As it turns out, Leon and company had gotten insanely lucky in arriving on this planet when they did. Hell, it was incredibly lucky that they had decided to set up camp where they did and took some serious precautions in weaving and tying down the Razor Willow branches. Because windstorms seemed to be the actual norm on this dead world.

Nadia and Luna had barely even fallen asleep that first night when winds started picking up. And they were not gentle soft breezes either. Leon would call the wind that had picked up just short of hurricane winds. And even with all their preparations before hand he was actually terrified laying in the middle of the area that they had secured. The Razor Willow branches thrashed about all around them highly erratically as their leaves caught the wind at odd angles. Snaps and cracks sounding like bullwhips were going off all around them. And Leon could only pray to any gods that would listen that none of the branches that they’d tied down would come loose. All it would take was one, and they would all be dead.

It was a nerve wracking three days of violent winds snapping the deadly branches and leaves this way and that before the winds died down. During that time Leon actually almost died when a branch did come free of where they’d anchored it. Luckily it had only come within a few inches of his face when he Quantum Blinked away from it in surprise and fear. Half of their sheltered area had become a death trap after that. But luckily, they all survived until the wind died down.

Obviously, the group’s first order of business was to start immediately tying up and weaving even more branches together. Almost frantically to ensure that they wouldn’t die the next time that the winds picked up. Leon tried digging down to make an area that would be safe even if things got loose again. But the roots of the trees made it impossible to dig down more than about four inches into the soil. Leon even tried to use Instant Harvest on one of the trees, but apparently, he didn’t have tools that could actually harvest the dangerous willows and the skill refused to activate. So, they were stuck trying to secure the whip like branches via braiding them and tying them back to the trunks of the trees.

After only a few hours of frantically tying up branches and generally trying to make sure that they would survive, the wind picked back up again. Putting their preparations to the test once more. Together the group had managed to make a much larger safe zone than they had originally had. They’d figured out a better way was to just tie branches together at a higher point and had gotten more efficient at it. it still wasn’t much of a safe area. Only about thirty feet around, but it was progress.

Leon was slowly but surely getting closer to Tier 3. It was getting less and less painful drawing in the ambient mana and the cloud of mana that was within his Core was growing by the hour. But now that he’d had time to feel it all out, Leon was pretty sure would take at least a month of concentrated effort on his part to push to the next Tier.

And so began a cycle of absorbing mana, eating, fending off Nadia’s increasingly demanding attentions, and frantically trying to secure branches every time the wind died down. The one saving grace about these trees was that once a leaf detached from the tree it lost most of its cutting power. Most but not all. The leaves were still razor sharp, but instead of basically being like blades of death that could lop off your hand they acted more like loose floppy razor blades in the wind. Still dangerous. But they usually only left a shallow cut instead of imbedding themselves into the person that they struck. And luckily it seemed that Razor Willows hardly ever lost their leaves. Still a couple of them had struck the wary group once or twice. After nearly ten days and about fifteen extra hours where they got to work on tying up branches the group was mostly safe now. And they had enough area secured to where Leon was finally unable to deny Nadia’s demands any longer.

Though Luna said that it was alright and hadn’t been directly near them. Nadia was LOUD. And afterwards Luna’s face had been bright red when they’d all sat down to eat together. Leon had convinced Nadia afterwards that they needed to keep such activities to a minimum as much as possible. She’d agreed but it wasn’t like she stopped being suggestive and trying to drag him off behind the trees every other day. But he was able to keep that mostly to a minimum.

As much as he’d thought that he would be able to get to Tier 3 in a month Leon found that it wasn’t quite that easy. The speed at which he progressed was dropping as the days went along. But he had managed to bring up both Mana Manipulation+ and Mana Control+ to level 99 after a month of solid effort on his part. And he was damn sure going to add those to the trait he was going to forge. He was going to mix Mana Manipulation+, Mana Control+, Soul Regeneration+, Soul Resiliency+, Soul Strength+, Soul Shield+, and Heresy Resistance+. Into what should become a Soul Trait that could Synergize well with his already existing trait. Leon wasn’t sure exactly how Traits played together, but Malorie had said that once one had three Traits they normally merged into a single greater Trait. And Leon didn’t know if his current Trait was counted as two merged traits or just one. There were a lot of questions, but not a lot of answers. Powerful people seemed to hoard all of that information for themselves.

After three months of fortifying their dwelling within the Razor Willow grove and constantly trying to push his mana density up to Tier 3 Leon had finally hit a point that was just shy of that final bit of density that would push him over the edge. He was so close that he could taste it.

“Luna, Nadia, I think I’m ready.” Leon said to the two who were seated in a pair of chairs that he’d had in his Utility Pocket.

“Well fukin finally!” Nadia exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air.

“It does seem like you take longer to increase your Tier than other people who would be in this place.” Luna spoke, “Pretty sure if I’d had this place to advance in before I would have hit Tier 3 a week after I reached Tier 2.”

“It’s not my fault that I’ve got a Core the size of Manhattan.” Leon grumbled.

“What’s a Manhattan?” Nadia asked with a raised eyebrow.

“You don’t actually want me to answer that. You just want to tease me again for my ‘weird colloquialisms’ as you all like to call them.” Leon deflected the question.

“Yeah, yeah whatever. Just hurry up and make your trait so we can get out of here and start exploring for a way off this rock.” Nadia said.

Everyone was starting to get pretty annoyed with their little base here. Cabin Fever was starting to get to all three of them. Leon couldn’t agree more with wanting to start exploring. So, he sat back again and sank completely into Meditation. Entering his Core once more and locating the skill stalactites that represented the skills that he’d selected. Mana Manipulation+, Mana Control+, Soul Regeneration+, Soul Resiliency+, Soul Strength+, Soul Shield+, and Heresy Resistance+. Were already all brought into the same area. Right near each other and ready for Leon’s final push to force everything together and push himself into Tier 3.

The only problem was… He didn’t actually know how to start the process. His Containment Blocks were spinning as fast as he could make them go but no more mana was entering his Core from either his Source or from the outside. Leon couldn’t figure out why, it didn’t really make much sense that the denser mana outside his Core wasn’t getting in anymore. Inside his Core was rushing whirlwind of mana that filled every inch of available space. He didn’t know what he was doing wrong, or even if he was doing anything wrong at all. It could just be a matter of time. But everyone said that getting into Tier 3 was all about creating a Trait. So maybe it was just that? Would the Trigger be the act of fusing his skills into a Trait? It didn’t seem right Tier 3 was just about mana density after all… Pretty much all Tiers were about nothing more than density… Leon mentally slapped himself to pull away from the tangents his mind was flowing down. They weren’t helping. What he really needed to do was focus on what he wanted to happen here.

Splitting his focus between maintaining the rotation of his Containment Blocks and his selected skills, Leon took a deep breath and focused all of his willpower on the outcome he wanted. Fusing Mana Manipulation+, Mana Control+, Soul Regeneration+, Soul Resiliency+, Soul Strength+, Soul Shield+, and Heresy Resistance+ into a trait.

For a long time, nothing happened. The skills were in his mental grasp, not really doing anything. Leon just held onto them and focused on the outcome he wanted. Pushing his will onto the structures with all he had. Focusing, Breathing, Focusing… Nothing happened for such a long time that Leon was starting to feel a little silly his attention almost wavering when finally, something happened.

The Stalagmite like pillars in his mental grasp that were the representations of his skills began to glow as they started absorbing the mana flowing around them. His Source and the Ambient mana immediately rushing in to fill the vacancy created by the skills absorption of mana. Seeing something actually happening Leon redoubled his focus. Keeping his mind centered on exactly what he wanted to happen.

The skill Stalagmites steadily began to glow with greater and greater intensity as they began shift towards each other. Leon almost wanted to scream at how agonizingly slow this was happening though. His focus, while it wasn’t slipping, was getting irritating to maintain. And the mana that was flooding into his system from outside seemed to have had all the stops pulled out of it. Mana was gushing into his Core and flowing directly into the glowing skill stalagmites. The process was accelerating, but it was still going too slow. And with the influx of so much higher tier mana flooding his pathways Leon was experiencing a great deal of pain while watching the glow slowly intensify.

It had to have been days, maybe weeks since he’d started this process. But it was getting easier as time went on. Somehow Leon was finding his thoughts flowing faster than ever, his focus even greater than before. The pain that he’d been experiencing had vanished along with a feeling that was reminiscent of a pop. Then mana began to really pour into his core and directly into the skills. They were glowing with such intensity that if he’d been looking at them with physical eyes it would have been excruciatingly painful. Probably melt your eyes bright at this point.

Then, all at once, it was like something clicked and the skill stalagmites suddenly merged. The resulting pillar swelled in size until there was a crushing pop that resounded throughout Leon’s Core. Then, the now huge pillar just… melted into the walls of his Core. Then everything went black as Leon lost consciousness.

Nadia

Nadia and Luna were staring at Leon who was just seated in his chair with his eyes closed. He’d closed his eyes for maybe ten seconds when suddenly it was like he’d become a black hole for mana. The ambient mana around them pouring him like he was sinkhole at the bottom of a lake.

“How the fuck is he doing that?” Luna asked without taking her eyes off the young man before them.

It wasn’t really a question. Nadia wouldn’t have answered the woman even if she did know the answer. Leon’s capabilities were a mystery to everyone that surrounded him. He never seemed to run out of mana, and even if he did get low, he always seemed to be able to just magically have more. The rate at which he drained mana from his surroundings was already astonishing to most. In one of her discussions with his mentor Malorie, Nadia had confirmed that Leon’s Core was abnormally large, even by the standards of the most elite of the elite in The Guild. But his ascension to Tier 3 was even more telling than just having a large Core.

Nadia had witness dozens of people reaching Tier 3. They always started to draw in ambient mana like there was no tomorrow. But this… This was orders of magnitude more than what she’d ever seen of someone creating their first Trait. This was more akin to someone nearing Tier 4 and creating their third and final Trait. Only stepped up in intensity. Nadia herself had already created all three of her Traits. It was a requirement for being a Mentor. Her three Traits had merged into Mind, Body, and Soul of Momentum. It was considered on of the best possible Traits for someone with a Mono Movement Affinity.

“He just might be making all three Traits at once.” Nadia murmured herself as she watched the flow of mana pouring into him suddenly get even stronger.

The pair continued watching as the flow of mana pouring into Leon’s body reached a crescendo. Nadia’s senses told her that the mana in his core had just condensed down enough to be at Tier 3 now when Leon’s body began to radiate a soft glow. His skin somehow becoming clearer and more perfect than it already was. His hair gaining a luster that had not been present before. Before Nadia’s eyes she witnessed him become more than he’d been just a few moments ago.

That’s when Leon simply rag-dolled, like a puppet with its strings cut, and fell out of his chair, flat on his face.

Leon

Came too all at once. One second, he’d been unconscious, the next he was fully awake. And it was like waking up in a whole new world. it was like he’d been playing a remastered video game on its original graphics his whole life, then suddenly switched everything over to the UHD Remastered edition graphics for the first time… and that was without even opening his eyes. His sphere of perception was bigger by a small amount, but the detail… It was almost like he’d been blind before. Immediately Leon realized that he was laying at a weird angle, his face pressed against the dirt where he supposed that his recent lapse of consciousness had dropped him.

That was when a notification slammed itself into his vision.

Congratulations

In your quest to better yourself, see the universes and experience all that life has to offer, you have taken the first step. You have grown beyond the Tier you were born into and stepped into Tier 3. Each Tier you climb through will have a myriad of effects.

Effects of reaching Tier 3: Base Lifespan is tripled. Body composition upgraded to Tier 3 materials, all damage that originates from Tier 1 materials or mana is mitigated by 75%. All damage that originates from Tier 2 materials or mana is mitigated by 50%. Your overall base mind, body and soul are enhanced by 550% before all other modifiers. All Titles, Traits, and Racial abilities have their effects enhanced by 4.5%. Your Race has been upgraded to Tier 3 Paragon of Earth.

[Note: This information is only available for those who have undergone Emergency Integration Protocols.]

Congratulations

You have created and merged your traits into a complete Trait. Mind, Body, and Soul of the Arcane Traveler. Continue on your path traveler, let nothing halt your explorations of the wonders of the universe.

Mind, Body and Soul Of The Arcane Traveler lvl 1 (Trait)

Effects: Total body, mind, soul, and arcane capability enhancement by a large degree every level. Additionally, your soul has a source of mana directly tied to it. Never run dry.

Leon liked that the system in this universe didn’t constantly bombard him with stupid little boxes or anything like that. Just text that appeared in his vision and faded away just as easily. His Trait had gotten better. But the effects had only been altered by one word small had been replaced with large. The Effects of reaching Tier 3 was where things had gotten interesting. It now had a note about Tier 2 damage sources, and the 200% enhancement had gone up by 350%. And the effect of his titles, traits and racial abilities had gained a further 3.5% over the original 1% that advancing to Tier 2 had done for him. Overall, this was definitely far more than a simple tripling of his capabilities.

Shifting himself to stand for the first time after reaching Tier 3 was a strange experience. Mainly because everything felt like there wasn’t even any gravity anymore. He almost felt like he should just be floating away from the ground. His balance wasn’t affected. He was just… so much stronger than he’d been a few moments ago that there was literally no strain at all to moving.

“How ya feeling big boy?” Nadia asked with a smirk on her face, “it’s weird, isn’t it? Like you feel like you should just float off into the air or something.”

Coming to a standing position Leon nodded and started flexing, stretching, and generally moving his body around. His sense of balance was perfect, even though he couldn’t really anything pulling him down towards the ground.

“So, what’s your Trait?” Nadia asked, her voice sounding like she was trying her hardest to sound uninterested.

“Mind, Body and Soul Of The Arcane Traveler.” Leon said offhandedly as he continued experimentally moving his body around.

Once he finished going through the motions Leon promptly sat on his chair and turned his gaze to Nadia and Luna who both looked like their heads were going to explode. They were both utterly silent. Their eyes bugged out and staring at Leon like he’d grown tentacles out of his face.

“What’s wrong with you two?” he asked, “Actually hold that thought I’m gonna check out my titles and skills really quick.”

Meditation+++ lvl 1

Utility Pocket+++ lvl 1

Identify+ lvl 54

Perception Filter+ lvl 62

Hammer Play+ lvl 17

Spear Mastery+ lvl 13

Blunt Weapons Mastery+ lvl 1

Small Blades Mastery+ lvl 29

Large Blades Mastery+ lvl 14

Ranged Weapons Mastery+ lvl 15

Whip Mastery+ lvl 3

Shield Mastery+ lvl 15

Unarmed Combat Mastery+ lvl 12

Cooking+ lvl 13

Stealth+ lvl 54

Muffle+ lvl 30

Double Strike+ lvl 14

Power Strike+ lvl 17

Quantum Blink lvl+ 22

Instant Harvest+ lvl 15

Pleasurable Touch+ lvl 5

Shared Pleasure+ lvl 8

Well Educated: This title is granted to those who have read 100 informative books. Effect: Slightly enhances rate of knowledge acquisition and retention.

Academic: This title is granted to those who have read 1000 informative books. Effect: Enhances the rate of knowledge acquisition and retention. Allows for the acquisition of Lore Titles

Outworlder: This title is gained by successfully transferring yourself to another universe without dying. Effect: Learn any language 250X faster than you otherwise would.

Monster Biologist: This title is gained by having extensive knowledge of the anatomy and biological makeup of over 150 different monsters. [regardless of whether or not those monsters actually exist.] Effect: Gain a perfect affinity for Flesh, Blood, and Bone Magic. Gain instinctual knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of any monster that you are familiar with or observe enough.

Alpha and Omega: This title is gained by being the first and last of your particular variant species within the system. Effect: Survival type skills are 10X easier to learn and level. Additionally, all skills related to survival require slightly less mana and have a slightly greater effect.

Progenitor: This title is gained by being the only member of your variant species with the capability to reproduce. Effect: Sexually mature females who are capable of breeding with you will find you more attractive and are more likely to conceive offspring with you.

The Paragon of Earth: This title is gained by either system or divine intervention. Effect: You are a Paragon of your Variant race and will grow into what your variants ideal human is. Smarter, Faster, Stronger, Better Looking, Longer Lived. The perfect human. Gain the Skill [Create Flora lvl N/A]

Hero: This title is gained by accomplishing an extraordinary feat that saved the lives of at least a Billion Sapient creatures. Effects: Doubles the Effects of all Titles and Traits, makes all skills 10X easier to learn and level, makes all Sapient creatures more likely to trust you, and gives you a perfect affinity for all Wretched and Divine magical schools.

Messiah of Violence: This is a rarely awarded Title as the requirements are extremely precise. Kill at least 10 helpless creatures with the complete and utterly unshakable belief that you are doing the universe as whole a great service. Effect: Learn and level combat skills 10 times more quickly. Dramatically Increases grip strength and hand toughness.

One against many: This title is granted for fighting and killing at least 10 creatures within certain parameters of height and weight. Effect: Increased strength, speed, Endurance, reaction times, and overall toughness of the body.

Glutton for Punishment: This Title is awarded to any person who has essentially replaced their own body 10 times over in the amount of damage they have willingly taken and healed from. (Usually awarded to masochists who enjoy being tortured.) Effect: Pain and Pleasure have their lines blurred together further than is normal. Damage willingly received is reduced by a significant amount and significantly canted in favor of pleasure.

Sexual Deviant: This Title is awarded to those who have committed sexual acts that their partners have never even heard of but ended up liking. Effects: Enhances the effects of all pleasure or pain inducing skills. All pleasure and pain inducing skills are easier 10x easier to learn and level. Passively enhances the experience of sexual activities for all parties involved by a moderate amount.

Invasive: This Title is awarded for creating and releasing 10 or more never before seen creatures/monsters into the wild. Effects: All creatures created by you cost slightly less mana to create and may have one additional affinity added to their makeup during creation. Grants a perfect affinity for Death magic.

The Father Of Monsters: This title is awarded for creating and releasing 25 or more unique monsters into the wild. Effects: Any monster created by you will be far more subservient to your will. Significantly increases the physical and mental strength of all monsters created. Enhances overall base Mind, Body, and Soul resilience by a small amount.

Creator: This Title is awarded for creating a Gestalt Being. Effects: Gain perfect affinities for Life, Mind, Soul, and Body magics. All skills related to the affinities of Life, Mind, Soul, and Body are 10X easier to learn and level. Your mind, body, and soul are fortified by 10% more after skills and any other modifiers are applied.

One Against Horde: This Title is awarded for standing alone against 100 opponents of equal Tier level and at least 50% your weight and defeating them all. Effects: Physical strength, speed, endurance, and resilience are enhanced.

One Against Swarm: This Title is awarded for standing alone against 1000 opponents of equal Tier level that were your equals in weight class and defeating them all. Effects: Physical strength, speed, endurance, and resilience are enhanced by 10%

One Man Army: For standing alone against 10 opponents of a Tier above your own and not only escaping with your life but defeating them all. Effects: 50% overall enhancement of your Mind, Body, and Soul’s strength and resilience. Regeneration skills, Titles, or Traits are enhanced significantly. All combat skills are 10x easier to learn and level.

Slayer: This Title is awarded for killing over 20000 Tier 1 creatures in a single 24-hour period. Effects: Inherently deal more damage to all being of equal Tier and take less damage from beings of equal Tier. Minor enhancement of your Mind, Body, and Soul’s strength and resilience.

Cloak and Dagger: For killing 10 unaware targets within a single night. Effects: All stealth and concealment skills are 10x easier to level and learn. Passively enhances natural stealth capabilities and all senses by a small amount.

Assassin: This Title is awarded for killing 100 unaware targets within the span of a single night. Effects: Daggers and dagger related skills cause more damage. Stealth and concealment skills are twice as effective, cost half as much mana, and are not affected by movement speed.

Giant Slayer: This Title is awarded for killing a being a whole Tier above your own development alone and without aid. Effects: An overall increase in of body, mind, and soul strength and resilience by 10%.

Assassin of Giants: This Title is awarded for killing a Tier 2 being whilst still in Tier 1 without that being ever being able to fight back or perceive you in any way, even while fully unrestrained. Effects: Damage mitigation caused by Tiers are ignored up to one rank above your current Tier. Body, mind, and soul strength and resilience are enhanced by 10%

Solo Dungeoneer: This Title is awarded for completing every floor of a dungeon matching your own Tier alone and without assistance while killing at a minimum 100 monsters per floor on average. Effects: All loot dropped by any Dungeon for you during solo runs is increased in value by 10%.

Lore Keeper: This title is gained by few; it is awarded to those who have gained 101 Lore type Titles. Effects: Your Mind is filled with the knowledge of many things, making connections and unraveling patters and codes is 50% faster. All Skills of the Mind are 10X Easier to Learn and Level. Your Mind is 10% more resistant to Illusions, Mental Magics, and Obfuscation skills. All Lore Titles are condensed into Lore Keeper. All Lore Titles gained will be absorbed by Lore Keeper, enhancing its effects by .01% per Lore Title gained.

Scholar: This Title is gained by reaching into the upper 10% of education levels in world where you live. Effects: All things are easier to learn by small amount. The effects of all control type skills are enhanced by 15% in effectiveness and strength. Your mind is 5% more resistant to Illusions, Mental Magics, and Obfuscation Skills.

Leon finished reading through his titles and skills in seconds. He frowned though. He was missing all of his magical skills. In fact, there were quite a few skills that had mysteriously vanished. Mathematics, reading and writing, speed reading, alchemical stability, invasive strike, telekinesis, reinforce… He assumed that they’d been eaten by his completed trait, but he was unsure. He tested it by using Telekinesis and it worked just fine, better than fine actually, he easily grabbed a chunk of dirt out of the ground and levitated it to his hand.

“Ok so a bunch of skills got eaten…” Leon murmured to himself before turning to Nadia who was still eyeing him weirdly, “Ok finished checking, what’s wrong with you two?”