Daniel ran as fast as he could while holding Steve. Every time he jostled Steve Daniel winced. He feared he was making a mistake by moving Steve, but he could only hope that he was doing the right thing. When Daniel was about halfway up the ramp that led out of the quarry was when he encountered the miners that they had saved. They were crowding the walkway seemingly waiting for Daniel. He was forced to slow to a walk as he approached them. He wanted to scream at them to get out of his way, but he managed to hold his tongue when he saw what was behind them.
Behind them was a massive hole in the path where they had dropped the stone onto the elemental boss. Even with this set back Daniel was still in a hurry. As he approached the miners Daniel decided to take the initiative in the conversation that was sure to follow. “Can you guys make a safe way for me to cross that gap? I’m in a great hurry. My friend was injured, and I need to get him to medical aid.”
“Aye, we are already working on it. We saw ya making your way to towards us carryin your friend, so we have been working on cutting a new path into the wall.”
“Thank you.” Daniel said relieved. This would still be a delay that he did want to wait for, but he didn't have a choice at the moment.
A new miner approached Daniel and began speaking. “Mr. Adventure, we ah, wanted to thank ya for saving us from this attack. We don't know what would have happened if you hadn't shown up.”
What was unsaid in that statement was that if they hadn't shown up when they had all of the men would have likely died. Daniel just nodded and he was still caught up in his own head thinking about all he had done wrong to really focus on what the man was saying. “I’m just glad we made it in time.”
“Oh, as am I. Those beasties are a real piece of work. Tough as nails and just as strong. We have to deal with ‘em every once and a while, but never in these large of numbers. And I’m sorry about your friend there. We are working as fast as we can.”
“I have done what I can for him, but I’m not sure that it will be enough. All I can do now is wait and see what comes of it.”
There was some muttering among the miners then the same miner who had spoken up to this point spoke again. “But aren't you a healer lad? We know you were the one healing us in that battle and not the mage. I was guessin you were some kind of paladin.”
Daniel sighed, “Unfortunately I’m not. I have a kind of life steal skill that heals me for a portion of the damage I do to a creature when it's killed. I can then redirect that healing to others in an area around me.” The miners seemed to get a bit nervous at his words, but Daniel did not understand why until the older miner who had been speaking to him replied.
“You're not a Death Knight are ya?”
“No, I’m not.” When Daniel confirmed that he wasn't, a breath of relief seemed to pass the lips of every single miner around him.
“Oh, that's a relief. Real nasty pieces of work those types can be. They have skills that can drain the very life force of things around them to heal themselves. Though I can’t admit of ever hearing of one who could give that healing ta others.”
“Are Death Knights really that bad?” Daniel questioned
“Ay, they are. Though I’m surprised you don’t know them with your skill, I'd imagine you're compared to em’ often.”
Daniel didn't really want to give any additional information about himself to these men so he decided to play it off. “A couple of times, but I don’t typically go around talking about my skills.”
“Aye, that's understandable, but I do have to ask one more thing. How’d ya get here so quickly? From the time the elemental bastards appeared and you showen up couldn't have been more than a minute. The Adventurers Guild couldn't have sent ya so quickly so were you just passin by when it happened?”
“We were passing by when it happened, and I got a quest to come help.”
The man looked surprised at Daniel's words “A quest? Really? From The System”
Before Daniel managed to say anything another of the miners slapped the speaker in the back of the head, “Of course it was from the system Dulder, you daft bastard. Where else would he get it from?”
“Aye, you're right, sorry Eulger and sorry ta you Mr. Adventure I didn't mean ta question your word.”
Daniel was a bit confused by the byplay between the men, but he didn't want to put his ignorance on display, so he passed it off. “There's nothing to worry about, really it's fine.”
“Thank you kindly, Mr. We would never dare to question a decree from the system itself.” The man replied before giving a slight tilt of his head.
Apparently, system-generated quests are taken very seriously, and based on the first miner’s question is probably quite a rare occurrence as well. Daniel wondered what that meant for the quests that were generated by his feat. it was a question he would need to figure out later. A little while later Kota showed up with their two bags. Daniel gently set Steve down and opened his bag and removed one of the two antidote potions. Daniel didn't know if it would help Steve, but Daniel hoped it would help remove any of the impurities in his blood.
Once Daniel fed the potion to Steve he closed his bag and put both his and Steve bags on. Once he had them situated on his back he once again picked up Steve cradling him in his arms.
Several long minutes of waiting later where the miners idlesly spoke to one another Daniel was growing a bit impatient by the wait, so he decided to speak up. “Is the path up traversable yet?”
After about another minute of waiting one of the miners came back “It is. Please follow me, and thanks again for your assistance in dealing with the elementals Mr. Adventure.” the younger looking miner said.
Daniel just nodded, and looked down and spoke to Kota, “Let's go, Kota.” Daniel quickly made his way across the new paths that the miners had made. Once clear Daniel began to jog again. With Kota by his side they made their way back up the ramp to the top of the quarry where the portal was. All told it took Daniel about five minutes to carry Steve the rest of the way up. Eventually though Daniel stood before the portal that would return them to the training hall. Without hesitating Daniel walked back through the portal.
Daniel quickly set Steve down on one of the sofas. He remembered Steve telling him about the system AI that was in charge of the training hall. “AI, thing, or whatever you're called, can you hear me?” An androgynous voice came out of nowhere and yet everywhere at the same time and began to speak.
“How can I help you Daniel Martin?”
The voice was strange, but that wasn't going to stop Daniel from getting what he needed. “What can you do to help Steve?”
There was a pause for several long seconds and Daniel was tempted to ask it again when it responded. “Please bring Steve Johnson to the medical room. It appears that he was given some form of healing magic which has mostly stabilized his condition, but the bones in his legs are completely crushed and will need higher grade healing to be able to fix.”
Daniel looked around and saw a new hallway with the words ‘Healing Chamber’ over the top of it. He once again picked up Steve and walked into the new chamber. Inside was a pure white room with lots of futuristic looking medical technology. In the middle of the room was a pod that already had its top open. Daniel walked over without needing to ask and set Steve down inside. As soon as he stepped away the lid closed and the pod began to fill with a green liquid. Daniel Panicked for a moment, but the AI seemed to predict his concerns and spoke first before Daniel had the chance to ask.
“The liquid is breathable, and is designed to conduct healing magic more efficiently. This will allow the pod to get a greater understanding of Steve Johnson’s condition before starting on his healing.” The AI’s voice was just as monotone and calm as before, but it was reassuring to Daniel which calmed down his racing thoughts.
“How long will this process take?” Daniel asked after taking several deep and calmed breaths.
“It will take several hours for the healing process to be completed, and several more for Steve Johnson to wake from his unconscious state. I would say he will be out of commission for the next eight or so hours. Are there any other questions you have at this time?”
Daniel let out a long breath in relief. Knowing that Steve would be alright was a weight off his shoulders. “Could you inform me if his condition changes or when he wakes up? And yes I do have more questions.” Daniel wanted to hear some kind of response to his question, but when he received none for several seconds he decided to just continue speaking. “Those people in the Dungeon were they… real?”
“Yes, they were.”
Daniel was stunned at the answer but decided to ask some more questions. “What about that palace, what was it called? Ash Falls Gorge was that a different planet?”
“No, the location you were in was a construct put together by the Team Dungeon. However Ash Falls Gorge was a real place that this scenario was based on.”
“Does that mean those people were also constructed along with the scenario?”
“Correct.”
“I thought you said they were real?”
“They are.”
“But how does that work, why are they constructed?”
“This scenario was based on a real historical event that happened in the location of Ash Falls Gorge many centuries ago. The constructs are accurate representations of the people who were working in the mine on the day of the event. In the original event when they found the earth mana stone it was much more powerful than what you faced. The quarry you fought in had once been a towering mountain that had been stripped for stone over hundreds of years. The mana stone was once the heart of this great mountain, and when it was finally uncovered the earth mana stone summoned an army of powerful elementals that slaughtered all of the miners. From there the army of elementals left the mine and laid waste to the surrounding kingdom who had destroyed its mountain. It took weeks for a powerful enough group of adventurers to be gathered to destroy the elemental army, but by then the entire kingdom had already been destroyed.
“This is what took place historically. In this scenario this event was scaled to your level. This was a hypothetical situation where you were put in a position that allowed you to stop the catastrophe as it took place thereby saving the miners and the lives of many others by stopping the elementals before they could leave the mine. This scenario is a what-if situation to see what could have happened if history had played out slightly differently.”
“So, those people didn't know they were constructs. From their perspective, elementals appeared and started killing people. Then we managed to show up in time and put a stop to what was going on.”
“Correct.”
“Are such scenarios common in the Team Dungeon?”
“They can be, and some can have great rewards depending on what historical event is taking place. For all intents and purposes, the people in the scenario you took part in were real. Many powerful dungeons are capable of constructing similar constructs and scenarios that can give birth to real people with real memories.”
What the AI had told him gave Daniel a lot to think about, “Thank you, that's all I have to ask for now.” The voice of the AI didn't respond, but Daniel somehow knew that it was gone for now.
Daniel left the medical room, and re-entered the main hall. He walked over and sat on one of the sofas. Daniel replayed the fight in his mind, and thought about all of the mistakes he had made. Even after he and Steve had bought new equipment he had lacked a shield. This had meant he took a lot more blows from the elementals than he should have. When the Rock Lobbers had spawned he had used ‘Heavy Charge’ to close the distance to the first lobber. Then it had been on cooldown when he had needed it most. It was his only quick way he had to close the distance on opponents. He had been stuck in the middle of three of the lobbers with no way to close the distance or block the incoming projectiles. He had been forced to throw his weapon away in a desperate bid to take down one of the elementals. The throw landing had been a stroke of luck that shouldn't have worked. He had no way beside Ice Fang's enchantment to shoot ranged icicles which was another flaw. That enchantment had a long recharge time, and couldn't be relied upon. If he had been alone and Steve and Kota hadn't been in that dungeon with him Daniel didn't think he would have made it out alive. Even with ‘Troll Regeneration’ his most powerful ability he would have eventually been overwhelmed by the combined efforts of the Rock Lobbers.
This fight had shown him that he was not invincible, and as he continued to replay the fight in his mind over and over again he continued to see where he had made mistakes. Then he began to consider what if situations.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
What if they had retreated even farther up the quarry ramp. It would have given Steve the opportunity to whittle down their numbers even more before they made it to use. What if he had told the miners to leave instead of helping. That way he wouldn't have needed to protect them, and he wouldn’t have been forced to hold his ground and take a beating. He could have picked off the elementals one at a time. What if they had left the team dungeon early. In that case Steve wouldn't have gotten hurt. What if he had chosen other skills. What if they had trained more before entering the dungeon. What if Daniel had figured out how to finish his psionic awakening before they entered the dungeon. What if he had been stronger. What if. What if… What if. What. If.
Daniel knew he was being irrational. If he had been stronger before entering the dungeon the encounter would have just scaled more to his level. He knew that fact intellectually, but that fact didn't stop him from blaming himself. Daniel signed. In an effort to distract himself he pulled up the notification he had received after he had completed the team dungeon.
Congratulations! You and your party have cleared a Team Dungeon. You have gained 8,172 experience and 4,723 coins (16,344 exp and 9,446 coins split between party members).
Your class juggernaut has reached level 10 (9 -> 10) you gain +4 points to strength, +4 points to constitution, +1 free attribute point, and +4 Skill points.
~~~~~
Dungeon Quest: Protect The Miners: The quarry workers of ash falls gorge have uncovered an ancient source of Earth mana. Defenders have been spawned from this stone's power and have risen up to protect it.
Objective: Defend the miners from the continuous waves of monsters that will appear. 24 of 50 miners were saved.
Reward: Based on miners saved: 2,400 experience and 2,400 coins
Bonus Reward:
Item Received: Earth Mana Stone (Small)
Quality: Masterwork
Rarity: Scarce
Description: An aspected mana stone of the earth element. While mana stones are rare, aspected stones are by far the most common types that are found. This palm-sized mana stone contains highly concentrated and pure earth mana that has been formed over hundreds of years. Though when compared to other mana stones of the same aspect this stone would be considered young, small, and weak.
The Earth Dungeon of Kasukan is a planet-sized earth mana stone that came into contact with a dungeon core uncountable eons ago and gained sentience. Using its nearly infinite supply of pure mana it has reshaped itself into one of the most powerful dungeons in the universe. While it is powerful enough to kill any who enter its crystal halls it is considered a fair dungeon, and scales its difficulty the deeper one travels into its depths. But be warned of the many who have tried to challenge the dungeon in an attempt to mine its crystal body for some of its precious mana stone; none have survived the attempt.
~~~~~
Daniel hadn't realized until he had read the description for the earth mana stone that the stone he had put in his pocket after defeating the boss elemental was still there. It seemed that the dungeon had given it to them as a bonus reward for clearing the dungeon. Daniel removed the stone from his pocket and examined it. It was crystal like in structure, and seemed to have natural facets. Though as Daniel looked closer the stone seemed to have small pores. Daniel didn't know what their purpose was, but did feel like trying to find out right now. He still had more notification to go through, so he set the stone down to continue reading.
Congratulations! Your team has completed their first Team Dungeon. You will receive a title for this feat. For being among the first Three teams to clear a Team Dungeon your title will be upgraded.
Since this is your first title it has been automatically equipped as your display title and will be shown to any person or creature who uses any type of skill designed to gain more information about you
Title received: Pathfinder
Title: Pathfinder upgraded to Title: Trailblazer
Trailblazer: Awarded for being a part of one of the first three teams to clear a Team Dungeon in the Training Hall of Heroes.
Effect 1: If you are a part of a team entering a Team Dungeon from the training hall each person with this title in the party will get to select one aspect of the dungeon that will not be randomized.
This can include but is not limited to: environment, monster types, presence of a dungeon quest or specific item rewards, and more. Use this title more to discover all of its uses.
+1 to all stats
Effect 2: For being among the first three teams to complete the team dungeon you gain the ability to know the exact location of any natural dungeons in a ten mile area around yourself. You also gain a faint sense in which direction any natural dungeons may be in a sixty mile area around yourself.
This notification of him gaining this title was the last of his notifications. Daniel must say that he was surprised he had received it to say the least. This was the first tidal he had gained, and wondered why he hadn't gained one for being one of the 10,000 heroes. It was just something else he would have to research later. It was time to pull up his stats. He had some important decisions to make with this most recent level-up.
After he had read through the title Daniel couldn't help, but think about the new possibilities that this title provided. The system AI had said the scenario he, Steve and Kota had been was based on a real event that had taken place somewhere in the universe. Were there other such historical events that Daniel could research about, and with his new title could he choose to go to these events and change the course of history and in the process gain great rewards. It was something he would need to talk to Steve about once he was conscious. The +1 to his attributes was also a nice reward. Daniel wondered how he could gain more of these titles. It was then that Daniel once again received a notification about Kota gaining his next evolution. It seemed like the elementals had been a good source of mana for him even with the diminishing returns absorbing mana from the same type of creature. Daniel once again looked over his options before landing on a couple that interested him.
Tier 1 Beast Mutation:
Shadow Strider: Your prey cannot outrun a shadow.
Effect (Passive): You gain a greater connection with the plane of dusk and shadow. While running though shadows and darkness your movement speed is greatly increased
Stats: +3 Agility and +2 Dexterity
Tier 1 Beast Mutation:
Earth Spike: you call and the earth answers
Effect (Active): You call upon the dirt around you and command it to rise up in a spike, and attack your enemies. Range thirty feet. Cooldown 5-minutes.
Stats: +3 Willpower and +2 Wisdom
There were even more earth related options with this evolution, and only a few that were based on shadow or darkness in some way which had limited Daniel's choice. The ‘Shadow Strider’ mutation was the best of the available shadow related mutations that were offered to Kota, but after his own recent failures Daniel was tempted to give Kota a ranged attack. By doing so Daniel knew that he would be breaking his decision to stick with Kota’s shadow theme, but he was just so tempted. In the end Daniel did end up choosing ‘Shadow Strider,’ and dismissed the other earth mutations. Unlike Daniel’s skills, mutations fundamentally changed Kota’s body. He just didn't know if choosing such an unrelated mutation would negatively affect Kota in the long run.
Daniel sighed and relaxed deeper into the sofa. All of these new developments had momentarily excited Daniel and given him many new ideas, but it was only a temporary distraction. Daniel’s thoughts were once again dragged back to his failures, but the momentary distraction had broken him out of his spiraling thoughts. Daniel needed a plan. He began to make a list of what he needed to do. First and most important he needed to finish his psionic awakening. Daniel was now only 2,300 experience away from reaching his next threshold. Many new options would open up for Daniel as soon as he gained his tier 5 specialization.
The first and biggest advantage for him was that he would gain ten levels of skill and stat points from his unchosen specialization. Right now after this most recent level up from clearing the team dungeon Daniel possessed thirteen skill points. He was only two points away from being able to choose the capstone skill in his reinforcement skill tree. This would be a big boost to his personal power; it wouldn't however fix many of the problems he had encountered in the team dungeon. He still lacked any kinds of ranged attack skills. He could dump many of his skill points into ‘Heavy Charge’ to decrease its cooldown, but from Daniel’s perspective this wouldn't fix his range problem it would only allow him to close the distance to his targets more effectively.
One other problem Daniel needed to fix was how he was going to use his free attribute points. So far he had used none of his ten free points. This was just another one of Daniel’s mistakes. If he had used the points, who knows how the fight could have gone differently. Daniel had the vast majority of his points in Strength, Constitution and Endurance. Daniel couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he was faster. Could he have dodged more of the rock lobbers attacks. Daniel hoped that being faster would also make ‘Quickened Blows’ stronger, so Daniel put his ten free points into agility which was his lowest physical stat. With this change agility was now at 26 points; just three points behind endurance at 29. This meant that dexterity was now his lowest physical attribute at only 18 points.
When Daniel finalized his choice a new energy seemed to enter his body. His body and limbs felt lighter and more fluid. The drastic increase in his agility made Daniel really feel what had changed. It was as if for his whole life he had been wading through water, and he had only just now emerged onto dry land. It was a surreal experience, but Daniel still had more he needed to do. He needed to do more research and he needed to train. Daniel wanted Steve to be present to help with the research, but Daniel could train on his own.
After the fight they had only barely won. Daniel needed to feel like he was in control, and that he was doing something to improve on the mistakes that he had made in the team dungeon that had almost cost Steve his life. Daniel contemplated the fight still replaying the events in his mind. Daniel wondered how he could maximize his time while in the Training Hall? He didn't know enough about the system, and couldn't make educated decisions, but he knew a thing that might be able to help him. “System AI thing or whatever you're called, how do I get stronger?”
“In what way do you wish to grow stronger Daniel Martin?”
“Are you able to see what happens while we are in the dungeons? Are you able to watch or are you restricted to only the Training Hall?”
“I have access to everything you do in the Training Hall including when you enter any of the available dungeon instances.”
“Then you saw our fight with the earth's elemental boss?”
“That is a correct assertion.”
“How could we have done better? How could we have better prepared for what we faced while in the dungeon?”
“I am unable to comment or discuss any events that transpire while in the dungeon for fear that the information may negatively affect your growth as a hero.”
“Then let me change my question. How can I quickly gain power in the short term that would prepare me to enter another dungeon?”
“Gaining a larger variety of General Skills would be the fastest way to improve your combat potential.”
Steve and Daniel had discovered skill tomes before they had entered the team dungeon. They were supposed to contain methods to gain many of the most common general skills that anyone could learn. Having more general skills that could boost him actively or passively would be helpful. Daniel got up from the sofa he had been sitting on and walked to the shop. “Give me a list of some of the best general skill guides the shop provides that I can afford with my current funds.” The AI did not respond to his words, but when he arrived at the shop's counter there was already a list of options pulled up on one of the floating screens.
He quickly read over each and their descriptions before he came to his decision. Many of them were interesting, but since he currently doesn't have any General skills other than ‘Identify’ and ‘Mental Workshop’ he wanted to go broad. He needed to get as many new skills as he could.
The first skill guide he chose was one called ‘Skills Every Aspiring Adventure Should Have And How To Level Them’ By: Vergo Astont. It was a very long-winded title for a book and would cost him exactly five thousand coins to purchase. Provided on the description of the book was a list of all the skills the book taught, and there were a lot of them. Even if Daniel was only able to learn a handful of them it would vastly increase the number of general skills Daniel would have. In the description of the book Virgo claimed that with his guide a person could learn all of the skills in the book and level them to at least level two. When Daniel asked the AI about the book and its claims it confirmed that it was one of the better books on the market and maintained a lot of information on skill for its relatively low price. Daniel purchased the book with very little hesitation.
The book appeared on the table and Daniel picked it up and walked back to the main hall where he sat down and began to read. It was interesting there were fifteen skills in the book that Vergo claimed were absolutely essential for any aspiring adventurer. They were running, sprinting, Hiking, physical fitness, survival craft, cooking, butchering, trapping, acrobatics, jumping, climbing, sneaking, meditation, breath control, and pain resistance
After going through the book and reading all of Virgo’s reasoning Daniel had to agree with the man about why these skills were important. Take running for example. The skill would decrease the amount of stamina used while running by 10% at level 1. That didn't seem like much at first, but when Virgo broke down the math it was substantial. Even with Virgo using some measuring system Daniel wasn't familiar with he understood just how useful the skills were. Especially sprinting. If Daniel had that skill while fighting against the Rock Lobbers the fight could have gone a lot differently.
The most interesting thing that Virgo revealed in the book was how general skills were gained. While it wasn't impossible to gain general skills out of nowhere while just going about your life, but it was rare. Virgo said that to gain a general skill required a specific mindset about improving a specific task, and by fulfilling a curtain set of conditions. This was the reason why Daniel hadn't already gained some of these general skills like running and sprinting. Daniel had done plenty of that already since he had gained the system, but he hadn't done it with intention which is what Virgo said was the most important part.
Take breathing for example. Daniel did it unconsciously every single day, but it was all controlled by his subconscious mind. Unless he consciously thought about it the process happened naturally. ‘Breath Control’ was a skill, but to actually gain the skill it took a conscious effort, time and practice working on your breathing technique to actually gain the skill. This as it turned out was one of the reasons why it was so hard to gain unknown general skills. If a person did not know the skill existed how could they work towards gaining the skill though a conscious effort.
In the book Virgo gave methods, and conditions a person needed to fulfill to gain each of the skills in the book. Take sprinting for example. The condition required to gain the skill was to sprint at your full speed a curtain distance in under a specific amount of time. In the skill chapter for sprinting Virgo had a whole table of information that contained numbers based on physical stats. Daniel had to find what his agility and endurance was on the table then based on those two numbers that would tell him the distance he had to sprint and the time in which he had to cover that distance. It was very interesting to Daniel how people in the system had discovered the exact conditions needed to gain the skill all the way down to what their stats were.
The book contained more skills than just the fifteen that Virgo proclaimed was essential for all adventures. There were also methods on how to gain various weapon and armor skills. Those skills were also a must, and Daniel knew he would have to get them as well.
The book also had some training plans for several of the skills where he could work on gaining multiple of them at the same time. Skills like running, breath control, climbing, jumping, pain resistance, and physical fitness could all be gained at the same time. The book maliciously laid out the description for an obstacle course, and how to use it. Then between laps you would rest and meditate to calm your mind and let your body recover while also still working on breath control. There was another obstacle course that would allow you to work on Stealth and acrobatics at the same time. Such plans were not possible for all skills. Sprinting for example could not be trained with other skills. It had very strict requirements for gaining the skill which did not mesh well with the requirements of other skills. As Daniel read through the obstacle courses Virgo had described he had no idea how he was supposed to make it. So, Daniel decided to ask the AI for help.
“AI, how much control do you have over the Training Hall?”
“I have total control of everything within the Training Hall, Daniel Martin.”
“Could you make the obstacle courses as described in this book?”
“Of course. It shall be ready in fifteen minutes.”
Daniel sat on the ground and meditated as the book described. Several times he was forced to stop and consult the book. Once the room was done Daniel entered it, and began to gain more general skills. Daniel let this work consume his thoughts as he followed Virgo’s guide to Skills Every Aspiring Adventure Should Have And How To Level Them.