"I feel like this is pretty easy now," Lana said, looking around the park they were jogging through.

"Definitely," Ian said. "It feels weird to think a quick thirty-minute jog to a coffee house won't leave us soaked in sweat and panting."

"I've noticed a difference since we hit the mid-tier last week. Now that we've caught Ruth, Jimmy, and Eric up, I can't wait to get back to leveling. I think we should try to get as high as possible before the first round of the mid-tier tournament."

"Definitely," Ian agreed, pausing to pass a couple of joggers before continuing. "Ruth and Jimmy will probably be busy filling orders until after the tournament. I mean, the gear they can craft at this point is leaps and bounds over anything we can purchase."

"And their ability to customize the armor sets has helped push our fashion up to a whole new level as well," she added with a smirk and sideways glance.

"No doubt. We need to get to farming the final materials for the patterns Jimmy unlocked for our level range. He said we just needed imbued emeralds, and they only drop in a single dungeon that we can handle. The monsters are between level 550 and 950, but the emeralds only drop from the elementals on the last level. The next dungeon that drops them has mobs that start at level 3150, so it isn't worth waiting, even if the higher dungeon has a much better drop rate."

"Yeah, I know we need to get in there, but Claire said that place is such a pain in the ass most adventurers avoid it. Nature magic, water magic, or blunt damage is required to really do well in that dungeon. Though, with the way your magic soul skill works, it should just slice right through the elementals. It just isn't normally an option at our level."

Ian nodded at that. He was planning on hitting the dungeon early in the morning and speed running it to get the few dozen gems they needed. The drop rate was extremely low, but the respawn rate was supposed to be incredibly high. It created an environment that was dangerous enough that the AO paid higher-level groups to clear it once a month to ensure it didn't overpopulate.

"On a different note," Lana continued, "I heard that the preliminary matches for the low-tier are scheduled to start in two days."

"They are," Ian said, nodding his head. "Jen's match is scheduled to be the first one. I still can't believe the bullshit Peerless has been saying about her. It's almost like they think it's impressive to fight a solo fighter with a full party."

"You're kidding, right?" Lana said, giving him an incredulous look as they slowed down to a walk. "Jen is going to eat them alive! She just completed the same set that Ash has and is now pushing to see how high she can get. Avra's crew members are all about to hit level five hundred, but even together, they don't even come close to being able to compare to Jen's current power."

"You think she'll beat them?" Ian asked, his worry obvious.

Lana snorted and laughed. "Ian, it's going to be a slaughter. She'd have to monologue to let it last more than thirty seconds. She's just gonna do her sweet shadow blink thing, and they will pretty much instantly die without ever knowing what happened. They may talk a lot of shit, but every word just sets them up for a more embarrassing defeat."

Lana suddenly got quiet as her brow furrowed. "I think they know it too, or at least Kambis and Avra know something is up. Kambis called Tram a few days ago, pretty freaked out. Apparently, Avra apologized to him for being such a horrible person, and shortly after that, she officially handed off the party leader position to Eveline. She hasn't said a word to anyone since then."

Ian just shrugged. "Not my circus, not my monkeys."

"At least we don't have to worry about her stalking you at the coffee house this week," Lana laughed. "Eveline has them running dungeons for like twelve hours a day right now."

"Good," Ian said. "Now, coffee and more pleasant topics?"

"Deal."

*~*~*

The checkpoint vanished as Ian walked across the portal threshold into Virum Ser. He knew it was going to be a cave system, but he was surprised by how bright it was inside. Giant leafy plants were growing all over, and the ceiling seemed to glow in a way that seemed to mimic the midmorning sky. The brown and gray rock that made up the floor and walls appeared to have been smoothed out over time, and led to a small flowing river, which appeared to be a few feet deep.

Off to his right, he saw another adventurer sitting down on a foldout chair, staring at him with a confused expression. He had dark brown shoulder-length hair and looked like he hadn't shaved in the past month. If it wasn't for the fact that he was in a dungeon, Ian would have mistaken him for a homeless man in his worn-out tank top and raggedy sweat pants.

Ian could see the man's leather armor, which appeared to be mostly patches, laying next to him on a rolled out sleeping bag. There was a small buckler with a mace laying next to them, and despite his appearance, the look in his eyes and the way he moved all but screamed that he was a veteran adventurer.

"Hi there, my name's Zero."

The man went to open his mouth before Ian saw his eyes start moving in the area in front of him. After a second, the man seemed to deflate and just started staring at the ground.

Ian thought about that for a moment. There were only a couple of things a person would look up when they were around other people. He didn't see him activate analyze, nor did he feel any mana being used. Then a thought came to him.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"Oh shit, let me turn off my stream real quick," Ian said before looking up in the sky. "Don't worry, folks, I'll turn it back on before I move past here. I just want to have a private conversation with this gentleman."

Turning his stream off, the man instantly began chuckling.

"Thank fucking god!" the man said in a deeper voice than Ian had expected. "The name's Vince."

The man got up and offered Ian his hand. Taking it, Ian returned Vince's honest smile.

"No kidding? Vince from Peerless?" Ian asked, getting a grimace and a nod from the man. "Don't worry, I'm pretty good friends with Jason, Tram, and Lana. Everyone's been worried about you, to be completely honest."

The man suddenly blinked and gave him a huge grin. "You know Jason? How is he doing? And how do you know Tram and Lana?"

Pulling out another folding chair, the man set it up near his own and motioned for Ian to sit.

"Jason's been helping me out since I started rising through the rankings a few weeks ago," Ian said, taking the offered spot. "He's been a great help to not just me but a bunch of other newbies. I don't really think he can help himself. He's like an old, gruff mother duck."

Vince laughed. "That he is, that he is." As his laughter trailed off, his eyes showed a hint of sadness. "I hope he isn't too mad at me for avoiding him."

"Nah, but he thinks old Dinkmiester deserves a swift punch or three in the dick. He really misses talking to you and feels responsible for the position you're currently in. It helped when Tram and Lana explained to him that you weren't able to talk to people because of your contract."

"That's a relief, but how do you know those two? I can't really imagine my clan letting them spend a lot of time at the AO."

"Oh, uh…when was the last time you left this dungeon?" Ian asked, giving him a look of concern.

"I don't know," Vince shrugged. "Maybe six weeks or so? I'm starting to run out of food, so about that. I think I'll be able to last in here another couple of weeks before I need to go replenish my stock."

Ian blinked at the man for a moment, trying to process Vince's nonchalance at being in a dungeon for weeks.

"Dude, you need to pack up your stuff here and venture back into the world," Ian said, leaning forward. "As soon as you get outside, you need to call Tram. He and Lana are both at my party now, and they have been for a few weeks. Peerless is…well shit, I've got a story that's probably going to make your day."

Ian reached into his item box and pulled out some beef jerky and a couple of bottles of tea. Handing them over to Vince, he pulled out some for himself and started going through the major events of the last few weeks. It took nearly an hour to get through everything, but Vince hung on every word.

"Damn that's wild!" Vince said, leaning forward and grabbing the back of his head with both hands. "So, you are telling me that I went into this dungeon with Peerless being social media's darling, and I'm going to leave to find out they can't even provide me with the basics of my contract?"

"Pretty much," Ian said with a smile.

"I always knew Peter was a scumbag, but I didn't realize he was purposefully tanking people's lives. I mean, he screwed with mine pretty hard, but that was because I was too stupid to properly understand my contract and what I was signing on for. I was stupid and naive, but you were an innocent casualty to his story."

"I also apparently have horrible taste in women," Ian shrugged. "Peter wouldn't have been able to do what he did if Beth weren't willing to bury me for her career."

Vince's eyebrows scrunched up. "I'm not so sure on that one. Avra spent all her efforts trying to fake it until she made it. I honestly couldn't deal with her because I felt that everything about her was a front she put on. It was obvious after a few conversations with her that she was trying to create a public persona because internally, she had zero self-confidence and was in a downward spiral.

"I figured if we had two of us who didn't have our lives together pretending to be people we weren't…it probably wouldn't turn out well. When I brought it up to Peter, the dude absolutely lost it. He said I was supposed to lead their party, and then he informed me that his experts said I needed to completely change my fighting style. When I told them that definitely wasn't going to happen, they showed me the provisions of my contract that stated I needed to display a curated image whenever I was in the public eye. Their lawyers screwed up because it just said stoic under personality traits, so I just stopped talking."

"I bet they absolutely loved that," Ian said with a smirk. "It sucks that you had to resort to it though, but that part or your career is soon to be behind you. You should head out, go get cleaned up, and then call the AO. It's really early, so just ask for a message to be sent to Keeper Withers. If you tell her who you are and that you spoke to me, she'll probably have you squared away before I'm done with this dungeon."

"I can do that," he said with a smile before confusion hit his features. "What do you mean you are going to hit this dungeon. Where is the rest of your party?"

Ian just waved his hand. "I'm pretty sure they are all still sleeping. I'm here to farm infused emeralds on the last floor for a crafting project, but you can trust me when I say it shouldn't be too much of a problem."

"Time out. You just said that you only hit one hundred a few weeks ago, and you think you can solo the rock elementals on the last floor?"

"Won't be a problem," Ian said. "I know it sounds crazy, but don't worry about me. Once you catch up on the news, you'll see that I'll be fine."

Vince's eyes turned green for a moment before shaking his head in disbelief, "I really do need to go touch grass or something because you are either pulling my leg, or I'm starting to see things." Standing up, he gave Ian a smile. "Thank you for the jerky and the story. I think I'm going to take your advice and go call some people."

"Not a problem," Ian said, putting his helmet back on. "Do you know the fastest way down from here?"

"Yeah, not that I have gone down to the second floor, but I can at least get you there," Vince said as he turned towards one of the exits to the cavern they were in. "Just take that entrance, go down two caverns, and take the first left when it forks. It will take you straight there. From the second floor on, you'll need to find your own way."

"Won't be a problem. I'll wait to turn my stream back on until I get far enough away so they won't know you're leaving."

"Appreciate it," he replied with a nod. "If everything works out, we'll need to grab a beer together sometime soon."

"I have the feeling we'll have plenty of chances, soon," Ian said, waving as he walked towards the tunnel entrance.

Starting down the tunnel, Ian pulled out his spear and began to jog. When a couple of greater earth imps jumped out of the bushes, Ian turned back on his stream as he charged the little buggers.

As he closed the distance, he activated magic soul just as he struck out at the closest enemy. The magical enhancement cut straight through the creature, though Ian knew it was right around level six hundred. Snap kicking out, he pushed the second one back as he swung his spearhead around in an arch in front of him. The magical blade easily cut open the chest of both of the creatures, causing them both to go down while letting out cries of pain that sounded like nails scraping on a chalkboard.

Within two more seconds, he had silenced both of the downed creatures. Smiling, he deactivated magic soul and reached down to loot the monsters. The extra stats were definitely helping him maintain his attack skill longer, but he could still feel the mana drain.

"Sorry it took so long, folks," Ian said. "Now, today the plan is to rush through this dungeon and see if we can't get a bunch of imbued emeralds. Jimmy said that he can make gear that is better than a lot of the dungeon drops, and I can't wait to get a set and show it to you all."

He smiled as he traveled deeper into the dungeon. He hoped that Claire would be able to work her magic to help Vince out. Between her and Jason, he didn't feel the need to worry all that much.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.