Venerable Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Step by step

Read chapter 29 of Venerable by Jade_White on NovelPedia.

DING. [ You have successfully cleared Layer 1 of the dungeon ] [ Rewards: 3000 points have been rewarded to each person in the group ] Dustin let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. “They are giving out points after every single layer”, he thought, silently praising the system. DING. [ Do you want to leave the dungeon now? ] [ Fee: 3000 Points ] [ Y/N ] Dustin glanced over at Zac. Zac looked at Saya. Nobody said a word. They all reached out and tapped 'No' at the same time. Zac collapsed onto the stone floor with a heavy thud. "Finally. We made it to layer two. Just... three more to go, right?" DING. A new system screen popped up in front of Dustin's face. [ Level 29 reached ] [ Physical Strength: 79 ] [ Vitality: 67 ] [ Agility: 86 ] [ Stamina: 69 ] [ Endurance: 63 ] [ Wisdom: 17 ] [ Intelligence: 34 ] [ Bonus stats points: 18 ] Dustin scanned the numbers, his brow furrowing. “I leveled up twice, but my combat stats didn't moved moved”, he analyzed internally. “I didn't get any bonus stats to assign this time either. But my Wisdom and Intelligence went up. Wisdom by two, Intelligence by four. I guess an upgrade is an upgrade. Even so... I definitely do not feel any smarter”. "Did you get your level ups too?" Zac asked, noticing Dustin staring blankly at the air. "Yeah, two levels," Dustin replied, lowering himself down to rest on the ground. "How many did you get?" "Just one." Zac looked over at Saya, who was quietly sitting a few paces away. "Did you get some as well?" Saya held up two fingers. She looked deep in thought, her eyes tracing patterns on the floor. Dustin and Zac took the hint and left her alone, choosing instead to quietly discuss the brutal fight they had just survived. DING. A new message popped up in their vision roughly ten minutes later. [ You will now be transported to layer two ] Zac groaned loudly and dragged himself up from the floor. "Already? I thought we would get at least an hour to sleep." "Transported?" Saya asked, looking around the empty room. "How?" "Layer two." Dustin let out a long sigh. He pushed himself to his feet and pulled up his skills menu. He finally had enough points to upgrade a few things. He looked at 'Silent Steps' and 'Super Sense'. He was still lacking a few points to upgrade 'Shadow Heal'. “Upgrading Shadow Heal right now is a total waste”, Dustin thought, rubbing his tired eyes. “I am short on points, and I would need to upgrade it multiple times to even get a useful outcome. Super Sense is still working fine. I really need Silent Steps, but... I will be completely broke if I buy it.”. He dismissed the system screen. His head was pounding. He had never felt this kind of crushing pressure in his entire life. He decided to leave his skills alone and see what layer two threw at them first. Suddenly, a glowing circle appeared beneath on the ground. It was the same magic that had carried them here from the desert tutorial grounds. "Let us go," Dustin muttered. He walked slowly into the center of the ring. He looked totally drained. It was not just physical exhaustion. The mental toll was eating him alive. The trio gathered in the circle. SWOOSH. A blinding stream of light consumed them, and they vanished. SWOOSH. Three figures descended in a fresh pillar of light. When the glow faded, they found themselves in an entirely new room. It was extremely large. A single, massive blue pillar stood in the center. The pillar was so thick it looked like a fortress tower, and it stretched up so high that the top was swallowed by darkness. The ceiling of the room was completely invisible. "Are we actually underground?" Dustin asked himself, tilting his head all the way back. "If so... how deep is this place?" Zac and Saya were just as shocked by the sheer scale of the room. It was obvious they needed to climb upward. But how far they needed to climb was a total mystery. There were no boundaries. Just smooth stone and deep shadows. DING. [ You have reached Layer 2 of the dungeon ] [