Summoning creatures was generally the way to get XP, but in many ways, Derek was a child of Korea as well as Germany. Simply put, he liked his dungeons.

  Farming monsters for Aspects required summoning, but he actually had a plan on how to make that much more efficient.

  Because you could only get XP from a given monster so many times before it capped, around a hundred per monster, though monsters that shared both a summoning category and Tier counted as being one and the same for the purposes of the XP limit.

  For example, both the Basic and Acid Slimes were Tier 1, well, Slimes, and as such shared a limit, but since the acid variant gave more XP, one should focus on that instead, otherwise, you were leaving XP on the table, not that that pittance would amount to anything in the grand scheme of things, with absurd requirements to get anywhere at higher Levels.

  And the fastest way to kill summoned monsters was to have someone else do the summoning, but since the summoner always got a portion, the process was a waste of XP … or it would be, if the [Knightly Discipline] [Skill] Isaac had taught him didn’t explicitly fix that.

  Therefore, finding someone who wanted to earn some free XP without running into XP cap issues should be easy, and the process would, hopefully, strengthen the [Skill] in question.

  Or maybe, it would only end with him having farmed the Aspects he wanted … but that was the next step.

  The current one, however, was much more simple: kill shit, try out [Variable Weapon Empowerment], go to lunch with Ye-in once he was done.

  Also, while he couldn’t level just yet, he’d checked, his [Class] options for the 1st Evolution weren’t quite what he wanted, unlike when he was stuck at the [Class] selection screen, he could gather XP, which he could either save for Levels later on, or to buy Aspect Slots, which would be pretty expensive already.

  After all, his Bloodline took up three of them, and while he got a single free one per [Class], and the first one you bought cost just a one thousand XP, the cost doubled for each additional one, so the next one would be 4k, the one after that 8k, and so on … and he needed four, for the Aspects required for heading out to space.

  The three most famous Aspects of the lot, which combined to allow for the use of the only reliably obtainable FTL [Skill], and a fourth one to inure him to the threat of vacuum. Granted, that last one was optional, but only in the most technical sense possible. So actually mandatory for anyone with half a brain.

  Which meant getting a grand total of fifty-eight thousand XP, or just about what it would take to reach the 2nd Evolution at Level 25, which could be reached by a mere fifty-four thousand, two figures that [Stellar Mental Maths] “helpfully” provided the instant his thoughts turned that way.

  Jesus fucking Christ on a pogo stick … that’d seriously delay his departure.

  But then again, he supposed there was a reason why people usually went for those at higher Evolutions, when they’d either have free slots available, or the cost for slots was lower relative to levelling.

  That was he remembered something: if you bought an Aspect slot that was sufficiently expensive, something like “XP requirements for the final Level of the Evolution times fifty,” did so with XP you earned on your own, with a minimal safety net, and filled all your slots, you’d unlock the [Chimera] [Class], which was the other reliably-obtainable legendary [Class], alongside [Reaper].

  And unless he was horrendously misremembering things, the overall seventh slot, the one that would cost 64k, was the one if you wanted [Chimera] on the 1st Evolution. After all, you could get it at any Evolution, and it was all about Aspects.

  Lowering the ludicrous costs for buying more, slots, drawing additional powers from all his Aspects, with the exact form that enhancment depending on the [Skills] he bought.

  It was certainly a very powerful [Class], one that would be helpful for the rest of his life, but in a more combat-focused version than his current one.

  [Chimera] as a [Class] didn’t necessarily synergize with his goals of captaining a starship, but it was the most well-researched legendary [Class], and had a further advantage: if you deviated from the path, switched back to something more “normal,” [Chimera] would not color one’s progression further.

  [Reaper], the other “defined” legendary, was not an option; however, that was only for genuinely insane people, while [Chimera] was mostly an exercise in endurance, willpower, and not getting overconfident.

  Granted, it was also another “foundational” [Class], much like his current one, but unlike [Student of Legendary Persistence], it had real teeth.

  He’d actually considered going for [Chimera] as his 1st Evolution a while ago, and dismissed it as likely being too big a pain in the ass, compared to something more specialized.

  Yet, now that he properly thought about it … it was something that could be built upon, would give him proper offensive options, and it wasn’t just achievable, it was something he’d already be halfway to unlocking anyway.

  … unless the fact that his first three Aspects came from his Bloodline nixed his chances at it, but he’d almost inevitably find that out anyway, so there was no need to worry about it now.

  He’d leveled quite a bit already, and he could slot in Aspects to further slow down his aging. There was still a time limit, obviously, but it was greatly extended.

  And, of course, there was a chance, albeit a small one, that he’d end up with another legendary [Class] by the time he had all his Aspects slotted based on some kind of spillover from what he’d done to get his starter [Class] … though considering how hard he’d had to work just to get that, he sincerely doubted there was any “credit” left. The finest offering he’d had thus far had been rare, and that had been a surprise to boot.

  So, did he want to try for it?

  It might not be another record, far from it, [Chimera] was a [Class] known to be held by at least six people, with more most likely having it but keeping that fact on the down low, but it was still a good one.

  And now, he had a plan. Funny how that sort of thing could be kicked off by a random thought.

  But, regardless of where it had come from, he did now have a roadmap of what to do, and that certainty put a massive grin on his face.

  From there, on the way from the airport to the first dungeon, the actual roadmap took shape.

  Stay here in Seoul and farm dungeons until his Fast Travel cooldown was up and he could teleport to Squidworks, then head back down here once everything was stowed away, until he eventually managed to buy a slot, at which point he could start farming for the actual Aspect.

  Also, he’d start out his days with something hard, fighting a dangerous monster, then switching to something easier, going for less and less nasty places as his concentration waned, until he eventually started studying in the afternoon, and that left the evening for leisure.

  A bit regimented for life after graduation, but it should be workable, right?

  ***

  The golem crumbled apart around Derek’s rapier, the yellow halo of energy that had empowered the weapon rapidly fading, now that its energy was spent.

  Obviously, the piercing function of [Variable Weapon Empowerment] worked.

  The rapier flared red as he thrust it at the next golem, a triple-stacking of increased power because he felt that if he had to punch through solid rock with pure strength alone, one charge wouldn’t be enough.

  And maybe not even three would suffice … but he’d never find out, as he hadn’t braced himself beyond taking a proper combat stance, with solid footing.

  The golem, not being one of the tiny slate versions this time around, was a good thirty centimeters taller than he and at least twenty times heavier than he was, with a body solid enough to stop his weapon from easily penetrating.

  All that combined to form a single conclusion: it was easier for him to move than his weapon to penetrate, so he moved, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about that … nothing except keep sliding backwards until his foot caught on a rock and he went sprawling, leaving him on the floor with the monster bearing down on him.

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  Yet the same trick that had sent him flying could also work in his favor, the mismatch between how much force he could put out and how much he weighed allowing Derek to launch himself off the ground with an empowered push, red energy flaring around his hands, sending him flying a good dozen meters back, where he landed in an undignified heap.

  But it was an undignified heap that wasn’t underneath the fists of the golem, so he’d take it in a heartbeat.

  There actually were ways to stop that sort of thing from happening, by using a sharper weapon, having a whole lot of added momentum during one’s attack, or holding a [Skill] that negated the issue.

  But the first was cheating for training purposes, Derek didn’t quite have the Stats for the second, and was yet to have had even the option of taking the third choice.

  Ergo … strength was out, for now. Against Golems, at least. Though there was a solution to be found within [Chimera], several actually, depending on what Aspects he wound up grabbing.

  After all, the [Class’] [Skills] were relatively well known despite its legendary nature, though that didn’t really cause issue as the actual effect of most of the [Skills] in question varied wildly depending on the Aspects they were working off of, so there was far less danger caused by the [Skill] descriptions leaking than might otherwise have been the case.

  Even so, right now, strength enhancement was obviously out, while he hadn’t even tested [Variable Weapon Empowerment’s] anti-armor functionality …

  The golem continued to advance, bearing down on Derek, its arms sufficiently outstretched that going right for the core would have been not only risky but borderline suicidal, so he decided to go with the old trick of going after the legs.

  He threw himself past the creature, his rapier flaring a venomous green as he drew it across the nearest stone limb … to absolutely no effect beyond a shallow scratch despite the fact that he’d decided to stack the ability five times.

  Cursing, Derek spun to face the golem once again, backstepping to ensure he kept the range open as the monster took a single, ponderous step forward, the leg he’d scratched lifted off the ground and then planted back down on the dungeon’s floor much closer to the squishy human the beast was aiming to crush.

  Then the limb shattered, erupting into a spray of stone shards and gravel, forcing Derek into yet another desperate dodge to avoid it falling on him, yet fall it did, impacting the ground with a thunderous boom.

  And that was the end of that … at least once Derek was finished scrambling atop the still very much mobile enemy and had plunged his rapier, fully empowered towards maximum piercing capability, through its back and into its core.

  Holy fuck … he sighed, slumping atop the hilt of his weapon. That was way too close.

  Then again, even if there were less dangerous ways to learn that particular lesson, he sure as shit wouldn’t be making that mistake again.

  Technically, he now had the various edge-projection functions of the [Skill] to test out, but they would be nerfed to the point of uselessness once [Aura] came into play.

  In that way, [Far Strike] and its equivalents were practically a trap, something that turned most swords into guns, and would be almost entirely negated once you were a mere eighth of the way through the levels. Any fighting style that depended on them would be kneecapped the moment you started fighting opponents who were either humans above Level 25, or monsters Tier 6 and over.

  Therefore, Derek had made the conscious choice to outright dismiss that portion of [Variable Weapon Empowerment]; there were just way too many horror stories about “promising” fighters dominating their opponents in the beginning, only to crash and burn when shit got complicated.

  Even if it would have made this part oh so easy …

  ***

  As per usual, by the time Derek came stumbling out of the dungeon, he was black and blue and so caked in dust he almost looked like a statue.

  Yeah … there was no way he’d get into a restaurant like this. Even in Seoul, full of dungeons as it was, with how used it had to be to hunters entering businesses right after leaving a dungeon, that wouldn’t fly.

  Thankfully, the city had adapted to the fact that people would commonly be stumbling out of monster-infested murder holes covered in things far more problematic than mere powdered stone by making sure public shower facilities existed and were easy to find.

  Er … publicly available, that was, not “public” public, if that made sense. Though Derek had a distinct feeling that at least some people had misinterpreted that and wound up disappointed.

  So, ten minutes later, he was clean, freshly showered, and in a new, restaurant-appropriate outfit.

  As for the place itself, it was a relatively low-key place that primarily served buddae jiggae, a relatively recently-created recipe despite the fact that it was decidedly “traditional,” a combination of Korean cuisine and the ingredients the US army had brought with them during the war.

  It was the sort of dish that could only have been invented through necessity or by complete accident, yet the reason it still existed, the reason it was so popular, was because it was just so damn good.

  “Hi,” he waved upon first seeing Ye-in approach through the crowd, and she immediately shifted direction to head towards him.

  “Hey, it’s been a while,” she said, pulling him into a brief hug.

  Yeah. That was the thing he was mostly aiming to talk about. Apologize for, to be precise.

  How to say this … honestly, there was no perfect way to say it, and honestly, he could either spend an uncomfortable length of time chasing perfection, or he could speak from the heart, and trust himself to catch anything overly stupid before it came out of his mouth.

  “I’m really sorry I was unavailable while I was in New York, I … I went pretty far down the rabbit hole,” Derek finally admitted. “It wouldn’t have killed me to spare some time for my best friend.”

  “No, it wouldn’t have,” Ye-in grinned back at him. “But if I thought you were going too far, I’d have told you. I mean, you’ve got a legendary [Class], and you’re fine now, right?”

  “ … I think most people would still consider me a bit touched in the head,” Derek admitted.

  “Since when are extraordinary people ‘normal’?” Ye-in challenged. “I mean, half the stuff we did in our first year would have landed us in the hospital on a psychiatric hold a century ago.”

  “Even that’d have been worth it,” Derek suggested.

  “Yep.”

  “So, there’s actually another thing I wanted to talk to you about: did you hear about how Isaac is sponsoring exploration missions?” Derek asked.

  Ye-in nodded, then suddenly her eyes went wide with surprise.

  “You got one?”

  “I’m getting one,” Derek corrected. “And I was hoping you’d come with me. Well, us, we can’t head out on our own; we’ll need more crew, but I don’t know who else will be coming.”

  “I mean, that’s kinda obvious,” Ye-in pointed out. “So, of course I’m coming, but there’s a much more important question: what do you want to call the ship?”

  Of course.

  Those two words put a broad grin on his face and made his heart surge with happiness. For all that the twins were endlessly teasing him about how their feelings for each other could be nothing but “love,” platonic friendship could exist between people of different sexes.

  Though … even if Derek could one hundred percent prove that there was nothing there, they’d probably still keep that shit up.

  “Hm … I think we should probably go in before we discuss that,” he suggested, while Ye-in glanced down at her phone to check the time, then laughed.

  So they headed inside, where they were quickly seated and ordered soon after, before picking things back up right where they’d left them.

  “How about Enterprise?” Derek finally offered.

  “That’s unoriginal and cliched. Firefly?” she suggested.

  “Doesn’t feel right, but something like that …” Derek replied. They both loved that show, but at the same time, “Firefly” put a specific image in his mind, one that his ship would have some serious problems living up to. And the same went for “Serenity,” the actual name of the ship in the show in question.

  “Dauntless?” Ye-in suggested.

  “Currently commissioned battlecruiser in the navy,” Derek said. “But it’s a badass name.”

  They kept batting suggestions back and forth. Honor names once born by historical vessels, or ones directly drawn from historical figures, but somehow, things kept on circling back to the show that had been living rent-free in his head for the past fifteen years.

  A direct copy of the titular vessel’s name, or the name of its class, felt distinctly wrong.

  Therefore …

  “What do you think about ‘Dragonfly’?” he asked.

  “Firefly but cooler?” Ye-in replied. “Seems … edgy.”

  And clearly, not in a good way.

  “I mean it more in the sense that we won’t be flying around in an unarmed merchant ship,” Derek explained.

  Granted, full-on military weapons on civilian shipping weren’t well received by the powers that be, but between the sheer destructive capability held by individual humans, the absurd size of human space, and the threats that lurked out there, efforts to prevent it were rather minimal.

  For the most part, at least. The “no nukes or antimatter” rules was strikly enforced, and entirely devoid of exceptions and loopholes.

  “Hm,” Ye-in said. “And I’m guessing this has nothing to do with the fact that dragonflies are the most successful predators in nature?”

  “Actually, I didn’t know that,” Derek said. “But I don’t think we’re going to be able to match that part.”

  “Okay,” she said. “Yeah, it’s a cool name, but please don’t put any dragon decals on the bow or something.”

  “If I do, shoot me,” Derek declared. “… or maybe just call my family and tell them I’ve been replaced by a shapeshifter.”

  That drew another laugh.

  “Yeah, I can picture you doing dumb stuff, but not … does tasteless and tacky stuff count as ‘stupid,’ or just plain ‘evil’? I mean, it’d be an assault on the senses, wouldn’t it?”

  Derek shrugged. “Let’s just leave it at ‘bad’, shall we?”

  “Anyway, what are your plans now?” Ye-in asked.

  “Level in the morning, study in the afternoon, do fun stuff in the evening until I’ve earned [Chimera],” he explained his earlier decision.

  “Okay, you’re insane,” she declared.

  “Yup,” he replied. “What was that old quote …”

  “There are a lot of those,” Ye-in pointed out, clearly assuming his inability to remember it had actually been a request for her to help him out.

  “Okay, I can’t remember it fully, but it’s something like ‘reasonable people adjust to the world, unreasonable people want to make the world adjust to suit them, so it’s the unreasonable people who drive progress,’” Derek finally offered. “And by that definition, I hereby proudly declare myself ‘unreasonable.’”

  Ye-in sniggered. “And now, we hope no one recorded that.”

  “Eh …” Derek shrugged. “If someone only posts that last bit, that’s deceptive editing, and that’s something you can sue over.”

  “It’d still be out there,” Ye-in pointed out.

  “But anyone close enough to record me would have heard me pointing out the consequences,” Derek said.

  “I didn’t know you were so litigious.”

  “I’m not. But if anyone started a smear campaign, I’d fight back, that’s the point I’m trying to make,” Derek tried to pull himself back out of the hole he’d inadvertently started digging for himself.

  “Okay,” Ye-in said, her expression suddenly lighting up. “But you know what? Once we’re in space, we’ll be leaving all that shit behind us!”