Sitting on a wooden chair, I attentively scanned the room.

My task was to protect Jomnuk from any potential threats coming from Inferno.

The Monolith equivalent for the dwarves.

They were an organization made up of Duergars, which were also known as under dwarves. They held great infamy for being sneaky and cunning.

Since Jomnuk focused all of his time on engineering, he was quite weak. It was exactly because of this that he needed to be protected.

The only noteworthy thing about him was his mana capacity, but that was just about the same as mine.

Unlike us humans, dwarves were quite weak in combat, their short statures being perfect evidence of it. They mainly relied on their artifacts; therefore, their ranks and other stats didn't really matter to them.

At the Lock, when they used to teach about dwarves, the professors would say,

'A dwarf without an artifact is as easy to kill as a ranked human.'

The statement wasn't wrong. I'd personally witnessed just how helpless they were without their artifacts during the war above.

But that wasn't the only thing I saw.

I'd also seen them with their artifacts, and what I saw truly shocked me. They were incredibly strong.

Although humans could also use artifacts, dwarves were able to utilize them to the very extreme, drawing out latent potential. Because of their highly developed brains, unlike other races, they could use a lot of artifacts at the same time.

Typically, it took a lot of concentration to use just one artifact. Controlling an artifact required the user to manipulate their mana in complex patterns to activate the artifact. The sheer sophistication of some dwarven artifacts could fry a human's brain. This was how it typically went. These limitations didn't apply to dwarves who could use multiple artifacts at the same time. They were literally big-brain people.

Still, according to convention, that didn't change the fact Jomnuk was weak.

Given how important of an individual he was, it was only natural that he had so many people guarding him.

"Here, Douglas told me to give you this.

"

Disrupting me out of my thoughts, Waylan flashed a mysterious grin before handing me an odd-looking red box. It looked quite out of place.

"What's this?

"

I curiously asked, taking the box.

The box felt light to the touch, and although it didn't look special, it had fine golden patterns sewn by the side of it.

"Open it up and find out.

"

"...Okay.

"

Waylan's mysterious attitude had piqued my interest.

Just what was in the box that was making him grin like that?

Ci- Clink—!

Finally opening the box, a subtle clicking sound rang out.

"This...

"

Upon opening the box, I let out a strange voice. Turning my head to face Waylan, he flashed me a slightly envious look.

"Although I don't know what you did to make Douglas favor you so much, all I can say is that even I would've had difficulty getting that in my younger days.

"

Leaning back on the chair, Waylan brushed his hair to the side.

"Go on. Take it before we no longer have time. You shouldn't worry too much for now.

"

"...Ah, yes.

"

Staring at the contents of the red box, I had no words to say.

That was because inside it was a small, circular black pill.

The pill's intoxicating fragrance invaded my nostrils and the mana within my body jumped up wildly. I couldn't hold back a smile. I was in euphoria.

Wiping off my smug grin, I glanced at the pill once more to make sure I wasn't seeing things.

===

Probulin

Medicine pill created through the combination of a Blood Ginseng, Ash Herb, and Queen's Coriander. Upon mixing the three ingredients together, a potent pill is created. Disclaimer, the pill can only be taken once per year. The medicinal properties of the medicine are too strong to be consumed often.

===

Staring at the pill's description, I still could not find any words to say. I was honestly speechless.

That was because this pill in front of me was extremely rare. Not only would it help me breakthrough to rank, but it also had other benefits such as improving my concentration and mana recovery.

Without a doubt, this was a precious treasure.

"There's a room at the back you can use to breakthrough.

"

Waylan patted my shoulder and pointed towards a certain room in the distance.

"I'm counting on you. So better hurry up.

"

"I understand.

"

Standing up, I gratefully looked at Waylan.

Waylan waved it off and sat back down, and lowered his head slightly.

"Bah, there's no need to thank me. In fact, I should probably thank you.

"

"Still, it would be impolite of me to just take it without expressing a little bit of gratitude.

"

"You're way too polite for someone your age. If only my daughter could be just a tiny bit as polite as you...

"

Smiling slightly, I didn't say anything.

Knowing just how doting he was to his daughter, any comment that wasn't going to praise her was probably just going to annoy him.

As such, I decided to not waste any more time and bid Waylan goodbye.

"I'll go take the pill now.

"

"Ah, sure, sure.

"

Holding onto the box as though it was my most prized treasure, I followed Waylan's instructions and walked towards the back of the room.

"You need something?

"

Blocking me from entering the room was one of the guards designated for the mission. He was an orc, and his large stature made him look extremely intimidating.

Standing in front of him, I could vividly feel the difference in our size. Moreover, from the pressure that he was emitting, he was at least a rank above me.

"Yes, I need to use the room.

"

I calmly replied with a nod.

Although he looked extremely intimidating, for some reason, I wasn't scared. Well, if I had to be honest, ever since a while ago, I realized that my emotions had numbed down quite a lot.

It took a lot to make me lose composure.

Hell, even an rank didn't faze me, so what could a rank orc do?

Squinting his large eyes, the orc's deep voice resounded.

"For what purpose?

"

"To breakthrough.

"

"Breakthrough?

"

"Yes.

"

I opened the box in my hand revealing the pill that was in it.

Instantly, a nice aroma shrouded the area we were in, but I didn't care. Since orcs couldn't use mana, I wasn't worried about the guard coveting the pill in my hands.

And my thoughts were true as the orc had a disinterested look on his face.

Frowning, the orc contemplated for a moment. Turning his head to face Waylan who was sitting not so far away from where he was stationed, only upon seeing him give the heads up did the guard finally relax and take a step to the side.

"Understood. You may enter.

"

"Thank you.

"

—BOOOM!

But just as I was about to enter, the whole place started to shake as a terrifying explosion sounded from above.

Looking up, my brows furrowed for a second.

'It looks like the third wave has begun. I hope the others are alright.'

Since they refused to follow me on this mission, I did not know how they were faring. Although they were all capable, I really hoped nothing bad happened to them.

After all, the third wave was going to be even more troublesome than the previous two waves.

This wave was where the real war started.

From here on, the real heavy hitters would finally make their move unlike before. This was why I was particularly worried about the others' safety.

But, I also knew that it was their choice and I had to respect it.

Click! Clank—!

Closing the door behind me, I looked around myself to survey the room.

Although the place was not quite big, it was sufficiently large enough for my use.

The interior of the room was rather plain. Other than a grey mat in the middle of the room, there were no other decorations. A meditating room true to its name. I was lucky to have found a good place to break through. I sure as hell wouldn't be comfortable breaking through to Rank with orcs staring down at me.

Sitting crossed-legged on the mat, I carefully placed the box in front of me.

"Huuu...

"

'Been a while since I ingested something like this.'

Granted, a lot of time had passed ever since I took something like this, I shouldn't suffer any side effects from eating the pill.

"Alright, let's get this over with.

"

Opening the box, my eyes instantly locked onto the small pill resting in the middle.

A thin yellow glow shrouded the pill, giving it a faint, mysterious appearance. Other than that, a fragrant smell invaded the room, and the mana inside of my body trembled in excitement.

Extending a hand to grab the pill, I felt a slight chill run through my body the moment my fingertips brushed its surface. Locking my brows tightly, I stuffed the pill in my mouth.

—Gulp!

The instant I swallowed the pill, it transformed into a somewhat gentle and calm energy that swiftly entered all of the energy paths inside of my body. My body started to tremble noticeably.

Unlike my previous experiences, I suffered no pain this time as everything flowed smoothly.

Glancing at my arms, I could vividly feel my strength surging with each and every second.

Closing my eyes, I continued to process the medicine inside of my body.

It wasn't long before a bright light shot out of my body, and I felt an unfamiliar, refreshing strength fill every single pore.

'Ah, I missed this feeling.'

VOOOM—!

Like a pulsating heart, the glow around my body rhythmically increased.

Slowly, it became even more radiant.

Before I knew it, the whole glow enveloped the room.

***

Leviathan building, Lock.

"...He's so fast.

"

Sitting inside of his room, staring at the red book in front of him, Kevin's face was filled with various emotions.

'He's already rank.'

Because he could now see what Ren was doing, Kevin was able to tell that Ren had just broken through to rank. A rank above him.

It had to be noted that Ren used to be one rank weaker than him back when they trained together.

For him to suddenly surpass Kevin made the latter feel a flame ignite inside of him.

'Like I'll let you surpass me...'

Though others did not know this, Kevin was extremely competitive. He wasn't someone that liked to lose. For Ren to surpass him in strength, Kevin felt his body itching to train.

'Before that...'

Turning his attention back towards the book, Kevin frowned.

That was because a particular person caught his interest. It was the other human. The one that handed him the pill.

"He said his name was Oliver...

"

Kevin had a feeling that the person was extremely important. He still couldn't quite figure out who he was though.

All he knew was that his name was Oliver. He didn't know his last name yet.

"Haa...

"

After a while, closing the book down, Kevin let out a sigh and put it back on the shelf.

'I should probably stop looking at it for now.'

Every time Kevin looked at the book, he felt like a stalker. Although he was glad that his friend was fine, at the end of the day, what he did was nothing short of stalking.

As such, he decided to stop reading the book all the time.

Perhaps once a month would do. Just to check how Ren was doing.

On another note, another reason why he decided to stop reading the book was because he finally understood what he had to do.

He was still going to join the Union.

If Ren was ever going to come back, Kevin was prepared to help him out. After all, he did have a huge bounty on his head.

If he got into a high enough position, he would be able to lend Ren a hand.

'It's still not enough, though...'

Kevin took out his phone and scrolled through his contact list.

After thinking for a while, Kevin realized that if he truly wanted to help Ren out, he needed allies.

He thought about asking Emma, but she was too preoccupied with her uncle's problem to be able to help him at all.

There was also Jin, but well, he hated Ren, so Kevin couldn't really ask him for help.

Regarding Donna and Monica, they were too closely tied to the Union. Kevin didn't know just how loyal they were to them.

He didn't want to risk exposing Ren.

He needed someone who had power, strong authority, and was trustworthy.

As such, after a long time of contemplation, his finger paused on a certain contact. His brows knit in thought.

Be- Beep—!

Pressing onto the contact, the phone soon started to ring.

"Kevin?

"

Before long, a cold and crisp voice entered Kevin's ears.

Scratching the side of his head, Kevin opened his mouth.

"Hey, Amanda. Do you have time?

"

===

No, Oliver is not a mistake.