"JUST WHERE DID THIS LONE HUNTER COME FROM!? FOR THE FIRST TIME IN HISTORY, A FIELD BOSS HAS BEEN TAKEN DOWN SOLO. Unfortunately, that seems to be the end of their glorious showing, worth a grand total of 831 points!"

  Lev lent half an ear to the commentary as he trickled mana into the healing converter. His entire body was sore from the last attack, and the restoration mana eased all the itch and pain like a soothing balm wherever it went.

  He had tracked the points for the leaderboards for the last half an hour, and the list must have looked ridiculous. The closest second was Isabella with her 540 points, nearly 300 points below Lev.

  Whatever doubts he had about not being as strong as others had been thoroughly diminished by now.

  Half an hour left. Elias can still take the third spot if his team puts down the last brute.

  Lev knew they were planning to do that. It didn't come as a surprise when the commentator started talking about them.

  "We're finally getting to the event all of you have been waiting for, ladies and gents. Our radiant team is squaring off against the last field boss, and they look ready to surgically rip it to shreds."

  This guy doesn't hold back, does he?

  The next few minutes were unexpectedly tense. Even knowing that there was no chance of lethal injuries in the event, Lev couldn't help but be anxious. The brute was no easy foe to face up close, precisely where Elias and Viktor were fighting.

  "Look at them go! Elias and Viktor have the brute dancing on the palm of their hands, not given a single chance to reach the backline. By all metrics, they have this fight in the bag."

  The words changed after a few seconds.

  "What is this? HIS TEAM HAS ELECTED TO BACK OFF, LETTING THE SPEEDSTER TAKE ON THE BOSS ALONE. EVEN WEAKENED AS IT IS, DOES ELIAS HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO PUT DOWN THE BRUTE!?"

  Lev held his breath, forgetting to keep healing himself. Even for him, facing the brute in melee alone was impossible. He would be pulped in seconds.

  "HE HAS DONE IT! BY MONARCH, A LONE LEVEL 190 HUNTER HAS TAKEN DOWN A SECOND-THRESHOLD BRUTE MOSTLY BY HIMSELF WITH MERE SWORDS."

  Yo, don't undermine my achievement like that, Lev thought and breathed out, not really caring. What Elias had just accomplished was far more impressive than him tossing mana at a monster.

  Lev couldn't wait to see him in the finals.

  ****

  "Do you guys want to meet him?" Orianna asked with a smile, already knowing the answer.

  "No," Kayla instantly refused. The other two didn't seem inclined to disagree with her, either.

  "When's the next event?" Alec got up to leave.

  The kids tensed a little. They still weren't completely comfortable around him or Sherron, who replied while looking at the leaderboards.

  "Duels start in two days. Two hours before noon."

  Leaderboards:

  1) Lev - 831 points

  2) Elias - 552 points

  3) Isabella - 544 points

  4) Aryan - 524 points

  5) Viktor - 521 points

  6) Daniel - 509 points

  7) Lillia - 506 points

  8) Sabrina - 502 points

  9) Rena - 499 points

  10) Nawaz - 497 points

  11) Lisa - 496 points

  12) Maro - 494 points

  13) Luke - 493 points

  14) Baram - 478 points

  15) Nina - 470 points

  Only the top 15 qualified for rewards. Doing some mental maths, Sherron calculated that the points earned by the top 5, excluding Lev, were 13% higher than the last tournament. It was a joyous result.

  "Will you guys return to whitefall?" Sherron glanced at Orianna, who looked at the kids.

  "Can we stay?" Amelia pleaded. Sherron rolled her eyes when her friend folded in front of the request like ice melting over a fire.

  "Sure," Orianna smiled widely. "Do you three want to explore Mount Tamara?"

  Enthusiastic nods met her question. Predictable, but Orianna enjoyed every little bit of the reaction as if it wouldn't ever come to be again.

  ****

  Elias lightly clapped Lev's back, all smiles after the last-minute 2nd place. Lev and the radiant team were currently waiting for the carts to be organized.

  "You missed out on a great show, for a similarly great reason but still," Elias said as he hooked an arm over Lev's shoulders. "It couldn't hope to touch even a hair on me."

  Lev shook his head, not disrupting the flow even if he wasn't a fan of random physical contact. "I can imagine."

  "You better do. Where the hell were you anyway?"

  "Killing the other two brutes? Or perhaps beating up mistcrawlers?"

  "Oh, that reminds me, where the hell did you find those creatures?" Lisa piped up. "We took our time scouting but still didn't find anything."

  "West corner," Lev chuckled. "I stumbled upon the enchanted patch of trees entirely by chance. I even found a second-threshold monster in a cave."

  Viktor snorted. "Points just handing themselves to you."

  Lev's chuckle became strained. "I had to flee to not get eliminated early. That thing was vicious."

  "Really?" Viktor looked at him in surprise. "How did you gather so many points then?"

  "Killed three second-threshold monsters and a field boss by myself. Did you guys not listen to the commentary? Dude was losing his mind over every other fight."

  Elias scratched his cheek. "I started ignoring him after the first few minutes. Kept talking about the fire mage or the rogue."

  The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

  "Huh," Lev mused. "The commentary was quite flamboyant. I paid half a mind to it because of how entertaining the guy was."

  Rena was quietly gazing at the horizon. Lev wanted to ask if she was alright but refrained since nobody on her team seemed to be worried.

  "What now?" Lev asked Elias as they made their way to the arranged carts.

  "We celebrate, of course."

  Oh boy.

  "I… see."

  "You're not going anywhere," Viktor grinned, draping an arm on Lev's shoulder opposite Elias.

  "I mean, the celebration can happen without me, can't it?" Lev suggested, not liking where this was going.

  "Oh please," Rena's voice reached him. "You've casually broken all previous records for solo points. Do you really think you can get away now?"

  "Getting away is not an issue," Lev smirked. It didn't take long to just surrender to his fate. "Some bar?" he inquired.

  "Yeah, Golden Basilisk, most likely."

  I can sneak into one of the rooms with my card, Lev considered, though not for long. It wouldn't hurt to see what it felt like to have one's achievement celebrated.

  Twenty minutes later, the two dozen carts were off to Haven again. His mind kept returning to the anger he had felt at seeing the stalker. The emotion had caught him entirely off-guard.

  There was nothing special about that stalker either. I've killed plenty of them by now, Lev sighed. Is this what they call PTSD?

  "You alright?" Lisa sat down next to him, legs dangling off the cart like him. Lev and the radiant team were the only ones in the cart.

  "Mhm," Lev nodded. "Just lost in thought."

  "It is some gloomy pondering if that's how thinking looks for you," she smiled. "Do you want to talk about it?"

  Lev gave her an amused glance. "I'm fine, really. But if you want to talk, what do you do in your free time?"

  She tilted her head at the odd question. "Free time? I spend it with my boyfriend, I guess?"

  Way to go, Lev thought to himself, unsurprised. Half the time, he refrained from asking people that question because the answer would be similar to Lisa's. It wasn't an option for him. Monarch knows which fight would be his last.

  They both lapsed into silence after that. Lisa looked like she wanted to say more but hesitated.

  "Out with it," Lev said, eyes still on the grassland stretching in front of him. "You know I won't mind."

  "What brought this on?"

  "Hmm, boredom, I suppose? Before I evolve, there is little in terms of a meaningful job or permanent hobby for me. That leaves me with a lot of time to spare as I wait for mana to regenerate."

  "Have you looked for a part-time, low-stress job to kill time?"

  Lev gave her a flat look. "I have two platinum coins in my ring."

  Lisa coughed, taken back. "What? Why do you have so much money on you?"

  "Take a guess."

  "… Right. You're rich, huh?" she cupped her chin. "Join an academy for skillless arts? Or take on a disciple in a few years? What about forming an official group for tasks you specialize in?"

  Lev's attention was grabbed by the last suggestion. He would always be on the move, and wherever he went, there would be profits to reap. Except perhaps the ravine. He doubted something good would ever come out of that place.

  "What does that entail?"

  Lisa just looked at him, prompting Lev to explain. "The official group, I mean. Is there a requirement I don't meet to create one?"

  "I don't know much about these procedures. From what I've heard, you need to be vetted by a few people and have enough accumulated merit through different fields. Moreover, you need the right connections to not be suppressed by other businesses."

  "Competition doesn't matter," Lev waved off her concern. "If I'm going to create something, it will be focused primarily on me. The extra harvested resources alone will be enough to keep it afloat."

  "The fact that the plan is completely feasible for you is… scary. Fascinating too, but mostly scary. Exceptional as you are right now, it's hard to imagine what you will become after evolving."

  "Stop inflating his ego," Elias remarked from the other corner of the cart. "He's confident enough as it is."

  "More confidence never hurt anyone," Lev jested, knowing Elias was right.

  "Overconfidence is a thing, mister. Better safe than sorry."

  Lev exhaled through his nose once. "I know."

  The return trip was peaceful. Several different Masters were accompanying the participants, which meant the monsters were dealt with before they could even come close.

  Surprisingly, Lev was not bored. The more he got used to his high Perception, the quicker time passed when it was restrained. What used to be a normal flow of time now felt extremely quick.

  The hunters were all dropped off just beyond the gate. Nobody left, however. They all stood in the large, empty space between the walls and the haven itself, waiting for the victors to speak up.

  "Fineeeee," Lev exclaimed loudly under the amused gazes of all the participants. "You guys can choose the place."

  "Alright! Nobody against GB?" Sabrina spoke from somewhere behind him. Lev turned to look at her, getting a toothy smile in return.

  "Stay here for now," Daniel, one of the early platinum hunters voiced before things could progress. "I'll first go and book ourselves one of the halls. Sabrina, if you will?"

  Sabrina nodded before following the man. Lev didn't miss them holding hands as they went, nor the meaningful glance from Lisa. It was nearly impossible to with his Perception.

  This is going to start becoming a norm from now on, right?

  The thought evoked mostly resignation. Perhaps the stars would align for him one day and he would find a relationship he wouldn't come to regret. Odds were low however, and he wasn't inclined to put his hopes in them.

  In the meantime, Lev had to deal with a torrent of questions from everyone else present. Elias and his team were subjected to the same treatment.

  "How'd you get your hands on so much mana," one of the gold hunters questioned. He had emerald-colored hair, something unique even amongst the varied hair colors found on Monarch.

  "My class," Lev replied, trying his best to remain casual. "The benefits gave me a lot of capacity and regeneration. I used that advantage and got myself as many early titles as I could from the pit."

  "The pit?" echoed a short girl from his left. "You opted to stay there as a Classer?"

  Lev smiled. "Of course. It makes for a great training ground."

  "No it fucking doesn't," the girl scoffed, though good-naturedly. "The few times I've faced pit monsters is more than enough to stay the fuck away from them."

  "It was difficult for sure."

  "Hey, are you the same Lev from runespires?"

  Huh? Who- oh.

  Lev let out a long and tired sigh, pretending to be pained by the memory. "That would be me."

  "… Did they do something to you?"

  Who the hell is they?

  It took an effort of will to not laugh. "Depends on what 'something' means."

  "I don't know," the young man frowned. "Most people thought you had been disposed of."

  Lev sputtered as he heard that.

  Better off clearing this misconception early.

  "No, nothing of the sort," Lev spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear. "When I was traveling from the pit to the runespires, I, a silver team, and a merchant-warrior hybrid met a horde of orcs and an orc general. We were just barely able to defeat them without any casualties.

  "The news must have reached The Runic Warlord and he came to visit. Once he found out about my class and its working, the Exalted offered to teach me for a few weeks. I naturally accepted."

  It was a mix of half-truths. Explaining that he had a Wisdom Boost and two ridiculous titles since birth simply wouldn't end well.

  "That's not what I've heard, though," one of the few platinum hunters, Nina, remarked. She was tall and unbelievably beautiful, with her flowing long black hair and full red lips. Lev had to consciously think of distractions to keep his mind clean.

  "Hmm? What did the rumors say?"

  "Some merchants were arrested and imprisoned for targeting you. Is that false?"

  Right. Edward did get caught up in someone else's schemes.

  "I'm gonna be honest, I wasn't told anything about that," Lev grinned. "There was something about merchants messing with me in the background but that was all."

  Not a single soul has mentioned the blighted threader finding its way to runespires, which means it was swept under the rug. I'm not gonna let the conversation steer in that direction.

  His explanation was good enough for her. Lev had to answer several such questions before something unexpected came up.

  "Can I take a moment of your time?" Isabella, the blue-haired girl Lev had seen, addressed him. Lev took in her serious expression and grave eyes.

  "Sure."

  Getting out of the large crowd, a dome of silence covered them before Isabella looked at him without a hint of joviality.

  "You should leave."

  … What?

  "What?"

  "I said, you should leave before my father finds you," she explained. "He is a stubborn man and will annoy you into doing whatever he wants."

  "Uhuh… who is your father, again?"

  Lev was looked at as if he was stupid. "You… don't know?" he shook his head. "Duke Fabian."

  Oh heck. That name is far more influential than I was expecting.

  "… The Duke will force me into working for him?" Lev deliberately asked as understanding dawned on him.

  "Not force," Isabella's confident facade started to crack. "He will try to talk you into corners where you can't refuse. You know how dangerous words can be."

  "And how badly will it be received if I refuse?"

  "Not well," she instantly replied. "It would do you well to be as polite as you can possibly be. My father prioritizes public image over most everything else."

  "Right…" Lev mused, then grinned. "Will him contacting me be embarrassing for you?"

  The shock on her face was so delightful to observe. From the start, Lev knew Hakim wouldn't allow anyone to force him to do their bidding. If Isabella was worried to this degree, then there had to be some other reason behind it.

  "I- what makes you think that?" she countered, trying to maintain a semblance of control in the conversation.

  "No particular reason," Lev shrugged. "It just seemed likely."

  Isabella exhaled a sigh. "He might be waiting for you at the Golden Basilisk already, so yes." Then, she pouted. "I would rather not be present for that conversation."

  "I'll be fine," Lev reassured her with more confidence than he felt. Even if he wasn't familiar with nobles, a few days of staying in haven was enough to know just how respected they were. Duke Fabian might as well be a king with how far his reach extended.

  He sincerely hoped Hakim would keep his word because politeness was not Lev's strong suit.

  Isabella stomped away after that as the sound ward surrounding them vanished. Lev just shook her head at her tantrum. The girl's bearing screamed 'sheltered.' It was quite cute.

  That's a princess, alright.