Sam set his empty bowl of cereal in the sink before watching it disappear. Stretching his arms over his head, he bent back, cracking what he could. With a heavy breath, he looked towards his gear.

  “Time to get ready…” he groaned.

  The thought of more money was appealing and exciting, but fighting the goblins was going to be rough. Thankfully, he had better equipment this time and if he would admit it, he was slightly excited to test it out.

  Taking his time, he slipped into each piece of leather armor. Unlike the simple vest, he was covered from head to toe. His toes curled inside his new boots, feeling the rough leather that begged to mold to him.

  Only after donning his armor did he realize that it was the perfect size for him.

  “Odd,” he muttered.

  Shrugging, he grabbed his belt and strapped it in place. Before he fell asleep last night, he bought another lesser monster core and added it to his inventory. He didn’t know how long he was going to be in the dark today and wanted to be prepared.

  Grabbing his lantern, he hung it in place before picking up his pickaxe. As ready as he would ever be, he entered the dungeon.

  His vision warped as he stepped through, only to struggle to adjust to the dim lighting. To his surprise, the mushrooms that once guided him were all but gone. Only a few of them remained, and they looked too small to shine much light.

  “What’s going on?” Sam asked himself.

  Switching on his lantern, he brightened the tunnel and started walking to the first cavern.

  It took a few minutes to walk through the tunnel and Sam realized that he felt stronger than when he first started a few days earlier. He also took another potion that morning to heal his sore muscles. Although the effect of his healing muscles left him cramped for several minutes. He also noticed that his flexibility had decreased.

  “I have to stop using potions for that,” Sam told himself.

  Promising himself that he would recover the natural way from now on, he approached the opening to the first cavern. That’s when he heard it.

  The clashing of stone on stone reverberated through the air. It was sporadic and softer than when he mined, but it was unmistakable that something was happening in the cavern.

  Stepping inside, he scanned the room.

  A lone goblin was bashing a stone against the wall, chipping away. It didn’t seem to notice him.

  Glancing at the walls, he found several small holes littered all around the room.

  “I didn’t make those,” Sam muttered.

  Lifting his pick, he started towards the goblin. The floppy eared monster turned to him with a shriek and threw its stone.

  Dodging, Sam watched with confusion as the goblin tried running away.

  “No, you don’t!” Sam yelled before racing after it.

  Just as it reached the next tunnel, Sam’s pick found its head, ending its life in a spurt of blood and brain matter.

  Pulling out his pick, he frowned. “Why were you mining?”

  Shaking his head, Sam moved through the next tunnel. The first through third room should be clear, and yet a goblin was in the first. How long had it been mining? Sam had already cleared each room, so they weren’t going to find anything.

  The same striking of stone on stone echoed from the second cavern, and Sam quickly stepped inside. Once again, a lone goblin was mining and had already left several holes around the room. One of the pillars looked frail and Sam smiled.

  Just to try out the idea, Sam walked up to the weakened pillar and lifted his pick. If he did it right, he could crush the goblin without bloodying his weapon.

  Taking a deep breath, he swung. The pillar cracked, spiderwebbed all the way to the top as it started to shake.

  The goblin stopped its mining and gasped as the pillar came crashing down. It only had a moment to try and jump to the side, but the pillar broke up and spread. Stone shards larger than Sam’s body crushed the goblin.

  Blood pooled from the grisly sight, and Sam smiled. “I’m surprised that worked, but I’m not going to question it.”

  Scanning the room one more time with his lantern, he confirmed that there were no shimmers of mining nodes.

  Frowning, he moved on. When he made it to the third cavern, he heard more striking of stone.

  “You have to be kidding me,” Sam said softly.

  Pursing his lips, he stepped into the cavern. Once again a lone goblin was mining. Even more holes were littered around the room, and Sam furrowed his brows.

  Unlike the two previous caverns, the three fires in this one had been refilled, explaining where all of the mushrooms had gone. Smoke drifted towards the ceiling, and unmistakable scent of burning fungi filled the air. It was thick and poignant, leaving a bad taste in Sam’s mouth.

  Steeling himself, Sam rushed towards the goblin before it could react. The goblin had a moment of surprise before a pickaxe struck its chest, breaking through its sternum.

  Dead at his feet, Sam pulled his pick free and started towards the fourth cavern.

  “I should be almost done with this place,” Sam muttered.

  With his lantern lighting the way, he found that even the small mushrooms had been taken from the walls. He was in complete darkness and was thankful for his lantern.

  When he reached the fourth cavern, he stopped before entering. Several sounds of mining filled the air. Just the thought of more than one goblin made Sam’s mouth dry as he prepared himself.

  Stepping inside, he found a lone fire burning that was twice the size of the previous ones. The room was well lit, and three goblins were spread around the room, adding to the many holes that were already made.

  The three goblins were spread in such a way that Sam would be able to fight them one at a time. Even if they reacted, the cavern was large and they would have to run to meet him.

  Taking a few breaths, Sam hyped himself up. “Just do it!” Sam whispered aggressively.

  Running forward, he raced towards the first goblin and watched as it turned and shrieked. Its stone bounced off his chest, bruising the muscle underneath, but Sam’s pick landed all the same.

  Pulling his pick out of the dead goblin, he turned and found the other two goblins racing towards him. With a grunt, Sam charged, his pick raised high. The second goblin raised its stone in answer, preparing to smash Sam but its shorter reach was its downfall.

  Sam’s pick was pulled from the second goblin just as the third reached him. Lifting his pick, Sam blocked the stone that was coming towards him. Switching his grip, he smashed the butt of his pick against the goblin as a counter attack.

  Stunned, the goblin staggered back, giving Sam enough time to finish it off.

  Breathing heavy, Sam pulled his sword free and removed the ears from the goblins. He had forgotten to do it to the first three, but he would go back after he finished the boss.

  Panning the room with his lantern, he found four mining nodes that the goblins didn’t reach. They were so close with their many holes, and two of them just weren’t deep enough to reveal their goods.

  Moving around the room, he started mining. With his lantern trained on the spots he needed, he was able to pull out iron, steel, and two mana crystals.

  The shimmering crystals felt like they were full of power and he stared at the them for nearly five minutes.

  “There’s something about you, isn’t there?” he asked the crystals.

  Sighing, he added them to his inventory and started towards the fifth cavern. Hopefully it would be his last before the boss, but he never knew.

  ***

  A slimy tendril licked the back of the woman. Her whimpers petered out into the distance as she kept her eyes closed. The monster was leaving.

  It felt like it had been hours as the tendril caressed her body after bringing the mist monsters back to her. Slime covered her torso, legs, and arms. Only her neck and head were spared as she fought back her fear.

  “Go away,” she whispered. “You aren’t real…”

  Breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth, she focused on meditating as best she could. If she could slip away from this world, she would be fine.

  Several more hours passed before the tendril finally left.

  Heavy breaths escaped the woman as she waited another hour before opening her eyes. The mist was gone, and with it the monster of the void.

  “When am I going to get out of here?” she asked herself. “Someone… anyone… save me…”

  Years had passed in the void, or it could have been minutes. There was no way to tell. What happened to her planet? What happened to her summoned companions after she died? Were they somewhere in the void with her?

  The woman’s tail dropped, curling between her legs in anxiety. She had most likely doomed her friends. But for the life of her, the woman couldn’t remember how she died.

  She knew she was in a dungeon, but everything after that was blank.

  “Why can’t I remember?” The woman asked herself.

  Lost in thought, she almost didn’t notice the mist creeping back in.

  “It’s too soon! No!”

  Her heart raced as she closed her eyes.

  “You’re not real!” she screamed into the void.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  She only had to wait another few seconds before the tendril came back.

  ***

  Sam entered the fifth cavern and frowned. His brows furrowed in disbelief over what he was seeing.

  Five goblins were mining the interior of the cavern. The walls were torn apart as they hammered stones into the walls. A small pile of ore was in the middle near a small firepit that was barely flickering.

  The strong scent of burned out mushrooms dominated the room, only overpowering the scent of urine and feces. What Sam took as a second pile of ore in the corner was really the goblins’ bathroom spot.

  Covering his nose, he scanned the room. The five goblins hadn’t noticed him, or didn’t care about him as he stood inside the entrance. With his lantern, he was able to see clearly, even shining it on the goblins.

  “I better get started,” Sam muttered.

  Hefting his pick, he started towards the nearest goblin at a jog. His heart thundered in his chest as he prepared to see the ground coated in blood. Much to his surprise however was the fact that the killing didn’t bother him like it did on the first day.

  No.

  Now he felt nearly at home with the killing. They were monsters. They took his family from him. They deserved to die.

  Swinging his pick, he sank it into the goblin’s head without it reacting.

  The other four goblins screamed in rage and started racing towards him. Sam wasn’t going to be deterred however and charged into the fray.

  Several stones pounded into his legs as the goblins struck. But for the four blows that he took, Sam claimed a life.

  Stepping back, Sam kept the remaining three in front of him as they tried to circle around his sides.

  When one threw its rock at him, Sam dodged and darted in. His pick sank into the monster’s side, killing it before he kicked the body off his weapon.

  A sharp pain in his back made Sam scream. Spinning, he found one of the goblins raising its arm for a second attack.

  Swinging, Sam struck as quickly as he could. The rock tumbled to the ground, but not before the last goblin struck Sam’s knee and nearly made him collapse.

  It was only due to sheer will that he pulled his pick free and turned on the last monster.

  Hobbling forward, Sam slammed his pick down on the monster, thanking his new leather armor for absorbing most of the damage.

  Gasping for air, Sam’s teeth were set in a grimace as he pulled out a potion. Downing it in two gulps, he felt the healing energy wash over him, healing his bruised kidney and swollen knee.

  After a few more minutes of resting, Sam moved to the pile of ore. He didn’t know what the goblins were looking for, but he picked up the iron chunks and added them to his inventory.

  Panning his lantern around the room, he spotted one last node that was untouched. With a smile, he headed over to it.

  Taking a calming breath, he started mining.

  It didn’t take longer than a few minutes for the telltale glimmer of blue crystal to shine through the cracks.

  Doubling his efforts, he quickly excavated the mana crystal and tossed it in the air. Catching it, he smiled. “More money!”

  Adding to his inventory, he turned towards what he hoped was the last tunnel. But before he went, he pressed his lesser monster core against his lantern. It had been running for hours the last few days and he didn’t want it to run out in the middle of a fight.

  Placing one foot in front of the other, he left the horrendous smell of waste behind.

  ***

  Sam stopped before entering the next cavern. His eyes widened at the sheer size of the space.

  Unlike the previous caverns, this one was smooth and detailed in brickwork. Towering red brick pillars spanned the length of the room, making a hall of sorts.

  Just off to the side was a collection of goblin weapons; spears, swords, axes, and shields.

  Torches lined the pillars, giving light to the room and showcasing the massive throne on the far side. A much too small body was sitting in the throne, but even from a distance, Sam could tell it was the chieftain.

  A headdress of bones and feathers crowned it. A mantle of leather and bone covered its chest, while its legs were covered in leather with reinforced boots.

  “Welcome human!” A strong male voice boomed.

  Sam blinked a few times as the chieftain stood up and threw out his arms.

  Hefting his pick, Sam entered the room. The chieftain walked towards him, drawing a giant cleaver from his back. The shining weapon looked fresh and clean.

  “You have fought well, human,” the chieftain told him.

  “They were easy fights,” Sam responded.

  “That they were.” To Sam’s surprise, the chieftain’s voice became smoother as he grew closer. Almost like he was adjusting to Sam’s presence.

  “Why were you mining?” Sam asked.

  A booming laugh filled the air. “The same reason you were!”

  “Money?” Sam questioned.

  Shaking his head, the chieftain pointed at Sam’s chest. “The mana crystals.”

  Sam pulled out one of the blue crystals from his inventory. “Why would you want one of these?”

  The chieftain stopped as Sam looked over the crystal.

  “Do you not know the power you hold in your hands?” the chieftain asked.

  Sam frowned. Turning his gaze on the chieftain, he returned the crystal to his inventory. “I don’t.”

  Shaking his head again, the chieftain started walking. “The power of the mana crystal is something that all living beings of the universe would kill for. Especially my master.”

  “Chaos?” Sam asked.

  The chieftain paused again. “What do you know about Chaos?”

  “That it is powerful and is claiming worlds and killing off their inhabitants,” Sam stated broadly.

  “You aren’t wrong, but you aren’t right either.” Sighing, the chieftain stepped in front of Sam. “I will not be the one to tell you about Chaos. I only want the crystal in your inventory.”

  “I need it,” Sam said. “I need the money.”

  “You’ve been selling them?” The chieftain roared.

  “Well, yes,” Sam said.

  “You fool!” Rubbing his face, the chieftain looked aghast. “You truly are ignorant of this universe. Alas, it’s against the rules to tell you the truth.”

  “You can’t tell me what the mana crystals are for?” Sam questioned.

  “I cannot. But I will let you live if you hand over one of the crystals. You can keep the rest.”

  Sam thought it over for a moment. “I’m sorry, but I can’t give it to you.”

  Something instinctual told Sam that giving over the crystal would be bad. He wasn’t entirely positive, but the crystals were more important than he could process.

  “Then I will kill you and take them,” the chieftain stated.

  Sam braced himself, falling into a haphazard fighting stance.

  “You have no training,” the chieftain laughed. “You delvers always have training.”

  “I’m sorry,” Sam grunted.

  “This will be easy,” the chieftain snorted.

  Raising his cleaver, the chieftain held it with two hands. Sam gulped as he watched the light shimmer of the blade’s edge.

  Everything was silent apart the flickering of the torches. Sam’s breathing was even, and he was surprisingly calm.

  “I’m about to die,” Sam whispered to himself. “I still have a chance, right?”

  The chieftain acted first. His cleaver tore through the air with a whine and Sam threw himself to the side.

  Rolling across the ground, Sam scrambled back on his hand and feet. The chieftain towered over him, the bones of his clothes rattling as he raised his cleaver once again.

  “Stay still,” he hissed.

  Sam rolled to the side and felt stones bounce off his armor as the floor was split open.

  Getting back to his feet, Sam had just enough time to dash behind a pillar before the cleaver struck the bricks.

  To Sam’s surprise, the weapon seemed stuck, and the muscles of the chieftain bulged as he pulled on it.

  Improvising, Sam swung his pick into the bricks, sending dust and stone at the chieftain.

  “Argh!” the chieftain roared as his eyes were forced shut.

  Dashing around the pillar, Sam swung his pick at the monster’s side. An arm dropped and blocked him, but the sound of breaking bones filled the air.

  The cleaver came loose right afterwards.

  Wielded with one hand, the chieftain finished wiping his eyes and advanced on Sam.

  The next swing wasn’t as fast, and Sam was able to get his pickaxe up to block the attack. A chip formed in the handle of his weapon, but the wood stood strong, to his surprise.

  Another roar filled the air as the chieftain attacked again.

  Dodging to the side, Sam dipped down and grabbed a handful of rubble and dust. Throwing himself into a roll, he dodged the next attack before using his closed fist to shine his lantern into the chieftain’s eyes.

  “Damn you, human!” The chieftain roared as he swung his cleaver blindly.

  Taking advantage of the moment, Sam threw the rubble and dust into the monster’s face, blinding him further.

  Grabbing his pick with both hands, Sam swung for the chieftain’s chest, only to be blocked by the cleaver. A crack spread across the weapon, but it wasn’t enough to hamper the chieftain.

  Jarred and bouncing back, Sam was left open for a counter attack. With his hands raised, the cleaver dug into his chest piece, scoring a slash through his armor.

  A scream of pain escaped Sam as blood began to pool from his wound. Adrenaline kept him going as he swung his pick for the cleaver a second time.

  The weapon broke.

  The chieftain tossed aside his broken cleaver as Sam recoiled from his attack. Instead of finding a new weapon, the goblin charged.

  Sam’s eyes widened for just a moment before what felt like a train struck him. Thrown to the ground, the large goblin mounted Sam and started wailing into his chest.

  The breath was knocked out of Sam with the first strike and spots appeared in his vision. Blood coated the chieftain’s hands as he slammed down again and again.

  Sam felt his ribs stress then crack as he reached for his fallen pick. Realizing that he couldn’t reach it, he grabbed his sword and pulled it free.

  The chieftain bent down for another attack and met the tip of the blade.

  Sam shoved his sword into the monster’s chest.

  A gasping breath escaped the chieftain. “Damn cockroach…” he grumbled before toppling off Sam.

  Gasping for his own breath, Sam felt pain radiating through his body. Bones were broken and with trembling hands, he grabbed another potion.

  Dribbling it into his mouth, he felt his chest wound close and his ribs begin to heal, but they would still need another potion or two.

  Laying on his back, Sam listened to the breathing of the chieftain slow.

  “Learn… the… truth…” the chieftain mumbled.

  Sam looked over and watched the chieftain’s eyes glaze over.

  A message appeared before him a moment later.

  Congratulations!

  Tutorial dungeon complete!

  Reward: Class and Summoning token.

  Summoning token added to inventory.

  Class will be assigned after leaving tutorial dungeon.

  Time remaining until dungeon closes: Fifty-nine minutes, fifty seconds.

  Sam blinked several times before groaning. He didn’t have time to scour the room for mining nodes.

  Fighting his way to his feet, Sam cut off the ears of the goblin chieftain before heading back. His movements were staggered as he limped and slowed his pace. His body ached like nothing he had ever felt before. At least not since he was eight years old.

  Time ticked by as he moved from one cavern to the next, stopping at the three goblins he missed to cut off their ears. With nothing more to do, he left the dungeon with fifteen minutes to spare.

  ***

  Sam limped into his room and dropped his pick and sword. He barely managed to turn off his lantern before falling to his hands and knees.

  The walk had stressed his broken ribs, and he desperately needed a better healing potion.

  Taking several minutes to himself, he calmed down before moving to his computer. With practiced movements, he sold the iron and steel that he had collected. The goblin ears weren't worth much, but he didn't want them in his inventory. As for the mana crystals, he held onto them.

  His bank account topped out at just over fourteen thousand from the sales and he readily bought a normal grade healing potion.

  Gulping it down, he felt his ribs finish healing and took a rejoiceful breath. “That’s better.”

  A small blinking icon in the corner of his vision drew his attention. Focusing on it, he pulled up a message that was waiting for him.

  Performance in tutorial dungeon has been calculated.

  Class assigned: Miner

  Sam frowned. He could understand how he received the class, but it didn’t sound very combat focused.

  With a thought, he pulled up information about his new class and character sheet.

  Samuel Tinner

  Class: Miner

  Tier 1

  Level: 1

  Strength: 3

  Dexterity: 1

  Recovery: 3

  Free Points: 2

  Skills: Miner’s Intuition, Darkvision

  Miner’s Intuition: A passive skill that will help guide you to the next motherlode. You will inherently know where to mine, and what is below the surface.

  Darkvision: A passive skill that allows you to see in the dark. Near total darkness will result in normal seeing distance. Complete darkness will result in vision within ten feet. All Darkvision is gray scaled.

  Sam had two free points to use and found that he gained two to strength and two to recovery right off the bat.

  “Should I just add a point to each?” Sam questioned. “No, let’s balance dexterity out.”

  Shrugging, he found it was a simple as thinking about where to place the points for them to allocate.

  With his points assigned, he sat back in his computer chair. Pulling up his inventory, he took out the summoning token. It was a small round disk about the size of his palm. Blue in color, it radiated power.

  A message appeared.

  Would you like to use summoning token: Yes/No

  Sam shook his head. First he wanted a shower.

  Setting the token on his desk, he moved to the side of the room and stripped off his leather armor. He would need to clean everything, but that could wait.

  Piling everything up, he added his pickaxe, sword, and belt to the mix. With everything waiting for a later time, he moved to the shower.

  Steaming water ran over his body, washing away the blood and relaxing his muscles. He could have stayed all day in the wonderful shower, but he really wanted to know what the summoning token would do.

  After cleaning his hair, and making sure no blood remained, he turned off the water and started drying himself before getting dressed. His stomach rumbled, but his hunger could wait.

  Picking up the summoning token, he read the same message over again. With a simple thought, he answered, “Yes.”

  The token floated off his palm to drift in the center of the room. It started shining with a bright blue light that nearly blinded him before expanding. The token broke apart and the shards started spinning around, as they stretched to the height of a person. Widening their radius, Sam watched as a figure started to appear in the middle of the bright light.

  “Holy shit…” Sam trailed off as he got the first glimpse of who he hoped would be his new partner.

  ***

  The woman screamed into the void as the tendril grazed her tail. It wouldn’t go away. It wouldn’t leave her.

  Suddenly a burst of heat washed over her body and the monster behind her screamed. The tendril retracted, fleeing from the warmth.

  “What’s going on?” the woman asked herself.

  Opening her eyes, she noticed her body was glowing and becoming transparent. Her vision began to swim as the void faded around her.

  The hazy scene of a pure white room started to appear, and then she heard a mutter.

  “Holy shit…”

  The woman realized that she had been saved.