Delving pt. 2

Cal crouched behind a tree, careful not to put too much weight on his injured foot. He eyed the mole rat in front of him, a few feet away. The thing was the sixth one he had encountered. He was lucky enough to have snuck up on three rats after his near disastrous first fight.

His [Sneak] skill had helped him along, giving him a better understanding of moving silently. He did not know how skills worked and his first skill had given him a better understanding. Whenever he tried to sneak up on a rat, his skill pushed forward memories of what he was doing right and wrong. It did not automatically correct his stance but it was clearer to him where to and where not to place his feet.

It helped that he was a thief all his life and sneaking was part of the job description. He was used to regularly getting past unsuspecting guards who were above level 10 and swiping goods from eagle eyed merchants. [Sneak] was already at level 8. The only reason for his embarrassing performance in his first encounter was his nervousness.

That wasn’t to say that everything went well though. The last rat got lucky and spotted him before he could land a killing blow. He was better prepared this time but he was no direct fighter. The rat had bit pretty deeply into his leg before making its escape underground.

He adjusted his grip on the dagger and the short tree branch in his other hand and stepped out from behind cover. Two quick steps brought him near the beast and he lunged, dagger first. Luck failed him once again as the rat noticed the falling shadow on it and tried scurrying away. He did manage to score a glancing blow though and the rat turned to him with hateful eyes.

Like the other rats before it, this one did not bleed from the wound. The gash he had opened a patch of skin and revealed a dull orange glow but other than that, it showed no signs of damage as a living creature would.

He waited for the rat to leap at him teeth first and he was quick enough to shove the thick branch he had into its gaping mouth. He wasn’t strong enough to hold it up though and let the rat drop. Diving on top of the beast, he drove his dagger into its back. It squealed and tried to run but his weight made it impossible. Drawing the blade back, he stabbed repeatedly until he felt the rat go limp. This was the tried and tested method that helped him overcome five of them.

With a tired sigh, he slumped down as the beast dissolved in orange mist in front of him. He had heard that monsters weren’t like animals, that they left no body upon ****. It was still strange to see in person though; a creature that did not bleed and left no trace once dead.

Well that wasn’t entirely true. Once the beast was gone, he picked up a tiny orange crystal that was the size of his pinky nail. He was sure that this was the monster core that Alia had told him about. He pocketed it with the other core and called up his notifications.

That was another thing he had learned to do in short order. Boxes suddenly popping up in front of him in the middle of a battle were sure to get him killed. He had recalled what Alia had taught him and willed the boxes to condense. It was easier than expected; the boxes had shrunk and now occupied the corner of his vision in the form of a tiny red dot that blinked whenever he got a new notification.

[Sneak] Lv. 8 - 9

[Basic Dagger] Lv.3 – 4

Lv.2 Feral Mole Rat slain! 20 EXP gained!

EXP [100/100]. Your level has increased from 0 to 1! Five stat points gained!

[Codex] updated. Achievement [Solo Noob] added!

[Solo Noob] - For levelling up for the first time and without aid, you have gained 5 points in bonus!

“Finally,” Cal cheered. He couldn’t keep the grin off his face. Even the achievement’s mocking name didn’t throw him off. He immediately called up his stats.

The first thing he needed to was to see if he could heal his leg. So he put one point into his VIT and watched his HP go up.

HP: 36/60

“Well that was a bust.” Cal sighed in disappointment. Although his total HP had gone up by ten, his current HP remained the same. The wound also still hurt like a bitch though.

If VIT couldn’t help, maybe EDT could? He had wanted to wait till he was with Alia but he doubted he could handle the pain till then. Experimentally, he put one point into EDT and confirmed his choice, watching his SP go from 0 to 10, the current points also filling up.

Satisfied, he looked at his leg and concentrated, willing his [Shape] perk to activate. Curiously, a familiar box opened above his leg but this time, it was blank and had a blinking line in it.

“What the hell is this?”

To his utter surprise, the exact words he said appeared in the box and a new question appeared below it.

Shape Command: [What the hell?]

Confirm?

“What? No.”

The box immediately became blank again. Was the box giving him a clean slate; something to write a command on?

“Heal.”

This time, he confirmed his choice but the text glowed red and another text appeared below.

[Insufficient points. SP required to restore full SP- 30. Current SP- 10]

Cal cursed. Putting more points into his EDT would solve his problem but he did not want to take the leap just yet. Perhaps he could try something else? Alia had encouraged him to experiment with his powers after all.

“Accelerate healing,” he tried.

This time, the command was confirmed and he received a notification to his satisfaction.

[Healing accelerated. 5 SP consumed. HP will increase by 2 per minute till it reaches maximum.]

Cal gaped. By that count, he would be back to full health in seven minutes. Normally, a wound like that would take days to heal properly but this box was telling him that he would be up and walking in seven fucking minutes.

He absolutely had to tell Alia about this. More than him, she was excited to experiment with his class. She had read up on classes and stats a lot and no doubt having a test subject stoked her curiosity further.

He waited to see if there was any indication of the command taking effect but he felt none. After a few seconds, he could feel the pain lessening and the torn muscle stitching itself back together. He rolled up his pant leg and watched in fascination as the skin knitted back till it was as smooth as it had been. Other than the blood, there was no trace of any injury having existed, not even a scar.

He got up and gingerly put some weight on the leg, noting that the pain was completely gone.

“This is so awesome,” he said to himself gleefully.

He had no idea how long he had been here but he figured it was time to get back. Sheathing his dagger, he made his way back to the entrance of the dungeon. It was a good thing he had a good sense of direction. The trees all looked the same and it would have been easy to get lost with all the twists and turns he had taken.

In a few minutes, he was trekking back up the entrance and came out to see that the sun had begun to set. The guards at the entrance had changed and the merchants were in the process of packing up.

He approached one of the more honest merchants he was familiar with. It was a common sight to see them setting up stalls outside dungeons. Some delvers preferred to buy and sell goods right before they began or after they finished their delving. A lot of merchants took advantage of this and charged more than they would in town but Cal was confident that this one wouldn’t short charge him.

“Hey Kevin,” he greeted. Kevin, who had his back turned to him, paused putting away the tent and turned around. Kevin was an older man, probably close to middle age though there was no way to tell with classed people. He had known him all his life in Verdal and he always looked the same.

Being a merchant didn’t demand physical fitness and it showed. Kevin was a man of average height and his colorful purple shirt was pushed outward by his decent sized paunch.

‘He still looks better than Josh though.’ Cal couldn’t help but snicker.

“Cal, what are you doing here” Kevin asked in surprise. “Oh what am I asking? It’s obvious. Finally got your class did you?”

Cal gave the man a wide grin. “Just today. I’m a [Rogue].”

Kevin chuckled and clapped him on the shoulder. “Good for you. It’s about damn time. How was your first ever run?”

“It could have been better,” he admitted. “I didn’t get off to a glowing start.”

“You’re not hurt are you?” Kevin was eyeing his bloody pant leg.

“Oh it was just a scratch,” he lied easily. “It looks worse than it is.”

“If you say so,” Kevin said dubiously, twirling his thick dark moustache. “That’s a lot of blood though. You should have told me you were delving. I would have helped you pair with some newbies or helped you out.”

“Thanks,” he replied. “But I’d rather go in alone for now. Besides, I got these from Alia and Neera,” he said, gesturing to the dagger and cuirass.

At the mention of Alia, a wistful look appeared on Kevin’s face but it disappeared quickly. No one was averse to her beauty it seemed. Cal tried not to let it bother him.

“That was kind of them. Starting gear is very important,” Kevin said with a smile.

Cal chuckled. “I would be dead without them,” he agreed.

“So did you need anything?”

“Yeah actually.” Cal drew out the two crystals from his pocket. “How much would I get for these?”

Kevin’s eyebrow rose in surprise. “Two cores on your first day? That’s very lucky. Don’t tell me you levelled up too.”

“I did.”

Kevin whistled in admiration. “That is no small feat for a solo delver,” he complimented. “Most who do are usually paired in teams or have prior training.”

“There wasn’t much to it really,” he admitted sheepishly. “I just snuck up on them and stabbed them to ****.”

“Don’t sell yourself short,” Kevin said with a laugh. “It’s not a huge deal but not many newbies can accomplish that. Even sneaking up on mole rats needs skill. That’s why the system rewards it with an achievement.”

“Is that common knowledge,” he enquired. He was starting to think that he should have read up on these things after all.

“It is. It’ll do you good to learn some of this stuff,” Kevin advised. “I can give you twenty copper for these.”

The merchant laughed at the expression on Cal’s face. His mouth hung open in surprise. Twenty copper was enough to get himself a basic room at Neera’s inn for two days! He couldn’t afford that even if he went picking pockets for a whole week!

“That’s why you need to learn this stuff,” Kevin was saying. “Normally, I’d only take them for eight since you aren’t selling to me in my shop in town but for you, I’ll make an exception for you and give you the full price.”

Cal didn’t know what to say. All he could think about was the meal and bed he was going to lay in for the night. As he parted ways with more money than he ever had at once, Kevin gave him one last piece of advice.

“Stay out of Josh’s sight till you reach level 10. That guy will very try to stop you from delving.”

Cal thanked the man and walked back to town with a skip in his step.