After a whole month of getting zapped by lightning non-stop, he finally wrapped up his training. Without wasting a second, he dashed out of the area.

But just as he took a single step, he zoomed ahead like crazy, covering a ton of ground in no time. His body was moving so fast, he almost crashed into a tree! Luckily, he remembered he could trigger [Lightning Flesh] with just a thought now, so he dialed up his reflexes to control his speed.

Once he'd put enough distance between himself and the training spot, he checked out his gains. He could totally feel the difference – he was way more buff now. Standing at a solid 2 meters tall, he figured that might be his max height. Crazy, right? A ten-year-old kid towering at 2 meters tall? He was all for it.

But it wasn't just his muscles that got a turbo boost. He could literally feel lightning buzzing through his veins and muscles. Thanks to constantly having [Lightning Flesh] activated, his body was always on fire – metaphorically speaking, of course. The small mana drain from [Lightning Flesh] was nothing compared to his natural mana regen, so he was good to go. Still, getting used to this new electrifying speed without going into overdrive mode would take some time. He didn't want to live life in slow-mo all the time.

Sure, he could dial down the enhancements a bit now that he had that option, but he'd be sacrificing some durability. And since he didn't have a magical barrier up all the time like the fire wizard dude, he wanted that extra layer of protection. But either way...

YAHOOO!!! Can you believe it? He's officially OP now!! Constantly activating [Lightning Flesh] without breaking a sweat. Remember when he had to drain tons of mana just to reach that level? Crazy, right? And he had to activate [Double Enhancement I] at max output to even come close. Sure, it packed a punch, but he couldn't keep it up for long fights. Always had to rush to finish off the enemy.

He even came up with [Flicker] to try and cover his weakness, but it still wasn't cutting it. Couldn't show off as much as he wanted to. But now? He could go toe-to-toe with a rookie wizard all day long without even dipping into his mana pool! Well, maybe he'd have to bust out [Double Enhancement II] to wrap things up quick, but still. He's OP AF now!!

MUAAHAHAHA

He even busted out a victory dance, almost smacking into a tree 'cause he got carried away. He was so pumped from leveling up his strength that he forgot to check his status window. But when he finally did, he was blown away.

3,460 MP?! Are you freaking kidding me?! It was like he could feel the power coursing through him, but seeing that number still knocked him off his feet.

He let out a roar of excitement, "ZEUSSS YOU COWARD!! COME DOWN AND FIGHT ME." Not sure why he yelled that, but who cares?

His heart was racing with joy. Whoa, gotta chill. He grabbed a branch, plopped down cross-legged, and closed his eyes to meditate. Gotta keep that hype in check.

Another month flew by, and this time he spent it mastering full control over his body, even without cranking up the nerve acceleration. He was itching to test out his newfound strength, so he went on the hunt for a swift tiger.

Turns out, the poor tiger didn't stand a chance. Even though it had some decent body enhancements, they were no match for [Lightning Flesh], a mere level 1 spell. The tiger ended up just chasing shadows while he effortlessly took it down. He felt bad about it, but he needed those mana stones, so he made it quick.

But that wasn't enough. He wanted a real challenge. So he set his sights on a double-striped lightning leopard, a level 1 magic beast known for its lightning abilities and killer enhancements.

With his nerve acceleration kicked into gear, he appeared in front of the leopard in a flash, thanks to his trusty [Stealth]. But come on, you want him to fight fair and square without stealth? No way! At least he promised not to end things too quickly with a lightning-fist move. Gotta make it a fun fight, right?

BOOM!

He landed a punch square on the leopard's face with his right fist, covered in [Lightning Glove]. Thanks to his purer form of mana, even his [Lightning Gloves] felt denser and stronger. The leopard's head snapped to the left, but because of its massive body, it didn't get flung very far. Instantly, it regained its composure and surrounded itself in crackling blue lightning.

With a wild look in its eyes and a bruised face, the leopard lunged at him. As expected, those lightning enhancements made it tough as nails. It was only slightly slower than him, but even that tiny difference was all it took. With a quick twist of his body, he dodged its attack and countered with a solid left hook to the face.

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BOOM!

The leopard's face whipped to the right as it desperately clawed at him, ignoring its own injury. He flipped into the air, doing a somersault. As his leg pointed skyward, he shot out a lightning jet from it. Swoosh. With the boost, he slammed down on the beast's forehead.

BOOM!

Ripples of air spread from the impact, and the beast's head hit the ground, cracking it open. Let me tell you, fighting in this slowed-down world is a rush. Every action has these cool consequences, like the air ripples from my punches, the cracking ground, the blood droplets, and debris—all of it moving slowly. It's just awesome.

Fighting someone who can't keep up with his speed in this slowed-down world is cool. But fighting someone who's just as fast? Even better! When was the last time he fought someone with the same fighting style as me? Hmm... he guessed it was back when he faced those level 6 magic knights. But that fight doesn't hold a candle to this one.

From the outside, it probably looked like two bolts of lightning clashing at lightning speed. They were so fast, it seemed like multiple bolts were clashing all at once in different spots. In just a split second, we traded blows hundreds of times.

BOOM!

Finally, with one last punch, they separated. He'd been careless and the leopard managed to land a swipe from its tail. It doesn’t injure him because of the durability enhancement from [Lightning Flesh]. But damn, it hurts. The leopard, even lying weak and battered on the ground, its eyes still blazed with fierceness, refusing to surrender.

Watching the leopard bravely fight to the end, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of respect for the beast, which made him feel a bit guilty. Deep down, he knew he was being hypocritical. Killing something made him feel bad, but he did it anyway because he wanted to get stronger faster. Whether it was to complete missions or collect mana stones from the beast's corpse, it all boiled down to gathering resources to level up.

But why did he want to get strong so quickly? Was it to wander this world carefree? Or to find a way back to his own world? Maybe he just wanted to survive. Who knows? Maybe it was all of the above, or maybe none of them really mattered.

After ending the leopard's life, he stashed its body in his storage ring and headed towards a black market.

Upon arriving, he sensed the tense atmosphere but ignored it, heading straight for a branch of Nephilim Treasure to sell his loot.

This time, he only brought out the lightning falcon corpse. As expected, the manager was shocked. Checking his status window, he saw the progress bar shoot up by 5%.

The manager hadn't expected a level 3 apprentice to bring in the corpse of a level 1 magic beast. Zack noticed a hint of greed in the manager's eyes before he quickly masked it. But Zack had already caught it.

Since the corpse was in good condition, he managed to get 10,000 low-quality mana stones for the lightning falcon and 2,800 for the swift tigers. He could have gotten 3,000 for the swift tiger, but he decided to keep the fangs of the last one to hand over to the tower.

As he stepped out of the shop, he sensed a stealthy presence trailing him. If not for his keen mana perception, he might not have noticed it at all. But instead of scowling or looking annoyed, he felt a surge of excitement. Time to show off a bit! From the outside, he probably just looked like a level 3 apprentice flaunting too much cash for his own good.

He could actually sense the presence of a level 1 wizard in this black market, probably the guardian keeping an eye out. But he wasn't afraid of a little confrontation. Worst-case scenario, he could just vanish using his stealth and lightning speed.

Activating his [Stealth] and [Camouflage], he appeared in front of his follower, who was clearly panicking at his sudden disappearance. Removing his camouflage and adjusting his mana to a showy 1000, he faced the assassin.

Pressuring the guy with his mana for an extra intimidation factor, he calmly asked, "Why are you following me?"

The guy's face turned as white as a sheet as he dropped to his knees, his pants dampening with fear. Zack could even smell the piss.

"P-please spare me, sir," the guy stammered, trembling.

"Who sent you to follow me?" Zack continued, his voice calm but firm. The calmer he sounded, the more terrified the guy seemed.

The guy seemed about to spill the beans, but then he seemed to come to his senses and clamped his mouth shut, resigned to his fate.

"Please... just kill me," he whispered, his face resigned.

Impressive. The guy managed to hold it together under pressure. Zack could hazard a guess as to who had sent him. He could hand the guy over to the informants in the black market to extract information, but it sounded like too much hassle and way too pricey.

"Do you realize I could take you to Shadow Rats to squeeze information out of you?" he remarked casually, watching the guy tremble even harder. Shadow Rats was the name of the informant establishment which is notorious for their brutal interrogation methods.

In the end, the guy cracked and spilled the beans about his employer. And sure enough, it was the manager from Nephilim Treasure who had sent him. Zack let him go – he wasn't some kind of monster to kill indiscriminately. Of course, he made sure to pocket all the valuables the guy had on him.

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Name: Zack

Age: 10/100 (300)

Occupation: Apprentice wizard

Mana: 60/60 (3556/3556)

Overt Talent: [Low Mana Manipulation Correction], [Low Mana Sensory Correction]

Hidden Talent: [Limitless Mana Well], [Advanced Mana Manipulation Correction], [Advanced Mana Sensory Correction], [Advanced Intelligence Correction]

Hidden Boss Abilities: [Hidden Strength]

HBP: 0

HB Progress Bar: 50/100%

Expand Hidden Boss abilities Store? yes/no

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