But before he could reach his sensei, there were a few more experience pinatas that were lying along the way. With practiced efficiency and some moves that he learned from watching Becky Oak bodyslam slimes for twenty minutes straight, Vaughn beat up a few more slimes while heading over to Dhunnim ‘il Dharral.

The very last slime that he defeated brought him up to the ten slime threshold for the warrior class quest.

[Warrior’s killing spree quest: Defeat ten slimes with a melee weapon [10/10]]

[Your strength has increased marginally.]

[You feel that your proficiency with a stick has increased.]

…

Proficiency with a stick? Not proficiency with a melee weapon this time around? Come on. Semantics were important when it came to these things, and a matter of personal dignity.

…

Anyway, moving along.

He got stronger again. Good. Hopefully those marginal strength increases went straight into his biceps, because even god knew that his body needed a bit of muscle. If this was how it’d keep going, Vaughn would stay here for the next week just bashing slimes in if he had to. He had no qualms about grinding excessive amounts to increase his combat ability, and his physical appearance–one millimeter of bicep circumference at a time.

Alas, a quick glance at the next notification revealed that the grind would not be so simple.

[You have completed the beginner class progression quest for the [Warrior] class.]

Completing something was normally a good thing. But in this case, Vaughn was getting a bad case of deja vu from this. Next thing he knew, it’d be asking for him to find another teacher.

[Please seek guidance from a teacher to further travel down the Path of the [Warrior]. There is a combat instructor in the Capital that may be able to help you out.]

God damn it.

Alright, upon second review, it wasn’t as bad this time around. The system graciously told him where to find a teacher this time, and from the sounds of it, this was a pretty mainline combat instructor that would take on a lot of pupils. Unlike the convoluted and open ended go find yourself a sensei or figure out how to unlock your mana channels yourself kinda thing that the previous notification gave him.

Seriously, the damn system didn’t even tell him anything useful at all about what a mana channel or runic access were. Not even a little helpful tidbit like, you know, drinking seven cups of water a day can help support the mana pathways or something like that.

Finally, after quite a few more bashings, Vaughn reached Dhunnim ‘il Dharral.

“Hey uh, Dunny,” Vaughn said casually, not quite sure how to approach the man.

Dhunnim ‘il Dharral whipped around, swishing his imaginary cape. “We meet again, party member Vaughn Hallows. Or shall I say, Thrifkin Hawkwoods?”

If Vaughn was drinking water at this very moment, he’d spit out an entire mouthful over his keyboard, if was sitting over a keyboard.

“Where did you hear that name?” Vaughn asked with a slight hint of alarm in his voice. He had a feeling he was about to get roped into something that he wanted absolutely no part in.

Dhunnim ‘il Dharral let out a low chuckle, adjusting his glasses by pushing them up the bridge of his nose with a finger. Except he didn’t have glasses on, so he was just air miming it.

“You wish to know how I came across your true name, Vaughn Hallows?” Dhunnim ‘il Dharral asked. At this point, several other glances were being thrown at him from the other outlanders, as he’d just climbed up on a rock and perched himself in a powerful sitting position, one arm resting on his knee, his other hand covering half of his face like he was assuming some kind of Jojo pose.

Thankfully, their gazes went away after a brief moment, perhaps too blinded by his intense aura that shone with the force of a thousand suns.

“You may not have realized, Vaughn Hallows, but I have been granted a special boon. The system has granted me the ability to see the character sheets of anyone around me. Such seer-defying power in the hands of one individual… it would be a shame if someone with unsavory intentions were to happen upon such an ability.”

“But rest assured, your secret is safe with me. I, Dhunnim ‘il Dharral, swear upon my true name that I will not divulge the secrets of your identity to anyone else. After all, true names are a reflection of our true selves, and to know a person’s true name is to have power over their very existence.”

“...”

Dhunnim ‘il Dharral was wearing a rather satisfied and self-congratulatory expression on his face, the kind that made Vaughn slightly keen on shoving his head down a toilet and giving him a swirly, if they were both the same age and in highschool, which they were not, and if this was the eighties, which Vaughn himself was not even alive for and only knew of through teen drama and other pop culture staples such as the Breakfast Club.

“!!!”

All of a sudden, Vaughn’s eyes flashed, as he noticed something change on the ceiling of the cave. For the briefest of moments, it seemed as the cave ceiling itself shifted, the stalagmites changing position like there was a glitch in the matrix, before returning back to normal.

And at that very moment of the change, a blossoming golden color poured out from the ceiling and spread across the entire cave, before immediately receding back into nothing as the cave ceiling shifted back into its original position.

Vaughn only caught sight of it because he happened to be looking up at Dhunnim ‘il Dharral, who was in an elevated position.

[Through a keen eye, you have discovered a vital clue in the secret of the dungeon.]

Dhunnim ‘il Dharral had been staring at Vaughn and reading his dung’gen n draggens character sheet the entire time when that happened. He noticed something as well, a change in Vaughn’s character sheet.

“What is this? Y-your true name! I-it,” Dhunnim ‘il Dharral exclaimed, jumping up from his perched seat on the rock in agitation. “Thrifkin Hawkwoods… Hawkin Thriftyfingers… why is it changing…? Oscillating, even? And now it’s settling… on Hawkin Thriftyfingers. What sorcery is this? How can someone’s true name change back and forth so quickly?”

Dhunnim’s words fell on deaf ears, because Vaughn’s mind had long gone into deep thought. He had a hunch… no… he had a theory, and right now was the time for observation.

Vaughn climbed up onto the ledge that Dhunnim was sitting on, and seated himself right next to the shocked man. In Vaughn Hallows’ eyes were one thing, razor sharp focus, as he quickly scanned the cave and noted each slime spawning point.

Two on the left, by the wall next to Becky Oak. One in the center, where he defeated his first slime. And a group of five to the center right, where another party of outlanders was currently fighting.

Vaughn took a deep breath, locking in the air in his lungs, and then began to count without exhaling. One of his unique traits was that he could hold his breath for exactly a minute and forty five seconds, and so it was a way for him to count time.

While waiting, ignoring anything that Dhunnim was saying to him, Vaughn looked down at the cavern floor and began to watch for the next spawn.

…

Exhale.

Inhale.

He repeated the routine several times while keeping a keen eye on everything. The stalagmites on the ceiling, the outlanders fighting slimes, and the spawn locations of the slimes.

And then it happened.

The ceiling and walls of the cave flashed once more, bathing the entire room in a golden glow, before vanishing just as quickly.

Vaughn exhaled. It was no longer a theory now.

The dungeon was resetting.