Chapter 12 (1/2)

“It seems…” Shal said slowly. “That this turn of events was never considered. You must be level 10 to use the door to a dungeon. But while you are in here, you cannot gain a class, and therefore cannot level…”

Randidly just stared at the floor. Was he really stuck here…? It had been over a week since the change had happened. He wasn’t sure what was happening outside of the dungeon, but it couldn’t be good. Although the monsters out there, in a normal area, might be lower level, They were still monsters. Monsters that tried to kill you.

For Shal, he felt slightly awkward. He didn’t want to abandon this little friend who had helped him, but he also didn’t want to babysit him. Sighing, Shal considered his own troubles. Leveling wasn’t so difficult, but he was a physical focused class, so getting enough points into Willpower to survive would be slightly difficult. Shal only got 2 free points per level, and Paths required skills to increase, and most of his were above Lvl 50, and almost impossible-

But then Shal froze, his eyes going wide.

No...class….?

“Kid, what are your skills?” Shal asked abruptly.

Randidly opened his mouth, then closed it. He knew he had no reason not to trust Shal, but revealing something like that so freely…

But Shal was already waving his hand. “No, no, that is not it, you misunderstand. How many skill do you have?”

After a quick count, Randidly answered, “19.”

Shal burst out laughing, his face once more suffused with a grin. “Let me tell you a secret, kid. When you receive a class, you are given a skill cap. That it the maximum number of skills you can learn. You can keep the skills you have from before, but it limits what you can learn afterwards with the system. My cap is 12, and my class is rather rare. Yet you having 19 skills already…”

Then Shal began to do some mental map in his head. Honestly…. It seemed too easy.

With a wide grin, Shal turned to Randidly. “There is of course another way to get out, if you are interested.”

Perking up, Randidly asked, “There is another entrance? I didn’t see it on my map-”

“No, no, no,” Shal said, waving his hand. “There are no more avenues of retreat. But you can always move forward.”

Shal extended his hand. “Help me defeat the boss of this Dungeon, the Acid Salamander, and I will carry you out of this place.”

“Defeat the boss…?” Randidly just looked at him.

“Well, you won’t be doing anything as grand as that. Before the boss, there are those Orc Shamans that so grievously wounded me in the past… you shall help me get past them. It shouldn’t be that difficult, if we concentrate and get your Willpower up to 50, it will be a simple task- Ah! I had forgotten! You can learn as many skills as you need. A measly Willpower of 35 will be sufficient if you learn mental attack resistance and train it up some!”

“A Willpower of 35…? How will we….?”

Shal patted Randidly’s back, a strange twinkle in his eyes. “Now, now, don’t worry about the details. But we must hurry. The sooner we begin, the sooner we get out, yes?”

****

Within the day, Randidly had been carried rapidly back to the safe room. Shal seemed to be an immensely good mood, and it made Randidly hesitate. Although he was happy to have a thread of hope for escaping this dungeon, he couldn’t help but wonder whether it would really be as easy as Shal said.

After dropping him on the ground in front of the safe room, Shal said. “How many more PP do you need to finish off your current Path?”

Randidly checked. “2, and I have enough to do it now.”

“Then finish it, but then don’t select another path.”

For 14, Randidly received nothing, but 15 gave him +2 stat(s), and +2 Perception and Reaction, as well as the skill Mapmaking Lvl 1. Feeling slightly swayed by Shal, Randidly put the two points into Willpower.

Randidly Ghosthound

Class: ---

Level: N/A

Health(/R per hour): 157/153 [+4] (58.5 [+6])

Mana(/R per hour): 50/96 (25)

Stam(/R per min): 66/78 (23 [+2])

Vit: 16 [+2]