If I tell her it’s me, will Miwa expose my identity as Tent... the top-ranked craftsman? She wouldn’t, right?

But damn, she looks creepy. It's almost like she’s about to start drooling at the thought of meeting the 1st ranked craftsman in the tournament. Is she a stalker? Is that why she bought so many of my items? Was she driving the prices up?

Miwa, noticing my gaze fixed on the ugly items, smiles, her face taking on a manic cast.

She takes a step closer to them, “I bought as many as I could! I even got a few of the members of my group to chip in. I owe them, but it was worth it!”

Miwa takes two items: one is a dagger I made, and the other was made by someone else, likely Miwa herself.

She confirms it soon, “I made this dagger. The system rates it at mid-rare.”

The dagger she is showing me is beautiful, and even though it's pretty, it doesn't feel weak. The inscriptions are a bit clumsy, but she did a good job shaping the metal, compressing it, and making the result pleasant to look at without sacrificing the performance.

Next to her dagger is one of mine, and as they both lay there, the difference is stark. My dagger is much rougher, a mere chunk of dagger shaped metal. There are imperfections; it's ugly, and even my inscriptions feel less delicate.

Miwa picks up both of them and sends her mana through the blades. Then she swings them against each other.

With a clang, her blade is sundered, and my dagger comes away whole, despite suffering a tiny chink in the blade.

“This dagger,” she lifts up the surviving one with a smile, “is barely rated mid-rare, bordering on low-rare.” Her voice has more emotion in it, and she talks quickly.

Like someone finally receiving permission to talk about their hobbies and obsessions.

“So I want to meet him or her. I will let you examine the arm if you promise not to damage it. Sset said you bought items from them and can contact them.”

She takes another step closer to me, and I hold out my arm to keep her at bay. “Okay, okay, let’s calm down.”

Finally coming back to herself, Miwa blushes and quickly takes a step back with an apologetic smile on her face.

She bows quickly, “I apologize for my behavior!”

“It’s fine, just let me think about it, ok? And give me some space.”

I quickly teleport to an anchor I left in my room and take the dagger she wants and a good chunk of voidsteel. Then, I return to the anchor I left behind.

“For now, take this for your help with the pizza. I’ll talk to Fuc… to that person, and get back to you soon.”

“Please do so and thank you!” Miwa takes the epic dagger and the metal and carefully puts them away. “Should I start preparing it?”

“Maybe in an hour or two?” Then I get an idea, “Actually, I will come to you in about a day, and we can make it together. Would that be fine?”

“I don’t mind, but I can’t guarantee the result if anyone else is involved.”

I wave my hand, “That is fine. So tomorrow?”

After she nods, I quickly teleport away. Dealing with the drooling fanboys is a problem for future me to deal with. Screw that weirdo.

Appearing on the roof of our house, I scan the area.

As expected, there are hundreds of presences gathered around our lodgings. It’s no surprise people from other difficulties are intrigued, and the giant black wolf can be seen even from afar. Focusing on one presence in particular, I place a couple of anchors and find Channeler at its source.

“Hey.”

He stumbles back, almost collapsing in shock. I forgot some people aren’t that good at detection or surprises.

“You can’t keep doing that to me,” he complains as I help him back to his feet.

“Shouldn’t you be used to it by now?”

“Give it a few dozen more tries,” he jokes weakly, nodding at the wolf visible even from here. He asks. “Is that your new pet?”

“Biscuit’s,” I reply.

Seeing that I’m not joking, Channeler only laughs, “Yeah, that makes sense.”

“There is no need to worry; he won’t do anything. And even if he did, we can’t die here, so it’s fine.”

“You could defeat him?”

For a moment, I think of it, remembering the sheer weight of the wolf, the feel of his mana, and his childish yet dangerous eyes. The wolf isn’t weak, no, even though the mood around him has been light, he’s still dangerous.

“Yeah, I could,” I admit.

“How strong is he in comparison to the things you’ve fought on the other floors?” Channeler asks.Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

“Honestly? I’m not sure about our current floor, but I’ve met stronger beings before and fought some of them. Make sure to look at him properly. Monsters as big as that wolf probably won’t be anything rare once our round of the tutorial ends.”

“Are you referring to the Pairing?” he asks, looking in the direction of the black wolf.

“Yes.” is my answer.

“And you’re already fighting beings as strong as that wolf.”

“Hell difficulty has been feeling easier lately, as we’ve gotten stronger, but there are always surprises and fuck-ups. So yeah, it’s not all that rare. Why do you think only 38 out of the 250 people who started in Hell difficulty have survived?”

“Honestly, Noname,” Channeler says carefully, “you’ve been so easygoing about it, that it’s never really felt like you were struggling, it’s like nothing’s too dangerous for you.”

“It’s not that bad.”

That blonde and uselessly handsome man just smiles and shakes his head.

What is he, posing for photos?

“Lately I’ve been noticing something.” He says.

While he’s grasping for the right words, I die. Black mana tearing my heart apart as it gets too close. Still, I maintain composure and slightly modify my attempts. Once again I’ve managed to confirm that too much mana, too close to my mana heart is less than a good idea. I clearly need to make some changes.

“You, Savant, Tacita, Sset. Everyone from Hell really. You all seem…”

“A bit strange?” I offer. I’ve noticed that too.

“Something like that. At times, this something shines through that makes it obvious why you ended up in Hell, and I’m not trying to insult you or anything. I just can’t help but think that it would probably take someone like you to endure it all, and none of the Hell difficulty attendees exactly seem like they were exactly happy with their normal lives back on Earth.”

“Can you give me an example?” I ask, gesturing for him to continue, curiosity getting the better of me as I move my mana through my body.

“I have a friend who trained as a professional psychologist, and he said that Tacita seems to demonstrate a lot of the signs associated with someone who’s experienced a lot of deep emotional pain. He can't be sure but said that she might be a patient from a psychiatric hospital or a domestic abuse survivor, maybe even sexual trafficking. Savant and Gareth both seem like sociopaths and likely you as well —either that or Asperger's syndrome. It's hard to say confidently, so these are only guesses. Then I heard Kim talking about his family, and he seems to be happier here than he ever was back home. Dennis and Aaron also seem to have experienced some form of domestic abuse, apparently, they’ve been passed around by their family ever since their parents died and they’re constantly changing schools.”

“You know their real names.”

“Yeah, they told me, so did Tess. So my point is that I have spoken with the others. Brainiac, Lootenant, Adam, AnotherOneHere, and that’s the one thing you all share - you like this world. Almost like you were missing something back on Earth.”

“That sounds right.”

“So how is it for you, Noname? Are you the same?”

“Maybe. What else does your psychologist friend think of me?”

“He thinks you might have had a messed-up childhood, probably something to do with your parents. That seems to be the most common issue. He sees something that suggests deep emotional scars.”

“Interesting. He seems to know a lot.”

“Yeah, he’s a bit weird. He’s got an eidetic memory and a habit of watching people.” Channeler says nodding.

“Anyway, it's not something I want to talk about. Can you get me a few people who are willing to fight? Easy, Normal difficulty, and maybe one or two from Hard.” I ask, changing the subject.

“I could try. What do you want them to do?”

“Just a bit of light sparring. No worries, their opponent won’t be from Hell difficulty.”

“Shouldn’t be a problem. You won’t need to offer any rewards. There are plenty of people who just want to get close to you guys, so I can use that, so long as we remember that person in the future.”

Damn, is this what a high-level extrovert is capable of? It seems so easy when he says it.

Then I remember something and pull a small mana stone from my pocket, “I prepared this for you. It should help you practice moving your mana. I modified it so it should be perfect for you.”

Channeler takes the stone, and as expected, he ignores me for a moment, examining his new toy. I don’t even mind; it’s nice to see someone with similar interests to mine.

“Don’t ask,” I warn him, “try to examine it on your own and come to your own conclusions. It will help you more if you do. I’ll give you some more before the end of the tournament, at least if you do a good job with this one.”

“In that case, I’ll just accept the gift.”

“No problem. I’ll see you later.”

After I teleport, I think for a moment. Should I wait for a response? Are there any customs or rules regarding etiquette when it comes to teleportation, are there places and situations where it might be considered rude to do so?

Lately, I’ve been getting used to my instantaneous mode of transport, but I should probably ask Min-Jae to let me train under his increased gravity field so I don’t get too lazy. It’s been a long time since I pushed my body with proper exercise.

As I arrive I find myself welcomed with an unusual sight. Tacita standing across from my disciple and staring at her. Tess and Lily are standing nearby, and I can almost feel their skills on a short trigger and mana hum under their skin. The girls are about as far away from Vega as Tacita, though they certainly realize how terrifyingly fast the girl with messy brown hair can be.

Tacita must have appeared there out of nowhere, surprising them and cornering Vega.

(It’s fine,) I say sending a message to Tess through Sophie’s web. If they do something stupid it might trigger Tacita.

“She is my disciple,” I tell Tacita, as she looks from me to Vega.

Even as quirky as she is, she can be startlingly intelligent at times, that sentence alone will surely tell her a lot - the meaning of Vega to me and what will happen if Tacita tries to hurt her. Yet, at the same time, that sentence feels empty. Tacita is faster than me, and she is closer. If she decided to do anything, I probably wouldn’t be able to stop her in time.

And the same as me, Tacita realizes that Vega might not be included in the “can’t die during the tournament” part of the message. Something I failed to think of in my stupidity.

I act as calmly as I can and take a few steps closer, as I feel my heart pounding in my chest.

A few more steps, and I’m almost within reach. A black mana orb forms deep inside my body, ready for absorption, to strengthen my body to the fullest. The anchor I left on Vega is ready to be activated at any moment.

Then Tacita moves her hand, and I almost attack her. But her movement is restrained, and I hold myself back through clenched teeth. She looks her over without malice, and slowly, gently, she reaches a hand out towards Vega.

She looks at me, her hand stopping mid-air, and when I don't react, she continues and gently touches Vega’s pointy horn with the tip of her finger.

Tacita then smiles brightly, her eyes devoid of ill will, and I feel myself calm down.

Then my minion kicks her in the shin.