After 2 hours, the group defeated all of the floors, expanding their control over resonance while going against some of the enemies. They also found some new things when it came down to them leveling up after their prestiges — that being after leveling up, all stats don't go up by one like it did beforehand. Instead, it goes up by one every three levels. They also figured out that when they reached the 5th level, their exp bar requirement tripled. After finally defeating the last dinosaur, Riven thought it was time to fully check everyone's level.
Riven Harlow (Level 8)
• Strength: 11
• Speed: 11
• Durability: 13
Jordan Harlow (Level 8)
• Strength: 10
• Speed: 11
• Durability: 11
Leo Ashvale (Level 8)
• Strength: 11
• Speed: 11
• Durability: 11
Harkel Voss (Level 8)
• Strength: 11
• Speed: 11
• Durability: 11
Tessa Ashvale (Level 8)
• Strength: 10
• Speed: 12
• Durability: 11
Wren Fallow (Level 8)
• Strength: 10
• Speed: 11
• Durability: 11
Luka (Level 6)
• Strength: 8
• Speed: 9
• Durability: 9
Jude (Level 6)
• Strength: 9
• Speed: 9
• Durability: 9
Skye (Level 6)
• Strength: 8
• Speed: 10
• Durability: 9
Nico (Level 6)
• Strength: 8
• Speed: 9
• Durability: 9
Kira (Level 6)
• Strength: 9
• Speed: 8
• Durability: 9
Luka noted how he wasn't too far behind. "Catching up," he whispered.
"Hey, I thought your goal was to help your family. It seems like you're trying to make this whole leveling thing a competition."
"Why not both?"
"Well, if it's both, then you're in last place," Harkel chuckled.
"Well, at least my power isn't farts," Luka replied with a comeback.
"Wanna say that ag—" but the two were cut off as a ping sounded.
[system: you've defeated 10 floors' mini boss. Opening] A red portal then appeared in front of them all.
"You guys ready to get this over with?" Kaden started to stretch.
"What, are you going to be hands-on in this?" Skye questioned.
"No, I'm gonna end this. We've been here for too long enough as is, and with this being a boss fight, it should give a challenge, allowing you all to see me in action, so take notes." Kaden entered inside of it, not waiting for anyone to respond.
"He has a point. We've been here for hours," Wren shrugged as she entered the portal after him with the others following suit. When they entered the portal, they could see they were in a crimson red room. There they saw a throne with a shriveled-up corpse on it.
"What the hell is that?" Jude couldn't help but say — not because it was a corpse, but because whatever it used to be looked nothing like a dinosaur
The thing towered nearly twelve feet tall even as it lay slumped against the wall, its chest as wide as a truck's hood. Its skin was gray and leathery, pulled tight over a frame that seemed far too thick for a man. Where shoulders should've been, there were two extra pairs of arms — six limbs in total — each ending in clawed hands large enough to crush a person's skull. The middle set was longer, jointed in reverse like an insect's, while the topmost pair hung limply, twitching with leftover nerves.
"Maybe it's a remembrance of a beast," Riven put his theory out in the open.
"No, it couldn't be. All beasts we killed and your dad killed all disappeared into thin air like they despawned, yet this looked like it's been here for ages," Skye shut down the boy's theory with everyone agreeing with her.
"So it's a cosmetic or something."
"I don't know, Leo. This feels real, like I can feel heat coming off of it," Nico replied to Leo's question.
"I am the master of this domain. Who goes there?" a voice called out of the skeleton in a deep, dark tone, shocking everyone and immediately putting them on guard. The skeleton's mouth never moved at all, but instead waves of energy just came out of its mouth — energy that formed words and allowed them to hear it. But everyone could tell it wasn't energy flowing throughout its mouth. It was resonance.
"We are adventurers looking for treasure," Riven stepped forward. Using his knowledge of RPGs, he figured saying this might cause a quest or something that would reward them.
"Adventurers? Don't make me laugh. By your voice, you're nothing but a lad, but there does seem to be more than one of you." When the skeleton said that, what this meant—
"He's blind," Kaden whispered.
"Blind, not deaf," it roared, yet its mouth still didn't move.
"I think you made him mad," Skye said, smiling nervously.
"Hm. Enzo." After the giant said that, a cold breeze blew at them all. It made some of them shiver.
"Why did it get so cold all of a sudden?" Harkel said, shaking his shoulders.
"That isn't the cold," Kaden thought. "That was resonance. He used it so fast that no one else could see it. Hell, I could barely see it. But then, that's not the most frightening — it's how much aura he used. He filled this entire area, and judging by using my sight, this place is as big as an ABball Stadium."
ABball — short for Ability Ball. Think football, but instead of going for a QB, you're going for someone who's potentially as strong as Superman. The stadium is two times bigger than a normal football stadium since more people attend events.
"Ah, there's 13 of you. Seven male and five female — and whatever that is." Its eyes glowed a white color as it spoke. "I can also see you all are humans, at least some of you."
"Some? And 13?" Jude was confused on what it was talking about — same with everyone — until they heard Riven clap.
"Of course! Now I know what you mean. Jordy technically counts here since he still has a soul," the boy shouted.
"Sure, let's go with that," it thought. "But what I wanna know is how you humans know qi. I sense it coming off of you, with one of you being miles ahead of the rest."
"Qi? What are you—" but Jordan's question was cut off.
"Not you. YOU." The white, bluish eyes then glowed on Kaden, like a light being put on the star. "I get how you can hold so much qi in your body now that I've used Enzo on you all."
"Enzo?" Kaden didn't know what this thing was talking about.
"Wait — you have such a vast amount of qi in you and don't know what Enzo is? What have the times come to?" Kaden's eyes widened like he put two and two together.
"Quick question… is this qi?" Kaden then surrounded himself in a white aura of resonance.
"Yes, that is it."
"We don't call it qi. We call it resonance. Sorry about the confusion."
"Resonance? What fool came up with a dumb name like that? Never call it that again, do you hear me?"
"Umm—"
"NEVER!" The skeleton roared out, sending resonance — I'm sorry, qi — shooting out. Everybody fell to their knees.
"What the hell is this?" Luka asked himself. "I wanted to get stronger, but is this really the tier I need to get to change things?"
"Damn, Mr. Harlow definitely showed us that he's strong, but there's no way in hell he can take this thing on. What is it?" Wren yelled in her head but soon stopped as the pressure dissipated.
"I apologize. I shouldn't have been so hostile, especially since it's been so long since I've had to speak. The art of qi is nothing to play about. I spent my entire life mastering it, and to hear it be called such a ridiculous name…"
"So wait," Nico stood up, breathing hard, "you've had a life before this?"
"Of course I've had a life before this. Like I said, I'm not a beast. I was once a great warrior. You all should've known me — Jalen the Conqueror."
"Who?" everyone said this in unison, which caused the light from its eyes to turn off and back on again.
"Did it just blink?" Skye asked the closest person next to her, which was Jude, who just shrugged.
"Tolem's savior?" Everyone shook their hands left and right. The light in its eyes widened as the light beamed harder. "Okay, okay — this is what's about to happen. I'm about to list off names. I want to know if you know, okay?" Everyone nodded at its words. "Okay. Varokh Ardentfall. Saelira Thorneveil. Krydren. Arthur Pendragon." It stopped as it saw them doing the opposite of no — instead, they were shaking their heads up and down. This gave it hope. "What do you know about him?" They shook their heads yes, but no one stood up to answer him. "What's the matter?" it asked. "Do you know or not?"
"We know about him, it's just… we don't know if you'll like what you hear," Jude responded.
"Try me."
"Arthur Pendragon, or most known as King Arthur, is—"
"King?" it roared, but soon they all started to hear something again — a chuckle coming out of it. "This must've happened after we split up, because when I knew him, he was no king."
"Okay… King Arthur is most known for his bravery and strength, particularly from his great sword Excalibur."
"Ah, yes, Excalibur. I remember the day that sword was crafted. It was like the world itself was being shaken by each hammer colliding with the Sun God Metal."
"Wait, wait — crafted?" Nico stepped up. "In every source that contains both Arthur and Excalibur, they say nothing about the sword being crafted. Instead, it's all about how he pulled it out of a stone or anvil, proving his right to the throne, and then a woman giving him the true Excalibur after the first one broke."
"Fake, fake, FAKE — well, except for the one with the woman. She's technically true. Excalibur was crafted by a master blacksmith. Maybe his descendant is still here somewhere in the universe. He created Excalibur using a rare material that was found in the sun itself. They stole it and created Excalibur, giving Arthur extraordinary speed and strength to even rival my own."
"Like I was saying… King Arthur is known for his many battles, his strength, and bravery, but—" Skye then covered Jude's mouth.
"But what? What are you keeping from me?" They all looked nervous as the voice grew louder.
"You probably shouldn't have said anything," Harkel said, smacking his forehead.
"Well… the thing is, sir… is that everything that involved King Arthur and his story is considered fiction."
"Fiction?"
"Yes. Fiction, like… they don't believe that any of it is real. Most people believe that King Arthur is—"
"Fake? They think—" The skeleton shot up like a person standing when they hear bad news.
"You can move?" Joey yelled out his question.
"Of course I can move, you stupid—" but it stopped as the skeleton sat back down in the chair that looked more like a throne. "I apologize for my outburst. It's just hearing that your comrade, a very good friend — and all the sacrifices and battles that you did — are all seen as fake, or what you say 'fiction,' hurts one's soul."
"We're sorry that the world sees you as this — or I guess I can say doesn't see you at all — but you're strong. Like, by the resonance—"
"Qi."
"I mean qi. You spread it… it's very vast and powerful. Yet the way mine feels and the way the others feel — they're hot, almost boiling — but yours is cold like—"
"It's dead. That's because I am, kiddo," the skeleton sighed. "Just give me a minute, and I'll process the fact that my entire life, the planet that I was fighting for just up and forgot me and all my friends — or just sees us as people who are fake." A minute had in fact gone by as the skeleton shook his head. "Okay. Now I can answer your question. It's called Nether Qi."
"Nether Qi?" Kaden questioned, being enticed by the new thing he was seeing on this small raid.
"Yes. Nether Qi. Think of it as a last-wish type of thing. When you're on death's door, you can do plenty of things with your qi as long as you have enough. See, when you die, right? And your body decomposes or anything like that — what do you think will happen to the qi in your body?"
"It'll help you go to heaven," Leo nervously smiled.
"No. It'll disperse into the universe, allowing your qi energy to spread out to its primary source — the universe itself. But if you want to reject that, you can do a couple of things with your qi. Like your dying breath, you can lie— no, lie the last bit of your energy, or with enough of it, you can keep yourself alive for millennia. But that'll burn you out a lot, taking up most of your qi. Prime example being the one in front of you."
"Wait— are you telling me… that wasn't all of your aura that you just used to detect us?"
"What? Of course not. All I used was Enzo — a basic technique when you first start learning about qi."
"So wait, if you don't mind me asking… how much of your percentage was taken off after your death?" Jordan was kind of scared to ask since it seemed to have a short temper.
"I would say around 75% was shaved off."
"75?!" they all yelled.
"Yeah, but even then when I Enzo, it's not really pressuring. It's more for detection. Unless you're just weak."
"Truthfully… you're right. I truly felt nothing," Luka said, shrugging his shoulders. Everyone knew he was lying, though.
"Sorry, goodbye — we've been gone from my house for an hour. I need to go home to my wife and check up if she's all right." Kaden wanted to get this over with. He realized he was getting lost in the story of the skeleton.
"Ah, a married man. Well, how did you get here in the first place?"
"Wait — you don't know? Aren't you in the raid?" Riven questioned.
"Raid? This is my prison. They knew they couldn't kill me while I was in this already undead form, so they trapped me in the seal. I don't know how you ended up here."
"Wait, wait — so you're telling me we're not even in the raid, Jordy?" Jordan questioned himself.
"I don't know. Looking at it, we're in the raid, but we're not at the same time. Think of it like we're in a dungeon while being in another dungeon. Or in this case, we're in a raid while in what seems to be a prison," the boy answered, looking at the system.
"What are you saying?"
Riven didn't know how to explain it, but he put it in simple words by just saying that they were in a different area and that they went through a portal that was supposed to stick into a boss, but instead, it took them here.
"So am I that boss? Are you here to kill me?"
"What? No sir, no. Not like we could even more data—" Jordan quickly tried to de-escalate the situation.
"You also seem like a pretty good group, so I won't kill you. Actually, I'm starting to like you humans. So what exactly should we do to get you out of here? Hmm… what am I saying? I submit defeat."
[system: Boss has submitted defeat towards the user. Portal back to home opening now.] A red portal then opened up in the middle of the room.
"That actually worked."
Kaden walked through first, sticking his head through.
"It's all safe, come on," he said, then he walked through and everyone else followed. Everyone walked through — the only ones left were Riven, Jordan, and Luka.
"You go first. I'll be behind you," Riven told the green-haired boy and his brother.
"What, do you want to ask it more questions? If so, I'll stay for it. I don't wanna leave you behind," Jordan said, with Luka agreeing.
"Is there something you want, child?" it asked.
"Yes sir, umm… you called it Enzo, and you said it's a form of qi. I was wondering if you could elaborate more on it."
"Ah, you want to know more about the power you use?" Riven shook his head in response. "Enzo is one of the 4 main abilities of qi. Enzo allows you to sense others by spreading your aura out in the surroundings. Now, with your aura not being as great or as vast as my own, yours won't go as far as mine, nor will it cover that much of a range. It could also allow you to have faster reaction speed towards an enemy. Next, there's Kai. Kai allows the person to use their aura to construct it into something — like, if you imagine and tried to configura a sword or something, a sword will appear in your hand. Do you understand?" Riven shook his head up and down in response. "Now there's Shuten. This could enhance your power even more, but there's really no point in that since qi itself already does that. But if you need that extra boost, it will come in handy. But it's not that that makes Shuten — it's the fact that you can channel your aura into an object as well, making an object denser and stronger. But of course, if you put too much in it, that object could be broken. Lastly, there's Hōdan. Think of it as a type of air walk but for your level, it will be more like an air jump. You dense the air around you using your qi, basically making a whole other stepping stone for you, allowing you to jump again."
"Hey, wait a minute. Isn't that what you did?" Luka called out from the back.
"Yeah, it is. I hopped over that beast's tail. When I asked Dad about it, he didn't even know. Thank you — you just gave us a new growth potential." Riven bowed.
"Please, please. The pleasure is all mine. It's been too long since I talked to another. I thank you for giving me this chance."
"Wait a minute — you never told us how you ended up like this. Even only having 25% of your original power, your qi could most likely take all of us to our knees."
The skeleton sighed. "A high-end dragon mage."
"Dragon mage?"
"Uhh, Riven," Luka yelled as he saw the portal growing smaller.
"You should get going. You wouldn't wanna be stuck in here with me."
"You're right. But one last thing before I go — what is your name?"
"Tomar. The true name that my mother gifted me was Tomar. And yours?"
"Riven Harlow."
"Harlow? Well, Harlow, I want to leave you one more thing. I should've given it to the others, but think of it as a thank-you for staying with me and giving me this company. Come." The index finger of Tomar moved. Riven didn't think that Tomar would hurt him after having an opportunity to do so long ago. He looked down — all he felt was a tingling feeling on his forehead. "Done." Riven then looked, trying to shake the feeling off.
"Riven, we need to go now, brother," Jordan ran up, grabbing Riven's arm. But Riven was still in thought on what Tomar did to him.
"C'mon you two, now!" Luka ran and grabbed both of them.
"Wait — since you two are so dedicated to stand by this boy's side, I should give you the same treatment." Tomar then did the same thing to the other two boys, but Luka already grabbed their hands, running toward the portal before it closed. "Hmm… that was nice company."
As the three boys entered the portal and came back from where they once came, they could see the others looking at them like they were idiots.
"What took you guys so long? We were starting to get worried," Wren yelled angrily.
"Sorry, I was just wondering about a few things, so I asked Tomar some questions that I wanted answers to."
"Tomar?" Skye questioned.
"It was the skeleton's name. I thought it was kind of wrong to ask him all of this, and for him to help us out and then not at least ask for his name."
"Fair, I guess. Your dad ran out to try to talk to your mother, and Leo and Tessa went inside as well to take their showers and get ready for bed. But uhh… there is something I have to ask you three."
The three looked in confusion when Harkel pointed at their hair.
"What's that little red spot?"
"So I wasn't the only one who could see that," Nico joined in as they all looked at the little red line coming out of the boys' hair.
[system: Tomar gift was granted to certain party members]
[system: users' knowledge of resonance has been increased. All things that have resonance in them will be changed to its proper name of qi]
[system: most of the party members did not use an ability while completing the raid. Rewards: qi reward]
"Wait — Tomar's gift?"