Only a few hours had passed since leaving Riverrun when Twig pulled on the reins, slowing his horse to a stop.
He guided his mount — and the two others following — off the main road and into the woods, trotting just far enough to be hidden from view. With one quick motion, he dismounted, found a sturdy tree, and tied all three horses close together so they wouldn't stray.
From his inventory, he took out some carrots and apples, setting them within reach. He scattered a bit of feed on the ground in small piles, enough to keep them busy.
"Alright. That should do it." He glanced up at the pale morning sky. "Still early… If I spend about forty hours inside the dungeon, I'll be back around noon. That should be enough time."
He smirked. "Time to grind a few levels and test my Merchant skills. I might as well scout the new dungeon while I'm at it. The system said it's dangerous, but no harm in looking."
He called out: "Aliane, are you there?"
As always, the Kafra attendant materialized with her kind, practiced smile. "Hello, young master. How may I assist you today?"
"Aliane, teleport me to the dungeon — Volcano Lair."
The world shifted.
The moment he arrived, a blast of heat struck his face like a furnace door thrown open.
"Damn… what's with this heat?" he muttered. Around him stretched rivers of molten rock and tongues of fire rising into the air. The ground cracked with heat; black smoke coiled up in columns.
"This place is brutal. Just from the temperature alone it's already a challenge. And with this terrain, forget about renting a Peco-Peco. They'd melt before reaching the first turn."
"I agree, young master," Aliane replied calmly, ever reading his thoughts aloud.
"I'll take it from here, Aliane. Be right back after a quick recon."
Twig advanced cautiously. He had barely covered twenty meters when a sharp whistle cut through the air. "No way…" he muttered as a draconic creature — not quite a dragon, but fierce enough to pass for one — dived at him from above.
Before the impact, Twig threw himself sideways, rolling over the hot stone. The rock's heat burned against his back as the creature's shadow swept past, the air vibrating with its speed. The young dragonling crossed just over his head, roaring past like a cannonball.
Twig sprang up in one fluid motion. "Now!" He raised his pike and hurled it forward like a javelin. "Boomerang Spear!"
The weapon spun through the air in a perfect arc, striking the dragonling mid-flight.
BAM! The impact slammed the beast into a nearby rock wall. Twig extended his hand, and the spear curved back into his palm as if pulled by an invisible thread.
But the creature wasn't dead — only stunned. With a furious screech, it lunged again, faster than before. Twig read its trajectory, stepped aside, and intercepted it mid-charge — the pike's tip piercing clean through. He followed up with a heavy swing that smashed it down into the ground.
[Ding!] You obtained 17,015 Base EXP and 10,330 Job EXP
[Ding!] Job Level UP +1
[Ding!] Job Level UP +1
[Ding!] Job Level UP +1
Twig blinked in disbelief. The EXP gain from a single monster was enough to push his Merchant class up more than ten levels at once — even with the 20% penalty for running multiple classes in parallel.
"Holy crap! That was a Sky Deleter… If that's just the first one, I don't even want to know what's deeper in here."
He looked down at the loot scattered among the glowing rocks — dragon scales, fangs, shards of black stone. "At least the drops are worth it."
He took a deep breath, feeling the air shimmer with heat. "Alright, let's check the stats. System, open Status."
[Ding!]
[— USER STATUS —]
Name: Robert Nilig (Twig)
Age: 12 (+21)
Race: Human
Job: Knight – LVL [43/70] | EXP: 178,513 / 300,524
Merchant – LVL [17/50] | EXP: 730/ 1,937
Level: 63 | EXP: 274,752 / 759,742
HP: 14,759 | MP: 439
Attributes:
STR: 70 | VIT: 75 | AGI: 62 | DEX: 65 | INT: 43 | LUK: 43
Resources:
Stat Points: 0 | Knight Skill Points: 0 | Merchant Skill Points: 16 | Zeny: 128,547
Equipment:
Pike [4], Chain Mail [1], Buckler [1], Gloves, Boots [1], Ulfhedinn [1]
Skills:
Sword Mastery Lv.10, Increased Recuperative Power Lv.10, Bash Lv.10, Provoke Shout Lv.6, Endure Lv.6, Magnum Break Lv.7, Riding Lv. 1, Calvary Mastery Lv. 5, Spear Mastery Lv.10, Hand Quicken Lv.3, Spear Boomerang Lv. 10, Brandish Spear Lv. 10, Spear Stab Lv. 4.
A translucent screen appeared before him.
"Okay… now that I've got a second class, the stat points are separated by category." Twig frowned. "Damn it. I thought Merchant points could boost my other classes too. Guess not."
[Ding!] "Keep dreaming, host."
"Fine, fine." He sighed. "I'll dump everything into Greed Hands. That skill will make looting a lot faster. I'm done crawling around picking things up by hand."
He smirked. "The other Merchant skills… I'll deal with them later. Most of them aren't for combat anyway."
Twig pushed onward through the fiery corridor — but didn't make it ten steps before the flames around him shifted. From within the heat shimmer came movement — two Sky Deleters, slicing through the air, and between them, their earthbound counterpart: a Land Deleter, crawling low across molten stone.
Without a Peco-Peco, Brandish Spear was out of the question. "Guess I'll have to rely on Magnum Break for AoE…" he muttered.
The first Sky Deleter dove straight at him; Twig twisted aside, the blast of hot air whipping his cape. The second came right after. Both looped around for another pass while the Land Deleter charged low, shaking the ground.
When all three entered range, Twig slammed his spear down. "Magnum Break!"
A surge of fire erupted outward, engulfing the tunnel in flame. The blast echoed through the volcanic chamber — but when the smoke cleared, the monsters still stood.
"Damn it. Fire-resistant."
He didn't hesitate. A quick lunge — "Bash!" — the ground shook as the spear struck the Land Deleter squarely, knocking it off-balance. He rolled sideways under the next aerial pass, heat biting at his skin.
The two Sky Deleters screeched overhead, turning for another dive. Twig rose to one knee, spear ready.
"Fine then," he muttered. "If AoE won't work… I'll just do it the hard way."
Their shadows crossed over him — but this time, instead of diving, both Sky Deleters fired fireballs from above.
"Are you kidding me?!"
He leapt aside as twin orbs of flame exploded behind him, scattering molten shards in all directions.
"Great. They spit fire too. Fantastic."
He picked his target — the one on the left — and hurled his spear. "Boomerang Spear!"
The weapon shot forward like lightning, impaling the first Sky Deleter and pinning it to the rock wall behind. The spear snapped back to his hand, trailing sparks.
Twig activated Hand Quicken to boost his speed, then Endure to brace for impact. His SP bar dipped sharply, but he charged forward anyway — aiming straight for the grounded Land Deleter.
Just as he closed in, the beast spewed a wall of fire that rose like an infernal curtain.
Twig jumped back — but midair, the remaining Sky Deleter caught him off guard. He met it with the spear shaft, deflecting the strike, sliding backward from the force. Then — crack! — a quick thrust, followed by a Bash. Both hits landed clean, leaving the monster reeling.
"Now!"
He shifted position, perfect angle, then unleashed Boomerang Spear again.
The weapon tore through the wounded Sky Deleter — and continued right into the other, still stunned.
A single throw, two kills.
Both creatures fell, smoldering as they hit the volcanic floor.
Only the Land Deleter remained.
Twig raised his voice — "Provoke Shout!" — a piercing roar that drew the beast forward. It lunged.
Before impact, Twig's spear flashed. "Spear Stab!" The blow stopped the creature mid-charge, leaving it open. He followed with Bash, then two clean thrusts — swift, controlled, lethal.
The monster crumbled.
Even though he had fought only three enemies, Twig was drenched in sweat, his breath heavy.
It felt like hours.
"Damn… this place is brutal. Harder than anything I've done so far — and that was just the entrance."
He looked deeper into the burning tunnels, then shook his head. "No… not today. I need better gear first. If I push too far, I'll die here."
Retracing his steps, he quickly reached the Kafra warp point. He sold off the less valuable loot, recovering part of his travel expenses, then requested to return.
In a blink, he was back in Westeros — the familiar forest breeze greeting him again.
Barely any time had passed outside. He rested a few minutes, fed the horses, and cleaned up the leftover apples and carrots before mounting the chestnut stallion.
With the reins of the other two in hand, Twig steered them down the forest path.
Their steady trot echoed along the road — three horses, one rider — returning to the inn, where his next plans awaited.