Lev didn't even get to chance to check if Mara was alright before an overwhelming force stopped his movements. Breathing became a herculean effort as he was pushed back into the chair.

  Dark, shadowy ropes wrapped around his waist and arms before he could even say anything. The pressure lifted after that, finally letting him breathe.

  "Stay still," a fleeting voice commanded from behind him, just above his neck. His spine tingled at the hot breath on his neck, and Lev wisely shut up and sat stock still.

  When he focused on the unconscious Exalted again, another person had appeared behind her. The person's aura was distinctly full of life, probably belonging to a healer.

  That theory was proven when the man used a lot of mana on Mara, who woke up with a gasp.

  "The boy," she croaked before her eyes refocused on Lev.

  He didn't see her move, only finding her face inches from his own the next instant. She inspected him from several angles, before sitting back down on her chair with a sigh of relief.

  Lev didn't utter a single sound, afraid of the figure behind him. He was probably fine now that she was awake but he didn't take any chances.

  "Divination is an extremely dangerous field, you know?" Mara began, looking and sounding far older after the mysterious experience. "First I stumbled upon those slitted eyes and now this…" she mumbled, uncaring if Lev heard her.

  He still didn't move a muscle. Nobody had given him the go-ahead.

  Mara continued, not even noticing that Lev was bound. "Diviners often have two or more skills focused on protecting them from harmful divination. Mine leveled three times in just a few seconds. Three times…" her eyes unfocused again for a few seconds. "Why aren't you saying anything?"

  Lev risked a small shrug, showing that his hands and torso were wrapped up. Mara blinked before her aura, filled with anger, surged out for a moment.

  "Release him right now! What do you think you're doing!?" she exclaimed, looking behind Lev.

  "You were knocked unconscious," the same wispy voice calmly replied, as if chiding the Exalted like a child. Lev had to blink a few times at that.

  Mara gritted her teeth, about to rebuke, but instead, just let out a breath. "Fine, but it's not his fault. Release him,"

  The shadowy ropes vanished, and only now Lev risked speaking.

  "Interesting situations I find myself in," he remarked, turning around to find only empty air, no sign of whoever the voice belonged to.

  "Sorry about them, they're my guards," Mara said with an apologetic smile. Lev just stared at her, wondering how she ever got to Exalted if she needed guards.

  "It's fine, no harm done," he eventually shrugged.

  "This might sound a bit odd, but uh, can you retell what happened?"

  Lev gave the diviner a long glance, only now understanding why she was acting like this.

  The woman had little idea how to talk to children. Or people in general.

  "Sure," Lev grinned. "You just said 'Challenger' and then decided to hug the table to sleep."

  She blinked. "That can't be right."

  Lev just shrugged in response. That was all that had happened, despite how bizarre it sounded.

  "But… there was more? I don't remember anything at all except there was something…"

  The woman continued to mutter for a bit, not paying Lev any attention. He instead looked at the healer who had randomly appeared next to Mara.

  [Healer - ???]

  Thank you Identify, very useful.

  The man was rather short in stature but just his bearings told Lev he was no slouch. The healer held himself like a fighter, and Lev wouldn't be surprised if the class was a mix of warrior and healer.

  There was still no sign of the invisible person, so Lev focused back on the Exalted who had gone silent.

  "So," Lev interjected into her mysterious thoughts, "Why did you come to me in the first place?"

  "You do not act like a child," Mara absentmindedly commented. Lev held back a snort. The diviner was truly clueless. Even the healer was holding back a smile at her words.

  "Right, Alec's request. You are not the reason for increased waves but they will continue to form faster and stronger wherever you go. I tried to look into the reason and well…" she just waved a hand at everything.

  "I see."

  …

  "Is that all?" Lev finally voiced. The airhead Exalted kept zoning out.

  "Oh right. Alec sent a message. I'll just quote his words. 'You can tell her about your past or titles by the way. Don't worry about the guards. If anyone should know, it's her so she may be able to predict anything unexpected. Her skills are weird like that.' How rude."

  Lev smiled at the words that definitely sounded like Alec's. He didn't have to think long about what to reveal. The title for the youngest person to ever get a class was far too dangerous but the other two were fine.

  ****

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "No mana or System?" Mara confirmed for the third time.

  "None," Lev affirmed.

  Mara and her guards were now seated around the table, somehow still invisible and unnoticeable to everyone else present in the shelter.

  The invisible person turned out to be a woman who was hard to focus on. Just like the stairs, Lev's brain kept forgetting about her presence, except the effect was much stronger in her case.

  "That certainly matches some ancient records. Like a myth. Several different sources spoke of peaceful worlds before mana surged in a calamitous wave through divination. It is not far-fetched to assume that there was a time before mana. Even in the Empyrean Empire, mana rose sharply to the west and southwest, meaning it was coming from somewhere."

  Mara spoke much more naturally when her passion subject was brought up. Lev nodded along, it made sense.

  "Now that you know, let's return to the original topic. Was this wave caused by me?"

  Mara shook her head. "It's impossible to say. You're connected, but that's all I could glean. Everything else is too dangerous for me to look at," She squinted her eyes at him. "Why is that?"

  "Hell if I know," Lev replied, giving her a flat look.

  Her face fell at his confidence. "Too many questions. Coming here was definitely worth it."

  "I have another question," She looked at him expectantly. "How bad is this wave going to be?"

  She channeled a lot of mana into some skill again, though far less than the previous attempt. It took less than a second before she was done.

  "Just one giant and a lot of weaker things. High chance of no casualties."

  Just one giant she says. Level 1000 plus abomination, no big deal.

  "I see."

  He didn't say anything else lest he make a fool of himself. Her guards also seemed to take everything too seriously, if their glaring at him for the casual behavior was any indication.

  "I will now go be a normal kid in a shelter if you'll excuse me," Lev began, waiting to see if anyone would stop him. When no one did, he turned around and started looking for another empty table.

  Glancing behind, there was no one sitting at the table he had just left. Lev shook his head and decided to go even deeper into the shelter. Walking up to the wall, he noticed how it seemed to be far sturdier than usual stone.

  Compressed stone?

  Near the corner of the hall, he took his spot at a random table. Everything was empty this far in.

  Lev took some food and a water bottle out of his ring and ate simply because there was nothing else to do. Constitution seemed to increase the rate of digestion and do it more thoroughly, reducing excrement.

  He still held back, not knowing where the restrooms were. Hours passed after the snack in silence, the distant sounds of people not bothering him in the slightest. Complete silence, to him, was scary.

  He was wondering how they would know about the end of the wave when a familiar ringing sound reached his ears.

  Ninth Chime.

  The shelter fell silent for a few seconds before everyone erupted in chatter. Lev had a suspicion that was proven correct after a few seconds.

  Tenth Chime.

  This time the people fell into dismay. Lev was nervous too but he had no reason to not believe the diviner. It was probably the Giant qualifying for a ten-rated wave by itself.

  I guess we wait now. Lev thought with a sigh. Waiting was never fun.

  ****

  The restrooms were simply carved into the walls. With running water and lights as well. Lev wondered how long it had been since the wave started.

  His decision to find a table at the end of the shelter was a fruitful one. Back there, only those who wanted to be alone came. He got some looks from others searching for empty spots but no one disturbed him.

  The enchantment diary turned out to be quite interesting at first. Like most other things, it became dull when he read it again and again. Other than that, he was incredibly bored. Playing with barriers was not possible without the illusion armor. That would reveal that he had a class.

  He hadn't planned to stay inside shelters, which he needed to rectify by not being too weak to defend against waves.

  Finally after more than a day, the good news reached them. The wave was defeated, and humanity had triumphed against another harrowing monster. It caused a festive mood to spread through the entire city.

  Lev didn't care about any of that. The moment he came out of the shelter stairs, the Bubble scooped him up.

  "That was so extremely boring," Lev said in the way of greeting.

  "Really? Just having to sit still for a day?" Sherron asked, looking tired but relaxed.

  Only now he noticed that it was nighttime. No more than a day had passed yet boredom made it feel like a week.

  Lev stifled a yawn. "Free time exists to be used, not to be free."

  "I met Mara. I think her curiosity almost killed her."

  "What?" Both Alec and Sherron exclaimed at once.

  "Yeah. She used a lot of mana on some skill, probably divining about me, and fell unconscious on the spot. Something about her defensive skill leveling thrice."

  The two strong beings shared a glance, and Lev didn't pry for anything. He knew his circumstances were extraordinary, meaning similarly extraordinary beings were behind it.

  Though the System said he had reincarnated by his own effort, it would be foolish to believe it was without repercussions.

  Weird how I readily believe that. Is this a sign or am I just sleepy?

  "Well, you two can deal with that. Can I sleep in the suite today?"

  "Of course, I told you to take the card," Alec replied, summoning the card again. Lev took it but only for this once.

  "Nah. I'll rent my own when I can walk around outside the illusion armor."

  Alec smirked but didn't comment otherwise. Lev had no delusions about how costly it was going to be.

  Sherron hugged him. "I'll be back in WhiteFall by the time you wake up. Take care, okay?"

  "I will," Lev gave her a tired smile. "You don't try to be a hero either. Your words earlier heavily implied that."

  She smiled back. "It's my job."

  Lev just shook his head. She knew what she was doing, and frankly, he approved of her mindset too. Now if only it wasn't someone he was close to.

  He had to get back in his illusion armor to walk inside the Golden Basilisk and get to the suite. The moment he was inside, the armor vanished as he jumped onto his bed.

  Sleep claimed him in seconds.

  ****

  "What do you mean there were two giants?" Mara asked, eyes wide.

  "Exactly what I said," Sherron tiredly replied, sipping expensive ale.

  "This has to be because of the boy-"

  "Don't you dare-" Sherron interrupted but was interrupted herself.

  "Let me finish you stormfart. I'm saying that boy has an extreme innate resistance to divination. The last time I checked the state of the wave was through him. That is probably why I didn't pick up anything new, just what I already knew."

  "…Stormfart?" Sherron asked, incredulous.

  Mara blinked before giving her a shy grin. "Sorry, spoke without thinking."

  Sherron chuckled. "That one was at least way better than your usual insults."

  Mara huffed but didn't refute her. She rarely spoke with some thought behind the words.

  "So," Sherron said. "Your visit was useless?"

  "Hey! I learned a word." Mara replied, indignant.

  "What word?"

  "Challenger."

  "Challenger?"

  "Challenger."

  "Okay… and?"

  "I don't know, that's all I was able to learn."

  Sherron facepalmed.