John's eyes fluttered open. This seemed familiar? He jumped up to his feet when he saw he was laying in the middle of a forest again. He sighed with relief when he confirmed that he was fully clothed and didn't wake up naked in some other world. Again.

John was wearing the same blue pants given to him by Arther. They seemed to be made of suspiciously good quality material. He also wore a metallic-silver colored shirt that had long sleeves that were weirdly puffy. Vincent gave it to John saying “oh this, it was just lying around”. Arther said it was a style popularized by this world's nobles.

Getting his bearing, John felt a very sharp pain in his temples. He was hungover.

“Morning John” Joana called from behind.

Turning, John saw the group he had gone out drinking with had set up a campsite nearby.

Ather was on the ground, in the shade of a tree, staring up at the clouds. Vannesa began pulling several chemicals out thin air, similar to how Arther retrieved John’s new pants, and began mixing them in a flask. Tina sat by a fire and was timidly poking at the flames.

“Can anyone tell me why I woke up here in the middle of a forest?” John asked, genuinely curious, as his last memory of the night prior was the bar.

Joanna responded, while waving John over to sit with the group who had clearly knocked down three trees merely for the purpose of having chairs to sit on. “You passed out after a few shots of the good stuff. We took you back to the place we’re staying at in town to let you get some rest. It was more trouble than we expected to wake you up in the morning” he chuckled “you wouldn’t wake up even with Tina jumping up and down on your chest, so I threw you over my shoulder as we planned on taking you with us on the quest today”.

John mentally examined himself and noticed that his chest was a little sore and rubbed it absentmindedly.

“From what I do remember, you had been seriously drunk yourself big guy” John accused jokingly.

Vanessa explained “Giants are notoriously weak to any form of liquor.”

"Thats rude and prejudice!" Joanna defended but didn't refute her claim. John mentally noted the information for later.

“Good morning our goofy friend... or as those present at the tavern last night are calling you” Arther tried to say with a straight face “The Lightweight Luunatic”.

John felt his cheeks get hot and Arhter did not try to cover his amusement at his new friend's expense.

After giggling, Arther continued. “Today is the first day you will undergo my family's training method”.

Vannessa interjected, “John, I know you don’t have much of a reference for this, but Arther’s family is a big deal. Many up and coming adventurers would literally kill to be given this training.”

“Thank you Vannesa, but however special my family may be- training is just training. Anyways let's get started” he said and clapped his hands together.

“Thank sounds great and all” John rubbed his head “but I’m a bit hung over after last night. The booze here are a lot stronger than back at home".

Vannesa got up from the fallen tree she was sitting on and gave him the concoction she seemed to have been mixing. Clearly she wanted John to drink it but at John’s hesitant look she huffed.

“Your body may be made of spiritual energy, but it's only enough to sustain your form. It’s not meticulously reinforced by it like ours. As a result, you still get tired and hungover after just a single night of drinking. This cure I concocted is high enough quality that it would sell for 50 copper if I sold it at the local markets, so you better be thankful.”

John shrugged his shoulders and said thanks before downing the mixture. To his pleasant surprise, it tasted like liquefied chocolate cookies. The medicine, or Medicinal cookie essence as John mentally dubbed it, poured down his throat and he could feel his body recover almost immediately. A warm tingle spread throughout his body and wherever it flowed, the alcohol's effects faded until disappearing completely.

“This stuff is really good” John complimented as his grogginess and headache all but disappeared.

“Thank you. And of course it is, I’m a Tower Researcher placed at the upper end of the red level after all. I should at least be able to brew this".

John wanted to ask more about the tower he had seen in the city but now wasn’t the time.

“So how do you plan on helping me utilize magic?” John turned to Arther.

“Well now, before any of that technical stuff, I’m gonna throw you into a dungeon.”

Vanessa and Joana looked at him in pity and Tina seemed to have disappeared but John assumed she was simply hiding in a shadow somewhere close by. Then, John felt a heavy and decisive hit on the back of his head.

“Did that cat girl just-” John passed out.

--------------

John found himself waking from trauma induced sleep on the floor of the forest. He seemed to be making a habit of this.

“Well now John. I had the party wrangle you up some opponents a bit deeper in the dungeon, so it’s just me and you for now. This is what my family calls the Trials. We take the children who show potential, and when they are sleeping, throw them into a low level dungeon like this. Of course, me and my party won’t let you die if you can't defeat one of these beasts but we won't intervene until absolutely necessary.”

“Wait, your family would throw children into dungeons and just hope they come out as an introductory course into being an adventurer” John asked incredulously.

“Well” Arthur rubbed the back of his head, “I don’t particularly agree with their methods but they aren't known as the Hero’s family for nothing. Anyways, don't get distracted. Now tell me, what are dungeons like on Earth? Let's compare the differences between the ones on this world and yours so you know what to expect at least.”

“You mean the magical kind of dungeon, right? Yeah no. We don’t have those.”

Arther looked at John suspiciously, “then what phenomenon forms in areas of significant spiritual energy?”

“We don’t have any. No spiritual energy, no monsters, no magic. Just normal reality”.

Arther looked taken aback. “Perhaps we should have started with a bit more of a basic introduction than just putting you into a dungeon to see what happens”.

“Probably. And why did you knock me out, I already agreed to come here, no need to put me into a coma.” John narrowed his eyes.

“It's a family tradition, I didn't think much about it as I went through it myself back then.”

John made himself relax. This world clearly had different standards for what was and wasn't acceptable.

Arther cleared his throat, “Well like Vincent explained, Spirit beasts are souls of deceased animals who’s souls stayed in this realm. The bodyless souls are attracted to spiritual energy, so when there is an area with notably higher levels than that of around it, it is classified as a dungeon.

Now a naturally occurring dungeon can happen anywhere. Underground, in bodies of water, in forests. I'm not too sure on the specifics, as I’m not a tower researcher, but when us adventurers slay these beasts the energy in them is rereleased into the atmosphere. If the spirit beast was strong enough however, the energy is condensed and it leaves behind a spirit stone that we take as loot”.

John nodded, listening attentively “So what is the core for?”

“It’s usually sold and put to use powering magic machinations, like what Vincent builds. It is often sold because the market price for a core is so high, but if an adventurer really wants to increase their level, they can draw in its power and store it in their soul's own core.”

“It sounds like it’s not a perfect ecosystem. If strong beast leaves a core and the energy isn’t rereleased into the area, wouldn’t the energy levels drop low enough to no longer become a dungeon.” John said, confused.

“No. That would be called clearing a dungeon and it takes a LOT of effort. Back in the day the adventurers used to do this but the guild realized that this simply cuts off a continuous supply of cores. The energy always bounces back anyways, so a cleared dungeon only stays that way for a few years. It’s smarter to avoid over farming the area and to just keep it at a low enough level so as not to form a crazy powerful spirit beast when not attended. If a party sticks to the clearing guidelines issued in a quest, they will only kill enough beasts to keep the dungeon at a low enough energy level that keeps it healthy and relatively safe for the residents living close by. “

“So when I go into whatever kind of dungeon this is, I can only kill a small number of spirit beasts?”

Arther laughed “Man aren’t you a bit overconfident! Even my whole team would need to spend a few days to have any real impact on even a low level dungeon's power levels like this one!

Mind you, this may be a D ranked dungeon but that only applies to the ambient spiritual energy naturally forming at the center. If left alone long enough, especially feisty spirit beasts may be able to kill enough of their brethren to become a higher ranked threat. Always keep your guard up.

Anyways, let's get you started, we’re already on the outskirts of this dungeon and your first enemy is just ahead.”