After a thrilling action adventure movie, selected by Rebecca, everyone said their good nights and retired to their rooms. It was around 10:30 which worked out well for Kailan. There was something he had been planning and he needed clockwork for it.

“You have gained 32 new believers.” A text alert suddenly appeared in his vision.

“Well that was unexpected. I guess something must have happened with the Director and more people have been included in the loop.” Kailan thought as he glanced at his clock. “10:32. Plenty of time.”

He reached his hands out, touching the case holding his Zweihänder and his armor, sucking them into his Heart Dungeon. Then with a thought. “Enter.”

Kailan disappeared from his room, with not a trace left behind.

The void warped around him as if the world had turned blurry. Slowly it transformed, eventually stabilizing into the sight of a vast hall. Kailan was standing before a large opulent throne made of precious wood that was as smooth as glass, it was lined with large cushions and looked quite inviting.

The throne sat upon a raised landing that had a staircase leading to the ground floor which stretched out to the far ends of the hall where two large wooden doors rest. The hall itself was beautifully decorated with nordic patterns and lattice, like a viking longhouse. There were large wooden pillars that held a balcony aloft on either side, which stretched around the entire hall.

In front of these pillars were small square platforms with statues of great beings rising up from them and large metal standing braziers at their feet. A long red carpet stretched from underneath the throne all the way down the hall to the doors.

As Kailan turned to face the hall, the braziers lit, two by two until the last of them were blazing and light flooded everywhere. The stars and the moon shone down from the windows in the ceiling adding to the luminance.

“At last. My home away from home. It’s good to be back.” He thought as he looked lovingly around the room.

He took a deep breath, breathing in the fresh scent of oak and cinnamon. The light smoke of the flames from the brazier were responsible for the aroma. “I should take a look around first.”

Kailan proceeded down the short staircase to the main floor of the hall, before proceeding to leave through the double doors at the end. As he walked out various candles and braziers that lined the rooms lit up, welcoming him home. The room he walked into was a large foyer. To the front were even larger double doors than the ones he had just walked out from. To the right and left were halls that led out a ways before turning outwards.

There were staircases on the sides of the foyer just before the entryways to the halls. They lead up to a balcony that wrapped itself in a U shape around the room. With large entryways into second floor halls also leading out like the first floor.

Kailan walked to the center of the foyer before looking around as he reminisced. It had been a while since he last ventured through the castle in his Heart Dungeon. “If not for the aid of the great warriors of Valhalla, this grand palace might never have come to be.” He sighed as his heart once again felt saddened at his separation from his friends in Asgard. But he quickly collected himself. Eventually he turned back to the doors he’d exited, before pulling out his phone. “10:55”

Kailan walked back into the throne room before putting on his armor and uncasing his Zweihänder. After getting ready he calculated the time in his head.

“Let’s see now, it took us 9 hours to wipe out 150 level 1 Plebeian ranks, and they were scattered across a massive field. The scatter pattern of my dungeon floors is less spacious and there are only 100, so maybe 6 hours per floor? I can probably go up to floors 7 or 8 with my stats, so that makes it 42 to 48 hours total. We’ll shoot for 8 floors. And we’ll try 2 hours which makes it a 24:1 time ratio.” He thought as he planned the adjustment of time within the dungeon.

He once again confirmed the time. “10:59. Perfect.”

Kailan used his will to connect with his Heart Dungeon, and was once again whisked away through space as he arrived on the first floor.

The first floor was a massive field of flat land lit only by the bright moon that hung overhead, much like the dungeon mine he entered earlier today. “This looks familiar.” He chuckled to himself.

Kailan unsheathed his sword and let it rest over his shoulder as he looked around. A light flashed across the area and out of nowhere a pack of wolves appeared before him. They were large, at least 5 feet tall, with massive incisors, sharp looking blue fur and claws that dug deep into the ground when flexed.

The moment they noticed Kailan, they moved into a pouncing stance as they bared their fangs.

“Minions. There will be 90 of them, plus the 8 guardians, sub-commander and commander, for a total of 100.” He thought as he watched the approaching wolves.

He would face the same number of forces on each floor. But with each increase in floor number came an increase in level and the difficulty of the enemies and terrain. It was the perfect training ground.

“Alright, come at me XP Bags.” Kailan wore a fierce smile as he grew excited.

The wolves darted in his direction, alternating their positions trying to confuse his senses. But it was ineffective against him. Kailan lowered his blade to the side as he planted his opposite foot back. Once they all moved into range, he swung his blade like a whirlwind, catching them all at the same time.

Blood and gore flew out as the wolves had essentially walked into a blender. They were no match for Kailan’s speed and strength, just like the Reigon from the dungeon mine earlier.

After dispensing with the first group, he moved on to find the next, and then the next. Slowly he made his way through the first floor cleaning up every creature he found. Neither the commander nor the sub-commander held any challenge for him. They were wolves about a foot taller than the others with fur slightly tinged in red unlike the blueish fur the minions had. But they were still only level 2.

After he finished with the first floor, Kailan received several messages.

“You have completed floor 1 of the Endless Heart Dungeon.”

“You have killed 90 level 1 Field Lupine.”

“You have killed 8 level 1 Field Lupine Guardians.”

“You have killed a level 2 Field Lupine Sub-Commander.”

“You have killed a level 2 Field Lupine Commander.”

“You have gained 113 experience.”

“You have gained 102 AP.”

“Floor 1 is now under your control. You may now proceed to floor 2.”

Kailan reviewed the information before willing himself to the second floor. He appeared in another field, this one had sparse trees, and was nearly as flat as the last. And just like the last floor wolf creatures spawned in groups throughout it.

These wolves were slightly bigger and had red fur instead of blue. They looked more vicious as well.

Kailan approached the first pack and they turned, snarling fiercely as they stared him down. They began their approach, but instead of rushing straight at Kailan like the wolves from the last floor, they encircled him. Kailan once again lowered his sword as he moved into his stance.

Once he was fully surrounded, the wolves pounced. Some zig-zagged as they ran towards him while others darted straight forward and then leapt into the air in an attempt to drop down on top of him. Kailan pierced out with his blade at the closest wolf that was falling down from the sky. As he pierced its body, he slashed downward, taking out one that was on the ground.

He then placed force in his heels as he darted out of the encirclement and twisted around, flanking the other wolves. The creatures seemed to panic slightly as they were forced to change trajectories. The ones in the air that had yet to land were the most panicked. They were sitting ducks.

Kailan took advantage of this and cut several more wolves down as they attempted to land and re-engage him. But by the time they regained their footing, most of their companions were dead. There were only a handful of them left. And Kailan made short work of them.

Once again, he easily cut his way through the entire floor, dispensing with every creature in sight. Until the familiar lines of text appeared before him once again.

“You have completed floor 2 of the Endless Heart Dungeon.”

“You have killed 90 level 2 Ravenous Lupine.”

“You have killed 8 level 2 Ravenous Lupine Guardians.”

“You have killed a level 3 Ravenous Lupine Sub-Commander.”

“You have killed a level 3 Ravenous Lupine Commander.”

“You have gained 113 experience.”

“You have gained 102 AP.”

“Floor 2 is now under your control. You may now proceed to floor 3.”

This process continued as Kailan went floor to floor. Starting at floor 1 he made his way all the way down to floor 7. Once he reached the 5th floor the terrain and the enemies all changed. It was now thick forest that stretched as far as the eyes could see.

The enemies in these forests were actual goblins. They were around 5 foot tall with dark green skin, long pointed ears and thin limber limbs. They wore loincloths that barely covered everything and wielded wooden clubs. They were grotesque as they screeched in excitement of the hunt. Kailan didn’t have much trouble with them as they’re stats were still too low to pose a threat. But they were tenacious and fearless, running wildly at him without regard for their own safety.

He eventually completed the 5th floor and moved on to the 6th. The 6th floor was the same as the last, but this time the goblins were more cautious and organized. Then on to the 7th floor. The terrain here was more densely packed with trees and the floor had been split into a lower platform and a higher one. After dispensing with the 7th floor commander he was once again met with the familiar lines of text.

“Floor 7 is now under your control. You may now proceed to floor 8.”

“Finally.” He thought. Kailan pulled his cell phone out to check the time. One of the apps he had preloaded was a special time zone app that could be configured to track real time and dungeon time. He had programmed the flow of time he set this dungeon to before entering. “Midnight. It’s been a little over 49 hours which is longer than I had anticipated. So it wound up being roughly 7 hours per floor.”

His estimates were a bit off, so he would need to adjust them tomorrow to compensate. He contemplated why it was taking longer, but decided that it was simply a matter of having to hunt them all down over a vast area. With them moving around on their own it meant that he had to track them. Which took time.

“No matter. I’ll compensate later. For now I’ll just finish floor 8 and see how long it takes.” Kailan used his will to translocate himself to the 8th floor.

As he appeared, the familiar sight of lush foliage and a densely packed forest met his sight. He was standing on a cliff overlooking the forest down below. Kailan surveyed the lower half of the region before turning and surveying the forest behind him. Just as he took a step forward, an arrow came flying out from the trees.

Kailan immediately dashed to the side, but the arrow still grazed his cheek. A small droplet of blood with a platinum sheen slowly rolled down to his chin before dropping to the ground. Kailan glanced down at his fresh injury before turning his eyes back to the forest. They became more focused as his grin widened. “Looks like I may actually get a challenge from this one.”

All of the floors before were too boring. Finally, one of the creatures here had been able to strike him. He was growing excited as he looked around trying to spot the creature that was hiding in the trees. It was night time and dark out, the moonlight barely illuminated the area beneath the trees on this floor. As his eyes darted around another arrow flew out. This time Kailan noticed it in time and was able to properly dodge. But he didn’t dodge to the side or backwards, instead he darted forward into the tree line. He had caught a glimpse of the creature. It was a goblin with a bow.

The goblin jumped from limb to limb along the trees having realised it was sighted. It was only a scout and couldn’t fight well in melee combat, so it fled. Kailan ran on the ground watching as the goblin ran through the trees. After chasing for a few minutes, he planted his foot onto the trunk of a massive tree before propelling himself up the side. He jumped after a few meters of running and landed on a large branch. Then proceeded to jump along the branches just like the goblin.

The goblin was quick but so was Kailan. In fact Kailan was faster and would soon catch up. But it was taking too long and Kailan didn’t know where the little creature was leading him. He pulled his Zweihänder out of it’s holster before angling it horizontally. Pulling his arm back he threw the blade straight out. The sword flew through the air at incredible speeds before piercing straight through the goblin's skull, pinning it to the side of the tree it had just landed on.

The goblin struggled, apparently still hanging onto a thread of life. Kailan approached, grabbing the blade he sliced forward, cutting the goblins skull in half. The goblin dropped to the ground, dead, and Kailan followed. After examining the creature and it’s weapon, he came to the conclusion that this was a much smarter and more capable species than the last two. It used ranged weaponry, was a scout and knew when to retreat. Kailan could tell this floor would be far more challenging to him right now than any other. It was a perfect grinding stone.

Reaching up to his face he thought. “Healing Hands.” The injury disappeared without a trace.

Kailan was very curious where the little creature was taking him. So he jumped back up into the trees and cautiously proceeded forward. “Level 8 Plebeian, their Primary stats should be 64 which is the same as the base of a God rank talent. With my stats boosted they’re at 74. Which gives me an advantage in one on one fights. But group battles will be much harder now.” He contemplated as he continued forward.

After running along the trees for several more minutes, Kailan immediately stopped and hid himself in the leaves. Hanging from the bowes up ahead were strange ball-shaped objects. They were large and had holes like doorways cut out of one side. Inside of one of them Kailan could see two little green men, one with a club and the other a bow, watching the surroundings.

“Clever. Using the domiciles to hide in while watching the ground. It even blends in with the surrounding foliage. They’re like hunting blinds.” Kailan thought as he counted the goblins. There were 5 blinds each with a set of goblins. “5 archers and 5 melee fighters. An excellent ambush.”

Kailan analysed the area. There was nothing special and no other enemies around. One thing he noted was that the makeshift blinds were suspended nearly 40 feet in the air. Kailan wore a mischievous grin as he jumped to a higher branch in the tree he was on.

He looked around and planned his route carefully. After making a few calculations, Kailan jumped from his branch onto a much larger one on another tree. This was the branch that one of the blinds was latched to.

He quickly ran along the branch before swinging his Zweihänder out. Cutting the cord, the makeshift blind fell rapidly towards the ground. But Kailan didn’t stop as he jumped to another branch cutting another of the cords. He proceeded along this path, jumping branch to branch, cutting each of the cords. All five of the blinds fell straight to the ground with a loud crash.

Goblins had small frames and weak bodies to begin with. Although their stats were close to Kailan’s, even he would be injured if he fell from this height, let alone if he was trapped inside of a blind that also crashed down with him. Needless to say the goblins did not do so well. Some had been killed outright. Several others had large wooden beams piercing their bodies and were bleeding profusely. Only three of the club wielding goblins manage to survive with only a broken limb or two.

Kailan jumped from branch to branch as he made his way down to the ground. After he landed, he placed pressure in his heels and darted towards the disoriented goblins. Cutting out with his blade he dyed the forest red with their blood.

After taking out this group, Kailan continued deeper into the forest. He ran into several other hunting groups like the one before, dangling above the ground in their blinds. And just like before, he cut their cords, sending them crashing to the ground below, before sweeping them up with his blade.

He then proceeded on. Some of the goblin groups were also patrolling on the ground, similar to the archer he met before. They walked in groups of 2 or 3, which wasn’t too much of a threat to him. Still, he had a little trouble and was injured several times. But nothing his Healing Hands couldn’t fix.

Finally, after taking out half of the minions. A flash of light lit up the forest and the sub-commander appeared. He and his guardians walked through the forest at a commanding yet leisurely pace. The sub-commander was slightly taller at five and a half feet. He had large muscles and wore both a club and bow.

The guardians all had leather armors on and wooden shields with their clubs. Kailan knew that he might have some trouble with this group. There were five of them, one of which is level 9 meaning his stats are nearly the same as Kailans.

But Kailan wanted to see just how strong they were compared to himself. “Wrapped in Thunder” He thought, causing a blue electric light to swirl around his sword.

“Grasp of Vines” He called out in his mind as he darted around the tree he was hiding behind. Targeting the big sub-commander, large thick vines pierced out of the ground beneath him as they wrapped around his arms, legs and torso. He had been rooted to the spot. Struggling to break free but unable to do so. The vines were too strong.

Kailan darted towards one of the guardians as he called out in his mind again. “Solid Thrust” His blade pierced straight through the guardian’s shield and into his chest. It didn’t quite make it all the way through, but it did pierce his heart, killing him almost instantly.

Kailan pulled the blade out as the other three guardians ran towards him with their clubs raised. He swung his blade to the side, but the goblin guardian raised his shield in order to parry. The blade touched the goblin’s side as the shield crashed into it, sending it upward. A small stream of red blood flowed down it’s side.

“Paralysis effect activated on level 8 Forest Goblin Guardian”

A string of text appeared in front of Kailan as electricity shot up and down the goblin, freezing him in place. Seeing this, Kailan turned and dashed backwards to avoid an oncoming club attack. It just missed him. The last goblin was still running at him as it swung it’s club down. Kailan raised the Zweihänder, parrying the club.

He then pulled back and pierced out once more, cutting towards the goblin’s abdomen. The creature lowered it’s shield to try and block, but the blade only scraped along the base of the shield as it pierced into his lower abdomen.

“Paralysis effect activated on level 8 Forest Goblin Guardian”

Kailan felt lucky as another of the guardian’s was paralysed. He then pulled his blade out and pierced it into the paralysed goblin’s skull, finishing it off. “Two down, three to go.” He thought as he watched the others.

The sub-commander had been thrashing fiercely as he tried to free himself. “It won’t last the full 5 minutes. He’ll be free in another 60 seconds or so.”

Kailan checked on the other paralysed goblin and determined it would be about as long for it to regain control as well. He quickly darted around the dead goblin in front of him and aimed a sideways cut towards the one that was still alive and free. It jumped up to avoid the slice. “Foolish.” Kailan thought as he grinned.

Kailan stopped his slice half way and then lifted with all his strength. The blade cut straight into the creatures nether regions before cutting all the way up to his chest. The blade's momentum ran out so Kailan pulled it back and out of the goblin, which fell straight to the ground, now dead as well. It’s blood and intestines slowly flowed out along the ground from between its legs and severed torso.

Kailan then turned to the still paralysed goblin guardian as he rushed in front of it. Holding the blade to the side he sliced horizontally, decapitating it. Now all that was left was the sub-commander.

The creature that had been rooted to the spot since the start of the battle thrashed and yelled. It’s guards had been slaughtered right in front of it. It had finally broken free from the strange plant roots that had curled around it’s limbs, but by then it was too late. The creature roared in agony as it raised it’s club high before bringing it straight down.

Kailan dashed backwards, avoiding the swing. But when the club hit the ground several meters of Earth was cracked and flew up. Kailan nearly lost his balance as he stumbled backwards. The creature roared again and darted towards Kailan. “It’s speed is nearly the same as mine.” He analysed.

The creature moved swiftly as it approached Kailan swinging down with it’s club once again. This time Kailan jumped to the side before swinging up with his blade, attempting to sever the goblin’s hands. But the creature realized what he was trying to do and angled the club to meet the blade. As the two weapons met, the much sharper Zweihänder sliced through the wooden club, destroying it. But this had also bought the creature time as the sword was slowed, it dodged backwards before pulling out it’s bow.

Kailan’s eyes widened. He quickly stopped his blade’s movement and tried to dart forward in an attempt to shorten the distance between them, but the goblin was too fast. It had already knocked an arrow and fired. The arrow flew fast and pierced straight through Kailan’s gut. Kailan didn’t stop as he gnashed his teeth enduring the pain.

He flew straight at the goblin sub-commander bringing his blade up at an angle. The goblin thought that the arrow it had fired would stop the rampaging human, but it didn’t. It hadn’t prepared for this, so when the blade swung up, it sliced straight through the bow as well as the creature's abdomen without contest. It’s body fell back as blood and pieces of organs flew out.