NOVEL NEXT Chapter 2.1
Getting up from bed the next day turned out to be a harder feat than expected, not only had I slept in my gear my muscles were also aching and rigid from an entire day of activity, for someone who had spent most of the previous year without physical activity even the increase in physique from my Faulna wasn’t enough to heal completely in only a single night.
With a groan of pain I managed to push myself away from the bed, my entire body stiff like an old man’s, and sat down at the wooden chair, slowly moving my muscles to heat them up I started thinking about my first dungeon dive, the danger, the heavy smell of blood, the different monsters and flora, I couldn’t help myself I started to laugh, this was what I had been missing, this was the kind of thing I had always wanted to do.
Well I could do with less pain but it was a small price to pay.
Pulling the mirror I had borrowed yesterday I let a drop of blood from my finger fall on my back and used it to read my new faulna
Roland Synclair – level 1
Strength – I - 11
Endurance – I - 8
Dexterity – I - 12
Agility – I - 13
Magic – I - 55
Skills:
- Chosen of an Outer God.
- Mangekyou Sharingan (Shisui).
Hmm, it was a fairly large growth for a single day of work, I had no delusions that I could match Bell’s rate of growth so the large increase must have come from surviving the 19th floor and several level 2 monsters on my first try
Taking some time to recover I slowly walk down the stairs towards the ground floor with a newfound resolution, no more conforming myself to other expectations, I’d been given a new lease on life, time to live it as I want.
“Aw, aw, aw” I said after each step and glared at the snickering Villy looking up at me, I never had an impressive glare in my previous life but glowing red eyes were great for intimidation.
I had just sat down in front of Villi when Mord poked his head on the door and smirked at my rigid body “there you are come on!” he waved me over with a bag filled with coins.
Releasing another groan I swore in my mind, couldn’t the damn guy have waited a little to show up? grabbing at my chair I sighed and pushed myself back up “aw, aw, aw”
“Come on stop being a pussy” Mord called from outside, gritting my teeth I increased my pace as my muscles finally started to come loose from my movements.
Getting out of the building I almost jumped as a trunk like arm wrapped itself around my neck and pulled me closer “Hurry up newbie drinks are on me” Mord said at my ear forcing me to try and push the bastard away from my face with another groan at the physical strain, the asshole didn’t even budge.
“The hell, why the sudden generosity?”
“Heh, it’s not every day we make such a killing newbie” he laughed and let me finally break free from his arm, starting to lead me towards the only pub in the town “Not having to use the magic bombs let us earn far more than usual”
“How much?”
“For you? about 9 000 valis” he threw a little pouch at my chest which I almost didn’t catch “For us, almost a week of work in the upper floors”
“Ugh, at least I can pay for my stay until someone kills the damn Goliath” I said and let the man lead me inside the pub, the place was almost empty so early in the day but Scott and Guile were already seated on a table with two extra mugs of beer.
“Ah don’t worry, if someone doesn’t kill it in about a week Bors will probably form a party to hunt it down” Scott said from the table “He just doesn’t want to have to pay people to do it”
“Yep that's Bors alright, always looking out for number one” Mord laughed and sat down, I took a little more time before I managed to lower myself to the chair and take a swing of the beer, it was terrible.
“Ugh what is this shit?” I asked when I managed to swallow the horrible thing
“It is shit.” Scott said with a perfectly serious face, then burst out laughing when I spit it out on the floor and tried to wipe my mouth clean. “Just kidding, we all know it tastes terrible but with the path to the surface cut off the pub can’t resupply so people start getting… creative”
Looking at the ale in my hand I frowned “Ugh, do I wanna know where this comes from?”
“No, you really don’t” Guile told me with a resigned voice before taking another swing of the mystery liquid.
I continued to look at the thing at my hand with suspicious, it didn’t exactly taste like piss but it was close, what the hell it’s free I’ll drink it anyway, taking another swing to the cheers of my companions I swallowed and stretched my back before asking “So why have I received so little coin?”
“What, you expected equal share?” Mord mocked then started enumerating things on his fingers “first we had to pay Bors for using his monster farm, then we had to pay for the supplies and everything we used, then Bors take a share from the remaining and THEN you get your 10%”
“Well, you also had to pay Bors his finders fee and for lending you gear so…” Said Scott with a laugh “In Rivira the elder always wins”
All three of them took lifted their mugs and sighed at the same time “Greedy bastard”
“Why don’t you just… use the spot?”
“Several reasons really, want some meat?” Mord told me and flagged a servant over to order breakfast when I shook my head “first, someone has to maintain the farming spots and Bors make you pay ten times if he finds out you used it without his say so, then a lot of the gear we used, especially the monster bait, isn’t exactly legal so it's hard to aquire”
“Plus its expensive” Scott added with a sigh while Mord ordered some bread “Bors gives us all the equipment we need and takes his cut when we return, in the off chance we don’t break even he takes the loss instead of us”
“Ugh” i said and finished my beer “I guess that's fair”
“You think Bors’ is gonna send us out again?” Asked Guile with his mouth full when the breakfast finally arrived.
“Well probably one other time, his usual adventure parties are stuck on the middle floors so he doesn’t have many options” Mord said and released a huge belch before slamming his mug on the table “Ah, getting stuck here may turn out to be very lucky for us”
“So, you guys still need a supporter?” I asked knowing that even with my eyes I wouldn’t survive an encounter with even a single monster on the 19th floor much less the large groups we often meet
“What the hell sure, you weren’t a complete waste of space like our last two supporters” throwing some valis on the table Mord laid back and relaxed “We’re planning on a shorter delve later after lunch you can tag along for the usual 10% if you want”
Finishing my bread with eggs I nodded my head, not like I was gonna miss another chance to grow and watch level 2 adventurers to steal their moves, plus I hadn’t had that much fun in… ever. Leaving the pub with the three of them I asked “Is there a place to wash myself here?”
“Take the town’s northern exit. There's a small lake there that's not too close to any of the entrances to the 19th floor so it’s mostly safe” Scott pointed out to me.
Tying my new fortune to my waits I thanked them and followed the directions, when I woke up I hadn’t noticed but, after sweating so much while fighting and sleeping in my clothes I had started to smell.
Looking around as I walked I saw dozens of adventurers walking around with a variety of gear from full plate to barely any clothes, most were humans but there were a few pallum and animal people all around, all of them looking annoyed and some even fighting on the streets, thankfully I managed to sneak away without grabbing any attention.
Outside the small town there were quite a few people guarding or putting up tents to wait for the Goliath to be slain, in truth there was nothing stopping people from trying to sneak through the monster rex or run away from it but most didn’t want to risk it, as Mord had explained yesterday while hunting, the beast wasn’t the fastest but had enough power that a single bad hit could kill a fleeing level two adventurer so people who could afford it prefered to wait.
I reached the small lake to see there were nobody around so I spent 15 minutes making sure there weren’t any monsters close by before taking off my clothes and washing myself as best as I could without soap, I managed to get myself clean and get rid of most of the blood on my gear before another party joined me making me hurry up since I didn’t trust the others to keep their hands away from my gear.
Wearing wet but clean clothes I started exploring the safe floor making sure to keep an eye out for anything I couldn’t handle.
The Dungeon really was a marvel, this floor’s ceiling must have been at least half a kilometer high and the colorful glowing crystals made for a relaxing atmosphere almost making me forget how dangerous this place was, thankfully movement at the edge of my vision quickly snapped me out of it and I ducked as a stone hatchet flew over my head to bury itself on a tree.
With a loud ‘squee’ a large bipedal rabbit with red eyes tried to headbut me with its small horns, on pure reflex I managed to kick the little bastard away and took some distance until it recovered.
Twisting my head I smiled, the bloodthirsty little thing looked really cute as it crouched down and grabbed at the ground then pulled a second stone ax and puffing itself up to appear more threatening.
“You know what, you’ll make for a great test subject” I told the monster as it tried to hack at my leg.
