Chương 215

Orion paused to consider Selene's words.

"The level cap?" he repeated, his exhaustion momentarily replaced by a rush of curiosity. He had checked on his friends before they left the Sanctum, and although they were only a couple of levels away from the cap, he didn't expect them to reach it during their mission. But the sheer volume of experience from the corrupted Treants, the crystal swarm, and now a Tier Three Matriarch had pushed them completely over the edge.

"Huh, I guess that makes sense."

"I can actually feel it," Dorian breathed, looking at his hands. The adrenaline from the fight was fading, and Orion knew he was probably sensing the same pressure he had in the lizard cave near Valderun.

"It's like I'm about to burst with mana, despite not summoning any. It's practically screaming at me to get on with it."

"Me too," Luna added, leaning heavily against a wall. Her normally pale face was flushed, and there was a feverish look in her eyes.

"I need to advance now, or I'll go crazy." It didn't take long for Orion to come up with a dozen red flags.

"Absolutely not. We are in the middle of a hostile mountain, in a monster lair that we just cleared. A Tier Two advancement requires deep meditation and a positive environment. We need to hike back to the Observatory and secure a room under a Magistra's supervision, at the very least."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Selene interjected, meeting his gaze.

"The Observatory is very chaotic, and the mana there is muddled by hundreds of witches, not to mention the machine still running in the background. Here, the corruption has been completely cleared out, and nature hates a vacuum. The pure mana of the mountain is flooding back in, and I doubt we'd find a better place unless we returned to the Sanctum itself." Orion felt his eyebrows lift. It wasn't often that Selene took such a firm stance, and he definitely didn't expect this to be where she spoke up.

Biting his lips, he considered the matter as objectively as possible. Is it really so bad? My own rank-up happened under very similar circumstances. I had Mom there, but she wasn't yet a Veil Priestess, and honestly, I don't think any other monster could live in this cave. The Matriarch definitely didn't seem like the type to share a living space.

"Selene is right," a new voice echoed through the cavern. Luna shrieked, nearly dropping her wand, while Dorian immediately raised his dented shield and spun toward the sound. From the deepest shadow cast by a quartz pillar, the darkness seemed to bubble, rising and coalescing into the tall figure of Pauline. She stepped into the blue light to reveal herself, and a faint hint of amusement danced in her eyes.

"Magistra!" Luna gasped, clutching her chest.

"Where did you come from?!"

"She's been following us since we left the peak," Orion said with a tired sigh, pushing his glasses up his nose. Dorian blinked, lowering his shield to glare at his friend.

"You knew? And you didn't tell us?"

"I knew too," Selene offered helpfully.

"Oh, come on!" Luna threw her hands up.

"Am I the only one who doesn't have a magical radar for stealth-witches?" Pauline raised a hand, silencing the chatter.

"Orion is being cautious, which is exactly why he managed to get you this far, but Selene's assessment of the environment is accurate. The mana density in this geode right now is very high, and its purity is even better." Before Orion could mention that a source of corruption was still nearby, Pauline reached out toward the wreckage of the Matriarch and the hundreds of shattered crystal spiders. The shadows beneath the debris grew longer, opening like pitch-black maws.

In seconds, the corpses, the molten slag, and the corrupted ichor sank into the void, leaving the cavern floor completely clean.

"I will secure the perimeter," she finally said, stepping back toward the tunnel entrance.

"No monster will cross the threshold. Take your time. Let the Mother guide you." Orion looked at Pauline, then at his two friends. They were practically vibrating with the pent-up energy of the Level fifty threshold. He couldn't deny the logic, since the ambient mana was so thick it almost felt clean now. While he would have preferred to do this under more controlled circumstances, he wasn't such a hypocrite that he would deny them this chance just because he wasn't comfortable.

"Alright," Orion relented.

"Sit down and get to it. You know the theory." If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Dorian and Luna didn't need to be told twice. They sat cross-legged on the freshly cleared stone, resting their weapons in their laps. They closed their eyes, slowed their breathing, and focused inward as they initiated the advancement protocols. The moment they did was very clear because the System made itself known.

The incredible magic wielded by the superstructure that ruled the world intervened directly, isolating the two initiates from the physical plane to protect them during their vulnerable metamorphosis. Two hemispherical domes of pure, impenetrable energy materialized around them. Orion had several suggestions he'd like to share. Being able to guide them through the entire process would have made him feel much better, but this was a very private moment, and he knew his voice wouldn't reach them.

The System's barrier was impenetrable, and their minds would be too busy anyway. Still, that didn't mean he couldn't study the process. He'd done so several times by now, but each time, he felt like he learned more. Activating [Hypotheticism], he began parsing through the data. Dorian's dome was solid gold. Inside, Orion could see the boy's mana rise and fall. As a Spellblade, Dorian's magic had always been about infusing his weapon with raw energy. But now, the mana was trying to reach a stable state.

It pulsed outward, expanding too much, thinning out, then snapping back. He's trying to turn his flesh into a weapon by itself, Orion observed silently. But even steel breaks under enough pressure, and he's not yet ready to move on to stronger materials. It was very fascinating to see the progress he was making in adapting to his chosen class, and it was already a done deal, as far as he could tell. Gradually, the chaotic golden light inside the dome started to shift.

Orion couldn't speak to him, but Dorian had clearly absorbed the lessons of the past days. The round, heavy aura began to take on geometric shapes, with sharp angles forming as the light folded inward, creating interlocking hexagonal patterns. The dome itself seemed to stabilize quickly after the class fully internalized. I'd bet this was a heavily defensive class with some magical abilities, if it wasn't such a sucker's bet. Dorian's path was never truly in question; it was just about the details.

Turning to the other participant, however, he was met with a far more complicated scene. Luna's dome violently shifted between the chaotic, roaring red of uncontrolled fire and the pure, searing white of light. The ambient mana of the cave surged into her, fueling the inferno. She's trying to hold too much volume, Orion thought, watching the red flames lick against the inside of her barrier. She needs to collimate. For several tense minutes, the red fire raged, but Luna, too, had learned the cost of inefficiency.

The chaotic flames began to move inward, and the volume plummeted, but the density skyrocketed. The red and white merged, compressing until the aura stabilized into a thrumming halo of orange power that couldn't quite be called a fire, but wasn't a laser either. It took a few more minutes before anything else changed.

The System had kept working through it all, modifying their bodies and minds to match the path they had chosen, but while that was certainly interesting, it wasn't going to provide more insight into its workings, not with the level of detail Orion could observe. If he had been able to delay the process until they were back to the Observatory, and set up a few things, perhaps… No, don't waste time on that.

I don't know how the System would react to such a detailed observation, and I certainly don't want to interfere with such a delicate process when my friends are involved. Then, without a sound, both domes dissolved into a shower of harmless sparks. The rush of displaced air ruffled Orion's lab coat, but he ignored it, immediately checking their statuses.

Dorian Mismeire — Faithful Guardian Class: Moonlit Bulwark [C-rank] Level: 50 Mind: 78 Attunement: 172 Body: 155 Traits: Mana Manipulation [C-rank]; Hard Light Lattice [C-rank]; Lunar Bladework [C-rank]; Unyielding Center [C-rank] Luna Thaw — Pixie of the Moon Class: Lunar Fireslinger [C-rank] Level: 50 Mind: 145 Attunement: 195 Body: 15 Traits: Mana Manipulation [C-rank]; Far Side [C-rank]; Coherent Light [C-rank] Dorian was the first of the two to move.

Compared to the utter exhaustion that had gripped him during the battle or the manic energy that had overtaken him as the possibility of a rank-up became real, he appeared to be back to his usual calm, but there was something more settled about him. Luna followed shortly after, rising from the ground to regard the world with new eyes. She had a small smile, as if something amused her greatly, before it changed into a more contented grin.

"Well?" Orion asked, crossing his arms, a proud smile breaking across his face.

"How does Tier Two feel?"

"Very good," Dorian admitted, grinning.

"I remember being able to choose which path to walk, and I could have gone down the traditional Spellblade route, focusing on using magic to enhance my weapons and body, but every time I thought about that Matriarch, I knew it wasn't enough." Mmm, that does seem like he was at least somewhat aware of himself. Not like me, who gets to browse through dozens of options, but it's definitely a more active experience than most tier two rank-ups. Banging a fist on his chest, Dorian straightened up.

"You are looking at the newest Moonlit Bulwark. It shifted my focus from the blade to the shield to fit my tendency, and I think it will pay off."

"Smart," Orion praised.

"It might sacrifice some offensive versatility, but you have always been much better at controlling the field rather than charging ahead. What about you, Luna?" Luna spun her wand, and the air around the tip warped from the intense, contained heat.

"I had a choice between a pure Pyromancer evolution and a Lunar Priestess path. One was all area-of-effect destruction, the other was all faith and healing." She grinned, letting a little mischief show through.

"I kept refusing until the System split the difference and offered Lunar Fireslinger. It reduces my wide-area casting efficiency, but my point-blank and single-target penetration just went through the roof." Again, that surprised Orion. It was definitely not like his own experience, and he had never heard of anyone being able to negotiate with the System. Maybe it was a requirement for another class? Or perhaps her mind interpreted that choice in that way, even though it was actually always an option.

Rank-ups were an unfortunately poorly researched topic, mainly because everyone wanted to keep their limited knowledge to themselves. It was another of Orion's goals to usher in a new era of enlightenment, and it only strengthened his conviction that such knowledge had to be shared. There was only so much he could do via personal experience, after all.

"Congratulations," Pauline said, suddenly popping up behind them. The two newly promoted tier twos jumped in surprise, and Orion stifled a smile. Still, there was one person who had yet to speak up, especially considering how insistent she'd been on letting the rank-up proceed here. Selene met his curious gaze with a small smile before offering her congratulations.

Only once they left the cave and everyone else was distracted by something else did she slip back beside him and whisper, "They wouldn't have had the chance if we'd waited to return to the Observatory."