In a cavern on the twelfth level underground, Eric leaned against the stone wall, eyes scanning the pages of a magic book while tracing a magic circle in the air with his fingers. It was his break time.

  After the tenth level, the terrain had become way more complicated, and the monsters were a lot tougher. So, getting through each level took way more time.

  If it were an adventurer team, they could rotate their main members to dive deeper faster.

  "Connect this part here, and get rid of this part..." Eric carefully sketched a faint blue magic circle on his left arm. He was trying to tweak a spell.

  The spells in the magic book just felt too awkward to use.

  Using raw elements was too inefficient. The spell he was working on was a first-tier spell, "Water Wall."

  "First-tier magic..." he muttered.

  "Water Shield!"

  The magic circle lit up with a beautiful blue glow, and water swirled around his left arm, forming into a round shield in front of his forearm.

  The water in the shield flowed in a spiral, looking like crystal-clear glass. He tried to swing his left arm, and the shield moved smoothly with it, like he was holding a real shield.

  [Ding, skill level reached, acquired skill: Magic Analysis Lv1]

  Eric felt a jolt of energy. For a moment, the world seemed to come into sharper focus.

  When he looked at the water shield on his arm again, he could actually see the flow of mana.

  "I missed this before. If I connect it like this, it'll work even better," he thought, instinctively adjusting the magic circle of the water shield.

  Ripples spread across the surface of the shield, and the spiral became more stable and solid. Even the mana cost to maintain the shield dropped a bit.

  He picked up the magic book again, and the complex magic circles seemed a little simpler now.

  "This is a great skill!" he said to himself. He dismissed the water shield and, using its magic circle as a template, designed magic circles for other elements.

  "First-tier magic, Earth Shield."

  "First-tier magic, Fire Shield... Whoa, holy crap, it's on fire!"

  "First-tier magic, Wind Shield."

  He successfully designed all four elemental shields. The Earth Shield was just like a regular shield.

  The Wind Shield could deflect and redirect attacks to some extent.

  The Fire Shield was flashy but should be able to burn incoming arrows or something.

  After getting used to these new magic circles and feeling his mana recharge, Eric left the cavern and headed to the thirteenth level.

  The moment he stepped into the thirteenth level, a poisoned arrow flew straight at him. Eric raised his staff, sparks flew, and he batted the arrow away.

  "Lucky us, it's a mage!" one of them shouted.

  "That staff looks valuable. We're gonna make a killing this time!" another chimed in.

  "Less talking, he'll be trouble if he gets to cast a spell!" the third one said.

  There were four warriors: two heavy armor guys, a swordsman, and an archer. One was level 16, two were level 15, and one was level 14.

  Without wasting words, the two heavy armor guys charged at Eric, seemingly trying to interrupt him.

  The swordsman circled behind the heavy armor guys, sword at the ready, looking for an opening to strike a fatal blow.

  The archer, who was the farthest away, shot two more dark arrows.

  "Earth Shield," Eric said, raising his arm. The magic circle instantly formed, creating a tan shield on his left arm that deflected the incoming arrows.

  "Kid, don't blame us when you're dead. You were just unlucky," one of the heavy armor guys said as he closed in on Eric. The other swung his huge sword and shouted, "Sharpness!"

  The sword blade gleamed with a cold light.

  A warrior's combat skill?

  Eric stepped back, putting the Earth Shield in front of him.

  "Slip Step!"

  The swordsman's body disappeared, leaving just an afterimage where he had been. The sword struck from behind Eric.

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  He was attacked from both front and back. Eric shifted his feet and rammed into the heavy armor guy's sword with his left arm. The Earth Shield and the sword collided, leaving a deep gash in the shield.

  "It didn't break?!" the heavy armor guy exclaimed.

  Eric spun his staff around to meet the swordsman's combat skill, but he was knocked back by the other heavy armor guy.

  The archer quickly fired three more arrows, aiming at Eric in mid-air. The swordsman easily pierced through what should have been Eric's heart, chest, and neck.

  "Nice one, Will!" someone shouted.

  Will felt a bit strange. His arrows had gone through way too easily, like they hadn't met any resistance from flesh and blood... But he didn't think much of it. After all, the arrows had gone through the neck and heart.

  "Mine's the head!" Will shouted as he saw the swordsman and the other heavy armor guy rushing towards the "corpse." He hurried after them. There was no way these thugs would leave anything for him.

  But just as the swordsman got close, the "corpse" suddenly moved.

  "First-tier magic, Mud Bullet!" Eric's modified version of the original "Earth Bullet" spell. The instant-cast mud bullet splattered right in the swordsman's face, blinding him in an instant.

  "He faked his death! Fall back!" the heavy armor guy shouted, trying to protect the swordsman.

  But Eric wasn't about to give them a chance.

  "First-tier magic, Quagmire!" The ground instantly turned to mush. One of the heavy armor guys, weighed down by his armor, sank halfway into the quagmire. The other one noticed in time and leaped away, avoiding the quagmire's range.

  But the blinded swordsman wasn't so lucky. He didn't even know what was happening when the ground gave way beneath him. His swordsman skill, Slip Step, was useless now.

  "First-tier magic..." A crimson magic circle formed at the tip of Eric's staff.

  "No!" the swordsman shouted.

  "Get out of the way!" his teammate's scream was the last thing he heard.

  "Fireball!" The fireball hit the swordsman's head dead-on and exploded.

  [Ding, Swordsman Lv15 defeated, +350 experience]

  "Die!" the heavy armor guy shouted, firing off a few more arrows at Eric. Eric quickly dodged and charged at the heavy armor guy stuck in the quagmire.

  "First-tier magic, Fireball!"

  "Fortress!" the heavy armor guy shouted, raising his thick shield in front of him. His entire armor glowed with a yellow light.

  The fireball hit the shield and exploded, sending up a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, the heavy armor guy was a mess, his armor and shield cracked.

  "I'll kill you!" he shouted, charging at Eric. The explosion had dried up the quagmire, giving him a chance to get out.

  Eric tightened his grip on his staff and hurled a few fireballs, but the shield blocked them all.

  "Fine then," Eric said, swinging his staff with all his might, thanks to [Giant Strength]. The heavy armor guy raised his shield, not really worried.

  After all, how strong could a mage be... Whoa! The shield shuddered, dented slightly, and a powerful force knocked it out of his hand.

  "Fortress..." he started to say, but the... no way, that was a pure metal staff, and it was swinging even faster!

  "Forget your fortress!" Eric shouted, smashing the staff into the heavy armor guy's head. The sound of bone cracking rang out, and the helmet shattered and flew off. The staff had a wind vortex formed by wind magic, which had a tearing effect.

  The heavy armor guy's head buzzed, and under Eric's assessment, his status bar was directly hit with [Stun].

  Eric struck the cracked spot again. This time, the head caved in and then exploded from the wind pressure.

  [Ding, Heavy Armor Guy Lv15 defeated, +350 experience]

  His experience bar went up another notch. Blood stained the staff. Eric wiped the blood off the staff on the corpse and slung it over his shoulder.

  "Haven't even said hello yet. I'm just a skeleton," he said with a grin.

  "And now, get your skull bashed in by a skeleton."