Alec knocked on the orphanage's doors twice in quick succession. It was his and Lev's first stop after he had been accepted as an apprentice.

It took a minute for a bleary Anjum to open them. She gazed at Lev, not quite fully awake, and then at Lev before her eyes widened as she recognized the mysterious man.

"G-greetings, sir."

"Good morning," Alec greeted back. "I apologize for disturbing your rest but I would like to discuss this boy's future apprenticeship under me."

Anjum gave Lev a quick glance, both fearful and in disbelief, before bowing her head. "Please follow me,"

They were led to the orphanage director's office where she waited till they were seated.

"I will join you in a moment," she stated before darting out of the room.

Lev observed her in amusement, noting how his now-mentor seemed to be at home.

"Is this normal?" Lev asked.

"Most of the time, it goes like this. You're the odd one."

"Determined, you mean."

"More like delusional," Alec snorted, no doubt thinking back to their conversation.

"Hey, that's mean. I'm like, crazy at worst."

The unexpected banter helped ease his nerves, the last remaining tension draining away. He absolutely didn't want to experience a situation so tense and terrifying ever again, though his chosen path would not allow that. Of that, he was certain.

Monsters were humanity's greatest and only enemy for a reason.

"I'm sorry for the wait," Anjum apologized after returning, now looking much more composed and awake. "You mentioned an apprenticeship?"

"I did. Lev here has convinced me to accept him as an apprentice."

"I'm assuming he simply walked up to your door and argued until you accepted him?" Anjum questioned with a sigh, already knowing the answer.

"… Correct," Alec replied, for once looking lost about how to continue.

Lev just gave the director a mock betrayed glance. She was supposed to be rooting for him, wasn't she? Someone from her orphanage had just achieved such a meaningful apprenticeship.

"Don't look at me like that. You were always too mature for your age, Lev. You know precisely what you did today,"

Lev shrugged. "It worked, didn't it?"

"That it did," she regretfully conceded. "When does the apprenticeship start?"

"Today," Alec answered.

Anjum looked between the two of them, considering asking questions but she eventually just let out a sigh.

"I will not ask why the apprenticeship is starting more than half a decade earlier than it should, or how you convinced someone like Alec to teach you, but you can always count on me if you need something, okay?"

Lev walked up to her and wrapped his little arms around her in a hug. "Thank you."

She returned the hug for a long few seconds before they separated. "Does that mean I can talk about how weird you are freely now?"

"Oh, come on," Lev groaned. "That was years ago."

"You said I can't talk about your maturity before you become an adult. I'd say that condition is fulfilled now."

"I- bah, sure. Go ahead,"

She shook her head before looking at Alec, "Should I pack his stuff?"

"No need," the crafter replied succinctly. "Once again, I'm sorry for disturbing your rest early but we will be off now."

The goodbyes were short and concluded with just a single wave shared between Lev and the director. The bond between them wasn't particularly deep, but it was still something he would cherish. Anjum understood from the start that Lev wasn't ever lonely from staying by himself. He just liked the peace and quiet.

Her understanding made life far simpler for him. Lev respected her for being so considerate despite constantly dealing with the little twerps that were the orphans.

****

"Now what?" Lev finally asked, back at the cottage.

"Have you ever used mana before?"

"Say no more,"

Lev was already on his feet, ready to cross the edge of the world to get his hands on magic. Real magic. He was suitably excited.

Alec shook his head a little and exited the cottage. Lev followed behind like a puppy trailing its master.

"The first thing, as I mentioned before, is attribute training," Lev's mentor announced, summoning a chair and a book. "Start with a light run till you are too tired to continue,"

Lev looked at the empty grassland behind the cottage. He was a little disappointed but it made sense. Better get the strenuous task out of the way first.

With a few stretches, Lev started moving at a pace between jogging and running. It was surprisingly difficult to maintain.

"Can I ask questions in the meantime?"

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"Sure,"

"How did humans arrive on Monarch?"

"I cannot answer that,"

Lev tsked but accepted it. No one knew what had happened save for the refugees who had first arrived. His mentor was one of them.

The tale of the refugee ship that came to Monarch, carrying the last few survivors of humanity, was nothing short of a nightmare. The crash landing, years of battles, and finally escaping the never-ending hordes. All of it painted a horrific history that was not for the faint of heart.

"How many humans were there in the Empyrean Empire?"

"70 billion, give or take,"

"Why the hell did we need to flee, then? Surely there were a lot of combatants."

"Because," his mentor's tone turned grim, "we were still outnumbered, and badly.

Not to mention the monsters were all stronger than their levels implied."

"Still, a single mage can decimate entire hordes. Why couldn't they?"

"Humans were weaker back then. The monsters probably came from a higher mana density region, just like we are living in one now, and slowly overwhelmed us over the course of decades."

Lev continued his jog while mulling over the answers. It didn't take a genius to realize humans were stronger now. He didn't know how much stronger, so he decided to ask.

"So we are also stronger now? Stronger in what way?"

"Everything."

"What constitutes everything?"

Alec thought for several seconds before answering. "Everything on your status page. We level faster, our classes are stronger, our skills are better with higher bonuses, and we even get titles easier."

That is much more than I expected… Lev thought, slowing down a little while being lost in thought.

The questioning continued for a while. Lev asked everything that came to mind while Alec only answered what he felt like answering. Specifically, Lev was not given any information about the strongest monsters or the most dangerous regions.

For half an hour, he kept pumping his little limbs. When tiredness set in, his mentor motioned for him to sit on the second summoned sofa.

"What do you know about using mana?"

"That I need Mana Manipulation general skill to begin," Lev answered quickly, straightening in anticipation. "When do we begin on that?"

Alec chuckled. "Now. But before that, did you get any attributes?"

[

Constitution increased by 1

Dexterity increased by 1

]

"One in Dexterity and Constitution," Lev replied. He could feel the minuscule difference each attribute made, albeit barely. It was pretty much negligible. Lev reckoned it would require reaching the natural limit before he felt a bigger difference.

"Must have been close to them already. The first 10 points in each attribute will come rapidly, slowing down again at 15, 20, and 25. Before you ask, you couldn't feel any noticeable difference from the increase because these are natural attributes attained through constant training. When you add them from level-ups, it will be much more prominent."

Lev nodded to show he understood, then looked at him expectantly.

His mentor summoned a big … ball. It was hollow with a hole in its exterior much larger than his fist. Alec did something to it, and suddenly the hole was covered by a transparent barrier.

"Put your hand inside." His mentor instructed. Lev watched in amazement as his hand passed through the barrier without any noticeable resistance. If he couldn't see it, Lev would never believe that his hand just passed through something other than empty air.

His mentor didn't say anything, so Lev moved his hand in and out several times, his curiosity not waning at all. Nearly a minute later, he began to notice something. The air inside the ball was different as if it was thicker. He would've never noticed it if he couldn't simultaneously compare it to the hand outside.

"Is the air inside… denser? Wait, is it filled with mana?" Lev asked in a rare show of childish excitement. For years he had waited to interact with mana.

"Correct. This "Ball of Awakening" is a simple tool designed to aid in acquiring Mana Manipulation. It is a necessary skill for every mage class out there. Now, I want you to focus on moving the mana inside with your mind. It will take a small trickle of mana so you won't be able to try for long with your small pool."

Lev didn't care about his small pool. He eagerly closed his eyes and focused on his right hand inside the ball.

Okay, focus. Alec didn't mention anything about how I should go about this which is probably on purpose. Let's see. I should start small and precise.

Bringing forth his meager willpower, Lev sharpened his focus to the tip of his index finger. Mentally, he coerced the mana to move away from the tip. Lev imagined that would be easier than gathering it.

Oblivious to the passage of time, Lev continued to direct his will to the task. At first, nothing happened. It took more than ten minutes for the first change to occur. While he couldn't see it, he could feel a bit of mana move away from the tip of his finger.

Lev redoubled his efforts after that, uncaring of his swiftly depleting mana pool.

Slowly, more and more mana drifted away and in half an hour Lev had a small sphere devoid of mana above his finger.

He triumphantly opened his eyes and fell face first because of a blinding headache. "What the fu-"

"Language." Alec admonished. "This is the consequence of making your mana pool nearly bottom out. The emptier it becomes, the more intense the headache becomes."

"You could've at least warned me," Lev whined.

His mentor gave an unapologetic shrug. "Much harder to forget if you experience it firsthand."

The headache didn't seem to be going away anytime soon even if it was improving slightly as the minutes passed. Massaging his forehead, Lev ignored it and looked at his mentor.

"I got the skill."

"Really? That's pretty fast."

"Faster than you?"

The crafter snorted. "Not even close. I got the skill without even trying."

Lev huffed. Comparing oneself to prodigies was a quick road to depression. He checked the notifications waiting for him.

[

You have learned the General Skill: Mana Manipulation

Mana Manipulation - Level 1:

The basic skill required to become a mage. The skill allows the user to exert control over mana more accurately.

Intelligence increased by 1

]

"We're done for today," Alec remarked, leveling a meaningful stare at Lev. "What do you want to be in the future?"

Lev gave it some serious thought, befitting the situation. For a minute, he pondered on the different paths in front of him but there was only one real answer. The same answer he had decided long ago.

"Combatant."

"Why did you come to me, then? I'm just a crafter who specializes in barriers."

Lev almost laughed at his face but held himself. 'Just a crafter' had to be the worst way someone could describe Alec.

"To learn about barriers. I have some ideas about how to utilize them in combat."

Silence reigned for several seconds before his mentor spoke again.

"I have been working on a combat class for some time," Alec slowly began, "but it will be incredibly demanding to utilize fully. There will be no true active skill in it."

"Will it be strong, though?"

"Definitely," the crafter replied instantly. "Mana rewards hard work, after all."

"Okay… what type of class is it?"

****

"Let me summarize this. Correct me if I'm wrong but the class you have in mind will be focused on two main skills. Barrier Armor and Barrier Manipulation skill." Lev said, carefully selecting each word.

"So far so good."

"The remaining six skills, two actives, and four passives, will be attribute boosts and supporting skills?"

"Yes. The main advantage of this class would be the armor, and how you will utilize it for movement. Following that, you will also forego putting any points into Strength or Dexterity. Do you know what that means?" Alec asked.

"That I will have considerably more points in my main attributes compared to other mages. So, I will be able to fight like a weak physical fighter by mentally manipulating the armor, essentially removing a mage's greatest weakness of being vulnerable in melee?" Lev wondered out loud, now seeing the logic much more clearly.

Alec nodded. "You should also note that with more attribute points and the increased mana from an arcane class, you will be just as much of a mage as anyone else. The class comes with no notable downsides except low base Strength and Dexterity."

"Oh, this talk about attribute reminds me I have two titles as well,"

[

Name: Lev

Class: None

Titles: Vast Soul, Reinforced Mind

Attributes:

Strength: 0

Dexterity: 1

Constitution: 1

Intelligence: 1

Wisdom: 0

Perception: 0

General Skills:

Mana Manipulation - Level 1

]

"That is good," his mentor said. "I was starting to get worried you got nothing from that extraordinary past. What do they do?"

[

Vast Soul :

Your soul is tougher and larger than most. Soul damage and outside influences will find it harder to hurt what is yours.

+2 Base General Skill Slots

]

[

Reinforced Mind:

You have reincarnated with your memories intact through sheer willpower. Your willpower grows marginally with every point of Intelligence and Wisdom.

]