Battle Concluded!
Killed - 33 x [Alpha Maneless Lions (F+)]
Runes Gained - (279x33) = 9207
Block Head [12/99] -> [20/99]
Novice Heavy Strike [15/99] -> [17/99]
Chained Lightning Domain [11/99] -> [13/99]
YaKinov Venom Manipulation [14/99] -> [15/99]
Novice Battle Awareness (F+) [1/49] -> [4/49]
YaKinov Venom Bullet (C+) [3/99] -> [7/99]
William sat in the dilapidated house. The walls were barely keeping themselves up and teetered with every slight breeze that blew past the area. It was nothing but a single room with a campfire or maybe a horrible, rudimentary oven in the center of the building. Nothing else. He feared that if he moved to abruptly the roof would cave in on him or one of the walls would crumble into dust.
He had gained a lot from the recent battle he had just finished.
Nine thousand runes alone would've been a sufficient reward for the battle. Yet he had gained a lot fighting so many monsters at the same time, more so than when he fought a single corrupted guardsman. Everything except for his [First Judgment] and [Heavy Foot] skill had leveled up an incredible amount. More so than he expected with a fight that was much easier than dealing with any of the Corrupted Dead, much less the Death Knight.
William had hoped he could figure out a way to use first judgment without needing to punch the leopards but found it impossible to activate with his sword or spear. Something blocked it from activating without the proper weapon. Though it did work around his hand regardless of the item in it. He could hold his sword while [First Judgement] crackled and popped around his fist, just waiting for him to throw a punch.
He stowed that away for future use once he would need it in the future.
A surprise attack of sorts, maybe?
William shook his head. He had a more pressing matter to deal with currently than future plans to coordinate his skills for better effects.
Mainly, how in the hell was he meant to figure out what he was supposed to do in this dungeon? Was there a specific area he needed to go to in order to kill the dungeon boss? Were there levels that he needed to keep going down? Or maybe it was a roaming monster that he needed to find and track. There was no way to figure out anything that dealt with this dungeon other than just exploring. Which meant a ton of wasted time he could have been farming runes with instead.
Why do I keep getting thrown around the galaxy without anyone explaining anything properly. How the hell am I supposed to figure out how the system's basic functions work?
Zefor’s words still echoed in his mind. The agent monster didn't even have enough patience to help him out for a few days or give him a bit more information about what the he was supposed to do in the dungeon.
“–I am dropping you into a dungeon that should do it for you–”
For some reason, William doubted that was truly the case. He hadn't been here for very long, and already he had been walking through the fauna and monsters within the area. Obliterating anything that approached him or attempted to attack him. Killing 33 monsters should not have been so easy. Yet here he was, after crushing them without much effort.
Constantly fighting those Corrupted Dead with levels so much higher than him had ruined his sense and power scaling.
On the other hand, he was thankful that there were so many mobs for him to fight compared to the courtyard and fort he had been in with Zefor. With that being a good situation to gain only two hundred and seventy nine runes per kill if there were only a couple dozen within the entire dungeon. It would've taken him years just to make the same progress he had made in a few days within the city of Balfiemeth.
He pulled up his status page and reminisced about the older days.
Status User William (1oPg72j9) -
[Class] - [Novice Knight Guardian (F-)]
Level - 10 [10/49]
Runes Held - 9216
Runes Needed for Level Up - 1978
Strength - 70
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Dexterity - 60
Endurance - 50
Vitality - 70
Intelligence - 45
Wisdom - 45
Arcane - 59
Just a single level for any of his classes would take nearly two thousand runes. There is no such thing as two entire levels per Corrupted Dead kill anymore. Even now with the abundance of monsters, he needed to kill about eight or nine for him to have enough just for one level up. Worse yet, it was going to become more expensive the higher he went up by folds at certain thresholds.
An entire ten thousand runes were likely only four level ups if the increase was as great as he expected it to be for the next round.
William didn't wait any longer and placed one level in all of his classes. He gained another 19 unallocated stat points to distribute between his attributes Using up about seven thousand nine hundred and twelve runes and leaving him with a thousand three hundred left. William would need thousand more runes just to get another single level up in any of his classes.
The costs were growing exponentially.
He quickly dumped five into Intelligence, five into Wisdom, five into Vitality, three into Endurance, and one into Arcane.
Status User William (1oPg72j9) -
[Class] - [Novice Knight Guardian (F-)]
Level - 11 [11/49]
Runes Held - 1304
Runes Needed for Level Up - 2378
Yet, the level up and the increase in stats did not solve his largest issue. What was he supposed to say if he encountered any people who had questions that were more in-depth than he could answer? What little lies would he say that would out him instantly as an alien to whatever race that exists on this planet? Zefor had mentioned that they looked almost identical to humans, though they were supposedly more in the esoteric body department. Whatever that was supposed to mean.
He was also positive that culture, language, and a hundred other little social cues on the planet of Hajira differed from what he expected humanity to express.
“–Ah! One last thing!”
William shouted, activating his lightning domain and zapping in a hundred different directions.
Zefor laughed. “One… One last thing,” mirth filled his voice. “You should be encountering adventuring parties. This isn’t some novel or fantasy story, you’ll need a proper alibi. If they ask, say you are from a Domed Alcove and part of a super conservative family. You got thrown out by mistake after messing around where you didn’t belong and got teleported in this dungeon. That’s it. Refuse to explain anything else and be super secretive about your It and anything related to the [Class] you choose as your identity. Even if its obvious.”
“Domed Alcove. Conservative family–”
“Super conservative family,” Zefore corrected him.
“Okay. I get it. Domed Alcove. Super conservative family. Thrown out by mistake after messing around where I didn’t belong and be super secretive about everything. Who I am too?” William said, repeating it mentally to carve it into his mind.
“Identity? Just enough to get around. Name, age, and stuff like that. Nothing to detailed though and refuse to enter any parties. You delve solo only.”
“Solo? What if…”
“There are no what ifs,” Zefor’s voice was ice cold. “You have much greater expectations than anyone on this planet. Soloing entire dungeons should be a stroll in a flower meadow. Get used to it. Nothing is going to come easy. Either you survive and thrive or die a thousand deaths trying to no avail. There is no other option, William. Not unless you’ve given up.”
William frowned, but said nothing as the echoing words kept getting smaller. The same sign that the ancient monster had left whatever communication lines they had he had experienced the first time around.
Zefor had a point with what he said. If he was expected to fight off bounty hunters hundreds of levels above him and break whatever this system was supposed to be, he needed to be strong enough to solo any dungeon alone. He was already set on that path with how easily he dominated those large leopards. Now the only test remaining was to figure out if he could face off against boss-tier monsters.
Having so many people around him in a party would only hinder his ability to practice and level up his skills.
I need to get my identity straightened out.
William stared at his classes for a few seconds before finally coming to a conclusion. He would keep his novice night guardian class on at all times, and make it his official one in front of everybody. Pathetic tavern brawler was simply too weak. It would cause people to question how he had even made it to a dungeon this strong in the first place if he didn't have a truly capable class.
He knew that same exact argument could be used to choose one of the other two (C+) classes instead of his novice night guardian, but those seemed a bit too powerful in comparison. With just one alone, he could have walked through the entire group of leopards without much stress. It would've been a bit more difficult if he was stuck with only his [Novice Battle Awareness] and [Heavy Strike] skill.
If he had something in between the (F+) and (C+) rank, it would've been perfect, alas, he was stuck with only that as an option for now.
William wondered whether he should change his name or not, only to throw that consideration out instantly. He had no clue what types of powers existed within this world and whether people could analyze his status page. Having a different name than the one he claimed would make him instantly suspicious. Keeping it simple seemed to be the best path forward with the least amount of potential holes in his story.
The last thing he needed was to figure out a bludgeoning weapon that worked well with both his venom attacks and his [First Judgment] skill.
He remembered the chair in his inventory, but refused to use it unless it was absolutely necessary. The cost to his potential aura farming was too great to counteract its overall usefulness currently. His venom and lightning were strong enough to obliterate small hordes. He didn't need something that turned monsters into paste with a single swipe yet. Not until it was absolutely necessary.
Maybe a boss fight?
Something within him doubted he would need it even if he did find the dungeon’s final boss.
Everything he faced felt flimsy compared to the Corrupted Dead he had struggled against loop after loop after loop. A creature twenty-five levels above him should not have collapsed at the first encounter with his lightning domain. Though he did not blame them for dropping like flies when struck by his venom bullets the way they did. Even the Death Knight had not been immune. One had caused a serious amount of damage, two, maybe three would have been all it took to kill it if he could hit its face every time.
William smiled.
He would return to the [Ruined City of Balfiemeth] a changed man. Stronger, faster, smarter, and far more dangerous. Then he would bully the Death Knight as it had him, before finally moving on to the dangers outside of the courtyard. The same ones Zefor was adamant he had no shot in defeating even if he was a hundred levels above his current [Class]es.
