“So this is the inside of the dungeon…a lil lackluster if you ask me.” Supporting a large handwoven basket strapped on his back, Rodney was a sorry sight compared to everyone else. The rags he wore were the only clothing he had available, as he was focused solely on providing for his daughter.

The man had a slight hunch in his gait, the initial stat boost from becoming a Fighter unable to help stave off the effects of his time in poverty just yet.

It was hard for Claire to hide the pity in her gaze every time she looked at Rodney, something he didn’t fail to notice as he shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.

His new lifestyle naturally led to Rodney developing new learned behavior. Living in the slums forced him to cast away his dignity and learn subservience, all for the sake of providing for his child. Of course there was a fine line he wasn’t willing to cross, and if it wasn’t for this young adventurer party Rodney would’ve eventually caved by committing crimes.

That was also why Claire admired the man so much, willing to go to such great lengths such as starving himself, to make sure his daughter received a meal every day. The love between a parent and their child was truly a work of art, as it made Claire’s heart ache as she thought of her parents. Although the Labyrinth City provided plenty of new experiences, she couldn’t help feeling a little homesick.

Claire’s musings were interrupted by Ilyana’s sign for silence, as they didn’t want to alert any monsters or beasts of their presence. Their goal today was to complete the “first” floor, otherwise known as the tutorial, and reach the second floor.

Walking at the front of the party, Claire started to notice how artificial the first floor truly was. Everything was designed in a way to give fresh adventurers an idea of what to expect in the Continental Dungeon. It also served as a deterrence, since if you couldn’t even get past the first floor why bother at all?

Guiding newbies through tight corridors while placing them in fights weak monsters and common beasts. If they still pressed forward fool heartedly they’d either learn to adapt and grow stronger or die, and there was no choice for either option.

After clearing 10 of these instances the way forward will be presented. Only then would they be able to explore the randomly generated worlds, exploring large ruins, finding powerful treasures, or slaying epic beasts.

Currently though Claire and Ezra were more concerned with getting past the first floor without incident. Like before Claire led her party through the tunnel, with Saber and Ezra right behind her as backup. Ilyana was in the middle of the group with her bow at the ready followed by Sonja and Rodney.

The stone brick walls and pathway surrounding them gradually turned into earthen colored dirt, which Claire only became aware of due to the torches attached to the walls that illuminated their surroundings and the feeling of the ground on her boot.

Soon enough a clearing was in view a few minutes ahead of them, and although apprehensive at first because of her previous experience in the dungeon, Claire focused on putting one foot in front of the other with buckler and sword at the ready.

The sound of snickering was prevalent ahead, as Claire instantly recognized what beasts lay ahead. Arriving at the dirt filled clearing with patches of grass strewn about, the party was greeted by a group of 15 weasels.

Brown fur with streaks of tan covered their two foot bodies, they seemed like playful furry creatures as they frolicked about the area. As soon as Claire entered, every weasel stood up on their hind legs and stared with their soulless black eyes.

Eyes trained on the party, Rodney and Sonja stayed at the back letting Claire, Saber, and Ezra attract the attention of the weasels. The reason for their name, Sneasel, became evident as they all started snickering together showing off their sharp teeth, forming a disgusting melody that clearly unnerved Rodney by his stammering.

Sonja led the confused man back near the entrance, while Claire, Saber, and Ezra started making noise to disrupt their symphony. Taking their response as a threat to their existence, the sneasels hissed in unison one last time before blitzing them.

Their impressive agility was hard to track with the sibling’s untrained eyesight, zigzagging in a multitude of directions to confuse them before using all of their momentum to leap in the air and rocket towards their bare necks.

Claire gripped her buckler before swinging it in a wide arch, slamming the sneasel away onto the sideline. She had no time to acknowledge her achievement as her move left her wide open, while another sneasel flew through the air prepared to take a chunk off her neck.

Suddenly a purple blur crashed with the impending brown blur, causing it to crumple in midair before falling onto the ground one meter short of its intended target. Claire quickly glanced Ezra’s way, his eyes glowing green before dimming back to their dull sheen.

Although he stumbled for a moment, Ezra managed to maintain his fighting stance before refocusing on the battle. Something Claire emulated.

The sneasels split up in groups of five per person, and after realizing their initial assault failed, they dug up holes and disappeared into the ground.

Individually they were nothing more than a nuisance, but as a group their hit and run tactics would prove deadly to a distracted opponent. After her first encounter and with Ezra’s assistance, three sneasels remained from Claire’s original five. The remaining three burrowed in the ground, leaving Claire continuously watching over her shoulder for any signs of their presence.

After a few moments she realized her actions were unnecessary, as it turned out the three sneasels ditched Claire in an attempt to sneak attack Ezra.

Although she started running off to help him, Ezra was deftly handling the eight sneasels. Refraining from using [Soul Bolt], Ezra extended his fist at an incoming sneasel, letting their momentum plaster itself onto the blades of his gauntlet.

Before any others could attempt to attack him while he was distracted, Claire ran forward screaming bloody hell and other profanities to the surprise of both ally and monster alike.

Some of them furry creatures stood on their hind legs to hiss, before building their momentum again to launch themselves like projectiles. Accustomed to their attack strategy, Claire hunkered down as she tried her best to track and predict their movements.

Not even 10 minutes passed and the battle was already over, notifications informing Claire of her contribution to the battle.

You killed a Sneasel. You killed a Sneasel. You killed a Sneasel. You killed a Sneasel.

The rodents were mere child play compared to the goblins and kobolds they fought before. There were no real injuries on Claire, Ezra, and Saber besides some minor scratches on their hands.

Walking over to her brother, Claire clasped his shoulder before giving him a small smile.

“I have a feeling we’ll beat our previous record this time around.”

“Yeah with the way things have been going so far, maybe Baron Brewnard’s son will finally leave you alone.”

The rest of the party started covertly paying attention to their conversation at the mention of nobility. Claire seemed to be slightly trembling not from fear, but of righteous fury that seethed through her very core.

“Ughh don’t remind me about him, if I ever so much as see that playboy again I might just punch him.”

Noticing the fiery stare in her gaze, Ezra knew she was completely serious about her statement. The noble would be lucky if he only faced Claire’s wrath, as Ezra had more malicious actions in mind.

In an effort to comfort his sister, Ezra attempted replicate his sister’s gesture before realizing his gauntlets had blades attached.

“My bad Claire, this’ll take some getting used to…”

“Don’t worry I appreciate the effort, just don’t forget to take them off at the dinner table.”

After a light chuckle at Claire’s terrible joke, their mood lightened and joined everyone checking the bodies for loot. Being a rabbit beastfolk, Sonja was gifted with an enhanced sense of hearing, sight, and smell. This allowed her easily identify which corpses could have dropped loot. The only problem was as an [Initiate], her body and senses would weaken as she used her powers making her an unreliable scout in the long term.

After finding nothing of value on, under, or around their bodies, everyone believed they could head to the next instance but realized Rodney wasn’t following them.

To Claire and Ezra’s surprise, Rodney was beginning to store the body of a sneasel in his basket.

“What are you doing?”

Jolting as if he committed a crime, Rodney paused wide-eyed as he stammered out an explanation.

“D-d-don’t worry, I only planned on collecting one! I promise I wasn’t s-sneaking behind your backs or anything…I won’t interfere with the rest of your loot either!”

With a sharp bow, Rodney maintained his 90 degree posture waiting for the approval of his employers. He couldn’t afford to be kicked out by this party, not when he was so close to earning that money.

“Wh-” Before Claire could attempt to ask why, Ezra quickly covered her mouth and shook his head. It didn’t take long for Claire to realize the man planned on saving the squirrel for food later.

What was the magistrate and church doing while people were struggling to survive and provide for their families here? Did she even have the right to be mad at them, while she was born with a silver spoon and only recently worried about other’s circumstances when she arrived in the city?

Left with a bitter sense of disappointment, Claire led their silent march towards the next instance of the dungeon. To distract herself from her wandering thoughts, she noted the only difference between the previous room and the next one, was two dead trees spread throughout the area with birds perched on their branches.

Iron-beaked ravens were the result of mana mutation, strengthening their beaks and digestive system to the point where they can crush and pierce metal with ease, allowing them to survive off of common metals.

They resembled normal ravens, except for the sharp metal beak attached on each one. All 20 of them cawed before flapping their wings and diving towards the group.

As the melee trio moved into position, Ilyana joined them from the rear so they wouldn’t waste too much time. It didn’t take long for the party to swiftly deal with the avian. At the end of the day they were just a dumb flock of birds with slightly enhanced beaks, so it took little effort for everyone to deal with them.

Rodney followed Ilyana’s instructions and pried the beaks off of each bird. Although they were only small pieces of metal, blacksmith apprentices would pay to train with the crude pieces of metal.

After taking another quick break, the group continued through a variety of instances. Throughout each instance, Ilyana encouraged the siblings to face each challenge by themselves and without the help of [Soul Bolt]. Battling all manners of monsters and beasts alike, from the easy flock of Iron-beaked ravens, to the challenging pair of bears that pushed Claire and Ezra to their very limits.

You killed a Bear.

As Claire and Ezra both respectively finished their battles huffing and puffing, the dim glow from Sonja’s [Minor Restore] enveloped their bodies. Dirt covered their faces as they siblings did everything in their power to avoid the powerful charges and blows from the bears.

Claire would roll around in the grass avoiding casual blows that would easily disable or kill her. It would be impossible for Claire to block the full charge of a bear anytime soon.

Every time she would narrowly avoid one of the bear’s paws, Claire would leave a shallow cut across its large body. Eventually she sliced a vein by chance, the massive amount of blood covering her eyes serving as a near fatal distraction. If it wasn’t for Saber warning her in which direction to dodge, Claire would’ve turned into a plaster of meat.

Another factor for the sibling’s survivability was Sonja’s [Minor Restore], able to rejuvenate their stamina mid-battle. Without it, they’d both been long dead by now.

Wiping the blood from her face as she reviewed her gains, a single rank in [Sword Proficiency] and more than half of her experience requirement. Everything the siblings fought so far provided 1-2%, until they defeated the bear giving them a whopping 5%. Although it didn’t sound like a lot, the only challenging creatures they’ve fought so far were the bears and the kobold shaman.

General Information

Attributes

Class

Name

Value

Name

Rank

Progress

Name

Claire Wilmont

Strength

13 (+1)

Fighter

I

63%

Race

Human

Physique

12 (+1)

Age

18

Agility

12

Sex

Female

Perception

10

Guild

Glory Brigade

Resolve

11 (+1)

Sword Proficiency One’s general ability fighting with swords. Increased ranks result in better application, combination strikes, counters, and other techniques. Level I Rank III → Rank IV

Although it was only conjecture that she would try to confirm later, but Claire believed fighting opponents stronger than oneself increased skill levels faster than usual.

“Good work you two. We’re nearly done with these practice fights, then we’ll finally be able to explore the true Continental Dungeon.” Saber exclaimed before handing a carving knife to Rodney as they moved towards Claire’s bear to skin it. Ezra’s fight ruined the bear’s coat, leaving jagged lines all over in a similar attempt to let it bleed out.

As it was the job of the porter to take care of the loot, Rodney was expected to obtain the bear pelt. Obviously he had no experience with any survival related skills, so Saber called the siblings over to watch as he guided him through the process. Rodney’s results were less than stellar, so the group abandoned the ruined bear pelt.

While Rodney was profusely apologizing for his lack of skill, Claire and Ezra naturally recovered their energy before heading to the last room since there was no point in wasting Sonja’s power.

The weight of the situation felt palpable to Claire, as it seemed each step she took was heavier than the last. This was her chance to finally prove herself and Ezra as more than baggage, and there was no room for any more costly mistakes.

Rushing blindly into the dungeon, nearly cost her brother’s mistake. Taking a quick glance behind her, Ezra appeared calm and collected as they strolled through the passageway.

Although it wasn’t really Claire’s fault, if she wasn’t so stubborn to ignore her father’s financial aid, Ezra wouldn’t have been injured in the first place. Daddy was willing to offer them both a full set of metal armor, weapons, and potions yet she ignored his offers in a moment of teenage obstinacy due to a prior argument.

Looking back at the situation, daddy’s “overprotectiveness” turned out to be adequate preparations for their current lifestyle.

It was too late for regrets however, as the light at the end of the tunnel signified their final encounter. The rooms had already long gone back to a typical cave design with stalactites and uneven terrain.

The final obstacle blocking them from their goal slowly got up as if it just woke from an afternoon nap.

The giant lizard had smooth olive green scales covering its quadrupedal body, while its yellow serpentine eyes warily watched the intruders enter its domain. As it started to stand up to attention, a purple blur slammed into its body forcing it into the ground.

Turning back to her brother, his glowing green eyes started to dim down once again before he held the wall of the cave for support. Compared to before, Ezra’s resistance towards his skill was better but still compromising in an actual battle. He only managed to get away with using it against the sneasels, because they all aimed for the same spot allowing Ezra to easily position his hands beforehand.

As Ezra used Saber’s body as a crutch while they walked towards the rest of their group, the duo started their friendly jabs at each other once again.

“Well that’s one way of finishing a fight. You both could have fought alone one last time, but it seems like someone was too impatient to head forward.”

“No need to risk our lives fighting the lizard, when I could end the battle within seconds and we could head to the next floor.”

“Congrats Ezra and Claire, you’ve finally got past the tutorial!” Sonja ran up to the pair and gave them both congratulatory hugs. Her nose and rabbit ears seemed to occasionally twitch while she hugged each Claire, and it became obvious to her why Ezra became enamored with the young lady.

As everyone else was discussing what to do with the lizard corpse, Claire realized that there was no stairway to head to the next floor.

“Why aren’t there stairs like where we entered from?” Claire, Ezra, and Rodney looked around the room with confused faces.

“Just wait a moment, it’ll arrive around there.” Motioning towards the center of the room, Ilyana crossed her arms as she waited impatiently for something to happen.

Claire, Ezra, and Rodney both waited with baited breath before a small crack appeared in the middle of the room. Within seconds the crack grew larger until it was just inches above the ground.

At the height of their curiosity, the crack expanded showcasing a dark expanse that continuously drew in glowing white dots within a foot around it that disappeared in the darkness. It wasn’t the fact that they were using a portal, since they used one all the time now, but how the portal violently warped their surroundings to appear that shocked them.

With trepidation Rodney’s voiced out concern of the portal’s safety. Although his health was his number one priority, any one of these kids could probably beat him up if he didn’t properly follow their directions. Sensing his distress, Sonja approached the man and attempted to comfort him as described from her previous training at the church.

“Is that safe to go through…it won’t malfunction or anything right?”

“I assure you Rodney, we wouldn’t intentionally risk your life. Nothing bad will happen to you while I’m here.” Tilting her head demurely, Sonja reached up and attempted to rub his head. Since she wasn’t tall enough, all she did was pat Rodney’s face although that seemed to trigger something by his change in facial expression.

“Ah…thank you Ms. Sonja, I’ve seemed to embarrass myself in front of you all.” Oddly enough Sonja reminded Rodney of his daughter, which helped the man calm his nerves as he wouldn’t act like a scared lamb in front of her.

“So who’s ready to see the next floor?” After their little moment was finished, Saber turned to the group.

After everybody signified they were prepared, Saber walked into the portal to make sure the entrance was safe, and after a few minutes his hand appeared through the portal waving everyone to come inside.

Due to her inexperience with portals and the dungeon itself, Claire entered the portal second only to be left flabbergasted by the change in scenery.

There was a palpable difference in the quality of the air around them. Where the tutorial floor felt neither hot nor cold, this floor felt like an evening in the middle of summer.

Large trees circled the grassy clearing they arrived in, their green leaves scattered across the area due to the surrounding breeze. The most notable difference to Claire however, was the yellow dot descending through the canopy of leaves.

An actual sun.

“So no more cramped tunnels?”

“For now sure, but we may end up exploring some ruins one day. Until then you should enjoy the fresh air while you can.”

“So what now?”

Although Claire was asking Saber, Ilyana’s steady voice appeared from behind while her eyes surveyed their surroundings like a hawk.

“Currently we need to get out of this forest before the day ends, who knows what lurks in its depths. Goblins, wolves, maybe even giant spiders…”

“Did you say giant spiders..?”

After receiving Ilyana’s nod of affirmation, Claire led the way forward with hurried steps. She had no plans of dealing with spiders, big or small, and not even Ezra would be able to stop her now.