Dungeons Online

"Let's take a short break," Tom said once the group reached the fiftieth level. With the boss of the floor defeated, they had at least two hours before monsters would start respawning on the floor, making the boss-room a great place to take some rest.

"What, are you tired already?" Marvin asked with a small smile. "Or are you that hurried to lay down with my sister?' he asked, his smirk turning into a smirk. 

"I could go through this entire dungeon in one sitting," Tom replied, rolling his eyes. "At the current state, both yours and Cleo's stamina also allow you to do that," he added, only to nod with his chin at the pair lagging behind. "But the same cannot be said about them."

Out of the group of five, there were only two people who had yet to consume a single stone. 

It was Kira and Rufus, the kid who ended up in their party for some strange reason. 

Kira wouldn't get a single powerup for the simplest possible reason; she was nothing but a slave, a prisoner trying to atone for standing on the wrong side of the battle at the dome. 

On the other hand, the matter with Rufus was far more complicated. 

On the outside, Tom claimed that every last stone had to be used on his friends, especially with how he decided to let both of them level up at the same time. 

But the truth was somewhat different. 

'I don't know if his parents would want for him to become a soldier,' Tom thought, reminded of all the doubts that he had just a few hours ago. 

He dropped the idea of thinking too much about them, but it didn't mean he was free of their burden. 

As such, he dared not to impose his own values on someone else's kid. 

What's more, it was obvious that this kid would crave to become a strong person. This was the natural drive for the great majority of boys, no matter the age, no matter the place. Yet, recklessly allowing him to obtain power greater than that of his peers could have a disastrous effect on his character without infusing proper values and discipline into him first!

"If that's the case, then let's stop dawdling on the matter and just take a rest," Cleo said, clearly unwilling to waste her time. Whether she was the one eager to get fed more stones or just wanted to get the entire thing over with as soon as possible... 

It didn't matter. 

Because ultimately, they were the ones that had to be in the greatest hurry. In the end, if any of the other parties formed from their family were to reach the boss of the entire dungeon first, Tom didn't need to strain his imagination to figure out what would happen. 

With everything said and done, their break passed rather quickly. 

For the first time since the group entered the dungeon, they actually unpacked some of the perishable food, one that was designed to be eaten with the first priority. 

Sadly, the greatest advantage of the food laid in how compacted it was, with the taste leaving a lot of room for improvement. 

And while Tom, Marvin, Cleo, and even Kira didn't even bat an eye to that aspect, Rufus couldn't stop whining and complaining about how dry the food was. 

"Is this how are we going to eat from now on?" he asked, throwing a hateful stare at Tom's face. "If that's the case, what did we migrate for? To live like beggars?!"

Every sentence he uttered was childish and caused by how naive and incomplete his worldview was. Those were the words spoken by a child, unable to grasp the scale and seriousness of the reasons that prompted Tom to push the entire, wide family to a migration. 

But that didn't make his words any less painful.

"Don't listen to him," Cleo said, noticing the signs of Tom's distraught. "He will learn as he grows up," she added, not bothering to muffle his voice at all. She even went for the extra mile and sent the kid an annoyed stare. 

"Who do you think you are talking to, BITCH?!" the kid shouted, clearly not used to being treated without some kind of fake respect. 

'Are those the effects of stress-free upbringing?' Tom thought, twisting his lips in an ugly grimace. 

Marvin sighed heavily and put away the can with his meal. He then stood up, approached the kid, and waved his hand. 

Clasp!

Without even a second of hesitation, he smacked Rufus' face, instantly invoking tears of both pain and surprise on the kid's face. 

"Watch the tone you are using when speaking to me, my sister, or the boss," he said, sending an angry stare to the kid's teary face. "You might be young, you might believe to be the center of the world, but if you do that again, I will drop you in the middle of a group of monsters for them to feast on your flesh, bones, and tears," he said, staring daggers at the kid. 

"Stop it, brother," Tom said, lightly shaking his head. "He isn't stupid. He is just young," he said. 

'What's the point of threatening him with something that we will never do?' Tom thought, more annoyed with Marvin's reaction than he was with the kid's words. Right now, if the kid were to ever cross the line again, they would be unable to stay true to their word, proving that he was free to do whatever he wanted. 

Even if they were to end up punishing the kid in any other way, the authority of adults would be already uprooted in his eyes. 

And that would make the rest of the journey through the dungeon all the more annoying. 

"Did you act like that when you were thirteen?" Marvin asked, calmly turning his head away from the weeping kid and looking over at Tom. 

"When we were his age, we were already out in the wild, hunting game for the dinner," Tom replied just as calmly. "But we are different from him. We grew up quicker because that's how the world was back then," he added. 

"I'm not a kid!" Rufus protested through his tears, unable to take it any longer. "Kid this, kid that, kid fuck, is this the only word you have in your dictionary?!"

"You claim not to be a kid, but you act like one," Cleo replied, amused by Rufus's outburst. "You complain about the food when others are risking their lives to get you safely to the destination. You complain about not getting stronger when there is virtually no spare room for you to grow along with those with better potential..." she added, only to shake her head. "If you are not a kid, then why do we need Kira to keep your eyes and ears closed so that you won't peek at me when I'm receiving energy?" she added, leaning her head to the side and throwing the kid a daring look. 

'Damn, I forgot how on point she could be at times,' Tom thought, swallowing a gulp of saliva. 

For some reason, seeing her act headstrong like that pulled a cord on his heart. 

'Do I fancy daring girls like her?' Tom suddenly asked himself, unsure what to make out of the situation. 

"Well, since everyone is done with their food, how about we move out?" he proposed, throwing a glance at the can of dehydrated meat that Rufus only played around with instead of eating. 

'You want to act like an adult? Then be my guest,' he thought, smiling viciously. 

"On it, boss," Marvin replied, noticing Tom's glance and acting accordingly. 

His quick wits were one of the things that Tom liked the most in his friend. Rarely there was a time when he had to explain his plans to him without Marvin figuring them out himself. 

At least, that was the case for anything that Tom could come with on the spot, with his reactions. When it came to strategizing or setting the course for a far-off future, they still needed to talk things through to understand each other. 

"Let's move out, then," Cleo said, standing up. From how she didn't glance over to Rufus' side, Tom could tell that she missed the point of his sudden rally. Still, she was smart enough to follow their skit without as much as a single word of protest or doubt. 

"It might come as a little surprise," Tom said, turning his face to his friends, "but I want you two to take care of the monsters on the next floor."

For a moment, everyone in the group stopped, frozen by this statement. 

"Are you sure?" Marvin asked, a look of hesitation appearing on his face. 

Even though this wasn't the first time for him to clear the dungeon, it was the first for him to do it with his own flesh and bones. 

"Yes, I am," Tom nodded his head. "While your skills are pretty powerful, you need to learn how to effectively use them in battle," Tom said before distancing himself from his friends. "Look," he said, constructing a magical spear in his hand. 

For a moment, Tom stood in silence, without as much as moving an inch. Underneath his closed eyelids, he imagined a set of opponents standing right in front of him. 

And then he moved. Throwing his spear forward, he started to construct another one from the bottom up, right as the previous one left his hand. In this way, by the time he sank the blade of his second weapon sank into the flesh of an imaginary opponent, he instantly swapped to his flying spear, kicking the face of the second opponent and lunging out at the third. 

Executing this attack took Tom less than a second, yet he had already defeated three of his imaginary opponents. 

It wasn't just the strength of his skills. It was his extensive experience in using and connecting them together to create powerful and often unforeseen combinations. 

"That's what I meant," he said, turning his face to his friends. "What you lack right now is not power. Its experience in wielding that power."