The Grind Part 2

Pam watched from the distance as Ayden was being smacked around by a level 20 synth oger. She had wanted to jump in a few times now, but she held back with all her might. She saw that Ayden was using this chance to learn how to better fight, so she had no choice but to sit back and watch.

Ayden was really trying to learn to dodge the swift attacks using his already heightened stats for his level. He knew the synth oger was just as strong or stronger than him, which made it a perfect target. It was just the way the A.I. learned his attack patterns that made things very difficult.

Each time the synth oger got used to how he was dodging it would pick up on it and cause the A.I. to follow suit. Because of this not only was this A.I. evolving but so was he. He was learning how to keep changing his own attack patterns so that the A.I. would need to adjust from attacking to defending as well. This back and forth kept going on until finally, Ayden became too tired. He was slowing down too much and had almost taken a few fatal blows. With no other choice, he swung his fist and struck ten times at the white spot on the synth oger's neck.

The synth oger let out a cry of pain before dying and dropping a few items on the ground.

[Level + 3]

[Name]: Edge

[Level]: 7 → 10

Ayden sat on the ground and wiped his sweat as he tried to catch his breath. He had reached level 10 and now had more stats to work with. But this was hardly enough. Since he could fight a level 20 this easily, he decided once he regained his strength, he would continue fighting until night came.

His main goal was to hit level 20 and head to the first dungeon. It was an instanced dungeon where you could part up with people or try to solo it. But to enter, he would need to be level 20, and he was only halfway there now. He had no idea how many times he was going to die in that place, but he did want to make use of it to try to power level some. Isabella told him about it because she wanted to bring him in there once he was high enough, but he wanted to test it out first and check it out for himself.

The reason being is because he wanted to get a good understanding of what a dungeon was. How they worked, and maybe even try to clear it himself. He liked this kind of thing which is why he liked tinkering with electronics, as it allowed him to mess around with things until he understood them

Ayden continued to fight level 20 synth ogers until it started to get dark in the end, he level up to level 15. But as nighttime settled in, he ran into a problem. He had no place to sleep safely. "I guess I can try climbing a tree…." Ayden really did not know where he could rest. He could only hope to catch a few hours, if possible, before waking up at a respawn point somewhere. He had no idea where one would be in the area he was currently in.

After finding a suitable tree, he climbed up it without much effort and settled in on a wide branch that was hidden by the leaves. He needed 5 more levels before he could officially stay up for two days at a time before needing to sleep. He could only hope to hit that tomorrow. But the experience he was getting from the synth ogers had drastically dropped, which meant he had to find higher level monsters.

As his eyes slowly closed, he could have sworn he saw a person jump on the branch he was on, but he could no longer keep his eyes open. Pam sat quietly next to Ayden without saying a word. She decided she would protect him throughout the night. She slipped into between his legs and leaned against his chest as she sat there staring into the darkness. What she did not expect was that when he shifted slightly, his hand would land on her chest, and he would then begin to squeeze it. Pam's cheeks blushed red as she quickly reached down and pulled his hand away, holding his hand in hers. She looked down at her two modest mounds and wondered if he would think they were too small.

Ayden woke up the next day feeling very much relaxed. He was actually quite surprised that he was not attacked at all. He stretched his arms and looked down to see the synth ogre from yesterday walking back and forth below him. He slipped down the tree quietly until he was right over the synth oger, dropped down onto it kicking it to the ground before sending a few blows to its weak point.

After he collected his loot, he headed off deeper into the forest in search of higher level monsters. The grind was long, but he needed to level up as quickly as possible.

During the day, he killed monsters and looted, and at night, he would sleep unknowingly under the protection of Pam, who was making sure he could get enough. When he woke up, he would continue leveling. One thing he found was that he had a hard time fighting anything about level 21. So leveling became very slow due to not having much extra experience for level difference.

He could only hope to find enough parts to make new cybernetics. While the ones he has at this time were perfect to level to his current level, they were starting to show their age. By the time it was time for him to log out during his first afternoon gaming sessions, he had only reached level 18. Two levels short of his goal.