"That sounds…" Melvine trailed off, finally finding the courage to speak. "We should not delay for too long."

  Lev was inclined to agree. As difficult or impossible as putting down that foe was going to be, he did not want to see the stag suffer more than necessary if it was truly still present.

  "I will have to disagree, human huntress. While your power may be a good match, the creature is still too much for us despite being bound by The System. We must plan around that weakness."

  "Bound?" Lev echoed.

  "Indeed. While I was just barely strong enough to qualify for becoming a fodder monster for this dungeon, the stag was far too strong to even remain in this place. But the dungeon had already formed, and the being had no way to escape. There were no restrictions at first. It massacred all of the monsters, but I was already starting to realize my awakening by then. Unable to find me, it simply prowled the surface, killing every monster that eventually showed up until it was reduced to a mere husk of its former glorious self.

  "Now, as an over-leveled monster, the dungeon penalizes it by constantly draining its strength. As a result, too many monsters dwell in this instance, and a dungeon break is also nigh. I am not too keen on leaving, however. The depths of the peaks are not for the faint of heart, and the moment a dungeon break is detected, many opportunists will arrive to reap the escaping lives."

  "I'm assuming that also puts us on a timer?" Isabella voiced, gulping to steady her voice. "If the boss leaves, it will regain its former strength."

  "I admit, I don't remember if the depths are dangerous enough to challenge it, nor how strong the creature used to be, Pryomancer. That does indeed put us on what you summarized as a timer."

  They stopped after that, both sides lost in thought. While the hunter was reasonably sure of its victory and escape, the humans were exchanging glances, suddenly unsure about how to broach the topic.

  "Another being entered the dungeon before us," Lev slowly began. "A mutated Veil Crawler. It needs to be put down."

  "An abhorrent? One of my kind?" the hunter asked, and everything hinged on its next words. "I'm assuming it was not awakened?"

  "No, it was very much a monster."

  "Then we need to find it post-haste. Allowing such a creature to grow in strength will only end in tragedy."

  "Even if it is the same species as you?" Melvine asked, the crux of the matter.

  "I know the significance of abhorrents better than most. The species of such a creature is never a consideration. If we don't kill it first, then we will die, and it will become a problem for someone else."

  Abhorrents, huh? So there is an official term for mutated monsters.

  "That wouldn't be so bad, but the issue was that it absorbed moonlight," Lev declared, eyes grave.

  "… Forgive me for not understanding, Blessed Lev, but what is so special about moonlight?"

  … Huh? It doesn't know, does it?

  "Let's just say, it's possibly the best element for an abhorrent to thrive on. We only faced it for a few minutes, and it still leveled up twice during that short battle."

  "It gained levels?" the hunter repeated, both audibly and visibly shaken. "To defy the natural order of the universe so… I did not feel the abhorrent land in the same instance as you all. We must remain prepared for when it eventually leaves the dungeon, which, once again, puts us on an even worse timer."

  "It won't leave before us," Melvine said confidently. "Not when it's cut off from moonlight. The reserves it has are bound to be limited, which leaves us with plenty of time. Who knows if it will even be able to clear the dungeon, but that is a shallow hope we shouldn't consider."

  "Time is still of the essence," the hunter said. "As it stands, none of you can face the stag, even if the mist huntress can come close to at least surviving for a few moments. How do you plan to gain the strength to survive, Lev?"

  "Simple. I need to know where the strongest to weakest monsters are, and how to avoid attracting the stag's attention as we kill them."

  ****

  A few more words were exchanged before the hunter left. Lev knew that their patience was running thin, though surprisingly, no one asked him anything. Even stranger, they seemed to be contemplating whether knowing more was worth it or not.

  "Alright, I'll make this easier for you guys," Lev smiled. "How many of you knew about the existence of gods?"

  Contrary to his expectations, no one other than Isabella and Melvine knew. Their pale faces also suggested that they hadn't even considered the possibility.

  "And you're like a… chosen?" Elias eventually asked, his curiosity overtaking the shock.

  "Nope. Not even close. I'm simply favored, same as how Drakys and Hakim favor me."

  "That's not what the hunter said, though?" Lisa asked timidly. "Have we been disrespectful by not calling you-"

  Lev threw a barrier pebble at her face. It thwacked her forehead, breaking her out of the mumblings.

  You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

  "I'm Lev," he stated plainly. "Just Lev. Not Blessed Lev or Favored Lev or Chosen Lev. Just Lev."

  "Apologies, Just Lev-" Isabella mockingly bowed, taking a step to the side to avoid the inevitable pebble. "How violent. Are you sure you're fit to be a favored?"

  "Slow down," Aryan sighed. "You two are already joking about it when I'm still stuck on the revelation of actual divinities. More than one, even."

  … Woops, not sure if I should've revealed that. My friends now know that there is more than one god quicker than most of humanity's upper echelons. I wonder who Hakim shared that knowledge with?

  It was still a funny coincidence, even if it was caused by his carelessness. He needed to pay more attention to his words.

  "That's not very important now, is it?" Lev grinned, very much entertained by the flat stares sent his way. "First, we need to level up as much as we can. And secondly, we need to decide how to go about it. Questions can wait."

  "Questions, he says," Zack sighed. "Sure, let's just treat this like any other day. What's so special about learning that we have always been living under the gaze of incomprehensible beings who are also secretly involved with a few of us, anyway?"

  "Not much, admittedly," Lev smiled. "And, before going anywhere, I'm going to take a nap."

  "A nap?" Melvine asked, frowning. "Now?"

  "Yes."

  Walking past them, Lev moved to a corner of his bubble and summoned an enchanted bed. After making sure that his clothes were clean, he quickly made himself comfortable on the bed and covered himself with the blanket enchanted to block sounds.

  For a Master like him, sleep wasn't exactly necessary. He could go on for weeks without needing to shut his eyes, but it was the recent events that were weighing on his mind. His eyes drooped as he reconsidered the series of events that had led them to this dungeon, as well as the subsequent encounters and reveals. A final, dizzy thought reflected his opinion about the matter.

  I'm too young to deal with all this shit…

  ****

  Two hours of sleep was more than enough for Lev to feel ready again. Kora had kept using her regeneration buff on him during that. His pool hovered at around 80%, comfortably enough to try and deal with some third-threshold monsters.

  Stargazer's core still lagged. Buffs couldn't work on the weapon, and he didn't know if it was due to her being an item or if the aura mage lacked the understanding to make it happen. Either way, the glaive only had about half of her reserves, which would have to be enough.

  Only Melvine was still in his bubble, which was surprising. Lev quickly washed his face with his canteen and summoned his armor.

  "Where did everyone go?"

  "I sent them off to hunt by themselves," she answered casually. "The Hunter agreed to watch over them and lead them to weaker monsters. Isabella had some items to conceal their presence, and I tested their effectiveness personally before letting them go."

  "That's… unexpected. Dangerous, too."

  "It is," Melvine agreed curtly. "How are you doing?"

  "Fine?" Lev shrugged. "As fine as I can be, I suppose. Things aren't going to stop happening just out of consideration for me. I'll just have to roll with the punches."

  "No one could have predicted finding potentially two beasts in the dungeon," she said, her lips curving downwards slightly. "Hell, no one could have predicted a dungeon. This is too suspicious."

  "You think we've been set up?"

  "Maybe," she answered hesitantly. "This is like the textbook example of us stumbling upon something far greater than intended. Luck can be a nasty bitch if it decides to fuck you over."

  "Ain't that the truth," he chuckled. "What's the plan now?"

  "You've got the shadow mana converter. It shouldn't be difficult to find them and earn some levels along the way."

  No more time was wasted on words. Lev scanned his bubble's enchantments and took a few minutes to recreate them. Some of them had been patched hastily after the battle with the Night Hunter, and the flaws showed.

  In an uncharacteristic show of curiosity, Melvine asked about the enchantments.

  "How do you know which runes work well with your barriers?"

  Lev blinked, thinking it over. "I mean, it's pretty easy to understand once you try it. My barriers are also special in a way that most pure mana enchantments work really well with them. If anything, they are superior when compared to most other materials. I've only seen and heard about infused metals coming close to the mana conductivity and enchantment capacity."

  "But that is a shadow mana enchantment, is it not?"

  "It is. The thing is, elemental runes work just as well as pure runes. Barriers are made of solidified mana, which is an excellent material for any manner of conductivity. What really messes things up is that they don't have the inherent properties of metals to keep destructive elements in check. If I infuse fire or lightning in my barriers, they damage the structure, needing constant repairs to keep them contained.

  "Shadow mana is simply not very destructive. It works like a multiplier instead. So, it is pretty easy to just dump it in my bubble and cycle it through the enchantments."

  "Then enchantments related solely to fire would be too costly for your barriers," she summarised in understanding.

  "Not exactly," Lev snorted. "Cost isn't an issue. I simply have too much to deal with to dive into hyper-specific enchantments for different scenarios. My willpower control is still only barebones compared to an average Master, and rushing that is not ideal."

  "The control afforded by willpower can also become a crutch," she added. "It is no doubt one of the strongest tools in a Master's arsenal, especially when you learn to infuse your moves with it, but it also has a nasty habit of falling short when you need it the most. Confidence and arrogance don't save you against monsters that are simply too much to deal with."

  Shadow mana seeped into the construct, making it invisible. Lev spent a few seconds circling the bubble, ensuring that all of it was properly concealed before stepping inside with Melvine in tow.

  "What does that say about my class?" he asked. "I have like ten different types of constructs ready to be deployed right now. It's not like I will ever have the willpower to keep up with my class."

  "You're not wrong," she answered thoughtfully. "The best bet is to empower only a select few constructs. You already know which ones."

  The lances, beams, and Fracturing Waves.

  She wasn't wrong. Those were the strongest finishers in Lev's kit. The lances could reliably clear out massive hordes when spaced accordingly, and the beams could shear through third-threshold monsters.

  Powered by Stargazer, his Fracturing Wave was undoubtedly the most potent tool. It not only made use of his willpower to augment itself, but it was also a twice-evolved attack skill, one that packed way more power than any of his class skills. When combined with the extreme amounts of mana Lev usually dealt with, the skill became the most unfair advantage in his arsenal by a long shot.

  Sure, a Manawell and the titles he was born with were beyond absurd, but they weren't as strong by themselves. The skill brought the advantages together in a way that he normally wouldn't be able to for a long time, and that translated to an offensive advantage that was hard to beat for anything less than double his level.

  As the bubble left the cave, he considered what he could do next. The three constructs he had planned were going to be useful, and if he could truly master the concepts behind them, a lot of paths would open up in the future for him.

  And therein lay the issue. All of it was planned around theoretical advantages and scenarios, and if the constructs didn't perform up to standards, he would need to spend months again to theorize new methods to alter terrain with barriers and create a beneficial arena for himself.

  That wasn't a pressing issue for now, nor would it be one for the upcoming years. Lev simply wasn't content with slinging projectiles from afar and emptying his pool to take out singular strong monsters. He wanted to utilize all of his advantages with more finesse than long-range artillery, and these constructs were the first step to master the art of utilizing every drop of mana for all it was worth.