Adventurer Ellen
It was nice to have some company on her ‘first’ time into the dungeon.
Ellen knew it wasn’t exactly her first. Her predecessor had gone in, and Hunter Ellen had told her everything she saw. It was enough to fake it, surely. She herself didn’t remember any of it, as seemed to be normal for when they revived. It was always the last bit that they lost.
Considering how painful many of their deaths were, that was probably a good thing.
“Are you ready? Decided to keep the spear after all?”
Ellen looked up from her thoughts and smiled to Edmund. Even Miriam was scowling less, so she was feeling pretty welcome in the small group. It might be temporary, but it was still nice.
“Yeah, it’ll be useful against the spiders and stuff,” Ellen answered with a light shrug. “I can always drop it and use my knife if things get too tight in there, right?”
Edmund clapped her on the shoulder and grinned. “That’s the spirit! Just stay behind us and keep your wits about you. You’re much lower level so you’ll probably have to hang back and just take opportunities as they come, at first. Sure you can’t join? Your sister seems able to take care of herself.”
Ellen just smiled. “I have other reasons to stay here, but I do appreciate it. Maybe if you come here more often we can make it a regular thing, though?”
“We can’t afford to float your entry fee.” Miriam cut in with a low, severe tone that didn’t fit the soft and almost musical voice she possessed. “If you join us later, you’ll need to pay it yourself.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Ellen gave a thumbs up, and then answered Edmund properly. “Let me check my Status real quick so I know how much progress I’ll make, and then I’ll be ready.”
ATTRIBUTES
Strength: 9
Agility: 8
Endurance: 8
Willpower: 8
Affinity: 8
Perception: 8
SKILL ENHANCERS
STAMINA: 80/80
MANA: 80/80
CLASS: Fighter 7
EXPERIENCE: 8790/16000 (2,140 Banked)
PERKS
Overbear
ABILITIES
A long way to go to Level 8, but Ellen was sure she could make it once she started challenging herself again. Even with the banked experience and first time bonuses, her progress had slowed considerably. This had happened before, when she’d hit Level 7, but it had taken even longer to get there.
“Okay, I’m ready. Do I need to light my lantern?” Ellen adjusted her satchel as she asked that, and gripped her spear. She should have requested a good pair of gloves, but for a single outing doing it barehanded should be fine.
“No,” Miriam answered shortly. “I will take care of it. Watch and learn what a real adventurer can do. Get over here.”
As Ellen approached the group, Miriam lifted one hand and whispered a few words. A tingle ran up Ellen’s spine, her hair tickling as it tried to stand on end, but that strange sensation only lasted a moment. She felt something gently touching behind her eyes, blinking them rapidly before she relaxed and mentally ‘let’ it do its thing.
STATUS EFFECT: Darkvision
Your vision has been enhanced to see without light. Your ability to distinguish color has been reduced by 50%.
FIRST TIME AWARD: Subject of a friendly magical effect.
For performing this activity for the first time, you have gained 50 Experience.
An additional bonus of 100 Experience has been applied from banked Experience.
FIRST TIME AWARD: Witness a spell.
For performing this activity for the first time, you have gained 10 Experience.
An additional bonus of 20 Experience has been applied from banked Experience.
FIRST TIME AWARD: Subject to a Tier 2 spell.
For performing this activity for the first time, you have gained 300 Experience.
An additional bonus of 600 Experience has been applied from banked Experience.
Her vision faded… except that wasn’t quite right, she realized. The colors became more washed out, but abruptly she could make out the details of the tunnel ahead of her. The inky darkness further in was just a dimmer portion, allowing her to spot where the entrance subtly curved about twenty yards in.
“Woah,” Ellen mumbled. “I’ve never seen a spell like this one. Nice. All the mages I knew back home were more like… utility-based.”
Miriam arched one eyebrow at that. “I’m surprised you’ve seen magic at all, girl.”
Despite the hint of condescension, Ellen just smiled back at the magic-user. “I don’t have a lot of experience adventuring, but you’d be surprised at the weird stuff I’ve seen so far! I’m not from around here, remember?” She gestured at the entrance. “But you’re all way better at adventuring stuff than I am, so I’ll follow your lead, don’t worry.”
Ellen knew she was impulsive, and she couldn’t help that, but she also knew she’d be stupid to ignore a Silver Tier group’s experience. With some trepidation, she followed the three older adventurers inside.
SYSTEM NOTICE
You have entered [Greylan’s Legacy].
FIRST TIME AWARD: Entered a dungeon.
For performing this activity for the first time, you have gained 500 Experience.
An additional bonus of 1000 Experience has been applied from banked Experience.
FIRST TIME AWARD: Entered the dungeon of [Greylan’s Legacy]
For performing this activity for the first time, you have gained 300 Experience.
An additional bonus of 420 Experience has been applied from banked Experience.
Hunter Ellen had warned her ahead of time about the massive windfall of experience this would give. She had not warned her about the dungeon’s name, but since she’d said it was unnamed that must have been recent. It was also worrying to more than just her, as it turned out.
“That’s an ominous name.” Vincent’s baritone voice was low, barely above a whisper, but he echoed what his companions were thinking.
“Not what I expected, no,” Edmund agreed. “Why didn’t you tell us it had this name, Ellen?”
Ellen started, then blushed at the sudden question.
“W-well… for one thing it didn’t have a name last time I was in it. It was unnamed! So I just didn’t know, okay?” She huffed out a breath. “Besides, I’m not sure what the big deal is. I know it’s a famous name, but that doesn’t mean it’s a dangerous dungeon. It might not even be named after Gabriel Greylan! There are other Greylans, you know! Anroll Greylan, for one!”
“That is true.” Miriam spoke up to concede the point. “Anroll is still a Gold Tier though. And I’ve never heard of him visiting this area. Then again, I never heard of Gabriel visiting this area, and he’s been dead for years now.”
Ellen said nothing now, listening to the group discuss her family in such abstract, distant terms. This dungeon run was proving to give her a ridiculous amount of experience… and a ridiculous amount of notification windows. She was reasonably sure that people didn’t normally get first time bonuses just for witnessing a spell… but maybe it was just never mentioned by the adventurers she knew.
“How many spiders did you say there were in here?” Edmund’s voice pierced through Ellen’s thoughts, forcing her back to the real world and the potentially deadly encounter that they would soon be upon.
“At least three, but I know I killed one. Dungeons respawn monsters though, right?”
Edmund nodded, and Ellen saw him draw his sword as he advanced cautiously toward the opening. Just in front of her, she heard Vincent murmuring a prayer to Celeste.
STATUS EFFECT: Antivenom
Your body has been fortified against venomous agents. You will have a 70% chance to immediately nullify any venom while under this effect, reduced by the potency of the venom. Any effects of the venom will be slowed to 25% of their usual onset time.
FIRST TIME AWARD: Received a Blessing
For performing this activity for the first time, you have gained 10 Experience.
“This is giving me so many notifications,” Ellen grumbled. “I hope it gets less frequent as you get to be a more experienced adventurer.”
To her surprise, it was Miriam who chuckled and replied. “It depends. It does get better as all the first time bonuses are used up, but as you gather Perks and Abilities they pop up as well. One thing people tend to not mention is that you can select which ones to suppress at Level 11. It’s usually not done for anyone not an adventurer.”
It was the most Ellen had ever heard the mage say at once. The blonde had always been scowling or unfriendly toward her, but now in the dungeon the woman had a more neutral expression. Her voice had sounded gentle and amused, not annoyed.
Ellen wanted to ask about it, but they were almost at the chamber.
“Two other exits at the far end, that checks out.” Edmund stepped further in to investigate, his eyes sweeping over the sides of the chamber. “No sign of… wait, there they are. They have little plugs of webbing covering up small holes in the rock that they hide behind. Looks like… five, total.”
Watching the party fight was fascinating for Ellen. They didn’t have to call out any plans, they simply moved into position. Vincent moved up, his fists held up and bearing heavy punching gauntlets. Miriam stayed back, another spell cast upon Edmund.
Ellen didn’t mention that she’d heard of this tactic. The magical members would hang back and enhance the front line fighters, letting them carve up the enemy. The System was able to count ‘assists’ so they got the even division of experience without actually attacking. It was considered a relatively advanced technique, and she wouldn’t have known about it without her uncle’s tutorship.
It was brutally effective in this case. Edmund cleaved through the closest spider, and before it had even fallen to the ground in two halves, he’d skewered another. The other three were more cautious, attempting to surround him rather than coming in faster.
“Okay Ellen, see if you can stab one!” The swordsman called that out in a friendly tone, telling Ellen that he wasn’t in danger even if she messed up.
She felt Miram and Vincent’s eyes on her, but that didn’t matter. Ellen could do this much! She lunged, thrusting her spear past Vincent as she slid around him in the tunnel. The spider started to turn around to face her, but the sharpened blade of her spear tip pierced it right at the join of head and abdomen, the ichor exploding from the dungeon-spawned monster as it was nearly torn in half. The arachnid the size of a small dog died instantly.
Notifications sped by her vision.
EXPERIENCE AWARDED: Defeated a threat
For defeating a [LargeGreylan Spider], you have gained 50 Experience.
An additional bonus of 50 Experience has been applied from the dungeon aura.
An additional bonus of 50 Experience has been applied from the Bloodline Rival Trait.
FIRST TIME AWARD: Killed a Greylan Spider.
For performing this activity for the first time, you have gained 100 Experience.
FIRST TIME AWARD: Killed a threat in combat
For performing this activity for the first time, you have gained 200 Experience.
SKILL ENHANCER UNLOCKED: Spear Fighting 1
You have unlocked a Skill Enhancer! You will have the option to purchase this Enhancer at Level 8.
Ellen didn’t have time to read them all. Edmund let out a grunt of surprise as the spider he’d targeted skittered away from him, darting toward Ellen instead. The swordsman quickly recovered, twisting his hips to change the direction of his thrust. It lost effectiveness, but it still sliced three legs on one side of the spider free, causing it to crumple to the cavern floor.
Unfortunately, the other spider also ignored Edmund. It sidestepped with a freakishly fast scuttle away… and then took advantage of Ellen’s thrust leaving her unbalanced. She was still pulling back her spear when the eight-legged horror leapt, venomous fangs glistening in her enhanced vision.
It was fast. Too fast for her to recover.
Ellen’s blood ran cold as it flew directly toward her face.