Safe zone- First floor
Sunrays fell on Naruto's skin. He felt a chill on his whole body.
Being in a wet environment made him forget the sensation of being alive under the sun.
Walking to the stall, Naruto felt his body relaxing. He felt tired but at the same time, the relief of finally being able to leave that place filled his mind.
He had spent an unknown amount of time inside that cage. If he were still in the village, he thought, he would be starting the next school year. But not now, he needed to clear this place and ask Lady for Ego.
There would be a reason for him to disappear like that. He was sure about it.
Naruto continued walking to the fountain and filled his bottle again. Drinking a sip, he felt better.
As he approached the stall, the Dwarf offered him a seat.
After thanking him, Naruto simply sat down and put his back against the wall.
Letting out a sigh of relief, the tiredness filled his whole body.
As he was falling asleep, the Dwarf asked.
"It was hard, wasn't it?" the Dwarf asked, though he couldn't know the extent of what the kid had suffered in that place.
Naruto remained in silence, just remembering the things that he had gone through.
With a low voice, Naruto replied to him. "Mm, I didn't expect to be trapped in that place for such a long time. Can you tell me how much it was?"
"A little more than three months. At first, I thought that it would only take you a few weeks, because I don't know how large she made the floor."
"Three months, huh?" Naruto remained in silence. He thought that it was more, but only three months?
The Dwarf kept silent, just waiting for the kid to recover from the news.
He could see how the gaze of the kid had changed, and his body was always tense. Even his healthy skin was now pale, like he was sick.
The thing that most amazed him was his arms and legs. The remains of energy were still in those zones, that only happened if the injuries were serious and the water took more time to heal it.
The energies that were moving on the kid's body as their own were now a bit more controlled, it wasn't that much but doing it with only 9 years and no one to teach him was surely a feat.
"Naruto, how did you live in that place? and why didn't you leave it?" The Dwarf was confused, he understood that she made it bigger for the kid, but why was he trapped? That didn't happen before.
"Lived? Hah, I survived. I did everything to survive, if I didn't do that, I would be the meal of those things..." Hugging his knees, he continued. "I tried to leave, I did it for the first few days, when I could still count the days. But the exit just disappeared and only appeared again when I killed the Royal Guard." His nails dug into his hands.
"Well, that sounds bad. What did you eat and where did you sleep? I remember that there were some safe-zones." The Dwarf had a hand on his chin, remembering the time when he entered this place.
Naruto looked at him confused "Food? Just ate rats or mushrooms, there was nothing more in that place. I continued searching for something more edible to eat but the only thing I found were more rats and mushrooms. "
"You ate those things? How?" It wasn't supposed that someone survived as a newbie, unless they had a method to treat it.
Pointing at his invisible status window, Naruto replied "Ah, after I ate some of them, I gained [Poison resistance] that helped me in the fights, it was really useful."
Taking out his inventory, Naruto showed him the things he was eating. "These... it tasted bad, but after I got the three resistances, I could eat them as long as I had my bottle."
"... That sounds rude." He said that but his thoughts couldn't be more different. This kid really ate those things? How much despair did he feel... And why did she take away the food! Since when she takes people to torture them? He was really confused, he understood that the Kid needed time, but he didn't think about this.
Unaware as he was thinking, Naruto continued. "I just slept on a tower of debris, sometimes I was lucky and found a bedroom, but it disappeared the next day. Heh, luckily the rats couldn't enter it, and I could sleep well sometimes. It was hard to find a place where the rats didn't bother me every hour." He had a bitter smile telling the last thing.
She has been planning something. She wouldn't make a child suffer only for her entertainment, but I hope she could understand that he's still a child. The Dwarf had pity in his eyes. "At least you are finished for now."
Naruto shook his head. "No, I need to clean up the other districts to clear the floor."
She is being really cruel, huh... The Dwarf had a bitter smile.
"Okay, just rest for today. Fortunately, I have a bed in the back. You look so tired, go." Opening the door, he pointed to the bedroom.
"Mm, thanks." Naruto didn't say more and just entered; he was really tired.
Looking at Naruto's back, the Dwarf was lost in thought.
If he can continue like that, when she helps him to rank up... He suspected something, but he needed more time to observe it.
Well, if this kid can do that to survive, he will conquer this place as long as he doesn't die. The Dwarf, no, The Smelter King had a smile. It had been a long time since he saw such an interesting climber and it was just a 9-year-old kid.
As Naruto entered the bedroom, he just went to sleep. All the rewards and things the system gave him wasn't in his mind, that could be seen later.
Naruto fell asleep and the light went out.
Several hours later.
Naruto awoke with a headache. It was the first time he had slept for so long. Trying to recognize his situation, his body tensed. He was in a bedroom; it was cozy and had a small window at the top.
The scene felt more comfortable than the dungeon and he remembered. He went out of that place.
The relief filled his body. After recovering for a moment, he left the room and went outside.
Naruto didn't notice if the Dwarf went to sleep or not, he didn't see the other room when he looked yesterday.
Leaving the house, he noticed that the day was almost gone, and the sunset had recently begun.
"Even this place has day and night? Hah, at least it is familiar." Naruto said with a smile looking at the orange sky.
"She put a lot of effort into this place to make it like a living place, not a prison. It wouldn't be the same if you stayed all day under a grey roof, right?"
The Dwarf was sitting beside the fountain.
Approaching him, Naruto took a seat.
"Mm, I think so. This made me think that I was still in that place, at least the good things."
"Then, she achieved her goal. She doesn't want prisoners; she wants living beings."
"Haha, this place is hard but I'm glad to be here. Is this floor always the same?"
"No, she changed it specially for you. You're too young and need some years to grow up. To reach the tenth floor you will need a few years."
"Mmm that sounds bad, but okay, I will do it."
"Good, that's the spirit. Ah, last time I didn't ask you for your friend. Who's he?"
"His name is Ego and he's a book. He accompanied me here but the moment I entered this place, he disappeared. You know why?"
"Ah, it's him? I won't expect to hear from him after all those years." The Dwarf had a thoughtful look, but he didn't continue.
They know about him, mm... Corvinus also knew Ego, but he only ignored him, as he was irrelevant.
The Dwarf waited until Naruto looked at him again.
"Naruto, you know that this is a Tower, right?"
"Mm, there are more? They just presented this place and left."
"Yes, in other places you can see more Towers but this is different. This place creates legends that echoes in the vast expansion. Here you can't form a party, you can only climb it alone, at least she did it in that way for those she thinks had a lot of talent. " The Dwarf spoke with admiration; he was one of the first she helped.
"It's a place that helps the talented and punishes mediocrity. It's fair because it rewards you for your efforts, but it's also brutal because you can't obtain free things and leave whenever you want. " Shaking his head, he continued. "Why would she give power to a coward? You can leave if your history is enough, otherwise, you will fall here when you lose your will to climb."
"Well, that sounds good, right? At least you can strive and obtain something. Where I'm from, people can put in all their effort and that wouldn't be enough." Clenching his fist, Naruto continued. "I feel stronger here, it's hard and sometimes I thought that she just wants to play with me, but it's fine. Lady, Corvinus, Ego and you didn't despise me and that's enough."
The Dwarf had a smile hearing that, the kid didn't lose his courage but accepted it.
Naruto continued. "I also achieved a feat when I killed Daiv. Can you tell me what's the use for that?"
"A feat? That was fast, but it's good, continue doing that. And you can use it to rank up when you reach the 5th or 10th floor. She decided it and the reward you obtain is in line with your history. The achievements you obtain also count on it."
"Yeah, I got one of those. It's called [Why just one time? Twice is better]. And a title..." As Naruto said the last, his face darkened.
"Ah, that has other versions but it's difficult to obtain. A title? Show me" The Dwarf looked at Naruto with curiosity.
"... It's [Caveman]" Naruto replied ashamed.
"... I see, and what's the effect?" Trying to contain the laugh, the Dwarf asked again.
"The goblins respect me for eating rats..."
"Pfft-hahahah, the goblins? Oh lord."
Naruto's face was dark seeing the Dwarf laughing at him, but he couldn't blame him, he would do the same if someone told him that.
Kicking him, Naruto spoke. "Hey, stop that. It's embarrassing, just tell me how I use those things and how I level up."
Rubbing the arm Naruto kicked, the Dwarf replied with a smile. "Hahaha, fine. The title's effects are always present, don't worry about that and to level up just use your status window. Beside the [0] it will be a yellow bar and a sign, press it and the options will appear."
"Okay. Let me see."
[Level up]x2
[You obtain 2 points from the level up and 1 by killing a minor boss. One point can increase your basic stats by 10% for the normal one, 8% for the yellow, 6% for the green, 4% for the blue, 2% for the purple, and 0.5% for the red.]
[Also, you can increase your intelligence in 1 using 3 points and the mana 1 for each point. After 20 the points required increased to 5 and 1 more for each INT after that.]
"Hey, I got 3 points. What do you recommend for me to increase? My [Vitality] [Mind] and [Adaptability] are yellow. The last one only needs a bit to reach the blue."
"Mm how much is your [Intelligence]?"
"It's 17, is it good?"
"Aha, the normal human only had 10 or less normally and each point after that it's very important. Just put your points in it, you can increase the others' training or collecting fragments."
"Okay, thanks"
Naruto looked at his status and put the points.
[Your [Intelligence] has increased in 1]
As he put the points in it, Naruto didn't felt much difference. Some problems that had been bothering him looked a little more easier and he could solve them in less time. He didn't know about the other changes, but only that was worth it. Even the use of his chakra was easier than before.
Looking at his stats, he noticed the changes.
[Strength: 42%]
[Dexterity: 49.2%]
[Agility: 45%]
[Mind: 72% (Yellow)]
[Intelligence: 18(Colourless)]
[Spiritual energy: 12.8]
[Stamina: 21/21]
[HP: 960/960]
"Do you feel any difference?" The Dwarf's voice took him out of his mind.
"Mm, the other stats also increased a bit. How can I show you? I don't know if this is good or not."
"Just think about it and I should be able to see it."
As the Dwarf says that a status window appeared in front of him.
He started to look at all the numbers and the thing that most impressed him were the [Mind] and [Adaptability].
I think now I know why she took him, this is really impressive, and he isn't even an adult. In this place he could reach the red or even more? Heh.
"Then, how is it compared to others?"
"It looks very good, the stats of an average adult human were 10% in their best state or less if they didn't take care of their bodies. With that [Intelligence] you can progress fast once you get the method to improve, you just need to continue the [Dexterity] training to control your energies and the things inside you."
"Hehe, thanks. And you told me that I can sell you things?" Taking out the rat's skin, he continued."How about this? This was the only thing they dropped."
Looking at the 6 stacks, the Dwarf wrinkled his mouth.
"I can give you 210G for it. Won't you sell the royal guard skin or its teeth?" Giving him the gold, he asked.
"No, the clue to the secret told me to gather the four pieces and maybe the teeth will be useful later"
"Okay, any questions or now can I show you my shop?"
Taking out of his inventory a crystal, Naruto asked. "I got this when I killed Daiv, it says that it is a skill fragment. Any idea of what this is?"
"Ah, that thing. You could gather 3 or 5 and you will obtain a random skill according to your preferences, in your situation I advise you to use 5. It's only 2 more but normally you took at least 2 or 3 floors to get that much."
"Okay, when I gather them, I will tell you."
"Fine, just look at my shop and tell me if you need something."
Nodding to him, Naruto got up and approached the stall. It had several items in it, and some of them caught his attention.
[Health Recovery Potion: Restores 50% health] [ 1:30s of CD] 20
[Wooden shield: Can block most of attack but its durability is low] [+3 Defense]150
[Stamina Recovery potion: Restores 50% stamina]20
"Hey, sell me the shield, 6 potions of health, and 2 of stamina."
"Just put the gold on the table and it will appear in your inventory."
Naruto heard him and did it.
Equipping the shield, he felt safer. He didn't buy a weapon because all were the same as the hammer or the sword and expensive as well.
"If you didn't use a weapon, how would you kill the other guards?"
Giving a kiss on his fist, Naruto replied with a smile. "With this, just beat the shit out of them. My body is my weapon."
"You sound like a fanatic I met a long time ago, he sounds exactly like you, and he did it, he didn't even use armor, just his pure body."
"My master is the same, he taught me that and I agree with him."
"Are you going to enter and kill the others, or you want to rest some days?"
"Neither of those, I need to get the other resistance." Taking out the paralyzing arrow, Naruto walked to the fountain and sat beside it. "Including this, I got 7. I want to see how much this could increase it. If you see me drowning, put the bottle in my mouth, please."
"Okay, good luck with that."
Nodding to him, Naruto stabbed himself with the arrow and in less than 10 seconds, the system message appeared.
[Acquired abnormal status: Paralyzed] [You have been paralyzed for 25s or until the next attack]
25? Daiv was 10 seconds less.
The seconds passed fast, and Naruto didn't see the message he wanted.
"Hey, kid. Don't lie on the floor like an idiot, it's called [Resistance]. Try to move your body or those arrows will just increase that resistance a bit."
With his head down in shame, Naruto did the same, but this time it was different.
[Paralysis resistance acquired: 1%]
Good, now increase this.
Trying to move in that state felt like being trapped, unable to do anything no matter how much he tried, as he did that, the resistance increased until 6% when the effect ended.
After he got 10% the time was reduced by 2 seconds and when he reached 20% it was only 20 seconds.
He didn't stop and when all the 7 arrows became useless, he saw the resistance again.
[Paralysis resistance acquired: 23%]
"23... It's less than I thought before but that will be fine, when I obtain more arrows." Turning to the Dwarf, Naruto spoke. "Hey, thanks. I will stay here for a while until I use all the things I obtained."
"You're welcome. If you need to sleep, just use the bedroom, but don't touch anything, fine?"
"Okay, it wouldn't be for long. The meat I have isn't much."
A week passed quickly.
This time Naruto didn't do exercise, just practiced his control. With his augmented intelligence, it increased a lot in a short time. And he noticed that the rat meat increased a lot his chakra, even more with the one the Royal Guard dropped.
[Vitality: 66% (yellow)
[Strength: 45%]
[Dexterity: 54.5%]
[Agility: 48%]
[Spiritual energy: 14.4]
[Stamina: 22/22]
[HP: 990/990]
[Stamina: 22]
[Red Chakra: 19(yellow)]
[Chakra: 475---(yellow)[10000(?)]]
With his new stats, Naruto was ready to kill the others. This time it would be easy.
"Hey, I need to leave. I ran out of food." Shrugging his shoulders, Naruto spoke.
"Why don't you rest for today? The day is almost over."
"It's better for me to go now." Naruto shook his head.
"Fine, take care. Don't take so long this time.
Waving his hand, Naruto entered the dungeon again.
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It's been a long time since I left this, but I think I can continue writing now. I apologize to those who liked this story. I'm very sorry for dropping it without any explanation, but my health was very poor, and the constant traveling and work weren't helping.
I have some chapters that I didn't publish, and I'll post them in the next few days, as I'm going to start writing again.
Happy New Year and thank you to those of you who read this.