"A god."

Bazel repeated the words in a flat tone. It was clear to Samara that he didn't believe what she said, but she couldn't blame him. Who would believe such a claim?

"I'm not joking," Samara shook her head, "If that's what you want, it's possible here in the dungeon."

Bazel stayed quiet for a minute while looking off in the distance. He sighed and took a sip of his soda before turning back to Samara.

"I don't really know what I want." He said, "I came here thinking I could find food and a nice pair of shoes, but then I realized I needed something more."

"Like what?"

"A purpose." Bazel said, "A reason to keep living. I've never given much thought to it before, I was always too busy trying to survive. But surviving like that wasn't living, not really."

"I understand."

"Do you have a purpose, Samara?"

"Yes." She nodded, "To be the strongest, it's what I've always wanted. I want to be so strong that no one can hurt me or anyone that I love."

"But," Bazel held up his finger, "There's always someone stronger."

Unless you become a god.

Samara didn't really want to share that sentiment with Bazel, but since finding out it was possible, she knew it was what she wanted. Nobody can stand up to a god, they hold all the power. To aspire becoming one might be the greatest hubris, but it was nonetheless what she secretly desired.

Nobody can hurt a god.

"Well," Samara changed the subject,"I'm sure you can find a purpose here, Bazel."

"Maybe I will," he picked up another slice of pizza, "For now, I'm happy with how things are turning out. I got food and clothes… and shoes!"

"You're a simple man to please, huh?"

"I'm a beggar, it doesn't take much." He stuffed half the slice in his mouth and chewed contentedly.

Samara watched him eat with amusement. She felt an almost motherly attraction to him, like he was a child in need of her protection. She guessed he was in his early twenties – probably not more than five years younger than her – but his childlike attitude and wonder made him seem younger.

"Bazel." he stopped chewing and looked at her, "How would you like to team up with me?"

"I don't see why not." He cocked his head, "I don't want to be a burden though."

"You won't be," she waved her hand dismissively, "In fact, it would be nice to have someone watching my back. In return, I can help you along and share what I know."

Bazel smiled and showed off his crooked teeth, "Okay. Let's stick together then."

"Good," She said, "How much time do you still have on break?"

"Break?"

"You don't know about that?" She asked. He shook his head, "Your interface should show you."

Bazel summoned his interface and looked at it, "It says I have one day and nine hours left until my contract deadline expires."

"That's good." She nodded, "it will give us time to prepare."

"What's it mean?"

"No one explained it to you?" Bazel dismissed his interface and shook his head, "It's part of what they call the 'terms'. It's also the reason nobody who's come to the dungeon has left."

"Can we leave?"

"Yes, but if you miss a deadline, you can't come back. If you're inside the dungeon when your contract expires, they will kick you out. You will also lose all the points and skills you've acquired."

"I see," Bazel scratched his cheek, "Is there any way to leave the dungeon and keep all that?"

"I heard there is, but only for people who get promoted through the ranks."

"And how do you do that?"

"I have no clue," Samara shrugged, "I suppose I could just ask the woman I met when I got here, but I imagine it's something we can't do at the moment anyway."

"Okay,"

Bazel leaned back and patted his stomach. The pizza was completely gone and he was the one who ate most of it. Samara didn't mind, she wanted him to eat more and fill out a bit.

"So what do we do now?"

"First of all," Samara summoned her interface, "We should become familiar with each other's classes and abilities."

< Samara

Guardian, Level 3

Rank E

Health: 150/150

Aether: 90/90

Credits: 5371

Stats:

Strength - 15

Stamina - 17

Agility - 12

Sense - 10

Intelligence - 9

Spirit - 7

Skills:

[Ablative Sphere] - Creates a sphere of protective aether around you or your allies that reduces attack damage. 25 Aether

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

[Boost Health] - Increase your or your allies' health for a period of time. 15 Aether

[Boost Damage] - Increase the damage of any weapon you or your allies use for a period of time. 15 Aether

[Reflective Sphere] - Creates a sphere of reflective aether around you or your allies that reflects a portion of attack damage. 25 Aether >

She turned the interface around so Bazel could see it. He looked over the details while nodding.

"It's interesting that your skills work for yourself and your allies." He said.

"Yours dont?" She asked.

"No." Bazel summoned his own interface and turned it around so she could see it, "My skills are rather selfish."

< Bazel

Swindler, Level 2

Rank E

Health: 60/60

Aether: 130/160

Credits: 300

Stats:

Strength - 5

Stamina - 7

Agility - 7

Sense - 15

Intelligence - 18

Spirit - 17

Skills:

[Drain Strength] - Take your opponent's strength for yourself. 25 Aether

[Entangle] - Slow your opponent's movement for a time. 15 Aether

[Mesmerize] - Put your opponent in a hypnotic stupor. 15 Aether >

The first thing Samara noticed was the name of his class. She wondered what kind of person came up with the classes and their names. "Swindler" seemed like something really shady, but when she looked at the skills, it made more sense.

It seemed his class actually did swindle his opponents, just not in the way she would have thought.

She also focused on his physical abilities. It made sense that he wouldn't be too healthy given his life circumstances, but five strength seemed really low.

As Samara had learned earlier, the number associated with each stat was simple and helpful in determining how good someone was at a thing. A person with five strength was exactly half as strong as a person with ten, so Bazel had a third of her own strength.

I'll need to help him get that number up a bit.

On the other hand, his [Drain Strength] skill seemed like a way for him to level the playing field when it came to his deficiencies.

"How many points does the drain strength give you?" She asked him.

"According to this," Bazel turned the interface around and did something then turned it back, "It took ten points from the rat and gave them to me. It only worked for a minute though."

The screen showed a battle report. Samara had become familiar with the reports during her time in the dungeon. While they weren't very useful during battle, the information they provided was quite helpful after.

< …

Bazel used [Drain Strength] on Giant Rat Matriarch,

Giant Rat Matriarch lost 10 points of Strength for 1 minute,

Bazel gained 10 points of Strength for 1 minute,

… >

According to the report, Bazel became just as strong as Samara when he used the skill, but only for a minute. Still, in battle, a minute might as well be an hour.

She also noticed that the attack he made after using his skill was considered a piercing attack, meaning it didn't take his newly acquired strength into account for the damage. If he had used a heavy or blunt weapon, the damage would have been based on his strength.

"Bazel," she pointed at the screen, "this is probably a more useful skill than you realize. The damage of certain attacks is based on your stats."

"How does that work?"

"Weapons can be based on three broad categories," she held up her hand and used her fingers to count them off, "One, weapons that use strength and stamina. These weapons base their damage off of strength and require stamina to use. Things like heavy weapons and blunt weapons fall under this category."

She put up a second finger, "The second category belongs to the agility and sense weapons. These ones base their damage on agility and require good senses and awareness to use. Any piercing or slashing weapon counts as this. Most projectile weapons are also in this category."

She raised a third finger, "The last category is a bit odd. Intelligence and spirit weapons base damage on intelligence, and they require large amounts of spirit and aether to use. From what I've seen, these aren't actual weapons but skills that some people have. They can manifest things like fire and use it to attack."

Bazel listened intently as she gave the explanation. Once she was done, he took the interface back and looked over his battle report for a moment. He pointed to something in the report.

"So, If I had hit the rat with a rock, I could have done more damage?"

"A simple way of looking at it," Samara chuckled, "but you're correct. A rock would count as a blunt weapon and do more damage the stronger you are."

"Interesting." He scratched his cheek while looking at the screen, "So if I get stronger and use the drain, then I could do a lot of damage in that one minute."

"Yes." Samara nodded, "On top of that, you can upgrade the skills you already have. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that an upgraded strength drain gives you another five points on top of that."

"How do I upgrade my skills?"

"Every skill requires you to have a certain level, the upgrades are no different. For example, the skill 'Boost Damage II' requires me to be level five. Once I can get it, it will increase the amount of extra damage my weapon does from ten to fifteen."

Bazel leaned over the table and sucked soda through the straw in his cup until it ran out and began making a gurgling noise. He frowned at the empty cup and put it aside before returning his attention to Samara.

"I think that woman lied to me." He said.

"What woman?"

"The one who gave me the interview," he pointed off to the side, "she made it sound like fighting and killing wasn't necessary to be here, but all skills are based on combat."

That was more or less correct.

While some classes focused on crafting or entertainment, the majority of the ones she'd seen focused on combat. Then again, all the people who entered the dungeon for the last few weeks were either knights or mercenaries – people who specialized in combat. She wondered if any of the other beggars survived and what kinds of classes they had.

Samara liked fighting. For someone who wanted to be stronger, there was no better test of their progress and determination than combat. When she won against a foe, it was proof that she was on the right track and motivated her to keep going.

Still, she understood that not everyone was like her.

She couldn't imagine that Bazel had been in many fights and she understood his reluctance. She knew it was possible to change classes, because it was something she already did. She didn't want to tell Bazel about it, however. Part of her reason was selfishness – if he got a non-combat class, he might not need her help anymore.

"Do you not want to fight?" She asked.

"I didn't think I did." Bazel said, "Even after I killed that rat, I was scared of running into another one. I thought 'I won't be able to do that again'. But now…"

Bazel reached into the empty pizza box and picked up a piece of pepperoni that had fallen off one of the slices. He plopped it in his mouth and chewed.

"Now that I'm a little more prepared, I kinda want to try it again."

"It's a rush," Samara nodded, "just like drink. Once you've had a taste of it, you can only think of having another."

"Does that make me a bad person?"

"I sure hope not!" Samara laughed and slapped her knee, "If enjoying battle makes you a bad person, then I'm terrible!"

"You don't seem like a bad person to me."

"Well, they didn't call me 'Samara the Slayer' for nothing."

"The Slayer?" Bazel smiled, "Sounds ferocious. I think it fits you."

"I'm not sure if that was a compliment or not, but I'll take it."

"Okay. Samara the Slayer," Bazel stood up and put his hand out, "Teach me the ways of battle."

"Very well, Bazel the Beggar," Samara stood up and shook his hand, "I'll do my best to make sure we are both victorious."

"Thanks." Bazel let go of her hand and looked back down at the empty pizza box.

"I don't mean to come off as a glutton, but can we get more of this?"

Samara laughed and pointed at the shop.

"Get your fill, Bazel."