To future Dungeon delvers The Prairie would come to be known as the spawning grounds of The Dungeon. No matter which portal was used to enter the Dungeon, you’d start right where Saul had. Unlike every other level of the dungeon the Prairie was what gamers would refer to as ‘instanced.’ Despite the connection between the Prairie and the rest of the Dungeon, each person who spawned there was the only human in that iteration of the Prairie. It allowed for people to acclimate to the new environment and rules of the dungeon without having to watch out for Delver Killers. 

 

The prairie was known to be a soft entry point to the Dungeon and future dungeon delvers who would do in-depth research would note three major things to know about the Prairie. #1: Almost every monster there was level 1, with the only exceptions being the few boss monsters in the Prairie. #2: There were a few rare spawn monsters in the Prairie. Given that there was only one person in each Prairie at a time the only thing a person had to do was wait in the right place for the right amount of time to find them. Of course none of the drops were particularly impressive. #3: There was an exceptional type of animal that could be befriended or killed.

 

There were several categories of animals, each one with more potential than the last. The levels went from Basic, Intermediate, Rare, Exceptional, Mythical, and finally Legendary. Most everything in The Dungeon could be ranked accordingly. Summons, monsters, pets, even equipment would be ranked in this way. Basic monsters tended to drop basic items, and so on, with some exceptions. There were Elite and Boss monsters as well, but they were subject to the same categories.

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Saul finished off a surprisingly large amount of the capybara looking creature before considered moving from his spot. 'I'm still here. I guess I didn't dream this up. If this is real, I need water.' He grabbed his spear and used it to knock dirt into his fire. 'Leave no trace.' He looked at the massive corpse of the beast he'd killed. 'Well, almost no trace.' 

 

"How do I find water?" He wondered aloud. 

 

"Water can be found through encounters with enemies."

 

He'd need to find some enemies then. The beast he'd killed earlier hadn't dropped anything, but it was delicious beyond belief so he wouldn't complain. He looked around the Prairie. No matter where he looked, large mountains dominated the horizon. His fingers fished his hair tie free from his pocket, and he pulled his long mane through it, tying it into a bun that was secure enough that it wouldn't move in combat. He picked one mountain out of the hundreds that seemed particularly memorable. 'You're my frame of reference...' He set off in that direction. 

 

He hadn't been moving for a long time when he heard a noise rustling in the grass beside him. Something lunged at him. Whatever it was, it was small compared to the capybara, but still the size of a medium dog. Maybe bigger. He jumped to the side and the beast soared past him. He laid eyes on the beast. It had viciously sharp teeth and deep red skin. A large forked tongue flickered out at him. The beast was squat and heavy. It was extremely long, perhaps 3 meters, and seemed nearly a meter tall. 'It looks like a Komodo dragon.' 

 

The beast hissed at him. He gripped his makeshift spear tighter and tried to intimidate the beast. He raised his arms high again and yelled as loud as he could. That just seemed to infuriate it and it charged. 'Why can't I bluff any of these things out of a fight? That works on a freaking bear.' He couldn't worry about it now, though. He had to deal with the second thing that wanted to eat him this morning. 

 

'If everything wants to eat me, I'm not going to have a very good time here.' He gripped his weapon tightly and swung his spear at the beast. 'It's too low for me to stab it well. Let's try the hockey method.' He managed to connect solidly with the beast's side. The blow seemed to stun the lizard temporarily. Above its head, a health bar not dissimilar to his own appeared. It read:

 

Crimson Lizard, Lvl 1. 80% Health.

 

'Okay, it didn't say the health part. I'm just guessing. But that looks like a fifth is missing.' Soon, it was charging him again, all teeth and no manners. Saul prepared to strike again, 'Stamkos, with the one-timer!' He brought the stick crashing down. Another solid thud against the lizard. Another fifth of health gone. He jumped back, putting some distance between him and the lizard, looking down his weap- 'Is that a crack forming in the stick? That's not good. What else can I do?' He thought about his options as the thing began to charge again. 'Don't I have a befriend animal skill? Aren't lizards animals?' 

 

He held his stick in both hands and pressed it sideways towards the lizard. "Activate skill: Befriend Animal!" A light gathered around his feet. A matching light gathered around the lizard's body. It seemed to build in intensity, then suddenly, it flickered out. The beast hissed louder. 'Of course, it would fail. Stupid skill. Let's try this again.' He planted his feet shoulder-width apart and held the stick like a baseball bat. The lizard charged. When it was close enough this time, it leaped at him, teeth bared. 'Hey batter batter...' He transferred his weight, pivoting at the hips and transferred all of the force through the stick and into the beast with an exceptionally loud crash. 'I definitely heard a crack that time. This stick won't last much longer.' The beast was heavy, but Saul's strength overpowered its momentum, and it was knocked back several feet.

 

'Health is down to about 20%. My stick's useless now. It looks like it'll break if I hit this thing again. Let's try it.' 

 

"Befriend animal!" That light flashed again. Around him. Around the lizard. It grew. Bright. Blinding. 

 

 

Saul thought about it for a moment. 'Well, he's like something out of a book. A mythical creature. Maybe... Like a basilisk? Let's go with that.' The lizard crawled over to him as if submitting to his strength. Suddenly, above his health bar was one that read: 'Lizard'. He saw his health was almost empty. "I'll call you Basi."

 

The nameplate changed. 'Basi'.

 

"How do we get more health, Basi?"

 

Health is regenerated through potions, healing skills, healing pills, food, or rest.

 

He grinned. "Thanks, boy."

 

After his encounter with Basi, Saul had set off with his new companion to explore the Prairie. They didn’t get far before they began to encounter other hostile monsters. The first time they came across another monster Saul didn’t even realize they were under attack. He was hit by an acorn flying through the sky. Suddenly, his health bar showed a small decrease with no more than a tenth of the bar vanishing from the initial hit. 

 

Saul started to yell the word, “Attack!” but as soon as the thought crossed his mind Basi was already moving to engage, ‘I guess he can sense my commands through our bond. Looking at the monster he saw it was a brown-furred beast standing close to a meter tall with a large bushy tail that seemed to be about as long as it was tall. 

 

Large teeth protruded from its mouth and it had amber eyes that shined angrily. In its paws it held a large acorn even though there weren’t any trees that could give up such a large nut as far as he could see. ‘That’s strange.’ It was a squirrel of monstrous proportions and it seemed to be angry with them for some reason, chittering in a high pitch before it began to rush forward at Saul on all four legs.

 

Saul attacked. He stepped forward and planted his foot firmly. He brought his sharpened stick to bear and made to stab at the beast. His stick pierced its hide easily, and the stick gave out with a loud 'CRACK!', breaking in half. A '10' appeared over the squirrel's head that merged with the ‘10’ from Basi’s bite. This must have been enough to kill the squirrel, as a health bar appeared over its head and drained to 0. Words floated across his sight that seemed to display the fruits of his combat.

 

Exp Gained: 13!

 

The squirrel’s body remained. Next to the furry body a small bag appeared. Saul approached the bag and leaned down while reaching forward. His curious fingers found the drawstring to the bag and worked it open for his gaze to fall inside. Inside he saw: Leather shoes and a dagger, and most importantly a canteen full of water. He put on the shoes and tucked the dagger into his belt. 'It's a real weapon. Probably better than my stick was.'

'Dagger equipped'

'Leather shoes equipped' 

The words flashed before his eyes. As soon as those words entered his vision, the dagger vanished from his belt as if by magic.

"Where is the dagger?" He wondered aloud and as usual he got a quick response.

"All weapons and unequipped items are automatically stored in your inventory. When combat is initiated, you can pull your weapon out with a thought."

Saul smiled, ‘Seems like a nice quality of life feature.’ He felt the shoes conforming to his feet and before long they were as if designed specifically for him by a talented cobbler. When he stood he couldn’t help but sigh in comfort. ‘Beats the heck out of any Nikes I’ve had!’ He drank nearly half the canteen before he was ready to move on, gulping down the water like a man dying of thirst in the desert. He drank so quickly that his stomach ached. 'That was a bad idea... But more pain. More suggestions that this is real.'

He and Basi spent their next few hours in working their way closer to the mountain range as a point of reference. From time to time they encountered a beast and through their growing teamwork they were able to dispatch them without much trouble. After one such encounter, a blue screen suddenly flashed before his eyes:

 

He pulled up Basi’s status screen and looked at his move list. Sure enough, there was a Bite ability listed. Selecting it gave a short description:

That seemed useful. He’d have to test it out the next time they encountered an enemy. He’d begun to notice something about the screens, their timing related to combat somehow. ‘Seems like these screens only pop up when I’m safe. That’s convenient.’

There were no pathways in the Prairie but that didn’t mean that there were no obvious paths. There were sections where the grass was worn down, whether through footsteps or monsters Saul couldn’t be sure, but they were more convenient to travel on so that’s what Saul and Basi did. The Prairie itself reminded Saul a lot of the Great Plains. The land was relatively flat with gentle curves and tall golden plants growing as far as the eye could see. The beauty of the environment helped him to calm himself.

They spent their first day exploring. The Prairie didn’t seem overly large but periodically he would stumble across something interesting. At one point he heard a crunch underfoot and when he stopped to look he saw some sort of worked clay. When he bent down to take a look he realized the piece looked a lot like an ancient Native American vase with its tan color and pseudo-hieroglyphic art. The art seemed to depict a drop of water with eyes holding a knife that was pointed towards some form of boar. ‘I wonder if this is from some of the local creatures here. Some sort of society?’

He came across a few more potential cultural sites, usually finding them beneath his feet. In a few places he found pieces of armor or weapons that were long rusted over and seemed useless. He left things as he found them but each discovery made him wonder about the culture that might exist here, about the types of creatures he’d find. None of the pieces of armor were humanoid in shape.

He spent his second night on the Prairie in a small clearing that he eventually stumbled across, laying on the ground next to Basi. The night wasn't as cool as the first night and the lizard's body radiated warmth. Saul had his hands behind his head as he gazed up at the night sky, "I haven’t seen so many stars since I went to the Grand Canyon…" He said to the lizard. He got a vague sense of understanding from the beast. "This place is beautiful, but it isn’t home. I’m going to get back to my family someday..." That, he could tell, wasn't something the animal could understand. "What kind of secrets does this place hold, Basi? What will tomorrow bring?" Exciting thoughts. As he shifted to find a more comfortable position, he turned and folded his arm up beneath his head, facing the lizard, "Let's get some sleep. We've got to figure something out tomorrow."

'I'm still not really sure what's going on. I feel things. Pain. Cold. So I have to assume it's real...' Closing his eyes, he tried to fall asleep. His mind was racing. Half of him found the place strange and exciting. The other half of him was terrified. 'I have a way out. Level 5.' He focused on that thought and found it relaxing. If this was real, he had a way out. 'I just need to treat it like it's real until I get there. If that turns out to be a lie... Well, I don't know what I'll do.' Finally, blessedly, sleep came.

When they awoke, he and Basi set off once more, this time in the direction of the mountains he’d been using as a reference for his sense of direction. They had been traveling for a few hours when he became aware of a slight burning smell. Looking far in the distance he could see that the mountains seemed ever so slightly distorted. ‘Smoke? Where there’s smoke there’s fire. Better take a look.’

He set off at a quick pace. The wheat seemed to fly past him in comparison to his speed yesterday. ‘It seems like I’m moving faster. Is it because I leveled up? I guess that makes sense.’ As he got closer to the smoke he saw a signpost hammered into the ground with an arrow pointing ahead. It read: Prairie’s edge. 

Before long he found himself in a clearing of sorts. ‘Prairie’s Edge I presume.’ He looked around the clearing and noted that there were almost permanent buildings. The village was dotted with teepees and smoke rose off of a fire in the middle of everything. It was a fire that crackled with life as several sizable pieces of wood burned and gave off the faintest hints of pine sap. As he moved further into the village he realized he was as tall as most of them.  Behind the fire he could see a few permanent structures. One of them was a house that consisted of two stories, practically a mansion in comparison with the teepees but modest at best in Saul’s eyes. 

He approached the largest building and introduced his knuckles to the door in three quick knocks. He heard movement inside unlike anything he’d quite heard before. “A visitor?” The voice called through the doorway. “How can I help you?” It was a distinguished voice that hinted at wisdom and advanced age. “Hello, I’ve found myself in this strange place and apparently I need to get to Level 5 to get home. I was wondering if you might be able to help me somehow. I could use some supplies.” 

A few moments passed before Saul heard more noise behind the door. “Sure I can give you some assistance. I’m going to open the door. You may be surprised by what you see but I assure you I’m quite friendly and I mean you no harm.” The voice gave the impression of trustworthiness. It opened. Standing there ‘or perhaps sitting there?’ was a large blob. Atop his head was a small crowd that was bright red and seemed to contrast with his blue form. His body was translucent and through his form Saul could see a vague impression of the inside of his home. Basi hissed at the slime as a wave of aggression projected to Saul via their bond. He issued a simple command, ‘Down, boy’ and the lizard calmed instantly.

Saul’s first thought wasn’t to attack. He didn’t really know what he was thinking at the sight of the creature. He’d have to pick his jaw up off the floor first. ‘It’s… A slime? What in the…? I know this is a different place than Earth but are things like that really real? Then again, I have magical abilities and stats… Is any of this real?’ His fingers crept up to his face and grabbed purchase on his cheek in a tight pinch. “Ow!” He exclaimed softly. Pain. This was real. ‘If this is real then I guess I should be concerned with manners.’ His whole body shook for a moment as he tried to gather himself, drawing in a deep breath before offering his hand. “Hello, I’m Saul. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” 

The slime’s body seemed to extend toward him as some of it separated from the rest in a general impression of an arm. Slimy fingers grasped his own but they didn’t leave a wet sensation on his fingers. The feeling was nice. ‘He’s like a massive stress ball.’ The slime spoke then, “Elder. Welcome to the village of Prairie’s Edge. I’d be happy to offer you some help, but I’m afraid I have a favor to ask in return.” 

‘Sounds like a quest.’ Saul was beginning to view this world like some complex VR RPG. “Sure, that seems fair. You help me, I help you. I just need to get home eventually. What can I do for you?” The Elder looked towards the west. On his face, there was an expression of trepidation. ‘Do slimes have faces? He has eyes. He has a space below his eyes that he talks from. I guess that’s his mouth. Do slimes eat? Do they just absorb nutrients or do they like... chew on stuff?’ Just then Saul noticed that Elder was looking at him with… Bemusement. ‘Wait, how can I tell what he’s thinking? Is this an ability of theirs to convey emotions without many features?’ Elder spoke up to interrupt him, “I’m sure you have a lot of questions as a new arrival to the Dungeon. I know many who come here are from worlds where Slimes don’t exist. I’m happy to answer your questions but I must ask a favor of you. We’ve been having trouble with a neighboring tribe. We have long been allies but recently something seems to have changed. Peaceful blue slimes have been replaced by aggressive crimson slimes who have been threatening our village and raiding our supplies. Please, go to Wheaton and figure out what’s happening. If you can help, please do. If there is no other option… Then please help the people of Wheaton find peace.”

‘Heavy.’ Saul nodded solemnly. ‘I can’t imagine what it’s like to have such concern for your brothers. There must not be many slimes around if all the artifacts I found are any indication.’ “I can help you. First, I must ask for food and water. Once I’ve had my fill please point me in the direction of Wheaton and I’ll see what I can do.”

They provided Saul with a simple meal that consisted of bread and some type of cheese that he found surprisingly delicious and all he could drink of crisp, cool water.  They fed Basi similar fare, though the lizard got some meat as well. When they finished eating and resting, they began to travel towards Wheaton. His trip was surprisingly easy. ‘If there aren’t many monsters along the way, that must mean these things are pretty strong compared to the other monsters.’ That was good news. He smiled and moved a little faster, eager to encounter these stronger monsters.

It wasn’t long before they arrived at the outskirts of Wheaton. There were several of the red slimes hopping about, with one large tent towards the back of the camp and a few smaller ones close to where Saul arrived. As soon as he was within twenty yards of the camp, the closest three slimes turned towards him and hopped forward aggressively. “Hello, I’m here to negotiate on behalf of Prairie’s Edge.” The slimes seemed to ignore him. “I mean you no harm.” No response. “I don’t want to fight.” Aggression was evident in their eyes. Saul sighed. His dagger appeared in his hand. 

Saul hadn’t used a weapon before but he held the dagger in his hand and waved it about like an extension of his hand, giving a few practice swings before the slimes got too close. The weapon seemed to fit in his hand naturally. ‘Must be something in this world that helps me feel like I’ve done this before.’ 

Suddenly Basi charged forward and engaged one of the slimes, biting it ferociously, a large red ‘15!’ appearing over its head. Its health bar appeared and suddenly began to drop down until just less than a quarter remained full. At the same time the other two slimes jumped up to his waist height and lashed out at him, their gelatinous bodies suddenly stretching out in a way to create whip-like appendages that came towards him in a surprisingly fast attack.

He was able to duck below the first slime’s - He’d call it Slime 1 to keep them separate - attack, but the second one’s whip slammed into his side in a surprisingly heavy blow, and a red ‘6’ flashed in front of him. His breathing was suddenly a little more labored, and his legs felt just a bit heavier. He was able to take the blow, though, and as he stood back up he slashed out with the dagger, scoring a hit against the slime that had attacked him, then he reversed the arc of his arm and managed to catch that same slime again. ‘6!’ ‘9!’ floated above its head.

Saul didn’t know how much health a red slime had, but he figured it was good to take out one before he worried about the other. Moving to the right, he put the second red slime between himself and Slime 1 so that he could continue to attack it, jumping to avoid another whip-like attack before launching another attack of his own.

At the same time, Basi had successfully defeated the third attacking slime and began to charge into the current battle, tackling Slime 1. At the same time, Saul launched another attack at the other slime, his dagger slashing out once more and scoring a hit that showed a large ‘12!’ above it. Digging in with the dagger, he twisted it before yanking it out, and another number appeared. Twisting seemed to count as a separate attack. ‘3!’

He had a feeling the slime couldn’t take much more. He slashed towards it one more time, but was surprised when that whip-like gelatin slapped the top of his hand, knocking his blow away from the slime and causing another red flash before his eyes ‘3!’ Cursing to himself, he punched out with his free hand, connecting with the slime and feeling… Not much impact as the gelatinous body absorbed the blow. ‘1!’ It seemed that was all the slime could take though, as it burst, a brown sack left behind. 

Picking his dagger back up, he jumped forward and sank it deep into Slime 1 as the lizard bit into the slime’s body, and between the two of them it exploded into a pile of goo and left behind a brown bag as well. 

Exp gained: 29! Exp gained: 29! Exp gained: 29!

The words flashed before his eyes once combat lulled. Saul took a few steps to close the distance to the drops, and opened the brown bags left behind, notifications flashing before his eyes again. 

Item(s) found: Basic bow, Water, Minor healing pill, Arrows