Not my level again

The system flooded Jon's mind with messages after his victory over the red zombie, distracting him from his shock:

[YOU HAVE OBTAINED THE REQUIREMENTS TO EVOLVE THE SKILL 'SOLDIER PHYSIQUE.']

[YOU HAVE ACQUIRED THE SKILL 'AURA'.]

[MARTIAL EXPERT (FIRST REALM): YOU HAVE OBTAINED THE MINIMUM KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED TO PRACTICE MARTIAL ARTS. AN EXPERT IS SUPERIOR TO A LAYMAN. AS YOU TRAIN AND LEARN, FORGE YOUR MARTIAL PATH. ALL STATS: +50.]

[YOUR *** LEVEL HAS INCREASED.]

[YOU HAVE REACHED 'LEVEL 25' UNRANKED REALM. YOU NEED CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS TO ADVANCE TO THE NEXT REALM.]

[TO CONTINUE YOUR PATH, THESE ARE THE POSSIBLE CLASSES AVAILABLE TO AID IN YOUR JOURNEY:

SPEARMASTER

MARTIAL ARTIST

BLACKSMITH

MOON DREAMER]

Excitement surged through Jon, he had been waiting for this moment. But he quickly calmed down, evaluating his options.

"Spear Master is an obvious choice given my weapon. Martial Artist could work, so I'll set that aside. Blacksmith is probably due to my 'Mind World'... and then there's Moon Dreamer."

The name caught his attention. There had to be a reason the system aligned him with the Moon, Sun, and Star skills. He recalled the description of Moon energy, Mystery, Dream, and the Unconscious. It wasn't just an ability; it felt like a calling.

Sighing, he muttered, "It's like the choice was never really mine in the first place. It's obvious which class I should pick." He had considered a situation where the paths would be closely related, making the choice difficult. But here, he realized he could still learn the others alongside his main path.

He didn't fall for the temptation of a quick power-up like some might. Even without knowing the risks, he was cautious by nature. And besides, his 'Composure' wouldn't let him rush into a momentary gain.

"I choose Moon Dreamer."

[YOU HAVE CHOSEN 'MOON DREAMER'. THE MOON IS CLOSELY TIED TO MYSTERY, DREAM, AND THE UNCONSCIOUS. THESE REPRESENT WHAT MANY SEEK YET FAIL TO COMPREHEND THE ESSENCE OF LIFE. YOU MUST FULFILL CERTAIN REQUIREMENTS TO UNLOCK THIS CLASS.]

[TO OBTAIN THE MOON DREAMER CLASS, YOU MUST:

OBTAIN TWO FIRST REALM CORES: 0/2

FIGHT, KILL, AND ABSORB THE REMAINS OF 10 FIRST REALM CREATURES: 0/10

FIGHT, KILL, AND ABSORB THE REMAINS OF 30 UNRANKED REALM CREATURES USING 'MOON': 0/30

EVOLVE YOUR MAIN SKILL TO THE SECOND REALM: INCOMPLETE]

[ANY REMAINS OBTAINED NOW WILL BE ABSORBED ONCE REQUIREMENTS ARE FULFILLED.]

"What?!" Jon's voice rang out in shock. The requirements for his evolution were much more than he expected. Not long ago, he had barely survived battles even with Jenny and Cynthia against unranked creatures. Now, he was meant to fight first-realm monsters, alone.

"What if I hadn't unlocked Aura?"

The thought struck him. Would the requirements have been the same? He glanced at the zombie's body. Despite all his efforts, it had no core or orbs.

His emotions were mixed. Still, he needed to move forward.

'No use crying over it.' With a final glance at the zombie, Jon resumed his journey toward the boys' dormitories.

Along the way, he experimented with mana. He had just unlocked a skill that concentrated mana, so he wanted to see what else he could do.

Since discovering mana, he had always found it fascinating, but he never had enough time or resources to test its full potential. Now, he was realizing its uses.

First, just by swinging his spear with mana, his current stats allowed him to take out lesser zombies with ease. Second, he made several discoveries: spreading mana let him sense his surroundings up to 300 meters. When combined with his Moon energy, that range doubled to 600 meters, giving him almost complete battlefield awareness.

He also found that running with mana made him faster. Even cleaning himself with mana worked, which surprised him.

"This mana is really versatile," he muttered, amazed at how it enhanced nearly everything. "And just by mastering it, I'll be about 1.5 times stronger than before."

By this point, he had reached the dormitory area and was met with an unsettling sight.

Unlike the scattered female dormitories, the male dorms were clustered together. There were 11 dorms in total, but only five remained standing. The other six had been reduced to rubble.

Even the intact dorms were heavily damaged and barely standing except for one. Surprisingly, it was the very dormitory Jon had once stayed in.

It looked nearly untouched.

Strangely, it was also crawling with zombies. A lot of them.

Jon didn't know why, but he first spread his newly learned perception around the area.

He wanted to scan their average level and number, but as soon as he did, several powerful zombies snapped their heads toward him.

'It seems they can sense it too.' He noted it down while getting into a stance.

Without wasting time, the stronger zombies commanded the horde to attack.

'Not going to be easy.' Jon narrowed his eyes. He had to fight while also being cautious of the barely standing buildings and protect his dormitory, which was somehow still intact.

He started by spreading his bluish fog, latching onto some of the zombies. 'I can spread more?' That was the first change he noticed with his Moon energy. He could spread more of it, and he felt like he could do even more.

Since the zombies were frozen in place, he closed his eyes briefly before flashing them open, his irises glowing blue. Slashing his empty hand diagonally through the air, something happened.

Ten zombies collapsed instantly.

If one looked at their bodies, there were no external wounds, no injuries at all.

Jon had severed their consciousness.

It sounded extreme, but these zombies' consciousness was already exposed, making them vulnerable. The reason was a story for another time.

Still, the attack drained one-fifth of his mana pool. He had expected it to take more.

Pushing aside his thoughts, he stepped forward and, in one fluid motion, swung his spear, decapitating advancing zombies. His movements were precise. With his 'Martial Expert' skill, he now knew how to conserve and properly distribute mana.

Suddenly, his earring blared. He raised his spear to block an attack—

CLANG!

"You're not even at my level anymore," he taunted as he easily deflected the strike, pushing the zombie back. Then, he lunged forward.

SLASH.

THUD. THUD.

The creature's arms hit the ground.

Jon released his aura, and the zombie froze.

"Wait your turn." His voice was calm, but the effect was undeniable. The other zombies froze too, paralyzed by his aura alone.

'So that works too.' He had wanted to immobilize them with a skill, but his aura alone was enough. Within minutes, all the zombies lay dead.

"Whew..." He exhaled, his aura burning over his spear.

He wasn't supposed to be handling first-realm monsters this easily, but Aura felt like a cheat.

He shifted through the corpses, collecting 20 cores, two of them from zombies at the threshold.

"Now, time to find out why my dormitory is still standing."

Just as he approached—

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

A thunderous rumble echoed.

Jon's eyes widened in disbelief as he turned to see a massive lion, six meters tall, its mane ablaze, its steps igniting the ground.

His breath hitched. 'First realm.'

He clenched his jaw. "One chance."

He couldn't let the beast reach the dormitory and he couldn't even risk fighting it one on one. So, he had only one chance to kill it.

This time, he wasn't reducing any strength, no, he was going to use everything he had.

Taking in a deep breath, Jon assumed a stance and unleashed every ounce of his Aura, channeling his Moon energy into his spear.

The sky was already dark around him, so it was the glow of his power and the lion's roaring flames that were lightening up the area.

It was at this point that the beast just noticed him and sensed the danger in the creature. It raised its paw filled with fire, ready to pounce, however, that didn't matter to Jon.

He activated the special effect of his shadow steps, vanishing and reappearing up in the air, right in front of the creature.

And with all his strength, focused on the tip of the spear, drove all of its power forward.

BOOOOOOM

And the result was shocking.

A massive hole was torn through the lion's skull. The hole was so large one could see the other side through its head, without difficulty, but that didn't spare the spear.

Its durability turned to zero as it was only meant for monsters below or at level 20 and it was used for a monster that had already crossed the unranked realm. That wasn't all, the sheer force of the attack, Jon's strength including aura was too much for the spear to handle.

It had already been used for something way beyond its capacity, but it still fulfilled its last role, Pierce.

The blood and gore of the lion showered Jon, drenching him in the remnants of his victory, and the system also acknowledged it.

[YOU HAVE OBTAINED LEVEL 27 'MOUNTAIN FIRE LION' REMAINS.]

And Jon stood still, his breath heavy, drenched in the blood of the fallen beast.

He smiled weakly still displaying the shock on his face while muttering,

"Now that...was an attack."