Ch 12 new level new world
The sunlight warms on my face as I walk forwards. A hand on my shoulder stops me.
“We need to give you the credits as promised. Then you can head home.” Sorko says. Giving me a worried look. I smiled at him. My mind is a little fuzzy right now. Everything seems slow. I nod.
“By my count we owe you 470 credits. Not sure we can spilt that but me and Retil have to give you the full 300. Then each of these lunks gives you 60. That should put us even.” Sorko tells me. Math seems beyond me right now, so I agree.
You are being repaid due to previous agreement by the following:
Rolan Sorko
150 Credits
Michael Retil
150 Credits
Daniel Wiliams
60 Credits
John Taylor
60 Credits
Samuel Moore
60 Credits
Agree
Disagree
I select agree. Thanking them as I do. “I hope ya’ll can outfit more or solo the dungeon too. 150 credits per run isn't too bad either.”
Retil nods eagerly. “I'll likely sign up to solo every 12 hours, then buy gear for someone else to run it. 145 to someone as a start-up is pretty harsh, except then they can solo it too. We keep doing that.” he trails off. Yeah, it is pretty harsh, but worth it, I think. If they had any crafters, they could be selling items, but I don’t think anyone signed for that.
“I think I'll head off home. I need to lay down for a while. That took a lot out of me. More than I thought it would.” I tell them honestly. Not mentioning how I could level now. I think I'll keep that to myself for a while more. I headed to where I parked my car. I really did need a nap.
***
Getting home didn’t take as long as I thought it would. Traffic seems lighter than normal. It feels like the calm before the storm, however. I pull off my gear and pull on lounge wear. There is still something I haven't done yet. I pulled my phone and called Lucas. He answers.
“What do you want after your shift?” He sounds like himself even on the phone.
“I'm sorry to say I might have to quit. But there is an alternative to me working there and I was hoping you'd take it. I can run you through the dungeon so you can get credits. Enough that you could solo the dungeon.” I hear a grunt.
“What do you mean quit? Thers nothing wrong with this job!” he gets angry. That’s fair.
“Can you be awake and ready to go at 6am tomorrow? I'll run you through the dungeon and explain everything. I promise this is important. More than you can know.” he grumbles.
“Fine whatever. You'll tell my why the dungeon is so damn important, yeah?”
“Yeah. Its world changing and life ending. And I don’t want you to fall behind. The others either. But I can help them too, you're the first.” he grumbles some more. Even as a boss he was a good guy. I don’t think he realizes what is going to happen. But I do. And I already figured out a way for him to make it through.
“Fine, where to meet?” he asks.
“The shop or the dungeon. Either works. Dungeon would be better. I'll bring everything you’ll need. Just be ready to see some unpleasantness.” he grumbles some more.
“Fine. Meet you there.” he hangs up.
That was easier than I thought. Suspiciously easy in fact. He might have an idea of what's actually happening. I feel bad for him. I want him to succeed. Maggie, Mikey and Kate too. Can't help Kate if she's under 20 though. Maybe something else. Maggie will likely have the most trouble with it. I find it hard to believe she has a violent bone in her body. Maybe her husband? I could run him through instead. Maybe get Mikey out of his parent’s house.
For now, my bed beckons me. I feel exhausted even though I didn’t use much mana. The fighting didn’t seem to another me all that much either. I think it’s the level thing. I need to look into it further. But for now, bed.
***
I groan as I wake up. Everything hurts. I have no idea why. There's a screen in front of my face but it's too blurry for me to make out. There's a banging on my door. I stumbled out of bed, going to answer it.
Its Lucas, and he looks pissed. “What time is it?” he asks me quietly.
I glance around. Looking for a clock. Shrugging I go to my phone. Almost 8am. Shit, no wonder he's pissed. I would be too.
“I'm so sorry! I ran the dungeon last night and got hit in the head. Everything is off right now, and I don’t know why. My skill isn't working right.” I told him. Rubbing my eyes, I get a washcloth and wash my face. The cool water helps clear my head. The screen is still insistently in front of me.
Level 1 promotion
Skill points
10
Credits
5000
Rollover Exp
12.5%
That, that is not what I was expecting this morning. This means leveling is done in your sleep. This means it is an automatic process. That you have no control over. I sigh. Standing straight and facing Lucas.
“I owe you an apology, I really am sorry. I can explain if you want but it would take more in depth than we have time for. If you're still willing to dungeon run with me, we need to go now.”
He still looks angry but gives a sharp nod. “I’ll follow in my car.” he says and walks out. I quickly scrambled into my gear. Wishing I had time to pristine them, but I don’t. I need to get him set up with gear and into the dungeon. Hopefully a 2 man party will be easy. With luck.
***
Finding parking seems harder than usual. The garage now off limits. We were forced to park in a public paid parking a block down. I paid for both of us. It's only fair. I start walking to the bus stop explaining as I go.
“The terminal is at a bus stop, you can interact with the store here. Anything you can think of can be purchases through the store. Weapons, clothes, food. The reason we are starting here is I want you to have a couple of things. I'm paying for them, and you aren't paying me back. I want to set it up so you can run the dungeon on your own. I soloed it and it was pretty easy. With a little practice it shouldn’t be hard at all.” Lucas grumbles at me.
Getting to the stop I pull up the terminal. I asked him. “You ok with medium armor? You'll be able to move around and it's not that heavy, but it offers less protection than heavy does. Light armor is for people who can stand and barrage.”
He gives me a look. “Medium is fine. Anything that will keep me from getting clawed at, I've seen some of those that came out on the news.”
I haven't looked at the news in a couple of days. I should catch up. I went to purchase a full set of scale mail and two auto size. Then a force bolt wand and a gravity wand. Then thinking about it. A fruit flavor, nutrition add-in unlimited use water bottle. I scroll through the items section. No holsters.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
I handed Lucas the shirt, after he put it on, I handed him an auto size tag. He gives me a look.
“it'll make the shirt fit perfect. Same with the leggings. But you can wear those later.” I put them into my inventory. I hold the wands to him and start explaining.
“These are weapon wands. Just aim and shoot. You have to register a trigger word. I suggest something you don’t say often. And not something in another language. This one is force bolt. It shoots a bolt of mana like a gun would. Just bigger, it's for single targets. This one is a gravity wand, it makes an area have the effect of multiplied gravity, to use on multiple mobs.” I handed them over. Pulling out my handy duct tape I roll together a couple of holster for him. Then help him tape them to his legs.
“We're gonna go in as a 2-man party so, you’ll need to be able to help. Even if it's just pointing and shooting. Think of a trigger word for your wands.” I told him. Then start walking towards the guard booth.
As we near the guard in the booth pulls up his clipboard.
“You are aware of possibilities, such as death and dismemberment. There is no one coming to help you. There will be no rescue. Entrance to the dungeon is risking your life and your own cost, are you aware of the terms by which I've described?”
I nod. Lucas looks a little pale.
“Names?” the guard asks.
“Arthur Turner and Lucas Wight” I tell him.
“It is currently 8.20am. I expect to see you before 9am. Good luck.”
He turns away from us. I start walking towards the portal into the dungeon. Lucas follows. For a man in his fifties, he is in good shape. I just hope he gets through this. We step though
The first hallway greets us. The lighting is fine, and the floor is clear. I turn to Lucas. He still looks a little pale.
“Hey, it won't be so hard. I just want you to understand what's going on. This will help. Come on. Ill clear the first room easy.”
He starts following me down the short hallway. Only two goblins in the room. I mutter “riposte, riposte.” quietly. They're both dead.
Lucas gives a shudder. His eyes going distant. I'm not sure what’s going on with him but I'm not too worried right now. We have time. I get him to sit down and pull out the new bottle. Handing it over I talk to him.
“I got this for you. Its fruit roulette. With nutrition add-in. I don’t know what the add-in is, but it's supposed to be good for you. There's been different flavors every time you take a drink so it's pretty fun. Try some.” I nudge the bottle to his open hands.
He picks it up and takes a drink. And splutters. “Why the hell would anyone drink currant juice?” I laugh. Yeah, I haven't got that one.
“Sorry, haven't got that one yet. All I've had was kiwi, orange and mango so far.”
He grumbles at me, more present at least. “Fine, tell me. Why are we here? Really this time. None of this cock-and-bull you need to be.”
I look at him seriously. He looks back at me.
“The world is changing. And we have to change with it. I'm worried about my friends. The people I care about. Which includes you, you grumpy old man. When I said everything is available in the store? I mean food to.” I pulled the platter of chicken from my inventory. “This platter? For six people? Costs six credits. A dungeon runs gets you 150 credits. That’s 150 meals. For one dungeon run. Family of four? That’s a month of food. I don’t think a sandwich shop is going to do well in the new world. I don’t think currency is going to do well in the new world either. But that comes later. For now? I want to start a guild. With you at the head.”
He gives he a queer look. “a guild? Like a grouping of people? To run the dungeon?”
“Yes, a group. Yes, to dungeon, but not just that. Could be a crafters guild too. I don’t know what skills you took but when you level you get more skill points. I gotten. That’s another skill entirely. I could take another crafting skill alone.”
He gives me another look. Then thinks about it. We sit there for a few minutes just in the silence.
“Why tell me here? Why not at the shop? Why did it have to be in the dungeon?” he asks. More curious than anything.
“Because I wanted you to see what it meant to dungeon run before you turned it down. I wanted you to know if you could handle going through the dungeon with or without someone before you said no. Next room I want you to use your gravity wand. And see how it works.” He gave me a nod. We go to stand up.
He takes a deep breath and sighs. “When I was a young man, I wanted to join the Airforce. Become a pilot and fly through the skies. I took a skill that lets me float and another lets me glide. Between them I don’t have to drive anywhere, but it doesn’t seem safe to use them yet. Unless I leave the city. I'd be like a feather on the breeze just going along as I like. Not really flying, but I might get there.”
I look at him. I can understand wanting to fly. Maybe I'll take a movement skill. I don’t really need one. Just need to level up teleport. Maybe a summons? To fight with me so I can run people through the dungeon? That would be interesting. How does summoning work? I'll have to look into it. Or should I pick another craft? Do I want more credits or exp?
We head to the second room. “Have your trigger word?” I asked Lucas. He nods to me, grinning. “Whenever you're ready then, if any are still standing, I'll shoot them.”
He steps into the room and quickly shouts. “Bibble!” got to admit. No idea what that meant. The gravity works well, catching all four in it.
I start clapping. “Well done. See? You can solo the dungeon easily. The fourth room has four goblins. The boss for solo is a hobgoblin and two goblins. You can take them out the same way.” I grin at him. He looks a little green for a moment, but it passes.
“It was surprisingly easy. I thought the system would make it harder?”
“Yeah, you have to remember. This dungeon, like us, is still level zero. It's supposed to be easy. Like getting your feet wet before you jump in.” I tell him.
He nods. And looks around. The rooms are plain.
“I think you should practice using both wands for a bit here. Just have one in each hand and switch which hand is in front of you. That’s how I do it. Just aim and trigger then switch and repeat, until you can do it smoothly.” I told him.
He gets to practicing facing a wall. There is no discernable difference in what he’s doing to the wall which has him, asking a disappointed face.
“You can't damage the dungeon at all I think, no matter what you do to it. It’s a pocket dimension.” I told him. He continues to practice, changing hands often.
After about what feels like 20 minutes, I call it quits. “Let’s continue on. Don’t want to drag this out too long.” I tell him. He gives me a nod and wipes the sweat from his brow. I didn’t really think about that. I not really in shape but I didn’t have trouble keeping up with them yesterday.
We moved down the hall into the next room. “Again, you use gravity and I'll shoot any stragglers.” I speak. He gives a nod and steps into the room. “Bibble!”
Only one left standing, “riposte.” I mutter. Downing in. I check on Lucas. He still looks a little green. Here’s hoping he gets used to it.
“Next room?” I asked him. He nods. We walk forward. There's eight this time.
“I'll use gravity as well. We should be able to catch them all in it. I aim for left side if you get the right?” I asked him. He gives a nod. Looks less green, but still pale.
We step forward together and shout. We catch all but one. Which I quickly down. Alls that’s left is the boss. I don’t know what it is, but I'm hoping it's not mounted.
“Let’s take a quick break here, you want something to eat?” I ask, pulling out the platters I have on hand. He gives me a hard look then sighs.
“You have any cutlery in there or am I eating with my hands?” he asks. I grin. I only have one set, but I don’t mind giving it up to him. I pulled it out and handed him the fork. He snorts and pulls the alfredo to himself. I go for carrots. We sit and eat quietly. I have my water out and his in my inventory. We are just using mine for now. We pass it back and forth commenting on the fruits we get. Apparently, he's not a fan of pineapple.
After we finish eating, I throw everything back into my inventory. “You should think about getting an inventory. It's really great. And skills level too so.”
He nods. “Maybe, there are a few I wanted but too many to choose from.”
I get that. I was super focused on day to day life, I didn’t think about what would come next. I shrug as I stand. Stretching a bit.
“You ready?” I look at him. He gave me a nod. We start to walk down the last hallway. Coming near the door we look into the rom. Two hobgoblins and three goblins. Worse than I was hoping but better than I was expecting. I sigh.
“Ok, you aim for taking out the goblins and I'll try for the hobs. I'm not sure I'll be able to get both so shoot them soon as you can. Bolt only gravity doesn’t work as well, they are fast too.” I told him. He gave me a nod.
We prepare to step through. The goblins stand in front of the hobs, so Lucas has a better chance of getting them all. I aim for the hob to the right. We step through. I shout” riposte, riposte!” aiming for the legs. Luck is with me as it goes down. I quickly turn to the other hob and do the same. I'm less lucky and don’t take out the legs. I do get the arm though. As in I take it off at the shoulder. My aim shouldn't have been that bad.
I see the three goblins are down. Lucas is shooting at the standing hobs it rushes to us. We are both shouting and shooting. It goes down after three hits to its head. I'm grateful having someone with me. I go to the other hob and start sniping its head.
I look around. It's all clear. I give a laugh, then sigh. I look over to check on Lucas, once more he has a distant look on his face. I called his name, and he picked his head up.
“Yeah, sorry. That was a bit much, huh?”
He snorts. “a bit.”
“But now we’re clear and we get the reward, and we leave.” I told him. Hi snorts again.
“Alright, how do we do this?”
The false wall moves out of the way. I walk to it. Licas following.
“a screen will pop up with your reward. I'm not sure which you'll see though.”
He grumbles. “First clear reward can buy a thing. That’s it.”
I wince. “Yeah sorry. That’s what you got the first time through, but you got 150 credits too though. So, it's not too bad?” he grumbles at me. I look at the screen in front of me.
First Time Clear
Reward
Cost
Personal Interface
10000
I dismiss it once again. I might be closer with the level up, but not yet.
Party-2
Clear Reward
150
Contribution
41%
Contribution Reward
30 Exp
Oh, that’s nice. Since there's only two of us, we get better rewards? This seems off though. Wouldn’t a bigger party get better rewards not a smaller one? I suppose it's from more monsters. Still about 60 exp from a dungeon run is nice. I wonder how much exp I need to level again?
I call status.
Name
Level
Experience Gain
Credits
Arthur Turner
1
42.5%
8750
Ooh, lots of credits now. I'll see about getting something nice. Maybe that camper later. For now, we need to leave, and I'll talk to Lucas more about a guild.