A Roc flies majestically high in the sky, looking regal and proud as it scans the ground for prey. The large beast resembles a falcon with long forward-facing horns. It coats itself in Earth mana, not Air or some other element that I would have expected from a flying monster; it even has a Metal Bond, which must have influenced its race as its feathers appear metallic.

Sky Blade Roc (Exalted), Level 1124 Sky Tyrant (Exalted), Level 1055 Earth Lord (Heroic), Level 912 Unbreakable Body (Heroic), Level 2432 Steel Bond

It is a powerful monster far above my weight class, but still, it is something I want to test my new strength against. Stress testing my abilities will reveal my strengths and weaknesses, making such a powerful monster a perfect training partner.

In a surprise attack, I attempt to rip the vitality from it, succeeding only in drawing out a slow trickle as it resists my attack with an infuriated screech. Next, I gather mana around it to suffocate it with mana toxicity, but after a few seconds, I see that it’s not killing it quick enough, so I abandon that method of attack. I then enforce my will upon the mana to turn it into an ice spell while compressing the mana to a liquid form and applying magic to it to enhance the spell effect, much like how I would use magic to enhance an enchantment before casting the spell and freezing the large bird in the air.

A wave of frost ripples out from the Roc, and ice builds up on it. All the air within a kilometer suddenly liquefies and falls to the ground. Frozen carbon dioxide flutters down like snow, and still, the Roc survived! The Roc screeches in pain and begins to fall but catches itself once warm air rushes in to fill the sudden vacuum, and it has warmed up enough.

The Roc scans the ground in fury before spotting my clone, and in a rage, it dives, zooming toward the ground like a cannon, a cone of mist forming around it as the sound roars behind it. It lands, crashing into the ground with an explosion, cratering the mountain slope and causing a landslide as the rock formation crumbles from the impact.

How is that thing still alive?!

More than that, it seems to be consuming Earth mana to replenish its vitality and heal its wounds!

There has to be a better way to cast the spells. I didn’t need to freeze the air, just the Roc. Maybe instead of making the spell more powerful with magic, I make it more concentrated? It doesn’t matter how strong a spell is if over half of the spell is wasted on collateral damage.

Noticing my clone is seemingly unharmed by its attack, it pecks at it, slamming its beak into the ground with boulder-crushing force, the sound of the impacts like the booms of cannons. Next, it scratches at my clone, raking the destroyed ground with its overly large talons.

I gather more mana, this time turning it into a lightning spell and striking the Roc with such force, it is blasted away from the mountainside as arcs of energy crackle in the air and smoke rises from the Roc. This time the explosion is far more contained, but a shock wave still expands from the attack, crackling lightning rolling through the air.

The Roc hits the ground and rolls down the slope in a daze as I remove all the mana from its vicinity to prevent it from healing, gathering more mana for another spell, but I am starting to run out. The mana will fill in what I took but not as quick as I need it to; in other words, I am running out, and unless I draw it from myself, which is nothing compared to what I need, then defeating this oversized bird is going to take a long time, if I can even do it at all.

However, that is to be expected. The Roc is over level three thousand, but slaying it was not the goal; exposing my weaknesses was. I lack the firepower and the control to make my spells efficient, and I don’t have access to unlimited mana, despite my ability to use the mana in my surroundings. Monsters can resist my attacks through sheer stats and level disparity, which means that no matter how strong my skill is, I have to train my Bond and Classes if I want to compete against truly powerful beings.

I stop attacking the Roc since I won’t be able to defeat it and start planning my next training session with Kayafe.

“You need to level up your Classes,” Kayafe says.

“And my Bond,” I add, to which Kayafe rolls her eyes.

“Anyway,” she continues, “you should try to get your Classes to Level one thousand as soon as you can; this will unlock the third Class for you, which you can then make into a powerful caster Class. Alternatively, you can just reset your Classes since they aren’t that advanced; in just a few days, you can be back to where you are now if you choose caster Classes that benefit from your [Manipulate Magic].”

“Perhaps my first Class, but I am not changing my second; my clones are too useful.”

Perhaps I should reset my first Class? But it helps me with operating my clones at a very far distance which may become very useful after evolving. I’ll wait on that for some time.

“Of course, but you still need to level up your Classes.”

“Already on it,” I reply. Ever since I returned to this Dungeon, I’ve had several Clones fighting in other dens using my Bond, and I’ve gained two levels, about one per day. That is still slow; it will still take two to three years to get to the next threshold of my Bond. I need a better way to train it.

Evolving my Bond skills should grant me three or four levels each, which is a good bonus, but I am running out of ways to improve them. Safyr said that Bonds have infinite potential, so there is definitely something I am missing.

I’ve seen Safyr and other dragons fight, and Klaman can somehow hide with his Bond, but how? They all defy the limits that are indicated by the mana usage, but considering that Bonds are, according to theory, divinity, perhaps it is the divine aspect that I am missing, or more accurately, not training right.

Let's go back to the basics. At first, leveling up the Bond was about familiarizing oneself with it. Learning what it can do and familiarizing myself with it on a conceptual level. Next, more of the same, but getting a deeper understanding of it. Then it was ‘Bonding’ with it, incorporating it in every facet of my life and putting my trust into it. Bonding with it gave me my Bond presence at level five hundred, and after that, it was about mastering everything about my Bond, from the technical mana usage, to the conceptual forms and integration of beauty in my life, which strengthened my Bond presence.

How do I go up from here? Kayafe said something about combining my anima and Bond, one’s the concept of my life, and the other is my concept of beauty; they are both conceptual in nature. Well, Bonds are more than a concept, but they have that aspect.

So, how do I go about mixing and fusing my anima and Bond? There has to be a hint in everything I’ve done so far. Familiarizing, this is learning, or perhaps even developing my concept of beauty, then comes understanding that concept, which leads to bonding with it superficially; this gave me my Bond presence. I think this is the key. My Bond presence is a projection of the concept of my Bond, so instead of projecting it, what if I direct it inward?

I control my breathing and focus on my Bond’s presence, trying to shift inward. I’ve learned how to hold it back. I’ve learned how to selectively affect people with it; now, this is the next step.

Little by little, I feel the shift in my Bond and feel… something… it’s indescribable; the only words I can think of is that it feels ‘right’.

Ting! Your Bond has obtained levels 1042-1044!

I’m doing something right if I suddenly gain two levels!

It will still take weeks, if not months, of training to master this, but I think it’s something I should work on with every waking moment. A slow and gradual improvement, like how I practiced holding back my presence and the selectivity of it.

The odd thing is, however, that instead of weakening my presence by directing it inward, it is instead strengthened, like it is getting intensified before leaking back out.

All of this shows that I still have a lot to learn when it comes to my Bond. Also, since this will be how I will level up my Bond, I can focus more on leveling up my Classes now. It’s been a while since I last power leveled my Classes and Bond, but I recall the best way for doing so is high risk, and highly challenging battles are the best way to get experience, or rather aether if I want to be technical with it.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Uloru swings her hammer down upon the Grasscythe mantis in front of her as it leaps out from around the corner of an overgrown building. The chitin cracks loudly, and the monster jumps back in pain. She follows it, not letting it gain distance, keeping her ears perked up in case more of them show up as she hammers the monster again and again.

She hears the battle of Kadona fighting another as a third leaps into the fray, but Uloru flips its gravity, so it falls upward and away. One for each of them is way more than enough, considering the high level of these monsters.

Irela and Jowaru are both fighting three together, but since they are higher level, this is what they feel they can take on now.

With each hit, Uloru makes her foe heavier with [Weighted Strike], increasing the gravity pulling on it until it is immobile on the ground. That is when Uloru delivers the finishing blow to the mandibled head, spraying gore over her boots and all over the ground. Around the same time, Kadona had dispatched her own foe.

“Level five hundred!” Uloru celebrates reaching the level milestone for her first Class.

While Kadona congratulates her, Irela and Jowaru have gathered the attention of more Grasscythe Mantises, the rivalry of those two pushing each other well into the mid-five hundreds.

“Let's take a small break so you can evolve your Class,” Kadona says, keeping watch on the two metal manipulators.

It doesn’t take Uloru long to decide on her Class, and soon, they are back at it again, carefully getting the attention of a few monsters at a time. With monsters that can be well into the level six hundred range, this place is great for leveling up, but also very dangerous. Normally, Uloru and Kadona work only as a pair, but in this case, Esofy wouldn’t let them, or Irela and Jowaru be here unless they all came together. So it is a surprise when they all start hearing another fight nearby.

“No one else should be allowed here. Should we investigate?” Irela asks.

“I’ll scout it out,” Kadona says, scanning around with her perceptive area. “...I think it's Alysara. Whatever the monsters are fighting doesn’t have any life, so I assume it’s Alysara’s clone, but we should be cautious and confirm.”

The others nod, and they sneak over to the sounds of explosions and screaming monsters. It is not hard since all the noise covered their footsteps and drew the attention of the nearby monsters.

Sure enough, they find several five-tailed, young women with gold-tipped, royal blue hair wearing black eyewraps are conjuring fairies and striking the Grasscythe Mantises with spears and daggers.

She can definitely use more practice with her weapons. Alysara is fighting off a dozen monsters with seven clones and weaving illusions to disorient the monsters, even making them attack each other.

“More tails,” Jowaru comments with an indifferent huff.

They watch for a few moments, still on guard in case any monsters try to sneak up on them. If they get involved, then the monster kills will count as party kills, so it’s rude to help unless asked or the other person is obviously in over their head. Considering Alysara’s clones can’t be hurt, they opted to stand by and observe how Alysara has improved over the years.

However, a sudden hum echoes around them like a musical chime, and a presence very similar to Alysara’s, but somehow different, envelopes them. The Grasscythe Mantises jump away in fright, almost as if by reflex, only seconds before they are suddenly blasted by beams of light as a massive winged monster appears.

Its enormous wings and fur shimmer with dancing light, seemingly made of the stuff. Its eyes shine like twinkling stars, while its antennae wave with all the grace and elegance in the world. Its six legs are each tipped with a sickle-like claw, and a long stinger is raised behind it, poised to strike.

Prismatic Butterfly Hunter (Exalted), Level 964 World Weaver (Exalted), Level 895 Beauty Caller (Heroic), Level 2068 Beauty Bond.