4 How Absolutely Delightful

Jay took his cooking knife with him as he went to leave.

Something will be better than nothing, he shrugged.

As he walked out of the butchery, he left a sign hanging on the doorknob: [Be back after lunch]

Of course, he wouldn’t be back after lunch; he sadistically smirked as he walked away, thinking about the people lining up only to lose patience and leave - but Jay didn’t care. He was an adventurer now.

Sometime soon, he would leave this city behind and get rich killing monsters for a living.

As a butcher, he heard fascinating stories from the guards, which sometimes visited his shop, but when he pried for more information, they simply said, ‘just wait, you’ll get your turn.’

Checking his map to confirm the direction of the stink-rat marsh dungeon, he halted, turned around, and began walking back the way he was coming from - this time in the correct direction.

Jay blushed as he hoped no-one noticed; his first mistake as an adventurer was too embarrassing. He imagined the melee trainer hearing about this and bursting a blood-vessel in his forehead.

Eh, He will never know, Jay chuckled.

On his way out, he noticed a merchant arguing with a slender stable boy. Not caring for the argument, Jay continued to walk by as he gazed at the merchant’s caravan.

Wow, a weapon merchant? I guess he must be here to cash in on the new adventurers. Heh, but I won’t need a weapon with my class, Jay snickered quietly to himself.

The merchant noticed someone laughing at his stock. He glared for a moment before giving Jay an obvious fake smile.

“Hello sir, you like what you see? Well.... you’re gonna have to wait till tomorrow! Ha-ha-ha!” The short, fat merchant let out a bellowing laugh from behind his mustache.

Jay didn’t respond, as he was busy analyzing the merchant.

<[Bertram - Level 13]>

[HP - 100%]

[MP - 87%]

The only details Jay could get were his name, level, and the current health and mana percentages; this was the same for everyone.

You would either need to form a party to see someone’s class, and their actual health/mana - or, of course, touch a mana conduit.

Jay shrugged at the merchants’ teasing and left as Bertram pulled a pipe out and smoked it, periodically puffing clouds out as he went back to micromanaging the stable boy - who at this point had a red face and looked like he was about to tear up.

Poor kid. Jay thought, giving up a pitying smile as he continued towards the dungeon.

The cobblestone path ended and turned to a patchy dirt-grass path as he walked out of the village.

It was nearly the middle of winter; no flowers were blooming and most of the trees in the surrounding forest were missing their leaves.

Though it didn’t get cold enough to snow in this part of the country, much of the vegetation still suffered through the winter.

Ok, just a little further on the path, then I have to cut through the forest to the southwest. Got it. he nodded as he checked his map.

Leaving the path, it was quiet as he walked through the winter forest. A light breeze waved through the trees, and the only sounds came from the odd twig he snapped underfoot.

Approaching the map marker with expectation, Jay was confused.

“... what? Where is the dungeon?” he raised a brow, looking around to see any structures or mystical portals.

Jay expected a cave or at least a crystal to teleport him into the dungeon, yet what he found was a small brown pond surrounded by head-high grass.

“... Is this a joke?” he squinted at it. “It looks like a shit-pond.”

The water was murky, with some lily pads scattered around.

Still, it was quite different to the surrounding fir wood forest and seemed out of place.

Jay walked around the pond as he checked his map, but the marker kept pointing directly into the pond.

“Fine, you win. I’ll walk into the filthy pond and get my shoes wet, then head back to town with wet shoes, a shit-smell, and disappointment.” He gritted his teeth in utter frustration as he finally took a step into the brown water.

After sinking his shoes into the mud and the water reaching his knees, a notification appeared before his eyes.

< [Stink-Rat Marsh - Level 1] >

[Instanced] [Unlocked]

[Enter - Yes/No]

... oh?

Jay was pleasantly confused, but waited no longer. He accepted the dungeon’s invitation.

The wind swirled around him, and for a moment, Jay couldn’t breathe.

Before he realized it, it suddenly sucked him under the water and into the mud; anyone looking at this would think he was just pulled under the water by an ancient eldritch monster.

***

Ejected suddenly from the mud again, it vomited Jay out from the earth itself.

[You have entered Stink-Rat Marsh level 1].

[Unlocked Dungeon - You may leave at any time]

[Instanced Dungeon - This is your personal copy of the dungeon.]

Landing in the slimy water again, swamp bubbles surfaced and a foul smell assaulted him, and another notification followed the others before his face could even grimace.

[Stink Debuff Applied]

Jay quickly checked the debuff.

<[Stink]>

[- Persists until you leave the dungeon.]

[- A horrendous smell distracts you, -5% dexterity.]

“Ugh, this fucking smell…” he frowned, almost feeling like his nose was burning as he read over the debuff.

“Heh, five percent is nothing to someone as low level as me,” Jay scoffed. He really thought being low level was something to brag about.

The air felt sticky, humid, and thick. It was warm, and definitely not winter anymore.

Around him were decaying logs, waist-high grass, and bubbling black murky ponds littering the muddy landscape.

He first got out of the pond he was spat into. While walking to drier ground, his feet produced bubbles with every step, which only added to the stink.

“This would definitely deter anyone from becoming an adventurer, it’s no wonder they don’t send anyone here” he grimaced as he held his nose, though it did nothing to stop the putrid smell.

Jay began exploring slowly, avoiding murky ponds and bubbling mud pools, and soon enough, he came to an enormous log.

Jay approached the side of this gigantic decaying log; it was only getting bigger as he came closer, and as it was finally within spitting distance, he realized even a carriage could fit inside the log if someone hollowed it out; it was as tall as a house.

Wondering how he would get over, he looked along each side. The log appeared to go off into the distance forever.

“Huh, it must be some sort of barrier to stop idiots getting in… or just really drunk people.” he shrugged.

Thankfully, he spotted another decaying log which had fallen onto the huge log, forming a ladder of sorts. - submerged in another murky pond was its base; he would have to enter the water again to climb it.

“Damn, let’s get this over with.” he sighed.

Walking back into the murky brown water, he was frowning as he felt the slightly colder water enter his shoes again, and it produced more stinky bubbles with each step.

Reaching the log, he found it stripped of bark. The wood had turned black after absorbing the muck and minerals over the years; it was beyond dead, truly a part of the swamp now.

The outside seemed to have a slime layer, so Jay attempted to remove it.

“You slippery bastard,” he spread water over it and wiped it - though no muck washed off.

The slimy surface seemed to be one with the log now.

Jay attempted to crouch-walk up it, but this was a sad mistake. After getting about half-way up, he lost balance and fell face-first into the murky water below.

“MMMMMM!!!!!!!” he angrily hummed through tightened lips. He couldn’t yell or the filth could enter his mouth.

He quickly clambered out of the water, causing another stir of stink bubbles; quickly using his shirt, he wiped his lips and spat.

“FUCK!” he yelled through a clenched jaw.

Jay felt like his face was grimacing since he got into this dungeon, but in this situation, he realized he could break through his own limits and grimace even harder.

I’m sick of this place already, it’s no wonder no one comes here… he sighed, why did I get this class anyway - because I didn’t touch a damn mana conduit? How fair is that? he shook his head.

How am I supposed to figure this out alone? Dammit… I suppose for now, I should just focus on what I need to do to survive, he frowned.

For a moment, he felt hopeless, but he pressed on, knowing this was a necessary step for someone with a secret class. There wasn’t much sense wondering what happened when there were more urgent matters to deal with: he was weak.

Jay made his way back to the log with a sense of diligence. This time, anger and frustration helped him ignore the slime and the possibly impending fungal infections.

This time, he didn’t take any chances, gripping the log and laying on his stomach as he slowly shimmied up the log and after a slight struggle, he finally reached the top.

“Ah-” He exhaled and checked his energy.

[Energy - 24/30]

The marsh went on for as far as he could see. Although it was humid, thick dark clouds hung overhead, placing the entire landscape in shadows.

Looking around, he knew the next step was to jump down on the other side, and seeing no logs to get down, he decided he would walk along the log looking for a pond to jump in.

While the ponds were disgusting, he didn’t want to risk a sprained ankle being surrounded by monsters with no way to run.

It didn’t take long for him to spot some movement in the tall swamp grasses.

Approaching slowly, he walked along the log before gingerly sliding himself off the side till he dropped into a muddy area.

He smiled slightly as he didn’t take any damage, though decaying wood and moss covered his chest - not that it mattered at this point. He was simply filthy.

Leaving the mud, he crept into some nearby swamp-grass and crouched.

Being covered in half of the swamp by now, his black muddy clothes blended in almost seamlessly.

Silently, he pulled out his cooking knife and made his way to where he saw the movement.

Stealthily sneaking through the waist-high reeds and swamp grasses, he approached the rustling reeds.

Finally, Jay saw it - his first monster. His first victim.