He also kept the idea of having a flowing circle for mana accumulation at his hands and feet. So he added them again and also extended pathways to the fingers and toes.

  When Eldrian wanted to start on the head he found himself struggling to keep everything as is. The network wasn't extremely complex, mostly just simple geometrical shapes to connect the mana 'strings'. But it was becoming too much.

  So, to end it off, Eldrian decided to simply have the mana flow to his head in a circle. With pathways connecting it on all sides. He had no idea what it would do, he simply wanted the flow of mana to fill his entire body. Not select areas.

  'Alright, let's see if this works.' Eldrian thought, lifting the pressure he was placed on the heart to keep his mana there. As soon as he lifted it, his mana flew to fill all the strings. Quickly however, he realized that his mana was too little for this large of a network.

  The pathways were dull and the flow was slow. Realizing this, Eldrian smiled as this was a clear indication that he could now store far more mana.

  Focusing on the mana around him, Eldrian started absorbing it.

  It took a long time for him to finish, a few hours in fact. The more he absorbed, the harder it became as the mana density inside him grew. Yet, he wasn't going to just stop. As such, he had continued until he felt bloated.

  Opening his eyes, Eldrian smiled as he could feel the massive increase even without the system needing to inform him. Though he still read them to get a better idea. Numbers are after all much clearer indications than just a feeling.

  [Player has reached Tier 4 in the hidden class: Protector]

  [Attribute Growth: All attributes increased by a further 40 points, to a total bonus of 75 from the hidden class's attribute growth.]

  [Stat Bonus Growth: 37.5% to all stats]

  [Skill and Spell Enhancement: 15% boost to Tier 4, 30% to Tier 3, 55% to Tier 2, 100% to Tier 1, 350% to Tier 0]

  [Legacy path update:]

  [Player has completely revamped their unique mana system. New legacy ranking: B+]

  'Umm…… There are plus and minusses?' Eldrian was shocked that it wasn't even considered A rank, though it was true that while there was much more going on now. For the most part, it was still simple.

  He was curious what S rank would require then, and also what the limit was. Eldrian felt confident he would be able to reach S rank if he added runes or arrays, if that was possible.

  [Unique mana pathway bonuses at current rank (B+) and development (Tier 4):]

  [Stat growth - Mana: 600 ; Stamina: 150]

  [Atrribute growth: 50 Consitution, 15 Strength, 15 Agility, 35 Spirit, 50 Inteligence]

  [Please name the legacy]

  'Wow……' Eldrian knew that he had grown stronger, but the bonus was still quite shocking. He also realized something strange, 'Seems I should be able to increase my Tier without redoing the mana pathways. How I have no idea though……'

  Putting this to the back of his mind, Eldrian pulled up his stats and marveled at the growth. Smiling as he felt much more confident now. Adding his training, he was confident he would be able to put up a good fight against most Tier 5's.

  He could also gain another boost quite soon if he reached Tier 4 with his other classes (magic and melee).

  [Haru's Statistics:]

  [Level: 22 (0/6.9M XP)]

  [Hidden Class: Protector (Tier 4)]

  [Normal Class: Magic (Tier 3) ; Melee (Tier 3)]

  [Avatar Affinity: 100%]

  [Attributes:] (Author Note: The 'Was' indicated in [] refers to chapter 404. Between the brackets are the actual attribute level. Those before the brackets are the reduced due to level loss and free attribute being negative.)

  [Constitution: 216 (246)] [Was 206]

  [Strength: 208 (238)] [Was 198]

  [Agility: 294 (324)] [Was 284]

  [Spirit: 213 (243)] [Was 202]

  [Intelligence: 235 (265)] [Was 225]

  [-30 free attributes]

  'Wow, the penalty for losing too many levels is really harsh……' Eldrian had never experienced this before, thanks to the fact that he always banked free attributes, he had never gone through this.

  [Stats:]

  [HP: 466 (530)] [was 415]

  [Mana: 1099 (1158)] [was 686]

  [Stamina: 505 (575)] [was 453]

  [Attack (With Aoidos): 75] [was 71]

  'Still, my growth is truly impressive this time around.' Eldrian smiled as he felt the itch to test himself grow. As he stood up and looked around, he saw Cephaphyr sitting with his parents near the spring.

  Not wishing to disturb them, he decided that it could wait for tomorrow. It was already quite late, so he decided to log out for the day even though it was a few hours earlier than normal……

  Stretching after climbing out of the cabin, Eldrian could feel that something was different. But he couldn't quite place his finger on it. After going for a run this feeling grew even more.

  Naturally, there was only one thing to do in this case. After filling his belly of course.

  That was to go to his favorite tree that had now almost no leaves left. Sitting under its bare branches and enjoying the morning sun that was just starting to rise in the sky, Eldrian closed his eyes and meditated.

  Immediately he felt a massive difference. Last time, he had managed to start to feel his surroundings. This time, he could feel even more. The soft morning breeze with its icy chill wasn't just that. Eldrian could feel that it was a greeting to a new world.

  Slowly, after nearly an hour of meditation, Eldrian opened his eyes. For a split second, the world before him had a few specks of colorful mists. There was no comparison to what he had seen in that split second to when he used mana sense, but he was confident it wasn't his mind playing tricks on him.

  Closing his eyes again, Eldrian focused on the elements. He focused on the free feeling of wind and the sturdiness of earth. He focused on the heat of a flame, and of the wetness of water.

  He entered such a state that time flew, he didn't even realize as the sun set and night arrived. He didn't even realize when the moon reached its apex in the sky.

  No, he was so immersed that he didn't even realize when someone tapped his shoulder and asked if he was alright.

  'You are so sparse, but you really are here.' Eldrian smiled and his eyes teared up from the confirmation. Finally, he opened his eyes only to be welcomed by an entire team of medical experts led by Gengxin.

  "Eldrian, are you alright?" The old man with a pure white goatee asked, kneeling before the young man who they had thought might have entered some sort of comma. Even the readings they had managed to gain from the headset they had placed on his head had told them nothing.

  "Of course, I was just meditating." Eldrian smiled, wiping the faint tears from his eyes and hoping they weren't going to question him now.

  He knew just how massive a deal his discovery was. There was no way he was going to share it. Heck, he had done his best to hide his body's increased strength. How could he admit that he had felt mana in the real world?

  Sure, it was so faint that it was almost non-existent. But it was there, and funnily enough, the most plentiful mana was the two least plentiful on Gaia. Light and Dark……

  {AN: A big thanks to everyone who continues to support this novel on WN.}