Lev got a stern lecture from Diana about overconfidence. The last joke about getting to Master rank in a year quite literally crash-landed as Diana's face fell.

  Overconfidence is a quick and insidious killer.

  That was a saying from his past life that he was glad to be reminded of. Now more than ever, he needed to keep it at the forefront of his mind. So far, Pit Monsters had little in terms of aura.

  That would change now. First-threshold monsters exerted more pressure on one's mind.

  Lev, fortunately, and unfortunately, still looked too young to be out of his illusion armor. So, donning it, he set off to his next destination. Alec had adjusted the armor to account for Lev's random burst of growth. It was just as comfortable as before.

  The walk was… enlightening. The illusion armor that took a bunch of mental effort now felt extremely light. His levitation skill worked on just walking too, for he was carrying the illusion armor with his barrier armor.

  It counted for the skill somehow. Lev was not going to question it.

  The second thing that stood out was his mana. It always stood out, but now he could feel just how little it took to move around. Lev's regeneration alone was insane enough that he didn't even feel the cost of his barrier manipulation. It was regenerated instantly.

  The third thing was his Perception. The world was… slower. Lev knew it was common courtesy to limit one's movements to match the crowd. He did too. But he had to consciously bring his level of Perception low enough to match a normal speed. Otherwise, everyone moved in a slower motion for him.

  With a bit of time, he could do that on demand. The System assisted with it greatly, letting him get used to it in a few minutes.

  From what he had heard, it was a great boon too. The System instantly spiked everyone's perception to the maximum when they entered combat, which prevented many nasty accidents, letting people react on time.

  Small blessings.

  The fourth thing was his physical attributes. Despite the small increase, having the effectiveness of each attribute increase made him feel strong. Strong enough that he could outdo all physical records on Earth with ease.

  It was quite insane to him. Lev wasn't even a physical fighter.

  His destination came into sight after a few minutes, looking the same as it always did. Lev entered Barrett's shop, finding it empty.

  "Coming," came a subdued female voice from one of the rooms at the back. Lev looked around, noting that the displayware was notably reduced in quantity. Especially armors.

  Is something big happening?

  "Hey, Lev," Susaine greeted. "What brings you here today? Haven't seen you after those converters."

  "It's nice to see you too. I wanted to ask how custom commissions work."

  "That depends on what you order," she replied with a raised brow. "Did you lose Stargazer?"

  Lev shook his head. "I evolved."

  Her eyes opened a little wider. "Congratulations! That was very fast. You leveled all skills to the end of second rank, right?"

  "Of course I did," Lev replied. "My commission is actually for a pair of gauntlets."

  "Gauntlets? Did you change your class?"

  "Nope. I need gauntlets that can channel a lot of mana and have converters built into them. Obviously, I will also fight with them as well."

  Susaine processed the request for a few seconds. "That is quite specific. Converters in gauntlets can be arranged but the efficiency will be the same as the cubes. Do you want to release different mana types through them?"

  "If it isn't a big problem, then sure. I was thinking of letting my barrier gauntlets be the focus of different mana types. They are a good base material for channeling."

  "Silk. Silk is a great option then," she theorized, now in the business mode. "I will not bore you with the specifics. We have several different types that have great mana conductivity while also being extremely durable. If your barrier gauntlet fingers are only covered by the silk, there will be no hindrance in releasing the different mana types."

  "You're saying that, while my hands will be covered in metal gauntlets, the front of my fist will only be covered by silk?"

  "Yeah. It will make sure you can release different mana types with ease through your punches. Unless you had something else in mind?"

  "No, that is perfect. Uh, how much will it cost?"

  She smiled. "That depends on the specifics. What kind of metal and what efficiency for the converters if you want to improve that aspect?"

  "Metal just needs to be durable enough to last me the whole rank. Mana flow doesn't matter, the transfer will take place through my barriers as long as the converter output is connected to my armor. Same efficiency as the cubes, if not a little higher."

  "I see," she replied, her mind lost in thought. "What mana types do you want?"

  "Lightning in right and fire in left and … do you have healing mana?" Lev tentatively asked.

  "Do you have platinum?" She simply countered with a smirk.

  Lev threw the thoughts of any healing in the near future out of his mind. "Never mind. So those two converters for now."

  "That will… come out to thirty or so gold. It is very expensive, I know, but for metals, materials, and enchantments to last you the entire rank? The price is more than fair."

  "No exact amount?"

  She shook her head. "It may get a little higher even, but no more than thirty-five. Is that fine by you?"

  Lev checked his ring, noting the eighty gold coins he had left. "Yeah. You can even upgrade it a little as long as the price doesn't cross forty gold."

  Her eyes twinkled. "I'm not doing anything but sure. The end product will be quite satisfactory, I assure you. Check in tomorrow to find out how long they will take. Father is rather busy these days."

  Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

  "I wanted to ask about that actually," Lev motioned to the noticeably emptier shop. "Is something happening?"

  She blinked. "You were rushing the skills so I can guess why you didn't know. There will be three big tournaments hosted in Runespires, and the Hunters Guild is preparing a large-scale dungeon clearing operation."

  "Dungeon clearing? Don't they recharge?" Lev asked, confused.

  "The rate of mana absorption is slowed down by how often they are run. If the dungeon is busier creating new instances, it will pull in less mana," Susaine helpfully explained.

  Huh, the more you know.

  "Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow." Lev dipped his head before leaving the shop.

  ****

  The inner gate guards recognized the boy in the illusion armor, letting him pass without issue. Lev wanted to visit the hunter's guild and get a new badge, but that could wait. He wasn't going to accept any quests anytime soon.

  Inna was absent. Lev thought she was working a full-time guardian job at first, but she was missing more often than not. Today seemed to be one such day.

  He shrugged and prepared his first new skill, flight. His barrier armor, now much more durable than before, was already covering the illusion armor. Lev mentally grabbed all of it and willed it to ascend.

  The armor obeyed, noiselessly rising into the air.

  The strain is… low. Lower than expected, for sure. The mana cost is surprisingly high, almost costing all of my regeneration.

  If other mages of his level had heard him say that, they would be coughing blood.

  Lev's regeneration was no joke either. It would take him nearly a day to fully regenerate his mana pool, but he had far too much to begin with.

  That brought him to his mana pool.

  It was majestic.

  Where he had a small tub, there was already a small pond. It was full, so he couldn't feel his regeneration just yet.

  Lev flew higher and higher, ascending for several hundred meters before he came to a stop. His vastly increased Perception and even more improved eyesight made themselves known as he gazed around.

  The grassland stretched for as far as he could see. More than a hundred kilometers in the distance, Lev spotted an elevation in the ground.

  The pit.

  That was the entrance to the pit, the large dungeon-like hole in the ground. The fact that he could see it from such a distance told him just how large it was, and Lev couldn't wait to delve into it.

  Eventually. He was too weak right now.

  I don't actually know that. Lemme find something to test it on.

  Lev slowly accelerated to the Ivory training ground, the part of it closer to the pit where first threshold monsters were more common. He had wisely stayed away from that area before.

  His highest flight speed was… nice. It was faster than most personal use cars on Earth but it was similarly costly. His mana was dwindling at a slow pace, telling him that such a flight was not possible for more than a few hours.

  It was still pretty astounding for a new Adept to fly for so long. The speed wasn't anything special. Classes focused on flight allowed for much higher maximum speed.

  I will have to wait for my mana to regenerate several times to travel to another city. Lev thought with a mental shrug. That will improve with time, I guess. My regeneration will get to a point where flight won't cost mana anymore. Intelligence will also increase my speed.

  Lev couldn't help but smirk as he observed clueless monsters far below, unsuspecting of the eager menace several hundred meters above.

  He formed four arcane arrows using his General Skill, now hoping for it to evolve into something more fit for his class. They formed instantly, his improved intelligence and evolution making themselves known.

  Lev sent a small stream of mana into the lightning converter, caught the resulting mana with his mind, and sent it into the tube connected to his armor.

  Something new made itself known in his mind, a new sense of attachment to his barriers. He could always feel their location even before he had gotten his class for they were his creations. But now, he could feel a connection between all his barriers.

  Lev grabbed the lightning mana and shoved it inside the new connection without hesitation. Without a particular destination, it spread to all his barriers in equal measure. The arrows, his armor, and the small tube all got a little bit of lightning mana which dissipated rather quickly. He had only used a little bit of mana.

  His mana pool was still also pretty much full, despite hovering mid-air, forming several arrows, and charging them a little from converted mana.

  Let's change that.

  Down below, a shade brute was emotionlessly wandering through the more spaced boulders. This part of the training ground had more space for combat. Lev didn't really need the space as he dismissed the arrows.

  Then he formed a barrier lance, formed of pure mana, not unlike Sherron's lightning lances.

  Forming another tube to his fire mana converter, Lev sent a bunch of mana into both his primary converters. The amount of mana, which would've been more than a tenth of his mana pool before the evolution, was only a few percent of his current pool.

  Most of it went into the lightning converter. From the tube, Lev focused on sending it all to the lance. The mana obeyed, teleporting through the connection into his lance.

  This is quite fascinating. Lev thought with a grin. The mana just vanished from the tube, appearing in the lance. It was the first form of teleportation he had seen.

  The lance also handled the mana with little trouble. Lev's will kept it stabilized, and he knew it would blow up outside his control, but that was the whole point.

  Fire mana was the bigger issue. Unlike the lightning mana, which was more stored in the outer parts of the lance, the fire mana was all shoved in the middle.

  It demanded release much more violently, requiring Lev to focus quite a bit more than before.

  He kept it there, getting used to his new capabilities. Before the evolution, Lev would've been able to handle at most two of these.

  Now?

  Lev formed four more lances before filling them up with a tenth of his mana pool. They vibrated with suppressed potential, perfectly stable under his will.

  With a satisfied nod, Lev looked at the Shade Brute below. It was still oblivious to his presence and weapons of mass destruction.

  With a mental nudge, the first lance shot downward like a bullet. It produced a piercing whistle with its passing, aimed at the heart of brute crawling on all fours.

  The brute only had a small instant to react, in which it didn't even realize what was happening. The lance, with its extreme speed, easily pierced the skin and buried itself completely inside the monster.

  The lightning and fire mana were explosively discharged at the same time, the fire mana forcefully releasing the other type by destroying the container.

  The result was a large explosion inside the brute, showering the surroundings with blood and gore. Lev wrinkled his nose but kept his eyes peeled for when the light and flame dispersed.

  The brute was still alive.

  Lev had guessed its anatomy wouldn't be much different than a human because of its humanoid shape but that turned out to be wrong. In reality, he didn't even know if it had a heart. There were surely a hundred books on Pit monsters to learn about their body but Lev would just aim for the head, neck, or spine next time.

  The brute, with a large portion of its torso blown to bits, died after a few seconds.

  [

  You have slain [Shade Brute - Level 120]

  ]

  No levels at all. Lev thought with a snicker. He would've gotten at least two even after level 90 prior to the evolution. That was at least a good thing.

  The first evolution unlocked auxiliary ranks, which were theorized to go high enough to be endless. The publicly known highest rank was the fifth rank, something only a few Exalted had achieved.

  The weird thing about auxiliary rank was that they rarely gave new effects. Most of the time, a skill would just rank up without anything new except the bonus increase per level.

  Now, with far less essence gain than before, Lev could fight more without worrying. His skill levels and class levels would both increase slowly, and he wouldn't need to wait for either to catch up.

  Sure, two of his skills were currently level 1, but they would catch up in time as well. He just had to make use of them, which was really easy. He already had.

  Colorful Destruction was what allowed different types of mana to be teleported from one barrier to another. Leveling that skill was just a matter of repeated usage. Such was the case for Rapid Infusion as well.

  Lev just had to kill monsters without holding back, something he would happily do for the foreseeable future.