“Alright, I guess this is goodbye, for now,” I told Aiden after I finished selling the Tier Three items that I no longer had a use for.

I’d already defeated each of the zone bosses once before I tiered up. Now, I just needed to defeat one of them again, and I’d be able to leave the floor for good. Aiden was still a couple of levels shy of reaching Tier Four, and I had no desire to wait around.

As far as Faith was concerned… as far as I knew, she hadn’t gained a level since returning from the Trial. She pretty much gave up on hunting and killing beasts to progress after the incident with the bandits.

As soon as we’d returned to the village, Faith had moved out of the apartment she’d shared with Aiden and claimed she didn’t feel comfortable challenging the dungeon with either of us anymore. She even refused the MealMaker I’d made for her with some of the Crystal obtained from the Trial. She said it would be like accepting blood money for her part in murdering the bandits.

Her choice of words still annoyed me, and not just because they touched on my own feelings of guilt. But I pushed those emotions down and reminded myself that my actions likely saved more people in the end.

The bandits had been marked for death as soon as they started murdering people for their loot. If I hadn’t taken care of them, someone else eventually would have. Every person they killed until then would have been on me.

That wasn’t a burden I was willing to carry.

It wasn’t hard for Aiden to find another group to join, even halfway through Tier Three. His Fire and Air affinities likely helped, though his sociable personality probably was a bigger factor. Aiden seemed to know everyone in the central village, and he was quite well-liked.

Having a personal shelter with built-in wards probably didn’t hurt, either. Aiden had tried to give it back after the Trial, but I told him to keep it. I didn’t have any use for the additional device, and it was already attuned to his mana anyway. I’d only brought a couple of extras because I wasn’t sure what kind of situation I’d be entering.

“I guess I’ll see you when I reach the fourth floor,” the Fire Mage replied. “Don’t get too far ahead.”

“No promises,” I replied with a smile before waving and turning to the crafter waiting nearby. “You ready?”

Yang Chao, the Chinese Smith I’d met the first day, nodded eagerly. “Yes. I am very excited to continue my journey.”

I’d expected the man to have already reached the fourth floor since he was level twenty-nine when I arrived in the dungeon. But surprisingly, he’d only just earned enough experience to reach Tier Four. Since he’d asked to join me, I could only assume that he didn’t have a team of his own.

Curious, I said, “I was surprised when you asked to join me. I thought you would have moved on already since you were near the peak of Tier Three when we met.”

The man glanced away and shrugged. His hand unconsciously reached for his sword, though it wasn’t in a threatening manner. It seemed more like a comfort than anything.

“I was injured quite badly by one of the ambush creatures in the frozen zone a few months before you arrived. My party was lucky to have a Healer, but the experience took some time to get over.” Chao was silent for several moments as we headed for the very zone where he’d been injured.

“My former party continued without me when I did not immediately rebound from the injury,” he continued as we drew closer to the snowy slopes. “I do not blame them for leaving me. It was the right thing to do. We have no familial ties binding us together. They have no responsibility toward me.”

I paused just outside the zone’s boundary. “I can challenge one of the other bosses if you’d prefer not to go back into the creature’s territory,” I offered. Not taking him along wasn’t an option since he’d already tiered up in anticipation of joining me. “I can also Teleport us directly to the boss if that would be better for you.”

“No,” he said firmly. He shook his head resolutely. “I need to get over my fear. Besides—” he pulled a familiar talisman out from under his armor, “—I’m prepared this time. I will not be defeated so easily.”

I smiled as he tucked the [Barrier] talisman back into his armor carefully. We didn’t speak much once we entered the zone, though I kept an eye on the Smith as we made our way deeper into the snow-covered zone.

I offered to let Chao borrow a [Temperature Control] talisman, but he declined, stating his affinities were sufficient for his needs. The man had both Fire and Lightning affinities, so I didn’t doubt his words. If he had any ability with Direct Casting, he likely had a way to manifest Fire mana around his body to keep himself warm in the frigid zone.

When we encountered our first mob, Chao only showed the briefest hesitation before acting. Confident in my ability to recover the situation if things went wrong, I let him handle it. The man’s blade easily cut through the wooly exterior of the waist-height quadruped the system identified as a Cryodroma.

Staring at the blood-stained snow, the Smith grimaced. “I will do better.”

“You did great, Chao,” I said reassuringly. “Take your time. Get used to fighting again before we enter the next stage. I’ll make sure you don’t get taken by surprise.”

The man had been extremely helpful when I arrived, so I really didn’t mind helping him get over any residual fear he might harbor toward leaving the relative safety of the central village.

He gave me a hesitant nod. “Thank you. I appreciate your consideration.”

“It’s no problem for me at all,” I assured him.

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The Smith collected the pieces of his fallen opponent, and we continued forward, heading deeper into the frozen zone.

“There are a couple of creatures ahead on the right,” I warned him a few minutes later. As if drawn by my words, a pair of white creatures that looked remarkably like foxes could be seen weaving through the snow-covered shrubs several meters away.

My temporary companion took a deep breath. “I can handle them.”

Chao seemed to throw a bolt of Lightning at the pair before rushing forward. He adroitly sliced through the stunned creatures with what looked like a single movement, making it clear the man had gained some decent skills with the blade.

Instead of stepping in when another fox was drawn to the fight by the noise, I called out a warning, giving Chao the opportunity to handle it on his own. He easily pivoted to the new threat, cutting the creature down as it vaulted over a low bush.

“Nice job,” I complimented him. “Do you feel better now?”

The Smith grinned widely. “I do! I worried I wouldn’t be able to handle it, but my body knew exactly what to do. Thanks for letting me deal with them on my own. I think I needed that.”

“No problem,” I said. “Have you had professional sword training?”

Chao shook his head. “Only what I got while playing Atlas Online. But when I held a real sword for the first time… It was like my body just knew what to do.” He chuckled lightly. “I wasn’t the only one who experienced something similar.”

I nodded in understanding. The effects of the game on skill acquisition had become fairly well known in the last months before the reintegration.

“I’m surprised you didn’t choose something like a war hammer, given your profession.”

The Smith cleaned the majority of the blood from his blade with a handful of snow before cleaning it with a rag. “I was always fascinated with the sword. It was part of what drew me toward Smithing in the first place. The hammer is great for blunt damage,” he removed one from his inventory and spun it in his off-hand before returning it to the invisible space. “But nothing compares to a blade.”

I smiled at the man’s passion. I hoped it would be enough to see him through whatever residual issues he might have from his near-death experience.

Now that the initial confrontation was complete, I contributed to the rest of the encounters. However, instead of using spells and fighting from a distance, I used the opportunity to practice melee fighting with my newest spear against the weaker foes.

When we made it through the high-tier portion of the zone without being ambushed by a Saltovenator – the ambush predator most likely for Chao’s injury – his tension visibly eased. I was also relieved to leave the ambush predator’s territory, though I did not reduce my diligence in monitoring our surroundings.

As we drew close to the Yeti’s cavern, I paused and held up a hand to stop Chao from going further.

“Feel free to toss whatever Fireballs or Lightning Bolts you have at the boss. I’m not going to bother getting into melee range this time, so you don’t have to worry about hitting me,” I told him as I swapped weapons. “The boss has an Ice spell, so be on the lookout for that. I’ll immobilize it right at the beginning, but I’m not sure that will keep it from casting,” I warned my temporary partner.

“It’s weak to Fire and Lightning, right?” he asked as he made a few adjustments to his equipment.

I nodded and stepped slowly into the mouth of the cave. The swirling portal was located at the back of the large cavern. But instead of being distracted off to the side like it was last time, the Yeti was sprawled on the hard-packed ground, directly in front of the portal.

Had I wanted to sneak into the portal during my first visit, I would have likely gotten away with it, given my stealth enchantments. This time, the sleeping boss was directly blocking anyone who might hope to sneak through to the next floor, using its body as a barrier.

The first time, I had to be slow and careful, attacking mostly at range and ensuring the stronger creature never got ahold of me. I eventually wore the boss down, though it took quite a while given how much less effective my spells were against its increased resistances.

Defeating it rewarded me with a Tier Four weapon – a spear – which I kept and enchanted. It was the same spear I’d used to fight on our way here this time.

Every defeated zone boss rewarded the challenger or party who defeated the boss with a weapon, or, in the case of the Water Testudo that served as the boss of the swamp zone, a shield. Some might argue that shields are also weapons, but I saw them as defensive equipment, much closer to armor than true weaponry.

The man I sold the shield to wholeheartedly disagreed with my opinion on the matter. And that was fine. He was welcome to think of his shield as a weapon if it made him happy.

Between the dungeon’s rewards for defeating each of the bosses and the weapons I created from the materials harvested from each boss, I was now fairly well-equipped for the fourth floor. The level thirty-one boss no longer provided much of a challenge.

“Give me a few seconds to lock it down before you start casting.”

After anchoring my newly expanded domain, I cast Pause and immediately followed up with a spell effect that I’d added to my new Nature Scepter. Vines burst from the frozen stone beneath the sleeping boss, winding around the slumbering creature. Since the crowd control effect didn’t directly cause damage, the original spell remained in full force.

“Go ahead,” I said, allowing Chao to cast whatever offensive spells he wanted at the frozen boss. When his spells landed, Pause deactivated, causing the newly awakened and freshly injured Yeti to begin bellowing in anger and pain as it struggled against its bindings.

It wasn’t a very sportsman-like method of fighting, but I didn’t care. Our objective was to defeat the boss and move on to the next floor. There was no reason to put ourselves at risk unnecessarily, especially when I assured Chao I could keep him safe during the encounter.

I’d tried a similar approach during my first fight with the Yeti, but my attacks were nowhere near strong enough to handle a higher-tier opponent.

While attending Atlantis University, I’d learned that the gap between tiers only grew larger as one progressed. Between the peak of Tier Three and the first level of Tier Four, the jump in strength, resilience, spell efficacy, etc., was nearly double. Just from Tier One to Tier Two, the increase was about fifty percent.

I knew the gap was significant, even before attending the Alliance’s virtual university. I’d seen the difference myself during the other timeline. It was also part of the reason that defeating the bosses before reaching Tier Four was so difficult.

The difference between then and now could not be understated. Even without Chao’s contributions, the fight would be over in a fraction of the time it took me to defeat the Yeti the first time. After just a few volleys of spells and spell effects, we received the expected experience notification.

Behind the fallen boss, a wooden chest materialized.

“I’ll store the body for now. We can split the materials or sell them after we go through the portal,” I said before acting on my words. “Do you want to do the honors?” I asked, nodding toward the chest.

Chao shook his head. “No. The reward is yours. I’m just grateful you brought me along and shared the experience. Getting a cut of the loot is already more than I hoped for.”

I acknowledged his comment and opened the chest. Inside was a flanged mace made out of Ice-attuned Tier Four bone. It was unenchanted, but that was a good thing with my background. Having the dungeon add an enchantment would only limit what I could do with the weapon.

“That’s nice,” the Smith said appreciatively as he eyed the pale weapon. “I’d like to examine it after I get settled. Dungeon-made weapons are quite interesting.”

Nodding in agreement, I stored the weapon. After exchanging a look, we stepped into the portal and left the third floor of the dungeon behind.