Behind him, Aura rolled over and shakily got to her feet. That second attack of hers had used far more energy than she had been expecting. She would be fine in a few minutes, however, until then she would be shaky on her feet.

Regardless, she came up behind him to watch as he touched the final orb.

The yellow orb melted away to reveal a bracelet. Nate tilted his head at that and stored the bracelet. He was counting on the information function of his storage to reveal what the bracelet actually was. Pulling up the storage interface, he discovered that it was a storage bracelet.

Nate had told his parents before that he had one, and now he actually did. Though, this one would go to one of them as well, along with the new weapons.

Closing the storage menu, he cracked his neck and looked at the camera screens. It was time to find the next group that they were going to attack.

They found their next target and began to move. This time, Nate remembered to use his basic ties energy skill on the dungeon around them and on Aura. Everything lit up with different colored strings, signifying their ties to each other. If he took a moment to concentrate on a particular string, then information about the particular bond would begin to flood into his mind.

Not particularly useful when it was how two bricks related to one another. When it came to the traps, however, that was another story entirely. Since those were still mostly blackbox tech that hadn’t been researched yet, the information he received from them was decidedly more esoteric. It was less information-based and more centered around feelings. The ties were all about the feeling of it working properly, and well, and little else.

It was honestly a little much for his mind to parse, and he had to focus on something else instead. He turned his attention to the bond he shared with Aura and found it split between him and the computer on his wrist. The computer served as the focal point for her connection to the dungeons, as that was where it split again to both cores.

There was also a thick line that he hadn’t noticed before that ran from the computer to each of the dungeons. He was careful not to focus on the wrist computer itself while he explored all of these connections. He had learned his lesson in regard to that earlier and had no desire for a repeat just yet.

Still, all of these connections gave him plenty to work and train with throughout the night. Using the energy skill required qi, so he would need to be careful in how he managed his energy, but this was just another part of his training.

***

Nate rolled out of bed with a wince. His hand involuntarily went to his tender neck. Everything had been going well enough until they hit the third group. That particular team had been a double-group, and both of them knew they were reaching when they attempted it. Still, they thought it would be safe enough as long as they remained out of sight.

That might have been the case for a normal group. They had failed to account for the danger sensing elf in the group, or the one who could send messages back to the portal room. The entire thing had turned into a mess.

He had gotten more items and rainbow orbs, but the way it had ended left a bad taste in his mouth.

Dying was never fun, but this was the first time he’d been strangled to death. It had not been a pleasant experience, and that was with whatever mental calming that the wrist computer had in place. There needed to be safeguards to protect his mortal mind against the pain and memories of dying too often.

Shaking his head, he gathered up his clothes, a towel, and the fourth dose from the box. This time, what he was taking was a relatively normal-looking pill. It was the last item in the box that drew his eye though. It appeared to be a shard of an unaligned beast's core. Something that hadn’t been tainted by an affinity.

Nate hadn’t even known that was possible. He thought all beasts had their preferred elemental affinities, but apparently, he was wrong. Either that, or there was some method to remove the affinity from a core, which would be interesting in its own right.

Regardless, that shard would have to wait for the next day.

Once he was in the shower and had taken the pill, Nate pulled up his information for a quick perusal.

Nathaniel Holmes

Age: 17 years

Realm: Mortal (Recently Awakened, Backup Core Available, 26% Charged)

Core: Bronze Grade[Low Quality]

Strength: 39

Speed: 35

Constitution: 40.5 [+]

Energy: 43

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Meditative Art: (School Shadow Temp)

Energy Skills: 3/14

Attack: Point Break

Support: Basic Ties

Basic Healing

Companion Beast: Aura (Kitsune 4-Tails)

Dungeon Creation - Current limit 2

Dungeon Interface

Dungeon - 2

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Equip

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Items

Storage

His gains were less than what he was expecting. Outside of the charge to his backup core, and perhaps the amount of actual energy he had gotten. That was to be expected though, when you spent less time training and more time working on the new dungeon.

At least the items from the McFadden’s were helping in regard to those first two numbers.

He was also pleased to see that all three of his energy skills had been registered by the system.

Drying off after the shower, he quickly dressed, grabbed his bag, and headed down the stairs. He had already decided he would give his parents their new items later during their shopping trip. He would tell them that he had some items for them as well, but nothing else.

Let them experience the suspense of waiting for once. It would do them some good.

Nina was leaning over the counter when he came down, nursing a steaming cup of tea. From the smell it was giving off, he could tell it was a weak blend of her special ‘Wakeup Tea’. It was a tea that was more akin to a beginner’s alchemist potion than a regular tea. Apparently, she had been taught the recipe by an alchemist they were escorting years before.

“You still that tired?” He asked, deciding to grab some of the tea for himself. He might not be tired at the moment, but the midday slump was real. Besides, the tea also helped the mind wake up, not just the body.

She yawned and shook her head. “No, well, a little. We’re doing better now, for the most part, but we are still recovering. After you leave, I’ll probably head back up to bed for another couple of hours of sleep. Then we’ll worry about getting things prepped for this weekend.”

Nate popped some bread into the toaster and sipped his cup of tea. “Alright, well, I’ll be waiting for you outside the school, just like I promised yesterday. Oh, and before I forget. I have a few surprises of my own for you and dad, so don’t go buying anything major until after we meet up, yeah? Just get normal supplies until then.”

“Hmm,” Nina’s eyes narrowed at him suspiciously, an effect that was ruined when she yawned again. “Ugh, whatever. Fine, keep your secrets. We’ll see you then. Have a good day at school and be safe.” She gave him a quick hug and went back up the stairs to bed.

Nate chuckled as he locked the door behind him. He had a feeling they were going to be very surprised by what he had for them. The wrist computer had known exactly what he wanted and needed the night before, just like it always did. That said, the dungeons didn’t always give him what he wanted, but they generally gave him what he needed.

In this case, that was equipment for his parents, and it had delivered. Really, it had over-delivered if you considered the strength of their new weapons. If word got out about their weapons, there would be a target on their back, but it would be one they could handle. It was the same for the storage bracelet, or at least he hoped, but that was also fairly easy to hide.

The other couple of items, or rather everything combined… it was just too much.

He would need to think about what he was actually going to give them while he was at school. Or maybe he would just let them decide. Give them everything, and then they could choose what to actually use. That might be easiest.

Nate walked past his parents’ car and leaned against the bumper while he waited for Angie and Lindsay to arrive. He had come outside a few minutes earlier than he usually did and had the chance to look up at the gray, stormy early morning sky for once. There was a chill in the air as the wind rustled his hair. It was perfect weather for a light jacket.

The kind of weather that brought a feeling of change and promise with it. Then again, he had always loved this time of year. The changing color of the leaves was a magical time, in his opinion, even if he didn’t get to experience his preferred riot of color out here.

The sound of tires accompanied by the quiet rumble of a powerful engine brought Nate’s attention back to the road as the car arrived.

“Are you ready for this weekend?” He asked as he slid in beside the girls.

Neither of them looked very excited at the prospect of the coming expedition.

“We met the team we will be going with last night for a few minutes,” Lindsay groused with her arms folded. “They treated us both as nothing more than a couple of spoiled brats and little kids. It was like they didn’t even expect us to actually want to participate while we were out there. It was only for a few minutes, but if it's any indication, this weekend is going to suck!”

Angie nodded. “How about you? Were your parents alright?”

“Yeah, it seems like there are a lot of cultivators coming from other cities to explore the structure around the portal though. They caused several problems for them, and even fought them a few times, it seems. This weekend will be different from the last one, that’s for sure.” He settled back and cracked his neck. “Did either of you get any decent practice in with your new energy skills against Anna last night?”

They both blanched and shivered. “That woman is the devil, I tell you! As soon as she learned that we had finished writing any skills into our cores, she incorporated them into our training. It was brutal!” Angie complained, with Lindsay nodding emphatically by her side. “It did help us though.” She continued with a defeated sigh. “The inherent knowledge we receive on how to use each of the skills is only the most basic information. She was able to show us several more ways to use our skills.”

That was something Nate had noticed the night before as well. While he could immediately use all of the skills, that didn’t mean it was in the best way possible. A lot of that he was assuming was because the skill wanted to see how he would use it before the first evolution it went through. He could be wrong, but that at least made some sense to him.

A short while later, they were sitting in their classroom, with Miss Moorish standing in front of them. Now that they had learned two of their energy skills, she was open to answering any of the questions they had about them. That included the different ways they could be used and evolved as well.

Naturally, as the last day of the week, however, the bulk of the class time would be spent talking about expeditions. She understood that this would be their second one and wasn’t quite as worried as she would have otherwise been. That said, there was a lot of information that she had already gone over throughout the week that needed to be reiterated for their own safety.

Expeditions were not to be taken lightly. They were dangerous and had only become more so over the last couple of weeks.

She might be a fairly new teacher, and that was undoubtedly why she had taken such a shine to them. But she was not going to let them head out there again, without making sure they were as prepared mentally as she could make them.