Keep You Safe

'So the time difference between the real world and the dungeon is about 1 : 3…' Calle thought, putting his hand on his chin.

'That means if I take a week's vacation here, I can spend three weeks in the dungeon to clear it. That's quite a long time, but considering I don't know how large the dungeon is and how long it will take me and Edric to finish it. I can't say whether three weeks is a long time or not…'

"Mave! Why are you ignoring me!" Vella launched a left hook towards her brother's liver. Intending to get his full attention by doing so.

Calle was still busy thinking about how he should split his time between trying to conquer the slime dungeon, preparing for the massive change that was about to come, and also his work in the virtual reality game with his mercenary group that he didn't pay any attention to his sister's vicious liver punch.

Although his sister wasn't a trained athlete, boxing was her choice of workout so that she would be able to keep her love of food while also keeping her body figure balanced. And a liver shot delivered by her would be something that a grown man wouldn't be able to shrug off easily as it packed quite a punch, enough to make them bend down on their knees.

And that would also be what should happen to Calle if his liver were to be hit squarely by her. However, when the fist finally connected with Calle's body, instead of Calle feeling pain and bending his body over, what happened was the other way around where Vella felt her left fist feel numb as if she was hitting a concrete wall instead of a human's body.

If not for the fact that she wasn't holding back and not putting all of her power into the punch, her wrist would have been sprained so badly that it would probably take her a few weeks for it to naturally heal itself.

"Mave! What the heck was that!? What did you have under your chest? Do you install a steel plate or something there?" Vella shouted this time as she took off the boxing glove on her left hand to see whether there was any damage on her left hand.

Calle was still busy with his own thoughts, but the small nudge that he felt on his left chest and his sister's shout finally brought him back to reality as he heard his sister's shout.

'Steel plate? What does she mean?'

Calle then looked at his sister who was currently massaging her left hand that had a red shade on her knuckles and then looked at his own chest to see the place where he felt the little nudge earlier, and his brain quickly made the connection between the two and realized what had just happened.

His sister had apparently punched his body, but due to the hardened skin trait that Edric gave to him, his sister's powerful punch only felt like a little nudge on his chest while his sister's hand felt as if hitting a concrete wall.

'I was able to see in the dark and my skin was as hard as steel… Then that also means…'

Calle then walked closer to his sister and reached out both of his hands forward, holding his sister tightly on her waist.

"Mave, what are you doing?" Vella asked as she looked at her older brother weirdly.

"I am not ticklish anymore so that wouldn't work on-"

"WAAA!"

Her voice was suddenly cut off midway by her own scream as she suddenly felt her body being lifted upward, and her legs were now dangling from above.

'Yup, the enhanced strength trait is also here…' He thought while looking at this little sister that looked very confused about her body suddenly being lifted off the ground by him.

Seeing this, Calle was surprised to barely feel any weight on his hands when he raised his sister's whole body up. His 19 years old sister's weight should be around ** kg with her skinny yet muscle-filled body, but right now, he was lifting her up as if she was only a little baby.

It was actually a new kind of feeling that he had never felt before. With their age difference being only 2 years apart. There was no time in his life when he was strong enough to be able to hold her as easily as right now. When his sister was a baby, he was also a toddler, there's no way he was able to hold her in his arms when his limbs were still barely working.

But now, with the enhanced strength trait, Calle was able to do the feat very easily as her sister's body barely felt like a small teddy bear. He was confident that he could even carry his sister on his shoulder like a sag of potato anywhere he went for a whole day and he wouldn't feel tired from doing it.

'If the change that Gil was saying finally came, I can easily carry her and run away if we needed to.' Calle thought as he moved his hand left and right, rocking Vella's body hard enough that it made her dizzy.

"Mave, stop! My head is starting to spin!"

But Calle, who was once again lost in his own thoughts, didn't hear what Vella was saying.

'With the slime dungeon, dungeon sovereign contract, and the existence of the system. There's no doubt that what Gil was saying would eventually come true. The second chance that he gave me was also true… I didn't die from that truck…'

'I still have so many questions about it. What will happen, how will it happen, and more importantly, when will it happen? But I can't do anything about that, and what I need to focus on doing right now is to conquer the slime dungeon and get stronger.'

'In the strong and eating the weak world, I can only rely on my strength to keep what I wanted to keep…'

Calle had actually felt his strength had already increased by leaps and bounds considering his current strength and how tough his body was. But remembering that the change that would happen was still completely unknown to him, Calle couldn't bet on anything that was related to his and his sister's life and happiness.

If the change was too drastic and he would be meeting strong enemies that would also have strength beyond human levels, then he would find himself in a problem since he still remembered how he had just been defeated by a blob of slime that didn't even have any limbs or organs about half an hour ago.

If the moment the great change happened and those strong ones that Gil said could destroy buildings and topple cities appeared, Calle doubted that he would be strong enough to even survive against them with his current skill that only amounted to throwing mana blasts that could maybe destroy a car and also his slightly superior physique.

He knew that his current strength wouldn't be enough.

'I need to get stronger and protect my life and Vella's…' Calle said in his mind as he put down his sister's body which was already pale from being moved around everywhere before hugging her in his arms.

Vella was startled by the sudden hug, something that his brother had never done in a long time. He was about to shove his brother's body away from her, but she suddenly heard Calle muttering,

"No matter what happens in the future, I will keep you safe." Calle hugged her harder.

Seeing her brother's sudden change in demeanor, Vella then asked,

"Mave, what happened?"

Hearing his sister's reply, Calle had finally realized that he had unconsciously hugged his little sister's body while thinking and he muttered the words that were supposed to stay in his mind out loud.

"No, nothing. When was the last time you took a shower? You stink!" Calle said before tossing her onto his fluffy bed.

"YOU!! COME HERE!" Vella shouted as she threw the boxing gloves in her hands straight toward Calle's face.

"Who would want to come near your stinky body? Definitely not me!" Calle said before shutting the door behind him, locking his sister in his room.

'Ah sh*t, I forgot to grab my clothes…' He facepalmed as he looked at the door that contained a raging beast within it.