Author's note

So this story's inspiration came to be due to a combination of the Solo Leveling's anime and the fanfic The Mage Who Level Up by Greg27 which basically combine the two series and this is my crack at the concept. Unlike my other work where I borrow many elements from the story that inspired it, this one, aside from the basic concept, is gonna be mostly my own creation. The reason is that while the author of Strata Dragon Slayer basically dropped the series and encouraged others to take over, Greg27 didn't make any statement like that so I'm not risking it. For those who came here from my other story, first of all: Hi, don't worry I'm not dropping Child of The Star. Secondly, just a heads up, this one is gonna be different from the other story in terms of tone and writing style so don't expect something similar to the other story. Anyway, let's jump into the story.

Chapter 1: Welcome, New Player

Part 1: Logging In

Romeo hates how useless he feels. After everyone on Tenrou disappears the world becomes more and more dangerous by the day while he can barely use a sword. Sure he has a muscular build and is quite strong especially for his age but compared to other mages at the same age, he might as well be a toddler who struggles to walk. Hell, even Asuka, a kid five years younger than him, shows more talent in magic than he does.

He's often picked on because of this and has to helplessly watch as his guild, his home, is made a laughing stock. Even though everyone in the guild tried to help him, to encourage him, it just wasn't enough. When Twilight Ogre comes in and demands their payments earlier today, mocking everyone while doing so. They harass Kinana and when he tries to defend her they just knock him to the side. He has had it.

Running off he found himself now alone in an empty field outside of Magnolia. No one knows of this area and it's often where he goes when he wants to be alone, to vent out his stress and frustration. He was crying when suddenly he felt a tremor.

Looking around, he saw the entrance of what appears to be a natural dungeon appearing in the middle of the field. Usually, if a dungeon appears, whether it be through a Gate or naturally formed, the one who discovers them is to alert the official and have them inspect. But given Romeo's current mental state, he's not thinking clearly.

Normally, a natural dungeon appears when a large amount of Ethernano is concentrated in a small area. This led to the Ethernano essentially corrupting the area, creating a living dungeon that lures you in with the promise of treasures and resources but will consume your body if you die in there. Monsters in the natural dungeons are often weaker than Gate dungeons so this usually makes them easy resource mines though resources in Gate dungeons are of higher quality.

This didn't matter to Romeo though, for all he could think of right now is "This is an easy dungeon but if I manage to scout this dungeon before anyone else could, I could find all sorts of valuable items that could help out the guild. I might get lucky and even have a power awaken." This has happened before, people who enter dungeons and have some form of awakening, gaining incredible magic powers. That was how some of the current top mages came to be although the chances for something like that to happen is very, very low.

Romeo enters the dungeon carefully, and almost meets his death. "Shit" he yells, setting off a trap that shuts the entrance off and shoots fire arrows down at him. He barely dodges the trap with some arrows lodging on his arms before landing on the tip of a scout goblin, often found in dungeons like this.

It's here that he realizes he didn't bring any weapons with him. He screams, running from the goblin but it quickly gives chase, calling more monsters towards its location. Romeo tries his best to avoid them but the monsters were faster than him, many manage to land critical strikes on him.

He tries to find someplace to hide, but there's always an enemy around the corner. Eventually though, he noticed something in the distance. A glowing light of pure magic concentrates into a small area until it turns into a fancy stone gate. Seeing no other option, he rushed towards the gate. Suddenly, a goblin managed to stab him in the back.

Romeo managed to pry the creature off him. Using what's left of his strength, he crawls toward the gate, which opens like an automatic door, letting him in, and closes just before any monsters can get to him. Inside, torches around the area lit up in blue flames, revealing a circular room with an elevated circular platform in the middle.

Approaching the platform, looking for some clue that could save him, Romeo has a sudden urge to climb on top of it which he does before passing out. His blood pouring from his wounds down to the platform then to the floor, revealing weird symbols and drawings that glows up before the whole room envelopes in a bright purple light.

Regaining his consciousness, Romeo found himself floating in a dark void. Before he could understand what's going on, a flash of light appeared in front of him. Romeo shields his eyes from the light.

"Well, would you look at that?" An unknown voice spoke up, it was a male's voice but it had a weird echoing effect to it. "A visitor. I must say it's been a while since I have one of those." The voice continued with a playful and amusing tone.

Uncovering his eyes, he sees a white hair man dressed in a black coat and a black pants. His eyes are covered by a black blindfold and his body emits a blue, red, and purple aura. The man smiles at Romeo, before doing a motion with his hands, manifesting a chair behind him and a bed underneath Romeo. The man sits on the chair while Romeo drops on the bed. Grunting, Romeo sits up. "Hold there sport." The man warnes. "You just got back from a stab to the back. You shouldn't move around too much." That same playful and amusing tone presents. The memory rushed back to Romeo. He went to check on his wounds only to find them gone. In fact, he doesn't feel any pain and is rather refreshed.

"So what's your name kid?" The man asks, getting Romeo's attention.

"Romeo. Romeo Conbolt." Romeo answer. "What happened? Am I dead?" He ask.

"Woah, the first thing that comes to your mind is that? You're dark, kid." The man laugh. "But to answer your question, yes and no. You're in a state of limbo right now. You bleed out from the goblin's stab in the dungeon. Normally you should be dead, but luckily, your blood ran down to my altar, transporting you to me and here we are." He explains.

Romeo digests what he just heard, letting the info sink in. He then noticed something.

"Wait, altar? Are you some kind of god?" He ask.

"Well that depends on how you define a god. To me, gods are beings that actively take care of their world and I just like to sit back and watch. Hell this isn't even my world." The man relaxed in his chair.

"If you're not a god, then what are you? And what do you mean this isn't your world" Romeo asks.

"Personally, I'd say I'm more of a man with godly power than an actual god." The man answered. "I like to visit many worlds and see how that world progresses. I usually don't interfere with the events of the worlds I visit but I do enjoy leaving some signs to show that I was there, in fact that's where the altar comes from. I go by many names but I guess you can call me Bladewolfe."

"That's your name?" Romeo snickers a little.

"Oh shut up." Bladewolfe frown. "Anyway, what's your story? Why risk your life in such a low level dungeon?" He ask.

This stunt Romeo for a bit. Thinking for a minute, he decided that he should just tell Bladewolfe everything. So he did just that, telling Bladewolfe everything about his life. How everyone he admires disappears on Tenrou, how the world turns more dangerous afterward, how his guild lost its power and fame over the years, and how useless he was, and the humiliation and frustration he felt during those years. He just went on, venting his feelings for who knows how long, crying at the end. Bladewolfe, surprisingly, stayed quiet and listened the whole time.

"Better?" Bladewolfe asks once Romeo is done. Romeo nods. "Good, sometimes a good venting session is all you need." Bladewolfe smiles, then he suddenly frowns. He got up, both the chair and the bed dematerialized, leaving Romeo floating again.

Bladewolfe takes off his jacket, revealing his muscular body, and pushes his arms forward, summoning a magic circle. He stares at it for a minute before he looks at Romeo, the magic circle disappears.

"What just happened?" Romeo asked, confused.

"It would appear that what happened to your world was not meant to happen. Your world wasn't supposed to be filled with so many monsters and you were meant to be quite a talented mage." Bladewolfe answers.

"WHAT!? What caused it to change? Who could've done it?" Romeo yells, shocked and enraged.

"From what I've seen, the cause behind this came from other worlds. Powerful beings that wish to invade your world created those Gates to send monsters over and put it in a state of chaos. Those world's magic clashing with your's led to individuals such as you to suffer from magic rejection, basically your body doesn't accept any form of magic." Bladewolfe explains.

"Are these beings gods or have godly power? How come they didn't just invade directly?" Romeo asks now concern.

Bladewolfe summons a bottle of soda and takes a sip. "To answer the first question, no, they're not gods or have the power of one. They have incredible powers but are nothing compared to a god. Don't get the wrong idea though, they could easily crush your strongest fighter like an ant. As to why they didn't just invade directly, they need time to acclimate to your world. Remember magic rejection? They could suffer from that."

Romeo now looks horrified. "H-how lon-"

"How long do you have?" Bladewolfe finished. "I can't really tell because like I said before, they come from multiple worlds that's likely allied up for this whole thing. This means that each being will need different time to acclimate and I just can't be bothered to look at all of them individually. But to give a generous estimate, I'd say your world has about another year or two."

Romeo is terrified, only one to two years!? From what Bladewolfe said just one of these beings is already powerful and there are many of them. What should he do? Should he tell everyone? Would they even believe him? Even if they do, can they even prepare in time? Suddenly an idea pops in his head.

"Can you sto-"

"Imma stop you right there." Bladewolfe interrupts. "If you're about to ask me if I can stop them. The answer is yes. But I won't"

"WHAT!? WHY?" Romeo screams

"Did you not remember my introduction, this is not my world and I usually don't interfere with the events of the worlds I visit. You're just lucky to find my altar and get brought here." Bladewolfe explains, looking annoyed.

Romeo wants to argue but quickly realizes how pointless it is. He's devastated, if he weren't floating he'd be collapsing on the floor right now. "Is this it?" He thought to himself "Is this the end for everyone?"

Suddenly, Bladewolfe smirk.

"Well lucky for you, your luck hasn't run out yet." He declares cheerfully, getting Romeo's attention. "I won't save your world, but I can give you a power that can help you save it. No monkey's paws bullshit, no sacrifice or trade off needed, no string attached. Yours to keep for the rest of your life"

"R-really?" Romeo ask flabbergasted

"Sure. Consider it my gift to you for having a conversation with me. It's been a while since I have one of those and it was fun. A helping tip though, don't let anyone know you have this power. The other worlds have ways of gathering intel and if they catch wind that your world has something like this, they will push their invasions early. Also I have to give you a set back to bring you back to life so sorry about that, but I'll also give you some blessings that will help you out in the long run. So what do you say?" Bladewolfe smiles, summoning a magic circle beneath them for some kind of ritual.

Romeo was lost for words. All that happened was so much he completely forgot he was dead. He's aware that the offer is too good to be true but at the same time Bladewolfe promised that there wouldn't be any loss for him and he doesn't seem to be the liar type of guy. Thinking about it, Romeo decides to trust Bladewolfe, since there's literally no other option for him but to trust Bladewolfe.

"I'll take it." Romeo answers.

"Wonderful." Bladewolfe cheers. "Now hold still and stay in the circle so we can begin the process."

Bladewolfe then takes off his blindfold, revealing a pair of beautiful glowing blue eyes underneath. He then puts his hands together, interlocking his fingers, and begins to chant

"Phase. Twilight. Eyes of Wisdom. Phase. Paramita. Pillars of Light. Nine Ropes. Polarized Light. Crow and Shomyo. The Gap Between Within and Without."

Once the chant is over, the whole area is covered in a blinding white light.

Author's note

I hope you enjoy the chapter. It's a long one I know. Yes, I did add author insert in the story as a god level being, sue me. The character himself though is basically just Gojo Satoru from Jujutsu Kaisen, even down to his chants. In case you can't tell, I really love that series.

Anyway onward to the next chapter.