Ian moved to the side, narrowly dodging the rock hatchet swung in an overhead strike by the level 341 goblin thug he was facing. Ducking in, he jabbed his sword directly into the creature’s armpit, sinking deep into its chest. As the creature seized, Ian kicked the monster away and brought his sword around to attack the next target as his eyes scanned the room for more monsters.

  Congratulations! You have defeated an enemy more than 50 levels higher than you. Experience rewards are doubled. You have earned 3 levels. You have achieved level 261. You have been awarded 60 skill points!

  Ian was beginning to get his breathing under control as he took in the eight dead goblins spread out around him. His spear was still sticking out of the chest of the other goblin thug’s corpse ten yards away. The change in groups he ran into gave him a real workout since he had descended to the third floor. Much like he had been told, the groups were comprised of all three types of goblins, though he usually only had issues with the thugs at this point. The original ones could barely scratch him anymore, even if they somehow managed to get a lucky strike in.

  He was leveling quickly, and found he had the SP to purchase the new skill Claire had mentioned to him earlier. However, he didn’t want to show that he was gaining additional SP per level yet. In order to protect his secret, he had decided to hold off until he broke level 350 to purchase any skills that gave visible indicators of use. Instead, he planned on spending all his additional SP on passive skills that couldn’t be detected by his viewers. Besides, he was going to need a lot of wisdom and intelligence to increase his magical regeneration and capacity if he wanted to make the best use of Magic Soul. Buying it when he couldn’t make proper use of it would just be a waste.

  It was impossible to calculate the mana a person had at any given time, and it was a pointless endeavor when reality showed that everyone possessed a different aptitude for casting spells. Two people could have the same wisdom and intelligence, and each would be able to cast a different number of fireballs before they fell unconscious from mana fatigue. Unlike video games, some people were simply more gifted at manipulating mana than others, which meant that it may take him an extremely large mana pool and regeneration rate to sustain a magic attack skill.

  Ian sighed as he thought about how long he would have to wait after he was ready to purchase it, but that was a problem for another time. He still had one more group of enemies before he made it back to the stairs, and he wanted to try something. Knowing he had plenty of SP to spare, he mentally purchased the first levels of the uncommon skills Strength, Agility, and Endurance to increase each stat by 500. They cost him 500 SP apiece, but he knew he was going to end up getting them eventually anyways. The best part was that his viewers would never know, or at least never be able to prove it.

  He stretched as he felt his body warm slightly while gaining a lightness to his movements he couldn’t quite explain. Quickly looting the small essence stones from the goblins, he grabbed his spear and made his way down the tunnel. As he came up on the bend where the next group would be located, he slowed down and began silently creeping forward.

  He found another pack of goblins with the same makeup as the last group he’d dealt with. In a practiced motion, he took aim with his spear and launched it at the back of the closest goblin thug. Its gurgling cry as it fell forward onto the ground caught the attention of the others.

  Ian willed the notification away as he charged the stunned monsters with his short sword. Reaching the first one, he descended upon the smaller humanoids like a whirlwind of death. Striking out three times, he quickly killed two normal goblins and a brute. The spray of blood across their bodies woke the other monsters from their shock as they finally began to react to the sudden assault.

  The second thug reached Ian just as he cut the head off the last remaining brute. Instead of swinging, the goblin made a high-pitched shriek as it turned to run. Ian struck just as it took its first step, driving his sword directly into the creature’s back. The thug’s hands dropped the hatchet and tried to reach for the sword protruding from the center of its chest, but slumped over as it slid off the blade onto the ground.

  Ian’s heavy breathing was the only noise coming from the tunnel as he looked around to verify there were no more threats.

  “Well, Zero, level 266 huh? Pretty good bonus for such a smooth fight,” he mumbled to himself.

  He could feel the difference the extra stats made. Except for the few thugs that had their own status enhancing skills, he now more than doubled the physical status of every monster he was facing. He would need 500 additional skill points to level his new uncommon skills up each time, but the bonuses were definitely worth it since he would also be able to pass some of the status boosts on to his sister.

  Looting the monsters, he headed off towards down the final stretch of the tunnel that led to the stairs up to the second floor. It had been an eventful dungeon run today, as the packs were both more numerous and more plentiful on the third floor. He was tempted to give himself another hour but stopped himself before he started traveling down that road again. He needed to learn to pace himself.

  The five-minute walk to the stairs had been completely uneventful, but as Ian started imagining a hot shower and a good meal, a scream came from the second floor.

  He didn’t even stop to think before he rushed up the stairs. As he reached the top, he identified three adventurers trying to fight off two brutes as half a dozen smaller goblins came charging out of a side tunnel. Then he saw the two members of their party lying on the ground surrounded by dead goblins.

  Rushing forward, Ian summoned his spear into his hand and launched it at one of the goblins running up on the downed adventurers. The creature was flung back by the impact and crashed into two others, sending them all down in a heap of green limbs.

  As he rushed past the three adventurers, Ian summoned his sword into his hand as he swung out and beheaded the closest brute without pausing his charge towards the injured people. He made it just in time to eviscerate the goblin standing over a motionless young woman before it could bring its bone dagger down.

  He snapped a devastating kick at the next one, sending its small frame crashing against the ground before he struck out at the third, cutting its arm clean off.

  It only took about thirty seconds for him to finish up the still-breathing goblins, and before he could turn around, he heard the footsteps of the other adventurers running to their downed members.

  “Ivy!” a young man said as he ran to the unconscious young woman on the ground. “What do I do? What do—”

  “Calm down,” Ian said as he came over to the man.

  He looked over and saw that the other man on the ground was awake and clutching his rib cage on the left side of his chest but was able to speak through clenched teeth.

  Ian reached down and quickly felt the woman’s neck for a pulse as he looked at the man, “What happened to her?” Ian asked.

  “She got hit in the head with a club and dropped. Is she going to be okay?”

  Ian could feel a light pulse, but it was erratic. He knew that if he could get her to the surface, she would be taken to a medical center where they would stabilize her until they could find a skilled healer. However, if she had a neck injury, he might accidentally make matters worse if he moved her.

  He really didn’t want to spend more of his SP, but he also didn’t want to sit here and watch a young woman die when he could do something to prevent it.

  “Shit, I need to find a healing spell. What are the names of some healing spells?” Ian muttered as he quickly accessed his status screen. Stumbling around in panic, the first healing spell he found was the uncommon skill known as Soothing Touch, which he immediately bought for 500 skill points.

  Soothing Touch 1/5 (Spell)- Provides a moderate amount of healing to a target. User must be in physical contact with the target when casting and maintaining the spell. This spell can be channeled to cure slightly more severe injuries.

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Ian wasted no time. He kept one hand on her neck to feel her pulse and placed the second on her arm. Blue light with flecks of gold began to gather around his hands before they suddenly poured into her. He felt the magic as it left him and traveled throughout her body, stopping to build up a reserve of his mana healing particularly damaged areas.

  The back of her neck and the base of her skull began to glow through her blond hair as the magic began to build up. With a cracking sound that made Ian shudder, the woman’s green eyes opened, and she screamed as her back arched up before quickly coming back down on the cavern floor. She went silent as her eyes began to dart around until she found the black, misty void that was visible in Ian’s hood and froze.

  “Ivy, are you alright?” said the panicked young man on her other side.

  As her eyes snapped over to him, she breathed out and closed her eyes.

  “Oh, thank God I’m not dead,” she said after a moment. “What happened Liam?”

  “Before we get into story time, are you feeling better?” Ian asked before looking over at the other man. “I really should go help your friend. He’s in a lot of pain.”

  “Yes, sorry. I’m feeling much better, and the pain is going away. We need to help Josh and check to make sure Tisha and Earnest aren’t injured,” Ivy said as she tried to sit up.

  “Just lie down and relax,” Ian said as he gently pushed the woman back down. “I’ll be right back after I help your friends.”

  “Thank you,” Liam said with a nod as Ian got up.

  Ian jogged over to the man huddled in on himself on the floor. Another man with a gash on his arm was crouched behind the severely injured party member, as another tall adventurer was leaning over him from the front, trying to tell the man he was going to be alright.

  “I have a healing spell. If you give me a second, I can help,” Ian said as he placed one hand on the shoulder of an armored adventurer leaning over the injured man.

  “Please help him!” came a feminine voice from inside the helmet. “I think his ribs are broken.”

  “Th-they definitely,” the man cut off with a pained gasp, “are.”

  As the woman moved, Ian could see blood leaking from the man’s mouth. Reaching down, he gently touched the back of the man’s head and grabbed an exposed section of his arm. This time, the healing took longer. He was even beginning to feel a slight pressure behind his eyes right before a bunch of rapid pops could suddenly be heard. Then the man rolled onto his stomach and started coughing up blood.

  Despite the other two freaking out at the sudden change, Ian just continued to pump more healing into the hurt adventurer. After another ten seconds, he could feel the healing not having an effect and instinctively felt the man was completely healed.

  “I’m fine now,” said the man between coughs. “The pain is gone, but I think the healing skill was causing my lungs to purge the pooled blood.”

  Ian let out a sigh of relief as he gently patted the man on the shoulder before standing and helping him to his feet.

  “Thank you. My name’s Josh, and this is my brother Earnest and my girlfriend Tisha.” The man as he motioned to the two now standing next to him. Then he turned to look at his other companions before asking, “Is Ivy going to be alright?”

  “The name’s Zero, and she should be,” Ian said with a nod. “I told her not to move until I got back, just in case.”

  Ian felt slightly lightheaded as they walked over to Ivy.

  “Hey, girl, you hanging in there?” asked Tisha in a concerned voice.

  “Yeah, Tish,” Ivy said as her brother helped her sit up. “My head is still spinning, but I’m pretty sure I can walk myself out of here with some assistance.”

  Ian knelt back down and channeled some more healing into her, but didn’t feel any change.

  “You’re definitely still injured,” Ian clarified, “but I can’t heal you anymore with this skill. It’s pretty low level, and this is the first time I’ve ever used it. So, I have no idea how to actually use it other than try to brute force the healing by pumping in more mana.”

  Ivy looked up at Ian and let out a little laugh. “And here I thought you were the reaper when I first opened my eyes. I’m a healer, like my older sister, and my inherent skill is telling me I have a very slow bleed in my brain. I’m trying to trickle heal it, but all I can do is stabilize myself with my Rejuvenation skill.

  “Brother,” she said, turning to Laim, “help me get up so we can get out of here. I see Josh is healed, and Ernest will be good with one of my rejuvenation spells. There is no reason to waste time getting to a healer.”

  Ian blinked in sudden realization before he waved up at the ceiling and began looking around.

  “What are you doing?” Tisha asked him.

  “I swear I’m not crazy,” Ian said before looking back up. “Hey, Claire, can you see if a good healer is nearby who can help her out? I’d appreciate it and would owe you one!”

  Despite Ian’s comment, every pair of eyes were looking at him in confusion.

  “Who’s Claire?” asked Josh.

  “My Keeper. Now let’s get these mobs looted and get out of here.”

  “Wait,” Ivy said from where she stood with Liam. “Your Keeper watches your stream all day long?”

  “Maybe?” Ian replied with a shrug. “Lots of people are watching right now. If she isn’t, its possible someone else who’s close by will come help.”

  “What are the chances that someone close by who can help is actually watching? Actually, how many people are watching?”

  Ian willed the system to show him a notification of his current stream and was extremely glad that his face was hidden.

  “Uh, 51 million and rising,” Ian stated as everyone around him stopped to look at him in disbelief.

  “No bullshit?” Earnest asked from where he stood.

  Ian chuckled as he looted his goblins and grabbed his spear, “I swear. It’s doubled in the last twenty minutes or so. I was getting ready to shut down and call it a day when I stumbled upon you all.”

  He was beginning to feel better as he moved around. Apparently, it was true that an adventurer had to stop casting for a couple of minutes for their natural mana regeneration to kick in. He could almost feel his thoughts clearing up as the moments ticked by and his mana replenished.

  As he turned to rejoin the group, he realized they were looking around him nervously, trying to find something.

  “Don’t sweat it, just pretend the people watching aren’t there,” Ian said, hoping he could make them feel comfortable again. “It’s what I do.”

  Tisha just shook her head. “I was actually looking for the drone.”

  “The drones are pretty much invisible,” Ian said with amusement in his voice. “The last time I saw them was right before my keeper turned them on.”

  “Them?” Liam asked. “I thought the curator only gave out one per adventurer.”

  Ian shrugged, “I’ve got three that I know of. My keeper said it’s harder for solo adventurers to get decent angles for shots if they only have one. I’m confused though, I thought everyone got drones when they completed the novice tier?”

  “Not quite,” Liam sighed. “Ivy and Earnest already have them, but the rest of us can’t get them without the consent paperwork from our parents. It takes a while to get it processed, and then we are at the bottom of the list for drones. Though we will be getting them soon.”

  “I forgot all about that,” Ian said with a nod. “I didn’t start running until after college, so I didn’t ever have to worry about all the conditions you have to deal with.”

  “All looted,” Tish stated as everyone gathered around Ivy. “Let’s get out of here.”

  “So, what is your party’s name?” Ian asked as he led them to the stairs.

  “We’re Worg’s Fang,” Liam said, steadying his sister as they climbed the steps. “We’ve been running for about a year now and sitting around level 150. How about you?”

  “I’m Zero, and I’m running solo right now. I just hit level 266 before I came up the stairs and found you all.” Ian replied.

  “Well, we're glad you did. And I think my older sister sent me a text yesterday telling us we needed to watch your stream, but I spent last night cramming for our last finals this morning. We’re officially graduating next week.” Liam said.

  “Congratulations!” Ian said as they reached the portal. “After we get Ivy some healing, do you guys want to join my keeper and I at the AO cafeteria for some food?”

  “Food sounds absolutely awful right now, but I’m pretty sure that’s the injury talking because I was starving twenty minutes ago,” Ivy responded with a pained giggle.

  Ian followed the party through the portal and was instantly covered in a bright golden glow from an area of effect healing spell as it blanketed the area.

  “Ivy!” screamed a woman’s voice as the younger woman was suddenly picked up and embraced in a bear hug. “Thank goodness you’re safe! When I saw you lying on the ground, I rushed over here as fast as I could.”

  “Sis…I…can’t… breathe,” squeaked Ivy, causing her sister to release her quickly.

  “I’m so sorry! I am just so happy you are alive. When Zero—”

  The woman suddenly stopped talking and looked back at Ian. She looked incredibly familiar, but he couldn’t quite place her. He blinked and was suddenly being crushed to death by the shorter woman as she had her arms wrapped around him. He could feel his bones creak, and his mind was reeling. He hadn’t even seen her move!

  “Thank you, thank you, thank you! You wonderful, compassionate adventurer, you.” She said before releasing him. “I saw how that spear saved my little Ivy, and how you didn’t hesitate before purchasing a new skill to heal her. If you ever need anything—anything—just let me know.”

  Before Ian could reply, a pair of hands turned him to the side. He found Claire in front of him as she raised her hands and grabbed the sides of his face.

  “Keep your eyes straight and follow my finger,” she said as she began moving her finger back and forth, causing him to move his shadow-covered head to follow. After a moment, she sighed and let him go with a smile.

  “Good, no signs of mana fatigue,” she stated before turning back to Ivy’s older sister. “Good afternoon, Miss Winters. I’m glad I was able to get in touch with you.”

  As the roar went through the crowd, Ian finally realized there were twice as many reporters and guild recruiters being held back today than there had been the day prior.

  “No need to act so formally, Keeper. Just call me Diana like you used to.” Ivy’s sister said with a gentle smile. “I believe Zero here invited my younger sibs and their friends to join you both for dinner. So, how about we all head back to the AO and relax? That way we can talk without all the vultures.”

  Claire smiled as she nodded in agreement, and Diana began confidently leading them towards the crowd. As they approached, Ian realized the attention wasn’t on him at all. Instead, the crowd was entirely focused on Diana, which is when he saw the emblem on the back of her robe—nearly causing him to trip.

  He knew where he had seen her before, or at least a younger version of her. His sister had three large posters of this exact woman on her wall growing up, back when Diane was one of the upcoming stars of the low-tier leveling bracket. However, the woman hadn’t stopped there, and she had risen to become one of the top healers in the ultra-league. With her level now over 25,000, he could barely contain his excitement. He was literally about to eat dinner with a living legend, the adventurer known as Golden Lotus.