Chapter-01 · EP-007
Episode 7: Memories from When I Was Five
At the entrance of the dungeon we were about to go to, there was a Skill Board. Before enrolling, all of us had gone there once to confirm our skills. At that time, I had no skill, but I wanted to check again carefully.
Some people possess skills innately, while others have none.
I was the latter. I had no innate skill.
The reason they're called "innate" is that it's sometimes possible to acquire skills later—post-natally.
That happens when, within the dungeon, you touch a mysterious jewel called a Skill Orb, and you gain the skill contained within that orb.
However, the discovery rate of Skill Orbs is mind-bogglingly low. The probability of a Skill Orb dropping when defeating a monster is said to be approximately 0.000001%. In other words, one in a hundred million.
They don't only drop from monsters; sometimes they are simply lying around in the dungeon. But since they are picked up as soon as they are found, they are essentially only found in places where no one has ever set foot before.
Exploring such places is usually the domain of top explorers delving into the deepest parts of the dungeon; ordinary explorers generally have no connection to such things.
One theory says that Skill Orbs are such that the person who should obtain them encounters the orb they should obtain, but the reality is that the odds are astronomically low. It's a probability akin to winning the lottery. However, I actually had a feeling that I might have obtained something like a Skill Orb once.
I say "something like" because I don't clearly remember whether it truly was a Skill Orb.
That was when I was five years old.
It was exactly ten years ago.
My father was not a dungeon explorer, but he was interested in dungeons.
In Japan, you need a license to explore dungeons, but ten years ago the laws were a bit looser. In the United States, there was something called a dungeon exploration tour, and my father took me to participate in one.
I was still small, so I don't remember much from that time, but I vividly recall the majestic scenery of the Grand Canyon.
We entered the Grand Canyon Dungeon through a hole that opened in the rock face.
At the dungeon entrance, there was a stone slab. A so-called Skill Board. I remember being delighted when I reached out to the slab and saw my status displayed.
Then we went down the stairs to the first floor, and my father, guided by a tour guide, enjoyed hunting slimes.
Slimes are the weakest monsters; anyone can defeat them easily.
However, their bodies are acidic, and contact with skin can cause burns. Since I was still small, they wouldn't let me fight the slimes, so I had time to kill.
The dungeon had an atmosphere that made you think, "Yeah, this must be a cave in the rocky Grand Canyon."
I looked around for something interesting and found a horizontal hole in the rock wall that looked just big enough for a child to crawl through.
Peering into the hole, which an adult probably couldn't fit through, I saw something glowing faintly in the back.
Curious, I crawled into the hole, the same way I would go through a playground tunnel in kindergarten.
What I found there was a round object larger than both of my child's hands. I think it was probably a Skill Orb.
Intrigued by its gentle light, I touched the orb. In that instant, the orb vanished.
Startled, I let out a gasp, and at that moment, I heard my father calling me.
I remember hurriedly crawling back out of the hole, but I don't know what kind of Skill Orb it was.
Maybe it wasn't a Skill Orb at all.
Some skills can be used outside the dungeon, but many can only be used within the dungeon.
Also, you can't know what skills you possess without checking using the Skill Board.
So for the ten years since then, I had always wondered about that incident but never knew what skill I might have acquired.
During the entrance exam, everyone went to the dungeon entrance to check their skills on the Skill Board, but at that time, no skill was displayed for me. It was a rushed process, and I couldn't look carefully, but since I used a Skill Orb, I should have gained a skill—that is, if it really was a Skill Orb.
But today, that should become clear.
Today, I would carefully check on the Skill Board at the academy's dungeon entrance. And if I had any skill, I should be able to actually use it in the dungeon.
My heart was full of excitement.