Book 1. Chapter 5: First Dungeon Run

Book 1. Chapter 5: First Dungeon Run

Entering the dungeon was anticlimactic. He thought that he would be fighting goblins left and right, but it appeared half the battle was exploring empty caves. It was slow going, as while he had good light with his head-lamp and lantern, the stiff inclines and winding tunnels reduced his visibility greatly. He kept himself alert, but having an invisible scout going ahead of you took away most of the risk. Almost thirty minutes into slowly exploring he finally felt a small burst of surprise and anticipation over his bond, to which he stopped his footsteps. It appeared that she had finally found his quarry.

After about a minute, the demoness became visible and waved at him. She gestured that there were two enemies around the corner, to which Jake questioned whether she checked the surrounding caverns and she nodded. It appeared Jake would get his first fight against two goblins, with no risk of additional enemies appearing.

A single enemy would have been better, but this is likely the best Jake could ask for. He reduced the headlamp to the lowest it could go and did his best to prepare his [Mana Bolt]. Holding his spear, his plan was to fire the bolt shortly after coming around the corner and attack.

When he rounded the corner, he turned his headlamp to full blast, and spotted the two goblins. The two goblins were sitting in front of what appeared to be a hut made of mud. They shouted in surprise, and reached to pick up their weapons off the ground. Jake then pointed his spear-staff and released his spell at the goblin that was slightly closer to him, the small mana bolt blasting them near their face. The goblin was bowled over, and bits of flesh and blood splattered as it was struck.

Meanwhile, Jake ran towards the other goblin with his spear parallel to the ground. Once he was in range, the goblin was already ready with their crude club. He planted his feet just like he did during his drills, and thrust his spear-staff towards the goblins center mass. The goblin tried to dodge and block using the club, but not only was the spear too fast, but the club, apparently rotted wood, shattered into dozens of pieces and the spear reached their gut, impaling them.

Jake quickly kicked out at the goblin to retrieve his spear, trying to keep track of the goblin that had been hit by his [Mana Bolt]. It was now struggling to get up, seeming quite disoriented; it was missing a large chunk of its face, and one of the eyes was closed, or perhaps missing.

Jake retreated once his spear was removed from the goblins gut, and took stock. Jake thought he could easily finish either of the goblins with his next attack; he decided to move to put the downed goblin between him and the gut-wounded goblin, and with a stab to its throat and a twist, it was dying. The other one charged with speed belying its injury, but Jake easily retracted his spear and returned to his proper stance, to stab the other goblin with the appropriate leverage and power before it reached him: in the chest. The goblin then collapsed, dead, and [The Framework] provided a notification that he was able to minimize for the time being.

In a way, the fight was anticlimactic. At no point did Jake feel like he was in much danger. These goblins were little more than children with a sharp knife, and for a prepared combatant like Jake they were no challenge.

While Jake was new to using a spear, he was not new to fighting. Before he quit due to his third shift job, he had been regularly practicing boxing. In boxing, footwork and distance were paramount, and that transferred over to fighting with weapons quite well; at least, Jake felt like he wasnt starting from scratch.

In another way, the fight took a lot out of Jake. He had never killed anything other than insects before, and the sounds that the goblins made in their death throes made him feel like he was putting down an animal. A very ugly and angry animal, but one nonetheless. Like many people who grew up in the city as Jake did, he hadnt really killed even an animal before.

His stomach roiled, and he tried to push down the feeling. The demoness sensed this, and sent calm and reassurance over the bond, perhaps even a feeling of righteousness; it was only due course that he must kill these creatures.

Jake expressed his appreciation for her, and thought about what she was doing during the fight: watching. It appeared she wanted Jake to tackle this on his own, to build confidence and get his first kills out of the way, but there to add a distraction if Jake needed it. With that, he went to collect the spoils of war, getting his looting knife and pliers out.

It appeared that goblin canines were some sort of spell component, and so they had some value on the [Multiverse Market]: at least enough to be worth collecting. Removing the teeth from their rotting mouths was a little gross, but it was not very difficult. He then sliced into their chest and removed their cores. It was a little difficult to find the tiny core in their chest, but the demoness showed him a trick: he could sense them with his mana.

Enemies looted; Jake reviewed the notifications he ignored in his [Menu].

Skill Learned:

But Jake snapped out of it after a moment, and was able to choke up on his spear near the end and stab the knife wielding goblin in the chest, while the demoness took to distracting the other goblins, giving him time to position himself and finish them off easily. Jake felt a pain in his thigh just above his knee, and he was bleeding profusely.

The demoness flitted about in worry, having him take off his pants so that she could apply one of the healing unguents that he had previously purchased which stemmed the flow of blood, and had him drink a single healing potion before putting his motorcycle leathers back on. It looked like the cut went into a major vein or artery even if it wasnt that deep, and Jake felt a bit lightheaded at the blood he lost.

Jake was surprised that the demoness hadnt teased him, removing his clothes down to his boxers. He guessed due to the seriousness of the situation, and he got an amused response from her emotions to the thought.

Somewhere during the fight was a notification, but Jake was too busy to take note of it. Now that the fighting was over, he checked it.

Level Up! +3 Attributes to Spend

Level Reached:

Level 2

Skill Increased!

Lesser Spell-Forms

Level 2

Finally, Jake had reached level two. It took over ten goblins, but he was finally there. He could now boost his attributes, and his goal was to try moving intelligence and charisma past twenty as soon as possible, with wisdom coming as soon after as he can.

As a Summoner: he could viably summon framework-assisted creatures using a [Summoning Token] whenever he received one. Entities such as creatures or people that were immortalized by [The Framework] would wait in the void when they died, unaware of the passage of time until summoned through many means, Jakes summoning class being one of them. [The Framework] could even revive people as they were when they died, especially ones it deemed to be effective or worthwhile expenditures. Jake could die and be revived back in his [Refuge] like nothing happened, but he knew that this would not be the case until he completed his [Trial].

Jake guessed the [Summoning Token] would be a reward for completing a dungeon, though a beginner dungeon would be wishful thinking. However, he couldnt pick a specialty until after level five, so Jake would want to wait until then, anyway.

Not only would he get a bonus to those summoned creatures; he would be guaranteed a rarer creature that matched that specialty, the first time he summoned after selecting it as a sort of starter package. It was a bit disappointing for him to have to wait to summon his first creature, but Jake knew that it would be worth it.

Jake finished dismantling the creatures, and he decided that was enough for his first run. He wasnt sure how far these caves went, but he felt like for a beginner dungeon there wouldnt be that much to go. He had already killed thirteen goblins, and he couldnt imagine that there was much more than double that remaining. He would head back to his [Refuge] and sell his loot on the [Multiverse Market], clean himself up and prepare for tomorrow. He would also spend his attribute points, and try to predict how much he could earn in the dungeon that remains.