Ceaseless Horizons [A LitRPG Progression Fantasy]

[

Barrier Carving has evolved into Advanced Barrier Carving.

Advanced Barrier Carving - 2nd Level 1:

Carving runes in your barriers is 45% faster. The downsides of enchantments are reduced marginally, and the loss of durability from carving is drastically lessened.

2nd Rank: Experience and practice allow you to find flaws in your formations more easily.

]

That… is not the best, but it's progress, he shrugged and closed the notification. The second rank was way more interesting than the first, which couldn't have been more standard.

Another small plate formed over his waiting palm. Instead of anything complex, he started carving simple supportive runes on it and intentionally tried to mess them up.

Immediately, as if a new sense had appeared in his mind, he could feel the mistake. The feedback was mild at best, but the longer he ignored it, the worse it felt. Like an itch on the nose that couldn't be scratched, he quickly fixed the error, and all was good in the world again.

That is so bloody annoying, he remarked, not at all bothered by the new addition. If anything, it was great. Such a sensation would ensure that he wouldn't accidentally miss any flaws and blow up his barriers in his face.

"Anyone there?" he sent in his crystals, having returned Jack's before falling asleep. No answer came through, so he continued with the testing.

The second rank truly showed its worth in the more complex rune. Flameforged Constitution was the first test subject, and Lev was already in love with a new skill.

Turns out, what it considered a flaw was everything that wasn't perfect by his standards. Safe to say, even the smallest of errors was pointed out with ruthless efficiency, and he knew that it was only going to improve even further.

It's already so effective on singular runes, he dismissed all the barriers in his room and leaned against the bed rest. The skill states that it's meant for formations, so it's probably even better for them.

That was a matter for another time. Right now, Lev was more curious about what his team was up to. A small, unnoticeable pulse of his clear aura shot out, revealing the location of his teammates.

Ah… Lev facepalmed and silently resolved to never do that again.

Quickly pushing their situation out of his mind, he thought about his next steps. The visit to the Dreadwoods had been quite enlightening, both about why the region was considered one of the most dangerous on the plains, if not the most, and about higher-tiered elements. Blue flames were the simplest of them all, but he was still quite happy with the progress.

Multiple of his general skills were showing signs of progress. Crescent Decimation was going to evolve through higher elements, glaive mastery was also progressing after handling the difficult-to-control fire, and barrier carving was also pretty interested in it.

The latter had evolved already and provided a pretty good effect, which was great.

Which just leaves training my team and crafting the equipment for them.

That was easily doable.

****

Days passed way too quickly. Lev relaxed, watched over his team, spent time with Sherron, and basically didn't do anything except mess with runes. The new additions that allowed him to absorb different mana types were too fascinating not to.

Unfortunately, the calm before the storm had been dragged on for too long. Or it felt that way. Monarch knew what was waiting for them in the untamed plains.

Sherron had already informed him of the deadline for training his team. They had a total of fifteen days before she was to carry him to the northern section of the outer wall, where adventurers and hunters alike were gathering to start mapping the lands.

Before that, he had a few hunters of his own to polish. The current silver dungeon was too much for them, as they struggled to deal with the level 129 orc and couldn't even trade blows with it.

That was fine. This was the last such fight, by his estimates. Amelia and Jack had already leveled all their skills to the end of the second rank, and only Kayla's active buffs remained. Given the small improvement Lev had sensed not long ago, they had crossed the threshold too.

Eventually, after a lot of baits and feints, Amelia's blazing sword pierced deep into the orc's gut and released the payload inside. Boiling blood and organs almost splashed on her, stopped at the last second by three of Kayla's barriers.

"Report?" Kayla asked through the communication crystal after reading the notifications.

"Half and untouched."

"Half and fine," Amelia answered and stepped away from the gore. "Did they level?"

"Yep," Kayla replied cheerily. "All 2nd 20 now."

"Well done," Lev added and let his concealment drop. "Do you want to continue?"

"Please no," Jack answered in her stead. "Everything hurts. The creature hits much harder than expected."

"You do realize it's thirty levels and an evolution higher, right?" Kayla huffed, though her glare was directed at Lev. It was obvious whose influence was rubbing off on them.

"It wasn't that bad," Amelia shrugged and stepped into the bubble, much to the healer's annoyance. The other two also followed, and before long, they landed in front of Windkeep.

Lev took the lead, and this time, the air around them was different. His team had already been informed about his approaching departure, which left two weeks of vigorous training.

Stolen novel; please report.

Today, however, was a break. They weren't ready for what he was going to put them through, not truly. After seeing them to their rooms, he made his way to the hunters guild.

Removing his sparring quest was a simple affair, requiring no more than two minutes. Charles was already there, though the man understood after seeing his gaze that the quest had run its course already.

There was only one thing left, so Lev knocked on the guildmaster's doors. It took a few seconds before Hakim called him inside.

Stepping through the doors, Lev bowed at the waist and waited. Sherron was present in the room, and so was another woman he had never seen before.

"What brings you here today, Hunter Lev?" Hakim asked, his tone a touch sterner than before. It was obvious he was interrupting something, so Lev made it quick.

"I just wanted to inform you that I'll be gone for the next two weeks. Is there something that is required of me before I leave?"

"No," Sherron answered, much to the other woman's surprise. "You can take longer, you know. The timing isn't fixed."

He nodded slowly. "We still don't know how long it will take. It might not even be a full two weeks."

"Either way, just keep that in mind. Where will you be staying? I'll keep an eye out."

"In front of the Dreadwoods," he answered with a little hesitation. "Not sure if we'll stay there, though. That will be decided by how the first day goes."

"Bold," Hakim commented. "A scout will be assigned to you. What is your goal in doing this?"

"Cores and progress, mainly," Lev replied easily. "I've been seeing my team improve by leaps and bounds without making any strides myself beyond a few enchantments. It's making me itchy."

Thankfully, both Hakim and Sherron understood his plight. "Go, then. Make sure to send an alert if anything too strong comes out of the woods."

Lev bowed again and made to leave, not before throwing an Identify at the other woman.

[Mage - Level 432]

Woah, he didn't stare at her, but his mind wandered all the same. That's one hell of a level. Can't even begin to guess who she is because of how secretive all Masters are.

She was most likely a leader, if her presence in Hakim's office was any indication. Lev's curiosity didn't burn nearly bright enough to ask her anything, so he found himself standing on the western wall after a few minutes. A few guards approached him, and explaining the situation didn't take long. Anyone who could so casually mention Hakim's approval was very unlikely to be lying.

"Are you Hunter Lev?" a woman's voice asked. Lev hadn't felt her come closer until she was within a few meters, her mana just barely standing out.

"I am," he answered, still staring at the Dreadwoods. "Are you the scout assigned to me?"

"Yes, sir," she said and dropped the invisibility.

[Scout - Level 230]

"Give me a moment, then," he said and jumped back into the city. Circling back to his suite, Lev sent a message through his communication crystal.

"Anyone there?"

"What's up?" Jack replied after a second. "Something wrong?"

"No, I was just curious if you want to watch. I'm gonna fight next to the city wall."

"Can we?" Amelia's excited voice became audible.

"That's why I'm asking," Lev answered, amused. "What about you, Kayla?"

He guessed that she was also listening, and the hunch was proven true after a second. "I don't mind as long as you keep us safe."

"Of course."

A few minutes later, he was standing on the wall again with his teammates. The scout was no longer invisible, staring into the woods with a grim look on her face.

"See something?" Lev asked and checked his armor's enchantments. Plating with absorption worked just fine, and so did the new bucklers on his arms. Enhancement formation was already running at half, the expenditure covered by his regeneration, and mana concealment kept his position hidden from monsters for now.

Just like before, he tried to split his mind into two. He could sense how it was easier to maintain a tight control on his enchantments, just as the scout answered.

"Only a few dozen monsters, nothing above the second threshold," she said, her frown deepening. "More and more keep showing up, sir. Are you sure you want to go down there right now?"

"Yep," he casually answered and made the bubble land on the wall. His teammates were ushered inside, and the dreadwolf core was slotted into the construct to keep the enchantments running at maximum potency for hours.

Giving them a nod, he flew down to the ground. Almost immediately, a small horde broke out of the forest, able to sense him. Lev watched them impassively and let out a portion of his aura, just enough to lure out some of the stronger monsters.

Fortunately, his team was high above the ground, so he could go out with relatively few concerns. Then, for the first time, he streamed a small amount of fire into his armor, then converted it into blue fire.

Instantly, the heat he could feel rose exponentially. It wasn't bad enough to burn, but breathing the air was supremely uncomfortable. Making a mental note to buy another enchanted skinsuit to combat that, Lev imbued his armor with the searing blue flames.

The increase in strength was explosive. Quite literally. A single step launched him straight ahead like a rocket, leaving a burn trail in his wake. Blue flames escaped his control despite the small movement, further brightening his passage.

At least Amelia probably appreciated the flashy move.

Reaching the first group of treants, Lev refrained from summoning Stargazer and relied on his empowered movements. Enhancement formation was cranked to the maximum as he weaved between the roots and branches, the attacks far too slow.

During that, he also observed the results of the imbuement. Each movement was empowered, sure, but it was the deeper effects that had his brows raised.

A net of roots tried to block his path, one he was prepared for. Cocking back his arm, Lev punched with all his might. The hardened net worked in his favor, especially when an explosion of blue flames utterly tore it apart, released automatically upon impact.

Pushing through the recoil of his own attack, he reached the largest treant wailing in pain. Deflecting a branch, he ducked a spike and rushed its body. The monster was no doubt above level 250, except it didn't matter as his leg slammed into its face.

Another thing he learned was that blue fire was much harder to control than normal fire. The kick was simple, flying in an arc, before caving its wooden face in. The fire stored in his armor immediately went out of control, but he was already suspecting that.

It was released from his leg, searing the flesh underneath. The treant, on the other hand, quite literally exploded into two. His attack had also ignited the core, eviscerating a third of the monster in a single kick.

[

You have slain [Elder Treant - Level 277]

]

Oh. Woops.

Quickly avoiding the weaker monsters, it took a few arrows to take them down, giving him a few seconds before the next monster reached him.

A dark, huge slime was hopping its way towards him. Lev's surprise at the lack of a core inside it quickly turned into excitement, for a perfect test subject had just presented itself.

Enchanted walls flew out of his secondary bubbles, their enchantments already running at maximum. The first wave of acid bolts was blocked, and the resulting deep gouges were repaired quickly.

Lev didn't rush the monster and waited. Observing his shields was a good indicator of how his armor was going to fare, so he decided against going melee. That could go horribly wrong.

Summoning Stargazer from his ring, he infused a little bit of blue fire into it. The glaive's enchantments easily doubled the amount, though he still had to manually convert the extra mana into the higher element.

That done, he waited until the monster launched another wave of bolts before swinging Stargazer. A pristine, brilliant blue slash burst out of it, setting the air alight as it reached the slime much faster than both it and Lev expected.

The world immediately turned white and blue, and he didn't pay any mind to the notifications as the blast rose. Hints of blue were visible in the normal fire for a few moments, though they vanished quickly after.

A smoldering hot shockwave reached him, ineffective against the full durability of his armor. Thankfully, the slash didn't have enough mana for the flames to come anywhere close, or that could've gotten painful quickly.

"Are you guys alright?" he asked through the crystal.

"Yep," Kayla answered cheerily. "Didn't even feel the explosions or implosion. The bubble is quite comfortable."

Chuckling, he enlarged Stargazer's blade when a few particularly massive spiders became visible. It was only a matter of time until something truly dangerous showed up, and he was more than willing to wait. There would be no levels otherwise, after all.