I was pulled back into my body, or at least I expected that, but I found myself in the system's subspace where Bradley was waiting for me, floating with anxiety.
"Oh, gods! You're back! What did you tell him?!" he immediately floated towards me the second I appeared.
"Nothing you need to worry your self for. But expect some words from you creator and all that," I answered with a smile.
He began zipping around the area frantically, each time coming up to me and asking what I talked with Fex. But I held firm, enjoying his agitation.
"You said something dumb didn't you! Oh, no, no! I can't die young! I'm too young to die! I haven't even got myself a girlfriend yet!"
"Oh really? Where's all that big talk of yours about a girl system being your girlfriend gone? Was it all a lie?"
"Oh, shut up! She's as real as the space in your brain, you know!"
I raised my eyebrow in question, "Should you really be talking trash to me right now? I have your god on speed dial just so you know,"
I'm sure if he had eyes, they would have widened in shock, but I had to settle for convulsing from the algae before me.
"Y–you're bluffing, right?"
"Does my face say I'm bluffing? I'm wasting time here. Take me back to my body, Bradley,"
"Yeah, OK. Not like dragging you here helped me in anything whatsoever. Heads up, the system has made good friends with the rest while you were away,"
"Wait... how long have I been gone for?"
"Roughly twenty hours. But you are in luck because your body was in Jupiter, so all you lost is an hour,"
"Take me back to my body, NOW! That one hour was more that I could sacrifice back in the giant planet!"
"Aright already. Jeez, today you're pushy.
I was brought back into my original body and found myself surrounded by the wolves, my hand rubbing Red and Spir by my side sleeping soundly. Murasaki's face looked jealous for some reason.
Hey, wait. Even if I don't have a lot of time...
"Yoink!"
"OUCH! What the hell Bradley?! Why would you... Oh no.. YOU!" Red screamed in anger as he immediately got up, one of his whiskers in my right hand.
"Yes, me. Is this what you've been doing while I was away? Just lazing around?"
"BRING HIM BACK! He's more worthy of that body than you!"
"I'm going to ignore what you said just now,"
I turned to Spir and looked curiously at her. Huh, she's cute when she keeps quiet and doesn't act all innocent. I hope that she isn't some old granny for real now. Cause this would be really messed up right about now.
"You know I can't sleep with such insults flying around from your mind, Max," she said, her eyes still closed.
"You can red my mind?!"
"I was reading your system's mind. Yours, I would never risk it, unless it was by mistake , like just now,"
"Only sharing the honest truth you know. But hey, feel free to continue reading my–"
"I think that's my cue to leave. And I believe you should be doing the same. That said, I still have something to discuss with you,"
She got up from her sleeping position and stared at me seriously.
"You remember when I said that there are people from around here in this planet? Well, those same people have been making their way around my dungeon, and this is all because you're wolves have been eliminating the goblins for them."
"This dungeon is the most feared in the planet, and for good reason due to how dangerous it is. But many monsters have realized that where there's more danger, the reward will be greater,"
"Usually, they never got to even reach the first level of the dungeon because of Drax's younger brother–"
"I've been meaning to ask about that, now that you mentioned it. How come you've never been able to regenerate his brother all this time while you could do so for the rest of the beasts in the dungeon?"
Spir's eyes narrowed, "I swear, you forget your place, Max. I may be around you age now, since I still somehow have to convince you of that, but I've been around for a lot longer than you have, so interrupt me again, and we'll see just how powerful this level ten dungeon can become if I will it!"
I folded my arms, "Do it then. And, no. I've never forgotten who you are, master of this dungeon. That said, if you fail to act as the master, don't expect any respect from me. And besides, we both know you can't do it. Cause I'm sure no one has ever made it this far in the dungeon, isn't that right?"
She seemed like she was about to say something, but her head drooped in defeat.
"Fine then. You caught me there. But please be at least more respectable towards me. I'm a god, you know,"
"Oh, I do know. Can you actually act like the dungeon master with my wolves?"
"Um.... well..."
"Then there's your answer. Anyways, continue,"
Her face scrunched up into pout before she continued reluctantly.
"To answer you question, the mistake was on my part, I didn't expect you to kill him in your first fight. When a beast dies outside the dungeon, I can't revive it anymore. So the mistake was mine for underestimating you,"
"To continue with what I was saying, no one has ever made it past the first level because of Drax's brother. But since he's gone, and your wolves have been clearing out the beasts, giving the dungeon a run for its money, these said monsters have been passing through the levels too easily, not having to face a lot of monsters on their way, and gaining rewards with minimal effort."
"So, what are you trying to say? That my wolves stop advancement in the dungeon?"
"No! I'm not saying that. I'm saying that you're making the monsters job a little easier than it should be. Hence, I came up with this,"
She dug into her cloak and pulled out another ring.
"This ring here will give you all access to any of the perks from eleventh and below, to save yourselves the trouble of venturing through all the levels over and over again just so you can go up an extra level,"
"Oh, I get it. So that we can immediately come straight to the level we won't to fight in, leaving the other weaker dungeons, at least weaker to us, for the other monsters. I have to say that's a good idea," I complimented the god, who lit up in pride.
"I'm giving this ring to one of the wolves as a necklace, since you are not around a lot Max. Who do you trust with this?"
"Murasaki, come forth," I called to the purple wolf.
Red was not surprised when he saw I picked his brother. Judging by the smile on his face, I'd say he was confident that that was the right idea. Murasaki was handed the ring which transformed into a necklace for him to put on.
It was just like any normal necklace, a black string mixing well with his deep purple mane, and a tooth sticking out from it.
"Oh, and Max, put out you hand with the ring," Spir requested.
I did as told and she passed her hand over it. Suddenly, it shined brightly, then it turned into a black ring with the initials 'S' imprinted on it.
"I've modified your ring to still perform it's previous functions, but with the new functions I stated earlier,"
I admired the new ring, and realized that Mrs Kelly would also notice its change if it were to return to her. Well, will cross that bridge when we get there.
"Thanks, Spir. So you can be nice sometimes,"
"I'm always nice! And we should be the ones to thank you, I and the other floor masters. It's been lonely with us being feared and all, but ever since you came, we've been doing much better. So keep up with the good work. "
"Also word of advice: the levels from eleven onwards are ten times as dangerous as the first ten. So if you are planning to come down the dungeon, best be careful. Anyways... Shouldn't you be going. That one hour passed by a few minutes back in the giant planet you were in,"
"Oh, yeah!"
I immediately willed the ring to open and waved at the wolves goodbye.
"Don't go looking for something you can't handle without my knowledge, wolves. But you are allowed to get stronger by yourselves, as long as it isn't something too dangerous. Anyways, later,"
I appeared back in my tent, and just in the nick of time, cause Pine suddenly blasted into my tent and landed on top of me.
"OOOF! "
"OW! WHAT THE HELL, PINE?! Are we being attacked?!"
He slowly tried to get up from me but couldn't manage to do so since we were tangled by our clothes while I carefully hid my ring and willed it to go back to Mrs Kelly.
"Nope. You've been in here for a while, and I was just outside your tent. And... someone randomly kicked me in and that's how we ended up like this," he answered while rubbing his butt in pain.
The culprit poked her head in my tent with a devious smile on her face, Mrs Kelly's phone in hand.
"Oh, I wanted pictures of this. Uh-huh, lovely pose there, you two. Your ears may be different colors but many would still say you two are brothers. Now could you do a little dance for me you two–" Queens said as she snapped multiple photos with Mrs Kelly's phone, not once hearing the click sound silent.
Pine's face turned red immediately and he teleported away from me. Queen's face shifted to disappointment when she saw the Furrha disappear before she could snap more photos, like the ones she had weren't enough.
"Aww! Did I scare him off?"
"You wish, witch," Pine's voice said from behind her and suddenly, she fell towards me. This time I was ready, and erected a large barrier that collided with the half–yeti's face.
She grunted in pain but I didn't care at the moment as I saw the fallen phone just skidded a little distance away from me.
"Good job, Pine!" I said as I grabbed the damn thing and sprinted away from my tent before Queen realized that I had the phone.
Pine was already one step a head of me scoping out the area and together, we sprinted to his tent, with the goal of deleting those pictures before they made it to the internet via Queen, but were stopped in our tracks by the last person we would wish to see.
"So that's where my phone went. Max, Pine, do you have an explanation?" Mrs Kelly asked as we stopped in our tracks, knowing fully well we couldn't escape from this now.
"Um, well Mrs Kelly, you see–"
"MAAAAX! GIVE ME BACK THE–oh hey Mrs Kelly," Queen immediately recovered herself before she could finish.
"Oh, you were a part of this? And why is your nose bleeding?"
Queen's eyes lit up before the tear works started.
"I'll explain it to you Mrs Kelly. You see, these two were the ones with your phone, and they called me to take some pictures for them, which I'm sure are very questionable but I did ask asked. But when I realized it was your phone, I tried bringing it back to you, but that's when they attacked me! And here we are now," she skillfully lied, while the fake tears kept slipping.
Both I and Pine had out mouths wide open in shock at her audacity.
Mrs Kelly raised an eyebrow to us before she took her phone from me and looked at the pictures tool by Queen.
"This isn't looking good for us, bro. Listen, on the count of three–" I whispered to Pine's ear but Mrs Kelly raised a hand to stop us.
"First of all, I wasn't born yesterday. I know it was you Queen who took my phone. Expect a punishment before the day ends. That said, these are some really nice pictures, and especially this one,"
Mrs Kelly immediately took a picture of Queen, tears, bloody nose and all.
"These will be my photos now. Any complains?"
"Nope!" Both I and Pine said. Queen wasn't satisfied though.
"Wait, how can they be set free?!" she asked, shocked that her trick didn't work.
"Because I have good pictures of them. Now get ready for supper, everyone. We've got someone who will do ALL the dishes for us, isn't that right, Queen?"
"B–but, the picture you took–"
"Queeeen?"
"...yes Mrs Kelly."
I hope tomorrow wouldn't be as chaotic with the day, two days actually, I had today.