A Warlock's Ascent

As Dave roamed around Ravenshade city with the old man, he started respecting the old man more. The old man was very knowledgeable about the affairs of the world. He knew all there is to know about the monsters that roam this land. And he also knew the effective ways to deal with them without getting harm's way.

When he told him about his encounters with different monsters, he started giving him advice on how effectively he could have taken care of the monsters…

The old man told him that when he had encountered Kobolds it was a very wise thing that he stopped and didn't run away. Kobolds and pretty fast while running on their four limbs but their movement are a little bit clunky when they stand straight on their two limbs. That is why it was better not to run away from Kobolds. Also, he advised him that for future encounters with Kobolds, it would be wise to pack a bunch of Kobo powder with him.

Kobo powder is a special type of powder made from a certain root. And it is a boon to Kobolds because they have a keen sense of smell. The powder would have irritated them enough to let their guard down and then one could strike them down. But also one has to think wisely before using the powder because large quantities of powder could make those monsters go berserk.

The old man's strategy to take care of goblins for someone of his level was similar to what he tried to pull off. If he was stuck in that situation the old man would have used bows and arrows and killed goblins while maintaining a distance. While fighting Goblins hordes with a Goblin Chief, Hobgoblin or Goblin Shaman could be a little bit tricky. But he advised Dave that he should never stick around when he knows that one of those entities is around a certain area.

The old man didn't have much advice for Earth Porcupine. According to him, the only weak point of the Earth Porcupine is its stomach. While its neck is vulnerable but it is not weak enough to kill it quickly.

Then the old man talked about Trolls, Screeching bats, Kongs, Croc Men, and many more monsters. And after talking about all these different monsters, he asked him about a monster that he was curious about ever since he got here…

"What about Roghorth, that big fucking dragon?"

"The flying Dread? Well, that is the only monster in this world that is unkillable."

"But a moment ago you said that there is nothing in this world that is unkillable."

"Yeah, but that beast is unkillable... We know that the monster has been alive since the formation of this huge piece of rock. Many people who were far stronger than me tried to kill it. But every one of them was killed in the end by that gigantic lizard."

"Come one, there should be a way to kill it."

"No there isn't. Get this, in all these years, you are not the first one to try to think of a way to kill that thing. There were many people before you. And they all failed because that thing is like a fortress on wings. The scales of that monster are too hard to penetrate with arrows. While there was some amount of damage that could be caused by swords or spears but you have to be an Aura user to do it. And there is of course the toxic breath itself which is dangerous to go around even when you are an Aura user."

"What is an Aura user?"

"Something that you will learn about when you get to a certain level. Other than toxic breath and an impenetrable body, that creature has wings. Combined with an acute sense of smell and good eyesight, that creature literally has no weaknesses."

"How good are his smelling sense?"

"Very Acute. Some reports have even stated that the smelling sense of the Dragon is better than that of a Kobold."

Hearing Grump's statement, he remembered the day when he came to this world. 'If what he was saying was indeed true then this doesn't make any sense. Because he was at that Dragon's nest. There was a time when the Dragon passed by him. And yet it didn't attack him. But the question was why?' he thought.

He could only think of a few possible reasons why Roghorth didn't attack him that day. One of them being that it was disoriented for some reason. That is why he wasn't able to smell him that day. Or there was a high chance that Grump's knowledge on the matter was lacking. And he is spouting bullshit.

"But still, if you have the chance to subjugate the damn beast, how would you do it?"

"Well… If a day comes when I lead its subjugation squad that I have to plan the shit out of the whole quest. That is for sure… First and foremost, I would advise my squad members to maintain some distance between them and as the toxic breath is very hard to handle. Then the other thing that I would probably do is find a way to cripple that fucker's wings. You know, if he can't fly away then he would be stuck. Then I would try to shove explosives down the fuckers throat. Because I believe even he is sturdy from the outside. I can bet he would be soft from the inside…"

***

He spent that whole day with Grump surveying the surroundings of the city. And he learned a lot of things from him that day. And by the time they came back home, he had a lot to think about…

One of the most important things that he had to think about was how he was supposed to roll from now on, should he join a group or should he roll solo like Grump? And after a lot of thinking, he came to the conclusion that rolling solo was probably the best thing for him. He did not have anyone he could trust right now. Grump may be helping him for now, but he trusts him. All he knows is that if someone pays good money for his head, Grump wouldn't think twice before selling his head…

After he had decided that he is gonna run solo, started planning further about his fighting style. The fighting style of any person is heavily connected to how he invests their stat points. And based on how stat points are invested one has to decide what kind of class they would carry one with. Based on Grump's knowledge, there are three kinds of classes in Midgard.

There are Mages who fight with the help of magic and magic staff. Then there are Weapon Users who use something called the Aura to fight. And then there is a mixture of both Weapon Users and Mages called the Warlocks.

To become a Mage, one must need two qualities. First, their intellect should be superior. Second, their mana should be of higher purity. And the purity of mana is referred to as Arcane. Combined with both of these qualities one could become a Mage. So if someone wants to become a Mage, then they could start by investing their stat points in Intellect and Arcane.

Becoming a Mage was very tempting as it is man's dream to cast fireballs out of their hands. But he didn't think that a Mage would be the right direction for him. As he is gonna go the solo route, so, becoming Mage wouldn't cut it. He remembers how weak Sanjay was when they were in the forest. He had a lot of firepower, that is for sure, but the Mage's route was not for him.

While being focused on weapons was also tempting, it didn't seem viable to him as well. Mastering every type of weapon has various advantages, but not having any knowledge of magic is equally dangerous. After all, Magic is the wild card of the world. Not knowing its capabilities is just suicidal.

And when he asked the old man about his concerns he started cursing him loudly…

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Why are you thinking about it so hard? If don't like fighting with weapons, then become a Mages. If you like weapons, then become a Weapon User like me. Or if you want to be the best of both worlds then become a Warlock for fucks sake. Don't make it so complicated." He grumbled.

"Then I guess, the path of Warlock is for me… So what do I need to become a Warlock?" Dave asked.

"How the fuck should I know that?" Grump asked annoyingly.

"Well, aren't you suppose to be you know…. Well-versed with knowledge of warriors of Midgard? After all, you have been living here for a very long time."

"Oh am I now? I may have been living in this shithole longer than you have, but sorry, I don't anything about being a Warlock. If you want to become one then go to Vecrus for fucks sake."

"Vecrus? Why? What is there?"

"Oh yeah, sometimes I forgot you are an idiot from another world…" he then sighed and continued. "There are three dungeons in this shithole. One in Infragilis, one in Vecrus, and one in Ravenshead. Now the special thing about Dungeons is that not only it is good hunting and training place, but it also provides people with skill and equipment if you offer the souls of your prey."

"Did you say the one can sell the souls of their prey in Dungeon Shop right?"

"Yeah, so?"

"You mean real souls?"

"Argh… Think of the dungeon as a hunting ground. When you go inside, you hunt animals. But after hunting animals, you don't eat them, rather than that you sell them to the Dungeon Shop. When you sell your prey there, you will not level up. But you can get some interesting items from the Dungeon Shop."

"Wait, wait, wait… You said you can sell the prey. Even if I wrap my head around that fact somehow, how the hell I can't level up? I mean from what I have seen so far, once you kill a monster you level up immediately…"

"Yeah, for that you need to carry a Dungeon Orb with you. It is a small ball-like thing that you got to have when you don't want to level up. The orb absorbs the prey that you or your party has killed and then you can take the orb to Dungeon Shop to sell your wares."

"An orb huh? What does it look like?"

"When you dive into the dungeon, you will find it out soon enough. Now don't waste my time."

"So what does Vecrus has to do anything with being a Warlock?"

"Well, every Dungeon has a Dungeon shop. These shops sell wares and skills related to a specific class. Like the Dungeon from Infragilis excels in skills for Weapon users, Dungeon from Ravenshade excels in Mage skills, and Dungeon in Vecrus excels in Warlock skills."

After this conversation, he realized once again that he knew nothing about this place. He had heard Carlin mention Dungeon over lunch but he didn't pay attention to the word nor investigate what it meant. After all, why would he?

Now after knowing the significance of Dungeons, he was tempted to visit one of the Dugeons of the Great cities and see for himself what kinds of things it could offer him. But then he remembered how weak he really was. So he postponed the plan of visiting a Dungeon until he had enough confidence in his skills. After that, he would go and challenge a Dungeon…

The next day, he didn't go with Grump. While the old man out there went to survey the surroundings of the city, he started practicing his bow and arrow skills on the outskirts of the city.

There was a chance that someone will spot him, but he didn't worry about it that much, most of the people that had seen him and could recognize him as an Earthian are the top brass of the Ravenshade city as Grump had pointed it out. And those people are busy as it is, so there is very little chance that he would come across them.

Also, he didn't have a choice, as he could not go far away to practice as outside as it was not safe. So he could only practice in places that Grump and he had surveyed on the first day.

While practicing his archery as Grump had instructed him to do, he started to realize a lot of things. And one of them was that Carlin was wrong to say that Earthian potential was far greater than any Midgardian.

The pace at which his aim with the bow improved was very terrifying. When he first used the bow and arrow in the abandoned town, he made a fool of himself. But now he could see for himself how far he had come. That day, he was barely able to hit the wood log, his official target. But from the third day onwards, he was not only able to hit it, but one of the arrows even pierced the log itself.

Now he does not much about Bow and Arrow. But he had once watched a documentary about archery, people had to practice a lot they could get hit the bullseye. But the pace at which he was growing, it was monstrous.

He also started practicing spear throwing, increasing proficiency in archery, and practicing swordplay with a dummy log, he realized something. And that was the fact that he could increase his stat points with exercise as well.

As he trained his body for the week, he was able to gain 2 stat points in both Endurance and Durability. Which was fascinating in itself…

The old man Grump also was swayed by the diligence that he showed during his training. And on the 4th day, he helped in his training. He gave him some pointers on his swordplay and also some pointers on how to make his aim more accurate.

And just like 7 days passed in a breeze and the day of Mission by the old Man Grego came close…