Wolf

The wolves easily tear through the monsters on the next floor, and with their help, along with Sapphire’s, we all cut straight through the floor and wipe out the mini boss with no problems at all. And through that process, I learn that the wolves can be up to one hundred kilometers away from me. If they go further than that, then they vanish and need to be summoned again.

Which isn’t a very large range in the long run, but I did at least learn that the radius applies to Sapphire as well. Meaning that they won’t vanish as long as they’re within a hundred kilometers of her as well.

I continue writing all of this down in a little notes menu that I got and forgot about a long time ago from the System before finishing it up and turning to look at Sapphire, who is currently basking in the attention of the five wolves.

Well, as long as she’s happy.

Oh, right.

I return my attention to the notes while occasionally glancing up at Sapphire to compare her current image with that of an older picture of her. One from just a few months ago.

Yep. She’s definitely aging.

If she looked about eight or so years old when she first got her bipedal form, she now looks about nine years old. Maybe a little bit older than that actually. But still closer to nine than ten.

So if this rate continues as is, she will likely keep aging one year every one thousand or so levels. Which also means that she’ll probably be a teenager in just around a year and a half-ish. At least, at the rate we’re going now.

And that’s a scary thought.

She also seems to like changing her outfit a lot for some reason. And even her hairstyle once or twice. But I guess it doesn’t really matter since she’s the one making the outfit in the first place.

Anyways, I close out of my notes and my status entirely before calling out, “Let’s move on to the next floor.”

“Okay!” Sapphire shouts as a smile blooms on her face and she begins walking over to me again.

I turn to the exit with a frown.

Just a few more days and we’ll be on another Centurion Boss floor. The very same floor that the Ruler is planning something for.

Fae

“Mom!” Katie shouts while flying down with her starry wings to the large treehouse given to them by the queen of the fae. “They told me that Wolf should be reaching the two hundredth floor soon!”

Lucia – who used to always have a cold expression on her face – turns to smile at her daughter from her place leaning up against the balcony before she says, “Yeah, they told me that as well.”

Unlike her daughter, Lucia wasn’t able to awaken, despite her bloodline. She was – however – able to gain a small amount of control over the radiance element, giving her a minor manipulation power in addition to her ability. And ever since her memories were restored, she has been constantly on the move, trying to master her new powers.

“I’m planning on heading back to Aegis to watch the stream tomorrow,” Katie says while slowing down to land on the balcony next to her mother. “Titania even personally taught me how to use my radiance to open a portal!”

Lucia chuckles at her daughter’s excitement before leaning against the balcony, looking out over the beautiful forest full of massive, glittering trees in front of them. Along with all of the many tree houses built on these trees.

“Remember that he’s still fighting for his life in there,” Lucia says with a slightly grim tone of voice. One that’s offset a little by the amusement in her eyes.

“But nothing in that dungeon can take him down now!” Katie exclaims with a look of awe and adoration on her face.

Lucia just shakes her head slightly before giving up on that line of thought and saying with a faint smile, “I’ll be leaving Fae the day after tomorrow, assuming he doesn’t reach the 200th floor earlier than we expect him to.”

“Okay!” Katie shouts while rushing forward to give her mother a hug. “I’ll see you then!”

She then flaps her starry wings once more and flies straight through the sky towards another tree house.

Executive Stream

A few days later

“It’s about time,” Diane mutters with a dark look on her face. One that is mirrored on almost every other Executive in the room.

“Yeah,” Leo mutters back while the others in the room – including every last Administrator and Moderator currently supporting Wolf – nod their heads in silence.

Each of the Executives simply stare at the screen floating at the edge of the room as Wolf finishes off the mini boss of the 199th floor.

“No one was ever able to figure out just what the Ruler was planning, and now he’s stuck entering the unknown,” Diane mutters, the dark look on her face growing more severe by the moment. But it lightens up slightly when Leo puts his hand comfortingly on her shoulder.

Wolf takes a moment on the screen to look at his menus, preparing for the next floor.

“Whatever the abyssal demon is planning, he wouldn’t dare break his excellency’s rules,” Talroth says with a tone of voice more heated than normal as he speaks of The Reaper. And despite his obvious bias, most of the others still nod their heads. Because, after all, breaking the rules of the System set in place by The Reaper means demotion for any Executive.

Or in some more severe, abstract cases, death.

“But why would he be leaving the System’s territory if he weren’t planning on doing something against its rules?” Arianais suddenly brings up with a frown on his face. This has the others turning to look at each other for a second, but not a single one of them truly believes that the Ruler would go so far as to break the System rules.

“Whatever his plot is, we’ll see it soon enough,” Titania’s voice resonates throughout the room as she appears through a portal made by herself, breaking through the System’s boundaries in the process and corrupting the area.

This has another round of nods passing through the room, with not a single one of the Executives being surprised by the radiant fairy’s surprise visits anymore.

“Let’s just hope Wolf can deal with whatever the Ruler’s plotting,” Alastaraic says in a brief moment of seriousness.

Then, just seconds later, Wolf reaches out and touches the door to the 200th floor.