The First Archmage

(Gavin)

"What the hell happened here?" Nicholas looks around. "If a Dungeon changes, the exterior changes, too!"

As the rest of the party looks around, trying to figure out what happened, I hold the Guild's disk in my right hand, focusing on the spell the king left in the notebook. After several moments of concentration, I gain it.

Skill Gained:

Dispel (II) 1/10: Dispels enchantments and magics from people and objects. Cost: 5 Mana

"Michael," I say. "Come here."

"Why don't you seem unfazed by this?" Nicholas asks me. "Did you know the Dungeon was changed?"

"It's less that," I grab Michael's disk. "Dispel," I release the disk. "And more that the king gave me a piece of information about Dungeons few do: how to change if the Dungeon is in its primary mode or secondary mode. Every Dungeon has two forms to it, roughly the same in difficulty. Only a Party Leader can change which challenges you face, and it must be done upon entering. Magic Bolt."

Before Nicholas realizes what's happening, the bolt slams into his head, penetrating it with only a little resistance, but that doesn't matter.

Having your brain pierced generally means death.

"What the fuck?" Tyler exclaims, jumping back.

"Tyler," I look at him. "He was under orders from his father to ensure we didn't make it out. The king will be dead soon, and that notebook was his final order to me. It included killing Nicholas, which is exactly what that quest ordered. Give me your guys' tokens, I need to dispel their enchantments so it's thought we're dead."

"But-"

"Do you want me to reveal your Class?" I ask, and he pauses, starts to say something, then frowns. I quickly scan him. "Do you believe me now?"

Tyler, Human 1, Fallen Royal 1

"Shit," he says.

"Had I waited any longer," I say. "It's possible I might have failed the Quest, due to the granter dying."

"It doesn't work that way," Kade swallows. "That's why it's transported immediately – so that the reward cannot be revoked. Why was Nicholas under orders to kill us?"

"It wasn't you guys, specifically," Tyler swallows, looking at me. "It was me. My father is, was, King Wesley. My Class is, was Royal. Now, it's Fallen Royal. Description: A member of a once-royal family. The stats didn't change."

"Expanded information," I say clearly, hoping I'm right about this. "Fallen Royal."

+0 INT!

"Shut the fuck up," I mutter as I scan the new message, which popped up first, telling me it probably wasn't granted for me, but already a possibility.

Fallen Royal: A member of a once-royal family, you have been cast into exile. Should you manage to reclaim your throne or establish a new nation of at least ten thousand members, the option of King will become available to you, with a prefix based on your claim. Prefix possibilities include: Honorable King, Wicked King. Can include others.

"What?" Michael asks, and I raise an eyebrow. "You just went 'damn'."

"It seems," I say. "I can view the Class of any member of my party, as well as its information. In the expanded information, it reveals you can still gain the Class of King, so long as you either reclaim your throne or establish your own kingdom with at least ten thousand citizens."

"Seriously?" He asks.

"Indeed," I nod. "I'm guessing those are the requirements to obtain it. I'm sure there are variations on King, in case it's not a kingdom, but it probably defaults to saying 'King' because you're Royalty."

"Fallen, now," he looks sad. "That means Father's dead, isn't he?"

"It does," I nod. "Let me accept the reward."

He nods, and I accept the reward.

Wealth of the Kingdom of Jozan has entered your spatial inventory!

+199 Primary Class Experience!

Managing Experience Overflow.

-25 Wizard Experience

Wizard is now Level 2!

-50 Experience

Wizard is now Level 3!

-75 Experience!

Wizard is now Level 4!

+299 Species Experience!

Managing Experience Overflow.

-25 Human Experience

Human is now Level 2!

-50 Human Experience

Human is now Level 3!

-75 Human Experience

Human is now Level 4!

-100 Human Experience

Human is now Level 5!

Well, damn!

"So what was the reward?" Tyler asks.

"It was three-part," I answer. "The first was all of your father's Experience – Species and Class. Judging by the scaling, I think he was Level 10 and Level 8, respectively, since each Level requires 25 more Experience than the last. I'm now a Level 4 Wizard and a Level 5 Human."

"Holy shit!" Kade exclaims, understanding what that means.

"What?" Tyler asks.

"He just skipped several Levels as if they were nothing," Michael states, scratching the back of his head. "Normally, someone would train, act, and complete Quests for more than a decade to make it to those Levels, possibly several decades. Experience isn't easy to gain, just like Stat Points, but managing to acquire enough to gain a Level gives them freely. He just got a massive boost for killing Nicholas. I can't see how His Majesty managed to grant him so much Experience, even if he'd declared it of the Royal Class, but he probably knew some secret we didn't know."

"That wasn't all he gave me," I look at the ring, then at Tyler. "He also granted me the Wealth of Jozan. In other words: we now have everything from its treasuries, vaults and libraries. Since nothing popped onto the ground us, I'm guessing this ring is far more massive than I thought."

I check it, and stagger back when I see how much is in it. The System organized it neatly for me to look at and pull out, though the inventory still needs to be able to contain it.

"You're kidding," Tyler says.

"No," I shake my head. "I'm not. Your father had something extraordinary up his sleeve, to be able to grant such a mighty reward for such a simple feat. Plus, I only got a single Human Experience for killing Nicholas.

"Now we have a choice to make," I say. "Work on the Dungeon, or just leave it?"

"If we leave," Tyler says. "Won't there probably be guards waiting outside for us?"

"No," I say. "When we leave here, I can set a different destination. The Dungeon's second form is both a Dungeon and a link to another Dungeon. We'll be leaving through the other one, which will take us to an entirely different continent, whatever that is. Come here, you two."

They do, and I grab their disks, using Dispel.

"And now," I say. "The Guild believes we're all dead. I can remove enchantments off of objects with that. It's a Tier II spell, but with it only being at Level 2 right now, I'm not sure how powerful of enchantments and effects I can remove."

"Let's leave," Kade says. "Let the rest of us gain a few Levels before we try a Dungeon."

"We could always grind the first part of the first stage," Tyler says. "My Class isn't useful for combat, but I was trained in unarmed combat, in secret. Anything more would've raised suspicions. I also know a healing spell, but haven't tried it yet to see if I can gain the Skill for it. Nor have I done any bare-handed fighting for that Skill."

"Understandable," I say, then punch Kade in the arm. He exclaims, rubbing his arm. "That probably did some damage – want to try healing him?"

"Seriously?" Kade asks me. "You'd just hit me like that?"

"My CON is higher than my STR," I say. "It would probably take quite a few hits for me to actually take damage from myself."

Tyler chuckles, then moves his hands to Kade's arm, closing his eyes and muttering 'Heal'. A white light envelops where I punched Kade, and Tyler nods.

"Got that Skill," he says, then takes a few steps back before punching the air a few times. "I thank the System that I qualify for that, too."

I grab his arm and throw him to the ground.

"Mine's at Level 2."

"That wasn't very fair," Tyler stands back up. "Your STR and AGI are definitely above mine."

"Want me to throw you again?"

"Aren't I your prince?"

"I'm sworn to the kingdom," I say. "Which, with your father's death, no longer exists, not unless you reclaim the throne."

"That's cold," Kade says. "And you're not even giving him time to mourn."

"He can mourn as we move," I say. "Are the rest of you voting? Tyler? Michael?"

"Leave," Michael says, and I look at Tyler.

"Let's leave," he says. "We can always come back when we're stronger – and not just you. This Dungeon is meant for a party of at least ten Level 5 Adventurers and above, or their equivalent, if possible."

I nod, then look out across the fields, wondering what this Stage is supposed to be.

"Anyone else find it odd," I say. "That we've basically been standing here talking, and yet not a single thing has happened relating to the Dungeon?"

The three of them stare at me, and then they all realize that they overlooked that minor detail.

"That is odd," Kade nods. "This Stage might be relatively easy, since they do get harder the further you go. Many parts of a Stage can have multiple ways to succeed. It's possible that finding the way out of this area is one of those ways. If it is, that would be some easy Experience. If this portion hasn't been completed before, we'd gain a bonus, but the king probably already cleared it.

"Of course," he says after a moment of thought. "It's also entirely possible that the predators aren't until further ahead. Thinking about that, I wouldn't mind risking it, but not going beyond the second part."

"You two?" I ask.

"Agree," Michael says, and Tyler hesitates, then nods.

"Alright, then," I look out across the fields, and for the first time, notice something in the distance. "With my boosts to PER, I can make something out in the distance. That might be the way out. Be careful, though – the grass is tall, so it's entirely possible there are predators. Move quietly, but swiftly, and keep an eye and an ear out. If you notice the grass moving differently than from the breeze, immediately alert me, though do so quietly."

"Why?" Tyler asks.

"Threats," Michael answers. "We were taught it in training, ourselves. When in tall grass, look for grass that's moving differently than the rest. It's a sign there's something moving underneath it. Not all threats will move it, as snakes won't, and those usually go for the feet. The three of you are ill-prepared for that, since you're wearing leather boots, but-"

"My boots are designed to resist snake bites," I say. "And unless they're absurdly fast here, I'll notice them before they arrive. We had to be wary of them whenever we ventured too far into the wyvern territory, and we all got some pretty good reflexes and resistance to their venoms as a result."

I wonder if there's a resistance for that. I know there are a wide variety of resistances, so it's likely there's one for venom, or even just an all-encompassing poison category.

And on that topic, I'd rather not have reason to ever see those resistances appear.

Unfortunately, with the goal I have – right now – I'm probably going to be putting such Skills to use multiple times.

"Mine aren't," Tyler says.

"Nor are mine," Kade says. "And I don't know any poison-curing spells."

"Nor do I," Tyler says.

"I should notice anything that gets too close," I say. "And the Grimoire had a magic for purging poisons. I studied the runes for it last night, before going to bed."

"So you have a Skill for that?" Kade asks me.

"I didn't have a source of poison to use to try it."

"You would have poisoned yourself to try a Skill?" Michael's golden eyes widen in shock and horror.

"I'll do what I must to survive," I state. "My loyalty is to Jozan, and always has been. While the nation is dead, I will do what I must to restore it. I may gain loyalty to another, I may not, but until then, I will protect my kingdom until the end. So long as the land itself exists, and the people are still there, the kingdom can be reborn. If Tyler dies, then someone else can take his place as Jozan's true king."

It isn't the king that makes the kingdom, but the people. As long as the people and the core principles of the nation survive, so too does the nation, even if it temporarily dies.

"Let's get moving," I look out across the field. "Maybe we can get the rest of you some decent Experience, and possibly a Level, if things aren't too touch in the first Stage."

They all nod, and we start to move when I catch something. If it weren't for my current PER, I probably wouldn't have noticed it.

"There's a good chance," I stop moving, and they stop as well. "That it's just been so long since someone was last here, it took a few minutes for them to realize there were people here, and to actually begin to act like a Dungeon."

"Something's coming, isn't it?" Kade asks.

Michael twitches his ears, scanning the fields.

"Yes," he says. "I change my vote to leave."

"We're leaving," I say. "You guys get out first. I'm the strongest of us, so if something does attack, I might be able to defend."

They all starts to disappear through the portal, and just as I'm about to take a step through, I acquire a Skill, and can suddenly sense something very, very faintly overlapping the portal.

Skill Gained!

Rift Sense 1/10: Capable of sensing the intangible Rifts which form through natural causes, or – more often than not – through outside interference or accident.

It's a seventh-Tier Skill…

And it granted me ten Human and Wizard Experience for learning it.

Too late to even think about that, I pass through the portal/Rift, and my surroundings shift, but not to a forest, a new message appearing in my vision.

You Have Arrived in A New World: Earth (Birthworld)

The System is not yet accessible to those of this world

You retain access

A Mage must first grant access before others within this world can gain access

Divine Being which Oversees this realm: Merlin Ambrosius

I'm… in a different world? How?