Michael stepped inside Tairy’s courtyard with a sigh. The tree with mana-filled leaves was as beautiful as usual. As always, Tairy was sitting on the stone dais and reacted to his arrival, opening his milky eyes. Even though the dark elf was blind, he scanned Michael from head to toe.

  “…Yeah, you’re finally taking a beating, aren’t you?” Tairy said seriously after a second.

  Michael gave his master a tired nod.

  At least he didn’t laugh.

  Part of him had expected Tairy to mock him a bit for being too reckless and going to the Consumed Territory like that, but the old dark elf seemed to be only concerned about him.

  “Yeah, the Forgotten Leaders, as I call them, aren’t easy opponents. I can’t beat them without really risking my life.”

  Tairy’s eyebrow twitched.

  “…By Leaders, I take it you mean the Forgotten at the center of the consumed Villages?”

  Michael sat down on the ground, then immediately lay down and sprawled out.

  “Yep. They’re a big pain in the ass. I fought and killed two of them, but I almost died both times.”

  He waited for his master’s reply, but Tairy remained silent. It was only after almost ten seconds that the dark elf spoke again.

  “I won’t ask how you managed to do it. Those Forgotten aren’t enemies humans like the ones in this Tutorial Zone are meant to beat. But I know you’re telling the truth. So, what made you come back?”

  Michael let out a deep sigh.

  “Clear Sight was almost running out, and I decided I needed training.”

  “So you can go back in?”

  Michael sat up and nodded at Tairy. The dark elf sighed and rubbed his temples.

  “…Are you certain you want to keep doing this?” Tairy asked after taking a deep breath. “Just stay in the outer edges of the Consumed Territory. Kill as many Forgotten as you can and farm XP until the Tutorial ends. Why aren’t you listening to reason?”

  Michael smiled bitterly.

  “I thought you said you weren’t gonna try to convince me anymore.”

  “Answer the question.”

  “Well, I’m here because I decided to slow down. But yeah, I need to keep going. I need to become as powerful as possible.”

  Tairy stared at him fixedly.

  “…You’re desperate.”

  Michael readily nodded.

  “I am.”

  The power of the Gods of War was still clear in his memories because of the two dreams. There was no room to give up on this. Still, he could slow down a bit. There wouldn’t be any point in becoming stronger if he were crippled by an injury he couldn’t heal, or just ended up dead in a ditch surrounded by infinite darkness.

  Tairy sighed again.

  “Fine. Let’s get back to training. I’ll try to make you get as many useful Passive Skills as you can, as well as Active Skills if there’s time. Are you going to stop heading into the Consumed Territory entirely?”

  Michael shook his head.

  “No, I need to keep Leveling up. But I won’t do anything too risky until I’ve become much stronger. I’ll also go into the houses to get the spheres of light.”

  The dark elf nodded.

  “We start immediately, then.”

  Michael nodded back. There was no time to waste. The Tutorial marched ever closer to its finish line, and there was no way for him to know what would happen once it ended.

  Tairy opened his mouth to speak, then caught himself and closed it again with a furrowed brow. Michael tilted his head.

  “What is it, old man?”

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  Tairy was silent for a few seconds.

  “I’m just not sure how to guide you. I know that I was the one to ask you not to tell me too much about yourself so you can keep your secrets, but at this point, I don’t have a firm grasp on your strength. You shouldn’t be able to defeat a Forgotten Leader, as you call them, but you did it twice.”

  Michael flinched. It was true, but it wasn’t as if he could just tell Tairy everything, especially when he didn’t know if the Gods of War could read someone’s memories or anything similar to that.

  “So,” Tairy continued with a small frown. “We’ll just have to go with Skills that are universally effective. For starters, you should create your third Circle as soon as possible.”

  “How close am I to getting Dual Casting?”

  Tairy flinched before scratching his head.

  “I honestly don’t know. I’ve told you this before, but even I haven’t learned Dual Casting or Chantless Casting. What we can do is go after Skills that maximize the effectiveness of your spells, even without those. You need to cast faster, and you need to cast while moving at top speed.”

  Michael let out a disappointed sigh.

  “The last Forgotten Leader I fought could dual cast, though.”

  Tairy froze, then shrugged.

  “Sullivan can do it. They’re leaders for a reason. But I didn’t think a Forgotten would be able to keep such a powerful Skill. My bad, kid. I should’ve warned you about them. I just didn’t think you would fight one.”

  “Don’t worry about it. And yeah, I do agree with what you said. So we have three priorities?”

  Tairy nodded.

  “Yes. First, let’s see how close you are to that third Circle. It’ll make everything much more manageable.”

  Michael stood up and walked over to the stone dais, then sat down again, his back now facing Tairy as the old man approached him from behind. Michael crossed his legs and closed his eyes, hands relaxed and over his thighs. He felt Tairy’s hand touch his back. There was no need for the dark elf to tell him what to do. Michael wordlessly sank deep into Astral Meditation’s mental state.

  The world around him disappeared into endless darkness, only to light up as his awareness extended itself. His perception crawled over Tairy behind him, the ground and houses of Bluestone Village, and kept going. Michael didn’t stop even as his awareness covered the entirety of Bluestone. Then, as he had when he had created his second Circle, he started pulling in the mana around him.

  Just like before.

  He just needed to do the same thing as back then. Responding to his intent, the atmospheric mana poured into his vessel, flooding his mana paths and rushing toward his Dragonheart. Like a raging flood, it clashed against the limits of the paths, but Michael didn’t let it escape his control.

  Keep going.

  More and more mana rushed toward him. In the spiritual realm, he could see what seemed like a waterfall of pure, blue mana. It crashed against his spiritual body, entered it, and moved to his Dragonheart. Once Michael determined that he had enough additional mana, he started the process of creating another Circle. This time, he paid even more attention to the process. He couldn’t risk failure, not when the Tutorial was so close to ending.

  As if responding to his thoughts, his Dragonheart thumped in his chest, flooding him with a wave of calmness. He turned his perception to it. A sphere of pure, golden light that rippled with power, surrounded by a rushing wave of mana that sank inside it seamlessly. It was entrancing, in a way. Michael looked at the spiritual body around it. It looked even more draconic than before. The scales were more widespread, and the horns had gotten longer. There seemed to be a third horn slowly growing from the middle, as well.

  I wonder what it’s going to look like in some time from now.

  Michael focused on it for a few seconds before turning his attention to creating the third Circle around it again.

  Progress was quick. This time, there wasn’t as much pain as when he had created his second Circle, likely due to the new pathways he had created back then. However, as mana continued to flood into his spirit, he started carving out new pathways just in case. The blue flood had now spread throughout his entire spirit and body, turning into a whirlpool that had his Dragonheart at the center. The pathways contained the current like an elaborate network of rivers and tributaries. His Dragonheart beat steadily, every heartbeat filling him with power.

  Even as time passed, Michael couldn’t feel his progress slowing down. He continued to draw in mana endlessly. The third Circle around his Dragonheart slowly became more defined. It was bigger than the previous two, but Michael didn’t direct all of the mana flood toward it.

  I need to strengthen the other two Circles, too.

  He still remembered how the creation of his second Circle had resulted in an excess of mana that he had used to strengthen his first Circle. He couldn’t treat them as separate entities. He should empower them simultaneously.

  Of course, by doing so, the initially effortless process spiked in difficulty. Michael felt the strain in his mind, as if he were trying to write different words with each hand. Still, the thought that this might help him with getting Dual Casting eventually was a bit comforting.

  After an unknown amount of time, he willed himself out of his spiritual realm. Michael opened his eyes to the same scenery as before. The remainders of his perception captured Tairy’s frame behind him.

  “How long has it been?” Michael asked after stretching his arms.

  “A few hours,” Tairy replied. “You ended it willingly, right?”

  “Yeah. Too many things to do.”

  He stood up and stepped back onto the ground from the stone dais, then turned to look at Tairy.

  “I’ll be back soon, old man.”

  Tairy stared deep into his eyes, but Michael found the milky-white eyes rather comforting, now that he was used to them.

  Michael smiled.

  “Don’t worry.”

  He turned around and walked out of the courtyard, then started to run through the streets of Bluestone, a bit lost in his thoughts.

  I’m running out of time.

  For now, it would be better to give up on the Abyss. He should focus on simply improving himself. Killing the Forgotten Leaders and taking back the consumed Villages offered him great rewards already. It would have to be enough.

  I’m sorry, Mom.

  A tinge of guilt flooded his heart. He thought about his family and close friends daily, but he simply didn’t have time to spend with them. With a pang of self-hatred, Michael continued to run.

  …I should at least drop by sometime.

  He was fast enough to ensure that it wouldn’t take too long to move between Villages. The feeling of his boots hitting the stone ground was a reminder of this.

  Silently, Michael made his way back to the Consumed Territory after getting Clear Sight from Sullivan.