Immediately upon stepping through the vortex, it felt as if a wetness covered my entire body. Like I had dipped into a bathtub. Then the feeling peeled away from my skin, and I found myself in a rather large circular room with hanging braziers from the ceiling. At the center stood a stone pillar with a large purple crystal atop of it. Around the room were multiple wooden doors randomly set around the outer edge of the room. A moment later, Kiszo stepped through the portal and began walking to the closest door on our right.

“This will lead us to the bigger mine where they extract copper. We can hunt around that location for the next few days or until you clear it out. We’ll sleep in one of the miner’s lodgings at night, outside of the dungeon.”

“What’s the purple crystal at the center?”

“The Dungeon’s console, don’t touch it. It could possibly move you to a random location within the Dungeon’s levels.”

I followed her through the large door and entered a dark, humid stone tunnel. The tunnel was half a meter taller than Kiszo and wide enough for four people to walk side by side. A torch was affixed to the cave’s wall every few meters, illuminating our path as we walked.

I could hear the miners working away before we came to them: the rhythmic ‘tinks’ and ‘taps’ coming from deeper within the tunnel. As we turned one last sharp corner, a large cavern came into view. Spread throughout the massive room were Beastkin miners working on their respective walls.

Most were mining into the walls where shiny metallic pieces glinted in the firelight. A smaller Beastkin was darting around to each miner, grabbing chunks from the ground and bringing them to the center of the room. He would then toss them onto or into a small circular platform, I couldn’t see where the chunks went.

Getting closer to the center, I could see the same inky blackness take up most of the platform’s center. I continued to watch as the young Beastkin would toss the chunks of metal and stone into the blackness then move on to the next miner’s pile.

“Where does this lead to?” I asked Kiszo.

“It goes into a large box back at the village. There the chunks are processed and smelted down into ingots.”

“How does the portal work? Better yet, who makes these portals?”

“Void or space mages create them with some kind of rune system. The village paid for the creation of this one, and others spread throughout the forest a few generations ago. It helps us move materials and food between the smaller outposts and the village.”

“I’m very much interested in learning more about these portals. Where I came from, they used these to preserve food and drinks.”

“Widespread use of one-way portals. Everything inside goes into stasis. It works wonders for food, plants, and materials, but make sure never to put anything that requires oxygen inside, as they will die quickly.”

We walked past the miners and towards a makeshift wall at the far end. It became apparent as we got closer it was a fortification placed within the cavern. I could see multiple archers atop the wall with a few melee fighters sitting near the makeshift door.

“Kiszo! I haven’t seen you in ages! Who’s your smoothed-skinned friend?” A muscular canine Beastkin shouted from his seat near the wall’s door.

“Ginnie, this is Zeal. He washed ashore a few days ago. His people’s ship didn’t survive a mana storm. I’m taking him to hunt and level up, so he may one day survive in our lands on his own.”

“Always the one to take someone under your wing. It’s been quiet for days now. You may have to travel a bit to find anything worth slaying. I wish you luck, new friend Zeal, but Kiszo always takes care of her own.”

The two Beastkin touched foreheads before Ginnie unlocked the door, letting us enter into another tunnel. We walked through winding tunnels for a while before she held her hand up, crouched, and sat down. “Ahead are Spittles. A new pup such as yourself can take them out if you’re careful.

The only thing you need to be wary of is the acid they can shoot out of the horns to the sides of their mouth. If you get any of it on you, grab dirt and rub it on the spot quickly. It does the most damage while it touches the air.”

I eyed her as I walked past and took hold of my chitin sword, my old sword now in Kizso’s pack. She leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes. Whelp, I guess these things should be easy if she’s taking a nap. I began to creep forward until I heard something skittering ahead. I took a few steps closer and found a white beetle clawing at the side of the tunnel. It was about a half meter tall and a full meter and a half in length. Its shell was a pale, almost translucent white color.

Looking around, I found no other beetles nearby. When I was two meters behind the bug, it whirled around. The creature hissed at me before it reared back and let loose two thin streams of liquid from either side of its mouth.

I jumped to one side and dashed forward. As soon as I was in range, I brought my sword down on its head with a sick ‘crunch.’ The body turned into a white gem shortly after.

[ System Notification ]

Rank D Bone Core has given 2 Energy

Sensory System: 70/100

At this rate, It would take ages to finish my systems. I moved forward, dispatching the ghostly white insects as I moved deeper into the tunnels. I found them solo most of the time, but two of them would be in the same part of the tunnel on occasion. After another fight with a pack of three, my Sensory System was completed and I mentally pulled up the system’s status window.

[ System’s Status ]

+ Nervous: Rank 1

+ Sensory: Rank 1

+ Cardiovascular: Rank 0

+ Respiratory: Rank 0

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+ Muscular: Rank 0

+ Skeletal - Rank 0

+ Epidermis: Rank 0

+ Endocrine - Rank 0

+ Digestive - Rank 0

+ Toxin - Rank 0

I mentally clicked on the ‘+’ next to the next system down the line dismissing the previous window for a new one.

[ Cardiovascular System ]

This system consists of the user’s heart, veins, arteries, and capillaries.

Upgrading this system gives the user a boost to their Health Regeneration and Constitution.

Rank: 0

System: 0/100

Upgrade: Yes / No

Selecting ‘Yes,’ the window vanished, and the new small tracker popped up with my remaining Energy already placed in the new system.

[ Cardiovascular System: 10/100 ]

As the tracker window vanished, I immediately thought I would faint as my eyes, ears, mouth, and nose began to tingle before the skin on my entire body began to burn for a few moments before vanishing.

Feeling back to my usual self, I pressed on, killing at a steady pace until I came to a three-way split within the tunnel. Not wanting to go the wrong way, I decided now was a good time to head back to Kiszo, only to turn around find her standing right behind me. If she noticed how much she scared the shit out of me, the ranger had the good taste not to show it.

“Take the right path. It stays at this depth and should contain more of the Spittles. The other two go further down, and you may not survive what lurks there, yet” she said, casually pointing with her chin.

Calming down my now super-beating heart, I made my way down the right tunnel. I killed the Spittles steadily until coming upon a room with four of the white critters. I dodged the first bout of streams and took out the closest of the four. While my side was to one of the bastards, it launched another acid attack across my legs. My simple pants did not hold up against the liquid, and I felt the searing pain and smell of burning flesh a moment later.

I threw myself to the side, just as the second, launched their stream of acid at my side. Not wanting to try and grab dirt to cover my wound, I charged towards the one from behind, hacking it with the sword. Part of another stream caught my arm, causing me to drop my sword and scream out in pain. The acid had gone down the entire length of my arm.

Ignoring the pain as best as possible, I turned toward the closest Spittle. In one fluid motion, I unsheathed my dagger and leaped into the air, coming down hard on the small beetle. My blade slammed down into its body. It screeched for a moment before dying from what I assumed was the loss of ichor. Not wanting to chance getting hit again, I rolled to my left and looked up just as the fourth beetle reared back to fill my face with its burning hatred. It exploded into pieces a moment later as Kiszo walked into the room.

“You look terrible, pup. I heard your screaming and came running. Didn’t I tell you to avoid their spray?”

I rolled onto my back, pressing my legs against the cold, dirty floor. The pain had eased slightly, and I grabbed a handful of the stuff and began to rub it on my arm. “Had to fight four at a time. I was having a hard time keeping track of them once I went to attack the first.”

“It’s good you understand this while fighting weak opponents. My choice would have been to lure one or two back the way you came and take them out one at a time.”

“That does seem like an easier way of fighting ranged opponents. I will definitely remember that,” I said as I got up and retrieved my sword, and sheathed my dagger.

I picked up the three white gems, cleaning them off before popping them into my mouth. The fourth beetle counted as Kiszo’s kill and still lay on the ground. Well, what was left of it. I grabbed a few of the white leaves from my pouch and began to chew on them, using the paste to dab at the angry red line along my arm.

[ System Notification ]

Two Rank D Bone Cores has given 4 Energy

Rank C Bone Core has given 4 Energy

Cardiovascular System: 18/100

Once the pain was down to an annoying itch, we walked on. I continued my killing spree through the tunnels for hours until we came into another large cavern. Above, blue, glowing moss hung from the ceiling illuminating the massive area. At the center of the opening, a stream of water cut thought coming out one hole and snaked its way across, going into another hole. Kiszo had us turn around at that point and head back to the entrance. I had gotten my Cardiovascular System up to forty-eight.

As we backtracked into the tunnel, she explained that past this cavern there was a good chance we could begin running into the second floor’s creatures. And it was a good idea not to fight them this far away from the entrance.

For the most part, we walked back in silence. As we neared the wooden barrier, Kiszo explained the Spittles would take a few days to begin respawning, so tomorrow we would use another path and go a bit deeper.

Ginnie was still sitting at the wall when we walked through the door. The dog Beastkin slapped me on the back and asked me if I had leveled. I told him a little, not wanting to give away the fact I didn’t have a class. We left the guards behind and walked back to the portal. The miners were seemingly already done for the day.

Outside of the portal, we found the campsite a flurry of activity. The camp was now sporting many more people than I thought it could. Kiszo led me over to one of the center buildings, where we found the miners from earlier in the day. I could now see the smaller Beastkin better. He was a dark brown panther like Kiszo, but without the extra set of arms. The little guy was cooking something in a large pot over the fire. Now getting a look at me, the miners began to stare until Kiszo smacked an old bear Beastkin in the back of the head. “Stop staring,” she said, somehow with a bit of both menace and mirth.

“Sorry, Sorry. It isn’t every day you see a smooth-skinned one around these parts,” said the old bear.

I bowed and introduced myself. The old bear chuckled at my display, and the group all began to exchange names. From then on, we merrily sat around the campfire and talked till the sun began to fall over the horizon. I was given the young panther’s top bunk for the night.

The young panther in question remained silent through the entire meal and night. Not once speaking to anyone. Even when we went inside to sleep, he kept to himself.

The following day I awoke to an empty cabin. Outside I found Kizso sparring with the same young panther. Grabbing some of the porridge left by the fire, I sat and watched as they fought with their wooden sticks. The youngling was surprisingly fast on his feet, managing to deflect most of the blows Kiszo made. Even I could tell she was going easy on him, but he was definitely putting in his all.

His name was Guirg. I figured out when Kiszo called for him to fix his posture. They sparred continuously for a few more minutes till the old bear yelled for Guirg from beside the portal. The youngster quickly bowed to Kiszo, mirroring myself from the night before, before running off towards the tower.

“What’s the deal with the kid?” I asked as Kiszo came over to retrieve her pack.

“His parents were killed inside the dungeon when he was young. He doesn’t get along with the other younglings, so he chooses to spend his time among those who enjoy life in the mine. The old bear, Tien has taken care of him ever since. He prefers to help out and spar with the guards during their breaks. He’s hoping he gets a warrior or miner class when his time comes.”

“Is there something wrong with him? I don’t think I’ve heard a peep from him.”

“Gurigs not a bird Beastskin. He wouldn’t peep. He can speak like everyone else. He just chooses his words carefully. Anyway, today we will push down to the secondary mine. There I will watch over all your fights as you tackle the Shinehorns.”

“Shinehorns? What are they?”

“They are a type of feline with horns that glow red hot. I hope I don’t need to explain why getting hit by one of them would be bad?” she said sarcastically.

I just shook my head, fell into step next to her, and we began walking towards the tower with its unusual dungeon.