Leo chewed on a piece of jerky while he was thinking over what Mathew and Zack filled him in on. “I don’t get it, why ten?”
“See, I told you he would understand!” Zack said excitedly.
Mathew shook his head, “No I don’t think he does. Leo it’s simple when you look at it like gambling numbers. It increases the odds of something going in your favor.”
Leo slowly started to nod, “Okay, yes I can see that now. Instead of money, you just are gambleing your life away. Of course it makes sense.” Leo started to have a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
“This is why you brought me here? To confuse the shit out of me with Zack’s geek squad’s big brain ideas?”
“Hey, we prefer nerd brigade, not geek squad.”
Mathew held up a hand to stop them both. “No, It’s because of this.” He pulled out the handbook he bought and handed it to Leo.
Zack looked at it curiously, “What is it?”
“Something I bought from the shop, along with my staff and the robbed armor I left in my room. I can’t say where the shop is, NDA agreement, but I never said to keep quiet about what I saw inside the crystal, just the area around the crystal.” Mathew smirked.
“Essentially the General of this base is keeping a huge secret, and once you hit Level 5, you will have a small chance to go and shop unless he makes it public before then.”
Leo was half-listening to Mathew as he skimmed the book. “This...this is insane. There are phases to this god forsaken event? Things will only get harder? What’s this about a Level cap of 100 before the end of Phase 1? Can we go higher than 100?”
Zack snatched the book from Leo, “We can go above 100?! This changes everything! We assumed the highest level was 100, but we were wrong, so terribly wrong!”
“Exactly, hence why I need to start training more, we all do.” Mathew said. “Our current mindset of being weak and hiding behind tall walls is a temporary fix to the dam that is about to burst open.”
“Mat, can I keep this?” Zack asked.
He nodded. “I read through it a little bit already. I bought it for you specifically anyways. Keep me informed on anything important I need to know.”
“What about me? You expect me to ignore the giant bomb of the week you dropped on me?” Leo asked.
“I’ll fill you in on what I know, but the important fact is Dungeons are going to open up in about 4 weeks. We have till then to be ready for whatever comes out of them.”
Leo scrunched his face in thought. “Wait, what do you mean open?”
Zack started to flip through the pages in the booklet, seemingly ignoring both Leo and Mathew.
“The scouting group I was in found a portal like the one at your sister's apartments a couple hours north of here by a trail. It said it was locked with a timer. That’s when the tutorial phase ends, and shit gets real.”
“Wait, but didn’t Madison say her mother went into that portal? How could she have gone in if it was locked?”
Mathew shrugged. “Could have gone through the portal, but into the front doors of the place still.”
“Oh no.” Zack said, eyes wide.
“Oh no?” Leo said with worry.
“This, oh we need to either not tell anyone, or tell everyone.” Zack muttered obviously in deep thought.
“Zack, what do you mean?” Mathew asked.
Zack started to pace while talking to himself. “If we can be the first. No, we won’t be the first, that’s insane! But what if we are?”
Mathew snapped his fingers to get Zacks attention. “Hey, pay attention when we are asking you questions Zackary. What are you talking about?”
Zack stopped and looked at them both. “Leo, do you think Madison is 100% sure she saw her mother go into that portal?”
Leo thought it over. “I think she thinks she is 100% sure.”
“Look at the wording about the Dungeons. It says here the monsters inside are released once the timer is up. It says nothing about us not being able to go inside.”
“How does that help us?” Mathew asked.
Zack mulled it over. “We know there is a person who has a title for being the first person to kill a monster ten levels higher than he is. He ran it over with his truck and pumped it full of lead with him and his buddies. The guy is at another base. He recieved a title called ‘Giant Slayer’. He was the first to slay a monster ten levels higher than he was.”
“How does that matter with the Dungeons?” Leo asked.
“What if there are other firsts?” Zack suggested. “First to complete a dungeon? First to complete a certain dungeon? First to do it at a certain level threshold? The list goes on and on.”
Mathew did an excellent job of remaining relaxed. He has a title for being the first to do something and it gave a solid power up, even more so when applied to his Profession. If he could get more, that means he could get stronger faster.
“I say we will talk to the General about it. Form our own team with us three, and a few others. Then we go and kick that dungeon’s ass. I have magic, we can get you two up in Levels fast enough then it’s free power ups baby.”
“What was the Dungeon’s Level?” Zack asked.
“Beginner rank.” Mathew said.
Zack winced. “That’s going to be bad. We think Beginner is the rank above, or two ranks above Novice. If it’s based on our racial or class rank, which we don’t even have yet, we are shit out of luck. It’s taken a week for people to start hitting level 5, let alone 10 or higher.”
Leo pursed his lips. “Then we need to get stronger faster. What’s the fastest way to Level up? Have you guys figured that out yet?”
“Fighting. The System rewards way more experience for fighting, and even more for fighting things stronger than yourself. Those with crafting skills or utility skills like [First Aid] gain some Levels. Yet it is nothing compared to fighting.” Zack said.
Mathew nodded. “Well, guess I’m back on the scouting teams, and you two are with me.”
Leo scoffed. “You think they will let the three of us just magically join up?”
“My team has a free spot, and I think an extra body that wants to get hit won’t be denied.”
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Zack nodded. “It could work. I’ll need to learn a weapon skill, or see if shields are something I can learn.”
“How would you find a shield here?” Leo asked curiously.
“Riot shields probably, what about you Leo?” Zack asked.
“I have Lucky, and maybe an Axe for my weapon. Seems like up my alley, verus the tiny knives Mathew uses.” Leo smiled at Mathew.
“Laugh it up, at least I don’t need to compensate for anything.” Mathew said.
Zack looked at his staff he was holding. “You sure about that Gandalf?”
“Hey, when I tell women I have a magical staff that just needs a good rubbing to fire off. You can bet they will be all over me once I whip it out.” Mathew said with a straight face.
Both Leo and Zack lost it, and were laughing.
Mathew waited for them to have their fill. “You done?”
“Yea, oh man that’s good.” Zack said, wiping away a fake tear. “Sounds like we are going to be entering a montage though. I wonder if I will have Rocky music playing for my scenes.”
“What?’ both Leo and Mathew asked at the same time.
“A montage. Time skip? The DM is getting tired of the players current level, so he just lets them go up two levels so he can bring out the bigger and more fun monster encounters?”
Both Leo and Mathew were still confused.
“You said we need to train, so that’s essentially what we are doing, except in real life, and I don’t have my earbuds. So no Rocky music for me.”
“Training is a good idea, I might want to learn how to use my knives better.” Mathew said thinking. “Military is known for combat, I imagine they have people here teaching it, or willing to teach me.”
Leo shook his head. “Where do you think Madison has been the last week?”
“Sitting in a tent crying about her mother and brother?” Mathew asked, not caring how much of a dick he sounded.
“First off, that’s just cold, man. Secondly, she was a green belt in some fighting class before the System. So now she just trains every day or helps teach people how to defend themselves. They won’t let her join any guard duties or scouting, since they think she is a child.”
“Which she is.” Mathew said. “Where are they training? I can go say hello.”
----------------------------------------
Mathew watched as Madison grappled a man twice her size to the floor. “Call me a ‘little girl’ again, and I will BREAK YOUR ARM!”
Mathew then and there made a mental note to never anger the ‘young woman’.
“I’m sorry! Let me go, please! I need that arm!” the man pleaded.
An older man observing the spar shook his head. “Let him go Madison, you obviously won.”
She rolled her eyes and let her opponent go. She bowed respectively and walked off the mat. Mathew moved toward her, “Well, I won’t lie and say I wasn’t impressed. When did you learn to fight like that?”
“My Mother was concerned about me when she divorced my deadbeat of a father. So for the past three years I’ve been taking Hapkido from a local place. One of the red belts who helps there is the owner of the apartments, and suggested it when my mother asked.”
Mathew nodded. “Well, it’s good to see you, how are you holding up?”
“Meh, I’ve heard stories of people fighting and gaining Levels. I’m stuck at fucking Level 1, but my skills are all higher than Novice 6. My [Unarmed Fighting] is Novice 9 and won’t go to 10 no matter how much I practice.”
Mathew did his best to hide his surprise. His highest was only Novice 3. It made him wonder how the skill system worked.
“What are your other two? If you don’t mind my asking.”
“Nah, I like to boast because half these guys are rookies or in a few rare cases, just over confident jack asses like the guy I just fought. He never fought in his life, so when I yelled, slapped the mat and grappled him to the ground, he froze and never struggled against me. If he used his weight and size, I might have started to sweat.” She grinned thinking of how fun it would have been to have a real fight against the guy.
“...Right, so your skills?”
“Yes, sorry. I’m Novice 6 in [Jumping] and Novice 7 in [Grappling] which I would have assumed [Unarmed Fighting] included, but apparently, it does not.”
“Better than my skills. [Knives] is my only combat one, at a measly Novice 3.”
Madison shook her head. “That happens to people who have never fought before. No worries, once you are a big boy, I am sure you will be able to play with your daddy’s knives.”
Mathew narrowed his eyes at her, but said nothing.
“So why are you here Mathew? Obviously you don’t care enough about me to just pop by for a visit, otherwise you would come with Leo.”
“I want training, specifically with knives. Just in case a wolf chews through my shoulder, I end up in the hospital for a few days again. Unable to leave, and visit people who I may or may visit for a friendly chat.”
Madison winced. “Oh, yea Leo mentioned that. But you are better now! So Knives, that’s a really lame fighting weapon. Why not Swords, or hand-to-hand, or bows, or bow staves, or any other weapon that is far better than [Knives]?”
“Because it’s the skill I have, and I don’t want another close combat one currently. I plan on being a ranged magical fighter, fighting with a knife is a ‘just in case’ thing. A back up plan to back up plans.”
Madison nodded. “Makes sense, smart of you to think that way. My teacher pounded that leason into me. I used to focus on only attacking without stopping to learn how to defend myself, or turn my opponents' attacks into openings for my own. Granted I was like ten, and had anger issues, but I got better.”
Mathew glanced at the man who was rubbing his injured shoulder. “Right, you got better did you?”
“Eh, he had it coming.”
“So, knives?”
“Yea, a few of the military guys know how to fight with a knife. You can learn from them. I know nothing about it. If you want to learn a real fighting style, just ask. My prices are 1,000,000 dollars an hour, but for you, I’ll give the friend discount which would be 999,999 dollars.”
Mathew couldn’t help but chuckle. “Thanks Madison. I’ll keep you in mind.”