Chapter 27 - First Dungeon Run - Training Ground 43

Daichi felt like he was falling from the sky. Even though it felt like minutes it was only a couple of seconds. He landed on the ground with a loud thud. Daichi looked around the place. He was in a narrow hallway that was covered with moss and vines. A few feet in front of him stood a tall arched door decorated in green and brown color.

'Ok. No turning back now I guess…. Status.'

[Name : Daichi Hekima (The Gamer)]

[Class : Student]

[Age : 6]

[Title : Capable Child, Explorer, Prodigy]

[Level : 16 (7611.5/8900)]

[HP : 1820]

[CP : 2008.5]

[SP : 1440]

[Primary Stats]

Strength - 39

Vitality - 39

Dexterity - 36

Agility - 38

Intelligence - 46

Chakra - 47

Wisdom - 30

[Special Stats]

Sense - 36

Stamina - 40

Indomitable (LOCKED)

Charisma - 16

Persistence (LOCKED)

Dignity (LOCKED)

Luck (LOCKED)

[Stat Points - 206]

[Ryo - 13650]

'206 Stat points huh. I'll keep 195 and put 4 in intelligence and one point each in strength and vitality. Then 3 in chakra and 2 in agility. That should be enough. 50 points in intelligence should let me use mana. I'll see what that's about.'

'I have to complete this dungeon without using any more points but If I get into trouble they'll be my backup.'

Originally Daichi only wanted to increase the points after taking a look inside the dungeon but seeing the giant door in front of him made him slightly nervous. Daichi started distributing his points. When he increased his intelligence to 50, new notification boxes popped up.

[You have reached the conditions required to use the energy Mana and thus gained [Mana Manipulation] skill.]

[Would you like to learn this skill? (Y/N)]

'Most definitely.'

[Mana Manipulation - (Active/Passive) (LV.01): Mana is an energy created by the power of an intelligent mind and is a separate energy from chakra. This energy is primarily used for mind enhancing techniques but a strong enough mind can create abilities that have physical effects similar to telekinesis or elemental attacks. This skill allows the user to manipulate their own Mana depending on its proficiency. Practitioners of Mana are even less than Natural Energy users. In its raw form Mana cannot be seen or felt by any sensors or eye powers. The exception is the visual eye Rinne sharingan.]

[Note: Since this energy is created by the mind it is limited and overusing this ability before intelligence passes 200 could cause damage to the psyche.]

'So Mana is different from chakra. And if I understand this right, Mana is mostly used for mental abilities. I might be able to create and use mind techniques like the ones used by the Yamanaka clan with my mana… Hmm. So over use of this skill can cause damage? But since I have Gia's blessing skill wouldn't I be alright?... Yeah I'm not gonna roll the dice and find that out any time soon.'

Daichi continued distributing his points. When he was done he opened his status page once again. He saw his new primary stats and noted the increase in HP, CP, SP and the new info bar MP. His stat points were now reduced to 195.

[HP : 1870]

[CP : 2112.4]

[SP : 1470]

[MP: 920]

[Primary Stats]

Strength - 40

Vitality - 40

Dexterity - 36

Agility - 40

Intelligence - 50

Chakra - 50

Wisdom - 30

Daichi looked at his status page once over and was satisfied. 'Multiples of 5 always look nice.' He slowly approached the door and he could see a keyhole in its center. Daichi held the dungeon key in his hand.

'So this thing also acts as a literal key.'

Daichi placed his dungeon key inside the keyhole. A new notification appeared.

[You have reached the entrance to the dungeon - Training ground 43.]

[Would you like to enter? [Y/N]]

The moment Daichi clicked yes the key inside the door slowly rotated clockwise. The moment it completed one rotation the door opened. He slowly walked through the door.

All around him was wilderness. Trees taller than some huge buildings. Grass that reached his waist. Daichi could vaguely hear running water when he used the superior hearing skill. He looked around but couldn't see any signs of life.

'Observe'

[Dungeon - Training Ground 43]

[Although this dungeon and its creatures are created based on the shinobi training ground 43 they are vastly different. This dungeon is much larger and comprises different terrains that are home to various species of animals. The creatures inside the dungeon are a stronger and more evolved version of their counterparts.]

The moment Daichi finished reading the information on the dungeon a new quest was created.

[Quest Created - 'Kill all 201 creatures inside the dungeon'.]

[Time limit : None. ]

[Rewards:]

New Skill.

New Title.

Ryo 200,000.

[Failure:]

Death.

[Accept (Y/N)]

'There's no time limit. So I don't have to be in a rush. This is my first dungeon. Gotta be absolutely careful. I've stored enough food and water in my inventory to last me a couple of months.'

'And since this will return me to the real world just a few seconds after I activated the key, no one would know I was gone no matter how long I stay here. But I don't plan on prolonging my visit to more than a week. Two if I really need to push it... Let's begin.'

It was night time. The silver rays of the moon shone through the small gaps in the leaves. Daichi took out a short sword. It was one of the random rewards he received. Daichi kept his senses on high alert.

As he was walking through the forest he suddenly stopped and within an instant jumped to the right. The next moment Daichi saw something black with wings around his size standing where he previously stood.

'Observe'

[LV.21] [Bloodthirsty bat]

[HP: 1767] [CP: 1208]

[One of the dozen vicious giant bats living in a nearby cave. These creatures are bloodthirsty and attack anything that comes near their habitat. They are drawn to humans due to their large chakra reserves and amounts of blood. These bats hunt individually to avoid infighting]

Daichi read the information quickly. This was the first time Daichi faced something that wanted to kill him. His hands slightly shook, heart beating wildly and beads of sweat rolled down his face.

But thankfully the Gamer's mind skill took effect and Daichi quickly calmed down. The bat turned in his direction. It spread its wings and shot off towards Daichi. Daichi dodged a second time as well. He took a breath and calmed himself.

The bat took off into the air this time, folded its wings and dive bombed towards its prey.

Daichi was ready this time. He gripped the short sword with both hands and cut through its chest as he dodged.

[-328 HP]

What Daichi saw amazed him. Instead of blood as he expected black smoke came out of the wound.

"Kreee…." The bat screamed.

Daichi didn't give his enemy the chance to recuperate. He threw several shuriken and kunai at high speed towards the bat. Most of them targeted its legs and wings. All of them struck the wounded creature. Now with it immobilized Daichi attacked.

He quickly got behind it and used his tanto to behead the giant bat. The head flew a few feet in the air and hit the ground. The body devoid of its head spasmed for a couple of seconds before it fell down and disappeared into black smoke.

Daichi could see the HP bar falling to zero before it turned to smoke.

[Enemy killed.]

+700 Exp.

+105 Exp.

[A new skill is created with a specific action.]

[Through continuously attacking an enemy with your sword and killing it, the skill 'Sword Mastery' has been created.]

[Sword Mastery - Passive(LV.1): This skill allows the user to freely handle swords of any type. The effects of this skill are amplified if the user knows a sword style.]

[Note: This skill requires a sword to activate. ]

[Effects: +5% Additional damage when striking the target.

Marks target with damage and negative debuffs.

+5% Increase in attack speed.]

Before he could celebrate he felt movement behind him. He turned and slashed his tanto with ferocity. The edge of the sword struck the leg of another bat. It swiftly dodged upwards as Daichi attacked so it only took a minor damage.

'Observe'

[LV.23] [Bloodthirsty bat]

[HP: 2204] [CP: 1931]

The information was about the same as the other bat with 2 key differences. It's level, health points and chakra points. This one's stats was a lot bigger than the previous creature's.

Daichi took several shuriken and threw them. The new bat evaded all and was about to attack Daichi but it sensed danger from behind. The shurikens it dodged earlier struck its back. Piercing through its wings and back.

[-298 HP]

'I had a feeling you would dodge. So I used chakra threads like wires to control and even change the trajectory of the shuriken and it looks like I made the right move.'

The wounds in its body only made it more angry.

"Kreech." It screeched and shot at Daichi. Daichi quickly used the substitution jutsu with a nearby log. He took a few shuriken and tied some ninja wire to it. He threw them as fast as he could and used chakra threads to control their paths.

The bat was successfully ensnared in the trap. Daichi used the skill sprint to increase his speed and started cutting his enemy. Its health points fell with each strike. Daichi repeatedly targeted its head and torso. After receiving several strikes to the vital areas it quickly died. Vanishing in a black smoke.

[Enemy killed.]

+950 Exp.

+142.5 Exp

[You have leveled up.]

[Skill Shurikenjutsu's level has risen by one.]

[Skill Chakra Thread's level has risen by one.]

[A new skill is created with a specific action.]

[Through continuously attacking the vital areas of the body, the skill 'Vital Strike' has been created.]

[Vital Strike - Active(LV.1): An action to strike the vital areas of a target causing critical damage. Causes additional damage when attacking an enemy during stealth.]

[Note: This skill requires a weapon to activate.]

[Effects: +5% Additional damage when hitting target.

Marks target with damage and negative debuffs.

+5% Increase in attack speed.]

'Not a bad start... I've learned quite a bit from these two fights. A fatal blow like beheading instantly kills the enemy. Good to know these things won't regenerate like the reanimation jutsu zombies. Even though the body is made of smoke it's properties are like real living beings. So the vital strike skill is gonna be very useful. And coupled with Sword mastery, It'll be deadly.'

Daichi collected the scattered shuriken and sat down under a nearby tree after making sure it was safe. He rested and thought about his next move.

'Because I have the inventory ability, food and water are no problem. But I shouldn't rely on that. This is a great place to not only increase my level but learn to survive in the wild. I need to find fresh drinking water sources and fresh food. See if that's something available in a dungeon. If not I'll use the stock in inventory. I also need to find a safe place to sleep.'

Since he was in hostile territory Daichi didn't meditate. But because he only used a small amount of chakra and stamina points they regenerated pretty quickly.

'199 opponents remaining huh. I'll get it done.'

After resting for a few minutes Daichi got up and walked. After a couple minutes of walking...

'Where the hell am I even going?... Wait a minute… Mini-map. But will it show the dungeon layout? One way to find out.'

Daichi quickly opened his Mini-map.

He was indicated as a green dot on the map. There were several red dots scattered throughout the map. Some nearby while others far away. Some moved while others stayed still.

The map indicated that the forest was about 5 km long in diameter. About half as big as the forest of death.

The map was surrounded by a blue wall. Daichi figured that was the boundary of the dungeon and wouldn't be able to pass it. But he would check it out anyway.

As Daichi looked at the map he saw something peculiar. There were three red dots moving slowly and surrounding him. Daichi used superior hearing and heard the sounds of leaves rustling and tree branches slowly creaking. He looked up and saw his next opponents. Only one word went through his mind as he looked at those raging red eyes.

'Fuck!!'