New Skill has been unlocked!

You have gained [Flexibility]!

[Pain Tolerance] has ranked up!

Rank I → Rank II

Physique has increased by 1! You killed a Kobold. You killed a Kobold.

New Skill has been unlocked!

You have gained [Blunt Proficiency]!

[Soul Bolt] has ranked up!

Rank I → Rank II

New Skill has been unlocked!

You have gained [Spiritual Tolerance]!

Achievement Unlocked!

Slay an Elite ranked monster without ranking up!

Reward – 1x Level I Skill Token

Achievement Tab unlocked! System Shop Tab unlocked!

Ezra stopped for a moment to check his ruined armor, but gave up after his instincts told him it was a waste of effort. He somehow knew he had the token on him, just not physically in his hands. He continued dragging the shaman corpse, proving to be a struggle as he was already tired from the previous fight.

After entering another empty room where the group would rest as Ilyana used the compass, Ezra checked out his updated status.

General Information

Attributes

Class

Name

Value

Name

Rank

Progress

Name

Ezra Wilmont

Strength

11

Mystic

I

18%

Race

Human (Amazon)

Physique

12

Age

19

Agility

10

Sex

Male

Perception

12

Guild

Glory Brigade

Spirit

15

Did kobolds offer more experience than goblins, or was this the result of killing an “Elite” level monster? Gaining more questions than answers, he transitioned towards his new skills.

Flexibility - The ability of your body to bend without straining or breaking. Increased ranks result in better flexibility. Level I Rank I Blunt Proficiency - One’s ability fighting with blunt weapons. Increased ranks result in better application, combination strikes, counters, and other techniques. Level I Rank I Spiritual Tolerance - The ability of your soul to tolerate and withstand spiritual pain. Increased ranks increase tolerance. Level I Rank I

Connecting the dots of how he gained [Spiritual Tolerance], Ezra shuddered as he reimagined the nauseating feelings caused from [Soul Bolt]. It’s not like he could ignore the skill, as it clearly saved their lives. Being out of commission like that however, was intolerable and may cost him his life, so Ezra resolved himself to use the skill more often as long as there was minimal risk.

The next screen he looked at was the list of his achievements.

Achievements Rewards 1. Slay an Elite ranked monster without ranking up! Reward - 1x Level I Skill Token

Pretty self-explanatory doing what its name implied, and Ezra planned on finding out about any easy achievements with useful rewards. Since his notifications seemed to be in chronological order, the token was probably related to the system shop.

Ezra pulled that screen up and after glancing at it for a second, he dismissed the system shop from his view. It was obnoxiously big, offering tons of skills which were the reason why it took up the majority of his view.

Every skill was separated in categories relating to classes, as Ezra saw General, Fighter, Adept, Initiate, and Mystic skills available. Although he only looked at the General skills, they all seemed to cost either SP or a skill token. There were tons of pages available, and before he could delve deeper Ezra was interrupted by everyone else getting ready to move again.

The party went through another corridor revealing another room, a mix of limestone and andesite covering the walls and floors. Although it reminded Ezra of a cavern, it was far too smooth and polished to be natural. On the opposite side of them was a set of stone stairs naturally built into the wall, leading to safety, baths, and some good food.

Tired smiles appeared on everyone’s faces, after a fierce struggle they all managed to survive to see another day. They made their way to the stairway, as Saber helped Ezra carry the corpse up so the body wouldn’t be damaged more than necessary.

As he looked up the stairs, Ezra was met with darkness that seemed to absorb any source of light. Ilyana, and Claire walked up unfazed and appeared to be consumed by it, although Ezra knew in reality it was harmless and just another teleportation mechanic.

Step by step they made their way towards the darkness, Saber maintained his professional silence although there was a slight glare in his eyes whenever he stared at Ezra. All sense of direction felt lost inside the darkness, yet oddly enough Ezra knew he was still moving forward.

After an innumerable amount of time they both felt a shift in their surroundings, as a source of light illuminated the rest of the stairs up. A smile plastered on Ezra’s face, as he felt the fresh air brushing past the holes in his armor and onto his bare skin.

An urge to yell and express his feelings in a myriad of different ways overcame him, however someone beat him to the punch roaring with a mix of hatred and agony.

“IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT YOU BASTARD!”

Two groups of adventurers faced off at the plaza below, other adventurers passing by and vendors stationed throughout the area ignored them as if it were a common occurrence. A human lady was being held back by members of her party, as she lunged at an old man and the rest of his party.

She was an attractive woman, with dark brown skin and black hair straightened into a ponytail. She seemed to nearly froth at the mouth in anger, as her amber eyes glared intensely at the man. Equipped in a skimpy set of iron armor that only covered her chest, feet, and pelvic area, she smashed her iron gauntlets together in a demonstration of what would come should her friends let go.

The elder showed an expression of sorrow and disappointment at her outburst. Long grey hair flowed from beneath his red pointy wizard hat to his shoulders. Wrinkly white skin littered with freckles, and a beard that matched the length of his hair. With a matching set of fiery red and orange robes he was the stereotypical image of a wizard, as he flaunted his elemental mastery of fire with his outfit.

The brawler’s party tried to calm her down, the majority of the dialogue unheard as they were too far to hear. One of the people holding her back, a white swordsman judging by his gear, whispered something in her ear and she deflated with a look of reluctance.

With one final glare, the feisty woman left followed by her party in the other direction. The wizard walked away while laughing with his group of adventurers.

Sonja shook her head while staring at the old man, a neutral expression on her face.

“I feel bad for the lady down there, it seems like that old man plotted against her and her cohorts.”

Although he didn’t know the full story, Ezra burned the image of the old conman and intense lady into his mind.

They resumed walking down the steps, people passing by took glances at the corpse Saber and Ezra carried down the stairs. As they finally arrived at the bottom, Ezra realized he was too star-struck by the tower to have noticed the mini-market in the plaza.

There were no world shaking artifacts, or magical potions that could possibly save your life, just normal people at their various stalls offering cheap food or trying to catch someone’s attention with their shoddy craftsmanship.

People advertising their services here were too poor to afford a license in the commercial district. The city didn’t restrict anyone from making business near the dungeon tower however.

Although the dungeon tower was a beautiful work of art by itself, Ezra couldn’t help but stop to appreciate the diversity and work ethic of the people here. It only lasted a moment though, as a bright eyed boy in plain clothes ran up to them.

“’Cuse me sirs and misses, my brother can help take that body ye lugging to wherever ye plan on selling it for only a few copper credits.”

He motioned towards a decrepit corner where a teenager stood ignored by the masses. He seemed around 15, his body showing signs of muscle development from hours of manual labor. After glancing at the siblings and thinking for a moment, Saber paid the boy ten copper credits bringing a giant smile to the boy’s face.

Nodding obediently, the child ran back to fetch his older sibling while Ezra relaxed knowing he wouldn’t have to drag the body anymore. Claire approached her brother with an expression of melancholy, similar sights of other children hustling for their struggling families in order to bring back a tiny bit more money around them.

Some of them weren’t as well-fed, clothed, or bathed as the boy that approached them. The majority of these children suffered from one or more of these problems. It shocked Claire how Ilyana and Saber didn’t even bat an eyelash treating it like a casual display.

"How hard is it to live in this city, that children are forced to do odd jobs for a few copper credits…Some of them clearly don’t even have the strength to walk!”

“I don’t know what to tell you Claire. It probably costs a lot just to keep this city running, so families have to rely on everybody to help pay their taxes.”

“There’s nothing we can do to truly help them can we?”

“Not unless you want their whole family to become dependent on us, then we’ll both end up just like those kids barely surviving. The only difference is we’d have to risk our lives everyday just to make ends meet. We only brought ten silver credits, not even enough to sustain us at that inn for a few weeks let alone a whole family.”

Back in Rockhollow, everyone was friendly and respectful to one another, even willing to help their fellow neighbor in times of need. The existence of the dungeon served as a platform to allow people’s greed to overshadow any sense of morality.

Everything was just so different compared to back home. Maybe if they had more money, or were more successful, helping them wouldn’t be outside their capabilities.

Ezra and Claire went silent lost in their own thoughts, as the siblings returned with a wooden cart. They both had Asian features, with light brown hair and eyes, making one believe they’d be twins if there wasn’t such a large age gap. They both got to work quickly moving the body into the cart.

The older sibling never spoke a word, only responding with grunts that were hard to define between satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Seeing as getting him to talk would be difficult, Claire made conversation with the younger brother.

The elder brother was named Wang Zhihao, and the younger was called Wang Cai. The child’s giggles reduced the invisible tension in the group, as everyone seemed a little bit happier. Even Ilyana went up to chat with the boy, who was just happy to have become friends with some brave adventurers.

Positioning himself in front of the cart, Wang Zhihao dragged the cart by its handles. Wang Cai followed the cart from behind, making sure the corpse didn’t shift and fall onto the ground.

It was important someone watched from behind, as moving between districts required walking up and down large steep ramps. The design was annoying for people simply going about their day, but was a necessary choke point in case another dungeon outbreak were to occur.

“We know of a decent butcher, if ye didn’t already have plans…and a leatherworker for ye armor too.”

Ilyana motioned for them to lead the way, as Ezra moved Sonja off Claire’s tired back and onto his. She had been carrying the beastfolk and her staff for around half an hour, her new strength surprising Ezra as he was used to being the strongman.

Sonja’s body was soft like melting butter and seemed to wrap around his body, and for a moment Ezra relished in the sensation before coming to his senses. Ezra didn’t want his sister or Ilyana to think he was some pervert, so he shook his head around in an attempt to purge himself of his impure thoughts.

It didn’t help that Sonja’s grey ears flopped onto his shoulders, the tips shaking with his every step in his peripheral. They looked so soft and fluffy…a light slap on his cheeks and Ezra refocused on the path ahead.

It took around ten minutes to cross the first ramp, his speed decreasing with each ramp they were forced to cross. He was only slightly stronger than the average human, and despite Sonja’s small frame the up climb battle was proving difficult.

Thankfully they finally made it back to the 4th district, the largest one of them all. From forges billowing heat and bashing molten metal, shops packed with adventurers trying to grab a potent salve or potion, the Dungeon City’s commercial district was its largest attraction, besides the Continental Dungeon.

Due to its location, the quality and quantity of goods surpassed any other city. In fact, people would frequent shops looking for overlooked magic artifacts. Passing by various alchemy shops advertising their wares, Ezra chided himself for his previous unpreparedness the first time they entered.

Exotic smells found their way into everyone’s nostrils, restaurants enticing crowds into their shops with the smell of their food alone. Some of them higher end restaurants used ingredients found directly from the dungeon, making their food ridiculously expensive and delicious.

After distracting themselves within the sights of various establishments, they finally arrived at the butchery. Ilyana and Saber went inside to negotiate followed by the siblings and the corpse, while Ezra and Claire waited outside nearby.

Having placed Sonja against a random bench nearby, Ezra stretched his body before sitting down on the edge of the bench. Claire stood at his side, as they both settled into a comfortable silence watching people pass by.

“How long do you think she’ll be asleep for?”

“I don’t know she seems to be in a deep sleep.”

As Claire finally joined Ezra on the bench, he wrestled with indecision before speaking.

“Are you mad at me for how I reacted down there?”

“I wouldn’t say mad, but more so disappointed in how you acted…I get that you’re worried about my well-being but Ilyana, Sonja, and Saber are all living, breathing people.”

“You of all people, with what you’ve experience, planned to leave someone to die? Father taught you better than that Ezra.”

With a disappointed sigh, Claire got up and head into the butchery leaving Ezra to reflect on her words. Sure he could have stood tall like Claire, and risked life and limb for them while forging a hot-blooded friendship like the bedtime stories.

Maybe she was also right about Baron Wilmont teaching them both to be better than this. However before they left for the city, he spoke to Ezra with a serious expression on his face.

“The reason why I have to speak to you alone is because Claire won’t understand what I’m about to say. I’ve raised her to become someone with a noble and pure heart, in hopes she would take over as Baroness.”

“You however aren’t as naïve as your sister Ezra, you’ve directly experienced how terrible people can really be. Prioritize you and Claire’s safety above all else. Nothing is more important than both of you coming back safely.”

Ezra never forgot what the Baron said because he was right.

Ezra took what Claire said to heart because she was also right.

He was faced with a dilemma he wouldn’t be able to answer anytime soon, but everyone exited the butchery serving as a distraction for Ezra’s internal strife.

Delivering swift hugs to everyone, Wang Cai said his goodbyes as Zhihao allowed a small smile to appear on his face. They both waved a heartfelt goodbye, as they journeyed back to the plaza to look for more customers.

“Since Sonja is still recovering, and we’d all like to earn our share we’ll split up for now. Claire you can take Sonja and her stuff back to her room, while Saber, Ezra, and I will head to the alchemist and split up the day’s profit after getting our money.”

Claire readily agreed and picked up Sonja and her staff, before heading in the direction of the guild base.

Carrying a large jar filled with a lime green fluid and a round fleshy object, Saber handed it to Ezra and proceeded to wipe his hands off on his armor. Oddly enough, although Saber’s leather armor took around the same damage as Ezra and Claire, it seemed less torn and abused as if it was slowly repairing.

“What is this?”

“The brain of the kobold shaman. Although there might be a restaurant that would be willing to cook and serve brains, we’d be better off just selling it at an alchemist.”

Ezra started dry heaving immediately. Ilyana and Saber acted confused at his reaction, as he struggled to comprehend why they acted like he was the weird one.

All adventurers couldn’t be this crazy right?