Awakening With A Quest-Based System

The entrance to the dungeon was well guarded, guards that had on similar masks to the ones at the gate of the walls patrolled the area, likely making sure no monster breached to the surface. I traveled further in, eventually reached a staircase that descended downwards.

The lighting noticeably dimmed, the faint illumination of blue crystals serving as the only light source within the tight tunnels of the dungeon. A small walk led me to a slightly larger opening, the appearance of a short, slim green creature. glowing red eyes met my own, as I took in the sight.

[Level 1 Goblin.]

[Health: 100]

The simplest of all creatures. A mindless being that only sought to feast on the flesh of humans, and other creatures. I saw its short, but sharp claws, alongside sharp teeth that signified that its diet was solely meat.

I wasted no time unsheathing my sword, calling forth my familiars as unslung the shield on my back. Aria squeaked loudly, her wings spring far out, as she hovered in place in front of me, Lily, and Gretta stepping in front of me to guard my left, and right side. I suppose now would be a good time to see what these familiars of mine could do. "Aria, Shadowblade, please," I asked the familiar, seeing her move her wings slightly inward, before the tips of her feather turned completely black. So black, that the light that reached it was completely absorbed.

An arc of blackness was launched forward by Aria, a loud squeak coming from her, as the arc easily tore into the walls of the tight cavern we were in. It reached the Goblin in no time at all, splitting it into two.

Its upper half fell to the ground, the lower half remaining standing, before it turned into a puff a black smoke, a little rainbow colored crystal being left behind.

I could feel the amount of mana that was drained from me from that attack, fortunately, with so many points invested into Mind, it didn't quite bring me to down to half. "Right, that seems powerful. The arc is wide enough that I could consider using it for crowd control, should I ever find myself being overwhelmed." My verbal analysis was not only for myself, but for Aria, and the dogs, since, they could understand me. We were going to function as a team, so ensuring we all knew the game plan was important.

I walked over to the crystal, picking it up.

[Magic Stone.]

[Rarity: Common]

[Description: The Life force of a monster. These stones can be used for various purposes, which is why the guild buys them from adventurers.]

[Would you like to store this item away?]

Huh, I didn't know I had that ability. I mentally clicked the yes button, watching the item disappear immediately, no flashiness to the process.

[20 XP Earned by Great Sprit of The Hunt, Aria, would you like to distribute it amongst everyone, or let Aria take it all?]

Well, Aria did all the work that time around. She might as well keep it. I had a feeling I would need to prioritize leveling her up in order to ensure the pups could grow. As Lily, and Gretta are now, they couldn't kill a goblin, let alone substantially injure one. Their jaws aren't exactly strong enough to kill many things.

"Alright, let's move forward."

. . .

(Riveria Ljos Alf POV)

It had been quite an odd day. Ais wanted out of the Twilight Manor early this morning. I had assumed that maybe she wanted to enter the dungeon, but, she had spent it wandering Orario. It was odd, to say the least. Ais had always been a focused girl, dedicating her time to trying to level up. I understood why, since, I knew her history, but I also tried to make the girl understand that she was a person too, and needed to experience the joys in life, just as much as she felt the need to work, and grow in strength.

So, when I saw her approach a strangely armored man, I was thrown off. She absolutely never interacted with strangers, it was the number one rule that I, Loki, Gareth, and Finn had taught her. My elven ears allowed me better hearing than a normal human. "Spirit," she said, which threw me off, alongside the man.

But then, I could understand.

I saw it, an owl with feathers as dark as the night. Glowing blue eyes looked towards me briefly, and, even as a Level five adventurer, I couldn't help but admit that I felt intimidated. Looking closely, I could see a glowing crescent on the owl's forehead, matching the darkness of her feathers.

Of course, I wouldn't just let Ais be by herself with a stranger, so I joined them.

It was an interesting, but short conversation, the young man, who I learned was named Alexander Marquez. The last name was unique, one I hadn't heard before. His personality seemed honest, and straight forward. As I learned the name of the owl, and the fact that it was supposedly a Great Spirit, I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. All the spirits I had heard of resembled humans, yet this one was in the form of an Owl.

But... the connection that Aria had with Ais seemed so natural that I couldn't help but concede that it was possible.

I hadn't seen Ais smile, not often at least, yet, with this supposed spirit, she smiled as if it were the most natural thing for her.

That alone made me happy. I truly did enjoy seeing her act like a normal girl her age, even if I knew she would never truly be like the others.

I based my offer upon that decision alone. Perhaps a bit foolish from the perspective of one of the heads of Loki Familia, but I believed having the spirit be present around Ais would be beneficial, plus, Mr. Marquez seemed to have a talent for spirits, judging by the young dogs that wagged their tails while looking at me.

I hadn't prepared for rejection. Who would have rejected one of the two strongest familias? I guess, I got my answer, as he gently told me no. I respected his decision, gaining a bit more of respect for how he made sure to not offend me.

Still, when he said he was going to explore the dungeon without falna, I found it hard to not find the decision stupid.

So, here I was, with Ais spying on him. Was it shameful as an elf to spy on someone? Sure, but this was for his sake... Maybe a bit for my own. Once he messed up, and was at risk of dying, I would step in and save him, scold him with an "I told you so," and escort him out of the dungeon.

That was the plan, but... He was strangely doing well.

His swings were sloppy, he was definitely new to combat. I expected him to fight from the rear, directing the spirits to fight, but, after he had seen the Spirit dish out some sort of dark arc like attack, he took to the front with Aria. The dogs seemed like emotional support, their jaws unable to do substantial damage, and their teeth still being puppy teeth did not help that, yet, they also scanned the area.

I began to wonder if he was truly telling the truth when he said he could understand them. Maybe he could understand all animals.

Ais stayed silent, watching him fight. So did I. His swings were clumsy, but I could tell that it at least had the purpose of being as efficient with his energy as possible. Whenever he killed a Goblin, or Kobold, I could hear him talking to the spirits near him, creating strategies, and planning out the best way to "Level up," the dogs named Lily, and Gretta.

I didn't know spirits could level up without falna. It stimulated my theorizing side, wondering just how those spirits came to him, and how he could communicate, and strategize with them so well.

He reached the second floor in a little over an hour. Despite having no pouch, he managed to collect, and store all the Magic Stones away.

Just as he entered the second floor, he paused. "Yeah, no. I should work on this place first before I even try to go further."

'Surprisingly reasonable,' I couldn't help but think. I watched him turned around. I knew he would be fine now. It seems that even if he faltered, the Aria would be able to assist him. Still, I felt quite bad that I didn't get to have my fun with scolding him. At least he was safe.

And definitely worthy of joining Loki Familia, even if he was definitely new to combat.

"Ais," I quietly said, the girl nodding her head. Both of us left without revealing ourselves to the young man.

. . .

(Alexander Marquez POV)

[XP collected this session: 220.]

[Two level ups available. Would you like to level yourself up, or a familiar?]

I looked towards Aria, who conveyed her thoughts. To sum it up, she basically said, "You need it more than me," which I had to agree. Lily and Gretta did what they could, alerting me to oncoming enemies, as well as notifying me that the girl, and the elf, Ais, and Riveria were watching me from behind.

I assumed they were just making sure I didn't get murdered in the dungeon, so I didn't say anything, figuring they would much rather keep their actions a secret. Once I reached the second floor, I stopped. As much as I didn't want to say it, that had been a bit rough on me. Being weak was definitely sucky, but I was genuinely grateful to experience it.

I knew what I needed to improve on, especially since I would be taking the front. Vigor, Strength, and Endurance would need to be raised to at least ten, before I indulged in upgrading my Faith attribute.

For now, I put two points into Endurance. It would make staying in the dungeon for longer periods easier if I didn't get as worn out.

Aria Squeaked once more, asking if I wanted to use her Shadow Passage ability, which I once again declined. She seemed to really want to show it off, but I really wanted to kill some more Kobolds and Goblins on our way back up to the surface.

Lily barked, my body immediately turning towards my left, raising my shield as a goblin charged at me. I let it sink its nails into the wood of my shield. with my left hand, I used my broadsword, and stabbed its chest, watching the body fall to the floor.

Sometimes I missed their little magic stone, which left the corpse. Fortunately, after getting lucky a few times with killing goblins, you learn the rough area of where the magic stone is. I dug my sword into the right side of its chest, breaking the ribcage, before the tip of my sword poked the stone. I wiggled my sword around the stone, before leveraging it out.

Inefficient? Sure, but honestly, I was learning so much right now that I didn't care about efficiency. Once the magic stone was pulled from its flesh, the body turned to dust. I grabbed the stone, storing it away, leaving me with thirteen stones in total. "Let's get out of here," I told my familiars, before continuing on.

About another hour passed. The stairs leading up to the opening. Six miles I had walked, killing goblins and Kobolds as I did it. I was amazed that the first floor was three miles long. As I walked up the stairs, I recalled my familiars, since, I was nearly out of mana.

Two hours of having my familiars constantly summoned was not bad at all, especially after Aria had used Shadow Blade. The light from the sun hit me, momentarily blinding me. When my eyes adjusted, I could see that it was about noon.

[Exploration of the 1st Floor complete.]

[Would you like to begin the tutorial Dungeon?]

The second message caught me off guard. Why was it asking me now whether I wanted a Tutorial or not? Shouldn't the system ask at the very beginning, instead of letting me just get myself into a potentially dangerous situation?

I had to stop, and think about it. I could probably let my body rest for today, and let my mana regenerate. In the meantime, I could exchange my magic stones for money, and maybe look around the area.

I did just that, exiting the open entrance of the dungeon, and traveling towards the guild building I had seen earlier. What greeted me was a clean environment with male and female employees dressed in formal attire, consisting of black slacks, a white button up shirt with a black vest layered over top, a grey bow tie, black formal shoes, and black gloves. Many of the females were quite beautiful, however, I didn't pay much attention after the initial sight.

I got in line behind a large, bulky tanned man, who didn't even acknowledge my existence. Slowly, the line moved up, until it was my turn to exchange my magic stones.

In total, I had acquired twenty-seven thousand and six hundred "Valis," which I guess were this city's currency. I didn't know whether it was actually a lot, the majority of the valis earned coming from Goblins, which seemed to be priced at 1,200 Valis per stone.

Regardless, I had money, and that was good. I exited the guild without complaints.