"Well, damn," Harun said and whistled appreciatively from outside his bubble, casually hovering near it. "Color me impressed, kid. Didn't think you would show me anything remotely as spectacular after a breakup."

Lev sputtered. "Breakup!?"

The Exalted nodded without looking at him, eyes taking in the gigantic mushroom of flames and lightning in the distance. "You had that particular flavor of depression that is usually related to women. Your aura displayed it as clear as day."

"Um, no. I was uh… It's complicated."

"Complicated," Harun flashed him a grin. "Isn't that just the raw truth?"

With that, he descended to the monster's corpse. Lev followed while checking his notifications.

[

Your Group has slain [Darkmetal Executioner Beetle - Level 537]

Arcane Maelstrom has reached Level 253

Arcane Maelstrom has reached Level 254

Unerring Volley has reached 4th Level 1

Wrath of the Arcane has reached 4th Level 1

Wanderer's Repository has reached 2nd Level 1

Advanced Mana Manipulation has evolved into Consistent Mana Channeling

Consistent Mana Channeling - 2nd Level 1:

No longer will the skill be the bottleneck, allowing you to manipulate vast amounts of mana in a constant rhythm.

2nd Rank: Precision of small manipulation is significantly enhanced as well, improving your overall control.

****

Wanderer's Repository - 2nd Level 1

Perhaps it was your wanderlust, or maybe it was necessity pushing you to step out of safety. Either way, you have qualified for the skill.

You may learn new runes by observing or being a part of significant events. You may acquire new runes by being subjected to natural extreme phenomena. You may learn new runes by fighting beings of significance.

Runes stored in the skill are categorized based on use. You may also learn new runes normally.

2nd Rank: Complex runes are easier and faster to visualize.

]

That… literally does nothing. Lev was slightly dejected at the second rank of his rune storage skill, but Drakys had already mentioned that the skill was very straightforward in its purpose. Unlocking a new effect was extremely unlikely.

The evolution of his Mana Manipulation was a long time coming. Lev could've forcefully unlocked it before reaching Master, yet it felt better this way. He hadn't relied on The System and achieved it through pure effort. Losing the numerical bonus to manipulation would've been a small blow if he didn't already have more than enough bonuses on that front after his evolution.

Only two levels, though…

That was the reason there were so few Exalted. Lev had just killed a monster twice his level, albeit with Harun's help, only to gain two levels. They weren't a part of the third gap either. Just normal levels, that were going to slow down even further.

Down below, near the roaring forest fire and the location of the corpse, Harun spread his arms wide. Lev immediately stopped and backtracked when mana gathered in his palms, before he clapped them together. A massive shockwave burst out of the collision, dousing all flames in its passing and dispersing the effects of the lances with a single clap.

Alright, that's one way to go about it, Lev chuckled to himself, awed and amused by the display in equal measure. Descending, he scanned the executioner beetle's corpse inside the massive crater his lances had formed.

It was largely intact. Much of its metal carapace was still whole, dutifully protecting it from harm. The fleshy body underneath was also surprisingly undamaged, which let him know that lightning was once again the reason why he had managed to kill the monster. It was electrocuted to death.

Forming a barrier rope, he sucked in a breath when the corpse refused to budge. More ropes joined in, straining to turn it over. After a lot of mental exertion, he finally flipped it… only to find that its underside was also fully armored and pristine.

"… Can I get some help, sir?" Lev meekly looked at the Exalted. "My barriers won't be able to get through."

"Hmm? Oh," Harun burst out laughing. "I was waiting to see what you would do. Smart choice, kid. That metal armor will sell for a lot."

"Even in this state?"

"What do you mean 'this state '?" Harun raised a brow. "You barely even damaged it."

Slowly blinking, Lev turned his attention back to the beetle's body. Now that he paid closer attention, it became obvious just how much of the dark metal there was, and that he had only killed it because of a few lucky shots. The armor had peeled off from a joint section, and only a little bit of it had. Lightning's erratic nature had made perfect use of the opening.

"I see what you mean," Lev nodded, trying and failing to hide his surprise and fear. Was he still that far off from killing the monster? His mana pool was hovering close to empty despite the aura mage's presence, yet it still came down to luck.

"It's dead," Harun casually read his mind. "Come on, we've got some work to do if we wanna harvest it cleanly."

Sighing quietly, Lev formed another glaive and enchanted it with sharpness to peel off the armor without getting too close. The next half an hour passed with Harun punching the metal armor to weaken the flesh underneath, letting the barrier mage cut it off more easily. It spoke to its resilience that despite every punch forming a small crater underneath the corpse, he barely even made noticeable dents on the carapace.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

When they had separated all the dark armor to the best of their ability, Harun punched the fleshy body underneath, precisely pushing out the core from the other side. Lev couldn't even detect the core, let alone whatever the Exalted had done to push it out.

Without a care in the world, Harum chucked the core to Lev, who scrambled to catch it.

"Take it," the aura mage spoke before Lev could, still as relaxed as ever. "I've no need for it, especially when you can easily enhance your armor with it."

"My armor?" Lev questioned and Identified the core, the thing small enough for his fingers to wrap around it.

[

Darkmetal Executioner Beetle Core - Resilient

This core possesses ordinary mana reserves and conductivity, but significantly enhances all durability related runes and enchantments.

Displays properties of Resilience.

]

"… Are you certain?" Lev asked one more time, just in case the Exalted was underestimating the worth of the core. "It's way more valuable than anything I own right now."

"Yep," the Exalted replied without even looking at it. "While it's not exactly something you come by regularly, I would rather you have it."

"Thank you," Lev bowed, genuinely grateful. "Were there any other monsters?"

"Monsters? No. People, however, there were many who saw the result of what you just did."

Oh, Lev looked towards the outer wall where the Masters were waiting. I hope the Exalted's presence undermines the fact that all that mana was my own. Also, I am just noticing that he doesn't have a passive aura like Beatrice.

"Let's go, or they might come here and see this ruined land," Harun said and flew up. "You don't want that, do you?"

"I don't," Lev agreed and followed him. He liked the Exalted so far, especially because of how casual he was. It remained to be seen just what the limits of his relaxed nature were, though Lev hoped not to find out.

All around them, charred trees and big, deep holes were visible in the ground. The whole area was completely decimated, as if subjected to a localized meteor shower. Lev supposed the analogy wasn't far off, given how strong his lances were at this point.

Some time later, they landed amidst several groups of people, most of whom were non-combatants. Curious, Lev identified some of them and moved to the side, hoping that would minimize the spotlight.

[Diviner - Level 399]

[Mage - Level 270]

[Mage - Level 270]

[Healer - Level 295]

Woah, he discreetly scanned the Diviner. That's quite the level. Is she supposed to be some bigshot?

"Were there any complications, my lord?" the diviner addressed the Exalted, her voice clipped and professional while gazing at the large clipboard in her hand.

"Nope," Harun smiled widely. "Your predictions were spot on, like they always are. Good work."

"Thank you," she bowed her head and turned to Lev. "Would you please follow me to give a report, hunter?"

Lev looked at Harun, who now had a shit-eating grin at his misfortune. Sighing in his head, he nodded and followed the diviner to the side and entered an obvious sound and privacy ward.

Immediately, their surroundings were obscured and blurred, effectively hiding them from the world. Even the Exalted's aura had been blocked out.

"What was the level of the beetle?" came the curtly asked question, without any hints of curiosity or emotion.

"Am I obligated to answer these?"

"No," she answered. "But it makes things easier for us. If need be, someone may come up to you with an offer for the B-Hide. That is the name of the metal you are holding onto."

"537," he replied after some consideration.

"How did you manage to put down one of the toughest low third-threshold monsters?"

"I didn't," Lev gave her an amused look. "Without the Exalted's presence, killing it would've been impossible. Even then, he helped me quite a bit."

"Can you describe the events in detail?"

"No."

She stared. "Excuse me?"

And out myself as a bearer of a Manawell and other stupidly strong advantages? "No, I won't describe the events in detail."

"I see," she expertly moved on and wrote something on the notes. "What do you plan to do with the core?"

"I'll keep it for myself."

For the first time, she broke character slightly and looked at him with disappointment.

"And you plan to take it all by yourself?"

Annoyance bubbled up when he heard that, urging him to say something crass, but he held himself. "I offered both the core and the metal to the Exalted several times, who refused both of those things. It's not like I can keep any of it if he didn't allow me to."

"Do not use that tone in front of me, hunter," she warned him, completely unperturbed. "Was there anything unusual or strange you would like to report?"

Lev shook his head, "That was all."

"This report will be presented to the guild masters, and you will be held accountable for any lies or misinformation," she stored her clipboard and gave him a single short nod. "Good day to you, hunter."

The wards surrounding them vanished with those words. As if completely forgetting about his existence, the diviner marched back to the Exalted. Some words were exchanged before she, along with all the non-combatants, stepped onto some invisible vehicle and flew away.

It's fine, Lev exhaled slowly, shoving the experience out of his mind. Her position probably ensures that no one ever disrespects her, which matches her level. I was out of line this time, though she could at least introduce herself.

He really didn't like people who were too used to demanding respect. No doubt, they played an important part in humanity's continued survival. He wasn't averse to being subservient either, but then the diviner had talked to him as if his existence didn't matter beyond the short report she was jotting on the clipboard.

That irked him to no end.

"Silver for your thoughts?"

Lev yelped and resummoned his armor that was resting in the passive state. Harun stood to his side with a wide smirk, having appeared there without alerting Lev in any way, completely bypassing his high Perception.

"Just wondering what I was going to do after getting to the city," he blurted out, not looking him in the eyes.

"Uh-huh," Harun nodded slowly, not believing a single word of that. "I already have a lily pad with your name carved on it, so don't even think about going anywhere else."

"… Not even for sightseeing or shopping?"

"We can deal with that later," he dismissed before finding where his bubble was stationed. "Let's go. Chop chop."

Not daring to go against the Exalted's wishes, who probably wasn't going to mind now that Lev thought about it, he called the bubble over to them and opened up a hole for them to enter. He followed behind Harun, who sauntered in like he owned the place before closing the improvised door and flying towards the city at medium speed. Just enough to be fast but not enough to hurt to look at.

"Is this the fastest you can go?" the Exalted voiced, slightly disappointed. "I can carry you there faster."

Lev refrained from rolling his eyes and sped up as much as he could. Mana rushed out of him in a large stream, running the kinetic energy formations at maximum. Immediately, their surroundings blurred as their speed rose greatly, forcing Lev to close his eyes.

"Can you warn me if we're about to collide with something, sir?"

"Drop the sir, and sure. We're still half an hour away at this speed."

"… Okay. Who was that diviner? She seemed pretty-"

"Stuck up?" the Exalted interjected with an audible grin.

"Important," Lev stressed, though not necessarily disagreeing. "Felt like I should've heard of her in rumors or somewhere else."

"Close enough," Harun murmured. "She isn't exactly the type you would hear rumors of. All I can say is, she's like half again as old as me, so you better treat her with the respect she deserves. I heard your conversation, know?" Lev got the feeling that Harun was now looking at his face. "Granted, it was quite funny to see her asking why you're keeping those things for yourself, but the question was completely valid. Your frustration wasn't exactly wrong either, it's just that asking those things is a routine for her. Try not to be annoyed by something so simple next time, especially in front of people like her. She deserves only the best for helping humanity for so long."

Lev mulled over the words, finding nothing wrong with them. He just had to get used to people asking questions that beggared belief, apparently. As if he could take resources from an Exalted. It was a normal practice for the diviner, which meant it should be for him too. He was, after all, going to be working with the strongest of humanity soon. Teaching himself some humility was in order.

"I take it she doesn't care about or expect an apology?"

"No."

Some things never changed.

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