completely out of your mind or too determined for your own good to be like this," he sighed. "I hope it works out for you better than it did for us, regardless."

    "I hope so too," Lev agreed easily.

    They both lapsed into silence after that. The passage of time brought with it several realizations, including the fact that Lev had just argued with an extremely strong human who could remove him with a thought.

    I''m fucking crazy, Lev thought, unable to hold back a grin.

    "What''s so funny?" Alec questioned, though he was smiling too.

    "Just thinking back to everything I said," Lev replied. "I, uh, meant no disrespect."

    Laughter was the only response he got, though Lev could admit it didn''t sound bad at all.

    It bode well for his future.

 Chapter 2

    Alec knocked on the orphanage''s doors twice in quick succession. It was his and Lev''s first stop after he had been accepted as an apprentice.

    It took a minute for a bleary Anjum to open them. She gazed at Lev, not quite fully awake, and then at Lev before her eyes widened as she recognized the mysterious man.

    "G-greetings, sir."

    "Good morning," Alec greeted back. "I apologize for disturbing your rest but I would like to discuss this boy''s future apprenticeship under me."

    Anjum gave Lev a quick glance, both fearful and in disbelief, before bowing her head. "Please follow me,"

    They were led to the orphanage director''s office where she waited till they were seated.

    "I will join you in a moment," she stated before darting out of the room.

    Lev observed her in amusement, noting how his now-mentor seemed to be at home.

    "Is this normal?" Lev asked.

    "Most of the time, it goes like this. You''re the odd one."

    "Determined, you mean."

    "More like delusional," Alec snorted, no doubt thinking back to their conversation.

    "Hey, that''s mean. I''m like, crazy at worst."

    The unexpected banter helped ease his nerves, the last remaining tension draining away. He absolutely didn''t want to experience a situation so tense and terrifying ever again, though his chosen path would not allow that. Of that, he was certain.

    Monsters were humanity''s greatest and only enemy for a reason.

    "I''m sorry for the wait," Anjum apologized after returning, now looking much more composed and awake. "You mentioned an apprenticeship?"

    "I did. Lev here has convinced me to accept him as an apprentice."

    "I''m assuming he simply walked up to your door and argued until you accepted him?" Anjum questioned with a sigh, already knowing the answer.

    "ˇ­ Correct," Alec replied, for once looking lost about how to continue.

    Lev just gave the director a mock betrayed glance. She was supposed to be rooting for him, wasn''t she? Someone from her orphanage had just achieved such a meaningful apprenticeship.

    "Don''t look at me like that. You were always too mature for your age, Lev. You know precisely what you did today,"

    Lev shrugged. "It worked, didn''t it?"

    "That it did," she regretfully conceded. "When does the apprenticeship start?"

    "Today," Alec answered.

    Anjum looked between the two of them, considering asking questions but she eventually just let out a sigh.

    "I will not ask why the apprenticeship is starting more than half a decade earlier than it should, or how you convinced someone like Alec to teach you, but you can always count on me if you need something, okay?"

    Lev walked up to her and wrapped his little arms around her in a hug. "Thank you."

    She returned the hug for a long few seconds before they separated. "Does that mean I can talk about how weird you are freely now?"

    "Oh, come on," Lev groaned. "That was years ago."

    "You said I can''t talk about your maturity before you become an adult. I''d say that condition is fulfilled now."

    "I- bah, sure. Go ahead,"

    She shook her head before looking at Alec, "Should I pack his stuff?"

    "No need," the crafter replied succinctly. "Once again, I''m sorry for disturbing your rest early but we will be off now."

    The goodbyes were short and concluded with just a single wave shared between Lev and the director. The bond between them wasn''t particularly deep, but it was still something he would cherish. Anjum understood from the start that Lev wasn''t ever lonely from staying by himself. He just liked the peace and quiet.

    Her understanding made life far simpler for him. Lev respected her for being so considerate despite constantly dealing with the little twerps that were the orphans.

    ****

    "Now what?" Lev finally asked, back at the cottage.

    "Have you ever used mana before?"

    "Say no more,"

    Lev was already on his feet, ready to cross the edge of the world to get his hands on magic. Real magic. He was suitably excited.

    Alec shook his head a little and exited the cottage. Lev followed behind like a puppy trailing its master.

    "The first thing, as I mentioned before, is attribute training," Lev''s mentor announced, summoning a chair and a book. "Start with a light run till you are too tired to continue,"

    Lev looked at the empty grassland behind the cottage. He was a little disappointed but it made sense. Better get the strenuous task out of the way first.

    With a few stretches, Lev started moving at a pace between jogging and running. It was surprisingly difficult to maintain.

    "Can I ask questions in the meantime?"

    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    "Sure,"

    "How did humans arrive on Monarch?"

    "I cannot answer that,"

    Lev tsked but accepted it. No one knew what had happened save for the refugees who had first arrived. His mentor was one of them.

    The tale of the refugee ship that came to Monarch, carrying the last few survivors of humanity, was nothing short of a nightmare. The crash landing, years of battles, and finally escaping the never-ending hordes. All of it painted a horrific history that was not for the faint of heart.

    "How many humans were there in the Empyrean Empire?"

    "70 billion, give or take,"

    "Why the hell did we need to flee, then? Surely there were a lot of combatants."

    "Because," his mentor''s tone turned grim, "we were still outnumbered, and badly.

    Not to mention the monsters were all stronger than their levels implied."

    "Still, a single mage can decimate entire hordes. Why couldn''t they?"

    "Humans were weaker back then. The monsters probably came from a higher mana density region, just like we are living in one now, and slowly overwhelmed us over the course of decades."

    Lev continued his jog while mulling over the answers. It didn''t take a genius to realize humans were stronger now. He didn''t know how much stronger, so he decided to ask.

    "So we are also stronger now? Stronger in what way?"

    "Everything."

    "What constitutes everything?"

    Alec thought for several seconds before answering. "Everything on your status page. We level faster, our classes are stronger, our skills are better with higher bonuses, and we even get titles easier."

    That is much more than I expectedˇ­ Lev thought, slowing down a little while being lost in thought.

    The questioning continued for a while. Lev asked everything that came to mind while Alec only answered what he felt like answering. Specifically, Lev was not given any information about the strongest monsters or the most dangerous regions.

    For half an hour, he kept pumping his little limbs. When tiredness set in, his mentor motioned for him to sit on the second summoned sofa.

    "What do you know about using mana?"

    "That I need Mana Manipulation general skill to begin," Lev answered quickly, straightening in anticipation. "When do we begin on that?"

    Alec chuckled. "Now. But before that, did you get any attributes?"

    [

    Constitution increased by 1

    Dexterity increased by 1

    ]

    "One in Dexterity and Constitution," Lev replied. He could feel the minuscule difference each attribute made, albeit barely. It was pretty much negligible. Lev reckoned it would require reaching the natural limit before he felt a bigger difference.

    "Must have been close to them already. The first 10 points in each attribute will come rapidly, slowing down again at 15, 20, and 25. Before you ask, you couldn''t feel any noticeable difference from the increase because these are natural attributes attained through constant training. When you add them from level-ups, it will be much more prominent."

    Lev nodded to show he understood, then looked at him expectantly.

    His mentor summoned a big ˇ­ ball. It was hollow with a hole in its exterior much larger than his fist. Alec did something to it, and suddenly the hole was covered by a transparent barrier.

    "Put your hand inside." His mentor instructed. Lev watched in amazement as his hand passed through the barrier without any noticeable resistance. If he couldn''t see it, Lev would never believe that his hand just passed through something other than empty air.

    His mentor didn''t say anything, so Lev moved his hand in and out several times, his curiosity not waning at all. Nearly a minute later, he began to notice something. The air inside the ball was different as if it was thicker. He would''ve never noticed it if he couldn''t simultaneously compare it to the hand outside.

    "Is the air insideˇ­ denser? Wait, is it filled with mana?" Lev asked in a rare show of childish excitement. For years he had waited to interact with mana.

    "Correct. This "Ball of Awakening" is a simple tool designed to aid in acquiring Mana Manipulation. It is a necessary skill for every mage class out there. Now, I want you to focus on moving the mana inside with your mind. It will take a small trickle of mana so you won''t be able to try for long with your small pool."

    Lev didn''t care about his small pool. He eagerly closed his eyes and focused on his right hand inside the ball.

    Okay, focus. Alec didn''t mention anything about how I should go about this which is probably on purpose. Let''s see. I should start small and precise.

    Bringing forth his meager willpower, Lev sharpened his focus to the tip of his index finger. Mentally, he coerced the mana to move away from the tip. Lev imagined that would be easier than gathering it.

    Oblivious to the passage of time, Lev continued to direct his will to the task. At first, nothing happened. It took more than ten minutes for the first change to occur. While he couldn''t see it, he could feel a bit of mana move away from the tip of his finger.

    Lev redoubled his efforts after that, uncaring of his swiftly depleting mana pool.

    Slowly, more and more mana drifted away and in half an hour Lev had a small sphere devoid of mana above his finger.

    He triumphantly opened his eyes and fell face first because of a blinding headache. "What the fu-"

    "Language." Alec admonished. "This is the consequence of making your mana pool nearly bottom out. The emptier it becomes, the more intense the headache becomes."

    "You could''ve at least warned me," Lev whined.

    His mentor gave an unapologetic shrug. "Much harder to forget if you experience it firsthand."

    The headache didn''t seem to be going away anytime soon even if it was improving slightly as the minutes passed. Massaging his forehead, Lev ignored it and looked at his mentor.

    "I got the skill."

    "Really? That''s pretty fast."

    "Faster than you?"

    The crafter snorted. "Not even close. I got the skill without even trying."

    Lev huffed. Comparing oneself to prodigies was a quick road to depression. He checked the notifications waiting for him.

    [

    You have learned the General Skill: Mana Manipulation

    Mana Manipulation - Level 1:

    The basic skill required to become a mage. The skill allows the user to exert control over mana more accurately.

    Intelligence increased by 1

    ]

    "We''re done for today," Alec remarked, leveling a meaningful stare at Lev. "What do you want to be in the future?"

    Lev gave it some serious thought, befitting the situation. For a minute, he pondered on the different paths in front of him but there was only one real answer. The same answer he had decided long ago.

    "Combatant."

    "Why did you come to me, then? I''m just a crafter who specializes in barriers."

    Lev almost laughed at his face but held himself. ''Just a crafter'' had to be the worst way someone could describe Alec.

    "To learn about barriers. I have some ideas about how to utilize them in combat."

    Silence reigned for several seconds before his mentor spoke again.

    "I have been working on a combat class for some time," Alec slowly began, "but it will be incredibly demanding to utilize fully. There will be no true active skill in it."

    "Will it be strong, though?"

    "Definitely," the crafter replied instantly. "Mana rewards hard work, after all."

    "Okayˇ­ what type of class is it?"

    ****

    "Let me summarize this. Correct me if I''m wrong but the class you have in mind will be focused on two main skills. Barrier Armor and Barrier Manipulation skill." Lev said, carefully selecting each word.

    "So far so good."

    "The remaining six skills, two actives, and four passives, will be attribute boosts and supporting skills?"

    "Yes. The main advantage of this class would be the armor, and how you will utilize it for movement. Following that, you will also forego putting any points into Strength or Dexterity. Do you know what that means?" Alec asked.

    "That I will have considerably more points in my main attributes compared to other mages. So, I will be able to fight like a weak physical fighter by mentally manipulating the armor, essentially removing a mage''s greatest weakness of being vulnerable in melee?" Lev wondered out loud, now seeing the logic much more clearly.

    Alec nodded. "You should also note that with more attribute points and the increased mana from an arcane class, you will be just as much of a mage as anyone else. The class comes with no notable downsides except low base Strength and Dexterity."

    "Oh, this talk about attribute reminds me I have two titles as well,"

    [

    Name: Lev

    Class: None

    Titles: Vast Soul, Reinforced Mind

    Attributes:

    Strength: 0

    Dexterity: 1

    Constitution: 1

    Intelligence: 1

    Wisdom: 0

    Perception: 0

    General Skills:

    Mana Manipulation - Level 1

    ]

    "That is good," his mentor said. "I was starting to get worried you got nothing from that extraordinary past. What do they do?"

    [

    Vast Soul :

    Your soul is tougher and larger than most. Soul damage and outside influences will find it harder to hurt what is yours.

    +2 Base General Skill Slots

    ]

    [

    Reinforced Mind:

    You have reincarnated with your memories intact through sheer willpower. Your willpower grows marginally with every point of Intelligence and Wisdom.

    ]

 Chapter 3

    Lev and Alec sat in silence for a while.

    "Both of them are better than I expected. Especially the second one."

    "Better than the extra General Skills?" Lev was pretty sure humans only had seven general skill slots before the first threshold.

    "Much better. Willpower will not only allow you to control mana better but also control much more of it. You can imagine how useful that is when the amount of arcane constructs is limited by how many you can handle at once. Willpower will increase both the amount and their potency indirectly, regardless of how minor the bonus is."

    "Hold on, aren''t you downplaying the importance of more general skills?" Surely having a larger number of general skills would be a huge benefit in Lev''s opinion.

    "The issue with General Skills is the difficulty of obtaining passive skills. There are only a few well-documented passive general skills, and all of them are either for utility, professions, or physical fighters. They are also far weaker than class skills without the class benefits backing them up.

    "Moreover, adding more active skills is not a boon for us. Can you guess why?" His mentor finished while looking at him with a small smile. Lev was starting to see that he was a pretty good teacher with how he asked Lev to contribute to each discussion.

    Barrier mages are versatile. Too versatile really. Pretty much cursed with endless variations of constructs, further amplified with different mana types and enchanting.

    "Because our class can already do too much-"

    "Which means adding general skills unaffected by class benefits is only a hindrance." Alec finished for him with an approving nod.

    "I asked around in various inns and parks before coming here."

    "So you''re aware of arcane barriers?"

    "Yeah. Pure mana barriers that don''t utilize any ambient mana. They can also use any other mana type and also make for great enchanting material because of their nature." Lev recounted his discussions with various hunters.

    "The downsides?"

    "High mana cost and difficulty in controlling them. Damn, I am uniquely suited for this, aren''t I?" Lev finished with a thoughtful frown.

    "Suited?" Alec chuckled. "It''s perfect for you."

    ****

    The next few weeks saw steady gains in Mana Manipulation and his attributes. Lev worked with the ball for more than an hour daily before his mana ran almost dry, then on training his small body gently.

    Alec forbade him from trying any rigorous exercises. Lev''s training was limited to light running and parkour on barrier obstacles, which were far more fun than they had any right to be.

    Since the early attributes came quickly, Lev could feel himself becoming faster and smoother in his movements, able to challenge bigger and bigger courses before the growth slowed down to a crawl.

    Now, he hadn''t seen a single increase in the last three days but that was fine by him.

    He finished training with the ball for the day and walked back to his teacher''s place. Lev had recently found out that he was the first disciple his teacher had ever taken under his wing, which meant that his friends were curious.

    His walk slowed down before coming to a halt a few dozen meters away. There were two new auras inside the cottage. Both of them were restrained to an incredible degree, no doubt for him, but he was still frozen in his tracks.

    There''s an Exalted in the cottage.

    Lev was debating turning around. The thought was irrational, yet he barely kept his knees from trembling. The first aura was vast, like a smoldering landscape. It felt like standing in front of a controlled volcano, ready to erupt at a moment''s notice at the person''s whims. He was powerless, thoroughly incapable of providing even a minor resistance. The woman could just look at him and he would cease to exist.

    Yet all of that paled in comparison to the second aura. The Exalted, if Lev''s guess was correct, was like a natural calamity. Swaths of lightning swirled at her will, capable of destroying mountains and towering monsters alike. It was a never-ending storm, ready to rain death and destruction from incredibly far away, the attacker unknown to their victims-

    Someone jerked Lev out of his dazed terror. He belatedly realized he was lying on the ground before he registered the person in front of him.

    With long, bright red hair that fell to her waist, Lev witnessed the most beautiful human he had ever seen.

    She wore simple clothes, a thick green shirt covering her arms and neck, and similarly simple blue pants. That did absolutely nothing to diminish her dazzling beauty, however, and Lev found himself having trouble breathing.

    Mostly because of her aura. She was undoubtedly a fire mage or something similar, and it was suffocating.

    "I''m so sorry, are you alright?" Her velvety voice reached him. Lev shivered, even the voice was breathtaking.

    "Yeah, I''m fine," Lev answered, trying not to look at her. His young body felt nothing from her, but his mind was going in all the wrong directions. "I just, uh, wasn''t expecting such strong auras."The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    The woman frowned slightly. Lev understood too. Humans weren''t supposed to be this sensitive to auras. Was it his different soul making him more perceptive to them?

    It was also the first time he had been close to someone so unbelievably strong, so maybe not.

    "I''m fine, really," Lev reassured her. "It will pass in a few seconds." Passive auras gradually got easier to handle. The first impact was always rough.

    "Still, this shouldn''t have happenedˇ­" she trailed off as she helped him up. Lev was grateful for the hand before she casually lifted him into her arms.

    The walk to the cottage was the most awkward moment of his short life by far. Lev''s mind ran a mile a minute to come up with some excuse to get down and break the physical contact.

    "Let me down, please. I don''t like being picked up," Lev said, the best he could come up with at the spot. Thankfully, the woman obliged.

    "There you go," She giggled. "What''s your name?"

    "Lev."

    "That''s a sweet name."

    This is going to take some getting used to. Lev sighed internally.

    "Just roll''s off the tongue."

    Monarch help me, that could''ve been worded way better.

    "Why are you not saying anything?"

    Why do you put all supermodels to shame equally? Lev didn''t think that out loud. Seriously, how can someone be so beautiful? It''s almost inhuman.

    "No particular reason," Lev lied. "I just like peace and quiet," That was at least true.

    The woman hummed but didn''t say anything else. Lev pointedly only looked forward. Entering the cottage, Lev wanted to cry. The Exalted was also a woman, and she was no less pretty.

    She had long black hair, going slightly past her waist. Lev couldn''t quite find the words to describe her face. Her features, except her eyes, were quite normal yet they still looked extremely attractive. The eyes, however, glowed. Her pupils were blue with white edges, faithfully representing her element.

    There''s got to be some skincare General Skill. Lev thought, half convinced.

    He took the fourth and last empty sofa for himself and steeled his mind to converse with the two powerful women.

    The more he thought about it, the more his priority changed. These two weren''t just powerful, they were some of the strongest humans on Monarch. The Exalted might just stand at the peak of strength for all he knew.

    "Do you want to guess their identities?" Alec asked Lev.

    "The Flame Legion and The Galvanic Sniper?" Lev answered, pretty sure that he was correct.

    "Yeah, they''re far too popular for that question to work," Alec chuckled. "The redhead is Orianna and the other is Sherron. Both of them are my pride and joy, so you better treat them well."

    Lev gave his mentor an incredulous look. He? Treat them badly? That sounded like a death sentence. Already, the lightning lady was looking at him rather coldly.

    His mentor gave him a look, telling Lev that introductions were up to him. He seemed to trust them with his life, so Lev decided to do the same.

    "Hi, my name is Lev and I''m 7 years old. Before I say anything, why are you looking at me like that? It''s quite scary." Lev finished looking at Sherron.

    "Something''s off about you," She replied. "But Alec doesn''t seem to be worried about it. Care to explain?"

    That sounded like an order and it probably was, so Lev gave them a proper answer.

    "It''s pretty simple. I remember living another life. Which unlocked my System early. I explained my circumstances to your friend and here we are."

    Pin-drop silence reigned in the cottage for a few seconds. Lev couldn''t see any changes in the expressions of the two women, neither could he hope to anytime soon. With their insane perception, time moved far slower for them, which meant that his perception was wholly inadequate to observe anything.

    "Soˇ­ you''re just trying to avoid dirty thoughts?" Sherron concluded. Lev choked on air when he heard that. Obviously, he couldn''t have hidden how he tried not to look at them.

    "Yes," Lev stated simply, trying not to let his embarrassment show. "People of earth were far from being all prim and beautiful. This will just take some getting used to."

    That at least seemed to ease her suspicions. Lev noticed Orianna lost in thought still, her thoughts a mystery.

    "The second main reason I took him as a disciple is because he wanted to learn a barrier class," Alec said. "Both of them combined, it would''ve been a waste not to. His titles might answer a lot of questions as well."

    "Titles?" Sherron asked and even Orianna seemed interested.

    Alec nodded. "If the widely accepted theory is correct, Lev here should be able to get a Wisdom Boost."

    Lev broke out in a coughing fit again. This was the first time his teacher had mentioned anything about that.

    Isn''t that supposed to be the stuff of legends? Only Queen Marth used to have one, and even that wasn''t verified, just hinted at.

    The two strongest humans in history were Emperor Blaine and Queen Martha, the first Exalted. They were martyrs who had stayed behind to let humanity escape the Endless Tide, giving them a chance to find safety.

    They and their support squads had single-handedly defended The Empyrean Capital for years. Several ships had been rapidly designed and built in less than a decade under their protection, which was the only reason why humanity had been able to reach Monarch.

    Despite their power, the Empyrean Empire had been devoured by the tide. That only served to further embellish their legend, and even Lev deeply respected their sacrifice. The survivors borne of their efforts were now sitting next to him.

    Which made it doubly weird that Lev could acquire something so extremely rare only she had.

    To answer the questioning gazes, Lev read out his titles. Sherron looked convinced but Lev was worried about Orianna. She had been absent-minded from the start now.

    "Can you please tell me if something is wrong?" Lev asked, almost pleading. "I don''t want surprises that have even you distracted."

    "It''s nothing bad," Orianna chuckled. "You will see if something ever happens. It will only be beneficial." Lev wasn''t pleased with that answer but he still accepted it.

    "So, you''re like a young adult within a child''s body?" Sherron asked, still trying to understand his circumstances.

    "Pretty much a seventeen-year-old by Monarch''s standards," Lev agreed.

    "Huh. That''s much younger than I thought," She mused. "What was it like?"

    Lev sighed mentally before starting an oversimplified retelling. The next half an hour passed without interruptions, requiring him to drink water several times to keep his throat from going dry.

    Orianna was visibly moved, able to decipher the hidden meanings from his life as an Orphan. Even Sherron''s eyes were much softer now.

    "I''m so sorry," Lev found himself in Orianna''s embrace. "That is still so young and you didn''t even get to enjoy life."

    Lev didn''t try to pull back this time. The woman obviously cared greatly for kids, and he didn''t seem to register as anything else to her.

    "Eh, could''ve been worse," Seeing her stern look he hurriedly added, "I mean, everyone has treated me very nicely here and I found the best teacher I could ask for. That is already far more than anything I expected."

    That didn''t seem to be the answer Orianna wanted to hear but she still accepted it.

    "That''s just the bare minimum everyone deserves."

    Lev shrugged. "We didn''t have an apocalyptic planet trying to make humanity go extinct to unify us."

    "That alone wouldn''t be enough, not for something to this extent," Sherron scoffed. "I won''t say the Empire was much better, but everyone was given the basic necessities for little cost. Monarch is an exception among exceptions, which is why everyone just wants to survive and help each other."

    "It is what it is, I guess." Lev shrugged again. He didn''t want to continue this discussion.

    All three of them were unhappy with that attitude but what could he do? The past had already happened. There was no changing that.

    "We will talk about this later," Orianna said, her tone final. "You said you wanted to a barrier class?"

    He accepted the topic change gratefully, and explained what he had in mind. It only got better after learning about a potential Wisdom Boost.

 Chapter 4

    ˇ®Beginner Barrier TheoryˇŻ

    ˇ®By Senior Artificer Alec ZarˇŻ

    Lev looked at the book he was about to read. It was simple with a dark grey cover and light brown pages. Like most things on Monarch, the book was very durable. Lev couldn''t tear off the last empty page even if he wanted to.

    Getting comfortable in his bed, Lev started reading. Time slowly passed as he remained absorbed in the contents of the book. It was short, barely possessing thirty pages. The content itself was brief and concise, not helping the overall length.

    The first page was a short reminder about how attributes worked. Something that wasn''t properly explored by most young ones.

    Strength primarily increased physical strength with the added effect of increased body toughness, much less noticeable than the increased strength.

    Dexterity increased fine control and coordination. It did not improve reaction time, something Lev thought it did, and only helped channel all the body strength to move faster with precision.

    Constitution was the weird one. It increased the body''s ability to handle increased physical strength, improved the ability to channel mana, and overall made the body tougher. Somehow, it did more than every other attribute despite sounding simple.

    Intelligence increased mana potency to an almost negligible degree, slightly improved control over mana, and increased the range of manipulation of mana.

    Wisdom was the best attribute in Lev''s opinion. It simply increased mana pool capacity and regeneration. That was all. Mages recovered an entire pool in 12 hours, give or take, and increasing Wisdom did not change that.

    Perception was the single most crucial attribute. It slowed down perception of time minutely, letting everyone notice and decipher things faster to improve their reaction time, and improved all senses.

    In theory, that was all it did but in practice, it improved body control to further increase the effectiveness of Strength and Dexterity, and let mages control their mana even more efficiently to improve the effectiveness of Intelligence and getting more worth out of each point of Wisdom.

    Lev pondered on the new knowledge, noting all the tidbits he wasn''t aware of before moving on. The attributes were still a mystery in how The System made them function, so Lev accepted the knowledge with room for change in the future.

    True to its name, the book described the basics of barriers with a simplicity that anyone could understand. It covered the formation and manipulation of barriers at a novice level, allowing Lev to grasp the basics easily.

    The book primarily focused on two thingsˇŞthe formation and use of barriers. The uses of barriers were pretty much everything that Lev already knew, such as blocking or deflecting attacks, protection artifacts, and warding off monsters.

    Hints to higher forms of manipulation were present, but the topic was left mostly untouched. The formation of barriers, on the other hand, was a completely new field for Lev.

    The formation of a barrier was straightforward yet extremely customizable. Normally, whenever a barrier mage formed a barrier, they used their mana to interact with ambient mana in the atmosphere while also making use of elemental mana types to introduce different properties into the barrier.

    The elemental mana normally came from skills, it could also be taken from the environment or created by specialized mana converters. While elemental barriers had their own unique advantages, such as water barriers being supremely effective at stopping fire-based attacks or earthen barriers being able to absorb massive amounts of damage or alter the terrain to the fightersˇŻ favor, these were not the ones Lev had his sight on.

    The type of barriers that Lev aimed for were Arcane Barriers. These barriers were made entirely out of the mage''s pure mana and usually obtained elemental properties through uncanny methods, generally dictated by class skills.

    ****

    "I think your ideas have merit," Alec remarked, approving. "They will benefit from your Intelligence and class skills greatly if done right."

    "That''s what I was thinking of, as well," Lev agreed. "Do you think I should aim for a class with one of them as a part of it?"

    "Yes, the disks. They will benefit more."

    Lev told him that he understood, and then waited for his mentor to begin.

    "Are you ready to form your first barrier?" Alec questioned with a twinkle in his eye.

    Lev gave him an unamused glance for treating him like a child, which Alec just brushed off with a chuckle. Besides, Lev probably wasn''t able to suppress his excitement completely.

    My first application of Mana Manipulation. I am as excited as the situation demands, which happens to be my first time using magic.

    He stopped himself from squirming in his chair, patiently waiting for Alec to start.

    "Focus on my palm," was all he was told.

    The crafter raised his right arm, palm facing upwards. Slowly, mana coalesced in the outline of a hexagon just above his hand. Once all the corners were connected by lines of Alec''s mana, the rest of the hexagon started filling up. Within seconds, Lev could see a floating hexagon formed of vaporous mana waiting to be solidified with the mage''s intent.

    "This is as far as pure mana goes. The next few steps require you to both solidify it and add different mana types or enchantments. For arcane barriers however, you will just solidify them for now. Enchantments will come later when your barriers either achieve permanence or long dissipation time. Remember, only use your own mana as ambient mana weakens arcane barriers."

    Lev nodded to show he was following. The book went into detail about all barrier classes starting with temporary formation, and slowly evolving into permanent or rechargeable barriers.

    "The next part is both simple and complex. Simplicity comes from the fact that it''s straightforward. You just will the mana to solidify and it forms a barrier. Complexity originates from sheer freedom afforded by simplicity. You can do literally anything you want, form anything you desire, and customize it however you wish. Only your imagination will limit you.

    "Let''s consider this example." The hexagonal barrier vanished, replaced by a small sphere. "This little thing right here could easily sell for a couple of silver. Can you guess why?" Alec asked expectantly.

    Lev marveled at the price instead. The currency of Monarch followed a coin system. Copper, bronze, silver, gold, and platinum. The value of each was a hundred of the previous coin. Regular food and provisions usually cost bronze, which is why Lev was so surprised that the little construct could sell for silver coins.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    "It''s enchanted?" Lev guessed. Nothing stood out to his naked eyes.

    "Watch," Alec replied with a smile, pride obvious on his face.

    As Lev watched, the sphere slowly opened up. Illusionary fireworks went off in front of him before a flower slowly rose from its center. The stem was made of pure silver, with beautiful inlaid golden patterns. Petals grew from the top end of the stem, bright silver with veins of gold streaking through them. In seconds, Lev was looking at a beautiful decoration that was indeed worth the silver.

    Reminds me of all the neon stuff.

    The sphere itself had transformed into a transparent plate atop which the flower stood. Lev replayed the experience in his mind, still reeling from what he had just observed.

    "You made that in seconds?" Lev asked. His voice dripping with admiration.

    "Yep, did it all in front of you."

    Lev''s expression slowly morphed. "How rich are you?"

    Alec just laughed at the unexpected question. "Very."

    Lev took a deep breath to get money out of his mind. What he had just seen went above and beyond his expectations.

    "Is it rude to ask someone''s rank or level?" Lev asked, his curiosity burning bright.

    "Levels, yes. Rank should be obvious where it matters. I am a Master crafter." Alec replied nonchalantly.

    "Yeah, that makes more sense. Can''t imagine doing something like this before the second evolution."

    Alec was shaking his head before Lev even finished the sentence. "That''s a horrible way to go about it. You can definitely manage something like this late into the first evolution if you work hard enough. Difficult, but definitely possible."

    Lev slowly nodded. If the experienced man said it was possible, then it probably was. After that wonderful display, he was now very eager to start working.

    "What do I start with?" Lev asked.

    "Gather mana in some shape," Alec suggested, and Lev did just that.

    From his daily practice, Lev''s Mana Manipulation was currently at Level 4, while his Intelligence and Wisdom were at 9 and 7 respectively. The growth was pretty absurd by most standards but Lev couldn''t care less about that. He was having the time of his life.

    Nearly a minute passed before Lev managed to create the outline of a small, flat disk. It was smaller than his palm but it was enough. Alec who had been patiently observing him nodded.

    "Good enough. Focus on filling it up with mana now."

    Several more seconds passed before the outline was filled with gaseous mana that would dissipate the moment Lev''s focus wavered. Alec didn''t say anything even when he was done, so he focused on maintaining the shape.

    It was a valuable experience for him, learning how to influence the mana with minimal effort. For something this simple he only needed a small push to keep the disk from going out of shape, instead of the violent shoving he had begun with.

    Nearly 10 minutes passed while Lev tinkered with the nascent barrier. He tried to pull it out of shape and put it back together, let his control slowly waver, and create holes in the shape to learn how the mana reacted. It was surprisingly malleable, both for alterations and rigidity.

    "The last part for today is solidification. This step demands practice like no other. Try it first, then I''ll explain more." Alec''s voice stopped his testing and he willed the mana to become solid.

    Lev watched with mouth slightly agape as his mana slowly froze like a lake slowly turning to ice. It took nearly 5 seconds for the process to complete.

    He willed the barrier to move to the right, and it slowly floated over to obey. Several times he made it move left and right, up and down before it came to rest on his palm again.

    Alec, who was quietly observing Lev mess around, casually flicked the small barrier. Naturally, it shattered into countless pieces.

    "Whyˇ­" Lev lamented, looking like a kicked puppy.

    "Oh, come on. That''s the first of the countless barriers you will form. Besides, it wasn''t even a proper arcane barrier."

    Lev sighed, acquiescing to the point. Indeed, the barrier was so brittle because he had only used ambient mana. This time, he focused on the mana in his body.

    Sensing his will, the mana turned into a small stream and moved through his right arm. Interestingly enough, that stream could originate from anywhere in his torso. If he wished so, he could make it originate from just above his legs to send mana down faster. Since he needed it in his hands, the stream formed just below his shoulder.

    His pure mana slowly gathered above his palm, requiring great care to not mix with the ambient mana. Alec motioned for Lev to continue, so he went through the same procedure to first create a round outline. Next, he filled it up with mana before solidifying it.

    While the barrier formed of ambient mana was transparent, this one had a light blue sheen to it. With just one glance, Lev could tell this one was much, much better.

    "Congratulations. That was your first time forming an arcane barrier. Also the first proper use of your mana if I''m not mistaken."

    "Mhm," Lev replied, distracted by the beautiful construct in his hand. Just from such a basic application, he knew the amount of potential hidden in barriers was staggering.

    "Why was it so much faster?" Lev questioned.

    "Because it is your mana. It originated from your soul and maintained a connection to it. Barrier formation will only get faster and faster when using your own mana. It is also why arcane barriers are so costly."

    The entire formation had taken only 7 seconds, slightly less than half of what he needed for the ambient mana barrier.

    ****

    "This is so good," Lev almost moaned when the meat just melted in his mouth. "What is this even?"

    "Just roasted chicken," His mentor replied with obvious amusement. "The real magic comes from the level 150 cook. Food prepared by a cook of that level will always be fantastic."

    "So you can not only afford such meals easily but also keep them frozen in time in that absurd ring of yours?" Lev asked.

    "Yep." Came the cheerful reply. Lev stabbed the chicken with more force than necessary, muttering about how this world didn''t sense.

    Alec just laughed at his childish antics before something hit Lev''s forehead. Something metallic clattered on the table beside his meal.

    "Really? We met for the first time not that long ago, and you''re giving me this? We''re barely acquaintances by most standards." Lev deadpanned. As enticing as the storage ring was, he was not going to accept charity.

    "Does it feel that way?" Alec asked with a twinkle in his eye.

    His mentor wasn''t exactly wrong. Lev had revealed his past and reincarnation, unloaded his frustrations on the first person who listened, trained under his watch, received his first skill, met his super strong friends, and now he was eating breakfast in his home like usual.

    "Point taken. Still, aren''t these super expensive?"

    "I have dozens." came the infuriatingly simple reply. Lev took a deep breath before picking up the simple-looking black ring.

    "It''s forged out of pure mythril by the way," Alec remarked, causing Lev to drop the ring in shock. Mythril was the expensive metal. He glared at his mentor who seemed to be having the time of his life.

    "How do I use this?" Lev picked up the ring again. He didn''t even want to imagine how expensive this thing was.

    "Just send a trickle of your mana inside."

    Lev focused inside, concentrating on the mana pool he could feel for as long as he could remember in this life. It took little willpower to mobilize a small stream of mana that traveled up his right arm and into the ring.

    He wasn''t sure what to expect when a large empty room was suddenly visible in his mind. It was far larger than Lev expected, more like a small warehouse than anything.

    "Just like that?" Lev asked in wonder.

    "Mhm. Look at your hand." Confused, Lev looked down and almost panicked at the sight. It took a few seconds for him to realize why he could only feel the ring but couldn''t see it.

    "It''s invisible!" His jaw dropped at the incredible extra function of the ring.

    "This will solve the issue of theft later on, regardless of how unrealistic your fear is. Just don''t use it in front of others before you can defend it, I guess."

    For the next half an hour, Lev experimented with the ring. With a thought, anything he touched just vanished, his mind suddenly aware of the new contents stored inside the ring.

    For the last experiment, he thought about storing his shirt. Neither he nor his mentor cared about him being half-naked. Focusing on the shirt now inside the ring, he thought about summoning it back on his body like he was just wearing it.

    He failed.

    It just plopped down on the wooden floor in front of him. Not at all deterred, he stored it again before trying again. It took nearly a hundred tries before he succeeded. He had to think about the direction of the shirt''s arms and sleeves, and also how wide they needed to be to fit his arms perfectly.

    Thinking about the large space, however, brought his mind back to a glaring issue. The glittering issue, stored in a corner of the ring.

    "Why are you not talking about them?" Lev asked, now slightly annoyed at the continued silence.

    "Talking about what?" Alec said with an ''innocent'' smile.

    "The gold coins in the ring. Gold! There are a hundred of them!"

    "What''s the big deal about them? You''ve never gone shopping before, have you?"

    Lev opened and closed his mouth several times, not sure what to even say. His mentor spoke first.

    "It feels like a lot of money because it is, but it also isn''t. You can comfortably live off them for decades. Do you want to do that?" Lev shook his head. "Precisely. Then it is not much. You can equip yourself easily before the first threshold with this, but most equipment after that will cost several to dozens of gold coins. You will be out of money before you even know it."

    "I have never even held a silver," Lev muttered weakly. He didn''t shy away when Alec ruffled his hair.

    "Better get used to it then. If I''m going to teach you, then I''m going to spare no expense doing so."

    Lev''s shame and embarrassment over accepting them lasted all of a few seconds. He was tempered by being an orphan twice, so it didn''t feel like accepting charity any longer.

    "Still, I would have preferred equipment over them," Lev quipped with a cheeky grin.

 Chapter 5

    Three years passed in peaceful training before Lev found himself trying for the class again inside his mentor''s cottage.

    Sweat poured off his brow as he sidestepped another arrow, unwilling to test the durability of the crude pieces of "armor" covering his arms and chest. His arm moved with an unnatural speed higher than his attributes would suggest, as the buckler strapped to his hand slapped away the next arrow. The attacks didn''t stop, however. Lev had to sharpen his focus even further as they increased in quantity.

    The next one was slapped away in a familiar fashion. His limbs shook from exertion but remained steadfast, intent on seeing this through.

    The exercise lasted several minutes. Lev''s mana dwindled but having hit the natural limit for 30 Wisdom long ago, he still had plenty to spare.

    "Switch," came the sweet order, and Lev wasted no time in dismissing the two bucklers in each hand. Over the next two seconds, two round barrier disks formed above the now empty palms. Concentrating, he made their edges as sharp as possible.

    Examining them for a split second, he nodded in satisfaction and made them spin as fast as he could manage. Within the span of five seconds, Lev had two projectiles that rivaled mundane swords in lethality.

    A great feat for a classless mage.

    Three thick bamboo-like sticks dangled in front of him, their interiors hollow. Lev''s task was to cut them as cleanly as possible. One would imagine that razor-sharp spinning disks would cut through most materials with ease, but that couldn''t have been further from the truth.

    Just like when striking with a sword, his disks needed a proper technique to cut properly. The smallest error in angle could dramatically reduce the damage, which was the last thing someone wanted when fighting monsters.

    The first disk shot forward like a bullet, eating the distance in a blink. Time seemed to slow down as the round barrier passed through the first stick smoothly as Lev''s mind only registered a faint resistance from the feedback.

    The second disk flew through another with minimal effort, but the last one was a little tricky. The first disk traveled back, back to its original position before it shot forward again. That was the only way for it to generate enough momentum.

    The lower half of the last stick clattered to the ground.

    "Switch,"

    Lev prepared himself for the last round. Mana rushed out of him into the crude armor as a block of wood materialized in front of him. Suspended midair by something he couldn''t see, it was at the perfect height for Lev to punch with all his might.

    Different from other mages, Lev''s physical might came from both his mind and body. From the ground up, Lev twisted his body and channeled all he could into the punch.

    Halfway through that, his mind joined in. The barrier covering his arm was pulled forward with all his mental concentration, augmenting his physical strength even further.

    Lev''s arm whipped forward like a snake and hit the block with a crack as the shoddy barrier gauntlets shattered and pain lanced up his arm. The feedback, however, didn''t even register in his mind. The notification in front of him thoroughly soaked up his attention.

    It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

    [

    Congratulations! You have qualified for the Arcane Sentinel class.

    ]

    "FINALLY!" Lev exclaimed with palpable excitement. His mentor and two spectators cheered with him as well.

    Alec, his mentor for the past four years, spoke first. "Took you long enough. What is it called?"

    "Arcane Sentinel," Lev replied with a wide grin, still breathing heavily from the effort.

    Sherron whistled. "Fancy name. Half the time it is ''Apprentice this'' ''Budding that''." Orianna nodded in agreement, giving him a warm smile.

    Lev didn''t hesitate to sit between the two of them as he calmed his breathing. If an outsider was watching, they would''ve been horrified.

    The two women Lev had so casually sat next to were two of humanity''s strongest combatants. To his right was Orianna, The Flame Legion. To his left was Sherron, The Galvanic Sniper. The lightning sniper was not only one of the strongest, she was also an Exalted.

    There were only 12 Exalted humans on Monarch.

    Human ranks were pretty simple. Classers, from level 1 - 100 were people new to the System. Next were Adepts, people who underwent the first evolution. Their levels ranged from 101 - 250.

    Next came Masters. As the rank implied, these were the humans who had pushed themselves and stayed true to their path. Their levels ranged from 251 to 500, which was very high for someone like Lev.

    Beyond all of that was the Exalted Rank. Those who had crossed the threshold of Master Rank. Only a dozen of them existed despite the population of millions present on Monarch.

    It spoke volumes about their hardships, talent, and overwhelming power.

    Which made it exceedingly strange that Lev was surrounded by not just two of the most well-known Masters, but also an Exalted.

    His smile threatened to tear his face apart from how it widened even further as Lev reminisced about how a bout of foolish bravery had irreversibly changed his life for the better.

    Incomparably better.

    For someone twice orphaned like him, once on Earth and then after getting reincarnated on Monarch, life had finally decided to treat him right after he opened up to Alec.

    Back then, he thought he was risking it all by explaining his past and hoping for an apprenticeship to a crafter of great renown. He shouldn''t have worried.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Turns out, the man was more than happy to help him after he explained his circumstances. Not only had the crafter agreed to teach him, but he had also proposed helping him get a powerful class if Lev wanted to work for it.

    Lev shivered slightly when he remembered the questioning that had followed before the proposal. Alec somehow always knew if he was lying or not. He also always managed to push Lev to explain things that he didn''t even know himself.

    That day, he had learned more about himself than the entire short life he had spent on Monarch. And he was proud of himself for learning that he wanted nothing more than to fight for the struggling humans and to eradicate the endless hordes of monsters knocking on their wall ready to tear everyone apart.

    That further cemented his resolve to acquire this incredible yet only theorized class, which was finally paying off today.

    "What do you feel?" His mentor asked after a few minutes of silence, letting Lev remain lost in thought.

    The System didn''t explain what the class would provide, instead giving far more raw impressions of the class. It was standard procedure for every Classer.

    "Barriers, barrier armor, speed and sharpness, perception and movement. Everything is brought together with boosted control and large amounts of mana. That seems to cover everything we wanted." Lev was ecstatic with the result. It was beyond his expectations.

    "How important does the mana aspect seem?" Orianna asked.

    Lev hesitated slightly, unsure of the words to use. "It seems to be diffusedˇ­ like lubricant keeping everything flowing seamlessly. Except, it''s strengthening everything instead of keeping it together, like a blanket covering the entire class. There is a lot of it."

    Sherron did a little fist-pump while Orianna leaned back with a sigh of relief. It seemed like he would acquire the vaunted Wisdom boost for himself, which didn''t help his already hurting face.

    His mentor smiled. "This is it. The years of your efforts have rewarded you with this class."

    The two women also gave him encouraging smiles. Lev leaned back on the sofa he was

    sharing with them and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he selected the class.

    Immediately, a warm glow suffused his body. It was his first time experiencing the feeling of instantly rising attributes, and it was nothing short of intoxicating.

    The feeling lasted for multiple seconds as multiple attributes rose sharply, mainly the magical ones. Lev prepared himself for the next part, ready for whatever profound change was about to take place.

    ˇ­.

    Nothing happened.

    He cracked an eye open to see the present company barely suppressing their laughter. His opening an eye broke the straw and they all burst out laughing.

    Lev just stared at them before shaking his head with a smile. He muttered a quiet ''assholes'' under his breath, which earned him a sharp glance from the redhead fire mage to his right.

    It made his heart leap to his throat.

    The reaction wasn''t simply because of fear. Not that Lev feared the sweetheart, but it was because of her aura. Her displeasure manifested in an almost physical form, which, for someone as weak as Lev, was terrifying.

    Still, he hadn''t expected this. Lev was prepared for something world-changing to sweep his very being, not an absence ofˇ­ anything.

    It''s fine. Lev consoled himself, though he didn''t need to. There were a lot of notifications waiting for him.

    [

    You have selected the Arcane Sentinel class:

    +10 Constitution

    +15 Intelligence

    +15 Wisdom

    +10 Perception

    Class Benefits:

    Mana capacity is increased by 50% and mana regeneration by 20%

    The range of manipulation granted by the Intelligence attribute is doubled.

    Barrier formation is more efficient.

    Barriers are more resilient.

    ˇŞ-

    You have obtained a class skill:

    Arcane Barrier Manipulation - Active:

    Form a barrier out of pure mana in your base manipulation range. Any barriers formed by this skill are 55% more durable. Wielding barriers becomes more natural as the skill increases in level.

    ˇŞ-

    You have obtained a class skill:

    Incisive Edge - Active:

    Any barriers formed with a cutting edge will have their sharpness increased by 60%. You will find barriers faster and easier to move, increasing their speed by 25%.

    ˇŞ-

    You have obtained a class skill:

    Whirling Rim - Active:

    Increase the penetrating power of your barriers by making them spin. Any barriers formed by you spin 50% faster and have their penetration power increased by 10%.

    ˇŞ-

    You have obtained a class skill:

    Barrier Armor - Active:

    Cover your body in transparent armor to protect you from your foes. This armor is considered one whole instead of individual pieces. It can be manipulated like normal barriers, but the shape cannot be altered.

    ˇŞ-

    You have obtained a class skill:

    Opportunity - Passive:

    Perception during combat is increased by 75%. Finding weak points and predicting the trajectory of moving objects/targets is considerably easier.

    ˇŞ-

    You have obtained a class skill:

    Nimble - Passive:

    Manipulating barriers to support your movement is 100% more effective.

    ˇŞ-

    You have obtained a class skill:

    Heavy Lifting - Passive:

    Supporting weight on/with your barriers requires 50% less focus. Balancing objects on barriers is easier.

    ˇŞ-

    You have obtained a class skill:

    Needle Precision - Passive:

    All barrier manipulation is 25% more effective. Increases intelligence by 10%.

    ˇŞ-

    You have learned the General Skill Identify.

    Identify :

    Focus on a living being to discern their level. This skill only works within the user''s evolution threshold.

    This skill does not level. This skill can be blocked easily. Increased effectiveness against monsters.

    This skill does not take a General Skill slot.

    ]

    Lev read the notifications again and again. Each time, the smile on his lips only grew wider.

    Barrier armor? Check. Movement augmentation? Check. Sharpness? Check. Speed? Check. Mana bonuses? Check. Intelligence bonus? Check. Perception? Check. Unexpected Weight handling? Check.

    Lev scratched the back of his head, not sure where to even begin. The class sounded strong already, but that was all without taking the last skill into account.

    What am I even looking at? If I''m understanding this correctly, every single skill is further improved by 25%. That isˇ­ insane. Every skill is further improved by 1% per level as well. Not to mention that the intelligence boost is also a part of the skill, and I have yet to unlock the specialty of arcane barriers.

    The specialty in question was how arcane barriers could utilize different mana types with class-specific methods. None of that was overly complex, meaning he would be able to use his offensive skills with different mana types infused into them.

    Lev looked up to three expectant faces. "First things first, it gave 50 attributes."

    Orianna hummed. "5 less than the maximum, which is rather ideal. Stronger classes usually give even less starting attributes."

    Lev nodded at the explanation. "I see. Next up are the class benefitsˇ­"

    He read out all of the notifications to very attentive listeners over the next few minutes.

    When he finished, they all leaned back in unison. There was a lot to think about.

    What interested Lev the most was Sherron''s half contemplative, half dreamy expression.

    "Is something wrong?" He asked, confused at the reaction.

    She gave him a mock glare. "Do you have any idea how much I want a Wisdom boost? I still don''t have one."

    Lev blinked, then a toothy smile found its way to his face. He slowly turned towards his mentor. "How likely am I to get one?"

    His mentor answered with an amused smile. "Very likely."

    Lev nodded in smug satisfaction as he slowly leaned back dramatically. Sherron''s gaze followed him all the while, which also had his neck hair standing on end. It was quite an amusing sight.

    Frankly, the way the world sharpened as the woman tracked him, and how he barely managed to suppress his body from shuddering under the sheer intensity of her focus, Lev decided that his little stunt was not worth it at all.

    High-level people are scary.

    "What about the percentage increases? Why do they not show up on my status?" Lev questioned, curious about that.

    "Only base attributes do, from attributes, classes, and titles," Sherron simply stated.

 Chapter 6

    "The first skill seems to be the standard?" Sherron asked, glancing at Alec. He nodded in confirmation. Lev''s mentor specialized in barriers and storage artifacts, which meant that he was the most knowledgeable about Lev''s class.

    "The rest of the skills are straightforward too, except the last two," The crafter added. "Heavy lifting is a levitation skill right now. It should evolve into a flight skill when you evolve," Alec finished while looking at Lev with a smile.

    "As long as I use it with the intention of keeping myself afloat, guiding its path," Lev nodded along, understanding what he had to do. "What on Monarch is that last skill?"

    "That is a specialty skill," Sherron answered. "Usually seen in hyper-focused classes, such as a class mostly focused on fireballs or firewhips. Orianna''s class also has one, focused on the fire soldiers."

    "Elemental Soldiers," Orianna corrected.

    "How many elements do they use?" Sherron countered with a cheeky smile, making the fire mage roll her eyes.

    "So this skill is gonna be the one with a Wisdom boost?" Lev butted in.

    "Yeah, it is one of the two skills that we know for sure has a chance to give that. Don''t get your hopes too high, though. Despite your stronger soul, we don''t know for certain if you will get it. The chances are exceedingly low," Alec answered.

    Lev just waved away his concerns. The impressions he got from the class had far more mana than just a mere 50% increase.

    He stood up and moved slightly away from the sofas, no longer able to wait. Focusing inward, he immediately found four bright switches in his mind, vibrating with suppressed potential.

    My active skills. Lev''s heart started to beat faster. He concentrated on the switch representing his armor.

    Within moments, a pale blue arcane armor covered him from head to toe. He felt himself lift slightly, the armor completing below his feet and encasing his form completely.

    Lev moved around, slack-jawed. He couldn''t even feel the armor on his body. It was that light. With a mental nudge, the blue construct took over his movements, carrying him around without any physical exertion.

    All the while, Lev observed the shape of his armor. The best term he could come up with wasˇ­ formless. The thick yet lightweight layer of arcane covering his body was bulky yet far from unsightly. It looked refined and graceful.

    Most importantly, there were no joints or gaps. It was all connected together seamlessly, somehow moving despite it being impossible. The armor was incomparable to any known styles of armor, just resting somewhere between medium and heavy armor without any of the disadvantages.

    "Better than my own," Alec commented. The three had been observing him in content silence.

    "Really?" Lev asked distractedly.

    "Yeah, yours is made for combat. My armor is made for crafting so it is bulkier and taller."

    Lev nodded along, thinking of how to test the first passive skill. Since there was no way to test the specialty skill, as it was well and truly passive, he started with Heavy Lifting.

    Crouching, he tensed his muscles and mind before leaping into the air. He manipulated the armor to aid his jump to see how high he could jump. Lev was expecting to at least double the jump height.

    His head slammed into the 5-meter-high ceiling.

    Lev dropped down gracelessly, somehow landing on his feet instead of his face. The wince on his face slowly vanished as the expected pain never came. Neither from hitting the ceiling nor from the rough landing.

    He ahh''d in understanding. The armor had absorbed both of the impacts effortlessly.

    "Was it supposed to be that high?" He asked the spectators.

    "Definitely," Orianna nodded firmly. "Your jump was first aided by the manipulation skill, making it more in tune with your physical strength. That was further reinforced by the Nimble skill by a large amount. Which was further strengthened by the Heavy Lifting skill. All of that combined was then boosted by the specialty skill."

    "What a freakish class," Sherron muttered from the side. Lev knew she was joking but he couldn''t help but agree. The class was becoming scary already, and he had yet to get any second-rank skills.

    "Wellˇ­ there is one last notification," Lev began hesitantly. The other three immediately turned serious. "I am still having trouble believing this is real."

    "It''s a title?" Orianna asked, more a statement than a question.

    Lev nodded slowly. "One hell of a title."

    [

    You have earned a title.

    [Youngest Prodigy]

    The youngest sentient being to have ever acquired a class without breaking any laws of Mana or The System.

    +15 to every attribute.

    The bonus is doubled every evolution.

    ]

    Tense silence reigned in the room. The description signified that Lev had earned a class within the confines of Mana''s rules, which humanity didn''t even know a word of.

    "Thatˇ­ is good," Orianna breathed out a sigh of relief. The last time someone had tried to forcefully unlock a class before The System allowed it, the entire universe had known.

    The fury of Mana was something humanity would remember till the end of time. Thousands of years later, that planet still remained completely uninhabitable.

    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

    "Correct me if I''m wrong butˇ­ this seems to be genuine doubling?" Lev timidly voiced his question. The title was, to his knowledge, beyond impossible.

    "It is," His mentor replied, still slightly shaken. "Right now, it is equivalent to 18 levels. When you become Adept, it becomes 36 levels. Then 72 at Master. 144 at Exaltedˇ­ " He trailed off. Lev could see he was both nervous and excited.

    Lev had never seen the man be nervous before.

    "That would explain Late Queen Marth''s unnatural strength before she became an Exalted," Sherron mused, least shaken of them all. "If I remember correctly, she was rumored to be seen fighting monsters at the age of 12. That is still two years older than you," She finished looking at Lev.

    "Soˇ­ it''s pretty much impossible yet there''s a chance the queen had it already?" Lev said.

    "Yep. Now that the title has specified that there are rules of Mana and The System, we just have to keep the title hidden. No risk of annihilation if nobody knows it is possible."

    Lev agreed. If anyone knew what he had done, they would undoubtedly try to replicate it. Granted, humans of Monarch rarely wanted unnatural power for themselves. Yet all it would take was one asshole to risk the destruction of the already few humans barely surviving on this unforgiving planet.

    Humanity persisted on only one continent of Monarch, the one they had arrived on by pure chance. The details of how the survivors of the Endless Tide ever reached Monarch, and how they found the one continent they could survive on were a mystery.

    The three passengers from the Refugee Ship in front of him didn''t disclose anything either. They just assured him that it wasn''t worth mentioning or something for him to worry about.

    "No harm in accepting it?" Lev confirmed one last time before focusing on the title. Raw power coursed through him as each of his attributes rose by a large amount. The feeling lasted for nearly 10 seconds a Lev found himself drooling like an idiot.

    Holy shit that was so addicting.

    He forced himself to calm down with deep breaths. That was a dangerous thought to have, and he pushed the feeling to the back of his mind to focus on the present.

    "That wasˇ­ something," Lev remarked with an explosive sigh. "I need a distraction. Let''s discuss mana costs."

    "The barrier took nearly a 10th of my mana pool to form, and the upkeep only required a steady trickle. How good is that?" He asked his teacher.

    "Decent. Lower than expected, even. How much do you think the upkeep is?" Alec said.

    Lev looked inwards, toward his soul. Humans could instinctually feel their mana reserves, which meant that Lev could do the same in less than a second.

    The results made a strange smile appear on his face. "Iˇ­ am not losing any mana. My regeneration is higher than the upkeep."

    Silence greeted his answer before Sherron snorted. "I stand corrected. That class isn''t just freakish, it is downright absurd."

    "You only have 60 wisdom, right?" Orianna asked, to which Lev nodded. "Which means your active skills can be overcharged immensely. That always results in diminishing returns, and will also be your greatest cost sink. That, and different mana types and the associated efficiencies. There''s no other reason for the costs to be that low."

    That made sense to Lev. He ignored Sherron muttering about how he didn''t even have a Wisdom Boost yet.

    "That leaves your attack skills. Are you ready?" His teacher asked, uncharacteristically serious.

    Lev took a deep breath before pulling up his now-filled status.

    [

    Name: Lev

    Class: Arcane Sentinel

    Titles: Vast Soul, Reinforced Mind, Youngest Prodigy

    Attributes:

    Strength: 45

    Dexterity: 45

    Constitution: 55

    Intelligence: 60

    Wisdom: 60

    Perception: 55

    Class Skills:

    Arcane Barrier Manipulation - Level 1

    Incisive Edge - Level 1

    Whirling Rim - Level 1

    Barrier Armor - Level 1

    Opportunity - Level 1

    Nimble - Level 1

    Heavy Lifting - Level 1

    Needle Precision - Level 1

    General Skills:

    Mana Manipulation - Level 10

    Identify

    ]

    He checked his other two titles, just in case something had changed.

    [

    Vast Soul :

    Your soul is tougher and larger than most. Soul damage will be reduced and outside influences will find it harder to hurt what is yours.

    +2 Base General Skill Slots

    Reinforced Mind:

    You have reincarnated with your memories intact through sheer willpower. Your willpower grows marginally with every point of Intelligence and Wisdom.

    ]

    Nope, still the same. Lev mused, straightening his back. It is time to face my first monster.

    ****

    It took several minutes for Lev to get used to his vastly improved physical attributes. The task was made trivial by his high dexterity and perception, letting him adapt quickly.

    The trio escorted Lev to the southern gates of the outpost. Popular as they were, everyone stopped to greet or stare at them. Lev, by extension, also got a ton of glances, and he got to hear more than a few people wondering if he was their child.

    It was extremely embarrassing.

    Orianna and Sherron didn''t seem to mind. On the contrary, they found it more amusing than anything. Especially Lev''s adorable frown and angry small eyes.

    Thankfully, Alec gave him a Rare blocking stone which prevented anyone from accidentally identifying Lev and outing his secret.

    [

    Blocking Stone - Rare

    Prevents any feedback from reaching Identification skills, masking the fact that the wearer possesses a class.

    Can be circumvented with strong enough identification skills/class.

    ]

    The large vacant space between the walls and Outpost proper took them nearly 10 minutes to cross. Lev forced himself to walk as slowly as a normal 10-year-old, lest he attract suspicion.

    They passed the gate without any obstructions, getting respectful nods left and right. For the first time, Lev set foot outside WhiteFall''s Outpost # 3.

    The land surrounding the outpost was ˇ­ flat. Lev didn''t know what he was expecting but the sight that greeted him was completely mundane. The grassland stretched on for as far as he could see, illuminated by the gentle rays of the two suns above.

    14 suns, 7 sets of two, orbited around Monarch, producing a day and night cycle similar to Earth''s.

    That is still one of the hardest facts to get used to, second only to Monarch''s size.

    If the estimates were correct, humans simply didn''t have the tools to accurately measure the planet''s surface area. Which was morbidly funny, as The System and Mana allowed for some pretty advanced equipment.

    Not that it would help them. The Plains, where humanity currently resided, were one of the safest spots on Monarch, and it was already challenging to survive in.

    "Now what?" Lev asked, looking at the three who he realized were waiting for him.

    Abruptly, they started ascending. Lev braced himself for imbalance or turbulence, but there was none. They flew up smoothly without even a hint of discomfort.

    Down below, Lev could see the ground getting further and further away. The humans traveling through the gates looked like ants now, moving in line.

    Up ahead, the outpost spread out in all its glory. Despite the constant threat to humanity, each outpost housed nearly a hundred thousand humans. The Great Cities had a population more than ten times that.

    Beyond the nearly 50-meter-tall wall, Lev could see some large buildings near the Outpost Center.

    The Hunters Guild, The Crafters Guild, and The Merchants Guild.

    The branches were distinguished from the rest of the buildings. White was the most prominent color, further accentuated by the Halls towering over everything else.

    This is so cool.

    "Which one of you is doing this?" Lev asked with wide eyes, still glued to the scenery in front of him.

    "Who do you think?" Alec replied.

    Lev tore his eyes away from the view and tentatively took a step forward on the invisible surface. When he didn''t fall, he took another step before his outstretched hand found the boundary of their ride.

    Barrier. Lev sumrised. It was invisible to his eyes and budding mana sense, an integral tool part of every mage. Tracing his hand along the surface, he deduced that they were flying inside a barrier bubble, probably enchanted for traveling.

    "You created and enchanted it on the spot?" Lev struggled to believe that.

    "Not really. It is one of my blueprints," came the reply.

    Lev nodded along. "I see. What is it called?"

    "Bubble," His mentor replied, amusement evident in his voice. Lev turned around with a deadpan expression. Alec knew full well how Lev would feel about that name, which was shown in his grin.

 Chapter 7

    [

    [Crafter - ???]

    [Fire Mage - ???]

    [Monster Nemesis - ????]

    ]

    Identify simply returned question marks for levels too high. Lev could tell that the first mark came from being a Classer, while one more was added with every evolution.

    Two for an adept, three for a Master, four for an Exalted, and so on.

    Badass title though.

    "What am I going to fight?" Lev asked, slightly nervous but mostly determined.

    "Goblins. Obviously," Sherron said. "They are the easiest to handle and most abundant in your level range."

    "Now that we are discussing this topic, where do you want to be stationed?" Orianna asked, looking into his eyes.

    The question was a serious one so Lev gave it the attention it deserved. "What are my options?"

    "Three of them. The first option is Windkeep with its abundance of dungeons and The Dreadwoods near it. It provides the most convenient straightforward path of progression by training and leveling in dungeons while getting chaotic battle experience by defending huge waves of lower-level enemies.

    "The second option is either Runespires or Timberhold. They are both the safest options after staying inside The Haven. Most crafters choose this option, to practice their skills in peace and train in the few dungeons near them. Runespires especially has a huge market of materials, so it''s the most lucrative for them.

    "The last option isˇ­ The Pit," Orianna finished with a sigh. Lev''s face probably gave it away, but this was the option he always wanted. "It''s an extremely deep hole in the world, nearly three kilometers in radius."

    "Wait, hold on. Three kilometers??" Lev asked incredulously. That was far beyond the hundred-meter wide cavity he had pictured in his mind.

    "Mhm. It''s huge." Sherron unhelpfully added.

    "Huge is a huge understatement. Three kilometers isˇ­ can I even see the other end from one side?" Lev muttered, lost in thought.

    "Easily." His mentor supplied.

    "The Pit is not for the weak of heart, Lev," Orianna sternly warned him, a frown on her face. "The monsters that emerge from there are often twisted and terrifying, with strange abilities that affect the mind."

    "Which means my title should make me extra effective against them?" Lev countered, though internally he felt horrible. Orianna had always been a warm ray of sunshine, only ever treating him nicely. Seeing her frown at his decision was more painful than he expected.

    "Sort of," she relented. "Just know that The Pit is extremely unpredictable. Fortunately, a third threshold monster emerging from there is very unlikely. Unfortunately, the delvers can encounter them relatively easily. You are forbidden from delving below the tenth layer before you become a Master."

    "Naturally. I''m not suicidal," Lev murmured. "Why can''t I change stations anyway?"

    "You can. It''s just a waste of time. Once you get used to fighting the monsters of The Pit, moving somewhere else would require you to once again adapt to the monsters of that area. That isn''t a bad thing, but the first two evolutions will pass very quickly. Do you know how essence gain works?"

    Essence was the fuel for leveling up one''s class. It could be earned by killing monsters, crafting, and doing anything in tune with the class.

    "Circumstances, effort, and achievement." Lev summarized.

    "Pretty much," Orianna agreed. "Humans arriving on Monarch and actually surviving is nothing short of a miracle. Not only do we begin with stronger classes now, but the essence gain is also much higher. What would usually take decades or a century can be done in a scant few years."

    "I seeˇ­" Lev was starting to understand the greater picture. "The same goes for skills?" To which she nodded.

    "How many Masters are there?" Lev finally asked.

    "Over five thousand."

    "That isˇ­ less than I expected. Aren''t there nearly 5 million humans by now?"

    "Not many can survive outside the walls. Even a small horde is a horrible sight, and weak-willed people are not willing to fight against that." Orianna finished with a far-away look.

    "Which is fine," Sherron spoke up. "We will do the fighting for them. Don''t you agree?"

    Lev nodded in assent. That was always the plan.

    ****

    Tenˇ­ Twentyˇ­ Twenty-seven. Lev counted the goblins underneath immobilized by Alec''s barriers.

    "Let me face them one by one at first," Lev said before he summoned his armor.

    His teacher snorted while Sherron scoffed. "We aren''t going to drop you amidst the horde as a level 1, Lev. Regardless of how absurd your attributes are."

    He nodded but his attention was focused on the closest goblin. It was an ugly thing, taller than Lev''s short frame. Yet its body was thin and fragile, befitting the weakest monsters of Monarch.

    Despite that, no one could mistake it for a child. The permanent snarl on its face dissuaded everyone from ever thinking that.

    The goblin started at him with raw hatred, showing no signs of intelligence, only insanity.

    [Goblin - Level 17]

    Alec''s shimmering blue barriers boxing it vanished, and it dashed at him. Lev didn''t even notice his teacher and his friends had vanished as he backpedaled. Its small yet sharp claws sailed harmlessly in front of his armor.

    Undeterred, the monster swung its arm at him. Lev held up an arm to block the attack with a dull thud. He barely even felt the impact. The goblin screeched and attacked with wild abandon, all of its attacks blocked or dodged.

    The monster wasˇ­ pathetic.

    Now comes the hard part. Lev thought with a mental sigh.

    Concentrating on the monster''s movements, which to him were like an open book, Lev stepped forward when it overswung its claws. Just like he had done earlier today, Lev threw a punch with all his might.

    With his newly empowered physical strength, further enhanced by his mind, the arm shot forward in a flash and hit the monster''s face dead center.

    With a crack, the goblin flew back for a few feet before it plopped down on the ground, dead. Its face caved in and its neck shattered.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    Lev forced himself to look at the corpse and the blood pooling beneath its face as he examined his emotions.

    Disgust was the most obvious one. Disgust at how he had to fight a monster to death in a bloody and gory affair.

    There were several other emotions. Concern for his well-being at the killing he would partake in. Fear for when his life would inevitably be in danger. Terror at the off-chance he might turn insensitive to the value of life.

    No remorse.

    Good.

    Remorse had no place on this apocalyptic planet. Billions of humans in recent history had almost been completely eradicated by monsters, only surviving due to a stroke of luck which was the arrival of refugees on Monarch.

    When it came to him or them, Lev didn''t want to hesitate in choosing their demise. He wanted to stand tall against the never-ending threat, without an ounce of hesitation and fear.

    ****

    "This is unnerving," Orianna commented. Her two greatest friends watched silently as the young boy in front of them tested the limits of his skill and attributes without any trouble.

    Having seen enough, his fist smoothly sailed forward, killing the monster in one hit.

    "No hesitation," Sherron remarked. Her usual aloofness was nowhere to be seen.

    Alec nodded. "I told you, he only acts like a child because his young body is affecting his thought process. At the core, he is just as stubborn and determined as he says. The title only increases that drive and determination."

    "Stillˇ­" Orianna began. "It hurts to see someone so young fighting monsters."

    Neither had something to say to that. The reality was indeed unpleasant. To them, Lev still seemed like an extra mature kid despite the irrefutable proof.

    His past matched a few old texts, the ones originating from "Earth". He was also aware of things that he had never been exposed to, especially sexual.

    To Orianna and Sherron''s high perception, Lev very obviously refused to look at them anywhere but their face. Alec said he just didn''t want to force his body to go through puberty earlier than necessary.

    Stillˇ­ Orianna''s mind went over all the kids she couldn''t save when the ship crash-landed, the five times the walls had been breached in front of her, and the several other incidents she would never be able to forget.

    Yet here she was, overseeing the first steps of a 10-year-old kid utilizing his class. It was as impossible as it was bitter, and she had to face both realities.

    "He''ll be fine," Alec cut through her thoughts. "None of us could have persuaded him otherwise. He wants this and only this."

    She could only nod in understanding as the boy brawled with another goblin, his movements suddenly becoming much sharper and more precise.

    Lev was pretty tall for his age and would grow past six feet after his growth spurt for sure.

    His long limbs let him tussle with the small monsters without much trouble, and his bright blue eyes shone with excitement not at the fight but the increasing familiarity with his skills and the new General Skill he had no doubt just acquired.

    Even Orianna couldn''t help but feel a little bit of hope. Lev was already monstrously strong for a Level 1, casually slapping around goblins without even the stupidly sharp disks. The advantage was only going to grow as his skills started gaining levels and then going through the auxiliary ranks.

    Maybe, just maybe, he would become strong enough to make Monarch a much safer place for humanity.

    The potential was there, far greater than any other she had ever seen.

    ****

    [

    You have slain [Goblin - Level 17]

    You have slain [Goblin - Level 18]

    You have slain [Goblin - Level 17]

    You have slain [Goblin - Level 17]

    You have slain [Goblin - Level 16]

    You have slain [Goblin - Level 15]

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 2

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 3

    ˇ­

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 9

    Opportunity has reached Level 2

    Nimble has reached Level 2

    40 Free attribute points

    ]

    Levels. Give me more Levels. Lev thought with a goofy grin, marveling at the ease at which he could deal with the stupid monsters.

    So far he had only utilized his armor skill to punch them to death, and he had done so with minimal effort.

    That was always a good sign.

    Especially the new general skill.

    [

    You have learned the General Skill: Arcane Brawling

    Arcane Brawling:

    This skill aids with manipulating your armor when fighting in melee combat. Your strikes are more precise, and your footing, more stable. Extension of the class skills Barrier Armor and Nimble, this skill takes up 3 General Skill Slots.

    Highest effectiveness when fighting with bare hands.

    Reduced effectiveness when fighting with weapons.

    ]

    General skills were only given as an option when someone wanted them, which meant that Lev had been refusing all other melee fighting options for this moment.

    Now, he just needed to evolve it with extensive usage into encompassing all forms of armored combat. The cost of extra general skill slots stung slightly, but he had some to spare. The skill pretty much just used one skill slot and the two extra from his title. Five open slots remained.

    The next goblin was about to be released from its cage. Lev formed two round disks above him. Bringing them in front of him, he gazed at them with satisfaction. They felt stable and durable to his senses, much more so than yesterday.

    Commanding them to be sharp, the edges thinned and sharpened in an instant. The lethality of these disks was comparable to a high-quality sword. For the last touch, he made them start spinning with a thought.

    The spinning speed quickly accelerated past what he would''ve been able to manage before. Lev was left with two deadly spinning disks thrumming with packed potential.

    The first goblin was released not soon after, and a second followed after exactly two seconds.

    I see how it is.

    Lev readied himself for a stream of enemies. The first reached him with a wild swing of its crude stone dagger. Lev reacted by overloading his armor with mana, increasing its overall toughness. Slapping away the dagger with his left hand, he punched it in the neck.

    The goblin crumpled on the spot, dead with its spine shattered.

    One of the disks behind him shot forward as a blur, with Lev carefully keeping it in his newly enhanced manipulation range of 12 meters. The circular herald of death whistled through the air, aimed for the monster''s neck.

    The monster tried to block it, but the disk twisted at the last moment, going parallel to its dagger and through its neck.

    Two down. Nineteen remain.

    One by one, the monsters fell. Some with their heads separated neatly, others with their faces caved in. The result was all the same.

    For the last three, Lev dismissed the disks hovering behind him. He wanted to test how well he would fare facing three of them in melee.

    He dodged the frantic swinging and random leaps while running circles around the goblin before the second joined the fray. They both seemed so slow with his vastly improved perception and him settling into his new capabilities, it was trivial to avoid their attacks.

    When the third joined in, Lev stopped messing around.

    Let''s see, what is the skill telling me? Do not let them circle me, keep track of their feet and pay attention to twitches and their limb muscles. Their eyes too, while avoiding unexpected tackles. Simple enough.

    In an unexpected show of coordination, the three goblins moved at once. The first ran straight at him, dagger poised to impale. The other two circled his left and right.

    Keeping half an eye on the other two, Lev grabbed the wrist of the first, stopping it dead in its tracks. The other two jumped at him at the same moment.

    The new skill guided his next actions as Lev sidestepped to the left, leveling a straight kick at the left goblin while pushing the first into the right goblin.

    Like the previous monsters, the left goblin crumpled on the ground. Before the last two could recover from the collision, a disk beheaded both of them.

    [

    You have slain [Goblin - Level 20]

    ˇ­

    You have slain [Goblin - Level 18]

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 10

    ˇ­

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 13

    Arcane Brawling has reached Level 2

    Arcane Brawling has reached Level 3

    Arcane Barrier Manipulation has reached Level 2

    Incisive Edge has reached Level 2

    Whirling Rim has reached Level 2

    Barrier Armor has reached Level 2

    Opportunity has reached Level 3

    Heavy Lifting has reached Level 2

    Needle Precision has reached Level 2

    60 Free attribute points

    ]

    Lev remained rooted to the spot, taking in the huge amount of levels.

    Holy shit. How are they so fast? They warned me that early levels will go by extremely quickly but so many in just ten minutes? That''s insane.

    "The first five to ten levels are much faster because they are just catching up with your experience in utilizing the skill while training for your class." His teacher''s voice cut through his dazed amazement, as usual knowing what Lev was thinking about.

    "How many levels did you get?" Sherron asked, all smiles but there was something different about her. About the way she looked at him now.

    Lev did not dwell on that and counted the level-ups. "11 skill levels and 12 class levels. You can''t identify me?" He asked with a smirk. The blocking stone was apparently too potent for even these three to identify him.

    Sherron just snorted lightly but didn''t say anything else. Lev turned to Orianna who seemed to be struggling to come to a decision. Eventually, she just sighed before picking him up.

    "Hey!" Lev exclaimed, more out of confusion than anything. His next words died as soon as he saw how she was looking at him.

    "I don''t think I will ever be able to think of you as a child after that display, so I''m just picking you up one last time. Besides, you''re too big for that now." She said, a bit of moisture in her eyes. "I remember when Alec first introduced us to a little kid desperately trying to maintain eye contact to avoid looking elsewhere."

    Lev coughed into his hand with embarrassment. "That is uhˇ­"

    Orianna chuckled and kissed him on the forehead before putting him back down. "I know, I know. You were too young for your body to affect you so your mind was free to wander. I for one am glad you don''t have to go through that again."

    Lev''s face was now red from embarrassment. "Just get on with it, please."

    She giggled. "There''s not much I can say now. You''re a grown man who can take care of himself." Lev just groaned at the poor joke. "Fine, you spoilsport."

    "Since you have triumphed over these goblins so easily, don''t you dare get a big head. There are monsters out there that can kill even me and Sherron without breaking a sweat." Orianna warned him sternly while maintaining eye contact.

    Lev scratched the back of his head. "I know what you mean but give me some credit too. Do you know what I have learned today? That similar to how I have handled these goblins, there will always be something out there that can handle me like that."

    He stared back, trying to show how serious he was. "I may be arrogant in how I speak of my future, but I''m definitely not stupid enough to let any of this get to my head."

 Chapter 8

    Lev sipped the cool orange juice in silent contemplation. They had just returned to Alec''s cozy cottage slash lab not long ago.

    The first thing they did was toss around feedback. Which was ˇ­ practically nothing. Not only had he performed well, but he hadn''t made any obvious mistakes either. His insane perception for a level 1 was apparently to blame, letting him observe everything clearly without missing a beat and react accordingly.

    The second thing was how he was supposed to spend his attributes. He went with the standard distribution devised by Alec before he got the class.

    The distribution followed a simple rule. Forget Strength and Dexterity. Every 10 levels, the attributes from two levels would go into Constitution, another two into Perception, and three into Intelligence and Wisdom each.

    By that logic, he put 10 into Perception and Constitution and 15 into Intelligence and Wisdom before putting the rest into Perception for a total of 60 points.

    The magical attributes were not a priority in the distribution as he had a lot of them already, and they would always be much further ahead compared to the other two. More often than not, Perception and Constitution would be the real lifesavers.

    "So, what''s left? One Extension General skill and then the last two slots?" Lev asked. Four of his slots were already taken by Mana Manipulation and Arcane Brawling, which left five open. One would be used for Mana Perception as a General Skill, three for an extension skill, and the last one was still undecided.

    Lev didn''t get a verbal answer as his mentor raised a hand. Getting the hint, Lev closed his eyes and focused on Alec''s hand. Slowly, a bubble of pure mana formed atop his palm. It expanded, growing as big as a baseball before streams of different mana types escaped from it, circling the entire large room.

    Lev lost himself in the display of might and unyielding control over such a large amount of mana as the streams morphed, circling over before they exploded into majestic fireworks around the entire cottage.

    Lev opened his eyes and looked at his teacher in awe. That was so much better than anything he was expecting.

    Orianna and Sherron also had small smiles on their faces, no doubt from his reaction and the actual display.

    [

    You have learned the General Skill: Mana Perception.

    Feel the mana in your surroundings. Drastically reduced effectiveness outside your range of manipulation.

    Scales with Perception.

    ]

    The skill was simple enough to acquire. Lev had qualified for it long ago. Both during his training and what little he observed of his mentor''s crafting, which frankly went over his head.

    "Next up is the extension skill. Do you think it would be redundant now?" Alec asked him.

    Lev shook his head. It would now be better than ever before.

    "No. It would be my only method of striking past my manipulation range."

    "What about the last skill?"

    Lev scratched the back of his head. "I''ll leave that one up to you guys. What do you think I need?"

    "Well, realistically there are only two well-known options. Since General Skills are mostly intended for utility and very general class skills, you can only go for either General Body Enhancement or Mana Slash." Sherron piped up.

    Lev considered that. "Body enhancement doesn''t do anything for me though? It doesn''t have a Constitution boost, right?" Sherron confirmed that. "So the only other option is Mana Slash. What does it require to work?"

    "Just a bladed weapon, and no, the disks won''t work without an extension skill."

    Just like that, his hopes were dashed before they could even take hold. Still, he could use oversized slashes with a barrier dagger or sword.

    "Let''s get to it then." Lev got up with a sigh. Only he and his mentor moved for this one.

    Outside the cottage, Alec summoned a target board for archery and a simple dark brown bow for Lev to use.

    Archery. That was going to be Lev''s final extension skill.

    Unlike other mages, Lev couldn''t just aim an attack higher and let it fly well past his manipulation range. They would both stop spinning and not possess enough speed, weight or explosive impact to really matter.

    To that end, he wanted to get an archery skill. Before different mana types came into play but Lev still wanted a more efficient and precise option.

    Not only would it synergize greatly with different mana types, which he would get in the second rank of his arcane manipulation skill, but it was also just neat.The author''s tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Lev enjoyed archery.

    Focusing on his hand, Lev focused on forming an arrow out of his barriers. It took less than a second because of all his relentless practice. Different from when he had started out, this arrow looked much sturdier and deadlier.

    Remembering all his lessons, he nocked the arrow and waited. He forgot to check the wind but it was fine. With his enhanced attributes, the bow packed enough of a punch for that to matter little. Despite the 15-meter distance, the arrow would barely be obstructed.

    The arrow flew forward faster than Lev could track, hitting the board a few inches away from the center target. That was fine. He recalled the arrow, after going forward a few steps to get it inside his manipulation range, back into his hand before nocking it again.

    The next few tries were more or less the same, the arrows landing just slightly further away than the intended target.

    On the sixth try, he finally hit the target. He moved on to the next phase, the requirement for the extension skill.

    With a deep breath, he nocked the arrow again. Just before releasing it, Lev''s willpower concentrated, focused entirely on the arrow. The moment the arrow was released, barely trackable by the connection he had with the barrier the arrow was formed of, he tried to further enhance its speed by mentally pushing it forward.

    Lev succeeded, but the arrow went wide, far past the target board. The additional burst of speed had altered its direction. Lev formed a new arrow, which took only a little bit of mana, before trying again.

    It took more than ten minutes of constantly shooting before one finally landed on the big red dot, which signified the start of the final phase.

    Lev formed a new arrow, this one with an arrowhead as sharp as he could manage, and connected to the shaft with a small mechanism that would allow it to spin. He nocked it with practiced ease before letting it fly. It hit the red dot on the first try.

    He got a notification at the same time.

    [

    You have learned the General Skill: Arcane Archery.

    Time and time again, you missed the target without ever giving up. Now, you have achieved an adequate level of skill to qualify for this General Skill.

    This skill makes your aim steadier, stance firmer, and bow deadlier. Extension of the class skills Arcane Barrier Manipulation, Incisive Edge, and Whirling Rim, this skill takes up 4 General Skill slots.

    The arrows formed from this skill retain the resilience bonus from the class skill.

    The arrows formed from this skill retain the speed bonus from the class skill and receive a static extra 25% speed.

    The arrows formed from this skill retain the penetration bonus from the class skill.

    The arrows formed from this skill may retain the spinning speed of their arrowheads for 3 seconds after firing for extra mana cost.

    ]

    That isˇ­ quite the skill. Lev mused

    Losing the last skill slot was unexpected, but the skill definitely made up for it. His main concern was the loss of penetration power if the arrowheads stopped spinning, but the skill smoothly solved that.

    Concentrating, he tried forming an arrow in his free hand. It formed in a blink.

    He tried again, this time to form three of them at once. In the time it took to form one before the skill, he could now form three.

    Yeah, losing the last skill slot for this was more than worth it. Forming arrows so much quicker will be so good.

    He read out the skill description to his mentor, who was more surprised than Lev.

    "That is one of the strongest General Skills I have ever heard of but at the same time nobody can afford to use four of their seven general skill slots on a single skill," Alec explained.

    Makes sense.

    The student and teacher returned to the cottage to see Orianna and Sherron preparing to leave. Lev knew they had stayed with him for several days so he wouldn''t be lonely during his classing. He was going to miss their company.

    Orianna came up to him first and gave him a big hug. "Stay safe okay? Don''t try to be a hero either. The Pit is a large place and there are too many ways for things to go wrong."

    Lev just gave her a warm smile in return, promising to do his best to stay alive.

    Sherron hugged him as well. She had no qualms about giving bad advice though.

    "Show them hell." She said with a grin. "The Pit better sing your praises for an entire century straight."

    She went on and on about how he had an absurd class so her expectations would be thoroughly unreasonable. Orianna eventually had to drag her away to shut her up. Lev and Alec shared a quiet laugh at her antics.

    Lev followed them outside to see them off. In less time than it took to blink, both the women were surrounded by a ball of fire before they ascended rapidly. Once they were high enough, they shot off with an extremely loud boom. Towards WhiteFall, where duty called.

    ****

    Lev didn''t do much for the rest of the day. He relaxed and mentally prepared himself for the life that was to come.

    A life filled with monster fighting, grinding levels, and trying to keep the walls as safe as possible.

    His thoughts kept circling back to the goblins he had killed. Pretty much murdered in cold blood.

    Why does it not bother me?

    That thought in particular worried Lev. Taking a life was never supposed to be easy. Yet Lev hadn''t just taken dozens, he had also done so without much hesitation.

    Maybe it was the lack of sense of self-preservation in the monsters, or maybe it was the raw hatred and insanity in their eyes, Lev didn''t know, and neither did it matter much. They were monsters that had to be slain.

    What did matter was how casually he had done so.

    Granted, he hadn''t enjoyed the process, and he suspected that was due to the lack of challenge. Stillˇ­

    Maybe I''m not over my past yet.

    Unlike his current life, in which he was pretty much blessed by Lady Luck herself, his first life wasˇ­ ugly for lack of a better term.

    His starting point was the same, the lowest as an orphan. But there was no System to reward his efforts, or kind people to give him a hand. It was only him against everyone else who wanted to take everything he ever owned.

    Some of the memories still kept him up at night. He wondered how he ever came to possess the willpower to not end it all back then. But he had endured and kept going until an opportunity presented itself.

    Finally, his first and last kind manager had promised to introduce him to some people looking for capable assistants to hire during a social gathering.

    Long story short, Lev had been invited to an interview believing his life was finally turning around, and followed some gentlemen into their office. The office was rather basic but Lev was too invested to care.

    Lev was seated in a comfortable padded chair and told to wait for them to bring a colleague before conducting the interview.

    Half an hour later, Lev tried to go look for them only to find himself locked in an office with steel doors.

    Regardless of how cruel the move was, it was far from the worst he had gone through. But it signified something else for him, a low point that would have changed him forever if something good to balance it out didn''t happen soon. Perhaps that was why the next day he woke up on Monarch.

    It is all in the past now. Lev exhaled. These people are different. They are not greedy or spiteful. Things will be better now.

    That wasn''t a fantasy either. The people of Monarch were survivors, the remnants of humanity. Greed and Jealousy were drained out of them along with all the blood they spilled trying to survive.

    The humans of Monarch were kind, not hesitating to give without asking anything in return. They were like an ideal neighborhood, a tight-lipped community that didn''t back down from joining hands to face the challenge of one.

    Lev wanted to be a part of that community and to fulfill his desired role to the best of his ability.

    Things were looking up for humans after centuries of struggle. Lev wanted to be a part of that.

 Chapter 9

    Lev woke up refreshed, like he never had before. His whole body was brimming with power, now far more noticeable than yesterday. He had been too excited to really scan himself. Only now he noticed just how outclassed his past-life self would''ve been in a physical confrontation.

    Lev didn''t know how well his attributes worked exactly compared to others, as they worked on what was already present. Every person produced different results, but it was widely accepted that each physical attribute before the first threshold gave somewhere around a 2-3% bonus to a person''s base capabilities, very slightly decreasing with each point.

    It was far from absolute, as other physical attributes were just as important. Imbalance of Strength and Dexterity and lack of training also hindered a person''s capabilities greatly.

    Safe to say, Lev could handily trounce his past self without even breaking a sweat. He would estimate himself to be nearly two times as strong and fast, and he had yet to even fully grow up.

    Getting out of bed on that amusing note, Lev took care of his morning routine. His mentor was already waiting for him as he came out of the room. Lev beheld something he hadn''t expected to see in this world.

    Is that power armor?

    Alec smirked at Lev''s dropped jaw. "This is one of my most intricate creations by far. I call it the Illusion armor." He turned it around, letting Lev see that it was mostly hollow. It was slightly over 6 feet tall, comfortably spacious enough for Lev to step into. The inner free space started above the feet, letting Lev stand a foot higher than his actual height.

    The illusion armor itself lookedˇ­ ugly. Lev suspected that aspect would be covered by the illusion, which left the armor looking unfinished and mismatched without it. It seemed to be made of some dark green and black metal, which Lev didn''t even want to guess the origins of. Identify failed to work on it as well.

    "Get in and summon your armor." His mentor waved him in. Lev eagerly stepped inside. The interior was tailor-made to fit him. Quite literally. Lev could feel the metal wiggle to make him more comfortable.

    "You usually direct mana through your arms so I made the trigger behind your shoulders. Try to feel them out and send mana into them."

    Lev did as he was told. Just a second of searching yielded two triggers that stood out in his mana sense. They both seemed to demand mana. Carefully, Lev sent a stream into the first but nothing happened.

    "That one closes the space through which you entered." His teacher helpfully supplied.

    The stream stopped flowing inside after a bit. It seemed to need a set amount of mana to open and close the backside of the armor. Sending mana into the other trigger, the armor suddenly vanished.

    Lev jerked back in surprise but his head still hit a hard surface. Moving around, he could feel the armor still present, just invisible to his eyes.

    This is so amazing. How does this even work??

    "Is this what I think it is?" Lev asked, his voice not hindered by the invisible armor either. Instead, his voice sounded older, deeper.

    "Yep, it''s invisible to you and youˇŻre now standing taller than me," Alec cheerfully answered. "This is how it looks from the outside."

    He summoned a full-length mirror in front of Lev. The figure reflected in the mirror was robed like a generic assassin from movies, the most prominent colors red and black. The illusion was extremely lifelike, and even Lev wondered if his armor had been replaced with that outfit for a moment.

    The face was the only thing out of place. It was a blank dark green mask with only two holes for eyes and a nose.

    "So this is how we will hide my age?" Lev looked at his mentor. Getting a nod, he tried to move around.

    The armor didn''t budge. He hadn''t really exerted himself but it was far too heavy for him to move around physically with any form of dependability.

    "This is the main and pretty much only downside," His mentor explained. "Summon your armor."

    Whoops, forgot about that.

    Lev focused on his active skill. Pale blue armor came into existence around the illusion armor, close enough to be touching its surface.

    "The system seems to consider it a physical armor, which is great. The skill also goes over it while mine didn''t," Alec commented, nodding in satisfaction. "I took into account the weight assisting passive to make it as heavy as I could without hindering you much at lower levels."

    With his mind, he tried to move forward. It was difficult, but not nearly as bad as he was expecting. Lev would say it took half his total mental effort and focus to move himself. Gradually getting used to it and increasing his attributes would soon make the effort redundant.

    The passive skill seems far more useful all of a sudden.

    Stolen story; please report.

    Lev had mostly considered it a tool to assist in levitation and eventual flight. This experience changed things.

    This also means that such armor is not a foreign concept on Monarch. I''m excited to see how many people use them. Existing firearms would pair extremely well with them.

    "What about the face?" Lev asked. It was the final thing they needed to take care of.

    "I wanted to leave that up to you. Do you have any ideas from your past life?"

    Lev chuckled. "Definitely something demonic and intimidating. Preferably with horns," Seeing his mentor was about to accept that, he hurriedly added. "I''m kidding."

    "Oh. Really?"

    "Yeah, I want to meet new people and eventually make friends too, not scare them all away. The robe will only make the mask more prominent," Lev pointed out. "How realistic can it be?"

    "Very." came the sufficient reply.

    "I have a decent idea then, I think."

    ****

    Lev gazed at his face in the full-length mirror. It was beyond realistic, something that would''ve been entirely impossible without illusion magic.

    The illusion represented a swirling blue galaxy that was always in motion, slowly rotating. It was entirely blue and depicted something straight out of a sci-fi movie. The mask itself was hidden behind the illusion which removed any traces of its edges, making the illusion even more realistic.

    Since the robe on the armor was also an illusion, everything was merged seamlessly. In the mirror, it looked like Lev simply didn''t have a face, only one rotating blue ''eye'' looking at the world.

    Besides the swirling galaxy, everything else was pitch black under the illusionary hood. With no visible eyes, ears, or nose, it looked quite terrifying.

    "While it is certainlyˇ­ unique, what exactly is the blue galaxy supposed to represent?" Alec asked with a smile, already having an idea.

    "Why, what else but my mana pool?" Lev answered with a matching grin. To him, it was more than just an illusion.

    It was his future.

    ****

    People stared at the two distinguished figures walking down the main road.

    The famous crafter Alec Zar was well-known around these parts, usually walking around as a break and defending in the case of any monster waves.

    Far and wide, people knew of his generosity and accomplishments, both his crafting career and status as a hunter.

    Equally interesting was the figure walking a step behind the crafter. The outfit he adorned was fit for a rogue yet there was no face to be seen under the hood. Instead, what held everyone''s gaze was a swirling mass of blue, endlessly rotating around the center.

    The obvious illusion was extremely detailed and well-made, almost demanding everyone''s attention. Which was why many stopped to stare and gave them a wide berth.

    Or maybe they''re just weirded out and don''t want to come near the psycho with such a facemask. Lev snickered to himself, uncaring of what they thought about him.

    The walk to the Hunter''s Guild took nearly half an hour in the huge outpost. Lev gradually became acclimated to the armor during the short stretch of time. The burden on his mind from carrying the armor had already eased a little, which was a good sign for the future.

    The building was just as grand as he remembered. Stepping inside for the first time, Lev beheld organized chaos. Despite being an outpost branch, it was nearly filled to the brim with people.

    The huge quest board to his right still displayed dozens of quests for all ranks up to Master. Alec walked up to that and checked it briefly before walking up to the receptionist.

    The girl behind the counter smiled involuntarily at the ridiculous mask before greeting them.

    "Welcome to the Hunter''s Guild. How can I help you today, esteemed sirs?"

    Lev tried not to make a sound at being called that while his mentor took it in stride.

    "I am registered for caravan quest # 7. There''s also an item waiting under my name."

    "Please give me a moment." She said and dipped below the counter. Seconds later, she put a large book and an envelope in front of them.

    The Guild Records. It is an extremely large spatial notebook that can take mana signatures as proof of acceptance for tasks and quests. I wonder if my teacher made this as well.

    "Please put your mana here." The girl pointed at a very obvious red circle under the details of the quest. The payment was a simple one gold coin upon arrival to The Pit.

    Alec did as required. Lev marveled at how a part of the paper felt like his mentor''s mana after he was done.

    "Thank you for participating in the cycle." The receptionist said with a small bow.

    Since they had already packed necessities and food in their storage rings, Alec led him to the gates and the waiting caravan without detours.

    "What is the cycle?" Lev asked after a few minutes of silence. The Illusion armor made his voice deeper, resembling what Alec expected him to sound like when he grew up.

    "Cycle of teaching and gratitude. It''s a tradition that was considered old even in the Empire. Basically, an experienced group willingly takes along a new team of hunters to show them the ropes of different quests. The clerk knew you were new, obvious with that getup, and deduced that I was going to help you along which is correct," His mentor patiently explained, aware of how little Lev knew about everything.

    "That''s nice," Lev commented. The people of Monarch kept proving their better nature time and time again.

    Alec opened the envelope from the receptionist, which revealed an iron badge. It was rectangular, and as long and wide as his finger. "Take this."

    "Iron?" Lev asked. The iron rank was for levels 75 - 100, which was far from Lev''s current level.

    "You''ll be using the badge soon. It will only take a few weeks to get to level 75. With my word, you don''t need to take any tests either."

    Lev shrugged and put the badge in his ring. It was certainly convenient to have with his blocking-stone stopping identification skills. Lev could just show the badge to prove his level, which he shouldn''t need to anytime soon with Alec''s company.

    The ranks in Hunter''s Guild followed a simple pattern. Like the coins, except iron, they started from Copper, Bronze, and Iron for levels 1 to 100. The first threshold ranks, from levels 101 - 250, were Silver, Gold, and Platinum.

    The ranks after Silver were awarded based on merit, with Mythil given only to Masters. Titanium, Irinite, and Oscium were the three highest ranks, and only the Exalted were automatically considered Titanium-ranked.

    In the past, there were many Titanium and Irinite-ranked adventurers. Now, the top two ranks were vacant. Lev always wondered why that was the case, and the conclusion was terrifying.

    Just what were they being compared to?

    ****

    The guards at the gate naturally recognized Alec, letting the duo pass without any trouble. They did however stare at Lev''s new mask for a long moment.

    Honestly, Lev still wasn''t sure what people thought of it.

    On one hand, they stared. On the other hand, they stared. It was hard to decipher.

    On the side of the road was a large number of huge carts and similarly huge horses. Lev had expected to escort a small group of merchants to The Pit but there were dozens.

    "I thought I had misheard when someone said Alec Zar was coming with us," Someone called out while peeking out of one of the carts. A man in his twenties with blonde hair and a clean-shaven face stepped out. "Thank you so much for joining us, sir. I am Peter, the lead hunter for this trip." He introduced himself with a smile.

    "Well met, Peter. I just wanted to travel to The Pit so I thought I would show this young man the ropes." His mentor replied with his normal casual demeanor.

    Peter''s smile widened when he looked between Alec and Lev. His attention lingered on Lev''s mask before he spoke. "Glad to see that. Come, let me introduce you to everyone else."

    Peter led them behind the carts in front, where Lev realized the scope of the quest was even larger than he expected. Dozens of carts were stationed in a circle. The merchants and hunters were all sitting on the smooth grassland, waiting for everyone else to arrive.

    Alec''s appearance caused quite a stir. Everyone present recognized the crafter by both his aura and reputation. Most merchants kept their distance, only looking at him with awe and reverence while some moved forward to greet him.

    He''s getting the fanboys and fangirls treatment. Lev chuckled to himself while he and Peter broke off to meet the rest of the hunters.

 Chapter 10

    This here is my team. We are all Silver-ranked and the main defenders of this caravan. Or well, we were, but I''m sure we will still see a lot of action." Peter introduced his team. There were four other members of his team, just chatting away while sitting on the ground. Lev identified them all.

    [Warrior - ??]

    [Warrior - ??]

    [Mage - ??]

    [Mage - ??]

    Lev inspected the man who had brought them here.

    [Warrior - ??]

    "The smaller mage is Lucy and the other is Maureen. The warriors are Hadi and Dan."

    Lucy was truly small, nearly two heads shorter than Lev with his armor. Maureen was of average height, and both of them had short black hair. Hadi was a sleek yet tall figure with brown hair, in contrast to the bulky warrior that was Dan. They both had a shield and sword strapped to their back and waist.

    "Nice to meet you all. I''m Lev, a barrier mage on his first quest."

    "That''s a fine mask. I hope you have a face under that?" Lucy overrode everyone with a grin. Lev realized they were all looking at the high-quality illusion.

    "I do," Lev replied simply. "Do you guys not have a healer?"

    Peter grimaced. "Healers areˇ­ rare. Barely anyone wants to be a support when there''s always room for more combatants. I''m sure one of the four Iron teams will have one." He wanted to ask something before Maureen overrode him.

    "Barrier Mage? Combatant? Well, forgive me if I find that hard to believe but can you show us how you managed that?" Maureen asked. She didn''t look hostile but the challenge was clear. It seemed to be what Peter wanted to ask, as did his team. They looked curious too, a more amiable sort of curious.

    Lev was prepared for that question. His element was notoriously hard to utilize offensively at the earlier stages, especially arcane barriers.

    Lev took off the bow strung to his back and summoned an arrow. With practice and increasing familiarity, aided by his general skill, the arrow formed in the blink of an eye.

    Nocking it, Lev aimed at forty-five degrees before closing his eyes. His trained focus sharpened on the arrow, infusing it as soon as Lev released the string. The already fast shot accelerated even further, flying out of sight within moments with a sharp whistle.

    Lev looked back to see the others were suitably impressed. He then summoned a disk with edges as sharp as he could manage before shooting it in a straight line slightly above the ground.

    It cut a smooth path through the ankle-high grass at high speed, not encountering any resistance before it lost momentum and fell.

    "Interestingˇ­ concept. Rather cowardly." Dan commented with a sagely nod, making his team groan in unison.

    "Not everyone wants to be a melee fighter, Dan," Maureen commented with a scrunched-up nose, though her eyes were smiling.

    Lev chuckled. "It is rather cowardly. Regardless of how much I want to get close to the monsters and tear their face off, I''ll be much more useful alive."

    "See? He gets it."

    Dan looked at Lev with a grin, which Lev returned under his mask. Even if it wasn''t visible, Dan could feel the expression.

    "Besides, I''m not completely useless in close quarters," Lev said.

    "Oh really?"

    "Mhm, want to spar a little?"

    "A man after my own heart," Dan commented, eagerly getting up.

    Lev would be lying if he said he wasn''t excited. Sparring with his mentor or his friends was, ultimately, an effortless beatdown for him. Now, he could see how he compared to an early Adept physical fighter. He didn''t harbor any delusions, though. Lev was prepared for another beatdown.

    His brawling general skill guided his limbs as he got into a stance, waiting for his opponent. Dan just stood there leisurely, waiting for Lev to make the first move.

    Obliging, Lev sprinted forward and aimed a punch at Dan''s nose to probe his reaction. The warrior''s hand shot up as a blur, effortlessly catching Lev''s barrier gauntlet and stopping it in its tracks.

    "Not bad," Dan nodded. "But this isn''t enough for close combat."

    "I know."

    Lev took a few steps back before getting ready again. The punch had used only about half of his mental strength, and that was excluding overloading his skills.

    This time, Lev didn''t hold back and started raining punches at full power. Dan''s eyes widened slightly at the physical might displayed by the mage but it was far from catching him off-guard.

    The ensuing strikes were deflected and dodged with minimal movements. To an inexperienced outsider, it would look like Lev was being toyed with, but Dan''s team could recognize what he was doing.

    Dan repeatedly dodged in the same pattern, letting Lev see what he was doing wrong. How he sometimes over-extended and left himself wide open, albeit briefly, and how his punches were rather predictable.

    Lev eagerly accepted the teachings, marginally improving with every passing minute. He added kicks into the mix when he got comfortable with the added weight of the illusion armor. Despite that, he was no closer to landing a hit on Dan.

    But that was fine by him. The warrior had over 100 levels on him. His skills were surely also past the boundary of the second rank too, into the auxiliary ranks. The sheer attribute advantage made him even more an overwhelming opponent.

    Lev was happy to take advantage of the free training. He wasn''t even close to tiring out so far, both physically and mentally, and his mana was comfortably above 95% still. Maybe he could land a surprise hit by overloading his armor with mana.

    ****

    Dan ducked another high kick, mentally tsking at the wide move. The boy had stopped making such mistakes a few minutes ago so he was interested in seeing what happened next.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Mana seeped out of the mage in a stream, making him worry about the usage. He had to put those thoughts out of his mind when Lev''s other leg came flying at him, both earlier and faster than he expected.

    Dan blocked it easily enough with his left arm but the physical force made him take half a step back. He could''ve stopped it without moving but he didn''t want to accidentally hurt the boy.

    "Now that is what I''m talking about!" Dan exclaimed, pleasantly surprised. Where had all that power come from?

    His opponent growled lightly, slowly moving his leg around. Years of experience had taught him that just raw attributes were far from enough to be resilient, so Dan could guess that the rebound from the kick was painful on the mage.

    "I''ll stick to punches," Lev said, getting back into position again.

    "Did you overload your skill?" Dan asked as he dodged another punch. He was constantly distracted by the very lifelike depiction of a blue galaxy under the boy''s hood, as he had come to learn from various artworks.

    Damn, that looks good.

    "Yeah."

    "I can see why you went this route if your class can afford you the mana required for that," Dan nodded as it all clicked together. "Let''s stop here. We don''t want you to run out of mana."

    Lev looked hesitant before the boy shrugged. Dan wondered why he hesitated.

    Was he enjoying it too much or what?

    He could guess that the boy was a bronze-rank hunter from his budding aura, which was difficult to perceive. Definitely below level 50. It made him excited to think about the class. It was passable in melee combat but the arrow and weirdˇ­ disks were far deadlier.

    Maybe we will hear about Lev''s exploits in the future. With that mask, there''s little chance he will go unnoticed.

    ****

    I couldn''t even go all out because of my low constitution. Lev sighed in his head. My mana is still almost full but I can''t exactly tell them that.

    "So you have a hybrid class?" Lucy questioned him as she returned Lev''s bow she was holding onto for the spar.

    "Nope, mage class," Lev held up a hand to forestall her questions. "I have a barrier armor which I can manipulate with my mind, which is boosted by my passive skills."

    "Huhˇ­"

    Maureen spoke up first. "Wait, so you have your active skills and that armor? That sounds so strong."

    Lev shook his head. "How many active spells do you have?"

    "Four?" She replied, confused. Lev looked at the rest of the team with a silent question, to which none refuted Maureen''s claim.

    "I only have barrier creation and barrier armor."

    The entire team winced or grimaced at that. Most of a mage''s power was stored in the active skills. Some had large-scale spells, and others had simple manipulation like Lev. But unlike him, they had at least two high-damage active spells to compensate for the manipulation skill. Lev had none of that.

    "That sounds soˇ­ difficult."

    "Mhm."

    "You have balls of titanium, dude," The comment obviously came from Dan. "Makes sense why the arrows and disks were so strong but to do it all manually? Must be one hell of a class with extreme requirements."

    "So you were able to push this brute back with just that?" Hadi asked, speaking for the first time.

    "Hey, who''re you calling a brute?"

    Lev chuckled. "Nearly broke my leg on impact but yeah."

    The conversation getting dangerously close to all he was willing to reveal. Telling them his name was already risky, but Alec had reassured him that nobody would recognize him out there. They wouldn''t know who he was, especially with how little interaction he had with anyone. Which meant that one of his two greatest secrets, his little age, was safe with the illusion armor.

    Now, he had asserted that his class was strong, but that was all he wanted to show. So far, no one had given him any reason to believe that he would get into trouble for being too strong, but Lev wasn''t going to take any chances.

    They don''t know that I can comfortably launch hundreds of arrows or manipulate the disks for hours before even getting close to low mana.

    The Silver team was good company, so he didn''t mind to continue chatting with them.

    "I know three of you are warriors, but what do your classes specialize in?"

    Dan and Hadi were frontline warriors focused on resilience, durability, and endurance. A long sword was ideal with a shield with increased attributes, so they both picked that up.

    Peter was a full offensive warrior, focused on strength and dexterity. His greatsword was double-edged, designed to kill quickly.

    "I''m a fire mage, and I''ll be the next big sniper," Lucy commented with stars in her eyes. "I have only seen The Galvanic Sniper fight once, and that was enough to convince me." Her entire team smiled, either out of exasperation or at her antics. Lev smiled too, but it was strained. Thankfully, nobody noticed it under the mask.

    Oh boy. I wonder if she will faint if I tell her about Sherron and how much time I spent with her.

    Maureen good-naturedly shook her head. "While she is good at being a long-rage mage, she''s still far from a proper sniper. Fire doesn''t really allow for much sniping, so she''s pretty much a bomber." Lucy huffed at being called a bomber but didn''t refute her.

    Doesn''t an element need speed to be a sniper? How fast can fire travel compared to lightning?

    Lev kept his thoughts to himself and smiled. "What about you?"

    "I''m an earth mage, primarily a support mage. It''s my job to erect walls and other obstructions to keep our flanks safe."

    Maureen fulfilled the much-needed defender role in a way, which only left the lack of a healer. Otherwise, they made for a great team just by the composition.

    "Why are you solo?" Peter asked, surprising Lev.

    "Because I don''t need a team yet."

    "Need?" Peter repeated. "One can never have enough help."

    Whoops.

    "That came out wrong," Lev explained himself. "I mean I haven''t found a proper team yet. Right now the plan is to train in The Pit before looking for one. To see what kind of role my skills will rank up into."

    They nodded along, as people were recommended to wait till the second rank of their skills before trying to find a team if they didn''t already have one. Near-perfect team compositions could be formed that way and several popular Master teams had formed like that.

    "That makes more sense. Let''s see if all others have arrived."

    The team got up and moved in the middle of the carts. Lev could see one new Iron team that wasn''t there before. All of the hunters were listening to Alec animatedly retelling his experiences.

    He waved a hand and an illusion appeared in front of him. It showed some dark grey slimy substance splattering onto the ground.

    "The three teams struggled to put down a handful of these slime monsters. Not to mention that the monsters were over level 300, much higher than the peak Adepts waiting to evolve.

    "They had enough power to turn them to puddles, but the main damage dealers were lightning mages and earth mages. The physical warriors couldn''t do anything about the bits and pieces of the slime, which were too numerous. So, it took them several hours to put down the first monster after it was cornered and thoroughly disintegrated by an overloaded lightning attack."

    Lev and the arriving Silver team listened attentively as well. Free lectures from someone so experienced were hard to come by.

    "I have seen several instances like this. General Skills, while they can evolve to great extents, are better off being used to fill up weaknesses. All it takes is a single monster that counters your team to be the last."

    He glanced at Lev, and all the hunters turned to look too. Most of them stared at his mask, absent-mindedly taking in the Silver team''s arrival.

    Lev ignored them all and approached Alec. "How would the disks hold up against those?"

    "Poorly," came the expected reply. "It is why the property to infuse your barriers with different mana types is so important. That, and you can just overload them to the point of exploding to deal with slimes."

    "Everyone!" Peter clapped once. "My name is Peter and these are my team members. We are silver-ranked and have been active for more than a decade. I''ll personally be leading all the defensive maneuvers. Further introductions can be done on the road so let''s get it moving."

    He guided everyone to pre-determined carts. Lev and Alec got an entire cart to themselves.

    Lev patted the comfortably padded interior of the wooden carts. They were massive, easily able to seat two dozen people, and were pulled by two majestic black horses.

    ****

    [Horse - Level 52]

    [Horse - Level 55]

    "I wasn''t expecting something so comfortable but then again, we are gonna travel for weeks," Lev commented once they were seated. "Still, it feels lonely with so much free space."

    "Even if I tried to refuse it, they would insist on giving me space," Alec shrugged. "Besides, it means you can come out of that armor."

    Lev sighed. It would take some time to get used to the inability to move without his barrier armor. Already, it was becoming second nature but it was still uncomfortable.

    At least the armor had a smooth airflow, always keeping the temperature moderate and the air clean.

    Laying down with his back facing up, Lev put mana into the opening trigger and stepped out. It was strangely liberating to walk without a weight on, even if it was shouldered by his mind.

    Turning around, Lev gazed at the tall walls of WhiteFall''s third outpost. It was a strange moment, one filled with slight melancholy and mostly gratitude.

    Melancholy because it was where he was born. There were no memories associated with the outpost itself except finding his mentor. Gratitude because it made all these opportunities possible for Lev. He and Alec might''ve never met if it weren''t for him being in the outpost.

    As the carts started moving, Lev shook himself out of the solemn mood and looked ahead. The wide white road stretched on for as far as he could see, slowly curving towards The Pit. The view was partially obstructed by the other carts, and thankfully the ones in front of him were filled with cargo, which meant that nobody could see him.

    The weight of his decisions had firmly settled on his shoulders by now. The first step had just been taken, and now he would mostly be on his own. Alec would travel with him to prevent any mishaps or accidents but death was now a very real possibility.

    The Pit, for all that its edges had been turned into training grounds, was still very much unpredictable. One moment of carelessness or extremely bad luck was all it would take. His armor would be breached and his life would be snuffed out, all in a single second.

    There would be several Masters patrolling the outer edges and the first layers of The Pit to prevent unnecessary loss of life and deal with enemies beyond the trainees.

    But Lev wasn''t going to put his complete faith in them. His circumstances were beyond extraordinary, both his reincarnation and the potential in his class. It would be the height of foolishness to not prepare himself for matching levels of misfortune.

    There was no such thing as a free meal, especially one so grand.

 Chapter 11

    "How are you feeling?" Alec asked after several minutes of silence.

    Lev took a deep breath, bringing his thoughts back to the present. The future was unpredictable, and needlessly worrying about it wouldn''t help anyone.

    "Nervous? Excited? I don''t knowˇ­"

    "I know how overwhelming it feels. Trust me, once you choose a direction and start walking that path, it will all click into place," Alec said with an understanding smile. "But for that, you need a concrete goal. Tell me, Lev, what are your goals and how far are you willing to go for them?

    "Most hunters share the same immediate goals as you. To save as many lives as they can while culling monsters. To grow stronger for the sake of growing stronger. But that''s not enough, not truly." He stopped after that, going silent to give Lev time and space to think.

    Lev pondered in silence for a long time. Minutes passed, turning into an hour and then a few more. The sun was well past its zenith when he decided an answer.

    "It all comes back to becoming stronger, at least in my case. Back on Earth, space travel was still a dream. Even if it was possible, we could barely travel to the moon. This meant that even when it became available to the public, it would be reserved for the richest and not for the likes of me.

    "I want to see the cosmos with my own two eyes, and all the other wonders of Monarch. But at the same time, I don''t want to abandon humanity. I also want to help them, to make the world a safer place for them, and to make life better for the common folk who just want to live.

    For all of that and more, I need to be strong. There are monsters out there that can end me effortlessly, and do severe harm or even eradicate humanity entirely, which doesn''t leave much of a choice to begin with. I refuse to die a worthless death where I could''ve been so much more, maybe even strong enough to take care of the situation single-handedly.

    "So, it comes a full circle, pointing towards the same long road of danger and bloodshed. Filled with endless hordes of monsters. To be strong enough to make a difference, then being even stronger to go out and see the world.

    "Besides, I would be lying if I wasn''t excited about it. Sparring with Dan was much more fun than I expected. The goblins were weak and pathetic, so I didn''t feel much of anything from slaying them, but I think will enjoy my time on this conquest of power."

    "And for how long, will you keep going?" His mentor asked without missing a beat.

    "I don''t knowˇ­ yet," Lev replied. "I have always wondered where the limits of The System lay. Maybe once I find them or go beyond them?"

    Alec let out a surprised chuckle before it turned into laughter. "Oh, you''re really not making this easy for yourself, are you? My goodness, wanting to go beyond Exalted is understandable, expected even, but beyond The System? That is far more ambitious than anything I expected even from you."

    Lev rubbed the back of his neck, cheeks slightly colored. "It''s not that bad."

    "For an end goal? No, it isn''t. Many have wondered about the origins of Mana and The System. Some believe it to be a distant god, others an uncaring entity, and many even believe it to be a grand construct. Nobody knows for sure. But to try and go past its boundaries? That is a first."

    His mentor looked at him with mirth in his eyes, still recovering from the unexpected confession. "Still, it''s infinitely better than being aimless. For all the opportunities that Mana and The System provide, many never find something they truly resonate with. If your goal ends up being what you truly want, being reborn on Monarch will be the best thing to have ever happened to you."

    Lev nodded. "That puts things into perspective. I think I may have found something that resonates with me by listening to you."

    Alec''s eyes twinkled. "Oh?"

    "Yeah, it ended up being pretty simple. You mentioned how we humans have little chance of ever discovering the origins of Mana and The System. Because we are born weak, at level zero, and are outclassed by beings that are inherently superior and born at higher levels.

    "That irks me in all the wrong ways. To think that we are simply born lesser." Lev unconsciously straightened his back. "It isn''t even a secret. Even in the orphanage, we were taught that attributes work on what''s already there, and empower monsters more than they do humans.

    "People consider many things simply impossible, such as evolving past Exalted. If even the strongest haven''t managed it in centuries, how could anyone else? I want to prove them wrong, to show just how far humans can go and defy all expectations."

    Lev didn''t realize he was baring his teeth in an almost feral smile as he continued speaking with fervor. "Surely, there are other sentient races out there. We even have proof. Imagine, if out of all of them, it was a human who was going past all the limits. Smashing past all the boundaries that were thought unsurpassable by our races.

    "I want to do all of that with my own strength. No shortcuts, no cheats, no taking the easy way out. Just my body, mana, skills, and countless hours of sheer effort to reach the peak."

    His eyes shone with determination as he gazed at Alec. It was the first time Lev had felt so in tune with his mind, and he loved it. It was intoxicating in all the right ways. Once he had started speaking, the words just formed themselves, rolling off his tongue without a pause.

    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    "That sounds like a worthy goal, one to showcase the potential of humans. One that feels right and sounds far more fun than monotonously killing monsters." Lev finished with a nod to himself, having identified a path he wanted to traverse.

    Alec observed him pour out the words with a smile. Seeing that he was done, he spoke.

    "It is indeed a worthy goal, somehow even grander than the one before. How exactly do you plan to accomplish that?" He asked, half teasing and half curious.

    "For starters, with a shit ton of mana. Everything else will, uh, come naturally." Lev finished with a sagely nod. The seriousness lasted all of two seconds before they both laughed.

    "I''ll admit I was getting impatient seeing you putting so much time and work into your class without any aim in life," Alec said. "Now, you can move forward with a purpose, knowing how and why something will be beneficial to your journey and not just acknowledge their existence and move on."

    Lev slowly bobbed his head up and down. He had felt the lack of direction more keenly than everyone else. Often he had asked himself about why he was working toward that class.

    "Stillˇ­" Alec began. only now starting to truly understand what Lev had just professed. "That isˇ­ quite the goal. Queen Martha was undoubtedly the strongest despite being mostly a defender role, and you will have an edge in that regard. But still, that is quite the dream."

    "It does come with its advantages though," Lev smiled. "To begin with, I will have all the time in the world to accomplish it. It will be more like a sub-goal, always following me along. My class will also be extremely compatible with many kinds of Crafting and Enchanting, so that''s even more things to excel at.

    "And lastly, I don''t need to plan out all my life at once with this. Goals will come and go while I keep working on this one."

    They both lapsed into silence after that as the cart moved. Lev idly observed the horses faster than normal cars on Earth, somehow eating up the ground but that was to be expected with System-enhanced horses.

    "Might find love too someday, however stupid that sounds," Lev absent-mindedly muttered with a snort.

    His mentor flinched.

    Masters, especially one as strong as Alec had exceptional control over their bodies. For Lev to be able to observe such a reaction meant it was very intense.

    Alec gave Lev a deep, searching look which Lev didn''t shy away from. They both stared at each other, waiting for the other to say something.

    ˇ­ I feel like I have created a misunderstanding.

    Contrary to his expectations, the crafter didn''t say anything on the matter. That suited Lev just fine. The topic was a can of worms he wanted nothing to do with anytime soon.

    ****

    The first day of traveling was peaceful. The area surrounding the cities and outposts was always scoured clean of monsters, and neither did they spawn close to the population.

    Lev observed the scenery pass by, a ton of grass andˇ­ more grass. It got very boring after the first few hours.

    "Is there anything I should be practicing? Traveling a wonderland suddenly isn''t so exciting anymore."

    His mentor grinned. "Took you longer than I thought. Here, catch."

    Lev caught the small notebook, a pocket diary really. It was titled "Runes for Dummies" and was only a dozen or so pages.

    He opened the first page and started reading.

    Runes are the language of mana. Or so everyone believes but we don''t know for sure. Other than our souls, they are the only other thing that interacts directly with mana to such a degree.

    The flavor text was short. It could be simplified to ''Runes do something when you circulate mana through them, requiring sufficient understanding, mana, and a durable material.''

    Lev could already see through the lines, and how it pointedly didn''t mention anything about the sheer scope of runes.

    Programming was the closest thing Lev could compare it to yet it was even more complex. On top of endless instructions to mix and match, the physical materials and the types and quantity of mana were also factors. Monster cores too in the more advanced stages.

    Let''s be reasonable and ignore all of that. One step at a time.

    The first and most basic of runes was anˇ­ infinity symbol. The simplest rune that increased the durability of any material. It was also the single most efficient rune but couldn''t be paired with any other. Standalone yet extremely scalable, it was the best rune for Classers to mess around with.

    Putting that claim to the test, Lev summoned a simple round barrier, around half a meter in width.

    Let''s see, the rune requires a large portion of the surface to be covered. Both ends of the rune combined should encapsulate at least 60% of the total surface for beginners, shortening after getting used to it and understanding it better. So, if I make both loops of the rune close to the edge, it will cover nearly 100% of it.

    Mentally carving a path through his barrier by turning it hollow in a line, Lev beheld aˇ­ doodle. The infinity symbol looked sick, wobbly in some places, and downright ugly in others. But it did the trick, and Lev could feel a trickle of feedback.

    The feedback itself told him nothing new, just reiterating how pitiful the existence of the rune was. So, once again, he decided to ignore that.

    To circulate mana through the rune, Lev sent more of it into the whole barrier before dragging it to the pattern. Thankfully, active manipulation and passive specialty skills helped with the process, letting him fill the rune with mana.

    It became more difficult after that. To his class, the mana was now in the empty carved vacuum inside the barrier. To control it, he needed to utilize his Mana Manipulation General Skill.

    Slowly, it started moving in the pattern. The barrier shone slightly in Lev''s senses, signifying that it was now enchanted in some capacity. It didn''t feel much more durable, though there was a small difference for sure.

    "That was pretty simple," Lev remarked, pleasantly surprised.

    "That it was. The more advanced things will use the same basics, so practice them well," Alec advised him. "What did you think of the carving process?"

    "Seems easy enough. It will get easier as my skill levels too."

    "There''s another method for etching runes. The first, as you just saw, is actively carving them. The second is forming barriers with runes already carved into them. So, you would intentionally leave empty space during the formation that would eventually complete into a rune. Which one do you think will be better?"

    I mean, isn''t that obvious?

    "Wouldn''t the first method pair really well with my manipulation skill?" Lev asked, quite sure of his answer.

    "Why wouldn''t the second?" His mentor countered.

    Lev opened his mouth to reply but it clicked shut immediately after. That method was also covered by the same skill.

    "Instead of thinking, just try the other as well. See if it suits you more," Alec just said with a smile. He knew what he was doing.

    Lev did just that. He wanted to close his eyes to focus but kept them open to see the formation.

    Slowly, the round barrier edges started forming. Instead of solidifying it all at once, he sharpened his focus on the position of the rune. The left loop started forming before it joined in the middle, then formed the right loop, both of them close to the edge.

    "Ten seconds, give or take," came his mentor''s voice.

    Lev gazed at the final product. It was cleaner than the first but in a bad way. The carved pattern was wider and far from uniform, wasting a lot of space. It worked but the efficiency was even lower than the previous.

    "I definitely prefer the first one," Lev stated. "Which one is better in the long run?" He asked just to make sure he wasn''t thinking unwisely.

    "Whichever you get the General Skill for," Alec shrugged.

    "So, both are equally viable," Lev nodded to himself.

    "There''s a third too but I won''t recommend that," Lev waited for him to continue. "It is done by holding mana in the shape of the rune and etching it directly into the construct, creating an incorporeal pathway. The method may be the most efficient and effective form of enchanting, but it is far too demanding to utilize in even low-intensity combat."

    Lev took that in. From what little he knew of higher forms of enchanting, the method seemed absurd. One could hold a rune or few in their minds before etching them, but entire arrays or formations? That was nothing short of impossible.

    His eyes went to the Reinforced Mind title. Maybe he would be able to use the method in the future. Right now however, he wasn''t even going to entertain such delusions.

 Chapter 12

    Lev was back in his armor, waiting for the caravan to stop. The suns had set an hour ago, and they would stop near the road for the night.

    Weak roaming monsters had started showing up a few hours ago. Stray goblins and orcs were the norm, with an occasional brown bear. The bears were first-threshold monsters, past level 100 evolution. They were mindless just like any other, and were considered one of the weakest first-threshold monsters.

    Lev and Alec didn''t need to do anything. The silver team handled the stray monsters from afar, not willing to slow down for something so minor.

    They stepped out of their cart when everyone stopped. The horses were trained to stop with the other horses it seemed, as their cart didn''t even have a driver.

    The carts were parked in a circle, letting four people keep watch from atop throughout the night. Lev wasn''t expected to do so, for everyone knew he was the weakest person present. Even the merchants were mostly Adepts.

    "No fireplace?" Lev asked.

    "Don''t need it. The nights are always bright enough to see around with even a modest perception attribute, and light will attract attention,"

    Everyone was stretching their legs. Staying cooped up in a cart for the entire day was boring and tiring, so Lev started circling the carts as well.

    Lev was lost in thought when he felt like someone was watching him.

    Looking around, he found Lucy''s eyes staring at him from atop one of the distant carts. Or more precisely, his mask.

    Seeing that Lev had noticed her, she pointed at her face. Lev took the hint and understood she was pointing to his mask instead. She then mimed sparkles with both hands, and it took a bit for him to decipher the meaning.

    ˇ­ It''s shining?

    "Hey, can you summon the mirror?" Lev asked Alec after returning to where he was sitting atop their cart. His mentor just tossed the full-body mirror to him, which he caught deftly.

    The reflection proved Lucy''s message. Lev''s mask was even more prominent in the dark, somehow absorbing light under the hood.

    Now, his mask was pitch black except for the blue parts, making it seem downright sinister. To anyone looking, there was no face, just a floating blue illusion, and a void behind it.

    Lev gave a thumbs-up to his mentor for such fine detail, which Alec just brushed off. The mask kept exceeding his expectations.

    Soon enough, he found himself a few dozen meters away from the carts. He had held off on checking his limits before because the caravan departed early in the morning. Now, he had the time and space to comfortably do so.

    The most intriguing part is how the increased Constitution is affecting me. I am not tired at all, neither am I sore from sitting on my ass all day. Not even a hint of sleepiness thus far.

    The attribute was sitting at 65, 35 higher than the day before yesterday. The effects, while nothing miraculous, were significant. Lev knew his sleep time would be reduced by an hour or two as well despite staying up for longer.

    The first and pretty much the only thing he wanted to check was how fast he could move, and if his body would allow him to run at full speed. His armor was far tougher than the fleshy body beneath, so Lev had to be careful not to tear muscles and tendons in a rush.

    Crouching slightly, he took a deep breath and started jogging. The barrier armor and his passive movement skill came together seamlessly, and he jogged in a large circle around the camp leisurely.

    Slowly ramping up the pace over a few minutes, Lev ran faster than he should''ve been able to with just his body. It was exhilarating, and he was still far from his top speed.

    Here goes nothing.

    Gradually, he accelerated beyond that. What would''ve been a stumbling end instead became an even faster run.

    Oblivious to several people, including his mentor, observing him, Lev kept going faster and faster. He was going beyond what a physical fighter of his level could''ve managed, but no one knew of his level. To them, he was a bronze rank somewhere around level 50. It wasn''t outside the realm of possibilities for him to move so fast.

    His head was throbbing at this point, due to both low Intelligence and skill level. It took an unexpected amount of effort to slow down without tripping.

    It took several minutes to calm his ragged breathing while he inspected his body. Pain was the most glaring, permeating his entire body. His muscles had been utilized beyond reasonable limits, and they were making their displeasure known.

    Tiredness was a close second. The secondary goal of the run was to push his body along with his mind. People could still gain attributes after getting a class but it became much harder. Especially if they put some points in each physical attribute.

    Lev had a unique advantage in that regard. Not only was his Strength and Dexterity not getting any points, but he would also always be trying to match a pace faster than what his Constitution would allow.

    Consequently, all three would see gradual growth, letting him earn points where most others wouldn''t bother putting in the effort. He wouldn''t either if it wasn''t for such a convenient exercise. All he had to do was push himself along his armor.

    [

    Nimble has reached Level 3

    ]

    ****

    The next week passed without incident. Monsters attacked and were swiftly dealt with by Lucy. The small groups were usually all destroyed with a single oversized fireball from her, allowing them to travel without any pause.

    The nights were similarly peaceful. They rested, slept, and then moved on. It took over a week for them to enter a more dangerous region.

    Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    "We''re a fifth of the way to Windkeep now," Alec explained. "The human cities and outposts are all now far enough that monsters spawn by the thousands in the upcoming regions. There is one such area on each side of The Haven. This one is called "The Roaming Wilds" because goblins, orcs, trolls, thornlings, wolves, bears, and several other monsters are always on the move."

    "So we should expect waves?" Lev asked, mentally preparing for the strenuous path ahead. He did not doubt that they were completely safe with Alec amongst them, but he still wanted to get as much experience under his belt as he could.

    "Nope. Just hordes. Waves are used to describe a horde that can threaten outposts and cities. Even I would struggle to stand my ground against a low-ranked wave."

    "How far is The Pit then?"

    "The Pit is in the middle of The Haven and Windkeep so it will take more than a week still."

    Lev groaned and flopped back in the cart. The past week had been extremely boring. Enchanting had been a good companion but it didn''t take long for him to notice just how much mana it ate.

    The durability rune was apparently hyper-efficient and could empower something for a long time at little cost. Relatively little, at least when Lev considered his mana pool.

    Sharpness runes were similar except they had to trail at most an inch away from the edge of his barriers. The importance of monster cores and mana crystals made sense when he powered the rune. It would render him dry in half an hour to just power one of them. Even worse, it was just a single rune. Formations would devour his pool in seconds.

    Makes me wonder just how big of an increase in effectiveness Wisdom will get after evolving.

    Enchantments were a staple after reaching Adept rank. Everyone used them, which meant that everyone needed enough mana to power them. Monster cores shouldered most of the burden, so maybe they could be charged? Lev wasn''t sure.

    "How do physical warriors power enchantments?" Lev decided to ask anyway.

    "Mana Crystals can be enchanted to gather mana, which can be stored in both a core and the crystal," Alec replied.

    Interesting. I wonder how fast the rate of absorption of ambient mana is.

    Lev''s thoughts revolved around enchanting materials for the next hour. He was belatedly realizing another advantage he had over a normal crafter. If he was missing cores, monster parts, metals, natural treasures, or other such resourcesˇ­ he could just go out and get them.

    He would have the strength for it.

    The thought of mining was dubious with his current capabilities but constructs allowed him the freedom to make any tool he wanted. Mining metals deep under the earth was certainly possible.

    "You should don your armor now."

    Hmm?

    Lev did as he was asked, not voicing his confusion.

    Did he scout something? Surely he has his ways.

    It took half an hour for trouble to arrive. The suns were reaching their zenith when Peter''s magically enhanced voice rang out.

    "ORCS! RANGED ATTACKERS, PREPARE!"

    Lev was already ready with his bow in hand, courtesy of Alec''s early warning. The carts all spaced out further, letting the ranged combatants see the horde without obstruction.

    Merely a blip on the horizon for him was an orc raiding party. They spawned with armor and weapons naturally, which disintegrated just as fast as the corpses. Nobody harvested them, however, for the metal was riddled with impurities and tailored to the monsters. Monarch''s mines regenerated anyway, which made the prospect redundant.

    That was another phenomenon Lev had trouble wrapping his head around. People created fire and water from thin air, sure, but to create metals endlessly? That was mind-blowing.

    I suppose if something can achieve that, then it''s Monarch.

    Grabbing the conveniently placed handles at the border of the cart''s roof, Lev went up. The orcs were steadily growing larger, rapidly closing onto their carts.

    The horses weren''t for show as slowly, the orcs had to adjust their trajectory to stay aligned toward them. The monsters were only slightly faster with their huge strides.

    When the horde was just a few hundred meters away, Lucy''s usual huge fireball was launched. It screamed toward the monsters, reaching them faster than the deceptively slow pace implied.

    The explosion explained why it seemed slow. Only when it was close to the first orc did Lev realize the fireball was nearly 4 feet in height and half that in width, more than half as tall as the hulking 7-foot-tall orcs.

    He had to shield his eyes from the bright aftermath, and his face fell slightly when most of the orcs continued chasing. Out of the 70 or so monsters, only ten had fallen. Two of them were getting up still, albeit wounded. They would pose a much lower threat.

    Lev nocked the first arrow when there was less than a hundred meters of distance. His and Alec''s cart was at the tail end of the caravan, to deal with any surprises from their flank. That provided Lev the chance to attack before everyone else.

    When the leading monster was around fifty meters away, he took a good look at its face. Just like the goblins, it was thoroughly consumed by insanity as well. No thoughts of preserving energy or defending itself were present in its gait, just the raw desire to tear the humans and horses apart.

    Lev''s little hesitation about shooting a humanoid vanished then and there and he loosed the first arrow. The arrowhead spun at high speed as the arrow itself was accelerated even further by his skill and mind, yet all it did was lodge itself into the orc''s thigh. It staggered only for a moment.

    Lev was aiming at its chest but that was fine. The distance was still great for his nascent archery skills. Before he could shoot another, several fireballs, lightning bolts, and small boulders flew above him, into the horde. He looked behind and noticed that carts carrying ranged attackers were close to him now, closer to the horde.

    Shrugging, he primed the next arrow and released it. This one flew above his intended target, at the forehead of the orc.

    [

    Your Group has slain [Orc - Level 62]

    ]

    Lev stared at the notification in surprise. He had expected the arrow to pierce bone but it had drilled straight to the brain.

    That penetration bonus is no joke.

    Focusing on the feedback from his archery skill, Lev kept firing. Small, incremental improvements made themselves known as he shot at moving targets. He rarely missed the monsters themselves, but the arrows also rarely hit the intended target, the heart or the forehead.

    The horde fell almost too fast, reminding Lev that the first evolution was no joke. Lucy had slain most of the monsters by her lonesome. Her attacks changed from overloaded fireballs to fast firebolts and spears, efficiently taking out the orcs one by one.

    Still, the experience was an eye-opener about his capabilities, and so was the essence gain. In fact, the essence gain was too fast, it worried him.

    [

    Your Group has slain [Orc - Level 50]

    Your Group has slain [Orc - Level 59]

    Your Group has slain [Orc - Level 60]

    ˇ­.

    Your Group has slain [Orc - Level 65]

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 14

    ˇ­

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 26

    Arcane Archery has reached Level 2

    Arcane Archery has reached Level 3

    Arcane Archery has reached Level 4

    Needle precision has reached Level 3

    Opportunity has reached Level 4

    65 Free attribute points

    ]

    I''m gonna have to wait at level 100 for a while to evolve, aren''t I? Lev asked himself despite the answer being obvious already.

    Evolutions depended on feats, how the class was utilized, and most importantly for everyone, how high were the skill levels. It was generally accepted that getting to the end of 2nd rank in every skill was the best for Classers. Skill levels would drastically slow down before that, but his essence gain wouldn''t.

    Many people spent months at the last level before an evolution to level their skills. It wasn''t an issue for Lev either, he just wanted the skills and class levels to rise in unison. That felt right.

    "You okay up there?" Alec''s voice reached him. Lev realized the carts had all returned to their original position.

    "Yeah, just looking at the notifications. These levels are pretty absurd."

    "Better get used to it. Only the first gap will allow your skills to catch up before you stop leveling for a while."

    The first and second gap referred to the last ten levels and twenty-five levels before the evolution for Classers and Adepts respectively. Essence gain was slowed down drastically for those levels, but they still went by fast enough to outpace skill levels.

    Shrugging at the problem beyond his control, Lev distributed his points according to plan. The cycle of distribution for every ten levels had already seen Perception increase by 10 points. Next, he put 10 into Constitution and 15 into Intelligence and Wisdom.

    He had to wait between applying the points because of the sheer rush. The energy coursing through him had him almost drooling inside the illusion armor. When it passed, he allotted the next batch of points.

    With that done, he put 10 into Perception and Constitution again before dumping the last five into Intelligence. No point saving them when he couldn''t get any emergency mana or healing from distributing them.

    [

    Name: Lev

    Class: Arcane Sentinel - Level 26

    Titles: Reinforced Mind, Vast Soul, Youngest Prodigy

    Attributes:

    Strength: 45

    Dexterity: 45

    Constitution: 85

    Intelligence: 95

    Wisdom: 90

    Perception: 85

    Class Skills:

    Arcane Barrier Manipulation - Level 2

    Incisive Edge - Level 2

    Whirling Rim - Level 2

    Barrier Armor - Level 2

    Opportunity - Level 4

    Nimble - Level 2

    Heavy Lifting - Level 2

    Needle Precision - Level 3

    General Skills:

    Mana Manipulation - Level 10

    Identify

    Arcane Brawling - Level 3

    Mana Perception - Level 1

    Arcane Archery - Level 4

    ]

 Chapter 13

    "Say," Lev began, incredibly bored. "Why are you spending so much time with me? I am grateful but aren''t you like a famous crafter who probably gets a lot of orders?"

    "What do you think?" Alec questioned back with a cheeky grin.

    Lev huffed. That manner of teaching could get seriously annoying at times. Thinking about it, nothing stood out. His mentor was always with him, just observing him and everything around him except when he went out.

    "I don''t know?" He phrased it as a question, wondering if he was missing something obvious.

    "You don''t." His mentor confirmed. "Pay attention."

    For a brief second, an illusion fell away in front of his teacher. Lev beheld a plain mythril ring and a fuck ton of mana around it before the illusion covered it again.

    "You''ve been making stuff all this time?" Lev exclaimed in amazement.

    "Yep. It''s simple enough to hide the process from pretty much everyone below Master."

    "That was a storage ring?"

    "Correct. One of a much lower quality than your own."

    "I knew it. Mine''s far too spacious to be normal," Lev muttered, uncaring if Alec heard him. "The gold coins were excessive too, right?"

    His mentor coughed, entirely theatrical. "They didn''t feel excessive back then."

    Lev just sighed. His teacher was both too rich and detached from the common folk, which made sense. Masters always kept their distance and it didn''t take a genius to figure out why.

    The lifespan of a Master was long enough that nobody knew the exact limit. They all inevitably died before old age or a select few ascended past that. They also stayed away from people below their rank, for they were both much weaker and likely to die, and also would age much faster if they decided to stop progressing.

    Still, Alec had straight up gifted him a hundred goldˇ­ He still had over 90 in his ring, which he was careful to not use in front of anyone.

    "Bah, forget that. How far are we from The Pit still?" Lev asked and lay down again.

    He could feel the amusement in his mentor''s voice. "Four more days at most."

    Lev groaned.

    ****

    The journey proceeded smoothly for another two days, and they were expected to reach The Pit in less that night. That was why, as the suns crossed their zenith, Lev was very suspicious of how peaceful everything was.

    His hunch was proven true when Alec suddenly frowned. It was a minuscule thing, barely a tilt to the corner of his lips, but Lev noticed it all the same.

    He was just that bored.

    "Should I be back in my armor?" Lev questioned, not worried. The region was filled with lower-level monsters, nothing that should pose a problem for his mentor.

    "No, I''ll deal with this one alone."

    Lev straightened up. Finally some fucking excitement.

    "Let them get close please," Lev posed his request as he went inside the illusion armor. "I want to see you fight."

    When Lev climbed above his cart, the silver team instantly took notice.

    When Alec exited with his bulky barrier armor, they were alarmed but only momentarily.

    His mentor taking action meant that they wouldn''t need to worry yet some unease remained. Not knowing what caused the Mythril hunter to square up was a worrying prospect.

    In contrast, Lev sat down with his legs folded, ready to enjoy the show. He knew better than others how strong Alec was just from his aura in comparison to the other Masters he had seen.

    The wait lasted for several hours, hours before the threat was revealed on the horizon to Lev''s relatively low perception.

    Those areˇ­ trolls. Lev jogged his memory about different monsters.

    Extremely tough and visible levels of regeneration. Can''t regrow limbs before the first threshold but even then it''s a slow affair. Vulnerable to fire.

    He could now see why his mentor had decided to act. There were more than a hundred, maybe even two hundred of them. Not only were they hard to put down, but they were also one of the strongest monsters below the first threshold.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Even the silver team would struggle with the sheer amount of trolls. The task was certainly doable for them if they kept running and attacking, only made especially difficult by the raw strength of the adversary. Trolls could easily reduce an Adept mage to a pulp.

    Not only that, several monsters stood out. They were two heads taller than the other orcs, at over 8 feet tall. Likely a shaman or a commander or Monarch forbid, a general.

    Some monsters were inherently stronger than the rest of their species, formed to lead and destroy. Considered lethal for a similarly-leveled party, they had far more personal strength and could enhance entire hordes. Commanders and Generals were two of the worst.

    Commander monsters only made the horde more coherent, making it far more dangerous. The General, however, took the lead. Those monsters were doubly as strong and had stronger enhancement than the Commanders.

    It made Lev grateful that his mentor was here if either of those showed up. When the monsters were five hundred meters away by his estimates, the weapons were revealed.

    Above Alec were what Lev would describe as cannons with long slender barrels. They positively radiated vast amounts of mana to Lev''s senses, letting him know in no uncertain terms that the horde was about to perish.

    The first of them fired silently, the only indication being the extremely bright projectile landing amidst the trolls. The sheer power packed in it eclipsed most explosives Lev knew about on Earth, save for the largest scale weapons.

    The resulting blinding dome of fire and energy was accompanied by a shockwave that Lev had to stabilize himself again lest he be flung off the cart. Thankfully, he could do easily that by mentally keeping his armor in place.

    Despite the sheer destructive power, only a few trolls stayed down for good. The dust settled to reveal the horde still giving chase, the wounds healing rapidly. Lev couldn''t see the regeneration from so far away yet the improving gait of stragglers was enough proof.

    It was clearly a testing shot, and Alec began in earnest after that. Five more shots were fired simultaneously, all hitting the edges of the horde.

    The resulting explosion was magnitudes stronger, encapsulating the trolls from all sides. Lev had already descended back into the cart, which proved to be a good decision when the shockwave hit. The cart shook furiously for a moment, nearly tilting to the side before it passed.

    Lev peeked out at a sight that reminded him of nukes except on a much smaller scale. There was a miniature mushroom cloud where the monsters used to be. The Trolls were all dead.

    The caravan never stopped moving as Alec sat down next to Lev again. He probably expected Lev to have many questions but the young barrier mage only had one.

    "How much of your mana was that?"

    Alec looked surprised at that. "Not what I expected you to ask. Only around a twentieth."

    "Huh, that''s more than I expected."

    Alec stared at him flatly before he burst out laughing. "Preparing yourself mentally for that Wisdom Boost already, eh? That was more mana than most would be comfortable using on low-level trolls."

    He wasn''t wrong. Lev was already entertaining a lot of explosive ideas. His main priority whenever he could manage permanent enchanting wasˇ­ beams. Laser beams, fire beams, lightning beams, and any other destructive beam.

    As someone so eloquently put it on the internet, the "fuck everything in that direction" spells. Lev thought with a snicker. The internet was truly the middle ground between a curse and a blessing.

    "I kind of need to, no? Can''t think by normal standards if I do get it," Lev mused.

    "Fair, fair. So, what did you gather about my fighting style?"

    Lev chuckled. "Big boom?" They both shared a laugh at the simple yet correct answer.

    ****

    The Pit, unsurprisingly, had walls even larger than WhiteFall''s third outpost where Lev was born. These behemoths were over 60 meters high to his estimates.

    The small city they were entering was called Pit Stop, yet everyone just called it The Pit. It was inside a partition wall to defend from both The Pit and The Plains. The settlement was especially secure because of the number of Hunters inside.

    The guards at the gate inspected each cart with less scrutiny than Lev expected, but they also didn''t have much reason to be thorough. The merchants were seemingly well-known, bringing goods to and from the outpost.

    They''re staring too. Lev noticed with an inward chuckle. The guards seemed to be very impressed by his mask.

    "Lodgings first?" Lev inquired as they were let in.

    "Hunters Guild."

    Right. The quest.

    The Pit was pretty much like he had expected. The entrance to the settlement and the gate to the dangerous region behind the inner wall were connected by a huge road. Curiously enough, most of the stores and other buildings on the road were connected to monster combat in some way. Weapons, armor, potions, and some scattered training institutes too.

    Those weren''t a thing back in the outpost.

    Lev wondered what was the extent of their teachings. From the arena he''d glimpsed, it was surely focused on melee fighting.

    I need to work on my Brawling General Skill, which is a scary prospect. Getting close and personal with pit monsters.

    He would''ve shuddered if he hadn''t been preparing himself for it mentally for a while. Pit monsters often possessed an aura that caused fear or confusion, and could be lethal for the unprepared or weak-willed.

    Lev would theoretically not have much trouble, courtesy of his title, but the reality remained uncertain still.

    He expelled those thoughts out of his head when they entered the Guild headquarters. It was much larger than the one in the outpost, which made sense given the sheer number of hunters exploring The Pit.

    White and Gold were still the most prevalent colors, with five different counters. Two for Classers, two for Adepts, and the last for Masters per the labels.

    Alec strode to the fifth while Lev stayed behind. The quest completion took all of a few seconds before he was handed a gold coin. The man behind the counter glanced at Lev, or his mask Lev didn''t know, before he walked out with his mentor.

    Letting Alec take the lead, Lev noticed details he hadn''t before. The buildings were larger overall, with thicker walls built with defense in mind, making comfortable use of all the space encapsulated by the huge partition wall.

    There were more inns too, probably because of how many people came and went. Those who wanted to settle down would most likely do so in a Great City. That left inns seeing much more traffic.

    Lev started to get a little worried his mentor skipped all the cozy-looking ones and entered one that looked too high-class for him. Inside, it was just as professional as he had feared.

    They were immediately greeted by an attendant in white and black attire, not dissimilar to a butler.

    "Welcome to the Golden Basilisk, esteemed sirs." The man stopped beside them with a smile, bowing his head slightly. Lev was somewhat uncomfortable with the treatment but, as usual, Alec seemed to be at home. "Your suite is ready to be used at any time."

    He nodded with a "thank you" before they were off again. Lev followed quietly to the second floor. He didn''t fail to notice how Alec was instantly recognized and not bothered at all beyond the notice of his suite being ready.

    The stairs gave way to a clean and richly decorated hallway. Lev took in the few paintings with muted awe. They depicted sceneries from Monarch knows where, yet they were all of a quality he had never expected to see.

    The largest one showed three floating islands above a huge mountain chain but what stood out was how realistic the depiction was. Lev brought all his Perception to bear to check if it was an illusion. It wasn''t.

    The painting was so good that the islands seemed to be swaying, the sunlight radiating warmth, and the river down below flowing gently. Yet it was just a painting without any movement.

    "An Adept Painter at the very least," Alec nodded in recognition and praise. "Quite the piece."

    "It''s not moving, right?" Lev confirmed, just to be sure.

    "No. It''s just very well made,"

    That little detour done, their suite was the second to last. Alec summoned a card that he pressed against the door. The card and door both flashed green before the door slid open, like an elevator.

    The interior was not nearly as flashy as Lev expected, which matched Alec''s style. There were two large beds, a separate hall with a fancy white table and chairs, and a restroom.

    Lev got out of his armor. "Which one''s mine?"

    "Left."

    That was all he wanted to hear before he jumped on the bed. The previous thoughts all vanished as he landed on what felt like a cloud. The mattress was so extremely soft and inviting that sleep was suddenly all he could think about.

    This is most definitely enchanted. Lev thought with conviction despite not being able to feel the enchantments.

    Shifting to get more comfortable, he didn''t even realize when he drifted off.

 Chapter 14

    The suite remained silent as Alec sat on his bed, lost in thoughts. He had already sent a runner to the Hunters Guild, now waiting for a visitor.

    Three months at most before Lev will be on his own again. He thought with a sigh.

    Why it was so hard to break the news to Lev, he didn''t know. His ''student'' was understandably attached and dependent on his company, which made it all the more difficult.

    The team Orianna thinks has potential is still too young to unlock their class. Lev might just be a Master by then.

    Alec wasˇ­ reluctant to leave Lev so abruptly. From the first day, the boy had only wanted a teacher who would teach, not a master who would have any authority over him. It was crystal clear that he would''ve backed off had Alec put forth any of his suggestions as orders. That led to their relationship becoming strange, almost as lax as friends.

    Still, duty called. He was one of the few who could hope to contribute towards spatial travel, an ability seen in third-threshold monsters or above only. It would be extremely convenient to replicate it for long-range travel but that remained a pipe dream despite centuries of tinkering.

    Trace amounts of space mana, which required an extremely strong Mana Manipulation skill to even move, could be produced by several methods. It was nowhere near enough, which was why he had taken some time off to begin with. Many had, to reset their mental states and try to come up with something new. That break had led him to Lev, now his source of reluctance to return.

    Can''t dilly-dally. It''s the single most resource-intensive yet prioritized project. Even a minor step of progress will be monumental.

    Steeling his mind, he waited for the visitor to arrive and discuss his next moves.

    I should also bring up the possibility of Lev getting the Goliath Slayer title.

    Alec only had to wait a few more minutes before he felt a ripple in the air as a presence made itself known. The vast and almost ancient aura had been revealed to him on purpose to announce the arrival of his teacher yet still it kicked his battle-hardened instincts into overdrive.

    It took several seconds of deep, focused breathing to calm his racing heart and open the door. The visitor was none other than the man largely considered the strongest Exalted, a ridiculously tall yet lithe dark-skinned man. Alec had to crane his neck to look into the man''s eyes to greet him.

    "Teacher."

    Hakim, the Exalted''s eyes creased in a smile even if there were no outward changes in his posture. They both sat down on the empty bed.

    "You outgrew my tutelage long ago, boy," Hakim said with a small smile, the largest one would usually see on his face. "But I don''t mind being called that. How is my prodigious barrier mage doing?"

    "Better," Alec answered resolutely. "Much better."

    Hakim raised a single eyebrow. "That''s good. I''m assuming it''s because of him?"

    He waved toward the boy sleeping like a log, destined to remain oblivious because of the sound-blocking wards around him. Alec just nodded, waiting for the questions.

    "Did the boy get it?"

    "He did."

    "What does it do?"

    "15 to each attribute, doubled every evolution."

    There was a deep intake of breath before the Exalted let it out slowly. Alec saw the exact moment his bearing changed, knowing now he was talking to a guardian of humanity, not his teacher.

    "What do you think of the boy?" Hakim asked in a formal, clipped tone.

    "Good. Great even. Definitely a person I would want to have the title."

    Hakim nodded. "Do you think he has what it takes to achieve excellence?"

    "Yes," Alec replied simply.

    "His intentions?"

    "To save lives, as many as he can."

    Hakim blinked at the unexpected answer, now returning to his casual demeanor. "That''s it?" He asked but the conflicted emotions in Alec''s eyes were answer enough.

    "The boy isˇ­ a mess. I don''t know how else to put it."

    "I''m assuming this isn''t related to his combat capabilities given your opinion of him."

    "Lev. Lev isˇ­ capable, no doubt. He has the ambition to match the potential power he can acquire down the line. He is also fairly talented by most standards, which means he won''t be hindered much in that regard. It''s just that he has no desires," Alec finished with a frown.

    "Didn''t you say he wanted to save lives?" Hakim questioned, now looking at his student intently.

    "He does, and he wants to do far more than that. But if you ask him what he wants for himself? Nothing. He hasn''t made a single friend in the years I have taught him, and neither has he voiced any form of desire for his entertainment."

    "So, he probably doesn''t have any goal in life either?" Hakim guessed, slightly confused at where Alec was going with this.

    "Quite the opposite. He has very grand goals that make sure humanity benefits," Alec replied, his reasoning now making sense.

    "But still nothing that benefits him personallyˇ­" Hakim muttered, rubbing his chin. "Where does it leave the boy?"

    "He wants to remain detached, to accomplish everything in his cozy little shell that only ever cracked for me, Orianna, and Sherron. For everyone else, he just converses politely without making any promises. The one time I ever heard him talk about a personal desire was just to berate himself."

    "That''s not as uncommon as you might think," Hakim began, surprising Alec. "I''ve seen a few people who don''t want anything to do with others. What you need to be doing is to slowly introduce Lev to other teams, and show him that everyone works in a team. He should be aware that one can''t be an adventurer without a team, and I remember you telling me he is adamant about becoming one. Getting him reliable teammates and letting him open up to them would be the best thing you can do in this case."If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    Alec nodded slowly, not finding any flaws in the reasoning. "Orianna said she has one in the making, taught by Helena, The Earthen Wardens, and Julia. Must''ve pulled some favors which shows a lot of promise about the kids."

    "Quite balanced composition too," Hakim nodded in approval. "If I were you, I wouldn''t worry too much. The boy obviously hasn''t had a taste for most potential carriers or desires yet, which leaves plenty of possibilities still. Besides, I doubt he has hit puberty yet,"

    Alec couldn''t help but chuckle at that. "Oh, he is dreading that period. Lev has already pieced together that a healthier body means healthier consequences."

    Hakim smiled slightly too, happy to see Alec laugh for something other than his passion. "What about you? You''ve been with him for what, three years now?"

    "Longer but yeah. I will need to leave soon anywaysˇ­"

    He explained his schedule to the Exalted for a few more minutes to the Guildmaster of The Pit''s Hunters before they lapsed into a comfortable silence, all unbeknownst to Lev.

    "I know you said the boy will be very strong, but I don''t see how pure attributes will help with that. What else does he have?" Hakim asked, his hope and desires for strong future prospects not letting him ignore the question any longer.

    "Right now, he has a class benefit that increases mana capacity by 50% and regen by 20%," Hakim nodded along, already seeing how immensely the title would benefit Lev. "He should also soon get a Wisdom boost."

    Hakim''s head snapped toward Alec instantly, disbelief apparent on his face. "Already?"

    Alec gave his teacher an odd look, wondering what caused such a reaction. "Yeah?"

    He wasn''t expecting Hakim to burst out laughing. That was an occasion so rare that Alec didn''t dare interrupt, letting his teacher laugh freely after what was probably a long time.

    "You know, Martha wasn''t anywhere near the strongest before she became a Master. It was only after that did she acquire a Wisdom boost, later becoming who she is known as."

    Alec took that in with muted shock. Specialty skills, like Lev''s Needle Precision which was also going to get him a Wisdom Boost, always improved during an evolution. Even if they didn''t outright evolve, the linear improvements would still be massive.

    Two chancesˇ­

    Two chances that Lev would have an absurdly strong start as a Master compared to even Queen Martha. Two evolutions, both increasing his potential strength exponentially if the skill evolves. Little chance of that happening twice in a row, but even a single evolution for the Specialty Skill would put him head and shoulders above every other Master.

    This changes thingsˇ­ Alec thought, his mind spinning a mile a minute. It changes far too many things.

    ****

    This was hands down the best rest of my life. Lev thought with a huge yawn while stretching. The bed was still calling to him, its exquisite softness barely letting him get up.

    "Good evening, sleepyhead."

    His mentor was just seated on his own bed, observing Lev lazily rouse.

    "Good evening to you too, I guess," Lev muttered. "How long did I sleep, exactly?"

    "Like five hours. Missed a bed that much?" Alec quipped with a grin.

    Lev groaned. "Ugh, please. Don''t even get me started on the cart padding. Sure, it''s pretty good for seating but to sleep on? Hell nah."

    His mentor shrugged. "Either way, my teacher came to visit at my request."

    Lev blinked dumbly before looking down. He was outside his illusion armor, which meant his secret was out.

    Wasn''t it supposed to be a top secret or what? He thought with a small frown before shrugging. He didn''t care much for it either way if his mentor didn''t.

    "Don''t worry, if there''s someone that should know, it''s him. If you do survive and become an Exalted, he will probably still be stronger than you."

    Lev considered the comment in fascination. "That strong?"

    "Insanely so," Alec nodded with a tinge of pride. "He was the first to cross the threshold of Exalted after our beloved emperor and queen."

    Yeah, that does sound like one hell of an achievement.

    "Soˇ­ what now?" Lev asked plainly, having wasted the daylight sleeping.

    "Well, we can still go out if you''re up for it. Will probably train your perception skill faster as well." His mentor replied, not caring for a wasted day or two.

    "Sure, sounds good. Is there nothing else I should be looking into before that?"

    Lev thought he saw Alec frown for a bit but the expression went away so fast it might''ve been his imagination.

    "The market, for starters. You need to look into upgrading your bow into something lightly enchanted. The armor will be fine for a while. Other than that, look for mana converters. They will most likely be required for your class."

    Lev nodded along, having already planned on doing all that.

    "Nothing else?"

    "Trainers maybe, but that''s for when you reach the first gap. Normally, I would''ve wanted you to get Runic General Skill before everything else but you needed those combat skills. So yes, that should be everything. Other than that, see if something captures your fancy."

    Alec added the last part with a rather stern look, which confused Lev. He didn''t think there would be anything of the sort but he would keep an eye out anyway. Maybe look into different crafts and check if his class could accomplish anything of the sort.

    The Pit was just as busy as ever, which made sense considering everyone at Adept rank or above needed little sleep. He didn''t identify people left and right, only a few times which were all an evolution above him.

    Turning west from the one main road saw them entering the Market District, thoroughly lit up and busy. The shops here were all larger than the ones in the Outpost, some even several stories tall.

    His mentor already seemed to have a location in mind, and to none of Lev''s surprise, it looked very high-class. The shop they were entering made use of glass quite liberally, showcasing all manners of equipment.

    ''Barrett''s Hunter Equipment''

    Chainmail, plate, heavy plateˇ­ what even is that monstrosity?

    The armor on display ranged from nimble hunting armor that restricted little to no movements, to towering behemoths of metal that shouldn''t have been possible for a human to don. Yet it was, and Lev had already seen someone walk around in something similar without trouble.

    The weapons are more interesting, at least for me. I can already see plenty of enchanted swords that seem to be made for Classers. Lev thought, not enthused about the reason for his interest. The chances of my Brawling skill evolving areˇ­ low from what I''ve heard, which means I need to force the second rank to allow for weapons.

    "You feel like someone squished a lemon in your mouth," Alec

    commented, looking at him with an amused smile.

    "I need to fight in melee range against pit monsters," Lev replied in a tone as flat as a board.

    His mentor''s smile faltered. "You should take care of that sooner than later while your armor still has an overwhelming advantage."

    "Yeah, yeah," Lev brushed it off, already mentally prepared to tackle the problem. "The armor blocks the gore, right?" He asked for confirmation again, for like the fiftieth time. Just in case.

    Alec just looked at him in exasperation, entering the shop without replying. The interior was just as spacious as Lev expected, and the clerk seemed to be on cloud nine after seeing them enter.

    "Welcome back, Sir Alec," The woman behind the counter did a curtsy, all smiles. Her gaze landed on Lev''s mask and her smile got even wider. "I assume you are here to shop this time?"

    "Indeed," Alec replied with a small, polite smile. "Is Barry in today?"

    "He''s upstairs. Should I call for him, sir?" The woman was already moving but Alec stopped her with a gesture.

    "No need, I''ll go see him."

    Lev watched as his mentor just left, leaving him without even sparing a glance. Shrugging, he started browsing the different weapons on display.

    He had just turned around when he felt a prickle on his neck. He whirled back and came face to face with a very pretty woman that seemed to be in her late twenties. She grinned at his discomfort, obviously enjoying the teasing.

    I didn''t even sense her moveˇ­ Lev thought, slightly tense.

    "Well, hello there. I''m Susaine, the full-time shopkeeper who tends to this place."

    Lev didn''t answer right away and Identified the woman.

    [Shopkeeper - ??]

    Shopkeeper? Her class is specialized enough for my Identify to not just call her a Merchant or Worker. Lev noted.

    He bowed his head slightly. "Lev. Pleased to meet you."

    Susaine''s eyes grew a little wider. "No need to be so formal, I won''t hurt you."

    Says the person who snuck up on me. Lev thought but didn''t voice it. He shrugged before returning to browsing.

    "Sure. What do you think will fit me best?" Lev replied, changing the topic.

    "That depends on a million different factors. What do you specialize in and what type of weapon are you looking for." She asked, now all business.

    "High strength and relatively low speed. Not the nimble kind. No swords. What fits?"

    "Hmm.. any large axe would be a good general-purpose weapon. Hammer for special cases where a blunt weapon is required. Enchantments are also a big factor. What do you have in mind?"

    Lev hummed, now bummed out at the number of choices.

    Let''s see. I can bring about a lot of strength with my mind but intricate wrist-play is beyond me right now. So, sharpness and raw power remain my best shot. Maybe a halberd? It gives a lot of reach and I can jump around for swift movement. Or maybe a simple Battle axe?

    Susaine didn''t rush him, content to let him wait. Patience became far more common as someone evolved, at least according to what Lev had observed.

    Wait, can I get something that can utilize my class skills?

    "Do you have something like a halberd focused on durability and light-weight?" Lev asked as a plan formed in his mind.

    "We do," Susaine nodded. "Can you explain the specifics of what you''re looking for?"

    Lev showed her instead. He formed a two-sided axe head before sharpening both edges. Susaine watched silently, seeing where this was going but she still shook her head.

    "While that is pretty good, enchanted metals will be far more effective."

    "I know. This is only the third of what I had in mind."

    Susaine''s brow furrowed but she waited for him to continue. Lev created a sharp disk before spinning it at maximum speed. The shopkeeper''s eyebrows rose and the obvious increase in sharpness.

    "The third?" She asked.

    "I can reform it whenever bypassing the need for maintenance. Since it''s a barrier, I can also affect it with my mind, changing its direction or accelerating it."

    "It will also train your class skills while increasing the chances of getting integrated into the class after evolvingˇ­" She trailed off before her eyes became firm. "Great thinking. I will need to contact father to see if he''s up for a quick commission."

    I''m assuming her father is the owner of the shop, Barrett. Lev approved mentally, liking how simply this was going where he wanted.

    Upstairs, Alec smiled slightly as he felt Lev discover an obvious use for his class skills on his own.

 Chapter 15

    Barry was a muscled and tall man, a head taller than Alec. He might have been imposing if not for his eyes that seemed to be always smiling, matching the easy grin on his face.

    "It''s good to see youngsters in this humble shop for once. My daughter here tells me you have a unique idea in mind?" Barrett''s voice boomed, somehow loud but not annoying or overbearing.

    Lev formed the same disk and axe head to show his class skills and theˇ­

    [Crafter - ???]

    Oh, his aura is very nicely concealed to hide that he''s a Master.

    The crafter understood the assignment instantly. "You want to create a weapon that doesn''t use a metal blade, only a good haft, and a hollow holder for a blade to utilize your own skill. Not an uncommon tactic for crafters, especially ones focused on metals," Barrett hummed.

    "What weapon do you think will work best?" Lev asked, interested in the Master crafter''s advice.

    "Nothing blunt of course. We need a bladed edge to utilize your spinning skill. Far too good to pass up. You need reach, for which you can use a polearm or a greatsword, either works. With lightweight enchantments, you don''t need to worry about strength requirement, though something tells me you wouldn''t have cared," Barrett finished with a long glance at him, maybe trying to see through the illusion armor.

    "He wouldn''t have," Alec simply confirmed, not disclosing anything else. That was enough for Barrett as he smiled widely.

    "Then I''ll be looking forward to hearing your exploits."

    Susaine looked between the two of them, then at Lev with narrowed eyes and a smile. Lev wasn''t sure what all of them were thinking but it seemed to be positive.

    "Do you have a preference?" Barrett questioned.

    "I think I''d rather go with an axe or something similar," Lev replied.

    "How about a glaive?" Barrett said as he summoned a long weapon. It was slightly taller than Lev in his illusion armor, a long dark brown haft with a curved blade atop it. Curiously, the blade looked like a single-edged top half of a sword, and it looked absolutely majestic. The dark metal with blue veins of lightning mana running through it only accentuated the look.

    Granted, everything looked majestic to Lev''s non-existent standards, but the glaive gave off a dangerous aura that told him in no uncertain terms how deadly it was.

    "I''m assuming the Classer version will be far less impressive," Lev remarked, very impressed with the weapon.

    Barrett waved a hand. "Eh, for monsters below the first threshold? Glaives from me will not disappoint, but they will be proportionately expensive too depending on enchantments. Not that I recommend buying something expensive at this stage. You will outgrow them relatively quickly."

    "I see," Lev mused. "I''m sold on glaives. Can you make it dark emphasizing the color of my barriers?"

    Susaine snorted lightly but Barrett only smiled widely. "Of course! Everyone appreciates a good-looking weapon, don''t they?"

    Lev agreed, so he broached the last step. "What about the cost?"

    Barrett didn''t immediately put up one, getting lost in thought. "Depends. What type of haft do you want?"

    Lev shook his head. "I''m not gonna pretend to know anything about them and will trust your expertise on it. Just use something that is durable and won''t need to change till the first evolution. Same for everything else."

    Barrett blinked. "Well, when you put it like that. The final cost will come out to around 90 silvers, 35 for just the mana crystal."

    Hmmmˇ­ much less than I expected but also more than I was hoping for. The crystals are expensive.

    "Deal," Lev simply held out his hand, which the crafter gave a firm shake. His eyes widened slightly when he felt the barrier armor instead of metal, though that did not seem to displease him in the slightest.

    "Give me fifteen minutes," Barrett announced before blurring out of sight.

    Lev turned to Alec, his tone incredulous. "Fifteen minutes?"

    "He probably has a lot of hafts prepared in advance for a situation like this." His mentor shrugged. "Something as simple as a Classer blade will not take long. It would''ve taken even less time if he didn''t need to make it hollow."

    Lev just absorbed that knowledge silently. Nothing on Earth could even come close to this level of crafting, both in terms of quality and time taken.

    "Please take a seat, I''ll bring youˇ­ err, He''ll be done soon," Susaine said with a smile, pausing when she remembered Lev''s mask and how he wouldn''t be able to eat or drink anything.

    True to his word, the crafter returned not long after. Lev''s eyes were glued to the weapon in his hands. It was of similar dimensions to the one he had seen before, but it was more extensively decorated.

    Instead of just the blade, the bright blue veins streaked all the way to the end of the dark black haft. It gave the weapon an eerie feeling, the contrast between the colors oddly magnetizing.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    Barrett handed the glaive to him. "Beautiful, isn''t she? What do you want to name her?"

    Lev choked on air when he heard that. Nobody had informed him about any naming requirements. He almost asked if he had to but that would be disrespectful, so he held his tongue.

    "What kind of name would fit?"

    Nobody answered him, so Lev put them out of his mind and started brainstorming.

    It''s black, with blue veins running through it. Matches with my mask pretty well but my mask has a story behind it. If that is the destination, then this is the tool I will use to get there. If that is a galaxyˇ­

    "Stargazer."

    "Stargazerˇ­" Barrett tasted the word. "Not bad, not bad at all. How''d you come up with it?"

    Lev smiled beneath the mask. "That, I will keep to myself."

    ****

    Lev put Stargazer in his ring and summoned it again. Repeating the action, he tried summoning it at different angles and weird positions to get used to it. The training would come in handy later.

    "The weapon looks deceptively simple. If you think it will be easier to master than swords then you''re in for a surprise." His mentor commented idly. Lev had already noticed how long it would truly take to master the weapon.

    "I know. It just feels right, I guess. Or maybe I just really like how it looks. Either way, I am content with my choice."

    Getting a feel for it, he mentally felt for the circuit in the hollow blade. He formed a barrier tendril inside and increased its length until the circuit was complete.

    From outside, the hollow edge now had a thick blue thread going through it. Focusing, Lev extended an edge from the thread, filling the metal blade with an arcane blade.

    The next part was surprisingly simple yet fascinating for him. Barriers could, apparently, remember a task given to them using willpower. For Classers, that resource was precious little. But it was just enough for Lev''s purposes.

    His will honed onto the edge, commanding the barrier blade to start spinning. It was messy at first, grinding against the metal of the hollow blade, but with some time, the arcane blade remembered the shape of the circuit. It no longer grazed the metal, hovering just above it.

    "Be careful handling that. It might just cut through your armor."

    Lev acknowledged his mentor''s warning without breaking his focus. He only had a few more minutes to get used to the sensation and extra burden on his mind.

    "We can start tomorrow if you wish."

    He pretended to not hear that. Weeks of waiting during the travel had turned his palms itchy, ready to start working towards the next evolution. Now closer than ever, he had no desire to stop.

    "What should I be expecting?" Lev asked instead.

    "The usual stuff near the wall. Goblins, orcs, trolls, and some others but in much lower numbers. Several Masters regularly cull them, not allowing hordes to form. Mixed in will be Pit monsters, strange humanoids, and insectoids for the most part," His mentor patiently explained. Lev was surprised when Alec wasn''t done.

    "Now is a good time," His mentor began. "The illusion armor is made of infused copper and coated in mythril for enchantments. It will be pretty much impossible for anything below level 100 to breach. There will also be several Masters keeping an eye on everyone out there."

    Lev''s face fell as he heard that. Slowly, it brightened till he was smiling at the implications.

    "Similarly, If I am aware of that and also the fact that no one will interfere in my fights, I should still be considered solo while getting lower essence?" Lev filled in the rest, liking where this was going.

    "Glad you caught on quickly. You will still shoot through the class levels but at a slower pace. Make use of your skills as much as you can to take advantage of that."

    The guards at the inner wall gate didn''t stop them beyond asking a few questions, and Lev once again found himself in a vast grassland. Two distant moons illuminated the plain land more than enough for Lev to see for kilometers ahead. Far away, he could see a lot of shapes moving about.

    "Good luck."

    Lev found himself alone as the final whispered words of his mentor reached him. He shivered for a moment before taking deep, calming breaths.

    Remember, death is a very real possibility now. You don''t want to go out without a bang, do you? Lev thought to himself, hyping himself up for what was to come.

    Slowly, he started running to the west, toward the rocky terrain. The swamp would be too dangerous to dive headfirst into, and he didn''t want to get wet either.

    His speed gradually increased until he was as fast as he could manage without tiring his body. He didn''t push himself along with the armor either for attribute training would come later when he felt safer.

    The first small group of goblins that he found was moving in the same direction, their backs to him. Lev summoned his bow, no longer caring about hiding his ring even if someone was observing him. Masters were rich enough to not care about a simple storage ring, though Lev expected that would change if they knew just how large his ring was.

    His perception bonus from the passive skill kicked in the moment he loosed the first arrow. Lev was already firing a second during its flight.

    Two of the four goblins fell with an arrow jutting out of their skull. The few dozen meters between them was too much for the remaining two to bridge, and they also fell with arrows embedded in their skulls.

    [

    You have slain [Goblin - Level 20]

    You have slain [Goblin - Level 20]

    You have slain [Goblin - Level 20]

    You have slain [Goblin - Level 20]

    Arcane Archery has reached Level 5

    ]

    No surprises there. Lev exhaled in relief. Not seeing another level in his class was also a positive.

    Lev continued his marathon, giving the corpses a wide berth. The gore and remains were the worst part of his chosen profession in Lev''s opinion.

    He had planned to take on the next group with his new glaive to test the waters but the enemy visible in the distance made him hesitate.

    [Orc - Level 51]

    Caution won over curiosity by a landslide as Lev summoned two disks behind him. The orc saw him approach from over two hundred meters away. Nocking an arrow, he waited till the orc was closer before firing it.

    The arrow flew true but contrary to his expectations the orc ducked under it, letting it fly past harmlessly. Lev did a double-take at a monster actually dodging before changing his admittedly simple strategy.

    He sent his disks flying forward, screaming as they tore through the air. They accelerated to more than half the speed of the arrows before Lev loosed another arrow.

    The three attacks reached the lumbering monster at the same time. The orc decided the arrow was the more dangerous of the three, slapping it away with its large hand.

    The disks, in no way less lethal, sheared through both of its thighs, robbing it of mobility. It roared in pain which sealed its fate. The sound was cut off abruptly as an arrow drilled into its brain.

    [

    You have slain [Orc - Level 51]

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 27

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 28

    Opportunity has reached Level 5

    10 Free attribute points

    ]

    Lev smiled as he put 10 points into intelligence, the first attribute to cross into triple-digits. The passive skill level was also nice.

    The marathon continued, and he could see the faint outline of the artificial terrain in the distance. By his estimates, it was almost three kilometers from the gate.

    Lev marveled at how easily he ran there while taking down five more goblins. His class and title continued to impress him, and he hadn''t even found any sort of limit.

    With one last look at his status to keep track of his rate of progress, Lev entered the training ground.

    [

    Name: Lev

    Class: Arcane Sentinel - Level 28

    Titles: Reinforced Mind, Vast Soul, Youngest Prodigy

    Attributes:

    Strength: 45

    Dexterity: 45

    Constitution: 85

    Intelligence: 105

    Wisdom: 90

    Perception: 85

    Class Skills:

    Arcane Barrier Manipulation - Level 2

    Incisive Edge - Level 2

    Whirling Rim - Level 2

    Barrier Armor - Level 2

    Opportunity - Level 5

    Nimble - Level 3

    Heavy Lifting - Level 2

    Needle Precision - Level 3

    General Skills:

    Mana Manipulation - Level 10

    Identify

    Arcane Brawling - Level 3

    Mana Perception - Level 1

    Arcane Archery - Level 5

    ]

 Chapter 16

    Lev''s estimate of arriving at the edge of the training ground turned out to be wrong. When the ground first turned to stone, it was still relatively flat. Within minutes of traveling west, he was looking at a landscape filled with jagged boulders and uneven footfalls. Each boulder and the ground was made of Ivory stone.

    Probably made by one really high-level Earth or Stone mage. Lev thought. He slowed down his pace, curiously peering around every boulder. Despite being manmade, it all looked natural to a degree, as if a really large ivory meteor had shattered there without forming a crater.

    Shuffling from ahead made him freeze in his tracks. Lev immediately darted behind a boulder and silently climbed it. Pulling himself up by grabbing his barrier armor, a single leap easily found him on top of the four-meter-tall boulder.

    Up ahead, the first Pit Monster he had ever seen was shuffling about. It looked like an unholy cross between an insect and a humanoid. The monster crawled forward thankfully, or Lev probably would''ve ran away screaming if it was walking toward him.

    By far the most unnerving part was the mental effect. The creature just felt wrong to his senses, turning his thoughts slightly sluggish and inducing an intense fear. He could feel how unnatural it was as if someone had downloaded an extra fear in his mind, which was the only reason he could think clearly. The aura could be ignored somewhat easily.

    [Shade Crawler - Level 43]

    Its face seems to be fixed forward, so the crawler most likely can''t look up or behind it. I''ll try arrows first to test their toughness.

    Putting the plan into motion, he nocked an arrow and focused on making its head spin. Now readied, Lev enhanced its speed as much as it could while the arrow shot forward as a blur. It hit the crawler in its abdomen, and the impact threw it backward. He probably hit something vital as it could barely move after that.

    Lev winced at the extremely loud screech of pain and insanity, and put the crawler out of its misery by piercing its brain.

    That went wellˇ­ I think I can just kill them with a single shot.

    Deciding to test his entire arsenal first, which was just disks and Stargazer, he started looking for other monsters.

    Several minutes of silently walking forward saw him fighting no more monsters. Lev wondered if someone had swept his area recently when his mind screamed a warning. Turning around just in time, he hastily side-stepped huge mandibles aimed at his face.

    With his entire focus, he leaped backward while yanking his armor with as much force as he could manage. That turned out to be overkill, throwing him nearly a dozen meters away and into a boulder.

    Shrugging off the minor impact absorbed by his armor, he summoned his bow and two sharp disks. To his relief, the slithering pit monster only charged him instead of spewing venom or something, albeit in a wavy pattern.

    Lev''s arcane arrow aimed at the creepy face was timed with two disks dropping down from above. The arrow despite being faster than Lev could track was dodged by a few millimeters, but the monster remained oblivious to the death descending from above.

    Lev dashed to the left, this time with a more controlled push, but halted in surprise when the first disk bisected the monster with ease, like a hot knife going through butter. The second disk changed direction, cleaving its head in twain a second later.

    [

    You have slain [Shade Venomfang - Level 39]

    Incisive Edge has reached Level 3

    Whirling Rim has reached Level 3

    ]

    "Cool mask."

    Lev jumped, whirling around with his heart beating a mile a minute. A short woman stood there, twirling a large dagger and grinning at his mask.

    [Huntress - ???]

    "Thank you," Lev replied, most of the tension bleeding out at seeing a human instead of a monster. Some wariness remained but that also settled down when he realized why she was there. "You''re one of the guardians?"

    "That''s me. Why are you out here at night, and alone?" She asked, curious.

    "To get used to fighting during the night and to get my skills to second rank," Lev answered truthfully, seeing no reason to lie.

    She nodded. "I''m Inna by the way, and do you mind if we walk together?"

    Lev shrugged. "Sure, as long as you point out the closest monsters. Preferably the weaker ones."

    Inna chuckled at the shameless request but didn''t refuse. Lev summoned Stargazer and filled the hollow blade. It started spinning seamlessly in the channel after a few seconds. Inna gave an appreciative whistle at the sight

    .

    "That has to be one of the sharpest blades I have seen in the hands of a Classer," She remarked while inspecting the glaive, noting the sharpness came solely from the barrier blade. "What level are you?"

    "Low."

    Inna snorted. "Fine, keep your secrets," She pointed to his right. "Four goblins that way."

    Lev dipped his head in thanks before jumping on the closest boulder. Underneath, several goblins were shambling about with empty eyes.

    So they aren''t always a screaming mass of warped instincts. Lev noted as he readied his skills.

    His arcane Brawling skill told him little about how to handle the glaive. The tips boiled down to ''Grip hard enough to not let it slip but not too hard, stay mobile, keep enemies at range, create and utilize momentum, and use the shaft to block attacks.'' Beyond the tip about his grip, the skill might as well be silent.

    Jumping down, Lev started backtracking as the monsters turned at once, screaming at the top of their lungs. He wasn''t particularly worried about the rusty daggers in the goblins'' hands. Swinging the glaive at the nearest goblin''s neck, Lev expected a little bit of resistance.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    The combined weight of his glaive, barrier armor, and illusion armor knocked away the blocking dagger easily and the attack continued at the frail neck. Lev almost stumbled when he didn''t even feel Stargazer decapitate the goblin, making him jump back to adopt a hasty stance in time to block the attack of another goblin.

    The shaft held up admirably, deflecting the dagger without even a scratch. The remaining two monsters also reached him by then, forcing him to continuously backtrack. His lack of skill with the weapon made itself apparent as Lev struggled to find an opening. He knew both of his armors would hold easily but relying on their durability to return hits was unacceptable. Such a habit would bite him in the back sooner or later.

    Pushing a goblin back with enough force to throw it to the ground, the other two dashed forward at once. Lev lowered his body and spun the glaive in a circle at full strength, going through the attacking arms and bisecting both of the goblins.

    Lev barely felt two thuds from Stargazer going through their entire waist, momentarily freezing him in surprise again at the sheer sharpness. His mind yelled at him to keep track of the last goblin, which fell shortly after.

    [

    You have slain [Goblin - Level 32]

    You have slain [Goblin - Level 29]

    You have slain [Goblin - Level 27]

    You have slain [Goblin - Level 26]

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 29

    Arcane Barrier Manipulation has reached Level 3

    5 Free attribute points

    ]

    The easiest one was also the highest level. Lev wondered with an amused smile. He had to admit, fighting with Stargazer was satisfying. The feeling of strength coursing through his attacks, and the vicious sensation of flesh parting beneath its blade was intoxicating. Both triumphant and visceral.

    "Not bad for a first-timer."

    Lev chuckled at that comment. She just assumed it was my first time based on how awkwardly I handled the glaive.

    "Thank you. It was much harder than I expected," Lev replied. He thought back to how the glaive felt unnatural in his hands. It would take a lot of time or professional training for it to become better.

    "You could''ve just let them hit your armor," She advised but Lev was already shaking his head.

    "I don''t want to develop such a habit. Besides, I''ll transition into a full mage with my first evolution. Only learning to fight in melee range because being a mage is no excuse to not do so."

    "Sort of makes sense. How do you plan on fighting melee range as a mage? If what you said is correct, you''re already faster than a mage your level should be."

    Lev simply held out his hand instead of replying. She looked at it for a moment before grabbing it. Feeling the smooth barrier armor hidden by the illusion, she ahh''d in understanding.

    "Moving by your mindˇ­ sounds exciting. Is it harder than just moving normally?" Inna asked, curious.

    "Definitely," Lev laughed a little. "There''s no muscle memory or joints to guide me. Every single movement has to be done with just the calculations in my mind. I can barely run in a straight line, and even then I can''t make full use of my skill. Lacking Perception and Intelligence, also too physically weak to cope with the strain of moving my body so fast."

    The Huntress'' excitement turned into a thoughtful frown. "Isn''t the class stretched too thin?"

    Lev wondered if he was revealing too much but he couldn''t find it in himself to care. The random Master guarding Classer kids in The Pit was very unlikely to have any negative intentions. Not only that, his class wasn''t even that special barring the huge 50% increase in mana capacity and the potential Wisdom Boost. He wasn''t going to reveal those, so it shouldn''t be an issue to talk about the rest of the class. Besides, it was primarily his age that needed to be hidden.

    "I don''t need to put points into Strength or Dexterity," Lev explained. "Everything will be taken care of by mind Mana Manipulation, Barrier Manipulation, and practice."

    Her face lit up at that. "Hmmmˇ­ oh, that''s a great class. How did you come up with that?"

    Lev had absolutely no qualms about dropping his mentor''s name. Given how universally respected he was, he had a hard time imagining anyone being his enemy.

    "Alec Zar."

    Inna burst out laughing at that. Lev was just starting to regret dropping the name when she caught herself. "Oh, of course, you are trained by that old man."

    Lev sputtered at hearing someone calling Alec an old man. Inna continued heedlessly with a smile. "He''s a great person. Never shying away from freely distributing great protection and utility items. I have only worked with him thrice, and he treats everyone with respect but always remains in charge. Slightly arrogant, but who wouldn''t be with such a huge list of achievements?"

    Lev''s interest was piqued as he curiously asked, "Worked with him on what occasion?"

    "Exploration and Mining quests. When the first Mythril vein was discovered, he was the first to volunteer along with a few smiths," She recalled with a snort. "Crafters drooling over metal, nothing new there."

    "Soˇ­" Lev began. "What was so funny?"

    "Hmm? Oh, I have never seen a barrier mage that also fights other than him. Now, I find a random kid fighting with the same element as a Monarch damned Classer, where barriers are known to be problematic. Very obvious relation in hindsight."

    Lev had to agree, if his element was that rare it made sense. It had taken him over three years of practicing to get the class, two years longer than average.

    Lev dispatched another two groups of goblins after getting directions from Inna, no closer to understanding how to become better with a glaive.

    "How do you think I can best train with my weapon?" Lev asked the Huntress. She no doubt had decades of experience under her belt if not even more, which culled any reservations he might have had.

    "To be honest? The best method would be not getting any formal training whatsoever. If you just keep going as you are, you can create your a new battle style. Mana will ensure that it''s always shifting and solidifying, improving its foundations. The effort will also be rewarded handsomely butˇ­"

    "The risk will be sky-high," Lev finished for her. With what he knew of mana and effort, he would probably get a good title for that as well. Still, the task was a huge undertaking, requiring him to spend decades to master the glaive.

    In the end, he shook his head. "Maybe in the future, I will have the time for such a dedication. Right now, I need to rank up my skills as fast as I can."

    Inna shrugged. "Shouldn''t you go to sleep and return during the daytime? Fewer surprises that way."

    Lev coughed. "I, uh, slept till the evening."

    Inna''s tinkling laughter followed him as he searched for the next monster. She vanished when Lev''s eyes found the humanoid Pit monster. It was huge compared to almost everything he had fought so far, standing nearly 8 feet tall. With arms as thick as logs, and bloated muscles visible over its entire body, Lev was going to try and fight it from as far as he could.

    [Shade Brute - Level 78]

    Dangerousˇ­

    The only reason he was even going to try was Inna''s presence, and probably Alec''s too. He hadn''t seen his mentor but he might be observing.

    She doesn''t know that. Lev thought with a mental chuckle, imagining his mentor listening to her remarks in his Bubble.

    Summoning his bow and creating two disks up above, Lev looked for any weak points. The eyes stood out but Lev didn''t believe he could hit such a precise target. The monster''s speed was still unknown, so creating more distance was a good idea.

    Nearly thirty meters away, Lev took deep breaths to shake off the aura of fear stemming from the monster. He nocked an arrow and aimed for the huge leg, looking to wear down its mobility. Two disks hovered a dozen meters above him, out of sight of the monster.

    The flying arrow accelerated even further when he enhanced it with his mind, turning into a blue blur that lodged itself into the brute''s hip. It whirled around with a pained roar, letting Lev hit the other leg with relative ease.

    Lev jumped back in surprise, finding the monster''s movement barely impeded. Dashing away in quick succession, he fired three more arrows, two hitting the broad chest and one its shoulder.

    The brute''s eyes never left him despite its slowing charge. When it was only a few meters away, both disks flew down from behind it and lodged itself into the back of its knees.

    The brute tumbled forward, uncaring of the injury as it dragged itself with its hands, eyes filled with hatred and insanity. Fear spiked at a massive monster so hellbent on tearing him apart, and he hastily fired an arrow at its forehead.

    The arcane arrow penetrated the skin but stopped at the hard skull, unable to reach the brain. Commanding the disks to dislodge and fly high, at the edge of his 17-meter manipulation range, Lev shot them downward at maximum speed, aimed for the brute''s neck.

    The first penetrated deep enough to sever the spine, rendering the brute limp while the second hit the same spot, beheading it.

    [

    You have slain [Shade Brute - Level 78]

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 30

    ˇ­

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 35

    Incisive Edge has reached Level 4

    Whirling Rim has reached Level 4

    Needle Precision has reached Level 4

    Arcane Archery has reached Level 6

    30 Free attribute points

    ]

    The class levels caused him to grimace. The skill levels were nice but they would slow down a lot as they reached the 2nd Rank. The same wouldn''t be true for class levels. The attribute points went into Wisdom, Perception and Constitution evenly for 10 each.

    "Sheesh, didn''t think you would do it so effortlessly."

    Lev was about to reply when he thought about what she had just said. He had fired a total of six arrows costing less than 2% of his total mana and utilized two disks. Dashing backward was the most mana-intensive action during the fight, yet he hadn''t even used 10% of his total.

    I still have over 60% mana left, regenerating at a not-insignificant speed.

    Class benefits changed the rate of mana regeneration if the Capacity and Regeneration bonus were not matching. There was a 30% difference in his case, which increased the time needed for a full pool regeneration accordingly. The result was 15 hours required to fill his pool from 0 to 100 instead of the usual 12 hours.

    That wasn''t to say his regeneration was lower than usual. He regenerated more mana than a normal mage but also needed to fill up a much larger pool.

    "I''m surprised too," Lev eventually said. "Didn''t think my skills were that potent."

    "Those disks are fucking scary," Inna grinned. "I love them. Wish I had something that sharp at your level."

    Lev just snorted but didn''t reply, picking up the pace for something else to hunt.

 Chapter 17

    Lev stalked the seven goblins from atop a boulder, noting they were all below level 30. For the most part, he was leery of letting a monster hit him but Lev needed to improve his armor skill. The best and pretty much only method was for something to hit him, and the weakest monsters would be the best candidates.

    Sighing lightly, he readied himself for a messy brawl. Jumping down the five-meter boulder without trouble, he adopted a forward-weighted aggressive stance. The goblins wasted no time in swarming him, frothing at the mouth to tear him apart.

    The first goblin got a face full of barrier gauntlet backed by Lev''s mental strength and the weight of the Illusion armor. Its head rocked back, with both the spine and skull shattered.

    Undeterred by the casual murder of their fellow, the goblins mindlessly tried to skewer him with their rusty daggers. Lev prioritized the two coming for his face, grabbing one and deflecting the other with a backhand.

    Four different attacks landed on his arms and chest, leaving not even a single noticeable scratch. The feedback from the barrier skill informed him of the scratches that were repaired instantly with a smidgen of mana. Lev pulled the grabbed arm forward, leveling a kick at its waist with all its might. The goblin''s innards turned to mush with the sheer force packed in the kick, rendering it dead almost instantly.

    Ducking another dagger aimed at his mask, he mechanically disposed of the goblins that just seemed so slow to his senses. His ridiculous perception made their every move obvious, and Lev was certain they wouldn''t have been able to hit him if he hadn''t allowed them to.

    Now, how about we deal with the stalker stalking the stalker?

    Lev turned to look at the monster that had displayed any form of intelligence for the very first time. A hiss sounded from the shade of the boulder behind him, and he could barely track a shadow moving underneath. The figure that revealed itself was a feline that was born to be a hunter. Sleek dark fur covered its body, which masked any sound its paws may have produced. Two black-slitted eyes stared at him, devoid of any thoughts or intelligence yet strangely calm.

    They unnerved him more than he would ever admit. Fear gripped him when the aura of the monster revealed itself.

    [Shade Prowler - ??]

    Why the fuck is this thing here. Inna knows I can''t deal with a first-threshold monster.

    Lev quickly checked his notifications, putting 5 points from the latest level into Wisdom. If need be, he was ready to throw overcharged barriers as improvised fireballs.

    Any further thoughts or planning was halted by the monster leaping at his face, jaws wide to rip and tear. Lev jerked back in the nick of time, launching a kick at its underside with all his strength. Contrary to his expectations, the belly was soft enough that his foot sunk in slightly.

    Lev hastily yanked himself away and summoned his glaive. The monster gave him no quarter, forcing him to constantly dash around and waste mana while he filled the glaive with an arcane blade while two disks flew overhead. The moment it was ready and spinning, Lev lowered his stance for an explosive strike. It was risky, but the illusion armor would likely hold.

    The charging monster accelerated beyond what he could react to, and Lev suddenly found himself on the ground with a maw filled with fangs ready to take a bite out of his face, Stargazer falling several meters away from him.

    Panic spiked as the two disks fell down on either side of the prowler, his control over them terminated by the panic. He barely caught its jaws in his hands, all his mental and physical strength just enough to keep it from taking a bite. Behind the prowler, he noticed Inna looking at the fangs slowly gaining ground and the disks now on the ground.

    Her presence gave Lev enough presence of mind to think beyond his erratic heartbeat and the ringing in his ears. Grabbing the two disks with his manipulation skill, making them spin before launching them at the prowler''s neck. The monster howled in pain, and Lev pushed it away using all his physical and mental strength. It barely budged but he had already yanked himself away.

    Pulling Stargazer toward him by the arcane blade, he readied it again. Wary of the sudden charge, Lev dashed out of the way the moment it started moving. His caution was rewarded when the prowler''s injury messed up its landing, and Lev didn''t hesitate to bury Stargazer into its neck with a grunt escaping his lips.

    The glaive stopped halfway through the tough spine but the spinning blade kept drilling deeper, eventually severing it. Despite that, it took nearly a minute for the monster to bleed out.

    [

    You have slain [Shade Prowler - Level 103]

    ]

    "What the fuck was that?" Lev half-shouted at the Inna observing the aftermath, breathing hard to calm his wildly beating heart. The angry glint in her eyes at the tone made him take a step back, but he held her stare.

    Who in their right mind put a new hunter against a monster an evolution higher?

    "You wouldn''t have gotten it if I warned you." She stated calmly, her voice a tinge colder than before.

    Lev took deep breaths to calm down, letting the anger and annoyance be washed away. "Gotten what?" He almost snapped but controlled his tone in time.

    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    She just raised an eyebrow. Lev took the hint and checked his notifications.

    [

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 37

    ˇ­

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 48

    Arcane Brawling has reached Level 4

    Incisive Edge has reached Level 5

    Whirling Rim has reached Level 5

    Opportunity has reached Level 6

    Barrier Armor has reached Level 3

    Barrier Armor has reached Level 4

    Heavy Lifting has reached Level 3

    Needle Precision has reached Level 4

    Nimble has reached Level 4

    60 Free attribute points

    You have earned a title:

    [Goliath Slayer]

    Slay an enemy a threshold above you with minimal assistance.

    Only attainable below half the level of your threshold.

    The title can be upgraded.

    +10 to every attribute

    ]

    Lev took it all in with bubbling annoyance. Sure, the gains were ridiculous but he had almost died. What if he wasn''t able to stop the jaws from closing on his head?

    Then cold reality washed over him. His life was never in danger, and the anger only came from someone putting him in a situation beyond his control.

    Lev wanted to say something to Inna but in the end, he could only sigh. "Sorry for snapping at you."

    Her eyes immediately softened. "I know it sucks to randomly come face to face with a first-threshold kitty," Lev couldn''t hold back a snort at that, "but the title is very strict with its requirement. Even the smallest hint would''ve ruined it."

    "Is this common?" Lev asked, now at peace with what had happened. Knowing it had been done for his benefit drained away all the remaining anger.

    "Not even close," Inna chuckled. "Do you think everyone can do what you just did? I don''t know how much perception you have but most people would''ve had trouble tracking its movements. Other than that, Prowlers are weak above ground. With the element of surprise gone, their frail bodies are easy picking. They were an ideal opponent for you to kill. Besidesˇ­" she trailed off and pointed upwards.

    Lev looked up to see his mentor observing everything with a slightly apologetic smile. Very slightly.

    It is what it is, Lev thought with another sigh. He had come out stronger in the end, and the experience was memorable, teaching him plenty of things. Firstly to fuck off when seeing something much stronger.

    "It also confirmed that you were below level 50," Lev froze in his tracks when he heard that. Inna didn''t even know if he could get the title before throwing him to the wolves. Looking at her, Lev could see the amusement casting a smile on her pretty face which soothed any annoyance he may have felt.

    "Why do you have such a potent blocking stone anyway?" She asked as Alec descended, looking at him with a proud smile.

    "Reasons," Lev muttered, dodging the question.

    "Well done," His mentor praised. "The prowlers are focused on bursts of speed and jaw strength, which you admirably dealt with. Half their strength comes from camouflage in the dark and the other half from what I just explained. Inna isn''t wrong when she says they were the best matchup you could''ve found here."

    Alec looked at Inna, who dipped her head in greeting. "I knew he could get the title with relative ease the moment I observed him fight the brute, sir. Couldn''t let such a tight window slip by."

    "Bah, don''t sir me," Alec waved a hand. "You did well, I was getting worried about Lev missing out on it too."

    Lev tuned them out when they started discussing any potential quests that would require them to team up again. He distributed his attributes according to the planned distribution and accepted the title.

    The rush from just the title alone made him shiver both physically and mentally enough for his armor to shiver too, and both the Masters turned to him.

    Not sparing them a glance, he started putting five attributes a few seconds apart. 10 into Wisdom, Perception, and Constitution, and 15 into Intelligence to complete the cycle. The last five also went into Constitution.

    This time the rush lasted even longer as the attributes took effect. Lev walked around for a few seconds, noting the ever-increasing ease with which he could move the armor around now. Intelligence improved all of his class skills and range of manipulation, which was now nearing 20 meters. It was much larger than an average mage yet at the same time, it was too little. Wisdom increased the mana pool and regeneration, letting him fight for longer.

    Not that he had any plans to stay here any longer. The random encounter had drained all his energy, and he could feel sleep creep up on him again. The two Masters were observing him move around, done talking.

    "How does it feel?" Inna asked with a grin. Lev couldn''t help but grin back under his mask. Power coursed through his body and mind, telling him in no uncertain terms that he was much stronger now.

    Too bad adding points into Constitution or Wisdom didn''t give bursts of mana or vitality, only increasing the upper limits and rate of regeneration in the case of Wisdom.

    Less than 20% left. Getting below 10% would''ve been dangerous during the fight. The headache would''ve broken my state of mind spectacularly.

    Lev prodded his mana pool, observing the increase in total capacity. Each point of wisdom brought a non-insignificant increase after the augmentation from his class benefit. Combined, they made for something every mage longed for. It was only his arcane element-less class that allowed him to enjoy such a large pool.

    "Feels great, except for the tiredness. Guess almost pissing myself does that to a person," Lev snickered. The Masters chuckled along with him. "Will I see you here again, Inna?"

    "For a few more weeks. Maybe a month or two, haven''t decided any next steps yet," Her gaze darted to Alec for a small moment Lev couldn''t perceive. "Something may come up that requires my attention so don''t be surprised if I''m gone. Will you miss me?" She added with eyes shining with amusement.

    Lev gave her a look as unamused as he could manage. He somehow succeeded even with a mask on as Inna burst out laughing. Lev and Alec exchanged a few words of goodbye with her before The Bubble scooped them up.

    "That sucked," Lev announced to the world.

    "Really?" Alec grinned. "Seems to me it went pretty well."

    "I almost shit my pants," Lev retorted in mock anger. They both shared a laugh at that.

    "So, how was her company?"

    "Really? You''re gonna ask me that." Lev deadpanned. Where had that come from?

    "Hmm, this is probably the longest time you have spent with someone other than me, Orianna, or Sherron," His mentor casually replied.

    Lev blinked at that, then fell into thought when he realized that was probably the truth.

    "Well, it was nice. She''s energetic for a battle-hardened warrior entrusted with the security of the upcoming generation. That''s about it, I guess? Not sure what I''m supposed to feel after spending all of, what, four hours with someone?"

    "I see," came the simple reply. Lev knew Alec was worried about him not interacting with people much, and he understood. People of Monarch looked out for each other regardless of social status, though that was probably less true inside The Haven.

    Still, Lev wasn''t anti-social. Meeting new people and making friends was on his to-do list but he simply couldn''t do so with his young age. Not only that, life was fleeting on Monarch. The walls of Great Cities had been breached several times in the last century, and the monster situation was showing no signs of getting better.

    Lev wasˇ­ reluctant. He could make friends with newly minted Hunters, only for them to vanish after a few weeks or months, never to be seen again. Such thoughts haunted his dreams, making his solitude-loving brain even more hesitant.

    Despite that, he had been mentally preparing himself for that inevitability. It didn''t help that he had to get a team at one point, and from what Alec had hinted at, they would all be Classers while he would probably be a Master.

    Sadly that is a requirement to become an adventurer. Both a full Master team and enough strength to survive beyond the plains. Or in the plains, depending on the location.

    Lev shivered as he recalled the rumors about some of the well-known dangerous territories. Beyond Windkeep were the Dreadwoods, with monsters above the second threshold at the edges being the norm. Between Windkeep and Whitefall were The Pit, The Crimson Ravine, and The Whispering Caverns. Each more harrowing than the last, Lev couldn''t even hope to step foot inside them before becoming a Master.

    They scared him just as much as they energized him. What secrets were they hiding, and what kind of resources were abundant there? The area surrounding the pit never produced any natural treasures, only grass, which sucked.

    Lev couldn''t wait to grow and explore those places. Just him or his team, tearing the dangerous regions a new one with nothing but raw strength.

 Chapter 18

    Lev awoke to the first rays of sunlight illuminating his mentor''s suite. He stretched with a yawn, noting how fresh he felt despite only sleeping for five hours.

    This alone makes all the points in Constitution worth it.

    He took care of his morning routine, enjoying the feeling of lightness in his body. He had read about the profound of each physical attribute on other physical attributes but this was his first time noticing it. Each point of Constitution improved his Strength and Dexterity marginally, and the other two attributes did the same. So despite putting points in only one attribute, the other two also benefitted slightly.

    His mentor was nowhere to be seen in the suite, probably to make him go out by himself. Donning the Illusion armor, he wondered how he would open the door when he returned but he could just find another inn to stay in if Alec was out.

    Unlike the people of Earth, the bustle of crowds never truly went away throughout the day. The System ensured that they could stay out at night, and Lev beheld all manner of people going about their day.

    He rarely saw Classers like himself away from The Hunters Guild, which made him curious. Did so many people hold off on starting a family, or were their kids growing up somewhere in a safer environment?

    Lev''s wandering lasted all of ten minutes before he marched to the inner wall, ready to level his skills as much as he could. The guards, or well, hunters stationed at the gate stopped him for the reason to cross. He summoned an Iron badge and handed it to the large man in front of him.

    The guard didn''t even bat an eye at an Iron rank having a storage ring, checking the badge for a few seconds before letting him pass. Lev''s initial fear of the ring getting taken by force, much to Alec''s confusion, was turning out to be unfounded. He still wouldn''t reveal the huge storage space of the ring just in case, but he could use it anywhere without expecting trouble. Many people used them in their daily lives, even if the quality of an average ring was much lower.

    Stepping back into the grassland, Lev turned back after a few dozen meters to look at the humungous wall behind him. He had to crane his neck all the way to look at the top. The sheer size made him feel small, like a fleeting idea brimming with potential, yet to be realized.

    I wonder if this place will feel small at one point. Perception improves my eyesight noticeably, and the ability to fly would make distances feel much shorter.

    As it stood, the thousands of kilometers of area walled off surrounding The Pit was more mind-boggling than anything. Lev put such thoughts out of his mind when he saw a few goblins in the distance.

    That''s quite close to the wall.

    Summoning his bow, he shot two of them down before they could even get close, and the other two were killed by sharp disks. With increasing control from the Intelligence attribute, he felt comfortable forming three of them with his Illusion armor. The heavy armor still required a lot of mental effort to properly move around but it was getting easier with time.

    Setting off to the rocky terrain, he ran instead of slowly jogging there like last night. It took some time for the jagged ivory boulders to come into sight and Lev had to admit, they looked pretty in the sunlight.

    The stone seemed to gleam under the sun, casting minimal shadows and creating a beautiful environment. It was only marred by the monsters he could see from afar, and Lev would do his part by ridding the world of them.

    He slowed down his decently fast sprint when the shape of the closest monster became distinguishable. The foe was a troll with a huge 8-meter-tall frame imposing even from that distance. Lev considered if he could take on one and decided to give it a shot. The Illusion armor would stop the blows if the worst came to pass.

    He was just too curious to test the limits of his disks and Stargazer. From how easily he had beheaded the Prowler last night, he was convinced that his class was far more formidable than Lev recognized.

    Noticed from over two hundred meters away, Lev hastily summoned Stargazer and filled her blade as the distance between them vanished him and the troll vanished at an alarming pace.

    Shooting it with arrows would be useless, for the wounds would regenerate and push them out before the monster reached him.

    Lev tried to calm his wildly beating heart as the tall monstrosity neared him. Identify triggered when it was within his manipulation range, and he started to regret attracting its attention.

    [Troll - Level 83]

    It''s fine. Lev gritted his teeth. I need to take advantage of this safe training ground while it lasts.

    The looming troll did no favors to the circumstances, so Lev was rightfully scared. It was holding a wooden club almost as large as he was, and Lev was caught unprepared when the troll threw it at him.

    The sudden triggering of his Opportunity skill was what saved his skin, letting him react in time by yanking himself to the side. Now weaponless, Lev closed the remaining distance to keep it away from picking up the club again.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

    Up close, it looked even more menacing with its disfigured face and bloated green body. Lev ducked under its wide sweeping arm and slashed at its thigh. Stargazer penetrated several inches into the limb, eliciting a roar of pain.

    He pulled up the glaive back in time to block a punch with its haft and was thrown back several meters for his trouble. The troll packed far more strength than he had expected yet the glaive held up admirably.

    This is doable. Lev thought amidst deep breaths, trying to keep his breathing even. That thing isn''t too fast despite the huge strength difference. The cut on its thigh-

    Lev belatedly realized the wound was almost completely healed up, only the wet blood indicating that there was a large cut, to begin with. Mentally tsking, he dashed backward to keep the troll away from the club. He should''ve stored it in his ring but it was too late for that.

    Lev summoned three disks above him when he realized he didn''t know how to take it down with just Stargazer. Darting in and out to deliver cuts was mana-intensive, with moving around being the most expensive part of his class.

    Down to 90% already.

    Keeping track of his mana pool, Lev went in again to try and deliver a similar cut. Fire would''ve been ideal to combat the regeneration but disks would suffice. Sidestepping another punch, Lev slashed at the right knee just as all three disks flew in from behind. He jumped back to avoid the frantic flailing while the disks continued to cut deeper, eventually lopping off the limb.

    The troll lost balance and toppled sideways, and the fight was pretty much decided. Or so Lev thought until the troll dashed at him with all of its prodigious strength using its arms, crashing into him hard enough to send him flying back for nearly a dozen meters. His grip faltered, Stargazer slipping from his hands and falling a few meters away.

    The much squishier body underneath the illusion armor was rattled, and Lev felt the taste of blood from accidentally biting his tongue during the impact. It took several precious seconds for his dizzy mind to snap back to reality, and he dashed away just in time to avoid a crushing hug from the troll.

    Fine, I might have overestimated myself a bit here. Should''ve stayed at range. Lev admitted to himself as he kept his distance from the frantic troll. The thing was tenacious but the leg had already turned into a stump, showing no signs of regrowing.

    With no weapon in hand, Lev decided to end things quickly. Forming the largest disk he could manage, which turned out to be over a meter wide, he dumped as much mana as he could. Holding 20% of his mana pool, the barrier was already destabilizing. At 30%, it was violently vibrating to all his senses, the large amount of mana begging for release.

    Lev launched it at the troll''s face, releasing his hold on the mana the moment it made contact. The pent-up mana reacted violently, exploding like an overcharged fireball, not unlike Lucy''s spells. The shockwave washed over him, sliding back a little due to the proximity.

    Testament to the troll''s constitution and regeneration, he had yet to receive a notification. The fire cleared to reveal it still very much alive if charred and bleeding, struggling to find its bearings. Lev didn''t give it the chance, grabbing Stargazer from a few meters away and beheading the monster with a few overhead chops.

    [

    You have slain [Troll - Level 83]

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 49

    ˇ­

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 57

    Arcane Brawling has reached Level 5

    Arcane Brawling has reached Level 6

    Barrier Armor has reached Level 5

    Barrier Armor has reached Level 6

    Nimble has reached Level 5

    45 Free attribute points

    ]

    Lev sighed as he scanned the notifications. It seemed he had hit the limit for free skill levels. Five of the free attribute points went into Constitution, ten into Perception, and 15 into Intelligence and Wisdom each.

    "That was pretty ridiculous, you know that?" came a familiar female voice. "Trolls are one of the strongest dormant monsters, meant to be taken on with a full team. You have a pretty stupid class to win that fight."

    She doesn''t know about my title and just how much mana I used in that explosive attack. It probably seemed like most of my pool to her.

    "I now understand that very well. Maybe try to warn me before I fight something stronger than expected next time," Lev retorted.

    "Nah," Inna happily replied. "I wanted to see you fight. The sharpness prevailed again. Robbing the troll of its mobility was a good idea if you were further away."

    Lev acknowledged the advice, noting it told him nothing he hadn''t figured out already. "I just wanted to check if fighting with Stargazer was viable. Now I know it is, I just lack the training to use it."

    "Yeah, that was almost painful to watch. You weren''t even holding it properly." She agreed, squinting her eyes at him. "Why would you even fight without getting any training first?"

    Lev coughed at the question, thanking Monarch for letting the mask hide his embarrassment. "I, uh, didn''t know where I could find a trainer."

    Inna stared at him for several seconds before she burst out laughing. Lev had to bear with her uncontrollable laughter as he headed to the rocky terrain.

    Lev whirled around when another aura suddenly appeared to his left. It belonged to a man with a stoic face, with an additional aura of no-bullshit radiating from him. It didn''t come as a surprise when the man looked at Inna with exasperation in his eyes.

    [Ranger - ???]

    Another one of the guardians? Lev hazarded a guess.

    "Is everything fine, kid?" He asked while looking at Lev.

    "Yes sir," Lev replied, not risking being casual with a man who obviously cared for respect. The stiff posture reminded him of military people, always ready to snap to attention.

    The man nodded once before vanishing from his eyes, only the pathway formed in the grass by the man''s speedy passing any indication of movement.

    The inspections were brief. Lev thought with an amused smile. What was even the point of that visit?

    Inna had stopped laughing too yet she didn''t seem to be worried, or caring about what had just transpired.

    "What was that about?" Lev asked.

    "That''s the normal procedure," Inna snickered. "I''m probably the only one who doesn''t ask if everything''s alright."

    Lev decided to test the waters of her casualness, to see if she was as friendly as she portrayed herself to be. "So I''m stuck with a faulty guardian," He stated with a confident nod to himself. "Don''t worry, I''ll entertain you."

    Lev suddenly found himself staring at Inna''s face next to his, a very terrifying smile on her face. His hair stood on end as her terrifying aura washed over him for a small moment.

    "I''m sorry ma''am. It will not happen again," Lev wasted no time in bowing his head and apologizing.

    She scrunched up her nose, trying to play it off with a more natural smile. "You better make sure of that, or this Master will not shy away from teaching you a lesson."

    Lev took those words to heart. Inna was oblivious to Lev''s sensitivity to auras, which let him see that she was genuinely pissed off.

    So it''s fine if you laugh at me but not when I joke about you? Lev thought bitterly with a deep breath as the tension drained away, remembering what he had learned in the orphanage. This serves as a fantastic reminder about treating Masters with respect. I have been incredibly lucky with finding casual high-level people so far.

    "Do you even have enough mana to entertain me?" Inna asked teasingly, trying to lighten the mood after Lev fell silent.

    Still around 40% left. I can probably fight for hours if I only use disks. Though I wonder if I want to show her how much mana I have still.

    "Not much but I''ll try," Lev answered, still shaken from her reaction.

 Chapter 19

    Fifteen dead goblins lay in a semi-circle around Lev, all victims of his disks. He grimaced at the unpleasant smell despite the armor keeping the worst of it at bay and checked the notifications.

    [

    You have slain [Goblin - Level 29]

    ˇ­

    You have slain [Goblin - Level 28]

    Arcane Barrier Manipulation has reached Level 4

    ]

    The skill levels have finally plateaued. Lev noted idly. The evolution is gonna take even longer than I expected at this rate.

    Inna had vanished some time ago. That suited Lev just fine. Now that he knew she put on an act for his ease instead of just being friendly, he didn''t mind not seeing her.

    Checking his mana, he found it higher than what he had started with. The formation and manipulation of disks took only a little mana, the cost made negligible by his above-average regeneration.

    His barriers lasted only thirty minutes, so he left the previous disks on the ground when he was done fighting instead of carrying them around. It didn''t really matter either way, as the cost of keeping them afloat was only a little lower than making them anew.

    Moving from boulder to boulder, he scanned and methodically disposed of any goblin groups or stray orcs. He was about to head back for the day when his eyes landed on a head poking over a distant boulder.

    The troll was oblivious to Lev''s presence, which gave him more than enough time to start the fight by launching an arrow and three disks at its head.

    The arrow pierced the side of its head, getting a loud pained roar in return. The disks reached the troll within the same second, two of them cutting the back of its neck while the last targeted its throat.

    The combined attack was enough for it to lose all semblance of calm, grabbing at its throat to stop the attacker. The disk shattered in its grip easily but the blood shower indicated that the troll was likely to bleed out regardless.

    Lev decided not to take any chances, forming three more disks as the previous three were shattered. He repeated the same tactic, staying hidden behind a boulder.

    This feels cowardly. Lev thought with a grimace. I almost don''t want to do this.

    [

    You have slain [Troll - Level 79]

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 58

    ˇ­

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 60

    Incisive Edge has reached Level 6

    Whirling Rim has reached Level 6

    15 Free attribute points

    ]

    Lev distributed the points as usual. Ten into Perception and the rest into Constitution.

    It''s too bad these disks will fall off pretty hard. Lev checked his mana pool, finding it barely lower. Monsters all become too tough and fast to be hit by them after the first threshold.

    Shrugging off that downer thought, he kept moving ahead. During the daytime, he had found a single other Classer team fighting monsters. Naturally, he had kept away from them. The four hunters looked young, pretty much kids to him. They were probably around 15 years of age.

    Now, he stumbled upon them once more, this time with too many monsters after them. He sighed and looked around, finding Inna casually seated upon a distant boulder, observing everything without any expression. Their eyes met and Lev could almost feel her curiosity from afar.

    Two dozen goblins and three orcs. Lev counted, wondering how the team had even managed that. Thinking for a moment, he decided to lend them a hand.

    Summoning his bow, he brained the orc in the back of the small horde. None of the monsters noticed, which allowed Lev to kill off the rest of the orcs with ease too.

    The bronze team, all well below level 75, noticed that as well. The healer in the back sent him a look of gratitude but didn''t ask for further help. The two warriors and the fire mage seemed to have it under control, and Lev slipped away before they finished putting down all the goblins.

    Well, that was a nice little sidequest. Lev chuckled to himself.

    Deciding that was enough for today, he ran back to the inner wall''s gate. The occasional monster barely slowed him down, dealt with quickly by his bow or three disks, sometimes both. Before entering the gate, he quickly dismissed and summoned back his barrier armor to get rid of any lingering blood or gore.

    What now? Lev wondered. He had already fought more than most Classers did in a week in just two days.

    I can continue the Enchanting notes but they won''t be useful till I evolve and unlock a General Skill for runes. Maybe look into weapon training?

    He couldn''t help but grimace at that. Satisfying as it was, he had no talent nor desire to fight in melee range. The glaive looked really cool in his hands but his mind scrambled when trying to wield it properly.

    Mana in contrast followed his whims smoothly. Only after fumbling around with Stargazer did he realize just how much better he was at utilizing mana. Even fighting barehanded came to him somewhat naturally.

    How the fuck do I have nothing to do in a Fantasy World with a System?

    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

    Deciding to let the wind guide his steps, he just picked a direction and started walking. Beyond the main road, there were several things he hadn''t heard of before. The most amazing was a large martial academy, focused on physical fighters and melee weapons.

    There was a massage house too, which Lev couldn''t make use of for obvious reasons. The red district was a surprise. He didn''t think there was anything of the sort in The Pit but it made sense in hindsight. Many risked their lives inside The Pit on a daily basis.

    Safe to say, he fled the area as fast as he could without running.

    That was when he stumbled upon The Pit''s Library. It seemed like his troubles had been answered, and he eagerly entered through the large wooden gate.

    The atmosphere was just as he remembered from Earth, quiet and serene. To his left was a middle-aged man keeping an eye on everyone. He looked to be in charge, so Lev approached him.

    "Hey, do I need to register somewhere to read the books?" Lev asked in a low voice.

    [Librarian - ??]

    "The area ahead is inside a silencing ward," the man spoke dismissively. "There''s no registration or charges. Just remember the fine. Five silver for minor damage, and up to one gold for major damage to any book."

    Lev thanked the surly librarian before walking inside a large hall covered with bookshelves. Benches and tables made up most of the sitting area in the middle, a few already taken.

    Weapons, classes- oh hey this one looks interesting, history, Monster Catalogue, beginner crafting, professions.

    Lev was here for the last two, in which he picked the most basic titles from both categories. Taking up the furthest bench from everyone else already present, he started reading.

    ****

    Two weeks passed as Lev tested the limits of his class, noting what he excelled at and what would be semi-optimal to continue. To no surprise, he found himself giving up on utilizing a physical weapon. Stargazer was a magnificent glaive, no doubt, but the wielder was just too inept to make good use of it.

    What did surprise him was fistfighting. Or well, utilizing the barrier gauntlets of his armor. With the added weight of the Illusion armor, his punches and kicks packed enough of a punch to kill most dormant monsters. He practiced as much as he could, staying away from Trolls for obvious reasons. They were far too strong to oppose in melee range.

    The orc in front of him was being subjected to his growing familiarity with melee skill. Lev sidestepped its charge and threw a kick at its knee. He was rewarded with a crack after the fifth kick at the same location, and the monster lost its balance. Not giving up the opportunity, Lev aimed for the flailing orc''s face.

    Dodging the thick limbs was growing ever easier with his grown Perception and mastery over movement, letting him put down the orc in the next half a minute. The greatest downside of brawling so far was the lack of a finisher, so he simply slit its throat with a disk when the orc was too wounded to continue.

    [

    You have slain [Orc - Level 67]

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 77

    Arcane Brawling has reached Level 10

    Arcane Brawling has reached 2nd Level 1

    5 Free attribute points

    ]

    Fucking finally! Lev exclaimed mentally, doing a silent fist pump. It had taken far longer than he expected for the first skill to achieve the second rank. He excitedly brought up the description of the skill.

    [

    Arcane Brawling - 2nd Rank Level 1:

    This skill aids with manipulating your armor when fighting in melee combat. Your strikes are more precise, and your footing, more stable. Extension of the class skills Barrier Armor and Nimble, this skill takes up 3 General Skill Slots.

    Highest effectiveness when fighting with bare hands.

    Reduced effectiveness when fighting with weapons.

    2nd Rank: You have learned to give them no quarter, unrelenting in your kicks and punches. The skill will guide your actions when fighting aggressively, making your movements more fluid and attacks more precise and lethal.

    Further enhanced effectiveness when fighting without a weapon.

    ]

    Lev sighed a little when he read the last line. If he just enjoyed fighting with a weapon, the second rank could''ve been entirely different. But what was done was already done, and he didn''t regret how the skill developed.

    He was pretty sure that gauntlets didn''t count as weapons for the skill which was a plus. The weight of Illusion armor was the only reason he could fight like this in the first place, so utilizing heavy gauntlets would be necessary as time went on.

    Time to test this. He thought with a grin.

    Several minutes later, an unlucky group of goblins entered his periphery. Lev picked up a small stone and threw it at them, attracting each goblin''s attention. They charged, and so did Lev.

    The improved skill combined with his Perception let him know exactly when he would reach the first monster. Stopping right in front of the goblin, he launched a roundhouse kick at its head. The goblin''s head rotated backward with a crunch, now looking behind it instead.

    Not paying the falling corpse another glance, descending on the remaining monsters with far more grace than before. He nimbly dodged the dagger thrown at his face, downing another goblin with an elbow to its nose. The force was enough to cave its skull in, throwing it several feet back.

    It didn''t take even a minute to finish the rest. Lev examined what he had done in content silence, feeling the skill trickle feedback into his brain. How to add crouching into the mix, the proper use of knees and elbows, basic grappling, and several other things now made sense to him.

    The upgrade was shaping up to be great, which was why he immediately started working on the next skill. Barrier armor was the closest to ranking up, setting at Level 9. He set out to find another Orc to tussle with.

    Several minutes of wandering and slitting goblin throats from afar later, he found a much more dangerous prospect.

    [Shade Brute - Level 85]

    Lev was still high on his skill upgrade and decided to go for it. The brute was nearly two feet taller than him, which was why he kept three disks summoned just in case.

    The lumbering monster noticed him the moment he came within twenty meters of it. It charged with a roar, intent on grinding him to a pump with its trunk-like arms and legs. The dark blue-skinned giant predictably dashed directly at him, letting Lev punch its shoulder at full strength to test the waters.

    The fight was off to a good start when he was rewarded with a grunt of pain. He backpedaled to dodge a wide swing of its arm. Fighting in the range of its arms was a horrible idea, so he let the brute come to him. It had to lean forward to attack the much shorter human each time, giving an opening for retaliation.

    Lev dodged another wild smash and kicked its face. The brute''s head rocked back but it continued to chase him without abandon. For half a minute, he observed the actions of the brute. He selectively blocked the weakest backhands of the brute with crossed arms, noting that his armor strained to keep the force of the wild attacks at bay.

    Seeing nothing new that could potentially surprise him, he waited for its next attack and tilted sideways just enough to let it fly past his face harmlessly. Up close, he overloaded his manipulation skill to the limit before punching the brute''s temple with all his might.

    Its head rocked to the side as its knees went limp. The monster tried to get up only to fall backward, stunned. Lev ended its life after that. It took only a few seconds for a disk to behead it.

    [

    You have slain [Shade Brute - Level 85]

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 78

    Barrier Armor has reached 2nd Level 1

    5 Free attribute points

    ]

    The barrier armor ranking up after the brawling skill was no surprise, as the two worked in tandem. Lev brought up the description, not expecting anything out of the ordinary.

    [

    Barrier Armor - 2nd Rank Level 1:

    Cover your body in transparent armor to protect you from your foes. This armor is considered one whole instead of individual pieces. It can be manipulated like normal barriers, but the shape cannot be altered.

    2nd Rank: Spend mana to harden a part of or the entire armor, cost depending on the area hardened.

    ]

    No surprises there.

    The armor was a well-known skill, obtained before him by countless crafters. The 2nd rank upgrade was the most commonly seen one and generally considered the most useful. It was intended to protect oneself against accidental explosions during experimentation, but the effect fit his class perfectly as well.

    Looking at his descriptions, Lev decided it was time to push for the Wisdom boost. The specialty skill was slow to level, requiring him to focus on precise manipulation of his disks and arrows. That was his next goal, and seeing he still had over 70% of his mana, he started for monsters to hunt.

    The ivory terrain provided excellent hiding spots, which went for monsters as well. Lev had to climb boulder after boulder to look for them but he found the previous Classer team instead.

    They just looked at him, not hostile yet not exactly inviting either. With a single nod as a greeting, Lev changed directions, not wanting to get tangled with them. They were all getting close to Iron rank as well, mostly in the high fifties now.

    It took little time to stumble upon a small horde, with nearly two dozen goblins grouped together. That wasn''t an issue for Lev, he started firing arrow after arrow from two dozen meters away. Three floating disks took care of any that got close to him, and in less than a minute all of them were dead.

    Intelligence was responsible for the range and potency of spells, which dictated how much he could enhance his arrows. The range of manipulation was a universal 10 meters at 150 Intelligence for all humans, the increase in range slowing down drastically after that. Lev''s current base range was a mere meter above that at 190 Intelligence, then doubled by his class. That was the range in which he could mess around with his arrows and disks to increase the level of Needle Precision.

    It tickled him the wrong way to test his skills so casually on monsters but he clamped down on that line of thought. It was the only option to grow stronger.

    Finding another group of goblins and staying out of sight, he formed three disks and tossed two of them up at full speed. They exited his range of manipulation almost instantly, ascending way higher than Lev expected. Gravity asserted itself again at the height of their flight, and he prepared himself to catch them.

    The task he had set for himself was to curve the downward flight of the disks, changing their trajectory to kill the goblins before launching them back upwards.

    Predictably, all of them missed or crashed. It took only a few seconds for the goblins to find the hidden attacker, forcing Lev to kill them normally and find a new group. The next three groups all fell the same way before he found a lone orc.

    Straining his focus, Lev tracked the falling disk. The moment it entered his range, he gently altered its path till its flight changed from vertical to completely horizontal in an arc. The altered trajectory lead it straight to the orc''s neck, the speed from the descent seeing it cleave through the neck entirely and exiting on the other side.

    Lev watched mouth agape as the head toppled to the stone ground. Does speed matter that much? I thought most of the power came from the spinning, increasing the penetration.

    [

    You have slain [Orc - Level 65]

    Needle Precision has reached Level 8

    Arcane Barrier Manipulation has reached Level 7

    ]

 Chapter 20

    Lev found himself staring at the ceiling of the Inn he was staying in. His mentor, Alec, seemed to be extremely busy these days, rarely showing up. He had naturally offered to give Lev access to the suite but he declined.

    Lev felt confident enough to stay by himself without relying on his mentor''s endless kindness. The risk of his age getting leaked was always present but he was getting tired of that secret weighing down on him. If it accidentally got leaked, so be it.

    Time passed quicker than he expected. For the past month, Lev woke up at dawn, ate from the years'' worth of food in his storage ring, hunted monsters to level his skills, and spent the rest of his day in the library or just resting.

    He was taking a day off to celebrate two important milestones, one that wasn''t set in stone despite the high likelihood.

    [

    Arcane Barrier Manipulation - 2nd Rank Level 1:

    Form a barrier out of pure mana in your base manipulation range. Any barriers formed by this skill are 65% more durable. Wielding barriers becomes more natural as the skill increases in level.

    2nd Rank: Barriers can absorb different types of mana after repeated exposure. The infused mana can be transferred to another barrier in contact with the infused barrier. The efficiency of transfer depends on your Mana Manipulation skill(s).

    ]

    [

    Needle Precision - 2nd Rank Level 1:

    All barrier manipulation is 35% more effective. Increases Intelligence by 20%.

    2nd rank: Manipulating and transferring different mana types is 35% more efficient. Increases Wisdom by 20%.

    ]

    Like the hundred previous times, his lips parted into a wide smile as he read that.

    I have it. I actually fucking got a Wisdom Boost.

    It was rare enough that there were only two known instances of humans getting one. The first and most important was Queen Martha, and the second was the person who shared the skill which offered it. The poor Master had met an untimely death, unable to make a name for himself.

    Being able to manipulate different types of mana is expected, nothing new. My Mana Manipulation will also rank up by using them, which is nice. Everything''s going to plan so far, even the Wisdom Boost.

    Just thinking about his new skills made him antsy to try them out. He tried to keep himself calm and collected.

    He really did.

    Ten minutes later, he was standing inside Barrett''s shop again. Susaine was reading a book behind the counter when he approached, and she held up a finger before putting it down after a few seconds.

    "Sorry, didn''t want to stop in the middle of something interesting," She smiled. "Welcome back. How may I help you today?"

    Lev smiled back under his mask. "No worries, I understand how annoying it is to be disturbed reading something important. I am here for Mana Converters today. Do you deal in those?"

    "Converters, huh? I was wondering if you would need them with that class. Which mana types are you looking for?"

    "The standard. Fire and lightning," Lev replied.

    "Those are pretty common," she remarked with a small nod. "What percentages?"

    "Depends. What is the price range?" Lev asked innocently, like the innocent question it was.

    Susaine''s smile turned downright sinister. "Oh, not much. They start from a few silver and go up to a few platinum."

    Lev''s mind froze at the cost. "Come again?"

    "Yes, platinum."

    Platinum, the denomination above gold, each worth a hundred gold coins. It took several seconds for his brain to unfreeze. "Why the f- hell are they so expensive?"

    Susaine snickered lightly at the aborted curse. "Efficiency gets exponentially expensive above 90%. Every single fraction of a percent requires a lot of effort and resources at that point. You can easily find something up to 85% with a few gold coins. Less than ten for both."

    "Oh," Lev breathed a sigh of relief. "Yeah, okay. Show me what you got." She raised an eyebrow at the last bit.

    What did I s- oh.

    Lev coughed. "The converters, please."

    She burst out laughing, apologizing as she disappeared through a door behind her. Lev shook his head inside the armor at the teasing.

    Susaine returned with two cubes that shone to Lev''s mana perception, indicating intricate enchantments. She put both of them on the counter before explaining.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.

    "This is a fire converter, the simplest and cheapest," She pointed at the orange cube, very clearly painted to represent the element. "It will cost you a gold coin, no haggling. The price is as fair as it gets."

    Lev nodded for her to go on. "This one is more complex but still one of the most common converters. It will cost you three golds. The total comes out to four golds. That is a pretty decent price for two 87% efficiency converters."

    The price was well within his inflated budget, so he picked up the orange and pale blue converters and put down four gold coins.

    Susaine smirked at the casual way a Classer was handling gold coins but made them vanish all the same. "Pleasure doing business. Will there be anything else?"

    "I was wondering if there''s anything I can do to make using them easier. Like a backpack where I can slot barriers to transfer mana into them?"

    Turns out there was something like that. It was a simple black backpack with slots for chargeable things. Most people usually used them for swords or shields to charge the cores or enchantments, but Lev easily found a version that fit his disks and arrows.

    There were four converter slots, with their output sides connected with eight charging slots. Four for disks and four for arrows. Lev could add two more converters in the future, probably wind and earth, but for now it was more than enough.

    Lev thanked her before crossing the inner gate again. The guards were familiar with the lone hunter with a mask, letting him pass without any identification.

    The expansive grassland stretched as far as he could see, now a much more familiar terrain. He didn''t sprint to the familiar rocky terrain but instead formed three disks before slotting them in the lightning mana slot.

    Feeding mana into the converter was easy, the input side of the cube standing out to his senses like a beacon. It devoured his mana like a hungry horse, charging up the output side at a slightly slower pace. The loss hurt a little but Lev had so much mana to spare now, it wasn''t even funny.

    The Wisdom Boost had increased his maximum mana to a ridiculous amount. The attribute boost increased his base Wisdom, which was in turn improved by the class benefits.

    The results were worth dying for.

    Where he had an extra large bucket, it was now a small tub of mana. The difference energized him every time he felt it, and this time was no different.

    The disks connected to the converter now had a switch in his mind, as if asking for permission to absorb the mana. Lev acquiesced, and it was like a valve opened in the barrier.

    The part about transfer depending upon his Mana Manipulation became obvious when Lev had to manually grab the lightning mana and shove it into the barrier. It took several minutes to get a hang of it, only because he had reached a high level of proficiency with the common Manipulation skill.

    The main difference between manipulating pure mana and an attuned type was simply accepting the change. Lev had to get a taste for the lightning mana for several minutes before grabbing it while keeping its erratic nature in check. It was much harder than manipulating barriers but that would change as his skill continued to level.

    Speaking of which.

    [

    Mana Manipulation - 2nd Level 1:

    The basic skill required to become a mage. The skill allows the user to exert control over mana more accurately.

    2nd Rank: The skill allows for manipulating mana types other than pure mana.

    ]

    Lev tsked. No bonuses? Even my Wisdom Boost came with an extra passive.

    Shrugging off the lame rank-up, Lev focused on shoving more mana inside the disk. The amount it could handle turned out to be little. Only after 1% of his total mana the disk was on the verge of destabilizing and exploding.

    Lev stopped pushing more mana into it and searched for a suitable target to test his shiny new skill. He sprinted to the rocky terrain with his eyes peeled open for any threats.

    He killed any normal goblins with just his standard disks before he stumbled upon a lone troll.

    Perfect.

    Lev slotted four arrows into the lightning converter, filling them to the brim. They held even less mana than the disks, requiring only 3% or so of his total to fill up all of them.

    The troll noticed him when he was a hundred or so meters away. Lev summoned his bow and grabbed the first lightning arrow. He smirked when he felt the arrow damage his armor slightly, depleting the mana stored in the projectile at a low pace.

    Not letting it go to waste, he aimed for the troll now only two dozen meters away. The arrow flew faster than before, courtesy of the property of lightning mana, before lodging itself in the monster''s thigh.

    The limb spasmed, effectively locking up the troll''s body as it fell. Lev grabbed another arrow before firing at its skull. The arrow penetrated the bone and just barely touched the squishy brain. That wouldn''t have killed the monster but the lightning mana discharge sure did.

    [

    You have slain [Troll - Level 90]

    ]

    Two shots. Lev noted with glee. The arrows were suddenly far deadlier with the simple addition of a mana type. He continued his sprint to the ivory terrain, firing and killing two orcs with the remaining two arrows.

    He could already kill orcs with a single disk or arrow so it wasn''t anything impressive. His range, however, was. With his archery skill on the cusp of ranking up, he could snipe orcs from nearly fifty meters away now. That was only made easier with the lightning mana increasing the speed of his projectiles.

    It wasn''t all good though. The element was violent by nature, requiring Lev to adjust and accelerate the arrows to the limit lest their flight path be disrupted.

    The ivory boulders were just as jagged and tall as he remembered but climbing them was second nature now. One leap took him to the top of a six-meter-tall boulder. Squinting his eyes, he found nothing except goblins. He turned toward The Pit, wondering if he should go closer to the cavity in the ground. He was much stronger after the recent skill rank-ups.

    Reality quickly reasserted itself, banishing the thought. First-threshold monsters became more and more common the further one went, and the guardian patrols also became less frequent further away from the training grounds. Whoever went to The Pit knew they wouldn''t be protected anymore.

    For several minutes, he found nothing. No goblins, orcs, trolls, or brutes. He was starting to get worried when he felt a cold prickly sensation on the back of his neck. Quickly dashing away as far as he could, it probably saved his barrier armor from getting breached. The blow still sent him spinning, sliding to a step after several meters. He identified the assailant.

    [Shade Prowler - ??]

    Oh, hello there. Nice to see another one of you guys. Lev mused while forming three disks and four arrows in the lightning converter slot. The monster gave him no more time to ready himself, pouncing on him without care.

    His increased Perception barely let him track the prowler''s movements, telling him in no uncertain terms that it was much stronger than the one he had fought before. This time, however, he was confident in his victory.

    Knowing they were barely more intelligent than a goblin, Lev darted to the side. The prowler flew past him, giving him ample time to keep his distance. His Wisdom boost was already paying dividends as he felt his mana barely dwindling. He could continue the game of cat and mouse for hours.

    For a few dozen seconds, Lev dashed around. He wasn''t scared of the monster, not truly, but the exercise helped in both training his movement and associated skills and getting used to the monster''s speed.

    True to his mentor''s words, the prowler had no new skills except camouflage and jaw strength. That wasn''t to say it was weak, the higher attributes and their increased effectiveness from the first evolution were enough to keep him on his toes.

    The next time it pounced, Lev side-stepped just wide enough to launch an overloaded kick at its underside. His foot sunk pretty deep into the soft underbelly, eliciting a growl that promised a gruesome death.

    Before it could pounce again, one of his disks reached its back leg. It failed to cut through the limb, leaving a deep gash but the lightning mana inside caused it to pause. That moment was long enough for another two disks to reach it yet the monster''s instincts let it dodge out of the way of both.

    Which gave Lev enough time to summon his bow and fire lightning arrows.

    The first connected with its shoulder, tripping the four-foot-tall monster and robbing the prowler of its mobility. Still, it recovered quicker than expected, dodging the next arrow aimed at its skull.

    Lev noticed it pounced slower after the two wounds, letting him dodge rather easily. Clearly, the monster was heavily dependent on its speed, which Lev could just barely deal with before due to his insane Perception.

    With that advantage almost gone, Lev waited for the prowler to pounce again. Jerking back at the last moment, he grabbed a lightning arrow and stabbed the prowler''s neck as it tried to bite his face off.

    The lightning mana stunned the monster thoroughly this time. Lev didn''t hesitate to grab another arrow from his backpack and stab it through the eye.

    [

    You have slain [Shade Prowler - Level 117]

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 89

    Incisive Edge has reached Level 9

    Whirling Rim has reached Level 9

    5 Free attribute points.

    ]

    Just a few levels made that much of a difference? Lev thought with a frown. He had fought the last prowler a month ago when he was much weaker.

    In comparison, his attributes were now much higher, his disks much sharper with an added mana type, his Intelligence and Perception along with his increasing skill levels improving his damage by leaps and bounds, yet it was all countered by, what, 11 more levels on the monster?

    That was a worrying prospect. Lev had always known that monsters grew stronger than humans at higher levels, but that much of a difference at Adept rank was larger than he expected.

 Chapter 21

    "That was quite something to watch."

    Lev''s heart leapt into his throat at the voice. He turned to see a smirking Alec, very much anticipating the reaction. Lev almost retorted with something snarky but decided against it.

    His mentor, perceptive as he was, instantly picked up on his hesitation. "What''s wrong?"

    Lev let out a breath at the concern evident in his voice. "Nothing, just learned that Inna isn''t really as friendly as she seemed."

    Alec grimaced. "Most Masters are like that. You need to risk your life repeatedly to evolve beyond Adept, and that changes people. But it''s not all bad, I''m sure you will find plenty of high-level people that don''t mind the casual treatment."

    Lev shrugged, showing he didn''t want to talk more about it. "Forget that. Why was this prowler so much stronger?"

    "Skill levels. Or so we assume. Since there''s no way to know for sure they are the most plausible explanation. The longer a monster lives the higher its skill levels are, which means it''s much stronger overall. It had been stalking you for a few minutes already, without you noticing."

    So, that usually happens at the First Gap for Dormant monsters, above level 90, but for First-Threshold monsters, it''s how long they have lived. What about the ancient Second-Threshold monsters and above that have been alive for centuries?

    Lev decided to ignore that line of thought. Thinking of scary monsters as a Classer would do him no favors. He glanced at his mentor.

    "Do you think this one has a core?"

    He only got a raised eyebrow in response. Lev groaned before cutting open the prowler''s chest with a disk. Blood and innards spilled out with a foul smell, almost making him puke then and there. Moving away, he closed his eyes and took deep breaths to calm his heaving stomach, barely keeping his breakfast down.

    His suffering was rewarded with a small dark grey orb inside the gore, which he gingerly dragged out with his disk. His mentor, ever the nice guy, picked it with his barriers and washed it with summoned water before handing it to Lev.

    I need to get some form of a water generator for myself as well. Thirst has been a little problem with my increased constitution but I refuse to get my hands bloody.

    Lev couldn''t feel the texture or temperature of the core through his barrier armor so he just examined how it looked. The beady little thing was half the size of a tennis ball, dark grey with no other notable features. It contained a decent amount of mana, less than his total, but still more than he would''ve expected from a monster that didn''t use any spells.

    Or maybe it did? Is the stealth an active skill that costs mana? Or maybe the dash was.

    "How much would this go for?" Lev asked, curious about the core market.

    "That core is borderline useless. It can be grounded into core dust for different pastes but that''s about it. Someone could make a nice stealthy cloak for a Classer with it but people don''t use cores for making Classer equipment. Not worth the mana expenditure and physical effort, sometimes both depending on the crafter."

    Lev blinked at the depressing answer and identified the core.

    [

    Shade Prowler Core - Common

    The core of a juvenile Shade Prowler. Can be used in various crafting professions.

    ]

    It really is useless. Lev thought with a snort. "So, it won''t sell?"

    Alec grinned. "Someone would probably buy it for 5 Silver out of pity. People don''t shy away from helping Classers along."

    Lev chortled at that, storing the core anyway. It was his first drop, and that had much more value than a few silver coins.

    "Did you get it?" Alec asked after a few seconds of silence.

    "I did," Lev exclaimed, the core entirely forgotten. "It feels so good. Every single point of Wisdom gives so much mana, I''m half tempted to put all my points in it."

    His mentor let out a breath. Lev realized he was probably worried about not finding the requirement for the boost. Lev getting it proved what they were missing, a soul robust enough to handle it. He didn''t doubt that everyone would be scrambling to find resources and treasures that strengthened the soul if something like that even existed.

    I wonder if they would work on me. Lev mused, thinking of additional General Skill slots or perhaps something new that no human had ever seen before.

    "What percent?"

    "20%, same as the first rank passive. Thank Monarch the second rank counts the first rank levels as well." Lev said with a grin. "Free 10% more Wisdom."

    His mentor shook his head lightly with a smile. "That is little compared to what you will have later on. Specialty skills always improve during an evolution in some way. Make sure to not let Constitution lag behind, otherwise casting will become very painful very quickly."

    Lev nodded seriously at that. He could feel the small streams of mana that left through his arms when he charged the barriers with lightning. It wouldn''t be long before the amount of mana would overwhelm his constitution and make the endeavor painful.

    "So, what brings you here today?" Lev asked casually, now moving on to find more monsters to level his skills.

    "To warn you," Alec began, no hint of humor left in his voice. "There will be a huge wave soon, better work on your archery skill and focus on increasing your range."

    "I won''t be allowed on the ground?" Lev frowned. His disks were great for clearing out hordes.

    "You will be if you request it, but you still classify as a mage for good reason. By now, most warriors at your level easily outperform you in close combat, so it will be wiser to support them using your disks and arrows from the backline."

    "I seeˇ­ and how do we know a wave is coming?"

    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    "The mana levels are rising," Alec stated with a frown. "It''s not noticeable because of how spread out the phenomenon is but most of it coalesces inside the pit. The majority of the monsters will be above the first threshold, so I needed to warn you first. I doubt you are close to the evolution."

    Lev was starting to get a bad feeling now. "How long do I have?"

    "Few days at most."

    Wellˇ­ time to do what I was already doing.

    His mentor vanished after that. Lev looked for the tallest spot he could find. That turned out to be a really large boulder. Two jumps took him to the top of the ten-meter-tall piece of jagged stone. Squinting his eyes, Lev took a moment to marvel at the improvements to his eyesight.

    Perception let him decipher feedback from light more clearly, letting him see much further. He could see for hundreds of meters like it was closer, and much further beyond where details were blurry.

    Summoning his bow, he located the closest monsters. They turned out to be unlucky goblins, the monsters he had killed by the thousands now.

    Lev estimated the closest group was nearly fifty meters away, barely visible through a cluster of boulders. Taking aim, he predictably missed. The arrow impacted several meters to the left, and Lev was reminded that wind was a factor at longer distances.

    The monsters thankfully remained clueless, letting him try several times. It took a few more shots to properly account for the wind, and he finally hit a headshot after twelve tries. The death of their fellow monster alerted the rest instantly, and Lev dealt with them quickly, more interested in his skill rank up.

    [

    Arcane Archery has reached 2nd Level 1

    ]

    [

    Arcane Archery - 2nd Level 1:

    Time and time again, you missed the target without ever giving up. Now, you have achieved an adequate level of skill to qualify for this General Skill.

    This skill makes your aim steadier, stance firmer, and bow deadlier. Extension of the class skills Arcane Barrier Manipulation, Incisive Edge, and Whirling Rim, this skill takes up 4 General Skill slots.

    The arrows formed from this skill retain the resilience bonus from the class skill.

    The arrows formed from this skill retain the speed bonus from the class skill and receive an extra static 25% speed.

    The arrows formed from this skill retain the penetration bonus from the class skill.

    The arrows formed from this skill may retain the spinning speed of their arrowheads for 3 seconds after firing for extra mana cost.

    2nd Rank: The arrows formed by this skill are easier to manipulate with your mind, letting you further enhance their speed. Different mana types are stored more stably inside.

    ]

    Really? That is quite lackluster compared to the original skill. Lev thought with pursed lips. The skill was really good already, so the rank-up wasn''t too disappointing. Still, a man could dream.

    The benefit left unsaid was increased proficiency that came with leveling the skill, now a step beyond what he could do before. He looked for new knowledge, now knowing how to aim higher for longer shots and track moving targets better.

    Finding a troll only took a few minutes, the head of the huge monster visible above most of the boulders. He didn''t notice it looked larger than the usual trolls, most of its body hidden behind an ivory stone. Out of sight nearly 50 meters away, Lev filled an arrow with lightning mana before shooting it.

    The troll, somehow, sensed the incoming threat and ducked just in time. Lev had to do a double-take when the troll jumped atop a boulder to look for the hidden assailant. Its eyes found Lev the same instant his Identify went off.

    That was the furthest away it had ever happened.

    [Troll Warrior - ??]

    Fuck.

    He quickly slotted four disks and arrows into the converter slots, dumping mana into them as fast as his skill allowed. The troll jumped, covering a fourth of the distance in a single leap. Lev was now very much regretting shooting carelessly as he darted backward but it was all in vain.

    The troll devoured the remaining distance with brutish grace. Lev saw its fist blurring forward and hitting him squarely in the chest in the time it took to reinforce his barrier armor with the 2nd rank skill effect.

    The barrier armor shattered like glass without providing any resistance as Lev was sent flying. The much tougher Illusion armor held, stopping the punch with a small dent.

    Lev could barely notice the ground passing beneath him before he slammed into a boulder. The impact shook him to the core as the taste of blood overwhelmed his senses. His dizzy brain registered how little the illusion armor had done to protect him from the physical impact, only stopping the punch but not the force behind it.

    Colliding with a boulder at high velocity didn''t help his bearings either. He reformed his barrier armor as fast as he could, which cost him several precious seconds. His heartbeat thundered in his ears, adrenaline keeping the pain at bay.

    Where is it? I can''t feel or hear its footsteps.

    Getting up, Lev stared at the confusing scene before him with wide, disbelieving eyes. He couldn''t track its movements because there were no movements. The troll''s head was resting a few meters away from him, cleanly separated from its body.

    Behind it, Inna was looking at the corpse with a frown. She glanced at Lev, who could only stand upright because his movements depended on his mind and not his body.

    "This wasn''t supposed to be here," Inna explained, her frown deepening. "First-threshold monsters spawning here is not a good sign. Do you know what that means?"

    "The incoming wave?"

    She nodded. "It''s gonna be worse than we expected. Stay here, I''ll round up all the Classers to prevent any accidents."

    She vanished before Lev could even think of saying anything. Doing as told, he sat down and inspected his body.

    No broken bones or limbs. Thank Monarch for the Illusion armor or I would''ve probably died.

    As the adrenaline died down, pain wracked his entire body. It felt like, well, colliding with a boulder. He couldn''t suppress a chuckle as the panic and fear fully dissipated.

    The sound of footsteps announced the presence of two Classer teams. One with the healer he had met before, and another team that he hadn''t seen before. The healer, a young boy, nodded toward Lev.

    Lev nodded back, like the hidden rulebook of men dictated, before the healer frowned. It took longer than Lev expected for the boy to realize he was probably injured under that armor. The thin cracks on the boulder from the flying impact also painted a clearer picture.

    "You okay?" The boy asked. Lev tried really hard to not laugh.

    Yeah, I just got hit by a train. No biggie.

    "Sort of. Just bruised all over." Lev motioned to the troll''s corpse. He could almost see the gear turning in the boy''s head before the healer''s eyes widened.

    "What level was that?" He breathed out, eyes wide and a tinge of fear apparent in his voice.

    "Don''t know," Lev answered. "It was above the first threshold."

    The healer nodded dumbly, casting a spell at Lev. He blinked when the skill was blocked by Lev''s barrier armor.

    Lev dismissed it. "Try again,"

    The skill worked this time. Lev observed in fascination as a distinctly sweet mana type entered his body, autonomously searching for all the damaged areas. Like a balm, it soothed all the bruises and little injuries.

    It was surprisingly painful.

    Lev grunted at the unexpected sting, bearing with it for a few more seconds. He let out a sigh of relief when it finally passed. Summoning his armor and getting up, he moved around to look for any lingering aches but found none.

    That worked pretty well. How does my Constitution come into play with healing?

    Keeping the question to himself, Lev held out his hand. "Thanks, that saved me a lot of discomfort."

    The boy beamed. "No problem! It only cost me a bit of mana. My name''s Ben," He said, shaking Lev''s hand.

    "Lev."

    "Thanks for the help the other day. We weren''t overwhelmed but it definitely made the whole ordeal more manageable." Ben smiled.

    "No worries," Lev replied. He was starting to notice his lack of social skills as nothing else came to mind. Lev simply went with, "Have you guys been here long?"

    Ben waved his team over. "Not that long. We came here three months ago. Below level 20, we only fought a few groups per day. The essence gain was pretty good but we didn''t want our skills to fall behind."

    Must be nice to be so patient. Lev thought with a mental scoff. I can''t wait to evolve.

    "I see. Will you not introduce the rest of your team?" Lev quipped, throwing the ball into Ben''s court again.

    How to deflect interactions 101.

    "Oh, of course. The warriors are Elmer and Dylan and the mage is Tessia."

    Elmer and Dylan were very obviously brothers, both trying not to look at his mask. Tessia, the blonde fire mage, was openly staring.

    Feast your eyes on Alec''s creation. Made even more ferocious by me wearing it. Definitely. Thank Monarch they can''t see the ten-year-old under the armors.

    "Lev, Iron rank and currently solo."

    "We saw," Tessia remarked. "Running around with those constructs of yours. Are you a crafter?"

    "No, I just use barriers to fight," Lev ignored the slightly entitled tone. "Has worked pretty well for me."

    Dylan gave the fire mage a look before stepping up. "Thanks for the assistance back then. Orcs were still a bit much for us," He said with a smile. "Given how easily you dealt with them, are you waiting to evolve?"

    Lev thought for a moment before replying. "I''m at the First Gap right now, so no, not yet." That was close to the truth, with Lev being one level away.

    "That''s pretty grand," Elmer interjected, "but do you know why we''re here?"

    Elmer was the least enthused to be here, away from the action.

    "Something about a wave forming," Lev waved a hand, announcing that casually.

    They all paled at once. Several hasty and nervous looks were shared as Lev tried to keep himself in check.

    Do not laugh.

    "We should leave," Tessia suggested, eyes wide.

    The rest of the team hastily nodded like chickens. "Yeah, we are not ready to stand against a wave," Ben nodded, glancing at Lev.

    "Why are you still here then?" Elmer asked, the previous attitude forgotten.

    "I still need to level a few skills," Lev replied in an amused tone. That reaction was not unexpected, but it still told him how different he was.

    The other Classer team heard his explanation too, and their reaction was similar. Where they wanted to leave as fast as they could, Lev wanted to become as strong as he could to stand against waves in the future.

    Inna showed up after a few minutes. She smirked lightly at the antsy Classers pacing around and smiled when she saw Lev just leaning against a boulder.

    "Seems like someone already explained the situation," She said looking at Lev. "That makes it easier. If you wish to leave, I''ll clear a path for you."

    The Classer teams didn''t miss a beat in agreeing, leaving a lone Lev behind to wait for Inna''s return. He wasn''t going to risk running into another first-threshold monster by himself.

 Patreon Launch

    My Patreon is live if you wish to read 15 chapters ahead. Only one tier so far but I will add more as time goes on. The number of chapters will also increase.

    If you''re enjoying the story, a nice rating would be appreciated. I''m still learning the ins and outs of writing so feedback will also help me out a lot.

    I guess this also lets me talk about the current state of the story. No doubt most of you have noticed that the MC is currently pretty strong and not ending every fight half-dead. That will change. Not in the way that every fight will end with MC clinging to life by a single thread. If something gets him to that point, he''s just dead. Fights will definitely take more out of him as time goes on but he will remain reasonably OP.

    Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

    That''s all. Have fun reading, I''ll try to keep a 7/week schedule for as long as I can.

 Chapter 22

    Inna appeared quietly before Lev, looking at him without any particular expression.

    "You sure you want to stay here?"

    "For as long as I reasonably can, yes," Lev replied calmly. "I need to get several skills to second rank before the wave."

    She tilted her head slightly. "You''ve been running around killing everything with first-rank skills?"

    Whoops.

    "Some," Lev deflected, though he could tell she didn''t believe him.

    Inna shrugged. "Fine, keep your secrets. How long are you going to stay for today? Don''t forget, if a wave forms I will carry you back whether you like it or not."

    "I''m not suicidal," Lev said curtly.

    Not paying the guardian any more attention, he started looking for new targets. Preferably dormant monsters, not trolls that moved too fast for him to track, let alone fight back.

    He picked up his bow that had been dropped during the collision, slotting four new arrows into the converter on his back. The previous disks and arrows had disintegrated, which was new. The lightning mana stored inside cracked the barrier constructs if Lev didn''t keep them in check.

    60% or so mana left. Enough for a few prowlers after the Wisdom Boost.

    He didn''t let his mind linger on how close he had come to death. If Inna was a few seconds late he would''ve been pulped inside the tough armor. His power was far from enough to kill something so strong and known for its regeneration, so all his mana pool wouldn''t have made a difference.

    The points in Constitution would''ve mattered little. The troll surely had a bunch of passives and actives increasing its strength versus Lev''s simple attribute points. His frail body wouldn''t have stood a chance.

    The sight of a fist the size of his head blurring at his chest kept replaying in Lev''s mind. He tried to ignore it, to focus on gathering more strength to prevent the same from happening again. Yet it wouldn''t go away.

    He didn''t realize when his breathing turned ragged or how he had stopped moving. His little limbs inside the illusion armor were shaking, and it took all his willpower to not give in to the terror.

    I always knew death was the inevitable outcome. Lev thought with a mental chuckle, the sound strained even in his mind. This is what everyone has to go through, and why being a part of a team is not just recommended but mandatory. The numbers might''ve let them escape.

    He gulped, noting how dry his throat was. The prospect of staying solo was losing more and more of its luster, especially now after seeing how strong a First-threshold monster was.

    There was no foolproof way to prevent accidents, so they could only be best mitigated by a team having your back.

    Lev balled his small hands into fists inside the illusion armor. He had entertained his delusions of a one-man army and glorious deeds long enough. In a little over half a decade, he would meet his team. Before that, he would make sure to learn and observe. Ensure that when they became a team, they would be the strongest to have ever existed.

    The first step was to ensure that he became as strong as he possibly could. He would earn the trust of the Hunters Guild, guide new hunters, and see how everyone trained. Only by learning the basics would he be able to teach them.

    His class and the remaining time would ensure that he would be far higher in level than his new team. As Classers, they would most likely look up to him. Lev might just be a Master by then, or at least he would do his best to be, which would only make him even more of a role model to follow.

    He had to be prepared.

    ****

    "How are you feeling?" Orianna asked, leaning against the outer wall border next to a little girl. They both gazed silently at the distant forest, a weekly routine they had developed last year.

    "Better," the girl replied, her tone betraying no emotion.

    Orianna glanced at Amelia, faster than the girl could notice, and sighed imperceptibly. She was one of the oldest kids in the Orphanage, eleven years of age. With silver hair and golden eyes, her status as the daughter of a famous Master team, and the sheer talent that ran in their bloodline, Amelia should''ve been destined for greatness.

    The world hadn''t agreed, taking away her parents and their friends in one fell swoop. Four years ago, one of the most dangerous hordes ever seen had formed inside The Grand Forest, close to its edges.

    Diviners and Scouts had almost lost their collective minds, reporting a huge wave of only second and third-threshold monsters. Three Exalted and nearly two hundred Masters had been mobilized, a significant portion of all the Masters, yet they still lost over two dozen people. Amelia''s parents, aunts, and, uncles were sadly among the fallen. That had seen the girl admitted to Orianna''s orphanage.

    Who should''ve been a bright kid with an ever brighter future ahead of her, she now creeped out even most adults with her silver hair and dead, hollow golden eyes. Not Orianna though. She only felt her heart bleed at the girl''s misfortune. Just as it did for every other orphan.

    "Amelia," Orianna began, steeling herself. "Are you sure of your decision?" She was referring to her unyielding desire to become an adventurer, to go beyond the plains and uncover the secrets of Monarch.

    The girl didn''t reply for several seconds before she nodded slightly. Orianna waited for her to say something else but no words were forthcoming.

    I hope she agrees with this, Orianna sighed again in her mind.

    "You, Jack, and Kayla will need another person on your team," This time the girl reacted, turning to her with a glint of anger in her cold eyes. "I know you don''t want someone else to join your friend group but it''s required. I will not allow you to go out without a full team either." Orianna stated, her tone final.

    The girl held her stare for several seconds before looking away. "I doubt anyone would be able to keep up with me," She said with a frown.

    Got her. Orianna thought, hiding her smile.

    "You don''t have to worry about that," Orianna replied. "If anything, it will be you having a hard time keeping up."This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

    Amelia frowned, but she didn''t question her. She knew Orianna only wanted the best for her, nothing else. "How can you be so sure?"

    "Hmm, well, I oversaw some of his early light training," Orianna said, smiling at the memories. "Wait here, I''ll bring Jack and Kayla."

    Ten minutes later, they all silently observed the scenery. WhiteFall for all its dangers and status as a frontier Great City, was surrounded by some breathtaking vistas.

    "Do you guys also not want a fourth member?" Orianna questioned Jack and Kayla.

    "Nah, I am completely fine with it. Have known for a long time that we will need another person to reach the minimum requirement to form a team," Jack said, subtly glancing at Amelia.

    Orianna could tell despite his young age that Jack would grow up to be tall and muscular, someone you could rely on in the time of need.

    "What about you?" Orianna looked at Kayla. The girl was perhaps the most normal in terms of looks, with black hair and brown eyes.

    "I do not mind," Kayla shrugged. "Only because I trust you to find someone who will not hold us back or be a bad fit."

    Orianna raised a brow. "Why do you think I''ll be finding a member for you?" She had only talked about that with Amelia.

    Kayla grinned. "You wouldn''t be asking us otherwise."

    Clever girl.

    "He''s currently living with Alec Zar, who I''m sure you are aware of. The boy has the drive and dreams larger than Monarch, but he does not want to work under anyone," Orianna held their gazes. "Just like you guys."

    Jack slowly nodded. "I see, but will he even fit in our team?"

    "Quite nicely," Orianna replied. "He plans on becoming an offensive barrier mage, providing both damage at range and support."

    "Why are you so sure?" Amelia asked, continuing when Orianna didn''t say anything. "That he will be strong enough to keep up?"

    Orianna raised a brow. "Tell me, Amelia, do you feel a connection to fire?"

    The girl nodded once, slowly.

    "I believe he also has a similar connection with pure mana. Many call it an affinity, found in those who are exceptionally well-suited for a single element. The System ensures anyone can wield any element, but some are just born more talented. Like the two of you.

    "I''m not here to hype up your future teammate," Orianna chuckled. "I simply wanted to inform you that he has agreed to join you guys when everyone has their class. Besides, it would do you well to know about the scale of his ambitions already. You wouldn''t want to be outdone now would you?" She finished with a light smirk, the expression turning into a grin when she saw the determination in their eyes.

    ****

    Lev took steadying breaths as he aimed at the distant troll''s head. He was testing arrows imbued with fire mana.

    The result was interesting, to say the least.

    The second rank of his archery skill made it easier to handle different mana types, letting him aim with little trouble. The magic happened at impact. Fire mana remained somewhat stable till something roused it, which in the case of an arrow was finding the target.

    Lev had watched with childish excitement as each of his arrows exploded, their force enough to kill an orc with a single hit to any vital area.

    The next obvious test was attempting to kill a troll in one hit. Their regeneration wouldn''t let him kill them with a body shot, so he was forced to aim for the head.

    Hidden behind a tall ivory boulder, Lev waited till the troll wasn''t looking in his direction, slowly shambling away. When it turned its back to him fully, Lev loosed.

    He could feel the effect of his 2nd rank archery skill, small as it was. It felt like the arrow grabbed his mental focus, guiding it to further enhance its own speed. The effect wasn''t groundbreaking, only increasing the speed by a small amount.

    The troll didn''t even get a chance to react to the now too-fast arrow as it pierced the monster''s skull. It stayed whole for an instant after penetrating before exploding, showering the area in bone and brain bits.

    [

    You have slain [Troll - Level 88]

    ]

    Neat.

    All in all, Lev was happy with the skill. There was a lot of power packed into the first rank already, and he was hoping it would be integrated into his class skills at first evolution, freeing up four slots.

    Talk about wishful thinking. He snickered, mostly at himself.

    The possibility was there but it would require him to choose an entirely new path that changed the general skill enough to fit into his class.

    The evolutions were a mystery. The system didn''t allow humans to remember what happened during it, but some people came back with tidbits of knowledge. Nothing revolutionary but they confirmed some theories.

    Lev had his questions already planned. Two of them, both simple and concise.

    ''How do I increase the chances of survival for Humanity as a whole'' and ''Is continued survival on Monarch possible?''.

    Everything else would come with time, but those two questions were what mattered the most.

    Let''s not get lost in what-ifs. I need to get my last two active skills and three passive skills to second rank.

    The active skills would be easy enough, both currently at level 9. Heavy Lifting would be an issue, requiring Lev to do some acrobatics and dash around. Nimble would follow suit, only requiring him to move around faster and better.

    Right now, his "dashes" were limited to him grabbing his armor and throwing himself in a direction. He was getting rather proficient in it, too. But the skill demanded him to empower his jumps and leaps instead. Only then would he be able to bring out his full potential.

    Lev glanced around him, looking for Inna. She was scouting for once, keeping an eye out on the distant horizons.

    Seeing she was still close by, he summoned four disks and slotted them in the lightning converter slots. Fire mana would do nothing for the disks, for he needed them to stay whole and be faster. Lightning mana gave them an innate speed boost, and also did more damage upon contact. Fire mana would just explode on impact, not letting the disks properly cut with their spinning power.

    The number of monsters was surely increasing. In the next ten minutes, he went through the lightning mana and killed many more goblins and orcs with just regular disks. He seemed to find something at every turn, the boulders hiding far more adversaries than before.

    It didn''t come as a surprise when he heard a feline growl behind him. Lev had noticed the prowler only a minute ago when it was already stalking him. He waited for it to reveal itself as a plan formed in his mind.

    Heavy Lifting doesn''t specify how I need to handle weight. Opportunity should level from this too.

    Lev turned around, already waiting with four lightning-infused disks. The prowler showed no signs of intelligence, pouncing on him just as the previous prowlers did. He jumped back, avoiding getting pinned and observing the speed of the monster.

    It was weaker than the last prowler but not by much. Lev nodded to himself, ready to act. When the prowler dashed to claw off his face, Lev was waiting for it with a crouched stance. He sprung forward, feeling the monster''s putrid breath warming his armor as the jaws missed by a few centimeters, and wrapped his hands around its neck.

    Lev locked the fingers of his hands as the monster thrashed around, inadvertently helping him get on its back. With four disks floating beside him, Lev stabilized himself before he pulled at the neck with all his might in a jerky motion.

    The bones of its neck didn''t break, and neither did he tear its head off. The monster paused, its thrashing halted for a full second. Its roar of anger washed over Lev, the first time he''d heard the sound from a prowler. Yet the same action turned out to be its undoing.

    Its roar was disrupted halfway as two disks cut into its neck. The lightning mana caused the aborted roar to turn into a yelp, the monster now redoubling its effort to thrash around. It didn''t seem to be impaired by the blood gushing out of its slit throat as Lev shook from all the frantic flailing.

    He held on with his mind and physical arms strained as the Prowler rolled on the ground, not quite damaging Lev as the impact was absorbed by the barrier armor.

    Seeing the human stubborn holding on, the insanity-addled monster acted upon the first idea that came to mind.

    OH SHI-

    Lev hastily tried to release his hold, the interlocked fingers requiring more time than he had. He couldn''t manage it in time, slamming face-first into a boulder with the prowler.

    The barrier armor absorbed the impact, but Lev was still rattled inside. The impact seemed to travel through his entire body, stunning him a little.

    The prowler had it much worse. Its already damaged neck was barely attached to its torso, almost torn off by the impact. Its head was also twisted, and Lev stood up and watched as the light left its eyes.

    [

    You have slain [Shade Prowler - Level 110]

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 90

    Arcane Brawling has reached 2nd Level 2

    Opportunity has reached Level 9

    Heavy Lifting has reached Level 6

    Heavy Lifting has reached Level 7

    Nimble has reached Level 8

    Barrier Armor has reached 2nd Level 2

    5 Free attribute points

    ]

    He read the notifications in mute satisfaction, happy with how the plan had turned out. It had been derailed the moment the monster started thrashing around, making him realize that it was too strong to wrestle. The original plan was to pin it to the ground, which was swiftly adapted into providing an opportunity for his disks.

    Now at Level 90, it would be the final period of getting class levels before they stopped entirely. He would only grow stronger through skill levels, which he disliked. Improving only one aspect of his class at a time sucked, but he couldn''t do anything about it.

    Skills worked off of base attributes, which came from leveling. He wanted to be done with grinding skills as fast as he could, to evolve and start gaining more power.

    Already he had to face a wave without evolving, which was both ideal and undesirable. His skills would grow rapidly because of the danger, which meant the chances of accidents would also be sky-high.

    Similar thoughts occupied his mind as Lev solemnly looked at the sky, wondering if he would ever be strong enough. Not for anything specific, but to be free of these endless hordes and do anything he desired without giving up his morals. The sky didn''t answer, of course, so he turned his attention to the next monster to hunt.

    Nobody was forcing him to stay there. Lev just couldn''t bring himself to sit idly when humanity could end at any given moment. The public was kept in the dark about the exact circumstance but it wasn''t difficult to guess why.

    Most of the Exalted were rarely ever seen in public, and majority of the Masters were always busy out of sight. That was enough to know they simply didn''t have the time to be elsewhere, busy with whatever Monarch was constantly throwing at humanity.

 Chapter 23

    Lev squinted at the prowler''s corpse.

    To harvest or not to harvest.

    In the end, he just left it where it was. The core was pretty worthless to him, and it would be bloody. He didn''t feel like washing it either.

    He summoned his status to check what else he needed to do.

    [

    Name: Lev

    Class: Arcane Sentinel - Level 90

    Titles: Reinforced Mind, Vast Soul, Youngest Prodigy, Goliath Slayer

    Attributes:

    Strength: 55

    Dexterity: 55

    Constitution: 155

    Intelligence: 205

    Wisdom: 200

    Perception: 155

    Class Skills:

    Arcane Barrier Manipulation - 2nd Level 1

    Incisive Edge - Level 9

    Whirling Rim - Level 9

    Barrier Armor - 2nd Level 2

    Opportunity - Level 9

    Nimble - Level 8

    Heavy Lifting - Level 7

    Needle Precision - 2nd Level 1

    General Skills:

    Mana Manipulation - 2nd Level 1

    Identify

    Arcane Brawling - 2nd Level 2

    Mana Perception - Level 1

    Arcane Archery - 2nd Level 1

    ]

    What a delightful amount of Wisdom, Lev mused with a smile. Looking at his skills, he had already summoned four disks to practice their respective skills. This time, he made two of them as thick as he feasibly could.

    They turned out to be two fingers wide and as wide as his arm. Not dissimilar to shields, Lev hoped they would be able to bear a lot of abuse given he repaired them instantly.

    Now that he had reached the first gap, he could use all skills in tandem without worrying about ever-increasing attributes. The goal was to make them all reach the second rank first before he would level them all simultaneously. Doing that before would have slowed down the rate of progress for each skill, which was undesirable.

    Blocking projectiles and attacks would be the next step. It would train both his Opportunity skill and Barrier Manipulation. Being the shape of disks, he could also fashion them into sharp weapons on the fly.

    He dispatched goblins with practiced ease before a lone orc presented itself.

    [Orc - Level 71]

    Perfect.

    Lev brought forth two of his shields, the new bulky disks, and prepared to engage the orc. It rushed him with a roar, its single-minded focus not even registering the two sharp disks above.

    Seeing the monster rush in and not attacking it was a challenge but Lev managed to stay still with more than a little turmoil. Crossing his arms in front of him, he readied himself to prepare the attacks with his shields, prepared for the worst.

    The orc didn''t do anything unordinary, punching with all its might. Lev narrowed his eyes and sharpened his focus on the shield. The monster''s fist connected with a dull thud, stopped in its tracks.

    While it couldn''t break the shield, the feedback from blocking the attack was very uncomfortable. It felt like someone pressing a specific part of your mind, not painful but something entirely unfamiliar.

    Still, he couldn''t hold back a grin. The orc wasn''t deterred, or maybe it simply didn''t feel anything besides anger and continued smacking the shield.

    Lev observed the impacts through his connection to the barrier. Dashing backward to keep the shield in front of the orc and avoid getting grabbed, he tried to feel how the barrier was damaged. Each hit cost him a small burst of mana to counteract the force, but the rapid punches from the orc barely took more than his natural regeneration.

    The impact from the punches also seemed to affect the entire thing. The area of impact was obviously the most damaged yet a small part of the force was transferred to the rest of the shield.

    For the first few punches, the shield held admirably. Then hair-thin cracks appeared in it before it slowly started to crumble. Lev started to fix the damage at that point.

    Following the guidance of his Barrier Manipulation, he pulled all the new cracks together and commanded them to rejoin. The barrier turned back to being whole seamlessly as if it had never been touched in the first place. Done with the testing, he killed the orc after a few minutes.

    ˇ­Why did I never do this before? Barriers are best at stopping stuffˇ­

    Lev waved away the thought. He had wanted to rush his skills to second rank fast, and what he had done would''ve been impossible without high Intelligence. It showed just how far he had progressed in a short time.

    Next step, test it against a troll. Obviously.

    Lev chuckled to himself. Most people wouldn''t dare challenge a troll alone at a similar level. Yet here he was, testing his skills on them for everything new.

    The next test subj- troll found him first, rounding a corner with hollow eyes. They went into rage-fueled focus the moment they landed on Lev.

    It was holding a large wooden club, which was not a good start for the testing. Or maybe the punches were just as strong, he was about to find out.The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    He still hadn''t forgotten his first encounter with a troll though. Lev immediately dashed back, charging four lightning arrows. The troll rushed him with its massive strides, swinging its club at the two barriers blocking its path.

    Lev positioned both of the shields to be hit at once, dividing the impact. It felt like someone had dropped an anvil on his brain as the club was stopped, only cracking shields at the point of contact.

    Lev shook his head, focusing back on the fight. It amazed him how the intense feedback still didn''t cause any pain, but he wouldn''t look a gift horse in the mouth either.

    He hastily repaired the two shields as the troll went to town on them. They cracked every time, yet by the time the troll was ready for another attack they were already whole.

    Lev''s apprehension was slowly fading as he watched the troll smack the shields like an idiot. Roars of anger joined in, doing nothing to shatter them faster.

    He enjoyed the show for a full minute before he had to wonder, what was going on in the troll''s head. Its focus never wavered, attacking relentlessly. It didn''t seem to tire either though that made sense. Trolls were known for their regeneration which probably had a positive effect on their total stamina.

    Deciding he had enough, Lev fired a lightning arrow at its skull.

    [

    You have slain [Troll - Level 85]

    ]

    It''s nice to see no class levels. I wonder if I can brute force all skill levels to the end of second rank before hitting level 100 by fighting lower level monsters.

    The idea had merit, and Lev would''ve gone for it if it wasn''t for the approaching wave. He probably only had a few hours before he would be forced to stay inside The Pit, away from the rampaging hordes.

    As if summoned by the thought, the world changed. There was no visual indication but it felt like reality had just turned hostile. Gazing upon the puny survivors, bipedal nuisances that needed to be eradicated. Lev felt like he was standing in the eye of a storm, except there were no winds or rain. It was all just as silent as the moment before, yet it couldn''t have been more different.

    What is happening?

    Lev didn''t hesitate and started running towards the inner gate at full speed. He took a moment to appreciate how fast he could move now. The sprint lasted for all of two minutes before Lev was suddenly flying through the air.

    He didn''t panic, familiar with travel through the Bubble. His mentor was piloting it as usual, yet he looked deep in thought, a frown on his face. Lev turned to where Alec was looking, finding himself facing the pit''s entrance.

    "Did something go wrong?" Lev looked around, finding the rapidly passing grassland to be the same. There were more monsters than normal but that wouldn''t warrant such a reaction.

    Alec''s voice was carefully neutral as he replied. "Waves do not form this fast."

    Lev took a moment to digest that, no closer to an explanation afterward. The Pit approached rapidly at their speed. From above, Lev got to witness controlled chaos. Everyone was on the move, their purposes different yet they all moved with the same stable gait. They knew what was coming, and they were aware of how to do their part.

    They landed in front of Golden Basilisk. Lev was led inside without stopping, and before long they were in Alec''s suite. His mentor summoned a long black bow and wordlessly tossed it to Lev.

    It looked much more modern than almost everything Lev had seen on Monarch. Like the type of compound bows that could be seen on earth. It was made of dark brown wood and was enchanted to the brim.

    [Dark Birch Bow - Common]

    [Created by a Master crafter for a Classer, this bow is of exceptional make and is designed to help hit enemies at range.

    Enchantments: Focus, Empower]

    Lev almost whistled but held himself back. Glancing at Alec, he waited for an explanation.

    "I would''ve asked you to buy an upgrade tonight but the schedule has to be moved forward," Alec focused his full attention on Lev. "Rest and recover your mana. Waves usually last for hours if not days. You need as much mana as you can get."

    "How much did it cost?" Lev interjected. Getting an answer, he tossed two gold coins to Alec who accepted them without a reaction.

    "So, I''m assuming things aren''t exactly going as planned?"

    "Yes," his mentor sighed. "The wave formed both faster and stronger than expected, not that we know why they formed in the first place. You simply won''t survive beyond the wall, and will have to focus on providing support from the on top of it."

    Lev looked down, not exactly mad or disheartened but somewhat disappointed. Both in himself for not evolving faster and at how fast the wave had formed. It wasn''t reasonable, he knew, but he wasn''t progressing fast enough for his liking.

    What am I rushing for?

    It was a question he had asked himself several times yet found no answer. There was simply the urge to grow stronger, almost unnatural in its persistence despite reassuring himself that the world wouldn''t end even if he didn''t progress at the blazing pace he was going.

    "Most Classers take at least two years to evolve," Alec''s voice broke him out of his reverie. "They take their time, both with their skills and attributes and best familiarize themselves before challenging the First Gap."

    "I''m not most people I guess," Lev muttered, not completely convinced himself. He resolved to look into the desire to grow stronger later. It was leading his thoughts in a dangerous direction, one filled with constant battles.

    "Be as it may, you need to be prepared. How long till your mana recovers fully?"

    "Six or so hours."

    "Rest then, and stay here."

    Lev didn''t have an issue with that and jumped onto his bed after getting out of the illusion armor. His mentor put up a barrier to separate them, probably crafting some last-minute things.

    The bed was just as cozy as he remembered, and sleep claimed him easily despite the tense situation.

    ****

    Each settlement of Monarch had a monster bell, regardless of size. The bell was simple in its purpose, to warn the residents of an approaching wave. It was rung based on how large and dangerous the imminent wave would be, simplified into ten chimes.

    One chime was for simple waves that low-level combatants along with a few higher-level people to watch over them could easily deal with. On the other end of the spectrum, seven and eight chimes signified a dangerous situation, urging the non-combatants to find shelter. Nine and ten chimes were reserved for a calamity, a wave so large that a breach was a likely outcome.

    Lev sat upright as the first chime spread throughout The Pit. It took a few moments for his bleary mind to decipher the ringing in his ears.

    Grogginess sleep vanished in record time when the second chime came through. Each chime was separated by ten seconds for the sake of clarity.

    Lev washed his face and summoned the illusion armor before jumping inside. His mentor entered the suite with the third chime and motioned for Lev to follow him.

    The fourth chime came and went, and so did the fifth. The bubble carried them up, and Lev stepped onto the wall of the city as the sixth chime sounded. Night was in full swing as two bright moons shone above, their light unhindered by the cloudless night. Waiting in tense silence, Lev prayed to whatever deity was watching over them consciously for the first time. It felt right for some reason.

    The distant yet nearby scaled god heard his prayer but only wished him good fortune.

    The seventh chime thundered in the ears of all the defenders. It was the threshold of every disastrous wave. Casualties were guaranteed.

    The morale faltered slightly as the eighth chime rolled through. Most of the defenders, Adept rank and above, had closed their eyes.

    Seconds passed with painful slowness. Everyone held their breath but the next chime never came. There was a collective sigh of relief, accompanied by both smiles and determination.

    Lev would be relieved too if it wasn''t for Alec''s deep frown. Somehow, he didn''t seem to be happy that the wave wasn''t any worse.

    Lev didn''t get to question him before the Bubble wrapped around them. There was no visual indication, the only sign being the absence of sound from the surroundings.

    "Should I leave?" Lev asked bluntly.

    "No, not really. The wave should be manageable," Alec replied, still frowning.

    "What''s wrong then?"

    Lev was starting to get worried now. His mentor never acted like this.

    "I told you before, waves don''t form like this. Not only is it too quick, but the rating is also higher than the usual pattern," He glanced at Lev before continuing. "The rating only goes up if the pit isn''t cleared regularly, which is not the case right now. In fact, there are more Masters than usual inside in preparationˇ­ for a future event."

    Lev was intrigued by the mysterious event but there was a far bigger issue at hand. He was starting to see it now as well, unsettling as it was. The wave was unordinary, somehow both stronger and quicker than the norm. That would require a catalyst for its increased strength but only the opposite was true.

    The pit was crowded with Masters right now yet that hadn''t reduced the rating. It had only increased somehow. His mentor wouldn''t bring it up with him if it wasn''t bothering him so much. Which could only mean two things. Either the reason was completely unknown or it was known and no less worrying.

    It didn''t seem like the former, or his mentor wouldn''t be so worried. Unknown things were rather normal on Monarch. In the case of the latter, it had to be something extraordinary to cause it. Yet nothing had changed in The Pit in the last month. Except one thingˇ­

    Me?

 Chapter 24

    "So, should I stay here?" Lev asked, not sure about his future plans anymore. "Or do I stay on the move? Doing escort quests and only staying a few days at a place."

    Some levity entered Alec''s eyes at that random line of thought. "Do you want to rouse the entirety of the plains instead?"

    Lev opened his mouth to reply, not finding any words and clicked it shut. "I didn''t think of that."

    His teacher smiled a bit. "I''m kidding, though we don''t know if you''re the reason for sure. It''s justˇ­ possible."

    Lev shrugged. He''d known the reincarnation would have a hefty price. It was impossible for it not to. Stronger and faster waves would certainly fit that criteria.

    "We can deal with that later. What happens now?"

    Alec looked behind them as if looking for someone. "Now, we wait for a specialized support squad. There is one coming for me."

    Lev made a face under his armor. "What on Monarch is that?"

    His mentor looked somewhat smug all of a sudden. "Specialized support squads are squads that empower a single combatant. They cover multiple aspects depending on the combatant, such as Mana regeneration, Intelligence and Perception boost, and basically filling up my constructs in my case."

    "Soˇ­ they''re like spoon-feeders."

    Alec just gave him a flat stare at the horrific simplification. Lev avoided looking at him, trying his best to not laugh.

    "No," Alec sighed. "They''re not spoon-feeders. I do all the work, and they just help me do it better."

    Further conversation was cut off by the removal of the Bubble. Lev turned around noticing, several people marching toward them. In front was a woman with light leather armor, no doubt focused on speed.

    Behind her were four mages, two female and two male. They seemed nervous, and Identify revealed why.

    [Ranger - ???]

    [Mage - ??]

    [Mage - ??]

    [Mage - ??]

    [Mage - ??]

    One of the Adept mages had a class that seemed to empower everyone around her. Lev felt his mana regeneration increase significantly when she came close, with a much lower effect for his other attributes. No changes were made to his mana capacity. That was only affected by a Wisdom Boost, no class skills.

    "Is this the spot you will cover?" The ranger asked, only glancing at Lev once.

    "If you think this is fine, then sure," His mentor replied calmly, letting the ranger take the lead.

    She nodded, "You will be in the middle of the defenders stationed on the wall. There will be no shortage of monsters to target."

    Left unsaid was that he was in the perfect position to support everyone, which was a given.

    Seeing that there was nothing else, the ranger left with a respectful nod to Alec.

    Out of the four mages left behind, a tall and lean man stepped up. "What are our orders, sir?"

    Lev got to see his mentor act with complete seriousness for the first time as he pointed out their tasks. The aura mage, who empowered everyone around her, was tasked to increase the mana regeneration for him or Lev when asked.

    It was a costly active spell, which she couldn''t use for long. Two of the other mages specialized in empowering constructs, fortifying them, and filling them up.

    The last mage who had stepped up was another buff mage, except his buffs were much more targeted.

    "Intelligence for both of us," was all Lev''s mentor ordered him. The mage nodded, going back to his spot to wait for the monsters to show up.

    They lapsed in silence after that, observing the horizon for any movements. Nearly an hour passed before Alec got ready to act. Whatever he had seen was too far for Lev, but he prepared himself all the same.

    He took out his new bow and admired how it shone on his mana perception. The enchantments were cloaked, undecipherable to all his senses yet so stable. They went from end-to-end, completely enveloping the bow in a gentle glow.

    His mentor sent a simple glance at the mage responsible constructs who nodded his readiness. Several metal crates thumped on the wide road atop the wall, only taking up little space despite their size.

    The metal cover of one of the crates floated up, unlocked through some invisible means, revealing the recipe for destruction. It was filled to the brim with shells, not the kind Lev remembered from Earth.

    These shells were compact and long, more like very thick arrows without the arrow parts. Every single bit of the shells was covered in cloaked enchantments, packed far more densely than Lev''s new bow. He couldn''t even begin to guess how many total enchantments there were. From one glance, he knew it was far beyond his understanding.

    The crate slid in front of the mages responsible for constructs, and they each picked up a shell without question.

    "Keep a stockpile of twenty charged shells at all times," Alec said without looking back.

    The mages nodded anyway. Lev observed them fill up the shells one by one, each shell taking about what he estimated to be a tenth of his total mana. That was saying something about the potency of the shells, considering Lev had both a capacity boost and a Wisdom boost.

    When the first shell was filled up, the enchantments layered on it thrummed to life. They shone once before settling on a constant glow, now visible to his naked eyes.

    [

    Mana Perception has reached Level 2

    ]

    ˇ­ I see why he needed a support squad for this.

    Lev wouldn''t admit that though. It still felt wrong to have people dedicated to you. He wasn''t even sure why, it just did.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Done observing, Lev turned around and stared with his mouth ajar. Where there was only empty air, now stood two towering ˇ­ cannons? Artillery pieces?

    Made out of arcane barriers, they each had long barrels designed for maximum precision and speed. Lev assumed the shells were enchanted to counteract the effects of gravity and air friction as well.

    Two shells flew up under Alec''s control, slotting themselves into the artillery pieces without the crafter even turning around. Alec''s eyes were still glued to the distant horizons, observing only he knew what.

    The first artillery piece hummed to life. The process of firing the shells was too convoluted for Lev to understand, except for one fact. The enchantments of the artillery piece and the shell connected for an instant, and then it was off.

    It didn''t leave a trail of fire, nor did it create a sonic boom. The shell was completely silent in its passage, only a distant explosion announcing a hit.

    "Did it hit?" Lev asked, with excitement befitting the situation. He was seeing a magical bombardment with his own eyes. It was almost a cause for celebration.

    "It did. Killed a [Shade Brute - Level 239]."

    Lev choked on air. That was enough to kill a peak first-threshold monster? The shell must''ve been far stronger than he expected. He was about to ask why it exploded when the first horn blared.

    The horns were just as well known as the monster bell. The first signified the start of the wave. Immediately, Lev moved to the edge of the five-foot-high wall border and looked at the Adepts and Masters descending to the grassland.

    Several Carriers were with them, the mages responsible for lifting people up and down the wall. They were dressed in prominent white robes, both to stand out and to be defended in dire situations. They were far from weak, however, with at least two deadly wind spells ready to intervene at any moment.

    Their job was no less dangerous than the combatants, as monsters loved to target obvious displays of magical strength. Carriers more than qualified for those, sometimes resulting in getting bombarded. For that reason, their classes focused on agile flight, carrying others, and spells to attack.

    The artillery pieces behind him fired again, the shells entirely too fast for him to track. Over the next few minutes, the rate of fire kept increasing. Several times, the aura mage used her skill on the mages filling up the constructs, keeping them topped up in case of an emergency.

    It took some time before the first monster came close to the wall, no doubt left alone by the Masters for the Adepts and the rare few Classers to deal with. Lev summoned his converter backpack first and strapped it around his back. Four arrows formed in the lightning converter slots, fully charged in a few seconds.

    The aura mage looked at him with an enlightened smile, no doubt curious about why a Classer was standing next to Alec, even talking to him casually.

    The mages powering the shells gave him a questioning glance. Lev shook his head, his arrows didn''t need to be empowered. The last mage just glanced at his arrows once, noting the element, before stoically returning to his horizon-gazing.

    Squinting his eyes, Lev tracked the troll warriors making their way to the wall. They were focused on the Adept teams below, waiting to engage the monsters in melee.

    Lev decided to test his new bow before the monsters reached the humans. Taking aim while with a lightning arrow, the difference became obvious instantly. Focus and Empower were both common enchantments, which Lev had read in the notes given by Alec.

    The former let him aim better, sort of zooming in when he pulled back the string. The latter was more interesting, consuming a bit of mana to further enhance the flight of the arrows. Lev didn''t hold back, utilizing the enchantment to its limit without overloading it.

    Lev loosed, watching as the arrow hit the head of one of the trolls faster than he could track. The head popped like a balloon, bringing him no small amount of satisfaction when a notification popped up.

    [

    Your group has slain [Troll - Level 121]

    ]

    The arrow was enhanced by so many things that it would put pretty much all Classer archers to shame. It was formed by his manipulation skill, making it more durable, and was infused with lightning mana that increased its speed and damage. The spinning arrowhead got a penetration boost while the arrow itself got even more speed from the General Skill. The bow further empowered the flight, and his mind empowered the flight speed even further like a cherry on top.

    The arrow was too fast for him to empower much with his mind. Lev could only act in one instant when he released the string. Still, that was significant enough that Lev wouldn''t give up on it, despite the relatively small boost. He didn''t even feel the demanding draw strength of the new bow, his attributes too high for it to matter. The strain was handled by his Barrier armor anyway.

    [

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 91

    Arcane Archery has reached 2nd Level 2

    5 Free attribute points

    ]

    Lev looked at the class level with a sour face.

    I''m too bloody OP or what. The First Gap was supposed to take weeks or months.

    The contribution from the aura mage didn''t seem to reduce the essence gain by much. Still, he couldn''t do anything about it. He ignored the impressed glance from the aura mage and aimed again.

    He could only fire one more shot before the monsters reached the melee frontline. That suited him just fine, as now each arrow took almost 1% of his mana to shoot. The downtime would let him regenerate more mana without asking the mage to actively boost his regeneration.

    He turned his attention to what was happening on the battlefield. Up ahead, too far for him to observe clearly, the horizon was turning yellow and blue with the explosions of different elements.

    As he watched, a gigantic boulder formed above a distant Master team before flying ahead, out of his observation range. Lev was more distraught by how fast the boulder moved.

    One moment, it was hovering above the Masters, and the next, it was a blurry streak of brown. He couldn''t even track its movement, which terrified him.

    Monsters gradually got stronger than humans above the second threshold, especially at the late Master stage. Perception was regarded as the most important attribute for any combatant because of that. Monsters became too fast to track with low Perception.

    That wouldn''t matter for someone like Lev. If a second threshold monster found him, he wouldn''t even know how he died. Either some magical attack would tear him apart before he could react, or his life would be squeezed out of him, giving him only an instant to notice the fist or hand coming for him.

    Yeah, I definitely don''t want to dally. The next rank will go by just as fast as the first, only with an additional downtime to learn enchanting.

    ****

    The first hour of the wave passed without incident. Brutes, prowlers, trolls, thornlings, crawlers, and new variations joined the battlefield, slowly forcing the Masters back.

    They weren''t actually losing or being pushed back, just reducing the distance between different teams to minimize the chances of any accidents. If one team was somehow overwhelmed, others would have a larger timeframe to aid them.

    The increasing number of monsters heralded the true start of the wave. What they had been dealing with was just a prelude to the actual hordes, ones that would cover the grassland entirely.

    Lev shot monsters here and there, providing support wherever he thought there were too many monsters. In general, he aimed for any group of monsters that had less than half the number of combatants facing them. It seemed like a reasonable estimation that they could handle twice the number of monsters.

    The first real sign of an eight-rated wave made itself known when the grassland came alive. From afar, he could see thousands upon thousands of monsters charging the wall, ready to tear down everyone and everything in their path.

    "Use the boost on me for twenty minutes. Keep them active on both of them until you reach half your mana," Alec ordered the aura mage, pointing at the two mages filling up the shells.

    She wordlessly did as she was told, immediately using the skill of his mentor and the two mages.

    Lev only paid them half a mind, more busy observing the new lumbering monsters in the distance. He could see cave trolls, a common variant that reached almost double Lev''s height. They were much slower and proportionately harder to kill.

    Different spiders with their limbs covered in metal or stone were also visible, the monsters much faster than everything else on the battlefield. Their limbs moved in a blur but Lev could at least see their bodies move at a trackable speed. Still extremely fast, but not impossibly so.

    He was about to aim when the battlefield paused. The humans paused, the monsters paused, and all the fighting paused. It only lasted for a moment before all hell broke loose again but Lev was secretly relieved.

    A familiar aura approached. A vast aura filled to the brim with lighting and destruction, promising a relentless pursuit regardless of distance.

 Chapter 25

    Sherron looked just as beautiful and majestic as when Lev had last seen her. For several minutes, she floated above the wall, taking stock of the situation.

    "You''re gonna have to move the artillery up and ahead," She addressed Alec.

    Lev''s mentor simply nodded his assent, having reached the same conclusion. Lev himself just looked between the two, and the four support mages who refused to look at the Exalted. When Sherron landed, they all bowed at the waist.

    "We greet the Exalted," their voices rang out in unison.

    Sherron only looked at them once, "Be at ease."

    The support mages straightened instantly, still not looking at her. Lev just stood there, confused and slightly nervous about how he was supposed to act. It was the first time he had seen Sherron act soˇ­ rigidly.

    So when she turned to him, he just gave her a little wave.

    Her lips twitched before she hugged Lev. He was pretty surprised but didn''t resist the rare show of affection from the lightning Exalted.

    "You idiot," she whispered. "None of your advantages will matter if you get yourself killed."

    Of course, she heard about my brush with the troll.

    Lev wanted to say something arrogant and playfully brush it off, but the experience was still raw in his mind. He vividly remembered himself sent flying, unable to defend himself.

    In the end, all that came out was a sigh. "I''ll be more careful."

    Sherron gave him a searching look as if she could see through the illusion, before pouting slightly with a small smile. "Orianna would''ve been devastated. Also, it''s nice to see your mind staying out of the gutter."

    Huh? What? I mean, she isn''t wrongˇ­

    Lev didn''t know if she could read his aura to that degree, or if it was the scary sixth sense of women enhanced to the extreme with Perception, but she had realized before him that he no longer felt horny. It was most likely his body now fully affecting his mind, unable to really feel such feelings.

    He had just held an extremely strong and beautiful woman in his arms, yet all he felt was the simple joy of being hugged.

    Small blessings.

    "So, is the wave that bad?" Lev asked, changing the subject.

    Sherron raised an eyebrow. Lev was asking for intel that wasn''t made public most of the time. "Maybe. I also had free time and wasn''t stationed anywhere in particular."

    Lev mentally shook his head. Even at the peak of strength, she still had to follow orders. He would probably run away if someone forced him to stay put.

    "I can feel your distaste for authority," Sherron remarked, amused.

    "I harbor no such views," Lev said, much like a liar would. "Do I need to move or can I keep shooting? The wave seems to be starting in earnest now."

    Sherron just waved a hand at the grassland, motioning him to attack freely. She and Alec wrapped themselves in a bubble, their voices silenced for whatever discussion they were having.

    ****

    Sherron observed Lev fire arrows for a few seconds, the projectiles nearly as strong as her lightning lances from when she was a Classer.

    It brought her a small amount of smug satisfaction when Lev infused the arrows with lightning arrows instead of fire, despite having a converter for both in his backpack.

    Lightning was simply the superior element, after all.

    That was an endless debate between her and Orianna. Sherron argued that killing monsters faster was a better option, whereas Orianna countered that preventing Master teams from getting overwhelmed would save more lines in the long run. Her class was especially good at that.

    Neither was wrong, but that was how debates worked. So they never reached a conclusion, which was perfectly fine by both of them.

    Just rush to the evolution already. Sherron sighed in her head. Her friend was a treasure more precious than anything else, but she could just be so stubborn.

    "He definitely looks up to you," Alec brought Sherron out of her thoughts. "Lightning, speed, and range. The inspiration is obvious."

    "Or it''s just the most obvious path for him," Sherron rolled her eyes. "But yes, I am a shining figure to be inspired by."

    She almost struck a pose, something she would''ve regretted to the ends of time in front of a support squad. Lev was fine, he knew the worth of keeping the childish part of oneself alive and healthy. Too much seriousness never ended well, resulting in too many Masters single-mindedly focusing on their jobs.

    Little wonder they broke.

    "How''d he almost die under your watch?" She asked, watching a third-threshold monster crawl out of the pit. One of the many to come.

    "I was keeping an eye on the pit itself because of a small horde that climbed the upper layers. He somehow ran into a level 130 troll in the Ivory terrain."

    It was hundreds of kilometers away from the wall, yet she could see it clearly. It was the main focus of her class after all.

    "That thing spawned so close to the wall?" Sherron asked, unpleasantly surprised.

    Dozens of meters above her, a smooth, slender, and long lance of lightning took shape. The lightning mana was condensed and stabilized to a near-solid state, one of the greatest factors of her long range.

    Alec nodded solemnly. "It seems bad luck will follow him wherever he goes."

    With a thought, it flew forward, striking true after an instant. The flight took less time than a blink, hitting the nasty brute in the head. It didn''t die, of course, such monsters were too durable to die from a single attack.

    "You told him?" She questioned, eyes on the stunned monster.

    "Yeah."

    By her side, Alec loaded his artillery pieces as well, and they both launched another attack simultaneously. This time the brute''s head turned to pulp, putting it down for good.

    [

    Your group has slain [Shade Brute - Level 561]

    ]

    Sherron hid a smile at Lev curiously looking at where the lance had just formed and vanished with a sonic boom. To his low perception, both of those things happened in a single instant.

    She could feel his aura almost jumping up and down like a kid given expensive gifts, both in awe and excitement. It was so easy to read yet so pure, just happy to be alive again.Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

    Lev looked at where the lance was, then at the artillery pieces, and then the direction of the pit, where echoes of the distant impacts originated from. She could see the gears turning in his head, trying and failing to understand the speed of the projectiles.

    He shrugged, the movement so natural to him that even the armor controlled by his mind also shrugged. She couldn''t hold back at that, as the bastard Alec removed the Bubble around them, and laughed.

    ****

    Sorry for being a plebian who couldn''t help but be fascinated. Lev thought, red-faced, as Sherron''s pleasant laughter reached him.

    He wouldn''t ever admit how much he liked the sound, or how he would willingly act childish to hear it, but it was one of the best things he had ever heard.

    Sherron was the most distrustful of him at first, a man in a child''s body. That changed over time, and Lev didn''t realize how much he had yearned for her approval in the early months till she fully accepted him.

    She was one of the twelve Exalted for Monarch''s sake. Someone like her being distrustful of you was the most nerve-wracking experience at first. She could''ve removed Lev with a single thought if the worst came to pass.

    Shaking away those thoughts, Lev pointedly ignored the support squad that seemed to be just as blown away as him. They would probably melt into a puddle if they heard Orianna''s laugh.

    The line of monsters was now close enough for Lev to observe the individual monsters. True to his mentor''s words, there were no dormant monsters in the wave. None that he could see anyway.

    But he wasn''t worried. There were dozens of Masters down below, several kilometers away from the wall.

    The strongest monsters naturally went after them, unable to resist their vastly stronger auras compared to the weaker defenders in front of or atop the wall.

    That left the weaker monsters to charge forward. Lev could now feel the wall shake from the real might of Master teams on display. The horizon slowly turned blue and orange, Fire and Lightning being the most common destructive elements.

    He ignored the distant battles, focusing on the hordes closing in on the wall. Taking a deep breath, he caught the first prowler in the leg instead of its head, the monster dodging in the nick of time. That was enough for an Adept mage who took down the momentarily hindered monster with a precise fireball.

    Lev focused on similar shots, just aiming to hit anywhere for agile monsters like prowlers, and vitals in the case of monsters that focused on strength, such as trolls. They were still fast, able to leap for a dozen meters or more, but quick reactions weren''t their strong suit.

    Notifications piled up as Lev''s mana slowly dwindled. His high total Wisdom ensured that his regeneration was just as prodigious as his total capacity, but each arrow was empowered to his limits.

    Twice, Lev felt the bow become more familiar in his hands, signifying levels for his archery skill. There was a big change at some point, which forced him to check the notifications.

    [

    Your group has slain [Shade Prowler - Level 108]

    ˇ­

    Your group has slain [Shade Brute - Level 130]

    ˇ­

    Your group has slain [Troll Warrior - Level 124]

    ˇ­

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 92

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 93

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 94

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 95

    Arcane Archery has reached 2nd Level 3

    Arcane Archery has reached 2nd Level 4

    Incisive Edge has reached Level 10

    Incisive Edge has reached 2nd Level 1

    Whirling Rim has reached Level 10

    Whirling Rim has reached 2nd Level 1

    Needle Precision has reached 2nd Level 2

    20 Free attribute points

    ]

    The heck? Extension skills can level the original skill?

    That was news to Lev. He doubted they did much in terms of improving the original skill, which meant that the two skills were probably close to leveling already.

    [

    Incisive Edge - 2nd Level 1:

    Any barriers formed with a cutting edge will have their sharpness increased by 70%. You will find barriers faster and easier to move, increasing their speed by 35%.

    2nd Rank: The projectiles negate most of the air friction and other similar environmental deterrents to their speed.

    ]

    [

    Whirling Rim - 2nd Level 1:

    Increase the penetrating power of your barriers by making them spin. Any barriers formed by you spin 60% faster and have their penetration power increased by 20%

    2nd Rank: Different mana types enhance barriers more efficiently, increasing the effects of infusion.

    ]

    Lev blinked at the exotic second ranks. They were so different from his expectations that he had to read them several times.

    Okay, to begin with, they are way better than what I was hoping for. The increased infusion effects of mana types are pretty nice. Lightning will make them even faster, fire will make them explode better, water will make them smoother, and earth mana will make them more durable, etc.

    He decided to test the rest on the spot. Forming a disk atop his hand, he commanded it to spin at full speed and launched it forward.

    The differenceˇ­ was much more prominent than he thought it would be. The disk accelerated to its full speed in less than a second, fixing half the reason he had picked up a bow in the first place.

    He brought it into his backpack and charged it with lightning mana. It worked as advertised, increasing the speed slightly more than it used to, and also making the lightning mana a little more stable as a nice bonus.

    Lev was happy with the changes and was about to continue shooting when he paused.

    My archery skill is an extension skill of those twoˇ­

    Eagerly, he formed an arrow and observed the changes closely. The lightning mana was less erratic, which was a great start. Nocking it, he empowered it to its limit and watched the arrow fly faster than before. He couldn''t track it visually but he could feel it with his connection to the arrow.

    His lips parted in a goofy grin at the result. The new second ranks had, indeed, applied to his arrows.

    ****

    [

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 96

    ˇ­

    Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 100

    ]

    Lev waited for his mana to regenerate, annoyed at seeing his level hit 100. His skills were still far from the end of the second rank, which was irksome, to say the least.

    There was also no notification to initiate an evolution which made sense. His mentor hadn''t even bothered to talk about the requirements beyond a single mention. Lev would be able to start the evolution in a few more skill levels at most, far before reaching the end of second rank with all his skills. He wouldn''t do that of course. That would reduce the quality of his offered classes.

    "So, I don''t want to be that guy, but why are you here?" Lev asked the Exalted constantly attacking Monarch knows what. He could only observe the famous lances form for a few instants before they vanished with a loud boom.

    "Why? Do you not want me to be here?" Sherron quipped back with a grin.

    Lev sighed. "You know what I mean. I''m getting tired of waiting for something to happen already. There''s no way you wouldn''t just deal with the wave by yourself if you weren''t anticipating something."

    Sherron glanced at the support squad behind them, her stern gaze conveying a silent warning, before she turned to him again.

    "You''re right. Hakim, Alec, and I are tasked to take down the ascending Giant."

    Color drained from Lev''s face as his back stiffened. The support squad fared even worse, eyes wide in terror and legs fidgety, ready to bolt at a moment''s notice.

    Giants were the almost legendary monsters responsible for the pit in the first place. A horde of them had carved that huge cavity in the ground a century ago, and it took all twelve Exalted to put them down. The only reason they could even do so was because Shade Giants got most of their strength from their size and durability, which turned them into a target to eventually wear down.

    Rumors had it that the battle lasted for nearly a week, almost costing humanity two Exalted.

    "They''re fourth-threshold monsters, above level 1000! Why aren''t we evacuating everyone?" Lev stammered, stumbling over his words.

    Sherron snorted, the action no longer as convincing as it would''ve been a few minutes ago. "Calm down, would you? Giants are pretty dumb and will target the strongest human around. I will just need to occupy its attention while keeping population centers out of its aim. They can throw things very far."

    Lev stilled and gave her a long stare. "In what world is that supposed to make me feel better? That you will be the sole target of a fourth-threshold monster?"

    Sherron''s eyes softened as she replied. "It''s my job, Lev. Besides, do you think we haven''t prepared as much as we could in the case of more Giants?"

    Lev ruminated on that, feeling slightly better after that reply. "Wait, aim?"

    Sherron nodded. "It can form extremely dense stone to form blunt weapons or to throw it. It wouldn''t be far-fetched to assume that one of those throws could reach Windkeep at full strength and an unfortunate angle."

    Lev''s mind took several seconds to process that. His breath came faster and faster as he understood what she had just said, sitting down on the wall.

    He giggled. It just came out without warning, accurately showing his mental state.

    Giants can throw boulders across a distance that would''ve been an entire country on Earth. Because, yeah. It just can.

    It took some willpower to not laugh like a maniac. With deep breaths, he slowly calmed himself till Sherron casually addressed him again.

    "You''ll get used to it."

    Lev laughed.

 Chapter 26

    Lev almost wiped away tears before realizing that wasn''t possible inside the illusion armor. He took some more deep breaths. They were starting to lose effectiveness for some reason.

    "Right, so they can just throw stuff for thousands of kilometers. There, I accepted it. What am I supposed to do?"

    Sherron eyes shone with mischief. "Go to one of the shelters, like the classer you are."

    "Har har," Lev rolled his eyes. "So I can''t watch it?"

    "Lev-" She began.

    "I''m kidding, jeez. If you think I want to be anywhere near a fucking giant as a Classer, we should spend more time together."

    Lev turned away after that, waiting for his mana to regenerate above half. He frowned, something didn''t feel right.

    Oh shit.

    "I mean, you don''t know me well enough then," Lev corrected, ignoring the raised brow. Everyone enjoyed teasing him for some reason.

    He turned to his mentor instead. "Can I make use of the support squad too before I have to leave? Actually, when do I leave for the shelters?"

    "Two hours at most, and sure."

    "Errˇ­" Lev looked at the aura mage. "Can you use the skill on me for some time please?"

    She giggled, seemingly enjoying his discomfort. "You don''t have to be so formal."

    Lev instantly felt the change as the skill enveloped him. It felt like his soul was squeezed tighter, neither uncomfortable nor painful, but it was a new sensation.

    He couldn''t help but get up and move around, trying to understand the feeling better. The feeling was muted, permeating his entire being without a noticeable beginning or end. Try as he might, he could not find a single thing about how it may have come to be.

    Why does the system censor everything related to the soul?

    That was a question for the ages. Nobody knew, and The System never answered either. Lev decided to ignore it the same, no point in pondering over puzzles that nobody else could solve.

    He instead observed his regeneration. Where there was a small stream, now a slightly larger stream was flowing into his being. The difference was more profound than that though. The analogy didn''t do the comparison justice.

    Despite having a lot of mana for a Classer, it wasn''t that much overall. Every evolution increased the effectiveness of attributes, around 70% for the first evolution, which meant every mage had far more mana than before.

    His mana pool was more like a small tub, so even that difference to the stream was extraordinary. It reduced the time needed to completely fill his pool by a third, which was a world of difference at higher levels.

    Down below, the monsters seemed to have no end. Lev''s contribution was minimal but he still kept firing. Trolls and now raider orcs fell in droves. His mana dwindled much slower than before, and he had to stop after another ten minutes of shooting.

    The aura mage was still using her skill on him. "How long can you keep that up for if you don''t mind me asking?"

    She looked at Alec as if asking for permission. "I can keep it up for two more hours at most."

    Lev nodded, filing away the information. "You can stop now. These two need it more than me," He said, waving toward Sherron and Alec.

    So started the waiting game. Lev was starting to see why everyone waited till high Adept before participating in waves. He killed a lot of monsters, sure, but they amounted to a drop in the ocean.

    At least his skills leveled nicely.

    The wave progressed the same, with the Masters down below conserving their strength as much as possible. It seemed like the wave would be a long one but Lev knew the truth. Hell would break loose when the giant came up.

    That was why they were holding back, so when the Exalted fought the giant they would deal with the huge horde that came alongside it.

    Lev wouldn''t be there to see it, and neither did he want to. The battlefield would be infinitely scarier during the clash. He would be killed by a single stray spell or debris.

    Shrugging off that line of thought, he focused on the horde below to look for ways to level his Perception passive skill. It seemed to be stuck on the last level, and Lev knew how to go past it.

    He was slowly shooting arrows when too many monsters gathered in one place and the first spell originated from the wave.

    Finally.

    His passive was good for keeping tabs on the battlefield, which was mainly keeping track of enemies and their attacks. Now, he could form shields to block such attacks, which would level the passive nicely.

    However, the defenders on the ground didn''t feel the same. Instantly, the Adept mages reacted. The ground opened up and swallowed a swath of monsters. The troll caster was revealed amidst the monsters and was swiftly decimated by a barrage of boulders and lightning bolts.

    Man, active skills are unfair. I will need to do so much work to replicate the same effect. Also, how am I supposed to catch projectiles up here?

    The answer became obvious rather quickly when casters appeared by the dozens. Normally, only a few of them would''ve focused on the wall. But with Sherron and Alec up there? Lev suddenly found himself facing far more attacks than he wanted.

    Lightning formed of mana was far slower and weaker than natural lightning. The latter was a force of nature, not meant for humans to wield, which was the only reason why his four summoned shields could block it.

    The attack was still very fast for him but Opportunity let him bring up a shield in the nick of time, catching the projectile. That also seemed to be enough to break past the final hurdle as the attack no doubt came from a first-threshold monster.

    His shield cracked and shattered from the attack. The second shield met the same fate before the lightning fizzled out on the third, only scorching it.

    [

    Opportunity - Passive:

    Perception during combat is increased by 85%. Finding weak points and predicting the trajectory of moving objects/targets is considerably easier.

    2nd Rank: Whenever you are about to be hit by a blow that would kill or incapacitate you, your perception will spike massively for one second. The strain of handling the increased perception will be lessened significantly.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    ]

    Lev was pretty happy with the new effect. Nobody wanted to die due to an unnoticeable attack or creature. The skill would at least give him a chance to react, which was nice.

    He hurriedly formed more shields before him, not wanting to level his barrier armor this way. Five seemed to be his limit while staying stationary, and even that was pushing it. Controlling that many at once was like doing a constant mental puzzle, and he made it easier for himself by keeping them still unless necessary to move.

    His mentor blocked the next fireball that Lev didn''t even see coming, and the resulting explosion had him grateful for the intervention. The spell no doubt came from a second-threshold monster.

    That set the tone for the rest of his time on the wall. Stronger and stronger monsters started showing up, most too powerful for him to do anything about. Not like he could do anything against the weaker ones, as all of them seemed to have a personal vendetta against Sherron and Alec.

    Lev just focused on making four big shields in front of him, each over a meter wide. That was more than double his usual disks. By arranging them in front of him, his mentor let the weaker spells hit them to level Lev''s skills.

    [

    Arcane Barrier Manipulation has reached 2nd Level 2

    Mana Manipulation has reached 2nd Level 2

    ]

    Good enough for doing absolutely nothing. Lev thought while shielding his eyes with his hands. The wave had turned far too chaotic, and he had to stay near the opposite border of the wide wall to prevent any accidents.

    The Masters were not holding back anymore, or so it seemed to Lev. The wall shook hard enough that it took some effort on his part to stay upright. Observation was impossible, his Perception was too low to filter the explosions and dust from different attacks.

    Sherron and Alec were launching projectiles left and right, which was the only reason Lev knew things were under control. If they weren''t, Lev would''ve been inside a shelter already.

    "It''s time," Sherron suddenly spoke up, giving Alec a look.

    Lev didn''t need to ask what was happening as he was scooped up by the Bubble.

    "Dismiss your armor skill and store the illusion armor," His mentor said. Lev did as he was told. The flight took a few seconds before Lev was deposited in the middle of the main road, suddenly appearing from an invisible Bubble.

    Some heads turned at his unexpected arrival but they ignored him the same as everyone else. Lev looked around, noticing how almost no combatants were moving to the shelters. He wondered what the people had been told, the reason to take to the shelters. Or was it just a precaution because of an eight-rated wave?

    I sincerely doubt the populace would be moving this calmly if they knew a Giant was coming.

    He certainly had no plans to disclose that information. Lev followed the people hopefully heading to the shelters, because he had no idea where they were.

    His worry turned out to be for naught as several guards were dividing people into three different groups, each going in a different direction. Lev was directed to the leftmost line of people, where he followed quietly.

    Why is everyone so calm? I would''ve expected some more fear from an imminent wave. Or are the shelters so safe?

    Perhaps the people knew there would be two Exalted fighting today. Lev corrected himself, that would definitely cause mass panic. They most likely didn''t.

    The shelter turned out to be well-hidden, an underground staircase that he couldn''t even see till he was almost on top of it. That shouldn''t have surprised Lev but it did. There was definitely some magic going on otherwise he would''ve never missed it with his Perception.

    Descending the staircase made it obvious that it was enchanted to the brim. The enchantments themselves were weird, to say the least. Lev had to repeatedly remind himself to watch his steps. His mind seemed to want to ignore them, to forget there was even a passage here in the first place.

    The stairs went far deeper than anything he expected. Lev descended for nearly twenty minutes on the circular stairway, staying calm because the others seemed to be used to coming down here.

    He followed their lead, occasionally listening to the conversations going on.

    "Man, you should''ve seen her today. Somehow she keeps looking better despite the simple waitress garb."

    The colleague of the man tsked. "Dude, that''s just her skills leveling. Don''t fall for those."

    Somewhere behind him, a group of boys and girls were talking about more interesting things. They seemed to be fighters but too low-level to help with the wave. They also didn''t seem to be hunters.

    Lev didn''t know why exactly he felt that. Maybe because of how unburdened the group seemed, or maybe it was their casual bearing.

    "How long do waves usually last here?" asked a girl with a voice higher-pitched than normal.

    "One to three days, rarely beyond that," replied a boy. Both of them sounded like eighteen-year-olds but Lev couldn''t be sure without turning to properly look at them.

    "Dude we still have three more silver quests to complete," a girl with a deeper voice said with a groan. "Three months no longer seems like a lot of time,"

    "Don''t worry, the academy understands how emergencies work. The founders are literally three Mythril-ranked hunter teams," The same boy replied, seemingly unfazed.

    "Besides, we only need to pay fifty silver for each undone quest. Not that much money," another boy joined in, similarly uncaring as the other boy.

    Lev could hear the contempt at the idea in the deeper voice girl''s reply. "I''m not paying my hard-earned money to skip quests."

    "Nobody''s skipping anything," the first girl replied, probably rolling her eyes, "we just need to do one escort quest and two mining or gathering quests. Three months should be enough to prepare and finish them."

    Lev assumed the silver quests meant early adept quests. From levels 100 to 150. He tuned out the conversation after that. Mining and Gathering quests sounded like a nice vacation but he was more interested in getting to Master first.

    That way he could help with the most difficult quests and waves alike.

    The stairs finally ended after who knows how long. Lev had lost track a while ago. It wouldn''t surprise him if they were a kilometer or two below ground.

    The shelter wasˇ­ gigantic. It could easily house tens of thousands of people, much more than the amount currently present down there.

    It was a large hall with long tables, chairs, and even beds along the walls. The furniture was all made of stone, yet it looked smooth as if it had come out of a modern industry.

    The whole place was illuminated by lights fitted into the ceiling, just bright enough to not be a nuisance.

    There were a lot of people present in the hall, so Lev naturally looked for the least crowded place. That took several minutes of walking, but he found a table that had nobody near it for over ten meters in each direction.

    Perfect really.

    Lev sat down and summoned a water bottle when all sounds vanished.

    I am not even surprised at this point.

    He sighed and looked at the woman who had suddenly appeared before him. She was resting her head on the table, looking at him with a smile and curious eyes.

    She''s definitely trying to look as unthreatening as possible because anyone would panic if an Exalted suddenly took interest in them.

    "Do I bow?" Lev asked, deadpan.

    Her reaction was so immensely satisfying. Her smile froze with her mouth parted halfway, about to say something.

    Lev wanted to laugh but this was an Exalted, so he settled for an apologetic smile and a sheepish, "sorry."

    "I, huh, it''s okay. You don''t seem to be nervous or scared?" She muttered, half asking herself and half looking for confirmation.

    "I''ve spent a few years with Orianna, Sherron, and my teacher. It''s not really surprising to find someone strong suddenly appearing in front of me anymore."

    She nodded slowly, before chuckling. "Well, I''ll be damned. This is the first time my predictions have been wrong to this degree, and all because of a kid."

    Lev chuckled with her and held out his hand. "I''m Lev."

    She peered at his hand, before gingerly clasping it with hers. "I''m Mara, the only non-combatant Exalted on Monarch."

    Lev waited for her to say something else, raising a brow when nothing came. Mara seemed to be lost in thought.

    The silence lasted for several seconds before Mara simply blurted out, "I don''t understand."

    Lev''s joviality slowly vanished too. This seems serious.

    "What do you not understand," Lev asked, trying to make sense of the woman.

    "I''m a diviner as you may have guessed. Alec said your presence will most likely cause waves but it seems to be true and false at the same time. It''s not you that is causing waves."

    Her eyes started glowing purple, and a torrent of mana was channeled through one or more of her skills. Lev unknowingly held his breath at the display, the channel dwarfing his own mana pool by several orders of magnitudes.

    Curiously enough, nobody in the shelter seemed to see him or Mara, or even feel the ridiculous amount of mana being used.

    Mara stopped using mana after a few seconds, her wide eyes bloodshot. She tried to say something but no words came out, only her body started shaking uncontrollably. Lev backed away, terrified of whatever was happening.

    In the end, Mara only uttered one word before falling unconscious.

    "Challenger."

 Chapter 27

    Lev didn''t even get to chance to check if Mara was alright before an overwhelming force stopped his movements. Breathing became a herculean effort as he was pushed back into the chair.

    Dark, shadowy ropes wrapped around his waist and arms before he could even say anything. The pressure lifted after that, finally letting him breathe.

    "Stay still," a fleeting voice commanded from behind him, just above his neck. His spine tingled at the hot breath on his neck, and Lev wisely shut up and sat stock still.

    When he focused on the unconscious Exalted again, another person had appeared behind her. The person''s aura was distinctly full of life, probably belonging to a healer.

    That theory was proven when the man used a lot of mana on Mara, who woke up with a gasp.

    "The boy," she croaked before her eyes refocused on Lev.

    He didn''t see her move, only finding her face inches from his own the next instant. She inspected him from several angles, before sitting back down on her chair with a sigh of relief.

    Lev didn''t utter a single sound, afraid of the figure behind him. He was probably fine now that she was awake but he didn''t take any chances.

    "Divination is an extremely dangerous field, you know?" Mara began, looking and sounding far older after the mysterious experience. "First I stumbled upon those slitted eyes and now thisˇ­" she mumbled, uncaring if Lev heard her.

    He still didn''t move a muscle. Nobody had given him the go-ahead.

    Mara continued, not even noticing that Lev was bound. "Diviners often have two or more skills focused on protecting them from harmful divination. Mine leveled three times in just a few seconds. Three timesˇ­" her eyes unfocused again for a few seconds. "Why aren''t you saying anything?"

    Lev risked a small shrug, showing that his hands and torso were wrapped up. Mara blinked before her aura, filled with anger, surged out for a moment.

    "Release him right now! What do you think you''re doing!?" she exclaimed, looking behind Lev.

    "You were knocked unconscious," the same wispy voice calmly replied, as if chiding the Exalted like a child. Lev had to blink a few times at that.

    Mara gritted her teeth, about to rebuke, but instead, just let out a breath. "Fine, but it''s not his fault. Release him,"

    The shadowy ropes vanished, and only now Lev risked speaking.

    "Interesting situations I find myself in," he remarked, turning around to find only empty air, no sign of whoever the voice belonged to.

    "Sorry about them, they''re my guards," Mara said with an apologetic smile. Lev just stared at her, wondering how she ever got to Exalted if she needed guards.

    "It''s fine, no harm done," he eventually shrugged.

    "This might sound a bit odd, but uh, can you retell what happened?"

    Lev gave the diviner a long glance, only now understanding why she was acting like this.

    The woman had little idea how to talk to children. Or people in general.

    "Sure," Lev grinned. "You just said ''Challenger'' and then decided to hug the table to sleep."

    She blinked. "That can''t be right."

    Lev just shrugged in response. That was all that had happened, despite how bizarre it sounded.

    "Butˇ­ there was more? I don''t remember anything at all except there was somethingˇ­"

    The woman continued to mutter for a bit, not paying Lev any attention. He instead looked at the healer who had randomly appeared next to Mara.

    [Healer - ???]

    Thank you Identify, very useful.

    The man was rather short in stature but just his bearings told Lev he was no slouch. The healer held himself like a fighter, and Lev wouldn''t be surprised if the class was a mix of warrior and healer.

    There was still no sign of the invisible person, so Lev focused back on the Exalted who had gone silent.

    "So," Lev interjected into her mysterious thoughts, "Why did you come to me in the first place?"

    "You do not act like a child," Mara absentmindedly commented. Lev held back a snort. The diviner was truly clueless. Even the healer was holding back a smile at her words.

    "Right, Alec''s request. You are not the reason for increased waves but they will continue to form faster and stronger wherever you go. I tried to look into the reason and wellˇ­" she just waved a hand at everything.

    "I see."

    ˇ­

    "Is that all?" Lev finally voiced. The airhead Exalted kept zoning out.

    "Oh right. Alec sent a message. I''ll just quote his words. ''You can tell her about your past or titles by the way. Don''t worry about the guards. If anyone should know, it''s her so she may be able to predict anything unexpected. Her skills are weird like that.'' How rude."

    Lev smiled at the words that definitely sounded like Alec''s. He didn''t have to think long about what to reveal. The title for the youngest person to ever get a class was far too dangerous but the other two were fine.

    ****The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    "No mana or System?" Mara confirmed for the third time.

    "None," Lev affirmed.

    Mara and her guards were now seated around the table, somehow still invisible and unnoticeable to everyone else present in the shelter.

    The invisible person turned out to be a woman who was hard to focus on. Just like the stairs, Lev''s brain kept forgetting about her presence, except the effect was much stronger in her case.

    "That certainly matches some ancient records. Like a myth. Several different sources spoke of peaceful worlds before mana surged in a calamitous wave through divination. It is not far-fetched to assume that there was a time before mana. Even in the Empyrean Empire, mana rose sharply to the west and southwest, meaning it was coming from somewhere."

    Mara spoke much more naturally when her passion subject was brought up. Lev nodded along, it made sense.

    "Now that you know, let''s return to the original topic. Was this wave caused by me?"

    Mara shook her head. "It''s impossible to say. You''re connected, but that''s all I could glean. Everything else is too dangerous for me to look at," She squinted her eyes at him. "Why is that?"

    "Hell if I know," Lev replied, giving her a flat look.

    Her face fell at his confidence. "Too many questions. Coming here was definitely worth it."

    "I have another question," She looked at him expectantly. "How bad is this wave going to be?"

    She channeled a lot of mana into some skill again, though far less than the previous attempt. It took less than a second before she was done.

    "Just one giant and a lot of weaker things. High chance of no casualties."

    Just one giant she says. Level 1000 plus abomination, no big deal.

    "I see."

    He didn''t say anything else lest he make a fool of himself. Her guards also seemed to take everything too seriously, if their glaring at him for the casual behavior was any indication.

    "I will now go be a normal kid in a shelter if you''ll excuse me," Lev began, waiting to see if anyone would stop him. When no one did, he turned around and started looking for another empty table.

    Glancing behind, there was no one sitting at the table he had just left. Lev shook his head and decided to go even deeper into the shelter. Walking up to the wall, he noticed how it seemed to be far sturdier than usual stone.

    Compressed stone?

    Near the corner of the hall, he took his spot at a random table. Everything was empty this far in.

    Lev took some food and a water bottle out of his ring and ate simply because there was nothing else to do. Constitution seemed to increase the rate of digestion and do it more thoroughly, reducing excrement.

    He still held back, not knowing where the restrooms were. Hours passed after the snack in silence, the distant sounds of people not bothering him in the slightest. Complete silence, to him, was scary.

    He was wondering how they would know about the end of the wave when a familiar ringing sound reached his ears.

    Ninth Chime.

    The shelter fell silent for a few seconds before everyone erupted in chatter. Lev had a suspicion that was proven correct after a few seconds.

    Tenth Chime.

    This time the people fell into dismay. Lev was nervous too but he had no reason to not believe the diviner. It was probably the Giant qualifying for a ten-rated wave by itself.

    I guess we wait now. Lev thought with a sigh. Waiting was never fun.

    ****

    The restrooms were simply carved into the walls. With running water and lights as well. Lev wondered how long it had been since the wave started.

    His decision to find a table at the end of the shelter was a fruitful one. Back there, only those who wanted to be alone came. He got some looks from others searching for empty spots but no one disturbed him.

    The enchantment diary turned out to be quite interesting at first. Like most other things, it became dull when he read it again and again. Other than that, he was incredibly bored. Playing with barriers was not possible without the illusion armor. That would reveal that he had a class.

    He hadn''t planned to stay inside shelters, which he needed to rectify by not being too weak to defend against waves.

    Finally after more than a day, the good news reached them. The wave was defeated, and humanity had triumphed against another harrowing monster. It caused a festive mood to spread through the entire city.

    Lev didn''t care about any of that. The moment he came out of the shelter stairs, the Bubble scooped him up.

    "That was so extremely boring," Lev said in the way of greeting.

    "Really? Just having to sit still for a day?" Sherron asked, looking tired but relaxed.

    Only now he noticed that it was nighttime. No more than a day had passed yet boredom made it feel like a week.

    Lev stifled a yawn. "Free time exists to be used, not to be free."

    "I met Mara. I think her curiosity almost killed her."

    "What?" Both Alec and Sherron exclaimed at once.

    "Yeah. She used a lot of mana on some skill, probably divining about me, and fell unconscious on the spot. Something about her defensive skill leveling thrice."

    The two strong beings shared a glance, and Lev didn''t pry for anything. He knew his circumstances were extraordinary, meaning similarly extraordinary beings were behind it.

    Though the System said he had reincarnated by his own effort, it would be foolish to believe it was without repercussions.

    Weird how I readily believe that. Is this a sign or am I just sleepy?

    "Well, you two can deal with that. Can I sleep in the suite today?"

    "Of course, I told you to take the card," Alec replied, summoning the card again. Lev took it but only for this once.

    "Nah. I''ll rent my own when I can walk around outside the illusion armor."

    Alec smirked but didn''t comment otherwise. Lev had no delusions about how costly it was going to be.

    Sherron hugged him. "I''ll be back in WhiteFall by the time you wake up. Take care, okay?"

    "I will," Lev gave her a tired smile. "You don''t try to be a hero either. Your words earlier heavily implied that."

    She smiled back. "It''s my job."

    Lev just shook his head. She knew what she was doing, and frankly, he approved of her mindset too. Now if only it wasn''t someone he was close to.

    He had to get back in his illusion armor to walk inside the Golden Basilisk and get to the suite. The moment he was inside, the armor vanished as he jumped onto his bed.

    Sleep claimed him in seconds.

    ****

    "What do you mean there were two giants?" Mara asked, eyes wide.

    "Exactly what I said," Sherron tiredly replied, sipping expensive ale.

    "This has to be because of the boy-"

    "Don''t you dare-" Sherron interrupted but was interrupted herself.

    "Let me finish you stormfart. I''m saying that boy has an extreme innate resistance to divination. The last time I checked the state of the wave was through him. That is probably why I didn''t pick up anything new, just what I already knew."

    "ˇ­Stormfart?" Sherron asked, incredulous.

    Mara blinked before giving her a shy grin. "Sorry, spoke without thinking."

    Sherron chuckled. "That one was at least way better than your usual insults."

    Mara huffed but didn''t refute her. She rarely spoke with some thought behind the words.

    "So," Sherron said. "Your visit was useless?"

    "Hey! I learned a word." Mara replied, indignant.

    "What word?"

    "Challenger."

    "Challenger?"

    "Challenger."

    "Okayˇ­ and?"

    "I don''t know, that''s all I was able to learn."

    Sherron facepalmed.

 Chapter 28

    Lev stretched with a huge yawn as he woke up, well before dawnbreak. His increasing constitution was reducing his need for sleep by more than half now, which was both lovely and annoying.

    The latter was because he''d much rather sleep 8 to 10 hours once every few days instead of sleeping a little every day.

    Let''s see, what do I need to accomplish today? Heavy Lifting will be the key to letting me fight in melee range, which will in turn make it easier to level Nimble. Guess I''ll have to fly on my shields and shoot from afar.

    The plan was simple, just like it had been for more than a month now. It was starting to get pretty boring, really. Lev knew exactly how to spice it up but he would only risk it with Inna or Alec by his side.

    Getting into the illusion armor after a light breakfast, he made for the inner gate again. Lev expected to pass without any interruptions but one of the guards waved him over.

    [Warrior - ??]

    "You there, you''re a Classer if I''m not mistaken," Lev nodded to show he was. "Be careful out there. The wave was larger than anything we expected so the area is still a mess. The training region has been restored but the rest is being fixed slowly.

    "That wouldn''t be an issue normally but some first-threshold monsters might''ve been missed or left buried in the aftermath. Make sure to keep your eyes open and head on a swivel."

    "Thank you for the warning," Lev bowed his head slightly. "I''ll be careful."

    The guard looked pleased with his serious reply and respect, which Lev wasn''t really aiming for. It was a nice thing, nonetheless. It must suck to be a guard with improved memory from evolutions. To see young faces take the first steps only to never return again.

    Outside, he took a deep breath. The grassland was torn apart. Lev doubted even modern bombardment would''ve ripped it open so thoroughly. Craters with several meters of depth were commonplace, and so were burnt and charred patches of ground.

    Despite that, a bit of grass had survived. Not only that, but it was spreading to the damaged ground with fascinating speed. It hadn''t been even a day but some of the shallower craters were already half-covered.

    Wonders of Monarch.

    To test out his earlier idea, Lev created two of his dense shields. With his level having hit the limit already, his Intelligence was at its highest unless he took some extreme risks.

    Which was also part of his agenda but he''d have to find Inna after a few weeks for it.

    Shrugging off the thoughts of the future, Lev put his right foot on one of the shields. Instantly, a weight was put on his mind. He could vividly feel the pressure put on by gravity on the shield, and how much it would take to counteract the weight of his foot.

    Which isn''t as much as I had feared. The skill is doing a fine job.

    Putting weight on his right leg, he put his other foot on the second shield. This time the weight was exponentially worse, requiring him to close his eyes with steadying breaths to get used to it.

    It''s bearableˇ­ and so is the mana cost. I can keep this up for an hour at most, much less if I start shooting arrows rapidly.

    Lev had to admit, standing on two floating shields was far more exciting than he had expected. With a simple mental nudge, the barriers started ascending.

    Ten meters, then twenty. Lev was too scared to go higher and fall to death. The illusion and barrier armor would at least keep him alive from this height.

    Moment of truth.

    Slowly, the shields started moving forward. He avoided any jerky movements, letting them accelerate gradually. Lev could see the rocky terrain in the distance which he started flying towards.

    How the fuck do people calculate speed at a glance? I have no idea how fast I''m going except it is nowhere near the top speed I can run at.

    To his best estimates, Lev was currently flying faster than an average adult could run. It was slow, sure, but any faster would surely see him falling like a flailing fish.

    Heck it, I want to know how fast these can go.

    Strapping his feet with the shields with barrier threads, Lev started to accelerate. Gradually. He couldn''t feel the wind on his face underneath the two armors but that didn''t diminish his joy in the slightest.

    The ground passing below his feet turned more and more blurry as his speed increased. By now, he was going faster than any Olympic runner.

    Thankfully, balancing himself turned out to be quite simple. His Nimble skill pulled its weight again, letting him nudge his barrier armor to stay upright without much issue.

    Okay, this is freaking awesome. Why did I wait so long- Never mind, let''s not go down that line of thought. There''s still a lot I need to try and only now do I have enough attributes to do them reliably.

    Crouching slightly, Lev mimicked the most common forms he had seen on the internet whenever someone was flying on a sword or hoverboard.

    He had no idea if it helped. Such feedback was beyond the barrier armor as it was right now. It all felt the same to him, which was limited to ''he was not at the risk of falling''.

    Shrugging, he straightened again. That was working fine for him too. Instead of heading to the training ground directly, Lev decided to test the range of movement first.

    His plan of shooting arrows from atop his shields was sound but the ease at which he could fly on the shields changed things. The endeavor was mana-intensive, which limited his testing time to ten minutes at most. His mana pool would still be sitting around 75%.

    More than enough.

    Lev unconsciously crouched a little again. Tilting slightly sideways, he maneuvered the shields to turn in a wide curve. From the feedback of heavy lifting and Nimble skill, the tilt was completely safe. He was not at the risk of being sent flying.

    This stuff keeps getting easier and easier. I know skills level faster if you discover their facets yourself but damn, I would''ve loved a little guidance. It would''ve made flying second nature by now.

    But there was guidance, so Lev refocused on his flight. For the next few minutes, he lowered himself every time the cut became smaller, and the lean, deeper. He was having too much fun to stop.

    The shields were tilted at nearly ninety degrees now as Lev flew in a circle at full speed. He cut sharp arcs with surprising fluidity, courtesy of two skills working in tandem.

    It was exhilarating.

    His childish yet immensely satisfying testing stopped when he noticed a spectator observing him with crossed arms.

    Inna looked mostly the same, just pouting lightly. Lev lowered himself with much more confidence than he had first ascended.

    The Master stayed silent, though Lev could see that she was considering something. Maybe he had done something wrong? His thoughts were thoroughly silenced when she spoke.

    "I want to fly like that as well," She said, eyes a little wide in an attempt to plead. It was fake as hell, and similarly unconvincing.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    Lev had no qualms about granting the request anyway.

    He stretched his shields till there was enough space for both of them, which was around two feet in diameter. Spacious by most standards for something to stand on.

    Lev took a half-step back, motioning for Inna to step on. She did so quite excitedly, which made Lev wonder about her circumstances. He sure as hell wouldn''t ask, but where was she born and raised? Was the terrifying part of her the real Inna or was it the childish part?

    Lev shook off the thoughts and mentally prepared himself for Inna to step on. He didn''t know if it was feasible to fly with two people if he alone was so taxing on the mind.

    ˇ­ It was far less than he expected, which almost made him facepalm.

    Of course, the Illusion armor is like five times my own weight. How did I forget about that?

    "I have a request in exchange," Lev began, rolling his eyes when she glanced at him with an obvious warning in her eyes. "Just catch me if something goes south. Falling from this height should be inconsequential for you but I might snap my neck at a bad angle."

    "Sure," she grinned. "I''ll try to."

    Lev gave her a sour look but didn''t press further. Surely, she wouldn''t let him die like this, right?

    Surely.

    The shields ascended more confidently than before, and they shot off at full speed from the start.

    "I''ll have to strap your feet to the shield just to be safe," Lev said over the wind.

    "Shield?" Inna asked, shifting her feet to let them be strapped comfortably.

    "Uh, this version of the disk. They are thicker and are meant to block attacks."

    She giggled at that for whatever reason. Maybe she was just happy. Either way, Lev started limit testing right away, tilting halfway to horizontal from the get-go.

    ****

    "That was fun," Inna remarked as they landed on the ground. Lev simply nodded, preoccupied with something else.

    25% or so mana leftˇ­ RIP training time.

    The fun activity wasn''t without any gains either.

    [

    Heavy Lifting has reached Level 8

    Heavy Lifting has reached Level 9

    Nimble has reached Level 9

    ]

    Close to getting every skill to second rank now. Next up will be using every skill in tandem, leveling all of them as fast as I can. That will be fun.

    "How was the wave yesterday?" Lev tried to create small talk as they entered the rocky terrain.

    "I don''t know," she shrugged. "It got too dangerous with The Galvanic Sniper and The Silver Night joining the fray. Most Masters left the battlefield, not wanting to become minced meat in the crossfire."

    The Sliver Night? Sherron mentioned someone named "Hakim" joining them. He is probably my mentor''s mentor. My grand mentor. Lev thought with a chuckle.

    "What''s funny?" Inna asked, peering at him.

    "Nothing, just wondering if I''ll ever be as strong as them," Lev blurted the first thing that came to mind. He was never going to admit calling The Silver Night his grand mentor.

    "Definitely," Inna said immediately, causing Lev to look at her in surprise. "You have much more mana than any Classer ever should. There''s only one explanation for that. Not only that, but you have the perfect matching element. So, if you don''t ever slack off, you definitely can be."

    "Huhˇ­ thanks. I''ll do my best to live up to your expectations."

    Lev''s smile as he replied was hidden under the armor but she definitely heard it in his words if her light snort was any indication.

    "I see, you didn''t mean that question anyway."

    Lev wisely shut up after that. Masters were scary, able to read minds to an extent for some ungodly reason.

    ****

    Lev hid behind a boulder as a troll passed by, oblivious to his presence.

    I can kill it instantly, which is a great sign of progress. But I need to level my skills. Nimble will only ever level if I fight in melee range or fly circles around the troll. The latter is not gonna happen anytime soon.

    He sighed and prepared himself to brawl with a troll, the monster notorious for its extreme physical strength and regeneration.

    Joy.

    Just to make it less tedious and scary, he summoned two shields behind him. He was about to garner its attention when he paused mid-step.

    Hold on a minute. Can I infuse mana-types into my barrier armor?

    He backtracked, not hesitating to test out the idea. The barrier armor was layered atop the Illusion armor, which would stop any harmful effects of the infusion.

    Probably.

    Lev didn''t let the fear delay him and grabbed the converter from his backpack. The armor accepted the lightning mana just as readily as his disks or arrows. He could feel the mana reach out to the Illusion armor to damage it, draining the already small amount.

    It increased the speed of my movements slightly, and I could use the armor as a battery to gather and release the lightning mana on impact.

    The idea was starting to seem more and more amazing when Lev ran into the first roadblock.

    His Mana Manipulation.

    To do what he wanted, it required him to pull a bunch of lightning mana from his armor to his gauntlets and then diffuse it back to prevent the erratic nature of lightning from damaging the armor. The more mana there was in one place, the faster it damaged the armor.

    Guess that''s just another thing to grind. It will become second nature as my Mana Manipulation levels and hopefully evolves eventually.

    To solve the issue of charging his armor from his backpack, Lev simply created a small tube connecting an output of the lightning converter to the armor. The lightning mana traveled through that with minimal loss.

    The troll had covered a few hundred meters while he was testing. Lev jogged as his armor gradually accumulated lightning mana. His mana reserves were already low, so he limited himself to 5% of his total.

    The barrier armor handled that much without issue. The troll turned at the sound of his footsteps, causing cold sweat to break out on Lev''s neck.

    From afar, the monster was not a threat. Up close, however, it could eventually turn him into a pulp. Lev could still deal with it easily, but the irrational fear remained.

    The monster''s roar evaporated all those thoughts as his mind sharpened, his budding battle instincts not letting stray thoughts interrupt his focus.

    Lev backpedaled to avoid the usual wild swing of the wooden club he was used to seeing from every troll. Not letting the opening go to waste, he dashed in while gathering all the lightning mana into his right hand.

    The armor almost destabilized in that region from the power packed in one spot but Lev''s little willpower clamped down it like an iron jaw. The lightning mana, primed to be released, rushed out like a tide as his fist connected with the monster''s gut and the world turned bright.

    Lev didn''t even realize what had happened till he flopped down on the ground a few meters away.

    Seizures wracked the troll''s frame as it struggled to get up. Its belly was torn open, charred, and bleeding. Lev couldn''t stomach the sight for more than a second as he beheaded it with a disk and moved away.

    What the hell was that? Was that even normal? I didn''t even use that much- oh.

    Lev belatedly realized there was not a shred of lightning mana left in his armor. That single punch had released all of it at once.

    It makes sense but still, was it supposed to be that explosive?

    He looked for Inna, who suddenly appeared next to him.

    "Did you see that?" Lev asked.

    "Mhm, it was pretty impressive," She remarked with a raised brow, wondering why Lev was suddenly looking for compliments.

    "Not that. Was it supposed to be that explosive?"

    Inna nodded. "Every explosive mana type does that to some extent. The more there is packed in a small space, the more it will affect the surrounding area. Rare to see it happen to a Classer but well, that was not an insignificant amount of lightning mana for a single punch."

    "So, it did what, ignite the air?" Lev questioned back, not understanding.

    "That and ambient mana. Mostly air."

    Huh, the more you know.

    Lev digested that information, noting the reaction of lightning mana. It could be useful in a pinch.

    Scratch that, it will do pretty well for a surprise attack.

    [

    Mana Manipulation has reached 2nd Level 3

    Mana Manipulation has reached 2nd Level 4

    ]

    The levels in the General Skill were not surprising. Mana Manipulation was meant to be used as a foundation to evolve in different directions, so it leveled quickly. Lev expected it to evolve into some kind of Mana Channeling skill, the skill for handling large amounts of mana.

    Lev glanced at the troll''s corpse a few meters away before searching for another monster to fight. He had discovered something useful yet obvious in hindsight today, but the road to evolution was still long.

    His currently low mana pool would see him spending the rest of the day in a library and the next few weeks brawling trolls and orcs in close combat. It was bound to become a chore but there was no other choice. With guardians reducing the risk of death even further, Lev was certain he would be begging for skills to level after the first week.

    Monarch bless The System for at least making the level-ups addicting.

    Lev wondered which one of the two was a greater existence. Both Monarch and The System were miracles to the likes of him, but The System was most likely far grander in scale.

    Either way, there were still weeks or months of fighting ahead of him. He mentally sighed as he found an orc in the distance before preparing himself to punch it with less lighting mana than before. Something he would be doing a lot more in the future.

 Chapter 29

    Lev swallowed unconsciously as he gazed at his next target, something he had chosen after a long internal debate.

    [Shade Brute - ??]

    The tall, grotesque monster, dark gray with black veins running over its body, moved on all fours. Its limbs were similarly disfigured, with one arm ending in a bone spike. Supported by inflated yet extremely strong muscles, it dashed around with bursts of speed that put all prowlers to shame.

    Similar-level prowlers, that is. Lev had no idea how high their levels went.

    Lev and Inna were currently on one of his shields, observing the brute from a few hundred meters away. The Master Guardian was free to join him as there were no other Classer teams present in the pit at that time.

    "This is still a bad idea," Inna commented for the third time.

    "I know," Lev readily agreed. "Which is why you''re here."

    "I''m far from omnipotent. If something goes wrong, this will be the end of the line for you," She replied with a roll of her eyes.

    "I know," Lev repeated himself, eyes fixed on the target.

    The only viable target is the neck and spine. Everything else is too covered or tough for me to damage.

    Just yesterday, he was considering doing this in a few weeks. Yet here he was today, ready to face something thoroughly beyond him, just for a few skill levels.

    I don''t know why I want to get stronger so desperately. There''s literally no reason to back up this itch.

    Yet he believed it was valid. It was a weird conundrum.

    Spending the night meditating on his unnatural drive had yielded no results. The only far-fetched theory he could come up with was that it was related to his soul. That was the only thing shrouded in enough censorship to completely hide his own reasoning.

    "Ready?"

    Inna''s voice broke him out of his thoughts. Lev nodded minutely, which was enough for the Master who vanished immediately.

    Here goes nothing.

    Lev drew his bow and aimed, the flat grassland between the pit and rocky terrain providing no obstacles. The arrow, filled to the brim with lightning mana, almost missed the monster. It hit the back of its hind leg, causing it to jerk around with a roar of pain.

    Lev almost fled then and there as the loud sound washed over him but forced himself to stay. With three disks behind him and two shields keeping him afloat, the plan was to stay at a distance and attack every time it missed the charge.

    Keyword, missed.

    Which it almost didn''t as Lev hastily dashed to the right, the monster casually passing by at thirty meters of height. Lev sent a single glance at the ground where it had jumped from, seeing a small crater that sent tingles down his spine.

    Still, he wasn''t deterred. The plan was never to kill the brute, only to get used to fighting it and leveling his skills. He had come prepared with a full mana pool and a guardian.

    Turning around, the monster was already preparing to leap again. Lev wasn''t caught off guard this time, and he dashed to the left with an arrow nocked.

    Opportunity let him know exactly when he should fire the arrow to hit the neck, but Lev still missed. The charge was too fast and even the wind from its passing messed with his aim.

    Lev unconsciously crouched even further, this time descending a little with his dodge. His entire mind rebelled at the idea of getting even closer but he needed to utilize the disks. His range of manipulation was still less than thirty meters.

    The brute decided to forgo its earlier strategy of playing leapfrog, and Lev now found himself in a far more dangerous situation.

    Lev quickly flew backward to avoid the wild swings of its wide, meaty arms. What the monster lacked in speed, it more than made up in strength.

    Each swing sent intense tremors through the ground, which Lev could feel in his bones despite being over ten meters above ground.

    The Brute didn''t even aim for the ground, just the residual force of the attacks was enough to tear it apart.

    Lev charged all three of the disks to the brim with lightning mana and slotted four arrows into the converter slot as he nocked one. With a deep breath, Lev''s world seemed to slow down as he aimed at the monster''s eye.

    He watched in fascinating slow motion as the only palm of the monster approached to squish him like a bug without a hint of recognition in its eyes. The insanity was just as omnipresent in them, if not even more so than the other monsters.

    Lev waited till the last moment before releasing the arrow and instantly bending backward at the waist while his shields descended.

    Two big changes in his flight let him know he had broken past the 2nd rank on the two remaining skills. His flight suddenly became far smoother, the twists and turns no longer overwhelming or even taxing. He felt light as a feather solely because of the significantly reduced weight on his mind all of a sudden.

    The monster charged forth with an anguished wail, the lightning mana in its eye rocking its skull, half-blinding it. Lev was much more confident now, fluidly gliding past its head and firing a lightning arrow at its neck.

    This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    The brute paused for a mere second as the lightning mana was discharged on its spine, which earned it two more disks on the neck.

    Lev tsked as the disks struggled to cut past the thick skin, wasting the lightning mana to burn a small area.

    Less than 70% mana left. I need to create a weak spot quickly.

    Lev recalled his disks and shot another arrow at the charging monster when his perception spiked to the extreme.

    Fuck.

    It took a small instant to notice the boulder flying at him as time was reduced to a crawl.

    Lev mentally grabbed his armor, overcharged his mana manipulation and barrier manipulation to the limit, and yanked himself to the right with all his might.

    The boulder passed mere inches from his face, letting him see the grass, dirt, and pebbles that made up its composition in horrifying clarity. He hadn''t even seen when the monster had uprooted a part of the ground.

    Inna appeared for a split second in his peripheral, letting him know how close he was to getting rescued. Still, it didn''t come to that, which Lev was grateful for.

    Time sped up again just as Inna vanished from his sight. He looked at the charging brute again, now angry at the mindless monster almost killing him.

    I didn''t reincarnate to be done in by something named fucking "Brute."

    Lev fired another arrow at its other eye but this time the monster dodged, showing that it wasn''t as mindless as it seemed. Lev flew to its blind-side, trying to sneak in a few shots but the Brute refused to let him out of sight.

    Oh, to hell with this.

    He stored the bow and summoned Stargazer before filling in the hollow edge with a barrier blade. Forming a long tube to his converter, Lev connected Stargazer to it and filled it with lightning mana.

    Dodging around the Brute, Lev now held a Stargazer filled with nearly 10% of his total mana, intent on bringing the monster down once and for all.

    He looked for an opportunity, which came quickly as the monster tried to grab him again. Flying nearly horizontally under its grab, his flight took him directly to the brute''s neck.

    Got you. Lev thought with a wicked smile. Stargazer flashed in a wide arc in an overhead swing, burying itself in the monster''s neck with a sickening squelch. The lightning mana was discharged immediately and explosively, the shockwave hurling him back and further damaging the monster''s neck.

    When Lev stood back up, the Brute was already back up.

    When Lev prepared to fly up, it was already in front of him.

    When he finished forming his shields and started to ascend, its fist was getting larger in his vision.

    Lev dumped as much mana as he could into the 2nd rank of his armor skill while yanking himself backward, trying to mitigate the force as much as possible as the punch hit him.

    The fist connected with the power of a runaway truck, folding the barrier armor before it shattered. The illusion armor fared almost the same, sporting a new, much larger dent on the chest as Lev flew back like a cannonball.

    For several dozen meters, Lev bounced on the ground like a tennis ball. He came to a stop after over a hundred meters, thoroughly rattled. But even when his body refused to respond, his mind never forgot that there was a brute out for blood.

    Spitting out blood, his dizzy mind not caring if it was inside his armor, Lev formed two new shields close to his feet and summoned his barrier armor again. Sensing the growing tremors from the brute''s steps, Lev flew up as fast as he could after strapping his feet to the shields.

    His vision stopped spinning after a few seconds just as the Brute prepared to leap at him. Lev tried to summon Stargazer, only to belatedly realize that it was still stuck in the monster''s neck.

    Grimacing at the complication, Lev prepared himself to dive to its neck again. The monster was wary of letting him close which forced him to summon his bow again.

    Lev feinted, firing an overcharged lightning arrow, only to rush forward as the monster charged to interrupt him. Unable to stop the charge, Lev''s flight went uninterrupted as he crashed on the monster''s shoulder. The barrier armor absorbed the impact, preventing any further concussion or body damage.

    Before the monster could stop its momentum, Lev had already dashed for his weapon, which mercifully came out with only a little force.

    The monster roared in anger as Lev ascended again. He just looked at it in quiet rage, ignoring the Inna who was now remaining visible in the distance, ready to intervene in the slightest danger. Lev understood why, but he couldn''t help but feel a little insulted.

    To think this beast would be the one to almost kill me.

    Lev barely heard the thought, almost foreign in how out of place it was despite feeling natural. It came from some distant part of his mind, someplace that had been locked away without his knowledge.

    He had less than 20% of his mana remaining, yet it didn''t matter anymore. His hesitation had all but vanished as he raised Stargazer with just his right arm, once again filled to the brim with lightning mana.

    The monster sensed the change too, its roar more feral as it charged the pesky human again. The large gash on its neck or the blood gushing out seemed to be no hindrance to the Brute.

    Lev just gazed at it calmly as the Brute raised its bone arm to skewer him with all its might. Lev veered to the left, narrowly avoiding the tip as the force from the attack threatened to disbalance him in mid-air.

    He kept a tight focus on his armor, his willpower counteracting the wind pressure just enough to launch himself in a straight path, to the already damaged and bleeding neck.

    This time, the attack was more precise, aimed to further expand the previous cut. Stargazer cleanly connected with the last attack''s result, lengthening the cut with deceptive ease.

    Lev''s mind and muscles strained as he put all his might into the attack. He kept a tight leash on the lightning mana, not releasing it till Stargazer lost all its momentum.

    The glaive nearly popped out of the other side, cutting through most of the front of its neck. He allowed the lightning mana to further ravage the lethal injury as the Brute made a last-ditch effort to swat him away.

    The explosion blinded him but Lev refused to let it push him away. He had a job to finish. The fire and heat dispersed after a few seconds, revealing the upside-down Brute that was, while half-dead, still very much alive.

    It would take several minutes for it to pathetically bleed out, minutes that Lev didn''t want it to live.

    So close to killing me, Lev giggled, unable to control it as the adrenaline fading away spiked again. The mere human who shattered the odds and reincarnated.

    Stargazer''s blade hummed with mana, overloaded with the last few dregs of his mana pool. Two leaps saw him atop the monster''s back, looking at the back of its exposed neck.

    Lev raised the glaive above his head as something shifted in his soul, anger surging within him for some unknown reason.

    Iˇ­

    He brought it down with an appalling squelch, yet he paid it no heed in his current state.

    The favored of Kassavinˇ­

    Lev raised Stargazer again before bringing it down once more, uncaring of the shudders running through the Brute''s body.

    The Challenger of the World''s Decreeˇ­

    He was about to repeat the motion again when his body locked up, and an intense blinding headache brought him to his knees. Lev didn''t even hear himself scream as his mana bottomed out completely, rendering him unconscious.

    It was a good thing too, for the pain would''ve been a traumatizing experience that would''ve followed him for his entire life.

    [

    You have slain [Shade Brute - Level 178]

    ]

 Chapter 30

    When Lev came to, he didn''t bother opening his eyes. The memories were rushing to him already, telling him how stupid the last stunt had been.

    I forced something in my soulˇ­

    It was an extremely dumb thing to do, yet even more worrying was how he did it. The System had locked away something in his soul, something that was most likely too dangerous to reveal or even know.

    Which still didn''t tell him anything about how he had tapped into that knowledge. The whole thing was a big question mark.

    There''s more tooˇ­

    Lev had thought two things, neither he could remember fully. From the second, he knew it was related to the ''Challenger'' word he had learned already. The first thoughˇ­

    Kassavin.

    That was all he could remember. Lev knew it was a name and a very important one. But he for the life of him could not remember anything else about it. Neither could he remember anything else about the second thing he had said.

    Challenger and Kassavin. My collection of incomprehensible words grows.

    Lev opened his eyes to find himself in his mentor''s suite. With a cursory glance around him, several people were waiting for him to say something. They already knew he was awake because of course they did.

    I need to learn to hide my aura. Lev thought with a mental sigh as he sat up.

    Sherron, Alec, Mara, and another person were present in the suite. The last person was a woman in her mid-age, the very picture of a saint with bright blonde hair and a white robe.

    Lev just looked back with a small smile, not willing to speak first. They kept reading his aura without permission, and it was very annoying despite being harmless. This was his way of getting back to them.

    "Did you lose your tongue during the fight?" Sherron eventually broke the silence.

    Lev shook his head. "Where''s Orianna? She was the first person I expected to see after waking up."

    "We didn''t tell her yet," Sherron commented with a frown, "You should go see her yourself instead. That should minimize her anger."

    Lev''s smile vanished, replaced by uncertainty and a little bit of fear. "Anger?"

    "That is for you to explain actually. I''m sure she would be angry when she finds out what you were doing," she smirked a little before it faded. "You should also go see Inna as well. She was quite distraught, blaming herself for hurting you by letting you go through with the stupid risk."

    Lev let out a breath, exhaling most of his fears away with it. "Okay, that isn''t as bad as I had feared. I''m sure she would be lenient if I just hugged her during the retelling," He looked at the other two people present in the room. "I''m not sure we''ve been introduced yet. I''m Lev."

    The blonde woman stared at him and shook her head a little. "That much formality from a kid isˇ­ not pleasant. Sherron did explain your ˇ­ circumstances but it will take some time to get used to."

    Lev just maintained a smile, not showing another reaction. He didn''t really feel anything from those words either. It was just the truth.

    "I''m Diana, one of the few healers specializing in indirectly healing the soul. You should be very worried about my presence here. Care to explain why I found a ten-year-old with cracks running through parts of his soul?"

    This time Lev reacted.

    "No. Why would I tell you things that damaged my own soul?"

    His flat refusal was met with a few blinks.

    "I don''t remember much anyway,"

    "That could be the key to preventing further-"

    "Don''t," Mara interjected for the first time. "I have a bad feeling about this. Did you learn a name, Lev?"

    Lev simply nodded, immediately wary of the name now. If the diviner could sense it without even a mention of it, Lev would refrain from even thinking of it. Monarch knew what kind of a being was behind that name.

    "Soˇ­" Alec spoke up for the first time, shooting Lev a knowing smirk.

    Lev feigned sighing in resignation as he opened his notifications.

    [

    You have slain [Shade Brute - Level 178]

    Arcane Barrier Manipulation has reached 2nd Level 3

    Barrier Armor has reached 2nd Level 3

    Barrier Armor has reached 2nd Level 4

    Barrier Armor has reached 2nd Level 5

    Opportunity has reached 2nd Level 2

    Opportunity has reached 2nd Level 3

    Opportunity has reached 2nd Level 4

    Heavy Lifting has reached Level 10

    Heavy Lifting has reached 2nd Level 1

    Heavy Lifting has reached 2nd Level 2

    Nimble has reached Level 10

    Nimble has reached 2nd Level 1

    Nimble has reached 2nd Level 2

    Needle Precision has reached 2nd Level 3

    Arcane Archery has reached 2nd Level 5

    Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

    Mana Manipulation has reached 2nd Level 5

    Mana Manipulation has reached 2nd Level 6

    Mana Manipulation has reached 2nd Level 7

    ]

    That is a lot of levelsˇ­

    Lev scanned the list twice, noting how his disks hadn''t leveled at all. Everyone remained quiet, waiting for him to finish. Lev couldn''t even make them wait for too long, for they were all Masters or Exalted, people with a lot of patience.

    Now thisˇ­ unexpected.

    [

    You have earned the title: Daunting Steps I.

    Through sheer grit and desire, you have faced down an adversary of a much higher level in a higher threshold and come out on top. Something considered improbable by even the strongest of your kind despite their hunger for more power.

    +5 to all attributes.

    This title can be upgraded. It is recommended to not spread the specifics of this title.

    ]

    I don''t think The System is fond of humansˇ­ Lev considered with a frown. The wording about the strongest humans was borderline negative in its tone. The last line also gave off the same impression.

    He didn''t hesitate to accept the title, immediately falling back on his bed as the attribute rush went through him. The feeling lasted for several seconds, during which he was completely dead to the world.

    Pin-drop silence reigned in the room as Lev wiped drool off his face. He couldn''t stop smiling after that intense session, which seemed to be giving Diana all the wrong ideas.

    "What?" Lev deadpanned, staring into her eyes.

    "You knew what you were doing making that face, weren''t you?"

    Lev blinked innocently, "Whatever do you mean?"

    Diana''s eye twitched. "Never mind."

    Sherron chuckled. "He definitely did. What does it say?"

    Lev turned up his nose at her. "It says not to tell anyone about the title," he announced in a haughty tone.

    "Does it actually say that?" Sherron asked, more serious now.

    Lev nodded, no longer messing around. "It does. The title gives +5 to each attribute. That''s all I think is safe to share."

    Glances were shared, as seemed to be the norm with most things related to Lev. It was becoming a habit of sorts now.

    "How long was I out, by the way? How did a soul healer find her way to me?"

    Mara answered, the most casual of the bunch so far. "I brought Diana here because, well, that''s what diviners do. I don''t know about those two," she finished by waving a hand toward Lev''s mentor and Sherron.

    "Inna ran through the entire Pit thrice in a few minutes to find me," Alec replied, smiling for some reason. Lev was very curious about Inna''s past now but he wouldn''t pry what didn''t concern him. "Sherron arrived a few hours after I sent the message. You woke up exactly at midnight, so it''s been half a day or so."

    "No wonder I feel refreshed," Lev mused out loud. "You mentioned meeting Orianna?"

    Sherron just smiled as someone knocked on the door. His mentor opened it to reveal a worried Orianna whose eyes instantly landed on Lev the instant the door opened.

    Oh boy.

    She didn''t rush to him as Lev expected but looked at Mara and Diana first.

    "Diana. Mara," Orianna greeted, dipping her head in a respectful nod. Lev watched the interaction in silence, barely stopping himself from raising a brow.

    Isn''t Orianna far more famous and well-known?

    "How many times do I have to tell you to treat me normally?" Dianna gently reprimanded, somehow smiling and frowning at once.

    "Respect where it''s deserved," Orianna replied with finality. Then she smiled widely and hugged Diana, who reciprocated with the same joy.

    Mara was also hugged with the same enthusiasm before Orianna turned to him. Lev couldn''t help but swallow but he still tried to look calm and waved her to sit next to him.

    "Iˇ­ have heard suspiciously little," Orianna began with slightly narrowed eyes. "I''m assuming it is related to Diana''s presence and you still sitting on the bed."

    Lev nodded. Slowly. "I don''t know what you have heard but uh, I am perfectly fine and healthy."

    "So you weren''t perfectly fine and healthy before this."

    Words died in his throat at that. Lev let out a resigned sigh before properly explaining.

    "Fine, I was getting really bored of just grinding skill levels. Inna found a high-level brute for me to practice against. The thing turned out to be stronger than expected but Inna wasn''t going to intervene unless I asked her to.

    "Long story short, after a direct hit from the Brute I got really angry for some reasonˇ­ scratch that, I was really angry that a mere monster would threaten my life after reincarnating as a human in such an amazing world. So, I pulled out Stargazer and cut half its neck open."

    Lev was barely able to hold her stern gaze demanding the rest of the story. "Everything else is too dangerous to share."

    "What do you mean dangerous?" She was now frowning, her worry far more prominent.

    "I don''t know most of it, and what I do know I will not share."

    "He''s right to do so," Mara interrupted before Orianna could ask for more. "It''s not worth knowing."

    Orianna looked like she wanted to argue against it but just swallowed her concerns in the end.

    "What does the title do?"

    "What makes you think I got a title-"

    "Lev."

    Lev coughed. "Right, sorry. It gives +5 to every attribute and tells me not to tell anyone the specifics."

    They lapsed into silence after that as Orianna looked at him for a few seconds. She seemed to be having an internal debate before her shoulders slumped with a defeated sigh.

    Lev was holding her hand before he knew it. "Alright! I''m sorry, I''ll take the slow way for the rest of the skill levels, okay? Don''t be like that."

    He gave her the best puppy-eyed look he could manage, which landed him a silent yet meaningful hug. Diana and Mara seemed to think it was an emotional moment, but Sherron and Alec just looked on with slight exasperation.

    Regardless of whatever transpired, Lev somehow always ended up getting hugged by Orianna.

    Totally not by his design.

    ****

    [

    Nimble - 2nd Level 2:

    Manipulating barriers to support your movement is 111% more effective.

    2nd Rank: Aerial movements are greatly aided.

    ]

    [

    Heavy Lifting - 2nd Level 2:

    Supporting weight on/with your barriers requires 61% less focus. Balancing objects on barriers is easier.

    2nd Rank: Balancing and utilizing the momentum of weight during flight is now a part of the skill, becoming second nature as the skill levels.

    ]

    Both of them are great, only a little underwhelming compared to the rest of the class. Guess The System is pretty balanced too.

    Lev closed to notifications as he passed the inner gate, greeting the guard who had warned him in the morning.

    Inna found him almost instantly as he left the gate. Turns out, her worry had turned into anger in the past half a day.

    Lev found himself stared at by a short yet very scary Master, who was trying her best to see through his two armors.

    "You better be completely fine now," She remarked. Lev nodded rapidly, showing that he was very much fine. That no injury could survive first contact with her anger and he was now completely healed.

    "What were you even thinking? I chose a higher-level brute to dissuade you, not for you to FUCKING KILL IT! If that wasn''t enough, you also risked soul damage by utilizing every last drop of your mana,"

    She took a deep breath, letting out most of her anger with it, and then turned to the silent and unmoving Lev.

    "Your soul was damaged, wasn''t it?" Inna asked in a low voice. Lev nodded a little, not sure if speaking would make her angrier.

    "I''m not letting you near anything above level 130," Lev was about to say he agreed when a stern gaze from her shut him up. "That''s final. Go level your skills normally and evolve if you wish to fight higher."

    Lev just sighed, took out his bow, and created two large shields beneath him. He waited for Inna to get on, whose eyes mellowed quite a bit at the offer.

    Her weakness is as obvious as Orianna''s, Lev thought with a mental chuckle.

    Then they were off for Lev to find and mercilessly slaughter hundreds of monsters to level his skills as fast as he could.

 Chapter 31

    Two months passed without any incident. Lev killed troll warriors for the most part, keeping his distance to weaken them before fighting in melee range. Day after day of slaughter, all of his skills had finally hit the cap of 2nd rank.

    "I only now remembered to ask this but what is the relationship between you and Diana?" Lev asked, looking at Orianna.

    He, Orianna, Sherron, and Alec were having a picnic in a corner of the pit grassland. It was a joyous occasion, for Lev was about to evolve soon.

    "She was like my caretakerˇŞone of the younger Masters on the ship who looked after the children. Our parentsˇ­ were always busy fighting or something else. So, even now we treat her the same we did back then."

    The smile on her face told Lev more than the words ever could. He could feel how happy she was to still have Diana amongst them, to hear her voice and see her face after having lost so many in the past centuries.

    Lev changed the topic. "You said there are many things I need to know before evolving?"

    His mentor answered. "Not many, but a few. The first is reduced fertility."

    "ˇ­Fertility? Like the capability to bear offspring?"

    "Yes," Alec nodded, "Mana empowers humans beyond their natural capabilities at the first evolution, which reduces fertility greatly. It is the same for every evolution, so if you have any plans to start a family and settle down, keep this in mind."

    "I see why you waited to tell me this, but no I don''t," Lev shook his head. "Monarch is not gonna get safer anytime soon. I refuse to become a father in this hell."

    Orianna looked especially displeased at that. Lev wondered why. It was not like he had any desire to be a parent anyway. Being orphaned twice, he wanted to protect as many kids as he could in different ways. It was a more noble goal to him.

    "The second thing is more General Skill slots. You would get 3 or maybe 4, though the chances of 4 are low. Have you decided what you want for them?"

    "Yep, Mana Slash and Enchanting."

    Alec nodded at that. "Just make sure to get all the enchanting skills first."

    "Right. What else?"

    "I''m assuming you are aware of people bringing back knowledge?"

    "I have my questions prepared," Lev simply stated, which was enough for his mentor.

    "Lastly, there will be multiple options. Do not disregard any of them. Many classes start weak but become much stronger at Master rank. There will be no more choice after this evolution. Only a single possible evolution at Master and beyond."

    "Just keep the lightning," Sherron added with a small smile. "I''ll be able to brag later about how I shaped your talents."

    Lev chuckled and looked at Orianna.

    She shrugged. "Don''t forget about fire either, I guess. It is useful."

    "I am not giving up on any element, don''t worry."

    Lastly, he looked at Alec.

    His mentor smiled. "Just choose whatever you desire. None of us will hold it against you even if you decide to become a crafter."

    "No way," Lev snorted. "The fight with the Brute was more than enough to give me a taste of what was to come. Just evolving would be enough for me to easily deal with it. I simply can''t give up this path now."

    "Don''t chase power," Orianna commented with a small frown.

    "Oh but I love to chase power," Lev replied with a smirk. Sherron snickered a little as his mentor shook his head.

    Orianna sighed. "Fine, go be the overlord or whatever you have planned."

    Lev physically recoiled. "Hell no. That sounds like a terribly busy occupation. I will be the wandering guardian or something."

    "That has to be the most you thing you''ve ever said," Sherron quipped.

    "What is that supposed to mean," Lev asked, only to be met with a toothy smile.

    "No last-minute tips?" Lev looked at all of them.

    "This isn''t a date," Sherron rolled her eyes. "Just be done with it. The whole thing takes like one minute."

    Lev waited for more and brought up his notifications when nothing came.

    [

    You have qualified for an Evolution. Initiate?

    It is recommended to do this in a safe place and outside of combat.

    ]

    The notification had been sitting with him since a few days after the wave. Turns out the qualifications were pretty lax.

    Initiate.

    Lev forgot to lie down, his body slumping the moment he thought of starting the evolution as the world went dark.

    ****

    This is interesting.

    Lev looked around at the dark space he had found himself in. It was empty, like deep inside space without any stars. He didn''t have a body, just his consciousness in the endless expanse.

    Yet it was so incredibly homely.

    I do not think it would be far-fetched to assume that this is inside my soul.

    // WELCOME CLASSER.

    // YOU HAVE QUALIFIED FOR AN EVOLUTION.

    // TIME IS NO MATTER IN THIS SUB-SPACE. PLEASE CHOOSE ONE OF THE POSSIBLE EVOLUTIONS WITH LEISURE.

    "Uh, Hi. Are you the System directly talking to me?"

    // CORRECT.

    Holy Shit. Nobody prepared me to talk with a godlike entity.

    "ˇ­ Is it alright for me to ask questions?"

    Lev had planned to do so anyway but it wouldn''t hurt to be polite.

    // YOU MAY.

    // YOUR MEMORIES OF THIS PLACE AND CONVERSATION WILL BE WIPED AFTER THE EVOLUTION IS DONE.

    // PLEASE KEEP THAT IN MIND.

    "I see. Can I ask why we aren''t allowed to keep your memories?"

    No answer.

    Not unexpected, I guess.

    "My first question is, can I keep some form of hints or impressions for useful things I learn here?"

    // YOU MAY.

    // BEAR IN MIND THAT THE HINTS WILL BE VERY LIMITED.

    // YOU MAY CARRY ONLY TWO HINTS AND THE KNOWLEDGE OF WHAT QUESTION THEY BELONG TO.

    Lev fell into thought after that. His excitement at talking to The System took a back seat as he considered the questions to ask.

    I mean, my questions remain the same. I also only had two, to begin with. Guess I''ll go ahead with those.

    "My first question is, How do I help humanity as a whole?"

    // BY GETTING STRONGER BUT YOU SEEM TO BE LOOKING FOR SOMETHING ELSE.

    // THERE WAS A TIME WHEN THE SYSTEM GAVE HINTS TO SIMILAR QUESTIONS BUT THEY ALWAYS ENDED IN A GREAT LOSS OF LIFE.

    // THE REASON YOU ARE BEING MADE AWARE OF THIS IS THAT YOUR AMBITIONS REMAIN UNTAINTED BY THE GREED FOR POWER OVER OTHERS.

    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    // SO FAR.

    // KNOW THAT CHANGING YOUR WAYS WILL RESULT IN BEING BARRED FROM ANY FUTURE ASSISTANCE FROM THE SYSTEM.

    The System gave him time to consider the words that Lev was grateful for.

    My suspicions keep proving correct. The System looks out for all sentient beings equally but disapproves of power-hungry races. Humans easily qualify for that.

    There was not much to consider. Lev couldn''t see himself wanting to rule the masses or waging wars regardless of how much power he amassed. At worst, he would act on his own to remove some criminals or the like which shouldn''t be against the motives of The System.

    "Go on," Lev asked, voice low and carefully far from commanding.

    // VERY WELL.

    // THE OTHER REASON IS YOUR HIGH POTENTIAL FOR A HUMAN. YOUR TITLES SPEAK TO YOUR CAPABILITIES.

    // THE WAY TO HELP HUMANITY IS BY UNLOCKING A SECOND CLASS FOR YOUR SPECIES.

    "WHAT!?"

    Lev immediately regretted the outburst. No hell descended thankfully.

    "Second Class? How is that even possible?"

    // NOT IN THE WAY YOU ARE THINKING.

    // A SECOND CLASS WOULD BE UNLOCKED BY SACRIFICING A LARGE PORTION OF THE POTENTIAL OF THE FIRST CLASS.

    // ATTRIBUTES WILL BE LESS EFFECTIVE, SKILLS WILL BE WEAKER, AND CLASS BENEFITS WILL BE LESS POTENT.

    // THE OUTCOME WILL BE MUCH HIGHER AVERAGE STRENGTH OF YOUR SPECIES BUT IT WILL BE FAR FROM HAVING TWO CLASSES OF THE SAME STRENGTH AS THE ONE THEY CURRENTLY DO.

    // NEXT GENERATIONS WILL HAVE LESS SKILLS PER CLASS AS WELL. SO WILL THE NEW SECOND CLASS FOR THE CURRENT GENERATIONS.

    "Wait, wait. So the current humans will have an even weaker second class than the future generations?"

    The idea was still mind-boggling to Lev but The System spoke with such certainty that he couldn''t help but believe it. Not that he had any reason not to.

    // CORRECT.

    // THE SYSTEM ESTIMATES THAT THE CURRENT GENERATIONS WILL GET FOUR SKILLS FROM A SECOND CLASS. THE CLASS BENEFITS WILL ONLY BE HALF AS STRONG AT THE START.

    // FOR THE LATER GENERATIONS, BOTH CLASSES WILL HAVE SIX SKILLS PER CLASS AND ONLY SLIGHTLY WEAKER BENEFITS.

    Lev''s excitement spiked as a thought crossed his mind but the System shot it down instantly.

    // ONLY ONE CLASS MAY AFFECT THE MANA POOL THROUGH BENEFITS.

    "ˇ­ What about a second Wisdom Boost?"

    // POSSIBLE BUT HIGHLY UNLIKELY. YOUR SOUL IS FAR FROM POTENT ENOUGH TO HANDLE IT AS IT IS.

    Well, that sounds like a worthy goal. Strengthen my soul to its limits.

    "What do I need to do to make this happen?" Lev asked, determined to see it through no matter what.

    // BECOME AN ASCENDED.

    "Ascended?"

    // IT IS THE UNIVERSAL TERM FOR BEINGS WHO EVOLVE BEYOND THE THIRD THRESHOLD.

    // BEYOND LEVEL 1000.

    "That was already my plan. Nothing else?"

    // NORMALLY, THE SYSTEM WOULD REQUIRE MORE DATA THAN JUST A SINGLE ASCENDED.

    // HUMANITY''S CASE IS AN EXCEPTION. THE SURVIVORS OF THE SOUL NEXUS, OR MONARCH AS YOUR KIND CALLS THE PLANET, ARE THE LAST REMAINING HUMANS.

    // IT WAS DEEMED NECESSARY TO FORCE MEASURES TO ENSURE THEIR SURVIVAL.

    Lev''s heart sank as the words digested. The refugees that came to Monarch were the smallest in number, only one of many ships.

    Nobody else survived?

    He allowed himself a few minutes of silence. That was a loss greater than anyone expected. Even Lev was holding out hope that there would be humans out there, overjoyed to see the survivors of Monarch eventually return to reclaim the Empyrean lands.

    Now he knew better.

    The news only stroked the fire in his heart more. He would do everything in his power to ensure that the refugees didn''t meet the same fate.

    "Thank you for telling me this, even if I will forget about it."

    The System didn''t acknowledge his gratefulness. Lev didn''t mind.

    "My second question is, How do we keep surviving on Monarch?"

    Lev was pretty hopeful about their chances. The Exalted could even deal with weaker fourth-threshold monsters when teaming up. Surely survival was not a foregone prospect.

    // YOU MIGHT, BUT HUMANITY CANNOT.

    Just like that, The System dropped another bomb.

    "Whyˇ­" Lev asked in a whisper, on the verge of tears. He had one goal, and even The System deemed it impossible.

    // MONARCH IS FAR BEYOND THE LIKES OF HUMANITY TO THRIVE ON.

    // THE CONTINENT YOUR KIND LIVES ON IS ONE OF THE LOWEST MANA DENSITY REGIONS ON THE PLANET.

    // THIRD AND FOURTH THRESHOLD MONSTERS ARE AS COMMON AS GOBLINS AND ORCS ON OTHER CONTINENTS.

    // THE SEAS ARE HOME TO BEINGS THAT CAN EASILY EVISCERATE THE CONTINENT ON A WHIM, AND SO ARE THE HIGHEST PEAKS.

    // THERE ARE MUCH SAFER PLACES AWAY FROM MONARCH.

    There are much safer places away from Monarchˇ­ Lev repeated in his head. He took deep, steadying breaths and blinked back tears, uncaring that there were no tears in reality, just the mental effect.

    It was not completely hopeless.

    His element, barriers, was only going to shine whenever humanity was ready to leave Monarch, so he still only had to get strong enough to make that a reality. He had seen what the Exalted could do. It would only get more ridiculous for someone an entire evolution beyond that.

    He just had to get there.

    "Show me the evolution options."

    The System did just that, condensing four bright stars of different colors out of nowhere in front of him. Each was as big as his fist, brimming with unrealized potential.

    Four of them. Good start at least.

    Lev put the morbid conversation behind him to focus fully on the evolutions. It somewhat helped that he could do absolutely nothing for humanity as he was right now, so the only path was forward.

    The path forward was right in front of him.

    Lev instinctively knew how the process worked. Just like when he had gotten a class, there were no descriptions, only impressions.

    He started from what felt the weakest to him, which was not weak at all. The first option, represented by a silvery-white star, radiated a palpable sense of physical strength and extreme sharpness.

    Lev peered deeper, finding himself in a robust barrier armor with two glaives in his hands. They both far eclipsed Stargazer, able to cut apart any first-threshold monsters apart with ease.

    His armor moved at speeds that would put most warriors to shame, slashing and cutting apart entire waves of monsters with his deep reserves of mana.

    Lev pulled back, decoding what he had learned. The class was fully focused on physical strength, even if it came from his mind. It probably lost the Mana Capacity and Regen bonuses in exchange for something else but the class was still extremely strong.

    He wouldn''t pick it, but the "Cool factor" alone made it a pretty good choice.

    The second option was aˇ­ crafter class. His mentor had somehow predicted this option in advance.

    The star was shifting in color, representing a myriad of elements that could be used in barrier crafting. The main draw of the option was a much deeper mana pool than the previous option, as well as permanent barriers at Adept rank.

    Perception also received a tremendous boost, which seemed to be the norm in crafting. Precision was the name of the game, after all.

    Lev allowed himself a few moments of crafting fantasies before moving on, to the second last option.

    The second last star wasˇ­ intense. Lev tried to swallow at how potent it felt, though the motion obviously failed. There was no physical body.

    It was pale blue, faithfully representing pure mana. Lev prepared himself and dove deeper into the class.

    Mana. There was so much mana packed into the class that Lev just took it in for a few seconds, jaw metaphorically hanging. There was barely a start and end to it.

    Shaking himself out of the reverie, Lev eagerly looked at the rest of the class. His barrier armor underwent a qualitative change, now possessing some sort of armor enhancement active. The disks were, unfortunately, no longer a part of the equation as his class fortified all physical combat while making his barriers even more resilient.

    The focus on different mana types was even more prominent, now a crucial part of all melee fighting. Lightning imbued Stargazer as Lev''s punches released shockwaves of fire, decimating everything in his path.

    Lances of fire, lightning, earth, wind, and water hovered behind him, ready to be shot at a moment''s notice. His barriers also lasted way longer than the current 30 minutes, though they were not permanent.

    Lev shakily pulled back. There was no mention of Enchanting or Crafting but that was fine. They weren''t supposed to be relevant before Master anyway.

    The class was incredible. It was an incredibly potent mix of mage and warrior, both paths as strong as a full class. It was an ideal class, something Lev wouldn''t hesitate to pick.

    If only the last option wasn''t calling to him like no other option did.

    Lev hesitantly pulled his eyes away from the pale blue star and gazed upon the majestic bright blue pulsing with restrained mana.

    This was a mage class.

    "ˇ­ System. Why am I feeling a weird attraction to this class?"

    // IT IS NOT AN UNCOMMON OCCURANCE.

    // YOUR CURRENT CLASS RESONATES WITH IT THE MOST, THOUGH ONLY SLIGHTLY MORE THAN THE PREVIOUS OPTION.

    // FATE ALSO PLAYS A ROLE IN THIS. THE RESONANCE INDICATES SOME GRAND EVENT IS MORE LIKELY TO HAPPEN WITH THIS CLASS.

    // KEEP IN MIND ''GRAND'' DEPENDS ON YOUR OWN PERCEPTION OF THE IDEA.

    What does that say about me who wants to go past the limits of the System?

    Lev didn''t know but it at least sounded like quite the adventure. There was also something about Fate sounding like a very real, tangible thing but Lev ignored that. He would forget about it anyway.

    Shrugging those thoughts away, Lev peered into the bright blue ball of raw power.

    The first impression, like the previous option, was a fuck ton of mana. It outshone even the last option, with so much mana that Lev didn''t know how to even use.

    The second thing that stood out was the little physical capability. The barrier armor was just a linear upgrade to his current armor, simply more resilient.

    That was where the downsides ended.

    The rest of the class was like a vast chasm of destructive potential. His active disk skills would transform into projectile enhancement skills, with his passive skills further empowering them to the extreme.

    Lev could see himself flying freely with a dozen projectiles ready to be shot at unsuspecting distant enemies. His perception let him see much further than before as his projectiles thrummed with the prodigious amount of imbued mana.

    The main focus of the class was bombardment from afar, like Sherron''s class except with more elements.

    While the class flatly sucked in physical power compared to the previous option, it was vastly superior in terms of mage prowess.

    It was a tradeoff, and Lev was inclined to take it.

    He had already realized that, while enjoyable, melee combat wasn''t something he excelled at. Mana followed his whims with extreme ease that he was starting to realize might not be normal, while his physical body justˇ­ didn''t. It was much harder to use Stargazer than he had first anticipated, and glaives being a difficult weapon to use didn''t help either.

    The previous option would surely help with that, but that would undermine his unnatural talent at Mana Manipulation.

    Not to mention that it was simply more fun. He loved the feeling of manipulating large amounts of mana.

    The System had taken the first two options away at some point. Lev didn''t mind because the last two were the clear winners.

    He gazed at the pale blue hybrid class for a long few seconds before sighing in regret. He would''ve chosen it in a heartbeat if it wasn''t for the last class.

    Lev stretched out his hand and grabbed the bright blue star in his right palm. It shivered for a moment before dissolving into his skin.

    I hope I made the right choiceˇ­ Lev thought as unconsciousness claimed him, oblivious to the ''grand'' event right around the corner.

 Chapter 32

    Monarch was thriving, as usual. The suns continued to revolve around it, gaining far more speed when they disappeared from atop one of the entrances of the underworld, the continent humanity resided on.

    It took just a thought for Kassavin to facilitate the humans like that.

    The three moons, the domain of the Goddess of Peace, hummed in a pleasant symphony of mana that soothed the turbulent waves of Monarch''s endless oceans, preventing an untimely end from befalling the little humans.

    It was a serene planet if one could ignore the unlimited number of monsters roaming the surface, the skies, and the depths, both underwater and underground.

    That semblance of peace was shattered rather abruptly.

    Kassavin''s eyes shot open as a colossal torrent of mana poured out of them, stopping the passage of time for the entirety of Monarch.

    Only two things remained moving. Kassavin and a tendril of raw, compressed Chaos.

    Chaos was the name given to an invading reality, the reason for the ever-increasing levels of mana, the extremely high number of monsters, and the fall of many a galaxy at the edges of the universe.

    Which was why it was very alarming when the parasitic realm dared to act so boldly near a Soul Nexus.

    Kassavin''s mind honed on the slippery tendril in a split instant without moving an inch physically, the abomination rending space in its path with no regard for attracting the horrors beyond the absence of reality.

    Anger surged in the Kassavin at the blatant display yet try as he might the tendril escaped all his attempts to stop its path, replacing his anger with uncertainty.

    This is no probing attackˇ­

    Kassavin''s attempts at teleporting it away were swiftly countered as the space mana was distorted beyond recognition, warped into small packets of chaos that further enabled the tendril to teleport ahead instead of hindering it.

    The increasing amount of time mana didn''t seem to matter to it either, bypassing the slowed current entirely by pushing forward in the in-between.

    Kassavin realized something was truly wrong when the ''tendril'' resisted the full power of his domain, somehow still pushing forward albeit at a much lower speed.

    He had already requested assistance from The System and by extension, Mana.

    There is something very strange happening here. Where is it even going?

    The System existed throughout most of the universe, both everywhere and nowhere at once. It was its domain, able to reach anywhere from anywhere.

    Reality darkened as the rebuff from the System forced the tendril to reveal its true form, a hideous tentacle with writhing flesh and veins of solidified black Chaos slithering on its surface. It was gigantic in size, able to sweep mountains with ease, though that was the norm with beings of Chaos.

    Far more worrying was the source. The tentacle was still connected to the parasitic reality through an extraordinarily durable and enhanced portal, fully stable despite opening in another reality.

    Kassavin left the tentacle to The System, for its fate was sealed now that it had been detected. He focused his efforts on the portal connected to the realm of Chaos, leaking the foul force onto their reality like maisma, to nip the problem in the bud.

    The tentacle did something Chaos had never done before and attacked The System directly. Kassavin didn''t know why it was resorting to such futile tactics till he was unpleasantly surprised again.

    An extreme burst of Chaos came through the portal, smashing past Kassavin''s domain and attempts to close the portal to empower the efforts of the tentacle.

    It still seemed a redundant course of action till the chaos warped, infecting a portion of The System''s outer defenses. The burst of Chaos was spent completely as the tentacle wormed its way through the domain of The System, not even trying to corrupt it in the single-minded pursuit to an unknown destination.

    Both Kassavin and The System''s efforts to destroy it were ignored completely, the mass of chaos sacrificing its mass and integrity in a suicidal charge to a connection of the system, formed with a particular sentient being.

    It gave one final push, bypassing the natural countermeasures of The System by corrupting them at key points, and entered the soul of the being on the other end.

    Lev''s soul.

    That was when Mana itself acted, descending on the paused Monarch just before the human''s soul could be corrupted. Time stopped for the entire universe, halting even Kassavin''s efforts to help.

    The fabric of space trembled as three apex existences battled for control yet the tentacle still did not back down as the portal behind it was snapped shut, cutting it off from the source of its power.

    It did not stop as the full might of Mana pushed it back, its body slowly disintegrating into mana itself.

    A faint, incomparably smaller puff of Chaos was all that could reach the boy''s soul before it dissolved completely.

    To Lev however, that was more than enough to be lethal.

    His soul instantly started to warp, an instant away from ruining the ongoing evolution before the iron will of Mana clamped down on it, preventing it from distorting further.

    A single drop of unfathomably potent life mana was infused into the soul, thoroughly cleansing the chaos and further enhancing the soul past its original limit.

    Just like that, the danger had passed, all in less than a single second. The flow of time returned to its natural state as if nothing had transpired, and every being in the universe except Kassavin remained oblivious to the monumental event that had just taken place.

    Kassavin had observed the scene in silence, having never seen something like that ever happen before. Mana and Chaos constantly clashed but never to protect something soˇ­ small.

    The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    Chaos did all of thatˇ­ to corrupt a human evolving for the first time?

    That made absolutely no sense to him. Why would Chaos, an entire invading realm, try to end a mere human like that?

    What could possibly spook it to this degree? What even is special about humans?

    Kassavin turned his attention to the humans of Monarch, thoroughly oblivious to the events a second prior. They were all so small and fragile.

    Frankly insignificant.

    They are not bound to a single element, which is not that uncommon. Even if the reincarnator reaches the absolute apex of his kind''s potential, he will still be limited to the same tool that many races already have.

    Time and Space are two types that would be a great boon to him, but many already have them. Even higher, there''s life and death. Neither is of any threat to Chaos.

    The highest mana types are Creation and Oblivion but many divinities have that too. Why, then, did it react-

    ˇ­

    For a human to accomplish thatˇ­ surely not.

    Yet the idea refused to leave his vast mind. It had taken root like the corruption of Chaos itself, somehow cementing itself as a fact.

    It didn''t help that it was likely the true explanation.

    The more Kassavin thought about it, the more ridiculous yet believable the theory seemed.

    His mind, usually calm like a still lake, spun at the speed of light. More and more, he was starting to believe what could be possible.

    The endless possibilities made him physically move beyond opening his eyes for the first time in countless thousand years as Kassavin graced the world with the sight of his perfect pearly white fangs in a wide grin.

    I should do my part to facilitate it too, then.

    ****

    Lev woke up shivering like prey caught in a predator''s jaws, cold sweat running down his back and eyes refusing to focus on what was in front of him.

    Whatˇ­ is going onˇ­

    His mind hazily tried to take stock of the situation, barely noting the warm hands holding him. With an effort of will, Lev forced his eyes shut and took deep breaths, like he always did in such situations.

    For several minutes, he focused on his thundering heartbeat and the sound of his breathing. The arms warped around him were still there, and Lev was starting to realize his head was also on something soft.

    Probably Orianna. I can''t even blame her for worrying this time, what the actual fuck is going on.

    When his shivering was reduced to occasional tremors running through his body, Lev opened his eyes again. The suns were still high in the air, exactly where they were before he initiated the evolution.

    Orianna was looking down at him with deep, palpable worry in her eyes. Lev still couldn''t quite hear her properly. The other two were nowhere to be seen.

    "Talkˇ­ meˇ­ Lev,"

    Lev blinked for a few seconds before the world came into focus with a suction noise as his brain caught up.

    "What''s wrong, Lev. Can you hear me?"

    Only now did Lev realize the world seemed to be awash in a fiery orange color. Several fire soldiers, each three meters in height, were surrounding them.

    "I''m fine," Lev croaked out, his voice a little deeper than before. Come to think of it, his body felt weird too. "What''s going on,"

    "I am asking the same," She commented, helping him sit up. "This is not very standard, Lev. People don''t suddenly grow after an evolution."

    What? Grow?

    Only now did he realize his clothes were slightly tighter, the nature of the fabric still making them feel normal. He was taller, a little over five feet now.

    His legs were still thin for his stature but not as skinny as before. There was some meat on them that came fromˇ­ where? Same for his long arms that were more defined than he expected them to be. How had he just grown up without any prelude or indication?

    He was still looking over himself when Alec and Sherron returned with Diana in tow. The latter''s healing skill washed over him instantly, finding nothing wrong with his body or soul.

    "He''s ˇ­ fine?" Diana commented, thunderstruck. Memory at Master rank was vastly improved, so she definitely noticed his growth.

    Sherron and Alec were similarly rooted on the spot too, staring at him with mouths hanging open. The soldiers had also vanished.

    "Lev?" Sherron called out, gently.

    "Yeah?" Lev replied, similarly carefully.

    "What the fuck?"

    "I haven''t the foggiest."

    "That is not an acceptable answer," Sherron whispered while his mentor had no qualms about moving up close. For the first time, Alec grabbed Lev and checked for any injury or deformation from multiple angles but there was none.

    Lev had just aged a year or so as if that much time had actually passed.

    "Why does this keep happening to me," Lev spoke with a nervous chuckle, his panic spiking again at the slightly different voice coming out of his mouth.

    "You will need to come with me," Diana declared, leaving no room for argument.

    Lev had no problems with that, wanting to confirm he was completely fine too.

    "But, what even happened?" Alec asked, now sitting down with him.

    "I don''t know," Lev honestly replied. "I remember starting the evolution and then waking up like this."

    Oh fuck, the evolution.

    It took all his willpower to not dive into his notifications and think about the situation at hand.

    "My questions were about how to help humanity as a whole and how to survive on Monarch," Lev changed the topic to something that made more sense, only to be met with even more bad news.

    "For the former, keep leveling. For the latter, Weˇ­ can''t?" Lev muttered in disbelief. "That can''t be right. Surely we can survive."

    Nobody corrected him. "We just have to find somewhere safer and slowly build our forces. Surely there''s more than a few methods for assured survival."

    Lev desperately looked at everyone present, hoping for someone to say something.

    "You knew?" Lev slowly breathed out, shoulders sagging in defeat.

    "That the answer will be the same as always? Yes," Sherron spat, bitter for the first time in all the time they had spent together.

    "You wanted me to see for myself?" Lev hazarded a guess about why it had been kept from him.

    "There was a small chance that you might come back with a different answer," Orianna softly whispered. "Otherwise, we just wanted you to know what we will be standing against."

    "Guaranteed extinction?"

    "No," she shook her head. "We have many ways to ensure the survival of a few if the worst comes to pass. The real task is to keep the cities standing and thriving,"

    Lev wanted to say something but held his tongue. These people had been fighting for humanity for centuries now, yet they still believed survival to be a dream.

    It just didn''t make sense.

    He would have to make it make sense, then.

    Not a lot of choices to go with, Lev mused with a hollow chuckle. On one hand, they could bang their head against a supposedly impossibly durable wall. The System at least believed so.

    On the other hand, they could just roll over and die. That was a choice so ridiculous that it was simply not a choice.

    That was always the plan, anyway. To go beyond what was considered possible. To save as many lives as I can and make life generally better.

    Nothing had truly changed, just a few words from an important being telling him the impossible was more impossible than they suspected.

    That was fine.

    He would fight. Giving up was not an option, nor did he believe he ever could. It would take a single moment of need for him to change his mind, anyway. Lev would much rather be prepared for such inevitabilities instead of being forced to fight.

    That was his desire, his will.

 Chapter 33

    Diana cupped Lev''s face in her palms as she spoke. "It will not be painful but it might feel odd. Do not try to resist my skills."

    Lev simply nodded. His mind had been wandering for the past half an hour, in which he had been brought new, fitting clothes. The evolution notifications still demanded his attention, delayed by more important matters occupying his mind.

    There was a fuck ton of mana in him though, which made checking them more than a little tempting at times.

    Diana''s skill washed over him, now with far more intensity than the first time. It checked every nook and cranny of his body, even his unmentionables, before fading away.

    "No damage, neither temporary nor permanent. No deformities, no potential dangers. Hell, you''re the healthiest boy I have ever laid my eyes on. It wouldn''t surprise me if your lifespan was also improved even further."

    Lev took that in with raised brows. The questions keep piling up without an answer. He shifted a little on his bed, now inside Alec''s suite.

    "So, I''m fine?"

    "You''re more than fine," she chuckled.

    The change was more than a little noticeable but thankfully, Lev had gone through childhood once already. It didn''t take him long to get used to the difference in height and reach, which was aided greatly by his attributes.

    "Did I like, grow slowly?" Lev asked Orianna.

    She made a face. "I was looking at the sky, thankfully. One moment you were younger, and when I looked back downˇ­" she finished by waving a hand at him.

    Lev jokingly tsked. "I was having an evolution and you were daydreaming instead of watching over me like a hawk? I see how it is."

    Orianna frowned. "I was watching over youˇ­" her brows furrowed as she tried to remember what had happened.

    "Just forget about it," Lev snorted. "There are no answers," he announced in a deep, gravelly voice.

    They shared a chuckle at that.

    "I guess I should check this wall of text now," Lev said, unable to keep a grin off his face. They all waited for him to go on but Lev had something else on his mind first.

    He looked seriously at Diana. "You''re gonna have to keep this a secret,"

    She just smiled while Orianna seemed unhappy at his words. "She''s-"

    "I don''t know her," Lev interjected. "I am inclined to trust her too if she''s here. I just want to hear her agree to it once."

    "You have my promise, child."

    The last word was awfully grating on his ears but Lev wasn''t about to argue with someone even older than his teacher and his friends.

    Without further ado, he opened his notifications.

    [

    Your title has evolved.

    Vast Soul has evolved into Extraordinary Soul.

    Extraordinary Soul:

    Through mysterious circumstances, your soul has been reinforced beyond the limits of human souls. It is still human, just way more as well.

    + 4 General Skill Slots and another 2 per evolution.

    ]

    Justˇ­ don''t question it. Move on.

    [

    Your class has evolved to Mana Tempest.

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 101.

    +20 Constitution

    +35 Wisdom

    +35 Intelligence

    +20 Perception

    Class Benefits:

    Mana capacity is increased by 125% and mana regeneration by 50%

    The range of manipulation granted by the Intelligence attribute is tripled.

    Barrier formation is more efficient.

    Barriers are more resilient.

    Different Mana Types are easier to imbue.

    ˇŞ-

    Incisive Edge has evolved into Unerring Volley

    Unerring Volley - 2nd Level 10:

    Projectiles formed by your barriers will have their speed increased by 165% and penetration power by 45%.

    2nd Rank: Your aim is greatly enhanced, letting you target weak points and moving targets more easily.

    ˇŞ-

    You have lost the Class Skill: Whirling Rim.

    You have gained the Active Class Skill: Colorful Destruction

    Colorful Destruction - Level 1:

    You may infuse different mana types into your barriers as long as a barrier is in contact with a source in your manipulation range.

    ˇŞˇŞ

    Barrier Armor has undergone a linear upgrade.

    Barrier Armor - 2nd Level 10:

    Cover your body in transparent armor to protect you from your foes. This armor is considered one whole instead of individual pieces. It can be manipulated like normal barriers, but the shape cannot be altered.

    The durability of the armor is further increased by 70%.

    2nd Rank: Channel mana to further increase the durability bonus at a small cost. Overload the skill to double the bonus at a high cost.

    ˇŞ-

    Opportunity has evolved into Superior Senses.

    Superior Senses - 2nd Level 10:

    Perception is increased by 190%. The effects of Perception on your eyesight are increased.

    2nd Rank: Whenever you are about to be hit by a blow that would kill or incapacitate you, your perception will spike massively for one second. The strain of handling the vastly increased perception will be lessened significantly.

    Can trigger once per day.

    ˇŞˇŞ

    This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    You have lost the Class Skill: Nimble.

    You have gained the Passive Class Skill: Rapid Infusion.

    Rapid Infusion - Level 1:

    Infusing different mana types into your barriers is 50% faster and more efficient.

    Volatile elements have reduced negative effects once infused.

    ˇŞˇŞ

    Heavy Lifting has evolved into Heavier Lifting.

    Heavier Lifting - 2nd Level 10:

    The burden of levitation on your mind is significantly reduced.

    2nd Rank: The burden of flight is further reduced. Flight speed is increased by 75%.

    ˇŞ-

    Needle Precision has evolved into Mage Conduit.

    Mage Conduit - 2nd Level 10:

    All Barrier manipulation is 85% more effective. Increases Intelligence by 70%.

    All Mana manipulation is 85% more effective. Increases Wisdom by 70%.

    ]

    The rush of attributes hit him all at once and boy was it intense. 110 attributes from his first level, the maximum for the first evolution. 90 attribute points from his title.

    200 points at once.

    Lev was rightfully drooling on his bed under the amused gazes of some of humanity''s strongest.

    He couldn''t care less. They were all like his family anyway.

    Imbuement will not be utilized for a while, so I can ignore it for now.

    "Correct me if I''m wrong," Lev spoke after several seconds of ecstasy. "But skill bonuses above 100% are considered tier 2 right? The bonuses that increase by 2% per level instead of 1%."

    "From 101% to 250%. Tiers follow the evolution level ranges," Sherron helpfully supplied.

    "1% per tier increase in bonus per level?"

    "Correct."

    "Thanks," Lev replied, dipping his head a little. "So the evolution changed a ˇ­ lot. There''s no focus on physical fighting except flight now."

    Diana raised a brow. "Weren''t you a mage already?"

    Lev blinked. He looked at everyone''s carefully neutral faces before it dawned on him.

    Oh, she doesn''t know. Lev thought with a wicked grin.

    "Sort of? I will start with the least impactful changes to the most impactful for your ease of understanding."

    Lev gave her an angelic smile that didn''t have the desired effect for some reason. Maybe it was just him looking older.

    "To start it off, I lost two skills. Nimble and Whirling Rim."

    Sherron, Orianna, and Alec just waited for him to continue while Diana just seemed slightly surprised. It was not uncommon to lose a skill, but losing two meant a major shift in the class.

    "The class is called Mana Tempest, which I wholeheartedly approve of, and gave 110 attributes. Nothing special there.

    "I now have an active and passive skill that focuses on mana infusion. I''m gonna need better converters for this. Oh, and I can also transfer them from one barrier to another anywhere in my manipulation range."

    "That''s quite advanced for an adept skill," his mentor commented. "Not impossible but fairly unique."

    Lev filed away that information. "My first tier two bonus is for projectile speed, which is now the focus of the class. It gives a 125% base bonus."

    "Not bad," Sherron smiled. "My element is focused on speed yet it only gave 10% more bonus."

    Lev rolled his eyes. "Lightning is much faster to begin with. The overall speed was still far faster than my projectiles."

    She grinned sheepishly, caught slipping in false praise. "I was just talking about the bonus number," she gave an unconvincing shrug.

    "Yes, yes. I mentioned flight already. 75% bonus to speed on that front. The real absurd bonus starts from my perception skill. Currently, it gives a straight-up 190% bonus to the attribute while further enhancing my eyesight."

    Lev took a moment to actually test that. Skills were so natural that he didn''t even realize what had changed till he focused on it.

    He could apparently zoom in of sorts, to see his own hands and skin pattern in exquisite detail. The fabric of his snug black shirt and pants- the color of his choice, the dust on the ground and in the air, and everything else in his vision, all stood out with stunning clarity. His brain just filtered out the useless information, making everything seem normal.

    "Neat," Lev remarked. "Now come the top three changes of my evolution," he finished looking at Diana, whose brows had risen a little.

    "The third is my Intelligence boost. It has a 70% boost and triple the range from my class benefits. Oh, and also a 50% increase in all barrier manipulation."

    "That''s the third best?" Diana asked, unable to hold in her curiosity.

    Lev just smirked at her, smug. "The second is my Wisdom Boost-"

    "Excuse me, what?" She exclaimed, looking at Orianna, Sherron, and Alec who refused to meet her eyes. "Wisdom Boost? You''ve been hiding this from the world?"

    Lev''s mentor shrugged. "It was his choice. Hakim knows too."

    "I''ll pull his hair out later," Diana huffed.

    "You''re gonna love this. So, all mana manipulation is further boosted by 50%. Then my Wisdom is boosted by 70%. Then my mana capacity is increased by 125% from class benefit and regen by 50%."

    Diana''s jaw had progressively dropped further, her mature nature nowhere to be seen.

    "That isˇ­" she swallowed, "the second most impactful change?"

    Lev''s smile dwindled. "You now know why I wanted this to be kept a secret. I cannot let this information get into the wrong hands before I''m strong enough to handle myself."

    She nodded in understanding. "Lay it on me. What could beat that."

    "The first isˇ­ my total attributes," Lev commented with a sigh. "Going by 5 attributes per level, I have 221 levels worth of attributes. For reference, I''m level 101."

    He could see the gears turning in Diana''s head. "Come again?"

    Lev just listed them out. "75 Strength and Dexterity. 205 Constitution and Perception. 275 Intelligence and 270 Wisdom."

    The sum was beyond absurd for his level, something Lev was certain had never been seen in humanity before. It was no wonder that Diana''s brain and short-circuited.

    "That is impossible," She whispered. "That is nearly enough to rival half the bonuses from my titles but you just progressed past Classer."

    Lev shrugged. "There''s gonna be a lot more of those in the future. Watch me break some worldviews with ease."

    ˇ­

    "I also got 4 extra General Skill Slots."

    Diana left to take a stroll.

    ****

    "Welcome back," Lev cheerfully greeted Diana who returned an hour later. She gave him a mock glare before sitting down next to Alec.

    To Lev''s surprise, she ruffled his hair a bit too.

    "I do not approve of hiding one''s strength like this but I do approve of you hiding it before Master. No one will question you at that rank, only appreciate your presence. Someone might try to force answers out of you before that."

    "That was my thought process too," Lev agreed. "Most people would just be happy to see me but I don''t want to risk it."

    "Where did those two go?"

    Orianna and Sherron were notably absent, having taken their leave a few minutes after Diana left.

    Busy people.

    "Duty called."

    "I see. What are you going to do now?"

    Lev pretended to consider the question. "Maybe I''ll just go turn the Pit upside down?"

    Diana snorted. "Don''t get cocky. Giants are far from the most dangerous things down there."

    "Really?" Lev asked, unhealthily obsessed with knowing about the strongest monsters.

    "Yeah, one time-"

    "That is enough," Alec interrupted. "He will jump straight down to go see those monsters."

    "I''m not stupid," Lev pouted.

    "You''re not so young anymore. That move doesn''t work."

    Lev was aghast, having forgotten his older face now.

    "Pretend you never saw that."

    He gave Alec a stern glance, who fortunately understood. He then looked at Diana who was just shaking her head with a smile.

    "You''re still young, don''t forget."

    "Nah. I''m like 26 by Monarch''s standards."

    He got a flat stare in return. Lev coughed, having forgotten the woman in front of him was over half a millennia old.

    "That is not young," Lev still insisted. "We were held accountable atˇ­ never mind, let''s not talk about my tragic past. 26 is more than enough to be considered an adult."

    "There''s a difference between young and adult. The latter are still young for a while."

    "That is a debate I would rather not continue," Lev stated. "I''m impatient now. Do you want to follow me to the pit or do I go by myself?"

    She refused. "I have to get toˇ­" she looked at Alec, who was staying silent, "the ravine before another wave."

    "The ravine has waves?" Lev muttered. "That''s news to me. What level do I need to be to be useful there?"

    "Master rank, at the minimum."

    "Oh," Lev blinked. "I''ll see you there in a year or so, then."

    ****

    [

    Name: Lev

    Class: Mana Tempest - Level 101

    Titles: Reinforced Mind, Extraordinary Soul, Youngest Prodigy, Goliath Slayer, Daunting Steps I

    Attributes:

    Strength: 75

    Dexterity: 75

    Constitution: 205

    Intelligence: 275

    Wisdom: 270

    Perception: 205

    Class Skills:

    Arcane Barrier Manipulation - 2nd Level 10

    Unerring Volley - 2nd Level 10

    Colorful Destruction - Level 1

    Barrier Armor - 2nd Level 10

    Superior Senses - 2nd Level 10

    Rapid Infusion - Level 1

    Heaver Lifting - 2nd Level 10

    Mage Conduit - 2nd Level 10

    General Skills:

    Mana Manipulation - 2nd Level 10

    Identify

    Arcane Brawling - 2nd Level 10

    Mana Perception - Level 7

    Arcane Archery - 2nd Level 10

    ]

 Chapter 34

    Lev got a stern lecture from Diana about overconfidence. The last joke about getting to Master rank in a year quite literally crash-landed as Diana''s face fell.

    Overconfidence is a quick and insidious killer.

    That was a saying from his past life that he was glad to be reminded of. Now more than ever, he needed to keep it at the forefront of his mind. So far, Pit Monsters had little in terms of aura.

    That would change now. First-threshold monsters exerted more pressure on one''s mind.

    Lev, fortunately, and unfortunately, still looked too young to be out of his illusion armor. So, donning it, he set off to his next destination. Alec had adjusted the armor to account for Lev''s random burst of growth. It was just as comfortable as before.

    The walk wasˇ­ enlightening. The illusion armor that took a bunch of mental effort now felt extremely light. His levitation skill worked on just walking too, for he was carrying the illusion armor with his barrier armor.

    It counted for the skill somehow. Lev was not going to question it.

    The second thing that stood out was his mana. It always stood out, but now he could feel just how little it took to move around. Lev''s regeneration alone was insane enough that he didn''t even feel the cost of his barrier manipulation. It was regenerated instantly.

    The third thing was his Perception. The world wasˇ­ slower. Lev knew it was common courtesy to limit one''s movements to match the crowd. He did too. But he had to consciously bring his level of Perception low enough to match a normal speed. Otherwise, everyone moved in a slower motion for him.

    With a bit of time, he could do that on demand. The System assisted with it greatly, letting him get used to it in a few minutes.

    From what he had heard, it was a great boon too. The System instantly spiked everyone''s perception to the maximum when they entered combat, which prevented many nasty accidents, letting people react on time.

    Small blessings.

    The fourth thing was his physical attributes. Despite the small increase, having the effectiveness of each attribute increase made him feel strong. Strong enough that he could outdo all physical records on Earth with ease.

    It was quite insane to him. Lev wasn''t even a physical fighter.

    His destination came into sight after a few minutes, looking the same as it always did. Lev entered Barrett''s shop, finding it empty.

    "Coming," came a subdued female voice from one of the rooms at the back. Lev looked around, noting that the displayware was notably reduced in quantity. Especially armors.

    Is something big happening?

    "Hey, Lev," Susaine greeted. "What brings you here today? Haven''t seen you after those converters."

    "It''s nice to see you too. I wanted to ask how custom commissions work."

    "That depends on what you order," she replied with a raised brow. "Did you lose Stargazer?"

    Lev shook his head. "I evolved."

    Her eyes opened a little wider. "Congratulations! That was very fast. You leveled all skills to the end of second rank, right?"

    "Of course I did," Lev replied. "My commission is actually for a pair of gauntlets."

    "Gauntlets? Did you change your class?"

    "Nope. I need gauntlets that can channel a lot of mana and have converters built into them. Obviously, I will also fight with them as well."

    Susaine processed the request for a few seconds. "That is quite specific. Converters in gauntlets can be arranged but the efficiency will be the same as the cubes. Do you want to release different mana types through them?"

    "If it isn''t a big problem, then sure. I was thinking of letting my barrier gauntlets be the focus of different mana types. They are a good base material for channeling."

    "Silk. Silk is a great option then," she theorized, now in the business mode. "I will not bore you with the specifics. We have several different types that have great mana conductivity while also being extremely durable. If your barrier gauntlet fingers are only covered by the silk, there will be no hindrance in releasing the different mana types."

    "You''re saying that, while my hands will be covered in metal gauntlets, the front of my fist will only be covered by silk?"

    "Yeah. It will make sure you can release different mana types with ease through your punches. Unless you had something else in mind?"

    "No, that is perfect. Uh, how much will it cost?"

    She smiled. "That depends on the specifics. What kind of metal and what efficiency for the converters if you want to improve that aspect?"

    "Metal just needs to be durable enough to last me the whole rank. Mana flow doesn''t matter, the transfer will take place through my barriers as long as the converter output is connected to my armor. Same efficiency as the cubes, if not a little higher."

    "I see," she replied, her mind lost in thought. "What mana types do you want?"

    "Lightning in right and fire in left and ˇ­ do you have healing mana?" Lev tentatively asked.

    "Do you have platinum?" She simply countered with a smirk.

    Lev threw the thoughts of any healing in the near future out of his mind. "Never mind. So those two converters for now."

    "That willˇ­ come out to thirty or so gold. It is very expensive, I know, but for metals, materials, and enchantments to last you the entire rank? The price is more than fair."

    "No exact amount?"

    She shook her head. "It may get a little higher even, but no more than thirty-five. Is that fine by you?"

    Lev checked his ring, noting the eighty gold coins he had left. "Yeah. You can even upgrade it a little as long as the price doesn''t cross forty gold."

    Her eyes twinkled. "I''m not doing anything but sure. The end product will be quite satisfactory, I assure you. Check in tomorrow to find out how long they will take. Father is rather busy these days."

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

    "I wanted to ask about that actually," Lev motioned to the noticeably emptier shop. "Is something happening?"

    She blinked. "You were rushing the skills so I can guess why you didn''t know. There will be three big tournaments hosted in Runespires, and the Hunters Guild is preparing a large-scale dungeon clearing operation."

    "Dungeon clearing? Don''t they recharge?" Lev asked, confused.

    "The rate of mana absorption is slowed down by how often they are run. If the dungeon is busier creating new instances, it will pull in less mana," Susaine helpfully explained.

    Huh, the more you know.

    "Thanks. I''ll see you tomorrow." Lev dipped his head before leaving the shop.

    ****

    The inner gate guards recognized the boy in the illusion armor, letting him pass without issue. Lev wanted to visit the hunter''s guild and get a new badge, but that could wait. He wasn''t going to accept any quests anytime soon.

    Inna was absent. Lev thought she was working a full-time guardian job at first, but she was missing more often than not. Today seemed to be one such day.

    He shrugged and prepared his first new skill, flight. His barrier armor, now much more durable than before, was already covering the illusion armor. Lev mentally grabbed all of it and willed it to ascend.

    The armor obeyed, noiselessly rising into the air.

    The strain isˇ­ low. Lower than expected, for sure. The mana cost is surprisingly high, almost costing all of my regeneration.

    If other mages of his level had heard him say that, they would be coughing blood.

    Lev''s regeneration was no joke either. It would take him nearly a day to fully regenerate his mana pool, but he had far too much to begin with.

    That brought him to his mana pool.

    It was majestic.

    Where he had a small tub, there was already a small pond. It was full, so he couldn''t feel his regeneration just yet.

    Lev flew higher and higher, ascending for several hundred meters before he came to a stop. His vastly increased Perception and even more improved eyesight made themselves known as he gazed around.

    The grassland stretched for as far as he could see. More than a hundred kilometers in the distance, Lev spotted an elevation in the ground.

    The pit.

    That was the entrance to the pit, the large dungeon-like hole in the ground. The fact that he could see it from such a distance told him just how large it was, and Lev couldn''t wait to delve into it.

    Eventually. He was too weak right now.

    I don''t actually know that. Lemme find something to test it on.

    Lev slowly accelerated to the Ivory training ground, the part of it closer to the pit where first threshold monsters were more common. He had wisely stayed away from that area before.

    His highest flight speed wasˇ­ nice. It was faster than most personal use cars on Earth but it was similarly costly. His mana was dwindling at a slow pace, telling him that such a flight was not possible for more than a few hours.

    It was still pretty astounding for a new Adept to fly for so long. The speed wasn''t anything special. Classes focused on flight allowed for much higher maximum speed.

    I will have to wait for my mana to regenerate several times to travel to another city. Lev thought with a mental shrug. That will improve with time, I guess. My regeneration will get to a point where flight won''t cost mana anymore. Intelligence will also increase my speed.

    Lev couldn''t help but smirk as he observed clueless monsters far below, unsuspecting of the eager menace several hundred meters above.

    He formed four arcane arrows using his General Skill, now hoping for it to evolve into something more fit for his class. They formed instantly, his improved intelligence and evolution making themselves known.

    Lev sent a small stream of mana into the lightning converter, caught the resulting mana with his mind, and sent it into the tube connected to his armor.

    Something new made itself known in his mind, a new sense of attachment to his barriers. He could always feel their location even before he had gotten his class for they were his creations. But now, he could feel a connection between all his barriers.

    Lev grabbed the lightning mana and shoved it inside the new connection without hesitation. Without a particular destination, it spread to all his barriers in equal measure. The arrows, his armor, and the small tube all got a little bit of lightning mana which dissipated rather quickly. He had only used a little bit of mana.

    His mana pool was still also pretty much full, despite hovering mid-air, forming several arrows, and charging them a little from converted mana.

    Let''s change that.

    Down below, a shade brute was emotionlessly wandering through the more spaced boulders. This part of the training ground had more space for combat. Lev didn''t really need the space as he dismissed the arrows.

    Then he formed a barrier lance, formed of pure mana, not unlike Sherron''s lightning lances.

    Forming another tube to his fire mana converter, Lev sent a bunch of mana into both his primary converters. The amount of mana, which would''ve been more than a tenth of his mana pool before the evolution, was only a few percent of his current pool.

    Most of it went into the lightning converter. From the tube, Lev focused on sending it all to the lance. The mana obeyed, teleporting through the connection into his lance.

    This is quite fascinating. Lev thought with a grin. The mana just vanished from the tube, appearing in the lance. It was the first form of teleportation he had seen.

    The lance also handled the mana with little trouble. Lev''s will kept it stabilized, and he knew it would blow up outside his control, but that was the whole point.

    Fire mana was the bigger issue. Unlike the lightning mana, which was more stored in the outer parts of the lance, the fire mana was all shoved in the middle.

    It demanded release much more violently, requiring Lev to focus quite a bit more than before.

    He kept it there, getting used to his new capabilities. Before the evolution, Lev would''ve been able to handle at most two of these.

    Now?

    Lev formed four more lances before filling them up with a tenth of his mana pool. They vibrated with suppressed potential, perfectly stable under his will.

    With a satisfied nod, Lev looked at the Shade Brute below. It was still oblivious to his presence and weapons of mass destruction.

    With a mental nudge, the first lance shot downward like a bullet. It produced a piercing whistle with its passing, aimed at the heart of brute crawling on all fours.

    The brute only had a small instant to react, in which it didn''t even realize what was happening. The lance, with its extreme speed, easily pierced the skin and buried itself completely inside the monster.

    The lightning and fire mana were explosively discharged at the same time, the fire mana forcefully releasing the other type by destroying the container.

    The result was a large explosion inside the brute, showering the surroundings with blood and gore. Lev wrinkled his nose but kept his eyes peeled for when the light and flame dispersed.

    The brute was still alive.

    Lev had guessed its anatomy wouldn''t be much different than a human because of its humanoid shape but that turned out to be wrong. In reality, he didn''t even know if it had a heart. There were surely a hundred books on Pit monsters to learn about their body but Lev would just aim for the head, neck, or spine next time.

    The brute, with a large portion of its torso blown to bits, died after a few seconds.

    [

    You have slain [Shade Brute - Level 120]

    ]

    No levels at all. Lev thought with a snicker. He would''ve gotten at least two even after level 90 prior to the evolution. That was at least a good thing.

    The first evolution unlocked auxiliary ranks, which were theorized to go high enough to be endless. The publicly known highest rank was the fifth rank, something only a few Exalted had achieved.

    The weird thing about auxiliary rank was that they rarely gave new effects. Most of the time, a skill would just rank up without anything new except the bonus increase per level.

    Now, with far less essence gain than before, Lev could fight more without worrying. His skill levels and class levels would both increase slowly, and he wouldn''t need to wait for either to catch up.

    Sure, two of his skills were currently level 1, but they would catch up in time as well. He just had to make use of them, which was really easy. He already had.

    Colorful Destruction was what allowed different types of mana to be teleported from one barrier to another. Leveling that skill was just a matter of repeated usage. Such was the case for Rapid Infusion as well.

    Lev just had to kill monsters without holding back, something he would happily do for the foreseeable future.

 Chapter 35

    Lev found a prowler lurking in the shadow of a huge boulder. It was larger than the ones he was used to seeing, probably around level 130.

    I need a new, more powerful bow.

    Lev noted the thought for later as he focused on the position of the prowler, its speed, and the direction it was walking in. With a bit of mental math, he launched one of the lances where the prowler should be in the time it took to reach the monster.

    The guess turned out to be slightly off, the lance landing a few inches away from its shoulder. Missing didn''t matter when the lance exploded, the amount of mana packed into it and the shrapnel of the destroyed barrier lance easily killed it.

    That works too. I need to reduce the amount of mana in them and not miss, or all this mana would be of no use if I bottom out after only 50 attacks or so.

    [

    You have slain [Shade Prowler - Level 128]

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 102

    ]

    Lev put the five points into Wisdom. The warm feeling of increased mana coursed through him, letting him feel just how stupid his class was.

    It gave way too much mana.

    Lev wanted even more of it.

    To that end, he killed another four monsters with ease before finding something that looked challenging.

    It was an orc, a shaman by the looks of it. Even from afar, Lev could tell that it was a fair bit stronger than the brute he had fought.

    Time to test the durability of my barriers.

    Lev formed a simple arrow and almost fired it. Having an idea, he summoned his bow and filled the arrow to the brim with lightning mana.

    He wanted to compare an arrow fired from a bow to his own manipulation. He knew the arrow fired from a bow would be faster but not by how much.

    Lev formed and filled another before firing them both at the same time. Curiously enough, Lev was just now realizing that he had been underutilizing the bow. Quite badly, too.

    The draw strength of the bow was gargantuan, something he was only now starting to notice. His mind struggled to pull it back enough for the bow to start showing signs of strain, at which point he released both arrows.

    The result was not even close. The shot from his bow thoroughly outclassed the other, reaching the shaman in a split second. Not only that, but the arrows formed by his general skill were also boosted by his new active skill''s speed bonus, further amplifying their lethality.

    To the monster''s credit, it reacted in time to look at the approaching attack. That was all it had time to do, however, and its head was summarily popped.

    [

    You have slain [Orc Raider Shaman - Level 153]

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 103

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 104

    10 Free attribute points

    ]

    Lev wondered where the rest of the raider party was. Some Master had probably massacred them all on a casual stroll. Shamans rarely formed without a full horde, which was common knowledge.

    In the same vein, monsters like orc commanders, or Monarch forbid, orc generals were only ever seen with a large horde. The latter were menaces that nobody ever wanted to see. Despite being an early second-threshold monster or a late first-threshold monster, the general could easily out-muscle a team of physical fighters at the same level.

    How would he compare to such elite monsters at the same level? Would he have trouble ever hitting one? Or would he decimate them from afar?

    He didn''t know but he also couldn''t deny being excited at the prospect of finding out. The increasing personal strength was starting to get to his head, and his class wasn''t even close to its full potential yet.

    I need something to humble me. Lev thought, sending one last glance toward the pit before descending. His magical might was top-notch, as he had just seen, but it remained to be seen how badly his physical side had been hit. He searched for a few minutes till he found a suitable adversary to test himself against.

    [Troll Warrior - Level 109]

    The troll noticed him from several dozen meters away while he was still flying, immediately launching its wooden club at him.

    Lev dodged, the trajectory of the club standing out like an open book.

    Uncaring about the loss of its weapon, the troll charged him with a mindless roar. Lev let the sound wash over him, noting the barrier armor blocked most of it for some reason. It didn''t do that for normal sounds to this degree before.

    Shrugging off the thought, Lev stopped pondering about hidden gifts and focused on the monster. Two large shields formed in front of him, blocking a straight punch from the monster.

    The barriers cracked, both of them, but halted the attack in its tracks. Lev mentally nodded, backtracking to not let the troll too close.

    The troll wasn''t deterred, smashing apart the shields with a few more attacks before leaping at the pesky human. Lev overloaded his manipulation skill, yanking himself to the left with all his mental might.

    That turned out to be overkill. The monster was left somewhere far behind as Lev shot through the air, spinning like an arrow gone awry.

    It took a few seconds to get himself under control, trying his best to not lose track of the monster out for blood. That turned out to be a wise decision, as Lev reacted just in time when the troll landed in front of him.

    The large, meaty yet oddly refined fist of the troll passed mere inches from his face. Lev quickly flew back to make distance. Just from the passage of the fist, he knew there was no hope for melee fighting anymore. His armor may have survived, but that was all.

    He could no longer battle things in melee range without constantly dodging like he had done with the Brute.

    Sighing in regret, and a little bit of relief, Lev formed two lances before filling them with lightning. The first took the monster in the chest, incapacitating it for the most part, and the other blew its head to smithereens.

    [

    You have slain [Troll Warrior - Level 109]

    Rapid Infusion has leveled up to Level 2

    ]

    That''s that. No more fighting with Stargazer.

    The thought evoked mixed feelings. On one hand, he loved the feeling of holding Stargazer. She was just the best glaive.

    On the other hand, he was glad to be away from monsters. Few wrong moves and he would be squished to paste. Fighting up close was simply not for him.

    The loss of the Nimble skill was the largest factor in his sharp decline in physical capabilities. Fighting the troll had felt alien to him, as if he was fighting without a limb he was so used to.

    Tradeoffs, I guess. Can''t do much about it without being able to enchant my armor.

    Just another thing on his to-do list.

    The last thing he wanted to test was utilizing projectiles in close range. Launching them full of mana was effective but he wanted to know how they performed against a monster up close. There were no disks to carry him either.

    Lev found another troll, slightly stronger than the previous, and formed five lances behind him. Without the lightning or fire mana infusion, they felt light in his senses. Ready to obey.

    Lev launched two at the troll, one a little slower. The monster batted away the first, unable to react to the second in time. The projectile pierced the troll''s flesh with a sickening sound, burying itself halfway to its length.

    The lance, over a meter in length, started small from the pointy end and became thicker till it was large enough to barely fit in Lev''s palm at the other end. The deeper it went, the more it opened the wound, which the troll seemed to ignore in favor of killing the human.

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    Lev narrowed his eyes, mentally grabbed the lodged lance still in his manipulation range, and yanked it out. The monster stumbled and roared in pain when the lance pierced the same wound, further enlarging it.

    Lev suppressed his disgust at the action. Willingly stabbing the same wound again felt wrong. But his opponent was a troll, one very willing to eat his face.

    He stabbed it again, then another time. On the last attack, he seemed to have something vital as the troll lost its strength, the blood loss now outpacing its regeneration. Lev didn''t make it suffer for longer and ended its life by stabbing its brain.

    ˇ­ Excellent penetration power and acceptable level of instant acceleration. Will need to keep my distance at all times but even half of my manipulation range should be enough for the lances to reach maximum speed.

    It was a good result, all things considered. That style of close-range fighting was simply a byproduct of his class.

    Lev checked his mana pool, finding it above 80% still. He let out a chuckle. His casual testing would have left him low on mana before, but now it merely cost him less than a fifth of his total.

    Flying up and away from the corpse, Lev considered his next steps. Inna was nowhere to be seen, and his mentor was also busy these days.

    Alec is probably leaving soon.

    His mentor had been hiding it from him, Lev knew. He just didn''t know for how long before his teacher had made him aware. That was a week ago, so Alec was probably leaving today. He was supposed to have a few days ago.

    That was also why he was so silent and contemplative earlier. He would''ve normally given Lev some inordinately expensive gift along with heartfelt congratulations but the man was just subdued.

    Lev understood very well too. He had opted to test his class first to clear his mind. But he couldn''t put it off any longer. With a deep, suffering sigh, he flew back to the gate. The distance that would''ve taken an hour of running at full speed was cleared in just fifteen minutes of flight.

    His mentor was already there at the gate. Seeing Lev approach, he simply turned around and started walking. Words were not needed as Lev fell in behind him, following him without hesitation.

    They slowly walked through The Pit. The destination turned out to be the Hunters Guild, where Lev was silently led to the second floor.

    The pair stopped in front of an elaborately yet ornately decorated door. The most prominent feature was a shield and sword delicately carved on the wooden door, somehow possessing a regal air.

    Alec knocked twice and waited. The doors parted, revealing the form of one of the most imposing men Lev had ever seen.

    The Guildmaster was nearly two meters in height, dwarfing both Lev and Alec equally. What made him so imposing, however, was his bulk. The man was not a mountain of muscle. Instead, he was almost slim.

    He stood ramrod straight, his shoulders tense as if he were a military sergeant. With his dark skin, dark brown eyes, and bald head, the man looked like he could force a wave to break simply by staring at it.

    That was without even his aura, and oh did the man have one hell of an aura. Lev had forgotten to breathe entirely as his vision was covered in silver light, both so destructive and fast that it boggled comprehension. Yet it was also more, a force of enhancement like nothing had ever been seen.

    The effect slowly abated, making him realize he was no longer breathing. Lev took a deep shuddering breath, no longer willing to look at the man in the eyes, and lowered his head.

    He was too scary. Lev didn''t mind showing deference.

    "Enter," the Guildmaster''s voice rang out, echoing with an intensity that made Lev''s knees weak. Good thing he was walking with his mind.

    Alec was unconcerned, taking a seat after the Guildmaster sat down on his own behind the table. Lev followed behind after a few seconds, gingerly sitting down.

    Behind them, the doors slowly closed shut. Lev kept his eyes low, not looking up at the man who was intently staring at him. It was like a mountain had been lifted off his shoulders when the man turned to Lev''s mentor instead.

    "Boy," the Guildmaster greeted.

    "Teacher," Alec greeted back, bowing his head respectfully.

    Lev wondered if he was supposed to do the same. It didn''t seem like it, so he just stayed stock still and silent.

    "What do you see?" the man turned to him and asked abruptly.

    Lev swallowed, considered his answer, and replied truthfully. "Silver."

    "Go on."

    "It''s like light, very fast but also destructive. It is also a fuel for body enhancement, or at least felt like it."

    The Guildmaster considered it silence before speaking up. "I am Hakim, the Guildmaster of all branches of the Hunters Guild."

    Hakim was still looking at him in contemplation. "Do you know why I''m in this branch?"

    Lev didn''t, so he went with the first guess that popped into his mind. "The Giant?"

    The hint of a smile somehow found its way on Hakim''s face. "No. It was because of my student. He wanted me to meet someone, so I replaced the guild master for a bit."

    Three months is a bit?

    Lev wasn''t sure if he was supposed to speak so he kept silent until an unexpected order.

    "Store the armor."

    Lev gulped but did he as he was told. The armor vanished, revealing the young boy underneath.

    Hakim silently gazed at him as Lev met his stare this time. He didn''t know why the staring was taking place but it seemed important.

    In the end, Hakim smirked a little. The air seemed to morph, turning far colder and more suffocating. "Do I scare you?"

    Lev''s hackles rose at the question, his instincts telling him to just run as the man''s aura suddenly became sharper, almost cutting him just by being in its vicinity. "Suddenly a lot more than before."

    The coherent answer seemed to surprise Hakim, and he did something Lev would''ve considered impossible for the man.

    Hakim chuckled. "That was an intimidation skill. You held up surprisingly well if we ignore how badly you''re shaking."

    Lev was indeed shaking badly. It took all his willpower to keep the tears at bay. This was, hands down, the worst experience of his short life.

    He took a deep, shaky breath as annoyance wormed its way through his terrified mind. "That is great but uh, I need to find an escort quest to Runespires. Can we get along with it?"

    Hakim raised a brow. "You will not go anywhere till I let you."

    The casual remark struck something deep inside him, his bottled hate for all sorts of authority over him. Lev unconsciously balled his hands into fists, the sound of knuckles cracking pulling him back to his senses.

    Lev didn''t retort and just leaned back into his chair and waited for Hakim to continue.

    It was Alec who spoke first. "That is enough. He''s not here to become a knight."

    Hakim tsked. "Testing one''s mental fortitude hardly qualifies. The boy needs to know how to cooperate properly."

    "He will, in time." Alec simply replied.

    "That is not-"

    "He will also be strong enough to pick up the slack. I will not let you change his ways. They''re more than good enough already if you haven''t noticed."

    "You wish for him to stay independent?" Hakim frowned.

    "Yes," Alec replied without missing a beat.

    Teacher and student stared into each other''s eyes, having a conversation through their gazes that Lev couldn''t hope to understand. Their bond was too deep. Even if they seemed to be arguing, they were simply discussing what they thought best for the boy without opposing each other at all.

    Lev was confused too. He was rooting for his mentor of course, but still.

    What the fuck. Why are you talking back to the scary Exalted for me?

    ˇ­ It gave him a warm, fuzzy feeling.

    Hakim eventually turned to Lev, whose opinion of the guild master was swiftly deteriorating. "My disciple wasn''t ever this stubborn. Did you taint his mind with your ideas?"

    Lev scowled, about to retort when he saw Alec shaking his head. His mentor was smiling for some reason. Lev squinted his eyes at Hakim, who chuckled after a few seconds.

    "Your title does work, it seems. No child could''ve clung to their views for so long in these conditions."

    "This was a test?" Lev asked, the tension slowly draining.

    "Not really," Hakim grinned. "I am in favor of having you go through my training program."

    "Let me guess, it''s something similar to military training?"

    "You''re aware of those?" Hakim asked. It took Lev a moment to remember there was no military or police force on Monarch, so it was not supposed to be common knowledge.

    "Yes," Lev simply answered.

    "You''re correct. It will put you through extensive physical and magical training. Team-building exercises will be the main focus, preparing you to eventually guard lethal zones."

    "And you have teams that can match my output?"

    "Well, no. You have more mana than anyone expected you to have. Your class should be similarly potent."

    Lev shook his head. "Even if you had a team for me, I still do not want to go through such a program. There''s plenty on my plate already."

    "You seem to have made up your mind already."

    "I have," Lev agreed.

    They both stared at each other before Hakim sighed. His bearing changed, the guild master now appearing almostˇ­ amiable.

    "I knew already, of course. This whole thing was meant to test how easily you would be angered. Disregard is where you draw the line."

    Lev listened in silence, not refuting.

    "You have a class that seems to be designed for growth. It is a sign of your desire for progress. I would be wary of interfering with that. Mana, you see, has many secrets. Chief among them is that it wants to keep things from humanity, which is why they''re secrets to begin with."

    Now he was listening with his full attention.

    "Essence gains are the maximum not when you face something beyond you, or when you go past your limits. No, you progress the most when you are doing what you want to do. When your class resonates with your desires, you are most in tune with mana. That is also the reason children are allowed to choose their own path, to be presented with demonstrations if they cannot find it."

    Lev nodded to show he understood, not getting the point of this explanation.

    "It is also the reason I only asked you to train under me. The whole thing would be pointless if you didn''t want to be there."

    "So you wanted to change my mind instead of forcing me?" Lev questioned, now seeing the point. "Could''ve said so from the start."

    Hakim smiled. "I heard you dislike being lorded over. I needed to see for myself. Disputes over command and orders are simply something I cannot allow in lethal zones."

    Lev swallowed, nervous again. "So, what do you think?"

    "Oh, you''ll definitely be a troublemaker," Hakim grinned. "Luckily, your dislike for authority will be easily dismissed once you prove your usefulness to anyone in command. I will just need to send a word to let you roam freely under loose orders."

    Lev suppressed the desire to argue for more. "That is fine by me."

    "Good, because nobody has ever been allowed this much concession. You best prove yourself."

    Lev almost rolled his eyes. "Yes, grandteacher. I will do my best to not be a disappointment."

    Alec and Hakim both stared at him in silence, both for different reasons.

    I knew calling him that would be effective, Lev thought, smug at finally silencing the scary man for the first time.

 Chapter 36

    "That was needlessly scary," Lev broke the silence, both he and Alec hovering above The Pit in the bubble. He had stored his illusion armor after wearing it to exit the guild, preferring to be outside of it for this talk.

    "My teacher has always been strict but he was still showing leniency around you."

    "You''ve got to be kidding me," Lev deadpanned. "He almost drowned me with his aura."

    Alec grimaced. "I trained in it regularly. Not even close to the worst he''s put me through."

    "I''m not his Monarch damned student, and for very good reason. He cannot justify testing me like that except simply because he could," Lev argued half-heartedly, throwing his hands up in resignation. What had happened was already in the past, and he didn''t want anything more to do with the Exalted.

    He was also more intimidated than he would admit. Lev didn''t know what the silver light was, or why it was so potent, but the origins of the light seemed to be something beyond comprehension. Back then, the only impression he got from trying to feel the origin was instant death.

    "I apologize on his behalf. He might not look like it, but he was pretty happy to see your determination. That your personal goals included clearing lethal zones, too."

    Lev took a breath, about to reply, but just let it out. "Fine, all is forgiven. I wasn''t holding it against Hakim, anyway. The man has more burdens than I can imagine," Lev said and looked at his mentor. "I believe we have more urgent matters to address."

    Alec sighed. "That we do."

    Lev waited for his mentor to form the words. It took what anyone would''ve considered an embarrassingly long time but Lev didn''t mind. It just showed how much his mentor cared.

    "The average lifespan at my level and evolution is well above a thousand years. Something you will most likely have trouble wrapping your head around. For us, it''s normal. We grew up knowing that, that if we survive, lifespan would be the least of our worries," Alec voiced with a gentle voice and a small smile. Lev patiently waited with a matching smile, not interrupting.

    "Youˇ­ care. Too much," Lev resisted the change of his expressions, though a bit of it probably slipped through as his mentor continued. "Don''t laugh at me. This is the first time I''m doing this. What I''m saying is, I will spend years in some basement now. That is not a long time for me but it is a great period for you. I''m sorry. For not spending more time teaching you,"

    Lev waited for several silent seconds before he inhaled deeply. His mentor probably expected words, but Lev simply walked up and grabbed him in a tight hug. For the first time, he felt Alec''s aura go in disarray, letting Lev feel his surprise and genuine happiness.

    "So strong and resourceful but can''t hug a kid," Lev teased and looked up into his mentor''s eyes. "I do not blame you, and never will. You''ve given me so much already for nothing in exchange, and I will continue to benefit from it for as long as I live. Thank you and don''t be sorry. I am happy with every little bit of what you''ve provided, and you should be content too. You''ve done more than enough."

    Strong arms hugged him back, and suddenly Lev was not ashamed to let a few tears out.

    He was going to miss Alec.

    ****

    Lev landed in front of Golden Basilisk, the entrance card to Alec''s suite forcefully glued to his hand by a barrier. The glue disintegrated after a few seconds, leaving Lev no choice but to keep the card.

    First time someone has forced riches on me. Lev thought with a hollow chuckle, mind still trying to comprehend his newfound loneliness. Orianna, Sherron, and now Alec. It would be his new routine to be all alone, something new to get used to.

    Having put on his armor before landing, Lev turned around and walked to the Hunters Guild. The guild hall was still as impressive as always, sporting a few hunters going about their business.

    He went straight for the large quest board, most of it unsurprisingly related to the pit. The large hole in the ground was not dissimilar to a dungeon, containing several layers before the seemingly endless drop started.

    Escort quests were scarce. It was not unexpected, considering those who came here were far and few. Only the bravest of hunters and the minimum force required to repel waves were stationed there most of the time.

    Thankfully, there were two going to Runespires.

    "Hey," Lev addressed the woman behind the counter. "When are the caravans for Runespires leaving?"

    She straightened herself before answering. "The one from Gilard leaves tomorrow morning, and the other leaves in four days."

    "No specific requirements?"

    "They asked for a Silver teamˇ­" The woman hesitantly replied.

    Lev almost scratched his armored head. "I do not know how I can prove it but I''m a capable mage. Oh, and can you upgrade my badge?"

    He stored the blocking stone from Alec in his ring, something he kept on his person at all times. The woman identified him, and Lev did the same.

    [Worker - Level 130]

    I wonder how long it took to get to that level.

    "Congratulations on your advancement. Would you like to create a profile?"

    "Create one for a barrier mage called Lev. Can you talk to the person who issued the quest that leaves in four days? I can go on half the pay if they don''t like that I don''t have a team."

    The woman thought for a few seconds, "I''m sure they will not mind. Nobody wants to give up more security if they can help it."

    Lev belatedly remembered that he caused more waves wherever he went ever since getting his class.

    "Yeah," he chuckled, hiding his nervousness. "It would be a good idea to hire another team. When can I expect to get a response?"

    "We can send a runner right now if you don''t mind waiting. In the meantime, I need to inform you about the upcoming ranks," Lev motioned for her to go on. "The silver rank is the last rank that can be earned without merits. Seeing how your previous badge is plain and this is your first time interacting with the guild, your current merit score is 0. The new badge has a tracker to keep count of your merit, a feature present in most badges."

    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    She handed Lev a silver badge, a long, thin, yet striking strip of metal. It was as long as his finger. Lev stored it in his ring, not intending to mess with the tracker even a little bit. Not like he could find it on the badge, to begin with.

    "Your previous badge was made for someone who would progress without questing so I should inform you about how it works. Whenever you finish a quest, the badge will be updated by one of the clerks after enough proof has been provided. That can be a testimony from the quest issuer or simply arriving with a caravan. In most cases, it is extremely simple."

    Lev thanked the woman for the explanation and took a seat at one of the tables. While a runner was contacting the merchants who had issued the quest, he meditated.

    Clearing his mind of thoughts and distractions, Lev focused on his constant heartbeat. The experience was relaxing but that was all.

    "Hunter Lev," the woman called out.

    "I don''t think I got your name earlier," Lev scratched his armored head.

    She smiled at him. "I''m Liz. I have been working as an attendant and receptionist for the past two decades here. The response was positive, and they''re willing to take another Silver team while paying you in full."

    Lev dipped his head in a grateful nod. "Thank you for the quick work."

    "Good luck on your quest, hunter."

    Lev returned to Alec''s suite, the attendant letting him in quickly after he flashed the card. The receptionist didn''t seem too happy about it but Lev didn''t care either. He would be out of there in a few days, anyway.

    I guess it''s time to wait.

    ****

    Lev spent the rest of the days doingˇ­ nothing. He simply wasted time, something he hadn''t done in a while.

    Wasting time still sucked, but he didn''t want to start the quest with less than full mana. It took him over 18 hours to regenerate a full mana pool, a new element he had to plan for. Most mages didn''t have benefits affecting their capacity and regen, meaning they only had to wait 12 hours for a full pool.

    For Lev, that wait time would continue to increase. It wasn''t a bad thing, as it truly highlighted how massive his pool was even with the increased regen, but it was something he had to plan around.

    In the meantime, he planned. Boredom crept on him quickly, forcing him to jog his mind. The first order of business was to integrate barriers into his fighting style. Right now, he only had his shields and now-weakened disks other than his arrows and lances. That needed to change.

    Several ideas came to him that made full use of the durability of barriers. It just sucked that his class provided only a single bonus on that front, which was why they were not a priority.

    The priority was enchanting. With his new General Skill slots, Lev wanted to dedicate as many as he could to that. The only other general skill that would be useful to him was Mana Slash, something most mages learned for its usefulness.

    It would pair with Stargazer nicely.

    Beyond that, evolving his Mana Manipulation and turning his archery skill into something broader was on his to-do list. The latter he wasn''t sure was possible, but it wouldn''t hurt to try.

    Noon was when the caravan would disembark on their journey. Lev reached the gate an hour before that. He inspected his new gauntlets as he walked. Similar to his glaive, Stargazer, they were matte black in color with blue veins running through them. Sturdy and conductive, they were well worth the 40 gold coins he spent on them.

    [

    Dreamchasers - Uncommon

    These gauntlets have been forged by a reliable blacksmith and enchanted by a masterful enchanter. They are designed to be used with maximum force, and capable of handling great impacts.

    Enchantments: Fire Converter, Lightning Converter, Hardening, Minor Weight Increase

    ]

    The first two enchantments were straightforward, and the other two were similarly simple. Hardening let him increase the durability of the gauntlets, like his armor, by pouring mana into them. The last let him triple their weight at a high mana cost. The enchantment was modified to allow short bursts of activation, minimizing the cost by matching the punches.

    "Hunter Lev?"

    Lev looked the athletic man, radiating an aura of luxury and wealth. The superb mustache on his face raised Lev''s opinion of the man by a few notches, and he clasped the offered hand.

    [Merchant - Level 200]

    "That would be me. Director Welsh?" Lev asked for confirmation.

    "Indeed, young man."

    While they exchanged pleasantries, the man exerted more and more strength on Lev''s armored hand. The armor''s feedback told him how close it was to straining, so Lev used increasing amounts mana to reinforce it.

    The smile on Welsh''s gradually grew as Lev''s armor held, something the man could detect as barrier armor. By the time Lev was reinforcing the hand to its limit, the director''s mood had improved considerably.

    "Marvelous. That has to be one of the strongest armors I''ve seen on a new silver hunter. Is it a crafting class?"

    Lev shook his head as they walked to the slowly gathering caravan. "Combat. The armor was necessary to compensate for the low physical capabilities."

    "Low" was perhaps a bit misleading, as Lev could pummel weaker Classer warriors with ease. Still, the merchant didn''t need to know that.

    Welsh nodded approvingly. "Too many people think little of defenses in favor of more mana and firepower. You have chosen well."

    The caravan was smaller than Lev expected. Five horse-drawn carts with a dozen or so merchants. The carts were all empty and designed to carry people instead of goods. The rings on their hands told him enough about where the goods were.

    "Director Welsh," Lev began, "What does your auction deal in?"

    "We deal in a lot of things, young man," he smiled widely. "Monster parts, cores, items, metals, resources, and treasures. There are a few more things but nothing that would interest you."

    "How do I sell these items to your auction?" Lev asked.

    The man''s smile, which was just a plain smile before, seemed a bit more genuine now. "You just need to register in any of our Bronze Bids branches, and the rest is as simple as selling for a fixed price or putting up goods for auction. The latter demands a high level of worth, of course."

    Lev thanked the man for the information and stepped into the cart designated for defenders. They were larger and fortified, reminding Lev of tanks from Earth.

    He circled the cart with great interest, noting the metal-clad wheels to keep the cart going even during dire times.

    Several gazes landed on him after a few minutes, reminding Lev that he was not the only defender. The other hired silver hunters were a group of four, three warriors and one mage. Two of the warriors were focused on close-range combat if their equipment was anything to go by, and the last was a shield.

    The mage gave off an aura of long-lasting stability, signifying that her earth magic was more support-oriented.

    "Hey there," the mage waved at Lev. "I''m Claire. These three are Ron, Kai, and Jalen."

    Ron and Kai, the warriors focused on offense going by their great-swords, were around 6 feet tall and lithe. Jalen on the other hand was built like a wrecking ball. The bulk of the shield made sense but it was still quite the sight.

    [Mage - Level 152]

    [Warrior - Level 151]

    [Warrior - Level 153]

    [Warrior - Level 152]

    Still silver? Merit points might be harder to earn than I thought.

    "I''m Lev," he greeted back. "Newly promoted hunter."

    "Oh, that''s nice," Claire smiled. "First Silver quest?"

    Lev nodded in assent, after which she observed the caravan for a few moments.

    "The director is strong. He has a reputation for gathering monster parts himself," Claire idly noted. "I don''t think they needed even us."

    Lev shrugged. "Yeah, I''m only here because of Director Welsh''s kindness. Still, better safe than sorry."

    "True," she acknowledged. "Which cart is ours?"

    "Whichever you want. I''m just one so either is fine by me."

    She gave him a short, curious glance at the answer before choosing the larger of the two carts.

    Lev thought back to his answer, finding nothing wrong with what he had said. Why did she look at him like that?

 Chapter 37

    "We will be in your care," Director Welsh spoke as he departed. Lev jumped into his cart as the horse started moving, trained to travel without a driver.

    I wish I could step out of this armor. Lev thought with a small sigh. It was comfortable, somehow not at all scratchy despite being metal, but it was getting tiring.

    The horse kept accelerating, to a point that Lev had to identify it.

    [Horse - Level 98]

    Quite a bit higher than the previous horses. Does this also count as a show of wealth? Lev noted with amusement. Director Welsh seemed like a person who cared about profits and image.

    Traveling was the same old boring affair. The carts would be safe for a day or two, the monsters near The Pit eradicated by the occasional patrols. Lev made himself comfortable, not knowing if they would even stop to rest every night. Everyone in the caravan was an Adept, after all.

    ****

    Two days passed in silence, Lev finding himself considerably less bored than he expected. He curiously examined his mind, finding it moreˇ­ stable, if that was even the right word.

    The effect of evolution, huh? Even the first is more impactful than I thought.

    Each evolution was, to Lev''s knowledge, a great boon to a person''s mind. Emotions became more stable, focus became sharper, brainpower got an upgrade, and things like annoyance had less of a hold on emotions than before. It was one of the reasons everyone was so kind. It was both harder to feel negative and there were fewer reasons to feel negative.

    Unless the person was evil or a downer by nature. Then those feelings were similarly amplified.

    The effects were barely noticeable for him for the most part. His high perception and lack of deep thoughts were not enough to push his mind. Overall, he just felt like a better person.

    Lev climbed up the small ladder on the side of the cart leading to an opening meant for scouting safely. He peeked out, taking a moment to appreciate the improvements to his vision, and searched for any monsters.

    The past dozens of searches had led to nothing but this time, there was a change.

    They''re still too farˇ­ Lev thought with squinted eyes. The monsters in the distance seemed like orcs, a few dozen of them.

    "Hey," Lev shouted at the cart next to his. Ron''s head peeked out of the opening. "Do you see those monsters?"

    The warrior looked where Lev was pointing, squinting his eyes before shaking his head.

    "Nothing," Ron half-shouted.

    "I think orcs are chasing us. We will probably outrun them," Lev shouted back. Ron nodded once before climbing down.

    Lev did the same, sitting at the edge of the cart to keep an eye on the horizon. Hours passed before Lev noticed their speed slowing down, the horses showing signs of strain after running at full speed for half a day.

    The monsters unsurprisingly fell behind. The suns had nearly set before they appeared again, unrelenting in their chase. Their horses were still marching at a slow pace, which was why they could catch up to begin with.

    "Orcs," Lev shouted at the other team when he could make out the shape of the monsters with certainty. Claire popped out of the opening this time.

    "Think you can handle them before they reach us?" she asked.

    "I think so," Lev replied. "It would cost a bit of mana, though."

    In truth, it wouldn''t, not for him. His arrows were still costly but he had far more mana now. Firing hundreds of enhanced and infused arrows was not out of the question for him if he held back on the infusion quantity per arrow.

    "That''s fine. We will cover for you if you are low on mana."

    That was what Lev wanted to hear. With a nod, he summoned his bow and waited till they were closer. When the monsters were still a kilometer away, Lev formed an arrow, getting a surprised look from Claire.

    The lightning converter in his gauntlet readily accepted his mana, the output connected to his barrier armor. Rapid infusion transferred the converted mana to the arrow in an instant.

    The arrow filled up, crackling with a little bit of stray lightning. For testing purposes, he resorted to filling it to the brim.

    Peering into the knowledge from his archery skill, Lev gradually raised the bow higher and higher before he let it loose. The arrow flew like a bullet, releasing a small shockwave because of its sheer speed, before landing on one of the unsuspecting orcs.

    The explosion from the releasing mana was observable despite the distance, the consequence of using so much lightning mana at once.

    [

    You have slain [Orc - Level 70]

    You have slain [Orc - Level 68]

    ]

    Dismissing the notifications, Lev observed his mana pool.

    Two percent of my total for that single shot. Pretty good. Lev concluded with a grin. Even if only two orcs had died, plenty more had been injured by the blast.

    You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

    "How many times can you do that?" Claire shouted, bringing Lev back to the present.

    "Only a few more times," Lev lied, not wanting to show how little it had cost him. Firing dozens of conjured barrier arrows was nowhere near surprising enough as opposed to being able to fire fifty of the explosive ones. Lev wanted to stick to the former.

    "That is still a great backup option. Make sure to keep some mana for those for the future."

    Lev gave her an armored thumbs-up. After waiting for a few more minutes, the orcs eventually got close enough for him to kill them all with ease.

    ****

    More days passed in relative peace before trouble came knocking. Lev formed four shields, reinforcing them as much as he could, and observed the small troll horde drawing closer.

    The three dozen monsters were too cohesive for trolls, which signified the presence of a shaman. Those monsters were elusive, preferring to hide and launch sneak attacks on unsuspecting humans.

    The only reason Lev was able to kill a shaman so quickly before was due to the surprise factor. He would''ve probably won in a fight anyway, but not nearly as fast.

    "What''s the plan?" Welsh''s question reached them with surprising clarity, only slightly distorted by the passage of wind from their high speed.

    "I will support from range and cover the warriors with my shields as long as they remain close," Lev spoke up first.

    "How close?" Claire questioned.

    "Fifty meters just to be safe."

    The simple answer confirmed that Lev had a range-boosting benefit or skill. That was a part of his class he had no qualms revealing.

    "Do you have any buffs?" Jalen, the bulky warrior asked Lev.

    "No, I''m a combatant, not a support."

    "Just making sure," the man shrugged.

    "We will support the warriors and remain ready to expend large amounts of mana whenever necessary," Claire announced. "The warriors will make sure to stay within range and be prepared to disengage if anything goes wrong."

    "Simple enough," Welsh remarked. "I will remain ready to intervene in case something goes south. Don''t hesitate to call on me."

    The hunters all nodded, knowing the merchant was also a warrior. The trolls, still a few kilometers away, were slowly catching up to the dormant horses. The horses almost outpaced them despite being an evolution lower, which was quite surprising for Lev. He would''ve loved to see their attributes.

    "I think you should shoot a few lightning bolts to see if we can find the shaman," Claire called out.

    "I can''t fire lightning bolts but something else should suffice."

    Lev nocked an arrow and poured mana into the fire converter gauntlet when the monsters were less than a kilometer away. The fire mana, wild as always, took some effort to keep inside the arrow. With what little Willpower he had, Lev reinforced the arrow to its limit before letting it loose.

    Guided by his archery skill, it once again exploded in the middle of the horde. The blast was much more potent than the last, burning and singing more than a few of them.

    Two of his shields blocked the retaliating icicle, one of them pierced cleanly before the second stopped the attack in its tracks.

    Lev intently observed the cold emanating from the icicle, passively damaging his shields. The ice aura wasn''t anything special but it would be a pain in the butt if the icicle was lodged inside someone. The lethargy induced by it alone could be lethal in intense battles.

    "Did you notice the shaman?" Lev asked. He had opted to block the attack instead of tracking it.

    "In the back, left side."

    Lev formed three lances, each a meter long. Filling them with fire mana, he spent a few seconds tracking the shaman with his improved eyesight. The monster was slightly smaller than the other orcs, skinnier and faster too.

    "Found you," Lev muttered and launched all three lances at once.

    The projectiles flew with immense speed, crossing the kilometer distance in less than two seconds. Only one hit the shaman head-on but that was fine.

    The lance pierced the shaman''s leg before detonating and the explosion was amplified by the other lances detonating nearby.

    [

    You have slain [Troll Shaman - Level 157]

    You have slain [Troll Warrior - Level 114]

    ]

    "Shaman down," Lev announced, waving off Claire''s stare. "What? That was the focus of my class."

    "What were the arrows, then?" she questioned back, impressed.

    "General Skill. Focus on the monsters."

    She snorted at the poor attempt at deflection but didn''t ask any more questions. The carts slowed as the three warriors jumped off, adopting a simple formation with Jalen in front.

    Claire''s mana rushed into the ground under them, fortifying it to prevent missteps. Lev noted with interest that even the dirt felt more durable to his senses, imbued with trace amounts of mana.

    [

    Mana Perception has reached Level 8

    ]

    Lev dismissed the notification and formed an arrow, only infusing it with a little bit of lightning mana. Enough to increase its speed and damage the monsters but not enough to explode.

    No more words or suggestions were exchanged as the first few trolls reached the warriors. The ground turned into a puddle underneath the monsters, the warriors not wasting the opportunity and deftly piercing their skulls.

    The distance between the trolls was little, and another five reached the warriors in the same second. Lev pierced the skull of one while an earth wall rose to block the kick of another.

    The erected defense cracked but held. The troll had to reposition, which gave Lev enough time to finish it off. More trolls descended on the warriors in the meantime.

    Lev observed how Claire supported her teammates as he formed two more lances and filled them with fire mana.

    Before the remaining trolls could pounce on the warriors, Lev shouted, "Jalen, brace!"

    The shield activated some defensive skills just as Lev''s fire lances landed amidst the trolls. The lances were aimed to cover a large area, catching most of the monsters in the blast radius.

    The experienced team did not let the opportunity go to waste, pouncing on the stunned monsters without mercy. The monsters on the ground were pierced by earth spikes suddenly rising from the ground while Lev targeted the least affected.

    The battle concluded quickly after that. The remaining monsters were put down with brutal efficiency, the trolls no match for the high-level silver team warriors.

    [

    Your Group has slain [Troll Warrior - Level 121]

    ˇ­

    Your Group has slain [Troll Warrior - Level 110]

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 105

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 106

    Rapid Infusion has reached Level 3

    Rapid Infusion has reached Level 4

    Colorful Destruction has reached Level 2

    Colorful Destruction has reached Level 3

    ]

    The attribute points went into Constitution. The distribution plan remained the same, the need for a higher Constitution not yet apparent but something he was sure to notice later.

    The only reason Lev could reasonably channel mana right now was because he only used it in small amounts. The moment he used more than 20% of his pool at once, Lev knew his arms would be in a world of pain.

    Mana pool could be accessed from anywhere in the torso, the quality remaining unchanged even after evolving. Consequently, it needed to be channeled through his arms or legs to reach weapons or equipment.

    I sincerely hope there''s equipment to deal with that. Lev thought.

    That would be a huge help.

 Chapter 38

    Lev kept his eyes peeled, head on a swivel to spot the moment it all went to shit. The momentˇ­ didn''t come.

    For a few weeks, at least.

    The day started just like any other. The caravan set off after resting for the night, ready to reach Runespires in a few days. Maybe even less.

    The entire travel was supposed to take 25 days or so, and they were already 23 days in. So, as fate would have it, one of the most feared monsters within the first threshold appeared.

    "Claire!" Lev shouted as blood drained from his face, hidden underneath the armor. Sensing something in his voice, Claire quickly climbed up the hole.

    "Yeah?"

    "Please tell me I''m not seeing an orc general."

    Her eyes went wide at the mention, and she slowly turned her head in the direction Lev was looking. No words were needed as her face went pale as well, and she didn''t hesitate to call for their backup.

    "Director Welsh!" Claire yelled, her voice laced with fear. "We need to move faster!"

    "What''s wrong?" Welsh''s voice reached us. He took one look at the direction she and Lev were staring before his expression darkened. "Leave the general to me."

    The general, the oh-so-feared general, was barely any taller than other orcs yet even while several kilometers away, Lev could feel the tension in his bones. The monster''s aura eclipsed everyone in Claire''s party combined, making his knees go weak despite being used to Exalted auras.

    The sheer bloodlust and insanity radiating from that one monster was staggering.

    How do we even beat this thing? Lev''s mind focused on all possible strategies, only finding one possible answer. Only killing it in one overloaded attack seemed viable, otherwise the monster alone would take them all apart.

    "Claire," Lev called out. "I can kill it if we can keep it stationary for a single second."

    She blinked a few times, her scared mind taking a few seconds to process the words. "What? In one push?"

    Lev nodded, "Probably."

    Claire gulped, glancing at Welsh. The rest of the merchants were still unaware, their carts a bit ahead of theirs.

    "Are you sure, Lev?" Welsh asked calmly.

    "Yes, I can severely damage it, if not outright kill it if you can immobilize it for a few seconds."

    "What about the rest of the horde? They will all most likely be first-threshold orcs with a huge boost from the general," Claire asked, her wits calming down a little.

    Lev was very conscious of his large mana pool at that moment. He decided to risk it a little. "I can kill plenty before they reach us."

    Welsh gave him a proud look for whatever reason. Claire looked like she wanted to argue but stayed quiet, trusting him not to doom them all.

    The next minutes passed agonizingly slowly yet too quickly at the same time. Lev counted the monsters when they got close enough to allow him.

    30ˇ­ 40ˇ­ 53. Doable, except one.

    Lev looked at Welsh and the other team, now standing tall in the face of the adversaries. Lev nodded in his mind, they would not falter.

    I really hope showing this much does not come back to bite me in the bum.

    Pushing away the depressing thought, Lev formed four lances before slowly filling them to the brim. The stream of mana being channeled into the gauntlets stood out to him in high clarity, the mana barely held at bay by his weak flesh. His constitution was just barely enough to avoid mana poisoning from the sheer amount being channeled every second.

    The large amount of fire mana demanded a lot of focus to stabilize but Lev could do so with only a little struggle, probably because of his title.

    Now filled, he identified the largest group of orcs before launching the lances.

    Four explosions became visible a few hundred meters away as the lances impacted in a split-second, revealing multiple corpses despite the presence of a general.

    Lev formed four more lances before firing them in the same fashion.

    Then four more.

    Claire''s mouth was hanging open and even Welsh was giving him an appraising look, re-evaluating Lev''s strength. Precisely the things he didn''t want.

    More than half of the horde was already gone, their lack of intelligence making them easy pickings. Lev formed another four lances one last time, firing them one after another. Previously, he had avoided the general to get rid of all the minions first. Despite the large blast radius, the monster was still unharmed.

    50% mana left. Lev concluded, his arms burning from the extreme amount of channeling. They would, mercifully, heal rather quickly but the pain was bad enough to even impact his aim.

    "The rest will be up to you guys," Lev turned around, now looking at an armored Welsh wielding a huge mace. Lev also summoned his bow to assume a more supportive role in case the general went down easier than expected.

    The four warriors hopped off their carts as one, adopting a formation that focused on supporting Welsh from all sides, letting the merchant warrior deal with powerful enemies without interruption.

    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    Lev aimed, downing another orc before it even reached the warriors. The arrows, filled with only a little lightning, were enough for normal orcs. Their levels were also low, barely crossing 110.

    Then, the general reached Welsh. The orc, covered in now-glowing tattoos and brimming with power, punched the descending mace.

    The ground near them was split apart as the shockwave from the clash washed over it, uprooting the grass despite the fortification from Claire.

    Lev gulped at the display, keeping half an eye on the battle while killing other orcs with the rest of the warriors. The normal orcs, while strong, were not worthy of mention compared to the elite monster.

    Welsh and the general exchanged blows in rapid succession, the monster deflecting and blocking the spiked mace with its bare hands. Lev was starting to have doubts about his capability to kill it when the general''s tattoos flared even brighter. The monster blurred, hitting Welsh in the chest before anyone could react.

    He watched, as time seemed to slow down even without his passive activating, as Welsh flew back like a cannonball, blood slowly flying mid-flight from the man''s mouth. His pristine armor now sported a large dent, further damaging the man''s body.

    Lev gritted his teeth, turning back to the general only to find it a few meters away, already leaping.

    This time, his passive activated, letting him form just two shields and reinforce his armor as much as he could while crossing his arms in front of his face.

    Time sped up again, and Lev barely perceived his bow vanishing into his ring and the shields shattering before he was sent flying. Darkness crept on him as he tumbled on the ground for two dozen meters, his arms broken and illusion armor deformed. The barrier armor had shattered first, absorbing most of the blow and saving his life.

    Lev spat out blood, uncaring if it was inside his armor, before hastily reforming his barrier armor and flying up. The situation was dire. Welsh was back on his feet, losing every exchange yet refusing to back down. The remaining monsters were dead yet that was of no help.

    Jalen was already bleeding and unconscious, carried away by Ron and Kai. Claire was doing her best to disrupt the monster''s movements, failing as the general just plowed through her walls as if they were made of paper. She didn''t even bother trying anything else, nothing in her class was capable of damaging the monster or fast enough to hit it in the first place.

    Lev took a deep breath and moved his broken arms with his barrier armor as he resummoned his bow. A groan escaped his lips as the liquid fire coursed through his arms, the pain forcing him to rapidly blink back tears.

    He couldn''t afford to miss, not here. Forming a large arrow, he dumped as much lightning as he could in it and waited. Bow drawn, the enchantment slowed down his perception a little more as Lev observed the class between the general and Welsh.

    The general veered back, ready to punch the human''s face off. Welsh reacted in the nick of time, bringing his mace down to meet the rapidly approaching fist.

    The ground was torn apart even further as they collided with a boom. The orc, possessing some warped form of battle instincts, took half a step to capitalize on the opening, only for an overcharged lightning arrow to almost hit its skull.

    The damned monster dodged at the last moment, and the arrow hit its left shoulder.

    "Now!"

    Lev''s shout was thankfully loud enough to be heard by everyone. Claire dumped almost all of her mana into thick stone chains that rose from the ground, deftly wrapping themselves around the monster''s waist. Welsh was even quicker, his flying mace impacting the monster''s face like a meteor.

    The barely revealed monster amidst the small explosion was missing a small portion of its shoulder, more from the impact than the explosion. It roared, the sound raw and guttural, promising death to all who dared stand in its way.

    The same time-consuming action turned on it as a lightning lance, cracking at the seams at the sheer amount of mana present in it, impacted its chest.

    Lev''s vision turned white and yellow as nearly half of his mana pool was released at once, the resulting blast producing a loud boom that hurt his ears even inside the two armors.

    His consciousness threatened to escape, his armor wobbling mid-air as his focus wavered. Yet he refused to pass out, forcing himself to observe the result of the explosion.

    There''s still no notificationˇ­ The thought was hazy in his head, only a part of his mind fully awake and functional.

    Several seconds passed before the explosion died down, revealing the barely standing general. It was a mess. Much of its chest was missing, letting Lev see most of its ribcage.

    Yet it was still alive, gazing at the human opponents with an unflinching gaze and monstrous resolve.

    Lev slowly descended, incapable of helping out further as Welsh, Kai, and Ron charged the crippled monster already bleeding to death from its grievous wounds.

    Landing on the ground, he pointedly ignored his left arm. The amount of mana he had channeled into that one attack had no doubt overwhelmed his constitution, turning the limb into a blue mess. He had never seen the effects of mana overload before but he''d heard plenty of cases.

    His mind also hurt like hell, mana overuse being a similar yet more common issue. No mage willingly went below 10% of their mana pool if they could help it, and Lev''s severe headache reminded him why.

    Several seconds passed and Lev was getting ready to summon his bow again when the notifications came.

    [

    Your Group has slain [Orc General - Level 180]

    ]

    Just 180? Lev let out a surprised laugh. Rereading the notification, he confirmed that his mind wasn''t playing tricks on him. The general was really level 180.

    How the hell was it only level 180? The brute I fought would''ve died ten times over yet it was at a similar level.

    In the end, he just sighed. He wasn''t thinking straight and with the amount of pain going through his body, he just wanted to curl up and cry himself to sleep.

    Too bad the others were worried about him.

    "Lev, why aren''t you answering? are you alright?" Welsh''s voice reached him.

    Lev blinked a few times, only now realizing Welsh was already in front of him.

    "Yeah," Lev mustered a reply. "Just need to lie down. The headache is horrible."

    "Your arms, they are both broken."

    Ohˇ­ I forgot about those.

    His state of mind deteriorated even further as another pain registered. Oblivious to the tears streaming down his face, Lev moved past Welsh and flew into his cart.

    "Do we have anyone who can heal?" Lev asked but a small tube was already shoved in his armored face. He gingerly grabbed it, his muddled mind fascinated by it instead of trying to drink it.

    Potions were prohibitively expensive, and for good reason. Even the weakest of potions were potent enough that they were banned for anyone below Adept. Drinking one as a Classer did more harm than good. The ingredients were also a pain to gather, requiring people to delve deep into the pit or scour the grand forest bordering WhiteFall.

    "Drink it and quickly."

    Lev forced his mind to return to reality. He turned to Welsh and Claire, both observing him with more than a little worry apparent on their face.

    "Both of you, leave."

    Taken aback at the emotionless and cold tone, they hesitated for a moment before leaving.

    Only then did Lev dismiss his barrier armor, step out of his illusion armor, and drink the potion in one gulp by grabbing it with a floating barrier hand.

    Instantly, he could feel the potion taking effect. Lev hastily jumped back into the illusion armor and resummoned his barrier armor. The moment the armor closed, the potion started to heal his arms, drowning Lev in a torrent of pain as he passed out.

 Chapter 39

    [

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 107

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 108

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 109

    Rapid Infusion has reached Level 5

    Rapid Infusion has reached Level 6

    Colorful Destruction has reached Level 4

    Colorful Destruction has reached Level 5

    Colorful Destruction has reached Level 6

    Barrier armor has reached 3rd Level 1

    15 Free attribute points

    ]

    Life, young man, is suffering. Lev sagely thought to himself. His arms still ached horribly, and the armor dented at his arms and chest were more than a little annoying.

    It was slowly fixing itself though, which was a blessing he hadn''t expected. Previously, his mentor fixed it in a few minutes.

    The free attributes all went into Wisdom. He was considering changing up his distribution plan already. Mana and Constitution were always the limiting factors for him.

    How long was I out? he wondered as he summoned his barrier armor on top of the illusion armor and climbed the opening in his moving cart.

    The sun was close to setting, which didn''t tell him much. For all he knew, it could be the next day.

    "Claire," Lev yelled at the cart next to them. The woman hastily climbed atop her cart. The relief on her face was apparent, something Lev wasn''t sure how to deal with.

    "Are your arms healed properly?" she asked. Lev waved his two arms, no longer in pain but still burning a little from the recent healing.

    "They are itchy," Lev answered, "but there''s no issue with the healing. The potion worked nicely. How long was I out?"

    "The itch is normal. Was it your first time using a potion? You were unconscious for only three hours."

    "It was," Lev half-shouted back.

    "The ones that can heal bones are expensive. You should thank Director Welsh later."

    "I know," Lev agreed. "Will do."

    "You''re probably feeling famished right now. Eat something before it gets worse."

    Lev thanked her, her words making him realize just how hungry he was. Potions took a lot out of the person''s energy reserves to heal injuries, so the hunger was natural.

    That would be fine, but Lev was having stomach cramps after a few seconds. Wherever he had heard about the hunger was clearly underplaying the effect.

    Lev stepped out of his armor and summoned a bowl of hearty stew and bread. Even hungry, he ate calmly for a few minutes before letting out a satisfied burp. The serving of soup was extremely generous, making him appreciate his past self''s decision more and more. Just for a few silver, he had bought enough soup for months.

    Now what?

    The answer turned out to be simple. Lev waited for another two days before they reached Runespires, the City of Crafting.

    The first Great City Lev was about to step foot in.

    ****

    Lev stared at the wall of Runespires, something he''d been doing for the past half an hour already.

    Butˇ­ how does one enchant entire city walls? They''re like 60 meters tall.

    Yet the walls were undeniably enchanted. His mana perception, weak as it was right now, could still sense mana in the wall in the distance despite the cloaking.

    "They''re beautiful, aren''t they?" Welsh asked Lev, the man having noticed him staring at the walls a few minutes ago.

    "They are," Lev honestly replied. The walls were extremely smooth even from afar, something that would be impossible without magic. Just their sheer size was something Earth''s denizens couldn''t hope to match. Lev was fairly certain that the wall was very thick too, which only added to the grandeur.

    Unlike The Pit, the newcomers were noticed from afar and a guard squadron embarked on horses to intercept them.

    Lev counted five of them, led by a Master warrior in full-plate armor.

    "Director Welsh!" The Master guard boisterously greeted. "Glad to see you made it safely."

    "Daniel, my man, you wouldn''t believe how close we were to not making it."

    Daniel''s face instantly became serious as the guards fell in line along with the caravan. The carts were now moving much slower, allowing for easier conversation.

    "Report and leave no details out."

    "There are no details. We met an orc general during the last stretch."

    "So close to the city?" Daniel asked, his voice containing a tiny bit of disbelief.

    Lev, who was observing the conversation from his cart, stayed quiet and collected. The reason was very obvious to him, and one of his greatest worries was his extended stay in Runespires.

    That could end horribly in too many ways. He planned to delve into as many dungeons as he could to gather more strength during his stay to be prepared.

    If he was causing more waves, then it was also his duty to deal with them to the best of his ability.

    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    "It is not completely unexpected," Daniel eventually spoke up. "Orc generals and commanders are unpredictable. They have appeared even in Windkeep''s waves despite the constant patrols. We will also increase our patrols, especially scouting patrols, to see if you were just unlucky or if there''s more to it than meets the eye."

    Welsh gave him a grateful nod. "Any news about the city?"

    Daniel cracked a smile at that. "Same old, same old. The tournaments and smaller competitions will start in a few weeks. The city is more crowded than it ever was before."

    Welsh smiled too, his excitement showing. "Sounds like business is going well."

    Daniel rolled his eyes in mock exasperation. "You and your business." He turned more serious. "Other auction houses are taking their advertisements up a notch, so you better get to work quickly."

    "Ah, those little goblins," Welsh waved him off. "Don''t worry, I already have plans in motion."

    "Of course you do," Daniel snorted. "I''ll find you later."

    Lev watched the exchange curiously, Identifying the guards as they turned to leave.

    [Warrior - ???]

    [Warrior - Level 198]

    [Warrior - Level 199]

    [Warrior - Level 209]

    [Mage - Level 210]

    Less guards, more hunters, Lev observed. The reasoning made sense. They weren''t guarding the cities against humans after all, except the occasional troublemaker.

    Monsters presented far too big of a threat for crime to feasibly exist.

    The caravan reached the gate after another half an hour, the huge double doors a sight to behold. Lev had to crane his neck to see the top, making him wonder what exactly could require them to be so tall.

    The next few minutes were unexpectedly amusing. Before the merchants and defenders even stepped off the carts, a team of animal caretakers was already scanning and healing the horses. The humans were completely ignored, not asked even once if they needed any help or healing.

    They sure have their priorities straight. Lev mused, stifling a laugh.

    "Young man," Welsh called out to him, "Let''s go and get your quest finished."

    Lev followed the man, leaving the caravan behind. Passing underneath the ten-meter-wide walls, the city was revealed in all its glory.

    Which was to say, there were still several kilometers of empty space between the gate and the city. In the distance, however, Lev could spot seven spires, each nearly a hundred meters tall.

    They were pretty tall, no doubt, but they wouldn''t be famous if that was all. The real size of the spires was hidden underground, extending downward for hundreds of meters.

    Going higher than their current height would be far too dangerous. Everyone knew the skies were not to be challenged, and constructing gigantic spires seemed like a surefire way to invite a calamity.

    Growing underground was a far safer option, for humanity had yet to explore beyond what was considered the "surface" of Monarch.

    The planet was just that gigantic.

    "Is this your first time coming here?" Welsh asked Lev.

    "Yeah," Lev replied, mouth dry from letting his jaw hang open for too long.

    He licked his lips and swallowed before speaking again. "Can I hire someone to give me a tour somewhere?"

    Welsh grinned. "You can just pay a loitering runner from any guild. They will happily show you around for a silver."

    Lev shelved the idea for later and looked around as they entered the city proper.

    The most prominent color, once again, was white. Lev expected the Great City to have a poorer area but nope, the edges of the city were just as prim and proper as The Pit.

    The more he walked through, the more luxurious everything became. It seemed that wealth discrimination was still a thing on Monarch, albeit to a much lesser degree compared to Earth. Lev would be concerned if it didn''t exist. Humans were still humans regardless of The System''s blessings.

    That did nothing to diminish the living standards of the populace. Lev followed Welsh on a wide road, forged out of the same white stone as every other road he had seen so far. These roads were wide enough to accommodate ten carts at once, the point proven immediately as two carts passed in the middle of the road without interruption.

    They walked for thirty minutes, Lev finding the residential district just as massive as he had imagined. Just the one road they were traversing had hundreds of large houses or mansions, and it was just one of many roads, though the rest were smaller.

    It wouldn''t be surprising if this road was for the richest, given it directly connects the gates and the spires.

    The spires in question loomed ever closer, towering and domineering in Lev''s vision. Despite the heavy attempts at cloaking everything, nothing could completely hide just how shrouded the spires were in enchantments.

    If someone told him every brick in their construction was enchanted, Lev would believe it.

    Time couldn''t have passed any slower as they marched to the Hunter''s Guild. Lev really wanted to enter those towers.

    It was bad enough that Welsh glanced back at him and chuckled, accurately reading his mind.

    The Hunters Guild was so very similar to all the branches he had seen before but this one outclassed them all with sheer size.

    Lev estimated it was as tall as a small skyscraper and far wider. Stepping inside, he was greeted by organized chaos. There were hundreds of people in the gigantic hall, several different reception counters, and several large doors leading to the backside of the building. Lev assumed that was where the training rooms and halls were.

    Welsh seemed used to the crowded building, nimbly leading them to a counter where the receptionist was already eyeing their group.

    "Hey Dory," Welsh greeted with a huge smile. "I''m back."

    "Welcome back, director. Let me take care of the quest first," Dory cheerily spoke, taking the quest paper from Welsh. "Can you give me your badges?"

    Lev did as he was told, and so did the other team.

    "Hmm, first quest?" Dory asked, glancing at Lev, who nodded. "The quest gives, based on the long timeframe, 35 merit points. You need 750 of them to qualify for the next rank."

    "Simple enough," Lev remarked, curious about possible avenues. "Can I inquire about the jobs hunters of my level normally take?"

    Dory held up a finger, updating the badges of the other team that was also waiting for her answer.

    "Most silver hunters resort to dungeon clearing, escorting miners, escorting travelers, protecting gatherers, and cave exploration. Please bear in mind that cave exploration underneath the city is far more unpredictable and dangerous than the rest."

    Mining questsˇ­ Lev tossed the idea around in his head, interested in the prospect of delving underground with a group of miners.

    "Thank you," Lev nodded and turned to Welsh, "Do I still have any obligations for the quest?"

    Welsh shook his head with a smile. "Consider the quest complete, hunter Lev," He turned to Dory, "Do we have any free runners who would be willing to show Lev around the city?"

    "We do. What part of the city are you most interested in?"

    "The spires," Lev instantly replied, causing her to grin.

    She excused herself for a minute, returning with a young girl around the age of 8. The girl looked positively adorable with her pinchable cheeks and short black hair.

    "This is Maya, one of our youngest runners. How much do you want for a few hours of tour Maya?"

    The girl pretended to think for a moment, her calm eyes betraying the fact that she had already made up her mind.

    "Three silvers," she eventually echoed, rendering everyone silent. Seeing the reaction, she hastily lowered the price. "Two silvers, I mean."

    Lev chuckled and summoned two silver coins, giving her one. "You can have the other when we''re done."

    "Are you rich, Mister?"

    Lev spared one glance for her wide, ''innocent'' eyes. "No."

    The girl''s cute facade cracked as she pouted. "Let''s go. I don''t have all day."

    Lev watched in amusement as the girl lightly stomped away, mad that her cuteness had failed.

    "Here," Welsh handed him a gold coin, "the quest reward."

    Storing the coin, Lev said his goodbyes before following the little tour guide waiting for him.

    "You can call me Lev instead of Mister."

    "Will that increase the pay?"

    ˇ­ How can someone be so innocently shameless?

    "Depends. If you can show me the best places for new crafters, I''ll consider it."

    Her eyes lit up, and Lev knew he was going to learn a lot today.

 Chapter 40

    "Mister Lev, what kind of crafting are you most interested in?"

    Lev thought for a few seconds, "Show me the blacksmith, healer, and barrier or arcane constructs areas."

    Maya adjusted their path to the blacksmith spire while she bombarded him with questions.

    "Mister Lev, are you a hunter?"

    "I am."

    "Can I ask about your mask?"

    "Sure, what about it?"

    She grinned excitedly, hands fidgety as she now openly stared at Lev''s illusion armor. "Why do you have one?"

    "Because I wanted to stand out,"

    She tilted her head, her hair following the motion. "Stand out?"

    Lev nodded with a smile. "Yep. So people would remember me."

    Her face lit up as if it all suddenly made sense. "You want to be famous?"

    "Something like that," Lev chuckled. He didn''t have the heart to tell her he just wanted to hide his age by distracting people with the illusion after that show of excitement.

    "I see, I see," she nodded repeatedly. "Is that why you became a hunter?"

    "Eeh, not really. I just wanted to fight monsters to keep people safe."

    Maya shivered, eyes suddenly wide. "But monsters are so scary! Mister Lev is very brave."

    "They are," Lev agreed, "Which is why I don''t want them to reach kids like you."

    Lev booped the amazed Maya on the nose, bringing her out of her stupor.

    "Mister Lev is so brave!" the little girl shouted in delight.

    The comment made him smile.

    "There are many people like me out there. They''re all very brave," Lev sagely remarked. It wouldn''t hurt to improve her opinion of the hunters.

    "They are all heroes," she said in a whisper.

    "Don''t tell them, though," Lev leaned in and spoke in a low voice, "Most don''t want others to know that they''re heroes."

    "I will not," she nodded seriously. Those around him eavesdropping were all smiles, observing the duo with amusement.

    They talked about Lev''s adventures for a few minutes. Lev spooked her thoroughly by embellishing his feats in the pit, making the brutes sound like some horrors straight out of hell.

    The region of Runespires containing the spires loomed ever closer. Their conversation died down when Maya noted Lev''s distracted state and smiled cheekily.

    "Is this Mister Lev''s first time coming here?"

    "It is."

    Lev''s jaw dropped as he walked faster, reaching the boundary of the spire area. Tall glass railings adorned the edges, not to keep people out but to keep them from falling to death.

    The region in front of him simply did not exist. Instead of solid ground, Lev beheld an empty cavity, not unlike the pit. Six of the outer spires were built near the edges of this empty region, with bridges allowing the people to reach them.

    Several skywalks connected the spires. Half of them connected the six outer spires to the Central Spire. Lev could see people walking on them, going about their day as if it was the norm. Even from a great distance, Lev could deduce how ginormous each skywalk was.

    The wall of the excavated region was illuminated by evenly spaced out lights, fitted inside the solid stone. The whole setup painted a breathtaking scene, and Lev gawked for several minutes before Maya got bored of just standing there.

    "How long are you going to just stand there?" Maya spoke while tapping her foot.

    Lev jerked back to the present, the impatience in the little girl''s voice making him grin.

    "Why, aren''t you getting paid three silvers for this?"

    "Two silvers is not-"

    She paused mid-sentence, giving Lev a big, toothy smile.

    Lev ruffled her hair. "Let''s go."

    She didn''t pull back as he expected, so Lev messed up her hair a bit harder. It eventually became too much for the girl and she moved away with a pout.

    The Smith Spire towered over the duo as they approached, its shadow shrouding them. The spire was built out of the same white stone as everything else, something he was growing more and more interested in. Just like the walls, the spire was enchanted down to the last brick.

    A giant hammer was embedded on top of the spire''s entrance, proudly displaying the profession it was dedicated to.

    "How do these spires work?" Lev asked his guide.

    She gave him a confused look. "The spires don''t do anything, Mister Lev."

    He facepalmed. "I mean, where would I go from here to find someone to teach me?"

    "Ohhh," she echoed, "The entrance of each spire is connected to the floor containing a skyway to the Central Spire. If you just go straight from any entrance, you will eventually find yourself there. The outer spires are all for crafting space whereas the Central Spire is a large market and residence area. You can also find crafters with spare time there to teach you or join a scheduled lecture."

    Lev could tell she had memorized the terms from how poorly she pronounced some of them.

    "Do you know anything about those lectures?"

    Her shoulders drooped. "I''m sorry, Mister Lev."

    "No need to apologize," Lev chuckled and patted her shoulder. "We will go find out."

    The sounds of the crowd gradually grew louder as they entered. The interior was illuminated by a bright chandelier hung off a twenty-meter-tall ceiling, revealing a hall bustling with people. Curious, Lev identified as many as he could.

    [Crafter - Level 120]

    [Worker - Level 90]

    [Merchant]

    [Crafter]

    ˇ­

    [Receptionist - Level 129]

    ˇ­

    [Crafter - ???]

    The Master crafter gave Lev''s armor a long glance and nodded his way. Lev nodded back, wondering what the crafter was able to deduce just from that one look.

    Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    The armor was very obviously not crafted by him, and anyone could tell just by feeling his aura.

    Lev swiftly marched up to the bored receptionist with Maya in tow. "Hey, where can I find information about beginner lectures."

    The man behind the counter didn''t even reply, simply pointing at the skyway leading to the Central Spire.

    Lev didn''t thank the man as he changed his course to the specified location.

    "Do you know the history of these spires, Maya?"

    The little girl stopped in her tracks and smacked her forehead. "How did I forget about that?" she muttered to herself. Lev waited for her to gather the words before she explained. "Long ago, in the Empyrean Empire, one of the wealthiest cities was called Runespires. Like these spires, that city had seven spires but they were incomparably larger. Each of them touched the skies, putting even some mountains to shame."

    "Runespires, both the name and idea, was founded to keep the legacy of the city alive, the city which made the creation of the refugee ships possible in the first place."

    That was more than I expected, Lev mused, pleasantly surprised.

    While he listened to the history, he observed the interior of the spire. To his left, there was a reception booth near the entrance for various tasks. Beyond them, the hall was mostly empty exceptˇ­ elevators.

    Two automated elevators were carrying people between floors, each on a thirty-second timer. Both might''ve been one whole for all he knew but he was amazed nonetheless.

    To his rightˇ­ was nothing. The hall was disappointingly empty.

    Stepping into the skyway connecting to the Central Spire, Lev couldn''t help himself and stupidly glanced straight down.

    Below the transparent bridge was a sheer drop shrouded in darkness, tantalizing despite the lethality. Shoulder''s stiffened and hands clenched into fists, Lev forced himself to look away from the darkness. The other skyways, illuminated by the same gentle orange glow as his skyway, looked mesmerizing in contrast with the shadowed drop.

    "Are you okay, Mister Lev?"

    Lev slowly nodded, a bit breathless, "Yeah, don''t worry. Just observing."

    Maya sagely nodded, pretending to agree with his "observation" and took the lead.

    The minutes he spent walking on the skyway were one of the most memorable of his life. Lev''s eyes refused to focus on one thing, his head on a swivel as he observed everything in sight.

    The Central Spire, giant as it was even compared to the outer spires, took most of his attention. The spire sported a crown above all six symbols of different professions. From his point of view, only three of them and half the crown were visible.

    Hammer, Potion tube, and chains covered in runes crossed over each other. Is that supposed to represent constructs?

    "Maya, what are those chains?"

    "They''re the bindings of Leah. She was the greatest combat crafter in the last three centuries of the Empyrean Empire, right on the cusp of becoming an Exalted before she fell."

    Lev''s respect for the woman was instantly super high, just short of his teacher and his friends. To not just craft your own equipment but fight with it to almost become an Exalted with a weaker class? That was genuinely astounding and worthy of respect.

    The unsaid reasoning for the symbol also became clearer. It was both a nod of respect for her sacrifice and a recognition of all her achievements. Lev approved.

    The Central spire loomed over them like a mountain, giving off an aura of firmness with its old yet well-maintained exterior.

    Lev entered the spire to a large market square, filled with different kinds of stalls. Weapons, armor, potions, one-time-use talismans, trinkets, constructs, and other equipment were all proudly displayed.

    The "stalls" were large, their sizes ranging from small shops to some large stores. The ones on the larger end belonged to wealthier individuals or companies, loaded with goods.

    "Do you want to see the other spires right now or after looking around?"

    Lev looked at Maya who seemed to be getting tired after all the walking. "Let''s slow down for now."

    "I-I can still keep going," she suddenly spoke up, realizing why Lev wanted to slow down.

    "Oh really," Lev teased, "then why are you breathing heavily and struggling a little to keep up the pace?"

    She opened her mouth to retort but swallowed her words. Lev grinned under his armor and scooped her up in his arms.

    Maya gave him a look as flat as a board. Lev stopped. He waited for a few seconds to see if she would protest but the girl said nothing.

    "Welcome to Runespires," the woman behind the counter greeted. "I''m assuming this is your first time visiting the spires? That mask would be hard to forget."

    Lev smiled a little under his armor. "It is. Is there a place to inquire about the workings or can I just ask you questions?"

    "You may ask me questions, though I would prefer if you don''t take too long."

    Keep them short and to the point, got it.

    "Where are lectures for crafters taking place and how do those work?"

    "In the middle of the hall, there are several boards for lecture announcements. You will need to choose one and pay for a token here to be allowed entry. The location is specified on the noticeboard."

    "Where do people go about crafting in the different spires?"

    "You mean the space where they work on their craft?"

    "That, yes."

    "The deeper one goes, the more fortified the floor is to allow for higher level crafting."

    Even if that didn''t answer the question, it still told Lev more than enough. He nodded gratefully and was about to leave when the woman stopped him.

    "I don''t want to be rude but why are you holding Maya like that?" the woman asked with a ''smile''.

    "She''s tired."

    "I''m not!" Maya interjected.

    "If you answer honestly I''ll fly around while carrying you later."

    Clear indecision played on her face for a small instant before Lev''s offer won by a landslide.

    Maya graced them with a brilliant smile. "Okay, I was only a little tired."

    Lev laughed and even the woman giggled.

    Instead of walking to the boards, Lev floated near the ground. Maya shrieked in his ears when she noticed his unmoving legs, grabbing his armor''s neck tightly. The whole affair used none of his mana as the cost was cleared by his regeneration alone.

    "We''re flying!"

    "Barely," Lev snorted. "I''ll show you a real flight later."

    She nodded enthusiastically, the large smile on her face constant.

    The noticeboards, Lev keenly observed, were unlike anything he had seen before. Formed of illusions, the different notices were displayed on a screen-like glassy materials. His mana senses and manipulation attempts were completely blocked as he tried to probe the construct.

    There were a total of seven notices, thankfully including one for beginner enchanting lessons. Lev''s attention however was occupied by the three largest notices.

    Crafters Tournament

    Gathering Expedition

    Combat Crafting Lessons and Apprenticeship

    The lessons from the last notice were tempting to attend even if they cost 5 gold for a full course. It also made Lev realize just how expensive equipment was and how much money Alec had given him. Shrugging off the thought, Lev looked at the notice relevant to him.

    Beginner Enchanting Theory and Runic Skills

    The class promised everything he wanted. That wasn''t so surprising, because crafting was impossible without the use of runes, and without runic skills, it was a fool''s errand to try enchanting.

    Lev backtracked and made his way to the receptionist.

    "What was the woman''s name, Maya?"

    "Hmm?" the girl distractedly replied after hearing her name. "She was Layla."

    Lev filed the name in his mind, another one to hear and forget. Why were they so hard to remember, anyway?

    "Have you chosen?" Layla questioned when Lev approached the counter.

    "Beginner enchanting and runic skills. How much does the entrance to that cost?"

    "Five silver per lecture, a total of fifty for 10 lectures. Have you noted the location and schedule?"

    "I have," Lev handed her fifty silver, half of his pay from the quest.

    Layla handed him a small copper token, with two chains etched on it. Thanking her, Lev made his way outside.

    "Hold tightly."

    Maya blinked before quickly wrapping her arms around his neck again. The big smile from before resurfaced as she fidgeted in his arms, giddy at the prospect of flying.

    Just to be safe, Lev tied her with several rigid barrier threads to his armor before flying up.

    Maya closed her eyes tightly, too scared to watch them ascend. Lev flew up for several seconds before coming to a stop. The sprawling city radiated a sense of order and beauty with how intricately it was planned, with houses, stores, guild halls, and other similar buildings evenly spaced.

    "Open your eyes," Lev gently whispered to the little girl. She did as instructed, opening one eye a little before both of them shot open.

    Lev watched with amusement as Maya was shocked into silence. For ten seconds, he let her gawk before he started accelerating.

    Spotting the Hunter''s Guild from afar, he slowly flew towards it. Maya watched it all in silence, her previous fear forgotten.

    "Why don''t you fly everywhere like this?" she asked, and Lev belatedly realized there might be rules against flying in cities. He hastily descended, letting out a sigh of relief when nobody came running after a few minutes.

    "Do you know if flying is allowed?"

    "How would I know?" the girl shrugged.

    Thought so. That was a close call.

    Stopping in front of the Hunters Guild, Lev summoned four silver coins.

    "This is for being a great guide and the history lessons."

    Maya shamelessly took the coins with a smile before hugging Lev''s armor.

    "Thank you, Mister Lev! Call for me if you need any more tours like this!"

    "Will do," Lev ruffled her hair, noting several members of the guild watching the exchange intently. It warmed his heart to know that they took the security of their runners so seriously.

    The suns were close to setting by the time he dropped her off at the guild, which left little time to do much except find a place to stay.

    Lev did just that. Getting directions from a random person on the street, he booked a room for two weeks in a middle-class inn and went to sleep

 Patreon Patch Notes V1.01

    Ptreon hs been updted like I mentioned in the lunch post. The 5$ Tier now gives ccess to 20 dvnced chpters insted of 15, nd  new 10$ tier gives ccess to 40 dvnced chpters.

    About the fic, I stopped using grmmrly excessively (only for grmmr

    Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

 Chapter 41

    Lev woke up to a hard complication.

    Oh no.

    The dreaded period of growth, something that wasn''t supposed to happen for a year or so, had snuck up on him.

    I forgot about the growth from my evolution. Lev cupped his face and groaned. No matter. This is the new reality. It will pass.

    Hyping himself up, Lev put the problem out of his mind for now. It would get worse later but that was future Lev''s problem.

    The morning suns greeted him in all their glory as he left the inn his armor, going straight to the construct spire for his first lecture. It was scheduled to start in an hour, during which Lev could explore the spire itself.

    The entrance hall was the same as the Smith spire, vacant. The elevator was there too, which Lev excitedly stepped on. It moved without as much as a single beep or jolt, providing an experience that eclipsed Lev''s expectations.

    The first lower floor, the educational floor, was a neat hallway with rooms on either side. Lev quietly glided to the specified class, finding it empty.

    Having confirmed that he had the right timing, Lev stepped back into the elevator and descended another floor, the last one to allow visitors.

    The second lower floor was dedicated to newbie crafters. Unlike the previous floor, that floor was split into four different seconds, each covered in runes and focused on different aspects of tinkering or crafting.

    "Hey," someone called out to him, "are you new here?"

    Lev nodded. "Then don''t just stand there."

    Lev blinked, wondering what the guy''s problem was. Putting him out of his mind, he walked up to one of the people working on a large water pot.

    "Hello," Lev greeted, "what are you guys working on?"

    The group of crafters, two girls and a boy, looked at him with varying levels of interest. The shortest of the group, a girl with a perpetual smile on her face replied with great enthusiasm.

    "Hi, are you new here? Come, let me show you,"

    The other two weren''t happy but Lev didn''t care much. The girl pointed to three simple runes carved into the pot with ˇ­ little precision, to put it nicely.

    "We''re trying to create a heating function," the girl explained cheerily despite the simplicity of the task. "One temperature increase rune, one to input mana, and the last to drain the rune in case of an overload."

    Lev studied the runes intently. They were just squiggles that somehow did fixed tasks. It never failed to amaze him how a little carving could heat water inside a container.

    "I see," Lev nodded along. "Do you have the skill for carving runes?"

    The girl pouted, and hilarity bubbled up in the other two as well.

    "No, but they aren''t that bad! It''s very hard to carve them without ruining the metal surface."

    Lev held up his hands. "Nobody''s calling them bad. Monarch knows I''m probably much worse at it."

    That seemed to be enough for the girl to be all smiles again. "Don''t worry. Once you get the skill, it will be smooth sailing."

    Lev excused himself after that. Even if he had willingly downplayed his abilities, it still left a bad taste in his mouth.

    Thinking back to the runes themselves, Lev noted how poorly they were connected. From the diary he''d gotten from his mentor, Lev knew it was paramount to connect runes properly. Their efficiency and lifespan depended on them.

    For the next half an hour, Lev visited several more groups like that, most of them flat-out refusing to show him their work. The few that did accept were quite fascinating.

    One of them was working on a water collection design. It was crude, most probably the product of a new skill, but the design still went over Lev''s head. It was complex to say the least, and he didn''t understand any of it.

    Lev returned to the classroom, the room now accommodating two more people. They were both boys, around the age of 14.

    Probably boys who just unlocked their System. Now that I think about it, I''m likely the outlier with my illusion armor and an evolution under my belt.

    The thought was proven quickly when the boys stared at his armor with clear admiration as he took a seat at the back of the class. Lev understood, he wanted to be able to craft such intricate illusions too, one day.

    The boys did not talk to him. People rarely took the initiative to strike up a conversation with Lev. Perhaps it was his armor that discouraged them, or maybe the blocking stone completely blocking their identification skills was taken as a sign to stay away?

    He didn''t know and neither did he mind. Though watching one of the boys struggle to muster the courage to speak to him was quite amusing in itself.

    "Sirˇ­"

    Oh boy, Lev thought, stifling a chuckle. The boy progressively lost confidence when Lev didn''t reply. In reality, Lev was just trying to push the mirth down before replying.

    "I''m not the lecturer," Lev explained. "I''m here to learn just like you two."

    The boy blinked twice, surprised at hearing a voice not much older than him. "Oh, I know the lecturer. I was just curious if you''re shadowing the lecture or an extra teacher to help us out."

    "Nah, I''m here to learn the skills and runes as well."

    "Are you a combat crafter?" The other boy asked, sitting cross-legged and relaxed. He only paid Lev half a glance, and even that seemed condescending.

    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    "Not yet," Lev simply stated after a few seconds.

    The first boy blinked, looking between the two of them and the weird play that had just transpired. Lev didn''t like the other boy''s bearing either. It spoke of arrogance with how he seemed to subtly look down on him.

    "I see," the second boy turned back to the board, ignoring the two of them.

    "ˇ­ So you''re a student as well?" the first boy slowly broke the silence. "I''m Nolan by the way. What''s your name?"

    "Lev, and yeah."

    "I see," Nolan nodded. He seemed like the chatty type already. "Do you know anything about the lecturer?"

    "Just the name," Lev mused.

    "He''s pretty popular, you know? These lectures usually cost more and aren''t nearly as frequent. Sir Edward hosts them mostly out of the kindness heart to help out aspiring crafters."

    "Mostly," Lev echoed with a snort.

    Nolan grinned, "A man''s got to eat."

    "A very lavish diet if you think about it."

    They both shared a chuckle at that.

    The class filled out more in the next few minutes. The majority of the students, Lev noted, were females. The teacher was an enigmatic old man, walking up to the podium with sure steps and a carefully revealed aura of a Master.

    [Enchanter - ???]

    Specialized class, Lev observed. His Identify rarely returned results beyond the general classes.

    "Glad to see so many of you take an interest in this field," The lecturer spoke, his voice echoing in the classroom. "Before we start, I would like to make some things clear. First, do not interrupt me during the lecture. There will be more than enough time for questions and demonstrations. Secondly, this field is not at all "easy" as some people may have led you to believe. It is at first, I''ll admit, but it gets progressively more complex as your skill grows.

    "Third, questions about materials and exact calculations for efficiency and other aspects will be discussed during the last hour. Any questions?"

    Seeing nobody had any, Edward''s eyes lingered on Lev for a moment before he started.

    "Let''s discuss the basics. Who here can tell me about what runes are?"

    Many hands went up into the air and Edward picked one of the front row ones.

    The boy stood up before speaking. "Runes are considered the language of mana. They tell mana how to behave and operate, theorized to be the basis of The System and our skills."

    "An apt answer," Edward complimented, "and also enough for our purposes. As our fellow student here explained, runes are the basis of all manipulation of mana outside of our skills. They cover every aspect imaginable, and I won''t even bother listing any of them. If it exists, there''s a rune for it."

    Lev absorbed the knowledge with a tiny grain of salt. He didn''t know how things would differ for combatants, so keeping a flexible mind would be prudent.

    Edward only spoke about the basics of runes for a few moments. Everyone present had some degree of understanding about them already.

    "Now, there are several methods to make use of runes. Does anyone here know what those are?"

    Edward picked another random attendee. "Rune painting, rune carving, and rune etching."

    "Mental shaping too," the arrogant boy from earlier chipped in. "It''s a viable form of enchanting."

    Edward nodded slowly. "While it is definitely viable, it is explicitly utilized in combat crafting where intricacy is sacrificed for speed. We will, for the sake of simplicity, not talk about that method in these lectures."

    "That''s fine," the boy frowned. "Don''t just refuse to acknowledge it."

    "Rest assured, it was going to be mentioned later," Edward smiled. "Before we start, I should give a small introduction about formations and arrays. Formations are enchantments consisting of more than three runes focused on the same task. So if a combination of 20 runes is working on heating a container, that is a heating formation. On the contrary, arrays are a sequence of enchantments. It doesn''t matter if they are formations or normal runes, if there is a pattern of activation of different effects, it is an array. Now, the methods mentioned byˇ­"

    Lev listened intently as Edward launched into an explanation about each method.

    Rune painting was the simplest method that only worked with two-dimensional runes. By painting runes with mana-conductive materials, long-lasting equipment could be crafted with minimal ease. The method was reserved for non-combat equipment, where maximum efficiency and output were not required.

    Rune carving was Lev''s chosen method of enchanting. It was similarly simple while allowing three-dimensional runes to be utilized. The method required a person to simply carve pathways into the material or object being enchanted, imitating the rune.

    With enough practice, Lev could merely hollow out his barriers in the runic patterns. His Enchanting General Skills and Barrier Manipulation skill would both aid the concept, which was another positive about the method.

    The third method was perhaps the most difficult if the mysterious Mental shaping was ignored. Rune Etching required a person to mentally visualize a rune and solidify the mana inside the object to be enchanted with willpower.

    Naturally, it demanded herculean effort to hold large runic formations or arrays in one''s mind and even more to solidify them.

    Unlike Lev''s barriers, the solidified mana was not solid or tangible but just an added effect on the item without taking any physical space. It was truly a miraculous method accepted without batting an eye.

    What could mental shaping be?

    From the name alone, Lev could deduce it was similar to etching. But what exactly was it focused on, he had no clue.

    The hour passed with slow explanations to not overwhelm the attendees. Lev appreciated that, for he too was lost in thought.

    "To demonstrate the simplest of runes," Edward summoned a simple metal plate, thin and the size of his palm. "Let us consider this iron plate. No exemplary properties to speak of, nor does it have decent conductivity. Just plain old iron."

    The students leaned forward to observe better but Lev could see it in incredible detail. His passive was paying dividends in odd ways.

    "We will go with a simple paint. Here, I have a grounded goblin shaman core liquefied with a bit of water. Horrible for any actual rune painting but perfect for our practice."

    Edward brought a small brush, and with a few clean and precise strokes, two new runes were present on the plate.

    "Heating rune with a direct input function and a cut-off rune to prevent overloading." Edward held up the plate, the paint already dry. "This demonstration is supposed to show how things can go wrong very quickly."

    Having said his piece, Lev felt a trickle of mana leave the enchanter and enter the heating rune. The paint heated up well before the iron could, and within moments a portion of the painted rune was charred black.

    Edward showed off the now ruined rune to everyone, presenting it from different angles for the students to get a good look.

    "This was an example of horribly conductive materials. The paint is simply not meant for enchanting, for it possesses a very little capacity for channeling mana."

    The aspiring enchanters nodded along. The demonstration so far was simple. Edward, seeing that everyone was following, scraped off the dried paint with another brush before bringing out a new pile of paint.

    "On the other end of the demonstration, I will paint this with the grounded core of a second-threshold monster dissolved into infused distilled water. It is an excellent paint, one of the best mass-produced ones we have."

    The iron paint was ready once again before Edward channeled a small stream of mana into the rune. The improved heating rune absorbed it like a champ.

    Lev attentively observed as the iron plate slowly turned red before the rune suddenly fizzled out. It took him a few moments to realize that the iron directly underneath the rune had melted from the heat, ruining the integrity of the rune.

    "In this case, the material that was subpar. I don''t need to explain any further about why," Edward commented, his eyes roaming the class and meeting every student''s gaze.

    "This is the main lesson of today''s lecture. The rune, even when extremely potent, was useless without a suitable material for it. Similarly, the material would not matter if you didn''t have enchantments to truly make use of it."

    His eyes hardened before he solemnly announced, "So, kids, just know thatˇ­ enchanting is expensive as hell. You better prepare your little hearts for the spending sprees."

    Pin-drop silence reigned in the room as the words digested, while Edward observed everyone with a goofy grin.

 Chapter 42

    "We have a ten minute downtime before we move on to the next segment. Questions?"

    Lev immediately asked, "How much does the paint cost?"

    "Which one?"

    "The better one."

    "Hmm, that varies," Edward rubbed his chin. "Oftentimes, when there is an especially terrible wave, some large cores can be bought at low price. Distilled water is easy to create and infuse, so you can get a large amount of the paint for a few gold. In Runespires, the same amount could go for another gold or two."

    Some students coughed at the casual mention of gold. Even Lev felt it was expensive, which convinced him that his plan to hunt for materials was perfect.

    "What about matching metals for that paint?"

    Edward grinned, accurately answering Lev''s question before the enchanter even spoke, "Depends on your budget."

    Lev snorted and backed down, letting others ask their questions. Many of them were related to the materials, the same questions that were planned to be answered during the last hour.

    "The next segment is going to be basic practice. Everyone, form groups of two."

    Nolan glanced at Lev, who motioned the boy to join him.

    "Do you have any experience in this?" Nolan whispered as the students shuffled around.

    "Just carving," Lev replied.

    "Help me along a bit if something goes wrong, please."

    Lev gave him a meaningful glance. "I sincerely doubt we can hide anything from a Master, and don''t worry, I doubt he will leave you behind."

    "Correct," Edward''s voice reached them from behind. Nolan jumped, but Lev had seen the man blur towards them.

    "There will be no discrimination regardless of talent or experience. If you need help, I''ll be here. You will get your money''s worth today, and in every upcoming day as well."

    Lev looked at Nolan and shrugged. It was exactly like he''d said. Even he was actively ignoring other conversations to not eavesdrop, otherwise his perception let him observe every little detail in the room with ease.

    "Now, how many of you have enchanting skills?"

    Nobody raised a hand.

    "Wellˇ­ that''s certainly rare. Even better. I will give each group ten small iron plates, the same one I used in the demonstration. Your task is to carve a few runes while focusing on NOT getting the skill. This is just a simple exercise to get a feel for how runes stand out to your senses without any related skills."

    Lev looked at the ten plates given to their group. They were squares half the size of his palm, with no notable property. Just simple iron.

    Nolan only spared them a glance as well. When all the groups had their plates, Edward clapped once to gather everyone''s attention.

    "Focus."

    The air shimmered in front of him as mana gathered as an illusion of a plain whiteboard came into being. The heating rune from before formed on the board in black, letting everyone observe it with maximum clarity.

    "This is a simple heating rune with a direct input function. Your task is to carve this to the best of your ability and determine the efficiency of the result. You have thirty minutes to do so. Did anyone bring the relevant tools?"

    Several students pulled enchanted styluses out of their pockets while most of them were simply confused.

    "Don''t worry, I brought extras for today," Edward smiled, distributing similar tools to everyone who didn''t have one. "But only one per group. Don''t hoard them and share them equally. Remember to bring your own from tomorrow onwards."

    Lev observed the stylus with scrutiny, noting the enchantments that made carving easier from the tip.

    "Hey, show me it for a second."

    Nolan glanced at Lev before handing the stylus over. Lev held it up in his left hand and formed a barrier in his right, slowly forming a barrier stylus. When the shape was adequately copied, Lev carved a small sharpness rune on the tip.

    "Barrier, huh?" Edward mused, appearing in front of them in a flash. "Why not arcane constructs?"

    "They''re focused on enchantments and conductivity. Not viable for combat."

    Edward regarded Lev for a moment, a smile on his face slowly growing.

    "Well, I''m glad to see a future combat crafter in my lecture. Test the stylus, see if it works."

    Lev gazed at the rune on display for a long few seconds before putting mana into the sharpness rune. Gently, Lev put the tip of the stylus onto the iron plate and nudged it to the left.

    The stylus moved with little resistance, which was close to what he wanted. Lev lowered the trickle for the sharpness rune even further, finding a bit more resistance during carving.

    Satisfied that he wouldn''t accidentally ruin it now, Lev started working on the rune in earnest. The heating rune was basic, devoid of any abrupt turns or twists. It took only a few seconds to finish.

    He held up the now carved plate in front of him, comparing the rune on display and his handiwork side by side. Lev''s work wasˇ­ pretty good, in his opinion.

    To test it out, Lev sent a tiny stream of mana into the rune. The iron plate slowly heated up as the rune accepted the mana without issue, wasting a small portion due to its efficiency.

    "Excellently done, young man. I can see you have some prior experience in enchanting and a lot of attributes backing up your work," Edward nodded at him. "You don''t need to participate further in this exercise, as that would just be a waste of practice plates."

    Lev had no issues with that, so he settled to observe Nolan when the boy started working on his plate. It took him considerably longer, nearly thirty seconds before he finished.

    The result was an acceptable squiggle. Nolan gazed at it proudly as he sent a trickle of unsteady mana into the rune, which was accepted with almost half of it going to waste.

    That didn''t seem to discourage Nolan in the slightest, and Lev approved. It took Edward a minute to circle the entire class before he reached their table.

    "Was this your first attempt?" Nolan nodded. "Very good. It has over 50% efficiency, which is a good start. Don''t be disheartened by your groupmate, he has already evolved once and has worked on enchanting before."

    If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    "I''m not," Nolan snorted. "Besides, there will always be someone better out there. Better get used to it early."

    Lev just shook his head slightly. He felt like Edward had just unknowingly alienated him a little. But that was fine, he wasn''t here to make connections.

    "If it makes it any better, my first attempts were much worse," Lev casually commented.

    Nolan grinned a little, and Lev knew his words had the intended effect. Edward circled the class a few more times, giving tips here and there. To Lev''s surprise, several people failed to form the rune properly. Some messed up the stylus enchantments and ruined the product, others couldn''t get it to the "minimum" 30% efficiency, the lowest acceptable to be considered a success.

    Their failure made him reconsider his product. Due to his movements depending on his mind, muscle memory was irrelevant in the carving process. His mind didn''t let any physical factors disrupt the process, resulting in a rune smoother than what most others ended with.

    Just one more advantage of my stupid class.

    Lev welcomed the new advantage with open arms, happy with his mentor''s teachings paying off again and again.

    "Now that we''ve had each of you succeed a few times, let''s move on to today''s last exercise before the final theory hour."

    Edward moved as a blur, picking up all the used plates and putting twenty new plates on each table. These were visibly lower in quality, and Lev wouldn''t hesitate to call them trash.

    "This time, we will carve the same rune and focus on speed," Edward held up a hand to forestall all complaints, "I know not all of you want to practice carving, and we will focus on the other types later, but this is important. The point of the exercise is to learn how runes can be ruined by the smallest margins, something you will do a lot today. Get ready."

    Lev readied his makeshift stylus and grabbed a plate. Even the tiny trickle in the sharpness rune felt no resistance, so Lev stopped using it and relied on pure physical force. The iron parted easily enough against his mind. Nolan, who was observing Lev, blinked twice at the display before focusing on his own plate.

    For the next few attempts, Lev failed. The rune took three seconds to carve from start to finish, and each time he messed it up a little due to the almost non-existent friction. He took steadying breaths to not throw the plates out the door and focused harder. His perception, which was willingly lowered to match everyone else, spiked as his stylus moved slowly.

    His insane perception turned out to be the missing key as Lev carved the rune in the much longer three seconds. The final product was even better than his first attempt.

    Edward was on him in a flash. He looked at the rune, and then at Lev.

    "Dear Monarch, boy, just how much Perception do you have?"

    "ˇ­I forgot I was holding mine back."

    Edward chuckled. "Oh, I remember when I used to do that. Only when the Master enchanters started speaking gibberish did I realize I was also doing the same."

    Lev nodded slowly, which was the best he could do to react while his expression was hidden by the illusion armor.

    "Good job, nonetheless. The efficiency is nearly 80%, which is an excellent start for an Adept."

    The whole room was listening to the exchange at this point. Lev felt more than a few competitive spirits rousing but nobody seemed to be jealous or sad, which was great. He absolutely did not want to develop meaningless rivalries.

    "Damn," Nolan breathed, failing his fifth plate. "This is harder than it looked at first."

    "Mhm, it will get easier with higher perception and dexterity."

    "Let me just go and beat a few orcs to death," he snorted.

    Lev glanced at him. "You sound sarcastic."

    Nolan gave him an incredulous glance. "Because I am? Why on Monarch would I go fight monsters."

    Lev looked at him in silence for a long few seconds.

    "I see."

    "Don''t look at me like that," Nolan grinned. "Not everyone has the same size of balls as you do. Combat crafter, just imagine," he muttered the last part, as if it was a fairy tale that wouldn''t ever be true for him.

    Lev didn''t bother trying to convince him. Despite the planet''s apocalyptic state, the combatants were still a small percentage of the populace. Most people simply couldn''t overcome their fear and froze in front of a monster.

    That was completely fine in his opinion. Humans were not meant to face abominations to live.

    The next half hour passed in peaceful scratching. Plates were wasted, runes were botched, and someone even caused a tiny explosion by overloading the rune for fun.

    Such idiots, Lev thought with a grin. He wouldn''t ever tell anyone that he wanted to do the sameˇ­ in the name of science, of course.

    He planned to do that after the lecture.

    ****

    The final segment wasˇ­ boring yet interesting at the same time. Lev got to learn a bunch of material names and efficiency/cost numbers, which were hard to remember, so he oversimplified them for himself.

    The most commonly used metals were iron, copper, bronze, silver, and gold. More exotic metals included titanium, rhodite, irinite, mythril, enderium, tungsten, etc.

    Unconventional metals like platinum, nickel, orichalcum, dreamsilver, and dreadcrystals were either too dangerous or too time-consuming to acquire, making them not worth the sky-high cost.

    I love that most of them don''t matter to me at all. Lev almost skipped to the hunters guild. Barriers for the win.

    His element was not only better at conducting mana than most of those metals, but he also had an endless supply of it. Matching the durability of most of them was, well, a task for the future but he would work on improving them with enchantments soon.

    Most of the metals they discussed in the lecture could be infused with mana to convert them into infused metals. Infused metals usually exhibited the same but improved properties, typically improving the mana conductivity of the converted metal greatly.

    Just for that reason, Lev''s barrier fell behind sharply in the durability department. He could match normal metals with enchanted barriers but infused metals were simply superior.

    His armor however, would match them with ease. The straightforward resilience bonus ensured that. Lev just needed to enchant it to the brim.

    Other materials included different types of woods, threads, stones, blood, gems, and even water. The whole segment of the lecture was focused on these details, and Lev could somehow remember them all. The improved memory was coming in clutch.

    "Welcome back," the receptionist greeted. "What can I do for you today?"

    "Dungeon locations, and what kind of quests are associated with them?"

    She raised a brow, "Have you settled in properly yet? If you are having trouble with that, we can lend a hand."

    Lev took a few moments to formulate a response. "I think you''re misunderstanding. I already have a room booked, and I even attended a lecture today. Some training for the rest of the day seemed like a good idea."

    She still gave him a look like he was overworking himself, which confused Lev. What else was he supposed to do with all this free time?

    "Which level range of dungeons are you looking for?"

    "High Classer and early Adept."

    "That just covers almost all of them."

    Lev coughed, "I didn''t know that. What''s the highest level dungeon around here?"

    "170-200 range. It''s an extremely dangerous spider infestation, with too many traps and stealthy monsters. The rewards at least, are very lucrative which is the only reason some teams that counter the dungeon delve it to keep it from breaking."

    Lev noted the bit about lucrative rewards, before inquiring about the locations of dungeons near his level.

    "The quests for Classer dungeons are simply clearing quests. Three clears per dungeon can be turned in daily for one silver per clearance token. The higher level dungeons have quests for cores, mainly, with only a select few for other materials."

    "Can you tell me about dungeons with monsters between levels 100-150?"

    Lev got another flat look. "There are five of them. Your questions are very broad for some reason. One is a troll dungeon, one of the more difficult ones. The others include panthers which focus on stealth, kobolds that make a bunch of traps underground, spiders that have very durable exoskeletons, and the last contains cursed golems. We do not recommend ever going into that dungeon. Darkness permeates every nook and cranny, and it''s difficult to look around without very high Perception or skills to counter it. Moreover, like the pit monsters, these also radiate an aura of fear and confusion which is lethal at best. Only Masters are recommended to enter and clear it regularly."

    That was a lot of information. Lev thought. "Sorry about all these questions. I don''t know where else I can find this information."

    "The questions are not an issue," her eyes softened. "Please don''t overdo it."

    That made Lev pause for a few seconds. He gazed into her eyes, finding her concern genuine.

    "I will not," Lev honestly promised. "I just wanted to train the abilities I was falling behind in. Weaker monsters are enough for that."

    The woman just dipped her head a little. "Which one would you like directions to?"

    "The spider one, if toughness is their strong suit."

    "It is."

 Chapter 43

    Lev gazed upon the tear in reality, the entrance of the dungeon. It was as if some entity had ripped the fabric of reality, forming a jagged tear that led to a separate dimension.

    The analogy was not far off. The tear did indeed lead to what was theorized to be an artificially created sub-space, a region that existed without being accessible from anywhere but the entrance.

    "Team?" The guard asked, inspecting Lev''s badge.

    [Warrior - Level 185]

    "Just me."

    The guard frowned, looking at Lev silently for a few seconds.

    "While there are no rules stating you cannot enter alone, I will recommend against it. Dungeons have difficulty ratings in comparison to an average team, which means they''re far more dangerous for lone hunters."

    Lev considered the warning but eventually shook his head.

    "I know what I''m getting into and plan to delve safely, don''t worry."

    The guard simply nodded and stepped aside, telling him to wait. Dungeon entrances cycled every half an hour, during which anyone could enter the same instance.

    Surrounding him was a small camp with several hunter teams either recovering mana or simply resting. Nobody was waiting for their turn, so Lev got first access.

    It only took a few minutes for the entrance to cycle. Lev watched with his mouth slightly ajar as the entrance dimmed, before pulsing in a wave of mana again. The signal for a new cycle was very obvious, and Lev was waved inside.

    Entering the dungeon was a seamless transition. One moment, Lev was outside and the next, he was stepping into a web-ridden forest. The entrance led him to a small clearing containing only the portal in the middle.

    The temptation to poke the portal was strong but Lev didn''t want the delve to stop before it even started. Flying up, he observed his surroundings.

    He had to ascend for several dozen meters to go through the treetops and gaze at the forest. Webs covered a large part of it, letting Lev observe several huge spiders silently prowling around with disturbing clearness because of his enhanced eyesight.

    Lev flew higher and looked for a lone spider on the ground. It took him a few minutes before he found one loitering around by itself.

    Two meters in height and over five in length with its legs spread out, the beast looked like a juggernaut with a gray exoskeleton covering its body but not its face.

    Just as durable as I was warned, Lev watched as the spider''s eight limbs stomped on the ground, producing small airwaves from the impact. Heavy too.

    Having seen enough, Lev formed an arrow and filled it with lightning mana. He aimed, the sight of the bow reminding him to upgrade the bow or the skill utilizing it eventually, and loosed.

    The arrow hit the target in the blink of an eye, piercing through the exoskeleton at the cost of most of its speed. Lightning followed, searing its way into the spider.

    A high-pitched screech reached Lev as the monster looked in vain to locate its attacker. He lost sight of the monster for a few moments as it hopped from tree to tree, the monster''s size and weight not nearly enough of a detriment as Lev expected.

    The trees, too, were more durable than he assumed with how easily they handled the weight. Two lances formed above him before lightning infused them. 5% of Lev''s mana pool was used just like that, and he launched two of them at once.

    Both of them hit the relatively slow spider near the wound from the arrow, blowing up half of its body and exoskeleton from the impact and resulting explosion.

    It bled out not long after.

    [

    You have slain [Grey Spider - Level 124]

    ]

    The level is fairly low.

    Lev flew in a circle, finding the edge of the forest rather quickly. The dungeon ended in a plain white wall of mana that stretched vertically without an end. Just one look was enough to dissuade him from trying to damage them.

    It took a few more minutes to find another lone spider as he avoided groups before learning more about them. Similar to the previous monster, it was simply loitering about when Lev landed in front of it with Stargazer in hand, blade already spinning with a sharpness rune carved in it. Even if he no longer had a skill for spinning the blade, it still helped.

    Lev let the screech roll off his armor and ducked the first limb that sought to impale his face. Three more followed, each blocked by shields floating next to him.

    The sheer impact produced loud thuds as the integrity of shields suffered, requiring Lev to expend a little mana to repair them that would slowly catch up.

    I hope I don''t regret this.

    The limbs moved slowly but erratically as Lev backpedaled. Some of them came too close to his armor for comfort while most of them were blocked by the shields.

    The spider screeched every few seconds, which often disrupted his control with how loud the sound was.

    Sending a stream of mana into Stargazer''s basic enchantment, Lev blocked another two of its long limbs before slashing at one. The glaive bit an inch into the tough exoskeleton with a crack before he was forced to dodge.

    The spider jumped, the leap mighty and calculated to squish Lev like a bug. Caught unaware, Lev dashed to the left to try and avoid the falling spider but one of its long limbs slapped him back inside at the last moment.

    Mana flooded his armor as the heavy monster landed on top of him, the skill straining not to break under the weight. Even the monster let out a screech of surprise when the armor held, tilting it at an odd angle.

    H-heavy.

    Not letting the opportunity to attack freely go, Lev dumped a large chunk of mana into his right gauntlet and released the lightning mana from a point blank punch.

    The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    Nearly a tenth of his pool combusted at once in the form of lightning and fire, blowing up a massive portion of the spider''s insides.

    The shower of blood and gore allowed him to escape its clutches and finish off the stunned monster with a well-placed lightning lance.

    Lev took steadying breaths as gore covering his armor fell to the ground by dismissing and summoning it again. Now relatively cleaner, Lev thought back to his actions.

    They are heavy but the limbs don''t do much beyond blunt damage. Jumping on top of me was unexpected but my armor seems to be durable enough to handle one of them at a time unless larger versions are waiting for me.

    There wasn''t much else to consider. The spider was heavy and could leap like arachnids normally did, but that was pretty much it. Lev assumed their webs were not suitable for combat but he would still keep an eye out for them. They seemed to be the final potential surprise from these monsters apart from an ambush.

    Cracking his neck, Lev began the search for another to test his gauntlets.

    ****

    I think I can take on two after damaging them a little. Or I can just snipe one before the fight even begins.

    Several minutes of searching had returned with no more lone spiders, and Lev had even found the boss monster of the dungeon instead.

    Circling back, he was now stalking two of them the furthest away from the rest. Lev also got his answer about why they didn''t use their threads in a fight.

    One of the spiders was expanding their already huge web, very slowly producing thick threads. The web looked pretty robust, which made him wonder if he should harvest it. The indecision lasted all of a few seconds before Lev realized how painful and tedious the process would be, so he opened fire with two fire lances on the busy spider.

    Both attacks landed at once, the second widening the wound from the first even further and reaping its life.

    [

    You have slain [Gray Spider - Level 130]

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 110

    Colorful Destruction has reached Level 7

    ]

    The remaining monster charged with the same unholy screech. Lev glided backward, luring it further away from the nearby monsters.

    Four shields followed him. When he felt they were far enough, he sent mana into his gauntlets to increase their weight and durability as the monster tried to squish him again. Not caught unaware this time, Lev dove back sharply and rushed in the moment the spider landed.

    His right gauntlet landed on the monster''s face with a disgusting squelch as it caved in. The lightning mana in it exploded forward violently, blowing off most of its face and rendering half of its eyes useless as it spasmed.

    Thin, long Limbs slammed into his shields as Lev blocked them to the best of his ability and Perception, giving him enough time to slap aside another limb and rush in again, this time with his left gauntlet filled with fire mana.

    Mana released in brilliant red and orange shades, sending Lev spinning uncontrollably through the air before he stabilized himself. Gazing at the spider, its front had simply disintegrated.

    [

    You have slain [Gray Spider - Level 129]

    Rapid Infusion has reached Level 7

    ]

    Neat. The whole thing didn''t even cost me a tenth of my mana.

    The fight made use of just mana infusion, flight, and his gauntlets, and it still worked out pretty well. That was the point of this delve, to test and improve his close-range capabilities without going explosive from afar. It was going smoothly so far.

    Next upˇ­ chains.

    Chains. Since he could no longer reliably fight in melee range after the loss of his ''Nimble'' skill, impeding the movement of monsters was the next logical step. He could only punch the spiders because they were slow and heavy, and even then it required several shields blocking the limbs to open a path for his gauntlets.

    Lev could also simply blow all the dungeon monsters to smithereens from afar, but that cost too much mana. He didn''t have that much of it. Yet.

    Focusing, Lev dove into his understanding of barrier formations and willed a chain to come into existence. Pale blue links formed into a long chain over the course of a dozen seconds.

    He''d opted for interlocked links instead of fixed links for maximum range of movement regardless of where he''d grab the chain from. To make it more useful, Lev formed small spikes along its length for a sturdier grip on the monsters, each spike the length of his finger.

    To top it all off, a wicked curved sickle formed on top of the last link. The bladed end was extremely sharp, and the tip sported a basic sharpness rune to further enhance the effectiveness.

    This looks like a cheesy villain''s tool of torment. Lev snickered as he observed the chain. The formation had some glaring flaws in its crude shape but he had time and mana to spare. Forming barriers barely cost anything with all his Wisdom.

    For the next few minutes, Lev created dozens of different interlocking links and tested their durability and freedom of movement. When he found a shape and size he was happy with, which was rather slim and round, Lev manipulated the chain to wrap around one of the huge trees nearby.

    The chain followed his command, deftly wrapping itself around the trunk before slowly tying itself into a knot. Lev frowned. That maneuver was too slow. Right now, his mental strength was not enough to hold back monsters, so using the trunks was the next best option.

    Determining it was time to practice, Lev did just that. For the next hour, Lev threw the chain at random trees and focused on wrapping and tying it around the trunk as fast as possible.

    Then he formed another chain with a sickle on one end and repeated the exercise with both of them.

    Feedback from both chains was confusing at first, as all links moved too much during the flight. Slowly, Lev learned to decipher it better. The links, for the most part, were ignored unless damaged, and the sickle was used as a guiding hand.

    Following the sickle, all the links straightened without any input from Lev, courtesy of the free-link nature.

    Finally, I can make use of all my long manipulation range, Lev thought, excited to begin.

    ****

    Two lightning lances killed one of the two spiders in a blink. The remaining monster found the floating armored human a few dozen meters away quickly and screeched.

    Lev grimaced at the unpleasant sound and summoned his bow. When the spider was only 50 meters away, two long chains hidden along the height of the nearby trees smoothly glided downward. With a wet tearing sound, the sickles punctured through the exoskeleton and lodged themselves inside the spider''s body.

    The spider halted abruptly as the chains turned taut. It screeched again and heaved to free itself. The strained barrier chains were on the verge of breaking when a fully charged Lightning arrow pierced its head and fried its brain.

    [

    You have slain [Gray Spider - Level 135]

    You have slain [Gray Spider - Level 136]

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 111

    ]

    The highest leveled monster yet. Lev noted with satisfaction. The chains had performed admirably even if they were close to shattering. Using two instead of one also turned out to be a good idea, for one chain would''ve never survived the power of the spider.

    The levels were also rising as Lev went further inward. So far, he had resorted to circling the edges of the circle but he didn''t have much mana left. Only a little more than half after all his testing and kills.

    How would a similar level mage perform in my stead? Lev mused, on the lookout for another pair.

    His thoughts circled in an interesting direction. From what he had seen and heard, Lev wasn''t that special in terms of destructive power. Sure, he could cause a lot of lethal explosions, but many other mages could match him.

    That would however, change swiftly. He was going to alter his attribute distribution and make Wisdom the primary focus. Intelligence was nice and all but he didn''t need more range, only better mana handling. Evolving his mana manipulation skill would compensate for the minor loss of potency by letting him use mana better.

    Perception and Constitution were still important though. High amounts of both were necessary to keep up with his growing mana usage.

    To that end, for every 50 attributes he would put 20 into Wisdom and 10 into the other three. It sounded like a good balance, even if he knew the low Constitution would bite him in the back.

    It was a worthy tradeoff, in his opinion. Lev would much rather suffer to use large amounts of mana than to not suffer and have far less mana.

    The pain would be exquisite, he knew, and one day he would find a way to fix it. That day was still far off though, so he slowly prepared himself for constant mana overuse and poisoning.

 Chapter 44

    To harvest or not to harvest.

    Lev squinted at the spider corpses. He was too occupied thinking about his plans before but now the question of cores lingered on his mind.

    Monster cores before level 150 weren''t worth much. Sure, Lev was getting them for pretty much free, but he still couldn''t get past his aversion to cutting open dead bodies.

    In the end, he decided to harvest them. He would run out of gold eventually, and he had also forgotten to ask about any quests related to the dungeon, so it wouldn''t hurt. His squeamishness be damned.

    I forgot I have the refillable water bottle I bought from the pit.

    That tipped his indecision over the edge, and he slowly cut open the monster''s abdomen. The core rolled out not long after, along with the spider''s insides and a horrendous stench. Lev summoned the canteen and washed it before Identifying it.

    [

    Grey Spider Core - Common

    Core harvest from a Gray Spider. Useful in crafting.

    ]

    Thank you, Identify. Very cool.

    Ignoring the useless description, Lev stored the core in his storage ring. The price for the core remained to be seen, but Lev hoped it would be worth more than the worthless prowler core.

    Grabbing his chains and shields, Lev set out to slay more of the spiders. His hunting session lasted all of eight more spiders for a total of four new pairs before he was too low on mana to continue.

    [

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 112

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 113

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 114

    Colorful Destruction has reached Level 8

    15 Free attribute points

    ]

    Five points went into Intelligence and the rest into Wisdom, bringing it up to 300. Round and Satisfying.

    Lev wondered if he should stay for a few hours to regenerate mana and snipe the boss from afar. It didn''t look nearly as threatening compared to normal spiders as the orc general did compared to normal orcs. But that was just his greed for more levels talking, so he ignored the thought.

    Stepping out of the portal, Lev was greeted by a guard who tried to hide his relief but failed. Lev gave him a nod before flying up and away, returning to Runespires.

    Halfway through, he stopped and thoroughly rinsed his illusion armor for any lingering blood or guts.

    Night was in full swing by the time he landed at the gates. Showing them his silver badge, Lev was allowed smooth entry.

    What was Welsh''s auction house''s name? Bronze Bids?

    Lev asked for directions from the gate guards. They boiled down to "near the hunters guild, can''t miss it."

    Following them, it didn''t take long for him to find the huge auction house. The building was separated into two fronts, one for the business side of things and the other for the auction house itself. The latter was much larger, which made sense.

    Lev entered the office building. The clerk noticed him and seemed to recognize him immediately.

    "Hey there," the man greeted. "Do you happen to be Hunter Lev?"

    Lev scowled under the armor. "Who''s asking?"

    "Director Welsh. I''m Samuel by the way", the man offered a hand. "The Director asked us to keep an eye out for a certain hunter. You don''t need to worry, he probably wants to make a deal with you about only selling materials here, and maybe take a few harvesters with you."

    "Harvester?" Lev questioned, considering the information. The offer did not sound bad as long as there was no legal jargon involved. He didn''t want to be tied to one company for one reason or another.

    "You don''t know about them? They''re workers specializing in harvesting monster parts and materials."

    Could''ve guessed that myself.

    "I see. Yeah, I''m Lev. My visit today also revolved around monster parts and cores."

    Samuel straightened. "Which cores would you like to know about?"

    Lev summoned a spider core. "Do you guys buy this? While we''re at it, do I need some sort of membership to interact with the auction house?"

    Samuel waved off his concern. "Don''t worry about the membership. I''m sure Director Welsh will be happy to take care of it for you. The cores are of little value even if they are undamaged. How many are you selling?"

    "Eight."

    "Ten silver."

    "Deal," Lev instantly replied. That was ten more than the worst-case scenario.

    Samuel smirked good-naturedly. "I can see why Director Welsh wanted to talk to you."

    The hell is that supposed to mean?

    Lev didn''t linger on the comment. "Can I see him right now?"

    "Sure, give me a moment."

    Samuel took a few minutes to bring a replacement for him before they set off to find the director. Lev also identified him when he returned.

    [Merchant - Level 124]

    Following Samuel, they entered the auction house. The building was tastefully decorated with red and gold in an impressive show of wealth. Beyond the reception table was a large hall and huge double doors at the end, presumably for the auction hall itself.

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    Samuel ignored them and ascended the stairs next to the doors. Lev took in all the sights as they ascended before and found Welsh conversing with someone in the V.I.P. area.

    "Let''s wait for them to finish," Samuel suggested. Lev had no qualms about waiting, which ended up taking more than a little time.

    Ten minutes later, the person talking to the director glanced at the waiting duo before leaving through another set of stairs.

    "Hunter Lev," Welsh called out with a big smile. "I''m glad you came to see me. Come, take a seat."

    He finished with a look directed at Samuel, who left to give them privacy. Lev took a good look at the very expensive-looking sofa before sitting down.

    "I''ll admit, it was pretty unpleasant to be recognized by someone random."

    Welsh gave him an apologetic smile. "I had to so I could contact you again."

    "Contact for what?" Lev asked bluntly.

    "To see if I could work out a deal with you, of course," Welsh replied, his enthusiasm dimming at Lev''s unamused response. "Am I correct in assuming that you came to sell monster parts?"

    Lev nodded slowly. "I did. What kind of deal are you suggesting?"

    "Nothing binding, I assure you. You see, the auction house takes a fixed cut out of everything you sell here. Nothing major but you could still earn a few extra gold by selling directly to the market. I''m willing to waive off most of it if you sell most of your monster parts and cores to our house."

    "Is this related to the other houses making business moves?"

    "Partly," Welsh agreed. "Mostly because I saw your capabilities firsthand, and the runner specified you were a newly evolved silver ranked hunter. It would be foolish of me to not make an offer."

    Lev sighed. His worries were turning out to be true and it was not pleasant at all.

    "Samuel mentioned something about harvesters?" Those at least sounded interesting to him.

    "He did?" Welsh blinked. "That makes things easier. Our harvesters are teams focused on stealth and harvesting monster parts and cores. They follow the hunter team''s footsteps and clean up all the corpses in their wake."

    Lev didn''t bother commenting and pondered in silence. The deal seemed to have no downsides except a few things to iron out. It even came with harvesters, a team that would make his life considerably easier.

    It was also more money, so that was that.

    "First, do you trust the harvester team to keep silent?"

    "They won''t know your level," came the simple reply.

    Lev nodded slowly. "Makes sense. Secondly, I will not be a signing contract for this. You will have to take my word that I will sell all of my materials here unless some important reason requires them elsewhere. I don''t mind missing out on a bit of gold so that will rarely happen."

    Welsh considered the terms put forth for a few seconds. "That sounds agreeable," he eventually said with a big smile. "I will have a 3rd rank membership card prepared for you by tomorrow. It is the third-highest rank, which is rarely given out so freely."

    One more move to try and rope me in further, Lev noted tiredly. "Thank you."

    No more words were exchanged as Lev left the auction house. Welsh had picked up on his displeasure too and didn''t push things any further. Lev was grateful for that, or he wouldn''t have hesitated to burn the bridge entirely.

    Returning to the room in his inn, Lev jumped out of his armor and slept like a log.

    ****

    Night had yet to pass when Lev woke up refreshed and ready to go. Taking care of the morning routine, he debated how to spend his free time before the lecture began.

    The options were beyond limited. He could go train further with his half-full pool or walk around the city. The latter sounded better because he would need a full pool for his next delve.

    Eating breakfast, Lev found himself walking on the still busy roads. Most people had enough constitution to sleep only once every few days so the crowds never went away. He also remembered hearing that the population was also nearly a million in each great city.

    Lev was pleasantly surprised as he entered the spire region. Under the gentle moonlight of two moons, the spires were glowing. The moonlight seemed to be attracted to their exterior, illuminating every nook and cranny in a beautiful display of blue and white.

    He noticed many other people just standing there like him, taking in the sight with relaxed smiles. Lev also allowed himself to gawk for a long moment, standing at the boundary of the region and enjoying the peaceful atmosphere.

    No carts passed through the region, and the conversations were also hushed. It was nice.

    Time passed far quicker than Lev expected it to. Both suns were already visible on the horizon as he reached the lecture room. He was the first to arrive, so he took the corner seat at the end and waited for everyone else to arrive.

    "Hey there," Nolan greeted with a wave as he sat down next to Lev. "Did you practice the exercises?"

    Lev gave him a long glance. "I forgot about them,"

    Nolan''s smile turned strained. "ˇ­ I see. Were you busy with something else?"

    "Just hunting."

    "Oh, right. You''re a hunter. Combat crafter and all that," Nolan scratched his head. "Can I ask more?"

    Why is he being so stiff? Lev thought in amusement.

    "Sure, if it''s not anything personal."

    Nolan fell into thought for a bit. "What was your team hunting?"

    "Spiders. It was a training exercise," Lev didn''t bother correcting the boy''s assumption about him being part of a team. It would lead to too many questions. "Managed to kill a dozen of them before returning."

    "You guys weren''t able to clear it fully?" Nolan leaned further, his interest apparent.

    "No, there were too many and the boss is too tough to take down easily."

    "What were the monsters like? Did you guys have much trouble killing them?"

    "Hmm," Lev gathered his thoughts. "They have very durable and heavy gray exoskeletons at the cost of speed. It took a bit of effort to block its pointy and heavy limbs and avoid getting squished by its random jumps, but after that, they were pretty easy to put down. The spiders aren''t the smartest so a simple method was enough."

    Nolan ahh''d, playing his role as an attentive listener perfectly. "What about the threads and cores? Did you harvest them?"

    "I did. They fetched a decent amount of silver."

    The listener blinked. "Why would you sell them?"

    "Why not?" Lev asked.

    "To practice? Edward will not provide materials for you after a day or two," Nolan gave him a confused look before he grinned. "Well, tough luck. Make sure to keep a few for yourself next time. Even if their paints have subpar conductivity, they will be utilized to train your skills all the same."

    Lev leaned back into his bench and let out a silent sigh.

    Guess I will keep a few for myself when I go there again tonight. Why didn''t I think of that before, anyway? I know training the enchanting skills will require a crap ton of materials.

    Lev blamed the spiders for being too ugly to care about harvesting. It was only logical.

    "I will keep that in mind. Do you know what we will be learning today?"

    "Probably group exercises," Nolan remarked. "Everyone will be separated into groups based on what type of enchanting they are aiming for, so it will happen sooner or later."

    "Makes sense," Lev decided to work on his social skills since the boy was being forthcoming. "What about you? Did you practice?"

    Nolan scratched his cheek, "Not really? Cores are hard to come by if you can''t hunt for them."

    What the hell? First time I take the initiative and there are a billion different possible undercurrents of circumstances in that single answer.

    "I see," Lev feigned casualness. "You can take some of mine, I''ll have plenty to sell anyway."

    It would be amusing to see the struggle on Nolan''s face if the boy hadn''t just confessed to being unable to afford cores. They were expensive like everything related to monsters and equipment was, but it wasn''t that hard to procure a few.

    "Thanks, I guess."

    Lev waved off the gratitude. Money meant little to him. With his growing levels and mana pool, it would only continue to lose value.

    The room filled up completely over the next few minutes. Counting the attendees, Lev noted nobody from yesterday was absent.

    "Now, how many of you practiced what I taught you yesterday?" Edward said in the way of greeting.

    Lev groaned quietly.

 Chapter 45

    "Well, no matter. Now you know how serious I was when I mentioned expenses yesterday. Enchanting as a fieldˇ­"

    Lev lazily tapped a finger as he lent half an ear to the rambling. The reminder of monetary costs was something they all remembered pretty well, but Edward seemed to love repeating it.

    "Now, then. We took a first look at the most basic type of enchanting. Today, you will do the same for painting, which has a simple addition of using paint, and separate into groups in the second half."

    Nolan gave Lev a look saying ''I told you so'', which did not escape Edward''s notice.

    "The sample we will use today is from Warrior Trolls. Their cores are abysmally inefficient for any magical purposes, let alone enchanting. Your task is to observe how inefficiency works, and what effects it has on the materials used to enchant and the material being enchanted."

    He circled the room and gave everyone ten crude iron sheets and a bowl of grey-brown sludge that contained a decent amount of mana. It was tempting to try and absorb it in his pool but Lev knew how terrifying the consequences of that would be.

    Human bodies and souls were not meant to absorb external or ambient mana.

    Mana poisoning would be the least of his worries when his soul itself suffered. Humans only ever utilized mana produced by their soul unless they had a class allowing otherwise. The only other method of utilizing ambient mana at the top of his mind was using runes, which was something else entirely.

    Putting those thoughts to the back of his mind, Lev created a simple syringe and pulled in a bit of the paint. That done, he sharpened the tip for more precise paint release.

    "Why not follow the normal method and use a brush?" Edward questioned. Unlike his words, his tone was encouraging.

    Lev looked around to find the entire room observing his syringe. "I don''t have a brush."

    Edward laughed. "Well, I don''t see the downside if the syringe works like intended. Instead, I approve of this approach. Being able to create good tools anywhere will be a huge boon for a combat crafter."

    With that, Edward made his way back to the front. "Raise your hand if you remember the rune from yesterday."

    Everyone did so.

    "Good, now paint that on these sheets."

    Lev eagerly dove into the task. Mentally grabbing his shield, Lev picked up an iron sheet and started tracing the rune with the syringe''s tip while pushing out a steady yet tiny stream of paint.

    The rune was too thick at first, so Lev reduced the output even more. Within ten seconds, he had drawn the simple rune as if it was traced with a pencil. Not only was the shape neat and uniform, but the paint also dried instantly.

    Mana entered the rune, and Lev realized the first flaw in his design. There was too little paint to channel even a small amount of mana so most of it was wasted.

    Grabbing another sheet, Lev increased the size of the syringe''s output and tried again. The result was thicker without being ugly. The syringe and his mental precision worked together nicely, and he finished the rune in only a little more time.

    While the paint dried, Lev discovered another flaw. The paint inside the syringe was also drying. It was slow, only coating the syringe''s interior, but it would dry eventually.

    The issue was simple to solve with an enchantment to make the barrel non-sticky but that was beyond him for now. Not like the loss was anything major.

    Mana flowed smoothly through the rune though much of it was still lost. Lev estimated it had a 50% efficiency due to the poor materials.

    Putting the sheet away, Lev created another five to test different rune sizes and paint amounts. The results varied more than he expected.

    To a small extent, Lev could ''waste'' more paint to increase efficiency. If more paint was crammed into the same size, the rune could channel more mana and slightly less of it would be wasted overall.

    The size also mattered more than he first estimated. The larger the rune, the more mana it wasted. Turns out, the longer it took for mana to run through the entire rune, the worse it would be. Who would''ve thought?

    Edward was giving him exasperated glances. Lev was jumping ahead of schedule but with his relatively high attributes and insane boosts to Intelligence and Perception, the exercise was easy as heck.

    "Okay, stop drawing. Let''s see what everyone has managed so far,"

    The lecturer slowly circled the room, giving advice and telling them the exact efficiency they had ended with. While he did that, Nolan observed all his runes while Lev took a look at his.

    The brush bristles need more precision than everyone expected, Lev observed. Nolan''s rune had plenty of stray marks from poor handling, which was understandable.

    Lev''s runes on the other hand, only had a single streak of paint without pause. Nolan was rightfully unamused.

    "That''s cheating," he muttered. "Drawing is hard, man. You just bypassed it entirely."

    "Would you rather choose barriers as your element or practice drawing?"

    His silence was answer enough. Lev''s class, while strong, was challenging to utilize to its full potential, unlike classes with all active skills.

    Edward first checked Nolan''s rune, giving him an encouraging smile at forming a 39% efficiency rune before he checked Lev''s latest rune.

    "Hmm," Edward began, very obviously dragging out the tension. It didn''t help that the entire room was waiting for his conclusion. "53%. Makes me wonder why you''re even here."

    "To get the skills?" Lev drawled.

    "You can easily get them on your own."

    "To suffer from inexperience?" Lev snickered. "I would much rather take it slow and learn from someone knowledgeable."

    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    "I see," Edward said. "You wouldn''t have been held back as much as you think but it''s still a good decision on your part."

    Done with the inspections, he clapped once to gather everyone''s attention. "Now that you have seen yourself how the materials matter, it is time to work towards getting your general skills. You will learn more about the theoretical aspects but it is imperative to get the skills first. The more knowledge you gather at the first level of the skill, the better for future levels.

    "Those who want to work with Rune Painting, move to the first column," Edward pointed to the column of benches next to the door. "Rune Carving to the second column and Rune Etching to the third."

    Lev relocated to the last bench of the second column. It was already empty. Nolan moved to the first column, which cemented Lev''s decision to share a few cores with him.

    "Now make groups of four."

    Out of the six others in his row, two joined him while the other four made their own group.

    Both the girls were fifteen by Lev''s estimate as he waited for one of them to speak up. They hesitated, which Lev understood. His illusion armor could be daunting from up close.

    "Hey," one of them nervously started, "I''m Myra and she''s my friend, Freya."

    "I''m Lev."

    Great interaction, Lev thought with a mental chuckle. He didn''t understand why boys always felt nervous around girls. He could talk to them just fine.

    "What sub-field do you two want to advance in?" Lev started the conversation.

    "We want to forge powered armors," Freya declared proudly before remembering Lev was a stranger, "and also on weapons and firearms," she finished quietly.

    "Both of you?"

    They nodded in unison. "I see. You''ve no doubt heard of my choice several times due to the lecturer''s attention," Lev noticed Edward shaking his head at him. The girls also looked embarrassed for whatever reason.

    "We heard," Myra said as she looked at the columns. "I didn''t think there would be so many people in etching."

    There were only three, which was apparently a lot. "It''s that difficult?"

    Freya nodded. "From what I''ve heard, headaches are a constant companion during training. Even getting the skills don''t help much. The enchanting just progresses a step which requires just as much if not more mental effort."

    Huh. So it is a constantly increasing burden on your mind, noted. Carving for the win indeed.

    "What about you?" Freya looked at Lev.

    "I want to use arcane barriers for spellcasting. They will be weak but arcane classes give a lot of mana."

    "Intelligence bonuses too, most of the time," Myra muttered, considering the implications.

    "Will just that be enough for combat, though?" Freya interjected.

    "Nope," Lev shrugged. "I have skills to make use of enchanting and different mana types, of course."

    "Pay attention everyone," Edward''s voice echoed throughout the room. "The first exercise will be forming a simple formation. You will use the heat rune and form a standard input formation with the runes I will provide. The task is naturally too much for etchers so they just need to form the heating rune to begin with."

    Carvers and painters got thirty of the same crude plates per group, while etchers were given five. Etching did nothing to the material, after all. The whole thing worked through incorporeal mana channels.

    "Your task is to connect the heating rune to a funnel for more precise channeling, attach an overload trigger for the amount of mana channeled, and a last cutoff rune to prevent the material from overheating. These are all basic triggers, and you will rarely use them beyond practice, so don''t worry too much about the runes themselves. Focus on honing your muscle control and fluidity."

    Just like before, the air shimmered before an illusion showing three runes solidified mid-air. Text above each of them explained what they did.

    "I will not guide you today. Knowing how to fail is an important part of success. Good luck."

    "ˇ­ Ideas?" Myra asked.

    "The cutoff rune should go at the end to stop the channel at the last moment when necessary. That way, there will be a small window to waste the overloaded mana during the channel."

    "I agree," Freya nodded. "For the other two, let''s start by putting them to the left and right and see how it goes."

    Myra and Lev had no issues with it either, so they started working for all of one second before they paused.

    "Who''s gonna carve them?" Myra asked, looking between Freya and Lev.

    "We can take turns," Lev suggested.

    "Sure, you go first."

    Lev picked up a plate and did just that. Forming a stylus with a sharpness rune enchanting the tip, he started carving the heating rune. Following that, he took a long look at the cutoff rune and memorized it. He had kept the heating rune large enough to fit the cutoff rune inside with ease.

    The funnel, after a bit of thought, was put under the heating rune while the overload rune was added to the left of the funnel rune. The last rune was interesting in how it pretty much just stopped all mana from entering the funnel if the channel exceeded a certain amount per second.

    Not that it mattered much. Lev could feel how it would just fold from a large amount of mana from him.

    "Looksˇ­ fine?" Lev remarked.

    Freya and Myra nodded in unison. They both held their breath as Lev sent a small amount of mana through the funnel. It slipped in smoothly and was scanned by the overload rune properly before entering the heating rune.

    The plate gradually heated as the mana was consumed by the rune. It was only warm to the touch when the fuel ran out.

    "Did you both feel it?"

    "We did," Myra answered. The overload rune had done its job.

    "I did too," Edward''s voice sounded from their left. "Not bad. Can you explain how you did it?"

    "We thought the overload rune should go to the funnel instead of the heating rune to stop any from entering the main rune in the first place in the case of an overload. The cut-off was placed at the end to stop the enchanted material from suffering any damage by sacrificing the overloaded rune instead."

    Edward nodded along. "Prioritizing the enchantment material over the carved runes. Your group did well."

    "What''s the efficiency of the whole thing?" Freya questioned before the lecturer left.

    "78%."

    The girls blinked. That was much better than their own results and Lev had done that in less time too.

    "Why did you say ''we''?"

    Lev looked at Myra who was looking at him in confusion. "Why not? It''s not like I care about some lecture credit. Besides, I doubt he wasn''t aware already."

    Or am I supposed to care? Does it translate to something?

    His confusion must have been apparent despite the armors in the way. "You don''t know?"

    "Know what?" Lev replied to Freya.

    "You can get even more personal lessons from Edward and some rewards if you perform exceptionally well. I''ve heard he gave a powered armor to a student once."

    Eh. Do I even want them?

    "I don''t need more lectures," Lev slowly replied. "But I don''t mind rewards."

    "Then you shouldn''t undermine your efforts," Freya was serious as she replied.

    Lev accepted the advice gratefully even if he didn''t care much for it regardless. He doubted Edward missed even the last conversation with how strong a Master''s senses were. Knowing who worked on the plate and who didn''t should be easy for him.

    "It''s your turn now," Lev motioned to the remaining plates. "I''ll try again after some time. You two should practice."

    "How did you carve them so cleanly, anyway?" Myra casually voiced as she grabbed a plate. Freya gave her a look but Lev didn''t think there was any harm in answering.

    "I evolved once already and am a Mage with very high Perception."

    Myra paused for a second before she shrugged a shoulder and continued. "I forgot about that."

    Lev observed them carve out their plates one by one by using his design. Predictably, theirs was messier with a lower efficiency but that was fine. They didn''t have Lev''s Perception and Intelligence for fine control. Not like they used their mind to begin with.

    It was harder to control muscles than the mind, at least in Lev''s experience.

 Chapter 46

    Lev flew back to the spider dungeon as he went over the lecture''s contents. Edward had made them try two more formations, each relating to temperature.

    One cooled the plate instead with the same extra runes in the formation, and the last simply kept it at room temperature. The last was interesting because the main rune demanded they cover a large portion of the plate with it for the rune to work.

    Some trial and error brought that number to a fourth of the surface. It wasn''t as large as he expected but seeing the requirement for the second time reminded Lev of its existence. The durability rune also had one.

    Now that I think about it, that rune should be useable with my increased pool.

    He kept the idea in front of his mind while he entered the dungeon. He wasn''t stopped by the guard beyond a badge check before he flew into the portal.

    "First things first," Lev muttered as a thick and meter-wide shield formed behind him. Focusing, Lev slowly carved out the durability rune underneath the surface.

    Maybe it was due to practice, but it formed quickly. He started with a small stream of mana as the rune took effect.

    Barely noticeable, Lev observed from the barrier''s mental feedback. The structure felt a little more robust but that was all. Upping the mana, the durability increased slowly along with the fuel. By the time Lev was utilizing enough mana to empty his only 80% full pool in a few minutes, the shield was more than thrice as durable. He hastily cut off the channel before it used too much mana.

    Definitely as scalable as the diary said.

    The rune ate up all the mana without a single hint of strain or waste, which spoke volumes about its efficiency. Not only was the durability increased by over 200%, but it also did so with an acceptable amount of mana.

    Following that train of thought, Lev tried to enchant his armor. It would be obscenely expensive to empower all of it, he knew, but that was a price he would pay any day of the week.

    As it was, his armor resisted any changes in its shape. That would only be possible by acquiring the ability to enchant it from the third or fourth rank, which was what Lev was aiming for.

    Sitting down inside the clearing, Lev slowly coaxed the armor to give in and let his manipulation through. He could feel the wall blocking his skill stubbornly stand its ground as they both battled.

    Slowly, the resistance eroded. The feat would''ve been impossible without having the skill at the top of the second rank, which was why he waited to try so long.

    It took half an hour before the wall of resistance crumbled with a notification.

    [

    Barrier Armor - 3rd Level 1:

    Cover your body in transparent armor to protect you from your foes. This armor is considered one whole instead of individual pieces. It can be manipulated like normal barriers, but the shape cannot be altered.

    The durability of the armor is further increased by 71%.

    2nd Rank: Channel a small amount of mana to further increase the durability bonus at a small cost. Overload the skill to double the bonus at a high cost.

    3rd Rank: Minor alterations in the armor are now possible.

    ]

    Great. More ways to use mana. Shouldn''t I be free of mana problems with a Wisdom Boost?

    Shoving away the illogical thought, Lev started working on the rune. It wasn''t like he didn''t have mana befitting the boost. He just used too much of it too inefficiently. He also had no bonuses to increase his destructive potential yet, which further cemented the fact.

    The durability rune formed slowly yet smoothly. Lev formed it on his back in case the carving affected the base durability. Sending mana through it, he winced as it required a large chunk to reach a 50% boost to durability by his estimates. Still, it was there as long as the armor was not dismissed, and he would make good use of it.

    Done with that, he formed two chains with blades attached to one end. The thoughts of buying an earth mana converter crossed his mind but he ignored it for now. It would be useful later when his barriers were not durable enough. The chains held up fine as it was.

    Lev considered his next steps. Fighting the boss was out of the question. Dungeons had a bad habit of making all the monsters aware when the boss was attacked, which was far too many monsters for him to deal with.

    The second option was to very slowly clear all the monsters, over the span of days, but he didn''t want to miss the lectures. There would be no replacement for those anytime soon.

    Which left the final option of slowly growing in strength till he could clear the dungeon by himself. The thought of finding a team didn''t even cross his mind in this relatively safe environment.

    To that end, he needed the two new skills to evolve to the second rank. He considered how to go about it before settling on a simple method.

    Lev ascended far above the ground and flew to the closest area he remembered with spider duos. It didn''t take long to find one. Four lances formed behind him but he waited to fill them with mana.

    I think this should work for both the active and the passive,

    The plan was to rapidly fill and fire the lances in succession. It would test the limits of his speed of filling them and utilize the active constantly. The passive worked on the whole process, so it would benefit from the process anyway.

    Done with his mental calculations, Lev proceeded to enact his plan. The first lance was filled with a moderate amount of lightning mana and launched away. The second followed within the same second, both of them hitting one of the spiders in its face.

    The first cut deeply into the head and stunned it by releasing the lightning mana. The second did the same, which tipped the damage to its brain over the edge as a notification chimed in his head.

    Without stopping, the other two lances hit the remaining spider in a similar fashion. The penetration and speed bonuses from his skill were too much for the spiders to react to, the only reason he could bully them afar.

    [

    You have slain [Gray Spider - Level 130]

    You have slain [Gray Spider - Level 130]

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 115

    ]

    With a sigh, Lev dove down and dug out the cores. The process was brief, for the monsters weren''t that huge, but it would always remain ugly before Lev could do it from far enough to avoid the stench-

    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    Hold on a minute. Why can''t I do it from afar?

    Lev flew back up for a few dozen meters before trying to harvest the second core. His chains flew down and flipped the monster''s corpse over as two disks dug into the body. When the cut was big enough, the corpse rolled over again, and out came the core.

    No more smelly harvesting for me, Lev thought giddily. He wondered why his stupid brain had taken so long to figure that out.

    In all seriousness, it wasn''t that great of a discovery. The larger monsters got, the harder it would be to dig out the core without getting close and personal. The method worked for now though, which was good enough.

    He brought up his status screen to observe how far he''d come.

    [

    Name: Lev

    Class: Mana Tempest - Level 115

    Titles: Reinforced Mind, Extraordinary Soul, Youngest Prodigy, Goliath Slayer, Daunting Steps I

    Attributes:

    Strength: 75

    Dexterity: 75

    Constitution: 215

    Intelligence: 290

    Wisdom: 305

    Perception: 215

    Class Skills:

    Arcane Barrier Manipulation - 2nd Level 10

    Unerring Volley - 2nd Level 10

    Colorful Destruction - Level 8

    Barrier Armor - 3rd Level 1

    Superior Senses - 2nd Level 10

    Rapid Infusion - Level 7

    Heavier Lifting - 2nd Level 10

    Mage Conduit - 2nd Level 10

    General Skills:

    Mana Manipulation - 2nd Level 10

    Identify

    Arcane Brawling - 2nd Level 10

    Mana Perception - Level 8

    Arcane Archery - 2nd Level 10

    ]

    Five total levels to see what I will be dealing with for the rest of the threshold. The active should be done soon.

    If he used the same amount of mana per lance, Lev estimated he could get one of them to 2nd rank tonight.

    ****

    So that turned out to be falseˇ­

    [

    Colorful Destruction - 2nd Level 1:

    You may imbue different mana types into your barriers as long as a barrier is in contact with a source in your manipulation range.

    2nd Rank: When releasing destructive mana types, the blast absorbs ambient mana to increase its potency by 20%.

    ]

    That skill is nuts, what the hell?

    If Lev wasn''t mistaken, the 2nd rank empowered the explosion as a whole. Meaning if he used 5% of his mana, it would add the effect of another 1% of his mana pool. If he used 10% of his mana, the added potency would be comparable to 2% of his total mana.

    Similarly, if he used 50% of his pool, the explosion would be as big as if he had used 60% instead.

    In theory, it sounded like the skill only paid off at higher costs. But in practice, the more mana each percent of his pool held, the higher the added effect would be. Not to mention, the potency increase would grow even further as the skill leveled.

    Then there''s the second skill,

    [

    Rapid Infusion - 2nd Level 1:

    Infusing different mana types into your barriers is 61% faster and more efficient.

    Volatile elements have reduced negative effects once infused.

    2nd Rank: Synergetic mana types will amplify each other in matching aspects. Contradictory mana types are easier to fit into a container.

    ]

    The second skill was a wildcard. Before now, Lev had no idea what direction it would take. He could finally breathe a sigh of relief because the skill sounded pretty amazing.

    If I''m getting this right, different ''aspects'' should be destructive power, stopping power, stability, durability, fluidity, and the like. So lightning and fire mana should make each other even more deadly when packed together. I need to test the best ratios for this when I have more mana.

    Satisfied with both, Lev washed his illusion armor on the way to Runespires. His mana kept running out too quickly, and he had only gotten one more level while hunting ten more spiders. The gains were slowing down pretty quickly.

    He had twelve new cores to play around with, at least.

    ****

    "Do you know how to make infused water?" Lev asked the moment Nolan entered the lecture room.

    "Uh ˇ­ I''ve heard about it. Why?"

    "I got some cores and wanted to try creating paint butˇ­" Lev trailed off.

    "Hmm. It isn''t supposed to be hard if my memory is to be believed. Infused water can be created by putting normal water into a container without any ambient mana. By circulating mana through it, the properties of water change until it becomes infused water. The viscosity also becomes comparable to slimy substances, which results in more paint as opposed to normal water somehow."

    Nolan was obviously passionate about enchanting, and his excited tone further proved that. Lev brought out one of the spider cores for him to observe.

    "Gray spider," Nolan observed. "That''s what your team has been hunting?"

    "Yep."

    "I see. From the looks of it, the conductivity won''t be that great but it would be useful for training regardless."

    "Correct," Lev summoned seven more of them. "I sold the rest and kept these for practice."

    "Didn''t you choose rune carving?"

    Lev waved him off. "I will practice painting too, just in case," he lied while handing the cores to Nolan.

    Nolan gave him a long look. "Okay, join me during the exercise."

    My simple deception seems to have failed. I wonder why, Lev mused in amusement.

    "I will."

    The class filled up the next few minutes before Edward showed up, quickly wiping a frown off his face that Lev doubted anyone else noticed.

    "Welcome back," Edward began, scanning the students present. No one had skipped class today either. "Today, there will be no theoretical knowledge, only exercises."

    Lev found himself with the same plates in hand. The exercises today were solo, and the aim was to observe how materials reacted to different formations condensed in a small area.

    For the exercise itself, Lev had to create the three simple formations from the last day on a single plate. It was rather challenging for him, which meant the task was daunting for the rest of the class.

    Lev put the others out of his mind and took a deep breath as he stopped holding back his Perception. The movement of the other kids slowed down as his focus sharpened on the plate in front of him. The stylus moved at a slow pace, methodically carving out the formations with no errors.

    When Lev finished carving all three, he put mana into all of them at once. The result was the oddest sensation he had ever witnessed.

    [

    Mana Perception has reached Level 9

    ]

    Each formation''s overload rune scanned the input at once, which wouldn''t be an issue if they didn''t disrupt each other. In the end, none of them did their job. The mana entered the main runes without being observed by the overload runes and all of them tried to affect the plate at once.

    The three runes were designed to affect the entire enchanted material. Just like the overload runes, they clashed and tried to overpower each other, only for all of them to fizzle out.

    Lev blinked. The runes had just stopped being runes.

    With amazement, he cycled mana through the now mundane carved pathways with the intent of activating an enchantment. When the mana finished cycling through the runes, they started working again.

    The hell was that? Did the intent behind the runes shatter or what?

    Lev tried it again and again. Each time, the runes stopped affecting the iron plate entirely. The poor iron plate only lasted a dozen or so more tries before the structure collapsed into dust.

    ˇ­Whoops.

    "So?" Edward asked, on him in a flash.

    "Very interesting," Lev sagely pretended to understand. "ˇ­What exactly just happened?"

    Edward smirked a little. "That is not for you to worry about, young enchanter. I will give a small explanation about it later but just know that such things will be relevant after becoming a Master, not before that."

    So it is related to willpower?

    Lev''s title, the one increasing his willpower, was confusing at first for him until Alec explained. The title did not increase his resolve or patience to power through problems, but something entirely different.

    Willpower was sort of a resource pool like Mana. It served the crucial purpose of controlling large amounts of mana and resisting foreign influences at higher levels, which was why his mentor commented that Lev had a unique advantage. He had misunderstood back then.

    Going by that knowledge, he could form some guesses. By circulating mana through the fizzled carving with the intent of activating an enchantment, regardless of how small or crude, fixed the broken runes by utilizing the person''s willpower.

    Probably.

    He would find out eventually.

 Chapter 47

    Half of the lecture passed with everyone messing up their plates left and right. Lev was one of the few who could reliably carve three working formations on them, which made sense. Others didn''t have a class, let alone attributes similar to his.

    Nolan is fairly talented, huh? Lev observed. He has only messed up once and on his first try.

    The arrogant boy from the first day was also doing great. Similar to Nolan, he only had one ruined plate.

    Compared to them, Lev had turned four more to dust. It was oddly fun to mess with the harmless runes.

    "What did we learn today?" Edward addressed the class.

    Nobody spoke up at first before Nolan hesitantly raised his hand. Edward encouragingly motioned for him to go on.

    "That, uh, formations clash if they aren''t matched with other synergetic formations."

    "Aptly put," Edward smiled. "What else?" he looked at the rest of the class.

    "Multiple formations amplify the strain on the material?" Lev guessed based on what he''d heard.

    Edward rubbed his chin, "Not exactly. The strain is increased, yes, but there''s no exponential increase like you are implying. More like each formation puts additional pressure on the plate as opposed to multiplying the overall strain."

    Lev nodded and leaned back. That was the only real question in his mind and Edward had cleared his doubts. Going by the new knowledge, cramming multiple synergizing formations into equipment was probably the next step of enchanting.

    Some other questions were answered before it was time for the second exercise. The whole day only had two of them, and for good reason. The students were told not to try and get a General Skill right now, and for good reason. The better the base, the better the future levels.

    For the last exercise, Edward wanted everyone to fit all three runes into a single formation. Each rune should be scanned for overload and have a cutoff rune at the end.

    To Lev, it only seemed tricky at first. By simply ending each main rune on the cutoff rune and making an overload for each, the formation was done in a few minutes.

    ****

    "Hey," Lev called out when he was done messing with the formation. Nolan finished the rune he was forming before replying, which Lev didn''t mind.

    "Oh, you were serious. Here, there''s plenty in the bowl still," the boy pushed the half-full bowl to Lev.

    "Of course I was. Surely, there are paints out there that thoroughly outclass normal carving. I at least want to learn how to use them."

    Nolan agreed, "There are. Several times cores are painted to increase the rate of charging for enchantments and improve the strain. Since cores have a limited lifetime, it is important to prevent them from disintegrating quickly. Painting them to increase their conductivity is the only major way to do that. Other than that, carved pathways are also coated in high-end paints to hold more mana and counter the strain."

    Lev blinked. He didn''t know of those things, and neither did his mentor ever bring them up. He was actually grateful for that. Learning things like this was surprisingly fun.

    "I''m assuming painting is more complex than just "painting a surface" at those levels?" Lev probed. He didn''t think Nolan would shy away from explaining but he still kept the question broad, just in case.

    "Yeah," Nolan agreed without any visible hesitation. "Several different fluids and treatments are used before painting. I don''t know much about them but I once heard someone mention coating the surface of a weapon with some substance to prepare it for enchanting. Only guesses from that,"

    Lev chewed on that information. He was under the impression that carving would be the end of it but clearly not. Those things were irrelevant for now though, so he put them out of his mind.

    "Painting at higher levels is much more complex than carving," Edward commented, having observed their conversation. "Beyond that, worrying about it is useless. Focus on the next few steps, not the distant milestones."

    Nolan and Lev shared a glance. Lev was just curious, but the boy seemed somewhat unhappy. He wondered what Nolan''s ambitions were to make him consider things so far into the future. Lev''s own goals at least, were something he could do nothing about except fulfill step by step.

    Forming a syringe without a needle, Lev started painting and pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind.

    ****

    The flight to the spider dungeon went uninterrupted. Entering the portal, Lev immediately formed an arrow and filled it with lightning mana and a small amount of fire mana before looking for a stray spider.

    It didn''t take long and neither did it survive long. The whoosh of the release of his bowstring was the only indication before the arrow pierced its face.

    Empowered by the new 2nd rank of Colorful Destruction and Rapid infusion, the mana stored in the arrow wreaked havoc inside its head and fried the brain before exploding it in a shower of gore.

    [

    You have slain [Gray Spider - Level 130]

    ]

    One shot.

    Lev considered the implications while harvesting the core. That arrow barely took 1% of my total yet a single well-placed shot was enough. If I use chains to hinder their mobility, the difficulty of hitting a moving target should be significantly reduced as well.

    Lost in thought, he absently gazed in the direction of the dungeon boss.

    Can I clear the dungeon by myself now?

    Giving it some serious consideration, Lev decided to go for it in the safest possible way. Since he already knew where the boss was, clearing the rest of the dungeon would be pretty simple and easy.

    Since he also had half a dozen hours before he would be losing out on sleep hours, waiting for mana to regenerate would also be possible to be best prepared for the fight.

    Lev flew around the dungeon, ending spiders left and right with precise shots. When he faced duos, one of them died quickly from a sneaky arrow while the other was tangled by his chain and murdered swiftly.

    Chains were quickly becoming his favorite. Surrounded by trees, they just needed to be strong enough not to shatter, which was manageable by using two of them instead.

    The result was the trees they were tied to easily weathering the charging spiders, stopping them in their tracks. The chains on the other hand, strained to stay intact but managed. So far, they had yet to crack even once but that would probably change soon.

    Now, how do I go about thisˇ­.

    The option to simply blast the trio of spiders at once was tempting but Lev held himself back. The lances would bottom out his pool too quickly.

    Seeing no other choice, Lev prepared an elaborate trap and fired at the leftmost spider, aiming to end it before the fight even started.

    The arrow shot forward as a blur, piercing the gray exoskeleton and releasing the lightning mana in its head. Lev quickly flew away, luring the remaining two away before he paused momentarily.

    There was no notification.

    With no other choice but to keep going, Lev slowed down a little to allow the charging spider to leap on him. It didn''t let the opportunity go, its limbs tensed, primed to jump.

    Just a little moreˇ­ Now.

    The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    Two chains swung down from above, piercing the abdomen of the mid-air spider with their bladed ends. With no chance at dodging, the chains grew taut, leaving the spider swinging while putrid blood sprayed out like a geyser.

    Lev, who was waiting for the monster to be rendered immobile, swiftly ended its life with a lightning arrow through its eyes.

    Uncaring of its fellow spider''s death, the last of the spider chased with reckless abandon. Lev didn''t risk firing arrows and wasting mana on a monster that, while slow, had a high chance to dodge.

    He circled to the second trap and lured the spider into leaping again. The insanity-addled monster didn''t think twice before making the same mistake as the last spider, giving Lev a clear shot to finish it off.

    The entire time, Lev was straining all his senses for any trace of movement. Even now, there was no sign of the first spider he''d failed to kill.

    Playing it safe, Lev ascended beyond the treetops and looked for it. To his surprise, the monster had barely moved from its original position. Time and time again, it tried to follow the pesky human but its limbs only twitched before it went still again.

    Lev put an end to its misery with a precise shot.

    ****

    The total number of monsters in the dungeon, Lev found, was 40. Five trios, eight duos, eight solo spiders, and the boss.

    [Juvenile Gray Spider Matriarch - Level 193]

    That''s a big jump in levels, Lev noted. The last trio of spiders and the boss were forming a huge web in the center of the dungeon. Curiously enough, they just continued to expand it without pausing the entire time Lev observed them from afar to regenerate mana.

    The normal spiders too, were higher level.

    [Gray Spider - Level 148]

    [Gray Spider - Level 147]

    [Gray Spider - Level 148]

    Lev wasn''t ashamed to admit he had debated turning back the moment their levels were revealed. By killing all the other spiders, he had only gained a few levels, which wasn''t a big enough boost to bolster his confidence.

    [

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 116

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 117

    Colorful Destruction has reached 2nd Level 2

    Rapid Infusion has reached 2nd Level 2

    ]

    Lev put the points into Intelligence. There was no point in putting them into Wisdom when that only increased his regeneration slightly without giving any instant mana. It would be of no help in the upcoming fight.

    Intently gazing at the four remaining spiders, Lev mentally prepared himself. These were the last obstacles between him and a potential title. He wanted to at least give the fight a shot. With over half of his pool available, winning was still possible.

    With a deep breath, Lev formed two lightning lances and a lightning arrow, intent on finishing off the normal spiders before the fight even began.

    Taking the speed of projectiles into account, Lev launched the lances an instant before he fired the arrow. Despite that, the arrow reached the leftmost spider first, turning its brain to mush.

    The first lance missed its intended target of the spider''s brain by a few inches yet still killed it with the resulting explosion of lightning. The last lance missed outright as the spider jerked out of the way in the nick of time.

    Lev tsked, eyes trained on the matriarch. The slender spider screeched as she looked for the attacker. Lev willingly revealed himself for a moment to lure it into his trap.

    The matriarch didn''t disappoint and gave chase immediately. Its slender limbs moved with eerie grace, sending a jolt of fear down Lev''s spine at how quickly it ate the distance.

    Gritting his teeth at the gross miscalculation, Lev overloaded his barrier manipulation skill and flew through the dense canopy as fast as he could manage. To favor speed, Lev forewent pestering the matriarch with attacks entirely.

    Sending a single glance behind him, Lev redoubled his effort when he saw that the matriarch was still faster. Not only that, weaving between the thick trunks proved ineffective, the monster even better than him at swift maneuvers. The last normal spider also followed behind in the distance.

    His heightened perception and adrenaline were the only reasons Lev discerned the matriarch''s odd twist in the nick of time. He hastily darted to the right, putting a trunk directly between him and the spider.

    His precaution was rewarded when the entire tree shook. Lev imagined there was a basketball-sized hole in the part where the ball of web threads had slammed into the tree.

    His armor might have survived the impact but the sticky nature of the ball would''ve been his end.

    Sending a fearful glance behind him, panic gripped him when the matriarch was visible only a dozen meters away. It was catching up too quickly, which forced Lev to take action earlier than expected.

    Lev formed a barrier ball and dumped a large amount of fire mana into it as the spider''s posture changed. The ball of fire and the ball of web collided mid-air, illuminating the flora in bright shades of red and orange.

    Even then, the matriarch was entirely unharmed but the detour to avoid the explosion had put some distance between them. Lev''s first trap was just ahead, so he put his plan into motion. Slowing down, Lev summoned his bow and filled an arrow with a small amount of lightning mana.

    The spider dodged it with disturbing ease, ducking under the arrow to let it fly overhead harmlessly. Lev shot one arrow after another with unwavering determination, noting the moment his prepared chains entered his range of manipulation.

    With a deep, steadying breath, he landed on the ground. The monster screeched in triumph, the sound damaging his barrier armor and stunning Lev for a short moment.

    What the hell is going on!?

    There was no more time to consider the weird attack. The matriarch descended on him without missing a beat, intending to impale him on one of her limbs. Lev ducked low and flooded the durability rune carved inside the armor, feeling the slender limb scraping against the back of his barrier armor.

    Yanking himself to the right, Lev baited the matriarch into attacking again before two chains swung down in a wide arc to impale it.

    The spider slapped them away with contempt as if taunting Lev.

    Fear and nervousness took a backseat as Lev''s expression hardened, then eased into a grin. If that was how it wanted to play, then so be it.

    Giving up on all but one trap, Lev ascended high above the treetops. The matriarch and the other spider, having caught up a moment before, followed. He folded his arms over his chest, gliding back with deceptive slowness.

    Every time the spider launched the web ball, two shields slapped it away. Its limbs almost found purchase on Lev several times but he darted back at the last moment, now taunting it back.

    Screech after screech rolled over him, the unholy sound ignored and powered through despite the wetness dripping down Lev''s ears.

    Flying higher, Lev summoned his bow again and fired a lightning arrow. From the weird angle, the spider ducked it easily. The arrow hit a thick tree in the distance, the thud producing a small clinking sound.

    Lev ignored that and fired more arrows while circling the same spot. The monster jumped, screeched, and fired thread balls without pause, all of which were deftly countered or stubbornly resisted.

    Abruptly, he dove. The monsters both followed without pause, weaving between the branches with ease befitting their home turf advantage.

    Lev evaded thread balls and erratic limbs left and right till the matriarch inevitably dove down.

    Got you.

    Two chains attacked from its sides, their bladed ends primed to dig deep. The spider twirled mid-air, redirecting one at the last moment while the other pierced its side.

    Lev barely resisted falling flat as the loudest screech so far washed over him. Vision swimming and mind in a world of pain, he wobbled to his destination while the second spider smashed his chain to bits.

    Wounded and slightly slowed, four more chains dove down and sought to entangle the monster.

    The first was slapped away by a limb, and the next two only dug a little into the spider''s abdomen.

    Seeing the matriarch''s face about to be impaled, the second spider jumped in the chain''s trajectory, heroically absorbing the blow. It may have saved the matriarch but the bulk blocked the boss'' vision.

    Four lances brimming with lightning and traces of fire mana descended in an instant, most of them blocked by the normal spider. The large blast set the surrounding flora ablaze, the smoke obscuring Lev''s form.

    Four of the still-intact chains swung back down again, dodged deftly by the matriarch as the second spider succumbed to the accumulated grievous wounds.

    Angry, hateful screeches washed over the area with enough intensity that the surrounding fire wavered. One of the nearby trees groaned, the accumulated damage too much for it to stay upright.

    The matriarch didn''t notice the arrows embedded in the damaged trunk, repeatedly fired by Lev at the same spot. It only had eyes for Lev, hellbent on bringing him down.

    Lev obliged, revealing himself by floating out of the smoke a few dozen meters away. Bracing himself, four of Lev''s shields enchanted with durability runes deflected the monster''s limbs while he weaved between the rest.

    With two lances ready to launch at the edge of his manipulation range, Lev put the last part of his plan into motion. The four chains targeted the back limbs while Lev veered sharply to the left, giving way to the lance seeking to impale the monster. All the while, a nearby tree continued to creak ominously.

    In a majestic display of agility, the monster sacrificed two of its long back legs and jumped over the incoming lance, right in the path of the second lance.

    Even then, it jerked at the last moment and saved its face from being impaled. The lightning mana seared into its body, stunning it for a long moment before the matriarch found its bearings.

    Lev just floated in place, calmly gazing upon the barely standing monster, and gave it a middle finger. Even if all his attacks failed to put it down, the trunk hurtling down sure did. Two bright and overloaded thick chains pulled down the tree, the tools responsible for the poor state of the falling trunk.

    [

    You have slain [Juvenile Gray Spider Matriarch - Level 193]

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 118

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 119

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 120

    Colorful Destruction has reached 2nd Level 3

    Colorful Destruction has reached 2nd Level 4

    Colorful Destruction has reached 2nd Level 5

    Rapid Infusion has reached 2nd Level 3

    Rapid Infusion has reached 2nd Level 4

    Superior Senses has reached 3rd Level 1

    Arcane Barrier Manipulation has reached 3rd Level 1

    Unerring Volley has reached 3rd Level 1

    Mage Conduit has reached 3rd Level 1

    You have earned the title: Solo Dungeoneer

    You have cleared your first dungeon.

    You have cleared your first dungeon solo.

    You cleared your first dungeon against monsters of a higher average level.

    +10 to an attribute of your choice.

    This title has a myriad of upgrade paths. Step forth and carve out your own destiny.

    ]

 Chapter 48

    Lev rolled the matriarch''s core in his palms. The suns were in the process of rising, which meant he had some time before the lecture started.

    [

    Juvenile Gray Spider Matriarch Core - Weakened

    The core has been harvested from a severely weakened dungeon monster. Possesses potent magical properties. Useful in crafting.

    ]

    It had taken a bit of effort to harvest the core safely. Unbelievably, the matriarch had almost dodged the falling tree, which resulted in it only getting half squished.

    The core was still whole and undamaged. Lev knew it would fetch a pretty penny, but he was more inclined to keep it for himself. Not to mention he could sell the 39 other cores in his ring for money if need be.

    The ''weakened'' bit in the description confused Lev. It wasn''t the core, that he knew for certain. So, was the matriarch weakened? If so, Lev shuddered to imagine how strong it would be normally. The monster was already very strong for its level. His worldview was a little skewed by fighting solo, sure, but he doubted most teams his level would be able to kill it.

    Then there were all the notifications. Out of all the new 3rd rank skills, only one had provided a new benefit, while the attributes from the title went to Wisdom. Obviously.

    [

    Superior Senses - 3rd Level 1:

    Perception is increased by 192%. The effects of Perception on your eyesight are increased.

    2nd Rank: Whenever you are about to be hit by a blow that would kill or incapacitate you, your perception will spike massively for one second. The strain of handling the increased perception will be lessened significantly.

    Can trigger once per day.

    3rd Rank: The effects of Perception on your other senses are also slightly enhanced.

    ]

    The skill''s name now made proper sense. Lev always wondered why it had ''senses'' in the name while only enhancing his eyesight. The third rank made it clear, and also set the tone for any future evolutions.

    Sighing, Lev took a detour and stopped by Bronze Bids. He was greeted by a petite girl instead of Samuel.

    "Greetings, how can I be of service?"

    "Hey," Lev greeted back, showing his tier three membership card he''d grabbed a day ago. "I wanted to inquire about a core."

    She glanced at the card before straightening. "What kind of core do you want to know about, sir?"

    Lev shivered under the armor, "Drop the sir. Take a look at this,"

    "Oh, that is rare," she instantly commented, grabbing the matriarch''s core. "It is one of the best cores for all forms of enchanting and crafting before Master, at least in terms of conductivity."

    That answered Lev''s question about if the spider''s screech was a magical attack. Nodding once, he took the core back.

    "How much would it sell for?"

    The girl rubbed her chin. "Let''s see. If you want to sell it right now, I can take it for one gold and thirty silver after taking our cut. If you want to put it on an auction, the price may go quite a bit higher depending on luck. Just note that we do not take single cores for auction. If your team can provide a bunch of these or a bundle of similarly potent cores, they will attract a nice bid."

    Lev considered his options. "So either I sell it right now for a fixed price or risk it in the auction as long as I sell a bunch of them. How many do I need, minimum?"

    "Ten, at least," She grinned. "Nobles still buy good cores by the dozens, and we aim higher than their standards."

    "Fair enough," Lev replied, noting the mention of nobility. "I''ll see if getting more of them is possible."

    "Will there be anything else?"

    "Just your name, and a bit of infused water." Lev belatedly asked.

    "I''m Nina. You can find me here in the morning shift any day of the week. For infused water, I can sell you a litre for a silver."

    "Thank you," Lev dipped his head and left the office with the jar of infused water in tow.

    The class was already full by the time Lev arrived, attracting the gazes of everyone present.

    The hell are you all looking at?

    Not paying them any attention, he took his seat in the usual corner and waited for Edward to arrive.

    "Lev," Nolan called out, "Do you know why Edward is late?"

    Lev frowned. He had an inkling there was something brewing but not what. He was about to deny when Edward entered the class, a scowl on his face.

    "Hunter Lev," Edward said without missing a beat. "I was asked to find strong and willing hunters to join patrols in the caverns below us. Are you up for it?"

    "Levels of monsters?" Lev questioned, not averse to the idea. Edward must have reached out to him for a reason.

    "Very rarely above the second threshold. Mostly kobolds, cave trolls, snakes, insect types, and cave spiders."

    If he is asking this in front of a class of classless kids, it must be important, Lev mused. There''s also no harm in joining. If things are worse than expected I can prevent unnecessary loss of life. Besides, it might have been caused by my presence.

    "I am," Lev answer after giving it some serious thought. He could escape if worst comes to pass by flight.

    "Excellent, see me after the lecture."

    The whole room watched the exchange in silence, each contemplating the meaning of such an abrupt recruitment. Neither Lev nor Edward answered them. Still, he was curious about why Edward had reached out to him. Sure, as a Master, Edward could read his aura and tell that he was a mage, but the lecturer didn''t know Lev''s level. Just that he had evolved once. The blocking stone prevented all forms of Identification. Beyond that, he only knew little about Lev''s strength.

    "Today, and for all our remaining lectures, we will focus on acquiring the enchanting skills. With the basics you have, the rest of the lectures will cover theoretical knowledge."

    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    Finally. Let''s see if I can get an extension skill tailored for my barriers.

    "It is pretty easy, as you are all no doubt aware. Just recreate the exercise from tomorrow with the intention of getting a general skill."

    Lev did just that. Tuning out the world and closing his eyes, a large round disk formed in front of him before he started carving pathways inside the inch-thick surface.

    His will slowly pierced through the durable surface, slowly and methodically hollowing out the barrier in the desired shape. The cutoff rune formed first before the three main temperature runes formed at its sides. Overload runes formed after each of the main runes, regulating the mana input.

    When the last rune finished forming, Lev sent a trickle of mana into the temperature runes one by one. The overload runes worked perfectly, scanning the entire input, before letting it pass. The barrier disk heated up before it called down, and lastly the temperature matched the room, courtesy of the third rune.

    When Lev opened his eyes, everyone was silent. The whole class was observing him with their mouths ajar and even Edward was smiling.

    "Congratulations. I will eat paint if that somehow didn''t get you a skill," Edward quipped.

    Lev chuckled and checked his notifications.

    [

    You have earned a General Skill: Barrier Carving

    Time and Practice. You have utilized both and earned this skill. Extension of the class skill Arcane Barrier Manipulation, this skill utilizes two general skill slots.

    Mana conductivity of enchanted barriers is amplified, increasing the efficiency of runes and formations.

    ]

    Perfect.

    "Extension skill," Lev allowed, not wanting to let down the entire room.

    Most of them cheered, which was a novel experience. It was the first time someone had cheered for him, and Lev decided it did not feel bad.

    ****

    "Most if you should get a rune repository skill within the remaining lectures. If you don''t, that is fine too. Do not panic and simply tell me. I have notes prepared for forcing an unlock to the best of my ability."

    The idea of a rune repository skill was pretty intriguing. The skill allowed people to ''store'' runes and access them later at any time.

    But from the meaningful glance Edward sent his way, Lev was going to be working towards something else.

    The lecture ended not long after. Today''s lecture had covered a textbook description of how to feel the conductivity and durability of a material, and to best determine how much punishment it could take.

    Most of it was useless for Lev. His barriers provided accurate mental feedback due to their arcane nature and close ties with Lev''s mind. Some of it was interesting, still. Lev now knew that materials rarely straight up cracked or exploded under strain.

    He should''ve guessed that enchantment overload disintegrated the structure of the material instead. The iron plates from the day before had, too.

    Edward and Lev remained in the class as everyone else slowly trickled out. When they were alone, Edward summoned a small notebook and handed it to Lev.

    Lev took a single glance at the title of the notebook but didn''t do anything else. "How much is this worth?"

    "Something like this would normally cost a few golds," Edward smiled gently. "But I didn''t create a copy to sell it. Since it''s focused on combat crafting, nobody has any issues with sharing the knowledge freely. Don''t worry, I asked many famous people, even your teacher."

    "You know my mentor?" Lev asked as he opened the book.

    "Know? No, of course not. He was already one of the most famous crafters when I first started. But your armor has his signature style of enchanting and blocking off prying eyes. The rest was easy to deduce when you used barriers."

    [Wanderer''s Repository]

    The famous skill, as per Leah''s will, was to be distributed freely among new combat crafters so they could take flight after a few steps instead of stumbling in the dark.

    The requirements to unlock a skill are simple. The System encourages all humans to explore and discover, and unlocking the skill is no different in its purpose. To acquire it, simply meditate and convince yourself about exploring the world thoroughly, to such a degree that getting another type of repository becomes impossible.

    You will then get the general skill with a simple thought.

    "This isˇ­" Lev swallowed, "much greater than anything I expected."

    "It is," Edward agreed, still smiling, "which is why it is given freely. The stronger you become, the better. Leah was, after all, one of the strongest Masters to have ever existed. Monarch knows we need more people like her."

    ****

    While they both made their way to the Hunters Guild, Lev speculated about the skill.

    Frankly, it sounded absurd.

    Even if there was no description in the notebook, there was enough information to formulate one.

    If Lev was to unlock the skill, he would, somehow, find runes by exploring the world.

    How epic was that?

    Lev was going to get that skill, no matter what.

    "Now that we''re alone, can you explain what''s happening down there?"

    "What makes you think it''s down there?" Edward questioned back.

    "I don''t hear any bells."

    The man snorted at the deadpan delivery. "Right, obvious in hindsight. There is not much to go on right now but the monsters are agitated. They are always acting on instincts but now they seemˇ­ frantic. You will see."

    Lev supposed he would. Entering the Hunters Guild, Edward led him to the second floor. It was a large hallway with over a dozen different rooms. They entered one where a bunch of hunters were already waiting.

    "How many left?" Edward questioned those already present.

    "We''re all here, Edward. Who is that?"

    The question came from a burly man, fitted in armor thick enough to make even Lev worry about the cost.

    "This here is Lev, one of my students," Edward gave him a hard stare. "He''s a barrier mage and will save over asses more than a few times. Let''s roll out."

    To Lev''s surprise, no one complained. Then to his surprise again, they went to the basement instead of heading out. Lev used Identify in the meantime.

    [Warrior - Level 202]

    [Warrior - Level 180]

    [Bulwark - Level 205]

    [Mage - Level 175]

    [Mage - Level 154]

    [Healer - Level 159]

    The notifications went on and on. Everyone present was above level 150 except Lev, though he doubted anyone would question his capabilities.

    "How many teams are here right now?"

    "Four," Edward replied without looking back. He led them to an even deeper floor before walking up to a wall. The wall was utterly mundane to Lev''s senses, which was why he stared in amazement as Edward''s mana entered it. Within a few moments, the wall was receding like an elevator door.

    [

    Mana Perception has reached 2nd Level 1

    ]

    Lev ignored the skill. The second rank merely allowed different mana types to be easier to distinguish.

    "The mountain of metal here," Edward waved to the guy who had asked about Lev earlier, "is Bernard. He will keep us all alive by taunting the hordes below."

    I don''t even need to ask about the rest of his class. Being identified as Bulwark is enough. Lev thought, somewhat amused.

    "The ones walking next to him are his team."

    They were two mages and a healer. Lev gave them a nod, which they returned.

    "That warrior is Elias, the leader of the radiant squad here," Edward pointed at the team to Lev''s left. Lev perked up at the mention of a radiant squad. There were only a few for each rank, and they were all famous for their incredible strength. Lev identified the team.

    [Warrior - Level 177]

    [Warrior - Level 182]

    [Mage - Level 181]

    [Healer - Level 179]

    Quite the balanced composition, too.

    "I don''t know why you''re here, boy," Bernard stared down Lev, "but you better be worth bringing along."

    Lev just tilted his head a little. "You will see, I guess," he brushed off the big guy''s taunt. That had to be one of the worst attempts Lev had ever seen.

    "Bernard, please," Edward sighed.

    "What? Pipsqueak here has no accomplishments to speak of," Bernard shrugged. "I don''t approve of bringing a solo silver hunter with us."

    Edward shook his head and looked at everyone else present. Nobody spoke up in Lev''s favor. It was understandable too, they didn''t want a rookie to join them.

    Guess I got no choice, Lev thought.

    He summoned the matriarch core in his palm. "I cleared the spider dungeon myself by solo killing the Juvenile Matriarch last night."

    Everyone stopped. Slowly, a smile bloomed on Edward''s face while Bernard had went stock still.

    "I was also apprenticed under Alec Zar. Is that enough?"

    Edward walked up to him and clapped him on the back. "I''m sure it is, right guys?"

    Nobody refuted him.

 Chapter 49

    "Quite the introduction," Elias remarked as he walked up to Lev. "Does that mean you''re still quite a bit lower leveled than everyone present?

    Lev couldn''t detect any hostility or foul play so he nodded, slowly. "Unfortunately. For now."

    Elias smirked. "For now, indeed. I-"

    "You can talk about that later," the healer interjected. "I''m Lisa. Did you say your mentor was Alec Zar? The Alec Zar?"

    "Yep."

    "Wow," she breathed out, starstruck. "Is it true that he carries an arsenal of arcane equipment wherever he goes, while crafting under an illusion?"

    "I, uh, don''t know? I only saw him fight once," Lev lied, taking a step away from her.

    "Oh," her face fell, "that''s unfortunate-"

    "That is enough, too."

    Elias pulled her back by the shoulder, sending Lev an apologetic grin. "What I was saying is, what you managed is quite impressive. Would it be alright if I extended an invitation to you to dangerous large quests in the future?"

    Lev pondered the implications for a second before shrugging. "Sure, that sounds fine to me. I can''t guarantee that I''ll show up, though."

    "Naturally," Elias nodded before returning to his team.

    Did I make my first connection? Lev wondered, confused.

    The interaction was weird, at least to him, so he put it out of his mind. "Where are we going?"

    Edward answered. "Underneath the spires. One of the final caverns was almost overrun last night, which is our destination."

    "Final caverns?"

    "Oh, you''re new to Runespires?" Lev nodded. "I see. Final caverns are the last line of defense before the truly untamed caves begin. They are always holding back hordes of monsters. The place is good for practicing against as many monsters as you want in a somewhat safe environment. Well, safe until shit like this goes down," he finished with a scoff.

    Lev kept quiet. Perhaps he should adopt the role of a wandering guardian sooner rather than later. The negative effects of his presence were already showing.

    Or perhaps something entirely unrelated had transpired. He was about to find out.

    The manmade cave they were traveling in kept going in circles, inclined rather deeply. Lev wondered how far down they were after half an hour of walking.

    He decided to ask. "How far below ground are we right now?"

    "Just over a kilometer," Edward replied. "We should be there soon- ok here we are."

    The path opened up to a wide cavern. It was Lev''s first time being underground, and he was understandably blown away by the stalactite-covered ceiling and uneven ground.

    It was beautiful in its own right.

    "Watch out for the monsters," Elias whispered, casually grabbing a short sword off his back.

    "Levels?" Lev questioned.

    "Dormant monsters, nothing to worry about."

    Oh.

    Lev summoned his bow regardless. The present company observed him curiously, no doubt because of the lack of arrows on his being.

    "Is anyone scouting?" Lev asked after a minute of silence.

    "I am," replied a mage from behind him. "Two kobolds to our left."

    Lev was a bit stumped by why nobody turned to them. Was the level two low or what?

    "For the newcomer, I''ll explain," Bernard suddenly voiced. "My skills focus on taunting monsters. They will all try to pile up on me, and you guys can easily finish them off. Just don''t let any second-threshold monsters near me."

    Trying to repair a burnt bridge? Lev almost quipped but held himself back. He appreciated the effort regardless.

    "Makes sense," Lev remarked before ascending a few meters. Seeing two kobolds hundreds of meters away, Lev formed two arrows and put them down in quick succession.

    [

    You have slain [Kobold - Level 60]

    You have slain [Kobold - Level 64]

    ]

    "You''re an archer?" the scout mage asked, unable to hold back her curiosity.

    "Mage," Lev replied without explaining.

    The cavern eventually ended in another narrow cave, where Lev got to see a mine for the first time. Without slowing down, Edward passed through a cave filled with iron deposits in the wall. Lev continued to observe the patches of crude metal with childish curiosity before they walked in a different direction.

    The journey continued the same for ten more minutes, going from cave to more caves before the sounds of battle reached the group from ahead. Lev tensed in preparation but calmed down, realizing there were no screams, only blasts from different spells.

    The cave opened up to a vast expanse, a cavern so huge that it boggled the senses. Hundreds of meters above, Lev could see the dark gray stone ceiling but he couldn''t see the end of the cavern up ahead on two sides.

    The group exited from a hole in the wall several dozen meters above the battlefield. To Lev''s left was a large wall, twenty or so meters in height, and to his right was the huge cavern floor, littered with monster corpses.

    "So, what exactly is our job?" Lev finally asked. Seeing the droves of dormant and first-threshold monsters trying to scale the walls, he knew they would go down there.

    "Exterminate and find any potential source of their new behavior," Elias summarized. "Harvest some good money while we''re at it."

    "Why does the last part sound a tiny bit suspicious for an official mission?" someone Lev didn''t know commented.

    "Focus," Edward snapped, eyes focused on something in the distance. "There are more first-threshold monsters than ever before. No dilly-dallying."

    Lev mentally approved of the present teams when nobody joked about the order. The situation seemed more serious than expected, and Lev was starting to get slightly nervous being far away from the safety of walls.

    Perhaps I should''ve given the offer more thought. Lev scoffed mentally. What''s done is done. Now, let''s get some levels.

    While Edward talked to the lead combatants on the wall, Lev formed two large barrier shields. Each was nearly two meters in width and three fingers thick but due to the nature of barriers, they still weighed little.

    I should look into an Earth mana converter now.

    Filing away the thought, Lev carved out large durability runes on them. It took several minutes to adjust the runes till they were as good as he could manage, and by that point Edward had returned.

    "Putting my teachings to use already?" He smiled. "Let''s go."

    The gates opened with loud groans, betraying their weight and rusty nature. Lev took a good look at the exterior of the wall before dozens of monsters focused on Bernard.

    Nobody spoke a word as the warriors all moved to the front. Lev''s role was left up to him, so he flew back and up into the air and started firing normal arcane arrows.

    [

    You have slain [Kobold - Level 87]

    You have slain [Kobold - Level 85]

    You have slain [Cave Troll - Level 98]

    This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    ˇ­

    ]

    The notifications kept piling up as Lev loosed one arrow after another. The normal arrows only ate up a minuscule amount of mana. With a bit of downtime in between, Lev could keep going for days.

    Bernard mowed through the horde with a large mace while Elias and his team cut down dozens without any visible effort.

    Edward on the other hand, was fighting withˇ­ needles. Small metal needles enchanted to the brim. The tiny projectiles moved faster than Lev could track, ravaging the poor monsters with punctures.

    The monsters in a large radius around them fell within moments. Bernard started jogging forward in that massive armor of his, the sound probably attracting more monsters than his class skills.

    True to Edward''s words, the monsters were frantic. Usually, they would try to tear off Lev''s face without any other thought present in their monstrous heads. That was still true, but now the insanity had a desperate quality to it.

    Several cave trolls between levels 120-140 charged them. Despite the hundreds of meters between them, their almost-fearful roars reached them without a problem.

    With unconcerned steps, Bernard jogged forward to meet them. The monsters all focused their ire on him, completely ignoring the rest of the company.

    Grabbing the punch of the first troll, Bernard mangled the skull of another with his mace while several physical attacks landed on his huge armor. Beyond loud thuds, it remained undamaged.

    Elias accelerated to an insane degree, at least to Lev, and several heads flew away from bodies before he came to a stop, all within two seconds. The remaining trolls fell quickly, two to Lev''s lightning arrows and the rest to the scary needles controlled by Edward.

    The carnage progressed smoothly. Hundreds upon hundreds of monsters fell in front of their sheer might in the next hour. It was going well.

    Too well, really.

    Edward tensed, halting midstep.

    Lev had already seen such a reaction before from his mentor, and even back then he only had one thought.

    Masters simply had too much control over their bodies to ever react like this.

    Lev ignored all the monsters rushing at Bernard and flew higher, squinting his eyes to peer through the darkness in the distance. He wished he hadn''t when a bright, sickly crimson thread almost pierced his head.

    Only Edward''s timely intervention of pulling Lev lower saved his life, and even then the thread passed through the top left corner of both his armors without encountering any resistance.

    Two ominous blobs of red deep into the distant darkness made their presence known to the group as an oppressive aura washed over them. Each and every one of them unconsciously took a step back, even Lev with his increased willpower.

    W-what on Monarch is that?

    Lev unknowingly tried to Identify the creature and to his horror, the skill triggered from more than a kilometer away.

    [Blighted Threader - ???]

    "Edward," Lev whispered, his voice cracking. "What level is that thing?"

    "Threeˇ­" Edward gulped. "Three fifty."

    We''re so fucking dead. Lev summarized with palpable terror. His breathing quickened just like his heartbeat, and the sweat dripping down his back was only making things worse. Despite trying his best to not lose sight of the monster, the thing''s aura was starting to make his vision swim.

    "The only way is to fight, yeah?" Lev whispered again. Elias, Bernard, Edward, and several other people jerkily nodded, rooted on the spot just like him.

    The monster made the first move as a dozen threads shot forward, their speed almost too much. It was only Lev''s sheer perception that let him bring his two large shields in front of the group.

    Large streams of mana flowed into the durability runes at the last moment. Lev held his breath as the threads slammed into the shields.

    The first shield held up admirably against the first three impacts before cracking. Lev repaired it as fast as he could before it inevitably shattered, successfully blocking most of the threads.

    "Retreat! Do not break formation and do not let the threads touch you no matter what!" Edward ordered frantically, on the lookout for threads coming his way.

    While Lev hastily formed another three shields and durability runes on them, he noticed a peculiar detail. The monster launched thread after thread, eating up Lev''s mana at an alarming rate by forcing him to repair and power the shields and runes, butˇ­

    Why the fuck is it only targeting me!?!?

    "I won''t last long like this!" Lev yelled, desperately hoping someone would take its attention off him.

    "Just give me a moment!" Edward yelled back. "When I signal you, fly far back."

    Lev held on desperately, dodging and weaving between the threads whenever possible without being too risky while blocking the rest with his shields. Even his armor''s durability rune was eating up his mana, in case he missed something.

    "Now!"

    Lev dove down and back, maneuvering out of the way of the lethal threads. Now safe, he took a moment to catch his breath while observing the rest of the group in case they needed help.

    The enchanter brought out four different tower shields, each hastily enchanted to counter the decay from blight. While blocking the threads with two of them, he threw one to Bernard and the other to Elias.

    "Bernard, can you distract it for one second?" Lev called out, keeping an eye out for any stray threads.

    "I don''t want to fucking die, you brat. That thing will turn me into a mummy in the blink of an eye,"

    Lev growled under his breath but didn''t argue further. The man had a point, even if it went against the spirit of his class.

    He was considering his next steps when the air morphed to their senses, turning from something breathable into an abominable gas that needed to be eradicated. The monster''s aura, now actively interfering with their mental states, surged out with full power, towering and domineering.

    Lev''s flight buckled as several of their group fell to the ground, unconscious. Edward, Bernard, Elias, and another warrior above level two hundred moved ahead and stood together, shields joined together to not leave a gap between them.

    "BEHIND US! NOW!"

    Feeling the urgency in Edward''s voice, Lev formed threads of his own grabbed all the immobile hunters, and moved behind the vanguard. Dome after dome of barriers covered Lev and the unconscious hunters when they were all grouped together before a wave of mana originated from the Threader.

    Twisted, vile decay, a threat to all life and its wonders. That was the only way Lev could describe the wave of blight. It washed over the group and Lev''s barrier domes like a harrowing tide, slowly eating away at their durability and lives.

    The shields at the front held but the people behind them almost didn''t as the wave passed. The warrior whose name Lev didn''t know coughed and wobbled, visibly straining to stay upright when a thread pierced his head.

    Just by staying in contact with the thread, the hunter''s face turned into disgusting shades of red and purple before the blight spread through the rest of his body.

    Lev almost emptied his breakfast inside the armor, closing his eyes to look away from the hunter''s shriveled body to preserve his sanity. The wall was still far behind them, and it would be no use to run there. The combatants there were even lower leveled than his present company.

    "Bernard, you need to hold its attention for a moment or we will die here," Lev breathed out, dry heaving.

    "Kid-"

    "Don''t ''kid'' me, if you have a better idea I''m all ears."

    Bernard grimaced. Lev didn''t know if from the echoing impacts from the growing number of threads, Lev''s statement, or the deteriorating state of his shield.

    "Lev''s right," Edward spoke up just as another unconscious mage was grazed by a stray thread. Lev instantly looked away, his senses acutely telling him of the decay spreading through her body regardless.

    "Take these," Lev tossed four shields with durability runes to Bernard, "and wait for my signal."

    Nobody questioned him, knowing damn well that there was no way for them to survive here. The only Master amongst them was a newly evolved crafter, someone who had seen little truly dangerous combat.

    The twin dark red orbs, the threader''s eyes, slowly moved closer, and before long the monstrosity was revealed. Four slim, corroded arms adorned its sides while half a humanoid head remained on its shoulders. It walked on two legs, though Lev didn''t know if they even classified as limbs from their poor shape.

    Despite his short hunter career, Lev knew there were many things out there that could strike fear into everyone''s hearts just by existing. But nothing would''ve prepared him for seeing the ghastly humanoid abomination slowly shamble in his direction with even a hint of an expression on its half-intact face.

    It''s just a monsterˇ­ the thought echoed in his head, struggling to break the vice grip of fear.

    Just a monster that will kill all of us without breaking a sweatˇ­ the fear whispered back, urging Lev to give in and surrender.

    Something deep inside him rebelled at the ridiculous notion. Despite the situation, Lev couldn''t hold back a scoff as he broke out of that mental state.

    How fucking stupid does that sound? Surrender to a fucking monster? Blighted monster, no less.

    There were also several people around him who would die if he didn''t do anything. Running away wasˇ­

    Fuck no.

    A huge, several meter long lance slowly formed above Lev before he enchanted the tip with a sharpness rune.

    "Be prepared, Bernard."

    "Just hurry the fuck up, kid."

    Lev snickered but did as he was told. Mana flooded his gauntlets, 3/4th of it into the lightning converter and the rest into the fire converter. The converted mana streamed into the lance, lightning filling up most of it as the fire mana was held tightly in the middle.

    Several seconds passed before pain bloomed in Lev''s right arm. The amount of mana being channeled slowly overwhelmed his meager constitution, the attribute devoid of any skills to empower it.

    With gritted teeth, Lev ignored it to the best of his ability. His breathing slowly turned ragged before his eyes started to lose focus. Yet the channel continued all the same, filling up the huge lance slowly but surely.

    Twenty seconds later, Lev''s limb was less an arm and more a giant pus-filled blue bruise. Over 80% of his mana pool was channeled into the lance before it couldn''t take anymore. When the attack was prepared, Lev flooded the sharpness rune to keep it active for a minute or two.

    "NOW!"

    Several things happened at once. Bernard''s aura surged, blatantly shouting out a challenge, the provocation empowered severalfold with mana. The Threader''s threads paused before changing direction. Edward dumped a ton of mana into Lev''s shields, keeping them afloat with his own mana manipulation in front of Bernard as the threads impacted, shattering one of them with ease.

    Before the second could shatter, Lev''s lance embedded itself into the Threader''s chest, and the world turned white.

    The first thing Lev noticed was the defense wall rapidly closing in. The second thing he noticed was that he was going to collide with it at an extreme speed. Panic-fueled adrenaline woke him up quicker than any shower ever could, and Lev powered through a harrowing migraine and the burning agony in his right arm to arrest his momentum, coming to a stop only a few meters away from the walls.

    Behind him, the entire cavern was visible, courtesy of the huge bright blast in the middle. Where there used to be a ghastly Threader, there was now a towering mushroom of fire and electricity.

    Lightning crackled like dozens of snakes in the wall of fire, letting him know in no uncertain terms that it was the product of his lance.

    Everyone conscious was also observing the scene with wide eyes, barely remembering to assume a defensive formation in case the Threader was still alive.

    They shouldn''t have worried.

    [

    You have slain [Blight Threader - Level 348]

    ]

 Chapter 50

    "MARTHA''S TITS, LEV! ARE YOU ALRIGHT!?"

    "I''m fineeee, stop screaming into my mug,"

    The words were slurred to his ears, which was pretty funny. His right arm also felt extra funny, though some part of him whispered it was no laughing matter.

    Lev laughed. "I''m dandy, just need, uhˇ­ I''m sure we will find something to make me happier."

    Edward didn''t seem to be convinced. Lev knew he was in a weird state but his delivery was flawless. Why did the lecturer not believe him?

    "You stupid idiot, I can feel the mana poisoning even outside your armor."

    Mana poisoning, that word sent a jolt down his spine and cleared his head. The pain, that his addled brain had suppressed so far, returned with vengeance.

    Less than 5% remaining mana, an arm turned to mush from mana overuse, the mental overexertion from using so much mana in a short period, and the fading adrenaline, all the factors combined into something exquisite that knocked him out cold in moments.

    ****

    "Why was he hiding it?" Elias broke the silence for the first time in a few hours. The remaining hunters and Edward were all in a room behind the wall, waiting for Lev to wake up. The Final Cavern was fully cleared, now only assaulted by stray weak monsters.

    "Hiding what, exactly?" Edward questioned.

    "Surely it wasn''t just me that felt the amount of mana in that attack," Elias scratched his head. "That''s more mana than any silver hunter I''ve ever heard of. Hell, it was more than most gold hunters even."

    "Why does it matter? It''s his choice," Sabrina, a warrior who hadn''t yet interacted with Lev, piped up.

    "I''m not trying to berate him," Elias looked at her in exasperation. "If he shared his strength, surely he would be assigned a support squad to bring out his best potential,"

    "That would weaken his class evolutions," Bernard commented, his tone confident.

    They all lapsed into silence again. With the unexpected attack from Lev decimating the Threader, the final cavern was back to its normal state. But that left them with much more disturbing questions.

    "You don''t need to worry about him keeping it a secret. He''s Alec''s student. Those who need to know already do," Edward said. "More importantly, we need to report this to the guild as soon as we can after Lev wakes up."

    "You don''t need to worry about that anymore," a new voice interjected as an angry aura washed over them.

    ****

    Is this how it feels to be a dishwasher?

    The thought was groggy in Lev''s head, his mind still hazy. It took several long moments to get used to all the pains in his body, as well as the lethargy from mana overuse.

    "I left you alone for just over a month," a familiar voice called out, "and look at you."

    "ˇ­ Happy to see you too, teacher."

    "Don''t try to sugarcoat it. What happened down here, and why are you like this?"

    "Do you even need to ask? I''m sure you''ve heard from multiple people already."

    Lev heard a sigh echo throughout the room before he decided to get up from the bed he was perched on. "Why are you here, even?"

    "Someone tried to open your armor," Lev stiffened, "but I have my ways to find out. It just took a few hours to get here."

    "I seeˇ­ did they succeed?"

    "No," Alec instantly replied. "Edward wanted to give you a healing potion but he couldn''t get through the locks. Here,"

    Lev deftly caught the potion, the movement of his barrier armor unhindered despite the physical pain. "Thanks," he muttered before coming out of his armor and gulping down the healing potion.

    The effect was instant. Lev''s knees shook from the intense pain in his right arm, and he looked at it properly for the first time.

    The best he could describe its current condition wasˇ­ fucked. The arm was a dark blue mess of bruises and pus, bloated to almost twice the size of his left arm.

    "I think the arm looking so ugly has an additional pain," Lev remarked, continuing to observe the appendage with a grimace.

    "That''s what your mind goes to? Lev, your arm was very, very close to being permanently damaged. How are you even staying upright?"

    "What do you mean?"

    "The pain, boy," his mentor replied, agitation clear in his tone. "No one your age should be able to withstand that much pain so easily."

    Lev looked at the arm, then back at his mentor. "I''ve went through worse, I guess?" He shrugged.

    Alec had nothing more to say, and Lev was fine with that. Putting the painfully healing arm out of his mind, Lev pulled up his notifications instead.

    [

    You have slain [Blighted Threader - Level 348]

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 121

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 122

    ˇ­

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 131

    Colorful Destruction has reached 2nd Level 6

    Colorful Destruction has reached 2nd Level 7

    Rapid Infusion has reached 2nd Level 5

    Rapid Infusion has reached 2nd Level 6

    Unerring Volley has reached 3rd Level 2

    Mage Conduit has reached 3rd Level 2

    The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

    55 Free attribute points

    Your Title has been upgraded.

    Your Title has been upgraded.

    ]

    Lev sighed. The gains were beyond anything he had expected. He could already guess what titles had been upgraded.

    "You may want to hear this," Lev called out with a snort.

    "Let me guess, you got an inordinately huge reward for your stupidity?"

    "There was no stupidity," Lev muttered. "If you think I could''ve left them down there, maybe you don''t know me so well."

    "It would''ve been much easier to run away with them instead," his mentor commented, calmer now.

    "ˇ­ I blame the threader''s aura for not letting me think straight. Besides, there were only low level hunters on the wall. They would''ve been slaughtered."

    "Fine, fine. What did you get?"

    Lev checked out his new titles.

    [

    [Goliath Slayer II]

    Slay an enemy a threshold above you with minimal assistance.

    Only attainable below half the level of your threshold.

    The title can be upgraded.

    +20 to every attribute

    ]

    [

    [Daunting Steps II]

    Through sheer grit and desire, you have faced down an adversary of a much higher level in a higher threshold and come out on top. Something considered improbable by even the strongest of your kind despite their hunger for more power.

    +10 to all attributes.

    This title can be upgraded. It is recommended to not spread the specifics of this title.

    ]

    The Goliath Slayer title gave an additional +10 to every attribute, while Daunting Steps gave an additional +5. That was another 90 attributes for pretty much free on top of his other rewards, which made Lev curious about the nature of titles.

    "How common are titles that give bonuses to all attributes? I feel like The System is giving too much for free."

    "They are pretty common," Alec waved off his concern. "Your titles stand above the rest but there are still a lot of them that you will get eventually. From common things such as defending cities from waves with a rating of seven or higher, or doing difficult dungeons, or by simply becoming a gold ranked hunter."

    "Becoming a gold hunter?" Lev questioned in amusement.

    His mentor nodded. "The System considers it a milestone of your commitment. Something I doubt you''ve worked towards."

    Lev coughed. He kept forgetting about the merit points requirement. "I''ll look into cave exploration next."

    He took a few minutes to apply his free attributes, which was becoming easier to get used to. His attributes looked glorious after he was done.

    [

    Attributes:

    Strength: 90

    Dexterity: 90

    Constitution: 250

    Intelligence: 325

    Wisdom: 350

    Perception: 250

    ]

    "Why don''t we address the elephant in the room?" Lev began after a few moments of silence.

    "You''ve probably guessed it already."

    Lev looked at Alec for a long moment. "Should I leave?"

    "No, we just need to patch up all possible pathways to the ravine. If your presence lures blighted monsters from so incredibly far away, it will not matter where you stay. Better be behind walls than out in the plains, where you will be alone,"

    The logic was sound but Lev still felt uneasy. The Crimson Ravine was outside the outer wall, many thousands of kilometers away from Runespires. It was the only known location with blighted monsters, which made it extremely odd for one to show up here.

    The Threader could''ve just been a stray, wandering the caverns below for years or decades. Nobody wanted to put their hopes on such an optimistic theory however, which left only one possible answer.

    Lev''s presence was far more enticing for monsters than they had first estimated. With his growing strength, if he was already starting to attract monsters from the ravine, how long would it take to for monsters of The Grand Forest, or Monarch forbid, the ocean to take notice of him?

    "I need equipment," Lev voiced, slowly but firmly. "Specifically something to counter Mana Poisoning."

    Alec dashed his hopes quickly. "There is nothing that will help you long-term. To begin with, you will need to have devices drilled into your shoulders to directly take mana without it needing to travel through your body. But there is no metal that will be able to handle your growing output for long, and the downside of interfering with all your manipulation will be too much. The effects of Constitution will also constantly try to push those devices out of your body."

    "Nothing more natural?"

    "There are some ways butˇ­"

    "I need to become a Master first?" Lev guessed, unamused.

    "It''s similar to how potions work. Before becoming a Master, your body and soul are simply not ready to adapt to such thorough changes. Even then, the benefits areˇ­ little."

    "What kind of benefits?"

    "Increasing muscle flexibility is the most common treatment. It simply makes the body more malleable, improving the effects of dexterity and overall being a great boon for warriors. Sounds great on paper but the actual effects are nothing to write home about, only slight improvements. Mana conductivity increase will be even less noticeable, negligible for the amount of mana you will possess."

    Lev processed that in silence before exhaling deeply. "What now?"

    "Did you get the enchanting skills?"

    "Give me a few minutes," Lev replied before sitting cross-legged on the ground.

    The remaining skill, Wanderer''s Repository, was the last he needed to really begin his enchanting career. The requirement was, at least to Lev, redundant.

    The system rewarded it to those who wanted to explore their world. Monarch, humanity''s current world, was far too big to explore which was why even those who wanted to explore just their continent would be able to get it.

    Not Lev, though. He had his eyes set on goals beyond Monarch. It was not even a question of desire, just a matter of time.

    [

    You have earned the General Skill: Wanderer''s Repository.

    Wanderer''s Repository:

    Perhaps it was your wanderlust, or maybe it was necessity pushing you to step out of safety. Either way, you have qualified for the skill.

    You may learn new runes by observing or being a part of significant events. You may acquire new runes by being subjected to natural extreme phenomena. You may learn new runes by fighting beings of significance.

    Runes stored in the skill are categorized based on use. You may also learn new runes normally.

    ]

    "The hell is significance?"

    "We don''t know," Alec shrugged. "No matter how we try, The System refuses to explain anything related to it."

    "So, the extent of knowledge about significance is just the guesses everyone can form?"

    "Yep."

    Lev pushed down his bubbling annoyance and deciphered the description. It was everything he was promised. Learning runes was just a matter of being a part of important events and facing different types of monsters.

    Natural phenomena got a hard pass from him. The only common one was the storm, and it was nothing short of lethal. Even for the Exalted.

    Being able to learn runes normally was also nice. Lev could store all the runes he had been shown by Edward and other enchanting notes in the skill without issue. In the same vein, he could buy more runes in the future if that was possible without worrying about the skill locking them out.

    "I have the skills now," Lev said, still lost in thought.

    "Weˇ­ no, this changes nothing. You will continue to do whatever you have planned. Now that we know of this issue, I will see if Orianna or Sherron can be stationed here instead," Lev''s eyes lit up at that. "Most likely only Sherron will be free to do so. Her flight speed and insane range allows her a lot of leniency."

    "I still can''t understand how she can take orders so easily," Lev shook his head.

    "They''re not orders, Lev. It has been tried and proven time and time again that rotating Exalted methodically saves the most lives. You think its stifling to abide by such a restrictive schedule right now but all it would take is one breach in the city walls to change your mind."

    Lev replied after a few seconds of silence, "Be as it may, is there no way to make travel faster?"

    "Me and many others are trying to solve that issue," Alec replied cryptically.

    When he didn''t explain further, Lev asked another question on his mind. "Susaine mentioned something about delving dungeons to reduce their absorption on a large scale. What was that about?"

    "Someone will reach out to you when the time is right," came another mysterious reply.

    "Fine, keep your Monarch damned secrets," Lev huffed. "Is there anything else before you leave again?"

    Alec looked at him for a long moment without moving. Lev didn''t give him a chance to change his mind, moving up close and holding his arms out.

    His mentor chuckled before hugging him.

    "Stay safe."

    Lev snickered, "Hell no."

 Chapter 51

    "You really had me worried there," Edward breathed out, visibly relieved. "Glad to know there was no permanent damage. Not sure how you have so much mana at your level but you better start preparing for full body channeling."

    Lev sighed. Tormenting his entire body instead of sacrificing limbs seemed like a reasonable course of action, regardless of how much it would suck. He would at least heal naturally from that reduced damage.

    "I know," Lev looked around, noticing the empty wall except for mages and archers picking off monsters down below. "Where''s everyone else?"

    "They left to report our findings to the guild. I have to apologize in advance but I don''t think they will hide the fact that you took it down by yourself."

    "That''s fine," Lev shrugged. "The Silver Night already knows about my capabilities."

    Edward sputtered. "Theˇ­ The Guildmaster?"

    "That''s him."

    "You just happen to know him?"

    "I even trained with him for a short period," Lev causally replied. "His aura is quite scary."

    Granted the training wasn''t exactly by choice but it was fun to observe Edward''s reaction.

    "Iˇ­ see. Didn''t think you''re so well known among the higher circles," Lev was trying very hard to not laugh at his face. "Is Alec still in the room?"

    "He left a few minutes ago. I was waiting for the potion to do its job before coming out."

    "I''m sorry about trying to open your armor," Edward apologized after a few seconds of silence. "Your condition seemed especially painful at the time."

    Lev brushed it off. "No worries, I''m sort of used to it."

    "Can''t believe a silver hunter is used to mana poisoning," Edward muttered to himself, knowing damn well Lev would hear.

    "How many died?"

    "Only two, fortunately. Would''ve been all 14 of us if not for you. The threader was never going to run out of mana with those simple attacks."

    Lev sighed. "Only twoˇ­ huh. Not the worst, I guess."

    Edward was staring at him like he was an idiot. Lev looked back, not really understanding the look.

    "What?" he eventually asked.

    "Just wondering if you''re dumb," Edward replied, shaking his head.

    "Excuse me?"

    "What is your hunter rank?"

    "Silver, but-"

    "You''re a silver rank, who saved the lives of several gold rank teams," Edward took a deep breath. "Justˇ­ give yourself some credit. You''ve done well."

    "Doesn''t mean I have to like it," Lev commented sourly, though he put the matter out of his mind. He supposed risking permanent damage was the best he could''ve done, which was all that mattered.

    "That you don''t," Edward conceded, "but you don''t have to beat yourself over it either."

    "Fine, fine. What now?"

    "Now we return to the surface. There are only a few hours left before my lecture starts."

    "Give me a few minutes then we can rush back," Lev replied before taking off.

    Landing on the top of the wall, Lev observed the destruction far into the distance. Despite the low light, it took no time to notice the large crater. Even if he could not estimate the size from that far away, it was easily a dozen meters wide.

    I did that, Lev voiced in his head, trying to come to terms with the fact. In a single attack, to boot.

    It was easier to accept than Lev wanted it to be. Regardless of how modestly he thought of himself, his strength was shaping up to be ridiculous. Nobody in his group had a chance to get close and kill the threader, yet Lev had accomplished just that from afar. It didn''t even cost him much, just mana and pain.

    The feat made him ponder about the swiftly approaching future. He had his goals outlined, a team preparing to join him, many inevitable waves to demolish, and far too many possible places to explore.

    Lev couldn''t wait.

    ****

    "Man, I thought we were all going to die," Elias breathed out. Lev and Edward had returned to the surface. The survivors were currently occupying a large table in the corner of the guild hall, their conversation protected by several wards.

    "The threader''s auraˇ­ do pit monsters have auras that strong?" Lev slowly voiced.

    "No," Edward replied without much hesitation. "The crimson ravine is the most dangerous region for a reason. The Pit doesn''t compare unless you go very deep, at which point you will probably become food for a stray fourth-threshold monster."

    "Why?" a warrior, Sabrina, raised a brow. "Do you plan on going down the pit?"

    "Eventually," Lev answered honestly. "Will push for Master down there."

    "Damn," Bernard muttered. "You''ve got guts, boy. That place is no less terrifying compared to the ravine."

    "I just want to explore the place further," Lev murmured thoughtfully, realizing something.

    From the start, he had wanted to be stationed at the pit. Most of it was his curiosity, to see a massive underground dungeon-like place with his own two eyes. But there was also another reason, something Lev had always attributed to the same curiosity.

    He wanted to explore the depths of The Pit.

    Odd. When did I become suicidal?

    The idea was still somewhat his own, so he pushed it to the back of his mind. From his recent first visit to underground places, the exploration could be quite pretty. He just had to be careful of whose toes he stepped on.

    "Is the quest resolved for now?" Lev looked at Edward.

    He nodded. "The guild will compensate everyone for the losses and send strong Master teams down there."

    That dampened the mood somewhat. Two people had perished despite their best efforts to keep the threads at bay. It was a good reminder about how quickly things could go wrong, and they almost had for everyone else too.

    "Who do you think will go down there?" Lisa asked.

    "Maybe the Earthen Wardens?"

    "I doubt it," Edward shot the idea down. "Did your teacher say something?"

    "Nothing concrete," Lev deflected the question. "Just that it depends on how bad things are down there."

    "Maybe they''ll send an Exalted," Bernard mused.

    "Like they have enough time for that," Lisa remarked.

    Lev remained silent. One of those Exalted had spent a month with him when he was trying for his class. They probably had time.

    "The Bruisers, then? Or the Dawn Knights?"

    "No point in pointless speculation, is there?" Sabrina said, putting an end to that.

    "When''s the lecture starting?" Lev broke the ensuing silence.

    Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    "Three more hours. You will be attending?"

    "Passing out is apparently not much different than sleeping, so yeah."

    His casual comment was met with a few scoffs and smiles but there was something else on their mind.

    "You''re not gonna discuss the compensation?" The scout, Octavia, eventually asked.

    "What do you mean? Just send them to the families of the fallen," Lev replied. It seemed like the logical and kind course of action.

    "That''s a different sort of compensation, Lev."

    Lev looked at Edward who was explaining. "The families will get a separate gratuity. This compensation is for almost sending us to our death."

    "Oh. Then I''m fine with whatever my share is."

    He was met with disappointed looks for the lack of enthusiasm. If only they knew he was going to fuck up a spider dungeon as frequently as he could to earn himself a lot of gold.

    There was also the matter of his current state of feelings, which he couldn''t bring up with anyone present. From the start, saving lives was one of his main motivations. To be strong enough to not let anyone die on his watch while giving humanity a safer place to live.

    Lev was starting to doubt those goals of his.

    Sure, the loss of hunters weighed on him. They had perished to the hands of a monster that was most likely lured by his presence. He was also sad that mindless monsters reaped young lives before they could truly make a difference, and the loss of capable combatants also stung quite a bit.

    But they lacked the intensity Lev was expecting. He wasn''t bitter and ready to avenge them, nor was he depressed. It clashed with so many of his views that his mind just ignored the matter entirely. There was only one plausible answer to this inexplicable mess of emotions, something to do with his soul but with The System shrouding everything about it, Lev would remain in the dark for the near future.

    He still wanted to prevent unnecessary loss of life wherever he could, just now it was without any concrete conviction except not wanting to let lives be snuffed out by the hands of monsters. That was utterly unacceptable.

    ****

    A day later, Alec, Orianna, and Sherron exited the bubble and entered through the towering main gates of Haven. With a thriving population of more than 3 million, it was the grandest city in the plains.

    "Where is the meeting this time?" Sherron asked, ready to be done with it. She and Lev shared the same opinion of official stuff, but Sherron knew the consequences of not taking these things seriously too well.

    "The White Palace, surprisingly," Orianna replied, gazing at the bustling crowds with a smile.

    People parted for them to make way for them, staring and whispering in excited murmurs. The three didn''t mind the treatment, knowing how important it was to keep the morale up.

    The walk to the palace continued uninterrupted. When they were only a few meters away, Sherron''s head turned slightly to the left.

    "Take the lead," she commanded the empty air, which only shimmered for a moment to bow.

    "I still can''t sense the butlers," Orianna mused.

    "Because you don''t have good perception skills. Heat sense is super easy to block out," Sherron deadpanned, like she had the past hundred times for the same argument.

    "But that''s fine," Orianna continued her train of thought, unbothered.

    "So, why are we here?" Sherron asked. She knew several eyes and ears were observing them but everyone present was trustworthy.

    "Because of Lev," Alec began. "He went to a final cavern with a bunch of gold hunters to check out an unusual surge in monsters. They got jumped by a threader."

    "WHAT!?" Sherron stopped in her tracks, as did Orianna. "How in Monarch''s name did a threader make its way to Runespires?"

    "We don''t know," Alec calmly replied without stopping. "The reason I brought you here is so you can be transferred to that city. Stay close to him, just in case."

    "Butˇ­" Orianna remarked in confusion. "How can a threader ever detect him from so far away? If it even could, why haven''t we seen any of the stationary creatures take an interest in him first?"

    "Still no clue," Alec couldn''t help but sigh. "Far too many questions whenever it comes to him."

    The meeting ''room'' turned out to be the third garden inside the place. It was relatively modest in size, comparable to a mansion, and was littered with protective enchantments.

    "You sure took your time," Katarina, the first daughter of Emperor Blaine and Queen Martha, drawled. She was an exceptionally attractive woman with short black hair and piercing green eyes. Despite the way she was lazily lounging in a chair with her legs on the table, no one would say otherwise.

    "Apologies -" Alec began.

    "I swear if you call me princess again I''ll throw you in the pit with my own two hands."

    "- ˇ­ Miss Katarina."

    "THAT''S EVEN WORSE," Katarina yelled at him while the present company laughed at her expense.

    "Oh, you poor baby," Lara, the younger princess, caressed Katarina''s thighs gently. "Do you-"

    "Shut it," Kate snapped without any actual heat. She then looked at Sherron. "Tell me about the boy."

    "No," Sherron instantly refused.

    "Please?"

    "No."

    "I''ll owe you a favor if you do."

    "You owe me plenty of such ''favors''. No."

    "Damn, you dote on him a lot. If I didn''t know better I would ask if you took him in as a brother or something," Lara remarked, amused.

    "Sometimes I wonder if that is the case," Sherron sighed, taking a seat next to her.

    "Hmmmˇ­ I hope-"

    "Please," Sherron scoffed. "He''s a child."

    "That''s the first lead," Katarina muttered. "I''ll start searching for promising young hunters. Surely he will show up in no time."

    "Why are you obsessed anyway?" Orianna smiled.

    "Obsessed? No, I just really want to know what exactly is special about him."

    "That''s obsession," Lara quipped.

    "Nooo, I just want to know why he''s so strong. That''s all."

    Lara nodded slowly, accurately showing how much she believed the older princess.

    "Be as it may, it''s by his own desire that his identity is kept secret," Sherron interjected. "Don''t bother him too much if you find him."

    "I agree," Hakim''s voice reached everyone from the entrance of the garden. "The boy will be, at best, constantly nervous around you."

    Katarina didn''t care about his comment and moved in to give him a tight hug. Lara did the same before they hugged the second person coming with Hakim.

    "Drakys," Sherron greeted flatly. Her fellow Exalted took in everyone present with his heavily modified visage, his body downright submerged in incredibly intricate runes.

    "Sherron," he greeted back. "It''s good to see you alive and well,"

    "Same, but why are you here?"

    "Do you not want me to be here?" Drakys raised a brow.

    "That honestly depends on how the stick up your back lets you act today," Sherron shot back, grinning.

    They all took their seats around a pristine white table depicting a long, velvety rose in the middle.

    "I understand why those two nosy girls," Sherron waved towards the princesses, "are here, but not you. Why are you here?"

    "He''s here on my request," Hakim interjected, earning an exasperated glance from Alec.

    "Why do you insist on not leaving him alone?" Alec complained.

    "There''s far too much potential in him to be left unpolished," Hakim countered. "Just a single melee skill would increase his capabilities significantly. You said he has more slots, too."

    "I don''t know what''s going on exactly," Katarina piped up, "but I refuse to be left in the dark."

    "Same here," Lara raised her hand, laid back like usual.

    Orianna meanwhile, just observed it all happen with a relaxed smile. Sherron glanced at her before leaning back too.

    "Ugh fine," Sherron stated. "I''m gonna hound him after you all when he surpasses us."

    "Us?" Lara repeated. "You mean the three Exalted present here?"

    "Yep."

    "Woah," she breathed out. "This is getting spicy. Go on."

    Sherron sighed. "Lev you see, has your mother''s title," both princesses went stock still at the mention, "and a Wisdom boost as a Classer."

    "What the hell?" Katarina whispered, summing up Lara''s thoughts too. "How the fuck is that possible?"

    "Don''t know," Sherron replied cheerily. "I just know that he will be a beast in human skin, and I''m all for it. He''s probably the best possible human to get those two things."

    "Bold claim," Drakys interrupted. "Who is to say someone like me or Hakim isn''t more suited?"

    Orianna replied this time. "Drakys, have you ever wondered why The System exists?"

    "ˇ­ Not really. It just does."

    "Then, would you ever want to be strong enough to learn of its origins?"

    "Why does that matter? Just because the boy wants to know impossible knowledge doesn''t mean anything."

    "You would think so, but his mind doesn''t work like our own. We are all stuck in our present, just trying to survive. But he has his sights set on a much better future. Everything he''s doing is to become stronger to explore more of Monarch while saving as many lives as he can. To see different continents, to explore the uncharted depths of the pit, and to one day explore space itself.

    "The best part is, Mana agrees with him and The System gave him all the tools to do so. Where he was supposed to get a mana capacity boost, he got double the normal bonus. Where he had a low chance of gaining a Wisdom Boost, his class guaranteed it. Where it normally takes a year or two to evolve, he did so in just three months. Just so he can go out and explore without giving up on humanity."

    "If there is still any doubt, then he recently accomplished something that has the guild managers in uproar," Alec voiced, massaging his forehead. "Nobody is allowed to confront him about it, but the news has spread regardless. Three Gold teams and a Master enchanter invited him to scout an anomaly in a small final cavern. They unexpectedly ran into a threader down there."

    Alec considered his next word before just letting out a short laugh. "He, a level 120 mage, killed the threader in one attack. To make it even worse, The System gave him 90 attribute points from titles and 11 levels to further encourage his behavior. If that isn''t a good sign, I don''t know what is."

    Drakys took that in silence, his opinion of the mysterious boy shifting rapidly. In the end, he and Hakim shared a meaningful glance.

    "I''ll train him with your conditions instead of mine,"

    Sherron frowned. "What conditions?"

    "Hakim thinks the boy would not take my constant presence well, so I will only teach him when he asks me to, and leave him alone for the most part. I''ll take him with me to scout the caverns while also teaching him about physical enhancement formations for his armor, which will also let him accrue more combat experience."

    "Really?" Sherron looked at Hakim, who just stared back in a silent question. "You''re fine with sending him to the caves potentially infested with blighted monsters?"

    "The ravine is where his presence will be needed sorely," Hakim grimaced, unhappy with the decision too. "He better get used to it early if his presence is that tasty for those abominations."

 Chapter 52

    The upcoming lecture covered little. Lev observed everyone trying to obtain the General Skills while he simply listened to the theoretical portion of the lecture and practiced painting with Nolan.

    Due to having passed out earlier, Lev didn''t feel tired at all. His mana was just over half full, so clearing the spiders wouldn''t be difficult.

    Entering the dungeon, Lev didn''t summon Stargazer. The weapon had too little use against the durable spiders. Floating up, he spotted the first solo spider and landed near it.

    Four thick shields formed behind Lev as the monster whirled around, a screech rolling through the surroundings.

    Lev took a simple stance and waited for the monster to charge with its heavy limbs.

    It feels slower, Lev noted, no doubt due to his increased Perception.

    Leaning back a little to let the first limb fly harmlessly past his head, two shields moved forward to block the rest.

    So far so good.

    The monster didn''t register the ease with which it had been stopped, only glaring at the human with its beady eyes.

    Lev motioned for it to bring it on with his hands, which somehow angered it even further. Charging his lightning gauntlet with a little mana, he grabbed the first limb and released the mana inside.

    The spider spasmed for a moment, which let him grab the limb with both hands. Yanking the monster, Lev dashed closer and caved its face in with his fire gauntlet, before a small chunk of his mana released in a fiery explosion.

    Stabilizing himself in midair after being sent flying, Lev observed the aftermath. The spider was deader than dead with its brain blown to bits. Checking his mana pool, Lev had only used around 2% of his total.

    Yeah, these are not tough to kill now. Not that they were challenging before.

    ****

    Two lightning arrows vanished into the treetops in quick succession, both finding their mark.

    Piercing the gray exoskeleton, they pierced deep into the arachnid skulls before exploding in a small blast of fire and lightning.

    [

    You have slain Gray Spider [Level - 130]

    You have slain Gray Spider [Level - 131]

    ]

    Twelve down.

    Descending to the ground and idly carving open the spiders, Lev planned out his next steps.

    If I''m not mistaken, earth mana should make my barriers heavier at a constant cost while making them more durable. It fits the chain perfectly but the weight increase will still be little. Enchanting it with a simple formation to compensate should suffice.

    The idea was sound but he couldn''t be too certain without trying it. Earth mana wouldn''t suddenly change its functions, but the downsides could hinder their mobility too much.

    Searching for new runes will also not take long. Granted, they will all be basic but I just need enough to get started. Few weeks at most, then it''s back to the pitˇ­ maybe.

    The schedule was simple. Finish the lectures, buy basic runes, and then enchant without holding back. The second rank of his enchanting skill would probably bring a worthwhile benefit, like most crafting skills did, which would be the primary goal before leaving.

    Delving the dungeon daily, as many times as he could, was the secondary goal. It was free money. The class and skill levels would also be nice, but the point was to get comfortable with his current arsenal of arrows, lances, shields, chains, and gauntlets.

    Lev wanted to utilize them together, apart from arrows. Slowly learning to match them all in a single fighting style would improve his capabilities sharply.

    Washing the cores in a barrier bowl a few meters away from him, Lev dried and stored them in his ring. Since he had around thirty percent of his mana left, a gift for the matriarch wouldn''t hurt.

    Its taunts kept returning to the front of his mind, which was totally not the reason.

    Flying up for several hundred meters, a huge lance formed behind him. It was smaller than the one he had used for the threader because the matriarch was much weaker too.

    His gauntlets greedily ate up his mana, most of it converted into lightning for the required speed. In the distance, the matriarch continued to weave, unaware of the approaching death.

    When the lance turned from pale blue to bright blue with shades of red spread throughout, Lev breathed out slowly and focused his all on the projectile.

    It accelerated with a loud boom, leaving Lev''s range of manipulation in an instant, but that instant was enough. Empowered to the very limits, the matriarch couldn''t even turn before the lance pierced its body.

    The whole forest was devoured by a bright orange light as the explosion decimated all the monsters in the area, leaving Lev with one less expensive core to harvest but a very satisfying end to the dungeon.

    If one could ignore all the spiders rushing his way, that is. They were just extra money and levels anyway.

    Within a few minutes, he was teleported outside.

    ****

    "Now that all of you have the skills, let''s focus on the final part of the lectures. These remaining two days will be used to create something of your choice. I have also brought with me several copies of a large basic rune collection. You can buy them at a small discount if you wish."

    That certainly makes things easier for me, Lev smiled as Edward mentioned the repository. He was going to look for them later but the enchanter was one step ahead.

    For the past few days, all he had done was attend the lecture, kill the matriarch in a burst to finish the dungeon, and then rest. Surprisingly. He had made himself slow down when even the guards and hunters surrounding the dungeon were becoming worried.

    This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Perhaps his philosophy of ''free time existed to be used'' had some minor flaws, but that was fine. He could manage a bit of rest here and there.

    "How much?" Lev interjected.

    "For the basic runes, 30 silver."

    "What''s the policy for sharing them?"

    "Sharing?" Edward repeated, confused.

    "Well, can I show them to someone else?"

    "No, you have to add them to your repository skill and return the notebook. I brought several just to make the process faster."

    Questions were asked before more than half the class agreed to bring the money tomorrow. Lev ignored them, noting everyone who couldn''t buy it, including Nolan.

    There were seven of them. Edward''s gaze lingered on them too before he sent a single glance at Lev. Understanding his assignment, Lev leaned back into his bench and crossed his right leg over the left.

    "I''m willing to pay for the entire class."

    The room was enveloped in silence in record time, and even Edward seemed surprised. Perhaps he just wanted Lev to buy the collection for all those who couldn''t, but Lev was too embarrassed to be so blatant. Better off making a show of wealth instead of pity.

    "And why on Monarch would you do that?" The arrogant boy from the first day remarked.

    Lev spared him a short glance.

    "Because I can."

    The boy chortled and backed down, accepting it easier than Lev thought.

    "Wellˇ­" Edward began, "that changes things. Since the cost has been dealt with, please form five lines."

    Thus started the process of absorbing the runes into general skills. Lev stayed at the end, waiting for everyone to finish, when Nolan walked up to him.

    "You''re an idiot," was all he said before joining the third line.

    ˇ­Huh? Did he guess why I did it? Lev pondered with a grin. The whole experience was weirdly amusing.

    It took a surprisingly long time for his turn. Half an hour later, Lev gazed upon the notebook with more than a hundred runes with small descriptions.

    Most of them were incredibly basic. Mana flow control, connector, different flavors of durability, sharpness, weight increase, and other runes to fit into formations and make the strain lighter. Several other combination runes were also present, such as a blocking rune to be paired with simple sound runes.

    It took several minutes to memorize enough for the skill to absorb them, at which point he could remember them with perfect clarity at any given moment.

    "Hmm, this is unexpected," a new voice commented, audibly amused, and suddenly it felt like the world itself had bared its fangs for a short instant.

    Lev whirled around, heart thundering in his chest. Gauntlets charged and armor flooded with mana, his eyes met a bald man''s gaze, calmly observing him.

    He didn''t even realize when barrier claws had formed on his gauntlet fingers, halfway enchanted with sharpness runes before he stopped.

    ˇ­ What the hell just happened?

    Calming down with deep breaths, he held the gaze of the now smiling bald man for a few long moments before the staring contest was broken by the entire room bowing their heads.

    "We greet the Exalted."

    Uh?

    Lev also dipped his head, not wanting to seem like an idiot but his mind was still scrambled. Being scared was one thing, but to be ready to kill in an instant? What the hell had even happened?

    Dismissing the claws and cutting off mana to his gauntlets and armor, Lev spoke in a neutral tone.

    "My apologies for reacting like that. I meant no disrespect."

    "No need to apologize. It is only natural to react like that to auras as strong as mine," replied the Exalted, his gaze now roaming the class. "Enchanting, huh? Makes things easier for me. Follow me,"

    Lev stared, ignoring the man''s body that glowed like a star in his mana perception for a blink, and followed quietly.

    "Before we go," The Exalted''s smile vanished as he leveled a stern gaze at everyone present before settling on Edward. "Just know that the boy is under the protection of all the Exalted of humanity. There will be no second chances."

    Edward frowned, finding the courage to speak up, "If I knew what was happening I would''ve never-"

    "Yes, yes. That is the only reason you''re standing here. Make sure it doesn''t happen again," The Exalted didn''t spare anyone else another glance, only motioning for Lev to follow before leaving the room.

    ˇ­ I am so confused. What did Edward do?

    Bottling up all the questions, Lev quickly followed.

    The next few minutes of casual walking were some of the most tense Lev had ever experienced. His lecture had been disrupted by a random Exalted, who had also scared Lev with his aura, and then Edward was given a warning about manipulating Lev in some way.

    Now he was following the same Exalted with an increasing number of questions and no answers in sight.

    "Boy."

    Lev straightened, "Yes, sir?"

    "Do you know why I''m here?"

    "No, sir."

    "Take a guess,"

    "ˇ­ Were you sent by Hakim?"

    The man exhaled in amusement, "Indeed. Why do you think he sent me?"

    Lev threw around guesses in his head for a few seconds before only one stood out.

    "He wants me to get more training?"

    "I can tell you''ve already met him if you''re so sure of the answer," The Exalted chuckled. "I am Drakys, official title Runic Warlord. Have you heard of me before?"

    "Is that supposed to be a serious question?" Lev tried his best to keep his tone normal.

    "Nope," Drakys grinned. "You''re fun to mess with."

    "ˇ­ I''m Lev, by the way."

    "I know, boy."

    Lev sighed in his head. This is going to be so much funˇ­

    "Where are you staying? Take me there," Drakys asked, glancing at him.

    "That would attract too much attention-"

    "It no longer matters," Drakys'' tone turned flat. "I will explain later."

    Now having even more questions, Lev led him to the inn he was staying in. Naturally, everyone on the road recognized the Exalted walking among them but he didn''t spare the populace any attention.

    Since nobody dared stop them, they arrived at the inn shortly. The innkeeper almost passed out when Drakys nodded his way and entered Lev''s room.

    "Quite simple," Drakys approved, observing the room.

    "It''s enough," Lev stood in the door, waiting for the Exalted to sit down first.

    "Come, we have much to discuss," Drakys waved to the bed. "We only have a month, so best get started soon."

    "Soˇ­ what do we only have a month for?"

    "Melee training," Drakys looked into his eyes. "But before that, I agreed to come here because too many eyes were looking in your direction. Someone from the merchants guild heard about you making a verbal deal with an auction director and spread the news. Long story short, Edward was subtly manipulated into asking for your help and to note your abilities. The idiots behind it have been dealt with, but the cat is out of the bag. You no longer have to hide your strength. In a short few months, you can even drop the armor."

    "Drop the armor? I still look like a kid."

    "Not really," Drakys waved away his concern. "You can pass for a 14 year old from what I''ve heard. Unusual, but nothing impossible. People will just assume you were prepared to get your class from an early age."

    Lev slowly nodded, it sounded reasonable. "I''m assuming you mean after we''re done with the training."

    Drakys nodded. "For now, I will follow you while you do quests. If Alec''s guess is correct, you''ve made zero progress towards gold rank. You will start with those immediately."

    Lev coughed. "Uh, right. What kind of quests do you want me to do?"

    "Whichever you want. We will train during travel or downtime in the meantime."

    "I get a choice?" Lev asked, surprised.

    "Of course. You get to choose how much you wish to train, and what for. It will also be a test to see how far you''re willing to push yourself for your optimistic goals. Hakim, your teacher, and his friends think you''re our best shot but I don''t think so. We''ll see if you''re worthy of all the hopes placed on you."

    Lev grinned under his armor, the thought of backing down not even crossing his mind. "I like the straightforwardness. We shall see."

    "Don''t get cocky, boy," Drakys smirked. "You have no idea what''s out there. But don''t worry," his smirk turned downright ominous.

    "I will broaden your horizons."

 Chapter 53

    "ˇ­Are you just going to follow me everywhere?"

    Drakys just stared at him, silent.

    Lev sighed and entered the hunters guild under the disbelieving gazes of dozens. He might as well not exist to them with how they stared at the Exalted.

    Drakys on the other hand, didn''t even look at them beyond a cursory scan of the crowd.

    "G-greetings, Exalted," stammered out the same woman who had given him directions to the spider dungeon. "How can I be of assistance?"

    Lev looked at Drakys, who seemed perfectly content to simply follow him around, and rolled his eyes under the armor. "Quests for all dungeons below level 150. How many are there?"

    "Two of them," She gulped before continuing. "The first is a simple clearing quest. You may redeem three dungeon clear tokens daily after signing up for it. Each token will count for 10 merit points but you can only earn a maximum of 150 for your rank advancement from those quests."

    "Simple enough," Lev remarked. "The other?"

    "The second is to guide new hunters in a low level dungeon," she nervously replied, eyes darting to the Exalted behind Lev. "I will not recommend that one, sir."

    Lev was of the same opinion. "What about other quests in the same level range? Something that overlaps?

    "None of them. Escorting miners and defending a final cavern can be done in one trip if that counts?"

    "It does. Thank you for the information. where do I register for the dungeon clearing quest?"

    "Give me a moment, please," she practically ran, ascending the stairs to the second floor.

    "Your presence has not been helpful so far," Lev whispered just loud enough for Drakys to hear. "Everyone and their mom are scared."

    "Is that an issue?" a mental message reached Lev, the sound distinctly similar to Drakys'' voice.

    Upon searching, he found a stream of mana connected between the two of them, practically dancing up and down to be noticed.

    "ˇ­ Does this work?" Lev sent after a bit of probing. He just had to think directly at the connection. Sending messages accidentally was impossible.

    "It does. Why not start with the underground quests? We will spend a lot of time down there once you hit gold rank."

    "I need money to upgrade my physical weapon," Lev simply replied.

    The receptionist returned with the branch''s guildmaster in tow.

    "I greet the Exalted," the woman bowed her head, smiling. "What brings you here today, Sir?"

    "Valery," Drakys smiled back. "Just this and that. Looking after this wild young man for now."

    Wild? The fuck you mean wild?

    Lev kept his mouth shut but still gave Drakys the most unamused gaze he could manage. The man didn''t react beyond slightly widening his smile.

    "I''ve been hearing about this fresh hunter too these days," Valery added. "Should I expect you to remain problematic in the future as well?"

    Eyes darting between the two of them, Lev almost spat out a few rude comments. Holding himself back, he took a deep breath.

    "No, ma''am. If nobody bothers me again, I will keep my problems to myself."

    The response elicited a small frown. Lev knew it was risky to indirectly blame the guildmaster like that but he was pretty annoyed after learning the truth. Somehow, people had found a way to mess up his peaceful growth that benefited them too.

    Seeing that Drakys didn''t refute the claim, Valery gave him a curt nod. "You don''t have to worry, hunter Lev. Troublemakers only ever get one chance to do these things."

    Seeing the conversation was done, the receptionist handed Lev a silver token. "Please show this to the hunter guarding the dungeon. They will give you a clearance token when you are teleported out of the dungeon."

    So I must completely finish the dungeon to earn one, Lev noted. People were only teleported outside the dungeon if the instance was fully cleared. The clearance token made it necessary to kill every last monster instead of just killing the boss, not that Lev minded.

    "Thank you," Lev nodded to the receptionist before turning around to leave.

    "Bold of you to ignore Valery like that," Drakys followed him after saying his goodbyes to the guildmaster. "You sure that was worth it?"

    "I don''t care," Lev replied, still pissed off. "Most of my time will either be spent clearing the ravine or inside the pit. If she tries to mess with me there, then we will see. I was going to leave soon, anyway."

    ****

    Several minutes later, Lev was soaring through the air on his way to the spider dungeon. Drakys vanished when they exited the main gates, under the starstruck or stupefied gazes of everyone present, so Lev just went about his day. The chances of him escaping the senses of an Exalted were beyond impossible.

    The flight took a little while before Lev landed in front of the dungeon. Drakys was already there, surrounded by everyone present.

    "There he is," Drakys announced loudly. "Make sure to treat him well, or The Galvanic Sniper might accidentally blow up your house."

    There were a few nervous chuckles as everyone gave Lev a wide berth. Instead of caring, Lev asked the guard if the instance was ready to enter. Getting a positive response, he and Drakys stepped into the portal without another word.

    "Why would you say that?" Lev sighed once alone with the Exalted. "Don''t think you need to alienate me like that for whatever agenda you have."

    Drakys waved him off. "Don''t worry, people will forget about the fear in a year or two but the rumors will remain. In a few days, all of the runespires will know that there are several Exalted backing you and even one personally training you."

    While they talked, Lev was flying towards the nearest solo spider. "Why the need for rumors in the first place?"

    "Morale." Drakys gave him a serious glance. "That monster you killed? It would''ve survived if you were in the ravine. Monsters are weak before the second threshold, but only those with any real power know what kind of enemies third-threshold monsters can be. Even if nobody openly talks about it, people can guess how dire the situation is. Tell me, how many Masters have you seen so far?"

    Lev thought back to all the times he had seen Masters. The answer was surprisingly few. "Less than two dozen."

    Drakys nodded. "Yet it''s common knowledge there are several thousand of them. Where do you think they are?"

    "ˇ­ The crimson ravine."

    "Most of them are there," Drakys added. "You can imagine how things are if most of humanity''s Masters are there at all times. Information is kept from the public for a reason."

    Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    Four bright barrier chains formed behind Lev as the first monster detected them. Contrary to his expectations, the monster fled.

    Lev blinked stupidly before giving chase.

    Reaching it in a few moments, given how slow it was, the bladed ends of all the chains pierced its sides before Lev landed in front of it. Gauntlet charged, it fell in a single punch.

    "This is new," Lev remarked, looking at the Exalted. "Was that normal? I thought monsters were suicidal."

    "Big enough aura difference can do that. The fear eventually overwhelms their instincts. Show me what weapon you use."

    Summoning Stargazer, Lev handed her to Drakys.

    "Glaive, huh? Not a bad choice. What aspect of it made you pick the weapon? The range is pretty good, and the haft can have many uses, leaving a lot of room for consistent offense during flight."

    "ˇ­ Glaives look really cool."

    Lev pointedly ignored the disappointed stare, grabbing the weapon and storing it. He would focus on getting his last planned general skill, Mana Slash, later.

    Drakys sighed. "The reason is as good as any if it makes you fight well."

    Lev nodded wisely, fully agreeing. "I also want to upgrade it to its best state before I hit Master, at which point permanent barriers will be used to upgrade it."

    "When do you want to start training?" Drakys asked instead.

    "Not yet. Let me clear some dungeons first."

    The Exalted vanished, leaving Lev to his own devices. Flying up, Lev methodically dealt with all the spiders before preparing a single arena for the boss fight.

    Some time later, he prepared three lightning lances, using almost a tenth of his mana to fill them. Thundering booms were produced by their passing, killing the trio near the boss with ease.

    The matriarch whirled around before its hateful gaze landed on Lev, the familiar screech sounding but not doing any damage due to the distance.

    Flying backward, Lev kept his eyes on the charging monster. It was still faster than him, despite all his levels, but that was fine. He could track its limbs with only a little trouble now, courtesy of his much-improved Perception.

    Eight chains swung down from above, almost as one, but the monster was prepared. Blasting three of them to bits with a ball of web, the monster veered sharply in the now less dangerous direction to avoid all the rest with grace.

    It screeched as Lev flew in, the sound doing little to disrupt his focus despite the pain in his ears and head. Four enchanted shields reached the monster first, occupying its front limbs as Lev charged his lightning gauntlets.

    The monster screeched again, now close enough to make him stagger a little but Lev stubbornly charged forward, even when the monster prepared another web ball.

    Ducking at the last moment, Lev felt the air being displaced hard enough by its passing to notice it beneath his armors. The ball missed by a few inches, letting him grab one of the spider''s front limbs and release a small torrent of lightning inside.

    Now stunned, the matriarch tried to backpedal but Lev gave it no quarter. Grabbing another wild swinging limb, he released even more lightning inside the monster before coming to a stop in front of its all eight beady eyes.

    "Not very scary now, hmm?"

    It was incredible how much of a difference increased Perception and Intelligence made, let alone his vastly increased mana pool compared to before.

    Lev didn''t pull his arm back as the matriarch jerked forward, mana flooding his armor and the durability rune to increase its toughness severalfold. The grinding of teeth sounded in the forest as the fangs failed to penetrate his armored arm, at which point Lev released a large chunk of his mana inside the matriarch''s mouth.

    Lightning exploded out from the other side of its body, ending its life.

    [

    You have slain [Juvenile Gray Spider Matriarch - Level 190]

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 137

    ]

    Three matriarch cores now, Lev harvested the last core, going over the fight in his head.

    Mana usage was the only area he needed to desperately improve. Where he released large chunks at once, the same could be achieved in weaker, well-timed and well-placed attacks.

    "Not ˇ­ bad. Could be a lot better," Drakys remarked, having hidden himself to not interfere in the clear. Lev didn''t reply, waiting for the dungeon to teleport them outside.

    Twenty seconds later, they appeared outside the dungeon in front of the portal.

    "Clearance token," Lev looked at the guard.

    "Quest token?" He checked the silver token handed to him before giving Lev a small silver token with ''clearance 150'' written on it.

    "Thank you," Lev said before ascending. Drakys followed, flying through some means invisible to Lev.

    "How much mana did you use in that fight?" Drakys questioned through a mana link.

    "Nearly 20%, but I don''t usually waste that much. Wanted to test some things."

    "That is a lot of mana for your level," Drakys said. "There''s no way they were letting you use it all so horribly on your own. Why did you not ask for any lessons, boy?"

    "I heard creating your own styles is always more rewarding, and I am still learning the ins and outs of my class. The cores I needed were to buy more converters too," Lev answered honestly, seeing no reason to lie. "For all my advantages, I''m not some monstrous talent who can use everything perfectly after a few days of practice."

    "How long has it been since you evolved?"

    "Little over a month, though realistically only two weeks if I exclude the uneventful traveling."

    "I wasn''t aware of that," came the reply. "You''ve done pretty well for just that time, but still, we will hold back on monster hunting. With my knowledge of weaker monsters, you could hit Master in just a few more months with all that mana you have. We will do the opposite, however. The first month of training will focus entirely on mana manipulation and melee practice."

    The plan was simple enough for Lev to not question it at all. Though, he had a different question.

    "Can I ask something?" Lev hesitantly sent through the link.

    "Sure."

    "Why are you being so casual?"

    "It''s funny how Sherron predicted you asking that exact question."

    "She talked about me?"

    Drakys chuckled. "Quite fondly too. The original plan was for her to transfer here, spend more time with you underground, and investigate the appearance of a blighted."

    "Wait, how did I forget? What exactly is happening down there?"

    "Nothing."

    "Nothing?"

    "Mhm. I checked far and wide. There are no blighted monsters or any sight of blight. It was just a stray."

    His shoulders slumped, Lev only now realizing how heavy that event was on his psyche. "I seeˇ­ that is good."

    "I''ve heard about your presence''s effects. Forming waves faster and all but if you ask me? Even if you were to evolve to an Exalted, it still wouldn''t attract giants or other similar monsters from far away. That just seems impossible."

    "You really think so? I have never felt anything weird around me so it''s hard to form guesses."

    "Mine is a guess too, of course. But I believe in what I said. Returning to the original question, why would I not be casual?"

    Lev thought for a moment before answering. "You''ve been alive for centuries and have gone through countless life and death situations. That changes people greatly."

    "Why would they not change to appreciate the casual life even more?"

    Lev shrugged. "Doesn''t sound logical."

    Drakys agreed with a nod. "Sadly, it isn''t. Few grow to appreciate common life even more. Most distance themselves and become colder. I was the same for a long time, too. Do you know about the effects of evolution on one''s mind?"

    Lev assented, thinking back to how it was harder to be bored while traveling. He seemed to be more at peace with himself.

    "Becoming an Exalted had an extremely pronounced effect on my psyche. To summarize, it let me see how negatively distancing myself and bottling my emotions was affecting me in clear detail. That doesn''t mean I''m always casual now, though.

    "When fighting in lethal zones, there is no room for casualness. Discipline saves lives. I agreed to Hakim''s request to train you to both enjoy a vacation and the peaceful sides of life."

 Chapter 54

    "What are you going to do now?"

    "Troll dungeon," Lev replied, sorting out the next steps in his head. "I want to get 15 dungeon clears out of the way before we escort miners down below. It will likely take a few days for me to do them all."

    "We will be wasting good time. Give me your glaive and go finish the troll dungeon."

    Lev did as he was told, slightly confused. Since there was no reason for him to worry, he put the matter at the back of his mind when Drakys vanished.

    The troll dungeon had a much larger crowd waiting in turn, making Lev hesitate. On one hand, it would be good experience to see how his arrows and lances compared to regenerating monsters with different levels of mana usage. On the other hand, the queue would take hours.

    Sighing, Lev settled in to wait.

    "Hey you," someone called out from behind him. Lev didn''t turn at first, not knowing he was being addressed. Someone tapped him on the shoulder, firmly but nothing hostile.

    "You feel like a competent mage. Do you want to team up for this delve?"

    With light blonde hair and dark brown eyes, the person talking to him looked pretty genuine. Behind the person, four of his teammates were observing the interaction.

    "I''m sorry, I am here to delve solo," Lev politely refused.

    "I can see that. The name''s Nizar by the way," Nizar offered his hand. Lev clasped it with his own.

    "Lev."

    "Okay, Lev. Even if you can surely just go in and level your skills by yourself, there are more than a hundred monsters inside. Why not join us instead and clear the whole thing?"

    More than a hundred trollsˇ­ Lev did some mental calculations, realizing the whole dungeon would eat up most of his pool.

    "Will it count for a dungeon clear quest?" Lev eventually asked.

    "Of course it will," Nizar replied, a little confused. "Is it your first dungeon?"

    "No, just my first time teaming up with someone else."

    Nizar was impressed, though Lev didn''t know why. Perhaps people viewed solo hunters differently around these parts.

    "With the little bit of your aura I can sense, you''re definitely not slouch. Will be a pleasure to have you on board."

    "Likewise," Lev motioned the Nizar''s team. "What does the team composition look like?"

    Nizar waved them over. "We are a party of five. Two mages, two warriors, and a healer. With you, we will have just enough firepower to not worry about damage output."

    I sincerely doubt that it will be ''just enough'' but sure.

    [Warrior - Level 121]

    [Warrior - Level 122]

    [Healer - Level 119]

    [Mage - Level 123]

    [Mage - Level 122]

    "The healer is Meera, the gem of our team," Nizar proudly announced, making Meera blush a little. "The mages are Enryu and Reina, and the warrior is Kayn."

    "I''m Lev," he introduced himself, keeping it simple. "Mage focused on ranged attacks. I''ll be in your care today."

    Kayn grinned before walking up to Lev, putting an arm around his shoulders. "Don''t worry temporary teammate. We are one of the strongest silver teams present in runespires, you''re in good hands."

    Lev took a moment to inspect Kayn. He was pretty tall but not bulky with brown hair. With his easy smile and bright eyes, Kayn was the very picture of an Extrovert.

    "ˇ­What is the team''s position in the queue?"

    "Just a few more minutes before we''re let in," Reina replied, observing Lev''s armor. "We should give a general overview of our abilities in the meantime. I am a lightning mage, focused on medium and long range spells."

    "Barrier mage, focused on projectiles and arrows."

    "Barrier mage, huh?" Kayn rubbed his chin, lost in thought. "Can you also make any sort of barriers along with the ranged attacks?"

    "Naturally," Lev replied, unable to keep some amusement out of his voice.

    Why on Monarch would I introduce myself as a barrier mage otherwise?

    Nizar spoke up next. "I''m a frontline swordsman. Pure physical strength."

    "Healing and only some physical buffs," Meera spoke, sending Lev an apologetic smile which he waved off. Nothing to be apologetic about there.

    "Now, I can tell you''re incredibly curious," Kayn began, faltering under several exasperated gazes. "Tch. I''m a hybrid swordsman."

    "Hybrid?" Lev questioned, curious.

    "With water enhancement," came the proud reply. "Speed and sharpness focused."

    Lev played his part, also genuinely impressed. "That sounds pretty amazing."

    Water was the most mana-intensive basic element, purely because of its formless nature. Unlike fire or lightning, which one could just launch in a direction, water had to be firmly molded into something usable for proper utilization. It was both taxing on the mind and manapool.

    Several Masters had become incredibly strong simply by sticking with their element to make use of pressurized water, which was absolutely deadly with the right skills. Even from Lev''s past life, he knew that water could cut stone with ease at high pressure.

    The portal pulsed behind them, signifying the cycle renewal.

    "Our turn," Nizar announced, taking the lead. The rest followed, Meera summoning the gear for everyone present from a ring on her left hand.

    "I''m a fire mage," Enryu, the last member spoke. "Fireballs and other similarly explosive spells."

    The six entered the portal with sure steps, finding themselves in a large grassland not dissimilar to where the portal was present. Several kilometers in the distance, Lev could see groups of trolls spaced apart by quite a bit.

    Summoning his bow, Lev ascended for merely a meter to look around without attracting attention.

    "Nothing near us," Lev informed the team after landing. "Which way are we going?"

    "Flight will be useful," Nizar commented, now entirely serious. "Let''s move in formation. Which was the closest?"

    "Left."

    "We go straight then. Meera, you''re in the middle. Mages behind us."

    Moving in a simple formation, they jogged their way to the leftmost group of monsters, a trio of trolls.

    [Troll Warrior - Level 123]

    If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    [Troll Warrior - Level 125]

    [Troll Warrior - Level 125]

    "How do you guys usually do this?" Lev asked beforehand.

    "Save mana for the last three hordes, support the melee fighters," Reina replied, preparing a small spell.

    Lev formed an arrow before infusing it with lightning, keeping the mana usage low. With a single percept of his total mana, Lev could form several such arrows. Despite that, each would be quite a problem for the trolls who had now noticed them.

    Keeping an eye on Kayn and his body enhancement, Lev loosed the first arrow. It flew forward as a blue streak, considerably slower than his usual attacks, but still hit the troll in its leg in a blink.

    Nizar didn''t miss the chance, slicing through its other uninjured leg as the lightning locked up its muscles, putting it down in a few seconds.

    Lev observed the remaining two monsters. Kayn danced around them with ease, his moves fluid like the element he utilized.

    With a roar, the troll threw a straight punch at him with all its might. Kayn seemed perfectly calm, twisting a little to let the limb pass inches from his face. Spinning, his sword cut a large gash on the troll''s chest.

    Before the second monster could attack him, a lightning bolt locked it in place. Lev made use of the opening, piercing its brain with an arrow.

    Seeing that everyone else was done, Kayn smoothly ducked under a kick and beheaded the overcommitted monster.

    "That went well," Nizar remarked. "How many similar arrows can you fire?"

    "Enough for this dungeon," Lev answered cryptically.

    "Good enough, just don''t hold back against the boss."

    "Of course," Lev gave him a long glance. That was a stupid reminder if he had ever seen one.

    "So, barrier mage," Kayn walked up to him, once again throwing his arm on Lev''s shoulder with a smile. "How was it? Suitably impressed?"

    "I am," Lev honestly answered.

    Kayn''s grin widened at the compliment, and he took the lead again with Nizar.

    "Should I prepare something for the boss?"

    "Hmm?" Kayn turned to him. "Oh right, barriers. What can you do?"

    "Chains for now," Lev thought of other things he could do. "Or a really strong ranged attack."

    "Won''t need it, hopefully," Nizar interjected. "Just use stronger versions of those arrows and it will be enough."

    Guess they are competent. Kayn''s words about being one of the strongest silver teams might turn out to be true depending on how the final fight goes.

    "Why didn''t we harvest the cores by the way?" Lev eventually asked.

    "They''re not worth anything. Only the core from the boss sells," Enryu answered, eyes on the horizon. Lev had yet to see the mage fire a spell.

    Moving in a circle, they put down four groups of three trolls before the first group of five showed up.

    "Something new I should expect?"

    "No spellcaster yet. Only keep an eye out for those," Nizar replied, tensing as the trolls noticed them.

    Forming an arrow, Lev put more mana into this one. They could probably still take the group with ease but it was better to not risk anything.

    Enryu took the lead this time, hurtling a massive fireball into the small horde. The blast engulfed all of the monsters yet failed to put down any of them. For all their vulnerability to fire, trolls were tenacious against everything.

    Lev loosed the first arrow before the fire cleared, accurately piercing the chest of one of the monsters. Lightning seared its heart and other organs, the damage thorough enough to overwhelm its regeneration and kill it.

    Reina''s lightning bolt put down another troll as the smoke cleared before the melee fighters reached them. Meera used her buff on Kayn for the first time, improving his physical attributes considerably.

    While the melee fighters battled, Lev pondered on why the ranged members of the party didn''t help them. Sure, the warriors had it under control but wouldn''t it be better to end the fight quickly?

    The only answer he could come up with was that they wanted to save mana. If that was the case, perhaps he had been judging his Wisdom Boost pretty harshly so far.

    Not only that, he also had a large attribute advantage over the other mages.

    Even if I have a lot more mana, how much do small spells cost with the passive skills empowering them?

    The more Lev thought about it, the weirder his expression became under the armor. Thankfully, no one else noticed it.

    I''ve never given it too much thought before but I have ˇ­ 70 free Wisdom from my titles. Including my 125% capacity boost, 72% Wisdom boost, and 370 total Wisdom, the total mana I have isˇ­ I don''t even fucking know, what the hell.

    He no longer had any doubts about why the mages were trying to save mana; Lev''s own status was just cracked as hell.

    The dungeon passed quickly enough, the hunters putting down dozens of trolls before only the final groups of monsters remained.

    "Now you can let loose," Reina looked at Lev. "The hordes will have more than ten trolls each. Try to kill at least half before they reach the vanguard."

    "Will do."

    The smaller hordes, each with three, five, or seven monsters, were present in a circle around the portal. The final three hordes were usually found straight ahead.

    Lev flew a little higher to scout. "I see them. Thirteen in this one, two casters."

    "Can you take them out?" Nizar questioned without slowing down.

    I can take all of themˇ­ but it would ruin the essence gain for you guys.

    "I''ll try. Since they are both spaced apart, only one will fall before they''re too alert," Lev lied, finding the act distinctly unpleasant.

    "That is enough, go ahead."

    With a quiet sigh, a normal sized lance formed behind Lev. Streaming mana into his converters, with most of it going to the fire converter, the lance slowly brightened into shades of red and orange.

    Focusing, he launched the lance at the right caster, the attack reaching it in instant. The monster tried to form a wall but the lance was too fast, piercing its chest.

    The hunters powered through the weak shockwave, running to reach the disoriented monsters, courtesy of the explosion.

    Kayn''s longsword shone bright blue, releasing a large crescent blade of compressed water, cutting deep into the torsos of two trolls. Nizar charged forward with his huge sword, slapping away a punch with it before thrusting the weapon forward with a roar.

    The injured but regenerating trolls never got a chance to rejoin as a huge fireball and several firespears impacted, the stragglers put down by thick lightning bolts.

    The final caster launched several fireballs, each blocked by Lev''s flying shields lazily. It gave up after a few attempts, risking its own life to overload a spell. An arrow ended the attempt before it could begin.

    Like before, the fight only lasted less than a minute but the fighters were considerably more tired now. The mages also seemed slightly spent for whatever reason, something Lev couldn''t relate to.

    It was common knowledge that intense spell casting took a toll on the mage''s mind and soul, inducing a lethargy in severe cases that could hinder their casting.

    He had never felt that. Sure, arcane classes helped greatly, for they were designed to channel large amounts of mana, but he also-

    Oh, right. Each time I used too much mana, I also passed out. Maybe that was also a reason for losing consciousness.

    Putting the inspiration aside, Lev focused back on the monsters. The next horde perished much the same. Lev''s presence alone reduced their threat to null. His arrows found their mark without fail, killing the most trolls out of everyone present.

    The opening salvo took out a major threat in both hordes, letting the mages support the melee fighters without issue. Someone might even have felt bad for the troll caster with how easily its spells were rendered useless by Lev''s shields.

    Flying a bit above ground to continue scouting, Lev noticed the final horde before the monsters noticed them.

    "17 monsters. Four casters and one commander."

    "Ooh that''s unlucky," Kayn grimaced. "I recommend we turn back."

    "Is that not normal?" Lev piped up before anyone else could vote.

    "Commanders rarely spawn in dungeons, but it''s not unheard of. I agree with Kayn as well," Nizar said.

    "Hold on, it can''t be that bad. What level is it?" Lev interrupted again, noticing slight frustration on Nizar''s face.

    "Over 180. It is much stronger than normal monsters, Lev. Risking it is not worth it."

    "How about this. If I can kill most of them for you, will you group up against the commander?"

    "Can you even do that?" Enryu remarked, raising an unconvinced brow.

    "You will see if you agree."

    "Sure, worst comes to worst, we just fight," Reina said, looking at Meera.

    "If your attacks are not strong enough, we can just run back to the portal," Meera''s opinion sealed the deal. "Someone better carry me, though."

    Lev gave her a thumbs-up and turned to the commander. His present company was probably expecting him to fly closer, but Lev did the opposite.

    Backtracking for several hundreds of meters, Lev flew higher and formed three large lances. Mana seeped out of his converters, teleported to the lances through his skill as the monsters remained oblivious to their demise.

    When they were ready, holding nearly a tenth of his total mana, Lev launched all three at the commander instead of the horde.

    In the single second window to react, four different spells were cast but the projectiles landed amidst the monsters before they could even take form.

    [

    You have slain [Troll Commander - Level 182]

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 138

    5 Free attribute points

    ]

    When the explosion cleared, there were only five trolls still standing, and none of them were casters. They were put down with ruthless efficiency by his team.

    Lev slowly floated back to the waiting team who wasted no time in harvesting the core, watching him fly closer with disbelieving gazes.

    Nizar held out the core while looking at the rest of his team. Seeing no disagreement, he tossed it to Lev.

    "Thanks," Lev nodded before they were teleported outside.

    "Wait, where are you going now?" Kayn walked up to him, happy with how things had turned out.

    Lev looked around as he replied. "I''m afraid someone might be waiting for me- oh there he is."

    Drakys was unsurprisingly surrounded by everyone present, even the guard.

    "I''m sure there will be plenty of events in Haven in the near future as well. Chances are, I''ll be there with you all."

    Done talking, Drakys motioned for him to follow before flying off. Lev gave one last wave to the wide-eyed silver team standing still like statues before flying after Drakys.

    It was fun while it lasted.

 Chapter 55

    "So, where''s Stargazer?" Lev immediately asked.

    "Runespires. We will pick it up later. How much mana do you have left?"

    "Still over 40%. Why?"

    "Clear the spider dungeon again. There is something you should see."

    Lev could safely say he had never been so curious in his life before. Holding back questions, he overloaded his manipulation skill to reach the spider dungeon as quickly as he could.

    ****

    Now one matriarch core richer, Lev followed Drakys to his chosen destination. Passing the smithing spire, they entered the central spire and ascended through the elevator.

    "Where are we going?" Lev asked, unable to keep the curiosity at bay.

    "To the top. I like a spot."

    Night was starting to cover the horizon when they reached the sparsely crowded roof. Drakys led him to a corner, deploying a circular formation. Lev tried to observe it, intrigued, but it was all masterfully concealed.

    "We are invisible and under many different privacy wards," Drakys explained. "I talked to your teacher and his group before coming here. They explained your circumstances but knew little about your past life, something that you probably held back purposefully."

    "ˇ­ What about it?"

    Drakys smirked a little. "Nothing. We are here for something potentially more exciting. Nobody will pry your traumas out of you."

    "Just get to the point," Lev sighed. "I hope my excitement wasn''t for nothing."

    Drakys nodded seriously, seeing Lev had some actual baggage for his mood to worsen so quickly. "Orianna mentioned you came from a world of skyscrapers called ''Earth. '' We have ancient records saved from different civilizations that existed even before the Empyrean Empire''s origins, and some of them showed divination results similar to what you described. Sadly, nobody could read them."

    Similar divination resultsˇ­

    The thought boomed in his head, echoing with increasing intensity. Lev took some deep breaths, realizing his heartbeat had sped up considerably.

    "Can I see them?"

    "Of course. That''s why I brought you here," Drakys replied, summoning a thick, weathered tome.

    Lev leaned forward, gingerly accepting it and bringing it closer when his entire being paused, heart skipping a beat. The title of the tome was written in giant silver letters, readable to his mind.

    It was written in English.

    "You okay, boy?"

    "ˇ­ Yeah," Lev gulped, before nodding. "Yeah. I can read the title."

    Drakys'' eyes widened, excitement overtaking him too. "What does it say?"

    "What We Lost."

    ****

    Lev tossed around in his bed, unable to sleep back at the inn. Drakys left quickly after Lev could read the title, Monarch knew to do what.

    Can''t say I didn''t see this coming, Lev thought, mind still stuck on that old tome. Everyone here has names similar to what we had on earth, and even the time-measuring units are the same. Other details like month names have been forgotten for some reason, but there were too many signs for this to be a different universe.

    Seeing that there was little chance of sleep, Lev pushed all thoughts out of his mind and tried meditating. It took a lot of effort, and the first hour passed in trying to keep the myriad of thoughts out of his mind.

    Be it his class, titles, future titles, future team, his mentor''s job, the special attention from Exalted, lack of Sherron''s company because she acted so childishly, Orianna''s warm hugs, or his mentor''s patient curiosity, all of it kept distracting him.

    When he finally managed to empty his brain of stray thoughts, things became weird. Normally, one could observe their mana pool with high clarity but now, it stood out to him in unprecedented detail.

    From how a stream of mana entered his pool out ofˇ­ nowhere, apparently, to how instead of growing in size, mana increased in quantity in some other way. Lev remained entranced by the stark detail for a long while, fascinated by the inner workings of his soul even if nothing made sense.

    Most of it was censored, but the experience was still breathtaking. He now knew that mana pools didn''t behave like liquids filling up a pool and that mana regeneration was completely cut off from any outside factors.

    Someone knocked on the door, breaking that peaceful state. Blinking bleary eyes, Lev realized the suns were already up. Scanning his mind, he felt refreshed and ready to go.

    Donning his armor, Lev opened the door. Drakys stood there alone, giving him a once-over.

    "Did you sleep well?"

    "You can say that," Lev replied. "So?"

    "We''re going to the pit."

    "Huh, how will I get there?"

    "Let me worry about that," Drakys smiled. "Let''s go."

    "There goes my plan to work towards gold rank," Lev grumbled, following the Exalted.

    "I asked Hakim about it. He can deal with that. No need to grind merit points when it''s much more important to work on yourself."

    "More handouts, great."

    Drakys chuckled at his lack of enthusiasm but didn''t comment. It took some time to leave runespires before the Exalted formed a telepathic connection with him.

    Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    "Close your eyes and lower your senses as much as possible."

    Lev didn''t question it and followed the instructions. One moment, they were standing, and the next, Lev was getting dragged along the Exalted at speeds he couldn''t hope to comprehend above ground.

    Unable to see, the best he could guess their speed was that just a glimpse would make him vomit. He wisely kept his eyes shut.

    ****

    Some hours later, or perhaps it was just one hour, Lev didn''t know, they stopped in front of the pit''s gates. The first thing Lev did was lie down and keep his eyes closed, trying to get his bearings.

    The experience was incredibly trippy, regardless of how Drakys tried to keep it smooth. It felt like being on a bullet train without the comfort afforded by being inside it. Though he had no idea what it felt to be like inside one.

    "Please, don''t ever carry me like that again," Lev breathed out, mind still scrambled.

    "Bah, man up," Drakys waved away his complaint. "It will get much easier after you become a Master."

    "Man up he says," Lev rolled his eyes under the armor. "I''m fucking eleven."

    "No you ain''t."

    "I- ok, I''m not, but the point still stands."

    "Stop complaining. Orianna and Sherron are waiting."

    Lev was up in an instant, almost throwing up from the movement but it was worth it.

    "Let''s go."

    Drakys, once again, attracted everyone''s attention. Lev followed behind, ignoring it just like the Exalted did. Somewhat unsurprisingly, they eventually ended up in front of Alec''s suite.

    Drakys knocked once, and the door opened before Lev could use the card in his ring.

    "You got here pretty quickly," Alec commented, greeting him with a nod.

    "Yeah, he is tougher than I expected," Drakys casually replied, sauntering in.

    Lev followed after giving his mentor a short hug. Inside, there were new facesˇŞtwo of them specifically, who were observing him like an especially interesting exhibition piece.

    Orianna and Sherron were also present, and Lev went straight for the hug after coming out of his armor.

    "Should I leave or will they not eat me alive?" Lev asked Sherron.

    She grinned back. "You''ll live. I think."

    Orianna shook her head a little. "These two lovely women are Katarina," she motioned to the woman with black hair and green eyes, "and Lara."

    Lara looked similar to Katarina, just with hair a pretty shade of crimson instead of black.

    [Mage - ???]

    [Mage - ???]

    "Hey," Lev gave them a little wave and smiled. "I''m Lev."

    Katarina stared at him without any emotion before turning to Sherron. "Introductions done?"

    Sherron sighed, the sound dripping with pain and suffering. "Yes, unfortunately."

    Lev didn''t even get a chance to run before Katarina was on him, holding him in place by the arms.

    "So you''re the wonderboy, hmm?" She stared into his eyes, her face inches from his own. "How did you get my mother''s title?"

    Eh?

    "ˇ­ Your mother''s title?"

    "Youngest Prodigy. I know it gives 15 to each attribute and doubles every threshold. What were the requirements?"

    Lev''s brain was trying and failing to comprehend what was happening. It took several seconds for him to blurt out a single thing.

    "You''re a princess?"

    Lara pulled Katarina back, giving Lev some room to think. "Right, sorry. I just had to be the youngest to ever unlock a class."

    "That''s all?" Lara asked gently.

    "Yeah, just says I am the youngest sentient to ever unlock a class."

    "Youngest sentientˇ­"

    Katarina sat back down, lost in thought. Lara looked contemplative too, so Lev looked at Sherron for clarification.

    "They are just incredibly curious," she answered his silent question. "Nobody really knew why Queen Martha got the title in the first place, but they confirmed it was the same title."

    "Mother was pretty secretive about it, and for good reason. Obviously, that only made us more curious."

    Katarina huffed after speaking. "Really, I was tormented for so long for such a simple title? This feels like a cruel prank."

    Hey, don''t insult my strongest source of power like that.

    Drakys clapped once, the sound loud enough that Lev''s soul almost fled his body. He glared at the Exalted, who just grinned widely.

    "We''re here for something much more important. Give me all the records," Drakys said and collected several books and diaries from Orianna and Alec.

    "See which ones you can read," Drakys handed Lev a diary. Opening it, Lev found it was written in English.

    "I can read this one," Lev stated. Since everyone was waiting for him, he started reading it out loud.

    ''The only squad above level two hundred is going out again today. Lately, more and more monsters have started showing up outside our walls, never leaving us alone. It seems the world still has a lot of hardship in store for us.''

    "Seems like the earlier entries are missing," Lev said.

    ''From our observations, they can reliably kill any monsters up to level 400, bless The System for their advantages, but four marks monsters still remain too strong. Only two have ever been brought down but it was a cause to celebrate nonetheless.''

    "Four marks?" Lara questioned before anyone else could speak.

    "Third threshold monsters, most likely," Lev replied. "They seemed pretty strong if they could kill monsters above level 500 before Master."

    "Even if the monsters were weaker due to the lower mana density, it is still an extraordinary feat," Drakys agreed.

    The next few pages were torn, their contents a mystery. Lev skipped to the intact ones.

    ''The Sunwalkers have ascended another threshold. Each and every one of them has received an inconceivable boost in power, praise be to The System.

    We will survive.''

    "The first Masters of earth, makes sense for them to be freakishly strong," Sherron mused.

    ''Four teams have been prepared, all of our finest combatants. The Juvenile astral walker will be rendered immobile by our strongest paralysis concoction and safeguarded in an -''

    Lev''s reading paused abruptly as Drakys'' aura unveiled itself for a brief instant, brimming with rage.

    "Sorryˇ­ just keep going."

    "What''s so special about these astral walkers?" Lev risked asking.

    "They use space mana," Orianna replied. "The walkers are responsible for the fall of the Empyrean Empire. No matter how many monsters there were to fight, these were responsible for teleporting to populated planets and bringing waves of monsters with them."

    Lev''s face darkened as she explained. He added the monsters on his just-created list of most hated beings. He would pay them back, eventually.

    ''Salia gave birth last week, one of the first births in a long time. People refuse to relax when the sounds of battle keep them awake 24/7. Several people have picked up classes related to mundane professionsˇ­''

    The diary explained events about normal people, too wary of The System before, utilizing classes finally. Nobody had any questions about that. It took a while to go through them all before something unexpected came up.

    ''The first space mage class has showed up. Just from the glossed-over details, I can deduce that the class is incredibly potent. Perhaps we finally have a chance to go outside these walls. Even if hope is almost non-existent, there is a small ember that refuses to be extinguished.

    Maybe, just maybe, there are others who survived. Maybe there is a world to return to, safe from this never-ending calamity.''

    "Space mageˇ­" Lev whispered. The class sounded strong just from the name, but the sheer usefulness of a space mage seemed limitless. Unfortunately, that was all in the diary, not giving the present company any clue about how it may be possible.

    "Well, that was depressing. Felt like being teased by the tip-" Katarina started, interrupted by a slap on the back of her head. Lara shook her head, disgusted.

    Lev gave her an unamused look as well. "Please mind your language. There''s an eleven-year-old present in the room."

    "No eleven-year-old knows what that means," she replied with a smile. "How do you know?"

    Lev looked at the rest of the room. "No one told them?"

    Their smiles were answer enough, and now the princesses were dying to know.

    "You can keep guessing," Lev replied with a toothy smirk, very much enjoying getting back at them after the earlier treatment.

 Chapter 56

    "Princesses, huh?" Lev sighed. Grabbing another tome, he gave them both a disappointed look. "Why do you think I can read this language?"

    "Wh- oh."

    Katarina''s eyes widened, but Lev hadn''t expected them to turn sad. Lara also looked regretful for some reason.

    "Just to be clear, I haven''t left anyone behind nor did I have to live through the apocalypse," Lev opened the tome, glad to see pretty much all of it was intact. "Stop giving me those looks."

    "That is not a positive you seem to think it is," Lara said, unhappy with Lev''s nonchalance.

    "Not a negative either," Lev shrugged before ignoring her and reading the contents out loud.

    ''The governments are panicking as well now. The more of these creatures they kill, the more of them show up. Humans around the world have picked up ''classes'' and can fight back against dozens of monsters by themselves but that has given rise to entirely new problems.

    Several different reports of mass murders and other similar crimes have been received, and that is just one continent. No God has descended to save us.''

    "This one seems like it''s from the early days," Lev commented, not really wanting to read further. From the tone the first few pages had set, there would just be more suffering to read out loud.

    "Can you give me the smaller ones? I doubt these have anything of importance."

    His simple attempt to avoid reading the tome was shoddy at best but nobody mentioned it. If anything, they seemed to be realizing how Lev was pretty much reading the end of his world out to them.

    Grabbing another diary written in English, Lev started reading.

    ''Kobolds continue to assault the gates. My family has given up hope, their eyes no longer see everything, only the monsters that refuse to stop coming. I, Derrick, the eldest son, vow to keep them all alive. It has been several months since we last saw sunlight, but we will survive. No matter what it takes.''

    "I''m starting to change my mind," Lev muttered. "Lay them all out in front of me on the bed. I''ll read something if it sounds useful."

    The records were all sprawled out on the bed, and Lev leafed through them in a few moments. Only one title stood out.

    ''Goblins and Orcs seem to be the norm around these parts, their numbers never dwindling. Eye of the Scholar keeps me updated on all the different variations in the same species, specifically the commanders, shamans, and generals. It is fascinating how the commanders are built so much better than humans themselves. Their bodies are somehow born for war. Is it possible for humans to change their physique like that as well?''

    "I doubt you guys need the details?" Lev questioned everyone present.

    Alec replied. "No, we have extensive knowledge about different monster physiques. It is a fruitless endeavor."

    ''Dinosaurs have been spotted. The hunters sounded frantic, in just as much disbelief as those listening to the report. I will be sent to observe them with a large scouting party in a few days.''

    Lev rubbed his eyes, also in disbelief.

    Dinosaurs. Are you serious?

    But the records were in front of him, and he didn''t have a reason to believe they were lying.

    "What''s so special about these dinosaurs?" Orianna asked gently, as if the question might hurt Lev.

    He gave her a flat stare for being so cautious. "They''re supposed to be extinct. Humans only ever found their extremely old remains buried underground. From their estimates, these animals used to exist millions of years before humanity. Really, even I used to be fascinated by them as a kid."

    "Oh," she looked at Alec. "I think that''s a first?"

    "It is," Alec replied, mind whirring. "We''ve always assumed that monsters were born of mana entirely, but it seems natural life can also play a role in it. This changes little beyond being another piece of the puzzle, but it is a grand discovery nonetheless."

    ''The whole operation was a folly. Even the weakest of them were above the third-threshold, or four marks as most call it. It only took the call of one for dozens to swarm us. Out of 78, only 5 of us have returned. The idiots prioritized my life, a mere scholar, and lured them all away. The world is cruel, not letting me wallow in pity for the new enemy will come knocking soon. We must be prepared, and my knowledge will be the edge we need.''

    "Everything''s fucking depressing," Lev whispered, skipping pages to see if there was anything useful left. Sadly, it was all records of battles and catalogs of different monsters. Those at least, were similar to the monsters of Monarch. It proved that monsters of all kinds could be born anywhere.

    Lev picked up another diary, the smallest one.

    ''Seven years after the apocalypse descended, my wanderlust has finally doomed me. I am writing this in hopes that the beast will not find the diary and that a fellow human eventually will.

    -

    The beast talks. It- no, she seems to be just as wary of the world as I, seeking refuge inside a mountain cave despite looking like a bird sculpted for carnage. I finally dared to Identify her, afraid of seeking her wrath. She told me how such skills were unnoticeable to all but the strongest, beings far beyond even her.

    [Dreadhawk - ?????]

    The communication method is fascinating. She does not talk in words, but raw concepts that are translated by a general skill to not overload my brain. Every day, we grow closer despite the sheer inconceivable difference in strength. She has started treating me like a child to be cared for, something I am completely fine with. Her presence is reassuring.''

    Lev observed the reactions of everyone present. They did not seem surprised at all, which was both expected and unexpected. The plains were vast, and there were no doubt several beings capable of communication present in it. Only he was struggling to wrap his head around such existences, but then again, it was not that world-shattering.

    Lev really, really wanted to meet such beings though, which was a horrible idea with his current negligible strength.

    "Where is the-"

    "No," Alec cut him off, leveling a stern glare at him.

    "Oh come on, how bad can it be?" Lev pouted, the expression only working on Orianna. She still didn''t seem inclined to agree.

    "We absolutely cannot risk earning their ire, Lev. They areˇ­ beyond compare."

    Beyond compare, Lev tossed around the term Orianna used in his head, noting how she could''ve just mentioned their threshold. Intriguing, but nothing that affected him right now.

    Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

    "Ugh, fine. I will meet them one day," Lev announced, which didn''t seem to surprise anyone, even the two princesses. "Why are you two so accepting?"

    Katarina shrugged a shoulder. "It didn''t take long to guess all your ambitions. This seems perfectly in line with them."

    Lara smiled. "You will definitely need a team, though. Do you have one?"

    "Not yet," Lev replied. "Will get one in a few years."

    "Why wait?"

    "You can ask everyone else present," he deflected. "I can write a guide on the language if you wish?" Lev asked Alec.

    "That would be helpful," his mentor nodded.

    The next few hours passed in Lev writing out the letters and numbers, explaining them to everyone present. Explaining the basics only took a few minutes with his heightened perception, but translating all the words he could into Empyrean Standard took hours.

    Feeling wrung out, Lev motioned for Orianna to come sit next to him. She did so, tilting her head in a silent question.

    Wordlessly, Lev shifted on the bed and put his head on her lap. He was out in seconds.

    ****

    "You''ve shown a remarkable level of restraint," Sherron clapped lightly. "Well done."

    Both princesses looked at her with mouths agape, unable to comprehend the sheer audacity.

    Katarina shook her head, not about to argue with Sherron. That often ended in her getting zapped.

    "He''s different from what I expected," she commented, Lara nodding in agreement.

    "With how strong you made him sound like, I was expecting some arrogant righteous behavior," Lara added.

    "I can agree with these two," Drakys spoke up. "Finding a completely normal boy, albeit sort of anti-social, was quite the surprise."

    Sherron gave them an incredulous glance. "Was there still any doubt after the way I talked about him?"

    Katarina waved her off. "It''s hard to tell with you three. Especially Orianna."

    "What do you mean?" Orianna asked, confused.

    "It means you care for literally everyone," Katarina replied. "Difficult to guess someone''s personality based on your opinion."

    Alec observed Lev sleeping in his friend''s lap, surrounded by a sound ward, before replying. "We wouldn''t have given him so much power if his personality wasn''t fitting."

    "Even if it was our only chance to get that title?" Lara questioned.

    Alec nodded without hesitation. "Especially so. It would take no time for him to go from humanity''s hope to humanity''s downfall after Exalted. We spent so much time with him before teaching anything to make sure that wouldn''t happen."

    ****

    "For fuck sake," Lev muttered, rubbing the remaining sleep out of his eyes. Only Orianna remained in his mentor''s suite. "I''m sorry."

    "It''s fine," she giggled. "You''re a healthy young boy."

    Shaking his head, Lev took care of his morning routine in the restroom. Within a few minutes, he was ready to go again.

    "Where did everyone go?" Lev asked and sat down on the bed.

    "Alec returned to the lab, and Sherron is doing rounds in the pit. Drakys is on break, so he can be anywhere. The princesses are just shopping," Orianna motioned to Lev, making him sit in front of her while facing the other way. Running a hand through his hair, she spoke, "How are you doing these days?"

    "Hmm, could do without the fear of attracting calamities but otherwise, pretty well. Making money and growing stronger at the same time, it''s like a dream come true," Lev giggled. "Is my future team doing well?"

    "They are," Orianna, the smile audible in her voice. "The only boy in the team is being trained by the Earthen Wardens. I''m sure you''ve heard of them."

    "The super popular Master team?"

    "Yep."

    "Hoh, and here I was observing other hunters to eventually teach my team."

    "You should keep doing that," Orianna advised, laying back on the bed. "The apprenticeship only covers so much. They will also have no real combat experience. Teaching them the limits of their class before fighting lethal battles is a great idea."

    "Will do. What will their classes be like?"

    "Healer and aura mage, fire warrior hybrid, and defensive frontliner."

    Lev mentally saluted the kid brave enough to choose the last option. Getting up close to monsters only to block their attacks required balls of steel.

    It was only made more impressive because Lev was preparing for the same inevitability. He knew how hard it was to overcome that mental barrier.

    "Why is the guild mass-clearing dungeons, though?" Lev ''innocently'' questioned, which Orianna obviously noticed but replied anyway.

    "They didn''t tell you?"

    "Nope. Something about being contacted when the time is right."

    "Hmm, I can see that," Orianna mused before shaking her head. "But still, Alec should have considered how your mind works."

    "What do you mean?" Lev interrupted.

    "How long does a decade feel to you?"

    "Pretty damn long. Should it not?"

    "Not really," Orianna replied. "To us, a decade feels like what a year feels to you, at least by my estimates. We view time differently, something that will take you years to get used to."

    "How does this relate to the original question?"

    "Because the guild is making plans that span decades, of course. How much of the plains do you think we have explored?"

    "Explored as in mapped?"

    "No, control."

    "Uhhˇ­ Like 30% of it?"

    She chuckled. "Not even close, Lev. Despite covering such a large area inside the outer wall, it is less than 10% of the plains. Even that estimate remains dubious because of how dangerous some regions are to explore."

    "10%ˇ­" Lev whispered, his mind utterly failing to comprehend the size involved. "I ˇ­ see. What about it?"

    "Not that long ago, some of our best scouts finalized a report about the center of the plains. The consensus is that mana density is considerably lower overall, and the area is completely flat, several times the size covered by the outer wall."

    "Hold on," Lev straightened, fully engrossed. "You mean to say the center is safer?"

    Orianna nodded. "Yes, and it also has no lethal zones like the ravine or the pit."

    "We''re marching, aren''t we?" Lev hazarded a guess.

    She chuckled. "In full force."

    "Why on Monarch would they hide this from me?" Lev wondered with a sigh. "Even if I fail to become the strongest, surely I will still be strong enough to cover any weaknesses."

    Orianna sat up again, frowning. "Don''t talk like that. You''re already doing great."

    "Doesn''t feel like that though. Much of my strength is just the consequence of my insane attributes. I''ve only managed two useful creations of my own so far, and they are incredibly basic."

    "Lev," Orianna began. "You earned the class."

    "I know," Lev sighed. "Just feels like I''m not doing enough. The class does everything for me but barriers are supposed to be so much more, no?"

    "Where is this even coming from? You literally cannot do much before Master. Enchanting takes a lot of time, effort, resources, and mana. Before your barriers become permanent, all effort is rendered moot. Nobody blames you for not expanding your arsenal before that. If anything, you should only have a select few tools as you are right now. Practice the foundations and level your skills."

    "ˇ­ Truly?"

    "Why would I lie?" Orianna asked, hugging him from behind. "You think you''re lacking but after being trained by Drakys, I daresay there will be no Adept as strong as you."

    Comfortable silence enveloped the room, both of them getting lost in thought. Lev took a few moments to scan his mental state, finding it much better than before. He hadn''t even realized how much throwing mana at problems was bothering him, especially with how much he needed to use to match other mages.

    "I suppose that says enough about my strength after evolving," Lev sighed again. "The ravine awaits."

    "Heh, you''re in for a surprise. If you think you will be one of the strongest from the start, you are very sorely mistaken. We have several Masters that have their skills in the fifth rank, and some with even multiple of them."

    "Fifth!?" Lev exclaimed. His own had barely leveled in the third tier.

    "They''re centuries old. While the Exalted are undoubtedly the mightiest, some of the most skilled and talented combatants are still Masters."

    "Huh."

    Sherron entered the suite before Lev could ask further. She looked just as relaxed as before, no signs of carnage that she likely caused in the past few hours showing on her person.

    "You''re up. Drakys was waiting for you to go down the pit," she said, sitting down on the other bed.

    "I don''t think that is a good idea anymore. Exploring the pit sounded natural before but only now am I realizing just how much I want to go down its depths. The desire is not natural. Even I''m not that suicidal."

    Sherron and Orianna shared a glance, visibly confused. Lev didn''t blame them. Both his desire to get stronger and explore the depths of Monarch burned a bit too brightly for his liking. It was honestly confusing. Why were his own emotions slightly out of his control?

    "I ˇ­ see. I''ll bring him back here."

    Sherron blurred out of the room, and Lev waited for his current teacher to return.

 Chapter 57

    "I can''t say I''ve heard anyone have that issue before," Drakys commented, both of them now back in runespires. "There are some explorers that border on suicidal, but no one that felt a calling."

    "It''s weird," Lev agreed, observing the upgraded Stargazer in his hands. She was just as beautiful if not even more so, with the same blue streaks running through her length. Only now, her entire being was brimming with enchantments.

    [

    Stargazer - Rare

    Enchantments: Durability, Blade Sharpening, Mana Channeling

    ]

    "No description?"

    "Descriptions are up to the creator of the item to keep. The one who upgraded it didn''t feel like it."

    Huh, that''s news to me. The more you know.

    "What do the enchantments do? I don''t think I''ve seen them anywhere," Lev questioned, curious.

    "Little wonder you haven''t," Drakys commented, lost in thought. "I had to go see someone who only crafts gear to counter the influence of blight. Much of the durability enchantment is focused on keeping foreign influences at bay. It also has an active portion to increase the durability further."

    Lev was suitably impressed. "The other two?"

    "Blade sharpening will scan your barrier blade and encompass it into a large sharpness formation. Mana Channeling simply lets you channel different mana types through the entire thing. We will get Mana Slash to make full use of that aspect."

    "I was going to get that skill anyway," Lev nodded. "How does the skill work with different mana types normally?"

    "Like any other skill," Drakys answered, dismissive. "You force different mana types into it, and they become a part of it in 2nd rank. Let''s go."

    Lev followed without question, knowing he no longer needed merit points to advance. Hakim hadn''t even batted an eye at Drakys'' request to let Lev advance freely, which Lev had mixed feelings about.

    It was nice to not care about merit points but taking handouts sucked. Only the first ever ring and the hundred gold coins were acceptable to him because he had nothing to his name back then.

    "Since I only need to grow in levels now, do we need to do quests?"

    "Not anymore."

    Proving his words, Drakys led him straight to the central spire, where they took an elevator to the lowest floor.

    Lev was expecting stone or perhaps a small outpost to defend against monster attacks. He was instead greeted by a small town next to the base of the spire, housing many of the hunters of runespires.

    "Well, this answers some questions," Lev remarked, head on a swivel like a country bumpkin. "There were too few hunters above the surface to account for all of them."

    "This is still nothing compared to the total number," Drakys added. "The final cavern you visited was far from the largest. Many of them stay there for weeks or months."

    Not stopping at any of the stores or inns, they left the perimeter without any obstructions. Lev wondered how many people recognized the Exalted from a glance. Drakys'' aura was hidden to an unbelievable degree, to the point that Lev needed to keep him in his vision so as not to lose track of him. The man moved as silently as a ghost.

    "Where are we going?" Lev finally asked. Curiosity could be surprisingly painful to hold back.

    "To the largest final cavern. Being the deepest and furthest from runespires, it has a high chance of attracting something too strong to handle. We will train there."

    Surprisingly considerate for a man on a break.

    Not voicing the thought, Lev followed him through the caves without any more questions. It took a few hours of too many twists and turns, and hundreds of dormant monsters, before they walked into an open cavern, not unlike the one where he had met the threader.

    The only major difference was the size. Where Lev could see the ceiling of the previous final cavern far above, this one was far too high for him to see. The same was true for the other end of the cavern, shrouded in darkness somewhere far away.

    Before Lev could ask about their next steps, a bubble of mana enveloped him and Drakys, masking their presence.

    "Letting them know of my presence will reduce all essence gains and skill improvements," Drakys explained without prompting. "Since most of the monsters come from the cave system at the other end, we will stay near that."

    Despite being in the presence of one of the strongest of his kind, a seed of fear had rooted itself in Lev''s heart. His presence always caused mishaps, and now, he was far below runespires and right in front of caves endlessly spewing out monsters.

    They both walked at the edge of the cavern floor, Lev noting the high number of defenders atop the wall. Spell after spell rained down, painting a surprisingly beautiful scene.

    There were several new elements present too. Balls of acid splashed onto groups of unlucky kobolds, and a streak of black blurred from monster to monster, beheading them in a single strike.

    "It''s pretty surprising you can even notice that," Drakys broke him out of the observation. "That young hunter is a radiant hunter, one of the rare few humans to ever get shadow mana before Master. Quite special, that lad."

    "Shadow, huhˇ­" Lev mused. "Do shadow mana converters exist?"

    Drakys nodded, slowly. "Less than ten, and I have one of them now that I think about it."

    The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    "Will they even do anything to my barriers?" Lev questioned, not particularly interested in a hidey mana type.

    Drakys just laughed at his face. "You will need to evolve your Mana Manipulation twice to even move it."

    "ˇ­What?"

    "Shadow mana, boy, is incredibly difficult to bend to your will, even for me. This is why the hunter is so special. He can use skills with shadow mana because of that absurd class."

    That dimmed Lev''s view of his own accomplishments somewhat. Despite the raw power in him, he couldn''t manage anything as impressive as that rogue.

    "I can feel your thoughts through your aura quite clearly," Drakys glanced at him. "The rogue will not hold a candle to you. Have faith in your abilities."

    I seriously need to learn something to hide my aura. Why is it even necessary to be a Master to do that?

    "I see," Lev remarked. "Just thinking how my class will only use basic things to do everything."

    "For now," Drakys added without hesitation. "Your barriers specialize in absorbing mana types, do they not?"

    "Hmm," Lev tried to play it off casually, failing miserably. "Fair enough."

    Drakys didn''t comment on how his steps had suddenly become lighter, or how his aura was happy all of a sudden.

    Getting to the end of the cavern took over an hour despite running at low speeds. Covered by Drakys'' bubble, no monster or human noticed their passing.

    The small trip was enlightening. Lev could see craters and huge cracks in the ground from previous battles, along with other burns and marks telling their own story. The monsters too, were pretty strong.

    [Cave Troll - Level 150]

    [Cave Spider - Level 122]

    [Kobold Shaman - Level 174]

    [Illusionist Trapper]

    What on Monarch is that?

    "Hey, are you seeing that?"

    "The trapper? It''s pretty easy to spot. That one is also just dormant," Drakys commented off-handedly, scanning the distant ceiling still too far for Lev to see.

    My Identify skill was defeated by a dormant monster, Lev thought with a sigh.

    Putting the weak skill to the back of his mind, Lev observed their destination. They had stopped near the corner of the spacious cavern, with all the huge cave entrances visible to their left.

    Drakys was already preparing the area to train him, his preparations entirely undecipherable to Lev. He could tell the air and ground were changing in some way, but nothing beyond that.

    "What are you doing?"

    "Blocking out all tremors and sounds. What happens in the sphere, stays in the sphere."

    So he wants to train me under the nose of all these monsters. I can''t rule out having to face monsters randomly either. In fact, that seems to be the main purpose of this spot.

    It was completely fine by him, though. Their greatest enemies were monsters, and Lev was more than happy to train against them.

    The sphere surrounding them kept growing in size, eventually reaching dozens of meters in each direction. However, it was still only a small part of the corner they were occupying.

    "Before we begin," Drakys straightened, leveling a stern stare at Lev. "From now on, you will not question my orders unless strictly necessary. You can ask questions, but only a few of them, and nothing that will defeat the purpose of our exercises. Understood?"

    No hint of casualness or joviality remained in Drakys, the man now a teacher instead of an observer. Lev straightened too, knowing there was no more time to mess around. He had been throwing spells from afar for long enough. That had to change.

    "Yes, sir."

    Drakys nodded. "Good. Send your mana underground."

    Lev did as he was told without missing a beat. Normally, he would be sour about someone expecting unquestioned effort from him, but this was an Exalted teaching him during a personal break. He was not nearly dense enough to not see how extraordinary the whole opportunity was.

    Lev was prepared to do his best, for there was no other option. There was a lot of responsibility waiting to land on his shoulders. He had to be prepared.

    His mana went underground without obstruction, easily passing through the solid stone due to its incorporeal nature.

    "Do you see the pathways?"

    "I do."

    "They are enchanted to absorb mana. Your task is to find the finishing points while keeping control over your mana. Go sit on that chair, I will stay here and make sure nothing attacks you."

    Lev did not question what finishing points were, why he was doing this, or how long he had to accomplish the task. He walked up to the single stone chair in the center of the sphere and sat down.

    Opening his senses fully to the world, Lev sent a small stream of pure mana, small enough to be covered by his regeneration alone, into the carved pathway and started moving it. The stream moved for all of an instant before the pathway absorbed it without even coming into contact with the mana.

    What just happened?

    Lev tried again, sending a small stream of mana down again. It dissipated without telling him anything, so he tried again.

    On the seventh attempt, he finally noticed the mana getting instantly absorbed into the enchanted pathway the moment it came within a fixed distance. The process was so fast, he couldn''t tell how his mana had even vanished before.

    So I have a narrow circular path, much smaller than the pathway itself, to move my mana through. If my mana comes within like two inches of the enchantments, it vanishes.

    [

    Mana Perception has reached 2nd Level 2

    ]

    Lev tried again, carefully keeping the stream moving in a straight line and in the center of the pathway. For several meters, he could keep a somewhat stable stream of mana going before he ran into another issue.

    Lack of familiarity.

    So far, Lev had been converting his mana and teleporting it from barrier to barrier. Only now was he realizing how little he had trained with mana without his class. It also revealed the purpose of the exercise, which was to evolve his general skills.

    Gently, at the cost of a mild headache, Lev slowly coaxed the stream to move forward. It kept elongating, wobbling a little but staying out of reach of the enchantments.

    Lev couldn''t stop smiling as the stream improved almost negligibly with each passing minute. The obvious signs of progress kept pushing him on, still requiring great care to not let it be absorbed.

    Minutes passed, which turned into hours. Lev was oblivious to the passage of time, his entire being focused on the stream slowly inching forward.

    The first hurdle made itself known when the first passage turned into two, requiring him to make a choice.

    Lev didn''t think it would be an issue, so he chose the left. The stream curved a littleˇ­ and then dissipated entirely.

    ˇ­ Why did that just happen?

    Disgruntled, Lev replayed the whole thing in his mind. His stream hadn''t come into contact with the enchantment, which meant it was his fault.

    To test it, Lev formed another stream of pure mana above ground. Elongating in a long yet straight line, Lev tried to curve it. Just like before, it dissipated.

    Oh, I see. This will take a lot of practice to deal with.

    The moment Lev''s mental input to curve the stream went through, his unfamiliarity with intricate manipulation caused the order to clash with all the previous mental input, which was to keep the stream in a straight line.

    Predictably, it caused the whole thing to come tumbling down. Lev had barely even started, and another challenge had presented itself.

    [

    Mana Perception has reached 2nd Level 3

    ]

    Still, he refused to take the easy way out. Instead of learning to curve the stream from scratch, his next step was curving the stream without letting the previous straight line dissolve. It was bound to be intense and tiring, but Lev had the time and mana to spare.

    Mana rewarded honest effort above all, and Lev was loving the process of giving just that so far.

 Chapter 58

    Lev couldn''t track the passage of time. Hours had passed, but more than a day might have, too. He wouldn''t know.

    His entire being was weighing down on the stream of mana moving through the underground channels, progressing at a glacial pace but progressing nonetheless.

    Two turns seems like the limit for now, Lev observed, his breathing a little ragged. Where he couldn''t manage even a single turn with his mind before, he had managed two of them now.

    His mind strained to keep the barely twenty meter long stream in shape, but that was fine. Lev had visibly improved a lot since the start, and his notifications kept him updated about one of the factors of improvement.

    [

    Mana Perception has reached 2nd Level 10

    ]

    Finally leveled to the end, eh?

    The skill rarely leveled during combat as he didn''t get to track spells or mana. It was good to see it finally improve rapidly. Just like Mana Manipulation, it was also meant to be evolved before being truly useful.

    The illusion armor had vanished some time ago after Lev realized he was invisible to all outsiders. He rubbed his forehead, trying to soothe his overtaxed psyche but the headache was persistent.

    With a quiet sigh, Lev ignored it and started working on the stream again.

    I''m pretty sure Drakys said finishing points, not a pointˇ­

    Like a reasonable person, Lev ignored the thought. Only the current singular stream of mana mattered.

    With a deep, steadying breath, he formed the stream from scratch again. It smoothly slid through the first pathway, extending in a straight line till the first turn. Without stopping, it curved to the left and extended in a straight line again. The second curve passed much the same as Lev''s focus started to waver.

    Clamping down on the stream with all his willpower, Lev commanded it to grow. The stream slowly did, trying to dissipate like an unruly child trying its best to run away, but he did not allow it to.

    Over the course of several minutes, Lev gave it his all. Inch after inch, it grew until the third turn reached him, at which point his mind gave out.

    Ugh, my head is gonna blow up. Lev thought, pulling back all his senses to avoid throwing up. His heavy breathing was the only sound within the sphere for several long minutes, the headache showing no signs of abating.

    With his eyes closed, Lev was dead to the world. Only his hearing, which he couldn''t pull back much, warned him in time.

    Barrier armor covered him in the blink of an eye as meaty thuds announced the presence of a charging troll. Two large shields formed in front of Lev, blocking its stone club at the cost of one shattering.

    It gave him enough time to fly up and observe the situation. The sphere was empty, save for Lev, Drakys, and the monster.

    [Cave Troll - Level 165]

    Relatively high level, Lev observed. The situation was not too bad. It was even expected. Life outside the outer wall was unpredictable at best, and this was a great way to train for it.

    It was still annoying as hell, though.

    Lev veered to the right, letting the second thrown club fly by harmlessly. Four thick chains, each link wider than his arm, slowly formed midair as Lev occupied the troll with his shields.

    The monster charged the same madness-ridden charge, guiding it to Lev''s whims not even close to an issue. He flew in circles, keeping track of the boundary of the sphere to not go out of it. The troll followed, occasionally leaping at Lev, the movement easily dodged.

    Two of the chains curved down in an arc from both sides, intent on skewering the monsters with their bladed ends. Noticing them, the troll pounced on one, shattering it with ease.

    Lev grimaced. The monster hadn''t even needed to grab it with both hands. Just the grip alone shattered the construct to pieces, and Lev had even made it extra thick.

    No matter. It can only block so many at once.

    Four more chains formed, their blades enchanted with a sharpness rune. They all descended at once, the troll unable to block them all.

    Punching one away, it roared in pain when two dug into its back, going several inches deep. Hatred fueled its movement as it tried to get the entangling chains off itself, shattering two more into bits. Lev pulled the chains back to try and slow the troll, but his mental strength was negligible compared to the physical might of the monster.

    Durability remains pretty low. Even slowing down the monster is too much for now, let alone completely immobilizing it.

    Summoning his bow, Lev sent mana into his lightning converter and transferred the output to one of the chains still embedded inside the troll.

    Lightning mana coursed through the monster''s body, stunning it in place as an arrow swiftly ended its life.

    [

    You have slain [Cave Troll - Level 165]

    Mana Tempest has reached Level 139

    ]

    The idea had only come to him recently, to release lightning through his chains. Lev couldn''t directly transfer mana to constructs inside a monster, for their own natural defenses prevented that. But for a dangling bladed chain? He could transfer mana to any of its links not touching the monster, which let him pull the mana close enough to release it inside.

    "Is enchanting the answer?"

    "Half of it," Drakys replied, understanding what he was getting at. "Practice and leveling your skill is the other half. That chain, while viable, is too structurally weak. Your mind should be trained enough to not rely on the flexibility afforded by the design."

    Lev could not deny that his design was intentionally weakened to be easier to move. Back in the spider dungeon, it had felt like a good idea. But now, it was becoming obvious that he needed the maximum durability without sacrificing a full range of motion for the chain. Even if it was harder to manipulate as a result, he just had to get used to it.

    "Wasn''t I supposed to not kill monsters?"

    Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.

    "You just need to stay below 200. Your Daunting Steps title might be upgraded if you kill a few second-threshold monsters before that."

    "ˇ­ I''ll be looking forward to it," Lev replied, trying to inject some cheer into his voice. He failed. His mind was already hurting like crazy from all the practice, and fighting the troll had done it no favors.

    Sitting back down on the chair, he formed another stream of mana to train.

    ****

    Hours gradually passed as Lev pushed his general skill beyond its limits, clueless about the requirement to evolve it.

    He just had to give a single large push, and it would evolve.

    Or perhaps the boy was aware and simply not willing to do so. Either way, Drakys was content with the effort Lev was putting in currently.

    The stream of mana flickered in a few spots, held tightly together by the boy''s crumbling willpower. Before evolving to the Master rank, it could only be pushed so far.

    Not bad at all for a newbie, though. Must be the work of the second title. Monarch knows how much I would love to have it.

    Such was not meant to be, so he tossed the fantasy out of his mug. The boy and his class were perfect for it so far, and Drakys would make sure the title would be fully utilized.

    Lev''s stream of mana sputtered, trying to get back into shape one last time before crumbling entirely.

    The boy let out a low groan, fully audible to Drakys'' senses, and leaned back in the purposefully uncomfortable chair. He didn''t seem to notice that though, his mind dominated by the intense headache he was no doubt feeling.

    I would ask why you''re pushing yourself so much, but I''ve already seen how you look at the walls, boy. The same gaze as Orianna''s, dreading the day they will come tumbling down. Except your very existence will cause that.

    "That''s enough Mana Manipulation for today," Drakys spoke up, giving Lev a meaningful glance. "Do you wish to keep going like this?"

    "ˇ­ Yes, sir."

    Drakys nodded. The decision was the boy''s own, and he approved too. It would be easier to unlock specialized evolutions of the skill if it was pushed to the limit instead of relying on The System to hold your hand.

    "Rest for half an hour. We will work on melee fighting basics soon."

    That was all he seemed to be waiting for. Within seconds, the boy was out like a log.

    ****

    Thank Monarch sleep is so effective against that headache.

    Lev yawned, noting that Drakys was nowhere to be seen. That was fine, Lev realized he hadn''t eaten anything in a while. More than that, there was no excrement. That was a thing apparently, but Lev kept forgetting.

    The first evolution removed the need for excrement if one didn''t overeat or drink. Mana suffused the body a bit more thoroughly, turning the remains of digested food into ambient mana.

    He brought out some roasted chicken, the best food on Monarch he might add, and ate breakfast while waiting for the Exalted. He saluted the foresight of whoever had brought a large number of animals with them on the refugee ship. Some of them had somehow survived the crash landing.

    Far into the distance, Lev could see flashes of battle from the dormant and first-threshold monsters constantly assaulting the wall. Perhaps the Exalted was keeping an eye on the defenders, or maybe he was battling some especially dangerous monster in one of the caves.

    Either way, Lev settled in to train while he returned. Forming a stream of mana, he could feel how close he was to a breakthrough. Sending the stream in the pathway below, it extended in a straight line, passed through three turns, and stopped.

    Lev was stuck at this new obstacle, which was the pathway going deeper in a spring shape. It curved in loops, ten of them, and Lev had to bend the stream accordingly.

    Fresh and ready to go, Lev tuned out the world and sharpened his attention on the stream. Gently, he extended it while keeping a tight leash on the rest of the structure. It obliged, elongating in the curved path at a glacial pace.

    Slowly, ever so slowly, the stream made it to the fifth loop before the total length became too much. The whole stream collapsed, but Lev had a smile on his face.

    [

    Your General Skill has evolved.

    Advanced Mana Manipulation - 2nd Level 1:

    Bend mana to your will with improved precision. Different mana types are easier to manipulate.

    2nd Rank: Channeling mana requires less focus. Manipulation is further improved by 35%

    ]

    The evolution wasˇ­ majestic. Not only could Lev level the skill further now, but the small line of text about less focus was going to be a game-changer. The bonus to manipulation was a nice cherry on top, but it wasn''t much, considering he had 82% of it from his Mage Conduit skill already. The bonus was just added to that.

    Sure took its time too, Lev thought, content. The skill would be immensely helpful when he eventually delved deeper into enchanting. Different mana types being handled by the first rank meant that aspect was also improved quite a bit already and would improve even further with every new level.

    Drakys was still absent, and no monsters were heading his way, so Lev formed a new stream of mana.

    The first three turns were handled almost effortlessly before he reached the same curvy decline. Bringing his entire will to bear, the stream started extending in the curves at a steady pace. It required great care to keep it away from the evil enchantments that kept ruining his practice.

    Mana bent to his wishes, gently traveling down the circular path. The effects of his new skill were showing itself when Lev''s mind only showed signs of strain after the 4th loop.

    Pushing through, the stream went down all ten of the loops before the pathway opened up toˇ­ hell.

    ˇ­ Drakys is a sadist?

    The next task was to split the stream into three and take each part through a relatively tiny pathway before they would join again.

    Lev didn''t even know it was possible to split the stream before that.

    ****

    Much deeper, a cave of extremely compressed stone, reinforced from constant exposure to mana, quaked as two beings battled.

    Running on small solidified air platforms, Drakys weaved between the large earth spikes heading his way with graceful ease. The monster itself was far too slow to catch him, relying on the pathetic ranged attacks to catch him off guard.

    Kinetic energy steadily streamed into his right leg, the amount low but enough for his purposes.

    Mental shaping took over, enchanting the nascent spell in its creation as the formations carved under his skin came alive, amplifying his physical strength severalfold for a single attack.

    With contemptuous dexterity, Drakys hopped over another huge spike before performing an aerial kick in the direction of the stone snake. Invisible to the naked eye, a blade of kinetic energy and mana cut through an approaching highly compressed boulder like a hot knife through butter before bisecting the monster much the same. No amount of durability, which the monster specialized in, would be useful against such a compressed attack.

    Yet it wasn''t dead. Far from it. The beheaded head thrashed and hissed, intent on giving its all till the end before Drakys landed on it with the force of a meteor. The cave shook for a long second, a lengthy instant at his level of Perception, signifying the end of the fight as stone and brain bits coated the surroundings. The eleventh such fight, both beginning and ending in the same manner.

    [

    You have slain [StoneFang - Level 561]

    ]

    Where the hell are these things even coming from?

    Drakys was forced to face second and third threshold monsters left and right, every one of them slowly ascending. They weren''t rushing in like monsters usually did, which meant they had yet to detect Lev''s presence. That only left one other option.

    Something else was guiding them to Lev, and Drakys could not detect even a hint of it.

    No matter how hard he looked, how much he pushed his senses to the limit, or how he strained his brain to come up with any plausible explanation, there was no answer. It was as if the world had simply declared the boy an enemy, coating reality in some invisible will that only the monsters could see.

    But that couldn''t be true. The System rewarded him at every turn, which told a story quite the opposite. It was a conundrum without an answer, and Drakys wanted answers.

    Guess that answers why Orianna cares for him so much, Drakys thought, smiling. She has been borderline frantic ever since she found the effects of Lev''s presence on monsters. So far, she has hidden her worries well but now at least I can understand her better.

    The boy was training upstairs, every single inch of the enchanted sphere visible to Drakys'' senses. Apart from breakfast, he had simply started working on the mana shaping exercise again after waking up.

    There he simply was, working on his basic general skills, unaware of the world throwing monster after monster toward him. Not only were they all an evolution or two above him, but they also never stopped coming.

    This break hasn''t been relaxing at all, Drakys thought with a sigh, preparing to face another third-threshold monster.

 One Week Break

    <div>

    <div>

    <div>

    <div>

    <div>

    <div>

    <div>

    <div>

    Due to several reasons, I''m gonna take a week off. Apologies about that. Will return later with either a 5/week or 7/week schedule, depending on how much free time I get to write.

    This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    <div>

    <div>

    <div>

    <div>

    <div>

 Chapter 59

    Slowly, gently, holding back a dam''s worth of annoyance, Lev split his stream of mana into three. The whole thing threatened to destabilize, requiring him to focus on the structure and give up on moving further with the exercise.

    Minutes passed as Lev got used to the mental sensation of a stream being split into three, slowly fixing his hollowing confidence.

    Lev was almost certain that he was talented in the ways of mana. That he had what it took to utilize the power that his title would afford him completely. But now, this satanic exercise was slowly eroding that resolve.

    "I didn''t think you were this gifted in mana manipulation. Alec only ever mentioned you being above average. Normally, a mage would take several weeks, if not months, to get to this part from scratch."

    Just like that, Lev''s confidence had been bolstered beyond the original level.

    "How do I compare to Alec?" Lev instantly questioned back, causing Drakys to snort a laugh.

    "Nobody has ever gotten the variation of Mana Manipulation that he has. Comparing yourself to him is an exercise in futility."

    Lev''s new confidence took a small hit, but he was mostly proud of being trained by someone so talented in the ways of mana.

    Also, he refused to believe he couldn''t overtake his mentor. It was just a matter of time and effort, or so he told himself at night.

    "This is enough for now. Too much focus on one thing will cause you to burn out. Ready your armor."

    Lev summoned his illusion armor, triggering the barrier armor skill that seamlessly covered it. The illusion armor had grown slightly tight after his random growth from the evolution and the phase he was going through, but it adjusted itself to be snug regardless.

    "How much experience do you have fighting in close range?"

    "In melee range? Not much. I just fought some orcs and the spiders barehanded, long enough to get my brawling skill to the end of second rank."

    "Yet you barely use it even when your gauntlets are designed to incorporate different mana types into fistfighting?"

    "I was going to get to it eventually," Lev muttered. "Learning takes time. You found me soon after I started working on my class."

    "You''re not wrong, but you definitely rushed the levels as well. I don''t need to ask why so we simply have to build a better foundation. How did your mentor train you?"

    "He let me learn on my own. See what I had talent in while fighting dormant monsters."

    "The ideal method for an uncertain class," Drakys nodded. "We will take the same approach. I will fashion different obstacle courses for you to familiarize yourself with precise aerial movement. The whole idea will be to let The System create a general skill befitting your style but before that, let''s get you Mana Slash."

    Lev summoned Stargazer, knowing what was to come. Forming a proper barrier blade in the hollow metal blade, he watched with mouth slightly ajar as the enchantments on the weapon came alive.

    They demanded mana, which Lev provided without hesitation. Several scans inspected the barrier blade now present in the hollow interior, encompassing it as a part of the formation while letting Lev physically sharpen the blade further by providing feedback about how to improve the blade.

    "ˇ­ Wow."

    "Extremely talented," Drakys remarked, no doubt praising the crafter, not him. "The blade should easily qualify for the skill. Inject some mana into it and wait."

    Lev did as he was told, holding the mana inside the blade while waiting for instructions.

    "Bring the mana to the edge."

    The task was easy enough, and Lev had all the mana stored inside the sharp edge in the next few seconds.

    "Focus on maintaining the shape and sharpness while releasing it in an attack."

    Is the skill supposed to be so simple to acquire?

    Some distant part of his mind wondered the question but most of it was absorbed in the task. Inhaling deeply, Lev swung the weapon in a slow, clean downward slash while releasing the mana in a crescent shape. Out came a puff of mana, crumbling and dissolving into ambient mana quickly, the attack nowhere to be found.

    ˇ­ Guess it was not that simple.

    "Again."

    ****

    [

    You have learned the General Skill: Mana Slash

    Release mana in a sharp attack from a bladed weapon.

    ]

    "Got it," Lev announced. "That was pretty easy."

    "The skill is not much different from Mana Manipulation or Perception in how much it can be evolved. Make sure to keep forcing it to improve as you go," Drakys replied. "Now, start using it as much as you can."

    That was what Lev wanted to hear, and he instantly fed mana into the blade again. Unlike class skills, the general skill guided his actions, letting him distribute the mana more thoroughly while keeping the slash more cohesive.

    Lev swung Stargazer downward, releasing the slash in front of him. The large crescent attack traveled for over a dozen meters before dissipating, colorless yet robust to his senses.

    The amount of mana used in the attack made it correspondingly stronger, but Lev could also feel how his mana manipulation expertise also helped quite a bit. Due to his practice with the stream, the slash was better put together and was also sharper.

    Happy with the result, Lev swung his glaive again and again. Each ranged attack only took a small amount of mana, less than his moderately charged lightning arrows. The result was also weak for now, enough for any dormant monster but lacking compared to even weak first-threshold monsters.

    That would fix itself in time. Lev just had to level his skill and get it to second rank, where he could use different mana types to power it.

    "Does using the skill on monsters increase its leveling speed?"

    "It does," Drakys nodded. "Would you rather test against a troll?"

    "If that isn''t an issue, yes."

    Not even three seconds later, a troll landed face-first in front of Lev, roaring in indignation and insanity.

    Lev jumped back and launched a mana slash at it. Tearing through the air, the slash cut a few inches deep into the troll''s arm, the limb swung with the intention of slapping away the attack.

    So it cannot be deflected easily, noted.

    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    More roars washed over the flying Lev, keeping the troll on his toes while swinging Stargazer almost lazily. While the monster kept regenerating its wounds, he observed the results of different amounts of mana infused into the skill and how different shapes affected the slash.

    The amount of mana used in the skill was the most obvious factor in the attack''s lethality. The more mana he used, the bigger and deadlier it was. Dumping 2% of his total into a single overloaded attack, the slash almost lopped off the troll''s arm.

    Costly but still good in an emergency.

    There was little more to test without using different mana types, so Lev decided to end the fight. Lightning and fire mana could be used after he got comfortable with the skill.

    Descending, Lev leaned back to avoid a grab and swung Stargazing upwards, the slash cutting deep into the troll''s chest. Not giving it a chance to recover from the pain, two bulky chains formed and bit into its arms, locking it in place for a split second.

    The troll thrashed and broke one chain before Lev took off its right leg with an overcharged mana slash, reducing its speed greatly. He still kept up his guard, the experience from his first troll fight never forgotten.

    Having lost any semblance of control, the monster leaped with reckless abandon. Calmly, Lev ducked under its over-extended arms and thrust Stargazer at its face.

    The glaive pierced through skin and bone after a bit of struggle, cutting the monster''s brain in two.

    [

    You have slain [Cave Troll - Level 141]

    Mana Slash has reached Level 2

    Mana Slash has reached Level 3

    Mana Slash has reached Level 4

    ]

    "Sloppy," came the infuriatingly calm comment, ruining Lev''s satisfaction from obtaining a good skill.

    "Cut me some slack. It is my first time using the skill," Lev said, returning to testing the skill.

    "I meant everything else," Drakys smirked. "Two moves would''ve been more than enough to kill the monster after you were done testing."

    "You''re supposed to teach me those moves, no?"

    "Not yet. Your armor manipulation is lacking. Your flight also has too much wasted movement. You can also be much faster if you really put your mind to it."

    "Teach me that too, then," Lev shrugged. "Isn''t that why we''re here?"

    "I can''t teach you to fly when you aren''t even walking properly. The first order of business will be familiarizing you with the limits of your armor manipulation. Stand aside while I prepare a stage."

    ****

    Two weeks passed without any major incident. Lev spent several hours daily practicing with his mana manipulation, while Drakys culled the never-ending stream of monsters heading Lev''s way.

    He himself had no clue at first, but after a few days, he could deduce what was happening. It irked him a little that Drakys alone was dealing with the consequences of his presence, but not much could be done about it. That far below ground, Lev was outmatched against most of the monsters.

    When Drakys returned, Lev then fought trolls while doing minimum damage. The revulsion from testing skills on monsters vanished after a few hours of being chased by mindless monsters, letting him reach several breaking points in his training.

    The first was his new chains. Before, Lev used a sickle attached to one end to make a grip, but now he simply used a small drill. If the chains dug deeper than a few inches into the flesh, they had enough traction not to come out loose easily.

    The second was his Mana Slash. Just like Drakys had told him, the second rank simply allowed him to use different mana types. Contrary to their expectations however, the skill became monstrous when Lev used a ''normal'' amount of mana to power it. With all his bonuses to mana capacity, a lightning slash with a small chunk of his pool could easily kill a troll two dozen levels above him.

    [

    Mana Slash - 2nd Level 10:

    Release mana in a sharp attack from a bladed weapon.

    2nd Rank: Different mana types can be used to power the skill, producing different effects.

    ]

    The effects were as obvious as Lev expected. Lightning seared into the monsters, and fire exploded on contact. They were a nice addition, especially the latter. The explosion from a fire slash let him create distance easily.

    The third and fourth were his movement and glaive practice, something he was currently taking part in.

    Lev dashed to the right, jumping on the next platform two dozen meters above ground. Three boulders flew at him, each from a different angle to hinder his path.

    The second is enchanted, Lev noted, charging up a fire slash. As predicted, two of the boulders shattered to bits while the last weathered the attack without even a scratch.

    He was prepared for that. Mana flooded his barrier armor''s legs, and he shot forward to meet the boulder head-on. Just before he collided, a barrier platform formed underneath his feet. Jumping away with a kick, Lev tried to go over the boulder but the enchantments within the boulder came to life.

    Tracking him, the boulder changed directions. When it was less than a meter away, Lev twisted midair as another barrier platform formed above him. Upside down, Lev used all the mana stored in his armor and stepped on it to propel himself straight down, bypassing the boulder entirely.

    He was off like a bullet before the chunk of stone could reach him again. The next part of the obstacle course tested his reaction time, the hardest part in his opinion.

    Two stone bullets fired from an invisible mechanism aimed to give him minimum room to dodge. Lev veered to the left, slowing down considerably to avoid being hit. From experience, he knew the impact would rattle his bones.

    Seven more bullets followed. Three of them were blocked by hastily formed and enchanted shields, the constructs shattering in the process. Lev flew up to avoid three projectiles packed too closely together, forced to go up or lay on the ground. He chose the former. Drakys seemed to be expecting that, as the final bullet was aimed precisely where his head would be.

    Lev was prepared for it too. Twisting the armor at the last moment, the bullet passed mere millimeters from his face. He could see the smooth stone surface with extreme clarity for that short moment as it flew parallel to his nose.

    More bullets followed, and Lev was barely able to keep track of them. The course continued the same, requiring Lev to push the limits of his mental muscles. Every time he grew into his attributes and learned to utilize his skills better, Drakys further increased the intensity of his training.

    Finally landing on the last platform, Drakys gave him a simple nod of acknowledgement. No words needed to be exchanged. Lev prepared himself for a duel.

    Drakys made the first move, reaching him in a single step with his arm stretched out. Lev took a moment too long to react, barely catching the punch with the haft.

    The sheer force threw him back for several feet but Lev adjusted himself in time, slashing prematurely in front of him where he expected Drakys to be. The weapon parted nothing but air, earning him an explosive kick to the ribs from the side.

    Both the second rank of the armor and the durability rune carved in it saved the armor from shattering. Pulling himself together midair, Lev tried to scan his surroundings this time, barely veering sharply to the side to dodge a mana slash. Drakys didn''t let the opening go and rushed in. Two punches were deflected with Stargazer before Lev counterattacked, earning him another thunderous kick to the chest before his attack could land.

    "How am I even supposed to do anything like this?" Lev asked. He readied himself regardless.

    "You aren''t," Drakys allowed. "This session is solely to improve your reaction time."

    "Oh. Should''ve said so."

    Lev was then thrown around for another thirty minutes before his mana was drained almost completely by empowering the armor''s durability. Despite all his bonuses, enchantments still ate through his pool with ease.

    Taking a sip from his glass of water, Lev glanced at Drakys. In the past nearly twenty days, the Exalted had started to ease up around him. Where his words usually had a probing undercurrent, Drakys now preferred to be blunt.

    "So? Is this training proving effective?"

    "What do you think?" Drakys countered, his mind lost in thought.

    "I am definitely improving, and quite a bit. But that is all. I have no idea how I compare to an average combatant."

    Drakys thought for a moment before replying. "In mana manipulation, you''re head and shoulders above an average mage. For the physical fighting aspect, you have done well."

    What a nice way to say I''m nothing special in melee fighting, Lev thought, not really caring. He was already pretty good at one thing, which was one more than he expected.

    "I''m gonna check my notifications now," Lev announced. For the past two weeks, he had ignored them in favor of checking all the progress at once. It was bound to be satisfying.

    [

    Advanced Mana Manipulation has reached 2nd Level 2

    Advanced Mana Manipulation has reached 2nd Level 3

    ˇ­

    Advanced Mana Manipulation has reached 2nd Level 8

    Mana Slash has reached Level 5

    Mana Slash has reached Level 6

    ˇ­

    Mana Slash has reached 2nd Level 10

    Superior Senses has reached 3rd Level 2

    Barrier Armor has reached 3rd Level 2

    Heavier Lifting has reached 3rd Level 1

    Barrier Carving has reached Level 2

    ]

    With Lev''s agreement, Drakys killed all trolls to prevent him from gaining any levels. Rereading the notifications, Lev concluded that keeping them for later was definitely satisfying.

    Heavier lifting provided an interesting effect from reaching the third tier, something Lev was utilizing constantly during practice.

    [

    Heavier Lifting - 3rd Level 1:

    The burden of levitation on your mind is significantly reduced.

    2nd Rank: The burden of flight is further reduced. Flight speed is increased by 76%.

    3rd rank: Expend mana by overloading your armor to minorly increase flight speed.

    ]

 Chapter 60

    "How are things below?" Lev asked during his resting period. His mana was low, and his mind was also fried from the manipulation practice earlier that day.

    "Do you really want to know?"

    "Of course?" Lev gave him a confused glance. "If I''m causing it, then it is also my responsibility."

    "Is it really?" Drakys questioned back, looking at him intently.

    Lev thought for a few seconds before replying. "I get where you''re coming from. I''m just a newly evolved mage while the world is sending monsters my way that need an Exalted to deal with. It is beyond unfair but at the same time, the alternative is not caring. Even if I get nothing out of risking my life for others, becoming indifferent to the value of life is something I will prevent at all costs."

    Drakys exhaled, regretful about the answer he was going to give. "They''re horrible. In the past 15 days, I have killed 233 third-threshold monsters, along with many, many more weaker ones."

    Nobody spoke for a while. Both now knew something had to change. Lev was already contemplating where he would stay after Drakys left to put nobody in danger, while Drakys was thinking of how to give Lev a safe environment to practice in.

    "What are you thinking?"

    "Considering where I can best train with my team. Once I am done here, I will go to Windkeep and request Sherron to be stationed there if possible. That way, I can deal with the constant waves, observe new hunters and how teams cooperate, and also eventually reach Master by hunting at the edges of the dreadwoods."

    "The plan is sound, except these underground monsters don''t hold a candle to the creaturess roaming the dreadwoods. How do you plan to deal with them?"

    "I was only planning to go if Sherron was also present."

    "The range would indeed allow some freedom of movement, but you can''t expect her to accompany you at all times, can you?"

    "I wasn''t going to ask her to in the first place. As long as she''s present on the wall, I can safely hunt at the edges of the woods."

    Drakys chuckled. "Fair enough. Though I doubt she would say no to staying by your side."

    "ˇ­ I think I will let her decide," Lev grinned back. "Either way, it will work out in my favor. What''s next on the agenda?"

    "Your armor. I will teach you several formations, ranging from incredibly basic to something I am still working on. Rest for today."

    Lev did just that. For a long while, he did some light practice with mana streams. It barely cost him anything but at least he didn''t have to sit idly the entire time.

    After just an hour, it got boring. Without giving it his all, time passed very slowly, especially because he was not holding back his perception. Every second was longer.

    Getting up, Lev moved to the edge of the sphere closest to the wall in the distance. The spells being launched at the monsters were visible even at such a great distance, courtesy of explosive elements producing so much light.

    Drakys had vanished, so he let his thoughts wander while keeping an eye on his surroundings. The people at the wall could test the limits of their skills freely but Lev didn''t regret going to the pit. Where it had taken three months for his skill to reach the end of the second rank, they would''ve taken a year or more down here.

    Despite that, Lev wondered what a normal life would''ve been like. If he wasn''t connected to a past life, and also didn''t have the titles and advantages he did.

    He wouldn''t have met his mentor or his friends. He would still be goofing around somewhere with kids his age, living a normal life. Not becoming a hunter was out of the equation. If something drastic didn''t change his nature, Lev couldn''t imagine his alternate self shying away from jumping amidst the hordes.

    What would he have chosen, then? Lev only chose barriers because he was going to ask a famous barrier mage to teach him. Without that influence, he would''ve definitely picked a warrior class. Who would''ve taught him, or what his preferences would''ve been, Lev didn''t know.

    That brought his thoughts to his future team. What were they doing right now, and why was the answer training? A chuckle escaped his lips. If Orianna had chosen them because they could match Lev''s ambitions, then they were definitely pushing themselves right now.

    Healer, Warrior, and Defender. Shield is the official term for a tank, and Defender is the most generally used term. I can''t imagine someone without a matching personality ever picking that road, so I''m definitely curious about what kind of gentleman he is going to be.

    The girlsˇ­ what am I supposed to even think about them? The Healer will most definitely be someone kind or the complete opposite, though I''m more inclined to believe it will be the former. The warrior on the other hand, will be fierce. Fire and Sword, a combo that would require a matching will. If someone will be my rival, it will likely be her.

    The prospect did not sound negative in the least. If he could push his teammates further with a friendly rivalry, all the better. The other two would surely follow. Lev doubted they weren''t great friends if they were already a team.

    Several scenarios of how he could create obstacles similar to the ones Drakys made for him flashed through Lev''s mind. He kept note of all of them, always coming up with new things to help his team improve. He wondered if they knew how strong he would be compared to them.

    Perhaps it is better if they don''t. Without knowing the exact difference, they wouldn''t get dependent on my presence if I don''t reveal too much. Or maybe they already know.

    Only time would tell. Sighing, Lev got ready to practice mana manipulation again. The spells shot from atop the walls never stopped as he pushed the stream of mana through increasingly complex pathways.

    The current obstacle was separating the stream into five and then sending them down a maze of thin pathways. It was hellish, and Lev wasn''t taking it seriously either. He needed to remain fresh for when Drakys returned.

    The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ****

    "What level is your repository?"

    "One," Lev replied, looking at the list of runes blankly. "These are the most basic runes?"

    "They are. Runes that use willpower are much more complex than normal runes, but they are similarly versatile. To be a proper enchantment instead of a hindrance, this is the minimum level of complexity you can get away with. Believe me, these are incredibly simple in nature."

    "I ˇ­ see. Do skills make such a big difference to create such formations on the fly?"

    "Skills help," Drakys agreed, "but they are not the greatest factor. When you have proper control over your aura and willpower after becoming a Master, a part of your mind can work automatically without requiring input as long as you practice enough. Your subconsciousness knows what to do and takes over, letting you enchant without requiring much focus."

    "Willpower again," Lev moved to the next page of runes. "I hope my title makes a noticeable difference."

    Drakys shook his head, smiling. "Each of us Exalted would do anything to have that title. You are lucky to have it, especially with your chosen class."

    "Time will tell if it really is that good," Lev shrugged. He had yet to notice any benefit from the title, and his attributes had increased quite a bit already.

    [

    Wanderer''s Repository has reached Level 2

    ]

    "What parts do the levels improve the most in the repository?"

    "Capacity, mostly. The rest see little improvements. Our version does not make it any easier to learn runes. If the event is not significant enough for you, there''s little chance of finding runes. Or at least, that is what I have observed. Despite fighting monsters that could kill thousands of humans in seconds, I rarely stumble upon new runes."

    Lev took in that information. "Mine just leveled."

    Drakys nodded before explaining the real purpose of the runes. "The large ones you see are the ones that use willpower. I''ve increased their size for your convenience and because your armor is devoid of any formations, so you aren''t pressed for space. The first is a directed empowerment rune. It will be the main bridge between your mind and the enchantment. If you want to throw a kick, it will take some mental gymnastics for the rune to empower the kick in the right direction.

    "The second rune is a simple funnel. It will allow precise control over the flow of mana, which will let you throttle the empowerment at will. The third rune is a higher-quality connector. It has no actual uses beyond letting you exert willpower easier and allowing your armor to handle the strain of the formation better. The rest are supportive runes, things like controlling direction, setting boundaries for limbs, clear mana flow, overflow runes, and the like. Start by practicing the three largest runes on your barriers."

    Having no questions, Lev formed a round shield and started carving. His first few attempts were unsurprisingly horrendous. It took half a minute to gradually hollow out the barrier in the shape of the largest rune, yet it was still wobbly.

    The upside was that the practice took practically no mana. It was covered entirely by his regeneration with a lot to spare.

    The next hour passed in silence. Carving in his barriers produced no sounds and Drakys also vanished again.

    [

    Barrier Carving has reached Level 2

    ]

    By the 200th attempt, Lev considered the rune adequate. Its efficiency would still be average, around 70%, but that would increase with practice and familiarity.

    He started working on the second rune after that. It was considerably easier, though he suspected he wouldn''t have felt that before the last hour of practice.

    Drakys returned after a few hours when Lev was cycling through every single rune needed for the formation. The largest of the rune he could form within a few seconds, rarely more than ten. The small runes took three seconds each at most. By constantly carving runes and then filling up his barrier again to erase them, the practice progressed smoothly.

    "You don''t need to practice specific runes so much," Drakys off-handedly commented after returning, more a reminder just in case Lev had forgotten.

    "I know," Lev replied, still focused on the carving. "Focusing on speed right now and how little mistakes affect the overall efficiency. It is hard to guess exactly right now but after so much repetition, I can gauge how much every little error is affecting the whole thing."

    "Shelve that for now. Finishing a formation for the first time is a valuable experience. Let''s work towards that first."

    "What do I need to do?"

    Drakys focused on the air in front of them, forming a transparent barrier before a complete formation appeared on it. The whole process took only a second, leaving Lev stupidly blinking at the display.

    "You simply have to carve this on your armor''s chest. Even though it doesn''t really matter, keep it centered."

    "Very simple," Lev muttered before sitting on the stone chair in the center of the sphere. The chair was quickly becoming a comfort spot.

    His barrier armor covered him in an instant, smaller now because Lev now remained outside of the illusion armor.

    The three middle runes are the most troublesome, so I will start with them first. The smaller runes can be done between finishing the larger ones.

    Cracking his neck, Lev got to work. The first rune he carved was directed empowerment, the most complex of the three. It was as large as the size of his palm, riddled with twists and turns.

    He took his time. Several minutes passed before it was finished. Comparing it to the formation drawn by Drakys, Lev deemed it passable. Runes connected only to the first rune formed afterwards before he carved the second large rune.

    Ten minutes later, Lev finished the last stroke of the rune to complete the formation. Without prompting, he sent a small amount of mana into it. It took a moment for the mana to cycle through the entire formation before a connection snapped into place.

    Lev blinked, tilting his head at the new sensation. Not unlike his barriers, he could now feel a bridge between his mind and the formation on his armor. He silently probed the cool new addition without powering the enchantment. It was impressively stable, and Lev knew he could dump a lot of mana inside the formation without a problem. The amount would only be hindered by his Constitution as mana still needed to enter the armor through his body.

    "How does the connection feel?"

    "Straightforward for now. I can tell it will be difficult to get used to giving manual input to the enchantments," Lev replied. "How do I do that?"

    Drakys didn''t reply straight away. "What do you mean straightforward?"

    "Hmm? I can sort of feel the entire formation through the connection. The feedback will likely become clearer once I cycle mana through it."

    "And you were worrying about the title not paying off," Drakys mused with a smile. "This formation is simple by my standards. You were supposed to have problems connecting with all of it, let alone utilize it properly."

    "Is this not normal?" Lev questioned, not feeling any mental strain from the connection.

    "Not really. Using a formation like this is trivial for the average Master. Willpower can also be improved through practice and specific training, like a muscle, so even Adepts can utilize such enchantments to an impressive degree. You however, have no prior experience in utilizing willpower. Forming and maintaining a connection should not have been so easy."

    "Does blocking attacks with barriers not count as willpower training?"

    "No, that is a more direct use of your mental faculties. Willpower requires intent, and keeping barriers in place is a very basic application of that."

    I would like to apologize, my dear title. You are absolutely gorgeous just the way you are.

    "What are we waiting for then? How do I use this enchantment, and what is it even called?"

    "Controlled Enhancement is the name but yours is a simplified version of it. Take a few moments to move around and see if that affects the formation in any way."