"Was that necessary?" Sherron quipped, not at all disapproving.

  "Definitely," Lev answered without breaking his stride. "I can't hide the ring, so I'll just keep it out of reach instead."

  "Whatever suits you," she shrugged.

  They were already outside the fort, away from prying eyes. Lev had also covered them with a sound ward during that, which he now dropped. Elias and Isabella were already getting slightly rowdy, loudly discussing the tournament duel.

  "You know that was a horrid way to win," the fire mage commented, shaking her head with mock disdain.

  "A win is a win," Elias countered, grinning widely. "Besides, I did overwhelm you at the end."

  "Overwhelm, you say?" She raised a brow, some competitiveness shining in her eyes. "I couldn't risk-"

  "And that's plenty," Lev interrupted, creating a barrier wall between them. "No one was stopping either of you from lethal strikes. Hesitation is what cost you the match."

  "Why are you taking his side?" the princess rolled her eyes. "I thought we were closer than that."

  Lisa coughed in the background as Lev sighed, shoulders slumping. Isabella took great pleasure in his misfortune, all of her teeth showing in the resulting smile.

  "How about we spar?" Lev suggested as innocently as possible. "You seem to have some steam to blow off."

  "Sure."

  … Why was I even expecting her to hesitate?

  Sherron intervened this time. "The dick measuring can wait. First, Aaryan, how far are you from evolving?"

  "Seven levels, Lady Sherron."

  "That takes priority. I know you guys want to fuck around for some time still, but that's not happening. Pack up your things and prepare to leave."

  With that, she turned on her heels and flew off.

  "… Is she angry?" Isabella whispered in a conspirational tone.

  For once, Lev had no idea, and neither did anyone else. Risking an Exalted's displeasure was the last thing on their to-do lists, so they quickly went to work. Lev retreated into his bubble, taking one last stock of everything, whereas the other two teams huddled together to check their rings.

  Aaryan stayed stationary, observing it all. He turned when the bubble landed behind him and entered through the small door.

  "What do you need?" Lev asked bluntly.

  "Potions, mainly. I have my daggers and skinsuit in my ring, but I was called here urgently and didn't get the chance to refill my stock."

  Lev summoned ten healing potions and handed them to the man. Aaryan raised a brow, asking a silent question.

  "Mana regeneration potions are not worth it for me," Lev supplied, sending pulses of mana through the stacked constructs. Enchantments lit up, and most of his focus was on ensuring that there were no flaws in them. "They restore a fixed amount, and my regeneration is frankly just way better. The drawbacks are not worth it."

  "Strength and dexterity potions?"

  "I don't need them," he stated. "My armor does the heavy lifting, not my body."

  "Fair enough," the rogue shrugged and sat down on a barrier chair. "Now that we've got time, can you give me a rundown?"

  "Sure, give me a bit."

  Ten minutes later, he could tell that there was nothing amiss, and his armor and Stargazer were also in prime shape. Satisfied, Lev sat down in his seat and looked at the rogue.

  "That glaive isn't Epic, is it?" Aryan asked, his eyes daring Lev to refute, so he just shrugged.

  "Maybe."

  "Either way, what's up with the mountains?"

  "There really isn't much," Lev began. "We know that there are a lot of monsters gathered there, and more spawn daily. The levels aren't anything to be afraid of, barring the occasional third-threshold monster, but the sheer quantity is what we're being sent for. Our mission is to cull the numbers to the best of our ability, look out for treasures, and rouse the region."

  "Rouse?"

  "Are you aware of my presence's effects?"

  "No…" Aryan voiced slowly.

  "Well, basically, wherever I go, monsters always target me first. I've had several third-threshold monsters try to eat me alive back when I was an Adept, which was also how I evolved."

  "Wait, wait, wait," Aryan sat up, looking at him intensely. "Run that by me again."

  And so Lev explained his encounters. The first was atop the Central Squire, where a lightning bolt from a vulture had nearly fried him.

  Thinking back on it, he was reasonably certain that the vulture was incredibly weak. If they faced off now, Lev could probably tear it apart in melee.

  Then he talked about the Windstrider Warg, and they both quietened. A magical monster without access to its mana, reduced to its physical strength. By now, it was also obvious that the warg's passive skills also weren't working, and yet, it had nearly torn him to shreds while Lev was fighting at full strength.

  "And we're going into a new region, chock full of monsters, with your presence on full display?"

  "Yep."

  "Do you want to die?"

  "No, of course not," Lev laughed. "Drakys has already made sure that there are no fourth-threshold monsters there, nor any dangerously strong third-threshold ones. We're not going to go that deep, anyway. The area we're going to explore can barely be considered the edges."

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

  "And yet, we're still going to face thousands of monsters daily."

  "Correct."

  Aryan sighed, leaning back in his chair and muttering, "This risk better be worth it."

  Lev held back an incredulous smile. Given how strong his own evolution was, he didn't doubt for a second that the rogue's was going to be just as potent.

  ****

  Ten minutes later, he emerged from the strategist's office again. All the formalities had already been covered, and informing the man had been a sign of respect more than anything.

  Outside, Alec and Sherron were already waiting near his bubble. His mentor looked him up and down, taking in Lev's gait and confidence. Then he nodded and brought out a small box shining to Lev's magical senses.

  "What's this?" he asked, not taking the box.

  "A gift," Alec answered with a kind smile, pushing the box to his chest. "Open it on the way."

  Lev pushed down his curiosity and questions, nodding in thanks. Sherron had nothing to say, so the three of them shared a hug before he walked towards his bubble, not looking back. Alec flew back to his own abode, whereas Sherron watched their bubble until they departed.

  Inside, the two teams and Aryan were already seated, their chairs attached to the barrier surface. They were prepared and ready to move, and seeing that no one had anything to say, Lev commanded the bubble to ascend.

  Sharing one last glance with Sherron, he powered up the construct's enchantments, and then they were off.

  Grass blurred beneath them, turning half the world green, and the other half a light blue. The sky and the grass blended far ahead of them, painting an odd picture that no one really cared about.

  No one said anything when Lev brought out the box. It was devoid of decorations, plain in its dark brown exterior. A simple click opened it, revealing a small barrier construct.

  The whole thing glowed with enough mana that he had to squint his eyes. A dangerous pulse went through the construct, echoing throughout before picking up intensity again after five seconds.

  Moreover, the thin but wide pebble-shaped construct occasionally twitched, as if struggling to hold in the power.

  [

  Desperate Measure - Epic

  Imbued with the desire to protect, this amulet has been specifically crafted for a Barrier Mage to absorb one lethal hit.

  Press it to the skin while providing mana to let it sink into the flesh, lodging itself while integrating with your mana. Over time, the flow of mana will change the barriers into the Mage's variant, stabilizing the amulet.

  Once a lethal hit has been absorbed, a large, concentrated signal will be released, alerting the creator of the amulet and destroying the item in the process.

  ]

  Viktor whistled, earning a lot of deadpan looks from the abrupt sound in the silence. Lev resisted a smile and made all of his upper clothes vanish, leaving him bare-chested.

  He ignored the teasing sounds made by the girls, especially Lisa, and focused on the amulet. It hadn't shown any signs of change in his hand, so he brought it close to his chest.

  Detecting skin, heat, and his heartbeat, the amulet demanded mana. Pressing it to his chest, Lev obliged and was immediately rewarded with four different stabs. Thin and short needles dug inside, healing the skin around them to make the amulet stick to his chest.

  Then he slowly began cycling his mana into the barriers used in the amulet's creation. Surprisingly, it automatically destroyed and recreated the barriers, slowly transforming them into something that could make full use of his class.

  "I've never seen anything like that," Rena mumbled, transfixed. "What is it doing?"

  "Turning Alec's barriers into mine so it can make use of my class bonuses," Lev answered easily enough, unable to hold back a fond and big smile. Really, his mentor just had to go and gift him something so precious.

  Within minutes, the amulet lost color, then reverted, making use of his Arcane Barrier Manipulation skill. The properties of the barriers were changed, making them more elastic, until the amulet stopped hindering his movements entirely, snuggly resting on his skin.

  He then summoned his shirt back on. No one said anything for a while before Elias spoke.

  "I didn't expect you to fight safely enough to avoid scarring," the warrior mused, no hint of mirth in his voice.

  "He just has access to a really good healing mana converter," Isabella added without missing a beat, staring at Lev as if daring him to claim otherwise. "It also heals the mind to some extent, which is the only reason he's still sane."

  Lev merely shrugged. "I literally cannot use my class without slowly killing myself."

  "Which does not make sense," Kora spoke up timidly. "Forgive me if I'm speaking out of line, but classes are always balanced to not hurt the wielder unless they purposefully push their class limits."

  "It's not my class that's hurting me," Lev answered, gathering his words. "My attribute distribution is… lopsided, you can say. What is your highest attribute?"

  "Erm, Wisdom. It's almost at 700."

  "And you're only four levels lower than me, yet my Wisdom is sitting at 1025. The rest shouldn't be hard to deduce."

  "… Why?" she asked, pressing more than anyone expected. Even Isabella was surprised at the question, but her curiosity was just as bright.

  "It's not as bad as it seems," Lev answered with a smile. "I have over three hundred points in the attribute from just my titles. As for the rest, my class lets me ignore Strength and Dexterity and put way more points in Constitution than the average mage."

  "And you still take damage from channeling mana," Isabella finished for him, taking the words out of everyone's mouth.

  "It's not that surprising," Viktor casually added. "He was always reckless. At least, he seems more in control of himself."

  "I'm right here, you know?"

  "Yeah, I remember how he kept fighting even when I cut off his arm," Aryan nodded. "Truly ridiculous."

  "Hey, I won the match, at least."

  "He seriously thought he could best me in a melee duel," Elias clicked his tongue. "How ridiculous."

  "Whoa there," Lev chuckled. "Careful with what you say now. I'm not nearly as unprepared as I was back then."

  "Oh, really?" Elias grinned. "Say, how many times has your glaive mastery skill evolved?"

  "…"

  "Alright," Rena spoke before Elias could go on. "While you may still be able to win in close combat, I'm not gonna lift a finger if he smites you from the skies."

  "Same," Lisa said with a stern stare at the two warriors. "I might join him, instead."

  Elias and Viktor shared a glance, wisely deciding to shut up.

  Lev tried not to rub it in, only looking them over with smug eyes. They met his gaze with flat stares, though they dropped it at that. He remembered just how scary Rena could be when she wanted to be.

  "What about you?" He asked Elias.

  The warrior peered into his status for a moment, showing a remarkable deal of trust as he replied immediately. "I'm nearing 900 Dexterity, though I've also followed your method, just to a lesser extent."

  Nine hundred… that's very high, actually. Wisdom is assisted mainly by class and Intelligence, but dexterity requires all physical attributes to work in tandem. Elias isn't nearly dumb enough to neglect Strength or Constitution, and he also has enough mana for body enhancement. He must have almost as many points from titles as me.

  No one else had anything to add, for Elias and Lev were the only two outliers leaning so much into their specialization. Even Isabella had plenty of Constitution and Intelligence, for her element thrived on both.

  Instead, they engaged in small talk, sharing stories and adventures. Lev got to learn about how Kora was just a normal student in one of the academies in the Haven. One day, rumors started circulating. They talked about the Duke looking for a support class for his daughter, and Kora was waiting to evolve.

  Stupidly, in her own terms, she immediately turned her focus to fire skills and evolved before someone else could take the spot in Isabella's team. Lev found the courage pretty admirable, though he also couldn't bring himself to say that it was the right move. Regardless, her decision had paid off, and for that, he was quite happy.

  Isabella also didn't forget to praise the support mage despite how many people were watching. Kora blushed under the dual attention, though everyone had the good graces to not bring it up.

  Just like that, hours passed as they flew. Lances took care of any monsters that found them, and Lev also participated in the discussions, even putting his constant training on hold.

  He also refrained from bringing up his own adventures. For some reason, they always turned the mood somber.