System Change

After the duo left the confines of the village, Derek stopped and pulled out his makeshift map and looked at various dungeons. Hmm… This dungeon gives a support skill. Maybe I could get a beast taming skill or something, and I wouldn’t have to worry about Silvi killing everyone we meet. We’ll probably only be able to run two of the level 25 ones before I out level them. Derek put the map away. He seemed to have made a decision.

We’ll go to the support one first, then the skill point one if I haven’t broken 25 yet. After that, is the level 50 scrolls dungeon. That could give anything from a one time use spell, to a hidden skill. Derek looked at Thomas. “Follow me. We’re moving fast, so try to keep up.” He started jogging, which was basically a sprint to Thomas. “We’re going to make use of every last point that you put into Dexterity.”

The dungeon they were traveling to was not too far away from Rayna’s Village. It was not in the forest, though. It was to the northwest, supposedly in the grassy plains. It was also the dungeon where Thomas’s parents had met their doom. According to Richard, the city led expeditions twice a year to this dungeon for the nobles and others who paid. It was quite the popular dungeon.

Luckily, it was not time for one of the expeditions, so the chance of running into any others looking to complete the dungeon was small. What he was most worried about was people claiming a dungeon and charging for use. Derek had seen this too many times on Earth. When he mentioned his concerns to Richard, the man assured him that he did not have to worry. As long as he was in the Kingdom of Cydaria, it was illegal for an individual or organization to use a dungeon to profit off of others.

The only time there would be guards around a dungeon would be to prevent an overflow from wiping out the surrounding areas. So this only happened with relatively high level dungeons. Derek also found out that dungeons could be completed more than once, but one would only receive the completion reward for their first completion, and the enemies in the dungeon would not give full experience to those who had already completed it.

People who completed the dungeon could not ‘carry’ others through it, either. If there happened to be somebody who had already run the dungeon was in a group, the entire group would fail to receive a reward at the end. This was just another thing that Derek chalked up to the stinginess of the ‘Great System.’

Derek also found out a bit about the kingdom during his downtime in the village. The kingdom’s name was Cydaria, along with the capital city of the same name. Torith was only a sub city within the kingdom. It was currently in a state too big to be considered a town, and too small to be a city.

Throughout the kingdom, there were 6 cities, and 22 sub cities, along with one capital city. Each city was connected to the other cities by teleportation circles, and the sub cities were all close enough to a city that they did not warrant a costly teleportation circle.

Being a sub city, Torith only held branches of different guilds and organizations, with the headquarters being in the nearby city. Derek also learned that the lord of Torith was one of the weakest among the lords, but because of his father, who was an official in the capital, no one said anything.

After traveling at a quick pace for seven hours, taking only two breaks for Thomas in between, they had arrived at the dungeon. It was as Richard had said, there was nobody else around at this time. “We’re here.” Derek said. He turned to look at Thomas, only to see a range of emotions play on his face. I guess he figured out where ‘here’ is. He thought.

“W-why are we here.” Thomas asked with a crackling voice.

Derek smiled. “Isn’t it obvious? We’re going to run a dungeon.” He said, and Thomas’s sadness seemed to evaporate, being replaced by shock and confusion.

“We?” He asked. “How are you going to run a level 25 dungeon?”

“Remember those secrets that you can’t tell anyone? Well, you’re about to see the first one. Come on, place your hand on the sphere.” Derek said, then walked over and put his hand on the dungeon orb. Thomas hurried over and place his hand on it too.

The two waited until the notification popped up.

Dungeon Countdown Timer Depleted

Participants: 2/6

Derek Hunt: Level 18

Thomas Stewart: Level 10

Please Choose an Option Below View Dungeon

Enter Dungeon

Leave

Derek chose ‘View Dungeon.’

Dungeon Status

Dungeon Level

25

Dungeon Type

Insect

Dungeon Status

Stable

Dungeon Rewards

Support Skill

Max Participants

6

So this is what an already completed, normal dungeon looks like. He put away the dungeon status, then spoke to Thomas. “Are you ready?”

“H-how? How are you only a level 18? There’s no way.” Thomas interjected. Then, the boy mumbled incoherently to himself for a moment. He seemed to think of something, then it was as if a bright light went off in his eyes. “This means you can run all the lower level dungeons. And at your strength, there won’t be any trouble.”

Derek grinned. “Who said I was going to be the one running them. I’m just going in to watch, you will be the one doing everything. No better training than fighting something that will kill you if it has the chance.” Derek laughed as the boy’s eyes dimmed and the glee he had before changed to horror.

“I will be fighting?” Thomas asked.

“What are you so scared for? You’re carrying high level daggers, and you have armor on that was made from higher level hides. And if you have been taking my suggestion, which I’m not sure about after your little class selection fiasco, you should have enough Vitality to survive a couple of clean hits. Don’t worry, I need to raise my Rejuvenation skill, anyway. So, it’s a win-win for both of us.” Derek chuckled. “So, like I asked. Are you ready?”

Thomas seemed to blank out, but after a few moments he finally nodded.

“Okay, here we go.” Derek said. Anxious to see what a dungeon in this new world was like. He focused on ‘Enter Dungeon.’ A message popped up, asking if he was sure. He selected yes, and a new notification popped.

Participants Ready: 1/2

Derek Hunt: Ready

Thomas Stewart: Not Ready

“Focus on ‘Enter Dungeon.’ Let’s go.” Derek commanded. Soon, Thomas’s name changed to ‘Ready,’ and a countdown began.

Entering Dungeon in 3… 2… 1…

A white light flashed, and the duo disappeared.

***

After the blinding light, Thomas found his footing. He looked around to see Derek standing beside him, acting like nothing had happened. They were standing in a cave-like chamber. It was warmer inside the dungeon than it was outside. Thomas was able to see well enough with the glowing stalactites. The chamber was around 10 by 10 meters and connected to a door directly in front of them.

Beside him, Derek spoke. “Don’t forget to use Inspect on everything that you can. It’s a good skill to level.”

Thomas could only nod at that. I can’t believe he expects me to clear this dungeon. He thought. Thomas was still shaken because of the weird day he was having. First, he disappointed Derek, which led to some harsh words. Then he found out that Derek was only level 18, which he still could not wrap his head around. Now, he has to fight in a dungeon 15 levels above himself.

“You will probably gain levels quickly in here. So, the first thing I want you to do is figure out how you want to spend your stat points so you don’t get caught with your pants down and so you are always as strong as possible.” Derek explained.

Thomas assented and began to think. I definitely need more health in the beginning. I already get 4 Dexterity and 3 Endurance per level. For the future, I think I’ll go 2 Strength and 3 Vitality with my free points. “Okay. I know what I’m going to do.” Thomas explained his plan to Derek. After earlier, he did not want to disappoint him even further.

Derek nodded. “Mhm… That’s fine.” He continued. “Check your equipment. Make sure everything is properly equipped and doesn’t hinder your movement much.”

Thomas did just that. The hide armor was a little loose, so he tightened it the best he could. He drew his two daggers from his hips. Then, he looked at Derek. “I think I’m ready.”

“Okay, I’ll go through the door first, just to make sure there are no traps to instant kill you, but after that, the rest is all yours.” Derek walked up to the door and pushed it open. Then, he disappeared inside. After a second, he poked his head through the door. “Seems fine to me.” He smiled that menacing smile that always sends chills up Thomas’s spine. “Man, you are going to have so much fun in here.” He chuckled and disappeared from Thomas’s sight once again.

Thomas took a deep breath and walked forward. He walked through the door into the next room. He nearly squealed at what he found waiting for him. The cave was much bigger than the one he started in. This time though, it was full of enemies. Black ants were crawling along the floor, and beetles creeping along the walls. Other than the clicking noises being made by the beetles, the most disturbing thing was the size of the insects. The ants were the size of both his fists together, and the beetles were twice that size.

Thomas gulped, then felt a slap on his back. “Like I said, you are going to have so much fun.”