----

"Am I ashamed?" Lucian parroted, delving deep into his true feelings. Deep down he did in fact hold a small resentment for the limits surrounding his abilities, but he also knew that this aversion would never amount to anything. The best he could do was either let it go come to terms with his current ability or repress it and keep the worries from plaguing his mind.

Finally, after taking the time to compose an answer, he came up with a response, "Not necessarily, it's mostly because I don't know how to use it properly."

"Well, first of all, what is it called?" Matthias questioned, removing a coin from his pocket. Continually, he flipped the coin through his fingers, never once dropping it even after giving Lucian all his attention.

"It's called Reinforce," Lucian revealed.

For a moment, Matthias grew silent, sifting through his knowledge of various abilities. Eventually, he recalled Reinforcement and nodded with a cryptic expression, "Ah, it's a very versatile ability. Like any other ability, it comes with varying limitations. As for yours, you'll have to find it yourself. But, for reference, S Rank Reinforcement can create substances harder than diamonds, almost on par with Mithril, a blessed mineral."

"Really? It's that useful? Then, I wonder what my limits are," Lucian muttered. Finally, he saw a light at the end of his murky tunnel. If his ability was truly as useful as Matthias implied, then perhaps his saving grace was now unveiled.

"It's possible, but first, you need to learn how to invoke it. For your type of ability, it depends on the quality of your focus. You need to sense the source of your ability. In your case, it should be rather apparent. Reinforcement is one of the easiest abilities to invoke, but it's also quite difficult to finely control," Matthias answered.

For a moment, Lucian was stumped, unable to come to a valid conclusion. The outcome of trying to focus was him sensing the presence of tiny specks. He didn't know the name of them, but it seemed odd and astonishingly hard to call Mana.

He then revealed this information to Matthias with a quizzical expression. As he wasn't familiar with it, it all felt like one big blur to him.

"You're just looking at the state of Mana in your body. To use it, you need to expel it from the position of your ability's focal point. The fainter the thickness of those 'specks', the lower your Mana Quotient. Simply put, the state of your Mana is a reflection of your ranking. After all, every ability requires Mana as the catalyst."

"Ah, okay. I think I've got it," Lucian nodded, closing his eyes soon after. He paid attention to the trace amounts of Mana before attempting to expel a fraction of it. Since a majority of the mana gathered at his hands, he figured this was the area of concentration and expulsion.

It made sense seeing as this ability required contact with the intended target. Soon, a faint aura containing a mixture of colors surrounded his palms, exciting Lucian. The blend then resulted in a near-colorless mist around his hands, "I did it! I think this is my ability."

"Indeed, now try testing it out. Here," Matthias flicked the coin he played with towards Lucian. It was a simple coin, part of the olden currency that he kept as a means to bide his time when bored.

As Lucian caught it, the aura surrounding his palms permeated the coin, inducing a small feeling of vacancy in his body. Needless to say, this was just the aftereffects of consuming Mana for the first time.

On the other hand, there was a visible difference in the texture of the coin. This surprised Matthias as he kept all of his coins in an adequately polished state. There was a difference between standard polishing and the change the coin just went through.

"Interesting," Matthias uttered, inspecting the coin between his fingers. Lucian didn't even see or feel him take the coin. The next thing he saw was Matthias flicking it with barely any exertion.

The coin whizzed through the air which soon landed on a nearby tree, penetrating the bark with ease. However, half of its surface was still apparent.

"Not bad, this should be somewhere along the lines of Tier 1 Reinforcement. I threw that with strength rivaling a maxed F Rank. Your ability should be nearing the E Rank threshold. If you learn to control the output, you should fare pretty well."

Upon hearing this, Lucian clenched his fist with newfound vigor. Although it was just mere words and hypothetical assumptions, Matthias' reassurance served as a good assistance to dissipate some of the uselessness he felt.

"Welp, don't be so happy, it seems our enemies this time will be rather tricky for you all," Matthias chuckled, looking into the distance.

From the start till now, approximately two hours had elapsed, give or take. Yet, the third wave was only now approaching. This meant on average, each wave possessed a respite window of 30 minutes. Of course, that was after including the time spent in battle.

The trees above started to rustle with growing intensity, the branches started to sway from rapid movement as well. Evidently, there was something incoming from up above.

Just like Matthias, Cezar had already focused his attention above, eyeing it with a piercing gaze. A change in his expression indicated the verification of the incoming threats. "Scarlet Apes, oh yes!"

Whoosh!

Cezar dashed forth without remorse. Simultaneously, he revealed another ability, coating his hands in mana so dense it was visible to the naked eyes. It altered quickly, taking on the form of claws as Cezar scaled the tree with ease. "Come here my prey! Come to papa! Give me an abundance of points."

Meanwhile, Elaine observed some of the trees along with the apes above. After assessing the situation, she formulated an impromptu plan. A small ring of fire appeared before her palm for a fleeting moment before hurtling towards one of the thickest nearby trees.

Her control was spectacular, stupefying Lucian as he spectated her actions.

The roots of the tree were set ablaze, weakening the base of the tree quickly but it didn't spread uncontrollably. Courtesy of Elaine's manipulation, the flames were kept within a strict circumference, which shifted at Elaine's whim.

Within moments, the tree toppled, grounding a few of the Scarlet Apes in the process. Once they fell, their appearance was displayed to everyone. At a glance, they resembled spider monkeys except their fur was scarlet and their eyes were an unusually bright cyan color. On top of that, their frame was a tad larger.

Nevertheless, under the guide of Elaine, this scene repeated numerous times. Not only did causing the collapse of trees floor a decent portion of the enemies, but the clearing was also enlarged as well. Simultaneously, her actions also created a rough, octagonal shape when the lengths of the trees connected.

Once the shape was formed, Elaine unleashed a shocking amount of mana. Within seconds, a burning ring formed when the flames of each tree met each other.

The monkeys squawked angrily as they witnessed the burning of the trees. Similar to the badgers, Elaine effortlessly earned the ire of the monsters, turning them irate.

Once again, when the beasts rushed towards her, Elliot lifted his shield and intercepted their attacks. Every time their swipes were deflected, angered noises echoed in the forest.

Luckily, Lucian took this chance to test his ability properly. He retrieved the bow along with a single arrow from his back. This time, only one of his hands emitted the faint light—the one grasping the arrow.

Since fine control was out of the equation for the moment, Lucian settled for the next best thing, which was removing additional possibilities of failure. Gradually, Lucian calmed himself, taking aim at one of the apes above.

Before firing, he followed its movement closely but couldn't grasp a pattern. Nevertheless, he still accounted for its current speed and released an arrow that blitzed through the air, small gusts of winds trailing the arrow.

Unfortunately, the ape sensed danger and moved out the way just before it pierced the tree. Despite the failure, Lucian was elated.

The arrow had completely pierced the tree! When the hardness of the tree was taking into account, this was quite the feat for his level. With his ability altering the durability and sharpness of the arrow, it allowed Lucian to take full advantage of his current strength.

Again, Lucian nocked an arrow, but this time his heart was calmer, releasing it just seconds after it was nocked. Successively, he released another arrow at the spot he estimated the ape would attempt its dodge.

And, lo and behold the arrow hit its target. Unexpectedly, when the ape fell to the floor with a thud, Lucian was shocked by the position of the arrow. It could be seen penetrating the monkey's skull!

〈Alert: You have killed a Scarlet Ape (E Rank). [Reward: 0.5 points]〉