Zack was so busy tending to the needs of his dungeon that he didn’t even notice people were in his entrance until one of them put a hand on him. The physical contact on his core was so sudden that it snapped him out of his hyperfocus and launched him right back to his crystal.
Alex was back, gently rocking Zack back and forth on the counter. “Hey man, wake up, we’ve got company,” hewhispered, just loud enough to vibrate the threads of mana in Zack’s shell.
Sure enough, Alex wasn’t kidding. There were two other poeple in the room with him. One of them was built like a brick wall, easily as thick as two people standing side by side. He had green skin, thick tusks jutting from his lower lips, and his hair was done up in a samurai top-knot. Like Alex, he was dressed mostly in casual wear, but he accented his outfit with armor—a layered breastplate reminiscent of something right out of a samurai movie, with boots and gauntlets to match. Sheathed at his hip was a katana that looked thick enough to serve as two weapons.
The second person looked a bit more normal. She was a dark skinned woman with long black hair that flowed down her back. Unlike Alex and the larger man, she was dressed in loose clothes with visible rips and tears in the fabric. Most striking of all, though, was that her eyes were a shocking shade of yellow.
“Guys, this is my friend Zack,” Alex said, gesturing to the rock on the counter. “Zack, this is Chandra and—I’m sorry, what did you change your name to?”
“Greg. I didn’t change my name to anything,” the large green man—an orc!—said, crossing his arms over his enormous chest. His voice was so deep and heavy that it felt like a brick pressing against Zack’s surface.
“Alex, you are aware that your friend is a rock, yes?” Chandra asked, crossing her arms. She had a distinct Indian accent, and her voice felt smooth and warm as it rolled over Zack.
“Technically I’m a crystal,” Zack corrected her. As the words reached her ears, they visibly perked up. Chandra cocked her head curiously. “I can tell you probably have a lot of questions. Alex, why don’t you explain what your plan is, exactly?”
“Right, right, okay,” Alex said, rubbing his hands together eagerly. “So, despite everything, all three of us are considered NPCs—non-powered citizens,” he explained, pointing from himself to Greg and Chandra in turn. “This isn’t because we don’t have the capacity to fight or even use magic, but because we never went through the proper learning process, which in turn means we can’t get licensed. We’re stuck at low levels because we can’t fight and gain experience.”
Chandra sneered in disgust, crossing her arms and looking away. Greg raised a bushy black eyebrow but didn’t interrupt Alex’s tirade.
“My friend Zack can provide us with a training environment, where it’s safe for us to fight, grow, and gain the experience we need to get stronger!” Alex finally blurted. “Isn’t that right, Zack?”
If Zack had a face, he would have started blushing as all the attention in the room focused in on him. “I… Um… I mean technically you’re not wrong, but I’m not really sure that’s… Hum…”
“Zack? Come on. You said it was your job to train people, right?” Alex said.
“Well, yeah, but…”
“This is a waste of time,” Greg sighed. “Alex, if you wanted to trick us, you should have thought of something better than a ventriloquist act.”
Before Alex could get another word in edgewise, the massive green man slowly turned in place and began lumbering towards the door.
“Ventriloquist act!?” The insult burned Zack surprisingly deeply. It took barely an effort of will to alter the structure of his lobby to remove the doors Greg was heading towards.
As glass melted into fresh brick, the large man’s eyes swelled with shock, and he wheeled in place. “What the hell, Alex!?”
“Don’t look at me, that was all Zack!”
“Listen here, bub,” Zack snapped, drawing the towering man’s attention down to him. “I’m what is known as a dungeon core. My whole raison d’etre is to train shlubs like you into powerful warriors. I’m no ventriloquist act.”
Chandra’s lips seemed to curl up into a grin, and her posture shifted from one of boredom to idle curiosity. “Come on, Greg. What’s the worst that could happen if we just hear them out?”
“A lot. A lot could happen.” Greg grumbled, a hand resting on the hilt of his massive sword. “We’re in a wild area. There could be monsters around every corner.”
“Oh, there will be LOTS of monsters,” Zack assured them. “When I open the door, you will have a chance to fight a group of monsters to your heart’s content. Hell, there’s even a boss fight if you manage to make it to the end.”
“If?” Alex asked, frowning at the rock.
“Look, I’m not going to sugar coat it. I don’t think I can hold all the monsters back and make the fights meaningful. I’m not going to try to kill you guys, but I can’t guarantee you won’t get hurt,” Zack admitted, keeping his voice quiet enough so that hopefully only Alex could hear him.
Judging by the way Chandra’s lips curled into an excited grin, she heard him just fine. “I like this friend of yours, Alex. How come we never met before?”
“Because he got turned into a rock in the Boom and never needed to attend our support group,” Alex sighed, rubbing his face in exasperation. “Okay, how about I join the first run with you guys? I should get a feel for it, too, since I’m going to be working here.”
“You are?” Zack asked.
“Yes, I am,” Alex said, in a sharp tone that implied they would talk about it more afterwards. “Greg, are you in?”
Greg shrugged and turned to stand beside Chandra. “One whiff of trouble and we leave, got it?”
“That’s fair. I’ll leave the door open so you can leave if you want. Monsters won’t follow you into the lobby,” Zack assured them. With a small effort of mana, he willed the door to the first room open, and the walls slid open to grant the delvers entrance.
“Whoa,” Greg’s jaw was hanging open in shock and awe at Zack’s first room. “This is… not what I expected.”
Zack felt a glimmer of pride well up inside him as the three would-be adventurers took in the sights of and sounds of his first room. The lush and verdant meadow, spotted with carnivorous flowers, dire bunnies, and the cluster of fungi at the back. Greg’s hand tightened on his sword, but he didn’t draw more than a inch of steel from the sheath.
“I’m gonna need a way to communicate with them while they’re in there,” Zack muttered to himself. He couldn’t talk to anyone not near his core. Maybe there was something he could do about that?
The way he talked involved vibrating threads of mana rather than flapping meat muscles, so it was little trouble to create a small cluster of them hovering in the air above the adventurers’ heads. “Testing, testing, one two three. Can you hear me?”
Greg’s gaze snapped to the floating sphere of green light above his head. “Zack? Are you a ball of light?”
“Yup! Technically this isn’t me, it’s just a magical speaker really. For the sake of maintaining immersion, you can call this a dungeon wisp. They’ll show up periodically to give you context about rooms or fights as needed.”
“Helpful, I was worried we would need employees to take care of that,” Alex muttered.
“And what context do you have for us, oh mighty dungeon?” Chandra asked, only half teasingly.
Zack made a noise akin to clearing his throat before he spoke. “Welcome to the Dire Meadows, the first room of this dungeon. In it you will find various monsters to fight. Though the floral monsters tend to fight solo, be warned that any animals you find might be more inclined to stick together.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
The trio watched the wisp for a few seconds, just to see if more information would be provided. Alex crossed his arms in disappointment, and Zack just knew that they would have to workshop his flavor text later.
Chandra knelt down and ran her fingers through the grass, her nose twitching as she sniffed the air. “Five rabbits,” she said quickly. “No, four. The fifth scent is weaker.”
“Ah, yeah, I forgot to repopulate the bunnies,” Zack laughed, his wisp bobbing in the air. “Lemme just…”
Zack gave the monster spawner a flick, and a fresh horned rabbit dropped from the ceiling and plopped into the grass right in front of Chandra. The two locked eyes for a moment, before a bestial growl emanated from the girl’s throat. Fearing for its life, the bunny turned tail and dove into the underbrush.
As the monster vanished in the tall grass, Greg fully drew his sword. The towering katana looked big enough to split a horse in half, and he wielded it in two hands. “Anything else I need to worry about?”
Chandra sniffed the air again, her ears flicking. Zack had to do a double take, as he noticed that Chandra’s ears were growing out, becoming longer and pointed. “Five sweet smelling plants. And two stronger plants at the back of the room.”
“Okay, I’ll pull conservatively, then,” Greg tilted his head, and a sharp pop echoed out of his neck. He repeated the motion the other way, earning another pop. With a deep breath, his fingers started glowing red. Zack watched eagerly as Greg’s aether channels lit up and funneled power into his blade. With a battle roar, the orc dove into the grass. He spun in place, and released the magic built up in his weapon.
A shockwave of crimson power launched from the weapon and splintered the grass, sending a shower of green into the air. The edge of the shockwave clipped one of the Carnage Carnations, drawing its attention. The flower let out a furious roar and began the slow march towards Greg’s position.
“Chandra, funnel extras towards me. Alex, you know what to do,” Greg ordered, raising his mountainous sword to block a flailing tentacle headed his way.
On command, Chandra let out a lupine howl. Her entire body started to shift and change. Fur spouted from her pores, her face stretched out into a long muzzle, and a tail erupted from the seat of her pants. Her feet stretched out into wolf-like paws, while menacing claws grew from her hands.
A quick glance at her status was enough to explain the transformation to Zack.
[Chandra Bhediya]
[Human Werewolf, Beastman Form]
[Level: 3]
[Health: 95/95]
[Mana: 9/12]
[Stamina: 115/125]
[Would you like to see a more detailed statistic breakdown? Yes or no?]
“Holy shit!? You’re a werewolf!?” Zack blurted.
Chandra’s ears flicked at the noise, but she didn’t respond. Instead, she dove into the brush, her claws glowing with yellow light. A slash with her claws left streaks of Aether in the air, which drove a frightened rabbit out of the grass and towards Greg.
Zack turned his attention towards the orc next, just to get a better idea of what they were working with.
[Greg Greene]
[Orc]
[Level: 4 (Breakthrough imminent)]
[Health: 135/140]
[Mana: 5/6]
[Stamina: 130/135]
[Would you like to see a more detailed statistic breakdown? Yes or no?]
Curiosity getting the better of him, Zack decided it was high time he got a better understanding of how stats worked in the system he found himself in. Staring at Greg’s stats, he selected yes on the statistic breakdown.
[Greg Greene]
[Orc, former human]
[Level: 4 (Breakthrough imminent)]
[Health: 135/140]
[Mana: 5/6]
[Stamina: 130/135]
[Strength: 12 (+2 racial bonus)]
[Endurance: 15 (+2 racial bonus)]
[Agility: 8 (-2 racial bonus)]
[Dexterity: 10]
[Intelligence: 8 (-2 racial bonus)]
[Wisdom: 10]
[Spells Known:]
[Phantom Blade: level 1]
[Troll Skin: level 1]
[Troll Blood: level 1]
“Akashic System, give me a breakdown of what all those stats do,” Zack said, channeling his mana into the system.
[Strength: the attribute that determines how physically capable a person is. The higher the value, the more powerful they are.]
[Endurance: the attribute that determines how physically resilient a person is. The higher the attribute, the less damage they take and the more they can take.]
[Agility: the attribute that determines how fast a person can move. The higher the value, the more swift and agile they become.]
[Dexterity: the attribute that determines how complex a person can move. The higher the value, the more complicated the feats they can perform.]
[Intelligence: the attribute that determines how fast a person can learn new information. The higher the value, the faster they can learn and retain new information.]
[Wisdom: the attribute that determines how deep a connection can be forged with the Akashic Record. The higher the value, the deeper a connection can be forged and the more complex spells can be learned.]
That last detail made Zack’s mental eyebrows shoot up in surprise. There was a stat that directly correlated to how well someone could forge a connection with the Akashic Record, the very thing necessary to facilitate leveling up! Out of curiosity, Zack quickly checked both Alex and Chandra’s stats, just to compare. He was unsurprised to see that Alex had no racial bonuses at all, likely a side effect of being a vanilla human, while Chandra had bonuses to both her Endurance and Agility at the detriment of her Strength and Dexterity. All three had a solid 10 in Wisdom.
Zack idly wondered if he had a statistic breakdown of his own, but was unsurprised when nothing popped up when he attempted to check. He was a simple dungeon core, an entity of pure magic. There really was no reason for him to have something like strength or endurance. He was more curious about that Wisdom stat, though, and what it might mean for him.
It was something he could better explore later. He realized that he accidentally stopped paying attention to the fighting, even though he really ought to be doing better.
The three people were fighting in formation. Greg was front and center, slashing with his magically charged blade to draw the attention of monsters. As they drew close to him, Alex was there with sword and fire at the ready. If any monsters got out of range of Greg, Chandra was there to drive them right back his way.
The three of them made an impressive team, and they were quickly able to make a dent in the room's monster population. The Carnage Carnations offered barely any resistance, serving as little more than meat shields for the bunnies. The rabbits actually managed to get a few good licks in against Greg, but the wounds in his legs closed relatively quickly. Zack could tell from the aether spilling off the orc that he was using his Troll Blood spell to heal himself.
Within twenty minutes, the only monsters left standing in the dungeon were the stooltoads near the back of the first room. The pair of fungi hadn’t lifted a finger to help their fellow monsters against the incursion, seemingly satisfied to sit in the moist shade and watch.
As Alex prepared to lob a fireball their way, Greg abruptly sucked in a sharp breath. Had Zack a face, it would have split into a grin. He watched as a thread of mana connected to the orc’s head, joining a cluster of others.
“Congratulations on your breakthrough,” Zack said, as Greg shook off the momentary daze. The orc turned his hand over and studied his own makeshift status tattoo in alarm. Sure enough, he was level 5 now.
Greg took several more deep breaths, then turned to give Alex a grin. “Let me pull them,” he said. Before Alex could argue, Greg turned to face the stooltoads. He lifted a hand, and a rope of red aether shot from his palm. The fungus squeaked in surprise as the tether grabbed it and yanked it towards the orc, right into range of that massive blade. With a triumphant roar, Greg slammed his sword down on the monster, cleaving it in twain.
Alex’s eyes bugged out of his head, and he quickly checked his own tattoo to see if he leveled up too. He sighed as he realized he hadn’t. Chandra did the same, and Zack was surprised to see her tattoo was integrated with her fur patterns. She, like Alex, hadn’t leveled up.
“I don’t get it. We killed monsters at the same time, shouldn’t we level up at the same time, too?” Alex asked.
“Again, that’s not how this works,” Zack reminded Alex. “Leveling up isn’t based on some arbitrary experience value. You learn new spells, use your powers in new ways, and you level up.”
Alex frowned and turned to Greg, who was staring excitedly at his hand. “How did you learn that spell?”
“Huh? Oh, it just sort of came to me. I realized that I’ve been using my magic to extend the reach of my sword and heal myself, so why not also use it to drag things my way? As soon as I had that thought, it was like I knew the spell. The spell is called Holmgang and it draws a single target to my position.”
Alex turned his gaze up at Zack’s wisp, and Zack bobbed in place to approximate a shrug. Chandra, curious to see if she could force her own breakthrough, dove at the last stooltoad and howled in challenge. The fungus monster wheeled on her and tried to shower her in spores, but she leapt over the attack with inhuman nimbleness, digging her claws into its cap. Milky white blood erupted from the monster as she ripped into it, but as it lay dead at her feet, she didn’t level up.
“I don’t understand,” Chandra said, rising her full height. She combed her hair with her claws, and Zack realized that clothes he assumed were loose and ill-fitting in fact were properly sized for her lupine proportions. “The universities always told us that fighting monsters and earning experience was the only way to level up. We struggle to level up because it’s illegal for us to fight monsters. That’s been our truth for five years. Is that wrong?”
“You know what? I don’t care,” Greg chuckled. “There’s another room, right? Let’s press on.”
“Hang on, Greg. That’s the boss room,” Zack said, shifting his wisp to stop the orc from lumbering towards the curtain of vines. “Why don’t we back out and talk things over?”
“To hell with that! I haven’t leveled up in over a year before! No way am I giving this up.”
Alex looked nervously to Chandra. “I’m with Greg on this one. I want to keep pushing. If there is even a chance I can get a level out of this, I want to take it.” She cracked her knuckles and grinned wolfishly.
“Then I guess I’m with you, too,” Alex said, nodding. “Zack, what can we expect in there?”
Zack snorted a laugh. “I have no idea.”