Dawn had just broken over the tree line, painting the sky in soft orange and bruised purple. Smoke from the disintegrated goblin corpses had long since faded, and in its place was the lingering stench of blood, sweat, and grease.

The group was quiet. Not with fear—but with exhaustion.

Zane was examining the big gold key that the Goblin Chief had dropped

Gold Key

This key can be used to unlock the Initialisation Dungeon

(not all requirements met)

You got this without meeting the requirements?

WOW, Just wow

Bell sat at the top of the ladder, cradling the spear gun like a mother with her child. Kai leaned against the stilts, his hands still faintly glowing from healing Tarni. Lily stood in the middle of the yard, breathing hard, holding her Bow loosely at her side.

Just as Zane was going to bring up the Message he got from the Key.

There was a familiar sound.

Ding!

LEVEL UP! You are now Level 5. +3 Stat Point

Tarni blinked. "Well, would you look at that," he muttered, grinning. "I'm catching up to you, old man."

Zane raised a brow. "You got five already?"

A new notification appeared. Tarni nodded and squinted at the glowing System screen now hovering in his vision. "Bloody hell… I got a lot more than last time."

Tarni Walker – Level 5 Due to your Title: Well, you were almost first, you will receive 1 XP per state until level 8. Also, at level five, the System has granted you access to a choice of one skill from 7 options instead of the usual two options. Note: because of the Title, the system will randomly select a second skill.

Tarni whistled. "Alright, now we're talking."

Another message popped up immediately after:

System Initialisation Update: The party system is now unlocked

Anyone at level 5 or higher can create a party of up to five people. XP will be shared evenly with all preset party members. Support classes will get basic information on all other party members.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Oi!" Tarni waved his hands like he was directing traffic. "System update! We can make a party now!"

Zane looked up, frowning. "A what?"

"A party. Like a team. We share XP and can see each other's stuff—well, kinda. It says support classes get basic info, whatever that means."

Kia squinted at his own empty message list. "I didn't get anything but the level-up notice."

"Same," Lily said, checking her screen. "Level up! And nothing about a party or anything else."

Bell gave them a tired look. "Maybe it's because Tarni hit five first?"

Zane scratched his beard. "Could be. Or maybe the System's waiting for him to choose."

"Bloody hell," Tarni muttered, already looking through the skill list. "This is a serious buffet."

He read them aloud, pacing as he did:

Your skill choices

Defensive Stance

– Enter a guarded stance, reducing incoming damage by 25% for 10 seconds.

Basic Power Strike

– Deliver a heavy blow with your weapon. Slightly increased stamina cost but deals bonus damage.

Basic Shadow Walk

– You will be able to cloak your movements for 30 seconds as long as you are not in direct sunlight and do not move faster than a walk.

Stone Skin

– Temporarily harden your skin like rock, reducing physical damage for 15 seconds.

Deep Think

– Passive. Increases mana regeneration by 5%.

Back Stab

– always do critical Damage when landing an unexpected melee hit.

Create Light

– Summon a small glowing orb that can be attached to anything, illuminating the area.

"Damn," Kia said. "Some of those are good. Shadow Walk sounds awesome."

"Back Stab is pretty savage," Lily added.

Zane grunted. "Power Strike's simple. Gets the job done. Or Defensive Stance if you want to stay alive longer."

"Yeah, but I've already got poison resistance," Tarni argued. "Don't I deserve something flashy by now?"

Bell gave him a deadpan look. "You just got stabbed with a poisoned spear, block!"

Tarni gave her a finger-gun. "And thanks to my resistance, I'm still kicking. That's called a win."

Everyone stared at him, until Zane said with a wicked smile, "You want Flashy? There, Create Light right there on the list."

"Don't even joke about that, Mate! Holly elf tits, it might pick it for me."

Everyone just laughed at him, so he decided to be the better man and ignore them

"Anyway," he continued, tapping his temple, "I'm leaning toward Back Stab. It could be handy when sneaking around or flanking. I like the sound of being the 'critical hit from the shadows' guy."

Zane folded his arms. "Might suit you. You've got good movement. Not much for defence, though."

"Yeah, but I'm fast."

"You're loud," Lily corrected.

Tarni ignored her. "Alright, I'm locking in Back Stab."

As soon as he confirmed the choice, a new message scrolled into view.

Skill Selected: Back Stab- always do critical Damage when landing an unexpected melee hit.

Ding!

Random Skill Awarded: Deep Think – Passive. Increases mana regeneration by 5%.

Tarni blinked. "Oh. Ohhh-ho-hoh. Deep Think?"

Zane snorted. "That's rich."

"I am a deep thinker," Tarni protested. "I think deep thoughts all the time. Like, what if kangaroos were carnivorous? Or how come drop bears don't have their own gym franchise?"

Bell leaned her head on the spear gun and groaned. "We're doomed."

But the moment was light. Warm, even. They had survived. And for the first time since the madness began, the System seemed to be revealing a bigger picture. A system for parties. New options. Potential.

Zane finally sat down on a makeshift crate, exhaling slowly. "Alright. After this, we eat. Then we build that party."

"Shotgun party leader," Tarni said immediately, sitting on the ground and raising his hand.

"No," Zane replied flatly. Kia laughed. Lily did not. And the sun continued to rise.

Tarni chuckled lightly as he raised both his hands in the air to surrender "Fine, fine. I'm not the party leader, let me spend these three points I got.

Stat Points Allocated: Strength: 14 (+1) Dexterity: 19 (+2)

While Tarni was doing that, Zane pulled the Golden Key out of his pocket, ready to show everybody.

"Now, about this Key that the Boss dropped."

Ding!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.