Months passed as Lev settled into a routine. There wasn't much to do during his stay in Windkeep except push for Master without dallying too long and practice his skills for as long as he could in the meantime.

Most of the days were spent in the park to practice all his present formations, including getting used to the advanced enhancement formation and all the spellcasting formations inside his bubble.

Beatrice often spent time with him, but they met less and less often as weeks went by. It wasn't her becoming distant or unfriendly, but her growing into her chosen role. No longer was she bound to follow hunters and important figures like a pet to empower them whenever they wanted.

She found much more joy in being in control of her fate. In just two years, Beatrice was already working as an Assistant Resource Manager for the utilities guild, or the common guild. It was responsible for managing all day-to-day consumption of the people and was the fourth great guild after the crafters guild.

They still delved together once every two months. Beatrice was keeping up in levels with him because of her role getting essence from every kill, and she was just two levels shy of the evolution.

In the same two years, Lev had progressed by leaps and bounds. Much of his time passed in fighting monsters, especially in the latter half of that time span. He took a more active role in the patrols and signed his first ever contract.

It was a simple one, as far as contracts went. Lev was required to patrol the east of Windkeep, or endless grassland to be precise, for some gold that he didn't care about. Motives of the hunters guild also started to make more sense when they provided him with a map crystal.

Those neat inventions could allow him to create a basic map of everywhere he traveled and mark the increased monster density, as well as the changing behavior of any region. It was the most advanced version that had ever been built, primarily because of one reason.

The gathered data could be shared freely. With the use of class runes of a recently evolved Master, not only could it be transferred to other crystals, but it could also be used for so much more. Like rabid beasts, the researchers hadn't wasted a moment in tearing into the untapped potential and formulating a large-scale use for the new technology, which made conquering the center of the plains a possibility.

By now, a giant formation in the heart of Windkeep kept track of all these crystals. Medium-range communication was built into these costly devices, providing updates in real-time. Lev was still fascinated by them, even many months later.

Like the previous dozens of times, he landed in front of the platinum dungeon. He had avoided the second one because it was considerably easier, which meant fewer levels.

The Master guard in front of him merely nodded at Lev. Rotations often saw new Masters guarding dungeons to take some time off, and the current guard only came in two months ago.

Barrier armor was already protecting his form as Lev stepped inside. Nothing attacked him, and neither was his presence noted as the bubble immediately took shape around him. Mana concealment, invisibility, and sound warding formations came alive on the sphere, hiding him from the monsters completely.

Now then, show me the numbers again.

[

Mana Tempest has reached Level 219

Mana Tempest has reached Level 220

…

Mana Tempest has reached Level 245

Arcane Barrier Manipulation has reached 3rd Level 4

…

Arcane Barrier Manipulation has reached 3rd Level 7

Unerring Volley has reached 3rd Level 6

…

Unerring Volley has reached 3rd Level 9

Colorful Destruction has reached 3rd Level 6

…

Colorful Destruction has reached 3rd Level 9

Barrier Armor has reached 3rd Level 5

…

Barrier Armor has reached 4th Level 1

Superior Senses has reached 3rd Level 5

…

Superior Senses has reached 4th Level 1

Rapid Infusion has reached 3rd Level 4

…

Rapid Infusion has reached 3rd Level 9

Heavier Lifting has reached 3rd Level 5

…

Heavier Lifting has reached 3rd Level 8

Mage Conduit has reached 3rd Level 7

…

Mage Conduit has reached 4th Level 1

Barrier Carving has reached 2nd Level 2

…

Barrier Carving has reached 2nd Level 10

Wanderer's Repository has reached Level 4

Crescent Decimation has reached 2nd Level 6

…

Crescent Decimation has reached 2nd Level 10

Self-Taught Beginner Glaive Mastery has reached Level 7

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

…

Self-Taught Beginner Glaive Mastery has reached 2nd Level 2

]

Every single skill had seen massive improvements, especially his passive skills. None of the 4th ranked skills had seen any new effects, but Lev wasn't too surprised. To his knowledge, Adepts weren't meant to level skills above the third rank. That took time and a lot of mana and effort. He thankfully had the mana to spare.

None of his titles had seen any changes, which made sense. Only his dungeoneer title was close to evolving, for the current delve was the 50th. Things were relatively calm in the past years, especially because of the two Exalted usually present in Windkeep. Whenever something stirred in the dreadwoods, they were there to deal with it. Lev was also starting to suspect that staying amidst people considerably reduced the effects of his presence, for Sherron was in the guild quite often.

In comparison, Drakys had to clear monsters in the final cavern almost daily. It gave him plenty to think about but no actual answers. The itch guiding him was much the same, content for now because of his rapid progress.

The current delve was the last one in his schedule. Lev hadn't seen a single new level in the past month, except a single class level, which meant there wasn't anything to be gained by delving the dungeon any longer.

Sherron was also aware of that and was likely waiting for him to ask for better opportunities. She just knew him too well at this point. Orianna had visited twice, but she hadn't come with his future team. Lev was looking forward to meeting them, as well.

His greatest achievement in all that time, however, was the second rank of Glaive Mastery.

[

Self-Taught Beginner Glaive Mastery - 2nd Level 2:

Through patience and hard work, you have stayed firm on your chosen path and qualified for this skill. The System acknowledges your dedication and drive.

Control over movements when wielding a glaive is vastly improved. The skill will guide your steps, aiding your armor and physical capabilities to come together in a deadly dance while different mana types swirl to obey your whims.

2nd Rank: Your armor is considered an extension of your body.

]

That single line changed so much. Beyond the armor counting as a part of the skill, it did something he wasn't expecting at all.

All the formations on his armor also counted as a part of it, behaving like a body enhancement.

The moment the upgrade went through a year ago, his mastery of his enhancement formation rose exponentially in the span of a few days. Levels in the skill pretty much stopped after that, but Lev couldn't have cared less.

Be it the use of his physical body, or his armor utilizing all his wasted physical attributes pretty well now, or the raw strength he could bring out, or the sheer fluidity afforded by the combination of the skill and the enhancement formation, Lev was confident that he could give Elias a monstrous challenge at the same level. Defeating him in melee alone was still a tall order, as the man was undoubtedly still improving out there, but Lev would no longer be defeated without the swordsman breaking a sweat.

Seeing that there was nothing off with a dungeon, he started moving again. A single zylith hung off the ceiling a few hundred meters away. Lev casually glided forward with his armor, enhancement formation primed to burst at full strength immediately.

Jaws wide open to chomp his head off, the zylith dove. Lev reacted instantly and surged upwards, Stargazer already in his hands. Halfway through, a stream of lightning imbued his armor as the enhancement came alive. With a jerk, he twirled faster than the monster could react.

Two thuds echoed in the cavern, one heavier and one lighter. The former came from its body hitting the ground, and the latter was caused by its cleanly separated head.

Lev landed with a huge, goofy grin on his face. Compared to what he could do now, the small stunt was nowhere near impressive, but he enjoyed it every time all the same. The past ten or so delves had seen him train his reflexes against the invisible lizards, one of the many exercises he had developed to advance his glaive mastery.

Done playing, Lev rushed ahead as a constant stream of lightning imbued his armor. Gradually, he sped up until there was only a blue streak observable in his passing, courtesy of both the imbuement and the enhancement formation always running at half strength.

The ambushers were ambushed next as Lev charged directly at them. Surprised and insane hisses announced their attention as they lunged as one. Calmly, Lev lowered himself, still fast like lightning, and cut open the torso of one of the zyliths from head to tail. It fell in a shower of blood and organs, dead by all standards.

Circling around, Lev was already waiting by the time the second zylith landed. A tail rushed at him, only to be amputated without pause. Stargazer passed through the stunned monster's head, immediately killing it.

[

You have slain [Zylith - Level 289]

You have slain [Zylith - Level 288]

]

He didn't bother harvesting the cores and kept advancing. More zyliths fell in his passing, all of them beheaded or downed by precise cuts. Lev himself barely had to focus while killing the monsters an evolution above him, and half an hour later, he was staring at the stone pit existing in all its harrowing glory.

It didn't seem so big anymore.

Screeches from above reached him, but instead of backing off into the cave, Lev flew at the maddened harpies, Stargazer leading the charge. His glaive collided with the protruding talons of the first monster, absorbing its charge and fending off the sharp claws. Before it could react, Lev spun with the backward momentum of the impact and pierced its heart.

Several more of the monsters fell uncontrollably around him, their heads and hearts stabbed by enchanted arrows. Formed and enchanted in a blink, the harpies had no hopes of dodging them.

Five of them charged him from different directions. Lev took it all in and swung twice, firing two huge lightning slashes at the closest monsters. They were nearly sheared in two from the sheer power packed in the attacks, leaving three of them that needed to be dealt with immediately.

No hesitation affected his actions as Lev stayed on the spot, letting the harpies reach him on their own terms. Talons outstretched, he twisted to let the huge appendages pass by either side of him, leaving him trapped between the harpy's two straightened legs. Or, he would've been trapped if that wasn't the plan.

Stargazer bore a hole through its chest due to its own momentum. As the glaive got stuck inside, Lev used its body as a shield and simply absorbed the blows from its wings.

The other two harpies collided with the impaled body, rendering their pincer move moot as even more of the monsters were killed by his arrows. Once he verified that there was going to be nothing new to learn, Lev killed off the rest of them.

Burrowers were already storming out of the ground from the vibrations caused by the falling bodies. Lev considered fighting the huge monsters in melee range, but that would just be a waste of time.

Instead, more arrows enchanted with lethality formation took shape. He limited himself to only four per monster to best train his accuracy, and punished himself by fighting them with Stargazer in previous delves.

Practice had ingrained the position of their important organs into his mind. Half of the arrows pierced their middle, lethally wounding them, and the remaining half dug deep into their heads and put them out of their pointless misery.

Moving on, lances infused with small amounts of fire kept bombarding the stone pit as Lev descended. Burrowers tore out of the ground by the dozens in the next few hours, all of them frothing at the mouth to kill the human above them.

A scant few arrows swiftly put an end to those delusions. The cores weren't harvested as Lev proceeded to the boss, not caring about any of the other monsters.

Ravagers were still on his 'bad' list. A swarm tried to ambush him, but well-placed arrows killed them immediately. The whole horde died in seconds, just like they did every time.

He still detested those creatures, potentially even more so than before.

Below, the wrym skeleton loomed closer and closer. Lev as going to enter through the tail like usual, but preparations were in order before that. The bubble scooped him up again as he started creating the new, improved lances.

A small lance formed first, only a fifth in size compared to the actual thing. So far, Lev had run into two major issues for his lances, both of them relating to earth mana. To combat the side-effects of earth imbuement, and to advance his enchanting further, he divided the lances into two layers.

The first and smaller layer was enchanted with Minor Weight Increase formation, making it considerably heavier, and then imbued with earth mana to make it even more durable and weighty. By the end, Lev was holding something as heavy as a huge metal artillery shell despite the core being considerably smaller.

Barriers covered its form again after that, giving birth to the actual lance that was swiftly enchanted with the Lethality formation, the one he used for his arrows, before fire and lightning was ready to be streamed into the projectile's outer layer.

He refrained from creating too many of them, mostly because that would make things too easy. As it stood, only two of the lances were stored in his bubble, the most he wanted to allow himself to face the boss.

In the same few seconds it had taken to shape the lances, dozens of arrows formed even quicker. With his Barrier Carving sitting at the maximum level, enchantments empowered them just as readily. Half a minute later, there were multiple stacks of arrows present in his bubble, totaling well over five hundred.

The number wasn't as inflated as it seemed at first, as Lev had come to learn rather swiftly in his solo delves. Once he entered the wrym skeleton, every single monster in the dungeon was eventually going to rush down there, including all the harpies and burrowers.

There was a time when facing so many monsters would've been suicidal, but not anymore. Lev was prepared to take them all on by his lonesome, and he announced his presence by firing overloaded fire arrows at the nearest ravager swarm hidden inside the bones.

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