I activated the skill. Mana saturated my arms, strengthening them and increasing their speed. All that could be seen of my spear was after images. Bats turned into blood mist as they burst in the air, covering Lydia and I.

‘Right, Lydia.’

I turned and saw her body buckle. Fatigue had set in, slowing and weakening her strikes. A bat made it past her defenses, biting into her shoulder.

‘Shit. I need to kill that thing and get her out of the way… this is a terrible fucking idea.’

While awkwardly trying to keep the spear moving in my left hand, I stepped to the right and used my arm to backhand the bat. The hit crushed it, but sent Lydia flying halfway down the hallway, away from the combat.

Congratulations, You have unlocked the Skill: Brawler.

Brawler: Skill governing the ability to throw and take powerful punches. Current Rank (1/10).

Skill detected, “Autodidact,” would you like to transfer 100 experience points to level Brawler? Y/N.

I decided to leave becoming One Punch Man for later and worked on the task at hand. The swarm continued to dive at me. Each bat completely ignored the carnage in front of it, disregarding its own safety. My spear and hands blurred as chunks exploded in every direction. The bats seemed to have no end but neither did my stamina. Lydia, surprising me, recovered and rejoined the chaos. The last kill was hers.

As I received the experience notification, Lydia slumped against a wall, propping herself up with her spear. She was again overcome by white light. I auto-looted the corpses while I waited. Finally, she sat down to rest.

“How are you feeling?”

“Great,” she replied, in the midst of a coughing fit.

“What level now?”

“16.”

“Shouldn’t you be… a bit healthier if you’re getting stronger?”

“I’m fine. It's just mana sickness. Each time you level, your body draws in the mana surrounding you. It’s what increases your stats. Gaining too many levels at once is like overinflating a balloon.

“You're going to pop?” I asked, concerned.

“It’s not a perfect metaphor. It just feels extremely unpleasant. The more you do at once the worse you feel.”

‘That explains a few things.’ I grimaced, remembering the pain before my arrival.

“Let’s take a rest.”

Lydia lied down, while I tested out my new skill. I tried varying the pace and the type of strikes to see what would happen.

“You’re going to drain your magic.”

“What’s the normal magic level for a hero league warrior?” I teased.

“About 100.”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Show off.”

“Yup.”

Lydia watched me go through the routine. “You know you will be teaching that to me.”

“Only if you're nice.”

“Bite me.”

“You were a lot more pleasant when you thought I was a god.”

“I was trying to be reverent.”

“Mmhmm.”

*****************

Eventually, I finished practicing and Lydia picked herself up. We made our way back through the large room and deeper into the complex. As we got further, we fought tougher and tougher monsters: some in nests, some in pairs, and some solos. Lydia and I tore them all to shreds. After progressing this way for several hours, all of Lydia's tentativeness vanished. Her hands became more and more steady. That maniacal smile she had during training painted her face during combat. She looked eager, looked alive. Eventually, a giant spider lowered from an enormous web on the ceiling, blocking our path.

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“I’ll take the front, while you circle around the back,” I ordered.

“I’d prefer to fight this one on my own.”

“Why?”

“I need to prove to myself that I can do this without you.”

“Okay… are you sure you can handle it?”

“I know its stats and weaknesses. I should be able to take it on my own.”

“Why would you possibly know the stats and weaknesses of a giant spider?

Lydia looked reluctant to speak.

I rubbed my temples. “Hero League?”

“... there are trading cards.”

I was stunned. How in the world did this girl end up a priestess?

“Fine, whatever, spiders are fucking gross anyway.”

“Just throw me a backup weapon.”

I called another spear from my inventory and tossed it to her.

Lydia placed it on the ground behind her as she moved in slowly, ready to test the spider's defenses. The spider did not share her caution. It skittered straight at her, fangs dripping with saliva. The spider staggered slightly as one of its legs struck debris that was scattered about the ground. Seeing her opening, Lydia surprised the spider, and me, by hurling her spear into its eyes. While the impact didn’t kill it, the spider was blinded on its left side.

Enraged, the spider leapt high into the air, aiming to land on its prey. Lydia rolled into its blind spot and thrust. This time she hit a soft spot where its front leg connected to its torso. The spider’s body impaled itself on the spear as the monster fell to the ground. Green ichor shot out of the wound onto Lydia’s left arm.

“GAAAAAAH,” She screamed. “Fucking venom sack.” Her sleeve melted, revealing her arm, which was bubbling red and black. I rushed towards her but was stopped by her voice.

“Don’t!”

‘What the hell is she thinking.’ I kept my distance but stayed ready to spring forward at a moment’s notice.

Fortunately for Lydia, the spider had its own problems. Her spear had driven deep enough into its carapace that only the spear’s end was exposed, skewering most of its body. Venom and entrails gushed out as the spider was desperately trying to rebalance itself on only 7 legs.

Lydia put that time to good use. She placed her free hand on her disfigured arm and muttered a prayer. White light shone on her wound. While her flesh didn’t heal, it stopped sizzling.

“Noah. Weapon!”

I threw my spear to her, and materialized another for myself. Lydia caught it and continued to attack the heavily injured spider's blind side. CLICK. RIP. SPLAT. Down went another leg. The flailing beast could no longer support its own weight. As it collapsed, Lydia darted forward and again stabbed through its eye, finishing it off.

She sat down to rest, and a now familiar glow overtook her. Once it faded, Lydia repeatedly cast healing on her arm while we talked.

“You know this would probably go faster if you just let me handle-”

“Don’t you dare. I want my share of the XP.”

I thought for a moment. “You won’t get any if I kill them?”

“Far less, the experience is distributed based on kill contribution.”

“The universe has a built-in safeguard against power leveling. Interesting.”

“Power leveling?”

“Term from games in my world. It means to have a stronger person hunt with a weaker one to raise the weaker one’s level.”

“Oh, there are still ways of doing that here, like stealing the last hit, but it's less than desirable.”

Lydia paused, as if she were done speaking.

“Would you care to elaborate?”

“Oh, right. Well, if that is most of what you do, the stats you gain at each level are distributed randomly.”

“How are they normally distributed?

“They usually amplify what you do. Beat a creature to death, you gain strength. Tank some blows, you gain vitality. Cast spells and use abilities, you gain magic. It lets you get better at what you're doing rather than what fate decides. People who are power leveled have even stat distributions, and end up bad at everything. Same exact issue with leveling by cores, except even less efficient.

“I was wondering what those were used for.” I said, while I used autoloot on the spider’s core.

1x Magic Core (Rank C) has been added to your inventory. I materialized the core from my inventory and handed it to her.

“To the victor, go the spoils.”

“That looting ability you have is damn useful.”

“It does save some time. Anyway, so cores can level people without fighting.”

“Yes. Though that is mostly done by businessmen and nobles. It gets quite expensive to do it that way past level 5.”

“Noted, are you good to go?”

“Let’s do it.”

**********************

We fought our way lower into the complex. Lydia’s improvement was apparent as we delved. During the trip, she squealed that her spearmanship rank increased. Her joy was sharply contrasted by the viscera staining her robes.

‘Honestly, I think this lunatic is having the time of her life.’

We entered another large room with vaulted ceilings supported by columns. Huge boulders were strewn across the floor, remnants of a crumbling ceiling. As we walked, we passed the crushed skeletons of all manner of beasts. The eerie quiet unnerved me, so I kept my weapon at the ready. We reached a giant set of double doors, carved with intricate swirls.

“The portal should be right through there,” Lydia stated.

THUD, THUD, THUD.

I turned to see what was crashing behind me. A giant pile of rocks in the shape of a man lumbered towards us, shaking the entire room with each step.

‘Oh, so there is a final boss. Excellent.’