Energy crystals jingled with every bouncing step, the sound ringing merrily—echoed by the smile on Elias' face as he finally stepped into the clearing once more.
He was still dirty, bleeding in places, heavily bruised, barefoot, and significantly poorer than when he first arrived—but he was satisfied. This sure as hell wouldn’t be the last time he faced setbacks, but at least this time, he’d come out on top. Hope stirred in his chest, and dreams of adventure began to fill his mind once more.
It felt like nothing could bring him down now.
Which, of course, was exactly when he spotted Melinda walking toward him—prompting a groan to rise from his throat.
Their relationship had only deteriorated over the years, to the point where Elias had come to dread every encounter. Each time he ran into her, she seemed more arrogant, more self-centered than before. It honestly broke his heart to see his childhood crush turn into someone so narcissistic.
Although their relationship hadn’t aged well, her looks certainly had.
Light brown hair framed a graceful neck, and a small beauty mark adorned her full cheeks, just below a pair of honey-colored eyes. Her clothes were styled similarly to his, though they did little to conceal her athletic frame and soft curves. A rapier hung at her side, swaying in time with her hips, her right hand resting lightly on the pommel.
Melinda was dragging along a large man who gave Elias an awkward smile when their eyes met.
John was a good-natured fellow, with an open face and a natural charisma that made him hard to dislike—all bulging muscles and an easy, charming smile. He carried a large spear in his left hand and a heavy-looking metal shield strapped across his back.
Elias honestly thought it was a pity the man had fallen for Melinda. It was painfully clear to him that she was only stringing John along to feed her own ego. He deserved better.
“Dear lord, Elias! You look like you’ve been beaten up and robbed. What happened?” John exclaimed.
Elias' eye twitched.
At that moment, Elias decided it was best not to tell them that, in fact, that was exactly what had happened. The genuine concern in John’s voice made it hard for Elias to be truly upset, but he doubted Melinda would show the same compassion.
“Nothing like that,” Elias lied smoothly. “I guess I just ventured a bit too deep on my first day. It’s hard not to get carried away with finally being able to level my attributes, you know?”
“Don’t I know it? Though, at least I managed to keep my boots on my first day,” the larger man said with a hearty laugh, glancing pointedly at Elias' bare feet. Elias laughed back sheepishly.
Just when he was beginning to think this meeting might not be so bad, Melinda spoke.
“That’s so embarrassing. Then again… I guess it’s to be expected,” Melinda said with a derisive snort, prompting a sigh from Elias as John cleared his throat awkwardly and looked away.
Sensing the shift in mood, Melinda raised an eyebrow and continued defensively, “What? This is the newbie zone. How weak do you have to be to struggle with the monsters here?”
“You know what? If you’ve got something to say, just say it, Melinda. Today’s my first day, for heaven’s sake, and you know my attributes are low-level,” Elias said, standing his ground against her provocation, resigned to the conflict it was sure to bring.
“Fine! You want me to spell it out for you? Alright, then. I think you’re weak—and an embarrassment to everyone who aspires to be an adventurer. Just give up and go home if you can’t even handle the weakest dungeon monsters,” Melinda said venomously.
Blood rushed to Elias' cheeks, and he saw red.
“We both know the monsters get a lot stronger the deeper you go into the zone,” he snapped. “I went too far in because I wanted to gain exp quickly. But I guess you wouldn’t understand that, would you? I bet you didn’t even step past the outskirts of the jungle on your first day.”
In truth, he hadn’t gone very deep into the jungle at all—but Melinda didn’t need to know that. And besides, she was making an unfair argument. Not only were Elias’ attributes still incredibly low, but he was also an unarmed fighter. Compared to her, he was at a serious disadvantage when it came to dealing with the dungeon’s monsters.This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Oh please, how deep into the jungle could you possibly have gone for the monsters to stop being pathetically weak?” Melinda asked, smug and clearly unconvinced.
Elias remained silent for a long moment, swallowing thickly before answering. “I stopped going deeper when I reached the border of the core area.”
“Liar!” she snapped.
“John and I are a hell of a lot stronger than you, and even we haven’t started delving into the core area of the zone yet—but you expect me to believe you did?” she scoffed. “Though, I can’t say I’m surprised you’d lie about something like this. You were always the weak duckling, weren’t you, Elias? If I had to guess, the level five monsters in the outskirts were already too much for you.”
Melinda giggled cruelly, her eyes sparkling with exaggerated glee, every glance mocking him.
“Maybe I just pushed harder than you, Melinda. If I remember right, your attributes were more than high enough to handle the monsters in the core area, even before you turned eighteen. But it’s fine,” Elias added, his voice cool. “You were never much of a fan of hard work, anyway.”
Melinda narrowed her eyes at his words, staring at him for a long moment before offering a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“I work hard enough—and as you can see, my efforts bear fruit,” she said, giving a slow twirl that flaunted her seductive figure, a striking blend of beauty and danger.
It took every ounce of Elias' willpower not to stare, though his gaze still flicked over her tight frame for a split second. He silently cursed his eyes for betraying him.
Finished with her performance, Melinda sauntered over to Elias, moving slowly. She leaned in close, her voice a soft whisper against his ear.
“It’s okay, Elias. You should take a good look. After all, that’s as close as a loser like you will ever get to being with a girl like me.”
“Don’t fool yourself. The only advantage you ever had over me was being born with higher attributes, and that’s going to stop mattering soon enough,” Elias said through gritted teeth, long-standing frustration and pain bleeding into his voice.
“You’re the one fooling yourself if you think you’ll ever be stronger than me,” Melinda replied coldly.
“I’m already a better fighter than you,” Elias said tauntingly. “Soon, I’ll catch up to you in attribute levels too. Who knows? I might even hit the Beginner rank before you do.”
“You’re a better fighter than me?” Melinda scoffed, the very idea seeming to offend her. “Don’t be delusional.”
“You know what? You don’t have to believe me. You’ll see the truth eventually,” Elias said flippantly, shrugging as if her opinion didn’t matter in the slightest.
“Is that how it is? You don’t have to be so cold, you know. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’re still holding a grudge because I rejected you,” Melinda said, an icy glint flashing in her eyes as she needled his old wound once more.
“That was years ago—get over yourself,” Elias scoffed, incredulous. “If you really think I still care about what you think, then you’re the one who’s delusional.”
“You’re the one who needs to learn your damn place,” Melinda sneered, finally snapping. “You really think you’ll ever be better than me? Dream on. I’m so far out of your league, it’s not even funny—and I’ll keep reminding you of that until you get it. I’ll always be better than you.”
She leaned in, eyes blazing. “So yeah, take a good look… because this is something you’re never going to have.”
Finished speaking, Melinda turned and kissed John deeply, grabbing his hand and placing it on her chest as she pressed herself against him. But her eyes remained wide open, locked onto Elias'. She moaned exaggeratedly, her expression twisting into one of overplayed pleasure—every movement a calculated performance meant for him.
It was an obvious attempt to stir desire in him, purely to feed her ego and humiliate him. And it worked. A flicker of hunger rose beneath the disgust he felt for her behavior, and that only made it worse. It infuriated him.
His mood thoroughly ruined, Elias didn’t wait for Melinda and John to part. He turned without a word and walked away, heading straight for home.
He knew things wouldn’t be so bad if he just kept quiet, but he refused to let her walk all over him. That, more than anything, was why their relationship had soured. She’d taken to putting him down in front of others to elevate herself, and worse, he’d discovered she was badmouthing him behind his back, making his already strained social life even harder.
By the time he got home, his fury over the encounter with Melinda had simmered down to a huff. The sun hadn’t fully risen yet, but the sky was already bright enough to reveal his mother sitting on the porch—staring at him with unmistakable anger.
He grimaced, his steps faltering for just a moment before he continued toward the front door. He focused on reaching the handle, doing his best to stay calm and avoid glancing her way, but she spoke before his hand even touched it.
“Get inside and take a shower. We’ll talk afterwards,” Vivian said briskly.
Elias’ calm façade crumbled at once, and he hurried to obey his mother’s command.
He’d never actually seen her truly angry, and he had no intention of making today the first time. From the way his dad spoke about her when she was mad, it was something to be avoided at all costs. So, he headed to the bathroom and took a thorough shower in record time.
When he returned to his room, both his parents were sitting on his bed, clearly waiting for him.
“Sit down, son. We need to talk,” Peter said calmly, patting the spot beside him.