Notifications flashed on by at an absurd rate. It was a wall of text. Levi had to shut it off as quickly as they arrived. Now wasn’t the time to read a book.

  “Levi,” Gregory said, and only then did Levi see how bad the situation was. Everyone was barely standing. Gregory didn’t have to finish his words for Levi to understand him.

  “Leave it to me,” Levi said, flaring his mana. It felt like a chaotic storm had taken residence within him, and he willed it to his command. He barely knew what new abilities he had been given, but now wasn’t the time to test them out. This was life or death.

  Levi summoned a storm of fire in the surroundings; it was far more potent than before. The temperature rose to a point that even leaves untouched by his mana, broke out into conflagration. Gregory nodded and collapsed to the ground, holding his left eye. The others were the same once they noticed the insane amount of mana strangle holding the area. They give him looks of utter disbelief. Only Gregory vaguely knew what Levi had inside of him.

  The power of an Arch-Magus.

  Feeling the cataclysmic magic power inside him, he unleashed it fully. A tide of fire swept through the forest with no remorse. It caught any bat inside it and consumed them whole, turning the weakest among them into naught but ash.

  ***

  Gregory watched on as Levi took full control of the battlefield. The moment a bat shot out from the storm of fire, a lance of red and blazing orange pierced into its flesh. He watched those child-like eyes. Something deep was hiding in them; a calmness that was simply impossible for a child to have. No, they weren’t his eyes at all.

  Kara was working her hardest to gather her mana for a round of healing. She couldn’t help but glue her eyes to the long haired boy.

  “That amount of mana,” she said in disbelief.

  “He’s not normal,” Paul added from the side, bandaging his own wounds. “Just what the hell Ingredients did he feed his Birthright. How’s it even possible?” he turned to Gregory who was busy trying to regain as much strength as possible. “He’s just a child.”

  Gregory laughed, but pain assaulted him. Breathing through his teeth, he said, “He’s blessed by the heavens.”

  “So this is why you gifted him the book of Magitech and the corpse of a Blood Mage?” Kara asked from the side, still gathering her mana, looking at Levi’s container with jealousy. “Because of his potential?”

  A blade of air sliced past Levi’s cheek. But it lasted only a moment before the tear in his flesh healed on its own. It was the power of self-healing from the blood mage. Kara clicked her tongue.

  Gregorry nodded, trying to keep his words to a minimum.

  Levi replied by shooting a lance of fire at the oncoming beast, boring a hole through its chest as it thumped to the ground.

  Bram sat on the floor, his muscles slowly regenerating. At the minute, he looked unhealthy and skeletal; a stark contrast to how he usually was. “Captain said that the worth of a powerful soldier is worth more than any gold ever could be.”

  Kara grunted in understanding. “He’s not a soldier. You're making a monster.”

  Gregory chuckled in pain. “Ah, don’t make me laugh. It hurts. But that’s not entirely true. He was already a monster, with or without the Ingredients. He just doesn’t know it yet.”

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  The battle raged on. Levi’s mana had changed drastically. Gregory guessed he now had more mana than Kara and Elias—both solidly in the 4th tier.

  It was clear Levi didn’t yet understand his new powers. Most people didn’t at first. For some, it took years to fully grasp what they were capable of. But Levi was different. It didn’t take him long.

  He spoke the command again, and time stopped. Gregory knew this was a high-tier spell, one almost no one in the world could use—yet Levi had mastered it the moment he reached the 3rd Tier. Gregory spoke the truth before. Levi wasn’t becoming a monster. He already was one. His understanding and instincts were unnatural, as if he’d been born with them.

  Gregory had seen many talented people in the Imperial City, but none like Levi. No one else had ever forced a Legendary-tiered Ingredient to submit. And certainly, no one had reached the 3rd stage at just 12 years old. It was unbelievable. If he told someone, no one would believe him.

  Levi realised that the power of the Blood Mage had given him the ability to automatically heal his wounds. Because of that, he shifted his technique to fit his new skills. His spell slinging turned rougher, more risky, he took on more wounds than before, but as a result, each time he attacked, he killed.

  The other members of his team, namely Paul and Kara, were stunned at the sight of him utilising the power of time. It was mostly a foreign concept to them. Only the royals had access to such magic. Maybe they wouldn’t be too happy. But that was a worry for later.

  As time passed, Levi was starting to slow. However, he had bought them enough time to regain their strength. Rejoining the fight, they slaughtered their way through the forest. Levi had to pause for a moment to Meditate. Kara was concerned at first, but when she noticed just how much mana he was regaining by the second, she was too stunned to voice them.

  The fight between the royal Duke Aleric was reaching its apex. Gregory didn’t know exactly how strong he was, nor did he know of the power of the demon, but regardless, he felt it from where he was right now. It put a shiver down his spine.

  Resuming their mad dash out of the forest, they finally broke free a few minutes later and witnessed chaos. Smoke rose from beyond the walls. Bats in the hundreds swooped down the top of the walls. Even from where they stood, they all heard wretched screams, saw one of the soldiers flung from the top, all the way to the bottom. It was too far to hear the thud of their body striking the ground.

  “The people,” Levi said in concern as they continued attacking while running, fire and metal spinning through the air.

  “The railway slayers should be there, don’t worry, Levi,” Bram said while blocking an incoming blade of air.

  “They are,” said Gregory as a matter of fact.

  They made a mad dash for the walls. The bats were hot on their tails, chirping, displaying their vicious fangs. Gregory spotted the titan over the tall trees. They were nearing at high speeds and the sound of metal clashing rang throughout the world. It sounded like a woodcutter was trying to chop down a mountain.

  Aleric probably was.

  It wouldn’t be long before the fight continued at the wall. They hurried, quickly entering through the small door at the bottom of the hulking gate made for giants. Levi halted. Buildings were on fire, smoke bundled through the streets thick and angry. They heard whimpering and sobs. It was a battlefield.

  It brought Gregory back to the wars. But nothing could compare to that. This was nothing.

  From the buildings, people zipped on by, cutting through the smoke. Gregory caught a glimpse of their badge; the front of a locomotive with swords intercrossing. They were the Railway Slayers. Aiming for the top of the tower, they ignored most of the battling within the city. They knew something was coming, and it was their job to stop it.

  Levi followed their frames all the way up.

  “That’s not your fight,” Gregory reminded the little lad. “We’ll help who we can.”

  Levi tore his sight from the wall and nodded grimly. Together, they ripped through the streets, killing any bats that were in the area. They turned the corner of a small street, and saw a hulking figure currently smashing its winged fist into one of the buildings. Hearing them, it’s head snapped out of the rubble and glared at them with vibrant orange eyes. It looked more like a gargoyle than a bat and it was even taller than Bram. It had grey flesh with black tipped ears and snout. It roared, sounding like a screech leaving a bottle, and tore the cobbled street as it rushed for them, the ground trembling under its might.

  “Stop,” Levi’s command demanded it to stop.

  And it did. Caught by time, the slitted orange eyes of the monster widened. A second later, it thrashed out of the restriction. But it was confused. It landed and hesitated, only for Gregory to shoot his gun, blowing its brains out.