Chapter 4: CH4 First Dungeon

The first thing Alex did after he walked through the portal was squint his eyes at the brightly colored landscape on the other side. It was like he stepped into a cartoon. The sky was a single shade of blue. The sun looked like a smile emoji. He was standing in grass but it too was just a single shade of green with some black marks in places like someone penned in the blades of grass after the fact. He reached down to touch it and it felt like grass. A couple clouds were in the sky but they too looked more like drawings of clouds than actual clouds. Like the sun, they sported black lines that formed a smiling face.

Alex saw a few trees nearby and approached one to see if they were real or just drawn on top of the grass like everything else. The tree felt like wood as he touched it. He leaned in closer to smell it and was rewarded with a sweet scent that reminded him of an old oak tree however instead of leaves it had just solid green with a large black-inked smile emoji on it. He could tell it was an oak tree by looking at it and by feeling its bark. The trunk was short so it was almost like walking into an oak tree from behind and standing up on its roots. The weird tree looked like it could pick itself up out of the dirt and start walking around if it wanted to.

Alex looked around for anything else and found some rings of pink and pastel blue mushrooms with dirt in the middle. He stepped through the grass and touched one and it felt like real dirt. He crouched down and ran his hand over the dirt and picked up a few bits of dried dirt. He sniffed them and smelled something similar to soil, but there was a sweet scent to it too. It didn't smell bad like some people might think dirt smells but he had grown up with a lot of dirt and had never found it to be smelly or bad for him.

He walked around some more, looking for other plants or animals that might be real, all the small forest creatures, birds, rabbits, chipmunks, looked like happy cartoon drawings. He wasn't snow white who could go up and touch wild animals without fear. He started to wonder if everything here might just be part of his imagination? Or maybe he had been brought here as part of a test by a mad god and this was some sort of twisted training exercise? If this dungeon was one created to suit him what did that mean exactly? How would he know? What if he was supposed to get something from it? Would it work anyways if he didn't? What if he died and left his body here? Would the portal take him back here? He wished he would have asked Luna or Fufi the consequences of failing one of these rifts. It would have been good information to have before stepping through one. He could always try to come back but if he left would the rift close and would the be the same as failing the trial? The portal was still open back in the same location where he arrived. He could try going back. If he did would it lead him here again? How would he know? He could see the basement where he had come from on the other side of the portal though it looked like he was seeing through water. Maybe there was nothing wrong with this place at all, perhaps there were no consequences for failure here and it was simply a game of sorts?

He thought about it for a while longer but eventually decided that if he was supposed to do something then it was probably best to just get it over with as quickly as possible. He walked away from the portal to survey the area further. There were hills and small mountains on either side of him but in front of him there was an enormous hill that went up into a large smiling cloud that had a half rainbow on top of it like an enormous hat. He figured that must be a good thing.

He looked down at the grass he was walking on and shook his head. This place was so weird there was no way he could get used to it. He wasn't even sure if he should be trying to get used to it. He had stepped into some weird place and needed to complete the trial. To level up he needed to defeat monsters. Was he supposed to defeat monsters here? All he had seen so far was cute forest stuff out of a children's picture book. Were there any monsters out there? Would he just encounter them naturally? Or would they come out to greet him? How would he know? How would he ever know how to defeat them? Or what he was supposed to do? "Calm down Alex," he told him self, "Just keep putting one foot in front of the other and take things as they come."

Alex stepped into the grass and tried to look for monsters. He found a few things that looked like eggs or mushrooms but they all appeared to be harmless so he ignored them for now and kept walking. The eggs looked like Easter eggs. He licked one to see what it tasted like and it was sweet like it was a candy egg. He wasn't brave enough to eat unknown mushrooms so he just put them in his robe pocket for later.

Alex continued his walk towards the hill ahead of him. The grass here was taller than the rest and taller than he was as well which gave him something to focus on other than wondering where the monsters might be. Hopefully they were not hiding in the grass waiting to ambush him. He wouldn't be able to see them coming until they were on top of him. Thoughts of a mountain lion jumping straight at him, mouth aiming to clamp down on the back of his neck made him paranoid.

The hill was pretty tall but not too steep. Eventually the grass gave way to denser trees. In some bushes Alex glanced at something glinting in the light. He went to inspect it and saw what looked to be a pastel purple treasure chest. It of course had a smile emoji covering most of one side. Alex kicked it lightly a few times with his wooden sandals and jumped back. The smile emoji twitched on the chest and winked at him.

Alex said, "Hello?"

The chest said nothing back.

Alex said, "I am a traveler who has stepped through this rift in hopes of finding out how to defeat my enemies and become stronger."

The smile emoji chest said . . . nothing. It stayed silent, looking at him like he was stupid or something.

Alex said, "What? You don't say anything? Of course you don't say anything you are a chest. Am I supposed to check you for traps or risk it and just open you?"

The smiley chest said nothing and stood there staring at him blankly.

Alex sighed and said, "are you even locked?" Alex found a long stick and tried to open the chest's lid from a distance. The stick wouldn't budge though. Alex tried to pry it open and the stick snapped in half.

Alex sighed and said, "Well then that is just perfect. Well at least it didn't set off any traps." Since the chest didn't do anything from being pushed around a bit by a stick it looked like moving it wouldn't trigger a trap. Alex picked up the chest and carried it down the hill back to the portal.

After a short walk, he tossed the chest through the portal to see if it could be moved outside the rift. The chest landed with a thud on the other side of the portal. Glancing through the portal showed that the chest was on the other side but instead of looking like a cartoon chest it looked like a normal chest. If nothing else it was better than those crates he was using that were in not great shape. If it had a treasure in it he could get it later after he left the rift.

He walked over to the end of the hill and found a path that continued down for several feet but stopped after that. There was a small pond below that looked inviting. Alex decided to go inspect the pond. He could hear some splashing so there might be fish or frogs. He noticed what looked to be a human sized stuffed bear with really short arms and legs waddling out of the water. It had a cartoon-like fish in its mouth. After coming to land it shook itself rapidly to get the water off of it. It walked over to sit on and sway softly, fish still in mouth to a tune only it could hear.

Alex walked over and said, "Hello?"

The bear gives a few more shakes to get the last of the water from the pond off of himself. He tilts his head and regards Alex for a moment before downing the fish in with a slurp.

The bear says, "Kuma?"

Alex slowly asks, "Can you understand me, mister bear?"

Bear says, "Kuma kuma."

It was at that moment his phone chimed in, {Encounter Begin: Defeat Huggle Bear.}

Alex hops up and down and cheers, "Yes! Yes! I am ready for this!"

The bear looks startled and exclaims, "Kuma!"

Alex felt a little guilty that his first step to leveling up would be to battle a completely harmless stuffed animal.

Bear says, "Kuma, ku, kuma!"

Alex walks closer and says, "Are you ready?"

Bear shakes itself again and says, "Kuma kuma!"

"You are a cute little guy aren't you? Don't expect me to go easy on you just because of that," Alex regards the bear with conviction.

Bear chuffs and says, "Ku, kuma."

Alex forms his hands into fists and takes a boxer's pose stating, "Let us begin!"

The bear shivers in fear as it sees Alex's face turning red with anger and puts his cute stuffed paws on his muzzle.

The battle was on! Alex's heart pounded in his chest as he took on his first challenge for leveling up. It didn't feel real yet because it was only a stuffed animal and not a real monster but that didn't matter as much as he had to start somewhere.

Alex strikes first with a right cross to the bear's nose, knocking it over and rolling it across the ground before coming back to its feet and charging him. The bear lets out a yelp, "Kuuuuuma!" as it skids across the ground in front of him. The bear is now on its feet again but punches didn't seem to do much to him because his body was made out of cloth and stuffing. Oddly, Alex's phone decided to narrate the fight on its own.

{Alex uses fist, it is ineffective}

"Kuma. . . " The bear says, sounding like it is about to cry as it stares Alex with big forlorn eyes. Alex feels his heart sink. He was a terrible person for inflicting violence on an innocent forest creature.

{Huggle Bear uses Stare, it is super effective}

The bear slowly waddles over to Alex with its arms up like it wants a hug. Alex stares back at it, uncertain how to proceed but not wanting to be hurtful so he reaches out and wraps his hand around the bear giving it a hug. The bear hugs him back with a forgiving expression in its eyes.

{Friendship +1}

The bear makes some snuffling sounds while holding onto Alex.

"Kuma."

The hug continues until Alex starts to cry with guilt. How could he be so cruel to something so cute? But the bear seemed to accept him so he held onto it for a bit longer. The bear makes more cute sounds as they both cry together and get it all out.

{Friendship +10}

Eventually, they break their hug and Alex wipes his tears. Alex smiles at the bear and the bear smiles back with his silly cloth teeth. The two of them walk together hand in paw back down to the pond.

{Friendship +20}

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The two of them continue down the trail hand in paw together until they come across some more stuffed animals like the one they just fought. The bears and rabbits and other creatures all smile at Alex as they greet him with friendly calls of their own.

"Ku, kuma, kuma!"

"Kuma kuma!"

"Ku, kuma, kuma!"

Alex stands in awe as these adorable little creatures approach him with welcoming smiles. He doesn't have the heart to fight them or the energy to go any further so he decides to just stop here and enjoy them all for a moment.

Alex says, "Oh my gosh I've never seen so many of these before! Lets all be friends!"

{Friendship +30}

The little creatures cheer as they surround him and start tugging on his robe. Alex stands there amazed as he is embraced by dozens of small huggable friends and feels like a new man.

He says, "I don't know what you are all doing but I am not sure if I am ready for that."

A single teddy bear walks up and looks down at Alex with big sad eyes. It slowly takes out a stuffed bunny from its pocket and hands it to Alex.

"Kuma kuma."

Alex kneels down to be face to face with the bear and takes the stuffed bunny from it and hugs it back. The stuffed rabbit says in a cheerful voice, "Usagi!"

"Ku, kuma."

"Kuma, kuma."

"Usagi!"

The bear says, "Ku!"

Alex stroked the bunny lovingly and says, "Thank you so much! You have made me so happy!"

{Friendship at 100, You have been defeated}

All around him reality starts to warp as if this space is collapsing in on itself. 'Oh no, I was defeated and this is a temporary dungeon. Does that mean it is going to vanish from reality with me?' Alex gulped. He messed up. He messed up badly. He should have just killed the bear in the beginning and avoided the whole situation. How was he supposed to know this would happen? He tried to kill the bear but couldn't even get that right.

The stuffed forest creatures all start running around holding their paws up in fright. That was the last thing Alex saw before a pink enveloped him blocking out his vision. The world went pink for a few seconds. He appeared back where he started from with the same glowing pink light hovering over him. He could hear the screams of all the creatures as they disappeared. He heard his own voice say, "What the heck just happened?"

Fufi was there, her pink stone glowing brightly with powerful magic. She walked up to Alex and placed her wing on his shoulder.

She says, "It looks like you failed the rift dungeon. But I used our bond to summon you back before you vanished along with the temporary space."

Alex felt sudden nausea. "Oh no," was all he could say before throwing up on the stone floor.

Fufi says carefully, "Teleportation magic can really turn your stomach if you are not used to it. Sorry."

Alex wiped his mouth and said, "No need to apologize. I really messed this up though."

Alex felt another wave of nausea. He felt dizzy and his head hurt. He felt like he was going to be sick again. Fufi's soft feathers felt like heaven against his clammy cheek.

Fufi says gently, "Are you okay? Maybe you should go rest for a while"

Alex closes his eyes and breathes deeply as if that might help settle his stomach but instead it only makes things worse. His head is spinning and he feels nauseous again but he tries to stay calm and focus on not throwing up again.

Alex opened his eyes and looked up at Fufi as she was staring down at him concerned. He felt himself wanting to smile at her but couldn't manage it with his face feeling so queasy.

Fufi says with concern, "Just lay down. I'll go get the rug and the clothing and bring them back in a couple minutes."

Alex nods his head weakly and lies down on his side as Fufi stands and flies away.

Fufi says as she flies away, "I will be right back."

Alex rolls onto his other side and lays still until he feels his stomach calm down. He still feels like he might throw up again at any moment so he closes his eyes and focuses on his breathing. After a while he feels like he can try opening his eyes again so he slowly opens them to find that Fufi is standing beside him looking worried. He sits up and says, "I'm alright now."

Fufi looks relieved as she asks, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Alex says as he tries to stand up but his vision goes dark and his head swims. Lays his head back down in the girly clothes that Fufi had placed under his head earlier. "Well maybe not I feel so drained. Maybe I just need to sleep a little."

Fufi kneels down next to Alex and says, "You can sleep here if you want to."

Alex replies, "Yeah I think I need to get some sleep if I am going to keep fighting through these dungeons." Alex falls asleep in moments and has a strange dream about a cute magical girl skipping through the forest with stuffed animals doing an elaborate dance like it was some kind of musical film. While it was choreographed well the whole thing was rather disturbing considering his recent defeat. But after awhile he finally slips into a peaceful slumber.

When he awoke he discovered that he had slept through the rest of the day and through the night. The dawn rays could be seen from the opening on the stairs that led up out of this basement with the rift pillar in it. He moved around a bit only to discover his face was full of loose hair. He blew hair out of his mouth that must have gotten in it while he turned in his sleep. Also, when he touched his face,he noticed that he didn't have a beard anymore. His face was completely smooth. Did he shave before he fell asleep and just forgot about it? He didn't think he did. He didn't even have a knife or a razor to shave with. As he sat up, he noticed that his body seemed to have lost quite a bit of bulk as well. He stood up and made his way up the stairs so he could get a better look at himself.

***

Alex was a bit shocked when there was more light and he got a look at himself. Shaking some of the loose hair off inspection revealed that it was beard hair. Having a thick black beard was a badge of honor for Alex. For it to just be gone without him noticing was a bit of a shock. Also, he noticed that his whole body was not nearly as muscular as before. His stomach was softer and flatter. His shoulders were still a bit broad but not like they used to be when they were pumped up from all of the hard work he had done. His arms were a bit thinner too. He could tell that his legs were definitely less muscled than before. He likely lost 10 pounds or so. Seeing all these changes were shocking. It should be impossible for someone to transform so much in just a day.

There was a shard of a broken mirror on the floor Alex found. Alex was looking at his face in the mirror when a bird flew down next to him. It was Fufi coming to check on him again. She looked him over carefully while she said, "How are you feeling?"

Alex looks at his reflection and says, "I don't look that much different do I?"

"You are still handsome. Maybe a little cuter than before if I say so myself." Fufi says with a smile.

Fufi says, "Your hair looks longer now."

Running his hand through his hair, Alex verified that his hair had grown about an inch while he slept. It was hard to tell for certain but he thought he might be slightly shorter as well.

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