The skies are fine, warming everyone with the sun shining high above, the wind blowing over one’s own skin a sign that they are in a peaceful place, the tall blades of grass proving that this is a fertile land, and the creatures grazing past these vast fields of green giving off a sense of this place being complete.

It is peaceful indeed.

However, one has to take note that this place is peaceful for the standard of the Evolution Domain, where the creatures grazing past the fields of green are all predators prepared to pounce on any prey they set their eyes on; however, some of these predators are also prey to stronger creatures in this place.

"That’s odd... really odd..." Within these vast fields, a human, a young man, roams around while staring at something that only he can see, a semi-transparent screen floating in front of him, all while taking his time improving himself, facing multiple enemies that could pose a threat to anyone of the same level as him.

"Shouldn’t I reach E-Tier now?" this young man, Novus, asked himself as he studied his stats and information in the system while dealing with the Amber Slimes dashing towards and away from him, the way he maneuvers himself just a few inches away from each pounce and dash from these creatures showing how much his mastery of fighting against them improved.

[Novus Helion van Argenta]

[Combat Rating: F+ Mage(?)]

[Talent: True Immortal Blood (EX-Rank Growth-type Innate Talent)]

[Current Evolution Domain Location: Verdant Expanse (1-star danger level)]

[Immortal Energy: 152.7/152.7]

[Strength: 62]

[Agility: 62]

[Vitality: 62]

[Arcane: 62]

[Harmony: 62]

[True Immortal Blood (EX-Rank Growth-type Innate Talent)]

[Growth Progress: 0.0527% (99.9473% before Talent Rank Up)]

[Mastery: Entry-level (5.00%)]

In his mind, his worry just makes sense. After all, the threshold for a mage to reach the E-Tier from the F-Tier is about thirty points of stats for both Arcane and Harmony, and just about half of them for the physical body.

Right now, however, his stats are already double, no, past double those standards, and he has yet to feel that sensation of hitting the limit before needing to ascend to the next Tier, meaning that even with his stats growing to this level, he still has some more room to grow.

’Well, I guess this is more of a good than a bad thing really, feels like I am growing more than others at the same level could after all...’ knowing that he won’t be able to get into the bottom of this matter in the foreseeable future, he opted not to think too much about it and just focus on his growth as he knows that eventually, he will hit his limit as well.

And that time when he hits his limit will also be the time he takes a step to the next tier.

Shifting his focus back into the battle happening, he twisted his upper body a bit and narrowly avoided the Amber Slime dashing towards him, the poor slime failing to create distance after its attack being stuck in the young man’s grasp, that maniacal smile starting to come out of his face once again as he thought of how to deal with this slime.

"Let’s try out something new today as well," he mutters to himself as his focus starts to sharpen, mana in the atmosphere beginning to dance around guided by his will, converging towards a certain spot, alarming the slimes around him of this possible attack’s existence.

Usually, it would’ve either gone and wrapped the young man’s limbs, reinforcing both his outsides and insides for a powerful show of physical might, or congregated on top of his palm, materializing as the spell that he is so familiar with, the only spell he is capable of using.

This time, however, it is neither on his limbs nor on top of his palm that mana converges; instead, it congeals on top of him, five spherical masses given form as he imbues fire elemental property to it, the surprisingly smooth process of creation of this new attack making him smile with quite the satisfaction.

"Alright, this is going well—" the immediate future seems to have other plans for him, though, as the moment he felt he succeeded in what he was trying to do, reality comes barging on his door and knocks him down a peg or two in the harshest way possible.

Before he could even finish his words, he felt a shake from one of the orbs of mana above him, which eventually escalated into something bigger, as not even a split second later, the seemingly stable structure started collapsing, destroying everything around it as fire imbued mana exploded and burned without discrimination.

What’s worse is that because there are four other fire orbs near it, and the violent explosion from the first one triggers instability on the remaining ones as well, making a second, larger explosion follow suit, not only scorching the blades of grass around it and killing all the nearby Amber Slimes in the area, but also creating a crater in the earth as well.

All of this destruction happens as the young man, right underneath this explosion, was blasted face-first onto the ground.

Had it not been for his reacting just half a step after the initial explosion, coating his entire body with mana to protect himself, all while bracing for impact, he would’ve gone and bitten the dust from such a violent explosion as well, probably receiving a punishment way harsher than when he was killed by that unknown entity the day before.

’Shit... that fucking hurts...’ he curses as he remained face flat in the middle of the crater, his body twitching from immense pain that he can’t even distract himself from by gritting his teeth, as there are no longer any teeth to grit, forcing him to endure hellish burning sensation without any way to move himself.

’Fuck... fuck... can’t cry, won’t cry... must not shed a tear...’ he repeats to himself as water threatens to well from the corner of his eyes, and for better or for worse, this helps as a portion of his mind was directed away from the physical pain and towards the mental distress of an adolescent young man who is just about to cry from said physical pain.

And to make matters worse, as if mocking him for his audacity to try such crazy tricks, the floating screen appears even when his eyes are closed, almost as if telling him that sure, he won the fight against these Amber Slimes, but at what cost?

[Defeated: Amber Slime. Rewards: F-Tier Evolution Crystal (2), Slime Substrate (2)]

[Defeated: Amber Slime. Rewards: F-Tier Evolution Crystal (1), Slime Substrate (4)] 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

[Defeated: Amber Slime. Rewards: F-Tier Evolution Crystal (2), Slime Substrate (1)]

[Defeated: Amber Slime. Rewards: F-Tier Evolution Crystal (2), Slime Substrate (3)]

[Defeated: Amber Slime. Rewards: F-Tier Evolution Crystal (4), Slime Substrate (2)]

[Defeated: Amber Slime. Rewards: F-Tier Evolution Crystal (3), Slime Substrate (1), Malleable Amber (3)]

"You... must be laughing really hard now... don’t you?" almost as if he’s thinking that there’s an entity controlling the system, or the system is just alive, he replied through a hoarse, frustrated voice as he endures the pain, wanting nothing more than to accelerate his recovery from such grievous damage.

[Immortal Energy: 125/152.7]