Kailan sat on the ground not far from the sub-commander. As he leaned up against a huge tree, he winced as a sharp spike of pain coursed through his abdomen. The goblin sub-commander had managed to injure him quite well. “I was lucky on that one. I didn’t expect him to be so crafty.”

Kailan looked down at his injury which had already stopped bleeding. “A couple centimeters to the left and it would have pierced my intestines. I dodged just enough. Haha.” He laughed at himself derisively.

As he sat there, he recalled the fight just moments ago. The goblin had dodged back quite far. He created enough space for himself to pull out his bow, knock an arrow and fire it. The arrow was well aimed at the small section of unguarded flesh between his chest plate and belt. There was barely an inch of space between the two.

Kailan had almost no time to react, but he used his powerful body and reflexes to shift himself slightly to the right, preventing the arrow from piercing the center of his abdomen. The arrow only caught flesh and muscle..

Kailan raised his hand over the wound and expanded his will. “Healing Hands”

A warm green light flooded out and covered the wound. It didn’t take long for it to heal. Gods were exceptionally powerful beings, so they naturally had exceptionally powerful bodies. As long as it wasn’t a fatal injury they would recover on their own given time. Injuries that would normally leak blood continuously for other beings would be staunched within moments.

After the injury had healed completely, Kailan got up and walked to the sub-commander. Picking up the bow he examined it intensely. He didn’t have a skill to appraise items yet, but with his instincts alone he could estimate the value of something. This bow was more powerful than any of the items the other goblins had been using. Kailan wondered what the going price would be for it.

The Earth had only faced dungeons up to level 8 at this point, meaning that Kailan was fighting the same level of enemies that the top leveled King ranks were challenging. So he was curious if the items from his Heart Dungeon were comparable to the ones found in the dungeons that King ranks were hunting in.

With the slight intention of his will, he commanded the bow be transported to his palace’s vault.

“This is getting difficult. I really will have to end it on this floor. After all, this isn’t a life and death battle, it’s just a training ground.” He thought as he wondered how tough the commander would be.

After collecting the bow and planning the end of his trip, Kailan proceeded through the forest.

Moonlight shone into the room as quiet spread out in every direction. But this silence didn’t last as sparkles of golden light flashed with a low humming sound. As the light solidified it took the shape of a person. Kailan appeared in one of the bedrooms of his palace looking weary. His armor and weapon stained with the blood of goblins.

“Hah…” He sighed heavily.

Kailan collapsed to the floor just beneath the bed, leaning his head back he stared at the ceiling with a blank expression. “Floor 8 is definitely my limit for now. To think I would be reduced to this level.”

There was nothing he could do about it at the moment. Midgard was simply not strong enough to handle the divinity of a God. It’s structure was too chaotic. “It’s because it’s been disconnected from the other realms for too long and there aren’t any higher life forms living here. The realm’s tolerance for higher life forms is so minimal it could make one cry. I had no idea how weak my home realm was...”

He took a moment to reflect on the limitations that had been placed on him. Wondering if there was some way to expedite the growth of the realm.

“Gaia, is there no way to speed the process of the Merger up to allow for higher life forms to exist at their full power in Midgard?” He asked as he stared into the empty space ahead of him.

“Haha. So basically it all relies on me leveling as fast as I can…” Kailan thought that it was laughable.

Kailan was contemplative before his face turned serious. One point that bothered him was what would happen if a power surpassing his present abilities appeared. Warriors didn’t like being caught unprepared. “Gaia, if I were to undo the seal on my power, how long would the realm be able to last before I would need to reactivate the seal?”

“And if it were only half of my power?” Kailan ventured.

“So in an emergency I could theoretically unleash my powers to resolve it.” Kailan thought.

“What kind of side effects would result from me unleashing my power at either strength level?” He didn’t think there wouldn’t be consequences. There are always consequences to one’s actions, especially a God.

“What?!” Kailan was startled at the numbers. This was way beyond what he had imagined. He thought rapidly and something creeped into his mind which quickly chilled his mood.

“Gaia, what kind of damage occurred when I first arrived in Midgard?” He asked quite sullenly.

“Phew.” He sighed heavily. His heart felt like a massive weight had been removed.

“So what you’re saying is I can’t rely on your safety protocols to protect the region if I were to temporarily unleash my powers?” He deduced from Gaia’s dialogue.

“Is it because you’re maintaining the region I’m presently in?” Kailan’s expression saddened as he asked. It was obvious that he was the cause of all of this.

“Sorry to be so much trouble Gaia.” Kailan’s head dropped as he felt ashamed. He knew that it wasn’t really his fault since he had to return. It was the rules after all. Even he, a God, had to follow those rules. It was a part of an ancient agreement that the Gods as a whole had made long ago. And a part of the Gaia system they had created. He couldn’t defy it.

But he still felt like he was causing too much trouble.

Kailan shook his head in disagreement. “It is your job to serve all life, not me.”

“I’d hardly call over 700 Sextillion Species a ‘small sacrifice’.” Kailan really didn’t like this train of thought. It was weighing the value of so many lives against his own. One life against so many, even if it was a God’s life, was it really worth it, he wondered as he continued to stare at the ceiling. His eyes darted around aimlessly as he admired the various patterns that decorated the trim and the beams.

“Right. Enough of this. I should get cleaned up and leave.” He thought as he moved to take his armor off.

Kailan cleaned the armor and Zweihänder before placing them in a corner of his room. He was the master of this palace so he naturally had the largest room there was. It was larger than his parent’s house, which had a total of 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Nearly 3,000 square feet of space dedicated just to him.

The room was opulent with beautiful carvings along the walls and edges. Statues of valkyrie stood on either side of a massive fireplace that was nearly 20 feet wide. Even more of such statues were carved and embedded in the walls of the entryway and around the doors to the balcony which was at least half the length of the room as well.

A long table filled to the brim with fruits and meats sat in the center, on top of a massive carpet which covered the middle of the floor leading up to a bed that could fit five people comfortably. The bed was also carved of the finest wood and covered in silks and furs. It sat upon a raised platform that was just big enough to provide a couple feet around it to walk on. This room mirrored the one Kailan used while he stayed in Asgard.

After taking a glance around the room, Kailan lit the fire in the fireplace before undressing. He walked naked into the large bathroom that was as opulent as the bedroom. Here, there was a large bath filled with warm water. The steam rose and filled Kailan’s nose with the scent of cinnamon and honey. The water had been treated with a special oil.

Stepping into the bath he sat on one side as he enjoyed the feeling of the pure and fresh water as it covered every inch of him. The oil used was designed specifically to be soothing as well as to cleanse the body. Up until now Kailan had been bathing with the harsh water of Earth and their bath soaps and shampoos. All of which have ingredients that can either weigh down or damage the body.

Shampoos for instance have Sulfate chemicals in them that if used too regularly strip out the essential oils and proteins that keep the hair healthy. This leads to early hair loss. Which is why experts often recommend that you only use shampoos to wash your hair at most 2-3 times a week.

As Kailan bathed in the divine waters he felt as if he had shed several pounds.

After several tens of minutes, Kailan finally got out and dried himself off with a thick towel that was hanging by the side of the bath. He walked back into the bedroom and picked up his dirty clothes before extending his will outward. “Exit.”

The world around him once again blurred as it twisted and shifted, eventually stabilizing back into his bedroom in his parent’s house. Kailan turned to the clock next to his bed. “2 AM. I was definitely off.”

He tossed his dirty clothes into the hamper by his closet and then found a new set of clothes. Similarly, they were sweatpants and a tank top, just different colors. Then he threw himself onto his bed. It wasn’t as comfortable as the bed in his palace, but it gave him a relaxing feeling like it was home.

“Floor 8 is my limit at level 1. I received 152 experience from the dungeon mine I ran earlier with Eva and Douglas, plus 113 experience for each floor of my Heart Dungeon, which gives a total of 904 experience. 152 plus 904 is 1,056 experience in one day. At this rate I should reach level 2 with 6 more days of dungeon raiding.” He calculated as he laid there staring at the blank ceiling.

He grinned as he thought of his power doubling when he leveled up. “The Bureau will go into a frenzy when they find out I’ve leveled once after only a week.”

It was a truly terrifying speed of leveling. And if he were to keep up that speed it wouldn’t be long before he overtakes every Hunter as the highest level on Earth. Even with the world buff Watched by the Gods, no one would be able to match pace with him.

“This ceiling really is boring.” He thought as he slowly closed his eyes and drifted off into his dreams.

Morning came sooner than anyone desired. As usual Maria got up early to make breakfast and the smell of coffee filled the house. She went door to door and woke everyone up, even Kailan who was sleeping in. When he first arrived she would always walk in to find him awake and staring out of the window, but now he would still be sound asleep. She liked this since it gave her the chance to watch her baby boy sleeping for a little while. But she would eventually have to wake him.

Everyone sat around the table, chatting as they ate. This was the normal for the Jones family. After eating they all got dressed and left for work, leaving Kailan alone once more.

Kailan pulled out his cell and called Eva. “Good morning Eva. Can we schedule another dungeon for today?”

“Sure. Let me check the dungeon schedules.”

Kailan could hear her typing in the background.

“I have one open for 1 PM today. It’s a 5:1 time ratio so not much time will pass here. Is that fine?” She replied shortly after.

“That’s fine. Also, I was wondering about collecting the materials and loot. I’d like to start making money if possible.” This was something he had discussed with his family yesterday. He hoped Eva would have a solution since he really didn’t want to take the time to run around collecting things himself.

“I can arrange that. Let me talk to Director Morris and we’ll see about putting together a mining team. The distributions might be a bit different than normal because of the unusual circumstances though, but we can discuss that when we meet up. Actually this might be a good thing, it’ll help to mask our numbers.” Eva replied with enthusiasm.

Kailan didn’t mind much about the distribution. He didn’t have a major need for money, just enough to get by on. So if they took more it would be fine with him. After all, they were helping him out a lot. It would be their compensation. Kailan didn’t care to owe them anything and he had already been playing on their generosity.

“What do you mean masking our numbers?” He asked curiously.

“As you know, it’s strange for only three people to enter a dungeon. But we can fill up the roster with miners to make it look like we’re going in with a full raid party. This will keep the media and others from asking too many questions.” She explained.

“I see. Clever. It’ll be one less thing we need to worry about.” He replied in understanding.

“Oh, by the way. Keep tomorrow open. Don’t plan on doing any dungeon raids. You’ll need to come into the office at 10 AM to prepare for the press conference which is at 11. We’ll talk more about the details later.” Eva implored as the sound of shuffling papers filled the background.

“Understood. Thanks Eva.”

“You’re welcome. See you around 12:30.” Eva hung up the call.

Kailan was now left with an abundance of time and nothing to do. “12:30. And it’s only 8 now.” He thought as he dreaded the wait.

“Maybe I’ll go for a walk.”