The first floor of the dungeons was a large expansive cavern filled with stalactite, stalagmites, and more rocks. The main road through the cavern, with small turns here and there, was the main route that most explorers took to get to the spiraling staircase that led to the next floor. The rest of the cavern was darker and more treacherous than the main route. Goblins roamed the area and if one was unlucky, they may find themselves a victim to a falling stalactite. 

 

A loud splashing of water could be heard along with some screams and curses.

 

-Shit! They are everywhere-

 

-Stop running, you’re just going to attract more goblins- 

 

-Damn it. What do we do then?-

 

Karse peeked around a bend, seeing a flickering of light. He had been walking around for the most part, occasionally bumping into individuals and even groups of goblins. They would grunt at him and nod their heads before walking away. Karse found himself bored, with nothing to do. That is, until he heard yelling.

 

There were two young humans, dressed in brown leather armor running away from a group of four goblins. One of them carried a torch and sword while the other had a shield and sword.

 

-That’s why I said we should have stayed on the main road. You got scared of two goblins and ran into two more-

 

-My bad-

 

-It’s fine. Just deal with these ones here. Don’t let your health get too low-

 

Goblins weren’t hard to take care of, only when they started to clump up. They were semi-dangerous to new explorers, but not to those that could keep their calm.

 

Taunt!

 

The human with the shield shouted, drawing the attention of three of the goblins while the last one attacked the one holding the torch.

 

Karse crept closer, still in stealth, while the fight happened.

 

The human with the shield parried and blocked the three attackers. He wasn’t a brand new explorer so he had experience dealing with the goblins.

 

-Dodge or parry their attack, then strike back-

 

-I’m trying here-

 

-Well hurry up, I can’t hold them off forever, and the taunt is wearing off soon- 

 

The lone goblin slashed at the human, who scrambled backwards. After suffering a few cuts from the short sword the goblin used, signs of fear started to show on his face. Rich had only entered the dungeon because of the stories of fame and fortune. His more experienced friend had decided to go with him, filling Rich with courage, which at this point, had drained away, leaving only the feeling of regret left.

 

The goblin lunged forward with his sword, stabbing at the air. Luckily Rich had tripped and fell, otherwise he might have gotten seriously wounded from the sword. Kicking the goblin away, Rich quickly scrambled to his feet. He lunged forward, slashing at the goblin who was disoriented from the kick. Seeing it drop to the ground, Rich breathed a sigh of relief.

 

-Don’t let your guard down. Here comes another one-

 

At this point, taunt had worn off and one of the three goblins peeled off the human with the shield and ran at Rich. He wanted to reach for a health potion, but he couldn’t drop the torch or the sword.

 

The torch was a necessity in the dark caverns of the first floor, unless one had a skill that could create light, or see in the darkness.

 

Rich felt more confident after his first kill, thinking that the goblins weren’t so dangerous.

 

Karse, on the other hand, was waiting for the right moment to attack, egged on by the voices in his head. He had wanted to attack when Rich had fallen, but was too hesitant, thus losing the opportunity.

 

Rich finished off the next goblin faster as he had a little bit more experience. Sticking his sword in the dirt, he shouted to his companion.

 

-Let me drink a potion real quick, Ty- 

 

-Hurry up! You think dealing with two goblins at once is easy?-

 

The human with the shield, named Ty, during a moment of relief, glanced back at Rich who was fumbling for his potion. Noticing a shadow behind Rich, he let out a shout of warning.

 

-WATCH OUT!-

 

Sadly, it was too late as Karse had crept up behind Rich while he was occupied and jumped at his open back.

 

Rich didn’t have time to react as a short sword pierced his back through his armor.

 

Critical Strike! -61 HP

 

Looking down at his chest he saw the end of the sword sticking out of him.

 

-Glugg- Rich tried to speak as blood flowed from his mouth. A second later he collapsed on the floor.

 

-RICH NOO!-

 

Ty wanted to run to his friend, but he was tied down by the two goblins. The situation was not looking good, and he knew it.

 

With a [Sizzzle], things became even more grim as the light from the torch burned out.

 

Karse smiling, dropped the torch he had pushed into the dirt, and disappeared from the spot.

 

The cavern wasn’t pitch black, but Ty had little time for his eyesight to adjust to the dark. He felt a sword graze his right arm and another slam into his shield.

-Fuck- Ty was in grave danger. Without being able to see and being attacked by two goblins with another missing, he would die if he didn’t find a way to escape his predicament. 

 

Shield of Aegis!

 

He had been lucky enough to obtain a Uncommon skill and using it decreased the damage he took by half. In addition, his shield negated 14 damage, twice the amount of damage he could block. The only downside to the skill was the long cooldown, a ten day grace period. Ty was saving it for emergencies, and this definitely counted as one.

 

He reached into his pocket with his shield arm and brought out a large HP potion. Uncorking it with his teeth, he quickly downed it. He was hurting inside. The potion cost 90 bronze coins even after the 10% discount for rookie adventurers, but it was better to live than die in the dungeon. Pushing the goblins aside, he made a break for it, hoping he was running in the right direction. He disregarded the two new wounds he received while running, believing in his health and the potion he drank. The two goblins chased after him as he ran back the way he came.

 

Karse gave up on the idea of chasing after him as he wasn’t much faster than him. He went to the body of the human he had killed and proceeded to pick up the weapon on the ground.

 

Item: Steel Sword

Rarity: Common

Damage: 13-17

Durability: 95/100

 

It was a much stronger weapon for Karse, however, after picking it up and giving it an experimental swing, he almost fell from losing his balance. It was too heavy and big. Disappointed, he reluctantly dropped the weapon and continued to check the body. Pulling a pouch off the body, he rifled through it. Karse found some round metal things he had no need for and threw them aside. He picked up two small glass bottles from the pouch.

 

Item: Small Health Potion

Use: Heals 50 HP when drunk

 

Seeing that it was useful, Karse replaced the potion in the pouch before cutting it from Rich’s dead body and tying it around his waist. It was a little large, but it didn’t get in his way much. Then he began to pull the brown leather armor off the body and dragged it to the side.

 

Karse noticed his sword was looking less shiny so he went and picked up a new one from one of the dead goblins.

 

Soon, the bodies disappeared from sight, vanishing in a mysterious way leaving no trace behind.

 

[Ding!]

 

Karse was startled by the sound and looked around before noticing a blinking light. A new message popped up.

 

You have obtained (2) Small Health Potion.

You have obtained {C} Leather Armor.

You have gained 100 EXP for killing Rich, Level 1 Explorer.

You have gained 15 Contribution Points.

Normal Achievement unlocked: First Blood!

Kill your first enemy!

Reward: Random Common Ability.

You have received {C}Stab.

Normal Achievement unlocked: Big Hitter!

Deal more than 50 HP in one hit!

Reward: Random Common Ability.

You have received {C}Provoke

 

Glancing at the skills, Karse was delighted by what he saw. Although Provoke wasn’t as useful, he could surely find a way to use it.

 

With the increase in his intellect stat, Karse became able to identify key components to his growth. Killing explorers gave ample experience and achievements gave skills and stats which were necessary for survival.

 

In addition, Karse noticed a line he hadn’t seen before. Contribution Points, he thought, hoping it would bring up a message like it did when he thought of Stats or Abilities.

 

Contribution Points: 15/100

 

At 100 Contribution Points, a Path of Evolution will be available. Rarity of Paths will be determined by Achievements and Stats. In addition, abilities play a slight role in this selection.

 

Karse cocked his head to the side, thinking. He had no idea what a Path of Evolution was. Knowing that he would find out when he earned enough contribution points, he quickly opened his Abilities and checked the newly obtained ones.

 

{C}Stab - An empowered stab with a bladed weapon. Any damage dealt is increased by 1XSTR(13). CD: 10 Seconds.

{C}Provoke - Angers a target to the point of acting irrationally. 5% base chance of effectively activating with a +.5% increase per INT over target.

 

Nodding his small head in satisfaction, Karse returned his attention to the leather armor that he had pulled from Rich’s body.

 

Item: Leather Armor

Rarity: Common

Defense: 2

Durability: 67/100

 

The item's durability was lowered, seeing how there was a sword size gap in the center of it. In addition, it seemed that at one point the Leather Armor had shrunken, enough for Karse to be able to wear it. He was delighted, as he put it on over his rag of a shirt. It fit snugly, and with that Karse felt the joy of looting for the first time. Picking up his sword, he crept away into the darkness, in hopes of finding new prey.

 

[Huuu][Huuu]

 

Ty was bent over, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. His face was drenched in sweat and he had multiple cuts on his arms and legs that lightly seeped blood. He had somehow made it out of the dungeon’s first floor alive. Without light, he had ran into multiple dead ends, and picked up a few more goblins while at it. After a bit, his eyes had adjusted to the dark a bit and he could see the path ahead better. 

 

Getting out was still a hassle, but luckily for him, he saw another explorer’s torch and ran towards the light. He and the other explorer had fled for their lives as over ten goblins chased them. As they neared the entrance, the goblins stopped and dispersed, running back to their spots in the darkness, as if they feared the light from it.

 

The other explorer cursed Ty for luring mobs over to him before stomping off, leaving the dungeon to wait for the goblins to disperse more.

 

A ridiculing smile stretched across his face as he thought about what had happened. A Level 2 explorer like himself had almost fallen to goblins. A flash of pain flickered across his eyes, he had lost a good friend today.

 

-That goblin. It had to be Named. Some sort of Ambush or Stealth ability and its high intelligence. I swear I’ll avenge you Rich-

 

Gritting his teeth, Ty ignored his aching chest and stinging cuts and hurried out of the dungeon. The faster he got healed meant the earlier he could get a team together and re-enter the dungeon.