The next day passed in a blur of battles. Each Master faced Hakim, even the support mages, to refine their own positioning and escape tactics.
Melvine’s spar was the most notable, even more so than Lev’s. She didn’t bother with her usual mist zone. Hakim was far too strong to be affected by that.
That left pure skill and her strong body enhancement, and the combination was a sight to behold.
Both greatswords moved too fast for Lev to have any hope of contending against them. Melvine fought like a phantom, her body almost gliding from one point to another as her feet barely touched the ground.
It was an illusion, of course. Lev could feel that the dirt and stone beneath her was frozen stiff, and her footwork was immaculate. The steps she did take were almost instantaneous, ending just as they began.
Hakim, on the other hand, fought like an immovable mountain that also moved with the grace of a dancer. Lev had no clue how or why that was even possible, nor did he have any estimates about how many times Hakim had evolved his sword-related skill.
All he knew was that the Exalted was so unbelievably beyond everyone present, his brain struggled to wrap his head around the concept.
The man was not using his body enhancement, not using any enchantments, not using moonlight, and was restricting his attributes to an extreme degree. A single slap could kill any of them, and yet, that would only be a negligible fraction of his strength.
Just how far could he go?
Lev wanted to know, if only to further fuel his ambitions. For all his ridiculousness, Hakim was very far from the actual apex of the universe.
Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, he tried moving his arm again. It had fractured during the last spar, and he had been slowly healing it ever since.
“There were two more dungeons nearby once I really started looking,” Hakim announced, standing in the middle of their camp. He looked just as fresh and prepared for war as before. “None of them were close to a break. I cleared them a few times regardless. Your task has changed now.”
The man turned to Lev. “Release all of your aura and empower it with mana. For the next ten minutes, you will float above us and wait for monsters to attack. Once the tide starts, lead it to the citadel. The whole region will gradually follow.”
“And the defenders can last against the whole region?” Isabella asked with a frown, taking the question out of everyone’s mind.
“Of course not,” Hakim answered. “Blood Tide and Galvanic Sniper will eventually take over once bigger threats start moving from deeper inside.”
“What if the bigger threats move too quickly?” Lev questioned. “Would they not be attracted to my aura?”
“The region is far bigger than you think.”
I suppose that makes sense.
He had a few more worries, though those would be addressed in time. With Grand Strategist Wayne present in the fortress, he doubted there was going to be a shortage of manpower and its deployment.
“How long am I going to stay there?” Lev asked while getting up, his arm fully healed.
“For a few months. Remain stationary until your team joins you.”
Lovely.
Following the guildmaster’s instructions, Lev inhaled deeply and unfurled his full presence. It was becoming more and more noticeable, having seen an upgrade in quality after he unlocked Harmony.
That was another change he eagerly dove into. His control over aura had become better, albeit only slightly. The major difference was in the quality, and now that he could observe the aura better, it also revealed why he could resist Hakim’s intimidation skill. Lev’s intent resonated even better with his presence.
Flying up several kilometers, he commanded willpower to keep him suspended. Adding mana into the aura was as easy as thinking about it. Doing it efficiently, however, demanded finesse.
Lev hadn’t needed to ever do this before, for releasing his presence usually did more harm than good. Just this once, he took his time to equally imbue pure mana into each part of his aura. The effect was muted, which wasn’t surprising.
The last key, his intent, was what made the mana empowerment complete. His aura shone brightly and expanded even further, displaying his location for many, many kilometers.
Almost immediately, he felt multiple presences take notice. Some were distinctly avian in their bearing, showing how they wanted to snatch him mid-flight and rip him to shreds.
Am I supposed to last ten minutes like this? He wondered, a bit concerned. Then his worries were put to rest when Hakim moved.
The man simply vanished from sight and senses in a single step, leaving no traces of movement behind. In less than a minute, all five of the monsters were dead.
… That works.
Ten minutes passed in a blink. Lev could see mountains becoming odd in the distance. Even with his eyesight, it took a moment to realize that the mountains were fine. No, it was the number of monsters rushing him that made them seem like they were vibrating.
He didn’t waste a moment in descending. His bubble was already prepared, stopping on the ground for a brief moment to let the passengers hop on.
After that, they were off. Just to be certain, he didn’t go too fast and observed the first wave of monsters rapidly closing in.
“How many do you see?” Lisa asked, preparing her buffs.
“My Perception is not enough to count them all,” Lev mused, unable to hold back a grin for some reason. How many levels could he get from bombardment?
“Why are we here, then?” Isabella voiced, staring a hole into the back of his head.
“Because,” Lev exhaled through his nose. “The monsters are mainly first-threshold. We can slow down and take turns killing them if you guys want?”
“Didn’t you say there are like hundreds or thousands of them?”
“Exactly. That’s so much essence to be had if we go in pairs and don’t just overwhelm them.”
“Unbelievable.”
“You worry too much,” he laughed. “Besides, I have like, enough mana to kill a lot of second-threshold monsters. Melvine is also doing well in that regard. Kora, can you use your buffs?”
“Sure, but I won’t last long.”
“That’s fine, we can just go invisible and fly away if things get worse.”
Her buff was mainly directed at Lev, Isabella, and, surprisingly, Zack. The fire enhancer used a lot of mana during battle, but Lev hadn’t realized before just how much. Only after observing the Master spar with Hakim did he notice the usage properly, and he had to say, Zack’s class was just as much of an enigma as everyone else’s.
“Alright, who’s going first?” Lev asked and lowered the bubble until it was a few meters above ground. A hole formed in the barrier floor, an open invitation.
Viktor and Aryan went first. Lev closed the hole and made the bubble ascend, keeping an eye out for anything unnatural.
“Just make sure to keep following us,” Isabella sent to the two, connecting them all to the communication item. “I will occasionally signal the bubble’s location with a pulse of fire mana. Try to remain underneath us.”
“Noted.”
“Okay.”
The first monsters to reach them were ugly bipeds. As if budget werewolves were meshed with abominable rats, the monsters ran forward with surprising speed for their level.
Said level didn’t hold a candle to the rogue, who was an evolution higher. Aryan wasn’t even noticed as heads were sliced clean off of shoulders, tumbling to the ground with wide eyes.
The next were harpies due to their aerial flight and the speed afforded by it. Neither fighter made the first move, content with letting the monsters dive.
Viktor’s class shone brighter in that exchange. Both harpies targeted him. He stood stalwart with the barrier shield, pretending to remain stationary.
When the first harpy was about to close in, he threw his axe. It dug straight into the monster’s brain, downing it in a second. The corpse carried on, and he let it land on his shield.
In a blink, the same shield slammed into the second harpy’s beak. All of the stored kinetic energy pulped its head, and even the gore was launched away from Viktor, saving him from a bloody shower.
Monster after monster fell to the two. They had more than enough mana to keep going for a while. Even Aryan, who couldn’t keep up a high output for too long, was just casually mowing through the thin horde.
That changed gradually. Hundreds fell in the first twenty minutes, only for thousands to become visible on the horizon.
Neither combatant was deterred. Instead, they finally dipped into their resource pools with seriousness, preparing themselves for the onslaught. A few exchanges also took place through mental communication, during which Aryan agreed that supporting Viktor’s defensive style was the best move.
Lev just leaned back in his seat. He had seen them both fight many times, and unless something went wrong, he would rather plan for arrival at the fortress.
As it stood, he wasn’t lacking anything. Improvements were possible and would take place during the journey. What he was most curious about, were his immobilizing constructs, primarily ropes and cables.
The ropes connected to his bubble were thinner and more flexible, meant to constrict and hold in place. Cables, on the other hand, were made to be as durable as possible, enchanted with that in mind.
He used to have a middleground, one that kept falling behind his usual arsenal due to several reasons. Chains were a tool to both hurt and hinder. Lev had first used them as a means to hold monsters in place, tie them up, or cut into them with bladed edges.
That had become harder and harder with time, especially when third-threshold monsters were involved. The linked construct shattered too easily, and each link could be considered a weakness.
Changing that was difficult, so he had come up with several solutions. Harmony had unlocked an option previously inaccessible: even smaller enchantments.
Carving entire formations on a small construct demanded several things. Perfect utilization of space, enough conductivity and structural integrity to handle the burden, and enough Perception, familiarity, and more to properly utilize tiny runes.
The first was a matter of time and planning. Treatments, which he needed to buy and look into more of, would deal with the second. The last, however, was something he couldn’t have managed without Spiritual Harmony.
Now, with his deepened connection, he could feel that another layer of enchanting had been unlocked to him. Not nearly enough for Epic items, of course. The sap from the third-threshold treant was the only reason he could create such items.
Forging peak rare items, however, was now possible. That was going to be the secondary aim going forward, and he had months to practice on a perfect battlefield filled with Masters and Adepts.
A few more minutes passed as he remained lost in thought. It wasn’t until Aryan called out for a switch did he return to the present. Lowering the bubble, he made it visible and created an opening for the fighters to jump through.
By now, there were so many first-threshold monsters swarming towards them, it was getting slightly intimidating. Lev made it easier on his psyche by filling up a few dozen arrows with lightning before launching them at the small wave.
Explosions rang out for several seconds as the scene turned blue. Hundreds of notifications flashed by in the corner of his vision, none of them worth checking.
“That would’ve been helpful a moment ago,” said Viktor, slightly out of breath.
“I wasn’t paying much attention, sorry. Who’s next?”
Seeing the number of monsters, Isabella’s whole team decided to descend. Lev once again formed an opening for them, remaining in his seat to observe the spectacle.
Without Kora’s buff, he was going to refrain from using too much mana for fun like he just had. Instead, he looked upwards, noticing a particular detail.
A lone cloud. Is another storm coming? I guess I will know if there’s a huge bunker underneath the fortress.
Time would tell, he supposed. For now, he summoned Stargazer and channeled mana through her enchantments. Overriding the core’s reserves and preloading functions, he powered up the runes from scratch with his own mana.
Sherron had mentioned that Jimmy, the Exalted Crafter, must’ve left something in the glaive. It was bound to be challenging even to discover what she meant, something that was becoming readily obvious as he found nothing new in Stargazer’s structure.
Turning the enchantments on and off repeatedly, he eventually gave up and scanned her physical body from head to toe. A few scratches, no structural damage. The blade shattered often, yet the pole endured without problem.
Taking off the pole cover containing the converters, he scanned the strip of cloth a few times. Nothing new there.
“What are you doing?” Lisa ended up asking, unable to hold back her curiosity. By her side, Rena seemed relieved that Lisa had asked it and saved her the trouble.
“Looking through the enchantments and cover for any hidden mechanics or surprises.”
“Why would it have those?”
Lev debated if he wanted to answer that, then shrugged. Now that they weren’t at risk of being overheard, he had no qualms telling them about Stargazer. They had developed more than enough trust for that in the past few weeks.
“YOU CHOOSE NOW OF ALL TIMES TO REVEAL IT!?” Isabella shouted in their ears, audibly angry that he was doing this while she and her team were facing a full flock of harpies.
Lev chuckled. The bomb drop could wait a bit.