"Are you ready?" Zolast asked.

"Yes," Jertann answered,loud as ever, while Terma was bouncing up and down his feet. Silas was silent as always, her fingers still caressing her newest axe, one that was brought by Euon.

"And, how about you, Karak?" Zolast asked as he turned to him. "Do you need some more time to adapt to your new skill?"

Karak shook his head, and raised his spear — his new, magical spear — to the air, signaling his readiness. "Are you sure?" Zolast asked.

Karak nodded again, more than ready to push forward. It didn't mean he missed the benefits of staying back for a day or two, practicing his new Advanced Spearmanship skill for more, but time wasn't a luxury they had.

And, he didn't want to be the one that slowed his friends down. Not as an invalid, whose most precious skill was wasted without his right arm. The moment he learned that it was impossible for him to recover his arm or get a promotion, he was ready to walk into the wilderness so that he wouldn't be a burden to their friends.

They had grown together, with no one to support them, until they managed to get strong enough to make a name for themselves in their little corner. The last thing Karak wanted was to keep his friends back from their destiny.

It was Euon that pulled him out of his depression.

When he was first offered a job, Karak assumed that it was pity that moved him; an old man entertaining himself to take care of a poor invalid. Still, Karak accepted his pity no matter how much it grated his pride, not for himself, but to make sure Jertann was not burdened with him and could soar as high as his new destiny suggested.

When Euon offered to train him, Karak hadn't expected anything much. After all, with his arm gone, his Skills weren't working properly. And, without skills, what could he do…

A lot, as it turned out.. Euon put him through the most painful, most exhausting training Karak had ever gone through. Even against the endless waves of monsters he fought against since his childhood, he never felt such pain. However, at that moment, the more he pushed Karak, the more he got excited.

Why would Euon spend hours of his precious time training an invalid if he was hopeless? That idea alone allowed him to push harder, and learn something that he thought was impossible to learn.

He gained the ability to interrupt his skills.

Admittedly, he hadn't tried that before. Why would he, when the skills allowed him to attack perfectly. He remembered his own struggles as an orphan before he managed to get his first skill spark:, an ordinary stab that allowed him to kill the monsters with much greater efficiency.

Yet, Euon showed him that there was more to fighting than just having better Skills, just like how he showed him there was more to power than just being personally strong or having more men…

"Yes, let's go," Karak said, feeling that familiar sense of discomfort as he spoke. But, Zolast was clearly worried, so Karak ignored the discomfort.

"Now, I have arranged the dungeon so that the danger would be limited. Still, it doesn't mean there's no risk. With only five of us, even that would be a challenge. Are you guys ready?"

Karak nodded, raising his new magical spear with his left hand. He wasn't the only one. Silas raised her axe, Terma had his own short sword up … and Jertann raised his new spear with visible distaste, clearly wishing that the weapons Euon brought included a magic hammer as well…

Though, he didn't say it. Even Jertann wasn't socially inept enough to ask more from the man who saved their life several times

However, Karak wondered just how long it would take for Euon to acquire one. The more Karak worked with him, the more confused he started to get about his origins and his means. Not that he had any intention of digging more into it than Euon willingly revealed.

He owed him more than his life, and the last thing he wanted was to be ungrateful.

Zolast raised his hand and placed a mana stone at the stone arc … and the whole structure started to glow, and soon, a blue curtain appeared. "So, that's the dungeon entrance…" Jertann said excitedly, his voice booming.

Karak understood his excitement. After all, they had dreamed of this many times since they were children, when they somehow impressed a guild with their skills, despite their inferior Classes, somehow earning the chance to step into that holy land of leveling.

And, here they were, looking at their own secret dungeon…

"Be careful, and expect to be attacked the moment you enter. Also, Karak, Jertann, be careful not to have anyone in front of you when you use your attacks for the first time, the advanced skill will react with the mana of the dungeon and create a spell."

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"I can't wait," Jertann said with a laugh, and even Karak smiled at his attitude. It was good to see that the added responsibilities of leading thousands of people hadn't killed his childish joy.

Karak watched as Zolast stepped forward first, a sword already in hand, and Jertann followed. Karak stepped forward next …

Only to find himself in a confusing place. He would have thought that he was dreaming had it not been for the solid feeling under his foot. He felt like he was in a box, standing on a blue glow and through the bluish mist that covered them, he could also see a hint of a solid blue.

Most importantly, they were surrounded by a thick mist, and he could barely see thirty feet away. Just five feet away, he could see Zolast and Jertann, their magical weapons glowing… A second later, Terma appeared next to him, followed by Silas…

That was all the attention Karak was able to pay to his surroundings as he caught a glimpse of rapid movement toward him, and his skill took over before he could control it.

His spear moved forward, faster than the beast was approaching … and for a moment, Karak was convinced that his attack would miss. The beast was blue, but with some red lines.

But, he didn't expect a blue wave to follow his attack, extending the spear with a blue glow … and destroying the thing that was attacking him before Karak could even get a glimpse, leaving only a familiar blue stone and a smaller red stone behind.

[+14821 Experience}

"Incredible," Karak gasped. "Fifteen thousand points."

"What, I only received a thousand," Jertann answered even as he destroyed a beast with his stab.

"It's because Karak is yet to have his next promotion," Zolast reminded them, even as he waved his sword, and a blue glow escaped his sword, killing the beast that was rushing toward Terma, who was still dazed at the experience.

Karak noted that the blue glow he used was much smaller than his own attack, and yet still took down the beast. He could easily imagine Euon's reaction to his attack, insulting him about wasting energy and being a puppet to his skill.

He needed to practice more.

Luckily, there wasn't a shortage of creatures made of mist for him to kill.

Terma rushed to grab the mana stone that had just come into existence, just as Jertann prepared to kill a beast appearing nearby. "Halt, you idiotic children!" Zolast shouted suddenly.

Karak recognized the familiar grasp of Charisma. It wasn't strong … barely as impactful as the one he experienced when someone tried to assassinate him and Euon, but it was enough to make Jertann and Terma stop.

Which was well. Karak realized, with Terma's speed, he would have ended up at the line of attack. "I said don't leave formation without my express order. We'll have time to collect our loot soon!"

"Y-you have Charisma," Silas muttered in shock.

"Yes, I do But it's weak. Don't dwell on it," Zolast said sharply as he made another stab, and killed another mist beast. "Focus on your surroundings. It's a dungeon! A mistake is enough to kill you!"

Jertann and others clearly wanted to ask more about Charisma. He, on the other hand, was far more interested in the following orders as Zolast delivered several of them, positioning their little squad perfectly so that they could easily kill the attacking beasts — though magical constructs were probably the better name for the flickering creatures, as they were clearly not living beings — without risking their lives in the process, and even allowing the group to get an even distribution of the kills.

He didn't miss the fact that, while Zolast made sure to maintain an even kill ratio between the four of them, he didn't bother to do the same for himself. He would only intervene when one of the beasts had the risk of hitting someone else.

A near-perfect process … Karak killed the beasts at a steady pace, each kill granting more and more experience, his counter soon reaching a point that shocked even Karak himself.

[Experience: 3,829,010]

Pity he would lose all of his stored experience once he received his promotion, not that he was complaining. Just the chance to get his promotion was worth the sacrifice. No one else would waste such an opportunity on an invalid…

Though, even with his skill, he paid the cost of daydreaming. Two beasts of mist attacked together, and one of them, he killed, the other managing to swipe his arm before Zolast could shield with his magic.

A small wound… But as Karak triggered his Health to cure, a big chunk was lost.

[-83 Health]

"That's why you need to be careful! Healing mana-infused wounds is not a simple matter…" Zolast said as he waved his hand, and a blue glow shot and hit Karak.

[+83 Health]

Direct healing, another ability that might as well be legendary for them. But at this point, not even Terma was shocked. It wasn't the first time Zolast had healed them since they stepped into the dungeon … and at this point, they were getting used to the two old men in their life revealing more and more secrets as the need appeared.

They fought a while more, before Zolast spoke once more. "We're about to reach the limit of the dungeon, prepare to be ejected," Zolast called, and suddenly became far more active killing the appearing beasts. "Jertann, Silas, stay ready. Karak, Terma, collect the loot, but don't touch the red stones without your silver gloves and make sure to put them in special rune-covered satchels."

Karak followed his orders, and pulled two large sacks covered with silver runes, given by Zolast for this exact purpose. He quickly threw the stones of various colors that had been collectingon the ground — or at least what passed for ground in this magical place — with the silver gloves preventing the notifications from appearing as he touched skill stones.

Soon, everything was collected … and barely a minute later, the ground dissolved, and they found themselves falling… Until they were thrown out of the dungeon, hard enough to make them fall. Only Zolast stayed on his feet.

"Oh, did I warn you guys," he chuckled.

"Old man!" Terma shouted in protest. "You did that on purpose!"

Karak just chuckled, enjoying the show. No wonder Zolast got along well with Euon.

"Now, let's see if it worked…" Zolast said as he walked toward Karak, and put his hand on his temple, his fingers glowing blue."

"Y-yes, it worked," Karak muttered, excitement filling his heart.

[Divine Favor Earned - Promotion Available

Trigger Promotion

Accept / Decline]

"Go ahead, accept it," Zolast said. "This room also absorbs the side effects of leveling."

Karak sighed, calling his status screen to convince himself it was not a lie.

[Class: Scout

Level: 30

Experience (-/-)]

[Health (137/300)]

[ Experience: 3,829,010]

[STATS

Vitality: 30

Agility: 15

Perception: 15

LOCKED…]

[SKILLS: Archery, Stab, Advanced Spearmanship ]

[Alignment: Anius]

"Accept."

And just like that, the world around Karak faded, and he found himself floating in a familiar emptiness…