Chapter 007
Trials
I fought, and grinded skills and levels. I just kept going, only resting when necessary. After level 4, which was thankfully more grasslands with higher level goblins and the occasional goblin commander elite, we made our way to level 5. That level was similar to the first floor of the dungeon, only the wolves were angrier, the goblins more sturdy and vicious and of course higher level.
Making our way to level 6 of the dungeon brought us to a straight 40 foot wide corridor with no exits or offshoots. The monsters here were zombies, including wolves, goblins, and fire hounds. Zombie fire hounds we’re interesting since zombies are classically weak to fire and the other zombies on the level were, but the fire hound zombies seemed to be an exception. These monsters were all between level 8 and 10, and an occasional elite being 11.
Dungeon level 7 was grasslands but night time and no trees. Way more goblins than the previous levels and they were minimum level 10. One commander being 12. It was a good place to grind because every time I took a break to relax or to talk with Pepper I got to look up at the beautiful stars. Completely alien stars to me but still a wonder to look at.
When we got to level 8 I got a system notification that this was the final level of the dungeon and that no one had gotten to this level before, so clearing the level boss I would get a special reward. That sounded nice. This level was a vast open field with low cut grass and a set of new creatures, instead of goblins it was level 13 orcs and they were accompanied by level 12 timber wolves. I was on the level for a long time grinding out levels and skills, and for the first week or two I stayed close by the entrance room so that I would have a place to go to in order to regen and to rest. I wanted all my skills to be top notch so that I could take on this boss, since I knew that a 1v1 against a dungeon boss was ill advised but I wanted that reward badly.
I thought that all the time we spent in the dungeon together would make Pepper bored as hell but to my very delightful surprise she never lost her ‘go get ‘em’ attitude and we got to know each other quite well just from asking random questions. Things like knowing her parents were both strict but caring, that she loved vanilla ice cream plain more than any other flavor, that she secretly wanted to be a ballerina when she was little but gave it up when she realized that she didn’t want to work that hard. She was a lazy little fairy but she had energy to talk, and she was intelligent. She had a head for numbers and a good memory. We got along very well, and I wondered if that was a part of the magic of the contract, it finding the perfect companion for me so that we were in synch.
Nothing surprising happened for the days I was grinding, they just blended together. We eventually traveled further into the last level and worked our way through the monsters, looting and killing and making small barbecues with the wolf meat. I did miss food other than meat though, I kept the rations for emergency. But wolf meat was tasty so I couldn’t really complain. Knowing that my inventory kept things in a stasis we took a few days to make a few roaring barbecues and I cooked up most of the wolf meat I was getting all at once so I would always have fresh hot steaks ready to go. I got a cooking skill out of that which I found hilarious at the time. I also noticed that no other items had dropped so far so they must really be rare and I was just extremely lucky in the beginning.
~~
We could tell we were getting to the end of the level because there was a large stone wall rising up on the horizon so we made our way in that direction.
“Pepps we’ve been in this dungeon a while now, how long do you think it’s been so far? Time is weird in here I can’t really tell.”
-Hmm, I would say that within a margin of error of 2 days we have been in here for two months and 23 days!-
I paused walking mid-step. What the fuck? “Uh.. are you sure about that Pepps, that seems like a lot?”
-It IS a lot! But that’s because you’ve been what you always call ‘grinding them expees’, whatever that means.- She looks at me with fondness while patting my shoulder –I know, it seems like dungeons mess with your scale of time, but thankfully I’m of the fae and we’re less affected! Besides people don’t really age in dungeons not like outside of them, so you should be fine. Not like you’ll spend all your time in here and come out a granny.-
I’m just left wondering why it hasn’t felt like that long at all. “Yeah I guess, just seems excessive. I mean I hit level 16 but I didn’t think I was in here THAT long. Ah well, with the time dilation of dungeons I’ve only been in here less than 20 minutes in the real world anyway so it’s not a big deal. Kinda freaks me out and is exciting at the same time though right?”
-In what way?- She says while looking at me questioningly.
I started walking again while talking. “Well just.. you can live hundreds of lifetimes if you enter a dungeon. It messes with the mind to think about. Like if you’re a high level and you go to a really low level dungeon that has food and water available, you can live off the dungeon and persist there for hundreds of years while not aging. And since you’re much higher level than everything you wouldn’t be in any danger. And since it’s instanced no one can come in and mess with you. A real world year is about 8,760 years in a dungeon.. but you don’t age in a dungeon so there is nothing to kill you. Just imagine how many people there are that are just living either alone or with other people in an instance of a dungeon. Or people running from the law hiding out living hundreds of years evading sentencing. It’s just kind of a mindfuck to think about. ”
Pepper was silent for quite a while. I didn’t bother her because we’ve been traveling together in here so long that the silence can be quite comfortable and I knew she was thinking about what I just said.
-Urg.. why would you put that into my head? That is going to weird me out for the rest of my magically long life! People just living in dungeons forever.. that is insanity. I can’t even imagine what would happen to your brain after a while. Scaaaary! Woo! Where do you come up with this stuff Ny?! Nutjob!-
We both laughed and continued on. Eventually we got to the large stone wall that we had seen on the horizon and as I walked up to it I could see two doors. The left-hand door was simple brown wood with a plaque on it that simply stated “TRIAL”. The right-hand door said nothing, but it was larger than the other and was intricately carved with monsters and people fighting.
“So, right is obviously the boss room. Left is a trial. But I don’t like not having a description.” Walking up to the trial door I put my hand not on the handle but the door itself. When I did so I got a system notification.
[BENTO AREA DUNGEON TRIAL: DEFEAT 5 WAVES OF ENEMIES TO EARN A UNIQUE REWARD. FIRST WAVE OF ENEMIES WILL ALWAYS SPAWN STARTING AT YOUR CURRENT LEVEL. SUBSEQUENT WAVES WILL INCREASE IN LEVEL. CREATURES ARE RANDOMIZED. EACH WAVE HAS A RANDOM CHANCE TO SPAWN A MINI BOSS. FINAL WAVE HAS A BOSS. NO LOOTING, NO ITEM DROP. TRIAL ENDS WHEN YOU DEFEAT FINAL BOSS OR YOU DIE. DEATH WILL EJECT YOU FROM TRIAL BUT YOU WILL NOT SUFFER ANY PERMANENT DAMAGE. MAXIMUM OF 4 PEOPLE IN TRIAL AT ONE TIME.]
I read off the description to Pepper.
-So it’s a safe way to possibly get a unique item? That seems unusually lucky.- She flies over and touches the door like I did -From this description you can’t die so there’s no reason not to try it, other than the feeling of pain if you fail. That’s surprising. It states a unique reward which could be a title, an item, or something else. Really no reason not to try Ny, if you want. I won’t be the one to tell you what to do since there’s a good chance you will die and be ejected and have had the feeling of dying in there, not sure how you will feel about that.-
I wanted to try it, there was no real downside. Well, there WAS one downside, I had already gotten over my previous death, not sure how that would work if I died again, even if it wasn’t permanent and I didn’t lose anything for it. That was the only reason for my hesitation. But really, I knew I was going to try. No guts, no glory, no loot. Even if it stated maximum 4 people, I should be able to solo it, at least I hope. Thinking about the trial I decided to go over my status and check how everything was coming along after almost 3 months.
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NAME: Nyla Darke
TITLE: Dungeoneer
LEVEL: 16
CLASS: Veteran Monk(R)
HEALTH: 72/72 (STR X 2) REGEN (STR/5 + CON/5 + LEVEL) X 3 PER HOUR
MANA: 40/40 (INT X 2) REGEN (WIS/5 + LEVEL) X 3 PER HOUR
STAMINA: 50/50 (CON X 2) REGEN (CON/5) X 3 PER MINUTE
Unallocated Points: 0
STRENGTH: 36
DEXTERITY: 20
CONSTITUTION: 25 NAT AR: 5 (CON/5)
INTELLIGENCE: 20
WISDOM: 15
CHARISMA: 15
SKILLS:
One-Handed Swords: 4
Sneak: 6
Loot: 4
Cooking: 5
Meditate: 12
Dodge: 17 (SL)
Arcane Energy Manipulation: 8
Enhanced Unarmed Combat: 43 (SL)
Monk’s Palm Strike(R): 16
Monk’s Knifehand Strike: 12
Monk’s Projectile Deflection: 4
Monk’s Charged Arcane Attack: 6
SPELLS:
-Fireball: 6
Putting a lot into strength and constitution and evening out the rest a bit was nice. I can lift like a maniac now my strength is pretty much Herculean. That combined with my unarmed combat skill really destroys most anything I punch. I was vain and put a point into charisma as well. My skills mostly all went up by a good amount, and I put all 9 skill points I earned from leveling into Enhanced Unarmed Combat since it’s my main build and I’m wondering what might happen at level 50. I spent an entire day grinding dodge skills by dodging an elite I found until my stamina was getting low then ending them, resting, then finding a new elite and repeating my previous strategy. I was up to 480 copper and 750 rowanwood thanks to the higher leveled goblins. 180 cooked wolf meat and 65 raw as well. I was doing pretty good on loot that I was sure I could sell in a city once we got out of here.
But before then, I was going to attempt this trial. Though.. hmm. It says no looting no item drop. It doesn’t say anything about XP though? “Hey Pepps, two questions. Do you think this trial gives XP?”
-I’m sure it does, if you’re killing things your level you should be able to level up from that. Why?-
“Well, first, my second question. Do you think that the trial is repeatable if you fail it?”
-Uh.. from what little I know about trials on this planet I think it would be but I’m not certain at all! Why are you asking these questions? Do you not want to attempt the trial?-
“Thing is, maybe I’m trying too hard to game the system but.. if the trial is repeatable and if you don’t lose the XP you get while in the trial, then this is the perfect infinite loop leveling mechanic right here. All you have to do is die on the fifth wave and you can go again, and that’s four waves of enemies starting on your level. You just have to deal with the pain of y’know.. dying multiple times. Again all that hinges on the trial giving XP that you keep and whether or not it’s repeatable.”
Pepper was silent with her little mouth open in an O for a good thirty seconds before replying. -Ny how do you even think of these things? I mean it could work but you’re a crazy woman! Do you know how traumatic dying over and over would be?!-
“I imagine it wouldn’t be fun and it’s not like I want to feel that pain, be it physically or mentally, but I think it would be the perfect way to level up quite high very quickly. I could be one of the strongest around right off the bat!”
Pepper looked at me doubtfully. -Well, it’s your choice even if I think you’re insane. Besides it might not work and you miss out on a possible unique item! But it’s up to you.-
While I would like a unique item, if this method worked I would have a place available to me at all times where I could come to level up. I can always get items someplace else but this might be the only location to have this kind of trial setup. But I was getting ahead of myself, it might not even work. Time to find out!
I walked over to the trial door and I grabbed the handle. When I opened the door a blinding white light hit me and when I was able to focus again I was in the middle of a large 100 by 100 yard room with brown stone walls going up about 50 feet. The ceiling was entirely glass allowing plenty of sun to shine through. There were 3 doors that I could see, 1 on the left and one on the right about 75 percent of the way down towards the other end of the room, and one directly in front of me on the far end wall right in the middle. The floor was made of some type of light grey stone that felt like it had good grip but I could see myself getting road rash on if I wasn’t careful during the upcoming fight. It reminded me of concrete. The whole room was completely empty, not a single chair, torch, table, or decoration could be seen. Before I could move or decide to go to one of the doors there was a system notification:
[FIRST WAVE BEGINS IN 10 SECONDS]
So it’s like that huh? Nice, if it notifies me before every wave I won’t finish the trial by accident while testing my XP grind theory! Shaking my arms and lightly jumping up and down to get loose and get myself pumped up for the fight I waited 8 seconds before dropping into my stance, ready for whatever comes.
As I prepared I noticed the doors on the left and right disappeared and in their place was a black nothingness. It was so black that it almost looked like it was eating the surrounding light. While I was wondering about that phenomenon monsters walked out of each dark doorway, two from each door. They were lizard-like creatures, standing on their hind legs and balancing in their tails that were long enough to slide across the ground for a foot or so behind them. They were about 3 and a half feet tall and moved with a very snake-like grace, slithering left and right as they walked forward.
I was surprised it was only four enemies but as I Assayed them I saw they were all my level. [ADULT WARRIOR GECKO LVL 16] was what was shown, which made me raise my eyebrow, since they looked nothing like geckos as I knew them. As there were only four I got ready and started to move towards them. I was still a bit defensive as they were my level but I didn’t want to play it too safe, as long as I got one level during this first attempt I would be able to figure out if my theory worked.
When the first gecko got semi-close I started charging my Monk’s Charged Arcane Attack, powering it up until I hit the maximum of 5 seconds. I waited until the gecko was upon me and as it lunged at me with its large mouth I gave it a quick uppercut to the jaw. It almost missed as the gecko was relatively agile and tried to move out of the way but thankfully I at least hit a glancing blow and tore off the left side of its jaw. It screeched in pain and swiped at me with its claws but I dodged back then came up to Knifehand at its shoulder, cleaving into the beast. As it fell over two more geckos arrived on either side of their fallen ally, both lunging at me at the same time. I quickly dodged back, then hopped back a second time even further, then shot two fireballs, one at each enemy in front of me. Their hissing showed they weren’t too happy with that but before they could recover I came in quickly at the one on the left and threw three quick palm strikes into its chest, caving it in. As it fell over gurgling I sliced my hand to the right at the angered singed gecko and did a perfect Knifehand strike at its throat, taking its head off in one go.
Hopping back again to confront the last gecko I realized my mistake when I was hit from behind and dazed for a moment. Apparently the final beast had slithered around to get behind me while I was occupied with the other two. Falling forward I attempted to recover quickly and did a front roll that I turned into a dodge to escape its second attack. Noticing my health it seems it did 20 damage to me in one go, more than a quarter of my health! I guess fighting things my own level isn’t as easy as the rest of the dungeon has been, makes me feel like I’ve been getting complacent.
Rolling away and getting back up to my feet quickly I got into my stance as the final gecko came at me again, this time I waited for the attack and dodged to the right, placing a couple quick jabs into its side as it went past. The thing hissed at me angrily and came at me again, this time I dodged left and used my Knifehand strike to slice down its back. As it screeched I hopped back to gain some space and let go two more fireballs in quick succession before it even turned towards me. Both hit one after the other and the gecko fell down dead.
Just before the final kill I felt slightly winded and the pain in the back of my head was a bit annoying, but overall not bad. After that last kill though I leveled to 17 and was healed to maximum again. It felt great to not have the headache of being punched directly in the back of the head. Before I could think anything else a notification popped up:
[SECOND WAVE BEGINS IN 10 SECONDS]
Okay so at least I know I’ll be notified, though 10 seconds wouldn’t be much recovery time if I hadn’t just leveled up! Preparing myself I waited until the next wave started and when the monsters came out of the side doors this time there were 3 each door and they looked like orcs. An Assay proved me correct with [ORCISH GRUNT LVL 17] and I wondered how this was going to play out. 6 on one was not going to be fun! As they came at me they surrounded me slowly and I was not liking how they seemed to have much better tactics, after all this was just wave 2 what would the rest of the waves be like?!
Looking around I was worried, this wasn’t looking good. I knew I couldn’t really die but that didn’t stop the fear I felt at being surrounded by these lumbering orcish beasts. At that point I also noticed that Pepper was nowhere to be found and while she wasn’t a fighter it still felt wrong for my companion not to be here, and that made me feel even worse. Alone and surrounded by orcs that were closing in slowly, half with swords and the other half with clubs, I was starting to freak out. Calm and collected went right out the window. My mind couldn’t focus because of the fear and as the orcs came upon me I crouched down as their weapons came at me.
Getting hit my multiple swords and clubs hurt more than anything I had felt in this lifetime and it made something in me break out of fear and anger. I screamed out in rage as I felt a powerful energy leave my body and everything around me exploded out in a flash. I looked around at the wave of devastation as my vision got blurry and I dropped to the ground. Through the pain I was able to focus enough to notice my health at 6/72 and a debuff.
[BLEEDING INFLICTED: 3 DAMAGE PER SECOND for 5 SECONDS]
I didn’t have time to think about how that was more health than I had left at the moment or how I had a bunch of notifications waiting before my health hit zero and I felt the pain of death for the second time.