*** Tier-three
I materialize in a vast desert alongside the rest of the team. The place is brutal—nothing but endless sand beneath a blazing sun. It feels like I'm standing under a magnifying glass.
"Just a heads-up," Jess says, "the enemies here have extremely tough scales that resist both physical and magical attacks."
"Yeah! They're really tough," Val chimes in.
"But don't worry—we've got your back," Fie adds reassuringly.
Not that I need it. If anything, I'm excited to test myself against tier-three enemies. I can't help but wonder how they'll stack up against the orcs.
"We'll look for a small group of lizardmen," Jess says, taking the lead.
Lizardmen, huh? Fits the draconic theme. Still, with all these dunes, navigating the desert won't be easy. If only there was a simpler way to scout—
Oh. Right. I can fly.
"Mind if I take to the air and scout ahead?" I ask.
They all stop and stare at me.
"You can fly?!" Val blurts out.
I make my wings appear with a bit of dramatic flair.
"Wow… that's so cool!" Val gushes, eyes practically sparkling. "Why didn't you tell us you could fly?"
I kind of forget I could, but there's no way I'm admitting that.
"Is it a skill?" Fie asks, studying the dark wings.
"No, it's… actually, I'm not sure," I admit. "I got them when I tiered up."
"You got wings from a tier-up? Lucky," Val grumbles. "All I got was a certificate."
A certificate? Really? Well, setting that bizarre detail aside, I take to the skies. From above, it doesn't take long to spot trouble—a small group of lizardmen, three of them, lying flat against the crest of a dune. They're humanoid, covered in sand-colored scales, with long tails trailing behind them. I spot a couple of spears at their side. Throwing spears. An ambush waiting to happen.
Good thing I went airborne. If I hadn't, we probably wouldn't have noticed them until it was too late.
I circle back and land near the group to report what I saw.
"Wow! Having someone who can fly makes exploring so much easier!" Val says, and the others nod in agreement.
"We usually have to rely on our quick reflexes to deal with ambushes," Jess admits.
Yeah… that's definitely not ideal.
"Okay, tell me where they are, and I'll blast them sky high!" Val shouts, materializing a staff crowned with a massive red crystal.
"No explosions, Val," Jess cuts in sharply. "We're here to see how Violet handles this."
"Aww…" Val pouts, reluctantly lowering her staff.
"So, how will you handle this?" Jess questions, eyeing my empty hands.
I then realize everyone had equipped their weapons. Val has the staff she brought out earlier, Jess has a sword and shield, and Fie has a grimoire.
All three of them are staring at me now, clearly waiting to see what weapon I'll pull out.
"Like this," I answer to Jess's question, activating overpower at 50% bulk.
Their eyes go wide as I become two meters tall, muscles swelling into a form that looks like it was sculpted by a master artisan.
"Whoa! You look like a huge Amazonian warrior." Val blurts out, and the others clearly agree.
"Is that your original skill?" Fie asks, craning her neck just to meet my gaze.
"Yeah! It's called overpower." I reply, flexing one arm. Even at half bulk, it's an impressive display.
"Wow… I want to touch!" Val squeals.
The instant the word "touch" leaves her mouth, Jess grabs her by the hoodie ears.
"No touching, Val!" She snaps.
"Aww, why not?" Val whines.
I bite back a laugh. Those two are practically a comedy act.
Alright—enough messing around. Time to show my new team what I can really do.
I stride toward the dune where the lizardmen are lying in wait. The moment I get close, a spear whistles through the air straight at me.
It's a fast, well-timed throw—something that would've been hard to deal with if I hadn't been expecting it.
I catch the spear bare-handed and look up at the lizardman who threw it.
"Is that all you've got?" I shout, snapping the shaft in half like it's nothing.
That clearly rattles him. Good. I can—
"That was so cool!" Val's voice rings out from behind me.
No time for her antics. The lizardmen are rushing. Two still have their spears, while the third clearly intends to tear into me with his razor-sharp claws.
So even without weapons, they're still dangerous. Good—this won't be boring.
The unarmed one reaches me first. He slashes at me, but I catch his arm and drive a punch into his gut. His eyes go wide as he collapses to his knees, gasping for air.
No time to finish him off. The other two are already on me.
They thrust their spears with surprising skill, and the sand makes dodging difficult. I have no choice but to block the blades directly. Not that it's a problem. Overpower boosts my defenses so much I may as well be made of steel. The spearheads bounce off my skin, leaving little more than shallow scratches.
They do sting, though. Annoyingly so.
Let's just end this.
I snap my tail out in a sharp sweep, forcing one of the lizardmen back, then grab the other by his spear and yank him toward me. As he stumbles forward, I drive a punch, slamming his head into the sand.
No time to admire the result. I twist and swing at the remaining spear-wielder. He sees it coming and raises his weapon to block.
Bad move.
I push overpower to 75%, my body bulks up even further, and I throw everything into the strike. The spear shatters on impact, and my fist crashes into the lizardman's chest. I feel the satisfying crunch of breaking bone as he crumples to the ground, coughing blood.
Two down. Which leaves—
I turn to the first lizardman. He's back on his feet, but barely, swaying from the earlier hit. Did that punch really do that much damage? I thought Jess said these guys were tough.
I stride toward him. He flails at me with an awkward claw swipe, which I ignore, grabbing him by the throat and lifting him effortlessly off the ground. He rakes his claws against my arm, but if a spear barely scratched me, there's no way those claws are doing any better.
Besides, he wasn't even putting much strength into it. Did I rupture his spleen or something? There's no visible damage. Right—tough scales. But I guess their insides aren't nearly as tough.
Disappointed, I snap the lizardman's neck. There's no point in dragging out his suffering.
Honestly, the orcs put up more of a fight than this.
"Wow, Violet! You took those lizards down like they were nothing!" Val shouts as she rushes over to my side.
"You certainly did," Jess agrees, joining us with Fie. "With abilities like that, you can absolutely fill the tank role."
"But a skill that strong must come with drawbacks," Fie says thoughtfully.
It does. I explain how overpower guzzles magic just to stay active. With my current reserves, I can maintain the skill for about ten minutes at 50% bulk, maybe five at 75%. Pushing it any more than that drains my reserves too fast to be practical in a real fight.
"Wait, you weren't even at full power?!" Val yells. "Just how broken is that skill?"
Her reaction is priceless. I briefly consider mentioning that I can push past 100%… but decide to save that revelation for later.
"Well, that settles it," Jess says. "We'll focus on leveling Violet first to increase her magic capacity. After that, we'll work on drawing the Saviors' attention."
Everyone nods in agreement.
*** Leveling up marathon
For the next few days, the Happy Go-Getters—and I—went on an outright rampage. We enter a bunch of rank three realms, cutting through lizardmen, undead, and even some bizarre mushroom folk. Solid opponents all around. Still, whenever I had free time, I went back to fighting orcs. Nothing else quite measures up to them.
Oh—speaking of orcs.
I spot one down below, standing alone. That's unusual for an orc. An outcast, maybe? Either way, I hope he's willing to fight. I land near the big green guy, activate overpower at 50%, and shout the familiar orcish battle cry.
"Grundaha!"
The lone orc practically lights up.
"Grundaha!" he roars back, raising his fists into a fighting stance.
…No way. Is he serious? A boxing pose? Where's the usual axe? Don't tell me he's copying me. I've been throwing down with these guys for a while now—are they actually learning? Should I be concerned? Probably. But honestly… it's kind of flattering.
"Alright, big guy. Show me what you've got," I say, settling into my own stance.
He's clearly an amateur with his fists—poor balance, no rhythm, no guard. But what he lacks in technique, he more than makes up for with raw strength and sheer grit. Even after making his face so bruised up it might as well be an eggplant, he kept swinging, refusing to back down.
Admirable—but guts alone don't win fights.
I slip under a wild punch and drive an uppercut into his jaw. The orc lifts off the ground and crashes down with a heavy thud.
That's it. Knockout! Fight over.
Now… what to do with him? Finishing him off feels wrong. He fought well—for an amateur—and he probably wouldn't even drop anything worthwhile. Yeah—no. Besides, if he is copying me… Then that makes him my junior. Can't finish off a junior.
I sit beside him and wait.
It doesn't take long before he jolts awake, scrambling upright and looking around in confusion—the usual post-knockout reaction. When he spots me sitting there, he freezes. Doesn't bring his guard or even attempt to flee. Just stares. Is he still processing what happened?
Well, if he's awake…
I stand and slowly demonstrate a few basic boxing motions—right, left, duck, weave. Emphasizing the posture for good measure.
A little gift for a good fight. Gotta look out for my juniors, after all.
After making sure he was paying attention, I take to the skies, leaving the orc behind to think about what he's learned. Hopefully, next time we meet, he'll be an even better fighter.
With that settled, I exit the realm and finally get some well-deserved sleep. After that, I'm back to raiding tier three realms with the Happy Go-Getters, and this time I actually level up. Perfect—because I already know exactly which skill I want.
Magic Capacity Increase. It's a pretty self-explanatory skill.
The moment I learned it, my magic reserves doubled. Amazing. That means I can now push overpower all the way to 100% bulk for a solid ten minutes. Long enough to fight… I don't know… A tier three realm boss, maybe?
"I swear, it's like we've got two Vals now," Jess groans when she hears my suggestion.
Hey! I take offense to that. I'm nothing like Val, who charges headfirst into danger without thinking. I make sure to evaluate the risks first. Mostly.
"…But you do have a point," Jess concedes.
Yes! Boss fight!
"How about we take on a dragon, then?" Fie proposes.
A dragon? Now that sounds fun.
Unfortunately, it's not a real dragon—just what people call the boss of the Draconic Desert. Technically, it's a giant Komodo dragon, but "dragon" rolls off the tongue better.
I'll admit, I'm a little disappointed it's not the real thing, but I'm still excited. Jess says it's the size of a bus, with scales as hard as steel. It should provide a good challenge.