Rena deemed it unnecessary to speak, stepping into Lev's personal space with her arms crossed. Lev was only a little taller than her, yet at that moment, Rena towered over him like a brute did back in the pit.

  Lev gulped. "What?"

  "'What?'" she echoed, tone flat. "Don't you think I should be the one asking that?"

  "… About us taunting each other?" Lev stated the obvious.

  "Yes," she drawled. "I saw that idiot being extra idiotic today," she finished while looking at the other three observing the conversation in silence. Then she turned back to Lev, causing him to squirm a little. "I thought you were more mature than that."

  "And you," she whirled over to Elias, now most definitely angry. "Are you daft? The first time we try to form a long-term bond with another hunter, and this is how you treat him?"

  Elias opened his mouth to reply but Rena thrust a finger into his face. "We talked about this! No second thoughts, no envy, and absolutely no pointless dick-measuring. Forget that, what the fuck were you doing in that round against Isabella?"

  He didn't try to answer this time, though that did nothing to soothe the short girl's anger. "You were grinning like a loon when her element, in no way known for its speed, struggled to catch you. Really? Just what was so special about you running around the arena? Did you land a date with the Galvanic Sniper by doing that? Or was the opponent some third-threshold monster you bested?"

  Elias remained silent, not daring to look at Rena directly. Glancing at Lisa, his shoulders stiffened even further when he found her to be disappointed as well. If he had any plans to talk back before, now all of them revolved around not letting both of them group up on him.

  Utterly gobsmacked at the happenings, Lev and Viktor shared a look. It seemed they had both severely misjudged the need for them to do something.

  "I'm not blind," Rena's fiery voice reached them. "To begin with, Viktor, why didn't you come to me first? I swear to Monarch…"

  For nearly ten minutes, Rena chewed their ears off. Lev, Elias, and Viktor remained tight-lipped, not willing to let out a single peep of sound. Lisa's usually bubbly face glancing between them with quiet displeasure made things much worse.

  "Let's meet up the day after the ceremony," Lisa declared, silencing Rena for the first time. "Better off talking after some time off."

  Lev nodded, though he suspected the break was for herself more than anything. Elias and Viktor were practically dragged along with the girls. Shaking his head, Lev let one all-encompassing shudder run through his body and made his way to the Royal Booth.

  Women are scary… Also, wasn't the reward ceremony supposed to be after Team Combat?

  ****

  Lev knocked twice at the booth's door. Duke Fabian, Hakim, and Sherron were inside, and he wouldn't dare just barge into a room with such important people.

  The door opened after a second, letting him observe everyone present inside. Isabella and the Princesses were also there. While the aura of the former was too difficult to notice, the latter were masters at controlling theirs.

  "Should I leave?" Lev questioned before entering.

  Sherron waved him inside. "Just hide behind the couch again."

  Discussing me, were we? Lev gave Katarina a disappointed look, which slid right off that regal bearing. He took his place next to Sherron, as usual.

  "Have you finished healing yourself?" Isabella asked, slightly concerned.

  Lev nodded. "It wasn't anything major this time. Only flesh wounds and mana poisoning."

  "Only," she muttered. "That is not 'only.'"

  "It's far from the worst I've had to deal with," Lev smiled gently. "But don't worry, I am always looking for ways to counteract the mental impact."

  To demonstrate his point, he leaned back, mirroring Sherron's casual posture, who just rolled her eyes at the poor attempt at seeming important. Isabella's right eye twitched at the casualness. Lev was slowly coming to realize that Sherron's reputation was… not the best when it came to her temper. The fire princess on the other hand, probably grew up learning never to offend the Exalted.

  "I heard the rewards were pulled ahead of schedule?" Lev changed the topic. "Wasn't the tournament supposed to be four major events?"

  "The storm," Hakim's deep voice put that line of questioning to rest.

  "… I see. So, what's next for me? Maybe I'll throw another party," Lev mused, rubbing his chin. His agenda included reaping the harvest from betting on himself and getting a good night's sleep after the intense day. Tiredness was slowly setting in, though with his constitution, Lev could stay awake for another day or two.

  "Sleep," Lara chimed in.

  "I know."

  "Then you should leave before the broadcast," Hakim looked at him. "I have to break the news about the approaching storm."

  Is it that bad? Lev nodded and did as he was told. Everyone hides underground. Shouldn't that deal with any losses of life? Storage rings safeguard material belongings, so the damage to buildings and houses is the major point of distress… I should rectify my worldview. Not everyone can just go and buy another house.

  That mystery solved, Lev left the arena. Platinum was on his mind as he made his way to the hunters guild while keeping an eye out for anyone suspicious. His mana was hovering above 60%, but he was still wary. Given how far his name was going to spread, it wouldn't hurt to be cautious.

  Entering the nearly empty guild, Lev quickly made his way to the betting room. The big, scary Master was already back, and he looked quite pleased for whatever reason.

  "You did good," the man rumbled. "Both in the matches and against the swordsman. He's pretty good and all, but such an attitude would've made his time in the ravine hell. Those folks can sniff out any unnecessary confidence from a mile away and don't shy away from teaching anyone a lesson in humility."

  "Thank you," Lev replied calmly. Internally, however, he was fearing for his own future. After all, where Elias was only recently starting to get a big head, Lev was overconfident from the very beginning because of his titles, class, and the company he had found early on. Maybe the warrior's words were intended to serve as a warning for him, as well.

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  The Master nodded. "Your bet ballooned a lot. No one was allowed to bet on the winners since yesterday, otherwise, everyone would've put their money on you after the round with the shadow rogue. As it stands, the total comes out to eighteen platinum."

  Eighteen… damn, I can live comfortably for my entire long life if I stop fighting now.

  The thought passed quickly. Remaining weak was simply not an option, not for him. Too much could be done with all that was present on his Status, and the thought of lying still with those advantages made him physically recoil at times. He didn't let out any reaction in front of the warrior, though.

  "That is quite a lot," Lev agreed with a smile. "Where can I take the cashout?"

  Instead of replying, the coins were summoned onto the table. Lev promptly made them vanish too.

  "Pleasure doing business," he dipped his head and left the room. Exiting the guild, Lev was thinking of his next steps when his eyes found the distant mountain.

  Hmm, sure, why not?

  Half an hour of shopping for tasty food later, he was flying up the mountain at full speed. Stargazing was one thing Lev doubted he would ever get tired of.

  The suns were an hour away from setting. Stargazer appeared in his hands as he slowed down his ascent, letting a warg sense him again. It was a monstrous thing, nearly four meters tall and incredibly wide for a wolf-like creature. From a cursory glance, Lev could tell it traded its Perception for more physical strength. That, combined with its level, made the monster the perfect target for testing.

  [Flame Warg - Level 233]

  Befitting its name, a wildly pulsating wave of fire tried to envelop Lev. Shields materialized in front of him and were enchanted in a blink, stopping the attack in its tracks with minor structural damage.

  Not at all understanding how outmatched it was, the monster charged. Lev shot his shields toward it, each hitting it in the face. By the fifth, the warg let roared and switched targets.

  Long, serrated claws were set alight with a small shockwave. They landed on the overloaded shields with the force of a runaway train, shattering one with each swipe. Only, Lev was smiling at the result.

  The same shields that had shattered instantly in front of other humans were now easily holding back a monster nearly forty levels higher by neatly absorbing its blows. Each shattered shield stopped the warg for a brief instant, requiring all its power to break them. He simply created more of them to keep it occupied.

  This tournament really was special, huh? Lev inhaled deeply and swung Stargazer downward. Large amounts of earth mana followed behind, forming a half-moon slash before it was launched at the distracted warg.

  The attack was eerily silent by itself, only producing sound by displacing air with its weight and speed. In a split second, the warg turned to face the attack. With its high sensitivity to mana, detecting the slash was expected.

  Insane eyes tracked the slash flying toward them. An arm was raised, and claws met it. Lev strained his Perception to the maximum to observe the result.

  Like burnt paper slowly disintegrating into ash, the slash destroyed the claws without slowing down, shearing off all of them before taking the very arm they were attached to.

  A pained wail cut through the trees and was silenced abruptly by a lightning slash.

  [

  You have slain [Flame Warg - Level 233]

  Mana Tempest has reached Level 191

  5 Free Attribute Points

  ]

  The test was a major success, at least by Lev's standards. He was bound to meet monsters with extreme resistance to fire and lightning, his favored elements, and need heavier options.

  Earth mana was the answer. Where destructive potential failed, the power of physics would pick up the slack. The addition of the earth slash continued to prove a marvelous new option. Mana requirement was not an issue for him either, though he was not blind to the fact that copious amounts of mana was the main reason for the attack's lethality.

  Feels good to have a Wisdom Boost. Lev grinned and harvested the core.

  [

  Flame Warg Core

  Possesses decent mana conductivity and capacity. Shows minor properties of fire.

  ]

  The core was stored in his ring, waiting to be enchanted once he evolved. Crafting would have to wait for now as Lev was determined to get a pure combat class.

  Continuing upward, a few more panthers met their demise. Lev didn't even bother harvesting their cores, for he was pretty damn rich if he said so himself.

  An hour of fast travel later, the lake was visible in the distance. Night had also dominated the endless skies some time ago, meaning the moons were slowly rising. It made for a fantastic sight, seeing all three of them gradually become visible from underneath the horizon. Lev narrowed his eyes.

  All three happen to appear on the day Hakim is likely going to leave. Funny, that.

  Usually, only two moons were visible in the sky. The third one rarely showed up, but now Lev had different suspicions. Regardless, he was going to gaze at it for as long as he could. It was entirely white in color and looked like a royal celestial being, if that even made sense.

  Be it the color or the perfect round shape, it just oozed majesty. Not only that, it was also likely the source of Hakim's power.

  That line of thought quickly devolved into something terrifying. Was the moon alive? Or was someone using it as a home? Or perhaps the suns and moons were an expression of Monarch's powers? Maybe the three moons combined were a single being.

  Similar questions plagued his mind for a while. Lev slapped his cheeks when his thoughts turned particularly morbid, forcing himself to focus on something else. Giving his head a firm shake, Lev was about to consider leaving when the world paused.

  A presence blanketed the area, so unfathomably vast and alien that his mind went blank. Forming thoughts became impossible, and terror took over when Lev felt that his mind was no longer under his control.

  Slowly, his head rose up by itself until it stared at the same white moon, now much brighter in his vision. It was also much closer, dominating the very skies. Seconds passed as the hold on his mind loosened, and it took several long, shaky breaths to bring himself under control.

  Before he could even question anything, everything stopped once more. In the distance, a tide of silver slowly rushed down the mountain's peak, rumbling and morphing into a smaller shape as it went.

  Lev held his breath all the time, utterly incapable of moving beyond blinking and breathing. It was on track to collide with him directly, yet his instincts screamed no warning.

  The moonlight folded upon itself until it was no larger than his arm. A silver feather floated gently on the wind, swaying with its rhythm before soundlessly tapping his forehead and dissolving into it.

  He could feel his control over his body return at that moment, but Lev could only flop to the ground with a gasp as raw power coursed through his veins. Trying to get up only resulted in a small crater forming below his palm, further disorienting him as he failed to stand again and again.

  The body enhancement was far too potent. It weighed down on his mind, slowing down his thoughts as his strength rose exponentially. Wherever the moonlight went, it empowered his flesh, blood, and bones to extreme heights, while also multiplying his mana regeneration. Lev couldn't even begin to decipher its depths before the fuel ran out, returning his body to normal.

  Still... Lev was Lev. Like an idiot, he tried to feel around, to understand just what kind of being was currently looking at him. Every time, his budding aura and senses were smoothly blocked, not hurting him at all in the process. No matter what he did, Lev couldn't glean anything, and he had to stop his attempts when the moon pulsed once.

  A giant wave of moonlight rushed out of it in every direction, giving rise to a breeze that brought with it impressions and change, altering the very reality around him. One moment, it was normal, and the next...

  At peace.

  That was the best Lev could describe it. The breeze was far too gentle, once again bringing with it a soothing touch and increased mana regeneration. It lasted for more than a dozen seconds before the world returned to normal once again, and the moon blinked back to its original position, in the middle of the two others.

  There were a lot of things to note from that incident, but Lev's mind was occupied by something else. The moonlight didn't come without small tidbits of decipherable information.

  Peace and harmony. Those two concepts were what Lev could best translate from the impression he got from the moonlight. The peace wasn't entirely peaceful, however. From Hakim's class and the fresh experience, Lev now knew that the moonlight was flawless at decimating monsters.

  That was good and all, but his body was on the verge of shivering and curling up from something else entirely. He had a small collection of incomprehensible words in his memory, something he didn't dare recall lightly.

  The first word was 'Challenger,' a word he couldn't make heads or tails of. Secondly, the name that Lev wasn't comfortable even thinking of took another spot in that list.

  But now, there was a third word. Its meaning simply couldn't be mistaken, for the impression was absolute, echoing in his mind was increasing intensity. He was only now understanding that the whole experience was nothing but a formal introduction.

  The Goddess had sent her regards.