Lev stalked the seven goblins from atop a boulder, noting they were all below level 30. For the most part, he was leery of letting a monster hit him but Lev needed to improve his armor skill. The best and pretty much only method was for something to hit him, and the weakest monsters would be the best candidates.
Sighing lightly, he readied himself for a messy brawl. Jumping down the five-meter boulder without trouble, he adopted a forward-weighted aggressive stance. The goblins wasted no time in swarming him, frothing at the mouth to tear him apart.
The first goblin got a face full of barrier gauntlet backed by Lev's mental strength and the weight of the Illusion armor. Its head rocked back, with both the spine and skull shattered.
Undeterred by the casual murder of their fellow, the goblins mindlessly tried to skewer him with their rusty daggers. Lev prioritized the two coming for his face, grabbing one and deflecting the other with a backhand.
Four different attacks landed on his arms and chest, leaving not even a single noticeable scratch. The feedback from the barrier skill informed him of the scratches that were repaired instantly with a smidgen of mana. Lev pulled the grabbed arm forward, leveling a kick at its waist with all its might. The goblin's innards turned to mush with the sheer force packed in the kick, rendering it dead almost instantly.
Ducking another dagger aimed at his mask, he mechanically disposed of the goblins that just seemed so slow to his senses. His ridiculous perception made their every move obvious, and Lev was certain they wouldn't have been able to hit him if he hadn't allowed them to.
Now, how about we deal with the stalker stalking the stalker?
Lev turned to look at the monster that had displayed any form of intelligence for the very first time. A hiss sounded from the shade of the boulder behind him, and he could barely track a shadow moving underneath. The figure that revealed itself was a feline that was born to be a hunter. Sleek dark fur covered its body, which masked any sound its paws may have produced. Two black-slitted eyes stared at him, devoid of any thoughts or intelligence yet strangely calm.
They unnerved him more than he would ever admit. Fear gripped him when the aura of the monster revealed itself.
[Shade Prowler - ??]
Why the fuck is this thing here. Inna knows I can't deal with a first-threshold monster.
Lev quickly checked his notifications, putting 5 points from the latest level into Wisdom. If need be, he was ready to throw overcharged barriers as improvised fireballs.
Any further thoughts or planning was halted by the monster leaping at his face, jaws wide to rip and tear. Lev jerked back in the nick of time, launching a kick at its underside with all his strength. Contrary to his expectations, the belly was soft enough that his foot sunk in slightly.
Lev hastily yanked himself away and summoned his glaive. The monster gave him no quarter, forcing him to constantly dash around and waste mana while he filled the glaive with an arcane blade while two disks flew overhead. The moment it was ready and spinning, Lev lowered his stance for an explosive strike. It was risky, but the illusion armor would likely hold.
The charging monster accelerated beyond what he could react to, and Lev suddenly found himself on the ground with a maw filled with fangs ready to take a bite out of his face, Stargazer falling several meters away from him.
Panic spiked as the two disks fell down on either side of the prowler, his control over them terminated by the panic. He barely caught its jaws in his hands, all his mental and physical strength just enough to keep it from taking a bite. Behind the prowler, he noticed Inna looking at the fangs slowly gaining ground and the disks now on the ground.
Her presence gave Lev enough presence of mind to think beyond his erratic heartbeat and the ringing in his ears. Grabbing the two disks with his manipulation skill, making them spin before launching them at the prowler's neck. The monster howled in pain, and Lev pushed it away using all his physical and mental strength. It barely budged but he had already yanked himself away.
Pulling Stargazer toward him by the arcane blade, he readied it again. Wary of the sudden charge, Lev dashed out of the way the moment it started moving. His caution was rewarded when the prowler's injury messed up its landing, and Lev didn't hesitate to bury Stargazer into its neck with a grunt escaping his lips.
The glaive stopped halfway through the tough spine but the spinning blade kept drilling deeper, eventually severing it. Despite that, it took nearly a minute for the monster to bleed out.
[
You have slain [Shade Prowler - Level 103]
]
"What the fuck was that?" Lev half-shouted at the Inna observing the aftermath, breathing hard to calm his wildly beating heart. The angry glint in her eyes at the tone made him take a step back, but he held her stare.
Who in their right mind put a new hunter against a monster an evolution higher?
"You wouldn't have gotten it if I warned you." She stated calmly, her voice a tinge colder than before.
Lev took deep breaths to calm down, letting the anger and annoyance be washed away. "Gotten what?" He almost snapped but controlled his tone in time.
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
She just raised an eyebrow. Lev took the hint and checked his notifications.
[
Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 37
…
Arcane Sentinel has reached Level 48
Arcane Brawling has reached Level 4
Incisive Edge has reached Level 5
Whirling Rim has reached Level 5
Opportunity has reached Level 6
Barrier Armor has reached Level 3
Barrier Armor has reached Level 4
Heavy Lifting has reached Level 3
Needle Precision has reached Level 4
Nimble has reached Level 4
60 Free attribute points
You have earned a title:
[Goliath Slayer]
Slay an enemy a threshold above you with minimal assistance.
Only attainable below half the level of your threshold.
The title can be upgraded.
+10 to every attribute
]
Lev took it all in with bubbling annoyance. Sure, the gains were ridiculous but he had almost died. What if he wasn't able to stop the jaws from closing on his head?
Then cold reality washed over him. His life was never in danger, and the anger only came from someone putting him in a situation beyond his control.
Lev wanted to say something to Inna but in the end, he could only sigh. "Sorry for snapping at you."
Her eyes immediately softened. "I know it sucks to randomly come face to face with a first-threshold kitty," Lev couldn't hold back a snort at that, "but the title is very strict with its requirement. Even the smallest hint would've ruined it."
"Is this common?" Lev asked, now at peace with what had happened. Knowing it had been done for his benefit drained away all the remaining anger.
"Not even close," Inna chuckled. "Do you think everyone can do what you just did? I don't know how much perception you have but most people would've had trouble tracking its movements. Other than that, Prowlers are weak above ground. With the element of surprise gone, their frail bodies are easy picking. They were an ideal opponent for you to kill. Besides…" she trailed off and pointed upwards.
Lev looked up to see his mentor observing everything with a slightly apologetic smile. Very slightly.
It is what it is, Lev thought with another sigh. He had come out stronger in the end, and the experience was memorable, teaching him plenty of things. Firstly to fuck off when seeing something much stronger.
"It also confirmed that you were below level 50," Lev froze in his tracks when he heard that. Inna didn't even know if he could get the title before throwing him to the wolves. Looking at her, Lev could see the amusement casting a smile on her pretty face which soothed any annoyance he may have felt.
"Why do you have such a potent blocking stone anyway?" She asked as Alec descended, looking at him with a proud smile.
"Reasons," Lev muttered, dodging the question.
"Well done," His mentor praised. "The prowlers are focused on bursts of speed and jaw strength, which you admirably dealt with. Half their strength comes from camouflage in the dark and the other half from what I just explained. Inna isn't wrong when she says they were the best matchup you could've found here."
Alec looked at Inna, who dipped her head in greeting. "I knew he could get the title with relative ease the moment I observed him fight the brute, sir. Couldn't let such a tight window slip by."
"Bah, don't sir me," Alec waved a hand. "You did well, I was getting worried about Lev missing out on it too."
Lev tuned them out when they started discussing any potential quests that would require them to team up again. He distributed his attributes according to the planned distribution and accepted the title.
The rush from just the title alone made him shiver both physically and mentally enough for his armor to shiver too, and both the Masters turned to him.
Not sparing them a glance, he started putting five attributes a few seconds apart. 10 into Wisdom, Perception, and Constitution, and 15 into Intelligence to complete the cycle. The last five also went into Constitution.
This time the rush lasted even longer as the attributes took effect. Lev walked around for a few seconds, noting the ever-increasing ease with which he could move the armor around now. Intelligence improved all of his class skills and range of manipulation, which was now nearing 20 meters. It was much larger than an average mage yet at the same time, it was too little. Wisdom increased the mana pool and regeneration, letting him fight for longer.
Not that he had any plans to stay here any longer. The random encounter had drained all his energy, and he could feel sleep creep up on him again. The two Masters were observing him move around, done talking.
"How does it feel?" Inna asked with a grin. Lev couldn't help but grin back under his mask. Power coursed through his body and mind, telling him in no uncertain terms that he was much stronger now.
Too bad adding points into Constitution or Wisdom didn't give bursts of mana or vitality, only increasing the upper limits and rate of regeneration in the case of Wisdom.
Less than 20% left. Getting below 10% would've been dangerous during the fight. The headache would've broken my state of mind spectacularly.
Lev prodded his mana pool, observing the increase in total capacity. Each point of wisdom brought a non-insignificant increase after the augmentation from his class benefit. Combined, they made for something every mage longed for. It was only his arcane element-less class that allowed him to enjoy such a large pool.
"Feels great, except for the tiredness. Guess almost pissing myself does that to a person," Lev snickered. The Masters chuckled along with him. "Will I see you here again, Inna?"
"For a few more weeks. Maybe a month or two, haven't decided any next steps yet," Her gaze darted to Alec for a small moment Lev couldn't perceive. "Something may come up that requires my attention so don't be surprised if I'm gone. Will you miss me?" She added with eyes shining with amusement.
Lev gave her a look as unamused as he could manage. He somehow succeeded even with a mask on as Inna burst out laughing. Lev and Alec exchanged a few words of goodbye with her before The Bubble scooped them up.
"That sucked," Lev announced to the world.
"Really?" Alec grinned. "Seems to me it went pretty well."
"I almost shit my pants," Lev retorted in mock anger. They both shared a laugh at that.
"So, how was her company?"
"Really? You're gonna ask me that." Lev deadpanned. Where had that come from?
"Hmm, this is probably the longest time you have spent with someone other than me, Orianna, or Sherron," His mentor casually replied.
Lev blinked at that, then fell into thought when he realized that was probably the truth.
"Well, it was nice. She's energetic for a battle-hardened warrior entrusted with the security of the upcoming generation. That's about it, I guess? Not sure what I'm supposed to feel after spending all of, what, four hours with someone?"
"I see," came the simple reply. Lev knew Alec was worried about him not interacting with people much, and he understood. People of Monarch looked out for each other regardless of social status, though that was probably less true inside The Haven.
Still, Lev wasn't anti-social. Meeting new people and making friends was on his to-do list but he simply couldn't do so with his young age. Not only that, life was fleeting on Monarch. The walls of Great Cities had been breached several times in the last century, and the monster situation was showing no signs of getting better.
Lev was… reluctant. He could make friends with newly minted Hunters, only for them to vanish after a few weeks or months, never to be seen again. Such thoughts haunted his dreams, making his solitude-loving brain even more hesitant.
Despite that, he had been mentally preparing himself for that inevitability. It didn't help that he had to get a team at one point, and from what Alec had hinted at, they would all be Classers while he would probably be a Master.
Sadly that is a requirement to become an adventurer. Both a full Master team and enough strength to survive beyond the plains. Or in the plains, depending on the location.
Lev shivered as he recalled the rumors about some of the well-known dangerous territories. Beyond Windkeep were the Dreadwoods, with monsters above the second threshold at the edges being the norm. Between Windkeep and Whitefall were The Pit, The Crimson Ravine, and The Whispering Caverns. Each more harrowing than the last, Lev couldn't even hope to step foot inside them before becoming a Master.
They scared him just as much as they energized him. What secrets were they hiding, and what kind of resources were abundant there? The area surrounding the pit never produced any natural treasures, only grass, which sucked.
Lev couldn't wait to grow and explore those places. Just him or his team, tearing the dangerous regions a new one with nothing but raw strength.