Chương 78: (B2 Chapter 29)

I approached Lucas, who was busy admiring his new shield. It looked like Lucas had kept the shield and Sam was keeping the sword.

"How's the new shield?" I asked him when I drew near. He turned toward me and grinned, "Amazing! It's an epic shield and it even has a skill! The skill is called 'Retribution', and I can't wait to see what it does!"

"From the name, it seems like the shield may damage your opponents when they attack you, which really is a great skill to get!" I shared his enthusiasm. He then asked about what I got, and I shared the properties of my new armour. He was glad that I would be able to tank a few more hits now, a sentiment I agreed with. We had all levelled up as well from that last fight, and I was now at level 20. Nothing special occurred with the level up, so it was probably not a milestone.

"Let's get out of here then," I said to Lucas, who nodded. He then bent down and lifted Marcus's still limp body and called out to the others to start moving towards the portal. Still being cautious, I insisted on holding hands with each other while crossing back through the portal, as I didn't want to face any surprises with the system perhaps randomly throwing us out in the vicinity of the portal or some other weird thing it may come up.

We already knew how it had spread all of us after the tutorial, and I didn't want to take any chances with it depositing us 'close' to the dungeon's exit. We stepped out without incidence, and found the same alley where we had entered from. It was early morning by the looks of it, and I did a cursory glance of the surroundings, which were luckily devoid of any monsters. Then, I immediately turned back to see that the dungeon entrance was still there.

I wanted to check if I could re-enter, but I was worried of being sucked back into the dungeon without warning since I had already entered it once. I knew I wouldn't be able to survive alone through the entire dungeon. Looking around at the others, I couldn't ask them to risk it either by holding hands and trying to re-enter, as even though we had been successful and were now more powerful, it was still an extremely difficult dungeon.

With us almost out of mana potions and Marcus out of commission, there was a high risk of someone dying in there if we tried to re-enter. I'll see if we can get the system prompt again when near the portal if we come here again… We then started moving towards our new base, while Omar whispered excitedly about his new staff. It was also an epic item, but it had no skill.

Instead, Omar said that apart from stats and mana regeneration, it improved his casting speed and reduced mana consumption of his spells by a fair degree. It wasn't mentioned in the description of the staff, but Omar said he thought it was somewhere close to a 15% reduction in mana consumption, while judging casting speed improvement was obviously trickier and he just said it was noticeable. The way back to the base was thankfully uneventful, and we reached the base in about 30 minutes.

The base seemed to be the same as we left it, with two sleepy guards at the front door who greeted us with enthusiasm. They also confirmed that it had been just about a day since we left for the dungeon. Lucas paused to ask them about any updates he needed to know, but the rest of us continued upstairs, with Marcus now in the arms of Sam. I climbed the stairs up to the apartments, and the nearer I got to a bed the more I realized how tired and sleepy I was.

The adrenaline and constant danger in the dungeon had kept us all active, but now that we felt secure inside the base, our bodies reminded us that we had been in almost constant combat for the better part of an entire day. I entered an apartment after bidding farewell to the others and crashed on the bed. I was extremely tired, but for some reason I couldn't quite shut off my brain. I felt like my brain knew how tired it was, but it still insisted on keeping thoughts racing through my mind.

I thought back to the dungeon, and the reason for us entering in the first place. It had been extremely productive, and the primary purpose for us going there, levelling up, had been achieved. I had gone from level 15 all the way to level 20 in the space of just one day, which was an even higher single-day gain than that final battle in the tutorial. The rest of the group had all levelled up as well, and I think it was not only due to our low levels, but also due to the immense challenge of the dungeon bosses.

With what we had discovered about how exp works, the tricky bosses rewarded us massively, and I don't think another foray into the dungeon would be as lucrative simply due to the fact that we were more familiar with the challenge now. This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version. Still, I think another pass through it when we are prepared would be good for us. Not only for the exp, but also for the loot.

I didn't know if the dungeon gave tailor-made loot for all of us with each pass through the dungeon, or if it was a special case due to it being the first pass. Whatever the case, it was a very nice idea to go back to it soon, and I was eager to find more dungeons to tackle. For that though, I think the base as a whole had to be more active and contribute much more. Especially the production classes.

If we had stamina and health potions in addition to mana potions in the dungeon, it would have been far less dangerous, especially that last boss fight. Moreover, if we had someone who could make armour and weapons for us, it would boost the base as a whole. Not to mention the artificer and enchanter classes, who could improve our magical and physical damage massively. The other thing my mind kept being preoccupied by was the system itself.

It had been a few days now after the tutorial, in fact, by my estimate, the tutorial would end for everyone else today. I didn't know what else the system had planned after the tutorial, or if it had planned anything at all. It was entirely possible that it would leave us to our own devices after the tutorial, and we would have to figure everything else out by ourselves. With that being the case, what was I going to do?

I had earlier envisioned about wanting to grow this base with the others, perhaps make it into a powerhouse in the future. But was that really what I wanted to do? Laying there on the bed, I actually gave it serious thought, and the answer I came up with was while I would love to see everything being built up and us getting a foothold in our new reality, I was more excited about exploring our new world and experiencing everything that I could in this new reality.

However, I think that would have to be more of a long-term goal, as I really wanted to find my family first. If I was able to find them quickly, then great, otherwise I think the best chance of finding them would be to grow our base large enough and getting the help of others to find them. I was under no delusion that I would be able to find them if I went out by myself, especially not now that the world had probably become five times as large as before.

Besides, almost everyone would want to search for their loved ones as well, so it could be a collective effort. After my family was secure enough in a large base, I would probably go off to explore on my own for a bit. Or maybe with a few others if they wanted to come. Thoughts kept circling in my mind, and I soon drifted off to sleep.

I woke up feeling surprisingly refreshed, but very, very, hungry. I think it was hunger that had woken me up, and I soon got up and splashed my face with some water from a bottle in the inventory before making my way out of the room. Wandering the base, I soon found Madelline having a meal by herself in the room we had eaten in a few times before. It had a large, rectangular table, probably for some meetings, but it was a good place to have some communal meals.

Madelline must have been lost in her own world, as she gave a start when I dropped by beside her.

"Oh! It's you! Sorry, I was thinking about something and didn't notice you come in," she said, a hint of red in her cheeks.

"No worries, I should have probably called out a greeting," I waved away her apology, and started looking through my inventory. Finding nothing better than beans, I gave a sigh and opened the can up, silently eating the cold beans. It was not appetizing at all, but it was at least fulfilling. The two of us sat by in companionable silence for a while before Madelline suddenly spoke up.

"You think we'll be able to find our families soon?" she asked in a small voice, still looking down at her food that I noticed she wasn't eating anymore. Honestly, the probability of finding our families was abysmal, but just before sleeping I, too, had been thinking about the exact thing. I knew it was highly unlikely, but I couldn't bring myself to say it to her, and actually to hear the words out loud myself.

"It will be difficult, but I think we can do it," I told her. She still kept looking down at her food, so I continued the conversation, "I don't think I know about your family. Tell me about them." She perked up just a little at that, and looked at me with a shine in her eyes as she started speaking, "It's just me, my mom, and my little brother. Dad passed away shortly after Andy was born. My mom didn't let us feel his absence though. She is a super-woman, and also my best friend!

Andy is seven years younger than me, and we are super close!" She went on to share a few stories of Andy and her mom, Olivia. I silently listened, giving appropriate responses here and there. It was surprising seeing Madelline speak non-stop like this, as she usually stayed silent, but I was glad for her company during this frankly disappointing breakfast. Soon, Omar joined us, and with him came coffee, something I was sorely in need of.

By the time he came, Madelline had asked me about my family, and I was sharing a few stories of Anna and my parents with her.

"Like you and your brother, Anna and I are very close, even though it doesn't seem like that to others as we don't outright show it much. She was like a third parent to me growing up, and is still highly protective of me even to this day. She has even scolded mom and dad a few times in defense of me!" as I spoke, the meal somehow got better. It may have been the coffee, but I think speaking about your family comforts you in some unseen way. Omar also joined in, telling us about his family.

He was in the midst of telling us the names of all four of his siblings, when the system decided to cut into the conversation. The first tutorial has concluded and surviving Users are now back on their respective planets. Pay attention to the following announcements: