Training For Survival

The cave in front of Adam got wider until it was about 7 meters wide.

Thankfully, some light was coming from the holes in the roof.

He thought about throwing the torch he had just bought, as it would make it easier for the monsters to notice him in the darkness.

But he decided against it as the flame lit everything around him in a 10 meters radius, he was confident in his ability to dodge.

He kept walking slowly, going deeper and deeper inside the cave.

Once he was about 500 meters away from where Salma and Layla were, spider webs covered the walls, the holes in the roof and sometimes even part of the way in front of Adam.

Since the holes in the ceiling were covered, he found himself in total darkness.

To keep going, he sometimes had to bend his back, jump over a spider web, move next to one wall or the other.

About 100meters further, he found a big wall in front of him with no openings.

He got closer and noticed that it wasn't a wall.

He put his hand on it.

It was made of soft material, but there were many layers, making it very thick.

It was a wall made of spiderwebs.

'Is this how they keep intruders from coming in?'

Adam put his Old Assassin's Dagger back in his Storage. He put his torch on the ground.

The torch was an item that cost 5 Gold coins. Its flame would not die except if the user wanted it to. It could be used for 3 hours. If the user puts the fire out, it became no more than a wooden stick.

Adam raised both his hands towards the wall and put his palms on it.

He closed his eyes and tried to feel if there was a presence beyond the wall. He felt the slight wind that came with his "First Pioneer" title, but he wasn't about to go into a Hidden Location when the Dungeon was already E-rank.

He couldn't feel anything beyond the thick spider web wall.

"Unused stat points" Adam whispered.

Since he whispered, the System made a screen appear in front of Adam, instead of answering vocally.

[ 9 Unused Stat Points.]

He closed his eyes and put his palms on the thick wall once again.

"Add 5 points to Sense."

[ 5 unused stat points have been allocated to the Sense stat.]

[ Sense 38---->43.]

For a second, he could feel beyond the wall. But his concentration was broken when.

[ Your Sense Stat has reached 40.]

[ You have been awarded a Skill due to your high Sense Stat.]

[ A Skill is being chosen by the System.]

[ Individuality of the user has been taken into consideration.]

[ You have been awarded the Skill "Extended Earshot".]

Adam wasn't happy that his concentration had been broken, but once he read that he had obtained a new Skill, he felt ecstatic.

'So you can gain Skills by raising your stats?'

"Information about Extended Earshot?" Adam whispered.

[ Passive Skill: Extended Earshot [F]

The detainer of the Skill will have his earshot extended. The distance over which the detainer can hear sounds is increased by a factor of 1,5. Therefore, the higher the Sense stat, the more effective the Skill is. Extended Earshot only increases the distance over which the detainer hears sounds, not the range of those sounds. ]

'That's an interesting one. But...'

" Only increases the distance not the range?" Adam whispered.

[ The user can hear sounds coming from further away. Sounds that came from closeby, and yet were not heard previously, still won't be.]

"So I might hear someone calling me from further away than before, but I still won't be able to hear the sound of an insect crawling, even if it was close by?"

[That is correct.]

'Alright. But... how come I didn't get a Skill when my Strength Stat reached 40? Is it different for each Stat? Oh wait there was that..'

"What do you mean by individuality of the user?" Adam whispered.

[ Every user is different. Your Skill has been chosen based on your actions, personality and fighting style. Many things depend on the individual. Very few things are set in stone. The moment a Skill is developed or awarded also depends on the user. ]

"So the reason why I got a Skill at 40 Sense also depends on that?"

[ That is correct. Others can be awarded different Skills at different times.]

'Alright. Let's get back to it.'

Just when Adam closed his eyes,

"Rch-Rch-Rch-Rch-Rch..."

Adam could faintly hear a sound. It came from beyond the thick wall.

He put his palms against the wall, and focused his attention on the other side.

He could faintly feel the presence of something there. The sounds made him more sure of it.

He focused on those sounds as minutes passed.

[ You have gained 1 Sense Point.]

He paid it no mind and kept focusing on his different senses.

He felt a presence about 15 meters beyond the wall. He could hear the sounds of its footsteps.

'...6...7....8...8. It had 8 legs that hit the ground periodically.'

Thinking this, he let out a smile.

He kept focusing more and more.

[You have gained 1 Sense Point.]

He was now able to tell its size.

'Judging by the point on the ground where the legs hit, two legs on the opposite sides of its body are about three meters away. Since a spider's leg is longer but skinnier than its main body, I guess its main body would be about a meter while the legs are longer than that.' He was a bit frightened by the size of the creature.

'It's much bigger than a Goblin, but their ranks are the same, if this is a Mutated Spider at least. If they're the same rank, their strength should be about the same. '

That's when he thought of something.

Something he should have asked the System long ago.

"What's the rank of a Hobgoblin?"

[ Not all Hobgoblins are the same. But those in The Goblin Chief's Domain were [E-] in rank.]

"Oh right, how about the Goblin Chief?"

[The Goblin Chief's rank was approximately [E+]. As it was a Boss Monster located in a Hidden Location, its strength is harder to describe in terms of ranks. Your victory over it shows why.]

"How about the Spider Queen?"

[That information is locked. You can only ask for information about monsters you have defeated.]

'Okay, whatever.'

Adam was convinced that he could take on the normal spider on the other side of the wall.

'Should I burn down the wall using the torch? Probably not. It stopped intruders from coming in, but it also stops spiders from coming out. Let's try making a small hole on the side.'

He moved towards the right extremity of the wall, took his dagger out of the Storage and tried cutting a hole in the wall.

To his surprise, he couldn't cut the spider webs. There was no tension in them. It felt like moving a knife inside a bucket of sand. The webs weren't even sticky or hard. But the wall was still about 5 meters thick.

'So am gonna have to burn it down then. Before that, let's check where the wind is guiding me towards.'

He closed his eyes once more to focus on his body's sensations.

He felt a very light wind guiding him away from the wall. He took his torch back into his hand and kept following the wind, therefore going back on the route he had taken.

Then, it guided him towards the wall on his right. There was a hole perfectly covered with spider webs.

He had completely missed it before even though his torch was lighting up the whole place. It was basically hiding in plain sight.

He could easily burn the webs if he wanted to.

He stopped right in front of it.

'What would I do without this Title? Let's hope this leads to some useful treasure.'

It was indeed an incredible Title. A Title only awarded to those who found a Hidden Location in their first Dungeon.

The hole was pretty big. Salma could go in there with no problem while the others would have to bend down.

He thought about going back to Salma and Layla.

The girls were training, but that didn't mean they would enter a Dungeon again. All they wanted to do was survive. So they wouldn't need the First Pioneer Title.

Even Adam wasn't sure if he was going to enter a Dungeon ever again after this one. All he could think about was making it out of there with the sisters.

In the end, he decided to go back to them and let them decide for themselves. He put his torch down in front of the hidden hole so as to mark it down.

'The wind does not repeat itself right?'

Indeed, his Title would lead him to a Hidden Location or Hidden Artefact, but if he let go of the opportunity, that was it. The wind does not guide the adventurer towards the same location or treasure twice.

He was gone for about one hour.

Adam was still a bit far from the sisters.

Just when he was about to call out to them so as not to startle them, Salma shouted his name.

"Adam! You came back!"

Adam was startled. Not only was he far, but he was also in the dark.

Even Layla didn't notice Adam until about thirty seconds later.

A screen appeared in front of the three of them.

[Many Gods are watching the incarnation Salma closely.]

"Incarnation?" Layla asked.

"Yeah. That's how they call us. The System won't tell me why. Salma, how did you know I was there?"

"Dunno. I felt it I guess. Anyway, I've been training like you told me to. I gained 3 Strength Points, 2 Agility Points 1 Vigor & endurance and 8 Sense Points!"

"I really don't understand this. I've been training hard and I gained 2 Stength Points, 5 Agility Points and 3 Vigor & Endurance. Why did you get 14 points in total and me only 10? I probably trained harder too. You spent a bunch of time looking at the ceiling and in Adam's direction."

Adam had a stunned expression.

'14points in one hour? 8points in Sense Stat? Is it because Salma is younger? Or..because they're girls?'

[ A Certain Evil in laughing at your expression.]

The surprise element faded very fast, and his eyes became shiny. He was truly happy about their progress.

"When I trained for an hour, I was training to hold that greatsword in my hands. I had gained like 7 Strength Points. It's incredible how many points you gained!! But...how come your repartition is so weird? Anyway, progress is progress. This is great!! We might actually make it out of here!" Adam said excitedly.

"Di...did you doubt we would make it out of here alive? We trusted you with our lives and you're not even sure we're going to survive?" Layla.

"Well am not sure about anything. Let's try our best though!" Adam was truly excited.

"Yes! Yes! Let's!" Salma said jumping up and down.

Layla shook her head.

"Anyways what did you find?" She asked Adam.

They all sat down.

He told them about the spider web wall, the spider on the other side of it, the Skill he obtained by raising his stats and the wind that guided him to what must have been a Hidden Location

"...I was about to enter. But then I realized that if you two enter first you might get a Title. Those are pretty helpful. Although it'll be one about adventuring and looking for stuff. I got one myself, although it was pretty random. You can too, if you want to." Adam said.

"Let's go there then." Layla said.

"Are you sure? Do you think you'll enter a Dungeon ever again after this one?" Adam asked.

"Well, it's not like we entered this one by choice." She said as she put her hand on her sister's head. "Salma, what do you think?"

"Let's go, let's go!" Salma said happily.

"Okay haha. So, what do we need to do?" Layla looked at Adam.

"Um, just enter the Hidden Location, I guess. Before there will be any monsters, you'll be asked if you want to enter the Hidden Location. Say yes and then I guess we can just come back here." Adam said rubbing his chin.

"Sounds simple enough." Layla said as she got up.