“You look to be in a rush to leave, darling,” Krisel commented, seeing Tarrion swallow his food almost without chewing.

  “Yesterday Furball said… there’s an unexplored area in here,” Tarrion said, swallowing another bite hard.

  “Really?” Krisel asked, turning to face me.

  “You mean there’s another area other than the small room through the metal gates and the spider dome in this Secret Area, Rockin?” Virghel asked.

  “You know there’s this dense wall of brambles over that side?” I said, enjoying my own food slowly.

  “Oh, yeah. I completely forgot about it,” Virghel said.

  “You know about it, Virghel?” Krisel asked.

  “Yes. I’ve been here with Garret’s group before. However, we couldn’t find a way through the brambles. We tried cutting them down but we ended up damaging our weapons instead,” Virghel explained.

  “You couldn’t cut through the brambles?” Alragus asked, squinting his eyes.

  “Yes, well. They look like brambles, but they are not exactly plants. It felt like we were trying to cut metal with another metal and none of us were able to even leave a scratch on it,” Virghel said.

  “Hmm…” Alragus leaned on his chin, thinking about something.

  “We won’t know until we check it out,” Tarrion said.

  “What’s gotten into you, Scarface?” I asked. I could tell Tarrion was really impatient for some reason.

  “Nothing,” Tarrion said before standing up. “I’m going to take a break.” Someone saying they were taking a break was our code word for needing to go to toilet.

  “Please, forgive him, Rockin. Tarrion’s been on edge since two days ago,” Krisel apologized.

  “Huh? Why?” I asked.

  “You see, he had an encounter with someone at the Guild two days ago. Someone from his younger days. The person’s name was Albert I believe. It was more of an accident than anything else. Apparently, the two of them started adventuring together, but then Tarrion… surrounded himself with the wrong people and you know the rest,” Krisel gave some details about what had happened.

  “So… did the two of them get into a fight or something?” I asked.

  “Ah, no. You see, Albert also has a Tank class, but he is much higher level than Tarrion. I think he said he was level twenty eight. In addition, Albert is a member of the Blade and Shield Clan which apparently is one of the biggest clans in Grandorval. The two of them had a short talk, with Albert making a few snappy remarks about Tarrion being such a low level, adding he was an A rank adventurer himself. Fortunately, instead of becoming angry, Tarrion congratulated Albert for doing so well which was a pleasant surprise for me to hear, but I think Albert’s words got under his skin anyway,” Krisel explained in more detail about what had happened.

  “Yeah, I suppose anyone would be ticked off by that. But wait, you said Albert and Tarrion started out at the same time, so how come Albert is such a high level now?” I asked, it suddenly dawning on me.

  “I honestly don’t know,” said Krisel.

  “It is possible, especially if you join a large and powerful clan,” said Alragus, making us turn to face him. “Big clans have high level adventurers who can help them level up faster. It’s the same thing like you’re helping me right now or how you helped Lilfira level up before the Rites of Strength. I doubt any clans would have someone with a skill that can double the experience gain, but you can farm a lot of experience with a group that is able to kill strong monsters that give a lot of experience fast.”

  “Right, ok,” I said, touching my chin to think about something. “Humph…”

  “Is something on your mind, Rockin?” Alragus asked.

  “Just wondering how strong someone who’s level twenty eight would be,” I said.

  “As a Tank, they’d have over two hundred points in Stamina,” said Tarrion, none of us noticing him coming back. “That’s including with the bonus from their equipment, of course.”

  “Ah, I’m sorry darling. I… shouldn’t have told them,” Krisel apologized.

  “It’s ok,” Tarrion said, not looking to be angry or even upset. He probably expected for Krisel to tell us about the incident and that’s why he took longer to come back. From what I knew about Tarrion, he was really bad at expressing himself.

  “So, this Albert guy was a friend of yours or something?” I asked.

  “Not really. Well, maybe a little. We happened to go to the dungeon together at the very beginning, until both of us reached level five to be more precise,” Tarrion explained.

  “What happened after both of you had reached level five?” I asked, becoming curious, probably just like everyone else here.

  “A normal party usually doesn’t need two tanks in it, does it?” Tarrion grunted a question back to me which basically was an answer to my question.

  “Of course not. I mean, I’m not a Tank,” I said, giving him a sarcastic look.

  “Tch…” Tarrion frowned. “Fine. Before we went separate ways, we made a promise to see who would become a better Tank. Stupid, I know.”

  “That sounds cool, actually,” I said, being honest about it too, but my excited grin might’ve given away a different impression. “Hey, how about I become a Tank myself too?”

  “Huh? Tch… fuck you, Furball,” Tarrion scoffed at me.

  “Is that an offer?” I asked, making women, especially Krisel laugh.

  “Eh? Go fu… ghm… Whatever…” Tarrion grunted before averting his face away. I certainly knew what he was about to say, but his ‘nice guy’ side won, stopping him from cursing at me again.

  “You know, after we help Alragus gain a few levels, we could go to the ninth floor of the dungeon to help you level up as well, Scarface,” I said, a cheesy grin entering my mouth.

  “What?” Tarrion asked, turning to face me again.

  “Huh? We’ll be going to the ninth floor of the dungeon, Master Rockin?” Ranalaiya exclaimed, becoming excited right away.

  “I wonder how the ninth floor looks like?” Sylfrin wondered.

  “Do you know what kind of monsters live on the ninth floor of this dungeon, Virghel?” Lilfira asked her.

  “Ah, no, I don’t. Sorry,” Virghel said.

  “Are you out of your mind, Furball?” Tarrion asked me in a loud voice.

  “Well, I don’t think I would get mad if people start calling me crazy,” I said, adding a shrug.

  “Our levels might be too low to go to the ninth floor of the dungeon,” Alragus said.

  “Of course they would be. Fighting Stone Golems is one thing but fighting normal and Elder Trents is a completely different thing,” Tarrion said, raising his voice.

  “Aha, so you have been preparing to go to the ninth floor, haven’t you, Scarface?” I asked, grinning wide.

  “Ah, tss…” Tarrion clicked his tongue, realizing he fell for my taunt.

  “Listen here. If I know one thing about the Rockstars Clan’s members, it is that my clan members are the coolest and I won’t let anyone make fun of them,” I declared, my words making everyone’s faces brighten up, even Tarrion’s. “You’ve made a promise to that Albert guy that you’ll become a better Tank than he would. Did you set an end date for it? You don’t have to answer that. So, how about you stop feeling sorry for yourself and tell us more about the ninth floor of the dungeon?”

  “You are crazy, Furball,” Tarrion said.

  “And that’s why you’re here, right, Scarface?” I grinned at him again.

  “Are you done eating yet?” Tarrion blurted, standing up.

  “Ah, yes. I’m all set, actually,” I said, standing up after him. “So, about the ninth floor?”

  “I’ll tell you when we stop to rest again. First, the bramble overgrown area,” Tarrion told me, taking out his tanking mace and his shield out of his storage before stepping away, ready to go.

  “I guess… we need to go now,” I spoke to the rest of our party, smiling wide.

  “Yes, and thank you, Rockin,” Krisel said, smiling happily.

  “No problem,” I said, sending her a wink.

  I put out the fire before leaving, the rest of our party, especially women becoming very excited about the idea of us going to the ninth floor of the dungeon. In reality, I wasn’t planning to go lower than the eighth floor of the dungeon during this run. Heck, I didn’t even know where the entrance to the ninth floor was. The eighth floor of the dungeon was massive. It was much, much larger than any other floors before it. But that wasn’t the point here, however. Hearing someone belittle one of my clan members, even if it was Tarrion, got under my skin as well, but not in a way that made me upset. It lit an additional fire under my butt to help my clan members become stronger. Wiping a smirk off some arrogant prick’s face was just a bonus, not the main reason, of course.

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  “Is that it?” Tarrion asked, stopping to look at the thick brambles in the distance once we finally reached it.

  “Yeah,” I said.

  “Ok,” Tarrion added before resuming to walk towards it.

  “Oh, wow. It really is a wall made out of brambles, but… they look different than normal plants would,” Ranalaiya commented.

  “I had never seen plants grow like this,” Lilfira said.

  “I wouldn’t say these are normal plants,” I said, coming closer to inspect the wall. It looked exactly the same like when I was living here.

  “Humph,” Alragus snorted, touching a branch which was covered with sharp spikes to get a feel of what it was.

  “Should I try slicing through it with my claw weapons, Master Rockin?” Ranalaiya asked.

  “Ah, no. I’d rather you not,” I said, my gut feeling saying it won’t end well for Ranalaiya’s Vicious Talons.

  “Should I try casting my spells to try make a path for us, Master Rockin?” Sylfrin asked.

  “Oh… Yeah, that might work,” I said, realizing that there was no harm in trying, a ray of hope flashing inside my head.

  “Ok, here I go. Frostbolt. Huh? Frostbite. Frost Spear. No way,” Sylfrin gasped, seeing each and every one of her spells fizzle, and do nothing to the thick brambles.

  “Meh,” I made a frown. I did not expect Sylfrin would be able to open a path for us with her first spell, but I had a tiny hope it would at least do something to the bramble wall.

  “I’m sorry, Master Rockin,” Sylfrin apologized.

  “No, don’t worry about it, Sylfrin,” I said, offering a smile.

  “Do you think we could climb over it, Master Rockin? It doesn’t look like this wall goes all the way up to the top,” Ranalaiya suggested.

  “Not a chance,” Virghel answered her question. “I tried it when I was here with my previous group. Got myself injured before I could climb twenty feet up. The branches are much thicker, with more and much sharper spikes the higher this wall goes.”

  “Ok. What do we do then, Master Rockin?” Ranalaiya asked me.

  “Well…” I made a frown, rubbing the back of my neck.

  - ‘Bam!’ – Before I could think of anything, Tarrion smacked at the thicket with his one-handed mace, his mace bouncing back after the impact.

  “And that’s why you shouldn’t hit it,” I said.

  “Tss…” Tarrion frowned, putting his one-handed mace away before taking out his King Tarkee’s Mace next.

  Seriously? I frowned next. On the second thought, if we smash at it with enough strength then maybe…

  “Bone…” Tarrion leaned back, about to use his Bone Chrusher skill.

  “No, don’t!” Alragus shouted.

  “Humph, aargh…” Tarrion, reacting to Alragus’ words, let go of his two-handed mace right before he swung over his head with it, the mace falling down on the ground behind him. However, since Tarrion was in a half swing, the force of his skill pushed his body forward, throwing him at the thicket. Tarrion raised his hands in front of him to cover his face, ending up leaning at the thicket with his hands, saving himself from getting injured.

  “Oh no. Are you hurt, darling?” Krisel exclaimed, becoming worried.

  “I’m fine,” Tarrion said, making a step back before raising his hands to look at them. “Humph.” He was fine thanks to his armor, but his gloves and bracers had scratches left on them. “Thanks, Alragus.” Tarrion said afterwards.

  “No problem,” Alragus said.

  “What… just happened?” Virghel asked, looking confused.

  “Alragus saved Tarrion’s mace from the imminent destruction,” I said, surprising myself by finding the words to make it sound dramatic too when I said it.

  “It probably wouldn’t have been destroyed, but…” Alragus said.

  “You know something we don’t, Alragus?” Tarrion asked him.

  “I can’t be certain, but I think these brambles have the Toughened attribute, just like Rockin’s new shield,” said Alragus.

  “Right,” Tarrion mumbled before picking up his Tarkee King’s Mace.

  “Toughened, huh? So, they are basically indestructible,” I said.

  “Like I said, items with the Toughened attribute aren’t indestructible, but…” Alragus said, leaving the rest of his answer out, but we knew what he would’ve said anyway.

  “In that case, let’s go around it to see if we can find an entrance somewhere,” Tarrion suggested, turning to go.

  “Hey, hold on,” I stopped him.

  “If we go that way, we’ll reach the Rotten Logs Fa… Ahem, there are Lesser Trents on that side. I suggest we check the opposite side first since there won’t be any monsters on that side,” I made a suggestion.

  “Rockin is right,” Virghel added.

  “Ok, sure,” Tarrion didn’t mind, turning around to go the opposite way.

  Unfortunately, we couldn’t find an opening or an entrance to get through the overgrown thicket until we have reached the wall of the Secret Area. I couldn’t find one when I was here by myself, so I wasn’t too surprised about it. Since we didn’t find anything, we turned around and went back from where we came from, sticking close to the thick brambles as we walked, reaching the Rotten Logs Farm eventually.

  - “What a move, babe. You looked so hot when you swung at it like that. Three experience points for you and six for your party members.” – Lavita was happy to be able to speak again.

  We were getting rid of the Lesser Trents while walking next to the thicket in hopes of finding some sort of opening again. Well, it was Sylfrin and her pet Voras who were taking care of the Lesser Trents for the most part. Sylfrin was able to see the hidden Lesser Trents while they were still lying on the ground with her Echo Sense skill, killing the tree monsters with a single spell in an instant. Sylfrin had three spells available for her, alternating each one of them to get rid of the rotten trees for us, her spiderling pet Voras helping her by slowing down any Lesser Trents while Sylfrin’s spells were on cooldown.

  - “Oh, yes. I’ve been waiting for it for so long. You know how much I want you, don’t you, my love? There’s this new pose I always wanted to try out with you and I am totally positive you’re gonna love it too. Let’s not waste any more time and drop our clothes right here and now. It’s time to have some fun and I’m already getting hot. Maximum experience points reached. Level up is available. Would you like to level up?” – As much as I knew I should’ve anticipated it, Lavita would always manage to catch me of guard with her offers, making me squirm in embarrassment every time she did so.

  “Right…” I mumbled, dropping my head down.

  “You’re gonna leave the party now?” Tarrion asked and everyone knew why.

  “Leave the party?” Other than Alragus, of course.

  “Not now,” I said, rolling my eyes. “We’re still in combat. There’s an entrance that leads to the rare monster’s room up ahead. I can… level up there.”

  “Ok,” Tarrion said, turning to go.

  We’ve killed a bunch more Lesser Trents before reaching the end of the Rotten Logs Farm, staying near the Toughened brambles all the time of course. We didn’t find any entrance or even a tiny opening within the bramble wall, unfortunately. Seeing the metal gates inside the wall brought back a few memories for me, but I didn’t leave the party right away. I knew there shouldn’t be any monsters inside the room at the end of the tunnel, but I was still warry of some trap activating before we reached it. Remembering how I was trapped inside and had to fight for my life made me hesitant to accept, or decline, my Level Up offer until I was convinced it was safe to do so.

  “It’s empty,” Tarrion said once we reached the room where I had fought the lizardman monster.

  “Ok, I’ll… ahem… I’ll just decline my Level Up offer and we can be on our way,” I said. I wanted to say I’ll be quick but I knew Tarrion might’ve used it against me, or any of my women for that matter. The thing was however, in addition to Ranalaiya and Sylfrin, Lilfira would be able to hear Lavita pleasure herself this time too.

  “It feels like it was so long since Master Rockin declined his Level Up offer from Lavita,” Ranalaiya said, speaking mainly to Sylfrin and Lilfira.

  “That’s right, I should be able to hear Lavita now as well, right?” Liflira asked.

  “Yes, I am certain you will,” Sylfrin said before adding. “I wonder what pose Lavita meant earlier?”

  Seriously? You three could be a little quieter about it, you know. I didn’t say it out loud but I really wanted to. Baah, whatever. Let’s just get over it. I shook my head before opening my Status Window, choosing the ‘No’ option on my Level Up offer, bracing myself for the impact.

  - “Maximum level nine stats have been reached. Cannot increase stats anymore.” – Instead of Lavita going all lewd on me, I have received a message I honestly did not expect to receive, not that I was upset about it.

  “Hmm…” I grinned like a happy tomato, turning away from Ranalaiya, Sylfrin and Lilfira, so they wouldn’t see it.

  “What? No…” Ranalaiya exclaimed, her excited facial expression changing to a sad one.

  “Huh? What’s wrong, Ranalaiya?” Lilfira asked. She was yet to understand that Lavita will be taking a break this time.

  “Lavita won’t be having sex with herself this time, Lilfira,” Sylfrin said, not worrying about anyone else hearing her say that as usual.

  “Huh? Really?” Lilfira gasped.

  – “Maximum experience points reached. Overgrowth skill is activated. Increasing character’s level from level nine to level ten. Complete. Increasing maximum limit of all character stats. Complete. Increasing Growth skill by one. Complete.” – The announcements followed.

  “No, I was looking forward to it. This is the second time now,” Lilfira complained, pouting her lips.

  “Sorry,” I said, definitely not sounding or looking to be sorry in the least.

  “Master Rockin,” Ranalaiya addressed me in an upset manner.

  “Oh, come on, give me a break,” I frowned.

  “Congratulations on reaching level ten, Master Rockin,” Sylfrin quickly intervened, offering a congratulation instead.

  “Ah, yes. Congra-“

  - “Class specific skill: Shield Grapple, acquired.” – Ranalaiya was about to congratulate me on reaching level ten as well, but the dull, mechanical voice wasn’t done with its announcements just yet.

  “Oh, nice,” I said, perking up.

  - “Attack Skill: Shield, has been improved. Defense Skill: Shield, has been improved. Shield Chain skill has been improved. Shield Guard skill has been improved.” – And then more announcements followed.

  “Woohoo!” I cheered, clapping my hands once excitedly.

  - “Attack skill: Shield maximum level has been reached. Skill evolution is available. Would you like to evolve your Attack skill: Shield?” – The mechanical voice asked me, sounding livelier than ever before, a ‘Yes’ and ‘No’ option to evolve my skill appearing in front of me the next second.

  “Definitely, doh,” I said, rolling my eyes before choosing the ‘Yes’ option.

  - “Skill evolution accepted. Evolving Attack skill: Shield. Complete. Defense skill: Shield maximum level has been reached. Skill evolution available. Would you like to evolve your Defense skill: Shield?” – Another option to evolve a skill has appeared in front of me, me choosing the ‘Yes’ option once again.

  - “Skill evolution accepted. Evolving Defense skill: Shield. Complete. Level up complete.” – Even when the announcement of my level up being complete was made, I was still staying quiet, waiting for another announcement to be made, Ranalaiya, Sylfrin and Lilfira being very quiet themselves, their faces sparkling excitedly.

  “Hell, yeah!” I finally cheered, startling a few people as a result of it.

  “Seriously?” Tarrion mumbled, making a frown.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry for being excited about reaching level ten,” I blurted sarcastically.

  “What? Level ten?” Tarrion asked. Since I had left the party, nobody knew that, except for Ranalaiya, Sylfrin and Lilfira of course. They couldn’t see it either since we weren’t in a party, but they were able to hear the announcements.

  “Tadaa…” I grinned as wide as my mouth could allow after rejoining the party.

  “Humph, congratulations, Furball. Two more to go,” Tarrion said, adding a smirk at the end.

  “Gee… thanks,” I mumbled, rolling my eyes.

  “Congratulations, Rockin,” Krisel said, being very sincere with her words.

  “Thank you, Krisel,” I said, sounding very polite when I spoke to her, Tarrion rolling his eyes this time.

  “Congratulation, Rockin,” Virghel said, giving me a kiss on a cheek too.

  “Oh, ah, thanks,” I said, my face catching a blush.

  “Huh?” Ranalaiya perked up, seeing Virghel give me a kiss. “Master Rockin, congratulations on reaching level ten.” She said, giving me a kiss on a cheek as well.

  “Congratulations, Master Rockin,” Sylfrin did the same.

  “Congratulations, Master Rockin,” Lilfira wasn’t about to be left out either. I knew from the look of Ranalaiya’s, Sylfrin’s and Lilfira’s eyes they wanted to do more than give me a kiss on a cheek, but they also knew they needed to behave. However, I was certain the real reward would be presented to me once we’re back in Hirvant.

  “Congrats, Rockin,” Alragus was the last one to congratulate me, being firm but respectful.

  “Thank you… everyone,” I said, still feeling elated.

  “Got any new skills?” Tarrion asked.

  “Yes, actually. Not only that, however,” I said, grinning wide.

  “Huh?” Tarrion raised an eyebrow.

  “A lot of Master Rockin’s skill were improved and two of his skills have been evolved as the result of him reaching level ten,” Sylfrin spilled the beans, but I wasn’t upset with her.

  “Evolved?” Tarrion’s eyebrows shot up. “Well?” He hinted with his head, clearly wanting to hear the details.

  “Ok, ok. Show status,” I said, opening my Status Window.

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