Dungeon Entry…
"To make the scales somewhat equal between newly evolved worlds and the older ones, the Universal System granted each world with these unique training grounds called dungeons."
"These dungeons usually appear in places filled with wildlife, where the mana is naturally chaotic."
"And once you enter inside, you'll be facing against monsters of progressively higher levels, conjured by the dungeon with as you go down the floors."
"The downside is that, when you kill a monster inside a dungeon, you'll at most get a maximum of ten percent of its total exp."
"Though different from the dimensional gates, once you die inside a dungeon, you won't actually die in real life. You'll just be transported to the entrance of the said dungeon with a little bit of penalty."
"So dear wifey...
Here,
you can train to your heart's content without the fear of impending death."
Raising his hands wide, Galen finished his narration with a wink while standing in front of the ominous looking entrance.
"...Oh~"
Yet that lackluster response was all he got from his hot wife.
No matter how Galen made it seem like a good thing, looking at the dungeon entrance that had an eerie resemblance to a dimensional gate, Rhea couldn't muster the slightest bit of enthusiasm at the thought of entering it.
Eventually Galen had to drop his grandiose posture when it didn't seem like he was going to get anything more form her.
Scratching the back of his head to hide the awkwardness, he got back to her and held her hand.
"Come on, let's go."
"There are lots of training dummies waiting for us inside."
Seeing her man, getting all excited like a child who got his favourite toy, Rhea shrugged her shoulders and following him with a smile, her delicate hands still interlocked with his.
Crossing the dark portal, that felt like moving through a water curtain, both of them appeared inside a long corridor.
It was ten meters wide with walls on both sides and a ceiling at the height of five meters, everything seemingly made of smooth, clean cut stones.
But when Rhea tried to pierce them, her daggers bounced right off the walls without making a single scratch.
Just then, a system notification appeared in front of the couple.
[ You have entered the C – Grade dungeon, GOBLIN'S CAVE. ]
"Hoo...a C – rank dungeon right off the bat? Talk about luck." Galen whistled in slight surprise.
[ Would you like to form a party with the person next to you? ]
Both of them received one more prompt.
[ Yes/No ]
"Choose yes." Galen advised her.
"That way, no matter who gets the kill, the exp will be shared between us."
Agreeing with his logic, Rhea chose yes.
[ You have formed a party with the individual – Galen Vaelthorn (Unranked) ]
"..."
It took a while for Rhea to process the system prompt. Then,
"You're still unranked?~" Rhea asked in disbelief.
"With the strength you've shown me so far, I thought you would be at peak D rank at the very least, if not already a C – rank by now.~"
"Just..... How?~"
"Haa...My rank up promotion quest is way more complicated than I thought dear."
Galen replied with a fed up expression.
"It wants me to kill a thousand common grade monsters,
hundered uncommon grade monsters,
ten rare grade monsters
and not to mention a single epic grade monster."
"Can you even believe it?"
Each successive word that escaped his mouth was like a direct attack on her psyche.
Hearing such unreasonable tasks and comparing them to her own class promotion quest, Rhea stood in stunned silence, a blank look adorning her cute face.
She had already known how powerful those monsters could be from his past life memories. That's why she was even more shocked, thinking how an unranked man was supposed face all that.
"But don't worry."
"Your awesome husband has just the right plan to finish it. Just that it'll take a bit more time."
Galen assured her with a kiss on her forehead and a cheeky smile.
Seeing him totally unbothered, Rhea decided to trust him.
"The quest was one of the main reasons I brought you here in the first place, besides your training."
"...My training?~"
"I thought I already mentioned it before."
"You didn't, damn it.~"
"You only told me that it's going to be a secret.~"
"Maa... Maa...
No point worrying about tiny details."
"This isn't a tiny detail.~" She screamed in frustration.
As if he couldn't hear her complaint, Galen began talking.
"You already have pretty solid basics when it comes to fighting and the system will provide some useful skills as you rank up in the future."
"But in a world filled with mana, that's not nearly enough."
"To excel in this evolving world, not to mention keeping up with me, you need to learn to wield this miraculous power as your own."
"So, I'm going to teach you the basics of mana manipulation starting this moment."
Though a bit disgruntled at him for ignoring her protests, Rhea still listened to his speech attentively.
Especially when he mentioned the part about her keeping up with him, her expression turned completely serious.
Galen inwardly nodded with satisfaction watching her before giving out his instructions.
"For starters, sit down and close your eyes. After that, try to feel the mana permeating the atmosphere."
"As a construct fully made of mana, it should be easier for you to sense it inside the dungeon."
Rhea complied and closed her eyes, trying to feel the mana as he said.
At first, she couldn't feel anything.
But as she concentrated more with her acute senses that got a massive upgrade after her class promotion, she could faintly feel the invisible particles lazily floating through the air.
With a bit more focus, Rhea suddenly felt like an explosion had gone off in her head.
[ Congratulations ! ]
[ You have acquired the ability to sense mana with your own efforts. ]
[ You've been awarded with +1 intelligence. ]
—+—
Her current stats :
Strength : 23.8
Vitality : 16.7
Agility : 26.0
Dexterity : 26.8
Intelligence : 17.2 –> 18.2
Free stat points : 0
—
Mana : 182