Hera had a weird dream that night. It started off with her going through the Wooly Plains entrance, but she was inside the arcanist lookout instead of arriving in the open field. That room with a pentagram drawn on the floor. On each point of the star, there was a door leading to a different dungeon. She could see the Frog Valley, The Underground, both versions of the Kobold Battlefield, but the door she came through led back to Earth and not to Boothudurn. Suddenly, she was walking through one of the doors. This one led to the Underground Forest, and now Hera wasn't a human anymore. She was a sprite, moving around and floating in the air. She flew through a mushroom and, with a blinding light, appeared in the Kobold Battlefield as a cloud watching over the fight.

Water came pouring down from above, and as she looked up, she saw steam and not clouds. Looking around, she was now in one of the thermal pools of the Frog Valley. She swam around for a while and felt sleepy. With a yawn, the warm feeling vanished, and she felt something in her mouth. Now Hera had large purple claws and was feasting on a giant, horned chameleon from Brinefront. She spat out whatever was in her mouth and started running away on all fours, trying to escape the wendigo she had become. Suddenly, a cliff appeared, and she began to fall. Looking over the cliff, she saw herself, and she was now the Carbuncle falling towards the whirlpools.

As she was about to hit the water, Hera woke up with a jump.

She rubbed her eyes and turned over, trying to sleep again, but a bright light was disturbing her. Slowly opening her eyes, Hera saw a notification floating in front of her.

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Level Up

Current Level: 9

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"Stop joking," Hera waved the notification off and went back to her dreams.

A few hours later, her alarm rang out. She got up and headed to the bathroom, trying to wake up properly, still thinking about that weird dream she had, "There was even a level-up notification," she mumbled while brushing her teeth. Most of her dream felt out of place and eerie, but that last part was so real.

Blue knocked on the door, "Hera, are you done there? I need to use the can."

Hera left the bathroom with her toothbrush still in her mouth, "Sure, I'll finish later."

It was nice that the dwarves cared about personal hygiene. They already had basic concepts like brushing their teeth and taking showers regularly. For being a civilization that lived underground, it was a bit surprising. As Hera walked out of the bathroom, she still was thinking about the dream. Why did that last part feel so real?

"Why the hell I'm wasting my time with this? I can just check," Hera's mind finally woke up enough for her to think properly as she opened her status window.

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Hera Kingsley -- Role: Explorer Level: 9

Stats:

Strength: 28 Endurance: 28

Agility: 28 Charisma: 28

Intelligence: 28 Luck: 28

Mana: 1347/1347

Remaining attribute points: 23

Skills:

Passive:

Exponential Growth

Observe

Treasure Map

Handaxe Combat, Chakram Combat, Wire Trap Style, Subtle Strike

Dodge, Run, Improved Stamina, Flee

Mana Recovery

Improved Regeneration

Ailment Mastery

Active:

All in

Inspect

Hide, Sneak Attack

Local Guide

Weapon Maintenance, Weapons Rebalance

Etching

Medical Reference

Role Skills:

Explorer's Assassinate

Explorer's Map

Hunter's Catalogue

Explorer's Hunt

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"Wait, what?" Hera gasped. She didn't level up during the dungeon. She was sure of that. Even before going to bed, she checked her status to read up on the new skill again. Did she actually level up while sleeping?

She also got a lot of attribute points. It was enough for her to increase her attributes by 3 using the [Exponential Growth] skill. After making the changes, every single stat was at 31. Still, this didn't feel like a milestone. For some reason, it wasn't like she had reached 50 or 100. The bonus she got because of that wasn't that special either. It was just a 20% increase to what each stat affected.

"Hey, I'm done. Sorry for barging in, "Blue came out of the bathroom and saw Hera moving her hands around the air, clearly looking at a system window, "Is everything ok?"

"Yeah… I guess. I mean, I kind of leveled up," Hera spoke, trying to keep the toothpaste inside her mouth.

"Oh, you leveled up yesterday? Nice!"

Hera shook her head and headed inside the bathroom. She finished brushing her teeth and came out to reply, "No… it was during the night."

"Did you have trouble falling asleep? Working out does help," Blue said.

"No. I slept like a baby. When I got up, there was a notification. Well, I did have a weird dream, but I don't think that it has any relation to this," Hera explained.

Blue stopped and took a moment before finding the words, "You… you leveled up while sleeping? Are you fucking kidding me? You get spells without worrying about the code, you can increase all your stats at once, and to top it all off, you can level up when you sleep? And people say the system is fair. That's bullshit!"

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"Wow, calm down. You know how people can level up by walking around or just breathing. You don't have to get snippy with me."

"I'm not. It just feels unfair. We started at the same time, but you get more skills, spells, and levels. You even got a girlfriend while I'm here alone."

"Oh, so that's what ithis is all about? You miss Quinn?" Hera smiled.

"Well, yeah. I miss her. I miss everyone, but sometimes I miss her more."

"Oh… well, the walls are thick. I don't think you are going to bother me if you need to take some me-time."

"It's not the same. I want to be with someone."

"Is there anyone who caught your eye here?"

"Well, yeah, but like just people who I think are hot, not anyone who I actually wanted to hook up with."

"Let me guess. Naka is on the top of your list?"

Blue stared at Hera for a moment before crossing her arms, "I feel attacked."

"Am I wrong?"

"No, that's why I feel attacked. But you have to admit, she's hot."

"I mean… I can see she's pretty, but her attitude is too much of a turnoff for me. And I don't have that much of the 'I want someone who can crush me with their biceps' thing like you."

"Says the girl who is dating a blacksmith whose arms are the size of my legs, "Blue scoffed, "Anyway, where are your stats at? 29?"

"31, actually. I got a good amount of points this time."

"Damn, all at 31? I only have two stats around that," Blue said.

"Which ones?"

"Not counting with my endurance which is already at 45, my agility reached 32, and my strength is at 29, the third place, well fourth actually, is charisma at 23. I didn't put any points in the rest."

Hera started counting the number of points that would take to get to those numbers, "I think you got more points than I did overall."

"Really?"

"I think so, yeah, but unless you want to double-check my math, let's leave it at that," Hera replied.

"Yeah, I'll take your word for it, "Blue walked over to the kitchen, "Do we have any food?"

"I think you can still make some sandwiches, but since we are going to the dungeon, they won't deliver food now."

"I'm gonna make a couple. Do you want one?"

"Sure, there should be enough bread for each of us to get two. I'm going to take a quick shower. I think I sweated a bit during the night. I'm all sticky."

About one hour later, they were heading to the guard headquarters. While they were passing by the palace, Blue said, "Ok, now I feel bad."

"Why?"

"I just leveled up."

Hera started laughing, "I guess the system heard your complaints. How many points do you have to spend?"

"15, I think I'm bumping my agility. The faster I am, the better."

"It's a good plan. You can't get hurt if they can't hit you."

The team gathered in the headquarters and discussed their ideas. Lerryn decided to join in the hard mode. Despite not liking the idea of being in danger, he was worried that someone might get hurt and there would be no one around to heal them. Just like the first time, Silah wouldn't join the fight. Naka still felt that the blacksmith wasn't strong enough to risk herself in a dungeon that they knew nothing about. In their next attempt, if the captain deemed appropriate, Silah could join them.

The team walked over to the entrance of the dungeon when a notification appeared.

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Conditions met for Wooly Plains hard mode

Choose the version of the dungeon you wish to enter

[Normal Mode] [Hard Mode]

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"Before we enter, let me ask you one more time. Does anyone want to give up? There is no shame in that," Naka asked the team. They all glanced at Lerynn, but the healer stepped forward.

"Unless Hera or Blue give up, I'm going. At least to see what this all about."

"We are going too. If the rewards are anywhere near what we got last time, I can only imagine how much it would benefit the city," Totrak replied in the name of the mages.

"We follow you, captain. Wherever you may go," Sevaris said.

"Do you even have to ask? We are the ones pushing to go here," Blue poked Hera with her elbow.

"Very well. Let's go," Naka turned back to the notification and stopped for a moment, "How do we do it?"

"Oh, Press the hard mode option, and then we just walk inside. Or at least that's how it's supposed to work," Hera explained.

"Aren't you familiar with this?" Naka turned to the explorer.

"I know the theory, but I never went inside a hard mode dungeon. We unlocked one once, but we weren't confident of beating it," Hera replied.

Naka sighed, "Very well. Let us go."

They walked into the tunnel. It was exactly like it was in the normal dungeon, and for a moment, Hera even got worried that she forgotten something about how to enter the dungeon. Thankfully, as soon as they got close to the exit, it became clear things were different now. The Wooly Plains was always a sunny place with occasional clouds, but now, the skies were covered in dark clouds, and a heavy wind swirled around the area. Even the smell was strange. Instead of the scent of freshly cut grass, there was an odd, stale smell, almost like opening a wardrobe that had been closed for years. The fact that this was an open area only made the situation even stranger.

Just as the group left the tunnel, three notifications appeared in front of them.

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Wooly Plains – Alternate Timeline

The Wooly Plains was a peaceful place. The Sky Ruler spawn would only come down from the mountain to feed once a month, leaving enough time for the Wooly Sheep to reproduce and refill their numbers. However, after being left unchecked for so long, the number of griffons grew, making their hunting trips more frequent. This resulted in the eventual extinction of the sheep.

When the situation became desperate enough, the Sky Ruler gave up its life to save its children, leaving its body behind as food. This desperate measure resulted in the remaining Sky Ruler Spawn developing a taste for their own flesh. Generations passed with small groups being formed who would employ different tactics to hunt their brethren. Now, only a few descendants of the Sky Ruler remain, all fighting for their own survival.

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Dungeon quest

Find and defeat the strongest Griffon in the Wooly Plains

First-time rewards:

Random Wind Spell

Random Cloud Feather Item Box

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You are the first to ever enter this dungeon. If you complete the Dungeon Quest, you will receive the following bonus rewards:

Advanced Griffon Whistle

+ 1 Level

These rewards are forfeited if you leave the dungeon without this quest.

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"Holy crap. They ate each other?" Blue gasped.

"What is this item box?" Totrak asked.

"It's a box that will give a random item. It can be something small, like a mana stone or a piece of equipment, or even another storm core. Usually, how well we perform can affect the rewards," Blue explained.

"Is this a joke?" Naka asked.

"What?" Hera turned to the captain.

"The voice of the mountain is telling us we can gain a level if we complete this quest. Is it talking about a level for the whistle or for us? Or is this just a trick of the Sky Ruler?"

Hera read the notification. It felt like it was talking about giving them a level, but she had never heard anything about that. Could a dungeon really give a full level as a reward?

"I… don't know. I never heard anything about that, but I doubt it's a trick. The voice of the mountain never lies, and you know that," Hera replied.

"Very well. It's no use to stay here imagining the results. Let's face this dungeon, and we shall see what the voice of the mountain meant as a reward," Naka walked into the plains.