Refusing My God’s Advances

Gruff shook my hand, trying to give me a firm shake, but it felt like the force of a child. I smiled and slightly squeezed back. The big man's eyes bulged, and he let go of my hand quickly, giving it a good shake.

"Quite the grip you have there!" Gruff laughed, and I smiled apologetically.

"Sorry about that, I was just trying to return the favor, and I had thought I had only slightly tightened my hand. I guess I don't have the same precision as Daryle did," I sighed, still smiling, but Gruff and the others went pale.

"Just how strong are you?!" Gruff exclaimed, and Aria stepped in.

"He just hit his first class change, so he is quite a bit stronger than you all. If you would like, we can give you some pointers for the next cave?" Aria offered, but the group looked sheepishly to the side.

"The next room is a bit too much for us. We have been just grinding the bear for the last few days," Gruff said with a sigh, and the others nodded, looking down.

Aria smiled at this, looking between each of them. "I think that it could be a lack of proper gear," Aria said after a moment of studying them and then turned to me. "Would you mind helping this group out for a short while?"

This woman was far too friendly for her own good, but she was also far too beautiful for mine. just looking at her made my heart flutter like an idiot, but I couldn't deny she made me feel like putty when she gave me that loving look. That look was part of my reason for wanting to get stronger.

Instead of bitching and moaning, I just smiled and nodded. Better not to say anything, lest I lose that precious smile that was playing on her face. I was such a goddamn simp, but what are you gonna do? Fucking kill something.

"Really, but how can you help?" Gruff asked, seeming to fill with a renewed vigor.

"We will all leave the dungeon, and then Leon will enter first, and we will follow. This will reset the dungeon to his level, and then Leon can let you have the Materials and other items dropped," Aria explained, but I cleared my throat.

I didn't want to sound cheap, but I wasn't giving away any epic materials, be damned how cute Aria looked. I also wanted the crystals for myself, and any essence for Danielle, so I decided on a compromise.

"First thing. I will kill the monsters, but I want any epic-rated or higher materials. I also want all the crystals, and any essence, but I will compromise, and give you something of equal value. Sound good?" I asked, listing things off with my fingers, but when I looked up the party was gawking at me. "What?"

Aria laughed. "Another thing that you seem to take for granted. Even among unique epic-rated monsters, an entire party would be lucky to find one epic item after fighting one. The words you just spoke probably don't even make sense to the people in front of us. I have just become used to your extremely unconventional blessing, but to them, you probably just became as mythical as my powers are in their eyes."

I nodded and then looked at the others. They all look confused and amazed at the same time. While all of this was refreshing, it still didn't change my mind on my slow progress. It didn't matter how much slower everyone else was. It didn't matter that their drops were less than mine. At the end of the day, I was fighting to protect what I loved.

I didn't give a shit about anyone else or their problems. Only I needed to get stronger to fix my problems. If that unintentionally helps others, then so be it, but I knew why I was training, and why I felt like I wasn't progressing fast enough.

My goals weren’t noble. I just wanted to be strong enough to tell the world to fuck off and to love every one of my girls without the risk of dying. Fuck the gods and their machinations.

Once we got back outside and headed into the cave, and noticed an immediate difference. The lights had turned from orange flame to a green one, but I could also sense the monster ahead was almost as strong as I was.

Once I got to the first cave, there was a bear there, but it was not the same one as before. Not by a long shot.

Monster Name: (Unique Rare)Gore, Elite Bear of Calamity
Level: 101
Physical Power: 3440
Magical Power: 2540
Agility: 2110
Resilience: 4270

Abilities :

1. (Unique Rare)Goring Swipe: A powerful swipe that can pierce through armor, causing bleeding and reducing the target's physical defenses.
2. (Unique Rare)Roar of Calamity: Releases a terrifying roar that temporarily paralyzes and demoralizes nearby enemies, reducing their combat effectiveness.
3. (Unique Rare)Fury of the Wild: Enters a state of heightened aggression, significantly increasing attack speed and physical power for a short duration.
4. (Passive) (Unique Rare)Nature's Resilience: Grants resistance to environmental hazards and debuffs.

While I was surprised that it was a unique rare-rated monster right off the hop, I wasn't worried. My new body made me feel much more confident than I had when looking at the rats. This bear would be a nice warm-up after my break. I hadn't planned on doing more fighting, but it was hard to say no to some grinding if it made Aria smile like that.

Soon, Aria and the group caught up to me, but the party flinched and got really scared as soon as they saw the bear. I mean, I couldn't really blame them. I knew what that fear was like just from Aria flashing her powers of when Mary and I had been spending time together.

"Are you really going to fight that thing?!" The blonde healer asked, and I nodded as I stretched out.

"What kind of weapon do you use?" Gruff asked, looking around my body.

"I don't think I will use one for this guy. It has been a couple hours since I was last fighting, so I will use this guy to warm up," I explained, making the party go pale, and Aria giggled.

"I think you should all just watch," Aria said, but then looked at me. "If you can go slow, they will be able to watch you. This is a good way to help you control your strength."

I looked down at my hands and then nodded. This was a good chance to practice holding myself back.

"Sure," I said and walked out into the cave as I could feel the party's eyes on me, and the anxiety pouring out from them.

Gore wasted no time, and the bear came for me. I just waited, focusing.