"What level are you now?"
Hearing the familiar voice, Morintis opened his eyes to see Sophia.
Sophia's delicate face was smudged with dust, and the aura of elements still swirled around her.
She had clearly just been in a fight, having recently exited the dungeon.
She stared at Morintis, her face full of defiance.
Morintis replied calmly, "Level 14."
"What?!"
Sophia exclaimed strangely.
"How is that possible?
How are you so fast?"
She had partied up and run the Xihai Mine Dungeon on Normal difficulty twice in a row, going from level 10 to level 11.
Two consecutive runs had left her utterly exhausted.
Even if Morintis could solo the dungeon, he shouldn't be leveling this fast.
It was impossible for Sophia to imagine that Morintis was running the Nightmare difficulty.
Morintis didn't elaborate further for Sophia.
Believe it or not.
Knowing Morintis, Sophia was aware he wouldn't lie.
If he said he was level 14, then he was definitely level 14.
The defiance in her eyes grew stronger.
Leveling got slower at higher levels.
On the first day in the beginner dungeon, she was level 5, and Morintis was level 7.
A 2-level difference.
Logically, the gap should be narrowing now.
Why was she only level 11 while Morintis was already level 14, widening the gap instead?
Sophia snorted.
"I won't admit defeat."
With that, she turned and left.
Morintis watched her, not knowing what to say.
For years, he had always been one step ahead of Sophia.
Before their class awakening, he was always first in every subject, with Sophia perpetually second.
After awakening, his level rose steadily, once again leaving Sophia behind.
Morintis understood that Sophia had never accepted this, always striving to compete with him.
It had been this way both before and after their awakening.
But he had never given her the chance.
Suddenly, he saw Sophia enter the dungeon with a few people.
"That's strange.
Didn't she just come out?"
"How can she go back in so soon?"
"How is there no dungeon cooldown?"
Morintis witnessed something unbelievable.
He had tested it; both Normal and Nightmare difficulties had cooldowns, and they shared the same timer.
After he ran Nightmare, he couldn't enter Normal for 12 hours either.
So how could Sophia enter again so quickly?
Morintis was certain Sophia had just exited the dungeon not long ago.
The lingering aura of battle was still on her, not yet faded.
He could even sense the distinct aura of the Goblin King on her.
That couldn't be faked.
While meditating, Morintis had his Skeleton Warrior keep watch.
Two hours later, Sophia's figure reappeared at the dungeon entrance.
She had completed another run.
After exiting, she didn't forget to glance towards Morintis.
Morintis could see the exhaustion etched on her face.
It was the kind of drain caused by continuous combat.
Then, after just over ten minutes, Sophia found another team and entered the dungeon again.
Morintis noticed that just before she entered, she seemed to use an item.
A faint glow had shimmered around her at that moment.
Morintis guessed it was this item that allowed Sophia to ignore the dungeon cooldown.
"If there's a chance, I could ask her about it," Morintis thought to himself, returning to his meditative state.
His Spirit was gradually recovering.
As his level increased, the Spirit attribute was becoming more prominent.
His base Spirit had now reached 700, far surpassing his other attributes.
This was characteristic of Mage-type classes: extremely high Spirit at the cost of very poor other attributes.
There was no balance to speak of.
Every class had its own characteristics, and Morintis accepted his.
Several hours later, the sound of somewhat heavy footsteps reached his ears.
Sophia, brimming with exhaustion, walked over and sat down beside Morintis.
Even without the cooldown restriction, she couldn't run the dungeon continuously.
Her body couldn't handle it.
"I'm exhausted..."
Sophia slumped to the ground without a care for her image.
She wasn't the least bit afraid of the Skeleton Warrior next to Morintis.
After all, Morintis was her classmate; there was nothing to fear or worry about.
After resting for a while and catching her breath, Sophia regained a bit of her spirit.
"This young lady is already level 12.
I'll catch up to you soon!"
Level 12.
Partying up and running Normal dungeons, it would take at least 3 to 4 runs to gain one level now.
Catching up to him would be very difficult.
Morintis looked at Sophia, her weariness plain to see.
"Isn't it tiring?"
Sophia snorted.
"Tiring?
Of course it's tiring!
This young lady doesn't want to lift a finger right now."
"Why?"
Sophia looked at him, annoyed.
"Why?
How can you even ask me that?
You've been ahead of me for so many years.
This young lady must surpass you."
"Just because of that?"
Morintis hadn't realized Sophia held such a deep-seated grudge.
Maybe I should have thrown an exam or two back then, let her take first place once.
Sophia gazed at the sky.
"Of course it's not just that.
I want to test into Xiajing Academy.
Aren't you aiming for Xiajing Academy too?
So you should understand."
To test into Xiajing Academy, one needed at least level 14, level 15 to be safer, and level 16 to be most secure.
With just over two days left, Morintis estimated that Sophia could reach level 14 at most; reaching level 15 would be very difficult.
Unless...
Morintis said quietly, "You should run the Nightmare difficulty dungeon.
You'd level up faster that way."
"Are you joking?
It's not easy to find an elite team.
Those elite teams want level 16 or 17 professionals.
I'm only level 12; no one wants me."
Sophia rolled her eyes at Morintis, as if to say, Do you even get how this works?
Looking at the elite teams recruiting at the dungeon entrance, they had requirements not just for level and class, but for equipment too.
Unless you were a Healer or Support, where requirements could be slightly lower.
For damage-dealing classes like Sophia, the requirements were actually the highest.
Seeing Morintis fall silent, Sophia continued on her own, "So, you see, this young lady will just have to run the Normal dungeon a few more times.
Level 14 should be fine.
If I push hard, level 15 might be possible."
Listening to her, Morintis finally asked the question, "How can you ignore the cooldown?"