The wave wasn't going to start for another hour or more, so Lev took the time to check all his tools and projectiles. Standing atop the outer wall, Sherron had already taken his bubble and his team along with it, leaving him to his testing and preparations.

First off, my personal cannons, he thought and raised his right arm. Lightning coursed through his armor's limb, channeled into the formation before erupting in a brilliant flash. The lightning bolt travelled for several dozen meters before losing cohesion. Similarly, the fireball formation also worked flawlessly, the random explosion attracting more than a few looks.

Lev ignored them and turned his attention to all the enchanted lances and arrows inside his bubble. A pulse of mana entered all of them, briefly rousing their formations. Relying on the mental feedback, he repeated the process a few times and deemed they were all still fully operational.

Then came the matter of his bubble cannons. Firing them at empty air was going to be too much, so he simply channeled lightning mana through their formations. Air cannons received fuel from the slotted cores, the task requiring nothing more than a simple nudge to the enchantments.

Those, too, were perfectly fine. For the next few minutes, he tested his enhancement formation, imbuing varying levels of mana in his armor along with it. Stargazer only needed a few seconds of checking to deduce that she was still awesome, which meant that his preparations were complete.

The physical ones, at least.

Now, this might be supremely stupid. Lev kept his gaze on the forest, his expression not betraying any amusement or concern at what he was going to attempt. But I'm pretty sure that each experienced Master has divided their mental faculties to work on multiple things at once. Some may be actively doing that, creating partitions to scout, attack, defend, use equipment, power enchantments, and many other things. Others probably do it subconsciously, pushing secondary tasks to the back of their minds, where they are taken care of 'automatically.'

The idea was simple. Since he knew that he wasn't fully utilizing his brainpower, or at least it felt that way, Lev wanted to assign his mind different tasks. Doing so in the middle of a wave was risky, but it was only going to get harder as time went on. He was only going to fight stronger and stronger monsters, which would make such experiments all the more difficult.

If that was all, he wouldn't risk it. It was only because of Willpower that he even entertained the idea. Willpower was the primary force that allowed such 'automation' of tasks, affected by both his subconscious and the Reinforced Mind title.

Lev was already putting it to use during his patrols. He hadn't made any great strides in mastering it, only what one would call an adequate beginner's control. That was good enough for a few weeks of practice.

That said, he wanted it to be just as sharp and potent as the rest of his class, which tied in nicely with the idea. Instead of generally directing it to focus on a few tasks, dividing his mind into portions and having each of them precisely control his willpower sounded much better.

No point in worrying about it, he jumped up and sat down on the wall border, legs dangling. If this shows any sign of working, I'll take it a step further. If not, then that's that.

Monsters were already streaming out of the forest, none above level 250. Lev was still astonished by learning that Whitefall's waves were less dangerous than Windkeep's. Sure, there were way more second and third-threshold monsters out here, but so were the number of Masters defending the city.

The Dreadwoods were much more unpredictable in comparison. Monsters attacking from the forest always followed a set theme, never deviating too much. Birds, felines, plant monsters, and occasional worms, insects, and parasites.

That wasn't the case for the Dreadwoods. Sometimes, it spewed out hulking abominations that refused to die, and other times, wraith-like creatures from that place threatened even the Exalteds' lives.

There was more that he didn't have the clearance to learn, and then there was the matter of what lived in White Grove. It was a mystery that made his palms itch, especially because the whole matter was safe enough that nobody seemed worried. Lev really wanted to just barge in there.

Fortunately, he wasn't that suicidal. Perhaps trying to initiate contact from afar would be a better option.

Shrugging off those thoughts, he scanned the empty grassland between the wall and the treeline. It was still a gigantic battlefield, stretching for dozens upon dozens of kilometers, though his eyesight made the observations much easier. Focusing deeper, his eyes followed the command and seamlessly zoomed in a bit, letting Lev see a gold team currently fighting a group of treants. They seemed to have things under control, so he moved on.

Several other fights were taking place, and it was humbling to oversee the strategic positions of all the combatants. The strategists and diviners ensured that everyone received an adequate amount of help and cover, obvious from the Masters dotting the grassland. They were at an equal distance from all the gold and platinum hunters, arrayed to not only keep an eye out in every direction but also reach the weaker hunters quickly.

Then there was Lev. No one approached him, not even with any general orders. He was left to his own devices, and he suspected it was the work of Hakim and Varun. They wanted him to make a splash, show the people that there was still someone amongst the youngest generation who could reach the rank of Exalted.

No matter how talented Elias, Aaryan, or Isabella were, there were way more Masters who had once shown the same or even more promise. They were still Masters.

Being strong and gifted wasn't going to cut it. If they wanted to show him off, Lev needed to do his absolute best, overwhelm all manner of monsters in front of the defenders, and generally shine so bright that no one could ignore him.

He didn't like it one bit. Too much popularity never ended well, and such power revealed one's true colors. He wouldn't ever admit it out loud, but Lev was scared of what mass recognition would do to his mind. Was he going to become arrogant or an asshole as it got to his head, or would he try to run away from it all, clinging to his desires of wanting a peaceful and somewhat isolated personal life?

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Or was it going to show him an entirely new side, something that wasn't going to come to life otherwise? It was nice to imagine that, instead of running away or leaning into the popularity, Lev was only going to do what the Exalted wanted him to do and use it to create a persona of an unreachable goal for even the strongest, one fighting for the safety of humanity.

Of course, nothing was certain. Lev wasn't exactly popular as it was, and while he still didn't feel comfortable with the idea, but it was bound to happen. Only time would tell what would follow.

All the while, an increasing number of monsters were leaving the forest. Lev spotted several direbears, second-threshold panthers, harpies, galeworms, and several new ones. The most prominent of them was a humanoid brute, nearly seven meters in height, and walked in the open slowly.

[Kerl Brawler - Level 352]

A spinning lance smashed into its chest, the armorbreaker formation ensuring that its sharpness overwhelmed the pale, sickly green flesh of the monster. Lightning discharged, stunning the monster thoroughly, and before the nearby Masters could even group up against it, another lance popped its head like a balloon with its sheer speed and the volume of infused lightning.

[

You have slain [Kerl Brawler - Level 352]

]

Lev watched with interest as the lance dug a large trench through the ground even after piercing the skull. It blew up a few dozen meters behind the kerl, engulfing a few unfortunate goblins that were trying to make use of the behemoth's presence.

A bird with six wings screeched from afar, gaze fixed on Lev despite the mana concealment formation running at full strength on his armor. Judging by the aura of the monster he could feel from so far away, it was a strong second-threshold monster, perhaps even above level 350.

Flying up and finally moving ahead of the wall, he darted straight towards the monster, his bubbles trailing behind. All of the cannons were aimed, and when there were only a few hundred meters between them, they fired.

Blasts of compressed air stopped his first air bullets in their tracks. The monster changed direction, now flying to the side while constantly defending itself. Lev didn't let up, firing the cannons as quickly as he could without breaking them, relentlessly testing the monster's reaction time.

It was surprisingly agile, deftly evading the ten or so bullets flying at it every second, blocking the rest with the same air blasts. That wasn't the full extent of its abilities either, and Lev braced himself as wind mana gathered near its wings.

With a single flap of its giant wings, the bird shot forward, talons outstretched to gouge his chest out. Dozens of ropes slithered forward from his bubbles to meet its charge. Another flap released a gale strong enough to blow away all the ropes and his bubbles, though a large lightning slash cut through it with two shockwaves.

Aimed at the lower section of the monster, it reacted quickly and rose higher, right into Lev's path, who had shot forward at a similar speed. The monster still wasn't caught off-guard, and its beak cut into his armored shoulder deep enough to break the bones inside and tear off a large chunk of the flesh.

It didn't matter anyway. Lev's right palm was already in contact with its neck, and a point-blank lightning bolt blew a hole through it. The monster died in the next few seconds, struggling even with its detached head till the very end as its wings flapped by themselves another few times.

[

You have slain [Keen Jairey - Level 343]

Arcane Maelstrom has reached Level 259

]

The lifeless body plummeted to the grassy ground once he ensured that there was no one underneath. Cores would be harvested by the guild's personnel later, so Lev flew back to the wall and settled in to wait again and healed the damage. He debated going to Kayla for that but decided against it.

Few monsters of the jairey's level showed up in the next hour. A few fights cut a little too close for comfort down below, and the inability to accurately aim from so far away was frustrating, so he moved below and turned on his armor's invisibility formation as well. From up close, no hunter came close to dying again.

A horn cut through his observations and distracted musings. The ringing sound came from far away, originating from Whitefall's gates, and the wave began in earnest after eight bell chimes.

Lev was about to fly high up when a pulse of mana cut through his plans. It was clearly directed at him, and tracking its origin revealed a middle-aged strategist. Another pulse came through, this one pointing to the southeast.

Understanding the assignment, he moved even further away from Whitefall and the combatants, prepared to handle a full direction on his own and four Masters that stayed on a wall, halfway between him and the rest of the forces. It spoke to their range that they were still assigned as a backup to him, despite being several kilometers away.

A giant wall to my left, a deadly forest to my right, and the hunters behind me. The wall ensures that nothing will attack me from that side, and the same can probably be said for my back. Which leaves two directions to direct all my attention to. That certainly makes things easier.

There weren't any monsters heading his way, giving him time to map out his mental exercise's steps. As was the case with most everything, he had no idea how to divide brainpower consciously. That left a single option, and Lev wasn't averse to brute forcing it either. It was also common knowledge that skills to manage the mind weren't a thing, or perhaps humans just weren't built for them. Either way, that only made the whole idea more appealing.

Okay, he breathed in deeply. For starters… three sounds like a good number. The first part's job should be to scan my surroundings, the second needs to manage my armor's formations, and the last and main part needs to handle every active action. Sounds good.

Theories aside, Lev could feel that it wasn't too difficult to do all of that at once. If anything, he was already doing it on a smaller scale all the time during combat.

There was a lot to keep an eye on, however. His eyes tracked the forest, struggling to look too deeply when another part of his mind was constantly taking mana out of his core and channeling it through the enhancement formation at low intensity. The expenditure was lower than his regeneration, and even while flying, he could afford to waste mana like that.

The last part was free, and he was keeping it unoccupied, not letting too much of his focus become engrossed in the two tasks. It was a unique experience, and he wanted to smack himself for not thinking of it sooner. With a little practice beforehand, the whole affair would be much less dangerous.

Actually… I wonder if this will work?

There was the question of sending out his aura and letting it detect others nearby, a technique he hadn't yet tried out for obvious reasons. Then he remembered the gecko that had been attracted by only a portion of his aura and changed his mind. Living was a priority.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted a few trees in the distance shuddering by something unseen. Then more of them shook, and before long, Lev could feel the vibrations in the ground as a large horde of monsters approached.

Trolls burst out of the treeline first and were immediately beset by a barrage of air bullets. Each thump announced a new hole in their bodies, though with limited brainpower dedicated to aiming, but the sheer amount picked up the slack.

Dozens fell in the first few seconds, bombarded by his bubbles without pause. They also made things easier by standing close to each other, often resulting in the bullets tearing through multiple limbs.

All the while, Lev observed the state of his mind. The scouting portion had seen a significant decrease in capability as he unknowingly pulled more of his mind to focus on the monsters, so he remedied that. His enhancement formation still ran constantly and smoothly, though. It was a habit by now, and the dedicated portion's performance reflected that.

Keeping up the firing for a few minutes, his mind struggled to scout afar. No matter how many he killed, there were even more monsters streaming into the open, running over the mounds of corpses without batting an eye.

Instead of being nervous however, Lev's active mind constantly formed more arrows inside his bubbles. The size of the incoming horde didn't matter. His prepared projectiles numbered even higher.

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