Goats. How did this world even have goats?

  These, of course, had six legs and massive horns with long tails, but still they acted like crazy goats from the shows I’d watched as a child.

  One charged at Strange and missed, launching itself off the side of the mountainous trail before crashing into the rocks below.

  We’d already taken out most of the herd, and all that remained were two larger-than-normal creatures.

  [Stone-Skin Goat, Headbutt, Level 95, Prey, Unknown.]

  [Stone-Skin Goat, Toxic Bite, Level 94, Prey, Unknown.]

  My spear caught the lower-level gray goat in the side, cutting through the stone armor with ease. It screamed in pain, sending a shockwave of force from its mouth. We all dodged the attack. Even Kabi, as he fought with the other goat.

  Lenna sat on a rock just watching, along with Dengu.

  Strange joined them after taking care of his goat.

  That left me and this asshole.

  Its razor-sharp teeth earlier had snagged my shoulder, and blood dripped slowly down my arm along with a weird green goo. My healing abilities blocked the infection it tried to give me. Still, that bite was why this one was my target, and the rest watched with glee.

  I yanked my spear back and sliced through its tail as it whipped toward my leg, trying to grab hold of it. It thudded to the ground, and the goat flailed in panic.

  I finally put it out of its misery by cutting off its head. My notifications were paused, and I confirmed Kabi was fine before starting the butchering job.

  By the time I found the heart, Kabi had taken care of his own goat and started cutting it up as well.

  “I thought this place capped out at level 90,” grumbled Kabi.

  “Are you upset you fought?” I asked in a teasing manner. I wasn’t surprised in the slightest.

  “No, just confused on why the dungeon decided to challenge us.”

  Lenna chuckled from her lookout, making sure nothing tried to sneak up on us.

  Meanwhile, Strange patrolled in the bushes covering the trail. He stayed away from the cliff off to the left.

  Goats tasted like hot dogs, and I had no clue why. There wasn’t a chance the prepackaged hot dogs we ate back on Earth were made from actual meat. It just didn’t make sense, but I rolled with it.

  Unfortunately, their hearts were only a single bite, and kind of crunchy.

  [You have devoured a Stone-Skin Goat, and have gained 5 stat points in Toughness.]

  “What’d you get?” asked Lenna.

  “Toughness…”

  The two others I’d killed gave the same, which helped, along with the additional two levels. It at least felt like progress. Though, using my stealth skills in the open area on the mountainous path wasn’t as nice as the volcano area had been.

  “Thanks for giving me the volcanic area, it gave us a huge advantage,” I said to Lenna as I finished stocking the meat into my inventory.

  “The towering forest suited us as well,” she said with a shrug. “It was a win-win.”

  An itch crept up the back of my neck, and I stretched my senses out as far as possible, trying to spot whatever it was.

  Strange stared ahead at the path from the shadow of a straggly brush.

  My eyes widened just before the creature struck.

  Fortunately, Strange danced out of the way as soon as I reacted to the attack.

  I dashed forward, my knife cutting into the side of the massive snake-like creature.

  [Grim Cragsnake, Stinging Bite, Level 98, Prey, Unknown.]

  Kabi joined me, along with Strange and Dengu. We tore it to shreds. It didn’t stop moving until nothing remained. Lenna’s arrows bounced off it, so even she had to join in with her knife. Kabi even removed its head once, but it regrew a body from it, which he shoved over the edge of the mountain.

  “What was that?” asked Kabi. “I’ve never seen something regrow like that.”

  “Some sort of snake thing,” answered Lenna with a frown. “I dislike mountains.”

  There wasn’t enough of the snake to try and find the heart, so we instead continued down the trail, putting some distance between the kill site and us.

  [You have gained bonus experience from a Level 98 Grim Cragsnake.]

  The next two curves both had more snakes lying in wait. This time, Strange spotted them, along with Dengu.

  Each took forever to kill and required it being chopped up into tiny pieces. The group of us had the advantage in those fights, each against a single creature, even if it did sometimes regrow itself.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.

  [You have gained a level.]

  Again, my free stats went into Flexibility to keep it outpacing my mental states. I didn’t want to add any more mental abilities like my newest one.

  The trail turned another corner and even Strange paused at the view.

  Sharp peaks rose like a crown in front of us, with the flattened top in the center. Mist swirled around the entire area, making it hard to see far ahead. The darkest areas were the valleys in between the mountain tops. The path continued down into a shadowy area, but in the distance, the trail rose again between two sharp cliffs with a rock bridge.

  Kabi let out a sigh. “This is going to take forever.”

  “At least you leveled,” I said with a grin.

  We’d all leveled from the last couple of fights, and it made me wonder what level we’d find the floor boss at.

  On the right, the rock wall had protrusions sticking out of it as it passed the trail. The more I studied it, the more I saw the path climbing up it and over the top. The trail in front of us continued downward, though.

  Still, I headed to the wall.

  “What are you doing?” asked Kabi.

  “Checking something out,” I mumbled as I jumped and caught the first ledge. From there, it took only a few seconds for me to ascend the wall and climb over the top.

  [Congratulations, you have found a variant path.]

  Lenna climbed up beside me as I studied the vines that attached to the path in front of me.

  From below, I hadn’t seen them at all, but from here, thick vines stretched out into swirling clouds. The vines themselves were wider than me stretching my arms out to either side.

  “What is this?” whispered Lenna, her bow ready to go.

  “A variant path. We need to get the others up here.” Maybe that title helped me spot more of these paths.

  “You just knew this was here…”

  “I noticed the trail.” I turned back toward the ledge, but paused. “Shouldn’t you be the one finding other paths?”

  She chuckled and smacked my shoulder. “I’ll help Strange get up…”

  Kabi climbed over the ledge with Strange standing on his shoulder.

  “What did you find?” He saw the pathway stretching out into nothingness before he let out a sigh.

  “Now, we just need Dengu…”

  Lenna smiled and whistled.

  Dengu leaped up and landed on the ledge with a grin.

  Concern flashed along my connection with Kabi.

  “We can go the other way, if you want,” I said, glancing at him. “The heights sucks, I know.”

  “Heights are horrible, but I will follow.” He literally shivered. “Variant paths always have better rewards in the dungeon.”

  “Alright, let’s go.” I went first, stepping onto the thick vines and scouting the cloudy path. Heights sucked, but better rewards were worth it. Not to mention cutting off some of the slog to get to the floor boss.

  Strange dashed by me with his claws gripping into the softer texture of the plant bridge without a problem.

  His map formed inside my head, along with the additional radar area as he just kept going, and unfortunately, going.

  The vines went on for far longer than any of us wanted or would have guessed.

  Nothing changed. Minutes passed just walking in the clouds, and slowly accepting the fact we couldn’t see far ahead.

  Strange, still way off in the distance, slowed down as the vines headed upward, with the clouds falling away. He paused and waited for us to catch up.

  Rock spires dotted the landscape with nothing underneath us but more clouds.

  A breeze rushed over the vines, but it didn’t even make them tremble.

  I yanked out my knife as a creature rushed at us within that very breeze. I ducked and sliced at it as it did a flyby, causing the stealth to ripple and drop.

  [Gale Drake, Scouting, Level 99, Unknown. Unknown.]

  Two other presences flew into range, and it was on.

  An arrow slammed into one of them, causing the stealth to fall away as well. Lenna fired again at the third.

  All of them growled in her direction and focused on her.

  Yet, Kabi and Dengu blocked them, swords and claws flashing as the Drakes got close.

  I waited for a good shot, but the flying fuckers kept out of reach. This time I didn’t dare leap out onto one of them, since they were smaller than Dengu.

  Instead, I dodged around Dengu as he stuck at one wing, three glowing lines tearing it into ribbons. I smiled as I slammed my knife into the bottom of it, causing it to cry out then plummet.

  I yanked my knife back at the last second as it crashed into the vines before falling off the bridge.

  The other two flew directly up, before breathing out gusts of super-heated air in our direction.

  Shit!

  We all dodged in different directions, splitting the party right down the middle.

  The vines sizzled but held steady.

  Dengu and Strange, along with Kabi, fled into the clouds. Lenna and I headed farther up the trail.

  The two beasts attacked us, and I felt Strange fighting something in the clouds out of sight.

  Lenna's arrows took out the second drake while I focused on the last.

  I chanced it and leaped into the air. At the last second, it blew more super-heated air in my direction, but I didn’t change my trajectory. The air blasted my skin, which shifted as my armor took over, turning into some sort of hardened rocky substance.

  I forced energy down my spear as it cut deep into the creature's belly. I took it with me as gravity yanked us back down, the drake’s wings drooping.

  The drake slammed into the vines as I landed much more gracefully on my feet.

  Lenna dispatched it before I had a chance.

  The others moved in our direction and emerged from the clouds, thankfully.

  “Why are they so easy to take down, with their level?” I knew I shouldn’t ask the question, and I didn’t want to jinx it, but I had to know. These fights weren’t hard.

  “Low defense, concentrating on speed instead,” said Kabi. “That’s the problem if you let a stat fall behind.”

  I opened my mouth to ask more, but Lenna interrupted.

  “Your stats are higher than most,” she snorted as she explained. “While your level is only in the early 90s, your stats are probably nearer someone around level 100, maybe even 110.”

  Kabi stared at her in shock. “That’s not how it works…”

  “Alex is a little crazy, and the system rewards that.” She smiled at me before motioning my way. “Alex, do you have more than three titles or achievements?”

  “Of course, I have…”

  She put her hand up, cutting me off.

  Again, Kabi stared in shock at me.

  “See, Alex is focused on growth.” She smiled at Strange, who watched the interaction with glee. “I bet even Strange has a title or achievement, since the bond mingles things.”

  Strange nodded as Dengu turned to him with interest.

  I resisted asking how many titles and achievements they had, but given his shock, it had to be less.

  I ignored this and cut into the Gale Drake at my feet. Heart first, then I’d toss the rest of it into my inventory. I pulled out the heart, which again was smaller than my fist, and popped it into my mouth in one piece. Another one that dissolved like cotton candy, but this time had a minty flavor to it.

  [You have devoured a Gale Drake and gained 3 stat points in quickness.]

  Lenna had been correct about its stats, since my assumption was that I received points from its highest stat.

  “This is all interesting, talking about how awesome I am, but we probably should keep moving.” This time, I motioned to the pathway that reached out in front of us. Somehow, we could now see farther ahead, and it was clear the vines led to one of the mountaintops.

  Dark shapes crept along the chasm that cut directly through it, waiting for us.