Bara was 8,000 kilometers away, but the path Sora mapped out—dodging high-level zones and weaving through safer areas—extehat distao 13,000 kilometers. With his speed and ability to evade danger, it would take only a day to reach the city, but his goal wasn't simply to arrive. Testing if moving far from his inal spawn point would alter his respawn was important, but he knew he had time to do that anytime iure. He could always go back if necessary.

  'What more i get from this skill ?' he asked himself. 'With 12 days left before I Prestige again, it wouldn't make seo rush anywhere. I'd rather make the most out of this cycle. Prestige isn't about rushing home after all'

  Sora uood that now. The true power of his Prestige skill y not just in reag level 50, but in mastering the jourhere, perfeg his prehension and making his skills his own. If he relied only on the week he'd spent training with his [Mana Amplifier] css, there was no way he could recreate those skills perfectly after resetting. And even if he could recreate them, it would take too long. That would waste the cycle.

  He o spend the 12 days pushing his uanding of his skills to the limit, making them truly his.

  He thought back to his time as a swordman. He hadn't even transted all of his old skills into cssless versions—no movement teiques, no defensive abilities, and his stro level 45 skill, which he rarely used because of its plexity, was still untouched. There were five more sword teiques that he hadn't even started w on.

  Sora knew resetting every time at level 50 without fully mastering his skills was holding him back. His [Mana Evolution]'s potential was limitless, but scratg the surface with each css wasn't enough. He needed bance. His pn to reset each time and grind quickly wasn't sustainable if he wao master [Mana Evolution].

  He would o rethink his cycles—maybe two cycles to fully master a css, maybe more. With less aime for each cycle as he learned faster, he would o find an optimal strategy.

  For now, he would spend these 12 days mastering the [Mana Amplifier] css. Every time he hit a wall, he'd practice his old sword teiques to unlock their cssless versions. He could evolve them ter.

  12 Days Later

  Sora stood at the edge of a cliff, the wind whipping through his hair. He had trained relentlessly, pushing his [Mana Amplifier] skills to their limits. He had reached level 10 in all of them. [Amplify], [Mana Shield], and [Speed Surge] had been his primary focus, and his prehension of these skills was astounding. He knew he could unlock them in his life, no matter what.

  But there were three new skills he had unlocked during his training that still intrigued him. He hadn't had time to fully master them, but their potential was enormous.

  Here are three new Mana Amplifier skills for levels 30, 35, and 40 and his uanding of them.

  [Skill Unlocked: Mana Resonance (Level 30)]

  Type: BuffDescription: Mana Resonance creates a liween the Mana Amplifier and one or more allies. When linked, any buff the Amplifier applies to themselves is also applied to their allies at 50% of its inal potency. Mana is drained from the Amplifier for both themselves and their allies, meaning the Amplifier must carefully maheir mana reserves to avoid exhaustion. The skill grows stronger with additional allies, amplifying mana efficy within the resowork.Effect: Amplifies any self-buff applied to allies at 50% strength. Mana cost scales with the number of linked allies.Limit: Maximum of 3 allies li level 1, but the number increases with skill level.

  Skill Unlocked: Are Overload (Level 35)

  Type: OffensiveDescription: Are Overload is an unstable burst of raw mana energy that be directed toward an enemy, enhang the Amplifier's or their ally's attack. The more mana the Amplifier els into the Overload, the more devastating the attack. While powerful, the skill has a cost: after the attack is executed, the Amplifier suffers a temporary mana regeioy, redug their regeion speed for a short time.Effect: Boosts the physiagical attack by 200%, increasing with more mana input. Causes a temporary 20% redu in mana regeion for 60 seds after use.Limit: only boost oack at a time.

  Skill Unlocked: Mana Burst Field (Level 40)

  Type: Area of Effect BuffDescription: Mana Burst Field creates a localized zone of highly trated mana around the Amplifier, amplifying all mana-based abilities for allies within the field. It increases the potency of spells, skills, and buffs used ihe zone by 50%. While active, the Amplifier's own mana ption increases signifitly, making this skill a high-risk, high-reward option for intetles.Effect: Amplifies all mana-based abilities used within the zone by 30%, including healing and offensive spells. The Amplifier's own mana cost increases by 50% while the field is active.Duration: Lasts for 30 seds, with a cooldown of 2 minutes.Limit: Radius of 20 meters at level 1.

  He could use Mana Burst Field as a battlefield game-ger. By turning a localized area into a mana-amplifying zohe skill drastically turide of bat, particurly in group fights or raids. However, the increased mana cost requires careful ma to avoid burning out too early in a fight.

  "Status."

  [Profile: Ralph Eden (Sora Hashino)Status: Alive (Prestige 1)Css: Mana Amplifier (Css Level 45, Pyer Level 45)Title: Master

  Power Level: 29,000,000Body Level: AEnergy Level: A]

  His power level was staggering, far beyond what it had been in his previous cycle. His mastery of [Mana Evolution] ushing him into a whole new realm of strength. He had regained his Master title after crossing level 40, and his body and energy levels were now Grade A, a moal achievement at his current level.

  Sora also g his Innate Skill, Prestige, which was now off cooldown. He could reset again whenever he wanted.

  With a deep breath, Sora stepped off the cliff.

  As he plummeted toward the ground, hundreds of meters below, Sora's mind fshed back over the st 30 days of training. Every moment spent refining his skills, every fight, every breakthrough in his uanding of mana surged through his thoughts.

  His training with [Speed Surge] had shown him something critical—he could dehe buff to specific parts of his body, rather than spreading it across himself. Fog most of it on his legs gave him explosive speed, while keeping [Mana Shield] active for defense, and a portion of the buff went to his brain and eyes. This allowed him to speed up his reas and increase his agility beyond what was normally possible.

  As the ground rushed toward him, he eled mana into his feet, densing Speed Surge into his legs.

  The moment his feet touched the earth, he vanished.

  Sora's speed was so intehat sonis echoed behind him, shattering the stillness of the ndscape. He was a blur, his movements too fast for the eye to follow. His body tore through the air at a blistering 3,000 meters per sed—ten times the speed of sound.

  The ground blurred beh him, the horizon vanishing in the blink of an eye. He was only a thousand kilometers away from Bara, and at this speed, he would be there ihan three minutes.

  He felt the power of [Speed Surge], now beyond the limitations of his css. His prehension had transded what the system inally allowed, and he could maintain this explosive speed for far lohan any normal [Mana Amplifier] could dream of.

  He shot through the ndscape like a fsh of light, unstoppable.

  Ily three minutes, Sora reached Bara.

  He didn't care how the city had ged sihe apocalypse. He was here for ohing. He went straight to the baied everything he had, ahe city as quickly as he had arrived.

  At the edge of a level 80 zone, Sora paused. He called for Hiyoko, the little Piou that had bee his familiar.

  "e here," he said softly, watg as the small bird fluttered to his side.

  The little bird chirped, nding on his shoulder. Snced down at the bird, worried about what he was about to do. He didn't want to scare the creature.

  "Listen, Hiyoko. We're about to do something... well, something dangerous."

  The bird chirped in respoilting its head curiously.

  "I'm not sure how this is going to go, but I'll need you to be brave," Sora tinued, stroking the bird's head gently. "I'll be fine, but you might see some things that'll shake you."

  Hiyoko stared at him with wide eyes, chirping softly. It didn't uand everything, but it trusted Sora pletely.

  "Alright the's go."

  With a deep breath, Sora ehe level 80 zone, feeling the oppressive atmosphere immediately. The air felt heavy, almost as if gravity itself had increased tenfold. The weight of the pce bore down on him, and he felt a crushing sense of dread wash over him. The pressure here was intense.

  Suddenly, a blur of movement appeared before him.

  Before Sora could react, he was hit by something—a force so fast and so powerful that his body shattered in an instant.

  In a single blow, Sora was destroyed.