Most of a month passed in a blink of an eye for Daniel. His routine consisted of going to his shop and working on items for 11 to 12 hours a day then heading home and repeating the cycle. With his new knowledge that he received from his feat, he managed to finish at least one item a day if not more depending on how complex the item was.

He never made the same item twice. With all of the new knowledge he had gained he knew how to make a myriad of different weapons that he had never even attempted before or known about before. He suspected that some of the weapons that were in his memory had never existed on earth. He made Halberds, long-swords, short-swords, a maul, glave, and so many more. Each weapon he made was of at least Superb quality. One spear he made in particular even made it to Excellent quality. Unfortunately, many of the weapons he made were not up to the standard that he wanted. He had to blame the lower quality of the weapons on how unfamiliar they were. Just because his mind knew how to make them didn't mean that his body could follow what his mind knew.

He thought back had transpired when he finished crafting that knife. After he had finished cleaning himself up he had gone ahead and opened up the Crafting Legacy tab only to be shocked at what he had seen. There had been dozens of what he now knew were skill trees for dozens of different crafting professions. Many of which he had only ever heard of in video games. There were of course many different professions from Earth's history that he recognized from blacksmithing, leatherworking, Tailoring, woodworking, lumberjack, herbalist, miner, skinning, tanning, jeweller, cooking, and many others of which he didn't even know the name or their significance. Then there were what he was calling the more magical ones like Alchemy, Talismans Crafting, Runework, and Enchanting. There were of course even more, but many of them were a higher tier than he could access for now. Currently, he had only one Profession point from completing the first quest in the ‘For the Forge’ quest line that he had discovered, and he knew that if he put the point in anything other than blacksmithing at the moment that it would be a waste, but that didn't mean that the blacksmithing options were bad he was just overwhelmed with his choices. Argh!!!

Choose how you wish to advance yourself as a blacksmith. When Chosen you will lose access to the other options until your next profession specialization.

Path of Strength: You work with strength and speed. Efficiency is your friend, your work is never-ending. You gain access to the Strength: Profession Skill tree +1 to Strength, +1 Endurance, and +1 Profession point per level.

Path of Fire: The heat of your forge is sweltering, but the heat can not touch your skin. Gain access to the Heat: Profession skill tree. +1 to Endurance, +1 to Constitution, and +1 Profession point per level.

Path of Perception: Your work is perfection. Not even the smallest imperfection can escape your notice. Gain access to the Perception: Profession skill tree. +1 to Dexterity, +1 to Intelligence, and +1 profession point per level.

Each of the options wasn’t bad but as of right now with his limited number of points per level, he wanted to play it safe. And with his own style of blacksmithing, he knew what choice he thought was best for him. He picked the Strength skill tree. Like when his class skill trees worked he currently only had one option at the moment and that was a skill called Hammer speed.

Hammer speed ( 0/5 ): Your hammer blows fall like rain. Passive. increase the speed of your hammer strikes by 5%. Cost to increase 1 Profession Points.

He currently only had the one profession point so without any other options he put it into the skill

He had also found out that when he opened his Crafting Legacy tap he could see which professions he had active. He currently only had the one, he didn't know how he would acquire more through the Feat, so he didn't worry about it for now. It was after all of that that he truly began to work. He still didn't know what to think about this new world he had been thrust into so for now he tried not to think about it and dove headfirst into his work trying not to think about what these changes to his life might mean.

Seven days into his Blacksmithing spree, he got his first profession level-up; Each item of Superb quality he made netted him 100 experience. 50 more than the first good quality knife he had made, so after his tenth weapon was completed, he finally reached level 2 in blacksmithing.

Congratulations! You have reached level 2 in your Profession: Blacksmithing. You gain +1 point to Strength, +1 point to Endurance, and 1 free Profession Point

Daniel was ecstatic and immediately pulled up his status page as soon as he leveled up his profession

Daniel Martin

Age: 27

Race: Human

Gender: Male

Level: 1

Tier V Class: Juggernaut (Class Specialization Perk Available)

Primary Profession: Crafting Legacy: Level: N/A

Secondary Profession: N/A

Tier I Profession: Blacksmithing Level: 2

Strength: 20 -> 21

Endurance: 12 -> 13

Constitution: 19

Dexterity: 13

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom: 10

Willpower: 11

Charisma: 10

Free Attribute Points: 5

Free Skill Points: 2

Free Profession Points: 1

Class experience to the next level: 253 out of 1,000

Profession experience to the next level: 50 out of 2,000 (Blacksmithing)

Feats: Troll Regeneration, Crafting Legacy

General Skills: Identification ( 1/5 )

Class Skills: Tough Skin ( 2/5 )

Profession Skills: Hammer speed ( 1/5 )

Spells: N/A

Daniel noticed that he was getting about 25% of all of his crafting experience that was converted into class experience which would mean that based on the experience he was getting for his class Kota wasn’t receiving any of his profession experience which made sense to him and in all honesty, he was happy about that it would have sucked if Kota was sucking his profession experience especially when he couldn’t use it.

He couldn't use his new Profession Point he gained so he would have to wait until his next profession level up to upgrade Hammer Speed again to further increase his efficiency and so he could see what skill the strength profession tree would show him next. But for now, he had to wait.

After another seven days, he was finally able to finish the blacksmithing quest he had been given to him by his feat.

Congratulations! You have completed the Quest: For the Forge 2 of 5 (Widespread). For going above and beyond and crafting 20 items of Superb quality and one Excellent quality reward has been greatly increased.

Before Daniel was able to find out what his reward from The System was, searing pain filled his mind once again. It was so intense this time that he was forced to his knees and blacked out on the floor of his shop.

When he finally woke up he felt like he had been out for hours, and his head felt like someone had been beating it with a hammer the entire time, but just like from the previous time the pain decreased with every passing second. ‘My regeneration feat is coming in clutch once again. Ugh, when will this stop happening?’

Standing up from the floor he pulled out his phone to check the time only to notice that the floor and subsequently himself was covered in blood. It seemed that this time around he had lost a lot more blood and the pain hadn't made him blackout either. Looking at the time on his phone he saw that it was 8:31 am the next morning. He had finished the quest at around 11 pm last night so he had been out for nine solid hours. He decided that this was not good 'as if it had been before,' and he needed to figure out why this kept happening. What was the saying? Once is chance, twice is a coincidence, and three times is a pattern. If he counted the first time this had happened when he had first selected the feat then this was definitely a pattern, and a decidedly bad one indeed.

He would have to spend time figuring out a solution later, but for now, some of the knowledge he had just gained was extremely relevant to his crafting process so far. He started cleaning up the floor of the mess his blood had made as he thought about the new insight he had gained into the crafting process.

The most important thing he had learned was one of the ways rarity affected the crafting process. When he crafted an item the base rarity of the materials used would determine how much profession experience he would receive. Quality had its own modifiers that would further augment how much experience he received. Right now he had only crafted widespread rarity items which had a base experience of 50 exp, but if he managed to craft an item of common rarity materials it would double the amount of base experience he would receive when completed. The only problem was that he didn't have access to higher rarity crafting components or materials, and most of the materials his knowledge was giving him he had never heard of before until now. There were only a few that he did know about that we're here on earth, and most of them were way outside his budget to get any sizable amount to craft with. He would need to find a different way to increase rarity. Another common way to increase rarity was to craft exotic weapons, but this would give him a very large increase in experience gained unlike using better materials would. This method also had its own problems though. Most exotic weapons were by nature also harder to make, so if he did make one using knowledge on them he might decrease the quality of the item and thereby earn him less experience with the higher rarity. making the time and effort invested into the project worthless. He needed to find a way to balance out these two factors because if he did manage to do so he could vastly increase the amount of experience he was gaining per successful craft.

While still cleaning he pulled up the other rewards he had received from completing the second quest in the 'for the forge' chain.

The rewards did not disappoint. He had gotten a total of 2 additional Profession Points for doing more than the quest required bringing the total amount of profession points gained from the quest to 3. The next reward is what really excited him though. He had received a random skill from the blacksmithing skill tree.

Master of the Forge ( 1/5 ): You are the ruler of your forge and metal is what you command. Passive. you have a small chance that when you finish crafting an item that its quality will be automatically increased by one level. Cost to increase 2 Profession Points.

He had effectively gained four profession points for completing this quest and that wasn't even all; he had also received the next quest in the 'For the Forge' chain.

Quest: For the Forge 3 of 5 (Widespread): craft 10 items of Superb quality, and 1 item of excellent quality out of Widespread Rarity materials.

Rewards: knowledge, Profession Points, and unknown. Rewards may change based on your performance.

He couldn't wait to see what would come next but for now, he needed to head home. He hadn't come home last night and he was concerned about Kota. His new plans would have to wait until tomorrow today he would take the day off and celebrate. Maybe he would cook himself and Kota a nice steak dinner.

That evening he was lying on the sofa with Kota lying next to him after the excellent meal he had cooked for the both of them. Kota was lying on the floor in front of the sofa, his preferred stop, just in reach for Daniel to give all the scratches he could want.

He decided to turn on the TV and catch up on one of his favorite shows when he was very suddenly and rudely interrupted by a system message.

Warning all 10,000 heroes have been selected. Time until full integration. 2 months, 29 days, 23 hours, 59 minutes, and 57 seconds.

This may be an issue. Daniel stood up and began to pace around the room as Kota watched on curiously. He had completely forgotten about the show he had put on: He needed a plan. He had three months to do as much as he could before whatever would happen with The System happened. He already knew that crafting gave him experience, both for his profession and to a lesser extent his class, and with his new knowledge about rarity he might be able to increase his exp gain. He could craft as much as possible until the time was up. He might be able to get his main class up to level 3 by then with his knowledge and a bit of luck. That might just give him enough of an edge for whatever came next.

His mind made up, he went back down on the sofa to watch TV, but he couldn't focus on what was happening, his mind still being else were working on this new problem that faced him.

~~~~~

Tomorrow evening he was again sitting on his sofa eating dinner and watching the news when something interesting happened. “Hello, ladies and gentlemen, I am Ted Sherman and we have an interesting story for you all tonight. We have someone here tonight who is claiming that the end of the world will happen in three months' time. More on that at 10” after the news reporter finished talking the station switched to commercials.

Daniel focused intensely on the screen. ‘Someone claiming the end of the world the day after the announcement? This can't be a coincidence right?’ He sat on the edge of his seat until the commercials ended, it felt like they lasted for an eternity, but finally, the news came back on the air.

The screen showed a reporter in the middle of a field with a man. The man had long blond hair pulled back into a ponytail. He had very fine features as if sculpted from marble. He almost looked like he could have been a supermodel. He wore a white button-up shirt with a bolo tie and black slacks. Then the reporter started speaking. “Hello my name is Kelly Winchester and I am standing here today with Mr. Steve Johnson. He is claiming that the end of the world will happen in three months’ time and has offered to show us his proof of his claim today tonight. Steve, if you wouldn't mind could you explain what you mean by ‘the end of the world?’”

The reporter and Steve, as Daniel now knew him by, stood in the middle of what looked like a football field surrounded by stadium lights that illuminated the whole area. Then Steve began to talk. “Thank you Kelly before I show you all my proof. I would first like to tell you a brief story that led up to all of this.” Steve took a deep breath before continuing. “A little more than a week ago now I was taking a hike through the woods when I was attacked by an extremely aggressive and massive boar. It charged me as soon as it saw me, but I was lucky enough to be carrying a weapon with me that day, I’ll spare you all of the gory details but after putting my whole 15-round clip into the thing I managed to take it down after shooting it through the eyes several times, it was a big bastard-- pardon my language. When I took it down a screen as we might see in a video game appeared in my vision and told me that I had just killed level 1 Titian Boar and gained access to The System. I will go ahead and skip all the details that follow after that happened: all you need to know is that the ‘system’ as it calls itself gave me magic.” turning away from the camera that he had been talking to up until that moment he raised his hand pointing off into the field, his hands began to glow a faint red as fire condensed in his palm then all of a sudden a straight line of fire shot out of his hand and off into the distance. It reached at least 60 feet when it started to fade and then vanish entirely.

Steve turned back to face the camera and began to speak as if nothing at all had just happened. I was informed again by this very system that gave me this power as of yesterday that all people like me have been Chosen and that the end of the world would happen in 3 months’ time as of yesterday. Consider this a warning that all of us need to prepare for what comes next. I also hope that other people like me will find this video and reach out to me, and to others like me.” With those words, Steve turned and started to walk away from the camera and news reporter.

The camera followed him for a second until the stunned reporter Kelly finally began to speak and the camera turned back to her. “Umm, we will be bringing you back to Ted right after these messages.”

Daniel sat thinking for a solid minute before he decided on what to do. He would try and contact this Steve character and prove to him that he was also another of the chosen heroes. It shouldn't be too hard to do since Steve had left out a lot of information in his story that only one of the ‘Heros’ like Daniel would be able to fill in.

Pulling out his phone he went onto social media and typed in Steve's full name to see if he could find his profile where he could contact the man. It took him several minutes to find his page since he had a fairly common name. He quickly typed out a message. Only giving just enough information to prove he was one of the chosen as The System called them. “Hello, Steve, I saw that you were looking for people like us to contact each other. I am also one of the 10,000 ‘heroes’ gifted with a class by The System, please contact me so that I can get into better contact with you.”

Daniel figured that would be enough information for the man to make him take Daniels' message seriously and not some random spam he was sure to receive because of the stunt that he just pulled on live TV; many would probably think that it was fake and would want to know how he had pulled it off.

Daniel sat back on his sofa and changed to channel to something else that would be more entertaining. He didn't expect to get a message until at least tomorrow, but to his surprise, he got a reply almost ten minutes later. “Hello, Daniel, your message has caught my attention, I would like to meet up with you if possible. Don't worry about coming to me, I will come to you, just give me a time and place and I will get there as fast as possible.”

He hadn't really expected the conversation to take this turn, he had expected that maybe they would talk for a while and exchange some information, but not for the man to immediately want to meet up in person. Daniel was a little hesitant, but in the end, decided to give him the address to his workshop and told Steve that he would see him whenever he managed to arrive.

A minute later he got an affirmative response. “I see you live not far from me, I expected that I would have to catch the first plane out of here, but it seems that won't be necessary for now. You're about a two-hour drive away from me. I will be seeing you tomorrow morning then.”

That was the last message he received from Steve. He just hoped things would go well tomorrow when they met up face to face.

~~~~~

The Next day when Daniel was working on forging another sword when there came a knocking sound from the direction of his open shop door. Putting the half-finished sword on top of the forge to cool he turned to see Steve standing just outside his shop wearing similar clothes from what Daniel had seen on the news last night. Daniel waved for Steve to enter through the big garage doors that he kept open while he was forging to make sure the shop had good ventilation. Daniel approached Steve as he entered his shop and offered a hand to shake to the man.

Steve took Daniel's large hand with a surprisingly firm grip for his slender build. “So, it seems that you and I are one and the same,” Steve said conversationally.

“Well, I don't know about that.” Daniel said “but, it is good to meet you all the same. Let me properly introduce myself. I am Daniel Martin, a humble blacksmith.”

“As you probably already know my name is Steve Johnson, it's good to meet you in person. I hate if I am being too forward, but what class were you given by The System?”

Daniel hesitated for a second before responding “I am a Juggernaut, what about yourself?”

“I am an Elementalist.”

“That's interesting. What exactly can you do as an Elementalist? I personally only have one Skill so far and it's nothing Flashy. I saw that fire trick you did on the news but is there anything else you can do?” Daniel asked, he was curious to see how his abilities compared to someone else's.

“Well, I don't know how much you have read into The System wiki we recently got access to, but currently have the eight skills unlocked. I have one spell in each element I have access to that includes that fire spell you saw on the news last night, and also a water wind and earth spell. I also have other passive skills that allow me to control each of the elements I have spells for. I managed to pick up those passive skills from the skill tree I gained when I specialized as an Elementalist when I got my class. I started with the option to get spells in each of the four basic elements because that's what my whole class is based on manipulating and controlling the elements. Each level I gain 5 skill points to use because of the tier of my class, but I currently don't want to spend any more of them now that I have unlocked the first level one in each of my available skills. Unlike other classes, I don't have to use skill points to increase the level of my spells though doing it that way would be faster in the short term. The level 1 ‘Fire Stream’ spell you saw on the news last night is essentially a pre-made spell; To upgrade my spells without using skill points I can instead experiment with them to be able to improve their basic form without using the points to do so. To learn new spells I can also make them myself, but when I do that I still spend a skill point to unlock them and them on my own. Once learned however I can still work to improve their level without using points though which is nice. I can also theoretically mix spells together to make different element spells, but for now, that's way out of my skill range.

Daniel was confused “That's all very interesting, but I have to ask; how do you already have so many skills and spells? I have been blacksmithing for almost a month and I still haven't gotten my class up to level 2 yet. Hold up and what do you mean you chose another skill tree? I only have the four that I started with.”

“Have you not read anything in the wiki yet? You know what, never mind it would be easier to just explain everything to you anyways. I’ll start with your question about not starting with a fifth skill tree. From what I understand you get to choose a new skill tree for each tier of power you make it to. Each tier increases the number of rewards you receive per level up. This includes more skill points and attribute points per level. From my understanding, all of us “heroes” were given a higher tier class by The System. This isn't normal. This means that we shouldn't have even been able to receive these classes unless we were at a much higher level. As for why I have so many skills and spells, we will get to that in a bit. Do you know anything about class evolution?”

Daniel just shook his head in the negative.

“Okay, so most people once The System fully comes online will be given the option to choose any tier one class. This class will give them access to their first skill tree where they can then spend their skill points to gain new skills. They will be given the option to choose a new class or specialization when they reach level 10. This is the second tier of power and every tier of power happens every ten levels. Depending on how you use your class you will be given several different class evolution options when reaching the next threshold. So a wizard might be given the option to become a Fire Mage at level ten. If someone doesn't like their specialization options they have been given or they want to change the direction or focus of their class they can seek out a class trainer to teach them. That same wizard who seeks out a martial skill trainer will gain a martial skill tree and he might become a spell sword for example. This change would not only change their class focus but it would also change what types of stat points he would be gaining per level. A full Elementalist like myself under normal circumstances wouldn't even have the option to become one until at a minimum of level fifty while I already am one at level 3. Now, this also has some drawbacks as you might expect. I don't have anywhere near the amount of spells or stats a real Elementalist would have, but I will gain access to even more powerful classes at a much earlier level than a normal mage would. Do you understand so far” when Steve saw my acknowledgment he continued

“That's all the information that I have. Now since you haven't already you should be able to go into your character sheet and find the tab specializations and pick your new skill tree.”

Daniel nodded and did as Steve said. He found the tab mentioned fairly quickly. He had seen the option before but he hadn't ever looked into it, and now he was slightly regretting that choice.

Class Specialization:

Iron Bulwark: you are an immovable object on the battlefield no attack can make you move. You gain access to an internal gravity augmentation magic skill tree that allows you to freely manipulate your own weight and gravity. Gain +1 to Willpower and +1 to strength every level and +1 free attribute point

Requirements not met. This specialization requires opened mana channels.

Iron Sentential: you are a shield to others no attack may those who you protect. You gain access to the Shielding magic skill tree that allows you to summon powerful defensive magics to protect others and yourself. Gain +1 to Willpower and +1 to constitution every level and +1 free attribute point

Requirements not met. This specialization requires opened mana channels.

Both options seemed interesting to Daniel, but he couldn’t currently choose either option because he lacked mana channels. This made him feel a bit better even if he had looked at it earlier he still wouldn't have been able to choose one of the options. He would ask Steve what he thought about this new problem. After explaining the situation to Steve, the man began to pace around his workshop.

“This is a problem. When I got to my class I was informed that I was a skill trainer and got the knowledge of what that entailed. I could teach you my own skill trees, but we will have the same problem where you don't have mana channels and all of my trees focus on magic so you wouldn't be able to learn them anyways.”

“So, then the question would be what do we do next? You currently know more about how The System works than I do.” Daniel replied.

“We will have to open up your mana channels, but that is a dangerous option and also very expensive. We will need a lot more coins than I currently possess. I only have about 1,000 coins currently, and I was saving up to purchase a spell focus from the shop to increase the power output and control of my spells.”

“Okay how many coins will we need to purchase your spell focus and to open my mana channels, and how do we get more coins I don't have any yet?”

“The Spell focus I wanted was a wand that cost 2,500 coins, and to get all of the materials and beast core that you would need at the cheapest would be about 2500 as well, but you don't want to go for the cheapest option because that could negatively affect your growth in the long term.”

“How so?”

“Here let me explain better. We could open your mana channels with a low-quality monster core, but that would be a bad idea. Let me explain how the process works.” Steve let out a long breath gathering his thoughts “Okay when consuming a monster core it begins to dissolve in your stomach dispersing the mana stored inside of the core. When this happens the mana wants to disperse and escape your body; this is how your mana channels are formed. The mana inside of the core is like electricity. It will want to find the easiest way to escape or the path of least resistance, to put it another way. All of us already have mana channels inside of our bodies; they are just naturally closed. When the mana from the stone disperses it essentially jumps starts your mana system by ‘burning’ open your existing mana channels. This is where the quality and rarity of a core comes into play. What would happen if the stone you consume doesn't have enough power in it to open all of your channels?”

“I'm not sure,” Daniel said.

“It was rhetorical. If a core does not have enough power to open all of your channels the mana will become trapped in your body with nowhere to escape. The mana will stagnate and fester in your body. Mana needs to circulate in your body to be able to be used. This festering mana will make it almost impossible for you to ever open your mana channels in the future because this mana will in essence reseal your mana channels meaning that you will need an even more power core to open them because the mana from the first attempt will make the process that much harder, and the more powerful core could also cause other damage inside of your body instead of opening your mana channels.”

“Okay, that makes sense I’m guessing that's where the rarity comes into play the higher the rarity the more mana is in the stone but, what about quality?”

“Quality is how pure the mana in the stone is. There are different qualities of mana channels and the better the quality of the mana the better quality of mana channels it will produce so, the trick is to find a core with a good enough quality to make good mana channels, and a core with enough power to open all of your mana channels without killing or injuring you in any other way.”

“What do you mean kill me? You never said anything about that.”

“Ah well, if you pick a stone with too much power instead of opening your mana channels it could rupture them instead of making it so you could never use mana in the future.”

“So, we need to buy a monster core with sufficient power and the purest mana we can, how much would that cost?”

“Hold a moment there is another more expensive option. We could buy a mana stone instead. A mana stone like a monster core also contains mana, but the difference between them is where they come from. A mana stone is produced by the condensing of ambient mana and not the mana from a living creature with a monster core. Because of how it is formed, mana in a mana stone is of the highest quality and density of mana. The danger of using a mana stone is because of this mana density it contains. Even If we bought just a sliver of a mana stone it would be more than enough to open your mana channels, but it would also burst them open at the same time if we didn't use the proper supplements."

"What would these supplements do?"

"They would be even more expensive than the sliver of mana stone and there would still be a great risk to your life. They would stall the flow of mana from a raging river to a just stream; they would also temporarily increase the durability of your mana channels to prevent them from rupturing. They would also increase the healing in your body so that any damage caused would be fixed later. The benefits though are great. Using a mana stone would make some of the highest quality mana channels that can exist.”

Daniel let out a laugh "Is that all?"

Steve sounded confused "Yes that's all. What's so funny?"

"Now I haven't told you this yet, but one of the feats I took is troll regeneration. I could probably out heal any damage the mana stone does to my body even without the herbs or whatever. The same thing goes for the monster core if we took that route. That's not even mentioning the fact that one of my skill trees is all about body reinforcement. I could probably just get a few more levels under my belt and then put the points into that tree to avoid the need to buy the supplements."

“Okay well it will cost us 100,000 coins to buy enough mana stone to do this, plus the 2,500 for my spell focus. With the 1,000 I already have that means we will still need 101,000 coins to buy what we need if we went the mana stone route. I will recommend that I go the monster core route which will cost us significantly less. Probably only 10,00 coins for a monster core of the rarity and quality that we will need. And to bring the conversation back to your question earlier, you earn more coins by beating floors in the ‘solo dungeon.’ or at least that's the only way I currently know about.”

“Ah, so is that how you are already level 3 because of this solo dungeon? It also seems that the mana stone route is out of our reach.”

“That's correct. The System has chosen us to help the human race survive when The System fully initializes. It has given us access to a class, but it has also given us a way to level up. We have the option to enter training instances where we can learn how to fight with weapons, kill monsters, read more about The System, and a few other things. It lets us do all of these things in the name of letting us grow stronger so that we can survive. There is also a time dilation in this training hall to give us more time in the day to prepare. Time is about 4 times faster there than it is here.”

“How long have we had access to it? I hope it hasn't been too long. I would hate to have wasted even more time because of my lack of knowledge.” Daniel asked.

“Only since the announcement that all of the heroes have been chosen. My guess is that since The System is now closer to fully initializing it has given us access to more of its features, including the training hall where the solo dungeon is located.”

“Well, this all makes sense so far. So, you are level 3 right, how many floors have you cleared then?” Daniel asked.

“As of right now I have cleared 4 floors, and I don't want to clear any more until I have made some more preparations. For example, right now I am only using my spells to defeat the monsters in the dungeon. I currently have no other way of defending myself. Up until the third floor I was able to one-shot all of the monsters I fought against. However, on the 4th floor, I was no longer able to do that. I need to buy the spell focus. To increase my casting speed and damage so I can continue to more safely clear the dungeon.”

“Is there a way to sell items to the shop? I have been crafting all of these weapons so far to level up my profession, but it's not like I need to use them all myself.”

“Oh, that's not something I have looked into yet. I know we can buy raw resources, potions, weapons, and the like, that's how I know what spell focus I want to purchase. Since I thought the only way to buy items was from the coins earned in the dungeon I never looked.”

“You know that brings up another question: what's stopping you from clearing the same floor several times to earn coins and experience?”

“That won't work, you only gain rewards when you finish the floor and you can't challenge a floor more than once.”

“Okay well let's go see if I can sell some of these weapons that I made, but first let me go get my dog first.”

“Why would you need to get your dog?”

“I have a theory that I want to test. My dog is my animal companion recognized by The System. I am hoping I will be able to take him into the dungeon with me.”

“When will you be back with your dog?”

“I live close by so it won't be more than thirty minutes.”

“Okay, if it's okay with you I'll wait for you here and read through the wiki some more.”

“That's fine with me, I'll try and hurry back.”