“Miller!” Frank shouted.

He used Dennis’s surname with a militant bark that reminded Dennis of his dad. But unlike Dennis’s dad, Frank was only militant because it was out of necessity. Not out of bullshit bravado to make himself seem tougher than needed. Dennis didn’t mind listening to the guy. Even if Dennis knew it would put him in a rough position.

“What’s up?” Dennis called, raising Ogre Hunter as a host of ugly bastards charged them.

“I’m leaving them to you,” Frank said, turning his back on the monster pack. “Jay’s unique, but he can’t pile on the damage by himself. And Mike can be inaccurate against a target that moves like the Toyreveler.”

“Okay.”

What else could Dennis say? Frank was right. Right about the wonder-nerds and leaving Dennis to face the horde alone.

It was a terrible position to be in, though. Dennis was still shaky on everything he’d experienced so far. He’d killed a living creature for the first time days ago. He’d killed things that would reanimate themselves in his nightmares. He kept killing because he had to, even when it made him sick.

So, he put on a brave face as best as he could. Sometimes, his faking convinced him that he was enjoying all the crazy action. Even when it got scary, horrible, and too real for him.

But Dennis couldn’t deny that there was a proud part of him. Deep inside, he was thrilled by the prospect of being a big, badass hero. One that would eventually find a massive dragonslaying sword and an elven princess or two to marry. Maybe become a lord of fantasy land, too. It was the silly, pulp fiction dream of Dennis’s nerd side, the side he’d inherit from his late little brother, the side he kept away from his dad.

Then he wouldn’t have to think about his prospects in the real world and how it all made him feel stuck, like he was not in control of his future, like he had to live up to his dad’s expectations, like he had to play a part that he stopped finding fun a long time ago but kept the bit going because that was what everyone expected from the top jock of the high school.

If he survived this, the world waited outside with a pressure Dennis hated.

It almost made the monsters more appealing to face.

The first spider carriage to reach him opened its baby-doll face to reveal a set of deadly teeth. Sticking out of the windows of its carriage body were royal-looking, Frankensteined toys brandishing shiny and deadly sabers. Together, they made up for a loony collection of monstrous madness. One meant to scare dungeon crawlers into feeble positions and overwhelm them with their Level 9 and Level 10 strength and numbers.

It worked a little too well on Dennis, who was truly afraid under all that muscle and girth. That fear triggered his deeply rooted childhood trauma, which pushed Dennis as it had always done before.

“Where are my dragonslaying swords and eleven princesses?!” Dennis roared, rousing himself to be mad, zany, and berserk.

The first swing was without any Skill empowerment. Pure brute force Strength smashed into the spider carriage’s face and shattered its teeth. Dennis’s leg and back muscles burned from putting so much into that hit. He’d missed the edge alignment, too, making the blow less effective. The spider carriage got stopped in its tracks anyway.

Dennis turned and [Mountain Leaped] into the side of a spider carriage skittering around to chase Frank. The jump was powerful, scaling with his Strength. The Skill meant for him to go high, but this time he cannonballed himself only a short distance from the ground.

His sword was already in motion before he hit his target and thrashed the carriage with Ogre Hunter. The bloody plastic frame parted, and Ogre Hunter got lodged halfway into the carriage and a rider. It yanked Dennis to a stop, crashing him down on the roof of the carriage spider as it screeched in pain.

A rider crawled out of the window, brandishing its saber.

Dennis smashed his fist in its wicked face, snatched the sword from its grasp, and hacked into its neck with another misaligned cut. He was sucky at keeping his sword swings aligned, but that was something he’d have to work on later with Frank.

At the very least, the Riders went down easier than expected. Dennis’s limited [Intellect] figured they were similar to the bugs from the puzzle room, putting stock into magical defense to give the wonder nerds a hard time.

That was fine with Dennis. He was in charge of herding these bastards away from the boss fight. So, with a twist and yank of Ogre Hunter, he made the carriage spider skitter back into the others.

It was a pain yanking Ogre Hunter out, forcing Dennis to use [Double Swing]. His arms became a blur, carving out of the flesh in an explosion of plastic and gore, before coming down with a second swing that split an attacking rider from another spider-carriage. The cut split the villainous jerk from shoulder to rib cage.

The spider carriages proved super tough. The one Dennis was on wouldn’t go down with only a torn-apart carriage.

Dennis whacked it in the face with Ogre Hunter until it slammed to a stop and threw Dennis into a tumble across the limb-carpeted ground.

He rolled to his feet and faced an ugly monster tide giving him the attention he was due. Dennis ignored the slain notifications, braced himself and his weapon, and swung with all his might.

He lopped off a few limbs with one swing.

He headbutted a rider jumping out of the carriage to pounce on him. Then he used the rider as a plastic-meat shield to block a few saber strikes.

He [Mountain Leaped] up and came crashing like a meteor, exploding a carriage spider and its riders from under his Skill.

Dennis gasped for air, feeling exhausted as he repeatedly used his Skills and fought without rest.

Slowly but surely, he whittled down the monsters, leveled up his Skills, and got closer to Level 9.

Then he got slashed on the arm. A spider carriage tackled him hard from behind. His vision was reduced to what looked like a tunnel as everything came at him too quickly. The fear that fueled his anger redirected towards panic. He tried to get away, but they were quicker than him, more vicious than him, more inhuman in ways he couldn’t match.

They were monsters, and he was but a young man still growing up.

“I’m going to die,” Dennis gasped, hiding behind his sword as a carriage spider punched down at him with most of its limbs. Others circled to surround him and attack his exposed back.

In his mind’s eye, he saw their horrible teeth biting into his flesh and ripping him apart. He saw himself remade into a fleshy toy, a nightmare-version of himself that would never feel the pressure of his real life. That would never dream of the pleasures of fantasy ever again.

He was going to die. The thought of which made him want to give up.

The sizzling, air-crackling, shrieking sound of a laser perked Dennis up.

The spider carriage that was striking against his sword screeched in severe pain. Part of its carriage and the top half of its face melted and lit on fire. The riders came out a little scorched but whole. Their mount was too damaged to move properly, however.

The other spider carriages and riders surrounding Dennis froze. With the heat pulled off, Dennis dove into his knapsack and absorbed his Good Health Crystal and Good Stamina Crystal.

Every hurt, every cut, every bruise, and all the other damage he’d accumulated vanished under a wave of healing warmth. Inside his lungs, he felt a renewed gust of energy, like breathing the essence of a springtime day, waking him from hibernation to get back into the action.

“[Double Swing]!” He swept the first cut low, chopping through the spider carriage’s belly and lopping off limbs. The second swing landed in the blink of an eye and split a carriage rider’s upper body from its lower body at the waist.

Dennis received a notification worth his attention. He split his +6 Free AP between Strength and Resilience during a tiny window when the spider carriages and riders hesitated to attack him or track down Mike, who was drilling them from afar.

That guy was a nerdy beast like no other. Not only could he keep up with Jay’s craziness and seemingly predict it, but Mike showed resolve and bravery that secretly wowed Dennis.

Being a [Fighter] was the safer option in some aspects. At least Dennis could survive his mistakes.

Mike, however, was one mistake from dying out here. But when a few of the spider carriages split off to climb the grafted tower of toy castles and dollhouses Mike was on, the [Mage] stayed put and kept blasting at the monsters surrounding Dennis.

Real recognize real, and Mike was a real one.

That was enough motivation to push Dennis to not only fight with fury but to try his hand at strategy. He used [Mountain Leap] to attack the exposed spider carriages assailing Mike’s position. But instead of applying [Meteor Drop] like normal, Dennis activated his newly acquired Skill.

[Aura of the Strong]!

Dennis hit the grafted toy tower right above the lead spider carriage. A golden aura exuded from his flesh, waving around him like a silent blaze. He latched onto the plastic wall with one hand and dug his fingers to secure himself without trouble. With the other hand, he raised his sword and swung down.

Even with his Strength, swinging Ogre Hunter with one hand properly was a difficult feat. True power and accuracy came from technique leveraging his primary Attribute, something he understood from sports even if he was new to swordsmanship. But [Aura of the Strong] exuded Dennis’s Strength with a touch of physical-based energy and magic. It enabled him to defy reality’s physical limitations, boost his raw power, and increase his Conviction for whatever strange reason.

His one-armed swing split the spider carriage’s skull like a hot knife through butter.

The monster’s corpse dropped away. It crashed into the next spider carriage below. That accumulated into a cascading fall of spider carriages piling right under Dennis. Without needing much prompting, the [Fighter] dropped and combined [Meteor Drop] with [Aura of the Strong].

The resulting explosion of pure and utter resonating Strength was a brilliant and golden affair that cast a bright light for all to see. It made Dennis feeble again, but that one move killed three spider carriages and all their riders.

Their numbers reduced enough that Dennis could sit back and rest as Mike picked off the remaining monstrosities like a kid using a magnifying glass to eradicate bugs on a hot sunny day. The magic defense of the riders delayed their deaths but nothing more.

“One day,” Dennis said between panting gasps, “it’ll all be worth it. I’ll have my dragonslaying swords and elven princesses. I’ll be a noble lord, too, because why the fuck not? It sounds badass.”