Leveling Endlessly With My Harem

After dealing with the Dungeon Rat, Max wanted to take out its Mana Shard that the monsters usually dropped. But its fur was just too thick that he couldn't even penetrate it with his dull blade.

'Tsk! I'm too weak!'

Clicking his tongue, he jumped off it and landed behind it where Charlotte and Stelle were. By then, Stelle's injuries were also healed as they were minor ones.

Pointing at the big rat, he said, "You can take the Mana Shard from it since you did the most work."

"I didn't think you would be this generous," Stelle grinned. "I'll forgive you for that insult you said earlier."

"But I never insulted you," Max blinked in confusion.

Stelle's lips twitched, but she decided to ignore this hateful guy. Standing up, she picked up her hammer and went to do her work.

Charlotte scratched her cheeks, giving a silly smile, "Thanks for the help."

"Ah! No need to say thanks," Max waved his hand. "Just fulfill your promise."

"I will, don't worry," Charlotte smiled, making Max smile too.

"Woah! This one seems very powerful."

Just then, Stelle walked towards them with a finger-sized rectangular piece of glass in her hand. It was the Mana Shard of the Dungeon Rat they had just killed.

Looking at Max, Stelle asked, "Since you helped in defeating it, I'll share it with you—well, that's not possible though—so I'll share some of the Mana Shards I had acquired previously. Is that fine with you?"

"I'm a man of my words and I said I'll help in exchange for her healing powers," Max said. "So, it's fine. You can take it for free."

"Woah! Never expected kindness from a foul mouth like you," Stelle exclaimed. "Still, you have my thanks for this."

"But I have a favor to ask," Max added. "I have a few Mana Shards to absorb but never had the chance to do so. Will you guard me till then?"

Charlotte thought about it for a second and nodded, "That seems fine to me considering we are getting a Level 9 First-Grade Mana Shard."

"Thanks," Max said, as he pointed towards the wide cave before them. "Let's go before they completely lose their Mana."

The two nodded and they left the place. They could have harvested the Dungeon Rat's material, but they didn't have anything for Storage.

After a while, they passed through the cave system and stopped before a small gap in the wall. Walking inside of it, they found a small room inhabited by a Level 1 Goblin.

They swiftly killed it and left Max alone in it so that he could absorb the Mana Shards. As he sat in a lotus position, trying to calm his mind, he thought about the power system he had set for this world.

It was basically a mixture of LitRPG and Cultivation, since he was a fan of both. There were many ranks similar to the realms of cultivation which had different functions for each rank.

For example, Bronze Rank was setting the foundation for further ranks and involved conditioning the body for it. But unlike Cultivation where people had to absorb energy from the atmosphere to cultivate their powers, people of this world relied on the Labyrinths and Dungeons.

Every monster from the Labyrinth and Dungeons dropped Mana Shards which were basically an accumulation of their being. It not only included their Mana, but their very essence which meant there was a chance of getting their abilities and even Artefacts from them.

Nobody except Max knew how they worked though.

That was the reason people like Stelle were here in the labyrinth, hunting for monsters and gathering Mana Shards. It was so that they could assimilate with the Mana Shard and gain new power.

After all, even if they didn't get any skills or Artefacts, they would certainly get refined Mana from it. It was basically like EXP which helped them level up and rise up in ranks.

There was a catch with all of this though.

Max smiled and took out the seven Mana Shards he had gathered from the Monsters he had slain. They were much smaller than the one Stelle had, with barely the size of small marbles.

[Oh? Now I understand. You didn't level up not just because you didn't want to shock the two girls, but also because you wouldn't be able to use these Mana Shards otherwise. Good thinking!]

'Yup!' Max smiled.

Since he couldn't get EXP from those lower levels than him, it meant he wouldn't get anything from Mana Shards too if he leveled up.

Taking a deep breath, Max crushed one of the Mana Shards and felt his consciousness sinking in a gray fog. Before long, he was standing in a vast plain of grassland with a soft wind caressing his face and warm sun filling the surroundings with warmth.

The tranquility didn't last long as a Dungeon Rat similar to the one he had killed till now materialized before him. Its red eyes, filled with intense fury, locked on Max and it launched itself towards him.

But it had already been some time, so it's strength and will were nothing significant. With a swift wave of his hand, Max conjured his dull blade and thrusted it into the Dungeon Rat's chin.

There was no blood. The Dungeon Rat simply disintegrated in sparks of light and merged with the endless grass fields.

This was one of the things Max had prepared for his novel. One could use Mana Shards to advance quickly in ranks, but it wouldn't be that easy as they would have to fight the Remnants of those who were killed.

This was done so that no one could cheat his way to the top. Well, it was a failed plan as many still did cheat, but the world was never fair to begin with.

The most Max could do was nerf their progress. The hunters would only be able to absorb Mana Shards of those they could defeat in a battle, just like what Max had done now.

If they tried to absorb Mana Shards of higher ranks and failed to defeat the Remnants, they would suffer soul damage in the best-case scenario and die in the worst-case one.

Of course, their soul could also be destroyed and taken over by the Remnants, but those were rare cases.