“The expedition will start in three days,” Tess taps on the paper in the middle of the table.

It's morning the next day after we got unexpected visitors, and no one has gone out to the city or to hunt. Everyone is staying inside the house. They laugh less; they talk less.

As always, the system knows how to deliver the best wake-up calls.

“As that jerk said, the target is the house and valuables of the Champion. The house is located in the territory of the Living Tree, one of the four Calamities,” she sighs. “I know we have to deal with one of the calamities sooner or later, but this feels way too soon.”

“I wouldn't trust them too much when it comes to us being covert. Their hidden tunnels into the house that supposedly allow us to avoid the Living Tree sound sketchy at best,” Hadwin joins the conversation. “Other than getting rid of most of us to keep some members, they most likely plan to use us as fodder.”

(Food!) Biscuit sends, but everyone ignores him. Everyone except me.

I pick up the doggo and place him on my lap. He tilts his head as if in question, "It will be fine, and it's fodder not fooder.” I whisper.

He woofs and bumps my chest with his small head. He continues until I pet him, and while I do so, he closes his eyes. When the little doggo is satisfied, he rests his head on my chest, and together we listen to the others.

“There's no way I'm going to their guild. If they touch me, I'll use [Disintegration],” Lily says.

“No one will be going to their guild, Lily. We're all together in this mess,” Tess looks around, her eyes determined.

However, some of our members seem unconvinced. The people who visited us last night were all higher level than us, and the guild master's strength could be felt even though he was holding back.

I know most of our members haven't even reached level 100. Yet, why are they so unconfident? From what I've seen, I could have defeated most of the guild master's goons even before I got to level 100. Sure, they are mostly at 150, but so what?

“If we get a good opportunity, I will take care of the guild master, whatever his name was, and his elites,” I say, and for a moment, silence fills the living room. Yet no one seems to doubt what I said, "We will use them to get the gear and to see what the Living Tree is capable of."

“His name is Elydor,” Hadwin says after a while. He looks like he wants to ask something, but then he just closes his mouth and shakes his head. “Anyway. I'll go over the info we already bought and find as much as we can on the Living Tree and the old capital. If we approach it smartly, we could turn it into an opportunity, as you said.” Then, without saying anything else, he leaves to do what he just said.

“Nat, do you think your lynthari... friend could help and give us some support?” Tess asks me.

I immediately shake my head. “She won't.” I can already imagine Myrra's laugh and glowing eyes if I came to her asking for help, again. From our previous conversations, I'm absolutely sure she would have me beg, crawl, and enjoy watching it. Then she would refuse to help anyway, hoping to get some "fun" emotion from me. That's how she is.

But there's also another part of me. A part that doesn't want any help.

“All that's left is for us to train for a few days before the start of the expedition since hunting is out of the question now,” Maya says as she stretches her hand high above her head. “It's annoying, but that's Hell difficulty I guess. I wouldn't be surprised if it's one of the system's settings to keep throwing this stuff at us.”

Oh, is Maya maybe slightly smart? Finally, someone who understands the ways of the system. I keep telling everyone how assholish the system is.

“Nat, would you like to spar?” Maya asks to my surprise.

Oh?

“Sure,” out of pure curiosity, I agree, and like curious little kittens, four teenagers follow us: Lily, Min-Jae, Dennis, and Aaron.

Izzy, Sophie, and Tess stay behind with the best doggo of the 4th floor.

When we get to the garden, I notice that it's not in the pristine state as it was when I came here. There are some burns on the ground, deep slashes, cracked ground, and ruined grass.

It somehow irks me. Should I make them pay?

Maya stops opposite of me, and I notice the moment she activates her [Focus]. Her eyes become clearer, and her movements as well. Like a wild beast that is controlling all its power, ready to explode in a deadly attack. Her mana moves smoother than before, and armor forms around her body. Unlike mine, it's bulkier and seems to be thicker, and the mana that creates it becomes a darker shade of blue than she was using before.

“Nice improvement,” I tell her.

“You haven't seen anything yet,” Maya answers me, and affected by [Focus], her words sound calm and confident.

A sword forms in her hand. The weapon is big, massive, and nearly as long as Maya. Yet, because it's made of mana, it's much lighter, and Maya has also heavily invested stat points into physical stats so she moves it lightly.

I also slide deeper into [Focus] and observe her.

Maya's mana moves, and for a moment it wildly charges through her body. During that half-second, her armor becomes dark blue and non-transparent. Her body also gets a boost, and she rushes at me.

During that brief time, she reaches me and swings her sword three times before her body returns to her original stats.

I dodge all the attacks: the first by tilting my head, the second by jumping over the blade, and the third by stepping backward.

Before she can deal with the aftereffect, I kick her chest armor, and she staggers backward.

“Damn, I hoped to get one hit in,” she says.

“Oi, wouldn't that cut me in half…” Before I can finish, she does it again. Her armor becomes darker, and her stats significantly strengthen, along with her armor and weapon.

I use [Tether] and create an anchor, right after I jump backward, only for Maya to follow me. She passes by the anchor I left in the air without noticing it and stops to swing at me with the anchor behind her back.

At that moment, I activate [Tether] and reappear behind her in the place of the anchor.

“Nothing personal, ki…” I jump back before I can finish my sentence, I feel movement on the back of Maya's armor, and a spike extends from it, aiming for where I stood before I dodged.

“I didn't know you could teleport,” there's a surprise in her voice, and even through [Focus], I can sense her emotions.

Tss, so bad! How can her [Focus] be so inadequate?

“I didn't know you could turn into a hedgehog,” I counter, to her amusement.

“That's the nice part of sparring with you; I can throw anything at you without worrying that you'll get hurt. Oh, maybe you getting hurt would be even a bonus,” Maya winks at me, and I see that she's serious.

“What about forgiveness? It's rude to hold a grudge for so long. It happened on the 1st floor, didn't it?” I poke at her.

“Ha! As if you didn't do the same.”

My silence is enough for her to confirm that, and she laughs shortly.

Her armor once again turns into a darker shade of blue, and the sword in her hands transforms into a spear that elongates, trying to stab my head.

I deflect the spear with the back of my hand and dash at Maya, who continues to track my movement, once again deep inside [Focus]. It surprises me again how unnerving it is when someone watches you with such calm eyes while trying to kill you.

I reach her, and, still boosted by her skill, she lets go of her spear. A dagger forms in her hand, and she stabs at me. I simply cover my palm with resonating mana, allowing her to stab that palm. The dagger seems as if it's going inside of my hand, but any mana that forms the blade and touches me dissipates as if it's made of snow and melting in contact with red-hot iron.

Seeing that it doesn't work, she moves closer to me, and multiple spikes made of mana stab at me from her armor. They are disrupted as well, and her mana returns to a paler blue, causing her to lose some strength.

As she staggers slightly from the aftereffects of her skill, I place my palm on her shoulder, disrupt her armor, and push her away.

"Damn it, I was hoping for something," Maya deactivates her skills and sighs. "You didn't even get serious."

"It's a gift. Some people are just born pretty and talented, that's why I have to suffer all this envy." I shrug.

She rolls her eyes. "Any good advice for me?"

"What's the name of your new skill?" I ask instead.

Without much hesitation, Maya answers, "[Boost]. It's a simple skill; I can enhance my stats for a short moment, and my armor becomes stronger. I haven't used it on [Focus] yet, though."

"Sounds pretty good," I reply.

I've matured, haven't I? I've learned not to complain when people acquire impressive skills. After all, I have strong skills of my own, so there's no reason for jealousy.

"It also allows me to 'boost' my healing speed or my senses a bit. It's still at a low level, so it's challenging, but I believe it'll improve."

"Hmm, I see."

Maya takes a step backward, "Nat, why are you creating that mana baton in your hand?"

"Maya, let's spar some more."

"Hey, hey, hey, I don't like the look in your eyes or the tone of your voice, Nat. At least tell me what I did!"

"So, why did you fight Maya?"

"Tess, I did it to help her improve! She gained one more level in [Armament] and two in [Boost]," I mention the name of Maya's newest skill through clenched teeth.

"Damn it, Nat."

Later that day, I find myself in the garden again, this time with a different member of Group 4, Hadwin. Hadwin watches me closely. It seems that news of my training with Maya reached his ears, and he's on guard.

"So, what are your skills?" I ask him. "Any new ones? Come on, you can tell me, did you acquire [Singularity], [Invincibility], or maybe something like [Immortality]?"

"What are you even talking about? I have no new skills. I still have [Disruption], [Strengthening], and [Wound Contraction]."

"Oh? You didn't get a new one?"

"Do you think it's that easy? No, I didn't even try. I've mostly focused on [Strengthening], and it has served me well. It's versatile. I can enhance my body and my weapons. It's simple but effective," Hadwin shrugs. "That's why I have this." He shows me the epic sword he holds.

The sword once belonged to one of the three warriors from the 3rd floor, the one held by a man named Aias. I entrusted it to Tess, along with a bracelet and a crown that Lily is now trying to use.

I agree with Tess on this; the sword is in the best hands and will be most useful with Hadwin.

"I'm curious. Punch the palm of my hand. First, only with your stats, then with [Strengthening]." I point my palm to Hadwin.

Without hesitation, he swings his fist and it hits the palm of my hand.

Oh? That's quite good, isn't it? It seems he has invested some stats into strength and not only into his constitution. When he swings again, this time using his skill, I notice the force of the attack and even use some mana to boost my body. His fist hits my palm, and I add even more mana to strengthen myself, trying not to show it.

He's getting closer and closer to level one hundred. Not too long ago, I was sixty levels higher than him, but I felt that punch right now. Sure, I'm not oriented towards physical stats, but I still think it's impressive. I've also witnessed his endurance, so Hadwin is building up quite well.

"Have you used your upgrade token yet?" I ask, genuinely curious. The upgrade token is something he should have received around level 75.

"I haven't used it yet. I'm deciding between upgrading constitution or strength," he looks at me, a question in his eyes.

"Constitution or strength seem like good choices for you or maybe start allocating more stats into mana," I raise my hand to stop him, and he closes his mouth, a knowing smile on his face. "It's not what you're thinking, Haddy. Upgrade your constitution or strength and begin allocating more stats into mana so you can use your skill more frequently and for longer durations. Don't invest too much into mana; in your case, maybe twenty percent should be enough. Then put around thirty into constitution and the rest into strength and dexterity. Or mix it up and go with forty for strength, and twenty for mana if you want to double up. Oh, and you could also..."

"Nat, check the community," Min-Jae interrupts me mid-sentence shouting from the window overlooking the garden.

I open the Community.

Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - Dude, finally we are out, I fucking hate the third floor.

Lootenant (Hell, WhiteWing) - Tell me about it. Do you think anyone is here?

Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - You're sitting next to me, so why are you asking me in the community? And yes, I bet that mana maniac and Savi are already here.

Noname (Hell, group 4) - Sup.

Lootenant (Hell, WhiteWing) - Of course, he is...

Brainiac (Hell, WhiteWing) - Fuck you, Noname, and it's nice to see you.