Levi returns to the Institute of Ascension and immediately disrupts the established social order of the academy. He casually greets the intimidating Professor Heimler, defying the freezing pressure of the Conceptual skill Stillpoint, and effortlessly navigates the dangerous, trap-laden staircases that usually send lesser students to the infirmary. When the arrogant, second-ranked student John Winthrop attempts to publicly humiliate and maim him in the dining hall to prevent him from graduating, Levi relies on his vast combat experience and subtle magical reinforcement to dance around the onslaught. He absorbs a devastating, skill-boosted punch to the cheek with a hidden vector nullification spell, completely unfazed, before quietly gripping Winthrop's shoulder as a warning of absolute superiority. This quiet display of dominance leaves the onlookers stunned and Winthrop deeply shaken, but Levi is already focused on a far greater mystery. Having spent a sleepless night casually solving the Subaru Paradox - a legendary, centuries-old magical puzzle displayed on the classroom blackboard that has baffled the greatest minds of the realm - Levi submits his answer as a mere homework assignment. This act completely shatters the academic world, proving the existence of imaginary mana and forcing the legendary Mythmaker Heimler to offer him an apprenticeship. Yet, as Levi begins to realize the sheer political and magical implications of his actions, he is suddenly approached by the ice-cold prodigy Liliya Volkov, who demands his cooperation for the upcoming, highly dangerous Ascension Trials. She warns him to stay out of her way so she can complete the trial solo, completely unaware of the terrifying power hidden beneath his level fourteen status, but as they prepare to set out into the wildlands, a shadow falls over their path in the form of a contract assassin sent by a jealous duke, leaving Levi to wonder if he can survive the trials without revealing his true identity to the entire kingdom.

The journey to the Grove of Embers begins as a tense, silent travel on horseback, with the proud Liliya Volkov resolutely ignoring Levi after he accidentally insults her lack of friends during a campsite watch. Yet, as they delve deep into the silver-tier cavern dungeon, Liliya showcases her brilliant, textbook-perfect swordsmanship, systematically dismantling fire-breathing wyverns and utilizing her Conceptual skill, Binding Threads, to restrict their movements. Levi contentedly sits on the sidelines, sipping tea and observing her growth, fully intending to let her take all the glory and solo experience points. However, the completion of the trial triggers a hidden, man-made trap as runic scripts on the cavern walls glow with a dark, malevolent light, collapsing the cavern and releasing a massive horde of over thirty Greater Wyverns, each far surpassing their level and strength. Realizing the impossibility of the fight, Liliya activates her emergency beacon and flees, leaving Levi behind to face the beasts alone. Levi calmly prepares to unleash his magic, only to be stunned when Liliya suddenly charges back into the fray, risking her own life to cover his escape in a desperate, heroic attempt to be the hero she always dreamed of being. Her selfless sacrifice moves Levi deeply, prompting him to finally step forward and unleash his signature Sever and Cleave - Maximum Whirlwind Technique, a terrifying maelstrom of grey magical slashes that instantly carves the entire horde of Greater Wyverns into wet tissue paper. But before they can recover, a mysterious, masked agent of the Crucible named Phantasm materializes, boasting of his impenetrable magical barrier. Levi quickly analyzes the barrier, shatters it with a precise strike, and severs Phantasm's arm, forcing the villain to flee and trigger a cataclysmic earthquake that summons a colossal, level five hundred Elder Wyvern from the depths of the abyss, leaving the exhausted pair trapped in a collapsing cavern with a beast capable of obliterating entire kingdoms.

Escaping the collapsing cavern through a quick, reality-bending teleportation, Levi and Liliya emerge into the burning Grove of Embers, only for the colossal, level five hundred Elder Wyvern to burst through the earth behind them. Fortunately, their distress beacon summons the portly Professor Merriweather and the legendary Grand Assassin Qorbin Ravenbane, who immediately engage the beast in a spectacular, high-stakes battle. When Merriweather is brutally sidelined by the wyvern's hidden enchanted barrier, Qorbin uses his deadly assassin skills to pierce the beast's defenses and temporarily paralyze it with his Petrifying Gaze. Seizing the opening, Levi channels his magic into three massive, reality-splitting Sever and Cleaves, perfectly cutting along the creature's metaphysical lines of death and permanently ending its existence in a single, awe-inspiring display of power. This impossible victory earns Levi the respect of Qorbin, who offers both teenagers a prestigious personal apprenticeship, but their celebrations are short-lived. Upon embarking on their first official mission to investigate a series of blood-drained village massacres in the southeastern outskirts, Levi is attacked by a powerful vampire named Syto, who bared his fangs in a savage lust for battle. After a brief, explosive clash of magic and blood, Qorbin intervenes to reveal that Syto is actually a rogue, human-friendly vampire investigating the same massacres, prompting an unlikely and highly volatile alliance. Together, the group utilizes their combined tracking skills and magical deductions to discover that the true culprit is not Arcedia's vampires, but a rogue human cultist utilizing the forbidden power of the Hollow to prepare a massive, city-wide blood sacrifice in the nearby town of Elysia. With only one day left before the final blow lands, the mismatched party must race against the clock to prevent a catastrophic summoning, unaware that the cultist is a retired hero hiding in plain sight.

In the quiet town of Elysia, Levi connects the clues and realizes the Hollow cultist is Edmund Hawke, a retired Mythmaker mourning his daughter Emma, who died in a tragic dungeon break a decade ago due to the cowardice of gambling adventurers. Confronting Hawke at his isolated cottage, Levi and Qorbin engage the grief-stricken father in a fierce, elemental battle, ultimately disabling him before he can unleash his full, destructive potential. But the true horror is revealed when Hawke's daughter Emma stumbles out of the house - not as a living girl, but as a misshapen, agonizingly corrupted soul summoned back from the dead by the dark magic of the Hollow. While Qorbin prepares to mercifully end her suffering, Levi decides to defy the absolute laws of life and death, utilizing his forbidden