The First Foray

The Great Dungeon is an interesting place. It looks a bit like a massive cave, but there are glowing crystals sprouting from the rock like weeds everywhere, bathing the whole place in a dull light. Near the door I just stepped through is a rack full of weapons like swords, shields, spears, and flails. This reminds me that I haven't brought a weapon with me to the place where I'll be risking my life to fight a bunch of monsters.

To be fair, taking your sword along isn't really a requirement when working the checkout at Walmart. I inspect the weapons on the rack and take a sword. The spears look cool, and the shield looks safe, but Thomas Filmore only ever uses a single blade in Rising Hero. I'm not going to mess with stuff I know nothing about until I've gained a little experience.

A few more students step through the door, and when they spot me, they flinch and hurry ahead. I feel like cursing out the person whose body I'm inhabiting. Seriously, what have you been doing to make everyone hate you like this? That's rhetorical question, I know exactly how he degrades commoners when they cross his path.

Still, I guess the nobles seem to like him, they were cheering him on when he challenged Rex to that duel. I don't think that's supposed to be a good thing though.

I walk deeper into the dungeon. At first, I spot nothing. But then I hear a skittering sound. This may be too late to realise this, but I think I got too caught up in the excitement of the situation. I don't actually know how to fight.

My heart beats loudly in my chest as the skittering sound gets similarly louder. I locate the source of the sound in the wall to the left of me, and as I suspected, a massive rat crawls through a hole there. It has grey fur and it watches me with large, beady eyes.

I take a step back. Wow, this is… scarier than I expected. Rats are vermin I've grown used to since long ago, but seeing them this big is terrifying. Those claws, which look harmless when tiny, don't help matters when in this size. It's not as large as me, thankfully, but when on all fours it does come up to my knees, which is several sizes too large anyway in my opinion.

I unsheathe my sword from the brown leather sheath and raise it in front of me unsurely. And then the giant rat pounces at me. It's faster than I'm expecting and—

"Woah!"

I don't know what it is, but something suddenly clicks. I dodge to the side and swing my blade smoothly, like I've been doing it for years, and the blade slices through the rat in one clean stroke. There's blood, which grosses me out, but none of it gets on me. Its corpse in two parts vanishes as soon as it hits the ground, leaving behind a tiny and pristine blue gem.

The blue window pops up instantly.

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2 EXP

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It disappears just as quickly, but my focus is on something else. I'm staring at my hands in wonder at what just happened. It's like… I understood. Like I've been playing a sport my whole life, and the know-how to play it is still there.

I don't have Thomas Filmore's memories, but wielding that sword like I did felt way too natural. I don't have his memories, but I may have his training. I clench my hands into fists a few times, there's only one way to test it.

I walk deeper into the dungeon, and I hear that telltale skittering noise again. I ready my sword and wait, and after a few moments, another giant rat with grey fur squeezes out of the wall and onto the ground again.

Instead of waiting for it to launch itself at me, I charge at it this time. It doesn't even have time to do anything before I stab my blade through its body. The corpse vanishes once more, leaving behind another spotless blue gem.

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2 EXP

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I laugh a little. This is way too easy! I take a few breaths to calm down, remembering to pick up the blue gem this time. The gem feels cool to the touch, but nothing feels unordinary about it—other than the fact that it just came from inside the monster and yet it's still cleaner than a polished diamond.

As I contemplate the gem, my sense catches up with me. Right, I'm doing this to level up so that I can defeat Rex Cranz. Two experience points per giant rat isn't really efficient. It might be because my Thomas Filmore surpassed giant rats long ago.

I look around, why are they spawning from the walls anyway? Is it because the group of students that went ahead of me are killing the ones that had already spawned?

I shake my head, it doesn't matter. I once more press deeper into the dungeon, killing any giant rats I come across. In time, I encounter two more types of monsters. One has the form of a gelatinous orb—a slime—and the other is a flying monster with fangs—a giant bat. Both creatures fall to my sword. Unfortunately, they too only give two experience points each.

I come across a few forks in the caverns as I progress, and each time I pick haphazardly. I don't think it much matters which way I go on the first floor. However, a few minutes later, I regret that way of thinking.

I've defeated giant bats and giant rats today, and the thing in front of me is similar. It's a giant spider, with its creepy hairy legs, and its creepy black eyes, and its creepy twitching mouth. I should be able to defeat it just as easily, but a shiver runs down my body, making my skin break out in goosebumps.

No way, no way, no way—!

I don't know what it is, but spiders are way creepier than those other two animals. And scaled up like this? Suddenly, I want to run away and accept Rex Cranz's request to cancel the duel right now.

I bounce on the spot, trying to calm myself as I breathe. But before I, or the spider, can do anything, a loud laugh echoes throughout the cavern. A tall woman with a massive sword in hand comes racing towards us from behind me, and she uses it to slice through the spider in one heaving swing.

I shouldn't even say slice, because that more crushed the giant spider than sliced through it, that's how massive her sword is. I mean, it's even thicker than me, and almost just as large.

The woman pulls the sword up and rests it on her shoulders, then she looks at me, flicks her messy black hair behind her shoulder, and smirks tauntingly, "Oops, guess I took your kill, Filmore."

That crazy grin, that tan skin, and those bulging muscles… I definitely recognise her. It's Ophelia Hunt.

I resist the urge to sigh. Oh great, I didn't expect to meet another person from the Hero's Party here today.