It has been four days since I got library access but they were mostly a waste. Well, I got about 400 exp per day and managed to reach Wizard level 3 at least but beyond that...

Still not enough stats to unlock a new class and only 634/1587 towards level 4.

Despite repeated reminders that Jack had certain orders to keep watch over me he always manages to slip away somehow even if I watch closely where he is. If I couldn't [appraise] him I'd think it is a unique skill he has...

I've currently nothing of interest to check out in town so I just wandered around a bit aimlessly. I checked a few shops that were way off from the marketplace but they don't have anything different to offer and prices are more or less the same.

On two occasions after losing Jack yet again I slid into the slums again to have a little drink. This time I made sure to not turn them into ghouls again. I half expected to meet the other vampire in the slums but he has probably a more reliable 'babysitter' than me. I don't want to imagine what will happen in a few days... he's basically being kept as a pet but fed too little, can't be too long before the blood hunger takes over and he goes berserk. Strange how the law enforcement is ok with that kind of provoked assault but seemingly even punishes murder that happened off the grid if the would-be murderer is the one that dragged the victim there - where's the difference? Seems very arbitrary.

Aside from that, I spent the last few days mainly reading through two history books which could be summed up as over 12000 years and 56473 ways to say that 'mankind' was at war with 'demons' and 'monsters'. Impressively enough not even the dictionaries define what 'demons' are, as if you just had to know. But at least I found out that the collective of humans, elves, dwarves and what else is running around here is summed up as 'mankind' despite there not being many kind men around. Not that the women are any better.

Both of these books implied that the legends of some guy called Gyev, Hjeph, Jzuph or something were true. Neither the history books nor those about that specific legend agreed even remotely on the spelling. Supposedly this Gyev person was one of the few 'Lost Ones' that actually achieved something great - in his case, he is said to have brought down the first demon lord though at the cost of his beloved fiance. Despite how crushed he was by the loss he fought on and acted as an inspiration for the people. Weird how none of the stories mention how the girl died exactly.

Here's where the stories diverge. Some say he ascended and became a minor deity and co-founded the religion of 'balance and refinement', in others he is the first acknowledged saint, yet others claim he was named by his parents after the actual first saint and has nothing to do with the religion itself.

Well, if the story is real and really 10,000 years old there's a non-zero chance this Gyev was the one that brought down the original story bubble. Too bad that was too long ago, would've liked to exchange stories with him when this is over.

However, I learned about a quirk from one version of that story: supposedly no one knows how strong he really was. Some versions estimate him as 'low' as 300 levels in total, others go as high as 500. The only certainty is that [appraise] didn't work on him as the skill only works if the target allows it or if the skill user isn't significantly overpowered by the target. Elly feigned ignorance when I asked her why I could then see Therese's status - after threatening timeout some friendly convincing she admitted that the 'World Navigator' title also removes that restriction for me. Convenient.

Well, later today is dungeon time again, time for the big experiment. As long as I watch my surroundings it should be fine. Maybe, that is a bit too optimistic... at least I exchanged yesterday the two books I've finished so far so I have ten unread books to pass time during recovery. I think I'm as prepared as I can be under these circumstances.

Morning training and ice rain spell on the flood go as usual, another 335 exp today.

Jack is nowhere to be seen today, maybe he was told that he only has to watch over me after the second flood bombardment on Thursdays? ...not my problem, really.

A bit later I arrive back at the training room. Everyone has finished their warm-up and is gearing up.

"Alright", Chloe addresses the group, "the recent events have no influence on our schedule so business as usual. Jared, you'll again keep your spells at the ready but only use them when I tell you to. As a reminder, your spells are more valuable to cut down on the threat the flood poses. Well, that's what the higher-ups have decided, I'd rather make more progress in the dungeon in the hopes of staving off the food shortage but orders are orders. Any questions?"

I shake my head, no one else says anything either.

Chloe continues, "Good, then let's go."

With that, we start marching toward the dungeon gate.

Nothing out of the ordinary happens at the gate, we just have to wait for two groups which just takes three or so minutes. We form a party and enter the gate the same way as last time.

The first dungeon floor greets us with different monsters than last time, a dozen elite crawlers?

(It says Elite and it has a lot of classes but I would've expected them to at least match a Ragelope and not still be only half as dangerous.)

My mind mate responds, (This is not a game, forget your expectations of 'balance'. Some monster types are just fundamentally stronger than others. 'Levels' at least for monsters don't mean much. A level 1 Ragelope would still be a credible threat to you in 20 levels, a level 30 Baby Slime would still just be target practice.)

I have to agree, (Yeah, I guess that makes some weird form of sense.)

There are twelve of these elite crawlers and the five soldiers dispatch them without breaking a sweat by just piling on them. At least it seems like it. I'm... not a good judge of medieval team tactics. Should probably learn about them at some point.

The second floor is comparatively gigantic and populated by regular Crawlers. About forty of them. The rest of my team just breaks formation again and storms at them. I'm not sure what to make of this scene. Is that normal in this world? These are 'tactics' I'd expect from a MMORPG pick-up group and not a well-trained team.

After a few more minutes all the Crawlers on this floor are defeated.

"Ok, report", Chloe asks, "how's everyone on SP?"

One of the soldiers responds, "Low, not enough for a single rat."

"Same here!", others also agree with that assessment.

Chloe waves it off, "Ok, then that's enough for today, let's return."

(The exp gain today was quite sad, 9 points, not even half as much as last time.)

Elly guesses, (I guess the monsters' worth in exp is related to how threatening they really are - and crawlers are just bundles of HP.)

(Don't think it is that simple. Otherwise the Ragelopes I hit each morning would make a bigger dent in my exp pool. I don't think they are worth even double what a Crawler is.)

She disagrees, (I don't think you can really math that out from the chaos that are rain spells.)

(Yeah and doing anything else is just a waste of precious exp.)

We return to the entrance of the first floor, I go last and stop after everyone else has entered the portal.

I'm excited, (No better time than now.)

Elly sounds disapproving, (You're really risking this?)

(At least looking can't hurt. Want to at least verify if safe zones are really 'safe'.)

She reminds me, (We were already told they are not safe from bosses.)

(But beyond that. Can I just lure regular monsters to the 'wall' separating the safe zone and regular room and then shoot them from safety? Things like that.)

(Sure, but be careful. I don't want to die...), she begins to whisper, (not again)

(Huh?)

Elly pretends she didn't say anything, (N-nothing!)

(If you say so), I'm sure she's hiding something.

I hadn't noticed last time because of how much my group tried to get through this ordeal as fast as possible but there is regular daylight in the dungeon, well, it doesn't hurt even without my sun protection active, weird thing.

(Any idea why this light here doesn't hurt me?)

Elly explains, (Uh, dungeons are weird like that. They count as 'outside' but the light in here is unnatural or at least not pure sunlight, so your weakness to the sun doesn't trigger.)

(Works for me.)

I go to the safe zone between floors 2 and 3. My group rushed through so I didn't have time to take a proper look before. But it seems it is true what I was told, towards one side of this room is an arrow engraved in the wall with a 3 on it that points towards floor 3, on the other end the same with a 2 towards floor 2. The room itself is small, barely big enough for a tent and a campfire if I had those.

On the third floor, I see familiar non-faces. About ten to fifteen of the walking stone men.

Elly summarizes the screen, (Slightly weaker than the golems outside, they were level 5.)

(So I guess the monsters have the same level as the floor they are spawned on?)

She agrees, (Seems likely. And I haven't seen them move very fast so kiting should be easy for you.)

I still don't have water but if I can land the ice damage over time effect...

Damn. Again!

Great!

(That may take a while to wear it down but I don't have to waste any more MP on it.)

Elly quickly calculates, (It will take about 6 hours to kill it though. Instead of just standing there you should get moving or it'll get to you.)

(Uh, right), I run back into the safe zone followed by the slowly moving pile of rock.

I reach the safe zone and wait until the golem catches up.

Then it stops moving around where I suspect the border between the safe zone and regular room to be, (so that does indeed keep them away. For the sake of science does this also limit my attack options?)

I shoot another ice bullet at it but it dissolves a few steps before the target, (That's... fair. Annoying but fair.)

I walk up to it and take a swing with my staff. It bounces off the invisible wall, (Seems like it goes both ways.)

Elly asks, (What now?)

(I don't feel like walking directly into its arms to get a shot at a different golem so seems like I have to wait until the status finishes it off. Hmm... one thought comes to mind...)

I walk a few more steps forward and swing my staff again but with my arm 'behind' the invisible wall.

The golem tries to punch me but I pull my arm back quickly and the golem just bounces off the wall.

(Weird stuff. So as long as the attack 'starts' on the same side of the wall as the target it goes through? Dumb but I take it.)

Elly wants to know, (Uhh, what does that change?)

(I can pull all the mobs in range, lure them to the safety zone wall and then blast them with an ice aoe spell by sticking my hand out at the last second before the spell starts. Seriously, as long as they don't outspeed me by a ridiculous degree or catch me from behind this is a very abusable feature.)

(So once you've drawn their attention you really only have to worry about bosses?)

(Seems like it and for the former I'd like to get some summoning skills ASAP. Well for the latter they'd be helpful as well. Until this one perishes I can only wait. Hmm... I wonder if I can use my SP to 'train' a bit. Just running some rounds or sit-ups and push-ups don't require special equipment so I should be able to waste some time that way.)

She agrees, (Worth a try. Want some 'Eye of the tiger' with that?)

(As a start, yes. How's that little project coming along?)

Elly sounds apologetic, (Not too good. I'm stuck at like 70% or so of all titles you know. The memories of the rest are too vague to recreate them.)

(Eh, 70% is enough.)

I start my training on floor 2, running laps, sit-ups, push-ups. After some time...

Having said that... the spontaneous training session doesn't work. I performed said exercises long enough for the golem to have died but neither my SP nor my exp moved, (So that's a failure. What is different to the training room? Just the location?)

Elly guesses, (I feel like with how strange the law enforcement is and how nonsensical the limitations on nurse jobs are... that is the most likely answer.)

(Shit. So need to think of something else. If I want to eventually get deeper in the dungeon I need something else to pass time, just reading for months on end would make me go insane.)

She sneers, (Well, too late for that.)

(Hey, Elly. I heard you need a little vacation. We have an opening in timeoutville.)

Elly is quick to decline, (No, I'm good, I'll pass on that offer.)

I make my way back to the third floor. I see another 12 golems. After a few steps into the room, all of them start walking towards me so I turn back towards the safe zone. It takes them about 2 minutes longer to arrive there. All of them are neatly grouped together at the invisible wall so I prepare an ice aoe spell and only stretch my hand outside the area at the last second as planned.

I cast two more of these spells and check with [appraise] - seems like every single one of the golems is now suffering from cold damage over time. They don't have a way to undo it so it is just a matter of a few hours until they get promoted to Earthn't Golems.

(Not sure what to do with my SP. It is just going to waste. I could risk striking the golems but that wouldn't gain me anything, maybe shorten their demise by a few minutes but I need to wait for MP regeneration anyway.)

Elly thinks for a moment, then gives up, (I don't have a good idea either. As we found out training doesn't work for some reason, and staff attacks don't change the time because of MP regeneration issues... maybe you could try 'Charm Eye'? Make them friendly to you and just walk past them towards the next floor and start there a bit earlier while they freeze to death.)

(The description on that didn't mention that they follow my orders so that's the best use case for that skill currently. Unless I can make them my familiars and then command them around?)

She disagrees, (I doubt that works. I guess they'd lack the intelligence to even join your family.)

(Well, it could be worth a try? Worst case our guinea pig will be dead soon anyway.)

Elly approves, (Sure why not.)

I concentrate on one of the golems and stare into what I assume are its eyes.

Once more!

...

Finally!

"You!", I point to my new 'friend', "Punch the golem next to you!"

Nothing happens.

...maybe if we're more 'familiar' with each other?

(Oh, come on! What is the point of the skill if I can't use it even on low-level mooks!)

Elly scoffs, (Should've seen that coming. Half your skills were useless so far.)

(Just continue to rub it in, see what good it does for you!)

She half-heartedly apologizes, (Sorry...)

(I guess they really are more PvM or rather MvP than PvP skills. Well, back to reading about some history until the golems fall apart.)

On the next few floors, the overall strategy is pretty much the same. Goad monsters into following me towards the safe zone, blast them with ice status aoe spells until all of them freeze to death then read for the better part of a day to recover most MP.

Floor 4, 28 Grey Wolves

These wolves are just like the dire variant except, well, greyscale and a few stat points off. Still fall to the almight of a safe zone. This is the first time I can exploit an elemental weakness here!

1488/2112 HP left... so I'd need to hit every wolf four times and each aoe only hits about half of them. I have barely enough max MP for the 8 casts to clear this room but going forward I'll stick with damage over time for now, thank you very much. Need to get a whole lot stronger before I can do brute force tactics - and the monsters outpace my leveling to a ridiculous degree.

Floor 5, 16 Zombies

If the golems were slow these are even slower. But the smell, urgh. Luckily they don't have the regeneration from my [Sleepless] skill. Wait, does that mean zombies do need to sleep? Weird world.

Floor 6, 5 Elite Golems

Time to find out how sturdy the invisible wall is. At least they are as slow as their regular brethren.

Thunk

...and yes, the wall still holds. So much for elite status.

After this I take a drink from a blood pack, it has been a few days already.

All this reading and fighting has bumped me to 1308 exp. Only 279 more to go! I could leave now, cast a rain spell and achieve the next level... ah, while it is this easy I should continue to push on.

Floor 7, 39 Navis Wisps

Flight seems obvious but the other skill?

So slime's [Acid Skin] Mk2. Touching these glowy balls would be painful but I don't let it come to that. As much as I want to power through them by exploiting the dark weakness I have to admit that I'm too weak to do that. Ice status still works the best. 1-3 aoe hits to trigger the status effect instead of a guaranteed 4 hits to kill with the weakness, yeah, that'll come later.

Floor 8, one Elite Ragelope

('A sudden Gust of Wind' and all that. One hit from its special WILL kill me, no doubt. But so far elites still obeyed the safety zone restriction so it should be fine. Also, why farmer and merchant?)

Elly cracks another joke, (First it 'farms' corpses and then you buy a farm from it?)

Groan

A worried Elly asks me, (May I ask what is going on with you? Usually you're much more cautious and now you're heading in to face a monster that can potentially instantly kill you.)

(True, but I won't always have the luxury to hide behind a wall, literal or otherwise.)

She scolds me, (I don't think this is a good idea...)

But I don't listen to Elly. Luckily the tactic still works as before.

I have a suspicion, (Could this still be some lingering effect from Lucia's [Undead Bait] skill that makes me do some foolish shit to impress the girl? I really need something to block its effect for sure...)

Elly can't refute my guess, (That I do not know.)

I shoot the monster three more times with ice spells to accelerate the damage over time and then get to reading as usual.

Floor 9, 31 Dire Wolves

Nothing special. Their own high aggro range makes my tactic against them even easier. Just two steps past the safety zone barrier all of them already come rushing in. This will be easy!

Wait, why does this one wolf not stop at the wall? Fuck!

Yeah, I don't want to find out what that bite attack does. Lightning spells for stun it is!

It moves significantly slower but does not stop entirely. Next spell! Each cast takes about as long as the stun lasts.

Shit, shit, shit! The wolf lunges at me and I dive to the site, the bite barely misses. I can feel its breath creeping down on me. In panic, I swing my staff at it.

(This was too close for my taste. Well, at least I know now that even some non-bosses don't give a fuck about personal space.)

Elly scolds me, (I hope you learned your lesson from this.)

(Yeah, yeah. Any clue what this strange item is? ...can't even take it out of the inventory. Perfect.)

She is confused, (None. Any form of identification just throws errors.)

With that floor beaten, I'm now sitting at 1607 exp. Enough for Wizard 4 finally! Now 20/2025 towards Wizard 5.

Elly reminds me, (Hey, that's enough to finally take Survivor!)

(Really? Great, I expected another five to ten levels of disappointment!)

I use the class core to gain the new class.

3QGN73

This should be the only time I'll go that deep into details about what each dungeon floor contains. As shown here MC can cheese regular mob floors pretty easily.
Emphasize on 'regular mob'. Glitch creatures can do whatever they want.

Also, I'm only about one week ahead with writing compared to releases, reader participation is advised.