The Manaverse

The Crypts -Level 1

Granite City

Jut sank down, sitting next to the now empty space the Bone Horror had just occupied. All the rage and frustration he had felt fled him, leaving his limbs weak.

You did it! The team will be so happy.

Jut shrugged. "I can't take credit for that. Even if I could, I wouldn't. I would have lost four teammates for that clear. Not a fair trade in my book."

If the System is willing to give you a respawn mechanic, why not take advantage of it?

Jut sighed. "Fair point, I guess. I just don't think getting used to respawning is a good idea. I can see it leading to too many deaths in the future. Besides, putting that part on the back burner, we got thrashed. We just weren't strong enough."

Also a fair point. On that front, I have good news. I'll add it to the back of your notifications. Want to view them now?

"Sure. Fire them up." Jut said with resignation.

Congratulations! The Crypts City Dungeon has been Cleared.

The Safe Zone receives the following Rewards:

+200 Raider Capacity within the Dungeon.

Access to the [Crypts - Floor 2].

Three and Ten Person Team Run Settings for the [Crypts - Floor 1].

Increased Loot Drop Quality and Quantity.

Access [Easy Mode] and [Hell Mode] for the [Crypts - Floor 1].

+1 City Dungeon Slot

Ok

Jut was excited to see the increased capacity of the dungeon. More people getting stronger was a good thing. It would also reduce the wait time between schedules runs. He dismissed that window. The following felt more appropriate than congratulations.

Although Clearing the Crypts before the end of Lock Down is commendable, your Safe Zone's future is yet unclear. Clear the City Dungeon and take advantage of it's Loot Drops and Monsters to grow stronger. If you do, your Safe Zone may yet survive. Many challenges and opportunities await. How will you rise to the challenge?

A Safe Zone Wide Quest has been issued:

Quest: Farm The Dungeon

Objectives: Clear the Dungeon faster and more often.

Rank: Stone

Rarity: Common

Difficulty: Hard

Description: Clear the Crypts - Floor 1 in less than 6 hours: 0/1

Clear the Crypts - Floor 1: 1/350

Clear the Crypts - Floor 1 on Hell Mode: 0/1

Clear the Crypts - Floor 1 on Normal Mode: 1/10

Clear the Crypts - Floor 1 on Easy Mode: 0/10

Clear the Crypts - Floor 1 on Hell Mode while Solo: 0/1

Clear the Crypts - Floor 1 while Solo: 0/10

Clear the Crypts - Floor 1 while in a party of 3: 0/10

Clear the Crypts - Floor 1 while in a party of 5: 1/10

Clear the Crypts - Floor 1 while in a party of 10: 0/10

Rewards: 3 System Generated Safe Zone Structures

2 City Dungeon Slots

1 Mana Gem for each registered citizen of Granite City

There was a sick satisfaction for Jut that the Crusaders were the ones to add that first initial point to the new quest's counters. Jut was already lost in speculating the difference between Easy, Normal, and Hell Mode. They had barely made it through Normal mode. Would Hell Mode even be possible at their current power level? He continued on with his review, doubting it.

Human - Monster, level 0 x 23 has died.

You gain Skill Experience

You gain Experiance

Human - Elite Monster, leave 0 × 5 has died.

You gain Skill Experience

You gain Experience.

What followed was seven more variations of the same messages with the levels increasing to five when he reached the six hallway's notifications. The seventh and eighth hallways had six and ten more regular monsters respectively. The only real change was the final entry.

Bone Horror - Elite Boss Monster, level 5 has died.

You gain Skill Experience

You gain Experience.

Jut sent a mental bird at the words, flipping them off. While he was happy they cleared the dungeon, he couldn't help but feel resentful. He wouldn't allow himself or his team to become complacent. He now had a new goal for the team's training. They were going to destroy that bony bastard with no deaths.

The Radiant Crusaders receive the following Rewards:

All System Features Unlocked prior to Ascension to Copper Rank

Skill Orbs - Mixed Variety x 25

5 Random Mount Horns - Monster

Ok

Jut blinked. While the Skill Orbs and Mount Horns both sounded amazing, he was too busy pondering the "prior to Ascension to Copper Rank" line. Did that mean everyone gained access to all of the System Features at Copper Rank? Was that true for the later generations who won't get to participate in the tutorial? He was kicking himself for being so practical in his choices before. If he had known he would eventually get them all, he would have chosen differently.

A warning window popped up over the reward window.

Attention: As you have already changed your Race to a Title granted Race and Drakkin have no Sub-Race capabilities, these two features are not granted. As compensation, two of your new Features will randomly be increased to the next stage as if you had chosen them at Normal Rank.

The sense of dread Jut expected to feel at that information was rather muted. He had allowed himself to carelessly choose the Drakkin race because there was the possibility of a do over. At least, that's what he had thought. Yet, knowing he couldn't undo the choice at all didn't make him feel any regret or disappointment. He was actually content with the choice so far. Another window popped up as soon as he dismissed both the reward window and the warning.

The Dungeon will reset in 9:36. Please finish any looting or gathering before then as you will be ejected from the Dungeon at that time.

Jut shook his head, a new sense of urgency taking him over with only nine minutes left. He cleared away the timer. The final windows were the ones added by Alex. The new windows' trim matched his Lore Book. He rather enjoyed the "looking at an actual book" aesthetic it had going on.

Requirements to upgrade Combat Path Skills:

Magical Strikes: Reach Copper Rank.

Windy Steps: Travel 1 KM while under the effects of Haste: 1.12/1

Successfully dodge 25 attacks that are intentionally made against you: 29/25

Feel the effects of 10+ stacks of Haste 5 times: 5/5

Consequence: Kill 25 Stone Rank Monsters under the effects of Vulnerable: 27/25

Assist Party Members in Killing 50 Stone Rank Monsters under the effects of Vulnerable: 157/50.

Inflict Vulnerable on one Monster 5 times: 6/5

Jut became giddy, already trying to decide which Skill he would use his upgrade token on. However, Alex kept him on track.

Running out of time, bucko. Do that later.

Right. Right. Jut cleared away the window and looked at the loot in his inventory. He had received a unique looking Monster Core, multiple lengths of bone that were described as crafting materials and a necklace. He added them all to the "review later" pile and looked around.

Something Jut would never get used to was how quietly the dungeon changed. Sure, the Monsters crawling from their coffins was eerie enough. The scrapping of stone on stone still lingered in his thoughts. Yet, the walls that were erected in every hallway after the elites were taken down never made a noise. The same was true for the staircase that had appeared.

It was a spiral staircase that lead downward. It was made of the same stone as the rest of the Crypts, like it had always existed. However, it sat in the same place the Boss's coffin had earlier.

Jut quickly looked over the room and used his Harvest Skill on three resources they had missed in the main room before he walked down the stairs.

The room Jut stepped down into was about half the size of the main room and square. There were torches on two of the walls that cast soft fire light onto five treasure chests. Each chest was a box made of wood with half cylinder tops and metal latches holding them closed. There was about a hands breadth between each and the ones next to it. On the opposite wall of the treasure was another set of steps that lead to a swirling blue portal, much like the entrance.

Jut made the obvious choice and approached the loot first. As he did, a window appeared.

Choose:

Take the Treasure Chests with you. Each will be assigned to member of your team, only able to be opened by them. The prize within will be catered to them. Open all 5 Chests now. All the loot will be catered to you.

Jut didn't hesitate. He began shoving each of the boxes into his inventory, unopened. Much as he expected, once one of the chests went in, a random name from the team appeared in each chest's information. The chests were not stackable, each taking up it's own slot.

What? You don't want five really cool items for yourself?

Saying otherwise would be a lie. Of course I do. But... Jut's thoughts trailed off for a moment. Finally he finished with I don't deserve five of these.

You're the one standing here. I don't see anyone else around.

That doesn't change the fact that I did the least damage, came the closest to dying most often, and only made it this far due to the sacrifice of others. Besides, the team earned a reward.

:)

After the smiley face emoticon appeared, Alex's chat box disappeared. Jut finished storing the chests and checked the walls and floor for materials. Seeing none, he stopped just before the portal.

"Should I go down further or wait for the timer to end and get out of here?"

Alex didn't respond. So, Jut reached out to touch the portal. Just as with the Dungeon's main entrance, he received a pop-up window. Unlike the entrance, however, this one was red lettered on a black background.

You do not qualify to to run the Crypts - Level 2.

Requirements to run the Crypts - Level 2: Copper Rank

All Skill Slots equipped

Cleared the Crypts Level 1 on Easy Mode and Normal Mode Solo, in a party of 5, and a party of 10. 1/6.

Ok

Exit the Crypts

Jut's eyebrows raised in surprise. He was so far from doing any of those that it wasn't even worth considering trying to run the Dungeon's second level any time soon. He took a deep breath and exited the Dungeon.

Unlike when he died in previous runs, he was able to walk out after he appeared at the entrance in the Town Hall. The chatter and cheering of a large group of people fell silent after a few moments as people noticed the new comer.

Jut froze, feeling thousands of eyes on him. The crowed slowly parted as one by one, his team emerged to greet him. Brick gave him a large smile and pointed at him.

"'Bout damn time. We thought the crippled Boss was giving you grief since you were taking so long." Brick teased before he held a hand up, gesturing for Jut to give him a high-five.

Jut awkwardly complied. "It was still pretty durable, what can I say?" Jut said with a shrug as their hands met.

As if their high-five had been a signal, the entire crowd erupted around them. People cheered and praised them over one another, making it so no one was understood clearly.

All Jut wanted was to escape to his penthouse and not be surrounded by so many people. Less than fifteen minutes ago, he was fighting a skeleton monster twice his height that could cause him major harm. Yet, the pressure of the crowd on them was far worse for him.

However, Jut knew Brick wouldn't let him get away without almost killing him with embarrassment first. It was at least an hour, many back slaps and much congratulations later before he was granted his desire, the team all leaving the Town Hall together.

When the Radiant Crusaders entered Jut and Brick's penthouse, Jut convinced everyone to sit down and go over the run right away. Having been successful in clearing the dungeon made it pretty easy to do, too. No one objected or looked irritated at the suggestion either.

After talking and critiquing their run for over three hours, only stopping to eat a late dinner, Jut stood. "And now, it's time for the surprises."

"Not more talking. I'm so ready for bed." Joy moaned tiredly, slumping over the table.

"I'm with the pugilist, man. Can't we wait until tomorrow to do more?" Brick said with a large yawn.

Jut shrugged. "Sure, I guess. If you want to wait to open your treasure chests that is." He said before setting Joy's assigned chest in front of her. He proceeded to produce all five chests from his inventory and explained the final room as he did. "I figured I'd save the best for last." He finished, thumping his treasure chest gently.

Everyone gained a second wind and sat forward, or pulled their assigned chest closer to them.

"What are we waiting for?" Isabelle said, flipping the latch on her chest. Her words were the like a starting pistol as each member of the team opened their chests all at once. Each emitted a golden glow that slowly dimmed away before revealing their prizes.

Jut looked around at everyone else's prize before pulling his treasure free. They all looked happy, like they were opening birthday presents. The treasure chests themselves instantly began to fade once their contents were removed.

Diggy pulled out a small ring. However, it was too small to fit on any of his fingers. Jut saw him scowl before he reached up and placed the tiny thing on the tip of his left horn. It seemed to fit perfectly. The Minotaur shrugged and Jut examined the ring to see it's information.

Item: Minotaur Horn Ring of Bull Rush

Type: Ring

Slot: None

Rank: Stone

Durability: 100%

Rarity: Uncommon

Quality: Fine

Requirements: Minotaur Race.

Description: The Ring of a Minotaur worn on their horns. They provide all sorts of buffs and benefits while not taking up gear slot. Limited to one effect per Being.

Effect: Increases the damage dealt to enemies who are impacted by the Skill: Bull Rush by 10%

Jut also shrugged and looked at the Healer of the group. Isabelle pulled out a lantern. It was cylindrical with a flat bottom and three glass windows where the light would come from. It had a large ring handle that was attached to the top and the entire device was made of Stone Metal. Isabelle did not seem very thrilled about the lantern. Jut examined it.

Item: Spell Powered Lantern

Type: Tool

Slot: Wrist

Rank: Stone

Durability: 100%

Rarity: Scarce

Quality: Fine

Description: A Stone Ranked, spell powered lantern that will illuminate the dark.

Effect: A single spell may be stored within the Lantern. While a spell is stored, the lantern will remain lit. The stored spell may be used by the caster at anytime. A spell may be stored for up to 24 hours before it will expire and need to be reapplied. A spell cannot be applied during combat.

After Brick and Jut pointed out to Isabelle that she could store her once a day healing spell, allowing her to use it twice if needed, she immediately perked up. When she closed the shutters on the glass windows to test them out, the lantern shook gently before condensing into an elegant bracelet that had a small flat surface in the middle of its length. When Isabelle slid the small square in the middle of that flat surface to the side, the lantern reappeared once more.

"I guess that's more amazing than I first thought." Isabelle said flatly. Despite her tone, she couldn't hide her wide smile as she placed the bracelet around her wrist after she closed the shutters once more.

Jut shook his head, smiling at her joy. He was glad he decided to share the treasure. Speaking of Joy, he looked at the pugilist's new toy next.

Item: Stone Omnitool

Type: Crafting Tool

Slot: Main Hand

Rank: Stone

Durability: 100%

Rarity: Scarce

Quality: Fine

Affinity Power: Earth: Materials Gathered are increased by 10%.

Description: A Stone Metal Omnitool that can become any type of gathering tool empowered with the earth affinity.

Jut watched as Joy made the pocketknife shaped item expanded into a pickax before shifting to a wood splitting ax. The item then shifted into a sickle before turning back into a pocket knife. She did this multiple times.

Jut wasn't really impressed. Then again, he also had a Skill that did the same thing, only better. He was biased. The really important part to him was that Joy looked happy as she dropped the item into her inventory through a pouch on her belt.

Brick held an orb. The orb was the size of a skill orb, or about the size of a baseball. Unlike the rest of the Skill Orbs Jut had seen, this one looked like it was filled with shredded, timeworn paper.

"What kind of Skill Orbs is that?" Jut asked.

Brick shook his head, his eyes never leaving the Orb. He absorbed it right then and there, answering Jut as he did.

"It was a recipe orb. Get this. It gave me the recipe for Stone Rank, partial plate mail armor." Brick said giddily.

Jut turned to his attention to his own box of treasure after giving Brick a thumbs up. He reached down and pulled out three items. Despite getting three pieces of treasure, he frowned. He was looking at three General Skills Orbs.

Everyone got a cool item or a recipe and he was not only granted Skill Orbs, but they were General Skills Orbs at that. He felt a little cheated. That was, until he absorbed the three Orbs.

You have learned new skills.

Skill: Polearms

Rank: Normal

Type: General - Weapon

Cost: None

Duration: Passive

Range: Self

Effect: This skill imparts the knowledge of Polearm Fighting at Normal Rank.

This skill cannot be equipped.

This skill cannot be equipped.

Skill: Maces

Rank: Normal

Type: General - Weapon

Cost: None

Duration: Passive

Range: Self

Effect: This skill imparts the knowledge of Mace Fighting at Normal Rank.

This skill cannot be equipped.

Skill: Wands

Rank: Normal

Type: General - Weapon

Cost: None

Duration: Passive

Range: Self

Effect: This skill imparts the knowledge of Wand Fighting at Normal Rank.

This skill cannot be equipped.

During the recent run, Jut had decided that if he was going to be a true Supporter, he needed to expand his versatility. Specifically, he needed to fill in the gaps for the team when he wasn't on the front line. And when he was, he needed to add the right kind of damage to the mix to make up for his lack of raw damage output. Jut also determined that, despite wanting to be an awesome swordsman, not every monster could be taken down by a Sword. Especially without a flashy Skill to bolster his power. Thus, he had used a club in the final battle. During that fight, he noticed that Diggy's battle ax did far less damage than his or Brick's clubs did, even with Diggy outputting the most raw damage in a single hit. So, having a verity of weapon skills seemed like a good idea.

Jut's only concern was that he would spread himself too thin and be at a disadvantage when he went out to fight monsters alone.

"Does anyone else think this is strange? I know I said the chests would give us items geared towards us individually. But why are all the items things we each specifically needed?" Jut asked the group. He looked at each teammate in turn.

It was true. Jut had considered trying to find more weapon skills while he was in the dungeon. Diggy had griped about not doing enough damage with his Bull Rush Skill. In one way or another, each member of the team had issues that were solved by the items they were given.

No one said anything. They all looked as confused as he was.

It was actually Alex who provided a theory.

Wasn't the Dungeon given to the Safe Zone to try and help the population? Is it possible the Dungeon was made specifically to try and meet the needs of those who clear it?

Jut read the text out loud. Everyone else agreed.

"I mean, we were kinda fucked." Brick said, tipping his head to the north east. "It could all be compensation for that."

"Maybe. I'm more worried about the possibility of the Dungeon hearing our thoughts. What if that's used against us by a wild dungeon instead?" Jut said.

That grim and unnerving thought settled on the group. They all looked concerned for a long moment before Joy broke the dreary mood.

"Who gives a damn? Guys, we are awesome!"

With her words, everyone cheered. Brick got up, went over to the fridge and pulled out beers. He passed one to each member of the team. He removed the lids as he did so. Once everyone had one, he held his up.

"Cheers to the Radiant Crusaders being the first to clear a Dungeon!"

"Cheers!" Everyone said together before clanking their bottles together.

The next few hours were spent chatting and discussing the coming days as everyone steadily got more and more intoxicated. Jut hoped there would many nights like this one to come. He enjoyed celebrating far more than mourning.