"That explains some things," Duke Fabian began.

  Lev blinked. It does?

  "Alec is notorious for rejecting all student applications and refusing to impart his knowledge to anyone. He still hasn't from what I can see, but the prospect of a Wisdom Boost and whatever other secrets you have must have changed his mind about taking in a disciple," he said and paused for a moment.

  If the duke was hoping for more information, he was destined to remain disappointed. Lev himself didn't know why he had been accepted that day, though he didn't care either. Alec had given him more than anything he had hoped for, and that was enough for Lev's eternal gratitude.

  "Moreover, Sherron and Orianna's extended stay in an outpost didn't go unnoticed. They often went there to meet your mentor but never for weeks, let alone the month they spent with you."

  Duke Fabian went quiet after that, no doubt because of the same reason that had Lev rooted on the spot. Sherron's aura had surged out for a single, almost unnoticeable instant, yet that was more than enough to warn even the duke to never do that again.

  Though the man didn't seem to care much.

  "As I was saying before a delinquent decided to throw a tantrum," Sherron got a pointed look, "Drakys took a leave for the first time on his own accord from the ravine. It is my duty to note these occurrences to better optimize rotations," another look at the lightning Exalted, "which let me connect the dots."

  The words barely registered in the astonished Lev's head. Had Sherron just been chided like a kid?

  "You're awfully confident for someone within striking distance," Sherron drawled with a hint of mirth.

  "And you're awfully confident for someone bluffing so hard. What happened to the days you called me uncle?" Fabian rolled his eyes, surprising Lev.

  "I fucking grew up," Sherron snorted.

  The conversation petered off after that. Hakim, Katarina, and Lara were already absorbed in watching the proceeding selection phase. Since nobody had kicked him out, Lev also got comfortable and started paying attention.

  Three rounds had passed already. Given the small five-minute timeframe and competent organization, each round was passing quickly.

  Most of the participants were gold hunters, numbering nearly 800. The rest were all platinum hunters. Even then, the higher level limit was 215, which greatly limited the advantage platinum hunters could've had.

  Silver hunters weren't allowed beyond the monster hunt.

  The current round had three warriors and five mages. It had only just begun when a water mage sniped another fire mage. One of the warriors threw his shield at the distracted water mage, the projectile impacting with enough force to take him out.

  One by one, they all fell before the shield warrior won. With a tower shield in hand, the hunter was a menace. He swung it around with more than enough force to compensate for a weapon, easily taking down both warriors while effortlessly blocking all magical attacks.

  Lev was taking mental notes. One of his future teammates would be a shield user. Crafting a good piece of equipment for him would be vital.

  The commentator's voice boomed as the next round was about to begin.

  "On the first, we have Aryan who scored fourth in the monster hunt. Not only is his shadow mana one of a kind, he is also an excellent rogue that is rarely seen in a generation."

  Let's see how that excellent rogue fares against a budget orbital bombardment.

  Lev tried to keep his expression in check but some of his arrogance still shone through.

  "Do you know him?" Lara questioned with a grin, knowing damn well what she was doing.

  "You can say that," Lev answered, expressionless. "We made a bet."

  …

  "Don't you dare leave it at that."

  Lev chuckled. "Well, he has a big mouth and an even bigger head. Someone assigned us both the same cart when we were being carried to the hunt arena. To summarize, I was tempted to just blow off a limb or two to show him his place but settled for a bet instead. Whoever loses has to publicly apologize and pay one hundred gold coins. I also have to do five platinum quests for him if I lose."

  "That's definitely an unorthodox way to make a name for yourself but I approve," Sherron remarked.

  "It was not my intention," Lev huffed. "Just because I'm young doesn't mean I will let anyone off the hook. The rogue had it coming. Better be from me than someone who may hold a grudge or even target his life."

  Nobody refuted him, which, oddly enough, improved his mood. All this time, Lev had only seen the good side of humanity, especially with how lucky he was to find his mentor early on. Knowing that it was not all rainbows and sunshine was a considerable weight off his shoulders.

  It was more like the humanity he knew.

  Down below, the round had just begun. Aryan instantly cloaked himself, vanishing almost completely from sight and mana perception. Lev doubted most people at his level were able to track the rogue as he glided across the sand-covered ground without leaving a trail.

  One moment, the starting bell was rung, and the next, one of the mages was firing fireballs in a circle around him. None of them helped her as a dagger scrapped against barriers that appeared just before her throat could be slit.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  A small, dark blur was all the indication as the dagger became invisible again. Lev observed it all in silence, noting all the potential surprises.

  I still don't know if shadow mana can be used to attack directly. If that is possible, then it will definitely be the nastiest surprise. The daggers can also be thrown for a devastating ranged attack, which is the second most dangerous surprise.

  The fight ended in less than two minutes as Lev's second prediction came true. When only three hunters were left, two thrown daggers coated in shadow mana quickly put an end to them. Lev's eyes darkened as he registered the speed and lethality of those projectiles.

  His armor was not going to stop those.

  "I have to ask," Lev spoke up, garnering everyone's attention. "How likely is the bracelet folding under my maximum output?"

  "Don't risk the spectators," Hakim spoke for the first time. "Keep it contained."

  "Aren't there barriers in place?"

  "Your maximum output is comparable to a Master's spellcasting. Better off not taking any chances."

  Lev nodded, for that made sense. His full pool could detonate into something truly extreme as well.

  Hours passed as participants were quickly disqualified, letting only one progress further. Elias won his round with ease, and so did Viktor. Out of the top 15 rankers in the Monster Hunt, only four were disqualified, and solely because they had to face a teammate or another ranker.

  Duke Fabian didn't show any reaction when Isabella stepped into the arena. The commentator sang plenty of her praises, not forgetting to mention her status and background before the round began.

  Thick, slithering ropes of compressed fire formed around her, shooting towards the nearest water mage. Large blobs of water were hastily created to block them, only to end up being turned to steam as the ropes made contact.

  A chunk of fire mana was infused into the fiery constructs, released into a bright explosion, and took out the opposing mage.

  She has a lot of mana for her class, Lev noted. It wouldn't surprise me if she has class benefits like my own.

  Two more competitors fell in the meantime. Isabella didn't interrupt any of the ongoing duels and observed. In less than three minutes, only four people remained standing in the arena.

  The hunters stared down each other, unwilling to make the first move. Isabella broke the stalemate, launching three blue fireballs at the competition.

  Warriors dodged out of the way of the predictable attacks, but the final mage had to hastily erect earth walls. The fireball shattered two of them, obscuring the earth mage's vision in a burst of flames.

  One of the warriors charged Isabella and was stopped in his tracks as weighty whips sought to blow him away. The other rushed the earth mage, quickly taking him out before targeting Isabella.

  Now this is getting interesting, Lev unconsciously leaned forward a little.

  The fire mage didn't panic as both the warriors circled her. They rushed her at the same time, dodging and weaving between eight fire whips. Divided as those fire constructs were, Isabella barely had any time to create distance before the first warrior reached her.

  She seemed to be waiting for that. A small pebble of compressed fire hidden in her sleeve shot forward, impacting a mana slash fired by the warrior at the last moment.

  Using that explosive momentary pause on one front, all eight whips rose into the air and concentrated on the other warrior. They flew downwards like sentient tentacles, each landing with a fiery blast. The warrior tried his best to block with his shield and cut them apart with his battle axe, yet all it did was allow more blasts per contact.

  Within seconds, only two people were facing down each other in the arena. Consequently, Isabella had no more reason to hold back.

  Four overloaded fireballs landed around the remaining warrior's position, signifying the end of the round as a small portion of the arena's floor turned into glass. There was simply no room to dodge.

  ****

  "Why will it be 250%?" Lev questioned, sipping soup he took out of his ring, which had been returned to him after the selection round.

  "Because it simply will be," Lara replied.

  "That is not what I asked."

  "But that is all you will get."

  Lev looked at Sherron instead. Both Duke Fabian and Hakim didn't seem to want to participate, letting them squabble like children.

  "Class benefits always like to follow evolution thresholds. 250% is simply more likely than anything else."

  "So my regeneration will probably increase to 100%. Not bad, I suppose."

  Katarina gave him the most unamused stare she could manage, which was more unnerving than Lev would have expected.

  "What? It is rather tame compared to my Wisdom Boost."

  The comment did not help. She took a deep breath, and then another, before ignoring Lev entirely. He tried not to snicker.

  Duke Fabian turned towards the door before Lev could speak again. It opened after a few seconds, revealing a somewhat haggard Isabella.

  She entered gracefully, then froze mid-step as her eyes found Lev. Lev himself didn't know the exact reason. Perhaps she was surprised at seeing him in the booth in the first place, or because he was sitting next to Sherron, who also happened to be messing up his hair.

  "Great fight, Bell," Katarina smiled at the newcomer. Isabella nodded at her, hugged Hakim, and then sat down next to Duke Fabian. All the while, her gaze rarely left Lev.

  "What?"

  "Why're you here?"

  "I was summoned as per the orders of Princess Katarina."

  "Get out," Katarina quipped, grinning.

  "Oh, please. Your authority was severely diminished the moment you decided to stretch and moan when the illusion went up. As such-"

  Lev yelped like a schoolgirl when two bright emerald vines formed mid-air inches from his face. Shamelessly, he tried to hide behind Sherron, but the furniture didn't allow so.

  "I would like to deeply apologize-"

  One of the vines just bonked him on the head before they both disappeared.

  "… I'll keep the questions for later. Do you have a Wisdom Boost?" Isabella asked, more than a little surprised at how Lev was interacting with the princess.

  "So much for keeping it a secret," Lev mused out loud. "Yes, but please don't let the information become public."

  Isabella's expression screamed enlightenment. It was fleeting though, and her face eased when she remembered Lev was a stranger.

  "Do you also have a mana capacity benefit?" Lev asked, knowing he would get an answer because of the earlier question.

  "I do," she nodded. "It gives me 50%, which is pretty good for a fire class."

  Katarina's gaze bore into the back of Lev's head. He ignored her and nodded as well.

  "Yeah, that is pretty good. No matching benefit for regeneration?"

  "Those are rare. Do you have one?"

  "Yep."

  "No wonder you used so much of it in the hunt. A Wisdom Boost and a capacity bonus didn't explain how you never ran out."

  Lev tilted his head a little. "I did run out, though? By the end."

  "Oh right," she smirked slightly. "You finally bottomed out after firing an attack powered by enough mana to fill my pool twice over. Makes a lot of sense."

  "Well, if you put it that way…" Lev coughed into his hand. "What level were those last two warriors, by the way?"

  "Platinum-ranked," she replied, tone still formal.

  Conversation ended after that. Lev kept his eyes on the arena, trying to ignore the growing awkwardness.

  How the hell do people keep interactions going? I remember social butterflies never shutting up.

  Thankfully, Sherron came to the rescue and addressed him.

  "Do you think you can beat her?"

  … Why must you put me through this?

  Lev gazed at her for a long few seconds, taking in her faint smirk and mischievous eyes.

  "Easily," Lev eventually replied, eliciting a scoff from Isabella.

  "Big words from someone who can barely hold a glaive."

  "How about we skip the talking instead-"

  Lev and Isabella both stood up at the same time as the former spoke but were interrupted. Sherron yanked Lev back down by the collar, whereas Duke Fabian gently pulled on the girl's hand and made her sit down.

  "Kids," Sherron shook her head. "You can measure it in the arena after a few days. Keep the energy within."

  "At least use the right phrase," Lev muttered.

  Isabella looked like she wanted to say more as well but a stern glance from the duke shut her up.

  "Your fault, by the way," Lev glanced at Sherron. "Why did you have to ask that in the first place?"

  Now, answer for your crimes.

  "Because I can."

  … Oh well.