As Jay, Andrew, and Sarah continued to talk, they realized they were actually all going to the same place. Andrew and Sarah were both his upperclassmen at Barnard. Andrew was a junior Biological Sciences major and Sarah was a sophomore Theatre major. Since they were all going to the same place, they decided to get a cab together.
As they drove, the three continued to discuss SSO. Andrew's hippogriff curled up in Sarah's lap and she pet him absentmindedly as they drove. Jay brought up the wiki, which now had a great deal more information.
"It looks like there are over 1000 classes in the game! I'm glad I chose a good one. What class did you choose, Sarah? You never said." Sarah was rather beautiful and Jay couldn't help but be interested in her choice of class. She was clearly as smart as he was and seemed to be more knowledgeable about games in general.
"I chose the Hunter of Artemis class. It looked strong and everyone knows girls are stronger than guys, anyway. How could a class like that be weak? Besides, it said I was special."
"You sure are." Jay whispered. Wait! He didn't mean to say that out loud! As Sarah and Andrew burst into laughter, another notification appeared in front of them. Andrew couldn't see it, but Jay and Sarah quickly took a look.
[Level 1-10 Dungeon Entered. No monsters present. Generating monsters. Clear all levels before anyone else for a first clear bonus!]
For a moment, everything seemed fine. It was dark, but they were in a tunnel so that was hardly a surprise. Then a fox that looked like metal appeared and slammed into the taxi. The driver lost control, the car fell on its side and they a notification appeared saying [You are dazed. Daze will wear off in 3. 2. 1. Daze cured].
It didn't make any sense. The fox was clearly part of the game, but how could it bowl over the car? Andrew wasn't even on his phone and the driver didn't play at all!
"Andrew, pull out your phone. We're under attack! Sarah, hit it with whatever you've got. Looks like there's no tutorial for this game!" Jay shouted out orders, rallying his party to attack. It may only be temporary, but he needed them!
As they all clambered out of the car, the fox struck again, crumpling the driver door and killing the driver. "Hurray! He's dead and we will be too if we're not careful!" Jay was frantic now, desperately trying to channel enough mana for a spell. He didn't know how he did it, it just happened.
Jay instinctively formed a fireball next to his hand and fired it at the fox. Unfortunately, it was fast and he was unskilled. His fireball went flying over it and landed on the sidewalk, blowing a chunk out of it. Andrew's hippogriff went flying at the thing, trying to claw it, but it barely left a mark. Sarah fired off three arrows. The first two bounced off harmlessly, but the third hit a leg joint, crippling the creature.
"Jay, fire won't do anything, but metal is conductive! Hit it with lightning!" Andrew knew his stuff. Jay should have remembered that, but how often do you run into a fox made out of steel?
Jay started forming a thunderbolt as fast as he could. He seemed to be able to gather the mana a bit faster this time. Maybe he was gaining experience at it? He fired off the bolt. It seemed weaker than the fireball, but he aimed well this time and nailed the fox. It crumpled to the ground, defeated.
[You have slain a Steel Fox. 25 XP gained. You are in a dungeon. XP rewards will be given when you complete the dungeon.]
Well that was a pain. He beat it, but no rewards? That sucks. As he crumpled to the ground breathing hard, he noticed a blinking blue bar in the top left of his vision. [40/100 mana remaining. Can be sped up through meditation.]
Yikes. Each of those attacks must have taken 30 of his mana. Wasn't he supposed to be super powerful? How come he could only through 3 attacks before he drained his mana?
Jay took a moment to look around. It seemed that this fox was the only creature nearby, not that that stopped Andrew from using his phone to look around wildly. Seeing that it was relatively safe, Jay took a moment to meditate. He had some experience from past gym classes, so how hard could it be?
[Meditation level 1 deployed. Mana rate increased. Meditation level increased to level 2.]
Although it took a few minutes, Jay managed to get back up to full mana. He also figured it was about time to look at his skills. "Open skill menu" he thought.
[Skills learned:
Mana Channeling: Level 1 (10%)
Mana Manipulation: Level 1 (10%)
Fireball: Level 1 (10%)
Lightning Strike: Level 1 (10%)
Meditation: Level 2 (0%)
This list can be expanded by learning new skills.]
Altogether, he seemed to be doing alright. It looked like he could gain levels in particular spells as he used them, too. He had a feeling he was going to be using fireball and lightning strike a lot. If the rest of the monsters turned out to be as strong as that fox, he would need them.
He was pleased to see how quickly mediation improved. If it kept going like this, he'd practically have infinite mana! But for now, he had other priorities. "I'm all charged up. What's next?" he asked.
"Let's see if we can look that thing. If the meat is edible, I can give it to Bluejay. If not, maybe it'll drop us a weapon or gems." Andrew made a good point. Also, when did he name the hippogriff Bluejay? Such a weird name for a monster. Jay went over to the monster and thought "loot". Instantly, another box appeared.
[Steel Fox looted. 3 steel claws gained. 2 lbs. Steel Fox meat gained.]
"Hey Andrew, I got some meat for…Bluejay. I think it's safe for him to eat." Jay called over. He was more than happy to get rid of the bloody meat, even if it was kept safely in his inventory. It looked like it had a good number of slots, and meat stacks, but who really wants to carry that around? With a quick trade, it was no longer his problem and Bluejay was guzzling down meat like it was going out of fashion. Disgusting.
When he'd finished eating the meat, not even Sarah could deny that Bluejay was a bit bigger and stronger-looking. He certainly looked like he could do a bit more damage. Everything taken care of, it looked like there was only one way to go.
Since none of them were tanks, Andrew and Bluejay went first, then Sarah, then Jay. It's easiest to command from the back, or at least that's what he told himself. He may not be afraid of the dark, but who knew what was waiting in front of them?
They went on like that for a few minutes with only the fading sound of cars behind them. The tunnel seemed to be sloping down and eventually they came upon a big room. Andrew motioned for the rest of the party to stop, then peered in. After a moment he came back.
"There are a whole bunch of foxes in there. I count 3 or 4. Maybe even 5. It's hard to tell with just my phone. One looks a bit bigger and looked more like bronze. Maybe it's a stronger variant? Or worse, maybe it leveled? I hope it didn't level up. Jay, try hitting them all with some lightning. If they're close enough together, it might hit all of them!"
Andrew seemed worried. And honestly, so was Jay. One of these things took out an entire car and now they had to fight 5 of them? This might get a bit tricky. "Alright, I'll give it a go. Just don't expect too much and be ready to hit them hard. Sarah, hit any that don't go down with this blast."
As he gathered the mana for a lightning strike, there was only one thing on his mind. "I really hope this works!"