"The first skill seems to be the standard?" Sherron asked, glancing at Alec. He nodded in confirmation. Lev's mentor specialized in barriers and storage artifacts, which meant that he was the most knowledgeable about Lev's class.

"The rest of the skills are straightforward too, except the last two," The crafter added. "Heavy lifting is a levitation skill right now. It should evolve into a flight skill when you evolve," Alec finished while looking at Lev with a smile.

"As long as I use it with the intention of keeping myself afloat, guiding its path," Lev nodded along, understanding what he had to do. "What on Monarch is that last skill?"

"That is a specialty skill," Sherron answered. "Usually seen in hyper-focused classes, such as a class mostly focused on fireballs or firewhips. Orianna's class also has one, focused on the fire soldiers."

"Elemental Soldiers," Orianna corrected.

"How many elements do they use?" Sherron countered with a cheeky smile, making the fire mage roll her eyes.

"So this skill is gonna be the one with a Wisdom boost?" Lev butted in.

"Yeah, it is one of the two skills that we know for sure has a chance to give that. Don't get your hopes too high, though. Despite your stronger soul, we don't know for certain if you will get it. The chances are exceedingly low," Alec answered.

Lev just waved away his concerns. The impressions he got from the class had far more mana than just a mere 50% increase.

He stood up and moved slightly away from the sofas, no longer able to wait. Focusing inward, he immediately found four bright switches in his mind, vibrating with suppressed potential.

My active skills. Lev's heart started to beat faster. He concentrated on the switch representing his armor.

Within moments, a pale blue arcane armor covered him from head to toe. He felt himself lift slightly, the armor completing below his feet and encasing his form completely.

Lev moved around, slack-jawed. He couldn't even feel the armor on his body. It was that light. With a mental nudge, the blue construct took over his movements, carrying him around without any physical exertion.

All the while, Lev observed the shape of his armor. The best term he could come up with was… formless. The thick yet lightweight layer of arcane covering his body was bulky yet far from unsightly. It looked refined and graceful.

Most importantly, there were no joints or gaps. It was all connected together seamlessly, somehow moving despite it being impossible. The armor was incomparable to any known styles of armor, just resting somewhere between medium and heavy armor without any of the disadvantages.

"Better than my own," Alec commented. The three had been observing him in content silence.

"Really?" Lev asked distractedly.

"Yeah, yours is made for combat. My armor is made for crafting so it is bulkier and taller."

Lev nodded along, thinking of how to test the first passive skill. Since there was no way to test the specialty skill, as it was well and truly passive, he started with Heavy Lifting.

Crouching, he tensed his muscles and mind before leaping into the air. He manipulated the armor to aid his jump to see how high he could jump. Lev was expecting to at least double the jump height.

His head slammed into the 5-meter-high ceiling.

Lev dropped down gracelessly, somehow landing on his feet instead of his face. The wince on his face slowly vanished as the expected pain never came. Neither from hitting the ceiling nor from the rough landing.

He ahh'd in understanding. The armor had absorbed both of the impacts effortlessly.

"Was it supposed to be that high?" He asked the spectators.

"Definitely," Orianna nodded firmly. "Your jump was first aided by the manipulation skill, making it more in tune with your physical strength. That was further reinforced by the Nimble skill by a large amount. Which was further strengthened by the Heavy Lifting skill. All of that combined was then boosted by the specialty skill."

"What a freakish class," Sherron muttered from the side. Lev knew she was joking but he couldn't help but agree. The class was becoming scary already, and he had yet to get any second-rank skills.

"Well… there is one last notification," Lev began hesitantly. The other three immediately turned serious. "I am still having trouble believing this is real."

"It's a title?" Orianna asked, more a statement than a question.

Lev nodded slowly. "One hell of a title."

[

You have earned a title.

[Youngest Prodigy]

The youngest sentient being to have ever acquired a class without breaking any laws of Mana or The System.

+15 to every attribute.

The bonus is doubled every evolution.

]

Tense silence reigned in the room. The description signified that Lev had earned a class within the confines of Mana's rules, which humanity didn't even know a word of.

"That… is good," Orianna breathed out a sigh of relief. The last time someone had tried to forcefully unlock a class before The System allowed it, the entire universe had known.

The fury of Mana was something humanity would remember till the end of time. Thousands of years later, that planet still remained completely uninhabitable.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Correct me if I'm wrong but… this seems to be genuine doubling?" Lev timidly voiced his question. The title was, to his knowledge, beyond impossible.

"It is," His mentor replied, still slightly shaken. "Right now, it is equivalent to 18 levels. When you become Adept, it becomes 36 levels. Then 72 at Master. 144 at Exalted… " He trailed off. Lev could see he was both nervous and excited.

Lev had never seen the man be nervous before.

"That would explain Late Queen Marth's unnatural strength before she became an Exalted," Sherron mused, least shaken of them all. "If I remember correctly, she was rumored to be seen fighting monsters at the age of 12. That is still two years older than you," She finished looking at Lev.

"So… it's pretty much impossible yet there's a chance the queen had it already?" Lev said.

"Yep. Now that the title has specified that there are rules of Mana and The System, we just have to keep the title hidden. No risk of annihilation if nobody knows it is possible."

Lev agreed. If anyone knew what he had done, they would undoubtedly try to replicate it. Granted, humans of Monarch rarely wanted unnatural power for themselves. Yet all it would take was one asshole to risk the destruction of the already few humans barely surviving on this unforgiving planet.

Humanity persisted on only one continent of Monarch, the one they had arrived on by pure chance. The details of how the survivors of the Endless Tide ever reached Monarch, and how they found the one continent they could survive on were a mystery.

The three passengers from the Refugee Ship in front of him didn't disclose anything either. They just assured him that it wasn't worth mentioning or something for him to worry about.

"No harm in accepting it?" Lev confirmed one last time before focusing on the title. Raw power coursed through him as each of his attributes rose by a large amount. The feeling lasted for nearly 10 seconds a Lev found himself drooling like an idiot.

Holy shit that was so addicting.

He forced himself to calm down with deep breaths. That was a dangerous thought to have, and he pushed the feeling to the back of his mind to focus on the present.

"That was… something," Lev remarked with an explosive sigh. "I need a distraction. Let's discuss mana costs."

"The barrier took nearly a 10th of my mana pool to form, and the upkeep only required a steady trickle. How good is that?" He asked his teacher.

"Decent. Lower than expected, even. How much do you think the upkeep is?" Alec said.

Lev looked inwards, toward his soul. Humans could instinctually feel their mana reserves, which meant that Lev could do the same in less than a second.

The results made a strange smile appear on his face. "I… am not losing any mana. My regeneration is higher than the upkeep."

Silence greeted his answer before Sherron snorted. "I stand corrected. That class isn't just freakish, it is downright absurd."

"You only have 60 wisdom, right?" Orianna asked, to which Lev nodded. "Which means your active skills can be overcharged immensely. That always results in diminishing returns, and will also be your greatest cost sink. That, and different mana types and the associated efficiencies. There's no other reason for the costs to be that low."

That made sense to Lev. He ignored Sherron muttering about how he didn't even have a Wisdom Boost yet.

"That leaves your attack skills. Are you ready?" His teacher asked, uncharacteristically serious.

Lev took a deep breath before pulling up his now-filled status.

[

Name: Lev

Class: Arcane Sentinel

Titles: Vast Soul, Reinforced Mind, Youngest Prodigy

Attributes:

Strength: 45

Dexterity: 45

Constitution: 55

Intelligence: 60

Wisdom: 60

Perception: 55

Class Skills:

Arcane Barrier Manipulation - Level 1

Incisive Edge - Level 1

Whirling Rim - Level 1

Barrier Armor - Level 1

Opportunity - Level 1

Nimble - Level 1

Heavy Lifting - Level 1

Needle Precision - Level 1

General Skills:

Mana Manipulation - Level 10

Identify

]

He checked his other two titles, just in case something had changed.

[

Vast Soul :

Your soul is tougher and larger than most. Soul damage will be reduced 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.

]

Nope, still the same. Lev mused, straightening his back. It is time to face my first monster.

****

It took several minutes for Lev to get used to his vastly improved physical attributes. The task was made trivial by his high dexterity and perception, letting him adapt quickly.

The trio escorted Lev to the southern gates of the outpost. Popular as they were, everyone stopped to greet or stare at them. Lev, by extension, also got a ton of glances, and he got to hear more than a few people wondering if he was their child.

It was extremely embarrassing.

Orianna and Sherron didn't seem to mind. On the contrary, they found it more amusing than anything. Especially Lev's adorable frown and angry small eyes.

Thankfully, Alec gave him a Rare blocking stone which prevented anyone from accidentally identifying Lev and outing his secret.

[

Blocking Stone - Rare

Prevents any feedback from reaching Identification skills, masking the fact that the wearer possesses a class.

Can be circumvented with strong enough identification skills/class.

]

The large vacant space between the walls and Outpost proper took them nearly 10 minutes to cross. Lev forced himself to walk as slowly as a normal 10-year-old, lest he attract suspicion.

They passed the gate without any obstructions, getting respectful nods left and right. For the first time, Lev set foot outside WhiteFall's Outpost # 3.

The land surrounding the outpost was … flat. Lev didn't know what he was expecting but the sight that greeted him was completely mundane. The grassland stretched on for as far as he could see, illuminated by the gentle rays of the two suns above.

14 suns, 7 sets of two, orbited around Monarch, producing a day and night cycle similar to Earth's.

That is still one of the hardest facts to get used to, second only to Monarch's size.

If the estimates were correct, humans simply didn't have the tools to accurately measure the planet's surface area. Which was morbidly funny, as The System and Mana allowed for some pretty advanced equipment.

Not that it would help them. The Plains, where humanity currently resided, were one of the safest spots on Monarch, and it was already challenging to survive in.

"Now what?" Lev asked, looking at the three who he realized were waiting for him.

Abruptly, they started ascending. Lev braced himself for imbalance or turbulence, but there was none. They flew up smoothly without even a hint of discomfort.

Down below, Lev could see the ground getting further and further away. The humans traveling through the gates looked like ants now, moving in line.

Up ahead, the outpost spread out in all its glory. Despite the constant threat to humanity, each outpost housed nearly a hundred thousand humans. The Great Cities had a population more than ten times that.

Beyond the nearly 50-meter-tall wall, Lev could see some large buildings near the Outpost Center.

The Hunters Guild, The Crafters Guild, and The Merchants Guild.

The branches were distinguished from the rest of the buildings. White was the most prominent color, further accentuated by the Halls towering over everything else.

This is so cool.

"Which one of you is doing this?" Lev asked with wide eyes, still glued to the scenery in front of him.

"Who do you think?" Alec replied.

Lev tore his eyes away from the view and tentatively took a step forward on the invisible surface. When he didn't fall, he took another step before his outstretched hand found the boundary of their ride.

Barrier. Lev sumrised. It was invisible to his eyes and budding mana sense, an integral tool part of every mage. Tracing his hand along the surface, he deduced that they were flying inside a barrier bubble, probably enchanted for traveling.

"You created and enchanted it on the spot?" Lev struggled to believe that.

"Not really. It is one of my blueprints," came the reply.

Lev nodded along. "I see. What is it called?"

"Bubble," His mentor replied, amusement evident in his voice. Lev turned around with a deadpan expression. Alec knew full well how Lev would feel about that name, which was shown in his grin.