Pushing through the horrible pain he entered the room the hallway opened up into. Not knowing what to expect he didn’t have much choice. The flapping was getting closer and he was out of potions.
Using his Psyhands to feel ahead of him, he dragged on into the room. After forcing himself through tears, pain, blood and whatever goo he was dragging himself through, he felt something. It felt like a construction, much like the light pedestal at the top of the pit before it opened. Did it fall here somehow? It was standing perfectly upright.
Pulling himself in closer, doing his best to make it through the pain of his useless leg he managed to get to the pedestal itself. He reached out to touch it and as soon as his hand made contact the room lit up with a bright light. His eyes stung for a few seconds before they started getting used to it. The room itself was the same fleshy construction as the others, but he was used to that by now.
The quest window opened up in the middle of his sight.
[ Solo Dungeon Clear conditions - 3/3
-Exit into the next room - Complete
-Survive the Chamber - Complete
-Reach the bottom of the Pit - Complete ]
He could feel tears well up in the corner of his eyes, overflowing with a powerful sense of relief.
[ Calculating rewards. ]
The following screen made it feel much better. Forcing himself to lie down on his back, looking at the fleshy ceiling he wanted to drift off. The taste of going back and the pain in his leg made this impossible, but he wanted to sleep so badly. He wanted to be healed so badly.
[ Congratulations on completing the Solo Dungeon: !&¤§%.
Rewards: Please pick
-Vampiric Dagger
-Frozen Gauntlets
-Earth Ring
-Celestial Amulet
-Scroll of Ice
Bonus reward:
-1000xp
-Random Box - X. ]
Sam just lay there, looking at the window that opened up in disbelief. He was getting a thousand experiences from this, but also a selection of items on top of a random box. One part of him felt that this was amazing. The other, pained part of him, felt that he should have gotten more after this fucking torture.
Looking through what the items were, the dagger had a chance to activate a weak lifesteal which would heal him a little each time it triggered, the gauntlets gave a chance to apply a frost debuff, and the ring gave a specific elemental defence against Earth magic, the amulet increased healing received by some percent, and the scroll listed that it could cast an ice spell once, but wouldn’t list what spell it was until after it was chosen. The thing that would work the best later was probably the amulet. The bonus percent was 10%, meaning that the lowest tier potions would heal him by 20% instead of 10%. Now, this sounds like it’s a lot and it kind of was. It was also a scaling bonus meaning that, though this was just +3 health at his current health, for himself or others later in time, having hundreds of health this percentage would grow larger. But the more consistent one felt like the dagger. It only had a 10% chance to activate and would activate [ Lifesteal 1 ] so it would just heal 1 health. But this would be consistent. Gamblers fallacy aside, this should trigger every ten or so attacks on average. And that was without even considering that it was double the base damage as the daggers he already had. The healing amulet might hit harder when it triggers, but he would need to be healed for that to matter.
Mentally choosing the dagger, it was highlighted in the window as the others were struck and greyed out. A final confirmation request popped up, listing the Dagger, the Random Box - X and the XP.
Accepting this he felt the items land on his chest, the surge of levelling up and the warm white light enveloping him.
As soon as he could properly see again, he saw the ceiling of his rented room. He found that he was placed back in the bed where he was before all of this happened. As his leg fell back down hitting the floor he let out a long, strained, powerful grunt as he stared into the ceiling with the fury of a thousand suns. Levelling up healed you, but for some reason, it didn’t fucking fix his leg... He forgot who mentioned it, but though it would close wounds and heal your health, it might not fix the underlying issues...
He was still covered in weird shit, the wound on his leg was still festering even though the level-up should have healed him, his leg was shattered internally and... he was not only in pain but severely confused. Shouldn’t all this be fixed now?
The windows in his view listed his Health and XP
[ HP: 35 / 35 ███████ ]
[ XP to lv.9: 702 / 1280 █████░░░ ]
It felt good to level up and be relatively close to levelling up again, but none of this felt good enough to overshadow the pain he was in. Pulling himself to the bedside phone, grunting through the pain he managed to get hold of it and follow the instructions to call the reception.
“Good evening, this is the reception, how can I be of assistance?” A tired female voice asked.
“Sooo... I am in dire need of healing, my leg is shattered. I am also covered in weird goo and need to have my sheets, and most likely blanket changed...” He just fessed up and stated the important details.
The woman’s voice changed dramatically, it no longer felt tired or had the fake politeness everyone in a service industry job has. “Understood, we’ll send a healer right away. Stay on the line.”
It almost turned into an emergency hotline kind of call. She kept him there and talked to him to make sure he wouldn’t pass out or die. He could hear frantic clicking and writing in the background. As soon as he mentioned that his health was full but he was just hurt outside of this, though she sounded confused at least she calmed down considerably.
Only a brief moment after the call started, he heard knocking on the door and a voice stating that it was the healer and that they were coming in. Not even a second later the door unlocked and several people came in. Confirming on the phone that they are here now had the woman relax and agree to hang up. He just dropped the phone as they found him quickly enough.
“Now, I don’t know how, but my health is full, but my leg is fucked up and I have this wound here.” He commented as soon as a man came over to him.
The man looked at him as a whole for a few seconds before looking at his leg and wound. “You’ve been cursed, it’s a simple fix but it’s going to cost a little.”
The statement of this cost didn’t even register with him, he just wanted this shit fixed as it was no way to live, even if it would heal in time. He just nodded in a pain-induced delirium.
They placed him on the floor and got to work, he felt the energy of several spells being cast on him and he was feeling better by the second. As the pain faded and he was returning to normalcy he felt the fatigue properly grabbing hold of him. He felt incredibly satisfied with all of the work they were doing, not only healing his leg, cleaning the wound and getting rid of the curse they spoke of. But they magically cleaned him and his gear as well.
During this process, at some point during the process, a housekeeping man entered and just pulled off all the sheets, blankets, pillows and everything and replaced it all with clean bedding. Though this whole event only took a few minutes it was done perfectly. Mentioned that the cost would be added to the account, and he was given an emergency button he could click if something worsened, it was always uncertain with curses.
He thanked them as they left, not even caring that he had neat loot nor considering undressing, he barely managed to get himself in bed before he blacked out.
Waking to the bright light outside, coming from blindless windows. Though they had blinds nothing was pulled down. He was still fully clothed and armoured lying on the bed. Taking a moment to properly sit up, grab and squeeze his leg and where the wound was, it all felt like a long and horrible dream. But looking at the Random Box and the dagger neatly placed on the nightstand, as well as confirming his XP being where it was, proved it being real.
A lot of things ran through his mind, first of all, he was incredibly hungry, and second was that he had no idea what time it was. The sun was high in the sky and his phone was still very dead. Taking a moment to collect himself he decided to freshen up before anything, though he wasn’t dirty due to the magical cleaning, he strongly felt the need to shower. Putting his phone to charge he went to the bathroom, taking his long sweet time, scrubbing vigorously, still feeling surprisingly unclean even though his skin protested and proved the opposite.
A solid hour or so later, he finally got out of the bathroom and wandered into the bedroom where he had unceremoniously thrown all his gear on the bed. Turning on his phone he was bombarded by texts, all but one from Janik, the last one a receipt from TAC for his healing yesterday. Not being surprised that the decursing, healing and emergency response cost a total of $600, he was more interested in the texts from Janik. Though before checking them he decided to pay the fee right away, not liking to forget things or suddenly being reminded of things he followed the link in the text and used an online payment service to just get it out of the world, moving to Janik’s texts afterwards.
They started with just deciding on a time to meet up, asking how his night was in a good room. Then as time went it became more and more urgent and panicky asking if he was fine and if something was going on. Until suddenly the last text explained that he pulled some strings and asked around, finding out that he was hurt and fucking cursed. He wanted to know everything about it but getting confirmation that he was safe and healed eased his mind considerably. He demanded to get a text once Sam woke up.
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Sam felt surprisingly good about this, though he didn’t feel good that he accidentally gave Janik this level of panic, he felt good about someone caring enough to properly panic about it.
Smiling a bit to himself as he replied, explaining that everything was good, he had quite the story to tell. Requesting Janik to just come to his room as he wanted to relax today. After the message was sent he also asked if he could bring food, he felt like he was starving.
The reply was simple and explained everything he needed to know. A thumbs-up emoji, as well as a pizza and a man running a race.
His smile never left his lips during all of this, but he felt the need to get dressed before he got a visitor. He was currently only wearing a towel, and even that was about to fall off after he sat down. Digging into his duffel bag he put on underwear, pants and a shirt before he sat back down. Now he had to wait, but as he did his mind went back to the rewards he got. He had briefly checked the dagger’s numbers but hadn’t properly taken a look at things. Also having a random box he decided to pass the time with those for now.
The dagger was interesting. It was strangely mundane looking even though it also looked surprisingly fancy. The blade itself was dual-edged and just looked like some steel-like metal. It flared out closer to the handle and didn’t have a handguard but instead had a copper-looking band with a deep red gem fastened to it. The black metal handle itself almost looked like it was split down the middle, but it was a single solid piece which flared out into an oval at the end with what looked like a black crystal inside. The colour palette was steel, black metal with a red contrasting crystal on it.
The stats listed it as a C-rank dagger with the passive ability [ Lifesteal 1 - 10% ], the information confirmed what he read earlier that when it connects there was a 10% chance for it to leech 1 health as damage, and give this to the user, it specified that this worked even when thrown so it should work with his Psyhands, making him feel surprisingly nice about it. He also found out that he was wrong about the damage he read, he initially read it as double the damage of his normal daggers, but it was more than that.
The normal daggers were listed as a base damage of 5, and the Vampiric dagger, as a C-rank item, had a base damage of 15. The Lifesteal effect, when triggered added 1 damage on top of this. The dagger was also surprisingly light, allowing him to use it with just two Psyhands at the moment.
He was feeling much better about it now, though the other items on the reward list were probably also C-rank, he didn’t feel that they properly fit what he would use. Sure, the healing Amulet would be good when used, or could just be sold and something else bought. But that’s for mentally present individuals to consider, and since he was barely conscious at that time he felt good about this choice.
Next, he moved to the Random Box - X. It was a bit strange that he didn’t get a letter grade now that he had it, but it didn’t change much. He opened it like he had done many others from the starting Dungeon, and like the others it shone a light as it opened, disappearing entirely and leaving its contents where it was. In this case, the remaining treasure was an egg. A single egg, about the size of a grown man’s fist, its surface was sleek but had an almost fractal design etched into its surface. Still having the pale white eggshell colour, the fractal design in it was slightly darker, easily seen but not dominating. The fractal design spread across the whole egg but had a concentrated point on one side, wherein the smallest bead or something glowing lay in the centre of the design. Picking it up it was surprisingly heavy, not like it was made of solid metal but weighed more than an egg of its size should do.
[ Companion egg - X
-Channell enough mana into the egg to hatch: 0%
-Once hatched, the companion will bond with its owner and become completely loyal. ]
Sam couldn’t remember having heard of something like this. However, the lack of detail in both the design and information hinted that it might be random. Or perhaps based on something? He briefly imagined if one of the flesh-creatures from the Dungeon would spawn from this... in that case this didn’t even feel remotely interesting.
Another part of it was a bit... annoying. To activate it he had to channel mana into it. A common resource he didn’t have any of. Energy couldn’t be assigned that way so...
He put on the bed and just laid back, there was no use worrying about it at the moment. Now he was waiting for Janik anyway, he could ask him about it and decide then. Perhaps it was valuable and better sold, making it someone else's problem.
Waking up to the sound of knocking on the door, he realised that he dozed off. He got to his feet, briefly considering how nice it was having two working, uncursed legs before he went to open the door.
As soon as the door opened, Janik pushed himself into the room almost like he was afraid of being thrown out. In one hand he held a large pizza box and in the other, he had a grocery bag with various snacks and soda in it. Having successfully broken into the room he turned to face Sam properly, looking over him for a few solid, awkward seconds. “Good, you look fine!” He said it a bit loud almost like a joke, but in that motion, there was a deep sigh of relief.
He walked over to the table and placed both the pizza and bag on it before turning back, ordering Sam to explain what happened!
Sam closed the door before he joined Janik at the table, sitting down and taking a few bites. He planned to pay him back later but right now he was starving. Janik sat down and joined him in eating, but seemed to save more than half of it for Sam rather than eating, rather opening some snacks at that point.
The story was told in decent detail, he didn’t go into extreme verbosity when it came to the smells, feelings... tastes... He explained it in simpler terms but added some of his thoughts, not touching on the existential crisis he had in the flesh corridors. Going on to explain the fights, and the weird makeup of the monsters before the sphincter opened up into the chasm he had to navigate. The bats, the weird crusty cartilage and, perhaps he went into more detail than he planned.
“Dude... what the fuck...” Janik finally broke the silence from his side. He listened patiently but had to stop himself from breaking into the explanations more than once, but now after Sam had lightly detailed the healing before he crashed yesterday, he joined the conversation. “I mean... I have heard of Solo Dungeons before, but never one that pulled you in like that... There are many dungeons that don’t let you out after entering but... it always gives you a choice to enter or not.”
Janik looked a bit worried. Growing entirely silent for a few solid seconds. “But... you’re sure you’re ok, right? I mean, if you want to talk about things I’m here. Or I can help you find someone, that shit’s crazy so... I get it... You should take care of your mental health, you know.”
Janik’s tone managed to make it all sound incredibly supportive. He didn’t seem like he had a single negative thing to say about the situation.
“No, I’m fine... Surprisingly so. It was mainly disgusting but if you think about it, it’s just different-looking monsters. Sure, there’s a bit more to it but I think I’m good.” Sam felt himself relaxed and felt surprisingly honest about this. It wasn’t something he had considered, and although the Dungeon was disgusting and horrifying at the moment, it was ‘just’ another Dungeon. He wasn’t sure if that was his real thoughts or some coping mechanism, but in the end, it felt properly honest.
“Well, as long as you’re sure about it.” Janik added, almost blamingly so. He looked at Sam with an almost suspicious expression before it all suddenly changed to a much more intrigued and happy one. “You said you got some interesting rewards for it?”
“Yes, I got two things, the Random Box only had an egg in it.” Sam got up from the chair, into the bedroom and got the dagger and the egg, placing them both on the table when he got back.
Janik inspected both of them, seeming very interested in both of them. Sam added his question as Janik inspected it.
“I like the dagger, though I don’t know much about the egg or Companions.” Sam shrugged.
“Well, the dagger is amazing, lifesteal is not a common thing to have, and though it’s only one health it adds up over time. The companion egg is interesting. I have seen them at the auction a lot. They are surprisingly expensive, more than you’d think. Though you don’t know what you’ll get from them, you can get a mouse, a horse, a dragon or something like that. It’s seemingly random, not even tied to where you got it.”
This intrigued Sam a lot. “How... how much?” His mind was still on the money.
“Oh, thousands, easily. I have seen them in the tens of thousands as well. I know this is a lot, a lot of money to randomly get like that. But I recommend hatching it.” Janik sounded like the end of his sentence came from personal experience.
Sam looked at him a bit confused. “But... I get that you have a chance of getting something amazing, but... if I can get tens of thousands for it, won’t that be smarter?” He didn’t even try to hide the greed in his eyes.
“Oh, that’s one way of seeing it, but imagine you do get something neat? A completely subservient ally is not something you should underestimate. Let’s say you get a mouse, now consider how easy it is for a mouse to sneak around and scout. Or a bird, or some transport or working creature? I heard of someone who got a stone golem a while back... Imagine 20 tons of rock moving around, wanting to protect you with its life...” Janik sighed and took a sip of his soda before continuing. “I know the money is tempting. And in some cases could be worth it, but if you dislike what you get, you can always just sell the creature then. Might not get as much from it but...”
Sam looked at the egg, he was becoming convinced, it was an interesting concept having an ally who would never turn on him, no matter how small the chance. “But, there is another problem.” Sam added, looking back at Janik. “I don’t have any mana.”
“Oh, that’s not a problem. There’s a very easy workaround.” Janik smiled as he placed his glass on the table.