I woke to the sound of Great Sage in my mind.
[Sir, it's 5:20 am. You must get ready for your meeting with Raza and the dungeon crawling for today.]
'Okay then, let's do this.'
I stretched a bit for a few seconds, this was going to be a long day. I walked to the closet in the corner of the room, opening it up to reveal brown, revealing clothes, and what was even worse they were damn huge.
"Guess I'm staying with what I have on," I muttered to myself fixing my white hoodie for a bit and stretching it out.
I splashed some water on my face from a small basin in the corner, staring at my reflection in the tiny mirror hanging on the wall. A white-haired child with crystal clear blue dead eyes looked back at me. For a moment, it was still strange seeing this face instead of my old one. But that life was gone now, and honestly, I wasn't missing much from it.
'Great Sage, how many Black Flames do you estimate I can cast before mind down?'
[Based on your current Magic stat of I(3), approximately 1-2 consecutive casts without significant recovery time. However, with the increases after each successful cast, this number may grow throughout the day.]
I nodded to myself, satisfied with the assessment. It wasn't great, but it was a starting point. Everyone had to begin somewhere, even reincarnated truck victims with supernatural AI assistants in their heads.
I walked out of my room, some people were already walking across the elephant statue filled corridors. A few gave me curious glances – probably wondering what an eight-year-old was doing up at this hour, dressed for combat. I ignored them, my mind already focused on what lay ahead.
The morning air was crisp as I walked out of the crotch and the main door. There waiting, sitting against the wall was Raza.
Her blonde long hair with strips of blue hanging against the wind. She had a staff in her hand and a halberd strapped at her back, in front of her were three weapons.
Two daggers, one dark blue and the other light blue. While at the side of the two daggers was a Naginata consisting of a wooden pole with a curved single blade at the end of the weapon. The naginata had a white round handguard between the blade and shaft.
"That's a bit too big for me right now, isn't it?" I asked at Raza while looking at the naginata.
"You'll grow into it," Raza replied. "Now come on strap them to your person we don't want to catch the early dungeon traffic."
I did as I was told, strapping the two daggers to my belt with a latch the sheaths had. As for the naginata I just decided to carry it with my hands. The weapon was awkward in my grip, almost twice my height, but I wasn't about to complain. I'd need to learn how to use it eventually.
[Status Updated: Strength I (0) → I (2)]
[Status Updated: Endurance I (0) → I (1)]
'Ok Great Sage, this could get annoying just notify me each ten stat points.'
[Understood sir]
"Come on Atreus, you're gonna lag behind," Raza yelled from in front of me, her back turned as she increased her pace.
"I'm on it, I'm on it."
I ran behind Raza as fast as my short, eight-year-old legs could allow me. The sun was just beginning to peek over the city walls, casting long shadows across the streets of Orario. Early risers were setting up market stalls, and the occasional adventurer passed by, nodding respectfully to Raza.
"Most of the major familia send their expeditions out later in the day," Raza explained as we walked. "Going early means less crowding, less competition for monster spawns, and generally a more efficient run. It's why I always prefer the dawn shift."
Finally we reached it, the tower that was built directly above the dungeon, Babel. It rose impossibly high into the sky, gleaming white in the morning light, a monument to both divine ambition and mortal recklessness. Looking at it now, in person rather than through anime visuals, I felt a strange mix of awe and anticipation.
"Come on we're going down to the first floor."
We entered the entrance to the dungeon and began to descend. The air grew cooler as we walked down the stone stairs, the light from outside gradually giving way to the phosphorescent glow of the dungeon walls.
"While I'm here to defend you, I won't do so unless absolutely necessary, after all unless you have a talent for this, it doesn't matter what skill you have, you're either gonna die or stay level 1 forever so show me what you've got," Raza said out of the blue.
I nodded at her words, appreciating her directness. It wasn't that she was being harsh, she was being practical. The dungeon didn't care about my age or circumstances. Neither would the monsters, besides it would get boring real quick if she helped me with every single minute thing.
"The first floor has three primary monsters, Kobolds, dog-headed monsters; Goblins, green and plump humanoid monster with large eyes that is considered to be the weakest monster in the dungeon, there is also a third one called the Jack Bird but those are pretty rare."
"Okay," I said quietly my eyes looking at every wall of every tunnel we walked through. Each crack, each formation could be a potential spawn point. I tried to memorize the layout as we went deeper, though I knew it would be futile in the long run, the dungeon changed itself regularly, especially in the upper floors.
Then I heard it a cackle.
No, not just one, it was a dozen cackles, all echoing across the dungeon walls, I could hear each one. The sound echoed off the walls, a chorus of high-pitched, guttural noises that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. My heart began to pound faster, and I felt a strange sensation bubbling up inside me, anticipation, maybe even excitement.
"Looks like Goblins will be the monster taking your cherry," Raza said with a smirk, leaning against the wall.
"Don't say that, it sounds weird."
I could see them now, emerging from the shadows of a side passage. Small, green creatures with bulbous yellow eyes and twisted features. Some carried crude clubs, others had nothing but their clawed hands. In anime form, they had seemed almost comical. In reality, they were ugly, dangerous things that reeked of rot and earth.
I dropped my naginata to the ground, I didn't have enough strength to wield it properly and I was too short. Unsheathing one of my knives I raised my hand.
Gathering my magic power, or rather my mind, I could feel Chant Annulment take effect, and while I didn't have to say it, I wanted to look cool soooo-
"Black Flame."
A small burst of fire burst from my hand incinerating the first three goblins, their bodies consumed in an instant by the unnatural dark flames. I could feel my mind growing weary but it was then replenished, a warm sensation filling my head like hot tea on a cold day.
[Status Updated: Magic I (3) → I (11)]
"Oh this is gonna be fun," I muttered to myself. Unsheathing my second knife and rushing at the goblins.
I felt something then, something I hadn't felt in my previous life – a rush, pure and intoxicating. My senses seemed sharper, colors more vivid, sounds clearer. As I charged toward the goblins, I could feel my lips pulling back into what must have been a manic grin.
Raza POV
I had taken an interest in the kid, not just because of how fast he could learn but also because of what Ganesha had told me when we found each other yesterday. According to this kid's skill, he didn't use spell slots and if he did it seemed he had unlimited amount, I wanted to figure it out, but rather than the kid's skill, the kid himself started to intrigue me even more.
After all while he probably didn't notice himself, I and everyone else did.
He had this dead look in his eyes all the time, dark circles under his eyes, it was a weird thing to see in an eight-year-old, however right now, all those things seemed to have disappeared.
A devilish smile that covered almost all of his face replacing his normally neutral expression. He rushed at the goblins, daggers unsheathed, moving with a fluidity that belied his age and inexperience. It was almost unsettling, watching his transformation. One moment a blank-faced child, the next a grinning berserker.
One of the goblins met his rush, I was about to step in when he ducked under the goblins wild swing, one of the daggers etching themselves into the goblin's head before it turned to dust but Atreus didn't stop his rush.
He just went after another goblin. Dodging another blow, and slashing the goblin's throat, a wild screech ringing out as blood covered the boy's face, one of the other goblins raised a club and hit him while he was in middle of the attack.
Atreus raised the other of his knives, but he was hit anyway sending him flying into a wall. The impact was solid, the kind that would make most new adventurers reconsider their career choices on the spot. I tensed, ready to intervene if necessary. A blow like that could easily crack ribs, or worse.
Atreus, fell to the ground spitting out some blood from his mouth, the grin in his face widening even more. Through my enhanced senses I was able to hear him mutter something to himself.
"Pain," he rose from the ground. "It's exhilarating!"
What in Ganesha's name was wrong with this kid!
He wasn't just enjoying the fight, he was reveling in it, even the parts where he got hurt. I'd seen my share of battle-hungry adventurers, but usually they developed that attitude after years of dungeon diving.
But it was best that he had this kind of personality already as while the Evilus faction had calmed down the last few months, it was still true that they kept on causing chaos across the city especially at night.
I sighed at that.
My shift for patrolling was also starting soon.
My thoughts reeled as I heard a loud bang from the ongoing faction.
He raised his hand and without even saying the words this time, black fire spurred forth from his hand, hitting and enveloping one of the goblin's as it turned to cinders. That skill was such a damn game changer.
I could feel his mind waning, before suddenly regenerating, it seemed like this kid was even more special than I thought. Most adventurers, especially beginners, would be completely drained after two castings. Yet here he was, ready for more. Either his capacity was extraordinary, or something about his skill was facilitating faster recovery.
He rushed at the four remaining goblins and before I knew it they were dust in the dungeon floors, their magic stones littering the floor. His movements weren't refined or technically sound, they were wild, instinctive, almost feral. But they were effective. And for a first-timer, especially one so young, that was remarkable in itself.
I looked at him, his grin was slowly falling and in a few seconds he was back to his neutral expression, his dead eyes staring directly at me. The transformation was complete – the berserker gone, replaced once more by the emotionless child. It was like watching someone put on and remove a mask, only the mask seemed more alive than the face beneath it.
I walked over to him, noting the blood splattered across his white hoodie and his face, the slight trembling in his hands as the adrenaline began to fade.
"Did you have fun?"
He nodded, not elaborating further. His breathing was already returning to normal, though a bruise was forming on his cheek where he'd been struck.
"Well then go on and grab the magic stones you little sociopath."
He did as I told, gathering each one with methodical precision. The stones glowed faintly in his small hands. I took out my magic pouch, and opened it up.
"Place them in here."
He placed all 12 of the stones in my pouch without comment. I watched his face carefully, looking for any sign of the feral joy I'd witnessed during the fight. Nothing. It was as if it had never happened.
"So how is your mind? close to reaching mind zero?" I asked, though I kind of already knew the answer.
"I can keep going," he replied simply, his voice neutral, betraying nothing of what he might be feeling.
"Well then let's keep going," I replied as we began to walk again, but not before he grabbed the naginata. Despite the weapon's awkward size compared to his small frame, he seemed determined to carry it.
Stubborn kid.