Daniel was once again in a cave like structure, but this time instead of a semi naturally looking cave he had fought the goblins in he was now in a mine shaft with wooden support beams that reinforced the hallways, rusty minecart tracks and a tipped over minecart that spilled out its cargo. Daniel had no idea what kind of ore was in the tipped-over cart, but it didn't really matter since he couldn't take it with him when leaving the dungeon. Daniel crept forward and started to make his way down the mineshaft. The flickering light of lamps guiding him forward.

After walking for a bit he started to hear the sounds of picks striking stone. Daniel signaled for Kota to go forward first. After waiting for a minute Daniel began his own stealth approach.

Unlike with most of the fights on the goblin floors he didn't enter into a cavern where the kobolds were waiting or working, he didn't enter a room of any kind before he found the enemy. He came across the four kobolds in the mineshaft slamming their picks into a vein of some kind of metal in the wall of the mineshaft. The whispers bubbled up in his mind and he knew they were mining tin. Daniel shook his head to chase away the voices distracting whispers he didn't want to alert the kobolds of his presence.

Daniel couldn't spot Kota as he approached, but he had a faint feeling in the back of his mind and looked towards one of the minecarts the kobolds were piling the ore into only to spot Kota crouched in the shadows behind it. Kota was less than ten feet away from the Kobolds ready to strike as soon as Daniel made the first move. Before he did though, Daniel shot off an ‘Identify’ at one of the kobolds to learn more about these new monsters he would be fighting.

Tier I Race: Kobold

Level 5

Tier I Class: Laborer

Level 8

Tier I Profession: Miner

Highest Attribute: Strength

They didn't seem like very much of a threat. Daniel couldn't imagine the Laborer class had much in the way of combat skills. What did concern him was the fact they had a profession. Daniel had never checked what level the friendly miners in the Team Dungeon had been, but if the Kobolds profession was anything like his own then they could have gained an additional sixteen attribute points from their professions level on top of what their class provided. Though Daniel imagined that most of the points their class and profession gave them each level probably went into strength to increase how much they could haul and how fast they could mine; they might also have points into endurance to increase how long they could work at a time before needing a break. The Kobolds were probably like glass cannons who would hit like a truck with their picks, but would go down from any attack. Daniel decided there was no point in continuing to stall.

Much had changed since the fights in the Team Dungeon even though only around twenty four hour had passed since then, but now Daniel had put more points into dexterity, he had gained new active skills, and even gained some general skills as well, including his maul weapon proficiency which gave him a better sense of his weapon and how to wield it. He had trained in the weapons hall and at least in Daniel's mind he had become a much better fighter and more proficient in using his skills because of the shadow constructs he had fought in the weapons hall with Kota. Daniel moved as silently as he could, but he had yet to gain the ‘Stealth’ skill. He hoped that the clanging of the kobold picks would mask his approach as he got into range to use his ‘Heavy Charge’ skill for the first time in a real battle. He could feel the max distance of the skill and put the edge of it at the farthest kobold. This was one of the things he had learned during his training; when he activated the skill he would accelerate forward at an unnatural speed, and as long as they didn't see him before he activated the skill they would be unable to react in time to dodge his charge.

Daniel hefted Ice Fang and rested the haft of the maul on his shoulder with his off hand choked up on the haft ready to bring it down after his charge was completed. Once ready he activated ‘Heavy Charge’ targeting the farthest kobold. He moved forward at superhuman speeds. His body had gone from a complete stand still to a full sprint in one step and he crossed the sixty feet separating himself and the kobold in under two seconds. All four of the kobolds had been hitting the same wall mining the ore and had roughly been in a straight line. When Daniel had targeted the farthest kobold the other three kobolds were in his path to get to the one he had targeted. He steamrolled over the other kobolds in his way, their body's not even slowing his momentum in the slightest. Then he arrived in front of the kobold he had targeted and all of his momentum instantly vanished and he stood in front of the stupefied kobold. Daniel brought his readied maul down on the kobolds stunned face and caved in its skull.

When the kobold was dealt with Daniel looked back to see the carnage he had wrought, Kota had already dealt with the other Kobolds he had trampled. The fight was over in less than ten seconds. Daniel nodded to Kota and they continued forward.

This pattern of Carnage went on for the rest of their encounters with the laboring kobold. Daniel wasn't always able to hit all of the kobolds with his heavy charges since there were times where they were working on the opposite sides of the mineshafts, or they had just been lucky enough to move out of the way to deposit ore in on of the many minecarts right when he activated his charge. None of the fights were a challenge though and Daniel found that he regretted bringing his pack with him since it continuously got in his way and he didn't want to take it off because it could alert the kobolds to his presence before he activated his charge skill. Daniel vowed to get a new smaller bag to take with him when entering the Solo Dungeon in the future since so far none of the Solo Dungeon floor had taken him more than an hour to complete.

They eventually reached what looked like a kind of break room with what Daniel identified as a kobold foreman with a few other more important looking kobolds also in the room.

Tier I Race: Kobold

Level 8

Tier I Class: Laborer

Level 11

Tier II Profession: Miner Foreman

Highest Attribute: Strength

The foreman was quite a bit stronger than the other kobolds he had seen so far and even had a tier two profession which surprised Daniel quite a bit. With its level and profession giving it stats it was a lot stronger than the other kobolds, but it was still probably just as much of a glass cannon as the other kobolds.

Daniel activated ‘Heavy Charge’ and appeared next to the foreman that was lounging in the middle of the room and managed to kill the foreman with a single blow with a combination of ‘Heavy Charge’ and ‘Heavy Blow,’ and once that was done all they had to do was clean up the four remaining kobolds that were in the room with the foreman and then they were done with the floor.

Congratulations! You have cleared the sixth floor of the ‘Solo Dungeon’ you and your companion have gained 3,000 (6,000 split) Exp. You receive 2,500 coins.

Your class juggernaut has reached level 6 (5 -> 6) you gain +4 points to strength, +4 points to constitution, +5 free attribute points and +5 Skill points.

Your companion Kota has reached level 6 (5 -> 6) He gains +2 points to strength, +1 attribute point and +1 Mutation point.

Daniel and Kota appeared back in the Training Room outside of the dungeon and Daniel got the notification that He and Kota had leveled up to 6. Daniel couldn't use Kota's evolution points for anything at the moment, and Daniel wanted to save his own points for the time being in preparation for unlocking his new specialization. He did the mental math for a moment to figure out how many more times he would have to run the Solo Dungeon based on the experience he had just gained before he and Kota reached their next level. He didn't know how much exp the new floors would give him, but if it was like the last floor five floors and then each floor would increase by one thousand experience every floor which would mean the seventh floor would give him seven thousand and the eighth would give eight thousand experience points for a total of fifteen thousand experience points. And halving that number because of Daniel and Kota sharing experience then he would gain seven thousand five hundred experience for clearing the next two floors and that would be enough to bring him and Kota up to level 7.

That floor had been easy all things considered and Daniel hadn't even needed to use any of his consumables or Ice Fangs enchantment. He only needed to use ‘Death’s Embrace’ once to absorb a blow Kota had taken on his side from one of the kobolds in the final room, but other than that neither of them had taken any damage during that entire floor. Daniel decided He and Kota would clear the next two floors to get another level then Daniel could get back to training and he would have plenty of skill points to play with when he gained his new specialization. Daniel turned and with Kota they re-entered the dungeon though Daniel did make sure to leave his pack behind.

As Daniel had predicted the next two floors had been easy. The floors were the same theme as the previous, the only differences being that on the seventh floor the packs of mining kobold had increased from four to five and on the eighth floor the foreman was no longer the head honcho of the floor, but was instead a common enemy that each pack had which replaced on of the normal kobolds in the packs leaving their numbers still at five. A few other interesting things also happened. Daniel hadn't noticed it before, but the foreman used a whip to fight and also saw him using it on other kobolds a few times as well. The whip turned out to be annoying to deal with. Once when Daniel and Kota had failed to successfully sneak up, the packs of kobolds learned of their presence early and had formed up into ranks by the time they had arrived. The fight had been a bit harder than Daniel would have liked and Kota had been struck with the savage looking whip a few times, but after Daniels' charge came of cooldown he had been able to shatter their defensive line and kill the foreman with a single blow then proceed to clean up the remaining kobolds.

Another interesting change Daniel noticed was that on each floor the metals they were mining got more valuable. It had started as tin then had changed to copper followed by iron on the eighth floor. The ‘boss’ on the eighth floor was no longer a foreman, but was now a tier two class called overseer. He had a whole bunch of other foremen in the room with him when Daniel and Kota had arrived. In all honesty it had looked like they had interrupted them while the kobolds were in the middle of a meeting with the level 15 Overseer who was the first monster on the floor to not have a profession. It was kind of strange to hear their surprisingly high pitched kobold voices chittering at each other as Daniel and Kota had sneakily arrived. Daniel had charged into the middle of their heated argument which was suddenly cut short when the kobold Overseer's head vanished in a spray of gore courtesy of ‘Heavy Blow.’ Shortly thereafter they were done with the eighth floor and they got their rewards. All told it only took them two and a half hours to clear the sixth through eighth floors. The main reason for their slow clear was because they waited for Daniel to get his ‘Heavy Charge’ off cooldown between packs. Daniel quickly did some math and determined that John Parker should arrive within a couple of hours of Training Room time, but the man wasn't there yet and Daniel didn't want to waste any time until that time, so he got work.

Congratulations! You have cleared the seventh floor of the ‘Solo Dungeon’ you and your companion have gained 3,500 (7,000 split) Exp. You receive 3,000 coins.

~~~~~

Congratulations! You have cleared the eighth floor of the ‘Solo Dungeon’ you and your companion have gained 4,000 (8,000 split) Exp. You receive 3,500 coins.

Your class juggernaut has reached level 7 (6 -> 7) you gain +4 points to strength, +4 points to constitution, +5 free attribute points and +5 Skill points.

Your companion Kota has reached level 7 (6 -> 7) He gains +2 points to strength, +1 attribute point and +1 Mutation point.

With that level Daniel was able to level up Kota’s shadow claw skill to level two further reducing the cooldown and increasing the number of attacks he was able to make with the claws before they dissipated. He could now make two instead of one which would be a huge boon for Kota's damage potential. This also revealed the next skill in Kota's Evolution tree and it was a good one for sure.

Shadow of Death ( 0/5 ): People fear the dark and you are just another reason that proves their fear right. Active no cooldown. Stamina cost per second: low. Cost to increase 1 Evolution Point.

Level 1: While immersed in darkness tendrils of shadow will rise up and conceal your presence making you harder to see while standing in and moving though shadows.

Daniel was definitely going to purchase that skill as soon as Kota reached his next level. It would make Kota’s sneaking that much better and especially with the underground environments they had mostly fought in up to this point there wouldn't be any lack of shadows for Kota to conceal himself in. Daniel opened up Kota's full character sheet and looked it over after he had made his changes.

Kota

Age: 7

Race: Beast

Species: Wolfdog

Gender: Male

Level: 7

Tier I Class: Silent Hunter

Strength: 27 -> 31

Endurance: 12

Constitution: 11

Dexterity: 15

Intelligence: 8

Wisdom: 4

Willpower: 6

Charisma: 6

Free Attribute Points: 3

Free Evolution Points: 0

Class experience to the next level: 2,425 out of 7,000

Evolution Progress: 31%

General Skills: Acrobatics ( 1/5 ), Stealth ( 1/5 )

Mutations: Silent Stalker ( 2/5 ), Shadow Claws ( 2/5 )

Spells: N/A

Animal Companion of Daniel Martin

So far it was looking good, and Kota had continued to gain Evolution progress from killing the Kobolds, but just like before he had stopped gaining more progress about halfway through the eighth floor. Daniel eventually planned to use his new title in the Team Dungeon to get a specific enemy type to help Kota gain evolution progress faster.

After that was taken care of Daniel went to the shop and purchased the skill book he wanted for one thousand coins. As Daniel stood in the shop he thought. The dungeon had given him a lot of coins for clearing those three floors and after his purchase of the skill book he still had a little over ten thousand coins left. Daniel decided to purchase a solution for his bag problem he had experienced while on the sixth floor. It was also something Steve and Daniel had discussed purchasing before, so Daniel thought it should be a good investment. For almost all of Daniel’s remaining coins he purchased a storage ring for ten thousand coins bringing him down to two hundred and twenty one total coins.

The ring and book appeared on the counter of the shop in front of Daniel. He picked up the ring first and carefully examined it. It was a small gold band with some runes carved on the inside of the ring. Other than those small runes there was no other indication about what this item was in all honesty it was fairly plain in design which Daniel considered might be the point not to draw notice to a valuable item seemed like a good idea. Daniel had read from the description of the ring what he needed to do next. He pulled his short sword a few inches from his scabbard and cut his finger along the exposed blade. It took more effort than he expected to cut though his reinforced skin, but he eventually managed. Then quickly put a drop of his blood onto the ring before ‘Troll Regeneration’ managed to close up the wound. Immediately after his blood touched the ring it vanished, absorbed by the ring a second later Daniel suddenly had an innate knowledge for what was inside the ring and how much space the ring contained. There were a total of zero items within the ring which was to be expected; he had just purchased it after all.

Daniel slipped the ring onto his finger which resized itself to perfectly fit the finger he had placed it on. He then touched the skill book he had bought and willed it to enter the ring. It took several seconds of concentration before the skill book finally vanished from under his hand and entered the ring. He could feel the book within the ring and knew he would withdraw it whenever he wanted.

‘This won't be something I can do while in combat. It takes too long and requires too much of my active concentration to insert the items and will probably take just as much time to retrieve any items I put into the ring.’

Overall though Daniel was pleased with his purchase. Daniel walked out of the shop and went to the entrance of the Solo Dungeon and put his pack into the ring before he walked to his room. He still had a few hours to try and figure out how this new skill worked before John Parker arrived and there was no reason to waste any time.

Daniel sat on his bed and started to read through the book. It took him longer than he had expected. The book itself wasn't that long, only around fifty pages, but the language it used was dense and archaic it almost sounded like a college professor had written it and used every large word that he could while writing it. Take this paragraph for example.

“To avail oneself of this skill a practitioner must fundamentally recognize the fallibility of one’s own intellectual capacity. A brain is not absolute in its recollection of past events and experiences, so we must do our utmost to diminish this occurrence from transpiring as much as is within our feeble grasp and comprehension.”

That was how the whole book was written and it grated against Daniel's mind as he read. About half way through Daniel was considering putting some of his free points into intelligence to see if it would help in getting through the book faster. It ended up taking him around an hour and a half to finish the book, and after he was done Daniel went to the shop and bought a blank notebook and pen to write with before he went back to his room. He also asked the AI to put a desk and chair in his room for him so he could work more effectively. Daniel sat down and started to re-write the book from scratch so that he could better understand whatever it was trying to teach him.

After about a page of attempting this Daniel asked the AI if there was some way his phone could get access to the internet while in the training room. He didn't want to have to use a dictionary to look up every other word if he could use the internet instead to help speed up the process. The AI told him that it would look for a solution, so for now Daniel had to use a dictionary on the words he didn't know. He only managed to translate about a page before Daniel heard a knock on his door. Daniel stood and opened it only to see Steve standing on the other side. Which should have no surprise to him considering Steve was the only other person who currently had access to enter and exit his Training Room.

“I was just outside and was on the phone with John. He rented a car at the airport and is about five minute away. I wanted to see if you wanted to greet him with me when he arrives.”

“Sure, It will be a better use of my time than that Damn book that I bought.”

“Is that the skill book you were talking about earlier? The one that might help you come up with a solution.”

“Yeah, and let me say it seems like it was written by a college professor that is using all the single three and four syllable words he knows. I am having to re-write the whole thing so that it’s not so dense to read through.”

“Yeah that sounds like a slog. I remember having a few older professors in college like that. Good luck on that though.”

Daniel and Steve exited the Training Room and stood at the threshold of his shop's open garage door. It was dark outside the sun having fully set several hours before. It was weird for Daniel he had seemed to have lost all sense of time while constantly being in the training room for the last several days and with his body seeming to need less sleep he no longer had a consistent sleep schedule. Steve and Daniel idly talked while waiting for John to arrive. It was about seven minute later when a red SUV pulled up in front of them and parked. The driver cut the engine, the headlights which had been blinding Daniel turned off and as his eyes adjusted a man stepped out of the now parked car.

A relatively tall man exited the driver's side of the car and stepped onto the concrete. As he exited and stood to his full height Daniel noticed that the man was shorter than himself though not by much, but he was nowhere near as broad chested or thick in the arms as Daniel was. The man was more lanky and agile looking.

The man had a disorderly mob of red hair and vibrant green eyes. His white skin wasn't pale, instead it looked to have a natural tan that one might expect to see on a person who spent a lot of time outdoors. He wore a black leather jacket over a Grey shirt. He wore blue jeans and a nice pair of leather work boots. The man flashed a brilliantly white smile at Daniel and Steve which creased the skin at the corner of his eyes giving him crows feet. It was a face that seemed used to smiling. When Daniel had first seen the man he would have said the man was around the same age as Daniel, maybe closer to late thirties at most, but the smile seemed to show more of his years, and now Daniel would say the man was probably late thirties, probably close to forty if not already there.

Daniel was about to step forward and greet the man when the passenger side car door opened and a woman stepped out. She had red hair just like the man though much more orderly than his own and possessed the same eyes and skin tone as the man that stood before Daniel. She wore a plain white tee shirt and black yoga pants. She was quite attractive and had fine facial features, but she was definitely no older than mid twenties. If Daniel had to put an age to her he would say she was probably twenty two year old.

The man approached them and held out a hand still showing that bright smile, "Steve it's good to meet you in person. I saw your display on TV. I am very interested in discussing that with you at some point."

The man had a bit of a North American accent, maybe even a bit Canadian, but Daniel wasn't the best with those types of things so set that aside.

The man then turned to Daniel and held out his hand, "And who might you be? Steve had mentioned that it was your shop we would be going to, but didn't give me your name."

"Daniel Martin."

"Well, it's good to meet you Daniel if you don't mind me calling you by your first name. The names John Parker and it's a pleasure and please call me John."

They shook hands and Daniel couldn't help but notice how firm the man's hand shake was. Daniel had no doubt that he would be able to crush the man's hand easily with how many points he had in strength not even mentioning his 'Powerful Grip' skill he had gained from his profession.

After their hand shake John stepped back and waved forward the woman who had exited the car with him. John wrapped his arm around the woman when he arrived next to him, "This lady is my beautiful and lovely daughter Miranda. She turned twenty about a month ago so don't either of you boys get any ideas, especially you pretty boy." John said while glaring at Steve.

“Well, it's a pleasure to meet the both of you though from what Steve told me I was only expecting one new visitor today.” Daniel glanced at Steve. Steve, catching his look, just shrugged.

‘So, he wasn't expecting her either. Well, the only thing I can do is wait to see what they have to say.’

John continued. “Well, before I explain everything, is there a place we can sit and talk? This might take a minute to discuss.”

“Sure, my house is only about a couple of minutes drive from here. We can talk there.”

“Excellent, I will follow you there.”

They all piled into cars and Steve hopped into his own car he had driven to Daniel’s shop when they first met. Daniel opened up the side door of his truck and Kota hopped in. Daniel led the way for their little convoy and a few minutes later they were pulling into the driveway of his house which still put a pang of sadness though his heart every time he thought of the house in that way. His house. Daniel shook his head from the old and well known hurt. They all piled inside the house and Daniel brought refreshments for them as they all sat down around his dining room table to talk. They sat in an awkward silence for a couple of minutes sipping on their drinks before Steve finally broke the silence.

“So, what did you want to talk about?”

John grimaced “Ah, where to begin?” John turned to Daniel, “I’m guessing Steve told you about how I gained access to the system as it calls itself.”

“He did.” Daniel affirmed.

“Okay that will make things a bit easier to explain then “I should start by explaining why my daughter is here with me then. I have never played any of these video games that this system seems to be loosely based on. I have always been more of an outdoorsman though I have played a few table top games in my time. This is why my daughter is here. She is helping me understand how this system works and helping me make good choices for my two feats and for using my skill points. We managed to do quite a bit of research before I chose any of the options, but we just don't have enough information and that is one of the reasons we are here now. My daughter wants more data to better understand the system, and one of the main ways we think we can do that is by talking to other Hero's to get an understanding about how their own feats, classes and skill trees work.”

Daniel felt uncomfortable in a way he hadn't felt before. It was almost like the very idea of sharing what his class was capable of and its strengths and weaknesses was anathema to him. “I am not sure I am fine with that idea Intellectually. I understand what you are trying to do and it's a good idea, but something deep down in my body is rebelling at the idea of giving such detailed information. I am fine with explaining how my class and skills generally function, but anything more feels wrong to me.”

“I feel something similar, but at the same time it's not the same.” Steve remarked, “I am a class trainer, so it's not like I am opposed to the idea of sharing information, but to freely give that information away such detailed information that's where I feel the same way as you Daniel.”

“I was afraid of that,” John said. “I feel the same thing as well when I speak about it, so I have only been able to give Miranda general information about my class. I looked up the reason why in the wiki and there are apparently two reasons for this. The first being that she is not yet a part of the system and the second is that the classes heroes receive are considered to be very rare in the rest of the universe and the knowledge on how to obtain them are closely guarded secrets of powerful factions. I have only been able to give her general information so far. I was able to get her a list of all of the feats I got access to when gaining the system and general information I have read from the wiki, but other than that.... I should have no problem discussing such information with either of you since you are also heroes, but won't be able to give Miranda any specifics until she gets access to the system.”

“Well, that is a problem, but I can see a few ways around the problem.” Daniel said when John finished talking

Miranda was slumped into her chair dejected at their words, but when Daniel spoke she perked up, “Really?! How?”

“Well, we can purchase basic guide books of the system with coins from the shop and give them to you to read and study. I have seen several such books in the shop about the theorized best tier I classes and such like how to maximize stat allocation. I personally saw no reason for me to purchase them, but now I could see how they could be useful. If you are able to put together a comprehensive guide book to the system before initialization finishes and post it online we might be able to save many more life's.”

“That would be great if I could get started right away. How soon could you get me these books?”

Daniel winced. “I just spent all of my coins just a little while ago. I only have two hundred left.”

Steve looked at Daniel askance, “what did you spend them all on? Didn't you just clear like three more floors in the Solo Dungeon?”

“Yeah I did. I bought a storage ring with my remaining coins after I purchased that skill book I was talking about. In the dungeon my pack kept getting in my way during fights and I couldn't take it off for fear that the Kobolds would hear me before I ambushed them.”

“So, how does it work? I haven't purchased one yet.” Steve asked.

Out of the corner of Daniel's eye he saw Miranda pull out a spiral notebook and pen and prepare to write. Daniel quickly explained how the binding process worked and how he got a sense for every item inside the ring and the total space the ring encompassed. He also explained its limitation and limited combat application because of the focus required to remove and put items into the ring. He demonstrated the process a few times so they could get a feel for how long it took. Miranda also asked several questions during his explanation like how much the ring cost and how many items he could store in the ring. Daniel also explained some of the prices of the more expense rings and how those also had more storage than his own ring. After his explanation he heard her whispering something about bags of holding which from Daniel's knowledge was a type of dimensional bag that many video games and tabletop games used that worked in a similar manner to his new ring. After the topic of his ring came up they also ended up talking about some of the enchanted items they had purchased for the shop and the vile container to protect potions from damage while they were in their protective sheaths. As well as other items they had seen in the shop, but not yet purchased.

After that thirty minute conversation that had completely thrown off their topic of conversation they got back to the matter at hand.

“I have about nine thousand coins left after purchasing those skill stones and running another floor of the dungeon. I did manage to get some of the general skills from the skill book you purchased. So far I only have the physical skills and haven't worked on any armor or weapons skills yet.”

“What about you John have you done any floors on the Solo Dungeon yet.”

“I have not I am still level 1. I wanted to talk to you gentlemen before I did anything too hasty that might get me killed and leave her without any parents.”

“We need more coins to gear you up John, and to buy the information books from the shop for Miranda.” Daniel said out loud. “Steve and I could run the Solo dungeon a couple of times to get some more coins to equip you up before you enter the dungeon. That would make you far better equipped and I was on my first delve. My only concern is that the tenth floor; one hero had already died to that boss and I really don't want to take any chances with that floor and I have only more more floor to clear before I reach the tenth.”

“Okay, this conversation is going to get a bit more personal. I didn't want to say anything yet because preparations are still underway, but there is no point in waiting any longer now.” Steve took a deep breath and steeled his nerves, “When I found out that you could sell items to the shop I began to make preparations. With the arrival of the system our old word money will have no value to the system. I am Using my wealth to begin to purchase any type of precious or semi precious metal I can in bulk to sell to the system. I was planning on shipping all of the metal to a warehouse next to your shop Daniel that I purchased for storage. From there I can bring the metal through the portal of the Training Room and sell it to the shop.”

“That's an amazing idea Steve, but how much money are we talking about here? I can probably also pitch in as well. My father taught me how to use my money well and if I liquidated all of my stock and savings I would probably have around a million dollars more or less depending on how fast I want to sell the stock. I could sell under market value to sell faster.”

“That would help a bit Daniel and I thank you for the offer, but it truly won't be necessary. I have a few billion dollars in all of my assets and I am currently in the process of liquidating all of them.”

Daniel was shocked and when he looked at John and Miranda he could see the same surprise on their faces as well. “Steve, that's insane. If you manage to convert all of that money into metals to sell to the shop you could probably buy anything that you wanted. My maul was less than one hundred thousand to purchase. There are skill gems I have seen in the shop that sell for five hundred thousand coins. You could purchase those with that amount of money.”

“No, this is for us Daniel. For humanity. I want to turn us into pillars that can support humanity just like the system is trying to do, and I will need all of the help I can get. That's one of the reasons I am trying to gather as many hero's as I can together, so that we can support each other for the next stage of whatever the system has planned.”

“Well that's awfully noble of you Steve, but we still have some problems. Even with your money. Firstly we just don't know enough information about the system. Even if we have unlimited money to max out five skill gems slots, what are the best ones we should buy or are the best options even on the market. Should we save a slot incase we come across a skill that could really benefit us later. Then we also have the five slots taught from teachers, but we won't be able to fill any of those slots any time soon unless one of us gets a general skill to max level with skill points instead of training it up to teach it to others, but even then there is a cap for how many times you can teach a max level skill to other people. I think we should do what John wants and give Miranda as many books as she can so she can give us as much information as possible. Not to mention the system AI in the Training Room could probably give us advice on what skill to buy. From my point of view coins will probably be best served to purchase us magical items and gear from the shop.”

“I agree, but it will help if we have the best gear money can buy at the very least.”

“I’m also afraid we might run into a similar problem with gear though. Some of the best gear might not be in the shop, it might be made to order or auctioned off if it's valuable enough. There's really no telling if what we are purchasing from the shop is even the best that there is to offer. Super rare and valuable items probably aren't sold on an open market. I think we should think bigger if you are really invested in making humanity stronger.”

“What do you have in mind Daniel?”

“Well can we purchase structures, fortifications or other such items from the shop? buildings that have similar functions as the Training Room. From my understanding as soon as the initialization time is up we won't have access to the training room any more. It costs millions or even billions of dollars to build some of the structures that have been made in our own world. There is no telling what kinds of items exist in the system. We could probably spend most of your money just buying those types of structures from the shop if they are available.”

“I see your point, we do need to think bigger with the entire world possible at stake. There are close to eight billion people on the planet if we want to save humanity we will have to save as many people as possible. The logistics of just housing and feeding one million people would be staggering; we probably won't be able to support even half of that just from a housing perspective with the time that we have. As long as we retain access to the shop, feeding people shouldn’t be a problem, but it would be a constant drain on resources. To feed one million people a day would cost about ten million dollars at ten dollar a person, but that's in USD I have no idea how many coins it would cost.”

“We can look at if the shop has any useful structures when we get back to the Training Room, But on the topic of people and saving humanity do any of you guys have any family?” Daniel looked down at the table only to see a circular stain on the table that he had made as a kid and forgotten to use a coaster. His dad had been pissed when he had found out. The old ache of loss flared up in his chest even though it had been several years since then he lost his father. “I really only ever had my old man, but I lost him to cancer a few years ago now. It was one of the hardest moments in my life truth be told. My father was even larger than me in every aspect you could think of. Personality, size you name it he was the bigger man. He was quite literally a bear of a man and had a caring heart to match his size. I can't tell you the number of times he let a stranger into this house when they were in a time of need.” A tear rolled down Daniels’ down turned face, “You know I get letters in the mail from people thanking Him for what he did for them.” Daniel let out a small chuckle, “Can you believe that? My old man is still getting letters thanking him for helping someone even now, years after his death. I get one in the mail at least once a month, and when I get a new one I will sit down in his favorite chair and read them and each and every time I do it's another punch in the gut. All of them express how thankful they were to have met my old man when they were struggling to get by or pay bills when my father entered their lives and helped fix it. Most of them are people I had never met. He truly would help anyone he saw was in need and never sought recognition for doing so. I keep all of the letters in a box at this point that I found later. He kept every single one of them, and I carry that tradition on."

Daniel let out a long breath before he continued, "You know his death wasn't even the worst part, it was watching him slowly waist away from sickness. He had blood cancer which over time just continued to sap away at his strength little by little, day by day. By the end he had lost over fifty pounds and could no longer stand on his own without help. He was thin, pale and weak. I would visit him every day while he was hostile and when I would leave he would always tell me the same thing. ‘Don’t you worry champ I’ll beat this cancer soon enough and then we can go on that hunting trip we had planned.’ By the end he was just a shell of the man I once knew. Seeing the once bear of a man I called dad that could wrap Me in a hug, lift me up and spin me around with ease as if I was a small child be reduced to such a state that was the worst thing I could have ever imagined. He was the only family I ever had or really ever known. I have an uncle, but had never spoken to him until he came to dad's funeral. I chose to have dad cremated at the end. I didn't want anyone who had known him from before who hadn't visited him in the hospital to see him in such a diminished state. I wanted people's last memories of him to be of the large caring man he had been. Not what the cancer had turned him into. I truly wish that had been the end of it, but my old man was true to himself till the very end and I have to love him for it. In his will he gave away almost all of his remaining savings to a family whose child had cancer and didn't have the money. They were going to have had to take out a massive loan to pay the medical bills. It's not like my father was a rich man, but he still gave all of his money away to someone who needed it more than himself. And it's not like I needed the money. At that point in time I had made several great investments and with my growing popularity as a blacksmith I was never in need to go looking for more business. The only thing left in his will was this house, all of the items inside and the land it rests on which he gave to me." Daniel took a deep calming breath, tears still freeky streaming down his face. "That's where the problems started. The uncle I mentioned before was my dad's brother, and he had apparently only come into town for the funeral and the reading of the will, and when he didn't get anything out of my fathers will he threw a huge hissy fit over it. He ended up trying to take me to Court to have me give up the house, but I won in the end. I never want to see that man again in my life and I could care less if he died."

After Daniel's impromptu heartfelt speech there was silence. Daniel didn't want to look up, but when he did he saw unsteady tears in the eyes of both John and Steve. Miranda was openly crying. "I'm sorry that I didn't mean to unload on you guys or make this so personal. I mean I have only seen all of you recently."

Miranda ended up being the first to speak, "You have no reason to apologize to us Daniel and I am truly sorry that happened to you. Your father truly sounded like an amazing man and I would have loved to meet him."

"Thank you, that really means a lot to me." Daniel wiped his tears, "So, do any of you guys have family or people you would like to protect because I don’t?"

Steve hesitantly spoke first. "I have an ex wife and a few friends, but no one that I’m super close to. I'm in a similar boat as you Daniel. I am an only child and my parents were both also an only child. My parents both passed away in a helicopter accident. About five years ago. As for my friends and ex wife, if the world is really going to end when the system arrives it's not like I want to see any of them die, so I would like to protect them. What about you John?”

“I do have some family like my parents and some extended family as well. I would also invite my deceased wife's family, but I doubt they would want to hear from me or would listen to anything I have to say to tell them.” John let out a sorrowful sigh, “when I was nineteen I got my then girlfriend pregnant with Miranda here. I did the right thing and took responsibility for what happened. We got married and were planning to raise the child together. Well her family didn't appreciate me getting their daughter pregnant and resented me for ruining her life. That resentment only grew when she died during childbirth. In their eyes I am responsible for killing their daughter and want nothing to do with me or the child Miranda. I will send them a warning, but I doubt they will listen to me.” John's voice trailed off after the last few words.

Mirand also spoke up, her voice subdued. “I have people I would like to save like my friends from school, but who would really truly believe that the world is going to end. How many of them will really book a flight down here? Only a couple of my really close friends would really listen to me, but no one else at least not without a lot more proof.”

“We still have well over two months left, so we still have time. The first of my metal shipments will arrive in about a week from now until then we can plan what we want to purchase using the coins we gain from selling the metal.” Steve said.

“I think we should buy as many skill books as we can with the money. Once we purchase them we can always make copies to give out to people to learn the skills. Skill gems will probably be too expensive to give out in any large amount.”

“That's a good idea, Daniel. John, is there anything else we need to know about? I don't know about you Daniel, but I have training I need to get back too and every minute we spend out here we are wasting four minutes in the Training Hall.”

“Nothing else of real importance. I would like to talk to you about my class, to your thoughts on it, but that can wait until we are in the Training Room as you recommend Steve. In the meantime Miranda and I will go get a hotel room, then I can come back to the shop and we can talk more in the Training Room.”

“That won't be necessary.” replied Daniel, “Miranda can stay here in my house. It's not like I’m using it, the time compression in the Training room is too valuable to wait by sleeping here. And besides, it's something my father would approve of. Why should a friend spend money staying at a hotel when I have a perfectly good house available.”

“That awfully generous of you, Daniel and I would be happy to take you up on your offer.” Miranda responded.

“Good, and you know we don't have to go back to the shop. I locked up before leaving and I can just open the portal for the Training Room here.”

“That's a good Idea Daniel, this will also let us quickly give Miranda any books we purchase from the shop for her.”

Daniel nodded then quickly turned to a bare wall and opened the portal to the Training Room. “Come here and touch the portal John since this is my Training Room I have to give you permission to enter.”

John quickly came forward and touched the portal and when the prompt appeared asking if John was allowed to enter he accepted. “Okay, we are all good you can enter.” Daniel was about to turn and walk back through the portal when Miranda called out.

“Wait, can I also try to enter?”

Daniel paused and turned back, “I have no idea if it will work, but you can give it a shot. So far I have only tried with other Heros like Steve and I guess your father now as well.”

Miranda quickly strode forward and put her hand against the golden portal. After several seconds of waiting with no prompt appearing Daniel shook his head. “I didn't even get a prompt asking if you could enter.”

Miranda sighed and hung her head, “It was the same with dad's portal I just wanted to check to see if yours was any different somehow.”

Daniel parted her on the shoulder, “It's fine we will buy you some of those books so you can start to read them over and make a guide for people.” Daniel was about to turn away again when he remembered, “Oh, I also have these history books I bought that I haven't been able to read over yet. You can start with these if you want since I have them, though I will need them back since I also still need to read them.” Daniel made the three books materialize in his hand from his ring and handed them to her.

“Thanks though I don't know how useful history books will be for me.”

Daniel just shrugged, “Neither do I, but I already have them so there's no reason not to look over them if you have the time.”

“Thanks again.”

“It's not a problem.” Daniel said as he entered the portal with Kota, Steve and John. Daniel headed back to his room; he still needed to finish rewriting the book he had purchased. He didn't even make it two steps before a new voice interrupted his train of thought. Though this time it was the AI.

“Daniel Martin I have managed to find a solution for the problem you informed me about earlier.”

Daniel was surprised at the sudden voice, then confused at what the AI was talking about. “What problem?”

“I have added the internet to the Training Room as you have requested.”

“Really? How?” He was ecstatic that if he had access to the internet he could greatly increase his speed at re-writing the text he was working on.”

“I have downloaded the entire internet and made my own private server that you can access. I am constantly updating the information in real time so you have no need to worry about the authenticity of the data you are accessing.”

“You downloaded the entire internet.” Daniel deadpanned.

“That is correct. I have also forwarded my solution of this problem to my brother and sister AI’s. If their own Hero's should ever make a similar request as yourself.”

Not only had the AI downloaded the entire internet which was who knows how much data it contained, but was also constantly updating in real time. Which probably meant that any time anything new was added to the internet it was being downloaded and added by the AI to this private server. That was insane, but a second later the AI’s words brought up a new question, “Wait, you can talk to the other Hero's AI’s?”

“Correct.”

“And you never told me?” Daniel shouted at the AI exasperated. John and Steve had also stopped and were listening to his and the AI’s conversation.

“It has not been relevant to relay such information until just now.”

“Can I relay a message from me to the other Hero's through you?”

“I could, but there is no telling if the other Training Room AI’s would cooperate with such a request.”

“Okay then since we have the internet could you make a messaging program or app that all of us heroes could use to talk to each other over the private internet server you have created?” There was a short pause before the AI responded again.

“It has been done. I have talked to all other Training Room AI’s and they have agreed to your proposal and are in the process of making their own connection to the internet to allow communication between all other Training Rooms. This process will take one hour, five minutes and thirty two seconds. When completed all heroes will be informed by their AI about this change the next time they are in their Training Rooms.”

‘That was… fast, but being able to talk to the other heroes will be huge. Steve has only managed to get a hold of a few other heroes but now we could theoretically talk to all of them.’

Daniel had another question though, “What about language? I would imagine that there are heroes all over the world and not all of them will speak English.”

“An excellent observation. A translation function will be added. New time estimate is one hour, twenty one minutes and thirteen seconds from completion.”

Daniel looked at Steve who just shrugged. “I want to get back to work Steve, could you talk to John about his class and get him up to speed on the skills we are learning and whatever else you can think of.”

“Sure thing Daniel. Good luck.”

Daniel waved and headed back to his room. Steve would buy the books for Miranda and help John, but he really needed to learn this damn skill so he could finally gain his specialization. At least he could use the internet to speed up the process. He just hoped the skill would be worth it in the long run. He didn't like having to put off gaining his new specialization for as long as he had, and now that he finally had a route to pick one he was itching to get back to work. Daniel just shook his head and sat back down at his desk in his room pulled out his phone and connected it to the wifi and got back to work.