Evan looked around the damp cave. Water droplets were dripping down from his armor, since he had just passed through the water fall to enter his senior's lair. He was following behind his behemoth-like metal senior, with Brig in tow.

Let's just hope my species isn't cannibalistic, that would stop my ambitions a little early. There's no way I can even escape from this guy, let alone fend him off! I thought at most the elder armorlings would be level 100, but 168?! Is this guy like a retired powerhouse or something?

Rather than brooding on his fear, Evan decided it was best to just ask.

[So uuhh... what are you? Like a retired general or something? You seem pretty high leveled to be spending your time near the surface.]

His senior looked around, and looked at Evan with a confused look on his face. At least it seemed that way, since his canter black eye squinted a little. Rather than answering his question with an answer, he asked Evan a question in turn.

[How old are you, youngster?]

[18-ish years old I think? But I only started fighting a while ago, so I don't know if I'm weak for my age or not.]

[Oh no, you're plenty strong for being 18 cycles old. Most families keep their kids inside until they reach at least a hundred cycles. They say some monsters kill younger monsters as food, feed on their innocence. Common superstition, really. Strong monsters don't gain anything from eating lvl 1 creatures.

Say, youngling, what are you doing here? Where are your parents?]

[No clue. I don't have any parents, as far as I know. I just spawned over in a cave on the other side of the valley. I fended for myself.]

[A dungeon spawn??!! How peculiar!! And now of all times....]

[Peculiar? We live in a dungeon, how is that peculiar? Don't monsters spawn all the time?]

[Sure they do! But higher tiered creatures don't! That's like a 1 in a million! Do you know how often armorlings spawn because of the dungeon, rather than naturally? Once every 10 years! That might not sound like a lot, but they can spawn on any layer of the dungeon, so most of them die early on. For one to survive for more than a few cycles is unprecedented!]

[What even is the normal for armorlings to spawn then? And did you get to such a high level if it was that rare?]

[Two armorlings, a male and a female, can shape a child by combining their mana. You can tell the difference by the shape and eye color of the females by the way; they have red eyes, rather than the male black. But really, you're like a wonder of nature! Like a bamboo shoot surviving a monolith pandorian!]

[Well thanks I guess. So how DID you get here then? Are there no armorling cities or anything?]

[Sure there are! All of them are independent city-states though, and you can only find them on the third floor or below, up to the seventh floor. Here, on the first floor, and on the second floor you will only find hermits like myself, and a few small tribes, that want to trade with the surface dwellers. They're mostly comprised of outcasts from deeper down though, including me.]

[You're an outcast? Why? You're like super strong!]

[By your standards, maybe. Most tribes on the higher floors have at least one armorling at my level, usually the chieftain. I would watch out with those blokes though, most of them are escaped prisoners, banished for a reason. Mingling with them won't do you any good. As for the cities deeper down, they usually have a team of elite guards at or above level 200, as well as a city-lord at level 300. Those numbers go up the deeper down you go. Armorling presence stops at the seventh floor, however. Below that is the territory of the hegemons; the monster emperors, now those are the real.....]

Evan, sufficiently scared, exited and bored of the man's rambling, decided to intervene.

[Ok, ok, I've got it. No need to scare me with things out of sight and out of mind alright? I'll get there when I get there. Why were you outcasted then, actually? You don't seem like a criminal.]

[.........]

[Haven't you seen it, boy? My status? 'Omega' it says. That refers to my position in a guard squad in a city deeper down, on the fifth level. I guarded the prison. I freed a prisoner and I ran away up here.]

[That's it?]

[That's it.]

[Why?]

[Love, boy. Love. Maybe one day you'll understand.]

All of a sudden, another voice entered the conversation, from further down the cave. It sounded like Evan's granny, before she passed away.

[Come on now, dear. You're scaring the child. Shouldn't you explain a little better, you old codger?]

[Oh shut up, Melinda! I wanted to have some fun, before explaining! Why do you always ruin it? You're getting senile.]

[Ruin it? You always end up ruining it for yourself you rusted crook!]

Evan looked around, both surprised and curious. Evan reached a larger room in the cave with his senior. A lightning bolt struck, and left what seemed to be a large sparrow with lightning coursing through it feathers. It was barely smaller than his senior.

Attrape venerable sparrow(lvl157)

Evan asked a question to nobody in particular.

[Melinda, I presume?]

[The very one, child. Don't let Richard's sob story get to your head. What he did was purely out of greed. This old codger is used to getting what he wants.]

[Ahh that's right! Introductions! I'm Richard, as you heard. This here's my wife Melinda, now 36 centuries happily married! What's your name boy? And that of your bonded familiar?]

[3600 years?? How old can monsters even get? And it's Evan by the way. The big guys Brig. He's got a strong momma, so don't piss him off.]

Richard was about to answer, but Melinda looked at him accusingly, and shut him up. She decided to answer in his stead.

[Monsters, child? I wouldn't really call ourselves monsters. Maybe the mindless sort fits into that category. As for age, well most creatures live longer depending on their level. At our level, with our strong constitution, we could probably live 10-odd milennia.]

Richard chimed in quickly, seemingly scared his wife would should him up again.

[Yes that's right boy, most armorlings have naturally longer lifespans because we're made of metal and all, and Melinda here has a bit of a noble bloodline of her species you know. She was a political hostage before I freed her.]

Monsters with politics? These different monster societies must be pretty large...

Richard felt the conversation fall silent, and changed topic.

[So anyway, youngster..... Have any interest in learning from your senior? I could teach you and your pet a thing or two, and it's not like I've much else to do up here....]

For the first time since meeting Evan's senior, Brig spoke up. Brig positioned himself with his chin upward and started to whine.

[Brig....... not pet! Brig royal dragon of the kingdom!]

Wow ..... No stuttering on the second part there. Is our little Brig growing up? And I see he's resigned himself to his fate.....good, good Brig..........gooooood........

Melinda intermediated.

[Yes dear, we know. Richard is a little insensitive sometimes, sorry.]

Richard harrumphed

[Kingdom? Like the surface dwellers? Not sure our kind would like that.]

Evan didn't lose any of his confidence though.

[Don't worry senior. I'll make you my royal advisor in the future.]

[?]

...........................................................................................................................................................................................

A few days later, Evan had fraternized with their new neighbors quite a bit. Melinda showed Brig het sweet berry greenhouse. She seemed to have the same sweet-tooth as Brig, so they got along like a cherry on a cake.

In the meantime Evan spent his time with Richard. He showed him around his home base, and Richard showed him around his lair. Upon seeing Evan source of mana and corruption, Richard was a little surprised.

[No wonder you survived so long up here! This is the perfect habitat for training! It won't gain you any levels, but this is the perfect place for skill training. Only city-lords would have these types of facilities in their palaces. I don't need it, however. I don't fight much these days. Use it well, young Evan!]

Evan was secretly relieved he didn't have to give his cave to his overpowered senior. If Richard wanted to kill him, Evan would be dead already. Evan, eager to get stronger, decided to prod for more information.

[So what are the best ways to get stronger anyways? Fight stronger monsters and evolve? Or training stats and skills?]

[A bit o' both, boy. Stats and skill represent all your basic strength, but levels aren't only useful for evolving to the net stage, Evan. Levels represent the amount of power you can manifest in our world. In other words, they empower both our stats and skills on a fundamental level. Each skill might have a base amount of damage, or recovery and so on, but the power that actually comes out can vary. I'd say skills are tools, while stats are an active representation of your experience. Levels determine you actual influence and power. Of course, the difference between an unevolved skill and an evolved skill is still heaven and earth. In the end though, skills and stats are only meant to help you gain levels, no the other way around.]

[So a monster a level 1000 with no skills would win against a monster at level 800 with transcendent skills?]

[All our archives point in that direction yes. I couldn't actually imagine such a situation happening though. Those old monsters spend most of their time sleeping. Two of them being awake ath the same time would be quite something.]

.......................................................................................................................................................................................

The four met back up in front of the waterfall, the traces of goblins now nowhere to be found. Evan found that it was quite a beautiful sight, comparable to earthen paradises previously. Brig and Melinda came over. For some reason Brig had a determined look in his eye. Melinda spoke.

[Child, me and young Brig have talked. Honestly, from my understanding, you two don't make a good team. At least not yet. You need to know each other's capabilities and limits. Without it, you lack crucial knoledge for teamwork. It's an easy fix though. So I propose this: You two have a friendly sparring match. First to hit half of his Hp, loses.]

[A wonderful idea, melly! I too would like to see what these two upstarts are capable of! Don't worry you two, I know healing magic, and can save you if necessary.]

Evan found it a little sudden, but ultimately agreed. He had to show Brig that he was serving a worthy king after all.

The two lined up, about 30 meters apart from each other (90 feet). The first thing Evan noticed, was Brig's level. There had been quite a change. Not as much as Evan, but still...

Brig(lvl30)

Brig stomped his turtle-feet, and shook the ground a little bit. He seemed ready for a fight to the death. Evan might have been scared before, but with his newly created skills, and high level, he was pretty sure the odds were even.

[Okay, kids. The fight starts on Go. 3...2....1........GO!!]

Brig charged forward using impact charge, and Evan followed suit with corrupted crash. The gained speed like a missile and rammed into each other.

Warning! You been attacked by Brig(lvl30) using impact charge! You have been dealt 9Dp (-25 due to ancient copper body)

You have attacked Brig(lvl30) using corrupted crash! You have dealt 5Dp physical damage and 23Dp corrupted damage.(-25phys and 8corrupt, due to Earthen body and magma core)

This rock has corruption defense? What did he eat growing up? I seem to be on the winning side in that exchange though, but Brig probably has twice the amount of Hp I do. I'll have to change tactics.

As brig recoiled from the damage, he prepared himself from another strike. Brig stomped the ground, and brought out a rupture of spikes heading for Evan. This wasn't a closed space like the cave though so Evan dodged upwards. The trail of spikes went on, trailing of in the distance. Evan replied with a mana bolt of his own, with hit Brig in the shoulder.

You have attacked Brig(lvl30) using mana bolt! You have dealt 21Dp(-14 due to molten core)

Brig didn't seem fazed, however. He dug himself into the ground at the speed of a drill, and disappeared. Evan heard a rumble under the ground and half a second later, Brig came barreling out of the ground like a canon.

He used impact charge underground? Smart bastard! He's learning too quickly!

Evan dodged to the side on reflex. All of a sudden, from behind Evan, a spike erupts, impaling him.

Warning! You been attacked by Brig(lvl30) using Earthen spike-rupture. You have been dealt 12Dp. (-25 due to ancient copper armor)

Was that the trail of spikes from before? It circled around! This guy is almost as much of a genius as me!

Brig prepared for what seemed to be the final charge. He once again shot forward like a bullet.

Evan seemed to follow suit, but in the middle of the charge, he shot up. He released his corrupted discharge up in the air, and used that blast to shoot himself downward. His metal arms were raised, ready to bludgeon his bond in the head with the heaviest metal slam on this floor of the dungeon.

Are you seeing me dunk this shit from heaven, Kobe?

Brig wasn't as inexperienced as before, however. He had watched Evan's fight with the hobgoblin chieftain attentively, like a child looking at his idol with sparkles in his eyes. In other words; he had learned a thing or two, and had realized a head on battle wasn't always best.

He cranked his head upward, looking at Evan falling down like a shooting star, and launched a volley of molten lava balls at his friend. He thought to himself;

[Either ....... you lose, or brig loses! Brig will see who lose first!]

The lava balls were well aimed, and one hit Evan square in the chest.

Warning! You been attacked by Brig(lvl30) using fire breath(empowered). You have taken 12Dp. (-25 due to ancient copper armor)

Evan was 2 hp above half. One more hit and this match went to Brig. Brig 1, Evan nil. It sounded like a state of the art horror film for Evan.

As Evan came further down, more shots flew toward him. Some missed, because of the awkward angle for Brig, but one final ball came right for Evan.

Fuck! Fight or flight? .......Both!

Evan shot out a mana pulse. Useless for damaging Brig, but perfect for veering his trajectory off-course. The lava ball flew a centimeter away from him, and Evan used another mana pulse to center his aim for Brig. Another 1 second later, Evan crashed into him with metal slam.

You have attacked Brig(lvl30) using metal slam! CRITICAL HIT! You have bypassed defense and dealt 65Dp.

Warning! Your bonded familiar 'Brig' is at critical Hp!