Ney and Cariene sat on a bench in the park surrounding the Ey-Tzi-Er Tower. Now back from her trip down memory lane, the latter asked:

"So, what did you learn from this dungeon run?"

Ney took a moment to organize his thoughts before going over some of the ideas he had while inside:

"I think the primary thing is that dungeons are much easier and safer if you have allies covering your back, or attracting enemy attention, or taking advantage of you attracting their attention. The little constructs in there weren't exactly dangerous, but they managed to keep me mostly on the defensive when grouped up."

"Very good. This dungeon is one that is considered safe for solo runs since the larger groups of enemies are rarer, but this isn't common. Even other dungeons around the same level as this one feature monster packs that never have less than four members. Anything else?"

"Aside from that, I learned about the existence of keys monsters can drop that grant additional rewards at the end of the dungeon, and about rare bosses. I also got to put what our teacher taught us about 'picking our battles' in practice."

Cariene nodded, satisfied.

"One detail I'd like to clarify is that the thing monsters drop for extra rewards won't always be keys. It'll just be... whatever they drop, really, since you can't grab anything off of them while inside the dungeon. Unless you have the right skill for it, anyway. So, a good first dungeon run for our future prodigy!"

Ney recoiled hearing this, still uncertain of the way he should feel about the high hopes people had for him.

"How can you be so confident that I'll be worth training and mentoring like this? My skill really only allows me to alter my stats to fill different roles, I don't get why it comes with all these expectations."

"You have a skill with the Mythic rarity. Every single person to have ever lived before you with a skill, or a class, or even just a piece of equipment at that level brought about great changes to the world, in one way or another. That's not to say you can't be the first exception, but..."

She let out a sigh as she shook her head before adding:

"... it just seems really unlikely. Having a Mythic skill is a huge responsibility, one that many failed to properly handle in the past. People like you are really scary to us, so we try to push you in a positive direction while we can."

Ney looked at Cariene with round eyes, unable to understand what she was getting at. Seeing his confusion, she asked:

"What do you think happens when someone with a Mythic skill turns against their fellow adventurers?"

"Uh... Catastrophe, I'd assume?"

"Exactly! It's widely believed that the first Demon Lord held a Mythic skill that allowed him to eventually take on that mantle, even if no one knows what that skill was. The Yareyan Wastelands far to the west used to be thriving pastures and farmlands before an unleashed Mythic skill laid waste to the area. This kingdom was only founded after the defeat of the Red King, who wielded a Mythic skill to great effect as a tool to crush any and all opposition to his reign."

Ney nodded along, some of the events here being familiar to him, although he didn't know any of the details.

"So you're worried that I'll... use my skill to hurt people?"

"That's right. That's not to say I can stop you, or that me helping you out is an attempt to make you feel indebted to me or anyone else so you'll spare us if you go on a rampage. Rather, I think that by paying extra attention to you, I can notice problems before they become too big to solve. I can encourage you to build positive relationships, and to trust those around you. I can do my part in making sure you understand how much power you actually wield, and how to use it properly."

Ney was even more confused.

"But all it does is let me change my stats! How am I supposed to use that to hurt anyone!?"

Cariene shook her head, a hint of disappointment in her voice:

"That's not all it does. There's a whole second part to your skill that's extremely vague, and I think the reason that skill has its rarity at all is because of it. You have access to classes no one will ever have used before. Maybe even classes that no one has ever seen before. It's not just that you can change your stats, it's that you can change your stats to match those new classes. It's that no matter what you get, you'll be capable to make full use of it."

"Wait, is that really what that second part means?"

Cariene leaned back into the bench, looking at the sky as she responded:

"I'm only speculating, since you're the first person to ever get this skill. However, I don't see what else it could mean. If you just had access to all the same classes as everyone else, then your range wouldn't be 'expanded', so you must have access to something the rest of us can't reach. I can't tell you what form that will take, but I'm confident that there's something truly powerful out there, just waiting for you to find it, justifying that Mythic rarity."

"So while what I got is a skill... it could lead me to my own unique class one day..."

Cariene turned back towards the Ney, smiling.

"Exactly! I think the more you explore dungeons and travel the world, the more you'll learn about your power. Until then, it's my job to set you on the right path as an adventurer."

Ney, who now had a head full of imaginary hidden powers his skill could grant him, still managed to say:

"Thanks for being honest about your goals. And for helping me realize that I really might just have something dangerous within me. I'll do everything I can to understand how my skill works and figure out what it can give me!"

"That's the spirit! Alright, let's go grab lunch, I'm starving!"

Ney spent his afternoon trying two more dungeons inside the city. One was an ancient underground waterways system that, despite seeming to sprawl across the full area of the city and beyond while inside, barely occupied more space than the ladder leading underground in reality. The other was a series of narrow urban streets and alleys that eventually led to an abandoned plaza, none of which existed in the outside world.

As the mentor and apprentice made their way back to the guild under the watchful eye of the setting sun, Ney asked:

"So... Do all dungeons do this weird thing where they're way bigger on the inside than the space they seem to occupy on the outside?"

"Yep! Even the tower over there. It's not tall enough to contain the many floors you end up climbing while inside."

"And that urban dungeon... It looked way too much like the actual city, it was really unsettling."

"Yeah, sometimes dungeons take on the appearance of the area where they're appearing, and might even shift in style if major alterations are made to its entrance's surroundings."

"So it just... appeared there?"

"Yep! One morning, people noticed the gate leading to the dungeon was there. Thankfully, it was a low-level one, so now it's a good spot for adventurers who are starting out."

Ney took a look around, paying attention to the inhabitants of the city. Despite the presence of three dungeons within the walls, they all appeared calm, living their lives unafraid of any imminent danger. Their trust in adventurers was undeniable.

"So what would have happened if it had been a high-level one?"

"Well, when it does happen, the town or city gets abandoned."

"Eh? People just leave their homes and move if a dungeon appears near them?"

"Pretty much. That being said, a dungeon's level gets higher the further away from civilization it is, so that situation almost only ever happens in frontier towns and villages. We do have contingency plans in larger cities, just in case, but we're pretty confident it'll never happen. If you're curious, Lucria's privileged position in the world of adventuring could allow us to keep even high-level dungeons within our walls, because they would reliably get cleared by parties going after their rewards."

"I see... but other cities in a different position might need to put incentives in place to attract adventurers, or just give up and move anyway, as hard as that is."

"Correct. Despite our best efforts to find solutions, if dungeons did suddenly stop following their current level patterns, it would be a major disruption of... basically everything. So we just keep hoping for the best."

The two reached the guild, prompting Cariene to say:

"Well, this is where I leave you. Jell is waiting for me, and I do intend to give her all the attention she deserves tonight. Enjoy your evening!"

Ney could only wave goodbye as the guildmaster dashed away, making full use of her high agility to climb up the nearest building and jump out of sight. Now alone, Ney walked in, entering the atmosphere that was slowly becoming familiar to him.

Standing next to his bed, Ney reached into the space containing the rewards granted by the dungeons, causing them to materialize and fall in front of him. Seeing the huge pile, he silently wished his room was bigger, then began to split things around.

On the floor, he placed the pieces of gear he had obtained. Some armor parts were upgrades compared to what he had, while the rest were unsuited for a Fighter.

Then, he grabbed the bags of crafting materials and shoved them to his backpack. He would bring those to some artisans to free up some space later.

The last few items were consumables. Healing and Magic potions, as well as a few concoctions capable of providing a temporary boost to an attribute. He used them to refill his potion pouch, then placed the rest in his bag. He had noticed that the bottles dropped from dungeons wouldn't break easily, since the material they were made of wasn't glass, so he wasn't worried about making a mess by letting them loose with the metal shards he had looted.

He then went back to the equipment, carefully splitting what was useful for him from what wasn't. He knew that, with his skill, anything could eventually be important, but he didn't have much space to keep any extra gear right now. He then looked at his current armor, the one he had trained and set out with. He wanted to keep it, as a memento if nothing else, but that would require space too... He would ask Cariene how adventurers handled storage the next day. For now, he pushed everything under his bed.

The day's exhaustion finally catching up to him, Ney let himself fall on the bed. He didn't know how many dungeon runs more experienced adventurers could manage in a day, but clearly his own limit was three. Still, he was glad to be there, as an adventurer, familiarizing himself with the places and people that would become common sights in his daily life. Soon enough, he'd be used to being among them, and it's looking forward to that day that he fell asleep.