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Dungeon Crawler: Loki's Ascension

Tác giả: Numerical

Chapter 1 - Class

Beneath the darkness of the sky. A pale young man with dark green hair and emerald eyes was burying the last body from today's batch.

"I have been burying dead bodies for almost 5 years and I still find this job creepy. No matter, tomorrow is my birthday, and I am finally unlocking my Class! I hope I get a Warrior. If the rumors are right, it will need 10 strength to unlock it, and based on my status…"

With a thought, a yellow, see-through box appeared right before him.

[Name: Loki

Class: None

Title:

None

Stats:

Strength: 10

Agility: 7

Dexterity: 7

Intelligent: 8

Endurance: 5

Skill:

None]

He smiled, satisfied with his current stats.

He couldn't resist frowning whenever he recalled the difficulty he suffered just to increase his strength. It took him 5 years of lifting heavy corpses, enduring the unwanted job to earn his stay, and training himself to reach 10.

It seemed his hard work didn't go to waste.

After a while, he finally buried the body and placed a cross on top of the grave. Inhaling the air, a foul stench attacked his nostrils. Yet, Loki didn't react, as for him it was normal.

"Ahh! My back!" He complained while stretching, hoping the pain would disappear. "I can finally return, but before that, I need to burn this."

In the pocket of his tattered shorts were multiple hairs of the corpses he buried. His mother told him when she was still alive that burning a part of those who passed would lead their souls to the Goddess's embrace. He didn't really understand it. To his comprehension, it was a ritual to show respect for the dead.

He had no desire to understand it as of now; he was too excited. After all, this was his last day on this job. Becoming a Dungeon Crawler was his dream—fighting monsters and exploring all kinds of Dungeons. If it wasn't forbidden to enter one without a Class, he would have done it a long time ago.

Upon kneeling, he swiftly took out matches from his other pocket and placed the hairs on the ground, then burned them like incense. The fire pushed away the darkness, and its warm radiance embraced his body. He closed his eyes and prayed for the safe passage of those souls into the land of the dead.

After a few minutes, he opened his eyes. But before he could even stand up, the yellow box popped in front of him.

[You received a Title: Guide of the Soul.]

He stared at the box with an open mouth and exclaimed. "What the…"

###

Dungeons, a mysterious phenomenon that appeared a long time ago. They came with different appearances: sky-piercing towers, massive holes in the ground, castles in the sky, and many more. At first glance, Dungeons appeared to be nothing but wonders. However, all changed when a Dungeon Breakout occurred.

Monsters, giants, and beasts spewed out from the Dungeons, turning the world upside down. Chaos rampant on the surface of the planet through the years, leading to the destruction of the old world. When all hopes were lost and nothing but darkness and death remained, that was when they showed themselves. Special people with powers, granted by the Goddess herself. The "Blessing" would change the destiny of all living creatures living on Terra.

Having the ability to fight back, the Blessed slowly reclaimed enough land from the monsters, giving humanity another chance to rise!

Soon, more humans became Blessed. With an opportunity to crawl the Dungeons to permanently destroy them, most of them take the mantle and bravely enter the Dungeons to once and for all end the catastrophe.

That was the beginning of the Dungeon Crawler era.

However, even with countless years and countless lives, humanity still couldn't even glimpse at the end of this cruel tunnel…

Loki dreamt of becoming a Crawler since his father—whom he deeply admired—was one before. The story of his father's adventure would always put him on the brink of his seat, anticipating what was going to happen next. But he would never know the next story, as his father never returned from one of his crawls inside a dungeon.

Nevertheless, this didn't discourage him from becoming one himself; in fact, his desire burned more furiously. If his father couldn't end the story, then he would create one himself.

###

Even after several seconds passed, Loki didn't move and stared only at what he received.

If someone could see him all alone while kneeling in the middle of a graveyard, he would definitely be mistaken for a demon worshipper.

Luckily, no one would visit the graveyard at such a late hour.

"I have heard of this before. Sometimes Blessed will gain a title for doing a feat, but what exactly did I do? Is burying corpses something great? Then that means Mr. Donario has one too? He buries far more bodies than me."

A gust of wind hit his tiny body, making him shiver, as his attire was only made of thin pieces of cloth.

"That's cold; I should return first and ask Father Laryatt if he knows about the title."

With that, he hurriedly ran towards the church, not too far away from the graveyard.

After running for a while, he stopped before the old-looking church, wanting to catch his breath before entering. Soon, when he regained normalcy in his breathing, he opened the big wooden door. Inside were multiple pew chairs, perfectly aligned to appear more peaceful. Illuminated by candles, he sighted a man wearing a black robe—typical attire for a priest—kneeling in the farthest pew from him.

Loki knew it was Father Laryatt. He was the only priest in the town, after all. Without hesitation, he walked closer to the priest, kneeled beside him, and prayed.

When he was done saying a few prayers to the Goddess, he opened his eyes. Father Laryatt had already sat beside him, waiting for him to finish.

"Ah, you're done," Father Laryatt said while smiling.

He smiled back, appreciating the priest's kind demeanor. His gratitude towards Father Laryatt was something he ought to repay. When his mother died, Father Laryatt didn't hesitate to give him a place to stay and a job to put food on the table. He had no other relatives as far as he knew; thus, if not for Father Laryatt, he would have died a long time ago.

With the current condition of the town, no one would help a skinny kid like him. Loki could understand it; it was difficult enough to find a job and earn coins, and adding another person to feed would have been unthinkable. That was more reason to become indebted to Father Laryatt, he promised, after becoming a Dungeon Crawler and having earned enough coins. He would donate it to fix the church, which Father Laryatt loved the most.

"Tomorrow is your birthday. Are you ready to become a real Blessed?" Father Laryatt asked and then patted Loki's head.

The warm hand made his heart feel warmer. He always liked it when Father patted his head; it reminded him of when his own father praised him when he did a good job.

"Yes, I'm ready! Do you think I will obtain a Class tomorrow? I'm a bit worried."

"Well, if the rumors are true, all you need is 10 strength to unlock the Warrior Class. You already have that, don't you?"

"Yes! I worked hard to reach 10 strength."

"Then you don't have to worry."

While Loki stared at the statue of the Goddess in front of them, he recalled that he had acquired a title. He looked at Father Laryatt and inquired.

"Father, I want to ask you about something I received when I was in the graveyard."

The priest only nodded while appreciating the Goddess, as he was already used to Loki's curious personality.

"Go on, child."

"I don't know if this is important, but when I finished my work, I suddenly received a title from the Blessing."

The casual behavior of the priest vanished, and he looked at Loki with widened eyes.

"What is the title, child?"

Loki couldn't remember it, which was why he called out his Blessing.

His status was still the same, with only the addition of a title [Guide of the Soul.] And a new stat [Death Affinity: 1.]

Seeing this, he looked at the priest and confusedly said, "The title said Guide of the Soul. But that isn't the only addition. In my status, I have a new stat called Death Affinity. Have you heard of this before, Father?"

Loki looked away from his Blessing and turned his attention to Father Laryatt. He noticed the Father's wrinkled face became obviously grim.

"What is it, Father?"

When the priest regained his senses, he anxiously scanned the surroundings and then abruptly grabbed Loki's shoulders.

"Listen to me, child. No matter what happens, never mention your title or your new stat to anyone. In the future, whatever Class you obtain, hide it from anyone, even to those people who are close to you, even for me."

This startled Loki, as he had never seen Father Laryatt act this way.

"W-what's wrong, Father?" Loki stumbled with his words.

"Child, this is an important matter; however, even if I explain it to you, you wouldn't understand. Just trust in my words and do what I say."

Loki couldn't comprehend the situation, but there was one thing he was sure about. His trust in the priest was so overwhelming that even if Father Laryatt said something absurd, he would believe it. Therefore, he didn't hesitate and nodded.

"In a matter of a few hours, you will receive your Class. You don't need to go home; just stay with me until your birthday arrives," Father Laryatt added.

"But what about Mr. Donario? Wouldn't he wait for me to come back?" Loki worriedly asked.

The priest stood up and said while walking away. "Don't worry about him; stay there; I'm going to take something."

The sudden turn of events confused him. First, they smiled at each other, and next Father Laryatt's actions suddenly became weird. He couldn't help but be anxious, thinking something bad was about to happen.

While waiting, both of his feet were moving up and down, as if they had lives on their own. Did I do something that angered Father? No, that isn't it. Father became weird when I mentioned the title and my new stat. Is it a bad thing?

Loki's thoughts ran through his mind, analyzing how the situation led to the current circumstances. However, before he could find the answer, the Father returned, carrying a pillow and blanket.

"Here, take this, child," the priest stated, handing him the things he held.

Loki didn't say anything and just received the pillow and the blanket.

Father Laryatt sat beside him once again; his demeanor was back to being calm. "I have something to tell you first."

Witnessing the familiar action of the priest gave tranquility to Loki's worried heart.

"I'm sorry, child, I kept something from you. In truth, I know the condition of unlocking a Warrior Class, and it isn't 10 strength, but 15."

Baffled, Loki looked at the priest with wide eyes and asked. "What do you mean, Father? Why would you keep that from me? You know my dream is to become a Dungeon Crawler; without a Class, I can't achieve that."

Loki's heart beat harder than before, as the news was a massive hit to him. I only have 10, so it means I will not be able to gain a Class.

"Even though what I'm about to tell you sounds cruel, you must know that I only care for your safety." Father Laryatt hesitated, but soon he continued. "I don't want you to become a Dungeon Crawler; you have no idea how cruel a Dungeon is. I lost a lot of good friends, wanting the same dream as yours. I don't want to lose another one from that brutal world any further. I want you to keep living here and accompany me until my deathbed. Even if your life isn't perfect in this small town, at least you have a life to live on. But it appears my selfish wish will not come true."

The priest eyed Loki with sadness and added. "Believe me, child. I want to explain things to you, but there's information in this world that is better for you that you don't know, as it will only bring harm to you and the people around you."

Loki could feel the anguish of Father Laryatt. He wanted to ask. He wanted to know what the reason was for Father's weird actions, but he couldn't bring himself to do so.

"What should I do, Father?" Loki asked, confused about what path he should take.

Remembering that he lacked the qualification to become a fully pledged Blessed, he lowered his head and spoke in a weak voice. "There is no more reason for me to wait for my birthday. I don't have enough stats to unlock any other Class."

The priest smiled with sadness and patted Loki's head. "We don't know that yet. Who knows, the Goddess might see your worthiness and give you a chance. We should wait and see; don't lose hope. You should rest first; I know you're tired from your work. I'll wake you up when the time comes."

Although he knew Father Laryatt's words were only to lift his heavy heart, Loki couldn't resist but had a slight hope that maybe the Goddess would indeed give him a chance. Without responding, he laid on the pew chairs, intending to rest…

"…Wake up, child."

A familiar voice called out to Loki, pulling him from his deep slumber. As his eyes slowly opened, the first thing he saw was Father Laryatt, gently smiling at him. Abruptly, he sat up, recalling that he was going to unlock his Class. Then, before he could access his Blessing, he recalled his conversation with the priest.

His mood immediately dampened.

"Good morning, child." Father Laryatt greeted Loki and patted his head when he saw his sour face. "Don't be discouraged; why don't you open your Blessing and see first?"

Loki nodded weakly. He didn't know what to feel in the moment. Even though Father Laryatt's decision was something he didn't agree with, he just couldn't bring himself to be mad at the only person who cared for him for the last 5 years. For him, he was the last family he had. Thereby, he had decided last night that even if he didn't obtain a Class today, he wouldn't blame the priest. He would accept that maybe he wasn't meant to be a Dungeon Crawler.

With a thought, his Blessing popped up in front of him. However, on top of his status was another box that made his heart skip a beat.

[Available Class: Soul Harvester]

[Would you like to accept it, Yes/No?]