10 minutes later, we were out of the house and on the way to the dungeon. The dungeon we were going to was f-ranked and about a half hour from the house. during the walk, my parents explained to me about the dungeon.
Dad: "So, the dungeon we are going to is F-ranked. Even though it is the lowest ranked and you are E-ranked, you have practically no real life fighting experience. You have not gone through real life and death situations. So, even though, you should be stronger than the monsters inside, with no experience, you could still be in danger. You won't know how your body will react when put in that kind of situation. We will be with you in case you are in danger but will not help unless you need it. Remember, keep calm and do not freeze up. be careful and think before any encounter. Do this, and you should be fine. The dungeon is called the newbie dungeon because well it is the easiest to clear in the city. It has 15 floors, with the first 14 filled with regular monsters and the 15th has the boss monster. Even though the boss will be way stronger than the others, it will still be F-ranked. No other monsters higher than f-ranked can be in there. The amount of monsters on each floor varies after every entry. There could be only 10 on a floor while there could be over a couple dozen. So, you have to be careful and not let yourself be surrounded. Be always on guard."
I nodded after listening to what he said. He was right. I didn't know how I would react during a real battle. I hoped that I would not freeze up but anything could happen. I just had to try and keep calm and think. As excited I was, I knew this dungeon and monsters were real, not imaginary or fake like back on earth.
Mom: "OK, with the warning out of the way, let me explain some better, cool things about it. So, when you kill a monster, sometimes it will drop a material or something. These drops can be exchanged with the guild for gold. The better the material, the more you can get for it. Since you will be clearing this dungeon yourself, you will get the money. Also, if you take quests from the guild, you can get even more. But today, we just want to see what you have and test you. For today, we have a space ring so you can put it any material in there. When you get enough money...wait, what am I saying. You have an inventory space already. You can put them in there. Anyway, we also prepared a sword and a staff for you. What do you want to use?"
I didn't even hesitate. I knew what I wanted. Magic was definitely the way to go with my skills.
Me: "The staff most definitely."
My mother nodded with a smile and reached toward her left hand and tapped a ring on her pinky and a light flashed. After the light faded, she was holding the weapon. It was about 4 feet long, and an inch or so thick. it was white with a small clear crystal on top. it was made of some sort of hard wood. She handed it to me. I took it with my right hand and looked at it carefully. Suddenly, a couple of notifications popped up in front of me. I pulled them up.
New skill unlocked: Identify.
Identify: F-rank: Identify any object or creature at F-rank. Anything higher than this rank will not display information. Skill will level up after repeated use. No cost. No cast duration
Staff: Ordinary, F-rank
A staff made of elf wood. Durable
Attributes: +5 Magic ATT, +5 MANA
Seeing these notifications, I smiled. The identify skill will come in handy. Such great timing. My parents saw my look and got curious.
Mom: "So, you like the staff I'm taking it?"
Me: "Yeah. Also, I just got a new skill called Identify. I can use it to get information on any object or creature that is at F-rank. In the future, I can strengthen it and identify higher ranked objects. For example, I can see this staff is f-ranked and gives a bonus to magic attack and mana. "
Dad: "Interesting. This would allow you to plan and strategize better when in the dungeon. You would be able to see the creatures stats and plan better on how to deal with them. It would also allow you to see if something is stronger than you so you could avoid them."
I nodded and we continued on toward the dungeon. 15 minutes later, we were at the entrance. The thing was 15 stories high and made up of a gray tone. The only opening was the double door in front of me. Beside the doors was a sign that described the monsters and their average combat power on each floor. I decided to not to read it as I would find out in the dungeon with my new skill as well level it up and practice thinking on my feet to come up with a strategy on the fly. On each side of the doors, were 2 guards. my parents approached them with me and handed them our ID cards. they looked at each one, nodded, and passed them back. In order for someone to enter a dungeon, they had to have an ID. If you did not have one, you would be turned away.
Guard: "I assume this is your son, and are taking him in to train and gain experience?"
Mom: "Yes. he just awakened recently and we have been training him for the last day. So now, we want to have him experience what real battles are."
The guard looked at me and winked. I shuddered a bit.
Guard: "Good luck kid. Be careful. These are real life and death battles. Remain vigilant. I hope you become a strong fighter in the future."
I nodded. I turned toward the doors, took a deep breath, trying to hide my excitement, and opened them. I only saw pure darkness, but I stepped through the threshold and entered, with my parents right behind me. When we were all through, the door shut with a boom. As soon as I entered, I could a feel a weird energy around me, slightly trying to enter my head. It was very slight, but I could still feel it. I focused and prevent it from doing so. I thought the dungeon was supposed to feel like this so I ignored it. Then, flickers of light started to appear allowing me to see my surroundings. I was in a big, wide open area. The walls were a gray stone, and were lined with balls of light. The ceiling was very high and had a giant ball of light floating near the top. Then I took in the sight of monsters that roamed the area. I counted and found there were about 20 beasts here on this floor. they were spread apart, giving about 5 or so feet between each one. Some were nibbling at the stones on the floor while others were laying down. Beyond the beasts was the entrance to the second level.
After I investigated and took in my surroundings, I identified the beasts. I focused on one of them. They were small about 3 feet in height, with brown skin and fur. Their eyes were small and black. They had snouts with sharp teeth. I immediately recognized them without having to identify them. They were kobolds. Kobolds were viscous creatures who like to feed on flesh and torture their victims by dismembering them with their claws and teeth before eating them. I used identify.
Kobold: Level 1
CP: 34
HP: 20
Mana: 0
Agility: 10
Defense: 4
After reading their stats, I smiled and thought this was gonna be pretty simple, even though they had decent agility. However, I was faster and didn't need to worry. I gripped my staff and prepared to select my first victim. Just as I was about to, however, my shoulder was held by a hand. I looked over confused to see what was going on.
Dad: "Be careful son. There is something weird with this dungeon. It feels off. There is this weird energy that is trying to affect my mind, albeit very slightly. It's weak here, but who is to say that it won't be stronger on the other floors."
I was stunned. This energy did feel weird and off.
Me: "I feel it to. It tried to get inside my head, but I was able to prevent it. I thought it was normal."
Mom: "No, it isn't normal, especially on a low ranked dungeon such as this. We need to inform the guild about it and have them investigate. Should we leave right now?"
Dad: "We will leave the decision up to you son. If you want to stay, we will allow it. However, know this. With this energy trying to enter our heads, this presents a whole new level of danger. Even your mother and I might not be able to guarantee your safety later on. We will also not be able to guess the affects this energy will have on the monsters. So, what do you want to do?"
Me: "I want to stay. the guild will send someone else in to investigate anyway, so we might as well continue and see if we can get anymore information. Plus, it would suck to run away at the first sight of something unexpected and dangerous. If it gets too much later, we will leave. But, for right now, the creatures here are too weak. I'll...KILL THEM ALL!"