Prestige Grinding : I Can Reset My Level

Sora looked down at Kara in his arms, his stomach twisting with worry. She didn't look alright at all. Her face, usually full of life, now seemed so tired, with wrinkles that hadn't been there before.

Her hair, once a rich auburn, had turned gray, as if she had aged decades in mere moments. Her eyes remained sharp, but they were different—old, worn.

'This can't be happening,' he thought, feeling his chest tighten.

"Kara…" he whispered, not knowing what else to say.

She managed a faint smile, barely lifting her hand to rest it against his. 'It's okay, Sora,' she said through telepathy, her voice soft but steady. 'Just… a side effect of using a skill that's way above my level. I overdid it a bit.'

'A bit? Your life force is…' He stopped himself, unable to finish the thought. Instead, he squeezed her hand gently. He could feel Kara's life force dwindling, weaker than he had ever sensed it before.

As her life force faded, Sora noticed the balance of their connection changing—he was now sending life force to her through their [Soul Link]. A faint smile crossed his lips. At least she could still draw strength from him.

Kara let out a soft, tired laugh. 'I know, I know. I used everything I had earlier. But stop being so dramatic and help me out, will you?'

She added, 'Take me closer to the Dark Elves I killed and the Dragonborn you defeated. Their life force should still be lingering—enough to help me recover some strength. I'm just too far away to absorb it right now.'

Sora nodded, quickly understanding her plan.

He lifted her and carried her to the spot where the Dark Elves had fallen. The area was empty. As soon as the effect of Kara's time manipulation skill had faded, the remaining Dark Elves had fled the area.

As they got close enough, Kara extended her hand, and a soft light emanated from it as she activated [Life Recycling], an effect of her supreme skill. The faint, nearly invisible remnants of life force lingering in the air began to gather, condensing slowly as Kara absorbed them, drawing the energy back into herself.

Sora watched as the changes started slowly, but soon became visible. Her skin, which had grown pale and wrinkled, began to regain its color and smoothness. Her hands grew steadier, and her breathing eased.

With every pulse of life-force, she appeared a little younger. The tired look in her eyes had disappeared, replaced by the familiar spark he knew well.

As the last remnants of Life Force, "recycled" from the battlefield, flowed into her, Kara's transformation seemed complete. She now looked significantly younger, her appearance settling around her late thirties. She took a deep breath, feeling her body almost fully restored, and gave Sora a grateful smile.

'Thank you,' she said, as her natural regeneration began to accelerate, drawing on her skills to generate more life-force.

Sora tilted his head, curious. 'If you can create life-force on your own, why did you not directly create life force earlier?'

Kara's smiled and replied, 'After my new skill exhausted my life force, I lost most of my ability to use mana and my class skills because my body was wrecked. I could use my supreme skill and life force because it doesn't require mana, but the skills I perfected based on my hidden class are what I need to transform mana into life force.'

Sora understood, 'So your supreme skill gives you the ability to control life force, but not create it. You still need to use mana to create life force... I always assumed you created life force out of thin air.'

Kara answered, 'I mostly rely on absorbing it from fallen enemies, but maybe I should focus on refining the skill I use to generate life force and push it to the next level. I feel that it is lacking at the moment.'

Paying close attention to her technique, Sora began to imitate the process Kara used to generate life force from her mana. He had never bothered with such a skill before, relying on his natural regeneration and Kara's boundless reserves. But after feeling the impact of his own hammer earlier—and being powerless when Kara needed him—he realized the importance of learning it to create his own reserves of life force.

The skill was one Kara had originally copied from her legendary class and had since perfected. Normally, it would have been incredibly challenging to learn, but Sora had observed his friend use this skill countless times.

Since his body stored only [Condensed] mana, Sora began absorbing raw mana from the surroundings, guiding it within himself. Kara's perfected skill allowed him to bypass the filtering phase, enabling him to refine mana immediately by mimicking her method.

The refining process was simple but slow. Using a limited quantity of mana, he directed it through his heart along a specific path, repeating the cycle over and over.

After a few minutes, he received a notification and read the new skill description:

Activating the skill, Sora immediately sensed a difference in the quality of the life force he produced compared to Kara's.

'Why is my life force so... weak?' he transmitted his thought to Kara, while watching the faint energy dissipate in his body almost instantly.

'It's not something that can be rushed,' Kara explained. 'Each time you refine life force, your heart absorbs part of it, improving the quality of what you can create. I even have a passive skill called [Pure Heart] that makes the process more efficient, and another that speeds up life force creation.'

She paused before continuing. 'I've spent decades refining life force, Sora. I even used your advice to condense my life force to make it stronger. If you want, I can show you the ropes. Maybe we could even develop another supreme skill if we work on this together. But for now, the amount we can form is too small to make much of a difference. We'll need to hunt down players if I want to recover fully before the next trial.'

Understanding his current life force wasn't potent, Sora had an idea.

Using [Condensed] mana instead of raw mana, he activated [Life Force Conversion] and felt a response from his heart. The process seemed to nourish it, and as the cycle continued, he slowly extracted a much higher quality of life force. Showing the energy to Kara, he saw her eyes widen in disbelief.

'That… that is already as potent as what I could form after two or three years of refining. Using condensed mana is a shortcut I never achieved because it requires incredible mana control! You damn cheat—no, genius! Teach me your [Condense] skill by controlling my mana! Please!' Kara's voice carried a mix of frustration and admiration.

As Kara pleaded with Sora to teach her his True Mage signature skill, a voice abruptly broke the moment.

"Hey, lovebirds, can we leave this area? We've been sitting ducks here for too long. If we don't move, we're practically inviting more people to come after us," Emily called, her tone carrying a hint of impatience. She had been silently observing their interaction, feeling entirely overlooked.

Kara and Sora exchanged a look, snapping out of their world and finally focusing on Emily.

Seeing Kara's weakened state, Emily released a few drops of her own blood, guiding them with precision toward her guildmate. Each drop was rich with life force.

"These should help," Emily said, guiding the blood as it merged with Kara's body. A warm glow spread through Kara, restoring all of her youth and vitality.

"Thank you. Your blood has so much life force... it's incredible," Kara murmured, her voice filled with gratitude.

Emily shrugged. "You two have become monstrous in such a short time. Honestly, I'm not sure I'm worthy of your praise. Once this is over, there's going to be a rush to recruit you both. Clémence was eyeing you earlier, Ralph, but I think she's more interested in Rachel. She grabbed her and ran off. If she starts a guild war, I don't know what I can do to stop her."

Emily raised a hand before Sora could ask questions. "Let's keep moving. The trial's entering its final phase, and we can't afford any more risks, especially with Kara down to her last life."

Sora nodded and checked the event panel.

The event would end when the number reached 562, leaving 50 eliminations before they could ascend to the next floor.

Sora turned to Emily. "How many lives do you have left, then?"

Emily smirked, crossing her arms confidently. "With my level and Supreme skill, do you think I'd lose lives as easily as that Kim trash? Who do you take me for? Even with the speed you showed earlier, you wouldn't be able to kill me."

She shifted her gaze to Kara, her expression softening slightly. "However… with that technique you used, Kara, you'd probably wipe the floor with my face."

Sora was stunned, reflecting on everything he'd witnessed. 'Kara's still above me … even with my prestige and two supreme skills. And she's doing it through swordsmanship alone. Training my body and mana isn't a waste, but that spirit nearly killed me earlier by damaging my brain. It's the main weakness of my body forging skill… I also need to find a way to catch up to Kara,' he thought, a flicker of determination sparking inside him.

The realization lit a fire deep in his chest, his motivation surging to new heights.

Leading his group to the edge of the safe zone, they soon arrived at the edge of the Storm. Moving carefully alongside it, they tried to avoid any encounters, but it wasn't long before they crossed paths with someone from the demon race who had the same idea.

Without hesitation, Emily sprang into action, sending a clone toward the demon. With a single, powerful strike, the clone flung their opponent into the heart of the Storm, where the violent winds tossed him like a rag doll.

Sora couldn't help but think, 'Savage.'

As he watched the demon player reappear, battered and bloodied within the safe zone, Sora's eyes lit up with excitement. Finally, he'd found what he was looking for: a guinea pig.

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