Derek opens the door and Snake Eyes, the guy who was talking to Derek, looks inside to see Geremy and a dead hooker in the tub.
Thinking the hooker was how he was proving he wasn't lying, Snake Eyes was about to say something when suddenly Derek draws his knife. Derek pulls Geremy's head back and slits his throat, pushing him into the tub with the hooker.
"Would a cop do that?"
Snake Eyes was shocked, this man he never saw on the street killed Geremy with a straight face and the same nonchalance as eating a burger. He has definitely killed before, which meant this guy wasn't normal.
"Impressive, but not what I expected. Are you in a gang?"
"No I just don't like murderers and thieves. He would've been a problem anyways, sorry to add a body."
"That's fine we were expecting to bring a body out anyways now it's just one more. You have yourself a deal mr. "
"… Geremy."
Snake Eyes raises his eyebrows at that.
"Geremy it is then, BOYS GET IN HERE AND TAKE CARE OF THIS. My name is Snake Eyes the leader of the Street Kids gang."
"Never heard of it."
"We are still pretty small but have been moving up recently, so tell me this important information."
Derek basically described what the portals were and that you could get treasures from them including cores that can increase your strength. When Snake Eyes heard this he wasn't too sure if Derek was telling the truth but all he had to do was get some more people to test it out. Derek also described how his stuff melted when he entered which would explain why that guy didn't make it back.
"So I'm guessing there is a portal in here then and that's why you can't have the cops here?"
"Exactly, it's hidden in the room somewhere."
"Considering you allowed us into the bedroom I'm guessing it's in the bathroom somewhere."
"Maybe, this one's mine though. There is another one across the street I can show you."
"How about we go for a walk?"
"Agreed."
The two take a stroll while the gang members deal with the body, they head across the street and Derek spends some effort finding a red portal inside a restaurant's cleaning closet. Unfortunately the restaurant was closed since the lockdown but Snake Eyes knew the owner so they could get in still.
"Wow it is indeed a portal. Is it really safe to touch?"
"Yeah, they disappear after it's cleared so why don't I show you mine and you can see me go inside it to prove it."
"Ok that sounds good, I would like to see what makes yours special."
"Ok, I'll give you a dagger as well. This dagger works in the dungeon, I haven't tried it out yet so I don't know if it will still be able to enter but it has better odds than our stuff."
"Hm so we need to use stuff from the dungeon?"
"It seems like it, I've only been in one so I'm not too sure yet."
They went back but before Derek entered the portal he saw that he could use identify on the portal so he went ahead and used it.
[Blue grade portal]
Tier: 1
Note: Portals destabilize if they are not cleared in a certain amount of time, forcing the monsters to exit
Note 2: Portals reappear in about a week since they were last cleared
Portal rarities in order:
Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet
'Hmm maybe I should not have shown them this portal, I also should go back to that previous one and hide it somehow. Wow violet is the rarest and that's what I started with, no wonder the rewards were so good.'
Derek then went in with his equipment from the last dungeon, this time he also brought one of his knives with him. He made sure not to bring his favorite knife though just in case, and it's a good thing too because the knife was melted when he entered.
Throwing away the melted knife, Derek took in his surroundings. He was in another dimly lit cave but this one was much colder. He could see his breath in the air and his fingers started to get cold.
"At this rate my fighting capacity will decrease, maybe I should go back and get some better suited clothes."
Turning around Derek tried to exit through the portal but he couldn't, using his identify gave him the reason why.
[Blue Portal Exit]
Note: Cannot leave until the boss is defeated
"Well shit, I better hurry up then and stay moving to stay warm."
Moving into the first room Derek saw a couple of starving wolves pacing together, they had white fur and tall slender legs. Derek would not have seen them in the dark if not for the fact that they were moving.
The two immediately rushed him upon noticing the intruder. Derek remained calm and put up his sword and shield. He used his shield to block one wolf while striking at another, his extra strength was helping him here.
The wolves were quite weak, probably due to the starvation, and Derek made quick work of them. He waited for the core this time before moving on.
As Derek got further into the dungeon it started to get lighter and colder, snow started to pile up as well. Some wolves would lay in the snow and blend in while waiting, Derek almost died to the first one before he learned his lesson.
The further he went the more his body started to slow down, the colder his fingers and feet got. He kept picking up his pace so he could stay warm but then it was harder to check for hidden wolves in the snow. His combat strength decreased as the enemies increased.
By the time he got to the boss room he was covered in scratches and ice, his fingers had started to turn blue and his legs were shaking crazily. Derek felt the breath of death in his soul as his body wanted to shut down, but it just made him more excited to keep going and test his limits.
Opening the boss room Derek saw a pack of 6 wolves who looked well fed and ready to fight, unlike the other wolves who charged over mindlessly these wolves got ready patiently and started to surround him.
Derek was not going to let that happen so he charged to the right side and attacked the wolf furthest on the side. These wolves were smarter however and the wolf backed off while the others charged forward from behind.
They ended up playing a bit of cat and mouse, tiring Derek out first which was frustrating for him, he wanted to fight not run around in circles!
"GET OVER HERE DAMN YOU! COME FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!"
Suddenly Derek disappeared and reappeared a few seconds later next to a wolf. The wolf was able to dodge slightly thanks to its reflexes and hearing, but Derek was now in close range.
Before the other wolves could come to help, Derek was able to kill the wolf and disappear again. Derek had been using the cores and he was able to learn the invisibility skill earlier.
The reason Derek waited so long to use his ability was because of the snow, the footprints would've made it obvious before, but now the ground was a mess from all the running around and combat.
He only had a minute but he could turn it on or off as much as he wanted. Derek used 10 seconds at a time to kill a few of the wolves before they had the chance to change strategies and get used to his ability. After that there was only one wolf left which was the alpha and unfortunately Derek was out of invisibility.
The alpha was very cunning and used it's agility to skirt around his sword. The alpha stayed to Derek's left since Derek had his shield in that hand.
Every time he swung, his shield would get in the way and shorten his reach allowing the alpha to continue to pester him.
Derek was tired and freezing to death, and the alpha was aware of that as Derek's attacks got slower and weaker. Eventually Derek could barely keep his shield up to block anymore, they both knew his time was up but unfortunately for the alpha, this just excited Derek more.
Once the wolves were dead Derek looted the chest and cores, he got a total of 54 mid level cores which increase attributes by 2 points. All of the wolves in the boss room had high level cores except for the alpha which had an escape Crystal. The chest had two items, one was a wolf fur coat and the other was a pair of tough leather boots.
Escape Crystal:
Note: Allows escape from a dungeon, must use at the entrance portal
Tier 2 note: uses: 6
Derek immediately donned these and felt much better, after making sure he had everything Derek headed to the entrance.
His stats were now:
Strength: 2 1/100
Dexterity: 2 4/100
Magic: 1 46/50
Stamina: 1 35/50
Defense: 1 34/50
He was still freezing and not in good shape but he also knew that people could be waiting for him at the exit.
"Now that I think about it, you can't bring guns and bulletproof vests inside but people can be waiting for you with guns on the outside. The entrance is a perfect ambush point. Luckily this dungeon is in a cramped room so it'll still be somewhat of a melee."
Derek hoped for the worst and readied himself for the best as he stepped up to the portal with a grin on his face.