Chapter 9: Dungeon (2)

Noah approached the stone arch and pulsed his mana, various arcane-looking symbols lit up in blue light on the stones that made the arch, after a few seconds a wave of mana was emitted by the stones and a water-like portal appeared within the stone.

[You have activated a dungeon! You are the first to activate this dungeon so you have gained private access to it for 24 hours, you can bring other players along with you by creating a party.]

This was what Noah was waiting for, now that the system had given him the notification he could head back to the village and receive the rewards for his quest and get another quest from the village lord.

There wasn't much else in the cavern so Noah quickly left and started running back to the village.

Noah actively avoided all the monsters that he encountered and ran all the way back to the village within 30 minutes, the faster he finished this part the better, he wanted to reach the next zone as quickly as possible.

Noah ran all the way to the village lord's office and entered the same way he did previously, luckily he had once again not needed to wait so he could give his report quite quickly.

The village lord looked at Noah, "So? Have you already found the dungeon?" he asked in a doubtful voice.

Noah smiled, "I have, it is located in a cave on the outskirts of the mountains, I figured that it was more likely to be in the mountains and I guess I got lucky, it was protected by an Elite Giant Wolf but I managed to take care of it without any problems.

The village lord's eyes widened slightly "An elite? this is quite troublesome, usually until the dungeon is cleared for the first time the boss is always an elite, I doubt my soldiers will be able to take care of it without significant losses, if you feel like you are up to the task I could leave the first clear up to you." The village lord said in a serious tone.

Noah nodded at the village lord "I will clear the dungeon but I do have something to request of you." Noah said.

The village lord quirked an eyebrow and motioned for Noah to say what he wanted so Noah continued "I would like to gain access to the library if possible."

The village lord looked surprised once again, "Well that is quite an unusual request, usually summoned ones like you ask for money or a weapon of some sort but I can certainly grant your request." As the village lord said this he handed Noah a piece of stone that was marked with the crest of the library.

Noah smiled widely on the inside, he had just saved himself a lot of time if he could find what he wanted.

Noah bid goodbye to the village lord and left once again.

[You have finished a quest!]

[Find the Dungeon!

Description: The village lord has heard rumors of there being a dungeon in the forest, he wants you to investigate it and report your findings to him, once you complete this quest you will be able to enter the dungeon, you will be the only one allowed entry for a period of 1 day.

Rewards: 250 Exp, 1 silver coin, E-rank armor.]

[You have gained 250 Exp, 1 silver coin, and a set of E-rank armor!]

[A new quest has been generated!]

[Clear the dungeon

Description: You have been tasked with clearing the dungeon for the first time, clear the dungeon, and report your findings to the village lord for a reward.

Rewards: 2000 Exp, 10 silver coins, D-rank skill book, emblem of the village lord.]

Noah's next destination would be the library, the library was another kind of training place where you could raise your intelligence and even gain support type skills if you found the correct books, the requirements to access it was very harsh though, you had to complete 100 hours of community service for the village so very little players ever went there, many regretted it later on, this was also the place where one of Noah's future friends had found their core skill, it was an extremely strong skill that Noah wanted to get as it would help him out a lot.

The library was one of the biggest buildings in the village and was the second-best guarded place in the village.

Noah quickly walked in and showed the stone emblem that he had gotten and was allowed entry without any problems.

There were a few tables with benches but most of the library consisted of bookcases, hundreds of bookcases, Noah doubted that he'd be able to read all the books in the library even if he spent days of his time there.

Noah didn't waste any time and immediately started searching for the books he wanted to learn, you could learn normal skills like blacksmithing, alchemy, enchanting, and other profession skills from normal books, Noah spent around an hour looking for all the essential skills that he wanted to learn and immediately started reading them.

Another 2 hours later he had finished them and had gained a plethora of support skills.

He had learned Smithing, Tailoring, Carving, Fishing, Sculpting, Cooking, and Alchemy, they were all useful skills to have.

His intelligence had risen by a few points but it was not nearly enough, he continued searching for the book that held the skill that he wanted.

There wasn't any way for him to find it, he even used his mana to sense the books so he just started reading every book that he found.

Many more hours passed and Noah became slightly depressed, he really wanted to find that skill but he guessed that he had to come back in the future.

There was one more book that he wanted to read so he opened it.

And grinned.

He had found it!

The book was called 'Mana and its workings' it was actually quite informative if Noah hadn't already known its contents, after he finished the book he had gained the skill that he had been searching for.

[You have gained a new skill!]

[Mana control

Rank: F

Description: Mana control is an essential skill that will make any attack with mana stronger, at higher levels it allows you to imbue your attacks with mana.

Mana required: ?]

Until the game merged with reality you couldn't imbue a normal attack with mana unless you learned this skill, even after Earth merged with the game learning mana control was incredibly hard for players as they had grown accustomed to the system holding their hands and doing it for them, it was one of the reasons so many people had died so early on.

Now all Noah had to do was clear the dungeon and level up as quickly as possible.