Atreo leaned against the cave wall while waiting for Kore. He’d entered the portal without knowing what to expect. Inside, it was similar to the outside, except there was no airflow. It was as if the portal severed the dungeon from the outside world. While Atreo waited, he took the time to review his skills and levels, which he hadn’t done in a while.

He pulled up his inventory, revealing a detailed breakdown of his class, skills, and attribute levels:

Atreo Level 1 (Unchosen)

Skills Known: None

Status:

* Dexterity: 1

* Strength: 1

* Intelligence: 1

* Luck: 2

* Will: 1

* Constitution: 3

Unallocated points: 3

As he hovered over the different attribute levels, he realized he could inspect each section in greater detail. As he did so, he received a notification:

Congratulations, you’ve unlocked your first skill.

Inspect: This ability allows you to closely examine objects, creatures, and environments, providing detailed information about their properties and qualities.

“This would’ve been handy a few days ago,” he thought.

He took a moment to read a quick description of each attribute area to ensure he didn’t allocate his additional points incorrectly. He accepted the mistake he’d made when he reached level 1. He’d leveled up his constitution without really understanding what it meant, gaining total health but not replenishing his lost health as he’d hoped. He’d almost died because of that error and wouldn’t make the same mistake again. He reviewed the descriptions of his attributes:

Dexterity: Represents agility, coordination, and reflexes. Higher dexterity improves finesse in actions, speed, and precision.

Strength: Indicates physical power and the ability to exert force. Higher strength enhances physical damage, lifting capabilities, and endurance.

Intelligence: Reflects cognitive abilities, reasoning, and problem-solving skills. Higher intelligence improves learning, memory, and spellcasting effectiveness.

Luck: Measures propensity for fortunate occurrences. Higher luck increases the chances of positive events, critical hits, and finding valuable items.

Will: Represents mental fortitude, determination, and resistance to stress. Higher will enhances focus, resilience to mental attacks, and persistence.

Constitution: Indicates endurance, health, and overall physical resilience. Higher constitution improves stamina, recovery, and the ability to withstand physical hardships.

Reassuring himself that his mistake hadn’t been entirely pointless, he acknowledged that he’d still gain improved stamina and recovery.

“If I leave these three points unallocated, I’m handicapping myself. In my current state, that could be deadly.”

Looking at his attributes in more detail, he decided to allocate two points into strength and one point into dexterity. He needed all the physical boosts he could get to survive what came next.

After allocating his points, Atreo felt a surge of power coursing through his body. His muscles tightened and strengthened, making him feel more robust and capable than before. The increase in strength made him feel more confident, his steps becoming firmer and more decisive.

With the point allocated to dexterity, Atreo noticed an immediate improvement in his agility. His movements became smoother and more fluid, giving him a newfound sense of grace and speed. He felt lighter on his feet, better equipped to dodge attacks and react swiftly to any sudden dangers.

Looking into his inventory, he noticed something he’d missed before—a blinking icon that appeared to be a compass. When he mentally accessed the icon, his vision filled with a map. Unbeknownst to him, the map had been tracking his progress since he’d arrived in Memora. It showed the grassland he’d sprinted through, the cages he’d been held in, the helix-like path he’d taken through Holmhelm, and a stylized archway with jagged edges depicting the dungeon entrance.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

Atreo sat in silence, wondering if he should have chosen a different class. He guessed that each class likely started with an inherent ability, considering Kore could already heal.

“Would it have made a difference?”

Lost in thought, he was unprepared when Kore came flying through the shimmering doorway and collided with him, nearly knocking him down.

“These guys, man. They don’t care about anything,” said Atreo.

He slowly slid his trapped arm from under Kore. He’d tried to catch her at the last moment, which is how he’d ended up partially trapped beneath her.

“Are you alright, Kore?”

She coughed a bit and slowly tried to speak. “I’m doing better,” she croaked, the dryness in her mouth apparent. “The bread you gave me helped. Thank you.”

Repositioning himself along the cave wall, he used his new inspection skill on her, but it returned nothing. No data.

Confused, he asked, “Have you ever done a dungeon before?”

“No,” was all she said, as she too leaned against the opposite side of the cave mouth. As they stared down into the darkness, all they could see was a downward slope. There were stairs carved into the decline, but it was as if an unnatural night had descended upon the cavern, making it impossible to see beyond the first step.

“Five days. We’ve got five days to bring back loot for Urgon, or he’ll send people in to hunt us,” said Atreo. “I’m sorry I got you out of one cage and into another. At least this one is larger.”

“It’s not all bad,” she said. “At least I’m free of Urgon for the time being. I have no doubt he’ll kill you and put me back in that cage once we return.”

“Well then,” said Atreo, “let’s not waste time. Shall we?”

“Might as well,” said Kore, and she began to slowly walk toward the protruding stairs. Seeing her struggle, Atreo moved to help her, but she raised her hand, stopping him in his tracks.

“I’m fine. I can walk on my own.” Atreo didn’t force the issue. He knew she’d been through years of hell and didn’t even want to begin thinking of what could have happened to her in that time. If these last two days were any indication of what she’d been through, he’d give her as much space as she needed.

“As I said before, I’m here if you need me.” He increased his pace, moving to reach the stairs before Kore. If she wasn’t going to let him help her, the least he could do was catch her if she fell.

As he descended the stone stairs, with Kore following close behind, a gentle glow pierced the darkness that had concealed everything above. The walls of the dungeon entrance changed from a brown, clay-like color to something more chaotic. The walls reminded him of the metallic material attached to Abel’s head. The metal interwove itself with the cave walls, looking like the metallic veins of a giant beast. Step by step, they came closer to a doorway. There was no handle, only the shimmering that showed they’d come upon another portal. The frame of the portal was accompanied by intricately carved stone. Different symbols, unrecognizable to both Atreo and Kore, adorned the flanking walls. As Atreo scanned them, he noted carvings of creatures, trees, and a shining sun, along with many things he didn’t recognize.

He looked back at Kore, checking to make sure she was still alright. As he stepped in front of the door, he received a prompt.

“Would you like to enter the Endless Catacombs? Warning: this is a level 2 dungeon, and you are level 1. While the challenge will be dramatically increased, the rewards will also be increased. Do you wish to continue?”

Atreo waited for Kore to take the last few steps and filled her in on the information he’d just gleaned from the prompt.

“Did you get the same info?” he asked.

“Yeah, but it’s also asking if I’d like to form a party.”

“Really?” said Atreo. “I didn’t get that option. Let me check again.”

A moment passed until Atreo spoke up again.

“Ah, wait, there it is.”

As he decided to take a few minutes to search through the new dungeon menu, Kore moved to enter the dungeon.

“Whoa, hey, wait up, are you leaving?” he said, waving at Kore.

“Well yeah,” said Kore. “If I’m going to die in here, no use in hanging about.”

“You didn’t want to party with me? You want to go at this solo?” said Atreo.

Kore paused for a moment.

“What do you mean?” she said.

“I mean, do you want to go into this dungeon as a group, you and I?”

Kore blinked, processing Atreo’s words. After a long moment, she responded.

“I would like that,” she said, meeting Atreo’s eyes with her own. “I’m hurting, though, in more ways than I can explain. I will only slow you down.”

Atreo gave her a soft smile. “I’ve got your back like a car seat,” he said and sent her a party invitation.

Confused, Kore frowned at him. “What’s a car seat?” she asked as she accepted his invitation.

Atreo laughed in response. “Ah, well, I guess you don’t have those here.”

Atreo checked his inventory tab and noticed two new tabs: one that said “Party” and the other that said “Dungeon.” Deciding to check out the new party tab first, he opened it.

It showed a detailed representation of himself and Kore as she was now. Her name sat at the top, and next to it was the name of her class: “Essence Manipulator.” Atreo didn’t know what that was exactly, but he assumed it had to do with her ability to heal. With her now in his party, Atreo could see that Kore’s health was sitting at 57 out of 200. He couldn’t see her personal attributes or skills but guessed that her constitution was only level 2, one level lower than his.

Remembering the other menu, he opened the Dungeon interface and was surprised to see “Dungeon Leaderboards” in bold letters across the top. A list of names followed below, along with a tracker of how many bosses each individual had defeated while completing the dungeon. Additionally, there was a time that showed how long it had taken them. At the top of the list was a man Atreo recognized. A small picture of Abel showed that he’d completed the dungeon in 12 hours and 17 minutes, killing 8 out of 8 bosses. Atreo raised his eyebrows at this because the next closest person to Abel hadn’t completed the dungeon for 3 days, 12 hours, and 1 minute. The difference in their completion times was massive, confirming that Abel really was as scary as he seemed. Finding nothing more than the leaderboards, one name caught his attention. There was a picture of a girl with dirty brown hair named Maise near the bottom, who had taken almost 20 days to complete the dungeon. Not only that, but she’d defeated 0 out of 8 bosses, leaving much to the imagination.

Atreo ran out of time to deliberate on those facts when Kore stepped through the portal, leaving him behind.

“Shit,” he said and scrambled after her, stepping through the portal himself.