Chapter 9

After thanking the clerk for his time, I made my way to the Association’s exchange counter near the dungeon exit and traded in the excess loot that I had no use for. The counter conveniently had two sides, allowing me to make the exchange without needing to enter the secured area just outside the dungeon portal.

This realm used two sizes of regular metal coins as currency, with copper coins being the lowest, followed by iron, then bronze, steel, silver, gold, platinum, and finally mithril – just like delver and equipment ranks.

The smaller version of each coin was called a ‘bit’, while the larger version was called a ‘dime’. Dimes were worth ten bits of the same metal, and each sequential metal was worth ten dimes of the previous denomination.

So, one hundred copper bits were worth ten copper dimes or one iron bit.

With that, my loot earned me forty iron bits and thirteen copper bits – or four iron dimes, one copper dimes, and three copper bits. That meant I’d earned the equivalent of 4,013 copper bits from my first delve, with most of that coming from the herbs I’d collected.

It sounded like a lot, but I knew it wouldn’t last long. Thankfully, I didn’t have to pay any taxes this time.

Once my transaction was complete, I made my way to the dining hall, where all the beginning delvers of the city could eat for free. The ‘adult’ delvers had their own separate dining facility.

The large hall was busy, but not overly so, given the number of delvers I’d noticed crowded around the entrance to the dungeon. I figured most were still waiting to re-enter the dungeon after it closed for evolution.

Having only been reopened for a day, it was no surprise that there were still a lot of groups waiting to enter. That left few to fill the dining hall.

After filling my plate with a variety of mediocre food retrieved from the buffet provided, I placed the whole thing in storage and headed back to my room. Though I was eager to meet other Ascenders and potentially join a party, I felt grossly underprepared to make any long-term decisions.

For now, I’d retreat to the apartment granted to me by the temple and research what I could through the local libraries. Considering virtual libraries had existed more than twelve thousand years earlier, I figured something similar would still be available now.

If not, it probably wouldn’t be hard to find someone willing to take me to a physical library. I was sure the temple or the Association had one.

The food was not much better than what I’d managed to cook in the dungeon. In fact, the skewers I’d made the first night were arguably better than what the dining hall provided.

But it was food, and I was hungry.

Happily, I found that the information tablet Priest Zeth had manifested provided access to this realm’s version of the internet.

While it was extremely limited – more so than the version from before the incursions – it did include a virtual library and a local forum where community members could share information or discuss various topics. I was glad since it was more convenient than having to dig through a physical library to find information.

I spent the rest of the night researching the realm and its history, but barely seemed to scratch the surface of what was available.

I learned about the appearance of demons and how the first few waves had nearly decimated the residents of Dia. It was estimated that nearly half of the realm’s population was killed within the first year. By the time the natives managed to truly push back the invasion, only about twenty-five percent remained.

It would have been even lower had the demons been capable of remaining within Dia long-term. Thankfully, their bodies were not compatible with this realm, and they were only able to remain for short periods without growing too weak to pose a threat.

There were records of a few brave explorers who managed to cross through the incursion breaches and into the demons’ home realm shortly after the invasion began. They discovered that the energy present was largely incompatible with Dians, though it would not outright kill them.

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However, their bodies grew weaker the longer they stayed since there was no ambient essence to restore them. They also couldn’t use magical skills without drawing from their own bodies, weakening themselves with every casting.

However, killing a demon restored them to some degree, providing more essence than killing a normal beast would, though not quite as much as absorbing a core might.

And since they were not in a dungeon, demons did not manifest a core upon their deaths, making hunting them less productive than killing a similarly leveled creature in a dungeon.