2 2. Inside a Dungeon
Approximately 100,000 Arcadia's Realm players had vanished into thin air that night after Fritz died. Police had no idea where everyone who disappeared had gone to. Leaving no trace behind. Going back to where Fritz was. Allesha had stopped crying a long time ago since she and Fritz began running towards the forest. Two of the many ogres saw them running away and decided to chase them. With their frail and unfit body, the two of them would lose so much stamina just from running a few meters. They won't be able to outrun ogres who have a lot of experience from fighting and such.
Fritz was dragging the exhausted little girl as he ran towards the uneven path. She couldn't run anymore. He gave her a piggyback ride and continued fleeing. "Forget about that excitement earlier. This is really tiring!"
The wet rocky paths became an obstacle for him. He could slip anytime and have the ogres catch up to them. He took on the less damped pathway, carefully watching his steps. Allesha was unsurprisingly light. However, with Fritz's exhausted body, she just added to his burdens. He knew he'd passed his limits when he began carrying Allesha on his back.
"Isn't there anything I could use? I mean, I got reincarnated. I should be OP, right?" Fritz has watched so many reincarnation anime. That's why he expected himself to be one of those MC who has tremendous power. The so-called 'hero.'
Such thoughts swept his cautiousness away. His footing was lost. He slipped, promptly grabbing onto a thin branch which later on snapped. He and Allesha fell and rolled down unwillingly. Allesha's arm around Fritz had loosened. She was separated from him as they both continued tumbling down the steep area of the forest. His back hits hard against some rocks as he bounces just to hit his head and lose consciousness.
The two ogres were just a few meters away. They saw Fritz rolling down to what seemed to be a familiar place. They stopped at the entrance and looked down to see if he was still alive.
"Leave him be," its voice was shrill. "There's no way a child would be able to survive a dungeon."
The two ogres left the area and went back to the village. Good thing Allesha lost consciousness under a tree. She was able to survive too.
---
Sluggishly, Fritz gained consciousness and gathered his thoughts, figuring out where in the hell he was. His whole body aches. His left arm was swollen and broken when he propped it earlier to stop himself from rolling down. It seems like he couldn't use it until it heals.
He groaned as he ripped some cloth and found some branches near beside him. He applied firm pressure to the wound area with a clean cloth until the bleeding stopped. Elevated the arm above the heart. He then secured the broken arm by using a piece of cloth and tying it around his shoulder. He used the branches to put pressure from above and below his arm.
Improvised cast!
"This will take weeks to heal," surprisingly, the dungeon had candles lit. He started towards a path leading to above.
[Mission Completed!]
[You were able to escape the grasp of the savage Ogres.]
[Walk 20 steps forward, go right and, you'll see the rewards!]
He did what the system told him. He made 20 steps forward and turned right just to see cooked mutton in clean leaves and the Blemish Dagger lying on the ground. His stomach growled at the sight of the slightly hot cooked mutton. There was a bottle of water too. He sat down in front of the fire and feasted on the mutton.
[Blemish Dagger Acquired!]
[Durability: 15/20]
[Rarity: E]
[Attack Damage: 20]
The system displayed itself in front of him, showing his stats.
[Player's System has been unlocked]
[Name: (The player hasn't decided yet)]
[Class: None]
[Level: 1]
[EXP: 1000/1001]
[Health Points: 100/100]
[Mana Points: 15/15]
[Armor: 8]
[Agility: 11]
[Intelligence: 9]
[Magic Resistance: 6]
[Physical Damage: 9]
[Magic Damage: 1]
[Skill: ??? Locked. Need 1 rebirth to unlock]
[Spendable Points: 0]
[Rebirths: 0]
"These stats are way too low. And, what's with that 1,001 exp? I think the system did that on purpose. I doubt I'd survive this shithole with just a dagger." He saved some water and a piece of mutton in case he become hungry again. He surged from the rock and began wandering around the area. The dungeon was shockingly spacious, and the vibe he was getting, it's disturbing. He had the dagger on his right hand whilst he was being careful not to move his broken left arm. "They're coming."
Kobold. Cowardly and frail, Kobolds tend to travel in packs, allowing their biggest advantage to being their numbers. However, a single Kobold should not be a match for a level one character of any class. However, this one seems to have been dawdling alone.
Fritz checked if the kobold's alone or not. And when he confirmed that the kobold was all alone. He tightened his grip around the dagger. Quietly, he erased his presence as he tip-toed silently behind the lone kobold. He raised the dagger, slit its throat and let the dagger do its work. Carefully, he dragged the dead kobold to hide it.
[You've slain a kobold]
[1 exp. received]
His brows arched up, "just one exp?! For a kobold, I received one exp?!"
[You leveled up!]
[You've earned 2 points to all stats. Plus 2 spendable points]
"My health raised by 20. I'm adding one to damage and agility. Also, I've decided what name to put." To commemorate the recent owner of the body, Fritz decided to add Esecleus' first name to his and made it his second name.
[Name: Fritz Esecleus Desmond]
[Class: None]
[Level: 2]
[EXP: 0/2002]
[Health Points: 120/120]
[Mana Points: 20/20]
[Armor: 10]
[Agility: 14]
[Intelligence: 11]
[Magic Resistance: 8]
[Physical Damage: 12]
[Magic Damage: 3]
[Skill: ??? Locked. Need 1 rebirth to unlock]
[Spendable Points: 0]
[Rebirths: 0]
***
One hour later, the kobolds' leader became aware of the fact that their scout never came back when he ordered him to.
"Isn't it about time that useless kobold get back here?" Roughly around 20 meters, a pack of kobolds has set up their place. "Hey, form a team and go look for that brat!"
A team of 10 kobolds was created to find where the lone kobold had gone to. On the other hand, Fritz made his move to explore the dungeon more. Cautiously, he won't let his guard down. He's been trying to find the way out. If there are any stairs or ladders he could use to climb up and escape the shithole.
"Thanks to heaven for giving me an inventory." He had his leftover stored inside his inventory; his water and mutton.
"A human! He must be the one who killed our kind!" Fritz saw ten of them. He could not handle that many at once, so he ran away. The kobolds immediately followed him. They were furious when they discovered a dead body of their own. Hastily, the kobolds chased the running away Fritz. Each, holding a weapon of their own.
Glancing back to the kobolds as he ran towards where he first woke up to.
"That's right," he grinned. "Just like that. Just keep on following me."
One hour was enough for Fritz to set up his traps all over the place he passed through. It was another reason, exploring the dungeon was. Successfully, Fritz lured in the kobolds to his traps. He made the easiest one to create since his resources were inadequate.
"Where'd he go?!" The kobolds' angry at the fact that they lost him. "Let's split up in five!"
There were two holes that could fit an adult kobold inside. They split up, thinking that Fritz went to one of the two holes. But, he just hid from some dried leaves and waited for them to enter.
"Time to gain some EXP," he heard the five kobolds from the right holes shrieked. In the right hole. He dug a meter deep. Used his dagger to sharpen the branches' tip and placed it inside the trap he made. The left hole's entrance has no trap. Too bad for those five kobolds who entered the right one. He'll only kill the kobolds inside the right hole and leave the others behind. He finished off the five kobolds and earned EXP.
[You've earned 59 EXP]
[You've earned 60 EXP]
[You've earned 58 EXP]
[...]
***
Hours earlier, the time when Fritz lost consciousness. The reason he's so deep inside the dungeon was, he was carried there. A group of adventurers dragged him there, seeing that he would not be waking anytime soon. The group was currently on a raid. Gradually clearing the monsters. The dungeon's starting floor has the weakest floors, and it has three floors. Why didn't they leave him on the upper floors? It's because they're afraid that they might miss hiding monsters and endanger the unconscious kid. Although they have cleared the two floors and when Fritz woke up, the group had just left.
"Let's take a break," he seems to be their group's leader. "The kid must be awake by now."
~
