Jack's POV

  I knew Jensen was level eighty three mage.

  But wasn't he supposed to be under heavy system restrictions? I asked myself.

  So why is he still so powerful?

  The fireballs rained down on the nest endlessly. And the way he massacred the goblins without a second thought. It made me realize what a monster he would be if he were free to use his entire arsenal. The nest, which consisted a cluster of dozens of tents pitched close to each other until five minutes ago was now a graveyard all because of him.

  As Jensen had pointed out, he had his own demons to deal with. Those demons of his weren't satisfied with the handicap he already had. So he went ahead and declared how he wouldn't move from the spot where he stood. And true to his word. He didn't budge an inch the entire time.

  Needless to say, when those goblins charged at us. Jensen threw me head first to stop goblins from getting closer to him while he took care of the rest. The goblins ranged anywhere between level three to five, and I was twice their level. So I had to be extra careful as to not kill them. My job was to just keep them from coming at Jensen. Because with him killing those beings. All the xp was coming to me without any deductions.

  We had finally found a loophole to exploit by combining two things. First, was the party setting that gave me all the xp, and second was Jensen's restrictions which gave him a standard xp per kill irrespective of level difference.

  If Jensen was his usual eight three level without any restrictions. Then he would had got one xp per kill at best. But due to the restrictions. He was averaging anywhere between five to seven xp per kill based on the goblin level. So by the time Jensen and I were done with that nest. I had crossed not just level eleven but also level twelve with the xp I got for completing the quest.

  Ping!

  System Quest: "Training Montage Completed"

  You have reached the fourth floor in less than forty eight hours and cleared the goblin's nest!

  Reward 1: Your inventory is now unlocked!

  Reward 2: Level appropriate attire for the lord of the dungeon is available in your inventory!

  Reward 3: 500xp!

  Standing amidst the black ashes of the nest, Jensen and I read that prompt.

  "Go ahead. Open your inventory," said Jensen, while we stood side by side.

  I eyed the new green tab on the right side column of the interface. My stats and skills tab were still locked. But the third tab. The one for the inventory was now green.

  I tapped on it, and a new screen popped up. There were twelve boxes. Three in each row. And the first row was already full. The first box had the boots, the second had the key to the next floor, and the third one had the attire.

  Tapping on the boots first. I expected them to show up in front of me for me to wear them. But they materialized on their own on my bare feet. The black boots had a couple inch thick sole making me feel taller, and had covered my legs all the way just below the knee.

  Next was the attire, and my clothes changed from a simple pair of pants and a shirt to a thick black leather set of pants and a vest with a cape and gloves.

  "You look like a villain from one of the movies my great grandfather used to love," he said. "All you are missing is the mask," he chuckled.

  I eyed my arms and my pants. I was covered through and through, and it didn't feel cold anymore as such. There was this little rough pattern on my leather gloves which would no doubt help me better hold on to the dagger and other weapons going forward.

  "Check if it has any bonuses," said Jensen.

  "Where do I check that?" I asked.

  "Your stats are still locked," he stated, like it just hit him while seeing my interface. "Usually, that tab has all the information related to you."

  "You think it will unlock at level fifteen?" I asked him.

  "Even if it does…" he mulled for a long moment. "We should unlock the journal tab next—"

  "Really?" I furrowed my eyebrows at his suggestion while looking at my interface. "Journal tab?" I looked at him.

  "We could access the old conversations," he countered, while looking at me from the corner of his eye.

  "Can we go for stats or skills next, please?" I asked.

  A part of me wanted to know if I could do magic like him and Karaa. Or had skills like Mr. and Mrs. Tuma. There was only so far my strength and speed would take me. So having a skill or two would make all the difference between life and death while going to the lower floors.

  "I think that would be stupid," he said, while still studying my interface.

  It was supposed to be my decision, and I just needed his input as my mentor. Calling it stupid was uncalled for.

  "Even if it is, I don't care," I said, trying not to be offended by his words. "Anyway, isn't this supposed to be my decision?" I turned to face him. "I want us to go for stats or skills," I said.

  "No, we are not doing that," he said, with his eyes on my interface while ignoring me again.

  So I shut down my interface, and his copy went away as well.

  He turned and gave me that look that said, I was doing something important.

  "Give me one good reason why the journal tab of all things?" I asked him, crossing my arms.

  He gave me one long, hard look. Like he didn't want to deal with this in that moment.

  "Well…?" I demanded.

  "Isn't just me asking you to do something a reason enough for you to do it?" he asked.

  "No," I said.

  "Just go for the journal tab," he said.

  "No," I said.

  "Just do as I say," he raised his voice.

  Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

  "And why the hell will I do that?" I uncrossed my arms and balled up my fists.

  "Because I'm the only one who is here to protect you…" He got into my face. "Or do you happen to know who this other dungeon lord is?" he asked me. "What's his current level? Or what are his abilities?" He clenched his jaw. "We don't know what he looks like, or how long he's been a dungeon lord for, or what's even his real name, for starters. We have no clue about him." He listed out all the reasons. "For all we know, it could be Tuma's—"

  "Tuma's? Really?" I said. "You are being paranoid for no reason," I said to him.

  "I'm being paranoid for no reason?" he asked, and took a step back, placating his hands. "Oh, I'm sorry. It isn’t like I stand to lose one million credits, my level, my skills, and everything I have worked for if I have to break my restrictions to save your ass," he said.

  I had no clue if it was the adrenaline of having to deal with hundreds of goblins nonstop without a break. Or the fact that I was getting impatient to have a skill of my own like the others. I don't know what it was. But in that moment. I realized that it wasn't just Jensen. But even I needed to take a breath and think things through. Because he was right. He had a lot more riding on this than me.

  Even breaking a secondary condition of one shoting the boss would cost not just him. But also me and my family a great deal of credits.

  Jensen took a moment to calm down and eyed me again. This time around, he chose his words rather carefully and didn't just dismiss my words or try to order me around.

  "Unlocking the journal tab," he said. "Might give us an option to not only learn the name of that other dungeon lord. But also block him from knowing what level you have achieved." He paused. "He was talking about announcements," he said. "There must be a way to block them from being broadcasted to the others."

  "And you think all this would be in the Journal tab?" I asked.

  He shrugged.

  I may not be as good as him when it comes to reading people. But whenever he hesitated to answer me upfront. I knew he was hiding something from me.

  "Let's worry about what to unlock when we reach level fifteen," he said, and looked around. "Loot the credits, and let's move."

  "Move where?" I asked.

  "To hunt the others," he said. "We are yet to reach level fifteen." He smiled, having calmed down a bit.

  The map on the screen popped up when I thought about it. And of the sixteen tunnels that existed on that floor. There were six other goblin nests.

  I looked up at him. Feeling dread all over my body again. I was done. I was so done with all the fighting. Even in my dreams, all I saw were goblins coming at me with daggers and clubs. I needed a break. But the same wasn't the case with him.

  "It's going to be one long day of grind…" He grinned while cracking his knuckles.

  *****

  After multiple failed negotiations with the system on using self imposed restrictions again.

  We spent the entirety of the day clearing nests and resting in the bonfire in between. By the time we had dealt with the second nest. I began to notice that Jensen was tiring out. The system restrictions he had placed on himself were beginning to show their effects. So I had to end up killing goblins eventually. That and the fact that the other nests weren't as big as the first one, it all culminated in my overall xp gain being reduced by a good margin.

  Moreover, seeing Jensen kicking and running around by the fourth nest, as he had run out of mana. It made me realize why he wanted the journal tab unlocked. He had to protect me after all, and the more he knew about the enemy we were dealing with. The better equipped he would be to deal with him or her.

  But his excuse of blocking the broadcast of the announcement sounded a little too far fetched. If anything, that could be a system penalty on Benzo while he hid under the thirteenth floor.

  Either way, alternating between clearing nests and resting near bonfire. We finally managed to not only clear all the nests. But with the help of the dungeon map. We killed all the stray goblins as well while we moved from nest to nest.

  When the final nest was burned down. I had managed to breach level fourteen thanks to all the xp coming to me, and just when I thought I had fallen short of reaching level fifteen by a few hundred xp.

  Ping!

  "A Total Wipeout"

  You. You o' young lord of the dungeon and that mad mage of yours. Your party has managed to do something which had only been accomplished by just one other party in the history of this dungeon.

  You have killed every monster on this floor in less than twenty four hours. And more than 70% of the kills came from the party member with active system restrictions.

  Reward 1: Bonus xp awarded to all party members!

  Note: Bonus xp can be equal to the xp required to reach the next level or a maximum of 10,000xp

  Reward 2: Remove an additional system penalty!

  Breathing heavily with the soot burning my lungs while we stood in the ashes of the final nest. I tried to catch my breath while I read the prompt again and again. My legs and arms felt like jelly, and I wanted nothing more than to lie down and rest. But the bonus reward that I had just got. I didn't know the system could be generous like this.

  "Did you get the xp bonus?" I asked out to Jensen, while we both stared at our interfacing having just cleared the last and the smallest nest.

  "Got ten thousand xp," he said, while looking winded at best. "And the second reward was a bronze tier potion drop," he said. "That Benzo really screwed over with the dungeon reward system…" he grumbled.

  He had a copy of my interface, and he knew that my second reward was to get rid of an additional penalty.

  "What xp are you currently at?" he asked me.

  "Around sixteen thousand seven hundred," I said, zooming in. He could see my interface but couldn't interact with it as such, and the numbers were too small to read most times.

  Despite the nest being less populated, and me killing a lot of goblins with active deductions. I had catapulted a good chunk after that day's grind. I could now understand why Jensen was so keen on self imposed conditions. Because every quest he takes up while being restricted. He gets additional rewards.

  "I should be level fifteen with the bonus xp…" I sat on my butt, as my legs were killing me with all the running we had done from one corner of the floor to the other. "But why isn't it showing the notification of having leveled up again?" I asked out.

  "Give it a second…" said Jensen.

  Ping!

  You have leveled up!!!

  16,140xp Reached

  Level up!

  Stat points plus five!

  Ping!

  "Heavens are sure smiling on you today!"

  You can ask the mad mage what heavens are dungeon dweller.

  But for now, congratulations!

  You have finally reached level 15!

  An additional system penalty can be removed!!!

  OR

  A perk for the lord of the dungeon can be unlocked!!!

  Choose any two options wisely from the following:

  The screen went dark, and was about to pop back up as always.

  "Do not hurry," said Jensen while standing two feet away from me, while I was on the dungeon floor with my legs cramping. "We still have close to an hour before the floors open up, and that thing comes after us," he said.

  The moment he reminded me of that other dungeon lord. I pushed myself back on my feet. There was no way I could rest with that thing hunting us down. It took a moment for the screen to pop back again. But when it did. It gave me options. A whole lot of them.

  Ping!

  Option 1: Unlock the stats tab, and gain the ability to assign stat points to strength, stamina, and other parameters!

  Option 2: Unlock the journal tab, and read up on the vast history of this dungeon and much more!

  Option 3: Unlock the skill tab, and gain the ability to perform feats that defy the limits of the human body and mind!

  Option 4: Unlock the feature of hiding your title as the lord of the dungeon from other adventurers and fellow lords!

  Perks!

  Option 5: Unlock the next stage of the dungeon map free of cost with the feature to see the levels of the adventurers along with their titles!

  Note: This perk is limited to the adventurers on your floor.

  Option 6: Gain the ability to interact with the other adventurers' interface!

  Note: This boon goes both ways. Be careful who you choose to share your interface with for this to work.

  Option 7: Gain the ability to see other adventurers' interface secretly!

  Note: This boon only works on adventurers who are inside your dungeon and doesn't require explicit permission like the option above.

  Ping!

  You have two minutes to decide, and your time starts now!

  "Jensen," I called out, as my heart skipped a beat while a counter started counting down to zero. "I'm not even done reading all the options." My eyes raced back up to read option one again.

  "No matter what you do," said Jensen, while I scrolled up to reread the very first option. "Do not panic. Be calm," he said, while panicking. "Do not panic."

  *****