Nobody stopped him as he walked up to the main tent. Calling it a tent was perhaps a disservice, for the structure towered over him, possessing a myriad of enchantments that he couldn't decipher.

Lev didn't fail to notice that people gave him a wide berth, though. He was confused about how they would know about the recent events relating to the hound, but closer inspection revealed that they were wary of his armor. It took a moment to click why.

Oh, it's shining a little, he noted, having missed that somehow. Usually, when something glowed like that, it meant a lot of mana usage. For him to casually walk around in shining armor was understandably alarming.

With a thought, the armor vanished into its passive state. The mana draw remained, though less intense now that he wasn't keeping the plates powered. It still eclipsed his regeneration, and somehow, the plates were considered a part of the armor, though just barely.

The worker at the tent's entrance didn't even bat an eye and pulled it open for him to pass through. Lev gave her a grateful nod and stepped inside, immediately assaulted by a much brighter interior.

Tables were lined up on both sides, leaving a large empty space in the middle. In front of him, on the opposite end, was a large table housing two Exalted and several Masters.

One of them just happened to be Noah, something he ignored for now.

"I greet the Exalted," Lev said and bowed. Drakys nodded at him to take a chair, so he took one next to Sherron's.

"Fancy table," he couldn't help but mutter, ignoring it with an effort of will.

"It's good to have you with us, Hunter Lev," Drakys began, though his eyes were looking forward to Lev's reactions. "Have you been debriefed so far?"

"I was supposed to be?" Lev replied, unbothered by how unprofessional he may seem. He knew where that had led him on Earth. "No, nobody has informed me about anything yet."

Drakys moved on smoothly, waving to the giant map on the table. "That is of no consequence. How much do you know about your role?"

"It's like a mobile, emergency team of sorts?" he replied, unsure. "I know I'm going to be moving around a lot."

"Not inaccurate," Drakys agreed. "What you are missing is the word assistant. You and Isabella will operate under my direct orders only, and will prioritize them above all else. Is that clear?"

Lev gulped. "Yes, sir."

"Good, now focus on our location," the Exalted pointed at the wall they were on, and Lev's eyes widened when he realized the map contained all of humanity's land and far more. In fact, it displayed the entire plains. That was a first for him.

For over half an hour, he learned about what the next three months were expected to be like. Around five weeks of travel away, five red points denoted where strongholds were to be established. What the strongholds were supposed to be and why they should exist, that was completely glossed over.

Lev's job also became obvious during that initial explanation. While storage rings weren't that rare, they were still far from enough for carrying out the entire operation through them, especially because stuffing them with mana-rich materials could potentially cause accidents.

To that end, he was the guard for the first stretch. For three months, he would accompany the defensive carts and the hunters, whereas Isabella and Drakys would do wide rounds to lure out any monsters lurking nearby.

"This is where I need your exclusive input," Drakys mentioned out of nowhere. Lev straightened and waited for the man to continue. "I'll be blunt. How much of your aura can you safely reveal?"

"… None, if the recent encounter is anything to go by."

Noah seemed to be waiting for that, only for his face to turn pale white when Sherron simply glanced at him. She didn't even turn fully, only giving him a side-eye. That was enough to shut him up completely, which was a good thing. Lev had some words to say that he would rather just forget.

"I understand your hesitation," Drakys continued as if nothing had transpired. "Let me rephrase the question. How much of it are you willing to let out for me to deal with?"

"Sir, with all due respect, why are you not ordering him as you see fit?" one of the Masters asked, a burly woman with a giant sword resting close to her chair.

Drakys looked at her, and then back at Lev. "Will you let it all stay unconcealed if I order you to?"

"Yes, sir," he replied without hesitation. Regardless of his wariness, he trusted Drakys to keep him alive. It was unlikely for another creature like the hound to be living in the plains.

"Then it is decided. You will let half of it remain observable for us to lure out any dangerous monsters. Next up, how far are you willing to push yourself?"

Lev blinked. "Sir?"

"As in, how much are you willing to be responsible for?"

"In what way? If it means endangering the workers and hunters, I would rather not take any risks."

"While you would normally be correct," Drakys nodded in approval. "There will be enough hunters to back you up if anything goes wrong. Your task will revolve around being fast and present to deal with as many alerts as possible. Are you up for that?"

So, longer range and flexibility. What a sly old man, hah. Both of those target my current lacking aspects and provide me with a lot of opportunities to train them.

"I am," Lev nodded, keeping his face impassive.

While he was not lacking in firepower or actual long-range attacks, what he did need was improved mana usage and aiming practice. The next three months were going to require him to be in top shape, and managing his resources smartly would be essential.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"Focus here then…"

The next hour was interesting to say the least. Each of the planned five strongholds was quite a while away from the other, but they barely covered a width larger than humanity's land. The corner strongholds were just distant enough to touch the edges of two different regions.

To the northeast was a massive mountain range, easily dwarfing the land under humanity's control. By Lev's crude estimates, the region covered about 15% of the plains. It was mind-boggling to imagine the sheer scale of the natural structures.

On the opposite end, to the northwest, was a stretch of grassland. It was marked with several black spots, each indicating an area that must be avoided at all costs. No explanations about them were given, only that they were places of extreme danger.

Fortunately, humanity's business was in the center, the safest of the regions. There was nothing but green land for a long, long time as the map went in a straight line, and somewhere in there was a big red spot, marking the eventual destination.

Everyone was dismissed after that overview. Lev was asked to stay behind, so he and Sherron just waited for others to leave.

"I have to say, the curse of curiosity is strong with this one," he quipped, relaxing in his chair. It was tiring to spend time in such an obviously formal environment. "What are the black spots?"

"Intangible monsters that give even the Exalted trouble," Sherron answered, her boredom evident. "Don't kill Noah."

Lev just blinked twice. "Nobody's killing anyone. I just don't want to be blamed for existing again, even if I decided to just ignore it last time."

"They don't understand," Drakys shook his head. "Not a single strategist was happy to have you, for you also interfered with their passive skills somehow. Mara did warn us about that in advance."

"Really makes me feel welcomed," Lev snorted. "What's next for me?"

"To be honest, I don't expect anything surprising to happen in the first year. Don't smirk, I'm taking you into account."

Lev laughed. "We'll see when the fucking storm itself returns for me."

Neither Exalted laughed, so he quickly shut up.

"Lev, is there something we should know?" Sherron asked gently.

"Hmm? What? No, of course not. Why would I hide something so big from you?" he answered flatly.

"Just making sure," she shrugged unapologetically. "You rarely give us a full picture."

Lev shrugged too. "And I also never hold back vital information."

"Either way, I've got scouts and drones always scouring the surrounding lands. It remains to be seen how the Deadlands reacts to your presence, which is when we will face our first real hurdle. The mountains are crawling with second-threshold monsters, so that's for you to deal with."

"How many are we talking?"

"Millions? Maybe more? No way to know for certain, and the region goes just as deep as it goes high."

"Because of cave systems?" Lev guessed.

"That and more carved spaces inside the mountains. While I would've explained this to you eventually, do not dig inside those mountains. Whatever lives there isn't our problem."

"How can you be so sure?" Lev asked, curious. "Are there beasts living there?"

"None that we know of," Sherron replied instead. "The mountains are weird, and things get much too bizarre when one goes deeper. Even if the danger doesn't rise that much, we should avoid poking any potential nests."

All of that was filed away in his mind as he considered his next steps. "So, where does that leave me?"

"For now, on watch and guard duty. An advanced communication crystal will be provided to you, and relays will enable you to receive messages from hundreds of kilometers away. I'll also personally enchant it to decipher any special alerts, such as a summon from me or a code gray where secrecy is required."

"And what about you?" Lev turned to Sherron. "Are you going to stay?"

"Nah, Hakim wants me to stay in Windkeep for the foreseeable future. We'll keep an eye out."

"Lev," Drakys began, much more serious than before. "Be honest. Do we have any shot against the hound if it ever comes to it?"

"Other than maybe Hakim, there's nothing anyone can do," he replied tiredly. "Like, everything it used against me was incomparably weaker than what it fought the centipede with, and even then, the hound was far from truly going all-out. It's impossible for me to say where the ceiling of its strength lies."

"I see," Drakys said and simply nodded. "Is there anything else you need?"

Hmm, there was something I needed to ask about.

"Do you have any form of merit system in this operation?" Lev asked.

"Not right now. We will establish one when we reach the mountains or the deadlands. Too many monsters not to entice people with rewards. Why do you ask?"

"Well, how long will it take for me to earn the shadow converter?"

Sherron sighed by his side, and Drakys just stared at him. Abruptly, a large cube plopped on the table.

Lev didn't budge either, his eyes never once moving to the converter. Instead, he stared back, showing just how serious it was.

"I don't need it," the Exalted broke the silence. "Take it, it's not like you're going to want to use it for offense. Shadow mana reacts very badly with anything related to fire and lightning."

"And it's still too much for me to just take," Lev countered, crossing his arms. "Make it feel earned."

"Sure," Drakys accepted a bit too easily. "The price is you seeing this through to the very end. Before you say anything, just know that we're going to need all the adventurers to explore the other side."

"Other side? Of the continent, you mean?"

"Yes, the mountains on the other side are proven to be much more dangerous. They're also way taller, and we do not even have an estimate about their highest point. Simply flying up to that point is risky, which is why you will need the shadow converter anyway."

"Well," Lev glanced at Sherron to show Drakys that he couldn't speak freely in front of her. The Exalted understood that it was about the rune he provided. "For now, I wanted to start looking into earth and water before diving into the more complex elements."

"I don't see the downside of starting with Shadow mana," Drakys said. "It's not like your Mana Manipulation is enough for intricately using it right now. The converter will serve as excellent training."

That was enough for him to tip his indecision over. Lev would be lying if he didn't know how Drakys was going to react. This was the likely outcome, but he refused to take something so valuable freely. Knowing that there was such a dangerous job waiting for him in the future was a good enough reason.

"Fine," he said and stored the converter. His curiosity could wait. "Anything else I should know?"

"Where are you going to stay?"

"In my bubble."

****

Ten minutes later, he bade farewell to Sherron. Her task of dropping him at the gathering spot was done.

Lev moved a bit further away from the gathered crowds and brought his bubble close. Stepping inside, he ascended a bit and turned the construct invisible. Isabella wasn't present yet, but he wanted to keep an eye out for her whenever she returned.

She was a Master now. Lev really wanted to see how he compared.

In the meantime, he made the main bubble smaller. Now that there were no seats for his teammates or stacks of weapons or constructs stored inside, most of it was empty. He wanted to use it for a different purpose now.

A thick layer sprang up around the bubble, covering it completely. Lev started enchanting it similarly to his armor, especially because he could make it a fortress in its own right.

The base layer was left alone for a massive durability rune, the standalone one. It was carved on the bottom half of the bubble, almost going from one end to another in its length.

Both of its edges were then connected to the second layer, one that housed six different kinetic absorption runes on each side. All of it was set to convert force into pure mana, which in turn would make the base layer more durable. Given what he planned to do, the formations were going to provide him a lot of mana.

For the third layer, he had already figured out the theoretical optimal use. Instead of a full layer, he formed plates similar to the ones covering his armor. Six of them took form, each right above the absorption formations.

While less flexible than a full layer, the plates would ensure that he wouldn't be overwhelmed by too many choices. The gaps between them were big, and that would make it easier to mentally plan his next moves and dodges to ensure that the attacks landed on the plates.

And by limiting himself like that, the feedback would also be reduced. By forcing the bubble in fixed directions, the attacks would also land in predictable patterns, letting him react better.

Or so he hoped, at least. It remained to be seen how that would turn out.

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