Level 1 Fallen

It was hard to tell just how far we had gone. Unlike when I was using my Glancing Steps or other skills, I didn't know yet how to measure the distance traveled while driving this bike. Furthermore, there were no roads, so I could only continue to travel in a straight line.

Despite this, however, I found a city wall peaking over the horizon far sooner than I had expected. Even taking into account the burst of speed from when I boosted the bike, I hadn't expected to see the city this soon.

As we approached, I caught sight of the monsters roaming the sands. There were mostly insects like scorpions, ranging from the size of a palm to larger than the bike we were riding. In addition, I saw several large, armored lizards. Looking back, I glanced at Diane. "I thought you said Ilsan was a natural barrier for monsters."

"Normal monsters." Diane clarified. "Those that can withstand the desert aren't bothered. I wouldn't be surprised if we found any wolf-headed spiders buried beneath the sand at different points."

Nodding my head, I focused on keeping the bike upright. Up ahead of us, a particularly large scorpion emerged from the sand, seeming intent on stopping us. I was preparing to create a ramp over it when Diane spoke up. "Try the weapons system. Just enchant any type of ranged projection skill through the bike, and it should activate."

I hesitated for a moment, but ultimately complied. Wanting to make sure I took it out in one hit, I used my strongest offensive skill, Martial Intent-X, channeling it into the bike. To my surprise, a yellow beam fired out of the forward barrels of the bike, splitting the scorpion down the center. Stunned, we drove straight through the split corpse, with Diane reaching out to loot the body as we passed it by.

Only a couple of minutes later, I pulled the bike to a stop outside of the city gates, dismounting and storing it in my inventory as Diane jumped to her feet. The guards were just as surprised by the strange vehicle as I was, but seemed to chalk it up to some strange player creation. Which, as it happened, was not incorrect.

"You two are new to Ilsan?" The guard, a dark-skinned catfolk said. He looked at our outfits, as well as the visible brand on my forehead.

With Diane stepping behind me, I nodded my head in confirmation. "That's right. We're passing through. However, before we leave later, I was hoping I might ask a question?"

The guard hesitated, but gestured for me to continue. "A week ago, we came across a new dungeon, and heard that other dungeons had appeared in various parts of the world at the same time. I was wondering if anything similar happened around here? It was just after the April Fools' Day raids."

Once again, the guard froze, seeming unsure how to answer. However, another guard, this one a dogfolk, nodded his head. "That's right. It's no secret, really. Not anymore. We thought that we were the only one that had gotten it, so the city lord ordered it to be kept under wraps. Like you, we've heard the reports. Ours has been called the Maker's Trials."

I looked back at Diane, whose eyes widened at this news. In fact, I wasn't sure that other dungeons did spawn like the tower. I was just making a blind guess with information that a player could reasonably obtain. If they didn't have anything, I could chalk it up to false rumors.

"Can you tell us a bit more about this dungeon?" I asked, and Diane began listening intently behind me.

"It's a strange one, that's for sure." The guard answered with a sigh, his catfolk friend nodding in agreement, before continuing himself.

"There's not a single monster in this dungeon under normal circumstances. Instead, you are given trials related to crafting and gathering skills. Different types of skills have different paths you can take. At the start of each path, you are given an educational guide to the skills being tested. For instance, a miner will learn about common ores and proper mining techniques. It's not enough to get the skill directly, though."

"Once you've read the guide, it throws you into a series of progressively harder tests. After each test, you get skill experience, and certain tests give you a chest reward depending on how well you cleared it. According to the town's master smith, the furthest the dungeon tests you is up to the equivalent of level one hundred. So, he had to forge gear suitable for that level to pass the final challenge. Oddly, he said that the materials were provided for him, but he wasn't able to take them out of the dungeon."

Behind me, Diane seemed confused. "It seems like this dungeon doesn't have any dangers, then? It must be constantly reserved for people to train their skills."

"That's another weird thing about it." The dogfolk guard spoke up. "Multiple people can take the tests at a time, like a workshop. There's not even a penalty for working together, though you'd have to split the rewards."

I nodded my head, raising my next question. "Are there any new or unusual skills being offered by this dungeon?" I asked, confusing the duo.

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"Sorry, but it doesn't really offer skills. All it does is train them. In fact, we don't even know what all skills it can test. There's a teleportation node at the start where you choose the skill you want to use."

Diane suddenly seemed very interested, clenching her fists behind me. "Do we have to pay a toll to enter the dungeon?" She asked, to which the dogfolk guard nodded his head.

"There's a one gold toll per person, per entry. Since the dungeon allows multiple people to participate at once, the lord didn't put a time limit on how long you can stay, so long as you pay every time you enter."

With a smile, I thanked the duo. "Where can we find this dungeon?" I asked out of curiosity, and they directed me to a cave at the base of the mountain, on the north side of the city.

Once we entered the city, Diane and I looked at one another. "You're going to say that you want to level up your new skills there, right?" I asked, and she nodded her head firmly.

"Alchemy and Scroll Crafting both need to be leveled up. Since we still don't know much about these two skills, this dungeon is the perfect place. As for you… you can work on Butchery while I do this." She said, reminding me of my past comment with upturned eyes.

I let out a long sigh, nodding my head. "I was needing an excuse to reset my enchantments after we hit that glitch earlier. I can't risk leaving them as they were before the patch, just in case it causes more trouble later."

When Diane heard that, her expression soured, seeming to regret her previous decision. "It's fine." I assured her gently. "Like I said, I was going to need to do it either way. Let's see… if I try to combine Clean, Observe, Shadow Arsenal-X, and Animate Shadow, maybe I can get a worker-type shadow?"

Diane's face scrunched up as she heard the combination. "Your enchantments are more likely to fail the more you modify them right? Just go with Animate Shadow, and maybe add in Observe. That should be more than enough. If you need anything else, wait until you get the Butchery skill, and then use that instead of Observe."

She was right. Although adding in more enchantments would change the innate nature of the shadow I summoned, it wasn't strictly necessary. For instance, my former shadow archer was created by adding in Shadow Arsenal-X and Arcane Arrow. Even without those, the shadow would have still been able to use the skills, since I had it myself. However, using them in the enchantment made it so that the shadow was specialized, being far more potent with those abilities than normal.

If I combined Animate Shadow and Butchery, I was bound to get a shadow specialized in dismantling corpses. Thus, I nodded my head in agreement. "Alright, shall we go ahead and check the dungeon out, then?" I asked, and Diane readily agreed.

Without delaying any further, the two of us made our way back to the dungeon, where we found a group of guards blocking a man-made cave. There was a small line leading towards the entrance of the cave, and the guards let people in one by one as they paid the toll.

We both moved to the back of the line, and Diane stepped in ahead of me, handing over a gold coin. About thirty seconds later, I was allowed to enter, finding an empty room with a large, arcane circle. Stepping into the circle, I received a prompt from the system.

I raised a brow, having expected some kind of list to select from. However, there was nothing. I hadn't heard Diane speak when she was in here ahead of me, either. So either the place was soundproofed, or it worked through mental commands.

Dismantling monster corpses. I thought to myself, and the circle beneath my feet lit up. I was sent to a small room with a single desk, atop which was a thick, leatherbound book titled 'The Art of Dismantling'.

Shrugging my shoulders, I moved to sit at the desk, and began to read through the book. This reminded me of my first days after becoming a Fallen. How I would read through books in the library, and how I met Karlson there. Between the tower's library and this dungeon, I wasn't sure which one he would be more interested in. This dungeon seemed far more active in practicing skills, though the library forced you to defend against the enchanted books.

As I thought to myself, I diligently read through the material provided in the book, committing every word to memory. The book discussed basic methods of skinning a carcass, such as how to identify where to make your cuts, how to strip the meat, and so on. After that, it covered a few specific monsters, which were likely to be the subject of the first test.

Once I had finished reading the book, I closed it and set it aside. As I did, a door opposite me appeared, opening to allow me through.

My eyes widened when I read the requirements of the test. The reason I was surprised was because the Desert Hare was not one of the monsters discussed in the introductory guide. Looking ahead, I saw a wide open room with a small workspace. On the ground was a dead rabbit, roughly half a meter in size. Next to it, there was a cart that had various types of tools.

Thankfully, these tools were described in the book, so I at least know somewhat what I was meant to do. However, instead of using any of the tools provided, I activated Shadow Arsenal-X to create my own. I trusted the sharpness of my own blade far more than one provided by the dungeon, after all.

Since the Desert Hare wasn't detailed in the previous book, this must be making me judge where to cut based on the general instructions. I thought to myself. Before I began, I pulled out my wand, casting Clean on the corpse. I'd want to keep that wand handy while I worked, no doubt…