Sore
What am I trying to accomplish? If I go back to Dario, I’m just going to get trounced by Devon again. I could just head to the library, grab a good book, and forget any of this ever happened…
Janus was a lot less enthusiastic as the morning glow of runes began shining through his windows. The pain from his sparring session had kept him awake for most of the night. He felt disgust at his own thoughts.
I want to be like the people in those books. I want to delve into dungeons. I want to be somebody.
He slipped out of bed and checked the runescribe on his nightstand. There was a message from Dario telling him to head to the Delver’s Guild. Same time as yesterday.
Stars, I feel like I can barely even walk. That healer wasn’t lying when they said some injuries would stick.
The air was uncomfortably cold as Janus headed downstairs. He entered the bathroom, undressed, and pushed a small rune on the shower wall. A warm stream of water quickly washed over him. His sore muscles and bruised flesh rejoiced at the contact with the water.
After his shower, he got dressed in a new set of clothes and returned to his room. He still had a few hours before he needed to leave, and he couldn’t bring himself to try sleeping again.
He used those few hours to nurse a raging headache and practice the flash of light trick with [Mana Manipulation]. Once it was finally time to leave, the flashes had gotten noticeably brighter.
-
He could already see Pella and Devon sparring outside the Delver’s Guild, and so he headed straight to the sparring platforms.
“Ah, you’re here. I’ve got something special for you today.” A voice called from behind Janus, and he nearly jumped out of his skin.
Dario circled around, holding a piece of paper. Janus could make out a large red stamp in the corner with the emblem of the Delver’s Guild.
Before Janus could ask what Dario meant, the paper was thrust into his hands. Janus scanned the text.
“Pest removal?” Asked Janus, “What is this?”
“That’s what we’re doing today! I’m going to catch you up to the other two.” Replied Dario, clasping Janus by the shoulders.
Ignoring the fresh pain in his shoulders from Dario’s iron grip, Janus looked back down at the paper in his hands.
“You’re taking me into the tunnels?” Janus asked.
A shiver went up his spine. The tunnels of the Delver’s guild were rumored to be covered in all kinds of beasts. They were usually used by Delvers to reach existing dungeons or the tunnels were extended to find new ones.
“That’s right. The best way for your skills to level up is through combat. If we get your [Mana Manipulation] and [Strength Enhancement] skills to level up, you might just stand a chance against Pella.” Dario grinned, “And maybe even Devon, with some practice.”
Janus was uncertain. In one way, this was everything he was hoping for. He would be doing the work of a real Delver. The paper in his hand was a Delving Writ detailing work to be done for the Guild. But scenes from the sub-train car flashed through his mind. The [Rail Balor] latching onto its helpless victims.
“It’ll be fine!” Dario clapped Janus on the back as he spoke. “Just use your skills to enhance my attacks. Nothing in these tunnels can threaten me. We aren’t hitting a dungeon. Yet.”
Janus was still catching his breath from Dario’s clap on the back, but his mind was racing.
Dario stared down at him. “Slow your breathing. This is a golden opportunity for you. Yes, there will be danger. A very, very small chance of you being hurt. But if you were concerned about that, then you wouldn’t have showed up yesterday.”
I need to catch up. I need a class.
“Uh, right. Yeah. The tunnels.” Janus said.
Dario seemed pleased with this response and moved towards one of the sealed entrances inlaid into the cavern wall. A man was standing outside and Dario showed him the Delver’s Writ. The man pressed a series of runes on the sealed entrance, and it slowly crept open.
Beyond the door, it was pitch black. The tunnel wall itself was circular and bored directly into the stone. Before stepping inside, Dario turned to Janus and handed him a polished rock. Its appearance was not unlike the pearls that were sold in the station plaza.
“That’s a [Torchstone]. Direct your will at it and it should start glowing.” Dario said, before stepping into the darkness of the tunnel.
Suddenly, the tunnel lit up. The light was coming from several [Torchstones] inlaid into Dario’s clothing.
Dario was still moving and Janus rushed into the tunnel to keep up. He willed for his [Torchstone] to emit light and his surroundings became much clearer.
“We might have to walk for a couple hours until we run into something interesting. This tunnel is frequented pretty often, so it gets cleared out every few days,” said Dario as they walked.
The tunnel was eerie with walls of smooth stone. The ground had been flattened so that travelers could easily find their footing, but the walls were curved. Each time Dario spoke, Janus could hear his words echo down and up the tunnel.
They walked for a few minutes before Dario began speaking once more.
“I take it that you’ve never used an item from the System before,” he stated.
Janus nodded his head.
“More powerful items will require you to attune to them, but a [Torchstone] is fairly basic. No attunement necessary.” Dario continued, “Many skills can help produce more complex items. You can usually only attune to three of those.”
The explanation piqued his curiosity, but he was already aware of attunement. But he didn’t dare to interrupt Dario. If his teacher thought this information was important, it was important.
“Now the interesting thing is the metamage research the stations have done into items that require attunement. Some classes and abilities allow people to attune to more — or even less — items.”
Now Dario fully held his attention. This was not something he had learned in class. Dario continued explaining different items and their uses as they walked.
Sometimes, the tunnel split, or there were offshoots heading in other directions. Fortunately, it seemed like Dario knew where to go.
-
Dario hadn’t lied. A couple of hours must have already passed. It was hard to tell in the tunnels, and Janus didn’t have a clock on him.
His lack of sleep from the night before was really starting to catch up to him. Just as he was worried he would fall asleep on his feet, he heard Dario speak from up ahead.
“We’ve got something. It’s not close enough to identify yet, but should be simple enough. Keep your wits about you. When you see the creature, use your skills on me.” Dario said.
Dario still appeared to be calm, but Janus could see a shift in his body language. There was more ambient mana in the air here than back in the stations, and Janus began gathering it, preparing to strengthen Dario.
Suddenly, a massive spider jumped from the gloom ahead. Janus barely had any time to shove the mana into Dario’s fist. He did the best he could while trying to simultaneously cast [Strength Enhancement].
Up ahead, there was a great flash, and Dario’s fist exploded in a fiery wave. Janus could feel the heat from where he was standing. His teacher slammed his flaming fist into the spider and Janus watched, slack jawed, as the spider simply disintegrated in front of him.
[Your party has defeated a dangerous enemy: Giant Web Spinner]
[You have gained a level]
[Your Strength Enhancement skill has gained 3 levels]
[Your Mana Manipulation skill has gained 2 levels]
Janus was surprised at the notifications. Everything had happened so quickly.
Dario turned around and eyed Janus. “Good, you’ve already gotten a level. We should be able to get you a few more. There should be more [Giant Web Spinners] ahead.”
Janus nodded. His earlier sleepiness had completely evaporated.
“Why doesn’t everyone do this?” he asked.
“Well, not everyone has access to someone like me. A lower level than myself could never fully guarantee your safety. Besides, most people prefer to stay home and train non-combat skills. People like you and I do this so that they can lead more peaceful lives,” responded Dario.
-
They continued through the tunnels, defeating another seven [Giant Web Spinners]. Most of the creatures attacked in rapid succession, but Dario was diligent. If he detected a monster nearby, he made sure it was taken care of.
Janus was already worn out and could feel the effects of mana exhaustion.
“I’m not sure if I can keep casting anything.” Janus said.
“You’re finally out of mana? Honestly, you lasted longer than I expected. You must have high wisdom for your level.” Dario replied and turned around. “You take the front this time, I’ll tell you which tunnels to take.”
Janus was glad, he definitely didn’t want to turn his back on where the spiders had been coming from. Earlier, he had been ignoring his notifications to prevent distraction, but willed for the recent ones to appear in his mind’s eye.
[Your party has defeated 7 dangerous enemies: Giant Web Spinner]
[You have gained 2 levels]
[Your Bravery skill has gained 1 level]
[Your Strength Enhancement skill has gained 6 levels]
[Your Mana Manipulation skill has gained 3 levels]
He had made more progress today than he had almost his entire life. Sure, most people didn’t care about levels much, but they lead peaceful lives. Not everyone was willing to risk their lives in the tunnels. Until now, that had included Janus.
Of course, he had Dario with him. Janus idly wondered how many levels he would have gained if he could take down those [Giant Web Spinners] himself. He had managed to identify some of the later ones, and they were all over level 30.
It’s probably best not to think about tackling something like that on my own for now.
The real gains from this were the levels of his abilities. He could already feel that [Strength Enhancement] was significantly improved. And his control over ambient mana was easier than ever before.
He willed for his status to appear.
Status Name Janus Alamy Class None Level 10 Guild None Life 244 Max Life 244 Mana 328 Max Mana 328 Stamina 265 Max Stam 265 Stat Total Base Class Skill Item Strength 19 10 0 9 0 Endurance 11 10 0 1 0 Dexterity 10 10 0 0 0 Intelligence 30 10 0 20 0 Wisdom 32 10 0 22 0 Skill Level Bonus Bravery 2 5 Wis / Lvl Writing 8 1 Wis / 5 Lvl Sprinting 7 1 End / 5 Lvl Mana Manipulation 11 1 Int + 1 Wis / Lvl Str. Enhancement 9 1 Int + 1 Str / Lvl Locked --- --- Locked --- --- Locked --- --- Locked --- --- Locked --- ---
The improvement was massive. Because of his base level, none of his stats were below 10 now. Janus knew that [Bravery], [Mana Manipulation], and [Strength Enhancement] all gave him above average stats for his base level. He called the two abilities to his minds eye to see if their descriptions had changed.
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[Mana Manipulation]
Cost: 1 Mana per second
Cooldown: None
Description: You can control your own mana and ambient mana around you. After level 10, your fine control over mana is doubled.
Bonus Stats: 1 Int and 1 Wis per level
[Strength Enhancement]
Cost: 20 Mana
Cooldown: 5 Seconds
Description: You have learned to use ambient mana to increase the power of physical attacks, either for yourself or for an ally. For the next 10 seconds, the first physical attack your target makes will deal [50%] increased physical damage.
Bonus Stats: 1 Int per level, 1 Str per level
[Bravery]
Cost: None
Cooldown: Always Active
Description: You have stood against a fearsome creature with a much higher level than your own. You approach dangerous situations more calmly.
Bonus Stats: 5 Wis per level
Both [Strength Enhancement] and [Mana Manipulation] had been improved. He could feel the extra strength, too. If he stacked everything up right, he was sure even Devon wouldn’t get back up after a direct hit.
I hope.
The problem was getting the direct hit to land. Dexterity was a huge weakness. Without a higher dexterity stat, it would be difficult to keep up once he closed the distance with an opponent.
But, those were thoughts for another day. For now, he was happy. But he would be happier once they were out of the tunnels.
-
Janus spotted the sealed exit up ahead. His aching muscles were crying out for a break.
Finally!
Dario pushed ahead of Janus and pressed a sequence of runes on the exit. It slowly swung open.
Runelight gushed through the opening and he squinted his eyes. He had never been so excited to see the soft glow of Crow Station. He headed straight for the benches, passing by Dario who was talking with the man at the exit.
He melted onto a bench, his legs crying out in metaphorical relief. The bench was the most comfortable seat that he had ever deigned to use. After a few moments he felt movement to his side. He turned to see Pella sitting there.
“You look like you’ve been put through the wringer,” she said.
“I’m still sore from that beating I got yesterday. I’ve been pushing my mana to the limits, too.” Janus groaned and pushed himself back to sit up straight.
“Well, I can see you got three levels from your trip. I would have preferred to come along.” Pella smiled. “But if I had, then I wouldn’t have taken a round off of Devon.” The smile turned to a smirk.
“You won? How?” he asked.
“I have a way of working at something until I get what I want,” she replied, “With enough time I can take on anyone.”
He hadn’t noticed Devon approaching, but when he looked up, Devon was standing just in front of the bench — uncomfortably close to Janus.
“That was a good round, but you won’t win in the same way twice.” Devon said, looking towards Pella.
“I wouldn’t count on that, firehead. You’re playing it cool now, but I saw how frustrated you were,” she responded.
Devon seemed agitated, but didn’t rise to the bait.
“And you.” Devon said, looking at Janus. “I’m still waiting for you to show me why your skill is so special.”
“Yeah well, I think I’m about to take a week-long nap.” Janus replied. Even the bench was starting to feel an awful lot like a bed.