Chương 23: Apparently, the Tutorial Ends at E-Rank

The next morning, Matt woke before his alarm. Not because a truck had backed up beside Trailer C-87. Not because someone had dropped a piece of equipment onto concrete. Not because one of Ironvale's generators had announced its continued existence to the entire Camp. He simply woke up. Matt stayed in bed for a few seconds. The noise was still there. Engines. Metal. Voices. Some distant mechanical hammering that had apparently become part of the local ecosystem. Exactly as loud as yesterday.

It just hadn't prevented him from sleeping. Matt opened his COPY Archive. SOUND SLEEP Rarity: Unique Skill — F Effect Activated before sleeping. Allows the user to enter and maintain restful sleep regardless of ordinary environmental noise, light, uncomfortable sleeping conditions, or similar external discomfort. Provides no protection from actual danger. Matt stared at it.

"… That's staying." Technically, everything stayed. Unlimited storage. That wasn't what he meant. For a Dungeon road trip involving Campgrounds, truck stops, roadside RV sites, generators, and people starting engines at absurd hours, Sound Sleep had immediately entered the category of Skills Matt intended to actually use. He had copied plenty of abilities that might someday save his life. This one might simply make the life worth living. Matt rolled out of bed. Coffee. Perfect Temperature.

Then his morning production line. CRAFTING COPIES Vital Imprint — 10 / 10 Elemental Ward — 10 / 10 Weighted Edge — 10 / 10 Quickened Temper — 10 / 10 He worked through the familiar process. The Life-and-Resistance side was almost mechanical now. He knew what sold, which Bases were worth using, and which rolls deserved immediate listings. Weapon Crafting remained less predictable.

Weighted Edge and Quickened Temper helped, but without a copied Increased Physical Damage Skill, good weapons were still harder to produce consistently than beginner defensive Gear. Matt was fine with that. Not every production line needed to be solved immediately. Today, however, he deliberately stopped early. Elemental Ward — 6 / 10 remaining He looked at the four unused charges. Then at the National Dungeon Map icon sitting on his laptop.

Yesterday had produced no Experience, but it had given him five new Skills, a much better understanding of corporate Delving, and a Level Thirty-Five veteran's warning about E-rank. Today? It was time to find out where he was going next.

"Problem first." Matt looked at the unused Elemental Ward charges.

"Then equipment." No reason to manufacture Lightning Resistance if his next Dungeon wanted Fire. No reason to make Cold Gear if the place was Physical. He closed the Crafting interface. Then opened Status. PASSIVE POINTS: 2 Also untouched. The two points could wait too. Until Matt knew what his next Dungeon's actual problem was, spending permanent build resources would be guessing.

"Same rule." Matt dismissed the Passive Tree.

"Find the Dungeon. Find the problem. Then spend the points." He opened the National Dungeon Map. The previous search filter was still waiting. Matt selected it. DUNGEON RANK: E His finger hovered over the search button for a moment. This was the first time he'd deliberately searched beyond beginner content. Black Hollow. Ashfield Orchard. Ironvale Works. All F-rank. Different environments. Different monsters. Different lessons. But still F. Matt clicked.

The map populated with E-rank Dungeon markers across the country. He leaned back.

"… Right." America was large. The Dungeon System was larger. He could spend hours reading individual listings and still have no idea which one was appropriate. Which meant he was starting in the wrong place. Matt opened another tab. Search: first E rank dungeon Enter. The internet immediately tried to scare him. YOUR FIRST E-RANK: WHAT ACTUALLY CHANGES F-RANK GRADUATION CHECKLIST STOP TREATING E-RANK LIKE F-RANK WITH BIGGER NUMBERS YOUR FIRST ELEMENTAL AILMENT WILL TEACH YOU RESPECT YOU ARE NOT OVERGEARED.

F-RANK JUST STOPPED PUNISHING YOU Matt stared.

"Encouraging." He opened the forums. That was his first mistake. The thread title was: WHEN DID F-RANK STOP FEELING LIKE THE TUTORIAL? The top replies: When I entered E. F-rank is the tutorial. Level One through Ten is character creation. E is where the game asks whether you read the tooltips. If you still think E-rank is a tutorial, you haven't been set on fire yet. Matt stopped.

"… Why is fire always the example?" He opened a proper guide. ◆ The more responsible guides were less dramatic. They also said essentially the same thing. F-rank wasn't harmless. Dungeons were still Dungeons. Bosses still had mechanics. Ironvale had forced movement, moving terrain, flying adds, and an actual Overclock phase. Ashfield had ranged attackers and elemental pressure. But F-rank was forgiving.

A beginner could make a mistake and often still have enough Life, defensive margin, Flask access, or time to recover. Imperfect Gear and inefficient combat habits could still function. F-rank gave people room to learn why those things mattered. E-rank gave less room. One guide summarized it: F-rank asks whether you can fight. E-rank starts asking whether your build has answers. Matt liked that. Then he reached the next section. ELEMENTAL AILMENTS"Ah." There it was.

The thing half the forum posts had been shouting about. The guide simplified the three most common elemental ailments for first-time E-rank Delvers. IGNITE Fire-based damaging Ailment. An Ignite causes continuing Fire Damage over Time after the original hit. Surviving the initial attack does not end the damage. Matt nodded slowly.

"So getting away doesn't stop it." The attack could end. The damage didn't necessarily end with it. Different. Next. CHILL Cold-based non-damaging Ailment. Chill reduces Action Speed. Movement and other physical actions become slower while the effect is active. Matt frowned.

"…That's unpleasant." His combat now depended heavily on timing between movement, Cleave, Heavy Strike, Leap Slam, Quick Frame, and whatever the enemy happened to be doing. Multistrike had already taught him that extra commitment mattered. Add reduced Action Speed? Everything becoming slower at exactly the moment he needed to respond? Matt grimaced.

"Very unpleasant." Third. SHOCK Lightning-based non-damaging Ailment. Shock increases the Damage Taken by the affected target. The effect's strength varies. Matt stopped. Read it again.

"So the Shock isn't necessarily what kills you." The guide had a community note underneath. The first mistake gives you Shock. The second mistake finds out how much Shock mattered. Matt leaned back.

"… That's worse." Ignite continued hurting. Chill interfered with timing. Shock made whatever came next more dangerous. Different solutions to the same basic design principle: Getting hit was no longer necessarily a finished event. Matt summarized them in his notebook. AILMENTS IGNITE — The hit is over. The damage isn't. CHILL — You know what you want to do. Your timing may no longer agree. SHOCK — One mistake makes the next hit worse. Matt stared at the three lines. Wes's voice returned from yesterday.

E gives you less room.

"Okay." Now he understood what the man meant. Not that every E-rank monster was overwhelmingly stronger. Not that F-rank had been fake. Errors simply started creating follow-up problems. Matt made the mistake of checking the forums again. They said essentially the same three things, only louder and with worse bedside manner. Tutorial ended. Congratulations. Matt sighed.

"You people are terrible at encouragement." But he had what he needed. He returned to the Dungeon Map. Now he could search intelligently. ◆ His requirements were simple. Road access. Trailer support. A real Camp rather than some tiny wilderness outpost. Enough traffic that information and supplies would be easy to find. Most importantly— a primary problem he could understand and prepare for. Matt narrowed the list. Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Three candidates kept appearing in first-E recommendations. Conveniently, each revolved around one of the elemental ailments he'd just researched. The first: FROSTMERE CAVERNS Rank: E Primary Hazard: Cold Common Ailment: Chill The Dungeon occupied a vast frozen cavern system. Underground lakes. Ice-covered shelves. Narrow rock passages. Dense freezing mist. The images were beautiful. Blue-white ice. Crystal reflections. Water black enough to look bottomless. Matt almost liked it immediately.

Then he opened the reviews. Great first E if your movement fundamentals are good. Another: Terrible first E if you think Movement Speed and Action Speed are the same thing. Matt frowned.

"… Explain." Video. A Warrior fought something pale and quadrupedal in a frozen cavern. The monster launched a Cold projectile. The Warrior took the hit. Chill indicator. Then tried to reposition. Nothing dramatic happened. He simply moved and attacked more slowly than expected. The monster's second attack arrived while the Warrior's timing was still wrong. The reviewer paused the footage. This is what catches beginners. Chill doesn't only make your feet feel bad. It makes your timing bad. Matt watched again.

The Warrior knew what to do. That wasn't the problem. He had tried to do it using the timing he'd possessed before the Chill. That was the problem. Matt looked at Multistrike sitting in his Skill inventory. One activation. Three attacks. Excellent in Ironvale. More commitment than an ordinary Cleave. Now add reduced Action Speed.

"…No." Not never. Just— not first. Matt bookmarked Frostmere.

"Later." ◆ Candidate two. STORMGLASS RELAY Rank: E Primary Hazard: Lightning Common Ailment: Shock The Dungeon looked like some impossible collision between a ruined power substation and a magical storm. Massive metal towers. Broken conduits. Glass-like structures. Arcing Lightning. Long exposed corridors. Matt looked at the screenshots.

"Ironvale with electricity." Pause.

"Maybe not." The reviews were very enthusiastic. Which usually meant something was wrong. One highly rated comment said: The first hit isn't the problem. Shock turns mistakes into bigger mistakes. Video. Lightning projectile. Hit. The Delver's Life remained comfortably above zero. Shock indicator appeared. The Delver kept fighting. Then a completely different monster landed a Physical attack. That hit hurt far more than the first. The reviewer froze the frame. This is the lesson. Shock doesn't have to finish you.

It changes the math for everything that comes next. Matt folded his arms.

"So one bad dodge makes the next bad dodge worse." For a ranged build? Maybe manageable. For a solo melee Warrior learning an entirely new Rank? Matt imagined being surrounded. Lightning attack lands. Shock. Press in anyway. Take a melee hit. Suddenly regret all choices.

"Later." Bookmark. Not first. Which left— ◆ CINDERFALL BASIN Rank: E Location: Tennessee Primary Hazard: Fire Common Ailment: Ignite Matt clicked. The first image showed a huge black basin. Basalt. Burned vegetation. Red-lit fractures running through the ground. Open terrain broken by jagged black rock. Gray ash moving through hot air. Much better visual contrast from Ironvale. He read. Cinderfall was widely recommended as an early E-rank Dungeon. Not because it was weak. One review made that very clear.

Cinderfall is simple. Not easy. Simple. Matt nodded.

"Important distinction." The environment was relatively readable. Visibility generally good. Attack tells often clear. The primary lesson? Fire. More specifically: Ignite. One beginner guide had an entire highlighted box. THE CLASSIC CINDERFALL MISTAKE You take the hit. You survive. You back away. You relax. Your Life keeps dropping. Matt read it once. Then again.

"… Yeah." That was exactly the kind of thing that could catch him. Not because he didn't know about Ignite. Because fifteen years of ordinary human instinct said: The thing stopped hitting you. The immediate danger is over. And several weeks of F-rank had reinforced it. Take damage. Get distance. Evaluate. Cinderfall added: Keep evaluating. He opened the comments. First Ignite I ever got, I thought my Life UI was bugged. Another: I dodged everything after the first hit and still watched my Life fall.

Another: Congratulations. You've discovered Damage Over Time. Another: F-rank teaches you to dodge attacks. Cinderfall teaches you to keep watching your Life after you dodged. Matt stared.

"Okay." He compared the three options. Frostmere attacked timing. Stormglass amplified future mistakes. Cinderfall asked him to manage persistent Fire Damage. All were dangerous. But Cinderfall was the problem he had the best tools to prepare for. Matt already had substantial investment in elemental defense. He had the Beginner Set. Elemental Shield. Life investment. Armor. Evasion. Master of the Arena's regeneration. Most importantly— he possessed Elemental Ward — C.

He could directly force Fire Resistance modifiers while Crafting eligible equipment. Matt sat forward.

"I know how to build around this one." That decided it. Not because Cinderfall was safer. Not because Ignite was weaker. Because he understood the problem and possessed tools specifically suited to addressing it. One sensible guide had phrased the decision better than the forums ever would. Don't pick your first E by the best loot table. Pick it by the problem you understand. Matt nodded.

"Everyone reasonable says the same thing." He selected Cinderfall. NEXT DESTINATION CINDERFALL BASIN Tennessee Rank: E Matt stared at the E for a moment. Then opened the group chat. ◆ BLACK HOLLOW GROUP Matt: picked my first E Ethan: WHERE Matt: Cinderfall Basin Pause. Chloe: Good first choice. Ethan: FIRE Matt: I noticed Ethan: DON'T BURN Matt: excellent advice Chloe: Combat Belt. Matt: yes Ethan: FORTUNE Matt: no Ethan: THE BELT IS SAD Matt: good Matt smiled. Fortune's Harness remained exactly where he'd left it.

On the desk. Not equipped. Not relevant. Not coming into his first E-rank. Then Chloe sent another message. Chloe: First Ignite usually feels worse in person than it does in the guide. Matt: why Chloe: Because the monster stops attacking and your brain thinks the danger stopped. Matt stared at that. Exactly. Matt: yeah reviews keep saying that Chloe: Reviews are right sometimes. Ethan: RARE EVENT Matt closed the chat. Then opened another one. Matt: leaving ironvale today Ryan: what Ryan: already?

Matt: first E Ryan:... you're graduating before me Matt: you're Level 12 Ryan: I KNOW WHAT LEVEL I AM Matt laughed. Ryan: where Matt: Cinderfall Ryan: oh you're getting set on fire Matt: everyone keeps saying that Ryan: because everyone gets set on fire Three dots. Ryan: fine Ryan: go Ryan: I'll catch up Matt: you have a cooldown Ryan: I WILL CATCH UP Matt smiled at the screen. Matt: race you to E Ryan: you already won that one Ryan: race me to D Matt: deal He put the phone down.

"Preparation." ◆ First: Gear. Matt equipped his normal Combat Belt. Fortune's Harness stayed on the desk. He checked the Beginner Set. PURE ELEMENT All Resistances +5% Maximum Life +40 Grants Level 10 Elemental Shield ELEMENTAL RING Reduces Mana Reservation Cost of Elemental Shield by 100% Elemental Shield provided another layer of elemental Resistance without consuming an Active Skill Gem slot. That had been useful before. At Cinderfall, it became part of the plan. Matt activated it.

Then checked his current Fire Resistance. Fire: 50% Cold: 49% Lightning: 49% Good. Not where he wanted it. He reopened his Crafting storage. This was why he'd saved Elemental Ward charges. His current Gear was already good, so he wasn't going to rebuild everything. Instead, he selected eligible defensive Bases that could serve as Cinderfall-specific swaps. Useful Base first. Existing useful modifiers second. Then: Elemental Ward. Target: FIRE RESISTANCE Matt spent several of the saved charges.

The Skill guaranteed the modifier family. It did not guarantee that every finished item would be worth wearing. Some results were rejected. Others were good enough to keep. Eventually, Matt had a small set of Fire-focused equipment swaps he was comfortable using. He equipped the appropriate combination. Elemental Shield remained active. Status updated.

ELEMENTAL RESISTANCES Pure Element: +5% Elemental Shield: +26% Helmet: +12% Body Armor: +11% Gloves: +11% Second Ring: +10% FIRE: 75% Cold: 31% Lightning: 31% Matt looked at the line.

"There." Seventy-five percent. That felt much better. Cold and Lightning had dropped back to what Pure Element and Elemental Shield provided on their own. Matt accepted that. Cinderfall was a Fire Dungeon. He was not building for a place he wasn't going. The swap pieces stayed in Inventory either way. He opened one of the Cinderfall guides again. A community warning sat beneath the Fire Resistance section. Resistance is preparation. It is not permission to stand in fire. Matt nodded.

"Reasonable." Next problem. Regeneration. MASTER OF THE ARENA 1% Maximum Life regenerated per second In Ironvale, regeneration had mostly cleaned up chip damage. Against Ignite, it became part of a more direct contest between ongoing Fire Damage and ongoing recovery. Useful. But different attacks could inflict different levels of Burning. Matt had no idea yet whether his regeneration would comfortably handle any particular Ignite. That was the point of Recon.

"Helpful." He closed the Passive display.

"Not a license to be stupid." Next: Support Gems. ◆ Cleave currently had one Support Socket. Inside it: MULTISTRIKE SUPPORT Matt had loved it. Still loved it. But Cinderfall was unknown territory. He didn't know the monsters. Didn't know the tells. Didn't know how often attacks overlapped. Multistrike's extra commitment had been manageable because he understood Ironvale. For his first Cinderfall run, Matt preferred something simpler. He removed it.

Then took out: INCREASED ATTACK SPEED SUPPORT He socketed it into Cleave. CLEAVE Support Sockets: 1 Supported By: Increased Attack Speed Support The choice wasn't about raw Damage. It was about keeping Cleave a single, straightforward activation while making that activation faster and smoother. Hit. Evaluate. Move. Hit again. For an unknown Dungeon, Matt preferred that.

"Multistrike comes back when I know what I'm fighting." The red Gem went into secure storage with the other Supports. Not abandoned. Just wrong for the first test. That was apparently what Buildcraft actually looked like. Not finding the best item and never removing it. Finding the answer that matched today's problem. Next: COPY.

ACTIVE COPIED UNIQUE SKILLS Slot 1: Anchored Step Slot 2: Quick Frame Slot 3: Overmuscle Matt reviewed the Archive, but nothing obviously displaced his standard combat trio for a first reconnaissance run. Anchored Step might not matter. Cinderfall's beginner guides didn't emphasize forced movement as a defining hazard. But this was Matt's first visit. Unknown monsters. Unknown attacks. Unknown knockback.

"No reason to get clever." Current trio remained. Next: Passives. PASSIVE POINTS: 2 Matt stared. Then closed the tree again. The Gear had solved the obvious Fire Resistance problem. Recon first.

"After Recon." Done. ◆ He reviewed escape procedures next. Not because they were new. Because Wes had specifically said: Know your exit. Matt had always known how to leave. What changed was how seriously he now treated the question. E-rank community advice was annoyingly consistent. One guide had: If you start wondering whether you have enough left for one more pack, consider whether you've already answered the question. Another was less polite. The Dungeon will still be there tomorrow. You might not be.

Matt frowned.

"Dramatic." Pause.

"Probably good advice." He set the first-run objectives. Not Boss. Absolutely not Boss. Not speedrun. Not Treasure Route. Not Magic Find. Recon. FIRST CINDERFALL RUN Test entrance monsters Observe Fire attacks Experience Ignite under controlled conditions if possible Watch Life after Fire hits Check actual combat pacing Check loot quality Do not push deep Leave while comfortable Matt stared at the list.

"Good." That was the entire mission. His first E-rank didn't need to produce a heroic story. He wanted information. And ideally— not dying. Later, the trailer was hitched. Systems secured. Storage locked. Fortune's Harness packed away. Support Gems stored. Foundry Longsword secured inside the truck until arrival. Matt drove through Ironvale Camp one last time. ◆ At the Camp Office, he completed checkout. Then pulled onto the access road. Ironvale Works receded behind him. Matt watched part of it through the mirror.

The place had done a lot for him. He had arrived carrying an outdated beginner sword and thinking Ironvale's Constructs were absurdly durable. He was leaving with a rebuilt weapon, new Crafting Skills, weapon-Crafting experience, Arcane Economy in his Archive, a Shift Supervisor kill, Level Ten, three active COPY Slots, his first Support Socket, Multistrike, Fortune's Harness, Level Eleven, five more utility Skills, and Wes's warning. Don't rush it because F got easy. Matt nodded.

"Good stop." Then Ironvale disappeared behind the road. For the first time in weeks— he was drifting again. ◆ Indiana gave way to highway. Road signs. Fuel stations. Green fields. Small towns. Truck traffic. Long stretches where there was nothing particularly magical about America at all. Matt liked that. Dungeon Camp. Dungeon. Loot. Gear. Build. Those things were exciting. This was the other half. Truck. Trailer. Road. Coffee. Choosing where he wanted to go next.

"This was the point." No corporation had assigned Tennessee. No manager had told him which Dungeon to clear. No school had a curriculum. Matt had looked at Cold. Lightning. Fire. Then chosen. That mattered. He stopped along the route for food, fuel, and coffee. He wasn't racing. The navigation system could tell him the most efficient route. It could not tell him that arriving exhausted before his first E-rank was a stupid idea. Wes had handled that. Matt returned to the highway.

A Cinderfall beginner guide played through the truck speakers.

"Cinderfall kills overconfidence more often than ignorance." Matt frowned.

"That's somehow more threatening." The narrator continued.

"The direct Fire hit isn't the whole lesson. Watch what happens afterward." Matt repeated the important part aloud.

"Watch Life after every Fire hit." That went into the mental checklist beside: Know the exit. Don't wear Fortune's. Don't Boss Rush. He drove on. ◆ During a break, Matt pulled up Frostmere again. The Dungeon looked excellent. Frozen cavern. Blue light. Underground water. Completely different from anything he'd done so far. He bookmarked it more deliberately.

"Later." Stormglass Relay too. The reviews praised the loot. Matt resisted opening the detailed loot table.

"Later." He was developing restraint. Possibly. Cinderfall first. Learn Ignite. Then he could start learning other problems. That, Matt realized, was going to become the Road Trip. Not simply Dungeon A, then stronger Dungeon B, then stronger Dungeon C. It would be Fire problems, Cold problems, Lightning problems, swarm problems, ranged problems, Boss problems—and whatever Crafting, Support, COPY, or Gear solution answered them. Sometimes no solution. Then figure one out. Matt smiled.

"Yeah." That sounded fun. ◆ He stopped overnight at an RV site along the route. No rush. No Dungeon tonight. No Experience lost by sleeping. No ranking cared whether he reached Tennessee one night sooner. Matt left the trailer hitched. Ate. Checked his listings. Reviewed Cinderfall notes one final time. Then climbed into bed. The site wasn't particularly quiet. Heavy vehicles came and went nearby. Matt opened his Archive. Sound Sleep. Activate. The noise remained. It simply stopped interfering with sleep.

Matt closed his eyes.

"This one's really good." Then he was out. ◆ The next morning, Matt woke rested. Coffee. Of course. Daily Crafting reset. Also of course. Matt stared at the counters.

"I have a problem." He laughed. Even on a road trip between Dungeons, the Crafting Skills were waiting. Ignoring them felt like setting money on fire. Which, considering where he was going, felt thematically inappropriate. He processed a routine batch using the Bases and Currency already stored in the trailer. Nothing elaborate. Normal production. Listings finished before he pulled back onto the road. Then: Tennessee. ◆ The terrain changed gradually. Green hills. Dense vegetation.

Road cutting through rolling terrain. More signs. More Dungeon-industry traffic as he neared his destination. Equipment haulers. RVs. Pickups carrying weapon cases. Commercial vans with Crafter logos. Then finally— a sign. CINDERFALL BASIN DELVER ACCESS Matt sat up slightly.

"… There it is." He turned off the main route. The road widened. Then descended toward the Camp. ◆ Cinderfall looked nothing like Ironvale. Ironvale had been machinery first. Concrete. Steel. Industrial order. Cinderfall had grown around an old quarry-like depression surrounded by dark earth and exposed black rock. The Camp itself was modern—RV rows, parking, a Camp Office, utility hookups, stores, equipment dealers, food, and repair services. Everything a Delver needed.

But behind the normal infrastructure sat the Gate. And beyond the Gate's blue portal— red-orange light. Matt saw it immediately. Not heat. Not yet. Just color spilling from the Dungeon side. Fire.

"Subtle." He checked in. Parked Trailer C-87. Connected what needed connecting. Then— did not immediately grab his sword. Yesterday had been useful. Wes's advice still mattered. Information is progression. So Matt walked the Camp first. ◆ Cinderfall wasn't grim. That surprised him. People laughed. A group was grilling food. Someone was arguing over an equipment price. A Mage sat outside an RV reading something on a tablet. Three Delvers compared Gear at a picnic table. It was still America. Still a Dungeon Camp.

Still a workplace for thousands of ordinary careers. But Matt noticed differences from the F-rank Camps he'd known. Equipment decisions looked more deliberate. Fire Resistance Gear appeared frequently. Delvers swapped pieces before heading toward the Gate. Some carried obvious alternate equipment. People discussed Ailments casually. At one table:"Your Fire setup?"

"Good."

"Regen?"

"Enough."

"Don't say enough."

"You sound like my mother." At a store near the Gate: CINDERFALL FIRST-TIMER EQUIPMENT ASK ABOUT FIRE RESISTANCE Matt stared.

"Of course." He didn't need the package. He'd already built his own answer. Still reassuring that the local industry agreed. He kept walking. Near the Gate terminal itself stood a large digital notice. It rotated through several safety reminders. Then: CINDERFALL BASIN — E-RANK REMEMBER SURVIVING THE HIT DOES NOT END IGNITE. Matt stopped. The sentence looked different here. On the forums? Funny. On DelverForge? Educational. On a large sign immediately beside an actual E-rank Gate? Less funny.

"… Okay." He stood there a moment longer. Then returned to C-87. Time to Gear up. ◆ Armor. Foundry Longsword. Flasks. Combat Belt. Beginner Set. Fire-focused equipment configuration. Matt activated Elemental Shield. Checked Status. FIRE RESISTANCE: 75% He looked at it again. Seventy-five. Good. This wasn't accidental Fire Resistance anymore. Matt had selected a Fire Dungeon, researched the danger, saved Crafting capacity, built swap pieces, and deliberately arrived prepared for it.

That felt like the first real transition from beginner Delving into build planning around content.

"Good." COPY. ACTIVE COPIED UNIQUE SKILLS Anchored Step Quick Frame Overmuscle Good. Skills. ACTIVE SKILL GEMS Cleave — Supported By: Increased Attack Speed Support Heavy Strike Leap Slam Blade Projection Multistrike remained stored. Matt touched its case.

"If things are comfortable, you can come back later." No reason to prove anything on run one. He opened the desk drawer. Fortune's Harness sat inside. Golden lines. Twenty thousand dollars. First day wearing it: Unique. Matt stared.

"No." Closed drawer. Pause. Opened it again.

"You don't get a vote." Closed.

"Ethan has ruined me." ◆ Matt walked toward the Gate. The nearer he got, the more he noticed ash. Not supernatural ash drifting through Camp. Normal residue carried out on Delvers. Boots dusty. Gear smelling faintly of smoke. One group emerged from the Gate laughing. One of them was covered in dark Cinderfall ash.

"Got lit up twice." His companion handed him a bottle of water.

"Told you." The first guy laughed.

"Still cleared the route." Matt watched them pass.

"… Great." Nobody looked traumatized. Nobody looked like they'd narrowly survived the apocalypse. That mattered too. E-rank was more dangerous. It was not a death sentence. People did this every day. Matt stepped to the terminal. CINDERFALL BASIN Rank: E Instance selection appeared. Boss Alive. Boss Defeated. Player populations. Matt didn't even consider the first category. Instance 58 — 19/64 — Boss Defeated Fewer people than an F-rank Instance. That was worth noticing too. No race. No temptation.

No Shift Supervisor. No Orchard Keeper. Today was not about proving he could kill an E-rank Boss.

"Recon." Select. Instance ready. The portal waited. ◆ Matt stopped before entering. Checklist. Combat Belt? Yes. Fortune? No. Fire Resistance? 75%. Elemental Shield? Active. Cleave Support? Increased Attack Speed. COPY? Three combat Skills active. Exit? Known. Goal? Entrance monsters. Ignite. Information. Leave early. Passive Points? Still two. Good. He rested one hand on the Foundry Longsword. This felt different from entering Black Hollow.

Back then, Matt had been inexperienced enough that he didn't know what he didn't know. Now he knew enough to be nervous. That might have been healthier. He stepped through. ◆ Heat. That was the first thing. Not pain. Not Damage. Heat. Dry and aggressive. Like opening an oven and standing too close. Matt blinked. The Camp disappeared behind him. Cinderfall Basin replaced it. Black basalt stretched outward in broken shelves. The earth was cracked. Thin red light glowed from deep fractures.

Charred trees rose from the landscape like dead fingers. Gray ash drifted slowly through hot air. Farther away, jagged black formations cut across the basin. Above everything: a dark red sky that looked nothing like Tennessee. CINDERFALL BASIN E-RANK Matt breathed. The air smelled dry. Burned. Mineral-heavy. The System environment made it breathable. That did not make it pleasant. He looked behind him. Portal. Stable. Exit located. Good. Matt turned back. His eyes checked the UI automatically. Life full.

Elemental Shield active. FIRE RESISTANCE: 75% Good. Sword. Good. He moved forward slowly. Not charging. Not Boss rushing. Not trying to prove he belonged. Recon. The basalt crunched beneath his boots. Heat shimmer distorted the air ahead. A glowing fracture ran beside the route. Matt kept his distance. No reason to find out whether terrain could hurt him by stepping into it.

"Information." A few more steps. Then— something moved. Behind a jagged formation of black rock. Matt stopped. Low scraping sound. Heavy. Not a Scrap Hound. Not a Press Walker. Not an Ash Rabbit. Something unfamiliar dragged or shifted across stone. Then came a growl. Deep. Rough. Close enough to matter. Matt's hand tightened on the Foundry Longsword. He checked the portal behind him one last time. Then faced forward.

F-rank had taught him how to fight, build, Craft, change his setup, recognize bad equipment, choose Passives, and walk away when necessary. It had even taught him how to spend twenty thousand dollars on a Belt that might be psychologically cursed. According to half the internet— that had all been the tutorial. The shape behind the black rock moved again. Matt raised his sword. A faint smile appeared.

"All right." He stepped forward.

"Let's see what E-rank teaches me."