When Jay said big, he meant REALLY BIG. Its coat was also a completely different color from the other foxes they had seen. Rather than a steel-gray or bronze, this fox was completely green. Even if Bluejay was twice his size, he still wouldn't have a shot at hurting it.
Jay took charge in an instant. If they were going to die, they might at least try to take this thing with them. Besides, maybe lightning would actually work on this one.
"Andrew and Bluejay, focus on the bronze one. Sarah, now's the time to use any tricks you've been hiding. Aim for the eyes and mouth. They should be a bit weaker. There's no way we're getting through that fur!"
As he was shouting commands, he began to charge a lightning strike. But the foxes were cunning and weren't going to let him do that so easily. Hoping that Andrew and Bluejay could handle the smaller bronze fox, Jay managed to fire off two bolts of lightning before the green one was on him.
While it seemed to hurt it fairly significantly, it kept charging regardless. Sarah was doing her best to target its eyes, but they were a small target and hard to hit.
[Party member has slain an Earthly Steel Fox. 25 XP gained. You are in a dungeon. XP rewards will be given when you complete the dungeon.]
Aargh!
One of her shots landed perfectly, impaling the rampaging monster's right eye. Instead of giving up or falling over, it kept charging. Sarah jumped out of the way, but Jay was just a bit too slow. The fox's fangs clipped his leg, tearing out a large chunk.
Even as Jay fell, Sarah shot straight into the monster's mouth, killing it. He'd applaud her shot if he weren't in such extreme pain.
[Party has slain an Adamantine Steel Fox Den Mother. 200 XP gained. You have completed the first floor of Level 1-10 New York Underground Dungeon. Would you like to exit and claim rewards or continue?]
With a scream, Jay commanded the game to let them exit.
[Choice accepted. Determining rewards…Rewards determined.
First clear bonus: Steel Fox egg, and 5 Earthly Steel Fox cores.
First floor clear rewards: 300 gems, Adamantine Steel Fox Den Mother core. Adamantine Steel Fox Den Mother Fur Armor (3x).
Please come again.]
With a thud, two young men, a young woman and a hippogriff landed unceremoniously outside the tunnel they'd entered nearly 2 hours prior. Andrew and Sarah were scared but unharmed. Jay, however, was a different story.
"My leg! It bit off my leg! Someone, call an ambulance!" As people stared at the bleeding boy, his friends tried to carry him off to the side. How were they supposed to explain his injury to the paramedics? Just say "don't worry. It was just a giant metal fox in the tunnel"? Who would believe that?
[You have gained 600 XP.]
[Level up! You have reached level 2.]
[Restoring user mana and health. As an Elemental Archmage, you have received +2 Intelligence and +1 Will. You have 3 unspent status points.]
The pain disappeared the second he leveled up. Then Jay's wound began to heal before his very eyes. Within moments, he was completely fine. If he hadn't felt it, he'd never have thought he was injured. Relief swept over him as he realized that he was safe. Then everything went dark.
..............................…
Jay woke up several hours later in what looked like a dark apartment room. He was completely alone, although two other bags were next to his by the door. If he had to guess, Andrew and Sarah carried him here…wherever here was. The room was too big to be a dorm room, so he could only guess.
The in-game clock had ticked down to a measly 15:00:42. Between falling asleep and the dungeon, they'd lost nearly half of their time until the monsters were unleashed. And if that dungeon were anything to go by, they were in a lot of trouble.
While they couldn't see the levels of the monsters they had defeated, the game had said they were in the first level of the dungeon. If that was the case, whatever was down below was far scarier than those foxes they had fought.
More importantly, these monsters could hurt people. Jay didn't know how the system did what it did, but that was dangerous. If monsters could appear anywhere and a weak one could destroy a car, then what hope did they have?
Jay was startled out of his increasing sense of hopelessness by someone entering the room.
"Hey Jay, Sarah thought you might be hungry. Or thirsty. Or still asleep. We cooked up some more fox meat. Well, Sarah did. I was busy allocating my points. Did you spend yours yet? Maybe I could help you. How many did you get." He had been partied with the campus belle and he still got woken up by Andrew? How unlucky could he get? All his talking was already giving Jay a headache.
"Hey, big man. Give me a second to eat first. And pass me that water, would you? Questions can wait." Much to his satisfaction, Andrew actually quieted down for once. Jay spent a few seconds guzzling the water, then immediately launched into the fox meat. It may not be ideal, but it was actually quite good. It seemed Sarah had managed to find some spices to put on it.
Once he had finished eating, Jay finally turned to address Andrew. He was sitting there like a puppy waiting to pounce. Waiting must have been torture for him. "Okay, now we can talk. Yes I have some points to spend, but no I do not need your help. I've got it covered. If you want to help, go get everyone you can to download the game. Otherwise, they're as good as dead."
With a nod, Andrew bolted out of the room. Now that he had a moment to himself, Jay opened up his menu again.
[Status sheet
Name: Jay Michaelson Race: Human Class: Elemental Archmage Level: 2 (300/1000)
Strength: 9
Agility: 9
Endurance: 10
Intelligence: 14
Will: 15
Luck: 4
Unspent status points: 3
]
If he'd learned anything in that dungeon, he needed to be faster to live. Dumping 2 of his points into agility, he felt much better about his chances the next time he took on that fox. Luck was by far his worst stat, so Jay figured he should put some points in it. He could hardly see himself needing strength, so that would be become his dump stat. He'd improve endurance when he could.
[ Status sheet
Name: Jay Michaelson Race: Human Class: Elemental Archmage Level: 2 (300/1000)
Strength: 9
Agility: 11
Endurance: 10
Intelligence: 14
Will: 15
Luck: 5
Unspent status points: 0
]
Satisfied with his progress, Jay closed his status menu. He may not be a god yet, but he felt notably better about his chances against those foxes. With the clock ticking down, he'd better be.
Taking a look at his phone, he realized there was a new "store" function that hadn't been available before. When he opened it, he entered what looked like a store straight out of a fantasy novel. Countless items were stacked on wooden shelves and at the back was a rough-looking dwarf.
"Hi there! Haven't seen yer face around 'ere before! Take a look around. If ye need some help, ring me over." He seemed kind enough, although the accent seemed a bit stereotypical.
Jay noticed all the items on the shelves were marked with "gem" costs. Taking a look at his inventory, Jay saw he still only had 400 gems in total. "Hey mister! How do I earn gems?"
"Well tha's an easy one, innit? You sell your finds to lil' ol' me! What 'ave you got?" The dwarf (at least Jay thought he was a dwarf) seemed quite excited at the prospect of loot. Maybe because it was still so early on?
"I have some Steel Fox Claws and Earthly Steel Fox fangs. Are those worth anything?" It was a never good idea to play one's full hand, but the dwarf seemed nice and fair. Besides, who else would he sell to?
"Aye. Those claws will fetch ye half a gem each, and the fangs are worth double that. I'll take em ale, if ye want." With no way to know if this was a good price or not, Jay pulled out all the claws and fangs.
The shopkeeper's face was a sight to see. I guess he didn't expect anyone to have thirty claws and four whole fangs within a few hours. Jay happily collected his 19 gems and took to looking around the store. Most common supplies were between two and ten gems, but some of the weapons and armor went all the way up to 5000 gems.
Before anything else, Jay needed rope. If playing video games taught him anything, rope was a man's best friend. He spotted one particularly handy looking one.
[Would you like to purchase rare Rope of Unending? This item costs 15 gems.]
Jay had never hit yes faster in his life. His cookie-clicker friends would be so jealous of his skills. As he wandered around, he was rather drawn to the wand section. He didn't have any sort of weapon yet, and he was curious what it did.
"Could you help me out? I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for." Jay called out to the shopkeeper. Better to pay a bit extra than to have it fail him.
"Aye, ye've done well to think te ask. I'd 'ave loved to see ye try to force one to ye will, though. Ye right wand should fit perfectly to your core."
With that cryptic reply, the dwarf waddled away to mind to other matters. With a budget of just over 400 gems, Jay could afford almost any of them.
He skipped straight over the beginner wands. With the strength of his class, there was no way any of them could be his intended. A few intermediate wands caught his attention, but none of them could compare to the single advanced wand calling to him.
It was a special wand, priced well above those around it. It wasn't particularly intricate, but it didn't need to be. "Carved from a single jade with a heart of Tiger stone, this wand is truly particular. Due to its unusually low bonding rate and difficulty of use, this wand is recommended for advanced mages only. 500 gems."
Jay knew this was the one for him. He could feel it calling to him, but he couldn't afford it and there was no way he was selling his cores or brand-new armor. The shopkeeper should surely give him a discount. He must be one of the first people in here, and he was pretty sure he should have gotten more for his claws and fangs. But maybe it's better not to test him.
Shortly after, Jay left the store. Where the wand had been, now there was just a note. It read "Thanks for the discount! Price paid: 404 gems."