The Glass Warrior [Weak to Strong LitRPG]

After the two figures had disappeared into the distance, Lucas descended the tree and began gathering wood for his fire, his thoughts lingering on what had just transpired.

Although he hadn't checked their levels, Lucas felt confident he could have killed both of them easily if he had chosen to. However, he understood that killing them wouldn't solve anything. From their conversation, it was clear they were nothing more than foot soldiers in a larger organization, a group whose origins traced back to Earth.

As strong as he was, taking on such an opponent wouldn't be simple, and he wasn't entirely sure it was in his best interest. For now, as long as they didn't cause trouble for him or his friends, he saw no reason to escalate matters.

Besides, while this so-called Hive did produce and sell potions, their offerings weren't the same as the ones Lucas planned to sell. Not at all.

I'll just keep an eye on them and see how things develop, he decided while chewing on his breakfast.

Once his meal was finished, Lucas returned to the idea that had struck him while sitting in the tree: using his skill upgrade on Death Aura Manipulation.

Previously, he had debated between enhancing his aura and improving his Fire Shot. But now that he had found a better long-range option with Lightning Strike, focusing on his aura seemed like the clear choice.

The encounter with the Hive had given him valuable insight into how he could refine his aura. The upgrade, he decided, would focus on increasing the pressure it exerted. If successful, the enhanced aura would allow him to restrict his opponent's movements in battle, almost an unfair advantage when combined with his natural speed.

Holding back an evil laughter of tryumph, Lucas considered what he should do in order to ensure the upgrade would yield the desired effect.

After some back and forth, he opted for a "direct" approach. Before long, he was holding a particularly ugly hare in one hand.

The creature, despite its meek appearance, was level 15, a decent enough subject for his experiments.

…

It took about thirty minutes for Lucas to make tangible progress.

At first, his aura barely elicited a reaction beyond the creature growing slightly more alert. But as he focused and pushed the limits of his skill, he managed to exert enough pressure to freeze them in place for brief moments.

When the hare managed to move only after a couple of minutes, Lucas let it go with a satisfied nod. That should be enough, he thought. Now all that remained was to apply the upgrade.

Would you like to use your Skill Upgrade on Death Aura Manipulation (Inferior)?

Yes.

Skill: Death Aura Manipulation (Common)

Your mastery over the death aura has advanced, allowing for greater intensity and versatility. You can now extend your aura up to 10 feet from your body, exerting a palpable pressure on your surroundings. This pressure slows enemies within range, subtly sapping their strength and resolve.

Additionally, weapons imbued with the necrotic effect now deal greater damage over time and may weaken the vitality of those struck.

Warning: This skill consumes health points.

Lucas read the description twice, nodding in approval. The upgrade was exactly what he had hoped for, an overall improvement on his previous skill.

Was it possible the skill would have evolved this way regardless of his efforts? Maybe. But he couldn't complain about the results, and his experiments had at least given him confidence in how to wield it.

With that out of the way, Lucas moved on to his daily routine of practicing hand seals. He was eager to test the ideas he'd thought up the day before.

After a couple of hours, however, he hit a wall. His casting time had plateaued at forty seconds. No matter how much he practiced, he couldn't contract the movements any further and still be able to create the gate.

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And that led him to another troubling thought: Do these gates even work as intended?

What if the gates he had been painstakingly crafting weren't stable? What if they malfunctioned the moment he stepped into one, transporting only part of him while leaving the rest behind?

There was no way to test this safely. He had even tried hurling a squirrel through one of the gates, but the creature simply passed through as if the gate didn't exist.

Faulty or not, those were his gates, and only he could use them. Until he could find something to confirm whether his adapted technique was sound, Lucas didn't dare cross them himself.

Feeling ready to move again, he used the long version of the hand seals to leave one of his Glass Gates behind. Before long, he was back to running.

…

For two more days, Lucas ran without encountering anything out of the ordinary. Along the way, he gathered plenty of ingredients, not just for his glass tempering but also for other potions. However, none of them were particularly rare.

He was a bit concerned about his progress, as he had only managed to gain a single level during this period. Judging by the sheer number of beasts he had slain, he would have expected to level up more than once.

This made him think of Nicholas. How had he managed to reach level twenty in such a short time? After some reflection, the answer came naturally: Nicholas must have been feeding on his minions' experience.

It wouldn't be hard to pull off if his minions were willing to sacrifice their own progress. They would only need to weaken a beast enough for Nicholas to deal the final blow.

Of course, Lucas thought, such progress came with risks. A person who relied on this kind of shortcut wasn't someone to be feared in his eyes.

He recalled a couple of books he had read in Zoria's library during his first days there, which warned against this kind of leveling method. According to those books, the first hundred levels laid the foundation for one's path and power. Skill selections during that period were crucial. Lucas had long known that the quality of skills available for selection was directly tied to the experiences gained during the leveling process.

Lucas doubted that Nicholas' method could lead to anything good in the long run. Furthermore, he doubted it would continue to work indefinitely. That likely explained Nicholas' sudden drive to be out all the time, desperate to gain levels.

Maybe killing beasts below my level isn't enough anymore, Lucas wondered. It doesn't matter. I'll have plenty of opportunities soon enough.

He had exited the dense forest earlier that day. In the hours since, he had traversed two mountain ranges and finally found himself overlooking the city of Seavryn from a rocky vantage point.

It was a beautiful sight. From his elevated position, the city sprawled out below in a blend of stone and wood. The bustling harbor stretched into the bay, dotted with ships bobbing in the water.

Seavryn was his first stop—a small detour from his main destination, the tombs. If he could secure passage on one of the boats, it would significantly shorten his journey.

It took him several hours to reach the city gates. By the time he arrived, the sun was already low in the sky. He left his last gate outside before approaching the city.

The first surprise came from the city guards: an elf and a human.

After a polite greeting, they asked for his name, place of origin, and purpose in Seavryn. Already, the security seemed stricter than in Zoria, where no one had questioned him upon his arrival.

Once the formalities were over, Lucas noticed that the city's diversity wasn't limited to its guards. Humans and elves moved about in near-equal numbers, coexisting in apparent peace.

As he wandered the city, Lucas briefly wondered if any of the elves he passed might be related to Aysha. But he quickly dismissed the thought as the city unfolded before him.

Like Zoria, Seavryn had a bustling market street, a library, a training center, and a prefecture building. It also boasted a large structure Lucas later learned was the city bank. The bank allowed for the storage of almost any item and provided currency exchange services.

To Lucas' surprise, coins weren't the only way to handle transactions. There was a much simpler method facilitated by the system itself. By exchanging physical coins for virtual ones, the system would track his balance, enabling him to pay others with a simple handshake.

Seeing the benefits, Lucas paid the small fee required and soon saw his new balance: 283,352.

Not bad, he thought. I should probably buy some of the rare ingredients I couldn't find.

He also purchased a small vault for 5,000 coins. It was expensive, but it was a permanent addition, and there were items he didn't want to carry with him or discard.

An elf guided him through a series of corridors to a sturdy circular metal door. Lucas wasn't entirely comfortable leaving his belongings behind, but the place seemed secure, and the workers appeared to be NPCs, which lessened his concerns.

Once alone in the vault, Lucas placed Faruk's books and shelves inside, along with the vest he had received during his early days in Zoria.

He debated leaving the Eye-Necklace behind as well. While it wouldn't be useful anytime soon and seemed safer in the vault than in his ring, he ultimately chose to keep it with him. He didn't know what was required to unlock its powers, and he wanted it on hand if an opportunity arose.

After leaving the bank, Lucas explored the city further and was intrigued to learn about an ancient portal being restored for city-to-city transportation. The thing had been out of commission for decades and while efforts to repair it had intensified, the locals weren't optimistic about its success.

If one day the thing started working again, and assuming there was another hidden in Zoria, he would be able to travel between the two cities in an instant. It was true that things might become more complicated if people could travel this fast, but that was a problem for later.

After purchasing a few rare ingredients at the street market, Lucas headed to the harbor, taking a quick look at the boats coming and going before resuming his search for a place to stay. It was already late and too dark to leave now, and he would have plenty of time to look into it the next morning.

After finding a cheap inn, Lucas quickly located his room. As he walked through the corridors, his eyes caught sight of a curious mark on the back of a man's hand.

Is that an ant?