"Hello, Nathaniel," Kim says quietly. From his stance, it's easy to see how nervous Ruby's master makes him.

Moreover, is she collecting us like Pokémon? At this rate, she'll collect us all in no time.

The gray-haired woman's eyes scan me over, and her brow furrows a bit.

"Ruby," she says simply while walking outside. The red-haired woman gestures for us to follow her as well.

There, the older woman swings her arm and a tear in the air appears with a sound akin to tearing iron. Inside the tear is a different place, and I notice monsters.

[Ember Serpent - lvl ?]

[Mireblood Troll - lvl ??]

[Thornclaw Lynx - lvl ?]

And there is also this one. [Vortexfang Hydra - lvl ???] Oh boy, I guess that makes her stronger than a triple question mark.

Then my eyes move back to the Hydra. The scales, a haunting blend of deep green and blue, are practically pulsating with mana, a tangible aura of energy that sends shivers down my spine. The air around the beast crackles, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

The way it moves, with a grace that betrays its enormous size shows its strength. The ground shakes with each step it takes, and I can see the raw power in the way its muscles ripple under the scales.

It's too strong, way too strong. I've faced my share of monsters before, but this is on a whole different level. I've got a sinking feeling that I'm way over my head here.

[Focus] I activate my skill and look away, still breathing heavily and relieved that there is an even stronger monster between me and the Hydra.

That monster, resembling an older woman, steps inside the tear, and the Hydra immediately attacks her only to be killed a moment later.

I don’t even know what happened, but Hydra dies as if someone much bigger grabbed it and tore it to pieces. Pulling out its heads, its legs, and pieces of its body in the same way you tear paper to pieces. Once again, I am reminded of how terrifying the woman in front of me is.

She then reaches out with her hand and throws one monster through the tear, where it lands just steps away from us, also terrified and not even thinking about attacking.

[Thunderhowl Warg - lvl ?]

Its body hums with a subtle but distinct mana. It's certainly powerful, maybe even more so than me, but it doesn't feel impossible, unlike the Hydra. The air around it tingles with the electricity it generates, and every time it quietly howls, it's like a crack of thunder that echoes through the air.

The woman steps back through the tear and closes it. I feel a hint of mana from her towards Ruby.

“Have him fight the monster until I am back, short pauses only. Similar level to this thing,” she looks at the warg that just squeals and steps even further away from her, “after a while, pick stronger ones.”

She then slashes her hand through the air and disappears into another tear.

“Ok kids, the master left me coordinates and I will be picking more, so get to work,” Ruby just says and steps back, ignoring the extremely confused gazes of newcomers.

Well, if this isn’t interesting.

I create an [Armanent] in the shape of an arm and step towards the warg that is slowly getting braver and braver now that the woman is gone. Its teeth start showing more, and the electricity crackles around its black fur. It's massive, like a truck.

I dash at it after absorbing some energy from the wind and propel myself ahead. The monster howls and a lightning strike flies at me, instantly getting disappeared by [Disruption]. Seeing that it doesn't work, it attacks again, this time its strike is stronger, and I use [Mana Surge] to boost [Distruption], canceling it as well.

Finally, it dashes at me, and I absorb some of its energy. I focus on absorbing it only from one of its legs, making it stagger a bit. Then, I grab its head with my arm made out of mana, which has grown in size. I squeeze, burrowing fingers made of mana inside its eyes. Then, the absorbed kinetic energy from the wind shoots at the monster, crippling one of its legs, and I let go, having to avoid its electric attack.

The monster continues to thrash around while lighting sparks around it. I feel its mana move and jump to the side, my body strengthened by my reinforcement construct passively, and now even by me boosting it actively.

I feel strong, I feel fast.

I run around the monster, dodging strikes that come from the ground, looking like vines made of mana crackling with lightning all over it.

The warg dashes at me, somehow sensing my position even without its eyes. Its mouth is massive and full of sharp teeth. At the same time, the vines attack me from all sides and I pause, burrowing my feet into the ground and [Disruption] fires up at full power boosted by surge. Yet, it's unable to cancel the attack.

The monster is learning.

The world becomes black and white, and even the crackling of the lightning becomes quieter as I enter deep [Focus]. One part of my mind handles creating a mana arm and sword that appears in my hand. I grab it with both hands, the real one and the one made out of mana. Its color is that of a darker shade of blue as I make it as dense as possible.

Another part of my mind creates wildly oscillating mana along the blade. I sharpen my focus, I feel the mana around me, and I calm down.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

I dash and slash against the vine, cutting it apart. Another dash to the side and another one gets slashed apart like it's nothing. My body is heating up as mana rushes through it, and thanks to my construct, I feel stronger and faster than ever before.

It's addicting. It's dangerous. But it feels right.

The sword in my hand lengthens, and [Oscillation] roars up, covering the entire blade. I slash again. The mana moves so easily, it feels as if it should be like this all the time, as it's in harmony with my mind, my thoughts, and my wishes.

I dash towards the wolf and jump to the side, then over another lightning attack. When the warg dashes at me, I absorb my own energy and propel myself backward. The sword in my arms changes to a massive spear that I throw at the warg, boosting it with the strongest surge I've ever done. Yet my body handles it.

It buries itself deep inside the monster's chest and a long howl sounds into the surrounding, followed by lightning falling down from the cloudless sky, right at me.

I lift up my arm made of mana and send [Disruption] towards it, boosting it by as much mana as I can handle. In the end, my translucent arm disappears together with the lightning, and I turn to the bleeding monster.

Orbs start spinning around my body, big as tennis balls, and I continuously boost them by redistribution, absorbing the energy from the wind, and swaying grass, from the dying monster's last movements.

The orbs sling at the warg, obliterating its head into small pieces.

[You have defeated a Thunderhowl Warg - lvl 84]

[Lvl 51 > Lvl 52]

Quickly, I glance over the notifications and invest my stat points.

[Focus - lvl 21 > Focus - lvl 22]

[Mana Manipulation - lvl 25 > Mana Manipulation - lvl 26]

[Armament - lvl 21 > Armament - lvl 22]

[Oscillation - lvl 15 > Oscillation - lvl 16]

There is also a new side quest:

Side quest: Reach level 75

Rewards: Upgrade token

Huh? Not skill upgrade token, just upgrade token? Does it mean I can upgrade anything I want? Class? Skill? Trait? Maybe? Interesting. Very interesting.

“Another one?” Ruby asks a small smile on her lips. I guess she was bored too.

“Do you have to ask?” I throw back at her and the smile becomes bigger. She knows me at least that much.

“I tried to be nice, I was told that I was acting like an... well, as something unladylike, I refuse to repeat such a word. You might know the guy who told me that.”

Obviously, I know him. It was me!

The air in front of Ruby ripples and a monster appears out of nowhere, confused and looking around. The redhead woman's skill is much more delicate and relies on technique instead of the brute force of her master.

[Thunderhowl Warg - lvl ?]

The warg slowly starts looking around while letting out quiet growls. Electricity starts flickering on its fur and a sense of danger fills out the surroundings.

“Hadwin, it's your turn.” I turn to the man.

The older man's eyes look as if they are about to fall off, and even though he does that, I feel him charging more and more mana, also getting ready to fight.

I will help him, but for now, it will be better to try to make the man stronger as it will help me on the third floor as well or even at the end of this one.

But hey, why are you looking at me like that? We had a deal, didn't we? Well, we missed the regret bus. Next stop: Acceptance!