Making Progress

ICDS Universe, Earth, Japan, Tokyo.

About an hour after he started, Tatsuo finished his private piano performance for Sumire. And the two sat in silence for a short while afterwards. All the while, Tatsuo was simply enjoying the astonished expression on Sumire's face.

"So, what did you think?" Tatsuo asked with a smile.

Hearing Tatsuo's question, Sumire finally snapped out of her daze. Then, after realizing that she was only staring, her face reddened as she hopped off the piano bench and put some distance between her and Tatsuo.

"It-It was great." Sumie said with her head lowered in an attempt to hid her blush. "You're really good at playing the piano, Soramoto-Kun. Thank you for playing for me."

"No problem." Tatsuo replied casually. "If you ever wanna hear me play again, I'm only a phone call away."

"I'll keep that in mind." Sumire replied without raising her head. "Well, it's getting late. So, I'll be going home now."

"Okay. I'll walk you out." Tatsuo replied while standing up from the piano bench.

Nodding minutely, Sumire then followed Tatsuo out of his bedroom and to the elevator. A few moments later, they were both in the lobby of the apartment building.

"Alright, I'll see you later, Minami-San." Tatsuo said with a smile.

"Sumire..." Sumire said in a very quiet whisper.

"Huh?" Tatsuo asked, not quite able to hear Sumire's mosquito-like whisper.

"Call me Sumire." Sumire repeated at a higher volume. Though, it was still a whisper.

Luckily, Tatsuo was able to hear her this time, despite the fact that she said it so quietly. However, he felt a little awkward calling her by her given name. Not that he was shy or thought they weren't close enough for that. Rather...

"Um..." Tatsuo intoned awkwardly while scratching the back of his head.

Hearing Tatsuo's awkward reply, Sumire finally raised her head. And when she did, there was a bit of panic in her expression.

'Was it too soon?' Sumire thought to herself. 'I bet he feels really awkward now. We haven't even known each other for a month yet. How could I ask him to call me by my name so soon?'

"That's actually gonna be kinda weird." Tatsuo said while smiling sheepishly.

'I knew it.' Sumire thought to herself as she felt a bit depressed.

"You see, that's my mom's name. So..." Tatsuo continued.

"huh?" Sumire said dumbly as she finally raised her head. "Your mom's name?"

"Yeah, her name is Soramoto Sumire." Tatsuo said while maintaining his sheepish smile. "So, calling you by your name will take some getting used to, you know?"

Realizing that Tatsuo was not against calling her by her name, Sumire felt much better. On top of that, she could completely understand his apprehensions. So, she smiled before opening her mouth to speak once again.

"Just take your time." Sumire said in a gentle tone. "I'm sure you're still healing from the loss of your parents. Just take things at your own pace."

Quickly understanding that Sumire had misunderstood, Tatsuo was disinclined to explain. How could he tell her that he was talking about his mother from another world? So, he simply nodded his head.

'Maybe I'll tell her the truth one day.' Tatsuo thought to himself. 'I mean, I don't really like the feeling of lying about my mom… Even if I'm still getting used to calling her that after being reunited. Besides, I'm not completely lying, either. My mother in this life was name Sumire, too.'

After a bit more small talk, Sumire eventually took her leave. Then, Tatsuo returned to his apartment and equipped his Kevlar defensive gear and his bladed knuckle dusters before returning to the Dungeon.

ICDS Universe, 1st Dungeon, 7th Floor Shop.

"Welcome back, Tatsuo-Sama." Loretta said as soon as Tatsuo appeared in the Dungeon. "I hope everything is going well in your world. It's been a few days since you came back."

"Don't worry, everything is fine." Tatsuo replied with a nod. "I was just training. I even had a breakthrough in one of my skills."

"Congratulations." Loretta said with genuine praise. "I guess that means you'll be climbing the Dungeon even faster now, huh?"

In response, Tatsuo smiled while shaking his head.

"Nope." Tatsuo replied. "This skill isn't exactly a combat skill. So, it won't help me climb any faster."

Hearing that, Loretta tilted her head cutely with a puzzled expression on her face.

'If I saw her do that with her real appearance, I would probably understand why Kang Shin fell so hard for her in the novel.' Tatsuo thought to himself. 'Even in this puppet , it's stupidly cute.'

"Anyway, I'm gonna start climbing." Tatsuo said as he turned around and started walking towards the door leading to the 8th Floor. "Oh, and please tell Lin that I'm sorry for keeping him waiting. I should have been meeting him on the 8th Floor by now to continue our lessons."

"Sure, I'll let him know." Loretta replied with her trademark professional smile.

Nodding in response, Tatsuo continued walking. However, just as his hand touched the door, he remembered something, stopped, turned around, and returned to the Shop Counter.

"Is something the matter, Tatsuo-Sama?" Loretta asked, tilting her head to the other side as she did so.

"Yeah, I almost forgot to check out what you're selling on this floor." Tatsuo replied with a smile.

Her smile widening, Loretta quickly pulled out the catalog for the 7th Floor's Floor Shop.

"Actually, I think we might have something that Tatsuo-Sama would find rather helpful." Loretta said as she flipped through the catalog. "May I present to you, this [Spiritual Shield]. If will certainly come in hand for the next few floors."

Looking at the description of the item, the [Spiritual Shield,], Tatsuo saw exactly what he expected to see. It was a ward that protected the wearer against the wraiths' ectoplasm arrows. And one could protect him from a total of one hundred arrows.

"5,000 Gold…" Tatsuo muttered, pretending to be torn by the cost. "It's kinda pricey, isn't it?"

"I assure you, it's worth every gold." Loretta said as she stood up straight, puffed out her chest, and used her right hand to thump her chest proudly. "It will make your climb much easier, as well."

Continuing to pretend to struggle with the price, Tatsuo eventually opened his mouth once again.

"Can't you give me a discount?" Tatsuo asked, not really expecting anything. "I mean, I'm basically paying 50 Goold to block each ectoplasm arrow. That's a little high, isn't it?"

Considering the fact that Tatsuo has bought nothing from the Floor Shop other than the fatigue recovery drinks that only cost 10 Gold ever since he started climbing, if you exclude the crafting tools he bought at the beginning, Loretta could not help but twitch her eyebrows at Tatsuo's miserly behavior. However, after remembering that the Lord, Sherifina told her to do her best to take care of Tatsuo, she eventually gave in.

"Fine, but just this once." Loretta said in a struggling tone. "I can give it to you for 4,500 Gold. But I can't go any lower than that."

'*Sigh* He's just like Shin-Nim. Loretta lamented internally. 'Neither one of them ever spends money. But at least Tatsuo-Sama looks at what I have for sale. Either way, I had to give Shin-Nim a quest and Tatsuo-Sama a discount to make them by something from my shop. *Sigh* My sales numbers have been on a steep decline ever since I was put in charge of those two.'

'Seriously?' Tatsuo thought to himself. 'But I know for a fact that I shouldn't have made any achievements that would give me a discount from the Floor Shop. So, why…?'

Despite the thoughts running around in his head, Tatsuo smiled at Loretta and spoke in a grateful tone.

"Really?" Tatsuo exclaimed gratefully. "Thanks, Loretta-San, you're awesome."

Seeing Tatsuo's bright smile, Loretta could not help but fall into a slight daze.

"How is this possible?' Loretta asked herself after snapping out of her daze. 'His Charm is almost on par with mine. But that should be impossible. I even have [Evil Eyes of Charm] that amplify my charm. On top of that, I'm operating a puppet right now, which should weaken the sensations I'm exposed to. Yet, I was affected by his charm, even if it was only for an instant.'

Deciding she could think about that later, Loretta forcefully shook her head. Then, she reached beneath the counter and pulled out what appeared to be a sticker tattoo. At the same time, Tatsuo reached into his [Inventory] and pulled out 4,500 Gold. Then, the two made their exchange.

"Thank you for your business." Lorretta said as she put away the Gold. "Now, I wish you the best of luck on your exploration."

Rolling his eyes like he always does after a transaction with Loretta, Tatsuo took off his left glove. Then, he pressed the sticker tattoo onto the back of his left hand. A moment later, the tattoo paper broke down into motes of light. And when it did, a tattoo of an Abra appeared in its place.

'So, it was a Pokémon tattoo for me too, huh?' Tatsuo thought to himself. 'Kang Shin complained about it in the novel. But since I like Abra, Kadabra, and Alakazam, I don't really mind it.'

"Alright." Tatsuo said as he put his left glove back on. "Then, I'll get going. See you on the next floor, Loretta-San."

Then, without wasting any more time, Tatsuo made his way to the 8th Floor and immediately started his exploration. And just as he expected, as he traversed the 8th Floor, the strength of the wraiths increased. On top of that, there were even a few who spit blobs of energy at him. However, despite having the [Spiritual Shield], Tatsuo did his best to not get his by the incoming projectile, using them to train his agility.

So, as he ducked, dodged, flipped, and did everything he could to avoid the ectoplasm arrows, Tatsuo swung his weapons, doing his best to kill the wraiths in as efficient a manner as possible. All the while, he continued trying to control the [Energy] wrapping his weapons. Unfortunately, there was no success to speak of. The effect of cutting space simply eluded him.

That said, he was managing to make every strike sharper as time went on. And by the time he reached the end of the 8th Floor, a day and a half later, he was able to kill each wraith in one hit, provided his blade cut across its neck.

{You have become Level 9. You have the qualifications to challenge the 9th Floor.

{You obtained 5 Stat Points.}

ICDS Universe, 1st Dungeon, 8th Floor Shop.

As soon as Tatsuo entered the Floor Shop, he was greeted by the sight of Loretta and Lin standing behind the Shop Counter. Then, while distributing his Stat Points, he made his way over to the counter with a smile on his face.

"I'm back." Tatsuo said as he arrived in front of the Shop counter.

"Hmph! What took you so long?" Lin asked with a snort of discontentment. "I thought you said you could climb each floor in two days."

Hearing that, Tatsuo only glanced at Lin. Then, he shifted his sight back to Loretta.

"Thanks for recommending me the [Spiritual Shield], Loretta-San." Tatsuo said, deciding not to respond to Lin's provocation. "Even if it wasn't particularly useful. But I guess the discount made up for it."

"Hey, don't ignore---"Lin began to say angrily, though he did not raise his voice particularly loudly. "Wait! Did you just say that Ane ue gave you a discount? But how is that possible? There's no way you've--- Ugh!"

"[Second Bullet of Annihilation]." Loretta said sharply as she threw a devastating right hook into Lin's abdomen.

*Boom!*

The instant after Loretta's fist connected with Lin's stomach, he was launched backwards towards the wall behind him. Then, upon impact with the wall, a small crater and spiderweb cracks were formed from the impact.

"How in the hell can you pack so much force with that puppet body?" Lin asked as he stood up while dusting off his clothes. "Damn, I'm gonna be sore for a week."

The next instant, Lin's expression froze, as he remembered exactly who he was talking to in such a tone. Then, he slowly turned his head towards Loretta, who was smiling brightly. Though, the hair of her puppet was floating menacingly, creating quite the jarring contrast.

"What was that, Lin?" Loretta asked in a sugary sweet tone.

Despite her tone, Lin was under no illusion that Loretta was happy. So, to avoid an immediate beating, he quickly turned his gaze onto Tatsuo.

"Alright, Kid, let's get started." Lin said, speaking rather quickly. "I don't have all day. I'm a very busy Draconian, you know?"

With that, Lin ran out from behind the counter, urging Tatsuo to quickly take out the [Orc Lord Set] and his crafting tools so he could get to teaching him how to make the modifications to the set and escaping the fate of being savagely beaten while he was at it.

Unfortunately, thanks to his fear, he forgot that Loretta was only controlling a puppet now. Meaning, when she got to beating him up later, she would more than likely be using her real body, which was an untold amount stronger than her puppets.

Blissfully unaware of the future hell he just cast himself into, Lin taught Tatsuo with all his skill. And by the time Tatsuo was too tired to continue, which only happened about eight hours later, the modifications to the [Orc Lord Set] were almost complete. And more than likely, Tatsuo will have finished his objective by the time he was ready to challenge the 10th Floor.