I enter the bar in the inn Aelric frequents, which is situated in a small village near the wilderness where hunters gather to hunt monsters.

Surprisingly, he is there, together with his group. They are drinking happily without a care in the world.

It pisses me off.

I walk towards the inn owner, who works from behind the counter.

Five silver coins leave my hand – half a year's wage for a farmer.

"I need to have a 'talk' with Aelric and his buddies."

[Aura Strengthener - lvl 51]

Finally, I am able to see his level.

He looks at me, then at the coins, and then at Aelric. A sigh escapes his mouth.

"Triple it and no deaths. I don't want to deal with their godforsaken guild."

I put the coins out without any hesitation, reducing my saved-up coins by a fair amount.

The man takes them, and I turn towards Aelric and the four men surrounding him.

Two of them are level 30 and 35, while Aelric and two more are a bit over 20.

The group has already noticed and is on guard.

"Hey, boss! You wouldn't believe what happened. I swear there should be only level 20 weredeer and not moving in groups! We had to leave too! The big grou…"

He starts, but my fist already burrows itself into the belly of the level 35 man. He groans even though his reinforcement and mana flare up.

Immediately, my [Disruption] dissipates his hold over his mana, and my fist hits him in the face.

I take a step back to avoid the attack of another level thirty, and mana flows through my body as my leg hits his chest, sending him rolling on the ground.

None of the men dare to use big area damage skills inside the inn that is under the protection of a strong association.

Aelric, seeing the men he often hires for protection get beaten, becomes a bit nervous and takes a step back.

"Look, Boss, Nathaniel, Nat, it's just a huge misunderstanding."

[Armament] creates a helmet without any visor around my head, and the bottle smashes against it half a second later, trying to distract me.

I continue to watch them with my [Mana Perception], and when the level 35 dashes, there is mana glowing in the palms of his hands.

My [Kinetic Redistribution] slows down his charge to a crawl, and then I shoot absorbed energy back at him.

Something cracks, and he grabs his leg while groaning on the ground.

I create a small orb made of mana at the side of my fist and shoot it at level 31, who is slowly getting on his feet. I boost it with [Mana Surge] and after getting hit also staggers back, now with a broken arm.

"Nat, Nat! You have to calm down, you…"

I don't give him a chance, and my kick hits his crotch, sending him down on the ground with a loud groan.

The other two level 20s don't even try to run away, and I break both of their hands and finish them off with a kick to the crotch and then to the head.

Then I turn back to the man groaning on the ground.

"V-Viktor, Viktor paid me to do it! He didn't like you hunting so many boars; it got into his business." He pauses, breathless, but there's some hope in his eyes.

It's as if he thinks I will stop now and change my target.

He doesn't know me.

My stomp breaks his knee, and his screams are now louder as he keeps thrashing on the ground.

Fear slowly starts to creep into his eyes.

Could I have done it outside the inn and saved some money? Could I have even killed him for giving me the wrong information and sending me to my death?

Yes, I could have, and without any hesitation.

The instant he attempted to take my life, I no longer had any doubts about it and he doesn't have anything worth enough to make me change my mind.

But that's not how it works here.

I stomp on his other knee, and he passes out.

So, I pull up a chair and sit on it.

It's okay; I can wait.

I have time.

Eventually, I leave after breaking both of his elbows.

Oh, and I also cut off his hand.

Did I enjoy it?

Nope, I would have much preferred just killing him. An eye for an eye thing, but the current situation doesn't allow me that.

Even what I did just now might anger his guild a little bit, even though he was the first one to mess with me.

But it's much better than looking weak.

The moment I show weakness here, ten more people like Aelric will pop up and try to use me and then throw me away when I'm no longer useful.

I learned that the hard way after coming here.

The first day, multiple people made fun of me, called me a cripple, and tried to step over me or take my stuff.

At first, I wanted to ignore them, but it became even worse to the point where they were about to use me nearly as a slave or cannon fodder.

So, I fought them.

I beat a few people with higher levels than me senseless. I broke their bones and cut off their fingers.

Then no one dared to call me a cripple to my face, and Aelric approached me. After that no one cared what I did or if I died out there.

Still, It somewhat surprised me that Aelric attempted a similar thing as them.

He should have known better.

Savant (Hell, Alone) - No, you should put only 20% of your stats into mana and the same amount into constitution; otherwise, it will mess up your balance. You can split the remaining points between strength and dexterity as you wish.

What a dumbass.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - That's dumb; the more mana you can have, the better. It's riskier now, but it's better for you to get used to it. In the future, it will show.

Savant (Hell, Alone) - Sure, like I would listen to the guy who blew off his arm because of that.

The heck? Who told him? Hadwin? It had to be him!

Savant (Hell, Alone) - I don't care if you killed Cinderbear. I did it too, and it wasn't even that tough. The monster was just a punching bag if you knew what to do.

Lootenant (Hell, WhiteWing) - Are they at it again?

Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - LOL, yes, it's fun every time I watch it.

FoodFood (Hell, group 4) - Food!

Grumpy (Hell, group 4) - Biscuit! I miss you <3

Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - Here we go; the guy is here again.

BenDover (Hell, IDK) - This jerk is pissing me off. Why does he repeat one word over and over?

BenDover (Hell, IDK) - God damned asshole.

Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - STFU; you're the worst one here.

BenDover (Hell, IDK) - Asshole

Here we go; they're at it again.

FoodFood (Hell, group 4) - Asshole?

Huh?

Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - Huh?

FoodFood (Hell, group 4) - Asshole!

Oh no.

FoodFood (Hell, group 4) - Asshole! Asshole! Asshole! Asshole! Asshole!

Biscuit, no!

Then I get disconnected from the forum.

God damn it Biscuit.

After hunting more weredeer, I level up two times, and even my skills improve. Before going back to my weekly report to Ruby and her frightening master, I check out my stats.

[Name: Nathaniel Gwyn]Difficulty: HellFloor: 2 - Mana Infused KingdomTime left until forced return: 4y 322d 013h 51m 36sTraits (1/3): Mana Circuit (Passive)

Lvl 33Strength: 14Dexterity: 15Constitution: 40Mana: 88

[Primary Class: Mana Channeler][Sub-class: Unavailable]

Active skills:Focus (Dual Focus) - Lvl 13Mana Manipulation - Lvl 13Mana Perception - Lvl 12Oscillation - Lvl 8Kinetic Redistribution - Lvl 9Armament - Lvl 6Mana Surge - Lvl 3Disruption - Lvl 4

Passive skills:Mana Flow (rare)

[Skill Points: 1][Stat Points: 0]

Pfft, 20% of stats into mana?

Not on my watch!

All in.

Please, Mr. Focus, hold on! You can do it!

As I put more and more points into mana, I rarely can allow either one of my focuses to stop watching over it.

But hey, it's good training, right?

Right?

I partially blame my missing arm for making it more difficult even as I use everything to help me handle my mana. My trait, my passive, two of my skills.

As my [Mana Perception] and [Mana Manipulation] improved I realized how much of a problem is a missing arm to my flow and circuit.

It looks like there are a few important pathways for mana in arms, and cutting them off makes mana switch to other ones. But it's like you switch from a new highway to a country road.

So how do I solve it?

The best solution would be to get my arm back, but as I found out, that could be quite difficult.

It's super expensive, and healers here are locked up in luxurious mansions, leaving only to heal people rich enough to afford them. Sometimes they are even tied to strong families, being used to extend the life of old but powerful men and women.

Even someone with a low level like Lily is highly valued and taken care of.

So yup, this option might take a while.

The second option is to try to mess with my body and Mana Circuit and fix it myself. The consequences could be terrible if I mess it up with my current lackluster knowledge and skills.

The third option is to leave it as it is. Sure, it will continue to mess with my flow, but at the same time, it's as if I add more weight to myself while exercising. If I survive, it will help me become even stronger, and when I finally restore it, I will be that much more powerful.

It's not like there are many options anyway, so I will just go with the third one.

I also hope that at level 20, I will be able to upgrade [Focus] again; that would be amazing.

I find an inn in Stonehaven after leaving the village at the edge of the wilderness.

I enjoy a warm bath that costs me a few coppers, and I eat good food with dessert. I put on my freshly washed and nicely scented clothes.

With not that full pouch, I reach the mansion where I have to meet Ruby.

The guards let me in, expecting me.

I walk through the hallway, following my guide, who leaves me in front of the wooden door.

After a knock, the door opens and Ruby emerges. Her red hair flows freely over her shoulders, and her yellow eyes almost seem to be glowing as her gaze lands on me. She is wearing black pants and a white shirt. They almost look like men's clothes, but I notice a few changes here and there that accentuate her figure.

"Nat! It's nice to see you alive and well. Your hair is funny now; you look like a hedgehog."

Please don't call me Nat.

"Master is waiting for you. Come in," she says as she steps aside, revealing the figure of a tall, older woman sitting on the couch.

Her eyes slowly look at me, and I enter the room.

Then the door behind me closes with a loud thump.