"You can strike me now," commanded Arthur the confused Merlin. Since they last met, the druid has grown, all thanks to living next to the divine tree. The leaves on its head were now lush green, and two strong branches worked as horns.

"I don't understand, Seika," muttered Merlin. "Are you trying to test my loyalty? Why is your skin so shiny? Why are you flying?"

"I am not testing anything, and all you need to do is to strike me. You don't have to try to kill me. Just a simple strike will be enough."

"I refuse to injure my benefactor."

"I will remove the divine tree if you refuse to..."

Boom!

Arthur flew across the sky like a broken kite, crashing into a giant tree and breaking it in half. The air got kicked out of his lungs, and the metallic luster of his skin disappeared.

"Cough, cough," Arthur coughed as he stood up and dusted himself. There were no real injuries other than his heart. The druid attacked as soon as Arthur threatened the sacred tree, despite refusing to injure him moments earlier.

"Are you injured, my lord?" Merlin rushed forward and raised his trembling hands in concern. "Please punish me instead of my people. I have sinned greatly."

"I asked you to attack me, so why would I punish you?"

Merlin blinked his large engraved eyes with speechlessness as he watched Arthur stare at space. Then, the Seika nodded with satisfaction before his skin turned metallic once again.

"Now, do it again," asked the Seika, and Merlin looked at him with pleading eyes. The druid couldn't understand why this man wanted to be struck, and his limited knowledge allowed him to avoid misunderstanding the situation.

The skill, Iron Skin, broke when Arthur lost focus or suffered a force that the skill couldn't maintain. It was different from his rune, where he could control the level of protection he enjoyed, as this skill did not follow his will.

Arthur understood that this was a pre-programmed ability, unlike the flexible runes. It was like a program that only needed Arthur to provide fuel to work. However, there was a limit to the skill, and no amount of energy could make up for it.

As for runes, all Arthur needed was to supply more mana to it, and he would strengthen the effect. But, again, this reinforced his understanding of skills as programs, hollow runes with no reality gate to evolve, different from abilities.

"Strike again!" Arthur demanded, and the druid was too worn off for it to refuse anymore. His iron skill broke apart again, and once again, the percentage increased.

[Iron Skill (D – 72%)] 

Arthur was always using his only C-rank skill, Wings of Flight, on a micro-level. Instead of racing across the sky, Arthur decided to keep his body afloat most of the time to increase its proficiency. However, it was stuck at ninety-nine percentage for a long time.

This was his training to get new runes and turn into a runesmith. Arthur could not slack anymore and had to spend all of his time training, but it came at the ugly cost of working Ma and Gruen to death.

The hand mirror in his subspace lit up once again, signaling another report that Ma had made. Since Courage was gone, her responsibility was delegated to Ma and Gruen, and Arthur was also absent from the scene.

"I will go back once I evolve at least one skill," Arthur vowed. However, it was hard to evolve them without using them in actual battles. The fastest way he evolved a skill was in Jerano's exam by fighting against sandmen.

"Strike me again, Merlin! Now, strike as if the life of the divine tree depends on it! Strike me with..."

Boom!

Arthur flew again across the sky. His iron skin broke again, but the percentage increased. At least, he was working on his skill, but his heart couldn't help but wonder about the loyalty of the druids.

***

"We have gathered here to decide whether you are all worthy of being the chosen ones. I believe that Eleven has told you about the arts before leaving. I need to see how much you have progressed before I give them to you."

The knights were nervous as they stood around him. The proud Sun looked pale, and the bright Lux looked deep in thought. Shield, Wave, and Sky were all standing there nervously.

"I decided to hold your exam outside of the inner city, just in case any of you want to destroy a few things," smiled Arthur as he gestured toward the grassland around them. "I can make any of you the next Titled Knight of the kingdom, but I need to know that you don't need me to become one."

"My lord," saluted Sun. "Can we know what are the details of the exam?"

"Ah, that is simpler than you might think. All you need to do is to fight me one-on-one. By the end of the battle, if you fail to surprise me, then I will send you away."

The knights gulped down as if trying to devour their fears. Arthur gave a smile as he took out his dagger. His mastery of the Basic Dagger Art has reached the pinnacle, so he was not worried about it being insufficient.

"You are the first one, Sun," Arthur smiled as he walked away from the group. "I know that you have great ambitions for yourself, but make sure that they are not going to die today."

"I will show you my resolve," said Sun as the wind gathered around her. Arthur smiled because this was not her mana but her mastery of the sword arts she was practicing.

Her sword appeared in front of her as she took her stance. Holding it over her shoulder, the knight did not attack straight away and looked for an opening instead.

"You are rather cautious," smiled Arthur. "I permit the usage of your ability. However, you are not exactly a regular user of it."

"I don't need an ability to win," said Sun with a frown. "I will use my sword to cut through all obstacles. This is my path as a knight."

After saying that, the knight disappeared. Her reappearance was in front of Arthur, and she slashed with her sword. Sharp energy produced by her art struck at him, and Arthur did not try to dodge.

The energy struck him head-on, making the knight jump back in confusion. Her lord did not attempt to dodge, deflect, or throw a barrier. The attack has struck his skin head-on.

"My lord, what are you..." she was confused before the dust settled. Seika appeared, his clothes ripped apart, but his skin was unharmed. A curious look was on his face as he looked at his body.

"This is the difference between our stats," he muttered with amazement. "You cannot even harm my skin, and any wound you give me is one I can recover from in an instant."

This was his body after reaching three hundred in all of his stats. It was on a different level than humans, and no amount of power the knight uses can harm him.

"That is impossible..." the knight frowned. "How can this be? There is no way to win!"

"You do not need to win," Arthur stretched his body with chiseled muscles. "Surprise me, Sun. Otherwise, I will surprise you with stripping you off your rank."

"I..." the knight looked desperate. "I don't know what to do. This was my resolve and the result of my training."

"Then surpass yourself and show me more. Your strength is the same as when we sparred against each other in the academy. Are you this lazy that you haven't progressed one bit since that time?"

"You weren't this strong," the knight shook her head. "Your body is not the same. I can't do this."

"Are you kidding me?" Arthur raised his brows in surprise. "You are giving up after one attack?"

In retrospect, Arthur would realize that his body was different from that of ordinary people. It was a side-product of his legacy and his leveling up. However, a level was more than just a measure of his progress. It was also a new beginning.

His stats were three-hundred, and his leveling up merges all of these aspects into one homogenous result of power. His body was different from average rei-rankers because his stats were the epitomes of perfection.

  A droplet of sweat rolled down her face as she held the sword. There was an aura around her enemy that prevented her from advancing. It was not something her lord was doing on purpose, but a realization she had.

After her earlier strike, Sun realized that the Seika could obliterate her existence with a single attack despite being younger than her.

"Attack, Sun."

Her lord demanded, but she could almost see her death if her lord mistakenly counterattacked. Seika did not need to use his mana. Only his physical strength was capable of killing her. At that time, only one fate awaits her.

Death.

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