"How did you find Alec?"

"Do not laugh," Lev gave her a stern look, "but I just marched up to his cottage and asked him to teach me."

"And how did he react?"

"Not well. I won't go into details. Know that I simply worked on my body for weeks before he taught me anything substantial."

"That much is expected. You were very young back then, so it was also not too far-fetched to assume the worst. A few centuries are far from enough to erase what we witnessed back then."

Lev nodded slowly. He for sure wasn't gonna forget anything about Chaos, though he still kept his emotions and aura completely hidden to the best of his abilities.

"You have a Wisdom Boost, correct?"

"I do," he answered easily. That was going to become common knowledge soon, anyway.

"Which skill awarded it?"

"Needle Precision."

"Not the other skill?" she mused. "Arcane Control sounds right up your alley."

"Can't exactly compare my control to the queen now, can I? She was the greatest for a reason."

"Fair enough. How did you meet Orianna and Sherron?"

"Alec invited them to meet his disciple."

"Who do you like more between them?"

"I will punch you."

"10 points," Alina grinned, the most vibrant emotion she had shown so far.

"I have never thought about this," Lev answered, eyes squinted. "For the sake of a definite answer, I will say Orianna, mostly because Sherron and Alec would probably be offended if I didn't choose her. I'm not gonna answer another question like this, either."

"Obviously. This one was just my way of gauging how they treated you," Alina added, unbothered.

"Shameless."

"Experienced, and that too."

"I wasn't expecting you to be so… amiable."

Alina tilted her head a little. "That's because you're getting the worse end of this deal. All I'll give you is something you can earn in a scant few years anyway."

"See, you expect me to still be relying on the basic stuff in a few years," Lev held up the refilled glass of grape juice. "But I guess actions will speak louder than words."

"Do not-"

"I know I know. I won't overdo it or go out of my way to gain power. You don't need to remind me."

"It is slightly worrying that you can guess all my thoughts on the matter by hearing just two words. That should be telling enough."

Lev snorted, actually enjoying the soft reprimand. "Noted. What else do you want to ask?"

"Are your personal capabilities off-limits?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I just explained that to Sherron and Hakim. That's all you need to know."

Alina nodded slowly, smoothly moving on. "What happened in Runespires?"

"During the storm?"

"Yes."

"Do you know about the…"

"Faster formation of waves and attracting strong monsters? Yes. Many of our rotations have been changed based on where you stay. It is as much an opportunity for the veterans as it is a danger for everyone else."

"Huh…" he leaned back and put down the glass. "Something good actually came out of that? Props to you and the management for using it to your advantage."

"Sherron is almost assigned to you, Hunter Lev," she gave him a meaningful look.

"I see," Lev nodded slowly. The hidden meaning wasn't that hard to infer. If something too strong for her came along, they would both die. If something distracted her for long enough, he would die. Getting stronger quickly was still a priority.

"Anyways, on the Central Spire, a stormrider vulture ambushed us a week ahead of the expected time," Lev explained, unable to forget even a single detail of that day. "Beatrice and I were alone up there and well… we lived, somehow. She almost didn't."

"Did the threader also find you in a similar manner?"

"It did, though there's no way to know for sure. Have there been any cases of stray threaders so far from the ravine?"

"No. That was the only recorded one."

****

Their questioning lasted for a bit longer, mostly related to his adventures. Lev only kept the Chaoswalker encounter to himself, for everything else wasn't anything ground-breaking, just strange and unexpected. He really wanted to meet a core guardian again, though. Just to see how he fared against it now.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

In return for all that talking and missing his team's second delve for the day, he was now in possession of two more runes. They were two-dimensional and worked without willpower, though one wouldn't deduce that after looking at their forms.

Each rune was incredibly complex, requiring half as much space as his entire enhancement formation, and for good reason. The first, Porous Constitution, made it so that his barriers would absorb a portion of mana-based spells or kinetic energy from monster attacks based on the formation, and the second, Transformation, would allow him to turn them into other mana types.

The benefits were obvious, but there were downsides too. For one, even if Porous Constitution allowed mana types to be absorbed from attacks, they still harmed the barriers in the process. It didn't actually negate that bit, and once inside his barriers, mana types like fire or lightning would also see increased effectiveness, let alone something like acid or steam that would completely disintegrate them.

Another usual issue was the size and supporting runes requirement. Lev actually had two converter formations and other decent runes from Drakys' collection, and size wasn't really an issue for him. When crafting Epic items, one had to keep in mind the material costs and their treatments, but fortunately for him, barriers weren't limited by that. Treatments were manageable despite being costly.

With a slow, deep breath, he banished those musings and knocked on Kayla's door. His team was present in her room, and Jack waved him inside after opening it.

"Is everything alright?" he asked.

Lev nodded and summoned a chair for himself. "Yep. Just got entangled with the guild accountant."

"Alina Decker? What did she want from you?" Kayla questioned.

"She was just curious," Lev shrugged. "Alina wanted to know the how and why of my past, so I explained it all to her. A lot of questions followed, but at least I was rewarded for it all."

"You better be," Amelia huffed. "We missed our delve!"

"Ah, of course," Lev smirked. "That delve was certainly worth almost as much as a dozen Mythril quests. Totally. And we have time. You guys need to sleep for like, what, four or five hours at most? Plenty to clear the dungeon and sleep."

That made them all pause for a few incredulous seconds, sharing glances. Kayla shook her head and visibly tried to ignore his earlier words.

"Sure, when do we leave?"

"Right now."

****

Nothing of interest happened in the next two weeks. Lev messed around with creating new formations and generally improving his craft to evolve the carving general skill. His team also hit the first gap earlier than expected, leaving them with over a month to reach level 100, hit the level cap for all skills, and then train with their Master teammate when it would no longer affect their evolution.

In the same vein, Lev was left with a lot of free time on his hands. The wave came and went, requiring him to only support from afar. The sheer amount of projectiles he could launch endlessly was plenty, and this time, instead of getting close and personal, he just bombarded the most dangerous monsters with waves of infused lances.

That was fun.

Beyond that, he didn't even gain a single class or skill level. He gained almost nothing except a few valuable cores and recognition, both of which he could gather by himself later on anyway.

The real problem, Lev thought, looking at his hand as he sat on Windkeep's wall, legs dangling towards the sunset, is the itch acting up again. I've made no strides for too long now. The tiger was the only thing that last challenged me, and the crafting skill probably won't evolve without pushing it in combat.

Without leaving his team, there was little he could do to further advance. Two realistic options presented themselves after a lot of consideration. The first was to roam the edges of the Dreadwoods under Sherron's supervision, and the second was to work on his physical capabilities. It all came down to how much he was willing to push himself, and Lev was more inclined to choose the latter.

After all, his team was slowly approaching the limits of their skill and class levels, and at the current rate, that would take two weeks at most. He wanted to spend all the remaining time with them instead of going on his own adventures.

To that end, he jumped back down and strolled to the hunters guild after his team's troll dungeon delve. It was the first time they had almost failed, largely because of the troll shaman boss. All of its earth attacks were too fast and lethal, requiring a coordinated burst of attacks to finally put it down. Even disoriented, the shaman never stopped casting, putting a hole through Jack's arm.

And they weren't even angry at me for letting the attack through, Lev sighed to himself, recalling Jack's pointed stare when he was about to bring up the topic. The warrior read his mind without trouble, silently telling him that it was okay.

Inside the guild, he marched up to the receptionist, who straightened after seeing a Master approach.

"How may I help you, Sir?" the young man gave him a practiced smile.

"I want to post a request on the board."

"What sort?"

"Training. I need gold or platinum-ranked warriors to spar with. The pay will be 10 gold per hour."

".. That's too high sir. People would happily accept for even a fifth of that."

"Then I'll do 2 golds. When will the quest go up?"

"Right now, sir. Give me a moment," he dipped his head and quickly went upstairs, probably to consult Hakim. Lev waited patiently for a few minutes before the man returned with a stamped paper. Waving Lev to follow, he quickly went to the massive board and pressed the paper against it.

A pulse of mana made a part of the surface sticky, now displaying the quest to all passersby. The timing portion was still empty, so Lev asked the receptionist to mark them as anywhere between sunset to midnight.

"And where can the acceptors find you, sir?"

Lev thought about it. "If I'm available, I'll be here."

He hadn't even confirmed the few remaining details with the first interested party approached him.

"2 golds per hour?" the man confirmed, to which Lev nodded. "Why?"

"Why not?" Lev questioned back. "My skills lend themselves to melee capabilities quite well. No point in wasting free time by being completely free."

[Warrior - Level 197]

Gold-ranked party, he mused, finding the man in front of him to be the only warrior. "So, are you up for it?"

He shrugged. "Sure, I ain't got nothing to lose. When do we start?"

"Today, if you're free," Lev replied, glancing at the man's team. They seemed to be fine with the agreement, and that was proven further when they shared a glance with Lev's new sparring partner. A silent conversation followed before they went their own way.

"Name?"

"Charles."

"Alright, Charles. The rules are simple. Come at me with full force when I tell you to, and stop when I ask. If you're tired, just tell me and we will take a break."

"Fine by me."

A bubble suddenly materialized in front of them. Charles peered at it curiously but still followed inside without hesitation. The invisibility formation came alive again as they ascended, quickly flying to the city gates. Lev debated getting his team to spectate the incoming brawls but decided against it. This wasn't going to be a one-time thing— they could see it later.

While they landed close to the wall, a few hundred meters away from the gates, Lev prepared a barrier arena. A large 'ground' formed first, nearly two dozen meters in radius. Walls rose next, covering them with a dome. Invisibility and Concealment formations appeared on the huge construct, the runes hidden by an extra rune concealment formation.

"Now, then," he began, summoning his armor into its active state. "Are you a good barehanded fighter?"

"Decent, I'd say."

"Good, give me a moment."

The formation was already planned out in his head, so Lev began with the additions to his armor. Two triangular shields grew out of his arms, similar to bucklers but not round. They were quickly enchanted with his new runes, serving as a node to absorb kinetic energy and convert it into lightning mana.

Minutes passed in silence as Lev remained absorbed in the process. Charles watched the changes in his armor, even if he couldn't understand them due to the sheer complexity, giving the Master time.

The entire new formation stretched from his back to both his arms, expertly avoiding the fireball and lightning bolt formations already present there. Runes eventually ended on the new, small shields, completing the theoretical Kinetic Absorption formation.

"Sorry for the wait," Lev said and took a basic stance, one favoring aggression. "Ready whenever you are."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.