Chapter Ten

'Something smells good.' Jason thought as his mind came out of the fog of sleep. When he went downstairs, he hesitated. What he saw could not possibly be real. On the kitchen island, he saw pancakes stacked high, fried and scrambled eggs, bacon and sausage. There was a pitcher of what could only be freshly squeezed oranges. He then saw a few other drinks he didn't even know he had owned. The unfamiliar aroma sent his stomach into overdrive.

"You're finally awake." Selena smiled as she looked him over. "You went and became level 4 then huh?" She piled another helping of scrambled eggs into the large helping on the counter.

Jason looked at Selena and almost laughed. She was wearing a white apron over the clothes she was wearing yesterday. Her fine red hair was slightly damp from her earlier shower, giving it a darker appearance, allowing her green eyes to pop out more. He couldn't really trust his eyes. "How exactly did you learn to cook all of this?"

Selena giggled and pointed at the small tablet that was attached to the wall. "I watched how you used your phone yesterday and decided to give this a try." She pointed at the video history on a streaming site he had used before and noticed she had been looking up recipes. "I wanted to try to make something offered from this time, so I decided to learn."

"You just decided to learn." Jason nodded his head as if he understood. "How high is your cooking skill exactly?"

"Adept." She said simply as she brought the breakfast to the table. "I was always cooking for my grandfather on our journeys, so I became quite adept at it."

"Better than my beginner level." Jason mumbled as he sat at the table and dished up eggs and pancakes.

"I think you should show me around your world today." Selena stabbed a piece of egg with a fork. "I'm getting bored waiting for you to catch up."

"If you are so bored, why not continue leveling yourself?" Jason took a bite of his breakfast and smiled at the flavor. "Or get a job at a restaurant and show them how to cook." He took another thoughtful bite before truly digging in.

"I would continue leveling on my own, but the further you go, the harder it gets. I'd rather have someone else that is my level to help. That and we are connected now, so I would only be able to go into dungeons with you, and you are still not at the required level for me to have you come along." Selena sighed as she thought of her situation. Before it was as easy as popping out of existence after telling her grandfather she was going to train, then coming back when finished. Now she had to wait for someone else so she could train.

"Makes sense why you haven't helped me so far." Jason muttered as he put his fork down. "Then I should probably keep going with my training. I'll go to the dungeon for a few hours, then we can go out on the town." He stretched before taking out his phone. "It seems you don't have to watch over me every time I go into a dungeon, right?"

Selena nodded. "I know you went to the dungeon last night, but I decided to let you go alone." She put her fork down and stared at her empty plate. "Be careful when you hit level 5. Things will be different."

Jason gave her a two finger salute before disappearing into the black void.

When he found himself back in the familiar forest, Jason activated his mana saber and began the massacre of the rabbits. Whenever one appeared, it was quickly dispatched, sending 30 experience per kill to his level which meant at his current pace, he would have to defeat 150 rabbits just to get to level 5. "That just means I'll have to do the dungeon at least 3 more times before I reach level 5."

Since he had done the dungeon twice already, he was already used to the path and was able to find the furry annoyances easily. The process took him less than 3 hours within the pocket dimension to finish. When he looked at his phone, only 30 minutes had gone by.

Exiting the dungeon, he reappeared where he was standing before he left and took a seat on the worn couch in the living room where he worked on integrating the energy into his system. The process only took 10 minutes or so before he stood once again and stretched. Looking over at Selena, he smiled and waved. "Ready to go to the mall?"

Selena's eyes widened. "The mall?" A giddy smile appeared as she raced out of the house towards his old jeep.

Jason chuckled as he walked after her, grabbing his keys from the hook by the door. Selena was waiting impatiently, leaning against the passenger side of the vehicle. "Hurry up and unlock it, let's go!"