I probably should have tried to be more circumspect with my questioning, but I was exhausted, and secret plots that complicated my life made me grumpy. I'd nearly died. Should have died, even with the insane boosts from my Alpha title.

And that was just the danger on the surface. Velexis had not been a normal boss. Why did I need to kill her twice, and what had the Briggs been doing there? I felt like I'd stumbled into the middle of a murder mystery and was asked to solve it before I even knew the suspects.

Thankfully, Cyrus didn't seem to mind the blunt question, but laughed with delight. "You have a knack for getting entangled in complicated situations. The Grindstone Dungeon was made strong enough to deter most baby humans from attempting to clear it, and to leave Velexis alone."

"Yeah, I get that, and it makes sense that the final boss should be tough, but that's not the half of what I walked into, or I wouldn't have somehow completed a secret quest."

"Right again, Lucas. First, as you may have already guessed, Velexis Shadrael and Sixel Elaris were two different people."

"That was weird having to kill them both. I'd thought I was only fighting one demoness who had strange transformation powers."

"That transformation was actually the process of concealing her true form and possessing the body of Sixel."

"Stinking demons," I muttered. "Possession?"

"Indeed. Sixel Elaris was the shining star of the tier-4 Elaris elf clan, while Velexis Shadrael was a famous assassin of the tier-3 Shadrael demon faction. She specialized in killing the soul and possessing her victims, stepping into their lives and wreaking terrible destruction to their home clans or factions from the inside."

"She sounds like a real peach. Doesn't sound like any of that should be happening on Arasha, though."

The game world was a tier-0 world, or at least the part we'd ended up in was. I'd heard about worlds with other tiers from Noctarus and Fulvia the fairy, but Velexis's situation sounded a lot more complicated.

"Not usually. Both Sixel and Velexis were powerhouses of their respective realms, and both the Elaris elf clan and the Shadrael demon faction are competitors in the extremely popular and wildly lucrative business of fight arenas."

"So those paintings on the walls in the hallway were actual scenes from their home worlds?"

"Indeed. I'm glad you were paying attention. As you noted, the arenas of their worlds far outstrip any Earth arenas in size and grandeur. The demon-controlled arenas on their home world focus more on exotic death matches with monsters, while the elves run the most popular championship dueling brackets from theirs. Entire worlds across multiple tier levels are addicted to the rankings, and the elves have made ever-increasing profits in recent years."

The situation was starting to become clear. Some things apparently remained true even across the vast multiverse.

"So Velexis targeted Sixel to damage her clan's standing, with hopes of making them vulnerable to a hostile takeover?"

"Exactly! At least, that was her assigned mission. However, her greed far outstripped her assignment. When Velexis succeeded in consuming Sixel's soul and possessing her body, she decided to see how far she could push the limits and participated as Sixel in many tournaments. In that way, she won great prestige for the clan, but also enormous personal wealth."

"I'm guessing there's more to it." The picture I was getting of Velexis made me happier than ever that I'd killed her fast. With that vast pool of mana and skills focused on destroying souls, she could have snuffed me out, possessed my soul, and used me to destroy everyone I loved. If not for my Last Chance ring, she probably would have done just that.

"Of course there is. Velexis, as a Shadrael scion, is barred from participating in clan Elaris matches. Plus,by killing Sixel and wearing her body to fight, she broke dozens of laws and contracts. On top of that, she siphoned off a lot of the clan wealth in secret instead of pushing her primary mission of sabotage."

I bet her clan wasn't happy about that. What a piece of work.

"Okay, that's fascinating." It really was. Getting a glimpse behind the curtain into the wider multiverse was a lucky break, and every scrap of info I could glean might prove vital to my survival, as well as that of Earth. "How did they end up here?"

"She's a boss. As you already know, many bosses are drawn in from other worlds across the multiverse."

"So you just randomly drag people out of their lives and drop them into Arasha as bosses?"

"Not at all. Many organizations, clans, and factions volunteer to supply bosses and even pay for the loot you get by defeating them."

"Why would they do that? What's in it for them?"

"A lot, actually. In return for the risk and investment, the boss receives huge bonuses for every player kill they make. If they help prevent players from advancing to the next stage, their bonuses rise entire tiers higher. Even should they perish, their families receive hefty payouts."

"What about the sponsoring organizations?"

"They win big too. They gain the rights to send adventuring parties to Arasha after the game concludes."

"After?" I hadn't thought about what might happen to Arasha after the game. My entire focus was on surviving one month and somehow defeating Marisara.

"Indeed. The game is but the grand opening act to introduce Arasha into the multiverse. Once results are finalized, the world becomes a source of endless treasure. Arasha is bursting with riches and unmatched opportunities for advancement. Gaining preferred access could give a struggling organization a rare opportunity to totally transform their situation."

Huh. There was a lot more going on than I ever realized. Noctarus had made it sound like only bad news that he and Alpha had come from another world. It looked like he stood to gain a huge windfall if his plan to return to his home world panned out.

He'd get tons more by killing us all and preventing us from ever ascending to stage 3. Would he get bigger bonuses if our levels were higher? Was that why he was working so hard to help everyone level up to at least 25?

I sighed. We'd read the situation correctly, even knowing only a fraction of the truth. No way Noctarus would uphold his part of the bargain once his ships were all finished. He couldn't afford to leave us alive.

"So how does that treasure thing work? Are you saying a lot more stuff with high potential like those ironwood logs I sold can be found here?"

"More than anywhere in the multiverse. New game worlds are flooded with tons of potential that affects the randomly generated treasures. Coupled with the fact that materials are brought in from many high-tiered worlds to help create the game world in the first place, the entire planet ends up bursting with high-potential items sought all across the multiverse."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

It seemed like a complicated system. There had to be a lot more going on behind the scenes I didn't understand yet. Bottom line, keep my eyes out for more special loot with lots of potential. Those planks had been a huge windfall. If I could find a few more, they might finance all the gear our entire force might need to take on Marisara.

After mulling it over for a bit, I asked, "Velexis was in trouble, wasn't she? She'd pushed the limits and from what you said, her own faction probably wanted to punish her. Is that why she volunteered to become a boss?"

"Putting those higher Intelligence stats to good use. Indeed, Velexis needed a safe haven for a time, and languishing here in the Grindstone dungeon offered the perfect setup. No one could reach her while she plotted her next move. All she had to do was accept the restriction of her powers from a tier-3 powerhouse to a tier-0 boss."

Yikes. She'd been even way more powerful. She could have swatted me like a bug if the restrictions had all been lifted. Even if Cyrus had allowed her to use the full 100% effectiveness of her stats, she would have killed me. I might have somehow defeated her, but the wonder of that miracle paled beneath the sobering truth that I was still a flea compared to people on even the lower-tiered worlds.

No wonder I got 6 levels for defeating them both. In fact, I probably should have gotten more. I wouldn't complain, though. Six levels was an unbelievable jump.

I thought it all over for a few minutes, eating a chicken club sandwich in the process. I didn't come up with any huge insights, but did think of one more question.

"Hey, if Velexis was such a famous assassin, is there a bounty on her head?"

"Absolutely, and it's a very big one."

"Great. So —"

"You cannot claim it," Cyrus interrupted.

"Why not?"

"There are actually 8 bounties on Velexis's head from different worlds. However, to claim them, you need to bring proof of her death to one of the Bounty Hunters guild halls. There are none on Arasha."

I swore silently for a long moment. "You can't file the paperwork for me?"

Cyrus laughed. "I'll tell you what. I'll keep a recording of the battle as proof. If you ever make it to a guild hall, you'll be able to claim the reward."

"Thanks," I said dryly. As if that would ever happen.

"I'm always looking out for you," Cyrus said.

Taking a deep breath, I pushed it all aside. It wasn't like I'd ever hoped to claim an intergalactic bounty on any of the bosses I fought. I got the levels and I was getting loot. That was still awesome. I wouldn't let the broader situation annoy me like it was so clearly designed to do. Instead, I focused on the best distractions of all. Loot boxes.

The gold Solo loot box for avoiding that murky plot to capture me contained a single scroll.

"Upgrade Scroll. Plus 1 level to Wolf Sight. You've been dancing around this for a while, and now it's official. Wolf Sight can now pierce invisibility and most illusion."

"Cyrus, how have I been able to see invisible people? I just figured it was a hidden synergy between Wolf Sight and Spellseer's Gaze. I mean, Wolf Sight lets me see an invisible monster if I've killed a similar one, and Spellseer's Gaze let's me see energy and mana."

"That's mostly it. With the girl Brianna, it was that exact synergy, but with the Briggs, you had defeated them once before, so your Wolf Sight perk kicked in too."

"Huh. Cool. Thanks. The new upgrade makes it so much simpler."

"Like your Confucius said, 'Keep it simple and focus on what matters. Leveling up and not dying."

"I kind of doubt that's an exact quote."

"Close enough for government work."

I chuckled and moved on to the gold Superman loot box for getting all my base stats over 50. It contained 2 items. The first was another basic wooden wall plaque like the one with the big thumb's up I'd gotten for punching Fulvia. This one also had my name inscribed on the brass plate, along with the words, "Keep up the Great Work" and a flat bronze image of a bodybuilder in a strong-man pose.

I sighed, tempted to just toss the gag gift. I still had the first one in my inventory, but couldn't imagine hanging the stupid plaques in my castle between the heads of epic monsters I'd defeated. Surprisingly, Identify kicked in.

"Milestone award, 2 of 20. Collect the entire set for a special bonus."

Another set item? Cool. "What kind of special bonus?"

"You'll have to wait to find out," Cyrus responded.

Probably something stupid, like a balloon and a sheet cake, but the potential for something better definitely intrigued me. I dumped it into my inventory. The second item I got from the loot box was a scroll.

"Share the Wealth scroll. In the presence of your target, read the scroll to grant them a one-time boon of 10% of any of your base stats' value. Note: your stats are not affected."

Now that was some good loot. Too bad it wouldn't give 10% of my boosted stat from my Alpha title. Still, my base stats were entire magnitudes above most other people's, so it could give any of my team a huge boost.

My Platinum O'Hara loot box for ignoring the warning signs contained a single scroll.

"Upgrade scroll. Plus 3 to Stick and Knife fighting ability."

"Dual Wield secondary ability upgrades to a primary ability, level 4."

"Dual Wield. Epic. Gain 10% Agility and 15% extra damage per level when dual wielding. Once per fight may trigger Steel Blizzard."

"Steel Blizzard. For your next 4 strikes, 4 clone blades will follow each weapon's every move and deliver 50% pure kinetic force and 50% pure spiritual force against the target."

"Wow! Dual Wield is even more powerful than when I was offered it in my first class selections." With Dual Wield's bonuses added to my existing martial ability bonuses, my blades were getting powerful enough to keep up with the stronger and stronger monsters I kept facing.

"That often happens with secondary abilities build up over time and get pushed to primary abilities during a particularly difficult or dangerous challenge. Your duel with Sixel served as a wonderful engine for growth and evolution."

The platinum Maximus loot box contained two scrolls.

"Upgrade scroll. Plus 5 to Stick and Knife Fighting."

"Five!" I exclaimed even as the second scroll unrolled in front of me. I'd never seen an ability get two upgrades from one fight, and rarely a total of 8 levels. That was insane, and wonderful. The second scroll was fancier, covered in gold lettering and glowing with magic. That looked promising.

"Ability Evolution scroll. You have proven yourself a true swordsman at heart, pushing the limits of your abilities so far that you forcibly claimed your rightful tier of skill.

"Tier-0 Stick and Knife Fighting Martial ability evolves to the Tier-1 Swordsman ability."

"Swordsman. Ability. Uncommon. Tier-1, Level 2. Plus 20% effectiveness of Agility when wielding swords or fighting sticks. Plus 20% slashing damage and plus 25% penetration with each level."

"Yes!"

"Congratulations, Lucas!" Cyrus laughed. "Evolving your first ability to tier-1 is a huge accomplishment!"

Eva chimed in.

"Congratulations, Lucas! For becoming the first human from Earth to not only evolve your race to tier-1 human, but also evolve your first ability to tier-1, your David Copperfield title upgraded with the following change:"

"Increase from 25% to 30% the effect of all primary stats on calculating secondary stats."

"Plus 2 extra free points when leveling up."

"Note: Bonus free points are retroactively added to levels earned from this fight."

I blinked in surprise. "Whoa! That's awesome."

The increase from the original 25% improvement in calculating secondary stats from primary stats to 30% was nice, but the 2 extra free points for each level I gained was mind-blowing, and they'd retroactively applied those points to the 6 levels I just got. Sweet!

Over time, getting 8 stat points per level instead of 6 would result in huge extra growth. As the changes settled over my soul, power thundered through me and I closed my eyes to savor the influx of raw power.

On impulse, I pulled out my blades and when they settled into my hands, a rush of energy coursed through my entire body. I couldn't stand still, but had to leap off the couch and launch into a series of sword forms. Movement came effortlessly and I flowed down the length of the room, my blades a blur as I imagined fighting Sixel again.

Even though I hadn't taken another Road Runner potion, I moved faster than ever, and with more control. Unlocking 20% more effectiveness in Agility while wielding my blades made even more difference than I'd expected. With that boost, could I have kept up with Sixel?

Maybe. When I returned to the couch, I grinned up at the ceiling. "This is wild!"

With new motivation, I dumped my new free points into Strength and Dexterity, bringing Strength up to 71 and Dexterity up to 60. I was just glad Cyrus hadn't also updated my Spartacus title that gave me an extra 5% experience per level when I killed monsters more than 15 levels above my own.

My power had just jumped a lot. At tier-1 level 35 and with 40% efficiency, on the surface it seemed like I should be equivalent to a level 140 monster, especially with all of the extra boosts I'd won. The reality was probably a lot less, depending on the size of the power boost monsters got at levels 75 and 100.

Even if those power boosts dropped me to the equivalent to a level-99 monster, that was still absolutely awesome. I should be able to absolutely destroy anything else that might face me on stage 2, except for maybe Noctarus. I had a sneaking suspicion that clever necromancer boss had tricks up his sleeve like Alpha's title that boosted his power way above his level.

I was finally able to deal with that, though. And once I managed to get my efficiency higher, my power differential with tier-0 would only grow. That was how I'd deal with Marisara.

Unfortunately, that also meant I fully expected my Spartacus title to get updated accordingly. Until then, I'd take all the extra experience I could get.

"Breaking the path for others comes with many dangers, but also many perks," Cyrus said.

"So, any way that David Copperfield title can upgrade to another utility spell so I can get Base Camp?" That was the title that had unlocked the slot allowing me to get Soul Feed.

"Nice try."

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