Lev couldn't track the passage of time. Hours had passed, but more than a day might have, too. He wouldn't know.

  His entire being was weighing down on the stream of mana moving through the underground channels, progressing at a glacial pace but progressing nonetheless.

  Two turns seems like the limit for now, Lev observed, his breathing a little ragged. Where he couldn't manage even a single turn with his mind before, he had managed two of them now.

  His mind strained to keep the barely twenty meter long stream in shape, but that was fine. Lev had visibly improved a lot since the start, and his notifications kept him updated about one of the factors of improvement.

  [

  Mana Perception has reached 2nd Level 10

  ]

  Finally leveled to the end, eh?

  The skill rarely leveled during combat as he didn't get to track spells or mana. It was good to see it finally improve rapidly. Just like Mana Manipulation, it was also meant to be evolved before being truly useful.

  The illusion armor had vanished some time ago after Lev realized he was invisible to all outsiders. He rubbed his forehead, trying to soothe his overtaxed psyche but the headache was persistent.

  With a quiet sigh, Lev ignored it and started working on the stream again.

  I'm pretty sure Drakys said finishing points, not a point…

  Like a reasonable person, Lev ignored the thought. Only the current singular stream of mana mattered.

  With a deep, steadying breath, he formed the stream from scratch again. It smoothly slid through the first pathway, extending in a straight line till the first turn. Without stopping, it curved to the left and extended in a straight line again. The second curve passed much the same as Lev's focus started to waver.

  Clamping down on the stream with all his willpower, Lev commanded it to grow. The stream slowly did, trying to dissipate like an unruly child trying its best to run away, but he did not allow it to.

  Over the course of several minutes, Lev gave it his all. Inch after inch, it grew until the third turn reached him, at which point his mind gave out.

  Ugh, my head is gonna blow up. Lev thought, pulling back all his senses to avoid throwing up. His heavy breathing was the only sound within the sphere for several long minutes, the headache showing no signs of abating.

  With his eyes closed, Lev was dead to the world. Only his hearing, which he couldn't pull back much, warned him in time.

  Barrier armor covered him in the blink of an eye as meaty thuds announced the presence of a charging troll. Two large shields formed in front of Lev, blocking its stone club at the cost of one shattering.

  It gave him enough time to fly up and observe the situation. The sphere was empty, save for Lev, Drakys, and the monster.

  [Cave Troll - Level 165]

  Relatively high level, Lev observed. The situation was not too bad. It was even expected. Life outside the outer wall was unpredictable at best, and this was a great way to train for it.

  It was still annoying as hell, though.

  Lev veered to the right, letting the second thrown club fly by harmlessly. Four thick chains, each link wider than his arm, slowly formed midair as Lev occupied the troll with his shields.

  The monster charged the same madness-ridden charge, guiding it to Lev's whims not even close to an issue. He flew in circles, keeping track of the boundary of the sphere to not go out of it. The troll followed, occasionally leaping at Lev, the movement easily dodged.

  Two of the chains curved down in an arc from both sides, intent on skewering the monsters with their bladed ends. Noticing them, the troll pounced on one, shattering it with ease.

  Lev grimaced. The monster hadn't even needed to grab it with both hands. Just the grip alone shattered the construct to pieces, and Lev had even made it extra thick.

  No matter. It can only block so many at once.

  Four more chains formed, their blades enchanted with a sharpness rune. They all descended at once, the troll unable to block them all.

  Punching one away, it roared in pain when two dug into its back, going several inches deep. Hatred fueled its movement as it tried to get the entangling chains off itself, shattering two more into bits. Lev pulled the chains back to try and slow the troll, but his mental strength was negligible compared to the physical might of the monster.

  Durability remains pretty low. Even slowing down the monster is too much for now, let alone completely immobilizing it.

  Summoning his bow, Lev sent mana into his lightning converter and transferred the output to one of the chains still embedded inside the troll.

  Lightning mana coursed through the monster's body, stunning it in place as an arrow swiftly ended its life.

  [

  You have slain [Cave Troll - Level 165]

  Mana Tempest has reached Level 139

  ]

  The idea had only come to him recently, to release lightning through his chains. Lev couldn't directly transfer mana to constructs inside a monster, for their own natural defenses prevented that. But for a dangling bladed chain? He could transfer mana to any of its links not touching the monster, which let him pull the mana close enough to release it inside.

  "Is enchanting the answer?"

  "Half of it," Drakys replied, understanding what he was getting at. "Practice and leveling your skill is the other half. That chain, while viable, is too structurally weak. Your mind should be trained enough to not rely on the flexibility afforded by the design."

  Lev could not deny that his design was intentionally weakened to be easier to move. Back in the spider dungeon, it had felt like a good idea. But now, it was becoming obvious that he needed the maximum durability without sacrificing a full range of motion for the chain. Even if it was harder to manipulate as a result, he just had to get used to it.

  "Wasn't I supposed to not kill monsters?"

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  "You just need to stay below 200. Your Daunting Steps title might be upgraded if you kill a few second-threshold monsters before that."

  "… I'll be looking forward to it," Lev replied, trying to inject some cheer into his voice. He failed. His mind was already hurting like crazy from all the practice, and fighting the troll had done it no favors.

  Sitting back down on the chair, he formed another stream of mana to train.

  ****

  Hours gradually passed as Lev pushed his general skill beyond its limits, clueless about the requirement to evolve it.

  He just had to give a single large push, and it would evolve.

  Or perhaps the boy was aware and simply not willing to do so. Either way, Drakys was content with the effort Lev was putting in currently.

  The stream of mana flickered in a few spots, held tightly together by the boy's crumbling willpower. Before evolving to the Master rank, it could only be pushed so far.

  Not bad at all for a newbie, though. Must be the work of the second title. Monarch knows how much I would love to have it.

  Such was not meant to be, so he tossed the fantasy out of his mug. The boy and his class were perfect for it so far, and Drakys would make sure the title would be fully utilized.

  Lev's stream of mana sputtered, trying to get back into shape one last time before crumbling entirely.

  The boy let out a low groan, fully audible to Drakys' senses, and leaned back in the purposefully uncomfortable chair. He didn't seem to notice that though, his mind dominated by the intense headache he was no doubt feeling.

  I would ask why you're pushing yourself so much, but I've already seen how you look at the walls, boy. The same gaze as Orianna's, dreading the day they will come tumbling down. Except your very existence will cause that.

  "That's enough Mana Manipulation for today," Drakys spoke up, giving Lev a meaningful glance. "Do you wish to keep going like this?"

  "… Yes, sir."

  Drakys nodded. The decision was the boy's own, and he approved too. It would be easier to unlock specialized evolutions of the skill if it was pushed to the limit instead of relying on The System to hold your hand.

  "Rest for half an hour. We will work on melee fighting basics soon."

  That was all he seemed to be waiting for. Within seconds, the boy was out like a log.

  ****

  Thank Monarch sleep is so effective against that headache.

  Lev yawned, noting that Drakys was nowhere to be seen. That was fine, Lev realized he hadn't eaten anything in a while. More than that, there was no excrement. That was a thing apparently, but Lev kept forgetting.

  The first evolution removed the need for excrement if one didn't overeat or drink. Mana suffused the body a bit more thoroughly, turning the remains of digested food into ambient mana.

  He brought out some roasted chicken, the best food on Monarch he might add, and ate breakfast while waiting for the Exalted. He saluted the foresight of whoever had brought a large number of animals with them on the refugee ship. Some of them had somehow survived the crash landing.

  Far into the distance, Lev could see flashes of battle from the dormant and first-threshold monsters constantly assaulting the wall. Perhaps the Exalted was keeping an eye on the defenders, or maybe he was battling some especially dangerous monster in one of the caves.

  Either way, Lev settled in to train while he returned. Forming a stream of mana, he could feel how close he was to a breakthrough. Sending the stream in the pathway below, it extended in a straight line, passed through three turns, and stopped.

  Lev was stuck at this new obstacle, which was the pathway going deeper in a spring shape. It curved in loops, ten of them, and Lev had to bend the stream accordingly.

  Fresh and ready to go, Lev tuned out the world and sharpened his attention on the stream. Gently, he extended it while keeping a tight leash on the rest of the structure. It obliged, elongating in the curved path at a glacial pace.

  Slowly, ever so slowly, the stream made it to the fifth loop before the total length became too much. The whole stream collapsed, but Lev had a smile on his face.

  [

  Your General Skill has evolved.

  Advanced Mana Manipulation - 2nd Level 1:

  Bend mana to your will with improved precision. Different mana types are easier to manipulate.

  2nd Rank: Channeling mana requires less focus. Manipulation is further improved by 35%

  ]

  The evolution was… majestic. Not only could Lev level the skill further now, but the small line of text about less focus was going to be a game-changer. The bonus to manipulation was a nice cherry on top, but it wasn't much, considering he had 82% of it from his Mage Conduit skill already. The bonus was just added to that.

  Sure took its time too, Lev thought, content. The skill would be immensely helpful when he eventually delved deeper into enchanting. Different mana types being handled by the first rank meant that aspect was also improved quite a bit already and would improve even further with every new level.

  Drakys was still absent, and no monsters were heading his way, so Lev formed a new stream of mana.

  The first three turns were handled almost effortlessly before he reached the same curvy decline. Bringing his entire will to bear, the stream started extending in the curves at a steady pace. It required great care to keep it away from the evil enchantments that kept ruining his practice.

  Mana bent to his wishes, gently traveling down the circular path. The effects of his new skill were showing itself when Lev's mind only showed signs of strain after the 4th loop.

  Pushing through, the stream went down all ten of the loops before the pathway opened up to… hell.

  … Drakys is a sadist?

  The next task was to split the stream into three and take each part through a relatively tiny pathway before they would join again.

  Lev didn't even know it was possible to split the stream before that.

  ****

  Much deeper, a cave of extremely compressed stone, reinforced from constant exposure to mana, quaked as two beings battled.

  Running on small solidified air platforms, Drakys weaved between the large earth spikes heading his way with graceful ease. The monster itself was far too slow to catch him, relying on the pathetic ranged attacks to catch him off guard.

  Kinetic energy steadily streamed into his right leg, the amount low but enough for his purposes.

  Mental shaping took over, enchanting the nascent spell in its creation as the formations carved under his skin came alive, amplifying his physical strength severalfold for a single attack.

  With contemptuous dexterity, Drakys hopped over another huge spike before performing an aerial kick in the direction of the stone snake. Invisible to the naked eye, a blade of kinetic energy and mana cut through an approaching highly compressed boulder like a hot knife through butter before bisecting the monster much the same. No amount of durability, which the monster specialized in, would be useful against such a compressed attack.

  Yet it wasn't dead. Far from it. The beheaded head thrashed and hissed, intent on giving its all till the end before Drakys landed on it with the force of a meteor. The cave shook for a long second, a lengthy instant at his level of Perception, signifying the end of the fight as stone and brain bits coated the surroundings. The eleventh such fight, both beginning and ending in the same manner.

  [

  You have slain [StoneFang - Level 561]

  ]

  Where the hell are these things even coming from?

  Drakys was forced to face second and third threshold monsters left and right, every one of them slowly ascending. They weren't rushing in like monsters usually did, which meant they had yet to detect Lev's presence. That only left one other option.

  Something else was guiding them to Lev, and Drakys could not detect even a hint of it.

  No matter how hard he looked, how much he pushed his senses to the limit, or how he strained his brain to come up with any plausible explanation, there was no answer. It was as if the world had simply declared the boy an enemy, coating reality in some invisible will that only the monsters could see.

  But that couldn't be true. The System rewarded him at every turn, which told a story quite the opposite. It was a conundrum without an answer, and Drakys wanted answers.

  Guess that answers why Orianna cares for him so much, Drakys thought, smiling. She has been borderline frantic ever since she found the effects of Lev's presence on monsters. So far, she has hidden her worries well but now at least I can understand her better.

  The boy was training upstairs, every single inch of the enchanted sphere visible to Drakys' senses. Apart from breakfast, he had simply started working on the mana shaping exercise again after waking up.

  There he simply was, working on his basic general skills, unaware of the world throwing monster after monster toward him. Not only were they all an evolution or two above him, but they also never stopped coming.

  This break hasn't been relaxing at all, Drakys thought with a sigh, preparing to face another third-threshold monster.