21. Darker Side Of Greixol

“So are you going to tell her?” Halcyon asked from under Ardan’s bed.

It was early in the morning the next day. Ardan was stuffing various items into a little haversack Sandria had lent him. He hadn’t told her where he was going, nor why. It wasn’t that he couldn’t trust her, he just didn’t want to have to bring her along or argue with her about not going.

“No, for the tenth time today, I’m not going to tell her.” Ardan sighed, slinging the bag over his back. His plan was to depart early, leave a note with some sort of excuse, and be back before lunch. It wasn’t like he planned to go inside the dungeon, after all. The only thing he wanted to do was see what excuse the game had labeled ‘dungeon’.

“Store Hal-” He began.

“Wait!” Halcyon called out frantically. “You can’t just put me back in there.”

“Why not?” Ardan raised an eyebrow. “How exactly am I supposed to carry you? Also, a celestial blood staff isn’t exactly inconspicuous… What do you think people will say when they see me carrying you around?”

“Ah- Good point.” Halcyon said meekly. Ardan imagined his eyes were looking down.

“Store Halcyon.”

With a little pop, the staff disappeared into who-knows-where and Ardan glanced around his room for the last time. Water bottle? Check. Lunch? Check. Note left on the table? Check.

Alright. Time to see what this ‘dungeon’ really is.

He walked to the front door quietly, making sure not to make any loud noises. It wouldn’t do to wake Pat or Sandria at this hour. Thankfully, they seemed sound asleep and he managed to slip out of the house without disturbing anyone.

It was a bright and sunny morning. Too early for everyone to get up and start going about their Tuesday business. Perfect.

Ardan pulled out the notification he’d received from the night before, ready to start his journey. He’d discovered he could do this by activating ‘dungeon locator’- again with a voice command.

- Alert! -

Dungeon spotted nearby!

1201 metres

The distance had increased from last time, meaning he was going the opposite direction. Keeping an eye on the screen, he moved backwards towards the spot where he’d been last night. Slowly but surely, the counter ticked down metre by metre. Ardan looked up in the direction he had to travel in, surprised to see it was the direction of the city, near the hospital.

He scoffed and shook his head. “Right. Like they’d be able to fit a dungeon in the city.”

“Ah, that’s right.” He said aloud, remembering something he wanted to do last night, but ran out of time.

“Menu. Statistics.”

Statistics Physical Non-Physical Stat Web Ardan Boone (Physical)

Points Spent

+2 Sense [Element Sense]

+5 Sense [Dungeon Locator]

Strength 10 Dexterity 10 Endurance 10 Recovery 10 Durability 10 Appearance 10 Available ATP 20

It’d been a while since he’d seen this screen, the last time being his second day out of the orphanage. Ah yes, the orphanage. How long had it been? Close to a week by now. Ardan shut his eyes, took a deep breath, held it, then let it out. That was still a problem for another time. Maybe if he grew powerful with this system he would feel confident enough to confront Dr Halper.

One day.

And then Ardan noticed the tens next to every statistic. “What the hell? This has got to be some sort of mistake. I’ve only spent twenty stat points in total!”

He looked at the non-physical tab, but it was still the same result. Every stat was above stat. Ardan’s brain started working furiously, determined to find out whatever had caused this. Last time, his stats were only at five. At that time, he’d assumed they were his base stats. But now, they’d increased by another five. Last time, he was level… five? And now he was level ten.

That was too big of a coincidence for Ardan not to notice. My stats go up as I level up… That’s definitely not normal. I think. But what in Domhain could have caused it to act like this? Ardan’s mind couldn’t help but trail back to yesterday, where he’d learnt ‘The First Hybrid’ gave him fire resistance.

Titles. Or maybe it has something to do with my progression rate?

But where would he find the information for his titles?

For now, he closed the statistics page, instead bringing up his profile. It’d also been a while since he’d seen this.

#7969 Profile - Ardan Boone PR: Insane Lvl. 10 - 446/55000 EXP Title: The First Hybrid HP 100/325 Equipped Items Traits: Hybrid MP 100/100 Tools: Pencil Class: Unlocked at level 15 Fatigue 0 Armour: None Sub-class: Unlocked at class level 15 Accessories: None Currency: 180§ Active Quests Daily Requirements (17:02:19)

“Title… information?” He called out hesitantly, unsure whether or not it would work. Surprisingly, it did, and another information sheet popped up in front of him.

Title Information

Titles are permanent buffs given to players once they have completed certain requirements. These can range from being a certain level to having a certain skill. Titles are usually only held by a single person each.

The First Hybrid is a title given to the first one who has unlocked the benefits of the system and has more than one bloodline. The buffs of this title are:

- Access to all racial buffs

- All stats increase by one every level (entire body)

- Dual class

Ardan skimmed over the text and frowned when he read his title’s buffs. Bloodlines were pretty self explanatory- right? Ardan just assumed that it referred to him coming from two different parents. Maybe his parents were somehow special. He dismissed the thought as he looked at the buffs. “Racial buffs? I know I’m an elf, does that allow me to gain the elemental magic skill? But where does the fire resistance come from? There are no races that have fire resistance… Also, what does this dual class thing mean?”

He grabbed his air and pulled it in frustration, about to start shouting curses. However, he stopped himself as he spotted a man wearing a tracksuit jog past him. Crap. I have to get a move on. People were beginning to move about.

Closing the screen, Ardan increased his pace to a brisk walk and headed uptown to the city.

+ - + - + - +

It had been about five minutes since Ardan had entered the city, and he was already hating it there. This time of the day, the city was filled with drunks and dirty looking elves. Thankfully, they didn’t seem to be too interested in a tall fifteen year old boy. For now, at least. Ardan avoided eye contact with anyone and kept his head tucked down, only lifting his gaze to watch where he was going.

Also, the city also stunk of garbage and smoke, probably from pollution by the cars. It wasn’t pleasant, so to say. Buildings rose up to gigantic heights, looming over the poverty that had been caused to create them.

“Hey there, pal. Spare any change?” A scruffy, half dressed boy blocked his way, holding out cupped hands.

Surprised, Ardan halted in his tracks and took a step back, unsure what to do.

The boy had unkempt red hair that trailed down to his shoulders, infested with black particles and grime. His hands were laden with scars and his body with bruises, yet he still begged for money. He looked no older than eighteen.

“S-sorry. I don’t have any money on me.” Ardan stuttered, proceeding to walk around him.

“Figures. You look just about as poor as me!” The boy laughed maniacally before stomping off to a recluse of cardboard boxes by the side of the street.

Ardan shuddered and continued his dungeon hunt. But he couldn’t help wondering. That could’ve been me, if Pat and Sandria didn’t take me in. It was only now that he realized what Shiloh had been talking about, orphans being looked down upon.

Focus, Ardan. Focus, he told himself.

He’d only come out here today to do one thing, which was to find the dungeon. If it even existed in the first place. He glanced back to the screen, wondering how far off he was.

- Alert! -

Dungeon spotted nearby!

121 metres

Just over a hundred metres away, meaning it had to be somewhere in the city. Ardan decided to follow the main road, since he’d be less likely to encounter any more homeless people. Even he knew that side streets were hideouts for gangs and drug dealers.

A few minutes of walking later, he came across a large open area, a small fountain residing in the middle. Next to it were a few benches and a small grassy patch. This space was surrounded by tall buildings, one of them a train station. Ardan checked his dungeon locator once more, surprised to see that the counter had only decreased by a few metres. Did this mean that he had already passed it?

No, I’ve only walked a hundred metres, max.

He remembered learning something like this in math class one time. It had something to do with triangles and some strange words like hypotenuse. Retracing his steps, Ardan made sure to check that his counter was going down. About halfway during his retracing, the number started going up again. The counter decreased as he stepped left.

Who needs maths anyways? He thought proudly to himself. Then stopped as he looked up.

A side street.

Exactly what he had been trying to avoid.

In fact, this alleyway in particular was shaded by a skyscraper, making it dark and he could make out dark figures inside. Taking in a deep breath, Ardan grabbed the straps of his backpack and darted inside as quickly as possible.

The smell was multiplied in the enclosed space, making it incredibly hard to breathe. This triggered glimpses of the time he was in the rubbish chute. Ardan had never been claustrophobic, but maybe he had gotten PTSD from that time, because now he was beginning to feel scared.

It was so dark, he could only see a few paces in front of him. The only light was emanating from the other side of the alleyway.

I should’ve brought a torch-

Squeak!

Ardan whipped around on instinct, swiping his hand back to catch a rat that had launched itself at him. The creature locked eyes with him, and a moment passed.

And then it bit him.

“Ow! What’d you do that for you stupid thing!” Instead of letting it go, he squeezed it harder. He was angry, and wanted to hurt the creature. He’d done nothing to it, and it had attacked him out of the blue. It was his right to get revenge, right? It was only fair. It deserved-

Crack.

Squeak~

The rat stopped struggling and was now limp in his hand, it’s final cry echoing throughout the alleyway.

Ardan dropped its limp body and stared at his hand, unable to move. The two small teeth marks were already fading away.

He hadn’t even taken damage from it.

- Alert! -

You have dealt 10 damage to [Trash Rat].

You have slain [Trash Rat Lvl. 1]

You have gained 25 EXP (x37)

The screen appeared in front of him, breaking him out of his shock.

“No. No. I didn’t mean to do it. It’s not dead, is it? It can’t be dead. It can’t be dead. I’m not a killer. I’m not a murderer.” He said frantically, physically brushing the screen away. It didn’t disappear. But he didn’t care.

He knelt down and cradled the little creature’s body in his hands, already hearing Sandria’s voice in his head.

You can’t kill things. You just can’t. You’re not a murderer, are you?

The rat’s body was still warm, and Ardan felt tears beginning to well up.

“I’m… not a murderer.” He whispered softly, laying the rat softly down on the floor.

And he ran out of the alleyway, into the light.