It had been a week since Lee Shin-Woo's group entered the magic training site. They rested in between and were somehow able to clear the twentieth facility. After taking a day-long break and making sure they were absolutely ready, they entered the twenty-first facility, and still they ended up struggling.

Lee Shin-Woo would compare the facility to a combination of ten high-level dungeons, and he made the analogy based on not only the number of monsters they encountered.

"Kratia, they're spawning behind you!"

"Keuk, what level is the magic they planted here...!?"

"Come, all of you! I'll burn you all! Fire Demon's eyes!"

It was far from the first time he made the observation, but it bore repeating that the facilities had developed in a different direction than originally intended. The quantity of monsters was only one aspect. The reinforcement magic and the magic traps had gone awry as well.

A few subspaces were overlapping, which caused the size of the facility to increase, and in the process, the magic traps grew stronger due to the larger quantity of mana in the environment. Moreover, the spawning points of monsters shifted to some truly inconvenient spots as well.

[Activating reinforcement magic. Activating reinforcement magic.]

[Kuhaahk!]

"Ah, wait a sec. Is that..."

"This is crazy... Kratia, get back. I said, get back!"

To make things worse, the reinforcement magic that was supposed to activate only when they failed to disarm the traps now activated on their own, buffing monsters nonstop. If left unchecked, something none of them wanted to see would show up.

[Lv7 Metal Ape Chimera]

Case in point, a level 7 elite monster might appear when there should only be level 6 monsters within this facility.

[Kuwaaaaaaaaaaaaah!]

"Ah, crap. What the hell is that!? What the hell is a Chimera?"

"If you go that way, you'll really die, Senior! Wait, on your right. Kratia, disarm that trap over there!"

"On it... Clear!"

There was an art technique known as decalcomania. One would paint on the surface of a material that wouldn’t absorb the pigment, and then the material would be folded in half, or covered with a piece of paper; either way, the original art would be transferred intact.

"Clear! Shin-Woo!"

"Fall back for now. I'll take it on, so get back!"

[Kuhwaaaaaaahk!]

Right now, the space was expanding and repeatedly combining overlapping elements. Soon, rule and order were lost, and everything went off the rail; at the end of this chaos, everything was recreated anew. The Chimera was a product of the never-ending chaos as well, which was created from countless monsters overlapping in the same space. If the Royal Mage Leader, Feotane Von Seldin's goal was to kill everyone inside, he did a bang-up job.

[Kiiiiiiiiiiiii!]

"T-There's no way we can beat it. How can we beat a level 7 elite? We'll die. There's no other possibility."

"Senior, please take care of the weak mobs. I'll take care of the elite."

"You're level 6!"

Prince had fought bravely against the normal level 6 monsters nonstop, but once the level 7 elite, the Metal Ape Chimera, appeared, she completely lost her will to fight.

However, Lee Shin-Woo dual wielded the Breath of the Lightning Gods and grinned at her.

"You know I'm no normal level 6."

"Keut..."

It was frustrating, but Prince had to nod at that.

Conquering the facilities alone brought positive karma due to the hardships they had to endure, and with her repeated, desperate struggles, Prince's skills had grown tremendously. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she'd become a different person.

It was the same for Kratia. Her magic control became more exquisite day by day, and her Catalyst Magic, which transformed the mana around her through her orb, took a major step forward. Above all, her maximum capacity of mana had also increased substantially.

However...

Whenever her affable and meek junior entered the battlefield, he would sweep through enemies like a typhoon... Lee Shin-Woo was beyond her understanding.

He said that the goddess had given him the ability to wrap powerful lightning around his body; that much wasn’t surprising. Lee Shin-Woo was also a warrior who could gather a ton of mana, which could also be explained away by his trip to the Goddess’s Garden. So far, things were still within the realm of her understanding.

But when she put all that together and looked at her own growth, it troubled her that Lee Shin-Woo far surpassed both her and Kratia. After they had rested and gone through the twentieth facility, she had passed it off as a high rank skill’s doing, but now she was certain.

Lee Shin-Woo got a lot stronger whenever he overcame a facility!

He's definitely gotten faster than when he was in the twentieth facility. He's definitely gotten stronger too, and his magic has increased as well. So much so that even someone not proficient in close combat like me can tell...

His growth rate was much faster than hers. How was that even possible? Did he buy a pile of medicine from the Secret Shop and take it all?

No, they were splitting the Perium equally between the three of them, so she was well aware that he didn’t have the Perium to do that. He had at most leveled up his skills once or twice, and their achievements should've been similar. So how did this happen!?

Of course, stat growth differs between individuals. Even so, his growth is still too fast! Way too fast!

How about Lloyd? He was a level 6 warrior on the cusp of reaching level 7. He was tough, and with a buff, he would be able to take on monsters without retreating; he was like a truly reliable iron wall.

She felt a sense of ease whenever Lloyd stood in front of her to protect her, and she never wanted that feeling to go away. But right now, she didn't even really remember what Lloyd’s abilities were like. Instead, her memories were replaced by a storm, a lightning storm that disintegrated everything in its path.

Keuk, no way. If Lee Shin-Woo and Lloyd fight one on one, Lloyd won’t lose. He definitely won’t!

She tried hard to convince herself even though she was doubting her own words. Even if Lloyd could beat Lee Shin-Woo right now, Lee Shin-Woo would definitely become stronger than him soon with his monstrous growth rate.

"Kratia, can you use that debuff you used last time?"

"It'll be a bit weaker than last time… But you're a lot stronger than last time, Shin-Woo."

"And our opponents are a lot weaker."

"Ugh."

While Prince was half panicking, Lee Shin-Woo and Kratia exchanged a few words with the same knowing smile and turned towards their enemy. Over the past week, Lee Shin-Woo had used Lightning Shadow and Lightning Sprint continuously and grew certain that they were compatible with each other. He instantly cladded himself in both Lightning Shadow and Lightning Sprint.

[Kuwooooooooh!]

The Metal Ape Chimera was a level 7 elite that possessed a truly horrific form, as it was composed of different monsters. Once it hit level 7, it gained herculean strength, size, and armor.

Its intelligence must have improved as it leveled up as well; as it roared, it kept its guard up against Lee Shin-Woo and didn’t make a reckless move. It was the smart thing to do after assessing Lee Shin-Woo’s strength.

Somehow, my stats have increased by about 1,000.

Prince didn't know how Lee Shin-Woo had grown so quickly, but the answer was obvious. He had used Bone Reinforcement!

Tens of thousands of level 6 monsters had appeared, so obviously, tens of thousands of bones would have dropped. As someone who knew his secret, Kratia had given the bones to Lee Shin-Woo without him asking, and he told Prince that he had a lot of Secret Shop permits, so he'd sell them in her stead. All the bones they had collected thus went to him.

He had kept half of the bones for Jin, and still there were more than 30,000 bones left for him. It would be stranger if his stats hadn’t increased.

This is a treasure trove. I wouldn’t be growing as dramatically even if I were to visit 10, no, 20 dungeons, let alone in such a short time... I have to thank the Royal Mage Leader if I ever get to meet him.

The first facility they challenged together granted him 500 stat points, and with the second facility, his stats had increased by another 300. All of his skills leveled up as well, netting him another 100 plus stat points. As a result, his stat growth was quite noticeable. Moreover...

[Kuwaaaaaaaaaaaah!]

[You are fighting a high leveled foe. Through Rebellion, all stats increase by an additional 16%!.]

Because he had been fighting such a large volume of enemies, his Rebellion had activated, and his already increased stats received an additional buff of 43%, effectively pushing him a level higher.

Moreover, my stats have surpassed 6,000, so...

It filled in the gap that his skills had left. Even if he didn't have Kratia's debuff, he could've taken on the level 7.

Thanks to the intense situations they were put in and the repeated battles they took on in such a short period of time, Lee Shin-Woo now had a somewhat objective grasp on his strength.

"Good. Shall we...!?"

[Gureureuraaaaaa!]

The lightning bared its fangs as he rushed at the Metal Ape Chimera. The Metal Ape Chimera didn't seem to be backing down. It snarled... And suddenly, it ordered the nearby monsters to attack Lee Shin-Woo!

"Okay, not an unfair strategy, but it doesn’t seem like something a monster who looks like that would do!"

"Prince!"

"Oh, I... I got it, damn it."

Watching the situation unfold, Kratia snapped harshly at Prince, who thankfully reacted in time to instantly burn the monsters to a crisp with her fire. Meanwhile, Lee Shin-Woo cut down the dozens of monsters left in front of him with a forceful swing of his Breath of the Lightning God.

Black energy intertwined with the lightning to form a giant horn. It was extremely sharp, but also extremely covert. It was the skill he had created, Shadow Horn!

"Shadow Horn!"

It was still impossible for him to project shadows, but he could activate a portion of the gigantification ability of the intermediate skill to enlarge the horn further.

With reflexes befitting a level 7 elite, the Metal Ape Chimera whipped out an armored arm and attempted to block it. Unfortunately, the armor broke into pieces, and the shadow continued on, destroying its forearm.

[Critical Hit!]

[Kyaaaaaaaahk!]

It let out a horrific cry and rampaged about, overturning the ground and triggered all the magic traps simultaneously, aiming for Lee Shin-Woo.

It could even use the traps!? Lee Shin-Woo was taken aback, but he trusted in his comrades and took a step forward instead. The lightning intensified.

"Kuaaaaaaaaaah!"

[Gueeeeeeeeeh!]

Before the magic traps hit Lee Shin-Woo, frost descended upon the entire area, temporarily disabling them, and the Metal Ape Chimera's movements likewise slowed. The next moment, Lee Shin-Woo’s inner energy surged, and he unleashed his new ability at the Chimera.

"Twin Lightning Fall!"

As quick as lighting, and as weighty as a mountain. The lightning was concentrated in both his arms and blades, making them look like dragon teeth. He swung his two swords down at the Chimera's head. With a crackle, an intense, goosebump-inducing current shot through the Chimera.

[Keheeeeeeeehk!]

"Umph!"

"Clear, clear, clear!"

Once he landed a successful hit, Lee Shin-Woo dodged the Chimera's powerful counterattack and fell back for now; Kratia didn't even confirm Lee Shin-Woo's status before continuing to disable the traps.

Since they now knew the Metal Ape Chimera had control over the magic traps, Kratia had to disable the traps as quickly as possible so that they wouldn’t be put in more danger.

"Prince, take care of the mobs!"

"You guys are way too frantic...! Eeeeeeek!"

Prince was so busy helping them out that she felt like she'd cry. With Lloyd, we would've waved the monsters goodbye and run from a battle like this...! What the hell is wrong with these people? They seem to be enjoying themselves, and they look as energetic as ever!

"If you guys die, I'm going to run!"

"We won't die if you do what you're supposed to do!"

"Senior, please take care of those monsters as well."

"Ah, seriously!"

With excellent support from Kratia and Prince, the number of monsters blocking Lee Shin-Woo's way was reduced, and the magic traps were disabled one or two at a time.

There were still some external factors that could endanger him, but he could take it. None of them could hurt Lee Shin-Woo when he had become the lightning itself as he ran. The only threat he faced was the level 7 gorilla.

[Kuhaaaaa!]

While his attention was briefly diverted to the level 6 monsters, the Metal Ape Chimera seized the opportunity and launched its counterattack.

Firstly, it shot its mana in all directions and made it vibrate, dispersing Lee Shin-Woo's mana. It then turned its armor into blades and attempted to cut him in half! But ironically, that only served as an opportunity for Lee Shin-Woo to grow.

It offset both my internal and external mana at once...!?

At that very moment, Lee Shin-Woo was able to use Lightning Sprint and Lightning Shadow together, even though he'd barely been able to use them separately until now.

[Kuha?]

The ape's half-attached arm flew into the air. Right above it was a golden crack. Starting from its wrist to its shoulder, the crack then went all the way to its neck and even reached its head!

"Ku, hoo..."

The crack stopped above its head, where Lee Shin-Woo was. Gasping, he deactivated both Lightning Sprint and Lightning Shadow, but he couldn't forget that sense of unity he just felt.

It felt like I was transcending the limits of my body.

Unfortunately, he had only been able to use it for a split second, so he hadn't been able to acquire the skill properly. That was actually a blessing in disguise, though. If he were given the skill now, he wouldn't be able to grow properly.

This is more than enough. I’m sure I’ll get there as long as I keep training.

[Ka, Gaaaaah...]

Lee Shin-Woo smiled proudly as cracks spread throughout the ape's entire body. It muttered something incoherently and attempted to reach out at Lee Shin-Woo, but soon splintered into pieces.

[You faced a higher leveled large monster head on with a small group of comrades and defeated it. Your overwhelming strength made the level difference meaningless. All stats have increased by 3. High Rank Lightning Element is now Lv3, and Magic has increased by 20.]

[You have acquired 2,791,880 Perium.]

[You have acquired the Lv7 Metal Ape Chimera's rib bone.]

"Hey, if you're done, stop posturing and help us out already!"

"I’m coming!"

The training exercise hadn’t ended with the defeat of the level 7 elite. There were still several monsters and magic traps left.

Things would probably be even worse in the next facility. Lee Shin-Woo quickly picked up the loot from the ground and came to a decision.