Now that Janik was looking better by the second, Sam focused on himself and the system messages in his view.

First, he had levelled up, the choice there was simple, he put the extra point in Spirit and accepted it. Seconds after he did that he started second guessing if it was the best choice. He wondered that with the damage the bandits could have done, and monsters in the future would be doing, wouldn’t it be better to build some defences? Perhaps Janik had some good input on that later.

[ Level 10 reached second class skill granted: Weight Limit Increase. ]

Sam was unsure about this one. It was amazing, he wondered what he’d get at Level 10, he thought it would be a new ability but he had heard that usually, it was something somewhat related to your play style. Checking the details it changed the math. Before it was the Spirit score x 10 grams/0.35oz, this changed into a 20x multiplier instead, so his Spirit x 20 grams/0.7oz. With the extra energy he got from the increase in Spirit, he could now manifest 10 hands, for a total lift weight of 4kg/8.8lbs.

His mind was racing with the thoughts of this. Due to the weight increase, he could easily lift a dagger with one Psyhand, with enough force to spare to easily move them around. He was already carrying five daggers with the Vampiric Dagger, but the bandits had four more, so if he used them all he at least had nine!

Noticing Elara slithering over to him, he crouched down and extended a hand for her to slither up and get back on her perch on his shoulder, as she did he put all her three points from levelling in Vitality, boosting her health and Venom ability. Her health was almost the same as Sam’s was now, which was kind of interesting in one way.

Now, after all of that was taken care of, he had two main thoughts left, checking what the bandits had on them and completing the Ascendant quest!

Activating the latter, the quest window popped up again.

[ Ascendant Challenge 2/2 - Completed

Rewards: A significant boost to an ability. ]

It requested confirmation to complete it, and there was no time like the present. Mentally focusing on completing it collapsed the window and opened a new one.

[ Ascendant upgrade unlocked: Improved Psyhands. ]

It didn’t explain anything, so Sam had to open the information windows and compare the Improved to the normal one.

[ Psyhands: Manifest telekinetic hand-like forces. ]

[ Improved Psyhands: Manifest a pair of telekinetic hand-like forces. ]

At first glance, it didn’t seem too amazing, but he noticed the important difference: ‘a pair of’.

Testing it right away he manifested Psyhands with a single point, as the text stated two Psyhands manifested at his sides.

“Oh...” Sam vocalised without considering it, looking surprised. Simple consideration meant that if he got two hands per Energy, and he had 10 Energy, he could manifest 20 hands. Test-lifting one of his daggers on the forest floor confirmed that each of the two hands had full weight capacity... This Ascendant boon doubled his weight limit yet again. He... he could have 20 daggers, or mix in other weapons, in the air with this...

“What?” Janik asked, looking much better after a few potions and a minute to catch his breath.

“Soooo... A few things happened...” Sam took a moment to briefly explain the upgrades, the ones to Elara weren’t too over the top as it was normal levelling, but the two boosts he gained to himself were much more interesting.

First, he explained the base weight increase, and how that changed the math into double weight, at this point he could single-hand wield daggers without problems. Second, the especially interesting one was the Improved Psyhands. It seemed he could choose to manifest just one hand by using the Psyhands ability, but there was never a reason to not manifest two hands, it took the same energy, the same amount of focus and everything, and they could all feel like normal hands.

“That’s amazing.” Janik commented, almost looking baffled more than interested. “So in short... You can make double the amount of hands, which in turn has actually quadrupled your total capacity?”

“Basically, yes.” Sam confirmed. “And since each hand can now lift more than a dagger, I can have... 20 of them in the air at the same time.”

“And your mind won’t overload from this?” Janik looked at Sam with an undefinable expression, mostly looking like he was processing all of this.

“I think it’s fine, using 9 hands at the same time before wasn’t a problem. It sounds like it should be but... It just works, it feels like they are hands I have always been able to use, just like my normal ones.” Flexing his physical hands as he talked, it was almost like he confirmed they were still working or making a point.

“And considering how your Pulsething hits harder the more hands you use... That’s kinda fucked up.” Janik smiled, his comment clearly being a positive remark.

“It kind of is, yes.” Sam agreed. “Though, I think I realised something in the fight just now... My fighting style isn’t as good as it could be.” Sam hovered the Vampiric blade in closer and gave it to his normal hand. “I can attack with a lot of weapons, yes, but I need time to aim for those critical hits. Normal attacks will be eaten up by armour. I don’t have any damage multipliers and... I actually do a tiny bit more damage with my daggers using my hands.” He emphasised his point by fake-stabbing in the air with his normal hand.

Janik took this info in and thought about it for a few moments. “That’s not a huge problem yet. Other Players are using armour, but most monsters don’t have much in the sense of defences in our level brackets.” Though Janik didn’t seem to be too much higher level than Sam, he seemed to at least have done his research. “There are exceptions, of course. But for our relatively low level, the System seems somewhat balanced in our favour. Once we go to the second Floor that’ll change, so I think we should look into a way for you to get around that.”

Sam was a bit relieved that this wasn’t a problem just yet, though it was going to be an issue in a while. Knowing how his own Defense protected him, certain attacks doing below 5 damage, just didn’t make it through. Using that math, his simple daggers which do no more than 5 damage, wouldn’t get through his armour, a critical hit could make it through but normal attacks wouldn’t. Based on the lack of reaction when he attacked the PvP man, it felt like he would have a higher Defense than the daggers did damage.

That thought brought Sam to another thing, they were dead now, and as they were intending to loot Janik and Sam for their stuff, it was only fair that now with the roles reversed; Janik and Sam got the loot!

“We still have some time, then. And I think it might be easier to ask around or test back on Earth. For now, I think we have some stuff to look through.”

Sam started rummaging through the pockets, it felt a bit weird in a sense. It wasn’t the first time he went through the pockets of an... unconscious... person, but it felt different due to the situation. It became a bit worse as they started taking off the armour and worn gear, feeling a bit like undressing a corpse.

Once all of the collecting was done, the pile of stuff consisted of 2x Sets of Armour with a [ Defense 10 ] bonus, between them were four daggers with a base damage of 10, two D-rank health potions that heal 50%, and two stealth-boosting rings.

Janik took a moment to go through it all and check things properly. “Well, there is a substantial value here... So I hope you get that I can’t just give you all of it.” He smiled, clearly referencing that he had been very nice with loot and things from earlier dungeons.

“What kind of values are we talking about?” Sam considered if it was worth buying Janik out of things. Though everyone could take advantage of Stealth, it was somewhat becoming his way of doing things, so stacking up on Stealth items didn’t seem like a bad idea.

“Hmm... I don’t have all the numbers in my head, but I think the Defense 10 armour sells for around $1000, buying them in about 5000 from their insane markups. At least that was how it was when I got mine. Potions are 500 sale and buy, I don’t know about daggers but I think they are like 1-2000 or something.” He looked to the sky and squinted as he tried to remember, but his expression changed to a much more excited one as he looked back to Sam and continued. “Now, the stealth rings. Even the cheapest ones easily go for ten thousand or so depending on supply. Stealth items are very sought after, not always easy to get.”

Sam’s heart dropped, he hoped this was a value he could overcome, so he could stack up on their effects. Due to how lucrative being a Player is he had sort of lost track of his account a little, but he should have somewhere above $3000, which was just impossible to imagine a week ago, but this wasn’t even half of the expected selling price according to Janik.

Asking to be given this for free was also... out of the question.

“Had it been a cheaper item-” Janik continued. “-I could have given it to you but... Guy’s got bills to pay, so I can’t just hand it to you. Now, I get that this is a lot of money, so I can agree to a downpayment. You owe me the money, pay a little here and there, and if we should ever split up we need to work out the remaining value somehow. We’ll double-check what they actually go for before we lock it down, but it basically means that you owe me ten grand.” He smiled happily, seeming satisfied with this middle ground.

“Oh, though half of this is yours, if you want the extra two daggers, it’s the same deal there.” He waved his hand towards the collected pile of stuff.

Sam pondered this hard. He disliked owing anything due to logical reasons. And this was a higher sum than he had ever considered. On one hand, he had been a Player for a few days and had 3000-something in his account, not considering the value of things like the gear he was using. He wanted the daggers as well, but if they went for a thousand a piece, it meant that he’d owe 12 thousand.

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The amount of money to be considered was overloading his brain. It was like imagining a trillion dollars in your account, though a vastly different sum in Sam’s mind both were almost as fantastical to consider.

Trying to weigh things realistically, since the Stealth items were in high demand but low supply, hinting that they aren’t easy to get randomly through Dungeons or quests, so paying at the sale price is an incredibly good deal, since TAC takes a 5x markup he saves a bunch of money that way. Though probably not in as low a supply, there was still a 4x saving by taking the daggers here rather than buying them.

He could see Janik looking at him with a wide smile, already acting as if he had made a good deal... And frankly, it was an amazing deal for Sam. Janik lost nothing besides time in getting the full sum.

“Fine...” Sam finally caved in. “I really do want them... it’s just... so much money.” He complained a bit, not at the deal nor Janik, but at the cost of things. In his mind, though he knew this would probably not take more than a week or two, parts of his mind hated even considering it.

“Great!” Janik smiled as he focused on the air nowhere in particular, it looked like he was doing something with some System windows.

It didn’t take long before a window popped up in Sam’s view.

[ Player Janik Znai proposes a contract. ]

Sam looked through it, at first he was intrigued that this was an option, but it kind of made sense. The System could already force anything onto anyone as soon as you were a part of it, just look at quests and classes, not to mention Elara’s condition as a Companion. So it made sense this could be done as well.

Reading through the contract suggestion it wasn’t very wordy, but had what was needed. The items and expected cost, with the clause that the prices would change up or down depending on actual market value upon return to TAC. Downpayment time was set to three months and if it was not paid at that time, punishments would occur. Punishments ranged from how severe the breach was, from reclaiming the item without getting money back, even transfer of levels between them.

It seemed harsh but that was only if he agreed to it and then didn’t pay up. Even to Sam’s mind, where this amount of money was insane, three months sounded fine. Worst case scenario he could just sell it and give him the money to avoid any negative blowbacks.

Sam agreed to the contract since he could give the items up or sell them, there was no drawback to it, no fine print nor any interest added to it. This was him helping Sam out, but since the value was somewhere around 12 000, he wanted to make sure. Sam couldn’t think of any reason not to be certain in cases like these.

“Then there we go.” Janik smiled. “Then I’ll just take one of the armours and one potion.” He looked satisfied with the deal they made and walked over to get his stuff.

Sam was intrigued as well as he joined Janik with the pile of stuff they gathered. He took a moment to clean one of the armours, as it was better than the one he was wearing there was no need to not upgrade. Once his armour was on he looked at the rings, they were surprisingly simple looking, the System confirmed that they listed Stealth +5% each, and as he put them on he didn’t feel any different, but the System confirmed that they were active and working. Sam was glad to see that they stacked, so he got the full 10% bonus.

“Soooo... How does the stealth thing work? I don’t feel any different.” Sam asked feeling a bit dumb having gone into all of that without even knowing.

“Well, you’re not trying to hide now, so they don’t do anything. But as soon as you’re trying to hide, they make it slightly harder to notice you. As it’s a percentage bonus it means that it relies on your existing skills, but that also means that they will never stop being useful.” Janik answered as he was putting his part of the loot into his backpack.

Sam nodded, this all made sense, any boost is a good boost. Spending a few moments bending and flexing around to make sure the armour was sitting properly, and a brief wondering of how Elara would wear rings, he felt good and ready.

“So... do... do we just leave them here?” Sam commented, referring to the two corpses on the forest floor.

“I don’t see why not, they would do that to us, and as they say; Nature will reclaim.” Janik shrugged, he was done packing down everything, including his camp supplies and was already leaving the campsite. Not having any consideration for the two bandits in the slightest.

Sam couldn’t think of any good reasons to not let goblins, or whatever, eat them, so he joined Janik in leaving.

As they walked he couldn’t stop thinking how eventful the day was, not just considering the fight, but everything that just happened. He got a gear boost and a significant Psyhand boost. He was feeling a bit giddy, considering his options he could now fling around his nine daggers without problems, but since each Energy now produced two hands, this only cost him 5 energy and left him a hand to spare. According to what he read in the deeper information of his skills, the Force Pulse would still need 1 energy per hand, so even though it only took 1 Energy to manifest 2 hands, it would still cost 2 energy to Pulse with both.

Since he used 5 energy to make hands for all the daggers, and if he wanted to Pulse as hard as possible, this let him use the remaining 5 energy to create one pair of hands, giving him three hands, use three points to pulse with those and have one left to either expand on his Area or get some bonus hands.

He originally thought there was a lot of simple maths used in being a Player, but the way his resources worked also meant he needed to keep track of all of that. So he was surprisingly glad that he got the math education that he did before things went bad.

They kept trekking along, Janik didn’t have a specific path in mind, but he had a rough goal. A small mountain in the distance was the entrance to a dungeon, this one was filled with beastfolk, they were craftier than Goblins and gave much more XP, even compared to their level. It was relatively easy, the main problem with it was getting there. So once you get there it’s normal to do a few runs to maximize it.

“A strange feeling of it is that though the entrance is near a mountain, it takes you to a forest in an open plain.” Janik explained. “I haven’t done it more than a few times, but I hear that it rotates between different beastfolk when it resets. I have done some Hyena people before, they were surprisingly crafty, so I’ll be actively joining you from now on.”

Sam was surprised, he was able to handle the last dungeon alone, though the end of it was... barely, had he been smarted it would have gone fine. And now Janik states that he needs to be a part of it.

“Is it that dangerous?” Sam confirmed hesitantly as they walked through the forests towards an open plain.

“Yes, though they won’t kill you outright with one hit, one crit will do it, even with your armour. And two or three hits will kill you even with your armour.” He answered honestly.

Though he appreciated the honest answer, Sam regretted not putting more into his Vitality at this point. “So... you’re saying I should have put a lot more points in Vitality...” Sam shared his thoughts.

“Hmm...” Janik pondered as he walked. “I don’t know. Your skills are highly reliant on Spirit, I think the best you can do is to work on raising your Vitality through training or get Attribute boosting items. I think it’s a good idea for you to keep focusing on your unique abilities, but it might be smart to round out our party with another member, I can only do so much.”

Not having seen this super cautious side of Janik properly before, Sam was a bit hesitant to even go into the Dungeon. It sounded like it was very high risk.

“So, if the risk is that high, I assume the rewards are as well?” Sam had an almost annoyed tone, he was about to risk getting one shot or murdered in two hits, he wanted this to be worth it.

“Each one of their cores usually goes for about $1000, not to mention their XP is over 10 times that of the goblins we fought. They can also have some weapons or Skill Crystals at times.” Even though he was facing away from Sam, being the one leading the trio if you counted Elara, Sam could hear that he was smiling.

And... he had good reason to smile. They hadn’t known each other that long yet but he had a solid grasp on Sam’s greed. If the XP to kill them was over ten times the last dungeons they were in, didn’t that mean that the Dungeon clear bonus was as well?

It didn’t take long before they exited the forests into the open plains, Janik pointed at a mountain straight ahead, and though it was just a straight walk it looked like it’d take 20 minutes to get there.

Even at this distance, Sam could see people around there, even a decent-sized building was not far from where the people were gathered, the strangest thing was that he could see an off-road modern car.

He could feel some... hesitation, seeing a group of people in Aetheria, though his mind put itself at ease considering that the bandits were an exception, and this was a normal dungeon gathering location. His uncertainty slowly changed into excitement as they neared the mountain, this was his first ‘real’ dungeon, that required allies, it was also very different and most importantly; Lucrative.

“What’s the building over there?” Sam finally asked, having wondered this for a short while.

“Oh, it’s an Inn. They take absurd prices but at least it’s guaranteed safe to sleep there. They also buy and sell stuff, so we can probably unload the armour and stuff we don’t need before we go in.”

“Oh, so I can stock up on daggers there?” Sam was interested in filling up so he could use all 20 arms, since Janik said there wasn’t much in the sense of defence ratings yet, then the cheap ones would probably be fine for now.

“That’s a good idea! Double the daggers, double the stabby!” Janik exclaimed as he fake-stabbed wildly in the air with both his hands.

Sam was getting more intrigued, this was going to be interesting!