Sundorn city, within the family crypts below the Sundorn estate, just after midday. Inside, one of the many rooms it held, there was a sturdy with a large wooden desk covered in books, scrolls, and sheets of paper neatly stacked on top. Behind it sat a stately man wearing elegant robes of golden yellow with silver trim. A long, beautifully colored quill worked at a ledger before him. A thin, rat-faced man was on his knees in front of the desk, head bowed low. A tattoo marked a "one" on the back of his dirty hand. Dextum would recognize him as Obenn. The man behind the table was the young master. Xavier Sundorn. Xavier was young and would rather drink and chase women than get stronger. Xavier is also in charge of the family finances now, and after starting up the new venture of using slaves to clear the dungeons. He was seeing large profits entering the family treasury after skimming a little off the top for himself, of course. "I see. So the troll was in the dungeon. It's a shame we lost the other slaves, but I'll just send the guards to the slums to gather up more." "I'm sorry, master Sundorn. There was nothing I could do. Please forgive me." The man not once looked at Obenn, just kept writing in the ledger. Annoyed that he was now down here in the musty crypt, hearing the sounds of all the slaves down the hall whimper and cry. "It's fine. They were all markless anyway, easily replaced. Some of them, if I recall, had a lot of experience. Which is the biggest loss," Xavier said, sighing. Sitting down his quill, he looked at the pitiful slave. The only thing of value from this piece of shit was the mark on his hand in Xavier's eyes. They had invested into him. A couple of valuable gems, and even a set of armor to keep him from easily dying. "You're free to go," Xavier said with a dismissive gesture, before going back to his ledger. Obenn got up and backed out of the room. Head still bowed as he left. "Thank you, master." Once Obenn left the room, he began walking back towards his quarters. Remembering he was a chosen one. It made him more valuable to the young master. He was even free to leave the estate if he wished. They gave him special privileges that the other slaves didn't have. The slave mark on his chest kept him from disobeying any of the Sundorn family or their guard, killing him with a word if they wished. "In a few days, the guard would bring a new batch of slaves for me to train," he thought, walking down the stone corridor. Passing a house slave who was sweeping the crypts. Seeing the wooden handle of the broom reminded him of his spear. Remembering the dungeon and thrusting his spear through that stupid slave's back, a small smile cross his rat-like face. Obenn hated how insolent the boy was. True, he was strong in body, but also strong in will. It had taken Obenn almost a week to break the boy with lashings and starvation before he stopped struggling. The slave mark allowed him to control them, but the boy always fought it, sometimes resulting in damaging himself or passing out. "Now the boy was dead, food for the troll. Good riddance," he thought. Before closing the door to his private quarters, he looked towards the slave pens. “Maybe I’ll treat himself tonight,” he said licking his lips. Sundorn City, near the eastern wall. Dex made his way out of the nook he found himself in. Stepping on the stones that made up the street. It was completely dead now. No traffic or people were out this late, it seemed. Not like back on earth, where everyone seemed to be awake at all hours of the day. Only hours ago it was full of people going about their day, most in a hurry, it seemed. Vaguely remembering, he almost got run over by a carriage. Dex now knew the city, which was owned by the same people who had slaved Dextrum before Dex took over his body, gaining his memories. Dextrum, and now Dex hated the Sundorns. The Sundorn family, the city of Sundorn. Sundorn was their power base in the middle of their barony and the largest city they controlled. Two dungeons were within it. The dungeons brought adventures and guilds to use them, to train or level up. The first dungeon was a simple level zero that was controlled by the church of the six. The other dungeon was a level one that was held within the city square of the city. The same dungeon that Dex woke up inside of. The same one he was standing in front of now. Holding the spear, he looked at the mouth of the dungeon. No one was in the square. All the windows closed, and doors bared. He could only see a few lights inside the houses around the square. The square was gently lit by lamp posts with soft glowing alchemical light of some sort. The mouth of the cave was more like an opening into the earth surrounded by what looked like a miniature castle tower surrounding it, capped with a wide conical roof of overlapping wooden tiles. Steeling his nerve, he walked into the dungeon. After a few dozen steps, the moss on the ceiling allowed Dex to see around him. He lowered the spear and slowly inched forward. Hearing his rapid pulse in his ears seemed extraordinarily loud suddenly. Gulping and feeling sweat forming on his palms as he kept creeping forward. Something in the dim light slowly appeared. It was crawling towards him. It was a spider on long, spindly legs. It was the size of a small dog. It moved within a couple of feet and jumped straight at him. Dex tried to stab it mid-flight, but it proved to be a terrible choice, cause he completely missed it. Wishing he played baseball or really any sport in high school now. The spider landed on him, and a pair of large fangs bit into his shoulder. Hot pain flooded into his chest before he dropped to a knee. He tried to scream, but no sound came out. The spider jumped back before going for another attack. Dex leveled the spear with the spider. He tried stabbing it again; he came closer this time, only grazing it. The spider retreated, climbing the side of the wall. Its beady eyes gleamed in the tunnel's light. Using the spear like a baseball bat, he swung and slammed the head and shaft of the spear into it, crushing it against the wall. Dark green liquid seeped out of the broken body. Looking at his shoulder, examining the wound, the puncture marks from the fangs had already started healing. Clear liquid was being forced out of the wound as it slowly healed. He took another step but felt dizzy, and his arm felt numb. Taking a minute, he felt better. Looking back at the wound, it was now fully healed, and the numbness went away. He found more spiders along the tunnel and batted them away, stabbing the spiders was not working. Seeing the path open up, he was in the same cave he fought the troll in. In the center now held a different spider, much bigger than the ones he had already dealt with, but this one was less hairy and far sleeker, with longer legs. Approaching slowly, having already been ambushed and ganged up on in the narrow tunnel. Dex finally had the drop on one now. It was facing away from him, laying on the ground surrounded by webs. Dex readied his spear. It still felt like a pointy stick in his hand and not a weapon. He was nearly there, inching forward on one careful foot until he brushed against one of the many strands of thread that made up the web. The giant spider turned on Dex. Its eight-marble-sized eyes took in the intruder. The spider's body reached up towards his chest. It skittered fast, faster than Dex had expected. Before he knew it, one of the long spindly legs pierced his thigh, going clean through. Dropping the spear and letting out a pained scream. Blocking the spider with his forearm as it continued his lounge. The spider then bit his arm, which instantly began to go numb. It continued and bowed him over, falling on his back with the spider over him. Trying to reach for the spear, the spider began to release silk at his feet. Being pulled along the ground as it crawled towards the wall, dragging him. Freaking out. The spear brushed against the tips of his fingers. Dex could no longer move or scream but watch as the spear left his reach, but his fingers were numb. Then he remembered. Remembered he was in another world, one with magic and gods. He looked at the shadows and darkness around him and tried to activate the only skill he had. The one from the magical gem in his hand, shadow spike. But nothing happened. He couldn't shout its name like they did in anime, or in the movies to activate it. He recalled the fight with the troll and how the shadow formed out of the pool below it before plunging its spear into its chest. Then smaller ones began erupting out of the shadow to kill the troll. Imagining one of the same spikes piercing through the silk and freeing him. The feeling of exhaustion hit him suddenly as a thin black spike came out of the shadow that was created by the silk pierced through the fragile thread. The thread snapped, and he was no longer being dragged. The spider, already halfway up the wall, stopped and turned. It sprang towards his prone form, with venom-coated fangs bared. Watching the enormous spider flying towards him. We watched as if in slow motion. The shadow below it grew little by little. A guttural scream ripped out of his throat from the prone position on the floor. "Shadow spike." Hoping that it would help him, but not knowing how exactly. But it worked. He pictured a spike piercing the spider mid-flight and hoped and prayed it would work. A long tendril of black shadow took form, elongating and sharpening into a long and narrow spike. Feeling energy drained out of him as he did, his eyelids felt heavy from exhaustion. But he opened his eyes and looked. He observed the still moving spider skewered on over a foot of solid black spike as it flailed on it. He coughed and smiled before falling into a world of darkness again. Waking up sometime later. Dexter found the gigantic spider. What he would call a boss in a game was laying dead, only a foot away from his dirty bare feet. Getting up and moving was a good feeling after being paralyzed. Only mild soreness in his back and neck. He guessed from laying on the ground for so long. Shuffling over, and inspected the dead spider. Another orb was laying next to it. This one wasn't round but looked similar to a prism with eight equal sides. A gem of power. It was a sickly yellow. Putting it in his pocket in the worn trousers he wore. Retrieving the spear, he made his way back towards the surface. Turning around to look at the entrance, noticing now a rune was above the door. It was gray, and he swore it was glowing blue before he had entered. They built the square around the dungeon. The tunnel came out into a stone arch over the entrance. A small canopy of wood kept the priest shaded and dry throughout the day. The dungeon didn't really look important, but more like a tunnel into a cellar or mine in the middle of a bustling city. But it was the primary reason people traveled to Sundorn. I could see a few people walking, but it was far from busy. Dex sat under the canopy and rested. He noticed that after thirty or so minutes; the rune became blue again. Curious, he entered the dungeon again. After a few minutes, he encountered another spider. He cleared the dungeon faster this time, getting the hang of the spider's movements and finding their hiding spots along the tunnel. Dex Killed the giant spider boss instantly by unleashing multiple shadow spikes, willing up multiple spikes at once before it even had time to move from its place in the center of the cave. Feeling faint, but not pass out this time. He didn't find any gem this time, only green ichor. Leaving the dungeon, he sat again and waited a few minutes before going back in. The corpses he killed remained where he left them. He figured the rune must be associated with the respawn rate of the dungeon. A way to tell others if the dungeon is ready for another group of adventurers. Though finding nothing in the dungeon was disheartening. Dex continued to go into the dungeon whenever the rune refilled. Killing the spiders that always showed up. Not once did he find the troll again. After killing the spider, he returned to the surface. The orange morning light greeted him on a new day as he exited. Dex exited the dungeon and the same priest as before. A young man in white robes was standing under the canopy. He looked at me as I exited, but didn't seem to care. He opened his hand like a valet or bellman does as I exited. Frowning, I place the only thing of value I had on me. A sickly yellow gem fell into his palm. He stared at it with wide eyes. Dex tried to pass, but he coughed. "Sir, this...this is too much. It's only 10 coppers per person to run the dungeon. This...this is many times that," he said, looking at Dex. He was holding out the gem for him to take back. Dex knew the gems were worth a lot but didn't know exactly how much, but he didn't have any other currency. He used the coppers he had twenty minutes earlier to buy a loaf of bread from a stall that was being set up close by. Dex had six of those and two unknown support gems in his pocket. Five of them now, after giving one away. "Don't worry about it, just think of it as future payment. I plan on coming back. I'm Dex, by the way," he said, putting his hand out to shake. The priest looked at him questionably, then thought Dex might have been a little bonkers. "I'm Michel. I'll do just that, future payment," he said before pocketing the gem, but not before placing it in a leather pouch first. Lowering his hand, "Not much of in the way of handshakes here," he thought. "Nice to meet you. Do you, by chance, know of an inn or someone who will trade with me?" Dexter asked. He no longer had the spear which broke two dungeon runs ago. He had completed the last couple with only using shadow spike and pacing himself along the way. Michel took a second before speaking. "To the north of here down that street," he said, pointing, "There is an inn, "The lucky stein" just tell them Michel vouches for you and they'll set you up with a room. Ask for clean linen or you'll get unwashed ones, I'm sure. For someone to sell too," he thought a little longer. While he was thinking, a group walked over and got in a line behind them. Michel could see the line forming. "Go across the street here," he said pointing towards a two-story mortar and wood building with a sign above the door that said "Mord's things," "and the old man inside will buy whatever you have if he tries and shoos you out, just tell him I sent you. And if he says anything else, tell him I'll send over mum. I gotta help the others now. I'll see you around, Dex." he said and gestured for the person in line to step up. Seeing the man hand over two dull copper pieces with square holes in the center of them. Waving farewell, he made his way across the square, which was beginning to get busy with traffic. In the distance, a tall brick tower could be seen billowing out black smoke, creating a haze just above the rooftops of the market. Entering the store by way of a set of wooden stairs, which creaked with each step. Inside was crammed full of everything one could imagine, and it all looked like junk to the untrained eye, especially Dexters. Only a foot from the door was a massive shelf full of items. All caked in a layer of dust and cobwebs. There were more and more shelves of different widths and heights, but they all had one thing in common. They were full. Everything from small trinkets to bobbles and whathaveyous. An almost full set of heavy plate armor completely blocked off one path through the many shelves towards the back of the store. Another was forced closed by a stack of wooden crates. He found a way between a pair of shelves that left little room to pass. It forced Dex to go down an aisle, sucking in his already thin waist as to not be skewered by a dagger that was tucked between two plain-looking lamps that were missing their chimneys. Nothing stood out to him, but he scanned all the shelves that he passed anyway. Making it to the back of the store, through the path between the narrow shelves. The back of the store held a long, well-polished wooden counter. A couple of feet around the counter looked immaculate. "What do you want?" came a gravelly voice from behind the counter. Dex looked but couldn't see anyone. "I came to sell." "You don't have anything I want, get." came the voice again. It sounded like it was coming from his right. "Michel said you would buy from me," Dex said, reaching into his pocket. He grabbed one of each gem he found. From Dexter's left came the voice again, "Did he now, what's my kid have to do with your junk, don't you see I already have enough of it?" Dex placed the gems on the counter without revealing them. "Well, you do seem to have quite a bit of stuff, but would this interest you at all?" lifting his hand away from the counter revealing the gems. Hearing the floor creak before out of a shimmer revealing a tall, broad-shouldered man wearing a tan vest and dark brown pants. He had a long black beard streaked with gray with matching bushy eyebrows. His head had been shaved, with short stubble showing. Squinting at me, "I would be interested in these, but know these are quite common, and I won't give you a shilling more than they're worth, you hear mean?" Dex picked them up before setting them back down. "Got it. What are these worth?" "I'm Dex, by the way." The shopkeeper picked up the gem of power and examined it. "Mord. First, do you know what they are, telling by the sight of you and being a zero and all, they might be worth more to keep than to sell." "The gem of power, I think. It has something to do with poison or venom. The other, no idea. If you wouldn't mind filling me in on them." Looking at me, he shrugged. "You're right, this is a Venom-based one, but it's a basic gem with a chance of becoming better if it evolved. It allows you to coat a weapon in a paralyzing venom. It's one of the leased bought gems I sell but I mark them low, so I buy them lower. This though," he said, picking up the support gem. "This is rarer. It allows for you to increase your field of view. I heard it's disorienting at first, but it can save you in a pinch. They sell well to the guild and other entities for good coin." "So, how much?" Dex asked again. Mord looked at him. "Kids these days, no patience." Sitting down the support gem. "I can give you a flat silver for the venom one, and eight for the support." Dex got disappointed. "So little," he said under his breath. Frowning, Mord looked at Dex. "I sell the venom ones for two silver and that is a whole silver cheaper than anyone else in town, but they sell. So I'll always take them. The support gem is worth ten, so, a two silver profit for me for every one I sell, so it's fair, and remember a silver could feed a family for an entire month. So making almost ten silver in a few days of dungeon farming is worth it even if you have to split it with your party." he shrugged. Nodding, Dex looked at Mord. "Sorry, would you by chance want more than these two? I have more." "If you got more, I'll take more. As I said, they always sell. How many do you have?" Dex reached into his pocket. Placing the other four venom gems and the other support gems onto the counter. Mord looked at the haul and was astonished. This was almost an entire week's worth of gems he would see. Few "Marked" would venture into his shop. Mord mainly dealt with only a few clients buying hard-to-find items for them. The front of the shop was to deter the rift raft from bugging him. He mainly bought and sold items in bulk and, in turn, made contracts with various guilds and nobles to keep them outfitted. Dex looked at Mord, who now seemed lost in thought. "Would you be willing to trade as well? I'm kinda new in town and don't have much, even broke my weapon in my last dungeon," Dex said with a little lie. Mord snapped out of it and looked at Dex. The boy was no older than 16 and his clothes were covered in dust, blood, and everything else under the suns. Besides the few scars he had, he looked healthy. Noticing the scar around his neck, which showed he was once a slave. Which was rare for being so young. Feeling a little pity for the boy. Who was only a little younger than his own son Michel. Who was right outside. A promising young acolyte of the church of six. Coming to a decision, one he didn't make lightly. "I can help you with any purchases you need to make. If I don't have it, I'll find it. If I can't find it, it probably doesn't exist." Dexter was feeling excited now, looking down at his clothes that were now more hole than clothes. "Fresh clothes, maybe some armor, and a weapon. Oh, and do you have any other support gems by chance?" "Aye, I do. Follow me," Mord made a small gesture and a door suddenly appeared out of nowhere.