“Wake up, Eli! Mom said lunch is ready!”
Elias startled awake, abruptly sitting up to find his adorable little sister shaking him with all the strength she could muster. Admittedly, it wasn’t much. But then again, he wasn’t particularly strong himself.
“I’m awake, Bel! Now get out of my room! I can’t get dressed if you don’t stop shaking me,” Elias groaned, annoyance coloring his words.
Unbothered by his protests, Isabela just kept shaking him through the covers, giggling the entire time.
Left with no other choice, he snapped his hands toward her wrists, trying to grab her. But she was faster, letting go and darting away before he could catch her.
With a burst of effort, Elias wriggled his upper body free from the sheets, grabbed his pillow, and yanked it behind his back. He took careful aim at Isabela’s retreating form and hurled it with all his strength.
The pillow sailed through the air in a graceful arc, catching up to his sister just before she could escape. It struck her squarely in the back, jerking her forward with a surprised yelp.
“Ha, ha! You’re so weak—that didn’t even hurt!” she taunted, turning back to stick her tongue out at him.
Despite her words, Isabela kept running, going so far as to take his pillow with her. She slammed his door shut behind her, muffling the sound of her footsteps as they raced toward the living room.
Suddenly, a soft thud rang out, quickly followed by a high-pitched “Ouch!”
The sound lifted his mood instantly, drawing a smile to his lips.
Elias wandered into the living room a few minutes later, still somewhat bleary-eyed. Vivian was already setting a steaming platter of pasta on the table, while his father laid out the plates and silverware.
His sister sat pouting at the table, a bag of ice pressed to her forehead. Elias smirked when their eyes met, and her pout deepened in response.
“Hey, Bel, why are you holding that bag of ice to your forehead?” Elias asked, a mocking smile tugging at his lips as he stepped into the room.
“‘Why are you holding that bag of ice to your forehead?’” she repeated in a sing-song voice.
Her childish response only made him chuckle, which earned him a sharp glare in return. She clicked her tongue in annoyance, then muttered, “I hit my head on the stupid door frame.”
“Serves you right for running around the house like that,” Elias said unsympathetically.
Isabela’s eyes widened, clearly stunned that her big brother could be so cruel and uncaring. Her face flushed red as she pointed a finger at him, took a deep breath, then snapped back with a sharp response.
Of course, that only sparked a round of bickering between the siblings, which lasted until their mother finished serving the food. Even then, Isabela huffed at him one last time before digging in.
The smell of his mom’s carbonara made Elias' mouth water. The creamy sauce was thick and glossy, with a generous amount of bacon bits mixed in. He grabbed a handful of grated cheese, sprinkling it over his plate and watching it melt into the hot pasta. Twirling a forkful, he took his first bite, and his eyes rolled in pleasure at the rich flavor.
“Eli, why do you look like someone beat you up?” Isabela asked, crossing her silverware over her now-empty plate—the temporary peace enforced by the meal broken.
“You know, if you wanted to know how my first day went, you could’ve just asked,” Elias shot back, raising his eyebrows and pursing his lips in irritation.
His sister could really stand to learn how to dial back the annoying sometimes. He hadn’t even finished eating, for heaven’s sake.
“How was your first day?” Isabela asked after a while, her voice small as she looked up at him with puppy eyes.
Elias' gaze softened. He didn’t want to take advantage of her rare moment of vulnerability, especially when she was actually being polite for once. If anything, he wanted to encourage it.
“How about we sit on the sofa after I’m done eating, and I’ll tell you all about it?” Elias said with a wink, his heart melting at her beaming smile.
“Yes! I’ll get the ice cream—hmm, can I have some ice cream, mom? Just this once? Please, please, please?” Isabela pleaded, her puppy eyes returning in full force.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“Sure, honey,” Vivian replied with a helpless sigh.
Shortly after, Elias was seated on the couch with Isabela, who was visibly vibrating with anticipation.
They had often fantasized about becoming adventurers together when they were younger, so her excitement came as no surprise. She had started her own training years ago, though it had been far lighter than his. That was to be expected—she’d been born with high-level attributes, unlike him.
Instead of focusing on physical conditioning like he had at her age, she spent most of her time training with Peter to refine her combat skills. She didn’t possess his natural talent in that area—but that wasn’t to say she lacked talent. Quite the opposite, in fact. She had plenty of it, but Elias had always been something of an outlier when it came to that.
Elias savored the rich caramel and vanilla flavors of his Ancient Amber Cream ice cream. A fleeting sense of antiquity and mythos seemed to banquet him with every caramel crystal he crunched between his teeth. According to the maker, the dessert was flavored with Amber Sunset Vanilla (Ancient)—a rare and valuable natural treasure. It was the perfect ice cream flavor for the occasion, and his and Isabela’s favorite, too.
Licking his lips, Elias began recounting his tale for the third time that day.
With Melinda, he’d lied about his accomplishments, unwilling to show weakness. With his parents, he’d been analytical and introspective, keeping his story as factual as possible. But now, with his sister, he took all the artistic liberties he needed to make it the most epic tale he could possibly tell.
Elias described the Tamarin Macaw he’d fought as a powerful level 10 beast, capable of unleashing deadly soundwaves from its beak. He told her how the vines of the Hanging-Tree Sapling crackled with deadly currents of electricity.
Through it all, his sister’s eyes gleamed with excitement—and just a hint of admiration. He’d never admit how much her opinion meant to him, but that didn’t stop his chest from swelling with pride.
“At which point in the story did you get robbed?” Isabela asked with a grin.
Elias immediately deflated, shooting a glare at his parents—only to find them both choking back laughter.
“What? We didn’t tell her,” Vivian said, glancing sideways as she responded to his silent accusation.
He didn’t believe her for a second.
“Yeah… maybe she overheard us talking about it during breakfast,” Peter added, attempting to back up his wife’s claim.
He looked just as guilty as she did.
Elias narrowed his eyes at his parents’ obvious lies but only huffed to show his disbelief. There was no way in hell two Expert-rank adventurers didn’t know a twelve-year-old girl was eavesdropping on them. They’d never admit it, though, so pushing the issue was pointless.
He’d just have to put up with his sister’s teasing for a while—or find some dirt on her.
“I’ll go get dressed and head out to the dungeon,” Elias said at last, cutting off his sister’s giggles.
Noticing his parents’ expressions grow more serious, he quickly added, “Don’t worry. It’s late, so I’m not going to push for another level today. But I can still get some good exp in.”
“About that… your mother and I talked while you were sleeping,” Peter began, “and we think it’s best if you alternate your dungeon delving with physical training, to start building up your foundation. This will help your body adapt more quickly to your increasing attributes, letting you fight stronger monsters and gain experience faster.”
“But I’ve only raised my attributes by three levels so far,” Elias replied. “My Vitality by two, and my Strength by one. I already trained my physique to the limit of what my previous attribute levels allowed. Wouldn’t it make more sense to wait until I’ve made a bit more progress before focusing on building my foundation?”
A person’s foundation represented the true effectiveness of their attributes—how strong, agile, or capable they actually were, regardless of what their Status claimed. This distinction existed because the attributes people were born with only indicated their natural potential; they still needed training to manifest that potential. Leveling up attributes in the dungeon didn’t grant strength directly, it only increased that underlying potential.
The highest attribute level a person could be born with was level 10, which represented the very peak of natural human potential in any given trait. Fully developing an attribute to its maximum effectiveness at that level was known as achieving a perfect foundation.
After level 10, further increases reinforced the body with mana rather than biological growth. While this prevented physical deterioration at high levels, it also made improving one’s foundation much harder—and far more costly.
Because of this, most people hoped to attain a perfect foundation before reaching the Beginner rank. In practice, though, very few even tried. It was difficult, time-consuming, and expensive. Still, some committed to it fully, even going so far as to stall at level 10 for years in pursuit of that goal.
“Well, there’s an important benefit to building your foundation gradually like this, rather than waiting until your attribute levels are much higher than your actual capabilities,” Peter explained. “By doing it this way, you’ll learn to test your limits—delving deeper into the zone bit by bit as you grow stronger. That kind of progression is much more in line with what real dungeon delving is like. And limit testing is a crucial skill for any adventurer. Also... after our talk this morning, your mother and I wanted to help in some way. This is the only way we can.”
Thinking it over, Elias supposed his parents’ plan made sense. Even if it hadn’t, they were his trainers as well as his parents—he trusted them to know best in situations like this.
The biggest downside was the increased need for recovery potions, but they’d be the ones paying for everything anyway. If they believed this was the best approach, why would he say no?
With a grateful nod, he agreed to their training plan and headed upstairs to get ready.
He hadn’t trained seriously with his mom since raising his Vitality to level four. These days, they only did physical conditioning once or twice a week to stay in shape, but that didn’t mean he’d forgotten what it used to be like.
Sometimes, he still had nightmares about those days. Still… no one could argue with her results.
Maybe he really would be delving into the core area of the newbie zone soon.