"One more thing". The librarian told him. "You are not allowed to take the books back with you, you must read while staying in the library. As the tomes are quite precious, it is a necessary measure to ensure their safety. After all, making a copy takes a lot of time."

　　After spending hours copying the Damkinan`s tome about runes, yes, I understand what you mean. Without a printer, it takes a lot of time to duplicate a book. Knowledge is more protected and less shared in this world than on Earth.

　　Edward wandered in the library in search of tomes about the different levels one could achieve in this world. While walking, he noticed that at regular intervals tables with chairs and a magical light were set up for the readers. After spending some time searching in the different alleys, he found the book he was looking for.

　　The tome was describing not only the different levels but also their capacities and the requirements to get to the next level. The levels were described from the quiescent one to the nightmare one in the following order. Quiescent, Awaken, Predator, Patriarch, and Nightmare. Edward was currently only at the awaken level.

　　It seems I still have a long way in front of me. I was starting to feel confident in my abilities, but from what is stated here, I`m still a novice.

　　As Caspian had told him, it got harder and harder to progress to the next level. The transition from quiescent to awaken was still easy enough, but from that level onward the monsters` blood requirements increased drastically at each level. Edward could feel that he was getting closer to the next level, but the number of monsters he had killed was already incomparable with what he had needed to get to the awaken level.

　　The first levels are detailed with a lot of information, but the further you go in the levels the less information there is. For the nightmare level, the author is even admitting that it is only speculation on his part as no one knows humans who have reached this level. His reasoning was as follows, even Patriarch levels individuals still fear some monsters, which means there are monsters more powerful than them. And thus, by killing those monsters one should be able to reach a level beyond the Patriarch one. That`s why he decided to name it the Nightmare level. To slay monsters that can be only considered as nightmares by the common populace, it is only rightful that such people should be called as nightmares themselves.`

　　If this is true, humanity is in a precarious state in this world. Doesn`t it mean that such monsters could destroy whole towns with nobody to stop them? That`s scary to think about.

　　According to this book, one can acquire one additional power with each level. On top of that, existing powers are getting strengthened, and of course, one physical aptitude is enhanced as well. I experienced some of it already, with my teleportation range increasing.

　　The predator level information is still having details but the patriarch level is empty. As the pinnacles of humanity in this world, I guess they want to keep their secrets. And nobody can force them to reveal them since one would need to be at their level to fight them.

　　Let`s see the predator level. On top of all the previous enhancements, it is also mentioned that one`s aura is gaining physical properties at this level. I wasn`t expecting that. Such changes depend from person to person, but one can be able to move objects with aura alone. Others had their aura gained elemental properties like fire, water, or ice. It`s quite the gap compared to the awaken level. I should keep in mind not to provoke someone with a higher level than myself.

　　While he was at it, Edward searched for information on the Artificium family, the family that Greta had been a part of. He was able to find a description of it in a book presenting the story of Gob閘iard. This family wasn`t one of the top three governing Gob閘iard like the Vega, Regalis, and Potentia families. However, it was still an influential family and specialized in trading and craftsmanship. Their craftsmanship couldn`t be compared to the one from the top families since they didn`t have access to runes, but it was still of sufficient quality and number not to be underestimated.

　　I see that must be why the other families reacted that way when they managed to hire a runemaster. With a runemaster, they would have been able to improve the quality of their products and compete or even surpass the other families` market.

　　Flipping through the book he was also able to learn more about the powerful families from Gob閘iard. It seemed that the three families managing Gob閘iard were each having a headmaster at the predator level, no one else had reached that level in the city. With the disparity level, they have absolute control over this city. The only thing preventing them from taking direct control is the frictions between themselves. To avoid further frictions they had even elected a council as a neutral party to manage the day-to-day affairs of the city.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it`s taken without the author`s consent. Report it.

　　Edward continued to search to see if he could get more recent information about what had happened to the Artificium family but he didn`t find anything. It was as if this family prospered until it became too big and suddenly vanished without a trace. They don`t do half-hearted measures when they want to make someone disappears. It`s useless to continue searching here. I won`t find this kind of information in books, it is still relatively recent history. I will ask the librarian just in case.

　　Edward went to the man and told him he saw some information about the Artificium family and that he wished to meet them. However, since he didn`t know where they resided in the city, he asked if the librarian had heard about them. Then man became visibly paler, and a closed expression appeared on his face. He told Edward that this family encountered several failures in their business and that they had been forced to sell their estate and leave the city.

　　From his attitude alone, Edward would have been able to guess that something was going on. Since he already knew the story from Greta, that only confirmed that the top families had intervened and that this subject was taboo in the city. Edward thanked the librarian before leaving.

　　If everybody reacts this way, it will be difficult to find survivors. The best for them would have been to do like Greta and to leave this city. I doubt I can do anything for them anymore. I should get justice for Greta, and at the same time this is something that already happened years ago and it won`t be easy to oppose the top families. They are at the top for a reason. I should focus on getting stronger instead.

　　I`m still hesitating if I should confront them about what happened to the Artificium family. But if they are behaving like tyrants all the time, I will clash with them at one point or the other anyway.

　　The same day, in the evening, Edward went back to the adventure guild to tell Charles, Aquamarine, Norte, and Brian, the date at which the arena had been booked. In the following days, Edward spent his time between meditation, training both his aura and his mana, visiting the city, and searching in the library for more information about this world in general and on local monsters in particular. In this way, the three days separating him from the arena reservation passed quickly.

　　On the agreed day, Edward went to the arena. Since he had reserved it, with him being on the planning, the guards let him in. Being alone for the moment, Edward took his time strolling the arena`s expanse. The sight was certainly different from the inside of the arena than on the spectators` benches. The walls keeping the fighter inside and protecting the viewers were easily three meters tall. It made Edward feels small and insignificant, he was but a small point in the vastness of the building. And the whole arena is empty right now, it must be something with thousands of people roaring their support. He smiled. I may experience it one day.

　　He went outside to wait for the group of adventurers, he had told them about the reserved day and they should arrive soon. Sure enough, the whole group arrived together after some time. Brian still looked vexed by the fact that Edward hadn`t invited him at first. The others looked excited to have the opportunity to spar directly inside the arena without having to pay for it.

　　Edward decided to first spar with Charles since he was having the same power as the Lusus naturae. He already knew how his power worked and he wanted to experience ways to counter it without having to over-rely on his teleportation. Only Charles and Edward stayed in the sand pitch of the arena while the others climbed the stairs to watch the fight from the spectators` benches.

　　Edward and Charles faced one another, turning around each other and not attacking immediately. Suddenly Charles was on him. Edward didn`t manage to react in time and his armor took the hit, leaving a faint mark. However, he was able to strike back before Charles could separate himself and create a distance, it was his turn to leave a mark on Charles` armor. Since it was only a spar, both of them used their weapon without imbuing them with their aura. Otherwise, none of their armors would be able to take hits and they would have been injured from the get-go.

　　The fight continued this way, Edward not able to react in time to Charles`s sudden accelerations. Nonetheless, he confirmed what he had already noticed from the Lusus naturae. Although Charles could accelerate, he wasn`t able to control himself while in this state. He was using accelerations either to close the distance or to do a lightning strike, but he never used his acceleration to chain attacks.

　　It is too hard to avoid his attacks without using my powers. Against such opponents, I will have to rely on my armor for the first hit. I`m glad I`m able to have a rune armor thanks to Leyla.

　　Now it`s time for the second part of the fight. I let him have the advantage for long enough, let me show him what I can do.

　　Edward muttered his spell to enhance his senses. "R鑞g khw
mrw".

　　Immediately, he felt as if everything was moving in slow motion around him, even if that included him since he couldn`t move at the same speed as his accelerated perception. Thanks to this spell, this time, he was able to see Charles charging at him even though he was using his acceleration power. Edward wasn`t fast enough to move his body to counter him, instead, he simply teleported behind him. Charles found himself dumbfounded, with his opponent having his blade against his back instead of being hit by him.

　　However, Edward`s spell used his mana rather quickly and he couldn`t maintain it for too long. As a training, he tried to activate it at the right timing, just while Charles was charging at him or a second before. He didn`t have the timing right each time, but he was getting there. He didn`t have to be fast enough to react to Charles`s insane speed, he just had to find the right timing to enhance his perception when Charles was about to accelerate. It was the same way as a martial artist couldn`t be fast enough to avoid a bullet, but he could be swift enough to avoid the place where the shooter was aiming his firearm.