This time, I really hit the jackpot.

I don't know how many monsters the other people that entered this dungeon killed on average, but I'm sure that none of them killed as many as me.

I dare to bet that none of them killed even half of the monsters I have killed.

The demon's ability to find monsters was incredible. Every time I finished killing a monster, the demon immediately directed me to the next monster.

In just an hour, I had killed seventeen monsters!

With every monster I killed, I felt my mana increase slightly. For someone like me, whose mana did not increase no matter how much I trained, this feeling was addicting.

'At this rate, my mana will level up soon.'

After killing the eighteenth monster, I finally felt that my mana had hit a blockade.

I immediately knew that I was about to breakthrough to the next tier and my eyes lit up in excitement.

"Finally!"

[That is good. However, your talent is really bad. Anyone else would have leveled up his mana pool twice with that much mana.]

I forced out a smile. Yeah, yeah, I know.

"What should I do now, demon?"

[Just sit down and circulate your mana. Try to use your mana to stimulate your mana pool. You will soon find the feeling of breakthrough.]

I nodded and sat down cross-legged. I then closed my eyes and started to circulate my mana.

Soon, I was immersed in circulating my mana. I was not worried about being attacked by monsters. Anyway, if a monster was close, the demon would tell me.

It took me around five minutes to find the feeling of breakthrough the demon mentioned.

Immediately, I increased the speed of my mana circulation and tried to break the layer obstructing my mana.

But–

"Ugh!"

When my mana hit the barrier to the next level, my entire body shook.

I felt my internal organs twisting in pain and my muscles tightening. A sweet taste rose from my throat and I spat out a mouthful of blood.

The pain was so intense that I felt my grasp over my mana slipping out of my control.

But at that moment, I gritted my teeth and forced myself to control my mana.

Then, I hit the barrier again.

Once more, my body trembled. This time, the pain was much more intense.

But to my surprise, I felt the barrier to the next level tremble.

My eyes lit up. I did not hesitate to hit the barrier for the third time.

Even though I failed again, I did not care. I was so excited that I  ignored the pain and just focused on breaking through.

The fourth attempt, the fifth attempt, the sixth attempt.

Finally, on the seventh attempt, and when I thought I could not endure the pain anymore, a small hole appear in the barrier.

Then, my mana surged in, breaking the barrier completely.

A shiver of pleasure ran through my body. The mana inside me moved to every part of my body, filling it with strength.

The injuries I suffered during the breakthrough were quickly healed. It was as though I was a whole new person.

I had become a tier-three practitioner.

[Congratulations, boy.]

'Thank you.'

[But it was a very intense breakthrough. For an instant, I thought that you were becoming a tier-seven practitioner.]

I smiled bitterly.

It was that bad, huh.

[Really, to think that just breaking through to Tier 3 cost you this much. Mana is definitively not your forte.]

I nodded.

I don't need to ask others to know that my breakthrough was not normal.

I remember that Ley once told me about her breakthrough process. She did not take longer than two minutes, and she never mentioned any pain.

The reason why my breakthrough was so hard must have been due to my poor talent.

According to the demon, my body is not suitable for mana. It rejects mana, making it hard for me to circulate it in my body.

That was the reason why I failed to become an Awakened before meeting the demon.

Thinking about the future breakthroughs, they are definitively going to be harder.

'It doesn't matter. At the very least, I can practice mana now.'

"Demon, what is the plan now?"

[Rest for a while before going to the next monster. We still have a lot of time here. If we are lucky, we can accumulate enough mana for the next breakthrough.]

I nodded. I don't know when I will have another opportunity to increase my mana like this, so I must take advantage of it as much as possible.

After resting for half an hour, the demon indicated to me the location of the next monster.

After that, I continued hunting monsters.

But when my mana reached the middle of the third tier, a problem appeared.

It became harder to find monsters.

[... It looks like most of the monsters in this dungeon have been killed.] The demon sighed. [What a shame. This was a good opportunity to increase your strength.]

"What should we do then?"

[Mmm... Let's continue looking around. Go towards the dungeon core. There must be some monsters there that we have not killed.]

I nodded and followed the demon's instructions.

However, the situation did not improve.

In the next two hours, we only found three other monsters.

"Nothing here either." I sighed when I arrived at the core.

The core was located above a small lake. It was floating in the air while mana spiraled towards it continuously.

Normally, a powerful monster known as the dungeon boss would be guarding the core, but it was not here.

Obviously, it had been killed already.

"Sigh, I thought that I could go up to tier four today but it looks like it's impossible."

[... Perhaps you still can.]

"Huh?" I was surprised.

[Boy, today is your lucky day.] I felt the demon grin in my mind. [It looks like the people that cleared this dungeon missed a powerful monster.]

"Really? Where is it?" I asked curiously.

[Underwater.]

 

...

 

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