Class.
The meaning of the word could change slightly depending on context, but when it came to combat, it referred to either Combat Class or Existence Class.
After Level 100, the average standard Stat Value Figures increased every 100 Levels. For instance, while C-Rank Stats were the standard for those between Level 100-200, B-Rank was the average for Levels 200-300, A-Rank for 300-400, and so on.
The main reason was the qualitative increase in power that occurred every 100 Levels, and because of this, Citerans began grouping individuals within certain level ranges under the term 'Class.'
Those below Level 100 were Unclassified, Level 100s were First Class Existences, 200s were Second Class, and it continued up to Level 900, which were Ninth Class Existences.
In addition to the special conditions that came with higher Class Advancements, advancing one's class (from Level X99 to Y00) usually required a significant amount of EXP, which was the source of the qualitative power increase that followed.
This was why Leon was still Level 99 even after earning a substantial amount of EXP from the white snake he and Camellya had defeated.
So, before heading to the Seradain household on the 4th, Leon went to the dungeon he had applied for the previous day, one managed by Zeusea's branch of the International Dungeon Management Association.
It was a dungeon that required Level 100 as the minimum for a permit, but the Association wasn't about to refuse entry to a member of the Raviaz Family.
Leon also didn't plan to stay in the dungeon for long and intended to kill just enough monsters to reach Level 100, which was why he was currently running around the Floor 20 Boss Room, dodging the earthen spears that shot toward him at the speed of bullets.
On the opposite side of the Boss Room from Leon stood a goblin wearing ragged robes and holding a staff with several rings dangling from its curved tip.
Magic power flowed through the goblin's arm and into the staff, and as it roared and waved it, the ground beneath Leon's feet seemed to liquefy.
"!"
His feet immediately sank ankle deep, but right before he could jump out, the monster slammed its staff into the ground, and the earth solidified, holding him in place.
'Oh, shit.'
Leon cursed as he sensed the monster's magic power intensifying again, and when it pointed its staff at him, the Hobgoblin Mage unleashed a massive ball of magic that shot toward him at breakneck speed.
He crossed his arms in front of his chest and attempted to form a magic shield, but the ball collided with his half-formed barrier and exploded, encasing his entire body in a prison of stone that slowly began to contract.
'It's trying to crush me? Also, this thing is smart. It switched to earth magic the moment it saw me using lightning.'
Thoughts like that ran through Leon's mind as he quickly gathered his magic power, channelling it into his foot and stomping the ground, unleashing a powerful shockwave that shattered the lower sections of the stone prison.
Leon immediately pushed away the top half, but just as he did, the hobgoblin fired a massive spear of earth, as tall as Leon himself, the projectile reaching him almost instantly.
Magic power swirled in Leon's eyes as he tracked the approaching attack, his body already ducking to the left on instinct before his thoughts could fully process the situation.
Another projectile shot toward him, and he quickly wrapped lightning around his left fist, throwing an upward punch that collided with the projectile's underside and sent it flying toward the ceiling.
Leon regained his balance and launched another punch forward, striking the next spiked ball of earth and sending it back toward the hobgoblin that had fired it.
As the hobgoblin halted its barrage and leapt to avoid the returned attack, Leon threw his fist forward again, hitting only empty air.
For a moment, the hobgoblin looked confused, wondering why he was hitting nothing, but in the next instant, its eyes widened in shock.
Its reaction, however, came too late as the shockwave from Leon's punch slammed into its chest, knocking the air out of its lungs with the impact.
Leon charged forward, throwing another shockwave punch, but just as he did, his foot landed on a patch of ground marked with a crudely drawn magic circle.
"Hu—! **BOOMM!!
Though crudely drawn, it was still a magic circle, and its effects activated the instant Leon stepped on it, triggering an explosion that sent him flying back while giving the hobgoblin enough time to recover and cast magic again.
With another roar, it slammed its staff onto the ground, causing the entire boss room to tremble. Magic power gathered beneath its feet and erupted into a massive pillar of rock that lifted it into the air, and from atop the pillar, the hobgoblin aimed its staff at Leon on the floor and constructed several Tier 2 Magic Circles.
[KIIIAK!]
It fired the spells with a screech, spears and balls of earth and fire raining down on Leon as he dashed to avoid them, producing consecutive explosions that filled the floor with smoke.
The hobgoblin charged its staff with magic power and scanned the smoke, attempting to detect Leon's presence.
Just then, a large gaping hole appeared through the smoke, and the monster immediately leapt off its pillar, aiming its staff in that direction and firing its prepared magic without hesitation.
The fireball, however, collided with a shockwave and exploded mid-air, the blast scattering some of the smoke filling the room.
Realising it had been fooled, the monster hurriedly attempted to construct another magic circle, but before it could gather any energy, purple lightning flashed at the corner of its vision, and Leon's fist collided with the side of its head, sending it crashing into the wall of the room.
It spun uncontrollably through the air and smashed into the wall, but couldn't even cough up blood as Leon's left hand clamped onto the lower half of its face, holding it in place while his right hand, coated in lightning, descended on its skull with full force.
A sound like a balloon popping echoed as Leon's punch split open the monster's skull, both of them falling to the ground seconds later under gravity's pull.
[[Level Up]]
Leon used the monster's corpse to break his fall, flicking blood from his fingers as he walked toward the doors at the opposite end of the Boss Room, which slowly opened with the monster's death.
His watch glowed, and a bottle appeared in his hand, which he brought to his mouth and sipped, the magic power replenishment potion restoring the energy he had nearly depleted fighting the hobgoblin mage.
'I should get an appraisal artifact or something. It would be useful to know my opponent's exact Levels and maybe some of their stats.'
But as the thought crossed his mind, he heaved a soft sigh and shook his head.
"The issue is that most of them come as eyewear, which makes sense, but it's terrible for combat. If I move too much, it falls off. Unless I have an appraisal function built into my custom battlesuit…"
He corked the bottle as he muttered to himself and returned it to his Inventory, stepping into Floor 21 of the dungeon while stretching lightly.
However, the moment the boss room doors closed behind him, Leon felt his blood heat up, his body freezing in place as his heart began to pound in his chest so loudly and rapidly that he could hear it.
Magic power and blood raced through his energy circuits and veins, and Leon was immediately hit with a strange sensation, as if something was crawling beneath his skin as his muscles were infused with magic power and compressed.
"Yuck…this is weird," Leon muttered, rubbing his palms over his arms where the feeling was strongest, but it barely did anything to ease it.
If anything, the sensation seemed to intensify where he rubbed, though Leon concluded it was just his mind playing tricks on him.
"Beriel, Elidyr. You guys have dealt with this weird-ass feeling six times? How the hell did you cope with th—OWW!!"
Leon suddenly exclaimed as a sharp pain lanced up his spine, through his neck and into the back of his head. His vision whitened for a second, and his upper back immediately began aching.
"My back! Fuck, it hurts!"
He staggered and nearly fell backwards as he clutched his back, but Beriel appeared before him and caught him before he could hit the ground.
"Sorry about that, young master. It's just a bit of growing pains," Beriel said.
"Growing pains?! For wh—OW!"
Leon gripped his shoulder this time, the mere movement of his arm causing him great pain, and at this, Beriel lightly moved his shoulders, unfurling a pair of white feathered wings with a soft whooshing sound.
Seeing them, realisation flashed in Leon's eyes.
"Oh, right. I'm a Nephilim," he muttered.
Beriel smiled wryly and cast a spell to ease the pain Leon felt, and as he did so, he spoke.
"You're going to have to bear with it for a bit. Your body needs to adjust, after all."
"Adjust?"
"Yes. The muscle and bone structures of humans and angels are naturally different because angels have extra appendages. You're half of each, so your body is somewhere in the middle. Neither fully human nor fully angelic.
However, Her Grace is an Elder Angel, and you've inherited that strong blood, so you'll manifest more angelic traits than most Nephilim, including the wings, but your current body structure cannot support a pair of wings. Because of that, your body has to adjust."
"A very painful adjustment," Leon quipped, earning a light chuckle from Beriel.
"Of course. That's why it doesn't happen all at once. By the time you go through about two or three more Class Advancements, your bone structure will have naturally adjusted to support a pair of wings. After all, these things may look light, but they do carry a fair bit of weight…"
Beriel trailed off, his left wing spreading out and slicing through the air, kicking up a small gust of wind.
Leon heard the sound of flesh tearing, and after a momentary blink, he saw the head of a goblin wearing a red cap flying through the air and crashing onto the floor, the rest of its body beneath Beriel's wing collapsing to its knees and then to the ground with blood spurting from its neck.