Verdra has been acting weird lately.
She's been really affectionate and clingy this time around. It's not that she wasn't clingy before—just not this much.
It's hard not to get self-conscious when she's clinging so closely to me. With how attractive she was, it's honestly really hard.
I mean, we technically owned this place (2nd floor's save zone). A boy and a girl, alone inside an enclosed space—it's not hard to imagine what things could lead to. My heart wasn't ready for that kind of commitment yet.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We stayed farming the 3rd floor for the next 2 weeks after we first defeated the Yeti Shogun. We killed dozens of Yetis every day during that time frame, including the Yeti Shogun each time he respawned. We completely obliterated the 3rd floor.
I got so much Currencies from it that I could even buy 2 mont blanc for Verdra every day without a single worry in the world. She liked them very much, apparently.
We also opened a decent number of treasure chests, but as always, it was all useless—except for a proper Yeti cloak that came with the hood intact, unlike the makeshift one I made. I offered the cloak to Verdra at first, but she said, "I like the one you made for me more," declining my offer. So I'm the one wearing it now.
My current Lv was 260. We had killed a Yeti Shogun that spawned at that Lv, but my skills didn't get any upgrades past Lv5.
We stayed on this floor to raise Verdra's Lv as high as we possibly could. I hit my Lv cap in just 4 days after we first killed the Yeti Shogun, but it wasn't the same for Verdra. Her Lv limit was 3401, so it was still a long way off.
I removed her from my party member list so she could get all the EXP for herself, but even then, it was very hard to raise her Lv past 350 with just the EXP from Yetis alone.
We stayed for another week after she reached Lv351, only to raise her Lv by 1, during that entire week. So we decided to move down to the next floor.
I added her back to my party the night we decided to head down to the 4th floor. For some reason, she was elated by it.
"I finally become your party member again!" she celebrated, balling her fist and tugging her elbow backward beside her abdomen.
"What are you so happy about?" As I chuckled I asked.
"I mean, I feel closer to you when I'm your party member."
"Is that so? I'm not feeling any difference."
"That's just my own thing—you don't have to understand. More importantly! Where's my status page, Yuu?!" she demanded, bringing her face close to mine.
I'd somewhat gotten used to her sudden close contact over the past 3 weeks.
"Yeah, yeah, just a bit…" I gave her permission to view her status page again. "There. You should be able to see it now."
If I added a new party member, I couldn't remove them for a 1-week period. Likewise, if I removed a party member, I couldn't add another one for a week. I couldn't just use this feature of my skill however I pleased.
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Name: Verdra (True Dragon)
Lv: 352/3401
Vitality: 3430
Strength: 3430
Intelligence: 959
Mana: 3430
Agility: 3078
Dexterity: 3078
———
Skill: True Dragon Supremacy | Draconic Transformation | Draconic Ecdysis | Draconic Contract (Yuu) | Fire Magic (Lv10), Lightning Magic (Lv10)
Draconic Contract-associated Skill: Ice Magic (Lv5) | Lv-Up Recovery | Human Transformation | Draconic Contract's Telepathy
—————————
"Wooow! I'm much stronger now!" she said excitedly while staring at her status page.
I bet she'd be an avid RPG player if she lived on Earth.
These past weeks, because I removed her from my party, she could only check her Lv using Mind Scroll, meaning she couldn't see her detailed stats. As a hardcore RPG gamer myself—before my foster parents ruined my life, that is—I understood exactly why she was so excited to finally see her status page again after so many Lv ups.
"You think we can blast that 4th floor's boss thing now?" she asked.
"Hopefully—uuh… I just got a sudden stomachache just thinking about it," I replied nervously.
"Why are you getting nervous all of a sudden?"
"You know, the last time you said something like that, we got absolutely blasted by the Yeti Shogun, remember?" I reminded her of our first encounter with the 3rd floor's boss.
"Ugh… you're right. I'm sorry." She lowered her face apologetically.
"The worst part about our upcoming battle is that we don't know what our next enemy is capable of. With the Yeti Shogun, at least we could check his appearance."
"Can't we just… you know, take a quick look at the boss and run away immediately?" she suggested.
"We can't. Boss floors are always completely dark until you enter, and once you're inside, the door locks for good until the boss is defeated."
"That's… kind of scary. Should we Lv up some more?"
"We could. But for how long? I'm already at my Lv limit, and yours only went up by 1 after a full week of farming. The next one will take even longer. I know I said 'we're not in a hurry' before, but I also don't want to be trapped in this dungeon forever."
"So we're going, then?"
"That's our best choice…" I said, lying my head down on my makeshift pillow (folded Yeti cloak). "I'll sleep for now and leave tomorrow to my tomorrow self."
We used stacks of Yeti pelts as sleeping sheets. Those white, furry pelts were incredibly comfortable and could also be used as blankets. They even dropped already trimmed into perfect rectangular shapes. I couldn't thank the Yetis enough for their hospitality.
Verdra lay down beside me and asked, "You're not giving me one tonight?"
"Uuh… do I have to give you one every night?" I asked back.
"You don't have to if you don't want to," she said with a mischievous smile.
I covered my face with my hands. "Uuuh… why are you so unfair!"
"Hehe." She chuckled. "I like your troubled face."
"Fine!"
I tugged her shoulder, pulling her closer.
Aaahh… she smells so good—no! Hold it together, Yuu! Don't fall into temptation. She just wants a little, not all of it!
I was fighting myself inside.
Our faces were so close I could feel her breath on mine. I slowly moved closer until— my lips finally touched hers.
After we first defeated the Yeti Shogun, Verdra began occasionally asking me to give her a hug before sleeping. And thanks to my poor, adolescent level of self-control, I ended up kissing her without thinking. From that point on, she always demanded a good-night kiss before returning to her own sheets.
Even though she always left the decision to me, how could I say no? To be perfectly honest, if I could, I'd want to kiss a girl as beautiful as Verdra all day long—or even do more than that.
Her lips were softer and juicier than mine. Even a light peck sent shivers through my entire body. That's how intoxicating they were. I never let it last more than a few seconds—if I indulged too much, my sense of reason would crumble into ruins in no time.
I pulled away after just a few seconds. My face was probably as red as a tomato.
"T-this should be enough, right? Any more and I'll be in trouble," I said quietly.
"Mm." She nodded. "I'm satisfied for tonight. I wouldn't really mind if you did get in trouble, though," she added with her signature grin.
"Don't tease me, please!" I turned my back to her. "I'm sleeping! Good night!"
"Hehe. You're so cute."
This girl!
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"This guy is so easy to kill now, I might even kill him accidentally just by sneezing."
Verdra said that after casually decapitate a Yeti Shogun in under just 5 seconds.
"You… probably could. With a Hellfire sneeze, that is," I replied, crossing my arms. "Heck! you could even kill me with that. You're like, 100 Lv higher than him now, and your stats are all filled with S'. I doubt this Yeti even has a single S."
"You can't tell?"
"I can't. Even with my Video Game HUD skill, I can only see their name and Lv. Nothing else. I really hoped I'd at least get an HP bar."
"That's disappointing." She tilted her head. "But Hellfire sneeze, huh? I might be able to do that by combining Hellfire with Eruption, then casting it from under my nose." she contemplating so hard on some nonsensical stuff.
"Please don't—" I paused. "…Actually, now that I imagine it, you probably could." I gave in somehow.
"Right?" Her eyes sparkled. "I'll try it next time."
"You're actually going to do it…" Strained smile crep my face.
"I am!" She balled her fist proudly in front of her chest.
"Haha… do whatever you like."
"So?" She turned around and pointed at the massive double door at the end of the cave. "Are we just going to stand here all day, or are we opening that?"
"Urgh… I'm not mentally prepared for this."
"Then, should we go back?"
"Hell no! We're going in!"
We opened the huge double doors. Inside was a staircase leading downward, just as expected. We walked down for about 10 minutes before stopping in front of yet another massive double door.
"Alright. Here I go," I said, slowly pushing it open.
Just like every boss room I'd been to before, it was completely dark. We stepped inside, and the door creaked shut behind us before slamming closed with a heavy bang.
Darkness…
Then, one by one, crystal lights embedded in the walls began to glow, starting near the entrance and spreading across the room.
We found ourselves in a circular concrete chamber, roughly 100 meters in diameter. The ceiling was absurdly high—probably around 100 meters as well.
At the middle of the room, stood a man, about 2 meters tall, arms crossed.
His entire body was pitch black. No hair. No ears. No facial features—just a smooth, flat surface. Black miasma leaked ominously from his body.
—————————————————
Jack's lingering sorrows and regrets
Lv: 666
—————————
"I knew it was going to be strong," I muttered. "But I'm still surprised that I'm surprised."
"What kind of nonsense was that?" Verdra shot me a look. "So? What's his Lv?"
"His name's Jack. Lv 666."
"Lv 666?!" Her eyes widened. "Okay… that's a problem—wait." She squinted at me. "Jack?"
"Yes. Jack."
"…That's it?"
"That's it."
"That's such a normal name. I was expecting something like 'Abyssal King of Eternal Despair' or something."
"Don't ask me. I don't name these things."
Well, technically there's lingering sorrows and regrets behind, but I'll leave her with that.
Jack summoned some kind of—book?—in front of him. Its pages flipped rapidly before stopping on a single page.
"What's he doing?" Verdra asked, already covering her arms with gauntlets and forming her sword.
"I don't know. Prepare for anything!"
Jack reached into the book and pulled out two massive axes—the kind Minotaurs use—one in each hand. He bent forward slightly, then rushed toward us at terrifying speed.
"Verdra, dodge!"
"No. I got this." She tightened her stance and grip, eyes sharp. "Yuu, prepare for a follow-up!"
"Got it!"
Jack swung one axe diagonally, aiming to cleave her in two. Verdra leapt lightly and the axe smashing into the floor and obliterating it on impact.
Still midair, she twisted her body and coated her sword in Hellfire before swinging vertically at his neck.
Jack raised his other axe to block—
*Crack*
The axe shattered in half.
Just before her blade could connect, Jack bent his upper body backward with inhuman flexibility, completely avoiding the strike. He tried to lift the axe embedded in the floor—only to find it wouldn't move.
"I'm not just standing here doing nothing!" I shouted.
Ice had already spread over his axe and feet, freezing them in place while he was distracted by Verdra. I was about to electrocute him at full power when—
He brute-forced his leg free from the ice with relative ease.
"You've got to be kidding me!"
Jack abandoned the axe and clenched his fist, aiming straight for Verdra as she landed.
Verdra crossed her arms into an 'X' shape just in time.
*Thud!*
She was sent flying across the room, smashing into the concrete wall far behind me with a thunderous crash.
"Verdra!"
I checked her through my 3rd-person view. She was embedded in the wall, arms still crossed.
"I'm fine, Yuu," her voice echoed directly in my head. "Focus on the enemy in front of you!"
Got it.
Jack turned his attention to me.
I swung my katana in a circular motion, creating an ice barrier as I jumped back. Jack lunged forward, fist ready.
He shattered the barrier effortlessly.
I manipulated the shattered ice to cover his arm, desperately trying to slow down his fist and struck him with everything I had—full-power Electrokinesis—but his punch still landed squarely on my abdomen.
"Ugh—!"
I was sent flying, tumbling across the floor until I finally stopped near the entrance door. My entire body screamed in pain.
"Yuu!"