10: Chapter 9 — How Are You Already Level Seven?
10: Chapter 9 — How Are You Already Level Seven?
Deep within the forest, several Skeleton Warriors had already spread out in different directions, surrounding the Level 8 Thorn Guardian.
Kyle remained outside its attack range without immediately giving the order to attack.
The sudden ambush earlier had not only shown him the strength of a Level 8 monster for the first time, but had also unexpectedly allowed him to confirm how Undying Substitute worked in actual combat.
When the Thorn Guardian’s branch struck him directly, Kyle himself had barely felt a thing.
The damage that should have landed on his body had been transferred to a nearby Skeleton Warrior instead.
Seeing it happen was far more convincing than simply reading the skill description.
But there was something else Kyle wanted to know now.
How well could his Level 5 Skeleton Warriors perform against a Level 8 monster that hadn’t been deliberately weakened?
He looked ahead.
The Thorn Guardian had completely awakened from its camouflage.
The branches that had appeared perfectly ordinary moments ago were now raised around its trunk, while long, slender vines covered in sharp thorns swayed through the air.
Two dark-red lights glowed from the center of its trunk like a pair of eyes fixed on Kyle.
It might not be capable of pursuing distant targets, but that certainly didn’t mean it lacked offensive power.
Any living creature that entered its range would immediately be attacked.
Kyle observed it for a moment before issuing an order through his mental connection.
“Attack.” The surrounding Skeleton Warriors moved at once.
Several charged straight into its attack range from the front, while the others circled around from both sides.
The moment the first Skeleton Warrior approached, several thick vines snapped upward.
A sharp crack rang through the forest.
The Skeleton Warrior at the front took the blow directly and staggered sideways.
A visible fracture appeared across its shoulder bone.
Kyle’s eyes narrowed slightly.
The Thorn Guardian was indeed much stronger than the monsters he had encountered earlier.
But a moment later, Kyle noticed something interesting.
Although the Thorn Guardian would attack the Skeleton Warriors, it didn’t focus on them the same way it had focused on Kyle.
These undead possessed no living aura.
Unless they actively threatened it, the Thorn Guardian seemed unwilling to pay much attention to them.
That made things much easier.
While the first Skeleton Warrior occupied one of the vines, two others reached the trunk.
Their damaged blades fell almost simultaneously.
The rough bark split open in two places.
But unlike the lower-level monsters from earlier, the Thorn Guardian didn’t collapse.
Its entire trunk shook violently as more vines lashed outward.
One Skeleton Warrior was swept away, but another didn’t retreat at all.
The moment it regained its footing, it raised its sword and attacked again.
More Skeleton Warriors joined the fight.
For a time, the forest was filled with the sharp cracks of whipping vines and the heavy impacts of damaged blades striking wood.
Kyle remained outside the battle and watched.
A Level 8 monster could indeed inflict real damage on his Skeleton Warriors.
The problem was…
there was only one Thorn Guardian.
Kyle had an entire group.
A vine would knock back a Skeleton Warrior on the left, only for two more to rush in from the right.
The moment it managed to send one enemy flying from the front, another attack would strike the trunk from behind.
The Thorn Guardian had plenty of vines, but not enough to defend every direction at once.
Kyle didn’t even use Soul Flame.
He wanted to test the combat ability of his Skeleton Warriors themselves, so there was no reason to interfere yet.
After observing for a short while, he already had his answer.
A single Level 5 Skeleton Warrior would have a difficult time defeating a Level 8 Thorn Guardian.
Several attacking together were a completely different matter.
That was the advantage of numbers.
The damaged blades struck again and again.
Cracks spread deeper across the trunk, while the Thorn Guardian’s movements gradually slowed.
Finally, a heavy splitting sound echoed through the trees.
The center of the trunk was cleaved open.
The vines that had been lashing wildly through the air instantly lost their strength and drooped toward the ground.
The two dark-red lights faded away.
[Level 8 Thorn Guardian successfully killed.] [Experience gained.] Kyle checked the change in his experience.
Compared with the Level 6 and Level 7 monsters from earlier, the experience provided by a Level 8 monster was noticeably better.
More importantly, he had gotten the answer he wanted.
His current Skeleton Warriors were capable of dealing with Level 8 monsters at their normal strength.
They could no longer defeat them as effortlessly as the weaker monsters from before, but as long as Kyle took advantage of his numbers, there still wasn’t much of a problem.
That meant he already had the foundation needed to move into higher-level areas.
Kyle didn’t leave immediately.
He first returned the more heavily damaged Skeleton Warriors to his Summoning Space so they could gradually recover.
Then he continued deeper into the forest.
After the first encounter, things became much easier.
Thorn Guardians were skilled at camouflage, and they wouldn’t actively attack Skeleton Warriors that lacked any signs of life.
Simply sending his summons out to search for them wasn’t very efficient.
So Kyle changed his approach.
The Skeleton Warriors moved ahead to check the surrounding area while Kyle advanced slowly from a relatively safe position.
Whenever a Thorn Guardian sensed his living presence and awakened from its camouflage, the Skeleton Warriors immediately surrounded it.
The method wasn’t especially fast, but it was reliable.
A second Thorn Guardian.
Then a third.
Then a fourth.
As the number of battles increased, Kyle gradually became familiar with these plant monsters.
Their greatest advantages were camouflage and surprise attacks.
Once their positions were exposed in advance, however, their threat dropped considerably.
That was especially true against Skeleton Warriors that neither feared injury nor cared about pain.
The Thorn Guardians’ usual method of disrupting an enemy with sudden attacks simply wasn’t as effective.
Kyle didn’t remain a spectator forever.
Once he confirmed that his Skeleton Warriors could handle the battles consistently, he began testing his own offensive skill.
The first time he used Soul Flame in actual combat, he was still somewhat cautious.
Kyle raised his staff.
Spirit flowed rapidly through his arm, gathering at the tip.
A gray-blue flame silently appeared.
It gave off no heat.
If anything, the surrounding temperature dropped slightly the moment it formed.
Kyle locked onto a Thorn Guardian that was fighting several Skeleton Warriors.
“Soul Flame.” The gray-blue flame shot forward.
Instead of igniting the bark like an ordinary flame, it sank directly into the Thorn Guardian’s trunk.
The monster suddenly shuddered violently.
The dark-red lights in its trunk flickered, and its attacking rhythm faltered for an instant.
The Skeleton Warriors didn’t waste the opportunity.
Several damaged blades fell one after another.
Before long, the Thorn Guardian collapsed.
Kyle looked down at his staff thoughtfully.
Soul Flame didn’t cause damage in the same obvious way as a Skeleton Warrior’s blade.
Instead, it seemed to affect the target directly from within.
At the very least, against creatures that possessed souls, the skill should be much more effective than an ordinary attack.
As for exactly how powerful it could become, Kyle would need to test it against more types of monsters in the future.
There would be plenty of opportunities.
Time passed quickly through one battle after another.
Kyle’s level continued to rise.
Level 5.
Then Level 6.
As Summon Skeleton Warrior leveled alongside him, the overall strength of his Skeleton Warriors increased again.
And every time Kyle leveled up and his Spirit was fully restored, part of that Spirit was converted into new summons.
More and more gray-white figures began appearing throughout the forest.
Kyle never tried to fill his entire Summoning Space in one go.
He always kept enough Spirit in reserve.
That way, if something unexpected happened, he could still use Soul Flame or summon additional Skeleton Warriors when necessary.
By late afternoon, Kyle finally stopped again.
The glow of another level-up gradually faded from around him.
[Level increased.] [Current Level: 7.] Kyle stared at the number for a moment.
Level 7.
Faster than he had originally expected.
He could certainly continue hunting here and still gain experience.
But the efficiency had already begun to fall.
As Kyle’s level increased, Level 8 monsters provided less and less progress, and the monsters in this deepest section of the trial zone weren’t particularly dense to begin with.
Instead of spending the rest of the day here, it would be better to end today’s training, return home, and prepare to enter the areas outside the city.
Kyle didn’t believe that using every last minute of the permitted trial time was automatically worthwhile.
Time itself wasn’t what mattered.
Efficiency was.
Besides, he had already accomplished the most important things he had come here to do.
He had confirmed the combat ability of his Skeleton Warriors.
Tested Undying Substitute.
Used Soul Flame in real combat for the first time.
Fought Level 8 monsters at their normal strength.
And…
reached Level 7.
That was enough.
Kyle took out his trial pass, which was kept beside the emergency badge.
It included an option to leave the trial zone voluntarily.
Rather than search for another monster, Kyle recalled the nearby Skeleton Warriors one after another.
After confirming that none were missing, he activated the exit function.
White light gradually covered the forest around him.
A moment later, Kyle disappeared.
When he opened his eyes again, he was back inside the trial hall.
The staff member responsible for registration was sitting behind the counter.
Hearing the teleportation array activate, the man instinctively glanced at the time on the wall before looking at Kyle.
“Leaving early?” “Yeah.” “Are you injured?” “No.” The man looked slightly surprised.
Several students had already left early today, but most had done so because of injuries or excessive Spirit consumption.
Kyle was the first to come out looking completely fine.
“You sure you don’t want to go back in?” “I’ve done enough for today.” The staff member nodded and didn’t ask further.
“Give me your pass.
I need to register your level.” Kyle handed it over.
The man placed the pass on the detection platform.
A faint light swept across it.
Then his hand stopped.
[Level: 7] He looked down at the result again.
Then back at Kyle.
“Level Seven?” “Yeah.” The man’s expression became strange.
He had worked at the beginner trial zone for years.
Of course he knew what level newly awakened students usually reached on their first day.
Level 3 was normal.
Level 4 was already excellent.
Level 5 was extremely rare.
But Level 7…
The man remained silent for several seconds before finally writing the number into the registration record.
“All right.
You’re done.” Kyle took back his pass.
“Thank you.” He turned and left.
The staff member, however, couldn’t help glancing at the registration record again.
Level 7.
And he had left early by choice.
The man suddenly found himself wondering just what kind of class Westport First Academy had awakened this year.
By evening, the trial hall had become lively again.
Students from the various academies gradually returned after finishing their first day of training.
After hours of fighting, much of the excitement they had shown that morning had been replaced by exhaustion.
Some walked out rubbing sore arms.
Others had claw marks across their protective gear.
Several Spirit-based professionals looked pale, clearly having drained most of their reserves.
Even so, most of them were in excellent moods.
After all, this was the first time they had truly fought using their awakened classes.
The changes brought by leveling up also allowed them to experience firsthand just how different awakened professionals were from ordinary people.
The students from Westport First Academy gathered again on one side of the hall.
When Gavin came out, several fresh claw marks covered his shield.
He looked dusty and exhausted, but his expression was unusually energetic.
“Level Three!” The moment he found the others, he couldn’t wait to announce it.
“I made it to Level Three!” A Support Class student beside him couldn’t help pointing something out.
“We’re both Level Three.” “That’s different.” Gavin patted his shield proudly.
“I got hit more.” The other student stared at him.
“Is that supposed to be something worth bragging about?” “What kind of Sword-and-Shield Knight doesn’t get hit?” Gavin sounded completely justified.
Several students nearby immediately burst out laughing.
Not long afterward, Erin emerged from the exit.
Compared with most of the others, she looked considerably better.
There was some dust on her clothes and a small tear along one sleeve where a branch had caught it, but she had no obvious injuries.
Still, after fighting for so long, fatigue was visible on her face.
Gavin spotted her almost immediately.
“Erin!” “What level?” Erin glanced at him.
“Five.” Gavin had been preparing to show off his Level 3 achievement.
The rest of the sentence disappeared immediately.
“Level Five?” Several nearby students turned toward her.
Erin nodded.
She was genuinely satisfied with the result.
Reaching Level 5 on her first day inside the trial zone was already far beyond what an ordinary student could accomplish.
More importantly, she had become much more familiar with several of her Elementalist skills.
After using them in actual combat, she was increasingly certain that the class suited her perfectly.
But after the initial satisfaction passed, Erin quickly noticed someone was missing.
“Where’s Kyle?” Gavin was wiping down his shield.
“Haven’t seen him.” Erin searched the surrounding crowd.
Kyle was nowhere to be found.
At first, she assumed he simply hadn’t come out yet.
But after waiting for a while, nearly all the students from Westport First Academy had gathered, and there was still no sign of him.
Erin frowned.
“He’s not still inside, is he?” “Probably not.” The teacher leading their group overheard them.
“Kyle finished his trial this afternoon.” “This afternoon?” Erin froze.
He had left early?
Her first thought was that he might have been injured.
But the teacher didn’t look concerned at all.
“He’s fine.
He simply chose to end today’s training early.” That confused Erin even more.
From what she knew of Kyle, he might not talk much, but he certainly wasn’t someone who would waste training time for no reason.
Could it be that Necromancers weren’t as good at sustained combat as she had expected?
Before she could think any further, a staff member called out from the other side of the hall.
“Each academy, check today’s level records.
If anything is wrong, report it now.” The large record crystal on the wall lit up.
Information about the students who had entered the trial zone that day appeared, arranged by academy.
The students quickly gathered around it.
Erin wasn’t particularly interested at first.
Then Gavin suddenly shouted.
“Wait!” “Is this wrong?” Several people jumped at his voice.
“What are you yelling about?” Gavin pointed at the crystal.
“Kyle!” “Did they register Kyle’s level wrong?” Erin instinctively followed his finger.
[Kyle Gray] [Westport First Academy] [Current Level: 7] Her eyes stopped moving.
Level 7?
Erin’s first reaction was that she had misread it.
She checked again.
Still seven.
Not five.
Not six.
Seven.
The students around them had already started talking.
“Didn’t he awaken yesterday?” “We all awakened yesterday.” “Didn’t he leave in the afternoon?” “So he was already Level Seven when he stopped early?” Erin said nothing.
She looked down at her own trial pass.
Level 5.
A moment ago, she had thought it was an excellent result.
Then she looked up again.
Kyle.
Level 7.
And he had finished before she did.
Erin stared at the number for several seconds before finally turning toward Gavin.
“How did he level that fast?” Gavin looked even more confused than she did.
“You’re asking me?” “I didn’t even see him once today.” Erin fell silent.
Fair enough.
Kyle was a Necromancer.
The ones actually fighting for him were those Skeleton Warriors.
She remembered the shabby skeleton she had seen at the academy yesterday.
It was difficult to connect that cracked, junkyard-looking thing with someone reaching Level 7 in a single day.
She had originally assumed that her Elementalist class would at least give her an advantage in early leveling speed.
Now…
apparently not.
Just then, a familiar figure appeared at the entrance of the hall.
Kyle had returned.
After leaving the trial zone early, he had gone home first.
Once he had finished dealing with a few things, he returned as required by the academy to complete the day’s final registration.
The moment he entered the hall, he noticed quite a few people looking at him.
Kyle slowed slightly.
What happened?
Before he could figure it out, Erin had already stepped out of the crowd.
She walked straight up to him, looked him over to make sure he really wasn’t injured, and immediately asked, “What time did you leave?” Kyle thought for a moment.
“Afternoon.” “I know it was afternoon.” Erin was clearly dissatisfied with the answer.
“I’m asking why you left so early.” “The efficiency dropped.” Kyle answered naturally.
Erin blinked.
“What efficiency?” “Experience.” Kyle looked at her.
“The monsters weren’t high enough level.” Erin went quiet.
Gavin, who had been listening from the side, slowly raised his head.
Kyle didn’t seem to think there was anything unusual about what he had said.
Once he reached Level 7, the experience gained from killing Level 8 monsters had already dropped noticeably.
Staying there any longer simply wasn’t efficient.
That was all.
Erin, however, heard something entirely different.
He hadn’t left early because he was tired.
He hadn’t been injured.
And it wasn’t because Necromancers were bad at prolonged combat.
He had left because…
the monsters in the beginner trial zone were already too low-level for him.
Erin pressed her lips together.
Then she finally asked the question she cared about most.
“You’re really Level Seven?” “Yeah.” Kyle nodded.
“You went from Level One to Level Seven today?” Kyle nodded again.
“Yeah.” Erin stared at him for several seconds.
She looked down at her own Level 5.
Then back at Kyle.
Yesterday, both of them had been Level 1.
Today, she had already reached Level 5.
That would have been an outstanding result among the graduates of almost any year.
And yet Kyle was already Level 7.
A Level 7 who had left early.
That familiar feeling from the past three years returned.
She was already working hard.
Her results were already excellent.
But every time she looked up, that guy was still somehow ahead of her.
Erin took a breath.
“Kyle.” “Yeah?” “I’ll catch up to you tomorrow.” Kyle thought about it.
“I’m going outside the city tomorrow.” The momentum Erin had just built up immediately stalled.
“…What?” “The beginner trial zone gives too little experience.” Kyle calmly explained, “I’m going outside the city tomorrow.” Erin stared at him.
Gavin finally failed to hold it in and burst out laughing.
Erin whipped around.
“What are you laughing at?” “Nothing!” Gavin immediately lowered his head and went back to wiping his shield, though his shoulders were still shaking.
Erin looked back at Kyle.
She had been planning to continue leveling in the beginner trial zone tomorrow and catch up with him.
Apparently, Kyle was already preparing to move somewhere else entirely.
“I’ll be out there soon too.” That was all she could say in the end.
Kyle nodded.
“Good luck.” Those two words again.
Erin’s temple twitched slightly.
For some reason, every time Kyle told her “good luck,” she felt as though she had already lost.
“Just wait.” She threw out the words and turned away.
Kyle watched her leave, genuinely confused.
Gavin finally came over.
“Kyle.” “Yeah?” “Do you know why she’s angry?” Kyle considered it seriously.
“No.” Looking at his completely sincere expression, Gavin suddenly felt that Erin’s last three years must have been exhausting.
He patted Kyle on the shoulder.
“It’s fine.” “Keep doing exactly what you’re doing.” Kyle gave him a look and ignored him.
After completing his registration, he prepared to head home.
There was still plenty to do tonight.
After reaching Level 7, his Summoning Space had expanded again.
And the number of Skeleton Warriors he currently possessed was still far below the limit.
Tomorrow, he would no longer be entering the protected beginner trial zone.
He would be heading into the real wilderness outside the city.
The monsters there wouldn’t be weakened.
They wouldn’t stay within carefully controlled areas, nor would they hold back simply because a professional was low-level.
There was always the possibility of encountering something far stronger than expected.
So before leaving the city, Kyle needed to prepare properly.
And when it came to Skeleton Warriors, the more he had, the better.
Once he returned home, Kyle wasted no time.
Summon.
Meditate.
Recover his Spirit.
Then summon again.
Gray-black vortices opened again and again inside his room as more Skeleton Warriors were added to his Summoning Space.
The process was repetitive.
Kyle didn’t mind.
Every additional Skeleton Warrior meant more combat power for tomorrow.
And because of Undying Substitute, his summons weren’t merely weapons.
They were also his protection.
The more undead he possessed, the better his chances of surviving an unexpected danger.
Night gradually deepened.
The streets outside grew quiet.
Every so often, gray-black light filled Kyle’s room before fading away again.
After completing another summon, Kyle checked his Summoning Space.
It still wasn’t full.
But he wasn’t in a hurry.
There was still plenty of time before morning.
He would fill as many slots as he could before leaving the city.
Kyle closed his eyes again and returned to meditation.
Level 7 was only the result of his first day.
He still needed five more levels to reach the Royal Academy’s minimum requirement of Level 12.
And the person he truly wanted to catch up to had never been anyone in Westport City’s beginner records.
Lia’s name appeared in his mind.
When she took the Royal Academy assessment last year…
she had been Level 16.
A moment later, Kyle pushed the thought aside and focused once more on recovering his Spirit.
Tomorrow would be different.
Tomorrow, he would face real monsters.