Treia sulked next to me, pulling at her dress.
“I hate this thing. Why did I have to wear this?!” she exclaimed.
I patted her shoulder. “You’re just annoyed since you haven’t gotten to go out to the battlefield for the past two days,” I said to her. “Don’t worry, there’s still at least half of them left.”
Treia glared at me and flicked my hand before looking ahead to the faint silver dot at the horizon. “What do you think they’re gonna be like? The Valkyries, I mean.”
I tilted my head, trying to think of a way to say what I was thinking without giving away that I may know who one of them was. “I’m not entirely sure. They could be as snarky as you-”
“Hey!”
“Or they could be as nice as me!”
Treia scowled. “That’s not endearing in the slightest.”
I shrugged and we went quiet, watching the silver dot that was the Valkyries’ transportation slowly grow closer. As we watched, I tried to decide what to do when they arrived. I knew that I could act like I didn’t know who they were, but if Leah was there, then I probably didn’t have a choice.
“I shouldn’t be here…” I grumbled.
Treia looked at me in horror. “And leave me here alone to deal with them? No, thank you.”
Rolling my eyes, I focused on the horizon.
***
Leah read the report with a frown. “He can’t throw bolts of lightning like Zeus,” she mumbled, trying to make sense of it. “Maybe Mia could, but him? Not a chance.”
Char was obviously starting to get annoyed at Leah’s constant muttering, but Leah just couldn’t make sense of it.
“Ice, Lightning, unknown Level, Runes…” She finished the report for the third time, still dumbfounded. Char sighed from Leah’s side, her tail completely still, not amused. “How?”
“Whoever this person is, they’re a dual-Element user clearly. Don’t see how that’s confusing,” she said, glaring at her. “Who’s this person that you’re so worked up about?”
“Based on this report, it’s definitely my old friend. But he was never able to do all the things this says he can. The last I saw him, he was in the Level 40s. I had a quest that told me that he’d reached Level 50, but the estimated Level they say is nearly 75! How?”
Char thought for a moment. “Maybe it’s just Effective Stats; those can make a person fight far above their Level. A normal Level 50 has around 170-180%.”
Leah scowled. “Oh, he’s far from normal. Other than not knowing how to die, he gets tunnel vision when he’s focused on something. I’m sure there’s someone who clearly cares for him more than they’d care for themselves, but his skull is so thick, I could punch him in the face and he’d take a year to react.”
“That’s… saying a lot,” Char muttered. “I’ve seen you vaporize things with your punches and you’re saying he could shrug it off like a firm pat on the shoulder?” She shook her head. “Geez.”
Leah hummed in agreement. “I… don’t know what I’m going to do when I see him. I’ll either hug him, punch him, or both-”
“Destination reached,” the vehicle’s voice said over Leah.
She froze as the doors opened and two voices that were arguing flowed through.
“-pectful, you! You have the tendency to piss off everyone you meet, so try to be nice for once,” a girl was saying.
A familiar voice scoffed. “Pish posh. I’m always respectful.”
“Uh huh. And you weren’t about to bite off my uncle’s arm because he took your Platinum.”
“Uhh, look at that, it’s a metal… thing,” Jason’s voice said, clearly trying to change the topic.
“It’s a Valkyrie ‘automobile’,” the girl snapped. “And be respectful, you ass.”
“You’re the Princess here, Treia, so you- ah, shit.”
Jason cursed as Leah stepped out and gave him a flat stare, assessing him, while Char looked happy that Leah wasn’t muttering gibberish anymore.
***
I gulped at Leah’s judgemental stare, trying to work up the courage to speak. Finally, I sighed and gave her a flat stare back.
“Welcome,” I said, nudging Treia as she stood, staring at them.
She blushed and cleared her throat. “As Jason said, welcome, Valkyries. We-”
“Why are you even here?” Leah interrupted, clearly not noticing Treia speaking.
The brown haired girl next to her gave me a confused look before looking between me and Leah, some sort of understanding dawning upon her face.
“Oh, is this your old friend?” she asked Leah. “He’s… not what I expected.”
I snorted and looked down at the short girl. “What’d you expect? I was some sort of big burly guy who likes kung-fu? I mean, I like kung-fu, though hitting things with my hands is Leah’s job. I’m not burly either.”
Treia looked at me, glaring. “For one, Jason, stop being an ass, and two: You know her?”
I shrugged. “You could say that,” I muttered, looking over at Leah.
Leah… hadn’t really changed. She wore a nearly skin tight suit that was covered in some sort of metal plates that seemed flexible. At a second glance, I noticed Runes lightly etched on their surfaces. Resisting the urge to stare at the Runes, I simply memorized them, planning on getting a sheet of metal, carving them, and shoving a shit-ton of Mana into them to see what would happen.
Anyways, Leah. She still had her signature purple hair and eyes, which had grown a deeper purple in the time we were apart. But, instead of being… well, Leah, she seemed to be a hardened soldier, which I wasn’t sure if I liked or not-
Sensing a large Mana fluctuation, I growled, my jaw clicking. Treia also noticed it and groaned.
“Really?” I hissed. “Another Juggernaut? You’re kidding me.”
Treia shook her head and waved. “Jason, can you deal with it while I escort them to the city?”
“Already on it,” I grumbled, pulling a piece of paper out of my Bag and handed it to Treia. “That’s primed to explode with about 5 thousand Lightning Mana and a Intermediate Enhancement Rune,” I told her. “Emergency only. And make sure our small friend doesn’t blow a hole in the wall because I didn’t return.”
She looked down to the paper in horror and nodded slowly as I began to walk over to the Juggernaut’s approximate location.
“I’ll go over as well,” Leah suddenly said.
I froze in place, scrunching up my face as I thought. Why can’t I just think? “Whatever.”
~~~
Me and Leah were silent as we ran over to the Juggernaut, both of us unwilling to start a conversation. Of course, I was fine with this.
As we reached the top of the hill, we saw the gigantic-
“Oh, you’re fucking with me,” I hissed. “Another bear?”
Naturally, the gigantic bear cruised through swathes of monsters slowly approaching the Mayflower’s walls. I raised my eyebrows as I Eyed it.
Juggernaut Stone Bear - Level 70 Tier 3
A gigantic bear with a Peak Affinity for Stone. Due to the nature of it, it’s power is far greater than its Level suggests. However, it is very slow even though it packs a hard hit.
Danger Level : Severe
I began pulling out slips of paper and letting them float in the air with a bit of Mana. I channeled some Lightning in one hand and Ice in the other, letting the slips fill with Mana. Leah watched me with a sliver of interest, frowning.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
“You can use Ice and Lightning now?” she finally asked.
I gave her a flat look. “After all this time and that’s the first question you ask me?” I asked her, shaking my head. “And, yes, I can.”
She blinked, reassessing me. “How?”
“Not telling you,” I grumbled.
She stared at me for a long while before looking up at the slips of paper. “You’ve certainly been well.”
“‘Well’, huh?” I snorted. “Me and Treia have been preparing for this damned Dungeon Break since I got here. Never a second when I thought it would change its mind. Because it was already pouring all kinds of crap out.”
She looked at me expectantly. I ignored her as I finished filling the slips with around 10 thousand Mana each. I brought out another slip, this one made out of metal and took a breath.
“Slow and steady,” I whispered, slowly channeling Void into it.
Leah’s brow furrowed as I did this, clearly not understanding. “What are you-?”
I tuned her out as I filled the metal with about 1000 Void Mana, the metal shivering. Pulling a script out of my Bag, I connected it to the three slips.
“Come on, gimme a kamehameha beam,” I prayed giddily as I pushed Mana into the script.
“Wait, what?!” Leah exclaimed, moving closer.
I pushed my hand out to keep her away as I carefully aimed, the Mana swirling around the center of the script.
***
The Rune God stared at the boy who was not using Runes in their intended fashion.
“What in the nine hells is this boy trying to do?” he muttered, petting his Construct. “And what is a ‘kamehameha beam’?”
***
“KAAAAAA-!”
Leah looked at Jason in bewilderment as he yelled. “What-?”
“MEEEEEE-!”
Jason put both his hands out in front of him, Mana swirling around him like a storm.
When the hell did he get this strong?! Leah thought, taking a few steps back from Jason, who was grinning wildly. The hell has he been doing?
“HAAAAA-!”
The Juggernaut looked over to him with a mild curiosity, while other monsters backed away, roaring or whimpering from the sheer amount of Mana Jason was channeling.
“MEEEEEEE-!”
All the Mana Jason released flew into the center slip of paper and the three Elements he’d gathered with the scripts mixed together in a condensed ball that was clearly aimed at the Juggernaut. The Beast’s eyes went wide and it tried to move back, but was far too late.
“HAAAAAAAA!!!!”
The Element soup condensed further and blasted at the speed of sound at the Juggernaut. When it hit the Beast, it looked like a sun was born on its skin as an explosion shook the entire area. In less than a second, the Juggernaut was vaporized along with hundreds of other beasts as a savage combination of Void, Lightning, and Ice filled the area where they all were.
Leah covered her eyes, but couldn’t stop her eardrums from bursting at the sound. Blood ran down the sides of her face as the blast went on for a good four seconds.
Once her ears healed and the light died, she looked at the destruction and gaped. There was nothing left except a large crater that was filled with charred dirt and, at the edges, monsters.
He had to have killed at least a thousand! Leah thought, staring at him in awe.
He was taking deep breaths and swaying slightly, though he still grinned widely.
“That… was epic,” he said, grinning widely. “I love my life.”
He then keeled over with the tell tale signs of [Mana Deprivation]. Leah ran over to him to see that he’d just fainted and sighed.
“I forgot you can be that stupid,” she said with a small smile
***
I groaned, opening my eyes to the very annoyed face of Treia.
“Really?” she hissed.
I closed my eyes again. “I’m sleeping. Go somewhere else.”
Treia grabbed my horn and pulled, very annoyed with me. I yelped and writhed in her grip, trying to get her to let go.
“Jason, you could’ve killed yourself!” she growled, her spines erect. “What is wrong with you!?”
I snapped at her wrist with my jaw and she let go, quickly pulling her arm out of my grip, though she kept glaring at me.
She watched me with contempt and I froze in place, noticing the tell tale signs of her about to snap at me. But, strangely enough, she seemed to deflate and rested her head on my chest.
“I was worried about you, idiot,” she muttered. “How many Levels did you get from that streak of stupidity?”
I checked and my eyebrows rose. “Six.”
She sighed, but didn’t move as I allocated my points.
Status
Name : Jason Andromeda (Bonded)
Level 67 | Tier 3
Race : Voidborn Abyssal
Health : 194688/194688 (9734 Health/Min | 162.24/s)
Mana : 17522/194688 (14602 Mana/Min | 243.36/s)
Class : Voidborn Abyssal Prince II (Unique)
Bond : Miana Andromeda
Ailment : Mana Deprivation (Temporary Mana Regen : 146/Min | 2.434/s)
Stats
Strength : 1217 (Base : 468 Effectiveness : 260%)
Dexterity : 1217 (Base : 468 Effectiveness : 260%)
Endurance : 1217 (Base : 468 Effectiveness : 260%)
Vitality : 1217 (Base : 468 Effectiveness : 260%)
Mana : 1217 (Base : 468 Effectiveness : 260%)
Intelligence : 1217 (Base : 468 Effectiveness : 260%)
Free Points : 0
Titles : The Top of Humanity…?, Abyss Enhanced, One Tier Ahead!, Speedrunner, Mass Destruction
Bond : Status
Name : Miana Andromeda (Bonded)
Level 61 | Tier 3
Race : Abyss Blizzard Serpent (Lightning Attuned) (Humanoid Form)
Health : 311501/311501 (15575 Health/Min | 259.58/s)
Mana : 155750/155750 (11681Mana/Min | 194.69/s)
Bond : Jason Andromeda
Stats
Strength : 973
Dexterity : 973
Endurance : 1947 (Base : 973 Effectiveness : 200%)
Vitality : 1947 (Base : 973 Effectiveness : 200%)
Mana : 973
Intelligence : 973
Titles : Unique Bond
I groaned as I looked at my Ailment. “99% decrease in Mana Regen until I hit 50% Mana?That’s just unfair.”
Treia lifted her head with a scoff. “Serves you right. Why would you even think of doing that?”
Again, why does she smell like lemonade? I mentally grumbled. It makes me like her more than I should. I like lemonade.
Seeing where my thoughts were going, I forced them back and responded, “‘Cause having fun is worth the consequences.”
Treia gave me a quizzical look. “Y’know, that’s probably the wisest thing you’ve ever said.”
“Yeah. I’m wisdom incarnate.”
Shaking her head, Treia rested her head back on me and we sat there for a while, silent. Eventually, I felt Treia drift off to much needed rest, arms crossed on top of me. She snored lightly, her hair falling over her face.
After shaking my head, I tried to contact Mia.
A few moments later, she responded.
I frowned.
She sent back annoyance mixed with anger and worry.
On that note, she ignored the rest of my attempts to speak to her. Annoyed, I was about to rest when the door to my room was opened. I sat up, glaring over to the brown haired girl who had arrived with Leah. She looked at me and Treia curiously, her tail swinging back and forth (Huh… I just realized she had a tail. Looks like one that’d belong to a dog or wolf).
“You’re awake!” she exclaimed. “Are you really Lee’s old friend, or do you owe her a favor or something?”
I blinked. “One thing at a time. One, I’m clearly awake, no need to announce it to the world. Two, I am her old friend. And lastly, ‘Lee’? When did that force of nature have a pet name?” I asked, bewildered.
The girl blinked. “Right. I should introduce myself. I’m Char, Leah’s girlfriend! You’re Jason, right?”
I gaped at her. “Leah’s WHAT?”
~~~
Grumbling, I kicked the dead wolf off of me, knowing that both Treia and Mia would kill me if they saw that I was outside when I was supposed to be recovering. I refrained from using Mana though, instead relying on my Strength.
It was… an odd concept of not using Mana, though probably necessary to learn. What if I was unable to use Mana? I’d be helpless if I was dependent on it.
“I don’t actually know the boundaries of my strength,” I mused. “That probably would be a bad thing if I had no clue if I could do something, but was actually able to do it.”
Shrugging, I waltzed into the forest, leaving a path of dead beasts in my wake. Soon, I was far enough away that beasts just ignored me and I could test some theories. I came across a rock that looked like it weighed about, uh, half an elephant, I guess. I shoved my bare hands into the stone to get a grip before rolling it over with ease. I jumped as it thumped onto its other side, gaping.
“Holy hells,” I muttered. “Can I lift this? If I can lift this, could I bench press an elephant?”
Moving my hands under the rock, I rolled it back onto its original side and lifted it into the air, laughing maniacally.
“Prometheus has nothing on me!” I hollered. “MUAHAHAHA-ACK!”
I fell back, dropping the rock behind me. I laid on my back for a few moments staring up at the sky. Then I grimace.
“Ah,” I muttered. “Shit.” ~~~ I gave Mia a dirty look as she sat on my lap, unwilling to let me go anywhere. She glared right back up at me, sending back contempt. When Mia had found out I’d left, she’d effectively gone berserk trying to find me. Eventually, when she finally found me, she’d sentenced me to the “sitting on your lap and not moving until I say so” punishment. She’d straight up refused to move until I’d regained my Mana, complaining that she’d been worried about me while she was clearly pissed. “Y’know, it’s not like I could go anywhere even if I tried,” I told her disdainfully. “I’m kinda shackled here.” Mia simply gave me an unbelieving look and didn’t budge. Treia, however, was another story. She’d somehow found a way to shackle me to the recovery bed with some stupid material I assumed was Platinum. Where she got Platinum shackles, I don’t know. I also get the idea that I don’t want to know where she got them. “I hate this,” I mumbled. I looked down at her after processing this. “When the hell did you learn the word ‘consequences’?”