As soon as Drake opened the cover, it burst into light particles. Glowing words appeared in the air in front of him. And the system voice echoed through the tunnel as it read the words he could read himself.

{Universal Stat Boost: All stats strengthened +5}

Drake smiled. He stepped back a few feet and quickly changed out of the thin armor and put on the set he had found. There was even a helmet, which he placed on his head. More words floated in the air, and the system's voice read the words.

{Strong armor found. Armor has a 50% defense boost when wearing the full set.}

Drake looked down at the bag that held the loot. He pulled out one chest after another and examined the contents. Each one had either more coins or jewels. There was nothing else. "I'm going to have to inspect all the loot before storing it in the bag," Drake thought. "I wasn't expecting to get items that would make me stronger while my powers and system are down."

Drake had to wonder if the dimension was preparing him for something that would happen during his ascension quest or if it was training him not to rely on his 'dimension master' powers. He didn't know.

The tunnel he was currently in seemed to go on forever. There were no side tunnels or stairs. It was a straight shot forward. If the dungeon was exactly like the ones in his games, he knew that this was a good thing. It would make it easier to clear the entire dungeon and not miss an area as he explored the dungeon.

Two more goblins rushed toward him. One of them gave a war cry as he waved a large ax. Drake blocked the blow with his sword, kicking forward with his heel, trying to make it easier to fight them one at a time, and not all at once. Attackers frequently overwhelmed him in the game he played at home. He didn't want that to happen in this one. If he died, he was sure that he would die for real. There was no 'reset' button; he was sure of it.

After several hits against his stronger armor, Drake realized the goblins he was fighting were stronger in this area of the dungeon. Even though he received a +5 in all his stats, he was still having trouble. He needed to find something that would strengthen his attacks. If there was armor that could strengthen his defense, there had to be something that could strengthen his attacks as well.

He continued frantically swinging his sword, slashing at the two goblins. They kept coming toward him, brandishing their weapons. The armor helped, but his own attacks were too weak.

With one quick movement, he changed hands with his sword and flung out his whip. The whip uncoiled as it flew through the air, then wrapped around one of the goblins' necks. Drake yanked the whip. There was slight resistance before the head detached, and light particles formed.

Now all he had to worry about was the one with the ax in his hand.

With one hand, he swung out his sword. During the sword's backswing, he lashed the whip. After several minutes of fighting, the second goblin was dead.

Drake collected the loot, which consisted only of golden coins. There was nothing else.

Taking a deep breath, Drake held his sword in his left hand and his whip in the right as he stepped forward. The darkness in front of him cleared automatically. His gaze moved to the ceiling, making sure there were no bats before he looked back toward the darkness farther ahead of him.

Without his newfound 'dimension master' powers, he felt fear seep into his soul. Everything told him that if he died, it would be for real. The dungeon felt like it was a large one. If he was only near the beginning, and they were getting so hard that he was struggling, he wasn't sure he would survive. His instincts told him that the only way out of the quest was to complete it. There was no other way.

Thinking about it made him fear for his friends. He knew what to expect, but only a little. Chad and Mike didn't know anything about clearing dungeons. They didn't play games back in the ordinary world. They never showed any interest, and he never pestered them to play the game with him. He wished they had. It would at least give them a clue about what to do.

Stepping further into the tunnel, another goblin rushed out toward him. This one was far larger than the last ones he fought. It didn't have any armor, though. It wore a leather loincloth and carried a knotted club.

The large goblin swung his club, narrowly missing Drake. The top of the large club scraped against Drake's shoulder as he flew by.

"Shit!"

With all his strength, Drake lashed out with his whip. With luck, that surprised both him and the large goblin, the whip wrapped around the club. It tore out of his massive hand and went flying behind Drake.

Both of them paused for a moment. Drake was the first to recover. He lashed his whip again, slicing the goblin in the chest. Blood seeped, but it was only a shallow wound. Drake had to get closer to do any damage. The whip wasn't long enough to cut deep into the goblin's flesh.

Rolling forward, doing a quick somersault, Drake rolled onto his feet, stabbing forward with his sword before lashing out with the whip. The tip of the sword went into the goblin's belly while the whip cut through its chest. This time, it went deeper, making blood pour from the wound.

The attack pushed the goblin back, but only a couple of steps. It stared at Drake with its beady eyes. A soft red glow illuminated their depths. Looking at the goblin in front of him, Drake knew the goblin was pissed.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.