"Please go!" Her voice jolted him back to his senses.
Varian looked up and saw Amanda fighting the fire wolf. Her body was trembling, but she kept attacking. Distracting. Buying time.
"Run Varian! Please!" She pleaded.
Roar!
The fire wolf injured her and Amanda clutched her stomach in pain.
"Mom!" Varian yelled.
He must save her. At all costs. He gathered all the energy in his body and—
"Huh?!" He couldn't move.
Varian saw the Fire Wolf biting down Amanda's shoulder.
'Move!' He commanded his body.
His heart raced, and he used every ounce of his will to command his body to rush in front of her and save her.
But his body was like a corpse. No matter how much he willed, forced and commanded, it laid on the ground and didn't budge.
At that moment, he hated himself.
Finally, the Fire Wolf opened its mouth and—
"NO!"
Varian woke up.
"Ha! Ha!" He clutched his heart as it thrashed against his ribcage.
The red cave walls were telling him it was just a dream, but…
"Why?" Varian whispered and slowly stood.
His back was completely drenched in sweat, and his face was deathly pale.
Worse, he clenched his fist and blood was slowly dripping onto the ground.
Drip!
Drip!
"I am not a coward." He said out loud.
'Yes, you are. You froze from fear.' A voice muttered in his head.
Varian shook his head. But the scene of pouring his everything to move, but being frozen like a corpse… he couldn't forget it.
The helplessness he felt.
The whimpers of his mom as blood gushed out of her wounds.
He would never forget.
'You are a coward.' The voice said again. It was his voice.
Varian's eyes turned bloodshot, and he gritted his teeth.
"I have this System, I can grow stronger. I will prove myself. I can save. I will not be helpless like that. Never again."
'You cannot. When you have to save the most important person, you'll still freeze. I know this. Because I am you. I am your belief.' The voice trailed off.
Varian felt like he was knocked out of breath.
"Ha! Ha! Ha!" He panted as he ran out of the cave. A wave of emotions overcame him.
Why was he still dreaming of that night?
This was not the first time it happened. Despite his awakening, the dreams continued.
It was as if he was cursed to never forget that night.
Seeing her die over and over was enough to drive him insane.
At times, he wanted to stop. Just go back to his darkroom and live everyday fighting in that Leon Hall.
But there was only one reason that kept him going.
"Sia!" He yelled.
His voice, filled with anguish and determination, echoed across the valleys.
"I will find you. Even if it is just to prove myself that I am not a coward. I will find you."
His breath slowly calmed down, and his eyes turned normal.
Varian's figure blurred and at a great speed, he ran to the Sandworm's nest.
"Boss, Xp please." He yelled as usual.
As expected, the Sandworm didn't respond.
Varian didn't mind. He reached the center of the arid plain.
The Sandworm still didn't come.
No worries. He raised his fist and punched down at the ground.
Boom!
Boom!
The ground cracked, and tremors ran through the arid plain.
Boom!
Boom!
Soon, a small crater was punched into existence.
"Huh?" Usually, the boss would've come out already.
Varian focused his senses and tried to decipher the boss's location.
With his current prowess, he could track the boss unless it was far away.
"Wait, don't tell me..." Varian found no trace of the boss.
He marched around the arid plain and kept punching the ground.
Boom!
Boom!
The arid plain was soon full of potholes.
The boss, however, was absent.
Varian's shoulders slumped.
"It was such a nice boss. Just get beaten and get Xp." He smiled ruefully.
Then he cheered up.
"Well, either way. I am stronger than the boss. The progress was also decreasing lately. Even if I go fight it now, it would not be worth the time." He decided.
Still, thinking back to the progress over the past few days, Varian couldn't help but smile.
His mood also lightened up.
He was going to visit it four or five more times before heading to the Inner Zone. But the boss didn't know. Perhaps it thought Varian would kill it.
Truth be told, Varian decided not to kill the boss after its generous contribution.
"I hope you found a better place. Wherever you are, thanks for the Xp, boss." Varian looked at the arid plain with sincere gratitude.
"Druah"
The Iron Tail Sandworm was sleeping underground on the outskirts of the Dungeon.
Life was never so peaceful. Even though its progress was somewhat slow, it could meditate in peace.
"Druahh~"
"I am almost ready.' He squinted his eyes.
'Status.'
[Body Path Level 3: 300/400
Space Path Level 2: 100/200
Lightning Path Level 2: 20/200]
Varian's strength took a leap.
With his Body powers alone, he could now rival a peak Level 3. Of course, overpowering a Peak Level 3 still needed Space powers.
The rapid progress from 80/400 to 300/400 was all thanks to the kind hearted boss.
However, as he progressed further in the Body Path, the Xp from each session continued to fall.
Lightning Path progressed a bit with his frequent use of lightning attacks against the boss.
But it was not spectacular.
Space Path, however, went from 60/200 to 100/200 in a few days. Even though it was costly, the meditation with spacorts and space stone surely helped.
"A few preparations and I can go." Varian breathed in the aura and tapped the ground with his feet.
A day later, he returned to the same spot.
'Everything is prepared.' He grinned.
Whoosh!
His figure passed through the no-man's-land at a breakneck speed.
Unlike what he initially assumed, the no-man's-land wasn't short. Only after travelling for a few minutes did he see the flora and fauna.
As he stepped out of the no-man's-land and into the Inner Zone, Varian could feel the thick aura in the aura.
It was at least 50% higher than the border area.
'Wonderful.' He sighed in admiration.
The plateau he was on had thick blue grass and a river winding around a mountain range.
The sweet fragrance of the grass wafted as the fast currents of the rivers weaved a melody.
'This doesn't look like a dangerous pla—.'
Varian tumbled to the ground and a golden arc bolted right above his hair, eventually crashing into the river.
Boom!
A water pillar shot into the air and the crackling sounds of electricity were loud and clear.
Varian glanced at the attacker.
As fate would have it, they were a pair of gold furred rabbits. A mother rabbit and a teen rabbit.
They were both level 4.
Varian had a sense of déjà vu as a child rabbit opened its mouth and was about to shoot a lightning ball at him.
"Fuck!"