The autumn leaves crunched under my feet as I traversed through the grasslands, straight to the dungeon.

Supplies of food, clothing and a variety of items were in my extra dimensional storage, enough for about a month for one person.

Three months since my near demise in the Stone Cell, and encounter with Andrew Lee.

I had no longer put myself above others. I have trained hard. Pushed myself to improve, I asked the captain and my father to give me no mercy in training, and they didn't. Train until my body could no longer move. For Clause and Garett. So nobody would ever have to die for my sake, again.

Level 85 Human, Alexander Fullbright

Title: Genius of the Sword (150% increase to learning speed regarding sword techniques), Fullbright Prodigy (5% increase to all stats, 2x learning speed towards all subjects)

HP: 8800/8800

MP: 580/580 ( 9.2 MP regen/min)

STATS

STR- 108

DEX- 110

CON- 88

INT- 92

WIS- 58

CHA- 55

STATUS EFFECTS

N/A

Despite me on track to being the strongest person to come from the Fullbright line, I kept myself humble, knowing that there were people far better than I am. I won't let my overconfidence affect my judgement again. Especially when I still haven't surpassed father, much less Andrew Lee.

Beside me were two others. Luna Warless and Zaza Lochwood. They were accompanying me as support in the case any monsters above my capabilities (which I highly doubted would appear anywhere near our kingdom) attacked, and to meet the mysterious enigma who saved my life. It wouldn't do if my new party didn't know about him, if we ever grew strong enough to even attempt conquering this dungeon. I've made up in my mind to introduce any new members of our party to Andrew, because I knew he was a good judge of character and could help us grow stronger.

Zaza Lochwood was the son of the captain of the Royal Guard, Elton Lochwood, who used to be in a party back in the day with the King himself. Zaza was a laid back kid, despite his staggering size of 6'8 and over 300 pounds of muscle at the age of 18 years old, and high amounts of CON and STR, he was a formidable warrior. Although his lack of speed is exposed against faster opponents he has shown great reflexes and battle instinct, making him the perfect guy to distract enemies and tank their hits. While the father had a different role in adventuring parties than his son did, he had the King, who was a tank himself, pass on many skills and tips that would be crucial in battle.

Luna was an orphan, her family torn apart by war and monster invasions and found on the outskirts of Tarvell, bleeding out beside the corpse of two monsters, and presumably from the continent of Aalrog, ruled by the Elder Dragon Dharma. She was treated, and given a room in the palace to recuperate, and pledged her loyalty to the King, gratitude for saving her from an untimely death and helping her regain her bearings. Luna revealed that her bloodline as part of the Warless clan gave her a disposition towards magic and healing, and has shown great aptitude for anything related to the arcane arts. She fought by buffing herself and others with great strength and dexterity, crushing her enemies with a mixture of elemental magic and powerful strikes from her staff. She has begun learning the arts of healing and being a priest to cover our lack of expertise in that area. She is now level 51, with a very well rounded skill set, making her an invaluable part of our team.

Merely two weeks ago, I had returned to the dungeon, bringing gifts, medical supplies and food for the man who must've undoubtedly been suffering living in a dungeon. After all, dungeons were merciless and inhospitable to intruders. I knew he was alive, my faith in the man who slew a monster leagues above me at level 31 had grown stronger after he had levelled up. I don't doubt that he has gotten stronger surviving in such a hostile environment like that.

I did not expect him to be laying on a large bed, half naked and watching something called a television. In an utterly normal room, which was abnormal considering the fact this used to be an entrance room of a dungeon full of Eldritch beasts. I was flabbergasted, seeing one of the most dangerous dungeon's entrance room become a comfortable loft for one person.

The shock, however, did not stop blood rushing to my nether regions upon seeing his perfect physique, to my embarassment and mortification. I don't think he noticed. Thankfully.

We talked, and he had revealed his status as an otherworlder, as he thanked me for the kind gifts, despite me saying that it was merely repayment for saving my life and that it was only right to do so. He showed me a rectangle that was capable of producing moving pictures. A television he had called it. I had wondered how to make this, but I knew that the magic needed was far beyond my comprehension, and that even the greatest magicians in this continent would scratch their heads making heads or tails about what made this thing work.

I had tried to convince him that moving into the palace would be a benefit for the both parties, as he would live a lavish and luxurious life in the finest guest room we had, free of charge, and that if any enemy were to invade, whether it be a monster horde, demons, bandits or a rival kingdom, we'd have a very capable person ready to defend us. He declined however, saying that the Goddess had already given him a place of residence, and it would be impossible to bring his TV back due to it being permanently affixed to the walls of the dungeon. I had backed off after that, and he merely requested that I visit regularly and bring him supplies and some souvenirs from the adventures I go on.

'You're a hero, right? Well, since heroes like you go adventuring and all that, just bring me some stuff whenever you come and visit!'

Taking his words to heart, I would bring a souvenir from every dungeon or major quest I went to, like the polished skull of an Elder Moose that we had taken down as a party on our first quest. I had placed it in my dimensional ring, that contained the rest of the supplies and other miscellaneous items I had decided to stick in there.

I was interrupted from my thoughts by Luna, who walked on my side, vigilantly looking around to make sure no monsters could or would ambush us.

"Prince, who exactly is Andrew Lee? And what type of man is he?” The white haired woman inquired, her bright, blue eyes peering at me inquisitively.

She was a new member of our adventuring party (which was very recently made, too), having only been discovered on August, a whole month after Andrew had left. I doubt she has encountered him yet.

”Andrew Lee is...a Hitman. A sort of assasin that kills for money. Or so he claims.”

She turned away from her surroundings, looking at me.

”Isn’t that a bad thing, Prince?”

”I could see why it would, but he was forthcoming with the information, and honesty is good. We all need to make a living, and it seems that his way to live was never the most peaceful or noble one there was.”

He appreciated my straight forward nature regarding our reasons as to why we offered him a room in the palace, not hiding our ulterior motives, and in turn, was blunt with what his profession entailed. I respected him for that.

I continued on, “Despite that, he saved my life. Without knowing who I was or what connection I had. I know that the Goddess herself pays special attention to him, and I can’t really not trust anyone whom is favoured by Quetzalcoatl herself, no?”

Luna absorbed the information silently, and turned to Zaza, who was behind us, wearing a standard suit of heavy iron armour. On his back was a mace that granted him HP upon hitting an enemy and a shield that absorbed impact, making it perfect for a warrior like himself. He was looking at the both of them with a placid smile, basking in the sunlight and the gentle breeze as we traversed the grasslands.

”Do you know Andrew Lee, Zaza? What he looks like?” Luna asked the tall and bulky warrior. He towered over us, casting a shadow that blocked the sun from the both of us. That was the main reason why we put him behind us, instead of the front where he would be more valuable in a formation.

He snapped out of his day dreaming, "Well, he's a little it shorter than me, and has black hair. Pale skin and wears glasses." Zaza mused for a little bit, before adding "Oh. He's pretty handsome too. Can't forget that."

Luna tilted her head, probably wondering why he'd add such a detail. She'll find out sooner or later.

"Don't forget that he's probably the strongest human ever, now. According to our history books, the highest level human recorded was Frederick Holmes, who was a level 251 SS ranked mage and he had already surpassed level 300 when I saw him last month. Who knows how strong he's gotten by now."

She was silent and most likely imagining what type of person he'd be. I noticed the dungeon from a good couple miles ahead. It was huge, and quite noticeable from a far distance. However, the grasslands blocked the view from farther distances. On the dungeon's left was a forest, full of creatures level 40 and above. It was a good challenge for C to B ranked adventurers. While this forest would theoretically be a challenge for either Luna or Zaza, they were exceptional. Luna was a capable healer, and an even better fighter. Her STR and DEX were off the charts due to dilligent training, more than you'd expect from a level 50. Zaza was very durable, and could outlast any opponent combined with his mace which leeched off the HP from enemies he attacked.. We'd need to enter B-A ranked areas to give them both a considerable challenge.

"Hey, the dungeon's over there. Let's go a little bit faster." I began to speed up immediately, breaking out into a light jog while they tried to catch up. A light jog for me was equivalent to a sprint for Zaza, who was lagging behind.

I reached the dungeon in several minutes, and I could see them catching up in a few minutes. It seems that Zaza is quite slow. We'll need to fix that later. I slowed down to a brisk walk, as I neared the dungeon.

Standing at 15 feet tall, but easily spanning dozens of thousands of square feet. It covered nearly a tenth of the valley it was on. The outside was the shape of a rectangle, with 4 sides and no other entrance than the one facing the forest. Inside , however, was allegedly multiple pathways that connected to larger rooms full of monsters beyond comprehension. Due to the dangerous nature of the dungeon, only a handful of people could confirm this.

Most believe there are two bosses in the dungeon, Vhiri, the Eldritch praying mantis with serrated teeth that was rumoured to have crushed a lich foolish enough to enter the Stone Cell with only a couple of skeletons as a party, and Nyarlothep, a mass of pulsating flesh with several mouths throughout it's body with no eyes, who I encountered during my...run at the dungeon. There are other infamous monsters within, such as Ctulhu and Azaroth who were seen to be lower levelled, bur certainly not less dangerous.

I waited for them until they were merely 50 feet away as I rested my back on the aged stone walls of the dungeon. Then, I entered.

I knew that there should be no monsters in the first hallway, which led several dozen feet inside before reaching the former entrance room, which was now a base for Andrew. Otherwise, I wouldn't have entered at all.

Knowing Andrew, he would probably kill me if I suprised him. My steps were far too quiet. Nearing the entrance, I saw it fit to announce my presence before I went in, to make sure that he'd know I was coming. The retired assassins I knew were very jumpy and always on guard, and I assume that an assassin of Andrew's calibre would answer with lethal force if I entered without any prior warning.

"Andrew?" I said loudly and clearly into the hallway, which was still fairly dim with only torches lighting up the way. "I brought supplies and stuff from my adventu-"

I paused. I could hear footsteps thudding, getting closer and louder. Those footsteps were far too heavy, and I doubt that even Zaza could make footsteps that loud on purpose.

"-hey, do you, huff, mind not running that far into the dungeon without us? I had to sprint the rest of the way he-" Behind me was an exhausted Zaza and a slightly ruffled priest.

In front of me, however, was an ginormous, headless eldritch being. Sprinting at a speed that surpassed mine.

Level 1056 Greater Eldritch Abomination, Y'golonac

"RUN!"

It was far too fast, I uttered a single word before it tackled me, catching me in it's iron grip and using me to slam into the others behind me.

You have impacted upon a hard object! 895 damage!

"Oof!" I could hear Zaza and Luna emitting grunts of pain. It had brought down all of us in a swift move, and I could see it rearing sharp claws ready to bisect us in one fell swoop. I removed my sword from it's sheath in an instant, hoping I could slow the blow enough for it not to be fatal.

"SCREEEEEEEEEE-"

I saw Andrew leaping upon it's back and yanking at it's arm as hard as he can. The veins on his forearms were popping as he strained to prevent us from being gutted like a fish.

"Headless! These are friends! They aren't bandits!" Upon saying that, the creature stopped resisting. He stilled and sighed in relief, glancing at us to make sure no significant damage was done.

The monster got up and Andrew jumped off its back. My party scrambled to get back into position, with me and Zaza at the front, brandishing our weapons and Luna behind us, ready to cast her spells at a moments notice.

They conversed, focused entirely on each other. The monster looked almost apologetic in its stance, scratching the back of its neck.

"I appreciate that you were ready to kill some bandits, but atleast let me confirm if they are before you start running for it? They literally said my name before you just dashed off and truied to murder them."

It nodded, the stump of the neck bobbing up and down. The monster, who towered over everybody by atleast 5 feet turned to us and we tensed.

It bowed. "I deeply apologize for attacking you and your party, human. I had assumed you were bandits ransacking Lee's home again." It took off, saying farewell as Andrew waved goodbye. It disappeared into the door, leaving us and the hitman alone.

The hitman turned to look at us, who were still tense and ready to fight. He placed his hands on his head and sighed.

"This is going to take a little bit of explaining, huh?"

"You made friends with the monsters in the dungeon?!" Alexander seethed, still in disbelief that I'd allied myself with the deathtrap that was this dungeon.

"I wouldn't say made friends, it's more of a..treaty. Headless is alright, he's just a normal guy at heart, you know?" I tried to defend myself. I do what's best for me, and what's best for me just happened to be having a truce with the blue dungeon core capable of probably destroying me.

The red haired pretty boy looked at me in slight anger. "After they nearly killed me? After they killed my friends, you'd do this?" There was a slight amount of hurt, which was understandable.

"You can't really blame me, no? I wasn't responsible for them dying, and you were trespassing into the dungeon anyway, which is more of your fault than it is mine."

The swordsman looked at me angrily, and looked ready to shout, but deflated and realized that I was right, in a sense. I took a closer look at the sword on his hip.

Heartstriker - Unique A Ranked Weapon

Deals slashing damage

Enchantment(s): Human Rune: Enhanced Durability, 15% increased slashing damage, +5 to CHA & DEX when used

Description: A sabre forged by the first female forgemaster, Demia Ironheart, and given as a gift for her lover, who died in battle. This sword allows you to cut down swathes of enemies with grace and power.

Huh. A fancy one, huh? Mine's still better though. Noone could possibly have a weapon superior to my Colt!

The sword had a curved blade, with a bright red sheen when the light reflected on it just right. It's handle was decorated with precious crystals embedded into it. Perhaps those were runes instead of decoration,.

Alexander sighed, "Fine. I'll give you that one. I will conquer this dungeon, though. Whether you have a treaty with it or not. Eventually." The two others stood there silently, and I took that as a chance to observe them.

Level 51 Human, Luna Warless

Title: Warless Bloodline (30% increase to INT and WIS, 150% more power using buffs), Jack of All Trades (15% increased learning speed towards all subjects)

HP: 5500/5500

MP: 750/750 ( 10.0 MP regen/min)

STATS

STR- 58

DEX- 65

CON- 55

INT- 100

WIS- 75

CHA- 32

STATUS EFFECTS

N/A

Oh. She's quite strong. That Warless bloodline seems like a rather unique and powerful boost. I should look into that.

She was staring at me with an unreadable expression on her face, as if she was unsure of whether to be afraid of me, consider me as an enemy or to worship me. I wouldn't blame her if she did any of the three. This Warless girl was quite beautiful. Her wide, blue eyes, shining like the most impressive of sapphires, her white, silky long hair that went down to her elbows and her heart shaped face, her cute nose and soft lips, I realized;

Damn, she's really beautiful.

I shook myself from innapropriate thoughts, and observed Zaza. That big oaf was strong as hell, but had a relaxed personality. A type of guy that's always pleasant to be with.

Level 55 Human, Zaza Lochwood

Title: N/A

HP: 23600/23600

MP: 360/360 ( 3.4 MP regen/min)

STATS

STR- 168

DEX- 21

CON- 236

INT- 34

WIS- 36

CHA- 29

STATUS EFFECTS

Fatigued - -10% to all stats (Temporary)

Probably the strongest bastard I ever met, except for the King. Or Y'golonac. Or any of the monsters in here, really. Not the strongest, but definitely up there. Probably top 20, but since I know less than 50 people in this world, I guess it's not too impressive. It's weird, since I saw his dad, and his dad was a head shorter than me and he never said anything about his mother being tall either. Was being tall a recessive gene, and he just happened to be huge? I doubt that the mother had an affair, as they have the same blonde hair and blue eyes and the same nose. Interesting.

I wonder how'd they compare to me in a fight?

My brain pooped out an idea.

"Alright, I won't stop you from trying to conquer the dungeon. Your life, and all that."

Alexander narrowed his eyes. "I'm sensing a 'but' here."

"But, you guys will have to beat me in a fight before I even let you through those doors. I've saved your life, and I can't do it again lest I break off the alliance, which means I'll lose this whole room all because you felt suicidal enough to try and challenge the dungeon."

"Fine."

Zaza looked at the swordsman with an expression akin to someone telling you to shove a really large and jagged branch up your ass.

"Uh- Alexander, you do realize he's-"

"Yes. I do. In fact, let's do it now." Alexander said eagerly. He was roaring for a fight. To prove his capabilities. I can respect that.

This is going to be a joke. He genuinely thought he had a chance against me. Good fighters need to be humble. I was an exception, because I'm a massive hypocrite.

"I'll give you a handicap, I won't use this." I held the overpowered Colt in my right, dramatically waving it and placed it in my back pocket."And if you win," I whispered into his ear, fluster him a little bit and take an advantage of that little crush he has on me. This guy got a boner when he saw me a month ago, and he didn't think I noticed. HA!

"I'll do anything you want." I said breathily in his ear.

He blushed madly and pushed me off. The poor bastard was so easy to tease.

We stood on opposite of each other, with me, unarmed with only a shirt, shorts and with only my fists, feet, and my mind as weapons and the trio, fully geared and looking ready to fight, a mere 50 feet away. I could see determination but grim resignation on Zaza's face, concentration on Alexander's, and a blank stare from Luna.

"Come at me with the intent to kill, if you want to have a sliver of a chance of winning. GO!" I shouted, blatantly ripping off Kakashi from Naruto.

Everything moved.

Zaza began rushing towards me, shield in hand and mace in the other. A red blur was flanking me, but I saw it quickly and met him head to head. A slash aimed at my midsection instantly, but I ducked. I kicked the sword from his hands and I knocked him aside as Zaza barrelled towards me.

I was hit with a ton of force, but my insane amount of STR let me handle it with only a considerable amount of difficulty. In the second I was incapacitated with Zaza, I noticed a metal staff ready to knock me on the head as I looked up, Luna in the air, ready to smack me. I swung my head to the left, the staff bouncing off harmlessly onto the shield. Knowing I was in a difficult position, I dashed off, leaving a considerable amount of space between me and the two fighters. Luna landed gracefully as she began chanting, and I could see a slight red glow from both Zaza and Luna.

I ducked immediately, hearing a woosh of Heartstriker mere inches from slicing me. I swept his feet, tripping Alexander and causing him to fall. I reared up my arm, telegraphing my punch and I could see him about to yank his head to the side.

Why not scare him a little bit?

I punched the ground hard. An audible crack could be heard as my fist shattered the earth underneath, as cracks formed with an imprint of my fist at it's epicenter. He rolled frantically, but I picked him up by his shoulders and threw him across the grasslands, straight at the two fighters who steadily approached me like as if he weighed nothing more than a particularly heavy pillow.

He impacted on the shield, letting out a gasp of pain and Zaza releasing a grunt as he absorbed the impact.

You have thrown an enemy at a hard object. 266 damage dealt!

"Come on now, I'm still holding back. You're not going to survive a minute any deeper than the first room at this rate!"

Time to put them in a world of hurt.