After a few hours, Shane wiped the sweat from his forehead and stared at the ground filled with a sea of dead monsters. Now that he got a realization about his power, he could feel a weight lifting off his shoulders. A strange sense of peace appeared in his heart upon seeing so many monsters being killed by him.
Was he a masochist? No, he was a common youth who had played many games. When he found he also had powers and could use them to kill the ones he considered powerful before, he felt a surge of powerful emotions running throughout his body, making him happy to the point of feeling dizzy.
It was just that he didn't know why Ed had bought this dungeon and filled it with monsters. It couldn't be for him, could it?
Shane shook his head and decided not to think too much about it as he waved his hand toward the cliff and started walking down the narrow bridge toward the fort. After clearing the monsters, Shane could see clearly that the entire place was deserted. The ground was covered with red sand as it was painted in the color of blood while the sky was as dark as ever.
Beneath the bridge, he could see some red liquid flooding out as if it were a river. There were also several other strange colors, and he didn't want to imagine what kind of stuff was floating down there. But he could tell that his situation wouldn't be good if he jumped in there.
Shane tried not to look around too much as he focused on the scene in front of his eyes. The fort was getting closer and closer, and he felt creeped out just by looking at the structure. He again cursed Ed's choice of dungeons in his heart as he looked at the scene.
The fort was as dark as night, and it would have been harder to make out its structure if it weren't for a full moon hanging above his head in the sky. A black and red flag waved above the dome of the dark palace. It had broken windows everywhere and some places even had destroyed bricks. This palace made him feel as if there had been a huge war that destroyed this place completely.
The palace wasn't that big. It had an entrance, a destroyed garden, and a front door that led toward the courtroom. As soon as Shane pushed open the door, he saw several monsters of a higher power that turned toward him and showed their giant tongues. Their bodies were covered with some strange green liquid, and way back, on the throne, a similar-looking giant monster sat with a crown on his head.
Shane made a disgusted expression on his face as he glanced at the crown and the body of that giant monster. It almost made him feel like these monsters' bodies were made out of mud and puss mixed with excretion. The crown itself seemed to be made out of bones.
He didn't want to look at this disgusting scene anymore, but he had to kill them. He had already entered, so he might as well go all out.
He sighed and brought out energy balls in his hands, "I have to kill these things. I can only hope they won't vomit that green stuff on me."
Then, he started fighting these things. After a few hours, when he had finished killing the crown thing, he wiped the green liquid off his body and grimaced. He would have to take several baths to get rid of this smell. That damned Ed couldn't find any better place to practice, could he?
Just then, a familiar voice echoed in the background, "You should have used easier means than those energy balls. Those balls might not be of use while fighting everyone."
Shane glanced back, only to find Ed walking through the front gate with his hands in his pockets and a cigar hanging at the corner of his mouth, as if the bald man was taking a stroll in a garden or something. The man looked at his disciple and raised his head, "Create more powerful spells and magical rules. I know you can do it."
"What're you doing here?" Shane ignored that little pep talk and directly asked a question with an indifferent expression on his face.
"What? Am I not invited now that you won?" Ed made a disgusted expression after glancing at Shane's body, "You need a serious clean-up."
"Whose fault is that?" Shane muttered under his breath, but said nothing out loud about it, as he changed the topic, "What now?"
"You can go upstairs and practice."
Shane thought for a while and shook his head, "I'll continue tomorrow. That's it for now. My body reeks of blood, puss, and mud."
Ed nodded as he opened his menu and started doing something in the menu window, "You shouldn't do live streams while using your powers anymore."
Shane nodded. After a while, they were brought out of the portal as the two of them stood in the virtual portal building, a floor above the one Shane had previously visited. He nodded at Ed and glanced at Dirt who was probably the one bringing them out as he dashed out of that place.
Dirt looked at his master and said, "Shane has developed a lot."
"He's still a kid at heart," Ed sighed in disappointment, "He still thinks of himself as Shane Cooper from the planet Earth. This will be a setback for him."
"What now?" Dirt closed his system menu.
"Keep an eye on him," Ed paused as he spoke again, "If something happens to me, go with Shane."
The robot looked at his master for a while before he nodded. The robots weren't supposed to have any emotion, and Dirt was also the same, but he felt dizzy thinking of all the data in his channels he would have to rewrite to change his master again. It was just that he knew that the possibility of that happening was zero. So he was relaxed.
He sighed and walked out of the room and entered the corridor. He wondered what kind of master Shane would become if that situation did happen….
Meanwhile, Shane ended up encountering his group mates while on the way back to his dorm. Tess and others surrounded him on the school grounds as the red-haired girl's nose wrinkled, "Did you dip your body in vomit? Yuck!"
Even Frank and Jake were frowning as they took a step back.
Shane glanced at the youths in front of him and was about to open his mouth when he remembered the situation in their past. He silently closed his mouth and shook his head, "I have to take a bath."
He waved his hand and walked away. His reaction didn't surprise anyone at this time as the three of them frowned. Only Jake glanced twice at Shane and shrugged while turning back as he ran toward his class.
When Shane returned to his room, he took a bath for half an hour, wiping every inch of his skin as he walked out refreshed and laid onto his bed. He finally got a chance to think of his situation.
First, someone hacked into the system and changed his difficulty level. Then he was pushed into the punishment world, and when he came out, he had to go into a dungeon to find a weapon. But even after doing that, he not only failed to attain a proper weapon for himself, but he also started doubting his friends and sister.
He covered his face with his palms. Someone seemed to be after him. Or rather….
He raised his hand as dark energy sparked up on his fingertips. It seemed that someone was after his powers.
Shane frowned upon thinking of this. How could others know about this? He had only told his master and Dirt. Could it be the same hacker who had hacked into the virtual portal for the system job? If yes, it would make sense.
Maybe he should heed Ed's advice and keep a distance from everyone else, at least until the exams. It would be safer for them, especially for Tess. After thinking of this, he drifted off to sleep.
Meanwhile, a little ways away from that place, there was a bustling restaurant in the market area of the Orient Continent. This restaurant was small, but because it was cheap, many systems would come to have a meal every evening. At this time, two people covering their faces with hoods entered the place.
No one found it strange as the waiter took orders and walked away while showing the two strangers to a table. As soon as they sat on their chairs, one of them spoke in the youthful voice of a guy, "Something is strange with Shane."
The other person with a hood on was a girl, and she spoke, "I know. I have been keeping an eye on him at all times. He doubts everyone now."
"Why? I have never…."
"It doesn't matter," the girl spoke as she waved her hand and firmly fixed her robes to hide her face, "We have to do something about Ed."
"Why him?" The guy's voice sounded surprised as the waiter brought two drinks to their table. After the waiter was gone, the guy lowered his voice and said, "He's a headache to deal with! Can't we just ignore that guy?"
The woman shook her head, "I'm so close to my goal. I can't just let the enemies win just because of a bald man who managed to release Shane's powers. The dark energy has started to become a danger that might expose everything. We have to separate this pair of master and disciple for my mission to succeed."
New novel 𝓬hapters are published on fre ew𝒆bnovel.com