Chapter 6

  As Donny stepped through the portal behind the dapperly dressed man, he couldn’t help but be amazed at the sight before him. They stood on the edge of a massive cliff, rock walls curving around them in a half-moon, an enormous waterfall falling into a pristine lake of turquoise water. Trees and foliage encompassed the lake, stretching as far as his eyes could see. He couldn’t help but feel he was standing on a crescent moon as he gazed at the earth below as birds flew and sang their clarion songs, like trumpets of war declaring the sky their own.

  Turning to Donny, the man pulled out a cigar, biting off the cap and spitting it out to the side he began lighting it at an angle with a sleek Zippo-style Torch lighter he’d pulled from the pocket of his blazer. Taking short, but deep draws and exhaling smoke from the side his mouth as he spun the tube of tobacco, rolling it in his fingers until the entire nickel-sized foot of the barrel was glowing a bright red, the man looked seriously at Donny before speaking.

  “My name is Vinchenzo Durielli, I am but a simple couturier, a tailor of fine suits and exquisite taste. I am also the man who trained your grandfather along with his cabal and was once their group’s personal smith and armorer many generations ago. I have retired since then and have been trying to live a peaceful life of tranquility and calm, Preferring the finer art of a clothier in my old age, when low and behold, my old disciple who I haven’t spoken with in so many millennia shows up not even in person, but as an avatar! Saying he needs me to look out for his precious little grandson for a while and dropping the dirty little crustation on my doorstep before vanishing off the face of the earth, with no way to contact him.” Vinchenzo said, exhaling a rolling cloud of smoke as he seemed to gather his thoughts as though he had spoken a simple and irrefutable truth instead of a scathing insult.

  “All he said was get you into a dungeon and don’t let you out till you’re eighteen, and to bring you to this dungeon, specifically. Pssh, I don’t know why he wants you in my campaign dungeon, but I wasn’t going to argue with a man like that in the mood he was in, I may not be happy with the situation, but I do have a heart, after all.” Turning to Donny the tailor glanced at him, and Donny couldn’t help but think the man was trying not to salivate as he stared at him. “Well?” he asked.

  “Well, what?” Donny huffed, “I’m just a dirty little crustation, and shrimp don’t have very good brains, y’heard. So why are you looking at me like I’m a pile of money that just fell from the sky?” He said defiantly, his old accent coming through full bore in his irritation.

  “You have an aura skill, a powerful one, to be sure. Also, you have mastered chi manipulation to an exquisite degree. Both of which should be impossible for your age, and beyond that I can sense your body swelling with power to an inconceivable degree. It’s like you have an unending spring of potent experience welling within you.” Vinchenzo leaned closer to Donny, the sweet and oaky smell of his cigar assaulting Donny’s nose as a cloud of acrid smoke drifted into his face.

  “So, the question is, why would your grandfather want to send you, a five-year-old, level nine, classless, cultivation-less weakling into a campaign dungeon where you can’t level, and even the weakest creature is over level 50?” The man had a wide smile on his face, as if he knew something was going on, but didn’t know exactly what. The more he stared at Donny the more nervous Donny became. “And to top it all off you wreak of that man’s power.”

  “Now, I imagine you haven’t had time to read through your notifications after killing that assassin. Oh, don’t look at me like that, boy, the turtle told me everything. It’s time you did so, but do not select any skills or prompts without consulting me. Also, project your screen so I can read along with you, don’t worry, don’t worry, you can choose to blur or leave out certain information that you do not wish to share, I just need to see the basics, so I know what I’m working with.” Vinchenzo said as he pulled out two wooden chairs with silk cushions from thin air, and lit a campfire that Donny was sure wasn’t there a second ago.

  Sitting in the chair, Donny couldn’t help but notice that he couldn’t feel the wooden frame at all, and his spine and hips seemed to be supported perfectly, as if the chair enforced a proper posture, though it was not uncomfortable. He mentally thought about everything the man had said.

  “That man’s power. Is he talking about grandfather or… No, he knows about my champion status, the system said I won’t be able to hide it once I reach a certain level anyways. This guy trained grandpa, who trusts him enough to bring me here. I might as well trust him too” making up his mind he willed his status screen to pop up like a large screen T.V., the blue screen hovering above them like an at-home theater.

  Deciding to just continue where he left off and letting Vinchenzo read at his own pace, Donny found what he was looking for.

  Donny and Vinchenzo seemed to breathe in sharply at the same time, and Donny snapped his head to see the older man removing his expertly crafted hat, revealing slicked back hair and beads of sweat forming above his brow. Pulling out a cloth napkin the man dabbed his forehead, staring at Donny like he’d just won the lottery by finding this boy.

  “How does the bonus even apply to me, I was level zero, and last time I checked, zero multiplied by any number is still zero, no matter where you are in the world. And why can’t I select a class, it’s grayed out, only let’s me select no” Donny asked in bewilderment. It didn’t make sense, regardless of whether he should have gained the experience or not, he had. But if he’d gained so much experience, he should have the accrued experience necessary for the jump to level ten after selecting a class.

  “Out of everything you just read that’s what your concerned about? Trying to get a class and cut off your own head? As far as you gaining the percentage boosts I believe it’s because there is no precedence for level zero so by default you are considered to be level one” Vinchenzo looked at Donny like he was a simpleton.

  “What are you talking about? The system is the one that’s cutting off my head, Bird-blocking my damn boon with a nerf that effectively cripples my ability to level fast and reach the divine level. None of this makes sense” Donny scoffed, face red with embarrassment and anger.

  “Nerf? Maybe. It tried to nerf you at least. But the system appears to not have accounted for such a series of unfortunate events!” Vinchenzo said, abruptly standing and pacing back and forth, one hand behind his back, and one on his chin.

  Donny stood up as well, throwing his hands up in exasperation, “Come on man, you gotta let me know what the hell’s going on, I’m in the dark over here and it’s my own fucking status screen we’re talkin about!”

  Turning to face Donny, Vinchenzo excitedly explained his theory “Disciple, listen. I believe the system threw a quick patch on your boon to give it time to think of a more permanent solution before you hit level ten. It must’ve taken an enormous amount of power for the system to interfere with a boon of that level. While the system is powerful, even it cannot create something from nothing, and must maintain balance. My dungeon is a campaign dungeon and is primarily used by those attempting to break past the threshold to Paragon One. A campaign dungeon essentially allows one to spend a decade or two accumulating experience points, before stepping out of the dungeon and confronting the first paragon tribulation. This is why the system cannot influence a person’s status while they are in a campaign dungeon.” The man was becoming increasingly agitated as he spoke.

  Donny thought about this, recalling the matrix of progression within the system. When an individual reached level one hundred, they had to accumulate enough experience, as well as be strong enough to face a series of attacks from the heavens. The system would drain their experience as they battled against the heavens. And if one succeeded, they would start again at level one. The first tribulation was commonly accepted as the hardest until the divine tribulation. After all, only ten percent of people made it past the first paragon tribulation in the entire universe.

  There were one hundred paragon levels in total, but from what Donny understood the divine tribulation could be attempted as early as paragon seventy-five. That meant that this dungeon was probably used for those who didn’t have the strength and talent to surpass the first hurdle on their own. It was a place to accumulate experience outside of the system’s purview before exiting and immediately attempting the tribulation.

  “That’s all well and good, man, but I earned the experience before coming here, and that still doesn’t help the fact that I can’t select a class.”

  “Oh, but that’s exactly it! A being must acknowledge their gains for them to be applied. That is how the system tracks a person’s progression. There are too many people in this universe for the system to monitor them automatically, so it forces a karmic link through its communications, until you reach a certain level. After you killed that cocky assassin, you were distracted by leaving with the turtle. Then, before you had the opportunity to select a class, thus allowing the system to patch your nerf; you were attacked and whisked into the turtle’s storage space and brought to me. I then proceeded to ramble on about my past until we came in here and you were finally able to read your system prompts. But by then it was too late, and you were cut off from the system, forcing the alteration of your boon to absorb the access experience points that would otherwise have been reserved for your class selection and subsequent level-up to ten!”

  “What? Uncle kosher took me into his inner world, and he doesn’t like being called a… wait a minute, a being with an inner world doesn’t need permission to bring you in if there is a sufficient gap in power…!” Donny started to realize what Vinchenzo was getting at as he thought out loud, remembering the books he’d read on storage spaces and inner worlds.

  “D-does that mean that everything was-” Vinchenzo suddenly held a hand over Donny’s mouth, not allowing him to speak aloud his thoughts.

  “I have no idea what you were about to say. But if you were going to ask if anyone had ever intentionally manipulated a series of unfortunate events in order to force an unorthodox progression path that bordered on crossing a line within the system’s regulations and could result in immediate retaliation of unspeakable consequence. I would say that even in this dungeon such things must not be joked about or spoken of lightly regardless of how absurd and unrealistic the notion was.” The older man said with a pointed stare telling Donny to keep his mouth shut about the topic as he removed his hand.

  Donny gave the man a flat stare “so essentially I’m stuck at level ten and unable to progress further and that’s supposed to be a good thing because?”

  “Go to your skill notifications”

  “I already went through them; my Aura manipulation skill and Chi manipulation skill are at ninety-seven and ninety respectively.” Donny said skeptically.

  “N-n-ninety… five-years-old, and level NINETY?” The older man ripped is hat off and squeezed it in a crushing grip, eye twitching repeatedly as he clenched his jaw, whisper-shouting the last word. Donny broke out in a cold sweat from the tiny sliver of killing intent that escaped the man, grateful to have his aura resistance which made the lash-out more of an icy-hot breeze than an assault on his faculties. But unnerving, nonetheless.

  “Sigh, just check your skill notifications again.” Vinchenzo said in a pleading tone, looking slightly overwhelmed by the information he’d just received.

  Donny pulled up his menu, surprised to see that there was indeed an exclamation mark next to his skills tab. Selecting it, he felt a physical strain from the amount of notifications he received as he reduced them to minimize the size of the status screen

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  After settling his mind from the massive upload of information and instinctual insight into how to apply his aura in different ways, Donny struggled to focus his sight as he looked at his master to be.

  “How should I apply my free points? Should I min-max a specific stat, spirit seems to be important.”

  “For any other disciple we would establish a strict allocation of all free points to perfectly compliment your build. But for you? Just allocate them evenly and your attributes alone will put you well above a top tier level sixty or so adventurer.”

  Then Vinchenzo seemed to ponder for a moment, head tilted in thought

  “But your right, the spirit attribute already enhances the properties of aura and chi-based skills as well as increasing your resistance to soul and aura attacks. With your skill now being directly tied to that attribute the effects will be multiplicative, and later on you’ll be able to condense your stat points. I’d recommend at least a thirty percent investment in spirit with the rest being split evenly among your base stats.”

  Donny thought about it for a second before just putting half of his free points into his spirit and dividing the rest among his base stats, doing a bit of shifting to round out the lower stats. He already knew that luck and charisma couldn’t be improved using free points, but he’d already got a small boost to both, which was incredibly difficult as it was, so he wasn’t too concerned with the more esoteric attributes. When he was done, he looked at his Overview.

  Donny slapped his forehead, annoyed that he’d completely forgotten about his first title. Sending a mental command, Donny pulled up the title’s description.

  “Holy shit, kid you sure you only got fifteen points in luck?” Vinchenzo half-joked while looking at the title. “You need to hide your titles from now on, as well as all of your stats and attributes. Trust none, not even your friends… yet” Vinchenzo quickly corrected himself when he saw the anger building in Donny’s eyes. “I’m just saying, choose wisely who you bare your chest to.”

  “I’ll decide that when I am ready, after all I, myself don’t even know the extent of my own abilities. And either way, I still can’t level which is a major problem.” Donny scoffed, smirking at the still obviously flustered Vinchenzo.

  “No, no, no, no, no! Can’t you see, boy? It’s actually the exact opposite! Your boon allows you to level your skills extremely fast, while also boosting your attributes significantly when killing enemies above your level, and the larger the difference the more experience you get. Keeping you as low a level as possible is too your benefit!” The well dressed man was almost jumping in excitement, and Donny couldn’t help but feel the guy was holding himself back from clapping his hands like a toddler at a toy store.

  “So you’re saying I should just level skills as much as I can while I’m in here, and use my low level to farm attribute points?” Donny’s mind began to go over the implications of what the older man was saying. “But won’t that make my paragon one tribulation much harder to overcome?”

  “Well… yes, but that’s a hurdle all champions must face. And the fact that you have that guy’s blessing means you’re going to need all the help you can get to survive your tribulation as it is. Irregardless this is an opportunity you won’t get again so we need to get you as powerful as we can in the time we have. Just make sure you keep your boons hidden. For now though, we need to level up that aura skill of yours as fast as possible and we don’t need the others currently in the dungeon chasing you down to try and kill you or kiss your ass to earn favors.” Vincenzo said he stood put away the chairs and fire pit with a wave of his hand, causing Donny to wince as he fell to the ground, expecting to jar his tail bone but in fact he didn’t even feel the impact. Still, Donny rubbed the spot instinctively as he got up, flashing Vinchenzo a sour look.

  “Jeez you could’ve given me a heads up.” He complained before asking “I thought dungeons are like, solo instances or whatever, why would others be in here?”

  “Well firstly there are many types of dungeons. The single instance dungeons you speak of are quite common but honestly aren’t worth the time and cost to manufacture artificially so are typically found in wild and unpopulated areas, or on planets that are newly introduced to the system’s infrastructure.” Vinchenzo explained calmly as he began walking along a path that came dangerously close to the edge of the cliff.

  “Earlier I told you the basics of a campaign dungeon, and how they’re typically used. But there are many benefits to a campaign dungeon. For instance, this one is not only used to generate steady income through the entrance fee, but also has certain synthetically modified plants and animals that cannot be found anywhere else in the universe but have many alchemical and manufacturing properties that are useful for different professions” said Vinchenzo

  “So, it’s a giant lab of sorts?” Donny couldn’t help but ask as he began to see the world around them in a new light.

  “Of sorts, yes, but it’s also a massive trade hub as well as a crossroads for inter-galactic travel. Though not cheap, one can enter through a portal on a planet in one galaxy and exit on another planet in a completely different galaxy, potentially saving themselves hundreds of years of travel time”.

  “Like the portal we used?” Donny asked, becoming increasingly curious about this so-called campaign dungeon.

  “Yes, well… ahem, that specific portal isn’t necessarily a legal form of entry. Entry permits are quite expensive, you know. But if you don’t let it slip that we came in through a back door or get stopped by the law enforcement without an entry permit, you’ll be fine, ah yes, what a beautiful Ficus!” Vinchenzo said shamelessly as he looked away, dodging Donny’s flat look.

  “It’s really that expensive?” Donny said suspiciously as he eyed the older man’s incredibly expensive looking outfit “you’re really telling me you can afford to walk around like a men’s warehouse supermodel, but you can’t afford two measly tickets into a dungeon?”

  “I’ll have you know that I made this fine suit with my own hands, and while I could afford a million tickets if I wanted. It’s just… I uh, why pay for something you can get for free you know, hehe?”

  Donny choked on air as his eyes bulged, glaring menacingly at the man who was obviously hiding something.

  “You’re telling me you snuck us into some super-venue of a dungeon, and got us in illegally when you could’ve just paid for the damn tickets? Dude, your tellin’ me that you know my grandfather, a fucking world class gangster, but you don’t know how to sneak in through the front fucking door? What happens to me if I get caught, Vinchenzo? Am I gonna just train in prison, and when my friends come a lookin’, and they will come lookin’, and my parents as witt’em, what’ya gonna say huh? ‘Oh, by the way Mr. and Mrs. Cook, you son has somehow ended up in prison at the age of five, sorry kiddos, you all went training and became reliable people, but meanwhile ya boy Donny went and pissed away his one an- ahem..., second and only chance at life?” Donny was in full blown lecture mode now, he tended to get like this when he felt someone did something that was so stupid and unnecessary it should never have happened in the first place, in his humble opinion.

  “Shhhhhh, careful, careful! Call me Master V., we must not- oh, shit” Vinchenzo suddenly paled as a he froze in place, an oppressive aura locking down the area, though it didn’t affect Donny much more that a gentle breeze might move an ancient oak tree.

  “Oh Vinchenzo, my love, how nice it is to your gorgeous face!” a nasally yet melodic voice, reminding Donny of an Italian mom who just caught her husband and son getting into her favorite wine surrounded the two from seemingly everywhere at once as Donny looked around in confusion while his unscrupulous master seemed to pull his head down into the collar of his shirt, like a turtle hiding from a raven.

  “Oh, and who’s this adorable little thing, he’s just so cute!” The woman rushed down from the sky, where she walked through the sky as if on stroll at the park, each casual step seeming to carry her ten.

  Pinching Donny’s cheeks, she said “And the way you were shouting my Pooh-bear’s name it sounded as if you were angry with him. Not that I’m surprised, he seems to have a talent for that. Vexing people, I mean.” The woman said as she gave Vinchenzo a look that literally made ice creep up the man’s legs, though Donny couldn’t help but think it was actually the prick doing it to play up the drama of it all, hoping for pity.

  She had blonde, short hair that was fluffed into a perm, she had a long nose that sat beneath bright blue eyes caked in eyeliner that came to a point above her cheeks with plucked, drawn on eyelashes and full lips that had the bright red sheen of lip-gloss. A sleek white trench coat fell to just above black heels and was draped over shite button shirt tucked into a black skirt.

  “Is this guy really reliable?” Donny thought as he looked nonplused at the two who obviously had a history.

  “I know that look. You’re wondering how reliable this prick of a man is, aren’t you?” The woman smiled as she gave Donny a look that made him feel that he could not hide anything from her gaze, “What’s your name, child?”

  “Why should I tell you? You haven’t even introduced yourself and you stand there pinching my cheeks like I’m some sort of-” Donny blinked, face flushing as he remembered he indeed, was currently a child. “I… uh” Donny mumbled sheepishly as the woman’s smile grew ever bigger, appearing to stretch across her face like the Cheshire cat.

  “Oh, I like this one. Did you bring him here as an apology gift for me?” She said to Vinchenzo without breaking eye contact with Donny, the boy felt a deep shiver run along the length of spine as he shivered.

  “I need a favor, Margy.” Vinchenzo finally spoke, breaking his frozen fa?ade as he walked up, hands extended as if to ask for Margy to take them in hers.

  The scary woman finally let go of Donny’s cheeks, standing up from where she’d been leaning over the boy, reaching her hands out she made to take Vinchenzo’s hands, as the man smiled a stunningly charming, toothy thing that made his eyes crinkle, as if he were the genuine article. “Fuckboy” Donny muttered under his breath, rolling his eyes at the blatant acting.

  THWACK!

  Donny stared in shock, amusement, and horror as Vinchenzo’s head was blasted to the side, blood and teeth spewing out over edge of the cliff. The man’s feet stayed firmly in place as he wobbled back and forth cartoonishly, face swollen.

  “I Detherved that!” He said, tears starting to pool in his eyes.

  THWACK!

  Again, this woman named Margy smacked the dog out of the man, another round of wobbling like a human… elf? Slinky, both cheeks swollen and red as tomatoes.

  “Whud wath that won fwore?” The man wheezed, tears now streaming down his swollen and bruised face.

  “You know what that one was for.” The woman said pointedly, face twisted in fury, before she finally took his hands in hers, leaning in to rest her head on his chest sobbing along with the beaten and battered man, “Oh, how I missed you my big plate of shrimp and steak.”

  “Pffffft” Donny’s cheeks ballooned as he tried to hold in his laughter.

  Vinchenzo’s head snapped his way, immediately focusing on him, face now magically blemish and bruise free, mouth full of perfect teeth once again, as if he’d been putting on a show the entire time. Eyes squinted as he put on an angry front, cheeks blazing crimson.

  “What’s so funny?” The man asked, a dangerous glint in his eyes.

  “Nothing, nothing at all. What are we talking about?” Donny said as he rocked back and forth on his heels, hands behind his back and eyes open wide. He was the perfect portrayal of the innocent five-year-old boy he was in appearance. He bit his cheek, trying harder to stop himself from laughing than he’d ever tried before, knowing that the two beings in front of him were powerful beyond anything he’d ever known, and while he had a feeling Vinchenzo would never truly hurt him, he also knew he could make his life a living hell.

  “Oh, my, goodness Vinnie, can we keep him? Can we pweeeeeease?” Margy said in a pouting tone as if she were a kid begging her parents to keep a stray puppy she’d found on the street.

  “Margy, this is serious, I need a Primo Pass for the boy, you know I wouldn’t have come here if it wasn’t important.” Vinchenzo said, wincing when the woman suddenly turned dead serious, lips pursed in obvious displeasure.

  “You know those are all reserved already, every single Primo ticket has been paid for and collected” There was a dangerous edge to the woman’s tone “Don’t tell me you’re asking for the golden ticket?”

  “What is this, a fuckin chocolate factory?” Donny quipped, before clamping a hand over his mouth, cursing his lack of a filter as both adults stared at him, Vinchenzo’s mouth was agape in utter horror, Margy glared at him with an icy calmness that was more terrifying than any fury.

  “What, did you just say?” She hissed through clenched teeth as Donny felt her try to crush him in his aura, in an attempt to make him kneel.

  A look of surprise passed over her face before turning to shock when Donny’s aura suddenly blazed unbidden, striking out at the woman’s aura as the active effect of his ‘I will not bow’ title kicked in, power surging within his body. Donny roared, fists curling to his sides like he was lifting an immense wait. This woman had tried to make him submit, had attempted to force him to his knees with a skill that was probably at least at the divine level. His aura seemed to penetrate every inch of his being, fortifying and strengthening his body as his base stats doubled, his will was reinforced with the boost from his title.

  “I. Will. Not. BOW!” Donny roared the last word, making the woman’s trench coat flutter and hair blow back as if she was standing in a strong wind. After an entire minute of Donny looking on with fury blazing in his eyes, standing defiantly in the face of the threat that the two people in front of him represented. Then his body went slack, vision going dark as his eyes rolled into the back of his head, he slumped to the floor.

  Vinchenzo suddenly appeared to catch the now unconscious boy, glaring at Margy.

  “Why the fuck did you do that, you could have killed him. I know you know who he is. Using your divine aura is one thing, but that skill, what the hell is wrong with you? Are you trying to get this entire realm, along with everyone in it, wiped from existence?” Vinchenzo snarled, heart pounding from the pressure he felt for a split second amongst the chaos. The pressure of an existence that was far beyond any of the people present.

  “I-He-he didn’t…how did he…” The woman stuttered, still in shock from not only being rebuffed by a small child, but having her coat and hair disturbed from the force of the boy’s rebuttal. One should know that not even a paragon thirty ranked adventurer could so much as flutter the hem of her cloak, much less ruffle her hair the way he had.

  Turning on her heel and stomping away with a huff, she suddenly stopped, throwing a gleaming, rectangular token clipped to a white lanyard and shining a golden brilliance over her shoulder. “Did you plan all of this?” She asked breathlessly, obviously flustered by it all.

  Catching the ticket, Vinchenzo stared at it for a long time before whispering softly “No. I was sure you would give him the ticket, once you learned of his abilities, but I did not expect things to reach this level.” He gave her an apologetic look, conflicting emotions running through his head as she simply nodded her head.

  “I really hope you know what you’re doing” And with that final statement, she disappeared.

  “Yeah, I do too.” Vinchenzo muttered as he stood up, slinging Donny over his shoulder before bending his legs and leaping into the sky, heading for the center of the dungeon.