(Jamie)

"Dungeon?" I ask.

"Dungeon," Adam and Caleb agree.

"Those runes," Caleb gestures to the three runes glowing faintly above the eight-foot double doors. "They're indicative of a restricted Dungeon."

"Restricted Dungeon?" I ask.

"Yeah," he nods. "It's restricted to something within set parameters. This one looks like it's restricted to male humans with access."

"How can you tell?" I ask.

"The runes," he gestures to them. "The first one is the rune indicating restriction to 'male', the second for 'human', and the third for 'access'. So Adam and I can't enter it.

"There's no Level restriction rune," he then adds. "Which means it's likely a Starting Dungeon. Likely, but not guaranteed. Pretty unfortunate we can't enter – it'd be a good place for the three of us to get stronger."

"While that's true," Adam says. "You're considerably weaker than either of us, and none of our stats or Skills went up while we were making our way here. If it's a Starting Dungeon, it'd be perfect for you to grind for a bit, especially since it's so secluded. There isn't a damn thing around for more than two weeks' worth of travel, and no paths to it."

Long story short: we got lost on our way here, and only found it when Caleb remembered he could take on his real form and fly overhead. This was the only thing he saw for quite awhile, and thought it might be the entrance to a dwarven city or something.

Even though a demon and a half-dragon aren't exactly going to be welcome in a dwarven city, it was still worth a shot for new equipment, but instead, it turns out to be a Dungeon only I can enter.

That's bad, since my sword broke awhile back, and so did Adam's, which means the only weapons we have are their magics and our low skill in martial arts.

"So you two want me to go in?" I ask, and they both nod. "Got any of those warp stone things?"

"I bought those there," Adam shakes his head. "They're specific to a Dungeon, so you can only use them in Dungeons they're from. Stick near the entrance, and you should be good to leave in a hurry."

We talk for a few minutes about it, and determine that it should be safe, as long as I do what Adam said, so I head inside the Dungeon.

As I pass through the threshold, a chill goes down my spine, the cavern opening up into a maze of stone walls. The walls themselves only reach up to about my shoulders, which is why I know it's a maze, though my initial attempt to climb over confirms that's impossible.

The cavern itself is spacious, probably a mile in diameter, and some sort of glowing moss grows on the walls and the sides of the cavern, illuminating it pretty well.

There are stone statues walking around the maze, and a tall spire in the center, made of the same grey stone as the walls.

Stone statues probably aren't the easiest of monsters, so I focus on one.

Stone Soldier 1

That's all the information I can get off of it? Seriously?

Blargh.

I focus on others I can see, but they all yield the same result, the only difference being that some of them are Level 2, and some of the ones in the distances are Level 3 or 4. The ones closest to the spire at Level 7 or 8, which worries me about how far I'd have to go to get to the spire, if there's such a jump.

Not that I plan on going that far, since I probably couldn't handle anything that far into the maze.

The nearest Stone Soldier isn't too far from the entrance, so I make my way over to it. It's completely nude, and perfectly-sculpted. It's also well-endowed, and I'm a bit confused by why there'd be that much detail in a statue that is going to be destroyed by adventurers, over and over.

The Stone Soldier has no apparent weapon, and when it realizes I'm nearing it, it attacks with its fists, that single punch powerful enough to throw me back and send me into a lot of pain.

-10 Health!

A Starting Dungeon, my ass!

When I return to my feet, there's another Stone Soldier blocking off my escape, this one also unarmed and nude.

Fuck!

I try to run past the first one, but it slams another fist into my gut, and I actually cough up blood as I lose another 10 Health. The second one grabs me by the throat and starts to squeeze before I can recover, and I put my hands on its wrist.

"Iron," I gasp. "Grip!"

My strength increases, but not by much. I can't get a good breath in to work for those Skill, either. My vision flickers in and out as I start to lose consciousness, and messages begin to rapidly flash by my vision.

-4 Health! +1 END! +1 INT! -3 Health! +1 WIS! +1 STR! -3 Health! +1 STR! +1 END! -3 Health! +1 CON!

There's a slight cracking sound, which can only mean the Stone Soldier's wrist started to crack. It seems that's as much as it could handle, though.

I swing my legs up, locking them to either side of the Stone Soldier's head, and twist with as much might as I can muster. It lets go of me, and I drop to the ground, rolling to the side just in time to avoid it stomping on me.

Another Stone Soldier has moved to the path to the entrance, cutting off escape, and I'm at way less than half of my Health. Two more solid punches to the torso, and I'm done for.

Hell, I'm already done for. Limitless Adaptation seemed to have only been able to adjust me that much, and the Stone Soldier has already recovered, the faint cracks on its wrist already gone.

How the fuck am I supposed to get out of this?

It is definitely not a Starting Dungeon!

+1 CON!

The message appearing alerts me to the Stone Soldier charging me. Damn not having that extra Health already. I'd be a little bit less concerned if I did.

+1 AGI!

What? Why did I-

I move out of the way of the Stone Soldier, just barely avoiding being struck this time.

I needed that point of agility to be able to avoid that hit.

Is there some form of Thick Skin Skill? One that makes my body tougher? I doubt I could get Adam's Scaly Skin, but Thick Skin would definitely be nice.

Thinking about that, I still move, not giving the Stone Soldier time to recover from its miss. I pivot, bringing a foot up and kicking it in the back. It stumbles a few steps, and I drive a foot into the back of a knee.

That hurt!

I even lost a damn point of Health from that hit. I hit it, and yet I was the one who lost Health..

Focusing on willing my skin to be tougher as I try to escape, I forgot about the one behind me, remembering only when I receive the notice for losing 11 Health.

And a New Skill message.

New Skill! Tough Skin Passive Tougher than it looks, your skin is more resilient to damage

That one tries to hit me again, and I barely duck under the blow, dealing an uppercut to its jaw, losing another Health in the process. Damn these things hurt!

New Class! Martial Artist A being who fights with his fists and feet, you are strong, tough, and agile. +1 STR +1 END +1 AGI

Just a little bit faster, just a little bit tougher, just a little bit stronger. I'm able to slip past it, knock it off balance, and run for the entrance without getting caught, feeling one of them nearly grabbing me as I burst out of the Dungeon, collapsing onto the ground outside, too sore to get back up.

"Whoa!" A hand gingerly touches my back. "What happened?"

"Uhn," I groan in pain.

It takes awhile for my Health to restore, and I don't gain anymore stat points from that, other than a VIT as I'm healing, boosting my speed just a little. though I'm not surprised. It'd probably take more than almost 60 Health recovered to increase my CON, since I got those boosts during the fight from Limitless Adaptation.

When I'm finally recovered enough to sit back up, though still in a fair bit of pain, I tell them about what I faced inside.

"Damn," Caleb says. "That's definitely not a Starter Dungeon. Weird it didn't give a minimum Level for it – Stone Soldiers, even Level 1 ones, are tough. You said they were unarmed?"

"And nude."

"Stone Soldiers are usually nude," he shrugs. "And well-endowed, too. There was a Dungeon back in the Demon Realms I trained in once, that had Stone Soldiers. I was told they were Level 1, but they hurt like fuck when I got hit, even with my demonic constitution. I'm surprised you made it out alive."

"You got Tough Skin?" Adam asks, and I look at him. "You said that. You got it?"

"Yeah."

"Cool!" He grins at me. "Then you probably got Martial Artist, too! I've been trying to get it, since it boosts strength, endurance, and agility, but I'm not having luck. Scaly Skin is probably interfering with it, so it's going to take me a bit longer to get."

"Martial Artist?" Caleb asks.

"Gained for having Martial Arts and Tough Skin," Adam nods.

"Can I see your guys' Statuses and Skills?"

"Sure," Adam says.

"Um," Caleb says, and Adam looks at him, then both of them turn bright red.

What are they embarrassed about? I know they masturbate, so them having that Skill isn't going to bother me.

"I just want to see something," I tell them. "Mostly, compare to how I compare to the two of you, roughly speaking. You're both stronger than me by a lot, so it'd give me a good gauge if I could actually see your Statuses and Skills."

"Okay," Adam says, then his information appears in my vision.

Name: Adam Species: Half-Dragon Sex: Male Total Level: 1 Age: 18 Public Title: None Class: Squire Health: 60/60 STR: 15 AGI: 11 INT: 12 VIT: 13 Mana: 75/75 END: 13 DEX: 9 WIS: 15 LCK: 8 Rating: White CON: 12 FLX: 9 PER: 13 LIF: 23 Scaly Skin 2 Common Language 5 Appraisal 2 One-Handed Swords Mastery 1 Martial Arts Mastery 2 Perimeter 4 Fire Manipulation 6 Masturbation 5 Oral Dick Stimulation 1 Anal Penetration 2

Oral Dick Stimulation and Anal Penetration both came after ones he gained after meeting up with me.

Maybe that's why they stopped making comments, after the villages? They decided to just give in to each other and do it. There's definitely been a lot less comments about my appearance since then.

"And you?" I ask Caleb, his information appearing a moment later.

Name: Caleb Species: Demon Sex: Male Total Level: 1 Age: 18 Public Title: None Class: Adept Health: 50/50 STR: 12 AGI: 9 INT: 13 VIT: 12 Mana: 55/55 END: 10 DEX: 9 WIS: 11 LCK: 9 Rating: White CON: 10 FLX: 8 PER: 12 LIF: 20 Common Language 5 Taea Demon Language 6 Formshift 1 Fireball 4 Fireshield 2 Firebolt 3 Masturbation 6 Martial Arts Mastery 3

Why are they both rated at White? Is someone's rating based on how they compare among their Species, and not overall?

How do Dungeons work their ratings? Is there some Species they use as a guide? If so, which?

The thing I find oddest about them is that their natural lifespans aren't much longer than mine. When I focus on it for them, both give the same description for me, which means that it likely uses the same LIF scaling for everyone – five years per point.

I'd honestly expect a Demon and a half-dragon to live much, much longer than a human, not just a little bit longer.

"Considering how much I jacked off back home," I look at my two teammates. "And the fact that it's only at Level 3… just how often did you two get off before leaving home to hit Level 5 and 6?"

They both turn crimson, and I laugh, then wince. Still a bit sore.

"I'm going to meditate," I tell them. "See if I can calm my body that way."

"Meditation's good," Adam says. "I hear there's a few Classes you can get with that, including Monk. Monk should require Martial Arts, Meditation, and Heal, I think."

"Heal?"

"Yeah," he nods. "It's for healing wounds. Not easy to learn without a holy Class or disposition, though. Generally, devotion to a god is needed, and it's not something you can just gain. I guess Monk won't be an option for you."

"There's a reason it's an Uncommon Class, Adam," Caleb bops the half-dragon in the back of the head."

Once I'm fully recovered, and have eaten a little, I go back into the Dungeon, despite those two trying to stop me.

This time, I check the entire area around me before approaching the nearest Stone Soldier.

I want to see how I can do against one by myself, without me momentarily freaking out. Now that I now about their speed, I'm better-prepared to handle it. The increased AGI of my own isn't bad, either.

We block, dodge, and trade blows, while I use Tough Skin until I run completely out of Mana, then turn and hightail it out of there. My Health got pretty low again, but not as low as it did before.

I repeat the process for several days, before my WIS increases, along with Tough Skin. My END and CON both rise the next day, and AGI and FLX the day after that.

We spend a full month here, with me not gaining any more stat increases, though Tough Skin and Martial Arts both went up a Level, the latter going up on the last day. At the same time, Martial Artist went up as well, earning me another point.

With that increase, I wait for my body to recover, then return to the Dungeon, seeking out the nearest lone Stone Soldier 1, and this time, I do more than crack it as we fight – I manage to defeat it. Still took a lot out of me, but I'm slowly building up stamina, which means that, if I can gain a little bit more END and CON, I can probably fight a few of these things by myself.

Unfortunately, Limitless Adaptation doesn't think it's needed, so it's not raising them, and stat gains aren't exactly easy to get after they're a few points up.

At least I can do more at a time, now.

The three of us make a small camp by the Dungeon's entrance, the two of them making a crude hut of sorts for us to stay in, despite my request for separate huts, when they gave me the idea, but it's still nice. Actually kind of spacious, for being crude and not giving any Skills to them.

Doesn't protect against rain, though.

They spar against each other and hunt a lot, though only Adam manages to increase their Martial Arts Skills, and Caleb manages to increase Fireball once.

This isn't an ideal living situation, and definitely only temporary, but it helps me get stronger. We agree that once I get Martial Arts and Tough Skin to Level 5, we'll leave.

As I train, I'm able to handle two, and even three, of the Level 1 Stone Soldiers at a time, though only a single Level 2 Stone Soldier. They get a lot tougher with each Level, it seems.

After nearly five months of training after increasing Martial Artist, I finally hit Level 5 Martial Arts, which means that anything past this will be insanely tough to go up.

Which really puts Caleb's Level 6 Masturbation as impressive.

Hitting Level 5 on Martial Artist raised Martial Artist to Level 3, and another Class unexpectedly popped up, and a quick check tells me that its requirements are Level 5 Martial Artist and Level 5 Tough Skin, along with a Skill I gained a couple of months ago, Strong Punches. It just increases the force of my punches, at the cost of Mana. I somehow managed to increase it to Level 5 faster than Tough Skin.

New Class! Brawler A warrior of the fists who can take as good as he gets, you've surpassed the power of a mere Martial Artist +1 STR +1 END +2 CON +1 AGI

Increased Health from that Skill. I'd have expected it to boost my actual physical defense or strength, not my Health, but it makes sense. That extra 5 Health can be a lifesaver just as much as an extra point of END.

More so if I take magical hits, too.

Part of me wants to Level up a bit for the CON, but my teammates also need a decent place to train, and I'm fairly competent, now.

Someday, I'll come back, much stronger, and able to take on the tougher Stone Soldiers, make my way into the spire, fight whatever's in there, and then complete the Dungeon itself.

With that in mind, I leave the Dungeon and let the team know we'll be leaving tomorrow, as well as inform them of my new Class.

"Really?" Adam asks. "You seemed to gain that easier than I thought."

"I probably got some small boost to Leveling those Skills from Limitless," I say. "Though it's still sitting at a measly Level 1."

"I'm really, really tempted," Caleb tells me. "To head back to the Demon Realms just to see if they have a record of this Skill of yours, Jamie. I've never heard of anything like it."

"You're not bound to me," I say. "I mean, you two are just following me around."

"I'll probably get into a lot of trouble, if I go home," he shrugs. "Oh, but I did find a settlement not far from here. It's about three weeks' travel, at normal walking pace. We could probably make it there in two weeks, if we hurried. It'd be a good way for you to get some new gear, and us those items."

"I don't mind hanging around you," Adam tells me. "You make things interesting, but being where we are, there's somewhere I want to go, and it's not a place either of you can follow. You're both far too weak to withstand something that's ambient in the air around there, and since it'd kill a human immediately, Limitless wouldn't let you adapt to it fast enough to save your life."

"As I said," I say. "You two aren't under any obligation to stay near me. I appreciate your guys' presences, and like you both as friends, but if you want to go off and do stuff, you're more than welcome to. We'll meet again."

They talk for a few minutes, before deciding to part ways. Knowing their crushes on me, I'm sure they'll both find their way to me eventually, even if they say that it's better for me not to associate with them.

Caleb gives me directions to the settlement before he leaves, and I get started on my journey.