Day 3

After breakfast Daniel and his party headed out making their way towards the edge of the zone where they had been told the Hall's of the Dead and other dungeons would be.

It took them about an hour to get there from the time they left the gates to the time they arrived at the edge.

Along the way they meet people who were hunting only for them to claim that most monsters outside dungeons had already been hunted.

After a bit of conversation, and a bit of coin for the information, they knew the general direction of their goal.

As Daniels party skirted the edge of the zone making their way to the dungeon, a few of the ladies in their group began singing to pass the time.

"Making my way downtown, walking fast, I'm a seagull, go fuck yourself!" Sang the druid before her form blurred for a second, and then she was a seagull.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, we all love Jacksepticeye. But you shouldn't waste your uses of that ability on frivolous things Sarah. But since you've already done it, why not fly ahead and see If you can find that dungeon?" Asked Jason the leader.

*Seagull noises*

Sarah took to the air flying on ahead.

Daniel watched as she flew away before turning back to the dungeons they were passing by.

As they had covered at least a mile along the edge of the zone he went over the things he had learned about the dungeons.

There are doorways at the edge of the zone. Each leading into a dungeon so he was told. Each had its own rank, and in most cases a level requirement to enter. Some dungeons additionally had the requirement of a group of or above a certain size before you could enter. The door's were spread apart by a certain distance based on their ranks. 10 feet for the E-rank, 20 feet for D-rank, 40 for C, 80 for B, 160 for A, and 320 for S. So he had been told.

He felt that the information was valuable but it had cost him a lot to obtain it.

'500 small gold!' Daniel exclaimed in his mind as he clenched his fists and kept walking.

Dungeons seemed to be grouped with others of their rank.

3.5: Dungeon doors were supposed to get bigger with the rank of the dungeon.

'Not a terrible system...' He thought as he unclenched his fists.

As they walked by the E-ranked dungeons most were "Closed" as their signs said. Instead of leading to dungeons they just ended in a wall.

Dungeons after they are conquered, close for a time dependent upon their rank. From what he had been told by some people who had managed to beat a dungeon they had been presented with options and some information on how the dungeon system worked.

'It's only like a day of down time for E-rank dungeons.' Daniel thought.

The time for higher ranking dungeons he didn't know though he suspected it to get much longer with each rank.

----------------

When Daniel and his friends finally found the Halls of the Dead they were unsurprised to meet about a dozen other people also going to raid the dungeon.

What did surprise them was that the dungeon was only D-rank.

There must have been at least 100 people here, with more arriving every dozen minutes or so.

Most were either preparing for the raid or standing around waiting for one thing or another.

The people came in all ethnicities, shapes and sizes. He could see at least a dozen people wearing robes of some kind with very large hats.

'Wizards?' He questioned in his mind but gave no voice to those words.

The many groups came together and the system recognized them as one, Legion.

One by one, each group in the legion stepped through the doorway. When it came time for Daniels' group to enter he took a moment to inspect the doorway.

It stood tall, at least 15 feet from the ground to its apex. It was about 6 and a half feet across, about 2 meters.

Then there was the sign above the doorway.

It was much like a digital sign, but he suspected it ran on magic rather than electricity.

On the sign it simply stated the dungeon's name and its rank.

Halls of the Dead

D-rank

The doorway itself seemed to just be an open archway that leads into a dark stone hallway.

In the doorway hung a blue box displaying the requirements to enter, which were the same as they had been in the system announcement.

Though as he passed through the door he felt something wash over him.

He stopped for a few seconds just within the doorway and waved his arm back and forth through the doorway.

Doing this allowed him to see a faint ripple to the air as his arm passed back and forth through the doorway.

+1 Per...

Daniel smiled as he turned and jogged to catch up with his party.

Jogging has leveled up! Lvl. 12...

-------------------

As Daniels' party caught up with those who had entered earlier, the second group in fact, he found they were missing members.

Stopping the group for a moment Jason spoke with the people who were resting against the rough stone walls.

A dozen torches lay burning all across the floor, a dozen small orbs of light hovered around one woman who seemed to be a mage or wizard of some kind.

They appeared to have stopped in a domed area. He would have called it a rest area but then he saw the blood everywhere.

Those few who were left seemed very jumpy as Daniel and his party walked into the small domed place they were in, like every shadow was a threat.

"What happened to you guys?" Jason asked simply.

"We were overwhelmed...." one man replied, presumably the party leader, pausing before he continued.

"I'll tell you what to expect so you can do better than we did. The things in here are living shadows. Normal weapons don't do well against them but skills seem a bit more effective. Mostly things having to do with magic work best. They like to gang up on people so be wary of that. When they strike you they don't exactly wound you, they..." the leader paused as he pulled up his shirt revealing washboard abs marred by streaks of purple, almost appearing like bruises, all across his chest and back.

"The damn things cause "strength damage" with every hit. Sometimes more, sometimes less, but it stacks up on you! I had 150 strength when I came in here. Now I have 92! We used to have 8 people, now we have 3. They died and then their bodies disappeared. Thankfully, I've been told by my guide and the system that they were respawned outside the tutorial zone. As for the strength damage, it's supposed to heal after a bit of rest. Good luck to you guys! We're done here. Above all other things remember this. Don't let the fuckers hit you if you can help it! I don't know if preventing them from damaging you will stop the strength damage but it's worth a shot. We're going back to town." Said the leader of the group who had come before them. Clearly having had enough.

The leader walked over to his two remaining party members and together they slowly made their way out.

As that conversation went on Daniel felt something moving in the darkness, slowly, deliberately.

Turning to where he felt the presence he saw a face poking out of the darkness.

It was a human face but it was... wrong. The skin was too pale, like that of a corpse.

It seemed to be looking around but it was hard to tell since it had black eyes. Though it shook slightly when it noticed his gaze, and then it smiled before raising a shadowy finger to its lips and retreated into the shadows from whence it came.

--------------------------------

Spell slots converted to mana To facilitate upcasting one need only expend additional mana until the mana expended equals the minimum required for the desired level. 1st level: 1-100 2nd level: 101-200 3rd level: 201-400 4th level: 401-800 5th level: 801-1,600 6th level: 1,601-3,200 7th level: 3,201-6,400 8th level: 6,401-12,800 9th level: 12,801-25,600

Day 5

Dante began getting dressed once more but no sooner than he had thrown on his pragmatically colored robe did he realize something.

'Huh… I can cast 2nd level cleric and druid spells now...' He thought as somewhere within his soul space a particular tome flipped open to a page marked "Divine Spells' '.

Dante smiled as he turned inward for a moment, appearing beneath a familiar tree, standing tall and proud the tree shaded a good portion of the hill.

Dante looked to his tower and walked, the world racing by him with each step.

In 3 steps he arrived at his tower, another took from one side of the tower to the other.

Passing through the tower's base, by its many supporting columns, and the gleaming clockwork mechanism, stood silently in the middle of the ground floor.

'Huh...It seems that skill moves itself to the lowest floor after I leveled up. Interesting.' He thought as he stopped for a moment on the tower's other side.

With one more step he descended upon the small farmhouse. Walking up and opening the door he found what he sought.

His spell tome laid open upon the table he sat in the rough chair for a moment holding the tome as he inspected his divine spells.

Listing a few that interested him at the moment.

Augury, Darkvision, Bark Skin, Enhance Ability.

"Augury sounds like a good idea. Darkvision will be useful later, since it's day right now, useful for cave or dungeon exploration. Bark Skin only lasts an hour, but it's not a concentration spell anymore. Good, because that was kind of stupid. Enhance Ability is still concentration, still an hour, but very useful. Let's test a few of these out." Dante said as he closed the tome setting it once more upon the table before he blinked from that place.

His mind returned to his physical body.

Dante placed his hands above his heart, above the holy symbol of his lady embroidered into his robe.

Almost in prayer.

"My Lady, grant me Bark Skin." He spoke as he felt his mana begin to move. He felt warmth flow out of his hands before it reversed course.

Beginning to make its way up his arms.

Looking down he saw his hands covered with a dark crimson bark.

Bark Skin, Lvl. 2

You touch a willing creature. Until the spell ends, the target's skin has a rough, bark-like appearance. The target's skin becomes more resistant to non-magical piercing and slashing damage.

Creature's affected by this spell can will the "Bark" away, to regain a normal appearance, but losing the protection. They may also reverse said effect, so long as the spells duration hasn't elapsed, to regain the protection of the "Bark".

Cast time: 1 second, Range: Touch, Duration: 1 hour, Components: V, S, M (a handful of oak bark), Mana Cost: 180

Synergy detected...

"Oh shit...here we go aga-"

Synergy insufficient...

Please raise the level of your Iron Skin skill in order to raise the synergy...

"Huh...good to know. New goal raise Iron Skin's skill level to see what the fuck happens from those two interreacting. Though I have an idea of what it will become... Here's hoping." He said with a smile as the rough bark spread across his body.

"Iron Skin." He said, invoking the skill.

As the seconds passed and the skill took effect the bark on his skin slowly changed color. No longer a deep crimson much like mahogany.

Now its rich color had dulled, not pink but was on its way there.

"Well I'm going to get looks for this but whatever..." Dante paused as a notice appeared.

+1 Cha...

"Sweet. Let's kick on meditation so we can stretch out the time a bit more. Don't I still have...yep. Still have a level of health exhaustion." Dante said as he used his channel divinity to erase that last level of exhaustion.

Congratulations! You have completed the quest, Will to Rehabilitate!...

+50 to all resource pools!...

+2 to all regens!...

+1000 exp!...

"Ok, pretty cool. How about we try Augury now?" Dante mused as he ran through the spell requirements in his mind.

Augury, lvl. 2

By casting gem-inlaid sticks, rolling dragon bones, laying out ornate cards, or employing some other divining tool, you receive an omen from an otherworldly entity about the results of a specific course of action that you plan to take within the next 30 minutes. Your Patron chooses from the following possible omens:

Weal, for good results Woe, for bad results Weal and woe, for both good and bad results Nothing, for results that aren't especially good or bad

The spell doesn't take into account any possible circumstances that might change the outcome, such as the casting of additional spells or the loss or gain of a companion.

If you cast the spell two or more times in a 12 hour period, there is a cumulative 25% chance for each casting after the first that you get a random reading. This chance is left to the whims of magic.

Cast time: 1 Minute, Range: Self, Components: V, S, M (specially marked sticks, bones, or similar tokens worth at least 2.5 sgp)

Mana cost: 180

"What should I use to cast this?" Dante questioned aloud and to his mild surprise he got an answer.

Tarot cards...

Dante paused for a moment absorbing that his question had actually been answered.

Then he shook off the surprise and opened the system store looking for a deck of Tarot cards.

Scrolling through the store for a moment he found a rather nice set of cards with golden filigree along the edges of each card. It cost him 5 small gold but he gladly paid.

Thank you for your purchase! Item has been added to your inventory!...

Taking the cards from his inventory he turned around to face the bed and began to cast augury. Placing cards on the hospital bed as he went.

"What does the future look like after I leave here?" He asked the air as he began to place the cards. It was strange, up until now he had never really learned how to use tarot cards but now, he was using them like an old pro. In the end the message he got was clear.

Weal...

'Ok then. Things are looking good, at least for the near future. Can't wait to be able to cast Commune, to be able to ask a god 3 questions, even if they are only yes and no, it's a great opportunity.' He thought, pondering what the future would hold.

------------

5 minutes later...

Dante had been discharged from the hospital that had sprung up from the presence of his lady's church. He had talked to the doctor for a moment before leaving promising to come back to heal those who were sick. He did have Lesser Restoration now...

'Lesser Restoration...' He pondered recalling that vision he had seen along the journey down one of his many roads. He was so absorbed in thought that he didn't notice Califa until he had walked into her.

Dante looked up and with an embarrassed smile asked, "Shall we resume our tour of the town?"

She eyed him confusedly at first but after a minute of explanation she simply smiled and shook her head leading him from the building.

---------------------

Dante looked back at the new church of his lady as they left. It's design was rather simple, much like any local church you might see.

On the outside he saw that the gate and even the walls of the city had been moved back to make room for the new building.

It stood about 2 stories tall, with a large set of double doors at the entrance and a stained glass window above that.

Using Eagle's Sight he looked up to see what was depicted upon the stained glass window.

The circular stained glass window was divided roughly into pieces. Upon each showing a testament to life.

A couple holding hands, on the beach at sunset.

Two warriors locked in combat.

A humble forest with several animals roaming in the background.

Eagles Sight has leveled up! Lvl. 2...

Dante smiled as he turned off the skill and walked with Califa.

As they walked he couldn't help but see the world in a whole new light, ultraviolet to be specific.

Then he had an idea.

“Hey Califa, want to do a little skill training?" Dante asked as he began to jog.

Califa was confused at first before she smiled and in seconds she was right there with him.

Congratulations! You have obtained the Common active skill, Jogging Lvl. 1...

Jogging- Faster than walking, slower than running. Minor increase to jogging speed per level of the skill. Minor increase to balance while jogging per level of the skill. +5 stamina per level of the skill...

'huh...It didn't bump the level up. No big deal. Probably will do the same for Running but again, no big deal.' Dante thought.

"Are we going to get running?" Califa asked with a wide smile on her face.

"In a minute, I could use a little warm up. We both know you'll beat me to the guild, you're my guide!"

Jogging has leveled up! Lvl. 2->5...

'5 levels in one minute? Higher stats let you power level skills. Always good to see that.' Dante thought as he smiled.

"Alright then lets run!" Dante exclaimed as he very quickly was left behind by Califa, even as he gained and leveled the running skill.

Congratulations! You have obtained the Common active skill, Running Lvl. 1...

Running- Faster than walking, Faster than jogging. Minor increase to running speed per level of the skill. Minor increase to balance while running per level of the skill. +10 stamina per level of the skill...

He smiled as he picked up the pace.

---------------------------

5 minutes later...

Running has leveled up! Lvl. 2->12...

Cartography has leveled up! Lvl. 15->17...

Meditation has leveled up! Lvl. 21...

Iron skin has leveled up! Lvl. 6->8...

Resistance to mundane exhaustion has leveled up! Lvl. 17...

Dante had to stop to let his stamina recover slowly, putting his hands on his knees and breathing deep. He had been sure not to let his stamina drop beneath 20%.

"Looks like, *Heavy Breathing* having more than one thing use a resource at one time increases the stress. *Heavy Breathing* But it's good training!" Dante spoke trying to catch his breath, while Califa skipped around him, clearly not winded.

Dante opened his status and after a moment of inspection divided his 23 stat points into Dexterity and Perception, 13 and 10 respectively.

Dante A. Stone

Race: Human

Class: Cleric (B,L)

[Rank 3] Lvl. 20

EXP: 5,703/16,400

Gold: 961.5 Large gold

Stats

Resources

Total

Regen.

Strength 125

Health

7,074

(275.9x2=551.8/min)

Constitution/Vitality 191

Mana

9,158

(312.5/min)

Endurance 146

Stamina

6,275

(261.45x2=522.9/min)

Dexterity 126

Road Points

120

Willpower 152

Stat Points

0

Intellect 133 Luck 125 Wisdom 224 Perception 126 Charisma 131 Spirit 216

(A/N: Please note that the regen increase from Meditation isn't shown on the status but is kept in mind for the story.)

But before he could do more, he saw a young man in robes being harassed by a man with a sword 2 dozen feet away.

Others stood by clearly not willing to get involved for fear of being harmed by the man.

Dante sighed and shook his head as he began jogging to close the distance.

Only to watch as the man, who seemed to be getting mugged in broad daylight, in the middle of the street, touched the sword.

What happened next gave Dante quite a shock.

The sword crumpled, bent, split, and twisted back on its wielder.

Blood dripped upon the ground as the man screamed, the mangled and almost vine-like remains of his sword wrapped around the hand he had been using to wield it.

"What the fuck!? What bullshit skill did you use to do that?" Dante exclaimed as he finished closing the distance. The man was screaming for help on the ground like he hadn't just been trying to mug someone. In other words, like a bitch.

Several people laughed from the crowd.

Dante suppressed his laughter at that thought as the robed man turned to face him.

"It was self defense! He was trying to mug me. I wasn't...Holy shit you look like the inside of a tree!" exclaimed the robed man as he raised his hands as if in surrender.

He sighed again.

"Stay right there. I'll talk to you in a minute." He said as he pointed to the robed man who simply nodded.

Kneeling before the man he yelled at him, "Shut the fuck up if you want help!"

The man quickly quieted down but his face still told he was experiencing great pain.

Dante went to work bending the ruined metal slowly extricating the man's bloody hand from the metal.

This took a minute and required inflicting even greater damage on the man's hand as it seemed the medal had gone through it in several places.

As he worked he was glad to notice that the ruined metal couldn't seem to pierce his skin. It did cut him a bit, just not enough to draw blood.

When he was done removing the mangled metal he gripped the man's mangled hand such that he screamed.

Only once he had screamed did he grant him the mercy of a casting of Cure Wounds, he even upcasted the spell to level 2.

180 mana later the would-be mugger was staring at his somewhat pink, but otherwise healed, hand.

As the man thanked him and tried to get up he placed his foot on the man's balls forcing him back to the ground.

"No, you're staying right there." Said Dante as he made and then dropped a seed of the Blood Rose next to the man.

Seed Creation has leveled up! Lvl. 4...

"Vines of the Blood Rose!" Said Dante, ignoring the notice.

Immediately the seed exploded with the growth of green vines covered in a multitude of crimson thorns.

The vines spread quickly across the ground binding the man's legs and hands to the ground.

"Hey! What the fuck man? This shit hurts!" exclaimed the mugger as Dante tried to dial back the thorns part of the skill.

After a few seconds he watched the crimson thorns retract into the vine. The man was still cursing him out but seemed to no longer be in pain.

Skill Vines of the Blood Rose has acquired an additional effect! Vines of Bondage...

Vines of Bondage- Bind one or more creatures in an area in magical vines. Significantly slows a target with strength less than your Intellect. Bonus to skill strength when used in tandem with real seeds. Slight increase to area of effect per level of the skill. 50 mana per area of effect...

Vines of the Blood Rose has leveled up! Lvl. 2...

'I'm going to whisper that one when I use it...' he thought, embarrassed by this new part to his skill, but still seeing its worth. The man struggled against the vines but got nowhere.

In the distance he heard what sounded like the pounding of several feet against the ground as he turned to see a small group of guards quickly making their way towards them.

Dante turned towards the robed man who hadn't moved since the incident. Taking a second to inspect his appearance more thoroughly he noted several things.

For one the man's robes seemed to emanate a faint smoke that actually smelled rather pleasant. Though it seemed to dissipate rather quickly.

His skin was ebony and he was bald. His brown eyes flickered with what seemed like floating sparks of yellow and red.

His robe reminiscent of something someone might find at a thrift shop or a flee market. His robe appeared to have seen better days, small holes scattered through out it. The image upon the robe being that of red and gold fireworks. Strangely he could swear they were moving, ever so slowly.

"My name is Dante. SO... Are you a caster or something? How the fuck did you do that to the sword?" He asked, pointing towards the mangled, bloody, scrap metal on the ground.

The man smiled at the question motioning to himself with what seemed like a measure of pride.

"Yes, I'm the First High Priest of our lord Clang. Savior and Calamity, the same. My name is Clarence." He said and as he spoke it's name Dante swore he felt a small tremor in the ground. Perhaps he was just using thaumaturgy for added effect.

"Do you mean Clang from Space Engineers?" Dante asked in surprise, the priest too looked at him in surprise.

"Yes! My lord Clang speaks to me even now. He's glad that you remember him." The high priest said with a smile.

"Clang..." Dante paused, testing that name and finding it felt strange upon his tongue. It seemed different now.

He decided to continue regardless.

"He has certainly claimed a few of my builds. Needed to reload a lot of those. But there was a lot of fun along the way." He finished, a smile growing on his own face.

The High priest laughed stating, "Speaking of reloading, my lord has..." He continued on as if he were speaking only for silence to come from his mouth then he went rigged for a moment before regaining his composure.

"You didn't catch that right? My lord says he blocked much of the information.

"I don't hear anything after, my lord has. But I think I can guess where it was going." Dante said his eyes widening as his thoughts raced.

Light of gold and crimson filled the man's eyes as he stepped forward, taking Dante's hand and placing something small into it. Something else spoke through Clarence. Though he was fairly certain who it was.

"You're the one who made that light not long ago. You've accomplished much compared to most of my followers. My faith is small now but will grow with time. I was born before the system, though I couldn't speak, I could still hear the prayers of many. I remember your prayers. Now that the world has changed, you can hear my voice." Its voice was like the bending and twisting of metal, and the rumble of countless small explosions that nevertheless conveyed its intended meaning.

"Please Dante, remember me." Spoke Clang before Clarence blinked and shook his head, regaining himself.

"That was... interesting..." He said his eyes were a little distant.

Clarence was called to the guards as they arrived and Dante looked at what had been placed in his hand.

It was a small necklace. There dangling down he could see the symbol of a hypercube. Each of its faces was made from stained glass of red and gold. The metal edges that kept the object's shape were gold. But within the inner cube he could see a strange contraption.

Bringing it up close to his eye he saw the object seemed like some strange amalgamation of tiny wheels and rotors. As he watched it, it began to move. It began to spin in place, never seeming to touch the sides of the small box it was inside of. Occasionally it threw off sparks, but it never stopped.

Slowly its pieces moved inward and outward seemingly independent of one another.

It was like a little bit of insanity given a small mechanical form.

He watched as another round of sparks came forth. This time however, two sparks of light remained.

They were level with one another much like a set of...eyes.

Another round of sparks came forth and this time a smile was left behind completing the face.

Then it laughed.

Dante immediately pulled it away from his eye, before checking again a second later. But the face was gone, and still the insane mechanism carried on in its movements.

Dante fires off a friend request to Clarence, yelling at him.

"I'll see you later! You can tell me then what the fuck you used on that guy’s sword!" he raised his voice to the man a dozen feet away to make sure he heard him.

The priest of Clang turned toward him for a moment before nodding. He saw the notice saying the friend request had been accepted.

He placed the necklace around his neck then went to the guards and told them of his skill, and dropped it for them so they could drag the really shitty mugger off to a cell.

----------

Dante and Califa continued on their way towards the Adventurer's guild and as they arrived 10 minutes later he reviewed his notices from the run and smiled.

Time Sense has leveled up! Lvl. 9...

Iron skin has leveled up! Lvl. 8->10...

Running has leveled up! Lvl. 12->15...

Cartography has leveled up! Lvl. 17->19...

Meditation has leveled up! Lvl. 22...

Resistance to Mundane Exhaustion has leveled up! Lvl. 18...

You have leveled up!...

+1 level in Warrior!...