"Will he be alright?" The driver couldn't help but ask nervously. Eldian was able to enter the dungeon, indicating that he was less than level 15 and was solo hunting a dungeon meant for five level 15 hunters.
"His level may be behind others but don't forget his identity." Silvia reminded calmly, continuing with a thoughtful expression, "Besides, he was able to clear that dungeon so he must have powerful skills." She recalled that large dungeon in the orphanage, though she couldn't view its status, judging from the size it must have been a D-rank.
'Also, he can summon monsters!' She kept this to herself, unless Eldian wanted his skill to be known the council had instructed her to keep it hidden.
"Still..." The driver whispered, "he is alone."
"No, he is out." His coworker responded spontaneously.
They all looked ahead as the man stepped out of the dungeon. A plain black shirt and grey trousers clad his perfectly sculptured body and his silver hair shined brightly under the sun. His well-chiselled face, devoid of even a bead of sweat bore a blank expression, as if he had returned from an unremarkable walk.
As the man approached the car, Silvia skipped ahead with her tab.
"How was your hunt?" Silvia inquired, before answering herself with a chuckle, "Must have been a breeze for you."
Eldian halted his steps and stared at her, dead in the eyes, for minutes.
Just as Silvia began feeling awkward he walked to the car. "Yeah." He muttered beneath his breath, "Barely an inconvenience."
Silvia stared at his back wondering if she had misspoken. Finding nothing she could think of, she looked at the dungeon. No status showed up. She typed "cleared" on her tab and returned to the car.
The car took off, and Eldian felt himself shrinking comfortably in the seat enjoying the cold winds from the air conditioner. All the while Silvia operated on her tablet giving him side glances.
'Inventory.' He gave a mental command and a translucent screen popped up in response.
—————[Inventory]—————
«Slot 01: Torn & burnt piece of fabric»
«Slot 02: Compressed biscuits X10»
«Slot 03: 2-litre water bottle X5»
«Slot 04: Excellent Sword»
«Slot 05: Normal Sword»
———————————————
All the other slots were greyed out at the moment, much to his displeasure.
'Excellent sword.' He willed and the sword appeared in his hand.
"Here." Grabbing the blade Eldian passed the hilt to Silvia.
"Ah! Yes, the sword!" She exclaimed in realisation as if recalling something insignificant, as if she wasn't the one giving him side glances the entire time.
"How many dungeons are in Evercrest City?" Eldian inquired staring out of the window.
Silence ensured in the car as Silvia searched the clearance status of Evercrest City.
"38 F-rank, 21 E-rank and 12 D-rank, most of them are scheduled hunting." She read the data displayed over the holographic structure of the city.
"And how many are within 5-kilometre radius of my home?" He asked another question his eyes fixed on the gloomy street as the car entered his neighbourhood.
Silvia zoomed the map to an old mansion with a large red sign that read "Happy Children Orphan" hovering above it. She quickly zoomed out, and a scanner scanned the area surrounding it.
"7 E-rank and 3 D-rank." The scanning was completed in seconds, and Silvia read the results.
Eldian put on a thoughtful look silently nodding his head. Then he turned to her and said, "I want it all."
"All of it?" Silvia asked in confusion.
"All of it." Eldian nodded in confirmation. "Is it not possible?" He asked back.
"It is, but the hunt for the C-rank—" Silvia had a troubled expression, hesitating to finish her sentence.
"I shall depart for the capital in five days," Eldian replied sensing her doubts, "and the dungeon will be gone on the sixth." He added.
The driver drew a deep breath, pressing the break. The car came to a halt reaching its destination.
"Ok." Silvia sighed with relief, as long as he arrived on time. "I'll make arrangements. Do you need anything else?" She just had to inform the association of his needs and they would promptly comply.
"An armour and some healing potions." Eldian really needed them.
"And weapon?" Silvia asked, recalling he had none.
"I got a sword from the dungeon," He stated plainly.
"Yes, a sword as well." She noted it on her tab. You can only get a Normal Sword out of an E-rank dungeon, and if the association discovers that she let him hunt a D-rank dungeon with it, she will be fired the next day.
"Cut the cost from my salary." Eldian didn't want to receive any donations.
Silvia though surprised, said nothing and simply nodded her head. "A driver will be sent the following morning with all the items, they will also be responsible for your transportation." She placed her tab down.
"Alright." Eldian nodded in response and stepped out of the car. Suddenly he turned around and said, "I would appreciate it if this gentleman accompanied me."
Taken aback the driver turned around only to find the world's number-one player pointing at him.
"Me?" He also pointed at himself, confusion evident on his face. What did he eat this morning? Was it his daughter's half-burnt cookie or his wife's full-burnt bread? What had worked its magic? How did he suddenly got promoted from a side character in the first chapter to a side character in the first few chapters?
Eldian smiled in answer. "Take care." he waved goodbye, before hurrying off to prepare lunch.
.
.
.
"Brother, what happened to our secret base?" Sarah enquired while yawning on her bed.
"Sarah, that was a dungeon. Once they are cleared, they close within a day. Am I right, brother?" A boy chimed in from another bed.
"Right as always, Alvis." Eldian praised with a gentle smile and patted his head.
"Hum..." The boy hummed in delight, closing his eyes.
"But we spent so long to decorate it..." Sarah's eyes were moist.
"Shh..." Eldian hushed her and then looked around carefully. Finding no one looking, at least no one other than seven-eight kids with their half-open eyes pretending to be asleep, he whispered gently, "It's not closed. Brother has hidden it in a secret location."
"Secret location..." Sarah said back in wonder, drifting to sleep.
"Goodnight detectives." Eldian looked back and many heads ducked back into the blanket, concealing their identities.
Chuckling lightly Eldian walked out of the room.
He didn't lie to his siblings, he never did. He had really hidden the dungeon in a secret place.
'Unranked skills are truly unpredictable.' He had the wrong impression. He thought the skill was only limited to opening a dungeon.
"Crack" The space split into a small crack as Eldian walked in the dark corridor.
The skill was more than that. It could also close the dungeon.
"Crack!" The crack grew wider till it reached a human height and as Eldian stepped in, it closed itself, returning the passage to silence.
Eldian stepped inside the dungeon, and the entrance closed on his will. The Christmas lights connected to the battery brightened the dark tunnels giving them a festive atmosphere.
"How are you doing, old man?" And in the midst stood the goblin shaman, its body adorned in tattered robes and arcane symbols, its bone staff pointed to the ground, as the brightly lit chamber darkened the wrinkles on its face.
"Kei Ku Ke." It said something in response that Eldian couldn't understand, but its next gesture conveyed the message. Dropping on both knees the Shaman placed its staff at Eldian's feet and bowed its head.
Eldian looked at the goblin, and a screen popped up.
—————[STATUS]—————
Monster: GBSH628191
Level: 10 (EXP: 00/5,000)
Job: Goblin Shaman
Owner: Raider One
—————[SKILLS]—————–
«E-rank: Fireball»
«D-rank: Infernal Vortex»
——————————————
There were a lot of peculiarities in its status. The lack of Stats, its name that was some kind of code, but none of these Intrigued Eldian as much as another detail.
"It can level up?" The EXP count adjacent to the level proved that it could, but this was hard to accept, even for Eldian. A monster that can level up? This was unheard of.
If it levels up, will it gain new skills or get free stats like players? There were a lot of possibilities and many questions, but one stood out above all.
"What do I do of you?" Eldian sighed, puzzled. Earlier in the dungeon when a sudden pop-up had asked him if he would house the monster, he had accepted. Afterwards, his dungeon opened up, swallowed the monster and disappeared.
Eldian looked at the goblin at his feet. He was running low on time, any additional trouble would only delay his speed of leveling. 'And it's not like I can take it to hunt with me—'
Suddenly it dawned on him, how the monster had gone from its original dungeon to his...
'Monsters cannot leave dungeons unless a Dungeon Break.' The Christmas lights reflected his involuntary smile, 'But can then leave 'to' dungeons?'