The trio went their separate ways just after sunrise.
They had slept early the night before, completely exhausted from the dungeon. Zac and Dustin headed toward the second dungeon in the desert tutorial ground, while Saya went her own way.
Dustin and Zac did not ask why she refused to join them. It did not seem wise to force someone they barely knew.
Their feet sank into the hot sand.
"The sun rose just two or three hours ago," Zac complained, wiping a thick layer of sweat from his forehead. "It already feels like I am boiling alive."
"Yeah, it is rough," Dustin muttered, barely looking at Zac. His focus was entirely on his floating system window.
[ Physical Strength: 87 ]
[ Vitality: 71 ]
[ Agility: 90 ]
[ Stamina: 75 ]
[ Endurance: 67 ]
[ Wisdom: 17 ]
[ Intelligence: 34 ]
Dustin was now level 30. He had seen the notification last night after escaping the dungeon and eating with the others.
What bothered him now was his points. He had a good amount saved up, but he was torn. Should he upgrade a skill? Buy a better dagger? Save up for the next dungeon? From his past experience, he knew survival in special dungeons required a large safety net of points.
"Let us see," Dustin analyzed internally. "I just upgraded my super sense. I do not think I will need silent steps right now. Shadow Heal is useless until I upgrade it a few more times, so that is out of the question. I am too broke for that anyway."
He tapped his chin. "My current dagger works perfectly fine. Buying new skills is tempting, but the good ones will empty my pockets. Plus, I will get a free milestone skill at level 35. I just have to grind for it, which I kind of hate."
"Saving these points is the smartest move. I need to be ready for whatever this next dungeon throws at me."
Just thinking about the upcoming fights made Dustin's throat go dry.
Gulp. Gulp. He pulled out his water skin and took a long drink.
"Hey, another dungeon just got cleared," Zac said, interrupting Dustin's thoughts. "This one is from the Clouds tutorial grounds. That makes six dungeons so far."
"Oh?" Dustin gave him a quick nod and opened the system window screen.
"Six dungeons in five or six days," Dustin thought to himself. They had been in their dungeon for roughly a day and a half.
"We are getting close to the transportation channel. Just a few more kilometers," Dustin said, closing his screen. "I guess it will take us about an hour. More dungeons will be cleared soon, so let us speed up our pace."
By mid-afternoon, they finally arrived.
"Thank god. We made it," Zac sighed happily as they approached the transportation channel near a large oasis.
Quite a few people were gathered around the water, resting and trading before using the channel.
"Well then, see you soon," Dustin said, waving at Zac.
"Yeah, see you soon, man," Zac waved back. "Just like we promised, I will wait for you here for four days. If you do not show up, I am heading to the Ocean tutorial grounds."
Last night, after Saya declined to join them, the two men had made a deal. Zac would wait for Dustin at the oasis while Dustin cleared his specific dungeon. Zac did not want to risk his life in a random dungeon for no reason, and four hands were always better than two. Waiting was the safest play. Dustin completely understood.
Dustin walked until evening, eventually reaching his destination.
"Not a single soul," Dustin whispered, looking around.
The area outside this dungeon was completely deserted. Not even a bug was in sight. It felt wrong. At the last dungeon, a huge crowd had gathered long before they even arrived.
Dustin slowly approached the entrance.
DING.
[ Would you like to enter the Dungeon: Y/N ]
*Am I really the only one here this time?* Dustin wondered.
"Obviously," he sighed, pressing the Yes button.
Swoosh.
A bright streak of light blinded him, and he vanished from the desert.
When his vision cleared, Dustin quickly scanned his surroundings. This was not a room. It was far too massive to be called a room, and there were no walls in sight.
*Clang! Roar! Ahhh!*
The noise hit him instantly. There were easily over fifty people inside, fighting endless waves of monsters. Small ones, giant ones, weak ones, and strong ones. The beasts were spawning back to back without a second of break.
DING.
[ You have entered a special Dungeon ]
[ To clear the dungeon, you must survive all 100 waves of monsters ]
[ Rewards: 5000 points per person who clears this Dungeon. You will also earn points and experience based on your kill performance ]
[ You can choose to leave this Dungeon after each wave, but you must pay 3 times the amount of points you have earned so far in this Dungeon to exit. ]
[ Note: If you choose to leave, you will not be able to enter any Dungeon in this tutorial ground for the next 10 days ]
"So it is a survival type Dungeon," Dustin muttered. "That is new."
[ Current Wave: 79/100 ]
"Wait. Seventy-eight waves have already passed?" Dustin grinned. Even without lifting a finger, he had bypassed almost eighty percent of the dungeon.
"You punk! What are you staring at?" a harsh voice yelled from behind. "Come over here and help us hold them off!"
Dustin frowned and turned around.
A man in his late forties or early fifties was yelling at him. He was with three other men, and they were losing badly. One of them had a severe, bleeding wound on his arm.
Dustin hated being ordered around by strangers. He almost snapped back, but he caught himself.
"If you cannot hold them off, why don't you just leave the dungeon?" Dustin asked with a cold, slight smile. "Why should I help you? Go screw yourself."
Dustin turned his back and walked toward a different area where the monster density was higher.
It was not that Dustin wanted them to die. But if you want help, you ask politely. Besides, they did not look like they were out of points. If they were truly trapped, they would look terrified. Dustin had already learned how ruthless people were in these places. If he showed even a hint of softness, people would use him as a meat shield. He had to adapt.
Roar!
Dustin approached a large group of people fighting a massive horde. He quickly scanned the beasts. Most of them were between level 20 and 40.
Since Dustin was level 30, killing anything above his level meant he would get both points and experience. Even if he just stole someone else's kill by landing the final blow.
"Time to play dirty and steal some last hits," Dustin laughed inwardly at his own evil plan.
"Bam. Clash. Slash."
Dozens of attacks lit up the area. Everyone was fighting fiercely. Neither the humans nor the monsters were backing down.
Swish. Slice.
Dustin cut down a level 27 Alpaca monster in just three moves.
"How long have you guys been in here?" Dustin asked a swordsman fighting beside him.
"Did you just arrive?" the swordsman grunted, blocking a claw strike. "I have been here for over a day! I got here during wave 67. After each wave, we get a thirty-minute break to rest."
"Oh? So there are roughly eleven or twelve waves a day," Dustin calculated out loud. "That means all one hundred waves take about two full more days. Perfect. I need to be back at the transportation channel by the fourth day anyway."
BAM. BOOM.
The combat continued without pause, only stopping for the brief rest periods.
DING.
[ Wave 83/100 starts in 00:00:59 ]
"I cannot take this anymore! I want to quit!" a man screamed from a distance, his voice cracking. "Take all my eighteen thousand points! Just let me out of here!"
Dustin looked over. The man was trapped.
"He has been here from the very beginning," the swordsman whispered to Dustin. "He used all his initial points early on. When he finally tried to leave, the system rejected him because all his current points were earned inside this dungeon. The fee is three times what you earn here."
"So he is stuck," Dustin noted.
"Yeah. He went crazy. When new people started arriving late, he got insanely jealous. He even attacked a few newcomers. Now nobody goes near him. Do not even look at him. He has completely lost his mind."
[ Wave 83/100 starts in 00:00:01 ]
"Here we go," Dustin said, gripping his dagger.
BAM. SLASH. ROAR.
Several more waves blurred past in a frenzy of blood and steel.
DING.
[ Level 32 reached ]
[ Physical Strength: 95 ]
[ Vitality: 74 ]
[ Agility: 94 ]
[ Stamina: 83 ]
[ Endurance: 73 ]
[ Wisdom: 17 ]
[ Intelligence: 35 ]
[ Bonus stat points: 5 ]
Dustin quickly dumped 2 points into Physical Strength and 3 into Stamina. He still did not completely understand how the bonus stats worked. Sometimes he got them upon leveling up, and sometimes he got nothing.
[ Physical Strength: 97 ]
[ Vitality: 74 ]
[ Agility: 94 ]
[ Stamina: 86 ]
[ Endurance: 73 ]
[ Wisdom: 17 ]
[ Intelligence: 35 ]
Time kept dragging on. The waves felt endless.
"You bastard! You stole my kill again!" a burly man screamed at Dustin. Dustin had just sniped the final hit on a level 43 monster. "If you do that one more time, I will kill you myself!"
"Whoa, I am so sorry!" Dustin backed up, raising his hands defensively. "That was a total fluke, man! I was just trying to assist you, but it died in one hit!"
He apologized profusely, but inwardly, he was smiling. His kill-stealing strategy was working perfectly.
DING.
[ Level 33 reached ]
[ Physical Strength: 96 ]
[ Vitality: 77 ]
[ Agility: 95 ]
[ Stamina: 85 ]
[ Endurance: 74 ]
[ Wisdom: 17 ]
[ Intelligence: 35 ]
[ Bonus stats points: 3 ]
*Why do I get fewer bonus stats the higher my level gets?* Dustin wondered. He quickly dumped all three points into Physical Strength, pushing it to 99.
[ Wave 86 has ended ]
Dustin immediately bought some healing potions from the system. He drank a few to recover his aching muscles and checked his balance.
"I think I have made roughly 2500 points in this dungeon so far. Not bad," Dustin praised himself. "But I need to focus on hitting level 35 as quickly as possible. Getting to level 40 would be even better."
DING.
[ Wave 87/100 starts in 00:00:59 ]
"The break is over already? I literally just sat down," Dustin groaned, forcing himself up.
He had been fighting non-stop for roughly eight hours. The thirty-minute breaks were absolutely not enough, and the sleep deprivation was starting to take a severe toll on his reaction time.
Time bled away. One hour passed. Then two. Then three.
[ Wave 93 has ended ]
Thud.
Dustin collapsed right where he was standing. He opened his system screen to check a notification.
[ Level 35 reached ]
[ Physical Strength: 103 ]
[ Vitality: 81 ]
[ Agility: 97 ]
[ Stamina: 89 ]
[ Endurance: 76 ]
[ Wisdom: 17 ]
[ Intelligence: 35 ]
"Finally," Dustin breathed heavily. "I reached the milestone. Let us see what I get."
[ Milestone Reached ]
[ Choose one of the two skills as your bonus skill: ]
[ 1. Light Armor: When activated, a light armor will surround the user's entire body, reducing the effects of any incoming attack by 70 percent. Can be used 3 times before entering a 3-hour cooldown. Note: Extremely powerful or high-level attacks may render the armor less effective. ]
[ 2. Speedster: Permanently increases the user's movement speed by 5 percent. ]
"So, I have to choose between a passive speed buff or an active defense skill," Dustin thought, rubbing his tired.
He analyzed his build like a gamer. "I have normal attack skills. I have a movement skill. I have Super Sense for tracking. I have Shadow Heal, which will be great later. The one thing I am severely lacking is in defense.'
He looked back at the first option. "Three uses with a three-hour cooldown is not terrible. And seventy percent damage reduction? That sounds like an epic-tier item."
"This is an easy choice," Dustin said out loud. "I am definitely taking Light Armor."