Janik jogged over and talked to the man who had opened up a sun chair next to the bus, by the time Sam and Dia caught up with him, he was done talking with him, just a few sentences were exchanged.
“It seems he leaves whenever we want, we can pay him $500 to drive right away, or wait until the bus fills up... But... Since we’re alone, I doubt it’s going to fill up.
Sam felt weird for just now thinking that $500 was not that much, something that would have kept him living for quite a time before.
“I say we just pay... saves us the time waiting.”
“I agree-” Janik nodded. “Besides, 500 isn’t that much, the first Core we get will return that and more.” Ending on a smile he turned back around and flagged the driver.
“Hey, Mister. We’d like to pay the 500 for the drive.”
The rotund man groaned as he forced himself up from the sun chair, which probably barely held his weight. He used a moment to collapse it before he put it into a compartment on the minibus.
“Aait! Climb on board, pay me and we’ll get you there soon.”
The man was surprisingly straightforward, Sam wondered if it was a normal thing to not consider the overly polite nature that the workers on Earth are expected to have, here in Aetheria. But it didn’t matter.
Boarding the bus, Janik handled the payment this round. Knowing him he’d probably want Sam’s half at some point later, so since he had already sat down Sam decided to just send it to him right away. It might not transfer while they are in Aetheria but it should do so once they return to Earth.
Once the payment was done, the man drove off. There was a strong feeling to buckle up as he didn’t care about speed limits or about driving calmly. There was a sign stapled to the wall explaining that as a Player, you shouldn’t be afraid of some rough driving. This was not his first time.
Sam was surprised that Dia didn’t seem to care about the driving, he halfway expected her to be panicked, being inside a metal box on wheels that shook and drove towards wherever they were going. But she was fine, not caring in the slightest. She was calm enough that she started grooming Sam instead, to his surprise.
“Wh.. what are you doing?” He felt a bit weird as she started licking his neck and hair, gently pushing her away as one would do a pet.
She looked almost insulted as he motioned for her to stop, responding with a stern expression. “'Yap', Var tan tarn zar!”.
He understood the No-sound, and that she needed to do something. Lacking an understanding of the word ‘tarn’, in context it felt that this meant clean, groom, or... something of the sort. Since he knew the other words it made contextual sense. So he understood the sentence that she needed to groom her mate, it seemed incredibly important to her as she didn’t tend to normally be this assertive about things.
Accepting that this was important to her, he realised that he might as well just get used to it sooner rather than later. If this was an important cultural thing for her, he might just need to deal with it.
She seemed happy about it and let out a satisfied purring sound as she continued grooming him.
Janik had seen their interaction and was looking at them with a massive grin, seeming to take massive enjoyment in just being there on the sideline like this.
“God damn you two are cute.” He continued smiling, sounding like he was speaking to a child with his first ‘totally real girlfriend’.
“Fuck off.” Sam retorted, it was already embarrassing enough being groomed like this, and Janik’s antics didn’t help.
The rest of the trip was surprisingly uneventful. The first floor of Aetheria wasn’t massive, at least not with a motorized transport. Though the trip took an hour of reckless driving across the open plains, lacking speed limits probably helped them make it there in ‘only’ one hour.
“We’re here!” The man shouted to his three, four if you count Elara, passengers as he braked far too hard for what was needed to stop, causing everyone to almost slide off their seats.
The landscape hadn’t changed, everything on the first Floor looked somewhat similar, they had driven past forests, some small mountains and mostly plains. They had stopped near the mountains on the opposite side of the entry portal. The landscape had changed slightly, with less forest and trees and slightly more rocky terrain.
“You fuckers want to be picked up as well, pickup orders cost $1000. Pay in advance.” The driver shouted as he opened the doors for the group.
Sam considered it, they had been driving about for an hour... and he was not light on the gas pedal. Odds were that they would need to camp out overnight and walk for two days to make it back on foot. Not considering any stops more than breaks.
Looking at Janik, it seemed that he had similar thoughts. It was a substantial sum, but... a single monster Core would pay for that and more, so though it was a high cost it was... not that bad compared to the expected earnings for a dungeon...
Janik turned to Sam. “What do you say? If we know how long we’ll be here, it’s not a bad idea. But if we run this a bunch of times over a few days... we might not know when we’re done?”
“If it’s only one camping on the way back, perhaps two if we take it calmly, I don’t see a problem with it. Sleeping in a forest or something isn’t all bad.” Sam smiled back. Not being alone makes it surprisingly better than the PvP island he was on last week.
Janik nodded at Sam as he turned back to the driver. “No thanks, we’re good!”
The driver gave them a thumbs up as a response, and as soon as they had gotten off the bus, and made sure their modest baggage was with them, he drove off at a reckless speed.
Seeing the way he drove while not being on board, Sam wondered how he was still alive, he also had to commend the suspension of that bus...
“So, should we just get to it?” Janik commented as he vaguely gestured towards the mountains as he looked at something on his phone. “The entrance is over there, a few minutes walking according to the guide.”
Sam couldn’t think of any good reason to wait, they were in a good position now, the heaviest part of digestion was done, they had just rested on the bus and the time since they played about had passed enough to let Dia’s kick recharge, as well as a single second of the Telekinetic Boost timer. It was just over two hours since he used it, so it was currently on 23/29. Though he would like to get it fully recharged, going into an unknown Dungeon, he couldn’t hold them back for 12 more hours.
“I say we just go now, I’m feeling good.”
“That’s great, let’s go!” Janik did a pat-check on his pockets and body, seeming to just want to make sure everything was in place before he started walking up a path in the mountains.
Following him, Dia opted for a quadruped mode, seemingly getting better balance doing that. She walked next to Sam as Elara remained coiled around his neck. As they were walking, Janik slowed down enough for Sam to catch up, ending up next to him.
“Here.” Janik handed Sam a small box. “Elara told me she got a better Venom skill when she levelled up, I’m sure you want to test it out.” He smiled.
Checking what he handed him, Sam saw he had been given a box of toothpicks. It was the rounded wooden kind, a bit stronger than the flat ones. They were plenty sharp for the Venom shenanigans they tried before, so it wasn’t a bad idea. And them being dried and ready for use like this made them much sturdier than the stuff they made in the Dungeon for the last test.
“I also got an empty one for the prepared ones.” Janik handed Sam another small box, which was the same kind but just empty.
“Oh, thank you. I think that’s a good idea.” Sam smiled. Janik was good at pre-planning for stuff like this. An odd timing to give it to him but he couldn’t say that it was negative at all.
Not wanting to have Elara rush in and bite stronger enemies just like that, this was the best way for her to contribute, at least in Sam’s mind.
As they continued towards the entry portal, Sam had Elara use all her 16 [ Venom 2 ] charges on the toothpicks, creating a similar item as they played around with earlier. Just that this was much more potent. Sam also reacted to the colour difference, Venom 1 had an electric blue colour, and Venom 2 was also an electric colour but purple. Holding up the toothpicks, explaining the deal to Elara, she happily smeared her Venom across them before Sam put them in the empty box, giving him a small box of 16x Envenomed Toothpicks.
Dia looked at this process with curious eyes, she seemed to want some distance from the toothpicks, showing this with a grimace as Sam moved them into the container, he was glad that she understood they were dangerous, just in case something were to happen.
Suddenly an information window popped up, asking if they wanted to enter the Dungeon. It seemed they had found the entry portal as they were entering the area in front of a cave’s opening.
“Ah, seems we’re here.” Janik stated as he stopped. Not mentioning anything more he just disappeared in a white light, seemingly having accepted the question.
Sam did the same, making sure that Dia and Elara were hinted to in the info, and choosing to enter as a group. The white light came and went as normal and they found themselves in the clearing in front of the cave they saw outside. The path leading up to here where the portal was had disappeared, in its stead was just rocks and more boulders.
“Well, the guide said that we go through the cave, but from there, it changes every time so we’re on our own.” Janik put his phone in his pocket and pulled both his swords. “I’ll take point and do my best to stop anything coming for us, but I’ll rely on you for anything ranged. Your girl will be our backup combatant... I don’t know how to... Tell her that but... I expect she’ll fight when it comes to it?”
Sam nodded at the party leader explaining their plan and composition, pulling his swarm of blades as a result.
Dia looked at Janik pull his swords, and all of Sam’s weapons left their sheathes, flying around them like the angriest of swarming insects. “Garn?”
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She had used this word before, but Sam hadn’t gotten a context for it. Luckily she seemed to realize his confusion from his expression.
Mimicking a punch and kick she continued. “Kra, vash... Garn!”
Kra meant punch, and Vash meant kick, he knew that. Since she put it together like this... did Garn mean fighting or combat? If so it was correct.
Nodding in response after understanding this, he hoped, he repeated the word. “Garn.”
Getting up properly onto her hind legs, she went bipedal, something Sam had seen she did when she intended to fight more structured. Whenever she had fought on all fours it was more feral, biting and clawing, but when she wanted to use her martial arts she did it bipedally.
The group looked as ready as they could be, Elara chilling as a scarf more than anything, and with this Janik started moving forward.
The air chilled considerably as they walked through the cave, or rather than a cave it was like a tunnel through the mountain. They entered through the opening they thought was a cave, and after a few turns exited the other side to the top of a large valley. The exit of the tunnel led into its bowl-like shape, a thick fog, or perhaps a cloud layer, covered most of it only letting them see that there were trees, vegetation and tall-standing boulders dotted around the valley. The little they saw through the clouds hinted at them being quite high up. A few flying creatures in the distance, but too far off to do anything about it even with modern weapons. The wind was surprisingly calm but much colder than it was in Aetheria, they didn’t properly notice the change until they went into the tunnel from the other side.
[ Dungeon clear conditions:
Kill the Ravenlord. 0/1
Optional: Kill all monsters
Monsters: 0/80
Rewards:
10 000 xp
1x Random mid-level crafting material
Chance (10%): D-tier item.
Bonus rewards for optional step:
10 000 xp
Random Box - X. ]
The familiar window popped up, causing Sam to chuckle. This raised an eyebrow from Janik who seemed to view the danger of this place.
“The XP rewards feels... surprisingly low...” Sam explained the reason behind his chuckle to the curious Janik.
“That’s a dangerous thought. I have heard that this is how many PvPers begin their life...” Janik looked a little worried as he said that.
Sam... had to admit that he didn’t have many reservations about killing humans before, given that there was a need for it. But after the island that had just been solidified. He hoped it didn’t become worse but he could feel deep inside that humans and monsters, the line was blurring.
He decided to not share that with Janik.
Janik narrowed his eyes a bit at Sam’s reaction before his eyes snapped to Dia before he turned around.
“Sa, Sa!” Dia pulled at Sam and pointed into the air ahead of them. “Skar tirr!”
Neither of those words made sense to him, but he quickly found out what it was. Janik had seen her reaction before she spoke and readied himself. Incoming towards them came what could best be described as a gigantic raven. Though there was a slightly more humanoid body to it, it was very vague, the head, wings and most of it looked just like a slightly off raven. It was only a single one.
As he neared the group he seemed to drop something that glinted in the air, dropping a few daggers Sam caught it with his Psyhands once it came within his range, which had doubled since he last fought something properly.
Catching it with surprise ease, it wasn’t extremely hard to see even though it was moving rather swiftly. The lack of danger in catching something, no matter how dangerous or sharp it might be, helped a lot when all he needed to was grasp it.
As it hung still in the air he could turn it around and inspect it, adding his sense of touch he could see that it was a heavily weighted dart.
The Raven didn’t seem to like this and flicked his other foot towards them, sending another something towards them.
Again it was hardly a problem to catch it, it was somewhat strange how easy it felt.
“Are... they supposed to be this easy to fight? He’s out of ammo...” Sam commented in an almost dissatisfied tone.
“No... I don’t think so, the guide said that they throw darts and whatnot, but they tend to fly down and attack you with bladed talons. They are surprisingly nimble in the air.” Janik replied as he kept his eyes on the enemy, not looking away at all.
“Well... He’s not coming.” Sam commented as he turned the darts around and triggered his Force Launch, sending them back to sender.
The raven hovered in the air, outside of Sam’s range as it looked curiously at how his darts had stopped in mid-air. Jumping a little as there was a strange pulse around them he didn’t get the time needed to react before they impacted his body. Though they sunk deep into his feathers and flesh behind, it didn’t stop him from flying. Letting out a shriek shortly after they contacted it looked much angrier.
“Well... I think you pissed it off.” Janik smiled, though Sam couldn’t see the smile he could hear it in his voice.
Flying down into a dive towards the trio, it was the first unlucky creature to unknowingly enter Sam’s Area. Having moved his Psyhands back to his body and picked up the dropped weapons, everything was sent forward towards the incoming birdman.
Five of the blades landed a critical hit, one of them being the Bleeding edge. Not counting any Defence ratings, this calculated to 207 damage.
The ravenfolk came flying in towards the group, but seconds after getting within 20m/60ft it met a swarm of blades which was barely short of shredding it in the air, cutting it deep. A splatter of blood stopped its controlled descent and instead had it limply drop straight down into the stone of the mountain.
[ Dungeon clear conditions:
Kill the Ravenlord. 0/1
Optional: Kill all monsters
Monsters: 1/80 ]
[ Experience gained: +100. ]
Sam again chuckled but did so without smiling or showing any amusement. The XP sharing was set to 50% between him and Janik, and another 50% between Sam and Dia, But imagining if he got the full 400 XP alone he would need close to 13 000 kills to level up...
“I know I was only gone a week... in my mind... But... if all of the 80 monsters, and the boss, give 400 experience... And with the 20 000 for completing the Dungeon with the optional reward... If I get everything alone that’s still going to be like 100 runs or something...”
He sounded surprisingly defeated, this was the highest ranked Dungeon on the first Floor, and...
“Don’t worry-” Janik smiled back at Sam. “This is just the first Floor. From what I read the XP will increase dramatically on the next one.”
Considering this from a game perspective, it made sense to a certain degree. If this was the end-level dungeon, the odds of having already hit Level 20 would be relatively low by the time you fight here. Likewise, this made grinding harder on the level you’re at. But as soon as you get to the next Floor, there is a new level grind which will probably feel similar, if that were true it might be much easier to earn experience on those levels.
“Come to think of it... Why don’t we just go to a higher floor with a higher-level player, set the XP share for 100% for us and have that person make a few kills or roll through a dungeon, wouldn’t that just speed level us?” Thinking back to the MMO games, boosting wasn’t uncommon at all.
Sam hadn’t considered that before, he was so engrossed in focusing on himself and learning, but... that would make things dramatically easier. Just pay or get a good-natured higher-level Player to boost you through a few dungeons and bam, suddenly you start at level 40 the second day... or something, depending on the math.
“You really need to read the guide material, Sam.” Janik looked at Sam with a disappointed look. “I think I’ll give you that as homework for tomorrow, read more, especially now that your phone has access to the TAC libraries.”
Inhaling deeply and letting it out in a sigh, Janik’s smile returned. “But, to answer; we don’t know. The System seems to... know... or something if you plan to abuse this and block you from entering or gaining XP and gear. Which is kind of weird, if you think about it. I was level 16 when we started going about together, many levels between us, but if I were to boost you, you wouldn’t get any XP. When or what triggers this block isn’t known, but it seems to be something the System just... does.”
Sam was not satisfied with that answer, he understood that it was the answer he was getting but... It was unsatisfactory.
It did explain why the boosting wasn’t common, at least. And if boosting was blocked it also explained why Sam could still get experience and items when running Dungeons with Janik even though he was much higher level than him at the time. Likewise, if he’s still level 16, then Sam would be a few levels higher than him.
“Where is the limit, then? Can you party up with a Level 100 Player and still get XP?”
“In the right circumstances, I think so, yes. But if you do it for the reason of abusing the level difference, I think the System would somehow know and penalize things.” Janik shrugged back. Though he knew what the guides and general knowledge were, he didn’t ‘know’ why this was happening.
Sam sighed as well, he got his answer, it explained things but not in the detail he hoped. However, this also raised questions that, no doubt, others had asked; Why is this the case and how does the System know?
“Well, for now, it seems we got company.” Janik brought their focus back on the matter at hand as two more ravenfolk came flying in.