"Have I mentioned your World is weird?" Andrew commented as he watched Chris pour energy into a cocoon. "Because your World is weird."

"So you've said." Chris replied. "Why this time?"

"Just- the whole power system is so… there's just so many weird barriers to people growing, you know?" Andrew replied. "Like, every other World, you just have to be Awakened, and then you're good. This World… Everyone is already Awakened, but there's no way to actually grow unless you're a Doppelganger or you have access to one of those potions from the Elves! And even then, the growth is limited by the amount of energy around you in a relatively small period of time. It's like the only way to actually succeed in this system is through sheer blind luck or nepotism."

"Nepotism?" Chris raised an eyebrow.

"Your parents basically flooding you with resources as you develop." Andrew elaborated. "Which can only happen if they're rich or powerful themselves, therefore, nepotism."

"Not sure you're one to talk about nepotism." Victoria muttered. "I've seen your house and the things they offer, for free, in that City of yours."

Andrew coughed awkwardly. "Well, that's not- it isn't a difference between Awakened, it's just that Awakening itself is hereditary in my World and that comes with benefits."

"Uh-huh." Victoria rolled her eyes at him.

"Could you guys go argue somewhere else?" Greg scowled. "I'm trying to concentrate here." He'd convinced the Doppelganger to let him connect his smoke to them while they mutated, and he was trying to get as much out of it as he could, hopefully enough that he could do it himself in other Worlds.

"Yeah, we can go. I should have given them enough energy." Chris nodded. He wasn't worried about wasting energy, since anything that wasn't used could just be taken back, so he'd just flooded the Doppelganger with every bit of energy in his world.

"That's another thing!" Andrew exclaimed as they left. "The growth isn't linear! A mid-tier is three times stronger than a low-tier, but you need ten times the energy to get there! How does that make sense?!?"

"Okay, I actually have to agree with Andrew on that one." Victoria commented. "Mostly because it means I need a hundred thousand points just to reach Omega-tier, and who knows how many more to reach the peak! In every other system, I'd need about ten thousand to get to the peak of Omega-tier. And all that's just so you can start cultivating! Your World needs the most energy, yet it's the one that makes it the hardest to get!"

Chris nodded. "This is all true. What's your point?"

"It's just weird. Why does your World make it so hard to be strong?" Andrew shook his head. "Every other World encourages people to grow, but this World seems to do everything it can to make it as hard as possible."

"Unless you're a Doppelganger." Victoria added.

"Or a kobold." Chris pointed out as well. "They turn into Dragons when they get older."

Andrew blinked. "Of course they do." He sighed. "Let me guess, do goblins turn into Djinns?"

Chris frowned. "No? Goblins are just goblins."

"Can I also comment on the fact that the World caps my physical improvement?" Victoria grumbled. She'd gotten a few thousand points from Chris's subordinates using the system, but once she'd reached about two thousand points, any more did nothing, capping her at about twenty times stronger than normal.

"At least you can improve physically." Andrew sighed. "I've got nothing!"

"No, Greg has nothing." Chris retorted. "You just need a slime core."

"I'm not taking a slime's core! They're baby Doppelgangers! That'd be murder!" Andrew protested.

"Nah, normal slimes are just animals." Chris waved dismissively. "Just because they have the potential to be Doppelgangers doesn't mean they are Doppelgangers. Otherwise we'd call them Doppelgangers, and not slimes."

"I'm not having this argument with you again." Andrew growled.

Chris rolled his eyes. "Fine, don't take their core then. But I can't connect you to my world, so you're going to have to figure something out."

"All we need to do is figure out how the Elves make their potions." Andrew muttered. "As long as we figure that out, I can grow without victimizing a sapient race!"

"That may take a while, and in the meantime, you'll be stuck with a low-tier physique and a high-tier ability." Chris shrugged. "Maybe superior-tier in a year or so."

"You know I can't mutate either, right?" Victoria grumbled. "Also, he can use the system to improve his physique."

Both Andrew and Chris turned to her, blinking. "Since when?" Chris asked, raising an eyebrow.

Victoria opened her mouth to reply, before pausing, opening the system to check something, and coughing awkwardly. "Since always. I just forgot to add it." She muttered, going to add the stat page to the regular system, before pausing. "Actually…" She created a general physique option and added it to the same page as the energy options. There was no need to specialize, just to get stronger. "There. Now you can make yourself stronger."

Andrew checked the new system option, before shaking his head. "Okay, that helps, I guess."

"Except for the fact that increasing your physique that way does nothing for your energy, and possibly precludes you from mutation, which could prevent you from ever reaching Omega-tier." Chris pointed out.

"Hey now, eventually you'll have enough points to reach Omega-tier." Victoria commented. "It'd just take like… ten years or so? Maybe a hundred for the peak? It isn't like we don't have the time."

"I mean, there's the very real threat of the Elves invading soon… kinda need to get stronger for that." Chris retorted.

"No, we need someone to get stronger for that. It doesn't necessarily have to be us. In fact, it probably shouldn't be us. Individually, we have to rely on our own abilities, with limited to no access to each other's abilities. However, we can pile all our abilities onto some random dude, and make him uber strong, so he can take care of shit for us." Victoria countered.

Chris frowned. "But I don't want to sit back and watch someone else do everything. To become a background character in my own life… that just seems wrong."

"Plus, as much as we can help make others stronger, there are things only we can do as well." Andrew added. "I mean, I can pretty much only help myself, and Greg only has that smoke thing he's still figuring out. Don't get me wrong, the combination of Chris's world and the system is great, but… well, there are still things only we can do."

"Right, like my portals and whatnot." Chris nodded. "That's just me." He paused. "Though… I suppose I can still use that to support someone else."

"Look, I'm not saying we give up on our own growth, I'm just saying that if a certain World is not… conducive to our growth, then focusing on the people we can help grow is a perfectly valid option." Victoria replied.

Chris cocked his head, before shrugging. "I suppose that's fair."

"Hey, if I used a core from a different World, do you think it'd work based on this World's energy curve or the other's?" Andrew suddenly asked.

Chris cocked his head. "I think the real question would be how would it determine whether you're fit to cultivate or not. The other core wouldn't have a peak, right? Though the physique requirement could still be there… of course, the real real question is why you haven't already tried this."

"I didn't think about it!" Andrew protested. "I don't just go 'oh, why don't I just use a different core' all the time!"

"Well maybe you should." Chris shrugged. "That's your thing. You mess with cores. Do something with that."

Andrew scowled at him for a moment, before letting out a resigned sigh. "You have a point." He grumbled. "What should I make then? Beast? System? Cultivator? Mage?"

"Does it matter? You'll have to use this World's cultivation system no matter what." Chris replied. "And then once you have the energy, you can just switch out your cores as needed."

Andrew blinked. "Okay, why does it feel like you know my ability better than I do?"

"Perfect memory?" Chris offered.

Andrew snorted. "Okay, I'm making a core now. Let's see what happens." He quickly made himself a Deer core, putting most of his aura into it, before pausing and turning to Chris. "Okay, I feel something, but I just remembered there is zero energy in your world right now, so I can't do anything with it."

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"Right. Let's head to the Maze." Chris nodded, opening a portal.

Andrew stepped out into the Maze and took a deep breath. "Wow, okay, that feels good." He grinned. He couldn't practically feel energy flowing into him. "Huh… hold on, what's going on here?" He wasn't cultivating. At least, he didn't think he was… unless cultivators in this World didn't actually need to do anything to grow, which wouldn't make any sense given everything else they knew about the World.

"Something wrong?" Chris asked, cocking his head.

Andrew shook his head. "I wouldn't say it's wrong, but… it's too easy." Andrew opened his system, watching his energy slowly tick up. "Like I'm not doing anything, but I'm getting energy anyway."

Victoria frowned. "Yeah, that doesn't make any sense. This World would not just hand people energy like that."

Chris cocked his head. "Maybe it's a rule thing."

"What do you mean?" Andrew asked.

"Well, in this World, cultivators are defined as those who are at the peak of both physique and energy. However, your core is capable of cultivation, but it isn't at the peak of physique or energy. So… the World is fixing that? I mean, that's what I'd do. You can't have anomalies just walking around like that." Chris explained, before pausing. "Wait… is that something I can do?" He muttered. He couldn't just give people energy, he'd already tried that, but making the energy gathering process automatic… There was already precedent with the Rune Beasts in Victoria's World, and now whatever was happening with Andrew… definitely something to explore.

"So, can you tell how the energy is affecting you? Like this World, or like yours?" Victoria asked.

Andrew shook his head. "I can't tell. I'll need to do some tests." He muttered, sending out a beam of light. "Of course, I'll need my energy to stop increasing first."

"Back to my world then?" Chris offered. Andrew nodded and they stepped back inside. "Alright, go for it." Chris waved for him to act. Andrew shot out another light beam and Chris cocked his head. "About high-tier level. What's your energy at?"

Andrew opened his system. "About a thousand."

All three of them paused for a moment, before Victoria let out a short laugh. "Wow. The one point where the two systems are the same! What are the odds?"

"Based on what, random chance or World fuckery?" Andrew snorted.

"I don't think you can blame this one on the World." Chris shook his head. "I think this was just bad luck." He opened the portal again. "Now get back out there and absorb some more energy."

"Yeah, yeah." Andrew nodded, heading out.

Chris paused before going out after him. "Actually, I need to get some energy to test something myself, so let's do some hunting."

*

Chris brought the two of them up to the eighth level. His subordinates had started to make forays into the ninth, but it was slow going as the creatures on that level were much more prevalent and about the same level as Chris's subordinates in strength. He supposed he could grab some more subordinates to mutate, but… it felt wrong to just use his subordinates to grab stronger models and ditch them afterwards. He wanted to find a way to grow the subordinates he had, not just find new ones. The eighth level was also the last level that was actually managed, which meant they didn't need to worry about anything too abnormal jumping out at them, and with both Andrew and Victoria sitting at the high-tier level, they wouldn't have any issues dealing with the high mid-tiers on this level.

"These tunnels are so annoying." Victoria grumbled, flinching at every little noise that echoed through them. She didn't understand how Chris could stand fighting in these cramped, dank, death-traps!

"Better than the sun." Chris retorted.

"For you maybe." Victoria replied. "I'd rather be able to actually move. I need space to fight in!"

"There's plenty of space!" Chris protested.

"I kinda like the tunnels." Andrew agreed. "The walls give things an extra dimension to everything, so you can be a bit more flexible in your tactics."

"I don't want an extra dimension!" Victoria snapped. "I like to keep things simple! Dodge, hit, block, dodge! I don't need to be kicking off walls and doing flips or anything like that!"

Andrew shrugged. "To each their own." He paused. "Hold on, I think we have company."

Victoria stopped. "Yeah, I see them." She muttered, focusing on her point vision. There were about a dozen energy sources grouped together, milling about. "Doesn't seem like they've noticed us yet. Do we fight or move on?"

"There's fourteen… that might be a little much for us." Andrew frowned.

"I can always call for reinforcements." Chris offered.

"True… but it doesn't seem like impossible odds, right?" Victoria pointed out. "Why not challenge ourselves a bit? Keep the reinforcements ready, but let's see what we can do on our own first." She grinned.

Andrew gave her a weird look. "Weren't you just complaining about fighting in tunnels?"

"That was that and this is this." Victoria waved dismissively. "Just because the environment is subpar doesn't mean you can't challenge yourself. Hell, it adds to the challenge!"

Andrew gave her a look, before shaking his head. "I'm surrounded by weirdos." He grumbled.

Victoria snorted. "Yeah, like you're normal. Come on, whoever kills the most wins!"

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean!" Andrew protested as she rushed off. "Hey!" He yelled after her as he began to follow.

"So… we're not using the element of surprise." Chris muttered, casually walking after them. "And I'm the weird one." He shook his head. "I mean, I am, but seriously, you have to think about these things."

Victoria rushed towards the creatures, daggers out as she slipped around the corner and slipped past the startled… *Oh fuck, is that an Elf?!?* Victoria almost tripped as her blade skittered off the Elf's metal armor, quickly taking in the small camp she'd barged into. "Chris! Reinforcements!" She immediately yelled out as she leapt towards one the Elves still getting their bearings, aiming for their unarmoured neck.

Andrew rounded the corner next, just in time to watch Victoria slice an Elf's neck, palming the head of the one she'd rushed past and slamming him into the ground. Victoria may have a limit on her physical strength, but his Beast core had no such thing and he'd gathered quite a bit more energy since they last tested. "Eyes closed!" He shouted as he burst into light, screams of pain erupting from around them.

Victoria squeezed her eyes shut as she rolled, relying on her point vision to dodge the Elves wild attack, hissing as an ice spike clipped her in the side. That proved to be a mistake as the moment she made the noise, the four closest Elves immediately focused on her, throwing even more attacks at her. *Stupid big ears!* She cursed internally, suppressing another reaction as two more attacks clipped her.

"For the Lord!" Ka'lypso roared, charging around the corner followed by a tide of Kobolds.

"Watch it!" Andrew snapped as a few attacks were sent his way. Though he supposed it was his fault since he was the one keeping them from seeing anything, but still! He waded into the fray alongside the kobolds, using his superior physical strength to suppress the Elves, taking attacks from both sides as he did, but without anything that could one shot him, his aura healing kept him up.

The Elves fought frantically for a moment, blinded and swarmed, before one of them shouted out a command and they all exploded! The tunnel was flooded indiscriminately with fire, ice, lightning, wind, and more as the Elves threw out every attack they could in every direction, forgetting defense and purely focusing on destruction, with the exception of one Elf that threw up a shield and another that seemed to be healing themself. Unfortunately for them, Chris's subordinates feared death even less than they did, and even as they died, they simply disappeared and came back, ready to fight again. Without overwhelming strength, the Elves were quickly dispatched, the healer pinned down by Andrew, and the barrier Elf sweating as he was surrounded by a horde of weirdly attractive women glaring at him threateningly.

Andrew let out a pained groan as he sat on the struggling healer. He was in perfect health, but taking that much damage hurt. Plus, his clothes were gone. As were the kobolds. And Victoria's… though she was a charred mess at the moment, so it wasn't like her modesty was at risk. At least the healer was still covered, thanks to the metal armor, or this would be really awkward. "Victoria? You okay?"

*Just get Chris to heal me.* Victoria grumbled over the system message. The fact that she was the only one who lacked a cheap, easy healing option was freaking bullshit.

Andrew suppressed a grin as he called out. "Chris! Victoria needs healing!" He paused. "And clothes!" He paused again. "Everyone needs clothes!"

"Got it." Chris nodded, walking over, tossing out robes as he went, the kobold women making sure to take their time putting them on, at least until it became clear Chris wasn't paying attention. Though a few kept it up when it became clear Andrew was, shooting him some suggestive looks until he looked away with an awkward cough. He had put on a rather impressive display back there. "Wow, you are a mess." Chris commented, kneeling down next to Victoria, opening a portal beneath her. He waited a moment before opening a portal on the ceiling and Victoria fell out, fully healed and fully clothed, landing gracefully on her feet.

"Why is it that he can be made of aura, but I can't be made of energy?" Victoria complained, gesturing angrily towards Andrew. "Am I not an energy person?!? What the shit!"

"Well, see, it's probably because you're an energy person, and a body is physical. It's your opposite, so it wouldn't make sense for you to have control over it. Aura, on the other hand, connects everything, so having some influence over the physical makes sense. At least, as long as he's connected to it." Chris pointed out.

Victoria blinked. "Well, when you put it that way… I mean, I'm still pissed, but I get it."

Chris nodded, getting up and opening a few portals around the tunnel. "You guys know the drill, everything inside." He ordered and the kobolds quickly got to work, dragging the corpses and equipment into his world.

Andrew dragged the struggling healer over to a portal and tossed her in as well as she shouted some unintelligible words his way. "Probably should have picked up that translation perk." He sighed.

"Honestly, you're better off." Victoria snickered. "She made some rather unflattering comments about certain aspects of your anatomy."

Andrew looked down. "What's wrong with my anatomy?"

Victoria rolled her eyes. "I didn't even have eyes when it was on display."

Andrew turned to Chris, who shrugged. "I didn't see anything wrong with it."

"Nothing wrong at all." A particularly bold kobold purred.

Andrew coughed awkwardly, flushing as he turned to the Elf still hiding behind his barrier. "Uh, so, what are we going to do with this guy?"

"Simple." Chris stepped up to the barrier. "Can you understand me?" The Elf nodded hesitantly. "Good. Make us wait, we kill you slow. Go into the portal, you live." Ka'lypso grinned evilly behind him, acid dripping from her claws.

The Elf gulped, glancing between Chris and the portal. "What- what guarantee do I have you'll keep your word?"

"Why would I lie? Your life or death means literally nothing to me." Chris replied. "I'm sure my subordinates would be more than willing to wait for you, as long as they got to play with you at the end." A few of the kobolds snickered at that, nodding eagerly. "I simply find such things unnecessary, so I'm offering you an out."

The Elf paled. "I- I-"

"Just go." Chris gestured to the portal, and the Elf immediately dropped the barrier and rushed inside to the sound of disappointment from the kobolds.

"Alright, now I have some energy, and some Elves to interrogate." Chris smiled. "This was a good day."