Past Life Hero, Chapter 47

For the next few days, Max focused on establishing a daily routine. He had decided to take Professor Grave Call up on the offer of not actually attending class very often for Basic Group Combat. This meant his days were mostly wide open.  So other than the times he set aside for training his five new students in Albion martial arts, he divided the rest of his time between either studying in the library or training.

His time in the library was much more fruitful and efficient now that he had clearance to browse the upper levels. His main focus was on other Paths that might suit him. The idea of possibly being the first Challenger to have ever mastered three Paths greatly appealed to him.

Deep down, Max still had the drive to push himself to eventually be the best, the Hero, Chasa de Milo.

Where he started with research this time around was obtaining a deeper understanding of the Paths he was already on, at least from another’s perspective.  It was an interesting experience since the concept of Paths were new to him in this life.  For the most part, he had to agree with the writers’ assessment of Blade Sorcerers. One particular excerpt from a book entitled "The Greatest Paths: One Hundred of the Most Powerful Paths in the Universe" described Blade Sorcerers as basically a Path focused on destruction.  It read:

A blade sorcerer is a magic warrior who uses mana to strengthen their body, weapons, and equipment. One of the most difficult aspects of reaching greater mastery of the Blade Sorcerer Path is the transformative mana body system.  Blade Sorcerers effectively change, mutate their bodies and minds by purifying ambient mana before entwining it with their very selves. This process is extremely difficult for all practitioners, but each star level of improvement gives the Blade Sorcerer explosive power.  Each higher level of the mana body is exponentially more difficult to achieve.

At high levels, Blade Sorcerers can use raw mana to directly influence the world around them, mostly physically. A Blade Sorcerer with an advanced level of mana body can break down and destroy other magical systems directly. Blade Sorcerers are dangerous in part because of the raw power they can call upon, the ways in which they can focus it, and the limited number of other Paths in the universe that have good ways to mitigate these abilities.

Max thought that the one thing that most of the texts seemed to gloss over or omit entirely was how important combatives and blade play were to Blade Sorcery. After all, in Max's previous life, the reason he had climbed to such heights had been directly tied to his martial prowess.

He researched multiple Paths that might integrate well with a Blade Sorcerer turned Summoner. One thing he had to do was not only acknowledge his strengths but also his weaknesses. Being a Summoner helped cover for some of the spiritual weaknesses that a Blade Sorcerer had, including finesse and difficulty understanding mana patterns or spells from other magical disciplines.

Through his studies, Max found out that his third eye as a Summoner could be trained to effectively spot magical workings, not just spirits. But all of his physical prowess as a Blade Sorcerer was tied directly to his mana body. And Max knew from experience how much of a double-edged sword that could be.

It was one of the ways that his enemies had used to kill him in his first life.

He thought Flesh and Blood Sorcerers looked like they might have good synergy with his Blade Sorcerer power.  Flesh and Blood Sorcerers were all about making the body physically stronger and tougher. But then again, the Techno Sorcerer path would allow him to create and store gadgets and other weapons. This Path might even allow the creation of powerful artifacts like Firearms that were powered by dreams.

There were many fascinating Paths to read about in the library.

However, after amassing a list of interesting Paths that might integrate well with his current power set, the wall he kept running into was that knowing about these Paths wasn’t all that useful if he couldn’t find a proper instruction book or an instructor. The Mystic Spear Path book that he'd snagged when he'd been terrorizing the Mystic Spear Path Academy had proven how important this point was to him.

Like most Path-related instructional texts in the universe, that book was a primer, not the type of book that could actually start a warrior on the Path itself.  For any Mystic Spear Path student it would be more than sufficient, but for anyone else it was all but useless.

The kinds of books that a potential Challenger could use to cultivate a new Path directly were exceedingly rare. With this in mind, it was much more realistic and reasonable to try finding a teacher. But in this Quartet, as far as Max knew, the only Sorcerers were attached to each academy for transportation purposes and were not the types Max needed to learn from in the first place.

Max's days blended together. After the first week, there was an incident outside the library when some frustrated sixth-year students tried calling him out. Max had barely paid attention to them and only still had only left when he decided to go to lunch.

The three sixth years had yelled at him about their relationships being put on hold and how he was an enemy of love.  There wasn’t much Max could have aid.  He felt bad for them, but he still wouldn’t have done anything differently.  So he'd ignored them until one of them had laid a hand on him. After that, everything had been over in seconds, although Max had only broken bones, nothing that wouldn’t heal in a few days.

A few days later over breakfast, Lance had shaken his head, informing Max that he was starting to get a really nasty reputation.

He said, “Max, do you know people have walked up to me and like…cautioned me about being your friend?”

“'What? Really?” Max was chewing a piece of bacon thoughtfully, thinking that if he closed his eyes he could almost imagine he was in a Waffle House back on Earth.

“Yeah,” said Lance. “Like, you just don't know. Haven't you noticed that nobody talks to you? I mean, you're famous but everybody avoids you.”

“I guess I hadn't noticed,” said Max with a shrug.  He actually had, he just didn't really care.

Apparently, Lance suspected the truth because he raised an eyebrow. He said, "Some of them are also fascinated by you, but they're intimidated. And others are like…cheering you on. They think you're some sort of Summoner folk hero or something. They've told me they're supporting you for the mid-semester Quartet competition trials.  …But a lot are just scared of you."

Then Max had taken a few minutes to help explain to his friend why he didn't care.  But he was grateful for his friend and his five martial arts students who were quickly becoming friends as well.

Max’s days passed quickly and before he knew it, three weeks had passed in a flash. He'd half expected summoner staff or professors to be keeping a close eye on him since the end of his mandated grounding was almost done.

But when none  appeared and he didn't even have a new golem following him, he figured that maybe the Headmaster had something to do with it.

Max had been preparing to leave. He hadn’t at any point started receiving a stipend or reward money from the Summoner Academy.  That meant he was on his own.  The more money had, the quicker he could advance.  And there wasn’t any better way to make money than by exploring the dungeons.

The next morning, he was planning on leaving Summoner Academy trying a dungeon.  He’d done extensive research on them and was sure he could easily manage the entry level dungeons by himself.

He’d contemplated sneaking out to the central area without anyone being the wiser. However, he decided against it for several reasons. One was that if it were so easy, there wouldn't be so many people angry at him right now about their romances with students in other academies being threatened by the new, stricter rules in the Quartet.

Secondly, acting this early to break the new rules would render the last few weeks of meekly following them fairly useless. Max wanted to pick and choose the time that he would truly break the illusion that he was controllable.

However, as he approached the gate out of the Summoner Academy grounds into the central area, his heart pounded. This situation could go very wrong. Ultimately, he didn't want to be stopped, nor have a golem following him again. There was also always the chance he could run into enemies in the central area or even have someone spot him and pass the information along.  Even if his exit into the central area succeeded, he’d need to move fast.

When he got close to the gate, he tried to appear as nonchalant as possible and prominently displayed his sword, making it look more obvious that he intended to go to a dungeon.  Of course, he knew the moment that the gate guards scanned his hand with their wands, the illusion would be shattered. At the moment, he was trying to hide his first-year school badge as much as possible. The moment his hand got scanned, Max immediately began walking into the central area without looking back. He was beyond the guard point before the reading even came back and by then it was too late unless they wanted to chase him or make a scene.

One started to call out but stopped when Max didn’t even turn back.

As far as Max knew, he wasn't actually breaking any rules at the moment and the guards had no reason to detain him, or at least that was what he'd been counting on. And for a few tense moments, he waited to see if anything more would happen.

It turned out he'd been right, because they just watched him go. However, he did hope that leaving wouldn't eventually result in another golem following him in the future. Even sol, this effort had been worth the calculated risk.

As soon as Max knew he wasn't going to be detained, he put on a cloak that he'd had in his closet in order to better hide his features.

Then, without being able to help himself, he went directly to the bookshop portion of the central area. He had to satisfy his curiosity about what, if any, Path acquisition books the stores might have.

Unfortunately, fifteen minutes later, after visiting several stores, his heart had fallen multiple times. Not only did none of the stores have any of the types of books he was looking for, much less the specific ones that Max was interested in, all of the employees in the stores had also told him that such if such a thing existed in the Quartet it would likely be the most expensive item a person could buy. Every single one of them, as they told him, had either shown pity or some other less easily identifiable mix of emotions.

It was only after Max left the last bookstore that he remembered how most of the employees in the central area were not Challengers. They were real people with real bodies and real lives.  If any of them ever got the opportunity to acquire a Path through a rare book, some would probably take it. With heavy thoughts, Max gave up on the bookstore idea and instead headed to a general store for adventurers and dungeon divers.

This particular store seemed to cater to newer students. Max had seen it before, and he didn't spend much time getting what he needed. He purchased a Dungeon Delving Kit, which consisted of a pack, rope, cooking tools, fire starting tools, and several other helpful pieces of equipment or gadgets. The moment Max paid the two mana units for his pack, he also stuffed in his extra clothing that he had wrapped in a sheet.

That done, Max headed for the large warehouse-style building that students used to access dungeons. Once he was inside, he was somewhat surprised. He'd been envisioning that the inside would look something like a bar or maybe a guard checkpoint. Instead, more than anything, it looked like a temporarily empty airline terminal. There were several counters, four of which were the basic counters that were affiliated with the four Quartet schools.

After a few minutes of curious inspection, Max headed for the counter for Summoner Academy students. The old man on duty had a broad face and a small nose.  He looked up from the book he was reading with obvious annoyance, snapping, "State your business."

Max replied, "I'd like to enter a dungeon."

"Hold out your hand, please," said the man, obviously disinterested. Max held out his hand, and after the man scanned it with his stone wand, his eyes flickered in surprise. When he looked up again, it was with obviously more interest than before.

"So, first year Max Cunningham, you are cleared to visit a dungeon. However, you haven't been in one before, so you need to go into this room over here," the man said, pointing, "and watch the presentation on dungeons for new dungeon delvers. If you tell me what kind of dungeon you're looking for before you go to do that, I can line something up for you so you won’t have to wait any longer.  The presentation is mandatory, though.  This is something every student of the Quartet needs to watch before their first dungeon dive."

Max didn't see any reason to refuse so he shrugged and said, “Sure, thanks.  I’d like to get one of the easiest dungeons possible, preferably one of the goblin-themed ones, and I’d like one for the shortest duration, too.”

“So an automatic extraction?”

“Yes please.”

“Alright, ill work on it.”

Max nodded, thanked the man, and headed for the room he’s been directed to before.

The presentation came from a magical ball that basically made a video played out in his mind instead of before his eyes. Max got a refresher on a few things very quickly, such as how dungeons are somewhat random and they had difficulty ratings staring at one going up to at least ten, with one being least difficult. Each dungeon had an assumed time of completion and estimated rewards. Some dungeons that were attempted regularly had clear data and they were the most sought-after but also had the lowest level rewards. Dungeons with more rests had the best rewards but were the most dangerous.

Danger was a constant theme of the orientation.  The fact that dying in the dungeon meant the end of a student’s time in the Quartet was repeated many times.

Every dungeon had a core. Finding the dungeon core and stealing it was the greatest reward but also the hardest and most dangerous thing to do.  Taking a core could kill a dungeon or knock it out for a long time minimum.

Dungeons themselves could be scenarios, alien worlds, or some sort of goal within an environment. Some dungeons had time limits where the delvers would ezract automatically after enough time had elapsed, and some had clear requirements.

The orientation video assured Max that once he was inside a dungeon, the system would explain the rules of the dungeon immediately. Lastly, the video informed Max that dungeon management keeps track of who enters what dungeon but they also keep it entirely secret.

Once he was done watching, Lavinia snorted and said, "That is the same exact video I watched hundreds of years ago. Wow, they really don't change anything." Max nodded in mute agreement and left the room.

He went back to the counter and the old man's attitude had definitely done a 180 at this point. He dry washed his hands and said, "I believe your dungeon is ready now!”

“So how exactly does this work?" asked Max.

"Well–" said the man. His name tag read David. "Every dungeon is on the planet of Rakis. However, when you enter from here, you will go directly into the dungeon itself."

"Into the dungeon?" asked Max.

"Correct," said the man. "So, I was able to find you a level one dungeon with very simple, clear requirements and I believe..." His voice trailed off and he fiddled with the globe in front of him. "I believe you have a chance to clear it in two days, even as a solo delver.  At least, if your combat level is high enough, and after the rumors we’ve heard about you, I’m sure you’ll have no problems."

"Oh, OK. That sounds about ideal," said Max.

"Are you ready?"

"I think so," said Max. He'd already checked his gear before coming and was feeling relatively confident about challenging a level one dungeon, especially with the amount of power he'd gotten recently. The fact his body could continue on without food or water if necessary had greatly simplified his packing for this trip as well as lowered any potential stress he might have felt. If Max couldn't find food or water, it would be uncomfortable, maybe even miserable, but he was sure he could deal with it.

The man fiddled with something behind his desk and suddenly a portal opened to one side. David, the employee, gestured and said, "Here's your portal, sir. Good luck and be careful. You're going to a goblin caves dungeon."  He smiled.

I don’t like this guy, said Lavinia silently.

Me either, agreed Max.

Outwardly, Max nodded his thanks and stepped forward into the portal. The moment he was through, he glanced around in confusion. Instead of caves or tunnels, Max only saw a lush forest. A second later a system note appeared before his eyes.

Cradle of Giants, tier five dungeon.

The clear requirement of this dungeon is to kill five giants. Optional additional clear requirement: kill the Giants Chief or Shaman.

Max stared at the message and silently mouthed, "Shit."