Chapter 48: Chapter48-Dungeon hunting with Eden
Allen looked up at me, and I could tell he’d already figured out where my thoughts were going. "Are you planning to use my aura or blood to avoid the aftereffects of the skill every time you practice?"
How did he read my mind that fast?
I shook my head quickly. "No, no. What are you talking about? Why would I do that?"
Allen studied my face for a second. "From your expression, it’s pretty obvious you’ll do exactly that. Although, I don’t mind."
I straightened up immediately. "What? You won’t mind?"
Allen looked straight at me.
Damn it. I shouldn’t have said that.
"I won’t mind," he said slowly. "However, there is a condition."
The moment he paused, a chill ran down my spine.
What was this ominous feeling suddenly creeping over me?
"What condition?" I asked carefully.
"You have to practice with your Telekinesis skill every day."
I blurted out before I could stop myself. "What? No!"
Allen’s tone stayed perfectly even. "Alright. Then forget about using my blood."
"Wait, wait! Let me think about it."
"Take your time. You have all day."
Damn it.
What was I supposed to do now?
There was no way I was accepting that condition. I had other things to do besides practicing Telekinesis every single day. Like playing games, for one thing.
I’d already trained relentlessly with Telekinesis these past few days. The whole point had been to get good enough to use it in dangerous situations, not to commit to some endless training routine.
But if I didn’t accept his condition, he wouldn’t give me his aura. And without his aura, I’d have to deal with the aftereffects on my own.
This was classic Allen. Always finding some way to make sure I trained every day.
After thinking it over for a few minutes, I finally gave in with a long sigh. "Fine. I’ll do what you say."
Allen nodded once. "Good."
He kept rubbing the cream into my elbow for another five minutes before finally stopping. "There. You’re not feeling any pain now, are you, young master?"
I carefully tested my elbow, moving it in a slow circle. It shifted freely without any trace of discomfort.
It was working.
"Yeah, it’s fine. No pain at all."
Allen rose to his feet slowly.
I looked up at him. "You could have told me about this earlier."
"Told you what?"
"That your aura could stop the aftereffects."
Allen’s expression remained completely neutral. "I did. You just didn’t understand what I was saying."
"Okay, okay. I get it."
Relief settled over me. As long as Allen’s aura worked, I wouldn’t have to worry about the aftereffects of Telekinesis until the skill reached S rank.
Wait.
An idea suddenly crossed my mind.
If I didn’t have to worry about the aftereffects until the skill hit S rank, that meant I could upgrade it to A rank and still rely on Allen’s blood to suppress them, right?
Yeah. That could actually work.
I got to my feet quickly. "Allen, give me a skill rank upgrade card."
Allen looked at me like he had already predicted this exact moment. "Young master, I’m starting to think I shouldn’t have said anything."
I grinned. "Too late for regrets. Now that you’ve told me, we both know exactly what I’m going to do."
Allen didn’t argue. He simply reached into his coat and pulled out a skill rank upgrade card.
It was a plain, white card.
I’d never actually seen one in physical form before. Every time the system rewarded me with a skill rank upgrade card, it never materialized as an object. It just appeared as a notification in my vision.
I took the card from him and turned it over in my hand. "So what do I do with this?"
Allen gestured toward my face. "Hold it against your forehead."
"Got it."
I pressed the card to my forehead. The moment it made contact, a virtual screen appeared in my vision with a series of rapid messages.
[Warning: Unknown particles detected entering the host’s body.]
[Identifying particles...]
[Identification complete.]
[Skill Rank Upgrade Card detected.]
[Would you like to use the Skill Rank Upgrade Card?]
I replied mentally. "Yes."
Another screen replaced the first.
[Which skill would you like to upgrade?]
[Seer’s Eye] or [Telekinesis]
"Telekinesis."
The instant I confirmed it, a new holographic display materialized before me.
[Initiating the upgrade process!]
[Upgrading the Telekinesis Skill!]
[Current Skill Rank: B+]
[Increasing rank by 1 using a Skill Rank Upgrade Card!]
[Processing...]
[33%... 53%... 80%... 91%... 96%... 100%]
[Congratulations, Host! Your Telekinesis Skill has been successfully upgraded to A+ Rank!]
As soon as the final message appeared, the card in my hand dissolved into nothing. I barely registered its disappearance. My entire focus was locked on the screen.
A rank. Finally.
I stared at the confirmation for a few seconds, then mentally dismissed the screen and pulled up my character interface.
---
**Name:** Michael Frostburne
**Race:** Human
**Current Rank:** Bronze
...
**Human Racial Abilities:**
- Notifications
- Quest
- Inventory
- Skills (2/2)
---
I tapped on the Skills option. A new display appeared, listing both of my current abilities.
---
1] Seer’s Eye (SSS)
2] Telekinesis (A+)
---
I selected Telekinesis, and a detailed breakdown of the skill loaded immediately.
---
(Telekinesis)
[Specific: Metal]
[...]
[Duration: 9 hours a day.]
[Limitation: Can only lift 1000 metallic objects at the same time.]
[...]
—
I scanned through the information on the screen.
Aside from the duration and the limitation, nothing had really changed.
The increased duration was still a solid improvement. I wouldn’t have to take constant breaks during practice or worry about running out of time halfway through a session.
More importantly, with the limitation now raised to 1000, the aftereffects wouldn’t kick in until I learned to lift four metallic objects at once. I hadn’t hit that milestone yet, which meant I could hold off on relying on Allen’s blood or aura for the time being.
I dismissed the screen.
"Allen—"
Before I could finish, my phone started vibrating in my pocket.
I pulled it out and glanced at the screen. Eden’s name was displayed.
Eden? What did he want at this hour?
I accepted the call and brought the phone to my ear. "Hey, Eden. What’s up? Why are you calling me out of nowhere?"
His voice came through from the other end. "What do you mean out of nowhere? Am I not allowed to call you?"
"That’s not what I meant. You can call me whenever. I’m just asking if there’s a specific reason you’re calling right now."
I checked my watch. 5:23 AM.
"It’s almost five thirty in the morning."
Eden let out a short laugh. "Yeah, sorry about that. Anyway, the reason I’m calling is... you up for some dungeon hunting with me?"
I blinked. "Dungeon hunting? With you?"
Eden’s voice came through with more sincerity this time. "Yeah, man. I’ve been wanting to ask you for the past few days. I’ve always wanted us to go dungeon hunting together, but you weren’t interested back then. And with your rank being zero... I just couldn’t bring myself to ask."
I leaned back slightly. "So now that I’ve upgraded my rank and started going to dungeons, you figured this was the right time?"
"Yeah... sorry about that."
I paused. Why was he apologizing?
What he’d done wasn’t wrong. If he’d asked Michael before, Michael would have shut him down immediately. The guy had absolutely no interest in dungeons or leveling up. Eden had probably spared himself the trouble of getting rejected.
That still left me with a choice to make.
Did I actually want to accept?
Honestly, not really.
The reason was straightforward. Eden was the main character of this story, which made him a walking magnet for trouble. Problems followed him everywhere. Sure, he always survived them, but I had no such guarantee. I didn’t come with the same plot armor he did.
I should probably just apologize and decline.
"I can’t—"
Before I could finish, Eden interrupted. "Don’t worry. I’ll help you rank up too."
The second he said that, I changed my mind completely.
"Yeah, why not? Let’s do it. When are we going?"
"How about today? In the afternoon?"
"Works for me. What’s the rank and location?"
Eden’s tone shifted, almost teasing. "That’s a secret. Don’t worry about it. I already sent the details to Allen. He’ll take you there."
A secret? What for?
I didn’t bother pressing him. "Alright. Got it."
"Okay, see you then. Bye!"
He hung up quickly, but I didn’t care. My mind was already running in a completely different direction.
This was perfect. I could use Eden to rank up to Iron without lifting a finger. I wouldn’t have to do any of the heavy lifting myself. The main character of this story was going to carry me straight through the essence requirement, and all I had to do was show up and finish off whatever was left.
Why hadn’t I thought of this sooner?
I’d already pulled it off with Allen. Let someone stronger handle the hard work while I swooped in for the easy part. Eden was no different. If anything, he was probably even better suited for it. His skill set was built for clearing dungeons quickly and efficiently, which meant less work for me overall.
Still, I had to admit, I hadn’t expected to hear those words come out of Eden’s mouth. After all that preaching about hard work being better than shortcuts, I never thought he’d turn around and offer to help me rank up this easily. It almost felt too good to be true.
Then again, he was only human. People said one thing and did another all the time. I couldn’t really blame him for it.
I snapped back to the present and turned toward where Allen had been standing moments ago. "Allen, I wanted to ask you about—huh?"
He wasn’t there.
I was completely alone in the room now.
Where the hell did he disappear to?
I’d wanted to ask him about the dungeon details Eden had supposedly sent over, but apparently Allen had slipped out while I was distracted on the phone. Typical.
Whatever. I’d track him down later and get the information then.
For now, I desperately needed sleep. I’d spent the last seven or eight hours training with my swords without a single break, and my body was finally starting to feel the exhaustion catching up to me.
I glanced down at my watch.
***
Name: Michael Frostburne
Total Rules Broken: 0
Time: 5:30 AM
Date: 24th February
Year: 2130
***
5:30, huh?
I could get a solid seven or eight hours of sleep if I headed to bed now. But my stomach had other plans. It was growling loud enough that I couldn’t ignore it.
I left my room and made my way through the hallways toward the dining area.
As I walked, my mind wandered back to Eden’s invitation. I started wondering what kind of dungeon he’d picked.
Probably something manageable. Nothing too challenging.
There was no way he’d choose a high rank dungeon knowing I’d be coming along.
Right?
