The first thing Frank did as they walked over was introduce himself to the woman he had yet to properly meet.

“I’m Frank.”

“Uh, Rina.” She replied.

“Alright, Rina, Maria, Bill. The plan I have is simple. We are going to start along the side of the river, and work our way through the area surrounding town in an arc until we reach the highway. The goal is simply to find things the system has placed in the surroundings. Field dungeons, like the goblins, regular dungeons, wandering enemies, and anyone who’s stuck in the woods.”

“We’ll be trying to get around 15 miles a day of travel done. I’m only going to be looking for three or four days before I head on my way. Bill, with the amount of vitality you have you’ll feel like shit the entire time but you’ll probably recover enough to keep going. It’s not going to be fun at all though.”

“I don’t know what the rest of you put your stats in, but if you get the opportunity, increase your constitution and vitality. We are going to be moving a lot and you’ll find it much easier if you do that.”

All three nodded, and there was a brief period of silence. It wasn’t awkward though. It was almost companionable. Everyone here was predisposed to get along with him. And Frank felt way more comfortable with everything laid out.

As they approached the hunting supply shop, Rina spoke up though. “Are you not going to do anything about what Greg and Sasha said to you? That was completely unfair.”

Frank frowned for a moment. “I don’t know. I honestly don’t think I will. I mean, Sasha only made one point that wasn’t an unsubstantiated insult. He was right about why I mentioned trusting the system. The rest was just politics.”

“You’re just going to let them? If you are a time traveller couldn’t you easily handle them?”

“And then what? I don’t plan on staying anyways. I’m not going to kill them for being assholes. They want control. That’s what all that was about. And Greg’s less aggressive tack this morning was aimed at you three, not me. They obviously plan on being the bosses of the whole situation. So I put them in their place and then what? I leave, and suddenly they want control still but there’s someone else in charge, maybe that Laura woman or Jim or the doctor. Then there’s a power struggle.”

Frank shrugged. “Right now, they are already in control, no struggle. Everyone falls in line. Greg has already seized the opportunity. They are the two biggest sources of combat potential in town, besides myself, anyways. If I get rid of them and then leave, is everyone remaining really better off? Things are going to be more and more about hard power, you’ll find, even between groups of people.”

Everyone entered the store, and Frank let Maria handle grabbing everyone else supplies since she said she knew what she was doing already.

“Why are you okay with that?” Asked Rina as she filled her pack.

“Because I’ll never see them again after a few days,” Frank responded.

“But they lied about you.”

“And you saw through it. Not everyone will though. Sasha made an emotional argument with a kernel of truth in it, and then Greg reinforced it from the authority he already has. Most people eat that kind of thing up. Anyone who sees through it and decides to stay has their reason for doing so.”

“Why would anyone stay if they saw through it? Half the reason I’m here is because they both make me uneasy after that.”

“What happens if after I’ve swept the area with you, I decide that I’m best off moving alone, or with only one other person. What do you do then? I’m going to say this now; there’s no guarantee I take any of you with me when I leave if that’s what you were considering.”

Rina frowned and went silent.

The rest of the time they were getting their gear in order was mostly silent, and now with what Frank had said, it was once more awkward. Soon though, everyone was squared away and kitted, and now ready for the day's exploration. Frank led them out to the highway, with a stop at the convenience store for food, and then down to the edge of town, where the highway curled away and across the river. The opposite side of town from the goblins. Lower odds of there being something else closer to a field dungeon.

“I’ll take the lead, Maria, bring up the rear,” Frank told them and then stepped off the road and into the woods. Each person beside Frank had a spear strapped to their pack, the pack itself, and hiking gear. Frank had his sword and everything he’d grabbed for himself. They started moving through the brush, Frank leading the way. It wasn’t super fast going, but progress was steady. For the most part, though, it was just woods.

They walked for almost four hours before Frank called for a break, a large piece of rock jutting out of the ground provided an opening in the tree cover and a flat surface to rest on. Everyone undid their packs and took out a bit of something to eat.

“By my estimation, we are three-quarters of the way to the edge of the valley. Soon, we’ll be going uphill, and it’s going to get a little harder. I want to get to the top of the hill we are moving to so we can survey the whole valley in case something obvious sticks outs. This is the easiest climb I saw that gave a good look at the area from the top, so that’s what we are doing.” Frank explained.

“Okay,” Bill replied. “Gotta say, hiking is a lot better when you aren’t wearing cheap oxfords you got for thirty bucks at Wal-mart.”

Soon everyone had eaten a bit and rested their legs, so Frank called for them to keep moving. It was already one in the afternoon, and he wanted to get up to the top before dark. The line formed once more, and just like Frank had predicted, after about an hour more, the ground started pitching up noticeably.

Bill and Rina struggled noticeably but managed to keep going. Maria seemed to be used to it, further demonstrating the veracity of her claims earlier. It as uneventful heading up the hill as it was heading to it. They took several breaks along the way. Unless there was something on top of the hill, there was no way they would reach it today anyway, so providing daylight remained, slowing down was alright.

Eventually, the party of four arrived at the top. Turning around, Frank could peek between the trees and see the whole town laid below. A couple of minutes the opposite way and you could look on to the valley between the hill and a real mountain. Frank scanned first the town’s valley. Unfortunately, nothing stood out. There probably were things to discover there, but nothing visible from above.

The opposite way, away from town, over the hill, was much more promising. In the valley there, nestled between the hill and a small mountain who’s escarpment lorded over the trees below, was a crumbling stone building. It looked vaguely like a Gothic cathedral, but something seemed off. Exactly what Frank was looking for.

He called the others over to him and pointed it out. “That’s where we are going to aim for. I think with the last couple hours of daylight we can make it down this hill, and then tomorrow morning we can travel there.”

“Is it going to be dangerous there?” asked Rina.

“Depends on what it is. If it’s a regular dungeon, the entrance will be inside, and nothing will be outside. If it’s a field dungeon, then there will be stuff all over. If it’s something else, then I don’t know.” Frank explained. “For now though, I want to get down the hill while we can.”

Everyone followed after him, Maria warning the other two. “Going down is worse than going up. It’s really tough on your knees, and much easier to stumble or fall. Be careful.”

The way down was a struggle for both Bill and Rina, who had no previous experience hiking. Their increased attributes granted them the ability to tough it out though. Bill was labouring now, but if he had put everything in vitality he’d be completely fine and free of soreness tomorrow.

Near the end, even Frank started feeling a bit of a burn. His constitution and vitality were both within human norms still, even if they were at the higher end. Eventually, though, the valley bottomed out, and they found a flat and relatively clear spot to set up tents.

There were two of them, Maria judging it best to not overburden either of the newbies. One for Frank and Bill, one for Maria and Rina. Maria showed the other two how to set them up while Frank started eating his food. It was only evening, but he ate rapidly in order to go to bed more quickly.

Frank finished his food. Then spoke to the other three who were just finishing with the tents. He glanced at the watch Maria wore, still ticking, obviously purely mechanical. “I’m going to sleep first. Wake me up in 9 hours. One of you take watch until ten, then one of you until one, then one of you until four. I’ll take last watch.”

It might seem unfair to give everyone else split sleep, but he knew that they wouldn’t be sleeping well regardless. The fact they were not that far from the crumbling building that obviously shouldn’t be there would fray their nerves. Might as well have one person sleeping well.

Frank headed to his tent. They were aiming to cover as much ground as possible, so there wouldn’t be any fires for now. Too much time would be spent gathering tinder and logs if they did. He got his sleeping bag from his pack, took off everything but his underwear and gambeson, then zipped in for the night. He was asleep in minutes, the result of a long time spent mastering the art of sleeping quickly.

He awoke, nine hours later, to Rina entering the tent to get him. She was going to say something, but he sat up before she had a chance. She startled at the sudden movement, nearly falling backwards. He got out of his sleeping bag and put back on his clothes and boots, reattached his scimitar to his waist, and then went outside.

Rina went into the other tent when he got up, obviously tired and hoping to get a bit more sleep. All three of them would need to get used to even less in the future, Frank thought.

There were three hours before he went and woke the others up. No point in leaving before daylight without artificial light. He had time to kill.

He spent it brooding, thinking over what he should be doing. He was a time traveller. He felt like he should be able to do more. You think of time travel, you think of just finding out the lottery numbers or betting on sports and getting set up for life. It always seemed so powerful, so easy to get ahead with. Yet what he was doing right now was not all that different from his first go around. Sure, he was better equipped, better prepared, and had a plan, but compared to how it felt he should be doing, it seemed only incrementally better. There were other time travellers too. A thought occurred to him, the kind that caused stress and had no immediate way to figure out. What if the other time travellers, or some of them, were travelling back from a future in which he had already affected things? He had no knowledge of any other time travellers besides that they existed and how he dealt with them could have a huge impact.

They might already know about Frank the Returner, saviour of humanity, and be preparing to sabotage him personally, while he only vaguely knew they existed. It wasn’t something he could deal with right now, so he forced himself to push that aside and instead focus on what he could do.

The dungeon. He hadn’t said he knew for certain, because there was always a chance it could be something else, but based on how it looked, he was almost certain it was one. There were a couple of huge benefits to dungeons. The most obvious one was the experience and loot they offered. There were deeds only unlockable by doing things in the dungeon. There were benefits to all of humanity. Most importantly for Frank’s immediate circumstances, there was time. Much more time than he had out here. You’d always leave a dungeon on the same day you entered it.

Of course, you couldn’t sit there forever. There were systems put in place by the system to prevent that. You could spend weeks in one though, and not expend a day outside. The possibility of finding a dungeon was why he decided to delay leaving. That time would allow him to become far stronger than he was now. That time would also allow him to sort out himself.

It was blatantly obvious to Frank that he was not operating at capacity. He was torn morally, hadn’t seriously considered what he was going to do and how, and had been playing everything by ear. He’d been going through the motions. He needed to do better if he was going to survive. There were other people as well off as Frank was currently, without a doubt. Most of them would die, regardless of whether they were lucky or competent. He needed to get shit figured out. Every day he didn’t was a day wasted.

The sun had lit up the sky while he sat ruminating, so Frank decided to wake the others up. It was time to get ready and get going. He called out.

“Morning’s here. Time to get up. Get dressed, grab something to eat, I’m moving in fifteen.”

People started groggily stirring. The first up was Bill, who had taken first watch and thus gotten uninterrupted rest. Then the two women shortly after. Everyone ate sparingly and drank from their waterskins.

“We’ll be walking a couple of hours until we reach our destination. Then a short rest, and we check it out unless we meet something on the way.” Frank informed the group.

More hiking through forest followed. Bill seemed completely fine, only Rina struggled. He really had put everything in vitality. Nothing confronted them as they walked, but gradually the sounds of birds and other animals grew sparser until the woods became eerily silent.

Bill and Rina weren’t knowledgeable enough to catch this right away, but it set Maria on edge. Frank explained for her benefit. “Most animals know to avoid system stuff on instinct. Never figured out why that is.”

They arrived finally at the building, and immediately the system greeted them with a message.

For discovering The Ruined Temple of a Forgotten Aspect of Fire, receive 710 EXP.

Then that message was replaced with another one.

The Ruined Temple of a Forgotten Aspect of Fire

Level 5 Dungeon

Depth 20

Unclaimed

Watered

It had been a long while since he’d seen one. Spending your time on the run, fighting a losing war of attrition wasn’t conducive to searching for them. That it was watered was great. Most dungeons were, but sometimes there were ones that specifically did not. The system was kind enough to tell you this. Unwatered dungeons had no drinkable water in them, meaning you had to have brought enough on your own.

“It’s a dungeon. We’ll be heading in. Once inside, time passes slowly outside. Where you start off is always safe, so we are going to head in immediately to take advantage of the extra time it provides.”

Frank immediately started heading into the building. The others followed, uncertainly.

The interior was arranged much like a church. A broken stained glass window greeted them at the back of the room. Pews, haphazardly laying about, blocked their path. Lighter spots on the floors, with holes, belied where they were once bolted in.

Once inside, another message appeared.

Enter the Ruined Temple of a Forgotten Aspect of Fire?

“Think about the message and agree with it in your mind. Then you’ll enter the dungeon.” Frank told them, watching Maria and Bill disappear. Rina hesitated, but he wasn’t about to cajole her. He assented in his head, and his vision spun.

He appeared in a small stone room, Bill and Maria a few feet away from him. Rina popped into existence a moment later.

“Have you ever heard about the teleporter problem?” Bill asked the rest of them, looking at himself worriedly.

“Don’t bring up the fucking teleporter problem. I spent a years listening to people argue about that shit every time I went in a dungeon.” Frank groaned.

“Feel free to rest for a bit, have a snack. If you notice, it’s light enough to see even though there’s no source. That’ll be the case for every floor unless one is themed darkness. Doubt it though, doesn’t seem very ‘aspect of firey’. Maybe a floor where everything is illuminated only by flame though.”

Everyone sat and ate an early lunch. Frank explained the basics to them.

“We’ll be going in a simple formation. I’ll be at the front, Maria at the rear, Bill and Rina in the middle. Once we leave this room, there will be enemies, like the goblins, or more dangerous stuff. We’ll find them periodically, alone or in groups. If you don’t want to fight you can leave now and wait for us outside. I will go back to town to resupply after this, so you can travel back with me. I don’t recommend it though. Not really possible to avoid fighting.”

“Biggest thing is just to keep the formation, stay aware, and listen to me. Spears are great, they let you hit things at a range they can’t hit you back. That’s their best characteristic. Use it to keep yourself safe. Hopefully, we can acquire real weapons for you later.”

Frank then got up, adjusted his pack, and unwrapped his sword. He motioned to everyone, and the quickly got into the diamond formation he had told them about. Then they stepped out of the plain stone room they had begun in, and into the hallway ahead.

The three he was leading were tense and nervous, but nothing happened as they stepped forward. They simply walked down the hallway at a casual pace.

“If we get separated, then head back. Early levels aren’t designed to let you get lost. If you see the environment get fancier or change entirely, go the opposite way of that, and eventually, you’ll get back to the entrance. You can always leave from the entrance, no matter how deep we go, though eventually, we will need to map it out.”

They walked down the hall, which seemed to stretch endlessly, for many minutes. Eventually, it forked in three. Frank took the left without hesitation.

“Why are we going left?” asked Maria.

“No reason, I just picked left. I’ll probably pick every time. Without any knowledge of the layout of this place, better to be arbitrarily consistent. Easier to retrace steps.”

It wasn’t long after picking a path that the first enemy appeared. A huge suit of armour, a head taller than Frank, loomed, framed by the expanse of stone hallway. It carried a mean looking pike with both hands. Upon being noticed, it creaked into movement, and slowly, ploddingly, moved towards them.

Derelict Iron Armour Animated by a Forgery of the Flame of Vitality

Level 1

A message popped up. Unlike outside, the system always identified things in dungeons.

“Stay back on this one until I tell you. It’s got a lot of reach which is bad for your prospects.” Frank warned the group.

The armour continued its slow advance, and Frank moved to meet it, the others trailing back a few feet behind. When Frank reached the edge of the range of the pike, it swung out at him. It was painfully slow, not even fully accurate. There wasn’t much force behind it either. If it hit Frank, it would still leave a nasty, potentially fatal wound. It was, after all, a big pike with a big blade, and it looked sharp, even if it wasn’t in great shape. Such a strike would have difficulty hitting anyone that wasn’t panicked. Frank moved out of its way easily

The thing was probably easy to deal with. It was the first floor, but there were no guarantees, so Frank tested it a little more. Every attempt at an attack was similarly slow and plodding and inaccurate. Eventually, Frank decided to attack it. He swung for a joint in the armour on its arm as it sluggishly tried to recover from its latest swing. He trusted the sword to handle it. It was equipment after all.

The blade bit deeply enough that it had damaged the elbow of the armour. Frank backed away to see how it reacted. It didn’t appear to respond to the injury, it’s elbow struggling for a bit but then regaining motion. Another plodding swing and Frank was able to examine where he struck. It had already mended itself. Apparently, the name was fitting.

“Alright, this thing isn’t much of a threat. Come help me tip it over next time it swings.” He called out to his fellow dungeon-goers.