Blake released a pulse of Mind Sense to ensure the Lupus remained alone. When he was certain no other monsters were close enough to overhear, even with their sensitive ears, he charged chi into the tip of his arrow, pulled back the string of the bow, and released it.

The projectile cut the air at close to the speed of sound, and with Adjustable Dampen Sound active, his prey remained unaware of its incoming death. A split second later, Blake heard a wet squelch, and then a muffled explosion as the chi erupted within the beast’s rib cage.

This is like cheating.

Blake tempered his elation, as he knew his present situation would not last. For the last hour, he had remained hidden within the level four Lupus scenario and killed every lone monster he found on patrol. He had systematically eliminated the outer guard, and slipped deep within the Lupus territory.

I can’t believe they don’t know I’m here yet.

Oliver’s scent wash eliminated all traces of his odor, and his aether spell ensured no sounds alerted the Lupus. At this point, only sight could give him away, and Lupus did not tend to scan the treetops. The situation was so ludicrous, he checked his combat logs yet again to ensure he received the full nano reward.

Yep, five mega-nano. Guess the AI still considers this risky.

It was ten times the amount he would receive if he killed a Lupus his level, and twice as much as a level three. While he had received a larger amount of nano per kill in his past, that was against the formidable Ursa. They were far tougher, and he doubted a single shot from his bow would kill them.

He used Mind Sense and once he was sure his presence remained concealed, opened his notification to read the message.

You have gained mastery over a spell. Mind Sense is ready to evolve.

Nice!

After his first few kills in the level four scenario, Blake had confirmed that his spells gained mastery at an increased speed when he used them against much higher level foes. It was not at the insane speed in which his aether spells did when channelled at the same time, yet their mastery was still completed in almost half the normal time.

Too bad I don’t get much of a chance to use Improved Flame Shield.

The level one spell remained at twenty-two percent mastered. Over the last couple of weeks, he had continuously reapplied the ability each time it was available to cast. Unfortunately, the Lupus never used fire, and without direct use, it leveled incredibly slowly.

Worse, he had already evolved the ability once. Every time a spell was upgraded, it took subsequently longer to gain experience in, which was why it was so strange that his Guided Spatial Step was the first to be mastered.

Okay, this upgrade is obvious.

Blake navigated his interface and chose to evolve his Mind Sense ability for fifty mega-nano. Once it was ready, he focused on flattening the sphere until it became oblate. By doing so, the ability would reach twice the lateral distance, by sacrificing half its height and depth.

A few seconds later, the interface confirmed his change and opened the spell's details.

Oblate Mind Sense - Release a subtle wave of psionic energy in all directions, to search for sentient life. The wave will expand laterally at four times the pace as vertically. For a moderate amount of psionic energy, this pulse will penetrate solid objects at a moderate distance based upon the caster’s Magic Power.

Nice! Not even a noticeable energy increase.

Because the size of the spell’s effect was not increased, only altered, the increased cost required was marginal. It was a good thing, too, as he repeatedly used the spell every few minutes to ensure no monsters surprised him.

Before he tested out the new spell evolution, he quickly reviewed the mastery level of his other abilities.

Spells -

Chi -

Focused Regeneration - 62%

Alacrity - 94%

Mana -

Improved Flame Shield - 22%

Gale - 98%

Psi -

Directed Mind Blast - 56%

Oblate Mind Sense - 0%

Aether -

Charged Guided Spatial Step - 9%

Adjustable Dampen Sound - 18%

Gale and Alacrity are so close!

Unless something drastically went wrong, Blake fully expected to master both abilities before he completed the scenario. Like Mind Sense, he also already knew how he wished to evolve the abilities.

Okay, back to work.

He released a newly evolved Oblate Mind Sense and was gratified when it returned sentient activity almost three hundred feet away in all lateral directions. Vertically, it was now limited to a bit over seventy feet, but that would not be an issue unless he fought against the Stoltar within their tree cities.

That way.

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Now that he could sense his opponents further away, he easily determined the center of their formation. Common sense led him to believe the Pack Leader was in the nucleus of his group. However, that assumption had backfired on him in his past. He vowed to Analyze each Lupus carefully before he committed to an attack against multiple creatures. There was no way he could kill more than two Lupus without revealing himself, and Blake wanted to retain his stealth advantage as long as possible.

Using his mental map of their positions as a guide, he combined Charged Guided Spatial Step and Adjustable Dampen sound to navigate through the trees until he was within a hundred feet of the pack center. He systematically used his level three Analyze on each Lupus below while he waited for the charges on his teleport to refill.

Got you!

Lupus Pack Leader Level 4

Chi, Aether

Physical Power - Average (16.5)

Physical Stamina - Average (17.4)

Physical Resistance - Low (15.0)

Magic Power - High (13.9)

Magic Stamina - High (14.2)

Magic Resistance - Average (9.1)

Interesting, it has both chi AND aether.

Dual class monsters were rare, although it made sense that a Pack Leader would be one. They were usually reserved for bosses of scenarios, or leaders of incursions on Earth once monsters began to spawn in the world.

The terms ‘low’, ‘average’, and ‘high’ gave him a rough estimate of its attribute level compared to others of its species at the same level. The number in the brackets, on the other hand, told him exactly what they were. Blake’s achievements allowed his own attributes to dwarf the level four Lupus’ numbers, but that did not mean his opponents were harmless.

One on one, they were easily dispatched, as long as they did not surprise him. However, unless he attacked from ambush, they were almost never alone. That was why he had kept the scenarios at level three until Oliver’s scent wash was available.

He glanced away from his interface for a moment to ensure he remained hidden.

Luckily, the Lupus Pack Leader focused on its magical attributes rather than its physical, and its physical resistance was weak for its species. Of course, low was relative. With a physical resistance of fifteen, it would still be resistant to pistol fire, and had fur almost impervious to an unenhanced human. However, as long as Blake fired from ambush and hit his mark, he would easily eliminate the Lupus Pack Leader in a single shot and complete the objective.

When both charges of his teleport were filled, and his exit strategy was decided, Blake fed chi to his arrow and pulled back on the bow’s string. He held his breath and when the arrow was lined up on the leader’s prone form, released his hold. The twang of the bow was muffled by his aether spell, and the Lupus below remained unaware of his high speed projectile as it cut through the air.

However, at the last moment, the Pack Leader rose to its feet, and Blake’s arrow was buried in the ground beneath it. A split second later, the chi charged projectile exploded and knocked his target to the ground. The pack scattered and yelped in surprise.

Damnit!

Before the Pack Leader could rise to its feet, Blake retrieved a new arrow, fed it chi, lined up his aim, and released the string. Luckily, this time his aim was true, and his target was eliminated. However, by the time he executed his target, the surrounding Lupus howled in alarm.

Time to go.

Blake looped his bow through his shoulder, expanded his bubble of dampened sound, and leapt off the branch with his full strength. As he sailed through the air, he quickly cast Gale behind him, and was deeply satisfied when it extended his jump by another twenty-five feet.

A notification blinked on his interface, but he ignored it. When he was almost fifty feet away from his starting point, he used a Charged Guided Spatial Step to appear another twenty feet away on a large branch, high in the canopy. The spell cancelled his momentum, and he had no issue retaining his balance on the platform.

Meanwhile, the Lupus were in a frenzy. They searched everywhere for the source of their leader’s death, and had even begun to cast spells to locate him. While they did so, he ran along the wide branches away from the scene of his crime. He vaulted from tree to tree and used a combination of Gale and his teleport spell to bridge any large gaps between them.

Suddenly, he felt a subtle wave of psionic energy wash over him.

What the hell?

It was rare for a Lupus to hold a psionic or mana-based class, and even rarer for them to have Mind Sense. It was just his bad luck that ruined his clean escape and allowed them to hone in on his position.

Why isn’t the scenario over? I completed the objective!

Blake checked his interface and groaned.

Objective - Assassinate the Lupus Pack Leader (Completed) Eliminate all Lupus, or remain undetected for thirty consecutive minutes.

That’s just not fair!

Blake once again cursed the evil and capricious Architect. It had decided to alter the scenario’s objective at a whim, despite its clearly stated rules. He thought back to the many assassination missions he and his team had completed in his past life. As far as he could remember, not a single one of them had had their objectives altered after they completed them.

His stomach dropped at the potential ramifications of the change.

Does the Architect have it out for me now?

Of course, his team had never completed an assassination objective undetected. Their fighting style was loud, and there was nothing stealthy about Montgomery. Every mission of this type was completed the same way, they eliminated hordes of enemies until their target eventually died. Their quarry was almost always the last to remain alive, so there was nothing to escape from.

Not a problem, I’ll just outrun them.

Blake leapt from the tree and used a carefully applied Gale to soften his landing. After he recovered from his roll, he sprinted away from the center of the pack and used Alacrity to swiften his retreat.

With his speed doubled, he flew through the woods at a breakneck pace for the full ten seconds of the spell. That speed allowed him to immediately outdistance the psionic Lupus’s range, and escape the pack’s remaining outer guard.

When the chi spell wore off, he used Oblate Mind Sense and grinned when the ability revealed no nearby Lupus. Regardless, he continued to sprint away from the monsters, and used Alacrity once again when he was allowed. After the third use, yet another notification vied for his attention, but he promptly ignored it as he navigated over a fallen tree.

Finally, after a full ten minutes of retreat, he felt confident he had lost them. With Dampen Sound, he made almost no noise as he ran, and his brother’s wash ensured he left no scent trail behind.

After Blake used an Oblate Mind Sense to ensure no Lupus were nearby, he teleported up high into a nearby tree before he finally allowed himself to rest. As he recovered from his winded state, he opened his status to check his notifications.

That’s what I thought.

Both Gale and Alacrity were mastered and could now be evolved. Blake checked his nano reserves, and breathed out a sigh of relief. He had just enough to upgrade both spells.

Blake went through the evolution process twice and then checked the new spell descriptions.

Hastened Gale - Creates a high pressure blast of air which expands outward in a cone. This effect takes three quarters of a second to form, consumes a moderate amount of mana energy, and can be cast once every minute.

Sustained Alacrity - Increases the caster’s movement speed by a moderate amount based upon the caster’s Magic Power for fifteen seconds. This spell consumes a medium amount of chi energy, and takes one minute to recharge.

The Architect screwed me over!

While the abilities evolved in the way he wished, the cost of that change annoyed him. Hastened Gale could now be cast twenty-five percent faster, which made it far more useful in combat. However, the time between uses almost doubled. He would much rather have had the energy cost increased, as his quiver used more mana than he did.

Likewise, Sustained Alacrity lasted fifty percent longer than the original spell. However, it now required far more chi to activate. With how often he was injured, the change was unwelcome, as he blew through his chi with regeneration. Even worse, he now empowered his spear or arrows with each attack.

Is that bastard actively sabotaging me, or do I just have shit luck?

Blake let out a breath of annoyance.

Whatever. In the end, I’ll win either way.