Key:

( ) = Speaker

{ } = POV

[ ] = Titles/Move names

Location: Runscav, Draacia Kingdom, Paradisial Plains

{Rex Yamamoto}

Date: 16 days since Merge

114 days left till the the dungeon raid. Actually, since it’s been a full week since we first heard about it, today makes it 113 days, doesn’t it? Pops and I managed to get to Bronze class in a relatively short amount of time, which definitely means we’re making good time. However, we definitely can’t start to slack off just because we managed to get ahead by a few weeks. But, I definitely shouldn’t be talking about being proactive in our training considering how our day started off.

Pops and I woke up at around noon today. I’m guessing it may have been because we partied a bit too much during our celebration last night. We got dressed and went down to grab a quick meal at the Association’s cafeteria. The meals they make at the cafeteria are quick too eat but extremely filling, and that’s because it’s served in the form of slime.

Now hold on a second, I know it sounds gross, and it definitely takes some getting used to, but it’s not as bad as it sounds. The slime that are served are from tamed slimes raised on farms that are close by to the town of Runscav. These are massive slimes that are around the size of cattle, but are far easier to take care of as they don’t really have that many physical needs aside from being fed. As it continues to eat, however, it will begin to grow in size. To make sure that the slime doesn’t grow too big, some of its slime is extracted and sent off to be sold in the markets. And before you get any ideas, no, this extracted slime does not develop its own consciousness, it’s just slime. Extracted slime only develops a consciousness if it’s the same size as a calf. The portions that are delivered to the market are only big enough to fit on a plate. The cooks here buy the slime, and then mix it with an actual meal, for example a steak or fried rice. The meal is completely dissolved by the slime, but the taste and heartiness of the meal remains. Thus, while you’re slurping down the slime, an action I have only just gotten used to, you will feel as if you’re eating the meal that had been dissolved in the slime.

As a side note, slimes aren’t considered demonic beasts in this world. The words “demonic beasts” are given to hostile creatures that do not have any intelligence and will attack anything that comes close to them. Sure, some form groups, but demonic beasts that do form groups are also known to betray one another. Now, some may argue that this is normal behavior for any predator. However, predators only kill anything that poses a danger to them, or if they need to satisfy their hunger. Their are reasons behind why predators kill. This is not the case for demonic beasts. They kill merely for the sake of the action itself. Those that aren’t strong enough to kill hurt others merely because they feel like it, and those that can kill will kill just because they can. That is what a demonic beast is.

Getting back on track, while Pops and I were eating our meal, I began to wonder something about Lance.

“Hey, Lance said that when you become a mage, a new skill tree opens up for you, right? Wouldn’t that mean he has skills from another class besides his [Void Mage] class?”(Rex)

“Yup, and based on his equipment, it looks like he was probably a knight before he became the [Void Mage]. However, like he said, you can also have more than on class by mastering your last class, just like in Endless Adventure. Based on the description of the dungeon you’d need to beat to get the powers of a mage, I assume he probably had mastered at least 4 classes. I know that we’re a bit of an exception, but if you consider how long it took us to master the basic skills of our offensive classes, it shouldn’t take more than a few months to master a class.

Furthermore, most people aren’t as impatient as you and I, and would most likely prepare years in advance before taking on that dungeon. The members of those raiding parties definitely had to be high leveled, otherwise the dungeon wouldn’t have gained its infamy through the their deaths. I’ve asked a couple of the smiths at the smithy about the people who go into that dungeon. Apparently, one of them had mastered 3 offensive classes, and he died on the fifth floor of that dungeon.”(Takeru/Pops)

“Wait, how did they know he died on the fifth floor?”(Rex)

“Well, the dungeon kind of keeps a tally of those who have died on each floor. A scoreboard is located right above the entrance to the dungeon. I guess that, in a sense, the dungeon is kind of like an arcade game. Tons of people play it, but only a few will ever get the top score. Of course, in this case, not getting the “top score” means you got killed. Every single person who has died in that dungeon is listed on that scoreboard, their names placed in a box that corresponds to the floor they perished on.”(Takeru/Pops)

“Huh, so there are game-like aspects like that in this world huh? Damn, that dungeon is twisted as hell, listing the names of the dead as if it were just a game…”(Rex)

“Well, that’s just how it works. Any world has some twisted aspects to it. Even our own world did. Crime, corruption, wars, all of those led to a lot of suffering.”

Pops then leaned closer toward me so that only I could hear what he was about to say.

“Anyways, we need to talk about Lance.”(Takeru/Pops)

“You don’t trust him,” I replied in a hushed tone, guessing what Pops’s next words would be given his nature. Although he can be pretty lazy and carefree at times, he isn’t one to just trust someone so easily. That’s why I had been a bit surprised at his quick acceptance of Lance. But, I had quickly realized that that wasn’t the case due to the look he had given me.

“Why would I? I know you don’t. He was way too friendly!” Pops had also replied in a hushed tone. We continued our conversation through whispers, knowing that Lance was held in high regard around here.

“Then why did you so easily accept his offer?”(Rex)

“Simple, our situation would’ve been much worse if we had refused. I know you came to the same conclusion as me about our chances of survival out in the Wastes. If we had stayed out their, our chances of survival were pretty low. Stepping through that “gate” he had made also posed a great risk, however, based on his previous actions, it didn’t seem like he would just kill us off. Unless he’s some sort of sick sadist that enjoys killing others himself, he wouldn’t have bothered to save us from that Giant Centipede.

Furthermore, if we had refused, he might’ve just finished us off right there. That’s the outcome I’m beginning to believe would have most likely occurred if we had refused. It’s obvious from our conversation in the Association hall that he really cares about this place, so it’s probably safe to assume that he’ll eliminate anything or anyone that might harm it. For all he knew, we could’ve been scouts from an enemy kingdom that were looking for a suitable invasion route into the Draacia Kingdom, which would’ve also placed Runscav at risk. Thus, I decided that our highest chances of survival would be to step through the gate.

Now, I still can’t really discern what that guy’s really like. However, I can tell you this much, he’s definitely got something planned. He isn’t your stereotypical hero who’s naive and helps just because they believe it’s the “right thing to do”. That’s become more evident since his description of the dungeon. Someone who’s survived a dungeon that has a survival chance of less than 1% couldn’t have survived with such naive beliefs.”(Takeru/Pops)

“I agree, no one could’ve come out of there without having gotten rid of such beliefs. I know I haven’t believed in them ever since my parents died. Anyways, we should carry on this conversation at another time. It seems more people are coming in for lunch, and they might get suspicious if we keep whispering to one another.”(Rex)

With that, we ended our conversation and finished our meals. We then headed off to the Association hall to see what type of jobs we could now acquire as Bronze ranked adventurers.

When we got to the quest board, we saw that all Bronze ranked jobs were demonic beast subjugation missions. It seems that Bronze rank is meant to train your offensive class. We took one of the easier jobs, taking down a Gigaboar that had appeared in one of the nearby forests. We decided we would take only one job for now, because although we learned our offensive skills' basic techniques relatively quickly, we have yet to actually see how well we'll do in actual combat. We showed Lilica the job so that she could mark them as a job we had taken, and once she had done so, we quickly set off to track down the Gigaboar.

Taking down the Gigaboar was pretty easy. The Gigaboar was the size of an elephant and had tusks that were easily 6 meters long. It charges at its target at great speeds, however, its movements were clumsy, and we used that to our advantage. Although it was fast, I was still able to easily dodge its oncoming charge. I then caught both its front legs with my kusari-fundo and attached the kusarigama to a nearby tree. The chain tightened and the Gigaboar lost its balance, allowing Pops to get close to it and finish it off by piercing its skull.

We harvested the Gigaboar’s tusks and hide, but left its meat behind, as another characteristic of a demonic beast was that its flesh is extremely poisonous. As we began to make our way back, we heard a small cry coming from the woods to our left. We quickly made our way towards the sound and discovered a goblin leaning against a tree stump. Its arms were broken and its body had been pierced in various different areas. Blood was flowing out of his wounds, and much of the area around the goblin was dyed in red. As it slowly lifted its head toward us, I noticed its eyes were bloodshot. It face was covered in both blood and tears. One of his eyes was had been severely beaten, and his nose was bent in an irregular way.

Then it said, with a weak, desperate voice,

“Please, help me….”