Chapter 5_Ceaseless Horizons [A LitRPG Progression Fantasy]

Three years passed in peaceful training before Lev found himself trying for the class again inside his mentor's cottage.

Sweat poured off his brow as he sidestepped another arrow, unwilling to test the durability of the crude pieces of "armor" covering his arms and chest. His arm moved with an unnatural speed higher than his attributes would suggest, as the buckler strapped to his hand slapped away the next arrow. The attacks didn't stop, however. Lev had to sharpen his focus even further as they increased in quantity.

The next one was slapped away in a familiar fashion. His limbs shook from exertion but remained steadfast, intent on seeing this through.

The exercise lasted several minutes. Lev's mana dwindled but having hit the natural limit for 30 Wisdom long ago, he still had plenty to spare.

"Switch," came the sweet order, and Lev wasted no time in dismissing the two bucklers in each hand. Over the next two seconds, two round barrier disks formed above the now empty palms. Concentrating, he made their edges as sharp as possible.

Examining them for a split second, he nodded in satisfaction and made them spin as fast as he could manage. Within the span of five seconds, Lev had two projectiles that rivaled mundane swords in lethality.

A great feat for a classless mage.

Three thick bamboo-like sticks dangled in front of him, their interiors hollow. Lev's task was to cut them as cleanly as possible. One would imagine that razor-sharp spinning disks would cut through most materials with ease, but that couldn't have been further from the truth.

Just like when striking with a sword, his disks needed a proper technique to cut properly. The smallest error in angle could dramatically reduce the damage, which was the last thing someone wanted when fighting monsters.

The first disk shot forward like a bullet, eating the distance in a blink. Time seemed to slow down as the round barrier passed through the first stick smoothly as Lev's mind only registered a faint resistance from the feedback.

The second disk flew through another with minimal effort, but the last one was a little tricky. The first disk traveled back, back to its original position before it shot forward again. That was the only way for it to generate enough momentum.

The lower half of the last stick clattered to the ground.

"Switch,"

Lev prepared himself for the last round. Mana rushed out of him into the crude armor as a block of wood materialized in front of him. Suspended midair by something he couldn't see, it was at the perfect height for Lev to punch with all his might.

Different from other mages, Lev's physical might came from both his mind and body. From the ground up, Lev twisted his body and channeled all he could into the punch.

Halfway through that, his mind joined in. The barrier covering his arm was pulled forward with all his mental concentration, augmenting his physical strength even further.

Lev's arm whipped forward like a snake and hit the block with a crack as the shoddy barrier gauntlets shattered and pain lanced up his arm. The feedback, however, didn't even register in his mind. The notification in front of him thoroughly soaked up his attention.

It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

[

Congratulations! You have qualified for the Arcane Sentinel class.

]

"FINALLY!" Lev exclaimed with palpable excitement. His mentor and two spectators cheered with him as well.

Alec, his mentor for the past four years, spoke first. "Took you long enough. What is it called?"

"Arcane Sentinel," Lev replied with a wide grin, still breathing heavily from the effort.

Sherron whistled. "Fancy name. Half the time it is 'Apprentice this' 'Budding that'." Orianna nodded in agreement, giving him a warm smile.

Lev didn't hesitate to sit between the two of them as he calmed his breathing. If an outsider was watching, they would've been horrified.

The two women Lev had so casually sat next to were two of humanity's strongest combatants. To his right was Orianna, The Flame Legion. To his left was Sherron, The Galvanic Sniper. The lightning sniper was not only one of the strongest, she was also an Exalted.

There were only 12 Exalted humans on Monarch.

Human ranks were pretty simple. Classers, from level 1 - 100 were people new to the System. Next were Adepts, people who underwent the first evolution. Their levels ranged from 101 - 250.

Next came Masters. As the rank implied, these were the humans who had pushed themselves and stayed true to their path. Their levels ranged from 251 to 500, which was very high for someone like Lev.

Beyond all of that was the Exalted Rank. Those who had crossed the threshold of Master Rank. Only a dozen of them existed despite the population of millions present on Monarch.

It spoke volumes about their hardships, talent, and overwhelming power.

Which made it exceedingly strange that Lev was surrounded by not just two of the most well-known Masters, but also an Exalted.

His smile threatened to tear his face apart from how it widened even further as Lev reminisced about how a bout of foolish bravery had irreversibly changed his life for the better.

Incomparably better.

For someone twice orphaned like him, once on Earth and then after getting reincarnated on Monarch, life had finally decided to treat him right after he opened up to Alec.

Back then, he thought he was risking it all by explaining his past and hoping for an apprenticeship to a crafter of great renown. He shouldn't have worried.

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Turns out, the man was more than happy to help him after he explained his circumstances. Not only had the crafter agreed to teach him, but he had also proposed helping him get a powerful class if Lev wanted to work for it.

Lev shivered slightly when he remembered the questioning that had followed before the proposal. Alec somehow always knew if he was lying or not. He also always managed to push Lev to explain things that he didn't even know himself.

That day, he had learned more about himself than the entire short life he had spent on Monarch. And he was proud of himself for learning that he wanted nothing more than to fight for the struggling humans and to eradicate the endless hordes of monsters knocking on their wall ready to tear everyone apart.

That further cemented his resolve to acquire this incredible yet only theorized class, which was finally paying off today.

"What do you feel?" His mentor asked after a few minutes of silence, letting Lev remain lost in thought.

The System didn't explain what the class would provide, instead giving far more raw impressions of the class. It was standard procedure for every Classer.

"Barriers, barrier armor, speed and sharpness, perception and movement. Everything is brought together with boosted control and large amounts of mana. That seems to cover everything we wanted." Lev was ecstatic with the result. It was beyond his expectations.

"How important does the mana aspect seem?" Orianna asked.

Lev hesitated slightly, unsure of the words to use. "It seems to be diffused… like lubricant keeping everything flowing seamlessly. Except, it's strengthening everything instead of keeping it together, like a blanket covering the entire class. There is a lot of it."

Sherron did a little fist-pump while Orianna leaned back with a sigh of relief. It seemed like he would acquire the vaunted Wisdom boost for himself, which didn't help his already hurting face.

His mentor smiled. "This is it. The years of your efforts have rewarded you with this class."

The two women also gave him encouraging smiles. Lev leaned back on the sofa he was

sharing with them and closed his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he selected the class.

Immediately, a warm glow suffused his body. It was his first time experiencing the feeling of instantly rising attributes, and it was nothing short of intoxicating.

The feeling lasted for multiple seconds as multiple attributes rose sharply, mainly the magical ones. Lev prepared himself for the next part, ready for whatever profound change was about to take place.

….

Nothing happened.

He cracked an eye open to see the present company barely suppressing their laughter. His opening an eye broke the straw and they all burst out laughing.

Lev just stared at them before shaking his head with a smile. He muttered a quiet 'assholes' under his breath, which earned him a sharp glance from the redhead fire mage to his right.

It made his heart leap to his throat.

The reaction wasn't simply because of fear. Not that Lev feared the sweetheart, but it was because of her aura. Her displeasure manifested in an almost physical form, which, for someone as weak as Lev, was terrifying.

Still, he hadn't expected this. Lev was prepared for something world-changing to sweep his very being, not an absence of… anything.

It's fine. Lev consoled himself, though he didn't need to. There were a lot of notifications waiting for him.

[

You have selected the Arcane Sentinel class:

+10 Constitution

+15 Intelligence

+15 Wisdom

+10 Perception

Class Benefits:

Mana capacity is increased by 50% and mana regeneration by 20%

The range of manipulation granted by the Intelligence attribute is doubled.

Barrier formation is more efficient.

Barriers are more resilient.

—-