3 Sustenance
The sun is setting as I walk with no certain destination thinking, "no food, no money, and no place to sleep .. what a beginning". I guess all protagonists start the same way too.
I find myself in a quiet deserted backstreet, "this would be a nice place to finish the daily quest". I don't want to take the risk and enter the penalty zone right now.
As I'm exercising, I think about the choices I have right now, "I guess the right thing to do is to wait and find out at which point of DanMachi's storyline we are right now before making any big decision". Meanwhile, I would raise my stats and get stronger.
A few People pass by me and give me weird looks, but I don't care about them.
I'm really hungry. I check out if there is anything in the inventory, 'It's empty'. Well, back to doing squats, I guess.
After four hours of working my ass out, "hah hah hah"
Ring~
[You've completed the "Daily Quest: The Preparation to Become Powerful".
The rewards for completing the quest has arrived.
Would you like to verify them?]
"Yes".
Ring~
[You've received the below rewards.
Reward 1: Status Recovery.
Reward 2: Stat points +3
Reward 3: Random Box x1
Accept all?]
I look around to confirm that nobody is there, "Accept".
A warm blue light covers my body, 'oh, it feels better than thought'.
And then, poof all the exhaustion in my body disappears like a lie; my crazily beating heart, my panting shortness of breath, my muscle ache, and my hunger. Everything is gone... wait! Hunger? I'm not hungry anymore?
'Does it mean that hunger is considered as a "DEBUFF status" that can be resolved by "Status Recovery"?'
Well, that wasn't mentioned in the light novel.
'That was good to know', I grab the "Random Box" and open it. 'Please be useful ... Please be useful ... Please be useful'
[Bandages
Plain bandages. Use on small wounds.
You may keep this item in your inventory.]
'Dude, I'm broke. At least give something I can sell'.
I start walking aimlessly again until I find myself alone in a beautiful square that should be full of people, there is no one here. 'I guess it's pretty late, huh'.
I find a bench and sleep until the morning.
---
I ask for directions then I go to the market, going from shop to shop asking if they need workers. 'I feel like an RPG character looking for quests'.
After a few hours, I find a flower shop owned by an elderly couple.
'I think they are the ones that adopted Lilly when she ran away from her Familia'.
They agree to give me food, a place to stay, and 200 Vals per day if I work for them, which I did for 6 days.
***
During that time, I get familiar with the city's layout and the people's habits.
I also got to know that we are at the very beginning of DanMachi's story.
I thought about it a lot; If I interact with Bell this early, I might trigger Freya somehow 'I don't want to die just yet'. Also, he might think of me as a friend and try to depend on me. I don't need extra weight.
So, I decided that I won't go near him until he reaches level 2.
***
After that, I head for the dungeon, which is a complex labyrinth located in the center of the city of Orario. It spawns monsters from walls and ceilings and repairs itself on its own. It is quite vast with the floors that become progressively larger the deeper it gets.
Even if I don't know the layout of the city, I can reach the dungeon easily.
And that is because of Babel, the magnificent tower built over the dungeon entrance. It is very tall that it seems to be extending to the heavens above.
At first, its purpose was to stop the monsters from escaping the dungeon. Now, Babel is owned by the Adventurers Guild to watch and take care of the dungeon.
The first twenty floors of Babel are filled with Familia businesses (weapon and item shops), facilities (cafes, clinics, and lavatories), and money exchanges (where adventurers sell Magic Crystals dropped from monsters).
Above that, are the living areas of the most prominent Gods in Orario, known as the Private Rooms.
---
While walking towards the tower, I inspect the info of an item in my inventory.
'I wonder if it's the same one that Jinwoo got'.
[Instant Dungeon Key
Difficulty: E-rank
Type: Key
Key to access an Instant Dungeon.
Usable on the 5th floor of the dungeon of Orario.]
All preparations to use it is complete. I bought enough food and a few clothes 'the cheapest I could find' and stored them in the inventory so that I won't look ragged like how Jinwoo looked every time he came out of a dungeon.
The weapon is lacking though, but I won't complain now. Without it, there would be no way for me to acquire a weapon anytime soon. It was the only useful thing I found in Random Boxes, aside from the Dungeon key.
[Old Steel Sword
Rarity: E
Type: Longsword.
Attack Power: +5]
"Okay time to go".
---
I arrive at Ground Floor of Babel, I spend the rest of my money on dungeon maps. They are necessary if I don't want to get lost deep in the dungeon.
The 900 Vals I paid, got me to buy maps for the first 7 levels.
Seems like only selling Magic Crystals requires an Adventurer's License, aside from that I can do whatever I want here.
I give my stats one last look.
[Stats:
Strength: 25 Endurance: 10 Agility: 16
Intelligence: 10 Sense: 10
(Available stat points: 0)]
'I made my stats like this to be able to kill "Swamp Ruler Rasaka", which is the boss monster from the first instant dungeon in Solo Leveling'.
I would be disappointed if it's not the same instant dungeon, but having more agility points can't be a bad thing so it's not a waste.
---
I lower my head as I blend in with the countless adventurers flocking from various directions towards the dungeon's entrance located in the center of the tower looking forward to starting their raids.
I was taken aback because of the artistic nature of the building's decorations, then the adventurers wearing their armors and holding their weapons made my heart tremble. 'You can't escape your inner weeb, huh!'
I reach the stairs to the dungeon. 'It's a lot deeper than I thought'.
Also, the guild lets anyone enter the dungeon with no checking.
After all, No one in their right mind would enter the dungeon without "Falna", that would be suicide.
'I'm a special case though'.
[You have entered the 1st floor of the dungeon.]
'Wow, it tells me which floor I enter!' Maybe one day I'll go deep enough to start losing count?
I start following the map, taking the shortest route towards the 2nd floor.
Then I see them, 3 ugly green creatures in the size of a child, 'Goblins'. They turn their heads slowly to look at me.
"Giyooooo!"
Ba-dum ba-dum ba-dum.
'I'm afraid?'
I wasn't that brave as a person in my college days. 'But I'm strong now, right?'
[Strength: 25]
I should be way stronger than these guys.
'Then why can't I move forward? Why do I get the feeling that I want to turn and run away?'
Then they start running towards me, 'in slow motion? .... Oh, it's my agility stat'.
[Agility: 16]
But before I can give it more thought, the first goblin jumps at me stretching its hand trying to scratch my face with its small claws.
So before it reaches my face, I quickly shove away its hand with all of my strength.
Boom!
"..."
'Did I just tear off its arm?' The whole arm, from the shoulder down, is missing. The Goblin Dies from that and just falls to the ground with a thud.
The other 2 goblins stop in place and turn around trying to run. 'I'm that strong? I should test it more' I quickly run and punch one in the back of the head.
Boom!... The head explodes, and before the headless body hits the ground, I kick the other goblin in the side.
Bam! ... It flies and hits the wall. The damage is enough to kill it.
'That was awesome!'
And then I see small spots of dim light on their bodies. I extend my hand towards them and...
Ring~
[You have found the following items.
Lowest grade Magic Crystal x3.
Goblin Fang x1.
Would you like to acquire them?]
"Acquire all"
[Goblin Fang
Rarity: None.
Type: Junk.
A Goblin's small but sharp fang.
You may keep this item in your inventory.]
[Lowest Grade Magic Crystal
Rarity: None.
Type: Gem.
A very small Magic stone with little value.
You may keep this item in your inventory.]
'So, I can't sell them to the store like the drops from instant dungeons?'
I don't need the system's Gold right now anyway, what I need is Vals.
I put them in my inventory while thinking, 'It's a shame that I can't sell these to the Guild. I need an Adventurer's License', and to get it I need to be registered to a Familia.
I thought about that a lot, 'Should I just join a Familia and get it over with?' But I don't know if I can even have "Falna" with the system present.
'Also, I have to keep the system's presence hidden'.
The gods in DanMachi are dangerous and I don't know how they would react to the presence of the system.
'I know I can exchange Magic Crystals and Drop Items in Rivera, the town on the 18th floor of the dungeon'. But doing that and living in the dark can also be dangerous.
'I would look suspicious as hell when I decide to meet the main characters of DanMachi later '.
Being very strong without Falna would make them think that I'm one of those half-human/half-monsters.
'Let's think about that later', I still have a Dungeon to raid.
I run through floors 1-4, killing every monster I find on the way. Goblins and Kobolds are weak. I don't even need the sword to kill them, a good punch is more than enough.
They can be dangerous when they form a large group, aside from that they are pretty easy.
I collect whatever they drop and move on to my destination 'the 5th floor'. As a result,
[You have leveled up]
[You have leveled up]
Wow... Surprisingly, I can level up killing those weak monsters.
Anyway, they were a good warm-up. Fighting them made me realize my strength and overcome my fears. I'm now more comfortable with my newly acquired powers.
[You have entered the specified location. Do you wish to create an instant dungeon using "Instant Dungeon Key"?]
I look around to make sure that there are no adventurers here then, "Yes".
A light blue gate about the same size as me appears in front of me. I enter the gate then I turn around and try to get out.
Ring~
[You cannot exit the Dungeon.
Please defeat the boss or use a "Return Stone".]
'It's the same as in Solo Leveling'. I summon my "Old Steel Sword" and start walking forward.
***
[*Name: Rick Stark
*Level: 3
*Class: None *Title: None
*HP: 360 *MP: 36 *Fatigue: 0
*Stats:
Strength: 27 Endurance: 12 Agility: 18 Intelligence: 12 Sense: 12
(Available stat points: 0)
*Skills:
- Passive Skills: Unknown (Level: MAX),
- Active Skills: None.]
---
[Old Steel Sword
Attack Power: +5]
