《Savior》


 Chapter 1: An Unexpected Stay

    "Hmm, I can¡¯t feel anything." Austin thought to himself as he sank further into the inky blackness. He tried to kick his legs or move his arms, but to no avail. He looked up, and saw himself getting farther and farther away from the light on the surface as he fell through the darkness.


    ¡°Mr. McKenna, It¡¯s time for you to wake up.¡± A kind, genial voice called out to him.


    A hand seemingly made out of light reached down through the gloom and wrapped around his body. A warmth spread throughout him, and he felt himself rise towards that light that previously seemed so far away.


    Suddenly his eyes shot open, and he felt like he was gasping for air. ¡°Where am I, what happened to the dungeon.¡± he asked through short, pained breaths.


    ¡°Easy now, you¡¯ve been through a bit of an ordeal.¡± The owner of the gentle voice was standing in front of him. He was a middle aged man, with hair that looked a lot more grey than he did, wearing a stark white lab coat. As he spoke, he was wrapped in a golden glow that Austin now noticed was also spreading to him.


    ¡°I¡¯ve pulled you back from the brink, but I¡¯m not quite done healing you yet. Please calm down.¡± The man said, and offered up a gentle smile to assuage Austin.


    ¡°T-thank you.¡± Austin muttered. ¡°Are you a healer?¡±


    "Well, that was a stupid question." Austin thought to himself.


    ¡°That¡¯d be right. My name is Dr. Link Jacobs, 5-Star conduit.¡± Dr. Jacobs said, the sparkling aura now fading from around him.


    ¡°Alright, you should be all better now. Tell me if you still feel pain anywhere.¡± Dr. Jacobs said, a grimace appearing on his face.


    "He must¡¯ve used a lot of mana on healing me, he looks rather exhausted."


    ¡°No, Doctor. I don¡¯t feel any wounds anymore. Please, get some rest, I can¡¯t imagine what saving me took.¡± Austin said, trying as hard as he could to look grateful to the man who just pulled him from the throes of death.


    ¡°I¡¯m not the one you should be worried about, kid.¡± Jacobs said, his kind smile returning. ¡°Since you¡¯re awake, I won¡¯t be able to keep those Association agents from questioning you anymore, so prepare yourself.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡± Austin repeated, still trying his hardest to look grateful.


    Dr. Jacobs turned on his heel and walked out of the room, gently closing the door behind him.


    Now that the good doctor was gone, Austin had the chance to take in his surroundings. He was in a hospital, that much was clear, but he had no idea why the room was so nice. He was just a lowly 1-Star who couldn¡¯t even become a Crawler. He definitely didn¡¯t warrant this opulence.The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Come to think of it, why was a 5-Star healing me. Shouldn¡¯t he have more important things to do?" Austin thought, becoming more and more confused.


    "Was yesterday just a dream? That silver haired man¡­" Austin began in his head.


    Just then, the door to his room opened up again, but it was not Dr. Jacobs.


    Two men entered his room, both wearing the black suits that usually signified an Association agent. The larger, more imposing of the two men took up a position by the door, probably to keep anyone from interrupting.


    The other man was a tall, lanky man, who, while not as tall or muscular as his counterpart still had a weight about him that showed he was in charge here.


    "He¡¯s strong. Really strong."the thought crossed Austin¡¯s mind that if someone like this man was there yesterday, maybe things would have gone differently.


    ¡°Hello young man. I¡¯m Adam White, 6-Star Conduit and investigator of the Crawler''s Association.¡± He held out a hand to Austin, which he took in a shake.


    "He could crush my hand like a peanut if he wanted." Austin shuddered internally. This man showed no hostility towards him, and yet he still felt afraid.


    ¡°I would like to ask you a few questions about the last few days.¡± White said, maintaining a smile that was in no way as kind as Dr. Jacobs¡¯ was.


    ¡°Sure, go ahead. Though I¡¯m sure you¡¯ve already figured out most of what happened¡­¡± Austin responded.


    ¡°As of 3 days ago, you were registered as a Porter for a team of Crawlers led by one ¡®Anderson James.¡¯ The team entered a low level dungeon, which they should have been able to clear easily due to their levels. After a day had passed, they should have been out and the Door should have closed, so we sent in a rescue team. Only you were found, and the floor boss was already dead. After you were removed from there, the Door collapsed and you were brought here to treat the myriad injuries you recieved. That is the extent of our knowledge.¡± Agent White finished up. It was clear they did a great deal of research before he had awakened.


    ¡°That¡¯s about what happened.¡± Austin affirmed. He began slowly, ¡°We went into the dungeon, thinking it would be a cakewalk due to our party composition. It went well at first, but we kept running into monsters way stronger than planned for. Eventually we made it to the boss room on our last legs. I was injured near the start of the fight, I don¡¯t remember what happened after that. Where is the rest of the party?¡±


    ¡°You may want to brace yourself for this.¡± White said, a grimace spreading across his face. ¡°Mr. James and the rest of the party are dead. You were the only survivor.¡±


    ¡°Wh- Huh!¡± Austin gulped in pretend surprise. ¡°They were all a lot stronger than me, how did I survive if they died to that boss?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I¡¯m trying to figure out, Mr. McKenna. As it seems you don¡¯t know, I¡¯ll leave my business card with you. Please contact me if you remember anything else.¡± White said solemnly, placing a matte black business card with silver lettering on the nightstand by Austin¡¯s bed.


    ¡°I will.¡± Austin responded, trying to maintain the facade of a clueless kid.


    After a few days of monitoring, the hospital decided Austin was fit to leave, so he started to make his way back home.


    As he left the stark white hallways of the Crawler Association¡¯s hospital, he felt he could think again for the first time since he was in there, now with his mind beginning to clear, he headed back home to sort through the events of the last few days, and figure out what his next move was.


    ¡°Thankfully they didn¡¯t have any tools to detect irregular powers, or that thing the silver haired guy gave me would have been a dead giveaway¡­¡± he muttered to himself.

 Chapter 2: Flashback

    Austin made his way back to his apartment in the southern district of the island, he tried to organize his thoughts.


    Before yesterday, I wasn¡¯t even qualified to be a Crawler, just a low ranked conduit. But now, it feels like I have limitless potential.


    Just to confirm he wasn¡¯t still dreaming, he muttered to himself, ¡°Open Stat Window.¡±


    Sure enough, his view filled with a soft blue glow that only he could see.


    All Conduits possessed the ability to open their own stat windows that only the owner could see, even the weakest of them like Austin. In his window, there was a piece of information that he had never seen before.


    Unique Passive: Quick Learner


    This passive ability handed down from one Savior to the next multiplies all EXPERIENCE gained tenfold.


    Austin whistled under his breath.


    Ten times the experience, huh? As far as I know stats can''t be manipulated, so it must be the real deal...


    According to his Window, his stats (Strength, Intelligence, and Agility) had already increased by 10 points each, signifying that he had gone up 10 levels since yesterday, and he also had 5 free points to spend.


    So this is what leveling up feels like¡­ He thought to himself.


    Let¡¯s be smart about this, I¡¯ll put 3 points into Strength, one into Agility, and one into Intelligence.


    As he confirmed it in his head, the changes he specified took place inside of the window. As the points took their place among his stats, he felt his muscles tightening as the warmpth of mana spread through his body.


    His Stat Window now read:


    <hr>


    Austin McKenna


    Title: None


    Class: None


    HP: 150


    Stamina: 200


    Strength: 28


    Intelligence: 21


    Agility: 26


    <hr>


    These were his stats, and while a bit higher than they were previously, he was still only marginally stronger than a normal person, let alone a top class Crawler.


    The ability to control the flow of Mana that poured into the world the day the doors appeared. That is what makes someone a conduit. On that day, about 1 in every 100,000 people woke up to find themselves in possession of superhuman abilities. Some could manipulate the mana like the sorcerers from old fairy tales, creating fire, ice, wind, or lightning. Some could cloak themselves to be invisible to the naked eye and move like the breeze. And some couldn¡¯t control the mana directly, but instead harnessed it into their physical forms, becoming able to achieve feats that should not be possible by humans. The strongest of them able to level entire buildings with a single strike.


    Suddenly, the dungeon and the material gain it offered was not the biggest problem, but the fact that a door to another realm could open anywhere, at any time, and pour out creatures normal humans had no chance of standing against into the world.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    The UN and its member nations quickly ratified a series of amendments that would be known as the ¡°Crawler Accords.¡±


    This set of laws passed almost unanimously in the UN set out regulations on the use of these new ¡°Powers¡± and how resources from the dungeon would be used.


    Firstly, any conduit was forbidden by law to use their powers outside of fighting monsters inside or outside the dungeon. They were free to continue living as a normal person, but if they wanted to use their newfound power, they would need to use it in service of humanity.


    Next, entrance to the dungeon was tightly controlled. Those who were judged to be too weak to survive against the denizens waiting for them inside were denied entry, mostly for their own safety. For this reason, the ranking system championed by the association came about.


    Finally, this ranking system was established to give Crawlers of proper rank authority befitting their power, such as establishing and leading guilds to profit off of their delves into the darkness.


    A One-Star conduit was only marginally stronger than your average human, but a Seven-Star would be strong enough to single-handedly wipe out an entire nation.


    If a person¡¯s Mana exceeded that of a One-Star, they would be allowed to apply for a Crawler¡¯s License, which involved a series of rigorous tests to weed out those not strong enough to survive the trials of delving into the dungeon.


    Austin finally arrived at the building he had called home for the two years since he¡¯d been left alone.


    Austin wandered over to his bed, and collapsed heavily onto its meager frame.


    What a day¡­


    I need to figure out what I¡¯m going to do, but first I need to organize my thoughts on what exactly happened to me yesterday.


    With that thought, the events of the last couple of days started to replay in his head.


    *****************************************************************************************************************


    Today is finally the day! Austin thought to himself.


    Since he was too weak to apply for a Crawler¡¯s license, he, like many other people, was caught in an unwinnable situation. He was too weak to fight even the lowest level monsters, so he had no way of gaining EXP to get stronger. No matter how hard he tried, the stats shown in his stat window just wouldn¡¯t budge.


    Conduits had been trying to find a way around this mysterious system since the day it appeared, but no luck. People tried ¡°Power Leveling¡± tactics not seen outside video games, but the system would grant the EXP to whichever person dealt the most damage to an opponent, not whoever killed it. People tried physical exercise to raise their stats, but to no avail, it seemed that once someone awakened as a conduit, training their body no longer did any good. The only way to get stronger was to kill monsters.


    If every 1 in 100,000 people awakened as a Conduit, then 10,000 of those new Conduits Were completely incapable of combat with monsters due to low starting stats.


    Austin McKenna was one of those unlucky lucky.


    However, today he had finally gotten clearance from one of the local guilds to act as a porter for one of their lower level Crawler teams. He would carry their extra equipment through the dungeon while they cleared the floor in exchange for a bit of pay.


    It wasn¡¯t the best job, but here he¡¯d still make more than he would in an honest day¡¯s work, and it was a step closer to his dream of being a Crawler


    ¡°Heyo kiddo!¡± a large, round faced man called out to him as he approached the Door Site.


    ¡°Hello, Sir.¡± Austin said back, trying to be as polite as possible. Don¡¯t mess this up or you¡¯ll never get another shot, he thought to himself.


    As he walked up he eyed the two men in dark suits who must¡¯ve been Association employees. Even though this was a low ranked Door, they still needed to guard the entrance to ensure no monsters exited before the clear team could go in.


    The big man lumbered over to him and clapped him on the shoulder, ¡°This here is a simple 2-Star Door, nothing to fret over. My name is Anderson James, 4-Star Crawler, and I¡¯m in charge here. As long as you stick with me, you¡¯ll be A-OK!¡±


    His cheerful disposition seemed to be infectious, and the other Crawlers of the group perked up and introduced themselves in turn.


    There were 6 of them in all, not including Austin, and they were all 3-Star Crawlers with the exception of their leader.


    Anderson is right, a 2-Star should be a cakewalk for a group like this.


    ¡°Mr. James, your team is cleared for entry. This Door has been open for a total of 12 hours, so please take care of it soon.¡± One of the black suited men called from the entrance.


    ¡°You got it! Let¡¯s roll out, team!¡±


    Austin hoisted the heavy bags onto his shoulders and followed the group inside.


    My first time inside the dungeon. This is definitely one of the lower floors, a perfect place to start out.


    As the party made their way down the musty, craggy corridor covered in a strange luminous stones that lighted their way, a chill shot down Austin¡¯s spine.


    The rest of the party seemed nonplussed, it was clear that only he had this unnerving feeling.


    Something was definitely wrong here.

 Chapter 3: Whyd it have to be ants?

    Austin had always been weak, even when he was a normal human. He was a scrawny boy, only about 5¡¯5¡± even by the age of 16, and he definitely did not compensate for that size with any sort of muscle or skill.


    That was why, when he became a conduit, Austin thought that maybe his life was about to turn around.


    This dream was shattered almost immediately upon confirming that his newly bestowed stats were the lowest of the low among the newly awakened people, even with his newfound power a normally physical fit human was still on the same level on him, never mind the preternaturally strong monsters of the dungeon and the Crawlers that faced off against them.


    Despite all this, Austin didn¡¯t let this dissuade him, in fact, now that the carrot of being stronger was dangled in front of him, he was even more determined than before to become strong.


    That was why even if he couldn¡¯t become a Crawler yet, he applied to become a porter to one of the lower level, local guilds. He figured this would give him an opportunity to secure himself a couple of kills on weaker monsters, and slowly but surely raise his level.


    Everything had led up to this,


    "I¡¯ve finally made it into a dungeon, no time to chicken out now." Austin chided himself.


    "Besides, Anderson and his crew don¡¯t seem to feel this weird sensation, so maybe it¡¯s just because it¡¯s my first time in a dungeon."


    ¡°Yo, rookie! Don¡¯t fall behind!¡± Anderson boomed from the front of the party. ¡°I don¡¯t want my new porter to become monster chow, HAHAHA!¡± his jovial laughter rang out in the barren dungeon corridor.


    How the hell is he so cheerful when all of our lives are at stake in here? Austin wondered if that was just the confidence of a high ranked Crawler speaking, or if Anderson James was just an idiot.


    ¡°Heads up, we got incoming!¡± A lithe-looking man in a green hood near the back of the group called out.


    It seemed that he was the Scout of the party, a class specializing in Agility and detection of enemies and traps. Scouts were a basic necessity for any party, not just due to surprise ambushes from monsters, but also the myriad traps left by whoever or whatever controlled the dungeon.


    The Crawlers spread out, with Anderson and another armored man taking up the front of a newly formed spear-head. The green-cloaked man who called out the approaching monsters took up a position in the middle, and behind him stood three mages, two of which started summoning fire and one who began chanting, causing glowing light to envelop the group.


    Suddenly, the wall closest to the tanker nearest to Anderson burst open, and an army of chihuahua sized ants burst out towards the group.


    ¡°Ants!¡± the mage closest to Austin, a young woman whose features were shrouded by a red cloak shouted out,


    ¡°3-Stars shouldn''t be here!¡± the armored man next to Anderson bellowed.


    "Looks like we got a fight!" Anderson called back, looking excited.


    The panic on the woman¡¯s face was plain to see, and Austin couldn¡¯t blame her. He had read about this kind of ant monster in the Association handbook in his desire to become a Crawler. Since he was weak, all he could do was study.


    Crawlers below 3-Star rank should avoid engaging, flee before being overwhelmed by numerous enemies!


    Austin could now see that warning was no joke, as an endless black sea of the ants began flowing from the holes in the wall.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°Here, kid, catch!¡± The armored man standing next to Anderson called, as he threw a simple steel dagger towards Austin.


    Austin caught it and gripped it in his hand reverse-style like he had seen on TV.


    ¡°Provocation!¡± Anderson yelled from the front of the group, a red aura enveloping him as he activated a skill.


    The other armored tanker followed suit, his own blue aura enveloping him as he activated a similar skill.


    The skills must have worked, because it seemed like the rest of the group no longer existed to the ants. The sea of black began to converge on the two armored men, who fended them off with their large shields. Just as it seemed they were about to be overwhelmed, a golden aura enveloped them. A gift from the support class Crawler near the back of the group, he was healing and buffing their defences in just one go.


    As the two tanks kept the roiling mass of monsters distracted, and the healer kept them on their feet, the other three members of the party got to work reducing the numbers of their opponents.


    The green-hooded scout seemed to disappear from beside Austin, moving faster than his low level eyes could follow. He spotted him once again in the middle of the sea, moving like a swimmer through water, with every stroke of his shortsword another drop was removed from the pool.


    Next to him, the two mages began flinging fireballs haphazardly. When there were this many enemies, there was really no reason to aim. Every time another fireball landed 10 or 12 of the ants burned to a crisp, and dozens more were flung from the impact.


    Their teamwork was a sight to behold, the red-cloaked woman had lost all traces of panic, and was instead focused on mowing down legions of ants.


    The team worked with brutal efficiency, and after about 15 minutes the ocean of ants was reduced to a puddle, and then a droplet.


    When one lone ant remained, Anderson glanced at Austin holding the dagger he was given earlier and smirked. He walked over to where the lone ant was trying to escape from and grasped it by the back of its head, lifting it bodily like one would lift a housecat.


    ¡°Hey kiddo, why don¡¯t you try and kill this thing with that dagger you got there.¡± Anderson called over to him.


    This was exactly what Austin wanted, and the excitement must have been clear on the kid¡¯s face, because grins bloomed across the rest of the party member¡¯s faces as well.


    He walked over to the ant, but he couldn¡¯t seem to move, the wriggling creature in front of him struggling to escape the Crawler¡¯s grip.


    ¡°Go on, kid, it can¡¯t hurt you when Anderson¡¯s got him like that.¡± the green-hooded scout called over.


    With the encouragement of the Crawlers egging him on, Austin stepped forward and stabbed into the ant dangling before him.


    Shink


    Shink


    Shink


    Shink


    After 4 thrusts, the ant stopped its wriggling and went still. Anderson released his grip and let it fall to the ground, where everyone expected it to turn to dust like all the other monsters did when their vitality was drained, but instead it jumped back up and lunged towards Austin.


    He saw the small mandibles of the ant, still strong enough to cut him in two flying towards him at a speed he couldn¡¯t hope to dodge, and just as he thought his life was finished, a green flash appeared in front of him, and the ant¡¯s head rolled away.


    ¡°That was a close one,¡± the scout sighed in relief. ¡°Anderson, make sure it¡¯s dead next time before you drop it.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, sorry ¡®bout that, kid. Honest mistake. I¡¯ll let you kill the next one, promise!¡± Anderson boomed, that smile not once leaving his face.


    The support Crawler was the next to speak, ¡°Good thing we handled it, but still, ants in a 2-Star floor shouldn¡¯t be possible. Maybe the Association mislabeled the Door.¡±


    Austin was listening to their conversation while he went around gathering all the mana crystals that the horde of ants left behind. These were the real reason why Crawlers did what they did.


    Even a small mana crystal from a horde-type monster like the ants easily went for $10 a piece. The crystals from the bosses guarding each floor were even more valuable, as they were used in the mana plants that powered most of modern society. This was his real job as a porter, to make sure he got all of these valuable crystals from the monsters the Crawlers killed.


    ¡°Anderson, do you think we should retreat and have the association re evaluate the Door?¡± the scout asked


    ¡°If we retreat now, there¡¯s a possibility that monsters could escape into the city, and I don¡¯t want those deaths on my conscience.¡± Anderson said, his countenance becoming serious for the first time. ¡°Besides,¡± Anderson boomed, the cheery expression returning, ¡°We just proved we can handle whatever this floor can throw at us!¡±


    As if on cue, the floor below the group¡¯s feet began rumbling and cracks started to show in the stone floor beneath their feet.


    ¡°You just had to run your big mouth!¡± the red-cloaked mage called, before the floor collapsed entirely and the party began their unwilling descent.

 Chapter 4: Falling

    They fell, and they fell, and they fell.


    Each second stretched into an eternity as Austin felt the wind whip through his hair.


    He had no idea how long they had been falling, or any idea how long they would be falling. The dungeon was a whole other plane of reality, and in addition to that, Austin had never heard of anyone breaking through from one floor to another when exploring a Door.


    "Whatever the situation, though, I have to get out of here." Austin thought to himself.


    ¡°Mr. Anderson!¡± Austin yelled, to be heard over the wind whipping through all of their ears. ¡°I have an idea to get us safely on the ground!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s your idea, kid.¡± Anderson responded, his big smile still on his face, but looking a lot more strained now.


    ¡°Mr. Scout, since you have sharper perception than the rest of us, I need you to keep an eye out and tell us when the ground is in sight. After that,¡± he indicated the two mages of the group, ¡°You two need to cast AoE wind magic and use the recoil to slow our fall.¡±


    Everyone was nodding, after all, this plan might be their only shot at surviving.


    The mage in the red coat spoke up,


    ¡°I can¡¯t use wind magic, it¡¯s only fire for me, and I''d risk burning you guys if I try with that.¡±


    ¡°Wait a second.¡± a timid voice spoke up. ¡°I can reinforce the whole party with fire resistance, so burns shouldn¡¯t be an issue.¡±


    ¡°Alright everyone!¡± Anderson boomed, his genuine smile back in full force. ¡°We¡¯re going with the kid¡¯s plan.¡±


    He reached out his arm and pulled Austin closer to him.


    ¡°Even with the fire resistance, you¡¯re still quite a bit weaker than us, so I¡¯ll shield you from the damage.¡± Anderson said.


    ¡°Heads up, ground approaching!¡± the green hooded scout called.


    The healer began muttering under his breath, and that same golden light enveloped the group. The other tank moved and grabbed on to the support Crawler, to shield him in the same way as Anderson was shielding Austin.


    The two mages started pushing a wall of flames from their hands, and as it escaped their hands, a noticeable force could be felt by the party. They jerked hard, like someone slammed the brakes on their momentum.


    As they moved away from terminal velocity, and closer to a more manageable speed, the ground rushed up to embrace the unwilling skydivers.


    Anderson, holding Austin, and the other tank holding their healer, hit the ground and rolled, coming to a stop. The red hooded mage did the same, however the other one was not so lucky. While his descent was slowed by his own flames, when he hit the ground a sickening crunch was heard.


    The mage cried out in pain, now sitting on the ground holding an obviously broken leg.


    ¡°Hurry up and heal him.¡± Anderson called over to the supporter.


    ¡°I used up all of my mana between the ants and that trick during the fall.¡± he said, a dejected look on his face.


    ¡°We should look for an exit, there¡¯s no way you guys can fight a floor boss in this condition.¡± Austin said.


    ¡°The kid is right,¡± the red hooded mage responded, ¡°I¡¯m also out of juice, and it doesn¡¯t look like Brian can walk.¡±


    ¡°Smith, can you carry him?¡± Anderson called out to the other tank.


    ¡°Easy.¡± Smith responded, brimming with confidence despite their predicament.


    ¡°Alright then, let¡¯s get moving and try and find our way out of here.¡± Anderson said.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.


    Smith bent down and picked up the crippled mage, and the group began to walk in a slightly shrunk version of their spearhead formation from earlier.


    ¡°This place is huge, that means the mana reading on the Door probably wasn¡¯t right. Those machines can probably only read mana on the same damn floor as the door, but I¡¯ve never heard of a multi-floored dungeon before¡­¡± The red hooded girl mused aloud to herself.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of it either.¡± The scout at the front of the formation called out. ¡°I hope we can find our way back to the entrance.¡±


    As if on cue, they heard the same sound that they had earlier, before the first wave of ants attacked. This time however, it was coming from behind them, rather than all around.


    ¡°We can¡¯t afford a fight right now, run!¡± Anderson ordered, as he scooped up Austin and began to run. ¡°Sorry, kid, but you won¡¯t make it if I leave you on your own.¡±


    ¡°Thanks¡± Austin murmered, knowing that Anderson was right. His physical attributes couldn¡¯t measure up to even the mage class Crawlers of the group due to his near human stats.


    As they ran, a tidal wave of ants approached them from behind. There were quite a few more in this group than the one they defeated earlier.


    They were running with all their might, but Smith, carrying a fully grown person, was lagging behind the group.


    ¡°Drop me you idiot, I''m not worth it.¡± The crippled mage begged the tank who was about to be swallowed up by the oncoming tide of monsters.


    ¡°Screw that!¡± Smith roared, the ants nipping at his heels.


    As he was about to be swallowed up, another golden aura enveloped Smith, and he surged forward with new strength in his muscles.


    ¡°I thought you said you were out of mana?¡± Austin said, turning to look at the healer, but the words caught in his throat.


    As Smith surged ahead, the spell invigorating him, the healer who had saved them a few times on this raid dropped to the ground, a smile on his face before being overtaken by the roiling mass of monsters.


    The red hooded mage yelled something, but Austin couldn''t hear it over the scuttling of the ants and the clanking of Anderson''s armor in his ears.


    ¡°Damnit, damnit, damnit.¡± Austin heard from above him. He looked up only to see Anderson¡¯s trademarked smile gone without a trace.


    As the sea of ants stayed behind to tend to their fallen comrade, the group entered a small antechamber.


    "At least, we¡¯ll be safe for a minute, since lesser monsters won¡¯t enter the room before a boss. Though thats a small consolation." Austin thought to himself, slightly relieved.


    ¡°Listen up.¡± Anderson began, trying to maintain his calm. ¡°It looks like we have no way out of here other than through whatever boss controls this floor.¡± he said gravely. ¡°We¡¯re going to rest here until our magic is replenished, and then we are going to take on that bastard. Cooper, you know some support spells, right?¡± Anderson said, indicating the crippled mage that Smith had set on the ground.


    ¡°Yeah, but it¡¯s not my specialty.¡± He said, thinking back to the man who just sacrificed himself to save their lives.


    ¡°We¡¯ve gotta try, you stay at the back and support us with whatever you can.¡± Anderson responded.


    An hour or so passed before the two remaining casters informed everyone that their mana had returned.


    ¡°Let¡¯s do this.¡± Anderson said, all traces of the jubilance he showed at the start gone.


    The group entered the boss room, and the door to the antechamber they were in disappeared when Austin, the ¡°rear guard¡± so to speak, stepped through it holding up the crippled mage.


    At the center of the large room was a single, humanoid figure standing on an ornate dais.


    ¡°It¡¯s not an ant?¡± the green hooded scout mused aloud, as he rushed forward to analyze their opponent.


    As if it was waiting for him to enter a certain range, as soon as he got close the thing snapped towards them. It was then that Austin got a good, terrifying look at what was to be their opponent.


    It had the general look of an ant, but it was like a large human wearing an ant¡¯s exoskeleton. This ant was also white rather than the black or red of the rest of the population.


    Before the green hooded scout could get any closer to it, the ant was suddenly in front of him.


    "It¡¯s moving faster than I can see!" Austin thought, recalling the scout''s own movement from earlier.


    Before the scout even had time to react, the white ant extended its blade like arms towards him and cleanly separated his body from his head.


    The body continued its forward momentum and stumbled to the ground while the head landed near the rest of the party, still at the door, a look of disbelief on his face.


    ¡°How the hell are we supposed to take on something that fast¡­¡± The red hooded mage grumbled in disbelief.


    As fast as it appeared before the scout, the ant returned to its original position, as if it had never left. Just then, an ear piercing shriek resounded throughout the room.


    ¡°Humans, why have you disturbed a realm in which you do not belong!?¡±


    ¡°Is that thing, talking!?¡± Smith said, fear written plainly on his face.


    ¡°I will remove you, so you will not trouble my family any longer.¡± the creature said, before disappearing from it¡¯s dais and reappearing in front of Anderson, poised to strike.

 Chapter 5: Savior

    The situation was about as bad as situations could get. The strange white ant was clashing repeatedly with Anderson, and while he wasn¡¯t killed nearly as quickly as the green hooded scout, it was clear he was outmatched.


    Austin stood near the door, next to their two remaining casters. The girl in the red hood had an awestruck look on her face while she watched the mismatched combatants.


    ¡°I can¡¯t cast any fire magic, or I¡¯ll hit Anderson¡­¡± she stammered.


    Smith started to rush forward to where the two were fighting, ¡°I¡¯ll help you boss, it can¡¯t take two of us at the same time!¡± He shouted as he rushed forward.


    ¡°No!¡± Anderson shouted back, still keeping his attention on his overwhelming opponent. ¡°Protect the kid and the casters, it¡¯ll kill you if you get close!¡±


    All traces of the jovial smile Anderson was always sporting had been wiped away. He was locked in combat with a far superior opponent, and every time they exchanged blows, he got a little closer to death.


    Smith turned to the crippled caster on the ground. The man had a shocked glaze over his eyes, as if he couldn¡¯t believe what was happening to them.


    ¡°Help him you moron!¡± Smith roared as he shook him.


    ¡°R-right!¡± the immobilized man stammered out.


    He began to cast a support spell to aid Anderson in his fight, but as soon as the mana began to coalesce around him in the telltale golden aura, the creature once again shrieked out in that piercing voice.


    ¡°Do not interfere in my fun, pitiful human!¡±


    With those words, the creature fighting Anderson disappeared. The four remaining party members had a stunned expression on their faces.


    ¡°Di-did we win?¡± Anderson said, confused.


    Before any of them had the chance to begin the premature celebrations, a sickening thud was heard. It was the sound of the crippled mage¡¯s corpse hitting the ground after being dropped from the grasp of the creature.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a long time since a human could entertain me so. I could not let this whelp interfere.¡± The shrieking voice once again pierced their ears.


    ¡°You son of a bitch!¡± The red hooded caster yelled, as she began to gather a fireball in her hands. But those flames died before they were fully kindled.


    In a matter of seconds, the party had gone from four combatants to two, and Austin stood, dumbstruck by what had taken place.


    ¡°God damn it, what are you?¡± Smith shouted, running towards where the creature stood.


    ¡°Boring. You are quite boring human.¡± The creature said, as it vivisected Smith effortlessly.


    Anderson roared, and once again charged the ant creature, trying to at least keep it away from his last remaining charge, Austin.


    Their fight continued as before, however tinged with an aura of hopelessness. From its actions with his comrades, it was clear to Anderson and Austin both that the ant was toying with him, and could dispose of him at any time.


    Suddenly, the ant was no longer in front of Anderson, ¡°You are beginning to bore me as well, large human.¡±


    Anderson stood, soaked in sweat and covered in wounds from the attacks he failed to block.


    Through gritted teeth he spat, ¡°Then get over here and let me entertain you like you did my friends.¡±


    ¡°That will not be necessary, weakling.¡± The creature said, suddenly behind the large man.


    ¡°Wha-¡± His words were cut short as he collapsed to the floor, limp as a scarecrow without a frame.


    Austin was the last one. The Crawlers that he had entered with had each seemed a mountain of power compared to him, and yet each one was killed, well, like a human stepping on an ant.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to kill me too?¡± Austin shouted, shaking with some strange mix of rage and fear. It was mostly fear.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    He raised the dagger that Smith had given him at the start of all this, determined to at least die with a weapon in hand.


    ¡°You are not even worth my time, you are below even those weaklings lying next to you. My children will take care of you when they arrive for this feast.¡±


    Austin stared, dejected.


    ¡®I guess it¡¯s right, I¡¯m not even worth the effort to kill, I pose no threat to it.¡¯


    Just then, dust started to fall from the large, vaulted ceiling of the boss chamber, and the ground beneath Austin¡¯s feat began to rumble.


    A large hole opened in the ceiling above them, and a man, clad in shining white armor fell from above to stand in front of Austin.


    ¡°Shit, I was too late to save them. I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    The man was handsome, with stark silver hair flowing behind him as he fell. Everything but his face was clad in incandescent armor, radiating power.


    Austin stood, momentarily forgetting the position he was in,


    ¡°Who are you?¡± He asked, breathlessly.


    ¡°Hmmm. I guess you could call me Savior.¡± The man said, chuckling at the joke that only he understood.


    ¡°You bastard. You dare to repeat the sin that so many died for?¡± The inhuman shriek once again pierced their ears, but it was different this time. Now it was tinged with a hint of fear at this new combatant.


    ¡°Shut it, bug. You¡¯re obviously the one who killed these people, and now you''re gonna pay for your own sins, not mine.¡±


    Austin was staring at the ant creature, and as it disappeared from his sight, like it had before each kill.


    They appeared once again near the center of the room, the ant struggling against Savior¡¯s iron grip on its claws.


    Those claws that had taken so much from him were now powerless against this man.


    ¡°Just what is he?¡± Austin muttered aloud.


    ¡°Your time is up.¡± Savior said, his voice booming through the large chamber. ¡°For your transgressions against humanity, servant of darkness, I condemn you to death.¡±


    ¡°Pathetic human, unhand me no-¡± The shriek was cut short, just as the ant was.


    A glowing sword, matching the rest of the luminous armor, seemed to materialize itself in the stranger¡¯s hand. Faster than Austin could see, the ant lost its head.


    ¡°Are you alright, young man?¡± The stranger¡¯s baritone voice rang out from across the room, as he leisurely strolled to where Austin stood.


    He hadn¡¯t moved from where he began this whole ordeal, and as the glowing stranger approached him, he had to shield his eyes from the radiance of the man¡¯s armor.


    ¡°Ah, sorry,¡± he chuckled to himself, ¡°Avatar of the Champion, I release you!¡± he called out.


    As the last word left his lips, the sound of a chain breaking could be heard, and the glowing armor vanished from the man, leaving him wearing a simple brown robe.


    ¡°Th-thank you.¡± Austin stammered out.


    ¡°Ah, yeah, the armor can get a bit blinding, but it¡¯s good for distracting enemies, ha ha!¡± The man said, laughing at his own joke once more.


    ¡°No, thank you for saving me¡­¡± Austin said.


    The man¡¯s expression grew grim. ¡°You shouldn¡¯t thank me for that, I arrived too late to do anything for your friends.¡±


    ¡°I only just met them, but they were so nice to me...¡± Austin said solemly.


    Suddenly the man hunched over in pain,


    ¡°Ack- my time is almost up.¡± he grunted out, doubled over in pain.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening to you?¡± Austin said.


    ¡°Heh, it¡¯s a side effect of this power. My body never really was compatible with it.¡± he said through gritted teeth. ¡°Austin McKenna, listen to me.¡±


    ¡°How do you know my na-¡± he began, but the stranger cut him off with a look.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have much time left, just listen.¡± he said, through labored breath. ¡°It¡¯s not a coincidence that I arrived here to save you. You have been deemed fit to wield the power of the Savior. Your compatibility is much higher than mine, so with time, you will become the torch that can lead humanity through the coming darkness, as I never could.¡±


    ¡°Wh-what?!¡± Austin stammered again, but was once more cut off.


    ¡°Come, I don¡¯t have much time left before my physical body gives out.¡± He said as he beckoned Austin over to him.


    Once Austin was before the stranger, the man stood once again.


    ¡°Young man, I grant you the power to stand before any enemy that may threaten humanity. You will not suffer as I have, and you will be even greater than I. May you always serve as a beacon to guide mankind.¡±


    With these words, Austin once again stood dumbstruck. Not knowing what to do, he stayed motionless as a golden light gathered itself in this ¡°Savior¡¯s¡± hands. Once the light grew in size to an orb the size of a basketball, the tall, silver haired man smiled.


    ¡°Good luck, kid.¡± he said, as he tossed the ball towards Austin.


    When it neared him, it was suddenly sucked into his chest, and Austin felt a rush of warmth spread through his veins.


    ¡°Wait, why me? I¡¯m just a nobody weakling. That ant said it himself!¡± Austin was now practically shouting in his confusion.


    ¡°Sorry, kid. My time is up. You¡¯ll get it eventually.¡±


    The stranger had a peaceful look on his face, the gentle smile not once vanishing. As he closed his eyes for what seemed to be the final time, he was rather serene.


    At first just his hands turned transparent, but then his legs, torso, and eventually head followed suit. It continued to spread until the once radiant man looked like a spectre.


    Eventually, he faded out, the words, ¡°Good luck, kid¡± once again reverberating through the air.


    Now that all the excitement was over, Austin was given pause to inspect his condition. He was covered in wounds gained from their skirmishes with the smaller ants from head to toe, and at this point it was only his sheer will to survive that had kept him going.


    ¡°Damn¡­¡± He muttered aloud, as the world went dark.

 Chapter 6: Lets Get Started

    "I gotta be honest; I have absolutely no idea what to do next." Austin muttered aloud as he finished the replay of events.


    "I leveled up 10 times, but I¡¯m not even sure where the experience came from. Maybe it¡¯s like a boon for getting the power from that guy?"Austin continued to muse.


    Just as he was contemplating this point, a robotic baritone voice rang out,


    ¡°Would you like to review Experience history?¡±


    ¡°Huh!?¡± Austin jumped up from his bed in surprise. ¡°Who¡¯s there!?¡± he called, drawing the dagger he''d received from Smith on that fateful day.


    ¡°Would you like to activate the ability Predecessor¡¯s Guidance¡± the voice once again rang.


    ¡°Ummm, sure?¡± Austin responded timidly.


    As soon as the words passed his lips a warm tone sounded, like someone was blowing air over an empty soda bottle.


    The tone ended after a second or so, and a familiar voice called out.


    ¡°Yo, kid. You¡¯re finally up, good!¡±


    ¡°What, who is that!?¡± Austin spun on the spot searching for the source of the voice.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother looking for me.¡± the voice continued, ¡°There¡¯s nobody there. It¡¯s me, ¡®Savior¡¯ is what I think I introduced myself as when we met.¡±


    ¡°Savior?¡± Austin responded timidly. ¡°I thought you died.¡±


    ¡°I did die, and now I¡¯m here to offer up some cool sage advice to you, successor.¡± Savior responded.


    ¡°Uhhh¡± Austin was speechless, one event after the other kept shaking up what was once a relatively quiet life.


    ¡°By the way,¡± the voice continued, ¡°The name¡¯s Daniel. Savior is more of a title or occupation, which is no longer mine, so it wouldn¡¯t be appropriate to have you calling me that.¡±


    ¡°This is just too weird.¡± Austin muttered. ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll bite. What am I supposed to do as this ¡®Savior¡¯.¡± He emphasized the last word, putting air quotes around it.


    ¡°Well,¡± Daniel¡¯s voice began, ¡°You¡¯ve seen the threat monsters are posing to humanity, and someone has to do something about it. I was that someone, the eleven who came before me were that someone. Now you¡¯re that someone, Austin McKenna.¡±


    Austin began to think, something of his words didn¡¯t make sense.


    ¡°Wait a second. How are you the 12th ¡®Savior¡¯ if the monsters have only been on earth for about 20 years?¡± Austin prodded.


    ¡°Good observation, and while I¡¯d love to tell you, it¡¯d be better if you find out yourself. Besides I don¡¯t have a ton of time here with you, so we¡¯d better get to it.¡± Daniel continued, a hint of mischief in his voice.


    ¡°But-¡± Austin began, but was cut off.


    ¡°In order to protect, you¡¯re gonna need to be a lot stronger. I gave you a little push forward, so that you¡¯d be able to get started, but any more than that is beyond what I can do.¡±


    Just as Daniel said this, Austin opened his stat window and checked his experience history. There was only one item on the list:


    Daniel¡¯s Boon:


    Grants the recipient 10 levels worth of experience


    Daniel continued, ¡°Just like for a normal fighter, those you call crawlers, the only way to get stronger is to fight against the monsters. It¡¯s a pretty great system, you get stronger by doing your job which in turn makes your job easier!¡± Daniel seemed to be getting excited. ¡°I¡¯m almost out of time, but just know that you can do this, the Quick Learner passive will be of great help, but there¡¯s a reason you were chosen. In about 5 minutes, a Door will open outside of this building; don¡¯t worry the monsters won¡¯t be able to exit it and cause havoc. I¡¯m going to form this entrance with the last of my powers, and you¡¯ll be fighting things from my memories. You probably won¡¯t die, but stay on your guard.¡± Daniel finished his explanation while Austin sat dumbfounded.If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Gather what you need to fight, and head outside. Once I open that Door, I won¡¯t be able to talk to you for a while.¡±


    Austin stood, and started to walk back to his door when his footsteps halted.


    ¡°Hey, Daniel.¡± Austin started, a smile forming on his face, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    All of his goals were now in reach, what once seemed an unreachable height was now a hop, skip, and a jump ahead with the help of this power.


    He was standing outside the entryway to the small building he called home, when a gust of wind blew around him, and when he looked up, a hole in space floated in front of his face where there once was nothing.


    "Better hurry in before someone sees me." Austin thought as he hopped through the Door with only his dagger in hand.


    ¡°You have entered Daniel¡¯s Dream¡± the robotic voice stated.


    As his feet touched the sandy ground below the Door, he took stock of his surroundings. He was alone in what looked to be a roman style arena, but the stands were devoid of the toga wearing patrons usually inherent to the setting.


    At four points around the circumference of the arena, the spectator seating was broken up by a large iron gate which seemed to lead into whatever murky abyss surrounded this arena.


    Austin gripped the dagger, and a nervous shiver wracked his body as the gate closest to him began to noiselessly slide open. As a creature came out of the darkness, Austin couldn¡¯t help the rage he suddenly felt boiling over inside him.


    Out of the shadows crawled a single monster ant, identical to the dog sized ones that killed his allies inside the Dungeon a few days ago.


    Austin was never the sort to suddenly act on emotion, he prefered to plan his actions out and carefully choose the best course of action, so as the solitary ant scuttled towards him, he decided on a plan.


    While he was ten levels higher than when he failed to kill the ant Anderson had handed him, because his base stats were so low, his stats at level eleven weren¡¯t much better, so because of this he decided to abuse the intel he had on his opponent.


    "I¡¯ve only got one shot at this, with how weak I am it can probably still take me down in one or two bites¡­" Austin thought, as he prepared himself to run.


    He sprinted forwards, darting to the left of the ant and staying a good distance away from it. He had three major advantages in this fight that he didn¡¯t have in the dungeon, he was faster than the ant, he had much more maneuverability, and the arena was a wide open space, not a corridor filled with enemies.


    Austin ran in a wide circle around the monster ant until he was behind it, and jumped onto it¡¯s back. While he was holding onto its back out of reach of its mandibles he began stabbing repeatedly down into the head of the creature.


    The first thrust bounced off the hard exoskeleton, the second dented it, and the third drove home. He wouldn¡¯t make the same mistake he had in the tunnel, though, so he kept stabbing even after a message reading


    Level Up!


    Level Up!


    Level Up!


    Appeared in front of his face.


    After he was satisfied with the condition of the dead ant, Austin stood once again. ¡®I thought their deaths didn¡¯t affect me this much, they were complete strangers after all, so why did I get so angry when I saw the ant?¡¯


    Still breathing heavily, Austin took a minute to calm down and catch his breath.


    He then opened up his stat window to check his progress.


    <hr>


    Austin McKenna, Level 14


    Title: None


    Class: None


    HP: 165


    The amount of vitality within you, if it drops to 0, you will cease living.


    Stamina: 215


    The ability to act, most skills require stamina to use or maintain.


    Strength: 31


    The physical ability of your body. Affects non magical attacks, defense, and physique. Also a determining factor for HP and Stamina


    Intelligence: 24


    The measure of your mental acuity. For caster class persons, it determines the supply of mana for spells. For non spellcasters, it determines things like perception, reaction time, and memory retention.


    Agility: 29


    The measure of how quickly and easily you can move. While strength can affect speed to a lesser extent, this determines the speed and accuracy with which you can move.


    Abilities:


    Quick Learner


    Predecessor¡¯s Guidance


    Bonus points: 1


    <hr>


    "Something¡¯s strange." Austin thought. ¡®Those descriptions weren¡¯t there the last time I opened my window. Maybe it¡¯s an effect of that guidance skill Daniel gave me?¡¯


    He decided not to worry about it and put that bonus point into strength, as it seemed pretty vital at this time.


    "Shame that I didn¡¯t go up four levels, that extra point would have been nice¡­" Austin thought reluctantly.


    Just as the window before his eyes closed, the gate farthest from him, opposite to the one the ant had come out of, began to open.


    Out crawled another ant.


    "I¡¯m in for a therapeutic experience, aren¡¯t I?" Austin snickered to himself, charging forward with slightly more strength than he possessed a few minutes ago.

 Chapter 7: Getting an Upgrade

    Level Up!


    As he dispatched the final ant of the group, the now familiar tone rang out accompanied by that message.


    This time, there had been 5 ants. It seemed as if this arena was getting harder proportional to his own increase in ability, but Austin had no idea where it would cut off, and he had no idea how long he¡¯d been inside the arena.


    He opened up his stats window to check his progress in the lull that always seemed to occur between groups of ants.


    Austin McKenna, Level 20


    Title: None


    Class: None


    HP: 200


    The amount of vitality within you, if it drops to 0, you will cease living.


    Stamina: 250


    The ability to act, most skills require stamina to use or maintain.


    Strength: 38


    <Description Available>


    Intelligence: 30


    <Description Available>


    Agility: 35


    <Description Available>


    Abilities:


    Quick Learner:


    <Description Available>


    Predecessor¡¯s Guidance:


    <Description Available>


    Ant Slayer (NEW):


    Passive Skill: Born from slaying a large number of ants. Damage against insectoid creatures increased by 50%, Damage received from insectoid creatures reduced by 50%


    Bonus points: 3


    ¡°Hm.¡± Austin spoke aloud after reading his new skill. ¡°I guess I¡¯ve killed enough of these stupid bugs to be an expert.¡±


    After Austin had finished reading his new ability, he thought he heard the sound of the gate rumbling open once again, and when he turned, this time it wasn¡¯t ants crawling through.


    The robotic voice Austin hadn¡¯t heard since it announced his entrance to this place suddenly rang out.


    ¡°Daniel¡¯s Final Test has begun.¡±


    "Final test, huh?" Austin thought, getting a bit excited at the prospect of fighting something other than an ant.


    Out of the gate stepped quite possibly the ugliest existence Austin had ever seen. Standing about seven feet tall, with dark green skin, long arms gripped over a pot belly, and a face not even its mother could love.


    As soon as the orc caught sight of Austin it roared in what seemed like delight, and began charging forward, unsheathing the long, iron sword from its back.


    "Think, Austin. I¡¯m a lot stronger thanks to those ants, but if I take that bastard head on I¡¯m done for." the ideas and the orc were both racing. He wondered, which would strike first; a plan, or a blade.


    When the orc got within range of its longsword, it reared back for a clumsy downwards slash. Seeing this, Austin stepped to the side, knowing it would be futile to take its strength on with the puny dagger in his hands.


    After sidestepping the orc¡¯s swing, the momentum of the sword embedded it in the ground of the arena, where it stayed. As the orc struggled to yank it from the dirt with a dumb look on its face, Austin charged.


    His strength couldn¡¯t be compared to what it was before. His speed couldn¡¯t be compared to what it was before. He couldn¡¯t be compared to what he was before.


    With grace he would not have considered possible only hours beforehand, his dagger collided with the orc¡¯s torso, the point left most exposed by his hunched form over the sword in the ground.


    CRACK


    The dagger impacted against the orc¡¯s belly, but it didn¡¯t plunge through like Austin expected it to, rather, instead it shattered, leaving him holding only the hilt.


    "Damn, too many ant exoskeletons for this thing to handle."If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    Austin silently cursed to himself, and quickly switched to a backup plan.


    He slid to the ground beneath the orc, still desperately trying to tug his sword from the earth, and used his hands to launch himself upwards in a donkey kick.


    With his newfound strength behind the blow, the orc was sent flying backwards and crashed hard in the dirt. Not wanting to give him a second to recover, Austin rushed towards the slumped form of the orc, and with complete disregard for his shoe¡¯s wellbeing, began stomping on the creature¡¯s head.


    With each stomp, the orc¡¯s body recoiled, but it wasn¡¯t as if it was going to simply lie there and take it.


    As Austin brought his foot down for another stomp, the orc reached up and grabbed his leg. Unprepared for the sudden yank by his opponent, Austin soon found himself on the ground next to the orc.


    The orc was still dazed from the beating it had just received, so it was still a bit slow on the uptake, and Austin used this time to roll away from his opponent. He sprang up and ran to where the sword was still planted firmly in the dirt, the orc not far behind him. He put both of his hands on the hilt and pulled with all of his strength, and the sword finally gave and came loose.


    With no time to spare, Austin whipped around with a wild swing, and bisected the orc looming behind him.


    Level Up! Level Up! Level Up! Level up!


    He was bombarded by level up messages, and as he closed each one of them, another message caught his eye.


    You have found a suitable weapon, would you like to slot it into Avatar of the Champion?


    ¡°Yes?¡± he ventured, wondering what that message meant.


    The iron longsword in his hands suddenly disappeared, and he was greeted with another message.


    You have unlocked the Avatar of the Champion active state. Please choose your activation phrase (It can be changed at any time)


    ¡°Umm, activation phrase?¡± Austin said, bewildered.


    Phrase accepted.


    ¡°Umm wait, no!¡± Austin called out.


    ¡°Oh well. May as well try it out.¡± He spoke softly.


    ¡°Umm, activation phrase!¡± he shouted out, thoughts of old cartoons running through his mind.


    Austin was suddenly surrounded by a blinding golden light, just like Daniel had been when he fought the Ant Queen, and when his sight cleared, he was once again holding the iron sword he had taken from the orc.


    Please choose a release phrase.


    Austin thought ahead this time, deciding to copy Daniel¡¯s phrase from the cave.


    ¡°Avatar of the Champion, I release you.¡± he said.


    Phrase accepted.


    As he said it, he once again heard the strange sound of a chain snapping, and the sword was no longer in his hand.


    ¡°This is a pretty convenient way to carry weapons, I bet I can also put armor and clothes in, based on Daniel... ¡° Austin muttered.


    He opened his stats window to investigate, ignoring his newly increased stats, he looked straight to the abilities section.


    Abilities:


    Sword Mastery NEW (Level 0):


    Demonstrates the wielder¡¯s mastery of the sword. Affects all bladed weapons, from daggers to greatswords.


    Avatar of the Champion NEW:


    With use of an activation phrase, summons whatever the user has designated as their Set to them. When active, boosts all stats by 100%. Whatever slots are not assigned in the Set will remain unchanged. Cannot be maintained once the user falls to their original Max HP. Set can be managed by the phrase: ¡°Champion¡¯s Inventory¡±


    Austin closed the stats window.


    ¡®Swordsmanship is nice, but holy crap, doubling all my stats! That¡¯s insane!¡¯


    Realizing just how strong he could potentially become, Austin was getting more excited.


    ¡°Champion¡¯s Inventory!¡± he called out.


    A screen that he had never seen before popped up in front of him, showing a slots for gear all over his body, and one for a weapon. The only occupied slot, however, was the one taken up by the iron sword. He looked at the description of the orc¡¯s former weapon.


    Iron Longsword


    A standard, well made longsword that gets the job done.


    Damage: +5


    "I guess it would be too much to ask for Daniel to have left his gear behind¡­" Austin thought reluctantly.


    Still, he was extremely excited at the possibilities posed by his new ability.


    "First thing¡¯s first," Austin mused, "Since no more monsters are coming out, I have to figure out how to get out of here."


    No sooner had he thought it, the robotic voice rang out.


    ¡°You have completed Daniel¡¯s Dream, would you like to exit?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Austin called out.


    The gap in space that brought him here once again formed in front of him, and he stepped back into his world almost a new person. The difference in strength between just level 11 and level 25 was staggering. Austin could only imagine what it would be like at even higher levels.


    He stepped back onto the pavement in front of his apartment building and looked around.


    Austin was bewildered, ¡®Judging from where the sun is, no time at all has passed since I left, how weird¡­¡¯


    Austin went back into the building and upstairs to his residence, but as he sat down on his bed to take a well earned rest, one thought ran through his head.


    "I¡¯m not tired¡­"


    This was contrary to everything that Austin expected, he had just spent what felt like hours fighting wave after wave of ants, but he wasn¡¯t tired.


    "Maybe it¡¯s some effect of leveling up? My stamina hasn''t gone down..." He pondered any possible causes.


    "I guess if I can¡¯t sleep, I should head over to the crawler¡¯s association to get my rank re-evaluated, that way I can participate in dungeon clears to get stronger." He thought.


    ¡°The money would be nice too¡­¡± He said aloud as he looked at the one bedroom apartment he called home.


    He got up and changed out of the wrecked clothes he was wearing, and had a thought.


    He went to his closet and grabbed an old halloween mask. It was like the mask worn by the Phantom of the Opera, but this one covered the whole face.


    ¡°Champion¡¯s Inventory¡± He called out.


    "Just in case I need to activate it in public, I don¡¯t want people to know about this weird power I¡¯ve gotten." he reasoned, as he placed the mask in the head slot of his Avatar.


    After he had finished showering and changing, he left his apartment and began walking towards the Crawler¡¯s Association building at the center of town. He wondered if he should show his full power to get ranked higher immediately, or if he should be patient and avoid suspicion.


    "Definitely avoid suspicion" He chuckled to himself.

 Chapter 8: Registration

    After about a 10 minute walk, Austin arrived in front of the massive Crawler¡¯s Association HQ.


    The building towered over its surroundings, dominating the landscape, however its size was dwarfed by its purpose. This building housed the regulating body for all Crawler activities in this region of the U.S, and there were undoubtedly thousands of personnel inside.


    "Just act natural, I¡¯m just some dude who recently got stronger, that¡¯s all." Austin repeated this mantra as he nervously approached the sliding glass doors marking the entrance to the building.


    He looked up at the large digital clock dominating the foyer, it read ¡°Thursday, 11:39 AM.¡±


    "Guess that means I was asleep for 3 days in that hospital¡­" Austin realized he hadn¡¯t checked the date since he had been awoken by Dr. Jacobs earlier that morning.


    "Earlier this morning¡­" he continued to bewilder himself. It had felt like much longer to him, but since it seemed time didn¡¯t pass in that pocket dimension it really had only been a couple of hours since he had awoken.


    Shaking off all of these thoughts, Austin approached the central desk, where a single young lady with tired eyes sat.


    ¡°Welcome to the Crawler¡¯s Association, how can I help you?¡± The words came out of her mouth like they had been rehearsed thousands of times before.


    ¡°I, ummm,¡± Austin stammered. He may have been stronger than he was a few days ago, but he certainly was no better with people. ¡°I want my Crawler rank to be re-evaluated.¡± He stated, with as much authority as he could muster, as he handed over his identification card to her.


    The woman perked up a bit at his statement, she then looked at the card he handed her and typed something into her computer.


    She looked at him and spoke with a hint of laughter behind her words, like she thought he was playing some hilarious joke, ¡°Alright, what rank are you currently?¡± She asked, her tone almost patronizing.


    ¡°I¡¯m unranked currently, a 1-Star Conduit.¡± Austin said, embarrassment creeping in.


    ¡°Young man,¡± She began, ¡°You do know that if you are evaluated and your rank hasn¡¯t changed the Association will have to charge you a fee, correct.¡± She was no longer hiding her discontent with what she must have considered a waste of her time.


    ¡°Y-Yes, I¡¯m aware of the consequences.¡± Austin stammered, knowing all too well the price he¡¯d be charged should his rank remain unchanged.


    The woman reached across her desk and picked up her phone, spoke quietly into it, and placed it back on the receiver.


    ¡°Someone will be down shortly to evaluate you.¡± After these words were spoken, it was like Austin no longer existed to her, she simply turned back to her computer and ignored him.


    Austin went and sat down on one of the couches in what seemed like the waiting area, and after a brief wait a burly man in a black suit approached him.


    ¡°You the kid who wants to be evaluated?¡± The man said gruffly.


    ¡°Y-yeah.¡± Austin responded in a meek tone.


    ¡°Follow.¡± The man barked, turning on his heel and walking away without checking to see if Austin was complying with his order.


    The two of them entered a large, open room that looked like a basketball court save the goals on the wall. As they entered, the door slid closed behind them and the man walked over to a weapon rack next to a large button on the wall.


    ¡°What type of fighter are you?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Melee.¡± Austin responded.


    ¡°Catch.¡± The man said as he tossed a wooden practice sword, about the same size as Austin¡¯s new longsword at him.


    Austin caught it without any difficulty thanks to his newfound stat increases and took up a combat stance, already knowing what was to come.


    As the gruff man pressed the button, a training dummy popped out of the floor.


    Austin had a bewildered look on his face, ¡°Where¡¯s the robot?¡± He asked out loud.


    ¡°You don¡¯t look like you¡¯re worth it, so first you gotta get past this test.¡± the man replied, matter of factly.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.


    Last time he tried to get evaluated, he had to fight a humanoid robot that tracked scores such as how hard he hit, how many times it hit him, and other things like that.


    Apparently this time, he wasn¡¯t worth the trouble.


    ¡°The dummy is rigged with sensors, hit it hard enough and you can fight the bot.¡± The man retorted, seemingly already bored.


    Austin sighed, readied himself again, and charged the dummy with all the strength he had.


    The gruff man¡¯s eyes popped open, ¡°That kid¡¯s way faster than he looks... ¡° he muttered to himself.


    When Austin¡¯s sword collided with the dummy, it¡¯s head exploded in a shower of stuffing and cloth, leaving the suited man speechless.


    "Wow. I invested all my bonus points into strength, but I had no idea it was this much!" Austin was amazed with himself, and a little bit prideful.


    ¡°You- umm- I- uhh.¡± The man was stammering just like Austin had at the beginning of this. Their roles were now swapped, and Austin was reveling in his newfound position.


    Without saying anything else, the man looked down at the tablet he had with him, which was likely linked to the sensors in the dummy, and was further baffled. He pushed a button on it and the door slid open behind him.


    Two men wearing what looked like janitor¡¯s outfits hurried in and removed the wrecked dummy, and the gruff man stalked over to Austin.


    ¡°You destroyed the sensors before they could get an accurate reading of how hard you hit the thing¡­¡± he began. ¡°How- according to our records, you didn¡¯t even qualify to be a 1-Star. How the hell¡¯d you get that strong since your eval a couple of months ago.¡±


    Austin looked sheepishly at the man. He didn¡¯t want to reveal the ability that Daniel had given him, so he gave a generic response. ¡°I had a good teacher.¡±


    It was technically true, and it wasn¡¯t like the man was accusing Austin, so he let it go at that.


    ¡°I guess you get to fight the bot after all¡­¡± he muttered, returning to the observation area by the door.


    ¡°I¡¯m ready.¡± Austin called out, re assuming his stance from before.


    After the man pushed a button on his tablet, a humanoid form, about the same size as Austin, dropped from the same place that the dummy had.


    The second it hit the ground, it charged at Austin, but to him it may as well have been taking a leisurely jog.


    The robot that was so terrifyingly strong to him a few months ago when he tried this was now within his reach, and Austin was not going to pass up this opportunity for some small revenge against his past weakness.


    He dashed forwards, parrying the haphazard blows the robot flung his way as he passed it. Just as he had done with the ants, he charged until he was behind the robot and struck at its exposed back.


    It wouldn¡¯t be as easy as it was with the simpleminded insects. When Austin went to strike, the robot¡¯s torso pivoted and thrust its own sword out to parry.


    When it met Austin¡¯s full force strike, a loud crack resounded, and both of the swords splintered at the force. Austin didn¡¯t let this stop his momentum, however, and spun. Using the shattered practice sword¡¯s pommel as a bludgeon, he bashed the robot hard on its head.


    He swung quickly, following each blow up before the robot had a chance to act. Each blow cracked its casing slightly, and after the fifth, the robot stopped moving entirely.


    ¡°Enough!¡± He heard the gruff man call out from the other side of the room.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while since someone trounced the bot so thoroughly¡­¡± he muttered to himself as he approached Austin.


    Austin had a wide grin on his face as the man walked over. He tossed the destroyed remains of the sword to the ground next to him and turned towards the suited man.


    ¡°Mr. ummm-¡± He looked down at his tablet, ¡°Mr. McKenna, please proceed back to the waiting area that I retrieved you from earlier, a representative will be out with your new Crawler card.¡±


    ¡°What rank will I be?¡± Austin asked excitedly, briefly forgetting about the secret that he wanted to keep.


    ¡°I-um-I¡¯m not at liberty to say.¡± the man responded, looking nervously down at his tablet. All traces of his gruff persona from before were gone by this point.


    Austin sat in the same spot he was in earlier when a tall man with red hair and a bespoke gray suit approached him.


    ¡°Mr. McKenna, I am Johnathan Young, head of the monitoring division here. I¡¯d like to ask you a few questions before we give you your new identification.¡± A calm, cold voice from the man froze Austin in place.


    "Did they figure me out?" Austin thought, beginning to panic.


    ¡°Until recently, you were not eligible to become a Crawler,¡± the man began, ¡°A few days ago, you registered as a porter for an independent raid party lead by one ¡®James Anderson.¡¯ The raid went poorly, and you were the only survivor. After you awoke at the hospital, you came here and are suddenly several times stronger than previously. What did you do, young man?¡±


    The question sent a chill through Austin¡¯s already icy body. ¡°I-um-I-uh.¡± He stammered for what felt like the millionth time today.


    ¡°Could it be perhaps that Mr. Anderson¡¯s group allowed you to kill monsters in the dungeon to get stronger?¡± He threw Austin a lifeline, and he wholeheartedly grabbed onto it.


    ¡°Um, Yeah¡± Austin began, ¡°Mr. Anderson would grab monsters and have me kill them as we went through the dungeon, he said he liked me and it was an ¡®investment in a future member¡¯ or something like that. When we reached the boss room, the group fought but were all killed, but they weakened the boss enough that I was able to attack it from behind while they had it distracted and finish it off.¡± Austin concocted this story rather quickly, but he hoped it would hold up to scrutiny.


    ¡°I will choose to believe you, for now. Mr. McKenna, your current abilities would place you at a 2-Star Crawler rank, but due to your seemingly amazing growth potential, we will place you at 3-Star right now.¡±


    Austin couldn¡¯t believe his ears, not only had his lie worked, but he was now a 3-Star Crawler, far beyond what he had hoped for.


    Young continued, ¡°Good luck, Mr. McKenna. I hope I don¡¯t have cause to investigate you further.¡± as he finished speaking, he handed Austin a small plastic card with his new identification on it, and spun on his heel to walk away.


    ¡°Thank you!¡± Austin called out earnestly after him.


    He exited the building and headed towards home. He truly was tired now, but his steps were lightened by his ecstatic mood.


    "I¡¯m gonna sleep for the night, and find a raid group tomorrow!" He thought eagerly. ¡®I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m a 3-Star, groups will be falling over themselves for me to raid with them!¡¯

 Chapter 9: Money Troubles

    Austin awoke around 7:00 in the morning to a pounding on his door.


    He had set the old alarm clock by his bed to wake him up at 9:00, that way he could get to the site of the raid he was scheduled to join a bit early, so being awoken now was a bit unexpected.


    He got up and walked to the door to his apartment and opened it. He had no reason to worry about intruders, firstly because of his newfound strength, but mostly because he had nothing worthwhile to steal. At the door stood a stocky african american woman about two heads shorter than Austin with long braided hair and a kindly face.


    "Wait," he suddenly thought to himself, "Was she always that short?"He quickly looked around his apartment and found that everything, including the clothes he was wearing, were smaller than they were before.


    "The stats menu said that strength affected physique¡­" he thought.


    ¡°But I didn¡¯t think I¡¯d actually get taller!¡± He was so surprised that he accidentally vocalized the final part of his thought.


    ¡°What was that, honey?¡± The woman on the other side of the door asked him, eyebrows arched in worry.


    ¡°Oh-Um, nothing, Mrs. Green.¡± Austin responded quickly.


    "I¡¯ll have to investigate the effects of this more later¡­"


    ¡°Well,¡± she began, the worry still plain on her face. It was like she saw through his half baked response immediately, but decided not to interfere. ¡°I heard some stuff happened to you recently, but itisthe first of the month.¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Austin called out in surprise. So much had happened to him that he had absolutely no idea what day of the week it was, let alone the actual date.


    He looked apologetically at Mrs. Green, ¡°I didn¡¯t get paid for the porter job I told you about because of a slight mishap, but check this out!¡±


    Before she had the chance to say anything, he excitedly produced his new Crawler ID from his pocket.


    ¡°What¡¯s this, honey?¡± She asked, not knowing what was going on before her eyes shot wide,


    ¡°A 3-STAR!¡± she shouted in surprise. ¡°Baby, since when were you even a 1-Star Crawler?¡±


    Austin was suddenly at a loss for words, the excitement draining from his face, ¡°Umm, yesterday?¡± he offered, shrugging his shoulders.


    Mrs. Green eyed him suspiciously, ¡°Mmmhmm. Well, it¡¯s none of my business anyways.¡±


    Austin continued, ¡°That¡¯s not the point. Umm, well, it kind of is.¡± He was fumbling, caught up in both his own awkwardness and his excitement to share his promotion. ¡°With this, I can participate in raids and start making more money. I have a raid later today, so I should be able to pay you tonight, I promise.¡±


    ¡°Ok, Austin, I trust you.¡± She looked like she didn¡¯t quite know what to say. As she turned to walk away, she called over her shoulder before he closed the door, ¡°Just promise you¡¯ll be careful, your parents would never forgive me if I let their son get hurt.¡±


    ¡°Right¡­¡± he said aloud, to no one in particular anymore.


    Before he got ready to leave, he decided to pass the time by checking his stats.


    Austin McKenna, Level 25


    Title: None


    Class: None


    HP: 230


    The amount of vitality within you, if it drops to 0, you will cease living.


    Stamina: 280


    The ability to act, most skills require stamina to use or maintain.


    Strength: 44


    Intelligence: 35


    Agility: 44


    Abilities:


    Quick Learner:


    Predecessor¡¯s Guidance:


    Ant Slayer:


    Sword Mastery (Level 0):


    Avatar of the ChampionThis narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Bonus points: 0


    Austin had spent the bonus points to bring Strength and Agility to equal levels, but he had no real idea what that meant for him.


    I¡¯ll definitely have to do more research into exactly what one point of each skill means¡­"


    Another thing that he noticed was that the descriptions of everything in his stat window were now missing, however he found that if he thought about it, they would once again appear.


    "Well, at least that function is useful."


    When the time arrived for him to set out for the Door¡¯s location, he checked over the gear inside of the Champion¡¯s Inventory once again. The only things he had equipped were a different set of clothes than the one he was wearing now, a hoodie, the mask, and the longsword.


    He figured if he had to ¡°Suit up¡± the mask wouldn¡¯t matter if he were wearing the same clothes, thus the separate set.


    "Once I get paid, I¡¯ll have to go shopping since nothing fits me anymore¡­" He thought reluctantly.


    Austin left his apartment and began walking to his destination. As he neared the Door site, he realized that he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to access the Champion¡¯s Avatar while on the raid without raising a lot of suspicion, so Austin ducked somewhere he wouldn¡¯t be seen, then got out his longsword and hung it at his belt.


    The world had changed so much since the dungeons first opened, so much so that Austin open carrying a sword didn¡¯t even give people pause when he emerged from the alley.


    He approached the site with about fifteen minutes to spare before he was to meet the rest of the raid team. Austin knew he was in the right place because the area was cordoned off from the public for the time being. He approached a man in an Association uniform standing by the entrance, and presented his ID.


    ¡°You may enter, Mr. ummm,¡± the man squinted, ¡°Mr. McKenna.¡±


    He stepped aside to let Austin pass, and while he did, Austin asked him a question, ¡°Has anything come out of the gate yet?¡±


    The man responded nonchalantly, ¡°Nope, it¡¯s been pretty docile, even as far as 1-Stars go. We haven¡¯t had to do anything but keep the gawkers out.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± Austin said, ¡°Thanks.¡±


    It was standard practice for the Crawler¡¯s Association to immediately lock down a site where they detected a Door. They would keep anyone from the general public from comitting suicide by entering, and they always had at least one 3-Star Crawler with them in order to kill anything that found its way outside.


    Nobody knew what parameters had to be met for monsters to come into their world, but sometimes it could happen within minutes of a Door opening. Even a single monster escaping into the general populace would be devastating, hence the measures taken by the Association to contain the Doors while a raid team would gather to clear it.


    Obviously stronger Association members would be called in to watch stronger Doors, but since this was a 1-Star Door, Austin couldn¡¯t even see anyone nearby who looked like they could take a monster.


    He leaned on a nearby wall, facing the Door. It seemed he was the first member of the raid team to arrive, which was pretty normal. Once their meeting time passed, the team would gather and prepare to enter, so it would probably be another fifteen minutes before they actually went inside, so people usually weren¡¯t as early as Austin was now.


    But he was excited.


    Austin could hardly contain himself. He was giddy at the prospect of his first actual raid. Before, his stint as a porter with Anderson¡¯s group, was his first time in the dungeon, but this time he would be a combatant. And that idea excited him greatly.


    As he was standing there, lost in his own thoughts of glory, the atmosphere shifted. None of the workers seemed to pick it up, but Austin did, so he began to draw the iron longsword at his hip.


    He dashed towards the Door, hovering as a hole in space, and stood at the ready in front of it. The Association employees near him looked on in confusion, until they saw the goblin step out of the portal.


    Before it even took a step forward, however, Austin dashed forwards and cleanly separated its torso from its legs in one slash. Compared to the orc, a single goblin was nothing.


    As the body on the ground dissolved and left behind a small, rusted dagger, a leather armguard, and the paltry mana crystals from such a low level monster, an employee rushed over to Austin, who had already sheathed his sword.


    ¡°What the hell just happened?¡± The man asked breathlessly.


    Austin turned to him, ¡°I-um-I killed a goblin?¡± he faltered, back to his usual self.


    The man looked at him oddly, ¡°I can-um-see that, sir. How did you know he was about to come out?¡±


    Austin didn¡¯t know how to respond, ¡°Intuition, I guess?¡±


    The man looked amazed, ¡°That¡¯s a 3-Star for you¡­¡± he muttered, walking off to give his report.


    ¡°Hey, wait.¡± Austin called out, ¡°Where is the 3-Star Crawler from the association that¡¯s supposed to be here?¡± he asked quizzically.


    The man looked slightly embarrassed, ¡°Well, since the association deemed this Door to be a -um- a non-threat, he was dispatched elsewhere this morning, since we had a raid team coming to clear it.¡±


    ¡°And if I hadn¡¯t been here¡­¡± Austin began, looking at the man in front of him, he didn¡¯t need to finish that thought.


    Since all the Association Employees around him were normal people, they would have had serious trouble with even a single goblin. There weren¡¯t that many of them, and the guns they carried were for handling civilians, not the monsters. As creatures created by mana, modern weaponry and even things wielded by normal people had no effect on them. Even a Conduit too weak to be a Crawler had enough mana in their body to have their weapons affected, but if that goblin had gotten out, it likely would have been a slaughter.


    Austin was very glad at his habit of being early to everything.


    As he returned to the wall he was leaning on earlier, a voice called out to him.


    ¡°Are you Austin McKenna?¡± he heard.


    Austin turned around and was face to face with a young girl about his age, with long, curly red hair, and piercing green eyes. Austin assumed she was a Crawler based on the fact she was wearing leather armor and had two daggers at her belt.


    ¡°He-I-um.¡± He stuttered, ¡°Yeah?¡±


    She giggled softly at him, ¡°I saw you take care of that goblin just now!¡± she seemed very excited for some reason. ¡°You must be very strong, how long have you been a Crawler!¡±


    Austin had no idea how to respond from the sudden interrogation from a pretty girl. ¡°I-uhhhh, about two days?¡± he said.


    ¡°No way!¡± she cried out, ¡°My name is Julie, I¡¯ll be on this raid with you. I¡¯m a 1-Star, so I hope you show me some cool moves.¡±


    "This girl is a total Crawler nerd. Just like how I used to be..." Austin chuckled to himself.


    Just then a gruff voice called out to them, ¡°Julie! New guy! Let¡¯s get going.¡± Austin had been distracted by the interrogation, so he didn¡¯t even notice the group of 3 other Crawlers enter the cordoned off area.


    This would be his squad for this raid, Austin forgot all about the girl next to him, and once again let the excitement well up inside of him.

 Chapter 10: Once More Unto the Breach

    Inside of the headquarters of the Crawler¡¯s Association, a meeting concerning a particular person was currently taking place.


    At the head of a table was a red headed man wearing a grey suit, Johnathan Young. He was speaking to two other men, and standing next to him was the suited man who witnessed the subject of the meeting in action. He seemed just about to finish a report to those present.


    He spoke in a gruff voice, ¡°I didn¡¯t think the kid looked like much, but he obliterated the training dummy and the bot.¡±


    Johnathan Young turned to the gruff man, ¡°Thank you, Richard, you may leave now.¡±


    As the gruff man shuffled out of the conference room, Young turned to the two men.


    ¡°Well, Mr. Chairman, as you saw on the video, his strength is vastly different from what it was the last time he was tested. Based on all our information, it is virtually impossible for someone to grow that much in such a short time. It''s possible that he betrayed and murdered his group when he was inside the dungeon with them, and that is how he grew strong so quickly.¡±


    ¡°Strong?¡± The man sitting next to the chairman, who could only be described as a mountain, snorted in derision. ¡°Those bots are nothing, any 2-Star can tear them apart in seconds.¡±


    Young looked at the man in annoyance, ¡°While that may be true, it isn¡¯t his current strength, but the fact that he killed experienced Crawlers that has us worried.¡±


    The large man snorted once again, but before he could fire off another remark, the Chairman held up his hand.


    The Chairman was an old man, but he had been running the Association since just after it was founded, so there wasn¡¯t a single person who didn¡¯t take him seriously. As such, the bundle of muscle posing as a human sitting next to him bit his tongue


    He smiled warmly, ¡°Now now, gentlemen. There¡¯s no need to get worked up.¡± He turned his attention to Young, still standing at the front of the room. ¡°Johnathan, you said that you spoke to the young man in question. How did that go?¡±


    ¡°Well, Sir,¡± Young began, ¡°He seemed extremely nervous when talking to me, as if he was about to jump out of his skin. However, when I presented him with his new rank, he seemed so excited that he forgot all about his nerves.¡±


    The Chairman continued smiling, ¡°That kind of earnestness is hard to fake, and you have particularly good eyes, Johnathan.¡± He chuckled towards his subordinate at his remark, ¡°I believe that for now, we should simply observe and see what comes of this boy. If he continues to grow stronger at this rate, we have no reason to suspect him. If not...¡±


    The chairman stole a glance at the mound of brawn next to him, who spoke up once again, ¡°Austin McKenna, huh? Maybe I can finally get a good fight¡­¡±


    With that, the matter was closed.


    *****************************************************************************************************************


    Austin was standing in a circle next to Julie, the excited redhead who briefly interrogated him, and a man whose name he found out was Griggs.


    In total, there were five Crawlers meeting here before the raid.


    Griggs just finished up their strategy for the raid, and after the circle broke and everyone went to prepare before stepping through the Door, he caught Austin.


    ¡°Hey, mate, I hope you don¡¯t mind me taking the lead here, even though you outrank me.¡±


    Austin looked bewildered, ¡°Oh-Um-I actually really appreciate it. If I was in charge, I don¡¯t know what I¡¯d do.¡±


    Griggs gave Austin a friendly pat on the shoulder before walking away. Their party consisted of:


    Austin, a frontline fighter. Julie, a rogue wielding twin daggers. Griggs, another fighter, wielding a broadsword paired with a wooden buckler. And an armored man whose name was Ray, wielding a tower shield and a shortsword.


    The final member of their group hadn¡¯t spoken a word yet, and Austin hadn¡¯t found out his name either. According to Griggs, he was their healer and support caster.


    Out of their whole group, Austin was ranked the highest, and the rest of them were 1-Stars with Griggs being a 2-Star. Overall, their party composition was decent, so a 1-Star dungeon shouldn¡¯t pose any threat to them.


    ¡°Then again, that¡¯s what I said about Anderson¡¯s group. I can¡¯t let my guard down.¡±


    Austin had equipped the leather armguard from the escapee goblin on his left arm, and had pocketed the mana crystal. Since it was killed outside the dungeon by him, all of its drops also went to him, naturally.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.


    The group reassembled and as they prepared to pass through, Julie slid next to Austin and grabbed onto his arm.


    ¡°Hey, what do you think we¡¯re going to find in there?¡± she asked, innocence and excitement in equal parts written on her face.


    Austin was flustered by this behavior, so he performed his usual routine of stuttering, before offering a simple response of, ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    The group stepped through the Door, and into the dungeon. The other side of the door was completely different than the ant cave that Austin had been in previously. This time, it was a wide open, grassy field that seemed to stretch on for miles.


    ¡°Alright fellas,¡± Griggs called out cheerfully, ¡°Seems we¡¯re in a field type. Austin there has already confirmed that we¡¯ll be facing goblins in ¡®ere, so look for their encampment.¡±


    Julie was the first to speak up, ¡°Oooh, oooh!¡± she called excitedly, ¡°There¡¯s smoke over there!¡±


    The rest of the group seemed unable to see what she could, but as she was a scout, this was to be expected.


    Griggs whistled in appreciation. ¡°Good eyes, girly. Alright, form up and lets march!¡±


    Even though they were quite different, the way Griggs conducted himself inside of the dungeon reminded Austin very much of Anderson. Austin steeled himself, resolving to not allow Griggs to resemble Anderson in other ways.


    With Ray standing at the front, flanked on either side by Austin and Griggs, and followed closely by Julie and the mute healer, they began to march in the direction that their scout had indicated she saw smoke.


    Before they knew it, they were upon a forest standing alone among the grasslands. ¡°Geography in the dungeon doesn¡¯t have to make sense, huh?¡± Austin mused.


    By this point, they could all see the smoke rising from within the trees, it was clear that the goblins had made their camp inside the forest.


    ¡°Keep an ear out for an ambush, you hear?¡± Griggs said, facing towards Julie.


    She didn¡¯t respond, but instead just nodded her head like an excited puppy.


    As they pushed through the forest, Austin heard the rustling of branches headed their way. Since there weren¡¯t birds inside the dungeon, this could only mean one thing.


    Just as he noticed it, Julie¡¯s head also pricked up. It seemed both of them had heard it, but Austin was the first one to speak.


    ¡°You might wanna draw your weapons now.¡± Austin said, far too timid for the situation.


    Everyone had assumed their battle stances by the time their enemies arrived. Thanks to the early warning, they weren¡¯t caught off guard when several goblins dropped from the trees and attempted to latch onto their backs.


    Austin made a grand swing with his longsword, and caught two goblins in his arc, removing both of their heads from their bodies.


    Level Up!


    ¡°Nice.¡± he muttered to himself.


    Before he had the chance to assist his comrades, the small ambush was already taken care of. Griggs had pulled a similar move to Austin, though he only took out one goblin, Julie had deftly sidestepped the two dropping towards her, and, before they had a chance to recover from a hard faceplant, had planted a dagger in each of their backs. Ray bashed the goblin falling towards him in the face with his shield, and quickly turned and took care of the one assaulting the healer.


    It was quick, efficient, and brutal. With that, seven goblins had been dispatched, and their group was no worse for wear.


    Austin went around and collected the crystals and gear that each goblin left behind, and placed them in the backpack that Ray was carrying in addition to his other gear.


    ¡°Hey, Austin.¡± Griggs called over to him. ¡°I notice you¡¯re lacking a bit in the armor department, go ahead and take the pieces that these bastards drop.¡±


    Austin was stunned, ¡°Really?¡± he asked, ¡°Won¡¯t you be losing money like that?¡±


    ¡°Nah,¡± Griggs replied nonchalantly, ¡°The crappy leather stuff that gobs wear ain¡¯t worth much. Them crystals are where the cash is at these lower level dungeons.¡±


    ¡°If you insist¡­¡± Austin replied, still uncomfortable at taking Griggs¡¯s charity.


    After collecting the bits and pieces from the seven slain goblins, Austin was now wearing a breastplate that used to cover the goblin¡¯s whole torso, a wrist guard on each arm, and leg protection, all over his street clothes that were just a bit too tight. It wasn¡¯t much, but it was better protection than he had previously, so Austin wouldn¡¯t complain.


    The group continued forward through the forest, and after another uneventful ambush, Austin had completed his set of leather armor, save a helmet. He was feeling pretty good about his skills at this point, and had leveled up another time from killing four in the second ambush.


    After the second ambush, the rest of their journey was uneventful, and they came to a clearing in the forest where the goblin¡¯s camp was.


    Julie went to scout the camp while the rest of the group stayed hidden past the treeline. When she returned, she had a grave look on her face.


    ¡°Bad news, there are two hobgoblins and a goblin chief at the center of the camp, and they look tough.¡± She said this with a pouting look on her face, as if she was upset that it wouldn¡¯t all be as easy as the ambushes.


    Griggs frowned, ¡°Two hobs wouldn¡¯t be much of a problem, but with a chief thrown in there alongside the rest of the camp, things may get tough.¡±


    ¡°I have an idea,¡± Austin ventured.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hear it, mate.¡± Griggs looked excited to hear what he had to say.


    ¡°I can probably take out the chief in one on one combat,¡± He began, recalling that the guidebook said that Goblin Chieftains were only marginally stronger than standard orcs, one of which he killed not too long ago.


    Griggs whistled again, ¡°Come to think of it, the way you were carving up the small fry, I bet you could. Go on.¡±


    ¡°If we charge the camp, Julie and Ray can keep the rest of the camp busy while Griggs and I quickly take out the hobgoblins, one each. After they¡¯re dead, Griggs can join up with them to finish off the small fry while I fight the big guy. This way none of you are at risk with a strong opponent.¡±


    Austin made his case, keeping the fact that he wanted to monopolize the XP from the Chieftain to himself.


    Julie regained her eager state, ¡°Oooh, yeah! I wanna see you fight that big strong guy. It¡¯ll be so cool!¡±


    Griggs was smirking too, ¡°I knew there was a reason we brought you on, this could definitely work. Let¡¯s do it.¡±


    Ray and the mute mage also gave their consent, and with that, their plan of attack was decided.

 Chapter 11: A Brief Brawl

    The plan was set, and everyone prepared for action, but before they could begin their assault, the mute healer spoke up for the first time.


    ¡°Excuse me, but I would like some time to prepare before we begin.¡±


    Griggs nodded his head, ¡°Sure thing, Zander.¡±


    With that, Zander moved to stand in front of Ray and began chanting, a soft green glow enveloping the both of them.


    While the rest of them waited their turn, Austin turned to Julie and asked a question, ¡°Hey, how did you get into the camp without being noticed?¡±


    Goblins weren¡¯t the smartest creatures, but waltzing into a camp of so many of them was still no mean feat.


    Julie giggled, before poking him in the ribs with her finger, ¡°I didn¡¯t actually enter the camp. I just stood outside of it and used a skill!¡± She leaned in close to Austin before saying the last part, like she was sharing a secret.


    Austin was flustered by her proximity, but his curiosity won over. ¡°I thought you said you were a 1-Star, I¡¯ve heard that not many people that rank have special abilities?¡±


    Julie giggled once more, ¡°Oooh-you know your stuff. Could it be that you¡¯re into Crawlers almost as much as I am?¡± Before Austin even had a chance to answer her question, she continued her giddy explanation, ¡°My skill is called ¡®Far Sight¡¯ it¡¯s pretty common among scouts, but I still make good use of it!¡±


    ¡°Oh!¡± Austin exclaimed excitedly, letting Julie¡¯s enthusiasm infect him, if only slightly, ¡°I¡¯ve heard of far sight, it lets you observe large areas from a bird¡¯s eye view from a distance.¡±


    Julie looked impressed and poked him in the ribs once more. ¡°I knew it, you are a nerd.¡±


    Austin blushed, but was rescued by Zander approaching where the two of them were standing and wordlessly beginning his spell on Austin. After the magic was complete, he felt stronger, and sure enough his stats confirmed it.


    ¡°Must be reinforcement type magic, super useful. My strength has been bumped by 10 points, with this I shouldn¡¯t have a problem against the goblins.¡±


    Austin turned towards Zander as he approached Julie to complete his rounds, ¡°Hey, thanks man.¡± Austin called to him. Zander turned his head and gave a simple smile.


    With their preparations complete, they now approached the Goblin Camp, with Griggs and Austin approaching the rear, Ray and Julie approached from the front.


    A horn sounded, the goblin¡¯s way of raising the alarm, and the battle commenced. From where they were positioned, Austin and Griggs could see the two hobgoblins and the chief on his makeshift throne. The chief growled something unintelligible and the two hobgoblins made to move where the action was.


    Before they had the chance to, however, Austin and Griggs were upon them. Since the two hobgoblins didn¡¯t see them coming, they were taken care of quickly.


    Austin rushed one of them and as it turned to meet him, drove his sword deep into its chest. The hob cried out and swung its club violently at him, and Austin ducked beneath the arc of the swing. As he went towards the ground to avoid the hob¡¯s attack, he also dragged the sword that was still embedded in the goblin¡¯s chest down with him, splitting the goblin from the chest down. It stopped moving after that, and fell to the ground with a crash.


    Level Up! Level Up!


    Austin ignored the messages in front of his eyes, and turned to where Griggs was engaged with the other hobgoblin. Griggs very clearly had the upper hand in the engagement, fighting like a fencer with his long, thin sword. He either avoided or redirected all of the goblins attacks, and was completely unharmed thus far, however the wounds he was inflicting on the goblin with each thrust were also minimal.


    It was clear that Griggs would win if left to his own devices, however with the Chieftain approaching from behind, they didn¡¯t have that luxury. Austin charged in from the side and separated its head from the rest while its attention lay elsewhere.


    Level Up!


    Griggs looked at Austin and gave him a thumbs up before running off to join the melee elsewhere.


    Austin squared off against the chieftain, who was wielding a large greatsword almost as tall as it was and was decked out from head to toe in metallic armor that Austin guessed was iron.


    ¡°I want that armor.¡± Austin muttered to himself.


    After a final check that the rest of the group was out of sight, Austin turned towards the large goblin in front of him and with no small amount of embarrassment, called out ¡°Umm, activation phrase!¡±


    He was enveloped by the golden light, and to his surprise, he kept the leather armor on.


    ¡°I guess that clothing and armor slots are considered different. My clothes changed but the armor didn¡¯t.¡±


    Austin was quite thankful for that, as he was prepared to fight unarmored when he activated his ability.


    As the golden light faded, Austin could feel his strength surge. The doubled bonus really was quite nice. The mask was a bit inconvenient, but he judged that it wouldn¡¯t affect him too much.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see what I can really do!¡± Austin cried, he had never fought with the Avatar activated, and was quite excited to see how he fared.


    The goblin chief snarled, and began his own charge, greatsword brandished above his head.


    ¡°He¡¯s slow, but there¡¯s a lot of power behind those movements, gotta be careful.¡±


    He decided the head on approach wasn¡¯t the best option, and dashed to the side.


    Austin¡¯s speed surprised even himself, and he overshot his goal by no small margin. Now with a lot of distance in between himself and the chief, he had a second to think.If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    After formulating his plan, Austin charged with more caution than previously, and arrived in front of the goblin. The chief reacted quickly, and swung his sword horizontally at Austin, exactly as he hoped he would. Austin stepped back and towards the direction that the goblin had swung from, effectively putting him out of range for a moment.


    Austin took advantage of this, and before the chief even finished his swing, Austin raised his own sword and brought it down hard, severing the goblin¡¯s right arm.


    Since his right hand was the one gripping the greatsword during his followthrough, and that hand was no longer attached to the rest of the goblin, the sword went clattering off to the side, out of reach.


    Austin saw what he thought was panic bubble to the surface of the chieftain''s face, but disregarded it.


    ¡°I won¡¯t forgive you bastards.¡± At this moment, Austin¡¯s normally calm, timid personality cracked. Hatred seethed in those eyes, and this terrified the goblin even more.


    Recalling the words that Daniel had said in the cave, in what seemed like a different life, Austin brandished his sword while reciting those same words. ¡°For your transgressions against humanity, I condemn you.¡± It wasn¡¯t quite the same, but Austin had the feeling that Daniel would forgive him for stealing his line.


    With that, Austin swung the sword, and separated both the head, and the arm that the goblin brought up in an effort to protect himself, cleanly. The goblin chieftain fell, and began melting into the black sludge characteristic of slain monsters, before disappearing entirely, leaving behind only his armor and a medium sized mana crystal, slightly bigger than the ones left behind by the hobgoblins.


    Level Up! Level Up! Level Up!


    ¡°Whew,¡± Austin sighed, back to his normal self. ¡°Avatar of the Champion, I release you.¡± he murmured under his breath.


    The sound of the chain snapping resounded, and Austin found he was no longer wearing a mask.


    ¡°I gotta remember to change those phrases, though.¡± Austin murmured, his cheeks flushing with slight embarrassment.


    He hurried over to where the others were finishing up their fight, and just as he was about to call out to Griggs, he felt a sharp pain in his left leg.


    There, with a disgustingly brazen grin on its face, was a goblin. Standing at about 4 feet tall, he looked quite pleased that he had just buried his dagger in the back of Austin¡¯s leg while he wasn¡¯t paying attention.


    Austin had no idea how he¡¯d been snuck up on, but before he had the chance to reach out and wring the thing¡¯s neck, a dagger suddenly appeared between its eyes.


    Just as suddenly as the dagger appeared, Julie also appeared, and retrieved her dagger from the goblin¡¯s forehead.


    Austin pulled the dagger from his leg, but after being briefly assailed by a sharp pain, it quickly subsided. Julie looked at the dagger in his hands imploringly, and when he held it out to her she snatched it up and ran off to go give some poor goblin a present.


    ¡°That should have hurt a whole lot, but it only feels like I stubbed my toe.¡± Austin opened up his stat window, and confirmed that he had only lost 25 health from what would have been a fatal blow to the previous him.


    ¡°Thank god for levels, am I right?¡± he chuckled to himself.


    He was then enveloped by a familiar soft green light, and felt the skin on his leg mend itself back together. He turned and saw Zander approaching. Austin thanked him, and after a brief nod, Zander followed the path that Julie had taken.


    After Austin joined the fray, it didn¡¯t take long for the rest of the stragglers to be cleaned up, and while Julie was excitedly running around collecting the loot, Austin was looking at his stats.


    Austin McKenna, Level 34


    Title: None


    Class: None


    HP: 275


    Stamina: 325


    Strength: 53


    Intelligence: 44


    Agility: 53


    Abilities:


    Quick Learner:


    Predecessor¡¯s Guidance:


    Ant Slayer:


    Sword Mastery NEW (Level 1):


    Avatar of the Champion


    Warrior¡¯s Sense NEW


    Allows the user to distinguish the level of any subject.


    Condemn NEW


    Allows the user to power up their next attack by 50%. Can only be used once per fight.


    Bonus points: 4


    Austin quickly put three bonus points into strength and one into agility to round out the numbers and thought about the new skills he had gotten.


    ¡°Leveling up sword master is nice, I¡¯m guessing it just means that I¡¯m more comfortable wielding a blade, and condemn could be good to finish out a close fight. The one that I¡¯m really excited about, though, is warrior¡¯s sense. With this I can inspect the levels of those around me to see if I could take them.¡±


    Austin looked over to where Zander and Ray were seated on a log laid out in a central area of the former goblin camp. He thought about activating Warrior¡¯s Sense, and as he did, bars of information popped up above the two men¡¯s heads.


    Alexander Westbrook: Level 23


    Class: Healer


    Raymond Fisher: Level 18


    Class: Tank


    ¡°Wow, Zander is a pretty high level compared to the rest of this group, but I guess that buff he gave me was no joke¡­¡±


    Austin turned his head to where Julie and Griggs were,


    Trey Griggs: Level 21


    Class: Fencer


    Julia Green: Level 19


    Class: Scout


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Austin thought as the two approached him, ¡°Julie is almost on the threshold of 2-Star, and Griggs is just barely there. I have a feeling that Grigg¡¯s skill puts him a lot closer to 3-Star, though. The way he handled his blade was far from amatur.¡±


    Julie walked up and before Griggs could say anything, began poking Austin again. ¡°Hey, hey guess what!¡± She was even more giddy than she was before the fight.


    ¡°Umm, what is it?¡± Austin managed, trying to ignore her proximity.


    Julie stood taller and puffed out her chest proudly, ¡°I leveled up!¡±


    ¡°Wow,¡± Austin made a show of whistling, but he really was excited. Due to the fact that he leveled up so quickly, he never got a chance to analyze exactly what one level really meant. ¡°That¡¯s great! Tell me, do you feel any stronger?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to say¡­¡± Julie trailed off. It looked like Austin wouldn¡¯t be getting an in depth analysis after all.


    ¡°Anyways,¡± Griggs cut in, ¡°We have a present for you, as a thank you for taking care of the boss yourself.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Austin asked.


    ¡°Yeah, we want you to have that armor the boss was wearing. It would fetch a decent price, but after that showing, you deserve it. The mana crystals we got are still worth way more anyways.¡±


    Austin was dumbstruck, ¡°Wow, th-thank you!¡±


    He made a show of going into one of the goblin tents to get changed to ¡°try it out,¡± and when he took the leather armor off he stowed it in the champion¡¯s inventory.


    He came out of a ramshackle tent wearing the new iron armor, and he had to say, it felt good.


    Wearing his new armor, and a smile, the group finished collecting the mana crystals from the small army of goblins, and made their way to the exit. As they stepped out into the now late afternoon sunlight once more, the Door behind them immediately collapsed.


    Austin had just cleared his first dungeon.

 Chapter 12: Rescue

    Austin was now sitting at the patio of a small caf¨¦ that was near one of the Crawler¡¯s Association¡¯s exchange locations. These were the places dotted strategically around the city where Crawlers could turn in their hard earned mana crystals in exchange for cash.


    While they were waiting for Griggs to come back from the exchange, Austin and Ray were engaged in idle conversation, both still wearing full armor, and Julie was trying her hardest to inject herself into the middle of the two. Zander was seated across from them sipping tea with a bemused look on his face, silent as ever.


    After about a half hour of waiting, Griggs approached where the quartet was seated and slapped five separate checks down onto the table.


    ¡°20% for everyone comes out to about $1,000 a person. You guys earned it!¡±


    Everyone around the table grabbed their share, and made to leave.


    Austin reluctantly got up to leave, but Griggs called out to him, ¡°Hey, mate, I know you¡¯re gonna be up to much bigger things than this little outfit, but keep us in mind if you ever need a crew.¡± He began laughing heartily as he clapped Austin on the back.


    Austin smiled, and thanked everyone once more before leaving.


    ¡°I gotta stop at the bank to deposit the check, then head home and give this month¡¯s rent to Mrs. Green.¡±


    After he arrived home, Austin got to thinking,


    ¡°That 1-Star dungeon was really easy, and I leveled up even more since the beginning¡­ Plus the fact that I didn¡¯t have Avatar active for most of it, maybe I could try to solo clear one¡­¡±


    He reached his decision, Austin was going to try and clear a 1-Star dungeon by himself.


    This kind of feat wasn¡¯t unheard of, some of the stronger 3-Star Crawlers were even known to clear 2-Star dungeons all alone in order to monopolize both experience and profit, but Austin had a clear advantage over those people. In just one dungeon, he would get the same amount of experience as someone else clearing ten of them.


    ¡°When I stop to think about it, it really is like I¡¯m cheating. This skill is insanely efficient.¡±


    Before he registered for another dungeon, however, Austin wanted to get his equipment in order. He had taken off the iron armor and laid it neatly out across his floor, and set his longsword alongside it.


    ¡°Champion¡¯s Inventory.¡± He muttered, watching the screen pop up in front of him. He proceeded to remove the leather armor and the clothes that he had inside of it and laid them next to everything else.


    Austin had always been a heavy armor kind of guy, even when he was little, playing video games he had always preferred the bulky plate stuff to the lightweight gear.


    Comparing the chest plates of the two,


    Battered Iron Breastplate:


    Weight: Heavy, Defence +10


    Torn Leather Hauberk:


    Weight: Light, Defense +2


    ¡°The iron stuff sure is much heftier, but I think my strength is high enough to ignore most of that. Plus the defense is so much better, it¡¯s not even really a contest.¡± He decided on the iron armor, and stowed that inside of the champion¡¯s inventory. He then went over to his closet and picked out a pair of moveable pants, and a hoodie to go alongside the armor and the mask and placed those in the inventory as well.


    He didn¡¯t quite know why, but he was dead set on keeping his powers secret if he had to use the Avatar in public.


    He then went over to his desk and opened up his laptop to the Crawler¡¯s Association page, logged in with the information that was on his ID card, and looked at available 1-Star dungeons near his location.


    He found one that hadn¡¯t been booked yet, as there weren¡¯t many groups clamoring for 1-Stars while there were more profitable ventures nearby, and registered his name for it under a solo raid.


    The website popped up a warning message, ¡°Are you sure you want to attempt a dungeon by yourself? The Association takes no liability if you are seriously injured.¡±


    Austin clicked the ¡°Yes¡± icon and his name popped up on the registry for the dungeon.


    He had until tomorrow afternoon before he was scheduled to clear it, but he could show up at any time before that and the employees guarding it would let him in.


    Since it was only 5 PM, he decided to use the rest of the funds from his first dungeon to do some much needed clothes shopping, so he packed the leather armor into his bag to sell, stowed his sword in the Champion¡¯s Inventory, and headed to the mall.


    When he arrived, Austin made a beeline for the Crawler¡¯s section of the department store. Here there were all sorts of weapons and armor on display, most of which had some magical effect or other, and most of which were taken from the dungeon.


    After the dungeons started popping up, the main source of gear for Crawlers became loot from the dungeon, but that loot only constituted around 70% of higher ranked gear out there. Some people took to smithing, and the most talented smiths figured out over time how to imbue their creations with magic attributes just like the gear found inside the dungeon.


    This became a major trade, and the top crafters were able to sell their gear for hundreds of thousands, even millions of dollars.


    Materials also became an issue, because, of course, the best crafting materials were found inside higher ranked dungeons. Sometimes monsters dropped ores, and sometimes Crawlers would be able to mine inside cave type dungeons, but it really was true that the modern economy was all about the dungeons.The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    Austin approached the sales counter and plopped the set of leather armor down onto it.


    The man behind the desk looked incredulous, and spoke in a voice laced with barely repressed contempt. ¡°May I help you, sir.¡± He looked at Austin in his ill fitting clothes like he was a plague on society.


    Austin responded meekly, ¡°I¡¯d-um-I¡¯d like to sell this armor, and also buy some new plain clothes to go under my armor.¡±


    The clerk sighed, incensed that he was being made to serve someone he thought so poorly of. ¡°Very well,¡± he began chanting a spell while holding his hand over the leather armor on the counter. It was identification magic, and most merchants in the modern day that dealt with Crawlers had some access to it. Not everybody who awakened as a Conduit became a Crawler, some went into jobs like this one, where they could use their skills in a less dangerous environment.


    The man finished up with his spell, and looked down his nose at Austin. ¡°I can give you $40 for the whole set. It is very poor quality, but we may be able to recycle the materials somehow.¡±


    Austin responded in stride, ¡°That¡¯s fine, I wasn¡¯t expecting much for it anyways.¡±


    He finished with the transaction and went to the clothes section. Austin happened upon a long, silver cloak with golden trim accents that he thought looked like the coolest piece of kit ever.


    ¡°If I wore that over my armor, with the mask nobody would be able to recognize me. Plus it looks very moveable so I don¡¯t think it would hinder combat too much. Come to think of it, wasn¡¯t Daniel wearing a cloak over that super shiny armor of his?¡±


    Austin decided that he just had to have this cloak, and when he tried it on it was nearly a perfect fit. The tail fell just below his shins, the perfect height that he wouldn¡¯t trip on it while moving, and the price was a quite reasonable $60 since it didn¡¯t have any special effects to it.


    He also bought a set of nylon underclothes to wear underneath his armor, and bought some regular street clothes like t-shirts and jeans so that he would have stuff that fit him. All in all, it was a pretty good haul.


    After paying for everything, Austin went to get changed into a new set of clothes, and put the nylon gear and the cloak inside the Champion¡¯s Inventory. He proceeded to place his old clothes in the bin, as he had no use for them anymore, and left the store to head home.


    As he left the mall and began walking down the street, Austin heard a scream. Then he heard a lot more screaming.


    He turned to where the sound was coming from and bolted. Austin looked at his immediate vicinity and saw too many people near him, all looking confused, so he ducked into an alley. When he was sure that nobody was watching him, he called out, ¡°Avatar, activate!¡±


    ¡°Boy, I¡¯m glad that I changed that phrase. This one is short and easy, plus it¡¯s less embarrassing.¡±


    After he was enveloped by the golden aura, and then his cloak and armor, he drew his sword and decided to test something.


    ¡°If all my stats are doubled right now, that means my strength is over 100¡­¡±


    With that thought in his head, he broke out into a sprint at the dead end wall of the alley, and before he collided with it, he lept upwards, landing safely on a first story roof.


    ¡°That was freaking awesome!¡± Austin couldn¡¯t even believe what he had just done, sure he had grown a lot stronger recently, but with his Avatar active, he felt unstoppable.


    He didn¡¯t have time to muse on this though, he jumped once more onto a second story roof adjacent to him and began running along the rooftops towards where the screams had come from.


    It wasn¡¯t long before he was on the scene. Below him in a plaza, were a group of orcs, identical to the one he fought inside of Daniel¡¯s Dream, with one key difference. These orcs were very real, and they were about to kill a lot of people if he didn¡¯t step in.


    At the moment, two of the orcs were engaged with a Crawler that was trying to keep them back from where a woman had fallen onto the ground, but he was being pushed back quickly. The rest of the orcs were just standing in a ring, watching the fight and laughing.


    The man was fighting his hardest, but he was just outmatched in the two-on-one situation. Austin had to get in there, so he jumped off the roof, cracking the pavement where he landed and drawing everyone present¡¯s attention to his entrance, including the orcs.


    Not wasting a moment, Austin dashed in and grabbed the woman off the ground before any of the orcs could react to him, and placed her at a safe distance before returning to the group of enemies.


    Austin decided to deal with the two fighting the other Crawler first, and so he lept into the air once more and landed in the center of their makeshift ring.


    The man looked at Austin in bewilderment, ¡°Who-who the hell are you?¡±


    Austin chuckled to himself behind his mask, ¡°I guess you could call me your savior.¡±


    Without trading any more words, the two orcs charged at Austin, completely ignoring their previous partner.


    One of them lunged at him with a clumsy diagonal slash, which Austin paid no mind to as he sidestepped the orc and responded with a slash of his own.


    The orc wouldn¡¯t have even had time to react if he had been on guard, let alone the off balance position he was in at the moment. Austin¡¯s slash separated the orc¡¯s head from his body in a brilliant flash of steel, and not letting the momentum of the slash go to waste, Austin pirouetted, carrying forward to destroy the second orc in one fell swoop.


    Level Up!


    ¡°Sword Mastery must be helping me, because I have no idea how I just did that.¡± Austin thought, a giddy grin spread across his face behind the mask.


    With their two comrades now slain, the rest of the orcs stood dumbfounded for a second, an opportunity which Austin used to grab the other Crawler and hop back over the ring, placing him safely next to the woman.


    ¡°Keep her safe for a minute, things are about to get ugly.¡± Austin commanded, to which the Crawler he had just rescued gave him a slight nod.


    Austin wanted to keep the orc¡¯s attention on himself, so before they could get their bearings, he charged back to where the mob was, taking off another head in the process.


    From there it devolved into a melee. Every time Austin swung his sword, another orc fell, and it seemed that their strikes couldn¡¯t even graze him.


    It was weird, but every time a blade was about to hit him, Austin could feel it. He guessed it was because his Intelligence stat was being boosted, so he was more perceptive than usual, but it was still kind of uncanny.


    In the end, Austin stood alone among the corpses of 20 or so orcs, not a scratch on him, victoriously waiting for the level up messages to clear from his sight.


    He then heard more shouting, and into the plazma burst several armored men, and at the head, one that Austin recognized.


    The man approached where Austin stood, admiring his handiwork.


    ¡°I¡¯m agent Adam White, with the Crawler¡¯s Association. We got word of some monsters that escaped through a Door, and came to take care of it¡­ But I see that we aren¡¯t needed.¡±


    Austin thought back, Agent White was the one who interrogated him when he first woke up from the ant incident, and if he remembered correctly, White was a 6-Star Crawler.


    Even in his powered up form, White was still probably more than a match for him, which Austin confirmed with warrior¡¯s sense.


    Adam White: Level 67


    Class: Martial Artist


    ¡°Oh,¡± Austin thought, ¡°That¡¯s why he¡¯s not carrying a weapon when he was expecting a fight.¡±


    White came even closer to Austin, ¡°Who exactly are you, and why are you wearing a mask?¡±


    ¡°Uhhhh¡­¡± Austin blanched, not knowing what to do, simultaneously trying to plan his escape.


    ¡°This¡¯ll certainly be interesting¡­¡±

 Chapter 13: A Strange Benefactor

    The man in front of Austin was radiating a powerful aura. It wasn¡¯t quite bloodlust, but it sent goosebumps down his spine nonetheless.


    ¡°I¡¯m going to have to ask you to sheathe that sword and come with me.¡± Agent Adam White said coldly.


    ¡°I just saved these people, couldn¡¯t you maybe let me go?¡± Austin decided to try a hail mary, but White¡¯s demeanor didn¡¯t shift.


    ¡°While I appreciate your rescue, the fact that a suspicious masked man with Crawler abilities has shown up is something I can¡¯t let slide.¡±


    That was the answer that Austin was expecting, so it didn¡¯t phase him.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got one shot¡­¡± He resolved to act.


    Austin slowly placed the sword in the buckle on his hip, and as White stepped towards him he suddenly kicked at the ground with all his strength.


    The pavement below his feet cracked and a shockwave rippled outwards, sending dust and debris flying.


    Austin used this moment of confusion to bolt, leaping up onto a nearby roof and down into a deserted alley.


    ¡°Release!¡± He whispered it this time, not wanting to do anything to give himself away. The telltale sound of a chain breaking was heard, and Austin was once more in the new clothes he had bought earlier that afternoon.


    He heard the sound of footsteps on the roof where he had come from and bolted onto the main street, blending in with the crowd that was milling to and from the mall. It seemed that the Association had kept everything under wraps and they were oblivious to the monster attack that had occurred nearby, which worked splendidly in Austin¡¯s favor.


    As he made his way down the street, Austin saw White dash out from the alley he had just come from. He stopped a passerby, and it seemed he was questioning them on the masked man¡¯s whereabouts.


    ¡°Too bad nobody here saw a masked man¡­¡± Austin snickered to himself as he made his way back home.


    He arrived back at his apartment and collapsed onto his bed. Austin pulled out his phone and began aimlessly scrolling through different websites until a particular article caught his attention.


    ¡°Mystery Man Fights off Horde of Monsters!¡±


    The article went on to detail stuff like his height and build, and tried to offer a reward for any information on his identity.


    ¡°No way am I a ¡®Muscular adult male over 6 feet tall¡¯ they need to get better sources.¡± As if to confirm his point, Austin made his way over to the bathroom mirror where he inspected his appearance.


    ¡°Well, I¡¯ll be damned. I¡¯m swole as hell!¡± Austin excitedly posed in front of the mirror for himself.


    It hadn¡¯t really registered when he changed at the mall, as his mind had been too preoccupied with planning his raid, but the stat increases he got from the dungeon were serious business.


    ¡°Maybe I should try to join a guild¡­¡± he thought aimlessly.


    It was true that Crawlers in guilds, especially the major ones, were well taken care of. Some of the highest ranked ones even lived like kings, but joining a guild would mean revealing his secret, and Austin was still protective of it.


    Half because he thought if people heard that such a ludicrous ability was able to be passed on, like how Daniel gave it to him, there would be no end to the people after him to try and take it. The other half of him wanted to keep it a secret because he felt really cool playing the mysterious superhero earlier that day, but he would never admit it.


    With his little moment of self appreciation over, he returned to his bed. He finished reading the article, though nothing of note was inside.


    When he was about to turn in for the night in preparation for his solo raid the next day a knock resounded from the front door.


    The only person who occasionally visited him was Mrs. Green, so he had no idea who it could be.


    As he opened the door, before him stood a familiar face, Johnathan Young, head of the Association¡¯s Monitoring division.


    Austin let out a slight squeak, and managed a ¡°Sup¡± to the man at his door.


    ¡°Mr. McKenna, may I come in?¡±


    Austin didn¡¯t respond, but instead opened the door the rest of the way and stepped aside, allowing Young to enter.


    Austin took this opportunity to scrutinize him with Warrior¡¯s Sense, and if he had been drinking something, he would have done a spit take.


    Johnathan Young: Level 83The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.


    Class: Summoner


    Austin had never actually seen a summoner before, even on TV. They were an exceedingly rare class of Crawler who were able to summon and command familiars in combat rather than taking part themselves.


    ¡°Though, with a level that high, assuming he has no personal combat abilities would be fatal.¡±


    Austin invited the man inside, and the two sat opposite of each other in the small living/dining space of the apartment.


    ¡°Could I -um- get you something to drink?¡±


    Young smiled amicably, ¡°No, I¡¯m quite alright. I suspect this won¡¯t take long.¡±


    Austin gulped, but he did his best to hide his nervousness.


    His best wasn¡¯t very good.


    ¡°I will be frank, we know. You were smart enough to cover your face but not enough to refrain from wearing the cloak that you purchased not even two hours before rushing in to save those people.¡±


    Austin began to panic even more visibly than before, but sensing that he may bolt, Young held up a hand before continuing.


    ¡°That being said, you did save multiple people and took out a whole squad of monsters in the process. Many high rank Crawlers choose to keep their identities a secret to avoid the media pestering them, however the Association requires that to be registered with us. You skipped that step, so normally we would revoke your license and forbid you from using your powers ever again.¡±


    ¡°But,¡± Austin began, ¡°this isn¡¯t normal?¡± He had picked up on the way Young had worded his statement, which led him to believe something else was going on.


    ¡°Correct. The chairman seemed extremely interested after hearing the incident report, though he wouldn¡¯t say why. By his orders, you are to be allowed to continue working, and we will give you anonymous status usually reserved for higher ranked Crawlers.¡±


    Austin couldn¡¯t believe what he was hearing, the chairman of the Association himself had stepped in.


    ¡°What exactly do I have to bring to the table in this deal?¡± Austin asked cautiously. This was too good to be true, there had to be a catch.


    ¡°That is exactly what is so strange about it, Mr. McKenna. Despite all of our suspicions of you, the chairman has insisted that we give you these concessions.¡±


    ¡°But why me?¡± Austin muttered under his breath.


    ¡°I would like to know that as well¡­¡± Young responded.


    ¡°Moving on,¡± he continued, ¡°you will be allowed to work under whatever alias you chose, we took the liberty of assigning you ¡®Savior¡¯ as that is what you referred to yourself as earlier. With this, you will be allowed to register for dungeons under your alias and conduct any official Association business without your real name.¡±


    He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a card almost identical to the one he had given Austin when he registered, the only difference was this one didn¡¯t have his name on it.


    ¡°We are also aware that you are stronger than a 3-Star Crawler, given the number of orcs you dispatched, however we won¡¯t force you to be re-evaluated.¡±


    With that, he stood up to take his leave, but before he went, Austin called out to him.


    ¡°Since I still have my normal registration, does that mean I can work as two separate Crawlers at the same time, Austin McKenna and Savior?¡±


    Young turned and looked skeptically at him. ¡°I have no idea why you would want to do that, but theoretically, yes.¡± He then turned towards the door and left Austin alone in his apartment, a million thoughts racing through his head.


    ¡°I can¡¯t even begin to guess at why the chairman is looking out for me¡­¡±


    Seeing no point at pondering it further without any evidence, Austin decided to sleep on it,


    He awoke to the sound of the alarm he had set the night before and got up to get ready. He showered and ate a meager breakfast, but as he was getting dressed a thought hit him.


    ¡°Hmm, I¡¯m planning on using Avatar inside of the dungeon since I¡¯ll be alone, but won¡¯t it look suspicious if I rock up unarmed wearing street clothes?¡±


    Austin decided to at least carry his sword out in the open, if nothing else. He strapped the sheath he had bought to his back and removed his sword from the Champion¡¯s Inventory to place it inside.


    With that he was ready, so he made his way outside and began heading in the direction of a bus stop and waited for the scheduled stop.


    Next to him stood a middle aged woman and a child around 8. The child was staring at him in wonder.


    ¡°Mommy mommy! Look, it¡¯s a Crawler!¡± the boy was pointing at him.


    ¡°Sweety, leave the nice man alone.¡± The mother chided, offering an apologetic smile to Austin.


    ¡°It¡¯s ok,¡± Austin looked at her, smiling back, ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡±


    He crouched down in front of the child and offered him a smile.


    The boy looked at him in amazement, ¡°Mister, are you strong?¡±


    ¡°I guess you could say that...¡± Austin responded before standing up and striking a theatrical pose, flexing his new muscles for the boy, who responded with joyous laughter.


    ¡°I wanna become a Crawler too!¡± The boy cried out, which was met with a frown from his mother.


    Austin could sympathize with her. Most Conduits would awaken their powers around the age of 10. If the boy turned out to be a particularly strong one, his life would change forever.


    ¡°Fighting monsters¡­ It¡¯s the kind of life no parent would want for their kid.¡±


    Outwardly, Austin laughed and patted the kid on the head. Inwardly, though, he prayed that his dream wouldn¡¯t come true.


    The bus arrived, and after Austin flashed his Crawler ID to be allowed to board with his sword and paid the fee, they were off.


    ¡°Maybe I can make enough money to get a car¡­¡± Austin¡¯s mind wandered during the brief ride.


    He arrived at his destination, thanked the driver, and waved goodbye to the awestruck child. He then approached the cordon with the Association employee in front and identified himself.


    He was let into the sectioned off area where the familiar hole in space loomed, and as he entered he saw an armored man make to leave.


    ¡°Must be the employee tasked with guarding the Door.¡±


    Some people who had the strength to be Crawlers didn¡¯t have the courage. Or maybe they were just smarter than the people who dove headfirst into danger. Either way, these people could find employment at the Association guarding Doors suited to their level while the raid teams showed up.


    Overall, it was a pretty sweet deal, and they served a vital purpose.


    Not many monsters ventured outside the dungeon, but the few who did could still cause a calamity, so their presence was a necessary precaution.


    Shaking these thoughts off, Austin stepped forward and into a new dungeon.

 Chapter 14: An Ice Surprise

    As Austin stepped through the Door and into the dungeon, a chill ran throughout his whole body. One thought prevailed over all else;


    ¡°This is going to be no fun at all.¡±


    The second he entered, he was assailed by icy winds that whipped all around him, dropping his body temperature immediately. An alert window popped up in Austin¡¯s sight: ¡°Warning, environmental temperatures dangerously low. You will start to take damage soon if measures are not taken.¡±


    ¡°Crap.¡± Austin muttered. He had expected another open field or maybe a cave, not an icy tundra. He was woefully underprepared for this turn of events.


    According to data gathered by the Association, lower level dungeons posed lower level threats. This didn¡¯t just mean the monsters present inside, but also environmental hazards, so encountering a threat like this was totally unexpected.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got just one thing to try, if it doesn¡¯t work I¡¯ll have to retreat and gear up properly.¡±


    There was even the possibility that the Door had been incorrectly measured, as Austin suspected had happened in his delve with Anderson¡¯s group. If that was the case, he may even have to assemble a team and share the loot and experience, something he was not keen on.


    ¡°Avatar, activate!¡± he cried out.


    The golden aura enveloped him, and he was immediately clad in his armor.


    He still felt the cold, but it was no longer biting at him like a vicious beast. If he had to guess, it was likely his increased strength granting more resistance to the elements. It was also possible that the Avatar of the Champion was offering him some kind of protection, but Austin doubted it.


    ¡°I¡¯m safe from the cold for now, but that doesn¡¯t mean it won¡¯t be colder further in. Gotta be careful.¡±


    Now that he wasn¡¯t freezing to death, Austin took stock of his surroundings. The Door had dropped him in the middle of a clearing, surrounded on all sides save one by mountains or dense forests.


    On the path forward, Austin noticed tracks leading deeper into the dungeon, if following a path across a tundra could be called ¡°going deeper.¡±


    ¡°They¡¯re quite deep, so it must have been something big¡­¡±


    Before he began following the tracks, he had a sudden realization.


    ¡°It¡¯s stupid to wear the mask in here, isn¡¯t it¡­¡±


    Chiding himself internally, he pulled off the mask and stowed it in the duffle bag he had brought to haul mana crystals.


    Wrapping his cloak tight with his free hand, he then started in earnest after his only lead.


    After following the tracks for what Austin guessed to be a few minutes, he heard a growling sound from the treeline to his left.


    He turned and saw a pack of snow white wolves, the leader of which was approaching him with fangs bared. Austin already knew about these creatures from his studies of the Association¡¯s bestiary, but he activated Warrior¡¯s Sense just to be sure.


    Alpha Ice Wolf: Level 29


    Ice Wolf: Level 23


    The leader of the pack was almost a 3-Star monster, but it was made much more dangerous by the presence of a dozen other wolves, all ready to pounce.


    Austin held his sword in front of him and dropped the duffle bag from his shoulders so he would have more freedom of movement. As if on cue, the moment the bag hit the ground the alpha barked and the assault began.


    Two wolves lunged at Austin from either side, so he dashed left, past the lunging wolf, and launched an explosive kick at its ribs.


    The synchronized timing of their leap actually worked against them as one wolf flew into the other, sending both sprawling.


    The one that Austin kicked must have broken a rib or two and it died quickly after, he was able to confirm this by the level up message that popped up in front of his face after the tangle of fur hit the ground.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    The other wolf got up and began making its way back towards Austin, but before it made it to him, he heard a growl behind him and promptly ducked.


    As he hit the ground, the alpha wolf sailed over him and landed in an aggressive stance, baring its fangs.


    Austin didn¡¯t have time to focus on just the two wolves in front of him, as he heard growling and the pounding of paws all around him. He struck out with his sword to his left and bisected one wolf, then carried his momentum in a half turn cutting another one down.


    He wasn¡¯t fast enough to get the third one, however, and he felt the teeth dig into his arm, piercing the iron like it was paper.


    He flipped his sword into reverse grip and plunged it into the wolf that was gripping onto his arm. With the wolf dead, its jaws slackened and Austin shook the corpse off of him.


    His arm was bleeding, but it was still usable.


    ¡°Wish I had a healer right about now.¡± Austin griped internally.


    With no time to continue bellyaching, he cut another wolf into pieces before dashing forward to avoid the teeth of two more.


    ¡°Seven wolves left¡­¡±


    It was like some cruel version of monkey in the middle, where instead of keeping the ball away from Austin they were taking turns attacking him.


    He pirouetted in place and let one wolf slip by him while dicing another before finishing his spin and slashing the wolf he let pass.


    Another group of three lunged, but he wouldn¡¯t repeat the mistake he had made the first time.


    Austin put all of his strength into his legs and leapt as high as he could, leaving the wolves far below him. He then let gravity do the rest of the work and came crashing down with one foot planted firmly in the heads of two wolves and his sword in the third.


    That left two more, the alpha and the one he had injured earlier by hitting it with another wolf.


    Not wanting to let them have the initiative, Austin charged aiming a slash that would cut down both in one fell swoop. He cut through the injured wolf as easily as he had its kin, but before his blade reached the alpha it had sprung out of reach.


    While Austin was still off balance from his wild swing, the wolf charged in and took the opportunity to sink his teeth into Austin¡¯s good arm before attempting to pin him to the ground with its body mass.


    A sharp pain reverberated through Austin¡¯s body, this bite hurt much more than the first one, however he didn¡¯t have the luxury to stop and dwell on the pain.


    Yelling out, both in defiance and because his arm really hurt, Austin drove his knee into the wolf.


    Crack


    Again.


    Crack


    Again


    Crunch


    Feeling the bones in the wolf¡¯s chest crumble, Austin also felt the jaw¡¯s grip relax. He shook off the wolf and stabbed it once for good measure before making to inspect his arm.


    ¡°Damn it!¡± He cried out. ¡°That really hurts!¡±


    Despite all of his newfound strength, Austin had never really experienced real pain before, being a kid from modern America. This was different to all those times he fell off his bike, this was real, and despite all that¡­


    ¡°I feel kinda great! My arm hurts like hell, but I¡¯ve never had a rush like that before¡­¡±


    Austin began to wonder if he was going to turn into one of those battle maniacs he had heard about, always looking for a fight to get their adrenaline pumping.


    He opened his stat window to inspect his current state and noticed that he had two numbers for each stat now. He guessed that the bolder ones were his current numbers in his empowered state while the regular looking ones were his natural stats.


    Austin McKenna, Level 41


    Title: None


    Class: None


    HP: 540/650 (325)


    Stamina: 500/750 (375)


    Strength: 126 (63)


    Intelligence: 102 (51)


    Agility: 122 (61)


    Abilities:


    Quick Learner


    Predecessor¡¯s Guidance


    Ant Slayer


    Sword Mastery (Level 1)


    Avatar of the Champion


    Warrior¡¯s Sense


    Condemn


    Bonus points: 3


    As he couldn¡¯t stand all three of his stats being odd numbers, so he used his bonus points fixing that out.


    He had taken some damage from the wolf''s fangs, but in the grand scheme of things it wasn¡¯t really that much. He still had an additional 200 or so HP before he¡¯d be forced out of his empowered state, which would be a problem in the cold, so he figured he would be fine.


    ¡°Thinking about it now, though,¡± he mused, ¡°doubling all my stats really is ridiculous. It¡¯s like I¡¯m really twice my actual level¡­¡±


    As he was contemplating all of this, a message flashed in front of his eyes: ¡°You have accumulated enough combat experience, a class will now be selected for you.¡±


    Austin was suddenly bursting with excitement. Up until now he had been acting as a fighter, but technically he was still classless, so he couldn¡¯t use any abilities related to that. Getting a class would be a major upgrade to his combat capabilities, so he couldn¡¯t wait to see what he was assigned.


    ¡°I hope it¡¯s not something lame¡­ ¡°

 Chapter 15: An Ursine Altercation

    ¡°Selecting class based on the actions of Austin McKenna.¡±


    This message had been floating in front of Austin¡¯s face for almost five minutes now.


    After slaying the wolves, Austin had taken a seat on the ground and was resting while the system sorted itself out.


    After advancing past level forty, it seemed that he had accumulated enough combat experience to select a class. Normally, a class was selected way before someone reached this high of a level, but because Austin leveled at such an exponential rate, he had only now reached the point where he could do this.


    Nobody really knew what the system was, or how it worked, but every Conduit was able to access their stats screen. The dominant theory was that, due to the mana in their bodies, they were able to manifest the screens in order for information to be able to be processed by their brains. This was why nobody could see another person¡¯s stats screen. Then again, this was only theory.


    Another minute passed before a new message popped up in front of Austin¡¯s eyes: ¡°Classes have been selected, please make your choice.¡±


    After this message cleared, a list popped up in front of his face, but Austin was bewildered. ¡°I¡¯ve never heard of getting to choose your class before, everyone says that theirs was chosen for them. But then again, almost everything about my situation is unique¡­¡±


    The list in front of him gave him four options:


    Fighter:


    A versatile warrior who relies more on their weapons and tactics than brute strength to win a fight.


    Paladin:


    A divine spellcaster and warrior, who relies both on brute strength and holy spells to fight against evil with righteous fury.


    Berserker:


    A warrior who loses it all in a fight. Using rage to fall into trance-like fury, these fighters ignore things like pain and fatigue to become a force of nature on the battlefield.


    Hero:


    A paragon of justice that fights for those weaker than themselves. Makes use of special abilities in combat to transcend foes.


    Austin sat for a moment, thinking.


    ¡°Well, that¡¯s all a bit cliche¡­ Anyways, Berserker is definitely a no go.¡±


    As that thought passed through his mind, the Berserker class disappeared from the list in front of him.


    ¡°Fighter would be good, but it¡¯s pretty standard. Paladins are quite rare according to the Association, so they¡¯re in high demand. But I¡¯ve never even heard of the hero class¡­¡±


    As far as Austin knew, even in his days of obsessing over famous Crawlers, he had never heard of the hero class before.


    ¡°To save people¡­¡± Austin muttered, realizing what he had to do.


    ¡°I choose the hero class.¡± He spoke aloud, vocalizing his resolve.


    ¡°Class accepted.¡±


    With that, the screens disappeared, and he checked his stats section. His strength had gone up almost 20 points, and his agility half as much. Alongside his current abilities, he had unlocked a few new ones as well.


    Abilities:


    Sprint NEW:


    (Consumes 15 Stamina per second) Uses more energy than normal to allow the user to run at double their normal speed.


    Hero¡¯s Slash NEW:


    (Consumes 25 Stamina) A stronger than average slash. Deals an additional 25% damage.


    Hero¡¯s Shield NEW:


    (Consumes 1 Stamina per second) Crystalizes the hero¡¯s resolve to protect into a barrier. Can block up to 250 HP worth of damage before breaking and can be deployed anywhere.


    Austin was ecstatic. Three new skills, all seeming extremely useful, and a totally unique class.


    ¡°I wonder if I should keep my class a secret. I could probably get away with telling people I¡¯m a fighter¡­¡±


    He shook those thoughts off for now. He was still in the middle of a dungeon and he had had his short break.


    He stood up and dusted the snow off of his back and began moving once again, keeping his ears out for more wolfpacks.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    After wandering for what he guessed to be twenty minutes, Austin heard the sound of something quite large coming through the trees towards him. He put strength into his legs and leapt as high as he could and caught onto the peak of the tallest tree near him.


    Bending under his weight, Austin felt the tree sway beneath him, but it held. From his vantage point, Austin surveyed in the direction that he had heard the noise from, and saw a massive white bear lumbering towards him.


    He was still in his empowered form, but he didn¡¯t know if he¡¯d be able to take on a bear that easily, so he checked its stats.


    Ice Bear: Level 36


    ¡°Hmm, I still outlevel it, but I don¡¯t know if that means much when I¡¯m dealing with a bear¡­¡±


    Austin decided on his plan of attack. Once the bear was below him, he let go of the tree and plummeted towards the ground with his sword outstretched.


    When the sword made contact with the bear¡¯s thick hide, however, it was unable to pierce it. Even with Austin¡¯s body weight and the velocity from falling, the hide was just too tough.


    The sword rattled with the recoil of not being able to pierce, and Austin was unable to keep his grip on it. The sword flew out of his hands and landed nearby in the snow.


    Now Austin was facing off with a pissed off bear unarmed. Not the best situation, but he had been in worse. The only difference was that Daniel wouldn¡¯t be coming to save him this time.


    The bear charged at Austin and he once more put strength into his legs and hopped over the bear as it came after him like a game of leapfrog.


    The bear missed him entirely, and Austin took this opportunity to aim a few kicks to the bear¡¯s unguarded back.


    This didn¡¯t seem to do much other than make the bear even more angry, though, so Austin gave up on plan: ¡°Boxing with Bears.¡±


    He leapfrogged the bear¡¯s charge once again and activated his new skill, Sprint, to dash for his weapon.


    He made it in a few seconds and hurriedly deactivated the skill, not wanting to waste stamina.


    His weapon firmly in hand, he squared off against the bear, which once again charged at him.


    ¡°At least it doesn¡¯t seem to be learning from it¡¯s mistakes¡­¡±


    Instead of leaping over the bear this time, Austin briefly activated Sprint and dashed to its unguarded flank. Once he was there, he activated Hero¡¯s Shield in front of the bear¡¯s trajectory, causing it to plow face first into the wall of energy that formed, shattering it.


    ¡°Glad that worked!¡± Austin silently celebrated.


    He was about to attempt something else. While the bear was dazed from its head on collision, he charged towards it from the side.


    While simultaneously activating Hero¡¯s Slash, Austin also muttered the words ¡°I condemn you¡± towards the bear.


    His blade was enveloped by a golden aura, not unlike Champion¡¯s Avatar, and he felt both skills activate, giving him a massive damage boost.


    He brought down the sword with all of his strength on the bear¡¯s neck, and cut through it.


    Level Up! Level Up! Level Up! Level Up!


    Now headless, the bear fell dead and melted into nothing, leaving behind a rather large mana crystal.


    ¡°This dungeon was definitely mis-measured¡­¡±


    Austin collected the crystal and checked his stamina. Even though he had used a few skills, he still had quite a bit remaining thanks to the boost from both his new class and from his empowered form.


    ¡°Dang, I¡¯m kinda broken¡­¡± Austin mused, once more thanking Daniel for his power.


    After he finished a brief rest, he decided that he wasn¡¯t getting anywhere with his current hunting method. He once more jumped up to the top of the trees and began scanning for a creature that resembled the boss.


    He jumped from tree to tree, images of a certain ape man flashing through his mind, passing over multiple packs of wolves that he chose to ignore until he saw a massive bear, easily five times the size of the one he had just killed.


    Ice Bear (BOSS): Level 41


    ¡°Hmm, I guess Warrior¡¯s Sense also tells me which creature is the boss. How helpful. It¡¯s almost the same level as me, though, good thing I have no intention of a fair fight!¡±


    Staying downwind from the bear so he wouldn¡¯t be detected, Austin made his way around until he found a large tree relatively close to the bear.


    He measured the trajectory as best he could, then activated Hero¡¯s Slash and unconsciously saying ¡°Timber!¡±


    The tree fell perfectly towards the bear, landing directly on top of it and hopefully crushing it.


    Austin didn¡¯t let his guard down, though, and rushed over to where the bear was blade drawn.


    It was still alive, though its hind legs were pinned underneath the massive tree that Austin felled. It took a swipe at him with its front paws when he got close, but Austin stayed out of his range.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, you poor thing¡­¡± He muttered, raising his blade activating both Condemn and Hero¡¯s Slash once more.


    He brought the sword down hard, ending the creature¡¯s misery.


    Level Up! Level Up! Level Up! Level Up! Level Up! Level Up!


    ¡°Whew!¡± Austin sighed audibly, picking up the massive crystal that the boss had dropped.


    His trip back to the Door was uneventful. He encountered two more packs of wolves, but dispatched them without issue, gaining more crystals and levels in the process.


    After about an hour hike, Austin was back where he started.


    ¡°Release!¡± He called out, and was immediately assailed by the biting cold. After releasing Avatar, Austin hurriedly jumped through the Door and back to Earth, where he was greeted by an Association Employee guarding the entrance.


    The area was bathed in the brightness of the late afternoon sun. Austin turned to the man. ¡°How long was I in there?¡±


    ¡°About 3 Hours, Sir.¡±


    The portal behind him collapsed, leaving no trace that it was there in the first place. The employee looked visibly relieved.


    ¡°Where is the nearest crystal exchange place?¡± He asked


    The man gave him directions, and as Austin made to leave, he turned back. ¡°You guys misread that Door, Ice Wolves and Ice Bears, as well as a dangerous ice environment. Any normal team expecting a 1-Star would¡¯ve been wiped. Be more careful next time.¡±


    The employee visibly gulped, but Austin was already walking away towards where he was told the crystal exchange place would be.


    ¡°All in all, that can be considered an overwhelming success. Lots of levels, a new class, and quite a bit of profit. I also know I can probably solo around 3-Stars currently, as that dungeon was likely around that level. A risk I never would have taken otherwise has paid dividends.¡±


    Austin walked down the street with a smile on his face and a sword on his back, confident that he could actually begin to live up to the standard Daniel had set before him. Confident that he could become the Savior.

 Ch 16: Leaping Into Action

    Austin was standing at the counter waiting for the receptionist to finish counting out his earnings.


    ¡°These crystals come to a total of $16,500, Mr. McKenna.¡±


    Austin had just made more money from one dungeon than he had seen in quite some time. The massive crystals dropped by the bears were extremely valuable, and Austin was giddy to have gotten such a large payday.


    He handed the man his Crawler ID, which he had recently found out could be linked to his personal bank account. The man swiped his ID card, confirmed Austin¡¯s identity, and the money was automatically wired into his account.


    ¡°This is much more convenient than taking checks all the way to the bank!¡±


    As he was walking towards the bus stop to head back home, his phone started vibrating in his pocket.


    ¡°Glad this didn¡¯t break during a fight. Maybe I should invest in one of those Crawler models that are supposed to be super durable¡­¡±


    Austin didn¡¯t know who would be calling him, as the only person he could think of who knew his number was his landlady, Mrs. Green.


    He pulled out his phone and checked the caller ID, but it wasn¡¯t a number he knew. He answered the phone and a deep male voice began coming through the receiver.


    ¡°Is this Austin McKenna?¡±


    ¡°Um-Yeah, I¡¯m Austin.¡± He responded, confused at who he was talking to.


    ¡°Good, I¡¯m glad you didn¡¯t put down a fake number. This is Director Johnathan Young.¡±


    ¡°Ahhh!¡± Austin exclaimed, now being able to distinguish Young¡¯s voice through his shoddy phone speakers. ¡°Mr. Young, umm wh-what can I do for you?¡± He stammered, wondering if he had done something to violate the generous deal he had been given.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be so nervous. I know you¡¯re in the downtown area at the moment, as you just finished up a raid there. There¡¯s a dungeon break occurring not too far from you. Our men are keeping it contained, but they need a bit of help.¡± Young quickly explained the situation.


    ¡°Wh-why me?¡± Austin asked, bewildered.


    ¡°Consider it a test of sorts. You can wear that mask if you want, the employees have been informed that an anonymous Crawler is coming, so they won¡¯t stop you. I¡¯m sending the address to you now, please hurry.¡±


    ¡°H-hold on just a second!¡± Austin cried out. ¡°Don¡¯t I get a choice in this?¡±


    ¡°Of course you have a choice.¡± Young stated abruptly. ¡°But you¡¯re going to go anyways, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    Austin was stunned. It seemed Young had him totally pegged.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go.¡± Austin responded, already headed into a remote alleyway.


    His wrists still hurt from where the wolves bit into him, but it felt like leveling up healed him a bit, if not fully.


    ¡°I can do this.¡±


    ¡°Avatar, activate!¡± He called out, and in a flash of brilliance, was wrapped in his armor and cloak.


    He checked his phone to see where the break was occuring, and began running in that direction.


    He got a few strange looks from the people on the street as he weaved his way through pedestrian foot traffic as fast as he could, but most people correctly assumed he was a Crawler.


    ¡°This is no good, there are too many people out. It¡¯ll take too long to get there at this rate and I can¡¯t expect the association to hold forever, or they wouldn¡¯t have called me.¡±


    He ducked out of the crowd and walked over to a nearby cafe. He crouched down preparing to jump, and receiving even more strange looks, he leapt onto the roof of the shop and began running from roof to roof towards his destination. While he ran, a message appeared in front of his eyes, ¡°You have unlocked a new ability: Leap.¡±


    Austin had been doing a lot of jumping lately, so he guessed that it had somehow manifested as a new ability.


    ¡°If repeated actions can manifest an ability, I may be able to get creative¡­¡±


    Moving as the crow flies was much more efficient than using the roads, so Austin arrived at the site in no time, however he found it in a much more orderly state than he expected.


    The entire area around the Door had been cordoned off by makeshift fencing, as was protocol with a new Door, and it seemed that it was holding for now. Several Association employees in armor were milling about. At the entrance, a familiar face stood.


    Agent Adam White snapped towards the roof where Austin was standing before he had even made himself known. Having been discovered, Austin hopped down from the building and stood in front of White.


    ¡°No wonder monsters haven¡¯t breached containment yet, he¡¯s here¡­¡±


    White looked at him with a slight hint of disdain.The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    ¡°Ahh, so I guess you¡¯re the one who they want to clean this mess up.¡±


    Austin mustered his courage, pretending he was acting. Taking up the persona of ¡°Savior,¡± he tried to think of how a hero would act. After all, it was his class.


    Austin made an exaggerated show of shrugging. ¡°My apologies for what happened last time.¡±


    ¡°God I sound like a jerk. Oh well, too late.¡±


    White looked like he wanted to kill Austin before the monsters got the chance to try it. ¡°Young told me not to take care of them myself. I guess this is why. Go on in.¡±


    With that, White stepped aside and turned away. It seemed he wasn¡¯t interested in any further conversation.


    Austin walked through and saw quite a few mana crystals scattered across the ground.


    Austin walked past about a dozen crystals before he heard slithering off to his right.


    Without thinking, he struck out with his sword and heard the sound of metal on metal as his blade recoiled.


    He jumped backwards to get some distance from whatever he had clashed with, and saw that it was a large Naga holding a spear that had some kind of viscous green liquid coating the tip. Poison.


    The Naga were like a mythical centaur, but instead of the lower half being a horse, it was a serpent.


    Naga Soldier: Level 32


    ¡°So they¡¯re weaker than the bears. Good, but I still need to watch out for the poison.¡±


    The Naga reared back and raised its spear to thrust towards Austin. He baited it out, and at the last moment twisted his body to the side. Moving along the spear, he got close to the Naga and struck horizontally at where the tail ended and the body began, however, the Naga was more agile than other creatures he had fought before and much more intelligent.


    It twisted its body unnaturally and brought its tail up to defend against the slash. Austin¡¯s sword cut through, but only halfway. It was now stuck in the Naga¡¯s tail.


    Thinking quickly, instead of panicking and trying to pull his weapon free, he would try a different approach. He dodged around the spear that was once again thrusting towards him, but this time he grabbed onto the pole as it rushed past him.


    He pulled with all of his might (which was quite considerable) and the Naga lost its grip on the weapon. Austin quickly turned it around in his hands and thrust it towards the Naga¡¯s cobra-like head.


    If snakes could look surprised, this would be it. The Naga took its own spear to the face and died quickly after, leaving behind a medium sized mana crystal.


    Level Up!


    ¡°I have no idea if the mana crystals are mine for the taking, so I¡¯ll just leave them.¡±


    Austin continued on, trying as hard as he could to conceal his presence as he approached the rest of the Naga.


    He came upon what seemed to be a kind of staging area for the monsters as they prepared to attack the city, and among them Austin saw one serpent in particular.


    Naga Chief (BOSS): Level 37


    Standing next to the chief were also two smaller snakes holding staves.


    Naga Shaman: Level 34


    Including the Chief and the casters, there were about two dozen monsters in total filling up the back alley. The fact that the boss of the dungeon was out here meant that if Austin killed it, the Door would collapse without having to go on a raid.


    This was actually a hunting method used for dungeons with particularly hazardous environments. Crawler teams would simply wait outside the Door for the boss to emerge, and then take care of it without having to venture through the dungeon.


    This method was considered too risky for most dungeons, however, as the boss could take a long time to appear so it wasted resources keeping the area locked down. Not to mention that if the boss defeated the Crawlers and got out it would be a calamity.


    Setting all that aside, Austin quietly dispatched the Naga that was keeping watch outside of their makeshift camp. He snuck up beside it and removed its head from the rest of the serpentine body.


    He caught the body as it fell to the ground so as not to alert the rest of the creatures, then left it on the ground as it dissolved.


    Austin had settled on a plan of attack, and he was just hoping that he had enough stamina to make it work.


    He activated Sprint and began moving faster than a normal human could even see, making a beeline towards where the Shamans and the chief stood he cut down three Naga in his path before they even had time to react.


    The chief turned towards Austin, seemingly the only one that could slightly distinguish his movement, but he was still behind.


    Austin cut the two Shamans in half and made a circle around the rest of the Naga doing the same for the rest of them, racking up levels the entire time.


    In total, this took only a few seconds, but it was enough. When Austin made his final dash towards the chief, however, a message popped up in front of his face: ¡°Stamina depleted.¡±


    He was only about a foot away from the Naga when suddenly his speed returned to normal and he collapsed to the ground.


    ¡°Oh no.¡±


    The Naga didn¡¯t waste the opportunity and rushed toward Austin. He only barely managed to avoid the poison soaked spear tip that was thrust into the ground where his head was seconds ago.


    Austin¡¯s entire body felt heavy, but he could still move. This was a major disadvantage against the boss, though.


    The Naga had gotten his spear stuck in the pavement when he thrust it at Austin, and was now trying to wrench it free. Austin took the opportunity to swing towards its unprotected neck, but the Naga was too fast. It got the spear free and parried Austin¡¯s sword with ease.


    Austin retreated back, but the Naga didn¡¯t give chase, instead acting like it was sizing him up.


    A glint passed through its reptilian eye, and it hurled the spear at Austin as hard as it could. Austin was a bit confused and easily dodged the spear, but it seemed that was a feint. As he landed he suddenly found himself wrapped up in the Naga¡¯s tail, being squeezed tightly.


    The Naga bared its fangs at him, and Austin struggled with all of his strength to free himself of the binding tail.


    He noticed that his legs were still relatively free, as the tail was only around his arms and torso. Austin stopped struggling and pretended to go limp. As the Naga came in closer to enjoy its meal, Austin waited until the right moment. As soon as it opened its mouth he suddenly lurched backwards and kicked up with as much force as possible.


    The Naga had loosened its tail, thinking Austin was dead, so this maneuver worked. He drove his foot hard into the Naga¡¯s lower jaw, and watched as its fangs pierced through its own skin.


    The Naga writhed in agony, and Austin took this moment to raise his sword and put it out of its misery.


    Level Up! Level Up!


    He had won, though only barely. The gambit with Sprint had cost him dearly, but it was over with Austin only marginally worse for wear.


    ¡°Gotta go report back to White¡­¡± Austin thought, wondering if he should grab the large mana crystal the Chieftain had left behind.


    He decided against it, and made his way back to the entrance of the cordoned off street.

 Chapter 17: Cameras

    Austin walked through the makeshift fence blocking off the area where the break had occurred. Waiting for him outside was a very pissed off looking Agent White.


    As Austin approached, White scoffed, ¡°Were they too tough for you?¡±


    Austin was smiling underneath his mask, continuing to maintain the cocky persona he had put on earlier. ¡°Not in the slightest. The Door is closed and they¡¯re all dead.¡±


    White stammered. ¡°Erm-Well we¡¯re still going to sweep the area to make sure. Did you take the crystals?¡±


    Austin let out a hearty chuckle, inwardly chiding himself at what a prick he sounded like. ¡°Of course not! They weren¡¯t mine to take.¡±


    White continued to look dumbfounded at him. Through gritted teeth he said, ¡°We¡¯ll turn them into the association, the director will decide what compensation you get from this.¡±


    White made it clear that their conversation was now over as he took the rest of the employees with him to sweep the area. Austin exited the lockdown perimeter and was immediately swamped by cameras.


    ¡°It was a dungeon break in the middle of the city during rush hour, I suppose there would be quite a media presence.¡±


    Austin hadn¡¯t seen them when he arrived, as he came by roof from the opposite direction, but he definitely saw them now.


    Correctly assuming he was the Crawler who took care of the incident, all manner of reporters crowded around him and started asking questions.


    ¡°Are you the Crawler who resolved this dungeon break?¡±


    ¡°Are you part of a team?¡±


    ¡°Who are you under that mask?¡±


    Austin was a bit dumbfounded. He was awkward in normal conversations so to be suddenly swamped like this left him speechless.


    He decided to continue with the cocky attitude he had put on in front of White. He turned to the reporter who had asked the first question and said, ¡°I¡¯m Savior. Who I am under the mask isn¡¯t important, I¡¯m just here to kill monsters.¡±


    While he was still surrounded, Austin quietly checked his stamina to see if it had recovered any. Seeing that he had, he smirked. Putting strength into his legs, he activated the Leap and soared into the sky, landing on the roof of a nearby building. He heard the sound of a dozen cameras snapping his picture as he flew and began bounding from building to building to escape the media circus.


    After about a block, he dropped into an empty alley and released his empowered form before walking out onto the street as if nothing had happened.


    ¡°Man, I¡¯ve really gotta work on my self confidence. I can¡¯t keep freezing in front of people¡­¡±


    As he was walking down the street, his phone began ringing again. Pulling it out, he saw the same number as earlier and answered it.


    Young¡¯s voice immediately began to come through. ¡°Good job. I¡¯ll wire some of the money from the monsters you killed plus a little bonus.¡±


    ¡°Thanks.¡± Austin responded meekly.


    ¡°Also,¡± Young began, ¡°The hell did you do in front of the media, we¡¯ve already gotten a couple inquiries about you.¡±


    Austin blushed a bit, ¡°I kind of jumped two stories to get away from them when they surrounded me.¡±


    He heard Young whistle from the other side of the phone.


    ¡°That¡¯ll do it. Alright. As per our deal you¡¯ll remain anonymous, but I¡¯m assuming you¡¯ll want to continue to work like this rather than showing up unofficially to breaks?¡±


    ¡°That would be nice. I don¡¯t want to have to fight the Association.¡± Austin replied.


    ¡°Good.¡± Young responded, before ending the call.


    Austin put his phone away, and getting his bearings made his way to the nearest bus stop to go home. As he approached the stop, however, he realized something.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author.


    ¡°I¡¯m really hungry.¡±


    He wasn¡¯t sure if it was because he had spent all of his stamina in the fight, or if it was because he hadn¡¯t eaten since breakfast, but Austin was famished.


    He started to look around for a place to eat and settled on an appetizing looking diner and walked through the door, jingling the bell that hung over it as he entered.


    ¡°Welcome!¡± A large, heavyset man with a bushy brown beard and a stained apron called cheerfully from behind the counter. ¡°Take a seat anywhere and someone¡¯ll be by to get¡¯cha.¡±


    The interior of the diner was cozy, with a red checkered floor and upholstered bar stools surrounding metal tables placed everywhere, it had a solid ¡®40¡¯s feeling to it.


    Austin headed over to a small booth clearly meant for couples on a date, slung his sword and bag onto the seat and sat opposite of them. He began looking over the menu when a girl around his age came out to greet him.


    She was quite tall, with shoulder length brown hair. She smiled at Austin and began the usual thoroughfare.


    ¡°Hi my name is Shelby and I¡¯ll be your waitress. Can I get you something to drink, any appetizers to get started?¡±


    Austin smiled in response to her friendliness. ¡°Uh, I¡¯ll just have water, and I¡¯ll need a bit more time.¡±


    ¡°Alrighty.¡± she responded, a bit too enthusiastic for the situation, and left.


    Just for the fun of it, Austin activated Warrior¡¯s Sense and looked at her.


    Shelby Williams: Level 7


    Class: None


    ¡°Woah, she¡¯s higher leveled than a normal person. I wonder if she¡¯s a crawler¡­¡±


    When she returned with Austin¡¯s water, he decided to ask her.


    ¡°Ms. Shelby, are you perhaps a Crawler?¡±


    She looked stunned. ¡°Whuh? How can you tell something like that?¡±


    Austin was suddenly stuck. He didn¡¯t expect that question, so he tried to come up with something on the spot. ¡°Umm, let¡¯s just say I can sense mana and leave it at that.¡±


    She seemed to buy the lie, even though it wasn¡¯t a total lie, and continued. ¡°I awoke a couple of years ago, apparently my aptitude for mana control is quite high, so I was ranked as a 2-Star.¡±


    ¡°A 2-Star!? At Level 7 that means her starting stats must be incredible!¡±


    Austin looked at her suspiciously, ¡°So what¡¯re you doing working at this restaurant?¡±


    She looked sheepish. ¡°It¡¯s my dad¡¯s restaurant. Anyways, I can guess you¡¯re a crawler based on that sword there.¡±


    ¡°Yeah. I actually just got back from a dungeon.¡± Austin responded.


    ¡°Oh, then where¡¯s your party?¡± Shelby asked.


    ¡°Oh, uh, I um, don¡¯t have a party.¡± Austin said, once again self-conscious.


    Shelby looked stunned. ¡°You¡¯re a solo clearer?! Not many Crawlers can pull that off, how tough was the one you just did?¡±


    ¡°It was around 3-Stars.¡± Austin guessed based on the levels of the monsters.


    In reality the dungeon was probably a 4-Star because of the environmental hazards inside, but he wasn¡¯t sure.


    Shelby¡¯s eyes went even wider. ¡°Wow! How come I¡¯ve never heard of you. A Crawler who can solo clear a 3-Star would get famous pretty quickly.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m pretty new.¡± Austin responded. ¡°Anyway, I¡¯ve wasted enough of your time, I know what I want to order now.¡±


    ¡°Oh, um, of course.¡± Shelby snapped back to reality and took his order to the kitchen.


    She returned a few minutes later with his food and placed it on the table, but something was slightly off based on how she was acting before.


    Austin thought nothing of it and enjoyed his meal, when he was finished, he reached for one of the napkins that she brought out with his food, and noticed a note on the bottom of it.


    It read. ¡°Here¡¯s my number, I know you said you don¡¯t have a party, but maybe you could take me on a raid with you?¡±


    Austin blushed. This was the first time he had ever gotten someone¡¯s number. Even though it was technically for business, he still felt a bit giddy.


    Austin stood, retrieved his things, and went to the counter to pay for his meal. When he was standing in front of her, Austin realized something.


    ¡°I keep forgetting how tall I suddenly am¡­¡± He had thought that Shelby was very tall when he was sitting in the booth. Before he got his powers, she probably would have been a full head taller than Austin, but as he was now she barely reached his chin.


    She looked at him expectantly as he paid for his meal, and as he was leaving, he simply said, ¡°I¡¯ll see what I can do.¡±


    Her face lit up like a christmas tree at these words, and Austin left the diner with a smile on his face as well.


    As he rode the bus home, he had a thought.


    ¡°I¡¯ve got plenty of money all of the sudden, maybe I should buy a car.¡±


    It was already quite late into the evening, so Austin would have to go in the morning. In the meantime, after he got off the bus and started walking the rest of the way home, he did some research online about cars within his price range.


    After he settled on a model, he found a dealership near him and resolved to go buy his first car in the morning.


    Austin made his way up the stairs to his apartment, took off his clothes, and collapsed onto his bed. Even with his superior strength, today was particularly strenuous, and so he fell into a peaceful sleep.

 Ch 18: Ogreload

    Austin had already settled on the car he wanted beforehand, so all of the salesman¡¯s attempts to get him to upgrade to a later model were in vain.


    ¡°But sir, we have so many amazing deals on later models. Would you like to take one for a test drive?¡±


    ¡°No thanks. I¡¯m good.¡± Austin said.


    The salesman looked disappointed for a moment before reverting to a cheery disposition. He took Austin inside a small cubicle where they worked out all of the financial details and paperwork.


    In the end, Austin had decided on a rather tame car. It was a black two door sedan from a few years ago. He didn¡¯t need the latest technology, just a car that drove.


    It cost him $8,000, but the salesman was awestruck when Austin turned down a payment plan and bought the car upfront.


    ¡°You¡¯re-You¡¯re a Crawler!¡± The salesman uttered in surprise when he confirmed Austin¡¯s source of income. He then began cursing himself for not trying harder to sell him on a more expensive model.


    Austin drove off of the lot and back home where he excitedly showed his latest purchase to Mrs. Green, his only real confidant.


    She congratulated him, and inwardly remarked on just how much the boy had changed, before Austin went back upstairs to his apartment and opened his laptop.


    He began searching for an open dungeon under 2-Stars to take Shelby through. Austin figured that he could keep her safe without using his Avatar if it was a low level one.


    He found one where no teams had registered yet, and pulled out his phone. He typed Shelby¡¯s number in and sent a text.


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s the guy from your dad¡¯s diner. I found a dungeon that I could take you through tomorrow. You down?¡±


    It was the middle of the day, so he wasn¡¯t expecting anything but he received a response almost immediately.


    ¡°OMG. I didn¡¯t think you would text me back. Idk how useful I can be, but if someone as strong as you is there I''m sure I¡¯ll be fine lol.¡±


    ¡°Great. Send me your Crawler ID so I can register us for the door. I¡¯ll come by the diner tomorrow at noon to grab you. Sounds good?¡±


    ¡°Yes!¡±


    Austin smiled. He spent most of his younger years wishing someone would give him an opportunity to become a real Crawler, but due to his low starting stats he never got that chance. Even though Shelby must¡¯ve had incredible stats to be put at 2-Star by level 7, Austin was still glad to be offering someone that same opportunity he had craved.


    After receiving her information and registering them for the dungeon, Austin laid down on his bed and began browsing on his phone when an interesting article caught his eye.


    ¡°MYSTERIOUS MASKED MAN DEALS WITH DUNGEON BREAK AND STUNS PRESS¡±


    The picture accompanying the headline was, of course, Austin flying over the heads of the gathered reporters that he had run into after dealing with the break for Young.


    ¡°Man, I look kinda cool in the mask and cloak¡­¡±


    There were actually a few articles about him, some of them wondering if he was a new Crawler or an old one who decided to reinvent themselves, others wondering if he had a party, and even more wondering if he worked for the Association.


    All of the articles, however, included one thing in common. There was a statement from the association that had been given in response to any inquiries about him.


    ¡°We do not know the identity of Savior, and while he has been a large help to us resolving break incidents he is not under the Association¡¯s direct control. He is simply an anonymous Crawler working for the good of society.¡±


    At this very moment, Austin was extremely glad he had decided to go with the mask, as if it were his face and name plastered everywhere instead of ¡°Savior,¡± he might just die of embarrassment.


    ¡°Mental note, thank Young for keeping his promise not to reveal me.¡±


    After reading all of the articles about himself, Austin wasted time in other ways. He played games on his phone, read a couple of chapters of a few web novels, and brushed up on the Association¡¯s Bestiary, which he had already read a few dozen times.


    After a couple of hours passed, his phone rang. As he went to answer it, the number he had saved under ¡°Pizza¡± flashed across the screen.


    He answered it with an immediate ¡°Where¡¯s the break?¡±


    On the other side of the phone, Young responded ¡°How do you know I wasn¡¯t calling because I wanted a nice chat.¡±


    Austin chuckled and retorted, ¡°You don¡¯t seem the type for ¡®nice chats¡¯¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.


    Young muttered something that Austin didn¡¯t quite hear before continuing. ¡°There¡¯s a break, 4-Star, I¡¯ll send the address now.¡±


    ¡°Why are so many breaks happening all of the sudden? I usually only hear of two or three per week¡­¡± Austin asked.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± Young began, ¡°You only hear of two or three because we take care of the rest of them.¡±


    Austin didn¡¯t know what to say in response to that, so he just said ¡°Leave it to me.¡± and grabbed the keys to his new car.


    He drove for about ten minutes until he was a block away from where the break was happening. He parked his car and made sure no people were around before activating his ability.


    After he was powered up, Austin jumped onto a nearby roof and began heading towards the incident.


    ¡°I''ve been traveling by roof a whole lot recently. Never thought I¡¯d be able to do something like this¡­¡±


    He arrived outside of the cordoned off area and dropped down next to an extremely surprised Association Employee.


    ¡°I¡¯m here.¡± Austin said.


    ¡°We-um, knew you were coming. We¡¯ve kept it contained, but if they made a serious push we¡¯d probably be overwhelmed. We¡¯re ready to follow you in as soon as possible.¡±


    Austin looked confused, but that really didn¡¯t show through the mask.


    ¡°No, you guys stay out here. I¡¯ve got this.¡±


    He sounded very cocky, but in actuality, he just wanted all of the XP to himself.


    The employee looked dumbfounded, and stepped aside to allow Austin to pass through. As he did so, the area was suddenly bathed by the flash of a camera.


    A reporter had snuck through the cordoned off area and was now taking pictures of Austin as he entered alone. He ignored her and walked in.


    ¡°Crap, I was so caught up in my act that I didn¡¯t ask what kind of monsters I was dealing with.¡±


    Austin began to panic a bit, but he quickly calmed himself. Young had told him it was a 4-Star break, which narrowed down the possibilities. In all likelihood, he would be fighting a group around the strength of the ice bear boss he had taken down previously.


    As he got closer to the center of the area, he felt the ground shake below his feet, and his opponents soon came into view.


    ¡°Ogres¡­¡±


    Austin immediately activated Warrior¡¯s Sense to get a read on his opponents.


    There were four of them in total, and one of them was a full head taller than the others. Other than the one taller one, however, they all looked identical. Green, ugly bastards standing at around 10 feet tall. The big one was definitely at least 12 feet though.


    Ogre: Level 43


    Ogre Warlord (BOSS): Level 48


    Austin calmed himself down. ¡°Even in my unpowered form, I still outlevel them. I¡¯ll be fine.¡±


    He decided on his plan of attack when he noticed something. The Ogre boss was holding a glittering steel claymore about as tall as Austin was.


    ¡°I want that sword¡­¡± He had never been one for shields, and right now his right hand was just going to waste since he was wielding his longsword one handed. With that claymore, Austin felt he could do some serious damage.


    He activated Sprint and charged for the Warlord first.


    Once he got in range, he activated both Hero¡¯s Slash and Condem as well and aimed a strike for the throat of the ugly thing.


    Level Up! Level Up! Level Up! Level Up! Level Up!


    One slash and it was done. The boss¡¯s head landed a few feet from where it crumpled to the ground. It didn¡¯t even have a chance to react to Austin¡¯s lightning fast approach.


    With that taken care of, he attacked the other three Ogres head on.


    As one of them swung its club at him, he dodged backwards. Then, springing forwards, he used the club as a ramp and ran up it. Launching himself off of the Ogre¡¯s head, he drove his sword hard into the next one, killing it instantly.


    Not wasting his forward momentum, he plowed through the now dead Ogre and sent its body crashing into the one that hadn¡¯t acted yet.


    Stunning it momentarily, Austin used that opportunity to execute a well placed slash to its neck.


    With one Ogre remaining, Austin turned and hurled his sword like a spear, landing it square in the final enemy¡¯s forehead.


    Level Up!


    With all of the ogres rather anticlimactically disposed of, Austin casually walked over to where the Warlord¡¯s body lay and grabbed the steel sword.


    Steel Claymore:


    A well made sword designed to be used with two hands to deliver devastating blows to enemies.


    Damage: 45


    ¡°Wow!¡± Austin exclaimed, ¡°It¡¯s way better than my current sword!¡±


    He decided to just leave the iron longsword embedded in the Ogre¡¯s forehead, and picked up the claymore. Strapping the scabbard that he took from the Ogre¡¯s waist to his back, he sheathed the blade. It wasn¡¯t nearly as heavy as he expected, but maybe he was just that strong. It didn¡¯t really matter.


    He made his way back to the entrance and greeted a stunned employee.


    ¡°Where are the Ogres!?¡±


    Austin responded with bravado. ¡°Laying dead on the ground where they belong.¡±


    He turned and saw a crowd of reporters that had pushed through the barricade and were now filming and taking pictures of him.


    ¡°Guess they heard Savior was here and wanted a scoop.¡±


    Austin nonchalantly waved at them before immediately taking off. He really didn¡¯t want to answer any questions.


    He also assumed just like before that Young would have the crystals taken care of and pay him whatever he was owed. Not that Austin particularly cared about the money anyways.


    He made his way back to his car before releasing the Avatar, climbing inside, and driving home.


    On the way home he got a call from Young, who simply said ¡°Good job.¡± Before ending the connection.


    Austin arrived at home, set his alarm, and went to sleep. Running across all of those rooves was actually quite tiring. He had to give credit to all those parkour guys he saw on the internet, most of them didn¡¯t even have any powers.


    With anticipation towards his next raid tomorrow, Austin fell into a deep, restful sleep.

 Chapter 19: With a Friend!

    Austin was early.


    As he waited outside of the diner to pick up Shelby for their dungeon raid, he realized that he hadn¡¯t checked his stats in a bit.


    ¡°I probably have quite a few bonus points to distribute¡­¡±


    Austin McKenna, Level 57


    Title: None


    Class: Hero


    HP: 410


    Stamina: 460


    Strength: 80


    Intelligence: 68


    Agility: 78


    Abilities:


    Quick Learner


    Predecessor¡¯s Guidance


    Ant Slayer


    Sword Mastery NEW (Level 2)


    Avatar of the Champion


    Warrior¡¯s Sense


    Condemn


    Hero¡¯s Slash


    Hero¡¯s Shield


    Leap NEW


    Bonus points: 8


    ¡°Hmm¡± Austin muttered, ¡°I haven¡¯t really done anything with intelligence, but it¡¯s still gone up quite a bit. I don¡¯t feel any smarter, though¡­¡±


    He decided to keep ignoring that stat for the time being, as it was more important for mages anyways, and put six bonus points into strength and two into agility.


    Because he had developed Leap spontaneously through a repeated action, Austin was deep in thought about strategies to develop more useful abilities when a tap on the window made him jump.


    He rolled it down and saw Shelby¡¯s smiling face outside of his car. Standing behind her was the large man Austin had seen behind the counter when he had eaten here previously.


    He stepped out of the car and the man approached him.


    Shelby looked surprised when she saw the kitchen knife in her father¡¯s hand as he approached Austin. As soon as he was in range, he thrust forward as hard as he could, but the knife only struck air.


    Faster than the man could see, Austin was behind him. He grabbed the cook¡¯s arm and twisted it behind his back before plucking the knife from him like a parent taking a toy from their child.


    ¡°DAD!!! What the heck!¡± Shelby screamed.


    The man chuckled. ¡°Alright, that¡¯s enough. Couldja please let my arm go?¡±


    Austin compiled and released him. Shelby¡¯s father spun around and held out his hand for a shake.


    Austin took it, confused.


    ¡°Matthew Williams, pleased to meet you. I just wanted to make sure you could take care of her before I let you go. If you couldn¡¯t beat little old me, how the heck wouldja keep her safe in a dungeon.¡±


    Austin sighed and introduced himself. ¡°Austin McKenna.¡±


    Then he got a glint in his eye, deciding to test something out, Austin handed the knife back to Matthew.


    Activating Warrior¡¯s Sense, he checked the man¡¯s level.


    Matthew Williams: Level 0


    Class: None


    ¡°As I thought. He¡¯s a normal person. He probably can¡¯t hurt me even if he wanted to.¡±


    ¡°Mr. Williams.¡± Austin began, ¡°If you really want to settle your worries, go ahead and stab me. I won¡¯t dodge this time.¡±


    Matthew looked extremely confused for a moment, but then it seemed that he understood what Austin was going for. He wound back his arm and aimed a thrust for Austin¡¯s left arm. A non-fatal would even in the worst case scenario.


    As the blade met skin, instead of penetrating it just slid off of Austin¡¯s arm without making a mark.


    Austin gave Matthew a little smirk as if to say, ¡°Satisfied¡± before turning to Shelby.


    ¡°Nothing to worry about, I understand his motives.¡±


    Matthew gave Austin a final once over before nodding, hugging his daughter, and heading back inside of his restaurant.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    ¡°Honestly,¡± Shelby scoffed, ¡°What was he thinking¡­¡±


    Austin tried to calm her down, ¡°It¡¯s okay. It¡¯s not like he could have hurt me.¡±


    Shelby looked even more irritated, ¡°That¡¯s not what I was worried about! What if you killed him!¡±


    Austin was taken aback. He hadn¡¯t considered the possibility, but if he had a worse temperament, he could have easily killed Matthew in self defense.


    ¡°Oh-ummm¡­¡±


    ¡°Whatever, let¡¯s just go.¡± Shelby said, climbing into the passenger seat.


    As he got into his car, Austin had a thought. ¡°I got through most of that conversation without stuttering!¡± It was a triumphant moment, but he did lose it at the end. Maybe pretending to be the cocky Savior was having an effect on him, or maybe he was just distracted by the man trying to kill him. Either way, it was a personal victory.


    As he drove to the Door site, Shelby turned to him. ¡°So what kind of dungeon is it?¡±


    Austin responded, ¡°Well-um, from scouting reports, it¡¯s an open field type, likely goblin enemies. Pretty common for 1-Star dungeons. Don¡¯t worry, it will be a cakewalk.¡±


    Austin thought a moment before asking a question. ¡°Hey, um, I know you said you can use magic, but what kind am I working with here?¡±


    Shelby responded, ¡°I have high affinity for support and healing, but I can also use a bit of attack magic. I¡¯m still low level, though so it¡¯s all quite weak.¡±


    Austin fistpumped inwardly. ¡°A healer! Sweet!¡± The fact that she had extremely high aptitude was also a really big plus, but Austin was confident that he could carry her to at least competence. A competent healer was still much more useful than having no healer at all.


    ¡°I wonder if I should ever bring her in on Savior, or just keep her around for raiding as Austin McKenna¡­¡±


    As he was pondering this, he spoke again, ¡°Also, umm, what do you have in the way of, you know, equipment?¡±


    Shelby looked slightly embarrassed, ¡°I, ah, don¡¯t have any¡­ Is that a problem?¡±


    Austin chuckled, ¡°Nah, it¡¯s good. We can get you a dagger from one of the goblins and some leather armor if that''s what you¡¯re going for. Though I hear that mages usually go with mail under a robe.¡±


    ¡°Thank you so much!¡± Shelby said.


    ¡°All good,¡± Austin responded, ¡°Anyways, we¡¯re here.¡±


    He parked the car in a nearby side lot and the two of them got out. Austin retrieved his new claymore from the backseat and received a bit of a strange look as he hefted the massive sword with one hand. Austin tossed a backpack to Shelby, which she promptly slung over her back before the pair walked over to the Association employee guarding the gate to the cordoned off area.


    Austin and Shelby flashed their IDs before being let in. As they approached the hole in space, he heard her suck in her breath slightly.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never been this close to a door before¡­¡± She looked like a deer caught in a car¡¯s headlights, and Austin thought she might bolt at any second.


    ¡°It¡¯ll be alright.¡± Austin said before giving her a gentle shove through the portal.


    He stepped through after her and onto an open, grassy plain much like the one he had gone through with Griggs¡¯s team.


    Shelby punched him in the arm, then immediately clutched at her hand in pain. ¡°Ow ow ow! Why did you push me!¡±


    Austin stuttered, ¡°You, um, looked like you were about to run away, so I um, helped you out a bit.¡±


    She drew her arm back to hit him again, then thought better of it and let it fall to her side.


    ¡°Whatever, so what are we supposed to do now?¡±


    Austin scanned their surroundings, he then spotted a line of smoke rising in the distance, just like last time.


    He pointed in that direction, ¡°See that smoke line, that¡¯s a camp, and where we¡¯ll probably find the boss.¡±


    She squinted and looked in the direction he was pointing before letting out a big sigh, ¡°I don¡¯t see anything, but I¡¯ll just follow you.¡±


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Austin thought, ¡°Guess upping intelligence might be useful, I can definitely see farther than I used to be able to, and my senses are sharper. Maybe that¡¯s how I reacted to Matthew so quickly¡­¡±


    The two of them set off in the direction of the smoke, but this time there wasn¡¯t a forest in between them and their destination.


    As they hiked, Austin heard footsteps nearby, and when he turned in that direction, he grabbed Shelby and forced her to the ground to hide in the grass.


    ¡°What¡¯re you doing!¡± She almost yelled, but Austin quickly shushed her.


    ¡°There¡¯s a group of goblins heading our way, probably a patrol of some kind. I¡¯ll take care of it, you just stay down.¡±


    She nodded her understanding before Austin stood up and brazenly walked towards the group of goblins.


    There were about 15 of them total, all of them below Level 20, not even coming close to being a match for Austin, even outside of his empowered form.


    It didn¡¯t take the group too long to notice him, and he called out to them tauntingly to keep their attention away from the hidden Shelby.


    He charged at them and took a massive swing with his claymore, decapitating 4 of the goblins in one stroke.


    One of the goblins charged at him from the side and attempted to drive it¡¯s dagger in between his ribs, but before it had the chance, Austin reared back and sent it flying with a powerful kick. Spinning on his heel, he drove his foot into the face of another goblin before swinging his claymore again dispatching a trio of goblins this time.


    Half a dozen left. Two more charged at him and he beheaded them easily. The last few goblins, having seen their superior numbers decimated by a lone combatant, turned to run away. Maybe they hoped that they would be able to get help of some kind, or maybe it was just pure fear, but Austin wasn¡¯t going to let them get away.


    He dashed forward, but instead of killing this group he swept their legs from under them using the flat of his sword. With them on the ground, Austin quickly pinned the group together underneath the weight of his claymore.


    ¡°Shelby, Cmmere!¡± He called out, before seeing her spring up from the grass and come over to him.


    ¡°Th-that was incredible!¡± she exclaimed.


    ¡°That was my first fight in a while where I didn¡¯t level up. Guess these guys are too weak to mean much, even with my massive multiplier¡­¡±


    As he was pinning them down, Austin directed Shelby to grab one of the dead goblin¡¯s daggers and finish off the four that he had down.


    He wouldn¡¯t make the mistake of letting them go too early like Anderson had way back in his first dungeon, though.


    After the four were dead, he asked her ¡°Did you level up?¡±


    She responded with a smile on her face, ¡°Yeah!¡±


    ¡°Sweet!¡± Austin once again fist pumped internally. As he was doing so, a message popped up in front of him.


    Alert! Skill ¡°Predecessor¡¯s Guidance¡± has been upgraded to ¡°Savior¡¯s Guidance¡±


    Austin was confused, as he thought Predecessor¡¯s Guidance just showed him descriptions of his abilities, so he checked his stats screen.


    Abilities:


    Savior¡¯s Guidance NEW:


    Allows the Savior to guide others to aid them in their endeavors. Grants allies a doubled experience bonus.


    ¡°Holy Crap!¡± Austin thought, ¡°This is amazing!¡±

 Chapter 20: Some More Goblins

    Austin¡¯s mind was racing. The new ability that he had just unlocked was a game changer.


    ¡°Giving people around me extra experience is a ridiculously overpowered ability. If other people found out about it, I¡¯d probably have an army of Crawlers banging down my door to have me in their party. Maybe this is a good opportunity, I could form a guild, keep my training methods a secret, but build a group of strong Crawlers to help protect humanity.¡±


    Austin hadn¡¯t even considered guild life before this point, however it would be a waste to not use this ability.


    ¡°Actually isn¡¯t that how I became Savior? I got an ability that I felt would be wasted if I did nothing with it? Well that, and the fact that I want to kill monsters so no more kids end up alone¡­¡±


    He would think more on it later, starting a guild requires a lot of money and pull. Austin McKenna had neither.


    ¡°I wonder if I can get more famous as Savior, then endorse my own guild¡­¡±


    Shelby was giving him a strange look. ¡°Austin? Is there something wrong?¡±


    He jumped, ¡°Oh, um, no!¡± he sputtered out, ¡°It¡¯s nothing, let¡¯s just get moving.¡±


    She nodded, finished gathering the crystals dropped by the scouting party, and the two of them once again set out for the line of smoke in the sky signaling the goblin encampment.


    When they got close to it, Austin began thinking about strategies, but then he realized that in his empowered form he could just steamroll the entire camp.


    ¡°Hey Shelby,¡± he began, a devious smile forming, ¡°I want you to hide behind this rock outcropping here and don¡¯t come out until I come get you.¡±


    ¡°Ah, um, alright.¡± She responded, obviously confused. It seemed she trusted him after the display with the group earlier though, so she did as he said.


    The outcropping he had her hide behind was about 50 meters or so away from the camp, so she wouldn¡¯t be able to see what was going on inside that well.


    Austin walked towards the camp openly, not even bothering to try and hide in the grass.


    ¡°Avatar, activate!¡± He called out, drawing the attention of every single nearby goblin.


    A golden light wrapped around Austin, and he was in his armor. An arrow came flying towards his head, but he nonchalantly slapped it out of the air.


    He charged into the camp, bisecting goblins left and right until something caught his eye, a length of rope laying by one of the tents.


    He dashed to the rope and began tying goblins up. He killed those that resisted too much, but he had caught 6 goblins so far. He saved the rest of his rope for the chief and any hobgoblins that may be accompanying him.


    Killing the rest of the goblins around him proved no challenge whatsoever. Even if their daggers struck him he didn¡¯t feel it, he was just too far beyond their level. The only downside to this was that Austin was receiving almost no experience for this whole thing, hence his plan of tying up the goblins to leave for Shelby to kill.


    The ruckus he was causing had drawn the attention of the chief by this point, and Austin spied him approaching accompanied by a single hobgoblin.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    Not wasting a second, Austin rushed forward and swept the legs from beneath the hobgoblin, and swiftly wrapped him in rope as well.


    The chief was not so lucky however.


    Seeing as Austin was now out of rope, he had to get a bit more ¡°hands on.¡±


    The chief charged at him, blade at the ready, however he seemed to be moving at a snail¡¯s pace to Austin¡¯s enhanced senses.


    Austin reached out and easily caught the goblins arm, spinning him around and bending its arm unnaturally behind his back. This caused it to drop its blade, and it was already over for it. Austin placed the goblin in a chokehold with one arm and sheathed his claymore with the other.


    ¡°Avatar, release.¡± He muttered, before the chain broke and he was in his street clothes once more.


    ¡°Come on, let¡¯s go.¡± He said to the goblin, leaving the hobgoblin and the rest of the fodder tied up in the center of the camp.


    Dragging the chief along by its neck, Austin called to Shelby. It wasn¡¯t long before he saw her head pop out from behind the boulder in the distance. He beckoned her over to him, and when she got close she jumped in surprise, seeing his new companion.


    ¡°Made new friends?¡± she asked skeptically.


    ¡°Um, something like that, haha.¡± Austin said, scratching the back of his head nervously.


    He pushed the goblin forward, still keeping a firm grip on both of its arms and neck.


    ¡°Go ahead and finish him, this one¡¯s the boss so you should get a fair bit of experience from him. I¡¯ve got some more goblins tied up in the camp for afterwards.¡±


    Shelby looked at him as if he¡¯d grown a third head. ¡°Perhaps you don¡¯t realize how ridiculous what you just said is. Oh well, whatever¡­¡±


    She raised the dagger but as he got close the chief tried to kick at her. Thankfully he missed, but Austin wasn¡¯t happy with that. He kicked the goblin in the back of the knee, forcing it to the ground.


    ¡°Kill him now.¡± Austin commanded, and Shelby complied, though it took a few thrusts to get the job done as the chief outleveled her by a fair amount.


    After the deed was done, Shelby¡¯s eyes lit up.


    ¡°How many?¡± Austin asked.


    ¡°3 Times!¡± Shelby shouted excitedly.


    Thankfully, because she was a novice, she didn¡¯t realize that the amount of experience she was receiving was abnormal. This was good because Austin would have had a tough time explaining to veteran Crawlers what was going on.


    They collected the dead chief¡¯s crystal and moved on towards the camp. They found all six goblins and the hobgoblin tied up exactly where Austin had left them, and Shelby once again turned to him.


    ¡°You really are ridiculous, you know that?¡± She said, before sighing and moving from goblin to goblin. After killing each one of them, Austin used Warrior¡¯s Sense on her to check her progress.


    Shelby Williams: Level 14


    Class: None


    ¡°It¡¯s not nearly as fast as I was, but still, this is amazing.¡±


    They collected the dozens of crystals from Austin¡¯s slaughter of the camp and began to make their way back towards the Door.


    They didn¡¯t encounter any more patrols on their way, so it was pretty uneventful. On their march the two conversed about inconsequential things, such as the weather, who they thought was the strongest Crawler, et cetera.


    Shelby, of course, carried most of the conversation with Austin stuttering his way behind her, but she didn¡¯t seem to mind all that much.


    After arriving at the door, they stepped through back onto their home turf. Austin drove Shelby back to the diner, and it was all quite uneventful. He told her that he would exchange the crystals and drop by with her cut the following day, to which she thanked him.


    Matthew came out to greet them, hugged his daughter, and thanked Austin for bringing her back unscathed.


    ¡°Overall, I would call this endeavor a rousing success.¡±


    Austin drove home with a smile on his face, already planning on their next training escapade, and how he would set up his guild.


    Things were going quite well for Austin, he just hoped that he could keep it up. Last time things were going this well, his parents were killed in a dungeon break and he became an orphan.


    Shuddering at the sudden flashback, he put it out of his mind.


    Austin had tried his best to move on from that experience, to try and be a Crawler so he could help others.


    He would not let it bring him down.