"I can''t believe you just did that," Hilda said, shaking her head as she materialized next to me. "That was so reckless and dangerous."


    "Oh,e on! It was a bit of harmless fun," I said with a grin, but she didn''t look convinced.


    "You could have been seriously hurt or worse. Do you have any idea how powerful that Dragon was?" She asked sternly, but I just waved her off.


    "Please! I could have taken him with one hand tied behind my back. I am the Queen, after all," I said confidently, and she sighed before shaking her head again.


    "You are incorrigible. Just be careful from now on, okay?" She said, and I nodded before turning my attention back to the golden box.


    "So, what''s in the box?" I asked curiously as I stepped closer to it. Hilda floated over and waved her hand, causing the lid to open. Inside were five items; a pair of ck gauntlets, a ring with arge red stone, a ne with a pendant shaped like a dragon''s head, a belt made of interlocking metal tes, and finally, boots that came up to mid-calf with strange symbols all over them.


    "These are all pieces of ancient Dragon armor. They are said to be indestructible and will give you added strength and speed," Hilda exined as she hovered next to each item in turn so I could get a good look at them.


    "Wow! This is incredible! How did you know that this was what was going to be in here?" I asked as I looked at each piece longingly. It would take some time to put it all on since it didn''t look like there were any zip-ups or anything like that, but it would definitely be worth it. Even just holding one of the gauntlets made me feel stronger.


    "I changed all the items that you could get from the chests to the maximum rank that they could be, and then changed a couple things so you would get everything in the box," Hilda exined to me, and I nodded as I tried to grab the things that were in the chest, but the moment I did, everything in the box burst with light.


    I stepped back in surprise as the armor and items were equipped on my body in the blink of an eye. The ck gauntlets encased my hands and gave them added strength; the ring fit snugly on my finger, the ne hung down to my chest, and the belt wrapped around my waist. The metal tes on the belt jingled as I moved, and finally, the boots covered my feet and legs up to mid-calf.


    "Wow! This is amazing! I feel like a whole new person!" I eximed as I looked down at myself in awe. Hilda smiled at me warmly as she floated over and put her hand on my shoulder.


    "You are a whole new person now, Ashely… or should I say Ashia?" She asked with a raised eyebrow, and I nodded eagerly before hugging her tightly. Even though she was just a honey-gram projection of herself, it felt good to have her here with me.


    "Thank you so much for everything !"I said, and she hugged me back before waving her hand and disappearing again, leaving me in the destroyed room alone.


    I looked forward to the next portal, but a new Powerup menu appeared. I guess that Hilda wasn''t kidding about getting a Powerup in every room.


    [Fast attack 10]


    [Poison wave 10]


    [Fire Orbs 10]


    I stood for a moment and just stared at the choices in shock. This was a bit more than I had expected from Hilda, but I was not going to startining but; I knew someone that would. Tyler was not going to like this, and I was sure as soon as I picked one, he would be back on the inte to yell at me.


    Still, I had a choice to make, but they all seemed good, but I did already have the first two, so maybe Fire Orbs would be the best bet. I was about to pick it, but then I stopped and looked over the choices. Fire Orbs would be good, but having my attack speed increase by 8 levels might be the better option.


    After a moment of deliberation, I finally decided on the Fast Attack upgrade and felt myself change. It was like my body was vibrating, and then everything slowed down around me slightly. I could see the particles in the air, and when I moved, it was like moving through water.


    "Interesting," I said to myself as I looked down at my hands and saw that they were shimmering slightly. Now that things were in slow motion, maybe it would be a good idea to take some time and test out my new skills.


    I turned and punched out to the side, shattering reality, and my swords appeared in my hands. They looked just like they had before but were made of the strange metal that Hilda had used to create my new arms.


    I flicked them both out in front of me and watched as they cut through the air effortlessly. I swung them around, and they seemed to almost dance in my hands as I moved. The weight was perfect, and the bnce was impable. Even though they were the same Beebliss des I had always used, I felt like I was more in tune with them than ever before


    "Amazing," I whispered to myself before sheathing them again and turning back toward the portal. It was time to move on and face whatever came next, but I stopped just before it when I heard Tyler''s voicee shouting over the inte.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "You cheating bitch! You are breaking every rule!" Tyler screamed, and I giggled, shaking my head.


    "Please! You are just mad because I am better than you, and there is nothing you can do about it! Just give up now and save yourself the embarrassment of me beating you again !"I shouted back.


    "No! I will never give up! I will find a way to beat you !"He shouted, and then the inte went dead.


    I sighed and shook my head before stepping through the portal into the next room.


    The moment that I stepped through, I was forced to start moving as I was transported into a massive canyon filled with almost every monster I had faced up till this point, and many I had yet to see.


    I nced around before taking a deep breath and getting into a familiar stance. "Well, here we go again," I muttered to myself before flying forward and dodging two fireballs and a massive spike.


    I weaved my way through the obstacles and enemies, using my speed and agility to my advantage. I easily dispatched any monster that got in my way with a few quick shes of my swords or by sting them with A spray from my SMBEE.


    Something had changed, though, and the monsters were disappearing or exploding into ck bits. It was like I was fighting real monsters now, and that made me wonder what would happen if I died now?


    I was so focused on the enemies in front of me, and my thought''s that I didn''t even see the Gori until it was toote. It mmed into me from the side, and I went flying, but I quickly recovered and turned to face it.


    It was a massive beast, easily twice my size, with muscles rippling under its brown fur. It pounded its chest before charging at me, but I easily dodged to the side and flew up its back.


    I jumped off of its head and spun in the air, shing down with my swords. They cut through its fur and flesh like butter, and it roared in pain as it fell to the ground.


    Inded lightly on my feet before turning my attention back to the battle around me as more monsters rushed me. I dispatched them quickly and easily, but there seemed to be no end to them.


    "Come on! Is that all you''ve got?" I shouted tauntingly as I cut down another Gori. Suddenly, the ground started shaking, and I turned just in time to see a massive Dragon rushing toward me.


    I quickly dodged to the side and flew up into the air as it crashed past me, narrowly missing me with its razor-sharp ws. It turned in the air and opened its mouth wide before breathing a stream of fire at me.


    I weaved my way through it effortlessly before flying behind it and shing at its wings with my swords. They cut through them like paper, causing the Dragon to start spiraling toward the ground.


    As it crashed down into the canyon below, taking out several monsters with it, I barely had time to react as something came flying at me from behind.


    I turned and saw the Gori that I thought I had killed earlier rushing toward me with its ws outstretched. I quickly dodged to the side and then shot it in the head with my SMBEE.


    It fell to the ground with a thud as its body was engulfed in poison gas, but I didn''t have time to celebrate as something else came at me from the other direction. This time it was a Giant Scorpion, and it looked pissed.


    I flew over its stinger as it stabbed down at me and then turned and sted it in the face with my SMBEE. It screeched in pain as it stumbled backward, giving me an opportunity to fly under it and sh at its underbelly with my swords.


    Gutting it like a fish, its innards spilled out onto the ground below as it copsed, and finally, the battle started to die down. The remaining monsters tried to flee in terror at the sight of theirrades being ughtered so easily, but I wasn''t going to let them get away that easily.


    I flew around the canyon, picking off any stragglers with my SMBEE before finallynding in the center of the carnage. I looked around at all of the bodies and shook my head before sheathing my swords and flying toward the portal.


    "Well, that was fun," I said to myself sarcastically as my next Powerup selection appeared.