The battle between the awakeners of Ironpeak Base and those who wanted to infiltrate continued for several hours.

Many warriors died and respawned from both sides. Bodies of humans and beasts littered the ground alike, the smell of death, blood, and gore filling the air with a nauseating thickness that even veteran awakeners struggled to ignore.

Moon wiped the sweat from his forehead with the sleeve of his cloak. He'd been killing constantly without stopping, maintaining a relentless offensive pace that few could match.

He had already amassed at least a hundred kills by himself, maybe more, he'd stopped counting after the first twenty or so. His attacks were mostly targeting beasts at the back lines to ensure no frontline warriors were caught in the explosive radius and injured by friendly fire.

Moon knew that once his Explosive Flames detonated, even allied warriors nearby could be critically injured. At the destructive pace he was maintaining, he'd leave no warrior on the eastern wall without heavy injuries to deal with if he wasn't careful about his positioning.

"Moon, are you not going to take a break? You've been fighting for so long. Take a breather," Lyra said as she returned to the rampart. The mage captain had just finished her own break, allowing her mana to recover to a good level.

Moon glanced internally at his skill progress.

—

[Explosive Flame]

[Rank: Rare]

[Proficiency: 62%]

—

His proficiency had been rising steadily during the past few hours of intense combat on the wall, climbing until it reached sixty-two through constant application under pressure.

But he'd hit another plateau. The rate of improvement had slowed dramatically despite maintaining the same casting frequency and combat intensity.

If I continue like this, I won't be able to reach full mastery before the timer expires, Moon thought grimly.

I need to once again reflect on this skill's fundamental nature, try to understand what the missing link is. Only then... will I truly claim this skill as my own.

"I'm going to take some time off," Moon said aloud. "My mana is low, and the beast numbers are thinning anyway. You can handle it from here."

The awakeners stationed around him immediately responded with encouragement.

"Don't worry about it!"

"You've earned the rest!"

"Get something to eat while you can!"

Although they'd barely spent time together, fighting for only a few hours against their common enemies, the defenders had developed genuine respect and appreciation for Moon. He'd saved many of them from near-death situations through his timely interventions, pulling warriors back from the abyss when beasts had them cornered or human attackers coordinated lethal combinations.

Awakeners naturally respected strength and competence. Moon possessed both in abundance, and he'd proven that repeatedly without arrogance or showboating. He simply fought effectively, killed efficiently, and kept his allies alive when opportunities arose.

That earned loyalty faster than any amount of words ever could.

Moon descended from the rampart, his mana reserves slowly climbing towards optimal levels as he exited combat. He found a relatively quiet corner of the inner courtyard, away from the immediate chaos of battle, and sat with his back against a supply crate. His staff rested across his lap as he closed his eyes and turned his attention inward.

Explosive Flame. I understand the compression principle—I've mastered the basic application. But there's something deeper I'm missing.

He visualized the skill's structure in his mind, replaying hundreds of casts from memory. The way mana flowed, the resistance points, the moments when compression felt natural versus forced.

Kael's breakthrough technique compressed fire beyond what should be possible at his level. He didn't just make the explosion bigger—he made it fundamentally more destructive per unit of mana invested. That's efficiency, not just power.

Moon's eyes opened slightly as realization began to form.

I've been focusing on how much I compress. But maybe the key isn't compression ratio alone. Maybe it's about the structure of the compression itself.

He formed a small Explosive Flame in his palm, keeping it stable without releasing.

After looking at the flame in his hand for a few minutes, Moon let the fireball dissipate and began thinking deeply about ways to improve his proficiency.

Unfortunately, his break ended without any significant breakthroughs in his understanding.

Sixteen hours remained on the Pyromancer class. With the way things were progressing, Moon wasn't confident he could break past the seventy percent proficiency mark during the remaining time, let alone reach the hundred percent needed for evolution.

At that moment, Moon made a decision. Staying at the eastern wall wasn't going to help him overcome this plateau. He needed to witness more powerful mages producing their own explosive spells, observe their techniques in real-time, and analyze the differences between their casting methods and his own.

'I need to find Kael. Watching him cast his own spells could provide me with insights that I haven't thought of.'

With that thought firmly in mind, Moon returned to the eastern rampart and approached Captain Lyra, who was coordinating another volley against a fresh wave of attackers.

"Captain, I'm moving to a different section of the wall," Moon said directly. "I can be more useful elsewhere right now."

Lyra glanced at him, her expression showing brief disappointment.

As much as she wanted to keep Moon's devastating firepower on the eastern wall for reassurance and morale of the team, the immediate pressure had eased considerably. They no longer desperately needed support to hold the position.

"Alright, you can go," she said, nodding. "Be careful out there. Let's celebrate with some good dinner once this nightmare is over! Don't die on me, Moon!"

"You too, Captain," Moon responded with a slight smile before descending from the rampart.

He began moving through the inner districts of Ironpeak Base, navigating through organized chaos. Wounded awakeners were being carried to healing stations. Supply runners distributed potions and ammunition.

Moon scanned each defensive position as he passed, looking for his target amid hundreds of awakeners, rampaging beasts, and scattered corpses.

The battle had spread across multiple fronts, the main gate remained the heaviest contested area, but fighting occurred along nearly every section of wall.

After circling through several fighting zones and checking three different major defensive positions, Moon finally spotted whom he was searching for.

Kael stood atop the northern rampart, his distinctive red hair and flowing robes immediately recognizable even from a distance.

His team fought around him, Marcus with his dual swords engaging beasts that climbed the wall's edge, the spear-wielding woman coordinating with other warriors, the support mage maintaining barriers.

And Kael himself unleashed explosive fireballs, each detonation eliminating multiple threats simultaneously.

"There you are," Moon muttered, grinning slightly as he observed Kael's aloof expression remain unchanged even while hurling devastating magic toward the enemy horde.

Moon began making his way toward the northern section, already activating Heat Sense and preparing to analyze every aspect of Kael's casting technique.

This was the opportunity he needed to achieve another breakthrough in his skill proficiency.

BOOM! BOOM!

Moon joined the battle without announcement, launching his own Explosive Flames that rained devastation on the enemies below. His attacks struck a cluster of beasts attempting to scale the northern wall, the detonations scattering their formation and buying defenders precious seconds.

Kael's head turned at the familiar explosive fire.

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