Turns out I wasn’t the only one planning to go to the Dungeon.

  It even became a family discussion which is probably a good thing. We have no idea when they’re going to be coming back and the entire family can’t just run off in the Dungeon while that is happening.

  Well.

  I thought we could.

  I was able to spend a little over an hour in the Dungeon and cleared 11 battles. Now unless the army attacks again within the next two hours, all the adults in my family should be able to clear at least 5 or so battles with relative ease and come back.

  By now we had all reached at least level 25 or very close to it and as long as the difficulty of those battles didn’t change, then it should be within their abilities to clear the first couple. Especially since they know what to expect for the most part.

  Even if the beasts change, then at minimum they know to be prepared for a battle against ‘something’. Of course it would be risky, having so many of us fighting battles to the death, but what choice did we have?

  The answer was none.

  Either fight for a chance at strength or die trying. There was no in between, not for me and not for the Williams family.

  Now despite me saying that…we still ended up agreeing that only a few of us would go. In the end, the family as a whole decided that it was still too risky to send everyone. I was going regardless, I made that clear.

  So in addition to me, Uncle Terrance, Rakeon, and Grandpa would be joining.

  Grandpa has practically been a monster on the battlefield so far, and I’m sure he’ll be able to secure a significant reward in the Dungeon.

  Once that talk was finalized, we all finally took a moment to rest, and I could finally take a peak at the notifications waiting for attention.

  Levels and XP.

  Oh shit.

  Ding!

  55087XP Earned!

  [Level +3]

  Status

  Name: Fred Williams

  Born World: Earth (ENWPI70059)

  Race: Human

  Age: 17

  Grade: F

  Level: 29

  XP: 9459/17493

  Mana: 30/80(30)

  Stat Points: 6

  Traits

  Trait 1: Oxygen Efficient Lungs (Rooted)

  Trait 2: Soaked Pulse Membrane (Rooted)

  Trait 3: Locked

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Class

  Current Class: Tide Initiate

  Class Grade: F

  Class Rarity: Rooted

  Skills

  1. Surging Step

  2. Ripple Guard

  3. Piercing Tide

  Attributes

  Strength: 15

  Dexterity: 10

  Vitality: 10

  Endurance: 22

  Mana: 16

  Willpower: 8

  Perception: 8

  Intelligence: 11

  It was only three levels, but that wasn’t a small amount of XP to earn. I wish there was a way to see the logs so I can know where it came from exactly, but I have feeling the black armored one was responsible for a good chunk of it.

  Alright 6 skill points to spend. Most of my battle style right now is centered around my strength, speed, and mana pool. Mana is doing alright for now thanks to my Trait, but I think a few points in Strength will go a long way for my immediate future.

  Then there is Willpower and Perception. I don’t want any of my stats to lag too far behind the others, so they’ll get something too.

  First 4 points in Strength.

  A bit of warmth, no burning. Easy to handle.

  1 point in Willpower another in Perception.

  Now with that out of the way, it was time for another refreshing dip in the river and then a trip to the Dungeon.

  …

  About an hour or so later, a small group of my family members were all standing at the entrance of Dungeon.

  “Remember, don’t try to be a hero by pushing to a battle you aren’t ready for. Get in, get a reward, get out.”

  Grandpa didn’t even wait for us to acknowledge him and simply went into Dungeon after that. The rest of us nodded at each other and did the same.

  After entering the Dungeon, I took a glance at the leaderboards and noticed it was still the same.

  There was a part of me that was curious to see how it would change by the time my family members exited. Especially after Grandpa’s run.

  Alright enough of that…let’s get started.

  Getting through the first 10 battles once again posed no issue for me, and I’m pretty sure I completed them a bit quicker this time even though that wasn’t my goal.

  The beasts stayed the same, I was a bit stronger, and I had a new skill to my arsenal, it would be worrisome if I wasn’t able to clear them even a little faster than before. Then came the Stonehide wolf.

  Since I knew I had the tactic of spamming Surging Steps in my back pocket, I did a test run of trying my skill first.

  Especially since I was using a spear instead of a dagger this time. The wolf charge at me and I met it head on with my spear. I probably shouldn’t have been surprised when my spear didn’t managed to immediately pierce through its body, but thankfully the blade of water met no such resistance.

  It was able to cut deeply in the body of the Wolf and although it didn’t die instantly, from there it was far too easy to put down.

  The blade of water is way sharper than I thought. Good to know.

  But now that the battles I had knowledge about were completed, it was time for uncharted territory.

  Battle 12 – Twin Spinehound

  A massive beast spawned in front of me. It as bigger than the wolf by a good margin and it honestly looked a bit intimidating. Brown rugged skin, with bone like protrusion coming out of its back along the spinal cord.

  Another obvious name.

  But that wasn’t even the intimidating part. The beast before me had two heads. It was like I was looking at a living Cerberus, minus one head of course. Does it breath fire like Cerberus?

  Maybe one head spits oil mist and the other ignites it? I think I’ve seen that in a movie about dragons or something.

  Roar!!!!

  The Spinehounds let out a room shaking roar and pointed both heads at me. Then it spit! Two big ass balls of saliva came flying at me. I dodged then it took off in a rumbling sprint in my direction.

  I managed to dodge but dammit man. Another damn spitter. Two in fact! One spitter was enough with the acidic snake, getting two more so soon is some bull! Who wants potentially to get hit with a wad of spit?

  And it has not stopped spitting for a single second!

  Even as it chases me around the area, both heads just keep taking turns to spit giant balls of saliva at me with no regard for sanitation.

  I took a quick glance around the area and realized that it is building up, but nothing was being burnt and corroded in any way.

  Maybe that means it wasn’t dangerous to touch but I wasn’t willing to find out. Which meant finding a way to kill it now before the entire arena was covered in saliva.

  Well it’s not like I have too many options here. I needed to get close enough to hit it with a Piercing Tide. Thankfully, while it’s a powerful runner, it’s not all that fast.

  I immediately strung a couple Surging Steps together in a curve to go from being chased, to instead be on a direct path of collision to it’s flank. The beast tried to turn towards me, but I was far to fast for it.

  Piercing Tide!

  Unlike with the Wolf, both my spear and of course the blade of water was able to piece straight through it’s side and it finally stopped spitting to let out a wailing cry of pain.

  Blood gushed everywhere including on me, but I didn’t have time to let it bother me as I retrieved my spear and quickly followed up with another Piercing Tide to its head.

  The Twin Spitte-...Spinehound was dead.

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