“All of you here are the future of Earth. You’ll be the ones to lead the advancement of humanity…”
Kaine looked wearily at the podium, whilst trying to keep his footing. Today was a critical moment for someone like Kaine who recently applied to become an Initiator. As the frontier of society’s development it’s expected to have an orientation to the system to guide the newcomers.
“Hey Kaine, wake up before Dr. Hector notices.” Kaine looks to his right to see his friend Eden nudging him awake. Sobering up after what happened last time he snoozed in Dr. Hector’s class, he slowly comes to his senses. Kaine stumbles a bit as he corrects his footing and leans over to his friend, “Thanks Eden, I slept in super late trying to prepare my clothes for this morning.” Eden quickly silences Kaine and gestures back to the podium to pay attention.
“Before we step into the armory we must first guide you through your interface. Simply think status and you’ll see a screen displaying your skills, total skill level, resource values, and your name. I’ll give everyone a few minutes to familiarize themselves before continuing.”
Without missing a beat, Kaine activates his interface.
Kaine Vaughn
Age: 18 Height: 5’10”
Total Skill Level (SL). 0
HP 10/10 MP 10/10
SP 10/10
Skill: [None]
“Now everyone…” Dr. Hector begins, “are there any questions before we head into the armory?” A student from the back of the group raises their hand and yells, “Why does my friend have more HP than me? Shouldn’t everyone start at the same values?” Chuckling to himself, Dr. Hector responds, “No, not everyone will start at the same place. There’s also people who might have a skill depending on what they’ve done before the initiation to the system.”
Not waiting for any other questions, everyone is directed to the armory to pick their weapons. Before entering the building Dr. Hector turns around and announces the rules, “Before picking your weapon please remember that you cannot change it until we leave the dungeon. Mob drops are kept by the Ouroboros Corp, who’s sponsoring this orientation. So please don’t try stealing anything.”
As Kaine walks in he sees weapons sprawled everywhere across the walls and separate rooms with subcategories of certain weapons. Still hanging around Eden he strikes a conversation with him, “What do you plan on using?” Eden, not answering, beelines straight to the ranged weapons room looking back at Kaine to follow him. “Kaine, they have so many options from bows, to crossbows, to fucking guns, I don’t know what to choose, it’s actually overwhelming.”
“Aren’t you a big fan of dual-wielding? You should be looking in the melee section instead for, like, daggers or whatever.” Kaine was wearing a shit eating grin while Eden wore an extremely disappointed look before moving over to the crossbows. Eden, picking up two hand crossbows holding both in each hand, aims them at Kaine and pretends to shoot at him. “Kaine, isn’t it badass to be a dual-wielding crossbow maniac!?” Kaine, taken aback at the notion, agrees before heading off to the melee section.
Exploring all the melee options, Kaine gravitated towards the heavier sword types. He had always dreamt about swinging a humongous sword and tearing through a crowd of enemies. Checking out the back wall, he noticed a claymore and picked it up. Kaine swung the claymore around to check the grip and weight before taking the sheath off the wall and sheathing the blade onto his back. Walking back over to the ranged section, Kaine sees Eden exiting it and heading to the entrance.
“Hey Kaine, head over to the entrance, they should be calling time soon.” Kaine rushes over to Eden’s side before they both reach the entrance of the warehouse waiting for everyone else to gather too.
“EVERYONE MAKE WAY TOWARDS THE ENTRANCE”
Dr. Hector clears his throat, “Before we approach the dungeon I must first inform you the environment we’ll be entering. This dungeon shelters 3 different factions consisting of goblins, ogres, and trolls, each with their own elites and boss. Today, we’ll be accompanied by 5 Expert Initiators to make sure everything runs smoothly and no one is in danger.” Finishing his speech we head off towards the dungeon before stopping in front of it.
“When you guys enter you’ll be transported into a forest terrain. This is goblin territory and the territory we will stay in, I repeat stay in the goblin territory. Anything further is very dangerous for us to explore since almost all of you have no skills or combat experience. We will only be attacking the elites and mobs before heading to the boss room. Only the Experts will be killing the boss which afterwards we’ll be leaving the dungeon. Now break into groups of 4 members and we’ll enter once everyone is done.”
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Kaine & Eden nod at each other before walking around the area to find someone to join. Not far off from where they initially were, Kaine notices a couple guys looking just as lost as them. Kaine pointed out the duo to Eden and together they started pacing towards them. “Hey are you guys looking for someone to join? We’re missing two and would just need you guys to be ready.” The bigger guy between the two speaks up first, “ We are actually, what a coinkydink that we met. My name is Tyreese by the way and I use throwing daggers,” gesturing to the satchel on his hip, “And this is my brother Jake, he uses a bo staff.” Jake pulls the bo staff from his back to show us before replacing it.
Kaine points his thumb to himself, “I’m Kaine I use a greatsword and this here is my friend since middle school, Eden,” Eden waves as Kaine continues, “he uses dual hand crossbows and is a ‘total badass.’ Kaine holds back his snicker before getting a sharp jab in his shoulder from Eden. Tyreese lets out what can only be heard as a sympathy laugh before replying, “we should head over to Dr. Hector to notify him we’re a team and be put on the list.” Nodding Kaine leads the way over to the entrance.
“Dr. Hector, we'd like to report in as a team. The members are Eden, Jake, Tyreese, and I.” Looking up from his paper with an irritated expression, he glares at Kaine, “And you would be?” Kaine, forgetting his manners, quickly introduces himself and apologizes. “What will be your team name? Please tell me you have a team name.” The group looked at each other in confusion then back at Dr. Hector causing an exasperated sigh, “It’s fine we’ll just name you team 5. Now please wait until the announcement to enter is made.”
Walking to a secluded area the newly acquainted friends discuss their strategy when it comes to fighting monsters. “Since Jake and I are the only ones with melee weapons should we just rush the goblins while you and Eden stay in the back?” Shaking his head, Tyreese proposes another plan, “I think it’d be better if I went in since I have a taunt skill. I can kite the goblins as you guys pick them off 1-by-1.” Kaine and Eden both drop their jaws as they process what was just said.
Tyreese having a taunt skill changes everything about how they approach the dungeon. Still dazed Eden blurts out, “What the HELL did you do to get a taunt skill before initializing?” Both brothers shoot Eden a mean glare before relaxing, “Eden, it’s taboo to ask others how they obtained a skill. Tamper your curiosity because some people take extreme offense to such a question.” Eden apologizes before quickly switching the topic back to the strategy.
“What’ll happen is that I’ll use my taunt skill to get all the goblins in a certain area to come after me, once that happens I’ll sprint back towards the group and Eden will pick off the ranged goblins while you Kaine and my brother rush the melee goblins. As soon as you guys pass me I’ll join in on the fight. Understood?” As everyone nods, the announcement is finally made.
“EVERYONE MAKE THEIR WAY TOWARDS THE GREEN PORTAL”
As they make their way towards the portal there is a barricade where soldiers check to make sure everyone is accounted for. “Team name and members of the team please.” Jake briefly responds, “Team 5, Jake, Tyreese, Eden, and Kaine.” The soldier lets Kaine & co. through the barricade and they make haste towards the portal. Kaine notices an overpass with a sign on it that says ‘F-Grade’ with more soldiers on it. On their way to the entrance of the portal, a soldier approaches them with wristbands. “These bands come equipped with a GPS, emergency button, and can transmit and receive messages. Don’t lose this as it’s our only way of keeping contact with you.” Kaine & co. take a second to adorn the wristbands before bidding the soldier farewell.
Once reaching the portal Jake and Tyreese entered confidently first with Eden following behind. Kaine hesitates before finally taking his step in but quickly swallows his fears and heads in. As soon as he passes through the other end, he curls over in order to vomit. Hearing similar sounds around him he notices several other new initiators hurling out their breakfast. Swiping his mouth and spitting out the acid he looks over to see Eden in no better shape, surprisingly Tyreese and Jake are only hunched over looking slightly unwell.
Tyreese walked over with a water flask in his hand, “Are you guys okay? This is common when first entering a dungeon but it gets better on repeat entries.” Taking the flask from Tyreese Kaine takes a big swig before handing it to Eden. Looking back at Tyreese, Kaine brings up what was said before, “What do you mean repeat entries, Isn’t this a first for you too?” Before he can answer Jake interjects while playing with his wristband, “It’s common knowledge when entering a dungeon that vomiting is commonplace. Not vomiting is just as common. Let’s make our way into the forest to start working on skills.”
Eden returns the flask to Tyreese as the group makes their way westwards in search of goblin tracks. Parsing through shrubbery looking for any trace of goblin activity Jake suddenly stops in his tracks. Kaine, almost bumping into Jake, unsheathes his claymore and scans his immediate surroundings for any movement before asking Jake about the sudden stop, “Jake did you notice anything?” Jake crouches and points at something in an attempt to alert everyone else.
Kaine looking over Jake’s shoulder recoils in disgust before taking a step back and motioning the others to take a look. In the same fashion, Eden takes a step back before laughing at Kaine and mocking him. Tyreese quickly brings everyone back to the situation at hand, “This is not the time for laughter or being disgusted, we’re in dangerous territory right now and must be on high alert or else we might get ambushed. Curb your lollygagging and get back to the matter at hand before you get us killed.” Kaine and Eden swiftly stop their playing and pay attention to what else Tyreese has to say, “Since we know there are goblins nearby we’ll be taking a formation before continuing. I’ll be in the front, Kaine behind, followed by Eden, then finally my brother, copy?”
Continuing deeper into the forest, scratches are found on the trees and footprints implanted on the dirt until they come across a small open field where what could only be described as wet mashing sounds could be heard. Tyreese signals the others to crouch as they get closer to the field and take cover in the bushes. Kaine takes a moment to look over the brush and sees six goblins taking turns eating a deer. Relaying this information to the rest of the group, he proposes a plan, “Jake and I should sneak over to the other side to take their flank while you and Eden stay here. Tyreese you can use your taunt skill to draw aggro and we hit them hard in the back as Eden provides cover.” Eden interjects coyly “Well is it necessary for me to be in the forefront of the battle?” Tyreese gives him a warm smile before comforting him, “Eden don’t worry, I’ll make sure you don’t get a scratch on you. You’ll be the signal for when I use the taunt so it’s important you’re near me.”
Eden gives a nervous thumbs up before taking out his crossbows and checking if they’re loaded properly. Kaine and Jake silently make their way to the opposite side of the small field before equipping their weapons and getting into a battle ready stance.
FWOOSH . . . . . . GAAAAAAAAAGH
Without any warning, an arrow hits the chest of a goblin before Tyreese lets out a bellowing roar. Jake immediately darts towards the goblins without Kaine and swings at the injured goblin. Kaine stumbles as he stands up and dashes through the bushes, ‘What type of damn signal is this!?’