The Depths Of a Dungeon
4450 Words
Adam got closer and closer to the cave's entrance.
The bodies of the five goblins he had killed earlier were still there, emitting disgusting smells. He took the military knife he had thrown during the previous fight.
Once he was at the entrance, a series of digital screens apperared in front of him, messages from the System.
'Oh right, this thing did exist.' He had completely forgotten the System's existence.
[ The System is being forcefully unmutted.]
'Mm.. I did mute it I guess. Can't really remember why or when.'
[ You have discovered a Hidden Location inside "The Forest of Goblins".]
[You are the first from your world to discover a Hidden Location.]
[This is your first time entering a dungeon.]
[You have been awarded the title "The First Pioneer". Check your status window for more information.]
[Additionnal rewards will be added to the dungeon clearance rewards.]
[The Hidden Location you have discovered is "The Goblin Chief's Domain"[E]. Will you enter?]
Adam was startled by the number of sudden messages he received one after the other.
'First, let's check that.' He thought.
"Status" Adam said.
The window appeared in front of him.
[ Name: Adam
Age: 12years old
Species & level : Human Lv2(0/75xp)
Gold: 25
HP: 70/90
Endurance: 60/80
Stats: Strength: 10
Agility: 12
Sense: 15
Vigor & Endurance: 8
Unused stat points: 3
Skill(s): Sleeping Beauty
Title(s): The First Pioneer
R##ht###s to E#il Points : 50-0
S####o#: (None) ]
'What the hell? Didn't these stats increase by a lot?' He didn't remember his exact stats from before, but was pretty sure they had increased a lot.
He muttered without meaning to. "How did I get so strong?"
Another window appeared.
[ You leveled up for the first time. Therefore, one stat point has been added to every stat you have.]
[You are a Human Child. Therefore, for the next three months, you shall earn three stat points instead of one to use as you see fit per level up, not counting the stat points normally added after every level up.]
"Really? Am I special or something?"
[The System puts fairness above all else. Humans fully developped start with stats much higher than those of a Human Child. Not only that, but Human Children have lived much less that Human Adults as they were born much later.They do not yet know the ways of their world. With all this in mind, all children under the age of 17 shall make fast progress in order to catch up to their seniors. Training and fighting also increases stat points.]
'Mmm I guess that makes sense' Adam thought, thinking about how he ran for days with the weighted military vest on him.
"Status" He said once more.
[ Name: Adam
Age: 12years old
Species & level : Human Lv2(0/75xp)
Gold: 25
HP: 70/90
Endurance: 60/80
Stats: Strength: 10
Agility: 12
Sense: 15
Vigor & Endurance: 8
Unused stat points: 3
Skill(s): Sleeping Beauty
Title(s): The First Pioneer
R##ht###s to E#il Points : 50 to 0
S####o#: (None) ]
"What is this? Sleeping Beauty? What kind of skill is that?" Adam had decided that talking out loud was better when asking questions, as the System could answer them.
[ Skill: Sleeping Beauty(Passive) [E]
A skill provided by the authority of "The Hero Who Survived By Sleeping For a Century " who was moved by your story. Recovery shall be enhanced when sleeping. Physical injuries will heal much faster. The skill's possessor shall sleep peacefully and soundly. Additionnal effect(s): All imperfections on the users body shall fade away with time.]
'Is that why how I've been able to survive with no food or water before arriving to the lake?' He looked down at the wound on his thigh.'Probably why all my wounds healed pretty fast too.'
Right when Adam finished reading, a second screen appeared next to the one showing the information about the skill.
[ "The Hero Who Survived By Sleeping For a Century " is looking at you with pitiful eyes]
'Don't look at me like that. Sleeping Beauty, what kind of name is that? If you're a hero give me something cooler.' Adam thought.
"The First Pioneer?" Adam said out loud.
[ Title: The First Pioneer.
A title only awarded to the biggest adventurers in history. Your senses will be heightened all the time,making sneak attacks on you much harder to perform. You will also find Hidden Locations or Hidden Artefacts inside of dungeons much more easily. A light wind shall guide you to them, but a great adventurer must learn to listen to the wind.]
'That's interesting. Not only does it help increase my chances of survival, it also helps me look for treasures.... Although just surviving is hard enough.' Adam pondered.
"What about those Points? 50 to 0?" Adam asked.
No answer came from the System. That meant the information was still not available to him.
He finally answered the question the System had asked "Yes, I'll enter the hidden location."
Once again, a window appeared.
[ Welcome to the Hidden Location:
"The Goblin Chief's Domain"[D]
The Goblin Chief's Domain is a Hidden Location. The difficulty is [D] rank. The Domain is filled with several types of goblins. The different weapons these goblins wield include: Wooden Bat[E], Broken Iron Sword [E], Wooden Bow [E] & Wooden arrows [F]. The Domain is a cave with multiple tunnels, shortcuts and hidden passages.
In the deepest part of the Domain, The Goblin's Chief, the boss of this Hidden Location, can be found.
Rewards: Depend greatly on what is achieved inside the Hidden Location.
The Hidden Location can be exited at any time.]
'Mmm alright, so basically I can run away whenever I want. And the more I do inside of there, the more I will be rewarded.' Adam felt optimistic about the Hidden Location.
He still had his trusty knife in his hand and his military vest on him. Adam thought that as long as he was careful, he wouldn't be in too much trouble.
The inside of the cave was dark. But, after taking about fifteen steps, torches could be seen hanging on the walls, lighting the way.
Although he could now see in front of him, Adam still felt he couldn't just run along the way.
After taking one step on the light that the torch was emitting, he felt something on his right.
He couldn't really describe it. He felt like something was at his right, below the torch.
He stopped walking and looked that way.
There was nothing. Only the wall lit by the torch.
But even though he couldn't see anything, he kept staring at the wall.
For 30seconds he stood there. The more he stared at the wall, the weirder he felt about it. He felt something was there.
'Is it because of my high Sense stats, or am I just paranoid?' He wasn't sure about which one it was, but he was incredibly focused on the wall.
That's when he felt it.
A very weak and faint wind brushed past his cheek. He turned around, there was nothing. He felt that wind again.
He focused more and more on that sensation.
After awhile, he could feel it clearly, the wind was guiding him towards the wall he had been staring at.
'Is that the effect of the title "First Pioneer" ?'
He took steps towards it. And lifted his hand to touch it.
As soon as he touched the wall, it crumbled, without making any sound.
After the dust cloud dissipiated, there was a hole big enough for Adam to pass through if he bent down.
'A secret passage!!' Adam felt suprised and proud for finding it so quickly.
'Wonder what's on the other side of this.' He looked inside the big hole.
He felt the slight wind still guiding him.
So he went in.
Adam found himself inside a cramped and dark tunnel. He could still stand but had to bend quite a bit to continue moving forward.
He kept following the tunnel for about five minutes, taking many turns , before the ceiling got higher and he could walk normally again.
His eyes had ajusted to the darkness.
As soon as the ceiling got higher, he got the feeling that something was in front of him.
He focused on the darkness in front of him.
He took several steps back as soon as he saw what was in the darkness. His expression was a mix of horror and suprise. But he didn't mutter a sound.
In front of him was a whole colonny of goblins. Some had bats, some had sword and others had bows and arrows to their side.
He could see about 15goblins. And that was only as far as his eyesight let him see in the dark.
Who knows how many more there were.
Fortunately, they were all asleep.
'If I hadn't taken this secret passage, would they all have been awaken?'
Adam couldn't help but tremble at the idea.
He stood there, not too sure about what to do, until he felt the wind that had been guiding him.
The wind was guiding him backwards, back into the tunnel.
Adam did not think twice, and immediately went back.
'Waking them all up at once would be suicide. Especially in such a cramped space. I'll follow the wind for now. Maybe I can at least get some kind of Hidden Artefact from this.' He thought.
He went back into the tunnel.
After making sure that none of the goblins had awaken, he closed his eyes and kept walking inside the tunnel.
He closed his eyes and focused solely on the feeling of the wind gently guiding him.
Adam noticed the sensation grow stronger and stronger the more he concentrated on it.
He remembered the title's description.'Is this what listenning to the wind means?'
At one point, he felt the wind guiding him to his right. He opened his eyes. There was a much smaller tunnel close to the floor that he had missed before. To get in it, he would have to crawl.
He thought about what to do for a bit. 'If there's a monster in there, I'll probably die. If the goblins follow me in there, I'll die too.'
For some reason, the wind got much stronger than before.
'I mean... finding a second secret passage inside of a first secret passage...probably makes the person deserving of a reward right? I can clearly feel the wind. There must be a Hidden Artefact. Plus the wind is strong, maybe that means it's close by. Having monsters in there would be too much. And the System said that it valued fairness above all.'
Having somewhat made up his mind, he started crawling inside the small tunnel.
He kept going while not forgetting about the wind guiding him. At one point, the rocky tunnel became of soil. But Adam did not realize that. He was too busy thinking.
'But, this really is an amazing title. Isn't it a bit too strong? Well, I guess the first ones at anything should always be awarded appropriately.Not only that but it depends on how useful Hidden Artefacts are. All Hidden Locations probably have a higher rank than the dungeon they're located in. It is the case for this one at least. The dungeon is [F] rank while the Hidden Location is [E] rank. The ability to find them is amazing, but that doesn't mean that I have the ability to survive in them. I should be more careful.'
At one point, the wind guided him to his right.He looked that way. There was nothing. He finally noticed that the tunnel was now made of soil.
He thought for a bit before starting to dig to his right. He dug quite a bit, but he was far from tired. Indeed, his Strength stat and Endurance had increased quite a bit during his journey inside the dungeon.
He felt like a mole.
After digging about 2 to 3 meters inside the wall,the ground below him gave out. It couldn't support his weight.
He let out a scream before falling to the ground. He looked up, the ceilling where he had fallen was about 2.5meters high.
The fall didn't hurt at all. He looked around. He was in a rectangular room lit by multiple torches. The ground was made of soil, while the walls were of rocks.
On one end of the room, there was a big wooden gate with inscriptions on it. On the other end, there was some kind of wooden chest with parts of it made of iron.
He instinctively went towards the chest. 'Treasure! Finaly, I hope it's something good.' He sighed, tired of running and crawling around.
He opened the wooden chest.
A message appeared.
[ Congratulations! You have found a Wooden Chest [D].]
[ You have received the following Artefacts and Items:
{Dark Cloak [C]} {Old Assassin's Boots [D]} {Old Assassin's dagger [D]} {500Gold} ]
[ The storage option has been forcefully acquired during your first dungeon.]
[Additionnal rewards will be added to the dungeon clearance rewards.]
[The Artefacts and Items received can be found in your Storage.]
Adam was overjoyed by the amount of Gold he had just received. After killing five goblins, each gave him 5G, he had only amassed 25Gold coins. And now he received 500 at once!!
'Yes!!! 500Gold!!This object is C rank, isn't that super good??Let's check out those other Items....Oh wait...Oh yeah there was that thing.' Adam just remembered it.
"Store" He said out loud, his voice full of excitement.
A window appeared.
[ You have openned the Store for the first time, 50Gold coins will be given to you as a first time client.]
Right after the message disappeared, another window appeared.
[Please choose what you are looking for:
{Potions} {Weapons} {Skills} {Magic Scrolls} ]
Adam did not hesitate"Magic Scrolls!"
Unfortunately, a message appeared.
[ As you lack the MagicAffinity stat, you cannot use magic. Magic scrolls can only be purchased once you will have the ability to use magic.]
'Tch too bad, but whatever.'
"Potions!"
A small list appeared in front of him.
[ Light healing potion(E) 10Gold coins Light magic potion [D] 20Gold coins Medium healing potion [D] 25Gold coins ]
"Why is the list so small?" Adam muttered, without expecting an answer. He still got one.
[ The number of objects in the store goes up with your level.]
Adam checked the "Skills" and "Weapons" categories of the store, but they were empty. His level was too low for that.
He immediately bought 5Light Healing Potions and 3Medium Healing Potions, spending 125Gold coins.
Then he proceeded to check the objects he had just received.
"Storage" A window showing diffrent squares filled with objects could be seen. He chose the artefacts he had one by one. He took off his shoes, and, after reading each description, he said "Equip".
[ Artefact: Dark Cloak [C]
A black cloak usually used by assasins and those who work in the dark, hiding from onlookers. The Dark Cloak makes his user much harder to detect. The darker it is, the more effective the artefact is at hiding it's user.It gives no defense points to it's user.]
[Artefact: Old Assassin's Boots [D]
Old boots that were used by an assassin long ago. The sounds the user make from hitting the ground, wether that's from running, jumping or walking, will be harder to pickup by others. ]
[Artefact: Old Assassin's Dagger [D]
An old dagger that was used by an assassin long ago. The blade, although old, has great penetrability and can even penetrate tough skin. When hitting an enemy in a weak spot, the damage dealt increases by 150%. While backstabbing an enemy, the damage increases by 200% damage. Attack Power : 50. ]
Adam was impressed by the Items he just obtained 'These are amazing! Basically a full assassin set. That's perfect for me. Since my Sense stat is the highest, I'll be able to notice enemies before they notice me and get rid of them that way. Oh wait, with this set, wouldn't it be easy to get rid of all those sleeping goblins?'
Adam's heart pounded fast.
The hole in the ceiling was too high for him to reach by jumping.
He went towards the wooden door.
The inscriptions written on it were:
( Adventurer who got this far, know that taking your time is of the essence. As numbers are not in your favor.)
Adam immediately understood what the message meant 'Basically go in there slowly so that you don't alert the monsters right? I guess it'll either be the Goblin Chief or a big hord of goblins. As long as I go in slowly and quietly to assess the situation, I should be fine.'
He was now wearing his Dark Cloak on top of his military vest.His Old Assassin's Boots instead of his military boots. He had in one hand his military knife, and in the other, his Old Assassin's Dagger.
Before pushing the door, he decided to allocate his unused stat points to his Sense stat. 'The most important thing for now is to know when to run away.' He thought.
Adam decided to try something. "Stats"he said.
[ Stats: Strength: 11
Agility: 14
Sense: 19
Vigor & Endurance: 9
Unused stat points: 0
]
'Mmm alright this is better than having the whole window appear everytime.Oh, let's try this too.'
"I'd like to see how my stats have changed since the last time I checked them". He said out loud.
[ Changes in the System have been recorded according to your wishes.]
"Stats" He said once again.
[ Stats: Strength: 11(+1)
Agility: 14(+2)
Sense: 19(+4)
Vigor & Endurance: 9(+1)
Unused stat points: 0(-3)
]
'All right perfect.'
Adam then proceeded to slowly, very slowly push the wooden gate. It openned easily but he decided to still push it as slow as possible so as to make as little sound as possible.
Once there was enough space for him to get in, he slipped past the gate and went in.
The room he got into was huge. The ground wasn't soil anymore. It was extremely hard. Torches were hanging on every wall. While the center of the room was in total darkness.
Other than the gate Adam had just gotten out from, a gate could be seen on the other three walls of the room.
The room must have been 30meters long, 20meters large and the ceiling was about 3meters high.
It was more a very large hall than a room.
About 10 meters away from Adam, partly in the darkness, a small wooden throne could be seen.
On it, a person was sitting. It looked like a person at least.
The throne was not facing Adam.
Adam was behind whoever was sitting there.
'The Goblin Chief? Probably.'
He slowly walked closer and closer. His boots made the sounds he made extremely hard to discern, while his Dark Cloak made him near invisible in the darkness.
Once he was five meters away from the throne, he could see clearly the figure of the creature sitting on it.
The monster was asleep, probably because it's underlings did not notice Adam inside at all.
If he hadn't taken the two hidden passages, this encounter would not have gone this way at all.
The Goblin Chief was larger than a normal Goblin. It was at least as tall as Adam and it's skin looked tougher than the skin of ordinary goblins. It's muscles were also more developped.
It wore a large necklace around it's neck with multiple feathers of different colors and a bracelet around it's right wrist that emitted a very faint light.
'Let's put this set to good use.' Adam thought
As he was only centimeters away from the throne, he raised both his military knife and the dagger he just obtained, before lowering them back down.
'What should I do? Slit it's throat with the dagger? Stab it's throat with both weapons? Agh whatever both are fine as long as I act before it wakes up.'
He took his decision.
He stood just behind the throne, raised both daggers to each side of the Goblin Chief's neck. Then stabbed it from both sides. His military knife stabbed the left side of the monster's neck while the Old Assassin's Dagger stabbed the right side of it's neck.
Although Adam used both his arms with equal strength, his military knife was only about 2centimeters deep in the Goblin Chief's neck, while the dagger was fully inside of it's neck. The tip of the dagger could even be seen leaving the left side of the monster's neck.
[Your Old Assassin's Dagger has hit a monster's weakpoint. Damage dealt goes up by 150%.]
'So this is the difference between a man made weapon and one found inside a dungeon. The military knife barely penetrated the tough skin.' Adam pondered while pulling his weapons outside of the creature's neck.
The Goblin Chief opened it's eyes immediately because of the pain and jumped away from it's throne. It tried screaming but it's throat had been completely destroyed by Adam's Old Assassin's Dagger. It's scream was what the Chief used to call upon it's underlings to aid it in battle.
It looked at Adam with a deep hatred, it's eyes reddened by anger and pain. The nerves inside it's eyes had exploded.
But a moment later, Adam disapeared and the Goblin Chief was extremely confused.
Adam had moved in the darkest place of the hall, the center. That was where his Dark Cloak would be the most useful. Seeing the confused Gobling Chief looking right and left, Adam was thankfull for the equipement that enabled him to take such risks.
[ A Certain Evil is watching your story.]
[Many Dieities and Gods are excited by your battle with the Hidden Location's boss monster.]
[Many Evil Creatures want to see your blood.]
'Oh right, this did happen before.Well I can't complain. It is thanks to them that I survived. Without that sleeping skill I would have been a goner long ago.' Adam thought, while sneaking towards the Goblin Chief's back.
When he arrived behind the confused monster,Adam readied his Old Assassin's Dagger in his right hand.
'And now, for the finishing touch.'
Adam grabbed the Goblin Chief's left shoulder with his right hand and stabbed it in the back with his dagger.
[You have backstabbed your enemy using the Old Assassin's Dagger. Damage dealt goes up by 200%.]
'Attack Power 50, increased by 150% means 125 damage points dealt. Then, increased by 200% means 150 damage points dealt. So a total of 275 damage points dealt plus whatever the military knife dealt.' Adam calculated white stabbing the monster.
But it did not go down. It started struggling so Adam pulled out his dagger and stabbed it again, and again. He stabbed two more times before it stopped resisting. And fell to the ground.
[You have backstabbed your enemy using the Old Assassin's Dagger. Damage dealt goes up by 200%.]
[You have backstabbed your enemy using the Old Assassin's Dagger. Damage dealt goes up by 200%.]
'One stab in the neck and three in the back. 575 damage points and whatever damage the military knife dealt killed it. That's a lot of damage. And a lot of Health Points.' Thinking about his 90 Health points, Adam couldn't help but shiver.
'This is completely different from the weak goblins that I could kill by sliting their throat using the military knife. If I had come only with the military knife, I would have died for sure.'
The monster fell on the ground, trembling and raising it's arms towards Adam.
Adam looked at the monster with a hint of pity and decided to finish it off.
[ You have defeated the Hidden Location's boss.]
[Additionnal rewards will be added to the dungeon clearance rewards.]
[Many Gods and Heroes are pleased by your victory.]
[Some heroes deem your actions to be those of a coward.]
[Many Evil Creatures are disappointed in your easy victory.]
[1 Goblin Chief has been defeated. Congratulations! You have gained 400Gold and 700Experience Points.]
[You have levelled up!]
[You have levelled up!]
[You have levelled up!]
[You have levelled up!]
[ You have received the following Artefacts and Items:
{Goblin Chief's Blessed Necklace [C]} {Goblin Chief's Bracelet [D]} {Goblin Chief's Greatsword [C]} ]
'Greatsword? Where?' Adam moved closer to the throne the Goblin Chief had been resting on. There, he saw prints on the wooden throne, prints of a sword resting on it.
'Oh...So he jumped away from the throne and forgot it's weapon.' Adam couldn't help but chuckle.
He thought that if there was a perfect clear, then this was it.
He looked at the different Artefacts he had just obtained:
[ Artefact: Goblin Chief's Blessed Necklace [C]
A necklace passed down from the previous Goblin Chief to the next Goblin Chief since their settlement in the Domain.More than 10 generations of Goblin Chiefs have worn this necklace.The feathers supposedly belong to an ancient bird that blessed the Goblin species long, long ago. When equipped, the user's Health Points go up by 200points.]
[Artefact: Goblin Chief's Bracelet [D]
A bracelet passed down from the previous Goblin Chief to the next Goblin Chief since their settlement in the Domain.More than 10 generations of Goblin Chiefs have worn this bracelet. The bracelet increases the user's Vigor & Endurance stat by 5.]
[Artefact: Goblin Chief's Greatsword [C]}
A Greatsword traditionnaly used by Goblin Chiefs. Great strength is necessary to wield it. Only the strongest Goblins can even move it around, let alone fight with it. Attack Power : 130. ]
"Wow. Equip the bracelet and the necklace." In an instant, they appeared around his neck and wrist.
"Status" He said out loud afterwards.
Adam had leveled up 4 times and equipped Artefacts that rose his stats up and Health Points.
[ Name: Adam
Age: 12years old
Species & level : Human Lv6(0/500xp)
Gold: 800
HP: 370/380(+290)
Endurance: 140/150(+45)
Stats: Strength: 15(+4)
Agility: 18(+4)
Sense: 23(+4)
Vigor & Endurance: 18(+9)
Unused stat points: 12(+12)
Skill(s): Sleeping Beauty
Title(s): The First Pioneer
Ri#ht#ous to E#il Points: 350 to 0
S####o#: (None) ]
Adam was overjoyed seeing his stats increase so much. Especially his Health Points.
'This is absolutely great. Although the damn Points went way up again.'
He started looking at the ceiling. 'Should I enter one of these doors now? Wonder if I can make it back to those sleeping goblins...'
But then:
[Congratulations! ]
[You have survived for 5 days inside the Forest of Goblins. You have cleared the dungeon.]
- Writer
