Lev didn't mess with any new formations or items. Practicing and improving every aspect of the weapon was required to further his nascent mastery of enchanting, regardless of how long it took. The simple two dimensional formations he was currently using were the most basic, and building a strong foundation was necessary.

It would take decades of experience just to create the Arcane Supremacy rune on his barriers. Given its sheer size, Lev didn't even know how it was supposed to fit on his armor. Powering it was another matter entirely.

Lev sighed. Every other minute, the rune somehow came back to mind, proving Drakys' words. It really changed his perception of runes permanently.

Now that he had a working model of the revolver, the next step was to improve on it as much as possible. To start things off, Lev made the barrel thicker, improving its weight but reducing the space inside. The wind or air bullet was considerably smaller than the barrel, which left some space for it to wobble and potentially disrupt its own flight. Making the barrel thicker solved that. Another thing he remembered was needing to make the bullets spin rapidly before making them accelerate in a straight line. It didn't require much tinkering to make that possible, allowing the projectiles to fly without being disrupted easily.

Enchantments worked as best as he could make them. Improving them was a matter of repeated usage and understanding, at which point he could recreate them with better efficiency and overall performance. Wind was an element he had yet to add to his arsenal, and now he was free to do so. Doing that before Master would've likely hurt his evolutions because of the extreme adaptability. Not to mention that he could make dungeon clears even easier by combining wind blades with his massive mana pool.

That was no longer true. Every new addition was going to be helpful regardless of it was too strong. Shaking his head, he banished the thoughts of the far future and brought himself back to the present. His revolvers needed minor improvements, and he had the time to spare.

Hours passed as Lev created ten final versions of them for testing purposes. Some used his own pure mana, whereas some used mana types from different cores. The results weren't anything surprising.

Galeworm cores showed the most impressive performance overall, outdoing pure mana by a rather small margin, the result of minor properties of wind shown by their cores. The unexpected result came from burrower cores, ones that showed minor properties of stone. Each wind bullet formed of their mana was slightly denser and heavier, compensating almost completely for the missed speed.

Despite that, it opened up two different paths for him. Pure wind bullets were best for targets that didn't focus on defense and were considerably faster, whereas the shots tinged with earth mana had more devastating blunt impacts. Both had their uses.

Sherron's arrival halted his experimenting spree. Only the final revolver with the best results remained, and he dismissed the rest before storing the slightly used cores in a separate pile in his ring for future tests.

"Did I interrupt something?" she questioned with a raised brow when Lev dismissed the bubble, stepping out of invisibility. Her eyes lingered on the revolver.

"Nope," Lev checked himself over, finding no burnt or ruined clothing, nor any blood stains. Crafting a revolver was pretty safe, apparently. "Just messing with some potent firearms."

"I can see that," she smirked faintly. "Did you succeed?"

Lev shrugged. "In theory and indoors testing, yeah. Not sure how it stacks up against the endless types of monsters."

"I mean… we're free after Orianna and Alec leave. I can accompany you to the dreadwoods after that."

"They're leaving already?" he muttered.

Sherron nodded, understanding his dejection. "Something came up that requires two or three Exalted to move at once. There will be a large team accompanying them."

"… Because of me?"

"No," she immediately replied and flicked his forehead lightly. "Not everything bad happens because of you, mister. The current issue they're facing is clearing hordes that have been allowed to grow for too long in the center."

"Then all of you are leaving?" Lev questioned and sat down on the bed. "I was also gonna escort Beatrice to Timberhold."

"Promotion?"

"Yeah, an abrupt one."

"Give her my congratulations," Sherron voiced and sat down next to him. "Did she ask you to accompany her?"

"Nope," Lev replied, glancing at Galeshot in his hands.

"Thought so," Sherron scanned the weapon as well. "Are the air bullets empowered by your class?"

"They are. It is quite ridiculous."

"To answer your earlier question," Sherron changed the topic. "It still depends on how the Ravine behaves. Blood Tide remains busy in the caverns, and Trailblazer is stationed at Timberhold like always. That only leaves a few options since Mara isn't a combatant.

"Which brings me to the next topic. Trailblazer has already been informed of your class and most of your advantages. Make sure to spend a full month or more with him."

Lev blinked, trying to understand what she had just said. Blood Tide was the reclusive Exalted who preferred to be deep inside whole monster waves. Information about her was scarce, and most people only knew that she used blood as her primary element, one notorious for requiring extreme amounts of mana and control.

Trailblazer was similarly shrouded in mysteries. The Exalted rarely showed himself in public, remaining in seclusion most of the time. There was no public information about his class or capabilities, but everyone knew he was in Timberhold.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"What? Why?" Lev questioned, surprised at the random request. "That does not sound fun."

"Why not?" she gave him an odd look. "Thought you would appreciate the training."

"Training from a big question mark? Yeah, I can see why that would be enticing," Lev nodded sarcastically.

"Oh," Sherron exclaimed as she realized something. "You don't know about his class?"

"Why would I?" Lev bluntly asked.

"Right… either way, meditating in his presence will be helpful. He's a non-combatant like Mara and is also the strongest aura mage. You, more than anyone, need to spend some time in his pond."

"Pond?"

"His turf."

The idea… didn't sound bad, especially if she thought it well for him. Lev tossed it around in his head, wondering what could be so amazing about a singular aura mage. Then he imagined just how potent an Exalted's aura was, and the wonders that could be brought about by an aura mage of that caliber.

"Alright," Lev eventually agreed. "What do I need to know, and how do I not get turned away at his gates?"

"Not much. He may be a support mage, but that doesn't mean he can't fight. There is likely no one as skilled as he in brawling on the plains. If someone denies you entry at his estate, well, just show them the full extent of your aura. He will probably notice you immediately."

"… Not very reassuring for a method, Sherron." Lev snorted. "I will do that and probably get locked up, I guess."

She just exhaled in exasperation before a grin formed on her face. "You know what? When things feel like they aren't going well, just yell that Hakim's aura is vastly superior. That will get you inside, one way or another."

"Yeah, no."

****

Goodbyes took depressingly little time. They always did. Lev tightly hugged his mentor and Orianna, who was putting on a brave face. It was noticeable now, even if he just barely noticed.

Hours later, he was still lying in bed. Sherron also had to leave for some reason, probably related to the upcoming task, which left Lev to stew in his own thoughts. There weren't many this time around, so he just lay there, eyes closed to meditate while his pool remained in a constant state of depletion and regeneration. Keeping his armor overloaded and the enchantments powered required enough mana to outpace his regen, and that made for good control practice for long-term exertions.

The poolgazing was interrupted when two auras entered the mansion, both belonging to the strongest of humans. Lev got up and washed his face before Sherron and Drakys entered his room, one of them seemingly prepared for war.

Dark blue armor covered the lightning Exalted's form, radiating waves of pressure from the large amounts of mana infusing it. Cloaked yet potent enchantments were noticeable to his mana perception, raising his eyebrows to his forehead.

"Wow. First time seeing that," Lev wondered out loud and moved closer. He only scanned it from the front, as the armor fitted her form quite closely, and just took in the majestic appearance. "Is it Superior rarity?"

"You know of those?" Drakys raised a brow. Sherron and Lev exchanged a glance before the former shrugged a shoulder, leaving the decision up to him.

Lev didn't particularly care. Drakys was the one he was least worried about taking the core from him.

"Did they tell you about how I evolved?" he asked.

"Something about a third-threshold monster," Drakys answered slowly, trying to piece together the events. "Was it the core?"

With a nod, Lev summoned the warg's mutated core. It appeared from his ring with a wave of mana, proudly announcing its presence. Drakys gazed at it with eerily neutral eyes, a trace of disbelief in them.

"How are you alive, boy?"

"Luck," Lev casually answered. "An ocean's worth of luck, to be exact."

"Can I see it?" Drakys questioned. Lev handed it to him without much hesitation. The Exalted asking for it instead of simply taking it from him put any worries to rest.

"Regenerative cores aren't unheard of," Drakys began after a few seconds of silent observation. "Hakim's sword has one, and so do some other tools around the plains. Issue is, we have no idea why they dropped when they did. Monsters with extreme regeneration powers didn't ever possess cores like that, which makes every such find a treasure. What do you plan to do with it?"

"Get Stargazer remade."

"Ah," he nodded gently. "That's for the best. How much have your close-quarter capabilities improved?"

"I… don't know?" Lev blinked and looked at Sherron.

"He's pretty good for a mage," she answered in his stead. "Can take on most warriors of his level but if nothing changes, he won't be anything special in melee."

Drakys sat down on the bed after tossing the core back to Lev. "You do understand how absurd that sounds, right? He's strong enough to tackle newly evolved Master warriors, which means none of them will stand a chance against him once he acquires a Superior weapon."

"Well," she huffed. "I would know if I ever had one such weapon."

Lev silently turned to her. She looked back. He held out the core for her to take in his right hand.

Sherron stared at it, frozen. Slowly, she looked up from it, directly into his eyes before her aura exploded outwards, immediately stealing the air from his lungs. Lev's legs buckled as he fell on his knees, but the arm remained outstretched.

Drakys didn't interfere as she audibly gritted her teeth at the audacity. Anger surged out in waves with her aura, before it turned into grief and fear.

"I carried less than half of your body to Windkeep…" she mumbled before taking a deep breath, her aura vanishing with it. Lev couldn't quite say anything in his paralyzed state before she marched out of the bedroom, leaving him falling face-first on the floor as shivers wracked his body.

Just being subjected to her aura was enough to trick his brain into thinking it was getting electrocuted to death, if the reaction of his body was anything to go by. Lev shakily stood up and stored the core in his ring, wondering if he had made a mistake. Sherron was bound to be angry at the offer, that much was obvious, but the sadness was even more intense than he expected.

Regardless, it wasn't all negative. Lev had accomplished two things with that stupid maneuver. First, he now knew in no uncertain terms that offering something like this to Sherron was going to be a horrible idea, no matter what. Secondly, and most importantly, the impact next time was going to be lessened because he had already established his desire to give her things, and would continue to decrease until she didn't bat an eye at whatever he gifted her. That was the end goal.

"That wasn't smart," Drakys commented, smiling nonetheless. "She doesn't forget easily."

"A few hugs will do the trick," Lev distractedly replied, mind whirring after she expressed her answer very clearly. "What do I need to gather for a Superior item matching her class?"

"Another one of those cores will be more than enough, but that's pretty much impossible. Keep an eye out for any lightning treasures or runes."

"That reminds me," Lev turned to him, face flat and eyes exasperated. "What the actual fuck did you put on the last page?"

Drakys grinned widely. "Did you like it?"

Lev stared quietly for a few long seconds before a smile twisted his lips as well, unable to hold it against the man. The rune was a miracle by all metrics, and he was dying to know how the Exalted even got his hands on it.

"Of course I did," he sighed and sat down on one of the sofas in the corner of the room. "How can something like that rune even exist? More importantly, how can you kill something that strong to get its rune?"

"Not my fault you just assumed that such runes only come from killing," Drakys replied with a raised brow. "Does our skill not specify otherwise?"

"… Forgot that possibility. Then how?"

The Exalted didn't reply immediately and visibly gathered his words. Lev didn't rush him, knowing they had plenty of time to themselves.

"You should know that no one other than the two of us knows about the rune's actual potential," he began, staring into Lev's eyes to show his seriousness. "Hakim knows it's something that might even surpass his class skills, but that's all. Do you understand what that means?"

"I… don't."

"It means that other than me, no one knows how I got my hands on it. You will be the first to find out."

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