“Garren— what are you doing here?” Kai was nearly speechless by the sudden appearance of his oldest brother. He blinked his eyes deliberately. Yep, his brother was still there, decked out in light looking metal armor.

“Let’s go,” Garren said without adding any further details.

The other students were all looking at Garren with expressions of admiration. Kai recalled his brother was the winner of the very tournament in which he was participating.

“Fine.”

Together they exited the arena with Kai following Garren’s quick pace. They walked in silence, not even bothering to look at each other. It was awkward. Growing up, Garren was the one person in the family that Kai hadn’t gotten along with. For whatever the reasons, there seemed to be a wall between them throughout Kai’s entire second life. Now his brother had mysteriously shown up after a year and was taking him somewhere.

“Drink this.” Garren held a glowing blue vial of liquid to Kai as they walked onto the main road.

Taking the vial he asked, “What is it?”

“Liquid mana. It will refill the mana you’ve used.”

[Liquid Mana Potion – Standard]

Kai’s eyes shined with wonder. He had never heard of such a potion. Still, he didn’t drink it. “Tell me why I need to drink this?”

Garren turned his head to him, giving him a look as if he was stupid. “Why do you have to ask so many questions and make this so difficult? Just drink it.”

“I’m the difficult one?” Kai mocked. “You show up after an entire year without visiting me once or giving me a warning, and you expect me to listen to your every command.” He shook his head. “I’m not drinking whatever you give me without you telling me what is going on.”

“Listen you brat. Do you know how expensive that vial is?”

“No, and I don’t care right now. Tell me what is going on.”

Garren grabbed at his hair and squeezed his fist as if he was going to pull it out but seemed to think better of it. “Kai. I’m here to help,” Garren tried to sound sincere, but the mashing of his teeth seemed to have the opposite effect.

“So, you say. Why are you really here?”

“I was watching the tournament...” Garren looked like he was in a pissed-off mood. His pace increased as Kai followed behind. “You won’t win unless you reach the Forging realm. I’m taking you to get those last few levels.”

Kai stopped. “You’re lying,” he said in disbelief.

Garren stopped and turned. “No, I’m not.”

“Why though? Did father pay you?”

Garren scoffed. “No little brother. This was all my idea. And as to why, just be grateful and accept my help.”

Kai examined his brother’s face but could discern nothing. Garren had long mastered his stoic face. Even if they didn’t get along, Garren had never been intentionally cruel to Kai, just indifferent.

“Ok,” Kai said. If his brother said he was going to help him, then he would trust his word. He took the vial and drank it. The effects were immediate. There was pressure on his body, but unlike his gravity which pushed him down to the ground, the pressure was inside of him wanting to burst out. Normally it would take about five hours for his mana to refill based on the mana destiny in the area, but with the vial, it had only taken a few minutes. Kai would have to inquire how Garren had found such a miraculous potion, He was quite sure that there had never been one in the alchemy shops he had visited.

“Never drink more than one in a day or it will have dangerous effects.”

The two walked until they were outside of the capital. A few hundred meters from the walls, Garren stopped. “The place I have in mind is two hours away by carriage. I’m going to carry you so we can make it there quickly.”

Before Kai could respond, Garren had already picked him up in a princess carry and began running down the road. The wind blasted into his face as their pace was easily four times quicker than Kai could run even without armor. Over the course of thirty minutes, Garren showed no fatigue despite carrying Kai who was still in his armor.

Stopping on an incline, Kai caught himself as Garren dropped him without warning. During the run, his brother kept changing his direction, dodging imaginary obstacles until they had reached halfway up the first mountains.

The area was filled with trees and tall grass and brush waist height. Oddly there were strange chirping sounds all around them, but Kai wasn’t able to see any animals or monsters. Despite being a part of a volcanic mountain chain, the area was quite green. Looking up the mountain, the ground gradually increased in steepness until it tapered off at a crest at the top of the first mountain. Behind the crest, another mountain loomed even higher until it too tapered off.

“Where are they at?” Kai asked, as his brother was holding a sword entirely made of ash. Mimicking him, Kai brought out his own. There had been no chitchat on the way here. Kai had no idea what kind of monsters his brother would take him to fight, or at what level they would be. All he knew was that the mountain was a place where even Adept realm fighters weren’t supposed to visit without a group.

“There are three of them, and they are already hunting us,” Garren said in a tone of concentration. His eyes flicked back and forth between three locations.

Following his eyes, Kai noticed the brush was moving ever so slightly in three different spots. Whatever was hunting them, was already heading straight for them and was short enough to stay hidden below the brush.

“When they come into range, use your large area gravity spell.”

Kai nodded, but his brother couldn’t see. The monsters were only 10 meters away and gaining quickly. As his [Domain] encompassed the area, Garren was already on the move. A grey blur descended on the unseen monsters. He couldn’t keep track of brother’s blade as he sliced and moved to his next victim. He was like a reaper of death when three pings sounded in his head before he even saw the blade stop.

Your group has slain [Mountain Lurker – Adept Level 13]

Your group has slain [Mountain Lurker – Adept Level 2]

Your group has slain [Mountain Lurker – Adept Level 5]

There was no level up, even after assisting in slaying three monsters in the third realm of power. Apparently, his magic didn’t contribute that much... A thought came to Kai. His brother had slain three creatures in the adept realm quickly and efficiently, making him wonder what realm or level he was currently in. His guess was the Profound realm, but all his identify gave him was question marks.

Kai walked up to the creature. Its body was about the same dimensions as a medium-sized dog. Instead of fur, red scales covered its entire body. The most unique thing about the Lurker wasn’t its yellow beak dyed red in blood, no, it was its tail. A tail that was covered all around with the same red scales, but its length was nearly one and half times its body and head. Kai watched its eyes for a moment checking for signs of life, but its dark red eyes stared vacantly into the sky.

His brother looked him over. “Tch, not even a level. Let’s go.” He quickly set off before Kai could even see what the monsters looked like.

Without increasing his participation and contribution in fighting these monsters, it would take quite a lot more to level him up. Monsters in the Adept realm were probably only irritated by his gravity.

A few minutes later, his brother held a fist up giving the sigh to stop. Kai froze and peered around. He was having trouble finding the monsters. The wind had begun to pick up, causing all of the brush to move and flow in the breeze.

“Shit. Kai seven of them are coming. We are surrounded. Use your gravity now!” Before Kai could even activate his domain, Garren was like a wraith of vengeance and blood. He darted forward with great speed, his ashen blade already exploding in blood and gore. The familiar feel of domain activated as the brush dipped a little, but not enough to see his targets.

Eyes shifting all around, he heard an inhuman screech call out nearby. Twisting his body, he looked for signs of an incoming attack. The wind whipped across his face and hair delivering an odd smell to him. Spinning, he saw the visage of a monster alright jumping at him out of the brush. His sword slashed across combined with [Heavy Blow]. It felt like he hit a massive unyielding boulder as the sword connected. The force of his blow was enough to smash the creature into the ground. Grimacing, he noticed immediately that the wound wasn’t very deep.

Movement rang all around him. He had to trust his brother to take care of the other creatures, as the monster he had knocked down was already up and coming at him. There was absolutely no way he could hold off two of these creatures by himself. There was no time to smile, but he did find some joy when he heard a third ding sound off in his head.

Moving fast, his sword stabbed out with another heavy blow. But the creature reacted too fast, easily evading it. As Kai desperately tried to bring his sword to a guarding position, the Lurker flashed overhead as it crashed into his chest. It felt like a hammer struck him as he was sent flying backward. Smashing into the ground, he felt a large weight straining his chest armor. Like a king of the mountain, the creature stepped and walked on him until its ugly face and beak were right in front of his.

Trying to bring his sword up to stab the Lurker, its tail slapped into his hand, knocking his weapon away. Kai felt cold as there was nothing, he could do to stop the beast now.

Before it could puncture a hole in his head, a ding sounded out, and the Lurker’s head crashed onto the ground beside him, while the body dropped onto his own. His brother was standing in front of him, a sword of ash hovering above the corpse of the Mountain Lurker crushing his body. Turning off his domain, the corpse lightened.

“Not bad,” he heard.

Your group has slain [Mountain Lurker – Adept Level 23]

...

Your group has slain [Mountain Lurker – Adept Level 1]

‘Vanguard has reached Foundation Level 99’

‘Vanguard has reached Foundation Level 100’

Kai took a deep sigh of relief. That was about one of the most nerve-racking experiences he ever had. Anyone with common sense knew better than to fight a monster an entire realm above yours by yourself, let alone two realms. Thankfully, it seemed like everything had worked out. He had been able to give the creature a small wound, which helped him to level up twice.

Pushing the corpse off Kai’s body with his foot, Garren held his hand out to him. Grabbing it he hoisted himself up. There had been a few seconds between the second to last Lurker’s death and the one that had been on top of him. Kai had a feeling that Garren had been waiting until the last moment to help. He downed one of the minor health potions he always kept on hand.

Sitting on the lurker corpses, Kai and Garren rested while their mana and stamina recovered. His brother stared out into the brush, pointedly ignoring Kai’s eyes on him.

“One more level to go.” A warm humid breeze blew past them. “I want you to solo the next one we come across.”

“Not like you’re going to give me a choice,” Kai mumbled.

All he received was a grin in response.

“You ever going to tell me why you are really doing this?” Kai asked. The overcast sky was still somewhat bright, so they still had plenty of time to talk. Regardless, he didn’t let himself become distracted as he tried to make conversation. His eyes and ears were alert and constantly listening and roaming for any sneak attacks.

A few minutes passed where he received no answer. “Kai, I—” Garren stood. “We have incoming. They must have smelled the blood.”

What convenient timing. Right as you decide to answer, Kai thought.

Again, the brush was moving in multiple lines that were coming to them. Kai’s domain was activated before they came into range. Right now, he wished he had brought his mace, but sadly, it had been left with Nicolas.

Garren was already on the move, slashing and striking down unseen targets beneath the brush. Kai’s eyes followed one line of moving brush that was almost upon him until it stopped a few feet from him. An unsettling calm settled over the brush in front of him. Just as he was about to move, something wrapped around his leg, throwing him into the air. Kai crashed hard and rolled into the brush, flattening a section of it with his body. Hopping back on his feet, he sidestepped the Lurker’s long tail as it slammed where he previously landed. His sword arced into the tail as it tried to curl around his leg. An inhuman screech sounded as his sword cut partway into the meaty tail. Lifting his sword to get another swing in, the tail whipped into the side of his body, flinging him away. Only through sheer will did he keep his grip on his sword.

Kai swore he heard a laugh as he flew through the air. He was certain without his alderite armor, he would have died by now. Still, his ribs were probably bruised or cracked, judging from the pain flaring up.

Scrambling onto his feet, the Lurker blood red eyes focused on him.

“Garren, a little help?” Kai voiced aloud. He had no idea where his brother was, his eyes were solely on the Lurker. Minus the half-hanging tail, the Lurker was completely undamaged. There were no obvious weak spots on the beaked-scaled lizard dog.

“You got this,” his brother called out unhelpfully from out of sight.

Deciding he needed to take the initiative in this fight, Kai lunged forward. He performed a series of rapid strikes as he and the Lurker felt each other out. The lurker was probably afraid of his sword as it evaded each strike. Meanwhile, Kai made sure not to use his heavy blow or else he might overextend and lose the fight.

30 seconds felt like several minutes. The lurker was beginning to become bolder the longer they fought, likely finding out Kai wasn’t as scary as it might have first thought. Like a scorpion, the tail attacked at the same time as its claws despite the damage, keeping Kai’s focus split on the main body and that merciless appendage. Even when the Lurker’s claws barely nicked his shin guards, the sound haunted him as he considered what it would do to his body if it connected.

The red scaled tail whipped straight at his head, causing him to lean back. He wanted to yell to Garren for help, but there was no chance as the Lurker was pushing him to his physical and mental limits as it didn’t give him a moment to breathe.

Choosing to be bold, he quickly stepped into the range of the Lurker’s claws and kicked his foot out. He felt like his foot would break as it connected below the head of the lurker. Stunned, he planted that same foot down, to where his shin was practically touching its beak, and drove his sword down into its center mass under the pressure of heavy blow. The sword sunk through its body and into the ground.

Just as he thought victory was at hand, the tail lashed into his helmet. Causing everything to go black.

“I’m sorry,” was the first thing Kai heard when he roused to consciousness. Eyes still closed; he checked his health.

Health: 1150/1150

It was full. His brother must have fed him a health potion while he was out. “Asshole. Why didn’t you help?”

“I’m sorry,” his brother’s voice cracked slightly. “You were doing so well; I didn’t dare interrupt. And just when I thought you killed it, I relaxed for just a moment.”

Opening his eyes, everything was a little blurry. Or so he thought, instead it was just the cloudy overcast sky. Still laying on his back, he slipped his helmet off and turned it over. The left side where it had been smashed was slightly dented.

“You can check your gains on the way, we need to get out of here now. More are coming.” Without waiting for an answer, he picked Kai up and flew down the mountainside.

Your group has slain [Mountain Lurker – Adept Level 14]

‘Vanguard has reached Forging Level 1’

…

‘Vanguard has reached Forging Level 8’

Abilities Gained:

Active: Gravity Well – Create a dense sphere of gravity that will exert pull on all objects or beings within its range.

Passive: Lightfoot – Gravity passively increases acceleration, deacceleration, and momentum while moving. While under increased gravitational effects, your feet will remain light and nimble.

General Skills Gained:

Pain Tolerance +1

Soul Presence +1

Elemental Magic Resistance +1

Physical Resistance +1

Nothing besides the normal appeared in his realm ascension. The general skills were something he had expected. Nothing was out of the ordinary there. Part of him wished he would have gained more but there wouldn’t be a big difference until his class evolution. Lightfoot was something he wanted, something he needed. A movement-type skill that read like it would synergize well with his gravity. The gravity well was an anomaly. He had absolutely no idea what it would be like. It sounded like his domain, but he could place it away from him and direct gravity there.

“Garren, let’s find a place to stop. I want to test my new abilities.”

Fifteen minutes later, they stopped on flat ground only a few kilometers away from the capital. The area was mostly sparse and open. They were just close enough to the capital to where they had cleared out the environment to see incoming enemies. From the position of the main sun overhead, it was closing in on dinner time and he was starving.

Walking away from his brother, there was an oddity in his movement that hadn’t been there before. He felt like his walking speed had increased, but not only that. It was as if he had been wearing boots made of metal before and now his feet felt free and light. But that wasn’t the case, he was still wearing the same boots he had received from Ashley before.

He dashed straight. His feet seemed to glide across the ground, each step was effortless and light. He ran faster and faster until he achieved a new max speed in half the time than before. Even though his dexterity had remained the same, Lightfoot had helped him achieve a new speed. The wind whipping into his face was a minor annoyance to his joyful mood.

The ability also helped him deaccelerate as he stopped abruptly. Normally stopping at that speed would strain the body, but it felt much easier than before.

Taking it a step further, he ran to max speed and quickly changed directions to his right. His body strained as he sharply turned until he was back to his max speed within seconds. For the next few minutes, Kai kept dodging and evading imaginary projectiles, as he got a feel for his new passive ability.

Lightfoot seemed to help with his state of changing motion. It was a reliable ability to move around the battlefield quickly. Now the main question was how it would perform under increased gravity?

Calling upon his domain, he felt the same pressure pushing him down as always. However, instead of his feet sinking a few inches into the dirt or ground like normal, it was as if he hadn’t even activated his gravity. It was as if his body wasn’t pushing down further on the ground he stood, even with his weight tripling. He walked around getting a feel for it, but it was just like walking around before his weight changed, minus his body feeling heavier.

Starting with a sprint, he felt each step slam into the ground, but instead of sinking, his boots just bounced off into the next step. Light and nimble indeed. The application of this ability was fantastic. At higher realms, his gravity would become so powerful that the very ground would collapse under each of his steps. With this ability, that wouldn’t happen.

Judging by the cough in the near distance, his brother was getting impatient. Kai decided it was time to test his last new ability. The range of his gravity well was 15 meters at the moment. He picked a spot 20 meters away and activate it. He felt a huge chunk of his mana drain away that very second and everything went hectic.

Exactly where he had placed the gravity well, Kai didn’t see any obvious sign of a spell. What he did see was the area had turned blurry, as if an intense heat had affected just that one spot, distorting the area. Instinctively he knew the spell was a sphere of some sort, but the distorted image made it difficult to make out as it constantly seemed to pulse and fluctuate. The mountainside was visible on the other side of the blurry sphere, but the image seemed to flow and move back and forth as if sitting on the waves of an ocean.

Loose dirt was carried through the air as if the winds pick it up and delivered it to the gravity well. Every second, his mana slowly ticked down as the spell continued. More and more dirt traveled to the well, covering it, until the outline of a sphere the size of his body was easily seen. Seconds turned into minutes as the ground lost more and more soil, the gravity kept pulling on each clump of dirt, loosening it until it flew to the well.

Stepping into the range of his spell, Kai’s body felt strange. As if the world was now wrong. Normally even under his enhanced gravity, his orientation felt normal. Now, it was like his sense had gone astray. Down was now in front of him, or at least that was what the pull of gravity was telling his body. Still, he felt the normal gravity pulling him down to the ground, but his gravity well’s influence was much stronger. He stood there awkwardly, attuning his senses to this new experience.

Canceling his gravity well, the sphere of dirt fell comically a second later. He had one more thing to try before he left. Summoning another gravity well, this one appeared only one meter away. The pull of gravity was only slightly stronger now that he was much closer than before. His body resisted the tug and held firm.

Taking one step closer, he stuck his hand out slowly. Ready to cancel the spell at a moment’s notice, he took the final step and touched his palm to the outer edge. The sensation was beyond abnormal. In his eyes, the space was empty, short of the distortion and dirt already forming around it. But, to his hand, the sphere was tangible. The sensation could only be described as if he was touching solidified air. Heavy, dense air seemed to weigh down space and draw all nearby objects to it. He marveled at it until finally his mana ran out and it vanished.

Turning around, he proceeded back to his brother, his blood boiled with excitement as victory loomed even closer.

Name: Kaismo Cineris

Realm/Level: Forging 8

Aspect: Gravity

Class: Vanguard

Race: Human

Health: 1470/1470

Stamina: 504/600

Mana: 32/1100

Vitality: 140 (147)

Strength: 120

Dexterity: 60

Endurance: 60

Intelligence: 100

Wisdom: 110

Unspent Attributes Available: 0

Active Skills:

- Heavy Blow [2/10]

- Gravity Pillar [2/10]

- Domain [2/10]

- Gravity Well [1/10]

Passive Skills:

- Burden [2/10]

- Lightfoot [1/10]

General Skills:

- Identify

- Pain Tolerance 2

- Sense Improvement 2

- Soul Presence 5

- Elemental Magic Resistance 5

- Physical Resistance 5