Chapter 40: Afterwards

The blinding flash faded away and Derek looked around. There was a group of seven people gathered in the area around the dungeon orb. They were staring at Derek and Thomas with different emotions. Some were frowning, some were surprised. One, whom Derek supposed was the leader of the group, and level 47 was looking at the duo with a face filled with confusion.

I’m glad I thought about wearing these facemasks. I’m guessing that man tried to Identify me, and it failed. Derek looked at the confused man, nodded, then picked Thomas up and took off before anyone was able to say anything. He ran at a moderate pace, for him, which was blazing fast for most people.

“This should be good enough.” He said as he dropped Thomas. The boy, to his credit, stood up and brushed himself off without muttering a word.

“Did you get the Award for completing the dungeon?” Thomas asked.

“Oh, is that what that notification is? I haven’t bothered to look yet.” Derek answered, then pulled up the notification.

You have completed your first dungeon.

New Award Earned

Derek went to the next message.

Lesser Dungeon Explorer

By completing your first dungeon, you have earned the following:

2 Skill Points

Explore more dungeons to increase the tier of the Award

“Oh?” Derek looked over at Thomas. “That’s not a bad Award. Already receiving 2 skill points for the first tier. It’s almost like I didn’t have to do anything for it too.” He laughed. “Well, anything but train my Rejuvenation skill. Hehe…” Derek was trying to get a rise out of Thomas, but it did not work.

Well, I also leveled Channel Void and got a better understanding of what it does when used to attack. Derek had secretly killed a couple insects with the skill after leveling. It turned out that the projection of the void on the weapon was able to slip through any defenses and specifically target the insides of whatever he attacked. Derek was happy with the new found realisation. After thinking about what had happened to the Void Beast, it all made sense.

If the void could do this at such a low level, he could only imagine how powerful it would be once it grew. At its current level, level 5, he was able to make the purple projection stretch from a few centimeters to more than double that. The higher the level was also made him able to channel the void more efficiently and lose less mana per second.

If I could turn this into a ranged attack… Derek had an idea of attaching the void to a projectile like a dagger, then throwing it. The current problem was that he did not have enough control to keep the void on an item that he did not have direct control of. But, he figured that if the skill leveled high enough, he would gain the control.

“Are we going back home?” Thomas broke him out of his thoughts.

“Mhm… I think we should. The other dungeons aren’t going anywhere. I think we can do two more before we out level them.” Derek replied. Maybe three, if the rarity of my class lets me level slower. “Okay, let’s go.”

The duo moved back to the village.

***

Six or so hours later, the village was in sight of the duo. They were walking while chatting about spears. Thomas had decided to change his class and had earned some of the respect he had lost back from Derek. “So, you finally understand why I didn’t want you to use daggers.” Derek smiled. “Good, I have a great spear you can use when you change classes. Its owner is no longer in need of it.” He laughed.

“Thank you.” Thomas replied as they kept walking.

Soon, they arrived at the village gates. Strangely, the guards that were usually at their posts were not there. Derek frowned. That’s odd. Why is nobody guarding the front gate?

Thomas seemed to have the same thoughts. “There should be guards here. Is something going on?”

“Let’s go find out.” Derek said. He picked Thomas up and jumped over the gate.

After landing, he looked around. There were not any kids running around like usual, in fact, it seemed like a ghost town. “Something’s up. Let’s see if Mal is home.” The two ran towards Brandi’s residence. When they were close to the residence, Derek spotted a bit of blood leaving a trail through the street, but he did not think Thomas saw it, so he did not say anything.

When they arrived at the courtyard Brandi used for leatherworking, all emotion left from Derek’s face. He looked at the woman and girl sprawled out on the ground.

“Brandi!” Thomas yelled and ran to the girl.

“Shh… Stay quiet.” Derek reminded. He used Identify on the girl.

Human Female

Level 1

State: Unconscious

“She’ll be fine, she is just unconscious.” Derek told Thomas, then shifted his focus to Malorie.

Human Female

Level 18

State: Critical

Time Until Dying: 13min

Derek hurried and cast Rejuvenation on Malorie’s body. He viewed her status again and confirmed that her state had changed from ‘Critical’ to ‘Unconscious.’ He let out a breath and spoke. “They are both going to be fine.” He picked Malorie up and laid her on the bench, then had Thomas do the same with Brandi.

“Thomas.” He said. When the boy turned to him, he summoned two red vials from his storage and handed them to the kid. “Keep using Identify to make sure neither of their states drop to ‘Critical.’ Your skill should be leveled enough to do so. If either of their states slip to ‘Critical,’ pour the potion in their mouth. If they both awaken, just give them the potions for good measure. It may be a good idea to move them into the house if they are able.” After seeing Thomas nod and accept the vials, he spoke again. “I’m going to see what’s going on.”

Derek went back to where he had spotted the blood. Looks like someone was dragged. I bet they’re all at the chief’s place. He did not waste anymore time and took off down the street. When he got to the bend leading towards the chief’s residence, he stopped.

Down the street in front of him was a crowd. With his vision, he could see Rayna on her knees, her clothing in tatters. A man was facedown next to her. Richard was roughed up, but standing in the crowd.

A group of six adventurers were standing around Rayna. One was standing behind her with a sword, and the others were all facing her. Derek slowed his pace at this scene as he continued his approach. Soon, he was close enough to hear what was going on.

“You think you’re great because you are the chief of some unknown village?” The man in front of Rayna slapped her. “I told you nicely that it was none of your business, but you had to stick your nose where it didn’t belong.”

A surge of anger flashed through Derek when he saw the man slap Rayna. Soon, he was close enough to use Identify.

Human Female

Level 31

State: Critical

Time Until Dying: 25min

After seeing Rayna’s status, he was happy that she was not ‘Dying,’ but he was still incensed that things had gotten to this state. He focused on the man on the grown, it was Davis. He checked the man’s status.

Human Male

State: Deceased

Derek’s good mood from earlier had been completely erased. He used Identify on the man who had slapped Rayna.

Human Male

Level 94

He squinted at that. Why is a level 94 in the village? Derek Identified the others that were standing around. The lowest level was a level 84 female. Is this the group of adventurers that was sent to run the dungeon? If it is, they were way off at the levels that the guild would send.

“Enough!” The apparent leader of the group spoke. “I’m tired of this.” He looked at Rayna. “By the noble house of Gracefall, and for the crime of disobedience. I, Wallace F. Gracefall, sentence you to death by beheading.” He looked to the man standing behind her. “Well, get on with it.”

The man nodded. He raised his sword to the side, then… His head exploded.

Derek, after throwing the dagger, was still walking forward at a slow pace. He watched as the five remaining people went into a frenzy. At that time, Rayna lifted her head and their eyes met. She smiled at Derek, then fell forward, finally losing consciousness.

Soon, the group noticed Derek. They had all turned and were staring daggers at him. The leader of the group began to speak. “Who do you think you…” Was all he managed to get out before his voice was cut off by a booming voice.

“Who the fuck do you think you are?” He had not yelled, but the bass in his voice was able to shake the insides of lower leveled people. The leader opened his mouth to speak, but Derek did not let him. “It was rhetorical. I don’t give a fuck who you are.” Derek stopped, then smiled evilly.

“By the power of me, and for the crime of ruining my good mood. I, the person who is a fuck ton stronger than you, sentence the six… five of you, to death.” He spoke. “Now, who’s first?”

“Kill him!” The leader yelled. Two men sprinted towards Derek. Derek, in his usual black tee and jeans, closed his fists and waited. A purple light flashed in his eyes for a split second before disappearing.

The man on the left held a spear, and the one on the right, a sword. But before they got within reach of Derek, he dashed forward, shocking them. He lightly jabbed the two in their chests with his fists, which had a purple glow.

At the same time, an arrow reached him. He plucked it out of the air and returned it to the sender. The woman was not prepared and soon, the fletching of the arrow was all that could be seen sticking out of her head. She fell.

Lightning fell on Derek and he smiled at the increase in Magic Resistance. Maybe I should keep him alive… He quickly got rid of the idea. Being at a distance, he decided to just throw another dagger. It took the mage in the chest and forced him to the ground.

Now, all that was remaining was the Leader. The man backed up as he approached. Soon, Derek was before him, clutching the man’s throat with his right hand. He lifted him off the ground.

Richard, who was standing beside watching, spoke. “D-Derek. You can’t. He’s a noble and from the Adventurer’s Guild.”

Derek, hearing Richard speak, looked at him. “Oh, so he’s a noble. In that case.” He squeezed his hand, and adventurer's neck snapped. “Whoops, my hand slipped.” The man’s body fell to the ground.