Thomas looked over the experience he had available to spend and couldn't help the grin that crept up on his face. In just two days he had earned almost as much experience as he had during his entire time playing within AoG. He had a total of one point six million experience to spend. Comparing his growth to the growth of Snowlily was like night and day. She'd gained quite a lot as well, but only about a million experience points. Clearly there was a disparity in their growth and he had a suspicion of what that disparity was. Savant, his innate skill was increasing the amount of experience he got from everything he did. He'd known for a long time that Quick Learner increased his skill experience, but ever since it evolved, he had gained more experience than his crafting messages indicated. That was the only way to explain how he had gained approximately sixty percent more experience than the others.

It didn't matter though, now it was time to put all that juicy experience to good use! He started spending points like a madman. First, he evened out all of his attributes. Getting everything up to three twenty-seven cost him nearly four hundred thousand experience points. He didn't stop there, he started adding one point to every attribute, growing them all at the same time. By the time he ran out of experience to spend, all four of his attributes had skyrocketed to four hundred and eleven each! Every attribute had risen by so much that it was almost scary to him. Still, he didn't hesitate and hit the confirm button.

A raging torrent of energy blasted through his entire body. It was warm and comforting at first but quickly grew into a raging inferno of heat. He sweat buckets as he lay on his bed practically paralyzed by the feeling. The heat was simultaneously uncomfortable and relaxing. Energy was force-fed into every cell of his body making him feel bloated yet powerful. He could feel his strength growing while his mana pool swelled in size. If he had a small pond before, it was now a small lake and would only grow larger. He didn't know how long his condition lasted, but as it started to abate, it became gentler and more soothing, as if it was comforting him after he went through so much.

When the last dregs of energy dissipated, he felt exhausted. It took every last bit of his will to take one last long look at his character sheet and marvel at what two days of hardcore grinding had gained him. Just the second day alone had earned him nearly a million experience due to the sheer number of monsters their group had decimated. If he'd been alone... he might have earned more experience per monster but there was no way he could have killed so many monsters. They were just too strong to take out quickly while alone. He smiled as he drifted off to sleep with his character sheet still open.

Name: Thomas Darkrose Race: Nephilim (Lord Class) Experience Gained: 3,386,580 Experience Spent: 3,386,230 Experience Remaining: 350 Power: 411 (+) 4,120 Exp Endurance: 411 (+) 4,120 Exp Agility: 411 (+) 4,120 Exp Magic: 411 (+) 4,120 Exp Innate Abilities: Transmutation ( A ) // Rank 175 // 1,228/1,760 Exp Savant ( B ) // Rank 167 // 282/1,680 Exp All Seeing Eyes ( S ) // Rank 132 // 816/1,330 Exp Spark of Divinity ( - ) // Rank - // -/- Exp Nephilim Connection ( - ) // Rank - // -/- Exp Skills: Magitech Engineering // Rank 230 // 1,924/2,310 Exp ---------------------------------------------------------- Serenity // Rank 135 // 343/1,360 Exp Skinning // Rank 6 // 12/70 Exp Tanning // Rank 5 // 10/60 Exp Cooking // Rank 20 // 196/210 Exp Flying // Rank 8 // 50/90 Exp Fishing // Rank 16 // 7/170 Exp Dismantling // Rank 19 // 181/200 Exp Metallurgy // Rank 17 // 170/180 Exp Stealth // Rank 11 // 105/120 Exp Abilities: Weapon Mastery (Small Blades) // Rank 43 // 187/440 Exp Weapon Mastery (Heavy Weapons) // Rank 58 // 127/590 Exp Weapon Mastery (Body) // Rank 45 // 307/460 Exp Weapon Mastery (Swords) // Rank 59 // 231/600 Exp ---------------------------------------------------------- Mana Mastery // Rank 164 // 540/1,650 Exp Throwing // Rank 43 // 52/440 Exp Shooting // Rank 91 // 600/920 Exp Mana Field // Rank 49 // 168/500 Exp Mana Pressure // Rank 41 // 408/420 Exp Ore Detection // Rank 1 // 0/20 Exp Mana Sense // Rank 10 // 12/110 Exp Magic: Elemental Magic [Life] // Rank 150 // 829/1,510 Exp ---------------------------------------------------------- Heat Magic // Rank 13 // 74/140 Exp Ice Magic // Rank 44 // 58/450 Exp Lightning Magic // Rank 65 // 545/660 Exp Metal Magic // Rank 98 // 126/990 Exp Wood Magic // Rank 30 // 18/310 Exp Magnetic Magic // Rank 63 // 423/640 Exp Light Magic // Rank 39 // 65/400 Exp Gravity Magic // Rank 2 // 21/30 Exp Sound Magic // Rank 28 // 280/290 Exp Darkness Magic // Rank 3 // 7/40 Exp ---------------------------------------------------------- Unholy Magic // Rank 8 // 42/90 Exp ---------------------------------------------------------- Inventory // Rank 106 // 153/1,070 Exp Titles: Epic Crafter Inventor Inheritor I Stand Alone Unchecked Evolution First Soul Companion

When Thomas woke up the following morning and saw his character sheet still open above his head, he laughed and closed it. His growth in just two days was amazing. It looked like it wouldn't take him nearly as long as he thought it would to reach King class in all of his attributes. Maybe he should take a couple of extra days in the dungeon and grow even stronger. The group he was diving with was pretty strong and they all worked well together. He could take advantage of his gaggle of stalkers and get stronger.

He grew curious about where his strength put him compared to other players. He opened up the ranking boards and took a quick peek at the boards for the four attributes. He wished he hadn't.

Power King Killer - 756 Merrik Brody - 742 Jakson D. - 713 Martha Ferris - 698 Hot Fist - 691 Endurance Iron Man - 801 Erik Larson - 743 Arnold Patton - 740 Damon Hunter - 733 Patricia Walters - 698 Agility Sonic Death - 788 Harry Houdini - 785 ISteal Everything - 764 Silent Killer - 755 James Walker - 750 Magic Miss Magic - 901 Lynn Flowers - 880 Willy Willis - 874 Tara Fied - 856 Fire Breather - 850

Thomas shook his head, the strength of some people was crazy. Luckily, no one showed up in the top five of two categories of they would be the undisputed number one player within AoG. Still, It did show him how far behind the professional players he was. He was at least three hundred and fifty points behind the lowest leader on the leader boards, King Killer. His only consolation was that he chose to spread his attributes out evenly to give himself a good balance. Also, he focused on crafting, not combat like the people listed on the boards. Depending on how their other attributes were, it was possible he could beat them with the help of his gear... Unlikely, but possible. Not that he intended to fight any of them.

With his musing for the morning finished, he climbed out of his bed and looked over at Snowlily. He froze at what he saw. Laying on his bed where Snowlily had fallen asleep was a little girl that looked no older than ten years old. She was completely naked showing her immature body with its extremely pale skin. Fortunately, most of it was covered by a combination of blanket and long snow-white hair. He quickly rearranged the blanket to cover the little girl completely. The only piece of 'clothing' that she currently wore was a black collar studded with Frozentite Ore.

After he finished covering up Snowlily, he wiped some invisible sweat from his brow. If this had been an anime she would have been on top of him just so someone could burst into his room and have a misunderstanding of the situation. He knew Snowlily would eventually take on a human form so he wasn't too surprised, still seeing a naked little girl on his bed was a bit disturbing. Thankfully, there was a blanket to keep their bodies separate while they slept. He quickly got dressed and waited for Snowlily to wake up.

He didn't need to wait long. Snowlily usually woke up around the same time he did. With a soft yawn, Snowlily sat up and stretched with an adorable yawn. Thomas turned his head to the side so as not to stare at a naked child. After she finished stretching, she turned to face Thomas and smiled brightly, "Thomas!"

Hearing his name said in such a sweet and adorable voice brought a bright smile to his face. Snowlily brazenly hopped off of the bed and ran up to him. Her little arms rightly wrapped around his waist as she nuzzled her head into his stomach, "It's so good to finally be able to speak to you!"

Thomas awkwardly stroked her soft hair. He wasn't the best with kids but he would do his best with Snowlily. As he stroked her hair she looked up at him with a beaming smile, "Now we can do so much together!"

Thomas laughed, "It's wonderful that you can change into a human form now. However... you'll need to change back for now. I can't take you outside if you're not wearing clothing. I'll ask Lexiana to take you to get some clothing."

Snowlily frowned, "I don't like her! She tried to take me away from you! Then she forced me to agree to go to her home. If I didn't need help finding you I would have turned her into an ice sculpture!"

Thomas laughed, "I don't like her much either. Though she seems to be getting a little better."

Snowlily pouted, "We don't really have to go to her home do we?"

Thomas sighed, "Yes, we do. I'm a man of my word and when I make a promise, I keep it. You should do the same thing too. Keeping your word is important."

Snowlily sighed and continued to pout, "Fiiiiiine. But after that, we get rid of her for good."

He stroked her hair a bit longer, "Alright, I'm sure you want to stay in your new human form but you really can't walk outside naked."

She looked up at him with a frown, "Why not? I've been doing that since the day we met!"

Thomas coughed, "Well... that's true but you weren't in a human form. You've never seen a naked human walking around have you?"

Her frown deepened, "Fine. But I want pretty clothes!"

Thomas stroked her hair and nodded, "Of course! Later on, I promise to make some clothing for you myself. And armor, and weapons. Just like mine."

Snowlily nodded, "Good."

She took a few steps back to make some space. Her brows furrowed as she concentrated. A gently glow wrapped around her body blocking her from sight as the transformation took place. When the light faded, Snowlily was once again in her wolf form. Her body had grown a fair bit larger with her height at the shoulders being about seventy centimeters. That made her about the size of a normal wolf. Her full size was still a fair distance away if the size of her mother was anything to go by.

He stroked her fur and nodded, "After breakfast, I'll have Lexiana help you pick out some clothing. We'll also get you some armor and a weapon to use until I can make you some myself."

Snowlily woofed and wagged her tail in reply. He smiled and led her down to the dining room of the inn. Thanks to their conversation they were a bit later than the others. When they arrived, Snowlily's increased size raised a few eyebrows. Lexiana seemed excited to see the bigger size of the Garou. After they all enjoyed breakfast together, Thomas spoke to the group, "I need Lexiana to come with me for a bit to buy a few things. Once we're done we'll all head back into the dungeon."

The other three women looked confused but didn't complain. Thomas, Snowlily, and Lexiana left the inn and made their way to a nearby clothing store that had clothes for children. Thomas looked at Lexiana, "I need you to take Snowlily into the shop and buy her some clothing."

Lexiana was practically vibrating in excitement, "She can change into a human form can't she?!"

Thomas rolled his eyes and answered sarcastically, "No, I just feel like dressing her up."

Lexiana glared at him before letting out a sigh. She held a hand out and waited. Seeing the gesture, Thomas pulled out a pouch and filled it with a thousand gold coins, "Here, use this."

He turned to look down at Snowlily, "After picking out some clothes, change back to your wolf form. I don't want to expose your shapeshifting just yet."

Snowlily seemed to pout, but nodded her head and gave a soft woof. He leaned down and stroked her head, "Don't worry. Once I'm strong enough to protect you, or at least runaway, you can stay in your human form as much as you like."

Snowlily nodded and followed Lexiana into the store. Thomas chose to stay outside. It was a little too awkward for him to enter the store. He patiently waited outside for a while before Lexiana and Snowlily, in her wolf form, walked back out of the shop. Lexiana was carrying a small pile of clothing in her arms. She held the clothing out to Thomas with zero change. Wolf or not, Snowlily was still a girl and spent every last gold coin. Thomas just chuckled and stored the clothing for the time being. He would have to take Snowlily to get an inventory of her own later. Unless he figured out a way to get the Teaching skill so he could teach her himself.

After the clothing store, they made their way to a shop that sold armor. Fortunately, armor resized to fit the wearer so it wasn't difficult to get a set of decent leather armor. As for her weapon, he bought a large dagger that would be more like a shortsword to Snowlily. With the shopping completed, for now, they returned to the inn to get the other three. It was time to head back into the dungeon!