Days passed in a somewhat peaceful routine. During the day, Lev watched over his team as they battled dormant monsters in White Grove, none of them over level 90. They could probably deal with such monsters, but he tried not to make them go through the same events as he once did. Not only were their classes slightly weaker overall when compared to Arcane Sentinel, but their starting attributes were also way lower.

Seeing Classers fight with his own eyes was making him aware of just how big his advantages were.

Where Amelia's sword cut through with little difficulty, Lev's disks didn't even slow down. Where Jack's shield trembled with every impact, Lev could've done the same from anywhere in his range while distracting monsters with floating constructs. No doubt, his team was fairly strong, especially with Kayla's presence, but they weren't a match for him at the same level. That became especially true once he got his hands on mana converters.

It was changing swiftly, though. Their skills were steadily rising, and even if they hadn't yet hit second rank with any, the improvements were obvious to Lev's Perception. He could track their movements becoming smoother, Kayla's buffs getting more potent, and their confidence rising with the increasing attributes. Adapting was a matter of time, yet they were managing really well in less than a week.

"So… why're we here?" Lev asked as he, Orianna, Sherron, and his teammates were all lounging near the base of the wall inside the city around a large table. A large, concealed bubble hid them from the road leading to the gates not far away, hiding the party of mismatched combatants casually wolfing down expensive food.

"Because of me," Amelia said sheepishly, her face stuffed with a pastry. She got a look from Orianna, Jack, Kayla, and even Lev to some extent. Quickly gulping it down, she took a long sip of water. "The Silver Night wanted to see me before I began my career… Sorry for hiding it from you."

"It's fine," Lev smiled to show he didn't mind. "Hakim, huh? He's the last person I would imagine coming to see a Classer girl."

"You know him?"

"I… think so?" his smile turned strained as the memory of Hakim's aura resurfaced.

Amelia frowned a little. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Lev didn't get to explain himself when a vast, subdued aura washed over them. Turning to the source, Hakim and Drakys were entering through the gates, causing everyone in their wake to bow with shaky knees. Without batting an eye, they found his bubble and made their way toward it.

A large opening formed to allow them entry, at which point Lev and his teammates all stood up and bowed.

"We greet the Exalted," they voiced in unison.

"Rise," Hakim ordered after a second, taking a seat opposite Lev. Drakys sat next to him, opposite Sherron, who was beside Lev.

"Finally learned to control your aura?" Drakys commented, a faint smirk on his lips. "A little bit, at least."

"You just wait until I'm like half your age," Lev replied in a similar fashion. "We will see who makes fun of whom."

"Are you calling me old?" Drakys raised a brow.

"I'm just…" Lev just barely caught himself before saying fourteen, "eighteen. Take a guess."

Drakys' gaze turned dangerous, and Lev quickly readied all his skills and enchantments, ready to run at a moment's notice.

"I would like to deeply apologize," Lev didn't hesitate to bow his head, better safe than sorry.

Sherron snorted, no doubt trying to make him do something stupid. Orianna gave her a flat glance, which slid right off that carefree bearing.

"Apology accepted," Drakys chuckled. "Show me the glaive."

Making some space on the table, Stargazer appeared on top of it in all her Superior glory. A pressure suddenly spread in the bubble, pressing down on everyone's shoulders.

"Mana focus?" Drakys whistled. "That's a first for me. What does it do?"

"Constantly keeps the enchantments active for instant use. No input delay, whatsoever."

The Exalted slowly nodded, taking in its form and mana capacity, visibly impressed. "Quite the piece. I don't think anyone other than you would've aimed for these enchantments."

"Of course," Lev replied as a matter of fact. "They don't have goals as grand as mine."

"Right," Drakys returned the weapon, which vanished into his ring. "Since you guys are already done with the food, let us get to why we're here."

That was the cue Hakim seemed to be waiting for. Exhaling deeply, he stood up and moved away from the table with a glance towards Amelia. With a gulp, she followed to the other side of the bubble, where they stood only a little apart from each other.

The difference between the two couldn't have been more apparent. One was a young girl who just barely reached Hakim's shoulder, and the other was a tall man and the strongest human alive.

Yet it was the latter that made Lev doubt his eyes. Hakim's eyes looked so… kind in that moment. His usually hardened facial features were nowhere to be seen, replaced by a plethora of regret and tenderness.

"Do you still blame me?" he asked in a small, soft voice.

Amelia shook her head once, then repeatedly as a sob burst out of her throat. Unable to speak, Hakim made the rest easier for her as he went to one knee and held out his arms. She practically jumped into his embrace while wailing like a newborn, at which point Lev separated them into a different bubble and quickly enchanted it with invisibility and a sound ward.

Stupid, soft brain. He blinked a few times and looked at his remaining teammates. They were wiping away tears with sad smiles, happy that their friend was finally letting out her buried grief and sadness. Orianna was in a similar boat, whereas Drakys and Sherron were just happy for Amelia.

Nobody spoke for the next few minutes, lost in their thoughts. The silence was shattered abruptly when Hakim broke through the walls of the bubbles and casually returned to his seat. Amelia followed not long after, already smiling slightly as she sat down next to Kayla, who immediately took her hand with her own.

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"Good luck, girl," Drakys said with a small smile. "You're in good hands."

"Thank you," Amelia bowed her head gratefully. "Lev is already making us fight six hours daily."

Lev perked up. That was the first time she had used his name in front of him despite talking regularly.

"He can be a handful," Drakys chuckled. "I remember training him briefly underneath Runespires. Lev didn't even sleep until he passed out from mental exertion. Don't take after him too much."

"But he's also stupidly strong," she countered. Lev was nodding along with her words until a pointed stare from Orianna froze him completely. "I would rather suffer to have similar strength than to only be mediocre."

That one made Lev and Sherron share a quick glance. No matter what, Amelia was going to be far from mediocre, regardless of whether he trained her or not. She was just cut out of a different cloth if her mind already worked like that.

"You trained him?" she asked, surprised.

"I did," Drakys nodded and turned to Lev. "I also came here for him today. How long do you think you need with them?"

"This is too early," he answered with a scowl. "They're still months from evolving."

"You still have months," Drakys added. "Only three of them, four at most."

"What's the rush for?" Lev directly asked. "I thought the guild wasn't going to move for longer."

"Because you won't be working for the guild," Drakys calmly replied, causing Lev to frown. "Instead, you and Isabella both will work with me for the initial operations. Our job will be to always stay on the move and support the different mapping groups, and tackle alerts. You have really high flight speed with your bubble as well as all your different tools, and Isabella has a team that focuses solely on her and carries her around."

"… Are you sure about that? You know how… well…" Lev trailed off, sending a discreet glance towards his team.

"There's a reason I chose you," came the reply. "If you will oversee the safety of all mappers, I will ensure yours. Leave it to me."

"Then I'll try not to take too long. When does the whole plan begin?"

"Right now, if I willed it," Drakys smirked. "The holdup is mainly you and a few other people, including Mel and Umbrina."

Lev's breath suddenly constricted as he coughed, remembering his encounter with the former as his ears turned red.

"I, uh, see," he nodded sagely, not looking at curious teammates. "Just give me three months. I'll join you once these guys evolve."

"What are your current plans?" Hakim interjected with his heavy, deep voice. "I heard you applied for Mythril quests."

Lev straightened and pushed any casualness out of his tone. "For now, I'll continue with my patrols and embark on one long gathering quest in less than a week. As for the last quest, a high contribution for the next wave will be enough. In the meantime, I'll escort my team deeper into the White Grove to let them level quickly, then take them to Windkeep for more extensive training with items crafted by me. Then it's following Drakys for however long it takes."

"Nothing for personal improvements?"

"Crafting is what I'm primarily focusing on right now," Lev clarified. "Evolving the skill is also a necessity, and patrols offer enough opportunity to practice my melee and ranged skills regularly."

"How so?" Drakys asked this time.

Lev gave him a confused look. "I've already killed dozens of thornling fiends in the past week, as well as three dusk wraiths. I'd say that is good enough."

"Levels?"

"Three thirty to three sixty for the fiends, and three forty to three sixty for the wraiths. The first one was much higher in level at four hundred and one, though."

"And how many did you gain?"

"… Just one class level."

Drakys sighed lightly, a smile still on his lips.

****

The day had passed smoothly after that. Lev spent some time overseeing his team late into the evening before coming in early for his patrol, replacing a pleasantly surprised platinum scout.

Well, this is handy, he thought, and flipped a switch inside Stargazer. Apparently, there was a hidden mechanism to hide the glaive's presence and prevent it from being identified. Thank you, Drakys.

The Exalted had pointed out the function to him. It was going to save him a lot of headaches in the future, as it also greatly cloaked the weapon's vast mana reserves.

Both he and Hakim left not long after their conversation, which left Sherron and Orianna to question him about the encounter with Mel. Lev didn't think much of it and recalled the experience when his team was away to prepare for the day's training.

Instead of brushing it off however, the two women were pissed. He didn't know why exactly, though he suspected it was because of his age back then. Mel probably had an earful coming her way.

Constantly scanning his surroundings, Lev summoned Stargazer and started working on replicating her form for the first time. The enchantments and materials were obviously far beyond him, but the overall structure was easy enough to copy after an hour of closely observing it.

Now holding a barrier glaive that fit snugly in his hand, he wondered about all the ways he could use it. Firing multiple slashes was difficult but possible, something he had tested against that executioner beetle.

Beyond that, fighting with multiple glaives floating around him was another option. Except, it was bound to be extremely difficult and, without his armor, not very useful. Most of the force behind his attacks came from his physical attributes and armor manipulation combined.

Which leaves… nothing, I suppose, he hummed to himself, constantly firing his cannons to demolish a small orc horde. Guess I can use these as backup in case Stargazer is ever unavailable or overkill.

Enchanting the replica could wait. He had time. Lastly, since he was going to leave for the gathering quest in a few days, there was one thing he had been putting off for too long.

Four giant tower shields slowly formed around him, both taller and wider than himself, and as thick as both of his arms held together. They were lighter than expected still, or perhaps it was his mind that was too strong now.

Casually holding them mid-air in front of him, he inspected their form from several angles while noting anything that stood out. Nothing glaring did, so he went ahead with enchanting them.

Rune drops were often the core of monster skills. His Fortress of Reslience rune was one such rune, though it was much less effective overall than it was on the monster because of lacking supportive passive skills, class benefits, and its physique.

Regardless, it was going to be perfect for his purposes. Lev was already slowly working towards training his willpower to automate defenses, and the new batch of shields was going to be the first layer of that.

A large tub appeared in his bubble, taking up nearly a third of the total space. Lev sat down on his comfortable chair and neatly arranged the shields in the tub vertically and formed a simple drain to not let any of the sap go to waste. A simple container surrounded all the shields and was connected to a single opening to drop the sap equally on top of them.

While he cycled the sap through the shield containers, passively providing a small amount of mana, the runes he was going to use stood out in his mind. Beyond Fortress of Resilience, there were only a few supportive ones. The formation was going to be straightforward, since he didn't have any more compatible runes.

Half an hour later, his shields had their conductivity improved as much as possible. Rubbing his hands, he made the bubble ascend higher to keep an eye on a larger area and started enchanting.

In the middle, the large resilience rune slowly took form. It utilized willpower and was quite complex, yet all his training saw it getting carved in less than a minute. Next up were the connector runes to spread its influence to the whole construct, the best version he had for willpower runes.

That was it. The long strings of connector runes spread to every corner from the center, as well as to the left and right of the main rune to the shield's edges, evenly spreading its effects throughout.

Usually, connector runes were used to, well, connect different functions of a formation. Lev just didn't have any new runes to add. Storing energy from shocks and impacts was the common one, and using it to power different elements' properties was one of the rarer combinations. He would get to that once he found the runes from fighting different monsters. Without joining any smaller guilds or signing contracts, finding such runes was likely impossible otherwise.

Once all four of his new 'walls' were ready, he sent a puff of mana to establish a connection with the first one's enchantment. A new detail immediately stood out as the formation demanded to set the 'diffusion' of the force of blocked impacts to better utilize the whole construct.

Without thinking much about it, he set it to spread throughout the whole wall's surface. That way, it would minimize the chances of the wall shattering upon a big impact, and the damage would be easily repaired in one go, as Lev fixed the whole construct in a single rush. He was used to doing that with his shields already.

Activating the other three shields, he waited for some strong monster to show up so he could test the new additions to his arsenal.

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