Entering the Dungeon

Yin Jia Rong or rather, Navi, was currently in the cottage of the apothecary for Thousand Wood Village. She came here to procure a few plant harvesting kits for her guild. While she was waiting in line, she thought back to that Lycan she passed at the entrance of the village. She wasn't sure why, but he felt vaguely familiar to her.

'I wonder where I've seen him before. I highly doubt I would recognize the wrong person when my mind is nagging me so much.' This was Navi's thoughts as she finally got to the counter to make her purchases.

"Hello, Elder. I would like to purchase a few plant harvesting kits," said Navi as she spoke politely to the apothecary behind the counter.

"I'm sorry, young miss. It's a rule of the village that each person is only capable of purchasing one plant harvesting kit. I can sell the one to you if you like," replied the elf behind the counter to dark elf Navi.

Hearing his words caused Navi to furrow her eyebrows before asking, "By chance, is there any possible way for me to acquire more plant harvesting kits elder?"

The elder elf sat down and tilted his head in thought for a minute. Seeing this reaction, Navi knew that there was another method. For now, all she had to do was wait for the elder elf to explain.

"Well, there is another method..." started the elder elf as he eyed Navi. She wasn't sure why but she got the feeling that she won't like the method. "But it requires me to hand you the blueprint, which you would then take to a professional blacksmith in order for him to make as many plant harvesting kits as you want."

Hearing his words cause Navi to respond with a "Really?" Unfortunate for her, his next words caused her to frown slightly.

"As it stands, I can give you the blueprint, but I can't do so for free," said the elf. He gave Navi another once over before speaking again, "You look pretty strong, so why not help me out with something and I'll give you the blueprint as payment?"

[System Message: You have been given the quest <The Elf Apothecary's Worry>]

Quest: <The Elf Apothecary's Worry>

Rank: B

Level Requirement: 15+

Description: Recently, a magic surge has been detected a few kilometers northeast of Thousand Wood Village. You are being tasked with heading in that direction to find the source of the surge, investigate the nature of the surge, and report back the findings of your investigation.

Rewards: Plant Harvesting Kit Blueprint x1, MP restoration pills x5, random skill book (C), 50 silver.

[Do you accept: Y/N]

Looking at the rewards for the quest, Navi felt that it wasn't worth it considering the rewards for the quest rank. Then again, she was given a task to complete and she didn't like avoiding her job so she accepted the quest and bade farewell to the elder elf.

As she was walking out of the cottage, the elder elf gave her one last message, "If you happen to come across my apprentice, please help her out. I get the feeling that she'll be within the same direction you are heading in."

After saying his piece, the elder elf went back to ignoring Navi while she nodded her head and left the cottage.

'Let's do this quickly. I wanna head back to the port town soon.' This was Navi's thoughts as she quickly made her way to the village entrance and started her trek northeast.

Unknown to her, that trip of hers to the northeast will have her make an incredible discovery for both herself and her guild.

*************

Kirou and Reya were currently climbing out of the narrow path hidden in the river that was led to a cave. They were in a cave with its entrance hidden in a certain section of the river and before them stood a passage with a magic portal at the end. Before they could even dry off, they were simultaneous hit with a system message.

[System Message: Welcome to the Riverbed Cove Dungeon Entrance]

[Reward: 100 Fame]

Kirou was surprised at the sudden prompt that he received. He looked towards Reya and saw her shrugging at him.

"I logged on a bit earlier in the day and found this area. I didn't enter since I was passing by but I did make sure to mark down the coordinates and asked my brother and his team what this place might be. A member of his team told me that it could possibly be a dungeon entrance but when they learned where I found it, they gave up on coming themselves." Reya said this in one breath while looking towards the portal.

"I guess we have this place all to ourselves then," said Kirou with a shrug of his own. He took a quick scan of the surroundings but saw nothing of interest. He then spoke up, "Before we dive in, how about we do a check on our supplies?"

"You're right. No need to rush in blindly and end up paying for it. Then again, with such a cheat existence with me, I doubt we would suffer too much even if we have to flee," said Reya while sitting down and checking her inventory.

Kirou had a wry smile on his face as he listened to Reya's words. It seems she still finds his ease of playing the game quite unfair. Like Reya, Kirou sat down and went through his inventory. Both spent a few minutes going through their respective inventories, and by the end of it, they realized that Reya needed to make a trip back to Thousand Wood Village. As a response, she gave Kirou a pout, causing him to apologize to her once again.

With an apologetic face, Kirou faced her and asked, "How about I go with you?"

In response, Reya gave him a stern look before saying, "You stay here. I won't take that long. Plus, if people saw us together, they are sure to remember the incident from earlier." As she said this, Reya had a blush on her face.

"Then I'll wait for you here. I'll be sure to guard the door until you return, my lady." Kirou did a salute as he said this to Reya with a serious(fake) face.

"You do that, loyal guard," said Reya in response to Kirou's words. Both looked at each other for a few seconds before bursting out in laughter. Reya then bid Kirou farewell before diving back into the watery entrance they used to enter the cave.

'Let's see how far I can get with this in the meantime,' was Kirou's thoughts as he removed some wire from his inventory and started inserting his MP into it.

******************

Kirou was currently using his wires to form a tower, as a means of training, when he noticed movement from the underwater entrance. Instead of staying in the open to great the most likely person to appear, Reya, Kirou instead leaned back against the dark walls of the cave where his body seemed to disappear. This was a result of the skill gained from the A-rank skill book he received from Old Wolf two days ago, Shadow Camouflage.

Skill: Shadow Camouflage

Skill Level: 1/3

Rank: A (S)

Cost: N/A

Skill Creator/Generator: N/A

Description: This is a passive skill that allows its user to enter a camouflaged state after stepping into a dark/shadowy area and staying still for 1.5 seconds. The user will be able to move about while in the camouflaged state without it being undone, but it is only when the user is in dark or shadowy areas will the user be able to attack a target without breaking the camouflaged state. The camouflaged state can be undone whenever the user wills it.

Currently, the cave was pretty much a dark area so Kirou was capable of staying unseen, regardless of whether he moved or not. Unlike the thief, he met previously in the northern swamplands, Kirou decided to stay still where he was. He wasn't sure if the person coming up was friend or foe, but he wasn't going to make hasty moves.

Over at the hidden entrance, the person finally entered the hidden cave. The person, a female dark elf by the looks of it, got out of the water and started surveying the area. Finding no one present, the dark elf turned back to the pool, as if waiting for someone else to arrive.

Kirou didn't immediately make a move on the target but instead starting manipulating the wire in his hands. He used them to set up a trap for the dark elf and her party member or members. He waited patiently for the second person to show up and just as he did, he stayed his hand. The reason for this was because he recognized the second person to come out of the entrance. That person was the female elf archer, Reya.

"Looks like your friend isn't here, young miss," said the female dark elf in a stoic manner, earning a mental chuckle from Kirou.

"What? I told him I would be right back. Where did he go? And why didn't he message me if he was going to leave?" queried Reya while looking around the cave.

"I guess he had better things to do. Who knows? He might be inside already," said the dark elf while facing the portal to the dungeon.

Reya had a pout on her face when she heard that. She then opened her mouth and said, "But he promised to help me. Where could he have gone?"

Just as the dark elf was about to answer, a voice resonated in the cave, "Since you told me to wait for you, naturally I wouldn't leave. Do you see me as an untrustworthy individual, Miss Elf?" Naturally, this voice belonged to Kirou

The sudden appearance of the voice surprised both women. The dark elf even went as far as taking out her weapons, a pair of daggers, and held them in a defensive stance. This gave her away as a member of the rogue class.

"Where are you, Mr. Wolf?" asked Reya while looking around while the female dark elf rogue was scanning the entirety of the small cave.

"Turn to your right and look," said Kirou. As both Reya and the dark elf looked to where he directed them, Kirou's body materialized from inside the shadow of the cave. Seeing his mysterious appearance caused Reya to exclaimed softly.

"How did you do that? That looks so cool," said Reya as she looked at Kirou. As for the dark elf, she put away her daggers while staring at Kirou in curiosity. Kirou was currently in his wolf form but the dark elf found him familiar.

"That was a skill I got from a skill book. Remember the quest we did for the village heads? This skill book came from there," said Kirou as a response. He then took a look at the dark elf staring at him. He found her familiar but couldn't place where at the moment. It was then that Reya spoke up.

"Ok then, Mr. Wolf. Allow me to introduce my friend," said Reya as she went behind the dark elf and placed her hands on the dark elf's shoulders. "This is a good friend of mine. Her name is Navi. She is a dark elf rogue player."

Reya then used one hand to point to Kirou and spoke, "Navi, this is the guy that I was talking about that helped me out a couple of days ago. His name is Kirou. He is a werewolf weapon master."

After the simple introduction, Reya was expecting both persons to react. Instead, what she received was both persons pointing to each other before speaking at the same time.

"It's you!"

"It's you!"

Hearing those words caused confusion to appear on Reya's face as she never expected such a reaction. "Huh? You two know each other?" was what she asked while staring at the two in disbelief.

"Well..." started Kirou while scratching the back of his head. How was he to explain that the dark elf in front of him was the one who was present to help him during his character creation?

Navi, on the other hand, kept quiet for a bit before speaking up, "Young Miss, let's just say that we became acquainted a few days ago."

Hearing her words and seeing Kirou's reaction made Reya look at them in suspicion but threw that thought away. So what if they knew each other? That just makes this dungeon run a whole lot easier.

"Since you both are already acquainted, why don't we enter the dungeon for now?" As Reya spoke those words, she sent a party request to both players, to which both accepted immediately.

"Let's go." As he said this, Kirou was the first to enter the dungeon portal, followed by the two women. In his mind, he was thinking about something else though.

'Never expected to run into Navi so soon. What's more, it seems like she's very close to the current level cap.' That was Kirou's thought as he looked at Navi's level before entering the portal. It showed that she was currently level 19.

Just like Kirou, Navi was thinking about the other's level as she entered the dungeon portal. 'Didn't he just start the game two days ago. I specifically remember being forced to do that weird quest, only to meet this guy. How is his level so high already?' Navi had all right to think so as she was one of those many players who spent a few stays struggling to pass the initial barrier. With that being the case, it came as no shock as to why she was surprised to see Kirou at level 10 on just his third day in the game.

Upon entering the dungeon, the party of three was greeted to the sight of a few murlocs roaming about the new map in teams of three or more. As the vanguard of the team, Kirou was the first to engage one of the Murloc teams while both Reya and Navi prepared to join the fight.

"Let the games begin," was what Kirou said as he delivered the first attack on an unsuspecting Murloc.