Yesterday (Reset excluded), I slept at the inn where I had stayed previously. With each stay at the tavern, I was getting closer to being penniless, and without money, the only roof over my head would be the sky. So I thought to complete a good mission to earn some money.
On my way to the guild, I saw Gabriel leaning against the wall with his sword on his belt. For a knight, having a sword on their belt meant that they were working, so Gabriel was probably there to do his scouting… or so, I thought.
I approached him as a form of greeting, and he noticed me pretty quickly.
He came towards me with a book in his right hand and said, "Hello, kiddo. Yesterday didn't go as it was supposed to, and I think it was because of my actions. By observing your body, I thought that you weren't a very capable swordsman, and by teaching you, you might have turned into a good fighter, but my assumption was wrong."
Technically speaking, he wasn't wrong. Who knew that an undeveloped body could wield a sword? I felt bad for Gabriel since it seemed like an unfair situation for him.
"Please don't worry. I learned many things from our simple sword interaction. That's everything that matters," I said.
"I'm happy to hear that. But you don't know how valuable that letter was for me. So I brought something valuable in return. This is a skill book that I was going to learn, and I want you to have it. Although you do not possess the requirements to learn it, I think it's better off in your hands."
I took the skill book from Gabriel's hand. Just by looking at the cover, I could tell that this skill book was a high-level [Assassin] skill.
"Thank you, Gabriel."
"Before I leave, do you mind telling me your name?"
"Oh right, I never told you my name. My name is Action."
"Action… I'll remember that." He left as soon as he finished his sentence. The speed of his disappearance was truly assassin-worthy.
"[Learn]"
[ Player does not have the Requirements for Learning "Shadeless" ]
[ Due to the Class "Classless" Special Property, all Requirements have been ignored ]
[ Skill "Shadeless" Acquired ]
[ Shadeless
Lv: 1
Skill Rank: Unique
—————
<Shadeless >
Decrease Detectability by 5%. (Passive) ]
"Well, it's better than nothing," I said.
I entered the guild with a bright look. The guild was crowded, and people were causing havoc for many unknown reasons. I reached out to an available receptionist to get any mission possible.
"What do you want?" The receptionist wasn't showing any good behavior, but I didn't hold that against him. The guild was super busy, and handling the rude adventurers was a mind-consuming task.
"I want to accept two D-grade monster slaying missions if possible."
"Ok, give me your guild card," he said.
I gave him my guild card. The expression on his face suddenly shifted from anger to surprise, and he said, "Wait, D-grade? I know you could get one grade higher missions, but I advise you not to."
"I'm quite capable, and I'm short on money, so I don't have any choice, do I?"
"It's ok if you're capable."
[ Adventurer Quest: Orc Subjugation
Difficulty: D
—————
> Slaying Orcs 0/3
—————
Time Limit: 5 Days
Reward: 7 Silver Coins.]
[ Adventurer Quest: Monster Subjugation
Difficulty: D-
—————
> Slaying Goblins 0/7
> Slaying Slimes 0/12
—————
Time Limit: 10 Days
Reward: 1 Gold Coin. ]
I left the city as soon as I got my missions. The mission's difficulties were higher than my adventurer's grade, but they were doable for me, so I didn't have any problem so far.
The city was surrounded by a vast forest, and this forest was home to monsters and many strange phenomena. The name of the forest was Nova.
I entered the forest after a short walk from the city. Being in Nova felt nostalgic to me, and I was happy about it. One of the best features of Nova was its colorful terrain, which wasn't far from each other. This place was super popular among the players, and the community began to call this forest "Branch of The World."
Much like in Iterioum, I was familiar with many paths in the forest. I could find the location just by looking at the trees, and that was quite heartwarming.
"Yes, I found it."
An old wall was covered with moss and shadows of the trees. By moving the moss aside, I saw the carving on the wall that resembled a magic formula… a formula that could only be seen on an [Artifact Dungeon].
[ Cautious: C-grade Dungeon ]
Hunting monsters wasn't the only reason that I was in Nova. There were many Hidden Features that could be collected from Aloraz and Nova, but none of them was as powerful as the "Three Key Dungeon" (I made that name up).
In my many attempts at clearing this game, I found three dungeons that could turn anyone who completed them into a monster. The only problem was the difficulty. The artifact dungeon in front of me was one of them, but the level needed for this dungeon was beyond me.
But I needed to clear these dungeons if I wanted to get stronger than any time I played this game in my past life. Originally, I was going to finish this dungeon after I got stronger, but because of yesterday, I changed my mind.
"[Status Window]"
[ Action
Lv: 13
Race: Human
Age: 1
Class: Classless
Titles: Misrouted ~ No Longer a Beginner ~ Solo Cleaner
—————
Strength: 12
Stamina: 13
Agility: 14
Sense: 13
Mana: 12
-Additional Stats Point: 6-
—————
Special Skills: Save & Reset Lv. Max ~
—————
Skills: Swift Cut Lv. 1 ~ Shadeless Lv. 1 ~
—————
* 2 Quest in Progress. ]
[ Agility increased by 6 ]
I took out the sword of beginning from my [Inventory] and entered the dungeon after I said, "[Save]."
[ Skill "Save & Reset: Save" Activated ]
[ 987/1/11 10:00, has been saved as the new Checkpoint ]
I put my hand on the wall, and the wall began to glow in a blinding blue light. For some reason, the air around me began to shake as I stood in front of the wall.
[ Do you wish to teleport to "Balthazar Remnant"? Yes/No ]
"Yes."
Balthazar was one of the 13 legendary heroes who lived in the past. He created many medicines and eradicated many unknown diseases in his time. There was a saying that without Balthazar, half of the world's population would probably be dead due to those diseases.
Thanks to the ancient records (mostly because of the player: -CcfalconzaDd-), people found out that Balthazar had a very particular skill that allowed him to own two classes at the same time, one being an [Alchemist] and the other an [Architect]. He vanished after leaving many stories, and no one knew where he went.
I opened my eyes and saw that I was inside a tunnel. I stood up and saw that my back was blocked by a wall. Just by looking at the wall, I could tell that the tunnel was built by humans since nature wouldn't be able to create fine walls like that. There weren't any torches, but the surroundings were lit up due to the small particles of light in the air.
This dungeon was a unique dungeon. After all, I wasn't insane to enter a dungeon with a recommended level of 75. The reason why I chose to enter this dungeon was that it could be cleared without strength. This dungeon had three floors, and players were presented with a puzzle on each one. By completing them, one could get closer to the last floor.
I took a step forward. I wasn't nervous at all. After all, I already knew how to solve them; the only thing I needed to do was actually solve them.