With a Supreme Skill acquired, Sora's priorities changed immediately.
Before continuing to Córdoba, he owed it to himself to understand his new skill and what it meant for his future.
He first discovered that he could activate and deactivate [Mana Eyes], the first effect of [Mana Evolution]. This effect allowed him to adjust his vision and see mana at all distances with extreme clarity. He could effortlessly observe mana at a microscopic level for a moment, then shift his scale to observe mana several kilometers up in the sky.
However, this wasn't the effect that captivated him the most.
Using [Mana Eyes], he watched intently as mana rippled around his body. With every movement he made, the mana accompanied him, paving the way. Like a police escort clearing the path for a president, he felt everything around him give way.
Even the pressure of the area had disappeared...
Every time he called upon the mana, it willingly cooperated. As soon as he affected the mana in any way, he felt yet another effect.
'[Mana Growth] activates every time I use mana! The quality of the mana in my body skyrockets with every use,' he thought, delighted.
Sora smiled and grabbed his sword.
"I need to test this!"
He headed toward a creature he had spotted several hours ago, which seemed to be in deep hibernation. Before entering its aggro zone, he checked his gear and confirmed he had equipped the level 10 set he had bought at the village.
[Wood Bear - Level 11 (Deep Sleep)]
Sora recalled the monster's attributes from the information he bought but didn't slow his pace.
'This monster regenerates health based on the damage it deals. If it doesn't touch me, its ability is useless.'
Sora drew upon his mana and coated his sword with it. Standing just a few steps from the sleeping beast, he felt no remorse about attacking it in its sleep.
He leaped behind the creature and unleashed [Fake Sword Strike]. His blade pierced through the bear's back without resistance, striking straight through to the heart. The bear woke with a pained roar, struggling to stand up, before collapsing stone dead.
Sora stared at the kill notification in surprise.
"Wow. That was clean," he muttered, pointing his hand at the carcass. Instantly, the creature dissolved into particles of light, leaving a few items in its place.
Any player level 10 or higher could choose to instantly convert their opponents into loot.
'I missed this, too... It beats butchering them for blood, teeth, and skin,' he thought, amused. He knew skinning a creature was always more profitable than auto-looting, but he didn't want to waste time maximizing low-value gains.
Sora checked the time on his interface, then the experience gained.
"Twenty seconds for the approach, the kill, and the loot... all for 15% experience. That's fast."
Realizing just how fast he was moving, he planned to repeat the feat and see just how far he could go and how he could polish his new skill, [Fake Sword Strike].
Sora turned the surrounding forest into his personal training ground. The area he moved to was populated mostly by level 11 and 12 monsters, creatures that should have posed a threat to any level 10 player, but to him.
Moving to another target, Sora thought, '[Fake Sword Strike] might sound worse than a [Sword Strike], but it is already much better.'
Sora estimated the damage difference, and shivered, '[Fake Sword Strike] doesn't waste any mana. When I use 10 magic power for a strike, all of it is used to hit the enemy… And the real [Sword Strike] only uses sword energy. So only a tenth of that energy is used for the strike. When I was proficient in using [Sword Strike], I could use more of that magic and get an even better result, but that can't be compared.'
'So for the same amount of mana used, [Fake Sword Strike] deals eight times more damage. It's crazy…'
Sora stopped after dispatching another monster and frowned.
He had leveled up, once again. However, his body was still the same as when he was level 9.
He raised his hand, saw the massive increase in his mana reserves, and mana affinity, and thought, 'I'm leveling up too fast. I need to make my body catch up, or I'll have to train like a madman again.'
He opened his inventory and withdrew the [Heavy Gear]. Without hesitating, he equipped the training gear directly over his armor. Sensing no change, he opened his interface and changed the settings of the gear to adapt to his level, instead of keeping the same weight.
'I feel like I could keep this on forever,' he thought, while stretching and testing his range of motion under the training gear.
'I need to stay here and raise my body level before leveling up any more. I also feel like [Fake Sword Strike] is improving very fast..' He dove back into the fray. Feeling his body heavier, and hindered by his gear, he smiled and started fighting other monsters.
He had to try twice as hard to beat monsters, but he didn't mind. He knew it was worth it.
In two hours, his body had reached what he considered acceptable for level 11. And just as he felt satisfied, he leveled up once again.
[Level Up!]
'I'm already level 12…'
Sora swiped the notification away but didn't move toward the higher-level zones. He stayed right where he was. Despite barely getting any experience from monsters anymore, he was happy because of a change in the skill he was trying to master and polish.
[Fake Sword Strike (Evolvable)]
[Class Requirement: None]
Description: A classless imitation of the standard Sword Strike ability. The Fake Sword Strike is a powerful blow delivered to the enemy, with the sword imbued with Mana instead of Sword Energy. Compared to its class-based counterpart, this skill is 10% weaker than it should be.
Evolution: As the user's mana and control improve, the skill can evolve.]
Sora focused on the only thing that changed. "It's improving quickly. It's better than what it was a few hours ago… At this rate, won't it soon surpass the original in terms of quality?" He said, delighted.
The penalty, which was originally 20%, was reduced to 10%. Sora quickly forced himself to calm down and started moving toward the center of the area to keep pushing his skill, his Body Level, and even [Mana Evolution].
On his way, Sora thought about his new skill.
'[Fake Sword Strike], using mana, is already nine times stronger than its standard counterpart, [Sword Strike]... I need stronger monsters to test the skill on. Monsters below Level 14 won't pose any threat to me, but Level 15 and 16 should be a little more challenging.'
Sora ignored the low-level monsters on his path and went deeper into the zone.
***
Sora looked up and saw the first rays of sunlight illuminating the hill behind him.
He reached out toward the Level 19 monster, whose carcass quickly dissolved into particles of light, and then sat down on the ground, exhausted.
'I spent the entire night hunting...' he thought.
It was something he hadn't done since the update, mostly because his team had always prioritized safety and profit over efficiency. The lack of competitiveness in his friends had never bothered him before, but seeing the speed at which he was now progressing, he almost felt regret.
'Switching from my old life to this one feels like going from casual to pro,' he thought with a chuckle.
He pulled up his interface to check his progress and quickly scanned the changes.
Class: None (Level 15)
Body Level: 455
Energy Level: 920
Supreme Skills:
[Mana Evolution]
Sword Mastery (Level 5)
Shield Block (Level 1)
Critical Strike (Level 7)
Dodge (Level 7)
Mana Regeneration (Max)
He had already reached Level 15.
His [Dodge] skill had risen to Level 7, and [Critical Strike] was now also at Level 7. The higher levels in both skills gave him a slight edge in combat; his reaction time was shorter, and his attacks landed critical damage more often. Though these were small, passive improvements, they added up, contributing to a boost in his overall power.
Yet, Sora found himself caring less about these traditional skills.
Sora cracked a smile as he thought back on the long hunting session of the past night. [Fake Sword Strike] was the perfect tool for slaughtering the hibernating bears on his path, but whenever he had to fight a bear four or five levels higher than himself, the dynamic changed. He was outmatched defensively, physically, and sometimes even in speed.
Only the huge power of his sword strikes had been enough to pull him out of dangerous situations.
Sora had been forced to constantly adapt his style and target selection based on the monsters' levels and the progression of his Body Level, which was rising rapidly despite being lower than his Energy Level.
Feeling the ache in his muscles and the fatigue settling in his body, he didn't complain. Instead, he thought about his day.
'This unlocked Supreme Skill opens the door to infinite possibilities... I never imagined gaining six levels today, let alone killing Level 19 monsters in the same day.'
He was slowly realizing the full potential of [Mana Evolution], and he began to quietly revise his plans for the coming months.
'If I manage to recreate all my skills through my mastery of mana, I'll be able to recover everything after every reset. I could combine skills from multiple classes without needing the classes themselves, and without ever worrying about running out of mana... It's beyond broken.'
Sora's competitive instinct began to awaken, followed closely by a growing ambition as he reread the descriptions of [Prestige] and [Mana Evolution].
'The synergy is perfect. One without the other would be enough to become a war machine, but I can't even imagine what combining the two will do.'
His body exhausted but his mind racing, Sora began to criticize his past self. 'Waiting four months before really starting to play... It's not good enough. I can already kill higher-level monsters in my current state, so leveling up isn't a problem anymore.'
'My plan wasn't too bad, but if I stuck to it now, it would be a waste of my Supreme Skill. Every use of my mana allows me to progress and become stronger. And that is a gain that [Prestige] resets won't take away from me.'
'I don't think focusing on this, rather than spending months preparing for my fourth or fifth reset, is a mistake.'
'Maybe [Mana Evolution] is the key to reaching Level 50 in less than a month during this life or the next...' Thinking about what he could achieve during the rest of the month, Sora fell asleep leaning against his rock.
***
A creature crept toward Sora while he slept peacefully. Sensing that its prey was unconscious, it moved in total silence, suppressing even its killing intent to avoid detection.
At twenty meters, he showed no reaction.
At ten meters, he didn't move.
When it closed the distance to two meters, the beast imagined itself killing the defenseless human. It swung its massive front paws in a vicious cross-slash, aiming to tear him to shreds.
However, the only things that were sliced apart were its own paws.
Sora stood in front of the bear and ignored the shock and terror on its face. With a fast movement, he delivered a strike that decapitated the beast in an instant.
He flicked his wrist to remove the blood from his sword, a habit from the previous days, forgetting for a moment that his mana had kept the blade clean.