Chapter 166: Speedrun 19
(The Gamer – Han Jihan's clone POV)
"Quell your mind; your energy is in turmoil," I advised the young woman before me, as her chaotic internal energies began to leak, corrode, and distort reality. Fortunately, the girl and I were currently inside an instant dungeon. Otherwise, her unchecked power would have wreaked havoc on the environment. My original self, had entrusted me with a crucial mission: to aid her ascent at any cost, while he left to reinforce our defenses, whatever he meant, I wasn't sure...
The girl was an enigma, a profoundly unsettling one. The moment she entered our realm, we sensed a shift in the temporal plane, and time in itself lost all meaning. No matter what we attempted, it moved beyond our influence.
Initially, the original had sent a projection to assess and potentially eliminate her. However, the instant it laid eyes on her, a tremor coursed through not only that projection but also through the original me. She was shielded, and the true nature of her protector remained shrouded in literal darkness.
From the minuscule we've uncovered and understood, her guardian was a swirling mass of energy exuding waves of malevolence to any who laid eyes on her. It possessed two gleaming red orbs that resembled eyes, promising not just our demise but the collapse of the entire reality should we misstep. Strangely, she appeared oblivious to the menacing sentinel standing behind her.
That's when my original self swapped places with the projection, poised to act with lethal intent. Yet, to our astonishment, the girl's only desire was to learn and improve herself for someone dear to her.
A pang of guilt washed over us for our earlier hostile thoughts as we made eye contact with the grinning shadowy figure. It simply raised a clawed finger to its terrifying maw, indicating that it was in our best interest to remain silent about its existence.
We attempted to use our [Observe] on the girl in a bid to gather more information, but all we received was a name. Everything else remained obscured by static, my max-level skill blocked by the monstrous presence or something else. We didn't attempt to use it on the monster, should it view our actions as hostile.
But the surprises didn't end there. The creature waved its hand, and we prepared to counter, yet to our surprise our system chimed, alerting us to a new, mandatory quest.
[Assist Olivia Lane, Save the World]
Primary Objective: Instruct Olivia Lane in the intricacies of cultivation to aid her advancement.
Secondary Objective: Assist Olivia Lane in attaining a secondary divine domain.
Tertiary Objective: Aid Olivia Lane in developing a new combat skill.
Reward: A bright future with the help of the boyfriend.
Failure: Death.
Was that creature the aforementioned boyfriend? We couldn't help but ponder. However, we swiftly dismissed the thought, fearing it might lead to our demise. Besides, her seemingly gentle and respectful nature didn't seem to align with such a possibility. But even if we were wrong, who were we to judge...
We chose not to dwell on the fact that the creature could effortlessly command our system. It seemed to exist on a plane beyond our current comprehension, making it wiser not to dwell on small details.
We simply agreed to help, not that we had much of a choice, given that our system didn't offer a rejection prompt. Hopefully, we hadn't made a grave mistake, although the temptation of promised salvation for those we held dear was undeniable.
"Calm your breathing. Inner peace arises not only from the mind but also from the body. Seek your inner balance; find an image that brings you calm—a person, an act, or a place. Let that image be your anchor," I instructed, closely observing as her Ki slowly began to shift and start to slowly gain a deathly affinity.
'God... She will be terrifying...'
(Arifureta – Andrew POV)
I consoled the woman who had transformed from a petite little loli into a striking beauty as she wept in my embrace. My expression betrayed a sense of resignation as I struggled to ignore the two prominent mounds pressed firmly against my body. Our prior interactions had been far from amicable; if someone had observed us just moments ago, they might have assumed we were enemies. Thus, it came as a bewildering surprise that, for some inexplicable reason, she sought solace in my arms after watching the affectionate message left by her uncle.
"There, there," I murmured soothingly, hoping that her tears would soon subside.
As I held her, I couldn't help but question my wisdom in revealing the recording crystal to her. Initially, it had seemed like the right decision but now doubts gnawed at me.
Without waiting for Aletia to regain her composure, I discreetly activated [Annihilation], causing the ground beneath us to dissolve. Simultaneously, I erected a soundproof barrier and levitated us gently to the next floor, while she remained entirely unaware of the shifting surroundings.
Much like on the preceding floors, I detected creatures with untapped potential and harnessed the ambient mana to dispatch them. Their remains were promptly whisked away to nourish Fluffs, providing her with a swift buffet before we advanced. I marveled at her continued absence of any digestive skills; she consumed whatever I offered, her potent stomach acids swiftly dissolving the offerings.
After she regained her composure, about half an hour later, Aletia gazed up at me. Thanks to her regenerative ability, the puffiness in her eyes swiftly vanished, replaced by a gentle blush spreading across her cheeks. Noticing my apparent disinterest and distraction, she playfully puffed her cheeks and then cast an astonished glance around her surroundings.
While she shed tears, I remained active. Carrying her in a princess-like embrace, we descended all the way to the dungeon's final floor, with the boss room awaiting us, housing the laughable six-headed Hydra.
Yearning for some attention, Aletia devised a mischievous scheme, of which I only caught a glimpse of the sly smirk that crossed her face before it was too late. She clung to me tightly, wiping her tear-streaked face and runny nose against my chest, then gazed deep into my eyes with a contented look in her ruby-red orbs. "Thanks for the makeshift tissue, mister," she said, grinning.
"You're very welcome," I deadpanned, abruptly raising my hands and releasing her, causing her to tumble to the floor.
"Ow," she hissed in pain as her well-patted rear end met the ground. "That was rather ungentlemanly of you, mister." She voiced her displeasure, pouting and glaring in my direction.
"Funny, coming from the lady who just used me as a napkin..." I retorted with a snort, emphasizing the "lady" part, and waved my hand, swiftly casting a cleaning spell across my shirt.
"See? I didn't even cause any permanent damage," she remarked, gesturing toward my shirt before standing up and dusting off her rump.
"Nor did I cause any to your behind," I deadpanned, wisely refraining from adding 'yet' to my response.
"You're such an asshole..." Aletia muttered, squinting her eyes at me before they widened as she exclaimed, "I don't even know your name!"
"Oh, the Queen finally cared to ask," I remarked with a chuckle. "It's Andrew, Andrew Thompson, but everyone calls me Andy. Although, you should call me Daddy." I introduced myself with a mischievous grin.
"Gross," she shuddered and took a step back. "Does that even work on girls?"
"On the ones that matter, it does," I explained with a nonchalant shrug.
"Does that mean I don't matter?" She asked, and I replied with a casual shrug, "You really need to change your attitude, or you're going to have trouble finding a girlfriend," she chided, placing her hand on her hip, vigorously shaking her finger while leaning forward and pouting.
I snorted at her and shook my head. "Don't need another girlfriend, already got one, and she's already a handful."
She straightened up, placing her hand on her heart and widening her eyes in shock. "There is no way!" she exclaimed before squinting her eyes at me and scanning me from bottom to top. "Although, there is a possibility." She hummed, before with a satisfied nod adding, "If one looks past your personality, you do seem quite handsome."
I raised an eyebrow at her before shaking my head. "Well... Thanks? I guess?" Then I shifted my attention to Fluffs, who had already begun the battle against the Hydra on her own. However, the sound barrier surrounding us had muted the noise of their clash. "Kill the Healing head first!" I offered my input.
That was when Aletia finally noticed the fight taking place hundreds of meters in front of us. "Oh my god!" she exclaimed. "Isn't that your pet?! We need to help it!" She attempted to cast a spell, but I disrupted her spell circle and pulled her back.
"Leave her be... She needs the practice," I said confidently, making her look at me with a puzzled expression. "If she fails, it will be a learning curve for her. I can repair any permanent damage she suffers, even revive her if she dies. So there's nothing she could possibly lose, only gain from this." I explained making her reluctantly nod, and step back.
And it wasn't as though Fluffs was losing the battle. Already, one of the six Hydra heads had been severed, thanks to a combination of her shadow bind, courtesy of her [Darkness Manipulation], and [Gale Claw], the attack ability she had assimilated from a bear. She had become proficient with several of her more potent abilities and even added a few more to her repertoire.
To my knowledge, the Pet system, similar to the main System, allowed Fluffy to gain resistance skills, although they had yet to manifest. Instead, during our swift descent, she had acquired a [Temperature Regulation] skill by consuming and integrating an organ from a creature capable of adjusting its internal heat by heating up its blood. It was an intriguing evolutionary trait, especially for a typically cold-blooded creature, but given that it lived in the icy tundra on the 83rd floor, it made sense.
Fluffy had also developed a regeneration skill, albeit a relatively weak one called [Cellular Division], which did precisely what its name suggested—it accelerated her cell division and metabolism, allowing her to process food and liquids into energy more quickly.
Remaining on the list of defensive skills, Fluffy had integrated a skill called [Augmented Bone Marrow], which increased her blood production and bolstered her immune system. With this skill, even if she suffered a deep wound, her blood would replenish faster than it could be lost, preventing death from blood loss, provided she had enough stamina to sustain the continuous use of the skill.
With the rise of her [Alter] skill level, Fluffy was able to alter her existing skills and through assimilating the abilities from the Scorpion found in Aletia chamber, then altering her own scales, Fluffy had gained the skill called [Mana Dispersion Scales]. This skill not only granted her partial magic resistance but also allowed her to assimilate the ability she acquired from twin-tailed wolves, [Electrostatic Field], without shocking herself while using it. This electric skill could be classified as both defensive and offensive, as it not only surrounded her with a field of electricity that shocked anyone in close proximity but also provided a layer of defense against projectiles.
Similarly, by absorbing the Scorpion's abilities, Fluffy had modified the corrosive, acid-laced spikes across her entire body and acquired the skill called [Thornstrike], which could launch these spikes at the speed of sound.
In summary, the current Fluffy was far from defenseless, a fact evident right in front of us as she covered herself in a field of electricity and launched herself through the neck of the water-breathing Hydra head.
"Huh, she's surprisingly strong," mumbled Aletia, now fully engrossed in watching Fluffy's aerial display.
"Yep, they grow up so fast," I said, brushing away an imaginary tear, which earned me a playful eye-roll from her.
"... So who's the girl?" she asked, starting a casual conversation while the battle unfolded in the background.
"Who?" I replied with a question of my own, though I knew exactly what she meant.
"You said you have a girlfriend. Who is she?"
"Why do you care?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Just curious," she shrugged nonchalantly.
"Her name is Olivia."
"Oh, is she from another Nation?"
"What?" I asked in confusion.
"You know..." She said with a smile, "Imagination," theatrically waving her hands.
"You do realize I could end your existence with a single thought?" I said, giving her a deadpan look.
"Yeah, but you won't do it," she said, giving me a knowing look, a wide grin spreading across her face.
"Slap your boobies," I commanded, activating [Mental Domain], then watched the grin disappear from her face as she unconsciously delivered a side slap to her breast.
"Ow," she said, scrunching up her nose while pouting and rubbing the spot, "You're a huge bully."
"You're quite casual about me controlling your body," I discerned, giving her a complicated look. My initial assessment of her mental health might not have been completely correct, and she proved it with her next sentence.
"Yeah, even if you make me your slave, there's not a lot I can lose," she said with a casual shrug, then took a deep breath, "Everything I knew is gone, there is nothing left for me here." A wry smile appeared on her face as she made eye contact, before she continued, "And from what I understand, you're a nice guy."
"Yeah right... Nice guy..." I said, snorting and rolling my eyes, "I've killed more innocents than you can possibly fathom."
"There must have been a good reason," she countered, rubbing her chin and giving me a calculative glance.
"If time constraint counts as a good reason," I replied with a shrug, "then count it as such. Anyways, I don't really care."
"... So on the topic of the girlfriend," she started, changing the uncomfortable topic, "Where is she? Waiting at home with dinner?"
"I wish," I said with a chuckle while waving my hand and dispersing the fire breath aimed at us, "She's currently in another dimension."
"Oh... You did say you're from another world. Are you conquering the Labyrinths to find a way back?" She asked, squirming in her spot.
"What?" I asked, shifting my attention from Fluffy's fight to the girl beside me, "No, not really. As I said before, I'm here to kill the wannabe god of this realm, and then I'm heading back. I can do it anytime I want." I explained, before adding, "The Labyrinth conquering is mainly a side project. All of them grant knowledge towards specific kinds of magic, and I want it all." I said, watching her look downwards downtrodden, and descend into silence.
Aletia took a deep breath, and after a moment of contemplation, she looked up with a hopeful expression spreading across her face. She was about to ask something, but her inquiry was abruptly interrupted by my shout, "Good job, baby girl!"
Next to the blood-covered little Nightmare, six Hydra heads lay in a single row, while its lifeless body rested motionless in the center of the room. The aftermath of a hard-fought battle was evident, with puddles of corrosive acid still sizzling and certain areas of the walls and floor still glowing hot.
Fluffy, panting, and utterly exhausted, bore a few scratches and was missing a few teeth, but she wore a look of utter satisfaction. She released a loud, albeit weak, "Shaa!" as her victory cry that endlessly echoed throughout the room.
I dismissed the sound barrier and approached the little creature, swiftly casting cleaning and healing spells on her. Careful not to get poked by her deadly spikes, I scratched under her jaw and cooed, "Who's a good little Nightmare? You are, you are!" I praised her in a higher-pitched and melodic tone, momentarily forgetting that we had company, while Fluffs leaned into my scratches and happily purred.
"She does seem cute when she does that," came a comment from behind me, causing me to freeze mid-act.
I straightened up and coughed awkwardly. "Yes, she is the cutest," I replied, and to Aletia's satisfaction, I avoided making eye contact. "Fluffs, you wanna eat that?" I asked, swiftly changing the topic, which made the vamp grin.
"Shaa-Shaa?" Fluffy swiftly replied, causing me to roll my eyes.
"No, you don't need multiple heads," I said with a deadpan voice.
"Shaa!" She protested, attempting to explain her reasoning.
"Why the hell would you ever need another head for that... Just give yourself another set of eyes if you really want to simultaneously look both ways before crossing a road," I facepalmed at her reasoning, then shooed her away. "Go and pull that thing into your shadow space, we're heading down," I ordered with a sigh.
"Shaa..." She looked away while pouting, displeased by my disagreement, and trotted back up to the corpse, slowly pulling it into her shadow.
"That was... Interesting," commented the dumbfounded vampire beside me.
"Yeah, she has her moments..." I said with a wry smile, shaking my head at the little Nightmares antics.
After Fluffs deposited the carcass into her makeshift inventory, we finally descended to the final floor and subsequent reward room of the Great Orcus Labyrinth.
I couldn't help but grin. I was just a breath away from acquiring inorganic matter manipulation magic, and I couldn't wait to experiment with it.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone