“But I.” Ann muttered. Jake walked over to her and said, “Go outside. I will be out to talk to you in a minute.”
Ann’s shoulders slumped as she left the hut, closing the door behind her. “It’s time to get to work. What will you need? And how long will it take?”
“If possible, I will need a fresh sample of the venom. If I can get that, it won’t take long, maybe a day, maybe two. Without it, I can’t estimate.”
“I will see what I can do. Do you need any help? I can send someone in to assist.”
“Unless you’ve got someone who can ether us alchemy or can heal, then no, they will just get in the way.”
Jake nodded and said, “I’ll go ask around.”
Leaving the hut, Jake looked over at the lady standing beside the door. “Ann, are there any healers or alchemists in the camp?”
“No.”
“Okay then. Do you know where the snake that bit Eric is now?”
“Probably still at the entrance to whatever we found.”
“Do you know how to get there?”
“Yes.”
“Well, where is it?”
“150 km north of the camp, the entrance is located inside a cave. Just as we entered, we were ambushed. I think it might be a dungeon.”
“Why do you say that?” Jake asked. Ann went silent for a second then said, “system notification. Once we escaped the cave, I got a notification that I failed the level one cave dungeon and that I would be unable to re-enter the dungeon till five years had passed.”
Jake was getting excited as she explained what they saw. From what Jake had read about dungeons in a newly integrated universe, they would start off at a low level and as the newly integrated universes people’s power levels increase, the dungeon difficulty would also increase. Once you complete a dungeon, you won’t be able to enter it for over a hundred years. Jake read that it’s always better to clear a dungeon as soon as you can in your leveling journey, because the dungeon master title increases with each finished dungeon. This was the prize Jake was looking forward to the most. Sadly, the book he read didn’t say what you would get from the increase in the title, but to Jake, even if it was just one more point in class or profession levels, it would be worth it.
After being told about the dungeon Jake asked Ann to take some people with her to go find a healer or an alchemist to help Eric, he also told her that Jayne would work on neutralising the venom while he will go to the dungeon to get a sample from the snake.
Jake was flying just over the location Ann said the dungeon was. Beneath him was a dense forest. There didn’t seem to be any area he could put even the small runabout down, so he travelled further north until he found a safe landing zone. It was about 5 km north of the cave. A small clearing in mountainous terrain.
One thing that constantly surprised Jake was how much the earth had changed. Not just that the size of the plant changed, but that everything got bigger and even mountains and forests appeared where originally there was none.
Climbing out of the Jake noticed movement in the tree line, pushing out his perception. He could make out the shapes of at least two humanoid forms. One of them moved just inside the maximum range of identity
Identify
Race vampiric converted humanoid bat
Level 125
“Are you friend or foe?” One of the hidden vampiric converted asked.
“I don’t believe I’m your foe. I’ve come to find a snake that injured one of my people and complete a dungeon. It would be nice to have a conversation face to face with no need to yell, don’t you think?” Jake said, hoping he might get help locating the dungeon entrance again.
Emerging from the small clearing, the bat man with vampiric qualities strode forward. The first thing Jake noticed was his pale complexion, then the bat wings. The bat man looked more like a demon than Jake did.
“Are you a human or something else?” the vampiric converted asked
“Bit of both.” Jake replied
“Are you part of the vampiric race then?” the vampiric converted asked
“No, I’m a demon. But before the system happened, I was a human.”
“Demon?” the vampiric converted muttered, his head tilted with confusion.
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“Yes, shall we get past these introductions? My name is Jake Everval, also known as the demon of the past. Pleased to meet you.” Jake said, reaching out his hand
“Franky Viss. Former low class member of the vampiric nation of Kaliningrad.”
“Former?”
“Yes, me and my friends split from them once we knew what they were planning on doing to us.”
“So, quick question: what do you eat? I mean, do you suck blood like in the movies?” the vampiric man started chuckling “we can do that. In fact, it’s the easiest way for us to gain levels. But no, me and my friends don’t do that because it messes with our sanity if we do it all the time.”
“So how do you gain level, then?”
“We hunt beasts and drink their blood to survive.”
“Cool beans, now shall we get to the point? What is it you want from me?” The vampiric converted looked behind him then said “we would like to complete the dungeon but we don’t have the power to do it alone.”
“How do you know that?”
“We watched a group of humans and beast folk enter and only two of them came out alive and one looked to be in a terrible state.”
Jake picked up on what the vampiric converted said. “So you’re saying that more came out, but they weren’t alive? Does that mean they were more like you?”
“Not like us. We are vampires. We have a higher brain. Function, we are not much different from humans. Where they are just Ghouls, in normal circumstances, a commander like a necromancer would control them. Or possibly a very high level vampire.”
“When you say high level vampire, how high are we talking about?”
“A lot higher than we have on earth, that’s for sure.”
“What is the highest level vampire on earth then?” Jake asked, his curiosity driving his questioning forward.
“To be honest, I don’t know I’m level 125 and the vampire that turned me was at the time level 250, but he was using the fast method. So yer, he didn’t get to keep his sanity for long. But that being said, he is still out there. So I would say we probably have vampires in F grade, probably even a small number in early E grade, come to think of it.”
“And I thought I was a cheat, with all my titles and shit.” Jake thought
“So, can I ask you one more thing? How many points do vampires get per level and do you have professions like some other races? I wonder. It’s unusual that I’ve never come across anyone without a profession. I should also ask the beast folk about this,” Jake muttered the last bit to himself.
“I probably shouldn’t tell you the secrets of the vampires, but if you promise to assist us in the dungeon.” Jake replied with a quick I will help. “Okay then.” the vampiric converted named Franky Visssent sent Jake his information.
Universal constant interface
Name Franky Viss
Race vampiric converted humanoid bat
Grade G
Information on G grade
G upgrades to the next grade at level 300 above previous, you get 1 grade level per 20 class level. This is the starting grade for all converted life forms in the open universe; grade skill convert lesser creatures
Level 125. levels required till next grade evaluation 400 total
Class vampiric converted (common)
Class level 2500 class evolution at F grade
“I’m not going to tell you my stats, but I will say we get a base point multiplier 10 the same as humans, but we also get 30 points per class level and 20 per grade, and this is without titles. And as for beast folk, I can answer that two as I used to be one. The system sees them as humanoid, so the levels and multiplier are the same, but they do get more points per level, 10 points per class or profession and 20 per grade.”
“Now that is interesting. Well, shall we take on the dungeon? You might as well tell the other three to come out. I don’t particularly like it when people use the same tricks as me.” Jake said a second later a low rank converted stepped out of a shadow. Jake looked at the converted bear and said, “you need to work on your technique. It may hide you, but it does so only to the extent that no one has added any points into perception. Your skill flickers like crazy.”
Jake put the runabout back in his ring, then continued. “If you are going to use shadows to hide that flickering, which I must say as a person who uses shadows himself, I would like it if you incorporated the shadow into the skill. Try this: if my guess is correct, you use mana to form spacial distortions. Don’t just stand there, am I right?”
“Yes.” the man replied with confusion.
“That’s interesting. Have you tried feeling out the skill in a different environment to feel the changes in the skill? And what does it do when you’re in a grassy area?”
The man looked at Jake for a second, not saying a thing, then stepped into a shadow again and to everyone else vanished, but to Jake he was still visible, but just not as much as before.
“Nicely done. You have improved, but you’ve still got a long way to go.” Jake said this, then vanished as he stepped into the shadow of Franky Viss. He popped out of the shadow behind the hidden man, scaring the man as he tapped him on the shoulder.
“I don’t think your skill is ready to go up against me, but it is definitely good enough for them.” Jake pointed at the group of people watching the shadows.
“Thank you for your help.”
“Don’t thank me you did it, not me. All I did was ask you questions.”
“Nevertheless, thank you.”
Jake and the man rejoined the group and set off to investigate the dungeon together. As they set off, Jake identified the group.
Identify
Race vampiric converted humanoid bat
Name Franky Viss
Level 125
Identify
Race vampiric converted humanoid rat
Name Albert
Level 100
Identify
Race vampiric converted humanoid lizard
Name Elizabeth Bay
Level 99
Identify
Race vampiric converted humanoid bear
Name Harald Mar
Level 110
“So, have any of you completed a dungeon?” Jake asked
“Yes, I have. My former master took me into one when I was just converted. She said I needed to get the title that comes from it. Sadly, she died killing the last boss, and I was left to find my own way out,” Elizabeth replied to Jake’s questioning. She then continued.
“This is also why I asked if these three would come with me. I told them about the title you get from completing a dungeon. I believe that the title will upgrade if you complete more dungeons.”
“It will. I have also completed one as well and read that is what will happen.” Jake said
“Well, I guess we will get to see if you and Elizabeth are correct or if I am,” Harald said
“And what do you think will happen?” Jake asked.
“He thinks we’re all going to die,” Elizabeth said
“He might be right.” Jake replied. They all went silent after that. Only once the group got closer to the dungeon entrance did any of them speak.
“The team that entered last was ambushed at the entrance of the dungeon. I am aware of only one of the things that ambushed them. The survivor didn’t give any details but what I do know is that one is a snake, and its venom sent the individual that got bitten into a comer and he hadn’t awoken yet. Also, the people that entered were not much higher in levels than you, but what may have done them in was the fact that they didn’t know what a dungeon was. One of my goals in coming to this dungeon is to collect a sample of that snake’s venom so we can help awaken him. Now it’s time to make your decision: will you enter this dungeon risking your life for small prizes and a title, or will you leave this place and hide for the rest of your life?” Jake said.