Five months had passed by in a flash and by now the news about STATS and their uses had been made public by various world-governing bodies who saw no use in keeping it secret. Of course, it was only those who completed the DEAD-ZONE's mission who had the chance to manipulate stats and so broadcasting the information served as a way to motivate the general public.
The families of Windsor and Smith had followed upon the agreed plan which involved the hiring of various martial artists, archers and modern-day samurai, to teach and cover the bases in their respective fields. This was done in case the dungeon disallowed modern weaponry, or the weapons proved ineffective.
Everyone who answered the calling focused more on reaping zombies and getting coins, but not disregarding their safety in the process. It therefore didn't come as a surprise to Mateo when all of them got more coins than him, except Ayleen who was horrified at the sight of moving carcasses. With a lot of coins at their disposal, everyone bought what they wanted.
Carmen bought a basic elemental potion like Mateo did and got the fire element with fireball as its unlocked skill. She was left with enough coins to buy 20 basic potions, 10 mana potions and 10 health potions which sold for 25 coins a potion.
Ayleen was barely able to buy a basic element potion and got wind element.
The three mothers each got rings that increased their charm and basic unenchanted staves, much to their husband's dismay.
Mr. Julian got a pair of [GRADE 1] daggers which increased his speed per every 10hit combo for just above 1500 coins.
Mr. Daniel took a page from his faint Viking heritage and bought a [GRADE 1] axe with a shockwave generating ability for almost 2000 coins.
Wilson decided to buy a [GRADE 1] leather gauntlet with spiked knuckles.
The one with the highest coins turned out to be Leone who bought a potion he hasn't yet used and a ring that summons a TIER 1 wolf.
The unlocked stats were random and also seemed to follow no order. Carmen unlocked SPEED and INTELLIGENCE (reduces cost of casting spells).
Ayleen unlocked ENDURANCE and VITALITY (increases health pool and regeneration).
Mrs. Isabella unlocked STRENGTH and VITALITY. Mrs. Angel unlocked INTELLIGENCE and ENDURANCE. Mrs. Maria unlocked SPEED and AGILITY (increases reflexes and reaction speed).
Mr. Julian unlocked AGILITY and STAMINA to the delight of his wife. Mr. Daniel and Wilson both unlocked STRENGTH and INTELLIGENCE, with Leone unlocking only one stat, ENERGY.
All in all, it was a very mismatched and unbalanced team, but with a basic foundation in martial arts and a hint of weaponry, they believed their chances looked good. The exploration date was set as 1st June, a week after Leone's birthday which fell on the latest date among those present, celebrated his birthday and attended his calling.
------------------------------------------------------‐‐---------------------------------- * A week later *
The Windsor and Smith families had gathered in one of their shared underground bunkers. Reinforced with an alloy made from tungsten and titanium, this peak piece of engineering was as functional as it was beautiful with its diamond studded walls, but today the families weren't gathered to admire its beauty. No, they were gathered here to open a dungeon, the first one on Earth and they didn't want any external influence or interference affecting them.
Mateo stepped forward, a luminous blue stone in hand, obviously an object foreign to the planet. Activating a bit of his mana, the stone vibrated a bit before floating forward with a silent hum. A flash of blinding blue light accompanied by a bang were the only signals released before a portal appeared in the wall.
Taking it as a sign, Mateo stepped forward and put his arm in before pulling it out. He repeated the action on all of his limbs and as a final act of assurance, he walked inside. The deafening silence that enshrouded the families stretched on for a long time, that is until Mateo walked out, a smirk on his chiselled face.
Taking it as a good sign, the families cocked their guns and double checked their weapons, many of which were not even released to the general public and many militaries all over the world.
Finishing with their routine checks, they approached the astral blue portal which was the dungeon's entrance and entered it. On the other side of the portal, they found themselves in a rocky tunnel which stretched out with no end in sight. The tunnel, which was barely wide enough to accommodate 5 people standing side by side and twice as tall as the tallest person, Julian who was 6foot 6 wouldn't have been able to accommodate any of their British challenger 2 tanks, hence leaving them without any proper sort of defence.
Walking about in a silent tunnel lit by luminous rocks was enough to irritate the young hot-blooded ones. Luckily or unluckily for them, they got to see, more like hear first what they were up against. With a low growl to catch the intruders' attention, the canine type beast barked to warn them, to scare them away. It was a black dog at about waist level, around a Cane Corso's height but with less fur, instead, it had a lemon green slime covering its head and underbelly.
Not giving a second warning, the obviously starving beast propelled itself forward with a crazed look in its eyes, salivating at the meaty helpless prey in its vision. Its fantasies were short lived however as it was blocked by a gray and white furred wolf, the product of Leone's ring. Taking it as a sign, the elemental damage dealers, Ayleen, Mateo and Carmen unleashed their spells, but it was only Ayleen's sharp [wind slash] that penetrated through the slime like covering on its head.
Shifting their aim to the back and legs, the other elementals were finally able to deal some damage and ended up killing it, automatically sharing its exp amongst those who contributed to its death.