Caleb came to a stop after covering several kilometres in a few minutes, having come down from the slight anger he felt.
'Good riddance'
He looked around, noticing the surrounding trees, wheat fields and vegetable farms.
Caleb knew the road led to the baron's estate, and as the first quest he had to take, Caleb needed to make preparations.
With a plan in mind, he bolted towards the next town, completely putting his origin town behind him.
.....
Caleb finally saw the town in the distance, and unlike the previous one, the one ahead of him was bigger.
Surrounding the town was another majestic wall Caleb had come to realize was to protect against monster tides should they occur.
Surrounding the walls were fields growing vast amounts of grains and vegetables.
'This world takes their farming seriously. Probably because they can't rely on import and stuff.'
But then, he came to a stop when he realized an issue that would make him stand out.
'I have to do something about my lack of presence. And the only way to do that is to get a monster core to absorb.'
He needed to find a dungeon and do some hunting.
'This should be fun.'
He spread his domain sense out as everything in his vicinity came to mind with a clarity that would put zooming technology to shame.
From his scan, he found a particular path that people were traversing, mostly adventures and deduced that a dungeon would be in that direction.
Turning to the east side of the town, Caleb bolted forward once again, his next destination being the dungeon.
He wasn't sure what rank the dungeon was, but he believed it wouldn't cause him any problems.
And from what he was seeing, he was stronger than most of the people on that path.
Sometime later, he arrived at a majestic sight deep in the woods. There, a large monolith-like structure made of some material his system recognized, stood tall and imposing.
Around the dungeon was what appeared to be some kind of market space with people selling all sorts of things; from weapons, gears, potions and even maps.
At the entrance of the dungeon were the guards ensuring that only adventurers with ID could enter. The dungeon was not a playground.
High up in one of the sure trees, Caleb pondered on what do to.
He still was without presence and would stand out. Then there were those guards who Caleb could tell were men of the baron from [Appraisal].
'I could run past them, get what I need and rush back out.'
Caleb stood up, standing on the branch majestically as his coat fluttered in the wind.
'My first dungeon experience.'
He took a deep breath and then exhaled with a slight grin.
And in the next instant, his figure flickered and disappeared.
"Hmm? Did you feel something?" One of the guards asked his colleague.
"What are you talking about?" Another replied without looking away.
"I felt some gust of wind blow past me right now."
The guard explained as the others turned to look at him like he was an idiot.
"You do know that we are outdoors, right?"
The others stifled their laughter, trying their hardest to look professional but failing miserably.
The guard did not mind his colleagues as he could understand them, but he knew something had rushed passed him.
'Let's keep an eye out.'
The guard pledged with serious eyes.
.....
Inside the dungeon, Caleb looked around in wonder.
With this being the ground floor connecting the outside world to the dungeon, there was nothing much besides the dark chamber with a few light stones for luminance.
But to Caleb, it was a surreal feeling being his first time.
Ahead was what appeared to be a staircase leading downwards to the first floor of the dungeon.
He didn't know how deep it went, but he didn't have to. He just needed a monster core for his test.
"Huh? Who are you?"
Caleb turned around when he heard a question directed at him.
Someone had just entered the dungeon and noticed Caleb looking around like a rookie.
He wouldn't have minded if Caleb had a presence to him. But there was nothing, catching his attention.
"Ah, sorry. I'm new in town and this is my first dungeon experience."
Caleb explained with a cheeky smile, appearing as harmless as possible.
"And you're here by yourself?"
The man wondered if there was something wrong with him.
Normally, rookies went with others as a party, learning the ropes until they were confident enough to go on their own, join the party or form their own.
"I may be new, but I can handle myself."
Caleb reassured the man and clenched his fists to show his strength.
Of course, the man just shrugged in response.
'It's his funeral.'
The adventurer had no obligations to anyone. He had said his piece and if Caleb did not listen, that was his own damn problem.
"Whatever, boy."
With nothing more to say, the man strode forward.
Caleb watched as the man descended the stairs and disappeared from sight.
"Haa… let's solve this issue before things get out of hand.
"Any more eyes and everywhere I go, I'll stick out like a sore thumb."
With that, Caleb took a deep breath and also moved forward.
At the end of the stairs was what looked like a swirling vortex.
[Dimensional Gate: Separates dungeon from the outside world. Dissolves when the dungeon gets saturated with monsters.]
"I see… So the dungeon itself is in another dimension and not necessarily buried in the ground.
"That's good to know."
It also begged the question: where was the dimension located?
It could be a whole world on its own, connected to Elvoran or even some powerful entity's creation, but that was a story for another day.
Right now, Caleb was on a mission and determined to become a native of his new world.
With a thought, Caleb walked through the vortex and felt some weird energy wash over him, disorienting his senses for a second.
Then he opened his eyes to a new environment lit up like daytime.
"Wow…"