Standing beneath a blazing green and black sun, Dante opened the satchel J'zaxx had given him, to reveal thirty vials of health, stamina and mana potions. Each vial was secured in place by a tiny snappy little button.

Helen's moonlit cherry blossom

Item type: Health potion

Rarity: Unique

Quality: D

Duration: 120s

Affect: Boosts HP and Health Regeneration by 50%

Special affects: 

• Moonlit: Duration increased for Werewolves and other Wolf-kin up to 240s

Dante unstoppered the sparkling red vial, inhaling the flavor of crushed spice and fruit pie. He was tempted to down it right there, just to savor a taste that wasn't raw and bloody.

Ready to place the potions in his inventory, he dropped the bag, only to look down in bewilderment. His spacial storage ability had failed.

Chalking it up to interdimensional forces at play, Dante strapped the satchel to his side, venturing off into the dungeon.

Mountains of sand dunes blocked the horizon, leading in a meandering fashion.  The area lacked heat, but without a doubt Dante was sure he was in a desert. No signs of life entered his vision, besides the vultures that circled in the air. He thought it sort of made sense, that the entrance to a dungeon would be void of all life, until he heard a crunch, and felt bones crumble underneath his weight.

An inhuman skeleton of considerate proportion, stared back at him. It had a long snout with ridges that aligned its brow.

Dante picked up the broken skull.

Skull of a dessicated Kobold

"There must be a settlement close by." Dante said, leading a pack of six burning wolves to investigate the flying scavengers.

He overlooked a force of fifty red lizards, armed with spear, bows, and sword and shield combo. Sectioned off into small squads, they fought multiple monsters that held a thousand limbs. Six of the armoured centipedes had needle pointed teeth, with a dual set of large red pincers, highlighting their black carapace.

The Kobolds held a mage in each group, ushering a torrent of green fire at the enlarged anthropods. Dante watched on, as a spear thrust pierced the shell, and yellowish blood sprayed out.

When the carnage was over, it was Dante's nose that had alerted him to the fact that he was surrounded, the scout's footsteps muted by the give of sand.

As he moved a glowing barbed arrow grazed his shoulder. The fur deteriorated with an awful smell of decay.

"Now that wasn't very nice."

The next arrow was intercepted by a fire wolf, while the remaining five pounced, twisting into javelins mid-flight.

Critical hit × 5

Dante re-summoned, then struck with the wolven spears. Though this time he darted along with them, condensing Death's Corona down into a blazing halo. Now in between the mob, the godly disk spun with deadly force.

The fire wheel of fortune racked even more critical hits, with each strike ringing the toll of bells.

You have slain Kobold Swordsman Lvl 12

Instead of being placed in his inventory the loot drop formed into a white crystal that hovered over the slain Kobold. Dante ignored the items for later, instead focusing back on the match.

He had killed two archers, and two swordsmen when the Kobold assassin finally took the hint. It's tongue flicked out like a Komodo dragon, and the dual daggers glowed with green fog. Dante noted it's mana signature was that of the Kobold mage's green fire, and the barbed arrow that narrowly missed him.

Ready at any moment to dodge, Dante amplified the defense of Death's Corona with Fire Manipulation. And then the Kobold assassin blurred, it's daggers formed from the pincers of the centipedes, struck with the speed of a snake. The thousand cuts, sensing Dante's weak points and vitals. Seeking all opportunities to end his life, with each slice leaving small tears in the fire orb.

And with a pop the shield burst, unleashing a werewolf that would not be caged. Smiling, Dante rushed in, refusing to let the assassin regain its momentum. The quick speed of Paw Strike moved, grasping the Kobolds wrists with a vice grip.

Compounded with Dante's boosts in attributes that were multiplied near three times in beast form, the Kobolds strength wilted under Dante's embrace. Eyes locked, he pried apart the assassin's arm, exposing a chink in its armor. Then he squeezed until the bones fractured, and when the daggers fell to the floor, Dante snarled, opening his maw with a growl meant to terrify and strip the foe of all defenses.

It wasn't until the will to fight completely abandoned the Kobold, when he dropped it and smiled. "Hello."

A shocked look of confusion played across the assassin's face. "Y-you can speak? But how, you're a monster?"

Dante was also surprised, not expecting the Kobold to be a female. He couldn't tell the gender presentation under the black cloak and chitin aligned leather armour. "Oh you're a female."

The statement coming from a beast that dominated her party and now held her at his mercy, was easily received wrong. "M-monster." She said, shying back.

Dante felt insulted. "I'm not that kind of monster." Then his eyes steeled. "I have a few questions, and I need answers. Can you help me with that?"

She neither accented or denied, so Dante asked about the dungeon core. "This is my first dive, and I'm told I have to retrieve the core. Mind telling me where it's at?"

"You're an Outworlder!?"

"I guess you can say that. More ways than one actually."

The female Kobold's eyes widened even further with that last statement. Then they darted around the expanse as her head swiveled back and forth.

Dante squinted, summoning six wolves and wrapped himself in fire, expecting a threat. When he looked back down, the Kobold was bowing at his feet. 

"Please, take me with you!"

He was about to question if that was even possible, but of course it was. His current situation had proven that.

"This is... unexpected." Dante muttered to himself. In his mind he thought the creature either wouldn't understand him, or would outright refuse him. Torture wasn't in his plans, even with his mind accompanying new thoughts and desires, such a tactic still left him sick.

"It's probably not the best idea to have an assassin follow you about. Surely even you would have to agree."

"If I return without my squad, I'll be killed. And if you don't finish me off, the wraiths will."

"Wraiths? Explain."

"Whispers of the fallen who have opposed the rule of the three Wardens. Without joining a faction, they have fled, only to wander into the afterlife."

"Vengeful spirits?" Dante asked. 

"Yes."

There was a temptation there. A challenge that he desired to face. But it was also a distraction, a trait of the beast that willed to dominate all things. He had to keep his mind focused. "And what about the militia led by your mages, how will they escape the wraiths?"

"The whispers don't venture underground, instead draining all who walk the sands."

Dante paused at that, his lips parting to reveal fangs. Regardless of the outcome with the prostrated assassin in front, he had planned to track down the Kobold army. Now he realized they would be hoarded up in a den, ripe for picking.

Neither Helen, J'zaxx or Ghost told him much about what sort of rewards he would receive. He only knew of a racial upgrade and perhaps skills or an item based on his actions. But that was for the beast mana and werewolf hunt he was currently on. Both formed a trial that determined whether he would control his lycanthropic curse or whether it would control him. He would assume that given that he could now talk and form thoughts, that he currently passed. He would just have to remain in control until the trial ended.

"But what about a class?" Dante wondered. The thought occurred to him when he located the Kobold mages. And now he currently had a level fourteen assassin directly in front of him.

"Is that what dungeons are for? A method of gaining a class?"

The Kobold shook her head, "I don't know how an Outworlder receives their class. Ours is forced upon us at birth."

'It would make sense.' Dante thought to himself. Helen did say she wouldn't force him down any specific path, besides power.

"...What's your name?"

"Vata."

"Vata standup." The Kobold stared back at him with eyes that of a dragon. They dilated slightly then contracted back into vertical lines. Her fight had returned, though she was still nervous. Dante could hear her heart beat faster as she stood before him.

"You don't seem to have any qualms with me killing your squad, why is that?"

"They follow the Wardens, I don't."

"You mean to say dungeon bosses?"

Her reply was a sharp nod.

"Interesting…" Dante kicked Vata her small swords. "I expect you have a way to heal your arms."

She nodded but didn't say anything, instead grabbing her daggers and sheathing them behind her back.

"Hahaha!" Dante stepped aside waving his hands out. "Lead the way, I'll not have you at my back."

Vata looked down with shame, heading in the opposite direction of the other Kobolds.

"Where are you going?"

"We have to shelter from the wraiths. They arrive within the hour."

"No." Dante said. "We follow the army. Now about that dungeon core."