The Acknowledgement - Volume One

Job Change Quest

                Within a large, expansive hallway. That seemed to be taken from a classic castle, a large knight with full-plated armor swung his massive sword down at Winter. Without even thinking he leaned out of the way, punching dents armor with his fists, but even that wasn't enough. The night swung his sword back, narrowly missing Winter as he leaned back, nearly falling over. He ripped into the armor to keep himself off the ground. Turning the knight into something that resembled string cheese. "These guys aren't that strong. Their armor is too thick to penetrate with my fits or daggers. Not to mention their health... I need to deal double the damage to kill them reliably," Winter thought, just as another powerful blow was swung down at him. With a jerk-like motion to begin with, Winter smoothly moved out of the way "You're sloppy! Don't you know the bigger the movements, the greater the opening?!" Ultima mocked the armored husk, through the mask on Winter's face. His arms were prepared to attack, building up kinetic energy like a spring just to be let go. "I already have experience fighting against opponents with thick armor that my daggers couldn't pierce," he thought, crushing the second knight with two blows, involving the helmet and breast plating.

                "I can't avoid long, drawn-out battles against magic beasts like this one. Isn't this guy even a magic beast, though?" Winter asked himself aloud, watching the two knights fall to the ground. "They're more humanoid than I'd like... It'll be in for quite a ride if guys like this keep popping up," he thought to himself, starting to go deeper into the dungeon. "Damn, it's harder to see too. Usually, there are glowing stones, but there's nothing but torches, now," Winter held a torch in his hand. "I can't leave, nor do I have access to the shop. I'll need to conserve my mana, and avoid getting hit," he looked around as he walked deeper. "The most annoying part about these kinds of dungeons is that damage and fatigue accumulate.

~>System<{" The [Platyer] is Not Permitted to [Leave] This [Dungeon] Until The [Player] Has [Completed] The [Quest: Job Change],"}>it displayed on a notice notification<~
~>System<{'' Consuming [Potions] Within This Dungeon Will Have [No Effect]t And The [Shop Function] Has Been [Disabled]. [Nor] Will The [Player] be Able to [Recover Health] Upon [Leveling up],"}>it Displayed on a similar notification as the first<~

                "Skills like Stealth and Vital Strike are pretty effective, but they use too much mana," Winter thought aloud, looking at his skills. "I put quite a bit of my ability points into my intelligence, but the same could be said to every stat," he added to his conversation. "Well, the look of my stats is nice, but that might become a problem if I just dump my points into one stat depending on the situation," Winter reasoned. "But, the rank of this dungeon is unknown, I can't heal myself, and running away isn't an option. This dungeon is incredibly risky," he thought, "This quest won't be easy. It'll take me hours to clear this dungeon. No, maybe days," Winter attempted to predict his stay. "The fact that I can't heal myself means. Wait, I don't remember completing my Daily Quest today," he thought awkwardly, "I thought I could finish this quest quickly, so I was going to do it later tonight," Winter thought back, "I don't know what'd happen if I don't comply, hopefully not an instant kill," he thought awkwardly. "I am cutting it close here. I'll have to get through this quickly if I don't want to test my luck," Winter thought aloud, not noticing the knight behind him. "No, wait... At my current level, I should be able to take anything on. if it's not an instant kill," he argued with himself as the other knights got that much closer. "Oh well... I'll take this opportunity to get stronger. Just in case," Winter thought, turning around to see four knights.

                He drops the torch, letting it fall to the ground. He brought his right hand back and slammed his fist against the first knight, leaving a massive dent in the armor. Flying back, it knocks into the second knight right behind it. The other two were flanking Winter, but they weren't fast enough to notice his disappearance. With a giant leap, Winter flew over their view before landing on top of the knight on his right. With one kick, he crushed the helmet like a soda can, He then leaped over to the knight on his left. He didn't get a clean hit with his leg, but he wrapped his arms around the knight's head. Squeezing and twisting, and it deformed the helmet unnaturally. "If I can't slice through them, I'll just rip and tear their armor!" Winter smirked. The knights fell to the floor, lifeless. "Some of these guys dropped items," he knelt to see what he earned.

~>System<{" The [Item: Leather Pouch]. [Type: Miscellaneous]. A pouch to carry your money in,"}>it displayed over the pouch<~
~>System<{" The [Item: High-Ranking Knight's Chestplate]. [Type: Armor]. [Rank: B]. Physical Damage is Reduced by 6% When Wearing This Armor. Movement is Decreased if Strength is Below 80,"}>it displayed over the other item<~

                "I'm glad equipable items don't show up in real life. I'd be a laughing stock if people could see the actual design of this thing," Winter looked down at the half-visible chest place he wore. "Does this armor still provide defense even though it's not there?" He asked himself, testing its solidity, but his hand went through it as if it wasn't there. Slowly, it began to fade out of view.

~>System<{" The [Item: Leather Pouch] Has Been Opened. You Have Received [Gold: 30,000],"}>it rang<~
~>System<{" [Balance: 863,400g],"}>it displayed<~

                "Woah! 30 thousand? That's a lot. When I get out of this dungeon, I'll probably buy a weapon or something," Winter watched the gold added up to his account. Then, he felt his right hand jerk to the right. He swiftly looked that way, but his dagger was already stabbed halfway through something he was unable to see. Then, an assassin-type monster came into view, "THEY HAVE STEALTH NOW?!" Winter thought in a half panic, "I'll be encountering beasts that have stealth?" He gritted his teeth with anxiety under his white, skull-like mask. Before he could think of anything more, his body jerked itself to the left, narrowly dodging a fireball. "Wha- Oh come on! Why are there mages?!" Winter asks, rushing up to them, and cutting them in half. "It feels like... I'm refighting my previous battles," He thought seeing more approaching him from behind. "This dungeon is trickier than I first thought," Winter took one down after another. "Because there are multiple types of monsters, he needs to use different abilities to counter each type," Ultima began, "He needs to use strength stats to fight the knights, sense to fight the assassins, agility for the archers, and health for the mages," it explained, "If he doesn't have enough of one stat, he'll start to fall behind, and eventually die," Ultima continued. "Even with my intelligence stat now, I have no choice but to hold back on using my skills. I just don't have enough mana," Winter thought, gritting his teeth, with one enemy left. "My fatigue is rising... I need to finish this quickly," he added, ripping the knight apart. "I'll be nothing but at a disadvantage the longer this drags on," Winter thought, breathing heavily. "I need to recover as much as I can," he leaned against a wall, behind a pillar. What felt like minutes of resting was half an hour. Just like many times before, his right hand jerks up snatching an arrow just inches away from Winter's face. "25? How long did I rest?" He thought, standing up as he crushed the arrow. More battles came from nearly every moment in this dungeon.

~>System<{" The [Item: Leather Pouch] Has Been Opened. [Gold: 20,000],"}>it rang<~
~>System<{" The [Player] Has Obtained [Item: Bottle of Lukewarm Water],"}>it rang again<~

                Drinking from the bottle, Winter looked around, staying on alert. He gasped for air when he was finished drinking. "I've leveled up greatly. And I've acquired a lot of items," he looked down at the assortment of gear that was on his body. "Now that I've recovered, I think it's time to move on to the next stage of this quest," Winter added. "Maybe this level isn't enough. I can't tell what's behind these doors," he stood in front of the heavily decorated throne room door. He placed his hand on it and pushed it open. "The boss's lair... The cold air is sending shivers down my spine," Winter thought as it created, and a rush of cold aura and air pushed against Winter. "This'll be fun!" He thought smirking with a half-serious face. "As expected, a throne room," Winter stared at the throne after a long, lit hallway.

                A large knight covered from head to toe in blood-red armor with a Y-shaped hole built into his helmet. He also wore a tattered red cape, wielded a massive red sword that was equal to him in height, and had a long red hair-like ornament extending out of the back of his helmet. The Knight, a hand on his long sword. "My eyes, ears, and body," Winter thought, as the knight took another step. "Every inch of my body remembers the difference between me and my brother," He thought of Cyrus. Taken aback from the boss's aura. "Is that guy the source of such a tremendous aura?" Winter thought, glaring at him through his white mask.