Chapter 8 -- Dungeons_The Tales of Hammerfall

Leaving the library with a plan, Raph headed back towards the other side of the city. Raph first went to check the boards in the Adventurers Guild, while he was reading through the jobs one of the staff pinned a job up regarding the Emerald Grotto and it was iron ranked. The job itself was to look for someone who had gone in and not returned, apparently they had left two days earlier and they still hadn’t come back. The thing that stuck out to Raph though was that the pay for the job was one gold, which to him seemed absurd. Raph promptly took the job letter up to the kiosk where he was met by an unfamiliar face, an older bespectacled gentleman.

“I would like to accept this job.” Raph said as passed the posting and his card to the man.

“Hmm.” he grumbled as he inspected the job, raising his eyes to Raph he looked intently at him. Eventually he got up and left, then he came back a moment later.

“Alright, done. Good luck kid.” he said as he passed the job and card back to Raph.

“Odd.” Raph mumbled to himself as he left the Guild.

Raph made a few stops on his way out of the city; first was a couple of lesser health and stamina potions, he also needed a bag to keep all his stuff in, as well as some dried rations to keep his energy up. After he got everything together he walked out to the gate of the city to find someone that could take him to the dungeon as it would take too long to walk.

Raph walked up to an unattended carriage that was parked outside the stable, he knocked on the side. When he did he heard some sort of flustered scramble from inside the carriage shortly followed by a boy's head popping out of the door. The kid couldn’t have been older than fifteen but he was well dressed, if not a little messy from having apparently just woken up. He was almost as tall as Raph and had short scruffy blonde hair, murky green eyes, coupled with a nose that had been broken at least once; he was an interesting sight.

“Good day sir,” The youth said rather hurriedly.

“Is your carriage available?” Raph asked.

“Yes sir, of course. Clark Cooper at your service, where are we heading to today?” said Clark.

“Do you happen to know where the Emerald Grotto is?”

Clark flinched, “Yes. I do.”

“Well then, how much will that be?”

“That’ll be 1 silver for the round trip.” Clark said

“Hmmm.” Raph thought that seemed expensive , it wasn’t that far away but he had the money so he decided to go with it. “Alright kid, you got yourself a deal.” He said and passed 50 copper to Clark.

“I’ll pay you the rest when we get back.” Raph said.

Clark accepted the coins and hopped on to the drivers seat, much to his surprise Raph got on the seat next to him.

“Umm, sir. The customers usually sit in the back.” Clark said, confused.

“Well I’m not most customers, and it’s Raph, not sir.” Raph said.

“Alright then si--Raph.” Clark stuttered, “Off we go.”

They headed out on a road that led them west running parallel to the coast.

“So Clark, have you seen much of Ustral?” Raph asked, curious as to how much the driver had got around.

“I’ve seen a bit, mostly just the territories surrounding Langreth though, haven’t been to the front yet.” Clark replied.

“Is it mostly adventurers that you drive?”

“I see adventurers, nobles, merchants, pretty much everyone with coin.”

“Huh, right.” Raph was curious, so he decided to analyze Clark.

Clark Cooper -- N/A

“Not got a class yet?” Raph asked inquisitively

"Umm, no Raph." He said, startled by the question.

"Why does it seem like everyone makes such a big deal when it comes to talking about classes?" Raph asked.

"I'm not sure," said Clark. "They just kind of do."

Clark quickly followed up. "I just don't know if I want a combat class, that's why I don't have one yet."

"Oh right. Well what other options would you get if you didn't take a combat class?" Raph said.

"I hoped I could get something like; Horse Breeder or maybe even Rider."

"Those sound like interesting choices, but you know if you did want a combat class I could help you out." Raph said absentmindedly.

"Really?" Clark said, clearly shocked by the proposition.

"Yeah, why not?"

"Well Raph, most people don't go around saying that they'll take you into a dungeon to get a class."

"Oh, well I guess that makes sense. Why don’t you think about it while we're on the way." Raph said.

It was around an hour later when they pulled up to the edge of a forest, this was the closest they could get to the dungeon in the cart.

"Right then." Raph said as he jumped off the cart and grabbed his stuff. "If you want in now's your chance Clark."

Clark was still sitting on the carriage looking a bit listless.

'I guess that's a no then.' Raph thought as he turned towards the forest and started walking. After walking for around ten minutes he got to the entrance of the dungeon, a cave cut out on the side of a hill. Just before he entered Raph heard some noises coming from behind him, he turned around to see Clark running up to him from the direction of the carriage.

“Change your mind?” Raph asked.

“Yes. Please sir-Raph, take me with you.” Clark said as he placed his hands on his knees, clearly short of breath. “I have secured the carriage, so we can go in.”

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“Alright.” said Raph as walked into the dungeon.

You have entered dungeon: Emerald Grotto

“So you’re going for a combat class?” Raph asked.

“I figured that I probably won’t get a better opportunity than this, so I should just go for it.” Clark replied.

“That's fair, just stay on your toes. I have a job to find someone called Erwin Fullmore, I don’t know much about him except the other day he came down here and didn’t return.” Raph explained.

“Will do boss.” said Clark as he pulled out a knife he had hidden in his jacket. Raph raised an eyebrow as he did, although he guessed it was reasonable for a carriage driver to have a means to defend himself. According to the book he read on this place, it was inhabited by his favourite creature; Gobbo’s. They walked down into the cave for a few minutes until they saw the first group, there were six of them.

Analyze

Goblin Lv.13

...

Lesser Goblin Lv. 9

The strongest he saw was level 13, which wouldn’t be a problem from Raph; he just needed to make sure Clark stayed out of the first engagement until he had a class.

“Alright.” Raph whispered as he motioned for Clark to stop. “I'm going to thin the herd, when I’ve taken care of the first five you can come in. Sound good?”

“Uhh yeah.” Clark sounded nervous.

“It’ll be fine, I’m here after all.” Raph said as he patted Clark on his shoulder. Raph moved over to the group of goblins and readied his hammers. He felt much more confident than when he was facing the last pack near the farm, his hammer training with Isaac gave him reassurance in his weapons. Activating Forceful Raph moved, he lunged forward going straight for the strongest in the group.

You have slain: Goblin Lv.13

…

You have slain: Goblin Lv.11

You are now: Breaker Lv.12

You are now: Breaker Lv.13

The fight was over quickly leaving a bloody mess of goblin parts all over the cavern and the final goblin was limping from a heavy hit it took to the leg.

“Clark!” Raph shouted, as he waved to the edge of the cavern. “Come on.”

Clark rushed over, almost tripping as he did. It was clear to Raph that he was very nervous.

“Don’t worry, it can’t hurt you.” Raph said reassuringly.

Raph backed away, leaving the goblin and Clark facing each other down. As Clark stepped in to finish the goblin off it swiped at him and ripped a small chunk out of his upper arm.

“Shit.” Clark gasped from the pain.

The pain must have focused Clark’s resolve, he attacked; cutting and slicing with the knife until what was left was a dead goblin and a dead tired Clark.

Clark sat down, exhausted and cut up. “I thought you said it couldn't hurt me?” Clark said angrily.

“Well you see, I just needed you to think that. I'm sorry about that.” Raph said sheepishly. “The thing is you need to experience a proper fight to get the class, you can’t just go in and kill something that’s basically dead already.”

Raph walked over to Clark and offered him a health potion. “Here, drink this, you'll feel better.” Clark hesitated, but eventually took the potion.

“So, did you get it?” Raph asked, curious.

“Uhh, hang on boss.” Clark said, he proceeded to stare into space for around five minutes. While he was getting his class Raph decided to check his own after he put his points into Dex.

Raphael Smith

1st Class

Breaker Lv.13

2nd Class

Locked

Status

Health

160/160

Stamina

180/200

Mana

90/90

Str.

End.

Vit.

Dex.

Int.

Wis.

Unassigned

‘Looking strong, still, min-maxing isn’t the best.’ Raph pondered as Clark got up.

“I know I’m not supposed to ask, but what did you get?” Raph asked.

“It’s alright boss, I wouldn’t have it without you anyway. I think it’s better than the other two I was talking about earlier, it’s called Beast Tamer.”

“Beast Tamer? Sounds powerful.” Raph said. “What can you do?”

“Well, I can form a bond with a beast. I can also temporarily control some monsters to fight for me.” Clark added.

“Huh, sounds good,” said Raph. “Anyway, let's get a move on.”

The pair continued down the tunnel system fighting a few odd goblins on the way, Clark got a few more levels and raph got one. Eventually they came to a large open cavern who’s ceiling glowed emerald.

“Well I guess that’s why it’s called Emerald Grotto.” Raph whispered as they looked out on to what seemed to be a goblin encampment. All in all there were maybe 100 or so of them, the prospect of fighting that many was appealing to Raph so they needed a plan. He looked at Clark.

Clark Cooper -- Beast Tamer Lv.9

‘Not a bad start, better than mine at least.’ Raph thought as he looked at his own stats again.