"...Looks like the hole was really filled in..."
Lucas sighed as he looked up on his resurrection point. Where a hole displaying the sky should be, there were rocks that stuck together leaving no trace of light pass through.
He had just logged in after finishing his breakfast and he was already in despair.
"Haah...Let's just find a lone bat for now, dealing with a flock is a death flag..."
Lucas sighed once more and walked out in hope to find a lone bat. Learning his lesson from last time, he didn't want to face a flock of [Dracula Bats] any time soon.
After walking for some time, he finally found one and attacked it with the same attack as he did yesterday or rather, 3 days before as the time in game is 3 times faster. He also tried his new skill [Bash] to level its proficiency.
Once weakened enough where the bat can only crawl in the ground, Lucas showed no mercy as he stomped it to death.
"Damn! You! Stupid! Irritating! Flying! Bats! How! Dare! You! Gang! Up! On! Meeeeeee!"
Like a child, Lucas kept stomping heavily while insulting the bat as he releases his frustration.
*kiikkiiiiiii*
The bat seemed to shout 'It wasn't meeee!!!' as it cries out. Soon enough, the bat disappeared and dropped some items.
Lucas repeated this action every time he found a lone bat until a familiar window appeared in front of him.
Notice
You have learned a new skill, (Active) [Stomp] Beginner LVL 1 (0.00%)!
Due to constantly stomping on opponents, your stomp strength has further increased!
Deals 12% more damage.
Low chance of staggering the enemy when used.
MP Cost: 4 points
"Ooohh."
According to the information he saw yesterday, it seems there are five ways to learn a skill:
1. Levelling up. Like the [Bash] he learned before, it is a skill acquired when a certain level is met.
2. Quests. It seems there are quests that give out skills after the quest is completed.
3. Items. Things like skill tomes or scrolls are an example for this.
4. Constantly doing an action. Like [Stomp] skills can be acquired if you constantly repeat it.
5. Skill Tree. It is different from levelling up, you acquire [Skill Points] when you level up your skills and spend it on skills found in your job's skill tree.
Since Lucas is stuck in this God-knows-where cave, he is unable to get any quests and since he is still a [Novice], he can't even open a skill tree even if he has a lot of skill points.
He can only hope to find a rare item in this cave or level up in order to get a new skill.
"Let's see how we've progressed so far, [Status Window]."
Name Lucas Level 29
Gender Male
Money 1 G 20 S 50 C
Job Novice Race Human
Health 3165 Mana 2675
STR 65 INT 45
SPD 55 DEX 45
VIT 53 LUK 82
Fame 490
Passive Skills
[Play Dead] Beginner LVL 1 (0.00%)
[Night Vision] Beginner LVL 7 (53.64%)
Active Skills
[Bash] Beginner LVL 3 (10.53%)
[Stomp] Beginner LVL 1 (0.00%)
Thanks to the bonus in discovering the dungeon first and the wide level gap, he levelled up faster than normal.
As he still has no need for DEX and INT, he didn't increase them too much for now and focused on the other stats. The lucky speedy boy from before is nowhere to be found anymore.
It seems leveling up will raise health and mana for a hundred points and VIT will increase it by 5 every time a point is added to it.
His [Night Vision] is still increasing as he was always using it, at this rate, it will be Intermediate soon enough.
"Good, let's keep this up until [Night Vision] is Intermediate, then its revenge for that flock."
Ascertaining his goal, Lucas searched for more lone bats. Though the first one he met after checking his status wasn't alone.
In front of Lucas was 2 [Dracula Bats] sleeping beside each other. Whether they were supposed to be a couple or not, Lucas has no way of knowing as he can't even tell its gender.
"There's 2 of them but...can I handle it? Let's see how strong I became."
Lucas crept slowly and quietly as possible and stopped as he judged it was in arms reach.
Then, with a speed faster than any other slash he made before, Lucas hacked at the simultaneously with a horizontal slash.
The two's HP went down by 55%! With his new STR and the surprise attack, he was able to deal more damage than before. Though it seems he wasn't able to perform a critical hit, but he still challenged the two.
*kiikiiiiiikikiiii*
The two bats lunged towards him after regaining their senses of suddenly being attacked.
They both sliced Lucas here and there with their wings which had the ability to cut like a sword.
"Tch, like I thought, dealing with multiple enemies is harder."
As he thought of this, Lucas decided to focus his attack on one before facing the other.
He ran away in order to make the bats focus their attack on one side instead of surrounding him like before.
However, his speed was still below that of a [Dracula Bat], so it was a futile resistance.
"Gh-....AAAARRRGHHHHH!!!!!!!!! JUST HOLD STILL WILL YOUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Out of frustration of having his strategy completely shattered, he shouted at the two like a child throwing a tantrum.
Of course most people will think this is just wasted movement, and Lucas also knows that, however, the bats showed a different reaction.
They were confused.
The two bats were aimlessly flying all over like a person who was suddenly thrown in a dark place...a dark place? Wasn't Lucas in one right now?
"Th-that's it! I thought these things also had night vision like me since they are monsters that are found in caves but...could it be that I was wrong?"
If so, how did the bats know where he is when he attacks them?
"...Sound...they have high sensitivity to sound!"
In the real world, bats release a sound that humans aren't able to perceive and use it like a sonar, when the sound bounces off, it means that there is a [wall] or and [object] there and the bats will avoid it. It was simple, yet since this is a game, it was overlooked by players.
"He...hehehe.....kukukukukuku...HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Like a madman, Lucas let out a sinister laugh upon this discovery.
"Now let's see you try and kill me again you bastards. GAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Lucas released a roar and the bats flinched and were paralyzed as they fell on the ground.
Letting out a dark smile, Lucas looked down on the bats and raised his foot above them.
*ki-kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii*
"[STOMP]!!! [STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP][STOMP]!!!!!!!!!!!"
Lucas used his new skill and didn't stop until the two bats died.
With a refreshed look, Lucas wiped the sweat on his forehead. And noticed the window in front of him displaying he leveled up 12 times.
"Like this, I can win against a flock with no problem at all."
Though he might've overestimated himself again, but this time, he was sure he can defeat those guys. As he thought of that, he looked for his prey.
After a few minutes, he finally found a flock of [Dracula Bats] and begun his revenge. Though this time, they were flying around instead of sleeping like the others he fought so far, he paid no attention to it and approached them.
He didn't need to sneak anymore so he went and walked casually as he let himself be surrounded by the bats.
After confirming his timing, he let out a roar stronger than before as he spun and slashed them.
"OOORRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Surprised with the sudden shout, the bat flinched and some fell due to being paralyzed with the deafening sound, some though, flew around aimlessly and some hesitated to attack.
Lucas killed the sane ones first then hacked at the confused ones. Though he wasn't able to kill some of them, but he at least managed to damage its wings and made them fall.
Afterwards, Lucas let out another sinister smile and well, what happened next doesn't need to be said.
"Haaaah...I feel like a huge load on my shoulders was lifted."
With a refreshed look, he sat down and sighed happily.
Afterwards, he picked up all the loots and logged out.
+ + +
"T-this...where the hell is this guy?"
Forest Trask muttered as he continues to watch Lucas' status Lilianne showed a while ago.
"I also can't believe it if I didn't see this as proof..."
Lilianne showed a wry smile beside Trask.
The reason is obvious, for a while now, a player still at [Novice] is levelling up in faster rate than normal players in short amount of time.
At first he leveled up 7 times in one go, then after a day, he started leveling up at a ridiculous rate. 8...10...12...and so on.
"Now he levelled up 32 times in one go!!! How is this possible!!?? He even has 3 unique skills that isn't possible for a [Novice] or any jobs!!!"
"There is the option of repeating an action to gain a skill though."
"So you're telling me he was able to avoid death more than 1 time and be stuck in a dark area for who knows how long he's been there!?"
"Fufu, well, that's the only explanation, you know how high his luck is."
"Yeah, he even wasted 50 [Status Points] on LUK!!! Who does that!?"
Like Trask said, Lucas indeed spent 50 [Status Points] in LUK after levelling up 32 times in one go and is now at 152.
"Fufu, think about it, if he changed jobs at level 10 like normal, where would the stats he would gain after 90 more levels go?"
Lilianne giggled and gave her suggestion.
"...So after he exploited the thing about the [Training Room] he still wants to be way ahead of others in terms of stats? How greedy can this guy be?"
"Though I don't think he also noticed this."
"? What do you mean?"
"Well...He is still using his starter armour set, and also his starter weapon..."
Lilianne gave another wry smile as she swiped the surface of the terminal and displayed Lucas' profile and equipment.
Lucas can also view this window if he said the command [Profile Window].
"...Are you kidding me? Wait, if this is true then...don't tell me he's still not back at the town? Go call someone in charge of monitoring the resurrection point of players."
"Yes, I'll be back shortly."
Lilianne curtly bowed and went out of the office.
After a few minutes, she came back together with a man dressed in the same uniform as Lilianne, of course, men's version.
"Sir, I heard you asked for me?"
With a curly short hair that was brushed neatly and a face that says suave all over it, Pearce Reynell, bowed slightly before his boss.
"Ah, you've come, Mr. Reynell, can you show me the where a certain player's resurrection point?"
"? Yes that would be easy, but...Can I know the reason?"
"Reason? Well, take a look at this."
Trask showed him the terminal Lilianne gave him before.
"A [Novice]? Why him?"
"Hm? Look at the level."
"Even if you say that, a [Novice] can only have a-....umm, sir, there's something wrong with the terminal?"
Pearce flinched as he saw the player's level and wondered if the terminal has gone bad or something.
Seeing this, Lilianne and Trask let out a smile as if he just fell into their trap.
"Fufu, Mr. Reynell, that terminal is without a doubt brand new."
"As she said, there is no way this terminal is faulty."
"T-then the system?"
"Nope, if it was, then our top programmers would have noticed it by now."
"S-so you're saying this is...real? A Level 72 [Novice] is real!?"
Pearce could not believe it, as he was also a player of [World Gate Online], he could not believe a [Novice] has made it up to Level 72.
"Yep, now take a look at his status."
Trask swiped the terminal and displayed Lucas' status.
"What's with that insane luck!!?? Or rather, even if you add it all up, it doesn't match his level!"
Lilianne and Trask let out another smile like before and explained it all to him.
"...I can't believe such a player exists...but why do you want to know where his resurrection point is?"
"That's right sir, is there really a need for that?"
Both Pearce and Lilianne questioned their boss who just showed a teasing smile.
"You'll see, now, show me where it is."
"Ah, y-yes."
Pearce took out his own terminal and manipulated it as he entered the player's id since there could be players of the same name.
After pressing the enter key, his face showed a mix of shock, fear, disbelief. All this conflicting emotions as he stood there checking whether this was a bug or not.
"What's wrong?"
"...Oh my..."
Trask, who noticed his employee's expression asked and Lilianne took a peak since she was curious.
"This..."
He held out the terminal facing it to his boss and showed him where he currently is.
[Denneth's Cave]
"Impossible! How did he enter such a high level cave!?"
"Nonono, sir, it's already weird for a dungeon to become his resurrection point in the first place."
"He already died once and he still has the starter set, his money also remained unchanged which meant he didn't even sell the loots he had so I had my suspicions...though this was still far from my expectation..."
Trask calmed down and sighed as he sat back to his seat.
"I see...since the starting town isn't the resurrection point as default...he must have rested or was unconscious for a long time in that cave for some reason which resulted to this."
"Eh? Was that how it is?"
Lilianne, who calmly deduced was asked by Pearce.
"But...just how high level is this cave for the boss to shout earlier?"
"That is..."
Trask explained his reason for being so surprised a while ago, as he continued his story, both of his employee's face paled particularly, to the boss residing in that cave.
"...[Denneth the Nocturnal]..."
+ + +
"ha-tchu-!"
Lucas sneezed as he finishes his lunch.
For a while now, it seems he kept sneezing for some reason.
"Is someone talking about me?"
Of course, there was but Lucas has no way of knowing it as usual, his 6th sense seemed to be getting more accurate.
Anyway, since his archnemesis, which Lucas selfishly decided, the [Dracula Bats] were defeated without problems, he now needed to find the way to get out of that cave.
With that in mind, Lucas logged in once more to the virtual world called [World Gate Online].
+ + +
Meanwhile, Lucas' classmates already changed jobs and leisurely hunting monsters above ground.
[World Gate Online] jobs are unique even to other MMORPGs. In this game, a player can add up to two jobs at the same time. One can be a [Swordsman] and [Magician] at the same time and can call themselves a Magic Swordsman or a Sword Magician, these aren't official jobs but self-called ones.
Geeves, who strived to be and blacksmith is now a [Marksman] and [Magician].
A [Marksman] has a second job of an archer while he chose to be a [Magician] instead because he thought of being a [Summoner] and abandoned his first choice which was a blacksmith.
For now you can say he is a Magic Marksman, but in the future, he will become a Nova Summoner or something.
As for Rice, his first choice remained unchanged and is now a [Brawler] and [Cook], wanting to become a Fighting Master Chef someday for some reason.
Because of his ability to cook, the two of them never died due to hunger.
The satiety system is a system in the game where you have to eat food in order to no die or get weakened. This was made in order to keep the game as realistically as possible.
However, exempt to these conditions are the [Novices] because of their low levels and money, only they can continue to live without eating. Of course, this was made with the idea of them changing jobs immediately, so far, only Lucas has been the one to last so long as a [Novice].
"Good, with this, we can start going to a different town."
"Yeah, I'm also getting tired of the monsters around here."
As the two of them discussed, they went back to [Drachedge] in order to resupply, sell their loots and finally begun their journey.
+ + +
Still stuck in the cave, Lucas is now battling against Lvl 70 [Grey Wolves].
They weren't as fast as the bats so it was a lot easier to defeat them.
Though their damage was a lot stronger than the bats, Lucas speed made it so that he was damaged as few as possible.
Without the level gap from before he fought the bats, someone of the same level was easy.
After defeating a few wolves, Lucas rested and waited for his health to be restored, and then continued.
His only potion is the [Beginner's Potion] after all, it can only restore 100 HP, with Lucas' current HP being more than 3000, a single [Beginner's Potion] won't help.
As he continued his journey, he met a different opponent. The monster was a [Cypt Owl] with a shocking Level 100 and a size of 5 normal sized owls.
"This...I wonder how much Exp this guy will drop!"
With hungry eyes that almost displayed Exp on it, Lucas started to drool thinking how high he will level up after the battle.
He kicked off and hacked the gigantic owl with his still [Beginner's dagger] and falls back. It was a simple hit and run tactic he used on large opponents.
With his high speed, he kept on hitting and running and soon, the owl's HP decreased 50%. Then, an ear-piercing noise was heard.
[Supersonic Scream]
The owl's offensive skill which has the ability to paralyze the opponent.
It was different with Lucas shout as it was a real skill and the magnitude is definitely greater.
"D-damn, can't move."
Seeing this, the [Crypt Owl] flew and did a nose dive aiming its beak at Lucas unguarded body.
"Tch, I can't die now!"
What can I do? Thinking this, Lucas racked his brain to come up with a way to dodge the attack.
"I hope this works, [Stomp]!"
Since a skill is something that forces and assists the body to move in accordance to the skill used, he guessed that he can do the same even if he was paralyzed. Sure enough, his feet kicked off the ground and propelled him away from the attack.
After a few seconds, he was able to move his body again. Though his experiment worked, he has no time to rejoice as the next attack came.
Waiting for the right timing, Lucas dodged sideways and grabbed into the owl's feathers in order to hop on.
While riding the owl, he stabbed the back of its head where he judged to be its weak point.
*hoooooooooooooot*
The owl cried in pain as its HP decreased 5%.
It wasn't much but if he kept hitting on the same spot, he should be able to deal more damage.
As he thought of this, Lucas kept stabbing until he fell because of the owl's rampage.
There's only little below 20% left of the owl's HP.
As Lucas readied himself faced with another lunge from the owl, this time, its beak started to glow a faint light.
"A skill!? Shit, he still has one!?"
Lucas thought and threw himself sideways in attempt to dodge.
He immediately got up and grabbed its tail thinking he could climb on top again. However, the owl noticed his intentions and flew in a way where he would hit a wall.
"Gh-!"
Lucas gritted his teeth as he slammed on the wall and dropped.
With his HP at only 10% he readied himself for the next attack.
He can't die, if he did, not only will he go back to where he started, he will also lose 3 days' worth of hunting.
Also, since it's already been about 4 days since he discovered the dungeon, there's only about 3 days left until the Exp bonus to end.
"If I die now, I'll lose that Exp bonus! There has to be something I can do!"
While looking around, he saw an arch made of rock a few meters to his left.
"That's it! Even if it doesn't work, I'll die anyway if I don't try!"
Having thought of a plan, he ran towards the owl.
Dodging its attack, he diverted his direction and went towards the arch. His plan was to make it follow him and have its head stuck in the arch. Though easily said, it was actually harder to do. Not.
The owl readily followed him and was stuck in the arch.
Seeing this, he quickly climbed on top and saw the spot he used to stab.
"UWOOOHH!!!!"
He stabbed that part once more continuously until the [Crypt Owl] finally died.
The owl dropped 10 [Owl Feathers], 2 [Owl Eyes], and an [Owl Claw].
"And here I thought owls were supposed to be smart...well, it was enraged so I guess it wasn't able to think straight? Or did I damage its brain when I stabbed him?"
Lucas nonchalantly thought as he picked the loots.
He also gained 21 levels, as expected from a level 100 monster.
After resting until regaining his health, he continued his journey once more. Though he encountered [Grey Wolves] or [Dracula Bats] he didn't encounter any [Crypt Owls] anymore. It must've been something like a mid-boss or something. However, he encountered something weird.
"...A skeleton?"
As he said, there was a skeleton sitting with its back on the wall of the cave. Beside it were a rusted iron sword and a bag made of leather.
For now, Lucas tried poking the skeleton cautiously with his dagger. Since it didn't seem to be the type that will some alive suddenly, he took the sword and bag to check it.
Name Rusted Iron Sword Rank G
Damage 5~12 Durability 10/30
Description An iron sword that used to be wielded by an adventurer, however, the adventurer had died and the sword was left to rust.
"Uwahh, I think the [Beginner's Dagger] is better after all since it doesn't have any durability."
Like he said, since the [Beginner's Dagger] is a starting weapon, the game made it so that there is no need to place durability for the beginners who have trouble with money.
He then check what was inside the bag, there was a key with a string attached to the hole of the handle, some potions, and a diary.
"Good, it seems the potions are high grade ones. As for the key, let's see..."
Name World Gate Key Rank SSS
Effect +30 all stats Durability N/A
Description A key that opens the gate of the world! With this, you will be able to pass through any world you have visited.
"..."
Lucas was so surprised that his jaw seemed to touch the floor due to slacking his mouth.
"SSS!!!!!!!!!!??????? AND WHAT IS THIS DESCRIPTION!!!!??? I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT IT'S USED FOR BUT THIS IS AMAZING!!!"
Lucas carefully handled the key as if it was a fragile piece of glass, completely different from how he handled it the first time.
"For now, let's equip it."
Happily equipping the rare item on his neck like a necklace and finally calming down, he switched his attention to the diary.
[[To the person that will find my body and read this, you must've been someone that has been through great hardship and lead you here, my name is Gildas, I too, have traveled throughout the world seeking adventures and wonders. My story began when-]]
"Ugh so annoying, background story, background story...just how long is this background story? Ah, here's the ending."
Lucas was annoyed by how long the story was until it got to the point and flipped the pages a lot until it was the ending.
From the skeleton, it seemed to let out a tear as his story was ignored though of course, it only seemed like he did, he was dead so there was no way he would have heard Lucas, if his spirit was somewhere nearby, then there no need for Lucas to read it and have the spirit tell him everything.
[[Finally, here I met my last, this Denneth's Cave. My age has finally reached where I can no longer fight properly, I've fought monsters more vicious, more powerful, and more fearsome than Denneth but alas, I am too old. However, you, the person reading this, you have more time than me, avenge my soul and you shall be rewarded.]]
Do you want to accept the quest?
YES NO
Lucas pondered for a while. The skeleton mentioned that Denneth isn't that strong so he thought it might be possible to win.
"...Well, I have nothing to lose anyway, I accept."
Legendary Adventurer's Revenge
Avenge the Legendary Adventurer Gildas and defeat [Denneth the Nocturnal]!
Note that you cannot leave this cave if you did not complete this quest.
Requirement: Defeat [Denneth the Nocturnal]
Difficulty: A
Reward: ???
"...It has an absurdly high difficulty...and I can't even leave...well, that's already my situation in the first place."
As Lucas, dismissed the window, he searched the skeleton for more items.
Unfortunately, there was nothing aside for its tattered clothes. Of course he didn't take them as respect for the dead and because they were crappy anyway.
Afterwards, Lucas left the skeleton and went off to find Denneth.
+ + +
"S-sir!"
A female employee opened the door to Trask's office in a hurry.
"What is it? Can't you knock at least?"
"I-I'm sorry, but, it's about Lucas."
The employee was not Lilianne, it was a different employee. As for how she knows Lucas, well, everybody in the building already got wind of him because of the talkative Pearce.
The employee was a person monitoring the quests given to certain range of players. And it just so happens to be that Lucas was part of it.
"This..."
The employee handed out a terminal to show his boss.
"!? There is a quest like this in that cave!?"
"Yes...well...no, this quest is not a registered one."
"...A unique quest huh?"
A unique quest, just as the name says, the job isn't something you can repeat over and over. The reason why such quests aren't registered is simply because it wasn't the company who made them. The [World Gate] has a Goddess ruling over it, a highly intelligent capable of self-thought Artificial Intelligence [Athena]
named after the great Greek Goddess of Wisdom.
[Athena] makes stories, legends, and ties them in a quest for the players herself not just quests, also items, jobs, and other things. This AI that has free will also has emotions. If she gets fond of a player, she guides them to interesting places, whether she was the one responsible for Lucas' predicament, no one knows.
However, she cannot hate. That was her only restraint in order for her not to go on a rampage.
"...And the condition is to defeat Denneth..."
"...Yes...I can only pity him..."
Lilianne and Pearce commented who knows when had entered.
"Ugh...Lilianne, are you in [Etrano]?"
"Sadly no...I'm in [Cyble] and I still haven't discovered [Cravon] or [Etrano]. How about you?"
"[Cravon]...same."
"Haah...we can only hope he defeats it somehow..."
Trask sighed and relaxed his back to his chair.
"B-but for a [Novice], it's impossible to defeat Denneth...after all, the monsterknow as [Denneth the Nocturnal] is..."
+ + +
"A-a dragon..."
Lucas gulped hard as he looked at the sleeping monster with its head about 10 meters high before him.
"Ha-hahah-hahahahaha I get it, Denneth must have been some kind of mid-boss right? It has to be right? For a dragon to be Denneth is impossible right? After all, that guy said he was weak right? Ha-hahaha..."
Lucas stiffly laughed like a broken person and tried to escape reality.
However, reality wasn't so kind to him.
On top of the dragon's head was definitely that name.
[LVL 300 Denneth the Nocturnal]
Lucas broke into a cold sweat and stepped back. However, like most cliché movies, mangas, animes, or whatever, he kicked of a piece of a piece of pebble who knows why it was there and made a loud noise.
At that sound, the big 3 meter dragon eyeball opened.