"That was, uhm, impressive," Lee commented during rest. His miner pack, a spatially expanded container that still retained the weight of mined materials to some extent, was slung on his shoulders.

  "Thanks," Lev waved off the compliment. "How quickly do you think we will progress at this rate?"

  "Should be done in six or so hours. Usually, we only fill half of our packs but with you here, we can work quickly and fill it up to 70%. It becomes too heavy after that."

  "Can the packs be stored in storage rings?"

  Lee scratched his cheek. "I don't know? You can test it if you wish."

  It didn't work, which made sense. Life might turn into a huge glitch if expanded space could be packed inside expanded space. Lev didn't even know how storage items worked in the first place.

  The rest of the mining session passed without interruptions. Lev was so surprised that he decided to wait another fifteen minutes for something to go wrong. Nothing ambushed them, which was both concerning and relieving.

  The title did say that such events are unlikely to occur around you again. Does my presence attracting things count towards that?

  Lev didn't know what to feel about that if that was the case. On one hand, it felt great not to be constantly under pressure. On the other hand, the effects of his presence made him as strong as he was currently. The System awarded him plenty of titles because of the encounters.

  Overall, Lev was more than happy with the change. He would be extremely strong no matter what, so the lack of stress was much appreciated.

  The entire time they moved back to the surface, Lev remained tense. The miners didn't understand why but they knew something was up. It was only after they were returning to windkeep under the setting suns that Lev relaxed.

  "That went well. How much of your packs did you fill?"

  "Just over 70%, all thanks to you," Lee replied.

  "Bah, you lot did all the work."

  Lev received a respectful nod, which made him laugh and change the topic. "Where will this metal go after we return?"

  "For purification first. Right now, there are many impurities in it. I can tell that even with my basic class. Then it may be infused or compressed, or first infused then compressed, or sacrificed for exotic class skills to create something new."

  Transmutating iron? I suppose it makes sense with how common the metal is.

  They rested for a night and set off again at dawn, reaching windkeep at noon. Lev and Lee made their way to the hunters guild while Cain, Olin, and Ulric submitted their haul to the merchant's guild.

  "That marks your quest as complete," the man behind the counter said. "Thank you for the work."

  Lev nodded and tossed the twenty silver reward into his ring. Such an amount didn't matter to him anymore.

  Free again, Lev mused. It didn't take long to find a library, where he was prepared to spend the next few days before he left for the haven.

  ****

  "Well, well, well. Look who decided to grace us with his presence."

  "Heh," Lev scoffed, grinning at Elias. "I'm a terribly busy hunter, you know?"

  "Yeah, I saw you engrossed in those pages. Truly a miracle worker."

  Lev coughed. "Right… You guys are going to the Haven too?"

  Lisa answered while pinching his cheek. "Yep. Will you also compete in the tournament?"

  "That was the plan," Lev agreed, gently pushing away her hand. "I might have to face you guys then."

  "Scared?" Viktor called out with a mock-haughty smirk.

  "Obviously." Lev grinned. "Well, not in a one-on-one. Can someone register for solo versus teams?"

  "Don't know," Viktor shrugged. Nobody else seemed to know either.

  "Time will tell, I guess. Which caravan is ours?"

  Several different caravans were preparing to leave for the haven. Due to the scale of the upcoming events, people were flocking to the haven from far and wide. Lev wasn't even aware of the scale before everyone in windkeep started talking about it.

  "The small one to the right," Elias pointed to the group of five… huge carts.

  "What on Monarch is inside those?" Lev remarked, stunned.

  "Don't know," Elias shrugged. "Either way, we will depart in an hour."

  They chatted about random things until the time for departure came. Lev admired the huge armored carts from several angles before getting in. Nearly all of the interior space was taken by cargo enchanted with concealment. Lev didn't need to peer inside to deduce there were a lot of cores and natural resources present next to him.

  The radiant team stayed in a different cart that was half empty. Remembering something, Lev identified the horses.

  [Horse - Level 98]

  [Horse - Level 97]

  Official quest, huh.

  The people Lev was accompanying were also a gold-ranked hunter team. The goods being carried also belonged to the guild preparing for large-scale maneuvers.

  I sincerely doubt that this journey will be peaceful, even with my new title.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  Something was bound to be attracted to all the resources, which was there were three gold teams currently present. Three if they considered Lev a team instead of simply solo.

  In just an hour of traveling at their extreme speed, the walls of windkeep were no longer visible on the horizon.

  ****

  "So, who wants to bet?" Lev spoke up. The hunters were all resting for a night after two days of traveling. Haven was still weeks away.

  "On what?" the lead hunter for the quest asked.

  "That we will face something we aren't supposed to." Lev grinned, the expression ominous under the moonlit night.

  Rena looked at him in disapproval. "That's not funny."

  Lev chortled but dropped the topic. It was a common occurrence for him, though he couldn't tell them that.

  "Does anyone know what kind of events happen during the tournament?" Lev changed the subject.

  "You're competing without even knowing?" Viktor deadpanned.

  "Yep," Lev replied. "Should I be preparing something specific?"

  "Only three items are allowed inside the tournament, so you need to prepare those," Elias supplied.

  Skinsuit, Stargazer, and the ring. Funny, that.

  "Done. What else?"

  Lisa scratched her chin. "That's about it now that I think about it. We just need to be adaptable. There are several different niche events too if you want to compete in those."

  Lev leaned forward. "Such as?"

  "Things like archery, racing, and similar specializations."

  "Oh," Lev's face fell. "What are the rewards like?"

  Sangah, a mage from the other gold team, interjected. "The Runic Warlord is personally organizing them this time. If the rumors are to be believed, they will be tailored to the winners."

  Several of them whistled in appreciation. Lev was reconsidering his motivations too. If Drakys was personally handing out good stuff, he needed to win now instead of just messing around. It was a good chance to earn himself some neat formations.

  "Nobody told me that before," Lev whined, the reaction not entirely fake. "Who doesn't want some fantastic rewards? I would've prepared more."

  Silence suddenly overtook the present company as the atmosphere became awkward. Lev was flustered at the sudden change in the air.

  Sangah cleared her throat. "… You still need to prepare?"

  "Yeah?" Lev replied, confused. "I very much doubt I'm the strongest competitor."

  She gave him a smile that was quite literally falling apart at the seams. Sherron had warned him that there would be few who could match him but this reaction went beyond that.

  "Out with it." Lev stared at her as he spoke.

  "You will most likely win. Nobody can fight a second-threshold harpy solo as a gold hunter," she blurted out.

  "If there are several events, surely there are other ways to win than sheer combat prowess."

  Viktor shook his head. "The main events are all related to fighting. You have a huge advantage in that regard. Not to mention you will be fighting in the gold bracket."

  Lev scratched the back of his head. Even the radiant team seemed to agree with Sangah's assessment.

  "We will see," he ended the discussion with that.

  ****

  Lev was lazily gazing at the sky while sitting at the edge of his cart. The horizon was dotted with a few white spots here and there.

  Clouds… is this the first time I'm seeing any clouds?

  He couldn't remember when he had before. The weather on Monarch jumped between sunny summers and tame winters without any snow. Storms were the only natural phenomena that ever blocked the sunlight from reaching the ground.

  Is the storm related to these clouds in any way?

  That was the real reason Lev was somewhat worried. The storm was a big mystery in every aspect. All he knew was that even the Exalted took shelter deep underground.

  His musings were cut short when the air morphed.

  Erm… Lev nervously looked around, finding the grassland empty yet the world seemed to press down on his shoulders. Why the hell is a wave randomly forming on top of us?

  "LEV," Viktor shouted from his cart. Not missing a beat, Lev flew out of his cart and ascended.

  He flew up for several hundred meters before scanning the plains. If the haven was in the center of the square that was formed by the outer walls, the monsters were coming from the huge stretch of empty land between runespires and windkeep that were on the top two corners of the square.

  Did no one scout this wave? It also seems to be fairly low in rating.

  Descending, Lev explained the situation. "There are a bunch of dormant and first-threshold monsters but nothing beyond that. We will be fine."

  "What were the strongest you could sense?" The lead hunter inquired, tense.

  "Shamans. There could be more hidden under illusions. Let me open fire first to unearth any potential surprises."

  The carts slowed down to let the monsters catch up. Lev's nerves eased significantly when he failed to find anything stronger than a troll shaman below level 200.

  Still… waves like this don't form inside the walls.

  There were no answers as to why this one had, so Lev put the question to the back of his mind. Maybe someone else would explain it to him later.

  I don't need to hold back, do I?

  Dozens of arrows formed behind him as Lev channeled fire mana into each of them equally. When the barrage was ready, he loosed the projectiles in five waves of ten.

  Each wave downed monsters by the dozens in the huge horde. Thousands still charged forward, their roars audible from kilometers away.

  More arrows followed before Lev formed ten lances. Lightning and fire infused them till they shone in brilliant hues of red, blue, and orange, at which point Lev launched them without hesitation.

  Daylight turned brighter as they impacted as one. Each explosion covered dozens of meters in its radius, wiping out a large part of the wave in seconds.

  Tenth of my pool. Not bad.

  Despite the easy fight, Lev kept his Perception strained. There was no telling what may jump at them.

  When there were only a few hundred monsters left alive, Lev let the other teams deal with them while he spun in circles to try and perceive even the smallest irregularities.

  I don't see anything, Lev noted, unconvinced that the wave would pass so easily.

  Seconds turned into minutes. He slowly lowered himself, refusing to even blink.

  "Do you see anything?" Elias shouted when Lev was less than a hundred meters high. The wave had completely perished, and none of them felt like harvesting the cores.

  "Nothing as of yet," Lev eventually replied. "Let's keep moving."

  The whole ordeal hadn't even granted him a single level.

  ****

  Unbelievably, nothing went wrong during the rest of the journey. Lev was constantly surprised that the Seen title actually worked pretty well.

  Far into the distance, Lev could see the behemoths that were the Haven's walls. Standing 100 meters high, they dwarfed even the walls of runespires.

  The impact would've been much greater if Lev were seeing such walls for the first time. He oggled them for a good while before focusing on the squad approaching to intercept them. The carts slowed down once they neared.

  "State your business," the Master calmly asked, scanning the carts leisurely. The lead gold hunter handed a paper to him, probably bearing some official stamp.

  No more words were exchanged as the squad retreated and motioned for the newcomers to pass.

  The closer they got, the more excitement bubbled up inside Lev. This was the great city housing most of humanity, and it was actually thriving. There was a huge line of people going in and out of the giant black gates.

  Thankfully, he was spared from all the smells that came with such a crowd. His skinsuit was working flawlessly. While he observed the crowds, a question that had been plaguing his mind resurfaced.

  Lev made a decision and resummoned his blocking stone. He was incredibly curious about how people would react if a 'kid' was loitering in places where only scary men and women were supposed to be.

  "Is it usually so busy or is it because of the event?" Lev asked as Elias and his team got off the carts. The other hunters went up ahead, allowed passage quickly due to their quest.

  "Last time we came here, the lines were almost as big as they are right now," Elias stretched while answering. "Damn it feels good to be on ground again."

  Viktor yawned. Lev was tired too. The carts had last stopped three days ago, and everyone was starting to feel the fatigue.

  "Is it important to register quickly, or can we take our time?"

  "Doesn't really matter," Rena replied. "We came a week early, so the registration will remain open for another few days."

  "Good, because I'm tired as hell."

  "Same," Viktor drawled, rubbing his eyes. "I don't know how you guys can sleep in moving carts."

  It only took a surprising ten minutes for their turn to enter. Lev had to do a double take. The line had actually moved so fast.

  "Hunters?" One of the guards interrogating everyone asked.

  Elias showed them his badge. It was quite literally shining. That alone was enough to get them entry with a nod of recognition.

  "Fancy badge," Lev commented.

  "It helps."