Saying a quick prayer after listening to their story, Sonja’s ears stood at full attention.

“Thank Moronke you didn’t die Ezra.”

“More like he was extremely lucky even by your standards Sonja. They just happened to come across a decent group of adventurers, with a priest capable of healing them on the first floor.”

Ezra and Claire learned over the remainder of the day that Sonja and Saber’s personalities were polar opposites.

Sonja was a cheerful, optimistic young lady.

Saber was a snarky, pessimistic young man.

The story of how the three of them met and became friends would be left for another day, as the party of five walked up the grand staircase towards the Continental Dungeon. Ilyana, Saber, and Sonja walked with a swagger unapparent amongst the siblings.

Graduates are required to have completed one dungeon run, usually an easy task for them as they go through a stringent set of survival skill and combat related courses. The further one delves in the dungeon, the larger the size and difficulty of the floors requiring a variety of skillsets such as camping techniques, foraging and gathering, etc.

Right now however the group would be tackling the first floor again, where they wouldn’t have to worry about any of that. Ezra and Claire wore the same equipment as last time, while Ilyana and Saber were both equipped in leather armor. They wielded a short bow and pair of daggers respectively, while Sonja wore a white cloth robe and a quarterstaff designed for her short frame.

All of their equipment was intricately designed, which Ezra attributed to the Academy properly equipping their students. Ilyana recommended Claire get more suitable armor in the future, while suggesting Ezra switch to gauntlets or claws to protect his hands.

Ezra was honestly considering it, but snapped out of his thoughts as they were getting closer to the entrance. Although he was hesitating, due to the memory of his previous brush with death, resolve soon overcame him as he stepped forth following his party. Besides he also didn’t want to hold up the rest of the adventurers behind him, who seemed to be threatening Ezra with their eyes to stop wasting their time.

After a brief moment of feeling and seeing nothing, a plains full of dainty flowers came into view. The disparity between the terrain full of life and the barren walls of rock jarred him a bit, while the rest of the group were waiting in the provided spawn room for him.

Ilyana lightly chided him, trying to fix any bad habits out of the siblings since they wanted to take this seriously. They still had much to learn, but were better than most of the prospects from the gathering.

“Even though we’re in a party together, try not to wait and then enter. It can be seen as a waste of time to other adventurers, while in the lower floors the Dungeon may randomize your starting location.”

Party Information General Information Class Information (Leader) Ilyana Heiwynn Level I Fighter Saber Rhodes Level I Fighter Sonja Preswarin Level I Initiate Claire Wilmont Level I Fighter Ezra Wilmont Level I Mystic

A convenient screen allowing a user to see the status of their party at a glance. This was another tab that Ezra and Claire had to unlock to see, its only purpose was for forming and maintain parties when traversing through dimensional portals.

Ilyana pulled out a bronze compass, having already informed Ezra and Claire not to worry about being lost after hearing their story. The magic compass would automatically track the spawn room, and would fix its needle automatically in the appropriate direction every room.

She then pulled out a six sided die, and they all picked a number to see who would choose which direction to go in. Saber won and motioned to the northern entrance, and the group quickly got in formation.

Saber led serving as their scout, followed by Claire and Ezra as the vanguards, while Ilyana and Sonja were in the back as support. Ilyana would have originally swapped her and Ezra’s positions, realizing his abilities were nothing compared to an Adept.

The tunnel wasn’t wide enough to fit more than one person side to side, and the grassy floor slowly transformed into stone brick giving it a mossy appearance.

The next room they entered was a large ruin, the former location of a temple, with an artificial sun hanging above them through the cracks in the roof. Rows of broken down stone chairs covered with vines were surrounded by a broken down carpet littered with bite marks in the aisle. Up on the platform was a lone shoddy lectern, placed in front of a devastated mural.

Ezra and Claire stared at every possibly identifiable object in the room, in hopes of gaining the [Observe] skill like the rest of their party. They were interrupted by the sounds of something forcing its way through a tight hole.

Coming out of various holes placed in sections of the room was the source of the moss and vines, a group of lichens who left a trail of moss and vines wherever they were able to drag their bodies. A green squishy blob the height of a child, its only attack was sticking its body on someone slow movement but besides that it was harmless. There were ten of them followed by a group of large rats of similar number, working together to preserve their little ecosystem.

Saber quickly moved behind one of the pillars, drawing his twin daggers as he circled around to catch one of the monsters from behind. An arrow whipped by Ezra’s head accurately stabbing itself in one of the large rats, as the siblings charged forward to meet the advancing monsters.

Wordlessly agreeing on their targets, Claire focused on the lichens while Ezra held back the rats.

The large vermin were at the height of his ankle, their beady black eyes switching between which human would make the finer meal. Exceptionally sharp yellow teeth warned Ezra what would happen if he were careless.

He met their charge kicking rats away left and right yet they still swarmed him. A few managed to bite at his ankles and legs, although his armor took the brunt of the damage leaving small lacerations on his body. At this point Ezra tried grabbing and throwing one of the vermin away, yet was nearly bitten in the process forcing him to go back to kicking.

Saber appeared out of nowhere, slamming his daggers into the unsuspecting bodies of the rats. Their squeals resounded through the room, leaving Ezra with only four of the monsters as half of them ran to surround Saber’s body.

Although they did little damage to his body, they quickly drained his stamina. He couldn’t afford to falter as he had to hold the line with Saber and Claire, and as these thoughts jumbled through his mind a warm feeling coursed through his body.

His body was glowing with a soft golden light, and with it came a surge of energy. For a moment Ezra looked back and watched, as Sonja spoke in hush whispers as she evoked the power of her goddess. He turned his attention back to the fight, kicking another rat with enough force to launch it head first at one of the broken down pillars. As he watched the rat slide down with a sickening crunch, a shout brought his attention back to the battle.

“Stop losing focus every five seconds before a rat slips by you!”

It came just in time as another rat was closing in for another bite. Ezra kicked it away with a thud, yet it got back up and charged at him all the same. They primarily used hit and run tactics in an attempt to catch him off balance, occasionally avoiding his feet to land bite marks on his other leg as they retreated.

One of the rat sidestepped deftly avoiding the kick, preparing to navigate towards his other leg until a foot slammed down on its neck. It couldn’t manage any squeals, as it lay there helplessly staring up at the giant creature while it used the same trick on the rest of his brothers and sisters.

The other vermin didn’t seem to learn from their brethren’s mistake, as Ezra pummeled and smashed the necks of the remaining rats. As he reveled in the glory of winning his battle, he realized they were only some larger rats nothing to feel accomplished about. The dinging of notifications came to his attention, and after making sure everyone was finished with their battles he willed the blue screens to his attention.

You killed a Large Rat. You killed a Large Rat. You killed a Large Rat. You killed a Large Rat.

General Information

Attributes

Class

Name

Value

Name

Rank

Progress

Name

Ezra Wilmont

Strength

11

Mystic

I 4%

Race

Human (Amazon)

Physique

11

Age

19

Agility

10

Sex

Male

Perception

12

Guild

Glory Brigade

Spirit

15

A little disappointed that all that he spent so much effort on a rat for it to only award 1%, but it was better than nothing. He turned his attention to the rest of his party, curious of what he should be doing after a battle.

Claire was wiping small blobs of lichen goo off her blade, the same low glow wrapped around her figure. The origin of the restoration, Sonja, used her staff as a crutch while she wiped beads of sweat from her brow. Even her rabbit Calling Moronke to replenish their stamina with [Minor Restore] would tax her body, a seemingly minor effect that can accumulate into a more drastic response the more she casts it.

Ilyana looked for any usable arrows amongst the bodies of the dead rats. She cleaned off the usable ones before placing them back into her quiver.

Saber on the other hand was shifting corpses around as if he were looking for something. He was meticulous in his work, not caring for hygiene and after watching him for a while Saber replied to Ezra’s unspoken question.

“I’m searching for loot, why don’t you help me out by shifting over some of those rat bodies.”

Although he internally cringed having to touch a dirty rodent with his bare hands, Ezra chided himself remembering the prior agreement they made before joining them.

It stunk like a mix of whatever nasty shit rats typically do, its furry body still warm to the touch as he shifted it slightly looking for “loot”.

After finding nothing of value and feeling like he wasted his time, Ezra joined the others in a group huddle planning their next course of action.

“That was a nice first fight guys, Saber and Ezra good work on taking care of those rats.”

Saber gave a nonchalant shrug in response, while Ezra’s chest puffed up a bit in pride at the unexpected compliment.

“Claire you did an excellent job holding back the lichens until Saber arrived to help.”

She visibly straightened her back, a radiant smile blossoming on her face.

“Excellent recovery as usual Sonja but don’t stress yourself too much.”

Overall it was a resounding success, no causalities or debilitating injuries, however a search of the ruins revealed no loot either.

There were passages to other rooms on the northern, eastern, and western sections of the former church’s walls. Since Saber won the previous dice roll, he chose the northern entrance once again.

While they were walking through the stone tunnel, Ilyana brought him to the side to speak with him.

“You saw yourself how difficult it would be to fight those rats with your hands right? If you had gauntlets you could’ve smashed them to a pulp, while claws would’ve sliced them right up…you get the point though.”

Ezra did get what she was trying to say, and this battle was another example of his inefficacy with unarmed combat. Maybe some claws wouldn’t be so bad? It was a weapon he could integrate his previous training with, and people with claws looked considerably more intimidating than those without them.

He brought his attention back to the front, as Saber motioned for them both to stay quiet for the upcoming room. Ezra put getting a set of weapons in the back of his mind, as the reason became readily apparent, as they walked into the room of a kobold nest.

Bipedal monsters with angular shaped heads and blue scaled bodies providing more defense than most monsters on the first floor. Being the size of children with scrawny bodies lures newbie adventurers into a false sense of security kobolds gladly take advantage of.

They were taking residence in a room styled much like the last one, except there wasn’t any moss or vines covering the area instead the cracks of the aged stone were laid bare for everyone to see. They were fifteen of the creatures who all waited with weapons like short swords and clubs equipped, as if expecting prey to arrive soon.

Horns jutted from their foreheads in varying shapes and sizes, while serpentine tongues flicked about occasionally as if they were tasting the air itself. Their only clothing was a convenient loincloth, except the kobold who stood near an altar in the front of the room.

He was bigger than the other kobolds, around the height of Sonja with darker blue skin and a leather vest. His eyes radiated intelligence, and as soon as Saber spotted this creature, he moved the party to the nearest pillar as soon as possible.

Saber hissed in a whisper, frustration evident on his face.

“That’s a Kobold Shaman! They already know we’re here so we’ll have to fight it.”

“Can’t we just escape? We might be able to run away before h-” Seeing the exit right behind them, Sonja suggested leaving immediately.

“No chance, we need to act while we have the power of surprise.”

Sensing a pause in the middle of their argument, Claire asked both her and Ezra’s question.

“What’s a Kobold Shaman?”

Just as Sonja was about to answer her question, Saber made a hand gesture signaling silence as the kobolds without any forewarning starting searching the room. It was only a matter of time until they found them, and a hardened expression emerged on all of their faces.

This was a true fight to the death, and neither party had plans of dying.