The Red Dungeon

The sun was barely rising, Jericho woke up to the sound of Sky pounding on the door and yelling.

"Time's up!"

Jericho was dead tired as she couldn't sleep much. Slowly and drowsily she got up from her bed and exited the captain's quarters. As she opened the door Sky immediately handed her a mop, a bucket full of salt water, and dry pieces of rags.

"I'll take care of the food. You mop the entire ship then dry it with the rags."

"Okay…" Jericho couldn't even look at him. She could tell he was disappointed.

After twenty minutes the table and food would be all set. Jericho sat down still tired. Even with the delicious smell of cooked fish in front of her she couldn't enjoy it.

"What's wrong? Couldn't sleep much last night?" Sky asked while taking a bite out of his food.

"Yeah… I was thinking about last night."

"Hm… do you think if I were to give you another shot you'll do it?"

Jericho looked up at Sky. She was afraid he was angry with her, but he looked calm.

"I… I don't know if I'm ready yet. I mean I already did it twice but… this time it felt so… wrong."

"We'll see how it goes. If you don't want to, that's fine but it would make our lives easier if you can especially during the fight with the Warlord."

"Yeah… Can I ask you a question?"

"What?"

"How old were you when you killed your first man?"

"Seventeen."

"Wait, aren't you seventeen now?"

"I am."

"But… you seem so used to it."

"I know, right!" Sky took it as a compliment.

"It hasn't been that long since I took a human life."

"Then… how did it feel to take a human life when your life wasn't at stake?"

"When my life wasn't at stake? Hmm… Well, you see this ship?" Sky stomped twice on the deck of his boat.

"Yeah?"

"This belonged to an exterminator crew at first, the first day I met them I killed the majority of them. They would've died anyway if the boss we encountered wasn't so powerful. At the end only the captain and I were left alive but he was heavily wounded thanks to the boss. Then I killed him and the rest of the crew who stayed behind."

"Why did you kill them? Were they going to kill you?"

"Eventually…" Sky smirked to himself.

He did it for the exp they would give him saved would save his life, and in doing so he could keep the dungeon rewards all to himself and he doesn't regret it.

If he hadn't he would've never gotten those precious scrolls, or the captain's hat and trident.

"I thought asking you would help me, but it didn't." Jericho looked down.

"We'll go at it at your own pace."

'Until then I'll take the majority of the exp for myself.'

After finishing Sky left Jericho in charge of washing dishes as he set out to the next portal.

For the next two weeks, Sky and Jericho would do nothing but clear dungeons, eat, train, sleep, hide, rest, and repeat.

{Jericho Haydie}

{Level 33}

{Sky Rouge}

{Level 74}

{Exp: 1244/10,000}

{Stat points: 65}

{Shells: 1.2M}

Jericho would learn to clear dungeons by herself, at first with Sky's help. Sky would never change the exp share adjustment until she learns to kill a human properly.

"Despite only earning 1% of the total amount of exp, she leveled up decently."

Sky smiled at her progress. But he was proud of her skill leveling up so high.

{Magnetism: lvl 9: able to sense, move, and accurately move metal objects at a 200 meter radius}

{Dagger mastery: lvl 8: 40% increase damage with daggers. 40% chance and critical damage increased when using daggers. 80% increase in hand-movement speed with using daggers. 400% increase in damage with successfully stealth strikes using daggers}

Sky made sure she practiced everyday, and it was paying off. Even so, going from level 9 or 10 in skills seemed to take a long amount of time.

Even Sky was the same.

{5+ str}

{Str: 55+20}

{3+ dex}

{Dex: 53}

{2+ spd}

{Spd: 54+25}

{7+ int}

{Int: 107}

{6+ Mind}

{Mind: 59}

{Vig: 100}

All the increase in stats came naturally from clearing dungeon runs and training.

One thing he cannot figure out is how to increase his vigor stat naturally. It seemed to be the only stat that he cannot raise naturally.

{Card transformation: lvl 9: Able to transform objects into cards measuring a 100 meter radius}

{Trident mastery: lvl 9: 90% damage with trident. 90% increase in swimming speed while holding trident. 45% increase in critical chance and damage}

{Slowness: lvl 7: users inflicted with debuff are 35% slower}

{Telekinesis: lvl 9: move things with your mind at a 150 meter radius}

{Lightning bird: lvl 9: Damage 285(150) HP: 700}

{Summoning mastery: lvl 9: 90% summon damage increase. summon 9 units max}

{Mana mastery: level 9: Regenerates mana 90% faster when still}

{Healing: lvl 9: Heal 450 HP per use}

{Lightning resistance: lvl 7: 35% of lightning-based attacks damage are nullified}

Sky got a lightning resistance after finding a cheat. At night he would use his lightning birds to attack himself, and heal himself in the process, increasing his summon damage level, summon mastery level, lightning resistance level, and his healing skill level.

"No matter what we do it seems leveling up a skill to level 10 is impossible, it can't be that the Spd max is at level 9, right? There's no way."

"Sky, the new daggers are great! Thanks!" Jericho waved around two special looking daggers.

During the two weeks Sky found a total of three scrolls, all of which increased intelligence by three points each, Sky gave them to Jericho to increase her mana and her loyalty.

Next he would find two daggers in two back-to-back green+ dungeons. One was a boss drop, and the other was from a secret treasure room. In the same treasure room was a wooden chest that gifted him not only a good dagger, but 100,000 shells in total.

"They are. Be careful they're magical daggers."

"I know."

Both daggers had exquisite details on them and looked expensive. They also had impressive abilities.

{Dagger of chill}

{10% chance of freezing an enemy when hit successfully}

{Mira's dagger}

{10% chance of causing a bleeding effect on an enemy}

Sky was happy to see Jericho happy with her weapons. But sadly her daggers wouldn't benefit her as much as it would benefit him.

Both daggers do 80-90 damage. But that doesn't matter to Jericho because the system doesn't let her benefit from it, what she does benefit from the system is the dagger mastery skill which increases her speed, damage, and crit chance and damage.

What also affected her damage with her daggers was her strength and dex stats.

{Quest time remaining: 13 days}

'It's almost time.' Sky thought.

Would his current level and skills be enough to take down the Warlord? As strong as he currently felt, he still felt weak despite never having faced the Warlord, only his disposable men.

Using his map he was able to successfully avoid any naval battles.

"How long until we reach another portal?" Jericho asked, she couldn't wait to try out her new daggers.

"You're really enjoying this. I thought you would be getting sick of killing monsters by now."

"Nope."

Sky couldn't help but smile. He checked his map to look for a nearby portal.

"The next portal is about… hold on." Sky stood up in shock, unable to believe what he was seeing.

He could see dozens of green portals, one of which was only a green+ portal, but in the middle of the ocean was a portal that stood out from the rest, a red portal.

Not hesitating he picked the red portal and the ship began moving.

{Time until destination reached: 39:01}

'That's too long.' Sky closed his eyes in frustration.

This was the first red portal he had seen on the map, and in the southern lands a single red portal appears once every month or every two months.

{Warning: Heading towards a high level dungeon}

Sky squinted his eyes, this would be the second time the system has warned him about a high level area, only this time it's not telling him to avoid it.

"What's wrong, Sky?" Jericho asked, concerned.

"There's a red portal nearby and we're headed there now."

"What?" Jericho's eyes were not filled with happiness or curiosity, but that of fear.

"Something wrong?"

"Sky, you're strong but you're still not strong enough to take on a red portal! Even my dad isn't strong enough to take on a red portal by himself."

"Really? You're saying your dad is stronger than I am?"

Jericho nodded almost desperately.

"How do you know?"

"I've seen him, he used to train my sister, and I used to see them train on the side, he was very strong, fast, and yet he could only be considered as 'average' within his crew."

"Hmmm…"

It made sense to Sky. People in the land of the dead are used to clearing red and red+ portals on a daily basis. It only makes sense for them to be strong individuals.

Sky took her words and the system's warning into consideration. This is the only time they'll see a red portal before they have to fight the Warlord.

"We're going. Clearing this red portal will help us. If we don't, chances are that the Warlord will find it and clear it and take the rewards for himself."

"Oh… okay." Jericho looked down, she clearly didn't want to clear a red portal.

"For this portal run do not fight unless you have to, I'll deal with all the monsters and bosses. Keep your distance but don't go too far away from me."

"Okay."

Halfway there Sky was thinking on what stats to increase. He was saving up in case he needed it from an emergency, but in order to increase his chances of survival he felt that using his stat points now was crucial.

"I have 65 stat points… This seems like a risk but I have to do it." Sky invested his points to Mind.

{Stat points: 65 → 14}

{Mind: 49 → 100}

{Mind has reached 100}

{Mana regen has increased to 100%}

{New ability learned: mana grace}

{Mana grace: lvl 1: Recover 10% of maximum mana instantly. Increase 10% of maximum mana for 10 minutes}

{Skill buffs can be used on others for no cost}

{Cooldown: 1 hour} {Skill cooldown is not affected by Dex stat}

"This is actually very good." Sky thought. Despite the long cooldown he was happy with this skill.

With 100 Mind and a 100% increase in mana regen, he is able to recover 200 mana per minute, 290 per minute if he stays still.

He didn't have a way to recover mana aside from waiting or absorbing mana attacks, but with mana grace he could recover mana whenever he wanted.

And now he can increase his maximum mana as well. And as long as he continues to increase this skill of his the more his maximum mana increases.

Something that did worry him is the description {skill buffs can be used on others} did that mean he can use the skill on Jericho and himself, or just one of them at the same time?

He didn't get an answer from the system this time. But with no time left to experiment with the skill Sky decided not to use it.

{Int: 107 → 121}

{Mana: 905/905}

Sky noticed Jericho was worried. She was walking around and lost in her thoughts.

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

"It's going to be okay." Sky kneeled to face her at eye-level.

"Are you sure?"

"Definitely. I'll clear the portal by myself this time. In case I need your help, use your daggers and your magnetism skill to attack at a distance, like you always do."

"Okay."

Sky and Jericho made it to the red portal.

It looked like any other green portal with no discernable differences, did that mean that all portals looked the same even if they are a different rank?

The color ranking system didn't mean that the portals looked green or red or purple, it was made to gouge a portal's level.

Sky took a deep breath before entering a portal.

Almost immediately his ship was met with land which almost made Sky and Jericho trip. The area around them was a wet, depressing swamp. The sun was just rising. The trees were withered, there appeared to be no sign of life.

{Dungeon discovered}

{Swamp dungeon: red}

{Monsters: ???. ???}

{Boss: ???}

{Rewards: Shells, exp, red-grade item}

"Haven't seen those in a while."

Sky has cleared multiple green dungeons, at first they had a '???' symbol, but after clearing each dungeon the monsters and bosses name would show up.

"Thank god!" Jericho dropped on her knees.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I was worried this is going to be an irregular dungeon."

"Is that what you were worried about the most?"

Red dungeons and above have a chance of being 'irregular' that makes dungeons harder to clear.

For instance, Jericho's father one time had to kill wave after wave of monsters in an irregular red dungeon, the total kill count was estimated to be 10,000 monsters plus a boss at the end. No one cannot leave an irregular dungeon until they have cleared it.

Sometimes irregular portals have two bosses at the end, or monsters become poisonous. There are many possibilities.

There are three ways to tell if a portal is irregular at first glance.

First: no one can enter or leave a portal if there are already people inside, which for Sky was normal at this point. Normally one cannot tell if a portal is closed unless they attempt to leave the portal.

Second: there is always a red moon. Some portals however are underground where one cannot see the sky, so this method doesn't always work.

And lastly: all water tastes like sea water, even fresh water brought from outside the portal turns to sea water.

Both got off their ship and Sky transformed his boat into a card before venturing forth. Sky could not sense any lurking monsters nearby.

Jericho was clinging closely to Sky.

"Stop." Sky whispered to her.

He could faintly sense something in front of him behind some trees. They closely and stealthily made their way over.

They could see a group of seven monsters huddled together and eating something. All are seven feet tall, dark gray, with long tails, a wide U-shaped snout, and thick skin.

'Identify.'

{Alligator}

{Stronger, smarter, tougher, and more dangerous than an ordinary alligator. The species eats and kills other species relying on numbers and their jaw-strength. It thrives in swamps, marshes, and lakes}

{HP: 1,300/1,300}

{Mana: 220/220}

{Stats: Str: 200. Dex: 83. Spd: 120. Int: 44. Mind: 40. Vig: 120}

{Skill: Bite force: lvl 7: 70% increased damage when biting}

{Dash: lvl 8: Increase 80% speed for 8 seconds}

{Swimming: lvl 8: 80% increase in speed while swimming}

'Damn, their strength and speed are insane!' Sky started to sweat, perhaps he isn't ready to take on a red portal.

'Are these the kind of monsters that people in the middle lands fight on a daily basis? This isn't even a red+ dungeon.'

All the other alligators had similar stats making it already stronger than any other boss he had encountered, and there are seven of them.

Without saying anything, Sky gently pulled Jericho far away.

"What's wrong?" Jericho whispered.

"They're too strong. If it was only one of them I think we could pull it off but there are too many. We need to kill them without fighting them directly."

"So we're fighting with long distance attacks?"

"Exactly. Now get on my back."

With Jericho on his back Sky flew using his telekinesis and held firmly onto the top of a tree.

{Mana: 105/905}

"Thank god I have a lot of mana."

The amount of mana he uses for telekinesis depends on what he's using it on.

For example: using telekinesis on his current ship uses 64 mana per second including the 20% mana decrease in consumption.

But, using the ability to lift himself costs 80 mana with the 20% in mana consumption which would be 100 mana per second.

It was as if the system was telling him that it wasn't going to be that easy.

Once Jericho got off his back and held onto another tree, Sky rested for a minute before he was ready to take on the alligators.

"Summon lightning birds!"

Nine lightning birds were summoned at once.

Sky pointed at the area where the alligators were.

"There's some alligators there. Find them, and kill them."

'I might still be weak but I'm not stupid enough to fight them head on.'

The birds flew quickly to the area where he pointed. Sky and Jericho heard a battle erupting.

Sky stood still as his mana was recovering quickly. It takes 16 mana to summon each bird at first, but it takes only 16 mana per minute to keep them summoned, which was perfect for him. No matter how much many birds he summons the cost is still 16 mana per minute.

And every time a lightning bird dies, they are automatically summoned again but that costs 16 mana to summon them again.

With his mana mastery at level nine and his Mind stat at 100 points, he is able to regenerate 290 mana per minute.

Sky was happy he invested his points into Mind.

'Should I call it cheating or being a genius? No, how about cheesing it? I don't even know where that word came from as I just made it up... but I like it. 'Cheesing' my way through a red dungeon. At least until I reach the boss room.'

"Sky, are you sure you can clear a red dungeon?" Jericho asked.

Seeing him in hiding and relying on his summons to fight made her worry for when they fight the boss.

"Hopefully. Like I said, I'll deal with it by myself for now."

"And if you need my help I'll help, but in the meantime I'll stay out of the way."

"Yep… Jericho, you said your father is stronger than I am and yet he can't clear a red dungeon by himself. So how would he compare to others in the middlelands?"

"Well my dad only had one skill, but my dad said that he was below average in terms of skill and power compared to others, and that was weeks before he left us. And I believe him."

'He must've been incredibly lucky then to have stolen a purple scroll. No wonder he was pissed when Jericho accidentally tore the scroll… but to abandon and endanger his family?'

Sky loves his parents more than anything, but even he wouldn't put them in danger or abandon them for such a stupid reason, or any reason.

{Lightning bird has died}

Another lightning bird appeared before him and flew back to where the other lightning birds were.

It would take thirty minutes for something to finally happen.

{You have killed Alligator}

{Rewards: 7333 exp, 5680 shells}

*Whistle* Sky believes this is the first time he has received that much exp from killing a single monster.

{Exp: 8577/10,000}

'Haven't felt this way since I killed those fishmen. Too bad I couldn't find more of them. Although I did hear there are some powerful fishmen going around destroying ships, killing humans and whatnot, I haven't encountered them thank god… wait a minute, can that possibly be my fault?'

Sky came to a realization. What are the odds that those fishmen have to do with the ones he slaughtered on the island? They struck first but something told him that the powerful fishmen don't care about that.

'I just keep making enemies... But that was just bad luck on my part. I did have a choice to not fight the Warlord but she wouldn't be here right now.' Sky looked at Jericho. She was bored and started cutting a branch with a knife.

{You have killed Alligator}

{Rewards: 6999 exp, 5210 shells}

{You have killed Alligator}

{Rewards: 7333 exp, 5680 shells}

{You have killed Alligator}

{Rewards: 7333 exp, 5680 shells}

{You have killed Alligator}

{Rewards: 7131 exp, 5300 shells}

{You have killed Alligator}

{Rewards: 7777 exp, 5990 shells, alligator pants}

{You have killed Alligator}

{Rewards: 7521 exp, 5750 shells}

{Jericho Haydie has leveled up}

{Level 33 → 34}

{Exp: 300/3800}

Jericho still gets only 1% of the total amount of exp per each kill.

{You have leveled up}

{Level: 74 → 79}

{Exp: 1671/15,000}

{Stat points: 25}

"I love this. What's with the pants?"

Sky took out the pants he received. The pants were made entirely out of alligator leather.

{Alligator pants: green+}

{Stat requirements: none}

{200+ HP when worn}

{20% in speed while swimming}

"Where did you get that?" Jericho asked, she has never seen such ugly pants before.

"The stats are great." Sky ignored Jericho, "but why do they have to look so weird?" Sky chuckled as he placed his pants over his other pants. Apart from rings and earrings he needed something for his legs.

{HP: 2850/2850}

With the clothes he has received he felt stupid wearing them at the same time. But it was either fashion or his life.

Jericho was used to his weird sense of fashion at this point.

"Let's go."

"Are the alligators dead?"

"Yup."

"Yey."

Sky was still a bit worried. The dungeon's description read that it has two different kinds of mobs in the dungeon, he has already seen the alligators but what's the other species?

{Int: 121 → 136}

{Mana: 980/980}