Chapter 103: Pocket Dimension
The Competitor Village suite was nicer than anything Holden had ever lived in.
Tall windows overlooked a courtyard filled with decorative fountains. The furniture was polished dark wood. The beds had actual mattress toppers. Renna had already claimed the biggest bedroom and was currently jumping on the bed for no apparent reason.
Holden stood by the window, looking down at the street below.
Royal Guards were patrolling in pairs. Four of them stood at the front gate, with two more at the side entrance. Another pair kept circling the building on some kind of schedule he hadn’t quite figured out yet.
Maeve appeared beside him, her tablet clutched to her chest.
"You’re thinking about sneaking out," she said. It wasn’t a question.
"I need points," Holden said. "The tournament is going to keep throwing stronger enemies at us. I need to be ready."
You can’t. You don’t know the streets, and neither do I. Plus, those guards outside aren’t regular patrolmen. They’re part of the Royal Security Division, and they’re watching this building specifically."
Holden sighed. She was right.
Back in the Blood Colosseum, he could easily sneak out at midnight, fight in a cage, and slip back before sunrise. But this was the Capital. The Royal Family had eyes everywhere. If he got caught creeping around the city, they’d use it as an excuse to kick him out of the tournament before things even got good.
He leaned his forehead against the cool glass.
"I need a way to farm points without leaving this room."
Then he felt it.
A deep, rich chime resonated inside his skull.
[10,000x MULTIPLIER MILESTONE ACHIEVED]
[New Feature Unlocked: Instanced Dungeons]
[Instanced Dungeons: The System can generate a physical portal within a sealed room. This portal leads to a pocket dimension designed specifically for combat training and point farming. Enemies spawned are "Phantom Beasts," spiritual constructs that provide full Kill Point rewards when defeated.]
[Phantom Beasts are auto-scaled to match the user’s current combat level. Difficulty adjusts in real time.]
[Portal Duration: Maximum 2 hours per session]
[Cooldown: 12 hours]
[Generate Portal? Y/N]
Holden read it twice.
A pocket dimension, filled with enemies that gave real points. Scaled to his exact power level. No risk of being seen. No risk of being caught.
Just him and things to hit.
"Holden?" Maeve tilted her head. "You totally zoned out. What are you looking at?"
"Nothing," he said, blinking the screen away. "Just thinking."
"You had a really weird look on your face. Like you were reading something that wasn’t there."
"I’m fine. Hey, can you watch the door for me? I need to try something."
Maeve frowned. "Try what?"
"Private training. Just... trust me."
She didn’t look convinced, but she backed toward the bedroom door anyway. "You’re being weird."
"I’m always weird."
"That’s fair."
Holden locked the door, drew the curtains, and stood in the center of the room. He focused on the System.
"Yes."
The gold text pulsed once and vanished.
Whoosh!
A column of blue light erupted from the floor.
Maeve spun around from the door, her eyes going wide. "What the—"
The portal made no sound at all. It was just the size of a doorway, shimmering like water on a dark night. Through the light, you could see a sky with clouds and floating blocks of white stone.
"Holden," Maeve said slowly. "There is a glowing hole in your floor."
"I know."
"Why is there a glowing hole in your floor?"
"Private training ground. Long story short, I can go in there, fight things, and get stronger. I can’t explain how it works, but I need you to keep watch while I’m inside."
Maeve stared at the portal. Then she looked at him, and right back at the portal.
"That is the most insane thing I’ve ever seen," she said.
"Yeah."
"And you’re just going to walk into it."
"Yep."
She pinched the bridge of her nose above her glasses. "Fine. But you owe me an explanation later."
"Deal."
Holden reached out and touched the portal.
His hand passed through the light like water. Cool energy flowed over his fingers, his wrist, and up his arm. It didn’t hurt. It just felt like walking into a cool breeze.
He stepped through.
The bedroom vanished.
He was standing on a floating platform of white stone, high above an endless sky. The ground beneath him was about fifty meters down, covered in a sea of clouds that glowed faintly gold. Other platforms floated nearby, connected by bridges of light.
There was no sun. No visible source of light. Everything was simply bright, as if the air itself was glowing.
The air in front of him shimmered. Out of nowhere, five shapes appeared.
Phantom Knights.
They were human-shaped, but not human. Their bodies were translucent, made of a pale blue-white light that shifted and flickered like candle flames. They wore ghostly armor and carried ghostly swords. They had no faces. Just smooth, featureless masks where their heads should be.
[Wave 1 Spawned: 5x Phantom Knights (Rank 2, 5-Star)]
[Objective: Eliminate all targets]
He reached into his inventory and summoned his Star-Forged Sword.
The Phantom Knights moved.
They attacked all at once. Five swords swung at him from different sides, moving together with silent precision.
To a normal Rank 2 fighter, this would have been overwhelming.
To Holden’s 10,000x processing, it was a slow-motion ballet.
He could see every sword path a full second before it arrived. He could see the gaps in their formation, the slight delay between the lead knight’s swing and the flankers’ follow-up. He could see the exact spot where their coordination broke down for a fraction of a second.
He activated Hellfire Cleave.
WHOOSH!
Crimson fire erupted along the Star-Forged Sword. The pale blue phantoms contrasted sharply against the burning red light.
Holden stepped forward and swung his sword.
With one sweeping slash, a trail of fire cut through all five enemies at the same time. The fire dissolved them right on the spot. Their pale blue light broke apart into tiny pieces and blew away in the wind like ashes.
[Wave 1 Cleared]
[Wave 2 Spawned: 8x Phantom Knights (Rank 2, 5-Star)]
Eight more appeared.
Holden grinned.
This was the ultimate training ground. He could use his full speed, his full power, his full Rank 2, 5-Star strength without a single person knowing.
He attacked.
[Wave 2 Cleared]
[Wave 3 Spawned: 6x Phantom Knights + 1x Phantom Captain (Rank 2, 5-Star)]
The Captain was much bigger. Its armor had fancier details, and its sword was wider. Holden met it head-on with a vertical Hellfire Cleave that split it from crown to waist.
[Wave 3 Cleared]
[Wave 4 Spawned: 10x Phantom Knights (Rank 2, 5-Star)]
For the next two hours, Holden fought without rest. Wave after wave of Phantom Knights spawned, each one slightly more complex than the last. They came at him with swords, spears, and shields. They tried flanking tactics. They tried surrounding him. They tried overwhelming him with numbers.
None of it worked.
His Hellfire Cleave cut through them like paper. His Iron-Body let him tank hits that would have shattered normal fighters. His 10,000x multiplier processed every movement, every angle, every opening with god-like precision.
By the time the portal began to flicker, signaling the end of his session, the floating platforms were scorched black with crimson burn marks.
[Instanced Dungeon Session Complete]
[Total Phantom Knights Eliminated: 37]
[Dungeon Clear Reward: 15,000 KP]
[2x KP Booster Applied!]
[Total: +15,000 KP!]
[Current Balance: 56,390 KP]
[Portal Closing. Cooldown: 12 Hours.]
Holden dismissed his sword and stepped back through the light.
He was back in his bedroom. The blue portal shrank to a point of light and vanished, leaving nothing but a faint scorch mark on the floor that faded within seconds.
Maeve was sitting on his bed, still watching the spot where the portal had been.
"You okay?" she asked.
"Better than okay." Holden stretched his neck, slightly sweaty but grinning. "I just found my new favorite place."