The next few days, Lone wasn't being followed by anyone, he walked back and forth between Ceilie's admirers and the butcher twice. He even hid in the corner of the church, waiting for something to happen... nothing.
He wasn't going to wait to find out what they had planned. This was his first chance since the adventurers incident that he could possibly sneak out of the wall, and he wasn't going to waste it.
He grabbed the book (Monster attack guide) he had hidden in his bed... not under or in the covers, no, it was inside the mattress. The bed wasn't in great shape or comfortable, so he might as well use it for hiding something. It was the best place to put it as far as he knew, and so far, he hasn't been wrong on this yet. He'd hidden a lot of things over the years before remembering the old world or himself, he found tools or random objects that he found useful that were taken away from him for not being safe or dirty, so hiding things became normal but the other kids would find them while cleaning or playing themselves. Finding a hole in the bed frame was his lucky break, but eggs in one basket was a saying he understood, not knowing how he knew the words. So he had other hiding spots just incase.
'Those were some very confusing times.' Lone shook his head thinking.
He was at the wall just behind the bush, taking the panel off so he could crawl through when he heard the guards talking loudly.
"Why are we getting on early today? Suns not even a finger up, and I aven't got a full look at my lovely flower yet." Said a younger sounding guard
A second older guard angrily explained"Ya got to get yerself some scout skill before captim gets back from his trip, an he asn't left yet, so ta get ya started, your goin today till ya get something. Happens that the birdie scout skill is easier than most and works wit alot of other jobs, so we'll be doing sun up post till you got it. Understand?"
"Birdie scout skill? You mean the [Early Bird] skill? That one takes weeks or months of getting up at... well, I guess you want it too, right? Some say it helps with a hang... morning headaches. Heh heh." The first guard was getting harder to hear and the second just got quieter. So Lone continued exiting the wall.
It was the same getting out as last time, just a little faster even with the extra weight. He had made better time and got to the dungeon with nothing exciting happening, which for him felt like a bad omen almost. After reaching the entrance, Lone opened the book that he brought to read up on the Rock Beetle. It was a nice surprise to see that it was in order of this worlds alphabet and that he had a similar type as the books description. The beetle was a string spitting variant that trapped prey in sticky and stored it for later. Out of dungeons it would lay eggs in the victim and feed it's offspring, but in the dungeon it would keep it alive as a trap to spring on other adventures. The strength of the beetle was dependent on multiple variables, the first was environment if it was an open area with very little spaces to hide it was considered a very weak monster, in Rocky environments where it could camouflage itself it would jump in strength and become a nuisance if it swarms the strength would jump again becoming a full obstacle monster that is highly suggested to be cleared before continuing on mission/objective.
Lone read the book details on the best way to handle it, which turned out was flipping it on its back and stabbing its head in simple fashion. Dealing with a swarm was the same, except you leave it unfinished until you had flipped enough beetles to give you room to kill a few. There were magic responses as well but seeing as he didn't have access to it, he decided to focus on the mainly physical responses.
After familiarizing himself with ways to respond to certain weak monsters he then mentally prepared himself to enter the dungeon. Finally, after so long, he had taken a step into this dungeon.
You have entered a dungeon Title: ×!=#÷, has been activated
Dungeon Interface Welcome back ×!=#÷, All of your bonuses remain active for:
Timer: Age requirements are met 1,225 days 16 hrs 41 mins 34 seconds
Reading the pop-ups gave Lone a chill of excitement. He was back, and this thrill seemed to tell him he was going to start something new, get to see more of the world, and find answers to questions he hadn't asked yet.
His steps quickened, the grip on his wood sword tightened as he got down to the first floor there he saw the dead Rock beetle he had killed before leaving last time. A hollow shell of what it was before, literally. The other beetles having eaten it clean, dust now coating it in a layer over the past month.
'Wait, shouldn't it be gone now? The dungeon should have reclaimed it, right?' He was sure he read that in the dungeon book he had in his matrass but wasn't sure on how long it took to dissolve.
He decided to put the question to the side for later and looked around the chamber. He could see a few of the other beetles that couldn't find a hiding spot and decided to wait for more of them to approach.
While waiting, he decided to investigate the shell of the beetle he had killed. Picking it up, he had found it was much lighter than he had expected. The inner casing was bright and shiny smooth like some shellfish from the old world. While examining it, he could hear something rolling around in a curled part of the shell. Turning the shell upside down and shaking a little bit, he heard a loud tap as something hit the floor. Rolling away, he used his foot to stop it, then picking It up in his hands he examined it closely, finding it was shiny like a pearl and even glowed a bit. He put it in his normal pouch, noting to himself to look into it later. He did have the dimensional pouch, too, but found that it was a bad idea to open it up while it was attached to his hip. Fearing if he did so, he'd fall painfully to the ground, unable to move as the full weight of its contents would immediately manifest as soon as he opened it. With its unique disposition, Lone had figured that it was only used for travel and not for delving dungeons or at least not during combat.
Once he was done, he tossed the shell to the side and returned to looking at his surroundings. 'One, two, three... twelve huh' while he was examining the shell, there had been several new changes to the chamber he was in. All of them happened to be Rock Beetles. Two had gotten close enough to start shooting the string at him, but it was so slow that he didn't have to rush to dodge. He stepped to the side and waited for the strings to blow past him. It reminded him of old monster movies where the monster was a giant spider, and they used silly string to act as the webbing.
It wasn't easy flipping some of the beetles over because some found a good perch that they could hold onto, and their strength surprised him. After five of them were flipped over, he began to start crushing them with the wood sword. The sword did work better than he expected, and by the time he had finished turning over the twelfth beetle, he was almost out of energy. Swinging and jabbing took a lot more energy than he remembered. Some of the old world memories reminded him that swinging a sledgehammer wouldn't tire him out as fast, but the wood sword was heavy for a 7-year-old, and so he chalked it up to being little kid that is also level locked.
Dungeon Interface: You have slain ×12 Rock Beetles Experience will be allocated to the bank. Notice! The first floor entrance has been cleared. Rest area has been established.
'Rest area huh... so this isn't even the first floor? Does this mean I have to clear it out every time then?' He thought when he read the Interface. Then, the ring of a window popping up as if answering his question.
Dungeon Interface: Trait: Ledger of the ×!=#÷, access granted
Rest area was not activated until outside influences were removed. Life forms must have a activated sentient system window to unlock dungeon. Intelligences of goblin and below have a low chance of activating windows.
That wasn't what Lone was expecting. The system read his thoughts again, answering before he asked. Ironically, it gave him chills different from earlier, how it was just reading his thoughts while he was unprepared for the sudden information. Then another ring popped up.
Dungeon Interface: This dungeon has special access granted by Trait: Ledger of the ×!÷#÷, to deactivate one must first access stat window select traits and turn off Trait. [error] you do not have access to stat window. Must reach age requirements.
Name: En-Lonnoch Nickname: Lone
Species: human
Current level: locked Current titles: locked
Current stats and status information:
locked
Bank: stat points and experience
Locked until requirements are met.
Timer: Age requirements are met 1,225 days 15 hrs 57 mins 23 seconds
Lone sat there looking at the windows and sighed 'Well... that told me alot' he thought.
There were a few things this told him, one being that there are alot of road blocks for him and the system, two was that the system wasn't going to bend with the age requirements any time soon, three the system only works if you're "intelligent" enough, and four the main system is called [Sentient System]. At least the dungeon interface calls it that.
Dungeon Interface: System windows are different for each individual. Names, window shape, race of the operator, beliefs, total understandings, and level, change perspective of window interactions. Example: Elves usually see an element take shape of the status window. Example: Dwarves will have liquid gold or other valuable metal take shape. Example: Humans will have an object like a book or sheet of paper appear with letters.
Those with religious aspects will have what they deem holy added to said windows. Each window will appear customized for said individual.
Your window is set for your convenience.
Lone had read it twice to make sure he understood. It didn't stop being chilling with more mind reading answers popping into existence, but it did ease his understanding of how it all worked.
'So it's like costum setting... so maybe like a god or higher being that manages the world had set this System to do the little things?'
Dungeon Interface: System restrictions prevent further information about inquiry. Please unlock [enlightenment] stage 10 for more access.
"Well, that sucks..." he said to himself
He did think of a few more questions but it was like he had finished a free trial and got kicked from that line of questioning, same for anything related to his own stats and anything related to how the traits or titles had worked. Getting any information now seemed impossible after multiple attempts, so he decided it was time for him to find out about the first floor.
When he looked there was a door on the opposite side of the stairs leading here. Slightly glowing and outlined, like a game prompting him to continue. He walked looking at the dead bugs he cleared earlier and wondered if he should go through with butchering them for materials then judged it wasn't worth it. Reaching the door, it opened revealing a large chamber, dark like a cave but smooth walls circled in a wide Coliseum like fashion. He couldn't see the other side, the sheer size of it felt like it could hold the entire village and the fields with room to spare.
Taking a step through the door touches began lighting up all around the stadium revealing a massive open field. There were hills, pillars and walls dotting everywhere but still open enough to see the other side. It looked to be about a kilometer or two to the other side. The massive ceiling was a dome that lit up like an orange sky with no sun. No matter how he looked at it there was nothing in the chamber that could light it up so thoroughly. Leading him to believe it was definitely magic.
Creatures like tall walking mushrooms stalked randomly in the dirt terrain. Each mushroom was at least a foot taller than him, without arms and just a pair of stubby legs. There seemed to be different types as he saw that on their heads were different colored caps, some blues, reds, yellows, greens, and purples but he couldn't see any other differences.
Taking another step a window popped up in front of him.
First Floor: Mushroom Arena