So, had two sets of interesting comments last chapter I'd like to address~

Spoiler :

1. Quote:I like it I do but I am tired of seeing no improvement Steel. He is getting annoying to how weak he is, give im a little break and some power to at least make it out of a fight intact

Well, he has gotten a lot stronger. This was a secret floor boss meant to be fought by a group of well trained people. Against the normal rats, old Steel would have suffered, but new Steel could have taken a good number by himself and won moderately easy. He will get some easier fights later on, but he has to face stronger things to get stronger. Hope that helps~

2. Thoughts on how Echo is "annoying". Looking back, I can understand why you guys would think that. It's an unfortunate combination of me having a hard time personifying a character who can't speak and knowing some juicy background info you guys are not yet aware of. Echo is a small slave who for some reason is very interested in Steel's well being and mental state. Suffice to say, I'll most likely rewrite parts to refine his character and add more tidbits as we progress. This is an important plot device, so I can't remove Echo. Wonder if you guys can find the clues I've left :p

3. Mary's scaling in power and current stump, Credits to FirstDragon as usual for a persuasive argument. If Mary had been at full power for this dungeon, she would have breezed through it and learned nothing. Boring in my opinion. So I gave her a stunt. Normally, Mary is a pro at fire and darkness spells, specializing in summoning and destruction. That being said, the vast majority of her arsenal are higher level spells or basic spells. Anyway, this chapter will talk about that and the lack of preparations so view this a filler before they reenter the dungeon.

Nice longer chapter today, same for tomorrow.

Enjoy!

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Steel awoke abruptly, taking a quick breathe as his eyes shot open. He was still in the cave, which meant he hadn't died. His head was on something soft, leaning him up in the air. He rolled his head over to find his nose buried in a patch of black fur. Shadefur was sleeping soundly on the elevated platform, making soft grunts as her chest rose and fell with her breathing.

He tried to get up, and found both his arms being hugged by Echo and Mary respectively. Even though Echo looked like a boy, seeing the both of them snoozing on him made him uncomfortable.

'Wait, why am I not rolling around in pain right now?" Steel wondered. He bent his head to inspect Mary, searching for the light that Whisper had used before. There wasn't any light, and she was touching him directly with her arms and head. 'I don't know why the geas hasn't activated, but perhaps a quick pray to Milna is appropriate for this situation.' He thought to himself.

He muttered a quick prayer, and then returned his thoughts to escape. The two were holding on tight like if he was a body pillow, so he slowly used Earth Wall to cover his arms. He slowly expanded the "mold" to allow him to escape before returning it to about the size of his arm. Thankfully, the two were deep enough sleepers to not notice the switcheroo.

'Phew,' He said, wiping his forehead. He knew he'd be in for a lecture from Mary, and he had to give one to her too. He wanted to postpone that argument for as long as possible

"Now then, let’s see what I missed from that last fight." His lower right vision had the notification icon blinking, but he wanted to inspect the rat first. He walked over to it and knelt done, gazing at his former opponent,

In death, the rat looked smaller than it had been. He could have sworn the head was bigger than his, yet now it seemed about the same size. "Huh, looks like battle does affect the senses in same." He muttered to himself, feeling its soft fur, "Or maybe the rat used some aura ability or something like that." Shrugging, he pulled out his skinning knife from Bob and got to work. The rat was certainly a large specimen no matter how he remembered it, so this was his first skinning challenge since the first devil wolf. He wanted to get it right this time, and make some armor with it; or at least a warm blanket.

Since he couldn't lift it due to its weight, he rolled it over and started on the head and legs. He made a triangle cut at the base of the neck and sliced downward to the tail. Thankfully, the system did not include blood or genitalia to get in his way, so he was quick. He sliced the fur on the legs down the middle as well, connecting the lines with the median.

Next was the hardest step, separating the fur from the muscle. This step was the most important, as how well it was done determined the quality of the leather. In Steel's opinions, it was a lot like peeling potatoes, an exercise he had had to learn during one of his past classes. Too close of a cut to the skin would result in a flimsy leather while too much muscle would make the leather too tough to be used properly. To add to that difficulty, the cut had to be as even as possible across the body for the best possible leather. This normally wasn't too difficult, unless there was a large amount of area to cut.

Steel moved the knife carefully down the center cut, letting his left hand pull the leather up as he cut down with his right hand. 'This time; this time I'll get it right! ‘His thoughts were fierce as he moved his arms. Every challenge in his way was another obstacle to get stronger; strong enough to protect and, more importantly in his heart, strong enough to get revenge.

He'd been in the game for a few weeks now, though he hadn't kept up with the exact time he was sure it had been no more than 3 and half weeks. Real life had only passed in half that time. Dia was most likely at his new monastery now, learning to be a fighting monk and being an orc in game. He wondered what Sarah was up to, whether she was feeling better now. His level was 4 now, placing him in the upper ranks of players. There were a few higher than him, but that was before the battle with the rat. The difference of time was starting show, as he had more time level up than everyone else. Given a few more weeks, he'd probably out level everyone by at least one level.

"Well, I didn't accept this experiment to get along with others." He mused to himself, cutting down one of the legs now, "I don't have plans to corroborate with others anyway, and I don't need to if I can get Mary to come with me. Well, at least after her lesson anyway."

Steel knew his time in Rostwood was slowly moving toward its end. Rostwood was a starting city, and he would eventually grow out of the levels possible there. To achieve his revenge, he would need to head to the capital and confront Hank.

Now, the thought of revenge in a video game over a life destroying injury would have struck a normal person as being a childish notion. That is, actions in a video game would have no lasting repercussions in real life. That normal person, however, would be wrong because this game did have an effect in real life.

Like the wristband everyone wore, Steel knew that the game was being used to measure a person's actions. The three strength rankings would be affected by the game, and would have major effects on everyone who played. The idea was that a person acts more like themselves in different situations; especially if they were unaware they were being observed. Steel only knew about this because it had come up during a discussion with Keith before the game's release.

Technically, the pamphlet inside the game box informed of the ranking, but no one ever read those things anymore. Steel didn't even remember seeing one in his haste to play the game. Also, actions in the game world would have less impact than real life actions, a step taken to ensure equality with those that did not play the game. In order to complete his revenge, though, Steel planned to ensure Hank's complete downfall.

He finished cutting and flipped the rat over, resuming his mission on the other side. To make Hank really pay, Steel believed one of the credos would be most appropriate. "An eye for an eye” was an old saying that both cautioned vengeance and encouraged it at the same time. Hank ruined his life by destroying Steel's body; Steel would return the favor and destroy Hank's life. He'd do this by completing knocking Hank's ranking down to nothing.

It would be easy, all he had to do was beat Hank three ways: a contest of strength, a contest of strategy, and a contest of morality. Given the amount of time he had over Hank, Steel knew it would be a matter of time before he's over take his level completely, and then he'd have to crush him. Not in a back alley or in the woods, it would have to be a public spectacle with many viewers; a tournament of some kind. Strategy would require Steel to foil any and all plans Hank made, ruining quest opportunities and relationships till he was all alone. Morality would have to be solved by uncovering any wrong deeds performed by Hank and having him punished appropriately.

Of course, Steel would have to be subtle until the end. Just like what he was doing in Rostwood, Hank was more than likely making friends in high places at the capital. If he was too hasty, Hank could sic the nobility on him, effectively ruining Steel's relationship with the human kingdom as a whole. Still, if there was something Steel loved to do, it was to overcome challenges with a smile. Only this time, the smile would be mocking and triumphant.

He cut a little too much muscle at that thought, his excitement causing a momentary lapse in judgment. Cursing himself, he adjusted the knife and continued, annoyed that his arrogance had surged up again. "I need to remember what Eric said; I'm not strong till I've won. Well, close enough anyway." He finished cutting the body and went back up to the head.

He wanted to make armor, so he decided to skin the head to be made into a hood. It was a lot easier to cut because the bone structure gave him precise direction. He sat down, tired but finished with his work; almost anyway.

He hadn't found the magic stone yet; the most valuable part of the monster. The smaller rats had the stone directly on their lower chest, but this larger rat had lacked that. A few excursions led Steel back to the head, where while he was feeling it his hand ran across a lump under its chin.

A quick check confirmed that the stone was underneath the part of the neck below his initial cut. A few strokes in and the core fell out onto the ground. Steel stared in wonder at it, because it was the most unique core he had ever seen. Unlike the small glossy black stones from the normal sized rats, the rat lord had a grey core that held a small sparkle in it. Smiling, Steel stored the pelt, the core, the skull, and a lot of meat in his inventory. The body disappeared in front of him, triggering a long series of blue screens.

Battle ResultsYou have defeated the hidden raid boss "Rat Pack Leader"For killing 60 rats smartly- 60 cores and 60 pelts (slightly smashed)- 1500 exp

For killing 16 rats- 16 cores and 16 pelts- 800 exp

Cave Rat Leader Pelt (Great Condition)

High grade core

900 exp

Status UpdateOnce again you have survived an opponent much stronger than yourself and survived after being at the brink of death. You have gained the title, "Unwavering Warrior"+3 Vitality

+4 Endurance

+4 Wisdom of experience

Status UpdateWarning, you have approached death too often by completely draining your stamina and mana. Further instances with the time remaining will result in penalties to intelligence and strength.Time Remaining:3 days

Steel winced at the last notification. He could count the number of times he had exhausted himself on his hand, but it did make sense that so many brushes with death in 2 or 3 weeks would put a heavy strain on the body. He wouldn't have Fury again till tomorrow, but that still left him with two days he couldn't afford to use his trump card.

"Though as long as we actually prepare this time this shouldn't happen again." He reasoned, "I need to come up with more strategies and more supplies if we're going to finish this dungeon. Potions are a must, and I need to buy some real fighting armor for Echo and Mary. I wonder if they make wolf armor, or at least a saddle."

He was distracting himself. There would be more time for this later. Especially since he had 76 rat corpses to skin, including 60 that were pancakes; it was hard work from here on out. Sighing to himself, he pulled up his sleeves and got to work.

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After skinning every rat for their meat, fur, and cores, Steel started a small fire using bones, fur, and rock and began cooking some of the rat meat on their own bones. Kind of ironic, but still very tasty. He took out a fur and shook at the fire in the direction of the sleeping teammates, in an effort to use the smell to wake them off. It took a few minutes, but eventually the three of them were roused by the delicious scent of rat meat, which, well, smelled like meat in general. Steel had been one of the many to scoff in history class when they learned people only ate meat from 5 animals and scorned all others. It was ridiculous, because meat was meat.

Mary raised her sleepy head, "Steel, is that smell from you? Smells really good." She yawned and gave a cute stretch, Echo copying her a few seconds later. Shadefur did a lying stretch on the ground with her mouth wide open, than crawled across the ground to the fire place, drool starting to flow down her maw.

Steel chuckled at the dog like mannerisms from his pet wolf. He took a piece of meat off a skewer and threw it to her, watching her tug at it to tear it. Mary and Echo wandered over and sat around the fire.

"Nice to see you guys are awake and in good health. How you feeling Mary?" He asked her gently.

She smiled sadly at him, "I'm good, thanks to you at least. I'm really happy you’re okay too."

Steel scratched his chin and grinned, "Well, you know me. Always with the reckless to save lives. In all honesty, I was expecting you to be a bit angrier with me." He kept a close eye for any warning signs of anger.

She sighed, "Normally I would be furious with you for putting yourself in danger again; it was touch and go for a while keeping you alive. However, I recognize that it was my fear and inexperience that forced you into that position, so I won't say anything this time. Please try to not do that again though, okay?" She gave him a gentle smile.

He scratched the back of his head and nodded. "Well, I can agree with that at least; getting into that kind of position is dangerous for me too. Remember though, I can come back; you cannot. So I'll do what I can to keep you alive, especially since your father would have some torture waiting for me if you were injured.

They chuckled over that, a rather dry chuckle anyway. "Anyway, a question for you Mary, well actually two anyway; Why didn’t the geas activates with you sleeping on me and where is Whisper?"

Mary frowned and crossed her arms, "I'm honestly not sure about that first question. If I were guess, most likely father was smart enough to install some loopholes in his spell for emergency cases. I have no idea what the conditions would be though, and it wouldn't be wise to experiment too much. About Whisper, well, she is still here." She pointed at herself, "She was really scared and sorry, so she's currently sleeping inside of me."

"......Please explain."

Mary blushed, "Sorry, that sounds kind of weird doesn't it? As my elemental familiar, she can rest within me due to our connection. This has the added effect of reducing the strain of my penalties and increasing the strength of my spells."

Steel gave her an extremely long look, "And you do this only now why?"

"She wanted to explore a dungeon, so I let her fly around some." Mary answered.

Steel face-palmed at the revelation. Mary was still a complete noob when it came to life-or-death situations, and obviously hadn't considered the consequences of her actions. "Mary, for the future, keep her inside okay?" Mary at least had the decency to blush in embarrassment.

Steel let the three of them eat for a bit before clapping his hands for attention. "Okay guys, we have finished the first floor. It's time to go over the results." He let a dramatic pause fill the air before he continued, "I'd have to say, we did pretty bad overall."

Echo cocked his head and tugged at Steel's shirt. "Yes Echo, that includes you to. Don't worry too much about it though; you and Shadefur were the lowest leveled members after all so you just needed some experience and armor. Riding Shadefur was a pretty smart decision from you, and you both seem to have gained another level after that fight. Next time, you'll be better and more prepared, right?" Echo saluted Steel with a serious face.

Steel looked over at Mary, "I have to say Mary, I was actually expecting a little more from you. I only saw you use fireballs, the little versions mostly, a flame wall spell, and a mirage spell this entire trip. Shouldn't you be a magical prodigy with lots of magic spells at your fingertips, even with your penalties?"

Mary toed the ground with her foot, "I thought saving mana was the most important thing, so I limited myself to the least costing spells I had. I didn't want to be caught unaware after a fight."

Steel shook his head, "Newcomers like you usually fall for that type of thinking. They tend to either spend too much too quickly, or horde their stores in fear of the future. Don't ever give the minimum to survive Mary; this isn't a test it's real life. I know beasts aren't your specialty, but didn't you think your mirage skill would have some limitations when it came to beasts?"

She shook her head, "It's always worked on humans, elves, and dwarves so I thought it would work here."

"Ever tried it on a beastman?"

"No, they are very rare outside their home."

"They would not have fallen for it if it was just a visual effect." Steel explained, "Their noses can smell a lot better than we can, so pure visual stimuli will not work. Try using a flame to burn the air around you and a few other areas to hide you scent. Also, in that kind of situation holding back will get you killed. Better tired than dead in my opinion."

"Is that why you push yourself to the brink Steel?"

"No, this time was my fault. I didn't prepare well enough for this dungeon. When we get out, after we sell our things we'll buy what we need for tomorrow and plan out some more ways of fighting in close quarters like this cave, that good with everyone?"

They nodded.

"Good, now hurry up and finish your food. I'm itching to get a warm bath. I smell like rat."