Cyberserk

Chapter 12 - Preparing to enter the dungeon

Dan felt great. He could control himself in battles with monsters. But Raven felt a strange fire in his chest. It was an unusual feeling. The terrifying and delightful feeling of owning a special passion for fighting.

Perhaps Dan Raven's ancient ancestors were great warriors. The orphan did not know the history of his family. The young man met new enemies with pleasure and without fear and tried to practice simple sword techniques. He did not want to simply and randomly beat skeletal warriors. Dan developed a hunger to test his techniques against different opponents. He already felt like he was getting a little crumb from the great art of swordsmanship.

The b****y numbers of damage inflicted flew into the sky. Dan wasn't paying attention to the damage statistics. He knew exactly what he was doing was important and necessary. One precise blow to an unprotected spot did double the damage! This game had a special understanding of the meaning of critical damage. Fight with maximum mastery and hit your enemy's weak spots with accuracy. And then you'd do critical damage without any magic tricks.

Dan was rarely distracted by the use of damage-increasing skills. During his moments of regeneration, the player recognized that phantom support comes first. Dan is forced to have a 10-point mana reserve to summon a defender exactly next to him at any moment. Tom was distracted by his opponents. Tom had time to help in dangerous situations. But Dan Raven realized that he couldn't relax and had to be ready at any moment to cover his retreat with the phantom body.

Suddenly Dan felt how lonely he felt. He had just killed another warrior skeleton. But the young man felt sadness at not being able to brag about his victory to this moron with his stupid advice and jokes.

Fate itself responded to the player's sadness. He noticed the commotion in the crowd of zombies and skeletons. It was the appearance of Tom from suicide scouting! The little badass wasn't even dead! The phantom ran zigzagging and dodging the hands and bones of the dead. He skipped between the slow zombies with the dexterity of a mad rabbit that leaps into its hole.

The insolent clone jumped out onto the riverbank and jumped in front of a crowd of angry dead. Tom thrust his katana into the ground and extended his hands with index fingers in a gesture of a***e toward the crowd of dead men.

"Suck up b***h! Aloha bitches! Kutabaru kichigai," the phantom calmed down a bit and turned toward the player. "I got it all found out! Be happy, lazy mortal. You must raise your level!"

Dan smiled at the words of this ridiculous creature. Of course, he must raise his level! Raising player levels is the basis of game mechanics. Of course, you should consider the increased chance of dropping trophies from higher-level monsters.

But today the problem was that after three hours of destroying warrior skeletons, they didn't get any trophies. It was a terrible frustration. Tom was still distracted by zombies and level 1 skeletons and knocked out boxes of level 1 skill books from the monsters. The skeleton warriors only left behind their old rusty armor and weapons. But these things were in no way identifiable and disappeared after a minute, along with the remains of the bones.

"Let's move to the far corner away from the zombies. There's a river flowing by the rocks. I want to eat. I want delicious meat and bread. Do you want a beer? You've earned it," Dan smiled.

"Don't seek the pleasures of the flesh. That's the way of the true apprentice to mastery," Tom replied with a proud look.

The partners moved away from the crowd of dead men. Tom stood guard over his friend.

Dan sat down with his back to the rock and got himself a bottle of water and some food. He took his helmet off his head and relaxed. The young man didn't care how he looked from the outside. On his lap was a loaf of bread with a large piece of roast meat. The meat and bread were freshly cooked. The meat was hot. Every time Dan used his dagger to cut off a piece of meat he could see the juice and fat on the surface of the delicious food.

The young man no longer cared about carcinogens and other horrors of unhealthy eating. In this new world, dieting receded before rough and simple food. There were fruits and vegetables in the store! But the Game was testing its notions of food value. An apple was worth as much as a pitcher of beer! 70 experience points for an apple? That's not a game, it's a rip-off and a mockery of cute vegetarians!

"I didn't have any difficulty. I'm sure you can make it to the dungeon entrance. Dan doesn't worry, you certainly have the strength to sprint," Tom went on to describe the cave entrance. "There's a dark veil on the surface of the rock. It looks very much like a portal. Only three warrior skeletons are standing at the entrance. Nothing out of the ordinary. Even if they are expert swordsmen we can get through. Damage doesn't matter. You can slip into the dungeon. The problem is that I received a demand from the Game. A level 3 to 5 player can get into the dungeon! I think you can increase your character status by a couple of levels."

"I see," muttered Dan. He enjoyed the taste of the food. He was pleased to feel that he enjoyed the company of this phantom. Raven remembered the most important rule of a warlord. First, listen to your subordinates. Then make your final decision. This is the method of the true master of leadership.

"I agree with you. I'm going to eat now and spend my experience on two levels. What do you say about the distribution of free attribute points?"

Phantom took his time answering. He looked sadly at his sword. Then the clone swung and threw his katana into the river water.

"I don't want my sword lying on the ground. I must find a way to learn the talent of a blacksmith soon. Then we can repair the equipment! There is a special sense in fighting with the sword you love."

"Not at all," Dan objected. "In some games, there are valuable items that tend to increase in value as the player's level increases. At level 3, you're obligated to buy yourself a level 3 weapon with new characteristics."

"You're not romantic," smiled Tom.

The clone walked over to the player and took the gloves off his hands. He placed the gloves on the ground. Then the clone pulled out a kendo training book from his inventory. He put the book on the gloves.

"You know this sounds wild, but I wish I'd handed you my precious. The thought that I would die and the book would fall in a crowd of nasty stinking zombies kept distracting me during my scouting. Don't touch my book with your greasy fingers, you filthy barbarian!"

Tom looked at the zombies who showed no signs of much activity.

"I've relayed the exact information. Renew me. You must restore your mana quickly," the clone said.

Dan chewed on a piece of meat. He prepared to take in a host of new impressions and activated the Phantom skill.

It was an interesting sight. It pleased Raven with its originality. The figure of the old phantom dissolved into thin air and the clone's armor fell with a rumbling crash onto the river bank.

Skong!

"Hahahahahah!"

The familiar laughter of the new clone sounded at the player's right shoulder.

"Funny. Cool that I can see that, too. Level up and buy me some level 3 armor," Tom said.

"I haven't eaten yet. Don't stop me from enjoying myself. I'm not a fanatic like you. What do you say about the allocation of attribute points?" Dan started nibbling on the meat and bread again.

"We know the basics of any Game. The best get ahead of the mass of gray losers.

But in this game, you cannot aimlessly increase your level. Increasing your level will give you 1 free attribute point and 1 free skill point. It seems to me that 1 attribute point should be invested in Endurance. 200 life points is a solid base for a risky quest. 1 attribute point should be saved. There's no telling what kind of powers we'll need in the dungeon."

Dan Raven agreed with his partner's opinion. Working with the attribute panel required no hand effort. Dan enjoyed the taste of meat and had the added pleasure of raising levels.

The game didn't hide the requirements for players to level up.

Level 2 required 500 experience points.

Level 3 required 1500 experience points.

Level 4 required 3800 experience points.

Level 5 required 7900 points of experience.

Level 6 required 14 200 experience points.

Level 7 required 22700 experience points.

2000 experience points was a ridiculous amount from killing 60 monsters level 1. It was a matter of five minutes of combat.

Raven had no doubt that endurance needed to be upgraded. He spent 1 point to increase the attribute Body that provided the life reserve.

The player's life reserve increased to 200 health points. This immediately raised the spirits of Dan, who began to look at the store's merchandise.

Once the player got to the third level the assortment of items increased. But the equipment for the third level player was not pleased with the special features.

The total weight of the armor set of level 1 was 80 kg! The total defense was 8 points. Dan was disappointed to see that the total weight of level 3 armor would increase to 110 kg. The defense index only increased by 3 points to 11 points. The only benefit of the new type of armor was that the durability of all items of equipment increased greatly.

The level 3 katana was unimpressive in any way.

[Katana.

Damage: 4-10 (7)

Durability: 32

Weight: 1kg

Requirement: Level 3

Cost: 120 XP]

Dan felt satiated. He put the rest of the food into his inventory. The player already knew that the magical inventory would keep food fresh and keep even the temperature of each item. The young man got up and washed his hands in the river.

Only then did Dan buy a new katana for his partner.

"Wow! What a beauty," Tom cautiously picked up the new sword. The clone looked at the player with expectation.

Dan didn't play with the feelings of a good helper. He did his shopping and handed his partner a new set of armor. Tom proved to have his sense of style. Dan had a penchant for a combination of green and black. Tom chose a combination of red and black. Each new piece of equipment the clone quickly put on. Soon the familiar figure of a samurai with a horrible evil mask on his face stood before Dan.

The player took his time and upgraded his set of armor. Eleven points of defense were not much, but it was more than eight points. The new level 3 sword differed from the katana only in form and name. All other characteristics were the same.

"Who do you want to become? Hokage or Pirate King?" Tom looked at Den with genuine interest.

"I just want to survive," Dan brushed off the joke.

"No romanticism in that man!" Tom laughed and winked at his partner. "Are you ready? Run behind me. Run fast. Don't stop fighting the zombies. At the entrance of the dungeon, try to rush right in past the guards. If you see a terrible danger inside the dungeon immediately activate the skill Phantom. But I'll try to sneak into the dungeon after you."

Dan Raven nodded his head.

And the two players ran off toward their new adventures.