Gilda secured the last strap of the leather and brass studded bracers she’d purchased onto her son. The bracers, greaves, and chainmail chest-piece were probably too much armor for such a simple dungeon but she couldn’t help but worry about her little boy.

“There, I think we’re all ready to go now. Why don’t you see if everyone is here while I grab our supplies.”

Shon rushed off and Gilda mentally checked off all the necessary items she’d packed and prepared as she went through her backpack and tool-belt. Usually, she only brought food, water, and a small emergency kit, but this was her boy’s first fight with monsters. She’d bought a few healing potions and energy leaves, that she couldn’t forget, and a set of glowing bracelets that would help them navigate the dark caves. Once everything was where it needed to be she left the innkeeper’s apartment and headed toward the main hall.

Shon, Tom, and Thorin were all waiting for her. Gilda smiled and waved at the three men, glad to have the town doctor with them in case the boys got injured.

“Mrs. Bahr, did Shon tell you what class I got?” Tom said.

Gilda nodded but was cut off before she could actually say anything.

“I’m a wizard, which means I can specialize as a warlock, necromancer, or naturalist. How awesome is that?” Tom asked.

“Pretty awesome. You ready for your first fight?”

“Yes ma’am. I promised my mother I’d listen to you and follow your lead.” Tom replied.

“That’s good. How are you feeling Thorin?” Gilda asked. He was in his fifties and while he was in good shape for his age, he’d had a few issues with his health lately.

“My hip hurts, but that’s old news. I’ll be fine as long as we leave the running to the youngsters.”

“Have you tried increasing your agility stats? Every time I increase my strength and agility I feel younger,” Gilda asked.

“No, as a bard I’ve been focusing all my points on intelligence. I’m close to becoming level 15. If I level up today I’ll try out your suggestion, Gilda. Thank you.”

“It looks like we’re all ready to go, so let's head out,” Gilda said.

Gilda led the men past the cultivated farmland toward the wild grassland to the West. Gilda followed the trail through the tall grass that led to the dungeon. It took half an hour to reach the old oak tree that housed a glowing blue gate under its branches.

“There it is? Have either of you seen the dungeon before?” She asked the youngsters.

“No. You never let me come with you before,” Shon replied. “It’s beautiful.”

“I didn’t have time to marvel at the gate that took me to the fluffs when I awakened. It’s covered in runes and geometric patterns that are moving. It’s mesmerizing,” Tom said.

“I didn’t know that they could change color,” Shon added.

“What?” Gilda hadn’t ever seen the color change. She stared at the gate and sure enough there was a lovely purple hue. “That’s strange. That is not normal, right Thorin?”

“I agree, it’s changing again. It looks red. It’s never been red before.”

The system screen popped up in front of her.

No.

Three system screens appeared.

They were bigger than usual and did not show her stats and cooldowns.

-CONGRATULATIONS YOU SURVIVED THE TUTORIAL-

5 years of hard work has prepared you for today, the glorious day of the true beginning of the Game. The difficulty level of the Game has been reset and untold dangers and rewards await you. To celebrate this momentous occasion you may choose to level up an existing skill or choose one of the new skills available.

1- Evasion: Your body will become harder to see and your ability to avoid danger will increase as you see the path of each oncoming strike. Lasts for 1 minute and has a 2 minute reset time.

2- Parkour: There is no building, tree, or cliff, too steep for you to climb. Your body will easily scale any obstacle and even the smallest foothold will be available to you.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

3-Path of Fury: In any group of enemies you will see the path of least resistance. A path will appear and along that path your critical hit chance will be tripled. 1 hour reset time

All three options would be helpful, but Gilda was concerned about the section of the screen describing the game's difficulty and danger. She looked at her son who was also absorbed, looking straight ahead, probably at a similar screen full of information. Gilda needed to read the other two notifications before she could decide on a skill.

-THE GAME SHOP IS NOW OPEN FOR BUSINESS-

To help players survive the high difficulty of the game a new shop has opened full of potions, gear, weapons, and many more miscellaneous items. Complete quests to earn tokens and spend them here at the Game Shop. Can’t find what you are looking for from the Game Shop, then visit the Auction House where you and other players can buy and sell items directly. CLICK HERE to open the Shop and start browsing content or click on the store icon any time you check your statistics on the system homepage.

Interesting, what sort of new weapons would she be able to purchase, and would they do more than regular weapons? Gilda’s finger moved to click the screen but she hesitated at the last moment. She still had one more notification to read and with all these changes going on she wasn’t sure if she had time to browse and shop. She turned to face the third screen.

-NEW QUEST AVAILABLE-

A dungeon break is happening before your very eyes. Enter the dungeon and kill the boss to stop the constant flood of enemy invaders into the land.

Reward: 2 talent points, 1 skill point, and 200 coins.

A flood of enemies? Gilda looked past the glowing screens to the bright red dungeon gate.

Goblins.

There were over twenty goblins gathering together outside of the dungeon. Three wolves materialized through the gate, sniffing the air the monsters looked around their new environment and then started running. They were headed away from town, but there was no way for her to catch up to them. What would happen to her friends and neighbors if these monsters were left on the loose? Those without any skills would be slaughtered.

“There are monsters outside of the dungeon.” Gilda whispered. She did not want the nearby monsters to come rushing forward before they were ready. “Pick a skill and get ready to fight. We don’t have long and if they escape us, who knows how many people will die.”

All three looked up and froze as they too witnessed the horror of monsters leaving the dungeon.

Thorin quickly pushed an invisible button in front of him. “I chose a new skill that can put them to sleep, but that will not stop more monsters from appearing,” Throin said, “someone should run back to town to warn everyone and to gather more players. I don’t think the monsters will stop coming even after we enter the dungeon.”

“That’s a good idea. Who should we send?” Gilda asked.

“Tom, Shon, tell me your speed stats,” Thorin said.

“Five,” Shon replied.

“Seven,” Tom said.

“There’s our answer. Tom, run back, as fast as you can. Don’t stop for anything. Warn the town and bring anyone you can find back here. Can you do that?”

“Yes, I can. I’ll see you later, stay safe,” Tom replied. His voice trembling ever so slightly. Gilda wished she had time to give him a hug of encouragement, but every second mattered. Tom turned around and started running.

One of the goblins pointed at Tom and yelled. Gilda did not understand their language but it was obvious that they had been noticed. After all only a hill, a few bushes, and a rather well placed tree had hidden them partially from view. It was time to attack and she could use any extra help she could get. Her current skill had already been leveled several times and of the three new ones she’d been offered, one wasn’t offensive and another had too long of a cooldown to consider right now. That left her with Evasion. Gilda chose her new skill. Removed the system screens with a simple thought then slid her daggers out from their sheaths and started running forward. She needed to give Thorin space to start singing.

She heard Shon next to her. The clink of metal chainmail followed his footfalls and helped her know his location without needing to look for him. “Rhythm,” Gilda called out her skill. The drums of war echoed in her ears. Each step she took was in rhythm with the beat, her breath synced as well.

From behind Thorin’s voice rang out in song. The bard’s music was dissonant with the war drums echoing in her mind, so she had to focus on her own beat and ignore his.

An arrow came out of nowhere, Gilda dodged to the left and felt the air whoosh against her face as she avoided the attack. Three goblins were only a few feet away when she activated her next skill. “Slice and dice.”

Her dagger met the carotid artery of the nearest foe and blood sprayed from its neck in a crimson arch as it fell to the ground. The next goblin was upon her, spiked club out and ready to strike. Gilda used her left hand to block its clumsy strike and her right hand to stab it in the heart. Her mind knew exactly where to strike for the most lethal damage possible.

Shon stood beside her, sword at the ready. “I’ll take the two on the left. So focus on the one coming from the right.”

A new wave approached. This time there were six on her side alone. There was no time like the present to try out her new skill. “Evasion.”

Gilda’s skin tingled for a moment but nothing else seemed different. She took a deep breath in and cleared her mind. The world was her and her enemy. She was a blade and they were hunks of meat in need of a good fat trimming.

The largest goblin raised a short sword, and for a moment a purple line flashed in front of her connecting to her neck. Now that she knew where it was aiming it was easy to block the attack. She moved her left hand’s dagger up to disrupt the swing of the enemy’s sword as she stepped forward and used the dagger in her right hand to stab upwards through the flesh under its chin. The dagger’s upward tilt was just at the right angle to go through its mouth and up into the brain.

The goblin gurgled as it died, but she didn’t have time to watch. She pulled her blade free from its head barely in time.

The tip of a spear grazed her shoulder. Luckily evasion was still active, that was probably the only reason she wasn’t terribly injured. Gilda rushed forward past the spear and slashed the goblin’s neck open.

She looked up to see an unending horde of rabid wolves and goblins approaching. How had so many escaped so quickly? She sucked in a mouth full of air and continued to slaughter everything in her path.

Pain.

Gilda dispatched a wolf and looked down at her leg. An arrow was sticking out of her thigh. “Frats! Be careful, Shon, there’s an archer!”

Gilda looked up at the oak tree and swore again. There wasn’t just one archer. There were four archers and a sorcerer.