Jensen's POV

  I was still wearing the appearance of the old man and had Jack by my side as we walked towards one of the exits from this floor.

  Despite it being an early hour in the dungeon, unlike the past couple of days, the adventurers were on the street, all geared up. Even the ones that had given up fighting the goblins with their low levels were now equipped and ready to kill if a fight were to break out. Young and old, men and women from every race who were in the dungeon were on the streets. All standing in their own groups. The said groups were all huddled into the camp of their own race.

  The air was so heavy, the tension was so thick that if it wasn't for this place being a safe zone. Then an all out bloody war would had taken place already. But given the fact that a self governing body existed in this place, and it was in session. The normal adventurers out here but waited for the decision to be made.

  About seventy percent of the folks were human, followed by beast kin of all kinds who were about twenty percent, and the last remaining ten percent were the elves, barbarians, and dwarfs.

  Just like Jack's father, Mark had advised us before leaving with his family and Tuma's. This floor was indeed like a boiling kettle ready to explode. But what he didn't know was the fact that I had no plans in staying inside the safe zone to train his son. So the moment they stepped out of the safe zone and disappeared. Jack and I followed in their footsteps some five minutes later.

  The number of adventurers thinned out as we walked deeper into the tunnel while the orb continued to light our path. Despite the light, I felt a sense of doom inside. Jack had no stat points, and to make matters even more bleak, he had no skills or weapons that he could use to fight out of a tight spot. Despite those shortcomings, I needed him.

  To be honest, I needed the access he now had to the dungeon. Whatever Benzo had said in his exploration records was over a century old, and riddled with a lot of inaccuracies. So despite me calling this place a dumpster and low leveled initially. I would rather not take any chances while I had both of my hands and a leg all tied behind my back due to my self imposed restrictions.

  I called forth my interface with a thought. The thing was that I could certainly break the secondary condition of one shoting the final floor boss and could get away with a slap on the wrist from the system.

  But then again…

  If I were to break the secondary condition. I would be given up on a million credits haul.

  "Jensen," called out Jack from behind me. We were now far into the tunnels that no one was around us.

  "Yes…" I said, dismissing my interface.

  "Where do we start?" he asked.

  "Let's start from the beginning," I said, while we both continued walking. "Tell me what you know about the System. So I can gauge from where we can pick things up," I said.

  He began telling me what he had heard, and it was all a bunch of baloney. So long story short, he knew nothing.

  But he has dungeon access, I reminded myself to keep myself motivated to go through with this. There is a reason I never took an underling or protégé as such. I hated babysitting. But here I was doing just that. I pinched the bridge of my nose, knowing that I had no choice but to tell Jack everything from the beginning.

  What a drag… I thought.

  We kept walking deeper into the dungeon until we met the split. Then, without a word of warning, I stopped and turned with the bright orb hovering around me, continuing to illuminate that tunnel. I may have spun on my heel a bit too fast so that the cape that I was wearing could flare in the air and fall for an added effect.

  The five feet nothing, black haired, skeleton of a dungeon dweller not only stopped in his tracks with a thump. But eyed me with sparkle in his eyes and awe on his face.

  I could get used to this, I thought, while having my chin held up.

  Once I was done bathing in all the awe and admiration that boy was showering me with. I looked down on him and began my session.

  "Have you ever seen your father work out?" I asked.

  "Work out?" he asked back.

  "I mean, lift things to keep himself in shape," I said. "He isn't like Mr.Tuma," I added. "But he has muscles. So does he work out?"

  "No," he said.

  "But he is strong, isn’t he?" I asked. "Way stronger than you and has continued to be that strong without lifting anything heavy on a daily basis like those flour bags you carry on your shoulders…"

  He blinked at me like he couldn't put two and two together.

  Okay… I may have come across this whole thing from the wrong angle, I thought. But I couldn't let the kid figure that out.

  "What I'm trying to say is that…" I paused. "Once you get integrated into the system. The System wipes out everything. You start with level one, and your base stats are pre-assigned to be one in all the five fields."

  "Five fields?" he asked.

  I nodded, and opened one finger after another on my right hand and spelled out the fields for him. "Health, mana, strength, speed, and stamina."

  He nodded eagerly, absorbing all this information. There was further bifurcation once an adventurer reach sufficient level. But I didn't dive into it as it might confuse the boy.

  "Each stat invested in health and mana forms your health and mana pool. One stat is equal to ten points in the pool. Whereas strength and other fields are directly correlated to the number of stats you assigned them. So if you assign ten points to speed. You speed is ten. There is no pool for speed or stamina as such."

  Jack put up his hand like we were in a classroom.

  "Yes," I said.

  "So if I get inducted the right way now," he said. "I will lose all my strength and speed?"

  "Exactly," I said. "You will have to build everything up from scratch."

  "Is that why the induction period is of two years?" Jack asked next.

  "Maybe," I said. "But the System breaks your body down, and rebuilds you again in a way which is compatible with a mana matrix." I paused. But before he could ask me about the mana matrix and take the conversation down into the territory of the unknown. I asked him a question. "What do you think happens to your original health, speed, and strength?"

  "I don’t know…" he admitted. "I guess, it all goes to waste?"

  "Nope," I smiled. "The System is one cruel mistress. Never forget that," I said to him. "It doesn't care if you could bench press a car before your induction. She gives everyone the same starting line, and she hates monopolies." I paused, raising my finger. "But…"

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Jack looked at me hungrily. So I made him wait a tad bit longer.

  "But your natural health, your initial strength and speed before induction," I said. "The System takes a measure of all those, and assigns you a bunch of bonus stat points that will unlock at level twenty five. So the stronger you are before induction. The more bonus stat points you get."

  "So Karaa and others from her generation do not get these bonus stat points?" asked Jack.

  "That's one of the downsides of being inducted in the womb," I said. "But the System awards an additional perk to make up for it when they reach level twenty five."

  His eyes gleamed at all that information that I was providing him with.

  "Now," I said. "I will say this once…" I got down to his eye level. "So listen carefully."

  He nodded, while the orb illuminated the tunnel above us.

  "There are in total eight ranks that the system awards to the inducted individuals," I said.

  "Eight?" he asked.

  I nodded.

  "It starts from bronze," I said. "Followed by silver, then gold, platinum, diamond, master, epic, and legendary."

  "Tuma's are in silver rank," said Jack.

  "Yes," I said. "Based on the class you get. Be it a mage, a merchant, or a fighter among many others. The way you level up and gain experience varies. But the conditions to move up the rank remain the same," I said.

  "Conditions?" he furrowed his eyebrows. "As in more than one?"

  I nodded. "To go from bronze to silver rank, you need fifteen thousand credits," I said. "I take it you knew about the credits as you unlocked the tier for your father…"

  He nodded in earnest.

  "But you also need fifty thousand xp to qualify for the tier upgrade."

  "Fifty thousand xp?" His eyebrows rose.

  "The System asks what the System wants," I shrugged.

  Jack nodded, wanting more.

  "That's all for now," I said. "I will tell you about skills and the level caps on them later. Until then, we grind." I stood back up straight.

  "But—"

  "No, but," I said firmly. "I have told you about the five fields that form the basis of any adventurer. Followed by the tier system and what it takes to go from bronze to silver." I paused. "Once you reach silver rank, I will tell you the additional information needed…"

  "Okay, just one last question," he said, trying to negotiate.

  "Fine…" I crossed my arms.

  "Am I part of the system right now or not?" he squinted his eyes at me. "Like, am I already inducted?"

  "The answer is yes and no," I said. "You are a part of the System now, as you have access to an interface. But that being said. You are not yet inducted."

  I could see questions bubbling up in his eyes again. But the thing was that I had no answers. I didn't know if he could create a fireball or use a spell like the rest of us who are inducted. Or if the stats would actually help his strength and speed grow like it does for us. But then again, he was a dungeon born who was raised in mana. So before he could ask me any of that. I did what any good teacher does.

  I changed the topic.

  If that didn't work.

  I was going to confuse him next.

  But changing the topic worked.

  "Show me your interface so we can move forward," I said.

  He wanted to protest. But then decided otherwise.

  "Dungeon lord," he said, half heartedly, and the screen must have appeared on his end. "How do I share it?" he asked.

  "Accept my party invitation, and say 'yes' to share interface."

  "The System says I'm not allowed to form a party," he looked up at me.

  "Penalty?"

  "Yeah," he said.

  "How about adding a friend?" I asked and sent him a request from my interface. Seeking both accepting of the friend request and share his interface with me.

  Geez, I hadn't sent one of these in ages, I thought.

  "I can see the request." His eyes lit up, and he looked at me again. "Will I get to see your interface?" he asked.

  "No," I said. Jack furrowed his eyebrows, but before he could say anything. I held my hand up. "Never show your interface to anyone, no matter who it is—"

  "Even my parents?"

  "Even your parents," I said. "The only reason I ask for your interface is so that I can understand where you are and help you get stronger faster while we clear this dungeon." I paused. "Moreover, you aren't inducted yet. You have just gained access to an interface." I studied his expression for a long moment before continuing. "So I will give you a quick rundown of how things work. The System will do it again when you get inducted the right way."

  His shoulders slumped.

  "Right now," I said, and he looked up again. "Our aim is to make you as strong as we can. So that when you get inducted the right way. The stat bonus you get will give you an unfair advantage over the others."

  He nodded at that and shared his screen with me after accepting my friend request.

  My interface blanked out for a heartbeat. And when it popped back again. A green interface appeared right above my blue one.

  "What the hell…" I said, seeing something so rudimentary for the first time in my life.

  My blue interface had the option of charts, skill completion bars, and holographic projection that I could turn on and off at the speed of thought. His interface on the other hand was an opaque black screen with a green border at the top and bottom.

  "What sort of a system interface is this?" I asked out. "Archived System?" I read the heading at the top of the green interface, which was in bold white italics.

  Ping!

  Archived System Detected!

  Accessing the user interface for confirmation.

  Access denied.

  System directive challenged.

  Rerouting. Rerouting. Rerouting.

  Access denied.

  Request to access visual cues of the inducted individual for confirmation.

  Access granted.

  Access expires (T minus 15 seconds and counting)

  Confirming… Confirming…

  Ping!

  System Quest Unlocked!!!

  System Quest: A Piece of Lost History

  Quest 1 of 5: Find a user of the Archived System

  Reward: Level gain plus two!

  Ping!

  Quest Complete!

  You have leveled up!!!

  Level up!

  Level up!

  Stat points plus ten!

  You have completed this quest while being under self imposed restriction negotiated with the system.

  Additional Reward: One Hundred Thousand Credits!

  Cha-Ching!

  Ping!

  System Quest:

  "A Piece of Lost History: System Quest Chain 2 of 5"

  Quest 2 of 5: "There is more to you than what meets the eye"

  Find out more about the first user of this Archived System. To complete this quest, you need to unlock the journal tab on the user's screen. Check for the level requirement and fulfill all the necessary conditions.

  Reward 1: Premium Tier Items Unlocked in System Store for a period of twenty four hours!

  Reward 2: One Hundred Thousand Credits!

  Whoa, wait a minute, back the hell up for a second.

  I scrolled up and re-read the notifications that the system spammed me with.

  What the hell just happened?

  My eyes wandered through the text, realizing that I had stumbled upon a System quest. But I held a stoic face.

  The boy was staring at me with anticipation, having no idea that he had just gained me two levels by sharing his interface with me. But had also made me one hundred thousand credits richer. And the cherry on top was the fact that he unlocked a system quest for me. From my poker face. He couldn't have gathered just how rare system quests were in this day and age.

  Now, a good man would split his spoils. But that's where I would like to beg your pardon. I was more than willing to divide the rewards I would get at the end of our deal. But this reward that I got now. Though it was because of the restriction. It wasn't related to our original deal. This was a different quest line altogether. So, being the good man that I was. I decided not to spill any beans.

  "Is something wrong?" he asked me.

  I snapped out of my thoughts.

  "No," I said, and looked at his green opaque interference, which was right above my transparent blue one. "Just never seen this many red notifications before."

  There were two columns, one on either side of the interference having five tabs each. Each tab was the size of my thumb, bright red in color with a black lock symbol. The column on the right end had tabs related to him being the dungeon lord. The information of map, our location, population, races in the dungeon etc were listed one beneath the other. Whereas the column on the left had his level stats, followed by skills, quest prompt and so on. And the space in between those two columns was filled with warning messages in bright red color.

  I tried to scroll with my thoughts, but the interface remained static.

  "Can you touch the interface?" I asked him.

  He shrugged.

  "Try and scroll," I said.

  He did it with his index finger, and when he did, the text moved on my end as well. The good news was that he could interact with the screen. Bad news was that as the name suggested. This was some sort of an old system that required physical interaction.

  No wonder Benzo was so distracted when he was fighting us. He had kept waving his hand in front of his face, I thought.

  I looked back at the screen, and the red continued to flow like a river of text made of blood.

  "Enough," I said, and Jack stopped scrolling. "Let's just see how to get the map unlocked for now," I said.

  The first red warning for that was of an insufficient level. It was simple enough to fix. All Jack had to do was reach level five.

  I closed my interface with a thought and hid all the info of the new quest line that came my way.

  I then took in a breath and asked him, "Ready to level up?"

  *****