"Okay, I can agree to be what you called a 'Beta Tester'." Quin said.
Max's eyes then lit up with another thought. "You might be strong enough to be a good sparing partner for myself if you are interested as well."
Quin looked over the Dungeon Master. He knew the man was strong but was having a hard time mentally assess his strength. "Oh, what level are you at?" He asked.
Max shook his head. "That is the issue. I don't have a level, or even a class. My ability stats are all over 100 and I have a few skills, but I am not sure in which direction I want to advance."
That intrigued Quin, he had never heard of this kind of situation before.
"If you don't have a class, how did you obtain your skills?"
Max smiled. "Well, every skill, ability, and spell is available to me if I pay for it. So I can do whatever I want. I am hoping to build something really cool."
Now Quin was very interested. The freedom of those options had the potential to create something amazing.
"Do you mind if I ask what you have unlocked?"
"I don't mind at all." Max said with a cheeky smile while he stared at Quin.
The swordsman huffed but without any annoyance. "What skills do you have?"
"I picked up the Rouge Skill: Phantom Strike, the Battle Monk Skill: Deadly Weapons, the Elemental Monk Skill: Earth Manipulation, the Druid of the Land Skill: Earth Manipulation, and the Druid Spell: Fairy Lights."
Max was surprised that Quin nodded as he said each skill. The man seemed to be familiar with them all.
"I always admired the monks who learned Deadly Weapons, but are you able to fully take advantage of it without the monk class?" The swordsman asked.
"No." Max said with a shake of his head. "But if needed I can pick up some passives from monks or other classes that can strengthen my body. But currently there isn't really a need."
"The idea of building a class from scratch is intriguing." Quin said. "I could recommend some skills after I study your fighting style if there is something in it for me."
"Yes, yes, sure. If your contributions are enough I can get you some skill books to learn new skills as long as they don't interfere with the constraints of your class."
"That's acceptable." Quin said.
The swordsman was actually looking forward to this deal more and more. It seemed that this Dungeon Master wasn't stingy and actually quite wealthy from what he had seen. And it had been so long since he had a real home. He didn't think that a bounty in the outside world would mean much to this Dungeon Master but it would be a good idea to check first.
"There is something you may not be aware of." Quin said. "I have a rather large bounty on my head. Will that be an issue?"
"That depends, why do you have a bounty on your head?" The Dungeon Master asked.
Quin took a deep breath. "I have murdered several officials in the capital."
Max looked him over. Yes, murder was bad, but murder of officials in the capital? He was well aware of how people in power could become corrupt. Even though he had spent his adult life helping people, he wasn't blind to the source of most of their problems.
"Did they deserve it?" Max asked.
Quin's eyes harden like steel. "Yes." He said while not elaborating any further.
"Okay, good enough for me." Max hoped that one day the swordsman would tell him more, but he wasn't going to pry. It didn't matter to him too much. The man wouldn't be able to cause much trouble in the dungeon with the revival buff in place.
Anna nodded as well. With her previous class she had seen a lot of terrible things. She was aware of the fact that just because a person had a bounty on their head, didn't mean they were evil.
"Max, after he signs. Can you give him a clipboard like mine? Even if he doesn't have full access, it would be good if he could access skill, abilities and spells, not only to help you, but also make suggestions for the creature skill sets. And of course for taking notes."
"Aye, that's not a bad idea." Max said while rubbing his chin, he then spoke to the swordsman. "Let me entice you even further. If you sign for more than 6 months, I will wipe out your debt and we can start fresh. I will budget 2 deaths a day, but if more happens that's fine as long as it doesn't go overboard. And based on how long you are willing to join us, I will give you a 5% signing bonus equivalent to your total passive DP."
"What will my actual wage be?" Quin asked.
"Good question." Max said while rubbing his chin. "For solo dungeon runs, I will give you double the dungeon coin rewards. If you have investigated the first floor, you probably know that the rewards aren't much, but then again it is meant for level 10's. The rewards on the other floors are much better. While still not a large amount, your living quarters will be provided for free and I will set you up with a meal plan, better than you have now. As long as you don't plan on treating a bunch of people, the meal plan should allow you to eat and drink whatever you want."
Quin could work with that. The only question was, how long did he want to stay? It wasn't like he had anywhere to be or anyone waiting for him to return. It wouldn't be bad to put down roots for a little while. The Dungeon Master seemed fair and he did let him recover here even though it cost him DP to do so. But he didn't know if he would grow bored with this dungeon since the level was fairly low, even if the opponents were strong it may not be enough.
"The only thing that concerns me is that the dungeon may not hold my interest. From listening to the adventures. They believe you have 5 levels and they are under the impression that the level limit raises 5 levels each time."
Max nodded. "That is an understandable worry. While our 5th level hasn't been built yet, I will be starting on it soon and…"
Max caught Anna looking at him and paused.
"I thought we were going to hold off on that expense for now."
"Ah, I phrased that wrong." Max clarified. "I do want to start on it, but I have ideas for it become self sufficient. Or at least able to break even on its own. I can start with a farm overseen by a druid or some dryads to improve growth and reduce the time they need before harvest. We can supply our own ingredients to the restaurants and sell off the excess."
Anna nodded with an understanding smile. "That's a good idea, and it would help lower costs."
Max continued. "Gibble and Hammer are also narrowing down the list for what they will be the most profitable for a factory. Once we have that up and running we may be able to cut our costs further if the product is something we already provide."
"Alright. As long as you can find ways to lower the cost it wouldn't be a bad idea to get the 5th floor set up."
Quin was waiting at the side, still not sure what was happening with the 5th level. In order to entice him into signing a longer contract, Max told him all about the grand plans he had for the dungeon.
The swordsman wasn't sure if he could pull it off and remain profitable, but if he could, it would be a good enough reason to stick around for a while.
An hour later, they had come to an agreement. Quin had agreed to stay for at least 2 years in the dungeon, and he had an option to extend and renegotiate his contract after a year. He was surprised that Max gave him what he called a weeks' vacation for every month he spent in the dungeon. What that meant was that if he stayed a year in the dungeon, he would be able to leave for 12 weeks before the magic of the contract would force him to return. It wasn't something he expected, and it wasn't something he thought he would use, but he appreciated the gesture.
When both sides signed the contract it vanished. Max found a copy in his dungeon menu, while Quin had a copy in his system.
A clipboard much like Anna's appeared, only it had a much more limited access. She quickly began to show him how to use, summon, and dismiss it.
While they did that, Max was looking through swords for the swordsman. Since he had sealed Quin's when he arrived it seemed like a good signing bonus.
After several minutes of flipping though the lists, he realized that he was making a mistake. He knew nothing about swords.
He flicked his hand towards Quin's clipboard. The swordsman read the notification and then looked at Max in surprise.
"I was going to buy you a weapon, but I realized you know what you need much better than I. The 5% has been given to you and you have access to the equipment and skill lists, you can pick out what you need yourself."
Quin gave a genuine smile for the first time in many years. "I will consider my options. Thank you." He softly said.
"Good, Now I need to get back to planning my cool entrance, never know when it will come in handy."
When a platform appeared from the stone wall and began to rise up the cliff, Quin jumped on after Max.
When the Dungeon Master looked at him, he shrugged. "It wouldn't hurt to give it a try." Quin said. "I may not have earth abilities, but I have a rudimentary sword intent that may be useful."
"Then by all means." Max said, letting Quin go first as he watched from above.
The swordsman fell, he struck the ground and landed in a crouch. Infront of him appeared a several meter long chasm through the earth that looked like a large sword cleaved through the ground.
When he stepped out of the way, Max leapt out.
He landed on the ground in a classic superhero kneeling pose while the earth rumbled below him. Half a second later a large wave of earth erupted in every direction and then froze when the rocks and dirt extended more than a foot from the ground. It looked as if a wave or wreath of earth was exploding in every direction.
Max was about to go up the cliff and try something else when he was interrupted.
[Goblin Mines has challenged you to a Dungeon Battle.]
[DP expenditures for both dungeons have been frozen.]
[You have 1 hour to prepare.]