A week into the third month at camp, Aki couldn't help but notice that only a few of his skills were still improving at a considerable rate. When he'd complained about it to Lea, she gave him a womanly look and used a lot of sarcasm to get across that the fact he had several skills nearing and slightly above two hundred was ridiculous no matter the amount of aether he was shoving up his own ass.

Really, he also didn't understand how he'd acquired and leveled the theology skill to level 150 by just opening the first page of a data packet, but he wasn't going to complain about the skill points or the opportunity to skimp on reading that kind of bullshit.

Sudden levels aside, these months had been about as fruitful as his lowest expectations. It was so bad that he wished to leave the dungeon to come back only after fighting another cosmic horror, but he knew that wasn't how it worked.

No, he would stay the full year. Perhaps implement some measures to assure better autonomy to the elites he'd brought along so he would have more time to himself.

His halberd skills were lagging behind by a lot, he'd created no new magic or spells, though some had indeed advanced, his armour was still the same as when he'd gotten inside the dungeon, and honestly, he felt quite horny.

The last one could have probably been solved by asking to participate in one of Septima’s weekly study sessions, which really, were mostly for her own skill levels and pleasure, but even the few that understood that were more than happy to participate. Due to the fact that she’d obtained a pheromore skill however, he’d had to prohibit half a dozen people from going to it due to a forming obsession towards the already tantalizing woman, and he quite honestly knew that even if he didn’t sleep with her during one of those, he’d end up infatuated as well.

Despite what it’s name suggested, ‘Psychopath’ did not make him an unfeeling person, more like it was a representation of his psyche, which was actually quite resistant to a lot of specific temptations and slightly sturdier than normal, but it actually had the added problem of reducing or even nullifying his mental defences in some cases.

He could not, it turns out, actually open the skill descriptions of neither Psychopath nor Arcanum, because according to Lea they were some kind of inborn skills he was supposed to just know about, the specifics of every user different but still similar enough for the system to have a categorisation to it.

And indeed, he could perfectly understand that one was his psyche, it’s benefits, quirks and problems, and the other was his desire and talent for magic and control taking root over reality itself.

Fortunately, he was self conscious enough to notice that he wanted her in his own way, which, song reference aside, he would never actually dare to burden someone with. That was just not how love worked, and if he couldn’t accept her with something she did not want to change about herself, then they were just not meant to be.

He rather hoped that such desires would die with time, but they were constantly part of his fears for a reason. Not that actually facing said wishes actually made him want to stop seeing the woman, on the contrary actually, as he fully expected her to call him on any possible bullshit.

Another problem of his own making had made his own situation worse however, as every elite was stuck in a closed off camp and in the middle of a very stressing situation, meaning that even if Septima was the only actual nympho around, plenty of people sure made it hard to believe that to be the case.

There were no actual cases of sexual assault, but the amount of drama that quickly brew on camp was such that Aki could only question lf this was what a korean hospital drama looked like.

Due to the amount of people not knowing how to deal with their own weird stuff and the small community not allowing them space to deal with the awkward, he had been forced to create a separate tent where people were forced to talk and resolve their issues head on and without violence, where he would then mute them until they stopped trying to deflect or be aggressive.

Luckily, the number of budding friendships were just as high, and there was quite the general feeling of companionship due to the shared difficulties and the more charismatic individuals rising up to the challenge of uniting said people.

Not everyone had maintained the same level of commitment to improving themselves after so long, but there wasn't really anything Aki could do about that besides give certain incentives and maintaining the environment where people had to at least practice a bit.

As it became clear he would not result in drastic measures however, a couple of humans, three farvit and one orc started to try and stop training all together, claiming that they wanted to leave the dungeon right before he started the last class of the week.

He snickered and asked if that's what they really wanted. Really, it was like they didn't expect him to have a ready response to that, so they even needed a few moments to realise he'd given them a contract.

"What the fuck is this?! This is basically a slavery contract where we torture ourselves!" Complained a Karen.

"So? I don't trust you, yet you have already benefited from this camp, so you are clearly a danger to the people outside. You are clearly blessed with talents and took opportunities to reach your current capabilities, yet you want to run from this training camp and waste this time i am gifting you despite knowing how hard and unhealthy it’d be to try something like what i am offering without my help, so you clearly need proper incentive to keep to your training. Taking the opportunity that these idiots have given me, let me show everyone what the current requirements for leaving the training camp are.” He scoffed, looking at the idiot with the full brunt of his social skills as he sent all those present a contract.

Detailed through it, he mused, were heavy restrictions that would turn anyone into a public servant with little time to themselves and with no way to come close to commiting a crime without heavy, immediate penalties, coupled with several restriction trinkets to allow them to train all day long for the next ten years.

Obviously, he understood that this would cause unrest and some panic as people changed the way they saw the training camp, but at the same time, he was surprised it took this long for anyone to even ask whether they could leave. These were certainly the best the zone had to offer for a reason.

“As I have declared a kratocratic republic however, I will, of course, not have a problem with any of the present trying to come and prove themselves better suited for domination than me. Duel me one on one or in a group and if you win you make the rules, simple as that. No deaths allowed, and you all know how good a healer I am, so is there even anything to worry about when making your problems heard?” He boisterously proclaimed, aura and magic flaring to make himself bigger and meaner looking, his eyes glinting with a sadistic light well known to all present. Seeing as even as time passed none stood up from their seats to join the group of dissidents though, he couldn’t help but laugh a bit. “Seeing as there are no challenges, I will make things easier for our friends here. At the end of this month, of the sixth, ninth and final month of our stay here, there will be a fight between me and all those present, with only the crafters having the chance to refuse to participate. Keep in mind that none of the equipment I gave out will be allowed in this challenge, Lea will not step in unless it is to safeguard someone from death and that you will be responsible for getting yourself out of the fight before you are unable to move. For now though, since it’s Saturday, I will give you guys an extra day off to take in the news. Do whatever you want with it, but know that I will be using the chance to upgrade my own gear and spell repertoire. Class dismissed.” Saying the last word, Aki then disappeared as he gave those present a cat-like smile with far too many teeth.

…………………

"You were serious about the 1 Vs 100?!" Exclaimed Lin Huang as he and the other commanders came to ask about the ridiculous proclamation he'd made earlier. For some reason though, he seemed to be the most surprised as even Lucy looked at him like he was an idiot, though she did that quite regularly either way.

“Yeah. You see, the power levels inside the system are pretty fucked up, like an ever inflating economy or a JRPG system that thinks that bigger numbers mean that everything is ok.” Aki shrugged as he molded the earth around the pillars he’d created. “Because despite the system trying to make it otherwise, the core of the nexus is the only thing that actually knows if there is even a way to properly quantify all kinds of powers. Even as people in camp have received several skill levels and new modifiers, i have consolidated my foundations and multiplied the application of my own power. That make sense?”

“A bit.” Shrugged Septima. “But haven’t your stats improved since you showed them off? There’s no way you have no path to complete or lack the points. Wouldn't that make this a waste of time since you probably have as many stats as the dungeon boss had?”

“True, I do have a shit ton of both those things, but I'm actually stocking up so one big purchase or another doesn't just fuck me up on a coming trial with scaled difficulty, so even if their grade improved, my stats are still the same." He explained with a maniacal smile as he traced the ritual lines before uncorking a vial into prepared metal tubes he fit into the lines, fumes rising even as those present watched the demonstration of magical might, everything falling into order as several invisible workers joined their lines and pipes and allowed the ritual to start.

"Just to be sure, but is that ritual going to be dangerous?" Interrupted Robert through his own shock and curiosity.

"Well yeah, but it's not like I'm activating it with you guys around or anything. Plus, it's not even ready, there's a shit ton more things to connect to the central ring, and since it needs a grimoire to activate, there's no real risk of it misfiring." Aki shrugged, speaking in a far more serious tone as he understood the man's worries. "By the way, could anyone tell me what you get for completing the Advanced fitness path? I kind of forgot and don't want to browse that missive again. I swear, the moment I create an information agency for Earth, an index and search engines are the first things I'm going to add to it." He complained.

"You're hoarding your points? How many would someone like him even get after several months…" Karta muttered while looking at Jonas, who just shrugged with some greed in his eyes.

"I guess there'd be no need for too many stat points if you have enough high ranked skills." Cesar tilted his head and began to brush his ears in dejection.

“Why do I suddenly feel like a side character who will never be properly introduced?” Asked Bob.

“Because you’re disgusting Bob. Now if you all could leave me to my ritual and finishing some important stuff, I'd appreciate it.” Aki said, directly shoving everyone out and back into the forest, his ritual site a few kilometers away from camp.

Seeing as those who’d stood out in the camp had decided to have a conversation right outside his formation, he could do nothing but shrug. They would not die if they stood outside, and there would be nothing to kill them off either, so that was a non-issue.

Now, his ‘capacitors’ were all in order and ready to be deployed, the funnel from the reservoir needed a few more touch ups to keep up with the suction that he’d be doing later on, but more importantly, he really couldn’t tell how well his ‘stamina potion’ would work with his skills. Sure, the amount and Ph made it both an acid and a poison, plus the amount of mana into the stuff was as high as it’d go with his current abilities, but it wasn’t like he could measure any growth he’d have during the ritual or how some other skills would even go about interfering with such an overdose.

Hopefully the Aether would be so much that it’d clog the ritual and create him a new grimoire by itself instead of pulling in several times more resources because of the potential it’d grant, but he didn’t actually believe in the earlier option being true when everything pointed otherwise.

Sighing, he sent Lea a ball of unease and anticipation, to which she sent comfort and reassurance. Their bond could allow them to do just that, so they did, and he honestly appreciated it. Storing his armor, the now naked young man stood in the middle of the ritual grounds and brought down the giant pool of dragon blood mixed with medicinal essence, held together by his magic and directed to fully encase him in a red floating ball.

The ritual started, his full being fixed on absorbing the mana around him before he allowed his preparations to run on full throttle. It was time for big numbers.