Waking up, Sam felt well rested. Not having any alarm was surprisingly amazing. This time the blinds were even down so he didn’t have to wake up when the Sun wanted him to. Against his neck on his pillow lay Elara, she had nuzzled up next to him, leeching his body heat. Yesterday they spoke late into the night, it let him get over the first hurdle of weirdness. Her surprising clinginess turned from weird to positive, it was nice after he got used to it. Though she was sentient, she was ‘just a snake’, which helped him greatly. Playing about he found out that though she didn’t weigh that much, she was too heavy for him to lift with his Psyhands, at least for now. She ate most things without a problem, much like a normal snake. For most intents and purposes she was a normal snake, the main difference was her sentience and expressive eyes, giving her a strange otherworldly feel.
Another interesting thing, something he kind of knew but still felt weird properly considering it, was her eating habits. Being a snake she felt most interested in protein. Though he fed her pizza last night she mostly ate the meat on it, only tasting the non-meat parts. She also explained that, like a normal snake, she would most likely only eat every few days given a higher activity level going with Sam on adventures. And even then she would prefer meats, eggs and things you’d expect snakes to eat. She was capable of eating processed foods like humans, but it was not as good for her. Coming with a surprising amount of knowledge about things, for being a newborn, she knew what it meant to go into dungeons, what Sam was as a Player and what she was, both as a snake and Companion. A positive thing about her feeding habits was that she was not picky when it came to the source of the meat. If he cut something off of a Goblin in a Dungeon and fed that to her, she’d probably be fine for a few days.
Reaching over to his phone Sam saw he had a message. Checking it out he found that, as expected, it was from Janik, wondering when he was ready to go to a higher-level dungeon. Sam didn’t have much else planned for today, after all, they did plan that they were going do just this today. Before putting away his phone he noticed that the time was after 1 in the afternoon, this would explain his well-rested feeling. When working for the corner store or living on the streets, you never really got to sleep in, at least not in any proper restful state. This felt pretty good.
He got out of bed and did his morning routine, focusing mainly on the toilet, hygiene and breakfast. Before showering yesterday he cleaned his gear so it was all good to go today, walking around with clothing and armour sprayed with goblin and kobold blood isn’t exactly... positive. Sending a text to Janik that he’s free whenever, he just needed to get Elara registered first.
Janik replied that he’d meet him at TAC, the registration didn’t take long, if Sam took care of that now then he could just make his way over there.
This seemed like a simple enough start on the day, he made his way down to the reception and asked about registering a Companion. He got a few looks on the way, having a snake perched on his shoulders, coiled around his neck for proper support might look a bit weird. At the same time, there were no reactions or more than the looks, either this was more normal than he expected or it might be the Companion title Janik mentioned. He was sent to another desk, the reception didn’t handle the registration, but the Player Services desks handled that, which he found himself at soon after.
A few more questions were asked of him than he expected. Mainly surrounding where he got it from, since he was on the TAC payroll, so to speak, there was the TAC cut to consider. But since he got it from a Solo Dungeon he couldn’t escape from, it fell outside of TAC’s assistance or boundaries, so everything in there was completely his. They knew about Solo Dungeons, and there were some sub-rules they had to discuss to make sure it fell in the proper slot of them not getting their cut. It seemed that the important factor was that he was dragged in, while on TAC property, but against his will and he couldn’t escape. This was classified as not having TAC aid at the moment, so whatever happened there was outside of the contract.
Registration was super simple, they needed his ID card and just some simple details about his Companion, and she was registered with him. The ID card was updated on the fly through a machine they had behind the desk, so all was fine after that. He asked about getting her a collar, which might make it easier at a glance to understand she wasn’t wild, the man behind the counter agreed with the logic, but they didn’t have any collars as normal stock. Perhaps the TAC marketplace had something. He could check the computers for that.
Following guidance to find the marketplace computers he found himself at a self-ordering kiosk. Just putting his ID card into a slot activated it and let him browse as much as he wanted. The interface was easy even for someone without computer knowledge, it seemed that the scanning pictures were used as almost online store articles. Searching and filtering were possible and easy. His mind wondered what good skills cost but seeing the astronomical prices most of the good-sounding skills had made him change out of that screen faster than he expected. Even something as seemingly simple as an E-rank fireball was over $70k. It kind of made sense, considering how niche and weird the Player economy was, but still...
He found a cheap collar on the list. There were several, but he just needed something simple and sleek, nothing dangling off the side or anything that would be too tight around her neck or restrict her movements. Since she didn’t have a neck, of sorts, it was oddly weird finding one that worked. But with her input, he found one that would hold on with friction rather than being tight. Placing the order he got a receipt with a number on it. Going over to a delivery area he swiftly enough got the collar, showing his ID to prove it was indeed him.
Not long after he got the simple leather-looking collar on her, Janik sent a text wondering where he was, for him to come to the reception area. Sam walked over and met him there.
“Ah, there you are!” Janik shouted out before they were in normal conversation distance. Walking closer he just continued talking. “I think we’ll go for the Goblin cave today, it’s not too different from the starter one, but the fucks in there are much, much more dangerous. I think it’s a good idea to give your auto-pilot mind some thoughts about a Goblin not always being a Goblin. They work together and are stronger, a dangerous combo.” His voice lowered in volume as he got closer, until they were in conversation distance and he had stopped raising his voice altogether.
“They also give way more XP, their power means that they have a Core that can be harvested and the Clear rewards are better.”
All of that sounded good to Sam. He understood that after wading through the newb-dungeon he might not look at Goblins like they are a danger anymore... He wanted to keep living so getting used to there being a difference, all while getting higher rewards, put a positive expression on his face.
“It is much, much harder than the starter dungeon, but I can still solo it, meaning we should be safe. I don’t think we need more than a few runs for it, let you get used to things before we go further up a bit.” Janik commented as he started walking, nodding his head in the direction of the exit for Sam to follow.
Janik continued explaining as they walked, needing to leave the building and walk across the large plaza to a building on the other side. Still relatively close but it seemed Dungeon entrances didn’t manifest too close to others.
One thing that Janik warned about was that, as Sam experienced from the Flesh Dungeon, the System wasn’t there to protect him more than it felt. Players had died even in the starter dungeon due to carelessness. He should treat any situation as dangerous so he didn’t grow arrogant and careless.
Sam couldn’t argue about that. Though he hadn’t displayed this in reality, he had done so in games when he was younger, often getting his ass kicked as a result. Luckily that’s not a dangerous situation to be in, just a game after all, but translating this to real life he would have been dead years ago. He would strive to not fall into that trap.
Continuing to explain good thoughts and tips, even to the point of recommending hunting for certain skill crystals like the Appraisal one, at least get the lowest rank letting you see the HP values of anything weaker, or up to slightly stronger than you, was highly recommended. But that’d cost a... ton... Of money. Finding other skills to round out what he could do was also a good idea, but skill crystals were surprisingly rare even though they were common.
All of that just made sense, get more skills to do more things. His current skillset might be relatively versatile but, he was kind of a one-trick pony in one sense. Before he could explore this thought too much they arrived.
The building was large, not as much as the TAC headquarters, but large enough to house not only the portal room but also an entire office building on the side. As soon as they entered it became apparent why. Though much smaller in scale, it had a similar layout and selection of services as the TAC main building, you could sell things there and then, there were wardrobes, showers, a few rooms and so on. A mini-scale of the TAC HQ concept made sense to keep things closer and tight.
They queued up like before, and though the line was much shorter everything felt the same. The layout was the same, the guards, the markings on the floor. The only difference was some warnings explaining that this was more dangerous than the starter dungeon.
Finally getting to enter they did as before, finding the warm bright light enveloping them yet again, before being dumped into a cold, damp and dank cave.
Looking around it was much worse than the constructed layout of the starter Dungeon. This was just a cave, it was dark, the air was stale with something rank in it, and it was all around unpleasant to be in.
Janik took out a flashlight and turned it on, it glowed very weakly like it was low on energy or just on a low setting. Handing that to Sam he took out another and repeated the process.
“So, this place is fundamentally the same as the starter dungeon. Just that the Goblins in here have an actual brain. They won’t just charge you like idiots, and you’ll find that they might do different things between runs.”
Though this made sense, a part of Sam’s mind didn’t expect it, perhaps this introduction run was smarter than he thought.
“They also don’t always sit in the same spots, there are empty rooms, dead ends and so on. You can almost get lost in here if you’re not careful. And here’s the kicker, the fuckers can almost see in the darkness, and they know how to use it. If they are huddled around some fire, we’re in luck. If not... Then... we need to use flashlights to see them.” He smiled seeming strangely unphased by that. “The good thing is if you see this button here.” He pointed at a button not the same as the on/off on the flashlight before pointing it away from Sam.
The beam of light flashed with an incredible intensity each time he pressed it. “Police sometimes use this tactic, bright flashing lights fucks with your eyes, now imagine if your eyes are incredibly sensitive and you’re used to living in darkness.” His smile was almost a bit sadistic.
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“Yeah... I know the pain of just coming out of a dark room into the sun, this gotta be way worse. I think I might also have a different tactic.” Sam smiled at Janik’s quizzingly lifted eyebrow.
Picking the tiny flashlight up with a Psyhand he lifted it into the air and pointed it down. “I can just turn up the brightness and light the room like this. Or just flash them from above.”
“That’s almost a good idea, I like the airborne flashlight, but don’t overdo it with the flashes... At that angle, it’ll affect us as well.”
“Ah... good point...” Sam felt a bit dumb. He felt like he had a solid idea but didn’t consider the collateral damage of this hitting themselves. Perhaps it was a good thing he didn’t get a mage class, could have been worse.
“In any case, I have some potions with me, and you’re getting more experienced. We can take some hits in here with our armour so I think we’ll be fine. This is mostly for you to get used to things anyway.” Janik took a few steps before he stopped, turning back to Sam. “Oh, I’m turning the XP share back on, I want to level as well.”
Sam couldn’t blame him, he didn’t know what level he was, and though it might take a while for him to level with the amount of XP they were getting in here, it wouldn’t happen at all if he got none.
The cave was completely natural, nothing was hewn out or had bricks, a well-travelled path or anything. It almost felt like they had just entered a random mountain. The hallway ahead was just an opening in the side of the cave wall, had it not been for the flashlight being pointed straight at it.
As Janik led them through the narrow path acting as a corridor, Sam took out his daggers and handed them over to his Psyhands, no reason not to be ready.
Shortly after entering the narrow corridor, a System window opened.
[ Dungeon clear conditions:
Kill the Goblin chiefs. 0/2
Optional: Kill all monsters
Goblins: 0/20
Rewards:
100 xp
1x Random low-level crafting material
Chance (1%): D-tier weapon (50%) or armour (50%).
Bonus rewards for optional step:
50 xp
Random Box - X. ]
His readiness was wasted as they finally came to a slightly more open area. There were signs of this place being used, some piles of plant-like matter almost looking like makeshift bedding, a burned-out fire in the rough centre. Some bones were spread around and it looked like a sleeping area. Janik took an extra moment to look around the walls and ceiling, looking like he had been jumped before he knew what to look for. Though even after prodding around there was nothing of interest here.
Moving ahead into the next narrow corridor Sam found himself suddenly pressed against the side by Janik. It didn’t even take a second before some simple spears came flying, slamming into the stone walls and floor.
“They saw our flashlights.” Janik commented, which made a ton of sense. Light-sensitive creatures would likely notice them early, and could probably hear them as well.
With the weight limit of Sam’s Psyhands, he still needed two hands per dagger, however, this left his 9th hand free which he had given the flashlight. Floating it in he pressed the bright light button. Not only did that give them a better view to see the three goblins chucking spears, and rocks in their hands ready for the next volley, but it also blinded them.
Sam expected Janik to do something about the situation, but he seemed to wait to see what Sam was going to do. They were within his Area so there wasn’t a problem for him to take the next step.
The Goblins were still blinded in the bright light, having lifted their hands to shield their eyes and try to look into the darkness where the Players were hiding. Sam sent the daggers forth one at a time with a brief pause, mainly so he could make sure he took out one target before the other, also as a gauging of their health. If he hit one with all his daggers he wouldn’t know how much damage was needed. First dagger to go out was the Vampiric, it didn’t trigger the Vampiric effect but it did enough damage on its own.
This was good news and he was even more satisfied with the fact that the Goblin next to his initial target fell after two hits. The first dagger landed well but he was still standing and shrieking, but the second dagger took care of that. He didn’t know their exact health but somewhere between 5 and 10, not counting any defenses. His last dagger was directed at the third Goblin and though it landed, it didn’t take him out.
The goblin shrieked out in pain as the blade cut open a wide wound in his chest, he picked up a spear and threw it into the shadow, but it hit nothing before Sam brought down the Vampiric dagger again, instantly killing him but not triggering the heal.
[ Experience gained: +5. ]
[ Experience gained: +5. ]
[ Experience gained: +5. ]
[ Dungeon clear conditions:
Kill the Goblin chiefs. 0/2
Optional: Kill all monsters
Goblins: 3/20. ]
“Not bad.” Janik commented as he walked into the room. Sam could see him letting go of his sword handle, it seemed that he was ready to step in if needed. He walked into the room but took the time to check around himself. “It seems you need two daggers per Goblin, except your fancy knife. It also seems that you’re better at hitting them now.” He turned and smiled at Sam in a strange supportive way with some hints of a sting.
“Yeah, once I got used to being able to feel with the hands, it just became easier.” Sam replied, ignoring the sting, as he followed Janik into the room.
“Let’s have a look at your harvesting skills. These fuckers have cores now.” His smile wasn’t straight-up sadistic, more like a senior in some company wanting to expose a junior to all the jobs, while also feeling good that he didn’t need to do the dirty work himself.
Sam sighed, though he didn’t like that part of this kind of thing, he had at least done it a few times before with the Goblins in his first Quest with Toren. He had daggers and he had Psyhands to help where their meagre strength could aid, so he got to work, holding the flashlight overhead like a surgery lamp.
“I have been thinking.” Sam commented as he was digging into the chest cavity of one of the three Goblins. “Wouldn’t it be a good idea to just make a ton of noise, luring them all here, and use the narrow hallways as bottlenecks?”
“It’s not a bad idea, but you saw the Clear conditions, there are 20 of the fuckers, and two chiefs as well. If we had a flamethrower or something that could hit more targets, it might be decent, but with just the two of us... We might get overwhelmed...” He pondered for two seconds. “Well, between us, I doubt that’d happen, but it’s not smart for your survival to start thinking like that.”
He couldn’t complain about that logic, this was a training exercise more than anything, after all. He kind of wanted to get into the meat of things but it was probably a good idea to get habits and critical thinking in better. While he was already wrist-deep in the Goblin, he decided to cut loose a small chunk of Goblin, feeding it to Elara. She slithered down to the floor and took it, slowly swallowing it hole almost as if it was a dead animal. It was a strange way of eating, at least to a chewing creature like Sam.
Once they, or rather Sam, were done with things they pushed on. Three Cores bagged they continued.
“Since you handled that well, I’m thinking that you can take charge of the rest of the Dungeon. Later I’ll be leading when we work together, but I want to see how you do things and get a feel for things properly, just makes it easier for me to know how to move when we actually fight.” He had stepped aside to let Sam lead ahead. “I’ll follow you closely and I have potions available, I can see your health so just try and focus.” He patted a chest pocket as he mentioned potions, almost to prove the point.
Narrowing his eyes a second, Sam almost felt a bit uncertain about the situation, but at the same time, it was fine. This was for his sake, after all, and Janik gave him a safety net. If worst came to worst he was experienced and skilled, so he could take over. Or, if worst really came to worst, they could just evacuate.
Nodding to the order, Sam stepped ahead, using his free Psyhand to hold the flashlight ahead of them, he decided this was a better idea to create a false target so the same ambush wouldn’t happen again. And it didn’t even take more than round a corner to prove that this was a good idea.
A fist-sized rock came flying around the bend only to shatter against the stone wall. It looked like it was aimed at the flashlight but missed slightly. It would have hit Sam solidly if he had been holding it, so he was glad for his little idea now.
Repeating the same thing as before, he turned the light to max power and pointed it in the direction of the attack, lifting the light source taller. Peeking around the corner he only saw one Goblin, just the one, who fell swiftly to the cut of the stronger dagger.
[ Experience gained: +5. ]
[ Companion Elara, level up +1! ]
The little display in the corner of his eye halfway took him off guard, he knew it was going to happen fast as she was level 1, but this was kind of interesting. “Oh?” He let out in surprise.
“What do you mean, Oh?” Janik asked with a hint of worry in his voice.