"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WELCOME TO THE 25th TRIALS OF THE EXALTED!"

  Sherron paid half a mind to the incredibly loud yet oddly bearable commentary as she surveyed the stage for the monster hunt. Her scouting came to a halt as the commentator continued in a low voice.

  "Exactly seven hundred years ago, the first of us set foot on Monarch. The handful of survivors who paid with blood, sweat, and tears to pave the way for us. For the future generations to carve a name out for themselves in these unforgiving lands.

  "It is all because of their sacrifice that we stand where we are. But today is not a day to grieve, for they did not want us to grieve. They wanted us to move forward, to a better life. TO KEEP OUR HEADS HIGH, AND TO MARCH TOWARDS A BETTER FUTURE.

  "TODAY, WE CELEBRATE! THESE TRIALS HAVE BEEN PERSONALLY ORGANIZED BY OUR ESTEEMED RUNIC WARLORD. PLEASE GIVE HIM A BIG HAND."

  The crowds went crazy from their high stands as Drakys was displayed on the surrounding illusion screens. Thundering applause and cheers echoed above the grand forest's border. The arena was situated near timberhold, a great city bordering the forest like whitefall, where a small portion of the forest extended much further into the plains than anywhere else. That region was also enclosed inside the outer wall, making for a great region to train and harvest resources.

  Thousands upon thousands of people had come to the event in person, yet there was enough space for all of them.

  Gigantic stands with seats similar to stadium seating were arranged in a huge circle. Below was the stage for the monster hunt, a relatively tame region of the forest.

  Large illusion screens were floating near all the stands, displaying the currently peaceful trees and clearings. Monsters could be seen prowling aimlessly, purposefully kept away from each other.

  Sherron had to do a double take when she saw several shade prowlers above level 200 in there as well. Those would be dangerous.

  "As you all know, the first event is Monster Hunt. Unlike previous years, there is a small twist. Now that all participants have reached their starting point, I will explain the rules.

  "The monster pool this time is slightly above average. One hundred and twenty is the lowest level that can be found in the arena, and the highest remains to be seen.

  "Every monster below level 150 awards one point when killed. Two points for anything below level 200, and five for monsters below level 250.

  "The twist comes after that. There will be second-threshold monsters. That's right, our gold and platinum hunters will need to team up to take down these behemoths and will be rewarded based on contribution. Each such takedown will grant fifty points, which will be distributed fairly.

  "I should not need to say this, but anyone who tries to sabotage or intentionally disrupt other teams will be disqualified. Accidents happen, but make sure they remain accidents. We will be watching.

  "NOW, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, LET THE TRIALS BEGIN!"

  The declaration was paired with an incredibly loud gong that reverberated throughout the arena. Contestants immediately became the focus of the illusion screens, though Sherron didn't need those. Within a split second, she found Lev and everyone else that seemed promising underneath.

  "Well done," Drakys praised the commentator a few stands away, who lit up at the unexpected approval. The man bowed with a bright smile before returning to his job.

  "Brutes," Sherron voiced. "Really?"

  "They are a perfect mix of raw strength and durability. It will be a good challenge," Drakys explained, eyes on the proceedings and mind on all the formations surrounding the arena. "We also need to see who overcomes their fears."

  He got up after that. The job of the Exalted was to rescue those who would be about to die. With his extreme Perception, it was a trivial task. Not a single monster within thousands of kilometers could challenge him, either. Except a select few that couldn't be categorized as monsters to begin with.

  Sherron was left alone on the luxurious red and white seats. Given the sheer size of the stage, only those who put a lot of points into Perception would be able to see all the fights from their seats. That was fine, as there were always the flashy ones that could be seen from afar, especially this time around.

  Several people landed around her after a few seconds. Orianna, Alec, and three kids gingerly stepped onto the seats hundreds of meters above ground. They looked slightly pale, but nothing could hide the excitement hidden underneath the nervousness.

  "Did it start?" Orianna asked while taking a seat.

  "Only a few minutes ago," Sherron replied. The kids had already taken their seats surrounding Orianna. Next to her, a girl with silver hair and golden eyes was looking intently at the illusion screens.

  Her calm facade was adorable, given how sweat rolled down her neck.

  Sherron just smiled to herself. The three children were the only ones in the orphanage who had voiced their desire to be combatants. Orianna had deemed it necessary to show them what the future would hold in store.

  "Did Hakim come?" Alec asked.

  Sherron almost reacted when the girl next to her tensed. It was an odd reaction.

  "Yeah, he's doing rounds around the perimeter."

  Lev's mentor nodded before focusing on the combatants below. Only a few minutes had passed and monsters were slowly being released into the arena. The show hadn't even started yet.

  ****

  Lev winced at the incredibly loud gong that came after the commencement. For a few seconds, he simply took stock of the situation.

  Sadly, the earth converter was taken away. Now I'm left with my skinsuit, Stargazer, and the ring. Thankfully, I can store and summon Stargazer freely.

  The checkers were fairly confused when Lev asked to keep the storage ring. Normally, people scrambled to fit in the strongest item they could get their hands on. Lev was instead looking to store cores and corpses. They were naturally astonished.

  Summoning his barrier armor, Lev ascended for dozens of meters and scanned the surroundings.

  Nearly a third of the arena is clearings, Lev thought to himself, impressed. The arena itself was dozens of kilometers long and wide, and the seats high above were similarly awe-inspiring. How long it took to create something like that, Lev didn't even want to imagine.

  Stargazer appeared in his hands, and a blade filled her top before Lev set out. Given the time limit of six hours, he expected the first few hours to be pretty uneventful.

  This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

  The first monsters he encountered were trolls. Pretty weak trolls, too. Lev held back the desire to eviscerate them and started with five small lightning lances, holding barely any mana compared to his normal attacks.

  He paused for an instant when several gazes focused on him. Lev had already been informed about the drones capturing and sending footage to the illusion screens, so he proceeded as if they didn't exist. He just had to put on a good show.

  Enhancement formation came alive as Lev rushed ahead of his lances. The trolls all charged him as one, their roars washing over him without any effect. Stargazer flashed and took off the arm of the leading troll before Lev jumped back, firing a fire slash amidst the monsters.

  Covered by the flames, Lev boosted his movements to half his maximum and beheaded one of the monsters. He could have easily killed all of them but conserving mana was of great importance in the long run.

  Two of the lances embedded themselves into the back of another unsuspecting troll, downing it as its heart burst from the discharge.

  The remaining three trolls also fell quickly after that as the lances staggered them, letting Stargazer behead them without obstruction.

  "DID YOU ALL SEE THAT? WE HAVE A PROMISING PARTICIPANT HERE, LADIES AND GENTS. WILL HE BE ABLE TO KEEP UP THE PERFORMANCE? OR WILL THE CRUEL COST OF SPELLS BE HIS UNDOING?"

  Without looking at who the illusion screens were focusing on, Lev couldn't be certain if the commentator was talking about him. Nevertheless, he ignored it all the same.

  Besides, the mana I used has almost already regenerated.

  "AS EXPECTED, ARYAN IS IN THE LEAD WITH HIS INCREDIBLE CLASS AND SHADOW MANA WITH 12 POINTS. CAN ANYONE TAKE THE THRONE FROM THIS YOUNG MAN??"

  That shifted Lev's plan of taking it slow in the beginning more than a little.

  ****

  Kayla glanced at Orianna several times, hoping the older woman would say something.

  Orianna just smiled at her silently. The cat was out of the bag when Lev summoned a barrier armor, signifying him as their future teammate.

  Jack also realized that quickly, though he was more interested in Lev himself than anything. Amelia didn't react at all. Her gaze had transformed from nervous to fixated as she looked at the illusion screens.

  Sherron and Orianna shared a quick glance before the latter addressed the kids.

  "Do you three still want to continue down the same path?"

  Jack looked unbothered as he nodded, and Kayla was much the same. Both of them were thirteen years old now, just shy of starting their apprenticeship. The last girl frowned a little.

  "What level is he?" Amelia asked.

  "187," Orianna replied, curious about where this was going.

  "Why is he already at that level? Isn't he barely older than us? You even said barriers were difficult to manage."

  "Because he's talented," Orianna replied, not about to disclose the real reason. That decision was up to Lev. "He's also very hard-working, as you can imagine. Lev has been fighting monsters from the very day he got a class."

  That was a half-truth. Lev had indeed been fighting more than anyone did at his level, but he had also spent months traveling.

  On the screen, he was plowing through dozens of monsters below level 150 as he slowly advanced deeper. Trolls, orcs, panthers, treants, and several thornlings fell against him when he abruptly flew high up, narrowly avoiding a leaping prowler. He had already noticed the monster, of course.

  ****

  Nice to see one of you guys here.

  Lev stored Stargazer and prepared himself. For his own psyche, and pride to some degree, he had a point to prove.

  [Shade Prowler - Level 212]

  The prowler was large. Its broad shoulders, covered in sleek dark gray fur, stood slightly taller than Lev. Seeing that its attack had failed, the monster immediately pounced again.

  With the enhancement formation on his armor and all the Perception affecting his mind, avoiding the tackle was trivial but the monster wasn't done.

  The prowler came to a halt in a split-second and turned to Lev. Fangs bared and body tense to tear his face off, the prowler was instead met by a kick loaded with a fuck ton of lightning mana.

  The explosive release of mana and the sheer impact of the kick thoroughly overwhelmed the monster's weak body, tearing off its head and sending it flying through the crackling blast.

  When the flames cleared, only a charred, headless corpse remained.

  [

  You have slain [Shade Prowler - Level 212]

  ]

  Point proven, Lev smiled to himself. It felt good to be so strong.

  ****

  "INCREDIBLE. THE PROWLER DID NOT STAND A CHANCE. WITH THAT CONFRONTATION, LEV HAS OVERTAKEN ARYAN AND SENT A CLEAR MESSAGE."

  Sherron glanced at the small illusion screen and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. The hunt was progressing exactly how she expected it to. While everyone was conserving mana and scrambling to earn the easier early points, Lev casually attained the lead. She didn't doubt for a second that he hadn't even used a twentieth of his mana yet. The screen read:

  Leaderboard:

  1) Lev - 69 points

  2) Aryan - 65 points

  3) Isabella - 59 points

  4) Elias - 58 points

  5) Viktor - 58 points

  …

  The kids looked impressed, at least, especially after that last fight. The illusion screen showed the monster's level to increase the immersion, so they knew the prowler was considerably higher in level than Lev.

  Sherron ignored the pang of sadness in her heart that told her kids their age had no business being impressed by monster battles. The small burst of emotion was a constant companion at this point, occasionally rearing its head. Reality had not been kind to them, so they had to do the best with what they were given.

  "What, exactly, does his class do?" Kayla questioned with a blink, making sure to keep her tone childish and innocent.

  Sherron tried not to laugh but a chuckle still escaped her at the adorable tactic. The boy next to Kayla also chuckled under his breath, receiving an elbow from the girl.

  "He's a barrier mage," Alec replied in his usual half-serious half-calm tone. "Creates barriers and fills them with different mana types."

  "What about the armor?" asked the silver-haired girl.

  "What about it?"

  "Why is he so strong and fast as a mage? Is it because of the armor?"

  "Nope," Alec smiled faintly. "The armor is simply an armor. It's Lev himself who has learned to control it to such a degree. All his strength comes from the mind."

  ****

  202 points in one hour. That sounds pretty decent.

  Lev was dealing with another group of three spiders when the commentator's voice boomed through the arena.

  "Now that an hour has passed, several second-threshold monsters have been released in the middle of ten clearings randomly. Bear in mind, these monsters are not meant to be taken as a lone team. You will only get one chance to prove yourself."

  The advice went in through one ear and out the other. Lev mentally prepared himself to go all out and ascended quickly. With his eyesight, he could see three of the monsters around him.

  Before someone else could go gather a team deal with them, lightning filled his armor, and he was off, boosted to an insane degree by the third tier of Heavier Lifting and the enhancement formation.

  The first monster was a large spider the size of a house. Lev paused at the intimidating sight and took a deep breath. The spider was oddly stationary, and the reason became obvious the moment a large net of web flew at him.

  Not taking any chances, an overloaded fire slash collided with the net mid-air, neutralizing it in a fiery blast. Lev rushed forward just as a grating screech reverberated through his bones, disrupting his flight as he fell.

  The spider didn't miss a beat in rushing forward, which was exactly what Lev wanted. With a burst of speed, he darted back to avoid its lunge and launched a lightning slash at its face.

  Pained cries reached Lev as he quickly ascended and landed atop the spider. Stargazer plunged downward in the brief moment allowed by the stunned monster, biting deep and releasing another load of lightning inside.

  Flying up, Lev tsked when the monster gathered itself quickly and fired a web directly at him. Dodging to the side, he formed two large lances high above.

  Fire and lightning streamed into them as he descended and fired another lightning slash at the monster to occupy its attention and slow its charge.

  Shields formed and blocked its sharp limbs, cracking and shattering in the process as others took their place in an effort to hold it back. When the monster had moved past the lances, Lev shot them downward from an unnoticeable angle.

  Monstrous instincts saved the spider from the first as it missed and landed on the ground next to it. Lightning from the blast seared into its body, jolting its long legs and burning a large portion of its back.

  That was enough to render it immobile for a small instant, in which the other lance landed directly on its torso.

  The second explosion was larger as Lev rapidly infused more mana into the lance as it descended. He had to make distance as even the skinsuit was starting to get overwhelmed by the sheer heat.

  No notification, Lev noted, eyes peeled for any surprises. Seconds passed before a bundle of fire rushed at him. Lev froze for a split-second as a huge aflame monster charged at him, intent on tearing his face off, but the shock wore off quickly. He had faced much worse before.

  Two slashes of lightning later, the monster was dead.

  [

  You have slain [Black Forest Spider - Level 255]

  Mana Tempest has reached Level 188

  ]

  Just barely above the second threshold yet it still took that much effort.

  The phenomenon of monsters slowly becoming stronger than humans was showing itself. Lev would be far stronger than the spider at the same level, but that would not be true for the average hunter.

  Pushing those thoughts away with a small sigh, Lev harvested the core before moving on.