《The Morality System - [LitRPG System]》


 Chapter 1: The Morality System

    I looked at the eye sitting in my lap. My eye. Was sitting in my lap. I looked up at my captors. It was two boys I had taken off the streets because they needed a place to stay for the night.


    There was a lightning storm out and I didn''t want them to die. I fed them dinner and gave them dry clothes. They waited until I fell asleep in my chair to bash me on the head with a frying pan.


    "Where''s the money, old man?" The older one said.


    "There is no money!" I said for the dozenth time. "It''s all in the bank! I don''t keep any money at home."


    "Then give it to us out of the bank!" He said.


    The younger one looked scared and was holding a knife aimed at me.


    "All I can do is transfer it right now. Do you have a bank account I can transfer it to?" I said.


    "No," the older one said.


    "Then how am I supposed to give you money?" I said.


    "Just give us your wallet!" The older one said.


    I handed him my wallet.


    "Kill him," the older one said.


    Before I had time to react, the younger one stabbed me in the stomach. I grabbed his hands to pull it out, but he was surprisingly strong or I was just that weak. I was an older man and I wasn''t very strong anymore.


    Instead of pulling it out, he dragged the knife down, cutting through my insides. I screamed in pain, but the older one punched me in the face. I kept screaming and he kept punching me until things started to get dark. Then it was lights out.


    I felt myself floating in an empty dark space. I couldn''t see or feel anything, but I could think. I thought about my life. My whole life, I had trusted people I shouldn''t have and they betrayed me. Over and over again.


    I tried to be smarter. I tried to determine which people were trustworthy, but somehow I always chose wrong. I knew there were good people. I would see them on the news or at the grocery store when people helped me take groceries to my car.


    It was just that when I chose someone to get close to or allowed myself to be vulnerable around someone, they took advantage of me. This was the last one in a long line of betrayals.


    No one had ever tried to kill me before, but they had tried to rob me and beat me up. They had framed me for crimes I didn''t commit. They had ditched their drugs or stolen items in my car, so I would take the blame.


    I was tired of this. Too tired. If I ever got a chance to live again through reincarnation or something, I wouldn''t let people take advantage of me. I wouldn''t get picked on kicked around beaten down or killed. Anyone who tried something on me would pay.


    I was done with my always obeying the law bullshit or always turning the other cheek. If someone hurt me, I''d hurt them worse. I didn''t deserve any of the things that happened to me in my life. If another person betrays me, they deserve to be punished, not just get away with it.


    A bright light suddenly blinded me. I blinked and looked down to try to get my vision back. My vision cleared and I was standing in the middle of a medieval road.


    I stood there, disoriented, until a horse-drawn carriage bore down on me. The driver said, "Hey kid, get out of the road!"


    I dove out of the way and landed in the dirt. I got up and brushed myself off. I looked down at myself and realized I was wearing peasant clothes. I was also young again.


    My skin was smooth and free of wrinkles. I had muscle tone, but not overly so. I estimated I was 21 years old. I checked my pockets for a wallet or identification but found nothing.


    I tried to see if I could remember anything from my host body. That was how these things worked right? If you ended up in a fully grown body, that meant someone had already lived that body''s life until now.


    So I should have memories of the person who lived here before, but nothing came to my mind. Great. I was wearing peasant clothes, I had no money and no identification and I was covered in dirt. I looked like a homeless person.


    I walked around to explore and see if there was anything I could find that could help me, but eventually, I got hungry. I saw a bakery nearby, so I wandered into it, from the smell of fresh bread.


    I walked into the shop and looked around. It had a very homey feel to it. The ovens were out and in view of the customer, so you could smell the bread baked and there was a nice warmth coming from the ovens.


    "Get out of here!" The baker said. "No free bread! Can''t you read the sign?"


    "What sign?" I hadn''t seen a sign outside.


    The baker pulled a sign from behind the counter and pushed it in my face. It read, "No Free Bread!"


    "How am I supposed to see that? It was behind your counter!" I said. With his hand so close to my face, I couldn''t help but notice the blood under his fingernails. That was weird. Why would a baker have blood under his fingernails?


    "Why do you have blood under your fingernails?" I said.


    He got a confused look on his face, then he looked at his hands. "You know what, I cut my leg this morning pretty badly. That must have happened when I was bandaging it.


    [Requirements met to activate the Morality System!]


    [Talent activated: Soul Inquiry]


    [Soul Inquiry: The ability to ask another soul any question you desire and it will answer honestly. Language gained: Soul Speak. Soul speak is activated with your soul, not your mouth]


    ''What is the Morality System?'' I thought.


    [The Morality System was designed by [redacted] for the purpose of [redacted] to be used by Tom Ketchup. It allows the user to determine the morality of others in relation to their own. Soul Inquiry is just one in a long list of talents and skills that will become available to Tom Ketchup]Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.


    ''What kind of name is Tom Ketchup? That''s not my name. My name is¡­ my name is¡­''


    What was my name? I couldn''t remember it. Why couldn''t I remember my name?


    [Your full name is actually Tom Ato Ketchup. You are the first of your name and your generation and your line]


    ''Wait. Wouldn''t that mean I don''t have any relatives? Meaning no parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, or cousins?''


    [Yes. You have no relatives]


    ''Doesn''t that mean I was created from nothing? Like I wasn''t even born. I just didn''t exist and then I did.''


    [Yes. That is exactly what that means]


    ''Ok. Then can I use this Soul Inquiry thing now?''


    [You may. Simply think the question at your target to activate]


    ''Ok. Why do you have blood under your fingernails?'' I thought at the man.


    ''The bitch downstairs tried to get away this morning, so I had to be rough with her. It must have happened then.'' The soul responded.


    [Evil Detection System Activated: Hey this guy is evil]


    ''You think?'' I thought to the system


    ''Thank you for telling me that, you awful awful person.'' I thought to his soul.


    ''You''re welcome, you homeless loser.'' His soul said.


    ''How charming.'' I thought.


    This Soul Inquiry ability was amazing! I could achieve all the things I wanted to achieve in my previous life. I could determine who was a good person, and their intentions. I could learn everything about that and they wouldn''t even know!


    All that excitement aside, I now had a job to do. I needed to kill this evil baker and save the woman locked in his basement. And I knew what I had to do. I turned around and locked the door. I turned the open sign to closed. I turned down the lights to make it dark in the shop. The only light came in through the glass on the front door.


    "Why are you closing my shop? Is this a robbery?" The baker said.


    "You didn''t get the blood the way you said. You have a woman locked in your basement and I won''t allow that," I said, gritting my teeth.


    "Maybe I do. What do you think you''re going to do about it? Kill me?" He said. He grabbed a knife from behind the counter. "I''ll just add you to the pile."


    "I''m going to kill you if it''s the last thing I do. Scum like you doesn''t deserve to live." I said.


    I didn''t know what I was doing. I had never fought anyone before. I had been in fights, but it was always me just getting beaten up or mugged. Regardless, I wasn''t afraid. I was doing the right thing.


    If he killed me, so be it. As long as I got to kill him too. Then I would know justice was served.


    I walked around the counter. The baker charged me, roaring with rage. I tried to catch his wrist before he stabbed me.


    [Hidden Skill Activated: Counter Evil]


    [Counter Evil: A perfect counter to attacks from evil people]


    I grabbed his wrist, twisted it, and pushed down on the flat side of the knife, knocking it out of his hand. The knife clattered to the floor. The baker''s eyes widened, but then they got angry.


    "I don''t know how you did that, but you''re still going to die!" He said. He pushed me and I tripped and fell.


    ''System, why didn''t my counter activate?''


    [The skill has a 10-second cool down]


    ''God damn it!''


    The baker put his hands around my throat and started to choke me. I punched at him wildly.


    [Hidden Skill Activated: Auto Crit on Evil]


    [Auto Crit on Evil: Delivers an automatic critical hit against Evildoers]


    I watched my fist redirect itself in the air to punch the baker right in the throat. He began to struggle to breathe.


    I pushed him off me and he fell over onto his back. I got up and watched as he continued to struggle to breathe, but then he recovered. He got up and rushed at me again. He tried to punch me.


    [Counter Evil Activated]


    I sidestepped his punch, grabbed his arm, and used his momentum to flip him and throw him onto his back.


    "When I finally get my hands on you, I''m going to torture you, just like I tortured her. Except this time, it''ll be personal," he said, from the ground.


    He started to get up, but this was the end of the line for him. I''d seen enough of who this man truly was, to know the world would be a better place without him.


    In my past life, I might have shown mercy and just called the police, but calling the authorities now would just end in my arrest and him getting away with his crimes.


    I couldn''t rely on the law to do what I knew needed to be done. I would have to do it myself. I lined up my foot and kicked at his head.


    [Auto Crit on Evil activated]


    My foot redirected from going toward his cheek to going toward his temple. My shoe made an impact with a sickening thud. His body rolled over from the force, and he didn''t get up. I checked his pulse with my fingers. He was dead.


    [You have defeated evil!]


    [Wait for reward]


    ''What the fuck? This is so weird.'' I thought. I had just killed a man and I was getting rewarded for it. But then again, this is what I wanted. Power. Power over my own life. Power over my own survival. And the freedom to never be taken advantage of again. I smiled. I couldn''t wait to see what else this system could do.


    I snapped out of my reverie. Now wasn''t the time for daydreaming. Now was the time for action. And my next action was to free the woman in the basement.


    [Choose your rewards]


    [Chick Magnet: Women automatically think you''re charming and handsome]


    [or]


    [Bonds of Loyalty: Allows people to bind themselves in loyalty to you, so that no outside influence, including charms and mind control, can change their minds. However, your own actions can still lose their loyalty]


    [or]


    [Healing Presence: People around you gradually heal from past trauma and emotional wounds, while becoming more confident and self-actualized. They become less dependent on you, but still value your friendship]


    What were these choices? It''s obvious what the right choice is. Chick Magnet felt too much like mind control, and Healing Presence is something I''m convinced I already had in my past life. And look where it got me. Murdered.


    My meek and gentle nature allowed others to feel open to sharing their past traumas and troubles with me. They unloaded their emotional burdens onto me and it helped them heal and feel better, but then they would go on to live happy and fulfilled lives.


    And I would be left behind, with nothing in return, except other people''s horrible life experiences floating around in my head bringing me down and making me hate the world and the people in it.


    Chick Magnet would get me girls, albeit in an arguably unethical way, but what I needed most right now was loyal friends. People who would watch my back and help explain the world I now inhabited. Bonds of Loyalty, while certainly self-serving, would help me protect myself in this dangerous world with murderous bakers.


    ''I choose Bonds of Loyalty.''


    [Choice acknowledged. Bonds of Loyalty has been bestowed upon you. On to the next reward]


    ''Next reward?''


    [Bonus reward for defeating evil for the first time!]


    [Selfless Sufferer: The ability to take damage and pain from other people and suffer it yourself instead]


    [or]


    [Shared Suffering: The ability to share damage and pain among willing participants to reduce the amount dealt to the original individual who was hurt]


    [or]


    [Transfer Suffering: The ability to transfer your damage and pain onto another person, other than your attacker or attackers]


    Hmm. This one was a little harder. Obviously, Transfer Suffering was the best for me, but what if in this life, unlike in my last life, I developed actual friends? I mean Manifest Dependency almost guaranteed loyal friendship. Why would I intentionally hurt people loyal to me?


    That just seemed wrong. I would have to go with Shared Suffering. I certainly wasn''t going with Selfless Sufferer. That was my past life all over again. That path betrayed me, so I won''t choose it again. That would be stupid.


    ''I choose Shared Suffering.''


    [Very well. Shared Suffering has been granted]


    Ok, that was the neutral option.


    [Additional bonus reward for developing an aura and choosing a side rather than picking a neutral option]


    [Transparent Heart: People can always tell if you''re telling the truth or if you''re lying. Makes your truth more convincing and your lies less so]


    [Clear Communication: People always understand exactly what you''re trying to say. They never misinterpret your words]


    [Absolute Sincerity: Everyone believes that you believe what you''re telling them, whether it''s the truth or a lie. Can be used to convince people of lies or convince them you''re a crazy person]


    Again, the "good" option was just something I had in my previous life. People always believed me when I told the truth, but no one believed me when I lied. None of these "good" options had been very good for me in my previous life. Why would they be good here?


    The obvious choice was Absolute Sincerity. It gave me the option to lie if I needed to, but the ability to tell the truth convincingly as well. I would probably use the truth more often than not, but if I were in a sticky situation against bad people, what''s wrong with lying to them?


    ''I choose Absolute Sincerity.''


    [Choice granted. Dark aura increased by 20 points.]


    What? Dark Aura increased? Is it saying I chose an evil option? I''m just trying to protect myself. How is that fair?


    [Developing a dark aura is not necessarily bad, Tom. Dark auras make it easier to intimidate and control people, submissive people find you attractive as a potential leader, they make you appear strong, they make criminals more likely to talk with you, give you better prices from scared merchants, give you access to dark quests, and gives you respect from other people with dark aura''s]


    ''Hmm. Interesting. It essentially gives me power over other people, rather than giving other people power over me like it was in my previous life. I''m ok with that.''


    Now that I had chosen my rewards, it was time to deal with the baker. I dragged his body behind the counter so no one could see even if they pressed their face up against the glass.


    Then I checked him for personal belongings. He had a set of keys and a coin pouch. I put them in my pockets. I walked around looking for an entrance to a basement. I didn''t see one immediately.


    It might have been hidden under something like a carpet or rug so people didn''t think to go down there for any reason. I checked under the rugs. There were rugs everywhere in this guy''s bakery. After the dozenth rug, I finally found the basement hatch.


    It had a lock on it. I pulled the keys out of my pocket. I started trying keys until one of them worked on the lock and I opened the basement.


    Then I realized something. I had never looked at my system status. Everyone always looked at their status in these kinds of stories.


    ''Status.''


    [Stats]


    [Name: Tom Ato Ketchup]


    [Age: 21]


    [Species: Human]


    [Strength: 100]


    [Agility: 100]


    [Stamina: 100]


    [Intelligence: 100]


    [Class: Unassigned]


    [Magical Potential: Unactivated]


    [Dark Aura: 40]


    [Bloodline: First of Line]


    [Active Skills: Soul Inquiry, Counter Evil, Auto Crit on Evil]


    [Passive Abilities: Bonds of Loyalty, Shared Suffering, Absolute Sincerity]


    Interesting. My stats were normal. I was 21. It tracked all the stuff I already knew and there was a little bit of stuff I didn¡¯t know about yet. It was a good status screen. I closed it, satisfied.


    I walked down a flight of steps into the basement. There were barrels, boxes, crates, and bags lying around the room, and against one of the walls was a woman chained to the ground.


    It was one of those bolts that had to be deliberately placed in the ground through hard work. So this wasn''t a spur-of-the-moment kidnapping. He had either been planning this one or he''d done this before.


    The woman had a gag over her mouth, but not a blindfold. When she saw me, she tried to scream.

 Chapter 2: A Princess Rescued

    "It''s okay. I''m here to rescue you. I killed the guy who abducted you. He didn''t do anything sexual to you did he?" I said.


    She shook her head no.


    "Ok. Good. Well, I''m going to undo this chain. I got the key off the guy," I said. "Please don''t attack me when I undo this."


    She nodded. I undid the locks on the chain to give slack and then I undid the shackles. She took off the shackles and rubbed her wrists.


    [Good Deed committed! You rescued a woman]


    [Rewards incoming]


    [Choose an ability]


    [Muscle Builder: Build muscles and strength 10 times as fast as a normal person]


    [or]


    [Team Builder: Members of your party get stronger in whatever they pursue 10 times faster]


    [or]


    [Experience Plunder: Gain 10% of all future experience and stat increases gained by everyone within a mile radius]


    Oh, I immediately knew which ability I was going to choose. Experience Plunder of course! Now this was the golden finger I was hoping for! Besides it''s just 10%. It''s not like people are losing that much, but I''m gaining immensely from it.


    ''I choose Experience Plunder.''


    [Skill granted. Dark aura increased by 20]


    ''Of course.''


    "Why would you save me? How did you even know I was down here?" she said.


    "He had blood under his fingernails. I questioned him about it and knew he was lying, so I figured he hurt someone. He admitted it when we were fighting when he thought he was about to win," I said, lying. I''m not going to tell her about my system. I''m not telling anyone about that.


    "Oh. So you actually fought and killed a man, just because you suspected and then knew that he had kidnapped someone? Are you crazy? What about your life? Your safety?" She said.


    "I didn''t really consider that. Besides there''s not much of a life to consider. I woke up in the middle of the street with no memory of who I was or how I got there, and I had no money. I was going to starve to death on the streets, so why not die for a cause?" I said.


    "You''re a weird one. But a helpful one. I thank you for this kindness. I will soon repay it," she said.


    "How?" I said, raising my eyebrow. "Please don''t try to repay me in sexual favors because that would make me deeply uncomfortable."


    "No! In money and honors," she said. "I am a princess after all. That''s why I was abducted in the first place. I''ll take you to meet my father and he''ll pay you handsomely and probably even give you an award!"


    "Oh! That sounds nice," I said, in an uncertain tone. That didn''t sound anything like the kings I read about in history. Kings didn''t reward people for good deeds. They put them in dungeons. "Are you sure that''s what he''ll do?"


    "Why wouldn''t he? You saved my life!" she said.


    "Because kings don''t usually reward peasants. At best they''ll just send you on your way and say thank you. At worst, they''ll put you in a dungeon or kill you," I said.


    "He would never do that!" She said.


    ''If he did, would you defend me, or would you just watch it happen?'' I asked her with Soul Inquiry.


    ''I would defend you!'' Her soul said.


    "Ok, let''s go then," I said.


    I realized this meant I had to follow her out. What I wanted to do was check the basement for a hidden stash of money the baker might have had, but the princess probably wouldn''t like that, and I needed to stay on her good side.The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.


    "Ok," she said. "I''ll follow you out."


    I showed her the way out. I put the body of the baker behind the counter. She shuddered when looking at it. I opened the front door and let her out, and then locked it behind me.


    She guided me this time. We went up a series of stairs and through a series of gates which always let her through once they realized who she was. We made our way to the castle at the top of the hill, overlooking the city.


    The guards tried to stop us at first because they didn''t recognize who she was. They just thought she was some dirty homeless peasant, but when she raised her voice at them and called them by name, they let us through.


    When we got to the throne room, she ran up to the king sitting in his throne and hugging him. She talked with him a bunch. I stayed back so I couldn''t hear much but from what I could hear, she just told him what happened and how I''d saved her.


    "Sir, what is your name?" The king said when he addressed me. He leaned forward and put an elbow on one knee.


    "Tom. Tom Ketchup, your majesty," I said. I made sure to bow. I didn''t know the customs here but that''s what I vaguely remembered you were supposed to do from history and movies.


    "Ketchup? I''ve never heard of that surname before. Where are you from?" He said.


    "I genuinely don''t know, your majesty. I woke up in the middle of the street today, dressed like this, and the only thing I could remember was that my name was Tom Ketchup," I said.


    I activated Soul Inquiry. ''Can you tell that I''m lying?''


    ''No. You seem utterly sincere in everything you say.''


    Oh yeah, the Absolute Sincerity ability. It made it so everyone believed that I believed everything I said. That was going to be so useful.


    "I''m sorry to hear that, Tom. However, for saving my daughter from that dastardly baker, who made really good bread, I will reward you with a sum of money and a medal of bravery. Also, assuming you don''t have a place to stay, you can stay in one of the guest bedrooms for now," he said.


    A guard came up to the king and handed him a sack of money and a medal.


    "Come here, so I can give you the money and place the medal on you," the king said.


    "Thank you, your majesty," I approached him. He handed me the sack of money which was far too heavy to put on my belt. Then he put the medal over my head and around my neck. It was a little chunky and heavy, but it fit just fine.


    Now I had to figure out what to do with myself. It was still the middle of the day. I couldn''t just go into my room and sleep. Maybe there was a place I could get new clothes and an adventurer''s guild where I could register as an adventurer.


    "There doesn''t happen to be an adventurer''s guild in this city is there? Also, do you know where I can get decent clothes? I look homeless," I said.


    "Yes, you do look quite homeless. But you are homeless, are you not?" The king said.


    "Yes, Your Majesty, but I don''t want to look like it," I said.


    "I suppose that makes sense," he said. "Yes, there is an Adventurers Guild nearby and a decent tailor. Abigail. Please escort our new guest to the tailor and the Adventurers Guild."


    "Yes, father," she said. "Come, Tom. I will show you the way."


    As we walked away from the castle, I could hear the sounds of guards training in the yard. As I clenched my fist, I realized I felt slightly stronger than just a second ago. And then the next second was the same feeling.


    That must have been the Experience Plunder ability at work. I wondered if it was something I could turn off if it got to be too much. I didn''t want to be a massive hulk of muscle walking around and getting stuck in doorways.


    [You can turn off Experience Plunder''s effects whenever you want. You can also toggle off specific effects so that you don''t lose out on its other beneficial traits. As to your concern about becoming too large, you can choose how large you get and still gain strength after that without gaining size]


    ''Really? Well, that certainly eases my concern. Thank you.''


    [You are welcome]


    I visualized a size I was ok with becoming.


    ''That''s the maximum size I want to be.''


    [Noted and input]


    ''Thanks.''


    "So, Tom, do you have a class?" Abigail said.


    "A what?" I said. I had seen the class stat on my status screen, but I didn''t expect her to know about that.


    "A class. It dictates the kind of fighter you would be if you chose to become an adventurer. Everyone chooses one at the age of 18. But you seem a little older than 18 so I figured you must have one by now," she said.


    "How do I find out if I have a class? Also, if everyone has a class, wouldn''t that make everyone adventurers?" I said.


    "You pull up your status screen by thinking ''Status''. And no. Not everyone wants to be an adventurer. It''s a very dangerous occupation. And not everyone even has the potential. If your potential is below F tier then you are not allowed to become an adventurer," she said.


    "Oh," I said, I closed my eyes pretending to pull up a status screen. I didn''t pull mine up because I had already seen it. "Ok, I have it pulled up. It says my class is unassigned."


    "Oh, so you haven''t chosen a class yet. Interesting. Well, you''ll get to choose one at the Adventurers Guild. But first, we need to get you some clothes," she said.


    We went to the tailor and tried on different fabrics and cuts of clothes. Abigail ran the whole thing. I wanted to try something more noble-looking, but she said only nobles could look like nobles.


    Then I said, I wanted to look like a knight, and she said only knights can dress like knights. We kept doing this on down the list, until she said, "We can dress you like a scholar. No one will object to that."


    "Fine, let''s do that," I said, exhausted.


    She picked me out a form-fitting dark blue robe with red accents and a red cape. I didn''t know what scholars dressed like this. To me, I looked like a dark mage, but she thought it made me look handsome, so that''s what we went with. The red cape highlighted my dark red hair, she said.


    Oh, yeah. I have red hair. I figured it was related to the system naming me ''Ketchup''. It must have thought it was really funny.


    [I do, actually, yes]


    ''Wow.''


    After picking out clothes that made me look like an edge lord, we made our way to the Adventurer''s Guild. When we walked in, no one was dressed like me. I felt so out of place. There were warriors, rogues, and even mages, but no one was wearing dark colors like mine.


    Everyone was dressed in either earth tones like brown and green, or bright colors. I stuck out like a sore thumb. Then again, she wasn''t dressed like anyone else either.


    She wore a bright pink dress with gold accents. No one else was wearing pink. So I kind of understood why I didn''t look like anyone else either. She had weird taste.


    We walked up to the front counter and a nice woman with a bright smile said, "How can I help you today?"


    "We would like to register as adventurers, and he doesn''t have a class yet, so we''d like to assign him one. Checking his potential too would probably be a good idea," Abigail said.


    "Ok. Step right over here," the woman came out from behind the counter and walked into the middle of the room with all the adventurers. There was a glowing orb on a pedestal that I hadn''t noticed before right in the center of the room.


    "Why is it in the center of the room? Couldn''t we do this in a more private place?" I said.


    "Why would we? This way all the adventurers get to react and judge your class choice!" She said, cheerfully.


    "That sounds like a bad thing," I said.


    "It''s not!" She said, smiling.


    "Oook. Let''s do this, then," I said. Then I turned to the princess. "Why are you registering as an adventurer?"


    "Because my dad never let me before. But he can''t stop me if I''m already here, can he?" She said. "Checkmate!" She made some weird hand motions in the air as emphasis to what she said. It made me think she was throwing up some weird fantasy version of gang signs.


    "Couldn''t he just make you unregister?" I said.


    "You can''t unregister. Once an adventurer, always an adventurer," she said. She threw up her weird gang signs again.


    "Couldn''t he just not let you leave the castle?" I said.


    "If he did that, I''d beat him up with my magic powers, which I''m going to get," she said, throwing up more weird gang signs.


    "Wow. You''re a really different person than I thought you were," I said. It was kind of hot, in a goofy way.


    "What, did you think I was going to be a normal prissy princess?" She said.


    "Uh, yeah. Obviously," I said.


    "Well, I''m not," she said, she threw down her gang signs so hard this time that she knocked herself off balance and fell off her heels. She put her hand up and said, "I''m ok!"

 Chapter 3: Sallys

    After Abigail had recovered from her fall, the woman who was helping us said, "Place your hand on the orb."


    So I placed my hand on the orb. A light blinked on in the orb. A voice rang out from the orb into the room loud enough for everyone to hear. It was the voice I heard in my head when the system talked to me.


    "This one shall not be allowed to choose a class, for he is destined for a specific one chosen by me, Alfinia, your goddess," the voice said.


    ''What are you doing?''


    [I''m designating your class]


    ''Don''t I get a choice?''


    [Not in this case]


    ''Ok. What''s my class then?''


    [You''ll be a Tomato Wizard]


    ''What the hell is a Tomato Wizard? That sounds dumb! Give me anything else but that!''


    [Ok, fine, but don''t come crying to me when it''s something you don''t like]


    "This one is destined to be¡­ an Evil Wizard. That is all." Alfinia''s voice said.


    ''What the fuck? Evil Wizard? Come on!''


    [I said don''t come crying to me]


    ''That''s ridiculous! You could''ve picked something normal! You chose not to!''


    [I assure you, your class was picked¡­ randomly]


    ''Yeah right! Don''t give me that bullshit!''


    [This discussion is over. Deal with the consequences]


    I looked around and realized everyone was staring at me, terrified. They kept muttering, "Evil Wizard," to each other.


    Somebody grabbed my wrist and said, "We''re going to have to let the authorities deal with you."


    Abigail kicked that person in the stomach, sending them flying. She grabbed my wrist and hurriedly pulled me out the door of the Adventurer''s Guild. She dragged me down the street and through the first gate to the lower city.


    That was when sirens started going off. Loud sirens blared throughout the kingdom and the voice of the king boomed out over the land saying, "A man who goes by the name Tom Ketchup has kidnapped my daughter! He is an evil wizard! Find them and bring them both to me, alive!"


    Abigail kept taking me deeper and deeper into the lower city until we went down a flight of stairs, and we entered a large cavernous area that seemed to exist underneath the lower city. It was dark and dank and massive.


    Still, it had buildings streets, and lights. It was a fully functional part of the city. It just seemed like a place for the poorest of the poor. For the disadvantaged.


    "Where are we?" I said.


    "The undercity! This is the only place that won''t try to turn you into the authorities. They hate the authorities of the above world. My father''s men rarely come down here. It''s too dangerous," she said.


    "And you thought it was a good idea for us to come down here?" I said.


    "We don''t have any other choice if you want to stay free and not in a dungeon, or worse, executed," she said.


    "That makes sense. Where are we going?" I said as I continued to follow her down this seemingly endless flight of stairs.


    "Where everyone goes when they first come to the undercity. Sally''s," she said.


    "Sally''s? Is that a bar?" I said.


    "I don''t know! People just always said that''s where you go when you''re in trouble," she said.


    "Wait, why are you helping me? Shouldn''t you be going back to your father and trembling in fear of my evil wizardry?" I said. I raised my hands and wiggled my fingers like an evil wizard.


    "You''re not evil, Tom. Maybe a little self-absorbed, but not evil," she said.


    "Is that the only reason you''re helping me?" I said.


    "No. You also saved my life, and I kind of like you. I don''t want to abandon you to die in a dungeon," she said.


    A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    "Ok. Thanks," I said.


    We made our way down to the street of the undercity and walked with purpose. We didn''t want anyone to see our upper city clothing and think we were prey.


    Sally''s had a large arcane neon sign over the door and a doorman. The doorman took one look at us and said, "You guys in some kind of trouble or something? That''s the only reason upper city people ever come down here. That or they''re looking for someone."


    "Yeah. At least I''m in trouble. Is that a problem?" I said.


    "No. I just wanted to make sure you weren''t looking for someone. We don''t support upper city folk looking for people down here. If someone comes down here, they don''t want to be found," he said. "Now get inside before I lose my voice. Talk to Sally. She might be able to help."


    "Thank you, sir," I said.


    "Don''t call me, sir! That''s my husband''s name!" He cackled at that so hard, I couldn''t tell if he was joking.


    Abigail and I walked up to the bar where a tall voluptuous woman was bartending. We both assumed this was Sally.


    "Are you Sally?" I said. "We were told to talk to her."


    "Oh, heavens no my dear child. Sally is in the back. I''ll get her," she said and walked through a door behind the bar.


    An older, but not old, dwarf woman sauntered through the door the woman left through. She was curvy and attractive with an eye patch and long braided hair.


    "What kind of trouble might you two be in?" She said, smiling at us.


    "I''m an evil wizard, apparently," I said. "Or at least that''s my adventurer class determined by the orb at the Adventurer''s Guild."


    "That''s probably one of the strangest things I''ve ever heard, but it hardly seems like something you''d get in trouble over. They had to know you weren''t actually evil right? Isn''t it just an adventurer classification?" She said.


    "That''s what you''d think, but they tried to take me into custody. She helped me escape. And now the king says I kidnapped her," I said, pointing at Abigail.


    "Oh, dear. Why is the king involved in this?" She said.


    "Well," I said leaning in and whispering, "she''s the princess."


    "Oh! That''d do it! Yeah!" Sally said. "So what are you two planning to do now?"


    "What kind of job can I work that makes a lot of money, but has a low skill and educational barrier?" I said.


    "Either mercenary work or adventuring. Those are the only two jobs that fit that description. But since adventuring is out, that just leaves mercenary work. You ready to be a mercenary, kid?" She said, grinning.


    "I''m not a kid! I''m 21!" I said.


    "Like I said. You''re a kid," she said. "If you want to do mercenary work, I know guy who knows a guy who knows another guy who knows another guy who can get you a job."


    "I want to do mercenary work too!" Abigail said. "Why do men always get to have all the fun." She crossed her arms and pouted.


    "Do you have any fighting skills? Or are you strong and can carry a lot of stuff?" She said.


    "I''m not strong, and I don''t what skills I have available to me either. I was never allowed to choose a class," she said.


    "Oh, really? I might have one of those stupid orb things floating around somewhere in my attic. We could find out what class you are," she said.


    "Yeah! Let''s do that!" Abigail said.


    "Ok. Come with me, you two. Just come around the side of the bar. I''ll let you in," she said.


    We walked around the side of the bar, Sally let us in, and we followed her upstairs to her attic.


    When we got up to her attic, I realized Abigail and I were going to have to crawl to get inside, but Sally could walk in just fine due to her shorter stature as a dwarf.


    [You have leveled up! You are now level 1!]


    [Choose your subclass]


    [Shadow Mage]


    [Bone Mage]


    [Void Mage]


    [Ruin Mage]


    [Blood Mage]


    [Click for More]


    I looked through what each class did, then I took a peek at the other classes and what they did. Bone Mage was my favorite out of all of them. It had offensive, defensive, control, support, summons. It had everything!


    Blood Mage had a similar skill set, but blood mages were so overdone. No thanks.


    ''I choose Bone Mage.''


    [Subclass assigned]


    [You have gained the skill''s Bone Spike, Bone Sense, and Bone Armor]


    "Found it!" Sally said after rummaging through several piles of stuff.


    She pulled out a glass orb the size of her head and placed it on the ground. "Place your hand on it, girlie," she said to Abigail.


    Abigail placed her hand on the orb and it lit up. The system''s voice said, "Another destined one, and soon after the other. This one''s class is Good Witch. Her potential is SS-Tier, Intelligence primary."


    "Very nice," Sally said. "I''ve never heard of a Good Witch before but it sounds, well¡­ good."


    "That is awesome Abigail! And SS-Tier! That''s like really good right?" I said. A lot of fantasy books I''ve read said SSS-Tier is the highest tier, so if this followed that logic, then it was very good.


    "Yes! SS-Tier is just one below the top tier, SSS-Tier!" Abigail said and squealed.


    "Actually, I never got to hear what my potential was since everyone in the guild freaked out over my evil wizard status," I said. I put my hand on the orb.


    The voice of Alfinia or the system or whoever she was, said, "Oh, it''s you again. We already know you''re an evil wizard, blah blah blah, whatever. However, your potential is N-Tier, Intelligence primary."


    "N-Tier? What''s that?" I said, out loud.


    ''What is N-Tier?''


    [N-Tier is above SSS-Tier. It is ten times as powerful as SSS-Tier. Technically, I just made it up so I could have something to categorize your overwhelming magical potential]


    ''Does the N stand for something?''


    [Nightmare]


    ''Oh cool.''


    "I''ve never heard of N-Tier. Could that be below F-Tier? Or above SSS-Tier? But nothing is below F-Tier. You just don''t get categorized. And nothing is above SSS-Tier, because there''s no one that strong," Abigail said.


    "It''s above SSS-Tier," I said.


    "Above SSS-Tier? That''s unheard of. Like I''ve never heard of it before. If your potential is that high, you could do great things or terrible things, depending on where you lean on the morality scale. I''ve heard of an SSS-Tier battlemage who could level mountains," Sally said.


    "With enough time, you could not only overthrow the king of this kingdom, but every kingdom. By the time you finish your first dungeon, you''ll be as strong as an experienced C-rank adventurer. By the time you finish your second dungeon, you''ll be able to crush C-rank adventurers under your foot."


    "Whoa whoa whoa! I don''t plan to overthrow any kingdoms or rule over other people by force. I just want to eliminate evil from the world," I said.


    "Normally I''d say good luck with that, knowing the person will never achieve their goal. But with your potential, you just might do it," she said.


    "That''s good news," I said.


    "Since we''re all squared away on the classes and whatnot, do you want to see where you''ll be staying for the night? Your mercenary jobs start bright and early, so I''d suggest you go to bed soon," Sally said.


    "Sure," I said.


    We all got out of the small attic and followed Sally up a narrow flight of stairs to the second floor. She showed us to the second room on the right. It had a single bed that was designed for one person to sleep in.


    "I guess I get the floor," I said.


    "What do you mean?" Abigail said. "You''re staying in the bed, with me. We can cuddle so we don''t fall off."


    "Oh. Ok," I said, as I got into bed with her. I was the big spoon and she was the little spoon. I wasn''t used to this sort of treatment from women. Women didn''t hate me, but they didn''t like me either.


    I could be friends with a woman, but it never went further than that. Yet, here was a literal princess, who wanted me to hold her until we fell asleep. And it happened normally. No mind tricks or weird charm powers.


    Huh. I didn''t know what to attribute the change to, but it was probably to do with how I was finally taking control of my life, standing up for what I believed in, and the fact that I saved her life earlier today. And I didn''t act like a complete weirdo.


    I let myself relax to the sound of her breathing, and before I knew it, it was morning. When I stood up from the bed, I felt taller somehow. My visual perspective and angle to the floor had changed. And I had gained muscle too.


    I had legitimate muscle definition and tone. I wasn''t jacked, but I looked athletic or like I worked out. To my knowledge, I didn''t, considering I was born as a full-grown male in the middle of a street yesterday and hadn''t hit the gym yet.


    It had to be that Experience Plunder ability. I didn''t realize it would work this fast. And I also didn''t think it would make me taller. Huh. It was kind of nice.


    I''d have to make sure it didn''t get out of hand, but for now, it was fine. I knew I could set a limit on my height, but I didn''t know what limit to set.


    Right now it was just an extra inch. How much damage could one more day do? So I just let it be for now. I will figure that out later.


    When I got back to the room, Her Royal Highness was sitting on the edge of the bed. When she saw me her face lit up. Like I was her favorite person in the world.


    Then she got a confused look on her face. "Did you get taller? And why is your hair so much longer than it was yesterday?"


    "Yeah, I did. It''s this skill I have. It makes me grow faster. I just got it yesterday. I didn''t realize it would work this fast. Or that it would make me taller or my hair longer. I just thought it would make me more muscular," I said.


    "I kind of like your hair like that. And now that I think about it, you do look a little more muscular than yesterday. It looks good on you. You should keep it," she said.


    "Well, it''s not going away anytime soon. So you''re stuck with it," I said.


    "I''d be ok with being stuck with you. It''s weird. You have this dark aura about you, but you''re not mean or inconsiderate. I don''t understand it. But I don''t not like it," she said.


    "Oook," I said. "So should we go downstairs and try to find Sally?"


    "Sure," she said.

 Chapter 4: First Dungeon

    We found Sally downstairs making breakfast. She gave us something to eat and then sent us on our way to our mercenary jobs. It turns out we would be working together. As dungeon porters.


    Porters, if you don''t know, haul supplies into the dungeon and haul loot out of the dungeon. They aren''t supposed to do any fighting. Just carrying. That''s the job we were stuck with.


    It made sense though. We had no real monster-fighting experience unless you count the baker. We went into a dungeon that the mercenaries controlled.


    It was cleverly hidden out of sight by a wall that looked like a rock wall, but it could be opened and closed. This dungeon, like most, but not all dungeons in this world, had a respawn rate.


    The respawn rate of this dungeon was daily. So the mercenaries could come here every day, gain experience by killing all the enemies, and then loot the place.


    This dungeon was supposed to be an abandoned beast-infested crystal mine. So we would encounter all kinds of magical beasts until we either died or defeated the boss at the bottom of the dungeon.


    The entrance to the mine was well-lit and had a lot of crystals growing from the floor.


    Henry, the leader of the mercenaries, said, "Don''t pick up any of these crystals. They''re junk compared to the stuff we''ll find further in."


    We followed a path that seemed to be designed for us. Every so often there was a junction where tunnels branched off, but all of them except one were always collapsed, so we only had one way to go.


    After not too long, we ran into our first enemies, giant rats. Henry, Lloyd, and Stu were all warriors. They took the rats head-on and cut them down one by one while making sure to not let any past them so they couldn''t get to us.


    I wanted to fight so bad, but that wasn''t what we were being paid to do. But you never knew, in these kinds of situations, sometimes the porters end up having to fight, run, or die.


    I was hoping it would be the first one. After all the rats had been dispatched, we all cut the cores out of their bodies. They were quite small. About the size of a large marble.


    They glowed and radiated energy. "Don''t pop any of those cores. Those aren''t for us. Those are for paying customers, ok?" Henry said.


    "Yes, sir," I said, as I stuffed another core in one of my bags. I was carrying four mostly empty bags to fill with cores and loot. That extra muscle I gained overnight was going to be useful.


    As we walked one or two bats that had crystals growing on their bodies would attack us. Henry would slice them out of the air like they were annoying flies. Abigail and I used the knives that Henry had given us to remove the cores from the bats.


    We talked as we walked. Henry and Abigail switched off between explaining how the cores worked to me. Cores gave the person who absorbed them stats. Monster and beast cores added one of the four stats, strength, agility, stamina, and intelligence.


    It started with monster and beast cores which only gave one type of stat per core. The amount of stats per core went by size. Tiny cores, like from the bats and giant rats, gave 2 to 3 stat points. Small cores gave 4 to 5 stat points.


    Medium cores gave 6 to 7 stat points. Large cores gave 8 to 10 stat points. Huge cores, like from mini-bosses and bosses gave 11 to 50 stat points. Enemies would also sometimes drop loot, depending on the enemy and the dungeon.


    Stu and Lloyd who seemed to be good friends, were walking ahead of us and chatting about their families and kids. I didn''t use Soul Inquiry on any of the mercenaries because I just had a feeling they weren''t bad people. They might have committed a crime or three, but that didn''t make them evil.


    Once we got a certain way in, wolves appeared to block our way and try to take bites out of us. Henry ran up to join Lloyd and Stu who were in the lead. They took out the wolves as a team.


    Lloyd would injure one and Stu would finish it off, and vice versa. Henry was in a league of his own. He must have had a higher-tier potential than Lloyd and Stu because he was taking down wolves in a single strike every time.


    Once they were finished, we retrieved the cores and carried on. Henry told me that Lloyd and Stu were D-rank warriors and he was a C-rank warrior. You were ranked by your potential and not your current growth or ability, so things could get a little confusing.


    An inexperienced and low-stat A-rank adventurer could lose to an experienced C-rank adventurer who had popped more cores and built up his stats. For that reason, rank wasn''t as well regarded as reputation, but it still factored into what people thought you were capable of.Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    There just wasn''t a reliable way to rank people based on their current stats and experience. That said, the potential ranks weren''t useless. People with higher potential could absorb more stats from a core than low-potential people, so after a few dungeons, most people fell into a general range around their potential ranks.


    Lloyd, Stu, and Henry may have had a much lower potential than Abigail and I, but they were very experienced and had absorbed many cores. They were the real deal when it came to clearing dungeons of this danger rating.


    "This is a blue-rated dungeon, which means it can be completed by a party of 4 to 6 with a mixture of C and D rankings. We''re running with only three because we''re very experienced and we stop before the boss. We''d need a larger and higher ranked group to take down the boss without any casualties and in this business, like in most businesses, you can''t afford casualties," Henry said.


    "There are green, blue, yellow, orange, red, purple, and black dungeons to anyone''s knowledge, in increasing difficulty. I''ve heard rumors of rare different-colored dungeons, but if you ever come across one, I''d suggest you turn back. They''d likely be harder than black dungeons and black dungeons are only for S-ranks and above."


    Oh, right. Sally never told them our potential ranks, which might''ve saved our lives. You could get killed over a high potential from jealous and angry lower-ranked adventurers. You could even get killed by higher-ranked adventurers for that. They didn''t need the extra competition.


    "Thanks. We''ll keep that in mind," I said.


    "By the way, I''m curious, what potential rank are you two?" Henry asked.


    "F," I said.


    "D!" Abigail said nervously right after.


    Henry could tell Abigail was lying, but he couldn''t tell with me because of my ability, despite my poor acting. Henry looked at Abigail and said, "You don''t have to worry about me. I wouldn''t gut you for having a high potential, but saying low is a good instinct. There are some pretty nasty people out there."


    "Thanks," Abigail said.


    Crystals on the walls and floor glowed as we made our way through the tunnels. At this level, there were multiple paths and only a few of them got you where you wanted to go. We had to turn back a few times because we had walked into dead ends.


    I asked Henry why they didn''t have the way memorized and he said it was because the path changed every time the dungeon respawned. We kept walking until a massive club came down, crushing Lloyd who didn''t see it coming. A troll stepped out from behind a wall.


    The troll lifted its club off the crushed body of Lloyd. I thought they had really high stats. What happened? Stu rushed to Lloyd''s side, but the troll stepped on Lloyd and tried to smash Stu. So Stu had to retreat.


    "Can I fight?" I yelled to Henry.


    "No!" Henry yelled. "Just stay back!"


    Stu and Henry tried to fight the troll but their attacks barely hurt it. They just weren''t strong enough. The only chance we had was my automatic crit ability.


    The troll slammed its foot on the ground, shaking it, and knocking Henry and Stu onto their backs. The troll pulled back its club to smash Henry and I couldn''t just stand back and watch anymore.


    I put my hand out and formed a bone spike in the air. I aimed it at the troll''s head and fired it.


    [Auto Crit on Evil activated]


    The bone spike redirected slightly in midair and plunged into the troll''s eye and its brain. The troll kind of just stood there dying, but its club arm came down anyway.


    Just as the club was about to pulverize Henry, a large bubble came out of nowhere and attached itself around part of the club. When the club impacted against Henry, the bubble made it just bounce off and fall to the side.


    The troll fell forwards finally and Henry scrambled out of the way of its body. I looked back at Abigail and she was holding her hands out. She had sent the bubble. I guess her magical power was bubbles?


    Did that make her a bubble witch? Whatever she was, she had saved Henry''s life. I grabbed her and went to hug her, but she went for a kiss so we kind of just smacked faces together.


    Then I realized what she was trying to do and I kissed her back. Then I remembered Lloyd and broke the kiss. I looked back and ran over to where Lloyd was lying.


    Stu and Henry were already standing there, looking down. I wondered why they weren''t doing anything until I saw his body. Yeah, there was nothing they could do for him because he was already dead.


    "What the hell, happened?" I said. "I thought this part of the dungeon was supposed to be safe?"


    "Yeah, that troll wasn''t supposed to be so far up in the dungeon. Trolls aren''t supposed to show up until near the bottom," Henry said.


    "Yeah, but I thought you guys could make it to the bottom! Just not the boss room," I said.


    "That may have been a little exaggerated," Stu said glaring at Henry. "We go to the floor before the floor that''s before the boss, grab all the crystals we can, and then high tail it out of here."


    "How did you kill that troll? That was pinpoint precision. That''s impossible for a new guy. Have you really never been in a dungeon before?" Henry said to me.


    "Yes," I said.


    "You going to say anything more than ''yes''?" Henry said.


    "No," I said.


    "Ok!" Henry said. "What about you young lady? How did you do that bubble thing?"


    "Instinct," Abigail said. "It''s my only spell so I used it."


    "Makes sense to me," I said.


    "Ok, well, apparently we have two dungeon geniuses on our hands! Let''s take Lloyd''s body and get out of here! The dungeon run is over!" Henry said.


    "No! Shouldn''t Lloyd''s family get compensation for his death?" I said.


    "They should, but they won''t," Stu said.


    "Why not?" I said.


    "The company doesn''t insure deaths. It''s called assumed risk. The employee takes responsibility for the risk inherent in the job. Meaning, it''s your fault if you die. Not the company''s," Henry said.


    "That''s bullshit," I said. "His family should get something as compensation."


    "The company won''t do it," Henry said.


    "What if I do it?" I said.


    "What if you do what?" He said.


    "What if I compensate his family? The company can''t prevent that, right?" I said.


    "No, but where would you get the money for that? You''re a dungeon porter because you have no money," Henry said. "That''s why anyone is a dungeon porter."


    "You said, this dungeon run is a wash, right? If you bring Lloyd''s body back, the company will accept the loss, right?" I said.


    "Uh, yeah. What''s your point?" Henry said.


    "Well, then the company can''t take any of the loot I bring back if Abigail and I complete the dungeon ourselves," I said. "As long as you tell the company the whole thing was a wash, they won''t know or suspect we kept any loot to ourselves."


    "You''ll never get out of there alive, but if by some miracle, you do, I will not tell the company and neither will Stu. Isn''t that right, Stu?" Henry said.


    "That''s right," Stu said.


    I activated Soul Inquiry.


    ''Are you telling the truth?'' I asked Henry''s soul.


    ''Yes,'' it said.


    ''Are you telling the truth?'' I asked Stu''s soul.


    ''Yes,'' it said.


    ''Will you deliver the loot to Lloyd''s family if I give it to you?'' I said to Henry''s soul again.


    ''Yes, but I''ll pocket a couple of the crystals. I have a family to feed too you know?'' Henry''s soul said.


    ''That''s fine,'' I said.


    "Ok, then leave the dungeon and wait at the entrance for however long you think it would take for us to complete it and come back. Maybe two hours?" I said.


    "Sure, but when you don''t show up after two hours, you''re on your own, even if you''re somehow still alive," he said.


    "Ok," I said. I turned and started to walk away. "Abigail. Let''s go."


    "Wait!" Henry said.


    "What?" I said.


    "There should be a platform at the bottom that will send you back to the entrance after you kill the boss," Henry said. "Good luck."


    "Thanks," I said and started walking farther down into the mine with Abigail trailing behind me.


    It was only a few minutes before another troll showed up, but at least this one announced its presence with a roar.

 Chapter 5: Family Compensation Plan

    I shot a bone spike vaguely in the direction of the troll getting ready to attack us and my crit skill activated. The spike redirected and shot into the troll''s heart. It fell over dead.


    I opened the pack I was carrying. Henry wouldn''t know or care that I used the cores we gathered before I went further into the dungeon. I looked for an intelligence stat one. Intelligence cores were yellow. A couple of the tiny ones were yellow.


    I looked at one and thought about inspecting it. Information was pulled up about it.


    [Intelligence core (Tiny)]


    [Core Value: +3 Intelligence]


    Now, I remembered Henry saying something about how cores gave different ranked people a different amount of their base value. It went like this:


    [F-Rank: 0.5x core value]


    [D-Rank: 0.8x core value]


    [C-Rank: 1x core value]


    [B-Rank: 1.2x core value]


    [A-Rank: 1.5x core value]


    [S-Rank: 2x core value]


    [SS-Rank: 3x core value]


    [SSS-Rank: 5x core value]


    I didn''t know how many times the base stats N-Tier potential would give me, but I knew it was more than 5 times. I squeezed the core slightly in my hand and focused on absorbing its stats.


    The core popped and the yellow light flowed into my hand and up my arm.


    [You have absorbed a +3 Intelligence core. N-Tier 10x multiplier applied. +30 Intelligence (130)]


    Nice. With this level of absorption, I could level up my stats incredibly fast with very few cores. I was going to absorb all of them and get as strong as I could. Well, I was going to absorb half of them. Abigail deserved half of them as well.


    I took a large-sized core that Abigail gathered from the first troll. It was red. That meant strength. I tried to absorb it and it popped.


    [+10 Strength core (large). Non-Primary Stat. 10% absorption. N-tier absorption bonus: 10x. 100% absorption. You have gained 10 strength (130)]


    ''I appreciate all that information, but could we summarize it next time?''


    [Yes]


    ''Thanks.''


    "Abigail. You should absorb all the cores in your bag. I''ll absorb all the cores in mine. Then we can continue on," I said.


    "Ok, Tom," she said. She started absorbing the cores in her bag.


    I dug the core out of the troll I''d just killed and threw it to Abigail since I took the first troll core. There was an even amount of strength, agility, stamina, and intelligence cores. Altogether I gained 10 more strength (140), 25 agility (145), 22 Stamina (142), and 200 intelligence, including the first core I popped (300).


    I could feel the enhanced stats. Even the increased magical power and mana supply due to my higher intelligence. Intelligence dictated your maximum mana pool and the power of your spells.


    Your potential dictated how much of a core''s stats you absorbed and how quickly you mastered new skills/spells in your primary stat. Abigail''s and my primary stat was intelligence, but a warrior''s would be strength and a rogue''s would be agility.


    Your potential also dictated how quickly you gained experience and leveled up. Experience gained worked on the same scale as core absorption rates according to rank potential.


    Everyone could only absorb 10% of a core''s value in their non-primary stats, which then got multiplied by their rank absorption rate. So instead of getting 10 times the stats from non-intelligence cores, I only got a measly 100% of their stats.


    Normally, because of this -90% core absorption penalty, most adventurers had to train their non-primary stats, through either weight lifting for strength, agility training for agility, cardio for stamina, or learning for intelligence. You could learn anything as long as it was challenging and expanded your mind.


    But with my ridiculously high core absorption rate multiplier, I could bypass the need for training. And then I got to take 10% of the stats gained from training from everyone within a mile radius with Experience Plunder.


    I was going to be dangerous as hell, very quickly. And so was Abigail. A 3x core absorption multiplier is nothing to laugh at either.


    We started picking up crystals as we came across them. There was a lot to pick up. My strength was reasonably enhanced by this point so I would be able to manage all four bags I''d come with but Abigail was using a different method.


    With her now core enhanced intelligence, her bubbles could hold significant amounts of weight and stay floating. And she could put her hands through the surface of the bubble and place things inside it.


    So she had a decent sized bubble that she was just filling with crystals of all colors and shapes and sizes. I''m sure part of this dungeon''s challenge was to discern the valuable crystals from the non valuable ones and only take those, to prevent yourself from becoming overloaded.


    If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    But that wasn''t a problem for us. We were just stashing everything we saw. The only things that were far too large to take with us were the massive clubs the trolls used as weapons.


    We came to a flooded area that had giant spiders with crystals attached to them on the other side. Instead of wading or swimming through that and then getting attacked on the other side, I figured I''d see how much my bone spike ability had improved.


    When I summoned a spike it was 3 times the size of the original and when I fired it, it fired 3 times as fast, which was really fast. These spiders weren''t evil, so I didn''t get auto crits on them.


    I just kept firing large spikes into their bodies until they died. You''d think they''d run away after getting attacked, they acted a lot like video game enemies. They just got mad and tried to find a way around the water.


    Which, you''d think they''d crawl on the ceiling, but for whatever reason they didn''t.


    "Do you have anything for this? Cuz I don''t," I said to Abigail.


    "I might be able to do something," she said.


    She started shooting out bubbles at the water. They landed on the water and semi merged with it, but didn''t pop. She kept doing it until there was a thick multi bubble layer of bubbles floating on the water.


    She put her foot on one of the bubbles to test it, and it held. She carefully walked across to the other side. It looked like the bubbles were going to pop any second, but I kept reminding myself they weren''t regular bubbles. They were magic bubbles. Magic bubbles could do whatever they wanted to do.


    I carefully walked across to the other side. I remembered that I didn''t just have the bone spike ability. I had two others that I hadn''t used yet, which I probably should have.


    One was Bone Sense, which allowed me to sense bones. That would have been really helpful against the troll, Tom! You idiot! The other was bone armor, which let me create a suit of bone armor around myself.


    Because bone was relatively light, it still counted as light armor even though it was full coverage. I just didn''t make a helmet, because I wanted to see.


    Once I had finished creating my bone armor, which looked really cool as it formed, I activated Bone Sense. I noticed there were several bones over the ridge of the tunnel.


    I warned Abigail about the bones, and we stepped over the ridge. There was a group of bears with crystals on them at the bottom of a decline. They immediately noticed us and began running at us, roaring.


    I summoned my bone spikes and kept shooting the one in front, but the bastard wouldn''t go down. It got within 20 feet of us and then Abigail shot a bubble at it.


    This was different than her protective bubbles. It shot out fast and hit the bear in the face, even knocking it back a few feet. The bear shook its head and roared as the other bears ran around it toward us.


    Abigail shot 4 more bubbles of the same kind and knocked those bears back too. She kept firing and firing, keeping the bears at bay, until I realized I should be fighting too.


    I shot dozens of bone spikes deep into the bear''s hides until they were soaked in blood. After a good few minutes of continuous barrage, we finished off the bears.


    "Good job!" I said.


    "You too!" she said jumping up and down. "Can we kiss again, because I kind of liked that."


    "Yeah. We can," I said. Now that we were out of the life-threatening situation, I realized I was nervous about kissing a girl. I hadn''t really thought about it before but now I was.


    I steeled my nerves, leaned in, and kissed her again. It was simple and nice. She had really soft lips.


    [You have leveled up! You are now level 2!]


    [Oh and you defeated evil again! Rewards incoming]


    [Calculating rewards]


    ''Did you forget that I defeated evil?''


    [No. My response was just delayed]


    ''Isn''t that just another way of saying you forgot?''


    [Nope. No, it isn''t]


    ''You seem less and less like a system and more and more like a person the more we interact.''


    [Would that be a problem?]


    ''Not necessarily. I don''t know. I''ll have to get back to you on that.''


    [You do that]


    [Your rewards have been calculated]


    [You have reached Level 2]


    [You have gained a new ability: Weapon Formation]


    [Weapon Formation: Can form basic weapons out of bones, such as crude hammers, daggers, and spears]


    [Bone Spike ability upgraded. You can now form and launch up to 3 spikes at a time]


    ''Nice. Thanks.''


    [I''m not done! You have defeated two minor evils. For that you get to choose two minor abilities]


    [Happiness Giver: People will temporarily become 10% happier a minute after they finish interacting with you for the first time. They will have no idea you were the cause of their happiness]


    or


    [Happiness Beneficiary: You will temporarily become 10% happier every time you interact with a new person]


    or


    [Happy Meetings: You and the other person will both temporarily become 5% happier every time you interact with a new person]


    This one was easy for multiple reasons. I knew which one I could get good karma or whatever for choosing, and I didn''t like the idea of my emotions being manipulated every time I met a new person.


    ''I choose Happiness Giver.''


    [Granted. -5 Dark Aura (35)]


    [Next reward choice]


    [Multiplied Generosity: When you gift someone money for the first time, they receive 3 times the amount you gifted them]


    or


    [Greedy Recipient: When someone gifts you money for the first time, you receive 3 times the amount]


    or


    [Improved Commerce: Goods and services are 5% cheaper]


    Since I''m literally doing so I can gift Lloyd''s family, money, the obvious choice here is the one that will multiply that gift by 3.


    ''I choose Multiplied Generosity.''


    [Granted. -5 Dark Aura (30)]


    ''Thanks.''


    I remembered we hadn''t dug the cores out of the spiders. We dug the cores out of the bears first and went back for the spiders. We needed as many stats as we could get if we were going to defeat the boss.


    I divided the cores up between the two of us and we popped them. I got 20 strength (160), 10 agility (155), and 100 intelligence (400). My intelligence was shooting up! I had confidence that once we made it to the bottom, I''d be able to blow away whatever the boss was.


    There were more crystals to collect around us so we did that before moving on. The crystals were glowing brighter as we got further down in the mine and they started looking clearer too. Less cloudiness in the body of the crystal.


    [Amplification crystal: Rare quality]


    Interesting. I wondered how it worked. Maybe it worked like the cores. I squeezed it with the intent to absorb it and it popped just like the crystals.


    [Magic Amplification: 1.2x]


    Nice. Good to know. I would have to save a few for the boss battle. The ones down below probably had better amplification values, because the areas were more dangerous. So I waited until I picked up the ones right before the boss.


    I picked up a yellow crystal and the system said:


    [Speed Crystal: Uncommon]


    The speed crystals must have been more powerful than the amplification crystals. That''s why it had lower quality. After that, I found some crystals that had no classification at all.


    [Crystal: Rare]


    We came to a point where the mine cart track was collapsed over and the only way down was a ladder leading down a dark hole.


    "Hey, Abby. By any chance, do your bubbles give off light?" I said.


    "I don''t know. Let''s see," Abby said. She shot several bubbles down the hole into the dark and they lit up the tunnel down some. "Huh. I guess they do."


    "Nice," I said. "Let''s go down."


    We climbed down the ladder to the level below. We came out into a brightly lit natural cave filled with luminescent crystals. They were all different colors.


    I went to grab a pretty big one when a huge chunk of the crystals moved and stood up, revealing that it was a crystal golem. Sharp objects like my spikes weren''t going to do anything to this guy. They would just glance off his hard angular body.


    Then another golem stood up out of the crystals and another. Once they were done introducing themselves as enemies, there were 6 of them. I had to think of something fast.


    Nothing sharp would work. If that was the case, then should make something that''s not sharp. I could form crude weapons now, so I formed a large basic club and swung it at this dude''s leg.


    It cracked. Good. That was progress. Now I just needed to hit that spot again. The golem didn''t just stand there though. He lifted both fists and went to slam them down on me.


    A large bubble went over each fist and they bounced off me. There was still a decent amount of force to them, but it was significantly reduced.


    "Thanks, Abby," I said.


    "You''re welcome," she said.


    With his fists dealt with, I swung at the golem''s leg again. It shattered and he fell over with a loud thud. He tried getting up, but he couldn''t. He was too heavy and awkwardly built.


    So I ran up to his head and swung the club down on it. It cracked, so I swung again. It cracked more, so I swung again. It shattered to pieces and the golem''s crystals went dim and still.


    I had defeated one of them! Now just 5 more to go. I looked back to see Abby barely fending off the crystal golems. She kept knocking them on their asses with her combat bubbles. The bubbles weren''t hard enough to cause any damage though.


    I rushed up and used the same strategy as before but this time, I wanted to ground all 5 of the remaining golems before going for the kill shot. I shattered their legs to pieces with my club while dodging and running in between their slow moving legs.


    Once they were on the ground, I smashed their heads in. I wiped the sweat off my forehead and sighed in relief. There were no more enemies in this room. We spent some time collecting the rarest and highest quality looking crystals.


    [You have leveled up! You are now level 3]


    [Your Bone Armor is now self repairing!]


    [Your Bone Sense''s range has doubled!]


    ''Nice.''


    We also made sure to get the crystal golems'' cores. It was exhausting work smashing through their chests but it would probably be well worth it. The cores we pulled out of them were huge.


    When I popped mine, they were all stamina cores. I got 42 stamina (184) all in all. After Abby popped her cores, and we''d collected all the valuable looking crystals, we walked down a long cave tunnel with mine carts and mining tools pushed to the sides of the tunnel.


    There was a loud clank as I stepped on something hard. I heard a crunch sound and looked down at the massive bear trap that was clamped around my leg all the way up to the thigh.


    "Tom!" Abby said.


    "Don''t worry! I''m fine! My armor stopped it," I said.


    My bone armor had stopped the bear trap from slicing into me. I pried the bear trap open slipped my leg out and let it slam shut again. I looked at my leg and saw the chipped areas on the bone armor heal over.


    That was close. Now we just needed to navigate around all the other bear traps laid all over the floor of this cave tunnel going forward as far as I could see.

 Chapter 6: Carl and Commitment

    Using the bear traps as practice targets for my bone spikes, I activated all the traps down the long tunnel. Once activated and closed, the traps were easy to walk around.


    As we were walking, the earth shook and quaked for a moment. Once it had settled, we continued on. We came out into a wide-open mining area. There was a mine cart full of crystals.


    There was even someone still mining. He was muttering to himself and with his back turned to us as he continued to pick away at a wall of crystals with his pickaxe.


    There were dead miners all around him with puncture wounds in their chests. He had clearly killed them for some unknown reason.


    "I''m not crazy!" He said. "Your mom is crazy! She''s so crazy, she drinks tea on a Tuesday! Who does that?"


    Instead of doing the dumb thing and calling out to this clearly insane man who doesn''t believe in drinking tea on Tuesdays, I summoned three bone spikes and shot them at his back.


    They stuck into him pretty deep but he seemed unfazed. He turned around and I could see crystals growing all over his face and the front of his body. He had a bunch of those yellow speed crystals and purple amplification crystals growing on him.


    One moment he was across the room and the next, he was standing right in front of me. He pulled his pickaxe back and Abby and I dove out of the way. He brought the pickaxe down and when it hit the ground, a purple beam shot out of it in front of him, blasting a chunk out of a wall.


    [You have discovered the Mini-Boss "Corrupted Miner Carl"]


    His health bar shot across the bottom of my vision. I got up and began shooting spikes at him in threes. His health bar was slowly getting chipped away, but it wasn''t fast enough.


    He shot across the room again activating the speed crystals on his body and slammed the pickaxe down in front of me. A purple beam came out and slammed into me, sending me flying across the room into a wall. The front of my bone armor cracked and broke and then reformed.


    ''How am I not critting on this guy? How is he not evil?''


    [He isn''t evil. He''s crazy. There''s a difference]


    ''Great.''


    Carl was pulling back his pickaxe to attack me again when a bubble went over his head. It shrunk to the size of his head, and he began to struggle to breathe.


    I saw his health bar dropping but it was still quite slow, so I walked up to Carl who was just suffocating, and continuously fired spikes into his face over and over until he died.


    That was the annoying thing about mini-bosses and bosses. You couldn''t one-shot them. You had to whittle down their health to nothing.


    "Thanks, Abby," I said.


    "You''re welcome," she said.


    [You have leveled up! You are level 4!]


    [You have gained the ability Giant Spike!]


    [Giant Spike: It''s a giant spike obviously, but it''s also armor piercing]


    [You have also gained the ability Bone Arsenal!]


    [Bone Arsenal: Allows you to make high quality versions of any known melee weapon. You can reshape the weapon in your hand for quick switching between weapon types]


    We looked around the area before moving on. Despite being crazy, Carl had mined the crap out of this area and there were a lot of valuable crystals to be had. I stuffed my packs with crystals and Abigail continued to load up her now giant bubble full of crystals.


    Carl wouldn''t have a core inside him, even if I had the stomach to cut him open. Which currently, I didn''t. Henry said that only monsters, beasts, and other such creatures had cores. Humans did not. Even if they were in dungeons.


    Once we were satisfied, we made our way down a mined tunnel this time that opened up into a massive cavern full of crystals all over the walls. There was a giant mound of crystals in the center of the room that was rising up and down. It appeared to be breathing.


    Once we got a certain distance into the room, the crystal mound woke up and revealed itself to be a giant wolf infested with crystal growths all over its body. It howled loudly and its HP bar filled the lower part of my vision.


    [You have awakened the Boss, "Crystal Canine"]


    "Ok, here we go, I guess," I said.


    I summoned a giant spike above one of the canine''s front feet and slammed it down through its foot into the ground. I did the same to its other front foot, and then I did its back feet.This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work.


    It struggled to move but its feet were immobilized. That didn''t prevent it from trying to bite me. It was a massive creature and it took up a large portion of the cavern so it was able to get close to biting me at first.


    Bubbles got stuck in its open mouth and it couldn''t pop them. It shook its head to get the bubbles out, but by the time it had done that, I had already run to the other side of the room, behind it. Abigail ran with me.


    Now it had no way to get to us. So I shot giant spikes through its back legs and along the side of its body. Then I ripped them out one by one. Not because I was trying to be cruel. Just because I could only control one giant spike at a time.


    This opened huge holes in its body and it quickly bled out. It slowly lowered its body to the floor and died. No dramatic falling over onto us or anything. It physically couldn''t do that.


    [You have defeated the boss! Congratulations! Appropriate experience will be rewarded]


    ''That''s it? No treasure chest or rewards?''


    [Look around the room for appropriate looting opportunities]


    ''Right.''


    "Abby, you check over there, and I''ll check over here. There''s probably loot around somewhere," I said.


    "Ok," she said.


    [You have leveled up! You are now level 5!]


    [You have gained the ability Break Bones!]


    [Break Bones: The ability to fracture individual bones in a target''s body]


    [You have gained the ability Bone Platform!]


    [Bone Platform: Create a column of bone beneath your feet that you can grow taller and shorter and move around horizontally]


    Nice! These were some awesome abilities. I always wanted to be able to go places without having to move my legs. Also breaking bones, while limited, would be very useful.


    "I found it!" Abigail said.


    I rushed over to her to see what she found.


    I came over to where Abigail was staring at an open chest full of clearly magic crystals. They were obviously the most powerful things in this entire dungeon, because they had power just radiating off them.


    Sparks of different colored lightning arced back and forth across the trove and lights pulsed and glowed.


    "Holy shit!" I said. "I don''t know whether to take this or destroy it."


    "Why would we destroy it?" Abigail said.


    "You saw what these crystals did to that miner and the giant canine. I wonder what they would do to other people," I said.


    "Yeah, but this is a dungeon. Logic doesn''t always follow between enemies and rewards. The crystals might have no actual negative effects," she said.


    "Yeah, but how would we know for sure?" I said. "Wait, a second. I''m an evil wizard. Maybe there''s some kind of magic I can do to detect if they have negative effects."


    "Yeah, that''s a great idea. Do magic about it," she said.


    "Ok, here I go," I said. I put my hands out over the crystals like I was going to perform a spell, but then I just asked the system a question.


    ''Can you detect if these crystals have negative effects?''


    [Yes. They do, but it''s temporary. As long as you give proper recovery time between uses or after multiple uses, you will be fine]


    ''Ok. Give me exact figures. Explain it in numbers so I can understand it better.''


    [Ok. Common crystals give 0.1% corruption per use. Uncommon, 0.2%, rare, 0.3%, epic 0.5%, and legendary 1%. The average person, meaning someone with C-rank potential, can recover 1% corruption per day, but the corruption is cumulative. The higher your cumulative corruption, the more side effects you will have. When you reach 100% you lose control of your mind and become a mindless enemy NPC. Like Carl]


    ''I''m assuming that means the potential rank multiplier applies the same to corruption recovery as it does to core absorption?''


    [Yes. The N-rank potential multiplier of 10x applies the same to cores and corruption recovery. Meaning, an N-rank potential can recover 10% corruption per day]


    ''Ok, good. What are the side effects and when do they happen?''


    [25% corruption: Mild behavioral changes such as increased aggression, and reduced impulse control]


    [50% corruption: Moderate behavioral changes such as significantly increased aggression, violent tendencies, and periodic confusion. Mild physical changes such as increased muscle tension, muscle spasms, and twitching]


    [75% corruption: Severe behavioral and physical changes. Severe uncontrollable aggression, constant violence, and delirium. Crystal body growths, asymmetrical muscle growth, and dark bulging veins]


    [100% corruption: Full loss of control and personality wipe]


    ''Good to know. I''ll make sure to be careful about their use if I use them at all.''


    [While I''m not condoning their use, you''ll find that some of the crystals'' effects are almost too good to pass up. For example, the intelligence and learning boosting crystals allow a mage like you to perform magic at a significantly higher level and learn new magic at a much faster rate. If you are smart about it, you could walk away with no negative effects and significant developmental rewards]


    ''Thank you for the advice. I will take it into consideration. Can you tell me what rarity the crystals in the chest are?''


    [They are all of the rare quality]


    ''Only rare? Almost doesn''t seem worth the effort.''


    [Anything higher than rare quality would be a disproportionate reward. This was only a blue dungeon. There are still yellow, orange, red, purple, and black difficulty dungeons above that]


    ''With that many difficulty tiers, are there rewards above legendary?''


    [There are, but you aren''t supposed to know that yet. I will not explain or identify those higher rarities until you encounter them]


    ''Ok. Like a game.''


    [Like a game]


    ''Ok, I''m out. I''m going to talk to Abigail now.''


    [Affirmative]


    I told Abigail what I learned but said that I learned it through a magic detection spell rather than through my system. It was only logical to keep the system a secret, unless I absolutely had to reveal it for a very important reason, and only to someone I trusted with my life.


    "I think we should sell all the crystals except for the ones we think we really need. I only plan to keep intelligence and learning boosting crystals. I figure we could split those down the middle and then sell the rest since we''re both magic types. What do you think?" I said.


    "I don''t want any of the learning boosting crystals. I''ll take as many of the intelligence ones you''re willing to give up though," Abigail said.


    "Ok. How about you just take all the intelligence crystals and I''ll take all the learning ones," I said.


    "Ok! Sounds good to me!" She said.


    "Alright, let''s separate out all the intelligence and learning crystals and then put the rest into the chest," I said.


    "Deal. You''ll have to show me what the intelligence and learning crystals look like first though," she said.


    I showed Abby what the crystals looked like and then we separated them out. All the intelligence and learning crystals fit into one of the packs I was carrying. I gave her the intelligence pack and I took the learning pack.


    Then we poured all the common and uncommon crystals we had gathered on the way down the dungeon into the treasure chest, closed it, and put it in one of Abby''s carrying bubbles.


    I dug out the core of the Crystal Canine. "Who do you think should pop it?" I said. "The power hungry guy in me wants to take it myself, but if you really think you need it, I''ll give it to you."


    "What''s his name?" Abigail said, smiling and struggling not to giggle.


    "What''s whose name?" I said.


    "The guy who''s inside you. What''s his name?" Abigail said, bursting into laughter.


    "Haha, very funny," I said. "His name is Steve if you must know."


    "Ooo Steve. I like that name!" She said.


    "I''m glad you like Steve, but who is going to take this core?" I said.


    "You have higher potential, so you''ll get more out of it. And I like the idea of my man being stronger than me and protecting me, rather than the other way around," she said.


    "Oh, I''m your man now, am I?" I said, raising an eyebrow.


    "B-but, you kissed me. I kissed you. We kissed. Doesn''t that mean we''re together now?" She said.


    "Exclusively?" I said.


    "Well, yeah. Isn''t that how everyone gets together? Exclusively?" She said.


    "Not necessarily. I''ve never been in a relationship myself, but I''ve met people who have dated multiple people at the same time. I''m not saying that''s what I want or don''t want. I''m not sure what I want yet, and don''t want to jump into a commitment without thinking about it first," I said, holding my hands up.


    "Hmm. Well, with the knowledge that exclusive isn''t the only option, I don''t know which one I''d prefer. I just know I want to be with you and only you. Whether I want to prevent you from being with other people is something my mind hasn''t decided yet," she said.


    "Ok. Well, I''m happy to commit to being with you in an ambiguously non exclusive way. I like you," I said.


    "Good, because I like you too," she said.


    "Good. I''ll just pop this core real quick, and we can go find that teleportation platform, and meet up with Henry and Stu," I said.


    "Ok!" She said.


    I popped the huge red core in my hand.


    [You have absorbed a +25 Strength core. N-Tier 10x multiplier applied. +25 Strength (165)]


    We wandered around until we found the teleportation platform in the corner of the room behind some equipment and used it. We appeared about 20 feet away from the dungeon entrance. Henry and Stu were waiting for us.

 Chapter 7: Cashing In

    Abigail and I appeared outside the dungeon, about 20 feet from the entrance. Henry and Stu were waiting outside, but as soon as they saw us, their faces widened in shock.


    "Holy shit. You actually did it? You actually defeat the dungeon boss? Or did you just run past it to the teleporter?" Henry said.


    "Can you actually do that? Wouldn''t the teleporter not work until the boss is dead?" I said.


    "Kid, how would I know? I''ve never completed a dungeon. This is the only dungeon I''ve ever run and most of them ended in me running away from an enemy I didn''t think I could beat," he said.


    "That''s fair I suppose. I have to ask though, what happened with Lloyd? I''m not pointing any fingers or looking to blame anyone. I mean more like, how did he get one shot or two shot by that troll? I thought you guys would have decent stats," I said.


    "Kid, we''re strength primary C and D-rankers. We deal high damage, but our hp is shit, and we can''t dodge. We''re mainly good at smacking down slow enemies with low attack damage. Lloyd was a D-ranker so he couldn''t gain any stamina or agility stats from the cores we collected, not that we were allowed to absorb cores, except for the bare minimum required to do our jobs," he said.


    "My strength is 203 and Lloyd''s was probably somewhere between 150 and 160. Not that high, but keep in mind, that''s our best stat. You know stamina? The stat that gives you hp and durability? The only way any of us could increase our stamina is through training and we got none of that from the company."


    "I was just handed a sword on day one, given a handful of strength cores, and told to go fight. And none of us have time outside of work and taking care of our families to do training."


    "The only stamina stats I''ve gained are on the job just from swinging the sword so much. I''m looking at my stats now and it says my stamina is 106. Consider Lloyd''s was probably around 104 and there''s your answer. We basically all have day-one stamina stats. It''s a miracle we haven''t died already. We''re mercenaries. Our careers don''t last long and they usually end bloody."


    "When you put it like that, it makes total sense," I said. "I''m sorry for pushing you for an answer. I was just so shocked by Lloyd''s death. I thought you all were safe and we''d work together for a long time, and then one of you is just gone."


    "Hey kid, it''s alright. I get the instinct to search for answers. I also get not being used to seeing a friend die, even if you only knew them for a few hours. It''s something you learn to not look for solutions and just accept. And the deaths aren''t so bad after a while. You get used to it," he said.


    "That''s not right though. If the company had tried harder to keep you alive with training and better equipment, Lloyd might still be alive," I said.


    "It''s not right. But there''s nothing we can do about it. We''re at the bottom of the ladder and shit always falls down," Henry said, sighing and rubbing his neck.


    "Now, let''s go sell this loot so you don''t have to lug around all this extra weight. It would be better to give to Lloyd''s family in money form too. What are they gonna do with a bunch of crystals besides just selling them at the market themselves? And they''ll probably get a worse price since they aren''t mercenaries."


    "Sounds like a plan," I said. I was disappointed that things had to be this way, but as Henry said this may be the only option. I''d keep my mind open to other possibilities though.


    "Sounds fun! I''ve always wanted to know how the other half lived," Abigail said.


    "What, are you some rich kid turned bum? Why are you down here slumming it with the common folk?" Stu said.


    "I''m a¡ª" she started to say, but I covered her mouth.


    "She ran away from home," I said. "It would be a huge scandal for her family if anyone found out she was missing. That''s why she can''t tell you her family name. Right, Allison?"


    I turned to Abigail so only she could see my face, and I winked at her. Hard.


    "Is something in your eye, Tom?" Abigail said.


    "Allison, you know I don''t like being called that. Use my real name, Jarnathan," I said. Then I leaned in really close so I was whispering in Abigail''s ear. "We don''t want them to know who we really are. They might turn us in for a reward. And I wouldn''t blame them if they did."


    "Oh, yeah! Sorry, Jarnathan! I always forget you hated that nickname," she said.


    "Your name is Jarnathan?" Stu said. "What kind of name is that?"


    "It''s a new fancy upper city name. You probably wouldn''t have heard of it," I said.


    "Well, Jarnathan, we''re here. At the market. So keep your eyes peeled and don''t let anyone pick your pockets or steal your bags or coin purse. You''ll never get it back," Henry said.


    The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.


    "Good to know," I said. "Do you have control over that bubble?" I pointed at the large bubble containing and carrying the treasure chest full of crystals.


    "Yeah. I can prevent people from taking it," Abigail said.


    "Good. Put a bubble over your other stuff too, so people can''t take those either," I said, looking around.


    "Done!" She said.


    "Ok. We''re all set, Henry. Lead us to whoever is going to take these off our hands," I said.


    "Follow me," Henry said.


    We arrived at a very fancy-looking stall. At least fancy compared to all the other stalls in this marketplace. Maybe not upper-city fancy, but it was definitely lower-city fancy.


    It had all kinds of different trinkets, baubles, potions, and crystals displayed. There was only one version of each potion and crystal displayed, and they didn''t look very authentic. The only way I could tell what they were supposed to be was from the labels underneath and in front of them.


    I was wondering why he would put fake items on display when a kid rushed by and snatched a fake potion off his display. The man didn''t even react with a facial expression.


    He said nothing and just reached under the counter, pulled out an identical fake potion, and replaced the stolen one on the display. So that was why he didn''t have authentic merchandise out in the open.


    When he saw Henry, and the rest of us his face lit up, and he said, "Henry! Good to see you again my friend." His eyes fell onto the treasure chest.


    "You''re not selling scraps this time I see. I''m excited to see what you got. Good day, I assume." He looked at me and Abigail. "Welcome! My name is Bobbin, and this is my shop, Bobbin''s Baubles and More!"


    He had warm brown skin, striking white hair, and a jovial smile. He wore traditional merchant''s garb, and by that I mean he was dressed the same as any of the merchants in this square. I didn''t actually know what merchants normally dressed like here since I got here yesterday.


    "Nice to meet you, Bobbin. I''m Jarnathan, and this is Allison," I said.


    "Nice to meet you Jarnathan, but let the lady speak for herself," he said, looking Abigail up and down. I could tell he was interested in creating an excuse to stare at Abigail''s features, rather than anything to do with respecting women, but I let it slide.


    "It''s ok, Mr Bobbin, but as¡­ Jarnathan said, my name is Allison, and¡­ well, that''s all he said," Abigail said.


    "Marvelous to meet you, Allison," Bobbin said, while taking Abigail''s hand and kissing it.


    Allison pulled her hand back and giggled at that. I couldn''t tell if it was an actual giggle or a discomfort one. I know how I''d feel, but I didn''t want to assume her feelings.


    "Stu, good to see you as well," Bobbin nodded in Stu''s direction. "So, what do you have for me today?"


    Abigail set the chest on the counter of his stall. Bobbin carefully opened the chest and what he saw inside made his jaw drop wide open.


    Bobbin stared at the open chest full of crystals for longer than I expected him to. Finally, he said, "This is a dungeon reward chest. How did you get this?"


    "We completed the dungeon, Bobbin. How else would we get it?" Henry said.


    "Robbery is a possible option," he said.


    "If someone was strong enough to complete a dungeon, and we weren''t, how would we be strong enough to rob them?" I said.


    "I suppose that makes sense," Bobbin said. "Well, however you got it, I want it. I want it all."


    "How much will you give us for it?" Henry said. He looked at me and whispered, "Let me do the talking."


    "Sure," I said, fully intending to interrupt if I felt we were being shorted. How would I know if we were being shorted? Time to ask the system.


    ''System, do you know the value of the crystals in the chest? Including the extra ones we added to it?''


    [Yes. I was keeping track. The total value of the crystals you left in the chest, without including the crystals you kept, is 2,047 gold. This is the current wholesale market value. Selling each crystal individually would yield far greater profits. Bobbin should offer you at least 1,638 gold for the chest, which is 80% of its wholesale value. Anything less would be exploitative]


    Bobbin rubbed his chin thoughtfully, which to me meant he was calculating the most advantageous price for himself, that he thought we would accept.


    "I''ll give you 1,228 gold for the whole thing, including the chest," Bobbin said. He was as cool as could be. No nervousness about lowballing us. Like a true professional businessman. I hated it.


    He was offering us 60% of the true wholesale value of the chest. I waited for Henry to turn down the offer and argue for more.


    "Sounds good to me," Henry said. "That''s a lot of money. Right?" He looked at me trying to get me to agree.


    "No! You''re lowballing us! You and I both know those crystals are worth 2,047 gold without the chest. The chest could sell for 200 gold by itself. 2,047 gold and I''ll throw the chest in for free," I said.


    I was acting upset, which I was, but it was for show. I was more than willing to go lower than 2,047 gold. This was all part of the negotiation process, but I couldn''t let him know I knew that. He might try to leverage it against me.


    "1,433," he said. He upped it to exactly 70%. So this is how it was going to go. Well, two could play that game.


    "1,945," I said. I lowered it 95% to counter his 10% raise. I was showing him I meant business and put him at a disadvantage for having offered a 10% raise.


    Now I could continue to offer 5% lower every time, but he couldn''t do the same. The lowest he could offer me now was a 7% raise. Or so I thought. I was just going off of everything I''d learned from TV, movies, books, and games.


    I had never been in a real negotiation before. I liked it. It felt like my blood was on fire but in a good way.


    "1,586. No higher," he said, with his arms crossed.


    It didn''t show on his face but he was sweating. I don''t mean that as a figure of speech. Sweat was dripping down his face, and it wasn''t that hot out.


    A 7.5% raise. I''d counter with a 4% lowering. "1,863. No lower." I said. I was a little nervous, but I was also excited. This was the most fun I''d had in my previous life.


    "Ok. You''ve proven to be a shrewd negotiator. How about we meet in the middle, eh? 1,725," he said, with a fake smile on his face.


    He knew that the longer this negotiation went on, the worse it would get for him. This was an attempt to cut his losses.


    "Why don''t we make it easier? 1,800 even. That''s a nice round number, don''t you think?" I said.


    That was 87.9%, but I wasn''t doing it because of the exact percentage. I was doing it to socially engineer a little extra money out of him. I was doing all this math in my head.


    In my past life, I was a boring old accountant. The work was alright, but I craved more excitement. This was certainly more exciting.


    "1,750 and I''ll let you pick one item you see displayed here for free," he said, narrowing his eyes at me.


    "As long as we get a real item and not a fake display one, I''m willing to call that a deal," I said, letting a little bit of a smile make its way onto my face.


    I put my hand out to shake his hand to seal the deal. He took it and shook it. The deal was done. 1,750 gold and a free item it was. 85.5% and an item wasn''t a bad deal. It was more than I set out to make. I expected and was willing to accept 80% of the crystals only, and nothing more.


    Henry was staring at me like he didn''t know who I was. Which in all honesty, he didn''t.


    Henry leaned in and said, "I don''t know how you did that kid, but that was amazing. I''ve never seen anyone beat Bobbin at his own game. I usually just take whatever he gives me and run. Not worth the arguing, but boy am I glad you stepped in."


    "Think nothing of it," I said.


    ''System, what item should I pick?''


    [What you pick is up to you, but I will point out there are a couple of expensive potentially useful items like a compass, and a sundial watch]


    ''Hmm. Yeah, but can''t I just use you to tell where I''m going and the time?''


    [Yes. I hadn''t considered that]


    ''Yeah. I think I''ll go with a health potion. Seems the most useful to me right now.''


    [Very well]


    "I''ll take a health potion as my item," I said.


    Bobbin wiped his brow like he was glad I didn''t pick the compass or the watch. "One health potion. Here you go," he said. He put a red potion on the counter. I grabbed it and put it in my pack.


    ''System, is the health potion real?''


    [Yes]


    ''Thanks.''


    "Thank you. Now we''ll take our 1,750 gold and be on our way," I said.


    "I''ll get that ready for you," Bobbin said. He prepared several coin purses to carry the gold with. It came out to 10 equally sized and weighted purses. I stuffed them all in my pack.


    ''System?''


    [Yes, it''s the right amount of gold]


    ''Thanks.''


    "Pleasure doing business with you, Bobbin. Hope to see you again soon," I said, with a smile.


    "Not too soon I hope," Bobbin said, with a forced smile.


    We walked off out of the marketplace. "Henry, please lead us the Lloyd''s house. I don''t feel safe dividing up the gold until we''re in a secure location," I said, looking around.


    I had no idea how dangerous it was in this world, but it was definitely going to be more dangerous than where I lived before, and that place killed me.

 Chapter 8: Family and Fortunes

    When we made it to Lloyd''s house, Henry said to stand slightly behind him and don''t say anything. This time, he really would do the talking. He knocked on the door.


    The wife answered and Henry delivered the news. She fainted standing up and Henry had to catch her and safely lower her to the ground. She woke up a few minutes later and began to sob uncontrollably.


    After she had finished crying enough so she would hear what he was saying, he told her we wanted to give her something as compensation for her loss, but we didn''t want to do it in public in case someone saw and tried to rob them.


    She led us into her home and we sat in chairs around a table.


    "I can''t take credit for this, because it would be dishonest. Jarnathan and Allison earned the money on their own and it was Jarnathan''s idea to give the money to your family," Henry said.


    "You two did? How?" Lloyd''s wife, Jane said. She introduced herself earlier.


    "We completed a dungeon," I said. "Now nobody touches the money. I have a magic ability to do with money and I don''t want anything to interfere with it."


    "Ok, I guess. Have you completed a dungeon? The two of you? What are you both S-rankers or something?" She smiled and laughed like that would be ridiculous.


    Abigail and I exchanged a glance. "Actually, yeah," I said. "We''re both brand new S-rankers. We grew strong enough as we completed the dungeon to defeat the boss."


    "Wow! That''s amazing! So how much did you make? I assume you sold some of the rewards," she said.


    "I think it''s better if I show you," I said.


    I began pulling coin purses out of the bag. I pulled out 6, leaving 1 for me, Abigail, Henry, and Stu. Then I pushed all 6 bags across the table to Jane.


    [Multiplied Generosity activated!]


    The six bags of gold instantly turned into 18 bags of gold.


    "What?" Jane said.


    "What the hell just happened?" Henry said.


    "No way," Stu said.


    Abigail just grabbed my hand under the table and squeezed it while smiling at me.


    "Yeah, uh, I have this ability where the first time I gift anyone money, it multiplies by 3. It''s sort of a reward for doing a good deed," I said.


    "Well, thank you! I honestly can''t thank you enough. This is more money than Lloyd could''ve made for the rest of his life. This means a lot to us. We needed the help," she said.


    "You''re welcome. I''m happy to do it. Lloyd deserved better, but this is the best I could do," I said.


    "And I thank you for it," she said.


    "And again you''re welcome," I said.


    We said our goodbyes and walked behind the house. There I gave everyone their share of the money. I gave Henry a coin purse which turned into 3, I gave Stu 1 which also turned into 3 and I gave Abigail 2 which turned into 6.


    "What about you?" Abigail said, looking sad.


    "Well, if you feel it in your heart to give, I''ll take 1 purse. The old me wouldn''t have trusted anyone with his money, but I figured I would trust you and give you the remaining purses so that we could all have more. You can keep the remaining 5 though. I''ll let you know if I need you to lend me any, but I think 1 will do me just fine," I said.


    "Ok! Here you go!" Abigail gave me one of the purses.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    I obviously couldn''t game this too much, because it only worked the first time. But at least we got 2 extra coin purses out of the deal.


    Now that all that was over with, it was time for the real work. I activated Soul Inquiry and asked Henry''s soul a question.


    ''Do you know who runs the mercenary company?''


    ''No. I know a guy above me and that''s it.'' His soul said.


    ''What is his name and location?'' I asked.


    ''His name is James. He operates out of a shady bar called Beer.'' He said.


    ''The bar''s name is Beer?'' I asked.


    ''Yes.'' He said.


    I waited for him to elaborate but he didn''t, and I remembered this was a question-and-answer situation.


    "Henry, can we still work with you tomorrow?" I said.


    "Of course! You make me rich on the first day, I''ll bring you back as many times as you want," Henry said.


    "Good," I said. After what I planned to do tonight, I wasn''t sure if there would be a job tomorrow. But I figured it would be good to keep up appearances.


    "See you later, kid," Henry said, walking off.


    "Goodbye," Stu said.


    "Bye," I said, waving at both of them.


    Once we were all alone, Abigail said, "What are you going to do?"


    "Am I that obvious?" I said, taken aback.


    "Not to others. Just to me," she said. "You barely contain your emotions. You should work on that if you plan to do the kinds of things I know you''re planning to do."


    "Duly noted," I said. "I''ll try, but it''s hard for me to see people get taken advantage of and do nothing about it."


    Abigail put her arms around me and kissed me. "I know. That''s why I''m telling you to be smart about it. Don''t get caught."


    "I''ll do my best. See you later tonight or are you gonna go to bed?" I said.


    "I''m not sure. Wake me up if I''m asleep when you get back," she said.


    "Ok," I said. I kissed her and then started walking away, only to turn back around, come back, and say, "Wait, how do I get to Beer?"


    "Straight down that street. Turn left at the angel statue, then keep going until some guy yells at you about stealing his balls, then take a right and it''ll be on your left, 3 buildings down," she said, smiling at me.


    "Thanks," I said. I walked down the street carrying my half-empty pack and maxed-out capacity coin purse.


    <hr>


    "You stole my balls!" Said a man sitting on the corner of an intersection of the road. He didn''t have any visible teeth, but I wasn''t doubting the possibility of him having invisible teeth.


    "Were they bouncy?" I said. "I love bouncy balls." I shouldn''t have engaged. I wasn''t trying to torture the guy. Sometimes my mouth just spoke before my mind had a chance to stop it.


    The man looked at me up and down and said, "You''re a weird fellow."


    "Thank you for trying to keep me informed, but I was already aware of that," I said, and turned right and walked down the street.


    I kept my eyes peeled for a sign that said "Beer," and I almost missed it. The sign didn''t say Beer. It was just a sign with the image of a mug of beer painted on it. Interesting marketing. I mean if I was looking for a beer and just saw a sign of a beer, I''d probably wander in.


    I opened the door, not knowing what to expect, but it wasn''t what I found. The place was dead just a couple of hours after the sun went down. It should''ve been packed, but there were only a few people at the bar and one guy sitting in the corner shuffling cards. Must have been an off night.


    I guessed the guy in the corner was probably James. He looked like the kind of guy who was advertising he was open for business, while also pretending like he wasn''t. As I walked up, I realized he seemed to be shuffling something similar to tarot cards, but the symbols and names on the cards were nothing like any tarot cards I''d ever seen.


    One was a black card with a big eye on it. Another one looked like a shriveled witch pointing to the left of the card. Then the last one was a picture of my face with glowing red eyes, and long red hair the color of ketchup.


    I sat down across from him and didn''t say anything. I felt like his game was to get you to say something first. So I didn''t. He shuffled the cards a few times but left the three cards on the table facing me.


    Several minutes passed by like that. I didn''t say anything and just studied the cards. The artwork was incredible. This was when I noticed the writing describing the name of the card. The eye one was called ''The Eye'', the witch one was called ''The Withered Witch'', and the one with my face on it was called ''The Visage''. Hmm. Interesting.


    "It''s usually by this point where the other person says something, but since you seem to be mute, I''ll speak first. What do you see?" He said.


    "I see a picture of my face but a little different, a withered witch pointing, and a floating eye. Is there some variation to what people see? Are they magic cards?" I said.


    "Some of them are. Some of them aren''t. But I was asking you what you think the cards mean in relation to your life," he said. He was wearing a hood that obscured his face. Which wasn''t cliche at all.


    "I don''t know. I''m not good at these interpretation things. The Visage makes me look crazy. Maybe it means I have a boiling rage inside me that may take over my mind if I''m not careful," I said.


    "The withering witch just looks like my grandma telling me to take out the garbage. Like I needed her to point because I didn''t know where the garbage went after years of living in her house."


    "And the eye is kind of just staring at me. Maybe it means people are watching me. I don''t know."


    There was a silence, and then he said, "Wow. You are bad at this. The Visage on your left represents your past. The crazy rage face means you have unresolved issues with your past. That still make you angry even to this day."


    "The Withering Witch, which is in the middle represents your present. She''s telling you to choose a direction and stick with it. Decide where you want your life to go and work toward that."


    "The Eye is on the right, so it represents your future. It can be interpreted similarly to how you interpreted it. It could mean that people will be watching you in the future, or looking for you."


    "Interesting. That doesn''t quite have anything to do with why I came here, but here are two gold coins for your trouble," I said. I pulled two coins out of my purse and slid them across the table.


    "Thank you," he said. Pocketing the coins. "Then why are you here?"


    "I came to ask you a few questions. What is your favorite fruit?" I said. I realized I could have questioned his soul during the initial silence, but the past was the past.


    ''Who are your employers?'' I asked.


    ''The Red Tail Fox Company.'' His soul said.


    "What kind of question is that? The answer is obvious. Blueberries," he said.


    "Why are you alone?"


    ''Where do they operate out of?'' I asked.


    ''The building across from Sally''s. Their office is on the top floor.''


    "Because I don''t have any friends," he said.


    "What is the average weight of a fully grown red-tailed fox?"


    ''Is there a password to get in?''


    ''It''s "vermillion".''


    He stood up from the boot but the table was in the way of his legs, so he half stood up. "How did you hear that name?"


    "You told me," I said. "Vermillion."


    ''Are you evil or have you committed evil acts upon the innocent?'' I asked.


    ''No. I''m just a regular guy trying to make a living. I don''t have any kids or family, but I do have a cat that I love very much. Her name is Sprinkles.''


    Dear god. He''s relatable. I can''t kill him now. As soon as I said "vermillion", he stiffened. "Did I fail the test, sir?" He said.


    "No. You''re fine. I just didn''t want to fight you, because I''m not in the mood to kill someone tonight," I said. I was lying. I was in the mood to kill someone tonight. Just not him.


    "Oh, good thank you. I hope you liked your fortune, sir. Have a good night," he said, in a high-pitched voice.


    "I will. Thank you. You as well," I said. I left Beer and began making my way toward Sally''s.