In the end, I bought a dagger. That might seem like I was ignoring Sean’s advice… OK, it totally was me ignoring him. Felicia had been right, being told to be patient just made me want to push myself more. That was why I was headed out to the dungeon, alone, a few hours before dawn. I’d left after work, unable to sleep and itching to try out my new dagger.

It was a nice piece. It had the guard like Evard had said, and was of Good quality. I’d haggled the price down to 13 silver, which I considered a win. I still had my old knife, I was planning to try some of that two-handed parrying that Evard had mentioned.

The reason I was pulling an all-nighter (aside from the unreasonable amount of energy I had from my new level) was that the dungeon reset at midnight, while the town gates opened at dawn, which would mean that I had the whole place to myself for a few hours. Also I was meeting Felicity in the morning, which meant that if I was going into the dungeon before I saw her again, it had to be now. She’d want to come along, and there were still a few things that I didn’t want to show her.

The town gates were closed, of course, but it was easy enough to get up on the wall and [Jump] down. There were stairs on the inside. There were guards as well, but they were easy to avoid with [Greater Invisibility]. It wasn’t an easy jump down but I managed to land without hurting myself. Getting back the same way would be impossible of course, but the gates would open in a few hours.

I ran all the way there in the moonlight. It was crazy how much energy I had - level fives like Reynard must be super-humans walking amongst mortals. Coming up to the dungeon, I found that my assumption of having the place to myself might not be accurate. There was a light being reflected, a little way off from the entrance. Puzzled, and feeling invulnerable from [Greater Invisibility] still being on, I casually made my way towards the light.

It turned out to be a campfire, with one man standing watch, and three or four bundled up forms of sleeping men.

Whats going on here? I asked myself. I moved closer. I felt like an assassin in a video game, able to sneak around with impunity and dispatch my enemies with a quick head-jerk. No assassination! I reminded myself. Getting closer, I realised that I recognised the guard as one of Reynard’s followers.

Thats interesting, I thought. Why does Reynard have people waiting outside the dungeon?

I turned [Intrigue] on the problem. A few things came out.

One, I knew that Reynard wanted me to enable him to lie to the Guild. So I knew that whatever fishy business he was up to, it was to do with the Guild. Two, the most important Guild business was the dungeon, so it probably had something to do with the dungeon. Now he had people… watching the entrance? They couldn’t do that from where they were, but they probably didn’t expect any traffic during the night. Looking around, I saw nearby place where someone could keep an eye on the entrance while staying hidden. That must be their lookout, but they were off duty right now. So why did he care who went into the dungeon?

Didn’t Sean say something about restrictions on challenging the final boss? Hmm. But Sean also said that they were grinding through the requirements and would be able to do it soon… So Reynard was only delaying them. Delaying until he was ready for… whatever it was he wanted me to cover up? And it was down on the bottom level.

Which is out of reach… for the moment. From what others had said, Level 2 would be quite nasty, and Level 3 was a lava floor. I’d need more equipment before tackling that.

Anyway, the watchers weren’t an impediment, so I made my way into the dungeon. It was bright daylight inside - it always was, down here. I let my eyes adjust, and then headed for the passage to the next chamber.

This time around, I didn’t have to worry about stealth. I only moved with enough caution to make sure I didn’t trip over a lizard, moving quickly to where the guardian was… standing? Could you call that standing? Regardless, he was completely unaware of me, as I walked calmly up to him.

Lets see if we can do this in one hit, I thought to myself. Lining myself up, I braced and struck with all my power at the lizards neck.

You have inflicted 62 damage!

Dammit, not enough! I thought as it staggered away from the wound. It seemed too stunned to even react, so I finished it off with another blow.

You have inflicted 59 damage!

For killing a Ilan Lizard, you have earned 30 XP

I got more for the Fox! Since I didn’t feel like I was in much danger, this probably wasn’t even doing my dagger skill much good. I moved on to the next room guardian, with much the same result… I needed to take on the boss.

The final chamber was lacking the ecosystem shared by the first four, consisting only of an open area of rocky sand, surrounded by rock walls, with a single cave entrance. Adventurers who preferred ranged combat had tried luring or smoking the boss out here, but he stayed in the cave. I poked my head in and saw it was how it had been described. A main passageway headed straight on for about 10 metres and then took a sudden turn. The boss chamber would be just past that. Before the turn, 4 other small passageways branched off. These were two small for me to easily crawl through, but they had been explored. They led to the boss chamber as well, each of them passing through an Ilan lizard’s nest. The bosses minions could either come out to aid the boss, or appear in the passageway to cut off escape, or maul the backline.

Why am I doing this? Some part of my brain asked. Was it because Milly had freaked me out with her talk of destiny and hunters? Back home, I’d dealt with risk every day, but it had been research. Quantifying and cataloging each aspect of risk, packaging it up and offsetting… until it was’t risk any more but saleable product. Taking risks was for the boys on the floor, the traders and the hedge managers, swaggering about the place as they won or lost millions of the Firm’s or other peoples money.

They looked down on us, I knew. Oh, they could be sweet enough when they smelled a bit of juicy info, a bit of an edge, or the chance to get in someones pants. But we heard how they talked about us when they thought no one was listening. Mostly because they didn’t seem to realise how loud they were talking. No reward without risk, they’d say. I know what I’m doing, I told myself, and stepped into the cave.

I did not know what I was doing, but I did have a plan. As soon as I got to the corner, I cast the brightest [Light] spell that I could, at what I estimated was the centre of the room. It was painful to look at directly, but not debilitating. The boss was revealed in all his ugly animal glory.

[Identification] : Greater Ilan Lizard (male) - Threat Level: 5 - Condition: Unhurt

I decided to call him Gil. Gil raised himself up, looking for his opponent, but there wasn’t anybody. I was actually moving back down the passage as he roared, summoning his minions.

Sean had warned me, when it looked like I might be going in without fully preparing, that Invisibility wasn’t going to be the trump card that it normally was. I hadn’t actually told them I had Invisibility, but it was a pretty obvious Illusionist spell.

“A lot of bosses have blindfighting,” he told me. Well, us, Felicia was still there, but he was addressing me. “It allows them to fight in melee without any senses. This guy is stuck in a dark cave, so he probably has it.”

“You don’t know?” I asked. “You’ve fought him right?”

Sean shrugged. “He’s a level one boss,” he said. “We go in with torches, and I one-shot him while the others take out the minions.”

So if I went into the chamber, the boss would engage me, and his minions would hamper my movement. They wouldn’t be able to sense me, but if the boss got a hold of me then I was sure to get swarmed. So step one was to take out the minions in the corridor.

You have inflicted 66 damage!

I struck at one of them, and then immediately moved away. My target started snapping randomly around him and lashing his tail, but I wasn’t there to be hit. The outer corridor was actually a fairly spacious place to fight, and I could escape outside if I had to. With them not being able to sense me, it was easy to avoid them as long as I kept my distance. When they tired of snapping at air, I snuck in again.

You have inflicted 65 damage!

Different lizard, so no kill, but boy were they angry now. Gil remained inside his cave, but I could hear him roaring. I wondered how much he was aware of what was going on. I let a few seconds go by, waiting for my chance.

You have inflicted 59 damage!

For killing a Ilan Lizard, you have earned 30 XP

Now there were three. I backed off outside. I was worried about dripping blood from my blade giving me away, so I tried wiping it in the sand outside. It didn’t clean it, but it got enough off so it didn’t drip. Interestingly, the lizards seemed to smell the blood outside and came closer to the entrance. Not out of it though, there appeared to be a rule. A rule that I could abuse, darting in and out again.

You have inflicted 64 damage!

For killing a Ilan Lizard, you have earned 30 XP

Lucky! The two remaining backed away from the entrance but it didn’t make a difference. They couldn’t see me coming and it wasn’t long before I had 60 more XP. Now the main show could begin.

I moved cautiously forward, and rounded the corner once more. Gil was pacing about, clearly agitated. He couldn’t sense me, but that wouldn’t matter when I got close.

“They can’t see you, but they can dodge your attacks,” Sean had said. “They can’t sense you, but if you’re in melee range, they can attack you.”

My heart was thumping like crazy, but I moved in.

You have inflicted 39 damage!

You have taken 8 damage!

Blind fighting confirmed, I thought. But I hurt it more! I backed off, to give myself time to deal with the pain, but… it didn’t hurt as much as before? I have more HP now, so its a relatively lighter wound?

Gil had reacted to by backing away, by charging for the exit, perhaps expecting to find me there. But I wasn’t going to be so predictable. It cut me off from escape, but it meant that he was over on the other side of the chamber. I charged in again.

You have inflicted 47 damage!

You have inflicted 36 damage!

You have inflicted 42 damage!

You have taken 8 damage!

Ow! I thought, but I was grinning like a madwoman. It had taken him time to get turned around, and I’d easily dodged his awkward bites, but then he’d switched things up with a tail sweep. I backed away again, easily keeping away from him as he stalked around the chamber.

[Identification] : Greater Ilan Lizard (male) - Threat Level: 5 - Condition: Bloody

Bloody alright. Even though I was injured, I felt powerful. They were only light wounds and Gil’s blood was everywhere around the room. Even I could smell it. I was going to win this fight!

You have inflicted 33 damage!

You have taken 5 damage!

You have inflicted 32 damage!

For killing a Greater Ilan Lizard, you have earned 150 XP

For clearing the first level of Oakdale dungeon for the first time, you have earned 100 XP

For clearing the first level of Oakdale dungeon you have earned a reward

For clearing the first level of Oakdale dungeon alone for the first time, you have earned 100 XP

For clearing the first level of Oakdale dungeon alone you have earned a reward

I stood in the cavern and laughed like I was crazy. I felt like I should be coming down from an adrenaline crash, but my body was ready for more. I still had 200 Endurance, I was barely even winded. Is this what it feels like to win a million dollar trade? I wondered. No, this is better. Slowly, I calmed down. About the time I could no longer hear my heartbeat, I was reminded of my wounds.

Ow! This time they were all on my arms and legs, so they were easier to check. Cleaning them with water and wrapping them in cloth wasn’t enough for a [First Aid] skill unlock, but they didn’t hurt as much, and they stopped making a mess. Once that was taken care of, I could start paying attention to the changes in my environment.

Without me noticing exactly how, a new passageway had opened, headed into some lighted area. On either side, two small chests had appeared. They were only about 20 cm long, and made of brass, or bronze, or something else that was yellowy, and wasn’t gold. I tried picking one up, but it didn’t move. Opening it, I found a small ingot of a black metal, a small medallion, and some silver coins.

[Identification] : Darksteel Ingot - Quality : Good - Properties: Silent, Steel-piercing

[Identification] : Oakway Token - Properties: Key

[Identification] : 20 silver hawks - Quality : Good - Properties: None

And heres the reward to go with the risk! I scooped up the goods and opened the other chest. This held an identical ingot, and silver, but no medallion. My funds were now officially recovered. I turned my attention to the lighted passage. From what I’d heard, most of the gains from the second level required [Hunt] or [Gather] to collect, so there was little point in going through.

But it couldn’t hurt to look, could it? I went through, and found myself in the jungle.

[Identification]: Denine Fern - Condition: Healthy

[Identification]: Moinal Creeper Vine - Condition: Healthy

[Identification]: Polenth Tree - Condition: Infested

[Identification]: Undra Weevils - Threat: 0 - Condition: Healthy

[Identification]: Yerper Beetle - Threat: 0 - Condition: Healthy

[Identification]: Wakas Finch - Threat: 0 - Condition: Healthy

The [Identification] notifications scrolled on, but I stopped paying attention to them. There was so much here! A wall of diverse plants and trees filled my field of view, starting two metres from the entrance, starting so suddenly, it looked like the jungle had been sheared off with a knife. There were 3 paths leading off in different directions, but they twisted quickly and I couldn’t see where they went from here. The noise was something else - birds, insects, unidentified screeches… This was the next level alright.

Not today. This could wait until I got Felicia down here. I headed back. My mood picked up again as I passed the bodies of my defeated enemies. If I really wanted to maximise my gain, I should bring back the bodies… but I’d made a lot of profit already, no need to weigh myself down. I also didn’t bother with the room guardians on my way out. Invisible, I could just walk around them. That reminded me that [Greater Invisibility] blocked sound as well - even if I was talking. For the first time in a while, I had privacy - and there was something I had to do.

“Weee are the champions, my friends,

And we’ll keep on fighting til the end

We are the champions

We are the champions

No time for losers, cause we are the champions

of the wooooorrrrrrllld”

Yeah it was cheesy, but damn was it the right song for right now.

Competency displayed with [Sing], Level 1 awarded

For gaining a skill level you have been awarded 1 XP

Ha! The perfect cap to a great… wait, this day had only just begun.

Getting past the watchers had been as easy as I anticipated. By the time I got back to town, dawn had arrived, and the guards were opening the main gate. I could have appeared and shown them my Guild plate, but it was easier to just stroll past and head back to the inn. Cerys was already up, getting the place ready to open. I’d ask how she managed on so little sleep, but I knew. The fact that just about everyone had one of these crazy level 3 bodies was something I was still getting used to. I’m amazed that everyone wasn’t jumping through second story windows and stuff.

I got washed up and changed and started on breakfast. As I was eating, Harold came up and sat down next to me.

“Sir?” I asked. That was… [Charm] I think having me say that, I’m not normally so respectful at the breakfast table. Harold wasn’t one to mince words, so he got right down to it.

“Are you going to be staying with us long, Kathrine?”

“Huh?”

He gestured at my bandaged arm. “You’ve been going adventuring, and at night too, for reasons passing understanding.”

“Oh, that was… I was just really full of energy last night and needed to burn it off-“ He waved away my explanation.

“You don’t need to explain why,” he said. “As long as you show up to work, thats not my business. But.” He looked at me. “Unless you’re terrible at it, you made more last night than in all the time you’ve worked here so far. You don’t need this job, so why are you still here?”

It was true, I’d made much more last night- this morning- than I ever had here. In fact, considering he paid us weekly, I had made infinitely more. The thing was, people had conversations in taverns, and being a waitress meant overhearing them. I was learning a lot about this world from overheard conversations - not secret things, but things that everyone knew about, so I’d look pretty weird coming up to people and asking “How does law enforcement work in this country?” Of course, for the same reason, I couldn’t say that, but I could spin it slightly to something acceptable.

“Its not about the money, sir.” I said. “Its true that I make more adventuring, and I’m not planning on staying in town for very long, but while I’m here I’d like to keep working at the Tanner. It… grounds me. Doing honest work for pay, having a place to stay thats stable, that I’m a part of. Its something I want more than adventuring.”

He nodded slowly. “How long?”

“I’m not sure,” I said. “It depends on.. a lot of things. A month?”

He nodded again. “Make sure you show up at sunset. You’re injuries aren’t serious?”

I shook my head. “I’ll be there.”

“Wow, aren’t you dressed… expensively?” Felicia said. We were meeting at the Guild, and she wasn’t wrong. I’d made another trip to the market and was looking like a real adventurer now. Leather jacket, pants and gauntlets had me almost entirely encased in leathery protection. Under all that, were some new regular clothes - I wasn’t yet ready to be a fetish model, and dresses were impractical anyway. I was still a long way from fitted clothes - they cost more than steel apparently, but everything fit… well enough.

“You went and did it didn’t you!” Felicia accused me. “And after everything they said!”

I wanted to put on a serious look, but thinking about that fight again put a grin on my face that I couldn’t suppress. I didn’t say anything, just showed her the medallion, about the only thing left from todays treasure haul.

“Is that the key to the second level? Can I see?”

“Nope!” I said, but handed it to her anyway. Or tried to. When she tried to take it, an invisible force prevented her fingers from closing. When I tried dropping it into her hand, it flew back into mine.

“Wow, its real dungeon magic,” Felicia said wonderingly. “Wait, I’m still mad! You weren’t supposed to go without us!”

“I really am sorry,” I said. “I got Invisibility and there were tricks I could try if I was on my own.”

“Sean said Invisibility wouldn’t work on the boss!” she protested.

“It didn’t… not entirely anyway.” I said. “It worked on his minions though, so I could fight him alone. It was… amazing, Felicia. And the second level… you’re going to love it.”

She glared at me some more. “Master’s told me about the second level,” she said. “Most of his herbs come from there. I’m just worried that you’re going to clear it before Kyles ready to fight again.”

“Oh come on, he’s going be ready tomorrow, right? Its gonna take me at least a week to clear level two.” I grinned.

“I know you’re joking, but you probably will, won’t you?”

“Who knows? I didn’t actually enter the jungle, it looked like I’d get lost before I took three steps.”

She nodded. “Thats a danger. You need- wait I’m not going to tell you now.”

I laughed. “Thats fine.” I said. “What I had in mind for today was some skill training. For you.” I held up the blank pages i had purchased that morning. “Lets go back to the library.”

Some time later, we were approaching the moment of truth. Felicia could already count, and write out numbers. The roman-ish system of numbers they used sort of included the concept of adding. 15 was XV, which was X + V (different symbols of course). I vaguely recalled that there was some trick like on-paper multiplication that worked for Roman numerals, but my plan was to get Felicia off them entirely. She quickly memorised the symbols - I suspect [Scribe] helped her with that. It took a while for her to grasp the position system for numbers higher than 10, but not too long. Addition was reviewed with the new system, and then we moved on to multiplication. I explained how it was repeated adding, and constructed a multiplication table for her going up to x10.

“I’m not sure if you’ll need to memorise this for it to work,” I said, “but for now, just know that you can work out the multiple of any two digits with this.” Felicia nodded, uncertain.

Now for the moment of truth. Just adding was enough to get a skill unlock, but she already had that. I moved on to teach her how to multiply longer numbers on paper. It was a easy to explain method that didn’t require anything other than addition and the 1-digit multiplication we’d already covered. But you could use it to multiply arbitrarily large numbers. I got her to multiply 322 by 21. I knew that with a 4 digit result, you would normally need [Calculation] of 2 for the skill to work.

“6762,” she said, finishing the calculation “Oh! I… got the skill! At 2!”

I was a little distracted, because I was dealing with my own notification.

Competency displayed with [Teach], Level 2 awarded

For gaining a skill level you have been awarded 2 XP

“Yes! Free skill!” I crowed. Felicia was looking at the notes. I assumed that she was re-doing the calculation in her head, to see what it was like. But she wasn’t

“Katherine,” she said slowly. “That ‘sheltered background’ of yours… what in Ryvue was it?” She looked at me. “What’s ‘English’?”

Oh shit. I looked at her notes.

[Identification] : Calculation Notes (English) - Quality: Good - Properties: [Teach] Calculation