For a moment, Mav stood frozen in disbelief, struggling to process what had just happened. He had braced himself for the full force of the Giant Boar's charge, expecting to be pushed back or even knocked off his feet. But instead, he hadn’t moved an inch.

The collision had felt strange—he had sensed the impact, yet it was as if nothing had touched him at all. Focusing inward, he checked his body for any sign of injury—there was none. No pain, no bruises, just an unsettling calm. His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden twitch of the unconscious Giant Boar’s leg.

"It’s waking up already?" Mav thought, alarmed. "I need to act quickly."

With a surge of urgency, he stepped back, preparing for his next move. Swinging his right leg behind him, he readied himself for a powerful kick. His focus narrowed, honing in on the boar’s head as if he were a striker lining up for a game-winning goal. He whispered, "Dark Yellow Transcendence," and a familiar dark yellow flame enveloped his body, igniting the air with an intense glow just as his foot made contact with the boar’s skull.

The impact was devastating. The kick obliterated the Giant Boar’s head in a violent explosion of bone and tissue, splattering the surrounding area. Within seconds, the remains disintegrated into the air like dust. Mav was briefly taken aback. He recalled seeing Gray Wolves munching on a Giant Boar's corpse before, yet that boar hadn’t disintegrated—it had simply been consumed. Why did this one disintegrate? Mav wondered, but he quickly brushed the thought aside to refocus.

Then, the items appeared in his item box:

- Giant Boar Core x1 Acquired

- Giant Boar Tusk x2 Acquired

- Giant Boar Meat x1 Acquired

Mav exhaled deeply, relief washing over him as the hunt was officially marked a success. But as the adrenaline faded, his legs began to tremble, and the gravity of his actions hit him hard. "What if I had miscalculated? What if I mistimed the casting? What if the skill didn’t work the way I imagined?" His mind raced with what-ifs.

He sat down, leaning against a nearby tree, replaying the battle over and over, trying to absorb everything he had learned.

"I really underestimated what Dark Green Invincibility could do," he muttered. "Invincibility… it really lives up to its name."

Curious, he brought up his status screen and scrolled to the skills he had just used:

Skill Name: Dark Green Invincibility (Maximum) lvl. 2/120

Duration: 2 seconds

Skill Name: Dark Yellow Transcendence (Maximum) lvl. 2/120

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Duration: 2 seconds

“So I was right about the conditions for the skills to level up… and their duration increases with each level?” Mav whispered, his eyes widening. "If I max out their levels, I could use them indefinitely." His heart raced at the thought, imagining the limitless potential.

"But if I run out of mana, I’m finished," he reminded himself, his excitement tempered by the reality of his limitations. "And using them simultaneously will double the manacost per second…"

"Mana," he grumbled, frustration creeping into his voice. "Always the problem. I might need to start earning money just to afford mana potions if I want to keep pushing my skills."

For now, though, he resolved to focus on leveling these two skills until he could use them without constantly worrying about their durations. His gaze shifted to another skill on his status screen:

Skill Name: Dark Red Nuke (Maximum) lvl. 3/120

His finger twitched involuntarily as memories of the destruction this skill had caused flooded back. A mix of fear and exhilaration surged within him. "No, this skill is too dangerous to use," he decided, shaking off the temptation. "Well… not for now, at least."

Suddenly, the reality of his surroundings sank in—he was still in the middle of the forest, surrounded by unknown dangers. Mav quickly stood up, scanning the area with heightened awareness, then scaled the tree he had been leaning on to get a better view.

"After that first battle, I understand these two skills better," he thought. "And with the durations increased by another second, I’ve got a bit more leeway. But just to be safe, I’ll treat them as if they only last one second."

He checked his mana: 78/120. "Alright, that’s enough thinking for now. Time to find another Giant Boar," he said, the tension from the previous fight already starting to fade.

This time, he didn’t have to wait long. Venturing deeper into the forest, he spotted another Giant Boar after just the second use of Dark Yellow Transcendence. Jumping down from the tree, he repeated his strategy—carefully timing his cooldowns, luring the boar by throwing a rock, bracing for the charge, casting Dark Green Invincibility, and delivering the final blow with Dark Yellow Transcendence.

Each encounter grew easier, his anxiety giving way to a calm focus. But Mav remained vigilant, treating each battle as if his skills still had only a one-second duration. He continued this cycle, hunting boar after boar, until after his ninth kill, his skills stopped leveling up, indicating that the Giant Boars were now too weak to challenge his abilities:

Skill Name: Dark Green Invincibility (Maximum) lvl. 6/120

Duration: 6 seconds

Skill Name: Dark Yellow Transcendence (Maximum) lvl. 6/120

Duration: 6 seconds

His mana was down to 30/120, and he felt the exhaustion settling in, accompanied by a gnawing hunger. He had been at it for hours, taking only brief breaks between hunts. Deciding it was time to head back, he started making his way out of the forest, still cautious, using Dark Yellow Transcendence to scout ahead and avoid any remaining Daimoniki. The extended duration made it a much more reliable tool for navigation.

By the time he reached the edge of the forest, his mana had dwindled to just 6/120. His body ached, and his stomach growled in protest, but Mav didn’t mind. The results of the day’s experiments and battles were worth every effort. The increased duration on his skills was a significant win, and the deeper understanding of how they functioned gave him newfound confidence.

He headed home, already eager to dive back into the book and search for information on stronger Daimoniki to help his skills level up even further.