Chapter 25: Into the Dungeon

  Billy woke the next morning feeling somewhat refreshed, if a little fed up with the accommodations. He swore to himself that after this next day they would focus on arranging something better. Even the cave offered more room than this.

  He had not lived this close to people for a long time. And then there was the smell. He thought that they would get used to it but that was just a myth - especially with high perception stats.

  The previous night they had discussed the dungeon - after some exercise and a meal of course. The conversation he been stilted at best. There were long rants followed by longer silences. Eventually, they had decided that the dungeon was the best option if they were to reach level five before the deadline for the end of the tutorial. Before they entered the dungeon though they needed to assign as many of their free stat points as possible.

  During his evening training session Billy had managed to assign one stat point to synaptic speed. He had taken the first watch that night and thought carefully about his choices. His meridians were still damaged so he knew that he needed to be physically stronger. This morning, he was determined to add the three remaining points - focusing on strength and agility.

  He nodded to Lorna who had the last watch. Then he walked some distance to the spot by the cave. While he could not use the mana he could still sense it. He was comfortable in this spot.

  Mia guided him through his exercises. The AI seemed to be able to read not only his physical abilities but also the types of exercises he was familiar with. It was also able to gauge his energy levels and there were regular breaks between sets.

  It was a long session and he was bone tired afterwards but he had achieved his goal: +1 strength, +2 agility. While he rested he looked at the party status. It looked like the others had also increased their stats. Lorna in particular with her high physical stats was looking formidable. Su Li and Yuki seemed to have concentrated on a high agility build which would be useful for them to generate quick powerful attacks. Trevor had also increased his physical stats and his intelligence. Billy assumed that later Trevor would be heading for more of a magic user build, but that was definitely for later.

  As it was, none of them were glass cannons any more -they all had some resilience to their build. Billy had to keep reminding himself that this was not a game. His instincts told him that the only way to complete this dungeon was for them all to stay alive.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  ***

  He returned to camp to find the others also resting. Trevor in particular looked exhausted. Billy forced them to meditate to recover their energy faster. He wanted to enter the dungeon as quickly as possible.

  While they recovered, Lorna went to Dilchak’s store to buy some supplies - water bottles in particular would be useful.

  When they all were refreshed and Lorna had returned, they gathered some supplies in their storage rings and headed for the dungeon.

  Billy could not stop his hand from shaking when he reached out to the dungeon door. He feared he was about to get them all killed.

  “It’s ok,” Su Li said. “Just do it! We have each other.”

  Billy nodded and touched the door.

  Billy mentally and physically said yes.

  ***

  The transition had not been as disorientating as when they were brought to this world but Billy still found himself stumbling upon arrival. He tried to steady his senses. Then he looked around.

  They were in a low ceiling cavern. The rock looked similar to that of their cave. If Billy was a betting man he would say they were below the cave... somewhere. There did not appear to be an exit behind them, just the cavern in front.

  The cavern itself was covered in mushrooms. A wide variety of mushrooms grew from the floor, the walls and even the ceiling.

  “Mushrooms!” Trevor said. “Let me look at them.”

  Billy grabbed his arm. “From a distance. Don’t get too close. This is not a safe place.”

  Trevor nodded. Accompanied by Lorna he went towards the nearest patch of mushrooms. He stopped a safe distance of five feet away and then scanned them with his ability.

  “Most of these are poisonous,” Trevor said. “But they are not listed as hostiles, just plants.”

  Billy nodded. He had feared they would have to face sentient mushrooms. He did not even know where he would start on killing a horde of mushrooms. This whole cavern could be filled in seconds by toxic spore madness.

  “I want to take a few samples,” Trevor said.

  Billy knew that Trevor was heading towards some sort of alchemy skill or profession. There was no doubt that if he could manage that it would be a great help.

  “Just a few.”

  Trevor carefully a few different types of mushrooms. Billy let out a sigh of relief when nothing untoward happened.

  “Lorna can you see a way out?” he asked

  “I can see a small lake about fifty yards ahead. There are some dark shadows behind that but I would need to get closer.”

  Billy knew that he had a higher perception stat than her, but she had the survival skill. He hoped that would help her against any surprise attack. She also had the best physical stats. He signalled for her to lead the way, with Trevor staying close to her.

  He held the centre with Su Li who was surprisingly quiet for one. Yuki followed at the rear, her eyes darting from wall to wall.

  Here we go, he thought. The only way is through.