The Depths of a Dungeon

Adam got closer and closer to the cave's entrance.

The bodies of the five goblins he had killed earlier were still there, emitting disgusting smells. He took the military knife he had thrown during the previous fight.

Once he was at the entrance, a series of digital screens appeared in front of him, messages from the System.

'Oh right, this thing did exist.' He had completely forgotten the System's existence.

[ The System is being forcefully unmuted.]

'Mm.. I did mute it I guess. Can't really remember why or when.'

[ You have discovered a Hidden Location inside "The Forest of Goblins".]

[You are the first from your world to discover a Hidden Location.]

[This is your first time entering a dungeon.]

[You have been awarded the title "The First Pioneer". Check your status window for more information.]

[Additionnal rewards will be added to the dungeon clearance rewards.]

[The Hidden Location you have discovered is "The Goblin Chief's Domain"[E]. Will you enter?]

Adam was startled by the number of sudden messages he received one after the other.

'First, let's check that.' He thought.

"Status" Adam said.

The window appeared in front of him.

[ Name: Adam

Age: 12years old

Species & level : Human Lv2(0/75xp)

Gold: 25

HP: 70/90

Endurance: 60/80

Stats: Strength: 10

Agility: 12

Sense: 15

Vigor & Endurance: 8

Unused stat points: 3

Skill(s): Sleeping Beauty

Title(s): The First Pioneer

R##ht###s to E#il Points : 50-0

S####o#: (None) ]

'What the hell? Didn't these stats increase by a lot?' He didn't remember his exact stats from before, but was pretty sure they had increased a lot.

He muttered without meaning to. "How did I get so strong?"

Another window appeared.

[ You leveled up for the first time. Therefore, one stat point has been added to every stat you have.]

[You are a Human Child. Therefore, for the next three months, you shall earn three stat points instead of one to use as you see fit per level up, not counting the stat points normally added after every level up.]

"Really? Am I special or something?"

[The System puts fairness above all else. Humans fully developed start with stats much higher than those of a Human Child. Not only that, but Human Children have lived much less than Human Adults as they were born much later. They do not yet know the ways of their world. With all this in mind, all children under the age of 17 shall make fast progress in order to catch up to their seniors. Training and fighting also increase stat points.]

'Mmm I guess that makes sense' Adam thought, thinking about how he ran for days with the weighted military vest on him.

"Status" He said once more.

[ Name: Adam

Age: 12years old

Species & level : Human Lv2(0/75xp)

Gold: 25

HP: 70/90

Endurance: 60/80

Stats: Strength: 10

Agility: 12

Sense: 15

Vigor & Endurance: 8

Unused stat points: 3

Skill(s): Sleeping Beauty

Title(s): The First Pioneer

R##ht###s to E#il Points : 50 to 0

S####o#: (None) ]

"What is this? Sleeping Beauty? What kind of skill is that?" Adam had decided that talking out loud was better when asking questions, as the System could answer them.

[ Skill: Sleeping Beauty(Passive) [E]

A skill provided by the authority of "The Hero Who Survived By Sleeping For a Century " who was moved by your story. Recovery shall be enhanced when sleeping and physical injuries will heal much faster. The skill's possessor shall sleep peacefully and soundly.

Additional effect(s): All imperfections on the user's body shall fade away with time.]

'Is that why how I've been able to survive with no food or water before arriving to the lake?' He looked down at the wound on his thigh.'Probably why all my wounds healed pretty fast too.'

Right when Adam finished reading, a second screen appeared next to the one showing the information about the skill.

[ "The Hero Who Survived By Sleeping For a Century " is looking at you with pitiful eyes]

'Don't look at me like that. Sleeping Beauty, what kind of name is that? If you're a hero give me something cooler.' Adam thought.

"The First Pioneer?" Adam said out loud.

[ Title: The First Pioneer.

A Title only awarded to the biggest adventurers in history. Your senses will be heightened all the time, making sneak attacks on you much harder to perform. You will also find Hidden Locations or Hidden Artefacts inside of dungeons much more easily. A light wind shall guide you to them, but a great adventurer must learn to listen to the wind. The wind does not repeat itself. Once you are presented with a treasure, the wind won't lead you to that treasure again.]

'That's interesting. Not only does it help increase my chances of survival, it also helps me look for treasures.... Although just surviving is hard enough.' Adam pondered.

"What about those Points? 50 to 0?" Adam asked.

No answer came from the System. That meant the information was still not available to him.

He finally answered the question the System had asked "Yes, I'll enter the hidden location."

Once again, a window appeared.

[ Welcome to: "The Goblin Chief's Domain"[E]

The Goblin Chief's Domain is a Hidden Location. The difficulty is [E] rank. The Domain is filled with several types of goblins. The different weapons these goblins wield include: Wooden Bat[F], Broken Iron Sword [F], Wooden Bow [F] & Wooden arrows [F]. The Domain is a cave with multiple tunnels, shortcuts and hidden passages.

In the deepest part of the Domain, The Goblin's Chief, the boss of this Hidden Location, can be found.

Rewards: Depend greatly on what is achieved inside the Hidden Location.

The Hidden Location can be exited at any time.]

'Mmm alright, so basically I can run away whenever I want. And the more I do inside of there, the more I will be rewarded.' Adam felt optimistic about the Hidden Location.

He still had his trusty knife in his hand and his military vest on him. Adam thought that as long as he was careful, he wouldn't be in too much trouble.

The inside of the cave was dark. But, after taking about fifteen steps, torches could be seen hanging on the walls, lighting the way.

Although he could now see in front of him, Adam still felt he couldn't just run along the way.

After taking one step on the light that the torch was emitting, he felt something on his right.

He couldn't really describe it. He felt like something was at his right, below the torch.

He stopped walking and looked that way.

There was nothing. Only the wall lit by the torch.

But even though he couldn't see anything, he kept staring at the wall.

For 30 seconds he stood there. The more he stared at the wall, the weirder he felt about it. He felt something was there.

'Is it because of my high Sense stats, or am I just paranoid?' He wasn't sure about which one it was, but he was incredibly focused on the wall.

That's when he felt it.

A very weak and faint wind brushed past his cheek. He turned around, there was nothing. He felt that wind again.

He focused more and more on that sensation.

After a while, he could feel it clearly, the wind was guiding him towards the wall he had been staring at.

'Is that the effect of the title "First Pioneer" ?'

He took steps towards it. And lifted his hand to touch it.

As soon as he touched the wall, it crumbled, without making any sound.

After the dust cloud dissipated, there was a hole big enough for Adam to pass through if he bent down.

'A secret passage!!' Adam felt surprised and proud for finding it so quickly.

'Wonder what's on the other side of this.' He looked inside the big hole.

He felt the slight wind still guiding him.

So he went in.

Adam found himself inside a cramped and dark tunnel. He could still stand but had to bend quite a bit to continue moving forward.

He kept following the tunnel for about five minutes, taking many turns, before the ceiling got higher and he could walk normally again.

His eyes had adjusted to the darkness.

As soon as the ceiling got higher, he got the feeling that something was in front of him.

He focused on the darkness in front of him.

He took several steps back as soon as he saw what was in the darkness. His expression was a mix of horror and surprise. But he didn't utter a sound.

In front of him was a whole colony of goblins. Some had bats, some had swords and others had bows and arrows to their side.

He could see about 15goblins. And that was only as far as his eyesight let him see in the dark.

Who knows how many more there were.

Fortunately, they were all asleep.

'If I hadn't taken this secret passage, would they all have been awakened?'

Adam couldn't help but tremble at the idea.

He stood there, not too sure about what to do, until he felt the wind that had been guiding him.

The wind was guiding him backward, back into the tunnel.

Adam did not think twice, and immediately went back.

'Waking them all up at once would be suicide. Especially in such a cramped space. I'll follow the wind for now. Maybe I can at least get some kind of Hidden Artefact from this.' He thought.

He went back into the tunnel.

After making sure that none of the goblins had awakened, he closed his eyes and kept walking inside the tunnel.

He closed his eyes and focused solely on the feeling of the wind gently guiding him.

Adam noticed the sensation grow stronger and stronger the more he concentrated on it.

He remembered the title's description.'Is this what listening to the wind means?'

At one point, he felt the wind guiding him to his right. He opened his eyes. There was a much smaller tunnel close to the floor that he had missed before. To get in it, he would have to crawl.

He thought about what to do for a bit. 'If there's a monster in there, I'll probably die. If the goblins follow me in there, I'll die too.'

For some reason, the wind got much stronger than before.

'I mean... finding a second secret passage inside of a first secret passage...probably makes the person deserving of a reward right? I can clearly feel the wind. There must be a Hidden Artefact. Plus the wind is strong, maybe that means it's close by. Having monsters in there would be too much. And the System said that it valued fairness above all.'

Having somewhat made up his mind, he started crawling inside the small tunnel.

He kept going while not forgetting about the wind guiding him. At one point, the rocky tunnel became of soil. But Adam did not realize that. He was too busy thinking.

'But, this really is an amazing title. Isn't it a bit too strong? Well, I guess the first ones at anything should always be awarded appropriately. Not only that but it depends on how useful Hidden Artefacts are. All Hidden Locations probably have a higher rank than the dungeon they're located in. It is the case for this one at least. The dungeon is [F] rank while the Hidden Location is [E] rank. The ability to find them is amazing, but that doesn't mean that I have the ability to survive in them. I should be more careful.'

At one point, the wind guided him to his right. He looked that way. There was nothing. He finally noticed that the tunnel was now made of soil.

He thought for a bit before starting to dig to his right. He dug quite a bit, but he was far from tired. Indeed, his Strength stat and Endurance had increased quite a bit during his journey inside the dungeon.

He felt like a mole.

After digging about 2 to 3 meters inside the wall, the ground below him gave out. It couldn't support his weight.

He let out a scream before falling to the ground. He looked up, the ceiling where he had fallen was about 2.5meters high.

The fall didn't hurt at all. He looked around. He was in a rectangular room lit by multiple torches. The ground was made of soil, while the walls were of rocks.

On one end of the room, there was a big wooden gate with inscriptions on it. On the other end, there was some kind of wooden chest with parts of it made of iron.

He instinctively went towards the chest.

'Treasure! Finally, I hope it's something good.'