Level 1 Fallen

On the fourth night after arriving it Falconlot, Diane appeared in my room once again, her brand dim and her Chosen looking thoroughly disappointed. Just from that expression, I could already tell that she hadn't had any luck getting the skill that she wanted. "We're leaving first thing in the morning." She said with a sullen sigh, shaking her head.

"Will it be alright without the Feather Arrow skill?" I asked, and she shrugged her shoulders helplessly.

"We've been at it for four days now. If it hasn't dropped yet, there's no point in waiting around. I've already looted every hidden chest in the dungeon it can drop in, so the only thing left that I can even farm is the boss. Besides, there's another throwing skill in Daggerloft that she's wanting, and she promised that we'd stop by Manamill on our way to the capital city."

"Oh?" I blinked, looking at Diane, who nodded her head.

"Yeah. They've got a few different types of magic skills. My player said that there's one that I'd really like called Mana Breathing. It's supposed to increase the recovery rate for Mana Burden." I gave a small, appreciative nod when I heard that. Although this skill would be useless for me, it was exceptional for Diane and other players. "Oh, and she said to let you know that she'll be asking for your help clearing the dungeons from now on. She's gotten all the major level grinding out of the way that she can here, so now it will be better to just have an extra hand to loot."

"Works for me." I said with a smile, glad to be able to stretch my legs again. "Will I be needing to dismantle the monsters there, or are we not going to worry about that?"

Diane hesitated for a moment, seeming unsure herself. "She said that there isn't enough detailed information on the monsters in those dungeons. For the first run, she wants two of each type of corpse. One for us to study with Alchemy, and another to send to Hammerhead. If either of us determine that there is anything worth selling in bulk, we'll be dismantling the corpses. We don't want to flood the market with materials that won't be bought, or else they'll just stay as clutter in your inventory."

"Alright." I readily agreed. "She got me this backpack in the first place, so I might as well put it to use if she wants."

"You already paid her back the cost." Diane answered with a wry grin. "Anyways, get some rest. You haven't been in a proper dungeon in a while, so we'll see how you handle tomorrow."

I nodded my head, and Diane left for her own room. In the morning, when her player logged on, we immediately set out. Daggerloft was less than a half hour drive by bike, almost directly south-by-southeast, so we didn't need to worry about getting lost. And thankfully, we didn't encounter any more roaming sandstorms or wild bosses.

Daggerloft looked quite similar to Falconlot, though the oasis was surrounded by towering stone pillars, with long vines growing between them. We landed outside the city, stowing away the bike and making our way inside. It felt odd how quickly I was getting used to having such a convenient method of travel that wasn't just flickering to the destination with Glancing Steps-X. If anything, I actually preferred the bike over that skill at this point.

"So, what skills are you aiming for here?" I asked Diane, who glanced towards me with her typical stoic expression.

"Dagger Launch is the big one, but I'd also like to get Shadow Pin and Bleeding Edge. Thankfully, they all drop from the same dungeon. The problem is that this is a rather popular dungeon, considering that it is at the heart of Ilsan. Dagger skills are much more widely regarded than bird taming, so there are always a lot of players lining up to raid the Assassin's Manor."

When I heard that, I looked over in concern. "Are we not going to be able to get in today?" I asked, and Diane asked for directions, guiding us to the city's dungeon management office.

"Because of the popularity, they limit people to only taking a single timeslot a day." Diane explained, reserving us a timeslot later in the afternoon, as well as another the following day. At the same time, she bought a cheap booklet containing more detailed information on the dungeon. "Because of that, people tend to form larger groups, wanting to get more hands on the various chests to increase their odds of getting the skills they want."

As she explained, she flipped through the booklet, her face quickly losing color. "Drake… nevermind, we don't need to dismantle the corpses in this dungeon." She said, shaking her head. "I had hoped that the assassin monsters would be regarded as spirit-type creatures, but…"

She held up the booklet, showing an image of a robed humanoid dressed quite similarly to Diane herself. And the classification below the image read 'Human-type enemy'. My eyes widened slightly, and I swiftly agreed. I had no intention of dissecting humans for material components.

"Thankfully, the dungeon is popular enough that they have maps for all three floors, including the locations of the hidden chests. With our speed, we should be able to complete two full runs of the dungeon with each of our timeslots. The only issue is the loot, but we're mostly here for the three skills. Maybe the trait, if we get lucky."

"What's wrong with the loot? Aside from the humanoid monster type, I mean." Diane glanced over at me, nodding her head in understanding.

"The only things that drop from the normal monsters are coins, bounty plates, and cloth. And the bounty plates are only good for melting down into scrap metal, since there's nobody around that will collect their bounties. I've heard that they might be a quest item for somewhere, but that city is so far away that nobody bothers picking up the quest. It's not like it's a major one, just some old collector with a special interest."

I nodded, though at least we could get some basic coins as a reward. "And what about the trait?"

"That… I'd like it if that dropped, but I'm not pinning my hopes on it." Diane admitted. "It's the Daggerborn trait, a six-star positive trait that increases the effects of all dagger-related skills and attacks. We'll just have to see how lucky we are."

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

With that said, the two of us found an inn to wait in for our timeslot in the dungeon. As for me, I spent the time practicing my Water Shaping skill, barely getting the last three levels I needed to evolve it to Water Projection before Diane called me to let me know that it was time.

Since we were planning on entering a proper combat dungeon, I equipped my Blood Leather armor set for the increase in attributes, and followed Diane to the site of the dungeon. Unlike most of the dungeons that we had been to, where there was a standing structure out in the open world to enter, this one was different. There was a tall, swirling portal that had been cordoned off by the city's guard.

Diane walked up to the guard, nodding her head. "Diane and Drake. We've reserved the timeslot." She said, and the guard hesitated, causing her to arch her brow. "Is something wrong?"

"The last group just came out a few minutes ago. The mobs on the first and second floor wouldn't have respawned by now." The guard informed her, and Diane simply nodded her head.

"In that case, we'll be able to just rush the chests." She said simply. If anything, she seemed happier that the fodder mobs had been cleared out, since we weren't after the coins they dropped.

The guard nodded, stepping to the side and allowing us into the portal. Inside, we arrived in the foyer of a large, wooden mansion. The floors were made of woven straw, and the walls had wooden frames with thin, white material filling it in. "Let's go, before too many monsters respawn." Diane said, quickly leading the way. According to the booklet she purchased, there were three hidden chests on each floor.

On the first floor, between the two of us, Diane managed to get two of the three skills that she was looking for. As for the final skill, Bleeding Edge, I pulled it out of a chest on the second floor. Once she had all three skill books in front of her, Diane stared blankly at them, and then at me. "You're coming with me to the dungeons from now on." She said in a firm tone, her eyes practically shining.

I couldn't help but chuckle at that. Of course, we had already gotten quite a bit more loot, such as a large shield and greatsword, or the scythe that Diane pulled from the first chest she opened. "We might as well keep going. We paid for the time, after all."

Diane gave a firm nod, gripping the skill books tightly before learning them all. Once we hit the third floor, we finally began to encounter enemies. There were only a dozen or so scattered throughout the floor, and they appeared to be Elite Assassins, a level eighty-five enemy.

Since we were technically on a time crunch, I condensed bolts of fire that shot out towards the enemies. Though they dodged, entering stealth, this was not your normal fireball, and I was able to clearly see them in their stealth. I controlled the projected flames to swerve back, striking the enemies while Diane rushed forward, dealing the lethal blow.

The chests on the third floor were even more lucrative, giving each of us at least one Fire Trap skill book, along with other loot. Naturally, I put everything into my backpack with the rest of the loot that we had gathered. Once the two of us stood before the sliding door to the boss room, I looked at Diane. "Do you want to eliminate it quickly, or test out your new abilities?"

She hesitated for a moment, before quickly shaking her head. "Level one novice skills aren't suitable for a boss fight to begin with. I'll train them on my own time later. Do whatever you need to do to kill him quickly."

I smiled, activating Ghost-X and stepping into the boss room. There, the Assassin King was waiting at his desk, staring ahead. He seemed to realize that someone had entered the room, judging by the fact that the door had opened, but his eyes never locked onto me.

She said to kill him quickly, so… I extended my hands, focusing on the image that I wanted to create. First, I conjured a cubic cage around the boss with Martial Intent-X, and he jumped to his feet in alarm. Next, I filled the cage with my Fire Projection, removing any shadows that he could use to teleport away. Then, I clenched my fists, filling the cage with energy spikes that began to rapidly spin.

The boss let out a pained cry, dying within only a few seconds. Diane walked in behind me, arching a brow. "Okay… you have unlocked the Blender skill, apparently." She said, before pushing me to loot the body.

Unfortunately, the boss himself didn't drop much, only two rolls of Shadow Silk, a throwing dagger, and another Dagger Launch book. The boss chest was similarly disappointing, for both Diane and myself. Well, disappointing just meant that it didn't have anything we were really looking for. The Shadow Silk could likely be used to upgrade Diane's current equipment, so I wasn't about to complain about getting more of it.

With the loot claimed, the two of us exited the boss room, closing the door. It would take about a while for the boss to respawn, so we descended to the second floor and began training our skills. Diane wanted to get the hang of activating her newly acquired skills, and I still wanted to practice more with my new projections.

After a while, we started hearing movement from beyond the stairs leading up, so we ascended to clear the third floor again, including fighting the boss. Once again, I entered 'Blender Mode' as Diane called it, to make the fight easier for us. While I looted the corpse, Diane moved to the boss chest, collecting her own rewards. Then, it was my turn at the Boss Chest, and I opened it without expecting much.

Diane, having not expected anything important to drop for me either, was already walking towards the door of the room, preparing to leave. However, when she noticed that I wasn't immediately following behind her, she turned back. "What's the matter? Get anything good?"

I gave a slow nod, and then began to read out the list of loot. The Living Shade skill caught her interest, though the rest of it didn't seem to matter to her. Not until I got to the Trait Scroll. At that point, I swear that Diane teleported in front of me, grabbing my hands and staring at my face firmly. She didn't say anything, she just stared.

I cleared my throat, sending her a trade for both the trait and the skill. Going by the name, I could assume that it was a magic skill, so I wasn't all that interested in it to begin with. Diane grinned, releasing me and practically jumping for joy. "Are we still going to come back tomorrow?" I asked, recalling how Diane had reserved two different timeslots.

Diane hesitated, before shaking her head. "We've got everything from this dungeon. Our time would better be spent heading to Manamill tomorrow. For now, I'll let you appraise our loot and sell what can be sold. Though, would you mind saving the Shadow Silk for me? I want to send it to Hammerhead and see if he can make me anything."

"Planned on it to begin with." I said with a nod. Just from the coins in the chests, we had gotten a little over thirty gold. I was curious to see how much everything else would sell for.