After taking an embarrassed Amelia to the side, Kayla left Lev and Jack to face each other in the middle. Like before, Lev erected a barrier wall to keep them safe from any stray projectiles and raised Stargazer.

Jack stood tall with his hammer and round shield. The weapon was rather small compared to his stature, its total height just barely reaching his waist from the ground. The shield, too, was only big enough to cover his front from chest to waist.

So the shield isn't something he wants to hide behind, Lev noted, sending a small stream of mana into the gravity core enchantment. He plans to use both of them as weapons and absorb pressure for the team.

A respectable approach. Lev was slightly worried about the danger it would put Jack into, but he wasn't going to ever disrespect the man by saying that out loud.

Stargazer's weight steadily increased, going from weighing only a few kilos to dozens in a blink. Since his opponent was a Classer, Lev reduced it until it was only five times the original. Jack could handle that much. Probably.

Raising her in a stance, Lev took a deep breath and waited. Jack's gaze roamed his form and footing, trying and failing to understand what would be the optimal opening. His grip tightened as he abandoned any strategy, opting to test the waters first.

Taking a few steps forward, he swung his hammer at the maximum range, knowing Lev wasn't going to back off. Stargazer met its charge, and yet, it was the hammer that bounced back. Jack's face also contorted in mild discomfort from the ringing backlash.

Lev quickly reduced the weight of his glaive further and took the initiative. Not giving him the time to adjust his hammer, Stargazer zipped forward, aimed at Jack's sternum. His shield just barely deflected it as Lev darted back to avoid the returning hammer.

Considerably weaker in strength than Amelia-

Stamina liquified and powered Jack's body enhancement as he rushed Lev. Stargazer met the first swing of his hammer, neither losing out in strength. The warrior didn't let up and moved into Lev's guard, not letting him utilize the range.

A stamina enhancement, Lev noted in his momentarily slowed Perception, ducking underneath the hammer swing and thrusting at Jack's thigh. That is already rather uncommon. His skills also seem to be decently strong, just not as surprising as Kayla's or Amelia's.

Jack parried his thrust and tried to kick Lev's chest, who dodged it easily enough. It was surprising just how far Jack could reach with his long limbs.

Alright, he's obviously not very good at wielding a hammer but that will be fixed over time. Time for the real test.

Stargazer's weight rose slightly as Lev swung it directly at Jack's shield, making his move as obvious as possible. It impacted with an echoing gong, pushing the warrior back a step. Pulling the glaive back, he smashed it again, this time on the hammer, which jerked back from the force.

Again and again, he repeated the same moves, forcing Jack to both adapt and block them directly. Each attack came slightly faster than the last, carrying just a bit more strength. A thrust was deflected, making Jack take another half-step back. Lev's eyes narrowed slightly as he leaned further into his Perception, slowing down time for himself.

Stargazer snaked forward, almost catching Jack's stomach. The man just barely tilted out of the way and wobbled back a step when Lev tried to sweep his feet with a low kick. Not giving up the chance, Lev spun with the motion, hurling the pole of Stargazer at the warrior's face.

The round shield just barely blocked it as Jack took several steps back, arms shaking and eyes narrowed. Lev pondered if he should stop the spar already, given how even Kayla's face was becoming gloomier.

He just doesn't fall, does he? he thought, both delighted and concerned. On the one hand, Jack's class was already fairly stronger than average. In fact, the last blow would've easily shattered Lev's armor at the same level, yet Jack only stumbled back a meter. On the other hand, it was very obviously agonizing on the man's arms and body by extension. The backlash from blocking such strong strikes was no laughing matter.

"I'd say this is enough," Lev set Stargazer's butt on the ground. Jack nodded and let down his weapons with a relieved breath. A stream of restoration mana entered his body, soothing the taxed muscles.

"It restores stamina?" Jack asked, pleasantly surprised.

Lev shrugged. "I have no idea. Does it?"

"It does," Jack nodded uncertainly, eyes glazed over to feel the healing mana working on his body more closely. "Yeah, it definitely does."

"That's great," Lev smiled a little and dismissed the wall holding back the other two. "I haven't tested it on anyone other than me."

Jack gave him a look at that, understanding the undercurrent of implications easily enough.

Woops.

"Did you have to go that far?" Kayla asked with a frown and immediately put a hand on Jack's bicep. A small amount of her own healing mana entered his body, finding nothing wrong with it. "I could feel the vibrations from all the way over there in my limbs."

"Yep," Lev casually replied and gazed at her. "You're next, by the way. Do you have any offensive or defensive skills?"

"I… um, yes? One of both."

"Show me," Lev said and made one of the invisible shields visible. Kayla gulped and raised her right arm towards it, mana gathering in her palm. Lev was expecting a fireball or something like that, but instead, a bolt of pure mana solidified similar to his mana slashes and shot forward, hitting the barrier with a ping.

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"Mana bolt?" Lev guessed.

"Yeah," the healer nodded. "The artificer I trained under said it's one of the strongest pure mana skills after Mana slash. I will also have heightened regeneration by casting the boost on myself, so the cost will make it even better."

Lev hmm'd. It was a surprisingly good option. Most of the time, people didn't aim for it because of the difficulty of obtaining the skill. Kayla must have spent a sizable amount of time on acquiring just that.

"What else?"

Somewhat unsurprisingly, a mana barrier took shape next. It was a small thing, just barely as big as both of his palms combined, and was faulty in its creation. The mana density packed inside was already quite low, and it also spread unevenly. He proved a point by casually flicking the barrier, shattering it into pieces.

Kayla's intense stare bore into the side of his head, making him reconsider his actions for a small instant. Then he straightened and looked back, trying not to show his amusement.

"How often do you practice with that skill?"

"I only got it yesterday, you jerk," she huffed, her grin indicating that she wasn't serious. "The whole class hasn't been with me for any more than a week. We didn't practice before you arrived."

"Oh," Lev unconsciously scratched the back of his head. "I think this is enough for today. Tomorrow, we can head out for some real combat experience."

"Against monsters?" Jack asked to confirm.

"Yes," Lev replied and let some of his hesitation show. "There's another thing you guys have to decide on your own. I evolved through the entire Classer rank in just a few months, but most of that time was spent with me practicing my skills at level 100."

The trio listened with rapt attention, lessening his worries significantly. "I could've taken it slower, let my skills rise at the same speed as my class levels, which I obviously didn't. You guys have the choice, however. Since you will fight in a team, the essence gains will be much lower and your skills will also level steadily due to the difficulties involved in fluid teamwork. So, take your time to decide if you guys want to rush to level 100 and level your skills without increasing attributes or take it slow and steady."

"What's the main difference?" Amelia asked. "Why one over the other?"

"Not that much, or at least, it wasn't much for me. For you warriors, whatever routines you will settle into will need to be improved quickly as levels roll in. Only during the first gap will you be able to finally grow into the current attributes and explore their limits properly. Before that, it will be a marathon of doing the best with continuously improving attributes. For Kayla, it doesn't matter. She just needs to use her skills and learn their ins and outs."

Ten minutes later, Lev and a contemplative Classer team were flying high above Whitefall in his bubble, enjoying the phenomenal view of the bustling city and the distant forest. It was a sight as breathtaking as it was intimidating. They all eventually planned to be adventurers, and the sprawling forest was an obstacle that humanity had made no progress in braving.

"Now that you guys have graduated from the orphanage," Lev asked with a nostalgic smile, remembering the day he and Anjum parted. "Where do you want to stay?"

When no answer came, Lev looked at them to find his teammates sporting varying levels of lost and downcast expressions. Internally wincing, he hastily tried to salvage the situation.

"It doesn't need to be decided immediately, of course," Lev announced as they descended towards the orphanage. "There's no rush."

Half-hearted nods met his comment as they left the bubble through a large opening, Lev leaving last. No more than an hour had passed since they left, yet the team was obviously drained. A lot was suddenly changing in their life, and the mental pressure was much higher than the physical counterpart.

Instead of going towards the office, his team retreated to what Lev assumed were their rooms. He instead went straight towards Orianna's office, finding Sherron still inside. Two cups of tea were present on the table, their rich aroma filling the room.

"I feel their confused and nervous auras," Sherron mused while taking a small sip. "It's also underlined by a feeling of accomplishment and progress. Did everything go well?"

Lev slumped on the chair next to her and gathered his thoughts. "Quite well, actually. Felt out their classes, got them registered, found my mythril quests, and also introduced myself to Varun. Where the hell did you find these people, Orianna, and why on Monarch are their classes so strong? The healer's is almost as strong as mine, if I had to guess."

"Kayla's apprenticeship was the most unexpected and successful," Orianna smiled gently. "Out of all people, she was trained by an artificer of Alec's level. Despite the different specialty, he remains one of the experts in the field of aura studies. It wasn't even the planned apprenticeship. He just walked up to the orphanage one day and asked to let him teach the kid. You know how that turned out."

"She just happened to earn one of the most ridiculous classes without any of my advantages?"

"Yep," Orianna's tinkling laughter rolled through the area. "I wasn't sure if the team would be enough to pacify your demands but it seems they were quite impressive. I haven't seen them train yet, you know? All I know is what I heard from their teachers."

Lev just quietly shook his head. Sherron's words were proving true. Just like he had 'popped out of nowhere,' Kayla and Jack were proving to be just as surprising. He wondered if there was some force pulling them together, and not for the first time.

"I wanted to show you something," Lev changed the topic, and Orianna's shoulders perking up slightly let him know she was waiting for it.

Stargazer appeared on the table, set diagonally not to touch the tea cups. Her presence immediately spread through the room, pressing down on their shoulders indiscriminately.

Orianna slowly picked up the glaive and inspected it, her brows rising even further when she felt the sheer amount of mana inside. It was comparable to his own pool, only slightly smaller.

"Wow," the fire mage breathed out and put the bladeless weapon back onto the table. The top of the pole only had a hollow metal base for the blade, one side of it left open to let the blade grow out of it to any width and length. "It's the first time I'm seeing Mana Focus. What does it do?"

"From my nascent understanding, it is what allows Stargazer to safely hold so much mana beyond even the core. It's spread throughout the whole structure and enchantments."

"I was noticing that," she nodded absently, still intently gazing at the weapon. "The enchantments are always powered but in a neutral mode. It's a small draw that is covered by the core's regeneration alone. Very impressive."

"Instant activation," Lev agreed with a contented smile. "That's still far from the strongest enchantment."

"Few enchantments ever beat Arcane Focus," Sherron commented from the side. "It's the mage enchantment."

"Except Supreme Mana Conductivity, I think, is the most potent one," Lev said, lost in thought. "Granted, Arcane Focus is what enables it to be so strong, but none of my skills are nearly as powerful as that single enchantment. Whenever I try to move the mana inside, it acts just as quickly as my thought forms. It's a little scary, not gonna lie."

Sherron's smile turned rueful for a very, very brief instant that was burned into Lev's mind. He was going to get her a Superior item as fast as he could, no matter what.

"Anyways," he said, hiding his emotions to the best of his abilities. "My patrol starts at midnight. Anything I should know or look out for?"

"Wraiths," Orianna immediately answered. "You won't have much trouble with them, given their magical vulnerability. Regardless, they're nasty monsters that can take anyone by surprise. Beyond that, all of the monsters will be as strong as they normally are deeper in the dreadwoods. Be vigilant."

"Wraiths? Like half-tangible half-ghost type beings?"

"More fiction?" Sherron asked in exasperation. Lev belatedly remembered he had guessed the existence of Chaoswalkers on the first day of his apprenticeship.

"Yeah… I think. Not sure where that idea came from."

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