The tunnel beneath the sand turned sharply aside, narrowing to barely accommodate his girth. He followed the passage through switchbacks, twists, and turns before it turned vertical, ascending into a new smaller sandpit within a lightless room far beneath the dungeon.

Rin wriggled free from the sand and turned human before realizing he still lacked a light. He quickly swapped with the bat form so he could at least check for danger. The bat’s natural echolocation ability relayed a detailed wireframe view of the chamber in vivid green lines. The room was nothing noteworthy, little more than a cramped cell, with the sandy tunnel in the floor its only exit.

But it contained a chest.

Rin returned to human form once more, his heart pounding with excitement. If the reward hidden by the bat shaft was special, this one should be even more so, buried beneath several tons of sand with no discernible entrance.

A notification appeared.

Secret Treasure Chest

First Timer Bonus: Despite the long history of this dungeon, you are the first person to discover this chest. Rarity upgraded 2x.

Epic => Legendary => Unique

Choose a type of treasure:

Ability

Artifact

Consumable

Rin was stunned. He had no idea what type of treasure to choose, but he knew he should take time to thoroughly ponder the decision. This was a Unique reward—it would undoubtedly change his magical progression forever! He settled his breathing and calmed his mind, rereading the notification several times.

Several parts of the message gave him serious pause, particularly the claim that he was the first to discover this chest. How could that be? The dungeons were said to be hundreds, or even thousands, of years old.

Rin’s parents had taught him an elementary understanding of probabilities. When you estimated the likelihood of two different scenarios occurring, you multiplied their probabilities together, rather than added them.

He mentally backtracked through everything he’d experienced so far, rapidly tallying it up.

First was the event when he was exposed to Craven’s poison and was offered the Cursed class. Craven’s ring of Introductory poison was a rare item, so the chance of being offered the class seemed rare also. Yet Dex had stumbled into one of the flowers and been presented with the class, too. All things considered, it was perhaps a 1 in 10 chance.

However, those who chose the class were vanishingly few indeed. They would have to be on death’s doorstep with no other help nearby and no healing options, perhaps a 1 in 100 chance. Multiplied by the 1 in 10 ratio resulted in a total probability of around 1 in 1,000.

Add to that the likelihood that the person would intentionally return to the dungeon to seek out flowers. That seemed vanishingly rare indeed, perhaps a 1 in 100 chance all by itself, multiplying the total probability to become 1 in 100,000. Finally, the number of people that would discover all the flowers was probably an additional 1 in 20, plus they’d have to be granted transmutation, know about the shaft, and choose to specifically come back to explore it, which could be another 1 in 100 chance.

Rin ran the numbers as much as he was able using rough guesstimates. It was evident the chance of all this happening to the same person approached 1 in 100 million. The notification suddenly made much more sense, and his eyes glazed in awe. This meant if he was intentional about finding every flower within other dungeons, he had a good chance of finding more never-before-opened chests!

And that was only the first part of the mental notification. He still had a Unique rarity treasure to select from!

But which do I choose?

He reread the notification and calculated his options. Ability treasures were usually considered the best because they were permanent lifetime skills that couldn’t be taken from you. But precisely because of that fact, Artifact treasures were a slightly higher grade to make up for the fact they could be lost, stolen, or even destroyed. Consumables were one-time boosts, such as +5 to strength. They were still highly sought after, but you never knew which attribute they would boost. If you were a warrior with a build geared towards physical attributes, you would be sorely disappointed with a consumable that gave you +5 Magic. And once you consumed it, there was no going back, unlike an artifact you could sell to someone else.

Wait, but this is a Unique rarity treasure. What would a Unique consumable even look like?

Rin had never heard of anyone gaining a Unique ability, or even a Unique artifact, but he could imagine what one was like: An item that was one of a kind.

But a Unique consumable? It would have to be special indeed, likely granting you a massive attribute boost, all at once.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

The consumable option suddenly seemed far more endearing, and Rin hummed and hawed over the choice. Eventually, the dungeon lost patience and began counting down a timer in his mind’s eye.

59 seconds remaining. Choose, or Craven himself will intervene and decide for you.

That’s an option? Dare I?

Rin didn’t know anything about gods. Would this piss Craven off? He certainly didn’t want that. It was sure to grab the god’s attention, for one thing, interrupting him from who knows what.

But if I’m the first person to open this chest on his secret path to power, won’t he already be watching?

Rin folded his arms and stepped back, his body language crystal clear that he didn’t intend to choose, just in case a mythical god of planet-splitting power was eyeing him.

He belatedly realized he was naked and his hands shot in front of him to cover his private parts.

When the counter reached zero, smoky mana essence began to swirl about the room, the telltale sign something magical was occurring. Even when the smoke cleared, the ambient glow of mana persisted, lighting up the chamber so he could see clearly.

Rin was face to face with a god.

Craven looked for all appearances to be an ordinary elderly man, with thinning gray hair combed to the side, glassy eyes behind half-moon spectacles perched on his nose, and a long narrow pipe wedged in the crook of his pursed mouth. His slumped shoulders were sunken into the comfortable depths of a leather wingback chair. He was reading a slim black book held delicately in one hand. The god was wholly unremarkable, bereft of any visible power, and by all perceivable measures, harmless.

He turned to appraise Rin, and his unkempt eyebrows leaped up to join the many creases on his forehead.

“Oh, hello. I see you’re on the transmutation track. That’s lovely.” He pointed the stem of his pipe at Rin’s nethers. “You’ll have to overcome that nakedness, boy, or someone’ll cut your balls right off. Happened to me thrice, actually. Assassins, if I recall. Best health potions I ever drank.”

Sweat broke out on Rin’s brow as he pasted a weak smile on his face. He had no idea how to respond.

The man rose unsteadily to his feet, removing the pipe with his left hand while he patted the treasure chest with his right. “Perhaps there’s something inside here that could help with that. Would you like that? Hmm?” His eyes twinkled with something halfway between kindness and mischief.

“U-uh, yes, god, Craven, sir, I-I mean Your Majesty. Sorry sir, I’m not sure what I’d like right now, to be honest. Not to be smited, maybe? Yeah, definitely that. Is that an option?”

The man wheezed out a laugh, and it appeared genuine. “I do like the odd ones,” he said, more to himself than Rin.

Craven rapped his knuckles on the chest’s lid, and it burst open, revealing a stone the size of a walnut. He tossed it to Rin, who was so caught off guard he almost dropped it, to his abject horror.

Gift of Craven, God of Unmatched Generosity

Skill Stone: Craven’s Infinite Wardrobe

Create an infinite variety of clothes and equip them instantly.

“That was one of my favorite skills as a young lad.” The god’s gaze grew distant, a haunting shadow of pain flitting across his features. “Before it all went sideways with the other gods.”

He waved a hand at the thought, as if able to disperse it from the air before him. “I haven’t used it in years. Don’t need it, you see.” He pulled on the edge of his robe. “This is genuine erdine wool, all the way from Yoonts in the Third Quarter of the Bezalel Constellation.” He waved his hand again. “Ah, what am I saying? You won’t know anything about that.”

“I didn’t mean to take one of your personal abilities, sir.”

“Eh? Well, this dungeon chest is Unique grade. If I’m going to give you a gift, it must be so rare only one individual can possess it at any given time.” The man’s eyes twinkled merrily. “I’d like you to have it.”

The muscles in Rin’s jaw tensed, the only visible sign of his inner turmoil.

A unique rarity chest, and I get an ability that creates clothes? Ugh, what a waste!

At Craven’s eager prodding, Rin reluctantly absorbed the skill stone, then concentrated on what his clothes looked like. It took a couple of tries, and there was no denying the moment he got it right. A swirl of essence appeared over his naked body, congealing into an exact replica of his cotton shirt and woolen breeches.

“Boring!” exclaimed the old man, chuckling to himself. “Don’t be afraid to experiment. Lots of ways to think outside the box with clothes, but no one ever tries it.” He tapped his temple. “Remember, anything you can imagine. Just think of the possibilities!”

The god man withdrew a pocket watch from inside his robe. “Time’s almost up.” He held up his right forefinger. “I’ll grant you one question. Be quick about it.”

Rin’s mind whirled at the prospect, and he wrung his hands.

What do you ask a god?

“What’s the fastest way to get stronger?” he blurted.

Craven shook his head and settled into the wingback chair. “The young and foolish. You should have asked for the best way to become stronger, not the fastest. Think of your teammates earlier and how they surpassed you. They came into their strength faster. But now you have something extraordinary with Transmutation. Something better.” He leaned back, opened his book, and his glowing pipe reappeared from nowhere, slotting into the fingers of his left hand. His body was becoming transparent, fading away as his exit drew near. “Therein lies your answer. Seek the rarer path. A Legendary ability is worth a thousand common ones. A Unique ability, even more so.” He pointed his pipe at Rin. “Remember that when creating clothes for yourself. It’s far more than a basic utility skill.”

Craven became even more transparent, and Rin tilted his head, feeling a surge of boldness now that the god was leaving. “You know about my teammates from earlier. You’ve been watching me, haven’t you? Watching me walk your path of secrets.” Rin hiked his shoulders, holding his hands out to the side. “Why? What’s so special about me walking your path?”

“Because my boy …”

The god clamped his pipe in the crook of his mouth and faded to nothingness. Only his whisper remained.

“You’re the only one.”