DING!
Before Grey could ask the system to open his character interface, a blue screen appeared with a notification.
[Congratulation on perfectly using the Astral cultivation technique]
[Enlightenment achieved: intelligence= +2]
[Rewards: Strength= +3, Agility= +5, illusion mask sent to inventory]
[Inventory unlocked]
"Woah! What is all this? There’s also inventory?" Grey was surprised at the notifications popping up one after another, awarding him with rewards. He quickly opened his character interface.
[ Grey Silverthorne ]
RACE: Human
BLOODLINE: ??? (Dormant)
LEVEL: 16 (EXP: 12790/ 36000)
CULTIVATION REALM: Aetherial Spark (Aura), Adamantine Skin (Body)
STAMINA: 28
STRENGTH: 28
INTELLIGENCE: 22
AGILITY: 22
ORIGIN SKILLS: Skill evolution (SSS+), Lord of martial arts (SSS+), Eyes of revelation (B+)
GENERAL SKILLS: Dash (C) (Active) ]
[Inventory: 10/100]
"Fuck! This is really broken. I got two stat points for each stat with every level up."
"Hahahaha! I’ll become invincible like this!" Grey was excited seeing his stats. The primordial rank cultivation technique really didn’t disappoint. He really was given a total of forty stat points for the five level ups. But the only downside being that the experience required to level up had quadrupled.
"Well...you lose some to get some." Grey didn’t let the experience points disadvantage affect him much, it paled in front of the advantage of eight stat points each level up.
He smiled satisfactorily and opened his inventory to check the reward. A blue screen appeared and ten boxes could be seen on it. In one of the boxes was a wooden, crimson mask. He clicked on the box with the mask when it appeared in his hand out of thin air and vanished from inside the box.
Grey was a bit confused as well as surprised seeing the mask. It looked like a demon mask with sharp teeth and four long canines. Also, two small horns could be seen protruding out from the top of the mask. He activated the eyes of revelation to check on the details.
[ Illusion mask of Tiaman (Fragment) (Rare)-
First fragment of the mask made by the demon of deception, Tiaman. Can be used to change one’s face and become invisible by holding your breath ]
"This...this is the mask owned by ’I am shadow’!" Grey was shocked when he saw the details of the mask. This was the very mask owned by a player called ’I am shadow’. He was an assassin player and this mask was his signature item. He used it to slay many Gloomweaver eclipse beasts and in the assassination of high ranking nobles of the kingdoms.
The corners of Grey’s lips lifted into a smirk. "What perfect reward, system! I can now raid the dungeons without worrying about being caught."
With the sun up, shining in the sky, the eclipse beasts had to stay someplace indoors, so as to stay safe from the sun’s light, or else they would burn into ashes. The spots they choose for these were the abandoned castles, caves in the forests, underground mining tunnels and other such kind of places.
The city Grey and the academy was present, was Veridian city, one of the last human cities left. As he recalled there used to be a beginner dungeon near the city in the forests, when he played the game. Every starting player was sent to this dungeon to get familiar with the controls and level up. It was the ’Sunfall dungeon’.
The highest class of beast in the dungeon were the scourge. The risk was less and it was the perfect place for him to level up. But the problem was the outer city gates. Being a student, he was not allowed to go out under no circumstances, unless he had permission from the headmaster of the academy, which was impossible for him right now.
The mask of illusion had fallen in his lap as a blessing. All his worries vanished. He could now move out of the city and attack the dungeon to level up. Seeing time running fast, Grey hurriedly moved inside the hostel.
Since it was Saturday, Aeron was still sleeping. He quickly took a bath, wore the black jacket and baggy, stretchable trouser he bought recently and moved out, rushing towards the city exit.
Two guards were stationed at the exit, they were standing in their body armors and two long spears, standing in attention. Grey wore the illusion mask over his face. After taking a deep inhale, he held his breath and immediately vanished. As if he disappeared into thin air.
Grey slowly moved towards the exit. He crossed the huge opened metal gate and passed the two guard. They stood just as usual, unaware of Grey, walking right past beside them. He then walked for a few meters ahead and entered the forest. After hiding behind a tree, he finally let go of his breath and instantly came out of invisibility.
Grey took a few deep inhales and exhales, before finally returning his breathing to normal. The training these past few days had increased his stamina. If he had to do this just after coming to this world, he would have failed right after crossing the gate, unable to hold his breath from that laughable stamina.
"Alright! Let’s move." Grey started moving further inside the forest. He had played the game so much that every map and route was ingrained in his memory. He confidently walked forward towards the dungeon. It was not much far from the city.
But reality was cruel it seemed. He kept moving here and there, a few times returning back to the very spot he started with. he was going nowhere. "Fuck! Everything looks the same here. Where the fuck is the dungeon?" Frustration was visible on his face. He had wasted almost an hour inside the forest roaming here and there, the dungeon was nowhere to be found till now.
DING!
[Map is available]
[Use the map with the positioning system: -YES -NO]
"Why didn’t you tell me earlier, you moronic system! I’ve been uselessly moving around from almost an hour." Grey yelled in frustration. But there was no response back, only the blue window with the choices flashing.
Grey sighed helpless. He then clicked the yes button. Immediately a map of about 5 km radius appeared in the blue window. He saw the ’sunfall dungeon’ about a kilometer ahead.
After clicking on the dungeon, the map transformed into a small circular form with his location blinking with a blue dot and from the blue dot to the dungeon, a red line appeared, showing the route.
"Great! so you also have GPS. What a cheat you are system." Grey chuckled, and started following the map towards the dungeon. Ready to begin his first hunt in this world.