A few minutes later, no more monsters revealed themselves. When Lev was reasonably certain that the surroundings were clear, he brought his bubble back down, creating an opening for everyone to step inside.

  With a thought, it turned fully invisible and shot up, rising like a rocket on steroids. A large amount of mana was used in the ascent, though he had plenty to spare. During that, he also summoned a small cube from his ring, the design bringing up some memories. Back when he was leveling up in the pit, the lightning converter looked similar to the cube he was holding.

  [

  Decent Air Converter - Rare

  ]

  Lev carelessly tossed it to a corner. A barrier hand quickly grabbed it and slotted it in the bubble; the output connected to the construct for him to teleport the mana into the disks.

  Within minutes, they were finally high enough to see the mountain peaks, which also revealed just how small the first mountains were. In the distance, many rose like giant walls, the slopes blocking their view like cliffs.

  "Damn," Elias breathed out, moving close to the bubble's edge. "We're supposed to clear this place?"

  "What are you, level 750?" Rena laughed. "No, we're just going to level up as much as possible until we get overwhelmed."

  "Or," Lev suggested. "We can spend a few days preparing a few bases, and then I'll act as a taunter until the bases are destroyed."

  "I'd rather not stay in one place," Melvine countered. "The further in we go, the better. Staying at the edges will not result in any meaningful progress."

  It wasn't like Lev disagreed, but he just wanted to let everyone know that slow and steady was also an option. They didn't need to rush headlong into danger.

  "I agree," Isabella said. "My class works best against hordes. It would be best to make good use of that."

  "How about we let me evolve first?" Aryan interjected. "Given how strong all of you are, I seem to be missing out."

  "That reminds me," Viktor piped up. "How are you still not a Master? Did you not fight solo?"

  "I have a girlfriend."

  Lev couldn't help but laugh at the half-deadpan, half-proud delivery. Aryan had more of a social presence than any of them, and that was saying something considering they were accompanying a princess.

  "Showoff," Isabella clicked her tongue, though her grin was wide.

  "I see harpies, by the way," Lev voiced, keeping an eye on the monsters. To be safe, he started channeling mana into the shadow mana converter, augmenting the bubble's stealth exponentially. "And also a very big one. It seems we have our first real challenge."

  Glancing at Melvine, she merely waved a hand, telling them to go ahead. Going by his senses, the monster was close to level 500— little in terms of essence for her.

  "Aryan."

  "I'll deal with the normal harpies," the rogue voiced, understanding his assignment.

  "Then you guys can deal with the third-threshold monster," Lev said, looking at Elias and his team. They started double-checking their equipment while Lev dropped out of the bubble, hurtling straight down.

  Infusing a burst of lightning into his armor, he picked up speed and shot off. Despite his early detection, the harpies were still far away, perched on a massive tree growing out of a cliff. He didn't expect to reach them for a few minutes, so preparations were in order.

  The first thing he did was create orbs. Fire mana infused them in small yet significant amounts, and he dropped them on the slope below him. Slowing down his flight even further, he waited for a few long seconds, only for no new monsters to show up.

  Satisfied that they wouldn't be pincered randomly, he accelerated, attracting the attention of the harpies. Close to the peak, he didn't rush straight ahead and brought them to a semi-flat area.

  The slope was still rather steep, which would hopefully increase the essence gains. His bubble landed a few seconds before the monsters reached him, and Aryan and the assigned team quickly hopped out, already glowing with mana from all the prepared skills.

  Lev simply ascended higher and sent a trickle of shadow mana into his armor's stealth enchantments, turning off the rest. His role was to spectate and make sure nothing went wrong, though it also provided a good opportunity to gauge just how strong his friends were now.

  Aryan's presence, while shrouded, was the most obvious. He moved way faster than any Adept Lev had ever seen, and given his stealth, the first second-threshold harpy had no chance to react to the dagger flying towards its chest.

  Quickly retrieving the dagger through his element, Lev's curiosity rose when the rogue didn't finish off the monster. The answer became obvious when a shower of blood roared out of the wound, the liquid quickly turning a sickly black from a potent venom.

  Hoh. Wonder what monster that coating came from.

  Aryan's class was even stronger than expected. It allowed him to teleport daggers back to himself without losing external effects, such as coatings. Lev knew how rare that was before becoming a Master and deepening the connection to one's class.

  Seeing that the rogue wasn't going to have any issues, he turned towards the big bad. The harpy was, frankly, a bit too big. Standing twice as tall as the smaller monsters, its feathers were sleek and streamlined, creating a natural armor that seemed impenetrable.

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  It floated in the air, observing the gathered humans with its maddened gaze. Elias and Viktor slowly jogged forward, waiting for the monster to come down, which it surely would. That was just how monsters operated.

  Soon enough, while Aryan had already downed two more harpies, the bigger one dove. Air parted in its wake, producing loud and visible gales that only empowered its movement.

  Viktor waited, his discipline showing when he didn't dive out of the way until the last moment. Lisa's buffs were already enveloping him, and the warrior managed to stand his ground against the shockwaves.

  A rain of fire fell on the crater just as the harpy sprinted out of it. Each sharp blade left sizzling marks on its skin, failing to do any meaningful damage.

  [Harpy Juggernaut - Level ????]

  The fire barrage did slow it for an instant, which Elias took advantage of. Using the projectiles as a cover, he sprinted to the monster's side, his twin longswords glowing with mana. They carved long gashes on its legs, aborted halfway due to a burst of wind.

  Astonishingly, Elias almost outran the wind, turning around at the last second to cut through it with a mana slash. Lev was already impressed and settled in to watch a great show when Viktor marched into the melee. A claw was stopped by his shield, and when the human only skidded a few meters to the side instead of being sent flying, the harpy was understandably confused.

  The ground underneath took the brunt of the attack, courtesy of a few passive skills letting him stand his ground by channeling the absorbed force downwards. Or perhaps it was the effects of his main shield. Either way, he lunged, his axe clashing against the monster's wing that blocked the attack.

  A small amount of blood dripped to the ground, sending the harpy into a rage-filled frenzy. Elias and Viktor both took a few steps back, grimacing from the roar that originated from the monster. Mana coursed through its skin now, and they knew it was time to go all-out.

  Lisa's buff amplified, enhancing their physical attributes to an insane degree. Rena also joined the fray properly, her solidified flames coiling forward like snakes. They smoothly curved around the melee combatants, deflecting a wing for Viktor, who charged at the monster's legs, aiming to cripple its movements.

  Elias stayed on the run around the monster, darting in for quick slashes with his high speed. Whenever the harpy used wind mana, they backed off, powering through it with the sheer power of their classes. Lisa's skills also coated them with intangible barriers, negating blunt attacks.

  Didn't think she had any defensive buffs, Lev mused, recognizing the skill easily enough. I suppose a Master aura mage and healer ought to have more defensive options.

  After that, the fight was mostly a battle of attrition, one thoroughly in favor of the Masters. Lev kept half an eye on Aryan, noting how he was starting to have some difficulties. Harpies, for all their average strength, coordinated really well.

  The rogue weaved between limbs and wings, dodging tackles and deflecting claws. All in all, he seemed to be doing fine, though only time would tell if he had the stamina to match his class's lethality.

  Melvine knocked on his bubble, so he brought it closer to himself and jumped inside.

  "The rogue is holding back," she said casually. "Tell him that he doesn't need to."

  Lev glanced at Isabella, who sent a telepathic message to the rogue. Aryan paused momentarily, then sped up even more. Severing a limb completely, he cut the harpie's throat in the same motion before upping his agility even more.

  A few minutes later, the third-threshold harpy let out a shrill whistle. Blood and grime painted its body, yet it stood tall, glaring at the humans as mana rushed out of it.

  Elias's body enhancement flared, but the monster was faster. It ascended with a single flap of its wings, and Lev debated intervening. The Masters didn't have a way to fly.

  He refrained, seeing that his friends had a plan in place. Elias and Viktor grouped, moving away from the mages in the back. The harpy glanced between the two of them before choosing the humans who had hurt it. Wind mana gathered inside its wings, the feathers shining in the night sky.

  Instead of a large, blunt attack, Viktor had to suddenly deflect a sharp feather coated with wind mana. Dozens followed, and it immediately became obvious that he wouldn't be able to hold back all of them. The feathers curved, slinking around his shield, only for Elias to cut them down.

  Rena's flames quickly joined the fray, exploding amidst the barrage. Most of the barrage was scattered, though a few large spheres of wind blew through the resulting flames. On the ground, Viktor's shield brightened, primed to block the approaching attacks.

  Elias dashed away, his sword already swinging. Several mana slashes flew towards the monster, around and between the approaching wind spheres. Unprepared for retaliation, the tired harpy scrambled to avoid them, only dodging half of the projectiles.

  The whole slope shuddered from the impact. Aryan reacted immediately, blinding the remaining harpies arrayed against him with a burst of shadow mana. Multiple heads rolled to the ground in the same second, just as the ground beneath him started moving.

  Lev intervened at that point, providing Elias and his team with barrier platforms. Dozens of them formed in a blink, opening a path to the flying monster. To not make it too easy, he made the barriers stationary, opting to spread them around the harpy at fixed distances.

  Without wasting a moment, all four of them moved. Rena's class showed its strength when a barrage of compressed fireballs flew at the monster as a blur, several landing in tandem and doing significant damage before it could even try to dodge. They also clouded its vision, and Viktor's thrown axe made good use of that.

  Lodged in the monster's chest, it glowed and trembled for a moment before flying back, bringing out a rain of blood. Injured and stunned, it couldn't do anything when Elias leaped onto its back just as solid flame coiled around the harpy's legs, rooting it in place.

  An axe thudded into the same wound just as Elias slit the monster's throat open, frantically deflecting its wind while avoiding its clawed hands.

  The rapid blood loss didn't pose as much of a problem as the humans expected. Elias just barely managed to jump to a nearby barrier platform as the monster plummeted, very much alive and dangerous. Along its descent, Lev also lowered his platforms, keeping them just above the slowly forming landslide.

  In their Perception, the landslide was going to take a while to ramp up. The harpy was even less affected than they thought, its neck muscles swelling to stem the bleeding to a large degree. A loud, bestial roar signified the activation of a berserk skill, making its eyes glow a bright gold as its wounds started to heal.

  Rena didn't let that continue. A wall of fire slammed into the monster the moment it stood up, pushing it down. Viktor and Elias rushed in from both sides, further dividing its attention. A cone of wind dug out several large boulders from the decimated ground, and they were promptly launched towards the mages.

  The warriors didn't bother with checking the result of that last-ditch effort. Rena's ropes tore them to shreds, and the rain of debris was blocked by Lisa's small yet heavy barriers.

  Lev observed them closely. He could feel that there was a lot of mana packed in those hexagonal constructs, their durability rivaling or perhaps surpassing his unenchanted barriers. He approved.

  The fight came to a close swiftly after. Viktor baited out a lunge, bashing the monster's face with his shield and reopening the neck wound. Disoriented, the harpy's back was cut open by Elias, the swordsman targeting joints and blood vessels.

  Trying to fend him off was the last mistake as Viktor's axe cleaved through the monster's throat at the smallest opening, the harpy unable to even land a single clean hit on the Masters throughout the battle.

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