Levi had a very clear understanding of himself.
He was never a genius.
Despite learning Mana Burst and the Hiten Mitsurugi-ryū at the age of six, after ten years of effort, he had never truly mastered either of these two skills.
Fortunately, compared to the natives of the DanMachi world, he had a gift from his past life.
The various supernatural settings from the anime and games he had watched and played as an otaku allowed Levi to seek growth in his own strength from another perspective.
For instance...
—Mana Burst: Ten!
The pale-gold, short-haired boy, standing in a defensive stance, suddenly felt magic power surge from within his body.
However, it didn't instantly spread throughout his entire body as it had during his battles in the Dungeon over the past two weeks.
Or rather, the process was deliberately halted halfway by its user and, following his will, was slowly channeled into his legs.
The entire process took about a minute.
Afterward, a subtle change occurred on Levi's status panel:
[Agility: I0+800/SS1099]
Normally, using Mana Burst would increase Strength, Endurance, Dexterity, and Agility by 400 points each.
However, under Levi's conscious control, although the total bonus was halved, the boost to a single ability was doubled as a result.
The benefits of this were obvious. When facing opponents with high defense, greater strength could more easily inflict damage.
Against speed-focused opponents, he could use higher agility to keep up with them.
Endurance and Dexterity could also be applied in specific combat situations.
The prerequisite was...
Levi had to be able to compress the activation time of this Mana Burst technique, which was inspired by the application of Nen from Hunter x Hunter, to one or two seconds.
In fact, ever since raising Mana Burst to the master level over two years ago, Levi had been practicing 'Mana Burst: Ten'.
The total time required for the latter had been gradually reduced from over five minutes initially to the current one minute.
It could be said that he was making progress, but it was far too slow.
This was further proof to Levi that he wasn't a true genius.
Originally, based on his recent experience, compressing the preparation time for 'Mana Burst: Ten' by another second would require at least three to four weeks of practice, totaling a hundred hours.
However, something unexpected happened.
After deactivating the enhanced state and using 'Mana Burst: Ten' again, the total time had inexplicably been reduced by two seconds!
What was going on?
Stunned for a moment, Levi opened his status panel and quickly discovered the reason for the change in the skills section.
[Mana Manipulation · 4-Star (Beginner 1%+): Gain 'Mage I' and can perform minor interventions on one's own magic power]
?
?!
!!!
'This new skill... is it because of the... Falna?'
A technique he had practiced for a year had never materialized into a skill before, yet it suddenly appeared today. To say this had nothing to do with the Falna, only a fool would believe it.
'I remember the original story seemed to say that the Falna itself is actually a catalyst for potential...'
Recalling the memories from his past life, Levi's eyes seemed to shine.
He pondered for a moment, then spent 1000 Valis and invested it into the newly acquired 'Mana Manipulation'.
The next second, Levi's consciousness split in two. One part remained in his physical body, while the other entered a gray, misty space where time was accelerated to 86,400 times the normal rate.
Here, Levi didn't need to worry about injury or fatigue, and his consumed magic power would be instantly replenished. The only drawback was that he could only practice the 'Mana Manipulation' skill, and he would be ejected once ten days had passed.
The process of practicing the skill was tedious, but because he received real-time feedback from the system, Levi actually enjoyed it.
After ten seconds, his split consciousness merged back into one:
[Mana Manipulation · 4-Star (Proficient 4%+): Gain Development Ability 'Mage H', can perform minor interventions on one's own magic power, slightly reducing magic consumption]
His gaze quickly swept over the successfully upgraded 'Mana Manipulation'. Then, without hesitation, Levi used 'Mana Burst: Ten' again.
Magic power comparable to a top-tier Lv. 1 Mage erupted, and in the next instant, it rapidly concentrated on his legs.
The entire process took—1.3 seconds!
[Mana Burst · 4-Star (Master 21%+):]
[Chantless]
[Basic: Greatly increases all abilities except Magic.]
[Advanced · Ten: Extremely greatly increases a single ability except Magic.]
Although he had expected it, upon discovering that he had truly mastered 'Mana Burst: Ten', Levi couldn't help but grin, which turned into a chuckle, and finally erupted into a full-blown laugh.
Because he was so loud, he ended up disturbing Hestia next door, who hadn't gone to sleep yet.
'Levi, what are you doing?' the blue-ribboned goddess asked, knocking on the wall.
'Practicing a combat technique.' Levi suppressed his joy, but the corners of his mouth remained slightly upturned.
'Is that so? Do you want me to come over and help?' Hestia admitted that her curiosity had been piqued.
Unfortunately, Levi didn't answer directly, or rather, he deliberately changed the subject.
'Are you planning a nightly raid on me? If that's the case, I should probably go wash up and lie down in bed.'
'I'm not one of those lecherous goddesses!' Hestia puffed out her cheeks. 'Honestly, Levi, you just love to tease me.'
'Because Hestia is someone I like. Isn't it perfectly natural for a boy to tease the girl he likes and make her show all sorts of shy expressions?' Levi continued with his flippant replies.
Although it wasn't the first time she had heard it, Hestia clearly hadn't gotten used to Levi's occasional confessions. Her cheeks instantly flushed red, and she wrapped herself in her small blanket like an ostrich burying its head in the sand. 'Ugh, I'm not talking anymore. But remember to let me update your status tomorrow morning.'
'No problem,' Levi said with a calm smile. 'And, Hestia, good night.'
'...Good night.'
It was still early, and Levi, who had long since developed the habit of training at night, naturally wasn't going to sleep just yet.
Just as Nen in Hunter x Hunter has four major principles, Levi also had four directions for strengthening his Mana Burst skill.
They were:
'Ten', used to extremely enhance a single ability.
'Blade', which concentrates magic power onto a weapon and can release highly concentrated magic sword qi through slashes.
'Shield', which concentrates magic power onto armor or around the body to enhance defensive power.
And 'En', which can be spread into the air to sense surrounding dangers.
Now that 'Ten', which provided the greatest combat boost and was the easiest to master, had been learned, the next step was naturally to work on 'Blade', 'Shield', and 'En'.
...
The next day.
Although she had her suspicions, after seeing the new skill and the slight changes to the magic on her familia member's back, Hestia couldn't help but exclaim:
'Levi, you are the greatest unknown I have ever seen since descending to the lower world! It's unlikely anyone with a stranger situation than yours will appear for a very long time.'
______
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