I felt my foot lightly tap the ground as I glanced at the clock. Any moment now, and the final period of the day would end and I could start practicing with my sword.

I have two weeks to level up an item to Level 20, and it would be even better if I could two others as well. My plan was for my [Iron Sword], [Deathbane Bow], and the [Firebolt X].

The bell finally rung, allowing for me to quickly grab my bag and rush out of the classroom. I quickly started heading to the training area that Madam Webb had set up for us.

Anna asked Madam Webb if there was anywhere we could use, and she got us a small outdoor area where I could practice archery and swordsmanship, but probably not riding the motorcycle. That I will probably have to go outside of school for, and then eventually the Hell Highway...

It was probably favoritism that Madam Webb got us this small area, but she was the Headmaster and got to make the decisions. Also, it greatly helped and I wasn't going to look a gift horse in it's mouth, or something like that.

"I do believe that is how the saying goes." Sally added.

I opened the door to the small area. It was like a large balcony on the castle we called a school. It had artificial grass on the ground and different equipment around like swords, wooden spinning post things, targets, and more.

I summoned my [Iron Sword], starting to practice the movements that Krystal's Grandpa taught me. Repetition was a good way to get better.

It didn't take long until the doors to this area opened as Anna, Angela, Dawn and Krystal entered.

Considering how much I'm going to have to grind to get these items to Level 20, I asked if the other members of the [Party] could help.

"So, what's the plan?" Dawn asked. "For the bonus, we need three items to Level 20, right?"

"Right." I nodded.

"Jack." Anna said. "What levels are they at the moment?"

"My sword and bow are both level 5." I stated. "But the Firebolt is only level 2."

"We likely have a long way to go then." Anna replied. "Let's focus on one, and find out how hard it is. And once we get one item to Level 20, we could probably enter the Hollow."

Angela looked to me. "The Hollow?" Dawn and Krystal questioned.

"Right...we never told them..." Angela realized.

"It's where Jack originally found Angela." Anna explained. "It's...some sort of different realm that Jack can create portals to. Also, it's filled with Corrupted."

"Weird..." Dawn muttered. She looked towards me. "You got that from the System?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

"That's crazy cool!" Krystal gasped with sparkling eyes.

"Once we do some training, we can probably start working there then." Dawn suggested. "We only have two weeks, so let's polish up on some skills, level up the items a little, and then move on there."

"Fighting live targets will probably give us more experience..." Anna nodded. "Alright. That sounds good."

And then I remembered something. In the shop, I had different kinds of EXP boosts. Wait, but those cost AP...

"So, I just remembered I can buy EXP boosts, which would probably be useful..." I stated. "But they cost AP."

"That kind of defeats the point since you're doing this mission for the AP." Dawn sweatdropped.

"How much?" Anna asked.

"Sally, pull up the [Shop] please." I requested.

"On it, host." Sally replied.

Krystal jumped in surprise. "What?! Who?!"

Anna and Dawn stifled a laugh, having experienced this before.

"The voice inside of Jack's head." Angela informed.

"...the what?" Krystal asked, looking towards Angela.

Anna and Dawn were having trouble muting their laughs.

"The AI of the [System]." I sighed. "She usually doesn't let herself be heard by others. It's only when everybody knows about the [System]."

"Oh..." Krystal replied. "So she helps?"

"Yeah." I nodded.

The [Shop] screen popped up in front of me. Looking through the four levels, I explained the EXP boosts which would help.

"I hour is 50 AP, 2 is 80 AP, and 5 is 150 AP." I stated.

"The deals get better..." Anna stated. "But that is quite a lot. And if you complete the bonus, you'll get 170 AP..."

"How about this." Dawn suggested. "It's a last-case scenario. No matter which one we get, we'll still make AP. So we'll wait and see where we are in a week."

"Sounds good to me." Anna stated. "What about you three?"

"Works for me." Angela nodded. "I just want to help Jack."

"Sounds great!" Krystal grinned, giving a thumbs-up.

"Alright. Then lets get to work." Anna nodded. "Let's start with the sword and the bow, those have the highest level."

I started to practice my archery and swordsmanship. Shooting targets, slicing flying objects, they slowly helped me on getting these abilities up to speed.

By the time we had finished, the [Iron Sword] had leveled up to 7 and the [Deathbane Bow] had leveled up to 6.

Four hours, and we only went up a total of three levels.

"This isn't good." Anna stated once we finished. We were all sitting down, sweat rolling down our bodies from four hours straight. I had it the worst, considering I was doing the most training. "We won't make it in time..."

"Four hours...and three levels..." Krystal panted. "And we haven't even made it to double digits..."

"The others will get suspicious if all of us keep hanging out here..." Dawn stated. "They might think we're having...a..."

Her face flushed, becoming a deep red. "I'm not going to finish that."

"It's just going to get harder with every level, if it works the same way as video game levels." Anna replied, brushing off wherever Dawn was going with her statement. "We need a quicker method."

"Maybe...The Hollow?" Dawn suggested. "It's earlier than planned, but there's five of us, and so if we stick together we can stay safe. And fighting them should give more 'experience', considering that's how the levels should work."

"Are you all okay with that?" I asked. "The Hollow...is dangerous, and I don't even know the most of it. It could be even more dangerous than I imagine."

"I'm okay with it." Anna nodded. "As long as the [System] doesn't give you another stupid mission, then Jack can get us out anytime. And we've been there before and survived."

"I haven't been there, but I think I'll be alright." Dawn stated.

"Same." Krystal agreed.

"What about you, Angela?" I asked. "You know...since you were..."

"I'm okay with it." Angela smiled at me. "Because you all are with me this time."

I felt my heart start to beat quicker as my face heated. That was really heart-warming. I felt a soft smile grow on my face.

"Then we'll do that." Anna nodded. "The EXP boosts will still be our last-resort, and we'll immediately leave if it gets too dangerous."

"Alright." Dawn nodded. "Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow." We nodded.

We all left, going our separate ways to each of our dorm rooms. As I walked back to my dorm, I remembered those crystals that I had found in the Hollow before.

Each one didn't give that much AP, but if I collected a ton of those, then it would quickly add up. That could afford the EXP boost if we needed to use it, and also more AP is just better in general.

Last time I couldn't grab those larger ones, but maybe I can now. I thought it was because they were too large, but I placed a whole bike into my inventory so that doesn't make sense...

"It's based on power." Sally stated. "You can't store things that are stronger than you. But you've gotten stronger, so you may be able to grab those crystals now."

Weird. Not surprising though, because I was pretty weak back then. But if I can grab those, I could definitely sell them for more. I'll keep a look out tomorrow.

Things are looking up...