Progress From 2nd Line

Hello all.
I am from the UK, 26 years old and have a degree in computer networks.
I worked 1st line for two years at a small company and then went contracting. Did 2nd line/desktop and then my last contract roll was Windows 7 rollout. Started a new perm job recently as an IT support analyst but didnt realise it was only 1st line so am leaving there soon.

I have a fear, that 2nd line will be outsourced eventually and i want to learn something new which i will enjoy, which will also have better job security.

I did networking at uni but didnt really find it that interesting. It was probably the course tbh, i liked configuring things but the course had some boring modules like programming.

For my project i did something on intrusion detection and really enjoyed breaking into a system and seeing how easy it was and how much damage you could do with just one exploit. That leads me to think i would like to be a pen tester in the future but i am not 100% sure.
I have a feeling it would be a lot of report writing.

Anyway just looking for career progression from 1st/2nd line to something else and want advice on what i should consider, especially with certs. That is why i went permanent again to hope a company would pay for my certs.

Salary wise on the contracts was on around £35-£40k a year. I would love to be on that as a permanent role by 30. Might be impossible but just wondering.

I have just bookmarked techexams and cybrary and will look at them later. They have practice exams which i can do to see if the questions are enjoyable to answer.
Sorry about the long message. Thanks for your time.