Mathew kicked a dead kobolds body to the side, and walked over to Agnox. “Good job. You did well taking him out yourself.”

Agnox was sitting on the ground, breathing heavily. “Thanks. The way he fought was odd. He didn’t move around as much as I would have expected.”

“He probably wasn’t used to a flying enemy. You are more mobile than most people, forcing the fight in all three dimensions instead of two.”

“Eh, probably.” Agnox fell to his back and groaned. “Future reference, smacking a stone shield with a metal sword does not feel good on the arms.”

Mathew just smiled slightly and shook his head. He opened his menu, expecting a certain quest to be updated.

Quest: The Seed of Fate, Step 1

Gaia, God of Earthly Bonds, has issued you a quest. Failure to follow their guidance can and will lead you to failure. Become the seedling that blossoms into the flower whose thorns can cut the red strings of tomorrow.

Become owner of a Hearth Crystal: 4/1

Finish and clear an Earth themed Dungeon: 0/1

(Bonus rewards for doing so solo)

Learn Two Truths: 4/2

Reward: Spell [Summon Bush]

“My quest from Gaia didn’t update?” Mathew muttered, more a question than a statement.

“I was sure this would count as an Earth themed Dungeon. The boss even used a stone sword and shield. Does this mean I have to fight the golems specifically? If those don’t count, then I am at a loss of what does count to complete the quest.”

Mathew glanced to see if the kobolds sword and shield were actual items, but they didn’t seem to be. After he died, both crumbled into pebbles.

“I guess this place doesn’t have any loot or anything good. Did you mention your Dungeon having several quality goods, Agnox?”

“We did. I guess this is just a System Dungeon. Probably why the kobold refused your request.”

“He seemed to consider it.” Mathew said as he sat down to rest as well. They had an hour before they needed to leave. Plenty of time to rest and patch up their wounds.

Overall, they had only superficial wounds. Nothing drastic, nor life threatening. Some cuts and bruises were all.

Mathew poked around the rock piles. “I bet there are some ores here we can take. I wonder if it’s a higher quality. Similar to that infernal steel Zack was using.”

“High quality Dungeon, higher quality materials. Makes sense to me.”

The two of them started to sift through the piles, seeing if there were any ores to find. Agnox found clumps of what could be iron and added it to the bag.

Mathew only found rocks at first. However, on the second pile, the one near the kobolds corpse, he found a small chest.

“Agnox, look what I found.”

“Aha! So there is something to steal from these scaled idiots.”

Mathew opened it to only find a smaller box. This one was a plain black stone box. It was only six inches across on all sides. He opened that one as well to only be instantly blasted by a wave of energy.

He closed the box instantly, “What the hell is that?”

“Something powerful.” Agnox said. “Open it again, I want to see it better.”

This time, both of them were ready for the energy. Inside on a bed of velvet sat a mostly spherical object. It was two colors of red and green intertwined with one another. It looked to be made of something inorganic. Like petrified wood.

Mathew closed the box and blinked. “I’m not an expert on items, but that seems way too good to be in a Beginner dungeon.”

Agnox nodded. “It could be our reward, or rather, a bonus reward.”

Mathew licked his lips in thought. “Maybe? I think we are the first to enter this dungeon. Then again, why give a reward like this, and not through the System? The two previous dungeons we did gave rewards that way on the Novice floor. Granted, it was shitty rewards. Only UC basically.”

“No clue Boss. I wish I knew so I could tell you.” Agnox shrugged.

Mathew stood up and stored the box in his personal storage. “We can check it out later. For now, let’s get out of here.”

As soon as they left, Mathew saw the rewards for completing the Kobold Dungeon.

Dungeon Conquered by Conflict

Rewards:

Title: Dungeoneer V

Title: Solo Delver II

25 Beginner ranked Iron Ores

55,000 UC

Mathew then noted that he had enough Dungeon Cores now for Blue Oaks to complete half the Path to Sovereignty quest. He just needed one more Hearth Crystal. Hopefully Melton and the others can acquire one over the next few weeks.

Just as he expected, his Solo Delver title was upgraded. He was gaining power in little ways. Including finally leveling up. Gaining Level 26 took far too long in his opinion. Then again, he had only battled novice ranked creatures thus far.

He was disappointed to learn that the weaker the enemy, the less experience you gained all the way down to practically nothing. As you leveled up, the gap grew even further.

An information crystal sold by Di talked about those in the upper ranks such as Expert and Master who were forced to fight within their rank and above to grow in power. The Sage rank was forced to always fight above their own level to improve through experience.

It made sense, when your Level was in the five digit range, you had to fight stronger foes. Mathew used to wonder if finding such powerful enemies was difficult. Turns out they are not that uncommon. The problem was being able to comprehend them at his measly level.

Mathew opened his own personal menu, noting the stat increases, and the update to his two titles.

Name: Mathew McGonald

Race: Human [Apprentice]

Class: Summoner

Profession: Leader

Level: 26

Universal Currency: 451,778

Titles: Big 100, Child of Axiom, Classy, Dungeoneer V, False Life, Forerunner, Hearth Crystal Owner, Lawyer, Pack Leader, Solo Delver II, Soloist, Survivor II, Willful Power

Axioms:

Glint of Bolster [Novice], Glint of Enforce [Novice], Glint of Piercing [Beginner], Glint of Resistance [Beginner]

Strength:

126

Vitality:

166

Dexterity:

150

Endurance:

116

Intelligence:

317

Wisdom:

333

Unallotted Stat Points: 0

Title: Dungeoneer V - For completing five dungeons gain +5 to all stats.

Title: Solo Delver II - For clearing out at most a Beginner Dungeon alone, you are awarded +2% to all stats.

Mathew whistled at his total UC amount. He was almost at half a million UC. “I’ve barely started on this floor. I still have the Apprentice floor. Just how much money will I have? Di is going to really love and hate me when I get back.”

Agnox checked his menu as well, noting his level up. “So, I finally hit 20. Want to know my new ability?”

“Of course. Is it useful?”

“Eh, it’s more situational. I had two choices, the other one was not something I wanted. The one I picked is called [Fumes]. Essentially, the more mana I have, the stronger my fire. The less mana the weaker they are. It’s a trade off, but the other ability was related to taking damage. Something I am not picking. I am avoiding getting hit as much as possible.”

“Seems to be a trade off. How often have you gotten low on mana?” Mathew asked.

“A few times. During that horde night, I was beyond tapped out. The only other time I was near empty was when you got knocked out in that panther dungeon.”

Mathew nodded. “Then I think it’s a good pick. I imagine the future upgrades will be interesting. It reminds me of my [Channel Mana] ability, but fire themed.”

After they finished looking over their menus, and neither having any upgrades, they continued going through the Dungeon.

Mathew was getting tired, and needed to find a place to rest. Preferably somewhere off to the side. He was mentally arguing with himself on whether he should sleep somewhere with an exit, or try and hide in a side room.

One gave him an escape, the other increased his odds of not being seen. Both had their merits, and Anogx was no help in either case. He saw potential in both, and whatever Mathew ended up picking, he was okay with.

After checking three spots, they decided to head to the first one. It was a side room with only one entry. However, the connecting tunnel was both narrow and curved. If they had a guard on duty, they could run back and alert those sleeping with time to prepare.

Along their way back, Mathew heard the sounds of fighting. Multiple people fighting. “We should check it out. We are close to where we want to hide. I want to ensure whoever is fighting leaves.”

Mathew turned off his wisps and used the ambient lights to keep him from bumping into anything. Light bled into the tunnel he was in. He quietly walked up and peeked into the large cave.

Inside was from what he guessed two or three groups of people.

In the center of the room, standing back to back was a group of seven people. Each had a different weapon in their hands.

The other two groups were standing on either side of the smaller group. Mathew counted twenty in total of the two groups. Then he realized they were all one group since they didn’t seem to fight one another.

“Just give us your shit. All we want is your loot. We ain’t here to kill you.” One of the outside groups people said. It was an older guy with a gun.

A man spoke up from the central group. “Fuck off. We didn’t bother you. We even helped your scouts with the Golems. This is how you repay us? I’m going to enjoy bleeding you dry you bastard.”

Mathew narrowed his eyes, but continued to watch. He shifted uneasily. Agnox glanced at Mathew, and saw there was a hint of fear on his face.

“Yes you did, and we won’t kill you because of it. Give us your loot, and then you can snap your get out of jail free talismans. You can’t leave when you are in the middle of an active conflict. Trust us, we tested it.”

Mathew couldn’t see the man's face, but heard his voice again. “Final warning. You give us your shit, and everyone can leave but you. As their leader, you will pay for their punishment of attempting to mess with me and my clan. Better yet, how about you and I fight one on one. Winner gets what they want.”

“Come on Agnox, let’s get out of here. Before we get involved.” Mathew whispered.

Before he could turn away, the man walked out. Standing was an armored man. He wielded a single curved sword in one hand, in the other was a smaller parrying blade.

A woman walked up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. Mathew was able to hear what they were saying, even though they weren't shouting. “Dad, don’t do this. We can take them all out easily. Why chance them cheating?”

“Because Bethany, I don’t want you or the others to get hurt too badly. Leave it to me, I got this.”

Mathew winced. “Fuck it is him.” Mathew closed his eyes thinking. On one hand, he wanted to instantly leave. On the other, he was curious to see exactly how this was going to go down.

Agnox tapped Mathew on the shoulder. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just hush and watch. I

The dual bladed man walked up. “Come on, draw your weapon. We fight mano a mano.”

The supposed leader laughed and pointed with his gun. “You realize I have a gun right? What are those silly sticks going to do to me?”

Mathew blinked, and suddenly the swordsman was on top of the gunman. The gunman must have some high wisdom and dexterity, because he was able to raise his gun up fast enough to block the sword.

That didn’t mean he was able to block the other blade. The smaller one sliced across the gunman’s torso, leaving a gash through his armor.

The gunman pushed back and aimed his rifle to shoot. He missed two times, and the third one was deflected with the longer blade. The swordsman dashed sideways and the swords took on a blue glow.

Mathew watched from his position. He was amazed at how well the gunman was able to defend himself. He used several techniques to empower his gunshots. However, the swordsman obviously outclassed him.

That’s when Mathew saw the middle group was watching the fight, and not the people around them completely.

Mathew saw one of the outside group members was raising a staff. “Come on, someone see him. Get him before I have to make myself noticed.”

Mana built up at the end of the staff as the fight between the sword and gun was coming to an end.

“Fuck” Mathew threw an Axiom infused [Mana Bolt], quickly killing the mage.

Everyone instantly looked in his direction. Mathew made himself seen, but kept Jeffery and Agnox hidden. He just stood there with a neutral face. As if he had been there the whole time and was unamused.

The gunman was also distracted by the attack and commotion the crowd had. That was his final mistake. Two swords pierced his chest, killing him.

The swordsman looked at the others. “Leave. Your leader is obviously weak. Find someone stronger if you want to try and mess with me again. Everyone who doesn't pay me 300 UC as you leave will be leaving with a missing hand instead.”

The swordsman locked eyes with Mathew. His own blue eyes met with a matching pair of blue. Mathew saw no emotion behind those eyes.