The next morning, Alaster ate a small breakfast of meat before he stomped out the fire and began to prepare to leave. The hole had proven to be a great shelter, but the Goblin blood that had soaked into the ground and snow had begun to attract scavenger Monsters. He dismantled the bone wall and put the material into his Ring, as well as the furs and hides he had pulled out.
Within the hour, he had gathered everything he wanted to take. He attached his newly created bone snow shoes and began to walk. The Night Children followed from above, while the Black Guards were right behind him. Alaster didn’t really have a destination in mind. While most settlements would be built around a Dungeon, he did not want to enter a settlement.
For now, he would avoid other people. People just complicated things, and he didn’t really need them. Safety in numbers, but Alaster was able to make his own numbers, as well as equip them. Sure, the weapons he made them were fragile, but he could simply repair them. While Classes that could raise the dead were rare, they were common enough to be known. But that didn’t stop people from creating their own stories about them.
If Alaster entered another Settlement, and they discovered his Undead, there was no telling what sort of problems would occur. Some would see him as a great help, being able to supply the town with raw man power. But some would see him as an evil to be eliminated.
Far to the West, a certain religion dominated all others. This religion was very strict and saw the world as black or white. They openly hunted anyone with a Class that opposed their views or beliefs. Unfortunately, despite being so distant, they still had believers or sympathizers in this part of the world.
The other Necromancers that Alaster knew about, Necromancer being both a Class and a Title given to those who can raise the dead, had solidified themselves as an asset to both their Cities and their Kingdoms. They used their Undead to do the dirty jobs that no one wanted, but was needed. They had their Undead protect the City and Kingdom.
Alaster could do that as well, but he refused. While those Necromancers had created a comfortable and stable life for themselves, they also grounded themselves. They could no longer go out and become stronger. They could no longer go where they wanted and do what they wanted. Everything the did was constantly watched by those around them. They had become a pillar of their cities and Kingdoms, and they couldn’t leave.
Alaster needed to grow strong enough to discourage anyone from causing him trouble before he revealed himself. If his Class and Abilities became widely known, he would be constantly hounded, both by those wanting his aid and allegiance, and those wanting to eliminate him to prevent him from aligning himself to their enemies or even just for their faith.
The young man slowly walked through the dense forest. Even with the snow shoes, he still sunk deeply into the snow. Within just two hours, he was exhausted and forced to rest for a bit. Luckily, the Undead couldn’t get tired. It was nearly unbearably uncomfortable, but Alaster climbed onto the back of one of the Black Guards and had them continue.
Now, normally it was foolish to just wonder the forest trying to find a Dungeon, whose entrance could be anything from an old ruin, to a simple hole in the ground. However, using the Night Children, who had a much better view, Alaster was able to avoid any of the worst Monsters. The rest were taken care of by the Night Children and spare Black Guard. While Alaster couldn’t verbally communicate with the Night Children, they were smart enough to point out threats, which allowed Alaster to steer the group away.
Even then, it was a flimsy method of travel. One bound to break. Luckily, Dungeons emitted a form of Unique Mana. This allowed anyone sensitive to Mana to be able to locate them much easier. The more sensitive they were, the further they could detect a Dungeon. This Mana did attract Monsters, the stronger the Dungeon, the stronger the Mana it gave off, attracting stronger Monsters.
But Alaster was not too worried about that. He had above average ability to sense mana, at least for a Novice. And he was still fairly shallow in the Forest. Still much deeper than any sensible Novice Party would be. But Alaster was able to move much quicker and lighter than other Novice Parties, and unlike them, he had no issue leaving one behind to delay any significant threat.
As the sun passed its crest, Alaster finally felt a Dungeon nearby. It was a strange feeling. Like it was otherworldly and didn’t belong. While the source felt fairly nearby, it also felt weak, Which Alaster was happy about. He had read about Dungeons and heard the Guards at the Siphas Manor talk about them. You could tell the rough difficulty of the Dungeon by the strength of the Mana it gave off.
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Of course, the more difficult the Dungeon, the better the rewards. But Alaster didn’t really care about those. He would, of course, take them, but his primary reason for seeking out a Dungeon was the constant rate of EXP he could gather. In the Real World, he would have to hunt down Monsters, or have them hunt him. Either way, it was inconsistent and wild. He could run into a threat that he had no possibility of defeating or escaping.
But in the Dungeon, the strength of the Monsters were much more consistent, usually only having a few types of Monsters within. Each Dungeon was given a designator, for how strong it was. But that was given by the System itself, and only told of the overall strength of the Dungeon, not the Monsters within. A Dungeon could be designated A Rank, but only have a few strong Monsters. While a C Rank Dungeon could have thousands of weaker Monsters.
Novices were typically only allowed access to F or D Rank Dungeons, and even for the D Ranks, not all the Novices were expected to return. C and B Rank were for Adepts. While A Ranks were reserved for Experts. The Only A Rank Dungeon Alaster knew about was the one in the Capital City of Lissura. And each time it opened, the Kingdom would send in a full Raid group of Experts and the strongest Adepts. Even then, while they always returned with treasures that could buy a small Kingdom themselves, very few returned alive, or at all.
Luckily for Alaster, he could tell that it was an F Rank. At least, he hoped. He steered the group towards it, and while the Monsters they fought increased, it was still a bunch of weaker Monsters, easily dispatched by the Night Children. He only gathered their bones, leaving the rest of the corpse where it lay. In only an hour, Alaster saw the entrance to the Dungeon.
He knew that it wouldn’t be anything grand, but he certainly wasn’t expecting it to be in a tree. It was just like any other tree, there was nothing out of the ordinary, except that the tree had a hole split in the middle of the trunk. Like someone had sliced a hole in some cloth. It was wide enough for both Black Guards to slide in if they went in sideways, or a single one walking normally. If it hadn't been a Dungeon, the tree was thick enough that if it was hollow, it would comfortably fit Alaster and the Black Guards.
However, it was a Dungeon, obvious by the black void that filled the hole. Even when Alaster made a quick and crude torch and held it up to the void, he couldn’t see through it. Alaster backed up and ordered one of the Black Guards to touch it. Without hesitation, it did so, but like a solid wall, its Bone Gauntlet rested on it, unable to get past.
Cautiously, Alaster stepped forward and raised his hand. Taking a deep breath, he reached forward. Unlike the Black Guard, his hand passed through the Black Void as if nothing was there.
[Everfrost Woods Dungeon
Rank: F+
Instance
Time Dilution: 5:1
Party Limit: 7]
[Enter?]
Alaster smirked to himself. The System was able to recognize who was part of your party. EXP was spread to whoever participated, whether they were in your party or not. But for situations like Dungeons, where Party size was important, there was no fooling the System. Though many had tried before. It simply left out a random Party Member if you tried to enter a Dungeon with too large a Party.
He briefly pondered if he should, or if he should wait until the morning. It would be dark in a few hours. But then he remembered that the Dungeon was an Instance. Regardless of what time or state of the outside world, the Dungeon would always begin at the same state. It didn’t matter when Alaster entered, it would have no impact on the Dungeon itself.
However, Alaster was tired. Trekking through several feet of snow was tiring work, even when his Undead did all the fighting. He would much prefer to enter his first Dungeon, where he had no clue what dangers he might face, well rested. While he would probably be attacked by some weak Monsters during the night, the stronger ones would stay away. Not because they avoided the weaker Dungeons, but that the weaker Monsters were too numerous and annoying for them.
Alaster had the Black Guards clear an area of snow, piling it on top of itself at the edge. Alaster then created a small tent out of bone and set it down into the cleared spot. It was a small space, but would be large enough for Alaster to lay down and still have a fire burning. He would have the Black Guards outside, assisting the Night Children in keeping any threats from their master.
The Monsters that were concentrated near the Dungeon were strange skinny dogs. Pretty weak, and even more fragile. Alaster wasn’t worried that they couldn’t handle them without him. Unfortunately, they gave very little EXP, and even less meat. Alaster wasn’t even sure how they survived the freezing temperatures. Their fur was thin and offered little to no protection.
Alaster quickly built a fire inside his shelter, making ventilation holes as he had forgotten. He ate some freshly roasted meat and laid down. It didn’t take long for the young man to fall asleep. While he slept, his Undead Minions guarded him, slaughtering any of the dogs that dared to come close. Even ordinary Novices would have no issue with them.