We stepped into a small cavern made of dark purple stone with a soft blue light provided by the portal behind us. Carmen was directly in front of me looking around. There was an opening leading to a much larger cavern on the opposite side from where we entered. The floor in this part was light grey and looked like worked stone because it was perfectly level. The portal flashed twice when Luna and Caera entered.

  "Cid, what do you know about Challenge Realms?" Carmen asked with gravity in her voice.

  "Not as much as I thought. They are the source of most of the skill shards for the kingdom and that they're farmed regularly by the Challengers Guild. I thought they cleared the whole thing." I already knew the last part of that was wrong.

  "There are very old records of full clears from ancient times but no one has done so in at least ten generations. Normally some of the kingdom's strongest individuals, commonly referred to as Challengers, enter and kill monsters in the first four to five sections. They also harvest useful parts from the monsters they kill as well as the mana crystals that can be found growing within. The reason full clears are a thing of myth is that each section sees the monsters gain 20 levels. The first section is relatively easy starting at level 20 but by section five they're up to level 100. Some of the elite teams can partially clear those sections but they usually stop in section four."

  "A closely held secret is that the monsters also randomly produce skill experience crystals that people can use to increase the level of a chosen skill directly. They're rare with only about one out of every hundred monsters or so having them but they can be a huge power increase. They're typically only given out to nobles or sometimes the Challengers themselves. Sometimes families will hold onto them for years to accumulate several and give them to promising young scions of their house once they hit at least tier 3 in a skill. They're too valuable to waste on any of the lower ranked skills because those can raised through use much more easily."

  "Wait, so skill experience crystals just level a skill on the spot? Why isn't the king level 200 or higher then? Seems like hoarding power for himself and family is exactly the kind of thing he'd do." That was my impression of him at least.

  "Because he'd be deposed immediately. He may be king but he needs the cooperation of the various noble houses to stay in power and run his kingdom. If he hoarded them he'd quickly find he couldn't pay his army or buy them food. Trade would grind to a halt and all the other noble families would say it was all his fault. He wouldn't be able to fight back for long with his soldiers not getting paid and not having anything to feed them."

  "Makes sense. That means that the tenth section will have monsters that are level 200? And you agreed to this? I can see why Caera thinks we're all gonna die now." Caera was nodding smugly at this.

  "It's risky and will be difficult for sure but I don't think you fully appreciate just how powerful you are Cid. Is it alright to tell Caera what skills you have and how they work? I don't want to spread your secrets but she's in here with us risking her life just like we are and she won't tell a soul. She's my oldest and best friend."

  "That makes me sound like an old woman. Just say I'm your best friend." Caera was frowning but I could tell she wasn't really upset.

  "That's fine. I'd like to keep my blessing and it's source private though. That part is weird and I don't understand what all it means for me yet."

  "Thank you." Carmen gave me a kiss on the cheek, which I had to bend way down for and began explaining things to Caera. Caera started with the same impassive look on her face as always but it gradually turned into open mouthed shock by the end.

  "Your stats, what are they right now?" Caera demanded.

  I actually wasn't sure and had to look.

  Str: 552

  Dex: 170

  Con: 333

  Wis: 58

  Int: 59

  Cha: 60

  She was stunned silent for a full ten seconds when I told her. "You're an impossible cheat. Those stats would be fine if you were somewhere north of level 400. What is your level?"

  "75 currently. I can cap all my skills instantly so I get the full 5 for every skill."

  She picked up a rock and threw it at me. She was fast and I wasn't expecting it so it thunked me right in the forehead. I put a had over the spot. "Hey!"

  "Did that actually hurt?" She asked.

  It didn't and I only shouted out of reflex. "It didn't." Feeling the spot, I found it hadn't even broken the skin.

  "You're going to be nearly impossible to hurt physically. Magic can still hurt you but you're pretty fast and can take a lot of punishment so that will only be an issue for either very powerful spells or a large group of casters. You can take us through the first five sections easily. They only reason the latter half will be difficult is due to sheer numbers. That and we're far weaker and squishier than you." She shook her head in disbelief.

  Carmen added "I can let you get all my skills too. That will be a significant power bump. Caera can do as she wishes but you're our only chance at getting out of here alive."

  "Sure. If it means we get to live then he can have all my skills. That is what you meant about taking Lightning Speed earlier wasn't it?"

  "Yeah, I promise I was gonna ask first though. It seems rude to just take them. At least from people I like."

  "That works and we need to do it for now but I've been thinking about it and when we get out of here I think you should seek out people with either tier 4 or capped skills to maximize the gain. It seems wasteful otherwise, especially for the crafting skills. We might be able to get you a class with our skills. You already have Warrior's Might, Enduring Form, and Blunt Weapons. All you need now is a defensive skill and you'll qualify. I don't have one but I believe Caera does."

  "I have Dodge. It fits my style best. Resilience too but it'stier 1." Caera added.

  "Classes are pretty rare. I never thought I'd get one. Not so young at least."

  "You are able to cheat. They are fairly rare though. I know of several and the skills needed to gain them from the royal library. Only my family has access to it. Most nobles don't even know the correct skill combinations. If it were common knowledge they'd be far more plentiful."

  "Before we get to the skills, where are the monsters and why haven't we been attacked yet? This first section seems very small." The whole first cavern couldn't be more than eight meters in diameter.

  "This isn't the first section. It's the staging area. Each Challenge Realm has one and it's just a small space to ready yourselves in. We have time." Carmen supplied.

  "Don't we need to get a move on though? What if the soldiers chasing us enter. We'll be pinned between them and a bunch of bloodthirsty monsters."

  "You're only able to group together like this if you enter within one minute of the first person to enter and there is a maximum of ten people per instance. They can enter the portal but they'd be in an entirely different Challenge Realm separate from ours."

  "Fantastic. Can I start getting your skills now? We may not be in a hurry but I'd like to see what we're up against."

  "Of course." She reached out and took my hand.

  Mimic activated: Choose one of Carmen's skills to target. Soul Magic, Dancing, Writing , Light Magic, Detect Lie, Gardening, Herbalism, Singing, Mental Resistance, Archery, Etiquette, Alchemy, or Speechcraft.

  I took the magic skills first because magic sounded awesome. I picked perks along with Carmen's that reduced the cost of spells by a total of 95% for me where it capped and reduced the casting times by 80%. Next I took Mental Resistance and chose perks that gave me total immunity to magical mental influence and resistance to mundane skills used to affect or persuade me like Speechcraft and Persuasion. Alchemy was next and I chose perks that reduced the amount of ingredients needed by 99% and increased potency by 60%. I then took the rest of the skills except Dancing as I'd gotten that one from Ranas who I hoped was being drowned in a pool of urine in some hell. Twelve new skill all told and it only took me twenty minutes, mostly due to decisions on perks.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  "All done. Thank you so much Carmen." I gave her a warm smile and a hug.

  "You're infuriating. It took you less than twenty minutes to cap twelve skills! Do you realize how absurd that is. It takes years to cap a skill and you just did it twelve times in the same amount of time it takes to eat a small meal!" Caera shouted and threw up her hands.

  "True, but I have a target on my back from the king and an entire army determined to see me dead because of it. My family and friends were interrogated, I was tortured, and the woman I love basically became a prisoner in her own home because of it. I've been terrified ever since I gained the ability to 'cheat' and have had to run for my life three times. And that's after thinking Advancement had ruined my life on my awakening day. Seems like a fair trade to me." I wasn't angry and said all this in a calm tone. She was just looking at a small part of my life without taking into consideration what I went through to get there.

  She calmed down as I spoke and eventually responded. "You're right. I'm sorry Cid. I don't know if going through all that is worth it even if you are basically a demigod now."

  "It's okay. I learned by watching my parents that it's easy to focus on your own situation but much harder to see what other people are going through. I forgive you."

  She looked relieved. "You can have mine now if you're ready. Do you have to hold my hand?"

  "I can just touch your shoulder each time I take a skill if that works for you." She seemed a little uncomfortable with the idea of holding my hand so I tried to make it easier for her.

  "Okay, go ahead."

  Mimic activated: Choose one of Caera's skills to target. Lightning Speed, Swordsmanship, Riding, Etiquette, Balance, Running, Healing Magic, Inspect, Resilience, Dodge, or Calligraphy.

  Lightning Speed was first and besides the Dex increase it got perks that increased my hand eye coordination and overall movement speed by 40%. As soon as I confirmed the perks my body shifted to become more lean. I was still huge but looked less like a slab of beef and more like a honed warrior now. Next up was Dodge. It got perks to make dodging 100% easier and allow me to use less movement and energy to do so. Then came Healing Magic. I was glad to have this one as it was a life saving skill I hopefully wouldn't have to use on the girls. I reduced the cost again and made the healing provided 75% more effective. Running got perks for 200% increased speed and 99% less energy used while running. I would be able to maintain a full sprint virtually forever. Resilience's main effect wasn't as useful to me because it reduced physical damage and I was already maxed out at 99% there so I chose perks for pain tolerance and mental resilience. The rest weren't that interesting except for Inspect. That one allowed full information on items and materials, even magical ones. Etiquette was a copy so it didn’t count. 10 more skills gained for a total of twenty two skills in the last hour.

  "All done?" Caera asked when I stepped back.

  "With the skills, yes. I need a bit to assign stats. This is all a lot to handle and might take a while." I sat on the floor with my back resting against the wall. The world's best kitty kitty took that as an invitation to sit in my lap as I went over my stats.

  I'd gained 22 skills and capped them. This netted me 110 levels and I was in a state of disbelief. I'd never Even heard of someone at level 185, but here I was. I had more raw power than anyone I'd ever heard of, including legendary figures. I had 220 stat points to assign and I now fully understood why Halcis refused to allow this skill to be used as Rekf had originally intended. My Dex had risen to 510 because of Lightning Speed and Str was 552. I needed them close to equal so I put 4 points there which translated to 36 points because of skills bringing it to 546. Each point spent on physical skills now gave me 9 stat points. The mental stat boosting skills were much more rare but that was fine. I'd find them eventually and had all I needed for now. I spent 50 points on Str and Dex, keeping them close. Next I put 74 into Con to bring it up as I'd be fighting level 200 monsters in the near future and doing it basically alone. This left me with 42 points. My physical stats were beyond absurd and I did have magic to use now so I put 11 into Wis and Int and 10 into Cha. That left my stats looking like this.

  Level 185

  Str: 1002

  Dex: 996

  Con: 996

  Wis: 69

  Int: 70

  Cha: 70

  These numbers didn't seem real. And I had a whopping 37 skills, all capped! I only had a moment to look at my stats before a notification appeared in my vision.

  Congratulations! You are the first human to aquire a Strength score of 1,000. Your next class will be improved by two steps up to legendary potency.

  I didn't even know what an achievement was. I'd never heard of them. I had another notification as well.

  Requirements met to recieve the common class Warrior. Due to achievements this class will be upgraded twice. Warrior (C)>Meteorstrike Mauler (R)

  I now had a rare class that sounded amazing.

  Meteorstrike Mauler- Specializing in brutally powerful, lightning quick strikes the Meteorstrike Mauler is a terror on the battlefield. The blitz opponents and leave them as nothing more than a crater in the ground. Grants the following abilities. Each level gained moving forward grants +1 to Str and Dex.

  Falling Star Strike: Deliver a powerful overhand strike that delivers +500% damage and leaves the target stunned for 3 seconds should they survive.

  Meteorstrike: A blow that deals +1,000 percent damage and leaves and crater in the ground for 5 meters and pushes opponents back the same distance.

  Shooting Star: Charge an opponent, reaching them instantly to deliver an attack. Range 100 meters.

  I got extra stats from now on? The shock must have registered on my face because Carmen asked "Cid, are you okay?"

  "What are the rarities for classes and what are achievements?"

  "I've only ever heard of common and uncommon classes. It's long been assumed that there are higher rarities but no one knows how to get them. Achievements I've only heard of in rumor and ancient texts. They're supposedly granted when a legendary feat is performed, like slaying an army singlehandedly. As you can imagine, no one thought they were real. Did you get one?" She looked starstruck by the idea of me having achieved something scholars and historians doubted was even real.

  "I did." I told them about my class, the achievement, and my new stats.

  "Cid, I believe I speak the truth when I say that you are several times more powerful than any human who has ever lived. We'll be able to blow right through this place." She began to jump up and down clapping her hands excitedly and spinning in a circle.

  "Absurd. Completely absurd. You're on our side though so I'm not complaining." Caera added.

  Even Luna seemed excited as she began purring loudly and rubbed her head against my hand aggressively.

  "Let me up so we can test my new abilities please." Luna kindly jumped down. As I went to stand up I shot straight into the cavern ceiling and stayed there. I had blasted a hole in the rock with my head and stuck like a dart in cork. I wiggled a bit and fell back down having taken no damage.

  "I'm going to have to be careful until I learn to control my strength and speed better. Everyone back up so I can enter the first section please." When they complied I slowly stepped forward like I was trying to move so slow no one could even tell I was moving. It sort of worked. I very awkwardly walked into the cavern in what amounted to a run for the average person. I stopped about 2 meters inside to take stock of the situation.

  The first section was a cavern about a kilometer wide made of the same kind of stone as the entrance except there were small mana crystals sticking out of the stone everywhere. There were thousands of them and they provided the light in the cavern. There were boulders and outcroppings that would make line of sight and movement an issue. About 3 meters in front of me there was a rock that looked like it was moving. I used Soul Sense for the first time and was surprised.

  Stone Spitter

  Level 20

  Str 8

  Dex 4

  Con 35

  Wis 3

  Int 1

  Cha 1

  Skills

  Camouflage 22

  Acid Spit 26

  Resilience 28

  So this thing was some kind of slug that camouflaged itself as a rock? There were dozens of them in range, all camouflaged. Why was this one moving then? I found out a second later when it spat its acid at me. I dodged easily enough as it looked like it was in slow motion to me but actually let it graze my arm to see what would happen. Immediately a patch of skin the size of a large coin began to bubble and bleed. It didn't hurt that badly but the acid was fairly potent. I walked forward and dodged another acid glob. Up close it really did look just like any other rock in the cavern except for where it's camouflaged body raised up off the ground about a centimeter and moving forward leaving behind a clear slime trail. I didn’t get fancy and just kicked it. It exploded into a shower of blue blood and slime mist. My foot didn't even feel any resistance.

  I saw a handful of the other Spitters start moving and didn't like the idea of all that acid coming this way, not because they had a prayer of hitting me but because the entrance was right behind me and the girls were in there so I moved. And boy how I MOVED. The world became a blur for a fraction of a second and I plowed into a boulder 3 meters tall and just as wide. It cracked in half. I was fine but had to reorient myself and take it a little slower. I still plowed straight into another large rock but managed to kill the Spitter I'd been aiming for in the process. I spent an hour running around the cavern, tripping and falling all over the place but eventually figured how to regulate my strength and speed so I wasn't a danger to the environment or life itself. I managed to kill 32 more Spitters after those first two. When I felt confident I wouldn't hurt them I went back to the girls.

  "Stone Spitter slugs. They spit acid and camouflage as stones. Their levels don't make sense though. They only have three skills and they're all either tier one or two. How does that work?"

  Carmen was the one to respond again. "Challenge Realm monsters work differently. Their skills and personal levels don't match up. They're all the same level and will only have a set number of skills. The exact skill level won't vary much nor will their stats. The gods designed them this way. Your arm is bleeding!"

  She noticed at the end of her explanation I was hurt. "It's nothing. I wanted to see how potent their acid was and I wanted to try out Healing Magic."

  "Dont let yourself get hurt you big idiot! Heal it now and don't let it happen again!" She was scowling.

  I'd never seen her angry before. It was adorable. Probably a bad idea to tell her that though. I felt for the magic and it was easy to find. It was like a warm, shining little ball in my soul. I pulled a tiny little wisp of it out and just stuffed it into the wound. It healed immediately and left the only clean spot on my whole body. "Neat."

  "Not neat. I don't like seeing you hurt." She was still mad.

  "I promise not to let myself get injured intentionally again, okay?" I hated seeing her upset, even if I knew it was only out of concern.

  "Okay. I love you. You cleared the area near the entrance so let's go see if anything dropped. I don't think there's anything worth taking from the Spitter's bodies so the only loot will be crystal drops."

  "I love you too. I can't wait til we're married." I gave her a big dopey grin which she returned. Caera made a retching sound and Luna seemed jealous and meowed at me. "I can't wait to bond with you too Luna." She seemed satisfied and walked into the cavern with her tail swishing. We followed right behind, eager to see if there was any loot.