You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor

Aristotle

They all saw Alfred grinding his teeth in pain, he suddenly took out a green coloured paper slip. David was confused about what the paper was, but the appraiser had torn the slip in half before the spear wielding goblin could finish him off. David watched in shock as he saw that the appraiser had disappeared into thin air.

The spear wielding goblin was also confused, standing there poking at the empty area, refusing to believe that its prey is gone. David was the closest towards this goblin and had easily sneaked up behind it.

Puchi

Blood was drawn as the goblin had fell to its demise. David had stabbed its brain from behind, making him gain even more exp.

Health 54/100 Mana: 32/100

[Killed 1 Green Rank Goblin]

[+ 8.16 Dungeoneering EXP]

[+ 7.14 Sphere Summoner EXP]

The Shaman felt raw anger as it saw its last subject die ruthlessly. David and the other two decided to close in towards the Shaman, one step at a time which made the Shaman feel threatened. The Shaman roared out unintelligently before chanting a spell.

The monk with his wooden club went rushing forward towards the Shaman from behind, while brandishing his club. His skin had suddenly turned to copper because of one of his skills. Malcolm had also came charging in with increase speed towards the side of the Shaman, using a charging skill with his sword, ready to slash down in any moment.

The monk swung his club horizontally with force, it was about to hit the Shaman, but instead, a green glowing force exited out of the Shamans hands. It had finished its chant. The raw power of the spell had split into three green blobs, the blobs were aimed towards all of them.

David quickly rolled to the side, narrowly dodging the toxic sludge whereas although the monk was hit, he wasn't harmed that badly. When the acid had landed onto his left arm, with the help of the defensive copper skin he was only burnt on the outer layer of his skin before the acid was wiped clean with a piece of his clothing that he had ripped off.

Malcolm also got hit, he was really hurt badly. The acid hit his legs when he had jumped backwards to dodge, the green blob had melted some of his flesh. Although the leg was not beyond repair, he was now useless in this fight and had to bow out. He crawled away to get out of reach of the Shaman and away from the fight.

The Monk did not stop his momentum and had forcefully hit the Shaman with his club, crushing one its arm. The Shaman screeched out in pain. The Shaman thought that the toxic sludge would be enough to take down everyone, but who knew that all of them would get out alive with that attack.

The Monk must have had a few levels in his body protection skill as to avoid any major damage from the sludge. The Shaman had forcefully taken on the pain before shouting around three words in its own language.

The Shaman had summoned a quick spell, it sent off some tree roots from below its self, the tree root had quickly travelled underground before reaching the Monk, rooting him in place, trapping his legs for just a few seconds.

This few seconds was enough for the Shaman to summon another spell, it was a familiar chant, the toxic sludge. It was going to blast it point blank into the Monks head, and even with his body protection skill, it wouldn’t be enough to save him as the Shaman could summon three blast, and all three blasts will be concentrated into one spot…

O dech huul dhuur den...

Before the Shaman could finish his chant, David had used his own quick thinking before deciding on a solution, and after a moment, he threw the tennis ball towards the Shamans head. He figured that the ball would travel much faster than his fire or water ball spell, so that it could interrupt the spell before the Shaman had completed its chant.

Booom

+ 20.4 Tennis Ball EXP

+ 10.2 Ball Handling EXP

The ball didn't do any damage except interrupt that chant, but once a chant is interrupted, there would be a backlash. The Shamans glowing green arms had now started to tremble, the tennis ball did gain a neat amount exp for causing a backlash effect. This resulted in crippling the Shaman for a small moment.

The monk was still struggling to escape from the tree roots, so it was up to David to finish this off. He had wanted to save his mana since it was still so low, so he had rushed forward with his maximum speed. Seeing that the Shaman was still kneeling in agony from the backlash pain, David had stabbed towards its brain, killing it instantly with his lizard bone dagger.

[Note]

Health 54/100 Mana: 33/100

[Killed 1 Green Rank Goblin Shaman]

[+ 20.4 Dungeoneering EXP]

[+ 18.36 Sphere Summoner EXP]

He watches in silence as the exp fill his status, making him almost level up in multiple categories before slumping down onto the ground, out of breath and energy. Cold sweat could be seen dripping down his forehead as he had imaginec what would had happened if they had charged in to face the whole goblin tribe instead. But luckily, they had played it smart, dwindling down the numbers of enemy before facing the leader.

The Monk had finally freed himself, but the fight was already over, so they both decided to check out how Malcolm was doing.

Malcolm were in no shape to continue and had to bow out. He decided to leave, David didn’t know what he meant, but Malcolm had already taken out a green paper slip and had ripped it. Malcolm wanted to see if they would survive, and once he had seen them killed the Shaman, he wished them good luck before he had disappeared into thin air.

“What was that?” David said in confusion towards the Monk.

“Wait you don’t know what that is?” The Monk said dumbfounded.

“Should I?” David said while scratching the back of his head.

“You… Didn’t you get an escape charm before coming into this dungeon?” The Monk said with a disbelief tone, but all David did was shake his head.

“Do you want to kill yourself? You’re only level one and yet you don’t have an escape charm…” The Monk said as if he was looking at a crazy person. David asked about the escape charm and the monk replied that the green paper slip that Alfred and Malcolm had used were low level escape charm used to escape newbie level dungeons.

The Monk had a weird question, he wanted to know who sent him to this Dungeon. But he had a dumbfounded look when David said that it was the local town Guild Leader. David then explained all the circumstances that had happened; the one-week training, the armour and weapon gifts, the potions, and the spot in this dungeon.

“You better be careful” The Monk said with a serious tone before continuing on.

“I advise you to separate yourself with that Dungeon Leader, quickly go travel on your own, far away from this land because, she does not care for you at all.” He said courteously, David was stunned at this statement before issuing the Monk to explain.

“She had only giving you one week of training before sending you to the death pit with no hesitation, she had even known what your level is at and knew that it would be near impossible for you to come out alive with that status. That one-week training is far from enough, I had around nearly six years of training before going into my first Dungeon. Also, she did not give you an escape charm, this shouldn’t be too expensive, but the fact that she didn’t tell you about it means that she does not care all that much about you. One health and Mana potion is far too little, just look in my own spatial ring” He said quickly before holding out his hands and releasing something.

David was shock to see items come out of nowhere, the Monk explained that it was his ring, and that his master bestowed him it. David also saw many health potions, at least a dozen or so, there were also some mana potions as well but there were only around five.

“You see, with this, I could take out the entire goblin camp by myself, but it was too much of a drag, and I would had probably wasted all these potions just to do so” The monk said while handing David one health and one mana potion each before putting the items back into his ring. The Monk said that he was going to give Malcolm a potion too but who knew that he would be so quick to leave. David accepted them with a stunned expression.

“This is because of you, your idea, that I get to save so many potions, so helping you this much is just normal” The Monk said while shrugging.

“Thanks… But how do you know if the Guild Leader is not trustworthy just from this?” David said while still sceptical.

“Well I know this, most people have grudges against Nobles, no offense” He said while looking at David before continuing.

“She probably wouldn’t want you to die in the land that she oversees, and even if she wanted you dead, she couldn’t because there is a group called NPS, Noble Protection Services. It is run by a group of high levelled people who are talented in investigation and detection. They have branches all over the continent and are a service to all nobles. If a noble die, they can pick it up with an advance device, and once they found the area of death, they will stop at nothing to figure out what had happened. The only exception is that they won’t investigate death in a dungeon. So, I am guessing that she would had sent you to your death this way so that she can keep her hands clean.”

David was stunned, he briefly remembered what the Guild Leader had said towards him.

"I will not have a noble dying under my watch, so, I will ensure your safety inside this town"

David thought that about this, then his face went white, he was trembling in fear because of this realisation. The Guild Leader had created an environment where he could feel trusted, she gave him a tiny bit of training with some gear and items, creating an illusion that he was ready to take on a dungeon. She probably took advantage of the fact that he didn’t know how hard a Newbie Dungeon was and sent him to his death. She won’t have him die in the land she oversees, but that didn’t include inside a dungeon, where his death won’t be investigated.

David had clenched his fist tightly, slightly regretting giving away vital information to the Guild Leader. He decided that he had to ask the Faeris twin for help in running away from this area after he had left this Dungeon. That is, if he was still alive by then.

He had calmed down after breathing in and out for a moment, he then decided to drink both the potions that he was gifted.

Gulp gulp gulp

Health 100/100 Mana: 84/100

He felt his body restore back to its pinnacle, his mana was almost full. He could do a fireball spell four times which was alright.

After cleaning themselves up of blood, they decided to move on to the next phase. David couldn't help but feel nervous, but he was thankful for the Monk help. The Monk didn’t need to go out of his way to explain anything and help him in this Dungeon. He guessed that the Monk should be at least be trustworthy enough to be considered a friend.

He clenched the tennis ball tightly in his hand tightly before placing it back into his pocket for him to use whenever he is ready. They both walked down the dark gloomy tunnel towards the end until they saw light.

At the end of the tunnel was a final room. There was a giant hobgoblin in the centre of the room, meditating, and behind it was a transparent orb which was the size of a head, it must be the Dungeon Core. The Dungeon Core was locked inside a tight metal cage with a lock, and the key was hanging on the Hobgoblins neck.

Oddly enough there was a statue of an Orc Wargod, blocking a huge stone door and on top of the door was a sentence.

Complete the Riddle

Just a few minutes after the duo had entered, they had heard sound coming from another cave they had found beside them. Five silhouettes could be seen coming from this cave and those five people had caught up to them.

"Where are the other trash? They died? What a joke…" The familiar Mage muttered under his breathe. He was the only one that was squeaky clean, his robe had no sign of dirt but the other four from his group look injured, and extremely annoyed.

"You six go forward while I support from behind" He voiced out in a loud domineering tone, which had unfortunately drawn the attention of the meditating Hobgoblin.

O duulaan ghaan ac rhar

The Hobgoblin voiced out in annoyance before standing up. Its two-metre-tall body stood over all of them with its red glaring eyes. The Hobgoblin scanned the mage menacingly to which the small puny human trembled under that gaze.

The Hobgoblin roared out a massive sound wave which shook the earth, the creature than picked up a giant boulder with all its strength.

F**k! They all heard mage curse. The Hobgoblin was aiming for that fire mage, and everyone couldn’t help but sigh in relief, some even watch with amusement. The mage had panicked and ran towards a random team member. This was someone forgettable, a young boy with the class of a warrior, the warrior panicked trying to run away, but the mage followed closely behind.

Suddenly, a huge rock came shooting like a cannon ball towards the two boys. The mage suddenly kicked off the warrior and with that momentum he barely jumped away to safety while the warrior had also barely escaped. The warrior had to use an escape charm with much regret before the boulder had come crushing down to the area he was just at.

Everyone was shocked, but the mage had just played it off like it was normal, he was complaining about how that warrior was laughing at him, and that, that was the price to pay. But now wasn't the time for any inside argument as the Hobgoblin had decided to rush forward.

Boom boom boom

Its steps were like small earthquakes. David was very shaken as he thought about his abilities. ‘Will fireball or waterball do any damage to this thick muscular Hobgoblin?’

Katniss the archer began to fire a volley of arrows, dozens of arrows shot into the body of the Hobgoblin, but it only went in an inch deep. It was barely doing any damage, if anything, it just made the Hobgoblin even more mad. She only had drawn just a small amount of blood of the enemy, she then tried to aim for its eyes, but it protected its eyes with its hands.

Ned the rogue and another person from their team, an assassin, tried to sneak towards the Dungeon Core to end the dungeon expedition without killing the final boss as they knew how to pick lock. But unfortunately, the Hobgoblin had caught wind of this. Probably because they were stained with blood, if they were clean, they could had avoided the Hobgoblins detection, but the stench of blood had given them away.

The Hobgoblin stomped the ground hard with its massive feet. This caused some jagged rocks to fall from the ceiling for it to use as a projectile weapon. The Hobgoblin was smart, using long range first to pick them off one by one.

The Hobgoblin threw around a dozen rocks towards everyone. But it flew slowly, not enough to put anyone in danger. Everyone dodged smoothly except for the assassin. The assassin was acting cocky, moving closer towards the Dungeon Core instead of retreating like the rogue. A fragment of a rock had stabbed into his leg, making him trip over. The assassin had a face full of regret as he saw another rock shooting straight towards him. He couldn’t dodge with the injury, so he had to bow out, directly tearing apart an escape charm.

‘This is a Newbie Dungeon?’ David thought after the final rock was thrown. That rock didn’t hit anyone, but it did create some terror in some of the dungeoneerers mind.

He wondered how other people had finished this dungeon. Katniss began to shoot the arrows at the Dungeon Core, but it was too far away. Even if the arrows had made it, the metal cage would block them off, because the gap between each metal bars were tiny.

There was now only the five of them left to face this boss... David, The Monk Zhao Yin, The Archer Katniss Pritchard, The Rogue Ned Whiker and the Fire Mage Darius Firoach.

The Hobgoblin had once again, put its sight onto the fire mage before rushing with frustration as it hadn’t managed to kill anyone just yet.

‘The God of Inferno, Grantus, lend me your power, I summon thee Dragons Breath!’

The mage chanted quickly while holding out his staff, mass of fire erupted from the staff. The fire then began to rush outwards like a cone. It was just like a dragon’s breath, as its flame was extending for more than ten metres long. The Hobgoblin who was now screaming out in pain and its skin blackened like charcoal with the smell of burnt flesh and ash wafted through the air. But this wasn't enough…

The burnt Hobgoblin was still standing, and it was slowly moved forwards under the pressure of the fire, the mage mana began to deplete until it was empty, he was frightened to see the Hobgoblin smile sinisterly once the spell had worn off.

Crack

The monster turned to see that his left ankle was crushed. Behind the Hobgoblin stood a copper skinned monk who was emitting a righteous aura with muscles tensed to the max. The monk had continuously smashed down with his wooden club.

Booom!

The Monk was sent flying through the air for dozens of metres before landing down onto the ground, causing a small crater. The arrows were still going strong, turning the Hobgoblin into a porcupine, but it still did very little damage.

David was stunned as to what to do, should he run towards the Dungeon Core? But how will he destroy it if it’s in a cage, the Core isn't exactly as weak as an egg. He estimated that he couldn’t break it easily without taking it outside the cage.

He had to make a quick choice as the Hobgoblin was currently heading off to finish the injured Monk.

He, after a brief moment of thinking, had firmly decided that he was going to help fight, he wanted to save his newfound friend from danger.

David Lee /Age 18

Dungeoneering: Level 1 [EXP 96.9/100]

[Note: Duneoneering levels give you higher Health and Mana, also granting access to exclusive restrictions in this world]

Health 100/100 Mana: 85/100

Titles

[Ball Handler] [Level 2, EXP 146.88/150]

[All kinds of Ball Handling have its proficiency is increased by 2%]

Class: Sphere Summoner [Level 1, EXP 86.82/100]

Sub Class: Nil

Attributes

Strength: F

Constitution: F

Defence: F

Resistance: F

Dexterity: F

Intelligent: F

Wisdom: F

Willpower: F

Perception: F

Charisma: F

Total Average: F

Skills:

Fire Ball [Level 1, EXP 72.2/100]

[Cost: 20 Mana]

[Summon a Fireball, size and strength increases with level]

Water Ball [Level 2, EXP 26.5/150]

[Cost: 20 Mana]

[Summon a Water Ball, size and strength increases with level]

Sphere Contract [Level 1 Permanently]

[Cost: Nil]

[Three contracts available, 1/3]

[Once all three contracts are used, this skill automatically disappears]

Contract 1: Tennis Ball [Level 2, EXP 115.26/150] [Cost: 10 Mana]

[A blessed bouncy ball, used to play tennis, can now level up]

[Bonus Effects: Nothing]

Items.

Low Grade Water Dragon Lizard Full-Set Armour (64/75 Durability)

Low Grade Water Dragon Lizard Bag (75/75 Durability)

Low Grade Lizard Bone Dagger (51/60 Durability)

+ 1 Goblin’s Insanity Potion

+ 1 Low Mana Potion

Ball Boy Uniform

Homemade Socks (Made by Maggie}