From Player To Npc

Shingi didn't like his latest discovery, but he could do nothing about it. Requirements for evolving a class only changed up to level 60, and since he had reached that point, there was no way to go around it.

He knew that some classes needed the user to consume a particular substance, but those requirements were scarce. But he had a True Class, so it made sense that it needed something of that rarity.

As for the source, Dragon Blood was something he couldn't find outside, no matter how matter he offered. After a dragon's death, its blood would go bad and unusable in a matter of minutes, and keeping it in a fresh state, would require the use of some rare resources, and the time it would keep it fresh would be up to a couple of days. There was no way that they would sell it even if one had any at its disposal, as they most likely had a reason to acquire it themselves in the first place.

However, there was one source that Shingi knew about—the 96th floor. But, unfortunately, he was still far from that floor, and it would be tough to get there without gaining a level.

The foes they will face from the floors to come will be harder to deal with, as some will be smarter and using trickier tactics that even he could have a problem with at this point. Fortunately, he wasn't by himself, and everybody else could continue leveling up as they had evolved their class, except for White Biscuit and Dark Shadow, who both hadn't reached that point yet.

Still, Dark Shadow had stats above the rest, so his final power was at the top of the party. He lacked experience in battle, but he had learned a lot since joining Shingi's party.

As for making sure that he wouldn't take a level, he could have it set that Dark Shadow as his pet could take up to 90% of the experience he would typically gain. It was an option to use, and 90% was the upper limit. Usually, one would have it at 50% unless they wanted to quickly grind some levels on a newly acquired pet.

With the massive exp bar of his, this should be enough to keep him from leveling up and missing his chance to evolve his class. Still, just to be safe, he would try not to make the final hit or deal the majority of the damage in any of the foes, especially the Bosses that they would face, so that he wouldn't get any extra exps for the kill.

He could use his Golems to deal damage, and even if they were created by him, as far as the amount of damage he dealt, their damage didn't add to it. Unfortunately, he couldn't use his golems currently because of the Minor Spirit Madness, but he planned to take the cure before leaving this floor.

He made sure to listen to Price, and White Biscuit reports about what the Players outside were doing, but other than them looking for something in a mine-looking area, they had nothing more. So he had them keep investigating, from a safe distance, and report if they found something.

He made some calculations and then spoke to them.

"We will stay for a week. Then we will move unless we have a discovery of their plans. We will plan if there is something new by that point. If there is nothing new, we will move on." [Shingi]

The two Rogues tasked with investigating nodded and left to progress with it.

Shingi noticed Hineko had some sadness in his eyes as he saw them leave.

"You have an important task, like the two of them." [Shingi]

"I know, but our stored potions are at a good number, and with you back as also Syra, we don't have to worry about healing." [Hineko]

Hineko was also a Rogue, but since Price got here, he didn't need to do any scouting and just focused on replenishing their potions stocks. They were getting materials through the special box of Shingi, but also some of the Tower floors contained areas where such material grew. Unfortunately, the latest was rarer to find as most times, the Dark Guild seemed to have recently visited those places and gathered any herbs and other grown resources there.

Still, because they had some healing with the help of Syra, they could save some healing potions, and most times, they overpowered their enemies, especially when Dark Shadow was seriously fighting.

"No matter, we need to be prepared for the worse. Also, Syra's and my healing can't be overused as it can produce harmful effects on even the ones we heal or us. But don't worry, as, for the floors to come, we will need all three of you to keep an eye." [Shingi]

Hineko nodded as he returned to making as many potions as he could. Unfortunately, they didn't have too many materials left, so he should have used them all before the week passed.

"Phoenix, do you mind helping me a bit?" [Shingi]

Little Phoenix walked towards him, and with a smile on her face, she waited to hear what she needed to do. She wasn't as distant and shy as in the past, since she grew closer to everyone in the party, but there was still awkwardness when speaking.

"I try to work on my proficiency in Dark Element control. Mind if you help me?" [Shingi]

He planned on doing the mana sphere training with Elements made with Dark Mana of Little Phoenix. Controlling them would be easier to manage than making with surrounding Dark Mana, unless if Little Phoenix tried to resist.

Shingi sat in his mediation stance, and Little Phoenix sat across from him in her stance. She started by making two balls of Dark Element Mana, and Shingi focused on using MANA MANIPULATION on them and trying to move them around him.

He had them doing a diagonal circle around him, with one going from his upper left down to his lower right and behind him to go back to the upper left. The second one went from his upper right to lower left and back to the upper right.

He kept them moving, and at the beginning, even if he could move both of them simultaneously, their speed wasn't that fast. Still, his control was getting better, and the spheres kept moving faster and faster. Moreover, his progress was a bit faster than usual since he didn't have to worry about maintaining the spheres in shape, as Little Phoenix was taking care of that.

Within the hour since they started the training, Shingi was confident enough and told Little Phoenix to add another Mana Sphere. Another hour passed, and the fourth sphere was added, and close to thirty minutes after that, they added the fifth one to the mix, too.

At that point, the progress became slower since five spheres were usually the limit for one without the Element they trained on. The limit would be three spheres for most, and only talentful individuals could reach and pass. If he passed that limit, it would be as good as having that Element in his Mana Tree and would make the task of actually doing it so much easier.

Still, he often lost control of one of the Mana Spheres, leading it to collide with one or more of the others. He had passed that limit with all the Elements of his Mana Tree, but each Element was different in its nature, leading to controlling the Spheres to be completely different.

Still, since he had passed that limit with his Light Element, which was in nature polar to the Dark Elements, he could use that knowledge and reverse it to help him. It was like the control to make a Light Element Sphere go left, and it would make a Dark Element Sphere go right, so he had something to work on.

Still, he couldn't make a breakthrough in the next three hours, and he and Little Phoenix needed to stop for the day. There was still more time, but Little Phoenix had to replenish some of the mana in those Spheres, and the task of keeping them in shape wasn't that easy, so she had reached her limit.

Still, Shingi was happy that they reached this point, and it was on his plan to hopefully pass it within the first three days of the week he decided to stay.

Shingi still could keep training, so he turned towards Syra.

"Mind if you help me with Water Element?" [Shingi]

He would leave Water Element for last, but if he could do any preparations sooner, then why not.

Syra agreed to help him, but their training session would last less, since Syra's replenishing her mana was slower, since she couldn't consume a Mana Regeneration Potion. Still, her Mana Pool was more extensive than Little Phoenix's because her INT was much higher.

Shingi reached the fifth sphere within the hour since Water Element was much easier than Dark Element. Still, he had some problem perfectly controlling five spheres, but it wasn't as much as with the Dark Element.

He stopped progressing further for now, as he didn't want to push Syra too much, and he wasn't in a hurry to pass the limit of that Element.

But as he was ready to work on strengthening his Mana Tree, and seeing if he could start making some empty space for a new Mana Structure, he noticed something strange.

He saw Dark Shadow, who was currently lying near Syra, actually not falling asleep, but acting like he was. He usually wouldn't be able to tell until he barely noticed with his MANA SENSE, part of Syra leaving her and getting consumed by Dark Shadow.

The parts were small, but Shingi now knew why Syra seemed smaller to him. Dark Shadow was slowly eating her, and she didn't seem to notice.