THE RUNIC ALCHEMIST

What the hell was going on? Why would they bring them along?

Damian waited until Mindseer came to confirm the Highswords’ presence—more than ten minutes later. Now, they were within five kilometers.

He halted their progression and pulled out Dreamlight, instantly flying back to confront them and get some answers.

“Maybe they made some kind of deal?” Maelor suggested.

“Highswords don’t bring kids along, no matter what kind of deal,” Mindseer replied. “We are not supposed to interfere unless they are in danger.”

“Why would Kishi tag along with them..?” Einar muttered.

Soon, Damian found them and landed nearby. The other Highsword sections, noticing his arrival, also gathered. Silverspell cast a spell, creating a golden barrier similar to Damian’s to keep the monsters away, though his was a fixed spell—once broken, it couldn’t be reinforced.

“What is going on here?” Damian asked.

Runefather, Mindseer, and Hellseeker also turned their sharp gazes toward Silverspell, demanding answers.

“What? Anyone here is free to do whatever they want,” Thunderclaw, one of the Sunkeeper’s followers, replied nonchalantly.

“You can’t help them level up,” Mindseer argued.

“We’re not doing that,” Silverspell said sheepishly. “They’re just following behind us, not doing anything. That isn’t against the rules, is it?”

Damian ignored him and turned to Kamisen directly. “Do you really want to do this?”

Kamisen crossed his dark-furred arms, his expression unwavering. “We’re not rich like those noble brats. We have to take any chance we can get.”

“You don’t understand the trouble you’re getting your friends into, Kamisen,” Damian warned.

“We’ll take our chances!” Kishi cut in, her high-pitched voice grating on his ears. He ignored her completely. She also avoided making eye contact with Einar, as if embarrassed.

“We need to inform the High Table,” Mindseer stated matter-of-factly. It was impressive how she never hesitated when it came to important matters despite having a quiet personality.

Yet none of them moved. No one volunteered, unwilling to leave their side vulnerable by becoming outnumbered compared to others. With a sigh, she relented. “Fine. I’ll go.”

Damian exchanged a look with Kamisen before boarding the Dreamlight with the others. As they stopped near the mechanical steps, Mindseer turned to him.

“I’ll go ahead. We’ll meet on Level 25.”

Damian simply nodded. They would have to lift the spatial cube themselves when necessary, but that had never been her job—she had just agreed to help.

With Dreamlight stored back in the cube, and the cube on the hoverboard, they resumed their grind. He hadn’t expected Kamisen to make such a reckless decision, but it seemed he had misjudged him. He had to stop expecting people to behave as his image of them, he was rarely wrong which was why it always came as a surprise. Bringing Kamisen into the dungeon team had been a mistake. Hopefully, they all will realize that before it is too late and go back.

With the same formation and repeated spells, they continued grinding for experience points. Their pace remained steady, ensuring they didn’t push themselves too hard. Damian knew Lucian, Einar, and maybe even Alex hadn’t gone all out yet. Sam definitely hadn’t. Evante was clearly holding back as well—he had far more mana than what he was currently using as a spellsword.

It took another day and a half, but they cleared the level at a relatively relaxed pace. The final stretch forced them to exert more effort, but with Damian culling the monster horde whenever it grew overwhelming, they kept things under control.

His efforts were rewarded. After stagnating at Level 80, he finally reached Level 84. At this rate, he just needed to either kill at least eight emperor-rank monsters or clear six more levels with the same kill count to become a second ranker. Becoming the second ranker before reaching Level 25 might actually be possible. If that happened, he could stop this journey after performing the waygate spell for Land Breaker.

Of course, the higher the levels, the more experience was needed. Whether or not he could achieve it before level 25 remained to be seen.

As they reached halfway through Level 20 with somewhat the same monsters with the addition of Firefang Boars – Boars that ram enemies with burning tusks and Volcanic Chimeras – Multi-headed monsters spewing lava, Damian sensed another emperor-rank monster—guess that was the boss monster.

That was lucky. Cutting through the lesser monsters in his way with renewed vigor, he picked up the pace. Lucian and the others kept glancing at him, no doubt noticing his hurried pace.

He didn’t care. He carved through the enemies as quickly as possible without putting anyone in too much danger. Soon, the group could see their target in the distance as they flew in the Dreamlight for a short break. The terrain was too narrow here.

A massive magma golem stood guard over a key point. Its immense body was riddled with glowing veins of molten lava, its sheer size making its movements slow and clumsy. But what it lacked in speed, it more than made up for with durability. Reaching its mana core would be a brutal challenge.

Emperor-rank monsters were simply built different.

“Is that why you’ve been giddy all day?” Sam asked, reading him with ease.

“That thing is huge..” Amy muttered.

“Blasting it with spells and aura blades won’t be enough,” Lucian assessed. “Only a truly overwhelming force can break through that much stone and reach the core.”

“I guess I’ll take this one alone,” Damian said simply. “Since all of you are so intent on hiding your precious skills.” Enjoy more content from My Virtual Library Empire

“What choice do we have with those people behind us?” Maelor shot back, glaring at him.

“Just ignore them,” Damian countered. “Your strength is yours. So what if they know your secrets? It doesn’t change anything. They’ve lived for centuries—they probably already know everything about your houses. You’re just wasting your chance. But whatever.. that just leaves more monsters for me!” He grinned. “I’ll be going now.”

Leaving them aboard the Dreamlight, Damian jumped off—flying.

He had designed a belt that carried two mana containers at his waist. One would have sufficed, but he took two just in case. With a sharp wind blowing behind, he shot forward, heading straight for the massive golem in the distance.

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