#7 The starter dungeon

The time to say goodbye had come.

James embraced his son heartily. "Alright, Daniel, I wish you the best of luck out there. And, most of all, fun! Have fun. This is a game after all!"

Daniel interrupted him. "I got it, Dad. I'll be at the top of the hierarchy before you know it!" Daniel stated enthusiastically.

"Okay! You've got a long way before you, but I'm sure you can do it! You were always good at my games after all". James laughed. "I'll be watching you. Just call me, whenever you need to talk". The proud father smiled at his son, who smiled back in a moment of unison and with his last words, he disappeared.

Daniel looked around and observed the surrounding environment. After a few seconds, he noticed the strange runes, that had transferred him from the giant platform in the sky to the grassland he was currently standing on. They were surrounding him once again, almost done with their full circle. 'Okay, let's do this then'.

He closed his eyes and counted to ten.

1… 2… 3…

When he opened them, it was dark. 'Damn this, why does it always have to be dark when I open my eyes again?' Daniel cursed. He squinted his eyes to adapt to the dark environment, but still, he couldn't see his surroundings. He took a step forward.

Suddenly, all around him, torches, that were hanging on solid stone walls in a circle, lit up, until Daniel had a clear view and idea of where he had landed.

He stood in an old round hall, with ancient knight statues surrounding him, standing in front of the walls, holding their swords up into the air. Giant pillars of marble, decorated with small angels rang around it, making the impression of flying into the air, rose up from the ground and lifted the dome that closed off the room from the sky. The dome was made of pure gold, depicting none other than his mother, surrounded by birds Daniel had never seen before. They were sitting on her shoulders, arms and hands, picking bread crumbs! She looked so happy.

Daniel was in awe, turning in circles again and again, taking in all the new impressions. Everything in this room appeared to be an artwork of the finest masterclass, invaluable.

When he had absorbed the scenery, he looked ahead. In the middle of the room was a giant staircase, protected by two sitting lion statues, leading downwards.

Daniel followed the staircase. It ended in another big room. It was decorated far more humbly, but still an eyesight. The only light shone through a giant round window, skillfully formed at the end of it. The window reminded Daniel of the gothic traceries he had seen in old churches when he had been travelling through Europe. The light fell onto an altar. On it stood a big stone statue, also depicting his mother, standing up and praying. In front of it sat a man, a priest of some sort, clothed in lumps of linen, eyes closed. Daniel guessed that he was also praying.

He hadn't noticed him yet, so Daniel decided to approach him. As he did, the priest turned around.

When he glanced at Daniel, he stood up.

"Hello traveller, I am Barmer, a priest of our holy goddess Elisa. All hail!" he introduced himself.

Insecure, if this was already a trial, Daniel answered "Ähh… Yeah… All hail!".

"You're probably wondering what you are doing here?" Barmer inquired.

"Well, not anymore" Daniel answered.

A look of surprise entered Barmers face. "Hm, that's surprising. Are you sure?" As he asked a blue button became visible in front of Daniel.

[ Skip introduction? ]

Daniel selected [ Yes ] and the priest turned around for a second, grabbing something out of thin air. When he turned back, he held an old sword in his hands.

"Very well then, I wish you the best of luck traveller", Barmer said, handing Daniel the sword.

"Your adventure starts over there" and he pointed in the direction where the staircase, that Daniel had just taken, was waiting for him. Instead of leading back up, it now lead further down the building.

"Thank you" Daniel answered, unsure of what had just happened, but the priest had already gone back to praying before Daniel could ask him any questions.

'So this is it' Daniel thought. 'That was fast'. He reminded himself of what his father had told him about the thought commands. 'Let's first check out what I am about to start with'.

'Star stream!'

A big map of the universe showed up, highlighting a point in the middle. But instead of reading "Elisa'a", what Daniel had expected it to do, it read "Daniel - Elementalist".

'Wow, so this is the star stream'. In the top right corner stood the words "Star Stream - 0 star points remaining". Disappointed Daniel closed the map again, not wanting to waste his time on skills he couldn't get either way. 'Alright, next up is the ….'

'Inventory!'

A character sheet next to an empty list of inventory slots appeared.

Equipped were only the sword he had just gotten and a few basic clothing items. Although, they didn't look half bad on the cosmetic side, reminding Daniel of a monk's outfit, at first glance he knew that these items were bad.

[ Old Iron Sword

Damage +1

Durability 50 / 100 ]

[ Simple Linen Robe

Armour +1

Health +5 ]

[ Simple Linen Pants

Health Regen +10 ]

[ Simple Linen Bandages

Movement speed + 5% ]

Disappointed Daniel closed the inventory as well. 'Well, it's better than nothing' he thought and sighed. For his last command, Daniel thought

'Guide!'

At first, nothing happened. Then a small flame lit up next to him and a small flying creature popped into his vision. It was the golem he had seen before, that now turned around in confusion, not yet grasping the situation he was in.

"Doran?" Daniel spoke.

The small figure turned towards him with a mechanical crack. Daniel could hear wheels starting to turn.

"Who are you to know of my mighty name? And where am I?" Doran spoke, not able to filter out the robotic tone in his voice.

"I am Daniel. A new adventurer on Elisa'a. I have chosen you as my companion and guide to travel the world with me!" Daniel explained calmly.

"Wha - aaaaat?" Doran screamed in a deep voice, filled with rage.

Daniel was startled by the loud sound the golem was able to produce in his small form and took a step back.

"Me? Doran, the iron shield? The mightiest golem on the whole planet of trigear? A companion?". He started to turn around again, his gear clicking and shifting. Suddenly, a giant cloud of steam was pumped out of, what Daniel thought, was his mouth, before Doran turned back towards him.

"Where did you say we were again?" Doran asked, now way calmer than before.

"Elisa'a" Daniel answered quickly, not to anger the golem further. He knew the feeling of suddenly being thrown into a new situation all too well.

"That damned goddess…" Doran sighed. "Alright, now tell me where we are exactly".

"We are in the starter dungeon at the centre of the world" Daniel replied.

"And I am your companion?" Doran asked.

"As far as I know, that is the case. Would you mind explaining to me what is going on? How do you not know of this? And are you really the mightiest golem on all of - what did you call it? Trigear?".

"Yes, I am, but that's the case because I am also one of the last golems. A new species has made it its task to conquer the whole of trigear, my star. Unluckily, we golems aren't known for our cooperation and they are currently quite successful" Doran grunted.

"Also, I am not confused as to why I am here. I knew of the possibility to be selected as a guide for you other world travellers. It is part of the reason I exist after all, but the chances aren't that high. Also, I could never have imagined that I, Doran iron shield, would be degraded to such a degree and would have to serve…" and he turned around once again, to let out steam.

"Honestly, I am surprised I got selected. Normally the selections are all about looks and the power of the companion buff, which I don't really offer".

"Okay. I can see that. You don't seem all that happy about either though".

"Obviously or would you be happy to teach an unknown stupid brat about the ways of the world? I don't think so" Doran replied in a harsh tone.

"Well, maybe… I'm sorry" Daniel apologized, earning another grunt from Doran.

"It's alright, kid. It's not like it's your mistake… that damned goddess…" Doran replied and he had to release steam once more. Daniel moved on from the topic, as it didn't seem to sit right with the golem.

"So, tell me, why are you so small? I saw an image of you and you appeared way bigger" Daniel asked with a confused look on his face.

"I grow as you grow. At some point, you might even be able to summon me as a real companion, not just as a flying mascot, but we're miles away from that".

"Oh, that sounds awesome. Alright, let's get to it then, shall we?" answered Daniel, trying to cheer up the golem as best as he could. But before he could get to it, he still needed some more insights.

"What can you tell me about the starting dungeon?". Daniel hoped that Doran would be able to give him some information about what was awaiting him at the end of the stairs.

"We guides can only provide you with general information. Unfortunately, I don't have the information I suppose you seek" Doran answered, trying to dodge the questions that he knew were about to follow.

Disappointed Daniel replied: "Be that as it may. What do you know about the dungeon?".

The golem sighed, seeing that his attempt had failed. "All that I know stems from stories before my time, thousands of years ago. Bear that in mind!" Doran started his story.

"This place originally wasn't a dungeon, but a temple for the goddess Elisa, damn her. Back then there were no adventurers, no real inhabitants. Only the templars and a few followers of the goddess, the first creations. The world was still a peaceful place. At least on the inside.

After some time, the people got bored of their lives, following and praying to the goddess all day and all night, as she was busy creating the other stars. They craved a purpose and started to set out into the world, to see all the wonders their goddess had created.

What they didn't know, was that their goddess hadn't touched the outer parts of their world yet. Everything was still rough and biology had worked its wonders. Creatures, way too powerful for the lost believers, were waiting outside of the invisible safe zone that the goddess had put up to protect them. The moment the believers stepped outside, the monsters saw their chance and invaded this place.

Nowadays it is mostly the monsters that are protected by the safe zone, respawning again and again. Fortunately, only the weakest of the monsters found shelter in this building, as it is way too small. That's why it is now called the "starter dungeon" " Doran finished his explanation.

"Wow… That's a lot to take in". Daniel stopped for a minute to think about what he had just heard. "Wait, so you are saying things in this dungeon or temple or whatever can't die. What about outside?".

"Of course, you can die! This is life after all. I think the goddess has some other rules for you other world adventurers though. After all, you're new here. I think I once heard someone talk about a full reset once you die".

'So hardcore mode, hm?' Daniel thought. That did sound like something his Dad would implement and Doran was right, even though for him this was a game, for others this was the real world.

"Okay. Thanks for the explanation" Daniel replied. "It will be a pleasure to work with you!" and he reached out his hand to the golem.

"Well, I guess let's make the best of it" the Golem answered in his clicking voice and the two of them shook hands.