Chapter 3: First Dungeon
I look at my Spirit Energy with a smile on my face. With this new Spirit Energy, I can evolve my summons immediately. Without any hesitation, I cast a spell.
"Summon Undead."
A second later, a humanoid undead appeared in front of me. It holds a small sword and nothing else. There is no armor on its body. I open its stats and wince a little.
[Skeleton] [★✩✩✩✩✩✩] [Refineable]
[Level: 1]
[HP: 70 / 70]
[MP: 0 / 0]
The only good thing about this summon is the above-average STR it has. It does not have any magic, and the HP of the summon is trash. This is the reason why an undead summoner is not a good choice for a beginner or someone without good backing.
Without hesitation, I put my hand on its head and said,
"Refine to the max."
I consume ten thousand energy and watch my skeleton shine. A notification appears in front of me, showing me what kind of undead I want it to be.
[Skeleton Soldier] [Skeleton Mage] [Skeleton Archer]
Without any hesitation, I picked the first one. Skeleton Mage and Archer are great but too fragile for my first summon. I watch as my undead changes. It is now wearing a set of leather armor and holding a sword and shield.
[Skeleton Soldier] [★★✩✩✩✩✩] [Refineable]
[Level: 1]
[HP: 300 / 300]
[MP: 12 / 12]
Now, my summon can take a beating and even use a spell that gathers the attention of other monsters around it. I only need to increase my summons level, and we are ready to take any dungeons. Sadly, any summoned creature only gets half the EXP of their master.
If I only had the skeleton, it would have been hard, but it is now easier. However, which dungeons should I choose? There are a lot of selections, but most of them are handled by guilds, and I need to pay them to enter the dungeons.
I can fight the roaming monsters who spawn outside the dungeons, but which area should I enter? Ah, there is one dungeon. It is a dungeon that no one discovered, and it is a low-level dungeon where I can hunt.
"But it is deep in the wild zone."
The wild zone is the zone outside the safe zone. It is the location where monsters spawn and roam freely. I need to prepare to enter that place.
I have two thousand dollars left in my account. That should be enough to buy a basic armor set and a low-level healing potion. For now, I am opening my spell slots and saying,
"Spend all Spirit Energy on [Bone Needle]."
I spend all my remaining Spirit Energy to increase the level of my spell.
[Bone Needle] [Level: 3] [Refineable]
[Cooldown: 1.5s] [MP Cost: 12]
[Summon a bone needle that can pierce someone's flesh]
[15 + (1*INT) Piercing Attack]
It is still a single-target attack, but the cooldown is reduced to 1.5s. Not only that, the damage also increased, but the MP cost increased by two. It looks like I need to increase my level first before I refine my spell. I don't want it to get too big for my mana capacity.
I shake my head and leave my room. I needed to prepare for my hunt, but I needed to take some money from the bank.
===||===
"Bone Needle!"
I say and mentally aim at the giant rat running toward me. I watch it fall to the ground, screaming. My undead pushes the rats who attack him and stab the rat I hit, killing the rodent. When the cooldown to my spell is done, I cast more and help my undead.
After a few seconds, all the Giant Rats are dead.
I watch as my Spirit Energy steadily increases. To evolve my undead, I need fifty thousand Spirit Energy. It will take someone a year or more to gather all the Spirit Energy they need. Me? I already have twenty thousand after a few hours of hunting.
[Level up!]
Oh? I am level two now. Perfect. Even though my undead only gets half what I get, the amount of exp required for it to level up is reduced. That means it only pushes a little bit more before it levels up.
And the swirling blue energy in front of me is the perfect thing to level my undead and myself. I looked at it and saw a notification appear in front of me.
[Queen Ant's Nest] [Dungeon Level: ★✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩]
A dungeon has ten levels of difficulty. This is a one-star dungeon. That means this is the lowest-level dungeon. It is perfect for someone who is under level fifteen. Anyone above that level will get an exp penalty and only half the exp amount.
I shake my head and take my spear. Even though my body is not as strong as when I picked Spearman as my class, I am still able to fight using my spear. Not only that, but it is also a good way to increase my physical stats manually instead of boosting from leveling up.
Speaking of leveling up, I open my stats and smile at the boost to my status.
[STR: 13]
[VIT: 12]
[AGI: 15]
[INT: 21]
[WIS: 22]
STR is my strength, VIT is my HP and durability, AGI is my speed and response time, INT is my magic strength, and WIS is my mana and mana regeneration. As a mage, I will get ten in INT and WIS each time I level up. However, I can increase my stats through training.
I love to go to the gym and enter many running competitions before becoming an awakener and gaining strength from all those training sessions. That is another reason why I chose Spearman in the past. Spearman gets a boost in AGI and STR, and I have a good STR and AGI to be a spearman.
I shake my head and take a deep breath. I walk through the portal and see the world change. I am now standing inside a cave tunnel.
"Take the front."
I order my undead, and the two of us walk through the tunnel. If my memory serves correctly, this place is simple enough. It is a straightforward dungeon where you only need to choose the correct path to take to reach the boss's room.
After a few Awakeners exploring the dungeon, the guild that monopolizes this place creates a map that is easy for a newbie to memorize.
After a few seconds, we stopped at the first tunnel intersection.
"At the first branch, take a right to the easier challenge and take a left to go through a wave of Armored Ants."
I nod and take the left path. I don't know if I can defeat this dungeon, but I will farm as much Spirit Energy as possible before I retreat in case the situation worsens.
We take the left path and follow the tunnel for a few seconds before hearing something. I can hear a rumbling coming from the distance, and I know the enemy is here.
"Defence Formation."
My undead roars and puts its shield in front while preparing his sword for the incoming enemies. I take a battle stance and wait for the enemy. After a few seconds of waiting, the first giant ant appears and crashes into my undead, who holds the ground for me.
With a grin on my face, I take a deep breath and thrust my spear. It is time to hunt.