With an excessive amount of exaggeration, Ezra flopped onto the bed having already changed into his night clothes. His whole body felt slightly numb although he blamed it on the alcohol. To distract himself from the odd feelings of his body, Ezra recalled his conversation with Claire.
After separating from Ilyana and Saber at the guild, Ezra journeyed to Claire’s room and explained what happened during dinner and their plans for tomorrow. Claire was pleased that her brother made up with their new companions, although she was slightly sad she missed out on such a great bonding experience.
What really shocked her though was the fact Ezra planned on switching weapons to claws. She suggested Ezra should use an actual weapon to make up for his lack of experience, but he promptly explained that even when he’d use claws it’d still require hand to hand proficiency to properly wield them. Throughout their training for the dungeon, both siblings drew inspiration from some of the famous adventurers.
Like Doran otherwise known as the Blazing Fist. While he was a young man, he wandered the continent looking for a worthy foe to test his abilities. He took advantage of his talent and quickly progressed in his bare-fisted martial arts. Unable to find a worthy foe to test his abilities, Doran found his way to the Continental Dungeon. There he reached new heights mixing martial strength with the power of the elements. Although his tale occurred centuries ago, Doran’s achievements inspired countless generations of youths to follow in his footsteps.
On the other hand, Claire took inspiration from Zaleria also known as the Divine Blade. Despite the fact that elves are more gifted in magic rather than strength of arms, Zaleria took up a sword and shield to fight in the dungeon. Having been blessed by the world tree, Yggdrasil, she led humanity past the 8th layer and created the current number one guild, Zenith Warriors.
In order to follow in their footsteps, both siblings took up their heroes’ choice of weapons. While Claire found comfort with a sword and shield, Ezra was quickly learning how impractical hand to hand combat truly was when you fought monsters armed with metal weapons and hardened bodies.
Raising his arms in the air, Ezra observed the bruises lining his fists and forearms. Repeated use of his arms in his fights, had taken its toll on his body as his armor failed to cushion the force. Luckily there was a priest who took care of the injury, but it would take a day for the bruises to disappear. From what he learned before he came, there were skills able to strengthen and harden his skin but the only method he knew currently required using his skill token.
Ezra never planned on using the skill token for it, as it seemed like a waste and he still hadn’t perused the whole system shop for any rare skills.
While he was about to take the opportunity to scroll through the system shop, without any warning Ezra felt his body get number and number until he lost all feeling in his body.
Was he poisoned during his meal? Did someone realize he was an Amazon and wanted his eyes?
Ezra tried to call for help but found himself unable to muster a simple groan. In effort to figure out what was going on, Ezra activated [Spiritual Awareness] and became aware of spirits surrounding his body that seemed to emanate their malicious intentions. Although he couldn’t see any emotion on their smoke like bodies, Ezra instinctually knew they were here to hurt him.
Suddenly he lost consciousness but soon opened his eyes to realize he was surrounded by an endless void. As he was caught up gawking at his surroundings, Ezra only realized after a few moments that he wasn’t breathing and flailed about in the void before realizing it was a fruitless endeavor.
That wasn’t the only surprising fact, as he looked at his body he realized he was semi-transparent except for the dim purple glow surrounding his body. In fact, he couldn’t feel anything. There was no occasional gust of wind, nor could he tell if the temperature was warm or cold. Ezra was surrounded by nothing and it greatly disturbed him.
Unable to tell how much, if any, time was passing, Ezra spent seconds, minutes, hours, possibly years floating in the void with no end in sight. Trapped with his own thoughts, doubts and insecurities that seemed inconsequential bore their full weight on his mind. Soon enough, Ezra started to actually hear his insecurities voiced out.
“Coming to the Continental Dungeon was a bad idea, you’ll get yourself and your sister killed.”
“How’d you let your sister talk your father into not providing equipment and sufficient funds? It’s all your sister’s fault you almost died.”
“How many more times do you plan on risking your sister’s life?”
Ezra futilely attempted to block out the reprimands with hands over his ears, yet they kept coming in waves drowning out his own thoughts.
“All of your words are a lie! Stop getting in my head!”
At this point his body was almost completely see-through, although Ezra would have never noticed as his eyes were closed the whole time. It felt like he’d been in the void for days dealing with the same annoying voices repeating their same lines. There was no variety in what they’d say, almost as if it was fake and they were reading from a script…
That’s when Ezra realized the problem with his situation. Everything the voices spoke into his mind was irrelevant and full of shit.
Why was he afraid of some disembodied voices? Who were they to use his own thoughts against himself?
As soon as he thought this, the former human-like voices surrounding him turned into a mishmash of animalistic gibberish. Although Ezra could still feel the malicious intentions in their growls and snarls, it wasn’t as effective as before and his mind felt slightly clearer.
Accessing his current situation with fresh eyes, the smoky spirits from earlier managed to surround his body. The difference was these spirits were a dark red as if to symbolize their hostile intentions, and whenever he focused on one of their forms Ezra would see the face of a monster.
Goblins, kobolds, they all looked at his body with undisguised killing intent. Annoyed by their presence and manipulation, Ezra mentally told one of the goblin specters to fuck off with a [Soul Bolt]. The affected goblin specter slowly broke down into pieces that remained in the void, while one of the voices disappeared bringing Ezra a feeling of rejuvenation.
A smile crept on his face, as his next move became obvious. One by one, Ezra would focus onto a specter and unleash his skill refreshing his mind. Oddly enough there was no blowback from when he usually used [Soul Bolt], as he continuously assaulted the specters haunting him.
Soon Ezra was left alone in the void…or so he thought. Another specter materialized absorbing the goblin and kobold remnants. With each fragment it absorbed the specter visibly grew another inch, finally stopping once it resembled a cloud.
Ezra already had an idea of what this specter was, and as he focused on its gaseous form a familiar toothy grin appeared. The kobold shaman cackled at the puny existence in front of it, preparing to destroy Ezra’s soul for turning him into a mere specter.
Was he intimidated by the giant red cloud with a menacing pair of teeth? Rightfully so, as no normal person would experience something like this.
Was he furious that specters were able to screw with his mind? Definitely and he didn’t plan on letting this one get a chance either.
Immediately Ezra casted a [Soul Bolt] at the monster, yet the specter remained unfazed by his secret weapon. Attempting to bombard the specter with as many [Soul Bolt] as he could muster also proved ineffective, as the cloud shrugged off the blows while stalking towards its eventual victim before summoning its own [Soul Bolt]. The color was the same dark red as its spirit, but the size and quality was leagues ahead of Ezra’s.
A muffled explosion rang out, as Ezra was blasted across the seemingly endless void. The purple glow surrounding his body all but disappeared, and without it Ezra felt extremely vulnerable. The shaman’s grating laugh resounded throughout the void, as it slowly flew towards Ezra preparing to toy with him.
[Soul Bolt] wouldn’t be enough. Using the time bought by the shaman’s hubris, Ezra tried to think of a plan. When he usually used [Soul Bolt], Ezra would take a small portion of his soul and will it forward like an arrow.
What if he used a bigger portion? What if instead of just releasing it immediately, he rotated it around at a high speed? His soul seemed responsive to his thoughts, and there wasn’t enough time to think of a better idea.
Beginning the process of [Soul Bolt], Ezra didn’t just stop with the small portion he usually managed. Ezra grabbed as much of his soul as possible without overtaxing it, and commanded it to rotate as fast as possible.
The shaman finally made it within a few meters, opting to circle around Ezra like a predator making contact with their prey. Before it got the chance to do anything, Ezra unleashed his charged [Soul Bolt].
One second the kobold shaman was mocking him, the next a gaping hole appeared in the middle of its form. From what Ezra saw, he unleashed a high velocity arrow that pierced through the specter.
An unseen pressure lifted from his shoulders, as he instinctually knew he was safe. Left inside the void, Ezra floated around looking for something but was left sorely disappointed.
The purple glow around his body never reappeared causing some concern, as it provided a sense of security despite the fact specters were messing with his mind. The best analogy Ezra could come up with was a barrier or shield, since the weaker specters were only able to confuse his thoughts and the shaman specter was the only one able to bypass his defence.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Although he didn’t know what would’ve happened if he never attacked those specters, Ezra didn’t plan staying around any longer in this place. It was barren and unpleasing to the eyes, and Ezra attempted to will himself back to reality like how the rest of his soul-based skills function.
Waking up to the dinging of notifications and mental exhaustion, Ezra stretched his limbs before going back to bed. Although he wanted to review them now, he couldn’t muster the strength to keep his eyelids open any longer.
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“Fwaa….fwaah.”
Sweat continuously poured from her body, as her arms shakily held onto the dull practice sword within her grasp. Repeating her favorite mantra ‘mind over matter’, Claire willed herself to perform another [Power Strike].
A weak and dull grey aura the size of a wrist covered both of Claire’s shoulders. As she swung the blade, the aura travelled through her shoulder, forearms, hands, and the blade itself as it finally made contact with the practice dummy.
Bang!
Claire shielded her face from any splinters before flopping onto the flat training grounds. The sturdy wooden dummy consisted of carved wood shaped like the upper body of a human, with a stand attached under it for support.
Aiming for the torso with her swing, the dummy became a husk of its former self. Claire obliterated the upper half of its body leaving only a jagged lower half.
For hours, Claire practiced her sword technique and [Power Strike] on various wooden dummies. Since the training grounds was a public area, there were plenty of people nearby who trained their abilities on varying degrees of test dummies. At first Claire was embarrassed since sweat drenched her entire body and outfit, but soon she became too tired to care of a few leers. Although the gains were minimal, Claire knew consistency would help improve her overall ability.
Your Physique has increased by 1.
Your Strength has increased by 1.
Your Resolve has increased by 1.
Power Strike Tapping into your inner strength, you unleash a blow that’s 110% stronger than normal. Increased ranks reduces strain on body and increases possible applications of the skill. Level I Rank I → Rank II
Using the skill consumed a decent chunk of her stamina, only able to perform the skill three times before needing to rest. Disappointed at her results, Claire vowed to increase her endurance. That was the so called “build” she was going for, a warrior with lots of lasting power.
Practicing until she ranked up Power Strike, Claire would rest until she was confident she could perform another [Power Strike]. Repeated recovery from utter exhaustion allowed Claire to learn [Stamina Recuperation].
Stamina Recuperation Passively increases the rate you restore your stamina by 1.01 times. Increased ranks increases the speed in which it recovers. Level I Rank I
Although the effects weren’t obvious now, it’d only get stronger the higher its rank was. The only way to do that was to get tired and recover, since that was how Claire got the skill in the first place.
After resting on the floor for a while, Claire struggled to raise her body while glaring at the few lechers on the sidelines. After safely exiting the grounds and returning the practice weapon, Claire watched other adventurers practicing their skills and magic on more advanced dummies.
“[Fireball]!”
An older man in mage attire recited a spell as a mass of condense fire appeared at his palm, before launching it at a metal practice dummy. A small explosion occurred, that everyone ignored since he was isolated from everyone else, destroying the metal mannequin.
A young man equipped with a spear dueled with an animated wooden golem. Having never seen a live golem before, Claire entered a stupor observing its features. It was stockier than a normal human, and had no facial features to define itself. Equipped with a sword and shield like herself, it slid into the spearman’s personal space before sweeping him off his feet.
After patiently waiting for the man to get up again, the golem backed up again and they resumed sparing.
As Claire thought about renting out a golem to practice, a sound similar to someone clearing their throat came from behind.
As she turned around, Claire was met with a young woman in parts of iron armor supplemented by leather padding underneath. With fair white skin, shoulder length pink hair, and bright amber eyes, the girl was a cute beauty similar to Sonja.
“Hi there, I’m Annabel but you can call me Anna!” Her country accent was the first thing that Claire noticed, as she outstretched her hand for a handshake that Claire reciprocated.
“I’m Claire Wilmont, a pleasure to meet you.” Although she believed Anna to be a ditsy girl at first glance, the rough calluses lining her hand spoke of her experience.
After briefly shaking hands and exchanging greetings, Anna explained the reason she walked up to Claire.
“Ohmygosh Claire Wilmont! I lived near Rockhollow in a small village called Lerwick, your family has done so much for the surrounding towns. Anyways I saw you practicing your sword skills over there, and you seem like you know what you’re doing. My party and I are still exploring the 1st layer, so I’d like to formally invite you to the party.”
Although she was deeply flattered that another group was interested in her abilities, Claire’s loyalties were already with Ilyana, Saber, and Sonja.
“Sorry I’m already in a group that’s treating me well, so I’ll have to decline your offer. It was nice meeting you though Anna.”
“Aww shucks, better luck next time! I’ll see you later though Claire!” With a hearty laugh the girl walked off towards another section of the training grounds.
Left to her own devices, Claire left to grab a quick meal before showering and heading off to bed.
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After eating breakfast with Ilyana, Saber, and a recuperated Sonja in the guild hall, Claire and Ezra explained their plans for the day before saying their goodbyes.
First they’d both head to the Adventurer Guild to formally register themselves, then they’d look for a weapons shop to purchase claws for Ezra and finally grab their repaired armor from the leather worker.
While they were walking to the guild, Ezra would occasionally stop and observe his surroundings a bit before catching up to Claire. She assumed Ezra was trying to learn the [Observe] skill that Sonja mentioned a few days ago, and mimicked Ezra’s movements.
Apparently observing people in great detail was the easiest way to obtain the skill, but the only thing Claire learned was how to act like a fool in public. People would send glares or confused stares their way that Claire would shirk away from, while Ezra would ignore them as if he was looking past them.
Obtaining skills wasn’t easy, requiring lots of repetition or knowledge of what you’re trying to accomplish. Having given up, Claire sighed as they finally made their way to the Adventurer Guild.
A large three story building that once inside enveloped the siblings in its own world. Despite being called the Adventurer’s Guild, there seemed to be a lack of adventurers. It could have been due to the fact they arrived early in the morning, but there were only a few people that looked like adventurers surrounding a tall blue obelisk.
A mix of humans, elves, and beastfolk walked with purpose around the room carrying notes and papers. They all wore the same work uniform, a white dress shirt and black pants fashioned with a red blazer featuring a fancily written A on the chest.
Sparing a moment to watch the group of workers, Claire and Ezra both walked towards the large receptionist desk. There were 10 people on the other side, either observing the pair or doing menial work until someone approached them.
“Hello how can I help you both?” A young man with brown hair greeted them with a pleasant smile.
“Hi, we’d both like to register as official adventurers.”
“Ah just give me a second.”
Reaching down under the receptionist desk, the man brought out a small knife and the smallest obelisk the siblings have ever seen. It was around a foot high, and also blue like the obelisk nearby. Cryptic lines were etched onto its surface, as they occasional pulsed with power.
“Could you both make a small cut with this knife and drop some blood onto the obelisk. That’s how you’ll be registered into the Guild’s database.”
After nicking themselves and letting their blood drop on the obelisk, its surface glowed for a second before returning back to normal.
“Since you’re both new adventurers, there are a set of rules that you’ll have to abide by. If you happen to break any of them, you can’t say “Well I didn’t know I couldn’t do that”, so make sure to memorize what I’m about to explain to you.”
After thanking the man for his time and explanation, they left to find a weapon shop. It didn’t take them long, as they arrived at a brick building with an insignia of crossed blades.
The sound of chimes rang out as they entered, various swords, axes, polearms, and more lined rows upon rows of the room. All of the weapons were ordered by type and cost, which led to mundane materials like copper and iron appearing at the beginning of each section.
A muscular middle aged man rested on his elbows sloppily as if he were bored watching his customers. He wore plain clothes covered by a large leather apron, and his tanned body exuded youthful energy.
“Oi are you gonna buy something or keep gawking?!”
One of the adventurers inside looking at a particularly long blade froze in embarrassment before grabbing it and heading to the counter.
The siblings headed to the claws area, and immediately started near with the more lavish weapons. Three menacing blades affixed on a metal gauntlet all made out of runesteel, one of the best metals for enchanting. Runes were inscribed all along its surface, and Ezra nearly salivated at the thought of wielding it.
One look at the price tag however sobered him quickly, as they both moved down towards the normal weapons. Ignoring the shoddy designs of copper, Ezra was debating between two sets of iron claw weapons.
The first was a pair of iron knuckles with thick rings allowing six inch blades to be attached on each ring.
The second was a pair of simple iron gauntlets with three blades of a similar length attached.
The gauntlets were priced at 20 silver, 10 more than the iron knuckles. After weighing his options Ezra asked Claire for her opinion.
“Well the gauntlets seem more like a defensive weapon as they’ll cover your hands. The knuckles seem less practical in comparison as they’ll expose your hands.” Although part of her reasoning was due to practicality, after admiring Anna’s armor yesterday, Claire felt like an idiot for convincing her father not to equip them in the best gear he could afford.
“Ah you’re right sis, I guess I’ll try to haggle the gauntlets down.”
They grabbed the weapon and waited in line for a few minutes before finally arriving at the counter. Before Ezra or Claire could even get a word in, the bored shopkeeper spoke with a serious tone.
“20 silver flat take it or leave it.”
The shopkeeper and Ezra stared at each other for a moment, before Ezra relented and became 20 silver lighter. Once they finally left the shop, Claire couldn’t contain herself any longer and burst out laughing.
“Pfffft…I thought you said you’d haggle it down, yet you accepted the man’s price immediately…”
“You saw the guy he was huge and was giving me the death glare! There was no way I could bargain with him. Besides you didn’t even try to help me! We need to start low with kind grannies selling fruits or something…”
Despite his grumbling, Ezra’s smile betrayed the joy he felt as he admired his new weapons. Claire only hoped he’d be able to keep his smile with her next words.
“You know you’ll have to accompany me to the training grounds today right? You can’t go in the dungeon without knowing how to use your weapon.”
With a groan from Ezra signifying the start of the walk, both siblings left to pick up their armor and train for tomorrow.