Novels2Search

Chapter 16

Lev's estimate of arriving at the edge of the training ground turned out to be wrong. When the ground first turned to stone, it was still relatively flat. Within minutes of traveling west, he was looking at a landscape filled with jagged boulders and uneven footfalls. Each boulder and the ground was made of Ivory stone.

Probably made by one really high-level Earth or Stone mage. Lev thought. He slowed down his pace, curiously peering around every boulder. Despite being manmade, it all looked natural to a degree, as if a really large ivory meteor had shattered there without forming a crater.

Shuffling from ahead made him freeze in his tracks. Lev immediately darted behind a boulder and silently climbed it. Pulling himself up by grabbing his barrier armor, a single leap easily found him on top of the four-meter-tall boulder.

Up ahead, the first Pit Monster he had ever seen was shuffling about. It looked like an unholy cross between an insect and a humanoid. The monster crawled forward thankfully, or Lev probably would've ran away screaming if it was walking toward him.

By far the most unnerving part was the mental effect. The creature just felt wrong to his senses, turning his thoughts slightly sluggish and inducing an intense fear. He could feel how unnatural it was as if someone had downloaded an extra fear in his mind, which was the only reason he could think clearly. The aura could be ignored somewhat easily.

[Shade Crawler - Level 43]

Its face seems to be fixed forward, so the crawler most likely can't look up or behind it. I'll try arrows first to test their toughness.

Putting the plan into motion, he nocked an arrow and focused on making its head spin. Now readied, Lev enhanced its speed as much as it could while the arrow shot forward as a blur. It hit the crawler in its abdomen, and the impact threw it backward. He probably hit something vital as it could barely move after that.

Lev winced at the extremely loud screech of pain and insanity, and put the crawler out of its misery by piercing its brain.

That went well… I think I can just kill them with a single shot.

Deciding to test his entire arsenal first, which was just disks and Stargazer, he started looking for other monsters.

Several minutes of silently walking forward saw him fighting no more monsters. Lev wondered if someone had swept his area recently when his mind screamed a warning. Turning around just in time, he hastily side-stepped huge mandibles aimed at his face.

With his entire focus, he leaped backward while yanking his armor with as much force as he could manage. That turned out to be overkill, throwing him nearly a dozen meters away and into a boulder.

Shrugging off the minor impact absorbed by his armor, he summoned his bow and two sharp disks. To his relief, the slithering pit monster only charged him instead of spewing venom or something, albeit in a wavy pattern.

Lev's arcane arrow aimed at the creepy face was timed with two disks dropping down from above. The arrow despite being faster than Lev could track was dodged by a few millimeters, but the monster remained oblivious to the death descending from above.

Lev dashed to the left, this time with a more controlled push, but halted in surprise when the first disk bisected the monster with ease, like a hot knife going through butter. The second disk changed direction, cleaving its head in twain a second later.

[

You have slain [Shade Venomfang - Level 39]

Incisive Edge has reached Level 3

Whirling Rim has reached Level 3

]

"Cool mask."

Lev jumped, whirling around with his heart beating a mile a minute. A short woman stood there, twirling a large dagger and grinning at his mask.

[Huntress - ???]

"Thank you," Lev replied, most of the tension bleeding out at seeing a human instead of a monster. Some wariness remained but that also settled down when he realized why she was there. "You're one of the guardians?"

"That's me. Why are you out here at night, and alone?" She asked, curious.

"To get used to fighting during the night and to get my skills to second rank," Lev answered truthfully, seeing no reason to lie.

She nodded. "I'm Inna by the way, and do you mind if we walk together?"

Lev shrugged. "Sure, as long as you point out the closest monsters. Preferably the weaker ones."

Inna chuckled at the shameless request but didn't refuse. Lev summoned Stargazer and filled the hollow blade. It started spinning seamlessly in the channel after a few seconds. Inna gave an appreciative whistle at the sight

.

"That has to be one of the sharpest blades I have seen in the hands of a Classer," She remarked while inspecting the glaive, noting the sharpness came solely from the barrier blade. "What level are you?"

"Low."

Inna snorted. "Fine, keep your secrets," She pointed to his right. "Four goblins that way."

Lev dipped his head in thanks before jumping on the closest boulder. Underneath, several goblins were shambling about with empty eyes.

So they aren't always a screaming mass of warped instincts. Lev noted as he readied his skills.

His arcane Brawling skill told him little about how to handle the glaive. The tips boiled down to 'Grip hard enough to not let it slip but not too hard, stay mobile, keep enemies at range, create and utilize momentum, and use the shaft to block attacks.' Beyond the tip about his grip, the skill might as well be silent.

Jumping down, Lev started backtracking as the monsters turned at once, screaming at the top of their lungs. He wasn't particularly worried about the rusty daggers in the goblins' hands. Swinging the glaive at the nearest goblin's neck, Lev expected a little bit of resistance.

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The combined weight of his glaive, barrier armor, and illusion armor knocked away the blocking dagger easily and the attack continued at the frail neck. Lev almost stumbled when he didn't even feel Stargazer decapitate the goblin, making him jump back to adopt a hasty stance in time to block the attack of another goblin.

The shaft held up admirably, deflecting the dagger without even a scratch. The remaining two monsters also reached him by then, forcing him to continuously backtrack. His lack of skill with the weapon made itself apparent as Lev struggled to find an opening. He knew both of his armors would hold easily but relying on their durability to return hits was unacceptable. Such a habit would bite him in the back sooner or later.

Pushing a goblin back with enough force to throw it to the ground, the other two dashed forward at once. Lev lowered his body and spun the glaive in a circle at full strength, going through the attacking arms and bisecting both of the goblins.

Lev barely felt two thuds from Stargazer going through their entire waist, momentarily freezing him in surprise again at the sheer sharpness. His mind yelled at him to keep track of the last goblin, which fell shortly after.

[

You have slain [Goblin - Level 32]

You have slain [Goblin - Level 29]

You have slain [Goblin - Level 27]

You have slain [Goblin - Level 26]

Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 29

Arcane Barrier Manipulation has reached Level 3

5 Free attribute points

]

The easiest one was also the highest level. Lev wondered with an amused smile. He had to admit, fighting with Stargazer was satisfying. The feeling of strength coursing through his attacks, and the vicious sensation of flesh parting beneath its blade was intoxicating. Both triumphant and visceral.

"Not bad for a first-timer."

Lev chuckled at that comment. She just assumed it was my first time based on how awkwardly I handled the glaive.

"Thank you. It was much harder than I expected," Lev replied. He thought back to how the glaive felt unnatural in his hands. It would take a lot of time or professional training for it to become better.

"You could've just let them hit your armor," She advised but Lev was already shaking his head.

"I don't want to develop such a habit. Besides, I'll transition into a full mage with my first evolution. Only learning to fight in melee range because being a mage is no excuse to not do so."

"Sort of makes sense. How do you plan on fighting melee range as a mage? If what you said is correct, you're already faster than a mage your level should be."

Lev simply held out his hand instead of replying. She looked at it for a moment before grabbing it. Feeling the smooth barrier armor hidden by the illusion, she ahh'd in understanding.

"Moving by your mind… sounds exciting. Is it harder than just moving normally?" Inna asked, curious.

"Definitely," Lev laughed a little. "There's no muscle memory or joints to guide me. Every single movement has to be done with just the calculations in my mind. I can barely run in a straight line, and even then I can't make full use of my skill. Lacking Perception and Intelligence, also too physically weak to cope with the strain of moving my body so fast."

The Huntress' excitement turned into a thoughtful frown. "Isn't the class stretched too thin?"

Lev wondered if he was revealing too much but he couldn't find it in himself to care. The random Master guarding Classer kids in The Pit was very unlikely to have any negative intentions. Not only that, his class wasn't even that special barring the huge 50% increase in mana capacity and the potential Wisdom Boost. He wasn't going to reveal those, so it shouldn't be an issue to talk about the rest of the class. Besides, it was primarily his age that needed to be hidden.

"I don't need to put points into Strength or Dexterity," Lev explained. "Everything will be taken care of by mind Mana Manipulation, Barrier Manipulation, and practice."

Her face lit up at that. "Hmmm… oh, that's a great class. How did you come up with that?"

Lev had absolutely no qualms about dropping his mentor's name. Given how universally respected he was, he had a hard time imagining anyone being his enemy.

"Alec Zar."

Inna burst out laughing at that. Lev was just starting to regret dropping the name when she caught herself. "Oh, of course, you are trained by that old man."

Lev sputtered at hearing someone calling Alec an old man. Inna continued heedlessly with a smile. "He's a great person. Never shying away from freely distributing great protection and utility items. I have only worked with him thrice, and he treats everyone with respect but always remains in charge. Slightly arrogant, but who wouldn't be with such a huge list of achievements?"

Lev's interest was piqued as he curiously asked, "Worked with him on what occasion?"

"Exploration and Mining quests. When the first Mythril vein was discovered, he was the first to volunteer along with a few smiths," She recalled with a snort. "Crafters drooling over metal, nothing new there."

"So…" Lev began. "What was so funny?"

"Hmm? Oh, I have never seen a barrier mage that also fights other than him. Now, I find a random kid fighting with the same element as a Monarch damned Classer, where barriers are known to be problematic. Very obvious relation in hindsight."

Lev had to agree, if his element was that rare it made sense. It had taken him over three years of practicing to get the class, two years longer than average.

Lev dispatched another two groups of goblins after getting directions from Inna, no closer to understanding how to become better with a glaive.

"How do you think I can best train with my weapon?" Lev asked the Huntress. She no doubt had decades of experience under her belt if not even more, which culled any reservations he might have had.

"To be honest? The best method would be not getting any formal training whatsoever. If you just keep going as you are, you can create a new battle style. Mana will ensure that it's always shifting and solidifying, improving its foundations. The effort will also be rewarded handsomely but…"

"The risk will be sky-high," Lev finished for her. With what he knew of mana and effort, he would probably get a good title for that as well. Still, the task was a huge undertaking, requiring him to spend decades to master the glaive.

In the end, he shook his head. "Maybe in the future, I will have the time for such a dedication. Right now, I need to rank up my skills as fast as I can."

Inna shrugged. "Shouldn't you go to sleep and return during the daytime? Fewer surprises that way."

Lev coughed. "I, uh, slept till the evening."

Inna's tinkling laughter followed him as he searched for the next monster. She vanished when Lev's eyes found the humanoid Pit monster. It was huge compared to almost everything he had fought so far, standing nearly 8 feet tall. With arms as thick as logs, and bloated muscles visible over its entire body, Lev was going to try and fight it from as far as he could.

[Shade Brute - Level 78]

Dangerous…

The only reason he was even going to try was Inna's presence, and probably Alec's too. He hadn't seen his mentor but he might be observing.

She doesn't know that. Lev thought with a mental chuckle, imagining his mentor listening to her remarks in his Bubble.

Summoning his bow and creating two disks up above, Lev looked for any weak points. The eyes stood out but Lev didn't believe he could hit such a precise target. The monster's speed was still unknown, so creating more distance was a good idea.

Nearly thirty meters away, Lev took deep breaths to shake off the aura of fear stemming from the monster. He nocked an arrow and aimed for the huge leg, looking to wear down its mobility. Two disks hovered a dozen meters above him, out of sight of the monster.

The flying arrow accelerated even further when he enhanced it with his mind, turning into a blue blur that lodged itself into the brute's hip. It whirled around with a pained roar, letting Lev hit the other leg with relative ease.

Lev jumped back in surprise, finding the monster's movement barely impeded. Dashing away in quick succession, he fired three more arrows, two hitting the broad chest and one its shoulder.

The brute's eyes never left him despite its slowing charge. When it was only a few meters away, both disks flew down from behind it and lodged itself into the back of its knees.

The brute tumbled forward, uncaring of the injury as it dragged itself with its hands, eyes filled with hatred and insanity. Fear spiked at a massive monster so hellbent on tearing him apart, and he hastily fired an arrow at its forehead.

The arcane arrow penetrated the skin but stopped at the hard skull, unable to reach the brain. Commanding the disks to dislodge and fly high, at the edge of his 17-meter manipulation range, Lev shot them downward at maximum speed, aimed for the brute's neck.

The first penetrated deep enough to sever the spine, rendering the brute limp while the second hit the same spot, beheading it.

[

You have slain [Shade Brute - Level 78]

Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 30

Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 35

Incisive Edge has reached Level 4

Whirling Rim has reached Level 4

Needle Precision has reached Level 4

Arcane Archery has reached Level 6

30 Free attribute points

]

The class levels caused him to grimace. The skill levels were nice but they would slow down a lot as they reached the 2nd Rank. The same wouldn't be true for class levels. The attribute points went into Wisdom, Perception and Constitution evenly for 10 each.

"Sheesh, didn't think you would do it so effortlessly."

Lev was about to reply when he thought about what she had just said. He had fired a total of six arrows costing less than 2% of his total mana and utilized two disks. Dashing backward was the most mana-intensive action during the fight, yet he hadn't even used 10% of his total.

I still have over 60% mana left, regenerating at a not-insignificant speed.

Class benefits changed the rate of mana regeneration if the Capacity and Regeneration bonus were not matching. There was a 30% difference in his case, which increased the time needed for a full pool regeneration accordingly. The result was 15 hours required to fill his pool from 0 to 100 instead of the usual 12 hours.

That wasn't to say his regeneration was lower than usual. He regenerated more mana than a normal mage but also needed to fill up a much larger pool.

"I'm surprised too," Lev eventually said. "Didn't think my skills were that potent."

"Those disks are fucking scary," Inna grinned. "I love them. Wish I had something that sharp at your level."

Lev just snorted but didn't reply, picking up the pace for something else to hunt.