Waking up was by far the best experience I've had since I came here. My stomach no longer felt like eating itself, nothing hurt, all my debuffs were gone and my hand was fully healed just like the doctor said. Getting out of bed without snitched I put on my remaining articles of clothing on, which wasn’t more than a few bloody rags covering my legs and boots that could have been passed as a garbage bag. My only good piece of equipment was my sword, and now that I could examine closely without fear of being eaten I could tell that every time I swung my sword the symbols on the length of its side would glow faintly white. The sword also felt weird when I swung it, somehow feeling like it moved considerably faster than it should. I assumed it has something to do with the glowing symbols.

Ignoring the sword for now and heading downstairs to the main space of the inn, I found myself an empty table. Light streamed through the window and gave the entire room a cheery atmosphere. Not wanting to waste any more sun I called over a barmaid and order my food. The food coming free with the room

Getting brought my food I thanked the maid before stuffing it down. Once I was satisfied that I was full I headed out into the streets of … whatever this city is called. First things first, buy some clothes.

. . .

It took me a few hours but I eventually bought everything I needed. I bought two articles of clothing (ones that were almost comfortable). A fire starter kit and a backpack to hold it in. I also explored the city in that time. It looked like the dungeon I found yesterday was roughly in the centre of town and when I neared it, I could see a line of people stretching from the entrance that slowly moved closer, every five minutes or so. On the opposite side of where I came in was another gate similar to the one I come through, except now there were numerous people and wagons entering and exiting the gate at any one time.

Over the course of the day, there were a few people that seemed to give me odd stares and move to the opposite side of the street when they saw me. At first, I thought it was my torn and ragged pants and no shirt. But even when I bought new clothes people still did the same thing. It was only after a lovely dressed women nearly gagged when she passed me that I realized that I probably stank. Doing what any sane man would do I did a sniff test. And yep, I smelled like a wet donkey had just decided to bath in pig shit, but on the way over to the bath fell into a pool of whale vomit and then rolled down a muddy, wet, fertilized hill into that aforementioned pig shit. Suffice it to say I went to a bathhouse real quick after that.

In total, I was down 1 gold and 2 silver from my purchases. I also managed to find out the conversion rate from gold to silver being 10:1. With all my necessities completed, I have to think about I’m going to do now. Before I was just constantly reacting to my situation I was in, but now I have to actually think about what I’m going to do with my life. From the looks of things I really only have two options, either become some sort of fighter, and make a living that way, or invest in a trade, maybe even invent something new to this planet from earth

Walking and thinking my feet eventually took me to the dungeon. Well, I guess that settles it. I have always been a firm believer in your subconscious knows what you want, and if it took me here it probably means that is what I truly want, or I'm just bullshting my self. But either way, even if I don’t like the adventuring life I can always become a carpenter or something, assuming I don’t die of course. With my decision made I turned around and headed towards the inn, getting ready for an adventure.

Taking my sword from the floor I soon realized that I may have forgotten something to buy. Slightly deflating from my anticipation of riches, I headed towards the smith. There were two blacksmiths in town from I could tell, one was close to the dungeon and the other was a bit further to the outskirts. The one closer to the dungeon seemed more refined and expensive while the other seemed less so.

I Headed to the cheaper looking one first, for no other reason than it was closer to my inn. I headed inside to the sound of a bell ringing.

A human male was manning the station and he gave me a small smile when I entered. The inside of the shop was covered in display cases showing swords, shields, armour and a host of different kinds of weaponry. There also seemed to be a few displays dedicated to things like shovels, hammers and nails.

Approaching the desk I plopped my sword down onto it. “Do happen to have a sheath that fits this sword? Also, do you know what is made of, and what those runes do.”

The man looked at the sword and his eyes grew wide, he lifted the sword and slowly swung. After a few swings in the air (and once into a piece of wood) he placed the sword back onto the bench and looked at me slightly impressed “Where did you get this sword? It is made from a rare metal and has an advanced speed rune. From what I can tell the metal is either slanice or racium. The rune speeds up your attack, from what I can guess by 20% - 40%, you will need to go to a runesmith to get an exact number.”

Ignoring his question I got back to the point. “So can you make the sheath? I’m also looking for some light armour.”

He nodded before ducking behind the counter and taking a few leather sheath out and trying to see which is the best fit for my sword. After the fourth one he tried the smith nodded and put it on the counter. “Now the amour will take some time, I recommend leather armour, but whatever you choose, I need to take your measurements. If you would follow me this will only take a moment.”

I followed him behind the counter and into a back room with a body-sized mirror where he started measuring my proportions. When he was done, we returned to the reception room. “It will take two weeks to finish the armour. In total it will cost 5 gold, plus the sheath which cost 6 silver. You can pay half the price of the amour now and the other half when you get the armour.” The smith said slyly grinning at me.

. . .

That was how my purse ended up 3 gold and 1 silver lighter. I still felt a pang in my chest when I thought about the money I spent. At least I managed to get my sword hilt wrapped and a promise to repair my sword to full health for free. Apparently, only his master could repair the sword and he was out shopping and couldn’t do it now, or some bullcrap like that.

With my sword at my hip, I made my way to the line standing outside the dungeon entrance and waited for it to dwindle. It took nearly an hour, but I made it to the front of the line where a man behind a desk waited. When I stepped forward he looked up at me, and with a bored expression and tone of voice explained how the dungeon worked. Apparently there was a 20% tax on everything collected in the dungeon, and they did a scan before and after you left the dungeon to check if you were hiding anything. Apparently the value of the items gained from the dungeon was decided by the adventurers guild.

The guy also seemed to look at me like I was slightly stupid for going in alone but said nothing. He also gave me a few ideas for what to expect in the dungeon. Apparently there were three ways to get out of the dungeon, you can either come back to the entrance, find a safe room or defeat a boss to get out. The main creature on the first level were some bats and vines that gripped at you. When he was done explaining he looked at his watch and waited for another 2 minutes before he let me into the dungeon.

You are entering an area of the dungeon designed for a group of 5 people, with a recommended level of 6.

Since you are alone all loot gained is increased by a multiple of 3. Your level is also more than 4 levels below the recommended so all loot gained is increased by a multiple of 2. Giving a total of 5X the average loot.

As I entered the dungeon I drew my sword and strained my senses for anything. The walls were a rough stone, and the air felt thick and heavy, seeming to convey a sense of earliness that caused my hackles to rise. The tunnel looked to be 10 metres wide and sloped downward. The light also strangely seemed to be constant, coming from nowhere, it was still dark but there was enough light to see by.

Walking without trouble for a few minutes, I heard a ‘woosh’ behind me. I spun around into a bat that latched onto my right shoulder and with teeth penetrated into my neck. Stumping for a second, as I felt my blood get sucked out I reached up with my left arm and tried to tear the bat off my shoulder. A scream erupted from my throat as its teeth ripped a larger hole into my neck and the bats’ claws left gauges on my shoulder. The bat bit my hand but I had enough state of mind to run to the wall and beat the bat to death.

The bleeding was profuse, I was losing 4 hit points a second and I had already lost 34 hitpoints. Gritting my teeth I took my shirt off, pain flaring in my shoulder and neck. I tied my shirt around my neck and sat next to a wall taking slow breaths, gritting my teeth through the pain.

I lost a total of 86 points out of my total 105, my wounds stopped bleeding but I still felt pain every time I tried my moving my right arm or neck. I waited for 15 minutes to regain some of my lost health, and in that time a group of people passed me while I was resting. They warily looked at me while they passed, but they seemed to ease when it was just me here. 5 copper coins also clincked to the ground after I killed the bat that soon found a new home in my purse.

Once I was mostly healed I grabbed my dropped sword and hesitated for a second before casting my movement detection spell and continuing onward.

Focusing on my senses I suddenly felt something coming from my right side. It felt like an itch coming from a place outside my body, it was weird but I didn’t hesitate. Spinning around I put my arms up in time to block a bat coming at my neck. The bat still latched onto my arms, leaving shallow burning lines of pain on my forearms. I managed to get my sword hand free and thrust my sword through the bat. The sword bit into my hand as well with my shitty control over it. I let out a grunt of pain at the same time as the bat dropped to the stone.

I stopped my mana spell before gritting my teeth and leaning down to collect the 6 copper coins that dropped. Mana depleted I turned around and headed out of the dungeon, checking my notifications on the way,

Congratulations! You have killed a level 4 mutated vampire bat(✕2) for a total of 140 experience and have reached level 2!

You have 6 free points to distribute. You have gained 2 points in agility and one in intelligence. (see character sheet for all attribute point sources).

You have gained the skill first aid.

Description: Heal the sick and damaged without the aid of magic

Level 1 novice

- Bandaging wounds blocks blood 2% more effectively

- Medical mundane single use items are 0.5% more effective. (i.e. slaves, creams)

You have increased the spell movement detection.

Level 1 weak -- Level 2 weak

Cost- 24 mana and an additional 1.9 mana per second of the spell being active

For your excursions, you have gained stat points!

+2 to vitality

+2 to perception

+1 to intelligence

+1 to dexterity

I put 3 points into perception, two points in vitality and one point in strength. I really wanted to put some points into dexterity but perception would be more useful in the dungeon, I really needed health as I almost died earlier and the requirement for strength is a lot less for the sword. But I still needed a better way to get points. 6 per level was just not enough. I also need to find someone to teach me how to use my sword. I had training in krav maga from back on earth, but I neglected to train my sword skills, for obvious reasons. I mulled over my options as I made my way back, passing another group near the entrance.

As I came out of the dungeon I was whisked to the side, where I was put through another scan. I had to give away 2 of copper due to tax. Overall the day wasn’t a bad haul, I gained a level and a few coppers. But I really need to be more prepared next time I go in there. I probably shouldn’t have gone into the dungeon today and just rested and explored the town more.

Walking around the town I bought some bandages, a few more shirts and a better belt. I also checked out an alchemist store were I bought a health and stamina potion that regenerated 60 stamina/health over 20 seconds. The stamina potions cost 7 silver while the health one cost 1 gold. The price was exorbitant but I would rather have it for emergencies than, you know, die. I checked out a magic store as well, but I quickly realized that everything was out of my price range so I didn’t stay long.

After a long day, I made my way back to my inn, where I ate my meal and paid a maid to wash my clothes. Falling on my bed exhausted, I was out before the sun was down.