I decided to go outside and see what everyone was up to, but I wanted to check on the store as well. I left through the front door and walked down the stairway. As I passed the Garcia’s house, I could hear the scratching of claws as the youngest children ran through the apartment. I was positive that Ms. Selena wouldn’t be happy about that, but I guess she was working in the store downstairs I was no snitch. When I got to the first floor, I was greeted with a wall of sound. Around 15 people were walking about in the corner store, looking at various bits of gear.

Ms. Selena was sitting on the countertop manning the cash register, while Mr. Garcia was walking through the store levitating a box laden with supplies, restocking items. The things they sold had changed dramatically as well. Before, they had basic groceries and other sundries. Now, they had rope, knives, hatchets, a whole wall of weapons of various qualities, and different potions stored in plastic bottles locked in one of the freezers on the wall where the milk used to be. There were still some grocery items scattered about, but they didn’t seem particularly popular considering the adventurous clientele.

I quickly moved through the store, waving a greeting to the Garcias before I left for the back door. They both nodded to me in recognition before going back to their work. As I walked into the rear training space, I noted that the door had been replaced. It was now solid wood, which should keep nosy adventurers from looking in on the resident’s activities as they trained.

The field was occupied with the usual suspects, but this time both Nick and Trevor were training working together. They were fighting against Kaitlyn, who seemed significantly stronger than before. It seems I was not the only one who found a dungeon to conquer, as she was equipped with very interesting gear.

Race – Thundering Cheetahkin Job – Investigator Class – Shadow Ninja Rank – 2 Level – 35

 

She had managed to make it to the second rank, though to me how that happened was rather unclear. I was slightly thrown off that she was a higher level than me, but after a second I realized my level reset after rank up while hers did not. Her class had been upgraded to a rare version of Ninja, and her level also seemed to be coming along nicely. I tried to identify the gear she was wielding, but surprisingly I was unable to. It seems that the skill was incapable of working on gear currently equipped by someone else, I assume to give people some degree of privacy. Identify was an inherently invasive skill, and one of the top items on my list was something to keep other’s identify from working on me.

After a few moments, Kaitlyn noticed that I had entered the field, at which point she quickly ended the bout in a flurry of ruthless attacks leaving the boys bruised on the ground, and ran over to greet me.

“Vic! I’m glad you’re okay!”

“Well, it looks like you’ve been busy. Congratulations on hitting rank 2. Did you find a dungeon?”

She nodded in confirmation, before quieting down.

“It’s only rank 1… but it's close by. I finished it yesterday, and then came back. You’ve leveled a lot too… I was hoping to catch up to you.”

She blushed and looked away.

I grinned in response to her bashfulness.

“You’re going to have to work pretty hard to do that. I found a dungeon too and am still working on clearing it. It’s rank 2 and is pretty tough. Here, before we keep talking, let’s find a seat.”

I sat down with Kaitlyn at the edge of the pond, and we started going over our different dungeon experiences. Her dungeon may have only been rank 1, but that didn’t make it easy, especially considering she entered it solo. Hers was called the Rat Warrens and was full of a variety of rodent-themed monsters. She spent her time leveling up in the tutorial, just like I did, before diving deeper into the dungeon, eventually clearing the tenth floor. Though there were only 5 floors after the tutorial, they were much larger than she expected, each one taking between 4 and 5 hours to explore. At the end of each level was a stairway leading to a break room, and a teleporter to the start of the dungeon. She could enter any previously explored levels from the hub now, meaning she could work on getting specific loot that she needed floor by floor.

One of the floors on her dungeon was full of stealth-themed rats, and she went through it four whole times before she managed to get a purple drop, her new dagger. Her new black leather armor was made from materials gathered from the stealth rats. She let me take the blade it into my hands, and with that I was able to identify it, drawing it from the sleek black leather sheath on her thigh.

Rodent Assassin’s Dagger – This dagger is self-sharpening and envenoms those taken by surprise granting the poison: minor status effect. Sharpness: 2 Hardness: 1 Mana Conductivity: 2

 

The entire dagger was just over a foot long and had a double-edged leaf-shaped blade. It was perfectly symmetrical, and the blade seemed to be made of some type of bone instead of metal. It glinted in the light like it was covered in oil. Though the abilities it had were good, it seemed like it was rather weak for a legendary.

Hey, Luna? Why is this exotic dagger so weak?

Well, that dagger was taken from a rank 1 dungeon, so of course, it would be weak. You need a skill called appraisal to check more accurate item statistics though, so you can’t see it’s rank yet.

So does rarity not determine item strength?

It can, but generally speaking, ‘rarity’ is based on how difficult an item is to find. A well-made sword might only have uncommon rarity, but it could still have better stats than something of a higher rarity if it was made well enough. That being said, things with higher rarities tend to have better abilities and stats. More powerful ingredients are harder to find, afterall, and tend to make more interesting things.

That meant that I would probably have to replace my items every rank or so. That wasn’t too bad, and it mirrored how games worked as well. Considering how difficult it was to increase rank, it made sense that each one would have individual item progression. It was a system that was featured in many video games, so I should have expected it.

I talked with Kaitlyn for the better part of an hour, eventually cutting off the conversation when I heard someone approaching from behind. I turned, seeing Donny coming towards me with an impressive looking sword slightly reminiscent of a cavalry saber, but with a much thicker blade. He carried it in the crook of his arm as he came closer. I was a bit surprised he was willing to come near me, considering the effects that I had on him.

“Hey, Donny. Is that it? Can I see it?”

He nodded, handing the blade over to me. I could tell from the way he stood and his eyes that he was tired, so clearly, he had spent a long time working on it.

“I hope that your lack of sleep wasn’t caused by me. Sorry to overwork you.”

He shook his head, and answered, “Honestly it’s fine. It was an interesting recipe and was fun to craft. I managed to max out the level of my current blacksmithing skill with it, so now I can go grab another class.”

Kaitlyn smiled, and sheepishly answered, “Con… congratulations.”

She still seemed to have trouble talking to other people, but she was doing better than before. I was sure the removal of the emotional suppression had a profound effect on her, considering what happened when we first met. It was good that she was keeping busy. That kind of grief ran deep, and I understood how loss could affect someone.

I looked at the blade in my hands and drew it from the scabbard.  It was approximately four feet long, with a handle big enough to wrap both of my hands around it if needed. The whole thing only weighed about six pounds, making it much lighter than the hasty spider blade I currently used. The handle was expertly wrapped with comfortable leather, and it had a curved guard made of spider chitin. The red and black coloring on the knight blade translated over as well, as down near the guard it was red, while at the tip it faded to midnight black. A double fuller ran down the length, helping to lighten the sword. It was beautiful.

“This is amazing, Donny…”

He nodded and smiled. “It’s probably the best thing I’ve made to date, and I learned a lot through the whole build. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to catch up on sleep.”

After which he promptly left.

Kaitlyn looked puzzled as he walked away. “Vic… what was that all about? Is he mad at you?”

I shook my head, and said, “You’ll have to ask him what it’s about. It’s not information for me to share.”

She looked a bit confused but nodded in assent. I looked back down at the sword in my hands and used identify.

Arachnid Knight’s Blade – the blade of an arachnid hunter, extremely sharp and fast to use. Does slightly more damage when attacking spiders. Sharpness: 4 Hardness: 3 Mana Conductivity: 4

 

It was an impressive sword, that much was true. I felt some sense of satisfaction as I belted it to my waist. There was no point in waiting anymore. I was ready to go back into the dungeon. My bag was already packed, and my coin pouch and monster pouch were unceremoniously emptied into the drawers of my bedroom.

I went ahead and let Kaitlyn know where the dungeon was as she was at the level where she needed more of a challenge, though she could easily get that information from Cindy. She planned to head out and start the Temple of the Orb Weaver Queen tutorial tomorrow.

I grabbed my trusty pack from the house, and took to the sky again, ready to see what interesting sights waited for me underground. I did however make a quick stop into the Garcia’s store, dropping a couple of gold on an armored leather jerkin I could wear around my wings, a bandolier for potions, and a sword belt. I loaded the bandolier with the three potions I had and tied both of my magic pouches securely to the sword belt using their laces and some paracord. I went ahead and identified my new gear, but it was only a common rarity and contained no enchantments, as I expected.

Leather Jerkin: A hard leather armor providing a slight amount of defense. (Light Armor)

Sword Belt: A belt designed to hold a scabbard for a sword

Potion Bandolier: A bandolier with enough secure pockets to hold 6 standard size potions in the front, easy to access.

 

I faced west and flew towards the dungeon, where treasure and adventure awaited.

-------------------------- --

I arrived at the door, noting that the surroundings appeared entirely identical to before. If anyone else managed to discover the dungeon, there was no sign of them. Placing my hand on the marble entrance, the world faded to black, before coming back into focus.

I was in a new place, a room that I hadn’t ever entered before. It was a plain rectangle, and against the back wall was a single sign reading ‘floor 6’, a teleportation platform on the ground in front of it.

Alright Luna, any idea of what I can expect in there?

No, unfortunately not. Previously, the floor was a cavern full of spider nests, similar to the first floor of the tutorial though significantly more elaborate. Other than that, I can’t help.

Okay. Let’s see what we’ve got to deal with, then.

I stepped on the teleportation circle and appeared in a familiar-looking cave system, identical to the first floor of the tutorial. It seems like it hadn’t changed much from what it previously was.

Welcome, Adventurer! You have received a royal invitation to the Temple of the Orb Weaver queen, a dungeon under the careful administration of Her Royal Highness, Queen Elizabeth Cunningham, mother of spiders, administrator under Labyrinth. After each floor you can return to the entrance of the dungeon, and your progress is saved. There is a boss fight every fifth floor, so make sure you are well prepared. The floors will randomly rearrange themselves every week, so make sure you finish your exploration before the time runs out or you will be ejected to the hub! Unlike in the tutorial, death here is permanent, so be extra careful. Experience and skill ups are granted like normal, though at the end of each level bonus experience and rewards may be offered based on performance. There is no limit to the number of people that can be on each floor, though bosses can only be fought by one group of 5 or fewer at a time. Good Luck, and Happy Hunting! Sincerely, H.R.H Queen Elizabeth Cunningham, Mother of Spiders, Administrator under Labyrinth

 

Luna, can you see this?

Yeah, I can. It looks like the standard greeting to the floors after the tutorial, with a warning about the danger and a brief explanation of how things work, though several things are strange.

This is written by someone, this Queen of the dungeon, who is not supposed to be here at all. Also, the end of the level system that the tutorial has is supposed to be in effect for the whole dungeon, not just the tutorial. The fact that the occupation limit had been removed is far more concerning though.

I suspect that this ‘Labyrinth’ is the culprit, but the dungeons are supposed to be mostly self-sustaining. I didn’t put anyone in charge of them, but it's possible H.G. snuck some more changes in while I wasn’t paying attention.

While that is slightly concerning, it doesn’t seem all that bad. I guess we just keep exploring and see what we can find.

I started my journey into the dungeon, the complexity of the level quickly becoming obvious. There were twisting paths, irregularly sloped floors, and I was constantly running into dead ends, the map I was making in my sketchbook steadily growing in size. As I walked, I went ahead and started trying to practice with my cryokinesis skill.

I originally expected the skill to be similar to my other magical abilities, but I quickly learned that there was a reason I got it at the same time as Storm Command. It was exceedingly difficult to use, and it took me a while to even get started practicing. I first magically created some water with storm command, and then attempted to freeze it with cryokinesis, but no matter what I did nothing happened. It was only when I drew water from the atmosphere instead, a significantly more expensive task, that I was able to activate cryokinesis. That led me to believe that the two types of water had different properties.

Up until now, I was only drinking water I had pulled from the atmosphere, using it to fill my canteen, but with Storm Command I could magically create water for much less mana. I usually used this method when attacking, as it was far more energy-efficient, particularly for water spells and abilities.

To train cryokinesis, I needed to collect water from the atmosphere, then use the skill to reduce the temperature of it until it became ice. I was unable to raise the temperature, for now, so all ice I created was stuck that way until it melted naturally. I repeated this exercise as I walked, trying to create shards of ice I could use offensively if I encountered anything.

I meandered through hall after hall, quickly becoming bored. The tutorial was full of encounters and monsters, but so far, this floor had been nothing but mapping and walking, neither of which were my cup of tea. It was far more cave exploration than monster combat, and that was a bit of a let down from what I was expecting. My brand-new sword was itching to be used. I was about to double back in search of more enemies to fight when I heard a familiar chittering coming from the hallway directly ahead of me.

After 20 minutes of searching, I finally found my first monster.