Vasa spoke up first, and for once, her voice wasn't completely flat. "Hm? What are you talking about? We are a team."
Nox just looked at her. A team? Since when?
Kendra let out a short, sharp breath that might have been a scoff, but there was a definite wobble in it. "Yeah, why would we leave behind our leader, even if he is a rude bastard." She nudged Yeda with her elbow. Yeda was still kneeling next to him, looking like she was about two seconds from bursting into tears again. "Right, Yeda?"
Yeda just nodded, scrubbing at her nose with the back of her hand. "We wouldn't leave you, Nox."
He stared at them. They actually sounded… like they meant it. Kendra's usual bite was there, yeah, but it felt different, not as sharp. Vasa's face, usually a blank mask, almost looked… concerned? And Yeda, well, Yeda looked like she'd just watched someone kick a puppy and was ready to throw down for it.
It was weird. These three, who he'd mostly seen as either liabilities or just tools to help him get stronger, were actually sticking by him. A strange, tight feeling started up in his chest, something unfamiliar, something he couldn't quite name. He didn't think he'd ever felt it before.
Then, the familiar blue screens popped into his view, just for him.
[Soul Link with Kendra has been established!]
[Trust in you has reached 100%.]
[Soul Link with Vasa has been established!]
[Trust in you has reached 100%.]
'Haaah, what a total mess,' he thought. A ghost of a smile, probably looking pretty grim with all the blood, touched his lips. The warmth from that regeneration skill was definitely more noticeable now, spreading from his middle.
He risked a look down. The bleeding had stopped. The edges of the hole in his gut looked… less angry, like the skin was slowly trying to pull itself back together.
'My wound, it actually closed up some. That was faster than I figured.'
He tried to brace himself to sit up, just a little. His whole body locked up instantly. A raw, tearing sensation ripped through his abdomen.
'Agh, that pain is seriously next level.' He slumped back with a groan that got stuck in his throat.
Just then, more blue screens flooded his vision, overlapping the ones about the soul links.
[Dungeon: Ruined School - CLEARED!]
[Congratulations, Player Nox!]
[Highest Contribution: Nox (92%)]
[Mission: Clear the Dungeon - COMPLETE!]
[Base Rewards Issued: 1,000 EXP, 1x Random Skill Box, +5 Stat Points.]
[Bonus Rewards for Anomaly Elimination & High Contribution:]
[EXP +5000]
[+10 Stat Points]
[1x Unique Skill Box]
[Title: Dungeon Conqueror (First Clear)]
[Title Effect: +5% EXP gain in all future dungeons.]
The sheer amount of information made his already pounding head feel like it was going to split. Six thousand extra experience points. Fifteen more stat points. Two skill boxes, and one was unique. And another title. This was a lot to take in, especially now.
Then, another notification, this one bigger and brighter than all the others, took center stage.
[System Feature Unlocked: Interdimensional Chat!]
[You can now view messages from entities observing your progress!]
Before he could even begin to figure out what that was supposed to mean, his vision was completely swamped. Lines of text started scrolling past, way too fast to read properly, a total chaotic mess of words.
[Current Observers: 20]
[Auraelia, Goddess of Resilient Sparks] HE'S ALIVE! YES! I KNEW HE'D PULL THROUGH! ✨💖✨ Did you SEE that final move?! Gutsy!
[Lord of Carnage] Finally! Chat's open! Took long enough. Decent kill, kid. Messy, but effective. +10 Carnage Points from me.
[Lady Veritas] Effective? He's a reckless child! And frankly, that display of brutality was disturbing. This is not heroism.
[Master Strategos] Survival against a superior opponent, leveraging environmental factors and opponent psychology. Statistically improbable, yet achieved. Interesting.
[Baron Von Cynic] Oh, please. He got lucky. And he looks like roadkill. What's so impressive about nearly dying?
[Auraelia, Goddess of Resilient Sparks] @Baron Von Cynic He didn't just get lucky, he made his luck! He's a fighter! And he was protecting Yeda! That's brave! 🛡️🌟
[The Silent Watcher] ...provoked the boss into a predictable attack. Risky. Almost fatal.
[Trickster God Hermes IV] LOL, that taunting game was top-tier! "My grandma hits harder," GOLD! 😂 Had the big furry idiot fuming!
[Lady Veritas] Such language! And encouraging taunts? This is not a sport! Remember Mark Julike? He shot an unarmed boy!
[Auraelia, Goddess of Resilient Sparks] @Lady Veritas Mark was a BULLY! For YEARS! Nox was pushed to the brink! What was he supposed to do, let them keep torturing him?! Justice served, I say! 😤
[Lord of Carnage] Damn right. Kid's got a spine. That window jump in the classroom? Leaving those sniveling brats to the dogs? Chef's kiss. Best opening move I've seen in eons.
[Baron Von Cynic] Or he's just a sociopath who abandoned his classmates to save his own skin. Let's not romanticize cowardice.
[Auraelia, Goddess of Resilient Sparks] It wasn't cowardice! It was survival! They never helped HIM! Ms. Joy literally LAUGHED at him! He owed them NOTHING! 😠💔
[Master Strategos] Analysis of the "classroom incident": high-risk, high-reward. Minimized personal threat, albeit at the cost of potential allied casualties. A pragmatic, if ethically questionable, decision given his prior treatment.
[Oracle of Fates] The threads around him are… chaotic. So much potential for both creation and destruction. This 'chat' will only amplify it.
[Goddess of Gentle Showers] Oh dear, he looks so hurt. And that poor girl Yeda, she was so brave too. I hope they both recover. 😥
[Trickster God Hermes IV] What about that Jax kid? The golden power-up? That was some deus ex machina bullshit. This Nox kid fought with what he had. More entertaining.
[Auraelia, Goddess of Resilient Sparks] Exactly! Jax had a sponsor. Nox is earning every scrap of power himself! And Ava with her fire? She just ran! Nox is out here clearing DUNGEONS! 🔥💪
[Lady Veritas] He is also creating more chaos than he resolves. This "power" is corrupting him. He's becoming what he despised.
[Lord of Carnage] @Lady Veritas Lighten up, Veri. Kid's a natural. Born for this new world.
[Auraelia, Goddess of Resilient Sparks] He's ADAPTING! He's a SURVIVOR! And he's got a good heart deep down, I just know it! Look how he helped Yeda awaken! That was amazing! 💖💖💖
[Auraelia, Goddess of Resilient Sparks] I sent him a regeneration potion earlier, but I guess he couldn't get it 'cause chat was locked! 😭 Hope it gets to him now! And a stamina biscuit! And a 'You're Doing Great!' banner! ✨🎉
Nox's brain felt like it was short-circuiting. Gods? Gods were watching him? Talking about him like he was some contestant on a messed-up reality show? And who the hell was this Auraelia person, and why did she sound like a hyperactive cheerleader on a sugar rush?
A small, mostly see-through box appeared at the bottom of his vision, right over the scrolling chat.
[Auraelia, Goddess of Resilient Sparks - Fan Value: 78,500 (Rank #1 Supporter)]
[Gifts Pending Delivery: Minor Regeneration Potion x1, Stamina Biscuit x3, Encouragement Banner (Cosmetic) x1]
Seventy-eight thousand? Fan value? What in the actual hell was going on? He was lying here, practically bleeding out on a disgusting gym floor, his guts almost on display, and a bunch of divine beings were… grading him? Sending him freaking biscuits?
He tried to make some sense of the words swirling in front of his eyes, the completely opposite opinions, the pure insanity of it all. They were picking apart every single thing he'd done, every choice. The classroom. Mark. Ava. Jax. The girls. It was just… too much.
"Nox? Nox, are you with us?" Kendra's voice somehow cut through the noise in his head. He blinked, trying to get his eyes to focus on her face, then Vasa's, then Yeda's. All three of them were just staring at him.
"He's... looking at something," Yeda whispered, her eyes still huge. "Like he was before. In the classroom."
He wanted to tell them, to try and explain the absolute craziness that was flooding his brain, but how could he even start? 'Hey, guys, so, uh, turns out there are like, twenty gods watching us right now, and one of them is my number one fan and just sent me a cookie.' Yeah, that would go over real smooth.
He just let out a low groan, a sound that was part pain and part pure, unfiltered bewilderment. The chat messages kept right on scrolling, a non-stop, overwhelming wave of divine commentary.
He was so unbelievably lost.