The First Archmage

(Gavin)

The Adventurer's Guild's outpost at this dungeon is kind of sparse, but I'm not sure if that's normal or not. We approach the counter, which has but one worker, and he looks at us, sighing.

"Sorry, kids," he says. "But by the king's order, the Dungeon's closed, if that's what you're here for."

"Closed?" I ask.

"He's got a party of new Adventurers on their way here," he nods. "Says they're to be allowed in, and no one else until after they finish. It's to ensure there isn't another party blocking their path when they enter."

"Blocking their path?"

"He means," Kade looks at me. "About the limit. Only one party can enter a Dungeon at a time."

"Ah," I say, then look at the worker. "Good work, sir. I'll be sure to inform the king that you obeyed his command when we return to the city."

"Nice try, kid," he says. "If you really wanted to pass yourselves off as the Adventurers, you'd have an experienced one with you as a guide, not your friends and a servant."

"I'm guessing you don't have Access?" I ask.

"Does that matter?"

"If you did," I say. "I'd be able to show you my status. Yes, it appears you lack Access to the System, as appraising you yields no results."

I summon four Magic Bolts in a row, letting them dissipate.

"If I weren't a good Adventurer," I say. "Do you think I'd be so confident as to just waste four Magic Bolts like that? The king himself instructed me to bring these four here and into the Dungeon with me. We're all new Adventurers, and this Dungeon is to be our first."

"If you're new," he says. "That explains why you'd just waste four Magic Bolts. You do realize that your Mana won't regenerate faster just because you've become an Adventurer, right?"

"That's six," Nicholas tells me. "Six damn Magic Bolts you've cast in the last few hours. Do you really think your Mana has already filled back up? I can't imagine you can cast more, unless you somehow have 21 Mana."

"My max is 53," I state. "Kade's trained for years, and his is 68. And no, it hasn't filled back up – I just used some of it, and I told you, it takes a little more than two minutes per point. I'm surprised your INT isn't lower."

"Let's assume this is true," the worker tells me. "The king is no fool, and would never send five new Adventurers – especially children – into a Dungeon by themselves. There's a reason a party can hold up to fifteen people in it. Level 5 is the minimum recommended Level to enter this Dungeon."

"Does the Dungeon have a minimum Level requirement?" I ask.

"No, but-"

"We're only planning on the first Stage," I say. "You have a magician who's trained for years, the first Wizard, two cadets, and Tyler. And one of the cadets has a furry tail."

"Even still, the first Stage-"

"I have two Classes."

"Two?" He asks. "My apologies, then. I wasn't aware you were that high of a Level. To be so at your age… I cannot fathom what you went through."

"No, Kade," I say as Kade starts to speak, and he looks at me. "I know what you were about to say."

"I was under the impression," the worker says. "That you were including yourself when you said you were a new Adventurer."

"Not nearly as new as them," I gesture to my companions. "But in the grand scheme of things, could anything in a Human lifetime truly be new?"

"Indeed not," he says as words appear in front of me vision.

I hold up a hand to silence him.

Personal Quest Available:

Source: King Wendell Trueflame, King of Jozan

Quest: Smack Kade

Requirement: Smack Kade

Reward: Cheap notebook

Accept: Y/N?

"Accept," I say, then smack Kade.

"Hey!" He exclaims. "What was that for?"

Quest Reward Available:

Cheap notebook

Accept: Y/N?

"Yes," I say, and the book forms in the air in front of me, likely new, but from some cheap shop. I hold my hand out, and the book drops into it. "I wonder why he did this?"

"You got a book for smacking me?" Kade asks.

"Yeah," I answer, opening the book. "The king issued it to me," I pull out the first page of the notebook and hand it to the worker. "I believe this is the evidence you need?"

The worker examines the page, eyes widening as he does.

"What's that?" Kade asks.

"How do Quests relate to the rewards?" I ask.

"Why?" He asks.

"Answer the question, Kade."

"In short," he says. "The more complicated the Quest, the bigger the reward can be. Those with a Ruler Class have a bigger reward allotment, meaning they can give a bigger reward for Quests than most people can. Only Adventurers can send or grant Quests, because it's done through the System. It also requires, as the reward, something of the petitioner's, so you can't just say you want it to grant a thousand Experience upon completion, unless you actually have a thousand Experience in a single Class to grant. I'm not sure if even the Tier 2 Classes can actually require a thousand Experience or more to Level, so that's not feasible, anyway, but you get the idea, yes?"

"Yes," I say.

"In addition to that," he says. "Said reward vanishes – no one knows where, so don't ask me – once the Quest is accepted. If the Quest is completed, the Adventurer who completed it receives the reward, if they fail, then it returns to the petitioner."

So the King likely hid that notice in the book after creating the Quest, hoping it'd travel with the book. Not that it was actually needed, since I could definitely have gotten the worker to realize we're seriously from the king, but still, I do appreciate it.

"It's a notice from the king that we're to be let through," I say. "The notebook has other information within it."

Personal Quest Available:

Source: King Wendell Trueflame, King of Jozan

Quest: Read the notebook

Requirement: Read the notebook rewarded upon completion of the last quest from me before entering the Dungeon

Reward: Spatial inventory

Accept: Y/N?

"Accept," I say. "Sir, give us a little while – it's been requested that I read this notebook. It seems the king has some information for me, probably pertaining to the Dungeon."

The worker nods, and we move to sit at one of the tables. It takes me only twenty minutes to read everything the king had written in the notebook, and it can be summarized into just a few simple points.

Tyler is his son.

Nicholas knows Tyler is the king's son.

Nicholas was put into this party at his father's request, but the king couldn't refuse the request without complications.

Nicholas is under orders to kill Tyler while we are in the Dungeon, to make it look an accident if possible, or from the Dungeon.

If he can't, he's to kill us.

Nicholas's father underestimated my own stats, and believes his son's enchanted armor will enable him to ignore our magic.

It can ignore my magic, but it doesn't cover his face.

A Quest will be incoming for me to kill Nicholas while we are in the Dungeon. Make sure I set the spatial inventory as the default Quest reward location, as the Quest's reward will not portable without that, and nor will it fit.

All Dungeons are dual-Dungeons, though very few know this. Bryant, the king, and Natalie are the only ones the king knows of who know this in this nation.

The second Dungeon for this one is of similar difficulty as the first, but contains a key difference: if I choose to leave through the exit there, I'll have two locations to pick from. Do so after killing Nicholas, and leave to the second location.

The other entrance to the Dungeon leads to a Dungeon of similar strength, with the 'hidden' Dungeon as its alternate. All Dungeons do that secret passage on the second Dungeon.

The other side of that Dungeon rests deep within a forest on a foreign continent. The last time the king went through it, it was undiscovered, and uninhabited. He doesn't know how it is now, as it's been a few years, but it's probably still the same.

That continent is mostly uninhabited, save for a few human settlements along its southern coast, and a few non-human settlements throughout the southern coast and woods. Almost the entirety of it is unexplored, and the Dungeon is a little bit into that unexplored territory.

The king will probably be dead by tonight, so we only have hours before then to act.

It is in the best interests of the kingdom that I take Tyler away from the kingdom of Jozan, for Jozan will be no more, once the king dies. It might bear the same name, but it will be a different nation. I came a few years too late.

But that doesn't mean a new nation can't be formed.

We're to train, to become stronger, and in a few years, to return. Tyler looks a great deal like his father, and the king believes that, once he's an adult, Tyler will resemble him quite well. This means that he will have an undeniable claim to the throne, unless someone can disprove his heritage.

The rebellion that will have formed will, undoubtedly, rally behind him.

But we are not to return until he is stronger, until we are stronger. Strong enough that we cannot be stopped.

The death of the king will end my vow to the kingdom, but we can restore the kingdom to its power, once we have enough.

I read the final page in the notebook a second time, knowing the king knows I will do everything I can to become powerful enough to protect Tyler and restore the kingdom.

No one has ever made it to Level 25 of a Tier 2 Class before, and it is believed there is no Tier 3 beyond that. At least, not in belief.

Seek out the fairies on the continent you'll be on. They live far in the north, hidden within the woods of that land. The Fairy King, Oberon, has attained not just the third, but the fourth Tier of his King Class. When we spoke, he said that no option to advance came upon hitting Level 25, so that is likely where it ends.

Tell him of my demise, Gavin – and request his aid in becoming strong enough to reach not just the second Tier, but when the time comes, the third Tier of your Class. I doubt it will take you the centuries of a normal being, as a Wizard already defies explanation.

So you're aware, the Class for King goes like this: King, Great King, High King, Emperor. And, unknown to most, the Royal Class of my son is not new. I've seen record of it before – as well as of your Class. My son's Class goes like this: Royal, Royal Heir, Prince, Crown Prince. If he should have the option of taking on King, tell him to refuse it until he has mastered Crown Prince. Just mastering Prince alone would make him my superior when he begins his reign as King.

For Wizard, I know not what alternate Classes there are, but the main line of the Class, the direct route without Skills or other Class masteries making available others, goes like this: Wizard, Archwizard, Mage, Archmage. If there are alternates, they are unknown.

If you are wondering how I know about these three lines of Classes, it is because I have seen a Grimoire of Tristan Lightblade before, though it is guarded heavily. It was entrusted to Oberon by Tristan Lightblade himself. Prove you are worthy, and he will grant you the great magician's tome.

Good luck, Traveler, and farewell.

The King has told me that the kingdom itself will die with his death, but that we can revive it, once we are strong enough to reclaim it.

I look at my teammates, and at Nicholas.

"Alright," I close the book, and receive the reward, a pitch-black ring in the form of a simple band, a strip of violet around the edge. I slip it on, and discover that sticking the book within the ring is as easy as touching it with my Mana. "Let's go fight a Dungeon."

We approach the counter again, and the man hands us each a chain with a metal disk on it.

"What's this for?" I ask.

"We have its pair," he says. "If you die, both will break."

"Thank you, sir," I say. "Are we free to go in?"

"Yes," he hands me a scroll. "Simply hand that to the guards, and they'll let you through after reading it."

"Thank you," I say.

Personal Quest Available:

Quest Class: Royal

Source: King Wendell Trueflame, King of Jozan

Quest: Kill the Traitor Nicholas

Requirement: Kill Nicholas, and do your best to protect my son. Quest can be completed if Tyler does not survive, but his survival is preferred.

Reward: Wealth of the Kingdom of Jozan, 199 Primary Class Experience, 249 Species Class Experience

Accept: Y/N?

"Ho. Ly. Shit."

"What?" Kade asks.

"I'll tell you after we finish the Dungeon," I say. "His Majesty just sent me another Quest, dealing with something in the Dungeon, and the reward… damn. Is it even possible to up the reward on that level?"

Does the fact that it's a Royal Quest change that? Or rather, a Personal Quest with the Quest Class of Royal? I get the feeling that a Royal Quest would be even more powerful, but probably available to more people – possibly every Adventurer under his rule.

"What's the reward?"

"I finally understand why he wanted me to have this," I look at Kade. "How do you change a spatial inventory's setting to be where Quest rewards go?"

"Why do you act like I'm a book of knowledge?"

"Do you know?"

"Well, yes, but-"

"Accept," I say, the window vanishing. "How do I do it?"

"Just focus on the ring," he sighs. "As it belongs to you, you won't need your ability to appraise to be able to pull up the screen if you focus on it with the intent to change its destination. You don't even need Access to the System for that, it's one of the weird things of spatial rings, and they're incredibly rare. Proper ones, anyway – we can make them, if we're powerful enough, but no one knows how to make ones like the one you have, and they don't have the ability to change stuff like that."

That implies you can accept Quests without having Access, but I was told you can't.

One of the many mysteries of this realm, I suppose.

I focus on the ring.

This ring is currently set to accept automatic loot rewards

Do you wish to change this setting: Y/N?

Only one spatial inventory can be set to receive automatic loot at a time. If you have multiple spatial inventories, setting one to accept automatic loot drops will disable the previous recipient.

"No," I say, dismissing the window.

The king possibly wasn't sure what the ring was set to. I don't remember seeing it on him before, which means that he probably had to pull it from the treasury or a vault or something.

The reward…

I will be richer than many small nations, I think, with that reward. So long as I complete the Quest before the king dies.

"Let's get a move on," I say, and we make our way outside.

There, I hand the paper to the guards, and they allow us to pass. We make our way to the entrance of the Dungeon, then step through it.

Our surroundings simply change, becoming different from the small village it was, taking us to a field as far as the eye can see.

"It's supposed to be caves!" Nicholas exclaims.