His style of combat is going well. He didn’t realize that was what he was doing but once he finished on the eleventh floor, he realized that he was making a combat style. So far it is incredibly instinctive. Relying on his innate grasp of his aura and sense. Twisting his body to get close and evade attacks while striking out with lethality. If the enemy has too much endurance than he bleeds them. On the last floor he focused on speed while evading an attack and striking to kill.
He is planning on doing the same thing on this floor. So as soon as arrives on the floor he takes off. The first opponent is different than he expected. It is wearing about the same amount of clothes that he is. But its clothes are rags draped over an oddly shaped body.
Closing quickly the only reaction the creature has is wide eyed shock. ‘Identify’
Cave Golbin
Tier 1 Level 12
Known as the ugly cousin of the more sophisticated goblin people cave goblins tend to multiply fast and take anything they can from small villages that their tunnels lead to.
Class: N/A Level: 8 (53,950/256,000)
Seeing that he gained a little more experience that last time Helo takes off again. This run through the dungeon the monsters come in small packs. The goblins tend to be alone but the other creatures are in groups of two through four. So, focusing on quick movements Helo finds it more difficult this time. Having to pay attention to more than one creature while move as fast as he is, is starting to wear on his dexterity. Putting his feet in the right places to move while dodge two attacks at a time trying to strike a single lethal blow is getting tricky.
Still hoping to see some good dexterity gains Helo keeps moving. Five hours and two stops later Helo finds the exit. Realizing that if each floor gets larger, he might run out of time Helo hives himself two hours to clean up more of the floor. Thankfully with the larger monster groups he is gaining experience faster. He wants to at least be level ten before leaving.
Class: N/A Level: 8 (235,301/256,000)
Two hours later Helo returns to the exit and heads to the next floor. Repeating this process on the next floors Helos days become a blur of death.
Three days later Helo is finally on the 20th floor. Each floor took longer than the last. Thankfully Helo’s efforts paid off.
Class: N/A Level: 10 (1,024,000/1,024,000)
With your need for speed and your attempts to look cool while doing it you have gained.
+1 Agl
+2 Dex and Int
You have gained a level bringing your level up to 10. You have gained one free attribute point due to raising your level. You have gained +1 to Vit, Will, Per and Agl. Due to your race being Vampire?
Name: Helo
Class: Level 10 (Ready to choose class.)
Title: Nature’s Alpha (Epic)- This title augments your aura to be more connected to nature around you. Increases the efficiency of Vitality, Will, and Perception by 25%. Gain x4 to experience when killing an alpha and its pack in a nature themed type dungeon.
Gear: Alpha Wolf Hide (Epic), Boxers of Infinite Regeneration (Epic)
Stats: 152
- Str: 10
- Agl: 21 (+10%)
- Dex:17 (+10%)
- Per: 27 (+25%)
- Vit: 29 (+35%)
- End: 10 (+10%)
- Int: 10
- Will: 28 (+35%)
Looking out over the 20th floor Helo saw something he didn’t expect. The previous floors were all variations on the same thing as the tutorial dungeon; Caves and Forests. The 20th floor seems to be a siege against a goblin town. As soon as he entered the floor Helo got a notification.
Mini-Boss!
Goblin Warfare!
Kill the Goblin commanders (0/8)
Kill the Goblin Lord (0/1)
“Well, this looks kind of fun.” Helo said while taking a look around the area. There were goblins everywhere. They flooded the floor with bodies. But looking around Helo wanted to test out his skills. He was going to kill only the commanders and the Lord. So he started exploring.
In the morning 6 days ago…
Getting up excited to start the day Alli jumps ontop of her bed and looks out the window. Its is a large bay window on the third floor of her mansion cabin. It looks out over the rest of the valley. Forgetting that her Bff Hinata-Chan stayed with her tonight she wakes her up quite abruptly.
“Alli-chan.” Came a muffled voice. “If you don’t stop, I’m going to tickle you. Wait maybe I’ll ask your one true love Kenneth to do it for me.”
“Gasp! You wouldn’t dare. I know that for out age group he is the best person for that position but I can’t believe mom made me take him into my party.” Alli says while jumping off the bed onto the floor.
“Dude you really just say gasp. Come back to bed it is to early to get up. You sleepy kitten normally I’m the one waking you up.” Hinata says while throwing the covers off her face.
“Sorry but I’m excited to see what Helo thinks!” Alli says while throwing on a robe and running out her door. Her room is massive almost taking up the entire third floor. It is more like a suite with a Walkin closet and a massive bathroom. Running down the stair she searches for which bed room he chose. Ignoring the fact that everyone else already chose a room due to her excitement. Plus, they are labeled. She barges into every room, startling everyone awake.
Not finding Helo anywhere she heads back to her room only to see Hinata leaving while carrying a sleeping fox. “Hey! Where is he?”
After looking everywhere with Hinata they two of them head to her garage where her golf cart is. Sitting in the pimped out pink golf cart the two of them ride over to the main house. This house has her parent in it along with her uncle. Barging in she yells at the top of her lungs. “Where is my Helo!?”
Hinata looking at her weirdly asks. “Did you just say my Helo Alli-Chan?” Mumbling under her breath she says. “And wouldn’t it be our Helo.”
Hearing her friend mumble due to her feline senses she gracefully ignores it and starts tearing apart the kitchen in a very cat like pattern. She truly is taking out the food she wants to eat but at the same time she is making a mess.
Hearing Alli yell a very exasperated Mila enters the kitchen. She is the head maid of the property and is 33 years old with a full figure. She has blonde long hair that she wears into a ponytail and green eyes. She actually is a tier 2 level 78 healer. She was the healer that partied with Allie’s mom Cheyeene. But due to her having no luck creating an aura she decided to slow down and take care of the clan property. “Hah what are we going to do with you Allie. Maybe I should take you under my wing if you want to cook so much.”
Jumping back and dropping the pan she was carrying Alli shakes her head and takes a seat near Hinata who is petting Lelai on the counter.
Watching Mila cook they are soon joined by Allie’s father and mother. Both girls are staring at Graham waiting for an explanation.
With an exasperated sigh he says, “Ahhhhh, good morning girls.”
“Mhpf father.” Allie says while turning her head.
A polite “Good morning Otousan.” comes from Hinata.
“So. I’m sure you are wondering about the boy.” Seeing a nod from both girls he said. “Well. Calain had the idea to test him in the dungeon first. To make sure he is worthy of you two.” At the affronted faces on the girls, he holds his hands up. “Hey it wasn’t a bad idea. You want to put a lot of responsibility on him to protect you. So, I agreed to the suggestion. We told him he had one week to reach the 20th level. Honestly, we don’t expect him to get much further than the tutorial.”
Both girls start talking and complaining about the terrible idea. Hinata even dropped her polite expression to berate Graham.
Watching the girls Graham looks toward his wife for help. Hiding a laugh behind her hand she gets up and hugs the girls. “Now now, well I don’t agree with your father’s decision.” Hearing a noise from Graham she says. “What don’t act like it was a we decision. Anyway, He will be fine. From what I know about him he is very competent for his age. You both know that your dad doesn’t like him taking on the position of your second in command. Your brother really like Kennath to be your body guard Allie and Hinata there is someone your father had in mind for you as well.”
“Agh, phew. Gross mom you make it sound like a marriage proposal. And Kenneth. You have to realize how much of a jerk he is. That guy acts like all women should want to fall one their knees and worship him.”
“Hey honey.” Her father says, “He has a very prestigious second tier class. There is a lot of potential there.” Getting a glare from all four girls in the kitchen he wisely shuts his mouth and eats the food prepared for him.
They all eat breakfast and Alli, Hinata and Lelai head back to the cabin. As they get there Lelai hop out of Hinata’s arms and heads into the nearby woods to explore. As they get to the front door they can hear Kenneths loud voice. “Sounds like Mr. Special decided not to show up. He must have been scared away. Calain said he was a nobody.”
Ugh sometime I think my brother should go become a male nun. Alli thinks as she opens the door. Once inside she can see her team. So far there are eight members. Normally one of the 16 noble families sponsors their children to have a team of six or seven member. But due to Alli and Hinata’s close friend ship plus the close relationship between their two families their teams mixed. This means that they both got enough sponsorship money to provide and train a team of 10.
How well the teams are funded and how well they rank in dungeon runs and spars means a lot to the 16 families. Raising another strong elite team might mean that the family wins the right to rule over earth when the integration ends. An elite team means another group that you can send to protect communities from dungeon breaks or newly rifts. That means a larger area of influence. Once a child of the noble house turns 16 they go to a school that is funded by all the families. This school teaches many things about the multiverse, fighting, and leadership. They also visit all the territories of the different families and spend time training and competing in their dungeons.
“He got sent into the dungeon by my father.” Alli says while walking in the door and throwing her arms wide.
Hinata acting far more proper walks into the room with a nod. “As Alli-Chan is correct. Helo-Kun was tasked by Graham-Sama to train for seven days and reach the twenty floor.”
Everyone looks at her surprised by the way she said Helo. It felt incredibly personal. Everyone except Alli who expected it and Kenneth who didn’t pay enough attention. “Ah dog. That guys going to get himself killed. Ha! I’d bet on that. Hey if he doesn’t come back that means I get to take my spot as your personal guard, right?” Kenneth asked Allie.
This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.
“No. Because he is coming back. Just wait a few days.” Alli says. “Now let’s all train a bit. Next year we are going to noble school. We need to be ready.”
The days go by and then it’s the full seven days. Graham refused to budge even though Alli begged him to bring him out. He finally agreed to let her enter the dungeon with Calain, Micah and himself after he got her to promise to stop bothering Elder Anthony. He is the dungeon master and is the one who creates all the floor templates and designs. He has unique access to the dungeon and can even check if people are living or make recordings using magi-tech they were given from their ancestors to make the integration easier.
All of the dungeons are set up so that tournaments can be held and video recordings can be shared through advanced magic servers that each of the families possess. They are all unique with their own features. But most of the tournaments and events are regulated by the four neutral families. It is one of their roles. When the world integration starts, they will host tournaments and recreate the internet using magic. Giving everyone who can afford it access.
One of the things high tier fighters like Micah does is enter the dungeon to collect resources that they use to prepare for the integration. They are essentially preparing for the future market of magic devices that will be regulated through their families’ systems.
A person like Elder Anthony is very important to this. With his Dungeon master title, he has a lot of control over how these systems function. The dungeon cores, system hubs and the advanced servers are all connect.
Finally, time to enter and find Helo. Calain, Micah, Graham, Elder Anthony, Lelai, Cheyeene, Hinata, and Alli all head in. The only person that needs to be there is Elder Anthony. But he takes his job seriously and refuses to snoop on the child without permission. The only thing he checks is if the boy is still alive.
Following Graham he says, “Well let’s assume he made it to at least the 13th floor. So, let’s start there.”
Unknown to them Calain doesn’t think he made it past the 10th. This is because it was him who modified the tutorial instance to be on hard mode.
After scouting the floor for an hour and finding the nine individuals Helo makes a game plan. “So. First rule: no getting caught. Second rule: I have to take them out one at a time and bring their heads to the dungeon exit torches. Third rule: I can only kill the nine targets. I think that is all that matters for targets.
Using a stick, he draws the fort onto the ground. It is a large fort but the buildings are poorly made and spaced poorly. The wall is full of cracks and the only defenses is the sporadic movements of the goblins. Looking around he is a massive cavern that is imitating a plain. With tall grass, a small river and sparse trees Helo has enough cover to move. His shadow cloak won’t help him much but it should be okay.
The first thing he does is move over to the river and coat his body in mud. His skin is to light and swirling shadows doesn’t work well in the bright cavern. Looking at his reflection in the water he laughs at the crystal clean pink and white boxers under his covered shorts and the clean bracers on his mud-covered arms. “Well, if I had a cloak or something this would be really nice.”
Taking a look around Helo can count about 7 meandering Goblins on his way toward the fort. Ducking low he conceals his sound and scent and starts making his way into the fort. Avoiding the goblins and waiting for their short attention spans to distract them as the look around he gets to the wall only to find the sentry asleep. This really is a lot easier than the tutorial. Helo can’t help but think. Thinking back, he wonders if the hard mode was intentional. Whatever the reason he didn’t mind it.
Slipping into the base he walks around the outside until he finds the first commander. ‘Identify’.
Goblin Commander
Teir 1 Level 19
Not much his different with this goblin. It has slightly higher attributes.
Waiting for it to enter a building Helo follows it in and in one swing lops its head off. Taking the body and placing it on the roof through a hole in the ceiling Helo barricades the door so nobody enters and finds the blood then he makes his way to the roof. Grabbing the head he slowly makes his way outside the fort toward the opposite direction of the entrance. Finding the torches he placing the head near one and heads back inside.
Completed the same scenario a few different ways Helo makes it to the torches and now has seven heads piled up. He is surprised that nobody has noticed anything. But he is also impressed with himself. Practicing his aura control and moving slowly he hasn’t had a goblin notice his aura yet. Heading back inside now it is the trickiest part. The final two goblins are in the same building. They both are level 20 and seem a little more intelligent.
Crawling inside the building from a window Helo makes his way inside. He is in an empty room that connect the main hall where a bunch of goblins are eating. Wishing he know anything about poisons Helo can only hunker down and wait for an opportunity. Seeing one goblin take out what looks like a barrel of disgusting moon shine Helo waits for his opportunity.
Still following his rule about one at a time he waits as the commander having drank enough booze leads two goblin women. Well at least he hopes they are into a different room. Slipping out the window Helo readies himself to grab his throwing blades.
Finding the three goblins he can verify that yes, they are female and yes, he wants to gouge his eyes out. Throwing both blades in quick succession he knocks out the females. Then he rolls in through the window and before the male notices in its drunken fueled fun that the girls are unconscious, he lops off its head. Arranging the goblins so that it looks like they are all sleeping and the male is being smoothed he makes his way back out.
Heading back in the Goblin lord is looking for his buddy. Entering the room the last things the goblin lord see’s is his buddy with his wife.
“Come on!” Calain complained. “We checked the all the way up to the 18th floor and we didn’t see him. The elder says that he is still alive, let’s check the tutorial.”
Looking at her son, Cheyeene shakes her head. Obviously, he did something he has that same fake ‘I didn’t do anything attitude’ that is mixed with impatience because his scheme hasn’t come into fruition yet. “Haaaahhhh, Calain, you have been saying that we should check floor ten this entire time. Is there a reason he should be there?”
“Yeah!” A worried Alli says. “I know you want that d-bag to be my personal guard for some reason!”
“Hmh.” Is all Hinata adds while looking at Calain. She is aware that he is power hungry and likes to view his sister as a bargaining chip. She is excited for the next half of the year when they all train in Japan.
“Now sis it isn’t nice to talk like that to a teammate who does his best to keep you safe and mother I just don’t think we should expect much from this nobody.” Calain says with a pleasantly fake smile.
Elder Anthony looking at the interaction just shakes his head. He doesn’t understand why Graham still has Calain as his lawful heir. For some reason Graham thinks that Calain will change. On the other side… Alli has some growing up to do. She is a bit to much like a naughty pup.
“Well.” A wise old voice speak up. “I’ll use my skill.” Anthony says intentionally leaving it vague. Seeing Calain light up he speaks again. “Let’s head to the 20th floor and check quick. Then we can check the end of the 19th before checking lower. It is no use taking this long walk. And I can only use my skill to enter floors with a reward terminal.”
Holding out a hand on the wall a large portal appears that looks a lot like he one that Helo entered from. Though it was a bit smaller. Stepping through they all see a pathway leading up to two torches. After the torches is a vast plains that has a community inside of it.
“See! He isn’t he…” Calain says only to get cut off.
“Are those goblin heads?” Hinata says pointing a perfectly manicured finger at the collection of eight heads.
Walking forward Micah nods his head. “Yes. Young Hinata. I wonder what they are doing here.”
Looking at the village Graham catches a glimpse of a human shaped image jump off the wall and disappear into the grass. Seeing the grass moving in a wave pattern he says. “Well. Damn. Looks like the little shit did it.”
Everyone looks at him and starts to ask what is going on only for Graham to hold up a hand. A few seconds later he points at the edge of the grass where a dirty black-haired boy is standing up with a head in his grasp. His eyes were glowing, his hands looked like they had talons and his mouth had two obvious fangs. He was coated in mud except for a necklace, bracers and heart spotted underwear.
Getting back to the exit Helo is surprised to see that a group of people are waiting for them. Tilting his head he can remember everyone that is here but an older man.
With his usual greeting Helo raises his left hand and points his middle and pointer finger up before giving a single wave. “Ah. Hi.” He does this while forgetting about the head in his hand. More like he is so inured to it that it barely registers. To get to level ten Helo had to kill thousands of creatures.
Looking at him with joy, confusion then revulsion. Alli grabs her mom’s arm. “Mommy! He’s all dirty. Fix it. Please.” She adds the please after getting a look from her mother.
With a beautiful and songlike voice she says, “Refreshing Stream; Cleanse.” At those words a whirlpool of water rises up around Helo making him freak out only for the water to caress his skin and complete clean him.
With a fanged smile Helo looks at Cheyeene. “Thanks” he says while stretching pulling his arms up. He is about to drip more blood on him but a water bullet came shooting far faster than he could follow and destroyed it.
“Hey. My head.” Helo said while looking behind him to find nothing left. Drooping his shoulders he looks back.
“What do you mean my head!?” Alli yells at the same time Hinata steps forward while staring at Helo’s unclothed body.
“Helo-Kun, where are your clothes.” She says while pointing. Everyone else takes a step back and lets the three of them talk first. Micah and Graham will have a private conversation with Helo later and his future and how his dungeon run went. Cheyeene is just switching between smiling at the girls and looking at Helo with a perplexed expression. I cleaned him. He said thanks then he almost got dirty again. Who does that!
Before anyone else could do anything Lelai jumped into Helo’s arms and started excitedly yipping at him. Petting her for a moment to calm her down. Helo looked up, finally letting his bloodline recede he smiled and hugged her. “It’s good to see you. I don’t think you know how much I missed you.”
Pouting at Helo, Alli looked at him at said. “Why don’t you say stuff like that to me?” hearing a laugh behind her from her mother she just looked even more depressed.
Feeling a little flusted Helo wasn’t sure what to say. Avoiding the sad Alli for a moment he looked at Hinata, “It’s good to see you.” Turning to Allie. “You as well.”
Stepping forward he stopped hearing a noise.
“Bing”
“Ahh, I know that look. You just got a notification. Completed the floor did yah kid?” From what I can see you have… well had nine heads. So… Mhmmm. The base isn’t in a mess. So, you must have killed only your nine targets. Quite impressive child.” The older man said.
“Ah. Yes sir. I’m Helo. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Helo said a with a little confusion. That guy must be really smart to figure all that out.
“I’m Elder Anthony. I have a hand in running the dungeon. Now don’t let us get in your way. Why don’t you finish your quest.” The elder said while taking a step back.
Smiling at him Helo nodded while looking at the rest. Allie and Hinata approached him. Seeming to feel more comfortable now that he was clean and his more aggressive features were gone.
“Check your quest we will wait.” Hinata said to him.
“Oh, by the way. Everyone else was destroyed. Thankfully I got a new pair of boxers.” Helo said with a laugh and scratching the back of his head. At that comment everyone looks at his boxers that could clearly be seen. They were unblemished and looked ridiculous.
“They were clean even when you walked up must be some enchantment.” Micah said. “One of my favorite loot boxes was the one I got a pair of enchanted underwear.” He said with a fond smile.
“And those bracers look nice.” Calain said a little more aggressively. Eyeing them with a bit of greed. Narrowing his eyes Helo turned to the girls and read his notifications.
You have completed the Mini-Boss quest.
You killed all the enemies solo. Your reward in increased.
You have completed the first ten floors in a record time. Your reward is increased.
You completed the first ten floors of the tier 1 at tier 0. Your rewards are increased.
You have a choice.
1: You can get all physical rewards.
2: You can be rewarded in system currency. (This will be at a reduced amount.)
3: Your previous dungeon loot can be strengthened. (This is only possible if your loot has never left the dungeon.)
4: You can soul bond your dungeon loot. (This is only possible if your loot has never left the dungeon.)
Hearing the phrase soul bond Helo looked down at his necklace and identified it.
A mother’s first gift, a father’s first lesson. (Mythic/Hidden) (Rare/Shown)
This is a scale made from a divine being and soul bound to you.
It is enchanted to by another divine being and will awaken when you are ready.
- Hide’s its nature from others. Only another divine being will be able to read this item’s full status.
- Soul Bound: This item will always find its way back to you as it shares your soul.
Tier 1 Awakening (???)
(???)
Not sure how to feel about this implication Helo can feel the not quite hostile gaze of someone eyeing his loot. With a sigh Helo chooses the fourth option. Both items are already too good for him already. To uses them both properly he will have to gain another 70 levels.
With a grunt of pain Helo falls to his knees. A bright light flashes over his bracers and his boxers. Then a swirl of energy enters them both. Hearing a “Tch” Helo ignores the outside world. Heading inward he does his best to watch how the items bond to him. He can’t see much but he does see how the soul bonding process connects the items and their enchantments to his spiritual energy. Fusing the items with his energy pathways. This at least proves that his mental energy comes from his soul and that its somewhere connected to him like he thought. Deciding that he will work on tracing his mental energy pathways later and trying to find the places where the items are bound Helo gets back to his feet.
Alli and Hinata look worried. Lelai is still in his arms. Graham, Micah, Cheyeene and the Elder look like they understand. Cheyeene is even holding on to her wrist where she has a bracelet. While Calain isn’t paying attention anymore.
“Well, it looks like that is everything we came here for. It is getting pretty late so let’s get home. I am sure Helo is tired and hungry. Tomorrow morning you can bring him back to the cavern and he can get his class. Afterward, we can figure everything else out.” Graham says this while nodding to the Elder.
Turning around the Elder opens a portal and Helo finishes his first dungeon excursion.
Boxers of Infinite Regeneration (Epic)
Boxers materialized out of the cosmos itself.
Increased value and personalized due to reward modifiers.
- +10% efficiency to End, Vit, and Will.
- Extreme self-mend, cleaning and sizing enchantment. Draws physical energy from the wearer.
- Enchanted to keep your boys comfortable in all weather.
- Protection… just because you can regenerate doesn’t mean you want to. Draws mental energy from the wearer.
- Energy storage: 1,000 units of mental energy/1,000 units of physical energy.
- Soul Bound: This item will always find its way back to you as it shares your soul.
Alpha Wolf Hide Bracers (Epic)
Bracers made from the final Alpha wolf. The blade is like a well-trained wolf. It always comes home.
Increased value and personalized due to reward modifiers.
- +10% efficiency to Agl and Dex.
- When attacking without a weapon you can materialize a representation of your own hand. This deals the same damage as your hand does and extends range. Requires and infusion of mental energy from the wearer.
- The metal on the bracer is enchanted for durability and distributing force. Drawing both mental and physical energy from the wearer.
- The leather has a sizing, cleaning and mending enchantment. This includes the metal and knife, if not too much damage is done at once. This draws physical energy from the wearer.
- The blade is made from a dense metal and its edges have a piercing enchantment. The handle is enchanted to teleport back to its sheath 5 seconds after being drawn. This requires an infusion of mental and physical energy from the wearer. (500 units)
- Soul Bound: This item will always find its way back to you as it shares your soul.