The First Archmage

(Gavin)

When I come to, the Rift Wolf is gone, and I still feel nothing less than anger. Anger at it, for taking me away from my family, from taking me away from all that knowledge, and from taking away access to those Affinities.

At least I still have Life and Mana Affinities, and the HLT Stat is now visible, too, which means I can increase it through training, supposedly.

It looks like I'm at the other end of the Dungeon's entrance, meaning I'm probably back on my world, now.

But where are my party members?

I pull up the party screen, and find them no longer there. I'm still the Party Leader, but they're all… gone.

Are they dead? I can't see signs of a struggle.

Christopher's words come back to me.

Sunday, the 4th Day of the 3rd Month of the 1,349th Year of the Age of Chaos

A year and a third…

The time difference for just one day was a year and a third.

Time difference…

A year and third passed here in the day I was there, but in the eleven years I was here, only eleven years passed, there. Time moved at the same rate between the two realms.

What happened to my team in that time? Are they still alive? Are they dead? What happened to them? Did they leave my party simply because so much time had passed?

Closing my eyes, I try to focus on the energies I had access to before, but apart from Mana and Life, they're all gone. He locked them, which, I guess, means I can't even sense them anymore.

So I lost access to those, and my allies are gone, possibly dead or worse.

What the hell do I do?

Chattering nearby catches my attention, and I look over to see a short, humanoid creature with brown fur and a doggish face. It's almost like a mix between a dog and a human, I realize as I see its paws. It's holding a short sword in one paw and a shield in the other.

Forest Kobold, Warrior 4

Kobold…

A monster.

How do monsters gain Levels? Or Classes?

It chatters some more at me, then charges.

"Magic Bolt," I fire one off, and the kobold blocks it with its shield, which dents inward. "Magic Bolt!"

I fire off two more, destroying the shield, and the kobold still charges me. I take several hasty steps back, falling on my rear as I fire off another Magic Bolt, this one catching it in the leg. The kobold falls to the ground, howling, and I fire off two more Magic Bolts, one hitting its chest, the other hitting its head.

The beast dies.

Loot Acquired!

+1 Kobold Fur!

+1 Kobold Tail!

+1 Kobold Ear!

I got three pieces of loot from that? Most people are lucky to get one piece of loot from a kill. I know my luck is good, but it's not that good. Which is probably why I got the other message.

+1 LUK!

Very lucky things can cause it to increase.

Looking around, I focus on my hearing, in case there are others nearby. Not detecting any, I stand up and scan my surroundings.

Other than the Dungeon, there's nothing around. If this is the same one I was supposed to leave through originally, then I could return to Jozan, but I don't want to risk it.

If it is, then to north of here is territory I shouldn't enter, and to the south are the human settlements.

I return to the entrance, and confirm it's the other end to the second Dungeon. After waiting for my Mana to refill, I can try to gain some more Experience for my Class or Species by doing the first Stage.

Clearing each part of a Stage grants a small amount of Experience. It's not as much as being the first to clear the stage, but it'll still be helpful. At Level 5 Human and Level 4 Wizard, I should be fine.

Instead of going into the second Dungeon, I enter its natural form, which leads me into a large cavern with a tile floor.

Each tile is roughly two feet on each side, big enough for me to stand on. Immediately, I'm nervous.

This is a puzzle area, and it's immediate. It shouldn't be too hard, since this is a Tier 1 Dungeon, which are the easiest of them all, but most Dungeons don't start off with a puzzle.

Puzzles are part of how Dungeons trim groups down, once they get further in. That is, until the puzzle is solved and knowledge of how to solve it is spread.

Except there's no resources on how to solve this one, and those that do are probably far between.

Each tile is a color, and I can only see four. There are a ton of red, blue, and yellow tiles, but I can only spot a couple of green ones. The one I'm standing on is white, and has words written on it.

To make it through the land of blood, you must first cross the forests, but before each forest is a desert, where you risk dehydration.

What the fuck is that supposed to mean?

Most people who come in here will have similar or lower INT, and the first areas are always designed for the weaker to be able to solve, even if for just a small touch of Experience that they'll get for solving it.

Which means that this can't be too hard.

To make it through the land of blood.

I'm guessing that's referring to the red tiles, since blood is red.

You must first cross the forests.

Forests… there aren't brown tiles, so probably the green ones.

But before each forest is a desert.

The yellow tiles, I think? I've heard desert sands are often yellow or near-white in color. There's a green to my left, but north of that is a yellow tile.

North. I should probably refer to them by their directions.

To the north of me is a blue tile.

Where you risk dehydration.

It's easy to figure that that one's blue, for water.

To make it through the land of blood.

To make it past the red tiles. I'm guessing I'll die instantly if I step on one of them, or something, since it's referring to them as blood.

It could, of course, be something as simple as taking damage, but I don't want to risk it.

To make it through the land of blood, you must first cross the forests.

In other words: I probably have to step on every green tile. I could do that right now, but that'd be too easy, and there are still two more parts to the riddle.

But before each forest is a desert.

The couple of greens I can see have at least one yellow adjacent to them. The fact that it mentions that before each forest is a desert probably means I have to step onto the yellow tile before the green one.

Where you risk dehydration.

That follows deserts… but it says I risk dehydration in deserts. Just as green is after yellow, can I only step on yellow after stepping on a blue?

Determining that this is, in fact, the most likely solution, I begin moving. As I do, not a single negative thing happens to me. I can step on as many blue as I need to, it looks like, without repercussion. At one point, I have to step on nine blue in a row to get to the yellow to step on a green. That's almost a direct path from one green to the next. Another time, I have to step on a blue, then a yellow, then a blue, then a yellow, several times until I reach the green.

The final green tile I step on is the tile right in front of the black archway, through which I can see what looks like a church of some kind. There are rows of benches, and at the other end, an altar with a raised area behind him.

I step through the passage, a message appearing in my vision.

You have completed the Tiles of Blood of the Temple of Dar, Stage 1 for the first time!

+10 Human Experience

+10 Class Experience

You are the first to complete the Tiles of Blood of the Temple of Dar, Stage 1!

+10 Human Experience

+10 Class Experience

An unexplored Dungeon…

Did the king leave it alone, for the day he'd need to send his son away, so that if it hadn't been explored before, his son could train here?

I check out the other message in my screen.

Scout is now Level 2!

+1 AGI

+1 PER

It looks like general Class Experience is split between all of my Classes. I wonder what the purpose of Primary Class is, since it split the Experience evenly between the two.

And now I understand why there's always a rush to complete Dungeons first, as well as to explore every aspect of it. Completing each part of it for the first time grants Experience, in addition to being the first to complete it, and it isn't 'minor' experience at any Level.

And it grants Human Experience, too. I thought it only granted Class Experience.

Human Experience, alone, is enough to warrant people trying to be the first to clear a Dungeon. The reward there must be massive, and likely enough to give Adventurers with a higher Level a significant boost, even if it's not enough to get them to the next Level.

The second area is suspiciously calm. The first didn't have monsters, so this one should. Yet it's just empty, save for the benches, the altar, the candles lit on the wall, and what appears to be a bath on the other side of the altar, its water clear as day.

The stone this place is made of is a dark grey, and the benches are of a darker wood, one I'm unfamiliar with.

I explore the entire room, but find no way out. All of the candles are identical and lit, there's nothing on the benches or altar, and the room is, overall, pretty plain.

Is this stage just one big logic thing? No monsters?

It could, of course, be like the other Dungeon, where it's just been so long since someone was in here, the monster or monsters are napping or something.

No…

Something tells me it's another logical area, another puzzle of some sort.

But what? There's nothing here for me to go off of!

I continue to search, growing increasingly frustrated as nothing reveals itself. No clues, no hints, nothing! It's just-

Calm the fuck down, Gavin.

You're a hunter, you're a stalker, you're a predator.

You gain single-minded focus that takes in everything when you're hunting. A puzzle like this shouldn't make you lose your shit.

Shouldn't make me lose my shit.

Why am I getting so frustrated?

Because there's nothing to go off of to figure out what to do for this puzzle. There is nothing to go off of, and that's irritating, and-

No!

No…

That is what is going on. Something's influencing my thoughts. Closing my eyes, I focus on fighting the frustration. Then my brain starts to switch to getting frustrated about the frustration. I continue to fight it, pushing against the frustration, until my head feels like it's about to burst.

Just before then, a message pops up.

Skill Gained!

Mental Resistance 1/10: The power to resist mental effects.

The frustration eases, confirming my thoughts that it was an effect of some sort.

I push even harder against whatever it is, until it fades away.

The moment it does, the sound of the bath draining suddenly fills the temple, and I approach the bath cautiously, peering into it. There's a ladder set into the side of it, leading down into darkness below.

The next stage.

I descend the ladder, and when my feet touch the bottom, the chamber lights up.

You have completed the Altar of Frustration of the Temple of Dar, Stage 1 for the first time!

+10 Human Experience!

+10 Class Experience!

You are the first to complete the Altar of Frustration of the Temple of Dar, Stage 1!

+10 Human Experience!

+10 Class Experience!

You have completed Stage 1 of the Temple of Dar for the first time!

+10 Human Experience!

+10 Class Experience!

You are the first to complete Stage 1 of the Temple of Dar!

+10 Human Experience!

+10 Class Experience!

+1 Warp Stone!

I just gained 40 Human Experience, and 20 Class Experience to each of my Classes. Human gained another Level.

After dismissing the windows, I scan the safe area. A timer tells me that I have twelve hours to rest up, and I could probably use a little bit of that.

A table sits in the center of the room, fifteen beds scattered around the room, torches lining the wall, giving some warmth. The table is covered with a feast for a full party, and my stomach rumbles, reminding me that I haven't eaten since breakfast this morning.

Or really, in over a year.

And that I'm exhausted, too.

Sitting down to eat, I devour as much food as can, filling my stomach until I'm stuffed. Then, exhausted, I lie down on a bed, letting myself pass out.