The first room I encountered was a large box with touches providing only dim light. That was quickly becoming a theme for this level. Only one exit could be seen on the far side of the room. Not sure what to expect, I moved cautiously into the room, unsheathing my sword. Halfway through the room, I heard the unmistakable chittering of rats, the noise bouncing off the small room''s walls, obscuring their actual location. I quickly looked around and realized my mistake; the rats had used the dim lighting to sound me. Taking a calming breath, I readied my sword; if I had counted the gleaming eyes correctly, there were twelve rats.
Nothing I couldn’t handle, I thought to myself, continuing to eye the rats, waiting for one of them to make a move. Besides the gleaming amber eyes, the only thing I could make out was their size; they were larger than any rat I’d seen in town. One of the rats must have gotten tired of waiting because it lunged. Waiting a few seconds for the perfect time, I activated Slash and brought the blade of my sword down on its neck, bending it.
Congratulations, For defeating Rat, Level 1, 1 XP has been awarded.
For defeating your first Rat, 2 XP has been awarded.
Three more rats lunged at me as if that first rat was the signal. Thankfully, I could easily dodge them with Evade and even stab one, killing it instantly. After that, things became a blur of rats and blood as I fought the remaining ten. After what felt like an eternity but was only a few minutes, I stood panting, leaning against my sword, looking at the carnage around me.
<Well, that went better than your first fight.> Gem comments in the still air, and I send her a glare as I pull my sword from the ground and clean off the dirt and gore with a cloth I had taken from my storage before reciting it. <What, no major injuries, only a few nicks here and there. I would say you did very well. Also, just so you know, during your fight, I took the liberty of turning off your combat notifications, so you will have to look into your combat log to see them. I figured they’d be a distraction you didn’t need in the heat of combat.>
<Oh, um, thanks, I guess.> I respond as I confirm that I want to loot the rat. <Hey Gem, is there a way to loot multiple monsters at once? Having to go to each corpse and confirm that I want to loot them is getting tedious.>
<I was about to say yes, but now that I look, there doesn’t appear to be any logic for looting multiple monsters simultaneously.> Gem said after a few seconds, then I could almost feel the smile as she added, <I guess I know what your Final Project for the year will be.>
<Final Project?> I ask.
<Well, you know how, for the next eight years, I plan to teach you everything there is to know about the system. Well, the best way I was thinking of doing that is by setting a project for that year and tailoring the lessons around that. However, I hadn''t settled on the project for this year, but now that I think about it. Creating a mass looting option would actually be great for your first project as it will touch on many of the basic functions of the system.>
<Oh, that does sound interesting.> I responded, moving around to each rat and looting it. Not just because I would finally have a reprieve from the monotony of looting each kill individually but also because the more I learned about the system, the more interesting it became.
<And you know what’s even better? There are twenty tickets currently open requesting a similar feature. So, we get to kill two birds with one stone. You learn about the system''s inner workings and remove a tedious process, and I get to close twenty support tickets. It’s win, win.>
I can''t help but chuckle and shake my head at Gem''s enthusiasm as I loot the last of the rats. In all, I had gained seven Rat Pelts, two Rat Tails, three Rat Claws, and ten copper coins. <Why do I get the fact that it will close those twenty tickets is the main reason?> I ask, laughing as I step out of the room.
<That’s slander!> Gem says with mock outrage <I’ll have you know I would have done it even without it closing twenty tickets in one go.>
<Okay. Sure.> I say with a chuckle as I continue through the dungeon.
~ ~ ~
By the time I met up with the rest of the class at the dungeon''s entrance, I had reached level two and gained three skill points I wasn’t sure what to spend on. I had learned two things on this delve; one, I probably picked the longest path to the floor boss because, by the time I had reached the point where I had to turn around, I was only halfway there, at least if the dungeon map was anything to go by. The second was that a cleared room was not guaranteed to stay clear.
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<I wouldn’t worry too much about those skill points. They’re about as useful to you as a snowball in hell.> Gem comments
<Huh,> I respond, taken off guard by Gem''s comment.
<Don’t tell me you’ve never looked at the Skill Shop.>
<Um, Not really; I didn’t have any skill points to spend, so didn’t see the point.> I answer with a mental shrug. Curious about what Gem was talking about, I finally opened the Skill Shop, and it did everything I could do not to have my surprise show on my face.
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: rgba(242, 242, 242, 1); border-color: rgba(191, 191, 191, 1); border-style: solid" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="10%">
Name
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<td width="38%">
Description
</td>
<td width="10%">
Type
</td>
<td width="24%">
Attributes
</td>
<td width="16%">
Cost
</td>
</tr>
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<td width="10%">
Air Blast
</td>
<td width="38%">
Unleashes a concentrated gust of wind. Dealing moderate damage to enemies within its cone of influence
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Magical – Active
</td>
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Cost 20 Mana
Cooldown: 10 seconds
</td>
<td width="16%">
2 Skill Points
Free
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="10%">
Barrier
</td>
<td width="38%">
Create an invisible shield in one direction that blocks both magical and physical.
</td>
<td width="10%">
Magical – Active
</td>
<td width="24%">
Cost 30 Mana
Cooldown: 30 Seconds
Length: 3 Seconds
Direction: Unidirectional
</td>
<td width="16%">
5 Skill Points
Free
</td>
</tr>
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<td width="10%">
Block
</td>
<td width="38%">
Raises a shield or weapon to reduce incoming damage.
</td>
<td width="10%">
Physical – Active
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<td width="24%">
</td>
<td width="16%">
3 Skill Points
Free
</td>
</tr>
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<td width="10%">
Heal
</td>
<td width="38%">
Provide healing to an injured person. The amount of healing is tied to the level.
</td>
<td width="10%">
Magical – Active
</td>
<td width="24%">
Cost Depends on Injury
Injury Type: Minor Injuries
</td>
<td width="16%">
5 Skill Points
Free
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="5" width="100%">
Click here to view more skills…
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<That can’t be right> I say in disbelief. <How can every skill be free?>
<It funny how sometimes you forget how broken your class is> Gem says with a slight laugh. <Did you really expect my creators to level up and gain skill points every time they needed to test out new skill mechanics?>
<Now that you mention it. That does sound a little ridiculous. But in my defense, the importance of managing your skill points and skills has been drummed into me since I could talk. It’s going to take time for habits to die.>
<Okay> Gem concedes, <but that doesn’t mean that I’m not going to poke fun at you when you do revert back to that old mentality.>
<Wait> I said as something occurred to me, <if skills are free, does that mean I still have a limit on how many active skills I can have?>
<That was something else my creators decided was too cumbersome to deal with during testing, so they exempted the Administrator class from the restriction.> I don’t know how long I just stood there dumbfounded by that revelation. I know Gem and I have joked about how my class is broken, but I don’t think it truly sank in how broken it was. I was broken out of my stupor when the instructor called all of us over.
“Looks like everyone made it back in one piece,” the instructor said when all seven of us had gathered around him and his assistants. “I hope you all learned something. With this, once we get back to town, this Introduction to Weapons Skills class will be over. With that being said, as your instructor, my last piece of advice to you all is that when we get back to town, head over to the Guildhall and cash in any loot you managed to get. Of course, for the two groups, it’s up to them how they want to divide up the rewards. That’s one of the perks of delving solo; you get to keep everything you find, but it also comes with more risk, as you won''t have anyone to back you up if you run into trouble.”
With that chery remark, the instructor motioned us to head back up the stairs and start our trek back to town.