I Refused To Be Reincarnated

[Tier 4: Mythic Boss: Thomas, The Swift Shadow defeated. You have gained 4000 experience points.]

[Boss vanquished while being at a much lower level, xp+100%]

[Material detected.]

[Recommendation: Bring the legs to the dream place to proceed with the binding]

His eyes widened in bewilderment after realising how close they had been to their defeat. His chances of victory in a frontal clash were equal to zero. After all, after Thomas transformed, his already formidable speed reached new levels, making him impossible to follow.

\'He also possessed a title. Is it a common trait of mythical bosses?\' He pondered, understanding that they seemed to excel in a particular domain and possessed out-of-the-ordinary body attributes.

The clue he had was the materials. For Gaston, it was his cheat-like eyes, while for Thomas, it was his powerful and swift legs.

\'What am I supposed to do with those materials?\' He asked himself with a deep frown. After all, it was already his third mythical ingredient. Should he try to ask someone to craft items for him? But to what end? If they weren\'t soul-bound, they would be of little use...

Subsequently, he broke the frozen legs of Thomas, using his still materialised fingers, and threw them to Julius.

"Keep that for me. It is really important!" He said to the bewildered Julius, who only wanted to throw the disgusting frozen body parts.

Then, he called his interface to check the progress. He should have reached the limit or been really close to it after all the experience rewarded by Thomas\' kill.

"Status."

Name: Adam

Talent: Unlocked at thirteen

Job: Tier one alchemist

Class: T2 Mana Conjuror

LVL: 9

Exp: 3500/5120

HP: 200/200

Vitality: 20->28.8

Strength: 20.6->29.4

Agility: 20.8->29.6

Intelligence: 47->47.8

Free attribute points: 25->1

Note: Soul is damaged... You swore not to use beast cores like that... Cheater! How did you win against a tier four? It makes no sense...

"What a shame. I missed the limit by 1600 Xp." Adam said, shaking his head with a bright smile after reading the note. "I\'ll use whatever available means to survive. Haha."

His confidence swelled as he considered challenging the tower\'s third floor soon to secure new helpful items. Then, he peered down on the abyss, wondering when they would finally see the ground, unafraid by their fall.

After three long minutes of falling, Julius finally saw the fast-approaching ground. However, before they could collide with it, the prepared Shiro released a spell, making them slow down and gently land.

"Told you. She has an affinity to gravity or something similar. That\'s why she had to become a tier three body cultivator." Adam said, raising his hand. With the sound of snapping fingers and the use of a few ancient words, a small ball of light appeared, chasing the darkness away and revealing the enormous area they landed in.

Simultaneously, the sound of ice breaking resounded a few dozen meters away, drawing everyone\'s attention.

Upon seeing the ice shards covering the ground, the party couldn\'t help but shiver in fright. After all, they were the last remains of a mighty tier-four entity.

\'Even tier-four aren\'t safe from big bro\'s wrath...\' Julius thought in shock as he heard a slapping sound above him.

"SHIT! I forgot to take his beast core!" Adam said as he facepalmed with an ugly expression, forcing Julius to chuckle.

The boy walked curiously to the frozen remains, searching if the core was, by chance, still intact. Sadly, he only found scattered fragments.

Grabbing the biggest, he raised his right foot to return to his still-shocked companions when his gladius released a mix of life force and mana, drawing the fragments to its hilt and absorbing them.

Shocked by the weapon\'s sudden reaction, Julius swiftly unsheathed it, seriousness painting his face. Then, his eyes bulged as he felt the life force coming from it steadily increase to reach the late stage of the second-tier standard. Moreover, the elegant white gladius was now releasing a chilling mist.

"Did my weapon progress?" Julius said, realising what transpired with a mix of joy and guilt. After all, like everyone else, his impact during the fight against Thomas was minimal. He didn\'t feel like he earned this opportunity.

He sighed while examining his surroundings. He couldn\'t see anything but darkness above them. The rest was filled with rocky formations.

"Let\'s move deeper. We need to find a way back." Adam said, impatient to return to the academy to digest his gain and plan his next moves as Julius nodded, relaying the message to his friends.

As they ventured deeper into the belly of the mountain, Shiro couldn\'t help but ask question after question about their surreal victory against all odds. Then, she said something astounding. "Big bro, let me become your disciple!"

"????" Everyone gazed at her weirdly. Wasn\'t she allegedly stronger than him? Furthermore, didn\'t she already have a mentor?

Seeing the weird gazes of everyone, she hastily explained herself. "I know what you\'re all thinking, but I really want to learn mana control and strategy from him! All Thurin cares about is my behaviour and level. He doesn\'t guide me as deeply as big bro did earlier."

Arun couldn\'t help but nod at her words. Adam\'s approach was truly novel and effective for him, too. "Count me in, too!" He said, excited by the prospect despite being taught by his father.

Suddenly, everyone chimed in, agreeing and wanting to learn under Adam, who was sweating bullets.

"Tell them I need to take care of my horses, feed my cats, take care of my old grandmother, or anything!" He hurriedly said, his voice trembling in panic.

Become his disciples? He never intended to have any from the start!

"Pfft." Julius laughed at the quick refusal and weird excuses before quoting the answer, making everyone laugh.

"Let us hire you, then. We\'ll occasionally come with questions. If you can help us, we\'ll pay you two gold coins each time." Asha interjected, her business mind turning at full speed.

Her proposal elicited the expected reaction as Adam\'s eyes lit up, taking the color of gold. "Feel free to ask anytime, even at night!" He said excitedly, making everyone laugh again.