As Jay caught his breath at the bottom of the stairs, he felt disturbed by his ruthlessness and the intensity of the deadly fight. The mauler had been an incredibly different challenge compared to the snakes. She had been more intimate, raw. She was an absolute killer.

The blood seeping out of his face was a throbbing reminder of what a mistake could do. Every second the duel had persisted was a promise one big misstep could kill Jay. Somehow, he rose to the challenge and was changed as a result. Like one of his titles would suggest.

But what if Jay couldn’t overcome the challenge? What if his attempts to fly higher and higher hit the ceiling?

He almost wished he’d tagged himself out and let Frank have a crack at her instead. The Spook had the training and mentality for this.

Instead, Jay had to pull sketchy fight moves out of his ass from the get-go. His wild instincts, years of dance and parkour, and System-shenanigans had to help him as an untrained Rank 1 [Freak]. But that wouldn’t have been enough without his most major arsenal.

No doubt, his gravity affinity was truly a game-changer. It was complex and straining on the energy department, but it made Jay supernaturally better at what he was already good at. Flowing freely from one move to the next with gravity bending to his whims.

He was still scratching at the surface of his affinity, too. His notifications suggested there was more to come as he leveled up.

Grav Kick leveled up from 3 to 5!

Moonwalker leveled up from 4 to 6!

Dance Floor Relativity leveled up to 7!

You’ve slain Cat Girl Mauler Toy, Level 8!

Congrats! Lesser Freak leveled up to 6! +8 Free AP!

New Skill acquired! [One Heavy Step, Level 1]!

Jay added +3 AP to Agility, +3 AP to Perception, +1 AP to Conviction, and +1 AP to Discovery. The latter two seemed strangely important even though they were the most esoteric of Attributes. They might be part of why he’d stayed determined and made the right moves in the face of furious death.

Back to his good senses, Jay came out of the stairway and found the [Fighters] in a worsening position. They were fighting in a slow retreat. The militia had forced open a third hole in the wall while Jay dealt with the mauler. That pushed Dennis and Frank to split, which was good for levels but not great for containment.

“Where are we on levels?” Jay asked as he walked up. “I just hit 6!”

“I’m Level 5 now!” Dennis yelled, cutting an action figure nearly in half.

“Same,” Frank grunted, crumpling the head of another attacker with two good swings.

The [Fighters] had gotten better at taking down action figures in as few hits as possible. Dennis was the best at it. But he took hits in return and was looking battered and bruised. Frank avoided getting hit or deflected strikes smartly, but his kills took longer.

Meanwhile, a bombardment of simple Star Shots covered the original backdoor opening. It was a smoldering, flaming ruin, the plastic structure melting around it and the pooling remains of the militia. But the dungeon monsters kept streaming out—an endless tide.

“Wow,” Jay said. “This would’ve been hell to fight our way through without cheating.”

“The boss-level red-shirts are concentrated in one area at this point!” Mike yelled. “They would’ve been spread out if we’d done things traditionally.”

“What’s your level?” Jay asked.

“Level 5 getting closer to Level 6, I believe,” Mike answered. “But I’m using mana from my amulet now. I’m nearing my limit.”

“Time to retreat! Jay, take Dennis up,” Frank ordered.

“Huh?” Dennis sputtered, shielding himself with his sword against half a dozen attackers.

Frank broke off with his attackers and ran full-tilt, using [Cavalry Charge] to get away. He was a blur of movement until he skidded to a crashing stop at the bottom of the stairs. The gap between him and the chasing action figures should be enough to flee up the stairs with time to spare.

“Wait, what do you mean by Jay taking me up?” Dennis asked, slowly withdrawing while using his sword to ward away attacks.

“It’s going to be okay, big guy,” Jay said sweetly, hopping up behind Dennis. “I’ll be gentle. Just don’t fight me, or you’ll make it harder.”

“Why are you always a pain in the ass at the worst of times?”

“One, I’m good at what I do, and two, nice Freudian slip.”

As the monsters surrounded them like a crashing wave, Jay stood on his tippy toes to grab Dennis by his armor’s collar. He tapped on [Dance Floor Relativity].

The two hurtled into the air and away from the militia’s clutches. Dennis cussed at Jay throughout the trip as they took a path that soared nearly over the stairs. Then Jay returned gravity to normal and released the big guy. They both had their own ways of landing safely.

Dennis used [Meteor Drop] to diminish damage to himself from the fall. The Skill scattered piles of snow and sundered the ground under his sword.

Jay floated down gently thanks to [Moonwalker].

You’ve entered the Second Floor Safe Zone.

“Crystal up,” Frank said. “Use whatever you need.”

They did as instructed, Jay feeling relieved as healing magic fixed his wounded face. It was going to leave a scar, unfortunately. He topped off his Stamina and Mana with crystals. He wondered if the mysterious stat Chance could be used up and needed recovery like the others. He’d have to ask Mike later for his theories before YoAnna eventually solved the mystery.

“Hm, I wonder what YoAnna’s up to?” Jay asked.

“You would wonder,” Dennis said with some heat.

“Not the best time to talk about hot girls?”

“I’m still pissed at you for chucking me into the air again,” the big guy grunted.

“Let it go, Dennis.” Frank patted his fellow [Fighter] on the shoulder. “It was the fastest way to get you up here.”

“I could’ve used [Mountain Leap] to get onto the stairs!”

“Let me correct myself. It was the fastest way to get you up without destroying the stairs.”

Frank turned and leveled a glare on the gathering number of action figures on top of the staircase. They glared back, waiting outside the line between their territory and the Second Floor Safe Zone. They seemed to be daring the dungeon crawlers to come out and face them again.

Frank’s face shifted from his usual angry looks to a wicked smirk. He reached inside his rucksack at the edge of the Safe Zone and pulled something out. It was a black, smoky pot with a thick wick poking out of the opening. Using the flint and steel tools from the brazier kit, he sparked the fire bomb and tossed it out of the Safe Zone.

The action figures stumbled, taken aback by the bomb. But they were way too packed together to move effectively. Frank’s fire bomb blasted the group into flaming pieces and shredded plastic flesh. The force and flames rolled up against the Safe Zone barrier, unable to pass through as the party watched the damage unfold.

Once things settled down, Jay saw the top of the stairs were rented and blackened, but they remained usable. There were still more of the militia marching up, relentless in their advance.

“That’ll get me close to Level 6,” Dennis said.

“I’ll certainly reach it with this,” Mike commented. “But I must admit it’s a little disturbing that they don’t hold their own lives sacred.”

“They don’t know how to stop,” Kleo said, sitting off to the side alone. “For many cycles, for countless years, they came down the stairs like a rolling tide.”

Frank motioned for Mike to go next. The [Mage] lit a fire bomb and tossed it with an underhand motion right next to the edge—another explosion. More of the action figures fell massacred.

“It starts easy enough at the lower steps,” Kleo explained. “Only a few Action Figures were stationed at small camps, mini-fortresses, and little towns that lived under the militia’s rule and tyranny. It would’ve been a lengthy storyline. One that would’ve taken too much time on a run like this, but some parts were necessary to gain access to higher steps behind huge walls, strong locked doors, and heavier guard presences. I knew enough to get you to Murderous Mary just in the nick of time. Defeating the boss will turn the stairs into a Contested Neutral Zone. It’s not exactly a Safe Zone, but it’ll give you more time, and monsters can’t respawn as long as it’s contested. Still, even if that came out as your best case scenario, the Toyreveler would’ve been satisfied.”

Dennis went next while Kleo was talking.

Jay’s turn came up. “So, what’s the Toyreveler gonna do when we show up early.”

“I don’t know,” Kleo said. “I’d never met the dungeon master–the holder of the dungeon core. I’ve ended up getting killed every cycle when crawlers come through. An endless loop of death where I’m the dungeon’s favorite punching bag for monsters or crawlers. So, I’m glad I’d never met the master, and that’s blasphemous.”

Jay turned his back to the fourth explosion as a massive list of slaying notifications came and went. There was no new level up.

By the time the flames and smoke settled down, the top of the stairs was gone. Most of the upper section was blown to smithereens. Action Figures tried and failed to climb the smoldering skeleton of the staircase top. They were still pressing forward no matter what, but a new development showed itself.

The constant stream of monsters leaving through the back trickled to a stop. The end of the battle was in sight.

Jay walked over to Kleo and patted her on the head. “Wait here for us, okay? I’ll start the fire so you won’t freeze while we’re gone.”

“I could leave. Go to the Toyreveler with information. Maybe that’ll change things for me. Then I can be more than a punching bag.”

“You want to go straight to the person you hate?” Jay arched an eyebrow.

“Sure, I might hate him, but he’s all I know even though I don’t really know him. He rules the dungeon, and I’m under his rule. That’s how it’s gotta be. I need to go to him and betray you all again.”

“You could do that,” Jay said. “Which would disappoint me, your real master, very much. But I don’t think you will.”

“How do you know that?”

“I told you, didn’t I? You’re my toy. Being owned by me is obviously the best thing to ever happen to you, too. Because I’m awesome.” Jay chuckled. “And I’m going to break the cycle here and show you something new.”

“I don’t believe you,” she said. “Strike me now because I’m going.”

Kleo got to her feet and started marching away.

Jay got up as well and started the fire for the brazier.

“See you in a bit, Kleo,” Jay said, rejoining his party. “So, how do we get down there, boys? Because I can only float myself down.”

Dennis tried and failed to keep from watching Kleo’s back shrinking into the snowy distance. “It’s too high for [Meteor Drop] unless I land on top of what’s left of the stairs. I need to level that Skill up.”

“The rope can help us reach the stairs, but the enemy is waiting,” Frank said, ignoring Kleo.

Mike pushed his glasses up his face. “There’s a simple solution. Unfortunately, it relies on being at Jay’s mercy once more.”

Dennis groaned.

“Kek.” Jay smiled. “It’s okay. You can all act like you don’t need me around. But when you need me, you really need me.”

“I can still use the rope to strangle you,” Frank muttered.

“I’ll shy away from that, man. Good-looking teen Superagent, OCD, BDSM? You’re a housewife’s wet dream, and we got some bored housewives with crazy gun-toting husbands up around Central Florida.”

“Is that what your mom does,” Frank said, “to keep from getting bored?”

Jay blinked.

“Actually, yeah,” he answered honestly. “She has a super old fanfiction with a male lead actor that hunts after her main character, a supernatural girl wanted by dark agencies. The lead kind of acts like you. You’ll probably fit my mom’s taste as long as you’re nineteen. Eighteen’s toying the line a little too much for her.”

Frank gaped.

Dennis removed his grimy rams helmet and matched Frank’s expression.

“I probably should warn you both about Jay’s uniquely friendly relationship with his mom, as if they’re siblings that speak very openly,” Mike said. “And Your Mom jokes don’t work on him.”

“It’s nice to hear Frank loosen up, though,” Jay complimented. “Real savage joke, too. I give it a 7/10 on the roast scale.”

“The timing and the unexpected roaster puts it at 8/10 for me,” Mike added.

“He was a little hesitant, though,” Jay added. “Like he was testing the waters. Needs a little more confidence for that extra oomph.”

Dennis looked from the geek duo to Frank. “Dude, are you embarrassed?”

“No, I’m not,” Frank grunted. “It’s weird that Jay’s not responding to a dig at his mom.”

“But you’re totally embarrassed that it didn’t land,” Dennis pointed out.

“Nah, it landed,” Jay interjected. “He’s embarrassed that he’s getting critiqued for it. His perfectionist mind is trying to twist and turn the joke around for every reason it didn’t knock me out.”

“No, it’s not!” Frank shouted.

“Look. He’s doing it right now.” Jay grinned. “Beep, boop. I’m the perfect teenage agent. Must beat Jay at his own game. Must dominate. Beep, boop.”

“Shut up and get us down there, Luckrun!” Frank growled.

“Oh, la, la, Papi, I like it when you’re angry,” Jay replied, waving his hand effeminately. “You’re gonna make me think of you when I’m bored, too!”

Frank threw Jay off the cliff.