Get. Off. Me.
Lev looked at the thread covering his armor angrily. Several barrier ropes wrapped around it, and another rope poured water on him using the refillable canteen.
Still, it took several seconds just to pry off the singular thread, though it was blessedly the last of many. By his side, he created another massive barrier pillar, then spun the thread around it. Due to the ridiculous adhesive properties, he couldn’t have more than a singular layer of the thread, lest it become impossible to untangle later.
As such, he had over thirty isolated pillars, all with a huge amount of thread wrapped around them. His bubble had to be expanded to the size of a guild hall as a result, which was more than acceptable. The windfall from selling all that thread was going to be nice, regardless of how small a cut he got. The farm didn’t belong to him, after all. He was merely getting the harvester’s fee. It was bound to be substantial, for putting down the spiders was one hell of an ordeal.
I got a level as well, Lev thought with a smile. He had missed that particular notification quite dearly.
[
You have slain [Diamondsilk Orb Weaver - Level 408]
…
You have slain [Diamondsilk Thread Controller - Level 400]
…
You have slain [Diamondfang Assassin - Level 433]
…
You have slain [Diamondsilk Berserker - Level 411]
…
Arcane Maelstrom has reached Level 339
Arcane Intuition has reached 2nd Level 5
]
Arcane Intuition benefited more than Lev expected. The spiders, while impressively strong physically, still relied mainly on mana to move their threads. It also explained the unnatural toughness of their traps. His Perception skill got a good workout during the messy brawls.
Far in the distance, Lev could still feel hundreds of spiders in the forest, frantically searching for additional intruders. Scouts kept an eye on him, even if he could feel them salivating for his life. No monsters left the forest, not without the queen’s orders.
And what a queen she was. Lev hadn’t laid eyes on her throughout the battle, and yet, the moment she had moved, he had immediately run away. He had no interest in getting squashed by a level 800 or higher being.
Several kilometers away from the forest, Lev did one final count of his bounties. A decent bit of thread; enough for several dozen equipment pieces if he had to guess, provided that the diamondsilk wasn’t the primary material.
Do I ever want to return to this place, though?
While flying back to where Aurora and her harvesters were waiting for him, Lev considered the forest. It had an abundance of monsters that couldn’t overwhelm him, regardless of how many piled on him at once. Concentrated blasts were enough to destroy the threads with his mana pool.
The spider queen, however, was not an adversary he could handle. She severely limited his escape options, and Drakys’s presence was likely the only reason she hadn’t come after him. Perhaps once he was strong enough to survive a confrontation, Lev would return to fight more of the spiders.
I also have to dump the seventy corpses in my ring somewhere.
It had been a long time since Lev had visited the Bronze Bids. With the number of cores in his ring, as well as harvestable bodies, a trip to the nearest branch was in order.
If I even get the time to return to civilization soon.
Lev landed close to the waiting group, their brows rising at the new size of his bubble.
“I had to improvise,” he waved off the looks and looked around. Drakys was, as usual, in a completely unexpected place, which happened to be high above this time. “What’s next?” Lev shouted at the sky.
“We return to the fort,” the Exalted replied from right behind him. Lev jumped, almost attacking the man on sight. There had been no indication of teleportation.
Drakys didn’t pay that any heed, looking over all the pillars with a nod. “You’ve simplified things quite a bit. I’ll send a runner your way when we land.”
A minute later, they were flying through the air, soundless and stupidly fast.
****
Several hours later, Lev noticed the bubble slow down. The flight was smooth enough that time passed in a blink, making the six-hour meditation session feel like minutes. Or perhaps it was his vast, misty mana pool that was too fun to look at.
Sending out his senses, Lev felt a smile growing on his face. The fort in the distance looked impressive, sure, but the ongoing wave called to him like no other. Thousands of monsters were approaching from the mountains, not exactly an overwhelming amount yet. He could feel many more monsters on their way.
Fate was also on his side, apparently, for the Monster Bell was rung not long after. A single chime spread throughout the fort, accompanied by a tense hush.
The second through seventh chimes came and went, already signifying a great challenge. Eight chimes, and Lev raised a brow at Drakys. Had the Exalted known about the wave?
When the ninth chime was rung, Lev’s joviality took a backseat. Out in the open, with a lot of forces but only a single fort, that could be disastrous. Fortunately for the humans, there were no more chimes, sparing them from the worst.
“It’s a mighty good thing I conserved mana, isn’t it?” Lev voiced, fishing for a reaction. Drakys just waved Lev to go off and do his thing before taking Aurora and the harvesters with him, casually phasing through the bubble.
Yes, sir, Lev jokingly saluted in his head, excited again. He hadn’t seen so many things to rip apart in so long. Now that he was past the month of training, it felt like forever had passed. He needed to feel the rush of pushing his skills again amidst massive hordes. The spiders were too damn durable to be fun putting down.
He was going to have his due against the wave, one way or another.
****
This isn’t right…
The thought echoed in Lev’s relatively relaxed mind. Above him, more harpies were diving, and below him, thornlings were swarming the vicinity. Stone and ice spikes were also raining on his position, and yet, he couldn’t bring himself to be tense about it.
Enchanted shieldwalls formed in a blink, nullifying all projectiles. Filling an orb with lightning and dropping it, he made a kinetic pillar turn visible between the approaching harpies. In a pulse, a significant portion of their momentum was sapped.
Just as the blue orb unfurled and tongs of lightning spread to monsters in a large area, sharp, pointy, and enchanted ropes tore through the unbalanced harpies. None of the avian monsters stood a chance. The paralyzed thornlings on the ground were also finished off by arrows with contemptuous ease.
Lev hadn’t even needed to focus much, let alone exert himself.
When did I become this strong?
As if that wasn’t enough, several direbears neared his location. His ranged capabilities were always strong. To test his melee strength, Lev jumped to the ground, absorbing his own kinetic energy through runes.
The bears were massive, easily thrice his size. Tensing his knees, he mentally pushed against the huge approaching paw. A massive chunk of kinetic energy flowed into his armor through absorption runes, and the bear’s attack just… stopped.
Grabbing its claws, Lev pulled the massive beast towards himself. Half of his stored kinetic energy empowered a single punch, and it gored the bear’s skull without trouble.
The last bit of excitement drained from his mind. Enchanted lances, devoid of elemental mana, formed above him, and even those were enough to put down the remaining second-threshold monsters. His mind was too strong now; his Perception, too potent for the weak creatures.
Standing amidst the hundreds of monsters, Lev could feel the other hunters moving further away. Barrier projectiles formed like a tidal wave. Augment Carving utilized willpower, shaping basic runes on each construct. Lances, arrows, orbs, and blades were prepared in seconds, then fired towards a large portion of the approaching wave.
For the first time in his life, it felt enough. Lev’s eyes drank in the details with ease. Trolls died faster than they could regenerate, harpies couldn’t move out of the way in time, felines were not fast enough to dodge, and hulking spiders were too frail in front of lances.
The barest infusion of elemental mana was enough to completely overwhelm the monsters. Every new barrier Lev formed, it was more durable and receptive to mana than it used to be. His mind had been tempered by the Equalizer, and it showed in his every move.
Instead of feeling happy, though, he felt lost. Feeling a gaze on his back, Lev turned towards the fort. From the roof, Drakys matched his stare, the Exalted showing a lot more empathy than Lev expected.
You felt the same once, didn’t you? Lev wondered, unable to hold back a smile. What did you do? Actually, I don’t even need to ask. You went out and gathered the greatest rune collection in the Plains.
It felt surreal to relate to an Exalted. Lev knew he was strong. Abnormally so. But the ridiculous influx of levels from the Goliath, the consolidation of lessons learnt over the years through the month of meditation, and the addition of his recent skill and practice had turned him into something impossible. A Master so strong that second-threshold monsters felt like an afterthought.
And to think that people like Hakim outshine even my potential, and yet, humanity is at the threat of annihilation.
Life felt like a funny joke. He couldn’t even feel lost in peace without the constant existential dread rearing its head.
Ah well. Lev hummed a merry tune to himself. If it doesn’t feel fun, that just means I need to make it fun. Time to upgrade a title.
Siegebreaker had been stagnating in his status for a long time now. The requirement was to face a strong wave, though Orianna had also let it slip that soloing a terrible wave would upgrade it. The example she used was a nine-rated wave, and Lev just happened to have a mostly untouched one right in front of him.
Making sure Drakys was looking at him, Lev pointed at the wave, then mimed a huge blast going off with both his hands. The Exalted chuckled from his vantage point, then vanished with a nod.
It’s nice to have kindred souls present amidst normal folks. I can just tell them about my deranged plans, and they barely bat an eye.
Lev would never forget just how much the Exalteds had done for him. Even if not directly, his journey had been exceptionally smooth due to their background influence.
For now, though, he had a wave to eviscerate. It would also serve as a turning point for his reputation. After all, the fort was far from the frail-looking stone structure that it had initially started as. It was manned to the brim now and nearly overflowing with hunters and management staff alike.
In front of all those people, Lev was going to truly let loose. The rumor mill was going to eat well tonight.
****
“Bad idea,” Aurora commented, going to the roof and coming to a stop next to Drakys. Lev was about to use a lot of mana in front of average hunters; she could feel it so clearly. “He won’t be allowed to ever live it down.”
“He knows that, of course,” Drakys commented with obvious amusement. “That’s what makes him so different from you and me, though.”
Aurora frowned. “I’m not following.”
“Well, think about it. Once he’s done, do you think he will let anyone come anywhere near him?” Drakys asked, smiling. “No, he will just retreat into his bubble for several days until his mana fully regenerates and the storm passes.”
“But…” Aurora began, then trailed off. “Why didn’t I do that?” she whispered to herself. That only made Drakys’s smile grow wider.
Having people rely on you could really be a curse at times.
****
Divination was a fickle art. For a long time now, Wayne had delved into the mysterious field. Secrets uncovered with Mara had advanced similar studies by leaps and bounds, and yet, there was always more to discover. More than that, Wayne was too aware of just how little they knew. After all, literal gods existed out there, on the same planet as the humans.
How could some puny bipeds claim to be knowledgeable when they didn’t even know the limits of the fourth threshold, let alone the one above? Even the level range was naught but a question mark.
Learning new things from right outside the fort, however, was not something Wayne had on his agenda. The Grand Strategist got out of his office, trident already in hand. Hunters that usually parted with respectful nods now moved with him, all of them attracted by the lone human taunting the whole wave.
A daunting aura terrified most of the present humans. Only the Masters could see the truth for what it was. Lev wasn’t even trying to affect the humans. His whole focus on the monsters and attracting them from afar.
Wayne didn’t bother with leaving the fort. Skillful application of air mana saw him glide into the open, then to the roof. Landing next to Drakys and Aurora, he bowed slightly before straightening, eyes glued to the spectacle taking place.
Divination skills were odd. They primarily operated on one’s understanding of mana, the world’s workings, and human nature. The last aspect took a backseat when dealing with monsters, but emotions were similar enough in both beings to accurately guess moves.
Lev didn’t quite fit the mold.
To begin with, his aura had grown far beyond what should’ve been possible for a few weeks of absence. If the boy had felt bloated before, he now felt strong, a balanced existence more at peace with himself and his skills. It was rather obvious that the downtime had done him a lot of good.
Where his skills should’ve told him more, they instead hit a wall. Confused, Wayne tried again, streaming more mana into the active skills. They returned more possibilities now, but alarmingly enough, he could feel the distant third-threshold monsters with more clarity than he could read Lev’s intent.
“You’re not the first,” Drakys commented, slightly sympathetic. “Mara met the same resistance.”
What in tarnation?
Wayne nodded once, as if it made perfect sense. Better off learning from the experience instead of lamenting the impossible.
****
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