-Lailah Gifty Akita

59 DMG!
+45 EXP!

John's hand passed almost effortlessly through the jaw of the Dwarf mini-boss, erasing what little health the stout man had left. His body vanished only a few moments later, before it had even fully settled on the ground, leaving behind a pile of barely glistening metallic ores and what John now recognized as a Dwarven Concealed Dagger, a low-quality item he was sure he could still find a use for later, if only as a holdout weapon.

Mini-Boss defeated, Dungeon complete [Level 11]!
+1375 EXP [+50 from Perks]
+$5500 ($2250 + 100% from Perks)
+12 Iron Ore
+Dwarven Anvil
+22 Zone Customization Points

John has Leveled Up!
John has reached Level 12
+3 to all stats

The Barrier shattered, depositing John and Seras back in his world. John quickly distributed his Creation Experience to Seras, nearly causing her to reach Level 18. Not having his creations gain the completion bonuses was very frustrating; John was sure he could've gotten Seras and Sophia even higher if he hadn't been **** to split the bonus between the two of them.

"That was pretty goddamn awesome," John admitted as he began the trek back to camp, holding up a hand and using some of his leftover mana to conjure up a ball of light with his Elemental Control. He still didn't have the regen or the resources to do it for long, but it would comfort him in the darkness until they cleared the forest and the full moon could light their way again.

Awesome was definitely the right way to phrase it. They had cleared an entire eleventh-level dungeon while still managing to have almost a full two minutes left on the clock for his Twin-Soul Resonance ability. "I know the 'whole is greater than the sum of its part thing' is true a lot of the time, but… being able to move that quickly? Strike with that much power? It's kind of intoxicating, honestly. I wish I could use this ability more than once a year."

"Is there some way you can improve it? Sure would be nice to team up again. I bet between your trainin' an' mine, we'd be able to take out those Cabal goons without a hitch!"

John eyed Seras, his mind contemplating how powerful they would be. Seras hadn't leveled as much as she had immediately before their first union, but she had definitely gotten more powerful. Meanwhile, if John was able to even hit the same level as he was before, he'd be about 20% stronger. By the time his cooldown wore off, they'd be insanely strong together. At least strong enough to be on par with Moira - maybe even strong enough to face foes like the Cabal and the Albidian Society alone.

Would it even take that long? While sifting through his inventory and stat sheet, relishing in his final moments of insane power, John contemplated his recent life and how much stronger he had become since acquiring his powers. Only a little over half a month had passed since he first began his journey as The Gamer, and yet already he was strong enough to break a forged blade with his bare hands. He now possessed the ability to command the elements, to create life from nothing, and to farm objects and items of great power from illusions he hand-crafted through his own abilities. His life was run by a virtual assistant, and always at his side were two beautiful women who would literally die for him.

All that in just over two weeks. What could happen in a season? In a year? In a century? John wasn't even sure if he could live that long, but if Seras continued to live up to her origins, there was no reason to think that she and others could not exceed what he had once considered a normal lifespan. John had to think there was a cap - that he would eventually find some limit, some hard restriction on his stats, or his level, or his very existence. If there wasn't, if everyone was as limitless as Moira made it seem in lifespan and power, what then? What would happen to a man unleashed, a mortal with time as limitless as his potential?

When did one cease to be a man, and begin to become a god?

"Probably after inventing their own commandments," John mused idly, chuckling at his own observance. He had no intentions of godhood, nor any illusions of status as a deity or similar being. Frankly, he was impressed that he could tie his own shoes after some of the mistakes he had recently made; the only thing that even brought up such wild impressions were his rare occasions where brash decisions worked out in his favor. They finally cleared the forest, and the moon still hung over the horizon high enough for John to finally see clearly.

"So what's next, Master? Do you wanna try another one?"

"No," John immediately responded, eyeing his status once more. "We've already pushed it to the limit. Maybe in a few Reincarnations, I will have the levels to make this technique useful for grinding, but for now it's kind of a last-resort type thing. Maybe there are more talents that I can unlock in the tree to improve the cooldown, too - they're all grayed out, so I can't see them right now."

John had noticed that, with both the Twin-Soul Talent Tree and a lot of his Skill Trees, not every option became visible immediately after getting its prerequisite. So far none of them had showed up - he was still not sure if it was a matter of leveling up to unlock them or not, and he hadn't yet had enough Skill Points and Talent Points to worry about them. Taking the cooldown of his Twin-Soul ability down, preferable to something like a week, would've been insane.

"Yeah, wouldn' be too bad. I wish I could remember wha' happened durin', tho," Seras admitted, staring at John's neck. The Gamer wrapped his fingers thoughtfully around the necklace dangling there, something between barbaric and intricate. Finely woven golden strands wrapped and dangled in complex patterns that managed to hold even as John swayed. Uncut, rugged gemstones still glistening with untold power were fitted into sockets mounted along the golden strands. Mixed in with the jewelry, both the finer and the lesser, and mounted in contrastingly intricate sockets of their own were a set of lengthy, razor-sharp teeth. Only golden caps prevented their wicked ends from poking at John's skin every time he moved.

"Yeah, I'm sure Maera will be disappointed she didn't get to see it all the way through, but I wasn't going to bring her into that boss fight anyway. Not after that gash she got on her leg; she's lucky I had enough mana to heal it, or it'd probably still be there when she comes out of it."

They didn't have to wait long for the young Neko to reappear, a golden flash of light signaling the return of their companion as John's necklace faded into nothing. The Neko flailed about hilariously for a moment, arms and legs carrying her in an uneven circle while she tried to discern her location. When she realized that she was back with John and Seras in the plains outside of the camp, Maera quickly calmed down, though by the way the hair along the upper part of her neck flailed at the slightest breeze and frayed away from the rest of her ivory mane, he could certainly tell she was far from calm.

"Myaster? We back here now? Did we winnnn?!"

"Yup, we won!" John exclaimed, reaching down to the kneeling Neko and picking her up under the shoulders, hoisting her up with vigor. She was far larger than a cat, but thankfully a bit more cooperative; she wrapped her legs around John and her arms over his shoulders, clinging to him and letting loose a wild purr.

"Do we have enough stuff now?! Can we make-"

"No, Maera, we cannot make floating rocks."

"But you said-"

"Don't you wanna go see the awesome new, uh…" John frantically tried to remember the things that he had seen in his list of terrains, hoping to avoid a Neko frenzy. "Evellyn, you got anything a cat would love? Something possible?"

"All things are possible, Master Newman. This is your world, after all… but I'm afraid floating rocks would be a bit out of reach, at the moment. Might I suggest a rugged mountain, surrounded by hills and valleys? With the proper construction, avoiding cliffs and plateaus, they would be relatively safe while giving plenty of new places to run, hide, jump, and climb."

"Alright, throw everything into those," John casually threw out. He wasn't quite sure how many points Mountains, Hill, and Valley tiles cost, but hopefully after all the training that they had done, they'd be able to create something nicely sized. "Just vary up the terrain - like you said, lots of places to jump across, but no huge falls. And blend it in with the terrain we already have - I don't want to walk out of the forest and walk straight up into a steep incline. Oh, and leave at least a side or two of the mountain with nothing on it - that way we can expand it later without messing up other space."

"Affirmative. Beginning creation according to specifications."

If John had felt the earth begin to rumble, it would not have been out of place. Because even from where they were standing, John could see as the land shifted over a mile away. They were too far and the land too uneven to see where it was forming, but John could see one thing above all - a massive mound, a towering tilt, a protruding playground for his precious Nekos. It was the strangest thing to see; just the mountain and surrounding lesser peaks that John caught glimpses of looked like they were miles and miles wide, but it was completely silent. John heard nothing and felt not a single tremor pass through his land.

It took only around thirty second for the entire thing to settle. When it finally did, John's interface popped up, Evellyn's form appearing beside the map it felt like eons since John had last opened. A massive new section had appeared in his world, utterly dwarfing the prior three zones John had ever bothered placing.

"Terrain construction completed, Master Newman. A total of twenty-five additional square miles have been added to your new world - fifteen mountain regions, each costing five of your ZCP; five forested hills, each costing four; and five additional valley regions on the northern and western edges of the mountains where the terrain is most uneven, occasionally jarringly, for an additional four points each. According to your specifications, no slopes greater than sixty degrees exists, and no ledge has a distance greater than seven feet to the bottom. Even if your Nekos hadn't significantly increased in level since their birth, it would be unlikely for them to suffer more than a mild sprain."

"…Wait, their levels affect fall damage?" John asked, raising an eyebrow in heavy interest.

"Of course. Leveling increases neither their bodily mass nor the effect which gravity has upon that mass. Therefore the **** of the impact does not increase, while their bodily resistance to forces far greater than nature intended increases dramatically."

"I mean, we 'it pretty 'ard now, don't we? Can't be much worse than a bad fall, eh?"

John considered Seras' words, but the thought of falling off a cliff still filled him with a primal fear. Moreso when he imagined the Nekos doing it, far away and without his Gamer's Body ability to shield them from the consequences. Such things still felt superhuman to John, which was perhaps even more foolish considering everything else he'd been through.

John's eyes caught a jittery twitching from his companion, still latched onto him. Maera was staring with the most excited and shocked eyes John had seen in her for quite some time, and her entire body was beginning to shake as her muscles locked down to keep her attached to John, still desiring her Master's attention even as her body and spirit were soaring halfway to the mountain.

"Maera… go on! Don't you want to go play? Get Mithra and have some real fun!"

"Thanks, Myaster!" Maera screamed, pushing off John so hard that he stumbled back a little bit as her grip converted him into a launching pad. Maera bounded off almost faster than she had moved during the brief period she was active in the dungeon. John wasn't sure how well Mithra would be able to play with her sister with the tiny baby-bump she had going on, but he hoped she could at least enjoy some of the new land.

"Huh. Well that's done then. If we ain't doin' more dungeons, whaddya wanna do now?"

"Well, you could go check out the new terrain, but I don't think you've ever mentioned mountain climbing as a hobby. Otherwise… wanna help me set up a smithy?"