《Fifth Dimension》


 Chapter 1: Reborn

    A man stands alone on a bridge, a towering construction of wood and stone. He holds a claymore in his hands, the blade dripping with blood. Around him lie what were once other humans, many of the bodies destroyed beyond recognition. The man leans on his sword, his own blood dripping from a myriad of wounds, shivering from blood loss and exhaustion. His blonde hair is slick, from blood and sweat, but his blue eyes hold a grim determination.


    As the clattering sound of horse hooves start to sound in the distance, he takes a deep breath, raising his sword before him, the shivering fading as he focuses on what is to come. The horses stop just before the bridge, a tall man leading them on a pitch black stallion. The man on the stallion looks coldly over the bodies on the bridge, as if he has no care about the lives of his men. The soldiers behind him, however, look aghast at the fact that one man has slaughtered so many of their fellow warriors.


    ¡°Damien, I respect you, but you will not get in our way. Step away, and let us catch her.¡±


    The blonde man, swaying a little on the bridge, finally raises his eyes to the black haired man, and lets out a snort, clearly not putting the words in his eyes. ¡°You know I can¡¯t do that Zander, I will never betray my lady, not ¡®til death.¡±


    ¡°Then I have nothing left to say. Kill him.¡±


    The soldiers look a bit apprehensive about the idea, but once one of them begins charging on his horse, the rest follow. Damien simply stands there as they approach, then raises his sword to an overhead position, far faster than one will imagine considering the size of the blade. As the first horse approaches, he steps forward, just barely avoiding the speartip poised to pierce him, and cleaves the soldier upon the horse entirely in two.


    He continues moving forward to meet the thundering charge of the horses, and slashes his blade through the front legs of one of the large warhorses, sending it to the ground with a snap as its head impacts the ground. He moves through them as if he¡¯s dancing, his sword cleaving through soldier and warhorse with ease, until one of the soldiers manages to get a glancing blow on his shoulder.


    The blow, supported by the force of the warhorse sends him into a spin, which he barely manages to control, using the force generated to cut off a leg of the soldier who had wounded him. The soldiers, seeing he could indeed bleed, seem to go into a frenzy, each of them trying to claim the last blow, dreaming of the fame and glory from having been the one to kill the swordsman Damien.


    Damien starts to falter, making larger and larger movements to avoid the blows, and begins to miss his blows here and there. Even so, the number of soldiers is falling, and eventually, the last falls. Damien nearly collapses, managing to catch himself with his sword, shivering from the blood loss and sheer exhaustion of having swung his blade for so long. Crows circle above, knowing that a feast shall soon begin. Throughout the fight, Zander continued with his uncaring expression, having no feelings for the soldiers he had sent to their deaths.


    ¡°It seems your reputation is underrated. I¡¯d expected you to fall quickly, but it seems I¡¯ll have to finish the job myself.¡±


    Zander pulls his lance from its resting place beside the saddle, and spurs his horse forward to finish Damien, seemingly respecting him enough to let him die in a fight rather than finish bleeding out from his myriad wounds.


    Damien knows that at this point, with such a skilled fighter attacking him, he won¡¯t be able to avoid his charge, and takes a deep breath, his pale face from all the blood lost only highlighting his determined expression.


    He¡¯ll have one chance, and he decides to take it. As Zander approaches, he holds his sword in a position to thrust, and Zander sneers. His lance is far longer than the sword, and he expects a quick ending to this fight.


    As his lance speeds towards Damien, Damien rushes forward himself, and stabs forward, entirely ignoring the lance. As the lance thrusts through his chest, he stabs forward, ignoring the pain, lunging forward even as the lance is driven deeper through his wound.


    Zander¡¯s face finally shows a change in expression, his eyes widening in surprise and growing horror. He attempts to twist his body to the side, but still has the sword sever almost half his neck, blood spurting from the wound as his expression still shows his horror at his death, never having expected a noble like himself to die in such a fashion.


    As Zander collapses, so does Damien. At this point he can¡¯t even speak, but he still tries to put his last thoughts into words. ¡®For my lady.¡¯


    Just as his thoughts had faded out, they fade in, in a similar manner to how one wakes from sleep, feeling as if an inestimable amount of time had passed. His mind is reeling in confusion, and he puts his hands to his head, a severe pain spiking through it.


    He looks around, utterly confused by his surroundings. The bed he¡¯s laying on is tilted up, raising his upper body, and is softer than anything he had ever lain on before. The sheets covering him are softer than anything he¡¯s felt as well, and at a slight pain in his elbow, he looks to see a needle connected to some kind of clear tube stabbed into his arm. His view follows the tube up to a clear bag hanging from a metal contraption, and a beeping sound slowly repeats in the background.


    As another spike of pain runs through his head, something else comes along with it, memories of a life not his own. A world entirely alien to him becomes slightly more clear. The needle and tube are a nutrient drip, the bedsheets are simply cotton, and the beeping is from a heart rate monitor. He¡¯s now confused. His name is Damien Hyr, but it¡¯s now also Sen Li, his blonde hair and blue eyes are now both a matching shade of black, and his body has gone from a mature twenty four to the young age of seven.


    He spends at least an hour focusing, sorting out his new memories. He has a loving family, something he had never experienced in his previous life, and the world he currently lives in is nothing like the one he had lived in before. Sure, humans are still the same, but there are now wondrous things such as cars and planes, and horrible things such as guns and nuclear weapons. Humanity even reached the stars, though the memories he now has have only basic knowledge of many things.


    The world he is currently on is named Alpha, and he¡¯s currently on one of the two continents, this one named Centrum, the other named Iowes. He has no clue if this is the same world he came from, as in his previous life he didn¡¯t even know that there were such things as continents, and as the language is different, the name of the world being different will be no surprise.


    He continues sorting out his memories until a slightly round, short woman, and a tall, severe man burst into the room, the woman lunging towards the bed and hugging him tightly, as the man stands in the back, the joy he¡¯s feeling barely showing through his well controlled expression.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    Damien, no, He¡¯s decided that now he will be Sen, soon recognizes the two to be his parents, at least in this world or time. The woman is sobbing out of happiness and relief, and the man turns away to hide his expression.


    ¡°Hi mom,¡± Sen says, feeling quite awkward at how to treat a family, seeing as how he¡¯d never had a proper on in his previous life. He raises his hands to hug his mother, Jiu, back, but hesitates, unsure if that¡¯s the right thing to do, before deciding that the part of him that was Sen would have. He feels a faint warmth in his chest, knowing that he now has someone who cares for him. As Damien, the only one who¡¯d ever treated him well, that he hadn¡¯t paid, was his lady.


    He worried for a bit at that thought. He wasn¡¯t sure if his lady had gotten away. He¡¯d done all he could to give her time to get away, but Zander had in no way been the only pursuer. He shoves the worries to the back of his head as he holds his mother.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t know if you were going to wake up, you¡¯ve been asleep for almost a month.¡±


    Sen starts, the last thing he remembered in this world or era was falling down some stairs. He isn¡¯t sure if Sen had died and Damien¡¯s soul had joined Sen, or if he had always been Damien, and he only now remembers his past life.


    Regardless, he is going to do his best at living in this world. His mother eventually calms down, and stands up, wiping her tears. ¡°Let¡¯s get you home as soon as possible, okay honey?¡±


    Sen nods. The next few days he is stuck in the hospital, but his family stays with him, even his sister, Lynna coming to visit with him after school got out every day. He feels terribly touched, as he knows how much his family valued their work, and spending time with him simply showed how much they cared. Eventually, he is wheeled out in a wheelchair after he was given the all clear to go home. Sen is very excited on the drive home. While cars were commonplace to Sen, Damien had never heard of anything like it, especially considering that the car somehow navigated itself home as the family chatted.


    Once he got home, his father, Tien, has to drive up the path to the garage, the automated functions of the car not working in the driveway. He parks in the spacious area with enough room for three cars. His home is massive, as his parents are quite wealthy, and painted a bright white, with massive windows throughout the house. As he is wheeled through the halls lined with family pictures, he looks around to see various photos of his family smiling at him. The hardwood floors make for a smooth ride, and he is thankful for the fact that his room is on the bottom floor, as going up stairs in his current condition will be troublesome.


    The next few weeks are filled with what his parents called physical rehabilitation. The part of him that is Damien welcomes the physical exertion, but the part of him that is Sen simply thinks it is hell. Every day, he is lifting things, squeezing things, and walking more and more steps as his atrophied muscles slowly regain their former, admittedly rather pitiful, state.


    While the physical training goes on, his parents hire some private tutors to teach him. He learns more about the history of this world, math, the common language, and a broad array of sciences.


    The history makes him nothing but confused. Humanity had come from space in a colony ship, the first of its kind using a warp drive, but when the warp drive had malfunctioned, we had been sent far, far off course, and had lost all contact with the homeworld, Earth. For the past millennia and a half, we had spread across the entire world, and while we had found out where earth was, we have been unable to contact them, as we don¡¯t have the ability to reproduce the warp drive, and the one on the ship we had arrived in had completely burned out arriving at the current planet we were living on.


    Learning the history, he supposes that earth had been the planet he had lived on, though he couldn¡¯t be sure. The tutoring goes on, as his parents had decided to keep him learning at home rather than sending him back to school, and he continues to do the physical training even after he had fully recovered.


    He even finds a toy sword his parents had bought him to practice his swordsmanship with. While it is far lighter than he would like, he isn¡¯t able to find anything better. His swordsmanship practice is kept from his parents, along with the fact that he now had the memories of both Damien and Sen.


    The days continue in a similar manner, until he discovers something that will change his life forever, and not in a good way, video games. His first experience is with an RPG that his sister had bugged him to play, and he was instantly hooked. He couldn¡¯t battle with swords in real life, as guns had rendered them entirely obsolete, but as soon as he soon found immersion virtual reality games, he could battle to as much as he desired.


    Immersion reality games will send you into a dream like state, and you will feel your body actually in the game, which makes his swordsmanship that he had polished in his previous life a massive advantage. He quickly becomes one of the best players, even with a few shortcomings in his playstyle, simply because he actually knows how to properly use a sword well.


    While the ones he can currently play are limited to the kiddy versions, censored to the point that they are basically using nerf swords, and only a slight tingle when you get struck, he still starts spending far more time than his parents are happy with playing them. The only reason they allow his bad habit is because the tutors are always happy with him, and he keeps up his homeschooling to the point that he is significantly ahead of his peers in normal schools.


    Throughout it all, he makes sure to keep up his physical training, mainly because having too much of a discrepancy in how much power his physical body has versus his virtual body has will lead to tripping over yourself constantly, not using enough force, or using too much force even when doing something as simple as walking.


    The games themselves are far from photorealistic. If you got close, you can see the textures, there is no heartbeat, and your virtual body simply doesn¡¯t have all the details that his own physical body has. Even breathing feels somewhat off, and everything feels a bit floaty compared to real life.


    Even so, he spends hours every day fighting monsters or other people, and while his swordsmanship is excellent, he finds he isn¡¯t very good at working with things like cooldowns and spells, so he usually sticks to warrior classes, which are often the most simple to play.


    A few years pass, and the swordsmanship he had learned in his past life evolves from simply being able to fight humans, to being able to fight monsters of all shapes and sizes. While he spends a lot of time on the more popular MMORPGs, his favorite he discovers is called ¡°Gladiator¡±, a purely pvp game with no skills, no cooldowns, simply pitting your swordsmanship against other people. He climbs the ladder quickly, and isn¡¯t showing any signs of stopping, but his tyranny is stopped by the announcement of a certain game.


    The game is titled ¡°Fifth Dimension¡±, and the reason it draws his interest is due to the horrific realism of it. While it had a censored version for kids and teenagers, which unfortunately includes him, as he is only fourteen at this point in time, it claims to have a 98% reproduction of reality. Sen is terribly skeptical, until the first videos for it come out. You could literally see the veins in people¡¯s skin, something that no game bothers to reproduce, and you can see the tendons in people¡¯s hands and arms moving as they do, yet another thing every other game neglects.


    At this point, he starts to get skeptical in another fashion. While technology is always advancing, this is far, far past what the current technology could produce. After some research, he finds the company had appeared literally from nowhere. No one has heard of them before, and there are people online who speculate that they are aliens who had contacted the government, or that it is a secret military project developed to read your mind, or other silly conspiracy theories that Sen scoffs at.


    Even so, he wonders how exactly it exists, though that wasn¡¯t going to stop him getting it. After a lot of begging, and showing his parents how good he had been at learning things from his tutors, he finally convinces his parents to buy the capsule that will be required to play.


    A month later, and constant researching online about every crumb of detail that comes out about fifth dimension, the game capsule arrives, and he is surprised to see two of them being wheeled in, but his sister simply grins at him, along with a ¡°You didn¡¯t actually think I¡¯d be missing out on this game, did you?¡±


    Sen grins, he¡¯d played with his sister in quite a few games, and he¡¯d even convinced her to play Gladiator with him. Lynna is quite talented herself, though she doesn¡¯t play as much as Sen, so she isn¡¯t on the leaderboards like he is.


    As the techs wheel the capsules into Lynna and Sen¡¯s rooms, they both watch as they hook up the capsules, and are both surprised as they don¡¯t bother hooking up anything to the internet. Full immersion games require an excellent connection, which practically everyone has, but they also require the servers to be very close, as anything over thirty ping will cause a very noticeable delay in moving your body, which causes massive trouble when trying to move.


    ¡°How does it connect?¡± Sen decides to simply ask the techs.


    ¡°No fu¡­.¡± The man paused for a bit and turns red, noticing Sen¡¯s mother in the background glaring at him. ¡°Ahem. No clue. I just install the things.¡±


    Sen and Lynna both frown. First they have the ridiculous realism, now they have some unknown connection method? Deciding that he will just not care about it, they finish watching the techs installing the capsules, and see them out the door. The second the door shuts, Sen and Lynna share a grin, and each run to their own room. While they won¡¯t be able to play the actual game until midnight, there will be a small training room they are allowed to use to get used to their virtual bodies.


    Sen can¡¯t keep the grin off of his face as the cabin shuts above him, and everything fades to darkness.

 Chapter 2: Character Creation, or the Lack of It

    The darkness slowly fades to light, and sensations come along with it. Sen blinks, everything feels, well, real. He takes a few steps, and notices that it feels almost exactly like his real body.


    Around him is a plain white room, the walls, floor , and ceiling almost seeming to blend together. There¡¯s a floating screen at one end, feeling out of place in this plain area. He walks over to it, and sees that it is where he can customize his room, enter the training room, or enter fifth dimension, though the last option is currently greyed out with a timer counting down to midnight.


    As he raises his hand to start messing with the settings, he notices that the ads that had come out weren¡¯t an overstatement at all. If anything, they understated the realism of the capsule. His body is a perfect replica of his body in real life. He thought it was a bit creepy that they have that much information about his body, but at least they had bothered to clothe him in a plain white t-shirt and black shorts. Waving his hand around, he can feel the air resistance, another thing no game had gotten right.


    He plays around for a bit, feeling his heartbeat, and trying to find any differences from his real body, but is unable to notice even the slightest hair out of place. Eventually, he stops playing around, and starts messing with the settings, eventually settling on an area that looked like an arena, a circular sand floor surrounded by bleachers, with a few training dummies set up, and a rack of weapons to the side.


    After looking through a few more of the options, he is a bit irked as he notices that the parental controls were on, meaning that he will not be able to see any blood or gore, and he can¡¯t have the pain setting above ten percent. At least now that he is older than thirteen, he is allowed to have his weapon look like a real sword rather than the oversized foam looking one he¡¯d been stuck using before. He won¡¯t be able to Have full access until he turns sixteen and becomes an adult.


    He quickly grabs one of the claymores, and starts happily hitting the training dummies. He is surprised to notice that they actually cut in almost exactly the same way that the straw dummies he had practiced with in his previous life had. Figuring that the minor difference could be attributed to a different type of straw, he happily whacks away, practicing his form.


    It isn¡¯t until he was dripping with sweat that he notices how exhausted he feels. Most games will simply have a tireless body, or some sort of stamina mechanic, as they aren¡¯t able to reproduce the feeling of exhaustion and soreness in different muscle groups.


    He shivers again at how different this is. Maybe those nutjobs who claim aliens had given us the technology were on to something after all. He sits down for a while to rest, and checks the countdown, but he still has seven hours until he could actually play, so he decides to log off and get some food. As soon as he logged off, he notices that the exhausted condition of his body has seemingly carried over into real life, but at first he simply believed it to be some sort of phantom exhaustion.


    It isn¡¯t until the tiredness keeps up that he starts wondering what¡¯s going on. Getting distracted from his original goal of food, he hops on his computer to see if he can figure out what the hell is going on. It doesn¡¯t take him long to find out that everyone else is experiencing the same thing, and it is confused until someone very snarkily mentions that if anyone had read the manual that came with the capsules, they will know that the game capsules will exercise your body using electrical impulses in order to simulate exercise. Supposedly it is a health benefit put in so that long term capsule users will stay in shape.


    Shrugging, Sen goes back to his original goal of food. Putting together an egg salad sandwich in the oversized kitchen, he munches on it as he looks around to find out if there was anything else new that had come up.


    All the posts are simply talking about how realistic it is in game, and there are tens of thousands of complaints about how one is stuck using their own body. Sen isn¡¯t one of the people who think it is a bad thing though, he is more comfortable using his own body compared to the avatars other immersion games will give you, even if he spends a lot of time in them.


    He spends the rest of the day looking at different posts in an attempt to distract himself from how slowly time seems to be going. Once it hits eleven o¡¯clock, he hops back in, and messes around with the settings in an attempt to burn some more time. Once he gives up on that, he starts doing warm ups, as he feels that it won¡¯t be a surprise if it was possible to pull a muscle in the game.


    The last five minutes tick by with excruciating slowness, and once the countdown got to one, he starts tapping the button for fifth dimension like crazy. The transition into the game is instant. One second he is in his arena like home room, the next he is floating above a massive land, littered with absolutely massive lakes, yet no ocean in sight, even though he is high enough to see hundreds of miles. This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    His body flies along, weightless, as he passes by gigantic monsters, from a massive turtle with two heads, large bipedal beings, even what looked like dragons. As he flew by, he sees earth shaking contests between two of the beings, one of the dragons fighting with a gigantic flaming bird he presumed to be a phoenix.


    He can barely see them with how fast they were moving, leaving afterimages behind as they moved, each slowly accumulating wounds from the talons of the other. His flight takes him right between the two, and they pause for a moment, giving him a clear view of the two massive beasts, towering over him in size, each almost a hundred feet high.


    His breath is taken from his lungs as he admires the two beasts, looking regal even with the bloodlust currently radiating from them. His flight soon takes him past them though, and he slowly gets closer and closer to the ground, to the point where he is flying through a range of mountains rather than far above them. The mountains themselves are far larger than they have any right to be, miles tall, covered in snow, and he feels utterly dwarfed as his flight weaves through them.


    Eventually his flight slows, and everything goes white, with a large logo of a dragon and phoenix circling each other and the words ¡°fifth dimension¡± underneath in a flowing script. When the whiteness fades away, he can feel cool tiles underneath his feet, and he nearly falls over from the sensation of standing again.


    His vision is instantly drawn to an impossibly beautiful woman standing before him, her flowing golden hair falling down her soft looking white shoulders, and her piercing blue eyes seeming to look through him rather than at him. Here pure white dress accentuates her curves, showing the line of her body far better than it has any right to be shown. Her light pink lips are curved up in a welcoming smile, and she gives a short nod before speaking.


    ¡°Welcome to fifth dimension. I will be your guide for the beginning of this game, and will help you to learn what you will need to know to survive here.¡±


    Sen is a bit too busy staring at her to properly process the words immediately, but eventually he puts together his fragmented thoughts.


    ¡°So what do I need to know?¡±


    ¡°The first thing you will need to do is sense your energy. Simply focus on your body, take deep breaths and try to sense the change in your body.¡±


    She pauses, and Sen did as he was asked, calming his mind as he would always do before a fight, before sending his senses inwards, trying to feel anything out of place. It doesn¡¯t take him long to find it. It is strange to be able to actually sense something flowing within his body. It seems to be flowing in the same way his blood is, following his arteries and veins, though he isn¡¯t sure about that, as he isn¡¯t too clear on human anatomy. A large ball of it seems to be focused in his heart, pulsing with every beat the heart took.


    As he is focusing on this entirely new sensation, the woman continues.


    ¡°Now you will need to learn to control it. Simply will it to move. Try to convince it to spread evenly throughout your body.¡±


    He did as she said, trying to will it to spread out from the circulating path it was currently following into the rest of his body. At first, it was like trying to grasp water only to have it run out of his mental fingers, but after a time he was able to spread it out into his body, using the mental image of a gas diffusing.


    As he finishes, the woman nods, and waves her hand, making a straw dummy and longsword appear to her right.


    ¡°This is the most basic skill that everyone will learn. It is commonly known as body strengthening. Come take the sword and see how much you¡¯ve already changed.¡±


    Shrugging, he does his best to maintain his mental image as he grabs the sword, finding it surprisingly easy, as he quickly grows used to controlling it, feeling as if controlling the energy is simply like controlling another limb he didn¡¯t know he had. As he grasps the sword, his first thought is that it feels terribly light, as if it were made of balsa wood rather than the metal it appears to be made of.


    Shrugging, he swings it at the target, and his eyes widen at how much faster his swing is than he expected. The longsword tears through the target in an instant, cutting through it like it was tofu. The surprise from the speed of the blow leaves him a bit delayed, and the sword crushes one of the tiles beneath the dummy, sending fragments flying. He preemptively winces, expecting to get cut from the fragments, but they seem to simply bounce off of his skin as if his limbs are made of metal rather than the soft flesh they were.


    Maintaining his body strengthening, he pinches himself. His skin retains its softness, but it seems that it was far, far stronger than before. Looking back to the sword, he noticed that is isn¡¯t even chipped, and he looks at the woman in confusion.


    She simply ignores his querying gaze, and continues. ¡°While there are many more advanced forms of body strengthening, and many more skills, some of which will seem like magic, all of them are using the energy flowing within you. Be careful not to run out in the middle of a fight, as it will often be a fatal mistake.¡±


    As she speaks, he can feel himself getting quite lightheaded, and notices that the thick energy that had been permeating his body is now growing thin. He quickly releases his control over the energy, and feels it go back to flowing along with his blood. He watches it for a while, at this point too interested to pay attention to the woman, as beautiful as she is. After a bit, he notices that it is slowly  growing back, though he thinks it will probably take around an hour to fully restore itself.


    Once he was finished, he looks back to the woman.


    ¡°Are you ready to begin your adventure in this new world?¡± the woman asks.


    Sen simply nods, and is whisked away.

 Chapter 3: The Game Begins

    When his view resolves itself, he is standing in the middle of a square in a large city. Sen blinks. Isn¡¯t this supposed to be a fantasy game!? Surrounding him are towering skyscrapers built of a shinier metal than those he is used to, and he can see electric cars driving around on the roads, the only noise they¡¯re making is the sound of their wheels on the ground. He can see a few others standing around, some of whom seem to be talking to themselves. Everyone is wearing matching grey t-shirts and jeans with a belt. Looking down at himself, he notes that he also has the same ensemble.


    ¡®So what do I do now?¡¯ he thinks.


    Seemingly in response, a voice sounds in his ears. ¡°Welcome to fifth dimension, I will be your personal AI guide. You may call me Tir. If there is anything you want to know, simply ask, and I shall endeavour to guide you.¡±


    ¡°So what do I do now?¡±


    ¡°You have a few options at this point in time. You could join a school to learn more techniques other than the simple body strengthening, learn a trade, or start hunting monsters. The first thing I will recommend though, is to check your status and inventory.¡±


    Blushing at having not bothered to do the first thing every gamer should do, Sen recites ¡°status¡±, and a very, very simple screen shows up. There are three stats, energy, strength, and speed, all of which have a disappointing ¡°F¡± next to them.


    ¡°Well that¡¯s disappointing,¡± Sen complains.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be too disappointed, the average person will get G ratings for strength and speed, and only professional athletes will have an E rating in them.¡±


    Sen shakes his head again at how the game had accurately modeled everyone, even the ability of their body. ¡°So how do I get them higher?¡±


    ¡°Energy crystals drop from every monster you kill. Eating them will grant you a fraction of the monster¡¯s strength. Do note that energy crystals from the same type of monster have an increasingly smaller effect as you continue to eat them. The first will give you the full amount, the second half of the first, the third half of the second, and so forth.¡±


    ¡°So I basically need to hunt lots of different types of monsters to get my stats up?¡±


    ¡°Precisely. Now you should check your inventory. You start with a few energy crystals, as they are also the currency in this game. You can choose to spend them on consumables, or you can eat them to gain some stats.¡±


    Opening his inventory, Sen notes that he has three essence crystals: a goblin crystal, a horned rabbit crystal, and a biter crystal, whatever that is. They all have a ¡°Rank: G¡± next to them, showing that they aren¡¯t exactly the best things out there. Along with the crystals, he has an energized steel dagger. While it isn¡¯t his preference in weapon, it is pretty much what he expects from starting gear, so he taps it on the screen, having it materialize before him along with a sheathe. He attaches it to the belt he is wearing, happy to actually have it feel like it will in real life, compared to most games where the weight will just feel off somehow.


    ¡°So what exactly is with the modern city? I thought this was a fantasy game?¡±


    ¡°In this world, technology still works correctly. Only combustive weapons simply don¡¯t work, as anything so reactive as gunpowder tends to spontaneously combust, making it a poor idea to use a gun when the ammunition may randomly explode. Cities themselves have railguns to defend against the larger monster waves, but they¡¯re unable to be miniaturized. This has led to cold weapons becoming the standard.¡±


    ¡°What about more stable things like plastic explosives?¡±


    ¡°While plastic explosives do indeed work, almost everyone at C rank or above has skills that are more powerful than the explosion from it, making it practically useless.¡±


    Sen grins. Skills more powerful than plastic explosives? And that was at C rank, when the highest rank possible was SSS? He is going to have fun with this. Making his decision, he eats all three of the energy crystals he was given. It is an interesting sensation to eat them. He puts them in his mouth, and then they quickly dissolve into a sweet tasting liquid, each of them tasting slightly different. He then asks Tir where he should go to hunt, though not before opening his status screen and being disappointed that his ranks haven¡¯t gone up at all.


    Tir somehow calls an automated car for him, and he is soon looking out the windows as the streets fly by.


    ¡°So what are the energy crystals used for anyway? They can¡¯t only be used to strengthen ourselves,¡± Sen asks Tir as he waits to arrive at the edge of the city.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    ¡°Energy crystals are used to generate the electricity that powers the city, and to create energy infused weapons, armor, and other things. A G rank energy crystal is enough to run one of these automated vehicles for a month. The city shield array is powered by A rank crystals, and a single day of running it will consume five of them¡±


    Sen nods. It makes sense that they have some sort of value that isn¡¯t purely for increasing stats. They soon arrive at the edge of the city, and he can see a road stretching out to the horizon in front of him, grasslands stretching to each side. The ride goes out maybe another half mile, at which point the grass is no longer groomed, growing up to chest height. In the distance, he can see a forest, the trees of which seem to stretch far higher than they have any right to.


    ¡°So where are all the monsters?¡±


    ¡°Simply go into the grasslands and they will soon find you,¡± Tir replies.


    Sen smiles, it¡¯s time to do some hunting. He starts his walk through the grassland in a cautious manner, his dagger out before him. While the stalks of bright green grass are chest high, they aren¡¯t too densely packed, so Sen can see a good ten meters or so in each direction. He walks away from the road for about ten minutes when he sees his first monster.


    It looks like a rabbit, the only differences being the sharp horn in the middle of its forehead, and its shockingly sharp teeth. Sen raises his dagger and waits for it to come to him. It quickly obliges him, lunging forward with its horn to spear him. Sen steps to the side, swinging his short dagger along the path the horned rabbit is taking, not even bothering to use body strengthening.


    The dagger doesn¡¯t cut through nearly as easily as he had expected, but it does cut through enough that it severs an artery, not that he can see the blood, all he gets is a bright blue line in the rabbit where it had been hit and a bleeding debuff icon above it. Sen waits as it bleeds out in a short few seconds, and then dissolves into motes of light.


    ¡°So where¡¯s my loot?¡± Sen asks.


    ¡°All loot is automatically placed in your inventory, as there is no inventory limit,¡± Tir answers.


    Opening his inventory, he sees he now has a horned rabbit hide and a horned rabbit energy crystal, the same rank G as the previous one. Shrugging, he throws it in his mouth. The horned rabbit core tastes the same as the previous one he had eaten, almost like cinnamon candy, but with less spiciness.


    After enjoying the treat, he continues his exploration. Here and there he comes across another horned rabbit, one time running into two of them, but they are as easily dispatched as the single one had been. Figuring that it won¡¯t hurt to keep eating them, even if the effectiveness of them will decrease, he continues to eat them until the tenth one, at which point he starts to save them.


    It is maybe an hour later that he runs into the first mob that isn¡¯t a horned rabbit. It is a group of what have to be goblins. Short, maybe three and a half feet tall, wrinkled green skin, and a permanent snarl etched into their horribly ugly face that is only exacerbated by their canines poking out from their mouth.


    Unlike in most games, they don¡¯t have any form of weapons, but they do have very sharp looking claws on each of their three fingers. Sen considers for a moment; there are four of them, and only one of him. While he expects he can take them, even with his dinky little dagger, He isn¡¯t sure quite how strong they are, so he may end up wounded in return. Speaking very softly, he decides to get some information from Tir. ¡°So how does health regeneration work in this game?¡±


    ¡°Any wound will be healed in six hours. Minor wounds one hour, moderate wounds three hours, and severe wounds six hours. Minor wounds are any cuts less than an inch deep, and cracked bones, moderate wounds are greater than an inch deep and broken bones, and severe wounds are completely shattered bones, severed limbs, and severe organ damage.¡±


    ¡°Wait, so if you get wounded, you¡¯re out of the fight for at the minimum an entire hour?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Sen grimaces. He already knows the death penalty means not playing for fifteen hours, half a day, but this game is amazingly harsh with its settings. Turning back to the goblins, which somehow still haven¡¯t noticed him, he decides to try and sneak up on them, as none of them seem to be particularly alert.


    He tries to minimize the rustling of the grass as he moves forward, but is still spotted when he is about ten feet away. He sees the eyes of one of them lock on to him, and uses the body strengthening skill he had learned in the far too short tutorial to get a burst of speed.


    He manages to reach the closest goblin just as the goblin which has noticed him sounds the alarm, and thrusts his dagger into the throat of one of them just as it is turning to face him. Tearing his dagger out the side of its throat, he frowns as all he gets is the blue line and bleeding debuff icon. At this point, he is really wishing he will grow up faster, as it is just weird to feel yourself cutting through a neck, and only seeing a line appear on the monster.


    He leaves it to bleed out to the debuff, and turns to the next one with superhuman speed, lunging towards it and spearing it right where the heart will be. He kicks it off his blade as the last two attack from the left and right, and he dances backwards as their strikes miss. He circles around until one of them gets in between him and the other goblin, then steps forward.


    Stepping into its attack range, he lops off one of its arms as it goes to swing at him, watching the arm dissolve into motes of blue light, then as it howls in pain he silences it with a stab through its eye. The last one didn¡¯t even look nervous about the fact that all of its fellows had died, and howls as it charges him.


    Sen simply leans to the side to dodge its completely telegraphed swipe, and stabs it in the chest, at which point the rage in its eyes fades as it dissolves into the blue motes of light.


    Opening his inventory, he puts all of the energy crystals into his mouth, and waits a few seconds for them to dissolve into a strawberry apple flavored liquid. Opening his stats, he notices that they still haven¡¯t changed, all F.


    ¡°So what do I have to do to actually get my stats up to E?¡±


    ¡°You will need to eat the energy crystals of twenty different G rank monsters to rank up to E in one stat. If you were hunting F ranked monsters, you will only need to hunt five to rank up a single stat to E. Two different E rank crystals will also get you a stat up to E.¡±


    ¡°So how do I choose which stat increases when I eat enough crystals?¡±


    ¡°The stat that raises is dependant on what monsters you get your crystals from. For example, goblins raise all of them equally, but the horned rabbits you hunted raises almost only speed.¡±


    You could practically see dark lines forming on Sen¡¯s face. ¡°So you mean to get all my stats up to rank E, I will have to hunt sixty different kinds of G ranked monsters?¡±


    ¡°If you ate ten of each monster¡¯s energy crystal as you seem to be planning on, you will only require thirty three different types of monsters.¡±


    ¡°So basically I need to kill a lot more monsters.¡±


    ¡°In simple terms, yes.¡±


    Sen sighs, it is going to take a long time to level up in this game. Deciding to take care of the needs of his real body, he logs out.

 Chapter 4: A Real Weapon

    Once Sen is out of game, he sprints to the closest restroom, then walks leisurely to the kitchen, making a ham sandwich and some coffee, as he is going to pull an all nighter with his shiny new game. He thanks every deity he knows the name of that it is friday, or well, saturday considering it¡¯s past midnight, as he won¡¯t have any of his tutors bugging him over the weekend.


    He finishes his meal and coffee, and is just about to leave when Lynna comes in.


    ¡°So what¡¯re you thinking about the game so far?¡±


    Sen grins before replying. ¡°It¡¯s honestly creepy how realistic it is, but it makes it so much better. Have you hunted anything yet?¡±


    ¡°No, I decided to join one of the schools to learn some more skills before I go out hunting. Though I¡¯ll have to do some hunting soon, you need contribution points to learn anything good, and you can only get those by turning in crystals and loot drops. I still need to practice the basic skills they have classes for first.¡±


    ¡°So what school did you join anyway? And what are the differences?¡±


    ¡°I joined the Lotus school. They focus on movement and longsword skills.¡±


    ¡°Hm. Any particularly interesting ones?¡±


    ¡°Well the reason I joined was someone showing off a sword skill that actually launches a wave of energy from your  sword. And it¡¯s only an F ranked skill which means I¡¯ll be able to get it pretty easily so long as I grind out some contribution points.¡± Lynna¡¯s black eyes are glimmering in excitement.


    ¡°Is there any way to get skills other than joining a school?¡±


    ¡°Well you can only get skills ranked up to C from a school. Skills higher than that only drop from mobs. Each mob has their own skill book they¡¯ll drop, and it¡¯s about a 1% chance of getting it.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll stick to grinding out mobs for now. Maybe I¡¯ll get lucky and get a few skills of my own.¡±


    They wrap up their conversation as Lynna begins making her own sandwich, and Sen heads back to his room to play some more. When he logs back in, he is back in the field, but it is dark out, countless stars shining above him, and two massive moons in the sky looking down like a gigantic pair of eyes. He¡¯d never seen a real moon seeing as Alpha has none, but they are very common in games.


    He wonders for a moment if it was just a skybox, or if the moons are actually programmed into the game, but shrugs the thought off and decides that learning why it is suddenly night is more important.


    ¡°Hey Tir, why is it night now?¡±


    ¡°The day/night cycles in this game are only four hours long, so as to not force those in a different time zone to play only in the dark.¡±


    Considering that the days on Alpha are thirty hours long, that is a massive difference. Sen shrugs, then gets back to hunting. With the two large moons, there is still enough light to see by.


    He slaughters a few more rabbits and goblins as he wanders deeper into the grasslands, and soon starts coming across other monsters. There are biters, small round feathered balls that seem to be all teeth, the accurately named grass snakes, which are snakes that look almost exactly like a fallen strand of grass, which are black birds that are almost as tall as a goblin.


    For each of the mobs, Sen will eat ten of their crystals if he can get that many, then save up the rest of the energy crystals in his inventory to be his capital to buy a proper sword. He isn¡¯t sure what to do with the other loot drops, so he simply lets them sit in his inventory until he can get rid of them.


    As he continues deeper into the grasslands, the monsters become more and more varied, from six legged furless rodents, to disgusting giant bugs with far, far too many legs. Sen happily, excluding the giant bugs, slaughters his way along until he is practically exhausted, with the in game sun about to rise.


    He decides to hunt one more group before heading back, and runs into a group of goblins. A grin still on his face, he charges in. His first swing rips out the throat one of them, but as he turns to the next, a group of people come charging in, stabbing the one he was going to kill. Sen¡¯s face is now sporting a large frown.


    ¡°What the hell?¡±


    ¡°As if one person deserves all these goblins. This area is controlled by us, the King guild. Hand over the energy crystals you¡¯ve gotten, and maybe we¡¯ll let you go,¡± The man who had stolen his kill arrogantly says. Sen knows of the King guild, and has gotten in quite a few conflicts with them in other games. Pretty much everyone who plays MMO¡¯s has gotten in conflicts with them at one time or another. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.


    They¡¯re almost always the largest guild, though they¡¯re never the most powerful, seeing as how they¡¯ll accept almost anyone. Due to their size however, many of the people in it tend to be horribly arrogant about it, trying to bully people constantly.


    The people behind the man talking are snickering, and Sen¡¯s lips turn up in a smile betrayed by the anger in his eyes. It seems he is going to get in some early pvp. He spins the dagger around his hand as they start to surround him.


    Before their encirclement is complete, he dashes forward, empowered by body strengthening, and the arrogant man¡¯s eyes widen in surprise as his dagger stabs into his throat before the man thinks to respond.


    Sen laughs a little as he turns to the next enemy. It seems King¡¯s recruiting standards are as low as always. He dodges a hasty swing from the next one, and grabs his arm, pulling his neck directly into the path of his friend¡¯s swing. Turning, he jabs his dagger into the heart of the one wearing a horrified expression from having killed his friend.


    Sen habitually wipes off his dagger, even though with the parental settings on he can¡¯t see any blood. He checks his inventory, but sees no new items from having killed them. Seems this game isn¡¯t going to encourage open world PVP.


    As if the conflict had never happened, he asks ¡°hey Tir, why aren¡¯t I feeling hungry? Most games have some form of satiety system.¡± Not that any game could get the taste quite right, but they would still make you eat regardless.


    ¡°It¡¯s a game, why would we make you eat?¡±


    Sen blinks. Is Tir being snarky? ¡®At least I won¡¯t have to bother bringing food around everywhere¡¯ Sen thinks to himself. He then asks Tir for the fastest way back to the road, but Tir simply informs him that there is a fast travel system to any city that you¡¯d visited, so he opens up his map. He notes that the city he started in is called Falan before pressing on it, then selecting the quick travel button.


    This time, the square is far more filled with other players, everyone talking to their own guide or their friends. ¡°Tir, If I want to find my sister, what will I have to do?¡±


    ¡°As you both live in the same area, she will have started in the same city. You will simply have to agree to a meeting place out of game, and then you could add each other to your friend¡¯s list.¡±


    Sen nods, even though he isn¡¯t sure if Tir will be able to notice it. That seems simple enough. He puts that to the back of his mind for the moment though, first he has to figure out where to get rid of his loot. After asking Tir, he takes one of the automated cars to the market district.


    The market area doesn¡¯t have any buildings above maybe three stories, but each of them has their own style. The building he first enters seems to deal in practically everything, having a section for clothing, a section for armors, a section for weapons, and even camping supplies and backpacks in one section, though he isn¡¯t sure why anyone will need the backpacks considering that everyone has an infinite inventory.


    Walking around, he eventually finds an area that is basically just a very large counter with a bunch of people behind it to deal with the crowd of players he can see, each of them getting rid of their loot drops. Sen figures this will be where he can sell his drops, and gets in a surprisingly long line.


    Luckily, the line moves quickly, and Sen is soon in front of the counter, with a bored looking man behind it. The bored man waves his hand, and a trade screen appears in front of Sen. From his forty odd drops, he will be earning a measly fifteen goblin crystals. When he asks why they are all goblin crystals, he learns that each energy crystal has its own value, and the ¡°base¡± energy crystal is the most common energy crystal throughout the world, in the case of G rank monsters, the goblin crystal.


    ¡°So is there a way to trade in my energy crystals I have for different ones? I ended up with a ton of goblin and horned rabbit crystals, and not too many of the others.¡± Sen asks the skinny man behind the counter.


    ¡°There¡¯s an energy crystal shop a few stores down. They¡¯re the ones with a terribly gaudy exterior.¡±


    Sen thanks the man, and exits the store with an additional fifteen goblin crystals. He wants to go to the energy crystal shop, but holds himself back. First he will need to get a weapon. He can always shop for a weapon at the department store he was just in, but he really doesn¡¯t want to get what seem like mass produced goods.


    His first stop is a massive building, with copious amounts of smoke coming out a gigantic chimney in the back of it. On the front of the building is a large sword crossed with a spear, ¡°Hellion¡¯s Armory¡± written beside it. Walking inside, he is met with a clean linoleum like floor, with stands for different weapon types set up throughout the store. Everything is neatly arranged, and sorted by both type of weapon and price. Naturally, Sen gravitates towards the weapon type he had used in his past life, large two handed swords. He soon finds what he is looking for, but becomes quite disappointed when he gets a better look at them.


    The swords aren¡¯t bad per se, but they aren¡¯t particularly good, and they are all practically mirror images of each other, clearly cast rather than forged. Before leaving, he asks a clerk about forged swords, and is disappointed to learn that this particular shop only deals in mass produced weaponry.


    After wandering around a bit, Sen finds himself a bit lost, but soon hears a sound he had been familiar with in his past life, that of a hammer banging on metal. Excited to have found someplace that deals in forged goods rather than cast, he follows it to a small store with nothing but a clumsily written ¡°Clay¡¯s Smithy¡± out front.


    Walking inside, he is met with stands full of swords, spears, and various other weapons scattered throughout the concrete floor, along with armor set up on models, but all placed in seemingly random positions. The counter is empty, and he can hear the clanging of metal hitting metal from the back. Looking around, he is much happier with the weapons he sees here, and he soon finds the stand that has hand and a half and two handed swords on it.


    The swords aren¡¯t individually priced, but the stand they are on has a ¡°20 G-rank¡± written on top of it. Pulling a few swords out, he compares them. None of them are exactly the same length, each one designed for a different person rather than the one size fits all system Hellion¡¯s armory uses.


    He eventually settles on one that has a blade a little under four feet in length, with a handle a little under a foot long. He wants to get a longer one, but then again, he is only fourteen, and not tall enough yet to use one the same size he had used as Damien He still has around two more years of growing to do. Sen starts to worry a bit, if he takes after his mother, he is never going to be able to wield a weapon the same size as he had in his previous life. And he only has two more years until he¡¯s an adult.


    Shaking off the worry, he waits a bit, and the person in the back soon comes out. He is a short man, but heavily built, his clean shaven face as covered in soot as his leather smithing apron.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to buy this please¡±


    The man gives a short glance over it, before grunting in assent, pulling up a trade window between the two of them. Looking it over, Sen notices it¡¯s the same trade screen he saw at the department store like place, with the sword in the blacksmith¡¯s side of the window. He puts up twenty goblin crystals, fifteen from his loot drops, and five from extra goblins he had hunted. He presses the accept button the second he is done putting them in. The man must have pressed accept as well, as the sword turns into motes of light which float into Sen¡¯s chest. Pulling up his inventory, he sees he now has a ¡°small greatsword¡± in it. He thanks the man, as manners had been drilled into him by both his lady in his previous life, and his parents in this one, and leaves the store with a grin on his face.


    Once he is out he pulls the sword from his inventory, and equips it, as it comes with a nice little shoulder harness. The sword itself is almost as tall as he is, but he is happy to feel the reassuring weight of a sword he hadn¡¯t felt since his previous life, as no other game has gotten the feeling of it quite right.


    He considers going to the energy crystal shop for a bit, but figures that the only energy crystals he has left over are a few horned rabbit ones, so there isn¡¯t any point in getting just a couple of more rare crystals at this point.

 Chapter 5: Enhancements

    Sen is soon back in one of the automated vehicles, holding his weapon between his legs, as greatswords on one¡¯s back aren¡¯t exactly conducive to sitting comfortably, and he is too attached to his shiny new blade to put it in his inventory. Luckily the cars themselves are quite tall, so he isn¡¯t having any issues with it.


    Once he is back at the grasslands, he decides that the sword will be total overkill for anything he can find in the grasslands, so he dejectedly puts the sword back on his back, and pulls out the pitiful dagger he had been using before.


    Walking through the vast fields of grass, he slaughters everything he comes across except the other players. Unlike before, the fields are totally filled with players, and he constantly has to range further and further afield to find places that aren¡¯t entirely crawling with them. Eventually, he gets to the edge of the grassland, the tall stalks of grass giving way to trees, which seemed to grow ever larger the further into the forest they go.


    ¡°¡±Hey Tir, anything I should know about the forest?¡±


    ¡°Monsters in the forest range from rank F to rank C. While you may get a better harvest there, you¡¯re also far more likely to die.¡±


    Sen let out a grin. ¡°A challenge then? I¡¯ll take it.¡±


    Stepping into the forest is a drastic difference form the grassland. The ground is covered in dead leaves, crisscrossed with paths the animals have worn into them. The trees themselves look very similar to those found on Alpha, but the fallen leaves vary in size from the size of Sen¡¯s hand, to the size of his torso.


    As he steps into the forest, he pulls his greatsword from his inventory, and lays it on his shoulder, ready for any fights rather than leaving it stuck on his back. He tries to move as silently as he can, but inevitably his feet crunch over a dead leaf here and there. A few minutes in, and he hasn¡¯t seen a single monster, leaving him disappointed.


    He is about to let out a sigh, when he hears a light crunch of a leaf being stepped on, and he whirls just in time to see a giant cat with bone spikes sticking from its back leaping towards him.


    Too startled to remember to use body strengthening, his dodge to the side is too slow, and the cat like monster leaves a series of scratches on his arm, though they aren¡¯t deep enough to prevent movement. Annoyingly, all he sees of the wounds are red lines on his skin rather than the torn flesh that he would have seen if he was over sixteen.


    Raising his sword overhead and engaging body strengthening, he slowly circles along with the monster that Tir distractingly tells him is called a spine panther. That small distraction nearly proves fatal as the spine panther chooses that moment to jump at Sen, and his cleave downwards with his sword only catches it just before it will have left another nasty set of scratches on him. The spine panther is cut entirely in two with the full force of his body strengthened by the mysterious energy, not that he could see it fall apart into halves, there is just a bright blue line bisecting the beast before it dissolves into blue sparkles.


    As the monster disappears into sparkles, Sen takes a few deep breaths. Tir then helpfully informs Sen that the monster is an F ranked monster, and Sen told Tir where he could shove his ¡°helpful¡± information given in the middle of a fight. He exhausts his dictionary of curse words from this life and his previous complaining about how Tir had nearly gotten him killed. He then takes a deep breath, calms himself down, and gets back to walking through the forest, this time far more carefully.


    Sen keeps his eyes open, and his head on a swivel as he continues, tensing at every unexpected sound and movement, even though most of them are simply the wind blowing a leaf up here and there. He runs into a few different monsters, and another spine panther tries to ambush him, but as he is expecting it this time, he chops through its front legs in one blow, then simply lets it die under the bleeding ¡°debuff¡±, as showing actual blood is clearly far too scary for anyone underage.


    Grumbling about censorship, Sen continues his walk, killing a monster here and there. He is happily farming when he starts to hear grunting noises from up ahead. Staying behind the massive tree trunks, he sneaks up on a group of what he would assume were goblins, if goblins were a foot taller and more muscled.


    With a quiet whisper to Tir, he learns that they were what he had expected, hobgoblins, and they are a rank F monster, unlike the rank G goblins. Sen feels a grin slip onto his face as he grows excited about what will hopefully be a proper challenge. Each of them has a wooden club, showing they are at least more intelligent than their lesser cousins, and all they wear is a loincloth. Thank god for that, if the eighteen plus version doesn¡¯t have those, Sen is pretty sure the devs would be murdered, seeing how ugly they were.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Holding his sword to his right in preparation to slash upwards, he dashes forward, grinning madly as the hobgoblins responded to his reckless charge with feral glee, rushing to meet him. The first hobgoblin is too late in its response as he sweeps his sword, which had far longer reach than the small clubs the hobgoblins were using. His sword makes the now familiar blue line through only half of the hobgoblin¡¯s torso, and he frowns before kicking at the body to remove his blade from the monster, which apparently has a much tougher body than normal goblins. The next hobgoblin is now close by, and swings its club at his head, which Sen avoids with contemptuous ease, simply tilting his body to the side.


    His sword at a ready position again, he makes a much smaller chop towards the skull of one of the monsters, and frowns, as even with body reinforcement he barely manages to cut through the impressively hard bone that makes up its skull. Ripping the sword from its head while leaning to the back to avoid the next club, he grabs his dagger from his waist. In one smooth motion he steps forward to spike the hobgoblin that is out of position from its swing in the eye.


    The last hobgoblin, showing far more intelligence than its lesser cousins, turns to run, but with body strengthening, Sen is faster, and he spears it from behind, his blade held parallel to the ground in order to avoid the ribs that he can feel but not see due to the damn censoring. Interestingly, he finds that their flesh isn¡¯t any tougher than a normal goblin, only their bones are.


    Sen lets out a breath. It may have been a short fight, but it was still tiring, his hands stinging from the impact of his sword on their bones. Even with his strength empowered by body strengthening, the hobgoblins are just as strong as he is, if a bit slower and terribly less skilled. Their bones have proven tough to the point that he isn¡¯t sure how easily he could cut through them without body strengthening as well. He considers for a moment picking up a combat skill, but decides that he¡¯ll put it off for now.


    His musing is interrupted by Tir, who kindly tells him that he had acquired a skill book. Excited, he checks his inventory, to see a skill book named ¡°copper bones¡± in his inventory.


    ¡°Hey Tir, what is this, it doesn¡¯t seem like an active type skill.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a body enhancement skill. Body enhancement skills will toughen your bones or skin, enhance your muscles, or allow you to heal faster.¡±


    Sen nods, then  frowns, before asking Tir something he needs to know.


    ¡°If I practice this, will I be unable to learn other methods, like, say I get something called iron bones which is better, will using this make it so I can¡¯t learn it?¡±


    ¡°When it comes to body enhancement skill such as this one, they add on a second circulatory route to the one your energy naturally takes to strengthen your body in one way or another. These have permanent benefits, but also preclude using certain other versions. In the case of copper bones, it¡¯s actually the starting pattern for a skill that actually goes to orichalcum bones. You need to get copper bones to a certain level to learn iron bones, then get iron bones to a certain level to learn steel bones, and so forth. On the other hand, if you learn this you won¡¯t be able to learn the other elemental bone body skills¡±


    Sen nods. The company would likely get a massive number of complaints if they made an early game skill lock out a late game one. ¡°So what other options are there for skills that have to do with my bones anyway?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not allowed to give you that information. I can say that there are quite a few other options though, and that they tend to follow the pattern of the elements.¡±


    Sen shrugs. He guesses it will be too much to ask for Tir to help him with everything. That will be what the out of game wiki will be for.


    As the discussion peters off, he hears a roar far more terrifying than anything he had heard in reality echo throughout the forest. Immediately, Tir yells at him. ¡°Fast travel to Falan NOW!¡±


    Jumping a bit in surprise, he does as Tir asks, and presses fast travel, waiting the ten seconds he is required to stay in place. He starts to get nervous as he hears massive footfalls coming closer, and just as the teleport animation began, he sees what looked like a seven foot tall lion, except for its color being an icy blue. It turns it¡¯s head towards Sen, and opens its mouth as if to roar, and then Sen is back in the city.


    ¡°So what the hell was that thing?¡± Sen asks Tir as soon as they are safe.


    ¡°It¡¯s called a frost lion, and it¡¯s one of the top C ranked monsters. It can shoot freezing beams, and if you¡¯re under rank C you can¡¯t resist it unless you practice a flame type body modification skill.¡±


    ¡°Flame type? You mentioned something about elemental skills earlier.¡±


    ¡°Skills are usually split into the elements, flame, water, earth, and air. Each has their own advantages and disadvantages. Copper bones and it¡¯s greater evolutions for example is an earth type body modification ability. While it may make your bones much stronger, it will also slow you down some as the density of your bones increases.¡±


    Sen frowns. That will definitely something to look out for. While he may use a massive sword, he is very reliant on his speed, as he doesn¡¯t have a big shield to hide behind. It seems that he won¡¯t be using the new skill book on himself after all. Considering earth skills will make him slower, he is leaning towards the air version of the skill, as he can really use some more speed.


    ¡°So say I want the air version of the bones skill, can I trade my skill book for that?¡±


    ¡°Skill books become bound to a player after you read them. So long as you don¡¯t read it, you can trade it away with no problems.¡±


    Sen feels a bit mollified at that, and has Tir call another one of the automatic cars to bring him to the market district, where hopefully he can get himself the air version of the skill. Along the way, he makes sure to swallow all of the energy crystals he had acquired, but still doesn¡¯t have any of his stats raise to E rank. Sen sighs, it would be too much to ask to level up this quickly it seems.

 Chapter 6: Overpriced

    He soon arrives at the market district, and goes straight to the large department store to sell his drops. The spine panthers had dropped panther spines unsurprisingly, the hobgoblins Ironwood clubs, and the other monsters had dropped various random items.


    Sen earns ten F ranked hobgoblin crystals out of that, which are unsurprisingly the base crystal for F rank. Once he has gotten paid, he asks about the skill book, and learns he can buy any of the first level body skill manuals for a horribly expensive 100 F ranked crystals, or 5 E ranked crystals. As for G rank crystals, he will never get the two thousand of them required to buy it. Interestingly, body enhancement skills start at rank F, unlike most skills, which will start at rank G.


    After learning that he can only sell the skill book for 50 F ranked crystals, he decides to try and trade it with another player who has the air version of it. Tir helpfully informs him that there is a trade kiosk in the center of the shopping district which is instanced, so there will never be any sort of line for it.


    He walks over with a spring in his step. Once he arrives, he enters the booth, which is basically just a small building, and he searches for the different bone enhancement skill books. AFter looking through the different options, he frowns. He can not only sell all of his loot drops here, he can also buy all of the body skill enhancements up to C rank.


    He wonders why he has wasted time at the department store like place for a bit, until he notices that the prices at the kiosk are slightly worse. Bones Like Copper, for example, sells for 110 F ranked cores, and he will only get a crystal of the same rank by selling four loot drops instead of three.


    Slightly mollified that his time hasn¡¯t been wasted, he quickly leaves the store section, and navigates to the trade section. Unfortunately, nobody had posted an air bone skill method for an earth one, so he posts the trade himself.


    Hoping that someone will answer his trade, Sen browses through the other trades, noting that the average price for an F ranked body skill is around 80 F rank energy crystals. The fire version bone enhancement skill is the most popular, as it actually gives a resistance to poisons, disease, and frost attacks, debuffs which will likely become more and more common as the people progress to later bosses. The air version is actually the least popular, selling for a bit under eighty F ranked cores.


    Every time a fire element bone skill will get posted, even for eighty five crystals instead of the normal eighty, it sells in less than a minute. That is most likely being done by guilds, as he doubts any solo players will have enough crystals to buy them.


    Closing the shop, he walks out of the instanced kiosk, and decides to log out again to satisfy the needs that come with far, far too much coffee. He quickly deals with them, and grabs another cup of coffee anyway, leaving a quick note to his sister to meet up at twelve am, thinks a moment, then scratches out the twelve and writes down fourteen am. He leaves the note on the coffee machine, as he was sure she will be looking for as much caffeine as he was.


    Once he has finished his coffee, he hops back in game. The first thing he does is go back to the kiosk, and he is ecstatic that someone has accepted the trade he had posted, likely some guild trying to gear up their tank.


    He quickly takes the skill book ¡°Bones Like Air¡± into his inventory before asking Tir where he can go to to try and learn it. Tir quickly calls one of the automated vehicles, and this time Sen isn¡¯t so attached to his sword that he has to bring it with him, storing it in his inventory for convenience¡¯s sake.


    They soon arrive at one of the massive skyscrapers, and Sen goes inside, Tir guiding him to enter the first room he sees. Tir informs him that it is instanced so he shouldn¡¯t bother trying to find an empty one.


    ¡°I¡¯m really curious, if these rooms are instanced, why do they bother making the buildings actual skyscrapers? You¡¯d think they would make you get an actual room¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s to balance realism with convenience. If you really feel like it you can pick one of the more out of the way rooms.¡±


    Deciding that he really doesn¡¯t want to bother doing that, Sen follows Tir¡¯s suggestion to enter the first room he sees. Once he is inside, he sees a wooden floor, with plain decor. A straw dummy stands off to one side, and a rack of weapons to try out are on the other side, with a small desk at the back. The walls match the floor, being plain wood, and Sen wonders what will happen if he tried to chop through them for a bit.If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Dismissing the thought, he goes over and sits in the amazingly comfortable chair in front of the desk, taking out his shiny Bones Like Air skillbook. As he opens it, he skims over the introduction, which basically states that as he practices it, his bones will become slightly more resilient, significantly lighter, and he will be able to control the air around him to a certain extent.


    Sen blinks, the last bit hadn¡¯t been noted in the description in the store. He wonders for a moment if all the air skill books will increase his control over air, before opening it to the next page, which makes him frown.


    What is shown is a diagram of the human body, with the overall flow of energy that will be required to practice the skill. The next hundred plus pages are more detailed for each bone or set of bones, though thankfully it mentions that you can learn the flow of each bone individually before moving on to the next, and once you set up the flow for a certain bone, it will start to automatically follow the pattern.


    ¡°Tir, do I really have to do all of this?¡±


    ¡°Of course. Once you learn how it feels from the first bone however, it becomes much easier and more instinctual. While the first bone on average takes a week to learn, the second requires a day, and the tenth less than an hour.¡±


    Sen groans, it is going to take him a week just to get the first bone done? He would give up on this game if the rest of it wasn¡¯t as fantastic as it was. He quickly decides that he will spend a small portion of every day practicing his new skill, as the control over air bit calls to him, but he will spend the majority of his time hunting.


    He decides to start with his spine, as he won¡¯t have any issues with balance from one side of his body becoming lighter than the other, and looks at the diagram for the spine. The spine is treated as one large bone in the skill book, instead of each vertebra having its own flow of energy.


    The first thing he does is look at the guide very carefully, before asking Tir how he will even know when he got it right.


    ¡°If you manage to get the flow correct, it will lock in place and begin smoothly flowing on its own.¡±


    Frowning, Sen looks at the guide as he slowly attempts to force his energy into the same pattern he sees in the book. At parts, the energy will relaxedly flow, at others it is like a raging wind, and at yet others it will swirl in place. He slowly copies it, and as he does so, he feels that he can almost sense his bones, as if he is seeing without his eyes.


    Sen gets lost in the sensation of moving his energy around as he continues. In a way, it is terribly calming, focusing on nothing but the flow of energy. His trance continues for an unknown amount of time, until he is called back due to biological needs, sensations carrying over from his physical body.


    Before logging out, he checks the time on the menu, and is horrified to notice that he has somehow lost three hours, and hasn¡¯t even managed to get the basics of the flow correct. Logging out, he takes care of the needs caused by drinking copious amounts of coffee, but still goes to get more, as he is starting to get quite tired.


    Once he arrives, he notes that Lynna has agreed to meet up in real life at fourteen am, an hour before noon. Checking the time, he sees that it is already ten AM, but figures he can get in a bit more hunting, though both his in-game and physical body are starting to get quite sore from all of the fighting he had been doing. He still finds it odd that they will stimulate your muscles as you play to imitate the motions you do in game, leading to your physical body and digital body both feeling tired.


    Hopping back into his capsule, he is soon met with the familiar sights of Falan. He quickly has Tir call him one of the automated vehicles, and goes out to the field, deciding not to go into the forest, as he doesn¡¯t want to die and be unable to meet up with Lynna.


    He picks on the poor G ranked creatures for quite some time, and soon gets far enough afield that he is once again seeing new monsters, a strange creature that looks like a walking mushroom with sharp teeth, and what seems to be a smaller version of the spine panther. After eating a few crystals from each of them, he hears a sound ding in his ears in a  similar manner to how he hears Tir, and he checks his stats page, gratified to see his strength stat has finally leveled up to E.


    He spends the rest of the hunt with a grin on his face, but isn¡¯t able to get any of his other stats to E by the time the alarm he had set to meet up with Lynna goes off. Quick traveling back to Falan, he logs off to arrange a place to meet up with his sister.


    Once he is out, he heads to the kitchen, as he needs food as much as he needs to meet up with his sister. Pouring himself a bowl of cereal, Lynna soon stumbles into the kitchen, looking utterly exhausted.


    ¡°How do you not look like you¡¯re dying? I was hunting for a couple hours and now I feel like my muscles are going to fall off!¡±


    Sen shrugs. He¡¯d always kept in excellent shape ever since he remembered his previous life or taken over this body, he still isn¡¯t sure which, and hunting is more walking than actual fighting, not that the actual combat will last more than a couple minutes, even with groups of mobs. If he hadn¡¯t been using his full strength to fight each monster, he wouldn¡¯t even be particularly tired.


    ¡°Well if you keep playing, you may end up becoming a bit less round,¡± he teases his sister.


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not my fault food is so delicious and exercise sucks so much.¡±


    ¡°Well this game gives you a good workout while you¡¯re passed out, so at least you¡¯ll be enjoying the exercise now.¡±


    Lynna smiles, she is definitely enjoying this new form of exercise.


    ¡°So what is the point of joining a school anyway? You can buy all the body skills at the big store or the trading kiosk.¡±


    ¡°Yeah you can get those, but they don¡¯t sell any active abilities. You¡¯ll need to join a school or buy from other players to get those, and right now the prices for active abilities are inflated like crazy. It takes me the equivalent of fifty crystals of the same rank for an active ability, while they¡¯re selling for over two hundred right now.¡±


    Sen nods in understanding, then he and Lynna soon agree to meet at the entrance of the Lotus school she had chosen.

 Chapter 7: Friends

    As Sen¡¯s view is replaced with the familiar city, he has Tir call him one of the automated vehicles and starts towards the Lotus school. The drive doesn¡¯t take long, and he hops out of the tall car with a spring in his step. He always likes working with his sister in games, and the two have eventually gained a tacit understanding of each others playstyle. Though their double DPS combination often causes some trouble with harder content, which they make up for with a few of their other online friends.


    Sen has no real offline friends considering he is tutored at home, though not for his parents lack of trying. His parents had tried for a while to get people to play with him, but ever since he¡¯d become both Damien and Sen, it has been¡­ rough to get along with other children. There had been a grand total of one he had enjoyed hanging out with, and she was banned from meeting him by her parents after he got her addicted to immersion games. After a while, his parents had given up on him and now allow him to continue his hikikomori lifestyle.


    His sister, on the other hand, goes to a private school, and has plenty of friends, and while immersion video games are amazingly ubiquitous, a good seventy percent of the population playing them, his sister is far, far better at them than her real life friends. This leads to her playing more with Sen than her real life friends, though she will still regularly go do some easier content with them.


    Once he arrives at the lotus school, he is surprised to see it look like a large complex, filled with three to five story concrete buildings, and looking around, he sees that all the surrounding areas are filled with similar complexes, each of them having banners flowing in the wind. The banner for the lotus school is a yellow lotus blossom on a sky blue background.


    He waits for a bit, and soon sees his sister coming out of one of the buildings, along with a couple of other girls and a guy. He waves to her, and she speeds up her walk a bit to join him. She arrives a few seconds ahead of the others with a short ¡°hi!¡±.


    As the others arrive, she begins to introduce them. The first girl is named Xue, and is tall, with a slightly masculine face, her look that is only moderately feminine betrayed by her considerable assets. She seems to be around seventeen, though Sen had never been considerably good at judging a person¡¯s age. Apparently she is a schoolmate of Lynna¡¯s who has recently transferred in, and according to Lynna she is quite good at immersion games. She has eyes and hair a shade brighter than pitch black, and she gives him a once over before dismissing him.


    The other girl is short, with her striking green eyes, which contrast with her curly reddish brown hair. She looks to be around sixteen, a bit older than Sen. Her breasts aren¡¯t as pronounced Xue¡¯s, but she is no way small, and Lynna introduces her as Jennifer, before mentioning that he may know her as Jade. She cheerfully greets him, and he returns the greeting with a smile. He¡¯s played quite a few games with Jade, or Jennifer as he supposed he should now call her, as she was an online friend of himself and his sister. They¡¯d met in an old immersion MMORPG, and they¡¯d stuck together ever since.


    Finally, John is introduced. He has an unremarkable face, with brown hair and eyes, and looks quite annoyed with Sen for some reason. He looks a bit older than the rest of the group, maybe eighteen or nineteen. Sen simply ignores the provocative gaze. He¡¯s earned quite the reputation in a few games, and he is used to the negative attention that would come with it.


    ¡°So what¡¯s with the group? The monsters aren¡¯t exactly numerous enough to need one.¡±


    Lynna gives out a smirk. ¡°Well maybe you¡¯ve just been going to the wrong places. The grassland and forest to the north may only have individual monsters, but if you go to the east, they¡¯ll actually form herds, giving us plenty of things to hunt.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s more like it!¡± Sen excitedly says.


    ¡°Well let¡¯s get going,¡± Jennifer happily says.


    Lynna has her guide call one of the automated vehicles, and they are soon on their way to the east. Along the way, Sen gets to learn a decent bit more about active skills. It seems that controlling your energy in a certain pattern in or around your body will allow you to do superhuman things. While none of the group has even come close to mastering a skill, they are able to use them to a certain extent. This is in direct contrast to Sen, who has gotten nowhere with his body skill.


    They soon arrive at another grassland, and he discusses going into the forest instead with the group, but finds out that, excluding Xue, they only have have one of their stats at F rank, energy, where everyone starts at F. Sen grins at his sister, mentioning how all of his stats started at rank F, and gets a glare in return from both Lynna and Jennifer.


    Sen takes out his dagger, as his sword will be overkill for the bunnies he is going to be fighting. It takes a while to find their first prey, and the first sign they find is a clearing made in the chest high grass. Looking to the clearing, the group sees a group of around ten horned rabbits munching on the grass at the other edge of the clearing.


    John looks a bit nervous, and Sen wonders if this is his first immersion game. The group doesn¡¯t bother to make any plan, and simply charges the bunnies, which upon noticing them, charge back at the group.


    Two of them jump at Sen, and he easily dispatches the first while dodging the second, before turning around and stabbing the second rabbit in the back.


    He looks around to check that everyone is ok, and sees that Lynna, Xue, and Jennifer have each dispatched two rabbits as well. John on the other hand, is failing horribly. He¡¯s more flailing his sword than swinging it, and he makes massive motions to dodge the rabbit every time it jumps at him. He even uses some sort of skill that speeds him up and still isn¡¯t able to kill the bunny.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Sen snickers as Xue kills her third rabbit, and then they simply watch for almost a minute before John manages to kill his single rabbit, his body soaked in sweat. The group then continues, ignoring John who seems to want to take a break after the single fight.


    Once they are done fighting, John looks around and looks a bit ill. He is obviously over sixteen, and apparently hasn¡¯t enabled the censorship, as the only reason to react like that would be if he is seeing the full gory details. The monsters do their sparkling animation, and John seems to look a bit less pale as the bodies disappear.


    They come across a few more groups, all of them having between eight and thirteen rabbits, which are easily dispatched - aside from those that attack John. They then start running into groups of goblins, but as the groups of goblins tend to be quite loud, Sen is always able to summon his sword from his inventory and defeat the goblins who choose to attack him slightly more quickly than anyone else, the reach of his sword giving him an advantage in quickly dispatching them compared to the longswords the rest of the group are using.


    He is a bit jealous that the rest of the group can simply keep their swords out on their waist, and that their swords are more useful against small prey like the rabbits. He quickly dismisses his misplaced jealousy though, there are tradeoffs to everything.


    Surprisingly, John does much better against the goblins than he had against the rabbits, likely due to the fact that they are slower and bigger targets, though he does get a few cuts on himself. They continue hunting, even with John being wounded, and they eventually get to the point that less common monsters are appearing, though goblins are still the predominant monster in this area.


    After a few groups of goblins, John gives up and fast travels back to Falan, as he is too heavily wounded to continue. Once he is gone, Sen decides to learn why a total noob had ended up in the group.


    ¡°So what is up with John? He seems pretty new to immersion games,¡± Sen said, trying not to let his annoyance with the deadweight show.


    Jennifer shrugs. ¡°His dad is a good friend of my father. He¡¯s not a bad guy, but this is his first immersion game.¡±


    Lynna snickers. ¡°He joined just to chase Jennifer around, it¡¯s sort of adorable how he acts like a puppy following her around.¡±


    Jennifer wryly smiles, a stark difference to her usual constant cheerfulness. ¡°Yeah, there¡¯s no way I could see him like that though.¡±


    Sen felt a bit bad for him. His initial annoyance at Sen must have been due to how cheerfully Jennifer had greeted him, even though it was simply due to having played games with him for so long. While the conversation goes on, Xue simply looks around, remaining alert for anything that may happen.


    They continue hunting for another thirty minutes, pulling in a good haul of energy crystals before they decide to head back to Falan. Once there, they all go to sell the loot they¡¯ve acquired. Sen ends up with a large pile of goblin energy crystals, and instantly decides to buy some rare G rank cores at the energy crystal store.


    Lynna decides to come with him, while the other two say their goodbyes for now and log off to get more caffeine. Sen grins, it seems quite a few people are pulling all nighters for this game. He arrives at the crystal store, and sees it is just as gaudy as the clerk had mentioned.


    It¡¯s a painfully bright blue, with gold accents everywhere, and is built almost like a cathedral, with towers rising from each of the four corners. Once he gets inside, he is greeted by a tall, arched ceiling, and glass cases throughout the store, each of them having a different selection of crystals. Looking around, he sees it is organized by rank, from G to C, though there are none above that.


    Sen assumes that the higher level crystals will need to be acquired by the players themselves, as just being able to infinitely level up by trading up lower ranked cores would be a bit silly. There are hundreds of different cores in each section, and each section is itself subdivided into what stat the cores raise the most. The energy section is the smallest, with only around two dozen different cores, while the most common is the ¡°mixed¡± section, which has almost fifty different choices.


    Sen is impressed by how many different options the devs have included. While the higher level monsters seem to usually be variants of lower level, it must have been incredibly hard to include so much variety.


    Sen goes up to the counter with Lynna, and he notices that as they approach the counter, Lynna disappears, so it must be one of the instanced areas. He wonders for a bit why they hadn¡¯t instanced the place where he sold his loot drops, but quickly drops the thought in his excitement to get some new crystals.


    ¡°So how does this work? I just pay you in crystals, and get different kinds?¡±


    ¡°Yes. We have a variety of cores here at the the crystal emporium, which range in price from one and a half to five base crystals. As a general rule, crystals which will increase energy are the most expensive.¡±


    ¡°Hey Tir, what does the energy stat even do?¡±


    ¡°It increases the energy you can use for skills. With each increase in energy, you can have another body skill, and you will require large amounts of energy to use higher level skills.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d like to trade in twenty rank G base cores, and twelve G rank horned rabbit cores for a variety of speed increasing cores please.¡± He doesn¡¯t really need to increase his energy stat at the moment, as he he hasn¡¯t even gotten started with his body skill, and the only skill he has that will actively burn energy is body strengthening, which he could use for a good five minutes before running low on energy. While it would be nice if he could use it longer, it isn¡¯t a priority for him.


    The man nodded, and opened a trade window. There are seventeen crystals on the other side of the trade window, two of each kind, with the exclusion of one. Sen figures that these must be the cheapest type of crystals, and presses the accept button.


    The second he gets his new energy crystals, he wants to down them, but decides to wait until he¡¯s outside to do so. As he walks away from the counter, people start to fade into view, and it isn¡¯t long until he sees Lynna again.


    ¡°How many crystals did you get?¡± Sen asks her.


    ¡°Only five. It¡¯s a lot more expensive to increase your energy stat, and I still have to trade in some of my crystals for contribution points for the school,¡± Lynna complains.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it¡¯ll all pay off in the end,¡± Sen tries to comfort her.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure it will!¡± Apparently, Lynna doesn¡¯t need much comforting.


    Once the two of them are out of the shop, they take the new crystals they bought and down them, enjoying the different flavors, as if they were a type of candy. Sen is disappointed when his speed stays at the F rank, but figures it¡¯s only a matter of time to get it higher.


    ¡°Wanna keep hunting with me? We could try heading into the forest.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d join you, but I¡¯m utterly exhausted. I think I¡¯m going to just log off and relax in a bath. I¡¯m going to cry when I get out and I¡¯m still sore,¡± Lynna said.


    Sen grimaces, now he thinks about it, he is pretty exhausted at this point too. He can¡¯t go to bed unless he really wanted to screw up his sleep schedule though. Eventually, he settles on practicing that stupid bone skill that he¡¯d acquired. The rest of the day flows by, only taking breaks for meals and other biological needs, as just as when he first practiced the bone skill, time seems to flow by impossibly fast. Eventually, it is time for the family dinner, and he logs off to join all of his family in their daily tradition.

 Chapter 8: Conspiracy

    Getting out of the capsule is painful with his strained muscles, and he is quite glad that the lid to it opens automatically rather than having to push it up. He shambles his way to the dining room, a mixture of lack of sleep and the workout that the capsule gives him making him feel like he is dying.


    He arrives as the massive hardwood table, with plates already set up, a roast lamb set up on a platter in the middle of the table. His sister soon copies the shuffle he had done earlier as she makes her way to her seat. His father is seated at the head of the table, and everyone is grouped up on that half of the table, his mother and sister two the two sides of his father, with Sen slightly further out next to Lynna.


    His father soon distributes the food, and everyone starts to eat, both Sen and Lynna devouring the food as fast as they can, the exercise from the capsule making their appetites very heavy. The meal is held in silence for a bit, until everyone starts to slow down for conversation.


    His father places his knife and fork to the sides of his plate, and wipes his napkin before starting. ¡°So the both of you stayed up all night playing that new game I take it?¡±


    Sen and Lynna wince in sync. Their parents aren¡¯t fans of their gaming, and only allow it because they both do an excellent job with their studies. Sen looks up, expecting to see disappointment, or annoyance in his father¡¯s expression, but instead is greeted by a worried, pensive look.


    ¡°Do your best in that ¡®game¡¯.¡± His father says, focusing his speech on the word game so that the word is almost twisted into something else. ¡°I¡¯m not allowed to tell you anything, but that ¡®game¡¯ is going to be very important soon.¡± Tien says, again pushing the pronunciation of game.


    Sen thinks for a moment, his father is one of the senators for Centrum, and has quite a few connections. He clearly knows something but isn¡¯t allowed to say it. Sen¡¯s brow creases, what the hell is going on? His father has always allowed them to play games, but he would never, ever, encourage them to play them.


    ¡°I still expect you to keep up with your schoolwork, but I suggest you spend as much time as you can in that damned thing,¡± Tien says in a defeated tone that matches his face. Jiu seems to be as confused by the revelation as Lynna and Sen are, her eyes practically bulging in surprise. She is the only reason Lynna and Sen are even allowed to play games, so seeing her husband encouraging them is utterly mind boggling for her.


    The rest of the meal passes with everyone in confusion, and Lynna and Sen decide to go to bed, as it¡¯s late enough in the day that their sleep schedules won¡¯t be too messed up. Sen plops down onto his queen mattress with a plain blue comforter, and tries to come up with any reason that his father will be encouraging him to play fifth dimension.


    He starts to feel like a conspiracy nut as he wonders if maybe it actually does have to do with aliens or a government conspiracy, but with his father¡¯s position, those ideas may not be too far fetched. He tries to get some sleep, but even with the exhaustion he¡¯s feeling from the lack of sleep and exercise from the capsule, he can¡¯t seem to drift off into the land of dreams.


    Getting up, he hops onto his computer, looking through the forums for any information about the game that would have caused his father¡¯s reaction. He doesn¡¯t find what he¡¯s looking for, but everything being talked about is a bit too¡­ clean. All of the conspiracy theories about the company seem to have disappeared into thin air, and he can¡¯t find a lot of the posts that he had looked at before.


    Clearly, there is something going on that is important enough to have some kind of cover-up. He starts looking at new posts in an attempt to find things before they get censored, but nothing shows up, and even making a post himself it disappears into the internet without actually being posted.


    He eventually gives up and goes to bed even more stressed out than before, and drifts into a restless sleep filled with dreams of aliens and secret government projects. Waking in the morning is misery to him, the alarm he¡¯d set to play more going off far before he¡¯s had enough sleep. He slowly opens his eyes, and the fuzziness of the world fades into the sharp contours and bright colors of his well-lit room, the lights having come on with the alarm.


    Looking outside, it¡¯s still dark, and his muscles are aching from all the exertion yesterday, but he¡¯s determined to spend as much time in game as he can for the rest of this weekend, even more so now that his father has encouraged him. His father saying something like he had the night before meant that doing well in the game is definitely going to be important, and with his highly competitive nature, this will simply drive him even more to be the best.


    He does a quick stop by the restroom to keep up his personal hygiene, before walking back to his room and lying down in the plain white capsule and pressing the button for it to close over him. Once he¡¯s back in game, a quick look over his physical condition shows he probably won¡¯t be able to do much hunting today. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    The question becomes what to do if he can¡¯t be hunting for too much. In a week or two he¡¯ll have adjusted to the strain a bit better, but for now he needs a restful day.


    ¡°Hey Tir, what should I do if I¡¯m not hunting?¡±


    ¡°Join a school, play the market, learn a trade.¡±


    ¡°What trades are there?¡±


    ¡°The big three are alchemy, energy smithing, and array formation.¡±


    ¡°And those are?¡±


    ¡°Alchemy is using plants and monster parts to create potions, pills, and powders which have a variety of effects. Energy smithing is learning to input energy in certain patterns into a blade as it is cast or forged. Array formation is creating objects that cause energy resonance with each other to create various effects.¡±


    Sen isn¡¯t particularly interested in the first two, he¡¯d tried alchemy and smithing before, and found it was usually overly simplified, or stupidly complicated. He had the feeling that this game would definitely be the latter. He hadn¡¯t heard of array formation though. ¡°Various effects?¡±


    ¡°Arrays can do anything from increasing the control one has over their energy, to creating areas that will bewilder or even kill anything that steps inside.¡±


    Sen was starting to get interested. Increasing his control over energy would be massively helpful with practicing bones like air, and setting up arrays to lure monsters in could be quite fun as well. ¡°So where would I go to learn arrays?¡±


    ¡°A school of course.¡±


    Sen will have banged his head against a wall if he isn¡¯t standing in the middle of an open square. ¡°Why would you say there¡¯s three options when I have to go to a school to learn a trade?¡±


    ¡°Arrays are the only trade that require a school. The others you learn in the commercial district.¡±


    Sen grunted. That sort of made sense. He asks Tir a bit about the different schools he could learn arrays at, and eventually settles on a school named ¡°Mountain¡¯s Peak¡±. The reason he chooses this school isn¡¯t actually for arrays, as all schools will have classes to learn arrays from, but because this school is one of the two which focus on two handed sword techniques. He¡¯d decided on Mountain¡¯s Peak instead of Inferno Ocean simply because Mountain¡¯s Peak is only a single building down from the Lotus school.


    He has Tir call him a vehicle, and is soon being driven to the part of the city that held the schools. He can see the Lotus banners waving in the breeze a couple complexes down, and looks to the school he plans to join. The buildings seem more squat than those of the complexes around, with dull red roofed tiles atop each of the buildings, and a mountain peak in the clouds upon a maroon color for their banner.


    He stepped inside along with quite a few other people, and soon sees an old man behind a counter off to the side, with a short line in front of him. He gets in line behind a tall, bulky man, and is soon at the front.


    ¡°Hi, I¡¯d like to join the school?¡±


    The man behind the counter glances him over, nods his head, and passes over a booklet and a pin. ¡°The rules are in the booklet, wear the pin on you at all times, class times and map are also in the booklet. Get along.¡±


    Sen is a bit confused at how brief the conversation was, but steps off to the side and opens up the booklet regardless. The first few pages were a map with a guide to what each of the buildings was for. They have a trading area for trading in loot drops and energy crystals for contribution points, and paying contribution points for different skills and items, there is an array area, where they could use contribution points to enter arrays that would assist with the flow of energy, perfect for practicing skills, and a few classrooms.


    The next two pages are class schedules, which will be hands on teaching for skills. Most of the classes are free, but only teach basic skills, while the more advanced ones also require contribution points. Interestingly, the skills that modify your body are one of the free options, but seeing as how there are only two short classes a day, it will take ages to learn it that way.


    The last few pages are rules, which are just common courtesy things, like don¡¯t run around naked, and don¡¯t murder your schoolmates. He is about to close it when he sees a ¡°Competitions¡± page at the very back.


    There are both within and without school competitions, which will be held at the city¡¯s arena, where there is no death penalty for losing. Sen is instantly interested. He hasn¡¯t known how the competitive PVP would work, and while there is no ban on open-world PVP, he¡¯s always been the type to prefer a competitive environment rather than the free-form PVP experience you get from the open world.


    The prizes vary from skills to rare energy crystals, all of which interest him as well. At a quick look, the first competition will be tomorrow, and Sen instantly decides to enter in it. It is extremely unlikely that anyone has a stat over rank E at this point in time, so his swordsmanship will give him a massive advantage over the rest of the playing field.


    Going back to the classes portion of the booklet, he notes that there will be an ¡°arrays for beginners¡± class in thirty minutes, so to burn some time he heads over to the trading area of the school. Once he arrives, he sees a bunch of terminals, so he goes over to one, and sees that they have a list of different things that you could trade in your contribution points for.


    A rank G core will get you five contribution points, a rank F will get you one hundred, a rank E will get you two thousand, and so forth. For a rank F skill, you need five thousand contributions points, which is much cheaper than buying a skill at the player market or one of the stores in the trade district.


    With a quick question to Tir, he learns that you can only trade in cores and drops that you have hunted yourself for contribution points, to make it so that you can¡¯t game the system by amassing all your cores on one person. While you can still give your cores to one person, they will have to pay the increased price at the player market or the NPC stores in the trade district.


    He is enjoying looking through all the skills available, until his alarm he had set to get to the array class goes off.

 Chapter 9: Biggest Fan

    He is hurrying to the class, staring down at the map on the booklet, when he knocks into someone who is doing the same thing as him, sticking their nose in the booklet while walking around. With Sen¡¯s stable footing however, he has basically bowled her over.


    ¡°So sorry! Are you okay?¡±


    ¡°Ow, yeah, just skinned my hands a bit.¡±


    ¡°Sorry, let me help you up.¡±


    As Sen grabs her hands to help her up, he notices he recognizes her.


    ¡°Julie?¡±


    ¡°Sen?¡±


    Julie Kelly had been one of the kids his parents tried to get him to hang out with, and the only one who he had actually enjoyed spending time with. She has genius level intellect, and it is her parents that stopped them hanging out together as ¡°He¡¯s a bad influence on her¡±. He¡¯d only convinced her to play a few games with him, so he is surprised that she is playing Fifth Dimension. He wonders for a bit if her parents had knew the same thing as his father. They are both famous scientists, so it wouldn¡¯t be surprising if they knew about whatever it is that is going on.


    She is older than him by two years, only a year younger than his sister, and is homeschooled much the way Sen is, though he is certain that she had been doing college level material back when she should have been in middle school.


    Currently, she has grown up quite a bit compared to when he first met her. She won¡¯t be described as beautiful, but cute was a fitting descriptor, with brown hair cut around her shoulders, and hazel eyes that shine with intelligence. She is wearing the same grey shirt and jeans that everyone starts with, even though most people have bought more stylish clothes or armor by now.


    ¡°It¡¯s been quite some time,¡± Sen starts with a smile. ¡°How have you been, and more importantly, how did you convince your parents to let you play this?¡±


    She looks a bit uncomfortable. ¡°It was actually my parents that decided to have me play, I managed to grind them down enough to let me play other games, but they¡¯re the ones who bought me the capsule for Fifth Dimension of their own volition. I nearly had a heart attack when they actually asked me to play a video game!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, my father has been encouraging me to play as well. Any idea what¡¯s going on?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, but my parents seemed to be quite nervous about whatever it is.¡±


    The two of them share a frown.


    ¡°Crap!¡± I¡¯m going to be late for the class!¡±


    Julie blinks at that, then starts running in the same direction Sen is. They soon both arrive at the classroom that would be housing the arrays class, and Sen holds open the door for her. They enter, and see that there are only two other people there. One is a man who looks like he could have been alive when humanity first arrived at Alpha, while the other is a baby faced man sitting in one of the the many chairs, making the room feel even more deserted than if it were empty.


    They make their way to the seating, getting front row seating with no competition. Once they¡¯re seated, the ancient man starts the lesson.


    ¡°Arrays are, in short, ways to make the ambient energy in the air resonate with other things. This can be done with special patterns, certain items, and by channeling the energy of crystals into those patterns or items.¡±


    The man then starts to get into the common items and patterns used, and Sen is having trouble remembering even the slightest bit of the lecture. Looking over, he sees Julie utterly engrossed by the lecture, studiously taking notes on a notepad she has pulled from her inventory, her brown hair swaying with the constant turning for her head from her notebook to the teacher.


    Sen sits for the rest of the lecture, but decides that arrays are most definitely not for him. As interesting as the idea of them is, the actual learning of it is a bit too in depth for his taste. He¡¯ll stick to just hitting things with his sword. Thinking about it though, he¡¯s a bit too tired to hit things with his sword, especially considering how little sleep he¡¯d gotten. After logging out and getting some coffee and food though, he feels much better.


    Figuring it won¡¯t hurt to practice that stupid bone enhancement skill, he gets a practice room, and loses himself in trying to imitate the swirls, flows both slow and fast, and small eddies that seem almost like wind flowing within his bones. He makes a surprising amount of progress in a short few hours, but isn¡¯t able to get it accurate enough to have it lock into place and flow on its own before he feels rested enough to go hunting again.


    Calling up Lynna on his friends list, she soon agrees to join him, and he even manages to convince her to join him in going into the forest, though he agrees to allow the group to back out if they feel it¡¯s too much. Grinning, he walks over to the front of the Lotus school, meeting up with Lynna, Xue, Jennifer, and John at the entrance. Lynna has her guide call one of the automated vehicles, and they¡¯re soon on their way to the forest.


    This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.


    ¡°Are we really going to the forest?¡± John asks in a nervous tone of voice.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to come with us you know,¡± Jennifer replies.


    ¡°How could I leave you on your own? A man has to be brave,¡± John says in a not very brave voice.


    Sen holds in a snicker. He isn¡¯t sure why John is so fixated on Jennifer, but at least it¡¯s amusing to watch. Lynna looks a bit awkward at the conversation, while Xue simply sits there with a cold look on her face, making Sen wonder how Lynna had even convinced her to join the group. Deciding to find out the answer, he simply asks.


    ¡°Hey Xue, what made you decide to group with us anyway?¡±


    ¡°She beat me in Gladiator, and She¡¯s AncientSword¡¯s duo partner in it. I need a skilled group, and I knew she was good enough for it.¡±


    Sen is slowly getting an odd look on his face. She was clearly impressed by AncientSword, that is to say, Sen. Sen looks over to see Lynna snickering.


    ¡°You know you could have told her.¡±


    ¡°But this is just so much more fun!¡± Lynna replies with a mischievous grin on her face.


    ¡°I¡¯m sort of scared to tell her.¡±


    ¡°Oh come on, I want to see her expression. She hasn¡¯t looked like anything but this ever since she transferred to my school.¡±


    Xue is looking on, still with her cold expression, though Sen will have expected her to at least show a little of her supposed confusion. Sen reluctantly raises his hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m AncientSword.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit,¡± Xue surprisingly replies.


    Sen lets out a bit of a grin, maybe there was something to his sister¡¯s plan.


    ¡°What¡¯s your gladiator username?¡± Sen asks her.


    ¡°BladeDancer¡± Sen¡¯s eyes widen at that, she¡¯d started playing about when he had stopped, and she¡¯d reached the top fifty in the leaderboards.


    Sen has the car stopped, asks her to log off, then logs off himself. He grabs the helmet used for the so much less immersive games he used to play, and logs himself into gladiator. He instantly sends a friend request to Xue, and it is quickly accepts.


    ¡®Told you,¡¯ He sends before logging out and going back to Fifth dimension.


    Once he¡¯s back in, he¡¯s next to the parked car, with Lynna sporting a massive grin, and Jennifer a smaller smile on her face, with John simply looking confused.


    ¡°What¡¯s with the AncientSword thing?¡±


    ¡°He was a bit famous in the game Gladiator. A lot of people thought he would end up topping the leaderboards, and then he disappeared when Fifth Dimension was announced.¡±


    ¡°So?¡± John asks.


    Jennifer gives the noob a bit of a stare. ¡°He¡¯s good at games.¡±


    At this point, Xue appears before them, and stares at Sen a bit. He expects her to show a bit of surprise, but is surprised himself when a blush starts creeping up her face.


    ¡°I¡¯m a big fan! Please fight me!¡±


    Sen jerks back a bit in surprise. That¡­ is not what he had expected. ¡°If you want to pvp sometime, we can go to the arena. There¡¯s no death penalty there.¡±


    ¡°Thanks!¡± Xue says, actually smiling for the first time he¡¯s seen her.


    Sen lets out a stunted ¡°No problem,¡± before hopping back in the car, feeling a bit awkward. He is used to a bit of fame online due to being good at fighting, but this is the most exaggerated reaction he¡¯s seen so far, and from a girl he¡¯d thought expressionless.


    They get back into the car, John still looking a bit confused, and Lynna still giggling. ¡°It¡¯s just a game, right?¡± John asks.


    ¡°Not this one.¡± Xue replies.


    Sen¡¯s eyes snap to her. ¡°Do you know what¡¯s going on?¡±


    Xue is back to her cold face as she replies. ¡°I can¡¯t say.¡±


    Sen sighs. It seems he won¡¯t learn what is going for quite a while. They sit in silence, John¡¯s look of confusion not fading until they arrive at the forest.


    ¡°Ok, we¡¯re going to stay at the outskirts. It¡¯s almost all F ranked monsters there, and we can handle them. If we run into anything bigger, let¡¯s just hope we don¡¯t die,¡± Lynna led the group.


    Everyone nods, and they start into the forest. The first monster is a pair of spike panthers, which are easily dispatched by Jennifer and Xue after Sen calls out the attack. Everyone is silent as they continue. John tries to make small talk at the beginning, but gives up as he is simply ignored in favor of keeping a sharp lookout.


    Howls start to sound throughout the forest as they continue, and everyone begins to tense up in preparation for a fight as they approach. They keep looking around as wolves start to approach, dancing in and out of their vision behind the massive trees. Sen grips his sword tighter, and the group circles up, everyone facing a different direction as the wolves start to circle around them. He can barely get a good view, but the wolves are a dappled brown, their shading blending in with the forest surroundings. Each one is large for a wolf, maybe four feet tall, and surprisingly muscled.


    The first one eventually grows brave enough to attack, running towards Xue barely just barely under the speed their eyes can track it. As quick as it is, her sword is faster, interposing itself in between the two, letting the speed of the wolf impale itself upon her blade. Then all hell breaks out. The wolves seem to move in in unison, charging from all directions.


    Sen is waving his blade as quickly as he can, using body strengthening to increase the speed at which he can move, and still barely able to keep up with the numbers. He will swing at one wolf, wounding it, only to be forced to swing at another as it closes on him, keeping him from dealing fatal blows. The others look to be having just as much trouble, especially John, who is already bleeding from both arms and a leg.


    Sen keeps his steady fighting, focusing more on defense than offense, willing to give up a kill in order to not take any wounds, but his defense isn¡¯t perfect, and he takes claws to his legs as he chops a different wolf in half, the blue line splitting it through its waist. The pressure slowly lets up as more and more of the wolves become wounded. Eventually, the group turns to offense rather than passively defending, and they down wolf after wolf, not letting any of them get away.


    Sen looks around. Everyone is wounded here and there, but there are no major injuries except for John, who seems to be slowly bleeding to death, the flashing bleeding icon over his head exacerbated by his pale face.


    ¡°Anyone bring any healing items?¡± Sen asked, feeling sorry for the noob.


    He¡¯s greeted by a chorus of no¡¯s. ¡°You should probably log off before you die. Does anyone know if wounds stay after you log out?¡±


    So long as you log out in time, your wounds will heal while you¡¯re logged out, even if you¡¯re bleeding to death,¡± Xue says, looking at Sen like he should already know this. Sen feels a bit of a blush rising to his cheeks. He should know, but he¡¯s been too distracted playing the game to check over the mechanics out of game.


    John seems torn looking at Jennifer, but eventually logs off to avoid the fifteen hour lockout. Lynna lets out a snort. ¡°I know he wants to be with you Jennifer, but he really won¡¯t be able to keep up here,¡± she says.


    Jennifer sighs. ¡°I mean, he¡¯s a nice guy and all, but I¡¯m pretty sure the only reason he¡¯s chasing me is because his parents told him to.¡±


    Lynna grimaced. ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s pretty bad.¡±


    Well now he¡¯s gone, shall we continue? ¡° Sen butts into the conversation. Even with his rudeness however, everyone nods, and Lynna and Jennifer both turn serious again.

 Chapter 10: Webbed Forest

    The group walks carefully through the forest, trying to minimize the sound their footsteps make, but the crunching of leaves still regularly breaks the silence. It isn¡¯t long until they find the next group of mobs, which is, to no surprise, a group of hobgoblins. They huddle around to plan, as the monsters haven¡¯t noticed the group with all the grunting they¡¯ve been making. Sen gives a short rundown on hobgoblins to the group.


    ¡°Okay, hobgoblin bones are a hell of a lot tougher than goblins, so with your small swords you¡¯re probably going to have trouble getting through them, so focus on their necks, or try to get in between their ribs. Other than that, they¡¯re basically the same as goblins. Stay together and we¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    Everyone nods, and they rush the hobgoblins, trying to get a few kills from surprise. The hobgoblins don¡¯t notice them until they¡¯re within a few meters, and start turning around just as the group reaches them. Swords start lancing towards their necks, and four of them go down instantly before they¡¯ve gotten themselves together. Sen swings his sword in a wide arc as the hobgoblins start to charge back, catching two of them in the neck, feeling quite a bit of resistance, his body enhancement barely allowing him to cleave through the spine of one, getting caught on the other.


    Sen continues to use wide sweeps, keeping the hobgoblins with their small clubs from getting within a good range of him. Every now and then one will get brave enough to try and charge him, and he either catches it in one of the sweeps, or knocks it back with the pommel of his sword, making it easy prey for the next blow. Everyone else is doing quite well for themselves as well.


    Xue is almost dancing, her sword flashing in and out, intercepting the ironwood clubs and slipping out to spill blood, most often from their necks. Every now and then she uses some skill that seems to make her sword twist in an unnatural manner, and each time she uses it she reaps a life. Lynna and Jennifer are working together, taking turns having one defend and the other attack, picking off a hobgoblin whenever one of them commits to striking at one of them. Their skill seems to be footwork based, as they seem to slide from side to side in order to cover each other.


    It isn¡¯t long until the hobgoblin¡¯s morale breaks, but Sen and the others don¡¯t let a single one get away, using body enhancement to chase them down, Lynna and Jennifer using their footwork ability to chase them down far faster than Xue and Sen.


    At this point, Sen¡¯s really interested in learning some of those skills, and makes a determination to pick some out from his school as soon as he gets back. They finish the fight with only one wound where Lynna had been barely clipped with a club, and wait a while for their breath to calm down before continuing.


    ¡°So how exactly are we supposed to be able to take a break in this forest? We never know when we¡¯re going to be attacked.¡±


    To Sen¡¯s surprise, it¡¯s Tir that answers his question. ¡°It¡¯s normal to have at least one array master to put up an illusion array where you can rest.¡± Sen tilts his head, maybe he shouldn¡¯t have dismissed arrays so quickly after all.


    Apparently, everyone¡¯s guide has informed them about arrays, as Lynna decides to ask about it. ¡°So who wants to learn arrays?¡±


    Sen thinks for a moment, then decides he is going to try and drag Julie into joining the group. She seems to be very interested in the array class, and with her intelligence, she¡¯ll likely understand arrays far faster than Sen will. He mentions the thought to the group, and Lynna seems to be quite happy. She¡¯d enjoyed talking with Julie whenever she came over, even if the three of them spent most of their time together playing games.


    Xue is the first one to notice the sounds, or rather, the lack of sounds all of a sudden. The next thing they hear is a slight crunching of leaves, and something speeds towards them fast enough that it¡¯s a blur rather than a clear image. It charges at Sen, and he only has time to interpose his sword¡¯s handle between them as it bites down. It¡¯s jaws close down on his sword handle, its teeth tearing at the edges of his fingers. Sen will have winced if he wasn¡¯t forced to have the pain setting at ten percent, but as is it barely tickles him.


    The rest of the group reacts in unison, turning towards what they could now see was a larger spine panther with jagged ridges on each of the spines sticking from its back. It twists around as the swords stab towards it, taking only glancing blows. It lets go of the sword handle as it dodges, and dives away into the speckled light of the forest.


    The group forms up as a square, their backs to each other, and wait for it to come to them. The unnaturally silent forest remains, showing it is still there, and it is a tense few minutes before it speeds towards Xue, launching itself from the trunk of one of the trees. Xue notices it in time, and uses her odd sword skill, as her blade seems to twist towards the large spine panther of its own volition.


    The large spine panther is caught by surprise, twisting its body in midair to avoid it, but still taking a deep cut in its flank. The twist knocks it off target, and it lands in front of Jennifer, who slashes forward with her sword, catching it with another glancing blow. The spine panther seems to be enraged at this point, as rather than trying for another ambush, it simply charges towards Jennifer, who is taking steps back as fast as she can with her movement skill, struggling to keep her sword in between the two of them.


    Xue and Sen arrive to the sides of the panther at the same time, her lunging with her sword, and Sen attacking with an overhead chop so as to not hit Jennifer. The panther, paying more attention to Xue than Sen, dodges her pierce, but puts itself squarely in his swing, which cuts in about a quarter of the way into its body before being stopped by the tough flesh.


    The blow leaves a blue line through where its spine is, and as Sen rips his sword from the monster with a kick to it, the light fades from its eyes. It starts to dissolve into blue motes of light not long after.


    ¡°Tir, what the hell was that thing?¡±


    ¡°A mature spine panther, ranked E¡±The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    ¡°That was only a rank E? I can¡¯t wait to see how tough the higher rank monsters are going to be.¡± Sen has a grin slowly spreading across his face.


    ¡°Well we know we can fight above our rank together, we were just lucky it was alone,¡± Lynna chips in.


    ¡°I¡¯m just glad you guys got it before it got me,¡± Jennifer says.


    The group takes another short break, then continues on their hunt, making sure to hang in the edges of the forest, as they don¡¯t want to start running into too many higher level monsters. They run into a few more groups of hobgoblins, then something that Sen really is hoping won¡¯t exist appears. The first sign of them is a webbing covered area, white, thick strands of it appearing between the trees in beautiful patterns.  They¡¯re forced to cut through in order to continue, ruining the beautiful patterns, and they start regretting not bringing some fire to burn through the webs.


    The webbing gets thicker and thicker as they approach, and their swords start to get sticky from the constant cutting of the webbing. Eventually, they come across a group of the denizens of the web filled world.


    The¡¯re giant spiders, if spiders had ten legs, each tipped with a sharp spike, and had a maw full of sharp teeth. They stand about a meter high, their fuzz covered bodies making disturbing movements, almost like their limbs are twisting as they walk. Sen shivers. Gore he can handle, but bugs should never get that big.


    The others give him a funny look as he takes a step back, seeing as he¡¯s always the first to charge into the fight, but the group charges towards the spiders regardless, Sen lagging a bit behind. The spiders let loose an unnatural scream as they come, and scatter around before starting to spit some green liquid at them.


    As the group dodges, the green liquid lands on the ground and trees, making a hissing sound and bubbling as it starts to dissolve anything it hits. Sen shudders as he reaches his first spider and cleaves his sword towards the connection of the two halves of its body. The spider reacts quickly, pushing away, and only losing two legs, which dissolve into blue motes of light not long after.


    For once, Sen is grateful that he has the content filter on, as he doesn¡¯t want to see what color these monstrosities bleed. He steps forward as the wounded spider thing retreats, swinging his sword in a wide arc, his body strengthening accelerating his sword to beyond humanly possible.


    The spider tries to jump above the swing, but is a half beat too slow, losing most of its remaining legs, and Sen stabs downwards with his sword, piercing it where its brain should be. As he pulls his sword from the horror movie reject, he looks around, seeing that his hesitation has cost him in the kill count area, only Lynna not having killed two of them.


    His competitive nature starts to override his disgust, and he rushes towards another of the spiders, which makes that disturbing scream just before spitting another glob of acid at him. He takes a step to the side, dodging the liquid, and lunges forward, spitting the spider onto his sword, but only halfway, making him annoyed again at how tough even level F mobs are without body strengthening. Normally, fighting up ten levels is simple enough for him in most games, but here, he probably wouldn¡¯t even be able to fight anything higher than rank E with his current stats and skills.


    They finish the slaughter of the spiders, and Sen takes as much distance as he can between the dissolving bodies of spiders and his resting spot as he can. Xue is giving him a funny look, as if she can¡¯t believe someone who had fought so aggressively in Gladiator can be disturbed by spiders.


    Sen considers defending himself for a bit, but gives up the thought when he realizes it would just sound like he is making excuses. The group rests for a while, then continues their trek deeper into the web filled area, much to Sen¡¯s disapproval. They come across a couple more groups of spiders, all smaller than the first, and after each fight Sen unhappily swallows their energy crystals, trying to not be disgusted by the sweet lemony flavor, repeating a mantra of ¡®It¡¯s only an item drop, it isn¡¯t connected to the spider¡¯. He is a bit mollified that after eating two of them his speed stat goes up to E, matching his strength. The only one left to raise is energy.


    After a bit, they run into a large group of maybe twelve players. Sen and his group are planning on ignoring them, until one of them recognizes Sen.


    ¡°Hey! You¡¯re that asshole that killed us!¡±


    Sen groans. It¡¯s those idiots from King again. The two groups back away from each other, each raising their weapons.


    ¡°This is the guy you killed you earlier?¡± The man in the front who looks like the leader asks. He¡¯s tall, with boring brown hair and eyes, and is wearing leather armor, unlike the rest of the group who waers only in plain clothing, along with an armband with an image of a crown on it. He turns to Sen. ¡°So I heard you randomly attacked them.¡±


    Sen snorts. ¡°Why would I bother? They asked me to hand over all my crystals, then surrounded me. Should I have just acted like a dog and rolled over?¡±


    The man looks back at the person who had recognized Sen, who has turned a little red. Apparently he hadn¡¯t told the truth to his superior. ¡°Well I¡¯m afraid that this area is controlled by King, I¡¯ll have to ask you to hunt somewhere else.¡±


    Sen is almost tempted to agree, simply because he would definitely not mind leaving the spider infested forest, but he would never back down from something like this, one of the reasons that had lead to him clashing with King so often in other games. Looking to Lynna, she nods, an angry look on her face. She¡¯d been harassed pretty badly in one of her games after she hadn¡¯t agreed to be their sub-leader¡¯s girlfriend, and she and Sen have an absolute loathing for the guild because of it.


    Looking over to Xue and Jennifer, Xue has her usual cold expression on her face, but seems plenty up for a fight, while Jennifer seems to share Lynna¡¯s distaste for the guild.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that we¡¯re going to keep hunting here, feel free to try and stop us.¡±


    The man shrugs, then raises his sword and the two groups start to slowly approach each other. Once they get closer, Sen stamps down on the ground as hard as he can with his body enhanced by energy, launching himself at one of the enemies who is using a longsword. Sen swings his sword down in a brutal chop, which knocks them completely off balance, and Sen capitalizes on as his sword bounces off the opponent¡¯s blade, reversing the force with a short turn of the blade and cleaving downward again. This strike isn¡¯t as forceful as his previous, but with nothing between him and the opponent, it still chops deep into their skull.


    He dodges backwards, his sword easily slipping from the skull he¡¯s just chopped into as he avoids the clumsy blows from the left and right. Swinging his sword to the right, he cuts through an arm before his short strike is stopped by the man in armor. The man waves off the ones who attacked him, squaring up to face Sen.


    Sen takes up his sword stance, his blade held overhead as he sizes up the man in armor. He¡¯s holding his sword with one hand, the other holding a wooden shield, and his eyes are focused on the fight to come. Sen cleaves downward as they both step forward, and the man raises his shield to block the blow. He clearly underestimates the force behind it though, likely only having F rank strength while Sen has gotten his to E, and he staggers under the force, his shield hitting him in the head.


    Sen uses the recoil from the blow to twist his sword off to the side before twisting it again towards his chest, and the man barely interposes his sword to parry, jumping backwards to reduce the force. Sen follows closely, and his next chop goes towards the man¡¯s ankles. The man moves his shield, but not quickly enough, and loses one of his feet, at which point Sen finishes him off, not one to showboat or gloat.


    Looking around, he sees that all the other enemies have been finished off. While they may have outnumbered his group, they were getting in each others way more than actually helping each other, and the only one who isn¡¯t completely useless is the one Sen has killed.


    Lynna has a big grin on her face from the slaughter, while Xue is sporting her usual cold expression as she wipes her sword off. Jennifer¡¯s smile is small, but noticeably there, but the girls all frown when they find out that one doesn¡¯t get anything from killing other players.


    After a short discussion, they decide to keep hunting for a while, and continue into the web infested forest. They run into a couple other groups of King, and sometimes they¡¯re ignored, but whenever they¡¯re challenged they wipe the group out. They get a couple of light wounds, but gamers with no skills aren¡¯t even a challenge for them in most cases.


    Eventually, they¡¯re all quite worn out, and they fast travel back to Falan.

 Chapter 11: Skills

    Back at the city, they all agree to log off and meet up in an hour. Sen takes care of his needs, then goes and has a short meal with his sister. They agree over the meal that the E ranked core should be sold for F ranked cores, and that they should split them evenly for everyone, as Sen only happened to get the final blow.


    While waiting for the time to meet up, Sen goes back online, picking up a little more information about the game. Nobody has succeeded in cultivating a body enhancement skill at this point in time, or at least, if anyone has, they haven¡¯t posted about it, so what exactly they grant you is a mystery.


    Eventually, he gets sick of the same three posts being repeated over and over. ¡®Why am I sore?¡¯ ¡®How do I learn skills¡¯ and ¡®powelevel me plz¡¯ are repeated in different words over and over. Sen shuts off the computer, and goes to the capsule. It¡¯s a bit early, but he can just wait in game.


    As the arena that comprises his home space changes to the square, he¡¯s impressed by how full the square is. It had quite a few people before, but now it is simply packed. He shoots off a message to everyone in his group saying to meet up in front of the store where they will sell the drops. He squeezes his way through the crowd, and has Tir call him one of the automated vehicles to bring him to the market district.


    Once he arrives, he checks his messages, and sees they everyone except Lynna has already logged on and agreed to the meeting place. It isn¡¯t long until Xue and Jennifer arrive in the same vehicle, and Jennifer waves to Sen as Xue just walks over. They wait about five minutes before Lynna arrives.


    ¡°Did you know there is a party system?¡± are the first words out of her mouth.


    The group shakes their heads in a negative.


    ¡°Well there is. The only thing it does is make it so you all enter the same instance though.¡± She quickly invites the group to a party, and everyone accepts.


    ¡°Tir, why didn¡¯t you tell me about parties?¡±


    ¡°It didn¡¯t seem relevant, parties come into play when you get to instanced dungeons, which are only found at rank E and above.¡±


    Sen sighs, at least there is a valid reason for not informing him. As the group enters the massive gaudy store, they see the number of people coming in and out is significantly greater than the number of people actually in it. It seems that the store is instanced after all. They all get in line, and wait for the short amount of time it takes to get to the front, then sell all of their random loot drops.


    Once they have gotten some crystals, they all head over to the energy crystal store, and trade in their base crystals for ones they needed. The E ranked crystal gets all of them three rarer F ranked crystals, and after everyone downs the crystals that they traded for, all the others have gotten their stats up to or above F rank, with a single E rank for both Jennifer and Lynna, while Xue, who had started at F rank in all her stats had gotten both her speed and strength up to E.


    Sen has done the most hunting, so with the cores he buys he is able to get his energy stat up to E to match his strength and speed.. They all make sure to save some of their crystals for contribution points, and they soon all hop in an automated vehicle to get over to their respective schools.


    Once there, Sen trades in the twenty rank F hobgoblin cores left over from his purchases, getting two thousand contribution points, which isn¡¯t enough for an F ranked skill, though it is enough for a G rank if he wanted to get one. Once he¡¯s done admiring the different skills he can buy in the trading area, he checks the booklet to see if there are any classes on arrays, so that he could find Julie, as he hadn¡¯t added her to his friends list when he met up with her earlier.


    Luckily, there is a continuation of the array class he nearly slept through earlier in just fifteen minutes, so he walks over to the location written on the booklet. As he wanders around, he admires the various rock gardens, all of which seem to be arranged in mysterious ways, stones of varying sizes seeming to almost, but not quite form perfect patterns.


    He arrives, and finds Julie sitting up front, the only person in the class.


    ¡°Hey Julie, I was wondering if you would want to come hunting with my group sometime? We could really use someone who knows how to make arrays.¡±


    ¡°While I appreciate the offer, I can barely say that I know how to make arrays. The system in this game is amazing, and one of the most complicated I¡¯ve seen. All I can do now is make the most basic illusion arrays to stop monsters from seeing you.¡±Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Sen scratches his chin, feeling a bit awkward. ¡°Well, that¡¯s pretty much what we need, we just need someone to set up something like that for when we need a break.¡±


    Julie looks at him for a moment, before agreeing, and they add each other to their friends list. Sen quickly escapes before the class starts, as he doesn¡¯t want to be put to sleep, and decides to try out one of those rooms with an array to make controlling energy easier. He pays a measly fifty contribution points to get the cheapest one for an hour, simply having to press which room he wants on a computer screen, sets a timer, and takes out his bones like air skillbook to look through. He quickly turns to the page, wondering why they¡¯d gone with an actual book rather than a digital version, and soon finds the part showing the flow of energy in the spine.


    Once he gets there, he puts his consciousness to sensing the flow of energy in his body, and tries to make it flow in the same pattern as is shown on the book. His energy seems to be easier to control, and his sensing of it seems to be more clear than ever before. He feels he can control the most minute of changes, though his copying of the pattern is only going slightly faster as a whole.


    His wondering about how much the better rooms would help is cut off as his distraction causes a mistake in the pattern he¡¯s trying to create, and he goes back to focusing on the flow of energy, slowly losing himself in the small variations, whorls, flows, and eddies of the energy he¡¯s trying to copy.


    He feels he¡¯s getting quite close to getting it when his alarm goes off, and rather than giving up, he growls, pays for another four hours in the room, and goes right back to where he left off. Time seems to have no meaning as he modifies the flow, and after a while, the flow of energy seems to snap into place, and his sense of time comes back as he stops changing things.


    Checking the time, he notices that it¡¯s been working on it for three hours. When he starts moving, he instantly stops. He can feel the air flowing around him. Pushing out the sense that he shouldn¡¯t have, he tries to push at the air with his mind, and it quickly flows away from his mental touch. Moving his hand up, he gives the air another mental push, and he can feel the air moving, caressing his palm.


    He grins. While he won¡¯t be able to do something as exaggerated as a wind blade, with this he can easily reduce any air resistance, speeding up both his movement and sword swings. Deciding to spend the last bit of time he has in the room practicing, his first step makes him feel just a slightly bit off until he realizes that his weight has actually decreased by a bit.


    It only takes him a minute or so to adjust however, and he has fun using the wind to try and push him along in the direction he¡¯s moving, though with the little control he has he¡¯s not able to speed himself up, just decrease the wind resistance by a bit. He¡¯s having fun when he starts to get light headed, and he notices that his energy had decreased by a large margin, so he¡¯s forced to stop and leave.


    Going out of the room, this time he notes that his sense for his energy fades a significant amount. ¡°So I thought you said it would take a week to finish the first bone in the bones like air?¡±


    ¡°That is the average. Your time places you within the top three percent, even accounting for using the array to assist you.¡±


    Sen frowns, he doesn¡¯t want to be the top three percent, he wants to be all the way at the top. He¡¯ll just have to rely on his swordsmanship to surpass those who are better at learning skills it seems. He pats the sword hanging on his shoulders, then opens up the handbook he got when he joined, he should probably learn a skill or two from the free classes.


    He settles on one because it starts in thirty minutes, giving him time to log off and handle his real body before it starts. Once he gets back in game, he walks on the meandering paths through the rock gardens, soon arriving at the classroom, which unlike the arrays class, is almost entirely packed full of people.


    He¡¯s stuck getting a seat at the back, and sits down to wait for the lecture to start.


    ¡°The skill I am about to show you is called weight of the mountain. It¡¯s a skill that empowers your blow to crush any resistance offered. While it is a G ranked skill, if used by a high level user, it can create an amazing amount of force.¡± The lecturer waves his hand, and a massive block of granite appears on the stage he¡¯s standing on. The very fit looking lecturer takes out a sword larger than Sen¡¯s, raises it overhead, and lets out a shout as he smashes it towards the block of stone.


    An image of a mountain seems to materialize over the sword as it moves, and when it collides with the granite, an earth shattering sound appears, an explosion of gravel coming from where the stone used to be. The fragments of stone that used to be a large granite block are stopped by some sort of energy field at the edges of the stage, losing their momentum and falling to the ground.


    ¡°This is the large success stage of weight of the mountain. At this stage, an image of a mountain will overlay your weapon, increasing the power of your strike proportional to the size of the image. To learn it to this point requires both an excellent mental image, and excellent energy control, though almost anyone can learn it to the small success stage.¡± The man then waves his hand, and on everyone¡¯s desk appears a paper showing a diagram of how the energy has to flow. The diagram almost looks like a mountain range, sharp peaks of energy with wide bases, the flow of the energy being entirely stable, none of the variations in speed that Bones Like Wind had.


    It¡¯s much simpler than bones like wind as well, only repeating the same pattern up the arms and into the sword itself, not being too particular about where exactly in the sword and arm the energy has to be flowing, though he is sure it has to be much more precise for the higher levels of it.


    Everyone files out of the classroom with their papers in their hands, and head over to the training rooms, where people start to disappear into their own instances to practice. The first test Sen does does absolutely nothing, and he refines the flow of energy to try and match the pattern better. He repeats this for about a half an hour, trying to hold the image of a mountain falling with his blade as he patterns his energy, and finally he gets a blow which rather than sinking a bit into the ridiculously tough training dummy, sinks halfway into it, while utterly crushing the outside of it.


    Sen gins, it seems he finally reached the small success stage. Looking around, he sees that no one else has succeeded yet except for one very small boy. Sen shrugs, he¡¯s not going to be the best with skills, so he¡¯s going to be the best with his swordsmanship. He practices the weight of the mountain skill a couple more times to make sure he remembers it, then sends a message to the group to see if they want to meet up, this time including Julie.


    Unfortunately, they all reply that they¡¯re not available for a while, practicing skills, and the only one who wants to meet up is Xue, to fight him in the arena. Sen shrugs, that sounds like a plan. He¡¯ll get to learn how the organized PVP works in this game, and have some fun while he¡¯s at it.

 Chapter 12: Dueling

    They meet up outside the Lotus school, and as they call a car, Sen notices that Xue¡¯s usual cold look actually seems to have a bit of nervousness in it. They don¡¯t talk on the way to the arena, but once they get there Xue is a bit twitchy, either from nerves or excitement, while Sen is just feeling comfortable to be back in the area he considers his second home.


    They go up to one of the many terminals surrounding the large cylindrical building, with arches throughout it, and a few spires sticking out the top, listening to cheers echo from behind the walls.


    The terminal has a large splash screen on the front page, advertising the tournament that¡¯s going to happen tomorrow, and both Xue and Sen decide to participate, while sending a short message to the others to sign up. The registration is simple, just put in the name you want to be known by, and press the join button. Sen chooses his usual username, AncientSword, while Xue goes with her usual name of BladeDancer, which Sen feels really fits her very mobile fighting style.


    Once they¡¯ve signed up, they open a private arena to fight against each other. They decide to enable spectators on a whim, but don¡¯t expect anyone to watch. Once they arrive in the arena, they square off. Around see the stands are empty except for one person, which amuses Sen, as he is used to massive crowds whenever he would fight in Gladiator.


    Their focus then turns to each other, and Sen takes his usual position, his sword held over his head, while Xue stands in what is almost a fencing posture, one foot in front, but with her sword pointed more to the sky.


    ¡°No skills?¡± Sen asks. Xue replies with a small nod.


    Sen starts the fight, stepping forward and slashing down in a testing motion. Xue easily avoids it, and parries when he turns his sword from a downwards slash to one coming from the side. She jumps slightly as she does so, allowing him to push her to the side to reduce the force she has to block.


    Sen grins, it¡¯s always nice having a good opponent. Sen draws his sword back, holding it in front of his body this time, as too large motions will leave openings for Xue to take advantage of. He does a short half stab, half chop forward, and Xue dances backwards out of range before retaliating with a sweep from Sen¡¯s top left. Sen catches it on his crossguard, and twists his sword to dislodge it off to his left before returning a slash of his own.


    Xue sways to her right, but is forced to back off more as he commits more to the slash, pushing it towards her ankle. They¡¯re back to facing each other from a distance, and this time, Xue initiates, stabbing forward to his thigh. Sen takes a step back, switching which leg is in front, and slashes down again with his sword to return the favor. As she steps back, he steps in with a stab towards her stomach. She jumps backwards more, seemingly floating over the ground, but Sen commits to the stab, pushing his sword past where most people would stop committing, so as to keep their sword in position.


    Xue is clearly caught by surprise, and barely manages to shove his sword to the side, but still takes a cut on her arm. She winces, and Sen steps back for a moment before asking, ¡°what is your pain setting at?¡±


    ¡°Thirty.¡±


    That surprises Sen, most people, even when they reach the adult age of sixteen, will keep their pain settings at the lowest ten percent. Pain is one thing that other immersion games have gotten right, and when you get wounded, it hurts just as it would in real life. Some games have actually incentivised setting the pain at higher levels, though over fifty percent is banned after a few people had heart attacks.


    Sen gives her a nod of respect, and the fight continues. This time, he goes in with a wide sweep from his right, and Xue is forced back yet again. She quickly tries to take advantage of the seeming open guard he has, but he pulls in his sword, and diverts the momentum up, then back down to slash at her from his upper left. Xue is forced to twist her body to get her sword in between her and the attack, and is knocked slightly off balance as the weight of the strike impacts her.


    Sen shows no mercy, slashing his sword again, which is barely caught by Xue. He slashes one more time, and her sword is driven completely out of position, and Sen positions his sword at her throat. They pause, and then applause starts to sound. Looking around, the once empty arena now has a good hundred people. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.


    Xue pulls up her menu and presses the surrender button. Her face is covered in sweat, and her impressively large chest is heaving with exhaustion as they exit the arena. She breaks her cold expression for a bit with a small smile. ¡°Thanks for that. I wanted to see the sword skills of the infamous AncientSword in person.¡±


    Sen lets out his own smile in response. ¡°It¡¯s always nice to fight a strong opponent, we¡¯ll have to do this again sometime.¡±


    ¡°Why not now?¡± Xue says, back to her usual cold tone.


    Sen grins. ¡°Because for now, I want to pick on the other players to get the reward for your first five wins.¡± The reward is only a few health salves, but considering he hasn¡¯t remembered to buy any, and is currently all out of crystals with which to do so, it will be quite the nice windfall to get them.


    Xue checks the terminal on the outside of the large arena, and sees that yes, there is a prize for winning your first five battles, but after that you only get a reward for every twenty wins, though the reward is an E ranked energy crystal. While that will be nice for people just starting out, or people who simply want to PVP from the very beginning of the game, it will quite quickly become useless for people trying to grind up their stats.


    Sen wonders for a bit if they¡¯re going to add higher prizes later on, or if they¡¯ll simply run more tournaments for better rewards as he enters the matchmaking. He¡¯s excited for a while, but as the search goes on, it isn¡¯t finding anyone.


    ¡°Hey Tir, why the hell haven¡¯t I found a match yet? With how many people are playing this game I should have no issues finding a match.¡±


    ¡°It finds a match based on your stats. E ranked stats are quite rare at this point, and are not likely to come to the arena, as they are currently trying to get their stats even higher.¡±


    After a full minute of waiting, he¡¯s finally matched, and his vision switches form outside the arena to within it. Looking over, he sees an opponent using a longsword, and Sen raises his sword to match the opponent. Unlike when he was fighting with Xue, he waits for the enemy to come to him.


    The man makes a clumsy slash with his sword, which is quite fast, the man clearly using body enhancement, but with Sen doing the same, it¡¯s easy enough for him to simply divert the sword to the side, then strike down with weight of the mountain to see how it fares in real combat.


    The sword slices entirely through the man, and the blue line formed is a good two inches thick at the top before he dissolves into blue light. A window pops up in front of Sen, asking if he would like to continue, and he presses yes.


    His next few opponents aren¡¯t any harder, and Sen is quite disappointed. The average gamer without active skills isn¡¯t able to be much of a challenge. Especially considering most other immersion games will actually have an ¡°automatic guide¡± function for your sword strikes, correcting errors you make in your strikes for you. While anyone serious about PVP will disable it, a majority of the people don¡¯t, and in a game like this which doesn¡¯t have that function, their swordsmanship is terribly sloppy.


    His fifth fight matches him with someone slightly better, who uses an odd movement ability to avoid Sen¡¯s strikes for a couple minutes, though he isn¡¯t able to get in a blow on Sen, and eventually he runs out of energy and is easy prey for Sen to finish off.


    Once people start getting more active skills, Sen may actually have some trouble, but with the most basic skills taking an hour or so to learn for the average person, the higher level skills probably aren¡¯t going to be learned by anyone for quite some time. Sen grins, he¡¯s going to have a massive advantage over others in the tournament with his swordsmanship he learned as Damien.


    As Sen finishes his fifth bout, he presses no when asked if he wants to continue fighting, and is soon back outside the arena. After not seeing Xue, he searches for her name in the ongoing fights category, and presses spectate. When he arrives, he¡¯s greeted by far more people than had been watching him, which makes him a bit jealous. Her opponent is a beautiful girl with blonde hair and blue eyes, and she seems to be just barely hanging on against Xue.


    She manages to deflect a few strikes, and stabs forward, using a skill that seems to make her sword teleport towards Xue, but Xue calmly uses her own skill, which makes her sword twist in the air to deflect it, and then twist back into the girl¡¯s neck. The look in the girl¡¯s eyes is filled with shock, clearly confident her skill should have won her the fight as she fades into blue motes of light.


    Once the fight is over, he opens his menu and leaves the spectator area to meet Xue.


    ¡°Get your salves?¡±


    Xue nods in response.


    ¡°Want to fight some more or go practice some more skills?¡±


    ¡°I need to learn a footwork skill, it¡¯s impossible to keep up with some of those people,¡± Xue replies.


    Sen thinks back to the one opponent who had managed to keep away from him for almost five minutes. ¡°Yeah, learning a simple footwork ability is probably the best thing to do. Shame not a single skill dropped from all the mobs we hunted.¡± Sen would have questioned the one percent drop rate figure his sister had given him, but his luck is¡­ questionable at best.


    Sen and Xue are soon back in an automated vehicle heading back to the school district of the city. Once they arrive, they say their farewells, and each goes into their individual schools to learn a movement ability, something that will be key towards doing well in the tournament the next day.

 Chapter 13: Dungeons

    Sen weaves through the rock gardens, which give off a different feel when lit by the two moons overhead, and goes through his little booklet to see when the next free class on movement abilities will be. It seems, that like the weight of the mountain ability, there is a short class every two hours on it. Checking the system time, he has another hour to go, so he decides to practice his bones like air skill for a while. He rents one of the cheapest arrays with his contribution points, and opens up the stupidly large book.


    This time, he decides to focus on his ribs. As his senses fade into the sensation of the energy flowing within him, he notes again the flow of energy going through his spine, then starts to match up the energy pathways in his ribs with that in the book step by step. By the time the alarm goes off, he¡¯s made a decent amount of progress, but he¡¯ll have to wait until another time to get it done.


    As he arrives at the class, he sees it is as packed as the one on weight of the mountain had been, and he squeezes through the seats until he arrives at the back, where there are just a couple of chairs left. Sitting down, everyone quiets down as the middle aged woman at the front starts to speak.


    ¡°The skill we are going to go over today is called Earth Step. It¡¯s a simple movement ability that causes the ground to push back when you push down, accelerating you to speeds beyond what would normally be possible. While it may not look impressive, it is a very stable and reliable skill.¡±


    She then shows a few examples, and as she said, it isn¡¯t flashy, but it seems very practical. She seems to be using no force to step off, but she speeds to the direction she steps towards faster than should be possible. Sen instantly starts thinking of fun ways to use the momentum from it to add a bunch of force to his swings.


    After the woman is done demonstrating, she hands out a bunch of papers that have the energy diagram for the skill. Sen looks over it as he goes to the practice area along with the multitudes of other students. It¡¯s similar to weight of the mountain in that it has a very stable, slow flow of energy, but is lacking the peaks and valleys. It¡¯s basically a simple stream that spreads out as it reaches the ground, and extends roots into the earth.


    As Sen arrives at the practice ground, he isn¡¯t able to get it on his first try, even with all the practice from his two other skills, but he manages to succeed on his seventeenth attempt, though his speed of executing it is currently too slow to use in combat. He spends the next half hour practicing, getting it to the point where, while not instinctual, he can easily use it.


    Once he feels he has a solid grasp on it, he turns in his left over crystals for contribution points, and logs off for sustenance. He doesn¡¯t run into his sister this time, and is soon checking the wiki. There are a lot of warnings about the difficulty of the body enhancement skill on their respective pages, though a few people claim they¡¯ve had some success with them.


    Annoyingly, there¡¯s almost no data on skills other than the ones you can learn for free at a school, and all of them seem to be relatively similar, an attack that makes you hit harder or faster, and a skill that lets you move around quickly or in different directions more easily. What he does learn is that schools are also elementally aligned, with each one having two elements, and Sen curses, he doesn¡¯t know which two elements his school aligns with. It obviously has earth, considering it¡¯s called ¡°Mountain¡¯s Peak¡±, but if the other element isn¡¯t air, he¡¯s going to have trouble getting skills to match his body enhancement method.


    He doesn¡¯t actually know if that will be an issue. For all the information on the wiki knows, there¡¯s no downside to using skills of one element along with a different element body enhancement skill, but he¡¯s not willing to risk it. He remembers seeing on the booklets for the two active skills he¡¯s learned that they aren¡¯t technically of an element yet, as they aren¡¯t high enough rank.


    Once he gets back in game, he heads over to the trading area of his school, checking out the skills that you have to pay contribution points for. He finds that skills aren¡¯t elementally aligned until E rank, and he doesn¡¯t have enough contribution points to buy any of them, as the cheapest option costs eighty thousand, the equivalent of forty E ranked cores. The most expensive E ranked skill costs a hundred twenty thousand, and Sen wonders what the difference is.


    He looks through all of the skills, each having a short video to showcase them, and settles his eyes on one called Gale Steps. It has an odd footwork associated with it, but it seems to make it so that you can move in any direction at the speed of a full out sprint. While it doesn¡¯t have the burst acceleration that Earth step does, it¡¯s able to be used in conjunction with certain other movement abilities, earth step being one of the many in the list of compatible options. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    While using both will burn out his energy in a rapid fashion, it will give him ridiculous acceleration in any direction. He looks through the different attack skills, but nothing really calls to him the way that Weight of the Mountain did, even if it is only a G ranked skill. Considering he has only practiced it to the small success stage as well, he has a long way to go.


    Sending a message to everyone that he wants to go hunting so he can get some more contribution points, Julie included, he goes to the practice yard to train while waiting on their replies. He gets a couple messages, but they all say that they¡¯re practicing and that they¡¯ll be up to go in maybe an hour. He sends his agreement, and pays for one of the G ranked array rooms, as help with controlling his energy will be the best way to practice with the tournament being tomorrow.


    While in there, he simply practices Weight of the Mountain over and over, each time refining the flow of his energy, trying to match it more and more perfectly with the diagram on his little handout. By the end of the hour, he¡¯s improved, the practice dummy in the room becoming more and more wounded from his attacks as he perfects his blow.


    Getting out, he waits for a while until Julie shows up, who seems a bit uncomfortable with him, even though they¡¯d spent around a year playing immersion games together until her parents had banned meeting with him ¡°because he is a bad influence¡±. They walk over to the Lotus school, where only Lynna has come out so far, and Julie greets her with much more enthusiasm than Sen. After they¡¯re done hugging, Xue and Jennifer show up together, and they call an automated vehicle to go out to the forest.


    Once they arrive, they keep hunting in the outskirts, thankfully not running into any spider territory or people from the King guild, though they see a few other groups hunting in the vicinity. Julie has an interesting fighting style, all harsh angles and calculated blows, using the perfect amount of force to kill something. It¡¯s effective, not having any excess movements, but with the lack of variation she shows, she¡¯ll likely not do too well in PVP.


    They hunt for a couple hours, until they start to get tired, and then have Julie set up an illusion array. The illusion array doesn¡¯t make them invisible, but makes it near impossible to focus on them. It¡¯ll functionally make it so that monsters will just walk by without bothering them. Everyone asks about what other arrays she can set up, and she mentions that the only other array she¡¯s practiced enough to reliably make is an array that makes an illusion of her appear while making her true body invisible. While it won¡¯t kill anyone, it will make it much harder to fight her.


    ¡°So Julie, you know Sen and Lynna in real, right? How did you meet?¡± Jennifer asks after the explanation on arrays.


    ¡°My parents and Sen¡¯s were both having issues getting us to play with other kids. They threw us together until Sen got me too interested in immersion games, so they stopped us from hanging out.¡±


    ¡°You seem to be pretty good at immersion games to be new at them.¡±


    Julie gets an evil grin on her face. ¡°As if I would stop playing them just because my parents didn¡¯t want me to.¡±


    ¡°So why didn¡¯t you play with us again?¡± Lynna asks.


    ¡°You¡¯re the ones who changed your usernames by the time I convinced my parents to let me play again!¡±


    Sen and Lynna both look away. They both regretted the names they¡¯d chosen back then, Sen not knowing the language enough to realize his name was an innuendo, and Lynna getting too many comments on her girly name.


    ¡°We could all meet up in real you know, we¡¯re placed in different cities based on our geographical location,¡± Sen says.


    Julie seems a bit nervous about the thought, but Jennifer agrees. She¡¯d never met them in real, even though she¡¯d played a lot with them online. Sen and Lynna tend to be a bit paranoid about sharing their information, especially after the debacle where King¡¯s sub-leader had practically ended up stalking her. At this point though, they trusted Jennifer enough to meet up with her, even if they wouldn¡¯t be giving her their address.


    They all take advantage of the break to log off for a bit for sustenance, then log back in, chatting, mainly Lynna and Jennifer, while resting.


    After the hour break, Julie packs up the array to reuse, and they all get back to hunting. They only run into a single E rank monster, and with the skills and stat increases, they handle it with ease.


    ¡°Hey Tir, why are E ranked monsters so rare?¡±


    ¡°E ranked and above monsters are rarely found in the wilderness. For larger numbers of them, you¡¯ll have to do dungeons.¡±


    ¡°So where can I find a dungeon?¡±


    ¡°I cannot tell you.¡±


    Sen grumbles at that. Fine, he¡¯ll just look it up on the wiki when he gets out. They hunt for another couple of hours, and by that time everyone is exhausted. They quick travel to Falan before logging out again. The first thing Sen does when he logs off is head over to the computer to check out the map location near Falan. He sees that there are currently two dungeons discovered, a hobgoblin dungeon with an E ranked orc boss, and a spine panther dungeon that everyone avoids because it¡¯s extremely dark and the spine panthers like to ambush people in it.


    Looking through the comments, he finds that King guild has actually taken control of the hobgoblin dungeon, completely ignoring the fact that it¡¯s instanced so any number of people can be within it at the same time. None of the powerhouse guilds have contested it, but Sen expects it won¡¯t be too long before one of them takes control in order to try and get a foot up on their competition.


    After thinking for a bit, Sen decides that he¡¯s going to try and contact the one guild he usually works with, though he acts more as a mercenary rather than being a member. He hops on their chat server, which is active as always, and shoots off a quick ¡®Anyone down to take the Falan hobgoblin dungeon from King?¡¯.


    The battle maniacs that make up the guild soon agree, and they agree to meet up in front of the school that the guild has made their main base after the tournament the next day.

 Chapter 14: The Tournament Begins

    Now that Sen has a plan to deal with King, he heads to get some food, meeting up with his sister in the kitchen.


    ¡°Still holding up fine?¡± he asks, a bit worried with how worn out she seems.


    She simply shakes her head, clearly exhausted from the horror that is the exercise the capsule gives her.


    ¡°I think I¡¯m going to take the rest of the day to learn the Flowing Bones skill, I need to do something that won¡¯t end up with me completely dead, and the first tier dropped while we were hunting.¡±


    ¡°Tier?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s separated into six tiers according to my AI guide.¡±


    ¡°Does it not have different names for each tier? The earth and air version do.¡±


    Lynna shakes her head in the negative.


    ¡°Well make sure to set a timer while you¡¯re practicing it. Time sort of disappears if you don¡¯t.¡±


    Lynna looks a bit skeptical, but agrees anyway. They finish their meal, and head back to their respective capsules to get back in game. Once there, Sen takes an automated vehicle to his school, and trades in all the crystals he has extras of. With his pockets now flush with contribution points, he decides to rent one of the F ranked array rooms until dinner to see how much progress he can get done with Bones Like Air.


    The time flows by as he tries to control the flow of his energy, and he manages to have it lock into place just a few minutes before the timer goes off for dinner. Waving his hand again, he can feel his sense for the air around him is just slightly stronger, and when he¡¯s controlling it it seems to use less energy than he had when he had only finished his spine.


    As he logs off to eat dinner with his family, he almost lets out a groan from soreness. He hadn¡¯t been moving much during his practice, and that allowed the ache to properly set in. He walks his way to the dining room, where everything is neatly served out, and sits down, waiting for his sister to arrive to start eating.


    Once she arrives, they begin to enjoy the chicken fried rice, and once they¡¯ve slowed down, their father asks them how they¡¯re doing in the game. Lynna nd Sen both look uncomfortable, their father has never shown even the slightest interest in their favorite hobby.


    ¡°Doing well, My stats are all E at this point, and I¡¯ve gotten the first part of Bones Like Air done.¡±


    ¡°Well I got all my stats up to E with the cores we got from hunting, and I managed to get my first bone done in Flowing Bones.¡± She says with a smile.


    Sen feels a bit jealous, if she¡¯d managed to get the first bone in Flowing Bones done already, he doesn¡¯t want to know what percentile that places her in. Their father nods, and Sen has no idea how he doesn¡¯t look confused about what they¡¯ve told him.


    ¡°Can you tell us what¡¯s going on at least?¡± Sen asks.


    Their father shakes his head. ¡°I can say that there will be a lot more players soon.¡±


    Sen is surprised, the capsule had been far cheaper than one would expect based on the technology that had to be going in it, but it is still out of the purchase range of most people.


    ¡°If you knew that Fifth Dimension would be so important, why were you against buying it for us?¡±


    The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    His father looks annoyed. ¡°Apparently I was too low on the totem pole to learn what is going on until after it released.¡± His frown fades away after just a moment. ¡°Good job to the two of you, just make sure to keep playing. Sen, I¡¯ll be reducing your schoolwork in order to allow you to play more.¡±


    Jiu drops her fork in surprise, and Sen is aghast at this. The only way he is even allowed to play immersion games is because he keeps up his schoolwork, and now he¡¯s going to get less of that so he can play MORE? Something is seriously wrong. Jiu looks like she¡¯s going to be giving Sen¡¯s father a lecture, but holds off so as to not argue in front of Lynna and Sen.


    ¡°Lynna, when your school gets out, I want you to take a break for a year to play as well.¡± At this point, Jiu grabs her husband by the ear, and drags him upstairs. Lynna and Sen share their utter confusion, and speculate about what¡¯s going on, but nothing seems to fit.


    After a while, their parents come down, and Jiu looks at them in a sad fashion, before cleaning up the table and going off to do the dishes. Lynna and Sen both wait at the table for a while, before Lynna optimistically says ¡°Well this will be great! I get a whole year off from College!¡± and practically skips upstairs to her room.


    Sen, in a not so optimistic fashion, makes his way to his room, until firming his determination that if his father wants him to do well in this game, he will do well. His family asks little of him, but shows him immense love, and he is going to pay them back. If need be, he will pay them back  in the same fashion as he paid back his lady.


    He gets in the capsule, feeling determination rather than the simple competitiveness he usually feels when it comes to games, and decides that the best thing to do for the tournament the next day will be to rest, and so the rest of the day is spent working on the Bones Like Air skill. By bedtime, he¡¯s managed to get one of his thigh bones, and ignores the alarm that goes off to finish his other leg so as to not be off balance before getting out of the capsule and going to bed.


    He wakes the next morning, his determination still filling his mind as he gets ready for the day. His tutors try to teach him, but his mind is fully focused on what he can do to maximize his chances of doing well in the tournament, frustrating his tutors to no end.


    Once his far shorter than normal classes end, he eats a meal and then goes to his room to play some more. Hopping in the capsule, he shuts his eyes, and opens them in Fifth Dimension. He¡¯d logged out at his school, and so he rents another of the array rooms to try and get some practice with his Bones like air skill, though he can¡¯t actually focus on any bone except his skull if he doesn¡¯t want to risk ending up off balance.


    He doesn¡¯t manage to finish his skull by the time his alarm goes off, and before he heads over to the arena, he sends another message to everyone to make sure they¡¯re participating. He gets a short ¡®AH! I almost forgot!¡¯ from Lynna, which doesn¡¯t surprise him.


    Once he arrives at the arena, he sees tons of people, though when you approach within a good thirty feet of the terminals, it appears empty, as everyone is in their own instance. Sen walks around the crowd a bit before spotting Lynna appearing at the edge of one of the terminal instances, and he goes to join her. They talk strategy about the tournament for a while, basically agreeing that the best thing to do is conserve strength in every round, as you actually get tired in this game.


    Sen gets the tournament details from Lynna. Apparently, rather than just one big tournament, it¡¯s a bunch of 1024 person single elimination tournaments, meaning ten rounds. The top two from each of those tournaments will qualify for another tournament to be held on the weekend, which will be inter-city. For Falan alone, there are twelve tournaments going on, so across the globe there will be a massive number of people.


    While they¡¯re talking, Sen spots Xue, and just as he waves to her, he is whisked into the arena. Looking at the stands, they are nearly empty, and Sen looks to his opponent, who is using a sword and shield. The ready button is floating in front of him with a one minute timer, and Sen takes out his greatsword, and brings it in front of him before pressing it.


    A short countdown starts, and the walls of light that are holding them in place disappear once the countdown ends. Sen instantly engages body enhancement, and uses Earth Step to charge the ten meters in an instant, swinging his sword along with all the added momentum. He sees his opponent¡¯s eyes widen a bit in surprise, and he isn¡¯t able to get his sword in place before Sen chops entirely through him. Considering the speed he was moving at, his stats are probably still F rank, or maybe even G. Sen snorts, he is probably just participating for the free health salve.


    Sen is then greeted by a short victory screen, and asked if he wants to spectate the other rounds or leave the arena until the next match, which won¡¯t be happening for another nearly thirty minutes. He hesitates a moment, then sees there¡¯s a spectate friends option, but clicking it, it seems everyone else has already finished their own match.


    After a bit, he decides to spectate a random match. Clicking on the one that has the most viewers, once he¡¯s in the stands of the arena, he¡¯s appalled. On the massive screen above the arena, he can see two people who seem to have F ranked stats simply flailing at each other. They each have just a longsword, and neither of them has any clue how to use it.


    After watching a bit, he decides it is sort of amusing, in a pitiful fashion, and watches as more and more blue lines appear in their skin from the random swings. Eventually, one of them is victorious, and Sen decides he¡¯ll avoid spectating people other than his group until later in the tournament, as if that¡¯s the standard, he¡¯s going to sweep it easily.


    Exiting the stands with a quick press of a button, he¡¯s back outside with Lynna nearby chatting at Xue.


    ¡°Oh, Sen, it looks like we all were placed in different brackets. I think it¡¯s because we¡¯re on each others friends list. I wonder how many tournaments we¡¯ll be able to win,¡± Lynna says in a bright tone. Sen isn¡¯t so sure about the friends list thing, he¡¯s pretty sure it¡¯s more likely that they are spread out because their stats are higher than the other participants.


    ¡°We¡¯ll see, but from the match I spectated, the competition was sort of pitiful.¡±


    Xue nods at his words, apparently she¡¯d spectated a match as well. ¡°They give out a free healing salve for participating, there will be far more noobs than proper players.¡±


    Sen nods back, the downside for accepting anyone means that the good players will be pretty rare in the early brackets. They chat for a while longer, mainly Lynna talking while the other two give short responses. Jennifer manages to find them after a bit, and joins in with Lynna, leaving Xue and Sen to be mostly quiet.


    It isn¡¯t long until Sen is whisked away to his next match.

 Chapter 15: Illusions

    This match is just as anticlimactic as the previous, this particular fighter lasting two blows instead of the single one the first had lasted. Once Sen is done, he sees that Xue¡¯s match is still going on and goes to spectate her. She¡¯s having trouble not because her opponent is skilled, but because her opponent is constantly flitting out of her range, seemingly using some sort of skill that lets her jump short distances.


    She¡¯s like a fly buzzing around Xue that won¡¯t stay still long enough to be swatted. Eventually, she runs out of energy around the same time Xue is running out of patience, and her sword swats her as just as easily as a bug swatter would. She looks in disbelief at the blue line in her chest before turning to glowing blue sparkles, and Xue exits the arena at the same time, clearly not bothering to remain to showboat.


    Sen exits as soon as he sees she¡¯s gone, not bothering to spectate anyone else, as all of the others on his friends list are finished with their fights. Once he¡¯s out, he¡¯s back to being the odd one out with Xue, Jennifer and Lynna chatting away, perfectly happy to talk about anything. While they¡¯re discussing, Julie shows up beside them. Her weapon has changed from just a sword to what looks like dozens of knives sequestered throughout her body, from a belt on her body and chest, to smaller holders on her wrists and upper arms.


    ¡°So what¡¯s up with the knives?¡±


    Julie looks at him before replying. ¡°They¡¯re carved with runes for an array. Throw them in the ground and instant array. I learned an array that makes people misjudge where I am, so I just use that, then hit them.¡±


    I shudder, that sounds absolutely horrific to go against. I don¡¯t even know how one would avoid that except using some sort of sense that isn¡¯t sight. I make a mental note to spectate her next fight to see if I can figure out what to do against similar fighters, and maybe her included if we end up in the same bracket in the tournament this weekend.


    ¡°So why haven¡¯t you shown up on my spectate menu yet?¡±


    ¡°The fighters have been so poor that I finish them with a thrown knife or three.¡± She grins at that, and I feel bad for the poor people participating for the free healing salve.


    After that, Julie joins in the conversation Lynna and Jennifer are having and Xue and I are once again pushed to the sides. We give each other a look of understanding, and we act as spectators until the next match.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    When I appear in the arena, I see someone that actually has a shield for once. It may be advantageous to fight monsters with much higher strength than players without a shield, as it cuts down your weight for dodging, but a single handed sword is pretty useless in PVP unless you¡¯re extremely skilled. Expecting a good fight, I charge in with Earth Step, and do a sweep from the side enhanced by Weight of the mountain. My attack is from the side his sword is on, and rather than pivoting to use his shield, he assumes he can block it with just his sword, likely planning to bash me with his shield after parrying. Unfortunately for him, his single hand isn¡¯t strong enough to block my two with a large sword, and his sword is knocked out of the way as a long blue line appears in his shoulder.


    At this point, the fight is utterly disappointing. He blocks a few blows, but can barely raise his sword, and he soon turns into blue motes of light. Luckily, Julie is still in a fight, and I got to spectate her. Upon entering the arena, the first thing I notice is that the knives are coming from a different direction than where Julie appears to be standing.


    Sen thinks for a moment that it would be the best way to tell her location, except every knife that¡¯s sent flying comes from a slightly different place. Julie is clearly moving constantly to prevent just such a tactic. Her opponent has a few blue lines, and even has a knife sticking out of his arm, but is holding off the assault reasonably well. Eventually, Julie stops throwing her knifes, and her fake image closes in for close combat.


    Her opponent simply ignores the fake¡¯s sword, but apparently Julie is striking from the same direction, and cuts deep into his chest. He looks immensely frustrated as he¡¯s knocked from the tournament.


    Sen shudders, that just seems so annoying to fight against. He needs to find some way to deal with those illusory formations. Leaving the spectating arena, he meets up with the group, mentioning to Julie how ridiculous her fighting style is, getting a grin in return.


    The next few matches are a bit harder, Sen¡¯s opponents lasting more than a couple blows, and one of them dancing around with a movement ability to come in quickly to strike and then retreat. Sen eventually gets a chop on him when he goes in for one of his strikes, and then he¡¯s in the quarterfinals.


    His quarterfinal opponent is a giant of a man, who probably started with an E stat in strength. Sen hopes he hasn¡¯t gotten it any higher as he squares off and presses the ready button. The man, who is wielding a sword larger than Sen¡¯s, swings wildly, and while not too fast, Sen can see that the man has put his entire body weight into the swing.


    He has probably gotten this far with just that single strike. With his mass behind the blow, he can blow through anyone¡¯s defense. Unfortunately for the man, Sen isn¡¯t one to defend if he doesn¡¯t have to. Earth Stepping backwards, he grinds to a halt just out or range, then lunges in with another Earth Step, thrusting his sword through the man in one clean strike.


    The man tries to get off another strike, ignoring the sword in his chest, but Sen is close enough that the blade won¡¯t hit him, and catches the handle between the man¡¯s hands before he can get any momentum behind the bash with the pommel. Sen and the man both go to kick each other, but Sen is a bit faster, kicking the man away and ripping the sword from his body. The man is still glaring at Sen as he dissolves in the little light show that plays whenever something dies.

 Chapter 16: LightBringer

    As Sen is teleported back outside, he¡¯s the first one out, but it isn¡¯t long until Xue gets out as well. He starts to consider going to spectate the other¡¯s matches, but before he can act on the thought, everyone appears, with just a few seconds in between each.


    ¡°Have trouble this round?¡± Sen asks.


    ¡°Just another guy abusing a footwork skill¡± Jennifer replies.


    ¡°Mine actually put up a bit of a fight!¡± Lynna cheerfully answers.


    ¡°He used a bunch of shurikens and kept running away, it took a bit to catch him.¡± Julie adds.


    Sen tilts his head. He¡¯s seen shurikens before, but they aren¡¯t exactly a common weapon. They¡¯re usually hidden in the sleeves and used for surprise attacks rather than simply using them straight up, or at least that is his experience in Gladiator. One of the most frustrating opponents he had faced loves to use them with a short sword, just throwing with one hand whenever he went to parry the sword. He¡¯d played against him a number of times, and each time he had ended up with a lot of wounds from them until he managed to get a fatal blow.


    The semifinals start without any warning, and when Sen enters the arena, he sees an absolutely massive number of people in the stands. He¡¯d assumed that he would have more spectators as the matches continued, but this was way beyond what is within his expectations.


    Looking over to the other side of the arena, he sees a handsome man with blonde hair and blue eyes, showboating for the crowd before he presses the accept button to start the match. It isn¡¯t until the white walls cutting them off from each other disappear that he recognizes his opponent. Not that he needs to recognize him seeing as he starts off with his tag.


    ¡°Be proud, for you shall fall to the blade of LightBringer!¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.


    Sen tries desperately to hold in a laugh. LightBringer has the dubious honor of being by far the worst player to reach the top ten thousand in Gladiator, and is totally infamous on the chat servers for it. He is a popular streamer, with a personality catered to younger kids. Unfortunately, many of those kids are pretty damn good at gladiator, even if they played with the massive censorship, and would stream snipe him and grant him free wins.


    Much of the Gladiator community absolutely hates him, and Sen is glad to get a chance to stomp him. Deciding to make the match fast, unlike some of the other people who would drag it out in order to embarrass LightBringer, he starts off with the strongest strike he can muster.


    He dashes forward with Earth Step, his sword held overhead, and swings down with as much force as he can muster, empowered by body strengthening and Weight of the Mountain. LightBringer brings his shield up to block, stabbing out at the same time with his sword, but Sen doesn¡¯t bother to dodge as his sword slams LightBringer¡¯s shield into his head and knocks him onto his back. Stepping forward, he thrusts his blade into Lightbringer, who probably can¡¯t even see straight after taking that blow to the head.


    He shakes his head as he finishes the round. While LIghtBringer isn¡¯t a bad swordsman, he could have placed top thirty thousand in Gladiator on his own merits, his strength stat was clearly not even E rank. Sen wonders for a bit how he managed to get to the semifinals, but thinking of the random match he¡¯d specated, most of the players participating still had only had stats at F rank.


    He looks around the arena to see a lot of booing, and leaves the arena to join the group again. Once he¡¯s out, he sees he¡¯s the first, and waits a while until Xue joins him, looking a bit worn out.


    ¡°Tough fight?¡±


    Xue only nods in response.


    They wait in silence until Jennifer gets out looking seriously annoyed.


    ¡°That bastard clearly had his strength stat at D already! Stupid Ares guild!¡±


    Sen smiles. Jennifer, Lynna, and him have worked with the Ares guild a number of times, but they still hate getting shown up by them, even if a player supported by a guild can grow faster than a small group of people. They were even going to work with the Ares guild later today, to take control of the hobgoblin dungeon back from the King guild.


    Sen realizes at this point that he hasn¡¯t talked with his group about taking back the dungeon, and informs everyone of the plan. Lynna is happy to have any chance to screw over the King guild, Jennifer wants another chance to compete with ¡°That bastard from the Ares guild,¡± as she puts it, and even Xue¡¯s cold face has a little smile on it.


    They wait for Julie to get out, who looks exhausted but proud as she appears, Sen asks her if she wants to join the fight, and she mentions that she wants to see how well her arrays do on a larger battlefield. With everyone¡¯s agreement, he gives them the time and place to meet, and is soon whisked away to the finals of the tournament.

 Chapter 17: A Not So Bloody Show

    As Sen appears in the arena, he can see his opponent, a tall man with a lithe frame, similar to a gymnast, or more likely, an actual fighter. As they both press the ready button without any preamble, Sen¡¯s opponent crosses his sword over his shield and gives a short bow. Sen returns the gesture, holding his sword horizontal and bowing down a bit. It¡¯s odd to see things like this outside of Gladiator, but Sen is always willing to be polite if he doesn¡¯t have any enmity with his opponent.


    They both raise their weapons, and from his posture, Sen can see that this will likely be a long match. They slowly step forward, and Sen only uses body strengthening for now, wanting to conserve his energy considering that he¡¯s facing a competent opponent. Sen leads in with a swing from the top, and is blocked by the shield which barely gives as the greatsword impacts it, making Sen glad he hadn¡¯t bothered using Weight of the Mountain.


    Sen has to take a quick step back as his opponent uses the opening to stab forward, and Sen drags the lower half of his sword down in order to deflect the blow, using the distance gained from stepping back to get it down in time. His next blow is in a more cautious manner, probing rather than trying to end it quickly.


    They slowly continue the dance, Sen disabling his body strengthening for feints in order to conserve energy. His shield seems to be everywhere Sen strikes, but with the lighter blows Sen can easily get his sword back in position to parry his swings. Sen slowly tests out his defense, noting he tends to be a bit slow with blows on his lower body on his shield side.


    Sen doesn¡¯t let on that he notices though, continuing to give light blows and parry the return swings and stabs. Sen ends up taking a small cut on his arm as his opponent uses a skill similar to weight of the mountain, leading Sen to misjudge the force needed to parry. In return, Sen goes for a blow high on his body on his shield side. Taking advantage of the fact that his opponent raises his shield, cutting off his vision, Sen uses Earth Step to get to his shield side, delaying his strike enough to pivot it downwards.


    His opponent notices too late, hastily lowering his shield to block, but he¡¯s not stable, and Sen uses Weight of the Mountain to enhance his strike. His shield slamming into his leg, Sen¡¯s opponent stumbles, and that gives enough of an opening for Sen to slam his pommel into his opponent¡¯s face. The man reeling from the blow, Sen Earth Steps to dodge the hasty return blow, sending another swing to his sword side.


    Stumbling a bit from what is likely a broken leg, he has to try and parry using his sword, but it¡¯s still out from the strike, and he isn¡¯t able to brace enough for Sen¡¯s strike empowered with Weight of the Mountain. The blow crashes through his hasty guard, cutting down to bone in his arm. At this point, he can barely raise his sword, but Sen is still careful, using measured blows to make sure it doesn¡¯t end in an upset The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    By the end of it, the man is bleeding from numerous cuts, not that Sen can see the blood, he is stuck seeing the debuff over his head. Eventually, he can barely raise his shield, and Sen finishes the fight with a clean stab through his chest.


    As the man turns into blue sparkles, Sen repeats the bow he gave at the beginning of the fight, showing his respect for a good opponent. While he¡¯s fought better on Gladiator, the man will definitely have been able to place in the top thousand or so.


    Sen looks at the crowd a bit, who are cheering with enthusiasm, likely from the bloody show that anyone over sixteen can see. Sen doesn¡¯t bother entertaining the crowd though, and quickly logs out to spectate the others. He is soon watching Lynna, who is having a lot of trouble with her opponent. The person she¡¯s fighting is using a sword and shield just like the man Sen had fought, which doesn¡¯t surprise him. For PVP, sword and shield is one of the best options if the skills in game don¡¯t support other playstyles.


    Lynna dances around her opponent for a while, before getting frustrated at not being able to get through their guard, and having to dodge all of the attacks. She eventually pulls a shield out of her inventory, and after that slowly grinds down her opponent with feints, baiting them to block blows that have no force behind them., quickly transitioning to blows elsewhere. She gets first blood with what seems to be the same sword skill that Xue uses, her blade twisting down in an unnatural fashion to get past their guard.


    With a cut that has applied a massive debuff icon in Sen¡¯s vision, She simply lets her opponent slowly bleed out, steadily blocking his final desperate assault. By the time the match is over, none of the others are still fighting, and Sen leaves the arena.


    With little surprise, he learns that all of the others have swept their tournament, which isn¡¯t surprising. Xue is a top fifty player in Gladiator, and considering that the Gladiator server she plays on has forty million people rather than the twenty thousand or so people that are placed in Falan, it¡¯s expected that she won¡¯t have much trouble until the next tournament. Julie has her weird arrays to abuse, and Lynna has been taught swordsmanship by Sen after he dragged her into Gladiator She¡¯d already been an excellent gamer in immersion games, and had picked up proper swordsmanship ridiculously fast.


    Poor jennifer is the odd one out, and she¡¯s pouting as the rest share their success. She makes Lynna promise to get revenge on the guy from Ares before she¡¯s mollified, completely ignoring the fact that she might not even be in the same bracket, as the second round of tournaments is going to be global. Sen¡¯s mind goes back to conspiracy theories at that, they clearly had some way to make the latency bearable if they were willing to risk that.


    He kicks the thoughts out of his head, it¡¯s time to meet up with the rest of the Ares guild to go pick on the King guild. He has to practically herd the group around as three of the girls have changed their conversation from gaming to more girly topics. Xue doesn¡¯t bother participating, not that she participates in many conversations at all.

 Chapter 18: Crushing King

    As the group takes an automated vehicle to meet up with the Ares guild, they arrive at the Volcanic Ash school rather quickly, and Sen waves to one of the sub-guild leaders, David. David is a small man, shorter than Sen¡¯s height while being fully grown, and with a wiry build, but Sen knows not to underestimate him. He¡¯s never played Gladiator, but Sen has seen him beat someone in the top five hundred in Gladiator in a different game. Even accounting for the more game like system with skills and such, he¡¯s clearly very skilled.


    They each give each other a short greeting, and as they turn to call some more automated vehicles, Sen sees Jennifer sticking out her tongue at the man who had beaten her.


    ¡°So why didn¡¯t we see almost any of you in the tournament? I would¡¯ve expected you guys to dominate it.¡±


    David looks massively angry at that. ¡°For some stupid fucking reason they stuck almost all of us in the same bracket. At least the King guild got the same treatment.¡±


    Sen winces in sympathy. It seems that the devs don¡¯t want any one guild to dominate the tournaments. Ares guild will have been one of them, seeing as it¡¯s the largest PVP guild. The Ares guild is usually the third best guild when it comes to PVP, simply due to it¡¯s recruiting standards. Considering the best two in each region are pretty much professional teams with a bunch of support members, they are the most populous competitive PVP guild in most regions. The only requirement for joining Ares is to enjoy fighting, and with how obsessed they are with PVP, even the new players soon become quite good at it.  The Ares guild, unlike the local pros, has branches throughout the two continents, with one of the branches on Iowes having a very strong professional team.


    On the other hand, when it comes to PVE content, the Ares guild tends to not even place in the top fifty. Sen does admit that it wouldn¡¯t be very fun if they dominated the global competition though. While he expects the top two or three guilds in each region to stomp them pretty hard if they meet, Ares has enough skilled players globally to take up a good portion of the competition. Locally, the top two guilds have the only professional teams in the region, and the only proper competition they¡¯ll get is from other professional teams.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Sen gets his mind off of guilds as he hops in the automated vehicle, the girls still talking about fashion and other girly things, and he starts up a conversation with Xue about the different players in Gladiator, even if he only gets short responses to his questions.


    They soon arrive at the outskirts of the city, and get off to head over to the dungeon. Along the way, the monsters run away from the group, not willing to fight with so many people. It takes about half an hour to get to where the dungeon is at a jogging pace, and Sen can see around a hundred members of the King guild around it, all wearing their armband with a crown logo on it. Unlike the King guild, only about a quarter of the Ares guild have their arm in a band with a helmet logo on it.


    They don¡¯t bother hiding, simply walking towards the King guild and forming up in a shield wall. At this point, Sen is starting to regret not buying a sword and shield to join them, something that he usually does. Xue and Lynna join in with the shield wall, but the others are going to be fighting on their own. The King guild, seeing they¡¯re being challenged, charge at the group in a disorganized mess. As they start to impact the shield wall, they¡¯re shredded in seconds, blue lines appearing on them, and many of them turning into blue sparkles.


    The shield wall starts pushing into them, as Sen, and the rest of the group that doesn¡¯t have a shield start cutting into them from the side. The King guild, seeing them not with the group, take them for easier prey, and Sen grins when their swords start going straight through where they think Julie is. Sen himself is simply crushing anyone who comes near with his superior stats, not needing to use his prided swordsmanship.


    Eventually, the King guild breaks and runs off in all directions, nobody bothering to chase them. The shield wall is let down, and everyone in the Ares guild starts chatting, mostly about different professional players or PVP in general. The fight they just had, even outnumbered more than two to one, is just considered mundane for them.


    The dungeon, as Sen approaches it, looks like nothing more than a hole in the ground, and he wonders how anyone even found it. After chatting with Ares, they agree to let him and the others be one of the first groups in the dungeon, along with their main team, the rest taking guard shifts.


    Sen grins, he¡¯s going to find out what dungeons are like in this game.

 Chapter 19: Lackluster Dungeon

    The actual dungeon itself as a whole is rather disappointing. It is basically just a series of warrens with lots of groups of hobgoblins in it. While it will be a good way to grind some money, it definitely isn¡¯t going to be a good grinding spot for raising stats. As they walk through it, water dripping on them from the stone ceiling, they encounter medium sized groups of hobgoblins here and there. It is definitely more efficient when it comes to earning a lot of crystals in a short amount of time, and Sen makes a note to run it a few times to get some money to buy Gale Steps.


    Eventually, they reach the end of the maze like area, where an E ranked orc seemed to be just standing around waiting for them. It is pretty disappointing for Sen to have such a lifelike game spoiled by standard dungeon design, but he supposes people need a good grinding area. As the group squares up against the human sized, heavily muscled monster, they note that he is wielding a massive two handed axe.


    As they go to engage it, Sen leads the charge, starting off with his strongest strike, empowered by all of his skills. Unfortunately, Sen¡¯s blow with all of his strength behind it barely manages to make the orc¡¯s arms budge a fraction of an inch, and Sen¡¯s eyes widen. He¡¯d been expecting the boss to be strong, but this has to be at least D ranked strength. When the orc goes to return the blow, Sen notes that it isn¡¯t very fast, even a little slower than Sen himself.


    Dodging the blow with a massive amount of weight behind it, as there is no way to block it, the rest of the group starts circling around the orc, getting in a few strikes, but only managing to cut an inch or so into its tough hide. The fight continues, with the orc using large, sweeping blows in order to push a couple of them off, but with its speed being so slow, it isn¡¯t able to catch anyone considering how telegraphed the blows are.


    Eventually, they manage to put enough cuts in it that it collapses, and they now have an E ranked crystal. While its value is less than the many crystals they¡¯d gotten from clearing the dungeon, its true value lies in how they can enhance their attributes with it. As the boss is slain, a teleport array appears, and they all step into the glowing lines, appearing at the entrance of the dungeon again. Sen wants to run it again, but for now, he¡¯s stuck with guard duty, guarding in case King decides to come back to try and fight over the dungeon.


    Nothing happens during their guard shift, though a few groups of King members start to appear from the dungeon, and they are sent on their way without killing them. While chatting with the others, he learns from Tir that you can only run a particular dungeon every 15 hours. Once every group from Ares has done their dungeon run for the day, they decide to not bother controlling it, as the rewards aren¡¯t attractive enough to constantly have some of their few members acting as guards for it.


    As they start to leave, they see quite a few groups of players coming, clearly having heard the news that the King guild had been taken out. As the unaligned player population starts to overwhelm the number of King guild players that had taken over the dungeon, everyone figures that King won¡¯t be able to wrest the dungeon back from the general population at this point.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    The rest of the week is spent grinding in various forms, and Sen manages to complete more of his bone enhancing. Each time, he can feel the air slightly better, and he starts to use it to enhance his movement, increasing his movement by a very small, but still noticeable amount. Other than that, he buys Gale Steps, but is barely able to succeed in using it. Not only does he have to learn the energy pattern, which is far more complex than the ones for his other skills, comparable to the patterns he has to create in his bones, it also requires a special footwork to go with it, and by the time the second part of the tournament arrives, he is only able to use it about half the time.


    On the bright side, Sen is able to get his his strength stat to D, and is horrified to learn that from D and on, the amount of crystals he needs to progress has doubled. Apparently, he¡¯s going to need to find a lot more monsters to farm. According to Tir, it doubles yet again at B and SS ranks, though at B rank, the restriction of reducing returns from the same monster crystals is removed. You can literally hunt a single type of monster to raise your stats at that point, though it will still take a lot of grinding.


    As Sen and the others go to the arena in preparation, not sure if they¡¯ll be brought to the arena no matter where they are, they don¡¯t chat much, preparing their mental state for the coming tournament. As they arrive at the arena, they see that it is entirely flooded with people. Looking at the brackets, they see that the tournament has been subdivided into different regions yet again, as even with the precursor tournament, there are still nearly two million people globally who placed top two in the 1024 people brackets. For this region, there will be thirty nine different brackets, and then the next weekend¡¯s tournament will be fully global.


    It isn¡¯t long until Sen, Xue, Lynna, and Julie are whisked off to the tournament. The first round for Sen is actually quite a disappointment, being significantly weaker than the man Sen had faced to get first in the precursor tournament. When he¡¯s done, he goes to spectate Lynna, and sees she¡¯s using her sword and shield, and slowly wearing down her opponent. Seeing as how there¡¯s likely not going to be any upset, he goes to spectate Julie¡¯s match.


    The first thing he sees when he joins is a man waving a flaming sword around. He¡¯s not hitting Julie due to the illusion array, but when his sword impacts the ground after a particularly wild swing, it explodes in a wreath of flame. Sen stares, there¡¯s no way that¡¯s an E ranked skill. On the other hand, seeing as how his physical attributes are at a low E rank, he must have been pouring all of his crystals into energy.


    The man continues waving his sword around, but Julie just uses her illusion to confuse the man, and he eventually runs out of energy. Seeing as how Julie¡¯s array runs off of energy crystals, there¡¯s no way the man can outlast her when it comes to energy. Sen shivers, he¡¯s really glad he¡¯s not in the same bracket as Julie.


    By the time he¡¯s done spectating, Xue has finished her match as well. He thinks she won seeing as she doesn¡¯t say otherwise, but if she¡¯s happy about it, it doesn¡¯t show. Her face is more focused than cold at the moment, and Sen thinks the look fits her much better than her usual one.


    The next round starts without fanfare, and Sen actually has to work for his victory, spending a good few minutes wearing down the sword and shield user, unlike many of the other rounds, where it will end in a second.

 Chapter 20: Chipped

    Sen chooses to spectate Xue this time, and sees that she is for the first time using her sword and shield combination, steadily blocking the two handed sword her opponent is using and slowly bleeding them out. As the match ends, she wipes off her sword and exits the arena with little fanfare, ignoring the spectators.


    Sen then sees that Lynna is still in a match, and spectates her, curious as to what¡¯s taking her so long. When he gets in, he sees her being suppressed by superior stats. Her opponent is someone he recognizes, one of the people on Team Cloud, one of the professional teams in the region. She constantly uses her twisting sword to make up for the difference in speed, but can¡¯t keep up the energy expenditure for long, falling to the superior stats. Sen shakes his head. Players supported by a guild have a massive advantage in leveling their stats.


    As he leaves the spectating arena, he instantly sees Lynna complaining to Jennifer. While Lynna isn¡¯t a particularly sore loser, she tends to rant for at least half an hour after losing in a match she cares about.


    ¡°I ran into freaking Bagel! It¡¯s supposed to Sen that has the bad luck!¡±


    Sen smiles, he usually is the one with bad luck. Deciding that he wants to see if his luck will continue, he checks out the tournament bracket he¡¯s in. There are two hundred fifty six people left in his bracket, but Sen simply scans over the names, only recognizing one of them, and when he sees it he grimaces. It¡¯s LostMind, the leader for Team Cloud. While he won¡¯t be scared of him in gladiator, when he¡¯s sure to be outclassed stat wise, and when the game includes skills, he¡¯s pretty sure he¡¯s going to get stomped. Maybe he¡¯ll have a chance if he is better with Gale Steps, but as is he¡¯ll simply have to do his best.


    Thankfully, he¡¯s on the opposite side of the bracket, and the top two both advance to the next tournament, so Sen should have a chance to compete in the next round of the tournament.


    The next few matches, Julie has managed to keep her string of wins, as no one has been able to see through her illusion, and nobody expects her to throw knives at the ground to form it. Sen had watched her quarterfinals match against a very mobile enemy, where she had filled up the entire arena with arrays, making dozens of false copies of herself. Sen is aghast at that. While he as a spectator has her real body highlighted by the giant screen above the arena, her poor opponent is running away from all the images as Julie leisurely follows her around. Sen has to leave early in pity for her opponent.


    Xue on the other hand falls in the quarter finals, losing to a player who has pumped most of their stats into energy, sending out a bunch of waves of pure energy. Xue is simply not able to get close, and falls before her opponent runs out of energy.


    Her face seems to have a darker undertone as she gets out, but is taking her defeat better than Lynna. Sen has no clue how to comfort her, having a rather low EQ, so simply stands there in silence along with her. Lynna on the other hand, goes up to her, chatting with her about topics other than Fifth dimension, and eventually she¡¯s drawn into a conversation about Gladiator, which seems to distract her from her loss. You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    When Julie has finished her match, he¡¯s surprised to see she¡¯s actually a bit annoyed.


    ¡°So what¡¯s with the long face? You beat her pretty handily.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but it costs me an F ranked core for each array. Even with all the hunting we¡¯ve been doing, I¡¯ve been spending most of it, and I didn¡¯t bring enough of them. If the next opponent is as mobile, I¡¯m going to run out before the finals.¡±


    Sen nods, they don¡¯t have time to get any more hunting in, and while Julie isn¡¯t a total slouch in the swordsmanship department, it¡¯s a bit mechanical, lacking the spark that truly skilled sword users have. The fact that she usually plays mages in games doesn¡¯t help her there either.


    The semifinals appear, and Sen is faced with an opponent that has a very similar weapon to Sen. Sen grins, he knows the swordsmanship for greatswords in and out, and he knows how to abuse even the slightest mistake in it.


    Sen is preparing to have a fun fight, and when the white walls of light go down, they each give each other a bow of respect before starting.


    ¡°You may be the real AncientSword, but I have no intention of losing even if you are!¡±


    Sen smiles, it seems that his opponent knows him from gladiator. Unfortunately, he hadn¡¯t noticed his name on the brackets, so he isn¡¯t sure who he is. The fight starts with both of them holding their sword overhead. As they approach each other, they both swing down at nearly the same instant, both of them using a skill to increase the damage their strike will cause. The two blades impact, and Sen twists his sword a little, parrying his opponents sword to the side, noting that his opponent is stronger than him, even though his strength stat is at D. Sen capitalizes on the opening, slashing his sword from the side, this time not empowered with Weight of the Mountain, but his opponent gets his sword back in position to only take a light cut on his arm.


    The following fight is brutal, his opponent trying to overwhelm Sen with power while Sen uses his skill to avoid that. Sen has to reduce the force of each of the strikes due to having less strength, but he abuses his advantage in skill to wound his opponent.


    Eventually he started to wear down his opponent, and is expecting the win to be reasonably easy, when the man uses some sort of skill he hadn¡¯t known existed. The next time their swords clash, his opponent¡¯s sword actually bites into his sword a good half an inch. Sen starts in surprise, it seems he won¡¯t be able to go for any more clashes. The rest of the match is filled with mind games. Sen trying to parry the flat of the sword whenever he would use the skill, and directly clashing at others to bait him into using it more.


    Eventually, it¡¯s his opponent¡¯s energy that gives out, and Sen, still having the energy for body strengthening, finishes him off with a thrust to the chest.


    Getting out of the arena, he takes a look at his sword, and his lips turn down in sadness. He quite likes his sword, and now it has a few massive chips in it. He sighs, it seems it¡¯s time for him to upgrade his weapon. That is one of the least favorite parts of games for Sen. In his previous life, he¡¯d used the same sword for at least years in his previous life, and felt a connection to each of them, while in games it¡¯s common to trade them out every few levels.


    He doesn¡¯t have enough time before the next match to get a new sword though, so he¡¯ll simply have to see if his sword will hold up for now. With only Julie and him left in the tournament, they both stay quiet, trying to keep their focus rather than chatting with the others.


    It seems like far too little time before the next match, and Sen¡¯s energy has only recovered to three quarters, having used a lot of it in his previous match.

 Chapter 21: Earth

    Entering the arena, he sees LostMind across from him, and raises his wounded blade, bowing in respect as soon as the white walls of light go down. LostMind returns the bow, and then they slowly approach each other, before Sen starts the fight, launching himself towards LostMind. He calmly blocks Sen¡¯s blow, even enhanced by Weight of the Mountain, showing his superior stats, and sends out his own blow, his sword becoming wreathed in a brown glow.


    Sen isn¡¯t sure what it is until he goes to block, the impact of the sword causing an explosion. Sen takes a bunch of steps back in pain, his insides roiling from the shockwave. He goes to raise  his sword, then blinks. The top half of the sword is entirely gone, snapped at one of the weakened spots from his previous match.


    He¡¯s far too competitive to stop fighting though, and swings his sword at LostMind, the shorter reach making him go closer than he¡¯s comfortable with. His blow is stopped by his shield, and LostMind¡¯s return blow is far faster than Sen can move. He manages to avoid a fatal blow, but takes a deep cut on his chest.


    The pattern repeats, and while Sen parries a majority of the blows, he isn¡¯t able to get past LostMind¡¯s guard a single time with the shortened blade portion. He¡¯s slowly worn down, covered in blue lines, and with a bleeding debuff icon in the top left corner of his vision. Eventually, his vision fades, and he dissolves into blue motes of light.


    As he reappears outside the arena, he sees Julie looking quite happy, apparently she¡¯d completely swept her bracket. She mentions that she was completely outclassed stats wise by her opponents, but they¡¯d both tried to get close, and with them close she didn¡¯t need to use many of her array knives, not using up all of her few remaining cores.


    Sen shudders, there has to be some way to counter that. He¡¯ll have to look that up on the wiki when he gets out. Jennifer and Lynna are both congratulating Julie, who is far too logical to let the pride from victory get to her head. That doesn¡¯t stop her from celebrating though, quite happy from her victory.


    Xue  comforts Sen about his loss, and he thanks her, though he¡¯s a bit grumpy to have lost in such a fashion. He wanted to at least wound his opponent some, but with half his sword missing, he hadn¡¯t been able to put up a proper fight.


    The group, rather than deciding to celebrate in game, decide that this is a good time to have their meet up in real life. Logging out, Sen is met with his familiar room, a bland place with nothing but a bed, dresser, and a desk upon which his computer rests, the silver capsule being the most prominent thing in the large room, which would seem painfully empty without it.


    Getting out, he takes a much needed shower, drenched in sweat from the exercise the capsule has put him through while he was in game. Once he¡¯s finished, he switches into a plain set of clothing, just jeans with a plain grey shirt. He¡¯s never been much for graphic t-shirts, though he has a couple official Gladiator t-shirts. Once he¡¯s done, he goes to get some coffee and wait for his sister. Knowing her, she¡¯s going to be a good thirty to forty minutes, so he savors his coffee as he heads over to the dining room.


    Once there, he sees his mother, Jiu, eating what looks to be fish pancakes, and she smiles at him as he arrives. It isn¡¯t too rare for Sen to run into her even during working hours. As a surgeon, she has very odd working hours, though she spends far more time at work than with her family. Regardless of that, she almost always makes it for the family dinner somehow, finding the family time very important. She finishes her meal before talking with him.


    ¡°So I see you¡¯ve been enjoying Fifth Dimension. How have you been doing in it?¡±


    Sen smiles back, even his annoying loss feels small when with his loving mother. ¡°I did well in the second round of the tournament. I took second place in my bracket.¡±


    His mother nods. She hadn¡¯t ever encouraged her kids to play games, but does try to keep up with their gaming situation, wanting to have something familiar to discuss with her kids.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    ¡°Good luck in the next round, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll do well there too.¡±


    Sen smiles, his mother is always supportive, even if she doesn¡¯t believe that immersion games are a good way to spend their time. As his mother gets a call to go back to the hospital, he gives her a short hug goodbye, and sees her out the door. As he gets back to the dining room, he sees Lynna has finished up with her preparations.


    They both exit the house, and Lynna gets in her car. While vehicles are automated, similar to in game, you still require a license to drive them in emergencies, and Sen has never bothered getting one, even though he is old enough to do so. They¡¯re meeting up at a bubble tea store, and as they walk in, they see that they aren¡¯t the first to arrive.


    Jennifer and Julie are both chatting, or rather, Julie is teaching Jennifer about some obscure information about modern physics. Scientists are almost to the point where they can recreate the warp drive. Considering that on earth, there had been just one super genius that had developed it, Sen wonders how they hadn¡¯t developed one in the fifteen thousand years humanity had been on Alpha.


    Their conversation is interrupted by the siblings arrival, and the two girls both go up to give Lynna a hug, following with a hug to Sen. He feels a bit awkward, two attractive girls giving him a hug when the only female friend he¡¯s had in either of his lives is Julie. Xue soon arrives, and looks as awkward as he felt as she gets hugs from the other girls.


    They all get some bubble tea, and chat, mainly about Fifth Dimension. Xue lets slip that there¡¯s a reason that the capsules exercise you, and that starts some speculation about what the hell is going on. Xue refuses to comment, but that doesn¡¯t stop the conversation to getting to conspiracy theory territory.


    ¡°So has anyone else noticed the censorship online? Every theory people have been posting online just disappeared all of a sudden,¡± Sen mentions.


    ¡°I noticed that!¡± Lynna says.


    Xue looks a bit uncomfortable at that, and gets stares from everyone, but her poker face soon comes back, with a bit of sadness mixed in.


    ¡°Sorry, I really can¡¯t say.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine,¡± Sen breaks the uncomfortable silence. ¡°Our dad won¡¯t tell us anything either.¡±


    The conversation slowly peters off, and goes back to gaming. Sen finds it interesting how everyone is using their real names in game, and finds out that everyone has independently decided that considering they are stuck with their own body, they¡¯ll use their name as well. Everyone agrees that they need to find more dungeons, and Julie makes everyone feel stupid, pulling out her phone and checking the wiki, showing that three E rank dungeons have been found in the vicinity of Falan.


    As large as King is, they can¡¯t control that many dungeons, and controlling just one will simply send other players to different dungeons, so they¡¯ve been quite silent. Once the game gets further on, there likely won¡¯t be as many higher rank dungeons, so they will likely be heavily fought over, but for now, there are enough for everyone.


    Lynna soon gets started telling some of the funny stories from their previous games, and while Jennifer and Sen were either participants in the stories, or had heard them already, they simply grin, remembering, but Julie is laughing at some of their antics. The worst one is the time a streamer had convinced his fanbase to collectively confess to Sen after seeing how awkward he was when one of his fans had confessed, and Sen had started hiding from the public for a month.


    Xue¡¯s cold face cracks a bit at that, and jokingly confesses to Sen as well, who turns bright red, regretting the fact that Lynna had found out about that. Sen returns the favor with stories about how Lynna had a good portion of the Ares guild chasing after her after she had shared a picture in the forums when everyone was doing a face share.


    Lynna still has a few people in Ares who are chasing her, but Lynna isn¡¯t interested in any of them, having a crush on someone at her school, and she has refused to tell Sen who he is.


    They part after the stories, and everyone goes back to their own homes. Sen isn¡¯t really in the mood to do hunting in Fifth Dimension, but feels obligated to play it, and so hops in, practicing Bones Like Wind until it¡¯s time for bed.


    When Sen wakes, he checks his computer, and sees the internet utterly inundated with a new piece of news. Alpha has been contacted by humanity from Earth. Sen gapes. They¡¯d been cut off for fifteen thousand years, and now they¡¯d been found again. There isn¡¯t much news on it other than there are diplomatic relations currently going on. There¡¯s no explanation on how they had been found, and no talks about how diplomatic relations were ongoing when they are so far away from Earth it would take years to contact them through traditional means.


    The news completely overshadows any discussion of anything else, and Sen realizes that maybe the conspiracy theories about aliens had been right in a way. But if the new contact with Earth is how Fifth Dimension had been developed, there is a much more pressing ¡®why¡¯.


    Sen can¡¯t think of any valid reason for them to have people playing a game. There won¡¯t be any reason to be reading their minds, as people who have things to hide already don¡¯t play immersion games because of conspiracy theories about such things. It can¡¯t be purely for getting the population in shape, as the only real benefit there would be reduced health care costs, and that can¡¯t account for it. It can¡¯t even be to train super soldiers, as it would have a more modern setting if that is it.


    Sen spends the next hour or so mulling over different options, but isn¡¯t able to come up with any answers. Eventually, he gives up, logging back in to fifth dimension to do some hunting.

 Chapter 22: C-rank

    The next week passes with nothing notable happening, other each of them getting a stat up to D rank and Sen buying a new sword. The hobgoblin dungeon actually turns out to be very useful, as they simply trade in the cores for ones they need, and each of them learns a couple new skills. Sen finally gets Gale Steps to the point where he can use it, and Lynna and Jennifer pick up a more advanced version of that twisting sword, which extends the blade with a whip of water, a nasty thing that will wrap around a shield or sword, cutting into the body behind it even if the blade is blocked. Xue on the other hand, picks up a defensive skill, something that will dissipate energy fueled attacks, making any attack D rank and under lose practically all of its momentum.


    Julie, as obsessed as she is with her arrays, picks up an array that can send out blades of energy, and manages to somehow combine it with her previous array, making the previously only virtual attacks from her image actually cut.


    Everyone in the group has gotten a decent amount of work done on their bone enhancement skill as well, and Lynna, Jennifer, and Xue have started carrying around a little water because of the control they¡¯ve gained over it. They can¡¯t do much with it, but they can create a bit of mist in the area, sensing anything moving within, which they find is probably the correct way to deal with arrays like those Julie uses. Sen has also learned that he can use his control over air to sense her real body, but according to her, there are more advanced arrays which will create a body indistinguishable from her real one.


    Julie is the odd one out along with Sen. She¡¯s using Bones like Flame, and while she can¡¯t do much at the moment other than act as a glorified lighter, in the later stages it¡¯s sure to be powerful. She¡¯d actually quit Mountain¡¯s peak, as it didn¡¯t have the flame related body skills, and joined the same school as the other girls, as it had both the flame and water skills.


    Once the tournament arrives, everyone is expecting to do pretty well, and they do, for the first two rounds. At this point though, Julie and Sen both fall, the superior stats of guild raised players simply overpowering them.


    Even so, they¡¯ve both placed in the top two thousand worldwide, Sen the only one who is annoyed he couldn¡¯t place higher. Julie is simply happy that her arrays have so much use, and the others lost before they could get to this round.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    The tournament over, the rewards are distributed. Sen and Julie get a total of three C ranked crystals, five D ranked crystals, and ten E ranked crystals, each, along with a stupidly large amount of healing salve.


    Considering how well players from Falan did, their particular city is just a bit of a powerhouse, LostMind even placing third in the entire world. They all meet up again in real life after the tournament is over, and they discuss their plans for the next few months in game. They all agree that they need to learn the muscle enhancement skills next, as they both increase strength and control over the respective element, with a few side benefits depending on what element the skill is based on.


    The bone enhancement skill is a prerequisite for learning it though, so they all need to finish it before they can learn it, and after that they¡¯ll need to get the upgrade for the bone enhancement skill, and so on. There¡¯s going to be a lot of skill grinding in their future.


    The next month passes in a relaxing manner, and it¡¯s summer break for Lynna¡¯s college. Sen on the other hand gets no actual break, but his tutoring sessions are cut down even more than before. Xue¡¯s coldness has faded a lot over the time they¡¯ve been spending together, and while she is still rather taciturn compared to the other girls, she now regularly smiles, unlike her earlier cold countenance.


    There¡¯s no news released about the contact with Earth, just that it¡¯s ongoing, and so the biggest news is that the capsules have decreased in price to the point that almost anyone can buy them, leading to a massive surge in the playerbase.


    The player base goes from around a fifth of the population, to almost two thirds, which has broken every record by a massive margin. Not all of that is attributed to the gaming part of it though, as Sen has eventually learned that you can indeed eat in game, it¡¯s just not required, and there are certain adult activities that attract a lot of ¡°players¡± as well.


    Eventually, everyone gets their stats up to C rank, and then start running into trouble. There simply aren¡¯t enough D ranked monsters to get their stats up to B rank, and so they¡¯re forced to hunt C rank monsters. That normally wouldn¡¯t be a problem, except there seems to be a massive dividing line between D ranked mobs and C ranked mobs.


    Up to D rank, it isn¡¯t hard for a person to kill a monster of the same rank so long as they¡¯re reasonably skilled, but when it comes to C ranked monsters, one of the branches of King had sent hundreds of low rank players trying to kill a particular one and still failed. Anyone under C rank in stats simply hadn¡¯t even been able to hurt it, and even those at C rank weren¡¯t exactly skilled players.


    On the bright side, this disparity leads to C rank being a large dividing line. As most players can¡¯t keep up with the game at that point, most guilds can no longer simply feed cores into their best members, losing the advantage that they have in cultivating a main team, as the lead team has to do the hunting themselves.


    Solo and small groups of players are about a couple weeks behind, but they now have a chance to catch up.

 Chapter 23: Juvenile Frost Lion

    ¡°Alright, so we¡¯ve basically capped out on all of the D ranked crystals we could find, so we¡¯re going to be hunting C ranks from here on out. We¡¯ve all gotten our bone and muscle enhancements to C rank, so we should be able to handle them if we work together.¡± Lynna leads the conversation, as she tends to be the best when it comes to organizing things. Sen is more battle focused, and Julie, while amazingly intelligent, tends to focus on one thing, missing the forest for the trees.


    ¡°We¡¯re going to head into the forest, as there haven¡¯t been any dungeons discovered that have C rank monsters. From what I¡¯ve found, C rank enemies seem to be rather rare, and their strength can vary a great deal. The weakest ones should be a walk in the park, but there are some that even professional teams have wiped to.¡±


    The group nods, Sen excited for the tough fights to come, the rest more determined than excited. They leave the city in one of the automated vehicles, heading to the forest to the north. The forest to the east tended to have groups of mobs, even when it came to C rank mobs, and no one has been willing to take that challenge.


    As they arrive at the forest, they walk through with no trouble, the few mobs that are willing to attack the group of higher level people quickly killed. Eventually, they arrive at a much deeper area of the forest. Before continuing, they take a break, Julie setting up an array to keep any random mobs from bothering them as they log out in turns to get food and drink.


    After they¡¯re well rested, the sun is starting to rise for the short two hours that it will be up, and the group continues in a cautious manner, hoping that the first C rank enemy that they run into won¡¯t be an ambush predator, as they tend to be some of the worst types of enemies to deal with.


    They walk for quite some time, the forest practically deserted except for the occasional D rank mob, but eventually they start hearing the sound of massive footsteps. The sound is a familiar one to Sen, and when the footsteps continue to come closer, he sees a familiar figure of a blue lion, though one significantly smaller than the one Sen had seen before, and it instantly opens its mouth at the group.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°Scatter!¡± Sen yells. The group follows the direction without any hesitation, and a wave of frost comes out of the frost lion¡¯s mouth, encasing a tree in ice. The lion, seemingly not able to use the same move in quick succession, swings one of its massive paws towards Xue. She uses the shield she¡¯d started to bring along to block the heavy blow, but is sent sliding along the ground, not stopping until her back hits a tree. She¡¯d managed to take the force of the blow without a serious wound though, and the group capitalizes on the opening the frost lion has shown, going in for heavy blows upon its body.


    While most of the blows manage to land, each one empowered by skills, the frost lion manages to twist its body enough that Sen¡¯s blow with his large weapon only manages to give it a small cut. The blows of the others hit it with, but even empowered by the water whips, only manage to cut a bit more than an inch deep, their smaller weapons being less useful against a large enemy.


    The frost lion swings its body around towards Sen, swinging out with its paws at the same time it launches its prehensile tail at Lynna. They both block the blow, Sen¡¯s sword cutting slightly into its paw, but not deeply enough to be a serious wound. The attacks both send them flying a bit, but Xue has managed to close in by this time, and stabs a few inches into its flank.


    By this point, Julie has finished setting up her array, and a few images of her start attacking, each one of them leaving shallow cuts along the body of the frost lion, while the blows of the frost lion simply phase through the images. Sen shudders, he may have a way to sense where Lynna is, but the pure energy constructs that make up the fakes can still do a decent amount of damage even if he tries to catch her real body. Luckily for her opponents, this particular array takes a good amount of time to set up.


    They slowly wear down the frost lion, the fake Julies trying to bait out as many of the blows as they can, but eventually the frost lion wisens up, and starts targeting anyone but the images of Julie.


    Julie takes advantage of this though, coming in for a powerful strike with her sword, leaving the deepest wound so far onto its neck. The frost lion goes to bite at her, but she¡¯s already used her skill that seems to give her an explosive amount of acceleration to retreat by then.


    The Lion eventually falls to it¡¯s myriad wounds, and Sen makes the mistake of asking Tir if that is normal for C tier.


    ¡°That was a juvenile frost lion, a mature frost lion has approximately double the stats in all areas.¡±


    Sen blanches. C tier has that much of a discrepancy in stats!? He knows that a frost lion is one of the strongest monsters in tier C, but to be twice as strong while remaining in the same tier? He shakes his head, he doesn¡¯t think they¡¯ll be able to handle that with their current stats. Maybe once they¡¯ve absorbed a decent amount of C rank crystals.

 Chapter 24: Giant Scorpion

    Their walk continues, and while they run into a lot of D ranked monsters, it¡¯s a good two hours until they run into their second C rank monster. This particular monster seems to be similar to a scorpion, a shiny black carapace making up its segmented body with eight legs and two pincers, and a long tail with a curved stinger at the tip of it.


    Sen lags a bit behind as they charge the monster, which goes to stab at Xue with its stinger, snapping its pincers at Lynna and Jennifer as they go to circle around the sides of the monster. The stab from the tail is just barely blocked by Xue, the stinger actually piercing through her shield, luckily above her arm, less than an inch from piercing her shoulder.


    At this point, Lynna and Jennifer go to chop at the monster, but do nothing more than leave small scratches on its carapace. Sen joins in a moment later, slamming down with Weight of the Mountain, but even though he¡¯s gotten to the point where he has an image of a mountain appearing over his blade, it only cracks the exoskeleton.


    Xue has started using a movement ability to dodge the stinger while Julie has made a couple of images to try and distract the scorpion¡¯s pincers. The rest of the group, and Julie herself, get to slowly wounding the monster. Each blow leaves only a scratch, but repeated blows to the same area start to wear through its inch thick armor.


    The first to get through to flesh is Sen, his larger and heavier sword giving him more power behind his blows, and the scorpion lets out a weird clicking scream. It instantly stops targeting Xue and the images of Julie, turning its focus to Sen.


    Sen isn¡¯t willing to try and block the tail as it speeds towards him, doing his best to divert it just a bit to the side as he dodges in the opposite direction. While he manages to not get hit by the tail, he¡¯s off balance enough to get cut by one of the pincers, which if it had come just a bit closer, would have entirely chopped off his arm.


    Sen laughs from sheer adrenaline as he continues to dodge, using Gale Steps in conjunction with Earth Step to avoid each of the blows by a rather narrow margin. The entire time he¡¯s doing so, he¡¯s reducing the wind resistance in front of him, along with pushing himself with the wind in order to speed himself up enough to keep up, and he can feel his energy draining at a scary rate.A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Eventually, Lynna gets frustrated enough to blow a good third of her energy on one of the C ranked skills she has learned. An image of an icicle completely surrounds her sword, and she stabs forwards, the image of pure energy piercing deep within the exoskeleton of the scorpion, seemingly ignoring the armor.


    The scorpion lets out it¡¯s clicking scream again, and the second it turns away from Sen, he uses Weight of the Mountain on the same area that Jennifer had been attacking for a good deal of time already. The thick carapace already mostly broken, the energy behind the blow crushes through the remainder of the armor, cutting deep within its flesh. As the scorpion is distracted by the pain, Lynna steps into the range of its pincers, jumping on the monster¡¯s head and thrusting her sword as deep as she can into one of its eyes.


    She must have gotten deep enough to hit its brain, as the scorpion flails for a while, no longer attacking anyone in particular before collapsing. They take another break, and Lynna has a frown on her face.


    ¡°Aagh! We¡¯re never going to get enough damn crystals this way!¡± Lynna shouts.


    ¡°Well we could always switch to the eastern forest,¡± Sen replies


    ¡°And what? Run into groups of C ranked monsters instead? The crystal shop won¡¯t even let us trade in the D rank crystals for C rank!¡±


    ¡°We need to find a C rank dungeon,¡± Xue says all of a sudden


    ¡°And how are we going to do that?¡± Lynna asks her with a frustrated tone.


    ¡°Well from what I¡¯ve seen online, a few cities have found one, and the dungeon location actually follows a pattern.¡± She then goes into some obscure branch of mathematics to explain the placements of them, and the group has their eyes glaze over.


    Around halfway through Julie¡¯s dissertation, she interrupts her. ¡°So in short, you can probably find us a C rank dungeon!?¡±


    Julie stares her down. ¡°I¡¯m sure we won¡¯t be the first ones to find it. Any reasonably sized guild will have had someone notice the pattern. The guilds are probably fighting for control of them already.¡±


    Sen feels a grin sliding over his face. While most of the Ares guild is only leveling to do better in PVP, sticking to the already found farming areas, if they can find a good C rank dungeon, Sen is certain he¡¯ll be able to get them to join in on a large scale fight, and controlling a C rank dungeon is sure to be one.

 Chapter 25: Searching For Dungeons

    The group has Julie set up an array, and log off to satisfy the needs of their real body. Once they get back in game, they continue hunting for a while, only running into a single other C ranked monster before fast traveling back to Falan.


    They split up at this point, Julie going to calculate the approximate location of a dungeon or two, and the others heading to their schools in order to practice their body enhancement skills. Sen loses himself in the flow of energy through his muscles as he works towards finishing the C ranked tier of it, and eventually logs off in order to have dinner with his family.


    Once he¡¯s enjoyed his meal, he hops onto the Ares guild chat server, and finds them to be just as annoyed about not being able to find a dungeon as his group is. Apparently, Team Cloud is the only group that has found a C ranked dungeon in the vicinity of Falan, and Ares only knows this because of spies in their guild.


    They haven¡¯t been able to get the location, as the information has been passed only in the upper ranks. If that¡¯s the case, it won¡¯t be a large scale fight, but rather a small one between Team Cloud¡¯s elite group and the group Sen is with. That thought makes Sen even more excited, as with even the guild players stuck at rank C, they may be able to beat them.


    He then hops on the small chat server the group had set up, and sees that almost everyone is on, likely waiting impatiently for Julie to finish her calculations for the C ranked dungeon. They get into a discussion on whether they think anyone has gotten a stat to B rank, but decide that if someone did get there, it would be someone from a large guild, as they were boosted up to rank C.


    They then agree that any guild players that did get to rank B would also announce it to show up the other guilds, so it is extremely unlikely that anyone has gotten there. After maybe an hour of changing topics, from gaming ones where Sen is much more vocal than in person, to topics only the girls bother participating in. Eventually Julie pops in the server with a short ¡®I did it!¡¯.You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    Everyone posts celebratory emotes, and Julie posts a pic of the surrounding area of Falan, with three spots marked on it. On the bright side, there are a few dungeons, on the down side, they are all a good hour drive from Falan, around midway between multiple cities. There will be a lot of practicing their body enhancement skills in the automated vehicle.


    They all want to log in, but it¡¯s about time for sleep, and so none of them bother, simply chatting a while more before doing their bedtime preparations and getting some rest. The next day is the weekend, but Sen gets up at the same time as normal, preparing himself for the day, even if he¡¯s just going to spend it in game.


    Hopping into the capsule, he notices again his increased muscle tone. While he won¡¯t be mistaken for a bodybuilder, it reminds him a bit of his previous life, where his muscles had come from constant fighting and practicing with his sword. Everyone else in the group has put on quite a bit of muscle as well. Lynna lost her slight chubbiness, and all the girls have put on a bit of muscle as well, looking like gymnasts.


    Once they¡¯re all in, they agree to rent a vehicle, as the dungeon is quite a distance off-road. While the automated vehicles are free, they can only go on roads. If they rent a specialized vehicle however, they still have the automated driving function and can also be manually driven to go off road.


    Considering they¡¯ve just been stockpiling their D ranked crystals since they capped out on them, they can easily afford it. They don¡¯t even have to go to the market district, as each school will rent them out for contribution points.


    The girls split the contribution point cost between them, and Sen hands over a few crystals for his share. As the new vehicle they¡¯ve rented comes out of the garage, they see it looks significantly different from the normal automated vehicles. While the normal automated vehicles are sleek, with curved lines and a high roof, this one is much more angular, a bunch of thick sheets of solid metal stuck together, with massive wheels that have thick ridges in them for gripping less solid ground.


    The group admires the vehicle for a while, before hopping on it and setting off to what is hopefully the location of the closest C ranked dungeon. The driving on the road is peaceful, and it takes them an hour to get to the point where they¡¯ll be setting off road. At this time, everyone stops their practice with their body enhancement skills, and Lynna cheerfully takes control of the vehicle.


    The ride is very rough as they weave in between trees that have to be a good five meters in diameter. Luckily, there¡¯s enough space in between the trees that they¡¯re able to use the car, and they soon arrive at the point marked on their map.

 Chapter 26: Twisting Tigers

    They spend the next half hour trying to find the dungeon, and Sen starts to think maybe Julie was wrong when they find a tree that is a good ten meters wide at the base, with a massive hole in it.


    Walking into the darkness, it goes on for far longer than could be explained by the size of the tree, and the darkness slowly fades into a pale light, glowing moss filling the ceiling in irregular patterns, giving enough light to see the general area, but not enough for details. Everything is made of wood, circles that are used to tell the age of trees creating a wavy pattern upon the walls and ceiling.


    The group pulls out some core powered lanterns, affixing them to their waist, and everyone gives a grin to each other as they continue. Sen is actually quite disappointed that they haven¡¯t run into anyone from a big guild, even though they¡¯re about midway between three different cities at this area.


    It isn¡¯t long before the first monsters find them. They look like tigers, except their fur is black swirling patterns upon white skin. The patterns themselves seem to draw you in, and Sen is sure that if he stares at them too long he will end up feeling quite dizzy, as they almost seem to move as the monsters do.


    The group splits up, Xue going to hold one of them off while Julie sets up an array, and the rest targeting the other one. Once they get into actual combat, they find that they aren¡¯t particularly strong, on the lowest end of C rank, and while they¡¯re still quite tough to cut into, it¡¯s nothing like the giant scorpion they had faced before.


    Once Julie sets up her array, the false images of her begin to harass one of the monsters, and while it tries to kill the images, everyone else focuses on the other one, cutting it down in short order before turning to the one that¡¯s still playing with the images, just like a cat with a laser pointer.


    After eliminating that one, they continue through the dungeon, sticking with the same tactic, as the ¡°twisting tigers¡± as Tir says they are called, only seem to come in groups of two. As they proceed, everyone has massive grins on their face. Even if they¡¯ll only be able to run this dungeon once every fifteen hours, it will still start to rocket them ahead of the other groups.


    Eventually, they get to the boss, and everyone groans. It seems that the monsters they had been facing so far were just juvenile versions of what they saw before them. Not only that, the pairs they always came in were echoed within the boss room, two of them lying on their sides, lounging like all cats seem to.


    They have a short discussion before entering the massive cavern of wood, which is much more brightly lit than the rest of the cavern, the moss that grows in patches elsewhere covering the room almost entirely.


    They start off the fight by splitting up, Xue and Sen charging to the three meter tall tiger on the left, and Jennifer and Lynna charging the right one. Julie hangs back, setting up a few different arrays. The first blow towards Sen he goes to block, his sword impacting the claws of the giant tiger in a flash of sparks. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    Sen slides backwards, using the wind to dissipate his backwards momentum so as to not be sent completely out of the fight. As he charges back in, Xue is sent sliding back as well, but she¡¯d cut into the arm of the monster, though it was barely a scratch considering the size of the giant tiger.


    Every now and then, the bosses will stop moving, and the patterns on its fur will start to shift, and anyone caught looking at it will slowly fade into a stupor, making the others in the group have to go slap them a bit to wake them up, but it doesn¡¯t cause too many issues when they have five people. The girls seem to feel much less guilty about slapping Sen awake, as he will only go for the shoulder, while Lynna has made sure to get his face when she got the chance.


    They continue to get in small hits while being batted around like a ball of yarn, and eventually, the monsters seem to slow down. Sen gives Julie a thumbs up. She¡¯d used an array that slows down anything inside of it that doesn¡¯t have an amulet created to match with the array.


    With both the bosses slowed down, they¡¯re able to get in deeper cuts, though the sheer mass of the giant tiger is still knocking them around a bit when they¡¯re forced to block certain attacks. As the monster goes to bite at Sen, he uses Gale Steps to jump quickly to the side of it, and slashes down powerfully at its side with Weight of the Mountain. The image of a mountain over his sword crashes into the side of it, but is stopped by the ribs.


    Sen grimaces, he heard a pretty solid crack on impact, so he¡¯d likely broken a rib or two, but this thing¡¯s bones are damn tough. Images of Julie start to appear, taking the pressure off of them as the big cat chases them like they¡¯re a toy, but they don¡¯t manage to even cut into its skin. With the pressure a bit lighter, Sen checks on Lynna and Jennifer, to see Jennifer cradling her arm a little, but still attacking it in a determined fashion.


    They eventually manage to leave enough cuts on the twisting tigers that they both start to slow down even further than the array Julie had put down would account for. It isn¡¯t long until the first one falls, and Sen and Xue turn from the one they had just killed to see Lynna using her icicle looking skill to thrust through one of the tiger¡¯s eyes as Jennifer pulls its attention.


    The fight over, the group looks over the many C ranked crystals they¡¯ve acquired, splitting them as evenly as they can, agreeing that the people who didn¡¯t get the boss crystals will get them next time. They each absorb a couple of the crystals, leaving the rest to trade for other C rank crystals at the store.


    As they take the teleport array to the entrance, they see a group of people that Sen recognizes from Epic Skillz. Contrary to their childish name, they¡¯re one of the professional teams in the region, though they aren¡¯t from Falan, so they must have been from a different city nearby.


    Sen and the group raise their weapons, but the other group doesn¡¯t raise theirs, clearly wanting to talk rather than fight, for now at least.


    ¡°What guild are you from?¡± The leader of Epic Skillz asks.


    Lynna is the one to answer. ¡°We¡¯re not affiliated with any guild.¡±


    The man looks at her a bit askance, clearly not believing her, but seems to decide that since he doesn¡¯t recognize them they¡¯re probably not from any of the big teams that they are trying to compete with. He waves them on, and the group starts heading back to the car, Sen wishing they¡¯d decided to fight. They may have been outnumbered six to five, but he doubts that they will have an array master, and with Julie, they¡¯d easily be able to make up for the numbers.


    Array masters have become a bit of a thing, but very few would actually directly fight like Julie, simply setting up arrays beforehand and having others lure their targets into the area. Julie¡¯s system where she uses her special throwing knives to set up arrays instantly for simple ones, and only needing to place a few items for more advanced ones makes her possibly the most combat oriented array master in the world, or at least the best one that Sen knows of.

 Chapter 27: Making a Profit

    They soon arrive at their car, which hasn¡¯t been bothered by monsters, as Julie had set up an array to make it not be noticed. They hop in, Lynna running forward to claim the driver¡¯s seat, and are soon heading back to the road.


    Once they¡¯re there, Lynna lets the autopilot take over, and they all get back to practicing their body enhancement skills while they head to the next dungeon. When they arrive in the general area, once again Lynna takes the wheel, this time feeling much more comfortable driving off road, and drives in a way that everyone in the vehicle is tossed around like bouncy balls.


    Once they arrive, they find the dungeon quite easily, as it¡¯s surrounded by a good twenty people from the King guild. Sen lets out a groan. While most members of King aren¡¯t very good, simply standing on the fact that they have numbers, these are likely to be their elite members from all of the surrounding cities.


    After a short discussion back at the vehicle, they decide to have Sen hop out of game and sell the dungeon location to the Ares guild. Getting out of the capsule, he feels a bit tired, but not nearly tired enough to not explore the next dungeon.


    Hopping on chat, he sends a short message to David, the sub-leader of Ares in Falan. He mentions that he¡¯s found a dungeon, and is willing to sell its location. He feels a bit guilty as they agree to give Sen¡¯s group ten percent of their crystals that they earn from it, and after logging in for a few short seconds, the group agrees to sell the location of the twisting tiger dungeon as well.


    After making what is sure to be a profitable deal, he mentions that the King guild from the surrounding cities has sent their elite teams to control the one dungeon, but rather than being annoyed, the sub-leader is simply excited. In Ares, it¡¯s considered strange if you¡¯re not a PVP maniac.


    Once he¡¯s back in, they all sit in the vehicle and chat rather than practice their body enhancement skills.


    ¡°So how¡¯d you convince Ares to help take out King anyway?¡± Julie asks.


    Sen snorts. ¡°As if I¡¯d have to convince them, they have the twisting tiger dungeon location, but are more excited to have some fun PVPing rather than grinding the dungeon to get their stats up.¡±A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    Xue smiles a little. ¡°I was a member Ares in my Last World Online, that sounds pretty normal for them.¡±


    ¡°So why didn¡¯t you stick with Ares in this game then?¡±


    Xue shrugs. ¡°The team in Falan is a bit lackluster.¡±


    After a bit of thought, Sen looks at her. He¡¯d worked with Ares in Last World Online, so he would probably recognize her by name. ¡°What was your username? I was stuck using TheOldBlademaster, as my usual username was taken.¡±


    Xue looks at him and blushes, something he hasn¡¯t seen since when she first found out he is AncientSword. She shakes her head, refusing to tell him her username. Lynna is starting to get way too invested in this, and spends the next few minutes bugging Xue to tell her. Eventually Xue cracks, whispering into Lynna¡¯s ear, who bursts out laughing.


    Sen tries to get her to share, but she refuses, just looking at Sen and Xue with a devious expression. She then proceeds to whisper into Jennifer¡¯s ear, who also giggles a bit, getting the same expression on her face.


    Xue¡¯s blush deepens at that, and she won¡¯t look at Sen straight. Sen tries for a bit to learn what is going on, but he and Julie are left out of the loop. Julie likely because she never played Last World Online, and Sen because of some mysterious reason.


    Eventually, the group from Ares arrives next to the vehicle, having gotten the coordinates from Sen, but look around in confusion until the group leaves the range of the illusion array. David comes up to Sen, shaking his hand. Behind him are seven other members from Ares, the elite group that they¡¯d raised. Jennifer is glaring at one of the members from the Ares guild, likely the one who had knocked her out of the first tournament.


    The groups don¡¯t mingle much, just Jennifer going to challenge the guy who¡¯d knocked her out of the tournament as they head to the dungeon. Once they get close, they can hear the chatter from the King guild people, and they slow down their approach.


    None of the members of the King guild are keeping a sharp watch out, but the Ares guild isn¡¯t one for sneak attacks, and so they proudly strut out to the members of the King guild. As they approach, weapons out, the King guild notices them, and start pulling out their own weapons. Sen wonders for a bit why they haven¡¯t set up any sort of illusion array, but considering how few people actually bother with arrays, it isn¡¯t too surprising.


    It isn¡¯t until the two groups are facing off that someone from the King guild starts to speak.


    ¡°If it isn¡¯t the Ares guild, and some nobodies. This dungeon belongs to the King guild, you can use it if you want, just give us half your crystals when you get out.¡± His flunkies laugh at that for some reason.


    David is getting a cruel smile on his face as he doesn¡¯t bother replying to his provocation, simply charging in to do what Ares does best, PVP. Sen and his group join in. At this point in the game, shield walls aren¡¯t as useful, as one powerful skill can blow away and entire shield wall unless everyone in it has some sort of defensive skill. Sen is sure that would be a viable tactic, Give everyone the earth version of the body enhancement skills, get defensive skills, and form up a shield wall, but with ranged and more powerful abilities becoming more and more common, it won¡¯t remain viable at the highest tiers.

 Chapter 28: Not Spiders Again

    Everyone sticks close enough to cover each other, but far enough away to not get in each others way as the fight is joined. Julie hangs back to set up her arrays before joining in on the fight. Xue is hanging a bit further away from Sen than she should be, which Sen finds a bit odd.


    Each of the group Sen is with is facing two enemies, and while the King guild players aren¡¯t that good, they¡¯re good enough that facing two at once is a massive problem. Sen is stuck passively defending, constantly parrying blows from two people, who luckily can¡¯t work together well. The fight changes completely when Julie finishes her first array though, five images of her joining in on the fight.


    The King guild simply ignores them for a bit, likely used to the lower level illusion arrays that can¡¯t harm you, but are met with a rude awakening when the first person to ignore it takes a deep cut in his neck.


    The King guild instantly has a few people turn off to try and deal with the illusions, but they can only block the actual attacks. Any time they try to strike back at the illusions their weapons simply phase through them.


    ¡°Someone break the damn array!¡± The arrogant leader of king yells.


    The members of King simply look confused, and the leader of them curses and starts looking on the ground to find the array keystones, in this case, Julie¡¯s knives. He¡¯s intercepted by Julie herself though, and they start to fight a bit away from the main battlefield.


    With only one opponent remaining, Sen decides to end it quickly, as most of the group is still outnumbered, using one of the skills he recently learned that blends his sword into the wind, removing all resistance, speeding it up immensely, and making it nearly invisible. He¡¯s almost tempted to shout out the name, but he''s not going to act quite so foolish. Plus, Cutting Squall just isn''t a cool name to shout.


    Regardless of the bad name, the skill is extremely effective, confusing his opponent when he can¡¯t see the sword, and he goes to block a nonexistent strike as Sen¡¯s blade removes his leg at the hip.


    Sen instantly turns to help Lynna next, Gale Stepping behind the King lines and stabbing one of her opponents in the back. Lynna takes advantage of this when her other opponent goes to look at who killed his buddy, slicing through his neck with a water whip formed of energy.Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.


    Lynna then turns to help Jennifer while Sen goes towards Xue. They quickly eliminate their opponents, and Xue pointedly doesn¡¯t look at Sen as he helps her, bringing back his earlier confusion. At this point, they finish off the enemies that are trying and failing to deal with the Julie clones, before finally turning back and helping the Ares players, who have lost two of their members.


    Jennifer notices that one of the dead is the guy who beat her in the tournament, and gets a smug look on her face.


    ¡°So what the hell was with the clones? Those aren¡¯t supposed to do any damage!¡± David says.


    Julie tilts her head. ¡°It¡¯s not that hard to make their weapons constructed from energy so they can cut.¡±


    David looks at her like she¡¯s grown another head. ¡°So not only can you make more illusions than anyone else known in game, you can also make their weapons actually wound people?¡±


    Julie simply nods as if this is completely reasonable. David holds his head in his hands, looking to Sen like it¡¯s his fault. Sen notices the look, and completely ignores his plea for reason.


    ¡°Alright, now that King knows that we found out about this dungeon, they¡¯re going to send basically all their nearby players here to try and kill us. So I¡¯ll hop off for a second to confirm that this dungeon is indeed real with the higher ups for some reinforcements. We¡¯ll do the dungeon while we wait, and hope that our troops get here faster than those from King,¡± David says.


    Everyone nods, and Sen and the group wait for David to log out and back in before heading into the dungeon. Once they get in, Sen starts using curse words from his past life, getting odd looks from the others in the group.


    The dungeon itself is built into a hill, and it looks like it used to be some sort of catacombs. The sides are lined with alcoves, each holding remains within, bones slightly tinted in different colors.


    That isn¡¯t want makes Sen unhappy though, rather, it¡¯s the multitude of webbing littered within each of the alcoves, and plastered between the walls and ceiling. The strands themselves are ridiculously thick, a good two inches in diameter, and they seem to form fractals in the way they¡¯re set up.


    Sen instantly pulls a torch out of his inventory rather than the lantern he usually uses, lights it up with a lighter that is powered by cores, which Sen found odd until he remembered in lore that anything particularly volatile tends to spontaneously combust.


    Sen feels slightly better as he starts to burn the webbing, but isn¡¯t going to be properly satisfied until the spiders themselves are turning into blue sparkles.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this going to be a fun dungeon Sen?¡± Lynna decides that ribbing Sen takes precedence over clearing the dungeon.


    ¡°Very funny.¡± Sen tries to give a flat look to Lynna, but her giggle in return implies that some of his uncomfortableness, as Sen refuses to believe it¡¯s fear, is showing on his face. The other girls are set off after that, but Xue is kind enough to give him a pat on his shoulder in comfort, which makes him feel even worse than the giggling.

 Chapter 29: Webbed

    As they continue through the dungeon, their feet kick the occasional bone that¡¯s fallen out of the alcoves, making clattering noises which end with Sen jumping a bit. Lynna is constantly giggling at his antics along with Jennifer, while Julie seems to feel that it¡¯s a creepy area as well, but more for the bones everywhere than the fact that they¡¯ll be fighting giant spiders.


    Xue is the odd one out, seemingly feeling bad for Julie and Sen. As they walk, Xue has remained a bit further away from Sen than normal, which Sen has to comment on, as he doesn¡¯t want the distance to create any problems in combat.


    ¡°Xue, stop hiding over there, you can¡¯t cover me from that far away.¡±


    Lynna starts giggling again as Xue jumps a bit. She does sidle a bit closer though, and Sen puts her odd actions throughout the day out of his mind. It isn¡¯t long until they find their first mob, and Sen regrets ever coming to this dungeon. It looks like a gigantic, three meter tall tarantula, if each of the tarantula¡¯s legs ended in wriggling tentacles tipped with a spike.


    There are yet more tentacles coming out where its mouth should be, and it has two pincers perfect for tearing apart flesh on two extra legs that a tarantula shouldn¡¯t have. At this point, Sen whimpers a bit as they charge it. His first blow is using Cutting Squall to try and de-limb the beast as fast as he can. Sen is for once grateful for the censoring as the leg detaches, as from the girl¡¯s expressions, he¡¯d just been coated in gore that must have spurted from the removed portion.


    Sen continues on without using any more skills once he comes back to a slightly more rational mind, as he doesn¡¯t want to use up all of his energy, even though this monstrosity makes him want to go into a berserk rage. Without skills, his cuts only crack the furred carapace, and he notices everyone else has started to target the joints.


    He joins them, and the fight ends pretty quickly, the spider snapping at the fake images of Julie while the rest of them hack away at its limbs.


    ¡°Well that was easy for a C rank,¡± Jennifer comments.


    ¡°I still prefer the twisting tigers.¡± Sen says.


    ¡°It¡¯s standard for the normal mobs in a C rank dungeon to be very low C rank, with the boss being at a mid to high C rank,¡± Julie explains.


    ¡°And what rank would the twisting tiger bosses have been considered?¡± Sen asks with a sinking feeling in his chest.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    ¡°Lower mid C rank from my estimates,¡± Julie replies.


    ¡°So like, we basically have to hope that the boss won¡¯t be totally overpowered and wipe us?¡± Jennifer asks.


    Julie simply nods, and the group turns a bit solemn. The atmosphere fades however, and they all continue on. The slaughter a good deal more spiders, having to log out and take a break a couple times because of how ridiculously large and convoluted this dungeon is. If it wasn¡¯t for the automated mapping function in game, Sen is pretty sure Lynna would have murdered someone simply to get rid of some of her frustration.


    By the time they finally find the boss, everyone is sticky from having occasionally walked into a web here or there, and absolutely sick of the giant bugs. Looking at the boss, it looks similar to the other monstrosities, while being yet a size larger. The group doesn¡¯t bother making a plan, as they don¡¯t know if this boss will have any odd abilities, and move in carefully.


    The first noticeable thing is that even at the joints, this monster has some sort of jelly coating on them that seems to bounce any blows, and they¡¯re forced to use their active skills in order to cut through it. Their energy starts to dwindle as they slowly wound it, the pincers snapping here and there at different people of the group, but not catching anyone.


    Once Lynna uses her icicle thrust skill, stabbing entirely through one of its joints, the monster lets out a warbling screech, and somehow speeds up, even though it¡¯s been wounded. The increase in speed catches them by surprise, and Xue is slammed into the wall, a cracking sound heard by everyone.


    The boss, sensing weakness, starts charging her, and Sen uses Gale Steps along with Earth Step in order to get between the two. Not bothering to conserve any energy at this point, he meets a blow from the monster¡¯s pincer with Cutting squall, cutting a good three inches into the pincer, though he can see that his blade has chipped a little from the impact.


    The monster lets out a scream, but continues its barrage, and Sen isn¡¯t able to move from where he stands, keeping himself in between the spider monstrosity and Xue. He isn¡¯t able to block all the blows, his sword chipping more and more from the direct impacts with the monster¡¯s pincers, but he stays rooted where he is, making a wall of air behind him to support him so he isn¡¯t knocked back.


    It is a short few seconds before Jennifer arrives, but it feels like ages. Once she gets there, Sen feels the pressure let up a bit, until the monster¡¯s back curls down, and a stream of the webbing is launched at Jennifer. The sticky webbing catches her by surprise and pins her to the wall, the monster then aims at Sen, and he¡¯s forced to jump above it, enhancing his jump with the wind.


    The next blow knocks him back, but he catches himself on the wall Xue is stuck on with his feet, and launches back off of it, slamming his sword down on the tarantula thing¡¯s face with Weight of the Mountain, cutting off a multitude of tentacles, and crushing the carapace surrounding its brain a bit due to all the momentum behind the strike.


    At this point, he¡¯s beginning to feel faint from the lack of energy, and has to block the next blow without the support of a skill or the air around him.  He''s expecting to entirely lose an arm, but the slowing array from Julie kicks in. Even so, his parry isn¡¯t able to knock the blow fully off course, the monster stronger than him, and the monster cuts his arm down to the bone, Sen¡¯s arm falling entirely limp.


    Lynna and Julie manage to arrive at this point though, and Lynna takes advantage of the monster¡¯s focus on Sen to use her Icicle Thrust to pierce straight from under the monster¡¯s head, turning its brains to mush as Julie helps Sen defend.


    The monster continues to flail even after its death, and Sen stays in front of Xue with Julie, blocking the wild swings of its arms with his only arm, taking yet more cuts until Lynna takes over for him.


    Once the monster stops flailing, everyone collapses where they stand, and it takes a good five minutes before anyone bothers to cut Jennifer free of the webbing.

 Chapter 30: Wind Ball

    Eventually, everyone is mobile except Xue, who seems to be pretty seriously injured. They have to drag her to the teleport array, and she winces as they do so. Once out, Sen turns to her.


    ¡°You ok Xue?¡±


    She has a bit of an embarrassed look on her face as she replies. ¡°Yeah. It¡¯ll be three hours before I can play again though.¡± She then logs off immediately, leaving Sen a bit confused. Lynna and Jennifer are giving him and interesting look as well, leaving Sen even more confused. The rest of the group heads back to the car, and Lynna drives them back to the road. This time, they realize they can set the rented vehicle to head back on its own, and simply fast travel back to Falan.


    Once they get back, most of them head to their respective schools to rent one of the array rooms in order to practice their muscle enhancement skills, as everyone has maxed out the current tier of their bone enhancement skills.


    Sen, the odd one out, needs to go buy a sword, so he heads over to Clay¡¯s Smithy. Getting in, he''s greeted by the familiar stands of armor and weapons on concrete, which seem to move to a different position each time he visits. He waits a while like usual until Clay comes out from the back, where he had heard the hammering coming from. As he enters the room, Sen holding his sword point down into the concrete floor, Clay looks over it and shakes his head.


    Sen feels a bit guilty, this isn¡¯t the first time that he¡¯s completely ruined a sword. Clay would have murdered him after losing the top half of his sword in the tournament if it wasn¡¯t just a G ranked blade.


    ¡°I need a C ranked sword.¡±


    Clay glares at him. Every time Sen comes to upgrade his sword, it¡¯s only after it¡¯s been severely damaged. Sen can¡¯t help it though, some monsters just have ridiculous strength or abilities which often cause his weapon issues. Clay sighs, then lets out a nod, going back into the smithy portion of the building before returning with a new weapon.


    This blade is slightly larger than his last, which Sen appreciates, as he¡¯s grown around around half an inch in the past month, and isn¡¯t showing signs of stopping. Sen is touched that Clay has remembered to account for that, but figures he¡¯s never seen anyone else visiting this shop, excluding the girls when he brought them to get new weapons, so Clay can probably easily remember his few customers. Sen shakes his head, he''s thinking of a computer program like it''s a human being.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    Most people simply make do with the cast weapons that are sold at the more large scale stores, as even cast, with an energy pattern imbued into them as they¡¯re formed, they¡¯re far stronger than normal steel. Sen had actually tried blacksmithing in the past month, and while he finds it to be a very relaxing and enjoyable experience, he isn¡¯t willing to spend the time to learn it when he needs to hunt monsters as well.


    He still has no idea how Julie manages to keep up with both learning new arrays and hunting, even if her memory is ridiculously good. Sen pays Clay twenty C ranked crystals for the weapon, trying not to wince as he does so. He¡¯s going to fall a bit behind in stats until they do some more dungeon runs, though the girls will have to replace their own weapons in the near future as well.


    Once Sen has gotten his new weapon, he heads back to his school. He rents a D ranked array room to enhance his sensing of energy, and works on the C tier version of his muscle enhancement skill. He¡¯s almost completed it, as with the experience from his Bones Like Wind, and the following skills, it has gone far faster.


    The different muscle enhancing skills, like the bone versions, each have their own advantage. Earth gives endurance, water gives flexibility, wind gives speed, and fire explosive power. Sen almost regretted not going with fire when he¡¯d found out, but while explosive power may be better against mobs, the ridiculous speed and wind control make his swordsmanship even more effective. He doesn¡¯t only rely on overpowering his opponents, but beating them in skill.


    After two hours, he¡¯s finally completed the C rank muscle enhancement skill. The only one he has left is the one for skin enhancement. That one will be the hardest, as it treats the entire skin as one large organ. He already has the skill book for the F rank version, but has been putting it off due to how complicated it seems.


    Pulling out the book, he slowly goes to make more and more patterns. While it isn¡¯t entirely impossible, as the energy tends to continue the flow as he moves to the next part, the slightest stray control will cause a chain reaction messing up everything that came before it. He slowly builds each flow, carefully places each eddy and swirl, and lets the raging torrents flow where they need to, but isn¡¯t messaged by the group, and so simply continues to practice.


    Eventually, he completes it, and is amazed when the energy passages in this skin, bones, and muscles start to link up of their own volition. When they¡¯re done, Sen experiences a massive spike in his feeling for the wind. Where before, he could maybe sense things a good five meters out, and control the wind within a meter, both of those numbers are now doubled. He¡¯d read that there would be an improvement upon practicing all three, but he hadn¡¯t expected it to be this exaggerated.


    Thinking it would be amusing, Sen tries to condense the air into the smallest amount he can, making a small ball of heavily compressed air. Just to see what it will do, he sends it flying towards the target dummy in the center of the room. When it hits, a loud clap sounds out, and the target dummy is knocked over, while Sen is holding his ears that he¡¯s pretty sure have broken eardrums.


    Playing halted by the pain, he checks the time. Not only does he have like ten unread messages, it¡¯s been nearly six hours. He pales, he¡¯s missed dinner! Running out of the room, he logs out immediately.

 Chapter 31: Guild Politics

    Getting out of his capsule, he sprints downstairs, hoping that he can at least catch the tail end of dinner. Once he arrives, his family stares him down, everyone having almost finished with their meal. Lynna is trying to hold in a grin, and not succeeding too well, while his parents are looking at him in disapproval. Sen withers a bit, his excitement from the new control over wind he has fading.


    ¡°Sorry, I got caught up in practicing a skill.¡± Sen bows his head in apology.


    His father lets out a sigh. ¡°Just try to join us for dinner. On time.¡±


    His mother doesn¡¯t say anything, but the look she¡¯s giving him is bad enough. Lynna is amused by his plight, but isn¡¯t willing to make fun of him when their parents are already annoyed.


    Sen eats as quickly as he can, and the family talks while he tries to inhale his food so as to join the conversation. Eventually, the topic switches to Earth.


    ¡°Earth has invited us to join the United Federation of Humanity. Nearly everyone is supporting the motion.¡± Sen¡¯s father is letting national secrets out without preamble.


    ¡°Is that bad?¡± asks Lynna.


    Tien shakes his head. ¡°I think it¡¯s premature is what it is. We know practically nothing about the current situation of Earth, and apparently many other worlds now.¡±


    Sen is much more interested in a different topic. ¡°If there¡¯s a federation of humanity, does that mean that they¡¯ve found other races?¡±


    ¡°While they haven¡¯t explicitly mentioned them, they have been alluded to.¡±


    Sen¡¯s eyes start to sparkle. He¡¯d always wondered if there are other races in the galaxy, and while he doesn¡¯t have confirmation, it is extremely likely that they do exist. Sen¡¯s father then goes on to explain that schools are going to be forced to use what is referred to as common, a language that was originally the same as the one those on Alpha spoke. After fifteen thousand years of separation though, the languages have drifted apart quite a ways, leading to communication being possible, but hard.Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    They end the meal after the talk is over, Sen wondering why it is fine to tell them state secrets like that and not inform them about what is going on with Fifth Dimension. He considers going back in game, but can¡¯t really focus, and goes on his phone to catch up on some of the novels he hasn¡¯t read since before fifth dimension released. He falls asleep after managing to only read a portion of the updates from his favorite novel, more worn out mentally from the constant drive to do well in Fifth Dimension than he thinks.


    When he wakes, he feels more rested than usual, some of the constant stress he doesn¡¯t realize he¡¯s putting himself under gone. He goes through his routine with his tutors, then hops back in game. When he¡¯s back, he answers the messages from everyone that he¡¯s fine, he just needed a bit of a rest.


    The group then goes around to the two dungeons they¡¯ve already been to for their daily runs. As they arrive near the wriggling tarantula dungeon, they see a massive fight going on, the Ares guild is fighting with the King guild, with Team Cloud watching on, possibly to take out the loser, possibly to make a deal with the winner.


    Sen¡¯s group joins in on the fighting, attacking from behind the King lines. Sen decides to try out his little air explosion skill again, though this time, as it explodes, he uses the air to smooth out the shockwave heading in his group¡¯s direction, not wanting to cause any friendly fire.


    The enemies hit by it stumble, then try to turn back, only to nearly fall over, their sense of balance gone with the damage to their ears. The rest of the group gives him a bit of a look before they crash into the lines.


    The off balance enemies are easily wiped out, and as they continue, they face little resistance. It seems that King brought pretty much all of their players so as to take Ares down with numbers, but numbers seem to be the only thing they are relying on. Ares is acting as a rock as the waves crash against their formation. If a long enough time passes, the rock may be worn down, but unfortunately for King, their numbers aren¡¯t equal to an ocean.


    Eventually, the group manages to cut entirely through to Ares, and form up beside them. The following fight could more accurately be called a slaughter. The King elites have already been defeated by Ares, and so the rest of the rabble eventually takes so many casualties that they, to put it kindly, retreat.


    Once they¡¯re gone, the group from Team Cloud goes up, no weapons out, seemingly wanting to negotiate rather than start a guild war. David steps up to meet them, and they negotiate for a while. Sen and his group stay outside the dungeon in case things devolve to a fight, Julie covertly placing a few of her knives in the surrounding area so she can instantly activate an array if she needs to.


    Eventually, they come to an agreement, and David and LostMind shake hands, before the group LostMind is with head over to the dungeon entrance. The group, seeing as how there¡¯s not going to be a fight, head into the dungeon themselves, wanting to save any grinding time they can.


    The group clears the dungeon significantly easier this time. Being aware that the boss has a berserk mode and can shoot strands of spiderweb beforehand makes the boss fight significantly less stressful.


    Once they¡¯re done, they head over to the twisting tiger dungeon, and then it¡¯s off to find the third dungeon that they hadn¡¯t gone to the day before.

 Chapter 32: Chuuni

    It takes them a while to find the dungeon, but when they do, it¡¯s a cave on the edge of a mountain. The cave itself isn¡¯t lit whatsoever, and is filled with a multitude of stalactites and stalagmites. Water drips from them here and there, forming small puddles, the splashes from their steps the only sound in the cavernous space. The light from their core powered lanterns throws menacing shadows on the walls.


    The dungeon monsters are rather disappointing. It¡¯s filled with giant green humanoids with bulging muscles, but they¡¯re painfully slow. While Sen is pretty sure that a single hit from them can kill anyone on the team, they can¡¯t manage to hit anyone. The only wounds they take are when their clubs hit something that isn¡¯t part of the group, fragments of stone getting sent flying, peppering the group, leaving shallow blue lines throughout their skin.


    Sen is a bit better off as the only one who has completed his skin enhancement skill, and he highly recommends everyone else do that quickly, simply for the control over their element they gain, the tougher skin being only a side benefit.


    As they walk, Sen notes that has skin has gotten a bit paler from having practiced the skill, and he wonders if he¡¯ll be white as a sheet of paper if he continues to upgrade it to C tier. As they walk further and further into the dungeon, unlike in the other dungeons, the monsters get progressively tougher.


    After a while, they start using an annoying skill that causes a miniature earthquake, messing up their balance. The ogres will use that skill, then try and hit them while they¡¯re still off balance, but the only one who has issues is Julie, the other girls simply swaying along with it while keeping their balance, and Sen using the wind to support himself.


    Julie on the other hand, chose the fire versions of body enhancement skills, which don¡¯t give any sort of support in this area, and she has to send herself even more off balance with a push of her foot to avoid the swings at her. A few times, she¡¯s stuck rolling on the ground after a particularly large dodge, and she¡¯s looking quite annoyed as they continue.


    Eventually, they come to the boss, and as expected, it¡¯s simply an even larger ogre. When it slams the ground with its foot, rather than the earthquake the others caused, it creates massive ripples in the floor. The ripples spread out in a perfect circle, making the ground flow up and down beneath the group¡¯s feet.


    It isn¡¯t any faster than the other ogres, though when it slams its club into the ground, it sends massive chunks of shrapnel flying. Sen desperately parries anything heading to his vitals while ignoring the chunks which won¡¯t seriously injure him. The other girls are better off, Julie being out of range, and the others having a shield to hide behind. If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Once they eventually bleed out the boss, Sen getting the last strike on it as it stumbles to the ground, they enter the teleport array, and are soon back outside, nobody else nearby. They head back to the off-road vehicle, and bring it to the road to let it travel back alone before fast traveling back to Falan.


    Once they arrive, they start to discuss something that all of them are excited for.


    ¡°So what¡¯s the plan for the tournament this weekend?¡± Sen asks.


    ¡°Participate of course, what else?¡± Julie answers.


    ¡°It¡¯s for six people, we only have five, where are we going to get a sixth?¡± Sen asks.


    They look at each other, none of them having a good answer. While Sen has a few people from gladiator that he¡¯d be happy to play with, none of them have been placed in Falan from what he¡¯s learned in the gladiator chat rooms.


    Xue lets out a sigh. ¡°We could get my brother, he¡¯s a good player, but he¡¯s a bit¡­¡± Xue trails off at the end, likely not sure how to describe him.


    Sen shrugs, it¡¯s not like they have any other options. Ares is going to stick their strongest teams together, and the second string players they¡¯ll be willing to loan out will not be able to keep up once they get to later rounds. Lynna¡¯s other friends would be even weaker an option, and Julie doesn¡¯t have anyone to recommend.


    After everyone agrees, Xue sends her brother a message, having added him to her friend¡¯s list at some point. They wait around at the front of the Lotus school, and soon, a boy dressed in all black, appears, with a coat that hangs down to his ankles.


    ¡°Ahahaha, so even my sister needs the help of the great DarkBlade!¡±


    Sen pales. He¡¯s one of those.


    Xue sighs again. ¡°This is Kang.¡±


    ¡°How dare you call me by that name! I am the great DarkBlade!¡±


    Sen can see why she was so reluctant to suggest him joining the team. Lynna is holding in a laugh, Julie is shaking her head, and Jennifer just looks confused. People like this aren¡¯t anything new in immersion games, and considering he looks to be only thirteen, it isn¡¯t too surprising.


    ¡°We need a sixth, you want to join us?¡± Xue asks.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need any help! But since you seem to need mine, I will deign to join you.¡±


    Xue then continues to introduce us all, along with our older gamer tags. Apparently, he recognizes all of us by our tags, but when she gets to my tag from Last World Online, his eyes widen.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that the guy that you hmmgh,¡± He¡¯s cut off at the end by Xue covering his mouth.


    ¡°If you dare say anything, I¡¯ll.¡± She whispers the last bit into his ears, and he turns extremely pale. Lynna is back to laughing, along with Jennifer, while Julie seems to have figured something out.


    Eventually, they all head over to the arena, signing up beforehand for the tournament in three days. Kang refuses to drop the persona the entire time, making himself seem even younger than he is, but eventually the group learns to just ignore him.

 Chapter 33: Curving Knives

    Once the group is finished signing up, Kang leaves to go do¡­ whatever it is he does,


    while the rest of the group goes to practice their body enhancement skills. While most of the girls are carrying a bottle of water around to use with their water manipulation, it doesn¡¯t come in too handy with their current ability. It¡¯s mainly used to counter array users like Julie, spreading out the water into a dense fog, and locating the true body with that.


    Julie on the other hand, can coat her sword in flame, but it¡¯s only really for visual effect, as the flame isn¡¯t powerful enough to do much. Sen all but forces them to go practice their skin enhancement skill, as with the increase, he¡¯s imagining images of water cutters and fireballs. Once they go off to practice, Sen goes to play with his wind abilities.


    Unfortunately, he isn¡¯t able to create any sort of wind blade, though he gets proficient enough that he expects he¡¯ll be able to knock other people off balance. After thinking for a while, he decides to go buy some throwing knives to play with.


    Getting back to a personal training room as he doesn¡¯t want to accidentally hit anyone, he starts practicing throwing the knife, then using wind to accelerate it to ridiculous speeds, or even using the wind to make it curve in the air. Sen has a lot of fun with it. He isn¡¯t bad with throwing knives, and adding the power of wind control makes it so that he can do ridiculous things with them.


    Packing up his throwing knives into a bandolier, he leaves the training room to go and try and get the second tier of his skin enhancement skill done. He doesn¡¯t manage to do so before dinner, and logs off.


    He still has a bit until it¡¯s actually dinner time, and goes online to see that the news that Alpha had decided to join the United Federation of Humanity. Sen doesn¡¯t know why, but he shivers a bit at the news. There¡¯s practically nothing else being talked about online, and there are tons of people asking about aliens, just as Sen had.


    He finishes his browsing and heads down to have dinner with his family. His father is looking very sullen, likely due to the news that had been plastered over the internet. They eat in silence for once, Jiu seeming to respect her husband¡¯s mood. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    Once they¡¯ve almost finished, Tien speaks up. ¡°How are you doing in game?¡±


    Lynna is the first one to reply, in an excited manner. ¡°I completed the first tier of skin enhancement! And oh my gosh, I can control water sooo much better now that all the patterns linked up. I can cut things with water now!¡±


    Sen chuckles at her. She never spends much time practicing her body modification skills, but she is a lot faster than Sen when she actually does, so she never falls far behind him. Considering Sen is the top three percent, Lynna has to be the top one percent or better.


    The rest of the group is around Sen¡¯s skill with it, Julie using her ridiculous memory to simply memorize the patterns and match them with machine like efficiency, while Jennifer and Xue have an excellent control of their energy.


    ¡°Do you think Julie will be able to throw fireballs once she¡¯s done? She always likes playing a mage,¡± Lynna asks Sen.


    ¡°Well, there are a couple skills that throw fireballs already, but they¡¯re pretty weak, maybe with the fire control she can make them useful?¡±


    Lynna seems quite excited at that thought, and the group finishes  up the meal with no further discussion, everyone carrying their dishes to the sink, and Sen ending up being the one to do the dishes today.


    Once he finishes with the chore, he wonders yet again why his family doesn¡¯t hire a maid or butler like many of the other families living in this area, but shrugs it off. It¡¯s not like doing a little work will kill him.


    He logs back in, and goes hunting for a while with the group, as the fifteen hour timer for the dungeon lockout is over by this time. After acquiring a bunch of C ranked crystals, they all log off and go to bed.


    By the weekend of the tournament, none of them have gotten a stat to B rank except for Julie, who has been trading almost every single crystal she earns in for crystals which will increase energy. They all get together, even Kang, who still insists on being called DarkBlade. The only one who obliges him is Jennifer, and she seems to get quite a bit of amusement out of it.


    They arrive at the arena together, and see a massive number of people there, all of them split into different groups of six. The group had talked tactics a few times, and the general consensus is that for the early rounds they will just try and split off, turning the fight into six one on ones. For later rounds, they will all be protecting Julie while she set up arrays throughout the arena, and everyone hands over a bunch of crystals to her so she can power the arrays.


    This tournament is slightly different, split up into D rank and above, and E rank and below, to cater to the new players and separate them from the more experienced ones.


    Kang is practically bouncing in nervous excitement, and Sen wonders if he¡¯s not going to be a bit of a drag, but decides to trust Xue. If she thinks he can keep up, he probably can. The group wait around for the few minutes before the tournament happens, and then everyone is whisked off to the arena.

 Chapter 34: Arrogance

    When they arrive in the arena, they each grab their weapons, Sen unslinging his shoulder harness from his body, and drawing his greatsword from the ground, the rest simply unsheathing their weapon and leaving the sheath on their waists. With everyone prepared, they look to their opponents. It¡¯s a group of six guys who look to be a bit younger than Sen, and when both sides ready up and the walls of light disappear, they start to heckle, seeing that there¡¯s four girls on Sen¡¯s side.


    Sen doesn¡¯t bother responding, he¡¯ll let his actions speak for themselves, but Jennifer flips them off, and Xue¡¯s face gets a bit more iciness on it. Kang on the other hand, is yelling something about ¡°How dare you look down on the mighty DarkBlade!¡± The group sticks close enough to cover each other as they charge the enemy group, and are in disbelief as only one of their opponents manages to block a single blow. He can understand the opponent who Julie had hit with a fireball, but the rest of them?


    Yes, none of them have a shield, but Sen had expected them to last more than one blow. The entire group is wondering why they even bothered to sign up. It¡¯s not like there is a participation prize in this tournament.


    Jennifer strikes her second blow on the only one who¡¯d managed to block the first, and it¡¯s plain to see that the first block wasn¡¯t entirely luck, but Kang simply comes up from behind and stabs into him, looking proud that he¡¯s been the only one to get two kills.


    The rest of the group wipes off their blades, Kang and Sen being the odd ones out, as they¡¯re still playing the censored version of the game. The group instantly presses the button to leave the arena, but Kang doesn¡¯t show up for another minute, likely showboating for the crowd.


    The wait for the next round takes quite some time, as there¡¯s twenty minutes for each round, along with twenty minutes of break in between each fight. As they wait, they chat a bit, Kang bragging about his two kills, the rest of the group seemingly having made an agreement to ignore him.


    Sen can see Xue¡¯s look of exasperation showing through, and pats her on the shoulder a bit awkwardly, which gets him a grateful look after she jumps a bit in surprise. The group quiets down a bit as the timer for the next round counts down, and by the time it¡¯s over, not even Kang is talking.


    The group ready their weapons and formation before everyone presses the ready button, and as the walls of light go down, Sen recognizes the group as one of the second string Ares teams. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go all out, no trying for solo fights this round,¡± Lynna orders, clearly recognizing them the same way Sen has.


    She gets nods in return, except for Kang, who looks disappointed that he won¡¯t be able to show off by going off to fight on his own. They stay together, and rather than charging, stay in a defensive position around Julie as she sets up an array in their surroundings. The enemies obviously know what¡¯s going on, as they charge in towards the group.


    They¡¯re stopped cold at the front line, Sen swinging his sword in a wide arc, enhanced with weight of the mountain, and the enemy who blocks is knocked into the person next to him. Sen continues to harry the two, but is forced to use smaller strikes after the first, as he can¡¯t allow one to get in a strike as the other blocks his blade. He throws a couple knives in between, managing to hit one in the foot, but it isn¡¯t a debilitating injury.


    Sen is having trouble with the two skilled players, but whenever he starts having too much of an issue, Lynna will push back her opponent and go to cut at one of Sen¡¯s. This balance doesn¡¯t last very long, as soon a bunch of Julies are running around, and the enemies become terribly outnumbered. Sen uses the distraction to pierce one of his opponents, and then ends the other with Cutting Squall.


    The rest of the opponents are either distracted by the Julie clones, or killed by the images when they try to completely ignore them. Once they¡¯re all killed, the group all perform the usual sign of respect, a small bow with their weapon in front of them. Kang is the odd one out here, shouting his ¡°name¡± for the crowd.


    As the usual pattern of everyone leaving the arena except for Kang happens, they all look to each other. Second round in and they¡¯d run into a team from Ares. While it wasn¡¯t their main team, this was going to be a good deal more challenging than before.


    As if to mock their seriousness, the next round goes extremely smoothly, the group deciding to hold back Julie¡¯s arrays until they¡¯d felt out their opponents, and then they simply split them up, making the fight into six one on ones, and everyone kills their opponent within twenty moves, Kang being the last this time.


    He looks quite sullen at that, and exits the arena with everyone else, claiming that his condition was bad that round the second they get out. Jennifer mollifies him with a laughing expression in her eyes, and their conversation switches to the different dungeons, and more efficient ways to run them.


    ¡°You mean you¡¯ve found C rank dungeons!?¡± Kang¡¯s eyes are as wide as humanly possible at that revelation.


    Julie nods in return, and he instantly goes from utterly arrogant to begging.


    ¡°Please take me with you! My group can¡¯t even hunt C ranked monsters, they just all die and then I¡¯m stuck trying to fight it on my own!¡± His eyes mirror those of a puppy who¡¯s been told no.


    The group all looks to Lynna, but this time, she looks to Sen in turn. While she usually leads the group, she tends to look to Sen for some decisions, and this apparently counted as one. Sen thinks for a moment, not letting the look in Kang¡¯s eyes sway him, but eventually decides that they may as well let him try.


    Kang jumps up as Sen nods, but looks a bit disappointed when Sen adds a ¡°But you¡¯re joining us as Kang, not DarkBlade.¡±

 Chapter 35: Dreams

    The rest of the tournament goes smoothly until the finals, where they run into a group that Sen loves to stomp. It¡¯s King¡¯s main team in Falan. Right after the walls of light go down, the man in the lead steps forward, and manages to look down upon them while being shorter than even Kang.


    ¡°If you surrender now, this will be much easier on you.¡±


    Sen snorts at that, and Jennifer and Lynna raise their middle fingers in unison.


    ¡°Fine. If you¡¯re going to be like that, we¡¯ll see how well you play.¡± The man, who hasn¡¯t bothered to draw his sword yet, pulls it from its sheath, and steps back into the group, which has formed a shield wall. Sen smiles, he has just the thing to counter that, as it can¡¯t be blocked by shields.


    As they approach, Sen continues to condense air into a smaller and smaller area, eventually making a bead about the size of a marble, with a massive amount of air stuffed within it. The swirling marble is nearly opaque, and as they get within a few meters, Sen tells everyone to cover their ears, and everyone except Kang instantly does so. The King members are simply looking at them arrogantly, sure that nothing they could do would be able to harm them.


    The marble flies to the King formation in a fraction of a second, and Sen releases his control over it as it arrives right overhead the head of the man who had spoken earlier. Even with controlling the air to lessen the shockwave towards them and cover his ears, he can feel a cracking sound echo in his ears, and the members of King all either fall down or reach up to where their eardrums had burst.


    The enemies in disarray, They¡¯re easily finished off, Sen practicing his throwing knives with the off balance enemies. As they exit the arena having won their first round of the tournament, they¡¯re all excited, and decide to go celebrate at one of the in game restaurants. They each get a sumptuous meal of meats and vegetables that had never existed on Alpha before they all log out for some real food.


    The dinner Sen and Lynna enjoy is relatively quiet this time, no earth shattering revelations, simply their parents checking over the progress they¡¯ve made. After the meal, they both go practice their skin enhancement skill before heading off to bed.


    Sen¡¯s dream that night is one he hasn¡¯t had in a long time.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    A young boy of four or five begs alone in the rain, knowing that if he doesn¡¯t earn anything he¡¯ll not have any food. The orphanage he lives in seems to exist more as a slave dealer than a place for people to find kids they care about, simply giving them away without bothering to care who buys them. The prettier girls are always quickly ¡°adopted¡± for large sums of money, money that only goes to the owner of the orphanage. The few kids that they believe will earn them a good amount are fed, and the rest, forced to beg for scraps or steal. The child has tried to steal before, but every time, he is quickly caught, and beaten until he can barely move.


    He worries that today will be another of those days, as even if he¡¯ll be beaten, without having something to eat, he¡¯ll end up like some of the other kids, losing all energy until they disappear from the orphanage.


    The days pass, and one day, a small man covered in a hooded cloak comes to the orphanage, and the boy is taken away, along with all of the other children of a similar age. They¡¯re carried by carriage, huddling together for warmth as they are given nothing to cover themselves with through the travel. They are soon brought to a massive stone building.


    The kids are stuffed together in a cell, bars covering every direction but the one that is simply a stone wall. They¡¯re given food, but not enough of it, and the children start to fight for it. The child manages to sneak some food away, trying his best to ignore the sound of fists and feet hitting bodies and heads as he hides, pretending to sleep as he eats the little food he¡¯s acquired.


    When he wakes the next day, the cell is two children emptier. The children are fed again, and this time the child is forced to fight. He¡¯s not the strongest, not even close, but he fights in the most vicious way, allowing limbs to hit him and leaving bites and scratches in return. The other children soon leave the child alone, and they¡¯re then brought from their cell to a large area, no roof above the sandy pit that they find themselves in.


    They¡¯re handed weapons, swords far too large for children their size, and told to fight. Those that object are simply beaten until they agree, and the one girl who can¡¯t bring herself to raise her weapon is simply dragged out of the arena, her short scream being cut off.


    The child looks around, dragging his sword on the ground, barely able to lift it with the decayed muscles from malnourishment, but holds a feral gleam in his eyes. One of the other boys, seeing him as an easy target, and not willing to take the beatings that are being given out to those who don¡¯t go to fight, starts charging at the small malnourished boy.


    He swings his sword in an awkward manner, almost spun around by the adult sized weapon, and cuts deep into the child¡¯s chest. The young boy, rather than crying, simply uses the memories of all the beatings he¡¯d taken to ignore the pain, and uses all the strength he can to raise his sword, and shoves his weight forward, thrusting the sword through the older boy¡¯s stomach.


    As the older boy screams, the child takes a step back in disgust. He can see the blood slowly dripping its way down the blade of the sword. He can hear the mournful sound of screaming echo in his ears. He collapses to the ground, and heaves up his hard earned breakfast. He¡¯s been in many fights, and even seen other children killed for hoarding food, but this was the first time he¡¯d given such a grievous wound to another, and he isn¡¯t sure if the other child is going to survive it.


    One of the many men standing around the sanded arena comes up to him, and drags him back to his own cell this time, and he is brought more food and water. He forces himself to eat, knowing that if this continues he¡¯ll need all the strength he can get.

 Chapter 36: A Changed Life

    The next day, they are all brought back to the arena, and there are less than half the kids remaining. The child notes in an empty fashion that the one he¡¯d stabbed is one of the ones missing.


    At this point, one of the men comes to the front of them, and hands each of them a sword. All of the blades are coated in blood, and the child feels he recognizes it as the same blade he was handed yesterday.


    They are soon being taught how to swing their swords, and the slightest failure or reluctance to continue ends in beatings with a cane, leaving massive welts across their skin, while not wounding them enough to make them unable to continue.


    They continue until each of them collapse, and as each one does they are brought away. The child is the third to collapse. While he is weaker than the two who fell before him, his willpower is stronger, and he slowly feels a hatred growing for the people who had brought him here.


    After being brought back to his room, he¡¯s fed again, and allowed to rest until the next day. The days start to blend together as they¡¯re continually trained. A few of the children decide to resist, feeling they know how to use the sword, but they always disappear, and reappear the next day missing fingernails, or with horrific burn wounds on them, and they never disobey again.


    The child doesn¡¯t disobey any of the orders, but continually looks for chances. He doesn¡¯t want to escape, no, he simply wants to kill the cruel man that had put him here. If he dies doing so, then so be it.


    No matter how hard he tries though, the months fade into years. They¡¯re always guarded by tens of guards, all standing around the arena at all times. Before they¡¯re teens, they start to be forced to fight other humans.


    At first, the humans have no weapons and no combat experience, but as the months pass by, their opponents gain more and more, to the point where they will have better equipment than the children themselves. Some of the children die, or are crippled in some way, and the crippled never appear again.


    The child, as he is still a child, wins not with skill, but sheer viciousness, not blocking anything that won¡¯t permanently wound him, and using the chance to go for fatal blows. By the time they¡¯re older, the now teen can no longer count the amount of men and women who have died by his hands. Some of those he¡¯s killed had fought back, others had been restrained, and he¡¯d been ordered to kill.


    He hadn¡¯t had any purity in his life, but at this point, he feels his entire body is stained with the blood of others. The monotony continues, until one day a the teen opens his eyes to the sound of a ringing bell. He¡¯s heard the bell before, but never has it been rung for so long, or so loudly. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    One of the guards soon starts running between the cells, handing the children weapons, and ordering them to go out. As the guard approaches the teen, handing him the sword he has grown so familiar with, the teen walks a bit, before suddenly slashing at the guard¡¯s neck, who stares incomprehensibly at the teen as the blood spurts from his neck.


    The teen isn¡¯t sure why the others had simply listened. All of the other guards had rushed off to whatever the emergency is, and the teen knows that this is his only chance to get the blood that he has been craving since he was first brought here.


    Walking through the halls, he moves as carefully as he can, trying to minimize the sound of his footsteps. Occasionally he¡¯ll come across a guard, but they¡¯re easily dispatched, weaker than some of the people that he¡¯s been forced to face.


    He continues to use his brutal fighting style, taking wounds to take life, and by the time he comes across an opulent looking area, he¡¯s littered with cuts, and starting to sway on his feet. Pushing open the door, he¡¯s met by two surprised guards.


    He slashes one through the throat before he can get his sword out of his sheath, and rips his sword from one throat to the other, twisting to the side so the sword that is poised to pierce him simply scrapes along his ribs, used to the pain by now.


    The teen watches the two bodies flop to the floor in a cold silence, and pushes open the door that they had been guarding. A fat man is sitting behind a desk, simply doing paperwork, no worry showing upon his face until he looks up to see the bloody teen, at which point he leaps as fast as he can with his bulk to a sword placed to the side of the desk.


    The teen lunges forwards, jumping atop the desk as his sword stabs through the man¡¯s chest. The teen wants to inflict more pain, but he¡¯s growing faint, and after the man reaches for his wounded chest, looking on in disbelief, the teen simply collapses, his back resting against the desk, his sword cradled within his legs and arms.


    That is how a group of men find him, each of them wearing a cuirass and wielding a spear, with a bright blue tabard above their armor. Among them is a woman who seems out of place on the battlefield.


    While the men are wounded and bloody, the woman still has her blade in its sheath, and not a speck of blood mars her beautiful face. As they come in, they look on in confusion at the scene. A teen, hugging his sword like one would a lover, and the man they¡¯d come to kill already dead.


    One of the men approaches, and the teen tries to raise his blade, but collapses to the floor again.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡±


    The teen simply shakes his head. He¡¯s never had a name, simple called by ¡°you¡± or ¡°kid¡± at the orphanage. The people here had gone by numbers, their number based on ranking, the teen having eventually claimed the name ¡°One¡±. He has no intentions of keeping it though, no intentions of keeping anything given by those monsters.


    As the teen tries to rise again, gripping his sword that is slick with blood, the man backs off at an order from the woman. The woman herself starts to approach, but the teen doesn¡¯t lower his guard. The woman is absolutely stunning, long straight blonde hair falling to her waist, blue eyes it¡¯s terribly easy to be lost in, bright red lips contrasting against her pale skin, and curves that any woman would kill for.


    The teen barely notices any of that as she approaches, keeping his sword raised as the soldiers keep their own spears raised at him. The woman waves down the soldiers, who reluctantly lower their weapons, and as she approaches, the teen shudders, dropping his sword in exhaustion.


    The woman approaches him, resting her pristine hand against his blood stained face, caressing it in the way a mother would comfort a child, ignoring her perfect fingers being stained with blood, the contrast with her skin striking.


    ¡°If you have no name, how does Damien sound?¡±


    The boy can only feel something he¡¯s never felt before, a faint happiness, as he collapses in relief.

 Chapter 37: Bounty

    Sen wakes from the dream he hasn¡¯t had since he was Damien with a melancholy expression. Even after he¡¯d gotten away from that life, he¡¯d simply continued to swing his sword, as that is all he¡¯d known. Even in his current situation, he still escapes into the peace he can find with his sword. He¡¯d never had any real connections with anyone except for his lady as Damien, but here, even with a loving family, he often tries to escape the closeness, not used to care.


    He ignores the tears, not quite sure if they¡¯re from remembering the pain, or remembering that he¡¯ll never see the only person he¡¯d cared about in his past life. His melancholy mood continues as he looks at his capsule. He has a group now, but even with that, he¡¯s still not sure how to interact. He hasn¡¯t even had a normal childhood this life, taken from school early after his accident and homeschooled.


    He eventually shrugs off the mood, his family loves him, his friends, as few as they are, care for him, and this time he¡¯s not alone. He logs back in with determination to do what his family needs him to for some mysterious reason, do well in Fifth Dimension. Logging in, he¡¯s the first one in, and he spends the time waiting practicing his skin enhancement skill, wanting to get it up to C rank as quickly as he can.


    It isn¡¯t long until his sister is on, and he¡¯s distracted from his practice by a message from her.


    ¡®Did you see? King put a bounty on our head after we beat them! Bastards!¡¯


    Sen¡¯s surprised, getting on King¡¯s kill on sight list had happened a few times, but they¡¯d never put out an actual bounty for him. Curious, he sends back ¡®How much is the bounty?¡¯


    He can imagine his sisters disapproving face as she replies. ¡®It¡¯s three C rank crystals for the first kill on anyone in our team, and 3 D rank crystals for every kill after that.¡¯


    Sen¡¯s eyes widen. While the best players have found dungeons to farm, and won¡¯t find the reward too attractive, solo and small groups of players will be flocking to them for the total of 18 C ranked crystals. That¡¯s enough to get a D ranked person up to rank C in all stats theoretically, though practically they¡¯ll all be the same crystal and they¡¯ll lose some trading for the crystals they need.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.


    Sen is almost tempted to convince someone from Ares guild to kill them and split the crystals, but he doesn¡¯t want to lose the fifteen hours he will if he dies.


    ¡®What do you want to do about it?¡¯ Sen asks through chat. He knows exactly what he wants to do, but he isn¡¯t sure Lynna would agree, even if it¡¯s pretty likely.


    ¡®Let¡¯s copy what we did last time they put us on their KOS list.¡¯


    Sen feels a grin slipping onto his face, it seems it¡¯s time to go hunting. They wait for everyone to log on, send them a few messages on the plan, and everyone logs off to go do some research. The only one who stays on is Julie in order to find a more offensive array, as her current ones are more illusions and debuffs.


    They each split up to do research. There are usually two ways to get rid of a bounty. The first is simply to bow down, apologize, and then probably let yourself get killed once or twice. The second, which they are going to do, is simply cause them so much trouble that they¡¯re forced to rescind the bounty.


    They¡¯re currently researching all the different farming areas that King guild uses, and they¡¯re going to go on a killing spree. As it turns out, the King guild has taken over the C ranked dungeon that has the ogres in it. Sen isn¡¯t sure how they found out about it, but it will be an excellent first target.


    Ares guild still controls the wriggling tarantula dungeon, and has an agreement with Epic Skillz to share the dungeon with the twisting tigers in it. Luckily, Sen¡¯s group is included in that agreement, but as they haven¡¯t done their dungeon runs for the day yet, they hadn¡¯t found out about the ogre dungeon being taken over by King.


    Sen doesn¡¯t bother looking over the lower leveled farming areas for now. Picking on the noobs will only give them a bad reputation. The original target would have been hunting around the deep  portions of the eastern forest for groups of King. Now that they¡¯ve all grouped up to control a dungeon, it¡¯s going to be far easier.


    He messages the rest of the group what he¡¯s found, and gets a bunch of evil looking emotes in return. Logging back in, he messages Julie what he¡¯s found, and she practically orders him to come over to the Lotus school. Once he arrives, he¡¯s dragged to a large room filled with a forge, and various materials ranging from bone to metal.


    He¡¯s sat down at a desk, and Julie hands him an etching tool, shows him what pattern to make, then plops down dozens of knives in front of him he has to etch the pattern into. He lets out a sigh, this is not what he signed up for, but if the number of knives are any indication, Julie has something very fun planned for King.


    He starts the etching, and while the first two are failures, he quickly gets the hang of it, and it turns pretty relaxing, just slowly etching the same pattern into metal over and over. The relaxation soon fades to monotony, but he continues, and when he finishes the first batch of knives, he¡¯s handed yet more knives and a different pattern to etch.


    The other girls soon join them, and seem to be rather familiar with the process, getting to work without any questioning about why or what they¡¯re doing. Eventually, the seemingly limitless knives run out, and they rent one of the off road vehicles to go head towards the ogre dungeon.

 Chapter 38: Fighting the Bounty

    It isn¡¯t long until they get in the general vicinity, and Julie sets up an array to avoid the vehicle being discovered before they all head over to the area around the dungeon. They can hear King before they can see them, and Julie hands out amulets to everyone, miniaturized versions of the array that makes it hard to notice you. Kang, the newest addition to the group seems terribly confused, but copies everyone in putting it on.


    While someone who is already focused on you won¡¯t stop being able to see you, it makes it quite hard to spot you in the first place unless you¡¯re in a completely empty area, such as an arena. They recon the area the King guild is in and then start following Julie around.


    Every few steps, she uses a long stick to measure out a certain distance before stabbing a knife into the ground. The walk all the way around King, stabbing knives every seven feet or so into the ground.


    Once the array is placed, Julie lets out the most evil grin Sen has ever seen on her face, then channels some energy into her bracelet. Instantly the group starts to hear screams. Looking over to the King guild while staying out of the array¡¯s effect, they see them for some reason slaughtering each other, while others simply run away from everyone else. Kang jumps at the noise, before trying to pretend like he hadn¡¯t.


    ¡°So what exactly does this array do?¡± Sen asks.


    ¡°It turns anyone other than you into your worst fear, them magnifies the fear you feel by around tenfold, along with a confusion and enrage effect. Basically, you¡¯re driven to try and kill anything you see as your fear rather than just run, and with your muddled consciousness, you can¡¯t realize that you¡¯ve been subjected to an illusion.¡±


    Sen blanches. That sounds absolutely horrific. As the first of the King guild escape out of the array, the group is in position to kill them, as they¡¯re all looking back to see if the ¡°monsters¡± are chasing them. The group continues to go around the perimeter, killing anyone who escapes before they can try and help out their allies, but most of them die to each other.


    Once they¡¯re mostly collapsed, Julie hands out bracelets that will protect them from being affected, and they head into the array, finishing off anyone still alive. As the group approaches, the King members charge at them like they¡¯re monsters, which amuses Sen.


    Once they¡¯ve finished everyone off, they leave a big sign they¡¯d brought for this purpose, saying ¡°Remove the bounty¡± and signed by everyone in the group. After the slaughter comes some monotonous work. They go around to each of the knives, and bury them along with a few D rank cores in order to power the array enough to affect the next thousand people to walk into the area.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.


    They¡¯re going to hide the array knives, and let the array torment anyone who enters the area. Xue looks a little uncomfortable making the equivalent of a nuclear dump site, but the rest of the group is vengeful enough to enjoy the monotonous work.


    Once they¡¯re done, they enter the dungeon for their first run of the day. Once they¡¯ve finished with the dungeon, they all go back to the car, and send it back to Falan before fast traveling ahead of it.


    They all log out, and Sen decides to go on the public King forums. He may not have access to the private ones, but at least he¡¯ll get to enjoy some of the responses. He logs onto the forum for the Falan region, and sees a thread stickied at the top.


    There are a couple of the King members who had been streaming their gameplay as they were sitting around guarding the dungeon, and interestingly the stream actually shows what they saw, and not what was really there. So the different streams had different monsters for each person. One person has odd speedy zombie like creatures, one is actually characters from horror movies, and the one Sen dislikes the most is filled with giant millipedes.


    People have speculated that it is an illusion of some kind, and eventually the thread turns into pure rage against Sen¡¯s group as one of the members posts a screenshot of the sign they have left at the scene.


    It turns out that one of the people who exited the dungeon after Sen¡¯s group had left saw the sign after being the sole survivor from his group. The thread is filled with rage, and Sen enjoys it for a bit before logging on, going to help Julie with making yet more knives, as he expects they¡¯re going to have to do this a few times before they properly get the message.


    The rest of the week until the next round of the tournament is filled with hunting down groups of King in between running their dungeons, as King has never figured out how to remove the array around the ogre dungeon and has transitioned into hunting C rank mobs in the open.


    Sen¡¯s group will simply abuse the amulets that help them avoid notice, wait for the group to engage a C ranked monster, then kill the group and steal the monster. Eventually some of the groups stop wearing their armbands signifying them as being from King, but Sen and the group have killed them so many times that they recognize them at this point.


    The bounty on the group only grows though, and they start to run into groups of incompetent bounty hunters. They start always making sure to leave the city in one of the automated vehicles so as to not be seen as they left the city, and people from the Ares guild have started joking about killing them for the bounty.


    The Epic Skills group even tries to kill them at one point, but they escape quickly with their amulets of diversion, and then set up another massive array to slaughter everyone in the surrounding area of the twisting tiger dungeon, then threaten to repeat the act if they continue hostilities.


    With no one but small groups and individuals hunting them, they are quite carefree, their nuclear option of large scale arrays dissuading any of the large guilds from trying for the bounty. At this point, some of the larger guilds start to research counters for the large illusion arrays, but Julie simply does her own research, and discovers an array that makes giant pillars of fire erupt from under anyone standing in the array. While it takes even more setup to make, the group is happy to help out in order to have a final option.


    A downside of this is that many of the larger groups start to see the use for arrays in controlling a dungeon area, and they begin to set them up, including the Ares and Epic Skillz teams near Falan, though the groups agreement with the two allows them to have amulets to bypass them whenever they go to enter the dungeons. Eventually, the King guild rescinds their bounty, but their hatred for the group doesn¡¯t fade at all.


    Meanwhile, Kang has been bragging across every forum in existence how much he¡¯s been pwning the King guild, and somehow manages to make the King guild hate him more than anyone else in the group.

 Chapter 39: Confusion

    The next day is the tournament, and the group heads over to the arena. Kang is bragging about how many kills he¡¯s going to get, but the group doesn¡¯t bother to respond. Kang seems to deflate a bit at the lack of a response, but Sen is sure he¡¯ll perk up when he gets to showboat for the crowd.


    When the first round starts, the enemy group circles up around a girl, who starts to set up an array, placing a bunch of small blocks of metal in a square. When she¡¯s done, Sen sees a few blurry images of her appear, while she¡¯s still perfectly visible.


    ¡°Hey Julie, why are all the images blurry?¡± Sen asks


    ¡°You didn¡¯t think those bracelets only protected you from my arrays did you?¡±


    Sen blushes a bit, he had thought the bracelets only did that.


    ¡°Considering all the weapons the images are wielding are blurry, they¡¯re purely illusions and not energy constructs, so they won¡¯t be able to do any damage either.¡± Julie adds.


    Sen nods, and the group charges the enemies, not bothering to have Julie set up an array unless they start having issues. The enemy group is terribly confused as they simply ignore the images, the girl trying to blend in with the images, and being immediately killed by Kang as the group knows which she is.


    While the array doesn¡¯t stop working even as she turns to blue specks of light, with their number advantage, they easily eliminate the enemy team, even though they¡¯re reasonably skilled. Once they¡¯re done, it¡¯s back to waiting for the next round.


    ¡°Julie, how many arrays do these bracelets protect us from?¡± Jennifer decides to ask.


    ¡°Well, it makes illusion arrays pretty much useless, and it will mess with the targeting for killing arrays, but it won¡¯t reduce the damage to you, so don¡¯t walk into the dangerous areas.¡±


    The group nods. They¡¯re all experienced with MMOs, they know not to walk into the damn circle. The next round, there¡¯s not an array master, and the group doesn¡¯t need to use any arrays themselves, simply staying close and covering for each other until Xue kills her opponent and then quickly kills the one Sen is fighting before the two basically walk through the rest of the enemy team.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    Kang ends up being quite annoyed as he isn¡¯t the one to kill his opponent, but quickly gets over it as he poses for the spectators in a cringy way. The rest of the group, as usual, doesn¡¯t showboat like Kang is, and they all agree to start using arrays from this point on, as the opponents have been quite skilled already.


    The next few rounds go smoothly, Julie¡¯s arrays leading to their team significantly outnumbering their opponents, and then the tournament ends for the day. This time, due to complaints from the users, the tournament will be split over two days, so Lynna and Sen log off to have their family dinner.


    Dinner passes peacefully, them sharing their success in the tournament, and their parents are heavily supporting them. Once they finish their meal, Lynna pulls Sen aside.


    ¡°You should ask Xue out,¡± she starts with.


    Sen has no idea what to say to that. While he doesn¡¯t dislike her at all, he¡¯s utterly clueless when it comes to anything involving a relationship. He¡¯d never emotionally matured in his past life, focusing purely on the sword, and the only relationship he¡¯d had was the one with his lady. That relationship was closer to a master servant relationship, as he¡¯d devoted his blade to her after they¡¯d met.


    In this life he¡¯s had actual relationships, but they¡¯d been that of friendship, and he has no clue about how to handle something like this. He¡¯s not even sure if he should refuse his sister¡¯s suggestion. This life seemed to be so much more vibrant than his past, as if he¡¯d never truly lived in his past life.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll think about it,¡± He eventually lamely replies. He¡¯s sure his sister can see his utter confusion, as she simply looks at him with a knowing expression. She lets out a sigh, and lets go of the shoulder she¡¯d grabbed before walking away in a slow manner.


    Sen goes to bed still confused, and for some reason he ends up thinking of his lady before he goes to sleep.


    The next day, the tournament continues. As the first round of the day begins against a no-name team, Sen finds that his confusion about what to do has changed his swordsmanship. As Damien, he¡¯d tried to learn how to fight to protect, but he would always revert back to the style he¡¯d learned in his childhood when disturbed emotionally, and this case is no different. He allows his opponent to chop relatively deep into his chest in order to behead him with a swift Cutting Squall rather than dragging it out to avoid any wounds.


    While the wound doesn¡¯t stop him coming to the aid of his team, Sen berates himself for having allowed something so simple to muddle his thoughts enough to send him back to his old fighting style. The group looks at him a bit confused as he repeats the performance in the second round, but he doesn¡¯t know what to say to them.


    It¡¯s not even bad, considering that all wounds are healed once they leave the arena. It may even be more efficient, but it bothers Sen that he¡¯s fighting the way those people had taught him to.


    The rounds go more quickly than normal with how quickly Sen is dispatching his opponents, and the group is shooting him glances about what¡¯s going on, as he normally ends the fights with no wounds unless it¡¯s a very hard one. Lynna is the only one who¡¯s seen him fight like this before, and she looks at him in a worried manner, as that had been when the King guild was threatening her.


    Eventually, they make it to the finals, and as they¡¯re whisked to the arena, they see the main team of Team Cloud.

 Chapter 40: Array Wars

    The enemy team, led by LostMind, is easily visible once the walls of light go down. Lynna gives a glare to one of them, who Sen assumes is Bagel. She¡¯d always paid more attention to the pro teams, while Sen simply plays games.


    As the match starts, both sides give a short bow of respect, then they both circle up around their respective array user. When the images appear, it¡¯s clear that Julie doesn¡¯t have the massive advantage she normally has over other array users.


    While she has five images, each able to deal damage, the enemy has four, and judging by how their swords aren¡¯t blurry in their vision, they can probably do damage just like Julie¡¯s.


    ¡°If you hit the images of the swords hard enough, it will break the image, don¡¯t bother hitting their body though, that will do nothing.¡± Julie finally informs them of how to handle fighting things like this in a low voice.


    The two groups start approaching, as both Julie and the opposing array user start to set up more arrays. Team cloud is the first to start rushing them, likely noticing their array user is slightly less skilled. LostMind gravitates towards Sen, and Lynna heads to the enemy that has to be Bagel, trying to get revenge from getting knocked out of the singles tournament.


    Sen¡¯s overhead strike is blocked by the shield, but when LostMind goes to return the blow, Sen is happy to find that the speed difference isn¡¯t nearly so large as it was last time. While he¡¯s still slightly outclassed, he can handle it.


    LostMind decides to start it off by using a skill, and fire starts to engulf his sword. Sen expects that this will be one of the skills that cause the sword to explode in a bit of flame every time it impacts something, so controls the wind to create a swirling barrier around himself, clashing their swords together to test his defense.


    While the flame does explode, it isn¡¯t able to get through his barrier, simply swirling around him and singeing him. Sen lets out a grin, then returns the favor with weight of the mountain slamming to LostMind¡¯s sword side.


    He gets his shield in between the blow and his body, but grunts and slides back from the force. Sen uses the slight opening to get a quick look around the battlefield, and notes that Lynna is having a bit of trouble, and Jennifer would be if she didn¡¯t have one of the images helping her, the other four fake Julies fighting with the images from the enemy team. Sen then throws a couple knives, twisting them with the wind in order to add a few cuts to LostMind.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.


    The enemy images break away from Julie¡¯s, and turn to come join the rest of the fight, all of them targeting Sen for some reason. Julie has her images copy them in their plan to stack onto one person, sending them to the opponent Xue is fighting. Sen instantly starts to take a bit of distance from LostMind, while staying within a single Earth Step of the others of his group to prevent LostMind from attacking them while he''s pushed back by the images. While he stays out of range, he chucks a couple knives around the battlefield to distract the opponents, giving a few of them small scratches.


    LostMind decides to go help the enemy Jennifer is fighting, and Sen decides to trust that she can handle herself for a while. He uses Earth Step along with Gale Steps, removing the wind resistance as he moves almost faster than he can track towards the opponent Lynna is fighting. Right as he uses Cutting Squall to speed up his sword even more, he sees the enemy go to block, but he slows down all of a sudden, likely Julie having finished her array.


    The quarter second of delay is more than enough for Sen to remove his shield arm, and he leaves him for Lynna to finish off before rushing towards Jennifer, who is almost just running away from the two people who are now attacking her.


    As he arrives next to Jennifer, she stops running, and they both go for a strike on LostMind. Both of the blows are blocked, the slow effect seeming to be mostly gone, and the other opponent tries to go for a strike on Sen, but Xue plants herself in the way with her shield, letting Sen continue striking at LostMind. LostMind has dismissed the flaming sword at this point, not wanting to waste his energy when Sen has a way of avoiding the damage.


    The images then join in on the fight, and Sen uses Weight of the mountain to strike at two of their swords, and sees that the images dissipate as the swords break. Sen ignores the other two for a moment to get back to fighting LostMind, but all of a sudden he feels himself slowing down a bit. He uses a choice curse word from his previous life, is the enemy array user simply copying Julie? The bracelet chooses that moment to send a wave of warmth through his body, and the slow disappears.


    With LostMind unable to counter the entirety of the slow Julie has put him under the fight is practically set in stone, but Sen can¡¯t seem to get the final blow. Sen¡¯s wondering when Julie is going to get her next array up, but when he looks over he sees that the enemy array user has charged towards her, not wanting her to finish her current array.


    Sen continues to fight without any energy usage other than body strengthening, wanting to conserve it, but LostMind isn¡¯t quite so liberal in his energy usage, often using different strikes, that tend to explode or cut into his sword a bit.


    Sen is starting to think this is going to be a long match, until the floor underneath LostMind starts to glow. He instantly uses Cutting Squall, trying to keep LostMind in place. The blow is far too fast for LostMind to dodge and so he¡¯s forced to block just as a pillar of flame rips upwards from the ground beneath him.


    Looking over to the side, he sees Julie has died to her opponent in return for finishing the array, but all of the enemy team is badly burned or turning into specks of light already. Looking to LostMind, he¡¯s survived, though his skin is covered in the same blue Sen sees when he cuts into someone.


    Sen is easily able to finish him off while the rest of the team dogpiles onto the enemy array user, and they end the match with a victory.


    As they exit the arena, they see Julie looking very proud, and rightfully so. While she had died, the last array she¡¯d made had easily guaranteed them the match win. Everyone congratulates her, and they all decide to log off to have some food.

 Chapter 41: Birthdays

    Sen exits the capsule, and heads down to eat dinner with his family. It is a bit early, but his family has agreed to have dinner after the tournament is over rather than their normal time. Getting to the table, his father is missing, probably working, but his sister and mother are both already there.


    The spicy stew they¡¯re having is absolutely delicious, and Sen savors it for a while until his mother broaches a topic he isn¡¯t looking forward to.


    ¡°So Sen, your birthday will be this Friday, is there anything you want to do for it?¡±


    While for most people, a birthday is something to look forward to until you reach a certain age, for Sen, it just means meeting up with a bunch of kids of other rich and influential families in the name of networking. His ¡°parties¡± are as much for his father as for himself, his father inviting all of his powerful colleagues, and encouraging Sen to make friends with their children.


    Sen¡¯s father has been raising him to be a politician, not that he''s been receptive to the idea. Many of the things his tutors teach him cater towards dealing with people, but those classes have been drastically cut down after Fifth Dimension appeared, and now, Sen isn¡¯t sure what his father wants from him.


    ¡°Just the usual meal please.¡± Sen thinks for a moment, he hasn¡¯t had any real friends over for a birthday since before he remembered his life as Damien, but maybe he can change that this time. ¡°Can I invite the rest of the group I play with?¡±


    Jiu smiles, happy her son is actually wanting to have people over of his own volition. ¡°We¡¯ve already invited them, and they¡¯ve all agreed to come.¡±


    Sen blanks for a bit before smiling, his parents are apparently paying more attention to him than he realizes. Maybe this birthday won¡¯t be quite so bad as normal.


    The week leading up to Sen¡¯s birthday is simply spent grinding out the dungeons and practicing body enhancement skills in preparation for the last round of the tournament this weekend. There are less than five hundred teams remaining, so it is only going to take one day this time. Stolen story; please report.


    Friday comes, and with it, Sen rises hoping that this birthday will be less dealing with arrogant idiots and more chatting with his friends. He gets ready for the day dressing in a more formal fashion than normal. While he prefers his plain clothing, he can¡¯t make his father look bad in front of the many colleagues he expects to be there.


    Once he¡¯s dressed for the day, he heads down to see his mother has taken the day off work, and made his favorite waffles for breakfast, which he drowns in various fruits, whipped cream, and syrup.


    Once he finishes his far too many waffles, thankful that the game capsule exercises him, he thanks his mother, and starts to talk with her. While the actual party won¡¯t start until a bit after the third meal of the day, and continuing until well past dinner, it¡¯s tradition to spend rest of the day with his family.


    Lynna shows up soon after, and enjoys the waffles possibly even more than Sen. They chat for a while, excited about the tournament, and Jiu joins in, asking about their different strategies and sharing her support for them.


    After a bit, they all head over to the living room, and play some old fashioned non immersion games together. Sen is actually quite bad at these, and gets regularly crushed by both his sister and his mother. They continue until it¡¯s time for lunch, and then go out to eat some barbecue at an all you can eat restaurant. They all enjoy the different types of meat they can cook on their table¡¯s grill, and Sen almost feels bad for the store owner with how much they eat.


    Heading out the restaurant, they walk around the commercial area for a while, Sen looking through a bookstore, which are surprisingly a thing, though physical books are horrifically expensive. In most cases, you can read a book in a bookstore, then if you want to buy it you scan it with your phone, which will buy and download it for you.


    Sen tends to stick with digital works, but there¡¯s something about physical books that are just nice to read on. After reading portions of a few stories, he scans the code on the books¡¯ pages, which will make sure to save his spot when it downloads, and then he decides to go look around at some gaming stores.


    Gaming stores are less for actual games, and more for gaming apparel, as actual games are simply bought from home. Sen looks through the various shirts, keychains, and figurines, and eventually decides to buy a Gladiator decal to apply on his capsule back home, before they finish off their outing with a stop at a poke place for their second lunch.


    Once they get back home, Sen applies his decal to his capsule, and they all hang out in the living room, playing some more of those non immersion games while they wait for the first people to arrive. Their father arrives first, and comes to join in the games with his family, doing even worse at them than Sen.


    It isn¡¯t long until the doorbell rings, and the first guest arrives.

 Chapter 42: Greeting

    The first person to arrive is some big shot that Tien knows along with his son whom Sen has met only on his birthdays. Sen politely greets the two of them along with his family, and then the parents head off to talk about important things while the children, though only Sen is legally not an adult, go to mingle.


    Sen looks over to Lynna to see her trying very hard to not groan or complain, and understands why when the guy starts to very excitedly chat with her. He¡¯s very proud of the fact that his team had made it to the second round in the tournament, and the only reason Sen doesn¡¯t shove his face in how well he and his sister are doing is because it was drilled into him in both lives to be humble.


    Lynna has completely put on her mask of politeness as she interacts with him, and he seems to take that as encouragement to keep bragging about how well he¡¯s doing in Fifth Dimension, and hinting very heavily that it¡¯s going to make him a very important person in the future. At this point, Sen decides that if he¡¯s so talkative, maybe he can get some information out of him, so he signals to his sister, and whispers to her about trying to dig for the information.


    ¡°So why exactly is this going to be important?¡±


    The clueless guy looks around in a cautious manner before replying.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell anyone I said this, but if you do well enough in game, you¡¯ll end up getting recruited by the people from Earth. I can¡¯t say anything else.¡±


    That only raises yet more questions, and Lynna seems to share Sen¡¯s confusion, but both of them refrain from inquiring more as the doorbell rings yet again. This time, it is only Lynna and Sen who go to greet the door, the random hanger-on staying in one of the dining halls with the hor d¡¯oeurves.


    The next to arrive is actually Jennifer, and both Sen and Lynna greet her with a hug before greeting her parents. She¡¯s looking very beautiful, a very proper long green dress that flows down to her ankles, and long sleeves down to her wrists, setting off her matching green eyes. Her ears show a hint of gold, and her brown hair is straightened, flowing down to her upper back.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.


    Sen is honestly quite surprised that she hasn¡¯t been to any of the parties before, seeing as how her parents are politicians, but soon learns that her parents are from an opposing party, which clears it up. Sen is glad that her parents are willing to let her come to the house of the enemy, and Sen leads them to where the adults are hanging out on the terrace.


    They¡¯d recruited a few waiters and waitresses for the party, hired through the high end catering company that is handling all the food and drinks for the party. Sen figures that even if his parents aren¡¯t much for having people serve them, they need to look the part for events like this.


    Sen¡¯s parents seem to care more that the newcomers are parents of their children¡¯s friend rather than from the opposing party, and cheerfully greet them.Sen leaves them to find that Lynna and Jennifer have basically ostracized the other kid, and Jennifer has given no qualms in crushing his spirit, straight up telling him that their team is still in the final round of the tournaments.


    Sen chats with them for a bit before snagging what seems to be cucumber piled with shredded crab, and snacks while he zones out the girly conversation Jennifer and Lynna are having.


    The next few people to arrive are all colleagues of their father, and they simply send their kids to the side as they go to network with others. Sen chats with a few of them, particularly one guy who had been very into gladiator before being forced to play Fifth Dimension. They share their happiness at the fact that Fifth Dimension doesn¡¯t have any sort of autocorrect for your sword strikes, unlike many other games.


    As Sen is chatting about the different fighting styles in Gladiator, even if most of the top thousand use either sword and shield or spear and shield, Sen is interrupted by the doorbell again.


    As Sen answers the door, Xue is there, and she¡¯s absolutely stunning. Her usually masculine face has just a hint of makeup on it, yet she looks far more feminine, more like a princess than a prince, and her generous assets are well emphasized by the simple black dress she¡¯s wearing, silver jewelry on her ears and neck contrasting with it. Her black hair and eyes seem to be almost darker than her dress, and she¡¯s back to wearing her cold expression, which cracks a bit as she sees Lynna and Sen.


    She greets Lynna with a hug, and hesitates for a moment before giving Sen one as well. As Sen leads her parents to the rest of the adults, he learns that they¡¯re prominent businesspeople, though getting invited to a party like this is actually quite important for them, as they don¡¯t often get the chance.


    He finishes seeing off Xue¡¯s parents, who seem to be examining him for any fault they can find the entire time, and heads back to the group of children, who are actually mostly adults, but still being prepped for their role in life by their parents.


    When Sen gets back, he gets a very pointed look from Lynna, who very obviously looks from him to Xue. Trying to ignore her, but now feeling a bit awkward, Sen chats with the group, interspersed with visits to the front door to greet any other comers. One of the times, Sen is surprised to see someone he hadn¡¯t seen in a while, and someone he definitely isn¡¯t expecting, John and his family.

 Chapter 43: Decisions

    He leads John¡¯s parents to their meeting area, making polite small talk, and when he gets back to the area he¡¯s staying in, he sees exactly what he expects, John practically clinging to Jennifer while the rest of the group looks a bit annoyed at him.


    Jennifer has a bit of a defeated look on her face, and Sen turns to Xue.


    ¡°So John hasn¡¯t given up on Jennifer yet?¡±


    Xue shakes her head. ¡°He just gave up on hunting with us. You should see him at the Lotus school, Jennifer pretty much always rents a private room to train in these days.¡±


    Sen winces. Apparently he¡¯s gotten even worse than before. He joins in on the conversation about if there will even be any B ranked dungeons in the vicinity of Falan, as while there had been six D ranked, there were only three C ranked, and all of them are at least halfway to another city.


    John tries to butt in at a few points, once even trying to be sneaky in mentioning that Fifth Dimension is going to be very important, something that probably everyone at the party knows at this point.


    The group starts to talk tactics about the tournament at this point, but most of them come down to protect Julie as she uses her arrays. While she wouldn¡¯t have time to set anything fancy up in a one versus one situation, with the team backing her up she¡¯s able to do pretty much as she pleases.


    It isn¡¯t long until Julie herself arrives, and she gives everyone a hug as she does so. She¡¯s looking even more done up than the other girls, a flashy red dress and gold jewelry flashing at her wrists, neck, and ears. Her parents refuse to talk to Sen as he leads them to the rest of the adults, probably still blaming him for having gotten her into immersion games.


    The party continues through dinner, enough steak to make up an entire cow being fed to everyone. Eventually, it comes time for gifts, and Sen gets far more outfits that he¡¯d never want to wear than he¡¯s happy with, but he makes sure to keep a smile on his face. The girls are the only ones who seem to know his interests, getting him some actual physical books, pretty much his only hobby other than gaming.


    The party has wound down, and everyone other than his friends has left by the time he gets his gift from his parents. It¡¯s actually a sword, practically a perfect replica of his sword from in game, and Sen practically cradles it as he gets it. As much as he loves having a sword in game, he constantly feels something missing not having one in real life. Stolen novel; please report.


    He profusely thanks them, and then his friends start to leave. The last to leave is Xue, and just before she leaves, she turns to him. She takes a deep breath to steady herself before talking.


    ¡°Sen, please go out with me!¡±


    Sen¡¯s eyes widen as Lynna gets a big grin on her face. He¡¯d expected she felt something for him considering how clear Lynna had been, but he hadn¡¯t expected this. He sits there a while in confusion. While he¡¯d decided to live as Sen in this world, Xue is currently seventeen, and while in Earth years she would be nineteen, that still seems a bit young for Sen.


    Fortunately or unfortunately for Sen, he simply isn¡¯t attracted to women that would be the same age if he added his two ages together. He¡¯d been in his early twenties in his previous life, and his tastes hadn¡¯t changed from back then, girls a bit over twenty, and he expects they won¡¯t change until he gets past that age in this life.


    He gets caught up in his worries until Xue slowly gets a defeated look on her face, but as she turns away, he grabs her hand.


    ¡°I¡¯d be happy to try,¡± He says, a nervous smile on his face.


    His nervous smile is completely overshadowed by the one Xue gets on her face. She nods, gives him a quick peck on his cheek, and practically runs away with her parents. Sen just stands there for a while, not sure if he¡¯s done the right thing, or something completely immoral. While it wasn¡¯t strange for people over the age of forty to marry girls even in their early teens in his past life, in his current one it¡¯s seen as something abnormal.


    He lets out the breath he¡¯s been holding in. He¡¯s decided to live as Sen, and he won¡¯t let his past life have any input on this. After a bit, he¡¯s straight headed enough to ask Lynna why on earth she¡¯d fallen for him, as he is utterly clueless.


    ¡°You still can¡¯t recognize her? She was Flowery in Last World Online.¡±


    Sen stares. Flowery had been nothing like the cold Xue he knows in Fifth Dimension. She¡¯d been terribly cheerful and outgoing, and had a big enough crush on him that even Sen with his rather low EQ had noticed. He¡¯d ended up saving her quite a few times when she¡¯d been put on the kill list of some minor guild for some reason Sen isn¡¯t clear about, and then she¡¯d started following him around, even ditching her Ares guild friends in some cases.


    Sen wonders what exactly had prompted her to confess though. While it isn¡¯t rare for females to confess, it¡¯s something that is usually left to the male. He winces, she¡¯d probably known that he would never do anything on his own, as conflicted as he feels about it.


    ¡°You know, if you hadn¡¯t saved her that time in the tarantula dungeon, she probably would have just stuck to crushing on you,¡± Lynna informs Sen.


    Sen thinks back. He had been pretty reckless in order to stop her from dying, and since she is playing at thirty percent pain level, she¡¯d probably seen it as even bigger a favor. He shrugs, he¡¯d do the same for anyone on the team. He would, right?


    Before Sen goes to bed, he decides to play with his sword a bit. His parents have apparently even gotten him a gel target to play with, and so he goes to test it out. His first strike, he notices something wrong. While it¡¯s a good sword, it should absolutely not be cutting through it this easily.


    Curious if it¡¯s just the gel, he goes to grab a kitchen knife to test it again, and frowns. The gel is even harder than he¡¯d thought it would be, the kitchen knife only stabbing in maybe an inch before stopping, while his new sword cleaves through it as easily as if it is foam.


    He puts it back in its sheath before going to bed, wondering who the hell had made such a ridiculous sword in this age of crappy replicas.

 Chapter 44: Hints

    The next day Sen gets up quite early, and goes to practice the next level of his skin enhancement skill in order to try and get his mind calm and focused. He keeps losing focus during his practice though, and eventually gives up in frustration. He spends the time instead practicing cutting squall, the whistling sword of his blade, and the snapping sound of it impacting the target a much more calming thing for him in this case.


    After a bit, he hesitates, then decides to message Xue and see if she would like to get a meal in game, as he doesn¡¯t have much time out of game to spend with her. She agrees in seconds, and Sen wonders if she had been waiting on his message.


    They go out together, and end up chatting over a meal, mostly about their adventures in Last World Online and their experiences in Gladiator.


    ¡°How did you manage to do so well in Gladiator with a two handed sword? I thought it wasn¡¯t a common weapon for a reason.¡±


    Sen tries not to wince, it¡¯s from his experience from his past life, but he doesn¡¯t know what to do about that. He feels he should share, he¡¯s even considered telling his family before, but something always stops him, mainly the thought that he doesn¡¯t want to be sent to counseling. Eventually, he decides to hint at it.


    ¡°It just feels right. It¡¯s like I have an extra life of experience with a two handed sword, and it has its own advantages in fights, the extra reach and power can snag a lot of wins.¡±


    Xue looks at him a bit curiously, but dismisses the look quickly as the conversation shifts back to other things. Sen is a bit gratified to get a couple of laughs out of her with some of the more ridiculous fights he¡¯s had in gladiator, thinking he needs to get her to laugh more.


    Around thirty minutes before the tournament starts, they head back to the Lotus school to meet up with the rest of the group, and they all head to the arena together, Kang claiming that the great DarkBlade is going to crush all the opposition.


    The group is a bit disappointed when they arrive, as they¡¯re going to have a bye the first round, so they decide to spectate Team Cloud¡¯s first match. As they wait in the arena for the match to start, Sen notes that their opponent doesn¡¯t have an array user, and grimaces, this is probably going to be a stomp.


    The walls of light go down, and Team Cloud circles up around their array user. The enemies simply charge in, and Sen is pretty sure they¡¯re all using the fire versions of body enhancement skills, as they seem to explode off the ground with each step.Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    Team Cloud relaxedly intercept them, LostMind sharing the extra with one of the other members, and they¡¯re easily able to hold them off until the images appear from the array. Once the images appear, the enemy team starts to back off, and they start to focus on hitting the swords the images are using, their swords enhanced with fire shattering them quite easily.


    Just as they break the images though, they all slow down, and Team Cloud easily overpowers them at this point, their array user joining in the fight rather than sitting back and setting up more arrays.


    As the match ends, Team Cloud bow to the bodies dissipating into sparkles in unison. They then give some waves to the crowd and leave the arena, and Sen and his friends leave as well, going back to check the tournament brackets, only to see that their next opponent has already finished their match.


    They all chat a bit while waiting for their next match, Kang actually going quiet, seemingly a bit nervous regardless of how he usually acts. When they arrive in the arena, they take up positions around Julie, and all click to ready up, but have to wait for the timer to count down to zero for the walls of light to go down.


    Sen is cursing whoever forgot to ready up as they see the enemy team. Interestingly, they seem to have two array masters, both of whom are using what seem to be darts as their array keystones. Seeing as how they are basically two people down, Sen yelled out a quick ¡°Charge!¡± before rushing towards the array master to his left. One of the opponents goes to intercept him, but he¡¯s able to get past him with just a quick blow to stop his movement.


    The one who went to stop Sen has apparently been practicing the earth versions of the body enhancement skills, as he isn¡¯t able to keep up as Sen continues his rush towards the array master, and the man switches off to face Xue.


    Sen is almost there when the array master lets out a smile, and turns slightly fuzzy. An even fuzzier image of her appears, though its sword is clear, made of energy with which to cause damage.


    Sen simply ignores the image, and sends multiple knives flying to her real body, laughing a bit as he sees her panic. Clearly she was confident that she is not able to be seen. While Sen kills her, the rest of the group has paired off, none of them able to get through the steady defenses of the enemy team.


    Sen starts to head to the other array master until he sees that Julie has far more images than him, and is about to kill him along with her images, so Sen changes plans and turns to go help Xue. Arriving behind the man she¡¯s fighting, he slashes at him from above, but he pivots to block it as if he has eyes in the back of his head.


    Xue doesn¡¯t let the opening go however, slashing into his neck, a watery looking whip of energy wrapping around his neck from further away than her sword can reach. The man¡¯s hands drop his sword and go to his neck as he turns into blue sparkles, his neck having a deep blue line in it where the whip had been.


    The two of them then easily wipe the rest of the enemy team, and they¡¯re heading on to the next match. Kang is complaining again about how the great DarkBlade wasn¡¯t able to get the kill on his opponent, having been helped by his sister.


    This time, they¡¯re able to spectate their next round opponents, and see one team without an array user and one team with one. The one without the array user seems to be winning however, simply slashing through the energy weapons the images are using to dissipate them, and ignoring the array that slows them down far less than it should have.


    As they finish the enemy team off, Julie mentions that she¡¯s probably not going to be of too much use, as they have items that can deal with arrays.


    Exiting the arena, they wait the fifteen minutes they¡¯re given before the next round, not talking aside from Kang, trying to focus their mind for the match to come.

 Chapter 45: Bow Before Me

    As they enter the arena again, they surround Julie, as even if her images can be seen through, they can still give them a numerical advantage as she simply makes more and more arrays.


    The walls of light go down, and the enemy team charges towards them. As Sen goes to block two of them, he sends one of his wind balls towards them only to have it be blocked by a cone of flame, popping too far away for it to do much damage.


    Sen grimaces, and starts to control the wind around him, he¡¯s going to need a shell of wind to prevent the enemy from burning him alive. As he gets in close combat, his opponent uses a skill that wreathes his large two handed sword in flames. Each time their blades clash, a small explosion of flame is sent out, but the swirling barrier of wind Sen has placed around himself stops himself from getting more than a little singed.


    The fight is quite even, but Sen¡¯s opponent is using more energy, until the extra melee fighter the enemy team has joins in. Sen is forced to up his energy expenditure, constantly sending small gusts of wind to knock the newcomer off balance enough for him to dodge his strikes, but is starting to run a bit low on energy when Julie¡¯s images join in the fight.


    The enemies instantly turn to the images, using their flame empowered swords to slash through their energy weapons, but Sen uses the momentary distraction to use cutting squall to slash into the arm of one of them. They block at the last second, but still take a nasty gash, and Sen grins as he sees the bleeding debuff icon pop up over him.


    The two swordsmen start to get a bit reckless, and Sen burns the rest of his energy running away to let the one he¡¯d deeply cut bleed out a bit more, adding a couple of throwing knives which end up sticking into him for good measure. Eventually, Sen starts to feel a bit faint from lack of energy, but the unwounded opponent has been forced to cancel his sword of flame, while the other can¡¯t strike with too much speed or power due to the wounds he¡¯s taken.


    Sen is still pushed back, taking a few glancing blows on his arms and body until the next wave of images join the fight. That evens the playing field, the wounded one going to erase the images while the one who is out of energy duels with Sen some more.


    Sen is happy with their chances until he hears a loud ¡°Fuck!¡± from Lynna. Looking over, he sees her opponent is limping, but has just shoved her sword through Lynna¡¯s stomach.This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    Sen realizes he needs to finish this fight sooner rather than later, and lets the next strike bite into his arm as he slashes through the neck of his opponent. Sen grimaces, that arm is going to be practically useless now, which means he¡¯s going to have serious issues using his sword from this point on.


    Regardless, he leaves the guy fighting the images to Julie, and rushes towards the opponent that Lynna had been fighting, who had turned to fight Xue. Xue is using some sort of movement skill that makes her seem to sway as she dances around them, but she¡¯s unable to engage them for more than a fraction of a second in order to not be taken down by the superior numbers.


    This time, Sen gets lucky. The opponent he¡¯s targeting hasn¡¯t noticed her teammate¡¯s death, and doesn¡¯t notice him coming from behind as Sen stabs his sword through her neck. She jerks in surprise and pain from the wound, before Sen kicks her off of his sword and turns to help Xue focus down the other opponent.


    Sen and Xue are slowly wearing him down, when Sen hears a ¡°Bow before me!¡± from Kang, and looks over to see he has beaten his opponent with the help of a couple images, and is going to help Jennifer. Sen lets out a grin, and looks over to Julie quickly, to see she¡¯s engaged the last opponent in close range with a few images as backup, and is wearing him down.


    Sen feels a grin slip onto his face as the last of the enemies fall. It had been a hard match, and Sen makes sure to give a bow along with his teammates before they exit the arena.


    As Sen gets out, he sees Lynna having an odd expression somewhere between anger and happiness. She spends the next few minutes taking turns complaining and being cheerful they¡¯ve won, before starting to quiet down before the next match.


    The next few rounds are actually easier, and they make it to the quarterfinals battered and bruised, but in no way broken. Their opponent for the quarterfinals is another pro team from the other continent of Iowes.


    Sen doesn¡¯t know them, but the fans in the arena are screaming out ¡°Go Imperium!¡± and so he figures they must be pretty popular. As the walls of light go down, he sees that they have the same composition as his team, five fighters and one array user.


    Both of the groups circle up around their array user rather than charge towards each other, and Sen grins, if they¡¯re going to fight based on arrays, he¡¯s certain that his group will have the advantage.


    As the groups stay away from each other, both the arrays are finished, Julie slightly ahead of the opponent, and she gets five images compared to the four the opponent put down. The enemies don¡¯t bother charging in though, clearly trusting in their array user, and Sen and the group are happy to sit back and exchange arrays.


    Kang is the only one who seems dissatisfied with the match as more and more images appear. Every time, Julie¡¯s clones grow faster then the opponent, and eventually the enemy team snaps, charging in. At this point though, Julie has four more images than the opponent, and those four images make it so that Kang is easily able to eliminate his opponent, leading to a chain reaction of failure for the enemy team.

 Chapter 46: CC

    As they leave the arena, Sen smiles. That match could have been much messier if they hadn¡¯t decided to trust that their array user is better than Julie. Their melee users seemed to be a bit more skilled than his group as a whole, only Sen and Xue matching up evenly with them.


    The entire group does their best to focus their mind for the upcoming semifinal match. Kang¡¯s arrogant demeanour seems to have cracked a bit, a bit of nervousness showing in his claims that of course he¡¯s the best and going to get first, for how could DarkBlade do any worse.


    As they enter the arena for the semifinal round, the stadium is absolutely packed, and Sen is sure that he¡¯s only seeing one instance of them, as the spectator count he can see in his menu is reading in the hundreds of millions.


    The walls go down, and it¡¯s another team with two array users. Sen¡¯s group instantly charges in, only Julie staying a bit behind to set up her arrays. As she places down her first array, the first two arrays from the opponents go down, and Sen lets out a bit of a laugh as he feels a slow applied to him, before a surge of warmth from his bracelet completely wipes out the awkward feeling of moving through molasses.


    Sen¡¯s group impacts their opponents, and one of the array users throws together a quick array to make herself invisible and create an image of her as she goes to fight Jennifer. Sen¡¯s opponent is using a war axe and shield, and Sen makes sure to be careful that his sword won¡¯t be caught by the hook in the axe as he swings his blade towards him.


    The blow is quite easily parried, and Sen drags his sword back in to deflect the axe blow coming towards him. They slowly exchange careful, measured blows, neither of them willing to commit to a solid strike until they have the measure of their opponent.


    Eventually, Sen shows a bit of an opening in his guard to lure him in, and he bites the bait, going in for a heavy swing, but Sen simple pushes himself to the side with his footwork abilities and the wind to get some distance as he prepares his little wind ball.


    Sen sends the wind ball flying, and covers his ears with a barrier of wind as it explodes. His opponent simply stumbles for a bit before regaining his balance. Apparently practicing earth body enhancement skills makes you largely immune to that type of attack if you have them at a high enough level.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    Even though the attack didn¡¯t do much, Sen laughs. It seems he¡¯s going to have to fight a proper battle rather than cheese it. He goes back in to fight some more when a couple images come over to annoy him.


    He glares at them before taking some distance from his slower opponent, and wipes out both the images with a Weight of the Mountain through both of their blades. Before going back to the fight, he gives a short glance over to where his teammates are, and sees that Julie has nearly finished off one of the array users with her own images, while Jennifer and Lynna have nearly finished off one of the people defending the other one.


    Kang is getting a bit beaten up, but he¡¯s holding on for now, and Xue is simply trading careful blows with her opponent. He gets his eyes back on his opponent, who is waiting for him to come to him rather than trying to challenge him in a battle of speed, which makes sense for a fighter using the earth element.


    Sen obliges him after having a few of his throwing knives blocked, going back to trading careful blows, as with his defense, heavy blows won¡¯t be able to get through his careful blocking with his shield. It takes some time, but eventually Sen gets first blood, an inch deep slice on his opponents leg, and Sen barely dodges the return blow, slowing it with his wind control to have enough time to dodge.


    Sen is quite confident at this point, until his opponent stomps on the ground, and the earth rises over one of Sen¡¯s feet, capturing it. Sen doesn¡¯t panic, he¡¯s faced CC in other games, and this isn¡¯t much different.


    He stabilizes himself with his other foot, planting it solidly on the ground as he¡¯s forced to block a few heavy blows before using a cutting squall in between a couple of them, slicing pretty deep into his opponents chest. It would have been a fatal blow if not for the fact that his opponent was using the earth element body enhancement skills, and Sen¡¯s surprise at not having killed him rewards him with a deep cut through nearly half of his leg.


    Sen pretends to stumble from the wound, and takes advantage of his opponents heavy swing, using the air to support him as he moves to a position that should be off balance and striking back, removing his opponent¡¯s foot.


    At this point, Sen isn¡¯t able to free his foot with his wounded leg, so he simply slams his sword over and over at his opponent with weight of the mountain, the crippled enemy forced to block with both his weapon and shield on his back. Eventually, his defense cracks, and Sen finishes him off before slamming the sandstone covering his foot with his pommel, as apparently earth users can change sand to sandstone.


    Once he¡¯s free, he tries to limp his way to where Kang is, but the match finishes before that, Julie having swept through the opposition after finishing off their array users. Sen gives a very short bow before leaving the arena, not wanting to bleed to death after the match is over.


    Once outside, Sen is glad to see his leg back in a healed condition. The group all shares grins, and Kang has a terribly proud, borderline arrogant look on his face. They then focus again, getting their minds in the game for the finals.

 Chapter 47: Sovereign

    As they enter the arena, they¡¯re hit by the cheers from the audience. The waves of encouragement crash into them, and Sen is amazed. He¡¯s seen some pretty big crowds before when played Gladiator, but they seem to have expanded the instance of the arena to the point where there are at least a few tens of thousands people watching.


    Admittedly, he can look at the viewer count and see that there are just over a billion people watching at this point in time in between all the instances, but the numbers just don¡¯t hit him the same way the physical crowd does.


    After the group is finished gaping at the crowd, the each do a little ritual to calm down, most of the taking deep breaths of practice swings, while Sen shrugs his shoulder harness onto the ground and carefully draws his blade from it, reveling in the sensation of metal sliding from the oiled leather.


    The walls of light go down, and they see the enemy team has gone with the five fighters and one array user that seems to be the most common in the final tournament. Sen recognizes the group as one of the top teams on Iowes. While he can¡¯t name any of them, Lynna looks very excited to be fighting against them.


    The enemy team, likely having watched one of their earlier matches, doesn¡¯t sit around defending their array user, and charge in the second the walls of light go down. Sen and the group go to meet them in close combat, and when Sen slams his sword into the fighter using a spear and shield, his opponents shield only budges a tiny amount.


    Sen gapes, his opponent has to be at the very very top of rank C, if not already rank B in strength. With his opponents return thrust with his spear, Sen finds out that his strength isn¡¯t an outlier in stats, but his speed is significantly faster than Sen¡¯s as well.


    Sen is stuck fighting in a very careful manner, using Earth Step along with Gale Steps in order to keep a bit of range, and striking out at his opponent from the edge of his range, his long sword reaching a bit further than his opponent¡¯s short spear, each of the knives being easily blocked, even when they come from tricky angles. Looking around, he sees that he¡¯s not the only one outmatched.


    Xue is trading blows pretty evenly with her opponent, but he has a slight edge in speed, and is using it to take advantage of the fight. Kang is getting beaten pretty badly by the woman he¡¯s facing, barely able to hold on, while Jennifer is in an even worse position than Kang. Lynna seems to be playing a bit hesitant, and it¡¯s making her do even worse than she would otherwise.


    Not even Julie has an advantage. While her arrays are better than her opponent, her opponent apparently has a higher speed stat, as he¡¯s able to lay out arrays a good deal faster. Sen¡¯s focus is grabbed back to the fight as he has to dodge to the right to avoid a thrust towards his heart. He still takes a blue line across his chest, and he grimaces. He¡¯s going to run out of energy if this keeps up. Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    Even with his control over the wind and wind element body enhancement skills, his opponent who seems to be using water type body enhancement skills has the edge in speed. Sen continues to parry the blows, using his pommel and the wind to blunt the occasional shield bash as well. Eventually, he takes some distance and sends his wind ball flying towards his opponent. He grins as he sees him stumble, but is forced to dodge to the side as the person Kang had been facing comes in from the side with a stab of her spear.


    It doesn¡¯t seem to be going to well for the group, as even when Lynna finishes her slowing array, her opponents are barely slowed, and while Sen may have been able to keep up with his first opponent due to the slow, he¡¯s now facing two people.


    It takes only a few more minutes until Sen runs out of energy, and looks around to see that all of the other opponents had finished their respective fights, simply watching him die to the two players he¡¯s been fighting. As he turns to blue sparkles, his point of view remains in the arena as he sees his opponents give a bow of respect.


    They exit the arena, and for once, Lynna looks more excited than annoyed after a loss.


    ¡°We just fought Sovereign! Sen, you got to play against Instant!¡±


    ¡°Should I know them?¡±


    Lynna give him a flat stare. ¡°They were the champions of Last World Online PVP for the last three years? Instant is generally considered the best player in the world by most people.¡±


    Sen nods, Instant had been as skilled as Sen. Even without his advantage in stats, Sen probably would have lost, simply due to using a greatsword rather than a single handed weapon and shield, but Sen has no intentions of changing his weapon. Let alone the fact that he is more skilled with it, it¡¯s far more useful for hunting monsters.


    In other games, playstyles such as dual daggers and large two handed weapons are supported by skills and stats so they¡¯re more viable, but in a completely realistic game like this, a shield will give you a significant advantage.


    The group is interrupted by their AI guides, who helpfully inform them that they¡¯ve all earned three B ranked cores, ten C ranked cores, and fifty practically useless D rank cores, which they all agree to trade in for contribution points.


    The group chats for a bit, before agreeing to go meet up offline for some celebratory frozen treats. By the time they meet up, Sen is practically shoved into the seat next to Xue by Lynna, and the two turn a little red.


    After their shaved snow, they stay for a bit chatting, until Sen and Lynna have to head back for dinner. They each get a farewell hug from the other members, Xue lingering a bit with Sen.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ll see you later Sen.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, you too Xue.¡±


    Lynna can be heard snickering in the background of the two feeling awkward. They part, each with a hint of red on their face. Sen wonders for a bit how Xue manages to be a innocent when it comes to relationships as she is, but figures he has no ground to stand on.


    At dinner, Sen and Lynna share their success with the rest of their family, and their father seems to be surprisingly excited to hear they¡¯ve done so well, giving them more congratulations than they deserve, leading Sen to wonder why the hell it¡¯s so important that they got second in the tournament.


    Before bed, Sen reads most of one of the novels he¡¯d gotten for his birthday before caring for the sword he¡¯d gotten for his birthday, even though he¡¯s not sure if it even can rust.

 Chapter 48: Ships From Another World

    The next day, Sen has his breakfast, and while checking his phone he sees that there¡¯s some more big news. Spaceships from Earth have been landing across the globe. Sen opens the many photos of them, and frowns. He¡¯d expected something cylindrical to generate some sort of artificial gravity, but they¡¯re far more blocky than that, looking more like rectangular prisms with rounded edges.


    Looking at them, he sees something else that worries him. There are a multitude of ports of some type on each of the sides, and the only thing he can think of for them is that they¡¯re weapons systems, as they¡¯re far too large to be directional thrusters.


    Eventually, he finds a video of them landing, and is even more confused. It has no jet thrust of any kind, seemingly just floating down like they can control gravity. As he¡¯s finishing his meal, his father comes over, and Sen decides that he¡¯s going to try for some answers.


    ¡°Can you really not tell us anything about Fifth Dimension?¡±


    His father frowns, before giving him slightly more information. ¡°Let¡¯s just say that people who don¡¯t do well tend to not be treated so well in the United Federation of Humanity. You¡¯ll find out more once you get yourself to A rank in game.¡±


    Sen frowns, but nods. If all he needs to do is get to A rank, then he¡¯ll do that as quickly as he can. He wonders what a simple game has that would make them not treated so well, but still can¡¯t come up with anything other than conspiracy theories.


    Eventually, he gets back in game, and back to farming with his group. Every time they walk around the city, they gets looks and whispers, their second place in the tournament having granted them a lot of exposure.


    Kang is absolutely relishing in the looks, while Xue, Sen and Lynna simply ignore it. Jennifer and Julie are the only ones who seems to be bothered by it, not comfortable with all the attention.


    The group goes through their daily dungeon runs for the next few weeks, and eventually get to the point that their stats are all above C rank. Once they¡¯ve gotten to that point, they realize that they¡¯re going to have to start grinding out B ranked dungeons. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    They all hop off for a time while Julie goes to calculate the positions of the B ranked dungeons. Sen actually takes the time to go get some bubble tea with Xue, and they chat for a while about the spaceships that have recently warped into the area.


    Xue seems to be very interested in the fact that the spaceships appear to have weapon systems, wondering if they¡¯re using them to pressure the government of Alpha, or if they need them for a different reason.


    Sen wonders for a moment, is Earth leaning on Alpha¡¯s government why they had agreed to join the United Federation of Humanity? And if that¡¯s the case, how much is it really a Federation and not an empire? Sen shares his thought with Xue, and they sit in silence for a bit.


    They¡¯re interrupted by a ping from their phones as Julie messages them that she¡¯s found a few B ranked dungeons. They share a hug, both of them a bit too awkward to do anything more, then head back to their own homes to get into game.


    Once they arrive in game, they all go to meet up with Julie, and hear some annoying news.


    ¡°I¡¯ve found where a few rank B dungeons should be, but there¡¯s only one in the vicinity of Falan. The others are near other cities, and we¡¯re going to have to do a lot of traveling until we unlock the other cities for fast traveling.¡± She then pulls out a big map of all the cities surrounding Falan. Interestingly, Falan seems to be in the middle of a circle of cities, and when Jennifer asks about where the other cities are, as that is far too few for the players of the world, the group learns that cities are grouped into chunks of about thirty, then it¡¯s a six hour drive to the next group of cities.


    ¡°The A rank dungeons are probably going to be in the large areas in between the groups of cities. I checked, and there¡¯s no A or higher rank dungeons in the areas directly surrounding the cities.¡±


    The group groans, they¡¯re probably going to have to set up a campsite around some of the A rank dungeons once they get to that rank. At least the B rank ones are in between the different cities so they can just fast travel around to each city before going to the dungeons.


    They discuss for a bit, The C rank dungeons are already hotly contested, so the B rank are going to be even more ridiculous. Sen expects at least a few guild wars to break out over them, and with his small group, the best they¡¯ll be able to do is hire themselves out as mercenaries.


    At least with their second place in the tournament, they¡¯re not going to have any trouble finding people to hire them. They probably won¡¯t get any additional pay, but simply being able to use the dungeons themselves will go a long way.


    ¡°Want to go see what a B ranked dungeon is like?¡± Julie decides to ask the group.


    She gets a lot of nods and smiles, and a ¡°I¡¯ll never back down from a challenge!¡± from Kang. The  group smiles, they¡¯ve come to appreciate Kang¡¯s attitude. While it can definitely be annoying at times, it¡¯s mostly just amusing to them now.


    The group finished up their discussion, then rents one of the blocky off road cars from the school, and starts to head out to find the B ranked dungeon.

 Chapter 49: Wind Bears

    The dungeon itself isn¡¯t particularly hard to find. It¡¯s guarded by quite a lot of people from Team Cloud, and Sen wonders how they convince so many people who aren¡¯t able to hunt in it yet to guard it. Eventually, he decides that they¡¯re probably getting paid in crystals or contribution points, and stops minding it.


    Before they approach, they have a short discussion.


    ¡°Do you think we should just try and fight our way in with the Ares guild? Or should we try for a more diplomatic approach?¡± Sen asks.


    ¡°Well first I¡¯d see what the Ares guild has to say about it,¡± Julie replies. ¡°For all we know, they could already have an agreement with them.¡±


    Sen nods, and hops off to chat with the Ares guild for a bit. He soon finds that they do indeed have an agreement with Team Cloud, along with many other groups. They¡¯ll allow dungeon entry to anyone so long as the group pays up one of the crystals from the dungeon run.


    Sen is confused as to why it¡¯s only one crystal, until he learns that there are only between seven and nine monsters each dungeon run. When he finds this out, he dies a little inside. If he¡¯d thought it was grindy to get up to B rank, this takes it to an entirely new level. The amount of crystals needed to raise a stat from B to A has doubled, and there are only a few monsters in each dungeon?


    He sighs, then logs back in to tell his group the bad news. They all seem annoyed, but decide that it would be better to just pay the toll. As they approach, they see groups of players scouting the surroundings.


    The guerilla warfare Sen¡¯s group had done with arrays had proved that defense needs to be much more active than before, as otherwise someone can just run a big circle around the dungeon to place an array with all of the defenders inside of it.


    While people can still set up a few smaller arrays, that will only be creating a few images that will be easy to break, and images from arrays can only go around a hundred meters away from the array anyway.


    They greet the first patrolling group they see, and are escorted to the larger group of players surrounding the dungeon. As they arrive, they see the team that they had beaten exiting the dungeon, and everyone gives them a bow, as the fight had been a very good one. The group mainly gets bows in return, though one of them simply turns away in an annoyed fashion, still angry about the loss. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    As they approach the dungeon, they see that it¡¯s built into the side of a mountain, and looks like an abandoned mine shaft. The entrance is massive, towering above them, as if it was made to fit massive excavating machines rather than just humans, and there¡¯s massive steel bracing above it keeping the tons of earth from crashing down upon people who enter.


    Once they get inside the dungeon, all the people outside disappear as they¡¯re entered into their own instance, and they look around. What once was a brightly lit place, lights hanging from the ceiling, is now dark and dreary. The walls are made up of stone, with patterns worn into them from the machines that had dug the tunnel out.


    As they continue through the massive mineshaft, there are occasional tunnels branching out, and they explore each one, only to be disappointed. Even so, they continue their hunts down the side tunnels, and eventually find the first monster that the mine contains.


    Sen is ecstatic to see that it isn¡¯t a giant bug. It looks to be a bear with tusks jutting out from its upper teeth with a mottled green and white coat. He asks Tir what it is and learns that it¡¯s called a wind bear, and he¡¯s a bit confused until he charges in.


    As he approaches, the wind bear waves its paws towards Sen and he¡¯s buffeted by a massive storm of wind that is carrying along small pebbles from the gravel ground. Sen is terribly thankful that he¡¯s gotten his skin enhancement skill up to rank C at this point, as even with that the pebbles manage to cut into his skin, leaving traces of blue lines in it.


    He¡¯s knocked back a bit by the wind, even though he tries to control it so as to not bowl him over, and tries to approach again. This time, the wind bear doesn¡¯t send a gale towards him, and he¡¯s able to get into close range along with the rest of the group, only to be surprised.


    What appears to be a bulky monster moves deceptively fast, swinging at him with a speed just a hair slower than Sen¡¯s. He¡¯s forced to block the blow, but finds that it isn¡¯t nearly so heavy as he¡¯d expected considering the massive bulk of the bear.


    He¡¯s still knocked a bit to the side, but he isn¡¯t sent flying, his sword cutting into the monster¡¯s paw as they impact each other. He charges back in as the wind bear starts constantly turning, sending its swift blows towards everyone in the group.


    With the blows lacking weight, the girls and Kang are quite easily able to block them with their shields without getting knocked over. The bear will occasionally make some space with its wind control, but the worst that happens is Kang getting bowled over. When they go to cut into the bear¡¯s hide however, everyone gets annoyed.


    The bear¡¯s skin and muscles are massively tough, the blows only cutting in an inch deep, which is practically nothing when compared to the two and a half meter tall bear. They slowly start to wear out the beast.


    Julie eventually gives up on making arrays, as the created images can barely leave a scratch on the all too tough hide. She then sits back and starts to chuck fireballs at the bear, along with a move that wreathes her sword in fire then launches it like a flamethrower.


    Sen eventually starts to use weight of the mountain repeatedly out of annoyance. At this point, the simple G ranked skill has a massive amount of power behind it, and each time he cuts into the bear it slices in with a meaty thwack sound, or a crunching one when it hits bone. Eventually, the beast falls from a myriad of small wounds, and the group takes a short break before continuing.

 Chapter 50: Too High Volume

    They slowly make their way through the rest of the dungeon, finding another six of the bears, before eventually they come to a large area. Resting in the middle of the cavernous space is a massive bear.


    The bear has to be a good deal over three meters tall, and seems even more bulky than the smaller ones, but the group isn¡¯t going to underestimate its speed simply due to its size. They carefully approach, Julie only setting up one array to have some images to try and distract the massive beast.


    As they approach, the same thing that had happened with the small bears repeats itself. This time though, the wind is far, far stronger. The entire group is nearly bowled over, only managing to keep to their feet with Sen reducing the wind coming towards them.


    As they close in on the wind bear, it¡¯s even faster than the smaller ones, and Sen barely manages to get his sword interposed between himself and the bear¡¯s paw as it flies towards him. Unlike the smaller bears, this one seems to have much better control of the wind, reducing all the air resistance from its strikes, which is likely where the extra speed comes from.


    Sen¡¯s block sparks against the massive claws of the boss, and he¡¯s sent sliding. While the bear¡¯s strikes are still very light for its size, they still carry a massive amount of force. He charges back in, and notices that the bear is entirely ignoring the images, likely using its wind control to realize they¡¯re fake.


    This bear¡¯s hide is thankfully only a little tougher than the smaller bears, and the first sword strikes cause it to bleed. They slowly start to chip down on its health, but when it gets wounded to a certain point, it creates an explosion of air, sending the group flying away from it.


    Rather than chase down the couple of them that have fallen, it opens its mouth. It roars, and the sound is far louder than it has any right to be. The group is instantly clutching their ears, which thankfully don¡¯t have their eardrums broken, though Sen thinks it¡¯s a close thing.


    As everyone is disoriented from the massive sound, ears ringing, the bear charges towards Jennifer, and its swipe isn¡¯t entirely blocked by her, taking a few deep wounds in her shield arm.


    She steps out of the fight, not able to block any more blows with her shield arm disabled, and when the bear turns to Kang, he panics a bit, slowing down with his blocking as the bear strikes from above.


    The delay makes his unstable shield slam his shield into his head, and he goes entirely limp. Sen is worried about him, but figures that his type of people tend to survive anything, and he isn¡¯t turning into blue sparkles anyway.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    The group instantly starts to harry the bear to distract it, but as it sweeps towards Xue, it lets out another of those roars, and the bear¡¯s strike impacts onto her chest.


    ¡°No!¡± Sen shouts, but she¡¯s still knocked back with a cracking sound coming from her ribs. Sen isn¡¯t sure if she¡¯s going to die from that. Even with the bone enhancement skills, such a heavy strike is sure to have done a lot of damage.


    Lynna, the closest person, tries to interpose herself between the two of them, and starts to stop the bear from capitalizing on it and finishing off the prone Xue. Sen is enraged, and does something that he¡¯s never tried before.


    While he¡¯s used both Cutting Squall and Weight of the Mountain, in his anger, he simply puts both of those patterns into his body and sword as he slams it down with all the force his energy strengthened body can handle.


    Rather than fizzling out, which is what Sen would have expected if he¡¯d been more sober minded, an image appears over the blade. Rather than the mountain that normally appears with Weight of the Mountain, his sword turns practically invisible, but is completely covered by a blurry image.


    Sen hadn¡¯t been entirely clear with his mental image with his strike. While normally he envisions a massive mountain crashing down with one of them, and his sword blending into the wind with the other, this time he¡¯s imagining pure death for the wind bear.


    The image that appears is blood red, and looks like a massive jagged mountain peak in a deep red color with crimson clouds surrounding it. As his sword crashes into the beast, it easily cuts through the first layers of skin and fat before hitting bone.


    The bones aren¡¯t even much of an obstruction to the powerful blow, slicing through them and into the organs of the boss. It turns to him, and tries to roar again, but this time it comes out far more pitifully, one of its lungs ruptured.


    Sen tries to repeat the strike, but his mind a bit confused as to why that had worked, simply has his blow fizzle, only cutting a bit into the bosses nose. It still rears back, sending both of its paws together in an attempt to squish Sen.


    The blow falters however, when both Lynna and Jennifer use their skills that create images of icicles over their swords, and plunge them into the beast. While Lynna¡¯s blow is stopped by bone, Jennifer¡¯s is launched into the wound Sen had made, puncturing the vulnerable organs.


    The delay in its blow lets Sen Gale Step out of range, and as the bear turns to Jennifer this time, it collapses halfway through the turn. The group then instantly turns to the wounded. While Xue is conscious, she¡¯s wincing, probably regretting the thirty percent pain setting, and Kang is completely unconscious. Jennifer still has her sword arm, and sheathes her blade before applying a high level healing salve to her shield arm.


    Sen grabs a high level healing potion for internal injuries, and holds it to Xue¡¯s lips after raising her body a bit. She gingerly drinks the brew, a grimace on her face from the pain and the bitter tasting drink.


    As they all make their way out of the dungeon via the teleport array, they¡¯re greeted by wry smiles from the group of Team Cloud.


    ¡°Yeah, we wiped on the boss the first time, but if you bring earplugs he¡¯s a hell of a lot easier,¡± LostMind decides to inform them a bit late.


    The group all glares at them for not having warned them beforehand, but the members of Team Cloud simply shrug, one of them looking a bit disappointed at the fact that they didn¡¯t wipe. Sen¡¯s group slowly makes their way back to the vehicle after handing over one of the crystals, Sen carrying Kang in a fireman¡¯s carry, while Xue simply logs off so as to heal.

 Chapter 51: Image of Death

    The walk back to the car is rather solemn. While they¡¯ve died before in the arena, this is the closest they¡¯ve come to wiping in the main world, half their members being seriously wounded.


    If all the B rank bosses are going to have a similar gimmick, there¡¯s going to be some trouble until they figure out how to counter them. They actually ride the car back to Falan for once, each of them thinking their own thoughts, the occasional attempt to start a conversation petering off until Kang wakes up.


    ¡°Did we win?¡± he asks, still groggy from the hit on the head.


    ¡°We won,¡± Lynna replies with a hint of a smile. He should very well known that they¡¯d won considering he isn¡¯t kicked from the game for his death timer, but apparently the effects of head wounds are very realistic in game.


    The group gets a bit more lighthearted after Kang¡¯s awakening, and starts to chat about what they should have done better. The general consensus is simply that they should have been taking a more passive role, going in for strikes before dashing back for distance, as the distance would have allowed them a bit of time to recover from the massive sound of the roars.


    They all agree to play it a bit more safe with the other bosses they¡¯ll be fighting in the upcoming B ranked bosses before conversation turns to something a bit more lighthearted.


    ¡°So Sen, have you even done anything other than hug Xue?¡± Lynna has apparently decided that the best thing to distract everyone is to tease Sen.


    Sen blushes. ¡°We¡¯ve only been dating for like two weeks!¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but you¡¯ve known her since we played Last World Online. It¡¯s been years you¡¯ve known her.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s different!¡±


    Lynna give him a bit of a flat look.


    ¡°Besides, I¡¯m underage anyway!¡±


    ¡°And that¡¯s why the rules are a bit looser so long as you¡¯re within a few years.¡± Lynna grins like she¡¯s won this conversation, while Sen looks like a tomato with how red he¡¯s become.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    Sen eventually tries to convince them that he¡¯s just not ready for anything, while Lynna ends up lamenting the fact that he¡¯ll never be ready for anything, and that Xue is going to have to do everything herself.


    Eventually, they arrive at Falan, the girls having spent the rest of the time teasing Sen, while Kang simply looks at him in pity. Once they¡¯re there, Sen escapes into his own school, and after calming down a bit, decides to try and figure out that attack he¡¯d used on the boss.


    He rents a private training room that enhances your sense for energy, and takes a deep breath before trying it out. His first attempt completely fizzles. While he is able to generate the two flows of energy, as he goes to swing his sword, the two flows of energy begin to react to each other, and start to fizzle.


    He doesn¡¯t bother trying again for now, and takes a deep breath before trying to figure out what went wrong. With all of his skills, they require two things, an energy pattern and a solid mental image.


    With cutting squall, the energy pattern is similar to a fast flowing wind, with a few swirls looking like miniature tornadoes. With Weight of the mountain it¡¯s like a mountain range, and putting the two together, it¡¯s like the peaks of a mountain being battered by the wind.


    On the other hand, the image he¡¯s using for one is that of a mountain crashing down, and the other is that of his sword literally becoming wind. He thinks back to when he successfully executed the ability, and realizes that all he¡¯d wanted at that point in time was death for the monster. He hadn¡¯t been imagining a particular image, just death.


    He takes a deep breath, before letting out the part of him that was trained in his past life, the part of him that had known nothing but hardship and killing. Focusing on the sensation of taking a life, he carefully overlays the energy patterns, and as he swings down, they seem to blend together in a mysterious way, making them come to life, more a painting than simple patterns.


    The sword itself cleaves entirely through the practice dummy, leaving a gaping jagged blue line in it, with blue cracks spreading from where it had started its impact. Sen stares. The practice dummies are usually made so that you can only cut in a bit, the resistance drastically increasing the deeper you cut, and he¡¯s never been able to cleave one entirely in two.


    He spends the next few minutes with his mind in a dark place that he feels all to comfortable with, practicing the blow each time the dummy refreshes itself. Once he finally decides that he has a good enough feel for the image required to execute the move, he spends a good thirty minutes trying to calm down his dark mental state before logging out for sustenance.


    Once he¡¯s satisfied his very large appetite that comes from both his age and the constant exercise the capsule puts him through, he logs back in for a while, and simply practices the B ranked version of Bones Like Wind for the rest of the time until dinner.


    By the time dinner is ready, everyone in the group has healed up, but they all decide to put off finding the next dungeon for now, as everyone goes to get some food. Upon logging off for dinner with his family, Sen ends up asking his father about his worries that the United Federation of Humanity has been pressuring Alpha¡¯s government with the warships they¡¯ve recently landed across the planet.


    ¡°They haven¡¯t said anything about them, but simply letting those of us on Alpha know they exist is enough of a pressure by itself. We haven¡¯t bothered making any combat capable spaceships, as they¡¯re not any use with nothing to fight, so if they wanted to they could just bombard us from orbit. We¡¯re inherently at a weak position.¡±


    The mood of the meal spoiled, everyone finishes their meal quickly, before Sen and Lynna head off to Fifth Dimension to travel around to a few different cities in preparation for reaching the B ranked dungeons.

 Chapter 52: Scouting

    The rest of the day is spent practicing their body enhancement skills in the automated vehicle, along with breaks to complain to each other about why they developers couldn¡¯t have just let us unlock fast travel to other cities by paying a fee. By the time they are all ready for bed, they¡¯ve traveled to most of the cities with a B ranked dungeon nearby, though the group doesn¡¯t know yet if they¡¯re going to be occupied by another guild.


    The group all goes to bed, and Sen can¡¯t remember his dreams, but wakes in a melancholy mood regardless. As he eats his breakfast along with Lynna, Lynna finally decides to question him about the skill he had used before.


    ¡°So what is up with that skill you used in the dungeon the other day? Is it a new one you didn¡¯t tell us about?¡±


    Sen shakes his head. ¡°It¡¯s actually from combining my two normal sword skills with a different mental image.¡±


    ¡°So you can combine skills?¡±


    ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m not sure how it works. Maybe they need to be certain skills to combine them? Regardless, it¡¯s powerful.¡±


    Lynna nods, and Sen knows she¡¯s going to spend quite some time trying to combine her different skills into a new one. Curious, and knowing the rest of the group won¡¯t be up quite yet, he hops on the wiki to search for combined skills.


    They are confirmed to exist, as people have been trying since day one, though most of the found combinations are all lower ranked ones. Interestingly, he doesn¡¯t see anything about using a different image to combine different skills. Usually, the image is just a mixed version of the two skills, for example, a flaming mountain, or an exploding blade of ice rather than being completely different like the one Sen has found.


    As he finishes up his research, he logs back into game, and messages everyone in the group, only to find that his research had made him the last one in the game. He quickly meets up with the rest of the group, and they all buy some earplugs before going to run the B ranked wind bear dungeon.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.


    Once they¡¯re done, the run going much easier with them not being disoriented by the boss¡¯ roars, they fast travel to one of the cities that is neighbored by a different B rank dungeon. They rent one of the off road vehicles, which is a good deal more expensive when not being rented from a school, and head over to the general area.


    As they approach the dungeon, they run into a group that Sen is both excited and annoyed to see. It seems King is the group that has taken over this dungeon. They easily dispatch the small ten man patrol after the patrol attacks them in a fit of stupidity, and then back off. They don¡¯t want the main group to go hunting after them if the patrol has a way to contact the main group from out of game.


    They discuss what to do for a while. They can try taking out a bunch of patrols, but that will only end with larger groups sent after them. They can try and set up an array, but the patrols will likely find the keystones. Their only viable option they come up with, as apparently King is attacking anyone that comes close to the dungeon, is to contact another guild.


    Before that though, they¡¯ll need to scout out the area to get the approximate numbers making up the guard group. They all put on the misdirection amulets that Julie had made for them, and slowly start to skulk around, dodging the patrols where they can and eliminating a couple who spot them even with the amulets.


    When they arrive at the dungeon, they all let out a groan. The surroundings are completely filled with at least a few hundred people, and while only a small number of them are likely to be C class or above, the numbers will still be able to wear down any elite group that tries to challenge them.


    The group backs off, and Sen logs off to contact Ares. What he gets is a response in the negative. The Ares guild has its hands full with just trying to control their own dungeon, and while they have some spare players they could send to help, they don¡¯t have nearly enough to control both of the dungeons.


    Sen asks them about which dungeon they¡¯re controlling, and they give him the location, which Sen appreciates. Sen thanks them, and logs back in. He gives the response to the group, and they all groan. Eventually, they decide that they¡¯ll need to give a few different smaller guilds the location of the dungeon King is controlling in an attempt to dislodge them, as the smaller guilds tend to not have information about where the dungeons are.


    If they can get a few of the smaller guilds into an alliance, then adding on the people Ares guild can spare, they can probably take control of the dungeon back. Sen is excited, he¡¯s been in some medium sized conflicts in Fifth Dimension so far, but this will hopefully be his first large scale fight.


    For now though, they get the car back to the road and send it on its way before fast traveling to the city that the dungeon Ares is controlling is next to. Once they arrive, they¡¯re forced to rent yet another vehicle to drive out there, Lynna grumbling about all the cores wasted, even if they¡¯re only using a D ranked vehicle.


    Once they arrive, the group greets the people they are familiar with, though for some reason Xue is pretending to not know anyone, something Sen wouldn¡¯t have thought about before he knew her username from Last World Online. Sen makes a decision to ask her about it later, and they head into the dungeon, this time planning to be a lot more careful about the dungeon dive.

 Chapter 53: Literal Names

    As they enter the dungeon, they¡¯re hit by a surprisingly fresh smell. While the dungeon itself is placed into the wall of a small canyon, the inside is completely filled with greenery.


    The roof is covered with a glowing moss that puts out a surprising amount of light, and the floor is covered in plants that look similar to ferns which curl up whenever one of the group touches them.


    Even the walls are covered in flowering vines, their dark green bodies contrasting beautifully with their pale purple flowers. The group simply looks around in wonder for a while, before starting into the dungeon.


    The entire group is a bit negligent at this point, more busy admiring the plants rather than actually paying attention to any possible monsters. Sen notices this after a bit, but then realizes that he has yet to see a small high ranked monster, so they should have advanced warning.


    As they continue, Sen feels something brush his hand, and jumps a little before noticing it¡¯s just Xue¡¯s hand. As dense as he is, he still manages takes the hint and grabs her hand for the walk in this lovely dungeon.


    They continue for a while, the dungeon as seemingly empty as the other B rank dungeon they¡¯d been to. They stop after a while when they spot what looks to be a trail in the greenery on the floor, the crushed plants letting out a fragrant scent similar to pine needles.


    They turn to each other, and take out their weapons, Sen lingering a bit with the hand holding Xue¡¯s before letting her go, unshouldering his sword sheath from his back, and drawing it from the ground.


    He quickly throws the sheath in his inventory, and the group continues. They follow the path for a good five minutes before they start to hear a rhythmic hissing sound. As they approach, they see what seems to be a large white snake with a small pair of horns on its head.


    The snake itself is a massive two meters thick, but much shorter than it should be, making it look a bit stubby. It turns to them and lets out an actual roar rather than a loud hiss, and Sen can see that rather than the fangs he¡¯d expected, it has a row of sharp teeth lining its jaw.


    Immediately after its roar, all the plants in the vicinity start to wither, a deep mist appearing from their husks. As the mist rises, Sen instantly starts to blow it away, Julie heats up the area around her so the water is evaporated, and the other girls simply use their control over water to send it splashing to the ground.This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Kang quickly copies Sen, sending wind around to blow it away, but no matter what the group tries, they can¡¯t affect the mist within a meter or so of the snake. The group eventually decides to ignore it, and simply starts attacking towards the body of the snake, each of them except Julie having a way to detect the body of it, the boys through the movement of air, the girls using the mist itself to sense where it is.


    Julie doesn¡¯t seem to mind though, as once she sets up her first array, which for some reason only makes two images, she simply starts sending fire flying towards the snake with each of her sword swings.


    The snake, even though it should be able to sense that the images are fake so long as they¡¯re within the mist, still goes to bite at them. The group takes the opportunity to get in some solid hits, and the snake lets out a scream.


    Thankfully, this one isn¡¯t as loud as the roar from the boss wind bear, and the group simply ignores it. The group and Sen are occasionally forced to dodge bites and swings of the tail, but it¡¯s regularly distracted by the images Julie has made, which keep trying to stab it in the eyes.


    Eventually, the snake curls up a bit, then launches itself with unnatural speed towards Jennifer, its mouth opened wide. Jennifer¡¯s shield is too small to block the mouth that has expanded to a good three meters tall, and so she dives to the side, barely dodging the attack as everyone lets out a bit of cold sweat. If she¡¯d been a fraction of a second slower, she would have ended up entirely swallowed.


    The snake manages to have its head slam into one of the tall walls of the cave, dislodging some vines and stunning itself a bit, and the group takes advantage of its disoriented state to cut deeply into it with their more powerful skills, though Sen is reserving his new skill, as it puts him in a state of mind that he doesn¡¯t want to be in.


    The snake only manages to give out a few more half hearted chomps towards the group before collapsing entirely, the mist slowly dissipating now that the controller is gone.


    ¡°Tir, what was that?¡±


    ¡°That monster is called a giant mist snake.¡±


    Sen can practically feel black lines forming on his face. Does everything in this game have to be named so literally? He shrugs it off after a bit, and the group continues. The group all puts their weapons away for now, seeing as how it is pretty hard to miss a gigantic white snake.


    Xue cheerfully grabs his hand this time, and he gets a smirk from Lynna as she notices. He sighs, she¡¯s never going to get sick of teasing him. He actually smiles a bit at that. As Damien, he¡¯d never had anyone tease him, only fear him or respect him. He pauses a bit at that, his lady had teased him occasionally, maybe he hadn¡¯t been quite so alone as he¡¯d thought.


    The group continues their dungeon dive, taking out their weapons whenever they would find one of the trails in the ferns. One of the times, they find the snake before they find the trail, and everyone has to rush to get their weapons out in time, Sen having to roll to the side before he can dislodge his sheathe from his back to draw his sword.


    Eventually, they come to a cavern that stretches above them lit by the glowing moss, a snake lounging in a shallow pool of water in the middle of it.

 Chapter 54: Water Cutter

    The boss giant mist snake, oddly enough, isn¡¯t as giant as its cousins. Rather than being around two meters thick, it is only a meter thick, and the roar it lets out as it spots them is a bit more pitiful, leaving the group entirely confused.


    The water in the pool is quickly changed into a mist, and the group uses their usual ways to get rid of it, only to see that the distance the boss can keep its mist from dissipating is far greater than that of the lesser variants.


    Even with all of the group using their skills, the mist spreads out a good five meters from the boss, and as the group sits back, waiting for Julie to let out her array of images. This time, Sen notes that when he goes to sense where they are with the wind, the air flows around them the same way it would around a real human.


    Sen nods, so she has fewer images, but they won¡¯t be sensed by things like mist or wind. Julie had probably learned this array after the wind bears had simply ignored her images. The group follows after the images, cutting into the snake as it snaps at the fakes.


    Their blades barely pierce the scales with their normal strikes, and everyone is forced to start using their abilities, only to grimace as even empowered, the blows only cut a bit through them. Sen realizes he needs to get a decent B ranked skill at this point if he doesn¡¯t want to start relying on his combination skill.


    While the combination skill he¡¯s decided to call Bloody Peak may be powerful, it also requires him to go back to the mental state he¡¯d had for so long in his past life. Wanting nothing but death for something would be going completely against his determination to live a good life as Sen, and he has no intentions of living his current life the way he¡¯d spent his past.


    The group continues their barrage of attacks on the monster, but they can¡¯t seem to hit the same spot in a consistent fashion, the boss moving in a slippery manner to keep them facing undamaged scales. It constantly whips at them with its tail, or snaps at either them or the images with its teeth.


    The group is doing ok, until the mist starts to condense, dozens of balls of water appearing around the boss instead of the white mist. Everyone is instantly put on guard, when a stream of water streaks towards Lynna making a high pitched sound.


    Sen wonders how she manages to get her shield in place in time until he realizes she is probably just sensing the water, but even as she blocks it, it pierces her shield. Even with the force reduced by that, her shoulder gets a blue line in it, and her shield arm starts to sag.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.


    The group starts running all over trying to dodge the constant barrage of water attacks that follow, everyone ending up with a few cuts. They start to worry as the barrage of attacks continue, but let out a deep breath when the blobs of water around the snake fall to the floor, and the boss itself seems to collapse a little bit, clearly out of energy.


    The group takes advantage of the opening and goes in with all their power. The boss in its lethargic state is no longer able to keep up its quick twisting motions that had stopped them from focusing on a certain part of its scales, and the group soon gets through them and into its flesh.


    The boss seems to regain a bit of its vigor as the first blue line actually gets into it, and lets out another of its small roars. Its energy seems to continually grow as it becomes wounded, and the group is soon having trouble hitting the snake in the parts with broken scales again.


    They aren¡¯t able to kill it by the time that the blobs of water start to reform around the boss, and this time, everyone is quite exhausted from fighting the boss. Their dodging this time has a lot less energy, and Jennifer and Lynna take major wounds, Lynna gaining a hole in her calf, and Jennifer one in her shoulder, the blue light denoting wounds showing through their bodies.


    Eventually, Lynna gets absolutely sick of dodging and waiting for it to run out of energy.


    ¡°Sen! Can you use that skill you used on the last boss?¡±


    Sen grimaces, but yells in the affirmative, his voice barely above the sound of the water streams that impact on the floors around them. Lynna signals Sen to get behind her, and simply charges at the boss as Sen sets his mindset.


    Sen stays behind her a she blocks the beams of water coming at her, taking deep wounds in order for Sen to get close. Once they get close to the boss, it focuses multiple beams towards her and Sen, and she goes to block all of them.


    She can only block a couple with her shield though, and as she tries to block the last with her sword, she loses her hand at the wrist. Sen is enraged by this, it may be a game, but his sister just lost her hand. Sen howls as he brings his sword down with a desire to kill the monster, the bloody peak and clouds forming a deathly image as his sword slams into the spine of the monster just beneath its neck. The sword goes through half its body, and the snake falls limp.


    Sen stabs it a few times in the wound, more to get out some of his rage rather than to check that it¡¯s dead, but as its body disappears into blue sparkles, he turns to Lynna, to see her smiling.


    ¡°The hell are you smiling for?¡±


    ¡°We beat it!¡±


    ¡°And you lost your hand.¡±


    She waves her stub around. ¡°It¡¯ll be back in six hours. I¡¯ll just log off for a while.¡±


    Sen shakes his head, his rage dissipating in front of his cheerful sister. ¡°I¡¯ll log off as well once we get out. I think we could all use a break.¡±


    The rest of the group nods in agreement. They limp over to the teleportation array, and Xue drives the vehicle to the road. Lynna spends the entire time pouting she doesn¡¯t get to drive due to her missing a hand, making light of the situation. Once they reach the road they fast travel to Falan and log off.

 Chapter 55: Bait

    After logging out, Sen goes to join his sister for some food.


    ¡°Are you really fine? You ended up losing a hand. Even with ten percent pain setting that has to hurt.¡±


    Lynna laughs. ¡°Yeah, but we got the boss!¡±


    Sen grins. ¡°Barely though, if it had gotten off a third round of those water cutters we may have wiped. Speaking of, can the rest of you copy those? They seem really useful.¡±


    Lynna shakes her head. ¡°Hmm, we¡¯ve tried, but according to the test dummies it won¡¯t hurt anyone who has their skin enhancement skill over rank C right now.¡±


    Sen¡¯s a bit disappointed, but it makes sense, they haven¡¯t gotten their body enhancement skills up to B yet, though they¡¯re currently hunting B ranked monsters.


    ¡°So how¡¯s it going with Xue, I saw you guys seemed to be enjoying yourself in the dungeon.¡±


    Sen turns a little pink, he¡¯s still not used to this, and having his sister tease him about it isn¡¯t helping. ¡°It¡¯s going well I guess? I¡¯m honestly not sure how to tell.¡±


    Lynna looks at him and smiles ¡°Well don¡¯t go too slow, or you might not keep her.¡± She ends her comment with a wink, turning Sen¡¯s light blush a bit deeper. As Damien, his only experience had been a couple of visits to a brothel, but his lady had quickly banned him to going to them for some reason.


    All the other soldiers were allowed, just not him. Even if he was her personal bodyguard most of the time, he still found that not fair. He¡¯ll just see what happens in this life. His sister doesn¡¯t bother to continue teasing him, likely not having any more ammunition.


    After their meal is over, Lynna decides to question him for a bit.


    ¡°So, any tips on combining skills, I looked up the couple online, but those are pretty much useless. Yours is the first one I¡¯ve seen to actual be useful.¡±This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    Sen nods. ¡°I think a lot of it has to do with your mental image. The mental image for my combined skill is a lot different than the one I use for the two individual skills.¡±


    Lynna nods. ¡°So what mental image do you use for it then?¡±


    Sen fidgets, a bit uncomfortable. The image he uses is pure death, and he doesn¡¯t want to share that with his sister, seeing as how he couldn¡¯t have even pictured it properly without the experience from his past life.


    ¡°I¡¯m not really sure, I was just pretty pissed off,¡± He deflects.


    Lynna grins at him. ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m sure you were,¡± She says in a suggestive tone of voice, clearly thinking of when Xue had been wounded.


    Sen just glares at her. He waves her off, then heads over to his room to contact a bunch of smaller guilds. The first thing he does is research, looking up all the small to medium sized guilds in the group of cities surrounding Falan. After a while, he finds his target.


    It isn¡¯t a single guild, but an alliance of a couple mid sized guilds and a bunch of smaller ones. He quickly logs onto their chat server, to see that they¡¯re all complaining about not having access to any B ranked dungeons. Sen lets out an evil grin, he¡¯ll see what King thinks when they get mobbed.


    He quickly logs into their chat server, and posts a picture of the map around Falan with the dungeon King is controlling marked on it, saying he expects to be able to use the dungeon once they take it over, and preferably be included in the fight with King.


    At first, it¡¯s pretty much ignored, and he¡¯s quite disappointed. Deciding to give it more time, he logs into Fifth Dimension and spends some time working on the B tier body enhancement skills.


    Time passes quickly, and once dinner with the family has come and passed, he goes to check out if his picture has gotten any exposure on the chat server. Once he¡¯s logged back in, he sees that it has absolutely exploded. Someone had decided to check it out, even though most people had thought it a troll post, and confirmed the existence of both King and the dungeon.


    The map is now pinned to the top of the chat server, and they¡¯re organizing a large scale attack on King. Sen joins in, and says his group will be meeting up with them for the fight. The group seems a bit dismissive of him, likely expecting him to be some noob that happened to stumble across the dungeon, and Sen doesn¡¯t bother to disavow them of that notion, as he does get an agreement that they¡¯ll let his group use the dungeon.


    The raid won¡¯t be until the next day however, so Sen logs in, sees that everyone is healed up, and does a dungeon run of the wind bear dungeon with the group, this time bringing earplugs. It¡¯s far easier when the bear can¡¯t stun them with its roar, and the worst they get is a few bruises and scratches.


    The group all grumbles about having to hand over one of their hard earned B rank cores once they¡¯ve done their run, but it¡¯s significantly better than trying to fight Team Cloud, and the only one who really kicks up a fuss about it is Kang.


    Kang spends the entire drive to the road complaining about how his great and powerful self shouldn¡¯t have to hand over a core to simply use a dungeon, and while he gets a bit of agreement in their minds, no one is willing to agree in words, not wanting to stoke his complaining.


    With both of the B ranked dungeons already run for the day, and the third under control of King, hopefully only until the next day, everyone practices their skills for a while before heading off to the land of dreams. Sen checks the chat server one more time before bed, noting down the meeting time and place so his group can meet up with them for the war to come.

 Chapter 56: Alliance V King

    The next day, after he¡¯s awoken by the alarm, Sen calls everyone to get them up, as the attack is going to happen in the early morning. Jennifer is very annoyed to have been woken up, but perks up when he mentions that they¡¯re going to be fighting the King guild, while Xue chats with him for a while in a sleepy tone before going to wake up her brother. Julie is already awake, which doesn¡¯t surprise Sen, she¡¯s always the first of the group to go to bed.


    Sen goes physically to wake up Lynna, and she spends the next few minutes grumbling at him until she has a coffee. A few minutes later, they¡¯re all in game, and fast travel to Sylar to join the alliance that is going to be hunting King.


    Once they arrive in front of the school the guilds are forming up at, they¡¯re greeted by hundreds of people. As they get out of their automated car, the hundreds of eyes turn to them, then lots of talking as they¡¯re recognized from the tournament.


    Sen and the group head over to the most important looking person to discuss their plan.


    ¡°Hello, I¡¯m Sen, the one who posted the map for you guys. You wouldn¡¯t mind us joining for the big fight, would you?¡±


    The large man laughs. ¡°Of course we¡¯d allow the help of the second ranked team in the tournament. I¡¯m surprised that you¡¯re the ones who posted the map though, I¡¯d expected it to be some noob who¡¯d happened to find it.¡±


    Sen isn¡¯t surprised by that considering the response he¡¯d gotten from them on their chat server, but it¡¯s still a bit annoying. He talks about what they plan to do for a while, which just boils down to take out any patrols they can find, then assault the main group.


    It isn¡¯t long until a convoy of vehicles is heading towards the dungeon, and Sen is starting to feel his blood boiling for the large scale fight to come. The convoy of vehicles soon is rumbling over rolling grasslands towards the dungeon area, and looking around the car, everyone is excited. Lynna is driving even more aggressively than normal, Xue seems focused, Jennifer has an evil smile on her face, Kang is chuckling evilly, and Julie manages to look almost evil with a smile on her face.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Sen wonders for a bit if she¡¯s found a new array to test out, but his musing on what the new array will be is stopped by the braking of the car. Everyone piles out of the car to see the entire convoy has stopped, and the guilds are forming up in their respective groups for the fight to come.


    They approach the dungeon form a ways out, killing any patrol they come across, the small groups being mobbed by the mass of players, until they arrive near the dungeon, to see King already formed up and ready for them.


    As the groups star each other down, Sen hopes that the group brought something with them to counter arrays, as he can see a bracelet on each of the members of King, which has to be the talisman for not being targeted by the array.


    Looking over the group, he¡¯s relieved to see each of them wearing an amulet, and then the tension breaks as the guild alliance charges King. Sen lets out a bit of a laugh as he and the group start to charge in as well.


    Sen hears a ¡°Feel the wrath of the mighty DarkBlade!¡± as they charge, and is almost wishing he isn¡¯t holding his sword so he can facepalm. They impact the King lines, and Sen swings his sword in a wide arc.


    The first opponent tries to block, and is knocked sideways into another person, both of them falling to the ground. Sen chucks a few throwing knives at their now vulnerable vital points, and continues on.


    The fight goes in a rather relaxed manner considering that none of King¡¯s main team is there. They sweep through the King lines, and Sen and the group are the first people to exit the opposite side of the group of King players. Turning around, they start to slaughter into the back of the King lines until they¡¯re noticed, and an ineffective defense is put up.


    They¡¯re slowed down a bit by the defense though, and Sen is relaxed enough in the fights to check out how the rest of the guild alliance is doing against King. When he gets a look, he sighs. There are only a handful of players on both sides that are even competent, but as a whole, the alliance has slightly better players, so they¡¯re wearing through the King members, if a bit slowly.


    Sen is a bit disappointed by the fights, but picking on King is always a good thing, so he makes sure to give as many of them a fifteen hour time out as possible. Eventually, the King members give up, and start to run away. Some of them are chased down, but plenty of them get away, escaping into the rolling hills surrounding the dungeon.


    The alliance leader simply nods to Sen as the fight is over, and they lead their top teams into the dungeon, letting the rest of the members to switch off for guard shifts and grinding time. Sen does a quick check with everyone, to find that, as expected, they¡¯re all totally fine. They may have had a bit of an issue if King¡¯s main team was there, but as is, it was a total slaughter.


    Once the group has rested up for a bit to catch their breath, they head over to the dungeon entrance. The entrance to this particular dungeon looks like a giant ancient temple built into one of the hills. The triangular top is etched with a relief showing people fighting some sort of demon looking monster, the pillars supporting it wearing patterns made up of countless weapons.


    They all look to each other for confirmation, then step inside to see what this particular dungeon has in store.

 Chapter 57: Leaving Home

    The dungeon itself is quite interesting, halls of smooth stone filled with reliefs on the walls, the light of the lanterns causing shadows of their bodies to cover them in menacing ways. The monsters themselves are ironic considering the temple like area. They look almost like the classical idea of demons, and after the first one, the group finds out they can breathe fire.


    The girls pull large containers of water out of their inventory after that, before using their control to have a blob of water following them which they use to make a shield of water whenever it decides to breathe fire at them.


    Their thin walls of water somehow manage to block the flames, though Sen¡¯s and Kang¡¯s walls of air still end in them getting singed, so they¡¯re both a bit annoyed. Julie simply redirects the flames, or just puts them out with her flame control, having even less trouble than the rest of the group.


    The boss itself, is as expected, just a bigger version of the monsters, but with the boss, blocking its flame attack proves to be pretty much useless, and so the group ends up jumping around the room to avoid the cones of flame.


    The boss fight ends with much less suspense than the previous two however, and the group is soon finished with it. They leave the dungeon and say farewell to the alliance they¡¯d gotten to attack King before heading back to Falan.


    The following weeks pass in a manner that, while filled with much of the same thing, is in no way boring with the constant fighting. The bosses of the dungeons turn out to have multiple variations after a few runs, the giant mist snakes having a boss that is larger and tougher, but without the water cutter attacks, and the wind bears having a variation that constantly has a sort of tornado around it, making it immensely hard to even approach it.


    Luckily, the three dungeons each mainly raise a different stat, and with the restriction on using the same type of core to raise a stat no longer applying at B rank, they eventually get their stats up to A.


    When Sen and Lynna inform their father, he looks more worried than anything else, even though he had been the one to push them to get there. Sen questions on what he should do, but his father says to simply wait. It¡¯s a couple weeks later when he gets a message on his phone claiming to be from some government agency he can¡¯t find the existence of on the internet.


    He thinks it¡¯s a prank message at first, but his sister has received an identical one, and his father also confirms it¡¯s real.  The message is simple, pack up a few days clothing and all essentials he¡¯ll need, then wait for pickup the next week.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Before doing anything else, he sends messages to the rest of the group to see if they¡¯d also received the same message. Xue is the first one to reply, and confirms she has, while the rest of the group, excluding Kang, confirm that they¡¯ve also received the message.


    The day before they¡¯re supposed to be picked up, Sen spends it with the group, as he isn¡¯t sure what exactly is to happen.


    ¡°Xue, can you share what¡¯s going on now?¡±


    Xue shakes her head, looking at Sen apologetically. ¡°They¡¯ll inform you once we get there though.¡±


    Sen lets out a breath. A fight he can handle, but not knowing what¡¯s going on like this doesn¡¯t sit right with him. Eventually, he asks something he¡¯s been wondering for a while.


    ¡°Xue, why¡¯d you change so much from Last World Online?¡±


    Xue¡¯s face instantly goes back to the cold expression she¡¯d worn around the group at the beginning, before morphing into a more melancholy expression.


    ¡°I¡­¡±


    ¡°If it makes you uncomfortable, you don¡¯t have to share,¡± Lynna butts in, glaring at Sen for his insensitivity. Looking around, he sees the rest of the group is also giving him uncomfortable looks.


    ¡°I¡¯ll just say it¡¯s for the same reason I quit and switched to Gladiator,¡± Xue practically whispers. At this point, Sen is definitely regretting asking, and the group is left in mostly silence until they all head back to their respective homes


    Lynna berates him on the ride home about how insensitive he was being, and Sen simply shrinks into his chair. Getting lectured by his family is far, far scarier to him than fighting even the most vicious enemies.


    They get back in time for dinner with the family, and when they go to leave the table, both of their parents give them a hug, and ¡°Stay safe¡± before they go to their rooms for the night. The next morning, Sen and Lynna are both packed and prepared for the pickup that¡¯s supposed to happen, and are waiting around in the entranceway for the people to arrive, both of them nursing a coffee.


    It isn¡¯t long until they see a car pulling up the driveway through the glass panes on the side of the door, and they both follow the blurry people through the frosted glass panes as they arrive at the front of the house and ring the doorbell. They both take a deep breath, and Sen opens the door. Greeting them is a man and a woman, both wearing immaculate suits, and when woman turns to the man before he speaks, Sen notes an earpiece in her ear.


    ¡°Lynna Li and Sen Li?¡±


    The two of them nod, Lynna a bit overwhelmed, Sen relying on his experience from his past life to remain calm. The two people hold out a small screen to the two of them with a marker in the middle of it.


    ¡°Thumbprints.¡±


    Sen and Lynna both press their thumbs down on the screens, and after hearing a beep, the two suited people nod.


    ¡°Have you already prepared what was asked of you?¡±


    The siblings nod again, Sen noticing that he¡¯s adopted the posture that had been beaten into his bones for working around nobility from his past life.


    ¡°Grab your things and come with us.¡±


    The woman who still hasn¡¯t spoken at this point is the first to turn around and head to the car.

 Chapter 58: Fifth Dimension

    Once they¡¯ve loaded up their things into the car, they take a seat and the woman who hasn¡¯t talked decides to ruin their plans.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you have questions, but please wait until we¡¯ve arrived. Your questions will be answered there.¡±


    Sen and Lynna both frown, and for the rest of the car ride Lynna ignores her comment and tries to dig up information anyway. She isn¡¯t able to get anything out of the two people, and after the first half hour, she gives up and starts chatting with Sen.


    ¡°So do you think that the rest of the group will be there? They¡¯re all A rank as well, and they live in the same area, so they should be, right?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sure they will be,¡± Sen says, even though he isn¡¯t sure.


    ¡°Well I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll be glad to still be able to stay with Xue,¡± Lynna says, teasing Sen out of nervousness.


    ¡°Oh, and what about you? That guy you like isn¡¯t going to be there, are you gonna be ok?¡± Sen decides to get revenge before instantly regretting; that came out a bit mean.


    ¡°Sorry, I shouldn¡¯t have..¡± Sen tries to salvage his words.


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯re so sure about that are you?¡± Lynna interrupts.


    Sen looks at her a bit askance. ¡°So if he¡¯s good enough to go to whatever it is we¡¯re going to, why haven¡¯t we played with him?¡±


    Lynna just replies with a laugh. Sen wonders what that¡¯s about for a while, until he gives up, and the conversation shifts to different in game topics. While Sen isn¡¯t sure if they¡¯ll even play Fifth Dimension again, he definitely doesn¡¯t mind helping his sister distract herself from whatever it is that is to come.


    Eventually, the car starts to drive away from the city, and Sen looks out the window to see a ton of nothing. It¡¯s just rolling hills and farmland as far as the eye can see. While most farming is done in vertical hydroponics farms, people who have the money are usually willing to pay a premium for ¡°genuine¡± food.


    Eventually, even the farms are left behind as they enter what seems to be a desert, and it¡¯s not long until they come across a massively long barbed wire fence patrolled by soldiers at regular intervals.


    They¡¯re screened at the entrance, Sen and Lynna having to give their thumbprints again, and this time a bit of their blood as well. Once they¡¯re inside the fence, massive amounts of office buildings, apartments, and odd blocky concrete buildings surround them. They¡¯re brought to one of the office buildings, and dropped off with a small crowd of others, told that their things will be delivered later.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Sen can recognize many of them as the professional teams from nearby, so it¡¯s basically everyone that lives nearby that has reached A rank. Looking around, Lynna and Sen spot Jennifer chatting with Julie, and they head over to them.


    Lynna cheerfully greets them both with a hug, while Sen simply smiles and nods, thinking a hug is a bit overboard when they¡¯d seen each other the day before. The four of them are all a bit quiet, expecting some sort of announcement to start soon.


    The announcement never seems to happen, but after around half an hour, Xue shows up. Sen gives her a hug as she joins the group, enjoying the smile she gives as he does so. They hold hands as they join the group, ignoring the snickering from Lynna and smiles from the others.


    ¡°So Kang isn¡¯t going to come?¡± Jennifer asks.


    Xue shakes her head. ¡°He¡¯s too young.¡±


    Everyone tries to connect that with the information they already have and fails. They spend the next few minutes trying to pressure Xue for information. Sen feels honor bound to support her silence, and takes most of the flak. It¡¯s another fifteen minutes when a person wearing a pristine suit, his tie not a millimeter out of place, takes the stage.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure that you¡¯re all wondering why you¡¯ve been called here. I¡¯m here to explain to you what you¡¯ll need to know for the future of both yourselves and the future of Alpha.¡± He pauses for a second for dramatic effect before continuing.


    ¡°The first thing you¡¯ll need to know, is that while Fifth Dimension is a game, it¡¯s also based on an actual place we¡¯ve named the fifth dimension, hence the name. This dimension was soon found to have some sort of energy within it that sentient races can use, and monsters were found to have an organ known as a crystal within them. Crystals are a simply a condensed form of this energy, and they can be used to power almost anything, including devices that would never work under standard physics.¡± He pauses to have a sip of water, knowing that everyone is hanging on his words.


    ¡°Included among these physics defying devices is the warp drive and gravity drive. Crystals have thus become a requirement for our galactic federation to survive. There are various other reasons for their value. You can find more on the device you¡¯ll be given after this meeting. Just know that crystals are terribly valuable, even the lowest G ranked crystal being enough to buy food for a week.


    The game has been training you to thrive in the true fifth dimension. The exercise it puts you through is designed to build up muscle memory from what you¡¯ve been doing in game, so you should feel no disconnect between your virtual body and your real one, aside from the difference in stats of course.


    You can, of course, decide to not participate in going to the fifth dimension, but you will not be allowed to leave the premises until this becomes public knowledge. For those of you that do decide to go, you will be provided with the supplies you will need. May you gain fame and fortune in the fifth dimension.¡±


    The man steps down, and the room erupts in conversation.


    ¡°Wait, so the game was just a training tool?¡± Sen asks.


    Xue nods.


    ¡°Well, is there anything else you can tell us now we know?¡± Lynna asks.


    ¡°All I knew is that it was a training tool for going to another place.¡±


    The group nods, then follows the rest of the crowd as they leave the room. As they exit, they¡¯re each passed a small tablet, and told to press their thumbs against the corner of it to key it to them. The group does so, and they open the tablet to see a few different things.


    First, and most prominent, is the rooming situation. Sen is assigned to building D room 304. Checking with the others, he finds out that that¡¯s the room that they¡¯re all going to be staying in. Whipping his head up, he questions the person who¡¯d handed him the tablet.


    ¡°Wait, why are we all rooming together? Aren¡¯t guys and girls normally segregated?¡±


    The woman looks at him with an amused fashion. ¡°We group people based on their own parties. You¡¯re going to need to be used to spending time in close proximity, as it¡¯s normal for everyone to sleep in the same vehicle when out on longer trips.¡± She then decides to add something Sen really didn¡¯t need to know. ¡°We also provide free birth control of course, we can¡¯t have our hunters getting pregnant.¡± She looks between Sen and the girls in a way that makes him think she¡¯s trying to pair him with each of them.


    Sen, face flushed, excuses himself and tries not to run as he¡¯s escaping. Lynna is laughing at him, while Xue is nearly as flushed as he is. Julie and Jennifer aren¡¯t as bad as Lynna, at least they¡¯re trying to hide their giggles, even if they aren¡¯t being too successful.

 Chapter 59: Not So Secret

    They meander their way through the other people, following the map on their new tablets to the building they¡¯re going to be staying at. Once they arrive, they take the stairs to avoid the overcrowded elevator, and soon arrive at quite a nice room. It¡¯s split into multiple rooms, each bedroom with a bunk bed, two desks, and a pair of foot lockers. It has a small kitchen, and two shared bathrooms.


    Everyone agrees to let Sen have his own room while the girls choose form the others, and Lynna is insistent that she gets to room with Xue so she can have her own room when ¡°She moves into Sen¡¯s room¡±. Sen and Xue are both glaring at her at this point, but it¡¯s softened by the fact that both of them are blushing.


    They haven¡¯t been there long when there¡¯s a knock at the door, and their things are all delivered. Sen is shocked to see that the sword his father had bought him for a birthday is included in the items delivered, until he realizes that his father must have been nervous and gotten him a good weapon to prepare him.


    Lynna also ends up having a custom sword delivered, while the rest of the group is simply given a plain cast sword and simple shields.


    Once they¡¯ve placed their belongings away, they all start to go through the information on the tablet. Sen is surprised to see that one of the reasons that crystals are so valuable is because along with the strength of the monster, you can also absorb other characteristics, from increased sight, to regeneration. The most valuable thing though, is that you gain a portion of the monster¡¯s life span.


    Sen quickly gets everyone else to see. You can theoretically be immortal if you eat enough crystals. While low rank crystals can¡¯t be used forever, as they will eventually stop being useleful, no one has found the saturation point of high rank cores yet.


    Annoyingly, along with the increase in lifespan, comes an increase in grinding. It can take up to a few hundred cores of the same monster to reach the point that you can reach with just twenty cores in game.


    Sen is looking through anything else relevant, when he comes across something that makes his heart jump. It¡¯s titled simply: Reincarnators. Opening the file with trepidation, he¡¯s met with a massive flood of information.


    Reincarnations had started to happen once they¡¯d opened the first gate to the fifth dimension, and now, for those living in close proximity of the gate, around one in a hundred children are those who are born again.


    Reincarnators tend to fall into two broad categories. There are those that are born remembering their past life, the reborn, and those that remember it after experiencing some sort of shock, the awakened. The reborn almost always keep the same appearance they had in their past life, while the awakened later tend to have a different body.


    There¡¯s even a page on sexual preferences, which shows that reincarnators, for a reason that they¡¯ve yet to figure out, reborn tend to prefer people their own biological age in their second life, while the awakened tend to have their preferences follow their own age for the first couple of years, then shift into people their biological age.


    Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.


    Sen at least can feel a bit less guilty now, but continues reading the rest of the articles with an unknown feeling. Apparently, Lynna manages to notice either his fingers tightly gripping the impressively durable tablet, or something about his expression, as she comes over and starts to read over his shoulder.


    She reads for a bit, then pulls up the article on her own tablet. A few minutes later, there¡¯s a short ¡°That makes so much more sense now!¡± from her. Sen starts, and looks at her.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell us you were reincarnated?¡±


    At Lynna¡¯s comment, everyone¡¯s eyes snap to Sen. He laughs dryly.


    ¡°Would you have believed me?¡±


    Lynna frowns, before making a sound of agreement. ¡°So were you a virgin in your past life? You¡¯re pretty clueless when it comes to girls.¡±


    Sen sputters. She figures out he¡¯s reincarnated and that¡¯s the first thing she asks?


    ¡°NO!¡±


    Lynna simply tilts her head. ¡°Wait, so when were you born then?¡±


    Sen shakes his head, of course Lynna would just take him being reincarnated as something normal. ¡°I don¡¯t remember at this point. We still used cold weapons when I lived.¡±


    ¡°Well duh, I mean, those sword skills of yours didn¡¯t come from nowhere.¡±


    ¡°Wait, so what was life like back then?¡± Julie decides to get some information rather than just being in shock. Xue is looking down, and Lynna grabs her tablet real quick, pulls up something, then hands it back.


    ¡°Let¡¯s just say that sewers being in every city is a blessing.¡±


    Julie winces at that comment. Xue seems to have perked up a bit after having read whatever it is that Lynna had decided to show her. ¡°Did.. Were you in a relationship in your past life?¡± Xue asks in a nervous fashion.


    ¡°No, I never had a serious relationship, and died young.¡± Xue lets out a breath she¡¯d been holding, and seems to be far less bothered, though Sen isn¡¯t sure which part she¡¯s more relieved about.


    ¡°So how old were you when you died?¡± Lynna asks.


    Sen shrugs. ¡°Early twenties, I never knew my actual birth year. You¡¯d have to subtract about two years from that to get my age on Alpha, so here, maybe twenty to twenty two?¡±


    ¡°How did you die?¡± Jennifer finally gets a chance to join the conversation.


    Sen gets a soft smile on his face. ¡°I died fighting for my lady.¡±


    That comment, more than anything else, got stares. ¡°Your lady?¡± Xue breaks the staring with.


    Sen places his face in his hands for a bit. ¡°I was basically a bodyguard, what are you thinking?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but that doesn¡¯t mean you smile when talking about dying for someone.¡±


    Sen is a bit defensive at this point. ¡°She saved me from a life that was practically hell¡­¡± Realizing what he¡¯d just shared, he winces, and refuses to expound upon the details when asked, not wanting to talk about that part of his life.


    Eventually, they run out of questions to ask him, and he goes to bed more exhausted than ever before. He¡¯s utterly clueless why the group had simply accepted him being reincarnated, but he¡¯s not going to complain. The next few days pass in a similar manner, until everyone is called to another assembly, and told to bring their weapons.


    They¡¯re given a short explanation on what they¡¯re going to be doing in the fifth dimension, and then herded to one of the blocky concrete buildings. Once inside, they¡¯re greeted by a cavernous space, with a massive contraption in the middle, which somehow seems to open to a city. Going around it, Sen can see nothing, but when looking through the circle surrounded by eldritch looking tech, he can see the city again.


    ¡°This is the gate to fifth dimension. A guide has been sent to your tablets, along with a map and your room assignments. May you gain fame and fortune in the fifth dimension.¡± the man finishes his short speech, and steps aside, letting everyone start to file through the hole in space.


    Sen and the group eventually come to the front of the line. Taking a deep breath, Sen steps through to this new world.

 Chapter 60: Back? to the Fifth Dimension

    Stepping through the gate isn¡¯t disorienting or strange. The only thing Sen notices is that his feet seem to have become just a slight bit heavier, possibly from a higher gravity. Curious, he pulls up a world map of the actual fifth dimension on his handy little tablet, only to be surprised. It seems that the fifth dimension has decided to ignore normal physics, the curvature of the planet is faint to the point of being unnoticeable except over extremely long distances.


    While they have figured out the approximate size of the fifth dimension, the entire population across the galaxy only takes up a tiny fraction of the super planet that the fifth dimension is. Sen wonders how that¡¯s physically possible, but his musings on density of the planet versus size are interrupted by a strange sensation.


    It feels almost like something is worming into his skin through all of his pores, and he panics a bit before he recognizes the feeling. It¡¯s the same energy that he had become so comfortable controlling in the game.


    Looking around to the others, they all have a similar uncomfortable look on their faces. After a few breaths of time, the strange sensation stops, and Sen can feel the familiar flowing of energy that seems to follow his blood.


    ¡°Now that all of you are here, you¡¯ve been assigned a room in one of the buildings, and you will have free access to stay there for as long as you like. You will also have free access to the automated vehicles, similar to in game. This is all paid for by the crystal tax. 10% of any crystals you bring back will need to be handed in. Yes, this means that you don¡¯t have to pay tax on any crystals you personally eat. Most small purchases will be made in credits. Your credit account is linked to your tablet, so don¡¯t lose it unless you want to go through a bunch of DNA scans and pay a fine. It¡¯s a large fee to get a replacement one,¡± a woman, seemingly there to greet them explains.


    Everyone in the group nods, and backpacks are handed out to everyone. ¡°The closest farming area is a thirty minute drive from here, and will be filled with G rank to E rank monsters. All of your stats should be approaching E rank due to the conditioning from the game capsules, so try not to die in a stupid fashion.¡±


    The woman leading the group finishes her speech, and then just sets everyone free to do... whatever it is they¡¯re supposed to do. Sen looks around at the city while trying to come up with a plan, and isn¡¯t particularly surprised to see that it¡¯s almost a replica of what he¡¯d seen in game. Massive skyscrapers tower above them, constructions of steel and glass, and most of the automated vehicles look exactly the same, tall, slightly rounded things that are made to contain up to a dozen people.


    The only differences are the occasional customized automated vehicle, and the occasional flying vehicle that lifts off from the tops of the buildings. The flying vehicles seem to make no noise, and Sen figures that they¡¯re using the same technology that the spaceships from Earth had been using.


    ¡°So what do we do now?¡± Jennifer decides to ask what everyone is thinking.


    ¡°Hunt?¡± Sen decides to be the one to answer.


    ¡°Well I want to check out the room we got first,¡± Lynna overrides him.


    The rest of the girls end up agreeing with Lynna, and they¡¯re soon following the map on their tablets to find their new home. They¡¯re soon in front of one of the massive skyscrapers, and hop in an elevator, as they¡¯re on the eleventh floor. Once they arrive, they¡¯re greeted by almost the exact same thing that they¡¯d had at the military base, three bedrooms, a small kitchen, and two restrooms.


    Once they¡¯ve figured out who gets which room, They check their tablets to see how much food is going to be. It turns out that they can just have any food delivered for a pittance, but they currently have a big fat zero in their credits, though the small kitchen had come with some simple frozen meals.


    They each have one of the rather good frozen meals, then head to go do some hunting in order to try and rectify their current monetary situation. Calling one of the automated vehicles, and thankful that they¡¯re free, even if they¡¯ll be forced to pay a tax, the group is soon heading to the closest farming field. It¡¯s marked on the map on their tablet with a bright red pin, Sen feeling like they¡¯re being treated as technologically incompetent.


    Deciding to figure out how humanity hadn¡¯t completely overhunted the monsters, Sen looks it up, and finds that they come from within the planet, and they seemingly have endless numbers down there, only the excess monsters coming to the surface. As far as humanity can tell, monsters can survive on pure energy, and at least low ranked monsters reproduce at phenomenal speeds, leading to the situation where they never seem to run out unless a high ranked party decides to go underground and wipe out most of their population, which has happened a few times until it was made illegal. Even then, the area repopulates with astounding speed from deeper within the planet.


    Once Sen has satisfied his curiosity, he looks through more of his tablet, and finds that all of the basic elemental body enhancement skills are loaded on his tablet. After a bit of contemplation, he decides to stick with the wind versions, and waits for the vehicle to arrive before starting his practice


    He is only able to get his spine done by the time they arrive at the field that they will be farming at, and notices that everyone else in the group had decided to join him in practicing their body enhancement skills.


    After a bit of a walk, they find their first monsters, which of course is a group of goblins. They¡¯re easily wiped out, but Sen is very satisfied with the fact that they actually bleed, the area they¡¯d once occupied now a mess of blood from torn arteries and punctured hearts.


    Once they¡¯re done, they have to look up on their tablets what to do before taking some knives out of their backpacks to remove the crystals from the monsters, which are located in their heart. Luckily, the bones are easy to get through after Sen smashes their ribs with his sword. The girls all seem to be handling the gore surprisingly well. Even if it¡¯s the same as in game, Sen had expected them to balk at the blood and guts.


    ¡°You know we¡¯re going to have to eat these,¡± Sen mentions. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    At that comment, all the girls turn a bit pale, but Sen pressures them into eating them, as they¡¯re the first crystals that they¡¯ve earned in the true fifth dimension. Lynna looks quite nauseous as she pops her crystal into her mouth after washing it off with a bottle of water from her pack. She soon calms down though, and Sen copies her, rinsing off the crystal and popping it in his mouth.


    It isn¡¯t flavorful like the ones in game, almost feeling like warm ice as it melts in his mouth. As it slowly disappears, Sen looks to the other girls. Jennifer is doing her best not to gag, Julie seems completely fine with it, and Xue would be doing fine if she wasn¡¯t looking a bit pale.


    Once they¡¯ve all finished their first crystals, Sen notices that nothing noticeable has changed, which isn¡¯t surprising considering that it¡¯s only a G ranked crystal, and it takes more crystals to change your stats in reality, as much as a different dimension counts as reality.


    They continue hunting, keeping around half of their crystals for trading in for credits, and it goes very smoothly, everyone used to working together from all the time they¡¯ve spent together in the training game.


    Julie keeps complaining about how she¡¯s going to need to buy her knives and engrave them again to make her arrays, and eventually everyone agrees to give her a good deal of the money so she can have her arrays as soon as possible.


    They stop their hunting relatively soon, as they can¡¯t set up an illusion array to rest in peace, and head back to the road, where the automated vehicle has been kind enough to wait for them. Along the way, they start seeing quite a few other groups, which they hadn¡¯t seen while further in the grasslands, and they wonder why everyone seems to be sticking to the outskirts.


    They¡¯re soon back in the city, and hand over a tenth of their crystals as tax before going to find out where to sell their remaining crystals for credits. The tablets come in handy yet again, and they take the automated vehicle to a building that looks suspiciously similar to the gaudy building that the crystal shop had been in game.


    They enter the building that practically looks like a cathedral, and end up in the back of an annoyingly long line, even with what looks like eight people handling the visitors. The line moves quite quickly however, and they¡¯re soon handing over all of their crystals for credits. They all smile as they see the number zero on their screen change to around five hundred each, which, while they¡¯re not sure how much it can buy, according to the person at the military like base, should be enough to feed them for a few months without any problem.


    Their first stop now they have some money is to hop on their tablets and order some food that isn¡¯t just frozen meals. After a short discussion, they find that Lynna and Sen are the only two who have any idea how to cook, so they¡¯re designated the cooks for the group.


    Once they¡¯ve handled the groceries, they head to one of the larger weapons stores, as Julie doesn¡¯t need fancier knives for her simple arrays, simply engraving cheap ones, and using a different material to fill in the engraving.


    They¡¯re barely able to afford the many knives Julie wants along with a high quality engraver, and Sen looks at his now nearly empty bank account with sadness. Sen mood only lasts a moment, until he realizes that a single day¡¯s worth of hunting had been able to afford them this much, making him surprised at exactly how valuable crystals are.


    Once they¡¯ve finished with their shopping for the day, Sen deciding to get some throwing knives of his own once he has better control over the wind again, they all head back to their small apartment to relax the rest of the day away, everyone exhausted from their new situation. While there, Sen decides to read up a bit more on reincarnators.


    It isn¡¯t anything official, but many reincarnators have claimed to have met up with their great rivals or lovers of the past. There is no supporting evidence, but how does one prove that they¡¯ve met someone from their past life?


    Once they arrive, they wait a bit for the food to be delivered, which doesn¡¯t take long, and Lynna is soon cooking up a spicy curry. They all enjoy the meal, and Jennifer expresses interest in learning how to cook. Lynna quickly agrees, wanting to spread out the duty a bit more in order to be able to spend more time lazing about.


    The next few weeks are filled with pretty much the same thing, though the group soon finds a few different restaurants and places to get refreshing drinks to spend their time away from hunting. Sen and Xue go on a few dates on their own, and Sen learns quite a few things about her. She¡¯d been taught from an early age to handle her parents massive business, but her parents had soon gotten information from one of their investors about the fifth dimension, and had quickly transitioned into having Xue become a hunter in it.


    ¡°So why is everyone pushing so hard to have us be hunters? It¡¯s a very lucrative job, but that¡¯s about it,¡± Sen eventually asks her.


    ¡°You really haven¡¯t been keeping up with the news, have you?¡±


    Sen turns his head away, he¡¯s simply been enjoying the hunting, and hasn¡¯t bothered checking any of the news, or even looking around on his tablet.


    Xue sighs. ¡°At least on worlds other than Alpha, you¡¯re treated as a second class citizen if you don¡¯t have a bunch of crystals. The people in power tend to stay in power, especially when they can live practically forever.¡±


    ¡°So our parents are basically just using us to help stay in power?¡±


    Xue shakes her head. ¡°It¡¯s not so much just to stay in power. If you don¡¯t have any connections with a hunter, on other worlds you won¡¯t be able to be anything but one of the lowest class of citizens. You have higher taxes, you can¡¯t control a large business, you can¡¯t hold any sort of political position. Our parents haven¡¯t bothered to ask us to send them crystals, aside from Jennifer¡¯s. They¡¯re simply trying to get us in a good position for when the new laws come through. They¡¯re trying to help us, not themselves.¡±


    Sen feels a spike of guilt pierce his heart. His parents are simply trying to get him a good life, and he hasn¡¯t bothered doing anything for them.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to start sending back a bunch of crystals. I honestly had no idea it would be that bad. Is the situation that bad for those who don¡¯t have connections to a hunter though?¡±


    Xue gets a sad look on her face. ¡°Honestly, a hunter can pretty much get away with murder on a non hunter. At worst, they¡¯ll get away from it with a fine.¡±


    Sen is aghast at this. ¡°Wait, if the situation is that bad, why don¡¯t they simply fight back?¡±


    ¡°It isn¡¯t that simple. It was the people in power and the military who got access to the fifth dimension first. There¡¯s no way they can fight back when the people in power are so much above them. A high rank hunter can¡¯t be harmed by anything short of a nuke.¡±


    ¡°That seems a little ridiculous. We got strong in game, but it wasn¡¯t nearly to that extent.¡±


    ¡°They toned it down in game. In reality, a rank G skill if your body is at rank C is enough to destroy a tank, and with your reflexes enhanced, you can literally see as someone pulls a trigger on a gun and get out of the way. By the time you hit rank B in a skin enhancement skill, you can just ignore guns. They couldn¡¯t up the power levels in game because they can¡¯t simulate the improved senses and reflexes.¡±


    Sen shakes his head. ¡°Well let¡¯s just do what we can to keep our families doing well for now.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s the plan.¡±


    The two of them finish off their frozen treat before heading back to their apartment. They hold hands on the way back, and Sen ends up sharing some more of his past life.


    ¡°So you spent your life doing nothing but being a bodyguard?¡±


    Sen shrugs. ¡°My earlier life was¡­ bad, to say the least. I grew up an orphan. I learned how to use a sword, and used that the rest of my life.¡±


    ¡°So how did you die anyway?¡±


    ¡°I was stopping some pursuers from chasing after my lady. I was able to stop them, but I died at the end of it. I still don¡¯t know if she got away.¡±


    They both go silent, Sen wondering if his lady had gotten away, and Xue pondering what she¡¯d learned.


    They arrive back at their apartment, and Lynna instantly greets them with a ¡°Did you have fun?¡±


    The two are pretty much inured to her teasing at this point, and both reply in the affirmative. They all practice their body enhancement skills for a while before going to bed. As they go to bed, Xue pulls Sen aside, and gives him a quick peck on the cheek before running away.


    Sen holds his hand to a cheek for a bit, and goes to bed after thinking that maybe he should reciprocate with some affectionate actions, as he is clearly on the back foot in this relationship.

 Chapter 61: Reality Hurts

    The days pass in a similar manner, until the group decides they should start hunting E ranked monsters. While you¡¯d think that the stat lines wouldn¡¯t fully follow through to reality, it¡¯s as simple as getting in a capsule and being measured. Thus, everyone¡¯s stats are classified as E, excluding their energy, which is only at F.


    ¡°Okay, so we¡¯re going to be hunting orcs today. All of us are in the low E range, so we shouldn¡¯t have any trouble with them,¡± Lynna starts the conversation once we¡¯ve finished our breakfast.


    The group all replies with nods, and they pack up their things before calling one of the automated vehicles to take them out further than they¡¯ve gone before. They soon arrive, and are greeted by an area filled with crisscrossing canyons, with only a few small shrubs growing here and there, their shiny bark reflecting the sunlight. Sen looks away from the red hued bushes, and they head into one of the canyons, thankful that this area is well mapped out on their tablets.


    The canyon walls tower over them, striations showing throughout the walls as they continue, and here and there, they¡¯ll run into a group of F ranked hobgoblins, which are easily dispatched, Julie not bothering to use her arrays. After each kill, they¡¯re forced to stop for a while to extract the crystals from the monsters¡¯ hearts, which slows them down, but they¡¯ve gotten quite good at doing so at this point, so it doesn¡¯t take too much time.


    The group is all but inured to dealing with crystals at this point, having eaten enough for them to no longer care about the fact that it comes from within a monster¡¯s heart. Their trek deeper into the weaving canyons continues, and they eventually come across the first group of orcs. Sen finds it a bit odd that they¡¯re called orcs when they¡¯re closer to extra large hobgoblins, but figures they were named that way due to most fantasy orcs be close enough to them.


    The group waits for a bit for Julie to set up her array, then charge at the monsters. The orcs aren¡¯t slow to respond however, and instantly turn to the group, swiping through the images Julie had sent ahead of the group. Sen swings his sword through the neck of the only orc with a proper weapon, a sword it had likely looted off of a dead adventurer. He ignores the blood that sprays upon him, turning to the next one and dodging the swipe of its long claws while removing the offending arm.


    The orc reels back in pain, and Sen finishes it with a stab through the chest, before turning to the rest of the group, and noting that they¡¯ve all finished off the rest of the orcs. Everyone lets out a breath. While the orcs had higher stats than them, they are also dumb, with no technique to speak of. It seems the pattern in game of monsters not being too much stronger than people of the same rank until around rank C will continue to be true in this reality. With neither skill nor a large strength advantage, the orcs are easy prey.


    The group dissects the monsters for their crystals, as orcs don¡¯t have any materials valuable enough to bother collecting. The group has found out that the loot drops in game were echoed in reality, body parts of high rank monsters selling for astronomical sums, though still less than the crystals from the same monster.


    The group finishes their bloody work, and continues on to hunt more of the orcs. They end up finding more hobgoblins than orcs, but they occasionally come across another group, wiping them out easily.


    Once the day is about half over, which is less time than Sen is used to, as this planet has a twenty six hour day cycle compared to the thirty on Alpha, they all start to head back to their automated vehicle.


    They¡¯re about halfway back, when Sen notices something off. He takes his weapon off of his shoulder he¡¯s been resting it on, not keeping it in its sheathe while hunting, and holds it in front of him. The rest of the group gives him a few funny looks, but copy him. Julie even sets up a quick array on the ground, but doesn¡¯t power it on quite yet.


    The group simply sits there for a moment, but Sen doesn¡¯t let his guard down, and soon they hear laughter.


    ¡°Well, well, it seems the little rabbits aren¡¯t so keen to walk into the trap on their own.¡±


    A man steps out from behind a curve in the canyon wall, and another half a dozen people step out after him.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± Sen asks in a steely voice.


    ¡°That¡¯s quite simple, all I want from you is to hand over your crystals. And maybe a couple of the ladies for us to play with.¡±


    Sen bristles, he hasn¡¯t met a scumbag like this since his past life. The girls seem to caught between being angry and scared, but Sen is simply focused.


    Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°That¡¯s not an option.¡± Sen says.


    ¡°What happens if you get caught? We could just report you when we get back to the city,¡± Jennifer says in a tone that¡¯s trying to belie her nervousness.


    The man laughs again. ¡°They don¡¯t care what happens out here. Besides, it would be our word against yours.Nobody will believe your words over those from Alliance. We¡¯ll just smash your tablets to make sure none of you are recording.¡±


    The group simply raises their weapons, the girl¡¯s arms shaking slightly.


    ¡°Go to hell!¡± Lynna shouts.


    ¡°Fine, do it the hard way.¡±


    The man who has been speaking draws his sword, and the rest of the men behind him take out theirs as well. Sen focuses on their drawing of their weapons. They all seem to a be a bit clumsy with their swords, which is surprising. They¡¯d likely gotten into the fifth dimension through connections rather than having done well in the training tool that Sen still thought of as just a game.


    As they slowly close on the group, Sen starts up his body enhancement, and leads in with a light strike to convince the one of the random men to block. Sen can see images of Julie appearing as his opponent bites the bait, and Sen simply twirls his sword upwards and slams it down from a different direction, empowered by Weight of the Mountain.


    The man¡¯s head is crushed rather than sliced through, the brains splattering backwards, and Sen hears a short ¡°Joe!¡± from one of his friends. The one who¡¯d shouted the dead man¡¯s name charges in towards Sen, and clumsily strikes with all his force behind it. Sen simply sways to the side and removes his foot at the ankle, leaving him to bleed as he rolls on the floor in pain.


    At this point, Sen looks to the girls, to see them all fighting in a nervous manner, not going in for fatal strikes. He lets out a breath. They don¡¯t have the experience with death Sen does, and are nervous to even harm another person.


    Sen finishes off two more opponents quickly. While they have E ranked stats, it seems they had simply stolen the crystals rather than having farmed them themselves, as they are quite useless when it comes to using their weapons. At this point, Sen turns to the ones who are attacking the girls, noting that Julie¡¯s images have actually finished off one of the enemies, and Julie herself is looking extremely pale.


    Sen cuts into the people attacking the girls from behind, quickly eliminating them, but when he gets to the one Lynna is fighting, Lynna has shoved her sword into his stomach, before pulling it out, and backing away in horror. Sen finishes off the man who¡¯s going to strike at her while she¡¯s confused, then very intentionally turns to the man she¡¯d fatally wounded, and beheads him with a simple swipe of his sword.


    Sen carefully turns to Lynna, saying a short ¡°I killed him. It wasn¡¯t you.¡±


    Sen slowly walks for disabled enemy to enemy, finishing them off to the horror of the rest of the group. He then turns to the only remaining enemy, the man who had led the group, who is looking quite nervous at this point.


    ¡°You can¡¯t kill me! I¡¯m from Alliance! They¡¯ll hunt you down!¡±


    Sen snorts. ¡°And how would they know I killed you? I just have to smash your tablet.¡± After saying his bit, he stabs into the man, who looks down in terror and confusion as he slowly slips to the ground, sliding from Sen¡¯s sword.


    Looking around, the girls are all staring at Sen in a mix of horror and shock. Jennifer turns to the side and vomits a few times, falling to her knees as she loses her lunch and simply continues to dry heave.


    Sen lets out a sigh. While you can¡¯t steal crystals in game, here, they¡¯re free to be taken. He takes a step forward towards the girls, but stops when he sees Lynna step back as he does so. He lets out a sigh, and turns around.


    He very intentionally takes his time as he searches through each of the dead men¡¯s backpacks for their tablets, and crushes them. Annoyingly, his normal strikes can barely harm the thing, and he¡¯s forced to use Weight of the Mountain. For good measure, he takes their crystals as well, noting that they have quite a lot of them. He isn¡¯t sure if they¡¯re all from robbing people, or if they¡¯d actually been hunting, but he¡¯s not going to waste something he can use.


    Turning back to the girls, Jennifer has stopped vomiting, while the rest of them are either sitting down or leaning against a wall, still in shock.


    ¡°They¡¯re dead. You killed them. I... I nearly killed someone.¡± Lynna looks down at her hands, and starts to cry. Sen wants to comfort her, but with the reaction she¡¯d shown towards him, he isn¡¯t sure she¡¯s not horrified by him right now.


    ¡°Sen, what was your past life like?¡± Xue asks, wondering about how he seems completely fine with the bloodshed.


    Sen looks down. ¡°I can¡¯t even remember how many people I¡¯ve killed at this point.¡±


    Xue looks at him, before slowly moving towards him and giving him a hug. He holds her for a moment before letting her go. ¡°I think Lynna and Jennifer need someone more than I do right now.¡±


    Xue nods, and turns towards Jennifer, simply sitting beside her, and begins to talk to her in a low voice. After Jennifer seems to have calmed down a bit, she turns to Lynna, and softly starts talking to her as Sen turns to Julie.


    ¡°Are you ok?¡±


    Julie is taking deep breaths as she leans on the canyon wall. ¡°I don¡¯t know. It needed to be done, but it¡¯s just¡­ I never would¡¯ve expected something like this.¡±


    Sen nods.


    ¡°Does it ever get easier?¡± Julie asks, looking to Sen.


    Sen gets a sad look on his face. ¡°It does. Not for a long time, but it does.¡±


    Julie looks down at that. ¡°I don¡¯t want it to get easier. I never want to get used to killing someone!¡± She deflates a bit after her her outburst, and breaks into sobs. Sen goes to sit beside her, noting that at least she isn¡¯t shying away from him. He simply sits there in silence for a bit.


    ¡°It needed to be done though. People like that don¡¯t change. They¡¯re obviously from this ¡®Alliance¡¯, they¡¯d simply have used their connections to cause us even more trouble,¡± he eventually says. Julie nods in response, but her body still shakes from the occasional sob. He gets up, and goes to check on Xue. While she seems to be the most stable one, he doesn¡¯t know if she¡¯s simply good at hiding it.


    Rather than ask her anything, he simply sits next to her as she¡¯s talking to Lynna, taking her hand in his own. She flinches a bit at first, but is soon gripping his hand very tightly.


    ¡°We need to get back to the vehicle,¡± Sen eventually says, the sun starting to get low on the horizon.


    Xue nods, and herds everyone up as they slowly make their way back to the road, Sen going a bit ahead of them to wipe out any small groups of hobgoblins that would likely be a problem for the shell-shocked girls.


    As they arrive in the vehicle, they¡¯re all silent, driving back to the city in a morose mood. Once they arrive, they¡¯re not even questioned at the gate as they hand in the tax of ten percent of their crystals, and they¡¯re soon back in their apartment, everyone going to their own room.


    Xue actually follows Sen into his room, and simply holds on to him for a while, occasionally shivering, before she slowly falls asleep, causing Sen to worry. Sen eventually falls asleep as well, though he¡¯s more nervous about having Xue in his bed rather than guilty over having killed some human scum.

 Chapter 62: A Spider Crystal is Still a Crystal

    When Sen wakes the next morning, he wonders why there¡¯s a weight on him for a moment before realizing Xue had decided to sleep over to have some comfort. He ends up laying there for a good few minutes, but Xue must have noticed something, because she soon wakes up.


    As she stretches out on top of Sen, she stops for a second, looks to Sen, then sprints out of the room, nearly tripping at the door. Sen blinks a few times, then gets himself out of bed. Lynna must have been woken up by Xue coming back, because she is soon out to get some oatmeal for breakfast.


    She gives a halfhearted smirk at Sen, her usual teasing attitude curtailed by what had happened yesterday. The rest of the group slowly leaves their rooms as well, Xue being the last one out, even though she was the first awake. She blushes as she looks to Sen, but it fades quickly into a lost expression, matching the rest of the group.


    Sen finishes his meal, and realizes he needs to say something about what had happened.


    ¡°We didn¡¯t have much of a choice. If they were just going to take the crystals, then I could accept it if you wanted to give them up, but I wasn¡¯t going to leave any of you behind to them.¡±


    ¡°The last one though, he didn¡¯t even resist!¡± Jennifer seems to have been the one to take it the worst.


    ¡°You heard what he said. I¡¯m not sure what Alliance is, but I¡¯m not willing to risk us being attacked by them by letting someone go. You need to pull out the roots when removing weeds.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re people though! Not weeds!¡± Jennifer is getting a bit frantic at this point.


    ¡°They were scumbags who wanted to rape you.¡±


    Jennifer quiets down at this point, and Lynna moves next to her, rubbing her back in comfort.


    ¡°Sen¡¯s right. It may not have been moral, at all, but it was something that needed to be done. We didn¡¯t have any way to stop them in a non lethal manner, so Sen did what he had to do. I did what I had to do.¡± The last part comes out in a whisper, Julie doing her best to convince herself that she¡¯s speaking the truth.


    Sen looks to her, she¡¯s the only one of the group who¡¯d actually killed one of them aside from him. He¡¯d tried to make sure Lynna wouldn¡¯t have to live with the guilt of a human life on her hands, at least not yet.


    ¡°I hate to say it, but we may have to deal with situations like this again. I don¡¯t think they¡¯re the only group to do something like this,¡± Sen adds.


    ¡°Scumbags are everywhere,¡± Xue adds in a scathing manner, making Sen wonder what she¡¯s thinking of.


    The rest of the group goes silent, likely worrying that Sen¡¯s comment is the truth. The rest of the day is spent mostly in silence, the girls talking to each other. Sen would have felt a bit ostracized if it isn¡¯t for Xue making sure to talk to him.


    Jennifer seems to be scared of him at this point, but she seems to get a bit better after having spoken with Lynna and Julie. The day passes with them not doing anything, and Sen ends up doing some research on Alliance.


    It¡¯s basically a guild, though they¡¯re called clans rather than guilds like they are in game. Alliance itself is a gathering place for rich and powerful people to make connections rather than a proper clan, the highest rank person in it only having B rank stats. You need to have some sort of connection to get into it, which means that the person Sen has killed is not necessarily a big shot, but is definitely not someone unimportant. They also have a sub clan for their lackeys as well, which, while technically part of Alliance, is looked down upon by the main clan. He worries for a bit that he¡¯s going to have some issues that come from what happened, but there¡¯s nothing he can do about it now.


    Not killing him would have been an even worse option. He¡¯d almost certainly try for revenge. At least this way Alliance may not be able to find out who had killed him. Sen soon finds their chat server, and it¡¯s filled with arrogance. Everyone on it is from a rich family, and have been given crystals the second they are old enough to go to the fifth dimension. Seemingly none of them had bothered to use the Fifth Dimension training capsule, simply using crystals to boost their stats up to rank D or E instead of being built up by the capsule before coming to the fifth dimension.


    That at least explains why they had all seemed to be so utterly clumsy with their weapons, and Sen wonders what kind of stupidity it takes to not bother training for a place that can very well kill you. Once he¡¯s determined that there¡¯s no discussion about the people he¡¯s killed, at least on their public chatting areas, he lets out a bit of the tension he¡¯d been holding on to, and goes to practice his body enhancement skills. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.


    The next few days pass with them staying in their apartment, but Jennifer finally seems to have calmed down around Sen. Lynna eventually gets around to teasing Sen for having had Xue sleep in his room the one time, which leads to Xue avoiding Sen¡¯s gaze for a bit.


    It¡¯s another week before the group is ready to go hunting again, and they finally leave their apartment. Heading out, they head to a forest that holds some E ranked monsters. The monsters themselves look like giant lizards, with two rows of bone plates sticking from their back.


    They¡¯re faster than the group, but slower than their weapons, and Sen has no trouble beheading them whenever they come in to bite at him. As they hunt however, Sen is constantly having to cover for Lynna and Jennifer, as both of them flinch whenever they stab into the monsters, leading them to nearly getting wounded here and there.


    Sen holds in a sigh. It seems that it¡¯s going to be quite some time until they get used to hunting again. Thankfully, they don¡¯t run into any more bandits, as that is what they truly are, during the period that they¡¯re out hunting. The days start to pass, and the group gets more and more comfortable with hunting again, though Jennifer seems to shy away from blood a bit more than she used to.


    Their stats slowly go up over the following month, and they start to reach the edge of Rank D. The difference compared to the game is impressive. While in game their speed would only go up so much, as their reactions and thoughts simply couldn¡¯t keep up with faster speeds, in this reality, their reactions increase along with their speed, so they¡¯re moving as fast as they had been in game at B rank, even though they¡¯re not quite at D rank.


    Sen is a bit regretful at the fact that their intelligence doesn¡¯t seem to improve. He¡¯s been hoping that he would get smarter from the crystals, but that is one of the few things that isn¡¯t increased by imbibing crystals. He can think faster, but he¡¯s still limited by how he thinks. Eventually, Sen works up the nerve to give Xue a goodnight kiss in response to the one she¡¯d give him occasionally, even though it¡¯s only on the cheek, which drives his sister up a wall.


    Lynna ends up getting him alone at one point and berating him for not having even given her a kiss on the lips after literal months of dating, and Sen eventually caves, agreeing to do so in the near future.


    The next time they go hunting, they¡¯re finally going to be going for D rank. The monster they decide to hunt is actually one that they¡¯d hunted quite a bit in game, and one that Sen protests greatly. It¡¯s a very large, acid spitting spider, an evolution of the lower rank version. They call one of the automated vehicles, and are soon on the way to the forest they¡¯ll be hunting in.


    Along the way, Sen complains a bit more before giving up and simply sitting there with Xue. She pats his shoulder in support, which sort of feels demeaning, but he knows she means well. As they arrive, they hop out of the vehicle to see a massive forest. The trees are as large as they are in game, stretching to the height of skyscrapers, their trunks needing a dozen people with their arms spread to surround it for the smallest ones.


    The leaves which occasionally fall to the forest floor are the size of palm fronds, though they¡¯re all one big mass rather than the individual leaves that make up fronds. Their colors are dyed in yellows and reds, and the group simply stares and admires the massive, brightly colored forest for a while before heading into its depths.


    It doesn¡¯t take nearly as long as Sen would like for webbing to start appearing. The strands of webbing aren¡¯t terribly thick like some of those he¡¯d seen in game, but they¡¯re still around half an inch in diameter, and they stretch up to the top of the canopy. He can occasionally see motion high up in the trees, and decides that he¡¯s going to watch above more often than he watches ahead for now.


    The first spider they run into is alone, simply waiting on an intricate web making a beautiful spiral pattern, and it¡¯s easily dispatched, Lynna distracting it for a bit as Xue finishes it off. Sen winces at the cracking noises that sound out as they crack open its carapace for the crystal within it, and tries to hide as Lynna tries to convince him to be the first one to eat it. Eventually, like usual, he falls to his sister''s cajoling, and takes a deep breath before putting it into his mouth.


    They start running into groups of two and three as the webs become thicker, and they¡¯re soon having to burn their way through. With how many spiders they¡¯re running into though it¡¯s still an efficient hunting spot. They¡¯re doing well, when they start hearing the chittering sound the spiders make not from just one direction, but all around them.


    They instantly circle up, and look into the shadows thrown by the trees, catching the occasional glimpse of spiders against the white backdrop of the webs. It isn¡¯t long until a veritable flood of spiders is coming towards them, and Sen starts swinging his sword as quickly as he can. The first spider goes to bite at him, and he dodges relatively easily before chopping his sword about halfway into it.


    The next one goes to spit acid at him, and he uses the little control over wind he has at this stage to shove it to the side, as if he simply dodges it will hit Lynna. A few drops still splatter on his skin, and he can hear the hissing noise, but doesn¡¯t flinch from the pain. While the pain is far greater than in game, it¡¯s nothing compared to his previous life.


    He doesn¡¯t charge forward at the spider, as he doesn¡¯t want to break the formation they¡¯ve formed, and grins as he sees an image of Julie going to smack the spider around a bit. While the energy blade it¡¯s wielding can barely get through the shell of the spider, the image drives it towards Sen, and he easily finishes it off with a stab, clear ichor dripping from the hole in its shell.


    A few more of the spiders spit their acid at Sen, but even his weak wind control is strong enough to blow it off course, away from the group. Once he notices that there aren¡¯t too many spiders left, he breaks formation, charging at them.


    He crushes each of them with a quick Weight of the Mountain, before turning to check that everyone is ok. While a couple of them have gotten a few drops of acid on their skin, the only real losses are the shields of the group, which have become ruined messes from all of the acid flying around. Sen checks over his sword, and is ecstatic to see that it¡¯s still pristine, making him wonder how his father had gotten him such a good weapon.


    The group then has the laborious task of breaking the carapace on each of the spiders, and extracting the crystals from the hearts of the monsters. By the time they¡¯re done, everyone wants to take a break, so they have Julie set up an array, and simply sit down and relax for a while.


    Once their short break is over, they follow the path they¡¯ve burned through the webs back towards their vehicle. About halfway there however, everyone raises their weapons as they start to hear footsteps. Sen and his group want to go around, but they¡¯ve only the one path, and so they simply circle up as the footsteps approach.


    Jennifer starts to hyperventilate a little, but Lynna soon reaches her side, putting her hand on Jennifer¡¯s shoulder in order to help settle her down. She¡¯s comforting Jennifer even with a very worried look on her own face. Xue steels her face, locking in the cold mask she used to constantly wear, even around the group, while Julie sets up an array for security. Sen simply hopes that this group won¡¯t be hostile. The girls aren¡¯t going to be up to fighting other humans for quite some time.

 Chapter 63: Family

    The group keeps their weapons at the ready, and Sen notices that Julie¡¯s sword is shaking from nerves. The footsteps approach, and when they come into the group¡¯s vision, they all relax. It¡¯s the group from Team Cloud. Sen notices as he lowers his weapon that everyone on Team Cloud has their weapons at the ready, and wonders if they¡¯ve run into bandits as well.


    Once they¡¯ve confirmed their identities, the groups take back their weapons from their ready positions.


    ¡°It¡¯s nice to see familiar faces,¡± LostMind starts up. ¡°And please call me Jake, I¡¯m no longer playing for an audience, so I¡¯ve stopped going by my tag.¡±


    ¡°Hmm, It is nice to see some familiar people. How has your group been doing Jake?¡± Lynna asks.


    Jake winces. ¡°It¡¯s a lot harder without the support of the guild. Plus, once anyone finds out where we¡¯re from they completely look down on us. It¡¯s like they think we¡¯re beneath them for being from Alpha.¡±


    Sen tilts his head. He hasn¡¯t noticed that, but then again, he hasn¡¯t shared where he is from with anyone, simply sticking to his own group. The only people he knows at all are the ones who work at the crystal store, and he doesn¡¯t exactly have riveting conversations with them.


    Looking over, he sees Lynna wincing a bit. ¡°Yeah, apparently being from Alpha is grounds to get you laughed at,¡± she says.


    ¡°Is it really that bad?¡± Sen chimes in.


    He¡¯s greeted by nods from everyone except Xue, who seems to be as clueless about this as he is. He knows the other girls would occasionally go out to shop or get meals on their own, which Sen appreciates as it give him extra time with just Xue, but he doesn¡¯t know that they¡¯ve been dealing with crap for being from Alpha.


    ¡°Why would they look down upon us just for being from Alpha?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not just that, they look down upon anyone who gets in through doing well in the game Fifth Dimension. They see us as poor people who only happened to make it to this place filled with self titled ¡®elites¡¯,¡± Jake explains.


    ¡°How did people get here in the first place then? Is there really any difference?¡±


    ¡°The first people who started to enhance themselves with crystals were the elite of the elite, they wanted to solidify their rule. The only reason they allow other hunters is so they can get more crystals. Where did you think the taxes go?¡± Julie is the one to explain this time.


    ¡°I assumed the government.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re the ones that control the government Sen,¡± Lynna looks at him like he¡¯s stupid.


    Looking around, he¡¯s met by wry smiles and frowns from everyone else. He shakes his head. He¡¯d heard those who can¡¯t come to the fifth dimension are treated horribly, he didn¡¯t expect it to carry over to those who managed to get here through merit in the game Fifth Dimension.


    The two groups chat for a while before splitting up. Team Cloud is going to be staying in the forest overnight after setting up an array. Sen feels a bit guilty at that. His group hasn¡¯t been hunting nearly so assiduously, sleeping in their apartment every night.


    ¡°Do you think we should start staying out occasionally and hunting more?¡± He decides to get the opinions of the group.


    Jennifer and Lynna both object in a severe manner, and Sen drops the topic, not wanting to face the wrath of women. The group slowly makes their way to their vehicle, the webs thinning out the closer they get to the road, and while there are a couple of the acid spiders that they run into, they¡¯re easily handled by the group, not even needing to use their superior numbers.


    They arrive at the vehicle, all of them glad they didn¡¯t run into another group like the one from Alliance, and are soon on their way back to the city which Sen hasn¡¯t bothered remembering the name of.


    They arrive, and chat for a while, as all of them have gotten their body enhancement skills to the point where they won¡¯t be able to upgrade them until their stats reach rank D, which should be happening soon.


    Before bed, When Xue comes by to give Sen his hug and kiss on the cheek, he very nervously says her name, then reaches his head in for a short kiss on the lips, feeling terribly awkward. Sen can feel the softness on his own lips for a short time before he pulls away, to see Xue¡¯s face burning a very bright shade of red, and feels that his own face must be matching it.


    A quiet, but still audible ¡°Took you long enough.¡± sounds out from Lynna¡¯s room, and he looks over to see not only Lynna, but Jennifer and Julie are also poking their heads out of their rooms. Their heads quickly pop back behind the door frames, and Sen can feel his already embarrassed face burn even more.


    Xue gives him a short hug, before returning a kiss of her own, and then they split up and go to bed. As he lays in bed, he can hear Lynna excitedly talking with Xue, who seems to be remaining quite quiet. The sound doesn¡¯t carry well enough to know what they¡¯re talking about, though he¡¯s sure he can guess the general topic.


    The next few months follow the same pattern, Sen occasionally getting messages from his family. Sen¡¯s father tries to refuse the crystals Sen and Lynna have been sending home, but they continue to send them anyway.


    What Sen learns from his family is not good news. Many of the politicians, and even some of the larger business owners on Alpha have been taken over by people from the United Federation of Humanity. While it isn¡¯t explicitly mentioned, Sen can read between the lines. The only ones who seem to be holding their positions are those that are related to people who¡¯ve gone into the fifth dimension.


    Even those people aren¡¯t in such a stable state, the people from the UFoH seemingly just waiting on their relatives to either die off or simply do poorly in the fifth dimension. His parents don¡¯t explicitly state this, but he can tell well enough. The group starts throwing themselves into hunting in a more frenzied manner after finding out what¡¯s happening on Alpha, and even Jennifer and Lynna agree to stay out for a few days at a time to hunt, to save the hour drive to get out to the hunting grounds.


    They usually end up sleeping in the vehicle, setting up an illusion array outside to have a place to use the restroom. After doing some research, Sen learns that most of the off road vehicles for rent in this dimension actually come with an included bathroom, but the group isn¡¯t to the point where they can comfortably afford them yet. They¡¯ll have to wait until they start hunting C rank monsters before they don¡¯t lose most of their crystals just to rent one.They''re nothing like the cheap vehicles they could buy on Alpha, as they''re created to be able to stand up to anything below B rank.


    They vary their hunting targets daily, and soon manage to get all of their stats up to C rank, but they¡¯re not willing to try hunting anything at C rank, even if they were comfortable hunting above their rank before this. The tests for the different stat levels are mind numbingly simple. Hop in a capsule, wait for around half an hour doing absolutely nothing, and get a shiny readout with all of your stats. Sen wonders what they do with the data, but considering they need to get their stats to a certain point to practice their body enhancement skills, they¡¯re forced to use them. The reason for the group not going straight to C rank monsters is simple: if what is in game holds true, C rank is going to be massively different, and the group doesn¡¯t want to risk their lives on simply trying to rush ahead. This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    The group starts to learn that the purpose of clans such as Alliance is partly for protection and support, and also because they have specialized skills. While all of the skills that are available in game are able to be accessed on their tablets, anything else they¡¯ll have to join a clan to learn.


    Even after joining a clan, without becoming a core member, you won¡¯t be able to learn anything particularly good, as each group is headed by some power, and they want as much of an advantage over the other groups as possible.


    The group decides together that they¡¯re not going to join any power for now, as they have no clue about the political landscape. It¡¯s around this time that information about the fifth dimension is released to the public on Alpha, and the few people in power who hadn¡¯t managed to get into the fifth dimension with any of their connections spend astronomical sums of money and any favors they have to get themselves into it.


    The group¡¯s families even come to visit occasionally at this point, though the only reason they¡¯re allowed entrance to the fifth dimension is because they¡¯re relatives of Sen¡¯s group. The first time they arrive, Sen greets his parents with a warm hug, Lynna doing the same, a pattern that would repeat itself each visit.


    Sens mother shifts awkwardly for a moment, seemingly unsure how to start a conversation about the dangerous work her children are doing. Eventually, she starts on a more innocuous topic.


    ¡°Are the two of you staying healthy? I don¡¯t want you eating junk food every day.¡±


    Sen and Lynna both smile at the mild topic rather than the fact that they¡¯re hunting monsters each day.


    ¡°We¡¯re eating well. Lynna, Jennifer and I have been the cooks for the group.¡±


    Jiu nods, before working up the courage to ask about her main worry for her children.


    ¡°Are you staying safe while hunting?¡±


    Lynna takes this question, as she¡¯s far more tactful. ¡°We¡¯re doing everything we can to stay safe, you don¡¯t have to worry about us.¡±


    Their mother nods, but clearly doesn¡¯t believe her all that much, giving the siblings a worried look.


    Sen¡¯s father is much more straightforward. ¡°Stay safe.¡±


    Sen and Lynna both nod, before telling their family some of the more harmless tales of their hunting, pointedly avoiding the altercation they¡¯d had with Alliance.


    Most of the visits go in a similar manner, and the only ones who don¡¯t visit are Julie¡¯s parents, but she doesn¡¯t seem to be all that bothered about it, which makes Sen wonder for a while.


    With how often the group has started to stay out, they climbed through rank D nearly as fast as they¡¯d climbed up to rank D. While they vary up the monsters they¡¯re hunting in order to vary the stat increases from the crystals, they¡¯re still forced to trade for some of the rank D energy crystals, as there aren¡¯t any monsters whose crystals raise that stat nearby the city.


    Even their parents get up to rank D from all of the crystals they¡¯ve been sending back. Before they¡¯re willing to hunt rank C monsters, they make sure that they have all of their body enhancement skills up to rank C as well, but once they¡¯ve reached that point, they have a short discussion before they decide to hunt some rank C monsters. While their stats may be at the lower end of rank C, there are a few areas which only contain weaker rank C monsters as well, and the group agrees to go to one of them.


    The only issue is that the areas are a long way away from the city, and while they¡¯ve been mapped out by aerial drones, and all of the different monsters in the area have been catalogued, they can¡¯t be sure there isn¡¯t anything that the drones have missed.


    If they tried to get their stats up by grinding D rank monsters however, it would take them at the very minimum a few years to reach rank B. While they would love to continue to safely hunt, their parents positions, even with their current rank, is still in a very questionable state. The only way to help their parents is to hit rank A, where you start getting preferential treatment from the government.


    None of them say anything about it, but Sen sees it as no better than the system of nobility from his old life. The ¡°nobles¡± get preferential treatment in pretty much everything. The United Federation of Humanity seems to only be getting worse and worse in Sen¡¯s eyes the more he learns about it. Even if he can make it up to A rank, and get his parents preferential treatment, it¡¯s simply not a fair system.


    Having grown up on Alpha, which espouses equality, it just seems to be a degraded system. He can¡¯t do anything about it though. He can only make the best of it. As for the people who end up on the bottom of the pile, he can¡¯t do anything for them, no matter if they end up downtrodden.


    He shakes off the lingering thoughts, ignoring his memories of the harsh life that peasants had lived under nobles, and hops into the flying gravity vehicle they¡¯d rented to get out to the area they¡¯ll be farming in.


    Interestingly, they¡¯ll likely be the only ones in the area. This particular city has only been built up recently, and most people would only farm up their stats in a relaxed manner. They see it as no rush because lifespans of even someone who only eats enough crystals to go from G rank to F rank will live for a good two hundred years, and the aging process only happens at the last forty or so of it.


    Sen and the group are some of the few in the city who are grinding up as quickly as they can, as they need to secure a better life for themselves and their parents. While their parents are simply hoping for a good life for their children, the group also wants a good life for their parents, and the only way to get that is to get up to A rank, and become one of these new ¡°nobles¡±.


    Even with the gravity car traveling at speed comparable to an airplane, it¡¯s a good hours flight away from the city. They¡¯re soon landing in a flat area in the middle of a series of steep hills, and the first thing they do when they get out is have Julie set up an array around the gravity car to make sure it won¡¯t be bothered by monsters while they are out hunting.


    Once they¡¯ve finished with that, they head out, it¡¯s time to fight some C ranked monsters. The first one they run into isn¡¯t one their familiar with. It looks similar to a wolf, except it¡¯s a good two meters tall, and its body is elongated to make room for an extra pair of legs.


    The group carefully approaches, and the wolf thing starts the fight with an extremely fast charge towards Sen, the largest one in the group. Sen quickly gale steps to the side, and slashes out with his sword towards the monsters flank. The monster easily pushes itself to the side, and Sen only cuts a few strands of fur off of it.


    Lynna is on the other side though, and slashes towards it, her blade lengthened by a water looking whip of energy. She hits it quite hard, but it only leaves a shallow wound on it. The wolf thing twists far faster than expected, the extra pair of legs apparently making it much more mobile. It slashes towards Lynna with one of its front paws, the claws on it being blocked by her hastily erected shield.


    The rest of the group all takes advantage of the slight pause when it¡¯s blocked by Lynna to get in some more hits. It¡¯s left with a few shallow wounds, and a slightly deeper one where Sen strikes it. The wolf howls, and the group is reminded of the wind bear¡¯s roar as their ears are ringing.


    It isn¡¯t quite as bad as that though, and Xue quickly blocks the next strike from the monster with her shield, cutting into its leg as she does so, though she¡¯s slightly off balance from the howl, and is forced to take a few staggering steps backwards.


    At this point, images of Julie join in on the fight, and the pressure on the group lightens significantly. The wolf spends its time in between the images and the real members of the group, and Sen laughs a little as it tries to bite through one of the images, only to have the image stab it in the eye with its sword of energy.


    They slowly start to wear through the monster. Sen uses Weight of the Mountain whenever he feels he can get a solid strike off, each blow of which leaves a ragged wound in the wolf¡¯s hide. Eventually, the wolf starts to slow down from the myriad wounds, and Sen is the one to finish it off with a Weight of the Mountain onto its neck, shattering its spine.


    Everyone has a little blood on them, but none of them seem to be bothered by it, simply wiping off their weapons. The group only rests for a short while before heading deeper into the steep rocky hills. They slowly head out in a spiral pattern from their gravity car, eliminating the monsters as quickly as they can. While they don¡¯t manage to hunt as many monsters as they will have if they are hunting groups of D ranked monsters, considering that the difference in crystals is even more exaggerated in this reality, a single C rank core being equal to a good fifty D ranked ones, it¡¯s still a much better hunting rate.


    The only trouble they have is with an annoying thing that¡¯s similar to a praying mantis in that it¡¯s insectoid and has a pair of long blades on its two larger arms.


    Their first encounter goes not as well as expected. Sen slashes his sword forward, but the monster blocks the slash with its blades, Sen noticing that his fancy blade only leaves a small chip in them. The monster retaliates with its own slashes from each of his arms, while the rest of the group is smashing their weapons down on its carapace, only cracking it a bit more with each blow.


    The monster seems to have an unhealthy obsession with Sen, possibly seeing his larger sword as a challenge to its own blades, and chases him around as Sen keeps Gale Stepping, occasionally having to use it in conjunction with Earth Step in order to move quickly enough to avoid the blows. Its blows whistle by within a hair¡¯s breadth at times, but he manages to not take more than a couple small scratches. Eventually, Sen hears a loud cracking sound, and sees that Lynna has used her icicle like strike to pierce through the body of it, and the monster quickly turns to her, ripping the hole in its carapace a bit wider as it slashes towards her.


    Xue is in position to attack the hole in its body though, and stabs her sword into the hole, before yanking down on its handle, cutting through any organs that it has. The monster lets out a pitiful chittering sound, but keeps fighting. Its blows each knock the girl who blocks back a good few meters, but they¡¯re almost instantly able to get back in the fight with how quickly they can move.


    It continues its attack, and eventually draws blood. Julie has gotten a bit too close with her real body, and lacking a shield, she¡¯s forced to block with her sword when it slashes at her. The blow goes through her guard a bit before its stopped, and she ends up with a cut on her shoulder. She backs off after that with a pained look, but it quickly morphs to anger, and she starts running in a circle around the monster, throwing down a throwing knife every so often.


    She soon shouts for everyone to back off as the ground beneath the monster starts to glow, and a pillar of fire erupts from under the mantis. The monster lets out its chittering sound again before collapsing to the ground, and the group relaxes a bit before going in to remove its crystal.


    They continue to hunt for a time after that, Julie only putting some healing salve on her shoulder. It isn¡¯t long after the fight however before they start to head back towards the gravity car.

 Chapter 64: Past Lives

    They¡¯re not even halfway to their vehicles when a group shows up just as they kill the monster they¡¯ve been fighting. Sen and his group notice that they¡¯re approaching a bit belatedly, but as they already have their weapons at the ready, they simply form up.


    As the other group comes closer for some reason, Sen¡¯s group clutches their weapons a bit tighter. Interestingly, the entire group is made up of females, and they seem to be surrounding something in the middle. The two groups stare at each other for a while, before one of the women decides to start the conversation.


    ¡°Are you from the UFoH?¡±


    The group looks to each other. They know the acronym is the common term used for the United Federation of Humanity, but they didn¡¯t know of the existence of any other groups.


    ¡°Well, I guess?¡± Lynna answers.


    ¡°Define I guess.¡±


    ¡°Our planet was recently found by the UFoH. We don¡¯t even know of any other groups,¡± Julie decides to be the one to explain, while remaining very neutral on the topic of their thoughts on the UFoH.


    The woman looks to another one of the people in the group in a confused manner. ¡°What planet are you on?¡±


    Julie shrugs. ¡°I¡¯m unaware if there¡¯s an official classification for it, but we¡¯ve always known our planet as Alpha. We¡¯re from the first colony ship, Hope, sent out by humanity. We got sent off course, and colonized our planet.¡±


    The woman looks to another of the women, and from behind the line of them, a high pitched voice sounds out.


    ¡°I wish to speak with them.¡±


    The woman in front lets out a short ¡°I don¡¯t believe that would be a good idea¡­¡± but is pushed aside as a rather short woman pushes out from behind her.


    The second Sen gets a good view of her, his eyes widen. She has short, blonde, slightly curling hair, framing her beautiful features, her regal looking face echoed by the lofty look within her striking blue eyes. Her beautiful looks are slightly marred by speckles of blood across her face and her hair is in a bit of disarray. She¡¯s wearing a tight fitting outfit, just loose enough to allow a full range of movement, colored in a pastel blue.


    ¡°Alice?¡± Sen mutters.


    Her eyes snap to him with a dangerous expression.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry my lady, I didn¡¯t mean to¡­ I mean¡­ I¡¯m sorry, it¡¯s a story from a lifetime ago.¡±


    Her eyes scrutinize him for a time, lingering on his greatsword.


    ¡°How do you know my name?¡±


    Sen takes a step back, not sure what to say. Even if reincarnators exist, this is practically impossible. The odds against something like this have to astronomical unless there¡¯s something he¡¯s missing. He¡¯d read about rivals from their past life often running into each other, but this is just impossible.


    He isn¡¯t sure what to say, and simply stands there mute. The woman draws her sword and approaches. Her guards start to move forward with her, but she waves them off. The rest of Sen¡¯s group steps back, not sure what¡¯s going on, though Julie is looking from him to her with a shocked expression on her face, possibly having figured out what¡¯s happening.


    The woman goes to attack Sen in a way that¡¯s clearly simply testing him, and he waves off the group as they start to tense up, easily parrying the slow blow. The speed of the woman¡¯s strikes speeds up in a measured manner, and Sen starts having to treat it a bit more seriously.


    He¡¯ll parry a blow to the side, only to have her sword twist in the air and come from another direction. He isn¡¯t willing to strike back, even if she isn¡¯t his lady from his past life, simply due to her appearance. The speed of the blows continues to get faster, and Sen is forced to twist his sword in uncomfortable directions in order to parry the blows.


    She¡¯ll strike at his leg, Sen stepping back to get his ankle out of the way, only to twist her sword up for a high blow which Sen catches on the middle of his sword. As their swords meet this time, Sen is just slightly overpowered. Even one arm to two, she simply has higher stats. He¡¯s forced to step back again to absorb some of the force, but continues his steady defense. Their blows make a constant ringing hang in the air from how fast they¡¯re clashing, but the woman never lets up.


    They continue this dance for a good ten minutes, Sen only defending, not striking back, but blocking every blow that comes to him in a steady manner. Neither of them use any skills, simply pure swordsmanship.


    At this point, the woman takes a few steps back. Sen looks over to the rest of the woman¡¯s group to see them in shock over something. The woman who seems to echo his lady¡¯s face continues looking at him for a while, a confused, lost expression on her face.


    One of the women in the back raises her sword again, stepping in front of the woman who is the spitting image of Sen¡¯s lady.


    ¡°Who are you really? There¡¯s no way someone from a planet that hasn¡¯t been training people to enter the fifth dimension can have swordsmanship like that at your age.¡±


    Sen isn¡¯t sure what to say, until he hears a quiet ¡°Damien?¡± from behind the woman who¡¯d stepped in front protectively.


    Sen instantly snaps to attention, his habit from his past life still not gone. ¡°What is it you wish my lady?¡± he says in a language he hasn¡¯t used in a lifetime. At least, aside from using it to spice up his curse word vocabulary.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    The woman, who he¡¯s now sure is indeed his lady, pushes aside the woman in front of her in a practically violent manner, and looks to Sen. Sen stands there nervously for a while at attention, his eyes forward, but still seeing her slowly approach him.


    She continues to get closer and closer, until she¡¯s standing right before him. Sen¡¯s eyes waver, then move down to her face, which has a longing expression on it. Her expression holds for a second before changing into one of determination.


    Her arms are soon wrapped around Sen¡¯s neck as she pulls him down, meeting his lips with hers. Sen freaks out a bit at this point. This isn¡¯t proper! His lady can¡¯t be like this! She slowly pulls back, and Sen can see the woman who had been protective of his lady has actually dropped her sword in surprise.


    ¡°You shall not get away this life,¡± his lady says.


    ¡°I¡­ I have a girlfriend,¡± Sen lamely says, worried about Xue, and not sure how to treat his lady. She¡¯d always been completely proper in his past life... well, mostly.


    Xue is instantly rushing towards his side at this, and pulls him away. His lady looks from Xue to Sen, before saying something he doesn¡¯t expect.


    ¡°Bullshit.¡±


    They¡¯re speaking in a language the others can understand at this point, and Xue apparently takes affront to that, as she takes her turn to pull Sen down for a kiss. This one is much deeper and longer, and Sen can feel her pry his lips open, her tongue nervously going into his own mouth.


    She pulls away, and glares at his lady. His lady glares back. Sen isn¡¯t sure what in the hell he¡¯s going to do at this point.


    ¡°Damien!¡± his lady nearly shouts in a regal tone of voice. Sen instantly snaps to attention again until Xue drags him back from his at attention position, wrapping her arms defensively around his own, her shield getting in the way slightly. His lady gives Xue a smug look anyway, and goes to his other side, leaving Sen with a woman wrapped around each arm, the softness on each of his arms leaving him terribly confused.


    The tension is broken by Lynna, who bursts out laughing. Sen looks to her to see her completely bent over, holding her stomach as she simply can¡¯t stop laughing.


    ¡°Hahahahaha, Sen, you, ahahahaha.¡±


    Sen isn¡¯t quite so distracted as to not glare at her, and he does so. She simply continues laughing, and looks to the group that had been protecting his lady, to see them all with looks of shock on their faces, their weapons no longer held at the ready, but down beside them as they gape.


    The woman who had stepped in front of his lady soon gets over her shock however, and awkwardly picks up her sword from the ground before raising it again. ¡°Who are you, and what did you do to our lady!?¡±


    His lady glares at her, ¡°Stand down! I do believe I have informed you of Damien before.¡± She then turns to Sen. ¡°And do please call me Alice. I¡¯ve kept my name, and will NOT have you continue to call me my lady.¡±


    Sen isn¡¯t surprised by this. It¡¯s common for parents to not name their children until they¡¯ve confirmed they¡¯re not reincarnated in this day and age. He¡¯s conflicted though. His lady had attempted several times in his past life to have him call her by name, and while he would occasionally accept, in most occasions she would simply be his lady.


    Xue glares at him as he says ¡°of course my la- I mean Alice.¡±


    Alice is giving a smug expression towards Xue again, and Sen simply remains feeling a mix of confusion and guilt.


    ¡°I go by Sen in this life.¡±


    ¡°Sen¡­¡±


    Sen nods. Lynna is still laughing in the background while Julie and Jennifer seem to be in as much shock as the women who had been with Alice. Lynna eventually stops her laughter, and asks ¡°So what the hell do we do now?¡±


    ¡°I shall go with Sen.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely not!¡±


    ¡°You may try and stop me, but I shall not let him get away again.¡± Alice raises her sword towards her guards.


    Sen is a bit lost on this point, if she¡¯s important enough in this life to have dedicated guards, her running away with him would be a very bad idea. He¡¯s not willing to go against her wishes though, simply due to habit from his past life. He¡¯d put up with some very silly orders at her command.


    Alice and her main guard sit there in a staring contest for quite some time. The guard eventually caves, but still tries to protest.


    ¡°And what should I tell your father?¡±


    ¡°Do inform him that I¡¯ve found Damien. He shall understand.¡±


    The woman clearly doesn¡¯t believe her, but seems to be as browbeaten as Sen had been in his past life, and eventually looks away from Alice. Sen is sure he hears a muttered ¡°I am so dead.¡±


    Sen doesn¡¯t know what to do. He¡¯s sure he should convince his lady to stick with her group, but that is antithetical to everything his past life had stood for. He is her bodyguard, and he still feels he should be the one to guard her, even if she¡¯s seemingly spent most of her current life fighting. Eventually, Alice turns around, dragging Sen in the direction his group had been heading originally.


    One of her guards actually goes to grab at her, clearly wanting to take her back by force, but nearly loses her hand as Alice goes to chop at it. Sen wonders for a bit why her guards seem to be weaker than her, but shrugs it off as due to the fact that she¡¯s only hunting in a C rank area.


    The guard who had nearly lost a hand looks to her in shock, and Alice keeps one arm on Sen, her other pointing her sword towards the guards. Aside from the one who had wanted to stop her by force, the rest of them spread out, making a path for her to get through.


    Sen and Xue are slowly dragged along, and the rest of the group follows, Lynna back to holding in a laugh. They slowly make their way back to the ship, Lynna letting out intermittent laughs, and the girls only hopping off of Sen¡¯s arm long enough to wipe out the monsters they run into.


    Jennifer eventually sidles up to Sen¡¯s side, though not nearly as close as Alice and Xue, and starts digging for information.


    ¡°So I take it you¡¯re his lady from his past life?¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡±


    ¡°If you were so into him, why didn¡¯t you do anything to him then?¡±


    ¡°I tried! I literally had him guard me in my bedroom as I slept, but the dense fool simply sat there at the door and slept! I swear he was more into his sword than me.¡± She sighs. ¡°I should have been more proactive, but it would simply have been improper. Women being the active one in a relationship is far more accepted in this time however.¡±


    Sen blushes. He had actually been quite tempted, especially after she¡¯d driven off a few maids and forced him to be the one to dress her. There was no way he would be willing to make a move on his lady however.


    ¡°I would suppose that this tramp was the first one to say something for this relationship?¡±


    Xue bristles at the insult. ¡°Says the woman whose first move is to kiss MY boyfriend.¡±


    Alice shrugs. ¡°He¡¯s going to be mine regardless.¡±


    At this point, Xue lets go of Sen¡¯s arm to attempt to pry her off of her boyfriend, but Alice¡¯s superior stats win out, and she gives up and goes back to Sen¡¯s other arm, pressing herself tightly against him.


    They continue to the car in the same manner, and once they reach the gravity car, Sen continues to be sandwiched as they head back to the city. The hours flight sees most of the girls learning about how dense Sen was in his previous life. Even if they all seem a bit annoyed at Alice, their curiosity wins out.


    Once they arrive, they hand over ten percent of their crystals that they didn¡¯t consume, a good portion of the rest being left to pay for their next gravity car rental.


    ¡°Why is it that they don¡¯t care about you coming with us into the city?¡± Julie has to ask.


    ¡°It is common for people of the Allied Worlds to sell their crystals to the UFoH, as they do pay better. The UFoH looks the other way, as it is their gain.¡±


    The group nods. They¡¯re soon headed back to their apartment, and once they arrive, they have a short meal before they each start to head to their rooms. As they go, Alice starts to follow Sen.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Xue seems to be very offended.


    ¡°Is this not the only room with one person in it?¡± Alice answers like it¡¯s the most natural thing in the world.


    Xue grabs her, and drags her over to her room. ¡°Lynna, do you think you could room with your brother for a while?¡±


    Lynna nods while giggling, and heads into the room with Sen. Alice looks frustrated, but makes her way to the room Xue is staying in regardless as Lynna moves her stuff into Sen¡¯s room.


    As everyone prepares for bed, Lynna interrogates Sen, and gives him a warning that if he dares hurt Xue she will castrate him herself.

 Chapter 65: Hunting in the Hills

    The next morning, Sen snaps awake as someone enters the room, his hand reaching for the sword he always keeps at his bedside. As he wake up a bit more, he notices it¡¯s Alice, and hears a click of her tongue.


    ¡°Good morning Dam- Sen.¡±


    ¡°Good morning my lady,¡± Sen answers in an alert voice, speaking in a long lost language, before remembering he¡¯s supposed to call her by name now. He corrects himself, getting a regal nod from her, before she exits the room.


    The following morning is awkward, Xue and Alice stealing the seats next to Sen, though they don¡¯t seem to be glaring at each other quite so much as the day before. Sen had heard quite a bit of talking from their room as he went to bed, but they still seem to be hostile, just slightly less so. He does wonder how Alice had even managed to get Xue to talk to her, but isn¡¯t going to intrude.


    Sen eats his breakfast with all of the eyes at the table focused on him, and by the time everyone¡¯s finished, he decides his best option is to escape somehow.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go hunting.¡±


    The group looks at him knowingly, but they still agree, and they¡¯ve soon rented a gravity car to go hunting for some more C ranked monsters. They decide to do their hunting in the same place, as it¡¯s the best place to hunt C rank monsters unless they want to double their travel time.


    Along the way, the group learns a bit about the political situation from the galaxy, as Alice is far more versed in it than any of them.


    ¡°So the UFoH has been literally enslaving alien races?¡± Lynna asks.


    Alice nods. ¡°Yes. They will take over a world, and then proceed to force them to mine for the materials for their vaunted space fleet, or farm extensively to provide food for their empire. They can ostensibly rise to full citizenship through the fifth dimension, but they only allow a very limited few to even enter. They simply use them as examples to keep unrest down.¡±


    Everyone looks at each other. The more they learn about the UFoH, the worse the situation seems. But what can they do about it? Their planet has already been annexed, and their families are living there. They could try and leave, but where would they even go?


    The rest of the flight there is spent in uncomfortable silence. Once they arrive, everyone piles out of the vehicle, and Julie sets up an array quickly, hiding the vehicle from any monsters that wander near it.


    They all take out their weapons, and hold them at the ready as the start to walk through the rocky hills. The first monster they find is one akin to a massive mountain goat. It¡¯s standing on one of the steep walls of the hills, and the second it spots them it charges.


    Everyone in the group gets out of the way with their respective movement skills, not willing to take the full force of the charge, and chase after it as it goes past them to prevent it from taking much distance. Once the goat like monster turns back towards them, the first thing it does is go to gore Sen with its very sharp looking horns.


    Sen greets the horns with his sword as the rest of the group starts to encircle the monster, Alice seeming a bit lost as she hasn¡¯t worked with the group yet. She eventually goes to the same side as Xue, as the mountain goat is easily large enough to have a few people attacking its side. Their weapons barely seem to cut through the goat¡¯s hide, and when it wildly swings its horns, anyone who goes to block it rather than dodge is knocked back.


    At this point, images of Julie join in the fight, but they can¡¯t leave more than scratches on the beast¡¯s hide, and the goat utterly ignores them.


    Sen gale steps out of the way of one of the wild swings of its head, and takes the opening to go for its throat. Even hitting a vital point, it seems to barely faze the beast. He can only cut in about an inch before his sword is stopped, and his sword is nearly ripped from his hands as the goat turns back to him.


    He barely holds onto it as the goat twists its horns towards him, and his sword is nearly knocked into his own body as he tries to press down on the blade in its neck to stop the monster from pressing the horns through his guts. At this point, the monster screams, and Sen notices that Alice has used some sort of skill that has slashed deep into the monster¡¯s side, and takes the distraction of the monster to rip his sword free and chop towards the wounded neck of the monster with a Cutting Squall. The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    This time, his sword bites home, and blood starts to pour out of the monster. The group stays back after this, and it isn¡¯t long until it collapses. The group stays back for a while, wanting to make sure it¡¯s dead, but then get to the gory task of removing its crystal.


    Seeing as how tough the monster had been, Sen decides to get some info on it, looking up ¡°mountain goat monster¡± on his tablet. The built in encyclopedia soon tells him that it¡¯s a ¡°monster goat¡± with the same lack of naming sense as usual and that its horns have as much value as its crystal, though it doesn¡¯t say what they¡¯re used for.


    Sen doesn¡¯t bother removing the lightly curved three foot horns though, not wanting to carry them around without an inventory, and simply stores the crystal in the backpack that rests under his sword¡¯s sheath. He¡¯s always the one carrying the crystals, though he isn¡¯t entirely sure why.


    The next few monsters continue to grow easier to hunt as they start getting used to the higher stats the C ranked monsters have. It¡¯s definitely a bit of a change from the lower ranks, where each of them could handle a monster, or even multiple on their own. Sen wonders for a bit if this is more efficient than hunting D rank monsters, as they often come in groups, but considering they would have to hunt fifty D ranked monsters in the same time it takes to hunt a single C ranked monster realizes that there¡¯s no way that could be the case. Sen ends up being the person to collect all of the crystals, and ends up quite coated in gore.


    They don¡¯t have any trouble, but then they spot something in the distance that makes them worry.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that a giant mist snake? I thought there were only C rank monsters here.¡±


    ¡°It is a lesser variant. You can see that the swirling white patterns on it don¡¯t extend all the way down its body,¡± Alice explains. Apparently, she¡¯s much more knowledgeable than the rest of the party about monsters in the fifth dimension.


    ¡°Alice, how do you know all this? And how are you so good with a sword? .You seem to be as good with it as Sen is,¡± Jennifer decides to get some answers.


    ¡°My parents in this life are A rank hunters, as are their parents, and so forth. I have been trained since birth to be a hunter.¡±


    ¡°She wasn¡¯t bad with a sword in her past life either,¡± Sen adds.


    The group, now informed that this particular mist snake is only C rank, decide to engage it. They simply hope it won¡¯t be shooting water cutters at them. As they approach, it starts to shroud itself in mist, but it barely extends a foot away from its body.


    Sen is a bit amused at how weak it seems to be compared to the B ranked version they¡¯d fought, let alone the boss B rank. They go to engage, Lynna taking the front this time, and blocks as the snake snaps at her, slamming her shield into its nose.


    The snake shakes its head from the impact, and Sen launches a strike empowered by Weight of the Mountain at its side. It cuts in a little, but bounces off the bone, though there¡¯s a bit of a cracking sound. The snake¡¯s short tail whips at him immediately after, and he¡¯s forced to move backwards, only using Earth Step to conserve energy for the many hunts to come.


    The tail flies by him, continuing on to Xue, who simply blocks it, not bothering to get out of its range. She¡¯s knocked back over a meter, , but gets off a short strike at its tail. Sen steps back in and lets out another slash, not bothering to use weight of the mountain, simply planning on slowly bleeding out the monster.


    Julie¡¯s images join in again, and this mist snake isn¡¯t able to differentiate them from her real body, and so spends the next few moments snapping at them, until it gives up on anything remotely Julie shaped.


    Julie takes advantage of this, getting an opening and shoving her sword into the sensitive nose of the monster, which gets a loud roar from it. Sen still finds it odd that the mist snakes roar instead of hiss, but brushes off the thought as the tail comes towards his face.


    He simply ducks down, letting it whistle by above him, and lifts his sword into its path, letting its own force cut a quarter of the way through it. The snake then goes to chomp at Lynna. She simply steps to the side before using the skill that forms an icicle looking image over her sword, plunging it into the side of its head.


    The giant mist snake drops like a rock after that, and they confirm it¡¯s dead before continuing on their hunt. They don¡¯t run into any issues, and head back to the gravity car to sleep for the night, everyone thankful it includes a small bathroom at the back of it. It¡¯s practically a flying RV. It¡¯s lacking any sort of kitchen, but the group has brought instant meals that you simply add water to and they become an almost tasty hot meal. With a short discussion over dinner, they learn that Alice is still a bit away from B rank, which is a surprise considering her cuts always seemed to be a good deal deeper than the rest of the group. The only reason she hadn¡¯t hard carried them is because she is trying to learn to fight with the group.


    The group all takes care of their needs and detaches the chairs, flattening them and placing them above each other in the included frames to make a bunch of bunk beds. They go to sleep after the girls are done talking for a while, Alice somehow seeming to have joined in the group like it¡¯s the most natural thing. Sen¡¯s a bit embarrassed as her contribution to the conversation seems to be tales of Sen in his past life, but tries to ignore it.


    They stay out in the wilderness for the next week, moving the gravity car each day in order to have enough monsters nearby to hunt. The only time they have a problem is when they happen to run into two of the monster goats, and the group has to split up in order to handle both of them.


    The group ends up a bit bruised, the goats slamming both Jennifer and Lynna hard enough to knock them rolling, but they are intercepted by the others before they can capitalize on them being knocked down.


    After that, they make sure to be a bit more careful before engaging a monster, Julie using a fancy array she¡¯s learned to check for anything living nearby. They go in after they confirm there¡¯s only the one monster, and they don¡¯t run into any more issues after that, though they have to avoid some areas due to them having multiple monsters.


    At the end of the week, they¡¯ve all eaten a good number of crystals, and they walk to their gravity car, heading back to the city. On the way back, the girls continue their chatter, and Sen wonders about the fact that Alice never seems to run out of stories to tell, usually involving him.

 Chapter 66: Pressure

    The group is quite happy to be back at their apartment, especially due to the fact that they¡¯re no longer all sharing the same small restroom that the gravity car has. They play a simple guessing game to determine who gets to use the showers first, and Sen ends up being the last one in.


    Sen enjoys his shower that is heavenly compared to the terribly cramped, low water pressure one they¡¯d had in the gravity car. He heads out, and asks the group what the plan is for today. They¡¯d been hunting for a week, so at this point, it is probably time for a break.


    The group enjoys a breakfast that Sen makes, crepes with lots of fruits, and then sits around reading on their tablets. Sen gets caught up on all the novels he¡¯s been putting off due to hunting, and the girls seem to be enjoying some sort of drama show that Lynna¡¯s tablet is streaming to the screen in the apartment.


    Sen doesn¡¯t recognize the show, and they¡¯re speaking in the slightly so different language that the UFoH uses. The human population of the Allied Worlds also speaks the same language, as it had become the standard since even before Alpha had been colonized. While the language has evolved slightly differently on Alpha, it¡¯s still understandable aside from a few slang terms. Unlike the far past, language has become utterly standardized, leading to it not changing to the extent it used to.


    Sen simply loses himself in the tales of text on his tablet, and by the time lunch rolls around, the girls have switched to a different drama. Alice seems to have somehow managed to integrate into the group, though the rest of the girls are still a bit wary of her. When she stands beside her chair, Sen¡¯s first instinct is to pull it out for her and help her in, but stops himself after a glare from Xue. Sen winces. Habits are apparently hard to break even in another life.


    To mollify his girlfriend, he carefully pulls out her chair as well, and helps her down, which Lynna finds absolutely amusing. Sen has never heard of any sort of tradition where the man will get the chair for the woman in this life, but figures it can¡¯t hurt. Xue has always seemed to appreciate the gesture when he¡¯s done it before. As Sen enjoys the meal of spicy fried chicken, he muses on how odd it is to only have three meals in a day.


    Once they¡¯ve finished the meal, the group gets together to discuss their next move.


    ¡°So It¡¯ll probably take at least a month or two of hunting C ranks before we switch to a different hunting ground, should we just do weekly sessions like we have been? Or should we try for shorter ones? There is no way I¡¯m up for hunting in longer sessions,¡± Lynna starts the conversation.


    ¡°Sticking with our current hunting ground would be the most optimal choice. The only other C rank hunting grounds nearby all contain a good amount of high C rank monsters,¡± Julie adds.


    The group discusses how many break days they should be taking between their week long hunting sessions, eventually settling on two days, and spends the rest of the day just relaxing around the apartment.


    The next day the girls go out shopping, Sen getting dragged along by Xue, Alice supporting the motion. The day passes relatively slowly for Sen, forced to judge a myriad of outfits by his girlfriend and Alice.


    Sen is utterly exhausted by the end of it, though the girls seem to have even more energy than they¡¯d had before the shopping trip. Sen perks up as they have some coffee, and they head back to the apartment,


    When they get back, Sen gets a call on his tablet, the contact showing up as Jacob. Sen answers the call, not knowing who it is, but figuring that it won¡¯t hurt.


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s Jake from Team Cloud.¡±


    ¡°Hello, what are you calling about?¡±


    ¡°Have you checked the news from Alpha recently?¡±


    ¡°No, why?¡±


    ¡°A lot of groups have been putting pressure on Alpha. Apparently we haven¡¯t been paying proper ¡®protection fees¡¯. The fact that my group fought off a group of bandits from Alliance only makes it worse for us.¡±


    Sen winces. This is why he¡¯d made sure to kill everyone from the group that had threatened them.


    ¡°What do you mean putting pressure on Alpha?¡±


    ¡°They¡¯ve been putting pressure on our families. Quite a few of our families have lost their jobs and been told that the only way they¡¯re getting them back is if we start to pay some protection fees. Not in such an overt way, but it¡¯s pretty clear.¡±


    Sen thanks Jake for the information, and says goodbye before instantly contacting his family. If they¡¯re targeting all of the hunters from Alpha, he¡¯s worried about his parents. He gets a hold of them with no problems, and soon finds out that what he¡¯s feared has come to pass.


    His mother has lost her job at the hospital, and is being threatened with lawsuits. His father has multiple smear campaigns running against him, making it basically impossible for him to be elected next run of the election.


    Sen bristles a bit at the fact that their parents hadn¡¯t told him anything, but soon realizes they don¡¯t want to bring trouble to him, and settles on feeling guilty. His parents are having trouble and they still want Lynna and him to not have any problems.


    Sen¡¯s grandparents have all passed away due to a mixture of accidents and still incurable disease, and he doesn¡¯t have any other relatives, but Sen isn¡¯t sure what to do for now. Eventually, he decides to figure it out with the group. He knocks on each of their doors, and asks them to come to the living room. If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    He first informs Lynna about what has been going on, and then asks the rest of their group to contact their parents. Julie says she¡¯s not going to bother, and Sen is reminded of the fact that she seems to not get along with them very well.


    All of the others are in the same situation that Sen¡¯s group is, being put under pressure by Alliance. Sen wonders how exactly they¡¯re supposed to help their family, as he doesn¡¯t even know what¡¯s with the protection fee he¡¯s supposedly supposed to be paying.


    Pulling up his tablet, he opens an application he¡¯s never bothered with, his mailbox. Running through the myriad ads, he finally finds what he¡¯s looking for, a piece of mail from Alliance.


    Opening it, he sees that they¡¯re supposed to give them another ten percent of any crystals that they acquire. Sen frowns. Is this common practice? Deciding to dig for information, he finds countless threads on the forum, almost all from people who have gotten into the fifth dimension through doing well in the game rather than through connections.


    The situation is even worse than he¡¯d thought though. Alliance will basically forcibly recruit anyone who they expect will make it to a high rank by pressuring their family. Considering those who get to the fifth dimension through the game tend to have rather mundane families who need to work to support themselves, they end up with no choice.


    Apparently, the other group that is forcibly recruited is pretty girls. Sen can imagine what happens to them when they¡¯re recruited. As it turns out, the scum from Alliance that they¡¯d run into before isn¡¯t an outlier from the group.


    The rest of the group has read up on the same things, and they all look to each other.


    ¡°What the fuck do we do?¡± Lynna eventually asks.


    The group simply stares at her blankly. With all the girls in the group, he¡¯d be very surprised if none of them were ¡°recruited¡±, and that¡¯s not something he¡¯s willing to let happen. They can¡¯t even fight against them, as Alliance has a few thousand members in this city alone. Even if they gather all the hunters from Alpha and try to protest, they¡¯d likely be shut down by the military presence in the city, or simply laughed at with nothing changing.


    Alice seems to get a smug look on her face. ¡°You could always defect.¡±


    The group looks to her.


    ¡°And where would we defect to?¡± Jennifer asks.


    ¡°The Allied Worlds. We have a city of our own only a few hours flight from this city. We tend to not get into conflicts aside from the higher ranked hunting areas..¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the situation between the UFoH and the Allied worlds anyway?¡± Julie asks.


    ¡°We are ostensibly at war, though there have been no large conflicts in recent years. That may change soon however. Alpha has not been living under the propaganda umbrella most UFoH worlds have had for decades, so it may be worth fighting for.¡±


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying our planet may spark a galactic war?¡±


    Alice nods, and the rest of the group looks to each other. War is never kind, and they don¡¯t want to see it on their world. They won¡¯t have any say in it however.


    ¡°Shall you defect? Or shall you simply continue to worry about your family''s safety?¡± Alice is looking at them, and Sen gets the feeling that she¡¯s the devil they may make a deal with.


    ¡°So how do we know our families won¡¯t be treated worse in the Allied Worlds?¡± Lynna asks.


    Alice looks to Lynna. ¡°Unlike the UFoH, our hunters are treated more as a mercenaries rather than as nobles. Very rich mercenaries, and it¡¯s common for their families to use the money to run some form of business, but mercenaries nonetheless. We espouse the belief that humans are equal, not placed on a pedestal for having gone to the fifth dimension. That¡¯s not to say that our political situation is perfect. There are numerous conflicts between hunters, but those that don¡¯t go to the fifth dimension live a far better life than those in the UFoH.¡±


    Everyone looks to each other with nervous expressions. They¡¯re all hesitating, but the first thing they need to do is contact their family, even if they¡¯re not going to defect. Everyone goes silent, and messages their families to come visit. At least in the fifth dimension they¡¯ll be able to protect their family a bit more.


    Their families all agree, except for Julie, who doesn¡¯t even bother to contact her family. Sen is curious, but knows better than to ask. She is always cagey when it comes to her family, and Sen isn¡¯t going to pry.


    They all sit there in silence, even through the dinner that Lynna cooks up. All of the other girls have tried learning to cook, but it is still usually left to Sen and Lynna. Dinner is a silent affair, each of the group having their own thoughts.


    The next day, they don¡¯t go hunting as their families will be arriving. The group heads to the gate back to Alpha, and are soon waiting around. As Jiu and Tien step through the gate, the first thing that Sen notices is that they both look terribly exhausted.


    He goes up with Lynna and they greet them with hugs. They talk for a bit about how they¡¯ve been doing in the fifth dimension while waiting for Jennifer¡¯s and Xue¡¯s parents, and when they arrive they¡¯re also greeted with hugs. Kang is acting too aloof to hug his sister as he exits the gate.


    They head back to their apartment for a while to talk with their family about their options. They stick to more mundane discussions on the way, not wanting to be overheard. Along the way, Alice decides to grab Sen¡¯s hand, leading to Xue grabbing his other hand and glaring at her. Sen can¡¯t even shake off her hand considering that she has higher stats. Let alone the fact that he¡¯s completely mentally unable to go against her in the first place.


    Sen gets odd looks from all of the parents, and he does his best to hide his face as they go, the rest of the group simply ignoring the byplay. Xue¡¯s parents in particular are glaring daggers at him, and he realizes that there¡¯s going to be quite a few uncomfortable questions once they get to the apartment. Kang is looking at him in what seems to be jealousy, and Sen simply wants to tell him that it¡¯s not nearly so nice as it seems.


    It doesn¡¯t take them very long to get there, and suprisingly, it¡¯s Sen¡¯s parents that decide to get some information on what¡¯s going on.


    ¡°What¡¯s with the two girls?¡± his mother asks.


    Luckily, Sen is saved from explaining by his sister.


    ¡°So, Sen apparently knows her, and she found him in the fifth dimension. She and Xue are pretty much fighting over him.¡± She tactfully avoids telling them about the fact that he¡¯s reincarnated, though she gives a look to Sen that says he should tell them.


    Sen tries to hide his face again. It¡¯s bad enough that it¡¯s happening, hearing it out loud hurts.


    ¡°Sen is just letting this happen?¡± Xue¡¯s father asks in a harsh tone.


    Lynna laughs a bit. ¡°He seems to be literally unable to tell her no.¡±


    All of the parents look at him disapprovingly, Sen still flanked on each side by the girls.


    ¡°On a more serious topic,¡± Sen tries to change the conversation. ¡°We need to figure out what we¡¯re going to do about the pressure being put on us by Alliance.¡±


    ¡°What can we do about what¡¯s happening? We seem to have basically no power with being a new addition to the UFoH,¡± Jennifer¡¯s father says in a scathing tone.


    The group turns to Alice.


    ¡°I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s incorrect. The UFoH isn¡¯t the only power in this galaxy. I¡¯m from the Allied worlds, and we would be glad to welcome new people.¡± Sen¡¯s parents give him an odd look, and Sen realizes that him knowing someone from the Allied Worlds is a bit odd, but they don¡¯t press him whatsoever. He feels a bit guilty at that, but he¡¯s scared that he¡¯ll be treated differently if he tells them. Facing his parents with something like this is easily scarier than fighting.


    ¡°And what would the Allied Worlds be getting out of this?¡±


    Alice smiles, and wraps her arms around Sen¡¯s arm. ¡°I shall gain my valiant knight. My family is influential enough to get you set up there. More seriously, information about your planet could be a large boon.¡± The way she said it however, her intentions were more leaned to the former.


    Xue copies her clinginess with a glare, and the parents all give him disapproving looks. Sen withers a bit at the attention.


    ¡°Do we really want to go somewhere where we have nothing? Our lives are on Alpha.¡± Says Xue¡¯s father.


    ¡°Our lives are already under attack,¡± Tien says.


    The rest of the parents look uncomfortable at that. ¡°And what will we be able to do on another planet? We have no official training in the systems of another world.¡± Xue¡¯s father seems to be against the idea.


    ¡°It shall be easy enough to find you jobs. My family owns quite a few businesses.¡±


    The parents look to each other. ¡°We¡¯ll need to discuss this.¡±


    The group nods, and the parents file out, heading to the rooms they¡¯ve rented for a measly few crystals. Kang gives a thumbs up to Sen as he leaves, and Sen just puts his head in his hands. Shouldn¡¯t Kang be supporting his sister?


    The group looks to each other. They¡¯ll likely go with what their parents decide, as they¡¯re not willing to leave them behind on Alpha. Excluding Julie that is.


    The group spends the rest of the day doing nothing of note, the girls watching yet another drama together while Sen reads. They go to bed, hoping that their parents can come to a consensus soon.

 Chapter 67: Choices

    Sen is the first one up in the morning, and has a simple bowl of oatmeal and toast. By the time he¡¯s finishing up, the rest of the group shambles out of their rooms. Considering his sister is absolutely not a morning person, and the rest of the group seems to have not slept well, Sen makes sure not to talk with them until they¡¯ve all had coffee.


    ¡°What do you think our parents are going to say?¡± Jennifer seems to be the most nervous.


    The group looks to each other, none of them sure what the decision will be. They all stuff themselves onto the small couch and put on a drama. Sen¡¯s the odd one out, sitting reading at the counter. It¡¯s a few hours before they hear a knock at the door.


    Sen opens it to see all the parents standing around, all looking determined except for Jennifer¡¯s, who seem to be nervous. They file in, and the girls turn off the drama they¡¯ve been watching.


    ¡°We¡¯ve decided to join the Allied worlds.¡± Sen¡¯s father is the one who decides to lead the conversation.


    Alice gets a large smile on her face, and the group looks to each other. They all nod, and then Lynna grabs her tablet to find a large gravity vehicle that can fit all of them. Everyone files out as Alice pulls up a map on her own tablet that seems to be a slightly different design.


    ¡°We won¡¯t be able to take the gravity car all the way, we shall instead land here.¡± She points to a spot on the map that shows up as a D ranked hunting area. ¡°It¡¯s almost three hundred miles from there to our city. All of your parents are at D rank, so we should easily be able to jog a good forty miles daily.¡±


    The parents look a bit scared, but Sen realizes that he could probably run a mile in less than two minutes at max speed, so he figures that even their parents will find it to be a relaxed pace with the crystals they¡¯ve sent back. The first stop of the group is to get a large amount of food supplies, as they¡¯ll be moving for at least eight days. Sen finally remembers to grab some throwing knives, as they¡¯ll likely come in handy against the low rank monsters on the path to the Allied World¡¯s city.


    Once they¡¯ve filled their backpacks with terribly calorie dense food, and a crystal powered portable grill for if they want to eat some monster meat, they head over to the massive gravity car that Lynna has found. It would more accurately be called a gravity bus, as it has a good four rows of four seats, two restrooms, and a small kitchen.


    Everyone walks into it, and then they set off for the three hour flight over to the point they¡¯ll be dropped off. The flight is rather boring, and they set down just as planned. Once everyone gets out however, they look to see another gravity car that they hadn¡¯t noticed setting down right next to them, fading from some form of invisibility. The group instantly gets their weapons ready.


    A good thirty people come out of the gravity car, and take out their weapons.


    ¡°Alliance?¡± Jennifer¡¯s father asks them.


    ¡°Of course we¡¯re Alliance,¡± The person in the lead says.


    Jennifer¡¯s father and mother start heading over to them, and are let into the group.


    ¡°Jennifer?¡± her mother asks in a questioning tone.


    Jennifer is simply staring at them. ¡°What are you doing!?¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re doing what¡¯s best for our family. We¡¯re going to be protected by Alliance now. They won¡¯t harm the rest of you, they simply want to take you back.¡±


    The man who had spoken earlier laughs. ¡°Well, we won¡¯t hurt them if it¡¯s not their first time.¡± Jennifer¡¯s parents look to him and pale.


    ¡°You said they wouldn¡¯t be harmed!¡±


    ¡°We did, didn¡¯t we. We¡¯ll have to give them extra care then. Though the guys and the old ones are unneeded.¡±


    Jennifer¡¯s parents seem to be panicking at this time, and Jennifer isn¡¯t heading over to join them.


    ¡°Jennifer! They won¡¯t harm you, just don¡¯t resist and come with us.¡±


    Jennifer¡¯s eyes are wide open with a horrified, confused look on her face. She looks at her parents before closing her eyes.


    ¡°Just like they won¡¯t harm the rest of us?¡±


    Jennifer¡¯s parents have terrified expressions now. They look like they¡¯re going to say something when they get cut off.


    ¡°It seems they¡¯re of no use.¡± The man who seems to be leading Alliance says. He waves his hand, and swords burst through both of Jennifer¡¯s parents, exiting their chests in a spray of blood.


    ¡°NO!¡±


    Jennifer goes to rush at them, but Alice holds her back.


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    ¡°There¡¯s too many of them, we should retreat. I¡¯ll disable their gravity car, then run,¡± Alice says. She punctuates her comment by throwing small balls at both of the gravity cars, and there¡¯s a snapping sound as they hit, with a massive flash of light.


    The group starts to run, going rather slowly with their parents only being at rank D. Jennifer seems to have gotten herself together enough to run, though it may just be shock. Sen¡¯s filled with rage as he sees streams of tears dropping to the ground.


    They continue to run, but they start to hear an odd sound, and look back to see the Alliance members on what look like dirt bikes. Eventually, they reach a winding area filled with canyons, and they dive into one of them in an attempt to lose them. Eventually, they manage to get a bit of distance, the Alliance members bikes not being quite so fast on the rough terrain. They stop a bit for a rest, and Alice checks something on her tablet. They almost think they¡¯re safe, but only until a drone flies overhead.


    They instantly start running, and Alice uses a curse only Sen can recognize.


    ¡°There¡¯s only one path from here. We can¡¯t outrun them either, those bikes will just keep up with us until we get too tired to run. We need to fight.¡± Alice says.


    ¡°We can¡¯t, they have two rank B members with them,¡± Lynna says in a defeated tone. Apparently she¡¯d done some research on Alliance.


    Sen takes a deep breath, feeling a bit of deja vu. ¡°Then someone needs to slow them down.¡± Alice looks to him, a bit horrified, as Sen notices a tight area in the path where only one of the bikes will be able to get through. He stops his run, sliding a few meters to stand in the opening.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare!¡± Alice shouts. ¡°Not again!¡±


    She starts to stop, but Sen gives a look to Lynna, who knows what he¡¯s thinking, and she grabs Alice, throwing her over her shoulder. Alice is protesting violently as everyone continues to run, Sen¡¯s parents being dragged along by Julie. Sen can see the tears dropping from Xue¡¯s eyes, but she starts running again as he shouts for her to take care of his parents. Alice is still trying to stay, but in the air on Lynna¡¯s shoulder, she can¡¯t find any purchase to go the other way.


    It isn¡¯t long until Sen hears the rumbling and crunching sound the dirt bikes make moving over the ground, as their engines are totally silent, powered by crystals. He takes a deep breath as they all slide to a stop. Sen notes one of them has a much larger tablet he¡¯s looking at, and marks his target. That has to be the drone controller.


    ¡°Admirable of you, but it won¡¯t save your group,¡± says the leader of the group.


    Sen simply lets out a grin and throws a few knives at speeds that shouldn¡¯t be humanly possible. The enemies all raise their weapons before being surprised. Sen¡¯s target hadn¡¯t been to kill any of them, and all of the knives home in on the tablet controlling the drone, Sen¡¯s control of the wind leading all of them to impact it, leaving it filled with holes. At this point, Sen considers running for a second, but there¡¯s two B ranked enemies who could easily catch up. All he can do is buy time.


    The man leading the group gets an enraged look on his face.


    ¡°Kill him!¡±


    Sen grins, it seems his fate is the same in both lives. He raises his sword as the first enemy approaches after hopping off of his bike, the tight walls of the canyon limiting those that can fight him at once. The first enemy is a D class fighter, Sen notices, and he intentionally slows himself down, only barely keeping up with him and not using body strengthening.


    He makes sure not to take any damage, conserving his energy and dragging out the fight as long as humanly possible, making sure to give everyone enough time to escape. The leader, clearly getting frustrated by how long the fight is taking, eventually orders another person to the front.


    This fighter is clearly C rank, though rather low in it, and Sen has to start to use his full speed, along with body strengthening, which causes a lot of rage in the Alliance leader, who realizes he¡¯d been tricked. Sen diverts the first blow to his right, but doesn¡¯t take advantage of the opening much, only giving him a light scratch on the chest of the idiot who is using a one handed sword without a shield.


    The idiot goes to strike again from overhead, and Sen easily pushes his strike to the side before cutting his arm slightly. At this point, the group of Alliance has started to jeer at the guy fighting Sen, and his next strike has a dull brown glow over his sword as he attacks.


    Sen carefully surrounds himself in a barrier of wind, and uses Weight of the Mountain to empower his sword as he slams it into the side of his opponents sword, not wanting to take it straight on. The sword slams into the ground, and explodes, sending fragments of rock flying, which thankfully only leave small scratches on Sen¡¯s leg, the skin enhancement skill paying dividends.


    This time, Sen gives him a deeper cut on the leg, enough to make it so he can¡¯t support himself anymore, and leaves him lying on the ground until one of the members drags him back. At this point, Sen is pretty sure that Alliance is just playing a game, and if he plays along and doesn¡¯t kill anyone, he¡¯ll probably be able to earn quite a bit of time for his group.


    Sen lets out a bit of a smile. He has friends in this life, even a girlfriend, and here he is expecting it to end anyway. The next person to come up is another C rank with a massive two handed axe. His first blow is slamming his axe from the side, but due to the weight of the axe, Sen is easily able to step back out of range, and when he steps in he puts a cut into the man¡¯s shoulder.


    The axe slams into the canyon wall, and Sen notices cracks start to extend from there all the way to the ground, a massive chunk of broken stone falling from the wall. The man¡¯s next strike is a backhand from his position, and yet again Sen simply steps back, not even bothering to use his movement abilities. This time, the man hasn¡¯t bothered to use a skill with his strike, and it only crushes a bit into the stone wall.


    He has no problems pulling his axe from the wall, and yells ¡°Storm Slice!¡± as he swings his axe from overhead. Sen gapes a bit at the idiot yelling the name of his ability. He quickly focuses as what looks like three images of the axe head towards him, and uses Earth Step to back up, but hastily raises his sword up to block the fake images of the axe, which are sent flying at him.


    He blocks one, and mostly dodges the other, taking only a light cut on his arm. Sen instantly goes back in, and leaves a deep cut onto his opponent¡¯s arm, making it hang limp, and he waits as this one is dragged back like the previous one.


    The next one to show up has a sword and shield, and by the way he¡¯s holding them, he knows what he¡¯s doing with them. He starts with simple probing strikes, which Sen deflects carefully, going in for his own probing strikes each time his sword isn¡¯t in a position to strike Sen.


    The man¡¯s shield easily catches each of the blows, but after a bit, Sen¡¯s opponent gets a bit annoyed, clearly not as mentally controlled as he is skilled. He uses a skill familiar to Sen, wreathing his sword in flames, and starts slashing with abandon. Sen is forced to hold up a shield of air as he blocks, getting slightly more singed each time the sword of flame explodes.


    Sen decides to drag this out as long as he can, so he continues to block, only going in for small strikes to keep his enemy off balance and attacking in an angry fashion. Eventually, his opponent starts to breathe heavily, and his sword of flame goes out.


    Sen smiles, he¡¯s only down a third of his energy as well. If the exploding sword of flames didn¡¯t use so much energy, he may been running a lot lower. As this one is dragged back, the leader of the Alliance group steps forwards himself.


    ¡°As skilled of a C rank as you are, you¡¯re only a C rank. Let me show you what strength is.¡±


    The man, who is using a similar two handed sword as Sen, drops the sheath from his back, and draws his blade oh so slowly. As he raises his sword, Sen simply stares at him. The man¡¯s first strike is terribly fast, and Sen barely manages to get his sword in between the blade and his own body. Sen is slammed to the side of the wall, but pushes off in time to dodge the following blow which hits the wall with a loud crash, cracks stretching from the wall, even extending onto the ground.


    Sen decides that he¡¯s not going to be able to buy more time, so the least he can do is try and take out this enemy. He strikes out with a Cutting Squall, wanting to save his trump card for a moment he knows will get a kill.


    The cutting squall actually manages to leave a long scratch on the man¡¯s chest, and he seems to become enraged. Sen grins, a wild enraged swing is exactly what he¡¯s looking for. The man steps back, and raises his sword overhead.


    ¡°Die!¡± He slams his sword down, a massive image of an entire mountain range forming over the sword, making it seem ten times larger. With how terribly telegraphed the strike is though, Sen uses both Earth Step and Gale Steps to speed to the side. He expects he¡¯ll be clipped by the image, but he doubts he¡¯ll die, and maybe he can kill a few others.


    He doesn¡¯t have to work whatsoever to come up with the image of pure death, and slams his blade forward with Bloody Peak, the macabre looking image practically teleporting to the man¡¯s neck. Sen can see his eyes widen a bit as his blade bites deep into his neck, and Sen is clipped with the image of the mountain range, slammed to the ground.


    When Sen¡¯s opponent¡¯s sword hits the ground though, there¡¯s a massive cracking sound, and the earth beneath Sen collapses into emptiness. He falls for far too long, and impacts the ground, blacking out.

 Chapter 68: Lost

    Sen comes to after an indeterminate amount of time aching all over. He groans as he sits up, and tries to look around, to see nothing but blackness. He doesn¡¯t bother panicking, his eyes feel fine, so it¡¯s extremely unlikely that he¡¯s gone blind.


    He looks up to where he fell from, and sees a terribly faint light shining through what looks to be tons of rubble. He carefully drags off some rubble that is on top of his legs, wincing as he does so. Nothing feels broken, a testament to how tough the body enhancement skills have made him, but he¡¯s definitely bruised and battered.


    He carefully stands up, and thinks for a moment on how the hell he¡¯s going to get out of here when he can¡¯t see. His musing is solved by something simple, the slight movement of air around him. He starts to focus on the sensation of the air, trying to feel around him with his control over wind. He sits there for a few meals and a night of sleep until he can understand the information coming from the air. He can barely feel out rough shapes, but it¡¯s enough to see that he¡¯s in a tunnel that extends both directions.


    He isn¡¯t sure which direction to take. While there is wind, it¡¯s flowing upwards, likely escaping through some cracks in the rubble covering the hole he fell down. He doesn¡¯t want to stay here however, the rubble looming overhead is making him wary. First though, he goes to search for his sword. He isn¡¯t good enough with the wind sense to find it, so he simply starts feeling around on the floor, shifting the rubble to find it.


    Eventually, he hears a metallic clang, and lets out a breath. He carefully feels around for the handle, and finds from the weight it¡¯s his sword rather than that of the man he¡¯d been fighting. He¡¯d gotten some of what feels like blood on his hands while searching, but at least he has his sword now. After a bit more searching, he manages to find his tablet, which has somehow survived the fall.


    Unlocking his tablet with his fingerprint, he goes to the mapping function. While it shows where he last was, it has a bright red no connection at the top of the screen, and it doesn¡¯t update his location as he moves.


    He isn¡¯t sure if it will get through, but he sends a short message to everyone in the group, saying simply ¡°I¡¯m alive¡±. He waits for a while, but the tablet simply gives him a ¡°Failed to send¡± message. Sen lets out a deep sigh.


    The soft glow from the tablet, which Sen is seriously impressed by the toughness of, lights the area around him. The walls are stone that is terribly smooth looking. It¡¯s like something had simply taken a sphere and hollowed out the rock as it rolled along.


    He uses his sword as a crutch as he hobbles along through the tunnel, not sure where he¡¯s going. It isn¡¯t long until he comes to his first intersection, and on a whim, he takes the left hand path. He continues following it, but after a bit, he notices it seems to be curving downwards. Heading back, he hides his tablet in his backpack so as to not brighten himself up for anything that wants to eat him. While worrying about possible monsters, he takes the other path.


    This path also goes downwards, and he grumbles in frustration as he heads back to where he fell to go the only other direction he can go. He eventually reaches the area, and has to focus more on his sense of the air as he walks through the rubble. He gets clear of the rubble soon enough, and follows the tunnel for a while, only for it to start opening up, and Sen begins to hear noises ahead.


    Sen slows down, nervous about whatever is ahead, but can¡¯t sense anything from this distance, and carefully approaches, controlling the wind to blow towards his back to reduce his smell for whatever is up ahead. When he gets closer, he gets in range of his wind sense, and he notices that whatever they are, they¡¯re vaguely humanoid and smaller than an ogre while being larger than an orc. Sen takes a deep breath, this is the only tunnel that isn¡¯t heading downwards, and considering their size, they¡¯re probably D ranked monsters.


    Sen grabs his sword, and uses the energy that has completely regenerated from his walking in the tunnels, slashing in with Weight of the Mountain in the general vicinity of one of the monsters, his wind sense lagging a bit behind. Sen is happy to see that its reaction isn¡¯t particularly fast, his estimation that they¡¯re D ranked monsters seems to be correct.


    He strikes home, his sense for the air allowing him to target the monster¡¯s waist well enough. He rips his sword free, and turns to the next one. It seems to be able to sense his general area, but not directly where he is as it strikes at him. Even so, Sen can feel the wind of its claws passage on his skin. Sen takes off the arm that slashed at him before twisting his sword and piercing it through the throat.


    Sen¡¯s starting to get a bit of a headache from trying to sense things he¡¯s fighting, but soldiers on, turning to the last two. They both go to slash at him, and he¡¯s forced to take a quick step to the side to avoid them. He thrusts into the torso of one of them, blade held parallel in order to not be slowed too much by the ribs.


    The blade is shoved a bit up by the rib it impacts before sliding in between two of them, and Sen rips his sword out of the monsters torso, cutting down the last one as it turns to run. Sen relaxes for a bit, stopping his sensing of the wind, as his head is starting to ache a bit.  He ignores the gore around him, only bothering to use the light from the tablet to find a spot not entirely covered in it for a bit of rest. He sits down, looking at the map again. Unfortunately, the no connection showing on the screen won¡¯t let him update his location. He goes through the settings, trying to find anything that may help, and is excited when he sees there¡¯s an option to enable subterranean paths. He quickly enables it, but no tunnels show up even close to his location. It¡¯s as expected, but still annoying.


    As his headache subsides, he puts away his tablet, and heads to the direction he¡¯d been going, the ground curving slightly upwards. It continues for a good half a mile, though Sen is moving terribly slowly with how weak his sense with the wind is, and eventually, Sen collapses to his knees. It¡¯s a dead end. There¡¯s a small pool of water, practically a puddle, but that is all.


    He lets out a few curse words that Alice would recognize before looking at the bright side. At least he¡¯ll have water. The next few weeks are spent traveling throughout the dark tunnels. He¡¯s slowly accruing a map, roughly drawn on his tablet, while wiping out the occasional D ranked monster. He uses the monsters as a food supply, as he¡¯s quickly run out of instant meals. He isn¡¯t able to cook it, and grimaces every time he¡¯s forced to bite into the still raw meat, but he needs to keep up his strength. It tastes odd, terribly bloody, and their meat is so tough he doubts he could even chew it to pieces it without his bone enhancement. It seems to dissolve just fine in his stomach though, as no issues from it crop up.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.


    His only solace is a map on the tablet he¡¯s making, which is slowly growing, showing where he¡¯s been, and the different tunnels he can take. His mapping continues for a while, until he realizes there¡¯s only one path left, and he¡¯s been avoiding it. There¡¯s a C ranked Ogre in that tunnel, and Sen doesn¡¯t want to try hunting a C rank on his own, but it seems he¡¯ll have no choice in the matter.


    Sen makes sure to rest up the day before, his sleep schedule completely messed up by the lack of light. While he can keep track of the days on his tablet, he¡¯s reverted to the thirty hour day/night cycle of Alpha rather than the twenty six hour cycles in the fifth dimension.


    Once he wakes up, he heads directly to the ogre. He makes sure the wind is blowing towards him, as the monsters down here have a fantastic sense of smell. He takes a deep breath, getting ready for what¡¯s to come. Deciding that his best chance will be a strong attack from stealth, he gets himself in the proper mindset to use Bloody Peak. He charges, his mind filled with images of death, and slashes his sword at where the wind tells him the ogre is.


    It cuts deep into the monster, and as Sen rips his sword out, he can feel blood spraying onto his face. He lets out a feral grin, and starts to dodge around the monster, not letting it hit him with its terribly heavy swings. After a bit of dancing around the monster¡¯s strikes, it slams the ground with its foot, and Sen is tripped up by a ripple of earth rolling under his feet.


    He¡¯s forced to use the wind to stay remotely balanced, and then Earth Steps to the side just in time to be missed by a swung palm, sharp claws that Sen can barely sense sliding past him so close he can feel them leaving light scratches on his skin.


    He rolls on the ground, the ripple of earth having sent him enough off balance that his Earth Step had pushed him onto his side, and gets back up, the roll having been terribly awkward due to the large sword he is holding.


    The monster turns to him one more time, and then collapses. Sen lets out a breath. It seems that he¡¯s not doomed quite yet. He drags himself up, and continues past where the monster had been. There¡¯s a small turn off to the left, and Sen takes it, finding a small room with a small river flowing through it. It¡¯s far better than the puddle he¡¯s been using.


    He fills up his bottles with as much water as they can hold before drinking his fill and washing himself off as best he can with the light from his tablet¡¯s flashlight. He¡¯s sure he¡¯s still absolutely filthy, but at least he feels slightly cleaner.


    Once he¡¯s done cleaning off, he leaves the small room, and starts to explore some more. He runs into plenty more D ranked monsters, and every so often he goes back to his small little alcove near the ogre he¡¯d killed in order to clean himself and refill his water supplies.


    He knows he¡¯s been here for over a month thanks to the tablet, and at this point, his sensing of the air is almost entirely instinctual, Sen as able to use it as well as his normal vision to tell where things are. He¡¯s become completely accustomed to the darkness and the different monsters in it. They vary from rats far larger than they should be, to giant bats that could pass as gargoyles if they were made of stone. He¡¯s eaten plenty of crystals, even a good amount of C rank ones, though he¡¯s sure he¡¯ll be falling behind his group if they¡¯re still hunting.


    Eventually, with his constant exploring, he sees something. Sen blinks. He¡¯s actually seeing something! He wants to rush in, but carefully approaches instead, using his wind to see around the curve in the tunnel ahead. The wind has been flowing towards this direction, but Sen hasn¡¯t found that to matter much. Wind tends to flow towards the small rivers throughout the tunnels as well.


    As he gets closer, he¡¯s able to sense something annoying. It¡¯s two ogres. While Sen can handle one so long as he gets a sneak attack in, in a fair fight he¡¯ll be lucky to get away without any major wounds. He carefully pokes his head past the curve of the tunnel to see what¡¯s causing the light, and is absolutely ecstatic.


    It looks to be an exit from the tunnel! He can see what looks to be moonlight coming through a small hole at the end of the tunnel. While an ogre won¡¯t be able to fit through, Sen is pretty sure he¡¯ll be able to.


    The issue comes down to the two ogres. If Sen goes for a strike to the neck, he can kill one quickly, but the second will be an issue. He¡¯s only not noticed because he¡¯s started controlling the air around him, preventing his rather bad smell from leaking. Even with the ¡°baths¡± he¡¯s taken, he hasn¡¯t been able to clean his clothes as well as he¡¯d like. Eventually, he decides that the best thing to do is go rest for the day, as he¡¯s quite exhausted. He finds a small alcove that nothing large would be able to fit into, and goes to bed with his sword in his hand.


    Sen wakes already alert, and notes that there¡¯s nothing within the range of his wind sense before relaxing. He slowly crawls his way out of the small alcove and into the tunnel proper, nervous about actually fighting an ogre rather than just ambushing one.


    The ambush on the ogre to the right goes off without a hitch, Sen¡¯s Bloody Peak cutting halfway through its neck, and Sen tears his sword out with a small flourish to remove a bit of the gunk on the blade, not wanting the gore to get in the way of the cutting edge for the fight to come.


    The other ogre roars, and leads in with its stomp that causes a ripple in the ground to flow outwards. Sen can easily sense that with the air by now, and simply hops up to avoid it, before dashing forwards after he¡¯s over it, slashing in with his sword.


    The blow is blocked by the things arm, and it barely cuts in half an inch. Sen winces. Without using his skills, it will take forever to kill this thing, but the Bloody Peak he had used took half his energy.


    He pulls his sword back as the monster swings its hand at him, the claws Sen can clearly sense leading the way. Sen interposes his sword in a way that it cuts into the monster¡¯s hand rather than hitting the claws, and it jerks back its hand as it hits the blade.


    Sen slashes in with his sword as it jerks back, Sen using Weight of the Mountain aiming at its chest. Unfortunately, it gets its arm in between the two of them, and Sen only injures its arm, cutting down to bone with the skill enhanced strike.


    Sen is nearly pulled from his feet as the monster pulls back its arm. He is forced to kick upwards to dislodge his sword, and is slightly off balance as the monster¡¯s other arm comes in for another hit. Sen takes a glancing blow, scratches appearing on his chest. Sen steps in, and realizes he¡¯s not going to get a better chance to give it a proper blow. He doesn¡¯t have enough energy for Bloody Peak, and so simply uses Cutting Squall, slicing into the monster¡¯s neck.


    He obviously hits something important, but he smiles too early as the ogre¡¯s foot slams into him. He¡¯s sent flying back, and when he impacts the wall of the tunnel, he sees stars for a bit. It takes him a good few minutes before he¡¯s able to stand.


    As he gets up, he can feel a pain that¡¯s both sharp and dull in his chest, he¡¯s clearly fractured some of his ribs, but they¡¯re not stabbing into his organs or through his skin, so it¡¯s likely just cracks. It¡¯s another few minutes before he¡¯s able to walk. When he can, he approaches the two corpses, and painfully chops open their chests to get at their crystals.


    He looks at them, and downs them without even bothering to wash them off, Ignoring the coppery taste that comes with them. He shambles his way out of the caverns, and is soon outside, looking at the gigantic moon that Alpha doesn¡¯t have.


    He laughs, ignoring the pain in his chest. He¡¯s finally out! It feels like it¡¯s a literal weight off his shoulders, standing straighter as he takes out his tablet. He see it have a connection for half a second, but then it disables itself. Sen stares at it for a moment, before realizing that the UFoH knows about their desertion. At least he¡¯s stared at the map enough to know where to go to the city they were trying to reach.


    Before heading there though, he goes back into the tunnels, going to one of the water sources and filling up his bottles of water before going to sleep.

 Chapter 69: Travel

    He wakes naturally, more relaxed than he¡¯s ever been before in the tunnels, and quickly navigates the many twists and turns he needs to take in order to get to the exit. He is soon walking out of the tunnels and into the light, the sun just cresting over the horizon. Sen smiles again at being out of the tunnels, and sets his determination on reaching the city he was supposed to go to in the first place.


    There¡¯s only one issue with that. While he could likely reach it in only a few days if he could follow the path that was set up on his tablet, his tablet is unusable. He isn¡¯t sure which areas will have different ranked monsters, he isn¡¯t sure exactly what direction to go, and a few degrees of difference could mean he misses the city entirely. While it probably mirrors the UFoH city in that it has roads spreading from it leading to the hunting grounds, he¡¯ll still have to simply hope that he doesn¡¯t miss it. The best he can do is approximate the distance he¡¯s traveled so he doesn¡¯t overshoot it by too much.


    He takes a few breaths, shallow so as to not bother his ribs, and sets off on his journey. The area is mostly flat, with a few hills here and there, letting him keep an eye out for any potential monsters. He slowly jogs along, his ribs aching with every step, hoping he¡¯s not going to go too far off course. He¡¯s able to estimate which direction to go due to the sun, but it¡¯s not a perfect form of measurement.


    Along the way, the only monsters he runs into are G ranked, and he doesn¡¯t even bother fighting them, simply outrunning them. After a while though, he slows down. The monsters have raised up to D rank, and he¡¯s worried that if he continues going in this direction the escalation will continue. There¡¯s nothing he can do about it other than continue, slowing down to stay safe. It isn¡¯t long however, until Sen starts being forced to fight.


    The monster he¡¯s started running into looks like a scale covered wolf that comes in a variety of colors. While they¡¯re only D rank mobs from what Sen can tell, they¡¯re still able to outrun him with their four legs to his two. He slides to a stop, preparing to fight the single one chasing him, and waits for it to approach. As it gets closer, it slows down, waiting a few meters away, looking a bit cautious at this prey that has stopped running.


    Sen has kept his sword out the entire time, as he doesn¡¯t want to have to drop the sheathe to the ground to pull it out. He raises it in a challenging motion, and the scaled wolf like creature soon gets over his hesitation, lunging at him, tooth filled maw first. Sen steps to the side. While it may be able to outrun him, it can¡¯t get up too much speed from a single lunge, and his sword impacts between the two halves of its jaw, splitting it down to its spine.


    The monster flops to the ground, and Sen takes the time to remove its crystal, though he keeps this one, as he¡¯ll need some form of money once he gets to the city. He¡¯s soon back on his way, interspersed with more of the scaled wolves, and he starts to worry. The singular monsters have started to come in twos and threes, and if the pattern continues he may start running into some issues. He tries to ignore the occasional howl around him, focusing simply on traveling.


    His fears soon turn to reality, as he hears a chorus of howls. He continues his run in the vain hope that they¡¯re not coming for him, but is forced to stop when they start loping along beside him. The monsters, a bit fewer than a dozen, circle up around him, and he¡¯s quite thankful that his sense for the wind hasn¡¯t decayed at all even now he¡¯s out of the tunnels. He¡¯d never turned it off, and at this point, he doesn¡¯t know how to. It¡¯s closer to an extra sense that he just hadn¡¯t realized he has rather than something active.


    He patiently waits, facing the slightly larger alpha of the pack, waiting for a tense few moments. He isn¡¯t surprised when the one to leap at him is the wolf directly behind him. He twists his body, and uses the force generated to chop through the top half of its head. While the body flies past him, the brain matter continues to make his clothes even more messy.


    He continues his spin to meet the next one lunging, stabbing into its open mouth, the easiest target. He rips his sword free as he sidesteps another jump, not having the time to cut at this one. He continues to step back and forth, his sense for the air saving him more times than he can count. Eventually their numbers wane. Even so, one of monsters manages to rake its claws down his lower back as he flinches from his cracked ribs. He simply ends up ignoring the burning lines, focusing on the fight.


    Thankful for his body enhancement skills making him tough enough to not be too injured from the strike, he removes the offending monster¡¯s front legs, before piercing its heart. He easily cuts down two more of the monsters, and looks to the alpha which hasn¡¯t bothered to move the entire time.


    The staring match continues for a few moments, Sen¡¯s calm eyes contrasting with the seeming rage in the monster¡¯s eyes before it lunges, much faster than its pack. Sen sidesteps, and goes to kill it the same way he had the first he¡¯d killed, but the sword aimed for the monster¡¯s jaw mostly misses as it ducks its head, only leaving a glancing blow above its eyes. Even so Sen grins. He waits, another staring match happening.


    He¡¯s waiting for just a few moments until the monster blinks, the blood from the new cut getting into its eyes, and Sen is the one to lunge, sword leading, piercing straight through its eye and into the brain. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    As Sen starts to remove the crystals from the monsters, putting them into his backpack that luckily hasn¡¯t fallen apart yet, he muses on how used he¡¯s become to fighting alone. While his hunting rate is still slower than with a group, he¡¯s gotten used to facing monsters by himself. His thoughts turn a bit dark as he removes the crystals. He¡¯d fought alone many times in his past life, but fighting alone in his newer one simply makes him feel lonely. His head hangs down thinking about the others. The group likely thinks him dead, and he has no way to contact them to tell them otherwise.


    He shakes off the thought, and is soon back on his way. Luckily, he soon reaches an area where the monsters have gone back to being in smaller groups, and only ends up with some scratches on his arm when one of them bites down on his sword, pulling him off balance for a moment. Once he gets to the point that the monsters are back to coming in singles, he looks to the sun. It¡¯s setting.


    He downs some of the raw meat that he¡¯s been eating, and finds a small crevice between two rocks to rest in. He goes to bed worried about his group. He wakes to the sun, somehow seamlessly adjusting back to the twenty six hour day. He slowly chews his way through another bloody scaled wolf steak, which actually tastes far better than the monsters that he¡¯s eaten down in the tunnels.


    Once he¡¯s eaten, and worried about his water supply, he goes back to traveling. The hills slowly start to get more brush cover, which fades into trees, growing larger and larger as he continues into the forest. The forest is eerily silent, only the occasional chirp from what looks to be a small F or G ranked bird like monster. He hopes that this is simply a low rank hunting area as he continues, wary for anything else that may show up.


    As he travels, he finds a small stream, and lets out a sigh of relief. While it¡¯s not like he¡¯s running low on water at the moment, he isn¡¯t sure how often water sources will show up, so he refills the bottles he¡¯d gone through the previous day with the slightly murky water. His travel continues, not having any monsters attack him, even though he spots them fairly regularly. He wonders if they won¡¯t attack anyone or if they can just sense his massively superior stats, but doesn¡¯t complain.


    That night he ends up resting in a small cave formed by a tree falling, the ground torn up, and the base of the tree covering the small hole in the ground. As he wakes the next day, his sword still in his hands, he crawls out of the small space, and stretches, eats another unappetizing meal, and heads back the direction he¡¯s been going.


    It isn¡¯t long until the low ranked area has a change. Spider webs. Sen leers at them. While he would be willing to fight spiders to get back, there¡¯s a problem. In their nests they tend to come in groups. He growls a bit. It will be best to go around. He heads to the right. He¡¯s not sure if it would be better to go left or right to get around the area quickly so he picks it at random.


    Sen follows the slowly curving webbed area, occasionally running into a spider or two, but they¡¯re D ranked and alone, so easily handled. He does make sure to get some crystals. He¡¯s not sure how much he¡¯ll need when he reaches the city, but money never hurts. Eventually he starts noticing that the webs are curving in the right direction to let him continue his trek. The only way he can tell is with intermittent glances at the sun, but it¡¯s still enough to approximate.


    He smiles. For once he didn¡¯t make the wrong choice. He winces at how many dead ends he¡¯d run into in the tunnels. Eventually, he¡¯s able to keep going in the same direction he has been, and gives the webbed area one last glare before heading out. The next couple of days have nothing happen, the most exciting thing for Sen being finding another stream to fill up his water rather than the fights.


    Sen pauses. With how fast he¡¯s been traveling, the city should be around here. Unfortunately for Sen, the only thing surrounding him is grass. Sighing, he decides to start traveling to his right for a day or so, then the opposite direction for another few days. Trying to push down the worry, he heads off in the new direction.


    The path soon turns into an area filled with completely rocky hills, and Sen continues through it for a while. He doesn¡¯t run into any monsters for a while, and has almost let down his guard when he senses something behind him with his wind. Quickly spinning around, he gets a glimpse of what looks to be the big brother of the scaled wolves he¡¯d seen. He slashes at it while it¡¯s still lunging at him, but his sword cuts in only a little.


    He focuses, pushing with his sword to keep the monster off course in its attack, and pulls his sword back to a ready position once it lands on the other side of him. The two get in the same staring match as he had with the smaller one, but it soon lunges in again. Sen doesn¡¯t bother going for any fancy strike, simply using Weight of the Mountain to slam into the monster¡¯s side, again sending it off course.


    The monster is only lightly harmed, and twists around, this time not lunging, but going in with short rushes, trying to cut Sen¡¯s ankles with its claws, its teeth occasionally snapping at his face. Sen does his best to keep it away, but one of its strikes ends up being stronger than expected, and while the blow is knocked up to his calf rather than his fragile ankle, he ends up with a few deep cuts.


    He grimaces, at least he¡¯d managed to mostly remove the offending paw with a Cutting squall once he noticed he needed his sword to move faster. At this point the monster is limping, and Sen takes advantage of this, going on the offensive himself. He circles around, stabbing in when it¡¯s delayed by its grievously injured leg.


    It¡¯s a careful dance to keep the monster from being able to strike at him, and wound it enough without wasting all his energy on it on the chance that he may run into another monster before he can regenerate his energy. Eventually however, it falls to the ground, long after he would¡¯ve been able to kill it with the group. Sen makes sure it¡¯s dead with a stab through its eye, before removing the crystal from its chest.


    He sits there for a moment. They wouldn¡¯t place the city this close to any C ranked hunting grounds, so it¡¯s unlikely that he¡¯s heading the correct direction. He lets out a sigh, before turning around and heading back the way he came. His travel is mostly painless and the areas start having lower and lower ranked monsters. Sen¡¯s almost given up on finding the city, when he finds something that give him hope. It¡¯s a road! He instantly starts following it, going to the left this time, but after a few hours of jogging at a ridiculous pace, it dead ends into a small circle with a bunch of vehicles parked in it. He considers asking for a ride, but who would trust someone looking like him. He lets out another sigh before heading back the way he came, following along the road.

 Chapter 70: Imitations

    He finally arrives at the city, greeted by a massive wall surrounding what seems to be a city as condensed as it can be, every building towering above him. Massive railguns are spaced along the walls looming over him, ready for a target. After a moment of admiration, he heads to the gate, and is asked to hand over ten percent of his crystals. After walking through a scanner he complies, and there¡¯s no other questions asked, getting in without an issue.


    He then starts to wonder what the hell he should do to find his group. With his tablet locked, there¡¯s no easy way to do so. He sighs, the best he can do is go to an information broker. It takes him a bunch of asking around, but eventually he finds one. Before entering however, he stops by a much less gaudy crystal broker than the one in the UFoH city. He gets a small electronic card in payment, as his tablet is locked.


    He then heads over to the information broker. He walks in, and is greeted by a professional looking woman sitting behind a desk. When she looks up, her face twists in disgust, which makes Sen realize that he should probably have bought new clothes and gotten a shower before coming here. Regardless, he approaches the woman who has quickly put on a business smile.


    ¡°I¡¯d like to get information on a group.¡±


    The woman nods, before looking at him expectantly. Sen hands over the card he¡¯d gotten from the crystal store. He winces as he sees how many credits are deducted, but figures that he doesn¡¯t have too much of a use for them anyway. He¡¯s brought to a room with a man in it, a screen floating in front of him. Sen ogles that for a bit, he¡¯s heard that holograms are possible, but they tend to be less useful than normal screens, not having tactile feedback when you try to use them.


    The man looks up to Sen.


    ¡°What do you want to know?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m looking for a group.¡±


    ¡°Names?¡±


    ¡°Lynna Li, Xue Meng, Julie Kelly, Jennifer Kind, Alice Corbin.¡±


    The man looks at him for a moment. ¡°And what do you need to know?¡±


    ¡°I just need some way to contact them.¡±


    The man looks at him again, and pulls up something on the screen. The hologram seems to be intentionally blurred from his side, so he can¡¯t see what¡¯s on it, but the man looks from the screen to Sen a few times.


    ¡°Please wait here.¡± The rest of his words are muttered, but Sen is quite sure he hears the word copycat there.


    Sen tilts his head, but nods.


    Sen ends up waiting for a good few minutes, until the man comes back.


    ¡°I¡¯m assuming you¡¯re yet another Sen Li looking to try and take the bounty.¡±


    Sen looks at him. It doesn¡¯t surprise him that they¡¯ve put out an information bounty on him, but it being large enough to produce copycats is surprising. From what it sounds like plenty of people have tried to fake information about him, or even pretend to be him.


    ¡°So what makes you think I¡¯m another fake?¡±


    The man looks to Sen. ¡°I will say, you are the least groomed of any of the imposters, but I think someone who associates with Miss Corbin would have the common courtesy to be better kept. ¡°


    Sen¡¯s annoyed at that. Is it so hard to believe that he¡¯d put meeting those important to him above his hygiene?


    ¡°If you are Sen Li, then their bounty will have paid off. If not, you¡¯ll likely be sued like the others.¡±


    ¡°Well I was lost in some tunnels with no connection on my tablet. When I got out it was locked.¡± Sen shows the man the locked tablet, which makes him raise one of his eyebrows.


    ¡°Ah, rock worm tunnels. They do tend to block any signal. At least you have a good story behind you. And if you were there, you¡¯re quite lucky to not have run into any rock worms.¡±


    Sen nods, and is interrupted by the door opening. Alice walks in, and looks to him with a bit of a flat look on her face.


    ¡°I suppose you¡¯re another imposter,¡± she says in a language that has long been lost in time.


    ¡°Has it really been that bad?¡± Sen replies in the same language, a worried look on his face.


    Alice stares at him for a moment before her eyes widen, and she very nervously pulls out a small tablet, handing it over to him and indicating him to press his thumb onto it. He does so, feeling a small pinprick on his thumb, and she looks at the results.  She¡¯s soon jumping at him, squeezing him with more strength than he could possibly put out. He just holds her for a while while she cries, trying not to suffocate. Eventually, her sobs die down, and once he catches his breath Sen asks something he¡¯d been wondering about.


    ¡°Where are the others?¡±


    Alice gets an awkward expression on her face. ¡°Everyone stopped coming after the first five or so fakes. Each time they¡¯d come, they¡¯d end up a bit more heartbroken, and they just couldn¡¯t handle it. The only one who continued to come here with me is Xue, but she¡¯s shut herself in her room for the past few days after they started talks of holding a funeral.¡±


    ¡°Have there been a lot of copycats?¡± Sen puts off the funeral comment for later.


    Alice looks to him, exhausted. ¡°I¡¯m the daughter of the owners of the hunter association on Epsus. Plenty of people would love to inherit that. Some of them even had very good illusion arrays used to imitate you. Additionally, there were the people chasing the reward, pretending to have seen you or your body.¡±


    Sen looks down. His disappearance has been nothing but trouble. Even so, he would repeat his actions in a heartbeat if it meant keeping his friends, his family, his girlfriend, and his lady safe.


    ¡°So what do we do now?¡±


    ¡°We head back to my apartment and crash their talks.¡± Alice lets out a bit of a grin.


    Sen smiles a bit at the morbid humour, but is more sad than amused. He follows Alice into her vehicle, noting the bodyguards that are following her around. Sen hesitates a moment about getting the pristine white seats dirty, but gets in after a glare from Alice.


    It isn¡¯t until the car lifts off that Sen realizes it¡¯s a gravity vehicle. They¡¯re headed to the center of the city, the tallest building slowly growing larger before him. Along the way, they continue to chat in the language of their past lives. Sen tells her about what he¡¯s been doing, about his stay in the tunnels, and the much shorter trip back to the city.


    By the time they set down on what seems to be the tallest building in the city, he¡¯s gone over everything that has happened to him. They soon exit the vehicle, and the driver of the vehicle exits, before approaching the door on the roof. She scans a bracelet over a small pad by the side of the door, and it slides open.


    The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    The bodyguard scans the inside before nodding at Alice and heading down, another guard following behind them. Eventually, they reach the top floor from the roof, and Alice goes to one of the doors in the hallway, scanning her own bracelet. It clicks, and she opens the door. The bodyguards watch them as they enter, but don¡¯t follow them inside.


    When the door opens, Sen is greeted by a terribly expensive looking area. Everything is pristine, decorations spread throughout the room, and even the couch looks regal somehow. The decorations aren¡¯t opulent enough to be overbearing, simply tasteful, and there¡¯s a massive painting on one of the walls of a view of the moon over a small hill with a simple log cabin on it, a small river flowing throughout the bottom of it.


    Sen admires the view for a second before realizing something.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this terribly expensive?¡±


    ¡°Of course. My parents are quite kind to me,¡± Alice answers.


    Sen stares at her. She¡¯d mentioned her parents are A rank hunters and that they¡¯ve retired and own a few businesses, but from what he can see, Alice has the entire top floor to herself. Sen doesn¡¯t want to imagine how much this costs, especially considering this is the tallest building in the entire city.


    ¡°So where is everyone?¡±


    ¡°I shall get them. They likely won¡¯t believe it if I just drag you out.¡±


    He walks to the window that takes up an entire wall, and admires the view over the city, the sun just starting to fall behind the buildings, sending rays of light across the view. Alice leaves him, heading down the hallway before knocking on a door and entering the room. He simply stands there, unsure what he should do, when Xue comes rushing out of that room. She almost sprints to him, but pauses when she gets close.


    ¡°What was my username in Last World Online?¡± Apparently she¡¯s used to the imposters as well.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while Flowery.¡± Sen still isn¡¯t sure how she¡¯d gone from fitting that name perfectly to the cold state she¡¯d been in when he met her again.


    She looks at him for a moment, before her eyes water up, and she runs to him, nearly tackling him to the ground. Sen holds her, running his hand down her long hair in comfort.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Xue simply continues crying for a while as everyone else starts to file in, looking on in shock. Lynna is the only one who seems a bit suspicious, and she decides to question him.


    ¡°What did you use to call me when you were a kid?¡±


    Sen looks away a bit, before saying something that sounds similar to sister in the common language, but is clearly different. He tries to hide his face even more when he sees Alice stifling a giggle. It¡¯s a word from his past life meaning simply ¡®lazy¡¯.


    His sister copies Xue¡¯s look, runs up, and hugs him from the side before pulling back, leaving him for Xue for now. She catches Alice¡¯s expression, and gives him a look. She¡¯s quickly distracted though, more interested in him being back than an old nickname.


    ¡°So what happened?¡±


    ¡°I fell into some tunnels while delaying Alliance. The information broker mentioned something about rock worm tunnels? I was able to get Alliance¡¯s leader at least.¡± Sen feels a bit of satisfaction at that.


    ¡°He was B rank!¡± Lynna exclaims.


    ¡°He was negligent. I never showed my full speed and he assumed I was weaker than I was. He was also using a two handed sword, and I know better than anyone how to fight that.¡± It may be arrogant of Sen, but he¡¯s yet to find someone that can prove him wrong.


    Xue is hanging on his words, and Alice has an expression on her face that seems to say ¡°Of course Sen can kill a B rank¡±.


    Lynna laughs, still wiping a few tears of relief. ¡°So how did you get stuck in rock worm tunnels?¡±


    ¡°What exactly are rock worm tunnels? I couldn¡¯t get a connection on my tablet, and I¡¯m pretty sure that it doesn¡¯t use radio waves.¡±


    Julie is the one to explain. ¡°They¡¯re tunnels made by rock worms. The energy infused in them prevents any other sort of energy from escaping, similar to a faraday cage. It¡¯s one of the only ways to prevent tracking through arrays. We¡¯d thought you dead when we couldn¡¯t get any response from the blood searching array.¡±


    Sen lowers his head. Of course his luck is that bad. Though, if the tunnels hadn¡¯t been there, he¡¯d be dead instead, so his luck can¡¯t be that bad. After a bit, he gets around to answering Lynna¡¯s original question. ¡°The last attack from the Alliance leader collapsed the ground under the canyon, and I fell in.¡±


    Lynna nods, and gives him a look that Sen is sure means she¡¯ll be interrogating him for more information later. Now that his sister has pulled away, his mother takes her place, calling him ¡°my baby¡± more than he¡¯s comfortable with, at least in a group setting. Looking to his father, he¡¯s not rushing to hug him, but the happiness is clearly showing in his eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m so glad you¡¯re back.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s good to be back.¡±


    Jiu stands beside him for a while, until Xue finally calms down and steps back. As she does, Sen can see dark circles under her eyes, messy hair that hasn¡¯t been cleaned recently, and she seems to have lost a bit of weight. He looks at her condition in sadness until his mother takes charge.


    ¡°Now you need to shower, shave, and get some new clothing.¡± Jiu instantly changes into her motherly mode. She practically shoves Sen into the bathroom, and Sen takes off his clothes which are absolutely filthy. They seem to be rags held together by blood and dirt rather than actual whole pieces of cloth. Sen is honestly surprised the woman at the information shop was willing to deal with him.


    Now that he gets a good look at himself in the mirror, he winces. His black hair is practically caked together by blood, his face is coated in dirt and a few spots of blood he¡¯s missed in his short cleaning sessions, and he¡¯s grown a bit of a beard, which just does not look good on him.


    There¡¯s a knock on the door, and he¡¯s asked to crack open the door, and a razor and clothes are passed to him. He gives a short thanks, and then hops in the shower. The shower itself is fantastic. It has multiple shower heads which completely coat him in water, and it feels almost like it¡¯s a massage with the high pressure. He simply sighs and relaxes for a while before taking some soap and scrubbing himself until the water stops coming out looking a reddish brown, which takes a worrying amount of time.


    Once his body is clean, he switches to his hair, which takes far longer. He thankfully has pretty short hair, even with the near two months he spent away from society, but he has to work for a good thirty minutes until he¡¯s satisfied that there¡¯s no more congealed blood in it.


    He finally grabs the razor, and goes to the sink to shave. Once he¡¯s done, he¡¯s feeling much better about himself, and he throws his old clothes in the trash before putting on the clothes that are just a bit mis-sized, likely his father¡¯s.


    He exits the bathroom, and both Xue and Alice are practically clinging on him, seemingly worried he¡¯ll disappear again. He has a sad expression on his face as everyone goes to eat Him being gone was not good to them. The meal has a salad as appetizer, then what seem to be very expensive steaks, followed by a delectable blueberry cheesecake.


    The meal is served with a red wine, which Sen happily indulges in. Apparently, his alcohol tolerance from his last life doesn¡¯t carry over to this one however, and he¡¯s quite tipsy after just three glasses.


    Everyone watches a show, with more alcohol to celebrate Sen¡¯s return while the parents retire early, leaving the group to their own devices. The next morning, Sen wakes with a light headache, and quite a few missing memories. He can recall flashes of Xue and Alice hanging on him, then everything goes blank. Looking to his sides, he sees both Xue and Alice, and panics for a bit until he realizes he still has his shorts on, there¡¯s no mysterious stains on the bed, and the air smells only of the girl¡¯s shampoo.


    Letting out a breath, he sees Xue start to rouse, apparently woken by his panicking. He looks to her as the sheets slide down, admiring her curves showing through the thin nightgown she¡¯s wearing. Sen stares for longer than he should before he looks away, only to see a similar view on his other side. He does his best to stay calm. He¡¯d been ordered by his lady to help her dress on a regular basis in his past life, so this isn¡¯t that bad.


    He carefully keeps his eyes at a proper height as he gives both of them a good morning, Alice not caring whatsoever that she¡¯s barely dressed, while Xue seems to have not noticed yet. Alice heads into the closet, and comes out with clothes, handing them to Sen before standing in front of a mirror, obviously expecting him to help dress her.


    Sen obliges, brainwashed from his previous life, and Xue simply stares at them in confusion for a bit.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± Xue¡¯s expression has turned into the icy cold one she¡¯d worn when she first joined the group.


    Sen looks to her before realizing how odd this would seem in his current life. He doesn¡¯t quite realize that it was just as odd in his previous life to do something the maids are usually forced to do.


    ¡°I¡¯ll just leave,¡± Sen says, keeping his eyes on the door as he goes out, but turns back at a high pitched noise from Xue. He looks back to see her hiding behind the sheets and glaring at him, and he speeds up his walk out of the room, not wanting to cause more damage than he already has.


    He hides in the kitchen for a while, searching for some food, and makes himself an omelette while not sure what he¡¯s going to say when the girls get out of bed. Eventually, the two girls come into the kitchen, Xue having a mixed expression, blushing with a cold look on her face, and Alice simply seeming to think everything is normal. Sen makes each of them an omelette as penance.


    Thankfully, neither of them mention anything, and Sen is starting to realize that they probably were just terrified he would disappear again, wanting to stay by him so he can¡¯t.


    ¡°So how far ahead of me are you at this point? I hunted a decent amount of monsters while I was in the tunnels, but not nearly so many as I could¡¯ve with you.¡±


    Xue and Alice look to each other. ¡°We haven¡¯t actually gained many stats. We¡¯ve mostly been getting our families settled on Epsus.¡± Xue seems to be leaving some information out, but Sen isn¡¯t going to pry.


    Julie and Jennifer soon come out, roused by the smell of omelettes, and Sen makes one for each of them as well. As Lynna exits her room, Sen can see the evil smile she has on her face, and hands over the omelette he¡¯d prepared in advance, smothered in extra cheese to distract her.


    ¡°Sen, give me your tablet,¡± Alice says after she¡¯s finished her meal.


    Sen grabs it from his backpack. He¡¯d kept it even if it was pretty much useless to him now. Alice plugs something into one of the ports on it, and it boots up no problem. She fiddles with it for a bit, gets Sen to press his thumb on it, then nonchalantly tosses it in the trash.


    She then hands over a bracelet similar to the one all the girls are wearing.


    ¡°So what¡¯s this?¡±


    ¡°The newest model. We¡¯ve finally gotten holograms to the point where we can properly miniaturize them, and not needing a screen saves a lot of space and makes it less fragile.¡± Julie seems more excited about the new technology than anyone else.


    Sen is prompted to press his thumb on it, and gets another sharp pinprick for his trouble. Once it lights up, he presses a few buttons on it until the hologram pops up, and it seems no different than a real screen. Looking around the other side, it¡¯s pure white on the back, so people can¡¯t see what you¡¯re looking at without being behind you.


    Sen goes to poke at the screen, and notices that it actually depresses a little rather than his finger going through it like he¡¯d expect.


    ¡°It doesn¡¯t have all the functions that our old tablets did, but it¡¯s much more convenient,¡± Julie continues.


    Sen nods. Not needing to lug around the tablet will save space in their backpacks. Though he questions the claim that it¡¯s less fragile than the tablet, that thing had been built like a brick, somehow surviving even the fall into the tunnels.


    ¡°So what¡¯s the plan?¡± Sen asks after having his fill of playing with the hologram that seems to deform around his finger.


    ¡°Today? Shopping, you need clothes. After that, we can finally go properly hunting again.¡± Lynna seems to have a feral expression on her face, though Sen isn¡¯t sure if it¡¯s for the shopping, the hunting, or the teasing she¡¯s going to putting Sen through soon.

 Chapter 71: Height

    As they get into the gravity car that apparently isn¡¯t a rental, but owned by Alice, Sen decides to curtail any teasing by Lynna to learn about something that is worrying him.


    ¡°Are you ok Jennifer?¡±


    She¡¯d seen her parents killed in front of her, and that had only happened after they had betrayed the group. Even if they were only trying to get a good life for themselves and Jennifer, Sen doesn¡¯t want to imagine what she¡¯s going through.


    Jennifer¡¯s smile cracks, and turns to a mixture of grief and rage.


    ¡°I¡¯m ok¡­ But I¡¯m going to get back at Alliance.¡± Her voice doesn¡¯t inspire any confidence in the being ok part.


    Sen nods, he can understand the need for revenge. He¡¯d ended up killing the person who had imprisoned him, and while it hadn¡¯t made him feel any better about what had happened, people like that simply shouldn¡¯t be allowed to continue tormenting people.


    The group goes a bit silent, before Lynna ends up cracking under the pressure and finally going to tease Sen.


    ¡°So have fun last night?¡± Her smile is like that of a cheshire cat.


    Sen shrinks a little. ¡°I¡­ Don¡¯t even remember most of last night.¡±


    Alice looks to him with a forlorn expression. ¡°You don¡¯t remember? But we..¡±


    She¡¯s cut off by Xue smacking the back of her head. ¡°Nothing happened. You ended up passing out pretty early.¡±


    Alice pouts. Lynna continues to make insinuations about the things he may have done during the car ride, but eventually Sen is saved by the gravity car arriving at the top of a parking garage structure. They end up parking on the top of it, which is apparently designated for gravity vehicles.


    They all pile out of the car, and it¡¯s time for one of Sen¡¯s least favorite pastimes, shopping. Even when he¡¯s the one being shopped for, he¡¯s not a fan of it. The clothing he¡¯s shoved into fits him much better than what he normally bothers to wear, and the only clothes he¡¯s interested in are the clothes he¡¯ll be wearing while hunting.


    For hunting, he settles on a jacket made from the leather of a C ranked monster, which supposedly will stop blows under that rank, and reduce the damage of C rated blows. The pants are woven from some plant fibers that, while not as tough as the jacket, won¡¯t be pierced by any casual blow. His shirt is nothing special, just a plain t-shirt, but it¡¯s softer than anything Sen has worn before.


    ¡°Should we start collecting monster materials? It could save us a lot of money having the leather and letting them make clothing out of it.¡±


    Alice shakes her head. ¡°I¡¯m not lacking money. Once we reach A rank we shall need to collect materials though, A rank gear is very hard to find and most A level alloys require certain monster materials to be included in the metal to facilitate the smithing process. Anything beneath that, money will solve.¡±


    Sen nods, but feels a little guilty relying on Alice for everything. Everyone is being supported by her, and it rankles. At least in his past life, he¡¯d been supported because he was working for her, even if she¡¯d wanted more than that. This life, his parents only have a job due to the benevolence of her family.


    There¡¯s nothing he can do about it unless he wants to start renting his own place, but that would simply slow down his grinding, and he doubts the girls would want to move out of the penthouse.


    As they walk to get some coffee drinks to take a short break, Sen senses something odd with the sense for the wind he¡¯s unconsciously using at this point. The man in front of them is tightly holding a knife inside of his jacket. Sen is instantly put on guard as the man¡¯s eyes flick to the group.


    The second the man goes to take his knife out of his jacket, going to stab at Alice, Sen steps forward, knocking his hand off course, and swings in with a hook towards the man¡¯s jaw. The hook connects, and the man instantly drops. Sen is worried he may have killed him, until he hears a groan from the man lying on the ground. Apparently he isn¡¯t as high a rank as Sen is.


    Sen goes to restrain him until the police force get there, when he picks up two more people coming from behind. Sen wants to let out a sigh, but doesn¡¯t have the time. Why did he have to leave his sword back at the apartment?


    He¡¯s able to knock down both of them just as they draw their knives from their pockets, and the group is giving him funny looks. They¡¯ve grouped up facing outwards, but haven¡¯t been able to pick up who the attackers are.


    With Sen sensing no one else nearby trying to hide a weapon for a surprise attack, Sen drags the two people over to the first he¡¯s knocked out, and piles them together, holding on to one of their knives to use as a threat.


    It isn¡¯t long until the police arrive, and they leave without much fanfare, simply taking away the men after questioning them with a small array that shows if the speaker is truthful. The men who attacked them refuse to say anything, and they¡¯re dragged away.


    ¡°Does this happen often?¡±Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.


    Alice shrugs. ¡°It hasn¡¯t happened in a while. My parents do have quite a few enemies.¡±


    Sen looks to her. It seems he¡¯ll be acting as a bodyguard in both of his lives. He makes a mental note to bring around a small dagger for the future, as his large sword takes too long to draw when suddenly attacked.


    ¡°How did you know what was going to happen?¡± Julie asks.


    ¡°There wasn¡¯t any light in the tunnels, I had to sense where things were with the wind. It¡¯s become pretty much second nature to me at this point.¡±


    Lynna looks at him. ¡°So you can basically sense everything around you? What kind of underwear is Xue wearing?¡±


    Sen glares at her. He can probably find out if he pays more attention to it, but he¡¯s not going to, even if he¡¯s tempted to now. He¡¯s also not going to say that he can.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Lynna gives him a stare saying she doesn¡¯t believe him. Sen feigns innocence, and eventually she stops looking at him. The group goes back to getting their coffee drinks, Sen getting a spicy tea, and they enjoy them for a while before getting back to shopping.


    This time they¡¯re looking for casual clothes, and Sen is forced into more outfits than he¡¯d owned in both of his lives put together. Eventually, the girls get tired of playing dress up doll with him, and he shambles his way back outside. The clothes will be delivered for them, which he¡¯s thankful for. There¡¯s no way he could carry the pile that had been bought.


    He pulls up the holographic screen on his bracelet, and looks at the pitiful number of credits he has. He¡¯d insisted he be the one to pay for everything, and he¡¯s almost completely cleaned out now. Even with the credits he¡¯d had on his tablet being transferred to his bracelet he¡¯s practically broke. He¡¯s surprised that he was able to get the credits from his tablet at all, but isn¡¯t going to complain. It¡¯s a good thing that they¡¯re going hunting the next day.


    Once they get back, Sen sees the girls still haven¡¯t stopped their habit of watching dramas, and Sen ends up reading up on all of the novels he hadn¡¯t been able to read while he was trapped in the cave with no signal.


    The next day dawns, this time Sen in one of the multitude of guest rooms, and Sen is greeted by a table already set for breakfast. It clearly wasn¡¯t cooked up by any of the girls judging by the large spread. He sits down, and has some of the hashbrowns and scallion pancakes after saying hello to Alice.


    ¡°My parents shall be coming over to meet you today before we go hunting.¡±


    Sen turns pale. He¡¯s going to be meeting two A rank hunters, who know their daughter likes him, but he currently has a different woman as his girlfriend. He¡¯s mentally panicking a bit as he nods.


    ¡°I¡¯m excited to meet some A rank hunters.¡±


    Alice pouts. ¡°You should be saying you¡¯re nervous to meet your in-laws.¡±


    Sen¡¯s look of loss is interrupted by Xue entering the kitchen with a glare at Alice. She sits down next to Sen, who had very pointedly sat across from Alice, feeling uncomfortable even sharing a table with his lady.


    Sen ends up looking at the hologram from his bracelet, trying to figure out the major differences between the UFoH and the Allied Worlds. The rest of the girls file from their rooms after each other, each of them grabbing whatever looks appetizing to them from the vast variety in the middle of the massive dining room.


    Everyone has mostly finished up when the door opens, and a short man with a very lean look, blond hair and blue eyes comes in, along with a woman taller than him sporting light brown hair and eyes.


    ¡°These are my parents, Leo and Isabella. Mother, Father, this is Damien, though in this life he¡¯s Sen.¡±


    ¡°An honor to meet you.¡± Sen gives a short bow.


    ¡°So you¡¯re that dense idiot.¡±


    Sen gets the feeling that Isabella doesn¡¯t think too well of him. She looks him up and down.


    ¡°You don¡¯t seem to be too useless though. We¡¯ll have to spar sometime.¡±


    Sen gives a nod. He has no clue how swordsmanship had evolved outside of Alpha. None of the people he¡¯s fought in the fifth dimension are more than simply competent with their weapons, and Alice still uses the same style she used in her past life.


    The swordsmanship on Alpha hasn¡¯t evolved much from what it used to be, as they never found the fifth dimension, and so see swordsmanship as nothing but sport. That will change in the future, but for now he¡¯ll continue to use his swordsmanship from another life.


    Alice¡¯s father looks him over, giving him a very hard look that Sen finds intensely uncomfortable. He simply hopes that they¡¯re not too informed of the current situation. His hopes are soon dashed.


    ¡°Is my daughter not good enough for you?¡±


    Sen withers. It¡¯s not that she¡¯s not good enough, if anything, it¡¯s the opposite, but he¡¯s in a relationship. Even if he isn¡¯t, he still has a hard time accepting anything that involves his lady and him. Eventually, he decides to go with that.


    ¡°If anything, she¡¯s too good for me sir.¡±


    Alice looks at him, a terribly hurt expression on her face, and Sen realizes that his comment has practically placed her in the same position he¡¯d put her in in his past life. She¡¯d been wanting for him to be beside her, not to stand above him. Alice quickly makes her way out of the room, and Sen also excuses himself, going into the bathroom and leaning back against the wall as he sits down.


    It seems all he¡¯s done for his lady in both lives is to disappoint her. She¡¯d been the one to save his life, and all he¡¯s doing is crushing her hopes. What can he do though? He¡¯s as unwilling to hurt Xue as he is to hurt his lady.


    He simply sits there at a loss until Lynna comes and knocks on the door for him.


    ¡°Sen¡­¡± She trails off before seemingly changing topics. ¡°We need to go hunting, get ready.¡±


    Sen listens to her footsteps trail off, and slowly sits up, hopping in the shower in the hopes that it will wash away some of his troubles. His hopes are dashed, even more lost by the end of the shower than he was at the beginning. Even the ridiculously nice shower is unable to wash away problems of the heart.


    By the time he gets out and dressed, everyone else has gotten their hunting clothing on, and ready to go. Sen notes Alice¡¯s red eyes, looking at her in guilt, but unable to say anything. He looks away to see Xue has a similar worried expression on her face. Apparently their dislike of each other has faded with the time spent together. His supposed death likely affected their relationship as well. The walk to the gravity car is silent. Sen closes his eyes and simply sees with the wind to try and blank out some of his mind once they sit down.


    For once, neither Alice nor Xue try to cling to him during the car ride, and Sen keeps his eyes closed for much of it, not wanting to see the expressions on the girls. As they arrive at the hunting ground, a sprawling plain with grass up to Sen¡¯s chest, they all exit the car and draw their weapons. Lynna and Julie look a bit annoyed, the grass only a hand¡¯s length taller than the two. Julie and Lynna had been the only ones to talk during the car ride, but even with the awkward mood, everyone syncs up for the fights to come.


    The group advances, and the first monster is spotted by Sen in the grass with his sense for the air. Sen rushes forward into a small clearing, and is surprised by the fact that the first to follow up is Jennifer. The both of them slam their swords into the sheep looking monster that, like all monsters, has very sharp teeth.


    Both of their swords barely cut into it, the blows slowed by the impressively tough fluffy fur. Sen grimaces as the rest of the group catches up, and the group takes turns grabbing its attention for the others to strike at it.


    The monster is very small for a C tier, but is impressively fast with swinging around its curling horns. Sen repeatedly slams his sword into it, but even empowered by Weight of the Mountain and body strengthening, it barely cuts in. The monster is spending a lot of time focused on Julie¡¯s images, but it¡¯s damn hard to hurt. It doesn¡¯t take long for Sen to notice that all the girls are stabbing rather than slashing, and when he goes to copy them, his blade has much less trouble getting past the pseudo-wool. He instantly tries to get his head back on straight. He needs to focus for the hunt.


    They¡¯re wounding it at a good pace, but Jennifer seems to want blood, and uses the skill that creates an image of an icicle over her sword before slamming it home into the monster¡¯s neck. As she rips it out, blood starts to pour quickly out of the sheep thing. It only takes a few more moments for it to bleed it out, and the group goes to hunt for the next one after removing its crystal.


    The rest of the day is filled with hunting that Sen feels is terribly therapeutic. Eventually, they head back to the gravity car, and set it up for sleeping, everyone passing out quite quickly once they¡¯ve cleaned and eaten.

 Chapter 72: Foreboding

    Sen wakes in the morning realizing that he needs to stop hiding from the girls. He lets out a quiet sigh, waiting a bit for the others to wake up. The only other one awake is Alice, and she¡¯s playing with the hologram coming out of her bracelet.


    Sen copies her, reading some novels while he waits for the rest of the group to get up. He finds it interesting that the science fiction works of humanity developing a warp drive and meeting other alien races is his reality at this point, but enjoys the stories regardless.


    Once everyone is up, he decides to get some information about that.


    ¡°Alice? Why haven¡¯t I seen any aliens? I thought the allied worlds had alien races.¡±


    She looks at him, looking like she¡¯s trying to not look sad and failing. ¡°Sylar is only connected to the world Epsus, a human colony world. Not that the aliens are much different anyway.¡±


    Sen creases his eyebrows. ¡°What do you mean not that different?¡±


    Alice shifts uncomfortably, biting her lip. ¡°From what we know, life was seeded across the universe. Evolution of most sentient species was guided by what amount to nanomachines made of pure energy from the fifth dimension in order to manufacture most races. While small differences appear due to random chance, almost all races are only very slightly different.¡±


    Sen gapes. There goes all the religious theories that claim that a god was the one to guide evolution. Well, unless this god decided to use nanomachines to do so.


    ¡°So are there elves?¡± Sen gets a bit excited at this.


    Alice looks at him in a judging manner. ¡°There are a couple races with pointed ears, but the only one that¡¯s similar to the stereotypical fantasy elf is one of the most violent races in the galaxy.¡±


    Sen quickly gets the name of the race, which is Blad. Sen thinks that it has to be simply someone having slightly altered the word blood, but passes on thinking of the connotations. He quickly puts the name into a search engine, but rather than the regal looking elves he expects he¡¯s met with videos from various movies and documentaries about how bloodthirsty they are, and how they live for combat.


    It seems that they¡¯ve continued to use cold weapons for long after they¡¯d developed hot ones, simply as ritual combat is seen as a good thing in their culture. They¡¯d been holding duels with cold weapons since they first had a civilization, and Sen does not want to know what kind of warriors that produces.


    Apparently, their population isn¡¯t too high due to not being able to expand to other worlds until the past thousand years or so, or they would be a much more powerful group. They have the highest percentage of high rank hunters of any of the races, five percent of them reaching A rank, with twenty percent of their population hunting in the fifth dimension. That¡¯s significantly more than the fifteen percent of humans that enter the fifth dimension.


    Sen opens up a few videos on the ritual combat that the Blad go through, and is astounded. He considers himself to be very good at fighting with a sword, but he¡¯s currently watching a video on two A rank hunters, as the duels between S rank hunters don¡¯t allow any recording devices.


    Even with these not being the Blad¡¯s greatest fighters, Sen feels that at his best he would only be able to match up with them in pure swordsmanship. They seem to have an instinctive knowledge of when and where to strike, cutting in with quick blows, which always seem to be at the perfect angle to get around their opponent¡¯s shield.


    The blows are repeatedly blocked, as perfectly placed and fast as they are. Sen is even more horrified when he sees how much the fight is slowed down. Yes, A rank is above him, but he¡¯s watching at half speed, and they¡¯re still moving faster than him.


    He watches as one of them finally gets a light cut onto the shoulder of the other, and they stop, dropping their swords and clasping their sword arms together before the video ends. He leans back with a sigh. He¡¯d lose against either of them in a straight fight assuming they had equal stats, the two handed sword he¡¯s using not as useful against other people as a sword and shield.


    One in four of their population that enters the fifth dimension reaches A rank. Sen shakes his head. After looking at some other stats, A rank hunters for humanity are only point one percent of the population. Considering just over fifteen percent hunt in the fifth dimension, humanity is honestly disappointing.


    The only benefit humanity has is that they¡¯re the largest population of any of the alien races, having spread to the stars millenia before them, even having introduced many worlds to the fifth dimension. Even with the lack of skilled hunters per person, the UFoH outnumber the Blad three to one in A rank hunters, while the human portion of the Allied Worlds has a similar amount of hunters compared to the Blad.


    It¡¯s only been in the past two centuries that humanity has split into two, the Allied worlds, who support other races, and the UFoH, which thinks them beneath them, to be used as slave labor. Sen wonders what will happen to those on Alpha. While they¡¯re not technically aliens, in his experience, people like Alliance were doing nothing but trying to suppress people who live there. Alpha would either have to cave, or hope that the Allied Worlds sees enough in them to fight for them.


    By this time, everyone is up and eating breakfast, and Sen joins them. Luckily, this super sized gravity car, which Alice owns in addition to her smaller gravity car they¡¯d used to get around the city, has a kitchen. It¡¯s a small kitchen, but a kitchen nonetheless. Lynna must have been the one to make the chicken ginger congee, and everyone enjoys it, focusing on the food rather than talking.This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it


    Once they¡¯ve finished their meals, they head out to do some more hunting. They have a fruitful day, finding plenty more of those sheep monsters, which Sen learns are called ironwool sheep. They also find a very long, but surprisingly skinny snake that can actually blend into its surroundings somehow.


    The first time they run into it, Sen readies his sword and charges at the thing he feels with his wind sense, and as he slashes down into it, no one has followed him. As the blade bites into the rather skinny monster, it twists and goes to wrap around him, its color that was blended perfectly into its surroundings changing to an angry red.


    Sen quickly Gale Steps back, and notes that only now is the rest of the group joining him. Apparently only he had been able to tell where the snake is. The rest of the group starts chopping into it, and it dies in just a few moments, extremely fragile for a rank C monster.


    ¡°Well that was easy,¡± Lynna remarks.


    ¡°It¡¯s an ambush predator. It could have caused us trouble if Sen hadn¡¯t noticed it. There¡¯s not supposed to be chameleon snakes here though, that¡¯s odd¡­¡± Julie trails off towards the end, pulling up her holographic screen to look something  up.


    She quickly finds news that another party had gone missing in the area, and Sen wonders if they¡¯d run into a nest of the snakes or something. Sen gets a bit of a frown at that thought. People disappearing is never a good thing. On the other hand, they may be able to benefit from this. While monster nests, the entrances to the underdark, are completely filled with tunnels and practically infinite monsters, if it¡¯s a chameleon snake nest, they may be able to go hunting there.


    The chameleon snakes are easily the weakest C class monster Sen has fought. He¡¯s quite sure that anyone in the group could easily handle one alone. If they manage to find the nest, they stand to gain a massive amount of C rank crystals in one fell swoop.


    The rest of the week is spent hunting. They start finding more and more chameleon snakes, and the girls start to surround themselves with a layer of mist around five meters away from themselves to sense any that get nearby. They have a hard time for the first few days, but quickly pick it up, though their sense isn¡¯t nearly so detailed as Sen¡¯s. Alice and Julie with their fire body enhancement skills are stuck in the center, which Alice complains about a few times.


    Alice finally gets to the point where she¡¯ll talk to Sen normally again, but she avoids clinging to him, which Sen is both thankful for, and a bit sad at. Sen blanks out for a bit, he should not be sad that Alice is not clinging on him. He already has Xue, and Alice is his lady.


    He gets rid of the distracting thoughts as they all get back in the gravity car and start flying back towards the massive penthouse they¡¯re staying in. Once they arrive, Sen and Lynna end up being the two who don¡¯t get access to one of the bathrooms immediately, and Lynna decides to berate him about his insensitivity now she finally has him alone.


    ¡°So you know Alice hates the fact that she was above you her entire previous life. Why did you have to bring it up in this one?¡±


    Sen decides to go with a different track. ¡°I already have Xue, I can¡¯t be leading her on.¡± He winces a bit internally at that. He¡¯s quite sure he feels worse about how he has to treat his lady than anyone else knows.


    Lynna looks nervous for a bit, and opens her mouth as if to say something, but decides against it.


    ¡°Well she¡¯s part of our team. We need to stick together, let alone the fact that our parents are basically working for her parents. If you need to play along, just play along. Just don¡¯t go too far with it.¡±


    Sen stares at her. Even if their parents are working for Alice¡¯s, they would easily be able to live off the crystals that Sen and Lynna send back to them. Admittedly, both of them are workaholics, and they would probably go a bit crazy, but they don¡¯t absolutely have to do this.


    Sen sighs. It¡¯s probably best to listen to his sister. She always ends up being right in the end. Always. He isn¡¯t sure what her end goal is, but he¡¯ll trust her. He nods, and Lynna smiles, patting his head like he¡¯s still a little kid. He¡¯d been annoyed by the gesture when she¡¯d used it a long time ago, but by now he simply appreciates the show of affection.


    Eventually, Sen gets his chance in the shower, and he enjoys it immensely. Once he¡¯s groomed and ready to leave the shower¡¯s sweet embrace, he heads back out to the sitting room. Everyone is on a seat or a couch, and Sen goes to sit next to Xue, who is on a couch.


    Alice exits the bathroom, apparently the last one out even though she¡¯d been the first one in, and she nervously goes to sit next to Sen. He doesn¡¯t encourage her, but doesn¡¯t shy away as she nervously sits there.


    The rest of the day is spent with most of the group watching some sort of drama. Sen gets a bit distracted from his reading, wincing as the love triangle hits a little too close to home. The entire day is spent simply relaxing, everyone exhausted from their full week of hunting.


    They all go to bed, and Sen gives Xue a kiss goodnight, and not hesitating as Alice gives him a hug goodnight. Sen¡¯s woken from his sleep far too early by a whining sound from his bracelet, and he turns it on to see what on Alpha is causing that annoying noise.


    Pulling it up, he simply stares for a while. The UFoH is attacking hunting parties from Sylar, the city Sen is currently staying in. While ostensibly, the UFoH and the Allied Worlds are at war, it¡¯s been limited to simple skirmishes for the past few decades, and those are usually done in space, not fights in the fifth dimension. The last large fight in the fifth dimension had been a few years ago.


    Sen instantly gets out of bed and heads to the sitting room, hoping the rest of the group will come and join him. He¡¯s surprised to see that Alice is the first person out, and she¡¯s looking terribly disheveled. She¡¯s actually brought out a brush, and hands it to Sen, who automatically starts to work through her hair, something he¡¯d done countless times in his past life.


    Xue comes in and sits next to Sen, not saying anything about him brushing Alice¡¯s long hair, but the second her hair is no longer a mess, she stares at Alice until she gives up her spot and takes her place. Sen repeats the gesture for Xue as the rest of the group files in.


    ¡°What do we do?¡± Sen¡¯s the one to ask.


    Rather than Lynna being the one to take charge, it¡¯s Jennifer that speaks up. ¡°Fight back. Alliance is the one leading them.¡± Jennifer¡¯s tone is soaked in obvious bloodlust.


    Sen isn¡¯t sure what to say. He¡¯s been soaked in blood, but he doesn¡¯t want any of the others to know what it¡¯s like. On the other hand, he¡¯s not willing to get in between Jennifer and her vengeance. It¡¯s something you need to do yourself, even if you only feel empty when it¡¯s completed.


    Lynna looks at her in worry. ¡°But are we up for fighting other humans? I know Sen is, but I don¡¯t know about the rest of us.¡±


    ¡°I shall be fine with it. My hands may not be as soaked in blood as Sen¡¯s, but I¡¯ve never shied away from what needs to be done,¡± Alice joins in.


    Julie looks torn. ¡°I can use my arrays, but I don¡¯t think I could actually kill another person¡­¡±


    Julie has already dipped her fingers into blood, but having her array kill someone, and killing them herself are two completely different things.


    ¡°I¡¯m willing to fight,¡± Xue seems to be determined.


    Lynna takes a deep breath. ¡°It seems we¡¯re going to find out what some real life PvP is like.¡± She doesn¡¯t look nearly so confident as she sounds, and the group looks to each other.


    ¡°If we¡¯re going to be fighting, let¡¯s get some sleep first. We need to get as much rest as we can,¡± Sen shares his experience with the others, but he doubts any of them will get much rest for what remains of the night.


    Sen heads to bed, and with his mind in battle preparation mode, he falls asleep nearly instantly, knowing that he¡¯s going to be needing as much rest as he can get.

 Chapter 73: Blood

    Sen wakes up to his alarm like usual, and goes out to the dining room to see everyone already awake. Alice is unsurprising, she¡¯s always up before him, but the rest of the girls seem like they didn¡¯t get any sleep after their decision the night before. Sen lets out a sigh, they¡¯re not like him, used to sleeping when they need to. Luckily, the stat increases from the crystals also account for stamina, so the lack of sleep won¡¯t affect them quite the same way it would an average human.


    Sen looks to his bracelet, and pops up the hologram, clicking the link that had been sent along with the alert on what hunters should be doing. Anyone willing to join the fight is being told to gather outside the city with the military. Sen¡¯s surprised that they¡¯re not going to be waiting a week or so before mobilizing, but then again, the military presence in the city is likely already prepared for situations such as this.


    The group all looks to each other before finishing their meal, getting dressed in their hunting gear, and heading out of the apartment to the gravity car. They decide to take the large one, as they¡¯re likely going to want the bathrooms and mini kitchen as they¡¯ll likely be out for quite a while.


    Once they pile in, Xue holds Sen¡¯s hand very tightly the entire ride, Alice sitting peacefully to his other side, and all the rest sitting in their seats, thinking about what they¡¯re going to be doing. Lynna seems to be looking the worst, clearly just wanting to support the group and not fight. Sen makes a mental note to pay her special attention as they fight, as she will definitely be fighting below what she should be capable of.


    It only takes them a ten minute flight to get there, and the group lands in a massive flattened area alongside a multitude of various sized gravity cars. As they get out, a woman with a tablet in a crisp military suit seemingly made of the same material that Sen¡¯s pants are made of comes up to them.


    ¡°Scan your bracelets here please.¡± She holds out the tablet.


    Everyone swipes their bracelet over the tablet, and she nods. ¡°All C rank I see. You wouldn¡¯t believe the amount of E ranks that want to join, but we¡¯re looking to push back the UFoH with a minimum loss of life, so we¡¯re not allowing anyone below D rank.¡±


    ¡°What is the situation?¡± Alice asks.


    ¡°We¡¯re both new cities, so neither of us have any A rank hunters, but both of us have just over a hundred B rank fighters. As for C rank, they outnumber us by around fifty. In D rank we actually outnumber them by around a thousand, and most C ranks can fall to a good team of D rank soldiers, so we should have an advantage. If we had more groups of hunters like you willing to join, we would outnumber them in C rank as well, but most hunters aren¡¯t willing to join for the rewards we offer.¡± She gets a twist on her face. ¡°Mercenaries.¡±


    Sen hadn¡¯t realized there was such a split between the military and hunters, but figures it isn¡¯t too surprising. He¡¯s curious about the reward, and pulls up the hologram from his bracelet to see that everyone who participates will be earning ten crystals of their own rank. While it isn¡¯t a massive amount, it¡¯s definitely a plus. They¡¯ll also be earning a portion of any crystals used to ransom back anyone they capture.


    A good half of the population for both of the cities he¡¯s been to are military. It makes sense to Sen, as having soldiers with enhanced reaction times, tougher bodies, and faster speeds is an advantage even out of the fifth dimension, where they use hot weapons as much as cold. A space fighter pilot who can handle more G¡¯s and react faster than the opponent is almost always going to beat someone who hasn¡¯t enhanced themselves.


    They¡¯re also there to handle the large masses of monsters which appear when a new large entrance to the underdark appears. While most of the time, it will only be a small entrance, and the monster population will increase by a bit, occasionally a large one will open, thousands of monsters coming out in too large of groups for hunters to handle. If multiple entrances start appearing, the military will only hold out for the time it takes to evacuate. If a few entrances open, more will likely follow.


    The group is lead to a larger group of other C rank hunters by the woman, and Sen is surprised how many people there are considering that the woman had complained about most hunters not participating.


    Everyone is grouped up into parties, only a few interacting with each other, everyone with a nervous look on their face, excluding the few with an excited one. Sen is actually trying to hide his excitement. It¡¯s been a long time since he¡¯s fought a life and death battle with other humans, and he can¡¯t wait for it. It¡¯s not that he¡¯s excited to kill, but testing himself, risking his life in a fight, it just makes him feel alive.


    Lynna, Julie, and Xue are all shifting uncomfortably, with worried expressions on their face. Alice on the other hand, looks like this is just a normal day for her. Jennifer has a worrying expression on her, face, looking enraged.


    They stand around for a while, before Lynna decides to break the silence.


    ¡°Alice, Sen, is this really so normal for you? This is going to be a massive battle.¡±


    Sen shrugs.


    ¡°Battle is nothing new to me,¡± Alice explains.


    Lynna looks at her. She¡¯d known that Alice has seen blood in her past life, but it hadn¡¯t really sunk in how different times had been back then. Lynna goes quiet, and it isn¡¯t long until the group of women Sen had seen with Alice when they first met shows up.


    The woman who had been quite protective of Alice gives Sen a baleful glare, which he returns with a plain look.


    ¡°What is it you think you¡¯re doing?¡± Alice questions the woman in the lead.


    ¡°Keeping you safe Miss. Your parents aren¡¯t about to let you go into a large scale fight without some protection.¡±


    ¡°I have more than enough protection, thank you.¡± Alice goes to stand by Sen, and the leading woman glares at him once again. ¡°I shall allow you to come, however, I expect you to do your utmost to protect the entire group. I can handle myself.¡±


    The woman gives a reluctant nod, and Sen is quite certain she¡¯s not going to pay the rest of the group nearly so much attention as she¡¯d pay to Alice. He definitely doesn¡¯t mind having more backup though. The bodyguards start to stand in a circle around Alice, though she stays next to Sen, not letting the guards get between him and her.


    The newcomers don¡¯t talk much, simply speaking in low tones to each other. Eventually, everyone goes silent at once, even though Sen can see their mouths moving. He assumes it¡¯s some sort of array. Sen hears a loud cough from a direction in front of him, clearly magnified by either some kind of speaker, or an unusual array.


    ¡°I would like to thank all the hunters who have chosen to support our city. We shall be departing soon, and it will be a few days march from there to where we expect the field of battle to be held. We shall not risk going within range of their railguns, and they should be doing the same, so it will be purely a battle of you soldiers and hunters. Fight to your utmost, and keep our people safe from the tyranny of the United Federation of Humanity¡¯s sickening raiding practices. The rallying point shall be sent to your communicators. May lady luck favor you.¡±


    Sen realizes that discussion has broken out again, the array keeping them silent gone.


    ¡°Why are we going to be walking much of the way to the field of battle? Why not just drop gravity cars right next to them when they¡¯re sleeping?¡± Sen asks.Stolen novel; please report.


    Julie looks at him. ¡°Remember those small balls that Alice threw at the gravity cars? There¡¯s large scale versions of those arrays. Anything coming within a few miles will simply fall from the sky. We¡¯ll likely be loaded into some ground vehicles and brought close, but out of range of any arrays that would disable them.¡±


    Sen winces, that¡¯s definitely not a good idea then. Sen pulls up the rallying point, to see that it¡¯s about a quarter of the way to the UFoH city that Sen had never bothered to get the name of. The group files into the gravity car, and they¡¯re soon flying to the site.


    ¡°So why the large scale battle rather than just returning a few raiding in kind?¡± Sen¡¯s honestly quite clueless as to how this works in this life.


    ¡°The battles are more for gaining prisoners of war, which are traded back for agreements such as no raiding. Of course a good portion of the prisoners are simply traded back for crystals. While we could just raid back a few groups, it would reflect poorly upon the Allied Worlds. Either way, it would end with a larger scale battle. The leader of Sylar simply wanted to skip all the foreplay it seems.¡± Alice¡¯s bodyguard explains in a surprisingly non patronizing tone.


    ¡°Why place the cities so close to each other if there will be regular fights?¡±


    The bodyguard looks to him, clearly regretting answering the previous question. ¡°Each side always claims to be the one to have discovered a good leveling area first. Unless it¡¯s particularly bad area, spies from the other side will have started setting up a city for the other side the second a city starts going up. There¡¯s even a few companies from the two sides that work with each other, just happening to build up cities next to each other before selling them to their respective sides. While there are a few places that only have one side, they¡¯re extremely rare. Unless an A rank hunting area is discovered, they¡¯ll both just stay next to each other to scout each other out.¡±


    Sen finds that a bit odd, until he realizes that the two groups are focused on limiting each other¡¯s growth as much as expanding. He wonders for a bit why they had placed the hunters from Alpha somewhere they are likely to get into a conflict, not realizing he¡¯s been speaking out loud until he gets an answer.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like the UFoH could hide an entire planet being discovered. They¡¯d rather get rid of the divisive groups rather than hold on to them. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if battles like this are happening at most of the other cities Alpha hunters have been sent to. This way they can have them ¡®taken unjustly by the cruel Allied Worlds¡¯. They send off the groups they¡¯re unsure of to be taken as prisoners or killed, and use that as propaganda for those that remain. The people from Alpha will be at the very front of the lines. It¡¯s not like the prisoners will have any useful intelligence, and the Allied Worlds won¡¯t be able to trust them either. How would they know they¡¯re not spies? The only reason your group isn¡¯t under constant watch is because of Miss Alice. Both sides would much prefer removing potential saboteurs over having a few new low rank hunters.¡±


    Sen goes quiet. So it¡¯s just another way to suppress Alpha after all.


    Once they arrive, they hop out, and the hunters are organized as well at they can be before they start heading to the field of battle. They¡¯re all loaded into massive armored vehicles that had been waiting for them there, and are driven quite quickly most of the way to the field of battle.


    That point is nothing special, simply a shallow valley in between two very gradual hills. They soon arrive at the battlefield, after marching around half a day after they exit the armored vehicles, and Sen finds it interesting that the hunters are basically kept separate from the military. They¡¯ve all been given a tent and food supplies before they left the armored vehicles, and so they set up their own little campsite while waiting on the opposing army to arrive.


    The next day dawns, and the army from the UFoH is soon cresting the rather small hill, lining up in orderly lines for the military, and a loose mass of hunters. Sen is herded with the rest of the group and Alice¡¯s bodyguards along with the other hunters, and he finds it interesting that the hunters are placed on the same side by both of the armies, left to fight each other until one of the groups wins and goes to help the military. All of them are wearing armbands passed out by the military to identify which side someone is on.


    They stand there for a while, before the two armies of soldiers start to march forward, their shields held before them. Sen thinks it¡¯s a bit disappointing that neither side has any archers, but decides to figure out why later.


    The two armies pause when there¡¯s only a hundred meters between them, until at some sort of signal Sen doesn¡¯t notice, they both start marching forwards again.


    The hunters are much more disorderly, charging at each other rather than forming the orderly lines the militaries have. Sen and his group hang back a little at the lead of Sen, not wanting to get caught in the early crush of bodies that is always a random bloodbath.


    They join in once the battle has started to spread out a bit, and Sen meets his first opponent, a short man with a spear. The man thrusts at Sen, and he notes that he¡¯s only a D rank at best. He¡¯s starting to wonder if the UFoH has allowed E rank hunters join in order to pad their numbers, and hesitates a moment before lopping off his opponent''s head, resting his blade at the man''s neck. The man quickly drops his weapon, and Sen has one of the bodyguards escort him to the point where the prisoners are to be dropped off. Sen doesn¡¯t know everyone form Alpha, anyone here could be from his world.


    He turns, looking for a more interesting target, and sees one person completely suppressing a D rank hunter, having already left many cuts along his arms. Sen attacks from the side, but he¡¯s noticed, which Sen doesn¡¯t mind at all, the D rank hunter he¡¯d gone in to help having retreated and taken out a bottle, likely a healing salve or potion.


    Sen clashes blades with the C rank enemy, and after a few switches between offence and defense, cuts off the man¡¯s sword arm. His sense for the wind soon shows him that Lynna is having trouble, not because she¡¯s outmatched, but because she¡¯s so hesitant about harming her C rank opponent. Sen leaves the disabled man, not having time to take him to where they were told to bring the people who surrender. Arms can be regrown or reattached quite easily these days, but he¡¯ll be out of the fight.


    Sen quickly takes over as he notices multiple images of Julie joining in on the fight, not showing up to his sense for the wind except for their swords of energy. He comes to the side of the man Lynna is fighting, and thrusts in before he¡¯s noticed, his sword plunging into the man¡¯s stomach, just underneath the ribs. The man screams as Sen tears his sword out from the front, and Lynna looks ill at the gory sight, even though the game Fifth Dimension should have prepared her for the gore. Sen¡¯s not going to hold his blows if his family is in danger, no matter if they¡¯re from his planet.


    Sen checks on the others, and notes the Jennifer is practically fighting in a frenzy, having taken a few wounds, but actually killed two people, and Julie is hiding at the back putting up more and more arrays of images. Sen can see a few array masters on each side, but Julie has more images than any other two array users combined, though she seems to be struggling to control all of the images in the chaos.


    Alice is practically walking through the fight, her clothes mostly clear of blood, but Lynna is still fighting very passively, defending herself, but hesitating before every strike. Xue is fighting similar to in game, though she¡¯s avoiding fatal strikes, simply wounding her opponents enough to force them to surrender. She¡¯s the one to leave the fight the most often, escorting her prisoners with a couple of Alice¡¯s bodyguards to the drop off point.


    Sen shakes his head. She¡¯s going to end up being the one to make the most money off of ransoms if this continues. If the UFoH will bother ransoming back the people from Alpha. He considers for a moment trying to do the same, but he refuses to leave the battle while everyone else is fighting. If someone needs help, he wants to be there for them.


    He gets back into the fight, hanging near the rest of the group rather than trying to press into the enemy like he would have in his past life, easily handling most of the opponents that come to challenge him. Often he¡¯ll pull a blow at the last moment, convincing them to surrender, and Sen turns them over to one of the bodyguards to handle. He repeatedly goes to help Lynna whenever she faces a competent opponent, her hesitation nearly causing her to lose her hand at one point.


    Sen cuts through the neck of the C rank opponent he¡¯s been fighting with for the past few minutes, a surprisingly good fighter with a sword style similar to those from Alliance, but actually competent. He steps back and gets a good look over the entire battlefield. The soldiers seem to still be fighting rather evenly, both sides having taken a decent amount of casualties. On the other hand, the hunter lines have been a total bloodbath.


    The ground is soaked with blood, squishing with each step, and bodies, limbs, and organs litter the ground. Lynna is looking more and more pale, and eventually Sen steps over to her.


    ¡°Just get back with Julie!¡± He has to shout to be heard over the din of the fighting.


    She shakes her head. She may not be comfortable fighting, but she¡¯s stubborn as hell. If she decides to do something, she¡¯ll do it. Sen looks at her in worry, but has to turn as another opponent comes up to him. He steps back to avoid the sword, then stabs his blade forward, crushing straight through the attempted block, though his sword is sent from his opponent¡¯s chest, to his face. As much as he¡¯s been holding off, he¡¯s not going to avoid killing if they try to attack him as he¡¯s distracted.


    Sen does a little flourish to wipe of his blade a bit after kicking the body back off of his sword, and looks around. The entire area around Sen is clear of enemy combatants, thanks primarily to Alice¡¯s bodyguards, who are very careful to only let her fight with one opponent at a time.


    They battle for a while longer, until Sen realizes he¡¯s running rather low on energy, and he convinces the group to retreat for a while to get some rest, letting some of the fresh hunters to fight in their place. As they exit the blood soaked battlefield, Lynna starts shivering. Sen and Julie both go to her sides, Julie holding her a bit, possibly as much for her own comfort as for Lynna¡¯s. Sen simply stands next to her in support.


    ¡°I killed someone¡­ I didn¡¯t even mean to! I just swung, and he was so slow, and I don¡¯t know what happened!¡± Lynna is definitely not handling this well.


    Xue goes up to her, giving her a hug. Sen had seen her accidentally kill someone as well, but she seems to be handling it much better. Jennifer, on the other hand, seems to still be simmering with rage, hoping that as many of those she¡¯d killed are from Alliance as possible. Even so, she soon heads over, hugging her from the opposite side as Xue.


    Alice walks over to Sen, to her bodyguard¡¯s annoyance. ¡°I can see you¡¯re as comfortable on the battlefield as always.¡±


    Sen looks to Lynna. ¡°I am, but I don¡¯t know if we should have come.¡±


    Alice follow his look, and gets a bit of a sad look on her face. ¡°If they wish to help when the battle for Alpha starts, they¡¯ll have no choice but to learn.¡±


    ¡°The battle will be happening then?¡±


    Alice nods. ¡°My parents were unable to get a specific date, but it shall be within the standard year.¡±


    ¡°What are a few C ranks going to matter?¡± Sen asks self deprecatingly.


    ¡°Get to B rank within that time. At that point, you shall be immune to all but the largest caliber bullets. Not that unenhanced soldiers could track you with their guns at the speeds you can move at.¡±


    Sen looks at her, somehow only having nothing but a small smear of blood on her cheek, and the blood that had run down her sword on her fingers. Sen goes to wipe off the blood, hesitates a moment, then remembers what Lynna had said before continuing the gesture, wiping off the smear of blood on her face after cleaning his fingers on one of the few non bloody portions of his clothing.


    She gives a bright smile, something terribly out of place on this battlefield, and Sen looks away, feeling guilty as he goes to Xue¡¯s side.

 Chapter 74: Battle

    As he reaches Xue¡¯s side, Sen goes to hold her hand, and worries when she flinches a bit before tightly grasping his hand. The girls are all a bit shook up, though the rest of them are mainly just trying to support Lynna. Sen keeps his hand in Xue¡¯s trying to provide a little comfort as he goes to check on Lynna.


    ¡°Lynna, are you going to be ok?¡± He¡¯d offer to leave if he didn¡¯t think they would get in massive trouble with the military. ¡°You want to stay back with Julie?¡±


    Lynna shakes her head. ¡°Well, no. I¡­ I need to do this. Alice has told us what¡¯s going to happen to Alpha. So If we¡­ If I want to help, I need to be able to do this.¡±


    She seems to be slowly collecting herself, and Sen feels a bit of pain in his heart. He wishes he can simply protect his sister, keep her from ever dealing with something like this, but he knows with her personality it is impossible to keep her from doing so. He can never stand in front of her, she¡¯ll simply shove her way to standing beside him.


    He gives her a short hug, letting go of Xue¡¯s hand for a second, before she grabs it back the second it¡¯s available again. He gives Xue a reassuring squeeze of the hand as she does so. She may be the one taking it the best on the surface, but she¡¯s still not comfortable with it.


    Jennifer is having the easiest time killing, but that will only last so long as her anger does. Sen is sure that once she finishes her revenge, she will realize what she¡¯s done. At that point, he simply hopes she doesn¡¯t shatter into pieces. Sen can only hope the group being there for her will be enough.


    Jennifer herself is looking at the fight, rage still etched into her features, clearly wanting to get back into it. The group rests for another half hour, Sen sitting there with Xue leaning on him. Alice flanks his other side, but doesn¡¯t lean on him for support.


    Once they¡¯ve all recovered their energy reserves, they join back in on the fight. At this point, most of the D rank fighters have dropped out, so it becomes much more challenging. The group sticks together, covering each other, everyone giving special care to Lynna, though she seems to be much more stable at this point, having figured out in her head what she needs to do.


    Sen parries his opponent¡¯s blow before removing his opponent¡¯s hand at the wrist and pulling his sword at the last moment before plunging his sword into her heart. She quickly surrenders, and is sent with one of the bodyguards to be a prisoner of war. She¡¯s completely in shock, looking at her removed hand. Sen doesn¡¯t bother spending the time feeling pity. It can be reattached or regrown.


    At this point, both sides are thinned down, mostly from people retreating from wounds or lack of energy rather than dead, but plenty of dead litter the field regardless. Everyone in Sen¡¯s group no longer has an opponent, and they look around to see which group they will be fighting next, when a massive man wielding a two handed battle axe decides that he¡¯s going to try and make the group his prey.


    The man rushes towards them, and everyone is put on guard, realizing the man is B class from his speed. Lynna instinctively takes the front, used to acting as the main tank as images of Julie flank the man. The images go to cut into him, but only leave light scratches that the man simply ignores. Sen is annoyed. Those images have more force behind them than bullets, while being ridiculously sharp, and the man has simply ignores them? B class body enhancement skills are bullshit.


    Lynna doesn¡¯t go to directly block the heavy blow the man gives, his battle axe tearing through the air with ridiculous speed for its size. Her deflection knocks the battle axe off course, but also sends her rolling. Alice steps in at this point with a sharp thrust of a flame empowered sword, but the man simply ignores it, slashing towards her, and Alice is forced to step back, not willing to take a strike when she¡¯s unsure a single blow can even grievously harm him.


    Jennifer is slashing at him from behind at this point, and the man lets out a grunt as her Icicle Thrust stabs a few inches into his back, but simply uses the force of his swing to keep going, spinning with his weapon to force her to back off. Sen sees with a ton of worry that Jennifer doesn¡¯t want to back off, and gets there just in time to interpose his sword between the man¡¯s arms and Jennifer, forcing him to curtail his swing so that he doesn¡¯t lose his hands.


    The man gives Sen a glare, stepping back a bit to put Sen within his weapon¡¯s range, but a flame empowered slash from Alice staggers him as the flame explodes on the man¡¯s back. He snarls and turns to her with a close in chop of his axe, but Sen and Jennifer don¡¯t give him any time to focus, Sen using cutting squall towards the man¡¯s achilles tendon, and Jennifer using the skill that makes an image like a whip of water appear over her sword and slashes towards his neck. One of Alice¡¯s bodyguards makes sure to get in between the swing and Alice, Sen noting that Alice seems a bit exasperated.


    Sen¡¯s sword cleaves through his tendon as the whip of water wraps around his neck, and as the man falls, losing support of one of his feet. The group stays out of range of his wild swinging, coming in for short attacks before backing off as Alice¡¯s group of bodyguards make sure no one comes in to attack them from the back. Not that Sen wouldn¡¯t notice, his sense for the air currently in overdrive.


    Julie¡¯s images are with the bodyguards, dogpiling onto anyone who tries to get close to help the downed man, and eventually Alice gets the final blow with a thrust through his eye, and the group lets out a collective sigh before looking to the battlefield. Sen doesn¡¯t bother mourning the man¡¯s loss. He clearly wasn¡¯t from Alpha from his rank, and he¡¯d been looking to them as easy prey rather than trying to find other B ranks to fight with.


    The group notices a B rank Allied Worlds¡¯ hunter losing against a B ranked hunter from the UFoH, and quickly go to aid him. This fight is much easier, the group simply taking off the pressure from their current ally until he manages to finish his opponent. There¡¯s no point in taking B ranks as prisoners. All of the B ranks are fighting, and with none guarding the prisoners, they could easily escape.


    As the group looks around the battlefield, they note that almost all of the UFoH hunters have either retreated or fallen. The rest of the hunters from the Allied Worlds have started to charge at the resting enemy hunters, who quickly break and run.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    As the enemy hunters run, the Hunters from the Allied Worlds turn to assisting their soldiers, who seem to still be evenly matched. The group rushes forwards, excited by their recent win, but are greeted by a shield wall.


    Sen frowns, Even if all of the members in the shield wall are D class, which he¡¯s sure they¡¯re not, only the twenty or so B class hunters will have enough stat points to break through it. He watches as just that happens, a few B class fighters simply smashing their way through the shield wall as if it¡¯s made of ragdolls, not people.


    The rest of the hunters try to pile through the gaps, but there¡¯s simply not enough room in the small gaps for all the hunters, so Sen decides he¡¯ll make his own gap. Focusing, he starts to do something he¡¯d done quite a few times in game, and starts to compress the air into as small of a ball as he can.


    He finds it easier than in game, his new sense for the air from having lived without light for over a month aiding him, and within a minute he has it ready, as compressed as he can make it. He sends it flying over the shield wall, and bursts it while reducing the shockwave that heads towards his group.


    The people in the shield wall start to stumble, only staying up with the support of others nearby, and Sen rushes forwards, slamming his sword into the head of a disoriented soldier. It splits with much the same sensation of cutting a melon, and the rest of the group piles into the stumbling soldiers, finishing them off.


    Some of the other hunters, seeing the disoriented soldiers, join in with them, piling after Sen¡¯s group and Alice¡¯s bodyguards. Alice seems to be getting more and more frustrated with her guards. They come forward to match every blow coming towards her, and Alice starts to charge deeper into the lines. Sen instantly follows her, knowing perfectly well that she has a bad habit of going too far and ending up in trouble.


    Just that happens as she ends up surrounded, none of the group next to her save Sen, and he presses his back up against hers as they face enemies all around them.


    ¡°This seems familiar.¡± Sen comments, though he doubts she can hear him with the din surrounding them. The soldiers go in to strike at them, and Sen expects to sacrifice his shoulder to one of the weaker blows, while sweeping away two more blades.


    The person is apparently not only D class, but also only has a D class weapon, as his blade cuts in not even a centimeter rather than the inch deep slice Sen had expected. Mentally thanking his fancy new clothing, Sen slams his sword into a wide sweep empowered by Weight of the Mountain in order to create some distance. One of the enemies makes the rather foolish move of going to block the blow, and is knocked into his allies as Sen¡¯s sword cuts through his shield and into his arm, the shield barely absorbing enough force that he doesn¡¯t lose his hand.


    Sen continues to use rather wide sweeps to keep them back, none of the enemies fast enough to go in for a hit in between his sweeps. That changes when a rather small girl steps forwards, signaling for the others to stand down. She raises her sword, and Sen focuses, if she thinks she can handle him, she¡¯s definitely going to be trouble.


    She leads in with a terribly fast slice, empowered by some skill, and Sen is forced to use Cutting Squall to be able to move his sword fast enough to knock her sword off target. She repeats the strike, but this time Sen doesn¡¯t need to use a skill, having his sword in a better position to block the speedy blow.


    He continues to block, and plans on simply holding off until the rest of the group manages to catch up. That plan is ruined when he hears a short shout of pain from Alice, and he panics a bit. He instantly goes on the offensive, leading in with a cutting squall from the side. The woman, surprised by the sudden offensive, barely blocks it with her shield, and Sen takes advantage of the fact that she¡¯s had to raise her shield above her eyes to cut down with a Bloody Peak, the sheer speed of the blow clearly outside of what she had expected from Sen.


    The blow removes her foot, and Sen spins around, rushing to the side of Alice. Her opponent has raised his sword, and Alice¡¯s shield is hanging, her arm heavily wounded as Sen slashes out with a Cutting Squall. The man, not having expected any help to come to her, shows fear in his eyes as his throat is sliced through.


    Sen wonders what the hell he¡¯s going to do now, and starts to use his sense for the air to avoid attacks from his back as he blocks anything coming from his front. He¡¯s forced to take quite a few blows, intentionally going out of his way to prevent his lady from getting any more injured. He¡¯s certain he would be dead if it wasn¡¯t for the new jacket he¡¯d gotten, which blunts the worst of even C ranked strikes, blows that should be cutting deep into his ribs only leaving scratches on them. Luckily, no more skilled C ranks, and even more thankfully, no B ranks join the fight against him, so he¡¯s able to survive long enough for the rest of the group to finally catch up. The bodyguards circle protectively around Alice, and surprisingly, Sen as well.


    The group quickly cuts its way out of the formation of soldiers just as some sort of light show explodes overhead, and the group gets out to see that the UFoH soldiers are retreating. Cheers sound out from the soldiers from the Allied Worlds, and they continue to force themselves forwards along with the retreating UFoH forces, which are losing some of their cohesion as they fall back.


    Eventually, the UFoH lines fall apart entirely, every man running for their own self, while others simply surrender, feeling safer being a prisoner of war. The soldiers surround the captured enemies as they head back to their campsite. Once they arrive, everyone heads to their own tents. Xue follows Sen to his tent, and the first words out of her make Sen blink.


    ¡°Strip.¡±


    Sen simply stares at her for a while until he realizes she just wants to check over his wounds. He carefully removes his clothing, doing his best to not bother his many wounds. As he gets his clothing off, leaving him in nothing but his undewear, Xue simply stares at him with a forlorn expression.


    Looking down at himself, he¡¯s a complete mess. He has multiple cuts that stretch along his ribs, he can feel two very long ones across his entire back, and his arms are littered with mostly small cuts and a few deeper ones. Even his legs aren¡¯t spared, Sen having been limping the entire way back to the campsite. He¡¯s quite sure one of his shin bones is cracked, but he isn¡¯t going to complain. He¡¯s had worse in his past life.


    ¡°You¡¯re coming with me to the medical tent.¡± Xue starts dragging him out, Sen forcibly stopping her.


    ¡°Nothing is fatal or will cause permanent damage, I can wait until we get back to the city. Others will need it more.¡±


    Xue looks at him with that same forlorn expression before leaving the tent. Sen lays down on his bed, but Alice comes in the second Xue is gone. When she comes in, she winces at the state Sen¡¯s body is in. Her wince soon changes to the same forlorn expression that Xue had worn.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry.¡± She bows her head, and Sen¡¯s eyes widen. His lady had never apologized in her past life, and he¡¯d ended up in worse states protecting her back then. She approaches him, and Sen is still in shock as she presses her lips to Sen¡¯s.


    ¡°And thank you.¡± She quickly leaves the small tent, and Sen looks over to see Xue glaring, but not trying to stop Alice, which surprises Sen. She approaches, and Sen notes she has a bottle of healing salve and quite a few rolls of bandages in her arms.


    She tenderly helps Sen sit up, and then starts carefully applying the healing salve to all of his wounds. Each time she finishes, she¡¯ll wrap the cut in bandages, moving slowly and deliberately, and she winces every time Sen twitches from the pain. Eventually, she finishes with all of his wounds, and she looks to him with an unsure expression.


    Sen isn¡¯t sure what to say to reassure her, but leans in for a kiss, hoping the action will help get his feelings across. Xue accepts, lowering her face to meet Sen¡¯s. For once she¡¯s the taller one as she¡¯s on her knees while Sen is sitting. She bites down on Sen¡¯s lower lip a little, as if to claim him, pulling back and smiling at Sen before forcing him to drink a surprisingly tasty potion that apparently helps to mend bones.


    Sen still has no clue how alchemy works, but all of his wounds are itching like crazy, and he¡¯s unable to get any sleep. Eventually, he gets frustrated, and leaves his tent.

 Chapter 75: Recuperation

    Sen isn¡¯t out of his tent for long when Xue exits her tent as well, clearly unable to sleep. Her inability to sleep is for a completely different reason than Sen though. Sen pats the ground beside him, and she comes up to him, sitting down and holding his arm as she leans into him, wanting as much comfort as she can get.


    Sen ends up wrapping his arms around her, and simply sits with her. She slowly calms down, eventually falling asleep in Sen¡¯s arms. The rest of the night is spent in that manner, Sen eventually falling asleep in his sitting position.


    He wakes early, the sound of someone exiting their tent putting him instantly alert. Looking over, it¡¯s Alice, the first one up as usual. She gives an unhappy look to Sen, who is still holding Xue, going over to his other side to sit.


    They stay there in silence, Alice leaning on Sen¡¯s side while Xue sleeps on his other. It¡¯s a good thirty minutes before the next person wakes, and Sen blinks when he sees Jennifer come out of Lynna¡¯s tent. He looks to Alice in confusion, only to see her as surprised as he is.


    Jennifer comes over, clearly going to explain, but she quiets down, not wanting to wake Xue. Pulling up the hologram from her bracelet, she sends a message to the two of them saying Lynna wasn¡¯t able to get any sleep, so she¡¯d been talking with her until the two of them fell asleep.


    Sen expects Lynna had done that as much for Jennifer¡¯s sake as for her own. Even if Jennifer seems fine, that¡¯s only because her anger is outweighing all of her other emotions. Julie is the next one to come out, and from the circles under her eyes she didn¡¯t get much sleep, if she got any at all.


    She comes and sits across from Sen. Lynna is the last to come out of her tent, though Xue is still sleeping, and the group all sits there in silence for a time until Xue wakes up. Sen is actually forced to wake her, as the soldiers start to pack up their tents. Sen and the group copy them, and they¡¯re soon marching back to the massive off road vehicles they¡¯d taken from the rallying point.


    They get there around halfway through the day, and everyone loads up into the uncomfortable seats of the vehicles that seem to be more like oversized armored personnel carriers than anything else. They¡¯re shaken around on the drive back, and everyone loads into the gravity car they¡¯d taken to get there. They aren¡¯t able to escape before the same person who had given the speech before they left gives another one, thanking everyone for their contribution to the Allied Worlds, and informing the hunters that their crystals will be delivered to them.


    The group is too out of sorts to properly listen aside from Sen and Alice, and they¡¯re soon on their way back to the massive apartment. There¡¯s very little conversation along the way, most the group still in shock from the battle, Sen and Alice leaving them with their thoughts for now. They will do their best to help, but they all need to come to terms with what they¡¯ve done, and what they will need to do.


    They arrive at the apartment, and everyone piles out of the gravity vehicle. The first stop for everyone is the showers, Sen as usual having the bad luck to be the last one in. Sen has to wait a very long time, everyone taking their showers much longer than usual except for Alice. Alice exits the bathroom in nothing but a towel, not even bothering to blush as she heads to her room, giving a wink to Sen for good measure.


    She¡¯s soon out and dressed, and comes to sit by Sen.


    ¡°Do you think they¡¯ll be ok?¡± she asks.


    ¡°Lynna and Xue will be okay after a while I think. The ones I worry about are Julie and Jennifer.¡±


    Alice nods. ¡°I shall spend some more time with Julie. Lynna will help make sure Jennifer doesn¡¯t break once she starts to get through her rage.¡±


    Sen agrees with her, and Alice orders breakfast while they wait for everyone to finish their showers. Lynna is the first one out, and Sen takes her place in the shower, bringing in his clothes so he doesn¡¯t copy Alice in giving a show. He carefully removes his many bandages, and makes sure not to bother his wounds too much. He¡¯s impressed by how much they seem to have healed already, while they won¡¯t be fully healed for a while, he¡¯d expected to need some stitches, but they seem to have pressed together of their own volition.


    Sen wonders how the hell that healing salve works as he finishes getting clean, and pulls it up on his bracelet. According to the most simplified version he can find, the healing salves and potions basically fix the energy flows, which drags the flesh along with it. A powerful enough healing potion will literally drag the flesh back into place before speeding up the healing process. It¡¯s heavily warned not to use them for complex fractures however, as the bones will get caught on each other.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    This only works because there is a way energy is supposed to flow in a body after practicing the body enhancement skills, so they don¡¯t work on anyone who hasn¡¯t practiced them, the only reason they haven¡¯t all but outdated modern medicine.


    As Sen exits the shower, Xue is waiting for him just outside. She drags him to his room, and orders him to strip again. She has some more bandages and healing salve, and liberally applies it on him before wrapping him up with bandages once again. This time, she spends the majority of it blushing, which Sen finds terribly cute. Sen gives her a short kiss as she finishes and leaves the room. Sen gets dressed before exiting, noting that he¡¯s no longer limping on the leg he is sure was cracked just the day before.


    As he leaves the room, he sees Xue blushing at something that Lynna has said, and smiles. If Lynna is up for teasing Xue, she¡¯s definitely doing better than before. As he gets out, the doorbell rings, and Alice opens the door to see that breakfast has arrived.


    Everyone enjoys the sumptuous breakfast, and while Lynna isn¡¯t up for anymore teasing, going silent again, she seems to be a bit less pained than the day before. The rest of the day is spent much like their usual rest days, the girls watching a drama while Sen reads on his bracelet hologram.


    None of them are up for anything, and the group simply spends the day relaxing. Towards the end of the day, alcohol is brought out, and Sen makes sure not to have too much this time, though the girls excluding Alice have quite a bit. Sen wonders if it¡¯s a good idea, but doesn¡¯t say anything. Lynna and Julie both break down a bit again, both of them drinking too much alcohol in order to help get their minds off of what they had done.


    Jennifer has a good deal of drink, though Sen has a suspicion that it¡¯s more from what Alliance had done rather than due to having killed. They all head to their beds, Jennifer and Lynna leaning on each other for support as they go, and Alice supports Julie to her room as well. Sen is the one to help Xue to bed. As he reaches her room, she asks him to stay with her for now, to help her get some sleep. Sen is planning on saying no, not wanting to tempt himself when she¡¯s not only vulnerable, but drunk as well, but cracks after a ¡°Please?¡± matched with a very sad look.


    Nothing ends up happening, Xue apparently just not willing to sleep alone, wanting the comfort of being with him. Sen simply holds her as she sobs herself to sleep. The next morning, Sen wakes and hops out of bed, being careful not to wake Xue.


    He heads to his room to get changed into a new pair of clothing, then heads out to see if breakfast has been brought up. He greets Alice, who gives him a flat look, looking away unhappily. He feels guilty, even though he shouldn¡¯t. He heads to the table, and grabs some congee to eat.


    Alice is silent as they eat, but speaks up once he finishes his meal.


    ¡°Have fun last night?¡±


    Sen shifts uncomfortably. He shouldn¡¯t,  but feels pressed to explain anyway. ¡°Nothing happened. She just wanted some comfort to sleep.¡±


    Alice gives him an unhappy look, but she accepts his explanation, knowing he wouldn¡¯t dare to lie to his lady. Lynna and Jennifer are the next ones out, and both of them are holding their head. While hangovers aren¡¯t quite so bad as they were before they¡¯d enhanced themselves with crystals, they¡¯re still not fun.


    They sit down, looking at the food with a bit of a sick look on their faces, but eventually grab some of the congee that Sen had been eating. Julie is the next one out, and apparently doesn¡¯t have nearly so much of a hangover, as she happily grabs some breakfast sausage and hashbrowns.


    Xue is the last one out, and she looks to Sen with a blush before sitting down and grabbing some congee. Lynna looks from her to Sen a few times, before getting a smirk on her face. Sen cuts her off before she says anything.


    ¡°Nothing happened.¡±


    Lynna pouts. She gives him a look that says she¡¯s going to be talking to him about it later anyway. At least she¡¯s up for teasing, even if it is only a defense mechanism at this point. Sen lets out a sigh, and has some more water. While he isn¡¯t hung over in the same way as the rest of the group, he¡¯s still feeling quite dehydrated.


    The group spends the day getting new hunting clothes, as Sen¡¯s are completely trashed at this point, and all of the others have a few cuts in theirs as well. This time, there¡¯s no attempted assassination, and Sen finally ends up asking why they had only had a large scale battle rather than eliminating the other city.


    ¡°Neither side has any A ranked hunters, which are required to be able to take down a city with their railgun defenses. Unless an A rank hunting area is discovered, that¡¯s unlikely to change.¡± Alice is the one to explain.


    ¡°So how do A rank hunters handle the railguns?¡± Lynna is the one to ask.


    ¡°They simply move too quickly for the railguns to track, and their skills are powerful enough to destroy the railguns.¡±


    Everyone stares at her. The railguns are made of very thick metal, and absolutely massive. They keep underestimating how powerful high rank hunters are. While Sen is pretty sure he could cut into a railgun a decent amount with Bloody Peak, there¡¯s no way he could completely destroy one without a lot of time and energy.


    The group eventually gets back to their apartment, and have a filling dinner before heading off to sleep. Sen ends up in his room this time, staying up a bit late wondering if he should go check on Xue. It isn¡¯t long until he¡¯s at her door, softly knocking. He waits a tense few moments before it¡¯s answered, the door swinging open. Xue hugs him, holding tightly, and he ends up holding her to sleep yet again.


    The rest of the week is spent doing nothing, everyone needing time to get their mental states back to the point that they¡¯ll be up for hunting again. After a few days, Sen ends up sleeping on his own again, but it¡¯s more because the two of them aren¡¯t quite comfortable sharing a room with the rest of the group living with them. Lynna coming to check on Xue one of the nights also ends up curtailing any activities they are considering. They talk for a time about getting their own place, but decide against it. They need to focus on the upcoming war for Alpha.


    Their crystals for having participated in the large battle end up being delivered, and everyone downs them, making up a little for the hunting they¡¯ve missed out on. They¡¯re informed that the crystals for those they¡¯ve captured will be delivered within the next few months, but given no proper time frame. They all assume that the AW will have to get a ransom price out of the UFoH first.

 Chapter 76: Efficiency

    Once they¡¯ve all settled all of their mental states to a certain extent, they get back to hunting. Everyone loads up in the gravity vehicle, and they fly off to the area that they found the chameleon snakes in. The ride there is relatively silent, with a bit of chatter about where the chameleon snakes came from.


    There had been quite a few reports of groups of them, but the group is confident that they can handle them so long as they number fewer than the group. Chameleon snakes are very dangerous if you¡¯re not expecting them, but aside from that they¡¯re among the weakest C rank monsters. Not only that, their crystals increase mainly energy, which makes them quite valuable if one trades them in.


    Once they arrive, they go with the formation that they went with last time, Julie and Alice in the center while the other girls spread out some mist to be able to sense the chameleon snakes, while Sen simply uses his sense for the air to spot them.


    They don¡¯t run into any groups of them, simply one or two at a time, and they¡¯re very easily dispatched, not being able to ambush the group. The group is excited at the easy gains, and gets frustrated each time the run into an ironwool sheep, as they take far more effort to deal with.


    The first day ends with an excellent haul of crystals, and Sen has to ask why they haven¡¯t run into any other groups.


    ¡°Something like seventy percent of all hunters choose to go with fire body enhancement skills, either due to wanting explosive force, the flashy fire skills, or the disease and poison resistances. Let alone the fact that there aren¡¯t very many C rank hunters at such a new city. Without a way to sense the chameleon snakes, there¡¯s no point in hunting them,¡± Julie explains.


    Sen thinks back to the large scale battle. There had been an awful lot of fire flying around. He wonders why so many of the members of Alliance hadn¡¯t been using fire skills, but guesses that the bigger groups would be smarter in choosing their element.


    Once they get back to the gravity vehicle, Sen is impressed once again by the vehicle. It¡¯s the size of a bus, with sleek lines, and no wheels, simply having landing gear. he still finds it interesting that the gravity drive has made personal flying vehicles actually common.


    Once they get inside the vehicle, Sen only bothering to admire it for a while, everyone takes turns using the small shower before heading off to their tiny individual beds. They fall asleep mostly without an issue, but Lynna¡¯s mumbling and turning in her sleep wakes up Sen a few times.


    The next day, they head back out into the plains they¡¯re hunting in. They simply walk around, trusting in the mist they have out and Sen to catch anything that gets close enough to be dangerous. They¡¯re relatively relaxed until the run into one of the ironwool sheep that is about half again the size of the normal ones, and everyone tenses up.


    The group raises their weapons, and Julie starts putting up arrays as fast as she can as the sheep monster charges. It flies by Lynna as she dodges to the side, and everyone closes in on it so it doesn¡¯t get enough distance to make another charge.


    They surround the beast, taking turns to go in and try and stab through it¡¯s thick wool. Their blows barely get through it, and the girls start using their Piercing Icicle skill, which does damage, but doesn¡¯t fatally wound it. After seeing that, they simply go back to slowly wearing it down. They do their best to target the face, which isn¡¯t covered by the wool, but it keeps getting its horns in between the blades and it¡¯s vulnerable face.


    The group is getting quite frustrated with the annoying beast. It keeps turning and kicking out with its hind legs, which sends someone hopping back every time, excluding the times it goes for one of Julie¡¯s images. Sen is the only one who is fast enough to dodge it, practically subconsciously using the wind to speed up his body that is already faster than the rest of the group due to the element he chose to specialize in.


    It¡¯s attacks with its horns are usually met by shields, but the strength of the monster always knocks whoever blocks back. After a bit it starts to try and hook its horns under the shields, trying to get at the soft bits of the humans, but after Lynna has to kick off of its face to free her shield arm they don¡¯t have anyone else get caught. Unfortunately, Lynna is left with a cut in her arm from the maneuver.


    The annoying beast eventually starts to slow down from the many small wounds left on it, and collapses after a fight that was far too lengthy. Everyone lets out a sigh when it finally collapses, sitting down to take a short rest after Julie sets up another array.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to know how frustrating fighting a high C rank ironwool sheep would be like,¡± Sen complains. He¡¯s met by nods all around.


    Once the group has finished their break, they start hunting again, not avoiding the ironwool sheep, but Sen can see a look of annoyance on everyone¡¯s face each time they run into one. The rest of the day goes in a far more relaxing manner than the fight with the larger sheep.


    Eventually, they head back to the gravity vehicle. They all make sure to stay alert, even if they¡¯re heading back in the same direction they¡¯d come, and it¡¯s a good thing they do, as they run into a few more chameleon snakes. Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.


    Sen is honestly impressed by how many chameleon snakes there are. While they tend to not group with the sheep, which Sen is very thankful for, they do tend to show up in pairs, which, while still easy for the group to deal with, are quite annoying when they just want to head back and rest.


    Eventually, they make it back to the vehicle, which hasn¡¯t been bothered by monsters due to the array that Julie had set up. Everyone takes turns using the single shower, and enjoys an actual cooked meal rather the instant ones they¡¯d eaten while hunting for the UFoH.


    They all go to bed peacefully, and wake ready for the day of hunting, having a quick breakfast. They talk a bit, trying to decide if they should stay where they are, or if they should fly to a different area for more monsters, but with how many they ran into the day before, they shouldn¡¯t be running out any time soon.


    Regardless, they head in a different direction than the day before, and the numbers of chameleon snakes soon starts to rise drastically. It seems like every few meters they¡¯ll run into a new one, and while they won¡¯t be attacked so long as they didn¡¯t go within striking range of the hidden beasts, they have to make sure while they are fighting to not stray too far.


    Sen is starting to get sick of them, as they don¡¯t run into any ironwool sheep or anything else to break up the monotony, but isn¡¯t complaining too much due to the easy crystals. They¡¯re fighting a group of three of the chameleon snakes when they hit a bit of a snag.


    ¡°Watch out!¡± Sen yells to Julie, who had been staying back in order to set up her arrays. She¡¯d backed a bit too far away, and a chameleon snake has decided that it wants to see what the commotion is about.


    She quickly spins around, but the jaws of the chameleon snake still close around her arm she raises in defense. She winces, as Sen rushes to her aid, but he stops halfway as flame seems to burst from within the snake¡¯s mouth. He simply watches as the snake rolls around in pain.


    Julie has a bit of a grimace on her face, but it¡¯s mostly overridden by her look of triumph. She shrouds her sword in flame, and sends a wave of it flying to the monster. Sen shrugs, and gets back to the three chameleon snakes that the rest of the group had been fighting after he senses the writhing of the chameleon snake that had bitten Julie stop.


    Once they¡¯ve finished all of them off, Lynna decrees that Julie shall be staying next to the rest of the group instead of hanging back to set up her arrays. Julie agrees, as she isn¡¯t sure how the monster had spotted her when she¡¯d had a simple illusion array up.


    Sen assumes that like normal snakes, they have some sort of heat sense, but can¡¯t be sure. As they continue in the same direction, the groups of chameleon snakes grow from two or three to up to five of them at once. While the group can handle them, it¡¯s a bit annoying as they simply ignore even the better illusions that Julie sets up.


    She eventually gives up on using illusion arrays, and switches to throwing waves of flame at the snakes, which lets off a scent that Sen finds quite mouthwatering. He even looks up chameleon snakes on his bracelet, and harvests some of their meat the second he finds out that they are indeed edible.


    The others give him odd looks, except for Alice, who asks him to get some for her as well. Sen obliges, wrapping up the meat in a resealable bag that he has in his bag for harvesting parts from particularly valuable monsters. Chameleon snake scales are actually quite valuable, having iridescent patterns when harvested, which are quite popular among richer people. The fact that it will prevent smaller caliber bullets as well means that rich people can both look stylish and be a bit safer.


    The group doesn¡¯t bother harvesting the skin and scales, as they don¡¯t need the extra money, and they are getting plenty enough crystals simply hunting. As the group continues, the density of chameleon snakes continues to increase, to the point that the group is running into groups of four or five every half mile.


    The group can handle them easily enough, Sen simply chucks a few throwing knives at them while they¡¯re practically invisible. Once they¡¯re hit, they change to an angry red, and with them visible, anyone in the group can handle them one on one.


    The group is celebrating such a good harvest, and goes back to the vehicle that night a bit early, more because they expect to run into more of them on the way back than out of a celebratory mood. Once they get back, Sen cooks up some of the snake meat, and everyone ends up trying it. Sen is a bit sad at the fact that the meat he¡¯d intended to be for himself is split evenly among the girls.


    They all agree to harvest more the next day, and go to bed in a cheerful mood after downing over half the crystals. They won¡¯t be able to check how close their energy stat is to B rank until they get back, but considering how many crystals it¡¯s going to take to get there, they¡¯re nowhere close, even with the extremely fruitful harvest.


    The crystals of the chameleon snakes mostly increase energy, with a minor boost to the other two attributes. Sen hopes that if they continue hunting here for another couple months or so, they¡¯ll be able to increase their energy stat up to rank B. That would be ridiculously fast for the fifth dimension, but the combination of chameleon snakes being incredibly weak for C rank, and hunting in groups in this area means that they¡¯re getting crystals at a massively increased rate.


    The next few days follow the same pattern. They head out, do a lot of hunting, and head back early, as the snakes never seem to be cut down in population. Sen ends up looking up why there are so many chameleon snakes out of curiosity. He finds out that the reasonis what he had speculated himself, a small entrance to the underdark having opened up.


    The area he¡¯s hunting in is actually marked as a high danger area currently, and most groups are avoiding it unless they have someone practicing the air element body enhancement skills. That¡¯s still quite a few people, but considering how small the chameleon snakes are, and the fact that most people aren¡¯t nearly as skilled as Sen is with sensing the air, there have been quite a few fatalities as the person sensing the air fails to catch the snakes hidden in the grass.


    Sen wonders why they don¡¯t have water users do the same thing the group does, simply spreading out a mist of water like his group, but soon finds that doing so isn¡¯t actually common practice. He¡¯s quite surprised by this. It had been a relatively common practice in game. He soon finds that the only reason it isn¡¯t used is that the range is shorter than the range air users can sense.


    He shakes his head, he shouldn¡¯t be surprised for people to only want the optimal solution. Water users work just fine, but since they¡¯re not the best option, nobody wants them. He¡¯s sure that some of the smarter groups are using them for the same purpose if they don¡¯t have an air user to be able to farm the chameleon snakes, but he won¡¯t complain about less competition.


    The next few days pass with practically no reduction in the amount of snakes hunted, and the group is in quite a cheerful mood. They slaughter their way through the field, and eventually reach an area where the snakes are simply too high in numbers for them to be able to get through. The rest of the week is spent hunting in the periphery of that area, as it¡¯s the best option for killing lots of snakes at a fast pace.


    Eventually, their week of hunting is over, and they all head back to their gravity vehicle. Out of curiosity, they decide to fly over the area where they had to avoid hunting, and when they do so, they see pretty much what they expect. There¡¯s a tunnel in the ground, that has chameleon snakes pouring out of it in enough numbers that they are visible to the naked eye even with their camouflage.


    The group marks the area on their maps, deciding to stay in the same area in order to be able to hunt the massive amount of chameleon snakes that are there. They make it back to the city, and everyone enjoys the much better showers, and a full course meal that Alice orders before heading off to their rooms to sleep.