Fresh looks at the adventurers all around them, all carrying heavy loads in the large bags on their backs as they walk towards the dungeon to put in a new day’s work. “How come you don’t have a bag?” asks Fresh.

“Don’t want one,” replies Jubilee very dryly back to her.

Fresh tilts her head, looking at her companion. “Oh… How come?”

“Mind your own business,” snaps Jubilee, as they move past a large crowd, which is standing outside of a butcher’s stall.

“Sorry.” Fresh scratches her cheek with her right hand, not sure what she did wrong. “Do bags cost a lot of money?”

“Not really, about a hundred Obols will get you a really shitty one.” Fresh winces at the, for her, incredibly high price. Jubilee stops, looking back at the girl, as they seem to be thinking about something. “If you’re going to be glued to my ass, maybe we should get you one.”

Fresh waves her hands. “I only have one Obol…”

Jubilee rolls their eyes. “Yeah, I saw. Come on, there’s a stall right there,” they say. “If you can’t be useful, then you can at least carry things for me when we’re in the dungeon,” explains Jubilee, pointing at her. “Which you’re not going to be down in that often, by the way.”

“Ah! No!” Fresh waves them off, not wanting to be even more indebted. She’s starting to lose count of how much she already owes Jubilee and she doesn’t want to add anything else to that growing debt.

Jubilee looks back at her. “Look, we’re in this now,” they say. “So shut up and take the bag, before I change my mind.” Jubilee slaps a single, large coin onto the counter of the stall and points upwards at a drab, brownish rucksack in the back corner. The vendor nods and hands it down to them. Fresh just barely catches it, as Jubilee haphazardly chucks it over her way and keeps on walking down the street alone without her.

Fresh looks at the bag in her hands. It’s a shapeless, tough looking sack made out of a light brown fabric. It isn’t exactly easy on the eyes. Basically being a sack with just a few straps. She looks at her gift and then up towards her benefactor, who has already vanished into the crowd. Fresh yelps, slinging the new rucksack over her shoulders and running after Jubilee.

A window pops up and she hears a few laughs from around herself, from some more seasoned looking adventurers as they see it, to which she responds with an awkward smile and a laugh of her own, vanishing as fast as she can, before the laughs can haunt her any further.

[Cheap Backpack](Normal)

A simple cloth rucksack, made out of roughly interwoven linen fibers. It is cheap, but durable. 15 Liters Weight: 0.8kg Durability: 30/30 Value: 100 Obols [Adventuring: 1]{Fresh Start}

Fresh runs through the buzzing crowds filling the street, panting, wheezing and sweating as she catches up to Jubilee not a minute later. “Th-thank y- you,” says Fresh, gasping for air.

“Don’t thank me,” snaps Jubilee. “I expect you to pay me back, so start making yourself useful. We’re even further in the red than we were yesterday now.”

Fresh feels woozy, but clenches her fists. “I’ll do my best!” Jubilee sighs and shakes their head, sighing. The two of them step into the dungeon.

Walking down the staircase, Fresh looks around at the first floor, which looks just as they left it last time. Jubilee points towards the hole in the wall, where the mushroom creature slept. “Congratulations on your newfound employment,” they say sarcastically. “Rootwood-flowers grow beneath roots. Who would have fucking guessed?” Jubilee waves her off. “Have fun. Catch up when you’re done.”

“Huh?” Fresh blinks.

Jubilee walks away, heading down deeper into the dungeon without another word. Fresh looks back at the hole in the wall, where the dirt is still pocked with scorches from her devious trap. Adventuring is dirty work, apparently. But that’s fine, that’s what she wants it to be.

Fresh breathes in and out deeply and gets down onto her stomach, crawling into the small crevice. It’s bright enough that she can see, thanks to the torches just outside, but the hole is cramped. She reaches the end where Mr. Mushroom had slept and looks around herself. Sure enough, just above her head, are several of the blossoms, growing out of the bottom of the dark roots that permeate the walls. She smiles and turns over onto her back, the empty bag compressing beneath herself as she reaches up to grab the first one. It’s firmly stuck, the flower feels oddly hard. Like wood, actually.

“Oooh…” says Fresh herself, realizing now why they had that name. She yanks again, twisting a little and the flower breaks off, coming loose. Some dirt from the compacted ground above herself falls down onto her face.

Gathered: [Rootwood Flower] ! [Gathering: 1]{Tunnel Rat}

“Pthhhbt -” Fresh spits out the crumbling mess, blowing her lips and rubbing it out of her eyes as she reaches up for the next flower. She doesn’t think that she wants to focus on alchemy primarily, it doesn’t seem like the thing that really excites her in life. But it’s good to know a lot of things, right? Plus alchemy has a very strong foundation in the general topics of items, doesn’t it? It would be good to know a little about everything, plants and powders and so on. She grabs a second flower, only barely managing to avoid the cascade of dirt this time. Looking around, she grabs a third and last one, already feeling the dirt stick to her very sweaty, cold skin as she flops back around onto her stomach and wiggles backwards out of the tight tunnel. She is thankful that she doesn’t get stuck.

Gathered: [Rootwood Flower](Normal)! x2

Pulling herself out and sitting upright, she looks at the things in her filthy hands with a new pride in her eyes. The three tiny bulbs, she collected these herself. These are hers. She’s finally managing to do something of value. Her eyes shine and she can’t help but make an excited squeaking sound, as her fingers clench the woody plants very tightly. Though, feeling spontaneously embarrassed a second later, she turns around to look if Jubilee had heard her. But Jubilee is already down deeper.

Fresh takes her bag off and opens it up and tosses the bulbs inside, wondering if maybe there is any sort of… magical inventory. The bulbs unceremoniously plop down to the bottom of the sack, thudding as they hit the bottom.

Apparently not. Oh well. Inventory… inventory… something about this word tickles her brain, but she can’t quite figure out what it is. So, she just smiles as she looks at her bounty and rises up to her feet, slinging the bag back over her shoulders, before heading down after Jubilee.

[ You got {10/15} Experience ! ] (Party)

[ You got {12/15} Experience ! ] (Party)

Ah, Jubilee's already down there working. Fresh goes down the staircase, bracing herself against the wall this time as she hurries to catch up. She’s thankful that she has someone so strong in her party.

[ You got {14/15} Experience ! ] (Party)

You got [15/15 Experience] ! (Party)

[Level up! You are now LEVEL 3 ! ]

{No-class} {Cooking: 1}{Crafting 2}{Gathering 1}{Adventuring 1}

~*+- PROFILE -+*~ HP: 4/4 +1 "FRESH" SOUL: $%§ / §**+'# LEVEL: 3

STATUS: ???

CLASS: NONE

OBOLS: 01

RACE: HUMAN

[INVENTORY]

STR: 02 WIS: 02 LUK: 04 +1 DEX: 03 +1 INT: 02 LOV: 02

[ You got {1/22} Experience ! ] (Party)

“Wow…” Fresh stops, looking at the new window that has appeared. This is going really fast. She looks at her available abilities.

*~+- PLEASE CHOOSE AN ABILITY -+~*

[1] Choice Remaining

[Crafting: 2] {Idle Hands}

Crafting your first item of the day restores your SOUL to full.

[Adventuring: 1] {Fresh Start}

Every day, a random stat is raised +1 for the duration of the day

[Crafting: 1] {Hands On}

You are more precise when working without tools.

These all looked a lot more interesting to her than her previous choice. Her finger hovers above 'fresh start' . It seems like the best choice, plus it has her name. A free stat, even if only temporary, could be worth its weight in gold for her. An extra max health point could save her life, or an extra point of luck could maybe brighten her day a little more… 'Idle hands' seems useless, as long as she doesn’t know if she even has any soul-points, which are apparently what magic costs to cast in this world. It seems to be the equivalent of the term 'mana', which she recalls from media in her old life.

[ You got {3/22} Experience ! ] (Party)

Fresh stops, looking at the experience window that has appeared and her hand moves towards the entry level crafting skill 'hands on'. Jubilee is doing so much for her and if she’s going to craft things, then she doesn’t also want to ask for tools or anything more from her party-member. She looks down at herself, at this new body of hers. This is all she has to work with. But this should be enough, she wants it to be enough. She’s going to make it be enough. Fresh selects the skill, promising that she’s going to make something to thank Jubilee for their efforts and rushes, carefully, down the staircase and then the next, until she arrives on the fourth floor.

[New Floor: 4]

Fresh looks at the window and then swipes it away. Apparently new floors trigger her menu, but only every two floors? She’s pretty sure she didn’t get one last time. Though… she did fall down the stairs. Maybe she just missed it? The girl looks around and flinches. A group of mushroom creatures are pinned against the walls in a rather gruesome display, impaled on long, jagged spears of glass that hold them in place. Fresh steps down onto the floor that Jubilee isn’t on anymore. As she comes closer and looks at the crystal shards, seeing her own reflection, they shatter apart in an instant, just as they had last time in the second that she does so, as if this had triggered it. Fresh scratches her cheek curiously and shrugs. She sets to work, carefully ripping the caps off, before stacking them neatly inside of her new bag. She feels very proud of it, even if it was a gift.

Found: [MUSHROOM CAP (Orange)](Normal) ! x5

[ You got {3/22} Experience ! ] (Party)

[ You got {5/22} Experience ! ] (Party)

[ You got {7/22} Experience ! ] (Party)

[ You got {9/22} Experience ! ] (Party)

[ You got {11/22} Experience ! ] (Party)

[ You got {13/22} Experience ! ] (Party)

She should hurry. Straining herself, she gets up and begins struggling forward. The load is a lot easier to carry on her back than in her hands and as a bonus she can see where she’s going this time. In-fact, the loot seems to be a bit lighter than last time? Maybe because she’s stronger, having leveled up again? But maybe the bag has some kind of reductive effect on the weight? Fresh smiles, another blessing by the universe. But her smile changes as she hears something. What’s that sound? It sounds like…

Carefully, she steps down the staircase, stopping near the top of it and looks at the horror unfolding below. Dead, eviscerated snails are scattered all over the rocky room, which doesn’t shock her that much at this point. But something else in the center of the room still moves, still makes noise. Jubilee stands before it, looking up at the little, green hominid that is suspended in the air a meter above the ground, as it writhes in agony and terror. A large glass spear is on each side of it, pushing through both of its clearly broken elbows and holding the monster aloft. It kicks and makes a strange, screaming sound, as its own weight slowly makes its body slide down the length of the glass crystals, which grow thicker near the base. The slow movement splits its impaled arms further and further apart, the more that it struggles and kicks.

Jubilee looks over to her and nods in approval, seeing that she hasn’t stepped down the staircase yet. “I saved one for you.” Jubilee snaps their fingers, a pinch of dirt held in their thumb flies out. The glass spears lower themselves down, the goblin’s feet kick wildly as it writhes.

“Huh?” asks Fresh, paler in the face than usual and feeling a little sick at this sight.

“It’s a goblin. They’re disgusting, horrible little monsters and I hate them.” Jubilee tilts their head. A new spike shoots out of the dirt, cutting the goblin’s left foot in half lengthwise and it screams, as the two parts flop around beneath itself. Fresh winces, pulling back and covering her mouth.

“Stop!” she yells through her clenched fingers.

Jubilee tilts their head another way as if curious. They snap their fingers. A second crystal emerges from the first. Fresh watches in horror as the other foot of the goblin simply flops down, no longer attached to the body that screams so loudly now. It screams in a tone Fresh has never heard before, she hears it in her core, she feels it in her heart as it howls a sickly, wretched cry.

“STOP!”

“No,” says Jubilee plainly and looks at her, shrugging indifferently.

“You can’t just torture it! It’s cruel!” yells Fresh, looking at the black blood oozing out from the creature.

“Didn’t you burn that mush-mush on the first floor alive?” asks Jubilee loudly and sharply to overtone the wailing goblin.

“I…” Fresh stops, not able to counter that.

“This is what adventuring is, dumb-ass! What do you think going down into the dungeon means?!” Jubilee points at Fresh. “It means killing things! It means you kill them or they kill you!”

Fresh starts. “But you can’t -”

“- I saw the scorch marks on the first floor!” accuses Jubilee. ”I’ve seen em a thousand times, everyone burns the mush-mush alive at least once. It’s basically a rite of passage!” Fresh winces, she did do that, but… it was her only way to fight. It was a necce-

“It was necessary, right? That’s what this is, dumb-ass! I need you to get it through your thick skull,” says Jubilee. “Dungeon work is dirty, disgusting, filthy stuff and I want you to see it. We’re in this together?” they ask, nodding their head. “Then come here.”

Fresh hesitates.

“Why is this different from the mush-mushes and the snails?!”

“Because it’s… - ” starts Fresh, but is unable to finish. Because it has two legs? Because it’s… human’ish?

“You want me to work with you?” Jubilee points at her. “You want me to place my trust in you? You want me to go down into the dungeon, alone, to collect materials and risk my life, so that I can come up to help you fulfill some screwball plan, that will also risk my life?” they ask, stepping forward, reaching down into the dirt and grabbing a fist full of it. Grains of sand ooze from their gloved fingers as they squeeze down tightly. Fresh’s legs shake as she watches the goblin languishing, as it bites down on its own tongue and black blood oozes out of the corners of its mouth, splattering on the side of Jubilee’s hood. “Then you need to show me that you mean it. You’re trying? You’re willing to do what it takes?” they ask, sounding almost disgusted. “That's a buncha shit-talk.” Jubilee clenches their fist, a long, slender prismatic shard appears in their hand and they hold it out to her. “Prove it.”

Fresh gulps and shakily steps forward, looking at the glass dagger as she approaches Jubilee. The goblin sinks further. Its arms are basically entirely removed at this point. Only holding on by the sinew on both ends of the elbows. With shaking hands, Fresh reaches out and grabs the piece of glass.

[Rough Glass Dagger](Poor) A jagged shard of broken glass. 1 DMG Quality Effect: -25% DURABILITY Weight: 1.18kg Durability: 5/5 Value: ???

It’s rough, jagged and elongated, save for the handle that is smooth. She’s crying, the goblin screams. She looks at it and it looks at her as it lashes out, gnashing in a rabid fury with its long, stained teeth. Its yellow eyes shine with firelight and blood as it struggles, as it screams a wordless scream that never seems to stop. Blood gurgles out of its mouth. Its body leaks.

Their eyes meet and Fresh clenches her teeth together, feeling her gut pull herself down forward. Why is she crying? It’s just a goblin. It’s just a goblin… she tells herself. She wants to do everything in her power, right? Does she? Really? She wonders, staring at her shaking hands, the glass dagger flailing wildly around in front of her as she can't keep her hands steady. Really and truly, no matter what that means? It’s a mercy, right? She’s just giving it mercy she tells herself, as her eyes open and meet its eyes. As her scream rings out to meet its scream and as she pushes forward, stabbing the glass crystal into its heart. It's what she has to do, right? Whatever it takes. WHATEVER IT TAKES! She screams louder as the dagger scrapes along the bones in its chest.

??? Goblin HP: 4/4 28/30 SOUL: +-^°#*+?/&&& 1/1

(Fresh) has stabbed (Goblin) for {2} DMG !

Applied Status: [Bleeding 1]

It screams louder, still not dying. She missed its heart. Fresh screams and pulls the glass back out, stabbing in again. The glass dagger scrapes against a bone in its ribcage and shatters on the sides, sending a strange, vibrating sensation up her arm as the glass cracks inside of the warm body.

??? Goblin HP: 4/4 25/30 SOUL: +-^°#*+?/&&& 1/1

(Fresh) has stabbed (Goblin) for {3} DMG !

The goblin shrieks, black blood hitting her face and blinding her eyes, running down her cheeks, as she stabs it again, pulling the glass out and pushing it back in over and over and over, until finally, she notices that there’s only one scream left.

[ You got {16/22} Experience ! ] (Party) [Daggers: 1]{Heartstrings}