Zach opened his eyes in Aria's domain and stared into nothingness.
"…."
Zach sighed and laid down on the floor, which was hot lava, but it turned into the grass the moment Zach laid down.
Aria's domain was protecting Zach from any harm possible even when Aria wasn't present there.
"I have no idea how long I have been here, but I probably spent more than 10 hours here," Zach mumbled.
MP- 15000/∞
Zach looked at his MP and muttered, "I think this much should be enough…. Right? I was saving up my MP and cultivating for the past week, but my battles in the Sea Realm ended up consuming all my stored MP."
Zach could use his DT (1MP = 50*10*2 HP DMG) skill and deal 15000000 HP DMG to any monster he would touch.
"But since I am only participating in this dungeon raid so I could help Aurora level up faster, it doesn't matter."
Suddenly, Zach remembered something.
"Wait a… minute…."
In the last Gods' Impact update, the gods changed the EXP and rewards gained under any circumstances. Out of which, one was where the EXP and rewards would be automatically distributed to the guild members based on the DMG or participation in the following raid.
"Aurora is also aware of this, and so is Aria. But I guess the update doesn't affect us since we are already strong players."
The EXP gain was dependent on the DMG dealt by the players, but since Aurora was already a strong player, she could deal with high DMG and gain high EXP. And besides, Zach agreed to participate in the dungeon raid so Aurora could get the guild benefit and cultivate her physique faster.
"Sorry Victoria, I know the main purpose of this dungeon raid was to help low-level players level up faster so your entire guild could ascend together. But the new update fucked everything up." Zach let out a weary sigh and said, "And you will be leaving the guild after this raid, so you don't have to worry about those players."
Zach stood up and stretched his hands in the air.
"Even if they are our classmates, it shouldn't matter." After a brief pause, he added in a solemn voice: "If they can't level up on their own, then they might as well not level up at all."
"Being a high-level player or having a high physique doesn't make you strong. If you lack talents and skills, then you are better off dead than become a burden to others," Zach mumbled under his breath.
"… I don't know where have I heard this before…?"
Zach checked the time, and it was 5:50 AM in the morning.
"The raid is at 6 AM. I should meet up with Aria and Aurora and leave. But I don't think we will be able to make it before 6 AM."
Zach sneered and said, "Victoria is going to get angry."
Zach opened the portal to Aurora's house and passed through it.
"…"
When Zach got there, the lights were off, and the house was filled with nothing but silence.
"Weird…" Zach walked to Aria's room since it was the closest and knocked on her door. But she didn't respond.
'For the first time, I decided to knock on her door, and she didn't answer…' Zach muttered in frustration and opened the door, only to see it was empty.
"Did they go without me?" Zach asked himself. "They should have at least left me a message or something."
Zach walked to his room and opened the door to see Aurora curled up on the bed.
"Nice!" Zach sighed in relief and said, "I knew my Aurora would never leave me behind."
"…"
Aurora was wearing her nightdress, and her hair was messy. Zach found it strange since Aurora was excited about the dungeon raid last night and couldn't stop talking about it.
"Aurora? What's wrong?" Zach asked in a calm voice.
"…"
Zach placed his hand on Aurora's back and asked again, "Aurora?"
SNIFF!
"…!"
Zach held Aurora's head in his hands and lifted it up to see Aurora was crying.
"Hey…" Zach hugged Aurora and asked, "What's wrong?"
"…" Aurora didn't say anything, nor did she try to hug Zach back.
Zach waited for Aurora to calm down and then asked, "Is everything alright? What happened? Where is Aria? Did she say something mean to you?"
"I am sorry…" Aurora sobbed.
"Why… are you apologizing?" Zach wiped Aurora's tears and kissed her on the lips to calm her down. "Don't worry. Whatever you have done, I won't be mad."
He caressed Aurora's face in his hands and asked, "Tell me."
Aurora sniffed and opened her menu before showing her stats to Zach.
"….!"
Even Zach was left baffled and speechless.
Aurora's stats had reset back to default.
After eating dinner last night at Kayden's house, they ordered a cake from the cafe. Zach had to cultivate his MP for the dungeon raid, so he left early and went to Aurora's house, where he opened the portal to Aria's domain and cultivated nonstop for the entire night without any rest.
Meanwhile, Aria and Aurora ate cake and enjoyed the party before finally leaving Kayden's house.
When they reached home, Aurora searched through the entire house, but she couldn't find Zach. Aria told her about her domain. Aurora was curious about Aria's domain as she hadn't seen it before, so she asked Aria to open the portal, but Aria had no power or ability to do that. Only Zach could open the portal to Aria's domain and that too using the token. Aria could open the portal from the inside but not from the outside.
After that, Aria and Aurora talked for a while and later went to their room to sleep.
Aurora had no idea that she would wake up in a nightmare where her stats reset to default.
Aurora sobbed and said, "I am sorry. If I had paid attention…"
Aurora had received a quest where she was asked to do something she would never do, and she made a promise that she would never eat a crepe. In return, she was given a physique point, and she was able to ascend to the first realm with Zach.
However, the penalty for breaking that promise was cruel.
***
Total players in the game- 1201791
100000 new players logged in.
666 players died.
====
Author's Note- Promises are debts; as long as you are certain you won't break them, they won't crush you down.