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Chapter 7 Portal
🕑 Added 2025-01-04 03:18:38 +0000 UTC“Hehehe.” James giggled. He had won. His body was sore all over. The pain in his gum flared intermittently, but he had won. His hands trembled from exhaustion. However, he had won, he had proven himself. And now, he had a boss monster’s body part for the loot. However, his eyes snapped at the portal that spawned.
“System. What’s that portal?”
[Congratulations. You have finished the first floor of trial dungeon 1204. Please step into the portal to advance to the second floor.]
“This is just the first floor?” James sulked. “How many floors are there?”
[There are five floors for trial dungeons.]
“And this is supposed to be an easy dungeon? Trial means easy, right?”
[yes. It is recommended that survivors begin clearing dungeons from novice-level dungeons. This trial dungeon is considered a novice level.]
“Shit. This is the easiest? I almost died twice on this floor alone! How many survivors are here?”
[There are no other survivors in trial dungeon 1204. Out of ten survivors that were assigned to trial dungeon 1204, You are the sole survivor]
“Damn? I am the only one that survived?”
[Trial dungeon 1204 will be merged with trial ground 1307 from the second floor upwards.]
“Should I go now?” It was a stupid question. Again, James was not the sharpest tool in the shed. James would be teleported immediately if he had to go right now, and the system wouldn’t have bothered to create a portal.
[You may leave at your own discretion.]
“Good.” James sighed in relief. He had tons to do. First, he returned back to the corpse room and restored his mouth to that of a human. His wolf mouth was a mess. More than half of its teeth shook loose when he battled the orc.
Then, he stood before the orc.
[Available body part:
Orc’s mouth
Orc’s legs (+10% STR)
Orc’s arm (+10% STR)
]
“is this all?” he asked the system.
[No. You can swap out heart, liver, lungs, etc. However, we only displayed what might be beneficial to you. Other parts of an orc’s body offer negligible advantages to your current body.]
“I see. If I wanted to change my body part, it must be the arms, right?” James pondered. James looked at the orc. If he had to choose whether to have its arms or legs, he would choose the arm. They have the same stats, but with the orc’s hand, his swing would become that much stronger. His battle with the orc proved that. He was so easily pushed back with its strength.
[Survivors have the freedom to make their own decisions. Will you swap out your human arm with an orc’s arm?]
Because James phrased it as a question, the system asked for confirmation. James pondered further, but ultimately, he went for the arm. Orc’s hands were similar to that of a human, only four sizes bigger. However, it was strong. James was beaten black and blue with its power. If he could harness that, he would be unstoppable.
The system granted his wish. A green arm replaced his human arm. Unlike the scrawny arm he had before, this arm was ripped. James felt power and confidence flowing to him as he swung his new arm.
Whoosh
The air split open when James swung his war axe with his new hand. The raw power left a gust of wind. He grinned when he realized he could do more if he used his weapon skill. When he swung the sword with his other arm, the air roared once more. After he was done with his test swing, he approached the portals before stopping himself again.
“Hmm, should I go? Wait a minute. There were two more unopened doors, right?” James was about to go to the portal when he realized that there were unopened doors here in this castle. James went back.
As he initially expected, the throne room led to two paths, one from where he came in before and another from where the woman went back then. After James marked the doors, there were only two doors left. James was itching to test his new arm to some random goblins. However, the room was devoid of monsters.
“Well, at least there is a chest here.” James sighed.
[You have obtained 100 coins]
“Can I upgrade anything? What’s the option?”
[No. You would need 500 coins to upgrade your sword to a lightning sword or axe.]
“This sword was already upgraded, huh?” James muttered at the sword that he plundered from the dead survivor. He then pondered, “hm? What about skills? I paid a hundred for axe level 5, right?”
[You would need 200 coins to upgrade your Beginner Axe mastery to level 6.]
“What the heck? It increased! Do I need 300 to upgrade it to level 7?” James was bewildered at the sudden price change.
[The coins needed are constant until your Beginner Axe mastery reaches level 10]
“Wait. I remembered only paying it once to get to level 5…”
[It is possible to increase weapon mastery with training, fighting, and studying.]
“I see.” James then swung the longsword several times. After ten minutes of swinging, he actually got a skill.
[Name: James
Age: 35
Sex: male
Levels: 7
Coins: 190
Stats:
STR: 57
Dex: 45
Magic: 0
Mana: 0
Skills:
Beginner Axe mastery level 5
Beginner Sword mastery level 1 (new!)
Unique Skill:
Chimera:
Goblin stomach (Iron guts) (stomach slot)
Lesser Mana core (Fire spell, Magic+10, Mana +50)(Extra slot 1)
Stone beetle’s horn (Str +5) (Extra slot)
Orc’s arm (STR+10%)(new!)
Equipment:
Leather armor (damaged)
Leather helmet
War axe
Longsword
Leather pouch
Waterspout dagger
Leather bag]
The longsword was light. Even lighter than the axe. James wondered whether he could treat this sword as a one-handed sword when he fought. His new arm was certainly capable of doing it.
James returned to the portal. After some deep breaths, he touched the portal with his hand. It felt like he touched a glass. The golden light that emanated from the portal was mesmerizing.
[do you want to go to the second floor?]
“Yes!” A golden light enveloped him. He felt alone, in a white space. He wondered whether this white space was on the second floor, but apparently, it was not. A notification box floated before him.
[transfer in progress. 1%]
“You are using magic. Why did you need to make a waiting room for me? Was the world still buffering?” James made a joke by himself. He wondered whether he was a game character going through a loading screen. He stopped that thought. It would do him no better here if he thinks like that.
He tapped his legs impatiently as the numbers ticked upwards. It was not long by any definition, only about a minute. However, when humans had nothing to do and were placed in a place without stimulation, such as this white room, they tended to get impatient.
A flash of light appeared once more, and James felt something pricking on the back of his head. When he turned, the sun shone brightly in the blue sky. Birds chirped as they hun on the branches of the tree. Insects buzzed in the distance. Rabbits hopped away from James and hid in the bushes.
One thing for sure, This forest was not on Earth.
“Yeah… two suns side by side. Thanks system. You tell me without telling me that this is not the Earth. “James sighed. “I hate camping and forests!”
James was not an outdoor person. He loved computer games, and even before his transportation, he worked mainly on computers as a staff.
“Alright, first things first, I need to find a river. I still have this water knife, but I need food too. Animals usually prowled in the river.” James tried to find a river. Once again, he was not the brightest tool in the shed. This is not the Earth but a trial dungeon. Rivers and lakes existed, but there were no ordinary animals here. All were made by the system, and all were hellbent on killing him.
After hours of walking, he found what he was looking for, a river. Compared to the water from the knife, the water in the river was refreshing.
“AAHH!!” James cried out. His voice was lost in the darkness of the forest as a shadow lunged at him from the back. Before he could react, the thing mounted him. Several hairy legs caressed his cheek and slithered to his nape. He could feel something was biting at his helmet. If it was not for his helmet, his head might have several holes in it already.
James grabbed the legs and pulled at it. Thanks to his new arm, he grappled the thing and threw it away like a professional judo master. After freeing himself from whatever monster that ambushed him, he grabbed his trusty axe and lunged at the monster.
Why does it have to be a spider? James hesitated for a moment, but he threw his disgust out of the window and engaged the spider. Survival first, James! Survival first! Every time he swung his axe, a new green liquid painted his tattered armor.
“Shit. Was this a bug floor?” James cursed. Apparently, when the spider was as big as a wolf, it was less disgusting and creepy. It was still creepy and disgusting, but less.
[Do you wish to modify your body? y/n]
[Available body part:
Jumping Spiders spinneret (thread creation) (Extra slot)
Spider fang(light paralysis)
]
“Nice! I can become Spiderman now!” James was elated, but he soon frowned when the system asked him to throw either his lesser mana core or beetle horn. Spider fang was enticing, but the words light paralysis made it less threatening. James assumed it would only give a slight sense of numbness. Since James could only choose one part, he chose spinneret.
[Extra slot full. Do you wish to discard the Lesser Mana core, or do you wish to discard the stone beetle’s horn?]
James hesitated again. The logical choice would be to throw away the horn. However, this horn had saved him before. Who knows when he might need them again? James continued to ponder. If he threw away the horn and installed the spinneret, he would need to find another beetle horn on this floor if the spinneret was actually useless.
The spider ambushed him by jumping, not by using its threads. There must be some reason it didn’t do that. Maybe the thread wasn’t sticky, or maybe it couldn’t shoot out the web. James thought.
“Well, experiment is the key to success!” James muttered before switching his horn.
[Where do you want to install the spinneret?]
“ah, the left hand, please. Don’t install it in the butt.” James muttered sheepishly. He was thankful that the system reminded him that he could install it anywhere on his body. This spinneret would be totally useless if it was installed in his butt.
That was also the main reason the spider didn’t ambush him using the web. Usually, spiders set traps for their prey using the web. However, if it found a prey, it would jump and capture it before injecting it with paralytic poison.
James felt sleepy. He cursed himself for not resting on the first floor before jumping to the second floor. On the first floor, he could just find an empty room and rest. However, this place is a jungle. From his first experience being ambushed, he couldn’t just sleep on the ground. He needed to find some kind of cave to rest.
However, after several hours of searching high and low, the result was nil. When he climbed one of the tallest trees, he found that the terrain was flat, without any hills or mountains.
Then, something catches his eye. A faint wisp of smoke was seen in the distance.
“A smoke? System, was another survivor made a camp there?”
[information classified]
“What a useless piece of junk,” James sighed.
He hopped down from one branch to another. His status prevented him from falling down. If he were still the old James, he would have likely been hugging the tree, petrified and trembling, waiting for firefighters to rescue him with ladders. Not that the old James could even climb a tree, to begin with. So, the scenario was impossible to begin with. James was never confident with his strength and athletic ability.
James was a new man now. He could confidently hang from tree branches like a monkey with just one hand. It’s all thanks to his orc arms and stats.
James approached the wisp of smoke, unaware that each step brought him closer to danger.
[Name: James
Age: 35
Sex: male
Levels: 7
Coins: 195
Stats:
STR: 57
Dex: 45
Magic: 0
Mana: 0
Skills:
Beginner Axe mastery level 5
Beginner Sword mastery level 1
Unique Skill:
Chimera:
Goblin stomach (Iron guts) (stomach slot)
Lesser Mana core (Fire spell, Magic+10, Mana +50)(Extra slot 1)
Orc’s arm (STR+10%)
Jumping Spiders spinneret (Thread creation)(Extra slot 2)
Equipment:
Leather armor (damaged)
Leather helmet
War axe
Longsword
Leather pouch
Waterspout dagger
Leather bag]
