Chapter 26 - Anomaly(1/2)

After he exited Loki's room, Ethan had still one hour before Ais would go with him in the dungeon, so, deciding to use this time efficiently, he returned to his room while opening the [Instantaneous Speed Movements] manual.

Opening it, he started to study the theories and, what picked up his interest were the new training he should focus on.

He bought the item recommended by the book, thinking that he should have thought sooner about this.

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[Weighted T-shirt]

Rank: E

Abilities: Weight Amplification(E)

This T-shirt has an enhanced weight. The max of this cloth is 150 kg.

Effect: Weight modifiable to a max of 150 kg.

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Seeing this, he thought that with his power, 150 kg shouldn't have been that difficult but, just to be sure, he adjusted it to 25 kg before stripping off his previous [T-shirt] and equipping the new one.

Wearing the new T-shirt, he felt that it was difficult to stand but not to the point where he couldn't do it. Trying to move, he understood this type of training was harder than he thought but, without a hint of hesitation, he bought a pair of pants with the same properties.

In total, Ethan spent 10.000SP but, without minding it, he started to walk around in his room before he thought

'Wait, if I can make my previous training with these clothes, wouldn't that be perfect?'

Hearing these thoughts made Light tell her own thoughts

[It should be okay but you understand that if you set the weight to 150 kg in your pants and t-shirt the floor would collapse, right? For this, You should buy a [Floor's Resistance Upgrade], the cheapest can increase the resistance to a max of 1.500 kg, so you shouldn't have problems]

The reply of Light made Ethan smile

["Thanks Light, Can you buy that item and place it in my room?"]

[Understood, using 20.000SP to buy a [Floor's Resistance Upgrade]...]

[Placing it on the floor...]

[Warning! The area is smaller than the range of the Item, resistance upgraded to 3.000 kg]

Having the new weight to 3.000 instead of 1.500 brought a shocked expression on his face before he saw it was time to go in the Dungeon with Ais. He wanted to change in his normal clothes but, deciding against it, he left his room with mechanical steps, trying to walk naturally.

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3 minutes later, Ethan was in front of Ais' room and, this time, he didn't even have to knock before the door opened.

Seeing Ais already prepared made Ethan shocked for the 2nd time of the day but, without being it shown on his face, he said

"We should go"

Looking at him, Ais had a 'smile' on her face while saying

"Yes.."

On the way to the exit, the members of the Loki familia directed their gaze towards Ethan while whispering

"Oi Oi! Look, It's that boy again.. He is with the Sword Princess this time!!"

"Baka! don't speak so loud, they can hear us!"

"This is the 3rd time you call me Baka, I will kill you this time!"

After exiting the Twilight Manor together, the two made their way to the Dungeon while groups of people looked at the person with the Sword Princess. Although he wasn't showed on the Loki Familia's members yet, he was the famous boy that had Loki come to the guild even if they knew he was a level 1.

Seeing him with a core member of the Loki familia caused the crowd to look at them but, without minding it, the two arrived at the dungeon after 1 hour of walk.

Before they entered, he said

"I didn't go deeper than the 9th floor"

Hearing these words made Ais look at him while she said

"We won't go..deeper than the 9th for today... I want to see you...while fighting monsters.."

Seeing the serious look on Ais' face, he thought she probably wanted to see what he lacked for their training. Nodding his head, he saw Ais making distance from him before she said

"I will watch you from 20 meters away.."

With this, Ethan tried to run, but he nearly fell in the aftermath.

'Should I try with magic..?'

Walking on the 1st floor, he saw a goblin spawn in front of him. He equipped his daggers while he tried to slice at the goblin. Even if his movements were much slower than before, he was still faster than the goblin. With a single hit, he saw the monster being sliced in two before it dissipated with a monster core drop from it.

Ais had doubts at this point so, with a fast move, she went near him.

"Why are you..slower...?"

Seeing her in front of him, he replied

"I am using a new type of magic that increases the weight of the clothes. So I am trying to adjust my speed and, If I can do it, I can become much faster than before"

Having her doubts cleared, she said

"I see..."

Without uttering another word, he saw her went to her previous position while he tried to run all the way to the next room of the floor. Although he couldn't use his previous speed, he was still faster than a normal civilian and, reaching the 2nd floor running, he felt tired.

'To feel like this I had to make 30 km...'

Knowing that feeling tired was a sign that he was improving, Ethan felt happy that he bought the manual because this type of training can help not only his speed, But even his strength to raise a lot. From End to Pow. Agi and Dex. A passive type of training that could boost all at the same time.

With his happiness, Ethan continued to kill monsters with only his daggers. This because he felt he had to improve a lot by using the daggers instead of relying on his magic to kill monsters.

After 1 hour, he was still on the 6th floor, something picked up by Ais. She went near him another time while she said

"Do you..need to rest?"

He was improving at a visible rate, in fact, he could move at 60% his normal speed but, he felt resting wasn't an option.

"I want to continue.."

Ais, nodded her head before repositioning herself. Seeing this made Ethan smile before he started to fight against a War Shadow. He understood that the War Shadow against him was a Variant and, with his battle-ready state, he immediately tried to slice the monster but, the moment he tried, it appeared behind him while trying to use his claws to cut through him.

Sensing the 'danger', he dodged at the last second before he tried to use the occasion to counterattack. He saw the monster appear 3 meters away from him with a speed he couldn't react with his current restrictions. He wanted to kill the monster but, Without magic and with his current speed, it was difficult to do so.

The War Shadow, attacked again but this time with speed he couldn't match. He decided it was time to use his [Boost Magic] and, seeing the claw that was trying to hit him before slow down, he used this opportunity to slice through it, making it dissipate in the aftermath.

He saw the core drop on the floor before he felt his tiredness increasing much more than before. Looking at Ais with a smile on his face, he said

"I need to rest a bit.."

Hearing these words, She went near him again while replying

"I will kill the monsters in the area..take your time"

Nodding his head, Ethan took out a bed from his Inventory, placing it on the centre of the room. Ais didn't say anything about it while she saw him sit on the bed.

After 30 minutes, he felt the fatigue was completely gone, so, he put his bed back before he tested his own speed. Seeing he could move at 80% his previous speed, Ethan felt happy.

Seeing him replacing the bed in his Inventory, Ais asked

"You want to..continue..?"

Hearing these words, Ethan replied

"Yes, I need to reach the 9th floor, remember?"

With a 'smile' on her face, she said

"I admire your determination."

Her words made him look at her while saying

"I want to be at the top with you"

Hearing these words, Ais had a confused expression on her face before Ethan added

"Don't think that hard about it.. I will try to make you understand in the future.."

With a nod from Ais, Ethan made his way to the 9th floor while she watched him.

Arriving at the 9th floor, there was something strange in the surroundings, something picked up by the two of them. She immediately went near him, saying

"Careful..this isn't normal..."

He understood it was the truth because the feeling of 'danger' inside him was building up and, feeling the danger increasing, he said

"I want to take care of it, if things get worse..you will help me, okay?"

Hearing his words made Ais nod while saying

"I won't intervene."

After she said this, they saw a group of Hobgoblins, looking at them before they started to run at full speed against Ethan. Sensing danger from them, he activated his [Boost Magic], dodging the hits. He decided it was better to rely on his magic because, the fact that Hobgoblins were present on the 9th floor made him worry about other adventurers in the other floors. This because there was clearly an anomaly in the Dungeon and, sensing it would probably be the same in other floors, he said

"Ais, go in the other floors to check the situation, I will face these enemies and after that I will reach you.."

Ais, wanted to say he shouldn't face enemies this strong but, she decided to trust Ethan's judgment. Nodding her head, she replied

"I will go.."

He smiled at her words before seeing her run at speeds he can't even follow at the moment.

'I want to be faster than her'

Was all that he thought before facing the 5 Hobgoblins, saying

"If someone said to me in the past I would have faced 5 Hobgoblins in the 9th floor, I would never have believed them.."

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(I have a discord server. discord.gg/cpVr5X8 If you enter it, you can choose one of Ethan's future powers from the pool I created, but that's not all! On the server, you can see the reference on some things that will be present in the story! Right now you can freely see some things like the [Twin's Digimon], but I advise you to read the story further before seeing them otherwise you'll get spoilers!)

(A/N: Cliff-kun was necessary because when I was writing the fight scene I made it way too long, so I need to smooth it out a bit and I thought about dividing the chapter in two parts.. I'm sorry..)

(Alternate Titles: "When Ethan was resting, Ais was making the monsters run for their lives like hell", "'I will return, Eina' yes..", "Goku's training joined the chat")