Dimension Beta

As Tom exited his teacher's office, he was surprised to see Felix sitting on the ground near the door.

"Bro, I waited for you," Felix said as he noticed Tom stepping out, getting up quickly.

"Why have you been waiting for me?"

"Oh, come on. I want to make it up to you. Tell me the rest of what happened."

Tom hesitated but decided to share the rest of his story as they walked outside. He deliberately omitted certain details, like the reset potions. It wasn't because he didn't trust Felix, but to ensure Felix didn't get further involved in his already complicated situation.

"Bro, I think I can help you," Felix said suddenly.

Tom raised an eyebrow. "How can you help me?"

"Well… let's go to my place. I have to ask my parents for permission first."

Curious but skeptical, Tom agreed to go with him. He couldn't imagine what Felix had in mind, but he decided to follow along.

…

When they arrived at Felix's house, they waited for about 30 minutes until his parents logged out of Beta and came to join them for lunch. Felix's parents were surprised to see Tom there, but they didn't mind, as the two had been friends for years.

While sitting at the dining table, Felix brought up the reason for Tom's visit. "Mom, Dad, I have a request about my class."

Both parents exchanged surprised looks. It wasn't common for Felix to ask for anything related to his class progression.

"What is it?" his mother asked.

"I know we already planned out how I would develop my class in the future," Felix began cautiously, "but something has come up, and I'd like to make a few changes to the order I progress my skills."

Felix's father immediately frowned. "That's not something you should decide on a whim, son. Do you realize the implications of changing your path?"

"Yes, Father, I'm aware."

Tom, who had little understanding of the Banner Knight class system, watched the conversation silently.

"And what path do you wish to take?" Felix's father asked, his tone still serious.

"I want to switch my class to Knight at level 60 and choose Guardian as my secondary class. This would allow me to become a Transfer Knight first. Then, at level 120, I can still take the Banner Bearer class and fuse it to become a Banner Knight. It's a bit more roundabout, but I believe it's the better option now."

"Hmm…" His father's stern expression softened slightly. "That's not as bad as I was expecting. I was worried you were going to give up on becoming a Banner Knight entirely, but it seems I was worried for nothing. Still, what made you change your mind about this path?"

Felix hesitated for a moment before glancing at Tom. "It would be better if Tom explained."

Both parents turned their attention to Tom, who froze momentarily, unsure of how much to reveal. After a brief moment of thought, he decided to give them a brief explanation. He told them about how he was cursed, how he was healed in exchange for agreeing to protect someone, and how that person had tasked him with finding specific classes, including a Transfer Knight.

When he finished, Tom felt nervous. He fully expected Felix's parents to discourage their son from taking this new path. To his surprise, the opposite happened.

"Felix, how could you act so recklessly?" his father scolded. "It seems you lack basic common sense when it comes to combat. Perhaps we've been power leveling you too much lately."

"You'd better make sure Tom completes his quest successfully," his father continued. "Otherwise, I'd be ashamed to call you my son."

Felix turned to his mother for support, but she didn't let him off the hook either. "We've pampered you too much, Felix. It's time for you to take responsibility for your actions, young man."

She then turned to Tom. "What level are you now, Tom? Let us help you power level as an apology for the mess our son caused."

"That's really not necessary," Tom replied, trying to decline politely.

"Don't be so modest. You're part of our family, Tom," Felix's mother insisted. "When we say we want to help, just accept it and say thank you."

"Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Hogen."

"Don't worry about it," Felix's mother said with a warm smile.

After finishing their meal, the entire family, Tom included, logged into Beta from the Hogens' home and met outside the city gates. Felix and Tom were the first to arrive, but his parents joined them shortly afterward.

"So, Tom, what level are you now?" Felix's father asked.

"I'm about to reach level 37. I just need a few more experience points."

"Wow, that's really impressive, Tom," Felix's mother said. "You must've been playing day and night to get that far."

"Yeah, kind of," Tom replied, chuckling.

"Well, since Felix is at level 38, I know just the right farming spot for us," Felix's father said. "It'll take some time to get there, though."

As before, he grabbed both Tom and Felix by the hands and leapt into the air, with Felix's mother following close behind. After about 30 minutes, they arrived at a massive rocky mountain.

"Wait here," Mr. Hogen said, before he and his wife ran up the mountain. The two split up at the summit and began running along the slopes, creating craters in the rock as they leapt and stomped their way downward.

Tom and Felix watched in confusion. "What are they doing?" Tom wondered aloud.

Moments later, a faint buzzing sound reached their ears. As they strained their eyes, they noticed small holes dotting the mountain. Each about 50 centimeters wide. Emerging from these holes was a massive swarm of wasps.

Tom wasn't afraid of the insects themselves, but the sheer number of them was daunting. "There have to be at least a few thousand," he said quietly.

Felix nodded, equally uneasy.

When Mr. and Mrs. Hogen returned to them, the swarm of wasps was hot on their heels. Mr. Hogen planted his banner in the ground, causing it to grow to an imposing 10 meters in height. Felix's mother, however, kept her banner in hand and took a position behind the two boys.

"Okay, you two, you can start now," Mr. Hogen said.

Tom and Felix hesitated at first but eventually started attacking the wasps. As they got into the rhythm of fighting, their movements became more fluid. Tom, in particular, impressed the Hogens with his speed and efficiency. It only took him 3-4 punches to kill each wasp, despite their levels being between 40 and 50, nearly 10 levels higher than his own.

"Time to speed things up," Felix's mother said as she planted her banner. Unlike her husband's, this banner didn't attract monsters. Instead, it boosted the attack speed of Tom and Felix. With the buff, Tom began killing the wasps in just 2-3 hits, and some even fell after a single critical strike.

Felix, on the other hand, struggled with his sword, needing around 10 hits per monster despite the buffs. However, Tom's high kill speed ensured Felix's experience gain was much higher than usual.

Seeing Tom's rapid improvement, Felix's father decided to pull more monsters. He sprinted up the mountain, leaving his banner behind, and returned 10 minutes later with another swarm of wasps. To his astonishment, almost all the wasps from the first group were already dead.

This process continued for several hours, with Mr. Hogen repeatedly bringing new swarms while Tom and Felix cleared them. By the time the last wasp fell, the sun was setting.

"That's it for today," Mr. Hogen said. "We've got a night shift to do, so we need to head out soon. But I must say, Tom, you're really strong. Normally, it would've taken Felix all day to kill this many wasps on his own. Even a class specialized in monster killing would've struggled to handle more than 2-3 groups. But you wiped out 25 groups on your own. In my 10 years as a level booster, I've only seen that kind of speed from kids of extremely wealthy families."

He clapped Tom on the shoulder. "You should be proud of yourself."

Felix and his parents said their goodbyes, and Felix mentioned he would be heading to the city to change his class. "I don't want to accidentally hit level 60 before doing it," he explained. "See you tomorrow at school!"

Tom stayed behind, looking at the sea of monster corpses around him. Many of the bodies had already started to decay, as monsters in Beta decomposed within 24 hours to prevent farming areas from becoming overcrowded with carcasses.

Taking out his identification lens from his spatial pouch, Tom inspected the wasps. While he couldn't skin them, he noted that their stingers and wings occasionally emitted a green shimmer, indicating they were valuable. He began carefully collecting these parts, feeling a rush of satisfaction when he found rare components.

[Rare Wasp Stinger]

Can potentially be crafted into weapons by a skilled blacksmith.

[Rare Wasp Wing]

Used by alchemists to create potions.

After about an hour, Tom stopped. His spatial pouches and an extra bag were already full, and it didn't make sense to continue collecting parts. Tearing a teleportation scroll, he reappeared at the city gates, ready to rest and plan his next steps.