Chapter Twenty

The light of day reached through the blackout curtains and bathed Selena's face. Her face scrunched up in protest, but her eyes slowly opened nonetheless. Expecting to be in the passenger side of Jason's vehicle, she was surprised to instead be in her own bed within their house. Her eyes went down to see that she was still fully dressed, though she didn't know why she had to look. Jason was a saint if she had ever met one before.

Stretching out in her bed, she got up and walked toward the window. She looked out on the green yard which disappeared into white fog. She looked around, yet she didn't see Jason. Instead of going downstairs right away, she took some clothes from her closet and went to her shower.

One of the perks of the house Jason had picked was that each room had its own bathroom. She quickly undressed and closed the door. She turned the knob for the hot water and tested it until steam rolled off her body. She sighed in contentment and made a mental note to thank Jason for carrying her in.

She lifted her face to the water which poured down at a pressure she'd not felt before coming to this world. She shut her eyes to the onslaught of pleasurable force and remembered the last bath within her world. Though they didn't have the plumbing she now had, they did have magic. Hot water wasn't something she'd gone without, but the idea of a relaxing shower made her travels almost worth it.

Selena thought back to the last thing her father said before he sent her through the portal. He had hinted that they might keep him alive in order to keep the link to the tome, which meant there was a strong possibility he had lived the entire three thousand years. She didn't know if she felt relief or dread at the thought. What could have changed in that time? Could he still be the same person?

She finished in the shower quickly and toweled off. After changing and brushing her long red hair, putting it in a ponytail, she went downstairs to find Jason, yet instead of him, she found a folded note on the table. 'Went to train,' was all it said. She smiled as she took the note and flopped down on the couch, the note to her chest as if it were a silent prayer. "You didn't choose a lazy successor." She said to no one in particular.

Jason lunged to the side as the brute brought down his club once again. As the club raised the second time, Jason took it head on, using his iron sword to deflect the blow. His muscles strained under the pressure, but not as bad as his first time doing the dungeon. He was now deflecting more than he dodged.

He could feel the difference in the pressure of the strikes as his strength and endurance increased. The first time he defeated the brute, he was more concerned with surviving and less of mastering. Now that he had the time, he wanted to milk the big guy for all he was worth.

Steve had hinted at the time compression of his house, though he had known of the difference, he didn't know to what extent the compression was. Now that he did, he knew that he could do the dungeon for an hour, then rest for three before heading back to the dungeon once again. While four hours pass in the compressed world, only a third of the time would pass in the real world.

He didn't miss the fact that Steve didn't mention dungeons, and if he didn't, it meant that the compressed dungeons were not common knowledge. Whether that meant it was a lost knowledge, or something unique to Selena's family, he didn't feel like brining up the feature to his friend. It wasn't really his information to give.

Jason parried another blow which was aimed for his head, shoving the club aside once again and went on the offensive. He activated his temporal shift ability, disappearing and reappearing behind the large man. With a thought, he activated his mana saber, slashing a large cut on the man's calf. He staggered to one knee, but his arm still came back to where Jason had only just been, only to meet thin air.

Jason dove down to the brute from high up, allowing gravity to add more weight to his final attack, splitting his head in two.

The moment the blow landed, Jason sat in the lotus position and began to cycle the wild energy through his body, converting it into experience.

'Congratulations! You have defeated Dungeon Levels {1-5}

Reward $1,500

EXP 1,750

'Current Level: 6

EXP: 500/6,500

HP: 100

MP: 140

STM: 85

Armor Rating: 20

Current Skills:

English Scribe: Intermediate

Cooking: Beginner

Cardio: Apprentice

Hunter: Beginner

Hand to Hand Combat: Beginner

Sword Skill: Apprentice

Spellbook:

Novice Fire: level 0.0

Novice Water: level 0.0

Novice Wind: level 0.0

Novice Earth: level 0.0

Novice Light: level 2.3

Novice Dark: level 1.2

Novice Time: level 1.7

EXP Bonus: 20%

EXP to next Level: 6,000

Spells Unlocked:

Temporal Shift: Mastery: 100%

Arcane Thrust: Mastery: 1.96%

Mana Saber: 2.10%

Hurricane Kick: Mastery: 0.90%

Flash Heal: Mastery: 2.70%

Revive: Mastery: 0.00%

Sneak: Mastery: 1.30%

Other spells may be unlocked upon experimentation and advancement in rank.

INT:14

STR:23

VIT:14

AGI:19

WIS:17

DEF:20

'You currently have 5 attribute points to distribute.'

Balance: $15,259'

Jason checked his stats on his phone. "It looks like the three thousand dollars was just a first time bonus. But half isn't that bad." He checked his experience and sighed. Though he had cleared the dungeon of all mobs, the only noteworthy experience he had received had been from the final boss.

Before he left the dungeon, Jason decided to put all five of his new stat points into agility, increasing it to twenty four. He had taken Selena's recommendation to heart, especially after his fight with Rukil. If there was going to be someone stronger than him coming after them, he'd have to be prepared.

Pressing 'End Dungeon' Jason's vision went black until he was standing in the family room of his new home. He looked at the couch to see Selena sitting up and looking at him.

"Level six, huh?" She cocked an eyebrow at him. "Hurry up and multiply that by five so I can have some fun."

"About that." Jason told her about the large experience reduction after the second time he cleared the dungeon.

"Well, yeah." She drawled when he finished. "If the reward stayed the same, why would you ever move onto the next dungeon?"

"So the gains are cut after I complete every dungeon the second time?"

"Not exactly." Selena smiled. "I see you are increasing your stats past your level. This is a very good move. If you can beat the boss of the level six through ten dungeon before you reach the max level of the dungeon, the rewards stay the same."

"That means if I can beat the dungeon at level five, I'd keep the bonus for each subsequent level?"

"Now you get it." Selena said as she laid back down, her forearm covering her eyes. "Now be a good boy and keep leveling. We still have at least six days in this time compression. You'd best make use of the time."