"Afternoon, gentlemen," Robert greeted the two men at his door. "Can I help you?" The older man, Detective Noah Ramirez, consulted a folder. "We''re looking for Robert Williams. I assume that''s you?" Robert chuckled. "That''s me. Never judge a book by its driver''s license photo." "Right," Ramirez replied, a slight smile playing on his lips. "We''re Detectives Ramirez and Foxworth with the Sheriff''s Office. We''d like to ask you a few questions."
Robert paused, a flicker of concern crossing his face. "Sure, but I''m going to need to see some ID first." Ramirez and Foxworth complied, displaying their badges. "No problem. This isn''t a criminal investigation, just a routine inquiry. We''re looking into some recent gold sales at local pawn shops." Robert leaned against the doorframe, a relaxed expression returning. "So, I can''t sell my own stuff anymore?" "It''s not about that," Ramirez assured him. "Pawn shops report all significant transactions to the state. We''re just following up on a large number of sales involving high-purity gold."
"Well, I can understand why that might raise some eyebrows," Robert said. "But these coins have been in my family for generations. I''m selling them to pay for my kids'' college funds." "We understand," Ramirez said. "But we need to verify the legal provenance of these items. They''re unusually pure, and we''re trying to determine their origin." Robert sighed. "I wish I could tell you more. Family history isn''t always crystal clear. These coins have been passed down for eight generations. We don''t have any documentation that old." Ramirez nodded, understanding the limitations of such ancient history. "We appreciate your cooperation, Mr. Williams. We''ll be in touch if we need any further information."
As the detectives turned to leave, Robert''s expression hardened. "One more thing," he called out. "If you plan on seizing my property without due process, you better be prepared for the consequences." With a firm shut of the door, Robert was alone again, a sense of unease settling over him.
Walking back into the house, Robert encountered Sara. "Who was that?" she inquired, her brow furrowed. "The police," Robert replied, his voice heavy. "Seems there are some questions about the recent gold sales." Sara nodded, understanding the gravity of the situation. "Well, we anticipated that," she said calmly. "We still have some money left, so we could hold off on selling more." Robert considered her suggestion. "No," he decided firmly. "I''m going to travel upstate and make one large sale to secure our financial future until we relocate with the healing items. The police can speculate all they want, but they can''t prove the origin of the coins, and we don''t have time to waste. Once the financial records are complete and secure, we''ll inform the federal authorities, who will protect us from local interference."
With a clear plan in mind, Robert spent the next few hours researching potential buyers for a large quantity of gold. His research led him to a reputable bulk bullion buyer in South Florida, known for handling significant gold transactions. Planning to sell 200 gold coins, he contacted the shop and discussed the details. They were eager to purchase the gold in bulk at a fair price, and he scheduled an appointment for two days later. With the sale arranged, Robert turned his attention to the next challenge: contacting the government. He struggled to find a straightforward way to reach out to the appropriate authorities.
Knowing his best course of action involved a healing demonstration, Robert turned to his sister for guidance. "Where could I discreetly test one of my healing items?" he asked. Emily paused for a moment before responding, "How public do you want to be? I''d suggest an active military hospital. They can enforce confidentiality, but do you want to make a big show of it or keep a low profile? Also, where would you do the most good?"
Robert answered honestly, "If we''re going to expose ourselves, it should be to maximize the impact. A military hospital is a good idea, but access might be limited. Walter Reed would be ideal, but it seems heavily restricted. Brooke Army Medical Center could be an option, but the patients there are mostly stable. Reed is still the best choice, but I''m not sure how to gain access to the right areas." Emily chuckled. "Sounds like you have a plan," she teased. "Sorry, I can''t help you get in, but it''ll be fun to watch you try."
Robert spent a few more minutes discussing the situation with his sister before hanging up. He returned to his new Tier 2 master spellbook, hoping to discover more potent healing spells. Unfortunately, most of the spells seemed to be targeted or offered little improvement over his current Tier 3 spell.
The following two days were a whirlwind of activity. Robert crafted rods, worked with John to finalize the first series of books, and prepared for his trip to South Florida. His plan was to sell 200 gold coins, which should net the family nearly $400,000. This substantial sum would provide ample financial security until they could establish a reliable income stream.
Early the next morning, Robert set off for the gold shop. He spent most of the day waiting for the coins to be appraised. The shop manager questioned him twice about selling such unique coins, but Robert assured him that he had considered the implications. He jokingly wondered how long it would take before the IRS or the police inquired about the coins'' origin. The manager laughed, assuring him that as a legitimate business, he only reported to the IRS and wasn''t concerned with the provenance of the gold. This eased Robert''s mind, as he knew he had some time before the detectives returned for further questioning.
Near the end of the day, Robert completed the sale and walked out with a check for $386,750. He took the check and the bill of sale to his bank to deposit the funds. The teller asked a few routine questions, but upon seeing the bill of sale, she recognized the gold shop as a frequent customer and acknowledged the large checks they often deposited. After verifying the check with the company, she accepted the deposit and thanked Robert for his long-standing relationship with the bank.
Returning home, Robert let Sara know how things went and spent the rest of the evening just hanging with his family, knowing the next day would be a dungeon run.
Welcome, adventurer. You have entered Dungeon 7883667HG8776DE985762763FF7-1, currently known as The Training Dungeon. You are now on the Nineteenth Floor.
As usual, he checked the shop for something new:
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 88.5417%" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 21.381%">Item Name</td>
<td style="width: 7.79138%; text-align: center">Item Tier</td>
<td style="width: 9.15035%; text-align: center">Item Rarity</td>
<td style="width: 7.0666%; text-align: center">Item cost</td>
<td style="width: 54.5397%">Item Description</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 21.381%">Food Ration</td>
<td style="width: 7.79138%; text-align: center">1</td>
<td style="width: 9.15035%; text-align: center">common</td>
<td style="width: 7.0666%; text-align: center">2 copper</td>
<td style="width: 54.5397%">
A basic daily food ration.This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 21.381%">Water Bottle</td>
<td style="width: 7.79138%; text-align: center">1</td>
<td style="width: 9.15035%; text-align: center">common</td>
<td style="width: 7.0666%; text-align: center">2 copper</td>
<td style="width: 54.5397%">A small bottle of daily water.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 21.381%">Large Healing Potion</td>
<td style="width: 7.79138%; text-align: center">1</td>
<td style="width: 9.15035%; text-align: center">uncommon</td>
<td style="width: 7.0666%; text-align: center">1 silver</td>
<td style="width: 54.5397%">Small healing potion that when used will heal for 30 health.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 21.381%">Tier 4 Spell Book of Elemental Fire</td>
<td style="width: 7.79138%; text-align: center">4</td>
<td style="width: 9.15035%; text-align: center">rare</td>
<td style="width: 7.0666%; text-align: center">100 gold</td>
<td style="width: 54.5397%">This book contains 25 random Tier 4 Fire spells.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 21.381%">Tier 4 Spell Book of Elemental Air</td>
<td style="width: 7.79138%; text-align: center">4</td>
<td style="width: 9.15035%; text-align: center">rare</td>
<td style="width: 7.0666%; text-align: center">100 gold</td>
<td style="width: 54.5397%">This book contains 25 random Tier 4 Air spells.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 21.381%">Tier 4 Spell Book of Elemental Water</td>
<td style="width: 7.79138%; text-align: center">4</td>
<td style="width: 9.15035%; text-align: center">rare</td>
<td style="width: 7.0666%; text-align: center">100 gold</td>
<td style="width: 54.5397%">This book contains 25 random Tier 4 Water spells.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 21.381%">Tier 4 Spell Book of Elemental Earth</td>
<td style="width: 7.79138%; text-align: center">4</td>
<td style="width: 9.15035%; text-align: center">rare</td>
<td style="width: 7.0666%; text-align: center">100 gold</td>
<td style="width: 54.5397%">This book contains 25 random Tier 4 Earth spells.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 21.381%">Tier 2 Spell Book of Space</td>
<td style="width: 7.79138%; text-align: center">2</td>
<td style="width: 9.15035%; text-align: center">rare</td>
<td style="width: 7.0666%; text-align: center">75 gold</td>
<td style="width: 54.5397%">This book contains 25 random Tier 2 space spells.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 21.381%">Tier 2 Spell Book of Nature</td>
<td style="width: 7.79138%; text-align: center">2</td>
<td style="width: 9.15035%; text-align: center">rare</td>
<td style="width: 7.0666%; text-align: center">50 gold</td>
<td style="width: 54.5397%">This book contains 25 random Tier 2 Nature spells.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 21.381%">Tier 3 Master Spell Book</td>
<td style="width: 7.79138%; text-align: center">3</td>
<td style="width: 9.15035%; text-align: center">Legendary</td>
<td style="width: 7.0666%; text-align: center">3 Tokens</td>
<td style="width: 54.5397%">This book contains all Tier 3 spells from the following spheres; fire, earth, water, air, time, creation, healing, light, and enchantment.</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 21.381%">Random Epic Scroll Pack</td>
<td style="width: 7.79138%; text-align: center">5</td>
<td style="width: 9.15035%; text-align: center">Epic</td>
<td style="width: 7.0666%; text-align: center">1 token</td>
<td style="width: 54.5397%">This pack contains 5 random Tier 4 spell scrolls.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
His disdain for the System grew with each passing day. After selling ten rods for a modest eighty-six gold, he reviewed his finances. With eight hundred thirty-eight gold coins remaining, he splurged on all the gold-priced books and an epic scroll pack, using four of his rare shop tokens. Still, he had three hundred thirteen gold coins left. He asked Hal to remind him to consult Elara about the cost of various items upon his return home.
Looking over the 5 new scrolls he was excited and scared at the same time:
Name: Scroll of Illusionary Realm
Tier: 5 Epic
Sphere(s): Illusion, Mind
Description: The caster creates a completely convincing illusionary realm, capable of trapping and deceiving even the most powerful beings. This spell requires a deep understanding of the mind and the nature of reality.
Charges: 1
-----
Name: Scroll of Soul Mend
Tier: 5, Epic
Sphere(s): Healing, Soul
Description: A potent healing spell that can repair severe physical and spiritual wounds. It can restore lost limbs, heal mortal wounds, and even mend damaged souls. However, it drains the target''s life force, making it a dangerous spell to overuse.
Charges: 1
-----
Name: Scroll of Elemental Storm
Tier: 5, Legendary
Sphere(s): Fire, Water, Earth, Air
Description: The caster summons a devastating storm of the four classical elements. This spell can create towering waves of fire, earthquakes, hurricanes, and torrential downpours, capable of leveling entire towns. It requires immense control over elemental energies.
Charges: 1
-----
Name: Scroll of Accelerated Healing
Tier: 5, Rare
Sphere(s): Healing, Time
Description: This spell significantly speeds up the natural healing process. It can heal severe wounds in a matter of minutes, and even reverse aging effects. However, it requires a significant amount of energy and can leave the caster and target feeling drained.
Charges: 1
-----
Name: Scroll of Death''s Embrace
Tier: 5 Legendary
Sphere(s): Death, Soul
Description: This spell allows the caster to siphon life force from a target, draining their vitality and transferring it to themselves or another creature. It can be used to heal allies, weaken enemies, or even kill outright. However, it requires a deep understanding of life and death, and overuse can lead to dire consequences.
Charges: 1
-----
He knew right away he would be taking mind and soul as skills. Death he wasn''t sure about, "Hal is Death magic evil?"
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 74.0385%" border="1">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="width: 100%; text-align: center">There is no evil magic, there are only evil casters. The Sphere of Death contains spells to kill, but also spells to heal, everything depends on the caster. Now I will warn you about that spell, it drains the soul, which if you are wondering is a real thing, and uses that soul fragment to heal, sometimes the spell doesn''t fully clean the fragment and it''s possible that part of the target''s soul might bond with whoever you are healing.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
"So that is a no then, I''ve got enough healing spells that I don''t need one that might change people''s souls. That''s getting sold." With his decision made, he returned to the shop and sold the Death Scroll for 400 gold, it seems Legendary spells were expensive.
Moving into the dungeon itself this was another forest level and included a lot of large cats, Robert summoned his Celestial being which as luck had it was a large cat:
Name: Starlit Panther
Class: N/A
Race: Cosmic Guardian
Description: A majestic, ethereal panther, its fur shimmering with starlight. It roams the cosmos, a guardian of balance and harmony.
Gender: Male
Stats: Str 28, Dex 39, Con 29, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 25
Level: 27
Resistances: Death(50%)
Health: 2590
Mana: 3700
This silent Guardian owned the forest and nothing was able to stand in his way, even the final fight was easy. Robert was kind of disappointed and didn''t feel like he easned his level up from this run.
Dungeon run complete. Rare chest awarded.
Chest contains:
<ul>
<li>One skill book (Painting)</li>
<li>Five gold coins</li>
<li>One unlocked skill tokens</li>
<li>Two Rare Shop Tokens</li>
</ul>
Items added to user inventory.
Thank you for visiting The Training Dungeon!
Even the chest at the end seemed to make fun of how easy it was. After looting everything Robert returned home.