Congratulations! You and your party have cleared a Team Dungeon. You and your companion have gained 4,086 (8,172 split) experience. You have received 4,723 coins (16,344 exp and 9,446 coins split between party members).

Your class juggernaut has reached level 5 (4 -> 5) you gain +4 points to strength, +4 points to constitution, +5 free attribute points, and +5 Skill points.

Your companion Kota has reached level 5 (4 -> 5) He gains +2 points to strength, +1 attribute point, and +1 Mutation point.

Return through the portal you came in from to return to the Training Hall

~~~~~

Dungeon Quest Protect The Miners: Complete

Objective: Defend the miners from the continuous waves of monsters that will appear. Complete 5 of 5 waves defeated. 24 of 50 miners were saved.

Rewards based on miners saved: 1,200 (2,400 split) experience and 2,400 coins

Item Received: Mana Stone (Earth)

Quality: Masterwork

Rarity: Scarce

Description: An aspected mana stone of the earth element although mana stones are rare aspected ones are by far the most common. This palm-sized mana stone contains highly concentrated earth mana of only the highest quality and has been formed over hundreds of years. Though when compared to other mana stones of the same aspect this stone would be considered young, small, and weak.

The Earth Dungeon of Kasukan is a planet-sized earth mana stone that came into contact with a dungeon core uncountable eons ago and gained sentience. Using its nearly infinite supply of mana it reshaped itself into one of the most powerful dungeons in the universe. Even though it is powerful enough to kill any who enter its crystal halls it is considered a fair dungeon and scales its difficulty the deeper one travels into its depths. But be warned of the many who have tried to challenge the dungeon in an attempt to mine its crystal body for some of its precious mana stone; none have survived the attempt.

~~~~~

Congratulations! Your team is the first of the 10,000 heroes to clear a Team Dungeon. You will receive a title as a reward for this feat.

Title received: First among Legends

First among Legends: Be a part of the first team to clear a Team Dungeon from the Training Hall.

Effect: If you are a part of a team entering a Team Dungeon from the training hall each person with this title in the party will get to select one aspect of the dungeon that will not be randomized.

This can include but is not limited to: environment, monster types, presence of a dungeon quest or items, and more. Use this title to discover more of its uses.

This was the first title Daniel had seen which surprised him now that he knew they existed he wondered why he hadn't gotten one for becoming one of the 10,000 heroes; it was just something else he would have to research later. It was time to pull up his stats. He had some important decisions to make with this most recent level-up.

Daniel Martin: First Among Legends

Age: 27

Race: Human

Gender: Male

Level: 5

Tier V Class: Juggernaut (Class Specialization Perk Available)

Primary Profession: Crafting Legacy: Level: N/A

Secondary Profession: N/A

Tier I Profession: Blacksmithing Level: 5

Strength: 32 -> 40

Endurance: 16

Constitution: 42 -> 50

Dexterity: 13

Intelligence: 10

Wisdom: 10

Willpower: 11

Charisma: 10

Free Attribute Points: 10

Free Skill Points: 5

Free Profession Points: 0

Coins: 7,210

Class experience to the next level: 2,925 out of 5,000

Profession experience to the next level: 550 out of 5,000 (Blacksmithing)

Feats: Troll Regeneration, Crafting Legacy

General Skills: Identification ( 2/5 ), Mental Fortress ( 2/5 )

Class Skills: Tough Skin ( 2/5 ), Heavy Blows ( 1/5 ), Reinforced Muscles ( 2/5 ), Death Blows ( 2/5 ), Powerful Organs ( 4/5 )

Profession Skills: Hammer speed ( 2/5 ), Master of the Forge ( 2/5 ), Hammer Strength ( 2/5 ), Powerful Grip ( 1/5 )

Spells: N/A

Daniel had felt inadequate in several aspects during that fight. The elementals had been able to survive more than one of his blows, and most of the time he wasn't fast enough to hit their more vital area during the fight when he really needed to. That had caused him to take more blows than he needed to, and just because his body would heal the damage didn't mean that would always be true. Like with the boss it had gotten one blow in and took him out of the fight. Not to mention his active skills. He currently only had one, and in this fight, he could currently feel that defecate. So his decisions were easy at this level. He put his ten free attribute points into dexterity to bring it up to 23 up next was his skill points. He wanted more options in fights going forward, so he started by pulling one point into ‘Heavy charge,’ and ‘Death’s Embrace.’ This left him with three points and a decision. He had enough points left to level up and of this now three active skills to level two and purchase the skill that was revealed. He would prefer that it was another active skill he could use and he had to think about this carefully. He pulled each of the descriptions for the skills to see if any of them had changed when he purchased them.

Heavy Blow ( 1/5 ): None can stand against the strength of your blows. Active 50-second cooldown. Double the strength of your next attack. Cost to increase 2 Skill Points.

Heavy charge ( 1/5 ): charge an enemy stopping for nothing that gets in your way. Active 4-minute cooldown. Select an enemy and charge forward up to eighty feet until you reach the targeted enemy. Cost to increase 2 Skill Points.

Death's Embrace ( 1/5 ): It is your fate to one day receive death, but it is your destiny to deliver it. Active 4-minute cooldown. You can choose to receive the damage dealt to an ally within 40 feet of you within 5 seconds if it occurring. Damage absorbed in this way is reduced by 40%. Upon receiving this damage you can reflect 25% of it back at the attacker. Cost to increase 2 Skill Points.

'Heavy blow' only had its cooldown reduced by ten seconds. 'Heavy charge' was similar, but had it reduced by one minute and its range increased. Out of all of the skills, however, 'Death’s Embrace' had probably changed the most. Its cooldown had reduced by one minute, increased the range by ten additional feet, reduced the damage received by a further 20%, and added a damage reflect to the skill that would reflect 25% of the received damage. And with its scaling at level 5 the skill would have a cooldown of one minute, reduce the received damage by 100% and reflect 100% of the damage as well. It made the choice easy for Daniel. He increased the skill and looked at the skill tree to see the new skill or rather skills.

Fear of Death ( 0/5 ): Many fear death and seek ways to delay their demise, but it is the nature of all things to one day crumble away. Passive. Upon taking, blocking, or dealing damage from an enemy you have a 5% chance to give all enemies within 30-feet of you a stacking ‘Fear of Death’ debuff. Each debuff stack lasts for a total of one minute or until cleansed. The cooldown is refreshed when a new stack is applied.

Fear of death: This debuff gives the recipient a sense of impending dread and fear for each additional stack that might cause the recipient to flee the battlefield. Can receive up to ten stacks. Upon reaching ten stacks the affected party will become disoriented and lose the will to fight as a shadow of death washes over them. This effect will remain until all stacks are removed though no new stacks can be added and the cooldown cannot be refreshed.

~~~~~

Death’s Chilling Touch ( 0/5 ): The hand of death is warm and inviting to those who accept it and is chilling like the grave to those who run from it. Passive. Upon taking, blocking, or dealing damage from an enemy you have a 5% chance to give all enemies within 30-feet of you a stacking ‘Death’s Chilling Touch’ debuff. Each debuff stack lasts for a total of one minute or until cleansed. The cooldown is refreshed when a new stack is applied.

Death’s Chilling Touch: This debuff gives the recipient a stacking frost debuff which will slow their movements and grow in intensity for each additional stack they receive. Can receive up to ten stacks. Upon reaching ten stacks of this debuff the counter will reset to one stack, (The frost effect will remain in full effect until all stacks are removed) and the recipient will feel death's hand descend upon them and will start taking 1% necrotic damage per second for each stack on them up to ten stacks.

~~~~~

Joy of Death ( 0/5 ): There are many in the universe who hand in hand with death every day never crossing the line, but when their time finally does come they accept it with open arms and a smile on their face. Passive. Upon taking, blocking, or dealing damage from an enemy you have a 5% chance to give all allies within 30-feet of you a stacking ‘Joy of Death’ buff. Each buff stack lasts for a total of one minute. The cooldown is refreshed when a new stack is applied.

Joy of Death: This buff gives allies (including yourself) a stacking steadfast buff which will firm the resolve of any allies affected for each stack they receive. Can receive up to ten stacks. Upon reaching ten stacks of this buff the counter will reset to one stack,(the steadfast buff will remain until all stacks are cleansed) and recipients will feel the approval of death upon them and will start to regenerate 1% of missing stamina, mana, and health per 10-seconds for each stack on them up to ten stacks.

The three new skills were interesting and he could see the utility in each of them. They all followed a similar pattern, a passive skill that adds some debuffs or in the case of ‘Joy of Death’ a buff. It seemed to him that ‘Fear of Death’ and ‘Joy of Death’ were opposites of each other and ‘Death’s Chilling Touch’ was a continuation of the skill line he had taken up to this point since it followed the same naming scheme. He could see the utility in each of the skills.

Starting with ‘Fear of Death’ once he reached ten stacks on a target they would be out of the fight for ten minutes unless they had some way to cleanse themselves, but either way, it was strong. His only concern was if monsters like the elementals could even feel fear or be disoriented. Did they have a mind to confuse him he didn't know and that concerned him about the skill?

Next was ‘Joy of Death,’ a stacking buff for allies. The buffing effect did seem good and Daniel had been tempted to take it immediately to heal Steve, but he could only gain stacks against enemies. Not to mention with ‘Troll Regeneration’ his stamina and health was already constantly regenerating, and he did not currently have any other allies to buff other than Steve and Kota. There was also how long a fight would have to go on for to be able to build up enough stacks to trigger the secondary effect. He currently only has a 5% chance to proc the buff, and if he wanted to make sure the stack didn’t time out before the next one triggered. He would have to block, take or deal twenty attacks a minute or some kind of combination of the three. Now he did assume that that percentage would improve with additional levels, but the fact still remained that he only had two allies and so far and Steve wouldn't be in range to receive any of the stacks at the current range of the skill, maybe not even Kota would as well.

The last skill was ‘Death’s Chilling Touch’ and he had to say that it was probably the one that interested him the most. It would slow enemies down making them easier to hit and then would start to deal damage over time once reaching max stacks while still having them suffering from the frost's slowing effect. He could see this being useful in many applications. If something was too fast for him to hit they would eventually start accumulating stacks by attacking him and slowing themselves down. A similar thing would happen if he faced another creature like the earth's elemental boss. It was too slow for it to really hit him effectively and with the debuff, it would eventually become even slower allowing him to hit attacks more often and in more critical locations. He decided to choose ‘Death’s Chilling Touch’ and with all of that taken care of he moved onto Kotas character sheet.

Kota

Age: 7

Race: Beast

Species: Wolfdog

Gender: Male

Level: 5

Tier I Class: Silent Hunter

Strength: 25 -> 27

Endurance: 12

Constitution: 11

Dexterity: 15

Intelligence: 6 -> 8

Wisdom: 4

Willpower: 5 -> 6

Charisma: 6

Free Attribute Points: 1

Free Evolution Points: 1

Class experience to the next level: 2,925 out of 5,000

Evolution Progress: 15%

Mutations: Silent Stalker ( 2/5 )

Spells: N/A

Animal Companion of Daniel Martin

His choice here was simple: Kota only had one Evolution Point and he had revealed a new skill at the last level. Daniel put Kotas one point into ‘Shadow Claw’ which would hopefully allow Kota to help out against opponents like the rock elementals in the future. Daniel looked over to Kota to see what would change with this evolution, but Daniel didn't notice anything. Daniel called Kota forward and lifted up one of his front paws and examined it. He saw no physical changes on the paw other than the change from Kotas first evolution 'Silent Stalker’ which had made the tips of all of his paws on each leg pitch black. He turned and looked at the paw from several different angles and still saw nothing. It wasn't until he looked at the shadow the paw cast on the rocks underneath that Daniel saw the change. The shadow underneath wasn't right, it looked nothing like it should. Instead, it looked like the paw of a vicious and large beast with elongated claws. It interested Daniel in an academic way about how that worked, and if these were types of things he should look out for in the future when fighting other beasts.

Daniel then asked Kota to try out his new skill. Based on his own experience skills would give you a kind of innate sense of how to use them so he had no worries about Kota not being able to figure it out unlike with the claw weapons he had gained.

Kota lifted up a paw and the shadow of the beast that was under his paw vanished entirely leaving no shadow on the ground at all. Which in all honesty freaked Daniel out. The shadow then merged with Kotas making his paw larger and now had elongated ethereal claws that extended from the shadowy paw. Kota brought his paw down on a nearby rock and three incredibly thin lines appeared in the stone. The cuts were smooth and when Daniel got closers could barely see them. This was a powerful skill and Daniel was glad that Kota now had a weapon he could use against monsters like the rock elementals in the future though with its longer cooldown his effectiveness for the time being would still be limited against such creatures.

With all of the messages taken care of, he went back to waiting. About ten minutes later the miners returned and crowded around the base of the rock pile that Daniel was sitting on next to Steve with his head bowed when one of the miners called to him.

“Mr. Adventure, we ah, wanted to thank ya for saving us from this attack. We don't know what would have happened if you hadn't shown up.”

The man had a bit of an Irish accent which didn't make sense to Daniel since there was no way this man was from or had ever heard of Earth. Daniel decided to play it safe; the portal had said they were going into a dungeon, but Daniel wasn't too sure about that now. How often did people appear in dungeons? Also, this was real life there was no way these people were NPC’s, but that still didn't answer the question as to why they were here. “I’m just glad we made it in time.”

“Oh, as am I. Those beasties are a real piece of work. Tough as nails and just as strong. We had to deal with ‘em every once and in a while, but never in these numbers. And I’m sorry about your friend there ”

“I have done what I can for him, but I’m not sure that it will be enough. All I can do now is wait and see what comes of it.”

There was some muttering among the miners then the same miner who had spoken up to this point spoke again. “But aren't you a healer lad we know you were the one healing us in that battle and not the mage? My guess was that you are some kind of paladin.”

Daniel sighed, “Unfortunately I’m not. I have a kind of life steal skill that heals me for a portion of the damage I do to a creature when it's killed. I can then redirect that healing in an area around me.” The miners seemed to get a bit nervous at his words, but Daniel did not understand why until the older miner who had been speaking to him replied.

“You're not a Death Knight are ya?”

“No, I’m not.” When Daniel confirmed that he wasn't, a breath of relief seemed to pass the lips of every single miner around him.

“Oh, that's a relief. Real nasty pieces of work those types can be. They can get skills to drain the life force of things around them to heal themselves. Though I can’t admit of ever hearing of one who could give that healing ta others.”

“Are Death Knights really that bad?” Daniel questioned

“Ay, they are. Though I’m surprised you don’t know of them with your skill id imagine your compared to em’ often.”

Daniel did want to give any additional information about himself to this man so he decided to play it off. “A couple of times, but I don’t typically go around talking about my skills.”

“Ai, that's understandable, but I do have to ask one more thing. How’d ya get here so quickly? From the time the elemental bastards appeared and your showen up couldn't have been more than a minute. This Adventurers Guild couldn't have sent ya so were you passing by when it happened?”

“We were passing by when it happened and got a quest to come and help.”

The man looked surprised at Daniel's words “A quest? Really? From The System”

Before Daniel managed to say anything another of the miners slapped the speaker in the back of the head, “Of course it was from the system Dulger, you daft bastard. Where else would they get it from?”

“Ai, you're right, sorry Eulger and sorry Mr. Adventure I didn't mean ta question your word.”

Daniel was confused by the byplay but did not want to display his ignorance, so he passed it off. “There's nothing to worry about, really it's fine.”

“Thank you kindly, Mr. we would never dare to question a decree from the system itself” The man replied before giving a slight tilt of his head.

‘Ah, so what's going on. Apparently, system-generated quests are taken very seriously, and based on the first miner’s question is probably quite a rare occurrence as well.’

Daniel didn't want to talk to these men any longer and although there was probably still a risk Daniel didn't want to wait around any longer. “The healing potion should have done all it could for my friend by now I am going to take him to get aid. Is the path up traversable?”

“It is. We made some makeshift platforms in the two spots the ramp was damaged so that we could get back down here. Again thanks for all of your help.”

“We were happy to help.” Daniel stood up and put on his bag, and lifted up Steve who was still wearing his own bag. Not wanting to move Steve any more than he had too he left the bag on and picked up Steve in a princess carry. He didn't want to move the man any more than needed and a fireman's carry would jostle him around a lot more. “Let's go, Kota.”

They made their way slowly back up the ramp and into the ravine. All told it took him about five minutes to carry Steve all the way up. It was slow going in no small part because of the large sections of the missing pathway the boss had caused. The footing was a lot more uncertain than it had been when they had first made their way down. Walking back through the portal they appeared back in the Training Hall, and Daniel quickly set Steve on one of the sofas and he ran to the shop. He purchased a higher-tier health potion and fearing that the lack of circulation was also causing further problems bought a basic cure potion and quickly ran back to Steve. He fed them, man, the cure potion first, and then immediately after fed him the health potion. At this point he truly had nothing else he could do, so he decided to do some of the research he had been putting off, but first, he wanted to know something else.

“AI, thing, or whatever you're called can you hear me.” An androgynous voice came out of nowhere and yet everywhere at the same time it was strange, but Daniel had things he needed to ask so dismissed any stray thoughts. “First, is Steve okay? Is there anything else I can do for him?” Steve had done something similar when he had found Daniel covered in blood in the Crafting Hall so Daniel hoped that the AI would be able to help him now.

There was a pause for several long seconds and Daniel was tempted to ask it again when it responded. “He is recovering adequately. It seems that he was given some form of healing magic or effect and a lower grade healing potion which was enough to stabilize his condition, but after the healing effect wore off he began to deteriorate again. The healing potion most recently administered will be enough for him to fully recover, and although a cure potion was unnecessary for his survival, the cleansing effect it had on his blood has slightly sped up the amount of time it will take for him to recover. Are there any other questions you have at this time?”

Daniel let out a long breath in relief. Knowing that Steve would be alright and that he had done enough was a weight off his shoulders. “Could you inform me if his condition changes or when he wakes up, but yes I do have one more question?” Daniel wanted to hear some kind of response to his quest, but when he received none for several seconds he decided to just continue. “Those people in the Dungeon were they… real?”

“Yes, they were.”

Daniel was stunned at the answer but decided to ask some more questions. "What about that palace, what was it called? Ash Falls Gorge was that a different planet?”

“No, the location you were in was a construct put together by the Team Dungeon. However Ash Falls Gorge is a real place that this scenario was based on.”

“Does that mean those people were also constructed?”

“Correct.”

“I thought you said they were real?”

“They are.”

“But how does that work, why are they constructed?”

“This scenario was a real historical event that happened in the location of Ash Falls Gorge many centuries ago, and the constructs are accurate representations of the people who were working in the mine on the day of the event. In the original event when they earth mana stone historically it was much more powerful than the one you faced. The uncovered earth mana stone that summoned an army of elementals that slaughtered all of the miners and left the mine and began to attack other surrounding locations. It wasn't until hours later that the local branch of the adventures guild heard about the event and was able to mobilize the entire brand of the adventures guild along with the kingdom of Ash falls standing army to quell the threat of the elementals and harvest the mana stone. This event was scaled to your level. This event was a hypothetical scenario where you were in place to stop the catastrophe as it took place thereby saving the miners and other lives by stopping the elementals before they could leave the mine. This was a what-if situation to see what could have happened if people had been close enough to intervene.”

“So, those people didn't know they were constructs. From their perspective, elementals appeared and started killing people, and we managed to show up in time and put a stop to what was going on.”

“Correct.”

“Are such scenarios common in the Team Dungeon?”

“They can be, and some can have great rewards depending on what historical event is taking place that you are trying to change the outcome of, but for all intents and purposes, the people in that scenario were real. Many powerful dungeons are capable of constructing similar constructs and scenarios.”

That gave Daniel a lot to think about, but also gave him several more ideas about ways he could use his new title to his advantage to gain even greater rewards if they challenged the Team Dungeon again. “Thank you, that's all I have to ask for now.” The voice didn't reply, but Daniel somehow knew that it was gone.

Now it was time for Daniel to do some of his own research. One of which was Evolved races and what they were, and the results were interesting. Apparently, some monster species like goblins had a sort of highrise that came about because of how they evolve. When they grow strong enough they change into a higher race. Their evolution went as follows. Goblin, Hobgoblin, Goblin Champion, Goblin Lord, Goblin King. There was also another distinction that existed like shamans were considered to be stronger than a normal goblin and terrifying if they ever evolved. With the increased intelligence and stronger body, goblin shamans could very quickly grow in power if not put in check which was why most hobgoblins and above made sure to never allow them to evolve to take power from them. Other monster races also had a similar evolution, but so did other sentient races like humans. It was mostly unknown how a human evolved, but it was commonly believed that if you managed to advance far enough then eventually you would trigger your evolution.

There was also an unfortunate side effect to this, however. Most ruling human factions which Daniel was surprised to learn that humans existed in other places in the universe and not just on earth. The unfortunate part was that most human factions were ruled by high humans which by itself wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but when you take into account that when two high humans have a child they will have a title or different race. Daniel wasn't too sure about the details, but they gained something called ‘High Blood’ people with this gain some kind of benefits that allow them to grow stronger more quickly, and thereby also biome high humans. People would then have high human ancestry over others and basically create a noble and commoner class. If you didn't have the blood then you were beneath others that did or so they said. Now it wasn't like that in all factions, but many of them were like that and Daniel just didn't want to read any more about it. Anywhere you go humans would be human.

The next thing he wanted to know about was titles. He had received one for being the first team to complete a Team dungeon, but he wanted to know about other titles and why he had not gained one for being one of the 10,000 heroes. As it turned out the answer was fairly simple. As of right now, he was not truly one of the 10,000 heroes. The title itself was fairly well documented and he would receive it once the system fully integrated in about eighty-eight days. When the heroes survived they would receive a ranking based on their level and several other factors like how far they had cleared in the Solo Dungeon, how many Team Dungeons, and how many waves they had made in the Arena. All of these things and more affected your placement and depending on where one ranked you would receive additional rewards to help in Daniel’s case humanity survive whatever came next. As for other titles, there wasn't a lot of information. Most people kept the title requirements section so they could have hidden advantages over others, but what he did know is that they were commonly awarded for doing great feats of some kind.

Next was if professional skills affected anything in combat and the simple answer was yes. Profession skills like his ‘Hammer Speed’ and ‘Hammer Strength’ were half as effective when used in combat and not being actively used with crafting. However, this being half effective was also true when using it in other professions, so most people chose synergistic professions which had skills that would help the crafting process for both. Especially important cause you normally only had two profession slots, but that did not restrict Daniel. All of which was good to know, and would be another reason to continue to level up his profession, but at the moment that was still on the side burner until he figured out what to do about his ‘Crafting Legacy' feat.

As Daniel sat next to Steve he contemplated. They had thought they had come into the dungeon prepared, but they had been wrong. Steve had almost died and Daniel didn't know what he could do to make their chances better for the next time. How could he maximize his time in the Training Hall? He just didn't know enough about the system, and couldn't make educated decisions, but he knew a thing that might be able to help him. “System AI thing or whatever you're called, how do I get stronger?”

“In what way do you wish to grow stronger Daniel Martin?”

“Can you see what happens when we enter a dungeon? Can you watch or are you restricted to being only in the Training Room?”

“I have access to anything you do in the Training Room including when you enter any of the available dungeons.”

“Then you saw our fight with the earth's elemental boss?”

“That is correct.”

“How could we have done better? How could we have better prepared for what we faced?

“I am unable to provide information about threats you may face in the Dungeons.”

“Then let me change my question. How could I quickly gain power that would prepare me to enter another dungeon?”

“Gain more General Skill.”

“How do I do that?”

“With the number of coins you currently possess you could buy a guide that would teach you several different General Skills and how to quickly upgrade them.”

“Show me,” Daniel said as he walked towards the shop as he arrived he saw several different shop pages open each containing a different item with their descriptions. He quickly read over each and their descriptions before he came to his decision. Many of them were interesting, but since he currently doesn't have any General skills other than ‘Identify’ and ‘Mental Fortress’ he wanted to go broader, get as many skills as he could, and level them up. For that, he chose ‘Skills Every Aspiring Adventure Should Have And How To Level Them’ By: Vergo Astont. It was a very long-winded title for a book and would cost him exactly five thousand coins to purchase, but the book contained information on a lot of skill. There were ten basic skills that Vergo said everyone should know, then there were also weapon and armor skills contained in the book, and Daniel was happy with it. Even though the book wasn't magical in any way and wouldn't beagle to impart any knowledge directly Virgo confirmed that with his guide a person could learn all of the skills in the book and level them to at least level two. When asking the AI about the book it confirmed that it was one of the better books on the market and that he wouldn't be able to find such a book with as large of a selection of skills so Daniel purchased it for five thousand coins.

The book appeared on the table and Daniel picked it up and walked back over to where Steve still layed and began to read. It was interesting there were ten skills emulating weapon and armor skills in the book, and Vergo provided a training method that if followed would allow you to learn all of the skills. And after reading over the method Daniel had to agree he could easily see this working. These skills were running, physical fitness, survival, cooking, acrobatics, jumping, climbing, sneaking, meditation, and pain resistance. There were also weapon skills and armor skills, but those had their own training method so he didn't count them for now.

The training went roughly as follows. You would run an obstacle course that Vergo told you how to make yourself that would work on you gaining the running, climbing, jumping, and physical fitness all at the same time. Then you would rest for half an hour and meditate and calm your mind as you rested. After that, there was another course that would have you work on sneaking and acrobatics. Then for cooking in survival you were supposed to go foraging in the forest and set up a base camp and cook anything you foraged or managed to hunt. Apparently, survival was a broad skill that encompassed everything to do with surviving in a hostile environment on your own. This meant being able to find food, water, make a fire, and shelter. There was also more to the skill and Daniel didn't know if he would try and learn the skills now or later. It seemed like a lot of work, but he had to admit it would be nice to know how to do all of those things.

The skill he probably liked the least was pain resistance. Of all of the skills he could see it as being the most useful after some of the more recent fights he had been in, but the contraption Vergo drew out and said to make or buy from the shop was just pure torture. It was basically a vest with razor-sharp needles in it that he was supposed to wear when doing the two different obstacle courses. When moving around the vest would poke into you causing jolts of pain and Daniel was not looking forward to it. Just because his skin had been reinforced didn't mean that he had lost sensation in it.

His plan was for Steve to wake up before starting on the skills they would work on together pushing each other forward, and when the other guy Parker, Daniel thought his name was, arrived they would do the same for him. Though Daniel was curious about something, “AI, how much control do you have over this place?”

“I have total control, Daniel Martin.”

“Could you make the obstacle course as described in this book for us to use?”

“Of course. It shall be ready in five minutes.”

That was great news to Daniel, it would save him time. For now, though he did decide to work on his weapon skill. Daniel had been surprised when he read of it that he hadn't gotten the skill yet, but after reading the requirements he was shocked. The one that he had yet to complete was swinging his maul into one thousand opponents. Which was something he was probably not even close to doing yet. He decided the best way to do that was with the shadow constructs in the Weapon Hall. turned on the machine he got to work losing himself in the repetitive swing he made with Ice Fang into shadowy constructs. He saw Kota on his own platform also preparing to fight his own constructs. It was time to begin.

He wasn't broken out of his trance until several hours later when he heard a faint ting sound from his mind. Opening his character sheet he saw that he had gained the maul weapons skill and dismissed the screens. After gaining the skill he could already feel how he held the weapon differently. He made a few more strikes and his movements were smoother with less wasted movements though he could tell that he was still no master with the weapon. With time though maybe one day he would be.

Even with ‘Troll Regeneration’ he was sweating hard. Swinging a hammer around non-stop for a few hours could do that to you. Even with the stamina refreshing effect, his feat gave him. Unfortunately for Kota he didn't have that luxury and wasn't able to go non-stop like Daniel had and the dog had left at some point to probably go take a nap or something Daniel wasn't too sure though.

Next was his armor skill, but he would have to get that one to work, and unfortunately, the shadow creatures didn't count because they couldn't truly hurt him, so he would need Steve to help with that when he woke up. Walking back to the training room he checked on Steve. There was still no change, and with Steve still out he didn't know what else to do. He decided to go against his earlier plan of waiting for Steve to wake up to gain the Skills together, but he had the time now and didn't want to waste it so he went to the shop and purchased the pain vest before returning back to the main room.

He entered the new side room that had appeared while he had been working on his maul skill. There were two obstacle courses inside. One for physical skills and the other for stealth and acrobatics. He had already read what he was supposed to do, so he got right to work. He ran the whole physical course. He climbed up walls swung across ropes over mud-filled pits all the while needle of pain stabbed into his body. His reinforced skill didn't even seem to help at all, the needle relentlessly stabbing into his body.

After the first run through the course, he sat and meditated trying to stay as still as possible to avoid the needles sticking him and breaking his concentration. In all honesty, it was almost effortless to clear his mind and he had to assume the reason was because of ‘Powerful Organs’ he had already made similar observations before, but he just further confirmed his thoughts on the matter. After thirty minutes of meditation that were also supposed to give him time to rest which he didn't need he ran the course for a second time. Based on what Vergo had said in the book. It would take about ten laps through the course to gain the skill which if Daniel followed the plan exactly and meditated after every run it would take him ten hours to gain the skill which was alright with him.

After that first lap, Kota began to follow along with him though stop partway through. He didn't have hands; some parts of the course like swinging from ropes was impossible for him to do. Instead, Daniel stopped and showed Kota how to do the acrobatics and stealth course.

It was an interesting course with enchantment and stuff built into it and Daniel was just glad he didn't have to pay for it and the Training Hall had been able to make it. The course changed after each run, but the basic premise was that there were patrolling constructs that had a limited field of vision. Your goal was to avoid them by staying hidden and quiet while using your acrobatics to jump and roll through windows and doors or climb on top of things to reach the end. If you were ever spotted by one of the constructs then they could chase you while shooting blunted arrows at you. You would have to lose them while also avoiding getting shot. It was almost fun in a way. After he and Kota ran through it once together, Kota got the hang of it and started to have a blast. Daniel was glad he didn't know if Kota could learn general skills, but as long as it kept Kota happy he was glad, but in the meantime, Daniel had to get back to his own training.

About four hours into his relentless training the AI interrupted his meditation. “Daniel Martin. Steve Johnson is awake.”

Daniel immediately stood from his meditation and ran into the main room. Daniel saw Steve sitting up on the sofa rubbing his eyes and looking around. When Steve saw Daniel his eyes widened in surprise. “Steve, I'm glad to see you are awake.”

“What happened all I remember is the fall, but I have a notification here that says we killed the boss and we gained a title for being the first team to clear the Team dungeon.”

“Yeah after you fell I was trying to quickly finish the boss so I could help you when the boss got a lucky blow in. through the miners saved me by dropping a whole section of the path on it. After that, I managed to slowly destroy all of its limbs and finish it off. It was a close thing for you though Steve. I managed to give you all of the healing energy I gained from killing the boss and my last health potion, but the AI told me that it had only been enough to stabilize you, and by the time I brought you back through the portal you were already starting to deteriorate again. I fed you another health potion I purchased from the shop, but it was a close thing.”

“Thanks, Daniel I really don't know what to say or even thank you. You saved my life there. I can’t express my thanks.”

“It's fine Steve I’m sure you would have done the same for me if our roles were reversed.”

“With your ‘Troll Regeneration,’ any aid I could give you would be greatly overshadowed by it.”

“Ha, well that's true enough I guess.”

“Well, is there anything else I should know about what happened while I was out, and how long I was out anyway?”

“You were out for around seven hours I'd say and yeah you have missed a few things I can fill you in on,” Daniel explained to Steve about his talk with the AI about the scenario they had been in and what the miners were. He also talked about the results of his own research he had made and his plan about general skills and how he had already started to process gaining them.”

“I can easily see how those skills can be useful, but that pain resistance one seems almost like too much effort to get.”

“Yeah, I understand what you're saying. I have been wearing this vest the last four hours or so and it has not been a fun experience, to say the least.”

“So, just make sure I got this right. We gain all of these skills, level them up to 2, and also get Josh Parker to gain the skill when he arrives? Is that everything?”

“Almost I would also like it if you could talk with the AI and see what you can purchase from the shop every additional skill could be a huge advantage for us, and with you being a mage and all there might be some skills that will be of more use to you than what I have already bought.”

“Not a bad plan. I’ll go ahead and look at the shop and get back to you in a minute, but first I’m starving. It feels like I haven't eaten anything in days.”

“You do that, I’m going back to the obstacle course. I am halfway there to gaining the skills to come to talk to me when you purchase the new skill we should learn.’

“Okay, I’ll see you in a bit then good luck on your training.” Steve waved as he walked away towards the shop

“And good luck with your shopping,” Daniel called back at the man.