17 Down in the Dungeon: The Final Floor

After the 7 descended the stairs and reached the floor, they noticed that the floor was empty. There was nothing here and it was extremely disheartening. It was... It was....

"This is bullshit!"

Zoe was shouting and just furious that they had gone through all that hell for nothing.

"There's nothing here, we came all this way for nothing."

It was as Zoe said, the floor was completely empty, and nothing was sticking out that looked like a hidden entrance or anything. It was just a big empty room with walls.

"We go through all that, almost die several times and for what, some fucking empty room and a bunch of dirt."

"Zoe."

"When I get back to the surface, I'm gonna give those guards a piece of my mind."

"Zoe."

"I did not bust my ass just to get some daggers and then almost lose my friends."

"Zoe!"

"I'm serious. I'm so over all of us crazy bullshit that keeps happening. I just-"

Before Zoe could continue her thought Ian, in his still very injured state, grabbed her shoulders and gave a hard kiss on the mouth. After separating from her, Zoe's face turned bright red and Ian could finally think about the situation. Zoe looked at the culprit with shock and some anger.

"What the fuck was that for?!"

"You wouldn't shut the fuck up and let me think. So, I did the only nonviolent thing that I could think of."

"Oh, uh well. Next time, saying my name will be sufficient."

"I did say your name dumbass. Three times."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

Ian knew the room couldn't have been empty, dungeons typically didn't work like that. This was either a massive reward floor or an instant death trap. He was betting on the latter. He limped across the room where he found more engravings on the floor. He repeated his action from the past floor and the engravings began to glow. Some of the engravings began to rise from the ground in the form of a pedestal and it reached the height of Ian's chest before it stopped rising.

"See, patience young padawan."

"Fine, I'm sorry I lack patience. I'll work on it."

[A/N]: *cough* foreshadowing *cough*

"So, who's touching the pedestal first?"

The group looked at each other before Rose shot her hand up and volunteered.

"I'll do it. Maybe I'll get a good skill or something."

Rose placed her hand on the pedestal and a warm light began to emerge.

*New Skill* Lesser Restoration- can restore small areas of flesh and some missing appendages. Can cure low levels of necrosis and curses.

"Damn, I got a pretty good skill."

"Me next."

Zoe ran to the pedestal and put her hand on it. It again glowed with the warm light.

*New Skill* Stealth- can sneak in dark and low-lit areas undetected. Can grow with practice.

"Sweet, now I can practice stealing stuff in broad daylight."

"Don't you dare."

Derek was the next one up.

*New Skill* Strength of the Bear- can double the user's strength in a pinch. Can grow to make skill passive.

"Fuck yeah. I've gotten a good skill."

After came Markus.

*New Skill* Command- can command individuals up to the user's level and provide a buff to their overall skills.

"Guess I'm a natural born leader."

Alice followed Markus.

*New Skill* Mage hand- summon a spectral hand of magic that can be used to carry or move objects.

"Great. Sounds super useful."

Finally, it was Ian's turn.

*New Skills* Nature's Curse- user touches one individual who becomes afflicted with curse. Thorny vines will grow from inside the individual and exit through every open orifice to wrap around the host. Body of the Iron Oak- innate skill that increases the durability of the skill holder's body. Passive, upgradeable.

"Wow, those are some interesting skills."

"What did you get Ian?"

"I got a skill that helps with my defense and one that allows me to deal with unnecessary nuisances."

"Ok? Well, it seems like we got our reward. Now, how do we get out of here?"

"Good question."

However, their question was soon to be answered.

*Congrats heroes. For passing the beginner dungeon (modified) you have earned a level up. All heroes now level 3. *

A warm feeling washed over the tired and beaten party as they felt themselves gain their energy, mana, and health back. Ian and the others looked good as new and before they could ask another question, they found themselves outside the dungeon right where the entrance and the knight camp were.

"Well, it seems like you all survived. I'm impressed."

"Thank you, Captain. However, we are curious to know why the system said the dungeon was modified."

"What?! The dungeon was modified! That shouldn't have happened. None of you had any idea what you would be facing down there or how to deal with it before hand."

"Uh, well..."

"How? Did that damn wizard tell you what to expect?!"

"Not exactly. You see, while magic and monsters might not exist in our world, we do still have stories and myths about such things existing, so we knew what some of those dangers were when we encountered them."

"Oh boy. Then your stay in this world is going to be a lot harder than I thought it was. You'll need to go through some serious training if you all want to survive."

"I smell an anime protagonist level training montage."

[A/N]: You're damn right you do. I am God and you will do as I say.

"Great. The crazy guy gets to lead us through hell and back."

"I guess Zoe is volunteering for the first one on one session. I have no problems with hitting a female."

"Great, crazy and misogynistic. Just my luck."

Ian saw Captain Chris' reaction to Zoe's statement and was forming a conclusion. He was thinking that Chris had a secret, and it involved his armor, or rather what was underneath it.

"Well, I'm tired. I say we all go back to the castle for a hot meal, a nice shower, and a good night's sleep."

"Agreed."

The group began their march back to the castle and discussed their dungeon excursion. Ian explained the absolute ass whooping he received and acquiring Rahska as a companion. Zoe talked about her daggers that seemed like really good weapons but had a level limit that she would need to reach before she could use them. They all mentioned their skills that they had gained, but Ian still kept the Nature's Curse skill hidden from the Captain as there was a worry about how the skill would be used.

Captain Chris gave a report to the King and Gyrax while the heroes ate, bathed, and slept. They all took it easy for a week to recuperate, but once the week was over Captain Chris began training them in how to fight. Zoe, due to her big mouth, was the first one to spar with Captain Chris and man was it ugly to watch. The experienced knight spared no mercy for the fledgling thief and Zoe got the literally shit kicked out of her. The guys definitely made a mental note that the old saying, "talk shit get hit" was very true in this context. Alice and Zoe weren't spending as much time with the others as they were focusing more on learning magic from Gyrax. The boys were all training together with Markus and Derek sparring against Ian to help him grow his Body of the Iron Oak skill.

"Ian, are you sure you want to continue? I think your skill is as high as it's gonna go for now."

"No, I think it can still keep going. Let's keep sparring for a bit longer."

"Take a quick breather and get some water. We'll start back up in a minute."

Derek pulled Markus aside.

"Hey man, don't you think Ian is working himself too hard?"

"Yeah, he just keeps pushing himself. We've been going at this so long I'm not even sure if Ian can even handle the Captain after all this. Let's call it a day on sparring and we'll have Ian spar with the Captain tomorrow."

Before the two guys could call it a day, they noticed Ian sprinting at them with his stick in hand and look of determination on his face. Derek activated his Rage skill and caught Ian's stick. Derek was caught off guard as Ian had seemed to be stronger than before and began to push Derek backwards. He had to activate Strength of the Bear just to keep himself from being pushed back.

Markus went on the attack, but Ian was prepared, and he used Derek as a human shield so Markus would have to maneuver around the larger Derek to get to Ian. That's when Ian caught both guys off guard and threw Derek into Markus sending them both to the ground.

"Looks like you guys have some work to do as well. Misjudging your opponents, especially here, can be fatal."

With that, Ian walked back to the castle from the training grounds while Captain Chris dismissed Zoe and looked at Markus and Derek.

"You two, let's go. Time to train."