The Chaos Javelin he saw in the simulation emitted such a powerful aura. James didn't really believe he could manifest such a power in real life. He, a lowly mortal, handling such power? It felt like sacrilege just thinking it.

Only when he lifted his hand and felt the same rush of power wash over him did he finally believe it.

When the javelin materialized, everybody in the room felt it.

Helios and Lunaris couldn’t help but smile proudly. Their friend was becoming more powerful in front of their very eyes. They did find it a bit regretful that they had to throw him to the wolves and sit back and watch for it to happen. But such was the nature of power, only through struggle and effort real power is gained.

As soon as it sensed the Javelin's aura, the lich froze in place for a moment. It even completely stopped attacking. This wasn't just a random skeleton, it smart enough to know just how much of a threat the Javelin was. And it didn’t waste another second, it turned around and tried to bolt out of there as soon as possible.

But James wouldn’t let it get away that easily.

He could feel the javelin yearning to be released. The overwhelming power ached to be used.

With all his might, he threw the javelin towards the lich. James’s pitiful muscles weren’t able to throw very far, but his throw was inconsequential. The javelin almost seemed to have a mind of its own as it torpedoed at blinding speeds toward the skeleton.

It was so fast that in the blink of an eye, it was already over.

The lich’s defenses were so powerful that James’s saws did no damage when they exploded.

But those defenses apparently were meaningless against the Chaos Javelin.

The Javelin was so fast that, naturally, strong gusts of air were created as it flew. As such, when the air hit James, he closed his eyes involuntarily, for just a moment.

But even that was too much. It was already over, and it happened so fast that he didn't see a thing. There wasn't even anything left to be seen, no aftermath! It was as if the lich had been completely erased from this world. Not even ashes were left, it was as if the lich never even existed.

The spell was so powerful that it didn’t even leave a trace of its enemies.

Naturally, there was a drawback. The cost was much bigger than expected, even though James deliberately created a spell that required a lot of mana, not even he expected this much mana to be used

He cast plenty of spells that used all of his mana in an instant, but this felt different. As if he had gone way beyond what he had available. As if every single resource he had in his body and soul had been drained in order to cast the spell.

James’s mana channels were aching from overuse, more than they ever had before. Not only was his mana pool empty, it wasn't even regenerating anymore.

When he told them, his friends were quick to console him.

“Don’t worry." Lunaris said." This isn't exactly something good or even common, but it's not unheard of. That's what happens when you use a spell way above your level, above your body's and soul's strength. Usually you shouldn't have been able to use such a spell at all, but there are always exceptions and special cases in life I suppose. Frankly, it’s a miracle that you were even able to think of such a spell. But for every blessing there is a penalty. You probably won’t be able to regenerate any mana for a short while.”

Lunaris sounded empathetic and caring, but she also had a bit of glee in her voice. Even if James had to pay a price for it, having access to such a powerful spell was definitely a very good thing.

“Wait, how long is a while?” James asked in a bit of a panic. They were still in the Soul Grinder, he needed to be able to use mana.

“Could be minutes, hours or even days.” Lunaris said in a serious tone. As happy as she was for James's new power, he was right to be concerned. They still had an untold number of monsters ahead of them.

“All right, I’ll set up the strongest formation I know. Let’s try to wait it out and buff up in the meantime. But we should hurry, we've been here long enough, and this place gives me the creeps. It's even worse than the first time I was here.” Helios said while looking around, spitting after every other word. After their levels were allowed to be over 100, he was probably strong enough to deal with any monster on this floor of the Soul Grinder. But after the sabotage, he was sure the Darkness had more surprises in store for the.

While he was recovering, James told them about the Chaos Javelin.

“A Chaos spell, huh?” Neither Helios nor Lunaris could hide the surprise from their faces.

“I was very confused about how you managed to cast such a powerful spell, but that explains it.” Helios grinned and gave James a thumbs up.

“Chaos is some very advanced magic, James. Very few can actually use it. That Arcane Simulation of yours is becoming more and more intriguing. But perhaps it’s not just the simulation, it’s your way of thinking, who you are – that’s what led you to the insights that allowed you to create the Chaos Javelin, isn’t it?” Lunaris asked.

James hadn’t even told them that detail yet, but Lunaris already guessed what had happened. He could see why she had been so interested in the Darkness initially. She truly had a knowledgeable, curious and scholarly mind.

“Aye, that kind of spell can only be created with some serious insight. I don’t know if it’s luck or something else, but I’m really proud of you mate!” Helios said while smiling. He was so excited he didn't know what to do with his hands, so he gave James a high five.

James then told them about how, apparently, some gods took notice of his actions.

He probably should’ve waited for a better moment though, as Helios was eating a cookie and Lunaris was drinking some tea. Both of them spat out and started choking out of sheer surprise. James jumped up, about to perform the Heimlich maneuver.

“Are you serious? You’re not just pulling my leg, are you?” Helios asked incredulously, still coughing.

“If this is a prank, it’s not funny. It’s not a prank, right?” Lunaris had tea coming out of her nose.

They believed him, of course. but the news was just so bizarre and unexpected that it took them a while to actually believe it. When you hear something that shocking, it takes a while to register.

“Wow, even I don’t know what that means! I don’t know even know anybody who would know what that means.” Lunaris not knowing something was a big deal. James was an infant compared to her when it came to actual knowledge about this world. If Lunaris didn’t know what to make of it, he had even less of an idea.

“We should probably keep this between us for now.” Helios said. “If we don’t know what it means, and the Aetherweb or the library won’t have any information about it, then we should keep it a secret. You’ve already exposed yourself enough, we made that mistake once already. Right now you don’t need more variables that could attract unwanted attention.”

It wasn't James’s style to keep such things hidden, it just didn’t feel right. James was a quirky little man. Usually, having a secret like that would have eaten at him. In his past life, James didn’t have a lot to brag or be proud about. So now he didn’t feel like hiding the few things he could take pride in.

But he knew Helios was absolutely right. And he had to grow up, he wasn’t a kid anymore. Besides, his real treasures were his friends. In comparison, boasting about some gods looking at him seemed insignificant. And by keeping it a secret, he not only would prevent trouble for himself, but more importantly, he wouldn't put his friends in any unnecessary danger. When he reminded himself of that, it became simplicity itself to keep it a secret.

After they rested for a while and were all buffed up, James finally started to recover his mana slowly.

“It’s still not recovering at its usual rate, but I guess it’ll fix itself soon.” James said. “What now, though?”

“I think you forgot something.” Helios said.

James looked around confused. He thought maybe the lich dropped some loot, but even if it did, it would’ve been disintegrated along with the lich.

“You didn’t check if you got any xp you got from the lich!” Lunaris reminded him.

James had been so swept up by the excitement of creating the Chaos Javelin that he had totally forgotten about xp.

[You are level 103]

“Nope. Same level, damn it. Didn't get any xp at all.” James felt the same kind of disappointment as the time when he bought a cake and it turned out the bakery had used salt instead of sugar.

But he wasn't very disappointed, the benefit of having a spell as powerful as the Chaos Javelin was bigger than whatever paltry amount of levels he would've gotten.

“Wait, the whole point of liches is that they are almost immortal, right? Maybe I need to destroy its phylactery or whatever to get the xp." James said, still craving some xp after all.

"You are right about the phylactery, but I doubt it." Helios answered. He then looked around the room. His eyes suddenly burst into flames as he was scanning the room.

James was shocked for a second, but then he remembered that Helios seemed to be immune to his own fire.

Helios seemed to detect something under the stone floor. He took his fist and enveloped it in fire, striking the floor.

From the smoldering crater, he pulled out something that looked like a fancy vial.

"Look, don't get your hopes up, but smash this thing." Helios said.

James took the phylactery, and threw it with all his might into a nearby wall. But nothing happened.

"Uhh, I meant use some magic. I told you before that your body was puny, mate. You should work out with me sometime, I'll make you big and strong in no time." Helios said while laughing.

Slightly embarrassed, James decided to destroy this thing in one strike. It would be embarrassing to fail again. So he cast one of his most powerful spells, the Razorice Saw. At least this slow spell that turned out to be almost useless in combat with competent foes could have a use now.

The powerful saw struck the phylactery, breaking it. But James wasn't satisfied, he had to be absolutely sure that the lich was done for, so he made the saw grind down every particle of the vial. By the time the saw was done, the phylactery had been evaporated just like the lich.

But he still received no xp.

"So it seems our suspicions were right." Lunaris stated. "The reason you're not receiving xp anymore is also because of whatever that agent did. If I had to guess, he might've been watching us remotely. Once we defeated the spiders, he realized his plans were foiled, so he decided to stick it to us some other way."

It wasn't all bad. James chose to look at the bright side. The lich’s tough defenses pushed him to develop a powerful spell. Maybe he should just be grateful for that.

"I think it's a fair bet that the rest of the monsters on this floor won't give any xp either." Helios said. "If that's the case, let’s just rush to the elevator as quickly as possible."

"It’s unfortunate you can’t squeeze many more levels out of this place, but you’ve already made quite a lot of progress anyway.” Lunaris added.

"And don't worry, brother. After your awakening, we'll find some place to grind even more levels. With the two of us next to you, you'll be even level 200 in no time at all!"

Great friends and quick levels. James felt like the luckiest person out of all the universes in all of existence.

Seeing as there wasn't any xp to be gained in the Soul Grinder anymore, the group decided to rush towards the exit even faster than before.

Lunaris and Helios removed their dampening, allowing them to use the full extent of their powers. They still had to be cautious, but now that their only mission was to escape, things would go much quicker.