“Well? Are you going to check our status?”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot.”
Status
Voran, Level 8 Twin Soul Warrior
Age: 0 | Class 1: Unselected | Rowan: [Twin Soul: Body Path]
Attributes:
CON: 120
STR: 120
AGI: 120
DEX: 120
WIS:
INT:
CHA:
LUCK:
Unlock the rest of your Attributes by SELECTING A CLASS.
[Perks: View]
[Skills: View]
Status: Leveling Rush - Extreme
“Quick question, why do I feel like I just got a shot of pure adrenaline to the heart?”
“Ah… that would be Leveling Rush. Most people experience it once or twice early on, but it becomes more uncommon as large stat increases stop happening.”
“How long does it last? This is awful. It feels like my muscles are trying to vibrate out of my skin.”
“Yeah, most people don’t get 240 stat points to the body all at once… ever. It usually only lasts a few minutes, but I have no clue how long this one will last.”
“Is there anything I can do about it?”
“You can run around, I guess. You’ve got a movement skill now, literally.”
Rowan did just that, and he noticed a difference immediately. His body felt light and responsive. Where previously he had to modulate his strength to not fall over from his increased stats, now it was as if his body knew what he wanted to do before he did. It was amazing.
He jumped over roots, dodged under branches, and twirled around trees. All without slowing down for an instant, without needing to carefully use only a portion of his stats. It wasn’t the same as when he was in his Trance, not even close, but it was still absolutely fantastic. His body and mind were perfectly in tune.
For the first time in nearly fifteen years, he laughed. He laughed like a maniac, and he laughed like a man in love. It was boisterous and wonderful.
This was the feeling he had been chasing all of his life.
“Vorn! Take the reins! You have to try this!” Rowan demanded joyfully.
“Okay, okay! No need to shout at me!” Vorn laughed out, happy to see his soulmate innocently enjoying himself. The only time he had seen Rowan this happy was when he was murdering goblins, and this seemed much healthier.
Vorn took the reins for the first time since they entered the dungeon. And instantly fell over.
He tried to get back up, but ended up jumping fifteen feet in the air, then crashed into the earth painfully.
“I… may… have… forgotten that… we don’t share a… Path.” Vorn said, winded and in pain.
“Ah. So did I. Sorry. Rowan said awkwardly.”
“It’s fine, I don’t mind… wait. We are so stupid! We’re idiots! The dumbest people that have ever disgraced Hyalbern with our presence! Morons!”
“I get it.” Rowan interrupted.
“Read the description of [Synchronized Mind]. You know, your PERK that we haven’t been using?”
“Ah, we may be stupid.”
Voran, Level 8 Twin Soul Warrior
Age: 0 | Class 1: Unselected | Rowan: [Twin Soul: Body Path]
Attributes:
CON: 120
STR: 120
AGI: 120
DEX: 120
WIS:
INT:
CHA:
LUCK:
You’d have the rest of your Attributes if you selected your damn Class, Vorn!
[Perks: View]
[Skills: View]
Status: Leveling Rush - Mild
“Okay, before I look at my Perk, I feel I need to address the System’s insistence that you pick a Class."
"Oh. That. Yeah, I had hoped that since you had picked one it would give up, but it only calmed down for a day.”
“Is that… normal?”
“Relatively. It does that when it thinks that you're ignoring your Path, but the System has been wrong before. A few of the strongest mages of all time were hounded by the System.”
“And how commonly is the System right?”
“That seems irrelevant to this conversation.” Vorn said defensively.
Rowan wisely chose to abandon that line of questioning. If Vorn was so dead set on attending some academy, Rowan wouldn’t stop him. It might help him get a better Path, even.
He focused on the [Perk] tab. As they only had one Perk, it automatically popped up.
Synchronized Mind - Unique
Merge your consciousness with your soulmate. Effectiveness scales with how in sync the two of you already are. No cost. No limit for how long it can be activated.
“That’s different than I expected. The last time we used it, I just felt like I had access to some of your knowledge.”
“Same for me. Granted, we had just met. We are much closer now.”
“It’s been around… eighteen hours.”
“Yeah, well, we are literally joined at the soul. Kinda hard not to bond with someone when you're that close.”
“True. So, do you want to try it?”
“Hells yeah I want to try it.”
“Wait. I’ve heard you say Gods a lot instead of God, and I understood that, but ‘Hells’? Are there multiple planes of torment?”
“Oh yeah, there’s like twenty at least. Every major God has their own version of a plane of paradise and torment, and a surprising amount of Minor Gods have them too. Some hells are nicer than others, but generally, they’re not very pleasant. Kinda comes with the territory.”
“Do they all last for eternity?”
Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.
“What! No! That’s horrific!”
“Oh, thank the Gods.”
“I think that’s the first time you’ve said that.”
“I felt it was warranted.”
“Alright, let’s get this show on the road.”
Turning on his perk was as easy as breathing. He barely had to focus on doing it, just thinking that he wanted it on was enough for it to activate.
They each noticed a difference. An extreme one.
Rowan felt most of his knowledge gaps close, but he also felt some of his bottomless confidence begin to drain. It wasn’t as if he instantly began doubting his ideas, but he started considering if they could be improved.
Vorn noticed that he stopped caring as much about what others thought of him. The phantom eyes of his peers that constantly plagued his decision-making stopped mattering and then faded away. Some of the endless self-doubt left him and was replenished with a healthy amount of pride.
Their perspectives merged in a literal and figurative way. Vorn was no longer sitting back on the stone platform in their spirit, but actually viewing the world from his eyes once more. It was as if their souls were nearly overlapping.
“Why didn’t we do this before!” They shouted in unison.
They were individuals, but not. They had nearly fully merged.
If they could see themselves, they would instantly note the silver hue that was coloring the edge of Rowan’s orange iris, turning slightly purple where the two colors met.
“So that’s what that perk did! I thought it was just a crutch for us until we understood the world better!” Voran spoke out loud.
Their voice had also changed. It wasn’t layered on top of itself or anything, but their manner of speech had combined. Rowan spoke loudly and confidently but without much inflection while Vorn talked quietly but animatedly. It had definitely leaned into Vorn’s style of speech more than Rowan’s. Now it was just loud and animated.
“And we never have to turn this off? Then why should we?” Voran asked themself.
Like a spreading pestilence, the purple of their eyes started to take over more and more of their individual colors.
Their individuality faded into the background, dormant and content. They still retained their individual sparks, but their ideas and temperaments had merged to form a new self.
"And in many ways," Voran thought, "a better self."
"Why have we been holding back? We need to pick our second Class! Oh, I can’t imagine how strong we’re going to get. We’ll show those snooty noble bastards just how beneath them sorcery really is." Voran finished darkly.
As they prepared to enter the Class selection screen, the Perk shifted.
Suddenly, silver blazed to life, completely banishing all traces of purple and orange. They were back to being fully individual, despite the Synchronized Mind perk still being active.
“What the fuck was that!”
“I… I think I know why our name became Voran in the System. It seems like they were an amalgamation of our traits. I was still there… Yet, I wasn’t? I think our different views on my Path caused enough dissonance that we can no longer merge like that. For now.”
“I’m glad. It was not entirely negative, but having my personality overridden like that was violating. Maybe if I had expected it that might have been bearable, but it was creepy to just suddenly not be myself anymore. At least, not entirely myself.”
“I don’t think it’s possible that we can ignore your Perk, but we might want to put a pin in it until I complete the Academy’s courses. I agree, if I had been prepared, it wouldn’t have been so jarring. Once I get my Path, we can see about experimenting with it.”
“Maybe this isn’t the best place to have this talk,” Rowan looked around the goblin-infested forest, “but how feasible is going to the Academy? How much and how long will it take?”
“Oh, it’s much more feasible now. When I was working at the mine, it would have taken me several years to save up enough, but as a Delver it should only take me a couple, if that.”
“Numbers, please.”
“It’s one hundred and fifty brights a year," Rowan mentally calculated that to be about fifteen thousand dollars, "And it can take up to five years to pass. At a minimum, not counting housing and other essentials, it would be seven hundred brights.”
“So seventy thousand dollars and five years to pass.”
“Worst case scenario? Yes. A lot of people pass in three, though, and some even pass in two. However, I would have to be a grade A fucking idiot to not save up enough to endure the worst case.”
“How much do you have saved?”
“Three hundred and ninety five brights. I saved everything I made at the mine, except for the bare essentials needed to survive.”
“That is a decent dent into the funds we need. And how much have we made so far in this dungeon?”
“Around three brights. Those were mostly from the level twenty goblins, though. Listen, I know it’s going to take a lot of work, and it might not seem feasible right now, but I have to do this. It was my mother’s last wish.”
“At least you're honest. I told you when I first arrived here, I do not intend to interfere with your goals, and I keep my word.”
“Besides when you beat up two affluent young merchants expressly against my wishes?”
“Besides that.”
“Anyway, we made over six percent of my annual income at the mine in one day. I made forty-nine brights a year at the mine. If we continue at this rate, working 4 days a week, we’ll have saved nine hundred brights by the end of this year! And if you take into consideration our expenses which equate to about two hundred and ninety eight point five brights a year, we take home six hundred and four point five brights a year! Granted, with taxes that number dwindles down to four hundred and twenty three point fifteen brights, but that means we can still save up all we need in under a year!”
“None of that added up. And why only work four days out of the week?”
“Only? That's literally most of the week!”
“I feel like we are having a misunderstanding here, how many days are in a week here?”
“Five.”
“Oh… That makes more sense now.”
“How many days are in your weeks?”
“Seven. Considering that’s different, how do your months and years work?”
“There are five weeks in a month, making each twenty five days, and there are fifteen months in a year. Wait, are our days the same? There’s twenty six hours in a day here.”
“Twenty four where I’m from.”
“Weird. Wait, that means…" Rowan quickly tried to verify if Vorn's math was correct, but gave up after about five minutes. "Your math was right, as far as I can tell anyway. How did you do that on the fly?”
“What, you can’t?”
“No, of course I can’t. If you gave me a piece of paper and about ten minutes, maybe. Is that a normal skill here? Have you seen anyone else calculate as fast as you?”
“Well, no. I assume most people just do it in their head like I do, though.”
“How were you destined for mediocrity?” Rowan asked more to himself than anyone.
“I still don’t believe that. Fate is for blind fools who can’t forge their own destiny, I would’ve been fine.”
“If anyone else had said that, which basically amounts to putting themselves above the words of a literal deity, I would have called them crazy. Knowing you, though… I could believe it.”
“Well, the Academy isn’t going to pay for itself! The sooner we get all our necessary funds, the sooner I get my Path, and the sooner we can go on truly grand adventures.” Vorn said, trying to ignore the burning embarrassment of a compliment like that.
— — —
The rest of the dungeon was not nearly as interesting. The goblin camp must have been the highest leveled part of the dungeon. Rowan got to practice more with his [Movement] skill, and he had a lot of fun, but he never quite reached the highs of the Trance. It was to be expected, he supposed.
By the time they were getting ready to leave, they had killed forty lower-level goblins. That netted them an extra bright and some change, too. Their dagger wasn’t looking so hot anymore, however. When Rowan voiced this concern to Vorn, he explained that there were enchanted whetstones that they could buy at any smithy that would instantly repair it if it wasn’t too terribly damaged.
And that was how most of their time was spent. Discussing what to bring next time. Even Rowan had to admit he had been too gung-ho about the whole thing, and maybe a tad overconfident considering he had never fought a monster before, but it had all worked out.
Even though it had, though, that was no reason not to do better next time, and that was exactly what they were doing. Rowan did find it strange that no one had stopped them from going to the dungeon without any gear, though.
At this point, he suspected that it was on purpose. Between the bodyguards following them through their journey, and the repeated surprises, – such as the level twenty goblin camp – it seemed like this whole experience was made to humble new low-level Delvers. It obviously didn’t work for Voran, now they were even more excited about Delving.
“I think we should start going over what we did right and wrong every time we Delve, or take a mission for that matter. We are going to make mistakes, and if we don’t learn from them, we are being fucking stupid.”
“I agree wholeheartedly. That was a common strategy many squads had back home. As long as nobody is overly hostile, it works wonders for team cohesion and improvement.”
“Alright then.”
When they had finally reached the exit, they had a solid plan for next time. A spatial bag, rations, camping supplies, repair kits, the works. They would have to dip into their savings, but at the rate they were making money, it would be worth it.
“Stop! Before you go, I want to commend you!” A random guard ran up to them and said. They were clearly winded as they were chasing Rowan, probably because he had not stopped using his [Movement] skill since he got it.
“We are supposed to give a spatial bag to every initiate that seems promising! It’s not very large, but it is unbeatable in one regard,” The guard paused for comedic effect, “It’s free!”
Silence echoed out through the forest.
“Fine, just take the damn bag.” He grumbled out and then stormed away.
“That was strange.”
“You hurt his feelings. Poor guy, I understand his pain. Comedy before a human shaped brick wall is just pointless…”
The sulking guard suddenly turned around, almost actually spooking Rowan, and said, “I forgot, but we’re supposed to offer an assessment to initiates that complete the dungeon, you interested?”
“Sure?”
“Your movement and footwork, while unorthodox, are fantastic. Your skills with a dagger on the other hand… leave something to be desired. I recommend trying to find a mentor if you can. And don’t you dare take a weapon skill!” He explained calmly until he suddenly shouted at the end.
“Why?” Rowan asked, more confused than anything.
“Weapon skills are only useful for armsmasters that want to truly and completely master a weapon. You, on the other hand, seem to be going for an agility based skirmisher build. It would be a waste! You only get a few skills, so you can’t waste any of them! So many people choose a weapon skill because almost everyone is offered one and it seems useful, but you're just wasting your potential! You understand, right? I swear to the divines above I will smack you if you pull some dumb shit like that, you’re way too talented for that! Say you understand!”
“I, uh, understand.” Rowan affirmed, his normal flat demeanor dwarfed by the guard’s passion.
“Louder!”
“Understood!” Rowan shouted, his time as a soldier shining through for a moment.
— — —
They exited the dungeon, spatial bag in tow, and then headed straight back towards the Guild. Only a few hours had passed since they had entered the dungeon, at least from the outside.
It depended on the dungeon, but time dilation was a very real thing. Some went faster than the outside, and some went slower. There were actually a few famous research towers set inside dungeons for this very reason. It didn’t make you age slower or anything, but it did mean you could get results faster than the competition. Well, unless they had better dungeon dilation. Or were just, you know, better.
As they entered the Guild, a newbie walked up to them.
“Hello! It’s nice to meet you. I heard you were part of the newest wave of initiates. Me too! Did you already go to the Trial Dungeon?” An animated woman spoke excitedly.
“Nice to meet you as well. Yes, we actually just returned from the dungeon. It was a lot of fun.” Rowan said with just a tinge of amusement evident in his tone.
“Oh, I’m glad you had fun, but… how did you only level three times? Sorry if that’s personal! I sometimes ask questions I shouldn’t! Ignore me!” She frantically apologized.
“It’s fine. Our Path levels slowly is all.”
“Oh! You were the initiate that caused a stir! The one with the Epic rarity Class? Okay, that makes sense. I have heard that higher rarities level slower.” She rambled on.
“Thanks for the conversation,” Rowan left a pause for her to give her name.
“Ark” She supplied.
“Thanks for the conversation, Ark, but I really do have to go now, though.”
“Oh, no problem! If you ever want to run a dungeon together, just ask!” Ark exclaimed as she walked away.
“That was a very… excitable person.” Vorn said.
“Yeah, she was. Seemed nice enough, though. I might take her up on that open invitation. It would be nice to have someone to watch my back. I won’t lie, it has been strange without a squad to guard my six. It kind of feels like I’m exposed.”
“Huh. I always thought of you as the lone warrior type.”
“I was for a long time. I learned that a talented group can almost always outperform someone on their own, though.”
“Did you never think they were holding you back? That’s common over here with solo Delvers.”
“At first, I admit that I did, but I later learned that having a trusted group does not hold an extraordinary person back, but allows them to reach unseen heights.”
“So do you want a group right now?”
“We’ll find one. I don’t want to force it, though. The worst squads I’ve ever been in have all had one thing in common. Jealousy. We’d need to find people either with an Epic Class or better, or some that don’t care about being outpaced. Preferably both.”
“True. Oh, look! The bounty we were eyeing earlier is still here!”
Rowen grabbed it and read it once more. It never hurts to have the details memorized.
Wanted: Orc Blood
The Grantorn Tower has put out a bounty on all orc blood, no matter the level! They’re on the cutting edge of a breakthrough, and need all the material they can get! Level 1 Orc blood starts out at fifty dims a vial, but the price increases drastically every ten levels! At level 10, the bounty increases to a luminescent crystal! Level 20: fifteen lumies! Level 30: ninety lumies! Level 40: A bright and forty lumies! Even still higher-level orc blood can be negotiated directly with the tower!
Eligible dungeons nearby: Crystalwood Cavern, The Entropy Spire, Gorm’s Requiem
This was, in Vorn’s opinion, the perfect quest to start out with.
And they would get to it right away.
As soon as they got a good night's rest. They hadn’t slept in the dungeon after all.
Going to sleep with the sun up was a strange experience for both of them, but Dungeon Lag was a common issue for all Delvers. Sleep first, though.
They would deal with it tomorrow.