Advancement

Xeon woke up to the sound of a notification from the System.

[After 100 years, your Dimension is only at the bare minimum to participate in Dimensional Wars!]

[Lucky for you, because if you hadn't reached that bare minimum, we would have just wiped you all out of existence.]

[Welcome to the Dimensional Wars, a tournament where you will fight a new dimension every six months. Everyone above the age of 18 on your planet will have to fight someone from another dimension. This will continue forever until your dimension either breaks into the top 100 Dimensions, or until everyone on your planet is dead.]

[The first game will start in six months. Good luck!]

[180 days until first match.]

This news immediately shook the entire planet, with people scrambling to improve themselves. Xeon also was one of those people. He stood up, and washed himself off before preparing the gear he bought years ago to prepare for this day. He simply had a simple set of leather armor, that was easy to move in, and several daggers. He also had two sets of needles, that he had prepared last night, and grabbed the keys to his car.

He left his house, and drove towards the nearest beginner dungeon. The dungeon was a cave with Goblins, and was an F-Rank dungeon. Meaning the monsters were only as high as level 15, so it was a perfect beginner dungeon. After arriving at the dungeon, even though he had shown up early, it was still packed with other 18 year old people.

Xeon walked over to an attendant, to register.

"You're going in alone? Are you sure? It's much safer with a party you know, I really don't think you shou-"

"I'm a Rogue. Who would want me in their party?" Xeon interrupted. He knew the attendant was trying to look out for him, but after Xeon said he was a rogue they seemed to lose that little bit of humanity. They then looked at him as if he was wasting their time. They then expedited his registration, not bothering to ask him any standard questions, and instead seemed to send him off to die. 

****

I simply took my stuff and left. As I walked towards the Dungeon portal, I noticed many of my, now former, classmates entering with their parties. Most of the parties were formed with other students, but I did notice the big shots having powerful escorts.

'It must be nice to be bussed through the dungeon using your connections. While people like me will have to struggle on their own just to not die in there. Fucking bastards.'

I hurried into the portal, as if I stayed any longer outside I might catch someone's attention, and I didn't want to lose a day of progress just because I got beat up.

After stepping through the portal, I found myself in a large cavern. I knew this was the beginning of my first dungeon, and that there were dangers lurking around. I first checked all my belongings, and took out two daggers. I held them, prepared for any sudden attacks, while I walked towards the cavern connected to mine. 

In the next cavern, I spotted a Goblin rifling through a small wooden chest, and decided to throw a dagger at the back of it's head. I pulled it out, and took aim.

The anatomy of a Goblin had been extensively researched and I knew there was a soft spot just above the nape of the back of it's neck. That spot would allow me to hit the brain with no resistance at all. With the swift pull back of my arm, I let the dagger fly, aiming for the head. Hitting the soft spot was ideal, but as long as I hit the head I would be happy. 

To my delight the dagger hit the goblin's soft spot, and bore directly into the brain. Killing the goblin on the spot, and giving me my first kill, fully activating my system.

[Status Unlocked]

[Name: Xeon Freud]

[Class: Rogue]

[Level: 1 0/100]

[

Strength: 5

Stamina: 5

Agility: 15

Dexterity: 10

Intellect: 10

Spirit: 5

]

I looked at my status and felt that it was as I expected. During school they would do a rough estimate of our skills, so I had an idea of how my stats would be. However it was nice to see it clearly. I would now be able to earn experience through kills, allowing me to level up and get stronger. With each level up, I would receive five stat points and all of my stats would increase by one for free.

I walked over to the goblin, and retrieved my throwing knife. After I wiped the blood on the goblin's dirty loincloth, I looked through the chest it was rummaging in. 

Inside I found a wooden club, which was useless to me so I simply threw it on the ground. With different containers in Dungeons, you could potentially find gear or even spell books if you were lucky. Artifacts could appear, but they were incredibly rare. 

I went to the next cavern, where I found a goblin, however this one seemed to know I was here. It was watching me the moment I entered the cavern, so I stayed on guard and sized up the goblin. 

It stood in the center of the room, holding a small crude wooden club, while I circled around it. I suddenly threw a dagger, causing the goblin to react just in time, raising it's club it blocked the dagger aimed for it's head.

However I didn't just throw one dagger, I threw two. The second one was hidden behind my first throw, as I threw it while my arm was coming down. It cleanly hit the goblin's wrist, the was holding the club, and when it's arm dropped the club I sprinted towards the goblin. I closed the distance, but by the time I got close it had already picked up the club with it's other hand. 

I dashed in, baiting out a swing, and when the goblin haphazardly swung the club, I sidestepped it. Before the goblin could lift the club again, I drove a dagger into it's neck. The goblin let go of the club, and clutched its neck. I had already pulled out my dagger, and stepped back. Allowing for the goblin to bleed to death, while I stayed away to avoid any last ditch retaliation from the goblin. 

I watched as it bled to death, and collapsed on the ground. I threw another dagger, this one cleanly hitting it's head. The goblin didn't even twitch, confirming it's death. I did this because I didn't want to risk it. Feigning death before lashing out was a common tactic for all creatures. 

I checked my Exp, and noticed it had gone up by 10. Nine more goblins, and I would be able to hit level 2. I retrieved my two daggers stuck in the goblin, and the one from the club. I looked around the cavern for anything valuable, but headed to the next cavern empty handed. I continued like this for another two hours, clearing rooms and polishing my skills. 

It was simply because society prepared children for the harsh reality that we would be killing, that I was able to kill without hesitating. I ended up finding a new dagger, but nothing else of note.

The dagger I found was an iron dagger that had an extremely sharp edge. It was an item produced by the dungeon, so it was actually harder than iron found on Earth, surpassing even the strength of steel. I traded it out for one of the daggers I kept for close range, and relegated the old dagger to one I could thrown now.

I had just reached Level 2 as I finished in the cavern I was in. I quickly allocated my five points to my Dexterity, as it would help me land my throws. I continued my Dungeon delve and practiced several different things. I worked on my fighting style, while occasionally engaging in close combat.

I had just reached level 4, when I entered a cavern that had three goblins within. They hadn't noticed me, yet, so I crouched by the edges of the room. I hid in the shadows as I began to form a plan of attack. After a minute of thinking, I began to act on my plan. I threw a dagger in a high arch, before running around the room.

The dagger hit a goblin in the head, causing it to collapse, not completely dead yet however. I threw a dagger at the goblin who I had managed to get behind completely, but it seemed to have sensed something as it managed to move it's head out of the way. I was hoping to cash in on taking down two goblins at the same time, but that plan was no longer possible. The two goblins then rushed at me, seemingly a little smarter than the goblins I had fought before. Perhaps emboldened by their numbers, but it was not that big of a deal. 

I waited as they came closer, and when they pulled their arms back to attack me, I quickly dodged backwards. Just out of the ranges of their attacks, and threw two daggers at the same time. They found their marks in the two goblins' throats, and I simply ran away from them. I ran towards the first goblin, stabbing my new iron dagger into it's skull, before retrieving my dagger. As I stood up I saw the other two goblins on the floor, unmoving. I threw daggers into their heads and then collected my weapons. 

I was starting to feel better about myself, but I still reminded myself that I was not completely through the dungeon yet, and that this was only a low level dungeon. Stronger monsters would not even get scratched by my weapons, which was why it was easier to progress when you had skills that could pierce their hides.

It was after I killed the final two goblins that a small book appeared on the ground. Excited, I walked over and picked it up. When I held it in my hand, a prompt appeared. 

[Would you like to learn Weak Poison - F Rank?]

"YES!" I said loudly, although I knew I could just say it quietly in my head, I felt that saying it aloud the first time would feel better.

And it did. I felt great as the book melted and flowed into my body. I had gotten my first skill from the Dungeon, which had significant value. The skills you could learn outside of dungeons and the skills you gained related to your advancement classes were different. As the ones you could learn yourself were limited to almost exclusively non magic skills, however the dungeon skill books would give you skills that were magical in property. 

Take [Weak Poison] for example, while it was a weak poison, where was this poison coming from? Nowhere, it was produced using my own mana, and could penetrate a higher level creature's defenses. Where a poison from my world might not do anything to it. 

I was really glad to have it, and so I began to coat my needles in the weak poison. I threw them and watched as the goblins began to slowly die from the poison. Just from a little needle no thicker than a centimeter. I continued focusing on building the necessary skills for keeping my distance, while not neglecting to practice my dodging. 

****

It was only a short matter of time before Xeon reached Level 5 within the dungeon. Once he did, he felt a rush of warm light shower his body, and a prompt appeared.

[Class Advancement possible!]

[Would you like to advance?]

"Of course." Xeon said. There was no benefit to him staying as a basic Rogue right now. For other classes, they might not advance so they can get more skills from that basic class, before advancing, but Rogues didn't have good skills available to them. 

So Xeon advanced in hopes to get more useful skills related to his advancement. 

The advancement someone would receive was dependent on what fit them the best, and was wholly dependent on the individual. 

It was only a few moments as the mana within Xeon began to stir, when he felt a qualitative change within himself. 

[Class Advancement successful!]

[Class changed to Potioneer Apprentice!]

[Noxious Fumes - F Rank skill learned.]

[Concoct Potion - F Rank skill learned.]

[Berserk Potion - F Rank skill learned.]

Xeon felt very confused as he had never heard of the class, and he felt excited at the same time. The strength of potions couldn't be underestimated, however he had never heard of a Berserk potion. He read the skill description, and discovered that it was a targeted skill. He tested his skill, and found that when he used it it would make the target of his skill berserk. Attacking friend and foe, while increasing their physical stats while reducing their ability to make logical decisions. 

Concoct Potion was extremely ambiguous, as it could concoct a random potion in his hand, that he had to figure out what to do with it. The first potion he concocted was red in color, but he ultimately decided to throw it towards the other side of the cavern. Thank goodness he did too, as the moment it broke it exploded, leaving behind a pool of fire.

He jumped back a little from surprise, but didn't forget to dedicate the color of the potion. He was impressed by the new skills, as they oddly enough fit his fighting style already. He then began to head towards the next cavern.

However after a while he thought to himself that he must have cleared most of the isolated goblins, as for the past thirty minutes he had only run into groups of goblins. He got rid of them with a simple tactic of using his skill to berserk one of the goblins, and the help it kill the others. 

This was incredibly simple, almost to the point where Xeon felt it was not helpful to his growth. As he went through different caverns, he kept using his [Concoct Potion] skill to discover different types. He had discovered several different kinds, ranging from things like acid potions all the way to even a potion that turned a dead goblin into a zombie. It was so random, that it was unreliable to use, so he just spent time to try and identify the different potions. 

Xeon soon found himself standing before a large stone door. He knew what this was.

Boss Room. 

Inside would be the boss of the dungeon. In this dungeon it was either a Goblin Warrior, or a Goblin Shaman. Each had their own strategies for dealing with them, but both were difficult to deal with. Xeon took a moment to consider back tracking, and leaving the dungeon. A strategy that many adopted, while it was disappointing to not fully clear the dungeon, it was better to live another day. 

However when Xeon thought of the life that waited for him, if he failed to grow in strength, he felt he would have nothing to show his parents in the afterlife. 

Steeling himself, he walked forward resolutely, and pushed the stone door open. Inside was a large cavern, however this time it had a throne and pillars all around the cavern. Walking in, Xeon concocted a potion, and prepared for the tough fight ahead. He went over the information he had of the fight. 

On the throne sat a large goblin with an axe by his side, which indicated it was a warrior and thankfully not a shaman. The strategy for the shaman was to kill it as fast as possible, as it could empower it's allies and throw ranged attacks. However the warrior posed it's own problems. It was highly durable, and incredibly strong. One strike could kill me, if I wasn't careful, and if I were to make it go berserk it would gain more speed. 

So I decided to throw whatever potion I had concocted to the goblin, hitting him in the face before he got up. Thankfully the warrior was arrogant, which allowed me to hit it before it deemed me worth the effort of killing, but after I hit it in the face it decided to get up. 

Unfortunately I still had no idea what effect the potion I threw had... Until I saw what happened next.

All the other goblins in the room whipped their heads around and stared straight at the warrior. This weird moment, too, only lasted briefly before they all sprinted straight at the warrior. They began to tear and rip into the warrior, eating at his flesh. I didn't know what happened, but I understood it was a good thing. I made a few of the goblins go berserk, and whatever affect they were under was still active.

I watched with pity at the large goblin warrior, as it was killed by it's underlings. I threw all the needles I had, that were laced with my weak poison, which had an effect similar to a paralytic agent. Hindering the movements of the goblin, making them take even more damage from it's allies. 

The fight dragged on, as I continued to harass the warrior, until it finally finished off the final normal goblin. It stood, imposingly, as it straightened it's back to look at me. It breathed a deep breath, collecting it's strength while it closed it's eyes briefly to focus again on it's impending fight with me. 

"Dumbass."

Which was the last thing the goblin would ever hear, as a flask flew through the air, hitting the goblin and splashing it with acid. The goblin's skin began to melt, and when Xeon saw a hole begin to form in it's skull, he threw a dagger straight into it. Killing the warrior instantly as the dagger bore into it's brain. 

After the goblin fell, a large bronze chest appeared. This was the reward for clearing the dungeon, and had any number of mystical items. He quietly walked over, and opened the chest. Inside he found a skill book, a gas mask, and a weird harpoon looking contraption. 

He took the skill book and used it immediately. It contained the skill [Poison Resistance - F Rank], which would potentially be helpful to him as he didn't want to accidentally poison himself. 

The gas mask was an item that he would wear on his head, and it would allow him to identify potions, which was incredibly synergistic with his potions skill. While the final item was equally exciting, as it was an item that would allow him to shoot out a chain that would pin itself to objects, allowing me to pull myself towards them. It allowed for incredible varieties of movement. 

As he was about to leave the dungeon, he noticed an object shimmering by the goblin warrior's body. I walked over and picked up a small orb, which when picked up slowly seeped into my skin, leaving behind a refreshing feeling.

[Seed of Sin has been fused with.]

[Seed of Sin will manifest after 24 hours.]

"Seed of Sin? I've never heard of an item like this... Perhaps its a good thing? However why would a Goblin Warrior drop such an item? Hm... Maybe I should call it a day."

Xeon was wary of the seed he had just received, and the part about sins didn't sound good. However there was nothing Xeon could do at this point, so he simply left the dungeon through the escape portal and began to head home. However, along the way he ran into a girl he recognized. 

Hailey Binds. 

She also noticed him, however she didn't recognize him due to the gas mask he was now wearing. However he exuded an aura that she could only describe as dangerous. She had just finished advancing to a swordsman class, and one of the skills she was fortunate to obtain from a skill book was [Sixth Sense - F Rank].

She was looking at the figure before her, with his odd dress along with his distinct lack of weapons, intrigued her. So she decided to approach him.

"Sir, I couldn't help but wonder what your class was? If you don't feel comfortable saying I understand, since I was simply curious." she asked politely, which surprised her entourage. 

While she was not a rambunctious kid, she didn't show respect often to those she didn't feel deserved it.

'What about this guy made her feel like he deserved her respect?'

This thought went through the minds of many who saw the scene. 

Xeon was sweating underneath his gas mask, however he didn't let it show otherwise. Today was a great lesson to himself that the moment someone let their guard down, they could die. So he kept his tone neutral, and replied simply.

"You can just call me The Alchemist. I just reached my first advancement, I am now a Potioneer Apprentice."

Hailey showed a hint of surprise, as she had never heard of the class, but moved on quickly. 

"Would it be possible for you to join my party tomorrow? I plan to come back here and I wanted to get some experience working with people who are not professionals."

"Wait, Ms. Binds! I don't think he is-"

"Quiet, Reynolds. I have already extended my invitation, are you going to embarrass me and make me rescind my offer?" Hailey said, turning cold suddenly. While she was young, she knew her position in the world. The man named Reynolds shut his mouth, as getting on the bad side of the Binds family was similar to career suicide. 

She turned back to Xeon and apologized. 

Xeon simply stood, unfazed by all the events, while he thought her offer over.

'I don't feel like there is any ulterior motives, as it simply wouldn't make sense... The only reason I can think of is that she is curious about me, and thinks I am a potential prospect for the Titan guild.'

Xeon nodded his head to that idea, as it made the most sense and had a high probability of being true. He then locked eyes with Hailey before nodding.

"I can join you tomorrow... What time will we meet here?" I asked.

"Noon! If that works for you?"

"Noon it is. Thank you for inviting me, I hope to be of use tomorrow. Farewell."

With that sentence, Xeon hurried away. He didn't want to stay any longer, in fear that she would figure out his identity, and he would lose this opportunity. Since it was hard to tell that he was a rogue, he was hopeful that he could use that fact to get into parties to be able to level up faster, and possibly give himself opportunities that people who were rogues wouldn't usually be offered. 

Xeon got home, went straight to stretching for the night, and took a shower after he was done. He fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.