Breaking the Level Limit

Noah and Hepius stood across each other under the stormy seas.

While Noah was preparing for their final bout, Hepius taunted, {Perform thine best, my talented disciple. Three days are up, and this is thy final opportunity.}

Noah didn't react and dashed towards him, swinging his sword in a wide arc. Hepius bent his back and dodged without retreating. He spun his waist, kicking Noah before he could change his stance.

In the face of the swift counterattack, Noah flicked his wrist and slashed at Hepius' leg, forcing the old man to stop his attack. Noah's sword struck the platform.

Bam!

The platform broke partially. However, Noah was able to navigate with ease.

{At least thy are now on the same level of a fungus.}

Hepius spoke half-sarcastically and half-seriously while dodging Noah's relentless attacks.

Although the ship was unstable, Noah was no longer having trouble standing or even running on it. In the past three days, he had completely mastered 'Stable Foot'.

Slash!

Swoosh!

The duo attacked fiercely when a sudden opening appeared.

Hepius' fist struck Noah's heart. And a split second later, Noah's sword impaled him in the neck.

{Bwahahaha, thou hast lost again.}

With this, the time limit for Hepius wager ended.

Hepius was having fun teasing Noah when he realized Noah had a smirk decorating his face.

{Why are thy laughing like a con artist reveling in the triumph of a nefarious scheme.?}

"Saintess, can you announce the result?" Noah spoke to the empty air.

A third voice rang. It was a thin voice with a pleasing and innocent tone.

{Yes, Priest Noah. The winner is Priest Noah.}

{Huh? How? I clearly won!}

Noah pointed to the platform. The wooden plank below Hepius' feet was missing.

{Sage Hepius, Priest Noah had destroyed the platform earlier during the match and you… were floating without realizing when you moved during the spar. You are disqualified according to the rules of spar.} explained the feminine voice.

Hepius stared at the evil grin of Noah as if he had just lost his entire fortune to a con artist.

{Th-That... that can't be right! 'Twas a deception! I failed to realize that without a physical form, I was floating! This victory shall not stand! I demand a rematch!}

"Okay"

{Nay, even if thou dost protes—!? Didst thou just agree with me?} Hepius stared at Noah suspiciously.

"We can have a rematch. But, sigh, what a world, the one who was teaching about stances didn't correct his own stance. He is even forcing me to have a rematch."

A vein throbbed on Hepius' forehead. If he agreed to the rematch, it would be trampling on his pride, but accepting his loss would be the same.

{If naught else, thy silver tongue proves to be a talent of the utmost caliber, mine shameless disciple.}

***

At the end of the first day of the bet with Hepius, Noah had opened the Random Box.

The reward he received was a potion named 'Better Half'

—

Better Half

Rating: Rare

Description: A potion that allows your soul to connect with someone of the opposite gender through Astral Plane who has also consumed the same potion.

Effect: The two sides can connect for 6 hours every 24 hours for 1 year. One of the two will share their five senses with the other, in return they can choose when to open the channel for 6 hours every day.

—

It was an incredibly rare potion according to Hepius.

Noah didn't know if it was rare, however, he couldn't deny its usefulness.

He was trapped inside the dungeon with no connection to anyone outside. And he couldn't leave until he cleared the dungeon.

But, he now had a way to know what was happening outside, in the game world and perhaps in the real world too.

Noah connected with 'Saintess'.

In her own words, she was one of the higher authority figures in the Holy Kingdom, one of the 5 kingdoms of Midgard.

It didn't matter if that was true or not, Noah only needed information about players.

And he received valuable information.

Every player, or immortal immigrant, had disappeared a few months ago. It matched the timing of the server update. The problem was, when would the players return and why wasn't Noah logged out with them.

Noah already knew something had gone wrong with his actual body in the real world. The time he spent inside [High-Heaven Online] had easily surpassed more than a few weeks.

What was happening to his real body?

Did he really die as Hepius said?

Or was he forced into deep-dive by High-Heaven Corp as he was the holder of the legendary class?

In that case, what did they do to Anna? She would never accept Noah being used for such projects. They would need to use force for her to agree.

Innumerable worries were plaguing Noah's mind.

But, he at least maintained a calm mind.

Before anything else, Noah needed to leave this dungeon. Meeting other players could also help him find a way to return.

{Sage Hepius, what is Priest Noah doing?}

{Very well, Cecilia. Thou mayest address me as Hepius. As for that cunning, deceitful, shameless disciple, there is no need to append the title of "Priest" to his name. Simply refer to him as "you" or "trash".}

A troubled laugh came back, {I can't do that Sir Sage, Priest Noah is your esteemed self's disciple.}

Cecilia's words were causing Hepius' ego to shoot through the roof.

{Uhm, so what is N-noah doing?}

{He is breaking the Level 10 limit.}

{Ah, he is making his 'core'.}

The voices flowed in Noah's ears while he was circulating the divinity inside his body and compressing it within his bones.

The normal method to break a level 10 limit was to form a core inside one's body.

However, Hepius' technique didn't create a core. It instead focused on strengthening the foundation of the body itself.

Due to this technique, Noah was going to face three more level caps while he was Tier 1, compared to others.

A powerful force surged from Noah's body like an exploding volcano.

[ Congratulations, you have broken through the level 10 limit. ]

[ You can now check your hidden Attributes 'Attack Power', 'Defence' and 'Magic Resistance' on your status. The attribute multiplier for recently unlocked Attributes will increase from 0.5x to 1.0x ]

[ You have leveled up ]

[ You have levele… ]

[ You have… ]

[ … ]

[ … ]

[ +150 free AP, +75 Skill Points ]

[ Current Level: 25 ]

[ You have used "Saint Sage Ascension Technique" to break your level cap. Additional stats will be awarded. Strength +10, Endurance +10 ]

In the blink of an eye, Noah reached up to level 25.

According to Hepius, this was his 2nd level limit where he needed to make a breakthrough to continue leveling.

Noah opened his eyes and picked his sword.

Swish!

Swish!

His movements were sharper than before and he could control his body better. It was an odd feeling, but he wouldn't say it felt bad.

The feeling of growing stronger was addicting.

While Noah was assessing his abilities, Saintess spoke.

{Congratulations, priest Noah! You are now level 11!}

Noah nodded.

Saintess could see Hepius through his eyes but not system windows.

Noah wasn't planning on exposing his abilities thus he didn't correct her. After all, it was already a headache that she knew he was the holder of the legendary class.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Hepius clapped to attract Noah's attention. {We can now begin teaching thy 'that technique'.}

"The one which would allow me to defeat Heracles without lifting a finger?" asked Noah.

Even now Noah was doubtful of Hepius' claims. The reason was simple: Noah's class didn't allow him to learn any attack skill, not even classless attack-type skills.

In return, Noah could learn non-attack skills from any class.

{Indeed. In the remaining four days, thy shall learn that technique.}

***

Four days later.

"Fuuuu…"

Noah rubbed his palms together as he stood in front of the Stage-2 door. Every Dungeon had 5 stages, so if Noah could complete this stage, he would be 2/5th closer to his goal of leaving.

Noah hadn't activated the Astral Channel today yet and it was only him and Hepius.

{Dear child, I had not yet informed thee, but in an Asura-ranked Dungeon, the initial stage merely serves as a preliminary test to ascertain the worthiness of the challenger. The forthcoming stages thou shalt encounter shall truly embody the essence of 'Asura Difficulty.'}

"Mhm" Noah sighed and pushed the door open. "Don't forget the deal. When I complete your trial, you'll teach me how to break the level 25 limit."

Contrary to Noah's expectations, he had a lot of exp left. Hepius had laid the condition that he would continue teaching Noah his ascension technique only if Noah could defeat a level 60 opponent with 'that' technique.

[ You have entered Stage-2 ]