The day, Sora unlocked [Mana Shield], a defensive skill that gave him his first yer of prote in battle.

  [Mana Shield (Level 1)]Type: DefensiveDescription: Creates a barrier of mana that absorbs ining damage. The strength of the shield increases with mana input. The shield be maintained as long as mana is avaible and be deactivated at any time. Maintaining the shield es mana.

  Sora activated it, feeling the surge of mana spread throughout his body, f a light, almost weightless barrier. He could tell that unless someone directly attacked him, the mana drain was minimal.

  "I could keep this up forever as long as no oouches me."

  With [Mana Shield], Sora had a new yer of defense, allowing him to protect himself or others from substantial damage while still fog on his offensive capabilities. The synergy between Amplify, Echo Strike, and [Mana Shield] was beginning to sholify his attacks, gain bonus damage, and protect against ining strikes, all while burning through his vast mana reserves.

  "Self-suffit bat," he thought with a smirk. "I'm ing closer to being a walking fortress."

  Days passed, and as Sora's css level rose, he unlocked Speed Surge, a short-term buff that greatly enhanced movement and attack speed for a brief period.

  Speed Surge (Level 1)Type: BuffDescription: Temporarily increases movement and attack speed for one minute.

  Sora activated it immediately. His body surged with speed, every movement turning into a blur as he zipped forward, faster than ever before. Every strike came quicker, sharper, more precise. But after a few moments, he felt something ued. The skill was draining his mana, but more surprisingly, it was also exhausting his stamina.

  The rapid flurry of attacks wore him down faster than he had anticipated. Striking twice as often, moving at twice the speed—it wasn't something he could maintain for long without burning himself out.

  "It's not my mana that'll give out... it's my stamina," Sora realized, panting as the buff ended. "Even if I keep the skill active for a minute, using it recklessly will wear me out before I know it."

  "To make better use of this, I'll o improve my endurance."

  By the time his css hit level 25, Sora unlocked one of the most important skills for a Mana Amplifier: Mana Cascade.

  Mana Cascade (Level 1)Type: BuffDescription: Increases the target's mana regeion rate for a short period. Mana Cascade be applied to allies or to oneself.

  For most Mana Amplifiers, Mana Cascade was a lifesaver. Buffing allies took a toll on mana reserves, and without preion, most Amplifiers would burn out quickly. Mana Cascade allowed them to extend the duration of their buffs without w about running dry.

  But for Sora, the skill was overkill.

  With his incredible mana regeion, thanks to the Loved by Mana effect, Mana Cascade pushed him into near-limitless territory. He could buff himself and his allies indefinitely without fear of depletion.

  Out of curiosity, Sora activated it to see how insane his mana regen could get.

  But after a few minutes, he frowhe increase was barely noticeable—almost ent.

  "Maybe I'm just imagining it?" he muttered, deactivating the skill.

  "It makes no difference," he said after a moment of thought. "I guess 'Loved by Mana' 't be affected by lower-tier skills."

  Sora specuted that Mana Cascade simply couldn't stack with the effects of his Supreme skill. The power of Loved by Mana from Mana Evolution was far beyond what a basic buff like this could achieve.

  "Well, that's a shame," he shrugged, "but it doesn't really matter. I have more than enough mana for now."

  For most pyers, Mana Cascade would be a game-ger, essential for long-term buffing and enduran battle. But for Sora, it was just aool in his ever-expanding arsenal. Useful in groups, but unnecessary for solo py.

  By the end of the week, Sora had reached level 34, and his [Mana Amplifier] css was now at level 29. He had spent the past several days honing each ability, experimenting with different binations, aing the limits of his new css. Through stant use, his skills had leveled up rapidly, being more effit and powerful:

  Amplify (Level 8): Sora had nearly mastered this skill, redug its mana cost signifitly while boosting his or his allies' abilities with greater efficy. The potential for mana manipution and efficy was being clearer to him as he studied how the skill ied with raw mana.

  Echo Strike (Level 5): The more allies Sora buffed, the deadlier this skill became. At level 5, it gave a 30% boost per buffed ally, making it one of his most potent tools in group fights. The potential of the skill seemed to be uncapped, opening the door for massive damage multipliers in future battles.

  Mana Shield (Level 10): His shield had bee a formidable defense, capable of abs siderable amounts of damage. At level 10, the mana cost to maintain it was negligible, allowing him to keep the barrier active almost indefinitely.

  Speed Surge (Level 6): The speed buff had grown stronger and more refined, but stamina remaihe limiting factor. The skill now allowed him to buff up to 12 people simultaneously, a massive boon froup fights but still exhausting when used on himself.

  Mana Cascade (Level 3): Though its effects were minimal on Sora, [Mana Cascade] had grown in range, allowing him to assist allies with low mana regeion over a wider area. This skill would prove more valuable in group settings than solo bat.

  The synergy between [Amplify], [Mana Shield], and [Speed Surge] had turned Sora into a near-unstoppable force. Though part of the potential of the css was wasted in solo py, the buffs gave him impressive bat capability.

  "It's alright. I'm happy enough with what I've got," he thought, refleg on the progress he'd made.

  His journey as a [Mana Amplifier] had only just begun, but the possibilities were already evident. He wao max out his primary skills and unlock the higher-level abilities, but a week had already passed.

  It was time to return to Córdoba.

  Turning his gaze back toward the city, Sora made pns to earn some quick money and think about his move. Should he return to France, where he lived in his previous life? He felt strong enough now, and he was curious to see how his Prestige ability would i with his progress.

  "If I die far from where I respaw time, would I still appear in that same cavern?" Sora wohere were many unanswered questions about his ability, but those could wait.

  Dismissing those thoughts for now, he sprioward Córdoba. His current speed allowed him to cross 100 kilometers in about six mihe city would e into view in no time.

  "Status"

  [Status Update]

  Profile: Ralph Eden (Sora Hoshino)Status: Alive (Prestige 1)Css: Mana Amplifier (Css Level 29, Pyer Level 34)Title: Humble (Level 30 Title)

  Power Level: 800 000Body Level: B Energy Level: B

  Skills: (...)

  Mana Skills (Supreme Skill: Mana Evolution)

  Mana Eyes, Loved by Mana, Mana Growth, Mana ization

  Css Skills:

  Amplify (Level 8), Echo Strike (Level 5),Mana Shield (Level 10), Speed Surge (Level 6), Mana Cascade (Level 3)

  Job: Human Resource Assistant (Level 17)

  S his growing list of skills and sighed. Many of them were self-made and didn't have levels, while the rest had bee progressively useless.

  Looking at his power level, which sat signifitly higher than a typical level 40 pyer, he couldn't help but smirk. Most pyers at that level had a power of around 780,000, but Sora was already ahead. He wasn't sure how the system calcuted power, but he khe average for each level. A level 34 pyer should be around 104,000 in power. His supreme skill—Mana Evolution—likely pyed a role, stantly refining and evolving his mana to increase his power. The stronger his energy and body levels grew, the more his power level rose.

  "Eight times strohan someo my level," he mused, grinning. "It's absurd."

  But then, he shrugged it off. Obsessing over the numbers ointless. Power level wasn't necessarily an indicator of bat ability—it was a raw measurement of energy, body level, and skills, but true strength was more than just numbers.

  "Enough of that," he muttered. "It's time to make use of all this power."

  Sora headed toward the au house, ready to offload some high-level items he had collected. Onside, he opened his iory and started s through the loot. Among the items were several valuable epic pieces, perfect for auing. He estimated their worth at around 100,000 gold. With items in the level 30 to 4e in high demand, he knew he could get a good price.

  He aued the epic gear and sold the rest to clerks, ing 50,000 gold from the au and another 40,000 from the less valuable loot. On top of that, he had earned about 25,000 gold from monsters during his week of grinding.

  With 115,000 gold in his pockets, Sora was ba business. He quickly left the au house, eager to tackle his weekly quests at the Job Hall.

  When he arrived, he saw 20 familiar job tokens ready for him to pick up, but this time, there were 10 new requests for Human Resource Assistants as well. His reputation was clearly growing.

  He accepted all 30 jobs a off to get started. It wasn't long before he met Aria again, her face lighting up the moment she saw him.

  "Ralph!" she called out, hurrying over. "You've beealk of the town all week."

  "Really?" he replied, raising an eyebrow.

  Aria nodded, her excitement barely tained. "pahat were struggling to keep up with tract work have suddenly turhings around. All because they heard about you. Even some of the busihat were about to fold are ba traow. Everyone's eager to get a piece of you."

  Sora chuckled, shaking his head. "I didn't expect to cause such a stir."

  "Holy, her did we," Aria admitted. "But your efficy is just... unmatched."

  Sora was relieved that the system allowed him to ge names and appearances. Fame was not part of his pn. If word spread too much, he could lose the low profile he preferred to keep.

  Aria led him into the office, where Sora was taken aback by the sheer volume of tracts waiting for him.

  "Five hundred?" he excimed, half-jokingly. "Aria, are y to work me to death?"

  Aria blushed, flustered by his teasing. "It's not my fault! Everyone heard you'd be ing back this week, and they've been saving tracts for you. No one wants to sighey'd rather let you ha."

  Srinned. "Well, at least I get paid."

  And he did. With his job level now at 17, his work speed had doubled, allowing him to bze through tracts even faster. He worked through the five hundred tracts in an hour, and after finishing at Aria's office, he moved on to the .

  By the end of the day, Sora had signed a staggering 7,500 tracts, earning around 750,000 gold in total. His job level shot up to 25. At level 10, his work speed had already doubled, but at level 20, his signature's quality had improved, addira binding power to the tracts.

  "It feels like the tracts have a strrip now," he thought, intrigued by the new development.

  As he worked, he became more aware of the threads of mana used to bind tracts. With this newfound insight, he began experimenting, trying to manipute those threads, but it was difficult to use them effectively. Still, he had a feeling that mastering this could unloew possibilities for him.

  Once finished with his work, Sora made a few quick purchases and deposited his gold at the bank. His destination was clear—he was headi, toward Bara.