Chapter 1: The Maw

  Trepidation lanced through Raiden’s heart for the battles that would come today when he faced his first dungeon. He would defeat the monsters of the dungeon and earn his class, or he would die in the attempt. It was early, and he quietly closed the door to his home where his mother and sister were fast asleep. Raiden jogged out of his rundown neighborhood. He made his way through the empty streets of Galaran. Soft blue light from streetlamps empowered by mana lit his path as he headed towards the dungeon. The city was famous for its magical technology, which it had derived from the ancient ruins it had been built over.

  Raiden ran for a long time until he made it past the outskirts and into the forest in the direction of a massive mountain that sat behind the city. Inside the mountain was the Maw. It was the name for the remaining ruins of the ancient civilization that preceded Raiden’s home kingdom of Hallgram. The Maw was one gigantic dungeon ruin, and new sections were constantly being discovered. Monsters spawned within its depths, monsters that Raiden would soon be fighting. There were also sections called instanced dungeons that were their own dungeons in and of themselves. It was to one of these instanced dungeon sections to which Raiden headed.

  Today was Raiden’s chance to get his class and join the Order of Arcane Knights. He had turned eighteen last week, and his soul was ready to be awakened. The soul awakening was the moment when the body was finally ready to accept a class and gain new powers and abilities. Raiden didn’t yet have a class, and he wanted to become an Arcane Knight like his father before him, who had died while serving the order. By gaining a powerful class, Raiden would have the power to fight off the evils and challenges of this world.

  Raiden arrived at the base of the mountain as the sun crested the horizon. He slowed his jogging and breathed deeply and evenly as he approached the clearing in front of the dungeon entrance. Standing in front of the entrance was an old man.

  As Raiden approached, he took in the man’s appearance. The old man was grizzled, with short white hair. He wore a full set of plate mail with only his head exposed. His armor glistened in the sunlight. At his waist hung a hand and a half sword in its sheath. Two mana pistols were holstered on his thighs. Across his back was slung a giant cylindrical tube that Raiden could only assume was a cannon. Raiden drew to a stop before him. The old man leveled a measured gaze at Raiden and spoke.

  “Raiden Starshroud of the once noble House Starshroud. Before you lies the Gauntlet. A section of the Maw that is dedicated to the induction of new knights. Should you perform well and complete the dungeon, you may gain the class Arcane Knight and join the order. Are you ready to begin?”

  Raiden was a little taken aback as he knew that the old man was the chapter commander for the order. The man was way too important to come to the test of a potential knight. That counted double for Raiden, considering his family history. Still, there was no mocking in his voice as he referred to the once noble House Starshroud. Raiden returned his gaze and responded calmly, even though his heart was pounding.

  “I am ready, Chapter Commander Mortimer.”

  “Begin,” said the grizzled old man.

  Raiden turned to face the entrance of the dungeon. It was a simple cave opening that led into the mountain. He breathed deeply to calm himself and took stock of his gear. Raiden was tall and lean and hadn’t quite grown into his frame yet. His only piece of armor was a metal breastplate that covered his torso, which he had taken from his deceased father’s possessions. It unfortunately did not fit him well. On his left side hung a simple one handed short sword in its sheath. Just below it on his left thigh, a mana pistol was holstered. On his lower back was a small pack attached to a belt wrapped around his waist. He also carried a necklace with a white stone pendant that he made sure was tucked under his shirt, which his sister made him promise to wear.

  He drew his weapons, a mana pistol in his left hand and a simple short sword in his right. Raiden wasn’t particularly worried. He knew that if he died, he would come back to life at a nearby respawn stone back in the city. It wasn’t common for new inductees to die during their first dungeon run, but it did happen. Everyone in the world was born with two lives. Luckily for Raiden, he still had both. Regardless, he had no plans of dying today. He had come here to gain his class, and that was exactly what he was going to do.

  I will become an Arcane Knight.

  Hardening his resolve, Raiden walked forward. The cave entrance loomed ominously before him, and soon he was at the threshold. An ethereal screen popped up in his vision that read:

  Dungeon subsection: The Gauntlet.

  Rank: F-

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  Rewards: Loot chest.

  Potential rewards: Earn a class.

  Raiden dismissed the window with a thought, and the ethereal screen disappeared. He was used to getting screens like that, which popped up occasionally in his vision. They were notifications from the World Heart. Raiden knew that the World Heart helped govern the magic of the world and was often described as the soul of the planet. It could populate dungeons with monsters, give out quests, and even let him see his current attributes. He thought about his stats, and a new window appeared.

  Current Stats:

  Physicality:

  Agility: Unranked

  Strength: Unranked

  Endurance: Unranked

  Constitution: Unranked

  Magic:

  Mana Control: Unranked

  Mana Flow: Unranked

  Mana Recovery: Unranked

  Mana Pool: Unranked

  Class: None

  Abilities: None

  Soul Traits: None

  Lives: 2

  Raiden dismissed the next window as well. His battles in the dungeon would not be easy. He wasn’t even ranked yet in any of his stats. He put those musings aside and stepped into the dungeon. He found himself in a tunnel that led steadily downward. Along the sides of the walls, glowing mushrooms rested. The light they provided gave plenty to see by. Raiden stepped forward cautiously, ready to strike out at anything that might try to surprise him. He soon found himself in a medium sized cavern. The glowing mushrooms permeated the walls and ceiling. There were large boulders on the floor, and he didn’t have a clear sight across the whole room. He approached the first boulders when he heard a skittering sound. His heart began to pump furiously. From around one of the rocks, a creature came into view. It was a rat like creature around knee height. Black spikes that shone and reminded Raiden of an insect’s carapace protruded from its body, and from its fur wept a dark black liquid. Sharp teeth that were more akin to fangs jutted haphazardly out of its mouth. Its claws looked equally dangerous. The creature stood on its hind legs as it glared eerily at him. Then it hissed and charged.

  The creature was fast, much faster than Raiden had expected. He only managed to take a single step back before he swung his blade across and down. The rat lunged and connected with the blade as it plowed into him. It squealed in pain. Raiden fell over on his back with the rat above him. His sword was lodged in its neck, and it used its claws to try to tear into his chest armor. It struggled furiously, but its claws simply couldn’t penetrate the metal. It was trying to bite into Raiden’s face, but the sword prevented that from happening as Raiden used it to hold the rat at bay. As the rats struggled, the blade bit deeper and deeper, causing blood to spray out. It kept biting relentlessly at the air, and streams of saliva poured onto Raiden’s face. Soon, the flailing grew weak, and the hideous beast finally died.

  Raiden spat out the profuse that had gotten into his mouth. It was revolting and bitter, with a hint of iron. He rolled the rat off of him and stood up. He looked around wildly, ready for anything else to jump out at him. Nothing immediately did, but his recent scuffle hadn’t exactly been quiet. He could hear pattering moving in his direction, and he quickly hid behind a boulder. When the pattering stopped, he peeked out to see the form of another rat. The thing was sniffing the corpse of the dead rat. It was just as ugly as the first one, with black spikes sticking out and a black liquid that leaked everywhere. He took aim with his pistol. He had exactly one shot before the weapon had to be recharged. His left arm was shaking terribly from his nervousness, but he knew that now was his chance to strike before it noticed him. He fired, and a bullet made of blue mana flew out of the barrel and towards the rat. The concentrated bullet of mana struck the rat’s hind leg. It yowled and did a semi-somersault as it tried to get away from the pain in a knee-jerk reaction.

  It looked for the source of its misery and spotted Raiden. It scrambled toward him with its three good legs. The madness in its eyes promised death if it got hold of Raiden. He centered his balance with his left foot leading and then drove the blade in his right hand forward when the rat got within range. The sharpened steel punched right through the rat’s chest cavity, killing it instantly. He quickly withdrew his blade, ready to strike again, but it was no longer moving. He slowly spun, ready for his next target. However, there was only silence.

  Raiden paused to evaluate his situation. The creatures in this dungeon were far more dangerous than he had expected. He knew that the denizens of this dungeon were giant rats, but he didn’t expect any of the other features that they manifested. The giant black spikes, the dark fluid that was weeping from the rats’ skin, the incredible speed with which they moved, the mangled teeth, and the overt aggression were all things that he had never heard of before. He thought the monsters here were just supposed to be normal giant rats. The Gauntlet was one of those dungeons where a lot of new knights were taken to earn their class. It was considered a weak dungeon, even among those with an F minus rating.

  He had heard the stories, although he had always been a bit of an outsider and never got the full account. Maybe some of the other newly inducted knights wanted him to be unprepared, so they didn’t tell him everything. He had spoken to at least a few of them. However, the conversations were quick and awkward. Raiden shook his head. It didn’t matter. He was going to press forward no matter what.

  Raiden had used the one charge in his mana pistol, and he needed to recharge it before continuing. The pistol in his hand was able to absorb mana from his body. Mana was the magical energy of the universe. He didn’t yet have his class, and so he had very little mana, and when he tried to use the energy, it moved like molasses through his body. He strained as he tried to force the mana of his body to go into the pistol he was holding. After a few minutes, it was finally charged. He then trod lightly down the tunnel, careful to make as little noise as possible. About halfway down the next section of tunnel, the skittering of feet followed by a short shriek carried to his ears, and he froze. It was followed by loud sniffing and then a deafening high pitched shriek and the pounding of feet in Raiden’s direction.

  What do you think — how will Raiden handle the strange behavior of the dungeon!?