Miles checked his CrysTel for the time as he idly waited for the meat being cooked at the moment to come up to an acceptable internal temperature. Had he been outside, it would have been near the middle of the day; it had been over sixteen hours since he had woken up.

To him, it had felt like an eternity had passed, with all the gains his Stats and Skills had made. Even after reducing his now-fused Healing Talent a mere Rate Law of x13.65, with all the Spells he was using, he became a completely different person, strength-wise, every other hour.

And yet…

[Status:

Name: Miles Trainer

Class: Protagonist (Primary Cultivator)

Subclass: White Mage

Level: 9

Key:

L. = Lesser

M. = Magic

G. = Greater

Parameters

Health: 100%

Stamina: 100%

Magic: 100%

Strength: G. Human (F+)

Constitution: Human (F) → G. Human (F+)

Vitality: L. Human (F-) → Human (F)

Agility: Human (F) → G. Human (F+)

M. Reserves: Squad (E)

M. Regeneration: L. Squad (E-) → Squad (E)]

"Hmm..." Miles hummed as his eyes subconsciously closed in on Yvette.

[Yvette | Level ???]

'Upgrading All View to the next level is going to be one of my biggest priorities after we finish our business here and get the chance to turn in more Side Quests,' he thought, slightly depressed as he reflected.

So far, while he had undoubtedly become countless times stronger than before coming to the Dungeon, Yvette hadn't even used her bow; nevermind, a Skill. Miles didn't doubt her ability to kill him with a single punch if she wanted it.

Not to convey that he mistrusted her or feared for his life — if she wanted him dead, she need only not assist him in a fight against one of the now-common large groups of inner region Shadow Monster. However, it was demoralizing to see another kind of talent, comparable to his own.

She awakened to her strength; unlocked innate corporeal power. He awakened to his potential; unlocked an abstract otherworldly system. Both were talents, both were assessed to C Rank and yet—

B-B-BOOM!!!

One second, Miles was quietly pondering to himself and in the next, he was blown away by a force that left him skidding for ten meters.

'Status,' Miles immediately and emotionlessly thought.

[Status:

...

Parameters

Health: 76%]

His eyes narrowed at the System's assessment of his health before he quietly casted a Spell on himself.

[Skill "Healing Spell: Restore" activated]

Less than a second had passed between the time Miles came to a complete stop, healed himself, and subsequently jumped to his feet. His battles with the Shadow Monsters in the Dungeon, though never so much as a tenth as intense as this unprompted ambush, had drilled the importance of recovering mobility into his very core.

When he finally witnessed what it was that attacked him, his blood chilled.

"Well, that was the easiest 10,000,000 Krilp I think I'll ever make," Harrold, the very same boy Miles had rejected in favor of Yvette, said as he kicked Yvette over such that she now layed on her back.

[Harrold | Level 19]

["Harrold's Tank" | Level 17]

["Harrold's Mage" | Level 16]

["Harrold's Assassin" | Level 18]

'Yvette...' Miles thought, feeling his fear melt over as his blood boiled at the pieces of information before him.

He hadn't even been the target of the ambush. No, he had just been caught in the collateral that had left Yvette covered in cuts and still, currently burning. Moreover, if it hadn't been obvious that this was all intentional, Harrold all but confirmed his group had acted to complete some sort of bounty. This had been a premeditated, unprompted attack.

[New Quest Aler—]

'They just crossed a line they could never hope to remedy,' Miles coldly thought, cutting off the system prompt before it could take any more of his attention.

He snapped his eyes on Yvette's form and aimed with his extended right forefinger.

[Yvette (Common Burning, Bleeding) | Level ??? (Status Reduced and Stabilized at Level ???)]

[Skill "Healing Spell: Sanctify" activated]

Miles didn't wait to see how Yvette would react. After all, despite her awful state, the System still assessed her to be of a higher level than anyone present. Looking at her through All View, all he was certain of was that he had cured her of her Burning Debuff as he had aimed for.

[Skill "Buffing Spell: Double Time" activated]

A fraction of a second later, Miles was sprinting at the boy dubbed "Harrold's Assassin;" his new knife held by white-knuckled hands.

Miles' speed, redoubled by both a Blade Intent and Buffing Spell that had grown dozens of times stronger over the course of his journey through the Dungeon's inner region, made him much faster than Harrold or anyone in his group could have expected. Before anyone could react, he'd already pressed his knife against the "Assassin's" neck.

Thud…

[Congratulations, you have Level Up to Level 10]

[Congratulations, by crossing the major boundary between "F" and "E" Rank, your observable Class has evolved to Seconda—]

Unable and unwilling to bother with System prompts, Miles ignored how the decapitated body before him was beginning to fall to gravity as he entered another charge; this time, aiming for the Mage.

By then, Harrold's three remaining party member's had reigned in their shock and started what Miles assumed would be their counterattack.

'Tch, as if I'd let you,' Miles coldly thought as he pointed a finger at the "Tank" that tried to insert himself before the Mage.

[Skill "Debuffing Spell: Paralysis" activated]

The "Tank" stumbled and fell face first into the hard stone inner-region floor as his body pulsed with electricity. It only lasted for a second before the magical lightning faded out of existence, but by then, Miles had already positioned himself for another decapitation. Unfortunately, though Harrold himself didn't come to defend his companion, the Mage had already sent a fireball his way.

Miles steeled his eyes as he thought, 'I'd rather not risk him surviving.'

He crouched down and went for the decapitation anyways. Though, the Tank lived up to his "name" as Miles only managed to cut half way through his neck before they were engulfed by the blazing ball of fire.

[Skill "Healing Spell: Sanctify" activated]

[Skill "Healing Spell: Restore" activated]

Miles came out looking little worse for wear as the ball of fire continued past him and exploded after colliding with the Dungeon wall behind him; only the charred state of his armored clothes matched what he had experienced.

Now glaring at the Mage, who shrunk back in fear, Miles could only watch with dread as a spear point inched its way closer and closer to his eye.

By the time he had registered Harrold's movements, it was far too late to move. Time felt like it was crawling as Harrold's spear continued it's unavoidable course towards Miles' head, until… from the corner of his increased perception of time, something shined brilliantly.

Ffth!

Miles watched, mouth cringing as a massive hole was blown through Harrold's leading hand and the spear end exploded into splinters. In the very corner of his peripheral vision, Miles could see Yvette fall to her side; probably unconscious.

Instead of his eye and brain being skewered, Miles only sustained a shallow cut on the cheek.

[Skill "Debuffing Spell: Paralysis" activated]

[Harrold (Common Paralysis) | Level 19]

Miles smiled upon his luck for even in its standard variant, the Paralysis Spell only had a 45% chance of inflicting it's titular Common Ranked Debuff. His smile quickly turned malicious as he ruthlessly cut off the helpless spearman's arms and knocked him out and to the side through a strike to the jaw with the butt end of his hunting knife.

He didn't dare fall into tunnel vision as he had earlier and quickly turned his attention to the remaining Mage, tensing at the sight of two Magic Crests approaching the tail end of their manifestation.

Miles pointed his finger. In an instant, a very familiar Magic Crest began condensing into lines of refined Magic much faster than Harrold's Mage as Miles possessed both a higher talent and proficiency with his Spells.

[Skill "Debuffing Spell: Paralysis..." failed]

[Magic Completely Exhausted, Unconsciousness Imminent...]

'God damn it...' Miles thought as his fading consciousness picked up on what looked like a sea of fire.