That magic is on the same level as my version 3 sphere. I start moving, taking advantage of my superior speed. I want to place myself on the farthest side of the group from him. I distance myself just enough so I only sense the edge ogres within my domain—at that range, they shouldn't be able to detect me.

I inch closer and throw another set of v4 spheres. After confirming how many were killed, I retreat into hiding again. I try to repeat the same tactic, but this time, before I can assess anything, spikes of stone come flying toward my position just seconds after I launched my attack.

The sudden strike forces me to use one charge of my electrified steps. "This is going to be a war of attrition." I keep attacking and retreating every few moments. The strain of repeatedly using v4 spheres is catching up to me—my mana reserves are depleting, and my brain is starting to feel the toll from so many constructions in a row.

"At least I've managed to kill about 20, I think..." They have no way to defend themselves—my attack is strong enough to kill them outright. The problem is accuracy, as I have to keep my distance to avoid getting skewered by those stone spikes.

"Huh? Looks like playtime's over." I sense the edge of my domain approaching open ground. The forest ends here. I remember seeing buffalo-like monsters roaming in this area.

From a distance, I watch them kill several of those creatures and stack their bodies until they've gathered around fifteen. Then they begin carrying them back—each pair hauling one carcass—while the ogre mage keeps his stone spikes ready at all times.

They take a different path, one that crosses open terrain, making surprise attacks nearly impossible. I follow them to track where they're headed. One of the two larger villages—there are guards everywhere; no room for a stealth attack.

I check the remaining smaller villages and confirm my suspicions—they've abandoned all eight. I head to the only other populated one and find a similar scene: a massive group of ogres returning with buffalo corpses, led by an even larger one, likely a warrior judging by the massive steel sword on his back.

"Damn it, this is getting more complicated." Based on my experience, I'd say my odds of winning one-on-one against either of those two is about 60%. The real problem is their entourage. If they're not alone, my chances drop to near zero.

"I just want to end this already." A tired sigh escapes me. It's gotten boring and tedious after a whole month. At first, it was fun—something new, a solo survival adventure, the kind of thing straight out of a book or tale, but now all I can do is continue trimming their numbers, one day at a time. "I've rested enough. Time for a little night hunt." I head toward the mage ogre's village, and what I find there surprises me.

Almost every tree around the perimeter has been cleared. I manage to get close, near the limits of my domain. Several ogres are standing guard in a semicircle formation, each with a massive boulder the size of my body in front of them, shifting them side to side as if they weighed nothing.

What the hell are they planning? I move a bit closer, perching in a tree, trying to sense more, but there's nothing unusual—just ogres and those dense stones.

The ogre behind this setup must be really smart—almost human level. With the trees gone, I can't launch surprise attacks. Their vision is wide open, and the semicircle lets them warn each other if they see anything.

Even though using a v4 sphere on a single ogre is a huge mana waste, it's my only option. I charge up a movement ability, use one charge to instantly cover nearly 30 meters, and launch two spheres at one of the guards.

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He spots me just as I fire, but doesn't have enough time to fully escape. Or so I thought—he hurls the dense rock directly at the spheres. It gets obliterated a second later, but in that time, he managed to leap aside, dodging one sphere. The other hits his right leg, completely destroying it.

Are you kidding me? Are they toying with me? How the hell did ogres come up with this? I bury my shock thanks to my frozen core. The ogre screams, alerting the rest, who come rushing over. Without thinking, I burn another charge to retreat into the forest's edge.

They can't comfortably use those rocks to follow me. If they want to come into the woods, I can take them out one by one. I step out and wave mockingly.

They don't move. Still standing there with their boulders in hand. Their Imra shows their eagerness to chase me—they clearly want to. Something or someone is stopping them. Seems like they've got a leader inside that fortress after all.

I give up attacking that village and sprint toward the other one—same situation. "So annoying…" I head back to my cave to rest.

Based on the size of the two villages and the fortress, I estimate there are still about 2000 ogres remaining. I'll keep chipping away at them while I come up with a real solution.

A week later, after constantly killing ogres and practicing my skills, all my abilities have finally reached level 10. But now… they're stuck.

"You've unlocked a rare achievement. All of your skills (7/9) have simultaneously reached a bottleneck."

"As a reward, you may choose one of the following: Gain a new skill, receive a guide to a pseudo-law, or break the bottleneck of a skill."

What the hell is this? I've never heard anything like it. Maybe my bad luck is finally starting to change.

I get why it's a rare achievement. According to Sus, barely anyone manages to obtain all their possible skills—let alone raise them all to the maximum level like I just did.

So the reason they stopped leveling is this bottleneck. And even though the world's voice offers me a shortcut to break through one of them, I know there must be another way to overcome it naturally. This shortcut might help now, but it'll be worthless later when I leave this dungeon and can ask my family for more info.

Getting a new skill is tempting—I could go for something related to my Death or Gravity affinities. Either one could give me a massive edge in battle. Death for faster kills, or Gravity for all kinds of utility and control.

Then there's the pseudo-law guide… After pestering Grandma endlessly, she once told me: a Law is about understanding. You can obtain Laws tied to your mana affinity—things like rotation, sharpness, strength, and more. There's an infinite variety. And pseudo-laws are like the first step toward that—they lay the foundation for something much more powerful.

Laws and pseudo-laws enhance the strength of your abilities on a whole other scale. 15% for pseudo-laws, 30% for real Laws. It may not sound like much, but that boost can change the tide of any battle.

So I'm left with two real choices: gain a skill, or choose a path toward a pseudo-law. Both are insanely valuable in the short, medium, and long term.

A new skill stays with me forever, always giving me an extra option in battle. But I also trust in myself—in my knowledge and comprehension. If I start building the foundation of one pseudo-law now, I believe I can learn more later… and even form a real Law ahead of schedule. That would also stay with me for life.

What do I do? It's not an easy decision. I spend hours thinking it over, crafting hypothetical scenarios, imagining skills, theorizing about what a Law might be like. Time passes—morning is nearly here—before I snap out of it.

Even then, I'm still uncertain. But I've pushed the scale to 51% in favor of one choice.

Barely with that slim margin, I choose the pseudo-law guide. It hurts to let go of the skill option… but I've already got two unused slots, and I'll get another when I reach Sapphire rank. I can always make some fusion adjustments down the road.

I mentally select the pseudo-law path.

"Calculating... These are your options: Ice Guide, Electric Guide, Blade Guide, Rotation Guide, Strength Guide. These five have been selected based on your recent preferences." No Life or Gravity Guide. Not unexpected.

I don't rush. I sit on the ground and keep thinking. Rotation is the first one I eliminate. Regretfully, I also cut out the Electric Guide—for now, electricity is only used in one of my skills, and I've just started integrating it into my mental focus.

The Blade Guide could benefit my Imra and the spikes in my spheres. That leaves two more.

Strength is always useful. A reliable choice. I hesitate, but eventually set it aside, only one remains. Ice. I accept it.

"Acquiring Ice Pseudo-Law Guide."

Suddenly, the information floods into me—understanding of what ice is, its properties, its components, how it forms. I knew some of it from my past life… but now, I'm learning something entirely new.

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