“It’s okay, Su. We understand you weren’t criticizing us. Don’t worry.”

  “Uuuuuuuuh.”

  Susan made a strange sound as Adam rubbed the girl’s head. He had become much more affectionate with the young woman ever since he rescued her. He had briefly considered backing off, but the last time he tried to put some distance between them, Susan had given him these teary eyes that caused his willpower to crumble.

  I feel a little uncomfortable with this, but… well, I suppose it’s fine. No one seems to be bothered by it.

  Well, Aris had teased him about having a little sister fetish. He wasn’t sure he could deny it. Susan did feel like a younger sibling in many ways—at least, he thought she did. He imagined this was how a younger sister would act, but he would confess his idea of sibling relationships stemmed from pop media, and that probably wasn’t the best indicator of how true siblings acted.

  He eventually stopped rubbing the girl’s head, which caused Susan to look into his face. He wasn’t wearing his mask anymore. There was no point since everyone already knew what he looked like, and this was an instance dungeon, so it wasn’t like anyone else would be coming here.

  He looked away.

  “How much time has passed?” he asked Fayte.

  “Let’s see…” Fayte ran some quick math in her head. “It’s been about twelve hours since we entered the dungeon, which means it’s been about one hour in our world.”

  Adam nodded. “Then I think we can continue exploring for another two hours. Let’s find the entrance to the next level. Then we can take a break before continuing.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Fayte agreed.

  As they were prepared to move out, Kureha tugged on Adam’s pant leg. He looked down to find the young fox yokai staring at him with big eyes.

  “Big brother, will you carry me on your back?”

  “Sure.”

  “Yay!”

  Adam knelt down and let the girl climb onto his back, then hitched his hands underneath her thighs and stood up. Kureha was light. He barely felt her weight on his back as they began traveling.

  Sadly, he did have to set her down as they ran into more slimes. She pouted, but there was nothing he could do.

  Fourteen [Ravenous Slimes] and several hours later, they finally located the entrance to the next level.

  “Finally… we can take a break. I’m starving!” Aris exclaimed as she dropped to the ground. She looked imploringly at Adam. “Feed me?”

  “Hang on. I need to setup the tent. Fayte?”

  “I’ll get out the food,” Fayte said with a soft chuckle.

  One of the more interesting facets of the Time Compression System was that players were now required to eat in-game. It was odd. Their game avatars experienced hunger just like their real bodies, but when they logged out, the hunger would vanish. Adam wasn’t sure of the mechanics behind this. He wondered if there was a program in the game that caused their avatars to function more realistically.

  I suspect they do. Our bodies even need to use the restroom now.

  That was one of the downsides to this game. Adam had discovered within the first day of playing that his body now functioned exactly like his real body, right down to how he needed to use the restroom after digesting his food.

  They soon set up camp. Adam opened a tent, Fayte brought out the food, and Susan started a fire. As they sat around the fire and ate, Adam decided it was high time to check his stats, something he hadn’t done in a long time.

  * * *

  Name: Adam

  Lvl: 25

  SP: 0

  AP: 16,018,700

  Experience: 1,126,224,400/5,097,164,800

  Fame: 5,752,000

  Strength: +2,730

  Constitution: +300

  Dexterity: +103

  Intelligence: +155

  Speed: +200

  Physical Attack: +13,860

  Health: 10,100/10,700

  Hit-rate: 1,000%

  MP: 1,190/1,190

  Movement: +1,606

  Comprehension: +2

  Defense: +6,260

  Magic Defense: +3,000

  Dodge Rate: ???

  Magic Attack: +610

  * * *

  Resistances:

  Fire: 50%

  Water: 50%

  Earth: 50%

  Wind: 50%

  Darkness: 50%

  Slashing: 50%

  * * *

  Skill name: Slash

  Description: A basic skill where the player swings his or her sword and attacks the enemy!

  Current lvl: 5

  AP needed to reach lvl 6: 50,000

  Ability: Causes 150% damage to enemy if it hits MP consumption: 1

  Cooldown time: 0 seconds

  * * *

  Skill name: Thrust

  Description: A basic skill where the player thrusts his or her sword at the enemy! Current lvl: 5

  AP needed to reach lvl 6: 50,000

  Ability: Causes 160% damage with a 5% chance at getting a critical hit

  MP Consumption: 5

  Cooldown time: 1 second

  * * *

  Skill name: Blood Sacrifice

  Description: By sacrificing 50% of your blood (HP), you have gained the ability to increase the damage you do

  Current lvl: 5

  MAXED

  Ability: causes x3 attack power for 60 seconds. Disregards skill cooldown times, allowing the user to attack with every skill

  MP consumption: 20

  Special limit: Drops HP by half.

  Cooldown time: 30 seconds

  * * *

  Skill name: Dance of Sakura Blossoms

  Description: A skill only Adam can use. Attacks with numerous spear thrusts that eventually form the shape of a sakura blossom.

  Current lvl: 10

  MAXED

  Ability: Release a constant stream of attacks, does x3 damage increase for every hit, and resets when Adam misses an attack.

  Hit-Rate: 100%

  MP Consumption: 100 MP per use.

  Cooldown time: 30 seconds

  * * *

  Skill name: Energy Sweep

  Description: The wielder of Spear God Seven Dances infuses his energy into a sweeping attack that releases a powerful attack that extends past his natural range.

  Current level: 10

  MAXED

  Ability: Attacks every enemy within five yards of the user. Does 300% damage.

  MP Consumption: 50

  Cooldown Time: 5 Seconds

  * * *

  Skill Name: Energy Thrust

  Description: The wielder of the Spear God, Seven Dances infuses his energy into a thrust that can ignore all defenses and armor.

  Current level: 8

  AP needed to reach level 9: 512,000

  Ability: Ignores enemies’ defense and armor to deal critical damage

  420% damage dealt

  MP Consumption: 25

  Cooldown Time: 5 Seconds

  * * *

  Skill name: Double Jump

  Description: Allows wearer to jump on air as if they were jumping on the ground. Current lvl: 1

  MAXED

  Ability: Jump in the air after activation.

  MP Consumption: 25

  Cooldown time: 10 seconds

  * * *

  Skill name: Flight

  Description: Gives wearer the ability to fly.

  Current lvl: 1

  MAXED

  Ability: Fly through the air for 60 seconds.

  MP Consumption: 50

  Cooldown time:

  * * *

  Equipment:

  Item name: Goddess of Creation Spear

  Level: 21

  Experience points needed to level up: 4,235,100,034/5,242,880,000

  Item type: Spear

  Grade: Divine Use requirements: Can only be equipped by Adam. Cannot be thrown away, cannot be given away, and cannot be unequipped.

  Description: This unknown weapon was found by Adam. It has recognized him as its master and cannot be used by anyone else.

  Abilities: Physical Attack+210; Strength=210%

  Special ability: Sentient Growth

  * * *

  Item name: Goddess of Creation Greaves Item type: Armor

  Grade: Divine Use requirements: Can only be equipped by the wielder of the Goddess of Creation’s Spear.

  Description: These greaves are made from an unknown material. They were created by the Goddess of Creation and worn by the wielder of her spear.

  Abilities: Defense+200%; Magic Defense+200%; Constitution+150%; Speed+200%; Movement+100

  Special abilities:

  Stacked Speed; Flight; Double Jump

  * * *

  Item name: Dragon Bone Cuirass

  Item type: Armor

  Grade: Elite

  Use requirements: Can be equipped by Warriors level 10 and above.

  Description: This chest plate was made from the bones of a powerful dragon. Not only does it look stylish, but it offers solid defensive abilities and some special stats. Abilities: Defense+200; Constitution+100; 40% resistance to slashing damage; 25% resistance to fire, earth, wind, and darkness damage.

  * * *

  Item name: Dragon Bone Gauntlets

  Item type: Armor

  Grade: Elite

  Use requirements: Can be equipped by Warriors level 10 and above. Description: These gauntlets are made from the bones of a powerful dragon. Not only are they stylish, but they offer solid defensive abilities and resistance to elemental damage.

  Abilities: Defense+50; Constitution+10; 5% resistance to slashing damage; 10% resistance to fire, earth, wind, and darkness damage.

  * * *

  Item name: Enchanted Leggings

  Item type: Armor

  Grade: Medium

  Use requirements: can be equipped by adventures of any class level 5 and above Description: Leggings that were enchanted by an unknown mage

  Abilities: Defense+10; speed+5

  * * *

  Item name: Brass Ring

  Item Type: Ring

  Grade: Low

  Equipment Requirements: No requirements

  Description: A simple ring made of brass. There is nothing special about it.

  Attributes: Speed+1

  * * *

  He didn’t have any new skills and his armor was the same, but the amount of damage he did was nearly double what it had been.

  And the reason was his spear.

  The [Goddess of Creation Spear] had evolved after reaching level 20. The blade was much longer and had wing-like extensions sprouting from the end of the blade. While the handle was gold, the bladed end was a reddish copper color.

  More important than its new aesthetic was the spear’s increased power. The increased Strength stat had turned into a percentage that increased his Strength by 210% or 2.1.

  Adam wondered what would happen when his spear reached level 30. Would his Physical Attack stat also turn into a percentage? He had no idea, but he hoped it would. His power would truly reach a whole different level if that happened.

  After they finished eating and resting, the group traveled through the tunnel that would lead them to the next level.

  [Mecha Golem]

  They were unable to reach the entrance to the next level in the two hours they had left.

  The level they were on was swarming with [Elementals]. While they were not as powerful as the other monsters located inside this dungeon, there were so many of them that it was difficult for their group to proceed.

  None of them had leveled up despite how much combat they had seen since coming to this level. [Elementals] only gave them +1,500,000 experience points, which sounded like a lot, but Adam and the others needed several billion experience points to level up.

  As their name suggested, [Elementals] were monsters made of pure elemental energy. There were many different types of [Elemental]. Fire. Water. Earth. Lightning. Light. Darkness. Ice. Etc. According to Titania, there was an [Elemental] for each element. [Elementals] could be found where an abundance of a specific elemental energy existed.

  This dungeon contained two types of [Elementals].

  Earth and darkness.

  Between the two, the [Earth Elemental] was easier to deal with. Its only power was the ability to shoot stakes from the ground and create quicksand beneath their feet. Adam drew all of its agro and made liberal use of [Double Jump] and [Fly] to avoid the quicksand, while Kureha and Fayte used magic to demolish it.

  [Earth Elementals] were weak against water and fire. The water turned the [Elemental’s] body into a mud-like sludge that made it hard to hold itself together. Fire baked the elemental until it was hard. They had experimented with the other elements too, but those two worked the best. Their group made quick work of these monsters.

  The [Darkness Elemental] was much harder to fight.

  While [Earth Elementals] took the shape of a large mole rat, [Darkness Elementals] looked more like wraiths or shadows. They were just a mass of pure darkness aggregated around a nucleus. That nucleus was its core, which all [Elementals] possessed, but the core was protected by the gathered mass of elemental energy. The best way to pierce it was to use the light element, which diametrically opposed darkness on the elemental scale.

  Sadly, none of them could use the light element.

  “It’s firing!” Adam shouted.

  Aris, Lilith, and Adam darted away from each other as the [Darkness Elemental] fired a beam of condensed dark energy. This was one of its primary methods of attack. The beam didn’t do any damage to their surroundings. Someone who didn’t know any better might think that meant it was a weak attack, but their group knew the truth. Adam had already been struck once and it reduced his health by half.

  “Aris!”

  “Leave this to me!”

  As the speediest among them, Aris was the best at dodging, especially since she had improved her ability to change directions without reducing her speed by much.

  After reaching level 20, Aris picked up a new ability called [Dancer’s Grace]. It was a passive skill that allowed her to utilize her class’s incredible speed better. Now she could move all over the place and only receive a 20% reduction in her speed. Adam suspected she could reduce that to 0% if she maxed out this ability’s level.

  [Double Slash]

  -1

  [Blade Dance]

  -1; -1; -1; -1!

  “Ugh… this stupid thing!” Aris complained.

  [Elementals] of any kind were highly resistant to physical attacks. The only way to beat them was to have a mage in your party… or, you know, attack 23,600 times since that was how much health they had.

  Fortunately, attacking them was enough to pull its agro.

  The [Darkness Elemental] turned to Aris and fired off several projectiles from its body. This was called [Darkness Needle]. It was a wide attack that acted similarly to shots fired from a shotgun.

  Aris used her insane speed and reflexes to dodge all the needles. She twirled around, spinning, ducking, and weaving through a hailstorm of black needles as naturally as she breathed.

  Adam couldn’t help but admire her grace and agility. Not even he could pull off something like that.

  While Aris drew its agro to her, Fayte and Kureha gathered the fire elemental around their staff and tale respectively. Streams of flames swirled around Fayte’s staff. It was so hot Adam could feel it singing his back.

  “Aris! Move!” Fayte called out.

  “Outta the way, Big Sis!” shouted Kureha.

  Aris ran to the side just as the two fired off their respective attacks.

  [Fireball]

  -24,928!

  [Fireball]

  -14,175!

  Fayte and Kureha unleashed the same attack. Two massive fireballs slammed into the [Darkness Elemental] and erupted. A massive wave of heat washed over us. Adam had to close his eyes and look away to avoid having them burned. The ground beneath them quaked and several chunks fell from the ceiling, forcing Aris, Lilith, and Adam to dodge.

  The fire and smoke soon cleared, revealing a large crater in the ground and cracks traveling up the walls. The monster they had been fighting was nowhere in sight.

  Because a [Darkness Elemental] only had one elemental weakness, the damage done by every other element was reduced by half. This normally meant Fayte and Kureha would not be able to kill this thing in one hit like they just did, but they had a secret weapon on their side.

  Titania.

  Titania had been singing [Song of Vigor] in the background to increase their attack power, tripling their already impressive magical attack state, which allowed the pair of magic users to demolish the [Darkness Elemental’s] health in a single hit.

  [Congratulations! You have defeated [Darkness Elemental]! Items dropped: [Darkness Fragment] and 2,000,000 gold coins. Inventory is full. Items have been sent to guild storage. +1,500,000 experience points!]

  Adam only half paid attention to the sign as he turned to Fayte.

  “How long has it been since we came to this level?” he asked.

  “About two hours,” Fayte answered.

  “All right. I think we should log off. Dr. Sofocor is coming over today with a team of scientists, and I’d rather not be there when they do.”

  Call Adam paranoid, but he didn’t want anyone to discover that he and Aris lived with Fayte. There was no telling who was working for the Pleonexia Family. It didn’t matter if Dr. Sofocor vouched for these people or not. If even one of them was working for or being blackmailed by the Pleonexia Family, it would spell trouble for him and Aris.

  He wasn’t willing to take that chance.