《The Sacred Grove》 Prologue - Cruel Irony Ironic. My current situation can be summed up in that one word. I do not know what sick god of fate has decided to laugh at me, but someone must have a gross sense of humor. This irony is sickening. I want to scream. I want to cry. I want to vomit. But I can¡¯t do much of that anymore. I lift my head and gaze blankly at the trees that surround me. I slowly take in the sea of green that stretches out almost endlessly in front of me. The sky and sun peeks through occasionally, giving the forest a semi-lit appearance. In the distance, ahead of me, is a set of mountains. I watch as a squirrel slowly scurries in front of me, almost taking no note of my existence. But that is not a normal squirrel. It is 3 feet from head to tail, with sizable claws that look to be used for hunting. I remain still as the monster moves along, still dumbstruck at my current situation. Yes, I am in ¡°another world¡±. A world with monsters, necromancy, and who knows what else.Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. My head, although still swimming, calms down a reasonable amount. I was not transported, but instead ¡°reincarnated¡±. I would like to say that whoever was responsible for reincarnating me is the lowest of scum. I was in an accident while waiting to cross a street. A truck came careening into me and the various other bystanders there, and while I¡¯m not sure what happened to them, I died. Now most would be upset at this development because of their sudden death. Their inability to say goodbye to their families. Their virgin status which would never go away. These thoughts would be woes of the recently deceased. But I was okay with death. I had no direction in my life, no drive. I had no prospects of ever getting a girlfriend. So frankly, I was depressed. Pretty much suicidal, even. So why? Why was this my result? Is this punishment because my wish for death somehow got others involved? My wish was granted, with a fantastic twist like the monkey¡¯s paw. I was now alive again, but I was dead. I looked down at my white hand, before cradling my skull. I, was a skeleton. Chapter 1 - Push forward Human¡¯s seek purpose. ¡®Why am I here?¡¯ is the question that still plagues us daily. People find this purpose several ways, be it through love, career, religion, skill in a hobby, or anything else people pour their time into. ¡°I have the most friends, so my life is fulfilling.¡± ¡°I have a high-ranking position and am paid a lot, so my life is fulfilling.¡± ¡°I am closest to God, so my life is fulfilling.¡± ¡°It¡¯s all rubbish,¡± I mutter to myself, as I slowly pack my books in my dorm. I check the clock, and it reads 2:30 p.m. Another morning passes where I could not be bothered to rouse myself out of bed. Luckily, I didn¡¯t miss any obligations, so I can tell my parents that I¡¯m still listening to them. I open the door into the bleak hallway, and lethargically make my way out into the insultingly bright outside. The sun beats down on me relentlessly, but I don¡¯t feel warm. I trudge my way towards my one class for the day, environment gray and dull. My whole life has been about classes. I needed to do well in school to get into a good college. A good college so I can get a good job. A good job so I can support myself and maybe a family if any girl ends up desperate enough. It¡¯s a boring path. Work and work. Do well and keep doing better. Force kids to do the same. Die. How utterly ordinary. These years I¡¯ve realized something about purpose. It¡¯s that it doesn¡¯t exist. People whittle away their lives in a desperate attempt to be something worth remembering, so they can feel that they had a higher calling. That they can change the world. But they¡¯re wrong. You¡¯re born, you grow up, you work some ordinary desk job, and you die. Even most of the talented live this way. I was always praised by those around me as smart, as someone who could eventually make a difference. ¡°You¡¯ll cure cancer!¡± ¡°You¡¯ll make a breakthrough in the field of science!¡± ¡°You¡¯re a genius!¡± They were all wrong, of course. I¡¯m not special. I¡¯m one of the ordinary, another face in the crowd. Maybe my crushed expectations are what make me feel so empty. I slowly meander up to the crosswalk between my dorm complex and the rest of campus and begin to wait for the signal to change. A small handful of people, all like me, unremarkable and generic, surround me. ¡°Why don¡¯t I just kill myself?¡± I wonder once again. I¡¯ve lost track of the amount of times this thought has crossed my mind. But I already know the answer, and that¡¯s my family. I may not care about myself, but I should not spit in the face of the few people who do. ¡°But if I die in an accident, that would be convenient.¡±If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Like God himself answering my idiotic prayer, a horn sounds and a large truck careens off the road and crashes into the crowd of people. I wasn¡¯t paying much attention, and don¡¯t react at all. The truck slams into my body and I fly backwards, right into the pole from which the street light hangs. I can feel my bones shatter, and my organs get pieced. With the wind knocked out of me, I slump to the ground, bleeding profusely. I chuckle as I slowly sink into darkness. ¡°I guess I got what I wished for.¡± I wasn¡¯t even helpful upon my death, how lame. And then I died; I can finally rest. The end. Or at least, that should have been the end. I slowly regained vision of my surroundings, to find myself in a picturesque forest. The sun gently broke through the canopy, lighting up the area around me in a soft green. And because I lived in a desert beforehand, I was clearly nowhere near where I was before. I looked down at my body to confirm my condition, to only be met with a horrible, horrible shock. I was still, in a technical sense, dead. I was a skeleton. Haha, how funny. Was the god of comedy in charge of this ¡°reincarnation¡±? My head begins to swim. Rage, despair, guilt, sadness. Horrible emotions are taking over my mind. I sit entirely still in a stupor caused by my brain trying to desperately sort information for an unknown amount of time. The largest debate in my head was whether or not I should continue to live. I did not particularly want to keep living, and if this was some kind of twisted wish granting, many people back home were probably caught up in that accident. Do I have the right to continue on anyways? On the other hand, I would collectively be spitting in the face of the others who may not have gotten a chance like mine, and this world has the opportunity for adventure, or a way to find my own purpose, as futile as that may be. After deliberating for a while, I decided to continue living. ¡°After all, I can always kill myself later, but I probably won¡¯t come back to life again,¡± I thought. For a short while, anyways, I would continue to carry the burden for those who died because of my selfishness. First, was to figure out my situation. Because I have seen monsters, and because I am one myself, I have concluded that this is ¡®another world¡¯, like from various cliched novels I have read. If this is indeed another world, the hope is that I have some sort of stat screen, so I can check my condition. If that isn¡¯t the case, I¡¯ll be so embarrassed I¡¯d die. Well I¡¯m already dead, though. ¡°Status,¡± I chant, half-convinced. Thankfully for me, something appears. A blue screen that gives a small list, including skills and stats floats in front of my skull.
Name: None Race: Sapient Skeleton
Level: 1
Stats -
HP: 12/12 MP: 7/7
Attack: 2 Magic Power: 1
Defense: 3 Resistance: 1
Speed: 2 Dexterity: 2
Skills - [None]
Titles - [None]
Well, it¡¯s as you¡¯d expect. No notable strengths, no skills, no nothing. Actually, isn¡¯t this even worse than average? Ah, I want to die, again. Well at least I¡¯ve confirmed that this is some other world, and an awfully generic one at that. ¡°Next time please put more thought into the setting,¡± I mentally sighed to no one in particular. It was time to get moving, however. I couldn¡¯t sit in the dirt all day. I slowly picked up my body, picked off a branch from a nearby tree, and stood it up completely upright. ¡°Whichever way this stick falls, I walk in that direction,¡± I then dropped the branch, and began walking. Time to begin the adventure I was thrust into. ¡°Let¡¯s hope my undeath will be better than my life was.¡± Chapter 2 - First blood, but I dont have any ¡°Mufufufufufu! This is brilliant! A genius idea! Ahahahaha!¡± I was laughing maniacally inside my head. ¡°Why has no one thought of this before?¡± It had been two days since I set off on my woodland excursion. On the fortunate side, I haven¡¯t run into any problems so far. On the unfortunate side, absolutely nothing has happened. Frankly, I¡¯m getting terrifyingly bored of these woods. I was currently cackling about my idea to carry my weaponry. All I had was a sizeable branch to wield like a sword and a rock about the size of my palm with which to bash enemies with. The general battle plan was to harass my opponent at a range with the stick, and then when they are tired or slip up, bash their head in with the stone mercilessly. I have no idea if this would work though. My genius innovation was that, in order to keep a hand free whilst traveling, I set the branch inside my ribcage. Pretty clever if I do say so myself. Does it hurt my body to do this? Nope, not at all. During my few days on the new world I have done several tests with my body to understand various limits and how it works. Firstly, my senses. I don¡¯t have any eyes, ears, or nerves, yet I can still see, hear, and feel things. Unfortunately, I don¡¯t have an exact reason as to why this is, but I hypothesize that my body can naturally glean these senses from the mana in the environment. However, except for touch being a bit dulled, everything is about the same. Pain, however, is not mitigated. On the other hand, my bones regenerate. I had taken my stone and smashed my free hand with it yesterday, which was extremely painful, but my fingers and hand have regenerated back to how they once were. When I had done so, I lost about 1 HP, but it eventually restored by the next day. I also discovered that I am unable to remove my body parts. I don¡¯t know what will happen if I do lose an arm or leg, but it seems like a little too much of a gamble to find out. I also realized that I am not speaking. Because I don¡¯t have any vocal cords or lungs, I cannot speak or sing, my bones just clatter around a bit. I have done nothing but think to myself and make weird gestures in the woods. My quiet adventure quickly turned into a silent one. As for why I haven¡¯t run into any animals or predators, I just think that there is little nutritional value in hunting me. I¡¯m a weak, level 1 skeleton, so the experience any hunter would get is minimal. On top of that, I have no meat on which to feed. It¡¯s possible I have marrow, but honestly most animals probably judge that it would be a waste of time. Of course, this theory doesn¡¯t take into account monsters who may be starving and desperate. I slowly came down off the high of my innovative prowess and began moving onwards again. I contemplated where exactly I was headed. I knew where I could not go, and that was anywhere near people. I may be able to think, but I have no way to communicate, and I guarantee I will be killed on sight. Compound that with my low level, and it will be instant death. So where should I go? I imagined that something would happen after walking so long but so far¡­ At that moment, my thoughts were stopped short by a sudden voice resounding in my cranium.
You have learned the [Hiking] skill!
Oh! How interesting! I finally got a skill! That took quite a while, too. I¡¯ve been resting during the nights, so about 30 hours of hiking in the woods has finally gotten me a skill. It seems that getting skills isn¡¯t as easy as I first thought. Usually in the various ¡®other world¡¯ novels I had read back on earth, some chump swinging a sword for a little bit could get them the skill, but here it appears to take much more work. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! However, the difference was noticeable. I could feel myself being better able to navigate on the unsure footing, I was tripping over plants and debris a little less, and my bones didn¡¯t feel as much pressure on them. ¡°Skills are amazing!¡± I marveled inwardly. ¡°I should try to get as many as I can!¡± How nice it is to have a goal again. I began to swing the stone I held in my palm, visualizing some sort of enemy I had to hit with it. I slid the branch from out of my ribcage as well to physically practice my weapon combo. Even if I didn¡¯t get a skill from my flailing around with these items, I would at least get just a bit more used to having them in my hands. I took a break from my wandering in the forest to practice my swings against a nearby tree. I had just begun to get engrossed in my attempts to break more and more bark off this defenseless plant when I heard a rustling behind me. Unlike most of the noises in these woods, this one somehow gripped my attention. It was just a gut feeling, but I knew that there was something there, and that it was watching me. Well, I don¡¯t have any guts, though. My training paused, and I slowly turned towards the bushes behind me. I crouched my body a little, and tensed my grip on my weapons. I was backing away slowly as well, ready to run if the situation calls for it. Unfortunately, I became distracted by the poorly timed voice in my head.
You have seen through a higher leveled opponent¡¯s [Sneak] skill! You have gained the [Presence Detection] skill!
Easy! What the heck, why was that one so easy?! I had to hike for a few days just to get hiking, but I awaken a 6th sense just like that? Wasn¡¯t the whole premise going to require more effort? Now I just look pretentious! I¡¯m grateful for the skill, however. The voice also gave me a little bit more information about my unknown opponent. It¡¯s apparently a higher level than me. Then again, I¡¯m still level 1, so pretty much everything is a higher level than me. My mind reeled back towards my incoming battle, but I could no longer sense the presence. That voice from heaven basically broke my concentration and now I was in far more danger. Gods are the worst. I focused my ears on my surroundings, staying completely still and silent. After a short period, I felt eyes on me once again, only this time it came from the right, where I held my trusty stone. I didn¡¯t make any sudden movements, in hopes that the monster would make a move and I could counter it. This thing may be a higher level than me, but it obviously is taking this slowly and seriously, so it is wary of me somewhat. I decide to show my back to this creature in a gambit to pull it out of the bushes. I turn towards the left ever slowly. As soon as I am completely facing away from the underbrush, I hear a loud rustle and a howl. I whirl around as quickly as my bones let me, swinging my branch with my body. I land the blow against the monster who was mid jump and couldn¡¯t dodge, and it crashes into the tree I was practicing on. It lands to the ground with a whimper and I finally get a good look at my opponent. It¡¯s a wolf. Slightly larger than a dog with dull gray, matted fur, it starts to pick itself up again. The wolf was ghastly thin, it was mostly skeleton at this point. Something tells me that this sickly dog was kicked out of his pack, and has been starving for a few days, struggling to hunt, and has come upon me as a last resort. It appears weak, but its eyes have a wicked, ravenous light to them, so I watch carefully. I regain my stance as the wolf picks itself up, and I advance forward ready to stop its mouth with my branch. It snaps its jaws at me and I attempt to wedge my makeshift blade into its maw. At this moment, I realized that my left arm was oddly light. I looked down, and noticed a distinct lack of stick in my hand. Apparently, most of it had broken off after I had slammed the wolf just a little while ago. The wolf latched on to my unguarded radius and started to gnaw. It hurt like hell. I writhed in agony and fell on to my back, and the dog fell on top of me. It was unbearable, but now it was close enough for my stone to hit effectively. I swung my right arm, desperate to get the beast off me, and hit it right in the eye with my stone. It rolled on to the ground. I then quickly jumped on top of it and hit its head repeatedly with the stone. Scared and panicked I continued to bash its head with my rock for what felt like minutes. I eventually noticed that some of my bones were soaked in blood, and I slowed my bashing to a gradual stop. I got off the beast, rolled it over, and searched for a heartbeat. When I found that I could not hear one, I was finally satisfied. I slowly got back on my feet and leaned against the nearby training tree. ¡°Ah, I¡¯ll have to find a new branch,¡± I muttered in my head. I need to get away from here, there was no telling when something would come here smelling some fresh blood, looking for a nice snack. I intended to be far, far away by that point. I also needed to find a river to wash off its blood, so I don¡¯t attract any pursuers. I didn¡¯t gain a level for that fight, oddly enough, but during my panicked swinging I definitely heard an announcement.
You have learned the [Blunt Weapon Mastery] skill!
I guess my training, along with the actual fight, compounded to get me this skill. Though calling that brawl ¡°skillful¡± would be quite the joke. Getting tons of skills probably won¡¯t be as fun as I had originally thought. Chapter 3 - A stronger body, but I dont have a body Keep running. Just keep running. Don¡¯t look back. Just¡­ keep¡­ running. My bones finally gave out from under me, and I collapsed on the forest floor. The fear I felt was subsiding, and the pain in my arm grew slightly with time. My body was fatigued, and my mind even more so. ¡°That¡­ that was terrifying.¡± I thought to myself. I fancied myself prepared for battles that I needed to face. But I have never been in a fight before. I won due to a lucky strike on the mutt¡¯s eye. The only reason I won was a combination of that and the fact that the wolf looked like it had been starving for days. I would live, and my health would regenerate. It¡¯s not like I can bleed out or have any organ damage with this body of mine. I leaned against a nearby tree, weary. If someone passed by, they probably think they saw some oddly pristine remains of a long dead hiker. I took this time to check on my status.
Name: None Species: Sapient Skeleton
Level: 1
Stats --
HP: 8/12 MP: 7/7
Attack: 2 Magic Power: 1
Defense: 3 Resistance: 1
Speed: 2 Dexterity: 2
Skills -- ?????????????? [Hiking Lvl. 1] [Presence Detection Lvl. 1] [Blunt Weapon Mastery Lvl. 1]
Titles -- [None]
My battle didn¡¯t net me any levels unfortunately, but I could feel that I was on the cusp of growth. I lost a lot of my health from the one bite and tackle from the dog. What a grim reminder of my weakness. I had hoped to find somewhere to wash the blood off, but my mind was too tired, and I needed to shut it off for a while to recuperate. My vision went dark, and I entered my sleep like state, too exhausted to plan any further. I slowly regained consciousness to the sound of constant chattering. My sockets beheld three large squirrel type monsters. Their bodies were only slightly larger than a typical squirrel, but their teeth were noticeably sharper; the front incisors especially were large and pointed. Their tails were much larger than their bodies however, and it looked like they could completely shield their backs with them. I was completely frozen, my last battle still fresh in my mind. One of the squirrels was close to my right arm, sniffing it attentively. The other two were farther back, watching warily. The closest squirrel began nibbling on my arm bit by bit, each bite getting progressively harder. The pain was similarly getting harder and harder to bear, but I put up with it. I knew my body wouldn¡¯t fall apart from it, and my instincts were screaming at me to stay still. My rock was still in my right hand, but I had no stick with which to keep distance. I had a feeling that these creatures didn¡¯t know what I was. They were checking if I was still alive. If they discovered I was, it was possible that they would all attack me together, and I was not confident I would be able to survive such a battle. So, I decided to bide my time and launch a surprise attack. It all came down to whether or not I could endure getting bitten. Suddenly, I great pain racked my body. I quickly checked my arm to see that the rodent had taken out a small chunk of my tibia.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. I want to pull away. I want to run. But I can¡¯t. I have to stay still. I can¡¯t move a single bone. The longest 30 seconds passes, as it seems that the large bite was the last check from the squirrel. The other two, now thoroughly convinced of the safety move towards my other arm. Once the rodent duo is within arm¡¯s reach, I flash into action. I quickly grab the both of them, and using my other arm, I hit them with the stone before they had time to register what happened. I hit a few times more to make sure my quarry is dead, and by the time I turned back to the one that had decided to eat my arm, it was already long gone. I wish I could have gotten some revenge, but it doesn¡¯t matter much. Because...
You have leveled up! [Stats] have been increased.
Hooray! It finally came! I just needed to be put through lots of pain! ¡­ Do I really want to do this again?
Congratulations on your first level up! Because this is your first time gaining a level, some specifics of level gain will be specified!
Ooh! This one even has a built-in explanation system. How convenient! This way I won¡¯t have to make any hypotheses.
Every being levels up, and every being can level up through defeating other living beings. Those with [Classes] can also level up by doing work associated with those classes.
So basically, everyone can kill things and gain experience, but someone who is a farmer doesn¡¯t have to kill things in order to level up, he can just farm in order to do so.
Every being also has a [Level Cap], but this varies among species. Once the [Level Cap] is reached, the creature can evolve. However, because beings who can possess [Classes] can level up easier, once they reach the [Level Cap] of their class, they can then switch classes to something of a higher tier.
Those with classes just have their classes evolve instead. Makes sense.
When a being levels up, all its [Stats] will increase by at least one, but they will oftentimes increase by more than one based on [Class], [Species], or [What one has done before achieving that level up].
This first two are self-explanatory, but I guess the last one pertains to your actions? So, if someone did strength training a lot while not leveling up, they would get far more additional points in strength than in magic power. Fair enough.
Work hard and good luck!
Ah, how nice of them, whoever that voice is. I do feel significantly stronger. Upon closer inspection, my wounds from my fights have completely healed up, even though it has not been that long. I decide to check my status again to see how I have changed.
Name: None Species: Sapient Skeleton
Level: 2
Stats --
HP: 15/15 (+3) MP: 8/8 (+1)
Attack: 5 (+3) Magic Power: 2 (+1)
Defense: 6 (+3) Resistance: 2 (+1)
Speed: 4 (+2) Dexterity: 4 (+2)
Skills -- ?????????????? [Hiking Lvl. 1] [Presence Detection Lvl. 1] [Blunt Weapon Mastery Lvl. 1]
Titles -- [None]
Wow, what a huge boost. I guess I did indeed do a lot physically, so it makes sense that my attack and defense have grown. My HP must have grown because I continually have been taking damage and working to endure it, I guess. I don¡¯t particularly want to go down the route of a tank if it has to be this masochistic, I¡¯m afraid. Speed and Dexterity must have increased due to my running and hiking in these woods. And for magic, I guess I haven¡¯t used it or gotten hit by it, but it¡¯s not like I have any spells to use, either. Well, it¡¯s pretty satisfying nonetheless. A lot of my stats doubled, too, so I¡¯m just about twice as strong as before. I felt renewed and slightly more confident. My battles may have had to do with a lot of surprise and even more luck, but I felt that I could put up an actual fight if I planned well enough. So, for now, until I didn¡¯t need to hide any longer, it was time to hunt. I picked up the squirrels¡¯ carcasses and made my way deeper into the forest. My head may be empty, but I had a great idea. A new branch, my same old stone, and some meaty bait. It was time for me to begin my hunt. Chapter 4 - A voice of distress, but I cant speak They say that when a leopard eats its meal, it will drag the carcass up into the tree with them and eat it leisurely. I imagine they evolved to do this so that they could keep their hunt away from other scavengers of the Serengeti. But this is not the Serengeti, it is a forest on one side of a mountain range. So, a simple question, why is there a skeleton hanging high up on the branch of a tree? Hello once again, it is I, the wandering skeleton. Today, I will show you my hunting techniques. Some may say that my ideas are barbaric, but they are still effective. First, place your bait, which in my case are the carcasses from my last hunt. The squirrels in this forest are meat eating scavengers, and although they won¡¯t outright attack each other for food, they will still feed of the corpses of their brethren. Nature is a messed-up place. Next, climb a nearby tree. Ideally, you want your bait to be directly below the tree, so that you can sit up on a branch, out of sight from your prey. Step three is the hardest, but it is just a matter of patience. Because I don¡¯t have to use a restroom, sleep, or eat, I can stay hidden for several hours. But you must wait for prey to arrive and take the bait. Once your quarry approaches your bait and begin feasting, jump down from the tree on top of them. Do this as quickly and quietly as possible, as not to alert your hunted. Luckily for me, a couple squirrels are coming towards the trap now. The final step of this plan is the most intuitive. You take your trusty weapon, and kill the prey. For me, I have my beloved stone, Dwayne. I¡¯ve used Dwayne many a time to bash in my opponents¡¯ skulls. I will demonstrate it for you now. I leapt from the branch I was hanging on using my body to trap the squirrels, catching them unaware. I then proceeded to beat them to death with my stone. A few seconds of bashing pass before I am satisfied, and I pick up the pair of new corpses, and move onwards to a different part of the forest to replicate this plan. I¡¯ve been working quite hard to hunt down monsters in this forest. My patented method may only work about 75% of the time, but thanks to it, my growth has been much faster over the past couple days. I reached level 3 yesterday, and my Dexterity, Speed, and Attack increased the most this time. My Defense and HP increased more than the standard as well, mostly because my hunting requires suicidal divebomb tactics out of trees. And for my magic stats, well, they increased too. I was also pleased with my skills so far. [Hiking] increased a level over the past few days, so navigating the forest was even easier. [Blunt Weapon Mastery] also grew to level two. I used [Presence Detection] a lot while waiting, but it has yet to grow a level. But the important skills were the ones I gained. I gained 3 skills, total. They were as follows:
[Sneak]: The ability to camouflage or hide oneself so that enemies cannot detect you. If you attack an enemy while still in [Stealth], the attack will be a [Sneak Attack] and will gain extra damage. This action breaks [Sneak].
[Climbing]: The ability to climb objects, be it buildings, mountains, trees, etc.
[Trap Making]: The ability to create traps for enemies. Creation success rate scales with [Dexterity].
Did the gods give me that last skill out of pity? All I did was place some bait under a tree and then jump onto the animals that went after it. Does that really count as ¡®trap making¡¯? I guess technically there was a setup to let the animal¡¯s guards down and then they died as a result, but in my opinion, this set up could hardly be called a trap. Well, I shouldn¡¯t complain. With the goal of getting stronger, I finally found an enjoyable task to spend time doing.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. I continued to trek through the forest, scanning for the next spot to set up. Then I spotted something special. I found a small river that split through the woods. Water! After all this time, a source of water! Water means life, and life means better hunting! I may even be able to steal some actual tools and weapons from humans if they ever camp out here. I love my stone, but there is only so much he can do. But before work comes something else. A bath! My bones are covered in dirt, blood, and leaves, and frankly, I feel if I don¡¯t clean myself not only will I lose an important part of myself, I may even begin to decay a bit more. I¡¯ve just started to have fun again, I¡¯m not going to return to the ground that quickly. Unfortunately, I had to choose between being clean and retaining my bait, as I was unsure what would happen if I ended up leaving it on the shore. There was a higher chance of finding animals along the shore, but it was still a mystery to how long it would take to encounter prey I was sure to defeat again. But, I have been working very hard, and to be honest, I want a small break. I¡¯m just going to have to rely mostly on luck in this case. I meander over to the brook. The body of water is about five people wide, if you had them lay shoulder to shoulder, and goes about waist deep. The river flows east, and the water is fairly clear with a tough, rocky bottom. I left my belongings on the shore and began taking handfuls of water and scrubbing my bones. It took an extremely long time for me to scrape off most of the leaves and other debris, and even longer to begin removing the mud and blood off. Without soap, the whole process was inefficient. I spent a few minutes soaking all my bones as well. I would just lie down in the middle of the river and let the current run over me and through me. I didn¡¯t need to breathe, and I sunk easily to the river floor. Occasionally, I would check my belongings, and I was lucky enough that nothing had come to steal my bait while I was washing myself. Because [Presence Detection] was low level, I wasn¡¯t sure if it would work all the time, but I didn¡¯t feel any presences whilst I was underwater, either. At least there weren¡¯t any presences that were outside the river. I climbed out of the water and began gathering my belongings again, two squirrel carcasses, one large branch, and one stone. Rivers in woods like these remind me of some pleasant memories of camping trips I had with family and friends. Canoeing down peaceful waters, sleeping in a tent outside, and bonfires. I felt lonely. I have been struggling through this forest for about a week and a half now, and I want someone, anyone, to interact with. I¡¯ve done nothing but monologue to myself and narrate my hunting because I¡¯m so deprived of contact. This is probably the most human aspect of myself left. I just wanted a friend. If I didn¡¯t find anybody soon, I may just end up drawing a face on my stone and talking to it instead, like some survivor on a deserted island. I have already given him a name. I just was not confident in my ability to keep my sanity for much longer. But even if I found someone, how would I communicate? I can¡¯t speak, and I never learned something convenient like sign language while I was still human. Though that probably wouldn¡¯t work considering I¡¯m quite far away from home at this point. I slowly moved down the bank of the river eastward. I was about to place that thought at the back of my mind and distract myself with hunting, when I heard something. ¡®He¡­ ee!¡¯ What? What was that? It sounded like it was directly in my skull, but at the same time, I could tell where it was coming from. Was it a call from some bird or something? ¡®Help ..eee!¡¯ I definitely heard ¡®help¡¯ that time. Something is communicating. Something needs me. If I save some human from danger, maybe they¡¯ll become my friend? It¡¯s a gamble, but I¡¯ve had good luck so far today. ¡®Help meeeeeeeee!¡¯ Before I even realized it, myself, I was running. Running eastward. Running with the river. Someone was in danger. I¡¯ll save them. I¡¯ll risk it all. I was almost about to get crushed by my own loneliness. But I have a way to escape it now. I soon found myself above what seemed to be an odd cove. Steep cliffs about 30 feet high (9.1 meters) surrounded a pond. There was a split in the rock was on the side opposite of me. The pond itself was about 50 feet (15.2 meters) in diameter. From my position, the pond emptied into another river on the left side, one that flowed under the rock. In the very center of the pond lie a small island with vibrant green grass and filled with bright pink orchids. In the middle of that island, a pedestal with a pink gem placed firmly onto it. As I ran along the cliff while staying out of sight, I spotted two men. One was keeping watch at the split in the rock, making sure nothing was following them, while the other was wading through the pond slowly to reach the gem. I couldn¡¯t see whatever was asking me for help, maybe they had them tied up somewhere outside? But I knew it wasn¡¯t either of these men, because the voice was somewhere between childlike and feminine, and neither of these two looked like they could have that voice. Neither of them were in trouble, too. While using [Stealth], I made my way to the part of the cliff above the watchman. It was time to demonstrate to these two bandit types my hunting techniques. Chapter 5 - A bandit of a legend that no one will tell Have you ever heard the legend of the Bandit Emperor, Rex Omnipotens? A man so cruel and clever that not only did he reach the peak of a Bandit King, he drew several other Bandit Kings under his influence and became an emperor. It¡¯s said he could duel dragons, split mountains, and could happily down the deadliest of poisons like they were a good glass of ale. No government could lay a finger on him, and they say he lived a long, happy life, and died old surrounded by gold and women several decades younger than him. That was my goal. Hearing stories of such a myth like him, I had to achieve it myself. There had been no second Bandit Emperor, the Kings fought amongst each other for the right to lead the others, and after several internal wars, the Empire fell apart. I was going to become that second. I was destined for it since birth, I was sure of it. I may even go further than Rex reached! He became contented with his life style, but what if he was even stronger? What came after emperor? I was going to be the one to find out. Soon, this pathetic world will tremble at the name of the Bandit God himself, Drake Knell. There were many close-minded fools in my home village who laughed at my ambitions. My idiot parents were completely opposed to the idea of even trying. So, I made sure of something when I left. I killed every last one of them. People who can¡¯t see my greatness do not deserve to stain my world with their presence. I left that town in the night and joined a bandit syndicate at the young age of 13. It¡¯s been about 2 years, and I have a few underlings and subordinates within the camp. Once I get enough cash, I can overthrow the whole camp, and the Bandit Leader will become me. I slaved away under that moron leader for long enough, it¡¯s the least she can do to die for me and let me fulfill my destiny. The encampment is several miles east of here, if you follow the river, and while I was on a scouting mission I found this grove. I small island in the middle of a large pond, with an enormous gem on a pedestal. It glowed a beautiful pink, and I could hear it calling me. My destiny that is. This was exactly what I needed to launch my own bandit kingdom. Gems that had odd colors like this were especially rare. And I could feel that there was something, almost magical, about it. Of course, a lone gem in the middle of the forest looks far too suspicious, and I¡¯m not an idiot, I¡¯m going to be a God after all. I returned to camp with the report that ¡°there was nothing of note up the river.¡± I then decided to take my most reliable subordinate with me and get the gem. He¡¯s not the most stable of underlings I have, but he¡¯s strong enough to be worth keeping around. He respects me and only desires to rape and mutilate women. It has something to do with the fact that he felt betrayed by some childhood friend that promised to marry him when he was young, but then he grew up into the ugly, hunchbacked mess I know today. Anybody would reject him then. But unfortunately for her, he lost his mind at her ¡®betrayal¡¯ and decided to rape and murder her before having to run away. He¡¯s a real degenerate, but his knife skills are the real deal, so I put up with him. He¡¯s never told anyone his real name, but he goes by ¡°The Cruelty,¡± because ¡°true cruelty is truly ugly.¡± He¡¯s an imbecile. By the time we reached the pond, it was already well into the morning. I ordered the idiot, ¡°Keep watch at the entrance here, make sure nothing and no one has followed us. If you spot anything, kill it. I¡¯m gonna cross the pond here and grab the gem. Then we leave. Got it?¡± ¡°K big bro¡­ will we really make it big wit dis?¡± ¡°That rock there is enormous, my deformed friend,¡± I pointed to it, enamored, ¡°once we take it for ourselves, we¡¯ll be the leaders of our own bandit crew!¡±Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. ¡°T-then I can have girls, right?¡± ¡°Yeah, you¡¯ll have as many girls as you want! As long as they aren¡¯t mine!¡± ¡°O-ok big bro¡­ I¡¯ll keep watch.¡± ¡°Good, and start calling me boss from now on.¡± I began moving through the pond. It didn¡¯t matter if he came with me, as long as he could assist me later, or even give up his life for mine, it was fine. I¡¯m sure I could find lots of strong subordinates later. I was about half-way to the island when I began hearing grunting behind me. What was that hunchback doing? ¡°Cruelty, I told you to keep watch you moron! You better not be jackin¡¯ it back there!¡± I spun around, fury in my eyes. I¡¯m not going to tolerate some idiot ruining my moment of greatness! There, at the entrance to the grove, I saw a lone skeleton squaring off with Cruelty. In one hand, the undead wielded a medium sized branch. My own subordinate is struggling against this low-level mob? I would understand if it was any type of higher skeleton, since they have some kind of intelligence, but Cruelty should not be struggling against this conglomerate of bones. But if this is all the trap is, I¡¯m a little relieved. I began wading back towards the entrance to dispose of the trap, assured of my victory. I¡¯d rather not waste a subordinate if I did not have to. ¡°Cruelty jus¡¯ kill it already!¡± I shouted. ¡°Mmmmm boss, I-I can¡¯t stab him though¡­¡± Cruelty despondently replied. ¡°Jus¡¯ bash his head in. None of these things are very tough!¡± ¡°O-Ok boss.¡± He lifted up the hilt of his knife and brought it back down again quickly towards the skull of the enemy. The skeleton knew it was coming, but still couldn¡¯t beat his opponents speed, and only managed to narrowly dodge the blow to his head. As a result, however, the blow decimated most of his shoulder. Just as the butt of the knife came down, the skeleton threw a punch of his own, hitting Cruelty squarely in the temple. Cruelty let out a groan, stumbled, and collapsed on to the ground, his head bleeding hard. ¡°Wha..?¡± I was dumbfounded. Skeletons were weak, there¡¯s no way this thing has enough strength to cause bleeding with a punch. Maybe some of his bones were cracked and sharp? I hastened my pace toward the shore. I wasn¡¯t going to let that idiot die on me yet. Not when there is no need for him to do so, anyways. I drew my sword and walked out of the pond. Seeing that its left arm was mostly useless at this point, it threw its stick in my direction. I simply deflected it. A pathetic attack like that will have no effect on me. I began to charge in earnest when I suddenly felt a sharp pain on my forehead. I looked down onto the ground and noticed what it had thrown at me. A stone, a smooth gray stone with red flecks on it had hit me square in the head. I realized that this was what it had used to stagger Cruelty earlier. This bastard. He dares insult me like this. I will not tolerate anyone attempting to stop or harm the great me. I won¡¯t even let this undead die. I¡¯m going to enjoy pulling his bones apart piece by piece. He may have irritated me by throwing something unexpected, but the bones no longer have any ammunition. He is finished. I charge once more, sword raised high. The skeleton doesn¡¯t even attempt to run. What a fool. I have won. Just as I get into range, my eyes begin to sting. I close them out of pain, and I feel my sword miss its target. I jump back quickly, unnerved at my sudden blindness, and work to get whatever is in my eye, out. I manage to pry my eyes open and realize that blood from my forehead is what is obstructing my view. I back away while rubbing the blood away from my face. I finally clear my sight, but when I look for the skeleton, he has already close the gap and is close to grabbing me. I throw a quick punch to regain my range advantage. The monster has to strangle me to death now, as long as I am farther than arms reach away, he cannot touch me. My punch connects, and the nuisance is forced to back away a bit. I back just a bit more to get into an appropriate stance, and I slip. Before I had realized it, the pond was directly behind me again. I fell into the water with a splash, and the skeleton did not miss his chance. He leapt on me and wrapped his hand around my neck. As I was about to slash back, he suddenly got off of me and started walking towards Cruelty. I tried to stand up and attack his exposed back, but I suddenly found myself unable to move. The water began warming up around me, and began to turn red. I struggled to breathe, my vision was going dark. What happened? Am I dying? How could this happen? I was destined for greatness! I was going to be the next Bandit God! The gateway was just within my reach! Why? Why? Why¡­? Why¡­¡­.? W¡­¡­. With neck slit and a baffled expression, so ended the tale of the bandit who dared to call himself a god, before he even ran his own bandit syndicate. So, ended the tale of Drake Knell. Chapter 6 - A sudden argument, but I cant yell Aaaah, what a mess. My mind was working rapidly trying to make sense of what had just happened. I heard some voice crying out for help, and I had decided to rush to their aid, no questions asked. Now I was standing over the corpses of what looked to be two thieves. Were these guys even villainous? After all, I couldn¡¯t find their victim. After I had made sure the ugly thief was dead, I was looking around the immediate area for their captive, but there was none. It looked like those two really were here just to loot this enclosed pond area. It was obvious what they were after. A large, beautiful, pink stone adorned the center of a large stone pedestal. The pedestal stood with a small audience of pink orchids fluttering in the wind around it. The light bounced off the stone in such a way that it seemed ethereal, or almost alive, in a sense. It was breathtaking, and I imagine that any rich person would pay quite the high price for such a treasure. I reverently made my way across the pond, wading slowly through the chest height water towards the small island. I wanted to examine that stone. Most of all, though, I wanted the stone to have answers. What was that voice I had heard crying for help? There was a lack of captive or corpse of said captive, but I know I heard something. Something that was desperate. Something that wanted to live more than anything else in that moment, it didn¡¯t care what it attracted to it, as long as it would help it immediately. I wanted to know that I didn¡¯t murder two people for nothing. I was shaking as those words slowly hit me. I murdered two people. My steps slowed. I was a pretty good person on Earth, I would like to believe. I was a bit of a rule follower. So, to jump from there to here, it was quite a shock. I didn¡¯t have much time to think about all the life I took. I guess I must have seen this world more as an RPG than as a real world. But to hear two people dialoguing, arguing, and fighting for their lives like that. It¡¯s hard, mentally speaking. But I had tread this path now. There wasn¡¯t any going back. As much as I secretly wanted to return to human society at one point, it clearly is no longer feasible. I let out a heavy mental sigh, my jaw opening a bit as I tried to accept my current reality and move on. It¡¯s too late to wonder, ¡®What if...?¡¯ I strolled passed the flowers, and I could feel the air around me subtly change. I gazed down at the gem and in my mind vocalized a simple question. ¡®Was it you?¡¯ I stared for a few moments longer. The silence only seemed to grow with time, the only noise was the waterfall crashing several feet away. I was getting increasingly embarrassed. Oh no, what if it really is just a rock and I¡¯m thinking to myself. It turns out the whole time that it really was just a lone gem and I¡¯ve devolved to talking to rocks. I¡¯m close to completely losing my mind. I decided to persevere, however, because I could feel something in the atmosphere. I gave the rock a few taps and waited a bit longer. I heard a meek voice in my head at that time. ¡®W-Who are you? A-a-are you here to take me?¡¯ A response! I haven¡¯t gone insane quite yet! ¡®No, I¡¯m not here to do such a thing,¡¯ I thought while making gestures to express my disagreement. ¡®Then why are you here? Y-you haven¡¯t come to destroy me, have you?¡¯ ¡®I came because I heard you asking for help. I came to protect you.¡¯ I pantomimed the idea that I was here to defend, and the actions that had just occurred. I couldn¡¯t tell if the stone could hear my thoughts, so I put a lot of effort into the movements. ¡®You r-really came to p-protect me?¡¯ Oi, stop shaking your voice. Am I that terrifying? ¡®Can you understand what I¡¯m saying?¡¯ ¡®Yes?¡¯ It replied simply. Well that makes things much easier for me, but at the same time, I feel like a fool for dancing around while explaining all of what happened. Uwaaaah, what a first impression. Wait, why didn¡¯t it say anything earlier, either! I stood still for a long time! ¡®Could you not have made that just a bit clearer? I feel like an idiot for flapping around like that now.¡¯ ¡®Oh, I just thought that it was how your kind communicated. I was only trying to be accepting! U-uh, it was funny!¡¯ ¡®T-thanks¡­¡¯ My shoulders drooped a bit. That was literally the last thing I had wanted to hear. ¡®So, who and what are you?¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t have a name, but I am a dungeon core.¡¯ Well it makes sense to me, with the ominous large rock and its ability to talk, it makes sense that this would be the ¡°heart of a dungeon¡± that I have often read about in stories back on Earth. ¡®But where¡¯s your dungeon then?¡¯ ¡®I, uh, don¡¯t have one.¡¯ ¡®You don¡¯t have one?¡¯ ¡®I-It isn¡¯t my fault!¡¯ the dungeon core sheepishly replied.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Oh? ¡®And how is it not your fault you haven¡¯t built anything yet?¡¯ ¡®If I build too much, I¡¯ll get easily discovered by other races in the world, and I need a dungeon fairy to access my abilities! If I want to pick my monster race, pick my dungeon trait, or anything else, I need someone to become my dungeon fairy! I¡¯ve been making my small island appealing in hopes of attracting a fairy partner!¡¯ Ah, I feel bad for making fun of it, it really isn¡¯t the dungeon¡¯s fault. But where am I going to find a fairy? Aren¡¯t they legendarily elusive beings? I doubt I could find one easily. ¡®Do they need to be fairies?¡¯ I wondered aloud. ¡®Well, technically, no, but the race you have as a fairy is like a status symbol, so I wanted a super powerful one! Like an actual fairy, or a dragon, or something! I turned away a few others that tried to become my fairy!¡¯ Wait, what? What?? ¡®Are you trying to get yourself killed!? I get that you would want a powerful partner, but you almost gave yourself a death sentence because of pride? You¡¯re absolutely nuts! You think a dragon or fairy will stop by and bind themselves to you just because you planted a bunch of pretty flowers?¡¯ It ended up being the core¡¯s fault after all! Give my sympathy back to me! ¡®W-w-w-w-w-what do you know? You¡¯re just a big dumb pile of bones!¡¯ The core retorted. ¡®What do I know!? I know I had to murder two people because you were being too stubborn to protect yourself!¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s not that simple! My fairy is a partner that I¡¯m going to be bound to for life and if they don¡¯t make much of an effort to build the dungeon, I won¡¯t go anywhere! A lot of species see being a fairy as a status symbol, and they don¡¯t care what happens to the dungeon afterwards! It¡¯s more likely that stronger races will manage to protect the dungeon. This fact is told to every dungeon once they are born! You don¡¯t get anything!¡¯ Our first meeting had quickly devolved into a loud thinking match. I was upset that the dungeon had made no moves to protect itself even though it was well within its power, and I basically had to become a criminal for its sake. ¡®Look, I¡¯m not going to waste my time helping some idiot dungeon that doesn¡¯t want to take care of itself. I saved you this time, but there won¡¯t be a second, understand?¡¯ ¡®I don¡¯t want YOUR help anyways! I thought maybe I had found my fairy, but you just turned out to be a huge jerk! I¡¯ll make tons of great monsters without your help, that¡¯ll show you!¡¯ ¡®Keh, I¡¯d like to see you try without a partner.¡¯ ¡®It can be done! I just¡­ need something to die¡­ right on this island.¡¯ ¡®Well I won¡¯t waste my time around here anymore. Have a nice life, if it lasts much longer.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯LL LIVE FOREVER.¡¯ I turned around and walked off the island and away from the pond. I was close to reaching another level, so it was far more worth my time to go hunting than it was to argue with a rock. I took the knife from the deformed thief, and left the area. I didn¡¯t notice one of the bodies decay rapidly on my way out, however. -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- That idiot bone man knows nothing of what it¡¯s like to be a dungeon core. I can¡¯t see anything outside of my dungeon area. All I have for area is this small island. How far can I go before I stumble across a populated area? I would never know until I was right on top of it. I could literally be sitting just outside a town. I would never know. Also, why would he dare say something like I¡¯m being a fool for not picking my partner immediately!? Would HE be satisfied spending his life with the first thing he came across? I imagine not! I only realized I was in danger because of the splashing of the waves, earlier. I can feel the disturbances in the water because my region envelopes the water just a bit. But, I began to panic. I was sure that this was the end, before I could even find a reliable partner. But then he showed up. Against all odds, the skeleton managed to save me. And according to him, it was two humans as well, which is quite the feat. Humans gain levels easily, so they were probably significantly stronger. For just a moment, I had thought, ¡®This, this is the one who can be my partner. He¡¯s someone I¡¯m sure I can put my trust into to keep me safe.¡¯ In the end however, all he did was insult me and leave. Even though he knows nothing! Even though he¡¯s so strong! I spent a few hours grumbling, but suddenly I sensed a splash in the water. ¡®Oh, bonesy? Have you come back to ask for my forgiveness? You really want to be my fairy after all? Hehehe, well if you insist¡­ I wouldn¡¯t mind, but I would like you to get on your hands and knees and beg for it.¡¯ ¡®¡­¡¯ I didn¡¯t get a response. ¡®Eh, bonesy? I-is that you?¡¯ ¡®¡­¡¯ Still more silence. I was growing more and more unsettled. Wouldn¡¯t he respond by now, even if it was just to insult me? As the entity climbed onto my island, I finally gained vision. It turned out to be a skeleton. But I could tell. I could tell it wasn¡¯t the one from earlier. It felt far more sinister. Around the undead¡¯s left eye were a multitude of cracks. One of its vertebrae had cuts in it. And I could feel its intense desire to possess my gem. Each step sent a chill through me. Ah, I chased away my last hope, I should have just agreed, or something. Bonesy worked really hard for someone he didn¡¯t even know, and I never even said thank you. I¡¯m going to die here. The skeletal hands clasped my body and began to pull. I desperately clung to the stone pedestal, but I felt my grip loosening. Once I was separated, everything would go dark, and my life as a dungeon would end. I would probably just be some magical power core for a fancy sword. I didn¡¯t want to end that way. Ah, this is the limit. What a shame. ¡®You may be a dumb pile of bones, but thank you for saving me earlier.¡¯ A loud smash resounded in the area. Metaphorically, I had my eyes shut tight, but I could feel myself slowly going back into my home in the pedestal. I opened my senses to see a new skeleton over the shattered body of another. ¡®I wish you would stop calling me that.¡¯ ¡®Bonesy¡­ You came back?¡¯ ¡®Well, in the end, I guess it wasn¡¯t fair to judge you with my own narrow worldview. It¡¯s not like I have been alive again for very long. So, uh, I¡¯m sorry, I guess. I was planning on hunting a small animal, carrying it over here, and killing it so that you could make a protector of sorts, but it looks like I¡¯m fated to be stuck doing this.¡¯ I brightened up instantly. How did I get so attached in such little time? Maybe for once I was glad that there was someone talking to me like a being, rather than some tool. Call it intuition, but I could tell that he had saved me not out of some sense of reward, but because he had simply wanted me to be safe. ¡®Hey,¡¯ he called to me, ¡®in the end, I want to protect you. Will you let me?¡¯ ¡®Hehe,¡¯ I dazzled just a little bit more, ¡®I was going to ask you to protect me, anyways.¡¯ Neither of us could make facial expressions, but I could tell. We were both smiling. The skeleton interrupted the moment tactlessly, though. ¡®Well, could you give me a minute, it¡¯s apparently time for me to evolve.¡¯ Chapter 7 - Exceptional growth, but I cant get taller ¡®You have to stop to evolve? That¡¯s so unromantic!¡¯ ¡®Well, I¡¯m sorry, but it looks like that skeleton had me reach my level cap. I don¡¯t really get a choice of ¡°when¡± I want to evolve.¡¯ I could feel myself quickly blacking out. I sat down, leaning my spine against the pedestal. ¡®I¡¯ll make the contract when I wake back up. You¡¯re going to have to be on your own for just a little bit.¡¯ ¡®Haaa, alright, that¡¯s fine.¡¯ It¡¯s not fine. ¡®Besides, I¡¯m a skeleton and you¡¯re a rock so how is that supposed to be roma-¡® My consciousness cut off abruptly before I could finish that ill-advised statement. I began to float in a sea of black. It felt like I was in an MRI, like my whole self was being scanned by the universe. It was truly an odd sensation. What was even more strange was that I could see myself in my old human body. My human body? Is this what some would call the shape of the soul? The possibility of my recent adventures being a dream crossed my mind, but fortunately, I knew it was real. The pain and the anguish were a little to real. As I walked away from the dungeon earlier, my regret, worry, and guilt were all similarly real. No dream could fake that, I think. I had finally found a will to live, something to work for, a purpose, in this world. I¡¯m sorry for my family, but I won¡¯t be going back. I did enjoy, however, the simple things that a flesh and blood body could do. I focused on breathing in and out, blinking, grinning. I touched my hair and my ears. All simple things I took for granted. I can no longer speak with just my face. I miss reacting to things. A voice broke me out of my melancholy reminiscence with a commanding tone. ¡°Choose, little one, your path in life. There is no reason to stand still. Move forwards.¡± ¡°Who are you?¡± I asked. That wasn¡¯t like the announcement voice or the status screens. The voice was completely different. I never got a response. Four balls of light hovered in front of me. I could tell that these were my possible evolutions. My paths to choose. Blue screens began to form in front of each path. The leftmost path.
[Path of the Warrior]: Evolve into a [Skeleton Warrior]. Donning a sword and leather armor, these second-tier skeletons follow the path of a fighter. This evolution is offered to all basic skeletons upon level cap reach. Bonuses to physical and weaponry skill gain. Attack and Defense have large increased growth rates. Resistance has small increased growth rate. Magic has enormous decreased growth rate. Rarity: Common
The second path.
[Path of the Mage]: Evolve into a [Skeleton Mage]. With billowing robes and a staff, these second-tier skeletons follow the path of a magician. This evolution is offered to all basic skeletons upon level cap reach. Bonus to magic and mana usage skill gain. Magic and Resistance have large increased growth rates. Dexterity has small increased growth rate. Attack and Defense have large decreased growth rates. Warning! Attack and Defense stats will drastically decrease to increase current Magic and Resistance stats! Rarity: Common
The third path.
[Path of the Hunter]: Evolve into a [Skeleton Hunter]. With a small cloak made of their hunt and a knife, these second-tier skeletons follow the path of a hunter. This evolution is offered to skeletons who create traps, plan, and surprise their prey. Bonus to physical and [Lightweight] weaponry skill gain. Bonus to movement, tracking, and stealth skill gain. Attack and Dexterity have large increased growth rates. Speed has small increased growth rate. Defense and Resistance have small decreased growth rate. Rarity: Rare
The final path.
[Path of Blood]: Evolve into a [Bloody Skeleton]. Their bones painted a ghastly red, these second-tier skeletons brutalize their opponents, destroying bodies. This evolution is offered to skeletons who bathe excessively in the blood of their enemies. Bonus to physical and fist fighting-type skill gain. Bonus to [Water] magic skill gain. Attack, Defense, and Resistance have large increased growth rates. Magic has small increased growth rate. Speed has large decreased growth rate. Rarity: Rare
On the bright side, I get plenty of information to make an informed decision. On the downside, it¡¯s a lot to take in. I also needed to consider what potential paths these may lead. Although there may be a great diversity of further evolutions if I pick one of the two common evolutions, I would rather go with something rare. It¡¯s rare you know, rare! That¡¯s how one determined how cool their Pok*mon was, by its rarity. This narrowed down my options to two, both with their own drawbacks and advantages. The [Path of the Hunter] suits my style the most right now, but I forgo the chance to get magic abilities easier. I also become squishier, because my defense and resistance won¡¯t increase as easily. But I get a wider variety of skills getting growth bonuses. On the other end, the [Path of Blood] has a great amount of stat increases. Secondly, I would be able to easily branch into magic as well, which gave it some versatility. It had one very large drawback, though, and I honestly didn¡¯t want to appear as some murder lover. Actually, it¡¯s a little insulting I even got this path! I was just panicking, not enjoying bloodshed! Well, it¡¯s strong either way,If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. I debated back and forth for a while. But in the end, it came down to what would help the dungeon more. It appears if something is killed in the dungeon¡¯s territory, the dungeon can spawn that monster again. It¡¯s a common feature in dungeon fiction on Earth, and some earlier comments by the core made it seem that that was the reality. Also, I didn¡¯t want the dungeon to stand out just yet, especially since we have no defenses in place. If my evolution stands out too much, they may find and kill my new friend. I definitely cannot let that happen. So, I decided on the [Path of the Hunter]. I¡¯m going to have to be more careful than if I went a tank path, but I¡¯ve been living like that anyway, so it¡¯s not that big of a deal. I reached out and grabbed the orb of light for my evolution. My surroundings than began to get brighter and brighter until I could see no longer. The voice declared, ¡°The path has been chosen. May you continue to overcome your obstacles. Good luck, and I hope to see you again.¡±
Evaluating stats¡­ ??Complete
Evaluating equipment¡­?Complete
Evaluating skills¡­ ? Complete
Evaluating all non-quantifiables¡­ Complete
Variance obtained.
My vision returned and I was back to the dungeon, sitting peacefully under the pedestal. I slowly adjusted my body and began to get up, when I was greeted by my dungeon partner. ¡®Hello and good morning! Did you have fun?¡¯ ¡®I wouldn¡¯t call it fun, but well it wasn¡¯t bad either. How long have I been out?¡¯ ¡®Three days. I was about to start getting worried about you!¡¯ Wait, three days? ¡®Three days? How long do evolutions usually take?¡¯ ¡®Usually about one day. There should only be about two options. Three if you¡¯re lucky. Decisions shouldn''t take very long.¡¯ Ok so it¡¯s just because I¡¯m special. Whew, that was a close one. I guess it would be easy if you could just rule out the one option you didn¡¯t want. Plus, I doubt most monsters even think that much in the first place. ¡®Then it took so long because I had four evolutions.¡¯ ¡®Four!? I knew I¡¯d be making a good choice to partner up with you! You look much different by the way. It, uh, it suits you.¡¯ ¡®Thanks,¡¯ I automatically replied. I walked over to the pond to get a better look at myself. My bones had all turned brown. It would be easier to hide in the forest like this, but I just thought I looked dirty. I had a small cape that stopped above my pelvis. It was a much darker shade of brown, and appeared to be made from the skins of Scavenger Squirrels. The fur wrapped around my neck and was tied at the front. About halfway down the cape was a small leather belt that held a holster with a knife in it. I unsheathed the knife and examined it. It was made entirely of bone, and was probably as sharp as the iron knife I had swapped earlier. It was hard to tell because I couldn¡¯t test it on my skin. I was also wearing a small necklace. It was a metal string that weaved through three dark red stones. The middle one was the largest, which was about the size of a thumb. Carved into the middle stone was a large letter ¡°D¡±. I was impressed! My evolution comes with gear! I guess the various descriptions of the paths did make specific mentions of what the skeletons ¡°donned.¡± As such, I believe the Bloody Skeleton would come with no gear. I felt refreshed. I checked my status to see what my stats were.
Name: None Race: Sapient Skeleton Hunter
Level: 1 Variant: Earth
Stats ¨C
HP: 22/22 (+7) MP: 11/11 (+3)
Attack: 13 (+8) Magic Power: 6 (+4)
Defense: 10 (+4) Resistance: 4 (+2)
Speed: 12 (+8) Dexterity: 13 (+9)
Skills - ???????????????????????????????????? [Hiking Lvl. 7] [Presence Detection Lvl. 4] [Blunt Weapon Mastery Lvl. 5] [Stealth Lvl. 5] [Climbing Lvl. 3] [Trap Making Lvl. 2] [Dagger Mastery Lvl. 1] [Tracking Lvl. 1] [Dismantling Lvl. 1]
Titles - [None]
Equipment ¨C [Cloak of the Hunt] [Bone Knife of the Undying] [Bloodstone Necklace]
I didn¡¯t check my level status when I hit level 5, but I think that my stats took a small dive. Between the level reset and the new equipment, I bet some of my stats were sacrificed to get me those. The calculations at the end apparently determined that I achieved an elemental variance? Well that explains why all my bones are brown now. I wonder why I got earth, though? Is that because of my friendship with the dungeon? But that means that I could possibly learn magic, maybe! It may only be earth magic, but who cares? I can still get to do as many new things as possible! I hope the dungeon can teach me some magic. I have learned that I can analyze items in my status, which was how I could get a better description of my skills. I began to analyze my equipment.
[Cloak of the Hunt]: A hunter¡¯s traditional wear. It is often given to young hunters when they manage to hunt enough to make one, so they often end up looking like patchwork. Receiving this cloak is traditionally associated with a young hunter reaching adulthood. [Defense +4] Rarity: Common
If it¡¯s made from the things I¡¯ve hunted, it makes sense why it¡¯s exclusively Scavenger Squirrel skins.
[Bone Knife of the Undying]: A knife made out of bone, often used by skeletal knife wielders. It¡¯s only a little sharper than a copper knife, but they regenerate when given magic power. Because of this, some say the knife is made from the skeleton itself. [Attack +3] [Regeneration] Rarity: Uncommon
Ooh how convenient! I¡¯ll be able to use a tool but I won¡¯t have to worry about maintenance! It¡¯s still not very strong, however. And lastly,
[Bloodstone Necklace]: A necklace made with bloodstone. Bloodstone is created when certain rocks are coated with excessive amounts of blood, which often ingrain some mana into them. This new mana crystallizes, and gives the stone a unique luster as well as a red color and some special effects. [Attack +3] [Will of Dwayne] Rarity: Rare
Eh? Dwayne? This was created from my trusted weapon, Dwayne? I analyzed the secondary effect.
[Will of Dwayne]: Albeit just a stone, Dwayne was a trusted, named companion of an unnamed skeleton. His wish to be of use even after he was no longer useful as a weapon turned him into a necklace for his friend upon the skeleton¡¯s evolution. ¡°Crush your enemies! Rule this forest! I may not be needed, but I¡¯ll always be by your side!¡± ¨C Dwayne [Stat increase from item doubled]
What¡­? We didn¡¯t even get a proper goodbye. I clutched the necklace. ¡®I¡¯ll show you Dwayne, I¡¯ll be the strongest in this forest.¡¯ ¡®Who¡¯s Dwayne?¡¯ The question surprised me, I almost forgot the dungeon was there. ¡®A true man,¡¯ I solemnly replied. It appeared that stat increases thanks to items did not appear in my Status page. With all my gear, my attack was 22. What an impressive jump! I turned back to the pedestal, and I could almost see the question marks floating above the core. ¡®Have you been doing anything since I¡¯ve been unconscious?¡¯ ¡®I managed to capture the entire pond area. I never knew this place was completely encapsulated in walls! I also peeked a bit into the forest outside, but I decided not to go too far and get myself into trouble in case you didn¡¯t wake up for a long time.¡¯ ¡®Good work! You thought this out well. You¡¯re not an idiot after all.¡¯ ¡®OI!!!¡¯ ¡®So, how exactly do I become your dungeon fairy?¡¯ ¡®We have to exchange something while giving a vow. Usually my vow consists of letting you use my power. But what should we exchange.¡¯ I thought for a while. It¡¯s not like we could both get items to exchange, and I wanted something that would last long and represent my allegiance. I then remembered our first conversation. ¡®You don¡¯t have a name, right? How about we name each other? I don¡¯t have a name, either.¡¯ ¡®I like that idea! What should I name you?¡¯ ¡®Please make it an actual name, and not something like ¡°Bonesy,¡± please.¡¯ ¡®Okay¡­ Ah, I got one!¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ve thought of one as well. Vow time, correct?¡¯ I knelt in front of the pedestal, like a knight bowing to his ruler. ¡®I vow to protect you from danger, to stave off all intruders, to help you grow into someone great. This, Jenna, I promise.¡¯ ¡®I vow to give you my power, a home, and a friend in this lonely world. This, Ozzy, I promise.¡¯ Mana began to flow between us suddenly. I felt my strength fade and grow several times over. It lasted maybe a minute, but it felt like we were stuck in that exchange for an hour. When it was done, I felt a distinct connection to the rock, to Jenna, in front of me. I collapsed backwards, exhausted.
Congratulations, the contract was successful! You now have access to [Dungeon Skills] but only when touching the core of the dungeon. Lead your dungeon to greatness!
Title earned! [Dungeon Fairy]
My solo adventures were done. My wandering was done. I had a home. I had a friend I could talk to. And now, I had a job to do. I will also endeavor to figure out why I was sent here. My undead life begins here.
Title earned! [A Unique Existence]
Chapter 8 - The Dungeon Duo Decides! My mother used to tell me, ¡°People are like snowflakes, every one of them is unique in their own way.¡± I¡¯m sure many children have heard this line when they were young. Everyone is different, everyone is special. When you get older, however, you realize that this is a little half-truth, because at the core of their being, everybody is about the same as everybody else. If I¡¯m getting told this by a god, should I still believe it? After becoming the dungeon fairy, I received a new title, [A Unique Existence].
[A Unique Existence]: You are something unseen on this world as of yet. Because you are treading your own, brand new path, growth becomes slightly easier. Gain 1% additional experience. ¡°Show me something amusing, little one.¡± ¨C God of All, Genesis
I would rather not be watched an entertaining television show. Well he appears to be the god of everything, so there probably is not much I can do to protest. He may even get bored after he realizes that all I do is sit in trees most of the time. I also hypothesize that this god is the voice I had heard in my evolution hibernation, based mostly on how he calls me ¡°little one.¡± The voice during that time was strikingly different from the voice I hear for level up announcements, so there are probably more gods up in Heaven or Olympus or wherever. I¡¯m not here to be a theologist, and I have stuff to work on, so I decided to forget about the gods for now. If all Genesis is going to do is watch me, my daily life should not change all that much. He may even ensure I get a season two if things start to dip. I pushed my newest title out of my head and headed towards the pedestal. ¡®Jenna, what do we need to do to get the dungeon up and running?¡¯ The stone seemed to shine with happiness, ¡®We need to pick a starting race and dungeon traits, and then we can begin building our first floor!¡¯ I placed my hand on the core, but I got a loud yelp in response. ¡®Wh-What¡¯s wrong?¡¯ ¡®Why¡¯d you go and suddenly touch me like that!?¡¯ ¡®Eh? My title says I have to be touching the dungeon core to use the dungeon skills.¡¯ ¡®R-really? O-ok¡­¡¯ Jenna reluctantly gave in and allowed me to place my hand on her. Phrasing it that way, I can see why she would yelp like that. But she¡¯s a rock. I set my hand down more gently this time, and I could see a small menu appear in front of me.
[DUNGEON SKILLS]
[Race Selection] Select a race of monsters to gain the ability to spawn in your dungeon. Variety of races depends on rank. Conditional use.
[Trait Selection] Select a trait for your dungeon to hold. Variety of traits depends on rank. Conditional use.
[List of Spawnable Monsters] List of monsters the dungeon can spawn.
[Floor Layout] View floors of dungeon on a large map. Loot, traits, traps, and mechanisms can be placed and rearranged. Rearrangement costs additional mana. Rooms cannot be moved.
[Loot Chest Maker] Create chests that hold treasure. Type of treasure and percentage of find can be manipulated. Costs substantial mana to implement. List of possible treasures included in this ability.
[Boss Creation] Nominate monsters within your dungeon to become a boss. Bosses go through an immediate evolution and are respawnable with their memories intact, but with their level reset to its place when they became a boss. If the boss manages to evolve again, respawn will recreate them at their most recent evolution.
That¡¯s¡­ a lot of information to take in. ¡®Jenna, you can see what I can, right?¡¯ ¡®Yep¡­ looks like you got your work cut out for you. Have fun with that later!¡¯ I instinctively tapped on the screen to pull up the [Race Selection] screen. To my surprise this trick worked. I was greeted by a new menu.
[Race Selection]: Choose (1) race
[Undead]
[Animal]
[Goblin]
[Kobold]
[Plant]
How diverse. Honestly, it makes the choice a bit difficult. ¡®Jenna, you said you could create monsters that have died in your territory before, correct?¡¯ ¡®Yes, that is the case. I only had Pink Orchids and Grass for a while¡­¡¯ ¡®Good, that narrows down the options on here to two.¡¯ ¡®Two? Why so few?¡¯ ¡®Well, we live in this large forest, right? We could probably use that space to assimilate more species of animals and plants.¡¯ ¡®But there should be a lot of options under animals. Is it really okay to ignore it outright?¡¯ Ah, that¡¯s a good point. I¡¯d say she has a good head, but she¡¯s a stone. Well, I¡¯ll keep that one on the table for now. ¡®We will most likely find any necessary plants out in the forest. And we definitely have access to undead. I killed that bandit-turned-skeleton on your island after all. So, we don¡¯t have to pick undead.¡¯The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. It would be convenient to have more weapon handlers as part of the dungeon, but we could probably make do with just skeletons. I had wanted to create an environment that naturally encourages evolution with competition between races, so it may be better to have a wide variety of animals to hunt. The low-level animals would also bring in stronger fighting species. It also didn¡¯t seem like this was going to be the last time we got to choose a race for the dungeon. In the description for this ability, it read conditional use, not limited use. So maybe if we get stronger, we can pick another race? With the skeletons we already have, it will be like we have two races. ¡®I think we should go with [Animal] in the end.¡¯ ¡®Are you sure? Goblins and kobolds are stronger than regular animals usually. And you are a little bit right when you say that you could hunt animals from this forest.¡¯ ¡®Yes, but I think that the variety is important. This forest is not going to have everything readily available, and I can only do so much with a knife.¡¯ ¡®Okay Ozzy, I¡¯ll trust you.¡¯ I selected [Animal] from the starting races screen apprehensively. I still wasn¡¯t one hundred percent sure this was going to be the best option, but it would make hunting much easier.
Congratulations on picking the first race for your dungeon! New races added to the [List of Spawnable Monsters]
I quickly looked at what we had available.
[List of Spawnable Monsters]: Skeleton, Field Mouse, Pond Bass
It wasn¡¯t much. Jenna had noted earlier that she could spawn Pink Orchids, so I imagine those don¡¯t fall within the purview of ¡°monsters,¡± and instead was something like ¡°items.¡± I nervously rubbed the back of my head. ¡®I think, uh, I think this one was a dud.¡¯ ¡®Hmmm¡­¡¯ It sounded like Jenna was trying to find some words to comfort me, but couldn¡¯t find any. There is no turning back now, so I guess it is time to look at the Dungeon Traits.
[Trait Selection]: Choose (3) traits
[Puzzle Floors] Create puzzle or special mechanisms that must be solved to pass the current room or floor.
[Monster Loyalty] Monsters will follow the will of the dungeon unconditionally.
[Natural Selection] Monsters will compete and fight with each other. Often leads to monster death, but fosters evolution.
[Temperature Adjustment] Gain the ability to control the temperature in specific rooms or floors.
[Large Boss Strength] Boss evolves two stages instead of just one, is significantly stronger than the rest of the dungeon monsters.
[Midboss Creation] Create a creature that acts like a boss, but does not gain an evolution. Other advantages and drawbacks of the boss still apply.
[Expansive Area] Capturable area cap is increased immensely. However, the amount of DP gained from area per unit is decreased substantially.
[Variant Likelihood] Chance of creating or birthing a variant type monster increases.
[Weather Control] Control the weather in the dungeons room or floors.
[Floor Teleporters] At the end of every floor, those who have conquered that floor will get a scroll to teleport them to the beginning of the next floor.
There were a lot of potentially useful traits. I took a significant amount of time slowly reading all of them. The weather and temperature controls seemed slightly redundant, but neither one would be useful for Jenna as she is now. Those are definitely traits to get later in the dungeon¡¯s life cycle. Also, with few floors, the [Floor Teleporters] are something we should forego for now. [Variant Likelihood] would probably produce much stronger starting monsters, so it would be a safe bet. [Monster Loyalty] seemed to be a need for this dungeon. It would be helpful to know that the monsters won¡¯t go out of line or betray us. Actually, the sheer presence of such a trait suggests that possibility. I want to avoid that at all costs. [Midboss Creation] is interesting, but we simply do not have the monster pool currently to support such a trait. [Large Boss Strength] could cover for our vulnerability, but I¡¯d rather not encourage strong adventurers to take swings at the dungeon because our boss is strong. [Variant Likelihood] has that same drawback, though. [Expansive Area] meant more area to get lost in, more space for monsters, and more places for traps. We may not get as much DP, whatever that is, but I think that is a loss we could manage. For [Natural Selection], I felt as if we could artificially install something like that using the loyalty of the monsters. ¡°Fight each other and grow stronger for the betterment of your creator!¡± is what I would say. So, I think that [Monster Loyalty], [Expansive Area], and [Large Boss Strength] are the best traits to go with. I consulted with Jenna about the various traits, and she seemed mostly on board. Unfortunately, ¡®What about [Puzzle Floors]? That one seems like it will be tons of fun!¡¯ ¡®We should probably be focusing on what will protect us better, rather than the fun stuff.¡¯ ¡®Eeeeeeeeh? But I want [Puzzle Floors]!¡¯ ¡®We can get it later, I¡¯m just sa-¡®
Trait [Puzzle Floors] selected. Please select (2) more traits.
With my expressionless skull, I gave my best attempt at an angry glare towards Jenna, before putting my face in my hands. I guess this protects us all the same. ¡®Uh, oops, sorry¡­¡¯ ¡®It¡¯s okay. I think that as long as we provide a decent training ground, they won¡¯t outright kill us. I hope. Maybe?¡¯ ¡®You don¡¯t seem all that confident about it.¡¯ ¡®I wonder why.¡¯ I ended up deciding on my two favorites, and hoping that we would be able to choose another trait before we ran into too many humans. I selected [Monster Loyalty] and [Expansive Area].
Traits have been selected! Good luck on building your dungeon!
I had one more question left, though I had a few hypotheses on what it was. ¡®What is DP exactly?¡¯ ¡®DP are dungeon points! I can use it to create monsters, items, traps, and structures. It is essentially mana, but on a larger scale.¡¯ ¡®How much DP does it cost to make a skeleton?¡¯ ¡®About 50.¡¯ ¡®How much DP do you have?¡¯ ¡®Probably around 60. Because my area of influence was so small, I couldn¡¯t stockpile all that much.¡¯ I frowned, mentally. I had selected one that reduced the amount of DP we generated, but with the additional area it probably balances out. Please balance out. ¡®Well, I get DP when invaders die in my territory, so the skeleton from a few days ago has probably pushed that amount up to around 100. Plus, as I gather more area, I process more mana, and I get more DP. DP is essentially titanic amounts of mana anyways.¡¯ ¡®You can process mana?¡¯ ¡®Yeah! It¡¯s pretty much my job! It¡¯s why dungeon cores are so valuable, as well as why we can create things at all. Creating anything from only mana takes a lot of mana to do. Creation is considered the realm of the gods, so I¡¯m pretty much like gods child!¡¯ It¡¯s incredible how much information she knows while still being able to act like an impulsive child. But if Jenna was knowledgeable on mana and the world, I had something I desperately wanted to learn from her. With the traits and race selected, there was something I needed to do before I was ready to hunt again. ¡®If you¡¯re good with mana, can you teach me how to use magic?¡¯ Chapter 9 - A dungeons first steps, but she cant walk The sun stood high overhead that day. It was warm, pleasantly so, and the forest was almost silent, except for the occasional bird singing among the branches or the rustle of leaves in the underbrush. But in that rustling of leaves was an intense battle. A game of tag with death on the line. But it was also an operation. A small group of mice rushed desperately through the bushes and piles of leaves, trying their best to get away. Behind them, the mice¡¯s natural predator, a cat. This cat was just a kitten, however. While playing during the day, the kitten had left its bobcat parents and began chasing after its new snack. The mice were fast, but that was just something that made this chase all the more fun. However, there was something clearly wrong with these mice. The bobkitten was just too young and inexperienced to realize it. They all ran in a clear formation. Like a small flock of birds, they ran as a ¡°v,¡± and would continually run just outside the cat¡¯s reach. The five field mice ran into a small clearing, before splitting up and speeding off in different directions. The cat jumped into the clearing, confused at the sudden disappearance of her prey. She was about to return to her parents¡¯ side again when she heard a rustle of leaves just ahead of her. She pounced on it excitedly. Just as she made contact with the ground, the earth around her wrapped around her legs, encasing them. She struggled to move, but couldn¡¯t. All around her, rats and squirrels popped out of the bushes around her. They began to run at her, fangs bared. The bobkitten was stricken with fear, and only let out a few mews as it was killed by the rodents around her. And so, another species was added to the monsters of the dungeons. -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- It has been about a week since I began learning magic. This was its first use in the field. I¡¯m glad the plan went well. I began to walk back towards the grove where Jenna was waiting. And as if rewarding me for my first in battle use of my magic, the voice sounded.
The skill [Earth Magic] has increased to level 2!
I had to do a lot of training to finally be able to manipulate mana. And although Jenna knew a lot about the properties of mana, she was next to useless when teaching me how to use it. Using and regulating mana was something second nature, something that could be done literally on only instinct. I did learn a lot of theory, fortunately enough. Mana, simply put, is the life force of beings. Every living thing in the world releases mana naturally, and most beings don¡¯t even realize it. From humans and elves to insects and blades of grass, living things release mana. Dungeons absorb this mana, and put it to use into creating life, items, or terraforming the region. Without this constant absorption of mana, mana would pollute the sky and earth, leading to earthquakes, horrific storms and tornadoes, among other natural disasters. Magic is simply the broad term that refers to the willed use of mana. Although it takes mountains of mana to be able to create living beings with consciousness, not as much mana is needed to make basic elements. Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind are the four common elements. Those with talent can operate more elements with magic, like Light and Dark. Incidentally, healing spells fall under the Light element, and mind spells fall under Dark magic, usually. Magic is a freeform ability. Common spells exist as a way to teach magic, but one could theoretically do anything with the elements. You need an image of what you want the magic to do, and then you have to push your inner mana, or your MP, into what you want to manipulate, and direct it to create the effect you desire. Often, people will associate a chant with the effect they desire, as a type of ¡°magic shorthand.¡± It looks a lot like elemental ¡°bending¡± from the Av*tar television show. Although it is quicker when you have the material next to you, it is possible to create it from thin air. Mana is a force of creation, after all. The hardest thing about learning magic was learning how to control my inner mana. It was like learning to walk again after a stroke. My body instinctually can use mana around me to see, feel, and hear, so it was difficult to grab hold of these abilities and directly control them.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Jenna would often send small amounts of mana through my bones, just so I could get used to feeling it. Mana was warm, and often felt like it was circulating through my body like blood. I spent a day just paying attention to that feeling inside myself. While I was in meditation, Jenna worked hard on the dungeon. We had discussed before I began my spiritual journey what we wanted to do in the dungeon. Jenna was busy expanding her territory, creating mice, having them breed like crazy, inciting them to fight each other, and then breed more. We split all the mice into three main groups, and split them up around the territory. We had one group make a home near the pond, one group just outside the pond near the rock wall, and the rest a little bit deeper into the forest, once we captured enough territory. My goal here was simply to see if environment would affect evolution. It may at least play some part in variants, so it was worth a shot either way. We had the groups battle each other to encourage level up. Jenna was surprised that she would just be taking control of the forest rather than digging underground. ¡®Eeeeeeh? Dungeons go underground though!¡¯ ¡®Well I guess that is how it usually goes, but we have so much free space up here, shouldn¡¯t we use the forest area to our advantage? We won¡¯t have to do much digging, so getting space will be much faster!¡¯ And I won¡¯t have to travel far with a large animal to add it to the dungeon, but I kept that remark to myself. ¡®We should increase the size of this pond, however, so we can have enough room for a large species of fish.¡¯ I postulated. ¡®Can you do that?¡¯ ¡®Yeah that much will be super easy!¡¯ Jenna reliably replied. There were parts of the pond that contained algae, so we spawned more algae along with a few bass, and hoped that insects would come to feed on the algae. Then the bass could get some food as well. Once there was a food source, we could have them battle each other as well. Maybe some bass would evolve to be vegetarians? That would be quite interesting to see. Either way, the base animals and algae did not cost all that much DP, so even if they perished, we wouldn¡¯t lose too much. A few days passed, I had moved on from the meditation and could successfully push my mana out into something else. I trained mostly by moving earth. I had been trying to use a spell that would open a large pit under my target, but it simply took too much MP for it to be useful. I wanted something that could trap prey from afar, and then I could leisurely head over and kill it. However, I was interrupted by some news. ¡®Ozzy! Get over here, quickly! Ozzy!¡¯ ¡®What is it? What¡¯s wrong?¡¯ I scrambled back into the pond area and crossed the water. ¡®Nothing is wrong, but we finally got our first evolution!¡¯ I wish Jenna wouldn¡¯t scare me like that. I felt my body untense a little as I moved back towards the pedestal. I opened the [Spawnable Monsters List] and sure enough, Forest Rat was now an available monster. We also managed to get a few new insects, namely mosquitoes and waterstriders, so we can now sustain a population of bass. We simply decided to spawn three more Forest Rats, as they were much more expensive than their mouse cousins, and let them procreate. A couple more days went by, and I finally finished my spell. I called it [Earth Snare] for simplicity and the effect was surprisingly hard to get right. Holes that came up to the human knee would appear below the target, causing them to fall inside. The earth would then close around them. For the average human, it wouldn¡¯t take too long to get out of this, but it was enough to buy time. For small animals, however, it would be much more difficult. After the factions of mice had their daily fight, I took one of the corpses and left the dungeon. The rats were far too powerful to fight against the other mice, so I needed to find a proper training partner for them. I believed that my usual quarry would do, the Scavenger Squirrels. The bodies of monsters killed in the dungeon remain for a few hours, but if left alone, they will dissolve back into mana for the dungeon to absorb. Depending on how many materials were taken, the dungeon would get less mana back for them. I was glad to find out I still had a reliable source of bait. I was able to quickly find, trap, return, and kill a squirrel, which added it to the dungeon. I¡¯ve killed so many, it was actually a boring hunt. This way, though, the rats would be able to advance themselves more. I was hoping the mice¡¯s presence would attract snakes and falcons, but no such luck yet. Well, I¡¯m sure we will get some with time. I was also able to get a level in [Trap Making] and I finally received my skill for [Earth Magic]. All in all, I would say it was a productive outing. Jenna and I then quickly set up plans to lure in something else for our dungeon and we were wildly successful. We found a bobcat child wandering just outside our territory, and the mice I had with me were put into action. Cutting back to the present, I was thankful that something else could be present that may be a real threat to human invaders, because unintelligent skeletons were not such a thing. The skeletons would make good training partners for the cats, however. ¡®Ozzy, I saw! You guys caught a bobcat! How¡¯d you get something that big?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m back, Jenna, and it was just a little kitten, so we got really lucky.¡¯ ¡®Aw, poor thing. Oh well, I get cats now! How exciting!¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m looking forward to wolves more myself. I¡¯ve always been more of a dog skeleton.¡¯ ¡®Meh.¡¯ Apparently, Jenna wasn¡¯t one much for dogs. What a poor, deluded soul. I was hoping to find one more group of fighters before our discovery. Fate, however, had other ideas. Chapter 10 - Prelude to an Encounter ¡®¡­ up¡­ Wake¡­! Ozzy! Wake up! WAKE UP ALREADY!¡¯ ¡®Gah!¡¯ I jumped up with a start. While I was getting up, I hit my skull hard on Jenna¡¯s pedestal above me. I bent over in pain, clutching my head. I don¡¯t think I felt any cracks in it. ¡®That¡¯s dangerous, you know? I wish you would be gentler when waking me up.¡¯ ¡®I¡¯ve been trying to wake you up for the past hour already! I don¡¯t know how someone who literally does not need sleep manages to sleep for so long! It¡¯s been eight hours already!¡¯ ¡®Just eight hours? I could have slept for a good two or three more. Besides, I only sleep about every 4 or 5 days. I think that is entirely reasonable.¡¯ ¡®As someone else who doesn¡¯t need sleep, I disagree.¡¯ Once I had my fill of banter, I asked, ¡®So, what happened? What did I miss?¡¯ ¡®Oh! We finally got another evolution! Some of the mice that live near the pond began eating bass eggs and eventually became Swimmer Rats.¡¯ ¡®Did we get any variants?¡¯ We managed to get two new species from just the mice, so I was surprised that we hadn¡¯t managed to get a single variant yet, except for myself. ¡®No¡­ variance is exceedingly rare. Variance usually denotes an especially strong connection between an element that is not intrinsically associated with your species. Although, it isn¡¯t unheard of for something like a water dwelling species with a water variance, but those types are often exceptionally powerful.¡¯ ¡®So, it just happens that most things that could get a variance just evolve into that type of animal instead.¡¯ It¡¯s nice that Jenna is practically an encyclopedia. ¡®That¡¯s probably the case.¡¯ Jenna and I were very focused on making the monsters stronger, acquiring new species, absorbing area. There was no structure to the dungeon so far. The expansive area gave us a maximum diameter of about 20 miles (32 km) of forest to work with, but it currently was just a fighting ground. It¡¯s been about a week since we¡¯ve obtain bobcats, and we haven¡¯t received too many evolutions. A few monsters have gotten strong, but they were still at the level that they could get beaten by an amateur adventuring team. The layout of the dungeon was simple. It essentially consisted of two rooms. One was the pond room, where the heart of the dungeon sat and it was home to various insect species, the bass, and the Swimmer Rats. The second room was the forest. The beginning of the dungeon was separated by a row of trees that were tightly packed together. The gave a semicircular lining to the dungeon so that its entrance was clear. We have gained a few new species, but nothing entirely notable. There is nothing that can hunt, anyway. The majority of the new species were insects. I was especially thrilled to see spiders, but we¡¯d have to devote too many resources to them for them to even be something close to usable, so I gave up on them for the moment. ¡®Also, you know the birds we got a few days ago?¡¯ ¡®Yes, what about them?¡¯ A robin must have died within Jenna¡¯s territory a few days ago, because robins suddenly appeared on the monster list one day. I had suggested using them as scouts, as they blend in to the environment when in small numbers. ¡®They spotted a human caravan just outside of the dungeon walls.¡¯ Every train of thought I had simultaneously crashed. I stared blankly at Jenna as I slowly tried to get things back on track. But it was a mess. I was about to get angry at Jenna, furious at how she should have told me earlier, but she suddenly added, ¡®I would¡¯ve told you an hour ago, when they were first spotted, but you slept too heavily. Who even were you before you became an undead?¡¯ I slowly squatted down before asking, ¡®Do you think we could win?¡¯ ¡®In a direct fight? I don¡¯t know what those guys were like that you fought the first time, but these guys look really strong. And there¡¯s about 40 of them.¡¯ I hung my skull. And then I began to think. -*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*- What makes a bandit? The simple answer is crime. Commit enough crimes, and one automatically is thrust into the bandit profession. It doesn¡¯t matter what type of crime, but if it is done ¡°too much¡± the perpetrator becomes a bandit. Wherever this line lies, however, is anyone¡¯s guess. Becoming a bandit is a guaranteed destruction of one¡¯s life. Most, if they can help it, would avoid this at all costs. Although bandits get better growth rates than the [Commoner] job, they also have much worse growth rates for any other job that follows. If all other things remained constant, but one person had a [Bandit Swordsman] job, as opposed to the [Swordsman] job, the Swordsman would by all accounts be significantly better at everything. That is just the unfairness of life. After all, some people are required to become bandits to survive. Being poor is a sin. As for me, I was born a street rat. My family and I lived in the dirt, and we never had enough to eat. My father had apparently borrowed money from the wrong sort of people when my mom fell ill while pregnant with me. They had managed to heal her, but the interest on that group¡¯s ¡°gift¡± left my father with nothing.Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site. My old man apparently worked himself into the dirt, and I began thieving to make ends meet. Mom never fully recovered from her ailments after all. It¡¯s a story you could hear anywhere. My life of stealing eventually changed my job. Maybe it was three weeks in, maybe three months? I switched from [Commoner] to a level 1 [Bandit]. I had completely given up on my honest life anyways, so I didn¡¯t feel that upset. The thought, ¡°Oh finally, there it is,¡± just seemed to float through my mind. Soon after, I found her. As we slowly marched through the forest, I glanced towards her, the leader of the bandit company. Dignified, intelligent, and with a charisma one couldn¡¯t deny, Selena Avella was our queen. She was not much older than the younger members of the group, at a low 24. However, Selena had been a bandit since she was about 7 or 8. At 12 years of age, she began gathering other street rats under her command. I just happened to be the first that actually listened to her. She had long auburn hair that reminded you of the tough, warm earth tied back into a ponytail. She was thin enough to look like a princess, but those who thought she was as strong as one were in for a wide awakening. She stood at an average height of about 5¡¯7 (170 cm), but it felt impossible to look down on her, either. Her proudest possession hung prominently on her waist. Gently sheathed within its scabbard, a rapier of superior quality was kept securely next to her. Some say she stole it from a noble, others say she won it while gambling, but nobody really knows how she came to get it. ¡°This is simply taking too long,¡± Selena mumbled to me, ¡°by the time we find those two, they¡¯ll be long dead. Alex, can you speed this up?¡± ¡°Hm.¡± I grunted in reply. ¡®She¡¯s as caring as ever,¡¯ I thought to myself. Ah, by the way, I¡¯m Alex Ambran. Veteran bandit and experienced swordsman. We are searching for two of our scouts that went missing a week or two ago. We waited several days for their return, and when it appeared that they had gone MIA, we followed after them, to make sure that they were alright. They may have been punished, but they have been around for several years. It isn¡¯t uncommon that we pick up many young kids who either need to join bandit groups in order to survive, or ran away from home for the thrill of banditry. Several years back, we had two young ones join the group. They were six years younger than us. I could tell that those two were not good people. Selena realized that as well, but hoped that they would eventually come to see the group like she does, one big family. Although everyone views her as their queen, she views them as her children. Some are just more inclined to be troublemakers than others. Those two kids, Drake and Cruelty, had finally gained permission to conduct robberies by themselves this year. We often aim for merchants and farmers, taking tools, money, and food, so that we all can survive. The Bassion Kingdom, where we operated, are currently at war with another large nation, the Kartol Empire. As long as we didn¡¯t draw their ire, the Kingdom wasn¡¯t going to waste any manpower hunting down a bunch of bandits, and the farmers and merchants often didn¡¯t have the money to put an extermination request for us in any Adventuring Guilds. The two kids, after completing many successful missions, began to draw some notoriety because of their quick-to-murder inclinations. I had recommended to Selena that we take them off raiding missions as soon as possible. Bandits that make a name for themselves often don¡¯t last long. She had agreed, but then Drake made sure we could never stay in the area. I remember his big grin as he sauntered towards me during my training break. He bent over a little, put his face right in front of mine and gloated, ¡°Alex, you wouldn¡¯t believe what we managed to pull off today.¡± ¡°Hm?¡± I had responded. ¡°We hit a huge jackpot! We swiped tons of weapons from one of those tough convoys. I may have lost two or three of my men, but now we¡¯re better armed than ever before, hehe. You better work hard, or that [Bandit Right Hand] spot will be as good as mine!¡± ¡°¡­¡± I stared at him in disbelief. He went straight for the military? A bounty for our group will be up in the morning. Or maybe a local squadron will come to do us in. Fairly numerous though we are, we weren¡¯t trained soldiers, and we didn¡¯t have any fortifications to speak of. Just a fence and a watchtower. ¡°Heeeeh? Worried, are you? I¡¯ll soon be the strongest bandit in this whole group. I can¡¯t wait until you begin calling me Mr. Knell, you know?¡± I stood up with a start. I ignored the buffoon and quickly made my way towards Selena. I communicated the situation, and a decision was quickly made. Drake and Cruelty were demoted for their foolishness, and the group had to leave. So, we packed up and ran. We could no longer stay in the Bassion Kingdom. There was a region that split the Kingdom and the Empire, a circle of mountains with an expansive forest in the middle. This circle also bordered the ocean to the north, and to the south was where the Kingdom and Empire bordered each other. Well, a better picture would be that the two nations formed a ¡®u¡¯ shape, where they collided at the bottom, and the hole in the ¡®u¡¯ was Maklan Mountain Circlet. We were currently in this circlet, trying to covertly cross from the Bassion Kingdom to the Kartol Empire. It was a tough trip, but we had enough rations to pass through the mountains, and it wasn¡¯t like we couldn¡¯t hunt within the forest. We were hoping to find an abandoned mining village to squat in for a while whilst we lay low. ¡®What did they manage to find out here?¡¯ I wondered. Both nations at one point had hoped to find something profitable in this area, but building a road was honestly a herculean effort, and there was evidently nothing in these mountains that merited building one in the first place. The sea was blocked off by mountains, too. The animals out here weren¡¯t even that uncommon. Any other forest around rural villages would offer about the same selection. Squirrels, rabbits, birds, wildcats, wolves, and the odd goblin collective were all that this area had to offer. Absolutely nothing of value should be here. The axe I had been swinging with ease suddenly got stuck in a tree ahead of me. ¡°Hm?¡± This tree was clearly harder than the rest. It shouldn¡¯t take more than one swing to cut it. ¡°Selena,¡± I called, turning around. When I gazed upon the band, I saw them all looking with disbelief ahead of me. Did I get too absorbed into thinking again? I backed up a bit and noticed that all the trees ahead of me were tightly packed together, as if not letting anything through. They formed a sort of pseudo-wall and they stretched as far as the eye could see in either direction. ¡°¡­¡± I stared in confusion. There shouldn¡¯t be anything here¡­ right? Selena turned to me, eyes sparkling, and said, ¡°I think our duo of idiots really managed to find something amazing!¡± When she looks like that, I can¡¯t help but grin. I mumble in response, ¡°I guess things are going to get enjoyable from here on, right?¡± ¡°Heeheehee! Right!¡± Chapter 11 - The squad approaches My large blade cut through the air with rigid uniformity. Aside from the occasional birdsong, and the sound of the cutting air, my surroundings were entirely silent. I continued to practice my swings in this silence until my body was sweating profusely, and it became difficult to even lift my sword. I thrust it in to the dirt and leaned upon it, satisfied with my training. I¡¯ve been doing this type of training since even before I had met Selena, and it was still as calming as ever. It had been decided that our strongest members would be investigating the odd formation in the forest. I had my ideas as to what it was, but even so, it wasn¡¯t quite normal. I had my reservations, but considering that the four of us were going, I¡¯m sure the investigation will go smoothly. Probably. ¡°Yo, Cap! Didja hear the report?¡± One of my subordinates had come to fetch me. He¡¯s one of the few I bother to let know where I train, because he¡¯s not the kind of idiot who¡¯d come to interrupt meaninglessly. I appreciate that. ¡°Did they find the entrance already?¡± We had sent out a couple guys to check around the wall of trees. It was clear that they were almost indestructible, and that trying to chop them down would just break our axes. The trees also possessed bark that was smooth to the point of being slippery, and no low hanging branches. And although it was not airtight, the trees grew close enough together that nothing larger than a small rodent would be able to squeeze through. I just had a feeling that it was going to have an entrance somewhere. I picked up my sword, rested it lightly on my shoulder, grabbed my shirt and walked back down to base camp. As I neared, the buzz of conversation slowly grew in volume. The camp was a large conglomerate of tents and campfires, and most of the footmen were partying and laughing. Even with this odd phenomenon, they knew for the most part that they were ¡®safe¡¯ here. The guards weren¡¯t going to chase them, there weren¡¯t any particularly scary species in this forest. With just a few guys watching out for wolves or groups of gobs were enough. Besides, all the thinking was to be done by the higher ups. They didn¡¯t even need to prepare to explore. I separated from my underling and moved towards the largest tent in the center of camp. It was quite large, with four walls and even a roof shaped like an umbrella. As I pulled the flaps apart and ducked to enter, I saw the various squad leaders, our resident crazy, and our leader discussing the plan around the table. ¡°I¡¯m back.¡± Selena gave me a sidelong glance before muttering, ¡°put on your shirt, idiot, were in the middle of meetings here.¡± Her sighed seemed quite heavy. ¡°Ah, right.¡± I had forgotten about that on my way back; I was still cooling off. I scrambled to put my shirt on as the others in the room giggled to themselves. I hope they realized I could annihilate them if I wanted to. I shot a quick glare to shut them up. ¡°We were planning on leaving tomorrow morning, Alex, we were just deciding who to send,¡± Selena filled me in. ¡°Hm? Wouldn¡¯t it just be me, Gordan, and the crazy guy?¡± I responded. ¡°I am not crazy, muscle-brain!¡± ¡°Well,¡± Selena interrupted before we could begin our shouting match in earnest, ¡°I was planning on joining you three.¡± I frowned. It wasn¡¯t that she couldn¡¯t handle it. She most definitely had the ability but... ¡°I don¡¯t like it,¡± Gordan, the oldest of all the captains stated, voicing my concerns. ¡°We need you here. You are our most important leader after all. We can manage if something happens to me or Alex, but with you, it¡¯s not quite the same.¡± I silently nodded. She was just too valuable. There is no way this group could function without the beacon that was Selena. The captains are always infighting, the foot soldiers are unreliable, and nobody here is the type to risk their skin for another. The sole exception to this rule was Selena herself. Not only was she ready to die for us, similarly, we were prepared to do the same for her. But unfortunately, she stated, ¡°Like I care about that. I¡¯m going.¡± It was final. There was nothing we could say to sway her. Truly unfortunate. I let out a heavy sigh and began to leave the tent. ¡°Begin gathering your gear, we leave first thing tomorrow morning. Let¡¯s do some adventuring, fools.¡± I waved my hand without turning back to signal my understanding, but I could tell there was a very dumb grin on Selena¡¯s face right now. The next morning, having gathered our belongings, we started our daylong march towards the entrance. In my opinion, it was inconveniently far away, but because we needed to be close by the river for washing clothes, bathing, drinking, and such, it couldn¡¯t be helped. Selena was at the front leading the party as if it was natural. As far as battle tactics go, she does best as a mid-guard with her rapier and quick footwork, but she is currently too ecstatic and is walking too fast for those with heavier weapons to walk at a prudent pace. Her eyes were shining as she glanced every which direction like a kid at a festival.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it. We¡¯re not even close to there yet, can¡¯t you be a little more patient? I thought while grinning. To my left was Gordan, a reliable old man at an age of 53. He was quite muscular and was only slightly taller than I was, but he eclipsed most people with his giant figure. He wore heavy armor most of the time. He donned plate mail on every part of his body that wasn¡¯t a joint, up to his neck. Chain mail covered everything else. Instead of a helmet, though, he proudly bore a tattered bandana that at some point was probably a shade of blue, but over the years, was browned with dried blood and mud. Gordan apparently received it from his late wife and chuckled with a grin, ¡®The love she put into this headband is more effective than any steel. I¡¯m still here, now aren¡¯t I?¡¯ His hair is cut short in a military style and has started to become gray, but still retains some of his original brown color. His eyes were constantly sharp and vigilant with a muted brown like his hair. The places where his skin peeked through his armor, numerous scars marred his white skin. He always tried to keep shaven, but he was often seen with a 5 o¡¯clock shadow. He carried two tower shields with him. They were both looming rectangles of metal that, when placed on the ground would reach his shoulder. The one that he carried in his right hand was noticeably more dented, as he often used that shield to bash his enemies to death. It was also much browner than the shield he kept draped on his back. Gordan was once a famous adventurer before Selena and I had him join our ranks, but as he usually says, ¡°That¡¯s just history.¡± Walking behind us was our group¡¯s only career mage, Zayl. Zayl was a thin man, bordering on lanky. He was around my age, but he looked much older due to how haggard he usually was. He had a permanent set of eyebags, and many were convinced he either got only 2 hours of sleep a night, or just worked constantly for 3 or 4 days before his body forcefully collapsed. He had wiry black hair pulled back into a small ponytail, and he was at a short 5¡¯5¡±, or 165 cm. His eyes were a dark black color and permanently squinting, probably because he was constantly about to fall asleep. Zayl wore an old brown robe that had many stains on it and he carried a simple iron staff that went up to his shoulder. The staff curved at the top like a shepherd¡¯s crook, and in the center of the curve was a large, red gem that had a slight ominous glow to it. The bottom of his staff was also sharpened to a point so that he could use it as a makeshift spear. And although I thought it was strange, according to Zayl, most mages had a pointed-end staff so they could more easily shift the earth to create magic circles for complicated spells. He¡¯s stated that he like the simple spells, and he tries to avoid making spells that require such preparation. As logical as the design of his staff was, Zayl was not what one would call reasonable. He put his studies and research above absolutely everything else. When he wasn¡¯t field testing his research, he was practicing in his own secluded quarters. We had to make sure that someone delivered food to his hut because otherwise Zayl would go without eating at all. Everyone was sure that he would die from starvation or a lack of sleep far before he died in battle. He used to live a life of comfort as a noble, but he cut himself off from his family for the sake of freedom for his testing. ¡°I¡¯d rather live in squalor and be free to research than never hunger but be constantly tied down by other obligations. The choice is beyond obvious,¡± he told me. As someone who grew up hungry, I¡¯d have to disagree. He was most talented at water magic. He knew a few spells from each of the main four elements, air, water, fire, and earth, but beyond that he only knew his self-created, specialized magic. When we gained fresh recruits, he would test them to see if they had magic abilities, and then would teach them the spells that were a part of their element. If they mastered those spells he would either teach them the others to keep them busy, or if he thought they may be talented he would tell them to ¡®make their own.¡¯ I asked Zayl if it was really as easy as he made it seem, but he replied with, ¡°Of course it isn¡¯t easy, you dolt. Magic is about a fight of wills. Those that want their skill to increase must temper their will against the elements. I could tell them the easy paths others have already paved, but they won¡¯t grow. They get enough to feel what it¡¯s like to handle magic, but after that, it is their own fight.¡± Unfortunately, he had literally just collapsed into the dirt from overwork, so he didn¡¯t look as cool as he sounded. I told him, ¡°I bet you just don¡¯t feel like taking time away from your research to teach them.¡± And he had just shrugged in response before falling asleep. As for his past, I know very little. Zayl went to schooling to be a mage, which means he was probably rich and had a bright future, but that¡¯s it. He was in a chipper mood today, as he finally could test his magic as much as he wants. If this really was a dungeon he would have a steady supply of monsters to ¡°test¡± on, so he was similarly excited. If his body wasn¡¯t in such a bad state, I¡¯m sure he would show it much more. Gordon gave a large slap to the back of Zayl to speed him up a bit. ¡°Hurry up, Zayl! If ya don¡¯t pick up the pace Boss¡¯ll have finished the investigation by the time the rest of us show up!¡± Zayl shot Gordon a glare while snipping with, ¡°Well, unlike Boss, I don¡¯t have infinite energy, and unlike you musclebrains, I don¡¯t have a giant¡¯s stride!¡± Gordon laughed loudly. ¡°You probably should have listened to ye mum and drank ye milk, you know? Maybe then the rest of us wouldn¡¯t ¡®ave to be taking these baby steps!¡± He continued to guffaw for another 30 seconds before suddenly whispering, ¡°But you lads can feel it, right? That gaze?¡± ¡°Yeah.¡± ¡°What do you take me for?¡± I shot a glance towards the wall of foliage that loomed towards my right. ¡°It¡¯s probably a dungeon, right? With this kind of feeling.¡± It is often told by adventurers that dungeons give off a very unsettling feeling when you¡¯re inside them, like you constantly have a pair of eyes on you. The bookish types just say it¡¯s because of the differences in the outside mana and the mana within dungeons, but most adventurers are convinced that the dungeons are alive. Zayl agreed with a grin, ¡°Hehe, I hope so, because if so...¡± ¡°¡±¡± We will make quite the profit, eh?¡±¡±¡± We grinned to each other as we picked up the pace behind Selena. It seems that life is going to turn around for us, I thought, as a flock of birds flew from the trees around us. Chapter 12 - Showdown with the bandits I mentally frowned as I watched the bandit group reach the entrance of the dungeon. I had been watching their progress throughout the forest to ascertain their strength, but it was a failure. They ran into few enemies, and the monsters they did manage to run into, they practically vaporized. All that I knew was that they were strong. Real strong. My stealth had failed numerous times as I was tracking them, but the skill grew quite a bit as a result. In our desperation, Jenna and I through around many ideas of how to repel these bandits, as defeating them outright was not an option. The one with the large sword was cleaving trees with each swing of an axe. They were very much outside my definition of human. I put my head against a nearby tree trunk out of exasperation. In the end, we only came up with two. Plan 1: Using our puzzle feature, we create something so time consuming and irritating to complete, that they just forget about clearing the dungeon entirely, and go away. The problem with this plan is it relies on the bandits not having a true desire to conquer the dungeon and take away the core. I had read several novels while I was a bum of a student, and usually dungeons were useful economically, and conquering them entirely was a negative. However, I had no idea the values of this world, and was unsure whether something like Jenna was even worth keeping around in her current state. She was indignant when I thought that, though. Plan 2: Attempt to kill one of the bandit members. This plan was to essentially discourage the bandits. It would demonstrate that we were as strong or stronger than they were, even as a group. They would lose the confidence to go too far within this dungeon. First impressions matter, as they say. Each plan has significant disadvantages. Plan 1 essentially is a wait and pray plan. I¡¯m forced to assume that I would be right about the fact that they would want to keep the dungeon around, unharmed. And with the ¡®youth¡¯ of this dungeon, we don¡¯t offer much treasure, and the monsters are weak. It might be better to take the core and leave. Plan 2, on the other hand, is hard to pull off. The bandits this time are strong. None of the animals within the dungeon even have the ability to fight evenly with the assailants, let alone win. But they didn¡¯t have to win. They just need to be distracting. Currently, I am the strongest member of the dungeon, so realistically, I was the one who needed to do it. My strengths lie in stealth, as long as I get one successful sneak attack, there¡¯s a chance. I gripped the handle of my knife tightly and vocalized in my mind as if to reassure myself, ''there¡¯s a chance.'' I gathered myself as I slowly rose to my feet. So far, if I picked one thing I missed the most about not having a living body, it would be the fact that I couldn¡¯t heave a sigh to ease my senses. Jenna called out to me, her voice sounding just as unsure and shaky, ''Ozzy, things are going to be okay, right?'' ''Of course! I will protect you,'' I replied back with resolve. I won¡¯t let Jenna get hurt. She gives me too much warmth. I won¡¯t let them snuff her light. I was going with Plan 2. I couldn¡¯t just sit back and hope to that god that everything would be okay for Jenna. I had to take an active role. I was going to kill one of those bandits, even if it was the last thing I did in my new life. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I watched the sun from the canopy of a tree I was perched within as it slowly broke over the faraway mountain range. I could dully feel the wind blowing against my bones. It was probably for the best that, as a skeleton, I could no longer sleep. I wouldn¡¯t have been able to, anyways. I toyed with my knife, as I ran over countless simulations of the fight in my head. None of the simulations seemed to end particularly well, though. Jenna roused me from my thoughts, ''H-hey Ozzy, they''re coming in. Good luck out there!'' She tried to put some spirit into her words to ease my mind. Or maybe it was just to ease hers. I looked towards where Jenna was sitting on her pedestal. ''I''m heading out.'' I positioned myself relatively closely to the pathway to the orchid lake. I was fighting with some of the best monsters within the dungeon. The ones that won their bouts frequently and were essentially the alphas of the group. I felt slightly apologetic that they were all doomed to die, but, they were still dungeon monsters. This was their job. We had sent out a few advance groups of monsters to figure out how they fought. I couldn¡¯t get close to them without being discovered, so this was the only way to figure out their formations. Based on the weapons they wielded, I had some ideas, but it was better to be sure. As the bandits made their way further into the forest, my tension started to build. Jenna was relaying information about their advancement to me in relative real time. The old man with the shields played vanguard along with the man who looked like a younger, less tragic Guts. The robed hobo was a mage, and the woman was the midguard. They decimated the various groups of animals within seconds. The shield-bearer would bash them violently and beat them to death, the young man used heavy swings to slice the animals apart, the woman used a rapier, quickly dispatching any monsters that made it behind the first two, or that appeared behind them. The magic user ¡®popped¡¯ the animals in large groups. I wasn¡¯t sure what Jenna meant when she said that the animals ¡®popped¡¯, but I don¡¯t think I can ¡®pop¡¯, so I should be able to kill him. Well either way, it caused her to yelp every time it happened. Their progress was slow, due to the overwhelming size of the dungeon itself. Unfortunately, this just made the wait ever more agonizing. I was shaking pretty intensely from the nerves. Even with most of my organs gone, it appears that one physiological reaction still remains. It bothers me that I now am fearing death since I had so desired it previously. I guess ever since the time when I had fought the wolf, I worked hard to survive in this new world. I chuckled in spite of myself. I guess a lesson is better learned late than never. Then again, this shouldn¡¯t really be the kind of lesson one learns late.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there. It seems that their plan of exploration was to head straight into the forest as far as they could. It was a little frustrating they they were actually on the right path, but it couldn¡¯t be helped. It was not like we could up and move Jenna somewhere else, and we also couldn¡¯t move the gap in the cliff face somewhere else. It must be common sense to move forward in a dungeon. The wait started to go from minutes to hours, and the sun again began setting on the horizon. The group decided to call it a night, and set up camp. My bones became less tense, and my mind cleared a little. It feels like I¡¯m procrastinating, but I¡¯m too relieved to care. I started up a conversation with Jenna. ''Hey, Jenna.'' ''Yeah? What¡¯s up Ozzy?'' ''... No, it¡¯s nothing.'' I decided to hold back my question. I''d rather not make her worry. The dungeon will still be ok if I''m gone, right? How could I ask that in a situation like this? ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I spent the night training with my knife, practicing with one of the nearby mountain lions, as it attempted to dodge my strikes and I attempted to hit it. After a few hours, I let the cat rest, and I practicing moving sizeable pieces of earth to train my magic. I should have been working on this stuff the previous day, but I just couldn¡¯t think clearly. After a few hours, I took a rest to restore my mana reserves. I spent my time trying to meditate, but it was honestly not very effective. Well, just like last time, I¡¯ll try to face the end as nonchalantly as possible. I received a warning from Jenna that they had begun moving, so I climbed back up the nearby tree to lie in wait. I heard them before I saw them. They were bickering about something, but I couldn¡¯t understand them. Unfortunately, it seems that telepathy translates, but speech doesn¡¯t. I guess it¡¯s because it¡¯s less that Jenna is speaking to me, and more forming thoughts within my mind that represent her ideas and such. It makes sense considering dungeon cores needed to be able to command multiple species of monster. So, I had no idea what they were talking about. I asked Jenna if she knew, but apparently dungeons cannot communicate with humans. Humans can¡¯t hear the voice of the core, and the core can¡¯t understand their language. Suddenly, their idle chatter stopped and they all quickly drew their weapons and began scanning the area. It seems I¡¯ve been noticed. I tighten the grip on my weapon and tell Jenna, ''Jenna, it¡¯s showtime.'' ''Okay! You can do it! You can win!'' She replied spiritedly. ''Heh,'' I chuckled. ''I¡¯m sure I can.'' Now that it¡¯s the real thing, Jenna managed to get my spirits up. A group of our monsters crawled out of the undergrowth around the party. We had surrounded their party, something we had yet to do at this point, with about 20 Forest Rats and 6 Mountain Lions making up the attacking group. They were split evenly on each side of the party. The bandits split quickly. The mage and shield-user took the back half of monsters, and the sword-wielders took the front half. The mage began casting as the shield-user used his left shield to keep animals at a distance and his right shield to bash others to death. The two swordsmen stood side by side and began to engage the animals while making sure they stayed at a distance. To my surprise they were incredibly careful about the whole situation. For criminals they seemed quite cautious, especially around creatures that were so much weaker than they were. They also split up and took up positions without any words exchanged between them. They must have been working together for quite some time. When the mage¡¯s staff began to glow brightly, I made my move. I leapt from the tree, gathering mana in my hand for my landing. I touched ground instantly casting an [Earth Snare] around the mages legs. He lost balance and fell onto his back, and his staff ceased to glow. I quickly ran towards his collapsed body with my knife drawn. I would slit his throat and then get away. ''Got him!'' I screamed in my heart. But of course it wasn¡¯t that easy. I suddenly sensed something close to me. Alarm bells were ringing in my head. I quickly turned my head and saw the woman of the group stabbing at my skull with her rapier. My head quickly turned and lurched backwards, in a desperate attempt to dodge her oncoming onslaught. Her blade went deep into my eye socket, scratching the back of my cranium. I was grateful that such a blow wouldn¡¯t kill me. As I jumped back I focused everything on the opponent in front of me. I completely forgot about my original target, this was the person I had to fight. I put my guard up, turned my body sideways, and pointed my knife at the woman. She shot a quick glance towards her ally who had been knocked over and shouted something. I immediately began my offensive at this opportunity. I closed the gap as quickly as I could. She began thrusting her rapier as soon as I began moving, but I shifted my body, knocked the blade away with my unused arm, and then moved my knife towards the woman¡¯s throat. But suddenly, pain coursed through my bones. I backed off before I could land a blow. I was confused for a few moments as I gathered myself. ¡®What happened? I should have blocked her blade¡­ Unless¡­¡¯ Unless she moved so fast that my sockets could only register the single strike. In that small window of time, she stabbed at me numerous times. If she wasn¡¯t using a rapier that was mostly for stabbing and piercing, then I would be long gone. ¡®Fast, she¡¯s superhumanly fast.¡¯ My window was closing. The mage was getting up, the shield-bearer and the brusque swordsman began rushing back to the girl. They were nowhere near as fast as she was, though. I had one more chance for a charge. My grip tightened, I prepared an [Earth Snare], and I crouched low to get a leaping start, like a short-distance runner. The woman looked at me slightly interested, but mostly condescendingly, as if she saw a rat that completed a maze faster than she expected. If I could kill her here, there was no escape, but the plan could still yet be pulled off. I resolved myself. As I was about to charge again, a voice broke into my head, ¡®Ozzy, please, run! Don¡¯t die! Don¡¯t die, okay! Don¡¯t!¡¯ Jenna cried with absolute desperation. I wanted to ignore her but, ¡®Ozzyyyyy!¡¯ Her voice was too hard to ignore. The bandits closed in on me, and I casted a spell. A burst of dust blew up from the ground, obscuring my opponents¡¯ views. They all backed off cautiously and waited for the dust to settle, but when it disappeared, so had I. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I ran through the forest trying to get away. Jenna kept begging me not to die in my head as I ran. When I was sure I couldn¡¯t hear anything more, I climbed a nearby tree and began to rest. I suddenly felt huge waves of mental exhaustion take me over, I could no longer think straight, and I definitely could no longer act. Before I fell into my state of unconsciousness, I told Jenna that I was going to be alright. I wasn¡¯t going to fight them anymore. I now had to rely upon that. I wasn¡¯t happy that I had failed, and even less so that I had to trust in something that was so much of a gamble. Yes, my backup method was ¡°Plan 1¡±. As I slipped away I grinned to myself. It¡¯s not like I couldn¡¯t use both.
The skill [Earth Magic] has increased to level 5!
The skill [Stealth] has increased to level 12!
The skill [Dagger Mastery] has increased to level 9!
The skill [Presence Detection] has increased to level 7!
You have learned the skill [Escape]!
I passed out hearing about my various skill increases. Chapter 13 - End of Dungeon Establishment Arc I shot up with a start. I took a quick account of my surroundings and my own body. I mentally called for Jenna, ¡®Jenna, are you alive? You¡¯re alive, right?¡¯ I heard silence as a response. No, literally, I heard the word ¡®Silence¡¯ resound in my head. I felt immensely relieved while responding, ¡®What do you mean by ¡®Silence¡¯, Jenna?¡¯ ¡®I¡¯m sorry the one you know as ¡®Jenna¡¯ is gone. This is now, uh, Senna.¡¯ I looked toward the core of the dungeon, in slack-jawed amazement. Jenna added on, ¡®And Senna doesn¡¯t talk to idiots who try to abandon their partners and die.¡¯ ¡®I was just trying to make sure you, I mean, Jenna, made it out okay!¡¯ I shouted back, indignantly. I didn¡¯t appreciate Jenna, er, Senna, ignoring my efforts completely. ¡®I was never sure our little door would actually work!¡¯ ¡®Well it did, so maybe you should have a little more faith! I¡¯m sure you wanted to protect me, but just as you don¡¯t want to see me gone, I don¡¯t want to see you gone! You¡¯re my only friend!¡¯ Senna shouted back. ¡®We¡¯re partners, right? So don¡¯t make such dumb decisions without me! Your original plan was to run away if things got scary, but you looked ready to dive in and disappear.¡¯ I honestly had no response. I had already given up because of my estimations of the strength of the bandits. I had unilaterally decided that the only way the dungeon would survive was if I died for it. ¡®I was never partners with someone named Senna, though.¡¯ ¡®... Shut up, idiot.¡¯ I then switched topics. ¡®But that door actually worked, huh?¡¯ ¡®Yep, they all stared at it for a while before celebrating and leaving,¡¯ Jenna informed me. ¡®Celebrating?¡¯ I asked. According to Jenna, once they arrived at the door, they all raised a shout and cheered. They then turned heel and left the dungeon. I could only assume that dungeons were a valuable source of income. Thank you, aimless reading. ¡®Wait they¡¯re already gone?¡¯ I asked, surprised. It took them a couple days just to reach where I was hiding. Did they move faster on their way out? But that seems to not be the case. I had actually been out for three whole days. I was very much taken aback by this information, but, I had taken a lot of damage. My body must have shut down so that my bones could repair. I checked my status.
Name: Ozzy Race: Sapient Skeleton Hunter
Level: 7 Variant: Earth
Stats ¨C
HP: 50/50 (+28) MP: 29/29 (+28)
Attack: 25 (+12) Magic Power: 20 (+14)
Defense: 16 (+6) Resistance: 9 (+5)
Speed: 30 (+18) Dexterity: 33 (+20)
Skills - [Hiking Lvl. 16] [Presence Detection Lvl. 7] [Blunt Weapon Mastery Lvl. 5] [Stealth Lvl. 12] [Climbing Lvl. 8] [Trap Making Lvl. 4] [Dagger Mastery Lvl. 9] [Tracking Lvl. 10] [Dismantling Lvl. 4] [Earth Magic Lvl. 5] [Self-Regeneration Lvl. 1]
Titles - [Dungeon Fairy] [A Unique Existence]
Equipment ¨C [Cloak of the Hunt] [Bone Knife of the Undying] [Bloodstone Necklace]
I have grown quite a bit since the last time I had checked. With several near death experiences, it seems that I have now gained a skill related to regeneration. How convenient! More skills are always better. But, I was no match for those bandits. My first fight with humans was close, and I almost died, but I still beat them when it was 2 to 1. Of course I used some sneaky strategies, but¡­ What is the average strength for humans in this world? Is it closer to those men I fought before evolving? Or closer to that of the recent invaders? How strong was I? These questions were rattling around in my skull, but because I couldn¡¯t really answer them at this point in time, I put them aside. There was a lot I still needed to check up on. I wanted to take a look at the ¡®puzzle door¡¯ we created, so I started walking back towards that gap in the cliff face. Well, I call it a puzzle door, but in reality, it doesn¡¯t really live up to the title of puzzle. It¡¯s just a door that requires keys. On the bright side, it¡¯s cheap and plays into this dungeons biggest strength, the size. Simply, it required three different keys, in the shape of small square tablets with the images of a sun, a moon, and a cloud on them. The keys then had to be arranged in the correct order in three vertical squares that sit about human eye-level. The door reads, ¡°Welcome to the Great Jenna Forest. If you wish to proceed further within, challenge the skies and reverse the heavens.¡± The keys then go in accordingly, sun, moon, and then cloud, from lowest to highest. Tangentially, the moon on this world acts about the same as the one from mine, to the point that it¡¯s boring. It¡¯s still white, it¡¯s only slightly larger than the moon that I know, and it¡¯s smooth. No interesting craters, patterns or other such things. The phases are also the same and take around a month to complete. I feel like it¡¯s lazy. Well, that¡¯s neither here nor there. The puzzle would effectively be solved the same on Earth. We then hid the keys at various points far away from each other in the forest on stone pedestals like the one that Jenna resided on. The keys were replaced about every half hour and broke apart upon leaving the dungeon. They also required that all members of the party pour some of their magic power into the key while they were removing it from the pedestal. This way the door realized who had earned the right to pass, and who didn¡¯t. It also made splitting up a non-viable option, as the party was required to have their magic power on each of the keys when opening the door to gain access.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. It seems that the dungeon system has evolved to better cover for these ¡®bugs¡¯ as adventurers conquer them, to make sure that the puzzle barriers are completed as intended. Dungeons are really something. The door opens for me, and I go towards the lake to check on Jenna, and the boss of our little dungeon. We chose the strongest of the monsters within the dungeon, myself excluded, to become the boss in case worse came to worst. The strongest Bobcat of the pack was chosen to become the boss. She evolved two stages in one go, and we named her. She seemed to be tainted by my ¡®undead¡¯ nature, and she evolved into a Mountain Nekomata. Nekomata are a type of youkai from Japanese lore, and they are cats that transcend death and become immortal. This species of cat grows a second tail and obtains red eyes. In this world specifically, it seems that the Nekomata can summon one skeleton guard each day by sacrificing a tail. The tail then grows back the next day. The guard is only a simple skeleton, which means that it doesn¡¯t have a weapon. However, the guard remains until it dies. The nekomata cannot summon more than one at a time, as summoning another automatically destroys the original guard. But, the longer the guard lasts, the stronger it can become. We named her Feleen, and because our monsters are loyal upon birth, I can trust her to be a final line of defence. Although she was currently stronger than me, the problem with a boss is that the dungeon cannot station any other monsters in the room, unless the boss ¡®makes¡¯ them. I also cannot fight together with the boss. Against a strong group like those bandits, it''s a guaranteed loss. The skeleton would be a poor distraction, and is too weak to kill any of the invaders. The doors to the boss room opened slightly to let me through, before sealing behind me with a dull thud. I walked into the boss room slowly taking note of the changes surroundings. What originally was not much larger than a small pond had grown into a large lake with a sizable island in the center, forming concentric circles. The radius of the island was only about a third of the size of the radius of the lake. The island was dotted with a few evergreen trees and what remains of a small, stone temple, covered with moss. The rest of the ground was covered with the pink orchids, giving the whole area a mystical appearance. I crossed a series of rope bridges that were connected with wooden platforms that rose above the water to reach the center island. Although it pained me to make the journey that much easier for those who were aiming for the heart of the dungeon, we couldn¡¯t move Feleen to the boss room otherwise. She refused to go into the water at all. This series of rope bridges was slightly more expensive than if we just erected a long line of wooden planks that stretched over the lake, but the presentation was important. The ruins on the island itself followed a similar theory, though it was also supposed to act as cover for Feleen to use strategically. As I headed towards the ruins, I passed Feleen who was fishing at the water¡¯s edge. She meowed at me listlessly without looking up from the lake to acknowledge me. Her utterings meant something like, ¡°Good work out there.¡± Because Feleen was a boss, I could understand her to some extent. She didn¡¯t talk to me much, though. I headed further in towards the ruins, where Jenna¡¯s core was resting. The temple looked something akin to the Parthenon, only on a much smaller scale. A rectangular plot of land was smoothed out and replaced with stone bricks. There was a small staircase led up to the stone platform and stretched across the northern face (the side that pointed towards the entrance). The remains of broken pillars littered the area around the temple making it appear as though a large battle had taken place here a long time ago. The only other undead of the dungeon, Feleen¡¯s summon, was robotically swinging a cheap sword iron through the air, in a small attempt to have it learn the skill. I passed by the hardworking skeleton and made my way onto the temple proper. The stone was cracked and covered with moss and hardy grasses. A lone sapling peeked through the floor. On the platform, large boulders that used to be part of the roof are scattered about haphazardly, but the back end of the temple still had its roof suspended. A solitary altar, a perfectly rectangular block, laid at the furthest end of the ¡®holy ground¡¯, with the only wall to its back. A top this altar, affixed snugly in the table, was Jenna¡¯s core. I looked at it for awhile as if confirming that everything was indeed okay. ¡®What are you staring at? Pervert.¡¯ She clearly was still upset with me. ¡®What anime are you from?¡¯ I quipped. ¡®What?¡¯ ¡®... Nevermind.¡¯ I quietly sat down in front of the altar, taking in the scenery outside, although Feleen¡¯s servant kind of ruined the perfect scenery. The waterfall crashed down somewhere behind me, muffled by the wall to my back. A warm breeze blew through my body. After a long period of silence, I finally ended up muttering, ¡®I¡¯m sorry, Jenna.¡¯ ¡®I shouldn¡¯t have thinking I needed to die to save you. I should have trusted our plan a bit more.¡¯ ¡®Haaaaa, Ozzy, it¡¯s fine, I just don¡¯t want you to do that again. Just as you want to protect me, I want to protect you. We need to work on both of us making it out alive, alright?¡¯ ¡®Alright.¡¯ Another long silence followed. It was slowly dawning on me that we were partners, equals. I wasn¡¯t her knight or saviour, and she wasn¡¯t just a home I came back to. We were in this together, and we had to do things together. No secret plans, no risky gambits. ¡®Promise me.¡¯ Jenna said. ¡®Promise what?¡¯ ¡®Promise me you won¡¯t do something like that again, okay? Promise me we do stuff together now.¡¯ ¡®Okay, okay, I promise. I¡¯ll be there for you, and you be there for me. Are we good, partner?¡¯ ¡®We¡¯re good.¡¯ I smiled as I stood up to practice the new earth spell I ended up using suddenly during the fight. I was considering calling it [Sandscreen]. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ I woke up with my head pounding. The gang went a bit wild last night when we returned from the dungeon. Yes, the dungeon. Selena, Gordon, Zayl, and I had all confirmed it. We were pretty confident once we had actually gotten inside. The familiar feeling of being watched, coupled with the fact that monsters that would usually be predator and prey were fighting with each other had us very sure. We had just wanted to go as far as we could to scout out the dungeon. The door we ended up coming upon was fantastic news. It clearly meant that that path was the only way forward, the floor guardian was probably beyond it. But, that also means that the huge amount of forest around it was going to be relatively safe. And considering the monsters we did battle with, the difficulty of that forest is not particularly high. We have basically happened upon a trove of infinite resources. We can hunt year-round and gather year-round. We don¡¯t have to rob in order to survive anymore. We don¡¯t have to keep moving to survive anymore. We don¡¯t have to live in fear of retaliation anymore. So we enjoyed ourselves tonight. Selena has big plans for this place. But those will take some time. Well, I just got to do what I¡¯m told. I¡¯ll keep training, I¡¯ll keep getting stronger, and soon, we will have our own city, away from those that cursed us. The majority of us never wanted to become bandits, but we needed to. This is our new beginning. This is our rebirth. I picked up my body, and grabbed one of the axes. I was chuckling to myself, monologuing about such cheesy things. I began cutting down the trees in our area. We were going to be staying here for quite a while, but I figured we should get started. We needed defenses, housing, and space for fields. My head still hurt, but taking my mind off of it was for the better. This was going to be a city for Bandits to return to their old life. Committing one crime wasn¡¯t going to end your life. Selena decided to name it Haven. And we had all thought that it was a great name. Figures the leaders of the group would only agree when it comes to Selena. I chopped the first tree down with two swings, as I was trying to take it easy. But when it hit the ground with a dull thud, the rest of the camp was roused. ¡°Ah,¡± I muttered. I had forgotten that last night would be much worse for the rest of the group. They complained a lot. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I trudged down a darkened hallway with a letter containing some very irritating orders. ¡°I can¡¯t believe they are wasting my time with such idiocy!¡± ¡°My Earl, I wouldn¡¯t be saying those kinds of things about a Duke, even in private.¡± ¡°!!!¡± I quickly whirled around towards the voice. But, fortunately, it was a familiar face. ¡°Ah, Kent, huh? You shouldn¡¯t play games like that with me. At the end of the day, I pay your bills.¡± ¡°Yes, sir!¡± He shouted sarcastically. ¡°So, what is in that letter? They used their seal of authority, right? So it must be important.¡± I sighed, ¡°The Duke is ordering me to track down a group of bandits that disappeared from this territory. A group called, ¡®The Queen¡¯s Brigade¡¯, I believe? I just sent most of my troops to help at the border, what kind of terrible timing is this?¡± ¡°Yours truly is still here,¡± Kent shrugged. ¡°And so are those dancing twins. If you bring us along, and a fair amount of the remaining troops, we should manage, even if the guards left are all the talentless old folk.¡± ¡°Mah, I¡¯m not worried about this ¡®Brigade¡¯ that much. It¡¯s just that they are presumed to be beyond the Maklan Mountains. This will take time. And I¡¯m not sure why theDuke is so interested in some group of bandits.¡± I passed the letter to Kent, I wanted him along anyways, so I figured it fine to pass him the information. His eyes scanned the paper. ¡°They want to make sure the leaders are alive, heeeeeeeh? I¡¯m sure you could hold this over their heads. Do those bandits have something the Duke doesn''t want anybody to find?" ¡°That¡¯s a risk I¡¯ll think about taking when I get there, but you¡¯re quite right. Maybe this will be a more fruitful journey than I had anticipated,¡± I grinned. Fine, if they want to waste my time with some brigands in the Circlet, I¡¯ll make sure the Campania family will pay me¡­ appropriately. Their status may do. Kent seemed to read my mind. ¡°Do you think those twins would go along with this plan of yours?¡± ¡°No, this will stay with us, and a few men I know will help me.¡± Kent picked up his staff and left my study. His blonde hair shone in the moonlight. His tall stature made him all the more impressive. If he wasn''t smart like I was, I never would have hired this pretty boy. ¡°I''m looking forward to this endeavor,¡± he called back. ¡®He thinks himself clever because he can gossip with the maids around my estate,¡¯ I thought. Well, it matters not. I began to laugh to myself in solitude. ¡°You know, I''ll take it back. Thank you for wasting my time with your idiocy, Duke Campiana! AHAHAHAHAAAAA!¡± This is the rise of EarlBurgons! Chapter 14 - At the Kingdoms Border ¡°This damned commoner trash!¡± I slammed my fist through the table of the inn I was staying at. This bare bones establishment way out at the border was far below what could be considered appropriate for someone of my stature to be staying in, but it couldn¡¯t be helped. It was the only inn in this small speck of a village. My face scrunched up red with fury as I recalled being rejected once again by another adventuring group yesterday when I asked for escort. ¡°¡®I¡¯m sorry mister noble,¡¯ they said, ¡®we don¡¯t know how to navigate the mountain¡­ You need to ask some other party. Our apologies.'' Who do they think they are joking?!¡± I spat with rage. ¡°Half of the requests in that rundown shack of a guild were in the mountains! Do they think me some kind of fool?!¡± Kent had a wry smile as he offered his thoughts, ¡°Well, a noble coming out this way is a little¡­ suspicious. They probably don¡¯t want to get involved with us. And we can¡¯t really prove that they know how to navigate the mountain, so we can¡¯t compel them to obey.¡± ¡°It¡¯s already been a month since we received those orders! A MONTH! I can¡¯t be having Campiana sending other nobles on this mission. I know those bandits must be housing his weakness if he wants me to chase them like this.¡± ¡°We may have to find a different village near the mountain range at this point. The adventurers can tell that if they get wrapped up in something like this, they¡¯ll probably end up dead,¡± Kent said, proposing a solution. Well, he was right. We had to make sure that what we find on the other side of the mountains remains a secret. Once they lead us back over, they¡¯d be dead. Killed in a sudden monster attack, probably. ¡°Keh! Just like those lowborn. Only looking out for their own hides,¡± I yelled. ¡°I¡¯m a noble, you know? They should be begging for the opportunity to help a higher existence like me.¡± In this world, nobles were a higher plane of existence than the common folk. Why? Simply because we have the job [Noble]. There are three ¡°base¡± jobs. The average and ordinary [Commoner], the villainous and cancerous [Bandit], and the supreme and mighty [Noble]. You are either born a [Noble] or through extraordinary achievement and acknowledgement by the king, a [Commoner] can become a [Noble], though this only really happens in times of war. A lot of nobility may end up dying if the conflict gets bloody, so then many commoners, if they stack up enough achievements, can receive peerage. Well their families would be nothing more than polished garbage, anyhow. The hierarchy of nobility within the Bassion Kingdom was a very strict caste system. Each noble had a specific ranking and were treated accordingly by those around them. Smaller nobles bent to your will, and you bent to the will of larger nobles. A Earl such as myself would never be able to go against a Duke with conventional means. With conventional means, anyway. But that¡¯s why I¡¯m putting up with this barbaric living conditions in some good for nothing village near the border. I sigh heavily as I sit back down on this establishment¡¯s poor excuse of a bed. ¡°We cannot wait any longer,¡± I muttered. ¡°Apparently there is one more adventurer that is returning from a week long excursion today. If we cannot force him to guide us, we¡¯ll have to try and fight our way through the mountains.¡± ¡°Are you sure we shouldn¡¯t just move to another village?¡± Kent asked. ¡°This is the third village we¡¯ve been to, the results will be the same. I¡¯m not wasting a second more. The rights to a dukedom are on the line.¡± Kent heaved a sigh before suggesting. ¡°You should probably be waiting in the guild, right? Otherwise they may get tipped off from their comrades.¡± I frowned. I didn¡¯t want to have to spend much time sitting in the filth that was an Adventurers¡¯ Guild, but he was right. I couldn¡¯t let my last hope slip away. I stood up and made my way to the door. I desperately hoped I wouldn¡¯t have to come back to this shack. I opened the door while saying under my breath, ¡°If I never see this filth-ridden pigsty again, it¡¯ll be too soon.¡± As I stepped out into the hallway, a young girl, no older than 12 looked at me with a face of rage. ¡°This inn is good, mister!¡± She shouted at me. ¡°It¡¯s the best in town! All the grown-up adventurers say so!¡± ¡°Why am I taking verbal abuse from young commoner garbage, I wonder?¡± I glared at her with fury, my face clearly conveying the overwhelming bloodlust I was feeling. The girl¡¯s face quickly changed to one of panic and fear. I headed toward the stairs. But she left with one more parting shot, ¡°My mom¡¯s inn is the best, baldy pig!¡± Ahhhh, little girl, you REAAAAALLLY shouldn¡¯t have said that one, you know? She was running away from me down the hallway, but after the long week in this podunk town, I was very much NOT in a forgiving mood. I launched across the hallway with speed that did not match my slightly oversized stomach. My blonde hair that was only receding A LITTLE BIT shook in the wind. I appeared in front of the girl before she realized what had happened. I grabbed her by the neck with one of my large arms and lifted her up into the air. I chided her while stroking my short, pointed mustache that did not connect in the middle. ¡°You know, little girl, saying such things to a noble is not something you should ever do.¡± She gasped desperately as she hit at my arms, but she was just a commoner in the end, and I was a noble. I walked back to the stairs. ¡°I¡¯m fairly magnanimous, you know? I¡¯ve put up with sub-noble living conditions for quite some time. I guess commoners really don¡¯t know their own position in the world. Just remember, girl, you should curse the gods for having you be born as imperfect, I haven¡¯t done anything wrong.¡± I now stood at the top of the stairs, the girl¡¯s mouth was foaming, and she was turning a very interesting color. ¡°I hope that you can learn from this mistake. I trust this will never happen again.¡± The muscles in my arm bulged, and I pitched her body down the stairs and into one of the many dirty tables in the dining room. A loud crash ensued, followed by a scream and a panicked bustling.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. I heard shouts of ¡°Angie!¡±, ¡°Oi! Somebody hurry and grab a potion!¡±, and ¡°Is anybody here a priest!¡± as I slowly made my way down the stairs. A large group had gathered around the young girl and one adventurer was having her drink a health potion. Color was slowly returning to her face, and her neck was returning to its original shape and size. The matron of the inn saw me walking down and shouted ¡°You¡­!¡±, before some of the adventurers held her back, covered her mouth, and shot me some poisonous glares. I gave them a smile while saying, ¡°That girl, Angie, was it? She needs to be careful when running around the hallways. She was surprised when I exited my room and she fell down the stairs. It was a real nasty tumble.¡± The glares only intensified. I continued to smile, but my eyes grew cold. If only I had my lance with me¡­ ¡°Why are you all looking at me like that?¡± A fake laugh echoed emptily off of the walls of the inn. ¡°Even I wouldn¡¯t go as far to hurt such a little girl. The day I hurt an innocent soul like her, is the day that the adventurers of this town can navigate the mountains. Hahaha! But that isn¡¯t the case, right?¡± The various adventurers that were staying at the inn that morning, all of which had rejected my request, looked away, unable to even mutter a retort. My face fell flat as I called for Kent. ¡°Kent, it¡¯s time to go, I¡¯m not wasting anymore time here.¡± He wordlessly followed me out of the inn and towards the Adventurers¡¯ Guild. The soldiers I had brought with me were all up early and keeping watch near my carriage. I walked up to a pair of young girls. They were the most skilled soldiers out of the whole brigade, surprisingly enough. Well, they were commoners, and still sympathized with commoners, so they could be quite troublesome. They also were beneficiaries of the Campiana family, so they weren¡¯t aware of my real intentions. Them nor most of the soldiers of the company were. I gave the two short orders. ¡°Mila, Nila, prepare the carriage, we are leaving today, with or without a guide.¡± ¡°¡±Yes sir,¡±¡± they replied. I quickly made my way over to the guild. As I approached the entrance, I saw a young boy headed towards the guild building with a Climber Deer¡¯s corpse on his back. I didn¡¯t recognize this lad, and I was sure that I had seen everyone that went in and out of the guild. I was quite good with faces. I walked up to the boy with my arms unassumingly open and called out to him. ¡°Young lad! That¡¯s quite the hunt you got there! Where did you manage to find it?¡± He gave me a look of confusion, I¡¯m sure he thought that a man as well dressed as I would not be interested in hunting. ¡°My soldiers are always looking for a good meal, so I was wondering where you found a beast like that!¡± ¡°In the mountains, of course,¡± he curtly replied. ¡°Oh, so you know your way around the mountains? I need a guide to help me cross them. Can you help me?¡± I intentionally ignored the fact that he treated me like some kind of idiot. And even though I asked if he would help, he didn¡¯t have much of a choice. ¡°How much?¡± A big grin broke out on my face. I put a gold coin on his palm. A gold coin is enough for a small commoner family to survive for a year and a half without working. ¡°We¡¯ll be gone into the forest on the other side of the mountains for up to two months. When we return, you¡¯ll receive two more of those.¡± The young boy¡¯s eyes lit up. He nodded his head, ¡°I¡¯ll do it. When do we leave?¡± ¡°Today,¡± I told him. ¡°And don¡¯t worry about supplies, we¡¯re bringing enough with us.¡± ¡°Let me turn in my hunt to the guild, and I¡¯ll be ready to leave.¡± It would be nice if you just went now, but whatever. ¡°Kent, make sure you lead the boy back to our carriage when he¡¯s prepared. I¡¯ll be waiting.¡± ¡°I¡¯m Yama,¡± he stuck out his hand to shake mine. I¡¯d rather not touch such a dirty boy, but I didn¡¯t want to seem disingenuous. ¡°I¡¯m Earl Havron Burgons.¡± I walked with heightened pace back towards my carriage. I promised that kid 3 gold coins total, but he¡¯d be dead upon return, so I didn¡¯t really have to worry about paying him. I couldn¡¯t stop myself from grinning. Finally, I¡¯d be rid of this backwater hole. About 30 minutes passed before Kent showed up with the boy in tow. Kent was all smiles, but the boy had a noticeably more worried expression on his face. ¡°This is an official request as the Earl of this territory, so please make sure to do it properly, okay?¡± I signaled to the rest of the army around me, and we set off. Well calling them an army was a little generous. Once we reached the edge of town I made a different signal to Kent. He gave me his handsome smile, and then began a chant. [Ferocious Wind, wild Wind. Surprise my enemies. Billow from where you lie in wait, and destroy your surroundings. Dance throughout the day and night and wreak havoc. Turn your surroundings to dust. Eternal Wind Bomb] Suddenly throughout the village, large tornadoes sprang up. There were about five, but they decimated the buildings nearby. The town would be little more than rubble after a few hours. I had asked specifically that two of the cyclones appear on the Adventurers¡¯ Guild and the Inn that we stayed at. The boy stared back with shaking eyes at what was left of his village. A lot of the soldiers were caught off guard as well. ¡°Hey, Earl, what are you doing to that town?!¡± Mila screamed. ¡°Weren¡¯t those innocent people!?¡± Nila shouted. ¡°Innocent? Them?¡± I questioned, condescendingly. ¡°Hardly, they were traitors to the crown. They wanted nothing but destruction of the noble class, like the Campiana family. I couldn¡¯t take that standing.¡± Any commoners that treated me like they did were definitely traitors and deserved death. ¡°¡±O-Oh¡­¡±¡± they muttered back to me. Those two were saved by the Campiana family, and if it was helpful to the Duke, they would let a lot slide. So easy. I heaved a satisfied sigh as I left that stain behind. Kent caught up with the carriage as we marched and I let him rest inside. ¡°Those tornadoes should rage for the next 5 days without stopping,¡± he reported. ¡°I¡¯ve gained a couple levels, too, so maybe I killed a few of them.¡± He had a wicked grin as he finished his sentence. ¡°I just hope you cleaned up that trash inn girl. What was her name, Anna?¡± ¡°Angie, I believe, sir.¡± ¡°Keh, whatever, like I bother with the names of trash.¡± Outside the carriage the boy¡¯s ear twitched and I could see what appeared to be tears falling to the ground. Did he hear me? Well, it matters not. He¡¯s basically a prisoner on his way to the gallows now. I hope this is the last time I have to make a trip out here to the border. It is so very annoying.