Almost a week passed, and it was already Monday again. Metthew had spent the rest of his week doing just some light exercise to not mess with his healing, but today Cid, Vanessa's brother, said he was ok to resume dungeon diving.
True to what professor Orpheu said, the dungeon near Matthew's house was opened to the public again and no major incidents happened. All readings also showed it was safe again to use and the governments Seers guaranteed there was no disaster in the foreseeable future.
Matthew was lucky that the incident never showed up in major news and his parents and sister never got hold of what happened.
Therefore, he was there again, hunting goblins.
To advance from level 3 to level 4, you needed to kill 17 goblins, totaling 41 from the first. Matthew had no idea, as the System didn't show awakeneds how many XP they had, how many he needed to kill. But the most was 17, or 34 goblins from that weak dungeon.
With Boost Gunpowder, he only needed 1 shot to kill the goblins now. It was even kind of boring now. Just walk around for a long time until he find one or two and shoot them down with ease. He spent most of the day in there until he reached level 4.
"Congratulations!
You draw a tier 3 class!
Plague Doctor"
Matthew got really happy. A tier 3 class meant a huge bonus to his stats. But then he read his class pull. Plague Doctor. Another healing class without a true healing ability. As all Tier 3 classes, this one only had 2 skills: Magic Down and Resist Diseases. The first reduced the Magic stat of a creature, very useful when fighting spellcasters, but hard to use without the tier 1 Mage's skills. The second was a good passive skill. Without needing to spend Mana, he gained resistance to diseases. It was a good skill for him to have. At the first level, that went from E to S with skills, meant he would be able to resist most common diseases like the flu and food poisoning. Perhaps even resist some dungeon diseases.
The Plague Doctor was a class destined to fight zombies and other undead. Magic Down meant to weaken necromancers and Resist Disease to resist diseases the undead could spread. Then he chose to pick Resist Disease, as he wouldn't be able to use Magic Down efficiently. He also maintained his philosophy of spreading his points evenly. Resulting in:
"Matthew Lordstone – Level 4
Doctor – Level 1
Warrior – Level 1
Gunner – Level 1
Plague Doctor – Level 1
Stats
HP = 8/ VIT = 8
MP = 8 / MAG = 8
STR = 8 / AGI = 8
MIN = 7 / CHA = 4
Skills: Anesthesia (E), Imbue Mana (E), Boost Gunpowder (E), Resist Disease (E)"
Since he leveled up, Matthew decided to end that day's hunt.
He rose rather quickly his levels. 4 in 3 days. Vanessa has been a year doing it and only got to level 6. Even though she only dived once a week, it seemed quite slow. To reach level 6, one needed about 104 goblins, meaning 208 in that dungeon. About 4 goblins every week for year. He knew she could do way better than that. Only the last time they met, she had about 20 kills. It meant she dived way less than he thought.
Doing this for a year dedicating himself to only explore dungeons and not doing any other job, he would grow really well.
How about Eric? He said he was level 25. And since they said he's been doing it since he graduated high school… About 10 years? Matthew checked his experience table that he had saved on his phone since there was no reception inside the dungeon. 252.502 XP. If he was hunting only in that dungeon, it would mean 505.004 goblins, more than 50.000 per year…
He shook his head. He was thinking too far ahead. He couldn't treat this just a like a game and calculate the numbers like he was grinding on a video game. He almost died already and it was only his 3rd day inside a dungeon. Eric was a veteran adventurer, no use comparing himself to that goofy father.
He decided to clear his head. Go home, shower and watch something on TV. Take his mind off leveling for now.
Close to the exit, he crossed paths with 2 adventurers too well armed to be in such a weak dungeon. One was an elf, long silver hair and green eyes. As with all elves, Matthew couldn't tell his age, since they stopped aging around their mid 20s. He was wearing a fabulous shinny armor, engraved with jade stones and a scimitar on his belt. The other was an old man, bald, with a white goatee and wearing a white robe. He held a wooden staff with a round top resembling an eagle's claw and seemed like he was casting a spell.
"What did you see?" Asked the elf as the bald finished grunting.
"Both of them emerged from the depths of the dungeon. A hooded man summoned them deep inside and exited the dungeon. Glass eye, scar over the eye just like the police said. It is all I can see. He left before the fluctuation."
"And how did he cause the fluctuation?"
"I didn't see anything other than that." Said the old man while drinking a mana potion. "No one else suspicious. Perhaps the fluctuation was a natural response to the hobgoblins?"
"Did he give the hobgoblins any instructions?"
"None. If they had any, it was given before they were summoned."
"So we can't say what they were after."
"Just that probably was one of your students. Or just some crazy adventurer wanting to cause a ruckus."
"Thank you Roland."
"I'm sorry I couldn't find anything beyond what you already knew."
"It is all right. It was worth a shot." The elf said and then looked at Matthew. "Don't you think it's bad manners to eavesdrop, child?"
Child. Another one treating him like one.
"I'm sorry. I was passing through and I couldn't help, but to listen."
"We certainly didn't expect privacy in the first place." Roland said smiling and rubbing his goatee.
"What's your name, child?" The elf asked.
"It's Matthew."
"Matthew Lordstone?" The elf asked again.
"Yes. Hohoho" Roland said laughing. "Impressive fellow. Fought like a lion. You should thank him, he saved your daughter."
Daughter. That meant he was Farzan Laufgraan, Matthew thought.
"Oh! You're the boy who saved my Lynn?"
"I think I am. Although she also fought very hard."
"But you could've ran away and hide, but you decided to help." Said Roland. "That's very valiant of you. Make no mistake, boy, she would've perished if you weren't by her side."
Farzan stepped forward and held Mathews hand with both of his:
"You have my undying gratitude. If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask."
Matthew found himself at a loss of words and could just stutter a thank you.
"My daughter is at Saint Helen Hospital, she'll be cleared to leave by Wednesday. You should visit her."
"Really? Did her surgery went well?"
"Yes, she's in perfect health. Just doing some light physiotherapy."
"I'm glad to hear."
"Can you explain something to me before we leave, boy?" Roland stepped in.
"Yes?" Matthew answered surprised.
"Why did you charge the hobgoblin before joining the young lady? And how could you use the Anesthesia skill on her?"
Farzan's eyes turned from gratitude to suspicion. But Roland soon eased the mood:
"I'm not accusing you of anything. But I'm just curious."
Matthew hesitated a moment, but decided to tell both about his unique skill, after making sure no one else was listening.
"I thought that if I killed the hobgoblin first I could do a lucky draw and get a powerful class to help everyone."
"Not the smartest course of action, but it worked well in the end." Farzan said as if he was lecturing him.
"Such a unique skill is unheard of." Roland smiled. "But don't worry, we'll keep it a secret."
"Thank you" Matthew said bowing his head a little.
They all left the dungeon. Matthew went to the crystal store while the other two entered a limousine that was waiting for both.
"It would be wise to offer him a scholarship." Roland said as soon as he closed the door.
"His skill is not good. In the end he'll only have a bunch of E skills and no clear path. I don't think he'll be a good asset for our school."
"That's not what I mean. He was willing to endure great risk for the sake of your daughter. And if there is someone after her, having someone like him close to her is a good idea. Not to mention that until he reaches a high level, his skill will be useful, specially if he's lucky."
"That is, if he takes a liking to her. She's not the easiest person to be around."
"That's cruel, a father saying that about his daughter."
"She's like her mother."
Roland laughed loudly.
"But you're right. If not for my daughter, as a thanks for saving her."