The F-rank dungeon was disappointing, but it did allow them to instead challenge the last dungeon. No mana had been spent in the Towers dungeon after all, so everyone was fine with getting it over with now instead of later.
Heidi, who had a map of the dungeons they had been to, led them to a dungeon at Yaeger College at 68th Street on the East Side. After a quick break, they entered the dungeon. It was another forest-type dungeon, and a rather flourishing one at that. As they travelled through, they encountered mutated bears, wolves, swans, and even skunks.
And yet, Kimsung felt bored. The dungeon was nothing like he had expected. Not some grand fight, not some mutated horror trying to kill them. It felt bland in his eyes. Sure, while others might like an easy dungeon, he didn't.
Kimsung had spent the better portion of a couple milenia fighting monsters, staking his life on the line every time to grow stronger. But with Achilles, it wasn't even a fight, just a one-sided slaughter. Sure, Kimsung could kill F-ranks with ease, and even an E-rank if he held the advantage, but this? It didn't feel the same.
After all, that was actually how he bonded and fell in love with the woman who'd be his wife, Anastasiya, the Victorious Queen. Both of them loved to fight and sparred regularly to keep themselves in practice. It wasn't to the extent that they were battle maniacs, it just felt human of them to chase that 'high' given in a dangerous battle.
They had even held their first date in a dungeon, as a matter of fact. It wasn't romantic to others, but Kimsung had once heard you learn more about someone while watching them fight, and he was indeed enamoured by her. It's a shame she couldn't remember him like he did her, or else they'd have gone to Russia instead to meet with Anastasiya.
On the other hand, Keido and Heidi were perfectly fine with the easy method they called Achilles. It was their whole reason for coming, after all. It was his very skill that made it so easy to clear dungeons safely, and in a world where survival was the last thing guaranteed, the siblings would heavily prefer to take every advantage they could get.
The siblings were all they had in this world, after all, so it felt completely natural to them to disregard any pride when it came to fighting monsters. Keido and Heidi might be cheap and cowards, but they simply wanted to survive, so who could blame them?
As they approached the boss, Maria stayed closer with the siblings, giving Achilles the space to be himself and do as he pleases.
"So... you guys are finally going to rank up, huh? If only I had met you guys sooner, I'd be ranking up with you." She said, a bit disappointed in herself for joining their group so late. Sure, they didn't actually expect her to stay with them, instead of remaining in the safety of the hotel, but her company was appreciated.
So far, the group, except for Keido, had raised their Tiers to a level they were satisfied with for the time being, except for Keido. He didn't know how to train the Worm after all, because his skill was only focused on mental abilities or emotions. However, after learning from Maria, Achilles looked at Achilles and had a thought.
What if he were to train it on Achilles? Perhaps it was immoral, but there was an extremely high chance Achilles would leave them after they ranked up. Keido himself had seen Achilles' progression speed, and he knew Achilles would be more than fine without their help.
In fact, Keido had complete faith that the man could reach D-rank by only hunting the dungeons in the waters surrounding New York City. It sounded bad, but Keido wasn't willing to give up on the only trump card they possessed. As it was, Keido's Tier with his Worm of Doubt was Low Tier, and he didn't want to rank up with such weak control over the Worm's powers.
So he did something that would either solidify Achilles' partnership with them or make him kill them; he sent the Worm of Doubt to Achilles' body. The worm flew to him, and just as it was about to enter, it didn't.
Congratulations! You've reached High Tier with your Ability!
It was after that notification appeared that Achilles turned and looked directly at the Worm. Keido's eyes widened in horror as Achilles grabbed the Worm, holding it in his hand.
"Hey, Keido, your damn Worm came to me, what does it want?" Achilles asks, a bit confused by its sudden appearance. Keido apologized, making the Worm fly back to him quickly. Keido was sure the Worm couldn't be seen, as it was always invisible to anyone else if he didn't make a conscious effort to make it visible.
Perhaps it was Achilles' second ability, but if that was true, he now gained the ability to see anything that could become invisible. Just then, Lilith, who had been silent since before the Disaster started, spoke up.
"Well, that was a close one, huh? I actually thought he'd destroy it for a second." She said with an amused tone, giggling to herself in a melodious voice. Keido's eyes widened, and he nearly spun around to look at her, but held himself back and spoke to her telepathically.
'Lilith, where have you been? It's already October, and I haven't heard from you!' Keido said frantically in his mind. Lilith paused for a moment, thinking before speaking again.
"Well, you haven't asked me a question about this whole damn thing, haven't you? I told you I'm here to answer all of your questions as best I can, to help you save the world." She said in a casual tone, as if it were common knowledge. Keido berated himself in his mind, having forgotten about that part of their contract.
He had wrongfully assumed she would be like those spirit companions that give tips or speak to their contracted people often, and form a friendly relationship with them throughout the story. However, Keido hadn't done the single most important rule for that to happen. He hadn't spoken to her at all!
'A-anyways… Why did my Tier just shoot up so fast? How was Achilles able to see and touch the Worm? And what did you mean when you said he could have destroyed it?' He asked. It took a few moments, and thankfully, Kimsung had asked for the group to take a short rest by some rocks, giving Lilith time to answer.
"Well, to put it simply, Achilles is simply a nepo baby of multiple powers. I couldn't tell you who has invested in him as an existence, but they're far more powerful than any of the gods." She said, shaking her head. But then she paused, before speaking again:
"Actually… I can tell you one or two of them, but those two could easily kill me if they just thought about it, and I'd be helpless to their will. Gaia, or as you know her, Mother Earth, has named him one of her many heirs for her physical form, the Earth. The second one is unsurprisingly Fate. Fate has chosen him, among nearly a hundred others, to become what it defines as… a sort of power balance." She said in a nervous tone.
Just then, the land beneath Keido felt hostile. He didn't know how, but he could sense the hostility from the land beneath him like a tsunami, ready to end his life if it felt even the smallest urge to kill him. After a few seconds, that pressure stopped, and Lilith felt it was safe to talk again.
"Also, for why your Tier was raised so quickly, it's because the barriers surrounding Achilles are so dense, it's like trying to send a rubber ball down into the Mariana Trench without it popping from the pressure. I can barely see it myself, but I sensed it the moment you met him. Just about every second of the day, Achilles has a barrier protecting his entire body as dense as the earth's crust, all compacted into a space barely bigger than a piece of paper. Just a second would be all it takes for mental skills of the same rank to be sent to High Tier if they were ever placed on him." She explained, as if it wasn't the most absurd thing Keido had ever heard.
A defense so effective it literally raises Tiers? That had to be cheating, right? There was no way it could be possible, especially since they all had similar mana reserves. Of course, the entire group was completely unaware of Achilles' cultivation methods, which he had received from Tesla a while back, so he didn't know Achilles could easily maintain such a defense.