Delving

Cal stood outside the walled town of Verdal, staring at the path ahead.

He stood on the side of a wide road, carts and people occasionally moving about. The sides of the roads were lined with stalls, with merchants lounging under the shade of their tents. A large area surrounding the dungeon had been cleared of trees and the guards patrolled, vigilantly keeping an eye out for trouble. Men manned the watchtowers placed at equal intervals around the clearing.

Thanks to Alia and Neera’s encouragement and his own excitement, he didn’t waste any time in making his way outside town and had confidently marched on the path to the dungeon. Now that the entrance loomed in front of him though, his nerve was beginning to fail him.

‘It isn’t even all that threatening...’ he mused. He drew the dagger out of its sheath and pushed it back in nervously as he walked closer.

It certainly looked odd. A lone rounded rock formation jutted out of the otherwise barren clearing. The dungeon was shaped almost like a dome about fifty meters across. No doubt the excess rock had been chipped away and the entrance had been shaped by crafters to look appealing. It was only a tier one dungeon but the main source of the town’s income so it didn’t surprise him that it was well maintained. He could see torched lined on the walls inside the entrance.

He approached the arch shaped entrance and peered inside. The ground sloped downward as he heard it would. One of the two guards posted shifted his halberd and eyed him up and down. Cal noted that all the guards wore steel plated heavy armour. They were better equipped than the ones inside the town.

“You here to delve kid,” the one who was eyeing him asked. The other looked utterly bored and simply gazed the road.

Cal cleared his throat and nodded. “First run actually.”

The slight tremor in his voice must have shown as the guard gave him a reassuring nod. “No need to be nervous. The first level has only has Feral mole rats and the odd Ratkin. That dagger of yours should take care of them easy.”

Cal smiled at the man. “Any advice?”

“Most of ‘em travel alone but sometimes they travel in pairs,” the guard recited. It sounded like he had given this speech a thousand times before. “Their hearing ain’t too good and unless they’re underground, they can’t feel where you are clearly.”

“So I should sneak up on them?”

The guard nodded in approval. “Exactly. You have to strike fast though. They’re annoyingly quick below ground though they can’t dig very deep.”

“And the Ratkin?”

“Don’t even think about taking them on until you’re level 5,” he said with a shake of his head. “They’re bigger and can use crude weapons; smarter too.”

[Codex] updated- [Monster lore]. Feral mole rats and Ratkin information added.

Cal thanked the man and drew out his dagger. Taking a deep breath, the stepped into the dungeon and started walking. Only silence greeted him as he went downward, the only source of light being the torches. There were no other delvers besides him going in. Most went in early in the morning and he had spent a lot of time with Alia so he was alone at this time.

Once he was around a hundred meters in, he could see the light ahead and quickened his pace. When he stepped through, he took a moment to observe where he was.

Oddly, he stood in a forest that had fewer trees than the one outside town. Very few leaves littered the ground and the trees were taller than the once he was used to seeing. Continuing his gaze upward, he was surprised to see that there was no sun. He seemed to be in an enormous cave. Though he could see the roof way above the trees, he couldn’t see the cave walls anywhere near.

“Well that’s freaky,” he muttered. The cave was way bigger than the dungeon seemed from the outside and there was no way this gigantic space was underground; he hadn’t travelled down far enough. Though he could see no source of light, the cave was well lit as if it was morning. Alia had told him that caves were weird like that.

Shaking his head, he moved into the trees. He kept a tight grip on his dagger and a vigilant eye out for mole rats. It was strange. He hadn’t even seen one yet but he was already imagining being eaten by a legion of near deaf critters.

The sound of a twig breaking made him spin around and he swept his gaze nervously across the trees. Any one of the numerous mounds rising above the ground could contain a mole rat.

‘There!’

Something moved quickly in the corner of his vision and he was sure it looked pink. He bit his lip in thought.

‘What should I do? Should I go after it? Wait for another one?’ He spun slowly in a circle, keeping the dagger in front of his chest. ‘Fuck!’

Something brushed against his leg and he screamed in fright, stumbling back and landing on his ass. The dagger slipped from him grasp and fell near him.

“That is _not _a fucking mole rat!” For one thing, the thing was big. It easily came up to his knees even on four legs. Unlike regular more rats, this one’s skin was covered in patches of red, as if it had some sort of disease.

Most frightening of all were its unnatural red eyes and all he could see in them was hunger.

He and the mole rat stared at each other for a moment before the thing suddenly lunged at him. He screamed again and scrambled away, stumbling to his feet in time. The rat came to a halt a few feet from where he was and turned around.

Cal eyed the dagger on the ground and then looked at the rat. ‘Nope.’

He spun around and ran towards the nearest tree as fast as his feet could carry him. The rat was faster though and bowled into him, making him go stumbling down. Having been chased countless times before, he curled on instinct and spun on the ground, quickly springing up and kicking the rat square on the nose.

The rat squealed in pain and Cal used the opportunity to duck behind a tree. ‘So much for stealth.’

His breath was coming in quick short bursts and his hands were shaking. ‘Get a fucking grip! It’s only the first monster!’

He took a peek around the tree and saw that the rat had recovered and looked no worse for the wear. He cursed his abyssal STR. He had given it the strongest kick he could give and it caused no visible damage.

‘Not very smart are you?’ The rat had its nose on the ground, trying to locate him. It had clearly seen him go for the tree but wasn’t smart enough to decide where he went after it lost sight of him. What was it the guard said? It couldn’t sense him clearly above ground?

It was clear that his physical prowess would be useless. The thing was a quarter of his size and he was weak. ‘I need that dagger.’

The problem was, it was directly behind the rat where he dropped it. Pressing himself to the tree, he carefully looked around. The rat was still searching for him but wasn’t looking in his direction. Maybe he could circle around the thing?

Taking a calming breath, he stepped out from behind the tree and snuck to the next one. Making sure the rat hadn’t spotted him, he moved to the next tree. Slowly, but carefully, he edged away from the monster and towards the dagger.

By the time he was half way around, the monster had started moving towards his initial position.

[Sneak] skill gained! Lv. 0 – 1

His very first skill! The notification came as a complete surprise that he stumbled. The thud of his knees on the ground immediately drew the rat’s attention.

Cursing loudly, he dismissed the notification and dashed towards the dagger. The rat once again proved to be faster and bowled into his legs just as he was within reach of the blade.

With an angry squeal, it leapt on him and bit into his shoulder. Cal shouted in pain and immediately started pounding on the side of its face with his fist. Lucky for him, the rat’s teeth weren’t sharp enough to make it past his armor.

He got a lucky hit in and accidentally punched its sensitive nose which caused it to let go. Despite his poor strength, he was still able to throw it off him and immediately scrambled to the dagger.

He was just in time to as the monster was upon him once again. Managing to not fall on his stomach this time, his spun around and slashed, somehow managing to graze the rat on the side just as it landed on him.

It squealed in pain again and tried to take a chunk off his arm this time. Cal let his instincts take over and fought the thing just as he had fought the other children for food. This time though, he had a weapon on him and he didn’t waste it.

He swept his arm to the side and brought in a wide arc, stabbing the monster right on its side. It tried to scurry away but he didn’t let it. He stabbed again and again until long after the squeals stopped and the beast lay unmoving.

After a while, he finally let up. Strangely, he did not feel any blood on his hand or clothes. His heart was beating furiously and his breathing was frantic. Uncaring if other rats found him, he just laid there for a while.

The other street kids had to go up against that? At fourteen years old? No wonder so many of them never made it out of the dungeon. He brought the dagger up to eye level and once again admired its sharpness. If it weren’t for that and Alia’s armor, be would be very dead by now.

‘Just like all the others,’ he thought bitterly. ‘I have to thank Alia and Neera properly... if I see them again that is.’

Lv.2 Feral mole rat slain! 20 EXP gained!

“Oh great.”