"Sign here," the bank woman said with a comforting smile, "but be warned the dungeon has lost many experienced runn—"
Kenzo impatiently tapped the counter. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Incompetent, I get it. Where do I sign?"
In this world, superpowers were a birthright, and the sudden emergence of Dungeons made dungeon running the quickest path to wealth. Kenzo, who was born with the ability to create clones, had no need for a team. Why bother with the incompetence of others when he could be a full squad by himself?
The dungeon was ran by the TB.15 bank they paid Runners to go in the dungeon and collect valuable resources like kinetium and Voltaic.
"You may now enter the dungeon", Kenzo grinned, stepping through the portal. The otherworldly transition lasted only a moment before he emerged to an utterly unexpected inharmonious sound. Then he heard the rhythmic clang of a blacksmith's hammer, the distant whisper of a busy street, and the shouts of vendors. Hotels, the TB.15 Bank's branch office, and numerous blacksmith shops lined the cavern walls.
The scent reminded him of earth giving him comfort.
"Beginner hunters assemble at the front for your official guide of the dungeon!"
Kenzo casually put his hands behind his head. He ignored the assembly of new Runners, deciding to explore the dungeon alone. Why waste time with a beginner's guide when he was clearly better than everyone else here?
Kenzo bought a pickaxe from a nearby shop and confidently marched toward the Level 2's entrance. The dungeon was split into descending levels; the deeper you went, the harder the challenge. While Level 1 was mostly safe territory, Level 2 and beyond were considered "unclaimed," meaning monsters roamed freely
Before Kenzo could reach the Level 2 entrance, a young man stepped in front of him. "Hey you there, are you a beginner by chance?"
Kenzo gave a slow, condescending nod. "I just signed the waiver, yes."
"Awesome!, My name is Ren, Can we team up to—"
"Stop right there, buddy. I'm already set. Go find some other friends."
Kenzo walked away confidently. "He's going to die," Ren mumbled, shaking his head. "Arrogance kills in this dungeon."
LEVEL 2: UNCLAIMED
Kenzo passed through the Level 2 entrance, and the sounds of the hub vanished, replaced by damp silence. The air was thick. The best Voltaic had already been stripped from the areas closest to the entrance, forcing Runners to go deeper, but thin veins of voltaic still shimmered through the darkness, casting a weak, cold glow.
Kenzo pulled a simple glow-lamp from his pouch to help him avoid traps.
The low, creeping sound of whispers soon overpowered the noise of his pickaxe hitting the rock. He immediately grew alert, pulling out his metal dagger.
"Let the fight begin," he murmured.
He quickly spawned a clone in the shadows, tossing it the dagger, and positioned himself for the enemy.
When the first monster stepped into the glow-lamp's light, Kenzo smirked at the sight of its hunched back and sharp teeth.
"Goblins?" Kenzo scoffed. "Seriously? They don't even need a team of two."
The Goblins, true to their nature as unorganized creatures, simply charged as a messy mob.
Kenzo met the onslaught with contempt. He ran forward and executed a low slide, knocking the lead Goblin's legs out from under it.
Before the creature hit the ground, the clone stabbed it in the head. The clone then threw its dagger straight past Kenzo's ear, burying it in the neck of a second Goblin.
Kenzo snatched the returning dagger, spinning to slash the throats of four more monsters in a single, sweeping arc.
He confidently tossed the dagger aside The clone rushed in with full fury, quickly slicing down the remaining two Goblins.
"I'm so cool," he grinned, satisfied with his performance.
"Hmph. He's a decent fighter," a dark, unhumanly voice rasped. "Let's send in a bigger threat to kill him—a weaker version of us."
THUD! THUD! THUD!
"Finally," Kenzo muttered, a wider, genuine smile spreading across his face. He quickly focused his mana, and four new clones shimmered into existence around him. "My limit is four clones, so I'll just go all out just in case."
The creature stepped into the cold glow of his lamp: a monstrous, seven-foot-tall beast with a club in its hands. It looked starved and broken, its empty eyes and malnourished frame suggesting a creature deprived of a soul, yet it carried an undeniable, lethal weight.
"Go!" Kenzo shouted, signaling all five figures (himself and four clones) to attack.
Kenzo ran behind the mob, the thought forming in his head: "Wait, isn't this a rare monst—".
BOOM!
The monster didn't even flinch. It delivered a monstrous kick, sending one clone crashing into the cavern wall. Kenzo's pause was fatal. "Isn't that a high Or—"
BOOM!
A second clone was shattered against him, sending Kenzo himself tumbling hard against the cold rock. The last two clones tried to scatter, but a swipe from the Orc's heavy club caught one, and blood splattered everywhere before the clone dissolved into mana.
THUD! THUD!
The beast stepped toward the real Kenzo with something like a grin, raising its heavy club for the finishing blow.
SHWING!
A specialized sword, propelled by high mana, zipped through the air and embedded itself deep in the Orc's shoulder, forcing a massive, pained roar.
"I knew you were going to die," Ren said, stepping out of the darkness, a second sword ready in his hand.
The Help Smiles
A white-haired kid with blue eyes and a decent frame casually approached the fallen Kenzo. "If you were at the tutorial, you'd know that you can buy Voltaic lamps that actually brighten up the cave, jackass."
Ren didn't wait for a reply. "But the past is the past. Now it's my turn."
The enraged Orc whirled, fixing its empty eyes on Ren, and charged with full, blind fury. Ren smiled, "Come at me," and then moved.
A green aura sparked around him, and Ren vanished. Not disappearing, but moved with perfect, unnerving silence, the sounds of his steps utterly absorbed by the stone floor.
"What the hell is his power!?" Kenzo pondered in a daze, the pain of the impact finally hitting him.
Ren reappeared at the Orc's knee, swiftly slicing the monster's leg before shifting his grip on the sword and cleanly slicing into the shoulder. The Orc roared, stumbling.
Ren's smile widened as he began to toy with the monster, dancing just out of the club's reach. The pain from the kick overwhelmed Kenzo and his head bleeding, the world faded to black. He fainted.
"I guess It's time to let loose," Ren muttered, relaxing his stance and taking a deep breath.
The enraged Orc closed the distance, ignoring its wounds, and raised its club.
DOOM!
The club smashed into Ren, driving his body into the cavern wall. He slumped to the ground, a pile of blood and shattered limbs. He was barely clinging to life.
The monster turned, heading back toward its mysterious base, job complete.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Laughter, sharp and loud, suddenly filled the cave. The green aura violently surged, swallowing Ren's broken body. Bones reset with audible snaps and torn flesh knit itself back together.
Ren slowly rose, completely whole. "My power is Absolute Healing!" he yelled, the sound echoing through the darkness. "I can heal anything as long as I can draw breath!"
The High Orc paused, sensing the renewed threat, and slowly turned back.
"I'm ready to play," Ren said, a terrifying, twisted smile spreading across his blood-slicked face.
SWOOSH!
The sudden burst of wind was the only warning. Ren moved not silently, but with blurring speed—and his blade sliced the arm clean off the massive Orc.
ROOOOAAAR!!
While the beast screamed, Ren took the other arm, then swiftly took out the legs.
"Now we are eye level," Ren hissed, forcing the limbless creature to stare up at him. "Look into my eyes and feel fear."
The High Orc, a creature of primal strength, felt genuine terror from the mere human standing over it.
Ren ended its life while still staring into its eye.
"Ren, what is that look on your face?" The question came from a newly woking Kenzo, whose eyes barely fluttered open from the wall where he'd been thrown.
The sadistic glint in Ren's eyes vanished instantly after calming down, replaced by a warm, almost annoyingly kind smile. Ren quickly knelt, his expression shifting as easily as a cloak.
Kenzo tried to speak, but the pain was immense. The world began to fade again.
ZAP.
A pulse of green aura erupted from Ren, washing over Kenzo. The pain vanished instantly. Kenzo's head stopped bleeding, and he felt whole again. The raw, terrifying display of Absolute Healing snapped him wide awake.
Ren stood up, looking at the dagger Kenzo had used. "Are you using an iron dagger??"
Kenzo, still reeling from the sudden healing, could only nod. "Yeah."
Ren let out a sigh of exasperation. "If you'd taken the tutorial, you'd know that even if you could fight a High Orc, your blade would be broken immediately."
"Why would it be?"
"Because iron can't break through the mana-heavy skins of most creatures. Those Goblins laying over there? That was pure luck. You need to lock in and get your head out of your ass, or you'll be one of the statistics the bank woman warned us beginners about."
Kenzo stared at the ground, a wave of profound shame washing over him. The "easy money" he wanted now tasted like ash; he wasn't special, he was a failure. The thought hammered in his mind: I NEED TO BE BETTER.
"Did you mine anything?" Ren said in a calm tone.
Kenzo mumbled, "Yeah, I got some Voltaic."
"Great. Let's go sell it to the bank and get you a proper weapon."
Kenzo simply shut his mouth and followed.
"It didn't get me that much money, though," Kenzo ventured, his voice low.
Ren chuckled. "That small amount? You think that's enough? Voltaic might be a strong power source, but the refinement process demands bigger catches. That'll just cover the cost of getting you geared up."
Ren led Kenzo to a nearby storefront and clapped a large man on the shoulder. "Hey Darin, what's up?"
Darin, the blacksmith, looked up with a frown. "Sword breaker? Tell me you haven't destroyed one of my blades again, boy. You've only been here a month!"
"No, no. It's not for me," Ren assured him. "It's for the boy genius over here. He brought iron daggers to Level 2."
"Haha!" Laughter burst from the blacksmith, loud and raspy. He pounded his heavy counter. "Hear this, kid! I'll give you a dollar discount for your troubles! Hahaha! All right, I'll make your dagger. Just give me five minutes."
Darin returned, sliding a new, specialized weapon across the counter. "Finished. Take care of her, and don't break my blade, boy." His eyes darted to Ren, who was whistling and looking up at the cavern ceiling.
Kenzo took the dagger, his expression grim. Swallowing the last of his pride, he looked at Ren. "Train me to fight."
Ren paused. "Hold on. I can't do that. You have to learn your own way in actual battles find your path. But... I'll spar with you." He grinned. "Take care now."
WAAAHHH!!
A shrill emergency siren cut through the hub's constant clatter. An amplified voice blared: "All available hunters, please help in Level 2, close to the Level 3 entrance! Our hunters are outnumbered! Please help!"