Like a madman, Sora relentlessly hunted monsters for two days straight. He didn't stop. He didn't sleep. The only times he paused were to scarf down food from the tavern or heal himself with a loaf of bread after taking hits from the beasts he fought. His body moved automatically, but his mind was singurly focused ohing—ging the name of his Fake Sword Strike.

  It wasn't just a was a mark of his progress, his ability to create something new, something that could surpass css-based skills. The word fake burned into his mind every time he used it. He to ge.

  Monsters fell beh his bde in waves—bears, wolves, even packs of Nightcw Bears that once gave him trouble. His sword cut through them all, his mana being sharper, more trolled with each strike. Yet, despite the grind, despite feeling his skill grow, the system still mocked him with that infuriating name.

  And then, after tless hours of grinding, something finally ged.

  A notification blinked before his eyes:

  [Skill Updated: Alternative Sword Strike [Evolvable]]

  Sora froze, mid-battle, as the message hung in his vision. His breath caught in his throat.

  "Alternative?" he muttered under his breath, the irritation creeping ba. "That's not much better than Fake."

  The bear he had been fighting roared and lu him, but Sora hardly noticed. He sidestepped the attack effortlessly, his mind only half-focused otle. This new name was still… wrong. Alternative felt like a pceholder, a bel for something unfinished. He needed something more, something that spoke to the power he was building, the skill he was evolving.

  The bears kept ing, and Sora kept fighting, his frustration simmering uhe surface. He fought with the skill over and ain, actively trolling his mana with each use, trying to uand what was missing. Why was it only getting ially better?

  Every time he checked the description, it shoathetic 2% improvement, then 3%, then 4%. It rogress, but nowhere near enough.

  "This isn't good enough!" he yelled, sshing through another bear, his eyes bzing with determination. "It o be more!"

  He refused to stop. Every time the name or the description annoyed him, he eled that frustration into his bde, pushing his mana harder, shaping it more finely, more precisely. The more he fought, the more he began to uand. The improvement wasn't just about killing monsters—it was about how he killed them. It was about the way he trolled his mana, how he refihe energy flowing through his sword.

  It wasn't until almost 30 hours of grinding and stant experimentation that it finally happened.

  With a final, powerful ssh, Sora cleaved through a massive Silvermane Bear, his swlowing brighter than it ever had before. The strike was , effit, aating. He could feel the mana c perfectly through the bde, like it was aension of his body.

  And then, the notification appeared:

  [Skill Evolved: True Mana Strike]

  Sora's eyes widened, and for the first time in two days, he stopped pletely. The words on the s filled him with an overwhelming sense of satisfa.

  True Mana Strike.

  "Now that's a name," he said with a grin, his breath ing in ragged gasps. He could feel it—this was no longer an imitation of a swordman's skill. It was his. It was real, born from his own uanding and his evolution.

  He quickly opehe skill description, eager to see what had ged.

  [True Mana Strike] (Perfect)

  Type: OffensiveCss Requirement: Noneon Requirement: Melee (Any)

  Description: A powerful attack that els raw mana into a on, imbuing it with destructive energy. Unlike css-based skills, this strike isn't restricted to a single on type. Swords, daggers, spears—even gloves or needles— carry the force of this attack. The strength of the strike scales with the user's mana quality, quantity, and trol. As the user's mastery of mana evolves, so too will the power and efficy of this strike.

  Evolution: As the user's uanding and manipution of mana improves, the True Mana Strike effect grows, being more potent and effit. The skill's prows with the user's ability to refine mana, making it adaptable.]

  Sora's grin widened as he read the description. No more restris to just swords. He could now use any melee on and still el his mana through it. This meant more versatility in bat—he wasn't locked into using a single on type like most css-based pyers were. He could adapt, ge ons as the situation demanded, and still maintain the full force of his attack.

  He tried it and it seemed 3 times strohan a standard Sword Strike if he kept using a sword. This was the skill at its starting point.

  And the best part?

  This skill was his. It wasn't something ied from a css. It roduct of his own journey, his own experimentation with mana. And as he grew, so would the skill. It could evolve, improve, and ge alongside him.

  He could feel the raw mana c through his body, settling into the on in his hand. It wasn't restricted, it wasn't filtered through a css system—it ure mana. And now, it was under his trol.

  "I did it," he muttered to himself, still catg his breath. "No more Fake or Alternative. This is real. This is mine."

  He called his status window.

  [Status Update]

  Profile: Ralph Eden (Sora Hashino)

  Status: Alive (Prestige 1)Css: None (Level 20)Title: Student

  Power Level: 350y Level: DBody Level: D Talent Level: 2 (Growth Factor)

  Skills:

  Sword Mastery (Level 8)

  Dodge (Level 9)

  Critical Strike (Level 9)

  True Mana Strike (New !)

  Shield Block (Level 1)

  Mana Regeion (Maxed)

  Innate Skill:

  Prestige

  Supreme Skill:

  Mana Evolution

  Mana Eyes: Allows the user to see mana at all scales.

  Loved by Mana: Mana will assist the user, minimizing rebounds and helping where possible.

  Mana Growth: Every time mana is used, it bees more refined, effit, and powerful.

  Mana ization: The user guide how their mana evolves]

  Sora had reached level 20 after the two days of non-stop grinding. The most notable ge was the increase in his Power Level, now sitting at a massive 3500, boosted by his D-level Body which alone added 1500 to his overall power. His Sword Mastery had also hit level 8, improving his bat precision and strength with each strike.

  With the power of his Sword Skill before the evolution, he was hunting monsters in the level 20-29 range. He could fight level 25 monsters, who had a power level around 7 000.

  Ohing that really caught Sora off guard was the sudden unlog and maxing of his Mana Regeion. It didn't make sense for it to max out instantly without training. But with the "Loved by Mana" effect from his Mana Evolution skill, it seemed that mana was stantly drawn to him, swirling around him throughout the day like it had a mind of its own.

  Sora looked at his status s in disbelief, watg the numbers and skills update.

  "Maybe this is what it feels like to have mana literally love you," he muttered with a smirk, feeling the energy c through him.

  With his Mana Regeion now maxed, he realized just how much of an advantage he had over others. His mana pool refilled rapidly, allowing him to experiment more freely with his skills without the usual straints pyers had to worry about.

  He ched his fist, feeling the surge of power in his body and released it. It was now time to rest, because fatigue added up and he felt extremely sleepy.

  ----

  A few hours ter, Sora woke up, feeling a sense of aplishment mixed with the stant drive to push forward. He had reset exactly five days ago and was already level 20. His progression had been far faster than he inally anticipated, and it made him think back to when he had doubted himself, w if he'd ever recim his former strength.

  His sword, a level 10 on, was holding up well enough despite the stant battles. It still had enough durability to st him another week or two, but sooner or ter, he'd need a rept. For now, though, it was enough.

  Sora's goal was clear—unlock more sword teiques from his previous life and evolve them, just like he had doh True Mana Strike. He remembered the teiques well, eae ingrained in his muscle memory from years of experience. But now, without a css, he would have to recreate them from scratch using mana.

  He took a deep breath and began.

  The first teique he focused on was Sweeping Bde. It was a wide, horizontal ssh desigo hit multiple e oeique he had relied on in the past to clear out groups of weaker foes. He trated, eling his raw mana into the bde. The feeling was different from before, but familiar enough ter something.

  [New Skill Unlocked: Fake Sweeping Bde]

  Sritted his teeth at the word "Fake." But he expected this. The same thing had happened with True Mana Strike when it was still a Fake Sword Strike. No matter—it rocess. He could fix it. And so, he kept practig the teique for the rest of the day, using it against any mohat crossed his path. By the end of the first day, the skill had evolved.

  [Skill Updated: Alternative Sweeping Bde (Evolvable)]

  One down. Two more to go.

  On the same day, Sora turned his focus to unlog another skill—Pierg Thrust. This one was all about precision and force, a single, powerful stab meant to pierce through defenses. He repeated the same process, recalling the feel of the skill from his time as a swordmaing mana flow into the bde. Sure enough, after several attempts, he received the notification he expected:

  [New Skill Unlocked: Fake Pierg Thrust]

  Sora frowned. Another "fake" form, but just like with the first skill, he khis would pass. He kept grinding, putting every fight to use as he refihe Fake Pierg Thrust into something more. By the end of the day, it too had evolved.

  [Skill Updated: Alternative Pierg Thrust (Evolvable)]

  The final skill, Phantom Bde, was the trickiest. He had always found this teique the most plex to master ba his swordman days. It involved creating afterimages of his strikes, fusing the enemy before delivering a decisive blow. He khis would take loo evolve, but by now, he uood the process well enough. It was only a matter of time.

  After hours of practice, he finally unlocked the initial version.

  [New Skill Unlocked: Fake Phantom Bde]

  It wasn't perfect, and it certainly wasn't the real Phantom Bde, but he had gotten what he wanted. Now, it was time to evolve it.

  For the hree days, Sora fought tirelessly, using his mana to refine each of the skills he had unlocked. The Alternative Sweeping Bde became smoother and more effit with each fight, until finally, the system reized his progress.

  [Skill Evolved: Mana Sweep] (Perfect)

  The same happened with Alternative Pierg Thrust. Sora focused on precision, refining the path of mana through the on until the skill reached its true form.

  [Skill Evolved: Mana Piercer (Perfect)

  The st to evolve hantom Bde. It was more difficult thahers, requiring Sora to push his mana trol to the limits. But eventually, after tless fights and tinuous refi, the skill evolved as well.

  [Skill Evolved: Mana Mirage Bde] (Perfect)

  Srinned, feeling the immense progress he had made in such a short time. It had only been nine days since his reset, a, he had unlocked and evolved three powerful teiques. His level had soared to 29 through all the grinding, and his strength was growing expoially with each day.

  He looked at his bde, which had bee a on of precision and deadly power, carrying the force of his mana through each strike. The skills weren't just recreations of his old swordman abilities—they were better, evolved beyond what they had been before.