Chapter 003
Bento Area Dungeon
I woke up to the sounds of a hammer meeting steel. It really threw me. I was expecting to be home with my mom, ready for her to make one of the random foods she always chose, while dad got his side table ready for yet another card game. Mom and I would always lose to dad at cards but it brought him so much joy to be the best at that one little thing that we never bothered to even try to learn more. Even if we did and let dad win he would have just pretended it was his immense skill that won the day. The dreams I had reminded me of him and mom, two wonderful people doing their best to raise a willful girl in the modern age. I tried to focus on them, remembering their likes and dislikes, and after a while it all just kind of dissipated, leaving me alone in the loft with gentle light streaming in through cracks as I thought about my previous life. Damn. I miss mom and dad enough that I cry to myself while I’m waking up.
Are they happy, in that other world? Their marriage wasn’t the best before me, somehow my coming into being solidified their relationship. I died.. murdered. Before that they took to raising me like it was their reason to live. Most of what I know is because they always told me the truth, they didn’t hold anything back. I remember being 5 or 6 years old and my pet frog died. They could have told me he went to a different place, a place like heaven. They could have lied to me. But they took me aside and told me about what happened. They explained to me that Francy was a frog that lived in water, and that taking him out of his habitat was too much for him, he wasn’t able to live. I remember crying, because Francy was always there and he would no longer be there. I remember my dad and mom holding me, and momma telling me that death is part of life, that Francy was part of that and he would be on the other side with other tadpoles and frogs. How much of what she said was right? How much of death is a part of life? I hope she was right. Francy deserved better than what he got. Regardless of whether he was a frog or not.
The hammer meeting steel reverberated through my head, throwing off all the thoughts I had previously. I sat up and listened to the constant pounding of the hammer and my mind cleared as I thought about where I was. I’m in a loft. Gerty’s loft. My life is different than it was before. Mom and dad are on the other side, wherever that side is. I breathe in deep and try to meditate to come back to myself. After a while I’m able to disassociate with the pain of missing my parents. I breath in deeply and calm myself. I also get a notification at the same time.
[NEW SKILL LEARNED: MEDITATE]
I Sit there honestly unhappy that such a skill could come from me remembering my past life. Mom and dad are worth more than a skill gain. With nothing else to focus on and with a heavy heart I descend the loft’s ladder and exit the barn.
Coming out of the barn I look around and it’s surprising how awake and busy the world is. Blacksmithing is going on down the road at what I can only guess is the only actual blacksmith in Bento. People going to and fro, many holding items they may want to trade with others. As someone from a modern city most of it is lost on me. I just sit back and watch, almost no one sees me near the barn so it’s perfect for people watching.
A while later Gerty comes out and sits beside me. She looks at me, almost through me, and starts up a conversation. “So you are heading to the dungeon today right dear? We didn’t talk about it much but it seemed like that’s what you want. If so, I can point you in the right direction.”
The morning has been pretty emotional for me so I just accept what she says. “Yes Gerty, thank you. I need to be ready to defend myself so the dungeon it is.”
She looks at me with penetrating eyes. “Alright dear. Everyone has a path in this word. I know you will find your way. If you want to visit the dungeon it’s actually quite simple, the hunters marked trees with red cloth bands so it’s easy enough to find, just follow the bands through the forest to the west and you will be there in no time.”
I look at Gerty, who looks unhappy to let me go, and smile softly while I put my hand out to hold hers. “Thank you Gerty, I’ll come back ready for anything!” I say.
She lets me go and says “I know dear. You just work on yourself, that’s all that matters. As long as you do well I’ll be happy.”
I smile at her and bow gently and state “Thank you Gerty,” and I walk off toward the dungeon before she has time to answer. I walk to the west out of town as the few up and about townsfolk look at me strangely.
Following the red banded trees isn’t hard. Finding the dungeon takes me 20 minutes and almost no effort. I walk up to what looks like a crowd but is actually only 5-10 men arguing about who is going in first. I stand to the sidelines watching what seems to be a common ritual. I shake my head and just look for the entrance to skip all this Bento town drama. I come upon a table where a young woman is sitting. She’s short with straight black hair to her shoulders, quite tan, skinny and not very athletic. She had piercing green eyes and didn’t really look like anyone else in the village, all of them with mostly brown hair and brown eyes. If I had to guess I would put her at 19 years old which would make us the same age. She seems to be done with everything around her so I can’t help but go up to her and ask what is going on.
“Um, hey I’m Nyla. So is it okay for me to just go into the dungeon?”
“Ahh, excuse me, I’m Emma and the short answer would be yes you can get in easily.” She said, blushing while looking up at me with surprise. She probably hasn’t seen anyone from outside the village in so long that I’m an oddity to her! “The long answer is that the hunters and warriors from Bento have made it a pain to enter because they have to argue with each other, so hold on one second and I’ll make sure you can enter unimpeded.” I have no idea how to react but Emma stands on her table and addresses all the people who are standing around. “HEY, BENTO! You all come here to do what you do, which is mostly stand around and pretend you’ve been toiling away in the dungeon all day when you get back home. I know all of you of course as you all know me. But there’s a new person who needs access to the dungeon, so how about y’all just chill the heck out while she enters? Not like half of you are going to enter and that’s a fact, but if you let her pass without drama I won’t tell your wives how you decide to hang out at the entrance instead of going in and doing any work!” All the men that we’re standing around looked embarrassed for having been called out by her so boldly.
I am again at a loss. “Wow Emma that was a lot haha. I just wanted them to move out of my way but that works too! Thank you!”
“No problem! They always stand around and I’m supposed to accept that! I’m out here to note anything, um, noteworthy that comes out of the dungeon but it’s the most boring job in the whole world because it’s so rare for something to be noteworthy!” She looked totally put out for having a job that basically entailed her sitting there all day doing nothing, meanwhile I would have loved that instead of the part-time job at the burger joint I had previously.
“So Emma do you ever go in the dungeon? If so can I get any tips? I’d really appreciate it” I smile and lean in closer to her like she’s a confidante. I’m hopeful that I can get more info out of her. My plan made me slightly embarrassed as she shyly blushed while looking at me.
“Um uh um..” She’s practically mesmerized which I really don’t get I don’t think I’m that pretty but my charisma stat did start out higher than I think is normal so maybe that has something to do with it. I decide to tease her a little and change my smile to a gentle smirk and wink at her and her face turns a shade of red. “Umm..” She looks around and leans in a little closer and whispers to me. “I’m not supposed to go in until I’m finished with my weapons training but sometimes I sneak in at night when no one is around. There’s nothing to worry about on the first floor and if you have weapons training the second floor will be fine too but still be careful! Oh and I don’t know what you know about dungeons but sometimes they can have secrets, so if you see something out of place it might be a clue or a chance for a better reward.” She bites her lip and leans back in her chair to put some distance between us like she can’t believe she told me that she sneaks in the dungeon.
“Wow that’s great to know! Are the secrets like one time things? Like if someone else already found it will it be gone? You’re really knowledgeable Emma and of course your secret is safe with me.” I say as I wink at her again.
Emma stammers as she replies. “Y-yeah its gone after because it’s usually something worthwhile or unique. Dungeons start spawning creatures again after a couple days but the secrets are one and done!”
“Oh okay! I really appreciate it Emma! I’ll come say hi again when I come back out! See you in a bit!” I felt a little bad because I think I just charisma’d her into a little crush haha, oops! She’s my type too, ugh. Too soon for that I don’t know how that would go down in this kind of world, it seems to be a bit medieval so I’ll have to be careful about my preferences for now until I know that is accepted here. Better safe than sorry, at least until I’m strong enough to make it not a problem even they think it is!
“O-okay bye Nyla stay safe in there!” She waves as I walk off. What a lil cutie. I wave back and then stroll towards the area the men are all standing around, assuming the portal is close by them. Before I get a few steps I feel a mental pull like I missed out on something and so I take the hint and think “report”
[STAT GAIN: +1 CHARISMA]
Oh boy, I’m going to be in trouble if I flirt with every cute girl just to get stat gains. Not the worst way to level a stat though hehe. I continue on past the men who watch me as I get near the portal that I can now see, it’s magical shimmering at the base of a large tree quite obvious. I step up to it and push my hand out towards the magic. The moment my hand touches it I get a notification.
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[DO YOU WISH TO ENTER BENTO AREA DUNGEON?]
I mentally accept “yes” and my vision goes black for a second before I’m standing in a stone room about 25 by 25 feet. There’s a wooden door in the middle of the wall in front of me and looking behind me I can see the shimmering of the portal. The only things in the room are torches lining the wall. Pulling my sword out of its sheath I walk to the door, shaking off the nerves that start creeping up and open the door slowly and quietly. The next room appears to be a long cavern hallway. It dark winding walls are lit up by torches in sconces. I’m on edge worrying about what I’ll find, but so far doesn’t look like there’s anything that I can see that’s a danger. Keeping my sword at the ready, I walk cautiously into the cavern. The area near the portal must be clear so that people can get ready to proceed through the dungeon.
I walk on for about five minutes before I hear the first monster, what I believe to be its shuffling feet. Advancing slowly to make sure that amount heard I notice up ahead a green creature that looks remarkably similar to the goblin I that was killed in the woods. I [ASSAY] the creature to see [COMMON GOBLIN LEVEL 1] so it seems I was right. It’s currently facing away from me shambling along so I decide to try and sneak attack it. Slowly creeping up I’m only a few feet away when I accidentally kick a rock alerting the goblin to my presence. As it’s turning around I run forward yelling “HYAH!” and thrust my sword at it. The sword takes it directly in the chest while the goblin has a look of surprise on its face but the attack didn’t kill so I pull back for another swing while it is screaming at me. Swinging down in a rush I take the goblin in the neck with my sword while it stares at me with anger and falls down dead. I’m shaking from the adrenaline and look up to see a second goblin coming my way, probably alerted due to the yelling both me and the previously defeated goblin were doing. It’s still a good 20 feet away so I point at it and let off a fireball. The fireball takes the goblin right in the face and sets it on fire while I watch, grimacing at how gruesome that is. Its face on fire, it seems the goblin has forgotten all about me as it runs in circles yelling, so I decide to put it out of its misery. But when I point at it to let another fireball fly it slumps to the ground dead from the added damage it sustained from fireball’s secondary effect.
Looking around to make sure no more creatures are coming I slump to the ground to let the adrenaline rush end. I knew fighting would be hectic but I didn’t even get hit and I’m shaking like a leaf! Is this something adventurers get used to? Or even normal people, since they need to come in here to get materials? Thinking over this I look at my HUD to see my status.
HEALTH: 20/20 MANA: 19/24 STAMINA: 19/24
Not bad for health, not getting hit is wonderful! Stamina down, assuming that’s from swinging the sword. Mana from fireball obviously. Okay so nothing out of the ordinary I think as I mentally vocalize “report”.
[SKILL LEVEL GAINED: SNEAK IS NOW LEVEL 3]
[SKILL LEVEL GAINED: ONE-HANDED SWORDS IS NOW LEVEL 3]
[SKILL LEVEL GAINED: (WEAK)FIREBALL IS NOW LEVEL 3]
[COMMON GOBLIN DEFEATED]
[COMMON GOBLIN DEFEATED]
Pretty good, was hoping for another level though. Looks like it won’t be THAT easy haha. Sneak gain, that was before the fight probably when I was attempting a sneak attack, glad to see the system is intuitive enough not to distract even before the fight truly began! Leaning over I touch the corpse and loot it, then get up and loot the second goblin as well.
[RECEIVED: ROWANWOOD: 10]
[RECEIVED: ROWANWOOD: 10]
Seems you don’t get much from these goblins. Hey every bit or rowanwood counts! At least I hope it does, not having been anywhere that I can purchase anything, it could be worthless currency for all I know. Sigh. Nothing to do but level up save all the money and hope it keeps fed clothed and housed me until I can start earning silver and gold!
Moving on after my stamina regenerates I decide to move a bit faster. Not getting cocky it’s just that I know two fireballs should be enough for one level one monster and my sword is good for another so I shouldn’t be too hampered in speed, plus the faster I kill the faster I get to leveling. Coming around the next corner of the cavern tunnel in my crouch walk I see three wolves chewing on something, I think the wolves are fighting goblins again just like that one in the forest, which means this is my chance to get a sneak attack in! Mentally preparing I take a small breath then let three fireballs fly as fast as I can aim them. The first hits the leftmost wolf in its butt and the wolf next to it gets the AOE splash, just before the second fireball hits it in the side. The third wolf takes the last fireball to the head after receiving splash damage from the second fireball as well. Both the leftmost and rightmost wolves drop to the ground seemingly dead while the middle wolf turns to me on fire and growls menacingly and a shiver goes up my spine. This one is scary! I frantically assay the wolf and see that its [Alpha Wolf LVL 2] and realize its stronger than the others and that’s why it didn’t go down as fast.
The wolf, noticing my hesitation comes at me, an angry growling flaming mass of muscle. When he’s just a few feet from me standing there ready with my sword he jumps at me and I frantically jump to the side, rolling out of the way in a heap before getting back to my feet as he comes back around towards me. This time I go to him and swing my sword at him, but he hops to the side and bites at me, getting my left arm in the process. The pain is so shocking that I yell out and in a kneejerk response I backhand him in the face which just seems to make him angrier. I swing down again with my sword and this time clip his leg enough to do damage but he bites at me again and I drop the sword as his teeth graze my fingers. Startled to be standing there without mana or a weapon I use the knowledge I have from years of too many martial arts and kickboxing classes at the YMCA after school to hit him under the jaw with a front snap kick. It was just a reflex from being disarmed but the kick smashed into the wolf knocking him back and down. I quickly picked up my sword and got ready but the wolf stayed down. I could sense that he was dead and the battle was over so I slumped over in relief, and as I was doing so my wounds all closed immediately. Astounded and confused I pulled up the report.
[SNEAK ATTACK CRITICAL HIT ON COMMON WOLF: DOUBLE DAMAGE]
[SKILL LEVEL GAINED: (WEAK)FIREBALL IS NOW LEVEL 4]
[SKILL LEVEL GAINED: ONE-HANDED SWORDS IS NOW LEVEL 4]
[COMMON WOLF DEFEATED]
[COMMON WOLF DEFEATED]
[SKILL LEARNED: DODGE]
[INNATE SKILL DETECTED; UPGRADING ACCORDINGLY: SKILL LEARNED: UNARMED COMBAT LEVEL 24]
[ALPHA WOLF DEFEATED]
[LEVEL UP! NEW LEVEL IS 3. YOU GAIN 2 ATTRIBUTE POINTS AND ONE SKILL POINT]
What a lot to take in! Level 24 Unarmed Combat because it’s an innate skill? I guess dedicating 2 hours a day 5 days a week since the age of 11 to going to the YMCA to practice martial arts and kick boxing really paid off. Wish I could thank dad for being over-protective and worrying about my safety otherwise I wouldn’t have the skill to use right now! By far my highest skill! But I wonder if it’ll do as much damage as a sword? One way to find out, though I’m going to wait until my mana regenerates to see in case it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. I loot all 3 corpses and receive:
[RECEIVED: WOLF PELT: 2]
[RECEIVED: ALPHA WOLF PELT: 1]
[RECEIVED: WOLF MEAT: 3]
Nothing big though I certainly hope to find some wood or something to burn so I can cook some of this meat when my rations get low. Okay, so let’s look at these skills. I focus on Unarmed Combat to get a description.
[UNARMED COMBAT IS THE MARTIAL USE OF HANDS, FEET, ARMS, LEGS, ELBOWS, KNEES, HEAD, OR ANY OTHER PART OF THE BODY AS A WEAPON. THE HIGHER THE LEVEL THE MORE DAMAGE AND CONTROL. HIGHER STRENGTH WILL GRANT ADDITIONAL DAMAGE. HIGHER LEVELS ALLOW YOUR UNARMED ATTACKS TO HIT INCORPOREAL BEINGS AND WILL ALSO ALLOW YOU TO USE YOUR BODY AS A “MAGICAL WEAPON” AGAINST BEINGS WHO DO NOT TAKE DAMAGE FROM NON-MAGICAL ATTACKS. SYNERGY BONUS WITH DODGE SKILL]
So if I’m reading this right, I can be like a badass kick boxer who punches dragons? That does sound delightful! Still, it’s a pretty high level already I’m going to have to see it in action before I commit to a way of fighting. I still think being a swordfighter or mage would be cool. Plus no weapon bonuses if I’m just using my body! Lots to think about. Okay let’s check dodge.
[DODGE IS BOTH A PASSIVE AND ACTIVE ABILITY. ALLOWS USER TO MOVE OUT OF THE WAY OF ATTACKS WITHOUT SUSTAINING DAMAGE. HIGHER LEVELS WILL ALLOW YOU TO DODGE FASTER AND FARTHER, GAINING AN ADVANTAGEOUS POSITION OVER ENEMIES. AT VERY HIGH LEVELS HAS THE ABILITY TO GIVE THE USER THE ALMOST PRECOGNITIVE ABILITY TO KNOW WHEN AN ATTACK IS GOING TO BE LEVELED AGAINST THEM, ALLOWING THE ATTACK TO BE DODGED. AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS THIS INCLUDES INSTANT-TARGET MAGIC BASED ATTACKS WHICH ARE USUALLY NOT ABLE TO BE EVADED AGAINST. SYNERGY BONUS WITH UNARMED COMBAT SKILL]
Ooh that would be good with unarmed combat, dodging and punching like a maniac. That sounds really appealing! I put my 2 stat points into strength since that adds damage to unarmed attacks, and because I really want unarmed to be as good as possible so I can level faster I put my one skill point into that.
[UNARMED COMBAT REACHES LEVEL 25; SECOND TIER REACHED. SKILL ADVANCED AND BECOMES ENHANCED UNARMED COMBAT. SKILL USE STAYS THE SAME BUT THE FOLLOWING IS GAINED: UNARMED ATTACKS COUNT AS MAGICAL ATTACKS WHEN NECESSARY. DAMAGE TO INCORPOREAL BEINGS WITH UNARMED ATTACKS NOW POSSIBLE. BONUS APPLIED TO DAMAGE BY STRENGTH IS DOUBLED.]
So what I’m getting from this is I’m a badass? I’m okay with this. 25 seems to be a skill advancement level, looking forward to what happens to my other skills when they get to that level! Time to continue on and see if unarmed combat works as well as I think it should.
Sheathing my sword and walking down the cavernous corridor the ceiling starts to get lower and lower as the sides of the cave move in as well, and soon it’s almost a stone hallway, not very cave-like anymore. Walking along the cave becomes a stone hallway, completely rectangle, and ahead of me there is another wooden door. I open it to see a room about 60 feet wide, 30 feet front to back, with a stone circle in the middle and in the circle a wood campfire is burning with a pot on a metal stand set up over it. Before I have time to look at what else is in the room I focus on the two goblins sitting at the fire. I move into the room and they both look up at me startled. I try to clear my head of the worries I’m having about going into this unarmed and focus on the unarmed combat ability, it’s at a high enough level that I can feel the knowledge about how to fight unarmed like it’s always been a part of me. As the goblins start coming towards me, both with swords, I slide into a ready stance and wait. The moment the goblin on the right gets close enough to me I whip my foot around giving him a hard side-kick to the head and I hear the crack of bones breaking as he falls away in the direction I kicked him. I’m stunned for a moment at the power of the kick as I get back into my ready stance and wait for the other goblin that stopped in its tracks shocked when I killed his friend in one hit without a weapon.
“Hey ugly, come at me wimp!” I shout at the 3 foot green creepy looking thing, amped up by my newfound power. He rushes at me screaming incomprehensibly and swings his sword wildly at me, as he does I lean back out of the way, come back in smacking the sword out of his hand then bring my right fist up and punch him squarely in his face. The power of the punch snaps his head back and breaks his neck and he crumples to the ground. Looking at my fists I say “Okay so now I can kick ass even if all my weapons are taken away for some reason, good to know. Because... I AM THE WEAPON!” I shout raising my fists in the air. With no one else around to share in my happiness I realize I’m just being silly and bring my hands down and get to looting. Again the goblins have nothing but rowanwood coins, 10 each. Wonder when the first item I can equip will drop? Ah well, on to more grinding! But before I do that I mentally switch Skill Link to attach Dodge to Enhanced Unarmed Combat.