"I'm sorry for what happened back there, man," Marco said suddenly, pulling Elias from his thoughts.
"Don’t worry about it. I’ve known that girl for years—I know what she’s like better than anyone," Elias replied with a humorless chuckle. "I’m just glad you had my back. I really appreciate it."
"Don’t mention it," Marco said with a relieved smile. "And don’t take anything Melinda said to heart, alright? She has no idea what she’s talking about. You’re one of the best fighters I’ve seen anywhere near our age."
"Thanks!" Elias said, flashing a bright smile. "Actually, how do you even know each other? You’re pretty new around here, and from what she said, you even know her parents?"
"Well, here’s the thing... We—my father and I—actually came to this town because Melinda’s parents hired him as their trainer. They wanted help breaking through the bottleneck to Master rank," Marco said, scratching the back of his head, clearly uncomfortable. "I told you before that my dad was strong, but I didn’t really say how strong. I don’t like talking about it, but I figured you’d find out eventually anyway, so... I’ll just say it. He’s a peak Master rank adventurer."
Elias’s jaw dropped. His mind went blank for a moment as he tried to process what he’d just heard.
Master rank adventurers were already incredibly powerful, with attributes above level 60. But peak Masters were in a league of their own. Their attributes had all reached level 80, the cap for that rank.
A person’s attribute power increased by roughly ten percent with each level. For example, if someone with a perfect foundation could lift 400 kilograms at level 10, then at level 11, that same person would be able to lift around 440 kilograms.
It might not sound like much at first, but that’s just a single level increase. As the levels climb higher, the gap increases exponentially.
Master rank adventurers had attributes between level 60 and 80, and even the weakest among them could run faster than the speed of sound. A level 60 Master was more than a hundred times stronger in every aspect than they had been at level 10, and a peak Master was nearly a thousand times more powerful.
And that was just the difference in raw attributes. It didn’t even account for the incredibly powerful Skills and equipment they wielded, or the countless other advantages that came with reaching such a high rank.
Transitioning between ranks became increasingly difficult the further one progressed, with each advancement requiring greater effort and more complex conditions. Reaching the Master ranks was the mark of the truly powerful and gifted, and countless people plateaued at the peak of Expert rank, unable to move forward. Even discovering the requirements to advance could be a challenge in itself.
Elias didn’t even know what was needed to transition from Beginner to Novice rank, and that was only the first major bottleneck in advancement. All he knew was that reaching the Beginner rank required touching a Monument at a surface Temple with all your attributes at level 10.
"When we first arrived, my dad and I were invited to dinner at Melinda’s house. That’s when I met her and her parents," Marco said after a pause, continuing his explanation. "Honestly, they all seemed nice enough at the time. Melinda was polite and even offered to let me join her party since I didn’t know anyone in town."Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
He shrugged.
"I turned her down, of course, but that was mostly because I didn’t want to split the exp. I just wanted to hit level 10 as fast as possible. This is actually the first time I’ve seen her since then. Needless to say, watching her act like that today was a surprise."
"Tell me about it," Elias said with a scoff. "She used to be nice and polite with me at first too. Took me years to realize it was all an act. Though... I like to think maybe she wasn’t so bad when we first met. We were both really young, after all."
"Yeah, that girl’s a narcissist through and through," Marco said.
Elias gave a somber nod of agreement.
"You know, I used to have a crush on Melinda when I was younger," Elias said with a self-deprecating grin.
Marco burst out laughing.
"No way!" he exclaimed, disbelief written all over his face.
The next few minutes crawled by for Elias as Marco mocked him mercilessly, the compassion he’d shown earlier all but forgotten. Elias protested, insisting that Melinda hadn’t been so bad back then—but his words fell on deaf ears.
Their ruckus was loud enough to attract more monsters than usual to their location, which, while annoying, sparked a few ideas in Elias’s mind about how to farm exp more efficiently. Still, he decided to save those experiments for another day.
Since it had taken so long to reach the core area of the zone in the first place, the pair began making their way back to the clearing soon after leaving the glade. This time, Elias took the lead in showing Marco how to slip through the jungle foliage rather than forcing a path through it. Their pace increased so much that Marco even complained about not having learned the method sooner, claiming he could’ve gained exp far more efficiently if he had.
As they trekked through the jungle, they also adjusted their strategy for handling monsters. With Elias now walking ahead, he took on the responsibility of dealing with most of the creatures they encountered. But whenever they ran into something too large or tough for him to handle alone, Marco stepped in without hesitation.
In this way, they made quick progress through the dense terrain. By the time they reached the clearing, Elias had even earned enough exp to raise his Charisma by another level.
 
Congratulations! Your Charisma is now level 7.
 
All in all, Elias found that dungeon delving with a friend was a far more enjoyable experience than doing it alone. It didn’t necessarily make things easier, as there weren’t any particularly dangerous monsters in the newbie zone, but having someone to talk to made the day feel a lot less boring.
Even better, since Marco had already hit the level 10 cap, Elias got to keep all the experience from the monsters they defeated. That allowed him to level up twice in a single day, and he was already well on his way to raising his Charisma a third time.
By the time they reached the clearing, Elias was putting an inordinate amount of effort into keeping his back straight and his feet from dragging. He was exhausted, physically and mentally, but he didn’t want Marco to notice. The last thing he wanted was for his friend to think he hadn’t enjoyed their time together.
Still, when he glanced over, he couldn’t help but smirk. Marco was clearly on his last legs too, doing a poor job of pretending otherwise.
They were both so tired that they skipped dinner at the clearing entirely and headed straight for the dungeon exit, exchanging quick goodbyes before parting ways.
As Elias walked home, he firmed his resolve once again. He would reach the Beginner rank, or at least get close, before Marco returned from his trip. That way, they could officially form a party and start delving together for real.
The thought alone made his heart flutter. He couldn’t wait.