Chapter 8: Blood, Guts, and Points

I ended up storing all of the food in the loot shed since that was where I would be keeping everything, and until I figured out a better place to put everything I would use it as my base and storage for everything involving the dungeon, and because of that, I'd bought some padlocks from the grocery store for a bit of extra protection just in case a certain someone tried to get in. I still wasn't sure if Linda knew or if she suspected something, but either way, I couldn't let her anywhere near the loot shed or anything to do with the dungeon. At best she'd blackmail me and at worst she'd called the government and then I'd be screwed.

For convenience, I created food bags, basically a bag full of all the food I'd need to survive a day. So if I planned on heading into the dungeon for an extended period I'd take a couple with me, but if it was just a short dungeon dive then I'd take one or two.

By the time I was done with that, it was time to eat, and I happily dug into the food Evelyn had made for me. It tasted amazing, and I was truly grateful I'd become friends with them, not just for the food of course. I'd expected to be alone in this town. It was good to know I had someone I could go to if I needed help, and even better that my uncle had approved of them. That man could tell the good from the bad very well. I remembered a time a door-to-door salesman had to come when I'd been visiting and to my eyes, he'd been a swell guy and he'd gone on about how he needed the money and essentially put on a fake act that my uncle had spotted from a mile away. Later that week, the local news reported on his arrest.

With a full stomach, I headed to the loot shed and armored up, refilling the ammo, and making sure I had everything I needed. This time I'd been spending at least a day if not more in the dungeon, not going too far, but exploring the closer areas and farming them as much as I could for levels. Eventually, I knew if this dungeon was like RPGs I'd need to move on as the amount of XP I needed for each level would get higher, but until then there was no need to risk my life.

I felt no fear or apprehension this time as I made my way through the entrance and three doors then into the dungeon itself. I was relaxed, and things went well for the first few hours as I pumped rat after rat full of lead, and the XP started to come in. Guns really did trivialize everything as it would be much harder if I were using a sword like the main characters in books did, granted I would probably need to learn at some point, but for now, the gun was far quicker and did the job better.

Fangs, poison, and pelts filled my bag and at one point I even got a lucky drop in the form of a rat dagger.

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Crude Rat Bone Dagger[Tier 1]

Weapon Type: Dagger

Durability: 15/15

Quality: Average

Abilities: [None]

Traits: [None]

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It was nothing special but compared to the pelts and fangs it might as well have been.

Things didn't remain completely easy though. I was turning a tight corner when a rat leapt onto me, pushing my shotgun to the side as I fired. It shrieked and saliva dripped onto me as it snapped its fangs mere inches away from my face. My shotgun was the only thing keeping it back, though the thing was strong and I knew I wouldn't last, not to mention the fact this thing might draw in others.

I grit my teeth and stopped pushing for only a second. The rat stumbled forward and I used the chance to push the rat off me before dropping my shotgun and drawing my pistol from my holster. I fired twice in quick succession before the thing could move. The bullets tore into it, and it died with one last pained shriek.

I panted heavily as I slowly got to my feet, holstering my Glock and picking up the shotgun. That had been close, and if not for the shotgun, that rat's fangs would have been chewing on my arm or worse, my neck. The thought and mental image made me shudder, and I promised myself that I'd be more careful when approaching tighter corners. If that thing hadn't been alone then I would have most likely been swarmed and killed.

That thought was like a bucket of cold water and brought me back to reality, and I continued on, much slower and much more vigilant. A few dead rats and I'd gotten cocky and almost died. I shook my head. My uncle would have smacked the stupid outta me if he'd been there to see it, and I deserved no less. This was in many ways like a video game, but it was not actually a video game. It was real life and I needed to be more careful.

As far as I could tell, there were no respawns that came with my system, and even if there were, I sure as hell wasn't eager to find out.

An hour later I reached the end of the corridors on the map and was a few feet away from a staircase which according to the map led into a system of caverns that ended after a couple of caverns. Afterwhich it led into rooms? The map was crude so I couldn't really be too sure of what I was seeing. My uncle's handwriting might as well have been a doctor's scribbles. The only reason I could read as much as I had was that I was used to it somewhat.

Before I headed down the stairs I took a quick break and drank some water and ate a protein bar and some dried fruit. I placed my shotgun down as I did and drew my pistol, keeping vigilant as I ate quickly. Once I was done eating, I brought up my status.

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[General Information]

Name: Kaiden Anthony Lorde

Race: Human(Modified)

Gender: Male

Age: 20

Origin: Earth(Terra - 13)

Level: 6 | XP: 13% > 7

Entity Class: 0

[Attributes]

Strength: 10

Endurance: 10

Constitution: 11

Dexterity: 10

Agility: 10

Intelligence: 12

Perception: 11

Sense: 10

Willpower: 12

Wisdom: 10

Charisma: 10

Luck: 5

AP: 15

[Abilities]

[Ascension]

Body(Core): 1%

Mind(Core): 1%

Soul(Core): 1%

[E-Seeds]

Seed Slot I: O-Energy | OE: 0/0 (N/A) |

Seed Slot II: Internal Energy | IE: 10/10 (1/1H) |

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My eyes were drawn down to the ascension section momentarily. I'd thought on it a bit but after focusing and getting nothing, I promptly ignored it. I had no clue what it did and guesses wouldn't be much help if I couldn't actually act on them right now.

I had fifteen AP points to spend, and as I'd planned I dolled them out evenly. Of course, certain stats would take some precedence, but I wouldn't be leaving any stat behind. I would start by mainly focusing on my psychical stats first to make dungeon diving easier and increase my survivability, and then I would start to pump points into the others because as much as I wanted to put points in charisma, intelligence, and wisdom, it wasn't the smart move right now. Once I was done, I confirmed everything and let the familiar numbness and heat run through me.

With new strength and energy coursing through me, I made my way down the stairs and into the caverns.

They were a lot more worrying than the corridors had been. The wide space meant more angles for monsters to strike at me, and my flashlight, though powerful, was not strong enough to reach the walls, which meant I had to be constantly looking around, and keeping my ears peeled for any sort of sound. The darkness also seemed far more oppressive in nature, and despite being in a wide space, it felt sort of claustrophobic.

I took a lot more care where I tread as well, as the floor of the cavern was not flat, and if I tripped who knew, maybe some unseen predators who'd been waiting for me to mess up would pounce. Such thoughts were a constant problem, and no matter how hard I tried to quell them, fear always remained. It made sense, of course, I was not yet strong enough to stroll through these caverns and I didn't have any abilities that allowed me to see in the dark. In fact, I had no abilities and I had no clue how to get any.

The first monster appeared after only five minutes into the cavern and it was not a giant rat. It was something even more disturbing. A human in torn clothes with sickly colored skin and rotten flesh. Bits and pieces missing from its body, it moved forward in a slow shuffle, a low moan emitting from its mouth. It was a zombie, though thankfully not one of the fast kinds. It was more akin to a walker from The Walking Dead, and it took only one shot to the head to put it down.

I pressed a hand to my nose at the smell. I'd never been near a corpse before but had heard about the terrible smell. It was even worse than I could have imagined.

My focus did not remain on the zombie for long though as more moaning noises and shuffling sounds rang out. I cursed and quickly moved over to a wall to put my back to it. I should have realized that the sound of my gun would have attracted more. Well, it was too late now, and it's not like I hadn't come here to grind.

In pairs or alone, undead walked into the light and were subsequently gunned down. I didn't get cocky though because even though these zombies weren't as troublesome as the rats, I knew that they were horde monsters. They were deadliest in large groups, and when in melee range.

I fired shot after shot and blood, guts, and grey matter sprayed across the cavern floor as bodies piled up. I was thankful they vanished after a moment and that the smell went with them. Far quicker than I expected, the zombies stopped coming. In fact, I could no longer hear any moaning or shuffling which probably meant I'd cleared this part of the floor. I ate a protein bar and drank some water before I moved on.

None of the zombies had dropped any loot, which was a shame, but then again what would a zombie drop, and where had these zombies come from? Had they been people or always zombies? There was still so much I didn't know about this place, and while I'd accepted it, that didn't mean I still didn't have questions.

I moved on through the caverns, stopping in each to take a post near a wall and gun down zombies. After clearing each room, I took a break, ate, and checked my status. After four rooms I'd risen two levels, which wasn't as high as I'd expected, but still good, and I'd known leveling would slow down, not to mention these zombies were weak monsters and probably gave less XP than the rats.

After clearing the fourth cavern I opened up my stats and assigned my points, once again going for the physical stats, and sense and perception since they could be the difference between life and death. I also placed a single point into luck.

Numbness and heat coursed through me and I took a few moments to bask in my newfound capabilities. I felt amazing and like I could take on the world, or dungeon in my case. I checked my ammo and with what I had left, I could clear a few more caverns at a faster rate since I had a rhythm going now.

I pumped the action on my shotgun and with a smile, got back to work.