Endless Leveling Done Right!

Chapter 623: A New Adventure Awaits!

Chapter 623: A New Adventure Awaits! Fran’s gauntlets were a menace in their own right. She was already very strong and could beat nearly everyone in the academy whether they were First Years or Fourth Years.

This was a feat not many could achieve. Most students graduated without ever reaching Rank 5.

Every punch rattled his body, every blow made his arm numb. And frankly, if Fran hadn’t been holding back just a tiny bit, Alex would have to worry about broken bones.

"It’s still not enough." Alex sighed as he sat on the floor. "I thought I was already strong enough when I reached Rank 3. But the meeting with my other self proved me wrong."

Two weeks after his return to the academy, he had yet to return to his full strength.

"Your body is trying to adapt to the situation," Lin explained.

The flames seemed to have some kind of property that could keep his body in a weakened state.

If he had been serious, there was no way Alex could have survived that encounter in the Shadow Forest.

Lost in thought, he didn’t realize that Fran had been lightly patting his shoulder for a few seconds. She giggled as he blinked a couple of times, but she could tell something was weighing heavily on his mind.

"I know, Fran." Alex kissed the back of her hand like a knight would do to a princess. "But I just feel uneasy recently. I feel like something is going to happen, and if I’m not strong enough to handle it... I’ll probably end up regretting it for the rest of my life."

"You already have a plan, right?" Fran felt that Alex was merely waiting for his body to recover fully before doing something risky to raise his rank quickly.

"Alone?" Fran frowned.

"Reckless people say the same thing." Fran wasn’t too happy to hear this, even if it was true that Alex technically wouldn’t be alone since Dim Dim would accompany him.

"Fran, I plan to spend this lifetime with you." Alex held her hand gently and looked at her eyes. "I don’t want you to spend your life in loneliness again. So don’t worry. I promise to take good care of myself. Do you remember our promise back then?"

But now, it might just become possible.

Alex blinked once, then twice. Of all the people that Fran could recommend, it just had to be Mr. I-Have-Trust-Issues!

Fran giggled because Alex looked like he had just swallowed a fly. "Aren’t you and Renard friends now?"

As if waiting for that moment, Renard stepped into the training room, looking thoroughly disgruntled.

"Oh sh*t," Alex muttered. "Not this trope again."

"Renard is now Rank 4," Fran revealed. "He can take some hits from me now."

However, since the top of her head only reached Renard’s chest, she looked more like his younger sister instead.

The three teenagers turned around, only to be greeted by the sight of a "dashing" young man casually flipping his hair like it was the most normal thing to do in the world.

"Yes," Chuck replied, patting his chest. "My friends are going on an adventure. How can I not be there to witness their moments of glory?"

"What’s the real reason?" Alex asked, also feeling suspicious.

"Yes," Alex replied as he crossed his arms. "Tell the truth."

"And?" Alex prompted. "Don’t stop there, you punk."

At this point, Fran could only smile politely.

"Poor you," Renard commented.

Renard and Alex exchanged a glance before clicking their tongues in unison. Chuck’s words sounded like complaints, but his eyes twinkled with delight and he couldn’t stop smiling.

There’s a word for this kind of behavior: Humblebragging.

"Are you talking about the Dungeon of Beasts in the Duchy of Emberholt?" Alex asked.

Alex’s expression turned serious. Things were indeed proceeding faster than he expected. The Dungeon of Beasts should only appear just before the end of the first school year. In the game, it was the last major challenge the First Years faced before becoming Second Years.

After all, there was an item hidden inside the dungeon that might help him raise his rank to Rank 4. But since they had to enter the Duchy of Emberholt to reach the dungeon...

"Of course," Chuck replied. "But we better keep this under wraps so the other clubs don’t try to follow us. Let’s leave before sunrise tomorrow. The sooner we leave, the better!"

Chuck also bade Alex and Fran goodbye. "I must go," he said with a dramatic sigh. "Xenia and Mary insist that I must accompany them for dinner tonight."

"Stay with me tonight, okay?" Fran said after the troublemaker left the training room. Now that the two of them were alone again, she wrapped her arms around Alex’s waist.

He didn’t want to dismiss her concerns. It’s true that the mission might get a little dangerous. What sort of boyfriend would he be if he couldn’t even spend some time with Fran to put her mind at ease?