Tutorial Dungeon

"Happy Birthday Ezra!" shouted a class full of teenagers.

Ezra Blackwood was a relatively successful and talented student who others deemed to have a bright future in the world of hunters.

He had been practicing with swords for years in preparation for when he would finally become a hunter. A hunter was a person who would enter dungeons and defeat monsters in return for levelling up and becoming stronger, as well as gaining rare materials and items which could be sold for a lot of money. However, the main reason hunters existed was to stop the dungeon breaks which would happen if a dungeon was left uncleared long enough.

Ezra had looked up to these almost superhero-like characters since he was a child and aspired to be one, and the day had finally come that he could start his future.

As it was his seventeenth birthday, a screen had popped up telling Ezra to enter the tutorial dungeon. The tutorial dungeon was different for every person, and was a test of both luck and skill. This was because in these dungeons, people had found incredibly useful items. Some of these items were weapons or armour, some were unique skills and even powerful classes. Most top ranked hunters had fruitful encounters in the tutorial dungeon which helped them immensely, and Ezra hoped he would be the same.

He was being wished happy birthday before entering the tutorial dungeon, and once his classmates were done, he decided to accept the screens request of entering the tutorial dungeon.

Ezra disappeared from the classroom and found himself in a dimly lit area that seemed to be cave-like in appearance. He began to think to himself to make sure his tutorial went as well as possible, 'I should look around first to see if there are any secret items to be found that can help me out.'

Ezra began looking around the entrance area and after around fifteen minutes, he found a strange area in the ground at the very back of the room. He brushed away a large amount of dirt and found an old treasure chest.

He picked up the item inside and checked the description.

Name: Flame Beast's Sword

+10 strength

+10 speed

+ 50% chance for burn damage

Description: A sword made of the bones of an ancient fire monster. Created by a blacksmith for decoration, however it is still mildly powerful.

Ezra was happy to have found a good weapon, as he was sure it would be a big help as his current stats were only that of a regular human with no skills.

He decided to go forward into the next room and was greeted by ten small Treants that, he knew from researching patterns, meant the dungeon would have a mild nature or wood monster theme.

This was very good for him as he had a flame sword and he charged forward confidently. He performed a clean slash on the first Treant which caused it to set ablaze and crumble.

He turned to another Treant which had begun to approach him, and a single upward vertical slash was enough to knock it back, and another horizontal slash finished it off. Neither of these attacks activated the burn effect, so Ezra was hoping the next would, and luckily this was the case as the next two Treants burned to ash without problem.

- Level Up -

'My first level up, I should check my status once I beat the other Treants.'

The next six Treants were also not an issue for Ezra, with three of them having the burn activated and the final one was taken down even easier with a single attack cleaving it in two before burning into nothing.

- Level Up -

'Now that it is safe, I should check my status to see how my stats spread will be.'

Ezra thought of bringing his status up and it appeared.

Name: Ezra

Age: 17

Species: Human

Level: 2

Stats:

Strength: 16

Vitality: 14

Speed: 14

Stamina: 16

Mana: 11

Skills:

-

'Thank god, it seems like I'm going to be a strength build in the future. Considering all of my stats were ten before, it looks like my strength will increase by 3 every level in strength, 2 in vitality, 2 in speed, 3 in stamina, and 0.5 in mana.'

After checking his status and being pleased that his future build would be in accordance with his wishes, Ezra decided to look around the room for any hidden treasures. However, he was unable to find anything and decided to go into the next room, which he knew would be the boss room as tutorial dungeons were always incredibly short.

As he was yet to get tired, Ezra decided to continue on without rest into the Boss room. The room seemed empty, that was until a clear crystal on the ground started glowing and a large monster appeared.

This monster was made of a dark green energy and had bark around its chest and arms. It did not have any facial features and, despite being somewhat humanoid in shape, it looked more genie-like than a person.

This monster was a wood elemental, a decently powerful creature, but as it was only a tutorial dungeon, it wouldn't be too difficult to beat. As wood elementals were known to be, this enemy was very aggressive and immediately smashed down a fist covered in bark. This caused a small crater to form in the ground, and luckily Ezra dodged in time as the monster was not very fast.

Ezra knew a lot about monsters, and could identify the enemies weakness immediately. Elementals all had a source that their life energy stemmed from, and destroying it would kill the elemental.

Dodging the enemies attacks were easy for Ezra, as his speed stat was higher than the Wood Elemental's. His years of training meant his movement was smooth and precise, almost like he was flowing through each attack aimed at him like a stream of water.

He approached the crystal and the Elemental's attacks got more brutal and its speed increased to as fast as it could possibly go. The Wood Elemental swooped down towards Ezra, and to not prolong the fight, he threw the sword as precisely as possible and pierced through the crystal. It shattered into pieces and the Wood Elemental disappeared.

- Level Up -

- Level Up -

- Level Up -

In place of the Elemental's crystal, a large golden chest was sat on the floor. Ezra approached it and lifted the lid. Inside he saw a glowing black orb which he knew to symbolise a unique skill. He picked it up and crushed it as that would allow him to absorb the skill and make it his own.

'I wonder what skill I received, I should check my status and then look for any secrets around here before leaving.'

Name: Ezra

Age: 17

Species: Human

Level: 5

Stats:

Strength: 25

Vitality: 20

Speed: 20

Stamina: 25

Mana: 12.5

Skills:

Take You Down With Me (Max Lvl) - After coming close to death once, a random effect will be triggered. This effect can save your life, kill your attacker, or rarely have a separate effect. This skill is one time use.