《Planetary Brawl》


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 1 The taste of ash

    The molten husk of an unknown creature fell slowly to the side, sundering the earth with its weight and sending shock waves over a kilometer around it.


    A group of humans sat by its side, breathing ragged breaths, ignoring the ash that filled their lungs. Surrounding them were a field of corpses, hundreds of comrades burnt to a flesh, or sliced in half.


    Despite their victory, there was no cheering, no joy to be found. Even as the group felt themselves fill with the power of the slain creature, they remained emotionless.


    One of the girls sitting on the outskirts fell to the side, her eyes lifeless. Her wounds had long stopped regenerating, and a hole in her chest revealed her motionless heart.


    ''Congratulations. For defeating the Emperor Ashen Goliath, you have been rewarded, 6,400,000,000 experience. Loot collection is available, a new level in the shop has been unlocked. Happy spending!''


    Pained eyes looked at the message that popped up in front of the group, drawing feelings of anger and despair.


    The small group of humans was all that was left, the rest of humanity destroyed. They had escaped into the portal, a last ditch effort to escape the destruction of earth, and had lived sustainably for a short while.


    Their freedom was merely an illusion, as the inhabitants of the world had finished conquering earth, returning home to find the pest they thought exterminated was huddling in the deep recesses of their home land.


    A battle ensued, inevitably leading to humanities loss. What good was strength when these beings surpassed all expectation? The enormous smoldering corpse in front of them was the last of their enemies, a failsafe meant to wipe out everything if its creators were dead.


    The humans now owned the land, a stinking, hot, shithole. There was no water, only able to be purchased from the ''shop'' for exorbitant amounts. Crops didn''t grow, and the previous owners of the land did not live extravagantly. They had conquered a race that cared little for material things, living in large caves made from molten rock.


    What little victory they had was shallow, nothing taken was worth a damn anymore.


    Slowly, and with great pain, one of the men stood up from the ground, feeling the burning embers that littered his body. He tapped on the message displayed before him, peering through the loot list. If there was something, anything that might bring back humanity, they might have hope.


    Under normal circumstances, the loot would have pushed them far ahead in terms of strength. Multiple forbidden items, the highest classification they could go, an endless sea of affixes that enhanced them beyond belief.


    The man ignored all but one, noting the special glow that surrounded it.


    It was a corrupted secret item, the first he had ever seen. Secret items were two tiers below forbidden items, but varied wildly in strength. Some were weaker than rares, and some on par with legendaries. When he chose it, a small necklace appeared in his hands. At the same time, the list of loot appeared before another member, going around in the priority list.


    The man froze as he read the description, his hand shaking as they clasped the metal tightly. Those closest to him closed the loot screen angrily when it appeared, and noticed his shivering.


    He held the necklace out towards a woman, beckoning her to take a look. She stood up and walked over slowly, stepping through the puddles of magma without a care.


    When she inspected the necklace, she looked up at the man seriously and sent out a message for everyone to gather immediately.


    Item: Necklace of Time


    Rarity: Corrupted Secret


    +5 Charisma


    +10 Wisdom


    +60 Intelligence


    Passive: Able to recall the current time and date immediately.


    Active: Send a targeted party member time 5/10/15 seconds back in time. Item destroyed on use. Duration requires 500/1000/1500 Intelligence.


    Corruption: +5 to Item. Non-targeted party members die horrifically.


    +1: Seconds changed to minutes.


    +2: Minutes to hours.


    +3: Hours to days.


    +4: Days to weeks.


    +5: Weeks to years.


    The group gathered around, each inspecting the item and looking amongst themselves in shock.


    "Fifteen years." The man who had chosen the necklace whispered, looking at the crude metal. The Necklace of Time had been seen once before, a non-corrupted version. They used it to kill one of the enemies leaders, having a party member go back 10 seconds in time to warn of its self-destruction, saving the party of the strongest members.


    The group looked around at each other and their screens, noting the insane intelligence cost required to go back. Those in the group who focused on intelligence, the magic and support users, eyed their own values.


    "We can only go back 10 years." They said, already knowing who among the living had the highest intelligence value.


    The mage that had so was trembling, terrified more of the responsibility that might be shoved upon him then he had of fighting the monsters. The man bit his lip, noting the difference five years would make.


    Fourteen years ago humanity was faced with the opening of the ''shop'', a worldwide device that opened up like a holo-screen in front of the user. Just about anything was available in the shop, and a small amount of currency, Dos, was given to each person, to use as they wished.


    It was just enough to cause havoc across the globes as people traded the Dos for currency, crashing the economy as the value of currency dropped.


    Others bought food enough to survive for a couple of years, or a new car. The worst cases bought weapons, increasing violence across the globe dramatically as suddenly even a child could purchase a brand new assault rifle.


    Shortly after the shop, came the ''dungeons''. The term was given to them by gamers, and it stuck. Areas of the world were suddenly inaccessible, randomly appearing.


    One might enter a building, only to suddenly find themselves in the middle of a jungle. These areas were like earth, but were filled with monstrous creatures and mutated animals.


    Dos was earned from slaying these creatures, selling their parts, or loot, to the shop. Clearing an entire dungeon earned an extra serving of Dos, and the area would disappear, returning to whatever it was before. Pioneers, as the system called them, could not leave the dungeon until the boss was killed, or the associated quest completed.


    Areas containing dungeons were closed off by military, stopping civilians from wandering in and dying. Squads of soldiers would enter, some returning victorious, others ragged and missing party members.


    Problems arose as people fought against the military, claiming they were hogging all the Dos. Some people entered illegally, claiming the dungeons for themselves. Other times the areas appeared in dangerous spots, such as subway stations, or in the White House.


    Whilst firearms and stronger explosives served well inside the dungeons, they begun to fall off over time. Unless bought from the shop, or crafted using materials from the dungeons, they became ineffective.


    Medieval era soldiers reappeared, using swords and bows collected from the dungeons, specialized in clearing them. Life continued, despite the countless deaths and riots.


    That was, until the dungeons no longer remained in a single location. Dungeon boundaries began to expand, encompassing the terrain around them, and incorporating it into the dungeon.


    A dungeon entrance might have once covered a small building, but now encompassed the entire suburb. As the dungeons grew larger, creatures started to emerge from within, set free from their confines. Humans needed to clear the dungeons quickly, before the monsters could escape and claim millions of lives.


    A trend seemed to form, as the moment humans began to form up in their areas, clearing dungeons that grew too close, the dungeons changed, pushing humanity back out of their comfort zone, and into dire straits.


    The dungeon boundaries disappeared, claiming the land they had take over as the new dungeon. Monsters roamed through abandoned city streets and beach side resorts. The dungeon terrain and its spawn location merged together. Towns died overnight as a jungle sprouted up, or a cave system opened up beneath farmland.


    Humans, clumped up in the settlements, weathered the attacks that came, pushing back the waves, spending the Dos in huge amounts to keep up with the increasing pressure and power that the monsters possessed.


    Again, when humans regained control of their areas, killing the monsters and destroying the dungeons that had stolen the land, a new enemy emerged.


    It was 10 years ago that another planet revealed themselves. The remaining dungeons spouted out new creatures. They were a sentient race, like the humans, and also had access to the ''shop''. The Torians. They were made of rock and metal, and took after the image of a rhinoceros standing on its hind legs. They were toxic to be around, as they constantly expelled sulfur into the air.


    The invaders had purchased Earth, the entire planet. The dungeons became access portals, allowing them to send over their forces and clear out its inhabitants.


    More importantly, they were strong. They had weathered the Dos system much better than humans had, retaining control over their territories, and subduing the dungeons, using them as training grounds.


    The Torians were a warrior race, and often fought among themselves. It was only when a new target emerged did they band together, moving in unison to their new hunting grounds.


    The humans struggled to hold on, but were slowly pushed back, eventually leaving their planet, escaping to the last place the Torians would expect.


    Their home planet, Ysoria.


    The state of the planet made it obvious as to why the Torians had purchased another planet, trying to escape the slow death their own was going through. The land was inhospitable, covered in volcanic deposits that polluted the air with ash, evaporated every available water source, and stopped any source of farming. Although made of inorganic material, the Torians were carnivorous, and any remaining organics on the planet had been horribly mutated, beyond the point that even Torians could reliably hunt.


    The Emperor Ash Goliath that had been created to destroy all life should the Torians lose, was once a huge volcano located behind the main Torian settlement, exploding forth when the race was close to extinction, and covering what land remained untouched in fire and brimstone.


    The man holding the necklace was the third in command, Tristen. He looked up at the woman who was unofficially the second in command, their back-up tank, Cynthia. Ten years would put one of their party members at the start of the Torian invasion, much too late to save the earth from its fate.


    None of them were strong enough at that point to hold off the Torians, and being pushed back to Ysoria would doom them to the same fate.


    "Can we purchase enough int gear to reach 1500?" One of the mages asked, looking around at their dead comrades belongings.


    They hurriedly opened their shop whilst others checked the bosses loot, calculating how much intelligence they would need to gain to cover the remaining. The mage who reached 1000 was already using high-intelligence providing gear to reach the number, so finding pieces that provided even more was difficult.


    Cynthia looked around for a certain body as the party put their minds to work, arguing with each other on which piece was better in the largest display of emotion she had heard in a while.


    One body stood out amongst the rest of charred corpses, clear of any ash and still glowing an orange hue despite the lifeless eyes that stared up into space.


    "What about Dusty''s gear?"


    The group stopped their talking and looked over at Cynthia who hovered above a body.


    "Dustin¡­" The woman whispered. She desperately felt like crying, but no tears sprung forth, her body so deprived of hydration. Her hands were careful as she knelt down, inspecting the gear their once glorious leader had worn. The lack of ash or burns covering his attire was surprising, given the volcanic environment that surrounded them.


    It was his coat that provided the benefit, keeping his clothes clean. She couldn''t help the chuckle that rumbled up her throat. It was classic Dustin, refusing to work in dirty clothing. She counted up the intelligence they provided, then looked up at the mage who was most promising and shook her head.


    "Still short."


    The mage looked pained and relieved at the same time, leaning against his staff.


    "I¡­ I don''t think I could go back." He stated, drawing angry looks from the other mages. Despite feeling the same, they all knew that someone had to take the risk, hoping that it wouldn''t be them.


    Cynthia wanted to scream at him, but there was no energy left in her body as she looked back down at Dustin''s body.


    She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted as Tristen read through the necklace description again.


    "It doesn''t say they have to be living." He said slowly, skirting around what he truly meant to say.


    All eyes went over to Cynthia, who looked down at Dustin. The highest intelligence of all the party members, living or dead, was nearing 2000, and belonged to none other than their leader who laid dead at her feet.


    She wanted to say no, looking down at his peaceful face that was sleeping eternally. How could any of them subject someone to relive the experience again, especially one who had already given their life to cause, sacrificing more than anyone else had.


    "There''s no other choice." Tristen mumbled, bringing the necklace closer. Cynthia''s eyes shot up, staring daggers at the approaching tank. He had taken hits from the Goliath and survived, encouraging his members to keep going.


    But the look on her face gave him pause, stopping him from getting any closer.


    "Cynthia¡­"


    "I know." She interrupted the man speaking and stood up slowly. Without moving an inch the necklace disappeared from Tristen''s hands, appearing around her neck instead.


    "You should all leave the party."


    Everyone was frozen in place as she delicately ran a hand through Dustin''s hair, her other hand clasping the necklace so tight they thought she might break it. Everyone had read the description of the necklace, noting the part that the remaining party members would die.


    Horrifically.


    Yet no one left the party, standing in solemn silence as Cynthia said her goodbye.


    "We go together." Tristen said, with rest of the party copying his words. Cynthia didn''t fight it, and held the necklace up, showing the ability it provided.


    Active: Targeted party member: Dusty. Target will be sent (15) years back in time.


    Her hand trembled over the accept button, looking once more at his peaceful face before she pressed it.


    The necklace around her neck began to melt, being destroyed on use as part of its description. The molten silver slithered over to Dustin''s body, starting to encapsulate him entirely.


    At the same time, Cynthia could feel an uncomfortable warmth under his skin, and looked at her arm to realize that the skin was beginning to peel off, revealing the muscle underneath. The pain was enough to make any sane person scream, but no one made a peep. They watched the body slowly turning silver, praying to whatever sick god had put them through this to let him succeed.


    Their eyes were full of pity, not pain, until they could see no longer, their eyeballs melting out of their sockets.


    Cynthia felt a single tear escape her burning eye ducts, dropping onto the silver and running down its side. Her hand continued to run through Dustin''s hair until it no longer remained, turning to nothing. She leant forward with the last of her strength and kissed the top of his head, feeling what was left of her being torn apart.


    The pain grew tremendously, until the party began to scream, sending signals that even Dustin could receive. The silver had covered even the inside of his body and his heart started to beat slowly.


    He heard the orchestra of horror outside, despite seeing nothing but darkness, and wondered if it was a dream.


    His closed his eyes involuntarily and he and tried to go back to sleep, curious as to why the screams sound like they were cheering him on...

 2 Countdown to insanity

    Dustin awoke to someone calling his name as he shot up in bed, nearly hitting his head on the top bunk. He felt extremely hot, like he had been in a sweltering heat. But he was only sleeping under a light sheet in a room with air-con.


    He pushed the sheet off his body and looked down, noticing a complete absence of sweat. He remembered the vivid dream he had last night, and a woman crying above him.


    When he sat up on the edge of the bed, he noticed that there was some moisture, a couple of droplets had collected on his chest. Remembering the crying woman his head begun to hurt, and he dabbed his finger into one of the droplets.


    He tasted the droplet and his eyes widened, it was saltier than sweat. A minute of silence passed as Dustin stared at his finger, a flood of memories he never had filling his head.


    "Dustin!"


    A voice called from downstairs, pulling him out of the frozen state. Looking up at the door to his room, and whispered, "Display," which revealed no screen in front of him.


    His memories were growing increasingly painful as his mother called for him again, "You''re going to be late!"


    He started crying as he remembered his mother, her voice¡­


    Dustin hadn''t seen her in years, not since she had died, torn apart by a crazed monst-


    He shook his head, surprised at the tears leaking from his eyes. He had seen his mother yesterday, but couldn''t stop the flood of emotions. What was wrong with him, thinking such a horrible thing as if she was dead.


    After refusing to answer her again she burst through the door, one hand on a flip flop and the other holding a cup of water.


    She had meant to splash it on him and slap him awake, but stopped at the door, surprised that he was not only awake, but crying. He looked up at her with a pained expression and couldn''t stop himself from running over to hug her, spilling some of the water.


    "Is everything ok?" She asked, ignoring the water that had splashed onto her work pants. She dropped the footwear in her other hand on the ground and gently pat Dustin on the back.


    He mumbled something about missing her as she calmed him down, waiting until he stopped crying.


    "S-sorry. I don''t know¡­"


    She sighed and pulled away, looking at his face. He didn''t seem injured or anything, but looked pained, like he was being attacked by an indescribable sadness.


    "You sure you want to go in today? You can stay home, you haven''t missed any classes yet."


    Dustin shook his head and wiped the tears from his eyes, trying to reign in the mixed emotions.


    "No, it''s ok. I''ll go in." He said, turning away to find some clothes.


    "You sure you''re ok? Anything you want to talk about?"


    Dustin looked held up his shirts one at a time and tried to identify them, first annoyed that it wasn''t working, then weirding himself out by thinking that something was supposed to happen.


    He mumbled that he would be OK back to his mother and chose a random shirt, wondering why he was disappointed at the lack of defense it offered.


    He tried to convince himself that he was thinking of a game he had played recently, or one that was coming out that he had forgotten about, but couldn''t help the emotions that overtook him whenever something else came up.


    He had been a top student during university, missing not a single class, and receiving top marks, earning him an expensive scholarship that his mother had been very proud of.


    The sounds of a car turning on as he left his room gave him a nostalgic feeling, like he hadn''t heard or seen a car in over a decade.


    As his mother left for work he peered out the window overlooking the driveway, watching as she pulled away in a little Audi. As well as watching his mother leave, he scanned the surroundings, looking at the street to see if anything was approaching.


    His head was filled with the possible locations he could be attacked in, only stressing him out even further.


    He forced himself into the bathroom and splashed his face, looking up in the mirror. He felt old, but looked young. One of his hands ran over his clean shaven face, feeling like he was missing a beard.


    As a second year university student studying Chemical Engineering, he was only twenty years old, but seen as a genius by his parents, teachers, and friends. He felt regret at having never finished the course¡­


    At never being able to finish the course¡­


    Why wasn''t he going to finish the course?


    He splashed more water on his face, but couldn''t shake the turmoil within his head. Hoping that something to eat would fix the problem he dashed down the stairs and threw together a bowl of cereal, savoring the taste. He had been living on hardtack for so long.


    Dustin could almost taste the dry biscuits in his mouth, and tried to shove more cereal in to counteract it.


    His plans were so far failing, being constantly reminded of things he had no idea ever happened.


    In the back of his head he could feel that something was coming, not immediately, but soon. He remembered the vivid images of fighting, Losing.


    Dying.


    He was twenty years old, yet felt his time was approaching.


    By the time he packed his things together and got in the car, he realized he forgot which side was brake and which was accelerate. Once he worked that out, he finally set off towards the university, a short fifteen minute drive.


    At least, it should have been. He couldn''t help but check every blind spot constantly, afraid something was going to pop out and get him. He ended up going 10 below the speed limit, jumping at the angry beeps other drivers gave him.


    The university campus was busy as students arrived for morning classes, sending Dustin into a panic as he tried to keep track of everything moving around him, watching for anyone who looked out of place.


    He almost crashed into a pole as he failed to turn right, blushing as onlookers laughed, one of them yelling, asking him if he knew how to drive.


    He parked the car in the furthest spot from his class, where few other cars bothered to go. He took the paths least traveled towards the class, and sat down at the back so he could see everyone, with nobody behind him.


    When the lecturer came in, she gave him a look, surprised to find him at the back, his spot empty where he usually sat at the front.


    He ended up being distracted all class, unable to focus on the board. When the teacher called his name, asking for the answer to an equation, he unconsciously gave it.


    It wasn''t out of place for students to do so, but Dustin had practically listed off the numbers like it was written in front of him, rather than calculating it himself. This repeated several times, even drawing some attention from other students as he continued to give his answer before she could even finish asking him.


    Mathematics was straightforward for those who understood the formulas and how to apply them, it came down to calculating once you knew what to do. Dustin definitely knew the formula, but each time he answered, he wasn''t calculating it himself. He simply remembered what the answer was, like he had already done the question before.


    It wasn''t impossible that he actually had done them before, but very unlikely, as it occurred several times throughout the class, on questions that she had made up herself. Whilst the class was impressed with his speed, his mind was only growing more doubtful of what was real and what was fake.


    Deja Vu was a phenomenon when the mind tricks itself into thinking something happened already, a false memory. Dustin had experienced it before, like most other people, but knew it was nothing like this. He had also never heard of a case that extended past a single event, and encapsulated the rest of his life.


    The classes after his tutorial were lectures, and once again he sat up at very back, keeping everyone else in front of him.


    "Dustin, what are you doing back here?"


    Some called out to him as they stood in the aisle, a laptop in his arm. They slid through the seats to sit next to him, and made a show of squinting to see the lecturer, teasing Dustin for having sit so far back.


    Dustin was caught up trying to contain his emotions at reuniting with his friend who had died long ago, and the anger at himself for thinking such a thing was real.


    His friends name was Ben, who had the nickname Bugs. He had died not from the monsters that came from the dungeons, but after he had bought something expensive from the Dos store, and was murdered for it.


    Dustin pretended like he was focusing on setting up to take notes, avoiding looking at Ben. The lecture started, saving Dustin from hiding his face, and he begun to write down things from his memories.


    He circled important things, and added question marks to others. There was one name that he went over a couple of times, making it bold. He also circled it, and tapped his pen on the page.


    ''Cynthia.''


    Ben had managed to sneak a look at his notes and nudged Dustin in the ribs, "And who would this Cynthia be, hm?"


    Dustin felt a variety of emotions, going from happiness to love, and finally to sadness. Ben sat back as if he had stepped on a landmine, guessing that his friend had been rejected.


    Dustin didn''t bother to rectify the mistake and continued his writing, drawing occasional doodles of the monsters he had vivid memories of fighting.


    The lecture went by with Dustin not having heard a single word the lecturer said, but he could remember the information he should have learned from it.


    Ben invited him to grab some lunch, but Dustin declined, feeling like he needed to pull himself together.


    He ended up sitting in the car, rapidly filling out notebooks with a spread of information. He looked up some of it on his phone, trying to see if there was some kind of game that related to any of it.


    He asked one of his gamer friends some vague questions about the stuff, including the name Torians.


    "Do you mean Taurens?"


    Dustin put his phone down and bit his lip, looking out at the green scenery that bordered the edge of the university.


    It was all too real, to many emotions attached to the memories and the overwhelming accuracy of what was going to happen that day that Dustin couldn''t help but feel it was the future.


    He tried again to open the ''display'' that littered his memories, but again, nothing popped up. Part of him knew, from the memories, that it was best if it never popped up.


    But the time before it did was short, less than a year. He was going to go insane if he did nothing, waiting until the seemingly inevitable. He couldn''t just quit university. No one was going to understand if he started talking about doomsday. He''d be thrown in hospital, which would make things even worse.


    To help settle himself a little, he made a list of things to do before the end of year on his phone, making sure that each was achievable, and would still allow him to act like everything was normal.


    If, by the end of the year, his memories truly were a farce. Then he would go get therapy, and continue his life as normal.


    He had ended up sitting in his car for a couple of hours, missing his other lecture. Ben, who had attended the same lectures, was messaging him worriedly. He had never missed a single class before.


    Dustin messaged him back, saying that he wasn''t feeling well, and was going to be MIA for a couple of days. Ben asked back if it had to do with the Cynthia woman.


    Dustin kept looking at the text as he prepared to drive back home, hovering over the send button.


    ''Yeah''


    His mother had asked him again if everything was OK when he returned home, and he gave the same excuse as he had to Ben.


    Fooling around before dinner, Dustin booted up his computer and transferred some of his notes from the notebooks, with additional information, into documents, sorting them in folders.


    Without a display, Dustin felt like he was naked, missing a part of himself that offered reassurance. To off put the feeling, he wrote a ''status'' screen into a spreadsheet and filled it out from what he remembered, making it like something out of a game.


    Intelligence - 14


    Strength - 4


    Agility - 4


    Wisdom - 7


    Charisma - 3


    Constitution - 3


    Dustin was quite thin, making his strength fairly low. He also had bad flexibility, and low endurance, making his agility poor as well. His intelligence would be far above average, which was why he had been groomed into a support / healer in the past.


    His wisdom was acceptable, as much as any human could be. If he took into account the ability to predict the ''future'', then it was perhaps higher.


    Charisma was low as Dustin was afraid of public speaking, and crowds in general, making only a couple of friends and sticking to that group. His memories painted him as some kind of leader, which felt simultaneously natural, and terrifying.


    Finally, his constitution. Dustin couldn''t take a hit for shit, and he was likely to blow over in a strong wind.


    To remedy these before the coming of the real status, where having a head start would make things easier, he turned his attention to the list he had made earlier.


    ''


    Hit the gym.


    Study other subjects. Intelligence seems to take into account the amount and depth of knowledge.


    Make some money


    Buy:


    A sword. Plenty available as ''collectors'' items.


    Gun? Useful early on, need a firearm license.


    Armour. Harder to acquire, cosplay excuse?


    Join the debate club, or do public speaking. Charisma is very important.


    Write a compendium of monsters, may release when dungeons come out?


    Work out why and how the fuck I know all this.


    ¡­


    Find Cynthia.


    ''

 3 Dread and Relief

    When Dustin asked his mother for money to join the gym she couldn''t have accepted quicker. Whilst she had no proof, his episode the previous morning, and his wish to buff up, made her suspect some kind of rejection, or bullying.


    She tried asking him, but he was adamant he wasn''t getting bullied, but she did get mixed signals about the rejection.


    She cheered him on internally, and offered to get him a personal trainer. He refused, which was understandable, he was probably very embarrassed about it.


    The very next day he had come home, pale and hunched over from over-exerting himself. She scolded him, but felt a bit of pride for her son.


    Dustin meanwhile, could feel the anger within him boiling. He had barely made it through a tenth of the warm up he had memorized, which was vital for survival.


    It didn''t take a genius to work out where Dustin would work towards. He already possessed an above average intelligence, giving him the natural edge as a mage.


    Dustin had played plenty of video games before he entered university, min/maxing a character was usually not worth it unless one found satisfaction in doing so.


    But when it came to survival, any edge over the opposition could increase the gap between dead, and alive. His gym membership was only a part of the routine, he needed to make up a diet that would make him a bit bulkier. He didn''t need to be lifting boulders, but enough that he could take on another adult human comfortably.


    The idea of killing something did not scare Dustin in the slightest, it was the absence of care that scared him the most. He had never killed anyone, at least not yet. Was he really supposed to be OK with a career in mass murder?


    Times would change, at least as far as his memories were concerned. It wouldn''t matter if the idea of killing scare him or not, he would die if he didn''t adapt.


    Everyone would die.


    It wasn''t a lie to say that the survival of the human race weighed heavily on his shoulders. If, or when, the shop came out, he would have to push himself harder than he had before, making up the time spent toiling that could have given humanity the edge they needed in defending earth.


    Trying to pull his head out of the cycle of despair, he put his thoughts towards the initial goals he set.


    Whilst he was incredibly intelligent, he hadn''t held a job since he worked part time at an ice cream parlor, and that was for a mere four months. He had next to no experience when it came to the job market, giving him little options when it came to earning.


    He decided to ask his mother for help, a far cry from the independence of leading a group himself. She almost had another heart attack when he asked the question, hurriedly being sit down whilst she made calls to her friends, trying to find if anyone needed a part time or casual worker.


    Dustin could technically work full time, considering his university degree was pointless. But he planned on taking extra classes for material he didn''t know, which would fill up the time. He didn''t need to go to any of his regular classes as the information, and exam questions, were already in his head.


    He didn''t tell his mother of his plans beyond the gym and finding a part time job, she already looked shocked enough at his sudden lifestyle change.


    Whilst the job hunt went underway, Dustin looked up medieval weapons and armour to see if there were any nearby selling. It was a lot harder to find a suit of armour than it was to find a sword. Plenty of people were selling knock off swords that they had bought and eventually grew out of, but they were generally not a good idea to use in an actual fight.


    A regular short sword would do fine, able to parry a lot easier, and less fragile.


    When it came to armour, there were a couple of places that offered bits and pieces, but it would cost a fair amount to get it posted since they weren''t close by, not to mention the price of the armour itself.


    Dustin pushed away from the computer and looked up at the ceiling, feeling like the room was about to collapse and crush him under its weight.


    He had managed to grasp the information in his head and start to file it away when needed, saving his sanity from the overload and worry.


    What he couldn''t work out was why he would have it in the first place. If it was true that everything was going to happen, and he was destined to die at the hands of the oversize walking volcano, what had sent these memories back?


    Dustin had no idea if the party succeeded or not, he could remember up to the wave of embers, which was deceptively harmless.


    He had inhaled one, and his insides began to burn. His last spell had been to sacrifice his own health, clearing all ailments afflicting party members. The health lost was enough to kill him, sending him crashing to the ground.


    Whatever happened after that, he had no idea.


    --------------------------------------------------------------------


    After a couple of weeks of training, Dustin had managed to get his warm up routine down before collapsing. He already noticed the difference in energy as he felt more awake.


    His mother had almost cried seeing him up and working, receiving raving feedback from her work mate that had put him up in a part time position.


    He was hard working as a kitchen hand, cleaning up the dishes and clearing tables like a tornado. With the spare cash he earned on the side, he almost emptied his bank account each week buying things.


    He had books for subjects he wanted to learn, going through at least one each week. Rather than straight up buying a sword, he found a club that practised sword fighting, half of it was japanese sword fighting, Kenjutsu, and other half classic medieval style fighting.


    It was to his surprise when he showed interest in it that Ben also agreed to go, signing up to the showcase where they did their recruiting.


    The last shift in focus Dustin did was joining clubs, which included a short story club, where they would share short stories with each other.


    He had little interest in writing short stories, it was the speaking in front of a crowd that would help boost his charisma.


    In the same vein he joined the drama club, applying for roles that played a minor part, but would still get him up in front of lots of people, doing something he was uncomfortable with. All the while he kept an eye on his stat sheet, adding to it when he felt he felt more comfortable doing something.


    He increased his strength and agility numbers as he worked through the workout routine, growing closer to completing the whole thing in one session.


    His intelligence and wisdom were increased slower as he already possessed a high number, but he continued to study other subjects, including history and warfare.


    He felt more confident from acting in plays, and speaking in front of crowds that he increased his charisma slightly, but felt that it was still a far cry from what he apparently needed.


    Constitution was the last stat, and the one that seemed to benefit from anything he did. He grew more active, from both hobbies, learning how to fight, and going to the gym, that he bumped it up to an acceptable level.


    Intelligence - 17


    Strength - 7


    Agility - 7


    Wisdom - 9


    Charisma - 6


    Constitution - 8


    It began to look well rounded the more he worked on it, despite being numbers he made up in his head.


    The due date for the opening of the Dos shop, and therefore the dungeons, was fast approaching. He knew of only a single dungeon that would be accessible, responsible for the disappearance of twelve students.


    A room inside the arts faculty at the university Dustin attended was turned into a dungeon. He made plans to bring in his newly acquired leather armour set, and his sword, as props for a play he had worked on.


    The class was for a screenwriting class, of which he planned to be nearby when it turned, pretending like he wished to ask the lecturer something.


    He had met the lecturer previously, as she attended the plays and had chatted with him briefly. Since he worked on the scripts and his own role within the latest play, she tried convincing him to sign up for screenwriting classes, telling him he had a real talent in it.


    There was bound to be some kind of questions asked if they emerged alive from the dungeon, revealing their existence before others could.


    The world would take time to adjust to the new changes, making it impossible to throw himself into dungeons without drawing some attention.


    Two months after the Dos shop opened was when the first dungeons were discovered. Some discovered as the people inside emerged victorious, but terrified and covered in blood.


    Others were discovered as investigations into the tons of missing people ended up around dungeons, revealing the areas where people simply disappeared once inside.


    At the back of his mind, Dustin could feel the growing concern over not just his own safety, but his friends and families. He knew when, and where, his mother had died. He had hope that he could prevent that, being in the right place to stop her from entering the dungeon, or being inside and destroying it before she could enter it accidentally.


    Others, he was less confident about. With university becoming irrelevant when the world turned to shit, he had lost contact with Ben, unable to find him, and add him to the shops friends list. It was a given that he had died at some point, like his other friends.


    The difference now was that Ben had attended the sword fighting lessons with him, giving hope to the fact that Ben could hold his own.


    Others he worried about were those less prevalent in his life, like his step-sister, who left to start her own family after their father had died, a product of his first marriage before Dustin was born.


    He had no idea about what they went through, and had fond memories of his time with them. Part of him knew that to save humanity, sacrifices were necessary, but even accepting the fact that others had to die for him to succeed gave him a bad feeling.


    ------------------------------------------


    The day of the Dos shop opening made Dustin extremely nervous. He felt sickened at himself for almost wishing that it did open, saving his sanity from the plethora of memories that bombarded him. He didn''t know what he was going to do if it didn''t happen.


    He had to stick to his plan, forgoing the worries of what might happen. He said goodbye to his mother in the morning, pushing down the urge to tell her to stay home, and drove to university.


    He didn''t have any classes today, but took in his leather armour in a large shoulder bag, with his sheathed sword as well. Some people asked about the sword as he passed, including some worried staff.


    He played it off as drama props, and approached the arts faculty building that would be the beginning of his journey, one way or another.


    He looked down at the watch he had bought with the money from his part time job and checked the time. Ten minutes left till midday.


    He walked slowly towards the classroom, wanting for the time to hit just after he entered the room. There were a few curious glances as he carried the large bag and sword towards the class, but given his position in the drama club and interests, it wasn''t unusual to see people moving props around.


    Dustin could see the door to the class just down the hall and breathed in deeply, keeping himself calm. His legs felt heavy the closer he got, up until his hand reached for the doorknob and he froze.


    He looked through the glass window, confirming that the screenwriting lecturer was in, and forced himself to knock.


    The classes finished five minutes before the hour, and he was let in.


    "Hi Sam, have you got a minute to talk about the course?" He asked, putting the heavy bag at his feet, but keeping it pressed to him.


    Anything not touching the person when they were transported was left behind, which would go against the entire point of him bringing it. The students inside were packing up, a couple of them waved at Dustin, his acquaintances from the drama club.


    "No problem! I''ve got about ten minutes to get to the next class, what do you want to know?"


    Dustin looked down at the watch again, counting the single digit seconds until it happened.


    "Mostly how it would fit into my current subject load I-"


    ''Initializing interface.''


    Dustin froze, he felt the twisted feelings churning as relief, and dread, washed over him simultaneously, swirling together into an emotion that made him sick to the stomach.


    The class looked up in front of their eyes as well, alarmed at the floating window of text.


    ''Transfer complete. Welcome to Dos.''


    As the shop window opened up in front of him, the scenery also began to change. The classroom faded away, causing some of the students to panic. Dustin watched as their surroundings quickly became green, placing them on the edge of a forest.


    Checking his feet, Dustin sighed in relief as his bag of armour had come along as well.


    Despite the shop window being open, its colours faded to grey, and any previous options became unavailable.


    Once set up was complete, the shop and accompanying functions could be used within the dungeons. Unfortunately for those who were unlucky enough to find themselves inside a dungeon before the setup could be completed, they were locked out from its functions.


    Unless one was armed like Dustin, it would be a death sentence. They couldn''t buy weapons or armour from the shop, they had no access to skills, and even the party function was disabled.


    Dustin instinctively closed the shop and felt a renewed vigor inside of him. He wasn''t crazy, and his memories had so far been correct. He didn''t know how, or when, but he had somehow gone back in time at least fifteen years.


    The rest of the class was understandably freaking out, no longer indoors, but standing on a grassy hill adjacent to a forest. Some of them tentatively touched the floor, confirming their worst fear that this was real.


    "Did we just get abducted by aliens?"

 4 Trail of green

    Dustin looked around at the empty grasslands to the west that they had been placed in. He could see nothing among the green fields, meaning that the forest was their destination.


    He didn''t want to seem suspicious and acted as if he was confused as well, touching the screen randomly to see if it did anything.


    Sam looked around at the students and tried to calm them down. A couple of them pulled out their phones and dialed for help, but ended in frustration as there was no signal.


    Unfortunately with the shop unavailable, Dustin couldn''t access any information about the dungeon either. Usually there was an accompanying mini-map that would give an idea to the terrain around them, filling in new areas as they moved around.


    A dungeon like this was likely to possess weak monsters with low intelligence. Mutated animals were usually par for the course, or some weaker monsters like slimes and kobolds.


    As the group talked, it became increasingly obvious that they were completely lost, weren''t going to be returned to the classroom, and couldn''t decide on a path of action.


    One of the students walked further out into the grassy plains, but realized quickly that no matter how far he walked, the distance from the forest remained the same.


    To onlookers, he was walking on the spot like he was stuck on a treadmill.


    Some of the students were freaked out by it and refused to move until someone came to collect them. Dustin tried suggesting they move a bit into the forest as it would give them some cover if it started raining.


    It seemed like a good idea, but nobody wanted to go into the forest first. He sighed and opened the bag, surprising the group when he took out his leather armour.


    When he finished dressing up and tied the sword around his waist, he looked like a mercenary from the olden times. He wasn''t sure if the students were more worried that he put the armour on, or were relieved by it.


    The monsters in the dungeon would be attracted to the group fairly quickly, making it a priority that they find the boss and kill it fast. It was possible to hide from the dungeons monsters, but it was a battle of attrition of which the dungeon would always win.


    They were trapped inside until they defeated whatever ruled the forest.


    As much as Dustin wanted to rush in and do so, he needed the group to either stay somewhere safe, or follow him carefully.


    He made a show of entering the forest slowly, and pushed aside the brush with his sheathed sword.


    It didn''t take long to come across the first monster. A rabbit had its back to Dustin, busy feasting on something in front of it. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the rabbit was eating a squirrel.


    His footsteps drew its attention, and it swiveled around, revealing the matted, blood-soaked fur. It had sharp teeth that jutted out as it hissed, charging towards him.


    He pulled the sheath off of his sword and held it out in front of him. When it was close enough to attack he swiped at it, but quickly realized that without the system, or the aid of skills, it wasn''t possible for him to hit something accurately without having trained properly.


    His sword sunk into the ground beside it, barely missing the white ball that went straight for his leg, latching onto it and sinking its teeth into the leather.


    He tried to shake it off his leg, but it had gripped on too tightly, continually pressing deeper to try and get past the leather.


    Turning around, Dustin ran over to a nearby tree and kicked it, smashing the rabbit against the bark.


    After a couple of the kicks the rabbit fell off, stunned momentarily, just long enough for Dustin to skewer it on the end of his sword.


    He felt a small amount of power filling him, the telltale signs of gaining experience. He couldn''t check how much it was as the sudden dungeon stopped him from getting past the initial welcome.


    He withdrew his sword from the rabbit and picked it up, returning to the rest of the class.


    He heard some gasps as he emerged, holding the bloodied rabbit. Sam recoiled at the sight as he brought it towards her, placing it on the ground and kneeling beside it.


    "It jumped me, tried to bite my leg."


    Dustin held its mouth open, showing the sharp teeth to Sam who couldn''t help but look closer, her eyes widened.


    "I don''t think it''s a normal rabbit. It''s way too big, and it was eating a squirrel when I came across it."


    Sam paled as she looked at it, nudging it with her foot. It was certainly much larger than a regular rabbit, not to mention carnivorous.


    "It definitely isn''t the only thing out there," He said, looking back towards the forest. The students who could hold their stomach in came closer to the rabbit, checking out its sharp teeth.


    Sam worriedly bit her lip and looked up at the other students. They were looking to her and Dustin for answers, and she didn''t have any.


    She looked towards Dustin, noticing the blood on the end of his sword. She couldn''t advocate senseless killing of animals, but it was technically self defense. Dustin stood up and wiped the blood off his blade with a special rag from his bag.


    "There doesn''t seem to be the same problem trying to move through the forest as their was heading out in the open. I suggest we head in."


    Some of the students heads shook violently, refusing to go where such a thing had come from.


    Dustin sighed in frustration and started walking towards the forest, but was stopped as Sam grabbed him by the arm.


    "Is that really such a good idea?"


    "No, but do we have another choice? We have no idea where we are, and it doesn''t seem like a normal forest, at least like nowhere I''ve ever been." Dustin turned to speak to the rest of the group as he continued.


    "We''re stopped from going out into the field, but there''s no such boundary leading into the forest, as if we''re supposed to move that way."


    The group took into account his advice and looked into the mess of trees and thick brush. It wasn''t an appealing decision to go looking for trouble.


    "I''m happy to go in on my own, see if there''s anything around. But I''m also the best case for defending the group, I think moving together would be safer."


    Sam huddled the students close together and voiced her concerns, ultimately agreeing with Dustin''s plan. There were a couple of concerns that rose up, but were quickly squashed as another rabbit charged Dustin from the forest.


    Rather than striking at it first, Dustin kicked it to the side, using his boot to hold it down before stabbing it. One of the students hunched over and vomited at the sight, almost getting on the others shoes.


    Dustin turned away to keep an eye for anything else that decided to suicide against him. Fortunately Sam gathered the students up and agreed on his plan to leave, letting him go first. Before he ventured forth, he pulled out a backup short sword he kept and gave it to Sam.


    "I don''t want to ask you of this, but it''s going to be hard for me to get to the back quickly if something happens."


    She reluctantly accepted the sword and waited at the back, giving him a thumbs up when they were ready. She held the blade straight down, to avoid accidentally cutting anything. She was a surprised that Dustin had brought in not props, but actual, sharpened, swords.


    If it weren''t for the carnivorous rabbits and armoured Dustin, the group would have looked like a regular tour group going through a forest.


    He made sure to push through slowly, cutting down anything that got in his way to clear a path.


    The tension in the group rose with each new rabbit that appeared, charging directly for Dustin. A gap slowly grew between him and the girl directly behind him as she avoided being near him, the stench of blood slowly growing as it stained the leather.


    After twenty minutes of exploration and killing, they came across a vague trail path, leading towards the center of the forest.


    Dustin instinctively followed it, already knowing that it would take them out of the dungeon.


    ''All roads lead to the boss'' was a popular saying, as it struck true for 80% of layouts, with only a few following different layouts.


    Some lead to traps, others to secrets. But for Dustin to get the students out as quick as possible, it was best to be optimistic about 80%, rather than pessimistic in the lower end.


    As the path traveled across a river and grew denser, it was increasingly obvious that they were heading to the boss.


    It had been a bumpy ride up until that point, only one student had been injured as they fell into the river and sprained their ankle.


    They were currently taking turns piggybacking on other students and complaining about the pain. Movement forward slowed however as Dustin could feel himself growing tired, his blade covered in blood as the rag he brought to clean it was already soaked. He had started to wipe the blood off on the bodies of the rabbits, but the appearance of a new enemy drew his attention.


    It appeared as they were climbing over a fallen tree, rushing one of the students and biting her arm. Dustin turned as she screamed, trying to get the oversize spider off of her. The students around her dashed away, leaving her with the furry black arachnid.


    Sam was too scared to approach, her sword shaking in hand. Dustin had jump back over the log and tried to get the girl to stand still, but she couldn''t hear him over her own screaming and flailing.


    Dustin had to kneel over her, trapping her legs beneath his as he used one hand to hold her still, and the other to twist the spiders legs.


    When it withdrew its fangs from her arm and hissed at him he pulled it off, throwing it to the ground. The students closest scrambled away as it skittered towards him.


    He elbowed it out of the air as it jumped forward, and slid his other leg over the girl to stomp it into the ground.


    Its body was hard enough to avoid being squished and its legs wiggled. He pressed the tip of his blade against the bottom of its head and pressed down hard, feeling the final crunch that indicated he had pushed all the way through. He kept the sword there until it stopped moving.


    The girl who had been bitten was still hysterically screaming, holding her arm to her chest whilst she rocked back and forth. Dustin had to pry it away from her to look at the wound, noticing liquid oozing from the holes the fangs left.


    "She''s going to need medical aid."


    Sam knelt down beside Dustin and tried to calm her, patting her back and whispering calmly.


    Like normal spider bites, those that were venomous could be treated by the right type of anti-venom, and bites acquired from spiders in dungeons, and giant ones at that, needed dungeon created anti-venom.


    The giant spiders corpse was laying there on the ground, but Dustin had no confidence in making an anti-venom without the systems help.


    If they could get back in time, they could purchase a generic anti-venom from the shop to treat it, but it wasn''t likely that anyone even knew that it was possible.


    Dustin looked between Sam and the girl, contemplating her survival rate.


    "We need to keep going, staying here isn''t going to do anything. The trails starting to widen a bit, so we might find some kind of intersection, hopefully with signs."


    Sam coaxed the traumatized student to stand up, and had some others help her walk as they continued up the trail at an increased pace. Whilst there was indeed something at the end of the trail, it wasn''t anything human.


    A small village blocked the trail from continuing, the buildings and palisade about half the size of a human.


    Dustin already knew what it was, hefting the sword in his hands. Goblins.


    An odd collection of animal bones and plants was wound around a post just out front, signifying the ownership of the village.


    The boss of the dungeon was likely inside, the owner of the village. From what Dustin could garner from the effigy, it was probably a shaman, or another form of evolved goblin that controlled them.


    Luckily for him, their didn''t seem to be any goblins patrolling, thus nothing in the village had seen them yet¡­


    "A village!"


    Dustin flinched as the students erupted in cheers at the sight of the rickety wooden fence, wanting to rush past him to reach it.


    A green head popped out from the entrance and stared at them, stopping them from getting close.


    "What the fuck is that?"


    The goblin looked at the student that asked and screeched, pulling out a rusty knife from its belt. It charged the group of stunned students, but was met by the sharp end of a sword as Dustin stepped forward, slicing through the goblins arm and across its throat.


    The green monsters fell forward with one hand clutching its throat, dropping the knife as blood seeped into the dirt.


    "Don''t just stand there!" Dustin roared, pushing them aside as a crude arrow flew past, flailing in the wind as it lost its velocity, clattering against the ground behind them.


    Dustin groaned, realizing that the advanced goblin they had rolled up on was an archer.


    Sam came up from the back of the group as Dustin ducked down behind the village gates, dodging another arrow that flew above his head. A group of goblins were running from the archers position towards them, each carrying some small weapon like the first goblin had.


    Dustin peaked around the corner, spotting the red-cap wearing goblin that held a flimsy wooden bow in its hands.


    "Everybody grab some rocks, I need you to throw them at the guy using the bow when I say so."


    Dustin didn''t have time to explain as he told the students what to do, waiting until the goblins were close enough before he went out into the open.


    The students were too stunned from the sudden attack to do anything, and only watched in terror when Dustin jumped out, stopping the three goblins from getting any closer.


    Another arrow flew towards him, just missing him as he ducked under it.


    "Rocks. Now!"


    The first goblin acted the same as its dead comrade had, and simply charged him with a knife.


    Dustin was more worried about the other two as one held a pointy stick that had a much larger range than the knife. The last one was holding a tangled net that it dragged along in the dirt.


    He decided to take out the one with the spear first, slicing it diagonally from shoulder to waist. The goblin with the net took that time to throw its net at him, landing on his outstretched arm.


    The goblins were small, but deceptively strong, and it managed to put him off balance as it pulled on the net that had stuck to him.


    He barely managed to kick the goblin with the knife away as he fell towards the net goblin. He could see out the corner of his eye the archer ready to fire another arrow, and braced himself as it caught him in the shoulder.


    It was after it fired that a rock fell next to the goblin, thrown by Sam.


    He cursed the group for not acting sooner, and used the pommel of his sword to strike the goblin in its chin.


    The goblin with the knife recovered from its kick and ran forward, not towards Dustin, but behind him where the students were gathered.


    Sam waved the sword around in front of her randomly, trying to scare off the goblin. Dustin managed to finish off the net goblin and tear the sticky rope from his arm, but had to sprint towards the archer before he could fire anymore arrows.


    Sam was left to defend the group, backing up as the goblin approached, holding the knife above its head. Her dirty blonde ponytail shook side to side as she pleaded for Dustin to come back.


    Her survival response kicked in, fortunately choosing to fight instead of flight as she swiped at the goblin, cutting it shallowly across the face. It wasn''t enough to stop the goblin from charging, but thankfully one of the students snapped out of his state of terror long enough to kick the goblin aside.


    The goblin tumbled to the side and shook its head, snarling at them as it committed to the same strategy.


    Rather than a random swipe, Sam held the sword in a position to slice the goblin with force, aiming to kill it.


    When it was close enough to she put effort into the swing, managing to cut into the goblins outstretched arm that held the knife.


    Unfortunately for her, the force of the swing pushed her off balance, sending her towards the goblin that attempted to bite her face.


    Before it could sink its teeth into her, she felt a spray of blood lightly tinge her face instead, an arrow sunk straight into the back of the goblins head, the arrow head piercing it as it stuck out from its right eye.


    She looked couldn''t take her eyes away from the goblin as her breath caught in her throat. Dustin sighed in relief as he threw down the dead archers bow, quickly running over to the group. He shook Sam until she looked up at him.


    "Breathe. You need to breathe." He said, repeating himself until she realized she had stopped, and finally gasped for breath. Her black rimmed glasses had fallen into the dirt and were covered in a fine layer of goblin blood.


    She scrambled to pick them up, like they would offer her a sense of security, but whimpered when her finger slid across the blood covering them.


    Dustin sat back on his haunches and looked at the dead goblins. Five of them wasn''t enough to constitute a village, meaning that there were others out in the forest somewhere.


    ''Congratulations for clearing Goblin Forest. The portal to return is now open, rewards will be distributed shortly. Thank you, and happy spending!''


    The message appeared before them all as the air above the dead goblin archers body turned blue, simmering like a dry heat. Dustin gestured to the ''portal'' and told one of the students to help Sam over there.


    A screech drew his attention away from the two injured students as more goblins appeared on the trail they had taken, angry at their return to the conquered village.


    "Grab the two injured, quick!" Dustin commanded, standing between them and the green monsters.


    The students were no longer frozen as they hurriedly picked up the injured students and ran towards the portal, calling for Dustin to come.


    He pretended not to notice the fact that there was plenty of time for him to escape with everyone else before the goblins got to close and backed up slowly, waiting until everyone had disappeared.


    The tension flooded from his body when they had left, letting him stand up a little taller and crack his neck.


    He looked at the arrow still stuck into his shoulder and sighed in frustration, he couldn''t appear to the students like he could handle everything easily, or it would draw attention to him.


    Luckily for him, time was slightly sped up in the dungeon, giving him a solid cover to finish off the dungeon and collect the loot, as he would leave the dungeon shortly after the others emerged.


    Using his foot, he kicked up the bow that he had thrown to the ground earlier and knocked an arrow, letting it fly into the first goblins chest.


    A second arrow took out another goblin, reducing the number of approaching enemies to two. They were too close to bother drawing again, so Dustin threw the bow at them, causing confusion as they tried to dodge it, falling right into the true threat.


    The first goblin lost his head from Dustin''s quick cut, which he followed up by putting his sword through the other goblins neck.


    One of its hands weakly clawed at the blade sunk through its windpipe before it slid off the end, falling into the bloody dirt.


    Dustin used the goblins rags to clean the blood off of his sword and began collecting the loot from the corpses and the village.


    Although he couldn''t access the inventory directly yet, he could still select an option to deposit the remaining loot into his inventory, though losing a percentage of the profit, and keeping his sword and armour on his person.


    He hoped to find an anti-venom or similar antidote to remove the venom from the student the spider had bitten, but had no such luck.


    The shop definitely had the anti-venom he needed, but would cost him Dos to buy.


    He had some time to finish off the remaining goblins in the dungeon. Buying the anti-venom would be a good enough excuse to be late, saying he had looked around and ''found it''.


    It was now a toss up between staying in the village, and waiting for goblins to return, or to go hunting.


    He might find more goblins if he waited, which were worth more Dos than the random monsters littered throughout the forest, but he wanted to look for secrets.


    Finding a secret would more than make up for the missed chance at killing more goblins. Dustin took one step outside the village before realizing he had forgotten about arrow in his shoulder that was aching from movement.


    For penetrating wounds, it was better to leave the object in and apply a bandage around it, to prevent it from bleeding once it was taken out.


    Dustin ignored the fact and tore it out, wincing at the pain. He applied some herbs taken off the goblins onto the wound and wrapped a rag around it, keeping them in place.


    Thankfully, the system automatically recovered wounds and health outside of combat, with the exception of ailments, such as venom, poison, or burning.


    The herbs helped to stop the bleeding and accelerate his recovery, which made a noticeable difference very quick. He traversed the forest, following one of the other trails to pick off unsuspecting goblins, and hoping that it led towards something good.


    The goblins seemed to travel in groups of up to four, and never less than two. Dustin took out one or two of the goblins with the bow when they were unaware of his location, and killed the rest with his sword.


    The experience gained would definitely push him up a level, and potentially a second. If he reached level three off the first dungeon, he might be able to buy a spell, which would carry him rapidly through other low tier dungeons due to its non reliance on equipment or stats to kill weaker creatures. Since he wasn''t going into the dungeons with a party, he needed every advantage he could get.


    The trail he was taking winded through to the opposite side of the forest they had appeared in, terminating at the entrance of a cave.


    Inside were more goblins, protecting something they had thrown into a cage. The closer he got, the bigger the feeling of dread grew in him.


    After killing the last goblin that had thrown itself at him, he picked up one of the fallen torches and looked inside the cage, peering at the creature that looked up at him within.


    There were no female goblins, so males had to reproduce with members of other races. The creature in the cage was none other than a female, belonging to a race of arthropods that vaguely resembled praying mantises. When he looked down at its belly, it was easy to tell what kind of fate had met the poor creature.


    Humans were not the only races to enter dungeons, the Torians would have done the same to grow in power and Dos, eventually invading Earth through them. The creature was probably part of a group that entered, whether on purpose, or accidentally, and had failed. Being a female, she was captured for breeding, and kept alive in a cage.


    Since their race had failed to conquer the dungeon, it was given to another race to accomplish, being, that being the humans.


    Sometimes, the dungeons secrets involved members of other races, as neither could leave the dungeon until all opposing enemies had been eliminated.


    As he tapped on the metal bars and knelt down so it was eye level, she spoke to him, in a language not from earth, and pointed at his sword.


    He took a minute to translate the words in his head, and nodded slowly, opening the cage so he could step inside.


    "Kill me."

 5 Welcome back Dusty

    ''Congratulations for completing the secret of Goblin Forest. Thank you, and happy spending!''


    Dustin closed the message silently, watching as the life in the Mantae faded, her eyes losing focus. He held the sword in her chest and kept her company until she passed.


    It was difficult to see facial expressions on something that looked like an insect, but Dustin could tell she was happy to rest, her mandibles chittering softly as she departed from her cruel existence.


    It took a while for Dustin to leave the cage, angry at not only himself for his lack of guilt, or sadness, but at the system for allowing such a thing to happen.


    Nobody knew what the Dos shop was, or how it came to be. He had talked to other races briefly before they tried to kill each other, but neither side had any more information. It simply came into being, like it had been biding its time, and demanded the races to comply.


    Despite the friendly conversations, it always devolved into killing each other. Neither race could leave the dungeon until the other side had been killed. Those that became part of the dungeon''s secret needed to kill other pioneers to regain their status. Pioneer''s that entered a dungeon couldn''t leave until the pioneer-turned-secret had been eliminated.


    Dustin had tried to negotiate with them, as quests were sometimes given in place of killing. It seemed Dos did not agree, and any agreements were nullified if it did not involve killing, always ending with the same fucking thing.


    ''Thank you, and happy spending!''


    It pissed Dustin off the most, as if everything was fine because it provided them with Dos to spend.


    When he turned to leave, he saw the goblin bodies littered among the floor and felt disgusted. He didn''t want to leave the Mantae in its place of torment, and left it in the forest outside instead, making a small burial for it under a nearby tree.


    Whilst he could have harvested it for loot and goods, he had no urge to desecrate the dead. To blow off some steam, Dustin ran along the remaining trails that the goblins patrolled, slicing them into pieces, shouting at them in anger as he did.


    Some of the were terrified and tried to scramble away, but met their end as he shot the survivors full of arrows.


    ''Congratulations, you have fully cleared the Goblin Forest.You will be teleported out in 10:00 minutes. Thank you, and happy spending!''


    Dustin took one of the knives from the dead goblins at his feet and slashed at his own armour, making it look like he had been in a tough fight. He also took one of the arrows from his quiver and unwrapped his wound, sliding the arrow back in.


    He shivered from the pain, but grit his teeth until it rest in the previous cavitation, limiting the movement of his arm. He icily ignored the notification and mentally prepared himself back into a ''regular'' state of mind.


    The rest of the time counted down slowly as he spread some dirt over himself and the armour, as well as coating the sword in some fresh blood. He needed to look the part of barely escaping with his life.


    ''Goblin Forest is closing. Teleportation commencing. Thank you, and happy spending!''


    Dustin shuffled backwards slowly as the forest fell away, pieces of the classroom slowly appearing in his vision. When he felt his feet on the ground again he stumbled backwards, falling to the floor and pretended to be breathing heavily.


    He looked up to see one of the students looking down at him with wide eyes. After a couple of seconds Dustin sat up and looked around. There were staff members looking at him as they tended to the terrified students, but it seemed that Sam and the two injured students were gone.


    "Where''s Sam?" He asked.


    One of the staff members came over and winced, looking at the arrow that stuck out from Dustin''s shoulder.


    "Don''t mind me, I need to find Sam, I''ve got an anti-dote for injured girl!"


    The staff member next to him looked up at the others.


    "She took them to meet the ambulance outside. Just stay seated, they''ve got it covered, I heard the sirens earlier."


    "No, I got one from inside the¡­ thing, it needs to be this one!" Dustin persisted, holding up a vial of liquid that he had taken from the dungeon.


    The liquid was merely some sap from the tree, mixed with a bit of crushed herbs.


    The staff tried to keep him sitting, but he pushed them off and took off towards the exit, ignoring the shouts from behind him. He spared a glance at his dirtied watch as he ran. They had spent a couple of hours inside the dungeon, and Dustin probably exited about thirty minutes after the others.


    He burst through the faculties doors to see a bunch of students looking at him, frozen at the blood and dirt staining his leather armour.


    The sounds of a siren on the other side of the adjacent building drew his attention, so he headed that way, yelling for people to move out of the way.


    ''Welcome back Dusty.''


    ¡­


    Common Weak Anti-venom.


    A weak anti-venom that removes venom applied by those under level 10.


    100 Dos.


    Would you like to purchase Common Weak Anti-venom? [Y/N]


    ''Purchase confirmed. Thank you, and happy spending!''


    Remaining Balance: 1400 Dos.


    He was still holding his unsheathed sword, which had been covered in blood, giving him clear space as people screamed, running away like he was crazy. He changed the bottle of sap and blood in his other hand for the actual anti-venom.


    The ambulance officers were loading the near paralyzed student, whose arm was turning purple into the ambulance with haste as Sam looked on from the side.


    "Wait!" Dustin yelled, scaring Sam who looked up to see the filthy man running towards her. The ambulance officer closest to her tried pulling her away, but she broke out of his grip and ran over.


    "Dustin, you made it out! What happened?" She asked frantically, scoping him out from top to bottom.


    "That''s not important right now, I picked up an anti-venom inside, look!"


    Dustin shoved the bottle towards Sam and made her hold it. When it entered her hand, a small display popped up, showing her the details. She looked up from the bottle at Dustin before dashing over, popping the cork herself to feed it to the student.


    The paramedics blocked her off, doing their duty of care to protect the patient. Dustin let Sam take their attention as he snuck the bottle from her hand, pulling around the wandering arms to dump it into the students open mouth.


    He only managed to get half of it into her mouth before he was tackled to the ground, his sword falling underneath the ambulance.


    The rest of the bottle had shattered and spilt the anti-venom onto the floor, but it was enough to bring life back to the students eyes.


    She sat up on the stretcher and took a deep breath in, colour returning to her body and the purple skin that bulged around her arm slowly shrunk.


    Dustin couldn''t see behind him, but heard her take a gasp. He sighed in relief before groaning as the arrow in the shoulder was pushed around, tearing the tissue near the original entrance.


    The paramedic holding Sam turned to the stretcher and started questioning the patient, holding onto her wrist as he took her pulse.


    The paramedic holding Dustin down let up, but kept a hand on his back to keep him sitting. He looked incredibly angry and asked Dustin what he had given her.


    He merely chuckled, and quickly opened the display, ignoring all the notifications that forced their way into his view, and threw something from his inventory out. He tapped yes on the confirmation that he wanted to drop the item.


    A dead spider, identical to the one that had caused the bite in the first place appeared beside him, furry legs holding up the sky.


    The paramedic holding him jumped, hitting the ambulance with the back of his head. The spider was almost as wide as the ambulance wheels.


    "Doubt you would have had any anti-venom for that thing, so I gave it to her."


    The female student, who Dustin finally learnt was Amelia, answered the paramedics questions until the dead spider appeared, then she promptly fainted.


    Dustin eventually got the paramedics to treat him as other crews showed up. Amelia was taken off to a hospital that had the best options for anti-venom, though she had definitely improved already.


    Multiple police cars accompanied the ambulance as well, questioning Sam and Dustin as they sat on the curb, letting the paramedics treat them. If it wasn''t for the fact that the police could open up their own Dos shops and check out some of the information that Dustin told them, they would likely have been ignored.


    He left the giant spiders carcass on the road as added proof, and let them take his sword as evidence. The other students who had stayed inside the faculty were brought out, questioned separately, and taken to hospital.


    The media had begun to show up by the time Dustin finally got into the ambulance, pain medication from the IV in his arm taking away the pressure from the arrow. They had cut off the shaft and left as minimal as possible in the shoulder, surgery would remove it in hospital and they took great care to immobilize him.


    He didn''t want to do anything stupid like buy a health potion from the shop, and draw even more attention, so he let them take care of it. He could always repair the problems later on.


    The ride to the trauma center was nice and quiet as he lay on the stretcher, fiddling with the menu whilst he had the time to. The first thing that caught his eye were not the notifications, but the welcome message.


    ''Welcome back Dusty.''


    When the Dos Shop first opened, users were prompted to set a name for themselves. This would be used when interacting with other players or races. If one did not set their name, they wouldn''t show up in the party interface, and couldn''t use the friends list.


    Dustin hadn''t set a nickname, and when he had first opened the shop after the dungeon closed to buy the anti-venom, it had said the same thing.


    He didn''t know whether it was some twist of fate, as his nickname was previously Dusty, and he had planned to set it to that, or if it was carried over from his previous life.


    Nothing else from that time seemed to have stayed, his current balance was the basic amount given at the beginning, and his inventory only possessed what he had gained in the dungeon.


    In fact, despite having cleared the dungeon, he was missing several rewards. It was the ton of notifications that blinked incessantly at him that contained them. Notifications contained a different colour border for the type they matched.


    Some gave a list of loot from the slain monsters he could choose from, some notified him that he had leveled up, and some were there to grant him titles.


    He started the list from the bottom, where the earliest notifications began.


    Achievements earned!


    Early Exploration. You were one of the first pioneer''s to enter a dungeon on XQB51 and return successfully. +5 Agility. +5 Charisma. Increased health regeneration outside of combat by 10%.


    The First Encounter. You were the first pioneer of XQB51 to slay a creature and survive. Strength +5. +5 Constitution. +5% Movement speed during combat.


    A First for Leaders. You were the first pioneer of XQB51 to slay a dungeon boss and survive. Each party member with an attribute higher than yours grants +1 to that attribute. +5 to all stats when facing enemies 10 levels higher than you.


    First Completion. Your party, ???, were the first pioneer''s of XQB51 to complete a dungeon.+5% to all Dos gained. +5 Intelligence.


    No man gets left behind. Your party, ???, were the first pioneer''s of XQB51 to complete a dungeon without losing a party member. +5% experience gain. Party members who do not own this title gain +5 of your highest stat.


    Level up! You are the first pioneer of XQB51 to ascend to the next level. +5 Wisdom. Penalties applied when partying with members of a lower, or higher level, are halved.


    First Contact. You are the first pioneer of XQB51 to slay a member of another race competing within the Dos. +5 Intelligence. Increases experience gained from non-human pioneers by 10%.


    First Detective. You are the first pioneer of XQB51 to complete a secret within a dungeon. +5% Dos and experience gained from completing secrets. Each secret completed raises this by 0.1%.


    Full Clear. You are the first pioneer of XQB51 to fully clear a dungeon. +5% increased damage. +5 Agility.


    Green Menace. You are the first pioneer of XQB51 to fully clear the Goblin Forest dungeon. +5% chance to cause nearby goblins to flee. +5% movement speed in forest terrain.


    Generous. You are the first pioneer of XQB51 to gift a Dos item to another user. +5 Charisma. +1% Dos gained from all sources. -5% Items purchased as gifts.


    Dustin could feel a headache coming on from the flurry of achievements that spewed out of the display, covering him in numerous bonuses. He opened up a notepad in the display and copied the text from the notifications into it so he could read over it later.


    Level up! +5 available attribute points. +200 Dos.


    Level up! +5 available attribute points. +210 Dos.


    Level up! +5 available attribute points. +220 Dos.


    Goblin Forest completion. +500 Dos.


    Goblin Forest boss. +200 Dos.


    Goblin Forest secret. +200 Dos.


    Goblin Forest full clear. +200 Dos.


    Goblin Forest monsters. +375 Dos.


    ''Uncollected loot stored in inventory, please apply loot filter to reduce amount in further collections, inventory limit exceeded. Remove only mode activated.''


    ''Error. Please return inventory to acceptable limits before continuing.''


    Dustin watched the value of his Dos skyrocket as the currency flowed in, more than doubling the original amount he had been given.


    He couldn''t open anymore of the notifications without sorting through his inventory first. Without a loot filter, the leftover goods, from the rags the goblins wore, to the fur on the back of the rabbits, it was all placed into his inventory.


    Thankfully he could offload most of it to the Dos shop since it was a lot of trash. He would need to make a loot filter later to stop the influx of worthless goods, lest they take up the space of something more valuable.


    Confirm the sale of selected items? [Y/N]


    +400 Dos. Thank you for shopping with Dos, happy spending!


    More than three quarters of his inventory disappeared in an instant, sold at the basic price to the Dos shop. The extra slots that had been added to hold everything were deleted, and it allowed him to access the displays functions again.


    Goblin Forest completed, please choose a reward.


    - Uncommon Archer''s Cap


    - Uncommon Red Bow


    - Common Weak Health Potion x 3


    - Common Weak Mana Potion x 3


    - Perception: Tracking.


    Goblin Forest was one of the lowest tier dungeons opened on Earth, so the rewards were calculated suitably. The first items listed were always drops based on the dungeons boss, ranging from a full tier set, to barely related.


    After that were generic items one could select if nothing else was appealing. The bottom of the list were rewards available based on the dungeons terrain. The tracking spell would have been vital in now only seeing what monsters roamed the forest, but tracking them down.


    Dustin looked at the bow and cap he had taken off the boss monster, and compared them to the ones available as a reward.


    His items were common, whilst the rewards were uncommon, an obvious distinction between their value. The red bow had a higher fire rate and damage than his, and the cap provided minimal protection from projectiles, whilst his was a generic leather cap.


    Both were not suited to what he wanted to do, but might have fetched a fair price if he could sell it to others. Unfortunately by the time he could sell it legally, it would be vastly outdated.


    The Dos shop would take it for a base price, but it was akin to be voluntarily being ripped off. Therefore Dustin skipped out on the first two options, looking instead at the remaining three.


    Both the health and mana potions were useful to him, as he would be use plenty of mana as a mage, and health was never irrelevant. For the last item, Dustin searched the price of the tracking upgrade in the shop before deciding.


    Perception: Tracking.


    Become in tune with nature. Increased perception of signs, tracks, and distance of living creatures.


    500 Dos.


    Taking the tracking spell would save him 500 Dos. Alternatively, the health potions or mana potions were about 150 Dos each, meaning he saved an extra 50 for the tracking spell.


    ''Perception: Tracking learned.''


    It wasn''t a noticeable upgrade at first unless one knew to activate it. Even in the back of an ambulance, Dustin could smell the paramedic that was sitting in the back of the van with him.


    The notifications that had plagued his screen were thankfully nearly over, and he could progress through the rest of the shop and status freely.


    Goblin Forest secret completed, please choose a reward.


    - Ymma''s Diary


    - Uncommon Mantae Carapace Shield


    - Common Weak Paralysis Poison


    - Common Rusty Knife


    - Uncommon Goblin Poison


    Dustin didn''t hesitate in choosing the first option once the list finished, disregarding the other choices.


    The carapace shield unnerved him, he had not collected the Mantae body, who he guess was named Ymma, for Dos. He wasn''t going to change that decision now and take a shield made out of her body. The paralysis poison and rusty knife were both inexpensive and common drops, making them a poor choice.


    Finally, although the goblin poison was uncommon, it was easy to make. Goblins used their own feces and blood to create it, speeding up the infection process when wounding someone.


    The diary offered no immediate benefit, but it was information that he didn''t already possess. He was curious about the other races and their involvement in the Dos. Similar items had dropped in the past, some proving more useful than others.

 6 A sucker for sales

    Dustin only made it through a few entries of Ymma''s diary before he arrived at the hospital and was discharged into the doctors care.


    They took care of the arrow head in his shoulder and patched him up, letting him rest in a curtained off room. The police had escorted the ambulance to hospital, and were going through to ask further questions about what had happened.


    One of the rewards for clearing a dungeon that everybody in the party received guaranteed was having it added to the compendium. When the police got around to his room, he just showed them the page about where they had been.


    It listed the geographical terrain, including the likely locations of the boss spawn, hints about possible secrets, and the types of monsters involved. The police officers looked completely out of their depths at the new system that had popped up. The news was on the TV in the background where the anchor was talking about the display, and what some people had found.


    Eventually the police were satisfied enough to leave, but told him that they would be in contact. Dustin was just glad that he hadn''t been arrested, and opened the display to dig into spending his rewards.


    ''Dos: 4065''


    It was very unlikely for anyone to have a higher amount of Dos than Dustin, or even close to it. The other students and Sam would probably have an extra couple of hundred from having cleared the dungeon as well, despite being carried by Dustin.


    With four thousand Dos to spend, Dustin had plenty of options open for progression. Before he could go on a shopping spree, the status needed his attention. He had leveled up three times, awarding him 15 attribute points to appoint.


    There was also a major increase from the titles, which was already added, displayed in a bracket next to the base number. He changed the display settings to remove the brackets and have them automatically added to the base instead, giving it a cleaner look.


    Pioneer: Dusty


    Race: Human


    Designation Code: XQB51 (Earth)


    Level: 4


    Intelligence: 15 (+10) ¡ú 25


    Strength: 7 (+5) ¡ú 12


    Agility: 8 (+10) ¡ú 18


    Wisdom: 11 (+5) ¡ú 16


    Charisma: 10 (+10) ¡ú 20


    Constitution: 8 (+5) ¡ú 13


    Dustin was close with his predictions, underestimating his wisdom and charisma levels by a couple of points. The biggest surprise was the addition of 10 Charisma from the titles, making it his second highest stat behind intelligence.


    His agility was also quite high, which was a pleasant addition. He didn''t need a high agility level for his plans, but it was never a bad idea to keep attributes up to date. Even with his previous record of 2000 intelligence, he still maintained a couple of hundred in several other stats. Perhaps if he had invested more into constitution, he might have had health to spare for his final spell, without it killing him.


    There was no point worrying about it after the fact, so Dustin allocated the attribute points into balancing his current setup a little better.


    Intelligence 25 (+5) ¡ú 30


    Strength 12 (+3) ¡ú 15


    Constitution 13 (+7) ¡ú 20


    Strength was needed to equip certain pieces of armour, but could be left at the bare minimum since it affected the damage of direct attacks between the pioneer and the target. Dustin rarely used the weapons he wielded, they were merely devices to aid his spells, or to grant him powerful buffs.


    Speaking of such, he needed to find another weapon. His main sword was taken by the police, and the back up one he had given to Sam.


    ''Welcome back Dusty.


    0 Notifications remaining.


    Promo code: XQB51 to earn 20% off your purchase. One time use. Expires in 148:15:00.''


    Like many online shops, Dos gave users a one time coupon to use upon first signing up. The code was Earth''s designation, the same given in his achievements.


    Below the welcome messages were boxes displaying the daily sales, which reset every 150 hours. There were bits and pieces chosen from random sections, and given a 20% sale discount for the duration.


    It was best to check this each cycle to find good deals, given that it could be anything. Dustin opened the sale tab to fill his display and scrolled through the list with a swipe of his finger. The physical items he could afford were mostly useless to him, as they required a higher attribute than he possessed, or they were just the wrong type.


    Battleaxes and plate armour were too heavy for him to lug around, and things like crossbows and tower shields were clunky and slow.


    He passed over the fancy icons and scanned through the consumables, tapping on a couple as he went through. One tap indicated interest in an item, and it would be added to a wish list. From there, it could be added to the cart, and purchased whenever.


    Two taps would instantly add it to the cart, and holding down on the item would expand it, providing further information.


    One could also use voice commands, which were useful when one knew what they wanted, but couldn''t open the display, such as when they were in the midst of a battle, or had their hands otherwise busy.


    At the bottom of his display was his current amount of Dos, a small star, and a shopping cart. The star and cart both had numbers next to them, indicating the amount of items in the wish list and shopping cart respectively.


    Dustin currently had four items added to the wish list and one in the cart, all of which had come from the consumables. However the sales tab still went on, carrying Dustin through a plethora of other unneeded items, until he reached the spells.


    Spells were categorized by their tree, or schools. Fire related spells for example, had the Pyromancy tag, and a small flame icon to identify them.


    Others that weren''t closely related to an element were those such as Necromancy, which used a skull. Dustin had memorized the icons long ago, giving him an advantage in the speed at which he could look through them, paying attention to the icons he was looking for.


    The icons in question he needed were a lightning bolt, a red pentagram, and a green plus sign.


    Any spells that possessed those icons he tapped and moved on, adding them to the wish list for sorting.


    The number next to the star grew to eight, and the shopping cart remained at one. He tapped on the star, which opened up his wish list and revealed the items inside.


    Consumables


    Common Weak Regeneration Salve. 50 Dos.


    A weak salve that regenerates health over time. Increased effect of regeneration by 50% outside of combat.


    Use: 15 Hp/sec. Lasts 30 seconds.


    Common Weak Meditation Tea. 60 Dos.


    A weak tea that regenerates mana over time. Increased effect of regeneration by 50% outside of combat.


    Use: 10 Mp/sec. Lasts 30 seconds.


    Common Weak Health Potion. 70 Dos.


    A weak potion that heals health instantly. Increased effect of healing by 20% outside of combat.


    Use: 180 Health restored.


    Common Weak Mana Potion. 80 Dos.


    A weak potion that restores mana instantly. Increased effect of restoration by 20% outside of combat.


    Use: 120 Mana restored.


    The names of consumables in different consumables were consistent across the board. Common was a modifier that affect every item, not just consumables. They generally indicated the level and power of an item. Common was the lowest tier, and the name spoke for itself. The others followed suit, as they grew harder to find in term.


    Common. Uncommon. Rare. Secret. Legendary. Mythical. Forbidden.


    Common items had less modifiers able to affect them, meaning that in a bank of two choices, with weak being one, it had a 50% chance to appear. The Dos Shop offered varying tiers, of which the consumables also followed. The amount of available modifiers increased with each tier as certain modifiers could only be found on items of a higher tier.


    Forbidden had a whopping 128 possibilities, of which at least four would roll. Items could contain two affixes, one suffix, and one prefix. Those that exceeded at least Legendary tier, could have one extra affix. Forbidden items could have up to four affixes, making them obscenely strong.


    But for Dustin, buying the weakest was enough, his health and mana pool were low enough to justify using them. He upped the quantity to four of the potions each, and ten of the regeneration consumables. The total grew to 2760 Dos, which was already over half the amount he had.


    Still, it was a worthwhile investment for survivability. The monsters in dungeons were scaled to the race that inhabited the planet, but there was always something wrong. Dustin remembered there being patch notes released to lower the strength of dungeons to better match the pioneers (humans) current level.


    Whilst it would make dungeons harder to clear, it also offered larger rewards. Once the patch kicked in, it would be harder to acquire Dos, but easier to clear dungeons.


    There was no doubt that humanity had failed to properly adapt to the new system. Dos was treated as some kind of game, and time was spent more on researching it, then on growing stronger.


    Warrior societies had long died out, leaving many incapable of handling life or death situations, or even the ability to take another life. When the dungeons broke out, millions who had never set foot in one previously perished. There were not enough pioneers to defend them, losing over half the earth''s population in a single week.


    Dustin wanted to curse the fact that he knew their future. It was a monumental task to save an entire race, especially considering who they were up against. It would have been easier to fail without the knowledge that he could have changed fate.


    Even now Dustin felt useless, dressed in a hospital gown with a dull ache in his shoulder. It was no problem to heal himself and leave, make a start on growing stronger.


    But he couldn''t. There were people investigating the incident and if he were to disappear, he would likely be arrested on the spot. He could grow strong enough to overcome police, as the guns would do little against the hardened carapace of dungeon monsters from anything above tier 4.


    But soon it would escalate, armour penetrating rounds, grenades, tanks, maybe even missiles.


    Dustin was supposed to unite and save the human race, not vilify himself against it. He needed to convince people to enter the dungeon, proving to others that the need to grow stronger was more important than politics or money.


    Even now Dustin could feel the impact the Dos shop was making on the world. Every bit of news was focused on it, people in the hospital were playing with the interface, and dungeons were going ignored. Granted, their existence was only known to those who had escaped from one, which was, according to the achievements, only Dustin.


    It had been Dustin who had changed the course of history by entering the Goblin Forest dungeon, providing proof of something far more sinister than just a place to buy goods. It would take a while for the dungeons to be realized. The ability to sense them wasn''t available until one purchased the shop upgrade, or had mana perception.


    Common Weak Health Potion (x4) added to cart.


    Common Weak Mana Potion (x4) added to cart.


    Common Weak Regeneration Salve (x10) added to cart.


    Common Weak Meditation Tea (x10) added to cart.


    Dustin sighed at the sinking feeling in his heart and added the consumables to the cart, moving to the next section of his wishlist.


    Spells


    Spell: Storm Bolt. 500 Dos.


    School: Aeromancy


    Channel static electricity through your hands and around a target, drawing a bolt of lightning out of the targeted enemy, shocking them.


    Use: 35 Mana.


    Curse: Sacrifice. 1000 Dos.


    School: Occultism


    Offer a target as Sacrifice. Sacrifice has increased chance to bleed. If sacrifice is slain within 5 + (Target Level) seconds, no Dos or experience is granted, but a lesser devil will be spawned in its place, attacking nearby enemies for the remaining curse duration.


    Use: 60 Mana. Must be used on living targets.


    Aura: Terror. 500 Dos.


    School: Occultism


    Living enemies within 10 meters that look upon you feel terror. Terror increases chance of targets to flee. Reduces movement speed towards you by 10%.


    Use: 10 Mana/s.


    Spell: Healing Orb. 800 Dos.


    School: Restoration


    Attach an orb of mana to target. Orb periodically pulses mana 1m around it, healing all targets for 10 health.


    Use: 10 Mana lock per orb. Maximum 5 Orbs.


    Dustin looked through the spells he had chosen and was mildly happy. Storm bolt was a good offensive spell, despite the hefty mana cost. He had 150 mana as a base, and 10 mana per level, giving him a total of 180. That meant he could cast it five times before running out of mana. It would take time to channel the lightning, meaning it was more useful against unaware enemies.


    The Sacrifice curse was less useful, as the low level enemies he would be killing meant that the lesser devil would only be around for a maximum of 10 seconds. It would help against stronger targets, where even one or two of the devils attacks would chunk the enemies health before it disappeared.


    It was also expensive, making it even less valuable in Dustin''s eyes.


    The third item in the wishlist was an Aura, perhaps the most useless of them all. Auras on their own were either amazing, or terrible, very few could fit in the middle


    Terror was definitely one of the least useful auras, sapping a hefty 10 mana per second of use, and providing negligible benefits.


    Thankfully the final spell made up for the lacking occultism school, giving him a solid choice in health regeneration. Healing orb was similar to salves, providing health over time, rather than a large amount instantly.


    The downside of it was that in the middle of a fight, the orb could heal both him and the enemy. Fortunately it was only 10 health, low enough to not make a major impact.


    The fact that it used mana lock instead of a base amount like the aura was also a boon. Mana lock simply reduced the amount of mana he had available whilst it was active. It was possible to completely lock all mana out, but it took a considerable amount of spells to do so.


    Healing Orb only locked 10 mana, still giving him 170 to play around with, plenty for casting other spells.


    Dustin added both Storm Bolt and Healing Orb to his cast, pushing the total up to 2,560 Dos. The extra 200 Dos was from the consumable Repair Kit he had added to the cart already. It was invaluable for pioneers to keep them stocked at the appropriate levels. They could repair items up to five times. If Dustin still had his sword, it would have been in desperate need of repair.


    The total had already applied the 20% sale on the items, and would be pushed down a further 20% if he applied his coupon.


    This left him with 1465 Dos remaining.


    A quick check through the near-weekly sales resulted in no other items he wanted. He would have to buy anything else at full price.


    He already had an idea of what else he needed and went straight to the search bar instead browsing.


    First up on the list was a new weapon. Retrieving the sword taken as evidence was highly unlikely, and he had no idea where the one given to Sam was.


    Using a sword was mostly just a pretense, he needed something that looked socially acceptable to have, if not a little weird.


    They were certainly a good weapon, but ultimately not something he was accustomed to using. With a spell like Storm Bolt, he could forgo the use of a weapon completely if he wished, but it would reduce his killing speed dramatically. Spells were limited by the mana cost, and the cast time, meaning that often pioneers needed other ways to eliminate enemies.


    Some stalled for time, waiting for mana or cooldowns to cast their spells. Others had a backup, perhaps a bow or sword, to hold the enemy at bay.


    Dustin was used to wielding a staff, both in casting spells, and bashing heads. Unfortunately whilst they served well when casting spells, they were horrible to rely on as a main attacking weapon.


    They were blunt, meaning extra effort was needed to defeat opponents. When one used a spell, they didn''t need to rely on the staff to kill, just to defend and attack.


    That being said, Dustin was still leaning towards buying one, attempting to find something that would help with Storm Bolt. He had enough Dos to purchase one or two weapons, giving him a bit of freedom in choice.


    There were a couple of staves that looked appealing. One was made from the leg bone of a large beast. It increased cast speed by 10%, which inherently helped Storm Bolt.


    The second one was a burnt branch, which had been struck by lightning. It gave a simple 15% increase to lightning damage.


    The last staff was more useful in combat, as it provided a light shock to enemies on contacting skin, but provided no benefits to Storm Bolt.


    Despite his initial requirements, he decided on the third staff. It had no advantage when casting spells, but the shocking on touch was a great way of disorientating enemies.


    Static Metal Staff. 900 Dos.


    80/80 Durability.


    Damage: 5.0 - 10.0 Physical Damage. 3.0 - 4.0 Lightning Damage.


    A long, metal staff that seems brimming with static energy.


    Static: Targets who come into contact directly with the staff are shocked.


    The price was a little steep, but worth it in the end. His final 656 Dos was put towards finding a weapon he could use to kill.


    Daggers and other smaller, sharp weapons were the top culprits. They were easy to pull out with one hand, and a simple strike on a target could bleed them, or kill them if the location was a vital.


    Rather than just one, Dustin looked through the bags of throwing knives. They served a dual purpose in attacking from mid-range, and as a quick finisher.


    Light Throwing Knives. 550 Dos.


    15/15 Durability.


    Damage: 2.0 - 4.0 Physical Damage.


    A collection of throwing knives that seem lighter than normal.


    Light: Knives can travel further. Easier to dislodge.


    The benefit of having light throwing knives was not in the distance, but the ability to remove them from a target after they entered. This was a prime method for bleeding a target, as it wasn''t the entry of the knives that dealt the most damage, but their removal.


    The durability on the knives would decrease every time Dustin failed to retrieve one. If Dustin snapped a knife in half, or threw one he couldn''t fetch, it would decrease the durability by one.


    Knives that had suffered scratches, or were bent out of shape were still able to work. There was still a catch, however, as enough damaged knives might add a negative modifier.


    Something like Bent would decrease their damage and speed. To remove the negative modifier would require him to enlist a blacksmith''s help, or purchase an expensive item from the shop.


    Repair kits could replenish the durability, but not remove negative modifiers.


    Static Metal Staff added to cart.


    Light Throwing Knives added to cart.


    Returning to the cart, Dustin was given the option to add his coupon before continuing. Without adding it, he would be left with 15 Dos left.


    Thankfully adding the coupon still allowed him to add additional items, and as the price went down 20% he ''received'' the Dos he saved, allowing him to spend it if he wished.


    The total was 4050 Dos before the coupon, and 3240 Dos when it was applied. The remaining Dos changed from 15 to 810.


    Dustin couldn''t think of anything he needed immediately, except for a couple of spells, which were likely out his budget.


    Fortunately there was always something to spend a few hundred or thousand spare Dos on, and Dustin flicked his display over to the upgrades section.


    Inventories had a limited amount of slots, which could increased in bulk packages, or in single slots. This was one of the options Dustin considered, as it would allow him to bring more out of the dungeon, even if it wasn''t worth much.


    The overflow inventory he had activated earlier was unavailable now as it was only a first time function. If he tried to collect the remaining loot from a dungeon in the future it would simply fill to full, taking the items in chronological order, and leaving the rest behind.


    Other upgrades included opening a mailing list, increasing the friends list limit, upgrading the loot filter to advanced, allowing customization on what was prioritized, and others.


    There was one option that cost over a million Dos, which was impossible for any one pioneer to have at such an early stage.


    It was a shop upgrade that affected the entire race, not just a single human.


    Upgrade Dos Shop to Tier 2. 1,500,000 Dos.


    Tier 2 Dos Shop allows further upgrades and sells more valuable items.


    Upgrading to higher tiers was mandatory for survival, as the tier 1 shop provided items that were useless later on. The previous upgrades that Dustin had looked at as well were only a few of many available, most of which were locked behind tiers.


    Inventory could only go up to a certain point before requiring a higher tier shop to upgrade. The way to unlock the upgrade was for the entire race to push for it together. Fortunately it was easier than having one person accumulate the currency.


    Pioneers could donate to the Dos shop, decreasing the cost of the upgrade by same amount. Given the amount of humans on the planet, and their starting Dos amounts, it was very possible to reach the tier 4 or 5 upgrades instantly.


    It was very unlikely for this to happen, as Dustin was probably the only person who knew of the method to unlock it. Donating to Dos was practically burning money as nothing was received from doing so. Pioneers could only see the benefit of doing so if they were looking at the tier upgrade.


    Given the price of the upgrade had not fallen even a single digit, none of the near eight billion people had donated their Dos.


    Eventually there would be someone who tested the option, decreasing it by whatever amount they chose. From Dustin''s memory the tier upgrade was purchased at random, enough Dos had been donated over time, with no knowledge of its purpose, to make the upgrade free. Someone had taken the ''free'' upgrade and upped the tier.


    After that, it had progressed much faster, now that its purpose, and strength, was known.


    Unfortunately the upgrade was accompanied by an increase in monster strength, making the dungeons much more dangerous to both civilians and the soldiers clearing them.


    This was more apparent when the dungeons broke, and the higher monster level caused havoc among the under leveled population, which made up the majority of the race.


    Dustin added the tier upgrade to his wish list so he could keep an eye on it and backtracked to the previous upgrades. He threw a couple of inventory upgrades into the cart at 150 Dos each, as well as some friend invites.


    The benefits of a friend invitation over the regular friend request, was that it unlocked the friends list in their display automatically, without the need to dig through Dos to find it. It also added Dustin as a trusted friend without the need to search each other up. Trusted friends allowed him to see their location, whether it was the name of the dungeon they were in, or earth coordinates.


    It was a breach of trust for Dustin to trick them into accepting it, but he prioritized their safety over their privacy.


    Dustin planned to give one to his friend Ben, so he could keep track of him and send messages. Two others were for his mother and step-sister, and a couple of extras for later.


    Had he enough Dos he might have even purchased teleportation requests, so that he could teleport straight to a trusted friends side if they were in danger. They were 2,000 Dos each, a high price to pay. It was unlikely that either his mother and step-sister, or Ben would find themselves in an accident early. He took the risk of their safety to purchase the other goods instead.


    An early sacrifice was needed to speed up his rate of improvement.


    Total: 3995


    Confirm Purchase? [Y/N]


    Dustin tapped ''Yes'' and felt the Dos painfully float away, leaving him a measly 110. A few notifications popped up on his display as he closed the shop.


    Spell: Storm Bolt learned.


    Spell: Healing Orb learned.


    Big Spender: You are the first pioneer to spend more than 1500 Dos. +5% discount on sale items. Contributions to Dos over 1,000 provide 10% more.


    The First Sorcerer: Learning one spell marks a jump. Learning two spells marks an incline. You are the first pioneer to learn a second spell. +5 Intelligence. +10 Mana every level.


    Upgrade!: Necessity is the mother of invention. You are the first pioneer to purchase an upgrade from the shop. 5% discount on shop upgrades (Tier upgrade not included). +5 Inventory slots, +5 Friend slots.


    Double Dip: You are the first pioneer to learn two spells from different schools. Targets affected by a spell take 5% increased damage from schools other than the one the spell belongs to. Increases with each new school. Resets to 0% when spells from any of the previous school are cast.


    Dustin''s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as he read through the last achievement. The name was comical, but the effect was anything but.


    An increase of 5% damage was unimpressive, but the ability to stack per different school used was amazing.


    There were plenty of schools available, and some spells were easy to throw out whilst others were being cast.


    Dustin could remember several occasions where he had cast several different schools in succession. He hadn''t been paying attention, or counting, as he did not possess the achievement at the time, but if he had to count, it was probably 5 or 6 different schools.


    Even with just that many, it was a 25 - 30% damage increase, certainly nothing to scoff at.


    The other two titles were nice bonuses, but nothing as mind boggling as Double Dip. If he had to rank them, First Sorcerer came second, and Big Spender after that, with upgrade being the last.


    Pioneers gained mana per level, which was about 10-15 for Dustin''s current level. An extra 10 was practically doubling it. It would help his early progression immensely, and even if it fell off later on, a base in increase in mana was always good as percentage increases worked best when the base amount was high.


    Big Spender was amazing if Dustin donated a lot to Dos¡­ which he certainly did not feel like doing. It was the entire race''s responsibility to unlock the next tier, not just his own. He almost wished the achievement had gone to somebody else as it just added pressure for him to donate.


    As Dustin closed his display, intending on having a nap, one of the doctors walked in and informed him that he would be free to leave tomorrow.


    He waited until the doctor left and turned onto his side, staring blankly at the wall until his eyes closed naturally. His mind drifted off, first thinking of what he needed to do tomorrow, but fell further away from reason until he fell asleep. He heard a female voice calling his name, asking for orders.


    He saw her face, smiling at him despite the ash that had painted her face.


    Cynthia.

 7 Ymmas diary: Entry 1 to 3

    -----------


    Entry 1:


    -----------


    I find this new technology... unnerving. The shop gives Dos, which is required to purchase items in the shop. But I do not know where this ''Dos'' goes...


    Do the Hyrmn test our greed? Giving us a taste of the forbidden marrow. Do we partake in this open feast?


    My partner has purchased food for our young, which I am thankful for, but the rest of the convent will not find such a thing so blessed.


    We buy our food from the next pack over. I am doubtful that they will receive our decreased payments willingly. Lggia has been losing eyesight, I fear he would not stand up to a challenge as strongly as he used to.


    -----------


    Entry 2:


    -----------


    A gathering has been called to discuss our usage of this new provider. As I predicted, our neighbors do not welcome the drop in trade. I can see her eyeing my children each cycle I walk past their hovel.


    A party is being gathered to visit the hive. I fear I have no choice but to attend, as I have been voted as the Speaker. I would curse my prestigious upbringing, but the effort my birthers went through to acquire it shall not be wasted with disgusting words.


    My partner shall have to defend the hovel without me, with or without his blind eye, there is still a hidden strength within him.


    -----------


    Entry 3:


    -----------


    We departed in the early light, filling the path with solemn waves. My children cry for me as I leave, but I cannot show weakness. The speaker is to be respected, and to be respected is to show confidence in all things.


    My partner understands me, pulling the children back inside. I do not wish to lead the convoy, but there is no other place for me to be than at the mandible.


    My escort had evolved with sharpened blades to cover their arms, I can only hope I do not hear them sing.


    The journey to the hive will take eight cycles, provided we do not run into any danger. The way is fraught with winding paths and thick swamps, crying for an ambush.


    Perhaps this new system has distracted our would-be assassins, what a joy that would be.

 8 A girl and her bike

    The next day Dustin was discharged from the hospital, under orders from the police to contact them if he was leaving the surrounding areas. He had no intention of travelling far just yet, he needed to research the location of other dungeons.


    He was lucky that a dungeon had spawned so close, early on they randomly spread around, and the location of the Goblin Forest was only known to him because it was at the university. Other dungeons had gone unnoticed for longer, or were cleared by unknown pioneers.


    He looked through popular forums and websites like Reddit, trying to find any mention of people disappearing. Unfortunately it was too early for their disappearance to be noticed. It would be even longer still until the dungeons were chanced upon, leading enough people to their deaths to pinpoint its location based on where they meant missing, finally discovering the dungeon.


    When that happened, the entire area was probably going to be locked down. Despite his enhanced attributes, Dustin didn''t want to fight people off, or have to sneak into the dungeon.


    It was pointless to send people to their deaths unprepared but making dungeons widely known. It was both a curse, and a boon, that to prove the existence of something so dangerous and unworldly would require a substantial amount of evidence.


    If Dustin started clearing dungeons, saving the people within them early, it was still going to take a bit. He needed to time it well, as the dungeon patch that would reduce their difficulty, and their rewards, marked a good time for humanity to embrace them. If more dungeons like Goblin Forest appeared, it was better for the race as a whole at such an early stage, even if Dustin gained nothing from it.


    It was easiest to strike when nobody was competing for them, and better yet, were not aware of their existence. His only leads were names of the people who had been reported missing in his past lives. He tried extensively to track them down, starting with those who had disappeared earliest.


    Eventually, one of them would walk into the dungeon, giving him the access to it that he needed. The downside was obviously the need to follow someone around until they disappeared.


    When Dustin''s mother returned home and found him on the computer she blasted him with questions. He answered them the best he could without informing her of the real danger, she was deadlier than the police when it came to limiting his movement.


    When she calmed down he gave her the friend request, telling her that it was involved with what had happened. He felt a relief as a small part of the tight grip around his heart loosened. Her name, or the username she had chosen, popped up in his friends list, alongside the coordinates of their home, and her current level of 1.


    According to her stories, her work friends had spent some of their Dos and traded it in for currency or things around the house. One had even quit their job, but she was a known conspiracy theorist.


    Dustin almost wanted to tell her to do the same, but knew that if she continued going to work as normal, he would continue to know where and when she died. If he changed the script too much and she suddenly stopped working, there was a chance she could wander into a dungeon and die.


    He told her lightly to think about how to use the Dos. Whilst the currency market was still afloat, it was not the worst idea for her to convert some of it to human currency and spend it quickly.


    She left him alone after more pestering, leaving him to continue his research.


    The first target of his stalking was a young man named James Belson. He was going to be reported missing two days from now by his parents who kept a tight leash on their super-scholar son. He attended a nearby university which was a fair bit nicer than the one Dustin attended, and had a strict curfew.


    He had broken the curfew the night he entered the dungeon, and was missing for barely an hour before his parents went all out in searching for him.


    There was a medium distance around his house that was unlikely to have spawned the dungeon as James'' parents were loaded. They hired plenty of manpower to look for him, but everything turned up empty.


    After the dungeons were discovered and the occasional missing persons corpse found, one of the hired labor came across the dungeon.


    It took three men disappearing into the dungeon before the family pinpointed its location.


    They had not revealed the location to authorities, but had said publicly that James had passed away. Dustin didn''t doubt that he had died quickly inside the dungeon. Pioneers entered the dungeons unwillingly and unprepared, faced up against deadly monsters. It required a special kind of person to not just survive, but escape, and the rich pretty-boy definitely did not belong in that category.


    Luckily for Dustin, he didn''t have a car, so James was a lot easier to track as he walked on foot or took public transport.


    Dustin pretended to be a university student who was looking around at James'' university and attending a class that ran across the universities. He ''bumped'' into James and the two got to talking.


    Dustin had to pretend to be upper class, using his intellectual side to worm his way into James'' mind as someone worth talking to.


    James was studying to be an Astrophysicist, as he was determined to further advances in terraforming technology.


    Dustin pretended to care about his course and made himself available, acting like a lapdog for the rich boy. James liked having a yes man by his side and invited Dustin wherever he was going, the two of them chatting about science and mathematics when it crossed between their courses.


    Two days later, when the pair were walking through a busy shopping center, the last place Dustin would expect a dungeon to occur, James told him of a shortcut he would take to get back home quicker.


    Dustin asked if the ''area was nice'', a piece of bait to see if James would invite him to see his house.


    Thankfully the young man did just that, showing him the shortcut that went through the fire escape doors next to the shopping center elevator.


    James pulled them down the stairs and at the bottom, was an exit onto the abandoned railways tracks that ran through an old train station behind the mall. James told him he would often cut across the tracks, past the station, and end up just before the bridge that crossed into his neighborhood.


    Dustin could work out for himself that the dungeon had taken over the abandoned train station. James was busy talking his head off as Dustin formulated a plan.


    It was easier to clear the dungeon alone, and on his own time. If he entered with James the news would no doubt get out, leading the police to further suspect him. It would be a nuisance to have surveillance on him.


    He made up an excuse that he forgot something in the shopping center that he needed to pick up and convinced James to come back in. Although it hurt his wallet, Dustin called a taxi for them and rode along to James'' house, pretending like he was sick of walking.


    When they arrived at the mansion, Dustin was keenly reminded of the kind of lifestyle that doomed the race to their death. Greed, jealousy, envy, arrogance, these emotions pulled humans apart and kept them isolated.


    Those that did enter the dungeons did so for profit, as the government fought to keep their military at peak strength. They bought Dos at outrageous prices to ensure that they could provide the needed items for their forces. Anyone who was able to clear the dungeons safely could earn enough to feed a small country.


    The general populace was so far removed from dungeons that once their initial Dos dried up, it became nothing more than a social platform. The military had control over it, and often outright banned pioneers from entering dungeons if they refused to hand over items and Dos. The argument of land ownership transferred to dungeon locations, which became government property the moment they were discovered.


    Dustin was led through the driveway up to their front door and looked at the statues and fountain that the driveway was circled around. James was telling him the history of them, who made them, why they were important, and how much they cost.


    The front door to the house opened as James approached, an elderly man standing by as he waved them in. He looked at Dustin disapprovingly, but forced a smile and closed the door gently behind them.


    "This is the lobby, as you''d know, and the dining hall is just down that way," James pointed to an exit that was tucked away next to the grand staircase. He showcased some more of the fine art that scattered the enormous room and took Dustin up to his room like he was leading a puppy around.


    James'' room was surprisingly boring, there were no statues or pieces of art hanging from the walls, just a clean and tidy bedroom. He had a couple of gadgets lying around, like video game consoles or electronic watches and phones.


    Dustin endured the showcase that James showed him painstakingly slowly, going over each and every piece like it was already written into his will as his greatest possession.


    Dustin had to fake a call from his mother and convince James that he needed to return home. James was understanding, given the overbearing nature of his own parents, and offered to have one of their private drivers take him home if Dustin''s couldn''t make it.


    He turned away from James to avoid letting him see his eye twitch as he mumbled something about walking. The butler watched him leave suspiciously, happily closing the door behind him.


    Dustin could feel the statues judgement as they watched him pass, the price tag on their collective heads probably worth more than the home he lived in.


    Once he was outside of the mansion and down the street he broke into a light jog back towards the shopping center. He didn''t want to sprint as he might look suspicious running away from a bunch of expensive looking houses.


    He still got weird looks from the people he passed, but if they didn''t stop him, he could ignore them.


    The shopping center was still bustling with people by the time Dustin returned, checking his watch. It was about four in the afternoon. It would take about half an hour to an hour maybe to clear the dungeon, at least in real time.


    He noticed the emergency fire door slightly ajar as he pushed it open, skipping every second step to the bottom and pushing the last door that led outside.


    The train station was still empty, but a young girl was standing beside her bike as she walked along the train tracks, heading right towards where the dungeon would be.


    "Wait," Dustin called out, but she disappeared before she could turn to look at him, "don''t go in there¡­"


    He looked around quickly for any onlookers, but no one had taken any interest in the abandoned train station, and he took off into a sprint towards the dungeon. He slipped under the torn fence where James had showed him, tearing his jacket as it caught on the way through. He was less concerned with his clothing over the girls life and dove headfirst towards the spot she had disappeared.


    ''Welcome to the Ravenous Ravine dungeon. Uploading current information to mini map.''


    Dustin waited until the view around him settled, revealing the high rising cliffs on either side of him, and the path in front that lead deeper into the earth. The air was thick with moisture, making Dustin sweat in his long pants and jacket.


    Having completed the Goblin Forest without a mini map, and only entering a dungeon again now, Dustin had completely forgotten about it.


    There was limited information on it currently, showing a green dot, which represented himself, and white lines that showed the terrain around him.


    Thanks to his perception, which was tracking, he could also see little white dots that indicated animal or monster tracks, and other signs of disturbance. When he tapped on the white dots, he could see the information pertaining to it. It also worked when he went up to it and inspected it.


    The little girl with the bike who had entered before him was gone, and he could see her little footprints leading deeper into the ravine.


    Dustin hurriedly drew his staff from his inventory and replaced his university uniform with his damaged leather armour.


    Thankfully he had hidden it away, saving it from also being taken to evidence.


    He kept the throwing knives in a pouch by his side. It wasn''t a generic pouch, but one that worked as a physical inventory. You could put your hand into the pouch, or whatever other holding device one chose, and withdraw certain items.


    The current quick slots were filled with the potions, salve/tea, and the knives. He pulled out a knife quickly and made the motion of throwing it, but kept his grip around the handle. The movement was fluid and he could do so quickly.


    Looking at the girls tracks against Dustin could tell she had taken off in a hurry. The ravine traveled down into the earth where the light struggled to reach. Dustin started walking down the path carefully, keeping an eye on the walls for any holes or crevices that could be used to ambush him.


    He used the tip of his staff to push aside plants that stuck out and ran it along the ground to confirm that there was no sudden drop. He really needed to invest in night vision, or at least heat vision, as the ravine grew darker.


    Thankfully there were torches automatically in his inventory, part of the survival kit that was given upon entering dungeons. The tracks were still going forward, annoying Dustin. Why was this little girl going further into the dungeon?


    It was dark and damp, the last place he would have expected someone to go.


    "Hello?" Dustin called out, his voice echoing between the ravine walls. Something shifted on the wall in front of him, and he could see why the dungeon was named as such.


    An oversize gecko climbed off the wall and charged him with a hiss. Dustin threw one of his throwing knives at its head on charge, breaking its momentum as it recoiled from the pain. Before it could slam into his legs he used all his strength to hit it like a golf ball, using his staff to smash it into the wall.


    It''s head collided with the jagged wall and dealt a significant amount of damage. It was unmoving as the shock the staff sent through it momentarily stunned it. Since its underside was aimed outwards Dustin took another knife and slashed its throat.


    The lizard came back to its senses as the blood seeped from its neck. It tried climbing up the wall to escape but Dustin grabbed its tail and threw it to the ground. Without the added strength of the Dos system it would have been impossible to do.


    Dustin held the staff in one hand as he invoked the spell Storm Bolt. Static electricity built between his hands and around the Lizards body. They begun to reach out to each other, and when they finally touched, a clap of thunder nearly deafened him in the enclosed space.


    Lightning struck the lizards body, instantly sapping its remaining health and leaving a small spot of charred scales where it has struck.


    Dustin rubbed his sore ears, noting to himself that the clap of thunder was particularly harmful in close spaces. He checked his mana, noting the passive regeneration kicking in.


    Before he forgot, he also summoned his new healing orb, watching as the small ball of blue floated just above his right shoulder. After about ten seconds it shivered, and a small wave of green expanded from it.


    It had no effect on Dustin as he was full health, but would have normally healed him for 10 health.


    The corpse of the Spotted Gecko entered Dustins inventory. It''s scales were worth a lot more than the previous dungeons skins and furs.


    The clap of thunder seemed to have displaced a lot of the monsters as tracking signs appeared in abundance around Dustin as he continued forward.


    Several more lizards, and a few other creatures like Giant Bats, and Steam Slimes, attacked him along the way, but provided little more than a light experience snack.


    Dustin tore up some of his jacket and shoved the bundled cloth into his ears to save them from the constant thunder claps. What surprised him the most about the dungeon was the fact that the little girl had managed to walk so far forward without being attacked. Her tracks indicated she was moving forward at a brisk walking pace, and her bike was still beside her.


    Thanks to the tracking function he could keep on the path even as the ravine split into multiple paths. To clear the entire dungeon would require multiple paths of backtracking since the path was divided up.


    The path that the girl was taking was seemingly leading straight to the boss fight as the monsters started thinning, and the ravine was lit up by the sky. It seemed the middle of the dungeon was the deepest part.


    Finally Dustin came up into a circular clearing that the Ravine ran through. The walls were tall enough to stop any attempt to climb out, and the sun shone down onto a large lizard that was sleeping on a large rock.


    Dustin noticed the girl huddling by the side of the circle, her eyes looking fearfully at Dustin, more than the lizard.


    He put a finger on his lips and ducked down, keeping his staff level with the ground as he crept towards the lizard.


    The display told him it was a Fire Iguana. Capable of expelling heat from its body in a form of naked flame. This dealt a chunk of fire damage to the pioneer, but also slowed the boss'' action speed by about 25%. Lizards were cold blooded, so removing the warmth from its body was detrimental to its health.


    There were spots of intense sunlight around the arena that acted as recharge stations, if the boss reached them, it would recharge enough heat to make another flame attack.


    It was lethal to take more than three flame attacks, so one needed to either distract the boss before it could release more than three, or kill it.


    Dustin kept an eye on the girl, she was hiding between two of the sunlight spots, meaning he would have to keep the boss away from there.


    If she was caught in the flame attack he had no doubt that she would probably die. Dustin crept towards her, making motions for her to stay still. She seemed to be torn between moving away, or following his commands.


    He made a ninety degree turn to approach the boss when she was behind him. He would fight the lizard and push it to the opposite edge of the circle.


    Dustin stopped at what he estimated was the boss aggression range. If he entered it, the lizard would sense him and wake up, forfeiting his advantage of stealth.


    Dustin turned to the girl and put his fingers in his ears, nodding towards her. She seemed to understand him and followed immediately, having heard the thunder from before.


    Dustin lightly placed his staff on the ground and took a throwing knife in each hand. With metal in each hand, a static bond was built not just between his hands and the lizard, but between the knives and the lizard.


    It was an advanced technique that utilized the combination of conductive weapons, and a lightning attack.


    As Dustin felt the Storm Bolt about to strike he threw the two knives. The thunder clap send dust flying to the edge of the arena and the bolt of lightning struck the two knives on its way to the lizard.


    The two knives had a purple hue as they struck, each delivering their own mini shock after being charged with electricity.


    The Lizard hissed in anger at the sudden attack and rose with a speed unfitting of its stature, turning to Dustin with its tongue lashing out.


    Besides the flame attack, it was the claws and teeth of the boss that he had to worry about. He picked up his staff quickly after the stealth attack and smacked away one of the advancing claws, seeing sparks fly as the claws scraped against the metal.


    He sent another throwing knife directly at the Lizards face, which barely penetrated the thick scales under its eye.


    The action served to enrage it even further as it swung around, sending its tail crashing towards him. Dustin rolled over the tail and struck at the lizards back leg. The shock made it twitch and the lizard started shaking.


    Dustin could feel the heat rising in the air and laid flat against the ground as a wave of flame pulsed out above him. He was still hit by the flames, but managed to dodge the bulk of it. His healing orb responded to the attack with its own pulse, healing him, but also the lizard.


    Dustin would have laughed if he wasn''t in a fight, and leapt to his feet. The lizard was sluggish as it tried walking towards one of the sunlight patches.


    Normally it was a bad idea to let the boss regain its special attack, but a Storm Bolt and throwing knife combo was enough damage to warrant letting it crawl away.


    The lightning crackled again, zapping a spot on the lizards backside as two knives embedded into its tail with a dull thud. The lizard groaned, raising its head to the sunlight. It took about ten seconds for the light to die out, and the lizard to regain its former speed.


    Dustin repeated his previous routine of dodging attacks and hitting it with the staff where he could until it unleashed another flame dash. Rather than staying flat beside the lizard, Dustin rolled underneath it as it prepared to unleash the attack, and slashed at its soft belly.


    It harmed the lizard plenty, but earned Dustin an intense bout of heat as he took triple the damage as the last flame burst from being in such close proximity. His healing orb continued cheering him on as it burst for another 10 health. The lizard left Dustin lying on the ground in a pool of sweat as it headed to the next ray of sun.


    Dustin jumped to his feet and sent his final Storm Bolt + Throwing Knife attack. They connected with the lizards side and caused a chain reaction. Dustin had a knife in all sides of the lizard, and a small chain of lightning split off from the knives, charging the others in a current that spread around the lizard.


    The lizard was completely stunned as only half of it stood in the ray of sunlight. Dustin dashed over to the immobilized boss and used his staff to smack the throwing knives out.


    As the fourth knife dislodged, Dustin could see on the boss'' display that it was now bleeding.


    It''s health was already approaching zero from the massive lightning damage, and the bleed was simply pulling it closer to death.


    Each consecutive knife after the bleed upped its damage slightly. The boss was now bleeding for about 8 damage a second, and it had around 106 health left.


    It would die in less than 15 seconds if Dustin did nothing. Rather than wait for it to bleed out, potentially getting a last flame burst off, Dustin raised his staff to bash its head in, but was stopped as the little girl screamed.


    "Stop! It''s hurting."


    Dustin''s staff hovered in mid air as she rushed over, falling to her knees beside the boss. She winced at the sand and rock that grazed her skin but ignored it as she started to whisper to the Boss.


    Dustin was curious about the little girls identity and checked the boss display.


    Fire Iguana


    [ 82 / 1,150 ] [-8/s]


    Status: Bleeding. Being tamed.


    Dustin froze at the boss status, it had changed from stunned to¡­ being tamed.


    He looked at the little girl in bewilderment and opened his display to look at her information. Without being friends he could only see her username, level, and health / mana values.


    Her username was Veterinarian14, which might explain her unwillingness to see the Iguana die. Her level was currently 2, which was also a big surprise to Dustin. Finally, her mana was dropping fast.


    Lowering his staff, Dustin knelt close and finally understood. She was not whispering just anything, she was casting a spell.


    Dustin looked at the Iguana''s health, and estimated the time it would take for her to finish taming it, against how long it would take till it died.


    "It''s going to bleed out before you can finish." Dustin said, coughing awkwardly. The girl continued whispering, but looked up at Dustin with bloodshot eyes. There was a mix of fury and pleading behind them, her lips unphased by the comment as she soldiered on with the spell.


    Dustin sighed, he didn''t have anything that could heal the boss enough for her to tame it. Not to mention the fact that it might be a bit off for such a little girl to have a boss tamed already. Did he really want her to succeed?


    He watched the remaining health drop off, blood oozing out of the Lizard until it soaked the girls shoes. She was so close, yet so far. The cast was going to be less than a second away from success. If only the lizard could survive one more second of bleeding.


    Dustin caught something shivering in the corner of his eye as he looked up at the healing orb. It was shaking violently, looking ready to explode.


    He looked back down at the Lizard which was looking at the girl with saddened eyes.


    "Tch. What the hell, what''s the worst that could happen?" Dustin mumbled, and the healing orb exploded, releasing a 10 health heal in an area around it.


    The Lizard was milliseconds from dying before another 10 health popped up, soaking the 8 damage from the bleed. The little girl shouted the last part of her spell and laid a hand on the lizards head.


    A white sigil appeared on its scales as her cast was finished, sending notifications to fill Dustin''s screen.


    ''Congratulations for clearing Ravenous Ravine. The portal to return is now open, rewards will be distributed shortly. Thank you, and happy spending!''


    Level up! +5 available attribute points. +230 Dos


    Level up! +5 available attribute points. +240 Dos


    An unknown pioneer has stolen your contribution, all rewards go to their party. Slay the pioneer, or join their party, to regain kill contribution.


    Ravenous Ravine completion. +700 Dos.


    Dustin felt his eye twitch as the display notified him of the little girl stealing his contribution. Sure enough, there was no reward selection for completing the dungeon.


    The little girl sighed in relief as the body of the Fire Iguana began to shrink. When it reached the size of a large dog, it disappeared, and a smile spread on her face.


    He could tell she was looking at her display, so he nudged her with the staff to get her attention, making sure it didn''t touch her skin to avoid shocking her, thus entering combat. She yelped and fell back, looking fearfully at Dustin.


    "You took my loot." He said, bending down to pick up the electrically charged knives. When he picked up the eighth knife, he gained a notification that the weapon had changed.


    Light Throwing Knives has gained suffix modifier, of Charging.


    Light Throwing Knives of Charging.


    15/15 Durability.


    Damage: 2.0 - 4.0 Physical Damage. 1.0 - 3.0 Lightning Damage.


    A collection of throwing knives that seem lighter than normal. They give off a vibrating purple glow.


    Light: Knives can travel further. Easier to dislodge


    Charging: Each consecutive knife after the first increases targets lightning damage taken by 2%.


    Dustin smiled at the free upgrade. Changing a weapon enough could also provide positive benefits, not just negative modifiers.


    "I-I didn''t know." The little girl stammered, falling onto her butt as Dustin held the knives in his hand.


    He sighed and put them away, then opened his display. A couple of seconds the later the girl recoiled as a notification popped up on her screen, requesting to form a party with pioneer Dusty.


    She looked up at the menacing student and saw his look of expectation, coaxing her to press ''yes''.


    You have entered a party. Current members: 2.


    Dusty - Level 6


    Veterinarian14 - Level 4


    Dungeon contribution shared among party members.


    Kayle, or McKayla, otherwise known as Veterinarian14, was shocked as she looked at the party screen. Dusty was level 6, which was completely unknown to her. Even her own level surprised her, she had gained enough for level two previously by taming a bunch of animals and insects and letting them go.


    The dungeon alone had been enough to level her twice.


    Meanwhile Dustin sighed in relief as the contribution menu popped up on his display. He had dealt the most damage to the boss, so he got first pickings at the loot once the contribution was re-established.


    Ravenous Ravine completed, please choose a reward.


    - Uncommon Scale Armguards of Heat.


    - Uncommon Flame Potion of Cauterizing


    - Common Weak Health Potion x 5


    - Common Weak Mana Potion x 5


    - Spell: Flame Burst


    Dustin was pleasantly surprised as the rewards were much better than the Goblin Forest. Harder difficulty meant better rewards, and killing the Goblin Archer was incomparable to the difficulty of the Fire Iguana as a boss.


    He needed to abuse the tougher difficulty for better rewards before the patch kicked in.


    Uncommon Scale Armguards of Heat


    60/60 Durability


    2.0 - 5.0% Physical Mitigation. 4.0% Fire Mitigation.


    Heat: Armguards will periodically heat up during combat, providing 15% movement speed and 10% increased health regeneration.


    Dustin nodded at the armguards, they were pretty good. The affix basically quadrupled their value, as just the mitigation alone wasn''t anything special. Having a 15% movement speed and 10% health regen buff was great.


    Uncommon Flame Potion of Cauterizing.


    A potion that temporarily increases resistance to fire damage.


    Cauterizing: Removes bleeding effect on use.


    Use: 20% reduced fire damage taken.


    The potion almost made Dustin take it instantly. On the planet Ysoria, fire damage was so abundant that unless one had at least 50% resistance to fire permanently, it was easy to die from the creatures that roamed it.


    Currently, the cauterizing effect was quite useful. Bleeding during a fight, as seen from the Lizard, was very dangerous.


    Dustin ignored the remaining two potion options as they were already worse than the two initial choices, and skipped straight to the last one. A spell.


    Spell: Flame Burst


    School: Pyromancy


    Channel flames through your body, rapidly heating the blood within your body. Release the heat, sending a burst of flame around the caster.


    Use: 80 Mana. Caster is afflicted with Cold Blooded: Action speed is reduced by 15% for 5 + (Charge Duration).


    The ability was basically the same as what the boss used, but the drawback was only 15% action speed, rather than 25%.


    The charge duration referred to how long one heated up the body. Longer duration meant a bigger flame radius, as well as higher damage, but would also increase the duration of the cold-blooded debuff.


    Dustin was tossing up between all three, as they all had their uses. When it came down to a process of elimination, the potion was the first one to go.


    It was ultimately the bleed removal that made it viable, just not enough to justify choosing it over the others.


    Now it was down to two, the scale armguards, and the spell.


    Flame Burst would work in conjunction with his Double Dip bonus, but the damage bonus was still underwhelming with only two schools. He was almost certain he could find an easier Pyromancy skill to use that didn''t have the debuff attached to it.


    The scale armguards were essentially a free random buff, as the defense they provided was negligible. Still, the movement speed and health regeneration wasn''t anything to joke about¡­


    ''Uncommon Scale Armguards of Heat awarded to Dusty, remaining party members may choose a reward.''


    Dustin left the girl to choose her reward as he opened his attribute screen, popping the 10 points from leveling into their respective slots.


    Intelligence 35


    Strength 18


    Agility 18 (+2) ¡ú 20


    Wisdom 16 (+4) ¡ú 20


    Charisma 20 (+4) ¡ú 24


    Constitution 21


    He was happy with the spread of attributes for now and let his achievements loose, providing more free bonuses.


    Milestoner: You are the first pioneer of XQB51 to reach level 5! +5 Wisdom. 5% increased experience gained.


    Experimenter: You are the first pioneer of XQB51 to personally modify an item. Repair kits grant an additional use. Items lose durability 5% slower.


    Alternative Means: Your party, DustyVeterinarian14, are the first pioneers of XQB51 to clear a dungeon without killing the boss. +5% experience and dos gained from clearing dungeons without killing the boss. Dungeons grant one additional random item for reward when cleared with boss alive.


    Experimenter was a nice title to have, it would help him save future Dos on not having to be as many repair kits. The Milestoner achievement was pretty basic, increased experience was pretty good in the long run.


    The one that stood out was definitely Alternative Means, despite Dustin having no way to do so. The only reason it had worked in the first place was because Kayle had the ability to tame it.


    The part that alarmed Dustin the most, was the way the system worked. He currently did not possess a taming skill, or any other kind of neutralizing ability that would clear the dungeon peacefully, and the dungeon did not specifically list taming as the method of neutralization.


    Yet he was still given the achievement.


    For Dustin, the fact that the achievement was there, meant there was some kind of method to neutralize the dungeon boss, he just hadn''t discovered it yet. If the only method of achieving the neutralization was to tame the boss, then it would have indicated as such by either granting the achievement solely to Kayle, or adding some kind of clause.


    Dustin scrutinized the little girl as she finished playing with the display, a red book in her hands. She looked up at him and held it up, like a child returning a candy bar they had stolen. He smiled and reached for it, only for it to disappear.


    They stood there awkwardly until Dustin put his arm down and sighed.


    "You didn''t select it as a gift, did you?"

 9 The devil is in the details

    Dustin watched the little girl walk her bike quickly through the portal, not bothering to turn and wave or say goodbye.


    He didn''t care. The quicker she was gone, the better.


    After she had failed to gift him the flame burst skill book he roughly explained the system to her, keeping important information out of the conversation. They agreed that he wouldn''t mention her or her giant lizard pet, and she would act like he was never here.


    The remaining monsters, and the secret, were left to Dustin as she left. He cracked his knuckles and twirled the metal staff around, slamming one end on the ground, which send a small burst of energy out from underneath it.


    And so began the killing spree, piling up the lizards and goods that dropped in his inventory until it was completely full. He had backtracked through most of the ravine, entering back into deepest part, where he had found a hidden crevice, wider than the rest and extended further in, eventually opening up into a small cavern in the wall.


    Inside was a dead lizard roasting on a fire, moving slowly in a clockwise direction as it cooked. Dustin was immediately on guard as he approached, already detecting through his tracking that someone, or something, was in the cave.


    "Ah! A guest!"


    Something from the dark corner called out to him, compelling him to approach. He had to resist the urge, and instead took a seat at the campfire. The voice chuckled, coming closer until it skirted the edges of the campfires light.


    It was a devil, one of the demonic beings pioneers could summon to this realm to fight. Dustin wasn''t sure whether they were a Dos race, perhaps enslaved to the system in some way, or if Dos just created them as sentient monsters.


    It had the heat of a goat, with two long horns curling forward, then down. It was a good two feet taller than Dustin, and its head threatened to scrap across the ceiling.


    Dustin kept a tight grip on his staff, but made no move to attack. He wasn''t confident in attacking and defeating a devil. Unless the secret was an ex-pioneer trapped inside the dungeon, most secrets did not require killing the target, or giver, of them. They were usually tests, quests, or escorts, which had no problems with asking the pioneer to kill.


    If the Mantae had been a Dos created monster, he might have been asked to escort them outside the cave, therefore completing the secret.


    The devil didn''t seem to be the type to need an escort, especially in this low level of dungeon, so Dustin waited for him to talk.


    "A silent one, hm? So imposing." The devil mocked him as it came up beside him. It reached towards the grilling lizard and tore into it with its claws, retrieving a piece of meat.


    It held the meat in front of him, offering it with murderous eyes. Dustin declined and took out his own rations that were hidden in the inventory. The devil flashed his teeth and swallowed the meat whole, sitting down to look at Dustin. His legs extended into the campfire, laying against the inflamed logs without a care.


    "So, my dear pioneer. What is it you wish?"


    Dustin pretended not to hear, and continued munching on his dry bread. The devil remained calm and scratched his beard. When it opened its mouth again to repeat the question, Dustin interrupted him.


    "You will make the offer. It must be reasonable."


    The devil gave a sour look, kicking a burning log out the other end of the campfire.


    "You intelligent species are no fun."


    Dustin continued to eat his lunch like nothing had happened, waiting until the Devil finally caved in.


    "I require an object for a sacrificial ritual, but alas, I am unable to leave this cave." The devil held an arm against his forehead and looked up at the ceiling dramatically.


    "A heart of the Blood Ape shall suffice."


    Dustin instantly drew up the image of a Blood Ape in his head, and the expected level he would need to be to kill it.


    Blood Apes were obviously in forested terrain, and generally traveled in packs. They would appear sometime after level 10, and became a different species towards level 25.


    They were one of the weaker monsters, provided they had no special modifiers, and were just a common monster within the dungeon. It was like taking on a strong human, and attributes could be used to bridge the gap just like any other monster.


    But of course, deals with the devils were never straight forward.


    "Of course, the heart must be of a certain pedigree. Only the finest, and all that. I''m sure you understand."


    Dustin rolled his eyes at the Devil, and the secret quest popped up in his display.


    "I shall provide you the coordinates to a Blood Ape I have grown a particular taste for. Retrieve this for me, and you will be rewarded handsomely.


    Quest: Heart of the Blood Ape Chieftain.


    The Devil, Xorxi, has requested the heart of a Blood Ape, and specified a certain Blood Ape he wishes you to retrieve it from. The Blood Ape Chieftain is located in the Eclipse Jungle, recommended level: 20.


    Should you accept, the location of Eclipse Jungle will be marked on your map. The devil will grant you 60 days to accomplish the task. Failure to accomplish the task, will result in Xorxi claiming ownership of your pioneering status. Loss of pioneer status results in monster classification.


    Completion of task rewards one item from Xorxi, in accordance with Dos protocol D3V1L.


    Dustin looked past the notification at Xorxi''s smiling face. Two months of dungeon farming would easily push him past the level twenty mark, provided he could chain dungeons together reliably.


    Unfortunately that option was obviously locked, as Dustin would take at least a couple of days to pinpoint the location of each dungeon.


    Despite the devil standing still, he could feel Xorxi''s smiling visage drawing closer to him as the deal continued to flash on his display.


    "Triple the time limit and I''ll gather the rest of the ingredients for your pathetic grovelling ritual, Lord Samuel deserves only the finest, and all that, I''m sure you understand."


    The smile on Xorxi''s face completely dropped as he recoiled, his face twisting in disgust.


    "You would imply I use lesser ingredients?" He seethed, the normal goat teeth in his mouth turning sharp.


    "I can smell the Dreadroot from here. Pathetic, you should be grateful I am sparing you the eternal agony of Lord Samuel''s wrath from being summoned to such a dreary place."


    Xorxi tried leaping at Dustin, but was pushed back by a strong force of wind. He collided with the back of the cavern and fell down atop his belongings.


    Once negotiations begun, neither party could harm each other until it was cancelled, or an accord was struck.


    "You think I won''t just cancel this deal and strike you where you stand? There are plenty of pathetic pioneers clamoring for rewards." Xorxi spat, wiping the blood that trickled down his forehead. A monstrously large tongue emerged from his mouth and licked the blood from his clawed finger.


    Dustin continued to sit by the campfire, and drank some of his water.


    "The dungeon is already cleared, I am the last pioneer you will see for at least half a year. You accept my deal, and I either fail, saving you from becoming a dried up husk, or I succeed, and you summon your beloved lord, earning more time on the clock to suck in another pioneer. If you decline, then you may enjoy your eternal torment, regardless of what you do to me."


    Dustin spoke his argument slowly, giving care to put emphasis on the Devils inevitable fate.


    Xorxi''s eyes were bulging out of his head, the anger rising in his system. Dustin was slowly losing confidence that the devil would accept, but eventually the devils claws retracted, and he returned to his suave facade.


    "You are well informed, Mr. Dusty. Very good, you will prepare my ritual." Xorxi said. Dustin smiled and held up two fingers.


    "Two rewards."


    Xorxi''s eye twitched, but he reigned in his emotions and nodded. The new text for the quest begun to shift, changing from one ingredient, the Blood Ape heart, to a list of items. The time limit was set to six months from now, and the reward was two of Xorxi''s items.


    Dustin tapped the confirm button and stood up slowly, dusting the dry bread crumbs from his lap. He ignored outstretched hand and walked back out past Xorxi.


    "Don''t die until then." Dustin gave his parting words and stepped back out of the crevice.


    Once outside he relaxed the tension in his shoulders and spent some time killing monsters to relieve the stress. He had to act completely confident, it was the only way to gain the upper hand against someone whose entire existence relied on making deals.


    Devils used deals to extend their lifespan, whether it was stealing pioneering status, or summoning lords of the underworld and selling the items collected from pioneers.


    Lord Samuel was one of the Higher Demons in the underworld, wherever it was. Dustin had never seen him, but Ysoria was covered in all kinds of devils, so the names of the lords had been drilled into his head by raving cultists.


    Ravenous Ravine completion. 600 Dos.


    Ravenous Ravine secret. In progress.


    Ravenous Ravine Boss. Neutralized.


    Ravenous Ravine Monsters. 500 Dos.


    Despite the increased difficulty of the dungeon compared to the Goblin Forest, he got a lot less Dos, and only slightly more experience. He lost the Boss bonus to Kayle, the secret was in progress, and the full clear couldn''t be completed until the secret was finished.


    When Dustin emerged back into the real world, Kayle was nowhere to be seen. She must have run home as soon as she got back. Checking his watch, it had only been just over an hour since he had entered the dungeon, despite the four spent in there.


    Dustin planned to attend his university classes tomorrow and get Ben added to his friends list, then he just needed to get his step-sister hooked up, and he could relax a little.


    Six months was plenty of time to collect the needed ingredients for the ritual. Whilst Dustin had promised the best of the best, the amount of alternatives that existed was ridiculous. The demons apparently had low standards when it came to what could be used to summon them.


    The quest was formatted in a way that all Dustin had to do was create the ritual using ingredients that would satisfy Lord Samuel, Xorxi''s initial requirements for what he wanted were just guidelines.


    Luckily for Dustin, he had one particularly trick up his sleeve. There was a certain commodity on earth that the demons loved. Realistically, Dustin could make the ritual out the shittiest material, provided he appeased the Higher Demon in some another form.


    Dustin was almost tempted to convince Xorci to let him watch the ritual, but his previous experiences all told him to stay far away. The ritual sites Dustin had seen on Ysoria were all filled with corpses. Several of his party members had told him never to witness a ritual, and there was plenty of evidence that doing so was suicidal.


    Now that he had the ritual quest accepted, he could open up a blank map of the Earth. There were two dots featured on it, one indicating his location, and the other was the Eclipse Jungle.


    Dustin pulled out his phone to get an idea of distance, and judged it to be a couple of hundred kilometers away. Dungeons had several entrances, which lead to different ''instances'' of the same dungeon. Two different parties could complete the same dungeon at the same time, but were doing it separately.


    Just to add further confusion to the mix, two parties could emerge in the same location after both clearing their own instance, despite entering from different locations, provided they left from the same spot inside. Entering the portal that was created above the boss once killed, and waiting for teleportation after clearing the dungeon, where the two main ways to return to the same location one entered in.


    There were often other entrances hidden around, and they could be used for quick transportation around if someone managed to memorize a layout. This was a giant waste of time, as the amount of layouts almost guaranteed that pioneers did not see the same layout more than a couple of times.


    Thankfully Eclipse Forest had an entrance in Australia, just north of Sydney. Dustin needed to drive if he wanted to head up there, or maybe take a train if it was available.


    Besides his current location and the dungeon, the map was like looking at a basic mapping software. There was no text or anything, just the different continents, the layout of terrain, and then anything man-made was pictured on like a satellite image.


    In the future the map could be used to track where people where, where monsters were, and dungeon locations. One of the shop upgrades in the Tier 2 was the ability to location dungeon entrances, which really sped up the process.


    The barrier was the 1.5 million Dos price tag attached to unlocking the tier 2 shop, and the 10,000 Dos added on for the actual map upgrade that tracked dungeons.


    Still, the map was useful for navigation as Dustin made his way home, crashing in bed, physically exhausted from the day. It was only six in the afternoon but he felt knackered and fell asleep, only waking up the next day to his alarm.


    It wasn''t Ben who found Dustin first when he returned to uni, but Sam and some of the students who had been in the Goblin Forest with him. Dustin felt a little awkward as they thanked him, but said he was just doing what anyone would do.


    Sam jokingly asked what question it was that he had wanted to know when he walked into the classroom that day, but Dustin dismissed it. He made up an excuse that things were moving so fast and the world was changing, so he was probably going to pull back and continue studying his main course for a while, to see what was going to happen.


    Sam was dejected at the dismissal, but made him promise to come around the arts faculty still, plenty of the staff and students there liked him.


    He finally threw off the crowd as he escaped into his class, sitting at the back again. Rather than paranoia, it was speed he was after. The back seats were obviously closest to the exit, and Dustin just needed to find Ben.


    The first lecture was a bust as he didn''t show up. Given they weren''t mandatory, it wasn''t anything unusual. Ben didn''t have a knack for attending every classes like Dustin.


    The next class was their favorite one, and Dustin sat at their usual spot. Thankfully Ben showed up a couple of minutes late, just before Dustin had given up hope of finding him.


    "Sorry I''m late man, Minna was keeping me busy."


    Dustin cracked and smile and nudged Ben with his elbow, completely ignoring whatever the professor standing in front of the class was saying. He had already heard it before anyways.


    "Late nights, huh? Just make sure you use protection."


    Ben gave a half hearted smile, alarming Dustin.


    "Wish it was that. Her brother disappeared, can''t find the bloody kid. He''s only fourteen for Christs sake, and he''s been gone for two days. Doesn''t have a cellphone, and he''s a bit socially awkward, doesn''t like strangers."


    Dustin almost didn''t want to ask, but forced himself to anyways, "What''s his name?"


    "David Nguyen."


    Dustin ran through his memories and avoided looking at Ben, pretending like he was trying to listen to the professor.


    David Nguyen were two fairly common names, and unfortunately the two of them together were listed as casualties inside the dungeon in Dustin''s memory.


    "When did he go missing?" Dustin asked.


    Ben ran a hand through his hair and whistled quietly.


    "He went missing two days ago, on Tuesday. But something could have happened to him the day before that. He sometimes sleeps over at a friends house randomly, so Minna''s parents didn''t report anything until the day after when they called the friends parents who said they hadn''t seen him."


    "I drove around with my girlfriend before, looking for him in the surrounding neighborhoods."


    Ben yawned and rest his head in his arms, his eyes drooping closed. Dustin bit the inside of his lip and contemplated asking questions. If his brother had been in the dungeon for three days, he was probably already dead.


    There were cases were people had survived inside until some qualified to clear it entered, but they were very few. Dustin wasn''t sure if he wanted to reveal the reality they were facing to Ben. It would be very odd if he asked him to find out where David frequented, and even more so try to track where he walked through.


    "I''ll treat you to something after class." Dustin said, but Ben was so tired he had fallen asleep.


    The professor was giving them the evil eye as he continued on with the class, pressing onward loudly to try and rouse Ben. It didn''t work, and Dustin had to carry his friend out of the classroom, slinging him over his shoulder.


    Rather than dumping him somewhere, he took Ben to his car, trying to look like he wasn''t kidnapping his friend. Ben woke up when they were inside, slamming his head on the dashboard.


    "Let''s go back to my place."


    Dustin knew that Ben didn''t have a car, so he wasn''t worried about him leaving one behind to collect a parking fine.


    When they reached Dustin''s house, Ben was so tired that the display popping up in front of him felt like an illusion, but he quickly splashed some water on his face as they stood in the kitchen, his finger making ripples on the display.


    "What''s this?"


    "It''s part of the Dos shop. A friends list, or sorts. Let''s us chat, and we can see a rough location of where each other is."


    "I''ve been so fucked up lately that I haven''t even bothered to look at this. It really does look like some game interface doesn''t it. Look, there''s even levels¡­" Bens voice drifted off as he tapped on Dustins friend icon.


    "Why are you level 6?" Ben asked, looking at the picture that Dustin had set as his pioneers avatar. It was some generic image of the Aeromancy tree, a lightning bolt.


    "Look. I don''t want this to come across weird or anything, but there are reasons behind people''s disappearances. I''m not sure if you heard what happened on campus the other day."


    Ben nodded slowly, he had heard brief tidbits of the event, but it was being kept under wraps to keep the integrity of the university intact, as well as investigations into this new phenomenon.


    "I was there, specifically inside the¡­ dungeon. Let''s go to the backyard, I''ll show you something."


    Dustin said. Ben tiredly followed Dustin into the backyard. Ben yelped as Dustin dropped one of the lizard corpses from his inventory onto the ground.


    "What the fuck is that!"


    Dustin took out his metal staff and nudged it, showing that it was dead.


    "It''s from inside the dungeons. What happened on campus wasn''t really inside campus, it was inside a forest where things like these live."


    Ben looked completely lost as his eyes swiveled from the lizard carcass to Dustin.


    "It''s hard to explain. But I think your brother might be inside one of them. It appeared randomly, and we had no choice in the matter. Kind of like a forced teleportation."


    Ben knelt down to poke the lizard, confirming that it was indeed real as his finger touched the scales. It wasn''t a hallucination from his sleep deprived mind.


    "That''s a bit of a jump," Ben said.


    Dustin tried explaining a little more, forcing himself to keep parts secret. He trusted Ben as a friend, to not call him insane, but he wasn''t sure he could keep his mouth shut.


    The last thing Dustin needed was more distractions from his goal. Going into a dungeon to save Ben''s brother was part of both criteria, to help his friends and family, and continue clearing dungeons.


    "Look man¡­ I don''t know about any of this, wouldn''t everyone know if shit like this was kidnapping people?"


    Dustin hung his head and looked to the fence on the side. His neighbors were inside laughing as they watched the news. He could tell by their weird hand movements that they were using the Dos display.


    "It''s not that easy. People don''t understand, and they aren''t willing to go do something stupid or dangerous. I''m just telling you that I''m willing to try and find your girlfriends brother."


    Ben sat down on the grass and stared at the dead lizard. He was beyond tired and could barely think straight.


    "Look. Get some sleep, call me when you wake up. If you want me to help, I''ll be there. I just need to know where David would usually go "


    Dustin helped Ben into his house, not letting him leave without sleeping first. Dustin''s mother was still out, but she had met Ben plenty of times before.


    Ben laid down on Dustin''s bed and mumbled thanks before he drifted off. Dustin felt tired himself, despite the massive he sleep he had the previous night. He turned his attention to the computer and continued looking up the missing people. He browsed social media pages, forums, anything that linked to the names he could remember.


    There was a single person, a woman, who had gone missing around the same time as David. The problem was that she had very little useful information about her. She was an investigative journalist, so she kept her private life, very private.


    She had gone missing investigating the missing people herself, so it was likely she had come across the dungeon entrance and died inside. She had written a blog post for her personal website only yesterday, so she wasn''t dead yet.


    The only piece of useful information he could acquire, was the address of an office she used. He would have to cross check it with David''s comings and goings to see if it was likely they had entered the same dungeon.


    He wrote it down on a notepad and stuck it on the bottom of his monitor. He opened up a new tab and searched for online stores that sold masks. He needed something to hide his face. If he was going to be saving people from dungeons this regularly, he couldn''t have them recognizing him.


    Police weren''t going to believe that he managed to enter dungeons and save people on ''accident'', especially considering their existence was constricted to an isolated case at the current time. He couldn''t stop everyone he might save from the dungeons from blabbing about them, so he needed to at least protect himself.


    His search ended up focusing on a holiday coming up soon, as it was mid-October, there was a Mexican holiday on the second of November that had plenty of mask options. He found a painted skull mask that hid his features well enough and added it to the cart.


    ''Dia de los Muertos apparel on sale now!''

 10 Day of the Dead

    Dustin touched the skin on his face as he looked at the mirror in his bathroom. He had bought a mask for ''day of the dead'', and also an item from the Dos Shop.


    Item Transfer


    Apply the look of an item to the body directly.


    600 Dos.


    The mask was transferred directly onto his skin, changing his facial structure to match that of the mask and coloring his skin in the black and white designs. This way, it couldn''t fall off in the heat of battle, and his vastly different facial structure whilst wearing it was a great disguise.


    After selling the goods he retrieved from the dungeon, he had made about 1500 Dos, leaving him 900 to spend on some armour.


    He had the armguards, which were useful for their ability. But what he needed was something to both protect him, and cover his features, making it harder to distinguish who he was.


    He manage to find a simple black cloak that hung loosely around his elbows, allowing better movement of his hands. It also had a hood that he could pull over his head, and didn''t trip up his feet.


    [Lithe Black Cloak]


    55/55 Durability


    1.0 - 3.0% Physical Mitigation. 5.0 - 7.0% Spell Mitigation.


    A black cloak that clings to the body, but allows ease of movement. Made from a fine silk.


    Lithe: Does not restrict movement, feels light, and adds no weight.


    Lithe wasn''t a well defined combat bonus, it was just a quality of life addition to the cloak.


    Dustin also purchased an amulet that hung around his neck, it stole his remaining Dos and left his account in pitiful double digits.


    [Silver Amulet of Nature]


    30/30 Durability.


    4.0 - 8.0% Elemental Mitigation


    An amulet made from silver, finely twisted loops are made in the shape of roots, leading to the amulet that mirrors the sun.


    Nature: +5% to all Elemental resistance.


    When it came to defenses, resistance was king.


    Resistance reduced the amount of damage an incoming attack or spell would do by a percentage amount. 5% fire resistance would reduce a 100 damage fireball, by 5 damage.


    Mitigation was essentially dodging. The percent chance was both the chance to dodge the incoming damage, and the amount of damage dodged if it was successful.


    15% physical mitigation has a 15% chance to mitigate 15% of the incoming physical damage. In most cases, resistance was a superior option, as it was a reliable defense against incoming damage.


    Mitigation was an afterthought for all but the hardcore nutcases that worshiped it. Mitigation technically had no cap, but Dustin had never seen anyone with higher than 60% mitigation of any type.


    There were other methods of defending against damage. Resistance was usually the first layer of defense, and shields backed them up.


    Mana shield was essentially an extra health bar, it absorbed damage until it broke, and would then take time to recover, either through spells, potions, or just time.


    For some, like those who used actual shields, Block was also a popular option. Block was a secondary resistance against damage, reducing the damage taken by a flat amount. It''s counterpart was phase, allowing the pioneer to ''phase'' through spells or attacks as they harmlessly passed through them.


    This was either acquired through abilities, potions, or on certain gear.


    Dustin had many layers of defense before his death, but sometimes abilities or attacks were too much to handle. For now, the amulet provided a small amount of resistance, and some mitigation. It wasn''t some kind of absolute fail safe, just something to put his mind at ease.


    He felt a bit edgy looking at himself in the mirror. It was every kids fantasy to look like the grim reaper. All he needed was a blade sticking out the side of his staff to complete the look!


    Still, it was better to be known by his disguise than his actual identity. Ben had contacted Dustin earlier after he felt better, and the two talked more.


    ''I don''t really remember what happened yesterday, but I trust you to help me out.''


    His girlfriend was frantically worrying, and Ben had told her he was talking to someone who might be able to help in an attempt to calm her down.


    Dustin had to endure his persistent begging for help, and begun the reconnaissance on the investigative journalist. Rather than the straight up approach of trying to meet her like he had with James, he just decided to monitor her discreetly.


    The difficult part was remaining unnoticed. She was an investigative journalist, someone who was used to tailing and investigating others. It was hard to do the same without alerting them.


    If she did notice him, the paths she took and places she entered would probably change. He got used to the small markets she crossed through, using it as a point of reference.


    Her daily routine took her through the markets every day, without fail. Dustin would be there at the times that she passed through, making sure that he marked down any differing times.


    He had followed her entire route the first couple of days, making sure he knew where she went. The fourth night of him walking around the markets he couldn''t see her.anywhere, even when the stalls began to pack up for the night.


    He set a brisk walking pace as he followed her usual steps, having to take detours for areas that were closed. Thankfully the dungeon entrances were not always small, so when Dustin walked past a small barbershop and felt the world fall away, he wasn''t panicked, but relieved.


    As the world loaded around him, Dustin changed his casual clothing for the black cloak, and put on the mask, letting it sink into his skin until only paint remained.


    [Welcome to the City of the Dead dungeon, uploading current information to mini map.]


    Dustin couldn''t help but chuckle at the irony. He was wearing his day of the dead mask, and the first dungeon he entered was full of the undead.


    Apparently something hadn''t found it funny, as he noticed a creature out of the corner of his eye scurry away.


    A quick look around confirmed that the dungeon was a bunch of ruins, which filled Dustin with hope. It was easier to hide and survive in urban areas, considering the different heights, and thick walls.


    The undead that would inhabit the city were also of less concern than regular monstrous creatures. They had basically zero intelligence, their own instinct was to move forward, groan, and attack anything living.


    If one stayed out of their sight, and kept quiet, they were likely to go unnoticed.


    Despite that, Dustin could see at least one person had died near to the spawn, all that was left of their body was degraded corpse, and some flowers. Dustin took out his metal staff and pulled his hood up, slinking into the shadows of the dark city as he began his hunt for the living. Even if Dustin tried to take it seriously, he was giddy the whole time.


    The ruins were not dissimilar from previous towns on earth, but little differences here and laid the tiny inkling in one''s mind that this was perhaps not of earth.


    It was obviously a dungeon, but the terrain had been based on a town not from earth. It was a similarly humanoid race as the first zombie Dustin came across was vaguely the same shape.


    The main difference was the elongated nature of its limbs and neck, as well as the facial structure. It had no nose, which was creepy to say the least, and its ears were like rectangles that shot out from the side of its head.


    Dustin would have honestly preferred human zombies over whatever race these were, but at least he didn''t have to feel guilty about killing them.


    Besides the zombies were skeletons, which showed the longer bone structure that this race had, some other undead animals, and some peculiar undead abominations.


    The abominations were things created as undead, where they had never lived in the first place. One of them was called a Junker, and it had metal parts embedded into its rotting skin. One of its hands had been replaced with a hammer, which was practically just an anvil on a handle.


    Even worse than that was a Sinker, which had fish hooks dug into his skin, pulling it away from its stomach where a long tentacle was coiled up. The tentacle could extend up to four arms length, and pull victims towards it. The fish hooks would be used to pin the victim to the Sinker, where it would slowly devour it.


    Dustin absolutely loathed the things, and had no quarrels with silently smashing their heads in. After the Sinker was dead, he still had to kill the seafood that had taken residence in its stomach by cutting it out.


    The tentacles were like an undead parasite, able to give unlife to corpses. If he left the Sinker there with an intact tentacle, it would probably just get up again later. The thing smelt like rotting fish and was covered in a film of slimy mucus.


    Dustin didn''t bother with collecting any of the undead parts as they were notoriously bad to sell. The shop didn''t want them, as they were clearly rotten, and other pioneers didn''t want to handle them.


    The closer Dustin go to the center of the ruins, the larger and larger the dungeon seemed to get. It easily double the size of the Goblin Forest, and he had to cover the distance faster to try and find David, or any of the others for that matter.


    With so many humanoid undead roaming around, it was almost impossible to differentiate between the monsters, and living humans. The tracks that indicated where the people trapped inside had ran off to were quickly smothered by the stampeding horde of undead that would have followed them.


    He had no other choice but to try and run into them. Eventually he reached the other side of the dungeon, marking it on his minimap. From one side of the ruins to the other took about forty minutes to walk, a sizeable dungeon. Considering it was all fit inside a small barbershop, one could say it was impressive.


    Dustin split the dungeon into two halves, clearing one side first to create a safe space. He took the side that was closest to the spawn point, as Sarah would not have gone too far in the time span since she disappeared.


    Dustin was busy crushing the heads of zombies under his staff when he heard a commotion a couple of streets over, followed by a scream. If Dustin heard it, so did plenty of other undead. He finished off the remaining zombies in quick succession and ran through the alleyways to where the scream had come from.


    Lo and behold, Sarah was holding a long piece of broken stone in front of her, waving it at the zombies menacingly. They had no ability to interpret the action and tried attacking her.


    Dustin had to give her credit, at least she was able to hit them. Behind Sarah was an older woman who had fallen back onto her butt, one hand holding her ankle as she rocked back and forth. Using the distraction, Dustin came up behind the crowding undead and took them out with solid blows to the back of the head. The brain was responsible for making the zombies move, but breaking the point of contact between the brain and the rest of their bodies was enough damage to count as killing them.


    The sounds of spinal cords snapping or cracking was already horrifying enough without the squelching sound the zombies made when they hit the ground. Sarah was trying to get the old lady up on her feet. Dustin knew he needed to draw attention away from them, so he decided to make the loudest possible noise he could.


    It turned out zombies quite unliked the clap of thunder, and reared back to charge at Dustin instead. The zombie he had struck with lightning fell forward, its head still smoldering.


    Sarah nearly fell on top of the old lady at the deafening sound, and looked back at the cloaked man leading the undead away. She pulled the old granny to her feet, getting them down the road and back towards the little hole those who had been stuck here had made.


    A tall black man was waiting nervously out the front and ran to help Sarah when she approached.


    "What the hell was that, it sounded like thunder." He said, his voice wavering. The loud noise was sure to have roused a great number of undead, it was only a matter of time before they were swarming over there. Sarah had to wait a couple of minutes before her ears stopped ringing, and the man repeated his question.


    "There was a guy in a cloak, I don''t know what he did but the loud noise got the freaks off us, they ran straight for him."


    The man nodded and carried the old lady inside, where the rest of the survivors were hiding.


    Aside from Sarah, Jordy, and the old lady June, there were seven others. One of them, a young fourteen year old boy, was terrified, and sat in the corner refusing to move. They had tried to get him to talk, or even move from his position, but had only gotten his name. David.


    Sarah and Jordy closed the door behind them by blocking it with a thick stone, pushing the room into darkness. They huddled close together on the floor and waited, silently at first, until the first footsteps and moans rolled past.


    They couldn''t count the number of monsters shambling past their hideout, heading straight for the source of the noise. Sarah held her breath until she could no longer, gasping into her cardigan.


    The footsteps finally faded away until a haunting silence took over, a cool breeze flowed around the edges of the stone, sending a chill down Sarah''s spine.


    Meanwhile Dustin was having a blast running along the rooftops. He used his throwing knives to pick off the slower zombies that were further away from the packs, so he was able to retrieve them afterwards.


    If the undead had any emotions, they would surely be filled with rage as Dustin played with them. He had managed to round up quite the audience with his lightning show, giving him a nice range of targets.


    He was kicking himself for not investing in some kind of multi-target ability. The flame burst skill would have worked wonders in such a densely packed mob.


    Alas, he had to make do with what he had, zapping the hungry crowd that was screeching at his feet every so often. He was sitting on top of one of the buildings, dangling his feet over the edge like bait.


    Whenever something other than a zombie or skeleton approached, especially sinkers, he would prioritize them for the Storm Bolts.


    He had already managed to level it up three times from the usage, at the cost of two meditation teas. The damage of each bolt increased with level, and the mana cost was lowered. Higher level skills were needed as time went on, and also provided benefits in other ways.


    Despite the great source of skill levels, he did not want to be there all week, he needed a more efficient way to kill them. The undead were bunched up like a pack of sardines, jumping in tune to try and grab his feet.


    If he had a bunch of water he might be able to cover them in it, and zap the whole lot of them with a couple of Storm Bolts. He had a seen a water tower in the ruins, but it was probably empty. It was too slow to continue bashing individual heads, Dustin could feel the burn from losing the flame burst skill book.


    At the back of the baying crowd was an undead that towered over the others. Instead of rushing towards him mindlessly, it sat at the back and stared with lifeless eyes. Dustin waved at it, and it waved back.


    "Tch. Mimics." Dustin spat, standing up from his safe perch. The lifeless undead was known as a mimic, able to change its shape and form to hide among groups. This mimic had chosen to copy one of the undead and was watching his movements.


    The stronger a mimic was, the better its disguise. The one facing Dustin stuck out like a sore thumb, meaning it was low level.


    Still, a mimic in a dungeon full of undead was probably bound to stir up some parties. Dustin suspected it had something to do with the dungeons boss, or secret. Dungeons generally kept to a theme, something like mimics roaming around in the ''City of the Dead'', was special.


    Dustin sent a Storm Bolt at the mimic to test the waters, hitting it square in the chest. It let out an inhuman squeal and crawled away, pushing zombies and skeletons out of the way. Dustin chuckled and walked away from his crazed fans.


    He had already accomplished the original goal of drawing the undead away from whoever managed to survive inside the dungeon, all that was left was to get away from the masses and resume picking off the stragglers.


    When the living target disappeared, the monsters dispersed as if he had never been there, returning to their regular routes. Their low intelligence had no place for memory.


    The mimic was the only one to remember, seething with rage as it hid inside a building, holding the burnt and rotting skin on its chest. There were other things hiding, things that hadn''t hurt it. But if one thing could hurt it, then so could any thing.


    The mimic slinked away, keeping to the ruined alleyways and cover of the destroyed buildings to search for the things, whilst avoiding the ''loud thing''.


    On the other side of the dungeon, Dustin was growing more frustrated at the absurd number of undead. Zombies and skeletons were stupid and slow, but the bulk of them was giving him trouble. His arms were already tired from swinging the staff, and his mana couldn''t sustain too many Storm Bolts.


    This was clearly a dungeon focused on attacks and spells that affected multiple targets at once. Running around and shooting a lightning bolt, or smashing a head in with a metal staff, was completely, and utterly, ineffective.


    Not to mention wasteful. Dustin had already used two of the uses on his repair kit to keep the staff from breaking on him.


    He had grown numb to the smell of rotting flesh, and cared little for watching their brains explode under his attacks, but he couldn''t stop himself from growing tired.


    He was sluggishly destroying a skeleton when a huge Sinker came into view around the corner. He could instantly tell it was the boss as it was the only undead guarded by others, and paid him no heed. He wasn''t in range of the boss, so it couldn''t detect him yet.


    Dustin wanted to rest a bit, and then kill it, but knew that it would put the others in danger. The exit portal was created on top of the dead boss, and would send a message to all the current pioneers inside the dungeon.


    If the others read the message, they would probably run around trying to find it. Dustin didn''t need that. Since he was yet to run into them, they were probably hiding, and well at that. Finding them, and guiding them to the portal was a better option, but would be a whole other problem.

 11 Secret quest in progress

    Sarah peeked over the edges of the stone that covered the building exit, checking for any undead. The stone giants surrounding her were silent under the absence of undead. It seemed peaceful for once, a far cry from the horrific monsters that roamed the streets. It was almost enough to make her pause and take in the view.


    Still, she knew that they had to move. The group had been attacked the last time they tried to stay in one location too long. She turned back to the hideout and looked over the motley crew. They were civilians, like herself, unaccustomed to such poor conditions. Sarah had experience in uncomfortable situations as an investigative journalist, but the rest of the people gathered were bakers, cashiers, or students.


    Jordy looked at her expectantly, and she gave the OK for them to move. He roused them from their despairing state and started to move the stone out of the way with Sarah''s help.


    The rest of the group groaned and mumble as they got to their feet, dashing from one building to the next to cover ground. The streets were too dangerous to move through as the undead roamed through them endlessly.


    They had been moving in the opposite direction of the distracted crowd, reaching the outer northern boundary after an hour. They had managed to avoid detection, but the sight of a figure in a black cloak made Sarah pause. Jordy signaled for her to run across into the building where the rest of them were holding as she was the last to go, but she waved him off.


    She took a risk and peeked out from the building, getting a better look at the cloak. The figure was the one she had seen saving them earlier. It was standing out in the middle of the street, looking out towards the north. Between Sarah and the cloaked figure were some undead approaching him, prompting her to do something about it.


    "Watch out!" She shouted, but she immediately clasped a hand over her mouth. The undead had nearly reached the figure when they turned in unison to look at her. The cloaked man''s face was completely blank as he tilted his head. She thought that his face paint looked vaguely familiar, but was too worried about the zombies running at her to think about it.


    She couldn''t move her legs as the man tripped the undead that were moving away from him andcrushed their skulls under his feet. Oddly enough, they seemed to have no response to the action, their vision tunneling in on Sarah.


    She tried to thank the man again as he came up to her, but his hand wrapped tightly around her throat instead, effortlessly pulling her up into the air. She tried to scream, anything to get the attention of the others who were hiding in the next building, but the fist was wrapped tightly around her windpipe.


    The mans face begun to twist and shiver as it slowly turned into her own, mocking the expression of fear on her face as her own face grew red. Black spots appeared in her vision as the mimic completed its transformation, mirroring her proportions exactly.


    That was, until a metal staff sunk into the top of its skull, crushing the cranium and sending shards of bone into its brain. Sarah gasped as the hand around her throat released, dropping her onto the ground.


    The metal staff lifted out of the crater it created and swept the mimics feet, sending it toppling to the ground. Sarah noticed the burn on its chest as the copy of her looked up in rage, its mouth opening to reveal a long, red tongue before the staff slammed into its neck, crushing it.


    The tongue dropped into its mouth, gurgling a little before finally growing still. The real Sarah followed the staff upwards, finding the real cloaked man looking at her.


    "Fucking mimics." He muttered under his breath.


    Sarah opened and closed her mouth, but could feel no words coming out. The man waited until she had caught her breath, and offered her a hand up. She felt the urge to shuffle backwards, away from the man, but the bloodied staff tip resting next to her leg gave her the strength to decide otherwise.


    Dustin lifted her off the ground and pat her on the top of the head. She froze and squeaked a little as his hand touched her hair. Her eyes were closed until he took his hand off and sighed. He couldn''t help but worry for the future, which couldn''t seem anything other than bleak.


    "Where are the rest of you?" Dustin asked, surprising her. Her eyes darted over to the nearby building and back quickly, unconsciously revealing their location. Dustin grinned and walked over to the ruined building, likely some kind of residential home previously, and tore open the rotten wooden door.


    The people inside screamed as he stood in the doorway like the reaper of souls, dressed in a black cloak with a skull for a face. Dustin''s eyes scanned over the crowd until he saw David, and relief washed over him. The young boy was sitting in the corner, frozen in fear at Dustin''s disguise.


    "Alright everybody, up and at ''em! Time to get out of here."


    ---------------------


    It took some convincing from Sarah, and confirmation from June, to get the group of people to follow. Dustin threw caution to the wind and took them through the streets, clearing the undead as he went. He managed to enlist Jordy and Sarah to help, the two of them handling the skeletons, whilst Dustin took on the more disgusting targets.


    He had already unlocked the boss location on the map, and guided them there. When there was a clear path forward, Dustin dropped back to talk to David.


    "Your sister''s boyfriend, Jake, had me come here and help you." Dustin whispered to him. David was terrified of being close to Dustin, but nodded and whispered ''thanks'' under his breath.


    The closer they got the boss, the deeper the feeling of dread sunk in. The big Sinker that served as the boss was almost double the size of Dustin, and the tentacle resting in its chest was as thick as his legs. The party could see it peaking over the edge of a ruined wall and paled, pushing against the people behind them to escape. Dustin put a finger to his lips and gathered them in a huddle.


    "We kill that thing, we get out of here." Dustin whispered, pointing to the towering Sinker. Guarding it were two Junkers, and a bunch of random zombies, undead animals, and skeletons.


    Sarah swallowed the saliva that had collected in her mouth and was disgusted by the wet tentacle that coiled inside the boss'' chest.


    "I can handle the big boy, I just need the other goons kept busy."


    Sarah looked at the undead guarding the Sinker. Jordy and herself had grown to handle crushing the skeletons'' bones, but the bulky anvil-wielding monsters were a huge leap above their pay grade.


    [??? wishes to open a chat with you.]


    Sarah was surprised at the display that opened up in front of her. She looked up from the message at Dustin, who gave her a thumbs up.


    [???: Buy this.]


    [Spell: Holy Smite.] 800 Dos.


    Call upon the light to smite thy enemies. A bolt of light will smite the enemy, dealing a mix of fire, and holy damage.


    Use: 70 Mana.


    Sarah looked inquisitively at the spell that ??? had sent to her through the chat. So far the shop had been a complete mystery, one that had drawn her attention. From the news, and talking to other people, it was revealed that everyone started with a base amount, 1500 Dos.


    ??? was telling her to spend over half of that amount on a ''spell''. Sarah had seen her friends using the Dos to buy currency or expensive items, but she had held off in case something else came up.


    The dire nature of the situation, and the look of seriousness on Dustin''s skull paint told her that it was time to spend some of it.


    [Spell: Holy Smite learned.]


    Sarah was surprised as the method to casting the spell was known to her, as if she had been practicing it for her entire life. Looking over at Jordy, it seemed that Dustin had convinced both of them to purchase it, the look of revelation on his face matching hers.


    "Perfect. You two are going to smite the two big anvil dudes, I''m going to deal with the walking sushi, and David is going to lead the other undead away."


    Sarah and Jordy nodded in unison throughout the explanation, but looked questioningly at each other when David was mentioned.


    "He''s probably the fastest here, he can just run way, hide somewhere, and I''ll go pick him up after."


    Dustin explained. David, however, did not seem to agree with the judgement.


    The rest of the group agreed with the plan, and Dustin pretended to ignore David''s protests, signalling for him to go. The nervous boy was in tears as he ran out of cover, drawing the attention of the undead coalition.


    The weaker undead began following him first, and the larger ones were stopped as Dustin jumped out as well, throwing a knife at the boss. It sunk into the rotting flesh of the Sinker harmlessly, but achieved the goal of attracting its attention. Dustin ran off to the side, using the edges of the clearing to duck into cover each time the tentacle struck, smashing stone and rusted metal aside with ease.


    The two Junkers were pulled off next as Sarah and Jordy shakily ran into their view. They both began to cast their spell. Their hands spun in a wide circle slowly, the energy in the air around them vibrating increasingly. It peaked when they reached their original hand position, completing a circle.


    Sarah pulled her hand back, and mimicked a baseball player as she threw her hand out. Rather than a ball, a bolt of light shot forth, blinding the both of them as they incinerated the two rapidly approaching Junkers.


    She knelt down on her haunches and held a hand to her head, feeling a headache coming on. Her eyes felt like they were burning from the bright light, and she couldn''t open them again until something shook the ground, pushing her off balance.


    She put her hand out to stop herself and found that the bright light was gone. Looking up revealed the two smoldering corpses that once resembled the Junkers. They were lying flat on their backs, the rotten flesh charred and steaming.


    The cause of the mini-earthquake was not their victory, but Dustin''s.


    The large Sinker had fallen forward, landing directly on top of a ruined building. A metal beam had pierced the tentacle in its chest, covered in black blood as it emerged out its back.


    It was motionless as it lay impaled, despite the man climbing on its backs to retrieve the small metal knives embedded in its skin.


    It was undeniably dead. Jordy followed Sarah''s wide eyed stare and saw the defeated Sinker. He was amazed for all three seconds before the horrific stench invaded his nostrils. The rotten Junker flesh had been cooked under the Holy Smite, and was permeating the air around it.


    Dustin walked back with a smile on his face as Jordy threw up, the brown liquid splashing onto Sarah''s shoe.


    She hurriedly escaped the offensive smell and recouped with the others. Dustin pointed to the shimmering air below the bloated Sinkers corpse and gestured for them to go.


    "That''s the portal out of here, run along now."


    June was the first to follow Dustin''s advice, disappearing from existence as her elderly frame entered the portal. The others quickly followed, their eyes glued to the floor to ignore the rotting presence above them before they left the dungeon.


    Sarah helped Jordy to the portal and turned to wait for Dustin, but he waved them off. She remembered the young boy that had run away to distract the undead and asked to help, but was rejected via the open chat window.


    When they entered the portal and left Dustin alone, he turned away from the boss and walked out of the arena. Rather than go looking for David, he waited.


    Sure enough, the young boy emerged unscathed a few minutes later, hobbling over towards the portal, keeping his head down to avoid looking at Dustin. He was just about to reach it before a hand slipped around his neck, picking him up, and slamming him against a wall.


    For a young boy, the action would have caused a bit of damage. But Dustin could feel that David was fine. His face was scrunched up in exaggerated pain.


    "How''s your sisters boyfriend been going?" Dustin asked, pushing his face closer to David''s.


    The boy looked close to crying as he opened his mouth, "J-jake? H-he''s doing fine."


    Dustin strengthened his grip on David''s throat, feeling the pulse that beat under his skin. It was strong, but irregular. Plenty of humans lived with an irregular heartbeat, a condition known as Atrial Fibrillation.


    Dustin wasn''t clueless, he knew it existed, but David''s heartbeat was different. It wasn''t just irregular, it was forced, like his heart had forgotten how to pump blood, and was being forcefully told how to do so.


    "Obviously he isn''t, because his name isn''t Jake."


    Dustin opened up his notifications display, skipping through the first few entries until he came across the dungeon completion related ones.


    [Secret in Progress.]


    Dustin calmly showed it to David before releasing his grip on the boys throat, pushing the tip of the staff into his chest instead.


    "Tell me what happened to David." Dustin demanded. His other hand was inside the pouch by his side, fingering a throwing knife. The boy in his grasp remained terrified, but Dustin could feel an inkling of his mind grow sinister.


    "Do it. Give me a reason to end you." Dustin spat through gritted teeth. He was already annoyed that something had happened to David, and even more aggravated that this pretender was here acting like nothing had happened.


    "P-please. I''ll tell you, just d-don''t kill us."


    Dustin clenched his hand tightly around a throwing knife, and kept silent as the mimic gave his excuse.


    "David was dying, h-he had been torn open by a zombie. I found him, moments before his death, and offered him a choice. We became one, I am both David and mimic. If I did not strike a deal with him, someone like you would have found me eventually, and killed me."


    Dustin wanted to crush his neck there and then, but there was still something to be gained from a secret. The mimic hadn''t killed any of the other humans, even obeying Dustin''s command to lead the undead away so the rest could escape.


    "What were you planning to do once you left?"


    David''s eyes darted to the portal, than back to Dustins.


    "Go h-home. We are David, no longer mimic, nor human. I-I have a family, a place to belong."


    Dustin struggled to maintain the tight grip the more the mimic talked. It was David, without a doubt, but also a monster. If the mimic truly believed he was David¡­


    "What can you offer in return for your life? I cannot willingly allow a monster to return to our world and leave them to deal with it."


    David opened his display, and used his power as the dungeons secret to grant what was essentially a second secret, to Dustin.


    [Hidden in plain sight.]


    [The half-mimic, half-human pioneer, David, has requested you keep his identity a secret, and allow him to return to XQB51. In return, David will provided modifiers to items, spells, or consumables of your choice, increasing in quality as it levels.]


    [Should David fail to provide a modifier each year, his pioneer status will be stripped, and his identity as a monster re-applied. Should Dustin reveal David''s identity, all modifiers gained will be removed, and their equivalent Dos value given to David.]


    [Time limit: Indefinitely.]


    Dustin''s interest was piqued at the odd request. Adding a modifier to whatever he wanted was a big advantage to have early on. Progression in the later years would demand individuals talented enough to add modifiers themselves emerge, making it less appealing.


    Still, it wasn''t something Dustin was going to overlook. He clicked a small pen icon in the corner of the display, and added a few of his own clauses to the quest.


    [Hidden in plain sight.]


    [The half-mimic, half-human pioneer, David, will be allowed to return to XQB51 under certain circumstances.]


    [Pioneer David shall protect his family, and individuals indicated by Pioneer Dustin.


    Pioneer David shall not harm pioneers that do not threaten its own existence, or the continued existence of its family and individuals indicated by Pioneer Dustin.


    Pioneer David is allowed to level up by clearing dungeons and killing monsters following approval by Pioneer Dustin.


    Pioneer Dustin may call on Pioneer David''s aid at any time, but acceptable payment will be provided for services rendered.]


    [In return, Pioneer David shall provide two modifiers each year, increasing in quality depending on a combination of Pioneer David and Pioneer Dustin''s levels.


    Should David break any clause, or fail to provide the requested modifiers, his pioneer status will be stripped, and his identity as a monster re-applied.


    Should Dustin reveal David''s identity, or breach any clauses indicated, his pioneer status will be stripped.]


    [Time limit: Indefinitely.]


    David''s eyes scanned over the display with an inhuman speed, then zipped up to meet Dustin''s.


    "Accepted."


    [Quest: Hidden in Plain Sight accepted. Time limit: Indefinitely.


    Keep David''s identity a secret. Adhere to quest rules.


    Reward: Two modifiers a year applied to items/consumables/spells provided.]


    Dustin smiled and removed his staff from David''s chest. The young boy fell to the ground and coughed, attempting to return to a normal breathing pattern.


    [Spell: Storm Bolt.]


    "I want chain." Dustin said quickly, kneeling down in front of David with his display open.


    [Spell: Storm Bolt has been modified!]


    [Spell: Chaining Storm Bolt]


    Aeromancy


    Channel static electricity through your hands and around a target, drawing a bolt of lightning out of the targeted enemy, shocking them.


    Chaining: Lightning chains to nearby enemies, decreasing in damage for each consecutive chain. Maximum: 5.


    Use: 35 Mana.


    Dustin smiled at the new modifier, closing the display. Sure enough, the yearly reward dropped from two modifiers, to one.


    He could use it now, but none of his current items or spells were in desperate need of an upgrade. Chain was important for killing multiple targets at a time, and filled the blatant weakness he had.


    David looked up at him expectantly, like he was to be praised for the reward. Dustin rolled his eyes and took a knife from his pouch, tearing a gash in the dirty jacket David was wearing.


    "Can''t have you going out there looking healthy. You just survived a harrowing experience, not rolled around in some dirt. Also pretend to have amnesia, you''re too easy to fool with fake information."


    David almost cried as Dustin gave him wounds appropriate for the situation. He scrapped a handful of rocks across his kneecap, cut small, and large gashes, into his skin, and ran his clothing over the blood to stain them.


    After only a couple of minutes David had been turned into a homeless war veteran, despite the age. Dustin nodded satisfactorily at his handiwork, then shoved the boy through the portal.


    He dusted his hands off and pulled out the metal staff, turning to find a lone zombie looking at him. If Dustin had held off on crushing its skull he might have seen the pitiful look it had given him.


    ------------------


    The heartfelt reunion between David and his sister played out on the TV screen in Dustin''s living room, recorded on a crappy phone camera. Dustin could spot part of Ben in the frame as he awkwardly waited to the side.


    Dustin chuckled at the sight and turned the TV off. When Dustin had finished clearing the dungeon, he came out to an empty hairdressers, though the floor was incredibly dirty.


    He made his escape unnoticed, and changed into his regular clothing when he was outside. He blended into the crowd that had gathered around Sarah and the others that were sitting on the curb, waiting for emergency services to arrive. Jordy still looked sick to the stomach as he stared blankly at the ground. Sarah had questioned David when he wandered out, and stopped him when he tried to walk away.


    Checking his inventory, there were several items needed for Xorxi''s ritual of summoning, each of them was quite obscure, but suitable.


    Happy with the outcome, Dustin went home to help his mother cook dinner, then got an early nights sleep.

 12 Memory, or premonition?

    The idea of a cityscape and jungle co-existing used to be a foreign concept. As Dustin moved through the tall buildings covered in vines, it wasn''t some sick joke, it was reality.


    More than a dozen other pioneers moved with him, each dressed in standard issue military uniform. They were on a patrol of the city, to clear out any monsters that would be approaching the southern side of their camp.


    Dustin had a long and gnarled branch in his staff, marking him as the patrols healer and support. The others had a mix of spears, swords and shields, or ranged weapons. Dustin was kept in the center of the group, away from danger.


    It couldn''t save him from seeing the carnage around them. Week old corpses still sat by the roadside, half eaten and rotting. They were lucky that the corpses had been eaten, if they were too intact they would get up and attack them.


    Dustin could feel the acidic bile bubbling up his throat, and forced himself to swallow it. They didn''t want to leave anything behind that would attract attention.


    "60m ahead, approximately sixteen Infested Leopards." The man standing in front of Dustin whispered, and held up his hand for the group to stop.


    Lounging next to an old apartment complex that was just visible through the trees surrounding it were a group of Leopards. Before the dungeon had broken, it was known as the Infested Jungle, and featured monsters infested with parasites. The parasites couldn''t bring out the full strength of their hosts, but could keep them alive through any wound. Killing the parasites was the one way to ensure they could not recover.


    Someone like Dustin was needed to spot the parasites that had burrowed inside the leopards. He put his hand on the mans shoulder and nodded, activating his spells and using the mana perception to scan the leopards.


    Using the party display feature, Dustin marked each of the leopards with an icon, indicating where the parasite was located.


    Some had attached themselves to major organs, such as the heart, or lungs. Others melded with the skeletal system, or nested in their stomachs.


    The leopards looked normal from far away, but the closer one got, the easier it was to tell the differences. The infested leopard were no longer living, so their eyes were glassed over, they didn''t breath, and their hearts didn''t beat, so they were cold to the touch. Some of them even featured gaping wounds that they completely ignored.


    Dustin finished marking the last leopard and slid to the back of the group. He could hear the lurching of bows as the archers pulled back, releasing arrows with a ''twang''.


    Four leopards were shot back as the arrows pierced them in the spots indicated by Dustin. Only one of them got back up, the parasite inside still living. He could see the arrow had scratched its side, causing it to bleed, but not kill it.


    The remaining thirteen charged the patrol, pushing aside the thick brush as their powerful legs pushed them rapidly closer.


    Dustin span his staff around, and a thin spray of green mist covered the group. It settled on their skin and was slowly being absorbed. He started casting another spell as the leopards reached the front of the patrol, smashing against shields and piercing themselves on the line of spears.


    Another volley of arrows shot over the top of the pioneers holding the leopards back, and another parasite perished. A blue sheen covered the members of the patrols and soaked any incoming damage.


    Since the leopards were not a big priority, Dustin lowered his staff and waited for the others to finish them off. He needed to conserve his mana for the harder targets.


    After the parasites were killed, the bodies of the leopards were skinned. Their fur a valuable resource for making armour. Dustin looked away as the patrol did so, watching the surrounding alleyways that could contain any number of dangerous monsters.


    They were sitting in the middle of the street as they did their dismantling, unnerving Dustin. It was unlikely that anything stronger than the leopards would be this far from the center, but he couldn''t knock the twisting feeling in his stomach.


    One of the patrol suddenly stood up as he looked at the flashing display that opened up in front of him.


    "Delta IJ patrol requesting backup. Bravo IJ Patrol you are the closest, please advise."


    "Bravo IJ Patrol copy, ETA 7 minutes."


    Dustin got back into position as the patrol abandoned their skinning attempts, forming into a tight circle as they pushed through towards the north eastern part of the city. The patrols were sent in with square formation, so any of the other three squads could aid one patrol.


    Dustin was part of Bravo Infested Jungle Patrol. They were currently the closest patrol to Delta, who were located just east of them. They spotted several infested monsters on the way, but couldn''t spare the time to deal with them. Response to backup requests took priority over the mission.


    They were already short of manpower, even sending out patrols to deal with the monsters was stretching it thin. With circumstances being what they were, it was a necessary risk. If they left the dungeons untouched for too long, they would go berserk, increasing the output of monsters by more than double, and merging more of the surrounding land under the dungeons control.


    "Bravo IJ Patrol to Omega, any further information?"


    The patrol fell silent as they waited to hear any other news about what was going on with Delta patrol. They were only a couple of minutes away now, and there were still no signs of a battle.


    "Bravo IJ Patrol, two confirmed casualties, unknown number of injured."


    "Bravo IJ Patrol copy."


    The group atmosphere grew somber. Two confirmed casualties was already a great loss. With an unknown number of injured, the patrol squad was in trouble. Dustin could see a cloud of smoke rising up from a nearby building, along with a couple of flashing dots on his display.


    Bravo patrol ducked low as they entered the building, keeping to the walls as a large section of roof had collapsed into the center of the hall. Some old bones stuck out from underneath the rubble, but thankfully they were not human.


    The building used to be a museum, and an old dinosaur exhibition had been crushed. Dustin had no time to mourn the loss of historical fossils and kept moving. Rusted balls of metal hung from the ceiling as they entered what would have once been a model of the solar system. A couple of Delta patrol were huddled together under Saturn.


    Dustin could see wounds covering their bodies, some coming very close to being lethal. The patrol leader questioned them as Dustin applied his layers of healing spells. They calmed down as their health started to rise, rather than fall, and the bleeding stopped.


    "We''re leaving."


    One of Dustin''s patrol mates clapped him on the shoulder and jerked a thumb over his shoulder. Three of the backline helped the Delta survivors up and they retreated back the way they came.


    They made it back to the collapsed rubble before something shook the building as it landed on the roof. The patrol commander fell to the floor in a crouch, followed by the rest. A large, scaled leg sent rubble flying as it stepped down onto the collapsed roof, following by another foot.


    Dustin held his breath as a large dinosaur like creature came down, a low growl in its throat as it lowered itself out of the sunlight. Something in the monsters mouth caught Dustins attention as it swung from side to side as the jaws clamping down onto it moved.


    The patrol were motionless as it stepped over the destroyed dinosaur fossils and sniffed the air. The lack of eyes on its head indicated it was blind, so the group remained as still as possible. From what Dustin could tell, it definitely wasn''t a regular monster. The likelihood was that it belonged to the boss category, acting as a deterrent to invaders.


    When the monster reared its head back and the thing in its mouth was put into the light, the colour drained from all the patrols faces. A half eaten human body was hanging from the monsters mouth, proudly showing off the badge of a Delta patrolman.


    The odd thing wasn''t seeing the patrolman, but the fact that he almost seemed alive. His body moved against the force of the monsters jaw opening, and his body did not slide down his throat.


    Dustin used his mana perception to have a look, and put his hand on the ground to steady himself.


    There was something keeping the human body tethered to the monsters mouth, and Dustin was all too familiar with it.


    A parasite.


    The horrendous brown bug had burrowed into the patrolman, connecting his missing lower half to the bottom of the monsters jaw. They were not two separate entities, but the same. The leader of the patrol looked to Dustin as he furiously typed a message to him.


    The reality was revealed before he could send it, as the patrolman''s eyes shot open, staring directly at the group who huddled in the dark.


    It let out an inhuman screech, a line of drool pooling out of its mouth. The monsters turned its head slowly towards them as the infested human continued flailing.


    "Run." The patrol leader whispered, and several members of the backline were pushed away. The monster reared up and roared, charging towards them. The patrol got a couple of shields up before it smashed into them, crushing one under foot as the others flew backwards. A couple of arrows struck the beasts side, but failed to penetrate the thick hide.


    Dustin was frozen with fear as the backline who stood around him shot at it carelessly, uncoordinated in their actions. One of the injured Delta patrol shook Dustin awake and pointed to the crushed shieldsman who still lived.


    "We need your support!" He yelled over the screaming. The monster had picked up a spearman in its mouth and blood showered the men underneath as the thick teeth easily penetrated the shoddy armour.


    The infested human clawed at the man in the meanwhile, scratching his eyes out and biting at his face.


    Dustin nodded and stood up, using one of his stronger healing spells Adrenaline Shot to recover half of the crushed mans health instantly, and another quarter over the next ten seconds.


    The man didn''t have time to thank Dustin as he stood up, his body mending rapidly under the intense mana that pushed and moulded his flesh back into place. He picked up his crumpled shield and charged at the monster, distracting it from finishing its meal.


    Dustin performed his usual pre-fight spells, blessing the group with healing over time, and a small amount of mana shield. Looking up, Dustin could see the spearman in the monsters mouth fall still, his health dropping to 0.


    At the same time, one of the many parasite that inhabited the monsters body began to move inside of it, heading towards the new body.


    "Aim for the mouth." Dustin whispered, but none of the archers could hear him. He repeated it, louder this time, and one of them looked at him.


    "You won''t penetrate the hide at any rate. The one connected to its mouth will count for damage, and the other is quickly going to be infested."


    The archers looked pained as they changed their aim, nailing the infested patrol in the monsters mouth with a couple of arrows and bolts.


    It roared at the damage and turned towards them, knocking the shieldsman aside with a sweep of its tail.


    The patrol leader and several others tried to keep it from charging the backline as they hacked at the exposed leg, but none of the damage was enough to keep it in place.


    The group split in half as the monster rammed the wall behind them. Two of the archers managed to loose an arrow at it during their tumble, but neither proved useful. Dustin had thrown himself diagonally, diving under the monsters foot as it went sailing above his head. He turned quickly and blessed the patrol with speed, letting the frontline catch up.


    The patrol leader was screaming in his radio for backup as his sword swung, sparks flying in the air as it scrapped against the monsters tail. He ducked below the tails retaliation, but was forced back as the monster stomped its foot towards him.


    Dustin looked at the rubble that made a ramp up to the roof and had an idea. The only way they were going to do any damage was to attack it from the inside. There were two ways to do so, either hitting it whilst inside, which was suicide, or entering through the mouth.


    "Jason, come with me!" Dustin yelled, picking up an archer by the arm. The man in question had a crossbow lying across his chest as he lay on the ground.


    Each time the monster took some form of damage, it reared its head back and roared, which was one of the only times its mouth was wide open. If someone could get up the rubble and fire a strong attack inside as it did so, it might do some damage.


    Dustin conveyed his plan over the radio as he and Jason climbed the rubble. He stopped every time one of his supporting spells came off cooldown to heal the group or prevent damage.


    The group on the ground grew smaller as several patrol members were too injured to move, or were dead. Dustin did his best to give Adrenaline Shot to them, but had to prioritize keeping those still standing alive so they could keep it preoccupied. Jason reached the top of the rubble ramp and aimed down, but Dustin pushed his crossbow down.


    "Still got the explosive bolt you were bragging about?" Dustin asked, smiling weakly. Jason nodded and held up a bolt from his bag, it had a cylinder on the end that contained a lethal amount of explosives.


    "Cost me a pretty penny."


    Dustin waited until Jason loaded it into the crossbow to begin casting a spell. His healing and support skills were on cooldown, so he used one that had a longer cast time, but would buff the damage of an allies attack.


    "It better be worth it then. When I tell you to, use piercing shot."


    "Wouldn''t Charging Shot be better?" Jason asked, but realized Dustin wasn''t listening. He was looking at the fight intensely, yelling at the archers to fire on the mouth. The patrol leader looked up at them and gave a thumbs up, holding a bottle in his hand.


    Dustin gave a nod as he felt his cast nearing its end. The archers fired in unison with the bottle being thrown, resulting in a sickly smell. A thin liquid spread out across the monsters jaw, and begun eating away at the exposed gums.


    The monster looked up at the ceiling and roared, shaking the whole building. As its head lowered, mouth still open, Dustin shouted, "Now!"


    The explosive bolt shot forward at an impressive speed, covered in a red sheen. As Dustin had predicted, the infested human in its mouth, despite being riddled with arrows, stuck its hand in the way. The piercing arrow lost part of its momentum as it shot through the skin, but continued down the monsters throat, rather than blowing up in its mouth.


    Jason''s eyes were wide in surprise as he looked from the monster to Dustin, but found his footing lost as the bolt exploded, creating a large hole in the monster side, sending a flood of parasites and foul liquid over the patrol standing nearby.


    Dustin quickly cast the speed spell again, but a couple of the patrol were too slow, and were crushed under the weight of the monster. The party leader copped the tail to his chest, and was lying under it, the liquid soaking his back. Dustin spotted one of the parasites that had emerged crawling towards him, and turned to tell Jason to shoot it before it could infest their leader.


    Rather than the wiry blonde kid standing there, the spot was empty, but covered in a large shadow. Dustin looked up slowly, and saw Jason hanging limply from another monsters mouth, an exact replica of the one they had just gravely injured.


    Dustin barely managed to shout ''Incoming!'' into the radio before the rubble underneath him gave way under the monsters weight. He tumbled down the ramp, and stopped when he collided with a large dinosaur bone sticking out at the bottom.


    He felt more vibrations as the monster jumped down next to the other one. Dustin forced himself to turn around, watching as the rest of the patrol was snapped up into hungry jaws, or smothered by dark red liquid and burrowed into by disgusting parasites.


    He could feel each painstaking second that his spells cooldowns ticked for, attempting to use anything to stop the carnage. The screams of the patrol rang out as gaping maw severed them in half, or worse, the parasites tore through flesh and blood, hooking onto the nearest organ.


    The ones being infested were convulsing on the ground as Dustin watched helplessly. The party leader was the first to fall still, as the parasite inside him had entered the earliest.


    Dustin could only manage a healing mist on himself as the others were out of range, barely out healing the bleeding he had incurred. His eyes grew misty as a brown bug emerged from underneath some rubble, just past the bottom of the ramp. It looked around at the other targets being infested, and its ''eyes'' landed on Dustin.


    "No!" He screamed as it slithered over. He tried to cast Adrenaline Shot on himself, as the cooldown had ended, but all that met him was the same message.


    [Not enough mana.]


    Dustin wiggled, trying to move the rubble that crushed his left leg. He could feel the broken bones scraping against flesh and nerves, giving him intense pain, but the threat of the parasite was growing ever closer.


    His staff, the only source of self-defence he had invested in, lay broken by his side. The wood was snapped in half, any benefits it provided were gone.


    Dustin resorted to throwing pieces of rock at the parasite, which did nothing to hinder it. He could feel its weight on his leg as it slid over his shoe. The parasites sharp teeth emerged from its horrific mouth, preparing to tear a hole in his abdomen, when an arrow sent it flying back, pinning it to a rock.


    Dustin looked up and saw a woman standing above him, a cigarette in her mouth. Her eyes moved from the monsters ahead down to Dustin and smiled.


    "You did well kid."


    He watched in silence as she stepped over him, carelessly walking towards the rampaging monster. She pulled a revolver from the holster at her side and calmly spun the chamber. Another two people followed behind her, one wielding a bow, and the other held a rapier.


    The bow man let off several shots in succession, nailing the infested patrolmen that were beginning to stir. The woman wielding a rapier ran forward to attack the standing monster. Dustin turned on his mana perception unconsciously and was surprised to see her nailing the parasites hiding under its scales perfectly, like she was performing acupuncture.


    The woman with the gun walked towards the down monster, but Dustin found his vision covered as a thick shield of mana covered him. A fourth person stood beside him, holding a golden staff. It had an intricate carving of the sun on a golden plate that had been fixed to the top. It rotated slowly, even as the staff remained still.


    "The force of her attacks would be enough to finish off the little health you''ve got, don''t leave the shields protection."


    The male mage spat on the ground and grumbled something to Dustin as he walked away.


    "Ya did what you could."


    He could barely see the effect that the woman''s gun had, but could feel the impact, even as the shield absorbed the majority of it.


    Dustin opened his display to see the mana shield that protected his health. It was easily triple his health value. His eyes were drawn to the flashing red icons that indicated his party members. Each of them were deceased, and the crown that indicated the party leader had been transferred to Dustin.


    Tension left his body as he let his head lull back, softly hitting the bone behind him.


    ''You did well kid.''


    ''Ya did what you could''


    Even through the thick blue mist Dustin could see the bodies of his patrol, an arrow sticking out of each of them, and he whispered to himself. His patrol leaders eyes were staring straight at him in perpetual terror, the life drained from them, and the arrow in his stomach perfectly ending the parasites life.


    "It wasn''t enough."

 13 Breaking the stalemate

    Dustin woke up in a cold sweat the morning after he had entered the undead dungeon. He checked his status worriedly, but found there were no unusual ailments afflicting him. The image of his patrol leaders eyes boring into him were burned into his mind.


    Was he supposed to call it a memory if it never happened? Or was it now a premonition?


    He pulled his mind away from the whirlwind of dark emotions he so easily got caught in, and spent a couple of hours in the morning poring over how best to spend his Dos. He ran through the notification spam from the dungeon, purchased a couple of things, and allocated his attributes from leveling up.


    He had leveled up three times, putting him at level 9.


    Strength 15 (+5) ¡ú 20


    Wisdom 20 (+5) ¡ú 25


    Charisma 24 (+1) ¡ú 25


    Constitution 21 (+4) ¡ú 25


    His attributes were still balanced, and the rounded numbers were pleasing to his eyes. Once gear and multipliers were thrown into the mix, it was a lot more trouble to organize them.


    [Early Exorcism: You are the first pioneer of XQB51 to clear the City of the Dead dungeon. Your corpse cannot be reanimated after death. Gain 5% of non-holy damage dealt to undead as holy damage.]


    [Thaumaturgy: You are the first pioneer of XQB51 to modify a spell. +5 Intelligence. 10% chance when combining spells to preserve existing modifiers.]


    [High Achiever (I): You are the first pioneer of XQB51 to reach 20 achievements. +1 to all attributes per level up to level 20.]


    It was a toss up between Thaumaturgy and High Achiever for which was the best achievement of the three. Plus one to all attributes per level was amazing. The roman numeral next to High Achiever indicated it was part of a series. It likely increased the level of which he could continue gaining attributes, encouraging him to continue hunting achievements if he wished to keep the bonus.


    The increase would be more noticeable on attributes like Agility and Constitution, where Dustin''s values would be much lower than the ones he prioritized for spell casting.


    Thaumaturgy on the other hand had the possibility to create powerful spells. All the attributes in the world meant nothing without proper spells and equipment. A person with a thousand strength could break rocks with his bare fists, but against a monster with incredibly high health and mitigation, weapons or spells were needed to breach the gap.


    Dustin could merge his Storm Bolt with another ability, for example, Storm Cloud, and create Storm of Bolts, which would send bolts of lightning to enemies underneath it periodically.


    If the chain modifier was kept, this would be even more devastating as each bolt had its own chain. Dustin had to stop himself from wasting time in his head creating powerful spell combinations and jumped right back into the present time.


    He had a new payout from the dungeon, giving the ability to buy another spell or two. He had both a strong single target spell, and now mediocre multi-target spell. What he really wanted was something both a little more stealthy, but keeping on track with his other spells.


    The Double Dip achievement incentivized using spells from different schools, so Dustin went through the Hydromancy tree and found a suitable spell.


    [Spell: Ice Bloom]


    Hydromancy


    Attach a flower petal made from ice to the target. After three seconds, targets will take frost damage, increasing over time as the petal remains attached.


    Use: 60 Mana. Maximum: 3 Petals.


    Ice Bloom was used more for its controlling ability, freezing people in place. Dustin had seen the petals placed on people''s necks, or on their hair. When it popped, their head would be frozen, stopping them from shouting, and making it hard to breathe.


    For that reason, Dustin purchased one other spell, which was entirely used for dealing damage.


    [Spell: Shadow Dagger]


    Umbra


    Create an ethereal dagger made from shadows. Wounds inflicted with this dagger silence the target for 0.5 seconds. Dagger will dissipate once thrown or dropped.


    Use: 100 Mana.


    Umbra was the primary school for shadow and chaos damage spells, which were popular among rogues and dark magicians. It was similar to Occultism, and very often the spells crossed over into the other school.


    The mana cost was quite high, which was understandable as the ability wasn''t meant to be used consecutively. The dagger had to be held at all times, practically making it more of a weapon then a spell.


    It was undeniable that when weapons that provided a built in silence were found, the spell was basically useless as anything more than a backup. The cost was worth it as the silence effect, although short, was very important.


    Any amount of silence was enough to interrupt channeled spells. Often the act of silencing someone was enough to confuse them for longer than 0.5 seconds, as they caught off guard by the silencing motion.


    Dustin now had three schools to affect enemies, four if the healing orb exploded at the right time. It was already a 15% damage increase with just his current skill set.


    A pair of boots had also entered Dustin''s eyes, giving a nice chunk of movement speed, but the cost was too high.


    [Swift Leather Boots]. 1,000 Dos.


    15/15 Durability.


    3.0 - 5.0% Physical Mitigation.


    Boots made from the leather of an old wyvern. They feel airy and light, but sturdy enough to protect the feet.


    Swift: Increases movement speed by 18%.


    Setting aside his unparalleled hunger for upgrades, Dustin found his next target to follow. An old man was one of the names on his list of disappearances, and was easy to track down.


    He used to be on the local council, organizing fundraisers and other sorts of things. Dustin easily managed to find him in the neighborhood just by asking around. He apparently left home early in the mornings, caught a bus into town, bought a newspaper and went over to the old community centre.


    Dustin could already hazard a guess as to where the dungeon was. The community centre the old man visited had been abandoned due to safety hazards as a result of stricter regulations. There were plans to knock it down, but the old man had some sway on the council still, and didn''t want to see it fall in his lifetime.


    Dustin didn''t even get to follow the man as worry was already circulating about his disappearance. The shopkeeper who had told Dustin his usual route hadn''t seen him in a couple of days.


    Dustin ran straight over to the old community centre, pushing aside the rusted gate easily. The hinges were well oiled, despite the rest of the gates appearance, probably from the old councilman who visited it so often.


    There was a degraded children''s playground just to the left of the entrance, and an old swing twisted with creaky sounds from side to side in the wind. If Dustin hadn''t come here with a purpose he would have already run away. It was eerily similar to some scene from a horror film.


    He was comforted by the fact that he didn''t have to enter the building, as the dungeon began claiming the land around him, transporting him into a dark cave.


    [Welcome to the Spirited Colony dungeon, uploading current information to mini map.]


    Sure enough, the mini-map revealed Dustin was standing in the middle of a tunnel. Although it looked like there was space behind him, the mini-map indicated that area as out of bounds, meaning Dustin wouldn''t be able to enter it.


    The tunnel suddenly lit up as Dustin took a torch from his inventory, sparking a flame onto the oiled sticks at the top. He looked around, and noticed the horrible smell coming from up ahead.


    "Shit." Dustin whispered to himself as he came closer to the source of the smell.


    His worst fear was confirmed as an old man''s corpse was bundled up against the wall. A couple of slimes were latched onto his lower limbs, slowly dissolving the skin, flesh, and after a long time, the bone.


    Dustin smashed them against the tunnel wall effortlessly, and knelt down beside the old man. He was undeniably dead, from the cold colour of his lips, to the stiff limbs and lifeless eyes.


    He could only mutter a quick apology to the man, if he had been earlier, perhaps he could have prevented the man''s death. But for someone so old, they were probably going to die the moment the dungeons broke open, regardless of Dustin''s intervention.


    Dustin continued through the empty tunnel, which had a low ceiling despite its width. He could picture the different kinds of insects that would fit in the oddly shaped tunnels, any of them would be a nasty sight to see.


    The tunnels were going deeper into the earth as Dustin had to slide down some of them, not possessing the natural advantage that insects had in climbing.


    When he reached the point where slimes no longer wobbled along, he came to face the main enemies. They were floating balls of energy, varying in colour depending on where Dustin found himself. The purple balls of energy would shoot lightning out, and were completely unharmed when Dustin shot his own Storm Bolt at them.


    The colours corresponded to an element, meaning they were Elemental Spirits. Dustin seemed to have spawned in between the territories of the lightning, and the earth elementals, which were fighting each other. He happened across multiple spirits throwing spells at each other, and he waited until they were running low on energy to strike.


    Thankfully the Shadow Dagger did will in disposing them, as none of the elemental spirits were resistant to it. His staff and throwing knives both possessed lightning modifiers, making them less effective to the purple spirits.


    The fight happened closer to the Earth domain, so Dustin headed in the opposite direction when stronger elementals appeared. The Lightning domain was easier to navigate as they didn''t possess the natural advantage of being surrounded by earth. The attacks always came directly from within them, and were often inaccurate. Dustin had no trouble cleaning them up, until he came too close to the center, and a contingent of multi-coloured spirits emerged.


    Rather than just purple, Dustin could see a larger white ball of energy, and a similar light blue coloured one behind it. They belonged to Air and Water respectively.


    Since two of the three elements were not immune to lightning, Dustin had his stuff held in one hand, with the dagger in the other.


    The healing orb floating just above Dustin was about to explode like the bell in a boxing fight, but as it healed him pointlessly, a flurry of spells did not come hurtling his way, but a pair of identical twins rushed out from behind the large air elemental.


    "Don''t hurt them!"


    Dustin''s eyes moved between the elementals, but the aggression he had felt from them was disappearing.


    The twins were both girls, and they stood with arms out facing Dustin. He realized how awkward it was. They were trying to protect the elementals from him, not the other way around¡­


    "Want to explain to me what''s happening?"


    ----------------


    [Subdue the Elements (?)]


    [A war between the dungeons elemental spirits has raged on since the creator of the tunnel system disappeared. The elements must agree to work together, or be subdued, to defend against the upcoming threat. The ant colony that created these tunnels have laid dormant, and the rampaging elements tainting their land have stirred them.]


    [Air Elementals are willing to form an alliance with you. Do you accept [Y/N]?]


    [Lightning Elementals are willing to form an alliance with you. Do you accept [Y/N]?]


    [Water Elementals are willing to form an alliance with you. Do you accept [Y/N]?]


    Dustin read the quest conditions under the watchful eyes of the elemental mini-bosses. If he declined the alliance, they would probably return to their aggressive state and attack him.


    He didn''t fancy his chances taking on three of the mini-bosses at once.


    As he accepted the quest and all three alliances, the oversized light bulbs started floating away, with the twins following them. Dustin sighed and ran after them, checking the three auras that had been temporarily given to him.


    Ally of Water: 15% increased Health Regeneration. +50 Mana shield.


    Ally of Air: 15% increased movement speed. 5% increased attack speed.


    Ally of Lightning: 15% increased Mana Regeneration. +5% increased cast speed.


    Air was probably the most impressive buff, but the others couldn''t be completely discounted. Dustin caught up with the group as he closed the display. The two twins completely disregarded his presence and followed the air elemental like loyal children.


    "So uh, what now?"


    Dustins mini-map was updated as the lightning elemental gestured towards him. It revealed the territories of the three elements he had allied with, and part of the areas they had launched attacks into.


    The area Dustin was just in was in favor of the earth elementals, as the territory was smaller than its allies. The air elementals were sandwiched in between their allies, so they had not gained nor lost any land.


    The water elementals were located right next to the fire elementals, so they were pushing far into their land as the battle favoured them. The three mini-bosses were patrolling the territories, but played no part in attacking.


    Dustin realized very quickly that it was practically a stalemate. None of the elements would ever completely kill each other off, as the pioneers entering the dungeon would fulfill that role.


    Dustin spared a glance at the twins before leaving, they would safer next to the air elemental than the would be with him.


    The entire dungeon consisted of tunnels and caverns, which wound wildly around, but ultimately formed a doughnut shape, with blank space in the middle.


    He relied on the map to cross back into the earth elementals territory. The easier task would probably have been to help the water elementals finish off the fire domain, but if lightning lost too much land the water forces would be pulled back. It was like a wave trapped in a pool, only able to move from side to side.


    If Dustin defended against the earth elementals, water would overtake fire on their own. There was limited communication between Dustin and the spirits, but he managed to convey his plan to the alliance well enough.


    Lightning gave him three elementals to aid his defense, and Air sent their forces to push with Water, rather than keep them in reserve to defend Lightning.


    Three little orbs, each about the size of a basketball, floated beside Dustin and followed him around. He learnt that he could also command them to do simple tasks. Attack a certain spot, hold off on attacking a target, and retreat.


    With his little kill squad in toe, Dustin set about dismantling the earthen offensive, which was difficult. Being underground negated the ability to rely on stealth for attacking, as the elementals could detect them approaching.


    Dustin had taken from nasty bruises from rock pillars shooting out from the ground and nailing him. One particular elemental had broken his arm, which he had to cover with a regeneration salve.


    He finished off another couple of brown lights when the notification finally came through.


    [Fire has been subdued.]


    Dustin sighed in relief, and looked up at the two emotionless spirits that were left. The missing spirit had been smashed into the wall, and splintered into thousands of pieces like a smashed up Christmas ornament.


    The mini-map revealed the fire territory as it was now covered in the waters blue sheen, rather than the bright red colour. With one faction taken out, water was now bordering on Acid, which was an ugly green colour. The fight was basically a stalemate as neither side held an advantage over the other.


    Dustin wiped the sweat from his forehead as he reassessed the board. The air elementals were about to continue their push north with the water elementals. Pure numbers would give them victory, but it would take even longer than subduing fire had.


    Dustin didn''t want to stuck killing earth elementals the whole time, the rate of killing, and reward, was¡­ shit. Rather than focusing on the direct neighbours, Dustin looked at the minimap as a whole.


    The terrain itself was hidden, but the elementals were aware of what colour corresponded to what section of the minimap, giving him the borders, but not the layout.


    On the other side of Earth were the Ice elementals, which was as much of a stalemate as Acid vs Water. Next to Ice was Steam, which was a losing battle for Ice. The order than went Metal, Holy, Void, Shadow, and finally it looped back around to Acid.


    Shadow and Void were allied with each other, as they had a joint defense effort against Holy, which was devastatingly effective against both of them. Acid was alone, and had been eating away at Fire from the other side.


    There were no other alliances at the moment, but a non-aggression pact or two had been formed. Metal was not fighting Holy, and had committed its full forces to pushing Steam. It was a very slow push, despite the numbers, as Steam was effective at slowing down Metal, just not defeating it.


    Meanwhile, Steam was also fighting an intense battle with Ice, but neither side had pushed against each other as of yet. Ice was practically in a stalemate on both sides, making it the only element besides Air to not make any progress on either side.


    Dustin bit his lip, trying to pinpoint the best places to weaken. If he could put the elements against each other, and let them consume each other, it was better for his health. At the same time, he needed to isolate an element that was easy to kill, so he could reap the exp and Dos gains for himself.


    The immediate issue was Earth. He needed them to back off from Lightning, which would free him up to fight across the board.


    Ideally he wanted Acid to be fighting Earth, but they were on opposite sides of each other. If he could broker a non aggression pact with them, perhaps they might be able pass through the alliance and keep Earth busy.


    Of course, this would only work if they believed Shadow were attacking them, forcing Acid to find refuge with another element.


    Dustin chuckled, and created a shadow dagger in his free hand. The two lightning elementals escorting him looked at it curiously.


    -----------


    Dustin pretended like nothing was wrong as he watched the acid elementals begrudgingly float past to attack the Earth elementals.


    He had provoked a war between Shadow and Acid by using the dagger to attack the latter, making them pull troops from the frontline against to water to retaliate against Shadow.


    If Dustin left it as it was, Water would eventually take over Acid, but the cycle would continue again with him stuck literally between a rock and a hard place.


    He convinced the alliance to broker a deal with Acid. We would defend them against Shadow, and they would defend us against Earth. The easiest way to do this, was to switch territories. Lightning and Acid literally switched places, putting water in the middle, rather than air.


    The twins had been angry at Dustin for doing so, as now Air was next to Acid. Dustin just shrugged, Air vs Acid was preferable for them, and now Lightning was tearing a hole into Shadow.


    Holy was winning easily against Void as Shadow was preoccupied defending itself. Dustin put air to the task of defending their western border in case Acid turned against them, whilst sending spare troops to support Lightning.


    Void and Shadow collapsed under the pressure from both sides at the same time, leaving Holy as the newest neighbor.


    As they were the only other element with two territories under control, Dustin denied the requests for peace, and let the four territories split between water and lightning deal with them.


    Dustin wanted Earth gone quickly, so he used Ice Bloom to eliminate fringe spirits that patrolled between on Ice''s border. It didn''t take long before Earth struck back, and the stalemate that had formed between them was broken.


    Unfortunately the stress on Ice from both Earth and Steams advances pushed it to the brink, and forced Dustin to intervene even further. Steam was pulled back from Ice to protect from Metal''s ''counterattack''. Dustin smiled at the game-like board that was on his minimap. It was kind of fun, in a way.


    [Earth has been subdued.]


    Dustin sighed in relief as Acid took over Earth''s territory. The board was beginning to look a little like a game of superpowers as three elements remained unallied and owning a single territory.


    It only lasted an hour before the Void territory that Holy controlled was taken by Lightning, making Acid the next biggest target. Dustin hoped that the alliance system remained in place, and wasn''t a giant mistake. Lightning controlled the largest land by far, and was the element that was resistant to his strongest offensive spell.


    Dustin had water retreat from the northern part of the doughnut, pushing them, with air, into attacking Acid.


    He didn''t want any other elements holding two territories for long, as to keep them weak. Lightning was basically already out of control, and would have no trouble crushing the rest of their path.


    Ice ended up allying with Acid to protect themselves, and it was Steam to fall next, giving way to Metal.


    The board was setting itself up for the two alliances to battle, though it would be a quick victory for Dustin''s side. Holy fell under lightnings gigantic force, only adding more momentum to the thunder train. Metal was forced into joining Ice and Acids alliance, but failed to stop the inevitable.


    Once it was clear that they would win, Dustin helped the air elementals push against Acid. He suffered some ghastly wounds from the splashes of acid that melted his skin, but the smile never left his face as the satisfying sound of ugly green lights shattering echoed through the chamber.


    He only had a single lightning spirit left, the other had caught a nasty torrent of acid, and disintegrated. Dustin was just thankful it wasn''t him that took the brunt of the Acid mini-boss attack.


    The remaining spirit, however, had grown on him. It seemed to remember his fighting pattern and complimented it, rather than waiting for orders. He no longer need to zap his own throwing knives, as the spirit did it automatically.


    Eventually the remaining Acid mini-boss was felled under a storm of bolts. The other side of the room was filled with lightning elementals as they had pushed through to the other side, meeting Dustin at the border of what Ice used to own.


    [Subdue the elements (?) complete!]


    [Subdue the Ants (2/2) activated!]


    As the elemental war has come to an end, the dormant denizens laying below had awoken, only to find their territory stolen. Descend through the ant colony, and eliminate the Queen Ant.


    Dustin rest his staff against his shoulder and read the display. Two large elementals filed into the room behind him, and the twins followed just behind the white one.


    "To the Ant Queen?"

 14 The Antsing Queen

    The Queen Ant Charlissa could sense the filthy invaders coming deeper, the ground shaking as they blew her workers and soldiers aside. She spared no effort in popping out hundreds of eggs to meet them head on, her massive body shivering as the wet ovals popped out onto the floor, carried away for her army of workers to crack open.


    As a mid-sized Queen Ant, her babies were grown almost full size, and immediately joined in on the defense seconds after emerging from their moist sacs.


    Dustin, meanwhile, was growing tired. His metal staff was losing durability insanely fast with how many ants were crawling out of the holes, the smallest of them as large as a rat, and the bigger ones filling out the tunnels, at least the size of single bed.


    Tons of elementals were flooding past him to plug up the holes, using their bodies to stop the onslaught as they fought through the main tunnel that lead towards the Queen. The larger elementals strode forward behind Dustin, throwing spells forward to clear out groups of ants. The twins were walking smugly beside their air elemental carer, ignoring the vicious insects that wanted to bite them.


    Dustin had been throwing out Storm Bolts at the start, watching as they chained through the ants, frying tens of them at a time. Eventually he ran out of mana, and he had to resort to using the staff and shadow dagger to kill. He wasn''t going to let the near endless source of experience and Dos get away from him.


    Ten painstakingly slow minutes later they emerged into the Queen''s cavern, of which her body took up half. He could barely see her head as it towered near the ceiling, looking down in them in disgust. A wave of acid shot out from her mouth, but was pushed aside as the Air elementals set up a barrier to defend them.


    She tried again, to no effect, and screeched. Rumbling filled the cavern, worrying Dustin that she was trying to collapse the roof on top of them, but realized that it wasn''t coming from above.


    The personal Ant Guards had arrived to protect their queen, and fell out of holes in the surrounding walls like an open pipe. Dustin chugged down a mana potion in preparation. He needed to land hits on the higher priority targets.


    Ant guards had special armoured plates covering the front of their bodies, designed to stay in the fight facing their enemies for as long as possible. They couldn''t turn around and retreat or they would die, their backs fleshy and exposed.


    The Lightning elementals met the ant guards charge head on, as they were the largest force. Air was preoccupied with maintaining a barrier against the queen''s own attacks. This left Water to support Lightning in pushing back the tide.


    Previously, Dustin would have fallen into his support role and joined the Water elementals. But now, he was in the thick of it, feeling his hairs stand on end as the static energy blew ants backwards, and thunder roared in defiance.


    The ants tried their best to shatter the spirits between their teeth, or crush them with their body weight. Dustin tried to attach ice petals to the queen when he could, but an ant would crawl up her body to remove them each time before they could do anything.


    Dustin wasn''t sure who would win in the game of numbers, but it was obvious that the Queen had no problems spitting out hundreds of ants every minute. Her tail was facing to the side, at an angle that he could just see the eggs popping out from.


    An idea popped into his head, spurred on from the nightmare he had last night. It was stupid, but stupid enough to work.


    Dustin left the lightning Elementals to hold the line and chanced a step out of the air barrier. He could feel the heat given off by the acid that lined the bottom of the barrier through his clothes, and pulled his leg back. He wasn''t going to survive outside for long enough to accomplish his goal.


    Dustin looked back at the air elementals, they seemed completely preoccupied with holding up the barrier. The same could be said about the Water and Lightning elementals, and their respective roles.


    At the current rate, the battle would be decided upon who ran out of foot soldiers sooner. The Queen was completely unharmed so far, and the rate at which she spawned ants wasn''t getting any lower.


    Dustin bit his lip and sent a command to the Air elementals. It was met with immediate rejection, but he was resolute in his decision. He asked again, this time with more force. The lead air elemental looked over at Dustin, and was about to deny it again, but a pair of hands tugged at it.


    The twins standing beside it nodded in unison, giving their brightest smiles.


    Dustin didn''t hear what was going on, but could feel the heat of the acid on his foot as the bottom of the barrier rose up. It continued receding, until the Queen saw an opportunity to attack, and a spray of acid rained down on the exposed Water spirits.


    He heard a wet squelching sound as many of them collapsed, the remaining ones pushing through to continue healing the Lightning troops.


    Before the queen could eject anymore foul liquid, the Air elementals sent a giant blade of wind towards her, cutting off one of the protruding mandibles. Dustin was already downing his last mana potion as the blade connected. He summoned a second shadow dagger, and attached an ice petal to each of them.


    The queen raised her head and roared in anger. Her whole body shook, vibrating the cavern, and her tail unconsciously curled towards her body. Dustin waited until the grotesque opening was facing him and threw the shadow daggers. He didn''t have time to cast a Storm Bolt of his own, but his faithful lightning spirit buddy did it for him.


    The three projectiles disappeared inside the gaping hole as it clenched tight against her hulking mass. When the two daggers sunk into the flesh, they deposited the ice petals on the fleshy interior. They automatically began to spread, freezing the surroundings and dealing increasing amounts of frost damage.


    There were no ants inside her, and the petals could not be removed. She could feel the freezing cold emanating in her behind and swept her tail back, commanding workers to climb inside and take the petals off.


    Only, they couldn''t get in. The lighting spirits bolt had contracted the muscles of the tail, closing the hole that the eggs came out of, and that they would need to enter through. Before she could relax it, they had frozen in place, creating an icey ring that chilled any ants who approached.


    The dip in strength that Dustin''s side faced after the acid attack was quickly covered, and the Lightning elementals pushed back the no longer endless horde of ants. Dustin zapped any of the worker ants that got too close and watched as the Air elementals put the shield back up, stopping any retaliation the Queen tried.


    The Water elementals had taken a big hit, but thanks to Dustin stopping the creation of more ants, there were less injuries to the Lightning elementals, and they could handle the losses.


    Soon, the queen herself was stuck in the edges of the storm, bolts of lightning scorching her fleshy underside, and tearing a couple of legs from her joints. Her screams of pain were like music to Dustin''s ears and he stopped throwing Storm Bolts out, his mana reserves completely dried up.


    He didn''t care get close enough to hit her with his staff, and went to sit between the Water and Air elementals. He was content enough to throw a couple of throwing knives and count the seconds until her health reached zero.


    Despite freeing her tail end of the ring of ice, the continued onslaught of ants did nothing to save her poor state. When her head rested on the ground, exhausted from the fight, the Air elementals finished it off with another air blade.


    Of course, Dustin threw a knife towards her following the wind blade, trying to catch the kill contribution. Unfortunately her health was too low, and the blade depleted her remaining health, as well as removing the top half of her head.


    The clean up went smoothly, the remaining ants receiving a bright finish to their lives. The quest completed without Dustin moving from his sitting position, a cup of meditation tea in his hands.


    [Subdue the Ants completed!]


    Charlissa, the Ant Queen, has been defeated. Her reign has ended and the Elemental spirits now control the dungeon.


    Reward:


    - An elemental spirit of your choice.


    Dustin blinked at the reward. Generally pioneers needed spells to capture elemental spirits, and even then, the spirits were incredibly picky.


    Without even sparing a glance at the other spirits watching him, he looked up at the lightning spirit that had followed him to the end. The bottom of it had melted away from the intensity of acid fumes, but was otherwise jingling at him excitedly.


    [Lightning Spirit Lei-Lei]


    Dustin accepted the choice, and felt a link form between the spirit and himself, taking over what control the leader of the lightning elementals would have had.


    The twins he had almost forgotten about were beckoning him over, different coloured spirits floating next to them as well.


    He had expected both of them to go with air, but surprisingly the right twin had chosen a water spirit.


    "I didn''t want Water to get lonely. Now we have one of each!"


    The girl had answered Dustins question before he could ask it. The other twin pushed a book towards him, her face making it obvious that she was unhappy at having to do so.


    [Perception: Spirits]


    Enhances the communication between pioneer and spirit, able to understand each other.


    "We already have it, and Taifeng says you should have it¡­"


    He nodded and took the book slowly, only reading to the second page before it disappeared.


    [Perception: Spirits acquired!]


    Dustin looked up at his spirit, Lei-Lei, and waited. He wasn''t sure what to expect, he hadn''t communicated with spirits before, or at least ones that didn''t want to kill him.


    "Ah. Master, can you hear me?"


    Dustin froze, hearing the rumbling voice that entered his head. He had expected it sound something like that, but the undeniable feminine tone put him off completely.


    "You''re¡­ female?" Dustin asked, stepping closer to the spirit. Lei-Lei floated backwards, and gave the impression that she was holding her hands up.


    "Spirits do not have a gender Master, please stop touching me."


    Dustin released the purple ball and turned to look at the twins, both of which were now giving him dirty looks.


    They turned to each other and nodded in perfect unison.


    "Pervert."


    ------------------------


    Dustin left the cavern as quick as he could to recover his pride, giving a death stare to his spirit as it stifled a laugh.


    He hadn''t gotten any information about the dungeon''s secret yet, meaning something was still inside. The spirits roaming around all ignored Dustin as he explored the tunnels, pushing against the walls to see if anything gave way.


    He had an idea of where to look, and finally found a caved in tunnel when he pushed the weak wall inwards. He made sure none of the lightning spirits were around as he ducked inside, pushing the stones back into place.


    Sure enough, his suspicions were confirmed as he descended in a spiral pattern, down into the very center of the circular tunnel system.


    The corpse of a long dead Queen Ant lay collapsed on the side of a cavern, dwarfing even the size that Charlissa had grown to. There were signs of battle surrounding it, as the remains of hundreds of ants had decomposed.


    Dustin had found it too odd that the tunnel system was designed in a doughnut formation, with nothing in the center. There was no sure way to find out the truth of the matter, but Dustin suspected that Charlissa hadn''t constructed the tunnels, she had stolen them. The size of this queen indicated it was much older than Charlissa, and the central position of its nest matched the tunnel design.


    He explored around the bloated corpse, holding his nose as the terrible smell. When he reached the tail end, he found something unexpected.


    It appeared not all life had died inside the cavern, as part of the queen''s tail end had been eaten away by worms and maggots, revealing the untouched eggs inside. Dustin kicked aside the rotting parts and checked the eggs all over. There were no cracks on the shell, but he was unsure if whatever remained inside was still living.


    Upon examining the eggs, he was prompted by the dungeons secret mechanic.


    [You have discovered the unhatched eggs of the betrayed queen Prinada. The eggs still live, but require proper care to have any chance at hatching.]


    [You may alert the spirits outside to the caverns presence, and the eggs will be disposed of, granting you an additional reward from the spirits.


    You may keep the eggs, which will require constant care and attention to hatch the ants inside. They will imprint on whoever they see first, and follow their commands to the death.]


    Dustin knelt down beside one of the eggs and knocked on the surface. There was no response from inside, and he couldn''t target any of them. Identifying them did little more than confirm the secrets proposition. They were Prinada''s eggs, and they were still able to hatched, but further information was locked, only Prinada would have been able to see it.


    The eggs were big, and Dustin could only fit three in his inventory. There were six in total, and each of them was identical. Dustin sighed and chose the second option. The spirits were not alerted, and he was given no reward for the finding, besides the eggs of course.


    He fit three inside his bag, taking every second one. He had the choice to leave it at that, taking three of the ant eggs, and leaving the remaining three to die.


    The feeling of responsibility and guilt was strong as he tried to walk away. Even Lei-Lei was looking at him disappointingly, despite the lack of face. She wasn''t concerned about the lives of the lightning spirits and the fact that Dustin had elected to not warn them, but she was concerned for the lives of the eggs.


    They were classified as his belongings now, and could technically also be classified as companions, same as Lei-Lei.


    He made it a couple of steps away before he turned right around, taking the eggs away from the maggots, and putting them in an opposite corner.


    He made a pseudo-nest made from rocks, to keep the eggs upright and huddled together. He had next to no knowledge of hatching eggs, except maybe the common ones like heat. He couldn''t imagine the traditional method of a chicken sitting on the eggs was going to work...


    He checked the three eggs in his bag and found some refuge as the display indicated what he needed to do to keep them alive.


    Moisture was one. The eggs needed to be kept wet, as to mimic what the interior of the queen ant would have been like. There was a kind of mucus that Dustin could apparently buy from the shop to imitate it.


    Next was food. The newly born ants usually ate whatever the worker ants regurgitated, but monstrous ants like these were different.


    The entire ''baby'' phase an ant went through was essentially skipped. Ants came out of eggs as near-adults, and went hunting for their own food. The eggs, however, needed a constant source of mana supplied. For Dustin, he could block 5 of his mana, per egg, to keep them fed.


    The last part was similar to what Dustin had thought, heat, or at least a hospitable environment. Dustin ended up browsing through what he dubbed the ''home improvements'' section of the Dos shop, and bought a few things that he could work without being physically present.


    The most expensive part of the setup was a receptacle. It essentially a P.O box that Dustin could send things to. His egg set up looked like a scene from dinosaur films as the eggs sat in their rock next. He had a large barrier set up to keep mucus from flowing out.


    Like a fountain, the mucus was pulled from the bottom and dripped over the eggs to keep them wet. The whole process looked disgusting, but worked well. He had the receptacle in a spot that anything he sent through would drop down into the middle of the eggs.


    For now, it had a heat stone sitting in the center, which needed to be replaced every so often. He could also resupply the mucus in case it dried up.


    If the eggs ever hatched, which he had little faith in, he could send food through. The entire thing was a massive waste of money however, if his mana wasn''t blocked when he left the dungeon.


    He needed thirty mana blocked, not including what the healing orb took, for all six eggs to be covered. He paced back and forth in the cavern, chewing on his fingernails until he shook himself out of the endless looping worries.


    The eggs were in a dungeon, there was no way of knowing what was going to happen to them even if they did hatch. They would probably turn into monsters for the dungeon to use against some other poor sods that entered.


    He returned to the dungeons portal out with a heavy heart, a feeling he often felt, but never grew to be comfortable with.


    In fact, he didn''t know whether it was a good, or bad sign, that there was 30 mana being blocked as he emerged. The community center was just as dark and abandoned as it had been when he went in, meaning the twins hadn''t told anyone of their adventures, and nobody came looking for the dead man.


    Dustin realized he should have taken the old man''s body back, to give some closure to the widowed wife he had left. It was left in the dungeon, essentially disappearing from existence entirely.


    Perhaps she would come to realize his fate when dungeons became common knowledge, but Dustin had no say in the matter. He couldn''t save everyone, a philosophy he was going to have to live by.


    Dustin pulled his cloaks hood up and gently closed the old community centers doors behind him, putting his hands in his pockets as he walked home, wondering where the hell was going to put the three giant eggs.

 15 A poor reminder

    Dustin slowly realized that he might have to spend some of his hard earned Dos on material things. He was still living at home with his mother, and when he returned home late at night she was very worried.


    Let alone the eggs, Dustin could barely find space to himself. His mother was keeping a check on him a lot more lately, due to his recent sprees of staying out late. Despite being in university, she still treated him like a kid.


    Lei-Lei had been confused afterwards, and asked if she should follow Master''s Master. Dustin didn''t have the patience to explain to a spirit what being a mother meant, so gave her the short answer of ''no''.


    Dustin was hard pressed to find somewhere to store his oversized quest related goods. He not only had to keep the three eggs, and the equipment to store them on him, he also had the ritual ingredients to collect.


    He had picked up a couple of pieces from the undead dungeon, and one or two from yesterday''s adventure. Whilst they were a lot smaller in size, he needed a higher quantity of items to complete the ritual. He knew for a fact that some of the items would take up a lot of space, the premiere item being the Blood Ape Chieftain''s heart.


    He had already bought multiple inventory upgrades, and each seemed to fill each shortly after he purchased them.


    The way around this was to find somewhere in the physical world to store them, which definitely meant that he needed to move out.


    Perhaps he could rent out or buy a warehouse somewhere. The eggs would need to be hidden well, as they were very obviously not from Earth. The ritual ingredients were small enough to hide inside some crates, and generally didn''t look too out of place amongst some of earth''s funkier flora.


    Dustin looked up online for warehouse rental and checked his bank account. He had already burnt the bridges to his old part time job by quitting over the phone, and most of his money had gone towards preparing for the dungeons release.


    He had just shy of $1500 to his name, which was becoming more and more worthless as time went on, and people converted their Dos to cash.


    Hiring any sizeable warehouse was anywhere from $60,000 to $500,000 per year. Perhaps smaller property was the first step.


    If he could buy a house somewhere, and stick the eggs in the basement, it might suffice. He put off the pain of looking at house prices for later, adding it to long list of future purchases, just below ''Plane'' and ''Motorcycle''.


    Ultimately the real money wouldn''t be coming in until dungeons were fully realized, and the government raced to control them. People would pay good money for higher tier spells and weapons, considering the trade of them was banned outright.


    Items that Dustin would have to upgrade sooner or later, like weapons and armour, could be sold at a decent price. Those from shops could be sold just below market price, to recoup the losses.


    Items that came from dungeons, like his scale gauntlets, would go for much higher amounts. He closed the depressing bank account tab on his computer and continued researching names. As time went on, the amount of people disappearing was too many to keep track of, and Dustin couldn''t remember all the names.


    There were two that he had on his mind. One was a very high profile businessman, whose address Dustin could find easily. It was monitoring the man that came at a risk. He was surrounded by security a lot of time, and couldn''t be seen inside his house as the property was surrounded by thick, tall walls.


    If Dustin wanted to find where he disappeared, he would have to be very discreet. Dustin turned on the TV to blab in the background as he dug into the man''s boring background, and was surprised to find Sarah on the TV.


    Unlike when he had seen her, she was dressed up very professionally, and speaking about her harrowing experience in the dungeon. She had even recorded a clip of her using the spell Dustin told her to buy. The clip had received half a billion views in only a week, and reports were coming in over havoc across every country.


    People were buying spells, testing them out in the street, others were buying things they were familiar with, like guns.


    Obviously the part the government was most concerned about was the economy. The Dos conversion rate for currency was changing rapidly, accurately reflecting the current inflation rates.


    So far there were two dungeons cleared without Dustin''s help, one in the Middle East, and one in South America. Suddenly the image changed from Sarah, to a crude drawing of a man in a black cloak and day of the dead face paint. Dustin hadn''t been listening to what she rambling on about, but was keenly aware that the image was meant to be him.


    To prove that Sarah wasn''t crazy, another familiar sight joined her on screen as two identical twins stood by her side. They wore the same dress, had the same hairstyle, and spoke in unison.


    Dustin was almost scared of how well they pulled it off. The two of them had kept their spirits a secret, but did admit to seeing Dustin in a dungeon as well.


    He had become something of a joke overnight, people tweeting in to the station about how ludicrous the outfit looked.


    Dustin weathered the storm with his pride shattered, muting the TV to focus on his real work. What people thought of him currently was irrelevant. He needed to be stronger than before, and pull the entire race together to fight back against the threat of invasion.


    The fight against the Queen Ant had given him the cold reality. He couldn''t take on the ant colony by himself, let alone defeat all of the spirits. It was luck that he had three elemental groups helping him. If one of them had been missing, he wouldn''t have been able to fill the niche that they left.


    It wasn''t just that dungeon that proved it either. The undead dungeon before that had a boss that might of killed Dustin if he didn''t have others to distract and kill the guards.


    Each time he came to an obstacle, he was fortunate enough to have someone else to help. If he wanted to be the one to save the planet, he needed a team, not an individual.


    A few members were unreplaceable in the team Dustin made up in his mind. Some had passed away too early in his previous lifetime, exhibiting great skill, but applying it to the wrong areas.


    There was a party of four, the very same that had once saved Dustin from a rampaging Infested Scyllasaur. They were very skilled, and worked well as a team.


    Unfortunately they refused to take any additional members, and the lack of frontline that could soak damage ultimately got them killed. They had pushed deep into the territory of a dungeon that long plagued the town Dustin resided in.


    It was a couple of years after he had met them, that they were gone. The only remains that were found was the leaders famous gun, and the sword woman''s hand, still holding onto her sheath.


    Dustin needed people who displayed skill and tenacity, but could follow his orders. When the group had gotten strong and overconfident, that was when they had refused to follow orders or expand the team.


    If he was going to whip them into shape, he needed to get to them early.


    There were plenty of other suitable candidates as well, some of which he had never met, only heard tales about from travelling pioneers.


    And of course, the core members that he would never give up on were the twenty-five friends he had made as humanity''s last stand. It was their tenacity to spit in death''s face and overcome all odds that made them great. Each of their usernames, real names, faces, skillsets, attributes, and hobbies were carved into his memory.


    They had become such a close knit party that it was impossible for any one of them replaced. Lead by Dustin, they had reached the end of their journey, of which he did not get to see. He was glad that at the end of it all, he was able to sacrifice himself to help others, rather than seeing the opposite happen.


    Putting a hand to his face, Dustin had started to tear up unconsciously at the thought of them. He chuckled quietly to himself, swearing to himself that the Goliath would be kneeling in front of them by the end of fifteen years.


    Dustin quickly scribbled down the address of the rich man on a note and stuffed it in his pocket. Turning off the computer before he left the room. He was in no hurry to find the man''s house, as he needed somewhere nearby to stay. The man stayed in a rich part of town, far enough away that Dustin wanted to stay close by.


    He typed a number into his phone and dreaded talking to the person who picked up.


    "Hello, James speaking!"


    -----------------------


    Dustin endured the death stares James'' family butler was giving him as he sat in the lounge room of their expensive home. James had scolded Dustin like he was still his lackey, but agreed to let Dustin stay over for a couple of nights.


    He made up an excuse that he was scouting the area for homes, and that he needed to pop into James'' university to talk to a couple of professors. Unfortunately James didn''t seem to take any hints, and stuck to him like glue.


    Dustin escaped his claws when James'' father came home and dragged his son off to the private study. He walked past the butler and took the address from his pocket, heading north of the mansion to find where his target lived.


    Normally such a large house would have been easy to find, but this particular area of town was filled with them. Each of them was distinctly different architecturally, but the only description Dustin had to go off was large area, and tall walls, which every house had.


    He used the mini-map to pinpoint the address, and finally reached the sandy coloured walls after twenty minutes. He pretended not to be looking for it as he jogged past, feeling the eyes of the armed guards watching him pass.


    He didn''t dare loop back in front of them and circled the block of houses beside it, finding his way back to James'' house just in time for dinner.


    Apparently James did not have many friends as his parents seemed very happy to see Dustin staying over. His mother came up with a few plans the two of them would do the next couple of days, to which Dustin couldn''t turn down.


    He was on a mission, but the joy of which she asked him, he had unconsciously accepted. Of course, the plans were to do things that Dustin had either never done, or couldn''t afford to do.


    They were going to be going shopping, going to expensive restaurants for lunch and dinner, and visiting some of the recreation centers around the suburb. Dustin couldn''t even imagine what they would have cost, but the family seemed happy to pay for it all, as he was the guest.


    Dustin gave a half smile and thanked them, retiring to the guest room to work out how he was going to escape the predicament.


    He managed to work in the excuse of seeing houses into the routine, as the next day it seemed the man hadn''t moved from his home, the armed guards were still on patrol, and the gates looked like they hadn''t opened in a couple of days.


    On the final day of Dustin''s stay, the armed guards were gone. James dismissed it as nothing of importance as they drove past, heading to inspect a house on the other side of the suburb. Dustin nodded slowly, but knew that it wasn''t right.


    He snuck out that night, convincing the butler that he had something he needed to head home for. The old man didn''t even offer him a ride, and dumped him outside the house.


    That was fine by Dustin, he needed to be alone if he was going to enter the dungeon. Thanks to his increased agility and constitution, the run over to the targets home wasn''t too tiring.


    Just to avoid breaking and entering a man''s home that hadn''t become a dungeon, he tried ringing the bell first.


    There was no response from inside, so he circled around the back. The gates were locked, so climbing the tall walls would be the only way inside. Thankfully the dungeon didn''t spawn in the center of the mansion, but rather in the courtyard gazebo.


    Its influence extended onto a portion of the road, and Dustin felt the world fall away as he walked along the eastern wall. The ground turned soft and mushy as Dustin felt his feet sink. Rather than mud, it shifted under his feet as he moved, and the dark night sky wrapped around him.


    [Welcome to the Silent Desert dungeon, uploading current information to mini map.]


    Sure enough, the material under his feet was sand that stretched out further than the eye could see in every direction. It was quite cold in the dungeon as night-time had taken over. A cool chill blew Dustin''s cloak to the side as it rolled over the dunes.


    He agreed with the dungeons name, as the soft whistle of the wind was the only thing audible.


    "Ah!"


    That was until something crashed into the ground behind him. He was hit in the back by a spray of sand as two humans rolled to a stop just by his feet. His metal staff was already held out, and he held it close to their heads.


    When the younger man looked up, Dustin groaned internally.


    It was James, the last person he wanted to see. To add some salt on the wounds, the person next to him was none other than the families butler. He looked up at Dustin''s'' disguise, vaguely recognizing the face paint and cloak from the news.


    James spat out a wad of sand that had flown into his open mouth and looked around like a newborn baby.


    "Where have you taken us?"


    Dustin turned to look at the butler, whose face had grown pale. It seemed even in fear his sense of entitlement was unscathed.


    On the off chance that they hadn''t recognized him, he remained silent. His voice would be a dead give away to his identity.


    James gasped as he looked behind Dustin, where one of the armed guards who patrolled the manner had been torn apart by something. The butler followed the line of vision and glared at the body. Neither of them had any idea who it was, but apparently his disguise worked well enough.


    "What did you do to Dustin!" James shrieked. The butler did not look as convinced as his young master, and his eyes glanced between Dustin and the body.


    Dustin thought some acting was in order, and turned slowly towards the body, asking Lei-Lei a random question as he went.


    Normal people couldn''t hear the communication between spirits, so Dustin''s mouth was moving as he talked, but only a garbled sentence came out, like some alien language.


    "What do you think killed this man?" Dustin asked as he dramatically approached the body, kneeling in the sand beside it and running a finger softly on the ground. His tracking perception alerted him to tracks left by living creatures, and the thing that had killed the guard seemingly disappeared a mere 5 meters away.


    It was possible that the wind had blown sand the cover the tracks, but his perception should have been able to pick up a direction that the creature went.


    The realization hit Dustin, and he threw himself to the side. There was barely any notice as a sharp tail shot out from the sand, stabbing the empty air where Dustin had just been. There was a purple liquid covering the barbed tail, and the creature pulled itself out of the sand as Dustin scrambled away.


    It was a scorpion, a particularly nasty looking one too. It had a glossy carapace that shined in the moonlight, and sharp hairs that covered its body. Two pincers were snapping the air as the scorpions legs vibrated, pushing it up and out of the sand.


    Dustin used his staff to stand up and stood still, watching the monstrous scorpions tail wave side to side. Magic was the best option if he wanted to avoid its pointy appendages. Storm Bolt was incredibly loud, likely to draw even more unwanted attention to himself.


    He would have to use Ice Petal, which wasn''t a bad idea against monsters that couldn''t reliably remove it. He summoned a chilling petal onto the scorpions back, which caused it to twitch, but still not attack him.


    James and the Butler were much less calm than Dustin about the nightmare in front of them, and tried to run away, finding themselves at the dungeons boundary, which was akin to running on the spot.


    The scorpion locked onto the two of them as soon as they moved, and started a mad dash towards them, awkwardly limping on one side as the petal grew to cover the left half of its carapace.


    Dustin wasn''t going to let it attack them, and ran towards it, sending a throwing knife out ahead of him. It penetrated the scorpions side, right where one of its leg joints was.


    It turned to face Dustin, who was now running at it, as the highest value target. He used the range on his staff to swat the venomous tail aside and kicked the monster back, hitting one of its pincers.


    The petal had claimed the legs on one side of the scorpion, and the frost was slowly creeping up its tail. Dustin continued his offensive, shocking it with each attack as the staff connected with the fleshier parts. Eventually one half of it was frozen, and its health dropped to zero as Dustin flipped it over, cutting a vertical line down its body with a knife.


    The scorpion lay dead as Dustin pulled his knife from its insides, and cut off the petal to stop it from freezing the body. The undead dungeon had yielded terrible loot, and he had spent much more money on consumables then he had earned from the ant dungeon. Pieces of the scorpion could be sold, providing some hope that he could recoup for the loss of income his previous dungeoneering attempts had provided.


    He turned to look at his two stalkers as they were frozen in place. Dustin realized that he was still holding the bloodied knife, and quickly put it away. The scorpions corpse disappeared into his inventory, which only added to the storage predicament. He would have to dismantle the bodies and take what he needed inside the dungeon.


    The loot filter he set up could take care of the rest, although at a reduced profit. James and his butler took a step back as Dustin stood up, spun his staff around, and started walking up the sand dune.


    He got half way up before looking back, the two behind him still reeling. James turned to his butler as Dustin waited up the dune for them.


    "I think it wants us to follow...?"

 16 Picky Eater

    Dustin pushed steadily through the shifting dunes, dispatching of anything that had any designs on them.


    The two following him were unfit for the long treks, especially in dunes of sand, so he was making slow progress towards the center of the desert.


    From the top of one of the dunes he could spot a light flickering among some trees. There was an oasis not far from where they were, and the previous pioneers had taken refuge within.


    The monsters of the dungeon lived beneath the sand, and were blind to all but movement, so the oasis was perfect. The tree mix of tree roots and sandstone blocked any movement beneath the surface, and the guards were stationed with torches around to ward off any unwanted attention.


    Dustin couldn''t see the man or his family inside the oasis, but it wasn''t hard to figure out that if the guards were surrounding it, he was inside. James and the butler collapsed into the sand beside Dustin and spared glances down at the oasis hungrily. Both of them were cold, tired, and most importantly, thirsty.


    The butler managed to look at the situation better than his master, and noticed the armed guards were none other than the business mans escort.


    "It would appear Mr. O''connor is down there."


    James squinted his eyes to see the figures of the guards that stood fearfully with their torches. It made sense, after all, as their mysterious teleportation had occurred next to O''Connor''s home.


    They thought that O''Connor might have had some hand in it, and Dustin garbled something in his spirit language. Lei-Lei was starting to get confused why he was asking her so many random questions.


    James and the butler looked at each other. Throwing themselves at a fellow neighbours mercy seemed a preferable alternative to following the cloaked man who dragged them around, killing the creatures silently.


    Dustin could work out what they were thinking, and gestured for them to go. The butler stood up unsteadily and nervously thanked him, taking James down the dunes towards the lit up oasis.


    He had no idea how safe the two of them were going to be, he didn''t exactly want to sentence them to death. O''Connor was definitely into some shady shit, Dustin had heard rumours of him being involved in the arms trade.


    By the time the two of them reached the water and looked back up the dune, Dustin was gone.


    He had run along the side of the dune, hiding himself from vision, and engaged in fighting another centipede.


    When it curled up into a spiral and died, Dustin spat out the mouthful of sand that had yet again collected in his mouth. He angrily opened the shop to purchase a mask. It was more for cosmetic effect, that defense, but it acted as a shield against the sand. His disguise mask, when morphed, did nothing to stop the sand from getting into any open holes.


    He wondered if he needed the face paint if he was wearing an actual mask, but it wasn''t bad to be cautious. As he walked along, he bought a couple of other accessories, which included some things to wrap around his chest. Strips of cloth held the cloak tightly to him, and his look began to remind him of a certain science fiction sand dwelling race.


    The outfit was a lot more suited to fighting agile monsters, especially in the sand, which was their favoured terrain. He worked thoroughly to clear a path around the outskirts of the dungeon.


    The sand dunes looked the same in every direction, making it difficult to track where one was going if they did not know to use the minimap.


    Dustin was nearing what he suspected was the boss area, as the monsters were spread thin. Something bright was spitting fumes up into the air ahead, the smell very familiar to Dustin.


    A pool of lava had laid claim to a small dip in the land, hard to see if not for the light it gave off at night. Dustin sat around the edges and waited, feeling that something was approaching.


    Instead of attacking him, something shot out of the lava, sending globs of the molten liquid splattering everywhere. It was at least 15 feet tall as its body segments rattled against each other.


    Dustin could tell what it was without the displays health, a Lava Centipede.


    The boss arched back down towards the ground, smashing its head into the soft sand. It did not dig very far, and emerged with a scorpion in its mouth. The smaller monster was scrambling to escape, but couldn''t avoid the fiery death. It was pulled into the lava by the centipede, accompanied by the hissing sound as it slowly sunk, being devoured by the boss whilst it was cooked alive.


    Dustin frowned and took a couple of steps back. It was no wonder Dos had to re-adjust the dungeon calibration settings. The Lava Centipede was something guns would be useless against.


    Unless the humans could bring massive armour piercing rounds, or fancy missiles, bullets would basically bounce off its shell. Even Dustin had to give pause as to how he would kill it. Its outer shell was naturally hardened by exposure to harsh environments, even the Queen Ant that he had killed couldn''t compare in defense.


    Its main weakness were generally the fact that it was blind, fairly stupid, and very much disliked the cold. If it was exposed to below freezing temperatures, the outer shell would grow brittle, enough to be shattered by attacks.


    Dustin had his ice petals, but the boss was incredibly big. He could only attach a max of three, and the boss wasn''t going to stand around and let itself freeze. The petals would be easily dislodged if it dug into the earth.


    He could try putting one inside its mouth¡­ but the Lava Centipede didn''t get its name just from the environment. They could also vomit lava, which would no doubt incinerate anything he tried putting in its mouth.


    Dustin bit his lip as he scouted around, but found nothing but the pool of lava, and a pile of misshapen skeletons.


    They were too small and misshapen to be human, and the monsters in the dungeon didn''t possess bone structures like these.


    From what Dustin could tell, it was another race of pioneers. He skirted around what he could guess was the boss'' aggression range, and finally saw the scrap metal that lay among the skeletons.


    It was no wonder they were warped and twisted. Almost half of each structure had been replaced, or enhanced, by some time of metal. Dustin managed to push a little closer, and found something stuck in the sand by his foot.


    He bent down and picked up an odd contraption. When he dusted it off, he realized exactly what it was, and whom it belonged to.


    There was a bunch of wires sticking out the side of it that were covered in dry blood, and a small green ball was rolling around in a rusted socket. Dustin dropped the piece of equipment to the ground in disgust and had a bad taste in his mouth.


    It belonged to a race of half rat, half machine, pioneers. The Brine. Dustin had met some of them before, and each encounter seemed worst than the last. They were convinced that they were destined for greatness, and despite the vermin upbringing, took to technology to fix their faults.


    They were excellent hackers, and could make a gun out of scrap, but were always held back by their size. The biggest of them was no larger than a teenage human, and the more machinery they used to replace their living parts, the higher up they were in society.


    Unfortunately it also made them forsake anything like honor, virtue, or mercy. They did anything to survive, and had convinced a great many other pioneer races to kill their comrades. If there were Brine skeletons in the dungeon, and especially next to the boss, which was very well alive, it gave Dustin a very good idea of what the secret was.


    To confirm his suspicion of where the secret was, he completed a full loop of the dungeons outskirts, confirming that the oasis, and the lava pool, were the only two points of interest.


    Perhaps there was some kind of secret hidden underground chamber, but it was unlikely. The oasis was almost definitely the location of the secret, and Dustin hurried back to take a look.


    Sure enough, James and the butler were tied to different trees, and the guards were still keeping an eye on the surroundings. A child like shadow flickered against the flames as it sat on a stool, but Dustin knew what it was.


    It was small, which was a good sign. He couldn''t see just how much of the Brine was converted to machine, but wasn''t likely to be much. Smaller Brine couldn''t handle much conversion beyond their heads, as it put too much stress on what little living matter they had.


    Dustin had to quickly come up with a plan, as the Brine was no doubt negotiating with O''Connor on his survival. If the other Brine were any indication of their depravity, James and the Butler were probably going to be executed.


    There were two things for certain. The Brine had to kill another pioneer himself, to regain the status, he had to kill the boss to open the portal, and kill the remaining human pioneers to be allowed to escape.


    The scenario Dustin imagined would happen was convincing them to launch an attack on the boss of the dungeon. The Brine probably had no idea of the humans strength levels, but was likely planning to kill one of them during the boss fight.


    If he killed a human before being able to escape, the notification would alert the remaining members that escape was only possible if the Brine was dead, nullifying any previous agreements he might have made.


    There was exactly 0% success chance for O''Connor and his guards to kill the Lava Centipede, which meant that the Brine would end up remaining the dungeon until he returned to being a secret, and another party of pioneers appeared.


    Step one for Dustin was to kill the Brine, the less time it had to run its filthy mouth, the better. The next step was ensuring James and the butler were safe. O''Connor wasn''t going to just kill the two of them without good reason, he was obviously aware of their status and would have to be incredibly careful.


    Evidently the Brine hadn''t gotten far in his negotiations as the duo were still alive, giving Dustin a little more time to formulate a plan. It ultimately came down to the boss, as realistically no one in the dungeon mattered if it wasn''t killed.


    Dustin couldn''t kill it by himself, and especially not when it remained in the lava pool. The best course of action would be to fight it in the oasis, where the hard ground would made it incredibly hard to dive down, and the cold water would hopefully shatter a couple of plates, letting them get some damage in.


    Luckily, Dustin had just the tool to piss the centipede off, and enough agility to lure it all the way over. He just had to do so quickly, before the two precious heads of the Belson families son and butler were removed.


    It was a lot easier to navigate back to the boss from the oasis as he had already discovered the direct path on his mini map.


    He approached the lava pool stealthily, and played the waiting game. Attacking it head on was suicide, he couldn''t detect where it was under the ground. He just needed it piss it off and run, getting a good head start on it was key.


    If he had some distance on it before it gave chase, it wasn''t going to catch up before he got to the oasis. Moving under the ground didn''t have any obvious advantages over running on the surface other than stealth, so it wasn''t going to be going any faster.


    If it had been flying, Dustin might have had been trouble, but it was a ridiculous motion. If the day ever came that he worried about flying centipedes, he would eat his shoe.


    When he felt a small vibration under the ground, he readied an ice petal, and waited until it broke through the surface of the lava. Rather than attaching it directly, Dustin watched it repeat its previous performance, and catch a worm that had wiggled too close to its home.


    He chuckled as the worm gave up a good fight, clinging tightly to the earth. The centipede pulled it out with immense force, like tweezers pulling a hair loose, and started to swallow it.


    Dustin nodded in satisfaction as he turned to run away, missing the last part of the worm that dropped down into the centipedes gullet, adorned with a pretty blue petal.


    He also happened to miss the centipede''s growing anger as it rejected Dustin''s choice of seasoning, expelling a torrent of stinking lava from its depths, burning away the cold that spread throughout its mouth.


    It had no eyes, but could feel the soft vibrations that rang out like a wave towards it from the direction Dustin had ran.


    It returned to the earth, but did not remain in the lava pool, instead following the trail of the attacker. Dustin could definitely feel the rumbling that indicated his plan had worked, and he pushed his speed up a little, taking off towards the oasis.


    He was not alone in feeling the underground movement, as no monsters popped up to attack him, they were all too busy leaving the area as quickly as possible.

 17 Exterminator

    Markus O''Connor looked down at the half machine, half rat monster that sat facing him. It twitched unconsciously, and seemed anything but sane. The biggest surprise had come when it spoke to him, like a homeless man grovelling for booze.


    The rat told him a little bit about the ''dungeon'' they were in, which piqued Markus'' interest. They were all over the news the previous night, and it seemed to him that a goose laying golden eggs had fallen into his lap!


    "L-l-l-like I said. If you kill the other p-p-pioneers, you will earn Dos."


    Markus ran a hand over his stubbled chin, staring at the two men he had tied to palm trees. He knew them well enough, not just as neighbours, but rival businessmen.


    "How much per ''pioneer''?"


    Markus fingered the pistol resting on his lap as the rats'' machine side whirred loudly. He had learnt that it was a sign of the rat thinking heavily. The creature was too stupid to be negotiating on its own.


    "200 Dos. We make a-a-a-agreement, yes?"


    [Quest: Bring me their heads!]


    [The secret Brine, Kruut, has asked you to bring him pioneers to kill. Any monetary rewards, such as Dos, or items that may be sold in the shop, will be handed to Pioneer Markus.


    In return Pioneer Markus and his party shall not harm Kruut in any way.


    Time Limit: Indefinitely]


    Markus frowned at the display that popped up in front of his screen. Dos was so far, an unknown currency. The rate of conversion was getting higher and higher as time went on, it was currently at 1 Dos for 500 USD. An absurd amount. Any random person could exchange it for three quarters of a million dollars, with no questions asked.


    It wasn''t hard to tell that the markets were going to crash, and money like his wasn''t going to mean as much anymore. But Dos could very well be the future. Whirring and metal clinks filled the silence as Markus stared at the rat.


    The guards protecting them were nervous as they glanced between their employer, and the tied up captives. They were also aware of the power dynamic between the two. They were employed to follow Markus'' orders, but killing a rich families son and butler? That was a whole other ball game.


    Some of the guards were keenly aware of what the parents would do to find out where their son had gone, and especially what they might do if they found his killer.


    "What happens to the Dos a pioneer has when they die?"


    The rats teeth chattered and it looked up to meet Markus'' eyes. He could see the same hint of greed in the monsters eyes that he saw when he looked in a mirror.


    "N-normally, nothing. It would d-d-disappear. But the quest will grant that D-d-dos t''you."


    Markus chuckled boldly, slapping the Brine on the back, nearly sending it sprawling. He waited until it pathetically crawled back onto the stool before grinning. Killing people almost a million dollars? Markus had done it for less.


    "It''s a deal."


    [Quest: Bring me their Heads! Accepted]


    His gaze turned towards the butler and kid, the former of which was glaring at him. If he was going to kill these two, he had to be careful. Word couldn''t get out, and the guards around him would probably have to be silenced...


    "S-sir!"


    A guard shouted, waving his torch. The entire camp looked over, past the man, as a figure in a black cloak was sliding down the dunes towards them. Markus looked at the Brine suspiciously, but the rat showed no indication of knowing the unknown person approaching. They weren''t a monster, as they moved above ground, and they were human in shape.


    Was it a coincidence that something came at them the moment he accepted the deal?


    James and the butler struggled against the bonds as they saw the approaching figure, a mix of fear and relief in their eyes.


    Markus squinted at the cloud of dust being thrown up behind him, and ordered the guards to put their guns up. Handguns were drawn and aimed at the figure, who continued dune-surfing towards them.


    He was about to tell them to fire when the ground shook, ever so slightly. Markus knelt down and laid a hand against it, and felt the shaking travel up his arm. He opened his mouth and looked back up but was silenced as something shot out of the ground behind the figure, screeching as it spewed lava from its mouth.


    It reached up towards the sky as its body just kept popping out, the hardened carapace glinting under the moonlight. It might have looked majestic if it wasn''t terrifying large.


    The guards were visibly shaken as the monster seemed to be following the man in black, who was undoubtedly heading straight for them.


    "Shoot him!"


    The shots were deafened by the Lava Centipede''s angry cries. Some bullets hit the sand around him, and others flew over his head as he ducked and dodged, a couple of them cutting through the black cloak. There was a spray of blood as one nicked him in the arm, sending the Centipede into a frenzy as it smelt the iron in the air.


    Dustin ignored his wound and continued dodging, until eventually the guards started firing at the Centipede instead. Dustin just kept running through the oasis, stopping only when he reached the water. The Brine was hiding under a stool as the Centipede clawed its way into the camp, its enormous body pushing palm trees aside.


    Markus and the guards were scrambling back, and his family were frozen as they watched it draw closer to the mysterious figure. Dustin stood facing the Centipede with his staff in hand, his hands moved slowly apart from each other, and the guards gulped at the warm feeling that surrounded them.


    The centipede continued charging towards him, its thick legs sending chunks of hardened sandstone flying. A bright flash of light, and the roar of thunder broke loose as Dustin sent out his Storm Bolt, hitting the Centipede head on. Markus was blinded and deafened by the light, and fell to the ground, covering his head as his legs shook.


    At the last second, Dustin threw himself out of the Centipede''s path, and the Centipede tried to peddle itself to a stop before it went flying into the water. Ice petals on the floor had created a thin layer of ice, and the boss had no grip as its front half sunk down.


    The water started to boil as the Centipede angrily spewed Lava, rearing its head up. Dustin could see a couple of its armoured plates at the front looking worse for wear, and fist-pumped internally. Whilst the camp was still recovering, he threw a knife towards the captives, cutting into the rope around the butlers hand, allowing him to grasp it.


    The older man had been smart enough to look away, and was concentrated on cutting the rope away. Dustin let them free themselves as he summoned a shadow dagger in his free hand, charging towards the giant bug.


    The Centipede was fast for its size, and was able to pull legs back the moment Dustins staff shocked them. Sparks went flying every time the metal and carapace connected, revealing the futility of his attacks. He had to hit it near the head, as it was where the outer skeleton had been weakened. It was also the most dangerous area, as the Centipede liked biting and vomiting lava.


    Bullets were ricocheting off the carapace as the guards fired blindly, most of them still unable to see properly. He had to carefully dodge both the bullets and the angry boss, his staff taking a beating each time it bounced off.


    Lei-Lei gave him encouragement in the form of lightning bolts, zapping the brittle areas closer to its head. Dustin would have loved to use his own Storm Bolts, but he had no time to stand still and cast spells.


    The shadow dagger had a higher degree of success in slipping between the harder areas, but could only cause shallow cuts, as it wasn''t long enough. The bosses'' health was dropping slowly than a feather from Mt. Everest, making Dustin think of other ways to kill it. The quantity of attacks wasn''t the problem, it was the quality.


    Bosses needed strong abilities and weapons to kill. An army of level one pioneers throwing spears was worse than a higher level pioneer shooting a ballista.


    The Brine was able to see fine through its mechanical eye, which scanned the oasis. Some of the guards were firing at the fight between the cloaked man and the Centipede, not caring who they hit. Markus was rubbing his eyes with one hand and feeling the ground in front of him with the other.


    Kruut''s vision was drawn straight to the area behind Markus, where his wife was huddling over their daughter. Half of his snout broke into a crooked smile, and his cogs began to turn. If they couldn''t kill the boss, he needed to at least take whatever experience he could before they all died, and run away.


    There would be more pioneers to bargain with in the future. His small form went largely unnoticed under the intense battle raging on as he crept closer to Markus'' family. The little girl had been coddled close to her mother, but screamed out as the Brine came closer.


    Markus turned when his daughter cried, and saw Kruut drawing closer to his family, a jagged knife in its outstretched hand. He quickly raised his handgun and shot at it, but the bullets seemed to disappear before they blow the rats brains all over the sand.


    His hand shook as each consecutive shot resulted in the same thing. He could hear Kruut muttering something about the deal, and he thought back.


    "A-agreement. You no harm Kruut, but Kruut harm you."


    A vein popped in Markus'' forehead as he remembered the clause. He shouted for his wife and daughter to run, but could see that their only escape route was past the enraged centipede.


    The rat was scurrying quite fast towards them, and his wife dragged their daughter by her hand towards the fight. She screamed as a piece of loose rock slammed into the ground beside them, torn loose by the centipede, and caught the edge of her dress, sending her tumbling down.


    The rat was close enough that they could smell it, but its knife swinging harmlessly above them. A hand gripped the rats neck and lifted it up into the air, squeezing the metal wires that entwined with the spinal cord tightly until it fell still.


    Dustin completely ignored the secret quest pop up that it sent him, and slapped an ice petal onto its chest. Kruut trembled as it felt the cold biting deep, tendrils of ice crawling over its body. The thought of being frozen alive entered its mind, but Dustin had other ideas.


    He bent back with the rat in hand, and actually threw it at the centipede. If Kruut had been able to open its mouth, it might have screamed, as it smashed into one of the Centipede''s increasingly brittle plates, shattering it, and glancing off into the middle of the oasis'' water.


    The boss had lost its sense of direction, and dove after Kruut, intent on devouring whatever had attacked it. Unfortunately that meant a dip into the water as the entire Centipede became submerged.


    Dustin waited until the notification popped up on his screen, and immediately opened it.


    [Silent Desert Secret Complete. +400 Dos.]


    He had been hoping for the boss kill notification to show up, but submerging it in water wasn''t going to kill it.


    Rather, Dustin had half expected it to happen, and calmly opened the store, searching for a certain Aeromancy Spell.


    "You ready to zap it together Lei-Lei?" He said off the side, drawing the lightning spirits attention. She had been looking anxiously at the water, awaiting any sign of the boss emerging.


    [Confirm Purchase [Y/N]?]


    Dustin tapped yes and smiled at the bubbling water. He raised one of his hands in the air to cast a spell, and stood entirely still in that pose. Even as the Centipede burst forth from the water, screeching its grievances to the sky, he did not move. It used its massive body to propel itself towards them, intent on finishing the fight.


    Whatever lava remained stirring in its stomach was ready to be released as it opened its disgusting mouth. Dustin looked up at the sky, seeing dark clouds part, and a vibrant energy fill his enclosed fist.


    James was watching in awe as the night sky was filled with bright lights, all culminating in the storm clouds above them. His butler was busy cutting away the tight ropes binding him to the palm tree.


    "Now!" He shouted, and Lei-Lei sent an arcing bolt of lightning at the Centipede, stunning it just at the waters edge. Dustin brought down his fist very slowly, and an audible hum shook the air above the boss. When the sound was beginning to hurt his ear drums, he quickly brought his hand down to eye level.


    "Cloud Splitter!" Dustin shouted, and the sky exploded.

 18 Power of the rich

    For the span of four seconds, the Silent Desert dungeon had turned from night to day. Had any creatures lived on the surface they would have been amazed. After the light faded, and Dustin opened his eyes, he could see the fruit of his efforts.


    There was a tangy smell in the air, a mixture of roasted meat and burnt rubber. Dustin felt a little weak as his mana had been over-charged to cast the spell, draining whatever mana was there, and then decreasing the rest from his maximum temporarily. Still, the results of the spell were impressive.


    The Lava Centipede was undoubtedly dead, a cloud of steam wafting from its charred carapace. The lightning bolt had fried it entirely, from the tip of the mandibles to its tail end. Just to confirm what his eyes saw, a notification also popped up for clearing the dungeon, and a pale blue color shimmed next to the well-done bug.


    The guards were crawling around on the ground, holding their heads tightly. Markus and his family had not faired well either, huddled together with their daughter in the middle. Dustin could see a bit of blood coming out of her eardrums and stiffened, not intending to have hurt the poor girl.


    Lei-Lei was looking at him in a sort of reverance at the lightning attack he had whipped out. She had never seen something as strong. Even the greater lightning elementals in the dungeon he took her from could only exhibit half of the spells power.


    Dustin leant on his staff to alleviate the weariness in his legs. Is was too draining to use the spell under normal circumstances, but given that he would be trapped in the dungeon otherwise, it was a necessary sacrifice.


    Over at the palm trees, James was rubbing his eyes as the butler dutifully cut the ropes away, having saved himself from the majority of the flash by turning away in time. The butler stood up with a straight back and looked at Dustin, alarmed that he might perform another reckless feat.


    Dustin needed to recover before investing in anything extravagant, so he quietly sat down and sipped his mana tea. Despite feeling fatigued, it wasn''t his health that was causing it, but the massive mana drain. Restoring his mana would help alleviate some of the symptoms, but he wouldn''t feel in top shape for a day or two.


    He watched as the butler walked over to one of the armed guards and kicked him aside, taking the handgun. He expertly ejected the empty clip and slotted another one in from the guards pockets. It was easy enough to strip the remaining guards of their weapons, piling up the handguns in his pant line and pockets.


    By the time the others recovered, they worried less about their guns, and more about Dustin. Despite his calm tea drinking, they wore mortified expressions as they watched him. It was undeniable that he was the cause of the massive lightning bolt, given his childish shout of the spell''s name before casting it.


    Markus tried to crawl to the portal that the dungeon had notified him about, but found a firm leather shoe pressing down on his backside. James had broken out from his stupor and was standing with one foot on Markus'' back, pressing it into the sand to stop him from moving.


    "Now Mr O''Connor. I believe you know the drill."


    Markus shivered as he nodded, his pathetic frame wobbling in the sand. James gestured to his butler, and the man suddenly shot Markus in the leg.


    Surprisingly, the man managed to hold back a scream, and grit his teeth tightly. James smiled calmly, then pulled a sandy notepad and pen from his back pocket. He scribbled down a couple of numbers, then threw it in the sand in front of him.


    It was complete silence as Markus picked up the pad, his face draining of color. It took the threat of another bullet for him to nod violently, then resume his crawl to the portal. James didn''t stop him as he escaped with his family, followed by the guards.


    It was down to the three of them. Dustin had expected them to fearfully leave, but found James returning to his goofy nature as he looked at him.


    "You never told me about all this Dustin!"


    He froze, seeing the look of realization on the butlers face. It appeared that James was the one who knew from the start, and the butler was the one who was on the edge. Dustin deactivated the disguise and took off his mask, peering at them coldly. James looked smug in his reveal as he smiled at his butler.


    Dustin quickly realized he had underestimated James greatly as he was questioned to reveal the nature of the dungeons. The both of them had heard of his disguise previously, so they were aware of his relationship to the dungeons.


    He kept the answers vague, and surprisingly they did not push for further information.


    "What happens if we go through there?" The butler asked, pointing at the portal.


    "We''ll be placed back at the entry point, that being Markus'' house."


    James bit his lip as the trio looked towards the portal. The businessman wasn''t brave enough to kill James with a witness around, but if they reappeared inside his property, it might still be possible to cover up silencing him, putting the entire previous threat to waste.


    "There is another exit we can take, I just have to find it." Dustin said, offering an olive branch. He wasn''t too keen on popping out with an injured businessman either. Less so about being murdered, but more about his mysteriousness.


    So far, no one had seen him come out of the portal. It wasn''t impossible for surveillance to catch him on camera, or police to spot him. He also couldn''t very well emerge with the disguise off, as they would probably realize it was him under it the whole time.


    The second entrance would have been created when the Brine entered the dungeon, but now led to a different point on earth. The distance in the dungeon and the distance between the dungeon entries would be the same. If they walked for twenty minutes to leave, they would appear twenty minutes from Markus'' house.


    The downside of his was that the exit was unknown. They could suddenly appear in some old ladies house whilst she was watching the news and scare her to death.


    They continued chatting whilst Dustin moved around the dungeon, clearing monsters with a bit more struggle from the fatigue until they eventually found the exit.


    It had been collapsed under sand, but was promptly revealed when Dustin fell straight down after climbing a dune. Thankfully he didn''t land straight in the portal and called the two down. Before they left, James offered a reward for saving them, which was awfully tempting.


    "I do need to hire a warehouse still..." Dustin muttered to himself. James had managed to hear the important part, ''hire a warehouse'', and perked up.


    "We''ve got a couple rented that are empty at the moment. Would you like to use one of them?"


    Dustin wanted to say yes, but considered the risks behind it. The warehouse could be used to track him, which was devastating if someone came across whatever alien goods he stuffed it with. The government weren''t going to like finding one of their citizens hiding giant ant eggs.


    James assured Dustin that they could talk it over when he saw the other parties hesitation. James'' family was rich, and apparently quite powerful. Keeping a warehouse off the radar wasn''t particularly hard, considering what good usually went through them in the first place.


    Things from another world probably wouldn''t have been the most dangerous goods to bless the grounds. Dustin agreed to talk to James about it later, and waited until the two of them disappeared to collapse.


    The mental stress from being found out, and worrying about the repercussions, combined with the physical fatigue of mana drain, led to wobbly legs and a thumping heart.


    For the sake of Dustins health, and humanity, it was probably for the best that the dungeons underwent a decrease in strength. Fighting a lava centipede before level 10 was just too intense. He couldn''t just pull out a spell like Cloud Splitter everytime something looked at him funny.


    Draining the body of mana too regularly could evolve into Mana rejection, where the body refused to collect mana anymore as it was treated as a harmful substance. This was good as death to a mage, as their pool of resources was dramatically ended. Pioneers who used resources other than mana, or nothing at all, might be able to survive without it, but not Dustin.


    Even if the rewards and experience were worse, it was better in the long term. He wouldn''t be doing much for the next couple of days until he was recovered, halting the dungeon train. If that happened too often, the increased rewards wouldn''t be able to make up from the extensive recovery periods.


    While thinking of rewards, Dustin checked what the Silent Desert had gifted to him.


    [Silent Desert completed, please choose two rewards.]


    - Uncommon Centipede Carapace of Searing.


    - Uncommon Toxic Scorpion Dagger


    - x2 Flightstep Potions


    - x2 Silentstep Potions


    - Perception: Vibration


    Dustins eyes widened in surprise as the dungeon rewarded two choices, instead of one. The first time he had been allowed to take more than one item was when he and another party member were the last two alive in defeating a giant minotaur.


    That was the result of being a small party, being alive when the boss died, and keeping up his kill contribution by intensely healing the tank who was with him.


    It was fair to say that he had killed the Centipede alone, and granting him 100% of the kill contribution. It was also a very tough fight, which would reward players who performed better with matching rewards.


    [Perception: Vibration learnt]


    [Perception: Vibration]


    [You become acutely aware to the vibrations every moving thing gives off, able to detect the distance, direction, and size, of the target.]


    His first choice required no thought, as perceptions were amazingly useful, given that they did not become useless when he leveled up. Perception: Vibration was a particularly amazing one, as it helped detect targets moving around or towards him, avoiding sneak attacks like the monsters in the desert had favoured, as well as working in conjunction with Tracking.


    Since monsters usually moved in a set path, combining the two perceptions offered a great view of the path a monster took, and often where it would be going. It could also help with identifying what type of monster it was. If one felt four vibrations, it could indicate a four-legged beast, or two people standing next to each other.


    By using the tracks as well, one could find paw prints, or human footprints, differentiating what the vibrations were.


    The second choice of reward was a toss up between the uncommon gear, and the flightstep potions.


    [Flightstep Potion]


    [A grayish concoction that allows the consumer to reduce the effect of gravity, lasts 10 seconds.]


    Normally the generic reward options were to be ignored, but in the case of a Flightstep potion in times where Dustin lacked escape options, it was a great backup plan. Reducing gravity could let him jump higher, and more importantly, dodge attacks.


    Dustin might have just chosen it straight up if the first reward hadn''t been so appealing.


    [Uncommon Centipede Carapace of Searing]


    90/90 Durability


    +2 Strength


    +2 Constitution


    10.0-15.0% Physical Mitigation. 17.0 - 24.0% Fire Mitigation.


    The black carapace of a large centipede that has been hardened by exposure to lava, worn as a chest plate.


    Searing: Gain 20% Fire Resistance for 5 seconds after taking fire damage. Cannot occur more than once every three minutes.


    What Dustin lacked was definitely a solid defense, and having a strong chestplate was definitely the best option for that. Since it wasn''t traditional armour made of steel or iron, it was a lot more flexible since the monster who had worn it needed to freely move about.


    One tingling sensation later and Dustin was wearing a shiny black layer around his chest. It had little grooves in it to allow proper movement of his arms, and kind of fit his original look. The black cloak was a little tattered from combat, and the chestplate nicely covered some of the chest level holes, pressing it tightly to his body. Wearing it on top looked natural, and obviously provided a superior defense.


    Dustin was happy with the result, and checked the rest of his notifications.


    [Silent Desert completion. +750 Dos.]


    [Silent Desert boss +500 Dos.]


    [Silent Desert secret +150 Dos]


    [Silent Desert secret in progress.]


    [Silent Desert monsters +615 Dos.]


    Dustin looked at the secret in progress curiously. He didn''t expect to run into two dungeons with more than one secret back to back. Finding the rest of the dungeons monsters for a full clear was going to take forever, so he gave up on that option, but leaving a secret behind was taboo.


    It wasn''t actually ''taboo'', but Dustin and his party had never left a single one behind after retrieving a sacred item from one, which were non-combat items that provided amazing utility, but were extremely rare.


    As he scaled the wall to climb back out of the secret chamber, he felt the wall he was scaling tremble. A couple of rocks fell first, then the entire wall fell forward, carrying Dustin into a second secret, secret chamber.


    He coughed to clear the dust from his throat and looked up, alarmed at first as he met eye to eye with a monster, but calmed down when he realized it was just a statue.


    Upon closer inspection, he could see a murky brown gem in the statues eye, giving off a sparkle, even in the dark chamber. Unable to contain his treasure hunting nature, he yoinked the gem out of the statues eye and inspected it.


    [Basilisks'' Eye]


    [Channel the eye of a Basilisk, petrifying the opponents who face the caster for 15 seconds.]


    [Use: 5/5]


    "Not bad." Dustin mumbled as he pocketed the shiny. A crack caught his attention as the stone statue had a long, jagged line running along it, the stone pulled apart by force as something underneath it shifted.


    It happened again, and the line split further revealing a scaled body underneath. Dustin lost the smile on his face instantly and quickly ran to the portal, escaping whilst he still could. Even identifying the creature was enough to make him run, not willing to take his chances. Stealing its eye could be considered as a suitable reward.


    [Violent Desert Basilisk.]


    [15,000/15,000]


    [Status: Petrified (failing)]


    He felt the entire underground area shake as the beast roared, challenging whoever had stolen it''s treasure. Dustin had no notions of taking it on and dived into the portal, catching a spider''s web as he flew.


    Only when Dustin felt the ground changing around him did he relax, his mind boggled at the insane health value. The Centipede had only justbreached 5,000 health, meaning the Basilisk was equivalent to fighting three of them, only much more terrifying.


    Not being able to look at an opponent when fighting it was a huge deficit, not to mention the violent prefix which resulted in a ludicrously strong monster.


    He had to quickly strip from his dungeoneering outfit and back into a casual attire before the world was created around him. After placing it in his inventory, the status warned him that it was full.


    He wasn''t able to fit the boss or even a small part of it in, so it had to be vendored off for extortionate prices. The only loot he managed to retrieve from the dungeon, and that could fit in his inventory, was some scorpion parts, his new chest plate, and the basilisk gem.


    [Vendor successful. +600 Dos.]


    Even the notification of his uncollected loot selling was not enough to match the sense of loss, and Dustin reappeared with a sorrowful expression in the middle of a cemetery.


    Thankfully there was no one around, and Dustin stepped off the grave he had been standing on. James and the butler were nowhere to be found, having already left the premises.


    The chamber had been about 35 minutes from where he spawned in, matching how far away he was from Markus'' house. Dustin took his phone out, fortunately spared from a pocket full of sand by being stored in his inventory, and opened up a map.


    He found a nearby bus stop and headed towards it, still feeling the weakness in his legs. When he was safely on a bus heading towards home he deflated and opened the status to spend his attribute points and shop, resisting the urge to fall asleep as he slumped down in the chair.


    The engine was bumbled along quietly as the bus crawled down the street, avoiding the parked cars. It bounced on the uneven road patches, and gently moved Dustin around like a baby in a rocking cradle.


    He stared at the status screen numbers, watching as they slowly lost meaning. He didn''t realize his eyes were closing until it was too late, and sleep consumed him.

 19 Intelligence Gathering

    Jordan hadn''t seen the office this busy since a world leader had been shot dead at his wedding. People were hurrying around the maze of desks, handing each other paper, watching the screens that had every news reporter under the sun plastered on them.


    Jordan was no different, as his desk was covered in reports on a female investigative journalist, Sarah Whitehall. She had been all over the news in Australia, and the parts of the world who had paid enough attention to know what she was saying wasn''t bullshit.


    She had gone on public television showing off her ''spell'', which contained force similar to a shoulder-mounted missile launcher. She made some hippy gestures in the air, and the camera was filled with a bright light. It was hard to see anything happening, but when it died down, the targets she had fired at, had disintegrated.


    The surroundings were charred black, and parts of bush were still burning. Jordan was sceptical, as there was no proof that she didn''t just set off an explosion at the same time as the bright light. If it weren''t for the fact that multiple other people had purchased the spell as well, and confirmed its power, she''d have been labelled a hoax.


    Perhaps more alarming to him was the figure she repetitively mentioned, some kind of saviour that told her to purchase the spell. The image they had drawn up of the mystery man was no better than someones fan art. A quick search online could find hundreds of results that looked similar, right down to the face paint.


    Jordan picked up a pack of mints from his desk and threw a couple back. Normally he wasn''t one to snack, but the mints had been purchased from this ''Dos'' store that tied the whole thing together.


    Nobody had any idea where it came from, or who had the power to display a holo-screen in front of everyone''s eyes on command. No matter how absurd, or unknown something might be, it appeared in the store. The price was reasonable, as the price of currency had a direct conversion rate. Some items, like those used for fighting, were unaffected by any fluctuations in currency, and were a hell of a lot more expensive.


    Jordan frowned each time he looked, the amount of USD per Dos was increasing every day. People had no problems spending it themselves, but the bigger picture was being hammered every day. Too much currency was entering the system. His own amount was still high, over 1,200, as the office had demanded them to keep 1,000 Dos at all times.


    Researchers had no way to solve the puzzle of how said items came into existence, only that they definitely had no connection to anything they''d ever seen before. Jordan bit into one of the mints and looked through his own status,


    The screen that puzzled him the most was one that gave him an overview of himself. Jordan had set his ''username'' to be Agent82, and his level was ''1''. According to Sarah, killing whatever abominations appeared inside the dungeons rewarded ''experience'', which would level a person up.


    The level would award attributes, which dictated the state of ones body and mind. Jordan glanced at his own attribute sheet and snorted. His strength was average, and his agility and constitution poor. His intelligence, charisma, and wisdom, however, were quite high.


    He guessed it was accurate, as far as a numerical system could work. What he didn''t understand was how adding points to these attributes could change anything. If Jordan''s 6 Strength was doubled, would be literally be twice as strong?


    Sarah thankfully answered the question, as she ran a test using her agility. She had seven agility, and ran a 100m sprint to test the time. When compared to the time with twelve agility, she wasn''t even close to twice a fast, but it was a noticeable increase. She was also far less tired afterwards.


    Jordan wanted to refute this, as she had only done one test, which could provide varying results regardless of the system. But no, she had been thorough. Her times were averaged over twenty 100m sprints done with an hours rest in between, and there were many people witness to it.


    The whole recording had fallen into Jordan''s lap, but he hadn''t bothered to watch the whole thing. That job had someone with a lower pay-grades name written all over it.


    Even weirder than the systems individual related information, it seemed to classify humans as ''Pioneers'', and gave Earth a designation code. This set off alarm bells for many people, as giving something a code probably meant it wasn''t a singular case.


    Did this make Dos some kind of Alien technology? There had already been plenty of conspiracy theorists out on TV screaming bloody murder that even Jordan had to admit it was a possibility. There had been no news from any of the other powers, as they were doing their own research into it.


    No one was going to claim or deny ownership over it, so communication was kept to a minimum. Jordan was almost convinced they should just outlaw the bloody thing. Everyone started with a starting amount of the currency, like trying to draw an addict into trying a newer, more addicting, drug.


    Once that amount ran dry, no one was going to care about a shop they couldn''t buy anything from. Dos could be converted to any countries currency, but the reverse wasn''t possible. It might have been a viable option if the woman on his desk hadn''t come out spouting her story.


    Dungeons. A name that illicited feelings from depraved individuals, to nerdy teenage gamers. There were several cases now where people had emerged from these invisible and magical places. Two of which were related to the skeleton face man, and three of which were not.


    If there hadn''t been two cases out of their control, in a shithole bunker in Baghdad, and a cocaine warlords private home, they might have elected to silence Sarah and keep the whole thing under wraps as they had with the first one.


    Unfortunately the media had already pounced onto the issue, and the existence of these death traps was slowly making its way around the world. Nobody knew where they were, how to find them, or when they appeared, except for one person.


    Being involved in one dungeon and surviving could be called luck. But stumbling into two dungeons within such a small time period, when the top intelligence and surveillance agents couldn''t find a single one?


    Bullshit.


    Sarah had done her job on reporting the masked man as well as she could. He didn''t seem nervous in the dungeon, and had no quarrel with killing whatever monster she claimed were inside, and disappeared afterwards.


    Jordan had no idea if the man was related to the dungeons, or just happened to have acquired a way to find them. It was relieving that he seemed geared towards destroying them, and saving the poor sods trapped inside. But there were no guarantees that his feelings were going to stay that way.


    There were massive efforts going into tracking him down. At the very least he was likely located somewhere in the vicinity of Sydney, as both of the dungeons he had been involved in were there.


    Jordan unconsciously reached for his packet of mints again, but felt the desk vibrating. He shifted a couple of papers around until his phone was revealed. A young, mid-twenties woman covered his phone screen, wearing a military uniform. For someone Jordans age, it was an unhealthy habit to be pursuing the younger generation.


    Thankfully when Jordan picked up the phone, a voice on the other end screamed out comforting words.


    "Hey dad!"


    He had to pull the phone away from his ear to save them from exploding, and then pressed it backagainst the side of his face. Ever since he had discovered her little habit, her sing-song voice she used at home was almost unnerving.


    Many of his colleagues were convinced that she was in her thirties, and from America, which made it a pain to protect her from their wandering eyes. She liked to add a western drawl to her voice, which did surprise him the first time he''d heard it.


    Nobody believed him when he said she was born and raised in Australia, especially since he was an American agent. His wife apparently knew about her fake accent, not that she''d told him anything.


    "What''s up sweetie?"


    Jordan slipped a USB with the track-field recordings of Sarah into his laptop, intending to send them to someone working under him for monitoring.


    "Well... You know this new shop that opened up?"


    Jordan''s hand froze on the laptops track pad, he was all too familiar with the tone of her voice.


    "There''s this thing that I really want to buy, but I can''t afford it." Her words started to draw out, and she added a cute sniffle to really sell it.


    Jordan could feel his wallet start to sweat. He whispered calming words to it as his daughter was silent on the other end of the line.


    He couldn''t send her any Dos, as work required him to keep the 1,000 amount at hand. And, admittedly, he wanted to play around with the remaining 200 himself.


    So he did what any self-respecting father would do before abruptly ending the call.


    "Ask your mother."


    Jordan sat back in his chair with a satisfied smile, proud of the way he had completely avoided any responsibility. He reached again for the pack of mints, but his hand found only paper. Someone was standing beside his desk with the mints in hand, having swapped them out for a report.


    The man held two fingers up as he took a mint out and mouthed the word ''dungeon''. Jordan groaned as his workload yet again increased. He swore he was going to drown in all the paper smothering his poor desk. How many trees had been murdered to provide this much material...


    Jordan slid his hand out from underneath the papers and dumped them with the rest, then shooed the man away.


    He had expected Max to leave, but found him unmoved, still chewing on a mint. He opened his mouth to speak, but Max pointed at the report.


    "You''ll want to read that."


    Jordan sighed, and took out a pair of glasses from his chest pocket. Max remained standing as Jordan read through the part, his face growing pale as he reached the next page.


    Max smiled and put the tin of mints down, laughing loudly as he walked away.


    "We''ve got a live one!"


    ----------------------------


    On the other end of the line, Sabrina groaned as the call started beeping, indicating that her dad had cut the connection. She threw down the expensive smartphone onto the bed and stormed out of the room. Palming her off to her mother was dads favourite move, but she hadn''t expected him to pull it out so early.


    Her mother was definitely going to say no to her request, regardless of what it was she wanted. If she knew what Sabrina wanted to buy, she might have even forced her to hand over whatever Dos she had.


    There was an item on sale for the next couple of hours that she needed to buy before it went to full price, and became even further out of reach.


    She had already added it to the wishlist, and looked at it longingly, seeing deficit of Dos between what she needed, and what she had.


    She was going to have to go pester her friends after all...


    [Rapid Six-shooter Revolver] 1700 Dos.


    60/60 Durability


    10.0 - 15.0 Physical Damage.


    A classic six-shooter revolver that fires bullets faster than the eye can see. Ammunition purchased separately, comes with loaded chamber.


    Rapid: 15% increased firing speed.

 20 Windy fields

    A thirty minute drive turned into an hour long expedition to get back home. Dustin was woken up by the bus driver at the end of the route, which put him no closer to where he needed to go then where he started.


    When he pushed open the door to his home and face planted on the bed, he was ignorant to the breaking news playing around him.


    Over ten thousand kilometers away, police surrounded a public toilet block, denying access to anyone. Despite the small facility, seventeen people had walked in, and none had come out. The phenomenon known as dungeons were still unknown, but it was highly suspected that the small concrete block was housing one.


    It was difficult to deny its existence when a person had disappeared in front of their eyes. The dungeons influence covered a small area around the toilets, so even approaching them was enough to get sucked in.


    There was little danger provided one did not approach the building, but that did not stop the police force from being anxious. The tension was broken when a military truck came thundering down the road, slamming on the brakes as they stopped just short of hitting a police car.


    The back of the truck opened, and heavily armed soldiers stepped out, carrying assault rifles, shotguns, handguns. One of them even had a shoulder mounted missile launcher on their back.


    The soldiers had already ''partied up'', and were forming up in front of the toilet block. They were all level 1, as none of them had killed anything since the introduction of Dos. The information they had to go off was that which was gathered from an Australian investigative journalist.


    There are monsters roaming around the dungeon, which will provide experience and Dos when killed. They are unlike anything found on earth, though some may be familiar.


    A particularly large monster, known as a ''Boss'', will be located somewhere inside the dungeon. To escape the dungeon, this boss must be eliminated. Once this is done, a blue shimmer in the air will act as a portal back out.


    The soldiers had grim expressions as they stood in a straight line, stroking the guns in their hands. The captain of the squad came up to the front and whistled, leading the solemn walk into the unknown.


    When the front of the line faded out of existence, those following up stopped abruptly. It was one thing to be told what was going to happen, but another to experience it.


    An angry shout came from behind, forcing the men to push forward again, until all of them were gone. The captain at the front of the line tried to maintain his composure as the world fell away. He was still standing on solid ground, despite the lack of anything beneath him.


    Since they were all in a party together, they could see each other as the dungeon formed. When the sky turned from grey to blue, and the world lit up around them, they could see the location they were placed in.


    [Welcome to the Flitting Fields dungeon. Uploading current information to mini map.]


    Massive fields of wheat sprawled out around them, with a central clearing in the middle that they were standing. What separated this from any normal farmlands, was the fact that the wheat fields suddenly dropped straight down. At a certain point they could no longer see land.


    Captain Clint wasn''t sure if the farms were placed on the edges of cliffs, or if their was an ocean beyond them. He immediately had his men cover all possible angles, watching the silent fields wave in the wind.


    There was no sign of the civilians that had entered before them. Clint couldn''t even find any of the monsters Sarah had warned about. If they hadn''t been aware of what a dungeon was, Clint would have just assumed they had somehow been transported to a nearby wheat field.


    Looking at the ground, they could see multiple human footprints that they had not left, and managed to track which direction they were heading in. The footprints led into the wheat fields south of them.


    They took a dangerous stroll through the tall grains, watching their surroundings carefully. Something could be hiding in the field easily enough, and the Captain wanted to return without a single casualty.


    He held his hand up suddenly and the group stopped. Clint squinted his eyes as he looked around, unable to knock the sound in his ear.


    There was a quiet buzz, like a distant mosquito flying around. He stood perfectly still to listen closer, and realized that the sound was growing. His eyes shot to the sky as he watched the clouds rolling in.


    Only, some of them weren''t clouds.


    "Incoming at 4 o''clock, in the air!"


    The men swiveled around to look at the cloud, weapons raised. They didn''t fire, but watched as the cloud rolled in. By now, they could all hear the buzzing, and the nature of the supposedly fluffy marshmellow in the sky was revealed.


    The cloud was not made from moisture, but thousands of tightly packed insects. The collective buzzing made a droning sound that was alarmingly loud the closer it drew. Clint motioned for the soldier with the missile launcher to fire.


    A sound rivalling that of the insects burst out, and a dangerous explosive was launched into the air. Clint had been expecting a wave of fire to consume the sky, but his plan completely failed. The cloud seemed to absorb the missile, without it exploding, and it popped out the other side harmlessly.


    The insects had managed to move around the missile perfectly, and it sailed through without impact. Clint swore under his breath as the moving cloud was angered, dive bombing towards them.


    "Fire!"


    The soldiers knelt down and fired into the swarm, hitting plenty of bugs, but ultimately doing nothing to the thousand strong swarm bearing down on them. Guns were useless against insects. They were precision weapons, and against a thousand insects, it wasn''t hard to miss.


    Clint ducked down as the swarm swerved over their heads, actually managing to take chunks off of the soldiers helmets. He gulped down his saliva and pulled a hand grenade from his waist.


    He pulled the pin, but did not throw it immediately. The swarm came back around to swoop them, and when he threw the grenade, they absorbed it again as they had the missile.


    This time, however, it exploded in their mists, scattering the swarm as a torrent of bugs fell from the sky. He didn''t celebrate the victory as the remaining bugs formed a smaller cloud, still deadly in their amount. The bullets were becoming increasingly useless as soldiers fought off the bugs with their hands.


    The monstrous insects abandoned their form to attack the soldiers directly, stinging and biting. Clint was faced off by hundreds of locusts and wasps trying to attack any open area of his body. His body ached all over as he crouched down to cover his face.


    The soldiers were too busy fighting off the insects to notice a person approaching them. The temperature suddenly dropped as the person blew out an impressive amount of air.


    The insects starting dropping dead, giving some relief to the men under siege. Clint looked up to see one of the missing civilians beckoning him over. He could feel the cold air surrounding them, but thought nothing of it, not realizing it had been the cause of the insects dying.


    "You''re supposed to be here to save me, not the other way around." The person hissed, waving the soldiers over. Clint approached cautiously, and was shocked to find a hidden entrance leading underground.


    The person didn''t bother waiting for them and ducked down, shortly followed by the train of soldiers. Unlike the cob-web ridden tunnels that Clint had been expecting, they were quite clean. Thesystem was held up by strong wooden beams, stopping it from collapsing.


    They even had working lights that brightly illuminated the long descent into the ground. Just to be sure, the group put their flashlights on and continued down in an orderly fashion. Their saviour had already disappeared, and Clint didn''t entirely trust them.


    When the tunnel reached about 30 feet underground, it opened up into a wide room, made from metal, where several people were lounging around. The man from earlier was ignoring them as he fiddled with a device on the wall. After a couple of seconds, it released a light, and a jug of water popped into existence.


    Unlike the arrogant man, some of the people in the shelter ran over to the soldiers and threw themselves at their mercy, hoping for an escape. From what Clint could gather, they had all come in separately, but were dragged into the shelter by the man, who killed the bugs for them.


    Of course, they were free to leave, or roam around, but with giant killer clouds in the sky, who in their right mind was going to make themselves a target?


    Clint got the details of the civilians, which matched up with the data given to him. Only, a couple were missing.


    "Some of ''em died before I could help."


    The man in the corner snorted, and chugged the entire jug, caring not for the water that splashed over his face and clothes. Clint frowned at his antics and opened his mouth to ask a question, but was interrupted as a soldier they had left to watch the entrance reported a deafening buzzing outside.


    The empty jug fell to the floor as the mans eyes flashed dangerously.


    "That''s the boss. A big fuck-off wasp that flies around. Don''t get near it or it''ll swoop you like a horny bird."


    Clint ignored the mans words and went to take a look. He returned to the hole they entered through, hearing the buzzing sound that grew louder and louder. When he stood under the hatch it sounded like an insect was inside his ear.


    He pushed the uncomfortable feeling aside and climbed up, peering outside into the sunlight. The sky was filled bugs, swarming around a large shape hidden inside them. Like they had to dodge the bullets, the bugs split apart to reveal the monster inside.


    Clint caught the flash of yellow and black before he ducked out of sight. A second later, a sharp stinger slipped down the hatch, stopping just short of Clints head as he fell to the ground. The tunnel shook as the giant wasp rest atop of them, its tail stuck in the hatch.


    "Back up!" Clint barked, and slid away from the twitching black spike. When the soldiers were far enough, the wasp lost interest, and freed itself, pulling half the hatch up with it as it rejoined the roaming death ball.


    Clint wiped the sweat from his forehead after surviving such a close encounter. The man who had warned them was laughing when they returned to the metal room, seeing the look of terror on Clint''s face.


    According to his data, the man was likely Anthony, a troublemaker through and through. He had dropped out of school, didn''t have a job, and lived with his parents. Spent his parents money on video games, with nothing to show for it.


    Putting aside his grievances, Clint asked Anthony for information about the dungeon.


    "Big-ass island, filled to the brim with wheat and these hidden underground tunnels. Only monsters I could find were the insects, always travelling in packs. Boring to kill, amazing exp though."


    Despite his vulgar language, Anthony seemed to know quite a bit about the dungeon. He was apparently the first person to enter, and had learned the best way to deal with the bug swarms.


    The icey mist that Clint had felt earlier was a spell known as ''Frozen Cloud''. Anthony demonstrated it again, lowering the temperature of the room as he exhaled. He roughly explained how it easily killed the ''shitty'' bugs.


    He mentioned experience again, which further confused Clint.


    "What is this experience you keep talking about? Are you doing this just to learn how exterminate them better?"


    Anthony grinned and showed his status to the captain.


    Pioneer: Thiccboi


    Race: Human


    Designation: XQB51


    Level: 3


    "You level up by collecting exp. Which in turn increases your stats."


    Clint nodded, slowly connecting the dots between what Anthony was telling him, and the information gathered from Sarah. Her tests on the ''agility'' increase had blown the minds of scientists and soldiers alike. It was like creating a super soldier.


    Sure enough, Anthony seemed to be much stronger, and faster, then what Clint would have expected him to be. He was even able to beat one of the soldiers in an arm wrestling match whose arm was twice the size of his.


    The buzzing from outside died down slowly, the insects swarming above paying no attention to the underground humans. The boss had destroyed the initial hatch, leaving a gaping hole in the ground, but none of the monsters bothered infiltrating.


    The speed of the wasp made Clint''s face pale. How was anyone supposed to dodge that? He had been lucky enough to duck after seeing the cloud split. He looked at the prized weapon in his hands, not with pride, but with despair.


    The guns had proved utterly useless against the monsters, having to rely on a civilian to take care of the insects. Perhaps if they had faced off against the ''zombies'' that Sarah had told them about, they might have proved useful.


    Clint opened up the shop and looked through the list of weapons available. Their were several weapons that the military used, like assault rifles and handguns, but they featured ''attribute'' bonuses and listed how much damage they did.


    One particular gun caught his interest, a grenade launcher that shot two grenades at once. He looked over at the rest of the squad which were cleaning up the blood that had oozed from several bites or scratches.


    Maybe it was time to see how the new system worked.

 21 Sting Operation

    Clint followed the instructions to look at his inventory, seeing the new purchased grenade launcher inside. He was able to take it out by tapping on it, feeling the weight in his hands. It was very similar to those created by military manufacturers, but had its own flair. He was familiar with the loading system, and inspected it several times.


    Whilst it looked like a normal weapon, it had been created out of thin air, and had some kind of extra attachments.


    [Uncommon Double Barreled Grenade Launcher]. 2900 Dos.


    +4 Strength


    35.0 - 40.0 Physical Damage. 15.0 - 30.0 Fire Damage.


    A firearm capable of firing grenades in an arc towards the target or location. Features two barrels.


    Double Barreled: Fires two grenades at once.


    The squad had been given plenty of Dos to explore the inside of the dungeon, so he was able to afford a weapon that was out of reach to those confined within the starting amount. With such a stupidly high price tag, it was no wonder they weren''t being mass-bought. The price of was equal to almost two million dollars. He hefted the beast of a weapon onto his shoulder and started to formulate a plan.


    The boss needed to die for them to escape, and to do so would require them to either be hiding from it, or be able to dodge it. No one in the shelter was able to dodge the wasp''s speed, so something was needed to trap it, long enough that they could pump it full of bullets.


    The image of the wasp flying off with the hatch still attached was fresh in Clint''s mind and gave him ideas as to how he could keep it preoccupied.


    ----


    Whilst the worlds leading military power was clearing their first dungeon, Dustin was sitting on a couch with his legs up on the arm rest. His mana was still drained from overcasting, leaving him weakened for at least a couple of days. His fingers skillfully danced across the display, finishing his level ups, reading through more of Ymma''s diary, and looking through some of the new sales that had made their way to the front page.


    Dustin was now level 14, high enough that no other human on the planet could really compare with him in raw attributes.


    Pioneer: Dusty


    Race: Human


    Designation: XQB51


    Level: 14


    Attributes:


    Intelligence 60 [4]


    Strength 30


    Agility 30 [2]


    Wisdom 35 [1]


    Charisma 35


    Constitution 31 [3]


    An intelligence of 60 at such an early stage was a good sign of his progression. His spells would likely disintegrate anything up to the boss monsters once the difficulty was lowered, giving him time to clear the dungeons around him and keep the area safe.


    There was less than a month before the patch kicked in, and then an extended period of grinding through dungeons, up to the point of them breaking. Dustin was hoping to form some kind of stronghold against the tide, providing safety within its walls.


    To do so, he was going to have to speed up the process by which humans entered the dungeons. If things went the same way as they had done in the past, and the military took control of the dungeons, it would only spell devastation for the under leveled populace that were unaware of the danger they faced.


    There was one piece of news that Dustin took a keen interest in. It seemed that a leak had spread from America that they were attempting to conquer a dungeon, unbeknownst to the rest of the world. There were pictures taken of soldiers disappearing as they entered a public bathroom.


    This was interesting, as the time frame for progression had already been pushed forward. Dustin could remember a similar case of military operation leaks taking place, only in the time just before the patch. He could only wonder if this was going to effect its implementation.


    There was nothing Dustin could do about it but wait. There was still time to find another dungeon. If he wanted to get the Blood Ape Chieftain''s heart, he would need clear Eclipse forest before it changed. There was no telling where it might end up, or what item he might have to collect in its place.


    He could pass through Eclipse Forest at level 18, though it would be a more comfortable journey at level 20. It wasn''t impossible to gain four levels from a single dungeon, provided he could sniff one out. Dustin failed to recall anymore of the missing peoples names. He now had to rely on luck and research to locate further entrances.


    Still, it wasn''t like he had nothing to go off. He tapped on a contact in his friends list, and sent off a message asking for details. The recipient was none other than James, who he had not contacted since exiting the dungeon.


    There had been no breaking news story revealing his identity, so the contract between them still existed, giving Dustin some much needed relief. The next part of the transaction was James'' reward for saving them. The longer the ant eggs stayed in his inventory, the less chance they had at hatching.


    He didn''t have any particular care for the insects, but his conscience was weighing heavily on him each time Lei-Lei looked at him disapprovingly. He could at least agree that it was a waste to let them die, as having ant companions, or whatever he might be able to harvest from them when they hatched, would make up for the secret.


    Right now they were just prolonging his recovery, as the blocked mana was making it harder for the mana drain to repair.


    ------------


    The squad of soldiers waited with bated breaths for the droning sound to return. The gigantic wasp seemed to circle the island every couple of hours, followed by the swarming clouds of insects. Clint had one of his men test the new spell that had decimated the bugs last time, proving its effectiveness.


    The icy mist that sprayed from his mouth had easily frozen the various insects, sending them plummeting to the ground.


    Clint had two of the other soldiers purchase the spell, giving them three men to handle the smaller insects, whilst the rest dealt with the biggest target. Clint and the others had leveled once or twice, and their attributes were put into constitution, giving them a better chance of escaping alive.


    A buzzing sound was carried on the wind as Clint put a finger to his lips, quieting the chatting soldiers. Above them, dark clouds started to loom on the horizon, forming a perfect circle around the object hidden in the centre. Clint was hiding beneath one of the intact hatches, holding his trusty new grenade launcher.


    The wheat fields swayed peacefully in the wind, unaware of the brewing battle.


    One of the soldiers had volunteered to be bait, spending his points on agility to help dodge the sudden missile. When the noise of the insects was right above them, the man stood up, and Clint held his shiny weapon tightly.


    The bugs split apart, revealing something yellow and black inside. The man quickly ducked, dodging the giant stinger with more confidence.


    "Fire!" Clint shouted, jumping out of the hatch. The wasp was wiggling angry, attempting to free its engorged bottom from the thin hole. A spray of bullets rang out as the other squad members followed Clint''s lead, and opened fire on the trapped wasp.


    Red blotches covered its yellow fur, riddling the thin skin with small bullet holes.


    [Mutant Wasp]


    [11,089/13,100]


    There was no doubt that the lead being pounded into it was dealing a significant amount of damage, but it paled in comparison to the boss'' size and health pool.


    Clint didn''t hesitate to let loose a couple of grenades, rocketing dust in all directions as the small green explosives blew up. A cloud of smoke rose into the sky, hiding the wasp from view.


    The soldiers had been trained well, and kept firing towards the vague shadow of the wasp. The display clearly indicated that the wasp was still alive, but growing more injured by the second.


    When the smoke cleared, it had lost a leg, leaving a nasty gash in its place where yellow liquid seeped out, burning the ground where it fell. The wasp had managed to dislodge itself from the ground and was now brimming with anger.


    Clint was fortunate enough to dive back down as the wasp exploded forth, hammering its freed stinger into the nearest target. A poor machine-gunner was impaled through abdomen, and venom trickled into his system.


    Even the increase in constitution couldn''t save him, and his health was rapidly approaching zero. He was dying, but managed to keep firing even as the blood soaked his hands. Clint took a more conservative approach to maintaining fire, only revealing the top half of his body from the hatch in order to escape the lightning fast stinger.


    The soldiers were running out of ammunition as they hurried to load a new clip, popping back up like moles to unleash hell on the boss. A missile was launched at the it, but missed by a fraction as it flew up into the air, staring at them menacingly.


    Clint had no idea what it had in store, but used the time to keep firing, depleting the store of grenades he had purchased rapidly. As it floated in the air, the wasps stinger begun to vibrate wildly, sending waves of pulsating yellow in a circle around it.


    A stream of yellow liquid suddenly shot out from a small hole on its end, hitting a soldier directly in the face. He immediately started to scream as the acidic substance ate away at his skin, melting away the softer parts of his face. Clint grunted in anger and whipped out his pistol, tossing the empty grenade launcher to the side.


    They were so close to success, as the wasp was gradually growing weaker, despite the uninhibited bursts of venom that shot out like a fire hose.


    [Mutant Wasp]


    [2,601/13,100]


    It was harder to hit the flying wasp as it maintained a certain distance from them, spraying venom all over the wheat fields whenever a soldier popped into view. Clint cursed his luck as the handgun in his hand was rendered useless by a splash of acid, burning through part of his gloves before he tore them off.


    He quickly opened the Dos shop to purchase more grenades as he turned around to pick up his launcher, but found the barrel of it hammering towards his face, knocking him out cold.


    The civilian holding it smiled wickedly, and tossed it aside. He gave a quick glance at the patrolling wasp before sneaking over to an unaffected hole.


    Anthony was completely calm as he started whispering an unknown language, feeling the shadows around him creeping closer. He was just beneath the hatch that led up, but didn''t make any effort to pop it open and jump out until he could feel the wasp hovering above him.


    He moved incredibly slowly, whispering all the while. His dirty hands clasped the metal wheel of the hatch and twisted it slowly, ignoring the squeaky sound it made. When he pushed it open and revealed the sunlight above, he was no longer smiling, a blank expression on his face.


    His eyes were glassed over by a black sheen, hiding the whites and pupils underneath. His gaze never left the flying wasp as it turned to fire at him.


    Before it could shoot another blast, the large shadow underneath it burst upwards, forming a claw shaped hand that sunk its fingers into the wasp. Neither of the wasps wings were strong enough to push against the hand, and it was slowly pulled towards the dirt, pressing it against the ground with force.


    Color returned to Anthony''s face as he watched the struggling wasp try and free itself from his spell, to no avail. The hand was ethereal, and was unaffected by the wasps physical struggles. The soldiers took no time in doubling their efforts to bring the boss down, firing the last of their clips into its squirming body.


    Anthony glared at them, and with the last of his mana, coalesced a ball of shadow energy above the wasp. When it grew to the size of a watermelon, he let it go, watching as it was absorbed into the wasp''s head.


    With a final screech, the wasp stopped struggling, falling limp under the shimmering hand that strangled it.


    [Flitting Fields completed, please choose two rewards.]


    - Uncommon Venomous Stinger Spear


    - Uncommon Honey Trap


    - 1x Harden Potion


    - 1x Polymorph Scroll


    - Spell: Twisted Advance


    The soldiers scrambled to find the unconscious captain as Anthony slinked away with the rewards, intent of sucking all of the experience he could from the dungeon.


    Anthony hummed to himself as he waltzed through the field towards the approaching swarms. He calmly tapped on each of the rewards for an explanation of their purpose. He chose the two that worked well together, the spear, and the spell.


    It was all his for the taking.


    [Uncommon Venomous Stinger Spear]


    75/75 Durability


    12.0 - 18.0 Physical Damage.


    +3 Agility


    +2 Charisma


    A spear made from the stinger of a mutant wasp. It is covered in a fine sheen of foul liquid.


    Venomous: Attacks from this weapon will slow targets action speed by 1%, stacking up to 20%.


    [Spell: Twisted Advance]


    Weapon Mastery


    Advance towards a target, gaining 30% increased movement speed when facing them. Spinning the spear will allow it to drill into target.


    Use: 35 Mana.

 22 Family meeting

    The gears of change had begun to turn more quickly with each passing day. Dustin had finished recovering from his mana drain just as the news was starting to pick up around dungeons. The previous leaks he had seen all over the internet had made their way to the television.


    ''US Military complete dungeon''


    Dustin was glad that the event occurred earlier than expected, but he was also worried. Even if humanity grew accustomed to dungeons quicker, he needed to change public perception of them. If countries kept their dungeons under tight control for fear of losing military strength, then the Torians were just going to roll over them, albeit a little slower than they had last time.


    If Dustin wanted regular civilians to grow an interest, he needed to reveal what the governments would be hiding.


    One could grow stronger, faster, and smarter, from the dungeons.


    More importantly, one could grow richer. If the appeal of strength and power wasn''t enough to draw a crowd, then greed would pick up the slack. Earth currency was already beginning to crash, as each person could turn all of their Dos into close to a million dollars.


    Dustin knew that Dos would be the main currency used in the future, and had no plans to convert the very thing that dictated his survival into useless paper. James had recently gotten back to him giving the thumbs up on a warehouse Dustin could use. The location was about an hour and a half drive away, secluded enough that Dustin didn''t need to worry about wandering eyes.


    With the Dos earned from his recent encounters, Dustin had picked up another weapon from the shop that had been on sale, and one more spell.


    [Uncommon Enchanted Oak Spellbow]


    60/60 Durability


    15.0 - 17.0 Arcane Damage


    +3 Agility


    A bow made from the branches of an oak tree born from mana. Has runes engraved on the exterior.


    Enchanted: Spells cast using the bow deal 20% additional damage.


    [Spell: Echo Arrow]


    After firing an arrow, summon two copies of it that will automatically fire at the same target, dealing 25% less damage.


    Use: 50 Mana.


    Dustin regained part of his former glory, a bow slung over his shoulder, quiver by his side, and a metal staff in one hand. The spellbow was an alternative to normal bows that dealt no physical damage, but arcane instead. It had the look of a regular wooden bow, but was augmented by a light pink hue that radiated from a series of engravings carved from top to bottom. They were done in a language unknown to most, though Dustin had gradually learnt what they meant over the years.


    ''Yearning''


    To most, the engravings seemed to have no relevance to what the item actually performed. Only when one compared tens to hundreds of items, did the pattern become clear. Items that lended a hand towards magical means, often featured words related to the pursuit of knowledge. Those that aided strength, were of a meditative sort.


    In the case of the spellbow Dustin had slung over his shoulder, it was geared towards boosting his magical damage, giving it a different damage modifier. Arcane.


    Arcane damage dealt extra damage to Mana Shield and could ignore damage reductions from anything except resistance, but dealt reduced damage to health. When mana shield was depleted, it would sap the mana from a target instead, weakening them in a different way.


    In a game of attrition, the spellbow was actually a better choice than a regular bow. Dustin had no problems with dealing damage, it was weakening targets to protect himself that was now a higher concern.


    Mana shield wasn''t a major concern when clearing dungeons, as most monsters did not possess any. Only higher tier enemies would have it, and even then, it wasn''t enough to make them immortal. What concerned Dustin more was the danger that came from within.


    Greed was a powerful motivator, but it was still a dark emotion nonetheless. Many people were killed by others for their equipment, Dos, or just for pleasure. Mana shield was the most popular defense among pioneers as it could absorb damage. Unlike other defensive options, it didn''t hurt when mana shield blocked the damage.


    Dustin had lost Ben in the past for the same reasons. He had purchased a fancy piece of equipment and was murdered for it, giving him no chance to even defend himself. Sacrifices had to be made, and Dustin wasn''t going to stick to ideals of mercy or forgiveness. If someone stepped out of line, there was no time to give them second chances.


    He stretched the string of the bow spellbow, feeling a familiar resistance. The arrows he purchased were made from an alien material, but provided suitable damage. Stronger spellbows could use special arrows, which enhanced the arcane damage, but were unusable by regular bows.


    A knock on his bedroom door caught him by surprise, and he hurriedly hid the bow and arrows away in his inventory, ignoring the flashing warning that it had filled up.


    "Come in!" He shouted.


    A woman Dustin hadn''t seen in a while tentatively opened the door, giving him a worried smile as she waved.


    "Hey Dustin! Sorry I wasn''t able to drop by earlier. I saw your face on TV yesterday, just what have you been up to?"


    Dustin froze as his step-sister Alicia entered the room. The last time he had seen her flowing brown hair was when it cascaded down his arm, holding her head in his hands as she bled out from the hole in her stomach.


    He was a little stiff when she hugged him, but eventually the dark emotions flooded out, and he restrained himself from crying to hug her tightly.


    "Good to see you sis."


    Alicia pulled back and smiled brightly, filling Dustin with a light and airy feeling. Something he had been lacking for a while.


    Hope.


    "Good to see you too Dustin. Now please tell me what happened at uni, the news has been calling you a hero!"


    ---------------


    Dustin, Alicia, and their mother, Jean, sat around in the living room sipping tea as they chatted away casually. The news story that had covered Dustin''s ''heroic feat'' was playing on the TV, recorded by Jean.


    The story chosen to cover up the dungeon incident was that two unknown attackers held a grudge against the university, wishing to harm one of the lecturers there in retaliation for their bad grades. Dustin had defended her, and the other students, scaring them off with his prop sword.


    The two attackers were, of course, completely fabricated. Dustin had been contacted previously with a contract to not reveal the details of what actually occurred, but the ''story'' everyone else heard he had yet to see.


    He refused to answer most of their questions, as the police had forced him to stay silent about the whole affair. They were unhappy at being rejected, but couldn''t complain about the legality of the situation.


    Jean and Alicia were both proud, and worried, for Dustin. Jean had seen her son going through rapid changes the past two weeks, seeing him coming home late some nights, after being missing for a couple of days. His body and face seemed to change as well, as he grew leaner and taller. He no longer focused on his studies, but seemed to have some other direction in mind.


    His mother could only hope that it wasn''t one that lead down a dark path. Dustin had no complaints when she had asked him to stay home for a couple of days and rest as he had slept for over fourteen hours. His mana recovery was still in progress, leaving him little choice in the matter.


    Alicia turned the conversation towards Dos.


    "Have either of you purchased something from it? I turned a third of it into cash already." Alicia revealed, holding up one of her hands. An intricate golden ring was wrapped tightly around the skin, shining in the midday sunlight.


    Dustin kept silent as his mother rambled on about how the system was going to ruin the economy. He already knew its effects, and the importance of keeping it around, but he didn''t bother to warn either of them.


    Regardless of the situation of earth''s survival, he wasn''t going to put his own mother and sister in danger. He would buy them protective gear in the future, but sending them out to hunter dangerous monsters was a definite no.


    "What about you Dustin?" Alicia asked, her eyes glinting dangerously. Jean had already been telling her about his nightly escapades, making them suspect something was up.


    Dustin shrugged, and held the cup up to his lips, only to be disappointed at the lack of liquid inside.


    "I agree with mum for most of it. The economy is going to take a massive hit with this many people getting free cash out of nowhere."


    Alicia nodded slowly, tapping her finger on the couch armrest.


    "And what about these dungeons the news is all about?"


    "No idea. It seems like a massive safety hazard, but I''m sure the government and military will work something out."


    "I''ve heard you can grow stronger inside, seems interesting, doesn''t it?"


    "Sounds cool, but strength isn''t the only thing that matters. I don''t need to be strong as a chemical engineer, but smart."


    "There''s all these new eye catching things coming out, like that weird ''spell'' that chick was talking about."


    "Yeah it was awesome. I''m excited to see if the university investigates them for anything we can use in the course."


    Alicia''s eye twitched as each of her probing comments was shot down. Jean sighed from the side, taking the three empty mugs into the kitchen to clean up. Dustin kept his innocent smile the whole time.


    "I heard mum talking about a friend''s list feature. She said you two could talk through it?"


    Dustin had already primed a trusted friend invite for his step-sister earlier, and sent it through instead of replying. Her face lit up briefly as the notification blocked her vision of Dustin.


    Thanks to their lack of knowledge, he was able to alter the trusted friends setting to hide his level. If they knew how to access the settings, they could always disable it. It was going to be a while until then, hopefully long enough that Dustin could handle the outrage of a protective family.


    When her name popped up into view, the one he had known her as in the past, he let out a long internal sigh. The three largest worries in his current life were now in his friend''s list. His mother and sisters coordinates were the same, as were his, since they were all in the same location.


    Ben was further away, and the mini-map put him at his favorite bakery. It wasn''t going to stop someone from killing them, but it would let Dustin keep track of them.


    Before Alicia could ask anymore questions Dustin excused himself, and helped his mother wash up. He had planned to meet with James at his house in the next hour, so he kissed Jean on the cheek after wiping down the bench and waved Alicia goodbye as he jumped into his car.


    His crappy old Toyota stuck out like a sore thumb in the rich neighbourhood, and James'' butler''s nose shriveled in disgust when he pulled up outside. Having gone through the affair in the dungeon, Dustin ignored his glare and tossed the keys over, sliding inside to meet James.


    He caught a glance of the butler opening the driver side door tentatively with two fingers when James appeared around the corner for a second, calling to him before he turned around.


    "You''re here! Come up to my room for now."


    Dustin walked up the stairs with caution, avoiding the velvety carpet that spilled down them. He turned the corner into James'' room and nearly bumped into him. He was dragged into the room as James'' quickly shut the door, excitedly spilling the beans to Dustin.


    "So we managed to get one of the warehouses down near the wharf. The inspectors are already paid off from viewing the area as we have other goods passing through, so it should be quite secure."


    No sooner had James'' finished speaking did he throw open the bedroom door and pull Dustin back out, running straight down to where a company car was waiting. Dustin questioned why he had even needed to go up to the room, but James'' seemed a little worried that his parents would probe into his dealings.


    "This ''vehicle'' is much better than yours Master!"


    Dustin felt a sharp stabbing pain as his own companion heartlessly complimented the limousine, and simultaneously insulted his own car. The small lightning spirits Lei-Lei was currently unsummoned, and was merely a voice in his head. If he willed it, the glowing purple orb would pop into existence beside him, ready to zap whatever he wished.


    It was easier to keep her away from prying eyes, and she was still able to view the world from Dustins'' eyes. He had been teaching her about earthen cultures, societies, inventions, during his downtime. She was like a small child in that regard, clueless to the world outside her dungeon, if you could ignore the firepower she was packing.


    Dustin had been so distracted by the passing view and Lei-Lei''s innocent questions that he had managed to miss everything James'' was rambling on about, catching only the last piece of information as they arrived at the warehouse.


    "-ou''ll have to excuse the mess, we only just cleared out our last shipment last week."


    The warehouse was fit smugly between identical copies on either side. Columns of the same building ran along the entire coast-line like somebody had copy and pasted them down. There was nothing outstanding about the one James'' was letting him use, which was for the best.


    When they got inside, Dustin felt his jaw drop.


    The floor was covered in a mix of water, blood, discarded cardboard, and floating fish bones. Empty crates were torn open and left around randomly. Only the entrance was free from liquid and debris.


    "Like I said, please excuse the mess."


    The smile never left James'' face as he held out a pair of keys for Dustin to take. His hand was slow to take them as he took in the battlefield around him. If there was any positive to be seen, it was that the ant eggs might even look neat when compared to the crate carcasses and stacks of fish bones.


    James clapped his hands, drawing Dustin''s attention.


    "Now, please. Show me what it is you wanted this warehouse for, I''m dying to find out."


    Dustin rolled his eyes and opened his inventory, seeing the flashing red outline that indicated it had reached maximum capacity. He left the ant eggs to take out for last, and filled the empty space in front of him with a dead monster from the dungeon instead. They flopped down into the murky water covering the floor with a splash.


    A knife appeared afterwards in Dustin''s hand as he approached an upside down scorpion. James'' face paled as he sliced through the hardened carapace, wiggling the knife in and out to gradually saw through it.


    James had nearly vomited by the time Dustin finished dismantling the scorpion, keeping the sharp barb on its tail, the thick plates that remained undamaged, and a small vial of poison he extracted.


    There was a look of relief on his face when Dustin sent it away, only for it to come back in force as not one, but several motionless bodies filled the space.


    Ignorant to the mortified rich boy behind him, Dustin set his eyes upon the next prize, determined to strip it of all its worth. Sooner or later the military, and pioneers determined to get stronger, were going to be buying not only Dos, but gear suitable for them. Only a few would be so bold as to try crafting gear with the remains of dungeon monsters, and even fewer that succeeded.


    This was going to be Dustin''s money maker.

 23 Entering the big stage

    Dustin was escorted by a pale and diaphoretic James out of the warehouse after finishing their conversation. He left behind his ant eggs, comfortably nestled inside the empty remains of a torn-apart create. He covered them in mucus, and left a heat stone in the center. Just like the other three, which were still attached to him, he left a receptacle to continue caring for them whilst he was away.


    From the goods he stripped off the monsters, he would be able to craft quite a few pieces. Smaller armour pieces were generally best to make early on as they used less materials. Since the rate of failure was high until he could raise its skill level, it was best to make something cheap.


    People would likely still purchase arm guards, leg guards, or helmets, as the benefits they brought still out-weighed human creations.


    There were neat stacks of armoured scorpion plates, lizard hide, and hardened centipede carapace segments in his inventory now. The main offenders had been cleared out, finally relieving the stress of a full inventory from his list of worries.


    Upon returning home, Dustin was surprised to find a new guest at his home, talking to his mother.


    Sarah.


    There was a moment of hesitation as she looked over at him walking in, where he thought she might recognize him.


    "You must be Dustin."


    Dustin studied her face, relieved at the lack of recognition she showed. It seemed that she was unaware he was the cloaked figure she was so desperately trying to track down. He shook her hand and sat down on the couch, listening in to the women talk.


    Sarah snuck glances over to Dustin periodically, trying to gauge a reaction from him. Since she wasn''t here due to recognizing him, then he could only come up with one other reason why she might show up.


    The news story. Dustin was hailed as a ''hero'' on campus, despite the intense secrecy regarding any of the finer details. Sarah was an investigative journalist before anything else, and such an event happening with little to no media coverage was like a fresh piece of bait just begging for her to chomp on.


    When Jean excused herself to visit the bathroom, Sarah turned straight to facing Dustin and smiled at him.


    "So I hear you did something very brave."


    Dustin returned her fake smile and laid back against the couch, ready to engage in a verbal contest.


    "I was just doing what I thought was right."


    "Really, please, tell me more. The entire event is just so juicy."


    "There''s nothing really more to tell. I waved my sword around at some angry students threatening the teacher, and they ran off."


    "There has to be more though. Who were the students?"


    Dustin tapped one finger on the couch as he effortlessly petered off his responses.


    "I can''t say."


    "Who was the teacher?"


    "I can''t say."


    "Why were you in the classroom?"


    "I can''t say."


    "What do you know about dungeons."


    Dustin opened his mouth to repeat the same phrase again, but stopped himself at the sudden question Sarah had thrown at him. He resumed his tapping, filling the silence that had invaded the room.


    "I have heard about them from your news report. Dangerous areas that are out of this world, filled with deadly monsters and a strong leader that must be defeated to escape."


    Sarah looked deep within the boys eyes and did not see emotions like fear or curiosity when speaking about the dungeon. She saw hope.


    Hope, and despair.


    The two emotions were opposites, but co-existed in the deep gaze that Dustin possessed. He undoubtedly knew more about dungeons then she expected, but was unwilling to provide anything new.


    "I''m glad you''ve seen my story as well. It''s not as heroic as your own, but I feel the world is going to be seeing a lot of it soon." Sarah stood up to leave, but froze as Dustin gave her some parting words.


    "Maybe a little bit too much."


    Dustin maintained his calm demeanor as he walked the silent journalist to this door, bidding her goodbye.


    "I''ve got to do some study now, thank you for coming over. It was a pleasure to meet you." Dustin turned around, leaving her at the doorstep. She reached forward to grab his arm, but found Jean had run over to send her off, blocking her from seeing him anymore.


    She sighed in frustration and left mostly empty-handed, except for the vague statement he had given her.


    --------------------


    As Sarah was walking away from Dustin''s house, two men were live-streaming the footage of it from a camera across the road.


    Jordan, still sitting in the same office, only filled with even more reports, was watching her leave intently. He had pulled out some older reports that sat on top of the usual ones, showing a picture of Dustins'' face.


    He knew about the dungeon being cleared inside the university, and how it had been covered up. Sarah was there no doubt to try and draw information from the boy about what really happened. Jordan quickly picked up the phone and pushed down on several numbers, waiting until a husky voice answered him.


    "I want the boys house bugged from sewer to roof. Anything that is said, or done, inside, I want to know about. If Sarah approaches his house again, find a way to stop her."


    He slammed down the receiver irritably before the voice could answer. Jordan wasn''t responsible for reviewing Dustin, but the boys involvement was highly suspicious.


    He had read over the initial reports given by police and the students involved in the dungeon itself. One year ago, he had been a regular grade-A student, attending every class, acing every test, and on track for a suitable and rewarding career.


    A couple of months later, and that had changed. He joined a series of clubs that seemed to have no connection to each other, stopped attending every class, almost attending none of them in fact, and suddenly grew the urge to work out.


    If dungeons didn''t exist, one could write it off as a sudden change of heart. But the boy had been involved in the first dungeon incident Jordan had heard of.


    He was in the right place, at the right time, and just so happened to have brought in a set of leather armour and two swords? Jordan wasn''t buying it.


    Still, the system was relatively new, and with such controversy around the topic, they couldn''t just drag him in for interrogation. He was a local hero in the area, and he was even friends with a particularly interesting case, James Belson.


    James was a popular first name, and held no special meaning. But the family name, Belson, sent off alarm bells in many intelligence agents.


    The Belson family had a steep history in many economies, surviving the dips, and abusing the highs. On the outside, they seemed like a very intelligent and active family, dealing with multi-million dollar real estate, as well as billions in stocks.


    For people like Jordan, however, they were a logistical, and political, nightmare.


    It was no secret that the family was well versed in the drug and arms trades, having spent their fair share of time mixing with the shadier people in society. They moved weapons and drugs in mass amounts through their real estate and thousands of other covers, selling to the highest bidder.


    Jordan could have brought up enough evidence to condemn them in an instant, but his hands were tied. The family was extremely wealthy, and were responsible for ''donating'' quite a lot of money to political campaigns.


    This was, of course, a bribe. The Belson family paid off whomever they viewed as powerful enough, and in return, were free to continue their illegal activities, right under the nose of law enforcement.


    Jordan frowned at the current predicament. Dustin was a large question mark in a forest of question marks, sticking out ever so slightly above the rest. Judging by the look of disappointment on Sarah''s face as she left his house, he hadn''t told her anything.


    He could only sigh, and tell the surveillance team to continue following her discreetly. She might be have been good at following others and avoiding stalkers in turn, but she paled in comparison to the professionals.


    Whilst the majority of the reports on Jordan''s desk were concerning Sarah and the new addition of Dustin, a large portion of them were covering the recent dungeon clear by the US military, and the subsequent stolen reward by a civilian by the name of Anthony Pallor.


    He was a basement dweller by all accounts, a leech to society that gave nothing back. He had somehow stolen the final blow against a giant wasp, and knocked out the captain of the squadron sent in.


    For that alone, he could be arrested and imprisoned, but information was more appealing than justice. What exactly was the reward for killing the wasp, and how did he know so much? The government was itching to get its hands on anything concerning Dos, as their failing currencies were already proving to be a massive thorn.


    Was Dos simply an attack made to do that very thing? A currency that could only be converted one way, and provided to every civilian, regardless of their occupation, was akin to an attack. Each person was able to acquire close to a million dollars with a snap of their fingers. The number was rising rapidly as inflation took over, only proving just how devastating its effects were.


    The other main concern was the ridiculous weapons one could purchase. Assault rifles, swords, crossbows, magic. It was like a fantasy and science fiction book crossover!


    While they weren''t the only things you could buy, they were definitely the most expensive, and most alarming options. In conjunction with dungeons, where ''pioneers'' could enter, earning Dos, and growing stronger, what was the purpose?


    If not to ruin the economy, then why was the system installed? What benefit could it draw from providing humanity with a way to grow in strength and power.


    The question was a dark smirch on their agency, and many others like it, as they could only speculate. Jordan threw down a seventeen-page description of Anthony Pallor and sighed heavily, convinced that he was going to drown in the paper one day, or mother nature would take its revenge for the slaughtered trees.


    He pushed up and away from the desk, needing to get a breath of fresh air. Many of the other agents were just as bogged down as him, and looked on in envy as he walked past to the balcony.


    The outside air was crisp, fluttering the loose grey hairs that sparsely covered Jordan''s balding head. He took out a cigarette from his packet, the last one, and popped it in his mouth.


    The end was lit up by a small flame from the engraved lighter, his wife''s initials. He''d always said that if anything was to kill him, it would be related to her.


    He inhaled the smoke slowly, feeling the relaxing feeling of a toxic substance cascading down his throat.


    [Pioneers of XQB51! Dungeon maintenance is currently in progress, all further creations are halted and current instances will be removed in 30 days. Dungeon difficulty is being lowered to match the correct strength of Pioneers on XQB51. Please note, this will also reduce the rewards attained from dungeons. Thank you, and happy spending!]


    A message popped up in front of Jordan''s face, the cigarette falling from his mouth.


    "Motherfucker."


    --------------


    Dustin jumped in his seat as the familiar message popped into view. He frowned at the timing of its announcement. The patch was earlier than he had anticipated, pushing the deadline for Xorxi''s quest to essentially one month. There was no telling where the Eclipse Forest might end up, or what replacement ingredients he might demand.


    He close the notification and quickly opened the wishlist. The upgrade to tier 2 Dos shop had gone down, only by double digits. Still, it was significant enough to show the impact Dustin was having. It was an indication that things were moving quickly. If others noticed the reduced price, they might begin to question why.


    Even moreso, begin to test how it had come to pass. The dungeon patch was irrelevant if humanity purchased tier upgrades too quickly.


    Thankfully the upgrade cost so much, deterring many pioneers from testing the waters.


    ------------


    Sarah sat up in her comfy recliner with a yelp as the notification lit up her face. Her eyes zipped from side to side frantically, taking in the information as fast as possible, as if the notification was going to disappear.


    She held her head in both hands as she re-read it over and over again. If what the notification was saying regarding the reduction of dungeon difficulty was true, did that mean the City of the Dead dungeon was supposed to be too difficult for them to complete?


    She shook her head to think clearly. The cloaked man had easily pierced through the ranks of undead and dealt with the towering monsters, allowing them to escape. If they were so weak, why did it seem so easy for him...


    Was the cloaked man even human? Sarah had heard him speak English, but the system may very well have simply added some form of translation. But he seemed familiar with humans...


    Her lovely hair was now in disarray from wandering hands, giving her the look of a mad scientist. She leapt up from the recliner and shot over to her computer, intent on finding someone from the dungeon that had escaped with her.


    Whilst she maintained contact with Jordy and a few of the others, there was one that showed no particular interest, and had sustained some light injuries, as well as contracting amnesia.


    Out of the entire group, he was the only one who she had seen interact with the cloaked man beside Jordy and herself.

 24 Ymmas Diary Entries 4 - 6

    Entry 4:


    The land grows harsher as our convey grows further from the convent. With each passing second I feel as though we are going to be ambushed. The fern-line is so thick that hiding Mantae would be an easy feat. My guardians are stalwart beside me, for which I am glad, but they do make for dreary conversational partners.


    I can only hope and pray to the Hyrmn that my husband and children are safe. A speaker''s duty is the most important in the convent, therefore it carries the biggest burden. The hive we ascend is responsible the largest I have seen in my travels, which carries its own problems.


    The larger a hive, the wider the disparity of social standing grows. My convent is humble and sturdy, but cannot stand against an invasion, nor does it provide any amazing resources.


    For as weak and pitiful as others may seem them, I would not trade it for the world.


    Entry 5:


    It is more worrisome that we have remained on our path unhindered then it is if we were ambushed. Not a single attempt has been made for ours, or specifically, my life. If we were able to fend off sporadic attacks, then it would be an indication that they were not serious.


    Receiving nothing, however, is a bad omen. We have seen signs of Mantae moving among the ferns, but each track simply disappears into the brush without a trace. I do condone the acts of violence, but I will not lie down willingly for the scythes to claim mine head. We shall explore these missing tracks, and find whatever creature has set its sights upon us.


    Entry 6:


    An entire forest of... hives.


    They are tiny, miniature versions of them, but undeniably the same structure. It is fascinating, like nothing I''ve ever seen. Whilst still taller than myself, they are a far cry from the majesty of our own home.


    It is here that we have found the tracks of our would-be ambushers. The system has alerted us that this area is a ''dungeon''. though I do not know what it means by this. Any attempts to return to our previous route are foiled, as the way back is shrouded in some kind of magic, preventing us from moving.


    Our only hope is to move forward, find these ambushers, and question them. I do not doubt that this is dangerous, and could very well be a trap, but the thought of walking amongst a forest of hives is simply too exciting!

 25 The gears of change

    Author Note:


    Was only just now brought to my attention that authors are not notified of comments on their chapters, so I''ve missed all these wonderful comments so far. Thank you all for showing interest, I know now to check through the chapters every couple of days to find new comments.


    ----------------------------


    Rather than speculation, a pure confirmation from the culprit itself had established Dungeon''s as a well known anomaly in the universe. The effect of the notification affected people very differently.


    The governments were most concerned by the ''reduced reward'', and scrambled to find any dungeon entrances open currently. The US wasted no time in using Dos to fund kill-squads, having learnt their lesson from the previous failure. Other countries, regardless of their previous involvement, were now pulled along by the tide of progress.


    China and Russia, two of the USA''s main competitors, could not allow either of the other two to gain a military advantage over them, especially when the same opportunity was within their grasp as well.


    Nobody knew where these dungeons were, and the widespread search spawned a new sense of terror in the populace. If the military was rushing around to find them, what was stopping any random civilian from wandering into one?


    Some of the monsters found in the dungeon had been brought out, revealing pictures of grotesque insects, larger than a human hand. Stirred on by the discovery, the thousands of families missing friends or lovers grew frantic. If they had disappeared into a dungeon, no one could guarantee they were still alive.


    Dustin was busy scrolling through the hundreds of thousands of online threads discussing the notification as the world lurched forward onto the first step of the staircase that was Dos.


    ''If the patch was aimed at weakening the monsters to match our strength, does that mean that it was set-up to match the strength of a race stronger than us?''


    ''If the dungeons are disappearing in 30 days, what happens to anyone trapped inside?''


    ''Does the 30 days until the dungeons close match how long they usually last for?''


    ''I went inside a dungeon and found something awesome!''


    Some of the thread were very thought provoking, and had hundreds of pages of replies, each person tuning in to give their own thoughts on the matter. Dustin flicked through a couple to see what the people were saying.


    To their credit, some of them had very solid points. In the case of the patch, the strength of the monsters was calculated for humans, but had been overtuned. Dustin still didn''t know how the creators of the system had worked through the process of judging how strong dungeons should be, but he certainly had a couple of words to say to them.


    And maybe a fireball or two.


    The last thread on the page that caught Dustin''s attention was a claim from an anonymous user that they had entered a dungeon and conquered it, bringing out rewards.


    To his surprise, it was true. They showed a picture of several items acquired from inside dungeons, which were not available inside the store, as well as a slideshow showing the dungeons information, which included the terrain, and usual monsters to come across.


    Judging by the tier of monsters listed, it wasn''t a surprise that the person had conquered the dungeon. The boss was a big slime, which moved incredibly slowly, was only able to attack by touching pioneers and sucking them in, as well as being easy to hit.


    Compared to Dustin''s gear, the pieces dropped inside the users dungeon were terrible. If Dustin could grab more materials from the higher-level dungeons before they disappeared, the gear he could craft from them would surpass a lot of the stuff pioneers could find.


    To do so, he needed to find them in the first place. The fortunate part was that with governments searching for entrances, he could leave the hard work up to them. Regardless of their attempts at secrecy, leaks were bound to get out when an entrance was found.


    Anything close enough for Dustin to drive to comfortably, he would take. Regardless of police or military presence, it was crucial for him to grow strong now, and focus on others after the patch.


    At a minimum, he needed to reach level 18, and clear out the eclipse forest. Only then could he really relax, as the quest that loomed on the horizon, threatening to claim is pioneers status, would be completed, and a certain reward acquired from the devil.


    Dustin wouldn''t have made the quest conditions difficult for himself unless the reward was two items. Devils were consistent in their nature, as well as their belongings. Certain spells, items, and information could be taken, but only when using the Dos system''s D3V1L protocol.


    What seemed unnecessary now would become mandatory in the future.


    Until something rocked the spiders web, sending shock waves through the media and internet, Dustin had to wait.


    The process took four days to occur, and in the mean-time, Dustin had been visiting the gym to adjust to his new power levels gradually. When one experienced a leap in power, whether it was strength, or speed, they would need time to adjust.


    Luckily for Dustin, increasing intelligence had a much milder form of adjustment, generally minor headaches and bouts of anxiety. He had already experienced the feeling of it in the past, and was barely affected by it.


    His strength and agility were increasing slowly, as they were not his main priority, so it only took a couple of hours of practice to catch up to his new values.


    At the end of the four days waiting, Dustin had heard news of police surrounding a block of public housing apartments, refusing to let any of the inhabitants enter their homes. Dustin wasted no time in preparing to head over. The longer he left it, the closer a squad sent in to clear it would be.


    He had no doubt that the government was watching him intently, having already noticed the two rotating agents permanently placed outside his house. So he drove a short distance towards the dungeon, stopping to park at the train stop.


    The two agents had to jump out of their car and ride the busy train with Dustin, but were pushed further inside by the torrent of people getting on. When they failed to find him on the train, they got off at the very next station, intending to double back.


    What they failed to notice was that Dustin had merely hidden on the train, and continued his journey towards the dungeon. The train wasn''t going directly towards it, as the line was wrong, but got close enough that he could walk.


    Just to be safe, Dustin pulled up a chat box, tapping on the third name listed.


    [Dusty says: Do you still remember what I look like?]


    --------------------


    Chris scanned the well-lit and poorly maintained lawn at the main entrance to the apartment blocks. The previously disgruntled inhabitants had been happily relocated to a warmer and properly maintained temporary housing commission whilst the police were investigating the building.


    The building was made from brick, and coated in a layer of grime and weeds. The windows were covered in metal bars, and the glass had long since been shattered. Police presence at the housing commission was a regular occurrence, whether they were called to a suicide attempt, or to bust someone for possession of narcotics. Only this time, the police weren''t itching to leave.


    The empty building was why Chris'' workload had increased dramatically.


    The missing peoples reports that had been piling up, and were largely ignored by the police station, were now a number one priority for the officers. It wasn''t primarily about finding the missing people, but locating where they lived, were likely to have gone during the day, and at what point they would have gone missing.


    These were all cross-checked with other reports. There was no concern for the missing people to have been kidnapped by the same culprit, or caught in an accident, but rather, they wanted to triangulate where a dungeon might have occurred.


    The police officers were fairly low on the rungs of political power, and were sent on the whims of those above them to find and report any dungeon locations. Chris had been the second officer on scene at the building, and looked at the run-down apartment with confusion. How was this supposed to be a dungeon?


    But sure enough, the inhabitants who were supposedly inside, were not answering calls, ignored the police sirens, horns, and loudspeaker repeatedly.


    The final conclusion was that the inhabitants were not actually inside, but had been transported inside a dungeon. None of the officers had been willing to test the theory, and set up a boundary along the outside perimeter, where they knew it was safe, and waited for backup.


    According to the chief, a swat team was being organized to enter, carrying some heavy duty weaponry.


    Chris had once dreamt of joining the SWAT team, but after settling down and having some kids, he grew to appreciate the mundane things in life.


    Looking around and spotting no one in the vicinity, Chris took the opportunity to relieve himself. The entire complex stunk to high heaven, so adding a little extra urine to a tree outside would make no difference. He pulled down his zipper and hid behind one of the trees, blocking view of him from the street.


    A yellow trail splashed against some leaves as Chris sighed, wondering when his replacement was going to show up. He had been posted to the entrance for four hours already, and the end of his shift was quickly approaching.


    When the bushes had been thoroughly saturated, he zipped his pants back up and scratched his backside before walking back over to his spot, facing outwards towards the mailboxes.


    What he had failed to notice was the figure that had dashed across the lawn, climbed up onto one of the bottom story balconies, then slipped in through the empty window, successfully infiltrating the dungeon.


    --------------------


    Dustin slipped into his shiny new chestplate as the dungeon formed around him. He had barely made it a step into the foul apartment before it fell away. It had been night outside, but the world forming around him was filled with daylight.


    [Welcome to the Killen Raid dungeon. Uploading current information to mini map.]


    To his surprise, he did not find himself alone, but in the middle of a medieval era village. Rather than humans, child-sized creatures ran around hurriedly, carrying weapons and armour around. Only one was looking at him, and beckoned for him to follow.


    "Welcome Pioneer, you have arrived at a most pleasant time. We are currently facing an attack from bandits terrorizing the countryside. Would you lend us your aid?


    The creatures were known as Killen, and reminded Dustin of teddy bears. They were furry, had short and stubby legs, hands that looked like mitts, and eyes like black beads.


    The Killen talking to him had the status of ''Village Chief'', and was in charge of preparing the defense for the incoming bandit attack. Dustin nodded to the chief and took a quick look around. There were no other humans around him, just fluffy teddy bears travelling in groups, carrying crude spears and pitchforks, or handling home-made bows and slings.


    "Excellent! I will assign you to 3-F, please prepare your troop, as the enemy is advancing!"


    Without even having to move, Dustin was teleported to a walled-off section beside the village, and a platoon of Killen awaited his command.


    [3-F, Dusty''s Platoon.]


    A platoon of Killen militia, untrained in the ways of warfare, but determined to defend their homes.


    30 Killen available.


    Weapons available:


    Spear (5)


    Pitchfork (15)


    Bow (3)


    Knife (10)


    Sling (15)


    Bark Shield (5)


    Dustin looked down from the notification to the steadfast teddies saluting him. They were all currently weaponless, and a timer in the corner of Dustin''s vision indicated how long he had until his platoon was sent out in defense of the village.


    Rather than a joint defense between all the platoons, each one was sent out on their own, facing up against an equal number of bandits.


    Before preparing his own, Dustin went up onto the walls to watch the battle. He finally realized where the humans had gone, as the wave that came out were wielding a myriad of weapons. All of the pitchforks and spears had been used up, providing a formidable front line, but pitiful support unit. Alongside the Killen wielding spears and pitchforks, were another four wielding knives. Only six remained, with three using bows, and the others with slings.


    A man appeared at the back of the platoon, wearing nothing but a loose shirt and shorts. He looked around confused as his platoon marched forth, meeting the bandits in the center of the valley.


    It was difficult to tell the difference between friend and foe, though the bandits were wearing red tabards, whilst the villagers had their regular monotonous grey clothing on.


    When the first Killen attacked another, it was not fluffy wool, or feathers, that came out, but dark red blood. A villager had lost its arm as a bandit swung their scimitar down, easily removing the appendage from the shoulder down.


    Beside them was a similiar scene, as bandits met villagers. Very few of the villagers could keep up with the bandits aggression, and even fewer managed to score a lucky hit. Three pitchforks sliced through fur and bone, folding the bandits in half, whilst the rest dealt minimal damage, or none at all.


    The man commanding his platoon was sick to his stomach at the violent acts being committed, and looked away. His troops were steadily losing at the front line, and even their numbers advantage couldn''t win.


    The bandits had chosen to provide more ranged support, rather than commit a large portion of their force to the front. This was an advantage they could afford to play, and the mans limited ranged Killen resembled porcupines within seconds.


    The frontline was subjected to volleys of precise arrows shortly after, and when the last Killen died, the man was left to face against the bloodied bandits by himself.


    Dustin tried casting a storm bolt at the encroaching wave, but his spell was cancelled before it could even cast. Some kind of wall blocked the spectators from interfering, and he was helpless to watch as the man screamed, running away from the waist high enemies.


    The battlefield area was quite small, so he quickly found himself running into the boundary. Just like any other dungeon, attempting to leave was futile. The man hadn''t bothered to check where the bandits were behind him as he kept running, not realizing that he wasn''t moving, and the bandits were right behind him.


    He finally checked when the sounds of footsteps approached, but it was too late.


    The scimitars screamed as they sliced through his legs, sending him tumbling to the ground. A couple of arrows riddled his back on the way down. He was unable to get back up as the Killen surrounded him, ruthlessly slashing at him. Human flesh and bone was more resistant than Killen''s, but the weapons they wielded were potent enough to cause serious damage.


    When the screaming stopped, the nightmarish teddy bears stepped back, revealing the mangled corpse of the man, lying in a pool of his own blood. The bandits retreated back to their camp, having no notions of continuing the slaughter by entering the village.


    The timer for Dustin continued to tick, and he quickly returned to his own platoon. Now that he knew how the bandits fought, it would be a little easier to design the formation to his benefit.


    There was no time to mourn the mans death as Dustin fell into a calm state of mind. He was used to fighting losing battles, seeing men die before him. He was confident in his own leadership, and in his own strength.


    The waves in between the man and Dustin had all been other Killen, sparing whomever had unintentionally entered the dungeon alongside them. Only one of the villager waves had won, giving Dustin some ideas after seeing the villagers looting whatever weapons and armour the bandits carried.


    When his timer reached zero, and he felt himself teleported onto the battlefield, he took out his staff, pointing it towards the bandits across the small valley.


    "Lei-Lei!"


    The lightning spirit popped into existence beside him, whirling around his head excitedly. When she saw the stalwart Killen beside them, she immediately went into battle mode and vibrated beside his head.


    "Focus the ranged units."

 26 Killen them softly

    The bandit leader commanded his men to charge forward, and the Killen wielding scimitars rushed forth, whilst the others holding ranged weapons walked forward slowly. The villagers were waiting up at the top of the hill, giving them little room to run if things went awry.


    As the front line reached the bottom of the valley, a volley of pebbles and arrows flew down, nailing the bandits. The villagers were wildly inaccurate, with only a couple of pebbles smashing into the bandits. Out of those that hit, none of the injuries were enough to slow the advancing Killen.


    Standing at the front of the villagers was a human, and next to him was what looked like a box. In reality, it was five Killen forming a tight shield around them. The bow-wielding bandits stopped part-way up the climb and pulled out an arrow.


    Whilst the melee bandits were attempting to reach the bandits, and being peppered with stones, the ranged bandits received a far worse fate.


    Two bolts of lightning streaked across the sky, frying the ranged bandits. Their fur was charred and burning as they fell to the ground, lifeless. Dustin''s bolt chained from the initial explosion outwards, claiming another two lives, and injuring the final two.


    Lei-Lei''s bolt was unable to chain, but still had the same devastating effect against a single target. Dustin looked beside him to the Killen armed with slings and bows, watching them fire at the bandits. Blue flower petals formed a thin sheet of ice just in front of them, stopping the enemy from getting close. They reached the ice and were unable to climb.


    Some of them use their scimitar to stab the ground, managing to climb a small distance. But the shower of pebbles stopped their attempts, as they would lose their grip and fall back, or receive a lethal amount of damage and die.


    The ranged units that remained were able to fire, but their shots were useless as they aimed at the closest target, which just so happened to be the shield wall Dustin had designed. There were no gaps in the bark, and the arrow heads only barely managed to penetrate the wood, dealing no damage to the actual Killen inside.


    The melee bandits were completely pinned down from the impossible task of climbing up hill on ice, combined with the unending shower of pebbles and arrows. Dustin was able to used his bow as the number of bandit Killen thinned.


    His arrows were supposedly weak at dealing damage of a non-magical mean, but they still packed a punch as they slammed into the Killen, pushing them back down the hill.


    Had they been regular arrows, it was almost a guaranteed one-shot against the Killen.


    Just the distance of which he pushed them back, and the little amount of health remaining was enough to doom the bandits to their fate. The Killen fell over one by one, and the battle ended in Dustin''s complete victory, a 30-0 win.


    Before they could be teleported away, Dustin had his Killen loot the dead bodies. The bows that the bandits wielded were a welcome addition to his platoon, replacing almost half the slings. The scimitars were fairly useless, as the villagers were accustomed to using such weapons. The spears and pitchforks were easier to use, and forming a shield wall was a more attractive formation.


    As it currently stood, letting the bandits get into melee range was disastrous regardless of the weapons the villagers wielded.


    The shabby armour the bandits wore was useful in making his shield wall distraction for formidable. If the bandits kept focusing on them, it was better for his chances at victory.


    When the bandits were stripped clean, Dustin felt a shimmer of magic, and saw the surroundings transform from a battlefield, into the walled off section with just a blink of his eyes.


    The village chief walked over to him, a grin on his face, as Dustin looked through the list of newly acquired loot.


    "Congratulations on your victory! That was the best performance I''ve seen yet. If you''re able to win another two consecutive victories, I shall provide you with additional forces and equipment. Good luck!"


    The village chief walked away, completely calm despite the encroaching bandits.


    [3-F, Dusty''s Platoon.]


    A platoon of Killen militia, untrained in the ways of warfare, but determined to defend their homes.


    30 Killen available.


    Weapons available:


    Spear (5)


    Scimitar (5)


    Pitchfork (15)


    Bow (10)


    Knife (10)


    Sling (15)


    Bark Shield (5)


    Leather Armour (3)


    Dustin immediately equipped the armour onto three of the shield-wielding Killen, and had them stand at the forefront of the shield wall. The seven additional bows were given to replace slings, giving a more formidable look to the ranged unit.


    After his wave, the next commander was thankfully not a human, and it shared the same formation as the other villagers did. Dustin watched with interest at how the bandits behaved. They gave off a visage of fearlessness and terror, but in reality, often avoided the most dangerous situations.


    In areas where the villagers might be winning, the bandits were unwilling to help, and simply ganged up on whatever villagers they deemed as easy pickings.


    The wave Dustin was watching lost after dealing minimal damage to the bandits. The next two waves did not fare much differently, and only one more remained until his own.


    Surprisingly, the Village Chief took to the field, commanding his own platoon of Killen. Unlike Dustins, there were over a hundred villagers manning the field, and an equal number of bandits to counter them.


    For Dustin, it was actually easier to handle smaller fights, as his magic had a much higher impact. Commanding many troops was difficult, and managing to fight your own battles in between only added to the mess.


    He watched intently as four lines formed in front of the chief, each of the Killen armed with a shield and scimitar. Dustin wasn''t sure whether the chief had won previous battles, and stolen the loot from the bandits, or if he was granted more equipment due to his status.


    The bandits rushed forth with vigor, holding scimitars above their heads. Despite the villagers awkwardness, they seemed like much more professional.


    Swords clashed as a wave of bandits smashed into the front shield line. The villagers standing just behind them thrust spears through empty gaps, hammering holes into the bandits, and covering their fellow villagers with a spray of blood.


    When the shield wall looked close to collapsing, the second lot of villagers would move forth, and those who stood on the front line would head back, picking up bows from the ground to fire over the battling forces to pick off bandits standing back.


    The village chief himself was firing a bow with excellent accuracy, nailing bandits left and right. Dustin had to give him credit for the performance. The bandits were very quickly dropping like flies, unable to form up as any area that showed signs of weakening was immediately reinforced.


    The chief won with moderate losses, and the bodies disappeared from the field immediately, none of the villagers bothering to pick up fallen equipment.


    Just after returning to his platoon and double checking the gear, he was put back into battle. The valley remained the same chosen field of combat each time, but his ice petals disappeared as soon as he left, returning it to its natural state.


    The bandits maintained their wild approach, and Dustin repeated the same action he had previously. His ranged units dealt a lot more damage with the newly acquired bows, and Dustin was free to fire off Storm Bolts, filling the space before him with blackened bodies and the smell of burning fur.


    The bandits once again futilely tried to climb the icey incline, falling even further from the shieldwall than they had last time under a strengthened onslaught.


    Dustin was already heading towards the bandits to pick up loot as the final one died, giving him another flawless victory.


    There was one more battle to go until he received an upgraded platoon, and if the bandits retained their reckless nature, he was confident in winning again.


    Battles passed as villager Killen commanded their platoons to the field, each falling in kind under the pressure of the bandits. The timer for Dustin ticked down once more, and he was placed exactly as he had last time.


    The only differences were the higher number of bows, and the increased sturdiness of the shield wall.


    Looking across as the bandits, Dustin was alarmed at the unusual formation facing him. The bandits had chosen to equip a lot of ranged weapons, and split into two different groups. They immediately took a side each, with one group on the left of the valley, and the other on the right.


    Dustin held off on placing his ice petals on the ground and commanded the shield formation to move forward instead. They shifted forward unsteadily, not used to moving whilst retaining the protective stance.


    He stopped them when the bandits halted their advance, and prepared to fire.


    "Ranged, move up!"


    The bow and sling wielding villagers pushed up with Dustin. In front of them, the shield wall had already begun to show signs of damage, arrows penetrating the wood and pebbles glancing off of it every couple of seconds.


    Standing up the hill from them, Dustin took a more aggressive approach, and threw two throwing knives into the groups, both with an ice petal attached. They fell into disarray as two of the Killen in the center were pushed back from the knife slamming into their shoulders.


    Lightning bolts struck forth from Lei-Lei, frying the bandits, and his platoon wasted no time in peppering them with arrows. Splitting up the bandits into two forces made it harder for the untrained villagers to land hits, just not impossible.


    When the bandits once again keeled over in death, he checked over the Killen huddling behind their shields. Some of the arrows had managed to pierce or scrape skin, but failed to provide any lethal wounds. Dustin sighed in relief and gathered up the loot, retrieving another two sets of armour, only three bows, and a shield.


    The village chief was there to greet him upon his return again, a group of hardened Killen following behind him.


    "Wonderful job Dusty! You have proven yourself a valuable ally in our defense of the village. I dare not limit your expertise to fighting the smaller battles. Please, take these Killen and choose some equipment from the storage house. The bandits are relentless, and we need all able arms in fending them off."


    [3-F, Dusty''s Platoon.]


    A platoon of Killen militia, untrained in the ways of warfare, but determined to defend their homes.


    45 Killen available.


    The 15 Killen that had joined him looked a fair cut above the rest. Underneath their fur he could tell they had some bulging muscles. He replaced the shield wall with the formidable looking Killen. They stood taller than the rest, and the shield wall was steady in their rough and matted hands.


    The courtyard his platoon awaited in remained the same, but a new building seemed to pop up nearby. It was a long, wooden hut, topped by a thatched roof. A single door led inside, with four open windows letting the sunlight spill in.


    Inside the hut were table filled with weapons and armour. Parts of the metal blades were rusted, and wooden shafts darkened and gritty. The armour was missing pieces, offering only protection to the vital areas.


    A different Killen awaited him inside, wearing a set of grimey chainmail. He grinned at Dustin and gestured at the tables around him.


    "Chief''s told me you''ve been upgraded. Pick fifteen weapons, and four sets of armour."


    The armoured Killen turned around and disappeared through the open doorway into the back of the storehouse. Dustin shifted the weapons and armour on the tables around. There were bladed weapons, polearms, side arms, crossbows, shortbows, and plenty others.


    His mind drifted back to the fifteen extra Killen given to him. The best use of their strength would be to use longer, heavier weapons. He picked up a halberd with his hand and twirled it around. The shaft was cracked, but was able to maintain the spiked metal head on top. It was tempting to fit his platoon with cool looking weapons like the halberd, but it wasn''t practical.


    Dustin''s original strategy might have worked, but given the recent wave''s tactics changing to face him, it was likely they would continue to adapt. The next stage of his defense was similiar to the chief''s tactic. A line of shields backed up by spears and polearms. The bandits didn''t have cavalry, so he didn''t need a line of pike or anything long, spears and shorter polearms that could be moved around easier, and stab at the bandits dueling with the shield line, was Dustin''s goal.


    Out of the fifteen weapons, he chose two crossbows, as the easier aim was hard to pass up when the bows were largely ineffective in the hands of villagers. The rest were hooked spears, known as bills, as they could be used to stab, and then drag bandits back towards the shieldsman, potentially pulling them off balance and into waiting blades.


    The armour selection was rough in comparison. The stronger pieces, made from metal, were incomplete. He chose another three sets of leather armour for the frontline to wield, and a single piece of chainmail that seemed intact.


    The scimitars he had taken earlier were finally going to use as Dustin returned to the platoon, seeing his newly chosen weapons and armour there.


    He rubbed his hands together and formulated the new platoon. With shields held steady and formidable hooked spears peaking over them, they were looking less and less like a ragtag group of villagers, and more like a militia.

 27 A leaders folly

    Cyril held his mitten hands tight around the shaft of his spear, commanding his troops to move forward. The villagers were putting up a hell of a fight, but the forces coming up against them just were not up to par.


    When he saw the enemy pop into existence, he tensed. A line of shields greeted them, held by muscular farmers, herders, and potters. The flash of steel was visible between the shields, scimitars, and deadly spears poking overhead.


    Cyril scoffed, it was but a foolish attempt at holding on. The bandits in front of him were licking their lips and twirling their own swords around, ready to be unleashed like a wolf among the herd.


    He held his spear up high and roared. The bandits followed his action, and held their scimitars up, then charged forward.


    The battlefield remained the same as before, an open valley dipping down in the center where both of the forces would meet. At least, that''s what Cyril had planned.


    The villagers seemed too busy quaking in their boots to move forward, and stood with their backs against the wall. He let a grin overtake his face and howled, echoed by his men as they charged forward.


    Cyril had no time for the fancies of ranged weaponry, and equipped his men with scimitars and daggers. A quick victory was a good one, and the villagers would crumple under the pressure of the men he personally trained.


    They quickly reached the bottom of the valley, stepping over onto the incline that marked the villager side. A volley of arrows shot forth from behind the shield wall.


    Cyril could only look on in horror as the entire volley drew closer, realizing too late that they were all aimed at him. The arrows shredded what little armour he had, pushing him to the ground as the rest nailed him to his fate.


    Dustin watched on and chuckled.


    "Commander down. Keep focus, pick your targets."


    The villagers cut their rejoicing down and loaded more arrows, taking advantage of the confusion that spread out across the bandits. The leader had died so quickly, causing them to falter. It took a moment for the mix of anger and fear to kick in, bringing them closer.


    Rather than crush their hopes and dreams with a couple of well placed ice petals, he wanted his shield wall to gain some experience. The villagers had barely even attacked a living target in melee combat before, let alone kill one.


    He couldn''t baby his platoon so much that when the time came for them to fight, they were useless.


    The two lines crashed furiously as the bandits threw themselves at the shield wall. The line of spears punctured skulls, torso and limbs as they did so, retreating immediately after. Some of the spears wavered, but found the resolve to strike under the bandit''s curses and screams.


    "Push!"


    The shield wall gave a ''hup!'' in unison, and pushed their shields forward, meeting the bandits head on. Shields collided with bodies, pushing them backwards and breaking the momentum of the bandits behind them.


    "Slice!"


    Keeping the shields up and in front of them, the shield wall rippled like a wave, and scimitars came flying out, slicing horizontally at anything in front of them. Even those with nothing to hit followed Dustin''s order. Many of the villagers closed their eyes as they struck, a kink in the otherwise well oiled machine.


    He almost felt a tear come on as his orders were beautifully executed, following the screams of bandits being sliced.


    "Reset!"


    The shields locked back into place, scimitars pulled back. The bill hooks and spears appeared overhead again, like a scorpion tail ready to strike.


    The first line of bandits had been utterly decimated, unable to deal even a scratch to the villagers. Those behind them were jumping over the corpses of their comrades to get to the shields.


    Dustin let the villagers repeat his commands and jumped in himself with the quarterstaff. He appeared as just a blur, his staff crushing the bandits skulls with a sickening ''crack'', sending them flying backwards.


    The action repeated whenever a section of the shield wall seemed to be getting overwhelmed. It gave the villagers the confidence boost they needed, and soon the bandits were fleeing.


    A volley of arrows ended the escape attempt quickly, as well as the crack of lightning and boom of thunder that fried them for good measure.


    With his record maintained, Dustin took what little loot he could from the bandits. Each wave carried only a few sets of armour and shields, which was his main target. The scimitars, daggers, and whatever other weapons the bandits brought to fight with were ignored.


    His platoon was still standing 45 strong, and the bandits he faced up against remained as tactless as they had previously. He waited with them silently until the timer in the corner of his vision ticked down to zero. His third battle, which would mark another upgrade provided he won, was starting.


    The valley remained quiet, unnerving Dustin as he stood in the absence of the bandit''s usual revelry. They maintained a line of swords and shields, facing down upon him. Neither side seemed to move forward, provoking Dustin into making the first move. The enemy commander wasn''t visible, or was pretending to be a regular bandit, perhaps having seen Dustin''s previous maneuver.


    He stepped forth, ahead of his troops, and calmly walked into the middle of the valley.


    The bandits stood opposite him, fearfully hefting the curved swords in their hands. He pushed further up the valley and stopped, just outside the range of their bows. A floating ball of purple light gently bobbed forward, vibrating wildly until a flash of light burst forth.


    One of the bandits fell to its knees, eyes rolled backwards and bleeding from the nose. The rest of the bandits recoiled in fear, but maintained position as the leader at the back barked orders, revealing himself. Bows were drawn, and arrows flew out from behind the front line, aiming at the purple ball of light.


    Lei-Lei easily dodged the projectiles due to her small size, and begun to charge again. The line of Killen shivered as another bandit fell, steaming from the head.


    The leader roared, and the bandits took two steps forward. Dustin smirked, taking his own steps backwards, and keeping Lei-Lei close enough for him to easily recall should she actually be in danger. He begun to charge his own Storm Bolt, and as the bandits came into range, he released it, watching the bright chain travel, zapping the souls right out of three bandits, and nearly killing the next two in line.


    He immediately jumped backwards as arrows struck the ground before him with a dull thud. The action repeated until the bandits charged, abandoned their attempts at formation. Eleven of them had already fallen, without dealing a single injury in return.


    Dustin''s jacked up mana bar was easily able to maintain a constant stream of Storm Bolts now. The achievement he acquired from the Ant Colony dungeon, granting him the ''Ally of Lightning'' buff effect permanently, increased his mana regeneration by 15%. His wisdom was already breaching 30, which in combination with ''Ally of Lightning'', gave him enough mana regeneration to pump out Storm Bolts.


    A pair of weathered leather boots on his feet aided his attempts at dodging, having finally purchased them from the store, granting an impressive 18% movement speed increase.


    The bandits were unable to land a single hit on him, and they soon found themselves within range of Dustin''s own ranged units. The bandits held up shields fearfully and made the last ditch effort to sprint up the hill.


    Only fifteen bandits remained, bloodied and tired as they slashed at the stalwart shields. Dustin let his platoon clear the rest of the stragglers, slicing them across the chest. Some of them managed to put up a fight, parrying the blows or ducking out of the way, but they were facing down more than one villager at a time, and sooner or later a scimitar or billhook found its way through their guard, running them through.


    Bandit blood covered part of the shield wall, and flowed freely down the valley, leaving the smell of iron in the air. Dustin took the couple of shields laying around and had the villagers strip the armour. His wall was now fourteen strong across, with twelve villagers placed in between holding spears between the gaps.


    The remaining villagers stood behind, wielding mostly bows. The platoon returned to its station, and the village chief came bearing more gifts.


    Surprisingly, the number of Killen he commanded did not change, but the arena to fight in did. The bandits were ''growing furious'', and were launching attacks against the village gate. Dustin was to take his force and join the defense. Immediately after the chief turned to leave, the sounds of fighting started to drift over. Clashing swords, the ''twang'' of bows, and battle shouts filled the air.


    The closed off area lost one of its walls, revealing the rest of the village where he had entered originally. A group of armed Killen stood before the gate, holding the large doors barely open enough for Dustin to peak outside.


    The wave style fighting he had been subjected to seemed to continue, only now the bandits were coming up to the gate, and the villagers were going out to greet them head on.


    Battles started with both forces in range of firing at each other, provoking an immediate reaction from either side. The counter for Dustin''s engagement was ticking down fast. He began to wonder just how many waves he needed until the dungeon was completed. The absence of any kind of boss was unusual, but not unheard of.


    Dungeons took many different forms. In his previous time, Dustin had even competed in a kind of racing dungeon, where pioneers had to create vehicles to race against the dungeons inhabitants.


    It was certainly an odd, if not refreshing, experience. The dungeon Dustin was in was simply taking up a lot of time. It would need to give him a substantial boost in level, or a great reward, to match the time it took to complete.


    His thoughts were interrupted by the abrupt change in scenery. He had no time to think before his platoon was placed onto the field, immediately facing down against a similar formation.


    "Archers, fire!"


    He wasted no time in preparing a Storm Bolt and summoning Lei-Lei to accompany him, releasing it on his archers second volley. The lightning jolted the front line, and momentarily blinded the enemy archers from firing, giving some relief to his villagers who had been getting hammered.


    "Archers, take up spears!"


    When the two front lines clashed, Dustin called out to his ranged units, and abandoned his spell-casting. He took to circling around the front line, picking off archers with his enhanced speed. The metal staff flung bandits into their comrades, disrupting the volley of arrows. He threw knives at the others, anything to stop them from firing.


    He had commanded his own archers to stop firing as he dismantled the bandits backline. The threat of friendly fire was too great, especially when his villagers were not trained in using bows. It was better to bulk the front line whilst he dealt with outside interference.


    He had little trouble annihilating the bandit archers, leaping into the midst of the brawl happening between the two front lines shortly after. His villagers were holding steady, but unable to deal any significant blows against higher skilled opponents. The spears were doing work by stacking up little injuries on the bandits where they could, and they would likely win without his intervention, though at the cost of a few lives.


    With a perfect record to maintain, Dustin summoned a Shadow Dagger in each of his hands, forgoing the metal staff. The bandits were tightly packed together, and using the daggers to weave in and out would give him better chances to strike at their vitals.


    The ethereal blades sliced at open necks, wrists, ankles, whatever part of the bandits he could reach. Part of their frontline was forced to wrap back around, defending from his back attack. The villagers were relieved as they followed suit, wrapping around until the bandits were fully surrounded.


    His blades reaped the battlefield, claiming whatever resistance remained. His villagers were breathing ragged breaths, having survived their first proper fight. A couple of them had met the sharp end of a scimitar, coming out a little worse for wear, but still breathing. Dustin flashed them a smile and cleaned up the loot, completing his shield wall in record time.


    They were all equipped with some form of armour now, and he managed to acquire another crossbow. He returned to the village victorious, awaiting his next wave, and found a surprise awaiting him as he watched the next wave head out.


    Behind the bandits facing down the village gate was a figure, taller than the rest, hands nervously picking at the leather straps on their armour.


    A human, working for the bandits. Dustin watched as their mouth moved, commanding the bandits to move forward. The fight started dramatically as bandits shield-charged the villagers, pushing them over. Pitchforks fell to the ground, and the bandits skewered the fallen Killen with their blades.


    Straight after the initial shield charge, other bandits followed up by walking between the gaps, firing bows at a short range. Villagers fell to the side as arrows penetrated them with ease.


    The man won a flawless victory and looked up at Dustin before they disappeared. He could see the yellowed teeth, a few of them missing, as his mouth spread into a crooked grin. It gave Dustin a bad feeling, which settled in his stomach, even as the man was teleported away.


    Whilst he had survived, Dustin couldn''t help but feel conflicted about it. If the man had died, there would be no chance for Dustin to go up against him.


    But since he had won, was Dustin going to have to kill him?


    The troubled look on his face alarmed his platoon as they formed up beside him, now standing outside the gate. He twirled the staff in his hands and looked beyond the bandits, where the vague outlines of tents and smoke shimmered on the horizon.


    "Archers. Fire!"

 28 Tumultuous Goodbyes

    Dustin was growing weary of this new human opponent that had appeared. They popped up every few waves, winning most of their battles without lifting a finger, and then disappearing for a couple of rounds.


    There was hope that Dustin wouldn''t have to face him, but his wish shattered when the man''s grinning visage showed up behind one of a line of bandits.


    The villagers beside him paid no heed to the human leader, awaiting their commands from Dustin. The bandits were already beginning to move forward, pushing towards the gate with curved swords and wicked daggers.


    "Avoid the leader, fire at will at the rest."


    Dustin placed ice petals on the floor to halt the bandit''s advances, giving him time to watch what the other pioneer did. Their face contorted in anger, and they threw commands out for the Killen to push around the frozen ground. Dustin''s forces continued to fire upon them, peppering the line with arrows and bolts.


    As Dustin watched the bandits advancing around the sides, he felt an impact hit his side. A weak magic spell had slammed into his shoulder. Looking down, he noticed some oil dripping off his clothes, unable to touch them as part of his mana shield still protected him.


    Looking over, the human leading the bandits was preparing to cast another spell. Tendrils of red energy swirled in his palm, and a small fire was lit, growing into a small ball. Dustin watched as they threw the ball of fire towards him. He made no move to dodge it as it exploded on contact, catching the oil on fire, draining the rest of his mana shield.


    Dustin could feel the flames licking at his skin, and the burning oil rolling off his clothes. He smirked at the heat, feeling almost natural in his state of burning. The man leading the bandits quietly giggled and cast another spell.


    Dustin ignored his presence and disappeared, leaving only a single set of footprints in the dirt. His staff met bone as he sent a bandit flying, followed by the next one in line. The man looked to his side as Dustin crushed his forces, giving them no room to fight back, despite Dustin being on fire.


    The villagers kept to his orders, firing only on the Killen.


    "Protect me!" The man shouted, his voice breaking. The remaining bandits formed a wall around him as he attempted to book it back to camp. Dustin halted the rain of arrows and moved forward again, picking off the bandits as they ran. Each swing sent one of the Killen tumbling down, breaking bones and tenderizing flesh.


    The man soon found himself alone as Dustin forced him into a corner. As expected, he could not move outside the designated area and ran on the spot.


    He could hear the flickering of flames approaching, and soon the heat that Dustin gave off, looking back at the cloaked man approaching him.


    "Please, don''t kill me!"


    Dustin sent a splatter of blood to the ground as he swung the staff around, resting it on the man''s shoulder.


    "Name?"


    "J-Jonathan Foster,"


    Dustin couldn''t pinpoint where in his memories the name came from, but he could hazard a guess why it might have been familiar.


    Without Dustin''s intervention, Jonathan would have been the only survivor of the dungeon.


    "Why did you join the bandits?"


    Jonathan shook under the warm touch of the staff, feeling sudden jolts striking his nerves.


    "It was a b-better chance at winning. I saw the others go out first¡­ how they died. I didn''t want to do that, so I fought on the other side instead."


    The villagers had caught up to Dustin as the man was explaining himself. They stood in silence behind their leader and glared.


    "Have you killed anyone?"


    The man''s eyes flickered to the Killen standing behind Dustin.


    "Not the Killen. Humans."


    His mouth opened and closed, able to mutter a pathetic squeak.


    "No."


    Dustin snorted and turned towards his platoon.


    "Kill him."


    Dustin walked away to the chorus of screaming ''No!'' and ''Please!'' as the villagers ran forward, digging their spears and scimitars into the man''s flesh. A dagger or Storm Bolt could have given the man a quick death, but Dustin doubted he had done the same for any of the previous victims.


    [Congratulations for clearing Killen Raid. The portal to return is now open, rewards will be distributed shortly. Thank you, and happy spending!]


    The notification popped up in front of Dustin''s eyes as the screams came to a halt, leaving behind a bloody gurgle. He sat down on the grass to calm himself. His crossed his legs and laid the metal staff across his lap.


    The villagers, no longer under his command, celebrated the victory and ran towards the sea of tents. Others joined them from beyond the gate, including the village chief. In the distance, bandits fled from the camps, leaving behind the patchwork fabric and crude barricades.


    Dustin had experienced the same thing in the past, having killed many humans. There was bound to be some bad eggs, even among the remaining few who survived the Torian invasion. The troublemakers had to be put down without question, lest they cause any more trouble.


    His stomach was churning from the screams of terror that echoed throughout his head. It was his first time ordering the death of a human in this young body, giving him a nauseous feeling. He thought it might be easier having memories of facing the feeling before, but he was wrong.


    Whilst it would get better, he would remember the names of those he was forced to kill. When his mind calmed down, Dustin patted out the flames that continued to burn, ignoring the searing pain that spread up his hands. He took out some refreshments, mana tea, and healing salve, to replenish his depleted resources.


    The villagers returned after burning down the bandit camp, whooping and cheering, pitchforks in the air. Dustin''s returned to being farmers, hefting their bloodied tools overhead as if the formation and use of weapons he had taught them was nothing but an illusion.


    The chief came out ahead of the crowd and bowed before him.


    "I thank you, Pioneer, for saving our village. Please, take these as a reward, I fear it is all our small village can spare."


    A wide collection of items appeared before Dustin as the villagers deposited several things onto the dirt. A set of chain mail laid on the left, a fair bit finer than the set he had seen in the armoury earlier. Unsurprisingly, the man who had been running it was the one to place it down.


    Next to it was a sturdy shield made from bark, several dying leaves stuck out from it, but it maintained its form resting on the ground. The next few items were similar weapons Dustin had been using, though at the end were some peculiar pieces.


    They gave a small book to him, detailing some agricultural processes the Killen followed. Dustin dismissed it when he read the title, but the description drew his interest.


    [Rare Killen Agriculture]


    When completed, gain +4 intelligence. Attacks using the elements of wood and earth cost 10% less mana to use.


    Dustin had to give it to them, the ordinary looking book had been the most useful out of all the rewards.


    The Dos system reward was still awaiting him as a small vibrating bell icon, but Dustin let the chief give his thanks first.


    Aside from the book, they also gifted him some seeds, which produced different grains, fruits, or vegetables not seen on earth.


    The chief finished thanking Dustin, followed by a round of applause from the Killen, which sounded muffled, because of the fur covered hands they possessed.


    When he was alone, he collected the rewards into his inventory, and he went for a stroll over to the desolate bandit camp whilst checking out the rewards.


    [Killen Raid completed, please choose a reward].


    - Rare Ensnaring Trident


    - Uncommon Light Crossbow of Weakening


    - Uncommon Replenishing Mana Tea x 2


    - Uncommon Replenishing Regenerative Salve x 2


    - Scroll: Dusty''s Platoon: 3-F


    The two weapons provided as a reward were the least enticing of the lot. Neither tridents nor crossbows were Dustin''s weapon of choice, even if the trident was rare. The two consumable options were once again quite underwhelming, which left the scroll.


    [Scroll: Dusty''s Platoon: 3-F]


    When torn, Dusty''s Platoon: 3-F will come to your aid for one hour.


    45 Killen.


    Dustin chuckled and chose the option. He could have taken the trident and sold it, but having some kind of reinforcement on demand was likely going to help.


    Dustin had a look around the village now that the bandit''s threat was gone. The villagers greeted him with a smile, though seemed to ignore his presence otherwise. He talked to a few, trying to pry information about the secret from them.


    From what he could gather, the village was a popular supplier of silkworms. Only, the worms had been undergoing some dangerous changes. Several of the male silkworms were growing aggressive during mating, killing and eating their mates during the breeding season. If he couldn''t bring the horny silkworms into submission, they would ruin the future harvests of the village.


    Dustin visited the farms, bringing him into a large dirt pen filled with wriggling white worms. Several concerned looking villagers stood around the outskirts, resting their arms on the wooden fence.


    As Dustin approached, they bowed to him, praising him for his defence of the village.


    "How can I help?"


    The farmers looked at each other in bewilderment and turned to face Dustin.


    "To put it simply. The male silkworms are mating too aggressively, killing the females. If you can find a reason, please let us know."


    [Quest Issued: Horny Silkworms]


    Male Silkworms have been aggressively mating with their female partners due to an unknown intervention, find out the reason.


    Dustin looked at the quest with disinterest. It was the most boring part of the dungeon so far, or of any dungeon, he had done since his ''rewind''. The worms were busy digging through the turned soil, revealing specks of white every so often. Dustin questioned the farmers for any information pertaining to their routines.


    The Silkworms ate throughout the day and mated after emerging from the cocoons. The larvae moult about four times before entering a cocoon stage, where the Killen take them to special incubators to preserve the silk.


    Dustin waited around for thirty minutes until some raunchy action took place in the pen. One of the male silk moths made a buzzing sound with its wings and scurried over to the female. Rather than a show of love or affection, Dustin witnessed what he could only describe as the brutal murder of the female silk moth.


    The male rammed into it at full speed, pushing the two off balance. It then pushed the female''s head into the ground, crushing it. The female''s wings fluttered as it tried to escape, but could not free itself from the male.


    After a minute of fighting the female moth fell silent, its wings remained still, and the body lay on the floor as the male continued to harass it. The farmers stood next to Dustin sighed in frustration and took the male away.


    Silkworm moths only had about 1 to 2 weeks after hatching from the cocoon to mate, and the time for these moths was fast approaching. Dustin did a little more in-depth investigation to their behaviours, including the life the larvae lived.


    The silkworms ate a lot of mulberry leaves, which was also the case for those on Earth. The Killen had a limited supply of these leaves and used a substitute plant that grew in the nearby forest when times were rough. Since the bandits had been pillaging nearby, their attempts to gather Mulberry leaves failed, leading them to rely on the other plant, Sarafel leaves.


    Although serving a similar purpose, Dustin went into the forest himself to gather some leaves.


    Whatever planet the Killen lived on, it seemed similar to Earth, just smaller. The tallest trees of the forest were only about twice Dustin''s height, standing at about 12 feet. The Sarafel plants grew around the base of the trees, pale green with purple dots splattered on like paint.


    Dustin picked up a few and smelt them, recoiling from the strong stench they gave off. He could detect a hint of cardamom from the unknown plant, mixed in with several other strong flavours.


    His curiosity got the better of him, and with a purchased anti-toxin in hand, he took a nibble. A viscous liquid spurt from the leaf he bit into, sitting in the centre of his tongue. It tasted of lemon and basil.


    There was no hallucinatory effects or anything dangerous to eating the plant, though Dustin could feel an unusual warmth. It began in his stomach, lowering towards his abdomen before resting in his crotch.


    "Ah," Dustin exclaimed, feeling uncomfortable at the sudden realization of what purpose the plant served.


    He took a sample of the plant back to the villagers and explained its purpose. The farmers looked at him with confused faces, unable to understand what an ''aphrodisiac'' meant.


    Frustrated with failed communication, Dustin had a few of them try it for themselves. The Killen as a race had quite a low libido, so the plant unlocked something in the Killen that offered to try it. They went into their small huts with their wives and he could hear the sounds of rigorous thumping.


    Dustin expected some kind of loud squeaking, like one would find in the centre of a teddy bear, but the reality was much more uncomfortable.


    When they emerged, eager Killen surrounded him smiles adorning their faces. The village chief himself turned up, demanding to know what the commotion was. Two villagers hurried over and explained the plant to him, much to his surprise.


    Dustin waited for a verdict as the quest completed, surprised as it revealed an additional secret, both completing at the same time.


    [Horny Silkworms Completed!]


    [Rare Silk Robe of Vitality Acquired!]


    [Quest Issued: Killen my Libido.]


    [Killen my Libido Completed!]


    - Charm Grenade x 1


    - Silkworm starter kit x 1


    - Spool of fine silk x 1


    - Perception: Mana


    The quest completions amused Dustin, and he minimized the rewards tab to view later. The chief was giddy with excitement and chatted to the nearby villagers as the alert warning Dustin that the dungeon was closing filled his screen.


    [Congratulations, you have fully cleared the Killen Raid. You will be teleported out in 10:00 minutes. Thank you, and happy spending!]


    While he hadn''t killed all the Killen within the dungeon boundaries, the villagers were classified as allies, and all the bandits had left the dungeon parameters.


    Dustin accepted the teleportation as he heard the chief whisper something, turning away as the world faded to black.


    "We could sell this!"

 29 Canst Catch Me

    The Killen village faded, falling apart like pieces of a puzzle. The housing commission that hosted the entrance to the dungeon replaced it, followed by the mixed smell of tobacco and urine. Dustin emerged in a dark living area, standing on the yellow-stained carpet.


    A red and blue light continued to flash through the room, revealing Dustin''s mask as it passed over the empty room. He could detect three muffled voices talking outside through the ripping vibrations they released.


    Dustin snuck over to the balcony door and scanned the lawn. Three police officers were standing in the middle of the pathway, chatting away. Two police cars blocked off access to the road, and one car had its lights on just at the end of the entrance.


    A thick black truck sat on the other side of the road, hiding whatever laid inside. Dustin needed to escape and pulled the rusted metal door open. A worn-down fly screen followed.


    Dustin cringed as the hinges squeaked and crouched down, watching the mini-map for any movement. No voices came, and he left the apartment door open. He crawled up the stairs, taking care to stay quiet.


    A room on the third floor, opposite the one he had broken into, had its door open, and Dustin ducked inside. A dim kitchen light lit up the apartment, revealing the mess of pill containers and fast food containers.


    Dustin jiggled the doorknob to the balcony and sighed in frustrated as it refused to open. He looked around the apartment, trying to find a set of keys to open the balcony. After searching for three minutes to no success, Dustin heard a shout from downstairs.


    The sound of footsteps echoed up the stairwell, pressuring Dustin into deciding. He summoned a shadow dagger in his hand and slashed at the balcony door, shattering glass, and cutting through the fly screen. The shouts came closer, and he could see the footsteps on his mini-map as the team entered the second floor.


    "Get down on your knees, hands behind your head!"


    Dustin jumped through the shattered door and barreled over the balcony, landing on the ground with a roll. The fall would have been enough to injure or kill an average human, but Dustin had increased durability and strength.


    A white light shone out from the balcony he jumped from as he took off, and a man wearing a black full body armour levelled his gun at Dustin.


    With a bare glance, Dustin threw the shadow dagger towards the officer, using the time to jump the nearby fence.


    Matthew, the officer on the balcony, threw himself to the ground as the dagger came sailing towards him, only to dissipate before crossing the balcony barrier.


    Dustin chuckled as he snuck alongside the wooden fence tinged with morning dew, limiting the sound of his steps on the grass. He was in the neighbouring apartments yard now, and faced with a large brick complex, on the same level as the garage doors.


    A cop car slammed on the brakes as it stopped in front of the building two officers jumping out and running over towards where Dustin hid.


    With no choice, Dustin ran to the opposite side of the building and scaled it. He hoisted himself up by the balconies, climbing on the rusted barriers to reach the next level. The sound of the cops rounding the corner alerted him, and he laid flat against the concrete ground.


    Dustin looked up, spotting an older man looking at him behind the sliding glass door. Dustin''s breath caught in his throat as the man looked from him to the police officers searching the side of the building, picking through the rubbish.


    A crooked smile spread on the mans face, and he turned around, walking over to his worn recliner. His frame shook as he sat down, hands holding onto the sides.


    Dustin gave a sigh of relief, watching his mini-map to see the officers spouting orders into the radio, running off down the side to the car. The roof of the building was two floors higher, and Dustin climbed up, minimising his noise at the expense of speed.


    He had a solid view of the surroundings from the roof, revealing more police vehicles, men wearing body armour popping out. The best way to escape was to distance himself from the police, taking off his disguise would make him just another civilian wandering the streets.


    Dustin peered over the lip of the roof to gauge the height, and an idea sprung to life. Though apprehensive to spend more Dos, Dustin dug into the store, adding two items to his cart. A small backpack appeared on his back, and the information for a new spell seared itself into his mind.


    [Geyser Blast]


    You direct a strong blast of wind originating from a chosen location, blasting anything in its path.


    Use: 130 Mana.


    Dustin kept a firm grip on the red handle poking out of the backpack strap on his shoulder, casting the spell from his feet, and into the air.


    The sound of rushing air filled his ears as the spell lifted his body up, clearing the roof of the building. He felt the sensation end, and his body plummet towards the ground. Before he descended too far, he pulled the strap on his backpack, and commanded another blast of wind to hit him.


    Rather than straight upwards, he sent himself flying towards the east, just as a pair of triangular wings emerged from the backpack, carrying his body weight as the glider whistled through the air.


    Officers heard the first explosion of air and saw a figure shoot into the sky. The second explosion sent it rocketing to the east. They scrambled to get back into their cars and drive after them.


    Dustin couldn''t help but laugh as he glided over the suburbs, carried by the wind that washed over him like waves. While a fall from the third floor wouldn''t kill him, his current distance from the ground would.


    He let the glider carry him away, aware that the sounds of sirens remained somewhere behind him, hidden among the darkened streets. Ahead of him was a large park, his glider heading straight for the tree tops that accented the black horizon.


    Police cars flew down the street, screeching to a halt beside the park. People came out of their houses, dressed in fluffy gowns as the officers sprinted into the park, following the dark outline of a crimson glider.


    They spotted it coming to a slow halt on the ground, shining their torches like a light show.


    The empty glider lay on the floor, covered in leaves and ripped from passing by the hanging branches of nearby trees. They turned the glider over, revealing the backpack, and nothing else. The area around the glider was devoid of life, and they had seen nobody flee from it.


    While the officers were searching the area in desperation, Dustin pulled a purchased towel from his inventory and dried his hair, already changed from the cloak and centipede carapace to a set of normal clothes.


    When the glider was closing in on the ground, Dustin fell early, landing in a strangers pool. He was fortunate that no one had noticed, and he jumped out, walking down the street with a carefree expression. The sounds of whirring blades passed overhead as a helicopter flew towards the park, the words ''Police'' printed onto the side.


    Dustin was uninterrupted on his walk home, avoiding contact with any law enforcement. He wore a hoodie as he walked to hide from any surveillance, making his way to the neighbourhood he lived in untouched.


    He was still being watched by the authorities, so he sent a message through the system. A figure emerged from the house a few minutes later, walking with the same hoodie Dustin wore.


    They walked over to the public toilet block near the children playground where Dustin waited.


    As the figure walked in, Dustin stood under the dim toilet lights, playing with his display.


    "Dustin?" The figure asked, and both pulled down their hoods, revealing the same face underneath.


    The real Dustin smiled and sent a small amount of Dos to the doppelganger facing him. The impostors face shifted, revealing that of a young boy underneath, a familiar sight.


    "Thanks David, that''ll be all for today." He waited a moment and flushed a toilet, pulling his hood back up and walking out, continuing away from the house first like he was on a morning walk.


    Moments later David emerged under the visage of an old man, his features rough and wrinkled, and his clothes stained. Those following Dustin maintained a suitable distance to avoid arousing suspicion, satisfied when he returned home.


    Meanwhile Dustin looked through his rewards from the dungeon, watching as his level rose.


    [Level up! +5 available attribute points. +300 Dos.]


    [Level up! +5 available attribute points. +310 Dos.]


    [Level up! +5 available attribute points. +320 Dos.]


    Pioneer: Dusty


    Race: Human


    Designation: XQB51


    Level: 17


    Attaining three levels from a single dungeon was outstanding, but failing the threshold he set at level 18 to enter the Eclipse Forest dungeon was disappointing.


    Regardless, Dustin took what he could get. The dungeon''s rewards made up part of the missing level.


    The random assortment of items given by the villagers could sell for a little extra Dos if nothing else, or sold off to other pioneers. Dustin planned to read the agriculture book and keep the seeds.


    The reward from the quest was a rare silk robe, which Dustin laid on the floor. The silk was dyed black, with white lining the edges where it came together. Rather than its appearance, Dustin was more interested in its usefulness.


    [Rare Silk Robe of Vitality]


    48/48 Durability


    +30 Mana Shield


    +3 Wisdom


    +8 Charisma


    A silk robe made from the cocoons of silkworms. Imbued with the power of vitality from the earth.


    Vitality: Wearer regenerates 10% of their health after taking damage, may only occur once every three minutes.


    Dustin let the silk wash over his fingers putting it on, wearing it underneath all the other armour. It felt smooth against his skin, better than the rough and patchy cloak.


    The other reward was a choice, albeit an easy one. Of the options provided, the [Charm Grenade] was a powerful item.


    [Charm Grenade]


    A grey canister filled with purple smoke. Those who inhale the smoke will be rendered harmless for 10 seconds, believing others to be their closest friends.


    Charm grenades were unavailable in the store, only given as rare quest rewards. They were game changing items, allowing the user to immobilise targets for ten seconds. Dustin looked at the [Skill: Cocoon] but shook his head, unable to pass up the allure that a charm grenade gave off.


    Aside from the rewards, Dustin looked over his new achievements from the dungeon.


    [Back off Bandits! You are the first pioneer of XQB51 to clear the Killen Raid dungeon. +5 Charisma. +20% health regeneration to your party when you are the leader.]


    Completing a dungeon quest should have had a first time achievement attached to it, but someone had beat Dustin to earning that mantle. He took the useful Back off Bandits! achievement as a success and focused on his Dos earnings.


    The dungeon had given him 3070 Dos, adding to the amount he had already for 3980. His plan to kill a Blood Ape Chieftain required some serious firepower, so Dustin purchased some gadgets to aid him.


    The first were some traps. Bear traps would snare anything that stepped on the central plate, stabbing them with spiked jaws. He also purchased some offensive consumables, and a new staff.


    The [Uncommon Static Metal Staff] was a good weapon early on, but the minor attachment of shocking enemies was becoming more useless as time went on. Close combat with the Blood Ape Chieftain was the worse case scenario. Dustin wanted to keep it at range and pound it with spells.


    He needed a staff that aided spells, something packing some serious firepower. There were options for staffs that granted spells, a two-in-one combination, provided the user didn''t lose the staff.


    One option caught Dustin''s attention, made from the spine of Magma Bear.


    [Rare Vertebrae Staff of Incineration]


    Durability 75/75


    A bone staff made from the spinal cord of a Magma Bear, contains powerful magic that experienced magicians may draw out.


    Incineration: Draw flames from the surroundings to incinerate a target, burning them over time. Extended exposure increases damage dealt.


    Dustin''s purchases brought him back into poverty. The bone staff in his hand was hot to the touch, each vertebrae was hotter than the last, with the end Dustin held providing a nice warmth, whilst the end of it could cause serious burns.


    The attributes gained from levelling up he placed in constitution, as Dustin knew that he needed a backup in case his quarry got too close.


    Constitution 31 (+15) ¡ú 46


    He could hear bones creak in his arms as tendons tightened around them, making his body sturdier. The pain made him hazy, but his mind was clear afterwards, like a solid trip to the gym.


    Dustin twirled the staff around, careful not to knock anything in his room over, and placed the tip on the ground before it disappeared into his inventory. He had a row of purchased goods to aid him in the fight with the Blood Ape Chieftain now, retrieving some lost confidence he had at being level 17.


    While Dustin settled in for the night, police maintained a strict roadblock around the commissioned housing, searching every inch of every room, finding no one. Police questioned if a dungeon appeared at all, but the sight of the masked man was substantial evidence of its existence.


    That led to further questions. Where did the inhabitants go? Did they all perish inside the dungeon? Or worse...


    Did the mysterious pioneer kill them?

 29 Cant Catch Me

    The Killen village faded, falling apart like pieces of a puzzle. The housing commission that hosted the entrance to the dungeon replaced it, followed by the mixed smell of tobacco and urine. Dustin emerged in a dark living area, standing on the yellow-stained carpet.


    A red and blue light continued to flash through the room, revealing Dustin''s mask as it passed over the empty room. He could detect three muffled voices talking outside through the ripping vibrations they released.


    Dustin snuck over to the balcony door and scanned the lawn. Three police officers were standing in the middle of the pathway, chatting away. Two police cars blocked off access to the road, and one car had its lights on just at the end of the entrance.


    A thick black truck sat on the other side of the road, hiding whatever laid inside. Dustin needed to escape and pulled the rusted metal door open. A worn-down fly screen followed.


    Dustin cringed as the hinges squeaked and crouched down, watching the mini-map for any movement. No voices came, and he left the apartment door open. He crawled up the stairs, taking care to stay quiet.


    A room on the third floor, opposite the one he had broken into, had its door open, and Dustin ducked inside. A dim kitchen light lit up the apartment, revealing the mess of pill containers and fast food containers.


    Dustin jiggled the doorknob to the balcony and sighed in frustrated as it refused to open. He looked around the apartment, trying to find a set of keys to open the balcony. After searching for three minutes to no success, Dustin heard a shout from downstairs.


    The sound of footsteps echoed up the stairwell, pressuring Dustin into deciding. He summoned a shadow dagger in his hand and slashed at the balcony door, shattering glass, and cutting through the fly screen. The shouts came closer, and he could see the footsteps on his mini-map as the team entered the second floor.


    "Get down on your knees, hands behind your head!"


    Dustin jumped through the shattered door and barreled over the balcony, landing on the ground with a roll. The fall would have been enough to injure or kill an average human, but Dustin had increased durability and strength.


    A white light shone out from the balcony he jumped from as he took off, and a man wearing a black full body armour levelled his gun at Dustin.


    With a bare glance, Dustin threw the shadow dagger towards the officer, using the time to jump the nearby fence.


    Matthew, the officer on the balcony, threw himself to the ground as the dagger came sailing towards him, only to dissipate before crossing the balcony barrier.


    Dustin chuckled as he snuck alongside the wooden fence tinged with morning dew, limiting the sound of his steps on the grass. He was in the neighbouring apartments yard now, and faced with a large brick complex, on the same level as the garage doors.


    A cop car slammed on the brakes as it stopped in front of the building two officers jumping out and running over towards where Dustin hid.


    With no choice, Dustin ran to the opposite side of the building and scaled it. He hoisted himself up by the balconies, climbing on the rusted barriers to reach the next level. The sound of the cops rounding the corner alerted him, and he laid flat against the concrete ground.


    Dustin looked up, spotting an older man looking at him behind the sliding glass door. Dustin''s breath caught in his throat as the man looked from him to the police officers searching the side of the building, picking through the rubbish.


    A crooked smile spread on the mans face, and he turned around, walking over to his worn recliner. His frame shook as he sat down, hands holding onto the sides.


    Dustin gave a sigh of relief, watching his mini-map to see the officers spouting orders into the radio, running off down the side to the car. The roof of the building was two floors higher, and Dustin climbed up, minimising his noise at the expense of speed.


    He had a solid view of the surroundings from the roof, revealing more police vehicles, men wearing body armour popping out. The best way to escape was to distance himself from the police, taking off his disguise would make him just another civilian wandering the streets.


    Dustin peered over the lip of the roof to gauge the height, and an idea sprung to life. Though apprehensive to spend more Dos, Dustin dug into the store, adding two items to his cart. A small backpack appeared on his back, and the information for a new spell seared itself into his mind.


    [Geyser Blast]


    You direct a strong blast of wind originating from a chosen location, blasting anything in its path.


    Use: 130 Mana.


    Dustin kept a firm grip on the red handle poking out of the backpack strap on his shoulder, casting the spell from his feet, and into the air.


    The sound of rushing air filled his ears as the spell lifted his body up, clearing the roof of the building. He felt the sensation end, and his body plummet towards the ground. Before he descended too far, he pulled the strap on his backpack, and commanded another blast of wind to hit him.


    Rather than straight upwards, he sent himself flying towards the east, just as a pair of triangular wings emerged from the backpack, carrying his body weight as the glider whistled through the air.


    Officers heard the first explosion of air and saw a figure shoot into the sky. The second explosion sent it rocketing to the east. They scrambled to get back into their cars and drive after them.


    Dustin couldn''t help but laugh as he glided over the suburbs, carried by the wind that washed over him like waves. While a fall from the third floor wouldn''t kill him, his current distance from the ground would.


    He let the glider carry him away, aware that the sounds of sirens remained somewhere behind him, hidden among the darkened streets. Ahead of him was a large park, his glider heading straight for the tree tops that accented the black horizon.


    Police cars flew down the street, screeching to a halt beside the park. People came out of their houses, dressed in fluffy gowns as the officers sprinted into the park, following the dark outline of a crimson glider.


    They spotted it coming to a slow halt on the ground, shining their torches like a light show.


    The empty glider lay on the floor, covered in leaves and ripped from passing by the hanging branches of nearby trees. They turned the glider over, revealing the backpack, and nothing else. The area around the glider was devoid of life, and they had seen nobody flee from it.


    While the officers were searching the area in desperation, Dustin pulled a purchased towel from his inventory and dried his hair, already changed from the cloak and centipede carapace to a set of normal clothes.


    When the glider was closing in on the ground, Dustin fell early, landing in a strangers pool. He was fortunate that no one had noticed, and he jumped out, walking down the street with a carefree expression. The sounds of whirring blades passed overhead as a helicopter flew towards the park, the words ''Police'' printed onto the side.


    Dustin was uninterrupted on his walk home, avoiding contact with any law enforcement. He wore a hoodie as he walked to hide from any surveillance, making his way to the neighbourhood he lived in untouched.


    He was still being watched by the authorities, so he sent a message through the system. A figure emerged from the house a few minutes later, walking with the same hoodie Dustin wore.


    They walked over to the public toilet block near the children playground where Dustin waited.


    As the figure walked in, Dustin stood under the dim toilet lights, playing with his display.


    "Dustin?" The figure asked, and both pulled down their hoods, revealing the same face underneath.


    The real Dustin smiled and sent a small amount of Dos to the doppelganger facing him. The impostors face shifted, revealing that of a young boy underneath, a familiar sight.


    "Thanks David, that''ll be all for today." He waited a moment and flushed a toilet, pulling his hood back up and walking out, continuing away from the house first like he was on a morning walk.


    Moments later David emerged under the visage of an old man, his features rough and wrinkled, and his clothes stained. Those following Dustin maintained a suitable distance to avoid arousing suspicion, satisfied when he returned home.


    Meanwhile Dustin looked through his rewards from the dungeon, watching as his level rose.


    [Level up! +5 available attribute points. +300 Dos.]


    [Level up! +5 available attribute points. +310 Dos.]


    [Level up! +5 available attribute points. +320 Dos.]


    Pioneer: Dusty


    Race: Human


    Designation: XQB51


    Level: 17


    Attaining three levels from a single dungeon was outstanding, but failing the threshold he set at level 18 to enter the Eclipse Forest dungeon was disappointing.


    Regardless, Dustin took what he could get. The dungeon''s rewards made up part of the missing level.


    The random assortment of items given by the villagers could sell for a little extra Dos if nothing else, or sold off to other pioneers. Dustin planned to read the agriculture book and keep the seeds.


    The reward from the quest was a rare silk robe, which Dustin laid on the floor. The silk was dyed black, with white lining the edges where it came together. Rather than its appearance, Dustin was more interested in its usefulness.


    [Rare Silk Robe of Vitality]


    48/48 Durability


    +30 Mana Shield


    +3 Wisdom


    +8 Charisma


    A silk robe made from the cocoons of silkworms. Imbued with the power of vitality from the earth.


    Vitality: Wearer regenerates 10% of their health after taking damage, may only occur once every three minutes.


    Dustin let the silk wash over his fingers putting it on, wearing it underneath all the other armour. It felt smooth against his skin, better than the rough and patchy cloak.


    The other reward was a choice, albeit an easy one. Of the options provided, the [Charm Grenade] was a powerful item.


    [Charm Grenade]


    A grey canister filled with purple smoke. Those who inhale the smoke will be rendered harmless for 10 seconds, believing others to be their closest friends.


    Charm grenades were unavailable in the store, only given as rare quest rewards. They were game changing items, allowing the user to immobilise targets for ten seconds. Dustin looked at the [Skill: Cocoon] but shook his head, unable to pass up the allure that a charm grenade gave off.


    Aside from the rewards, Dustin looked over his new achievements from the dungeon.


    [Back off Bandits! You are the first pioneer of XQB51 to clear the Killen Raid dungeon. +5 Charisma. +20% health regeneration to your party when you are the leader.]


    Completing a dungeon quest should have had a first time achievement attached to it, but someone had beat Dustin to earning that mantle. He took the useful Back off Bandits! achievement as a success and focused on his Dos earnings.


    The dungeon had given him 3070 Dos, adding to the amount he had already for 3980. His plan to kill a Blood Ape Chieftain required some serious firepower, so Dustin purchased some gadgets to aid him.


    The first were some traps. Bear traps would snare anything that stepped on the central plate, stabbing them with spiked jaws. He also purchased some offensive consumables, and a new staff.


    The [Uncommon Static Metal Staff] was a good weapon early on, but the minor attachment of shocking enemies was becoming more useless as time went on. Close combat with the Blood Ape Chieftain was the worse case scenario. Dustin wanted to keep it at range and pound it with spells.


    He needed a staff that aided spells, something packing some serious firepower. There were options for staffs that granted spells, a two-in-one combination, provided the user didn''t lose the staff.


    One option caught Dustin''s attention, made from the spine of Magma Bear.


    [Rare Vertebrae Staff of Incineration]


    Durability 75/75


    A bone staff made from the spinal cord of a Magma Bear, contains powerful magic that experienced magicians may draw out.


    Incineration: Draw flames from the surroundings to incinerate a target, burning them over time. Extended exposure increases damage dealt.


    Dustin''s purchases brought him back into poverty. The bone staff in his hand was hot to the touch, each vertebrae was hotter than the last, with the end Dustin held providing a nice warmth, whilst the end of it could cause serious burns.


    The attributes gained from levelling up he placed in constitution, as Dustin knew that he needed a backup in case his quarry got too close.


    Constitution 31 (+15) ¡ú 46


    He could hear bones creak in his arms as tendons tightened around them, making his body sturdier. The pain made him hazy, but his mind was clear afterwards, like a solid trip to the gym.


    Dustin twirled the staff around, careful not to knock anything in his room over, and placed the tip on the ground before it disappeared into his inventory. He had a row of purchased goods to aid him in the fight with the Blood Ape Chieftain now, retrieving some lost confidence he had at being level 17.


    While Dustin settled in for the night, police maintained a strict roadblock around the commissioned housing, searching every inch of every room, finding no one. Police questioned if a dungeon appeared at all, but the sight of the masked man was substantial evidence of its existence.


    That led to further questions. Where did the inhabitants go? Did they all perish inside the dungeon? Or worse...


    Did the mysterious pioneer kill them?