Long and endless hours Kopii spent in the adventurers' guild. Emerging from the building into the bright morning light, he headed towards his home, sinking into deep reflections that everyone has a motivation to keep moving forward. Greed for glittering gold, thirst for fame, fervent impulses for heroic deeds… For others, examples were their relatives, who had already become legends of the dungeons. Behind every back lurked its own goal, its own reason to risk their life. Kopii, however, had no one he sincerely strove to protect, except a feeling of deep debt towards Miach. Of course he understood that he too had goals, for example reaching Orario then receiving a blessing. But that is not what he needs, and what he wants he does not yet know.
But at the moment, he has a simple goal to save up enough valis to repay Miach's debt for Naaza. He needed money, that was the goal he was currently pursuing...
«But is that truly a goal?» – Pondered Kopii, thinking about this matter, and the more he thought about it the more he understood that this is not a goal for which he would go to any lengths. He certainly wanted to help Miach, but to give himself entirely to this goal he could not.
Reflecting while staring at the ceiling of his room, he thought about the dungeon and he understood one thing that he had been ignoring for so long, ignoring a fact that at the same time he perfectly understood. That incident in the dungeon had instilled fear in him. All day he had tried to deny it and tell himself that he had overcome it. But that was not so, just the thought that he could have died made his body unconsciously tremble.
«I really am a weakling...»
And with such thoughts he fell asleep.
In the morning Kopii rushed to the guild. There one could buy weapons on the cheap, and he intended to buy a dagger so that it would always be at hand when his main weapon was not.
A rather simple atmosphere reigned in the armory, the same paupers as me also shopped here. He carefully examined the daggers put up for sale, as if searching for a pearl in a pile of sand. He needed a dagger that he could draw at any time and deliver a precise strike. So it should not be big or too small. But at last, after not too long a search, he finally found one, to tell the truth, whatever his money was enough for, that's what he bought.
Returning to his room, Kopii pondered where it would be best to hang it, as indeed it must always be in quick access for his right hand.
«And what if I don't have my right hand...»
But Kopii quickly cast aside such dark thoughts. And without thinking long, he finally found the perfect place in his opinion, and that was the thigh. What could be better, he simply did not know. And not knowing what else to occupy himself with, he decided to hone his mastery of the dagger and the sword, but in such a way as not to destroy the room. He did not have spare money, so he could not afford to cleave his bed in two.
And the more he trained, the more the fear of the dungeon began to recede. He was so exhilarated that he involuntarily imagined how he would wreck those goblins. When his sword flew off somewhere far away again, the goblins smirked but no such luck, and the dagger that was hidden on my thigh was already in his head.
«Yes! That's how it will be!»
And the more he thought about it, the wider his smile became and the stronger the desire to descend into the dungeon.
By evening, Kopii was exhausted but satisfied. He felt that he would no longer lose to goblins so easily. A new strategy for the dungeon was almost ideal in his eyes.
Kopii met the next morning with enthusiasm, like a traveler who saw light at the end of a long tunnel. He felt a surge of strength and confidence that no one would stop him.
And here he stands again before the descent into the dungeon, and all his confidence evaporated as if it had never been there at all. And involuntarily he began again to recall the mistake that could have cost him his life. Time passed and he finally decided to descend into the dungeon. To defeat fear one must face it head-on, he had read that passage from some book.
He descended to the first floor and saw the same picture as last time: someone was going down, as if into an abyss, and someone was rising up, as if from hell. The further he advanced, the fewer people became, until they completely disappeared, like a mirage in the desert, and this is only on the first floor, on the twentieth I will be completely alone.
Kopii walked in full readiness for any danger that awaited him ahead, when suddenly he again heard a familiar sound that had etched itself into his memory forever, like a brand, and his body filled with fear which he tried with all his might to suppress. Kopii turned towards the sound.
«One?» – He wondered, perfectly recalling that back then he thought there were three, but in fact there were four, so he did not relax even for a second even if it really was just one goblin.
Without waiting for it to fully appear, Kopii rushed forward, like an arrow shot from a bow, and delivered a swift attack towards the goblin. He hit it, but did not kill it, which saddened him greatly. But he does not stop, taking advantage of the fact that the goblin lost its balance, he trampled its head until it vanished, as if into oblivion. Picking up the dropped magic stone, like a warrior's trophy, he moved on. Fear gradually began to retreat, like the darkness of night, and determination took its place, like the rising sun, full of hope.
«They are weak... Well, basically like me.»
Kopii killed goblins as if mowing thick grass, but it was strange, like a disrupted order. He did not see more than two goblins at a time, as if they were afraid of him. Having collected 9 magic stones, he realized that this was extremely little, like a few drops in an endless sea. At this rate, he would never repay the debt.
Kopii pondered whether he should descend to the second floor. Without thinking long, he dismissed this idea, because why rush, it was only his second dive into the dungeon. And most likely night would soon fall, so definitely no. Kopii decided to cast these thoughts far aside and without delay he began to ascend from the dungeon. On the way up, he met only a couple of goblins, towards whom the fear that had plagued him for several days had completely vanished. Exiting the Tower of Babel, Kopii discovered that it had already grown dark. This circumstance did not stop him, and he headed to the guild to exchange the magic stones for valis. As Kopii expected, the proceeds were meager, like alms to a beggar asking for charity. Tired, he went to the "Blue Pharmacy", as if seeking solace in that stuffy atmosphere.
Later, lying in his modest bed, Kopii reflected on his second descent into the dungeon, as if analyzing every detail of the battle. He decided that next time he would descend to the second floor to obtain more magic stones. But he was also interested in another question: why on the first descent the maximum number of goblins was four, and on his second descent the maximum was two, and even that was rare. How does this work?
The next morning Kopii woke up as usual, like clockwork, washed up and trained a little. Heading out for a run, he saw that the "Blue Pharmacy" had already opened, and behind the counter stood Naaza, as sleepy as always, like a sleepwalker awakening from a deep slumber.
«Aren't we opening too early?»
— Good morning, Naaza, I see you are working diligently as always. Didn't you think about taking a day off?
— Morning, Kopii, no, I didn't think about it.
«As taciturn as ever.»
— Well, it's up to you.
— ...
After talking a little more with Naaza, Kopii went up to the second floor and approached Miach's room, knocked, and entered the room, completely forgetting that he had wanted to go for a run.
— Good morning, Miach-sama. – Kopii said cheerfully.
— Hello, Kopii. – Turning to him with a smile. – I see you are always working so diligently.
«Does he ever not smile?»
But completely different words flew out of his mouth.
— Well, not so diligently. Anyway, I came to update my stats, Miach-sama.
— Very well, undress and sit on the chair, — said Miach with confidence in his voice.
But to tell the truth, he saw no point in this, not even a week had passed since the last time, so it was pointless. But Miach remained silent on this matter, after all, it was better if he saw with his own eyes that his stats had hardly changed at all.
Kopii again felt drops of sweat and anxiety touch his back, and then Miach wrote everything down on paper and handed it to Kopii.
— Good results. — said Miach, not hiding his surprise.
Kopii looked at the paper that Miach handed him and saw:
Strength: H 117
Endurance: H 123
Dexterity: H 108
Agility: H 121
Magic Power: I 0
«Magic»
[ ]
«Skills»
[Copying] "You can be whoever you want, but not yourself"
He looked at the results and was not surprised by anything, aware of all his efforts.
— Well then, I'm off to train further.
— Rest is also part of training, Kopii, don't forget. — Said Miach and waved his hand in farewell.
He waved back at him and said: — I know that.
Kopii left Miach's room and headed for the pharmacy exit. He decided that today he would spend the whole day on training and nothing more.
All day Kopii trained diligently, like one obsessed with his goal. He ran, did push-ups, exercised with swords, honing his skills, like a careful sculptor creating a masterpiece from marble. He tried to develop his endurance and agility, to be ready for any surprises in the dungeon, as if foreseeing a future full of secrets. By evening, he was utterly exhausted, like a squeezed lemon, but felt satisfaction from the work done, like an alpinist who conquered a challenging peak.
Before sleep, Kopii thoroughly checked his equipment. He sharpened his swords, checked the durability of his armor, gathered supplies. He wanted to be sure that he was ready for anything. Lying in bed, he pondered what awaited him on the second floor of the dungeon, but as he knew from the information he had received, the second floor is hardly any different from the first, only more monsters. If on the first there were four goblins, then how many could there be on the second or third, dozens?
The next day he was already fully prepared, both morally and physically.
At the entrance to the dungeon, Kopii took a deep breath, filling his lungs with fresh air, and stepped into the darkness, as if into an abyss.
«I hope no more than six.»
He thought grimly, descending ever lower.