Michael sat cross-legged on top of the bed of his room at The Sleeping Bear inn as he looked at the pile of essence crystals that was in front of him. After leaving the guild, coming back to the inn and eating two full servings of food and then taking a long, relaxing bath, Michael had dumped the content of his bags on the bed so he could consume them in one go and use the origin essence to level up his classes.

Rema had used her own magic glasses to count the exact amount and she had been shocked when it had totaled eight-hundred and ninety-six essence crystals. She had told him that each one of them would give him from one to three origin essence. While he was certain he would get enough points to level up two of his classes twice, he hoped that he could do the same with the remaining two.

Michael sighed a bit before he reached forward and touched the pile of essence crystals. He focused on absorbing them and a System notification appeared in front of him.

Would you like to convert 896 Essence Crystals into 1,397 Origin Essence?

Michael took in a deep breath as he became ‘aware’ on the increase of his physical, mental and magical capabilities and it took him a few seconds to assimilate the sharp growth in strength. When he was done, he took a look at his [Status] again after leveling up his classes.

Michael gave a mental positive confirmation and he watched with slightly wide eyes as all the essence crystals glowed before turning into pure black and purple energy that was being absorbed by his hand. After a few seconds the process was finished. Michael opened his [Status] and a quick calculation told him that he had enough origin essence to level his four classes twice so he went ahead and did that.

General Information

Name

Michael Kane

Age

15

Race

Human

Rank

F

Level

12

Attributes (Rank)

Strength (STR)

24 (F)

Endurance (END)

24 (F)

Vitality (VIT)

24 (F)

Agility (AGI)

24 (F)

Intelligence (INT)

36 (F)

Wisdom (WIS)

36 (F)

Magic (MAG)

36 (F)

Charisma (CHA)

24 (F)

Classes

Origin Essence

197

Class Name

Class Attribute Bonus

Class Level

Next Level

Blader

+4 STR, +4 END, +4 VIT, +4 AGI

3/25

0/300

Elementalist

+4 INT, +4 WIS, +4 MAG

3/25

0/300

Manablessed

+4 INT, +4 WIS, +4 MAG, +4 CHA

3/25

0/300

Harbinger

4 STR, +4 END, +4 VIT, +4 AGI, +4 INT, +4 WIS, +4MAG, +4 CHA

3/25

0/300

Skills

Blader

Blade Mastery. Passive. (LVL 7/25). Increases proficiency using bladed weapons. Increases damage done by bladed weapons by 40%.

Elementalist

Fire Manipulation. Passive/Active. (LVL 4/25) [Flames]

Wind Manipulation. Passive/Active (LVL 4/25) [Gale]

Water Manipulation. Passive/Active. (LVL 4/25) [Stream]

Earth Manipulation. Passive/Active. (LVL 4/25) [Spikes]

Lighting Manipulation. Passive/Active. (LVL 4/25) [Sparks]

Manablessed

Mana Manipulation. Passive/Active. (LVL 4/25). Allows you to freely manipulate the magical energies within you. [Mana Bolt]

Harbinger

Time Alter. Active. (LVL 3/25). Allows you to perceive everything around you two times slower. Limit: Fifteen seconds.

Teleport. Active/Passive. (LVL 3/25). Allows you to change your position in space within a range of twenty feet.

As he stared as his [Status], Michael had a satisfied expression on his face as he dismissed the System window that had displayed it. By increasing the level of all his classes twice, his overall level and attributes had positively tripled. That made Michael decide that he would only increase the level of his classes the moment he could increase all of them at least once. That way he would make sure that every time he increased his level it would mean a significant amount of growth for him.

While that would mean that he wouldn’t increase his level as often as other adventurers, at the end of the day the one with the most growth would be him when he did so. A quick calculation told him that with the amount of points he used to increase his classes twice, someone with one class would have been able to increase it four times and someone with two would have been able to increase them thrice. Truthfully, if it weren’t for the skills they provided and the attribute bonuses, having four classes to level up would have been actually a disadvantage.

The prove laid on the fact that if he wanted to increase the level of his four classes again, he would need to use as much origin essence he did two increase them twice.

Instead of being filled with dread because of that realization, Michael only felt excitement. Before leveling up his classes, he had been worried about the time it would take him to advance through the floors since he had already decided to explore them completely before facing the floor bosses. He had been planning on following Rema’s advice and focus solely on increasing the level of his classes until he reached the tenth floor.

Before the overall increase of his abilities, he had been worried about the funds he had left not being enough to pay his lodging and maintain his equipment. Now, however, he could tell that as he increased his abilities and prowess the time it would take for him to reach the tenth floor would steadily decrease. That meant that he will likely be capable of starting making a monetary profit of his ventures to the dungeon.

“I will just have to keep moving forward and adjust things as I go,” said Michael to himself after he laid back on the decently comfortable bed and got ready to sleep. He would be waking up early tomorrow and the more he slept the better he would perform tomorrow.

-XXX-

“Kid… I know that rookies are supposed to grow fast at first but this is just ridiculous!” That was the first thing Ursop said the moment he came down to the bar/restaurant portion of the inn after he had gone back up to his room take a shower and put on his equipment after having down first to get breakfast. He had an incredulous expression on his face as he stared intently at Michael, his eyes seemingly watching everything that he was at once. “It’s only been a bloody day for the gods’ sake!”

More than just a bit uncomfortable, Michael started to slowly inch towards the door. “Um, how can you tell how much I’ve grown with just a look?”

Ursop’s brows furrowed a bit. “Trust me kid, when you get to the level I’m at, a look is all you need to gauge the strength of someone,” he said before looking at him in the eye with a curious and interested look. “If you don’t mind me asking, how did you become times as strong after a single trip to the dungeon?”

Michael only hesitated a moment to answer. “… I killed eight hundred and ninety-six goblins, got one thousand, three hundred and ninety-seven origin essence from their crystals and used them to increase the level of my two classes three times.”

“…”

“…”

Ursop blinked before grunting in disbelief. “Heh. That should be about right I guess,” he said before giving a look of impressed amusement. “You are one scary kid. And your two variant classes are bullshit, you know that?”

Michael quickly deduced that Urminoc had likely told him about his [Blader] and [Elementalist] classes. It was obvious that the two of them were at least very close friends. He nodded at the owner of The Sleeping Bear inn with a ‘what-can-you-do?’ expression on his face. “I kind of gathered that. My classes increase all of my attributes when they level up so…” he trailed off as he revealed something that was actually true though perhaps not to the extent it actually was.

Ursop just gave a small sigh as he crossed his arms. “Just try not to get too overconfident on your abilities and don’t try to bite more than you can chew.” It would be a waste if someone with such potential wasted it before he could realize it to the fullest after all.

Michael nodded seriously before sending a thumb up in Ursop’s direction. If anything, if Michael had a say, he would make sure he was actually overqualified for the floor he would be exploring for as long as he could. He knew that eventually there would be a point in which it was inevitable to struggle against the monsters of the dungeon. He was going to make sure that he was a strong as he could by the time those circumstances came around.

Michael stepped out of the inn and took a deep breath of the early morning air as he enjoyed the slight chill. With a smile on his face, Michael began to hastily make his way towards the guild.

He actually enjoyed Orus more at this time than at any other one since there were significantly less people moving around the streets. Since he was close to the Adventurer’s Guild Tower there were even less people that would glare at him for his appearance. Michael knew that if he went through the Merchant’s district at this hour, it wouldn’t be too much of a difference compared to the rest of the day. That place was always bursting with people no matter the hour.

Michael eventually reached the guild and he noticed that it had taken him a few minutes less to arrive yesterday even if he felt that he had been walking at about the same pace. ‘That’s likely because of my increased attributes,’ he thought to himself as he entered the guild hall.

He smiled when he saw Lupa sitting on the booth that she shared with her sister. Rema had told him to come a bit later today than he did yesterday because apparently, Lupa wanted to see him before he headed into the dungeon. Not one to pass up interacting with a beautiful and sexy woman, much less if that woman was the one to seek the interaction, Michael had happily agreed to do so. Rema had been particularly pleased and amused with him as she bid him good bye.

“Good morning, Miss Lupa,” he greeted her the moment he stood in front of her. She had not noticed his approach since like her sister, she been reading a book to pass the time before the influx of adventurers seeking the services she provided to them for the guild.

“Good morning to you as well, Mister Kane. How are you…” She looked up with a smile when she heard the voice of the young man that had earned her interest and attention the day before yesterday and trailed off as her eyes widened a bit when she caught sight of him. Her sister had told her that he cut quite the dashing figure when he wore his adventurer apparel but she couldn’t help but feel that he was significantly more handsome today than when she had met him.

Her cheeks colored a bit as she looked at him. “… forgive my forwardness, Mister Kane, but are you aware that you look quite different from the last time I saw you?” She just couldn’t help her curiosity. She looked at him a bit more closely and blinked when she noticed another thing. “And significantly stronger as well. My sister told me of your… overzealous… actions yesterday so I was expecting a noticeably increase in strength since you are a rookie but this…”

Michael rubbed the back of his head as he went to explain. “Well, I had enough origin essence to increase the level of my two classes three times. Also, my classes increase all of my attributes and one of them is [Charisma] so…” Michael trailed off as he smiled at her. The [CHA] attribute not only enhanced one’s physical appearance but also how well you would be perceived by others during your first impression with them and as you continued to have positive interactions with them.

“Ah. I see. That explains it…” she said with an understanding nod before giving him a curious look. “If I may ask, what are you planning to do today?”

“Well, I was hoping to finish exploring to first floor today and increase the level of my classes at least twice. If it isn’t too late, I’d go and face the floor boss. Otherwise I will just leave it for tomorrow first thing and then start exploring the second floor immediately after. I should be able to defeat the first-floor boss on my own since I should get my next set of skills of my classes when they reach level five,” he said with a confident smile on his face.

Lupa looked at him with an intense stare. “You know, Mister Kane, normal adventurers usually take about a week to reach the point where they feel comfortable facing the first-floor boss on their own. Even those with two classes take three to four days to reach that level.”

Michael’s smile widened a bit. “I think it’s been established that I’m very far from normal, Miss Lupa.”

“Yeah. You’re absolutely bright,” she said with a bit of a flush to her cheeks and a slightly breathy voice.

Michael smirked a bit and inclined his head at her. “I’ll be taking my leave now. It was nice seeing you first thing in the morning, Miss Lupa. If it’s not too much to ask, please tell Miss Rema that I’ll be looking forward to seeing her when I come out.” With that said, Michael smiled at her and only waited for her to nod at him before he turned away from her and began to make his way towards the stairs that led to the entrance room of The Dungeon.

Lupa couldn’t help the excited twitch of her ears as she watched him walk away with an intense expression and a lightly blushing face.

-XXX-

The moment he appeared within the first floor of The Dungeon, Michael noticed that he was in a section that he had not been in yesterday, which worked perfectly for him since he could start exploring new parts of the floor right away.

When five goblins spawned in front of him a few seconds after he started moving forward, Michael decided to use the opportunity to test one of the theories he had about advancing his elemental manipulation skills and the one he felt had more chances of being successful.

Michael focused on his [Fire Manipulation] and showed the incoming goblins the opened palm of his right hand covered in flames. Using his significantly increased mental and magical capabilities, he used the control he had over his flames and shaped them into a condensed ball of fire that had about the size of his own head. With a smirk he sent the sphere of fire towards the goblins…

Fire Manipulation Subskill ‘Firebolt’ acquired.

Fire Manipulation has reached LVL 5.

… and watched gleefully as three of them were engulfed in an explosion of fire and smoke when it collided with one of the goblins at the front of the charge. When it cleared out, Michael saw the the goblin with which [Firebolt] had collided had been turned into chunks of charred flesh before it dispersed while the other two goblins were squealing in agony and rolling on the ground because they were covered in flames.

The remaining two goblins charged towards him and Michael raised his other hand. The one that had been used to channel [Fire Manipulation] was now cackling with electricity while the newly raised left hand had swirling transparent green winds swirling around it. Focusing on his [Lightning Manipulation] and [Wind Manipulation], Michael began to take his ability with those elements to the next level.

It had not taken him long to realize that the name of the skills themselves basically told him what he needed to do in order to advance the skills. The further he could take his ability to ‘manipulate’ the elements of fire, wind, lightning, earth and water, the further the skills of his [Elementalist] class would grow.

Lightning Manipulation Subskill ‘Thundershock’ acquired.

Lightning Manipulation has reached LVL 5.

Wind Manipulation Subskill ‘Twister’ acquired.

Wind Manipulation has reached LVL 5.

Michael watched with glee and delight as lightning arched from his right hand and electrocuted one of the goblins into a crisp while from his left hand a funnel of twisting and swirling transparent green winds shredded the other goblin to pieces as it passed trough and around it.

He then noticed the goblins that had been covered in flames slowly rising to their feet as the flames had finally consumed the magical power that had been fueling them. They were grimacing and snarling in pain since their bodies were deeply burned by his flames. Michael decided to use them to finish advancing the rest of his elemental skills.

With [Water Manipulation] he created a sphere of swirling water that exploded in contact with one of the goblins and bathed the surrounding area with highly pressurized water in all directions after the goblin dispersed because the force of the attack had been enough to kill it.

And with [Earth Manipulation], Michael made two small walls of earth that were as thick as his torso rise from the ground at either side of the slowly moving goblin with a upwards motion with his hand. Michael then clapped his hands and the two walls of earth crushed the goblin into a bloody paste in between them before it dispersed.

Water Manipulation Subskill ‘Pulse’ acquired.

Water Manipulation has reached LVL 5.

Earth Manipulation Subskill ‘Earth Wall’ acquired.

Earth Manipulation has reached LVL 5.

Michael quickly collected the five essence crystals and put them into one of the six bags he had now attached to his belt. He had no delusions about the fact that he would be acquiring even more essence crystals today than he did yesterday and he had managed to completely fill up three of those bags by the time he had called it quits for the day. And now, after acquiring his new subskills, Michael felt that twice the number of bags wouldn’t be nearly enough.

‘Perhaps should I invest in a Bag of Holding in the future?’ He thought to himself with pleased amusement.

Michael watched the walls in front of him rippling and five more goblins spawned a few feet away from him. As he unsheathed his claymore and charged at them with gleaming eyes and a savage grin on his face, Michel filed in that thought in the back of his mind for further consideration later on. He had some goblins to kill, about eighty percent of a dungeon floor to explore and possibly (and hopefully) a floor boss to defeat and kill.