Flipping coin...
Heads...
Summoning Random enemy...
Summoning, Rat Chieftain...
What appeared what a rat the size of a toddler, standing on its back legs. Behind it trailed three tails and it wore a traffic cone on its back for some reason. In its hands it held a broken beer bottle.
"Armor?" he wondered aloud drawing the rats attention. Its crimson eyes gleaming with a hint of intelligence. Upon the rats body he could see many places on his body missing fur and showing scars.
To his surprise it didn't immediately move to attack.
"For Sekhmet." he spoke, taking its moment of hesitation he was about to fire his prepared mana bolt at the rat when he got a distinct feeling of eyes glaring daggers at him causing him to break out into a cold sweat.
Sekhmet shakes her head while glaring...
The rat cowered a moment scanning the sky for the threat it sensed, all the while Bobby looked up for the briefest second before returning his eyes to the fight that was about to begin.
"Well fuck, I guess I'm not allowed to just shoot him." Not wishing to anger the goddess he dismissed his mana bolt. The feeling of daggers at his back dissipating but not entirely. An implied threat not to use mana bolt for this fight.
Once more the rat surprised him. It shook off the fright and glared at him with a fierce look in its eyes.
After a few seconds it raised its head and bellowed a high pitched squeak. To which a surprising notification appeared.
Rat chieftain declares, A warriors challenge: Compelled Duel to the Death!...
The once familiar feeling of the door opening in the back of his mind was replaced by something darker. As the doors opened not light came forth, only faintly glowing crimson chains that shot forth entangling his mind and will.
Dante immediately two-handed his club, his face contorted into a snarl as rage not his own brought his blood to a boil. His right eye twitched once...twice...
Partial resistance...
+1 Will...
-----------------------
Congratulations! Your stat total has exceeded 250!...
Awarding Common trinket...
Skill, Running, have leveled! Lvl. 2->3...
Skill, Dodge, has leveled! Lvl. 1->2...
Dante stood over the barely breathing Rat raising up his club to strike the final blow and cave in the rats skull. It looked up at him with its one good eye before shutting it.
You have earned the respect of Rat Chieftain...
Rat Chieftain is satisfied...
His muscles burned as he brought down the club on the rats skull, ending the fight. His vision flooded with notifications as he felt an uncomfortable tightness in his chest.
+250 exp...
Creatures slain (8/10)...
(6/8) creatures slain...
8 minutes to next coin flip...
Skill, A warriors challenge: Compelled Duel to the Death, has ended...
You are victorious! To the victor goes the spoils...
By right of Conquest you have acquired the Rare Active skill, Command Vermin Lvl. 1...
Command Vermin- Yours is the will that dominates those beneath you! Impose your will upon rodents and other small vermin, commanding them to do as you wish. While active all vermin, that can hear, you can understand you. Number of affectable creatures limited by your will and the will of the targets. Imposed will is spread among all targets. Targets with will greater than your will imposed upon them may partially or fully resist this skill. Can only command vermin. Complexity of commands you can give increases with skill level. Costs, variable, stamina and or mana per second. +8 Will, Cha, and Spirit for each skill level...
Your will has been strengthened through the oppression you have faced. Will has grown by a total of 4 through the course of the experience...
Congratulations! Your stamina has exceeded 1000 points!...
Calculating reward...
You have leveled up! [Rank 1] bonus: +1 to all stats...
You are [Rank 1] Lvl. 9...
A minute after it had started it was over. He had used nearly 700 stamina his stamina scraping the bottom of the barrel, and had lost about 250 health through the course of the fight. Despite his bulk the rat proved to be an agile and quick opponent, switching between two legs and all fours as needed.
Dante shook and dropped the club, he was covered in slowly healing bites, cuts, and scratches. He would run Purify for a minute to clear away any possible infections or diseases it had transmitted to him.
You have been awarded the common trinket, Stirring rod of temperature control...
Stirring rod of temperature control- A glass stirring rod enchanted to alter the temperature of any fluid it is used to stir to the users liking. Rod doesn't transfer heat or cold to the hand holding it. Can only cool to the point just below freezing water or just above boiling water. Reasonable limits apply...
Item added to inventory...
Well he didn't have a pot, nor the funds currently to buy one. He had filled water bottles in his inventory. He wondered how quickly that rod could freeze water. He debated a moment if he should experiment but decided against it at the moment. The stone was certainly something interesting to experiment with later.
Reaching out his hand, Dante spoke. "Sekhmet I offer the body of this warrior to you. May his soul find what he desired in the next life." He spoke and once more the blood spread around the arena, both his and the rats began to vanish in golden light. As the body of the Rat Chieftain vanished he heard a voice.
"I am told we will see each other again very soon..." The voice high pitched, it actually reminded him a lot of the original Skeletor, sounding like it was coming from the corpse of the rat. But that was impossible, he had smashed its skull and it hadn't once given the indication it could speak.
Not to mention, it was dead.
Then again he had been chatting with a goddess that loved battle, so he supposed this wasn't too far out of left field. Looking down at where the body had once been he saw
Dante looked at the green nub in the corner of his vision that represented his stamina. He was going to have to wait this entire rest period for his stamina to recover, and even then he doubted it would fully recover in the time allotted.
Dante pulled a water bottle from his inventory and the stirring rod. In his hand was a foot long, thin cylinder of glass with a small glass bulb at the end. Taking the cap off the bottle he placed the rod into the bottle whisking it around a little and thinking of the water getting colder. For several seconds he didn't notice any change, but then he noticed the water did seem to be getting colder slowly.
Pulling out the rod he took a long drink of the water. He considered using the new skill on Bobby for a second before discarding the notion. Bobby already had to do what he said, there was little point in using that skill on him. He wasn't even certain the skill would work on Bobby, and wasn't keen to test that notion.
Sitting down to rest, he started firing Mana bolts. He fired 3 shots per minute. His mana regeneration exceeded his expenditure so his mana stayed near full.
3 minutes later...
Skill, Mana Bolt, has leveled! Lvl. 5->6...
You have leveled up! [Rank 1] bonus: +1 to all stats...
You are [Rank 1] Lvl. 10...
Congratulations! You have reached the first Player level milestone!...
You may choose one of the following options: Item, Skill, or Knowledge...
No matter your choice, what is received will be useful to you...
He starred at the notice for a long few seconds, pondering what was the best call. He had been hoping Sekhmet would give him a pointer but as the seconds ticked by it became obvious that for one reason or another she wasn't saying anything.
Be that because she wasn't permitted to, thought he would make the best choice, or simply respected his right to choose enough not to interfere he didn't know.
The worst issue was not knowing what each could be or was. Each wasn't likely to be of high value due to the low level requirement, but it still irritated him.
"Is each reward random or have they already been defined?" he asked and received a prompt reply.
Each has possible prize has already been selected and waits on you...
Items could be bought, skills obtained, but knowledge could slip between your fingers never to be known. He was told it will be useful so he had nothing to lose and everything to gain.
"Knowledge." he spoke, and there was a sudden itching at the back of his mind. Questions bubbling up he had failed to consider in the moment.
Where had rat gotten that traffic cone, or the broken bottle?
That much couldn't have changed back on earth so quickly. Hell the system said the time ration was 24-1 in this place. 24 seconds here for every 1 that passed outside. Unless it meant the opposite? No, it couldn't be!
The creature you just fought came from a system generated dungeon named "The Rats Den". In real time the dungeon has been active approximately 12 hours. Internal time for the denizens is 24 days, as the time ratio in the dungeon is 48-1. He was born among the first generation of rats within the dungeon growing quickly due to the presence of mana. He was among the among the higher ranking rats in their hierarchy. Highest among that hierarchy is the Sewer King...
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
"Ok I suppose that's useful...He came from a dungeon so the world probably isn't overrun by giant rats and monsters at this moment. It game me some basic but useful information on a dungeon, told me there are dungeons. I was correct with my initial assessment of the time ratio so that's fine. I wonder where Bobby came from then?" He asked looking to Bobby only to see him starring back at him.
Taking a breath he returned to his mana bolt training.
In the end he only managed to fire off 18 mana bolts.
Skill, Mana Bolt, has leveled! Lvl. 6->7...
Flipping coin...
Heads...
Summoning Random enemy...
Summoning, Two-Headed Crocodile...
Sekhmet smiles...
"You know its really fucking easy to stop these guys right Sekhmet? Only a little harder due to the second head. Anyway....For Sekhmet you shall be slain and sacrificed." Dante spoke to the air then the croc. The 10 foot long croc starred at him with four eyes as it hissed at him.
If he remembered correctly there was supposed to be a small soft spot on their heads somewhere towards the back that could let you pierce their skulls. Or was that only alligators. He didn't fancy the idea of beating the damn thing to death like....other creatures.
"Wait a minute aren't you cold blooded?" He said aloud and then remembered a certain skill and smiled.
"System store, Delve, Refrigerate."
Tier 0 Offensive Aura
Refrigerate (+)
10 cold (Will) damage per second to entities and environment
Sufficient damage causes slow
Range: 1 meter *(Skill level*[Rank]),
Max level: 10*[Rank], Cost: 5 mp/s
Please note this skill only gains exp for mana spent on it, not damage dealt by it...
He reached up and tapped the little plus sign with his finger.
-1 SSP...
Once more the door opened and closed letting in the light of a new skill that quickly self-assembled.
This was going to be a fairly quick and dirty fight. He tossed the bone club beyond the edge of the arena, it passing unharmed through the barrier.
Then he advanced on the croc. The croc not perceiving him as a threat, advanced on him.
It lunged at him angling its head to catch him in one set of jaws. Dante dodged off to the side quickly righting himself as the croc landed and skidded quickly to a stop a second later. His fate already sealed.
As the croc stopped he leapt on top of it and managed to grab both of its mouths, holding them shut with relative ease.
As he activated refrigerate, it started to deathroll.
He took 50 damage as the large croc rolled over onto him, though he managed to hold into its mouths.
As he came back up he managed to arrest its movement by throwing his body off its back and to the side. As it tried to roll over him again he strained again its weight keeping it from rolling over.
Seeing as it could no longer roll it began to thrash in an attempt to throw him off.
But it was already too late.
Refrigerate was a crocs worst nightmare as not only did it slow from being a freezing cold blooded creature, it was also being slowed by the aura. It seemed that the cold blooded creature was vulnerable to cold damage.
It had been little more than 10 seconds since the fight had started, and as the seconds ticked on victory was a certainty. It only took 20 seconds in the end.
+200 exp...
Creatures slain (9/10)...
(7/8) creatures slain...
9 minutes to next coin flip...
+2 Str...
Congratulations! You have reached the final battle of this floor. For you who has displayed high adaptability to this new world and its challenges additional options are given...
For your final fight you can choose to fight as before, or you may choose from a list of mini boss's to fight for reward...
If you choose the prior option you may return to this floor later to choose the later...
If you choose the later you may return to this floor later to fight the other choices...
If you do not choose before the rest period is over the choice will be made for you...
Letting go of the now rigid and freezing croc Dante couldn't help but laugh.
"I really have gotten stronger If I could wrestle that damn thing." He said as he cast cure wounds on himself to alleviate the damage to his health and muscles.
Considering for a moment he spoke, "Can I see the possible mini bosses?"
Awakened Tree Gargoyle Mimic Sewer King
Well, well, well. He wasn't going to be fighting a tree or a living statue today that was for certain. He didn't know what to expect from the sewer king, the very creature he had been told about earlier.
He supposed that if they were all options then they were about equal in how dangerous they were. But in the end he supposed the only fight he was comfortable with right now was either the regular fight or to fight a mimic.
He wondered if they were cold blooded. No, they probably weren't. That was to their detriment here, it meant they would only suffer more.
"I choose Mimic." He spoke clearly. Oh wait he had forgotten to...
Do you wish to fight now?...
*Breath in and exhale* "In a minute. Sekhmet I offer you this frozen meal as a sacrifice." In a flash the popsicle was gone.
"Alright let's start the fight."
Summoning Mimic...
He was pleasantly surprised when what showed up in the middle of the arena was a chest. He almost wanted to laugh. It was the classic the chest is a mimic gag.
He wondered how close he could get before it attacked. 'Eh it doesn't really matter' he thought as he flicked refrigerate back on and walked up to the mimic.
Amorphous shape changers probably despise the cold. Makes it harder for them to shape shift, at least in theory.
As soon as he got within one meter of the mimic frost began to form on its surface. An orange amberlike eye opened on the top of the lid and starred at him for a long second before the creature reacted. Its lid opened, revealing many "teeth" that looked like wooden daggers. Its tongue lashed out at him like a club swinging for his waist. He dodged back as the mimics pursed its "lips" and spat something at him.
He dodged again, and the shot missed. But as he glanced at what it had spat he did a double take as he saw the shine of gold coins covered in some kind of fluid. Probably some kind of acid from the way the platform was hissing.
Seeing his distraction the mimic began moving away from him slowly altering its body to approximate rolling.
Seeing how slowly the mimic moved he took a chance and dropped his aura, flicking on Purify as he walked up to the scattered coins covered in acid.
As he moved forward he cut a path through the acid. It vanished under the effects of his aura. Keeping an eye on the mimic he reached down for one of the coins light glittering off the gold as the acid vanished into motes of light beneath his aura.
Picking up the coin it felt relatively sturdy but with a little give. However as he squeezed the coin between his thumb and forefinger it bent and bit him. He could have screamed, tried to throw the coin, but he did neither.
In his hand was a tiny mimic that was currently attacking his thumb impotently biting him with tiny teeth that resembled flakes of gold.
Looking down he saw the glitter of a dozen more coins on the ground.
"Baby mimics. I wonder If I can keep them? They are supposed to get more intelligent with age so I might be able to train them. Do I have anything to feed them?" he pondered aloud before remembering the saltine crackers in his inventory. He wondered if the salt would hurt them.
A dozen questions swam through his head as he felt the tiny mimic give up its assault returning to its previous shape, possibly having exhausted itself.
He was fairly certain it wasn't a great idea to put them in his inventory. But a jar with small air holes in the lid in a backpack could work. Thinking about it he wasn't sure if the mimic he was "fighting" was female, or if mimics reproduced Asexually.
Looking up he saw the mimic slowly making its way around the edge of the barrier trying to find an opening to escape. Occasionally it would open an eye and peer back at him.
Skill, Purify, has leveled! Lvl. 1->2...
Sekhmet is growing bored...
Turning he looked at the chest holding still at the opposite side of the platform from him. "Sorry its you or me." He said as he advanced upon the mimic. It slowly fled from him but over the course of a minute the creature succumbed to the cold.
Skill, Refrigerate, has leveled! Lvl. 1->2...
+450 exp...
You have leveled up! [Rank 1] bonus: +1 to all stats...
You are [Rank 1] Lvl. 11...
Creatures slain (10/10)...
You have 1 hour for exploration until you are transported to the Tutorial zone. You may choose to leave at any time. Unexpended time will not carry over to the next floor...
(8/8) creatures slain...
Sekhmet is pleased with your fulfillment of her command...
I am pleased with your choices, though I was bored there at the end. As promised...
+1 Small platinum piece...
Quickly he sacrificed the frozen corpse of the mimic to Sekhmet and turned his attention back to the "coins" on the ground.
"System store...ah...Some kind of jar to contain the baby mimics without them dying. Can I put them in my inventory and will they be fine?" He spoke with the system for a short time gathering the jar and answers he was looking for.
With the baby mimics safely in a sturdy glass jar, which the metal lid had inbuilt air holes. He resolved himself to see what they could eat later. He had even gotten some exp for capturing and containing them.
+130 exp...
It had been annoying to get them off his fingers and into the jar, but they quickly realized he wasn't hurting them and so allowed themselves to be placed into the jar. Once they were more cooperative things when fairly quickly.
The jar had cost him a large silver. The neat thing that was when he had made the purchase the small platinum he had broke into 10 pieces that became 10 large gold and the coins broke down to make his change.
At the end he had 9 large gold, 9 small gold, and 9 large silver.
It seemed that the mimics were well suited to low oxygen environments being as they lived underground. Something about them recycling CO2 very efficiently or something like that.
So he put the jar into his inventory and picked up his loot. Bobby got to carry his club, while he carried the once animated armor and its sword.
The armor was actually much lighter than he remembered, or was it his increased strength? He would have put the armor in his inventory but he didn't have room for it in there.
Wait could he afford a bag of holding? Let's check.
"System store, Bag of holding...Portable hole....Yikes." He spoke as the results appeared and they were unfortunate.
While he could afford a bag of holding, it would take a little more than half his current funds. And a portable hole? Forget it, it was 5 small platinum pieces, a little more than 5 times what he had right now.
Hell the bag looked exactly like the art for it in the Dnd players handbook. Decretive pattern that looked like a face and all. The issue being that the pocket space of the bag wasn't large enough for the armor. Or at least he thought so, might as well ask.
"Will this suit of armor fit in the bag of holding?" He asked and to his surprise he felt a small drain on his mana pool as an illusion of a large transparent cube appeared. On the side of the cube it read, Volume of 64 cubic feet.
Setting down the armor with the illusion it fit with room to spare. Seconds later the Illusion vanished, and as his finger hovered over the buy button, he saw the upgrades.
Bag of Holding MK. II...
Bag of Holding MK. III...
Bag of Holding MK. IV...
Bag of Holding MK. V...
Bag of Holding MK. VI...
"Ok I'll have to check those out after I get more money." He said pressing the button.
5 large gold piece appeared and vanished in a flash of light and in their place was the bag of holding. Sweet!
Armor stashed away he wondered something and so he asked, "Can I put this bag in my inventory?"
Yes, this is one way to grant you additional inventory capacity...
Even better.
With the armor and bag tucked away Dante brandished the long sword as he and Bobby went out exploring.
-------------------
Half an hour later they were ready to go. Taking Bobbies hand in his he spoke, "Take us to the tutorial zone."
Confirm?...
"Confirm."
In a flash they vanished from the first floor and appeared in the tutorial zone. He couldn't even take in the sights before several notifications flooded his vision as he felt a strange sense of unease.
Time ratio is set to 100-1...
Congratulations! You have arrived in the Tutorial zone! Please bear in mind that you are on the clock...
Pausing reading the notifications he looked up to see the timer had indeed reappeared and was counting down from...
23: 59: 56...
To reiterate, every time you clear a floor you are given a number of days of downtime equal to the tower floor you just cleared multiplied by the difficulty of that tower. Normal 1, Intermediate 2, Hard 3, Very Hard 4, Hell 5...
When the time runs out you will be automatically moved to the next floor of your current tower. You can choose to save your downtime by moving to the next floor before the timer runs out. Unused time will carry over to your next stay in the tutorial zone...
You are surrounded by players! It is recommended that you interact with them, and share what you have experienced...
Remember to send people that you like a friend request. If they accept you will be added to each others friends list which will allow you to keep track of them and communicate even when apart. Text and voice chat available, each method of communication costs you mana to function...
When you are done please proceed to the city gates located up the hill...
Finally able to see Dante felt Bobby squeeze his hand, looking down at him he saw the goblin looking back up at him with concern. He smiled reassuringly and looked around.
The ground beneath his feet was lush green grass and soft dark brown earth. Above him he saw a blue sky and a sun, though it didn't look quite right.
Scanning the horizon he found rolling plains of shin deep green grass, with occasional smattering of other plant life scattered through out. Off to his left in the distance were the walls of a city with a long path leading to the city gates.
Off to his left about a few dozen feet away was a sizable lake, ringed by dozens of large trees. Oddly, yet unsurprisingly he supposed, he couldn't tell what kind of trees they were.
Though they reminded him of pine tree's, they most certainly were not.
Their bark was white though occasionally there were different colors mixed in. The needles of the tree were yellow, almost golden in the way the needles reflected light.
They were the color of sunshine.
Around him he saw about a dozen people standing around chatting, some were looking at him, or more likely Bobby, while others seemed to be starring off into space, possibly reading notification.
Not wishing to stir up the group of people and possible have them attack Bobby he decided it was a good idea to start walking towards the gates of the city.