William quickly dumped five into Intelligence, five into Wisdom, and the remaining nine unallocated stat points into his Arcane attribute. He could've made an attempt for another level up, but would rather not waste any more time considering he had a quest to turn in. He could always stuff himself with water some other time. There's also the issue of resource guarding and making sure he had enough to survive off of in case Zefor decided not to provide him with any more.

  He had yet to find any source of food or water within the entire fort he was in.

  Though William had yet to explore further into the building.

  For all he knew, there could have been a massive source of both just behind one of the closed doors, waiting for him to find a way to unlock it. Or maybe it was in one of the next levels he had yet to explore up the stairwell. There were a lot of areas that needed to be checked out if he ever got the opportunity to do so. There was no indication what Zefor would do after he reached level 10.

  Would he throw him out to the wolves?

  Force him to fight the Death Knight over and over again until he beat it?

  Or would he kick him out of this dungeon world back to Earth out of disgusted spite at his slow leveling pace?

  It felt impossible to guess what the ancient monster would do next.

  William only took a few steps forward before he discovered that he still felt the buzz of overextending himself with the skill upgrades, but he pushed forward anyway until he got to Zefor's cell. He leaned on the bars for stability and waited for a response. There was no doubt that the old man knew he was here. It was rather a question of whether he wanted to address him or not.

  Zefor was currently sitting in a meditative pose with his back turned to the gateway. Bright light from the early morning sun bathed him and made his red skin shine with an odd luster. Long white hair that looked unkempt covered the corded muscular back that made it seem like Zefor had no fat on him at all. There was muscle on top of his muscles, yet none of it seemed extra or ballooned. They sat perfectly on his frame.

  I can’t let an old man out do me, I need to start working out.

  “So you've done it? You finally made it to level ten?” Zefor said without looking back.

  “Yeah.”

  “Get anything special? A Black Skill? Something that does not fit with your class?”

  William blinked. Was he supposed to get something? Or did he miss an opportunity that he did not know was there? “No? Everything looked normal to the classes I have. Was there something that I was supposed to get? What’s a Black Skill?”

  “Disappointing,” Zefor said. He stood up slowly and turned around to study William for a second. “Though I cannot blame you for lacking in the more esoteric body. Haven’t noticed anything special out of your spirit ever since you arrived. Assuming your pretty average amongst your race, then I doubt many, if not only a handful, would receive something like that. Best you do not worry yourself over a fate you can’t control.”

  William made sure to note that down mentally and stow it away for future use. He would keep an eye out for whatever this Black Skill was supposed to be. If he did one day receive it, he would run back to Zefor just to make sure he didn't mess it up before applying it.

  Didn’t seem smart to test or experiment on the more touchy subjects.

  Quest Completed -

  Reach Level 10!

  Return to [Zefor] and announce your victory to him!

  Rewards in Inventory!

  4 Earthly Realm Rune Shard (3) [250]

  2 Minor Healing Potions

  1 Arcane Potion

  Tips and Hints -

  Not all foes can only be defeated through unconventional means

  Learn the rules to their existences to defeat them one by one.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  William read the tips that he received this time around. He remembered when he had struck back at the Death Knight, only for the blob of venom to go right through its body without effect. Only when it had stabbed him did it materialize for long enough for him to strike back at it. The only issue remaining was that he didn't have enough constitution or regenerative abilities to take on multiple hits of that nature or enough damage output to hurt something that strong.

  At least for now.

  “I’ve meditated on your growth while you struggled to reach level ten and have come to a final conclusion. You being unable to kill the Death Knight above means you have are far to weak to be here. Even if you kill every single Corrupted Dead within this fort and the Knight itself, you would not survive against the most basic monsters outside of this place. Much less anything strong enough to be considered special–”

  Losing this source of rune farming was not something William wanted. Growing had been pathetically easy as long as he did not overextend and kept his battles versus only one foe at a time. He could still get a single level up from each kill even if it cost him almost two-thousand runes to reach level 11. And that was only because they were over thirty levels higher than him.

  “Maybe we can test that and see if I hold up,” William said.

  Zefor did not stop talking, ignoring William’s comment. “–mainly for experience dealing with others. All delving into dungeons and dungeon worlds. You’ll be sent to the world of Hajira, lots of forests, cities, dungeons, free roaming monsters, and most importantly, a race that is near identical to yours. Except that they have far more in the esoteric body. Actual potential… never mind you that though. I don’t really have the desire to teach you the very basics, hence I am dropping you into a dungeon that should do it for you. Good bye.”

  “Wait what? Hold up!”

  The world darkened into blackness and nothing, and then reality snapped back together.

  William struggled to find his balance as he fell over onto soft ground. It took him a few moments before he regained his senses and vision cleared enough for him to see his surroundings. Within a few seconds he had been thrown across god knows how far and into a new world completely. Zefor hadn't even waved his hand. Just a mental action that had blasted him through space.

  He looked around the green and yellow landscape that surrounded him.

  A large plain of nothing but grass, bushes, and the occasional tree. Though he was in an area that was cut a few inches high compared to the stalks that were taller than him. The clearing was large enough for an entire party to spread out comfortably.

  Or a battle to occur.

  I’m in a dungeon?

  He had no clue how he figured that out but its seemed right. The grass didn’t look real. Each stalk was to perfectly shaped.

  Far above his head was what appeared to be a clear blue sky. That only bolstered his guess, it was closer to a dome or pocket that the dungeon was in. Almost like a snow globe. He sat up and frowned as he could literally taste the energy within the air. Very much unlike the dungeon world that the Ruined City of Balfiemeth was in. Zefor had been surrounded by an arid wasteland compared to this.

  Yet, it was missing something integral, something that made the fort he had been hunting in feel more weighty.

  That stronghold have been in the actual world that Zefor inhabited while this dungeon was a pocket of somewhere else that was contained with the world of Hajira.

  William assumed it had something to do with the level of the monsters within the world as well. There was no chance this world, Hajira, was anywhere near Zefor's home planet, considering he sent him here to fight monsters close to his levels. If he was right, then the Death Knight was absolutely nothing compared to the average monster outside of the courtyard.

  “Oh! Almost forgot,” Zefor’s voice whispered into William’s mind. “Don’t mention me, Balfiemeth, It, or your cheats. Hajira is close enough to me that they won’t bother you unless you make it obvious what you are. Don’t die to many times, William with no last name. I have plans for you!”

  Zefor’s laughing voice echoed as it slowly got lower until it could no longer be heard.

  Bastard! At least let me finish rune farming!

  William frowned as his senses picked up a slight disturbance in the vibrant energy that filled this dungeon from his right. Then another to his left and another. Again and again until it felt like there were dozens if not more. Each one rushing toward him with blistering pace. The long grass snapped back and forth to match each one indicating what he had already guessed.

  Monsters.

  He pulled out his sword, activated [Chained Lightning Domain], and summoned four venom bullets. This time around, reaching his max capacity did not make him drop to his knees in pain. The small increase in the skills level had made an obvious clear difference, even if he doubted he could summon a fifth. Not that William intended to try at any point while in the dungeon.

  Congratulations! -

  Safe Zone Detected 20 meters left

  Code BLACK (Loop) System re-Location Adjustment

  Process Complete

  William jumped up onto a waist high boulder and searched towards where the system indicated. A dilapidated house stood where the system indicated, one he hadn't noticed while he was surveying the area because it was hidden by multiple bushes and trees. From his vantage point he could see another on a hill far in the distance. This was supposed to be a dungeon rather than an entire dungeon world, yet it must have stretched for hundreds of miles.

  The monsters did not slow down their pace one bit. It only took them a few seconds before they launched out of the grass towards them.

  Currently facing a being 10 levels above you - Foe Engaged!

  5% increase to all stats active

  He released all four of his Venom bullets, targeting each new monster that escaped from the thick grass cover. Bodies dropped around him as corrosive slime made their meat fall off the bones. All were feline creatures of sleek plain fur, long tails, sharp claws, and large fangs protruding from their maw. Each around four feet in height at the shoulders. As soon as he used up the venom bullets, he summoned four more to replace them and fired them as quick as he could.

  Any that got close enough were zapped by his lightning, charring their body and dropping them half dead.

  William made sure to end their misery with his sword.

  His lightning domain crackled and popped, zapped and shocked anything that came near him without prejudice, ripping through their numbers with ease.

  This was not a battle between equal foes.

  This was a slaughter.