After the End: Serenity

[Stage Three - Great Tutorial Dungeon]

[Goals:]

[Defend the Camp] [COMPLETE] (Reward: Etherium added to all dungeon chest rewards. Achievement Bonus Chests added to Dungeon. Additional XP awarded for killing beasts in the forest or crafting in camp.)

[Individual Goal: Gain at least 1 level during this Stage (Required to receive Group Performance reward for this Tutorial. Each level gained will also reward 1 Etherium)]

[Optional Goals:]

[Complete the Great Tutorial Dungeon Level 10 (Grants Bonus Rewards for individual performance. Allows early exit from the Tutorial or access to Duo Dungeon Levels)]

[Note: Early exit from the Tutorial may result in appearing in Real Time seconds before other Tutorial attendees]

[90% or higher survival (Required to maintain Excellent Grade)]

[Average Level of survivors is 55 or higher (Required to maintain Excellent Grade)]

[Failure Condition:]

[Allow a Beast Lord to capture the Great Tutorial Dungeon Entrance] [Failure Condition Removed]

[Failure Consequences:]

[Survivors will be removed from the Tutorial with no additional rewards] [Failure Condition Removed]

[Time Remaining in Stage Three: 30:00.00]

Thirty days in the dungeon seemed like a lot of time. Serenity knew it wasn’t. Most people wouldn’t even finish the normal ten levels; they were intended for people to use to finish their first Path, but the XP given wasn’t that great and you couldn’t easily repeat the more valuable lower levels. The number of completions would drop again for the ten levels of the “Duo Dungeon”.

Vengeance had made it through that. It opened a Solo Dungeon option, which Vengeance hadn’t been able to complete. He’d made it through level four, which was good, but he’d had to use a lot of potions to do it.

Serenity figured he had a chance. He might be able to get there this Tutorial; they were certainly far enough ahead for it to be possible. If he didn’t, he could try again later. It wouldn’t be that hard to make it through another Stage Two, after all.

“Potions! Don’t forget your potions!”

“Weapons over here! We have the best enchantments!”

“Camping gear!”

“Food!”

It seemed like everyone was trying to put together a group to go into the Great Tutorial Dungeon. Most people were forming in foursomes, though he’d seen a couple of groups of three. No one seemed to want to have more than four people, after hearing about the difference from Echo.

Everyone who wasn’t going into the dungeon seemed to be gathering nearby to try to sell something. Serenity had picked up a few health potions, a couple minor chemical neutralization potions, some replacement armor pieces, and a lot of food.

The prices weren’t great, but it was just monster cores. He didn’t really care about them.

“No, the line for people looking for a healer is over near Echo, I’m here to match melee fighters to groups.” Serenity had said something like that every ten minutes for the past several hours.

It was a mess, but it seemed to be working. There were going to be a lot of groups without an actual healer, but there also seemed to be a lot of groups that just wanted to see what was there. They probably wouldn’t need a healer; so far, Rissa had been helpful but not really required. Everyone who was going down without a healer did seem to at least be taking some potions.

Eventually, the crush eased and he was able to find the rest of his group.

[Dungeon Party]

Serenity - (No Current Path) - Melee Tank, Self Healing

Moira (Follower) - Mage - Ranged Damage (Magic)

Echo - Baffles - Ranged Damage (Magic), Scout

Lancaster - Steadfast - Melee Damage, Agility Tank

Rissa - Time’s Eye - Healing, Support

[Select level: 2 or 3]

Echo’s Path included item identification, while Lancaster’s started with appraising people and monsters. It was an interesting flip to what Serenity had expected.

Everyone except Serenity and Moira had managed to get their true Tier 1 Path during the fights against the beast lords. Serenity knew he was still well ahead of Moira, but he was frustrated that he couldn’t pick a Path yet.

At least I’ll get my second Path quickly after the first. Assuming nothing else goes wrong.

Now why did I have to think that?

The third level of the dungeon started in a small cave. It was dark, so Rissa lit the tip of her spear.

The cave had a single exit. Less than five feet past the exit, the corridor was crossed by a huge spiderweb.

Spiders. Why does it always have to be spiders?

Serenity completely ignored the fact that all of the previous dungeon levels, both in the Trial and here, had not had spiders. At some point, there were always spiders, and those were usually his least favorite levels.

He’d rather have a series of desperate battles in an unpleasant swamp than have to deal with spiders. Of course, the swamp would usually have spiders. Those were definitely worse.

For most people, the problem was the spiders themselves. That wasn’t Serenity’s problem. He liked hunting spiders (he’d rather have them than bugs, at least if they were the normal kind and not man-eating monsters) and didn’t even mind trapdoor spiders.

His problem was the spiderwebs. He figured it was only fair; getting thrown into enough spiderwebs that you were completely immobilized until your party cut you out repeatedly would make anyone dislike spiderwebs.

They’d tried to burn the spiderweb off of him on one memorable occasion. It hadn’t worked well.

These spiders were probably not strong enough to be able to tack a man with a bit of web and then throw him around. So it would surely be fine.

“We’re going to want to clear the webs. Going in after giant spiders with the webbing still there is a fool’s choice,” was all he said.

“We could burn it! That’d clear it, right? And the fire could spread and take care of some of the problem?” Echo was almost bouncing as she stared at all the webbing. “There’s a lot there, it ought to burn well!”

“Spiderweb doesn’t burn all that well. It sort of melts, where it’s in the fire, and the fire doesn’t spread unless you’ve used an accelerant. In which case it’s not really the web that’s burning.” Serenity should know. He still had the - no, actually, come to think of it, he didn’t have the scars to prove it anymore. That hadn’t happened yet. Maybe it never would?

“Still, you’re right, a torch is probably easier than trying to cut it. And it just builds up if you try to use a broom. Enough of it is sticky.” The other option was to cover it with something - dust or dirt would work; water would help, but it wasn’t as good - to stick to it and reduce the stickiness, then cut it off the walls as they went. That was the method he’d used the most, but they didn’t have anyone with the right Path Skills to make that method fast right now.

They had to return to the surface to get the right materials for some torches, but before long they were back in the dungeon with the first torch lit. Serenity used it to break the spider’s signal thread. He handed the torch back to Rissa and waited.

It was less than a minute before the first spider showed up on the web. It was less than three feet long, including the legs, and Serenity simply stabbed it in the head when it came to investigate. “Dumb spider. Usually they’re more cautious.”

He took the torch back from Rissa and started clearing the webwork that lined the walls.

It was long, slow work, occasionally interrupted by spiders. Most were taken care of by Echo, Moira, and Rissa before they could even get close, once they were far enough into the hallway that they could see the spiders.

The first trapdoor spider was a surprise; they hadn’t expected one in a heavily webbed area. Unfortunately for the spider, what it decided to attack was the torch. It destroyed the torch, but Lancaster’s sword killed it almost as quickly.

For a long time, all of the spiders seemed to be alone. The route occasionally branched, but there was no indication of which route was “correct”. They knew they’d looped back on themselves when they found a path clear of webbing.

When that happened, they knew they needed to be on the lookout for hunting spiders. Those seemed to be the only kind that would appear in web-free areas.

Eventually, they reached a larger chamber. They baited out two spiders, but the last two attacked as a pair, along with a horde of ordinary-sized spiders. The two big spiders were easily handled, but the swarm wasn’t. Echo eventually pulled out her sleeping bag, wrapped herself up in it, and rolled around on the ground to crush as many as she could.

It was hilarious and far more effective than anyone else could believe. Rissa and Moira quickly followed Echo’s example while Serenity and Lancaster went after the ones the girls didn’t crush.

When the area was finally clear, a message appeared.

[Conditions met: Greater than 10 hours on a single level. Room greater than 15 feet in all directions]

[Tutorial Dungeon Option: Safe Night’s Rest]

[For 10 hours, you will be unable to leave this room and monsters will be unable to enter. Mana density will be reduced]

[Do you accept?]

It didn’t take long to accept. They’d half expected to have to clear the level before they could sleep, and it had been too long without a good rest.

They were all grateful for the “eternal” waterskin, since it let them rinse off the spider remains. Unfortunately, there was only so much they could do for the three bedrolls. Serenity was the only person carrying food. It was all easy to carry and eat on the move, so it wasn’t what anyone wanted - but it was better than searing the spiders over a fire, which seemed to be the next best option.

Only Serenity slept well. Apparently, everyone else found the cave floor uncomfortable. Serenity was once again grateful for the ability he’d gotten from the dream blossoms. It had seemed so useless, yet it kept making his life better.

[Tutorial Dungeon: Safe Night’s Rest has ended]

[Tutorial Achievement Earned: An Uncomfortable Night’s Rest]

An Uncomfortable Night’s Rest

Sleeping in a Dungeon is a dangerous practice, and not only because of the monsters.

A box appeared in front of each of them, with the person’s name on it. It contained a bedroll.

Comfortable Bedroll

Made from mana-enhanced materials, this bedroll is naturally fluffy and smooth to the touch.

Enchantments: Temperature Control (minor environmental adjustment), Space Reduction (takes up 1/16th the size it should when rolled up), Firmness Adjustment, Personal Customization (Bound) (Temperature Control and Firmness Adjustment apply only for the Bound entity but will adjust as needed across the entire bedroll)

Serenity was impressed. That was a significant reward. It wasn’t strong; none of the enchantments were powerful. It would probably need to be recharged only a few times a year. The impressive parts were how finicky the enchantments had to be and the fact that it was something that would be useful for multiple Tiers.