The tricky thing with infinity was that it didn’t always look infinite. Sometimes, even very big things could look very small if you glanced at them from just the right angle.
At that exact moment, Tulland was crouched behind a tree with a woman he had met just a few weeks ago, experiencing that exact effect. Luckily, neither of them was fooled. The target of their inspection seemed to be a normal-looking town, if a little slapped together. They could see people milling around, adorned with various combat metals that glinted in the sun but looking distinctly non-violent.
They weren’t fooled. And neither was the third, less visible member of the party.
Each and every one of the people you can see are masters of violence. You and the girl are outliers in terms of lack of training and accomplishment, and even she had martial instruction that many would risk death for.
But we all got to the same place. I beat the fifth floor boss just like they did.
You beat the boss by paying the toll in your own blood and pain. Some of them were able to do so at much less cost. For some, it was a game.
Tulland chewed on that for a moment. The source of the information was, after all, not the world’s most reliable. The System from his world had been troublesome enough for the Church to usurp and then keep suppressed for who knew how many generations. While the Church itself might have had its own problems, the need to do what most planets seemed to not even consider as an option was a bit suspicious.
And of course, that was all before Tulland considered the fact that the System had found a vulnerable, gullible child it could trick into taking a one-way trip to an infinite dungeon, one which would almost certainly get him killed sooner or later and result in an influx of power the System would go on to do who-knew-what with.
You are saying they toyed with a fully armored Cannian Knight to get to this safe zone?
It’s likely, yes. Even on your world, I knew of talented adventurers who could have done so. And if they could toy with him, then…
They could toy with me. Point taken.
Tulland popped open his status screen. He had little confidence that he would survive a conflict with a more combat-specialized class, especially if that class belonged to some battle-proven hero of another world. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t grown.
Tulland Lowstreet
Class: Chaos Farmer LV. 35
Strength: 35
Agility: 35
Vitality: 45 (+5)
Spirit: 60
Mind: 30
Force: 70
Skills: Primal Growth LV. 14, Produce Armament LV. 11, Market Wagon LV. 5
Passives: Broadcast LV. 10, Botanical Engineer LV. 9, Strong Back LV. 6, Fruits of the Field LV. 3, Farmer’s Intuition LV. 5
A good deal of that growth had come from his defeat of the Cannian Knight on the fifth floor, which supposedly represented the first real test of his combat skill in this place. Or was supposed to. The Infinite seemed to think that anybody normal by its standards would have blown straight through the first four zones with no difficulty at all, an assumption that had proved entirely untrue to Tulland.
Were they really supposed to be easy? The first five levels, I mean.
Harder than any other dungeon’s first few floors, but yes. Outside of the Cannian Knight, it was little more than a tutorial.
Well, not for me.
No. But you made it. Not everyone does. Your new achievement is the truest sign of that.
Tulland took one last look at that achievement before closing out his stat windows. It really was something.
Wolfblood (Achievement)
You have defeated the Cannian Knight, a fully armored and trained adversary meant to separate the wheat from the chaff as far as Infinite climbers are concerned. In doing so, you have proved your right to be here, and have earned some rewards.
The first of these rewards is a standard +5 to your physical stats, a portion of the Knight’s strength that now belongs to you. This reward is something that all climbers get, and while it will help your progression through the next several floors, it will not change your strength relative to them.
The next reward is something tailored to you, your needs, and your performance in this fight. Review the individual reward window for more information.
Strong Back Evolved!
Strong Back has taken on elements of the wolf’s own regeneration. Where previously it focused on mitigating wear-and-tear related to labor, it now responds to desperation and shifts its focus to emergency wound management. As you become more and more injured, Strong Back will work faster and faster to close cuts and stem bleeding.
“You’ve been zoned out for a while now.” Necia kept her eyes on the town as she scolded Tulland. “Talking to your friend?”
“We aren’t exactly friends.” Tulland had switched off the System’s access to him as soon as Necia started speaking. It was a nice feature of The Infinite’s Dungeon System, which considered itself to be in charge here, no matter what lesser world’s System an adventurer had dragged in with them. “I’m still trying to figure that part out.”
“You were saying he’s been helpful lately.”
“He has. And not just lately. Since I got here, he’s been a legitimate help.” Tulland shook his head. “It’s confusing. Real confusing, and I don’t know how to figure out how much to…”
“Eyes up,” Necia said. “Something’s happening at that booth we saw earlier.”
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For the better part of what they assumed was the morning, a man in full armor with a sparkling, deadly halberd had been manning a poorly built but seemingly functional booth of some kind, just sitting on a stool and waiting behind two or three bowls of something he had set out. The angle that Necia and Tulland had on the village after coming down the hill outside it was fairly flat, and they had no idea what the bowls contained.
Tulland thought they might have goods of some kind, while the more practical Necia had guessed they were full of human ears. Whatever it was, the goods were now being talked over by both the booth’s original user and a much smaller man carrying a back-mounted crossbow. Better yet, neither man appeared to be all that quiet of a person. Even at a distance, Tulland and Necia could hear most of what they were saying, especially once they got wound up.
“...that’s what I’m saying, Licht. When there are fewer sources of food, the cost of food goes up.”
“And I’m saying you have pushed it up too high!” Licht, the apparent archer, was almost screeching. “I have to have food or I can’t go hunting. And to hunt, I need monster bones to mount on my arrows. You’re asking for all my bones. All of them. For what? A bag of moldy poms?”
“I didn’t ask for all of them.” The shopkeeper looked obstinate. “I said you could keep two.”
“Two, he says. Two. Imagine having a bourus chasing you down and trying to take it down with two arrows. Even if I didn’t miss…”
“You’d get eaten. Licht, this isn’t my problem. Not every class relies on monster parts to make their weapons work. That’s something you chose for yourself. There’s plenty who will pay these prices. I can’t help you.”
Tulland glanced at Necia, who nodded grimly. This was the rule in almost any world. Rare things cost more, as needed as they might be. That rule extended to necessities, unless you lived in a place of charity. It might have been many things, but The Infinite was not a place where charity reigned.
Tulland knew that as well as anyone. Despite The Infinite’s System being fair with him, it hadn’t done him a ton of favors since he got there. It had taken a wait-and-see approach as he went through near-death experiences again and again before finally working out how to use his broken, inadequate class to survive. And then when things started to veer out of control, it had stepped in to adjust some functions in his class.
On the whole, it was a good thing. Tulland was now better equipped to handle stronger foes. But that survival was still a moment to moment thing, even now, courtesy of an ever-changing landscape of horrors and difficulties that classes dealing in shovels and pitchforks just weren’t set up to handle.
“You know either of them?” Tulland whispered as low as he could. They had decided to spend as much time as they needed to get a feel for the town. “From the first five floors?”
“Nope. They’ve either been here a while, or I just didn’t see them.”
“Hm.”
There was an open question of when would be the best time for the two of them to make themselves known to the town. There were going to be dangers, even if the Dungeon System had made it known that those dangers would be at least somewhat limited by what it would allow.
Fifth Floor Safe Zone
For those who have abandoned their strength to join the ranks of The Infinite’s adventurers and who have rebuilt that might through risk, combat, and effort, rewards are aplenty. You have seen it as you climbed the floors and were showered with the weapons, armor, and items needed to further your process.
Tulland tried not scoff. So far, The Infinite had given him a few skills, a few stat potions, and precious little else of use. It was as if it didn’t know how to go about equipping a farmer and tossed him whatever garbage it had hanging around. He had been unaware of just how much he was missing out on until Necia had mentioned the three full sets of armor she had worked through on her way to the fifth floor, and the nearly dozen weapons the Dungeon System had offered her for various achievements. He had been, he was just realizing, well and truly cheaped out on in that respect.
But for defeating the first truly deadly challenge of the tower, a reward awaits that borders on the truly legendary. By taking down the Cannian Knight who guards it, you have gained access to the Fifth Floor Safe Zone, the first of a series of places of rest for the weary adventurer.
Fifth Floor Safe Zone Features:
1. There are no monsters, environmental challenges, or any risks from The Infinite in the safe zone. Adventurer agency is not restricted here, meaning other climbers remain a risk to you.
2. The safe zone markets are optimized to allow for the purchase of both comfort items and items that promote safety and security. These items are heavy discounted in the system store.
3. All trade in the safe zone is subject to the strictest of The Infinite’s fairness-enforcing rules. All prices must be clearly stated at the onset of a negotiation unless the participants truly do not know them (as might be the case in a barter), and are binding unless lowered.
4. Returning to the safe zone is simple, if limited. At the end of each floor, an opportunity to warp back to the zone will be offered. Time in the safe zone is similarly limited, allowing for a set number of days between each floor.
5. Your initial stay in the safe zone is limited to ten days.
Other interesting facets and rules of the zone exist to be discovered. Explore and exploit as you can to discover them.
“I think we might need to talk to that archer,” Tulland said.
“I thought you were being all cautious, still.” Necia looked amused. “You wanted to spend days getting the lay of the land.”
“That’s why I’m changing my mind. Licht seems like he’s been here a while, right?” Tulland said.
“Sure?”
“Well, that’s a person who can give us a better lay of the land. And we can make him.”
“How?”
“He’s hungry. Did you watch where he went?”
“Yeah.” Necia pointed. “That little shack down there.”
“Then let’s go.”
Tulland pulled himself upright and held his hand out for Necia, who grabbed it. They walked as stealthily as they could towards the town, something that seemed to more or less work despite Necia’s fully armored body and Tulland’s generally bizarre farmer’s get-up. It wasn’t until they were passing by the same armored-warrior-manned booth that they had seen before that someone finally tried to stop them.
“Hey, wait!” the man yelled. “You are new, right? You need food? Intelligence? I have both. I just need a little…”
“That’s really good! Thanks!” Tulland tugged on Necia’s arm as they kept moving. “We just need to talk to someone real quick and then we’ll be back. I promise.”
“You don’t think you could have been more polite?” Necia hissed in his ear as the man behind them went from looking a little taken aback all the way to slightly offended in the blink of an eye. “Just to build a relationship with someone that doesn’t involve them hunting you for sport?”
“I can, I will, I promise,” Tulland said in a hurry. “But we can’t let Licht get to the arch before we get to him. He’s starving, remember? A starving man doesn’t spend much time waiting around.”
“Dammit. Yes. That makes sense.”
It doesn’t just make sense. That’s wise.
“Let’s just all move, okay? As fast as we can. Go, go.” Tulland continued tugging as he tried to make his way past all the buildings he could before their doors had a chance to open and issue distractions in his general direction. “Which one was it, again?”
“That one. Four doors down. The one with almost no roof.”
Tulland nodded and dashed to the door, getting there with no other incidents. As he reached for the handle, Necia grabbed at his arm, catching him by the wrist and holding him helplessly stationary.
“I keep forgetting how strong you are.” Tulland fought uselessly against her restraint for a moment before giving up. “Why are you doing this, again?”
“Because, Tulland, this is someone’s house. They have a door for a reason. This isn’t the best place, but that doesn’t mean you have to be an animal.” The princess in Necia was coming out as strong as Tulland had ever seen it. He wisely decided not to point that out. “We are humans, Tulland. And humans knock.”
Tulland sighed. She wasn’t wrong, even if it wasn’t exactly necessary to remember one’s manners in a deadly dungeon at all times. Nodding in acquiescence, he raised his hand and knocked. Nothing happened in response, even after a half minute.
“Maybe he didn’t hear. Knock again,” Necia said.
“Necia, it’s a one-room shack. He heard. If he’s in there at all, he heard.” Tulland reached for the handle again. “And if he’s not in there, we have to know right now so we can chase him down. I’m opening the door.”
Necia didn’t get in the way this time. Tulland set his hand on the primitive wood handle and cranked up, hearing something clunk on the other side as the door unlatched. He pulled it open, and then squirted as he tried to make anything out in the semi-dark room in front of him.
He didn’t have to look long. The sound alerted him before his eyes did, but even the difference in light between the sun-drenched safe zone and the shadowed shack couldn’t hide the glint of a crossbow bolt heading straight towards him stomach, deadly, sharp, and far too fast to catch.